The Ragged Man (49 page)

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Authors: Tom Lloyd

BOOK: The Ragged Man
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—
The priestesses ask what the rest do not dare.
‘What the substance of your promises might be? It’s the nature of people. Offer them a brighter future and they will cheer and shout your name, but sooner or later they want to know the details. How did you think I ended up in this mess?’ Emin said wryly.
—
I promised only that a better future was possible.
‘But you don’t have a form in mind? I hadn’t taken you for a woman of faith.’
—
Of instinct
, she corrected,
even before I was joined to the Lady. I sense a future will come. I hope it will come before a God tries to subsume me.
Emin looked startled. ‘Is that even a possibility, Gods fighting each other for supremacy? I know it used to happen in the Age of Myths, but now? Piss and daemons; could a God like Larat decide there is enough of the divine within you to take you as an Aspect?’
—
I don’t wish to find out.
Emin gave a snort. ‘I can imagine. So we both may be running out of time.’
—
You don’t believe in your armies too?
‘Hah! I know my strength well enough, and I also know my enemy. I’ve studied his campaign thus far; Lord Styrax is inventive and bold, but he’s lacking the arrogance one might hope for. His armies are battle-hardened and replenished by the states he’s conquered; mine are untested in ten years. He has made no significant mistakes, and only committed himself to vulnerability when he is certain of victory. This is not what one hopes for in an enemy. ’
He grimaced and took a swig of wine, staring into the distance a moment before continuing, ‘No - that’s not correct; he has made one mistake. His allegiance is no longer to Lord Karkarn, it appears, or any of the Gods, it’s to himself. However much they fear to walk the Land and risk death, the Gods do not favour the greatest of their creations.’
—
Can you exploit it?
‘Would that I could,’ he said. ‘It’s a mistake I’ve also made. Even it were possible, I don’t know how . . .’ He tailed off, then asked, ‘Is that what Larat meant?’ There was a pause and the king straightened in his chair a moment, then relaxed back down. ‘No, it doesn’t fit.’
—
What?
Emin looked at her, unable to discern anything from the expression on her face. Curiously, it was one of the reasons why he liked the fierce Mortal-Aspect; she was beyond his abilities, both as a man and a king. Not even the intellectuals he welcomed to the Brotherhood-protected private club in Narkang could hide their thoughts from his scrutiny. He enjoyed feeling in the presence of an equal.
‘Did you not sense it, a week or so after you first arrived?’
She hesitated, then scribbled quickly on the slate. -
Once I dreamed of laughter, and a face that shifted, yours to a young woman’s.
Emin nodded. ‘Larat came to speak to me that morning, he warned me to heed the lessons of the Great War.’
—
One favours you then.
‘True, but direct action is not his way - and having lost Death’s favour, none of the rest will intervene. What do you know of the Crystal Skulls?’
Legana gestured to the blackened handprint on her throat and the cane she now walked with. -
I know one did this.
‘But the nature of them? I’ve read a number of Verliq’s works - the great man mentions the Skulls several times, but he never studied them directly. Larat mentioned something, and I wonder about the significance.’
He fell silent again, and Legana waited patiently. Allies they had become, but neither expected undying loyalty of the other, and asking too much would invite questions in return.
At last he went on, ‘He told me that the twelve Skulls corresponded to the Gods of the Upper Circle, and the bearer of a Skull had the right to ask a question of that God.’
Legana didn’t move for a long while, her porcelain features crinkled in thought until her emerald eyes flashed and she opened her mouth to speak before remembering herself and writing on the slate.
—
Why ask?
‘Why ask?’ Emin echoed, realising she was prompting him just as he had done so often with his pet intellectuals in Narkang, nudging their thoughts down new paths, harnessing their knowledge to a particular need.
‘Why ask? You ask to secure an answer - expecting an answer. Larat said that some knowledge should not be shared, that there were some questions that might upset the balance of the Land.’
