Wall of Spears (11 page)

‘How did you know she would attack us?’ Retsu asked as Sendatsu tightened the bandage around the leg.

‘We did not know for sure,’ Sendatsu admitted. ‘But she was not after you — she was after Asami. Asami is the threat that she fears. It was lucky you were here, to help fight them off until we came.’

‘Why does she want me dead? I have not challenged her.’

‘Perhaps we could go outside and talk,’ Rhiannon suggested, holding her nose at the foul stench of blood and bowels and brains filling the corridor.

‘Bind the two I knocked out. We will need to talk to them,’ Sendatsu said.

Rhiannon used more flowers to wrap the wrists and ankles of the two unconscious attackers.

‘Should we bring them out as well?’ she asked.

‘We’ll let them lie in the blood and shit. Besides, we don’t want them to hear what we know,’ Sendatsu said roughly.

He helped Retsu hop his way into the fresh air, while Rhiannon held out an arm to Asami.

‘I can still walk,’ Asami told her.

‘I know that. I just offered my help.’

Asami glared at her. ‘I am thankful you came to help, but don’t expect me to forget what you did.’

‘I never expected you to. I am here because Sendatsu asked me,’ Rhiannon said coolly.

Asami groaned. She could not regret Sendatsu and Rhiannon coming, because the pair of them had saved her life, and Retsu’s. But how was she going to talk to Sendatsu in front of Retsu, of all people? And she had never felt less like dealing with him now, with her arm in agony, making it hard to think. She followed Rhiannon out into the garden.

Gaibun stepped out of the oak tree near Patcham with murder in his heart. He was not sure what he would do with Sendatsu’s body — he had half a mind to present Sendatsu’s head to Asami and see what she said then — but he was still able to think. Riding into Patcham and demanding Sendatsu’s head would see him cut down by all the dragons around; they would not let Sendatsu die easily. No, he had to be clever about this.

There were two horses tethered near the oak tree. He wondered what they were doing there but it was a minor consideration. First, he had to find Sendatsu.

The ride across the fields gave him opportunity to think. How could he have been so foolish? He had thought himself so clever, trying to win back Asami and replace Sendatsu in her heart and all the time the pair of them were sneaking around behind his back and laughing at him while in each other’s arms.

And that one night he had spent with Asami — to think that was all a lie made the gorge rise in his throat. It had been all he had imagined, the culmination of years and years of wistful longing and dreaming. But it was all a lie, a trick to humiliate him.

‘Halt! Who’s that?’ A challenge from the shadows made him forget the darkness lurking inside him.

‘It’s me, Gaibun. Who is that?’ Gaibun called, the sing-song lilt of the Velsh voice sounding familiar.

‘Gaibun! Have you come to help us as well, sir?’ The young dragon stepped into the light of a torch by the gate and Gaibun squinted at him.

‘Arval, isn’t it?’ Gaibun hazarded, ignoring the question about the help.

‘That’s right, sir!’ The young dragon grinned, obviously delighted to be remembered.

‘I’m looking for Sendatsu. Do you know where he is?’ Gaibun asked, doing his best to keep the bitterness out of his voice.

‘Aye, I do! He and Rhiannon rode out only a turn or so of the hourglass ago. I heard them talking — something about going to see Asami …’

Gaibun could not hear the rest of the sentence for the blood pulsing in his ears and the hatred filling his mind. So that’s what the horses were doing at the oak tree. He managed to get a grip on his fury and forced a smile onto his face.

‘Thank you, Arval. I must have missed them in the dark. I’ll go and greet them myself.’

He turned the horse and rode away into the night. So Sendatsu would come back through the oaken gateway, fresh from Asami’s bed — and he would be waiting for him.

‘We need to get you to a priest,’ Sendatsu said, looking at the blood still leaking from the bandaged cut in Retsu’s leg.

‘Perhaps we could send one of the servants?’ Retsu grunted, easing himself down onto a bench.

‘If any of them are alive,’ Asami said grimly. ‘Those guards out the front did not even provide us a warning.’

‘Well, you can’t go and look,’ Sendatsu told Asami. ‘You need help just as much.’

