The Invisible Chains - Part 1: Bonds of Hate (10 page)

Chapter 5:

The Dragon Flies Again

Anaxantis was still asleep when Ehandar woke. Instinctively he remained as still as possible, so as not to disturb the peaceful rest of the boy. He enjoyed the unfamiliar feeling of waking up with a warm, breathing body tucked beside him. He had never felt like this before. It was as if for the first time he had something worthwhile to cherish, to protect. Strangely enough, it made all his problems more easy to bear and more urgent at the same time.

He almost startled when something suddenly occurred to him. He got up as quietly as he could and dressed. Cautiously he opened the door of their room and once outside ran down the stairs. Once on the courtyard, he looked up. Above the gate flew the battle standard of Ximerion and his own eagle flag. About two months ago he had given the order to not raise the dragon anymore. He now countermanded this and waited until a nervous sentinel had raised Anaxantis's standard. Then he went to the lodgings of his personal guard. He had also commandeered his brother's six soldiers.

He barged in the room where two captains, both wearing his crest, were breakfasting.

“My brother has recovered,” he said to one of them without any greeting or introduction, “and he may need his guard. From now on you are to wear the yellow tunics with the dragon crest again. See to it.”

The captains looked stupefied at each other.

“Immediately, my lord,” the one he had addressed replied.

That taken care of, Ehandar relaxed and returned to their room.

He found Anaxantis, who in the meantime had woken and dressed, sitting quietly in his spot next to the fireplace.

“What are you doing there?” he asked, truly not understanding what he saw.

“I thought you wanted me here,” Anaxantis replied. “I didn't want to presume—”

“No, no, no,” Ehandar interrupted him while he crouched beside him, “I want us to make a fresh start. I've handled this wrongly from the beginning. It's not the only thing I've managed to botch up. A lot has happened and there is so much to tell.”

He stood up and extended both his hands to help Anaxantis rise.

“I promise, it will all be different from now on,” he said smilingly. “Believe me.”

He hugged the boy and pressed him against his body.

“I believe you,” Anaxantis replied softly.

“Just like that... and it's over,” Anaxantis thought, amazed. “He is in love. He is in love with me. Who would have thought it possible? Yes, it will all be different from now on.”

“First we will inform general Tarngord of your recovery, and this afternoon we will take a ride in the country. I will fill you in about everything that has happened. That is, if you feel up for a ride. I know you get dizzy spells.”

“Somehow I think they won't bother me anymore,” Anaxantis said thoughtfully.

“I should have listened more to you. I know that now.”

“Yes, you should have, on more than one occasion,”
Anaxantis thought.

He made a slight deprecating gesture with his hand and smiled weakly.

“It doesn't matter anymore. You're right. Let's make a fresh start of it.”

It was exactly what Ehandar wanted to hear. He fetched Anaxantis's yellow tunic, his sword and his boots and helped him put them on. 

“You don't have to help me like that, I can do it myself,” Anaxantis said, while his brother was fastening the heavy clasps of the boots.

Ehandar looked up from his crouched position and grinned.

“I don't mind. I want to.”

While Ehandar girded his sword on, Anaxantis looked out of one of the windows that overlooked the courtyard. He saw the three flags fluttering above the gates.

“And so the dragon flies again,”
he thought satisfied.

Commander-general Demrac Tarngord was the first of the higher officers to know. A servant had just put on his right boot when he heard a knock on the door of his private quarters. After being given permission his aide-de-camp entered.

“General”, he said, “I thought you would want to know. The dragon flag has been raised above the castle gate this morning.”

“What?” Demrac replied surprised. “Are you sure?”

Brushing the servant aside he hobbled on one booted and one bare foot to the porch in front of his barrack. Indeed, there on the rock, above the castle gate flew the Ximerionian standard, flanked by the flags of both lord governors.

“What the fuck? How is that possible? That means not only that the little brat is still alive, but also that they have made their peace. I must find out as soon as possible what happened. Tenax needs to know.”

When he entered the war room Demrac saw both brothers bent over maps and reports.

“My lord, it's nice to see you so fit,” he said, without being able to completely suppress a faint hint of suspicion in his voice.

“Thank you general,” Anaxantis smiled. “My brother took good care of me. All I needed was some quiet and rest it seems.”

“Are you going to resume your intended exploration of the Renuvian plains?”

“First of all, I'm going to acquaint myself with all that has happened in the time I was incapacitated, but eventually, yes, I would think so.”

“He seems healthy enough. A little pale maybe, but that is undoubtedly the result of being cooped up inside all the time. And what's with the other one? Ehandar seems... lighter somehow. Less tense, less stressed. They must have come to some kind of understanding. But how? And why? And what exactly have they agreed upon?”

In the afternoon the brothers rode out into the countryside. Ehandar set an unhurried pace and headed for the little hill with the tree. When they had dismounted, he asked:

“Are you alright? No nausea?”

“I don't think so. It wasn't that long of a ride anyway, but even so, I feel perfectly all right.”