—
He is a God.
‘And a tricky one at that,’ Emin added, feeling a spark of insight; he was getting close. ‘What he told me was no doubt correct, but not the entire story. One asks a question to get an answer, to be so foolish as to do that with a God of the Upper Circle - well, you would have to be certain that an answer would be forthcoming. To have a God smite you for impertinence is the outcome one would expect for idle pestering, or seeking knowledge the Gods would not wish to share.
‘So perhaps it isn’t just a right, but a compulsion; something binding the God to answer truthfully - perhaps even something stopping them from simply reaching out and crushing the head of whoever has presumed to question them.’
He took a long draw on his cigar and cocked his head at Legana. ‘Covenant theory: the idea that a contract of sorts must exist in magical actions - no spell so powerful it does not have a flaw; no great incantation that cannot be undone by something innocuous - and no dealing with Gods or daemons that does not have rules to frame it.’
Legana nodded encouragingly, and Emin, looking calmer, continued his exploration. ‘This right to ask a question of a God, it confers a right to get an answer too. Perhaps that means there is a contract of sorts, and they’re creatures of magic so they must be bound by the rules - and if they’re bound in whatever way, that implies there’s some power of compulsion over the God.’
Emin took a slow breath, ordering his thoughts as he extended the principle further. ‘If Larat is willing to admit that much, no doubt the truth is something deeper, something more fundamental to their relationship with the Skulls - perhaps even the existence of the Gods themselves. The Skulls are stores of power; the Gods are power incarnate. Could they be the flip-side of the same coin?’
—
How does this help?
Emin topped up her goblet with a smile. ‘Lord Styrax is not collecting them to secure his rule or aid his conquest, those are just by-products. He wants that power over each of the Gods of the Upper Circle, not to ask questions but make demands.’ He shook his head. ‘As great and long-lived as he is, the man is only mortal. One day he will die, unless . . .’
King Emin puffed on his cigar and looked at the icons hanging on the wall. The empty cowl of Death occupied the centre; on His left was Kitar, Goddess of Fertility, on His right, Karkarn, God of War.
He said slowly, ‘He will die unless he becomes a God. Unless this peerless warrior asks something of the Gods they cannot refuse.’
CHAPTER 21
Captain Hain looked around at the army and felt a strange surge of exhilaration. ‘Damn but it’s a sight,’ he said, nudging Sergeant Deebek with his elbow. ‘Shame the major’s missing it.’
Behind his helm Deebek grinned as best he could, his mangled top lip lifting on one side to reveal the ruined gums underneath.
‘Reckon ’e’d agree, sir. I ’eard ’e were sent to play spies in Byora ’til ’e’s fit for duty. Can’t see ’im takin’ that over an honest fight.’
The entire Cheme Third Legion was lined up in tight ranks, as though on the parade ground. Ahead was the Second, and the other side of a copse, the lighter-armed troops of the First. Lord Styrax’s favoured shock troops, his minotaur clans, were a few hundred yards north, alongside a division of light cavalry. On their other flank was a legion of Chetse, what was left of the Crocodile Guard bolstered by fresh recruits from the now-quiescent Chetse cities.
Hain had lingered on the sight more than once; he’d never believed he would see the day a legion of the Ten Thousand marched under Menin banners. Once each of the commanding tachrenn had kneeled to Lord Styrax, the enlisted had started to see him as something other than a conqueror: they saw a peerless warrior, a Chosen of the Gods who truly deserved the title.
‘Don’t hope for much of a fight today, Sergeant,’ Hain warned. ‘I doubt they’ll dare.’
They had skirted the Byoran marshes and gone up through the Evemist Hills and just crossed the Narkang border. Now they stood less than a mile from the fortress town of Merritays, Narkang’s first line of defence against aggression from the Circle City that had never materialised until now. Four square stone towers were connected by defensive earthworks and enclosed a small garrison town, accessible only by drawbridges attached to each tower. Some two miles behind Merritays stood a market town that had grown up in its protective lee.
