Wall of Spears (25 page)

‘Should we take them now, Father? They are at our mercy,’ Wilfrid muttered.

Ward waved him away. ‘We have seen their magic. We would be the ones killed.’

‘We have to fight them. We cannot become slaves to her!’ Edmund hissed.

‘We have a strong position here, Father. They want us to give up because they are afraid of us!’ Wilfrid said.

Ward held up his hand and walked out of the tent to watch the small party of elves ride away.

‘What did their magic do to our men in Dokuzen?’ he asked Edmund.

‘They burned men alive in their armour, set birds and insects on them, used tree branches as spears — they used anything and everything you can think of against us,’ Edmund said.

‘That’s what I thought,’ Ward said. ‘If we stay here, they will destroy us. We shall pull back now. They might have all the magic in the world but they can’t match our men for marching.’

‘But they will follow,’ Edmund warned.

‘We need to buy some time,’ Ward said. ‘Wilfrid, you need to ride south as fast as you can and bring up the elven prisoners we took. If we free them and turn them over to the elves, things might change.’

‘Get them to fight Sumiko?’ Edmund asked.

Ward scratched his chin. ‘That is my hope,’ he said. ‘We are going to have to fight the elves for mastery of these lands. Submit to them? Be their slave? They do not know men. We shall never fall that low. But I want to weaken them first. No matter what, we will suffer greatly but victory will unlock a new age for Forland.’

He looked back at their careful work, all wasted now.

‘Come, we have no time. We must break camp and get the men moving. Wilfrid, get those prisoners back here as fast as you can. Go!’

Rhiannon reached up and the crossbow bolts flew in all directions, striking sparks off the cobbles or bouncing off the walls. The cart raced on, its occupants and the donkeys all untouched as they tore through the gate, making a handful of merchants leap for safety.

‘Get back to the tree as fast as you can. There will be more cavalry racing out of the castle at any moment,’ Sendatsu called.

Rhiannon needed no encouragement, urging the donkeys along the path they had followed earlier. Flocks and herds scattered and merchants and farmers leaped for their lives, staring in astonishment at the racing cart.

They rattled into the trees, Rhiannon allowing the exhausted donkeys to stop beside the oak tree they had arrived through.

As they clambered down from the cart, Sendatsu swore he could see the gasping donkeys looking at each other in disbelief at what they had done.

‘Can we keep them? They’re the best!’ Mai said excitedly.

‘I think they need a rest now,’ Sendatsu said carefully.

‘Asami, how much have you got left? Those crossbow bolts were the last straw for me. I’m almost out,’ Rhiannon said shakily, cramming food into her mouth the moment she finished speaking.

Sendatsu helped Asami down from the cart as she almost fell.

‘I don’t think I can open a gateway. Not without resting first,’ Asami replied.

‘We don’t have time to rest. There would be cavalry pounding down from the castle as we speak. It’s a matter of moments before they start searching for us — and there’s about five hundred people who can point them in the right direction,’ Huw said.

‘Maybe we should use the cart to get further away, find a place we can hide and rest?’ Noriko suggested.

They all turned to look at the donkeys, who were panting like dogs in the midday sun, down on their knees, steaming with sweat. A moment later the cart fell to pieces, chunks of wood raining down on the ground.

‘A gateway it is then,’ Noriko spoke for all of them.

‘It’s easy. All we have to do is channel our power, use whatever we have to give energy back to Rhiannon and then she can open the gateway for us,’ Sendatsu said.

Ichiro whirled around. ‘Sendatsu, I’m sure it is just the strain of what we have been through, but I could have sworn you just said we need to help this human so she can use a magic gateway — something none of us apart from Asami can manage.’

‘That’s right.’ Sendatsu walked over to Rhiannon and placed his hands on her arm. ‘Asami showed us how to do this. Give a little of your energy to her this way.’

‘But humans cannot be that powerful. This one might have a little magic but she cannot be better than us,’ Retsu said.

‘Yes, they can. Trust me. How else did you think we managed to escape?’

‘Well, I assumed Asami was doing it, especially when you asked us all to help her,’ Ichiro said.

‘She did help, but Rhiannon was the one moving the cart,’ Sendatsu said.

‘But humans cannot be more powerful than elves at magic!’ Retsu repeated.

Sendatsu turned on them all. ‘We are all humans. That is what I discovered, what Sumiko seeks to hide and why I left Dokuzen. There is no such thing as elves. All of us in these lands have the potential to use magic, although only some have the ability, as it is in Dokuzen. Rhiannon has as much magic as Asami.’

‘It is true,’ Asami added.

‘That is not what the histories tell us,’ Ichiro objected.

‘What you have been told is a lie. I can show you the truth,’ Sendatsu promised. ‘But perhaps later, when we are safe?’