‘I am fine,’ Asami insisted, but still sat down beside Retsu with relief.

‘Wait here,’ Sendatsu said to Rhiannon. ‘If they see you, they will think it is another attack by the Forlish.’

They watched him go back into the house.

‘Asami, I have found more Velsh with magic powers. I am trying to train them, as you trained me,’ Rhiannon said hesitantly.

‘That’s good for you,’ Asami replied quickly. She could sense her former friend wanted to make some gesture but she could not afford to have anything but a hard heart, not with Sendatsu around. If she forgave Rhiannon, then next moment she would be blurting out the truth to Sendatsu and that would only end in disaster.

‘I have tried to send you many messages; you know I regret deeply what happened with us …’

‘As you should,’ Asami told her, mind cringing away from the thought of Sendatsu and Rhiannon together; from the thought she would never be with Sendatsu but Rhiannon had.

‘I did not come here to fight but to help you. Sumiko hates us both and wants us dead.’

Asami held up her hand. ‘I am grateful you came to our rescue. We would be both dead otherwise. But that is another issue and I cannot forgive or forget.’

Rhiannon walked away, heading for the bathhouse, and Asami sighed with a mixture of regret and relief — and pain. Rhiannon swiftly came back with water and towels and they began to clean the blood from their hands and faces.

Sendatsu returned to announce he had found the maid cowering under a bed and told her to go and get a priest.

‘This is getting to be a habit, being attacked in my own home,’ Asami said, washing her right hand but not daring to move her left. The pain was now pulsing up her arm.

‘Do you want me to help with that?’ Sendatsu offered.

She was about to agree, then she remembered how they had parted, and who was sitting beside her. ‘I’ll wait until the priest gets here. You are sure the maid is going to get one?’

‘No idea.’ Sendatsu shrugged. ‘She could still be hiding beneath a bed. But she wasn’t going to get out while I was around.’

Asami shook her head. ‘Then I had better go and do it myself.’

‘Not so fast. You can’t go alone — what if more of them came?’

‘Do you have any better suggestions?’

‘I go with you.’

Asami waved a hand. ‘Fine. Let’s be quick.’

He offered his hand but she ignored it. ‘It’s my arm that’s wounded, not my leg.’

She wobbled a little as she stood then led the way back into the house, cringing a little at the thought Sendatsu might make some impassioned plea for her to return with him to Vales.
You have to be strong
, she told herself. He had come back for her but nothing else had changed — Gaibun would still never let them go. The pain helped, making her focus on that, rather than her pleasure at seeing him.

‘Asami, about our last meeting —’

‘We need to find my maid. Where is she?’ she interrupted.

He led the way down to the bedroom only to find it empty — the maid had taken his advice after all.

‘Good. We should get back to the open air and wait for the priest there,’ Asami said immediately.

‘Why were you here alone? Why wasn’t Gaibun with you?’ Sendatsu blurted.

‘We have been over this already. I have made my choice and I ask you to respect that,’ she said, trying to make her voice sound as cold as possible.

‘You feel nothing that I came back to save you? I have been torturing myself night and day in Vales, thinking about you —’

‘More fool you then,’ Asami snapped. ‘Of course I thank you for helping me. I owe you my life. Gaibun will also be most thankful.’

‘What happened?’ Sendatsu asked, the misery in his voice bringing her almost to tears.

She took a long time to answer, trying to get herself under control so he would never guess what was going on inside.

‘I woke up and realised who you are,’ was all she managed to get out before her voice threatened to betray her.

Sendatsu sighed, a sound that cut through her and made her squeeze her eyes shut to keep them dry.

‘Then I made a mistake coming back here,’ he said sadly.

‘Yes, you did.’ She hurried back into the garden to find Rhiannon and Retsu keeping awkward company, not talking.

‘Has the maid gone to get a priest? Because this damned leg feels like someone is driving a red-hot spike into it,’ Retsu said.

‘She’s gone for help,’ Sendatsu confirmed.

‘Thank Aroaril for that. While we wait, perhaps you can tell us what is going on and what you have discovered.’

Asami refused to look at Sendatsu, although she could feel his eyes on her. She looked at Rhiannon, who shook her head slightly.