Ehandar secured the horses to some nearby bushes ,and Anaxantis took some maps, parchments and charcoal sticks out of his saddle bags. They sat down beneath the tree, and Ehandar began telling everything he had learned in the last three months, frequently interrupted by Anaxantis asking for some clarification or other. 

“That's quite some predicament we're in. I'm so sorry that you had to carry this burden alone for so long,” Anaxantis said, when finally he had finished.

“Nah. Don't be sorry,” Ehandar said, embarrassed. “It was my own fault. Anyhow, there we are. At least some of the auxiliary troops are worth something. Most aren't though. If the Mukthars attack one of these weeks, I don't know how we are going to resist them.”

“They won't attack any time soon,” Anaxantis replied. “I can't be totally sure, of course, but the last four raids were all in mid to late spring. I don't think that's just a coincidence. Maybe there is some cultural or religious reason. It could be a matter of tradition. Maybe some of them are farmers and they can't mount an attack in sowing and harvest seasons. Difficult to say. As usual we know far too little. Anyway, chances are we have till next spring to prepare.”

“At one fell swoop he appeased one of my most important fears,” Ehandar thought. “By the Gods, it is good to be able to share all this with someone who understands.”

“But we should use the time wisely,” Anaxantis continued while he unfolded a map of the northern border and the Renuvian plains. He took a charcoal stick. “First, the Urdam-Dek pass near the sea. It's difficult to see why they would take that route as it is an enormous detour. It is equally difficult to see why they would cross the Mirax at Renuvia. What I have called the Westwood Forest, for lack of a real name, would act as a wall to an army. At the very least it would make their advance very cumbersome. Again, why would they take the trouble? Nevertheless, just to play safe, we should post a reconnaissance patrol of, let's say, fifty men to observe the pass. The ruins of Renuvia seem ideal as a base.

“They most likely will use the Queneq Pass. I suppose they could turn around the Eastwood Forest, but again the question is, why would they? It is somewhat more likely than the Urdam-Dek route, but not much. Again, to cover all possibilities, we should post a sentinel unit on the outskirts of the Eastwood Forest.

“The most likely route is for them to cross the Mirax between the Westwood Forest and the Middlewood Forest or between the Eastwood Forest and the Middlewood Forest. In both cases we can use the woods and the river to constrain them and block their passage temporary with a vanguard. Our main force we keep in the back until we know which route exactly they're taking. A sentinel post hidden at the edge of the Middlewood Forest should give us an early indication of their intentions.

“Of course, the best alternative for us is that they should choose a third route and decide to cross the Mirax in the bight most near to our border. In that case our main force is ready to meet them, and both of our vanguards are in their back. With any luck we could encircle them and that would neutralize their numerical superiority.”

Ehandar was speechless. He had followed Anaxantis's explanation and saw him draw lines on the map with growing wonder and admiration.

“He must have thought about this while I had him chained up like an animal. While I was running from here to there in a ridiculously ineffectual search for more troops. What would I even have done with more soldiers in the off chance I had gotten them?”
he thought depressed.

Anaxantis saw the sad look in his brother's eyes.

“Hey, don't beat yourself up. Neither of us has had it easy growing up in a family such as ours. We were bound to be screwed up to some degree,” he said softly.

He threw his arms round Ehandar's neck and kissed him lightly on the lips.

“We were going to make a fresh start of it, remember?” he added.

“Was it really that simple? Just forget it and move on? By the Gods, I hope so,” Ehandar thought fervently.

He smiled at Anaxantis.

“You're right. I only wish I had seen it earlier. That I hadn't ignored you all those years. I'll make it up to you somehow, I swear.”

“I know you will,” Anaxantis smiled.

“That is a strange development, to say the least,”
Tenaxos thought, holding the small piece of parchment.

He squinted to read the text, written in very small letters, again.

“Anaxantis has reappeared out of the tower this morning. According to both of them he has indeed been sick, needing rest and quiet. Not only does he seem recovered, but he looks fitter than before, apart from a marked paleness. The brothers seem to have reached some understanding and all animosity, as far as I can tell, is gone. On the contrary, there is an air of conspiratorial unity between them. It is as if they have been best friends for years. This afternoon they rode out together, without retinue, and they were gone for hours, without telling anyone where they went.

“Tenax, I don't like this at all, though I'm glad of course that Anaxantis is alive and well. But they're planning something, and they're keeping their own counsel. Dem.”

“So, they seem to have taken the least likely way. Instead of trying to eliminate each other, they've formed a pact. I should be proud of them, I suppose. Ehandar has understood that force is not the only factor, especially when you don't have enough of it. And he has also understood that it is not the measure of all things. It takes a lot of self mastery to admit that you need help and advice, when your first reflex would be to rely on sheer might. Even more so in the case of a proud young man, who has always looked down on the one he seeks advice from as his inferior. From Anaxantis it was to be expected that he would understand that it is not enough to have a keen brain, but that you also need a strong arm. I must admit they've done better than I expected, though I would like to know just how they managed to overcome their differences.