Horns sounded from the city and they saw dozens of cavalry pouring out of the gate and spreading in all directions.

‘Later it is then,’ Retsu said.

He and the clan leaders hurried over to Rhiannon, placing hands on her arms, helping her pale face return to a normal colour.

‘Get through fast. We’ll be coming out in Vales, so don’t be surprised if you don’t recognise the area,’ she told them, then thrust an oaken staff into the heart of the tree.

Sendatsu glanced over his shoulder to see the cavalry heading in their direction, being spurred on by the pointing fingers of a score of traders.

The clan leaders hurried through, followed by Asami and Huw.

‘Get going. I’ll keep an eye on Rhiannon.’ Gaibun pushed him forwards. ‘I still owe you a life.’

‘Now is not the time to repay it,’ Sendatsu told him.

‘I intend to owe you for another fifty years.’ Gaibun winked.

Sendatsu gathered up his children and stepped through into the clearing near Patcham. He stepped away automatically, allowing Cadel, Bowen and Gaibun to follow and then, after a nervous few heartbeats, Rhiannon emerged, falling to her knees, gasping for breath.

‘Get some food into her,’ Asami urged.

Huw jumped to obey and Rhiannon looked up at them with a smile.

‘I’d rather not do that again for a few days,’ she said tiredly.

‘Good. It will give us a chance to learn the truth,’ Retsu said. ‘I was there when Sumiko challenged the human in the Council Chamber but thought it more of Sumiko’s posturing. Now I know different.’

‘Everything you thought you knew about humans and elves is wrong. While we wait for Rhiannon to recover, I shall show you,’ Sendatsu promised.

‘And what then?’

‘Then we go to see my father and take back Dokuzen from Sumiko. My father is not fit to rule any more and the Council must replace him with Lord Retsu,’ Sendatsu said.

The clan leaders looked around at each other.

‘You are right. We shall do as you say,’ Ichiro said.

Sendatsu looked at Huw and Rhiannon and smiled. Then he looked at Asami and Gaibun and his smile faded. Sorting this out was going to be more difficult than persuading the clan leaders that humans were their equals.

Ward was proud of his men. They were marching almost thirty miles a day, day after day, without complaining, while carrying a heavy load of weapons and food. It had taken moons of training before his men were able to march so hard and fast and still arrive with enough energy to fight at the end. It was a weapon he had used, time and again, in his campaigns against the southern nations. The soldiers stopped briefly at noon, and ate and drank like madmen when the order to halt for the day was given but, for the rest of the time, they marched, kept in line by the loud-voiced sergeants.

Yet they could not keep doing it for long. More than ten days and they would be dropping like flies, muscles and tendons just giving way. The retreat was being screened by his cavalry, who were watching the elvish advance carefully — the elves were chasing them but not catching them. Anywhere around here was going to be fine for a battle. All he wanted was open ground for his cavalry and as few plants as possible for the elves to use against him.

But he needed the elven prisoners first and he alternated between cursing Wilfrid for his slowness and hoping for his return. When Wilfrid and the castellan were sighted, he rode to the front of the march to see them. But his relief at Wilfrid’s reappearance was swiftly washed away by concern when he could not spot a single carriage.

‘Where are the prisoners?’ Ward growled.

‘Perhaps a little further back. This could be his advance guard,’ Edmund suggested.

‘No, something does not feel right,’ Ward said, then cursed angrily.

‘What is it, sire?’

‘My wife is with them as well.’

The group rode up swiftly, and even the tired soldiers looked up from the misery of their march to see what was happening.

Ward and Edmund moved out from the line, so the soldiers could not hear what was being said, and waited impatiently.

Wilfrid hung back a little, his face ashen, staying beside Mildrith, but she forced him to come forwards and kneel before Ward while the castellan, who looked even paler than Wilfrid, rushed to join them, dropping to his knees.

‘What are you doing here? Where are the prisoners?’ Ward asked harshly.

Wilfrid and the castellan seemed incapable of speech but Mildrith looked him in the face, her eyes shining.

‘They are gone, my lord,’ she replied hoarsely. ‘They were rescued by a group of elves and Velsh, using magic. And our son Uffa was killed in the confusion. Shot in the head by one of our own crossbowmen by mistake.’

Ward was incapable of speech. Prisoners gone? Uffa dead? While he had been counting on the prisoners to save his army and country, he found himself dwelling on the second fact. It was strange indeed. He had counselled Edmund to kill his wife and sons after his death to secure the throne, and it had been good advice. He had meant it then. But now there was a voice screaming at the back of his mind. He had achieved so much yet had failed as a father. Neither of his sons were the men he wanted them to be. Now Uffa would never get the chance to learn to be a man. The pain of that prevented him from thinking how he was going to stop the elves.