‘Sendatsu put it together,’ Rhiannon said. ‘Sumiko has done a deal with the Forlish. She plans to use them to destroy Jaken. Sendatsu thinks she will bring them into Dokuzen somehow.’

‘Impossible! Not even she would dare to do that. Once they were here, we would never get them out again. Our whole city would be destroyed,’ Retsu declared.

‘Not if she just brought in a few dozen, enough to cause mayhem and spread fear that the humans can use magic and could appear anywhere in Dokuzen at any time. In a stroke, Jaken is no longer the city’s protector and Sumiko is the only one who can stop the magical attacks,’ Rhiannon countered.

‘But why kill Asami?’

‘With Asami dead, Sumiko will control all the magic. Nobody will be able to stop her.’

‘That might well be right,’ Asami said.

‘This is monstrous,’ Retsu growled. ‘We shall send a message to Jaken immediately, demanding her arrest!’

‘Won’t work,’ Sendatsu said. ‘My father is under her spell, somehow. You need more evidence.’

‘Well, we can’t sit around waiting for Forlish to start popping up in people’s gardens!’ Retsu snorted.

‘You have two live witnesses. Take them to the Council meeting tomorrow and show the other clan leaders that Sumiko is plotting something. Then post guards around every oak tree in Dokuzen,’ Rhiannon suggested.

‘That would take more warriors than we have. But perhaps we don’t need that many — we could just post them around the oak trees in the park. That is where Oroku disappeared, going to the Forlish, and that is where he will return,’ Asami said.

Rhiannon gasped. ‘You saw Oroku leave to join the Forlish?’

‘I saw him leave Dokuzen,’ Asami corrected. ‘Only now can we put it all together.’

‘But are you sure he will return to the park? It is in the middle of the city and everyone can see it …’

‘Exactly,’ Asami confirmed. ‘What better place? He can be seen by as many as possible and then disappear again before any defence can be mustered. With half-a-dozen oak trees in the park, he can choose all sorts of places to appear.’

Rhiannon looked doubtful.

‘What do you think he will do?’ Asami challenged.

‘I don’t know. But Sumiko has not planned all this to make a small demonstration. She wants everyone to know the Forlish were here.’

‘And that is why they will choose the park. Don’t forget, Sumiko will be planning to betray the Forlish. She doesn’t want them wrecking the city. She wants to take over a Dokuzen that is harmed but whole. And the park can always be regrown in an instant by the Magic-weavers. Believe me, the sight of any Forlish in the city will rock Dokuzen to its core.’

‘We must talk to the Council tomorrow. Sendatsu, will you stay and address them? Your status as Jaken’s son commands respect,’ Retsu suggested.

‘No, he needs to return. We can speak to the Council ourselves. Having Sendatsu there will confuse things,’ Asami said swiftly.

Sendatsu gave a short laugh. ‘Well, I can see we have worn out our welcome,’ he told Rhiannon. ‘We had best return to Vales. Let us know if you need us to come and save your lives once more.’

Rhiannon grabbed his arm. ‘Wait — now is not the time to go. We need to work together to stop Sumiko —’

‘Now is the perfect time to go,’ Sendatsu said bitterly.

‘Thank you for our lives,’ Retsu said into the awkward silence. ‘Should you not wait until the priest gets here, at least?’

No sooner had he spoken than Father Hiroka, accompanied by a pair of Council Guards, hurried out of the house and into the garden.

‘We need to go, before they see you do magic.’ Sendatsu pushed Rhiannon towards the oak tree.

Asami waited until his back was turned before wiping away the tears. She looked up to see Rhiannon watching her but Sendatsu was still hustling her towards the tree.

‘Quick!’ he insisted.

Asami agreed with him. She could not hold on much longer.

‘Does it hurt?’ Retsu asked sympathetically.

‘All the way to my heart,’ Asami sobbed.

Rhiannon opened the gateway and Sendatsu stepped through, going from the warmth of Dokuzen to the chill of Vales in an instant. He took a few steps away from the tree, absently noting there seemed to be several torches burning around it. Had Huw followed them?

