The Amber Legacy (35 page)

‘I think she gets the point, Onyx,’ Diamond said, in undisguised warning to his colleague. Onyx sat back, shutting his eyes.

Queen Sunset waited for anyone else to speak, and when no one did, she said, ‘Then the council is adjourned.’ To Meg, she said, ‘You may go.’

Outside, Smallone was waiting with her escort, and she asked them to take her to the library. Among the
books that had become her refuge and her hope, she pondered the import of the meeting. She knew where the Queen sat on the debate. She knew nothing about Follower or the Tithe Lord, and although neither had spoken or given any hint of their stand in the matter, she assumed they would be loyal to their monarch. The Seers had the prevailing numbers on the council, but she was surprised that they were divided. Light’s opinion was obvious, and she was certain Diamond agreed with him. Vale’s willingness to help her learn in the library surely meant that he was on her side. Onyx’s final comment suggested that he was undecided, although his reaction to Diamond’s intervention showed he was most likely governed by Diamond. And the new Seers were wildcards.

Jewel was entertaining little Jon. Meg rubbed her swollen breasts. She had this precious moment to select new reading material, before it would be time to feed Jon again. Out of all that had happened, at least there was Jon.

L
eader Westridge was dressed as if he was going into battle, and Sunfire sat at his feet, looking expectantly at Meg. She greeted Westridge, and hugged her dingo. Magpies warbled in the palace garden trees and the low clouds were tinged with golden sunrays. ‘It’s very early,’ she said as she straightened up. ‘Why the armour?’

‘We’re marching south,’ Westridge told her. ‘War’s broken out with Beranix the Butcher. He’s incited the chieftains in his kingdom against us.’

‘Why?’

‘Why any war?’ he asked in return. ‘My guess is that Beranix wants our land. Isn’t that what war is always about?’

‘When do you leave?’

‘Now,’ he said. ‘That’s why I’ve brought Sunfire. I’m leaving and there’s no one who can look after him in the garrison. Queen Sunset knows about this—or at least she should know. She’s sending us away.’

‘He’ll stay with me,’ Meg said, as the dingo padded away to rummage through the bushes at the edge of the courtyard. ‘How long will you be gone?’

He shrugged. ‘Last time they said we’d be three cycles, and the Rebel war lasted three years. They tell us
this time we’ll beat Beranix’s army as soon as we meet them in battle. Who knows?’

‘I’ll wait for you to come back,’ she said, trying to offer the soldier solace.

‘I’ll be back,’ he said, grinning. He leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. ‘I hope that didn’t offend you, my lady?’

She blushed and smiled. ‘No. Not at all, Leader Westridge.’

‘How’s your son?’

‘Jon is well. He’s growing strong.’

‘Don’t ever send him to war.’

‘I won’t.’

Westridge bowed his head politely. ‘I’d better go. The army’s already marshalling outside the city and I’ll be missed if I don’t hurry.’

She wished him luck and watched him walk to the gates. When he’d gone she called Sunfire. He loped out of the shrubbery to her side.

In her chamber, she fed baby Jon and helped Jewel to bathe him. Whisper was eager to play with Sunfire, and the reunited animals threatened to create havoc until Meg sternly reprimanded them. Content to explore the new space, Sunfire padded around the rooms, sniffing and searching, followed closely by Whisper, and a vigilant Jewel whose fascination with the animals amused Meg while she played with Jon. ‘Will we go down to the library today, Lady Meg?’ Jewel asked, when she noticed that little Jon was growing drowsy.

‘Later today,’ Meg replied. ‘I have books here to read first.’

She let Jewel take the baby from her to nurse to sleep, and headed for her desk, where she opened a heavy black book titled
The Legend of the Demon Horsemen.
She’d retrieved it from the library when she’d happened upon the title in the section devoted to
Western Shess literature and history because she had already heard the Demon Horsemen mentioned several times—by old Samuel and by the soldiers—and she was curious to unravel the mythology.

By the day’s end, between feedings and her own meals, and taking Sunfire for an exploratory walk of the palace grounds in the watchful company of six Elite Guards, she finished the book. What she learned in part corroborated the soldiers’ talk that the Demon Horsemen were Jarudha’s spiritual servants responsible for collecting souls of the dead. But there was much more to their tale than the role of carrion carriers. According to accounts by various writers—the book was a composite work—the Demon Horsemen were vengeful spirits, whose real purpose was to scour the land of evildoers and all who did not faithfully follow Jarudha. If summoned to do His work by a priest with the blessing to do so, they would come on black horses, steeds with pestilent breath and magical strength and endurance, and they would arrive in the teeth of a violent storm, sweeping down upon their hapless quarry in a cold, remorseless wave of misery and slaughter. Being creatures of magic, they were immune to mortal weapons, and only a Jarudhan priest with Jarudha’s blessing could return them to their spiritual existence.