‘How could the prisoners escape?’ Edmund asked into the painful silence.

‘They had help,’ the castellan answered. ‘Those two performers of the king’s, who disappeared a few moons ago from the castle — Hugh of Browns Brook and Rhiannon of Hamtun — they were helping them get in and out of the castle. One of my guards recognised them. They used the servant passageways to move around and the nightsoil gate to get in and out. They used magic to get past my men — crossbow bolts bounced away from them, swords and spears could not hurt them.’

Ward came back from thoughts of Uffa with the castellan’s words.

‘But how did they know where the prisoners were being kept?’ he asked roughly. ‘Knowing how to get into my castle is one thing — finding groups of prisoners among hundreds of rooms is another.’

A terrible silence fell again, then Mildrith looked up at him, tears running down her face but her mouth set in a strong line.

‘They had more help. Uffa and I showed them where the prisoners were being kept.’

‘You did what?’ Ward asked. He kept his fury in check. He had to know everything before he acted.

‘They came to me and explained what was happening,’ Mildrith said in a rush, the words spilling out of her. ‘There is a fight among the elves. They have tricked you and intend to betray you. Your attack on Dokuzen allowed the traitor to gain power and she plots to rule us all. The Elven Council was their only hope to stop her. They intend to take them back to Dokuzen and use them to save us all. There was no time to tell you, nor to explain to the castellan, only time to act.’

Ward noticed the castellan was glaring furiously at Mildrith but that was unimportant. He would never have believed it if he had not heard the other half of the tale from the traitor Sumiko herself. His mind darted through her words, searching for lies, as well as any hidden truths.

‘Why did they come to you? Why did they not come to me, or the castellan, with this news?’ he rasped.

‘Because I had already written to them, telling them of your plans and saying I was willing to help them stop you seizing the elven secrets.’

Ward’s voice was the calm before the storm. ‘Why?’

‘Because it was the only way to save our sons. I know you. You were looking to give the throne to Edmund. And we would have been too great a threat to his rule if we were still alive. I know you would have advised him to kill us. But if you were thwarted here, then we might have a chance. This was my idea, not theirs. I made Uffa help me and he has already paid the ultimate price. If there is any punishment for this, then let it fall on my head, not on Wilfrid’s, your guards’ or your castellan’s.’

Despite his bubbling fury, Ward was impressed, both by the way she spoke and the words she said. Their conversations over the last few years had usually either been shouting or screeching; honesty like this had been rare. But, while she did have a point, her actions had put the entire country, maybe even all human lands, in the hands of the elves.

‘The traitor has indeed turned on us and marches not a day behind, looking to destroy us with magic and their bows,’ Ward said grimly. ‘They want you and me as slaves, our people to work for them. I wanted to use those prisoners to overthrow the traitor and secure a deal with Dokuzen.’

‘That is what the Velsh wanted as well. If they succeed, then we have lost nothing,’ Mildrith suggested, both her voice and her face showing she hoped she had escaped punishment for her betrayal.

‘Don’t be a fool!’ Ward roared and they all recoiled from him. ‘Do you think the Velsh hold any love for me, or Forland? We have burned their villages, killed their men and raped their women. If they make a deal with the elves, it will not be to the benefit of Forland! We had our own destiny in our hands and you threw it away! Do you want to tell me why I shouldn’t have you killed here and now?’

Mildrith refused to look away from him, even in his anger. He reluctantly approved of that.

‘Because the Velsh leaders trust me now, and owe me a debt because of Uffa,’ she said. ‘Kill me and your last chance dies. You need me, because now you need the Velsh. That girl Rhiannon has magic — I saw it myself. You want to fight the elves? The Velsh are the key. And I am the key to the Velsh.’

Ward hated the fact she was right. But how was he going to contact the Velsh and make a deal when the elves were breathing down his neck?

‘You will live. For now. But you live with the knowledge that Uffa’s death is your fault,’ he said brutally.

‘I know that. And there is nothing you can do to me that is worse punishment,’ she told him.

Again, he felt a sneaky admiration for her amid his anger.

‘The prisoners must have escaped two days ago now. But the elven army is still hard on our heels. If your friends planned to use the prisoners to overthrow the traitor, why has nothing happened? What are the Velsh doing with them?’ Edmund asked.

‘Good questions. Mildrith, you need to prove you are indeed the key to the Velsh. Send them a message. We have to know what is happening with those prisoners.’

‘This is the truth. This is what really happened.’ Sendatsu showed the clan leaders into the wrecked Velsh church, pointing out the unmistakeable Aroaril stone. ‘You can see this is not elvish work. You can also see where it was burned by the usurper from clan Kaneoki, when he massacred all remaining humans who had magic.’