He turned to mention this to Rhiannon, only to hear her gasp and see her sprawl on the ground in front of the tree. For a moment he was bewildered, then a figure stepped out from behind the trunk, dropping the branch it had used to strike Rhiannon down.

‘Hello, brother,’ Gaibun said, drawing his sword.

‘Why do we do this?’ Ruttyn asked.

‘Because the king pays us? Because it is our duty?’ Caelin offered.

‘Because otherwise we’d be sitting at home and listening to the wife’s mother whine at me?’ Harald suggested.

Ruttyn sighed. ‘No, why are we the ones always chosen? Does the king have a list of soldiers he wants to see dead before Midwinter? Did we dig the wrong latrine and the king fell head-first into the shit? It’s not like we’re any good. Harald and I are still useless as scouts and the sarge hasn’t stood in the battleline more than once. If we’re the hope of Forland, then the stars above know the country’s in trouble.’

‘We’re chosen because we keep surviving, and they think we are somehow lucky. And being lucky is better than being good.’ Caelin shrugged.

‘So a nice, painful death would have solved all our problems moons ago?’

‘Exactly. A turn of the hourglass filled with agony as your insides slowly dripped out and you’d be happily avoiding all this.’ Caelin nodded.

‘Well, that makes me feel much better,’ Harald sighed.

‘This is not a death sentence. The elves won’t be expecting us and we’ll be surrounded by the best fighters Captain Wulf has. By the time the elves have woken up to what we’re doing, we’ll have the hostages and be out of there. Then it’s back here for easy duty and to be hailed by everyone as heroes. Think about that. Your wife’s mother will be proud of you, while every maiden in Forland will go weak at the knees as soon as you walk past.’

‘Oh great, tell me that now!’ Harald growled. ‘I can have my pick of any woman in Forland and I’ve already chosen the one with a bad-tempered bulldog for a mother!’

Their laughter died when they saw Captain Edmund approach their fire.

‘Are you ready, lads?’ he asked softly.

‘Of course, sir,’ Caelin answered, before either of the other two could say something else.

‘Get some food into you. We march in one turn of the hourglass. The elven traitor needs to use an oak tree to send us into Dokuzen and the nearest is two miles away.’

Caelin nodded. ‘We’ll be there.’

‘Gaibun? What are you doing here? And why in Aroaril’s name did you hit Rhiannon?’ Sendatsu stared blankly at his friend.

‘This is just between us. Wouldn’t want your human lover to come to your aid,’ Gaibun said slowly. ‘Draw your sword.’

‘Why?’ Sendatsu’s mind was still filled with Asami and how she had turned away from him a second time. ‘Who’s after us?’

Gaibun laughed harshly. ‘You really are a fool. What does Asami see in you? Well, when I bring her your head, she might just tell me.’

Something in his voice penetrated through the fog of despair filling Sendatsu’s mind.

‘What are you talking about?’ he snapped.

‘I shall spell it out for someone as stupid as you. This is the end of it all, brother. I have learned the truth and now you will pay for all the deceptions. Asami will be mine, at last!’

Sendatsu could hear the pain and anger in Gaibun’s voice but was no closer to understanding why. ‘Gaibun, are you possessed? Have you suffered a blow to the head? I have just come from Asami —’

‘I know!’ Gaibun roared and leaped forwards, sword slashing at Sendatsu’s neck.

Instinct took over and Sendatsu’s sword sprang into his hand. He blocked with a ringing clash of steel. Gaibun’s pace took him past Sendatsu and they spun to face each other.

‘Brother, I don’t know what this is about —’

‘Asami and your lies!’ Gaibun raced into the attack.

Sendatsu had no time and barely any breath to reply. They had fought together hundreds of times over the years — they knew each other’s styles almost as well as they knew their own. Their skills were almost equal: Gaibun was a touch stronger; Sendatsu a touch faster. Speed had beaten strength so many times before that Sendatsu had always gone into a fight with Gaibun knowing he was going to win. This time, for the first time, he doubted it.

Then again, he was not trying to hurt Gaibun, for he needed answers. Twice he ignored a chance to get in a wounding thrust. The rest of the time he struggled to survive, even though he knew Gaibun was holding nothing back.