And there was an entry, close to the end, that chilled Meg’s spirit because of its prophetic and angry tone. A writer, Seer Newday, declared, ‘The time is coming, and soon, when the Holy Order of Seers will band together, against the sin and depravity that grips the common people, and summon the Demon Horsemen to destroy this evil land, and replace it with the pure paradise Jarudha meant to exist here under our collective wisdom.’ Newday went on to describe the new Jarudhan order—a world with fundamentalist values
and laws that enforced harsh punishments, and marginalised women and minorities in social value. The writer was inciting a violent religious revolution. Not the apocalyptic threat, so much as the assertion that the Seers would deliberately summon the Demon Horsemen to establish their own rule, is what unsettled her. In the written words she heard echoes of Samuel’s prophesying in Summerbrook’s marketplace.

Setting the book aside, and gazing through the window at the fading daylight, she wondered if the library in the Jarudhan temple had books devoted to summoning spells—a book that detailed how to call the Demon Horsemen from their spirit existence to this world. A short time ago she would have dismissed such a possibility as absurd. Not so, now. If such a book existed…

Jewel broke her reverie by arriving with Jon, who was demanding a feed. Meg smiled at her infant son’s squirming anticipation, as she unlaced her black tunic. She took Jon and let him feed, and once her milk flowed she relaxed, enjoying the pleasure of feeding her son, the soft pressure of his tiny hands on her skin, his puckered mouth sucking her nipple.

The thumping at the door made her look instinctively for Jewel. The girl was sitting cross-legged in a pile of books, also staring at the door. Sunfire bounded up to it and took guard, snarling, his ruff bristling, and Whisper crouched behind the dingo. They heard a clang of metal and a man’s voice cry out. The thumping recommenced, with greater intensity. ‘Take Jon,’ Meg ordered, as she stood and held Jon out to Jewel. Jewel scrambled to her feet, took the baby, and retreated as a cracking sound exploded at the door. And another. An axe blade smashed through the wood. The sound of fighting erupted, with angry and desperate cries and the ringing of sword blades. Meg
watched, her terror rising. Who would attack the Elite Guards protecting her in the centre of the palace? Another weapon thudded against the door and the wood splintered. Sunfire’s growling rose in pitch.
Bad
, whispered a voice in Meg’s head.
Run.
She looked around, but apart from the two animals she was alone. Trembling, she fought the urge to retreat, and waited.

The sounds of fighting faded and the axe blade smashed through the door again. The door shattered and a heavily armoured figure crashed through, axe swinging freely in his gauntleted left hand. To Meg’s horror, the intruder wore the black Elite Guards’ battledress, and behind him were two more Guards. She glimpsed a prone black figure on the floor in the adjoining chamber and saw more Guards fighting in the background.

Sunfire leapt, his fangs sliding ineffectually across the Guard’s armoured arm as he tried to bite. Distracted, the Guard swung at the dingo with his axe, but the agile Sunfire danced out of reach and circled for a second attack. The other two men advanced on Meg. One had a small crossbow aimed at her, but a black blur launched at his neck. The startled Guard yelled and dropped his weapon as he tried to fend off Whisper.

The third Guard came on, twisting his sword in his grip. Meg backed away. She’d faced armed men before.
Don’t panic
, she reminded herself. She saw the sword and the brutal intent in the young man’s face. She heard Sunfire yelp, but she couldn’t see what had happened to the dingo. The swordsman stepped within striking distance, raising his weapon. A spell, she desperately decided. She remembered the Rebel Seer. She focussed on the sword handle and recalled an incantation from the
Lessons of the Fourth Ki
text. Her spine tingled and the sword handle ignited. The Guard screamed and dropped his sword, staring at it in amazement. Something black
appeared at his ear and tiny razor teeth sank into his tender flesh, sending him into a frenzied dance of pain, his arms wildly flapping around his head. Meg pointed her index finger at the Guard with the axe and a ball of fiery energy exploded against his jaw, searing his skin. Without hesitating, she ignited the crossbow that the third Guard was retrieving. Terrified, he dropped it and bolted for the door. The swordsman, rid of Whisper, followed his companion, leaving only the axe bearer, on his knees, clutching his burnt face. Meg waited for him to rise, but he stayed on his knees, sobbing with pain.

Through the splintered and broken doorway, she saw more Elite Guards arriving. The Royal Intermediary, Follower Servant, stepped through, his sword drawn, and strode towards her. ‘Is my ladyship hurt?’ he asked, as he reached her.

‘I’m all right,’ she replied, calming her nerves, her energy sapped by her summoning of magic. To her horror, Follower turned on the kneeling Guard and stabbed him brutally. The young man screamed, and tried to rise to his feet, but Follower wrenched his sword out and thrust again, and a third time before the Guard crumpled to the floor in a pool of blood.

‘Even my Elite Guards are suspect,’ Queen Sunset lamented, as she paced the chamber tiles. She halted before Follower. ‘You are certain that it is someone within my palace?’

‘It has to be, Your Majesty,’ he replied, bowing. ‘The men we’ve captured are Elite Guards. I know them. So someone has gotten to them from within.’