He watched their reactions carefully. These elves, with the exception of Retsu, had either been allies of his father or handpicked by his father to rule their clans. As such, they all had similar ideas to Jaken. They had been disgusted with the village of Patcham and the huts they were given to stay in, although Sendatsu had tried to ensure that they were at least given food they would recognise. But there was no question of taking them straight to confront Sumiko with Asami sick and Rhiannon exhausted. Instead, he had tried to use the time as best he could, showing them not just Rhiannon but Bevan, Cedrik and the other Velsh they had found with magic. Every day a handful of Velsh who had dreamed of dragons as children arrived and each time, one or two of them were showing some sort of magical ability.

Once the clan leaders were shaken from their complacency by seeing not just one human but dozens performing magic, he had let them read the book written by the old Sendatsu, the first Elder Elf of Dokuzen.

This was the final piece in the puzzle. He had brought them here thanks to Bevan and Cedrik and now they were seeing the evidence of Aroaril worship and a massacre of humans.

‘I feel as if my eyes have been opened,’ Retsu admitted. ‘I did not want to believe this. I knew, deep in my heart, that I was an elf and superior to humans. But seeing so many of them using magic at a level I cannot reach, an ancient church to Aroaril and then the explanation for all the lies we think are true — I have to believe it. We are Elfarans and guilty of stealing magic from the other humans in these lands.’

‘We are still different from them. You cannot say we are the same. They do not know how to live like we do, cannot build in stone or take care of themselves as we do,’ one clan leader pointed out.

‘Because we took that knowledge from them! They can do anything we can and, often, do it better,’ Sendatsu said immediately. ‘As for building in stone — what about the castle at Cridianton?’

‘We would not build it like that,’ the clan leader argued.

‘Of course not. But it does not make our way better.’

‘We have to understand how to live with the lands around us,’ Retsu said. ‘We cannot be like Jaken and imagine the world will change to fit our view of it — we must change to become part of it. I understand that now.’

‘You will help return magic and Aroaril to the other countries?’ Ichiro asked.

‘Yes, I will. And I want your help in doing so. We have seen the truth with our own eyes but the people have not. Many will not understand; most will not want to destroy the barrier of lies we have built around ourselves. As clan leaders, we have to work hard to make them realise what is in front of their own faces. If just one of us is whispering that we are still elves, we are better than everyone else in these lands, that job will be impossible.’

‘There are people who will not want to hear the truth and want to replace us with others who say what they desire to hear,’ Ichiro warned.

‘I did not say this would be easy. But we have to try.’

Sendatsu nodded to Huw, who had been chatting to Cedrik but conspicuously ignoring Bevan.

‘The Velsh will do whatever we can to make things easier for you. And you will be in a strong position to force a deal on the Forlish. They do not have magic as yet,’ Huw said.

‘Don’t worry. I am well aware of the danger presented by the Forlish,’ Retsu said grimly. ‘And we shall be using our powers to make these lands better. I will make sure the Velsh sacrifice to save Dokuzen from the Forlish is not forgotten. Thanks to Sumiko you did not receive your rewards. That will happen now.’

‘I have a feeling you will be a great leader of the elves,’ Huw said with a smile.

They shook hands and then Huw moved off to talk to the other leaders.

Retsu reached out to grasp Sendatsu’s shoulder.

‘You have served Dokuzen well,’ he said. ‘I must admit, at times I thought you were a fool, and even a dangerous fool. Twice now when you left Dokuzen, I offered up a little prayer of thanks that you were out of our lives. But I was wrong. Without you, none of this would be possible.’

‘It took me a while to understand what I needed to do,’ Sendatsu said awkwardly.

‘Better late than never!’ Retsu cleared his throat and straightened his back. ‘Talking of that, I want you to know that I shall set aside my wife when we return to Dokuzen. I read the true reason why the clan leaders arranged marriages, how it was to make sure that there was no inter-breeding in the early years. Now, of course, it is done purely for political and monetary advantage. With the help of the new archbishop, I shall set aside all such political marriages and let the people choose. I hope your mother will choose me.’

Sendatsu looked at him, his heart beating faster. ‘And what if Asami does not choose Gaibun?’

Retsu grimaced. ‘I know things are strange between my son, Asami and you. But I cannot make myself happy and then force unhappiness on others. I will let everyone decide whether they want to stay married or choose another.’

‘You will please and outrage Dokuzen equally,’ Sendatsu observed.

‘Perhaps, but it is the right thing to do. We have many such decisions to make and I will not shirk from them.’

‘I will do anything I can to help.’

‘Good. I expected no less of the new Sendatsu. And the first act must be to get rid of Sumiko.’