Hain watched the First Legion advance to within bowshot of the defensive lines. The earthworks were built in two enormous steps and looked down over a water-filled ditch. There was a neat stone wall on each level. There weren’t many soldiers on view at the moment; Hain knew they wouldn’t commit their strength until the Menin attacked.
‘What’s the plan then, Captain?’ Deebek asked conversationally.
‘You think General Gaur tells the likes of me?’
‘But you might ’ave seen summat, I reckon we ain’t ’angin’ around for a siege.’
‘You’re right there,’ Hain admitted, ‘but I still don’t know what’s planned. Shut up and we’ll both find out.’
‘Right you are, sir,’ Deebek said. He reached out and gave the axe resting on Hain’s shoulder a tap with his fingers, then balled his fist and thumped it against his chest.
‘Fer luck, sir,’ he explained without embarrassment. The medal he pulled out next was one he’d won ten years previously and he kissed it, as he had before every fight since.
Hain didn’t comment. The axe was the one Amber had used to kill the Chosen of Tsatach; if the men now considered it a talisman, all the better. Ten minutes later, they heard the drums beat out the command over the whisking wind:
Advance to enemy
. Whatever General Guar planned, they were certainly going to get some sort of a fight today.
The Second Legion headed for the nearest of the towers. There was a scramble of movement on the earthworks in response as archers moved out to face the Menin troops. The Third Legion went up to the Second’s right flank, five regiments in the lead with the rearguard division mirroring them at a short distance.
Hain’s regiment was in the vanguard, nearest to the Second Legion. They were all expecting the next order and as soon as it was given they began to move forward, heavy shields raised against the expected volley of arrows. As the first began to fall a prayer to Karkarn whispered through the ranks, causing Hain to grimace. The pace was swift and steady, with Hain chancing quick looks through the spear-rest of his shield to check when he would have to give the order.
An arrow smashed into his shield and exploded into splinters, causing him to miss his step for a moment, but the soldier behind him half-caught him on the shaft of his spear and shoved him forward, back into place.
‘Bastard,’ Deebek growled beside him. Hain looked over and saw blood on the exposed side of the sergeant’s scarred nose. A splinter of the arrow’s shaft protruded from the small cut.
‘There go yer looks,’ Hain laughed with the men around him.
‘Aye, sir.’ Deebek glanced back at the man who’d steadied the captain. ‘Soldier, you trample ’im next time, ’ear me?’
Still smiling, Hain chanced another look. Arrows were still dropping, but far fewer than he’d expected. Either the garrison was under-strength, or they were keeping the bulk of their men back. As the front rank neared the ditch Hain could see it wasn’t going to be easy to negotiate. The slope was almost sheer on each side and the dozen ladders they carried weren’t going to be long enough, unless the water was only a foot deep.
‘Regiments to halt, defensive position,’ came the shouted order, and Deebek instantly relayed it at the top of his voice. The troops slowed to a stop and the front rank kneeled behind their shields, allowing the second rank to rest their own shields on those in front.
‘Come on, General,’ Hain muttered as he peered left and right, ‘don’t let us be the decoys.’ He saw movement to the right and called forward to the front rank for information.
‘A company’s left the line, sir,’ called a trooper. ‘Handful o’ men - what in the name of the Dark Place are they doing? They’re just standing with shields raised - and some’re just sittin’ down on the grass behind. Ah no, someone’s lying on the ground too, reaching forward with summat.’
‘Mages,’ Hain and Deebek said together.
‘Aye, sir, can’t see what he’s doin’ but there’s summat up down there. Some sort o’ white mist fillin’ the ditch.’
‘Any mages on the rampart?’
‘No, sir, but the archers are after ’em now.’
‘In that case: ready to advance,’ Hain said, raising his voice. He didn’t know what was about to happen, but you didn’t need an entire division to shield a few mages.

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