‘Who?’

‘That,’ he said, with a shrug, ‘is the problem. We don’t know.’

‘Not even any suspicions?’ the Queen asked, an icy edge to her voice.

‘I’m sorry, Your Majesty.’

Meg was studying the man in Royal black as he conversed with the Queen. Ever since her arrival, she had felt uncomfortable in his presence, as if he was always watching her. His eagerness to kill the Elite Guard seemed incongruous with the circumstances. If anyone had known who was responsible for coordinating and ordering the attack, surely it would be the leader of the Elite Guard rebels. But he was dead. The surviving captives were unlikely to know the truth.

‘With your permission, Your Majesty, I’d like to take my leave to interrogate the captives,’ Follower was saying.

‘As you wish,’ Sunset told him. As he passed Meg, he smiled at her, but she sensed antagonism in the smile. Queen Sunset embraced Meg. ‘I’m so sorry for what’s happening,’ she said, stroking Meg’s hair. ‘You must have been terrified for little Jon. I’d do something, but no one seems to know who is behind these attacks. I thought it might have been Diamond, or Light, but even they couldn’t convince Elite Guards to do this.’ She released Meg. ‘Is it true you used spells to protect yourself?’

‘I—yes,’ Meg answered.

‘No wonder my enemies are scared of you.’ The Queen turned away, took three steps, and turned back. ‘I’ve decided it’s no longer safe for you to stay here, in the Palace. I’m arranging for you to go, at night and in secret, to a place where you’ll be safe. At least until I can call you back again.’

‘Where?’

‘It’s better if you don’t know. Gather the necessities, and do so quietly. Don’t even tell Jewel anything.’

‘Will she go with me?’

‘Of course,’ Sunset said. ‘But it’s better if she doesn’t know until you’re actually going.’

‘What about books? Can I take some books?’

‘Choose one to take. You won’t be able to take anything else. You’ll have to travel light. But where you’re going there are plenty of appropriate supplies.’

‘What about Sunfire?’

‘The dingo can stay. I’ll see he’s cared for. And the rat.’

‘I can’t leave Whisper,’ Meg insisted.

‘As you wish,’ Sunset conceded. ‘But don’t take anything other than what you need. I’ll send Follower to escort you. We’ll make it impossible for your enemies to find you.’ She winked conspiratorially as she left the chamber.

Meg returned to her room where Jewel was waiting with Jon. Sunfire’s tail was wagging slowly, as she entered, and Whisper appeared from behind a curtain. She took her baby and held him close, kissing his blond locks as she walked to the window and stared over the dark courtyard towards the walls and the faintly illuminated roofs of city buildings beyond, wondering where Queen Sunset intended to send her.

Later, with Jon fed and asleep, and Jewel busy folding clothes in the lamplight, Meg sat with Whisper on her lap and Sunfire lying at her feet, and flipped through a series of thin volumes on her table, until she extracted one in a foreign language which she translated as
The Many Voices.
She opened it and began reading the ideas and practices of a long-dead druidess who claimed to have had the power to commune with animals and understand plants. It was a curious text containing anecdotes of experiences and recipes for spells that enabled communication with animals. After one fascinating section, she looked down at Whisper. The voices in her head each time she was in danger—Whisper? Impossible. But then she had thought magic was impossible, until recently. But a
rat
able to talk to
her? She reread the text and nudged the rat. ‘Wake up.’ Whisper squeaked and sat up, rubbing her eyes with her forepaws, before she stared at Meg expectantly. ‘Can you understand me?’ Whisper kept rubbing her snout. ‘It says, if I want you to understand me, I have to think my feelings to you,’ Meg said. ‘And you have to do the same.’ The rat continued cleaning herself. Meg tried to imagine how she could think an emotion. And which one? She concentrated on being angry. Whisper leapt from her lap and scampered towards the curtains, while Sunfire rose and slunk into the chamber shadows. ‘I didn’t mean it,’ she called to her animals, but they kept their distance, Whisper hidden behind the curtain and Sunfire watching from the shadows. ‘Now what?’ she wondered, and flicked through the text. She looked towards Sunfire and tried to ‘feel’ the emotion for the words ‘Come here’. Sunfire pricked his ears, and cocked his head as if listening. Then he came, his tail lowered and wagging slowly, and propped his head on her lap to be petted. Meg was pleased, but because she was still unsure whether he’d come of his own volition or because he’d heard her call in his mind she focussed her attention on the curtains. ‘I need you’, were the closest words she could conjure to describe the emotion she was ‘feeling’ in Whisper’s direction. A black head appeared. Whisper scampered across the tiles and ran up the dingo’s back and across his head onto Meg’s lap. Meg broke into delighted laughter. ‘I don’t believe this!’ she cried, and scooped up Whisper in one hand to snuggle under her chin as she petted Sunfire’s neck with her other hand. Knocking at the door interrupted her brief discovery and joy.