A Man Rides Through (44 page)

While Geraden and the lord spoke, she drank her wine, ate the food placed in front of her, and did a little calculating backward. That brought her to the unexpected realization that thirteen days had passed,
thirteen,
since her translation from Orison. In thirteen days, anything could have happened, anything at all. Prince Kragen could have taken the castle—and the Congery. High King Festten could have taken the castle and the Congery
and
Prince Kragen. On the other hand, Castellan Lebbick could have stuck a quiet knife in Master Eremis' back.

"The problem is," she put in when Geraden paused, "we've been away from Orison too long." Abruptly, she became the focus of attention. Swallowing a rush of self-consciousness, she forced herself to say, "Thirteen days for me. Fourteen for him.

"We don't have any way of knowing what's happened in the meantime."

"So perhaps," the Fayle murmured slowly, "this strange
policy
of the King's has already come to its crisis. Perhaps he is already victorious. Or perhaps he has already been defeated and killed."

"We can't know," she agreed. "All we have to go on is that when we left Orison Eremis was still working hard to look innocent. And since then he's been working hard to get us killed. He's still afraid we can hurt him somehow." She shrugged. "It isn't much. But as long as he's afraid of us, we have something to hope for."

"That's something else we might be able to do if we had a mirror," Geraden added. "Get an Image of Orison. See what's going on."

The Fayle faced Geraden acutely. He looked at Terisa, searched her. After a moment, he spread his hands. The gesture was small, but it seemed full of resignation.

"I have no glass, and no way to make it. I have no Imagers—what use do I have for mirrors? Every product or tool of Imagery which has ever been found in the Care of Fayle, I have given to King Joyse and Adept Havelock."

By degrees, his gaze drifted away toward the fire. "Without Imagers, my Care is helpless against these ghouls. You have been away from Orison for thirteen or fourteen days. I have not seen Romish since the day I returned from Master Eremis' meeting. I have been in the saddle, in the villages of my Care—fighting—"

Terisa had never heard him sound so old.

"I cannot win this struggle. In the end, I must fail." He wasn't looking at his men. His men didn't look at him. None of them contradicted him. "You saw that I have failed Aperyte. It is only one among many villages dead, gutted—

"These ghouls are too many. I have hardly enough trained horsemen for four bands such as this one. I must fail."

"Then, my lord," Geraden said softly, formally, hinting at authority, "fight another way. Gather your men. Strike at Eremis in Esmerel. While any hope at all remains."

The old lord studied the heart of the fire. His erect posture didn't shift, didn't sag, but his hands hung between his knees as if they were useless. After a while, he whispered, "No."

"My lord—" Geraden began.

"No," breathed the Fayle. "Joyse is my King—and the husband of my daughter. I love him. I do not understand this
policy.
I do not like it. Yet I love him.

"But he has
never"
—one hand came up into a fist, fell again— "in all his years of warfare against Cadwal and Alend and Imagery, he has
never
asked a lord for aid when that lord's Care was under attack. He came to
me,
freed
my
people. He did not ask me for any help until my Care was safe.

"He will not ask me now. He has no wish to break my heart."

Geraden tried again. "My lord—

"No." The Fayle didn't sound angry: he sounded sad. "Today we saved Naybel. You were witness. Tomorrow—or in five days— or in
fifty
days"—now both hands were fists, beating the rhythm of his words against each other—"we will spring another trap, and it will succeed. People will live who would die if I left them to the mercy of these ghouls.

"Do you hear me, Geraden? Did your father ride away from his Care? Did the Termigan?

"I will not leave my people to die undefended."

"I understand, my lord." Geraden's voice was as soft and sad as the lord's, but there was no bitterness in it. "It doesn't matter how desperate King Joyse is. He wouldn't want you to abandon your own Care. He didn't create Mordant or the Congery because he was desperate. He created them because he believes the same things you do."

The Fayle stared into the fire, nodded several times. In a voice like a winter breeze, he sighed, "Thank you."

Geraden hesitated momentarily, then ventured to say, "Unfortunately, that doesn't change our problem. Is there anything you can do to help Terisa and me?"

With a shift of his head, the lord brought his blue gaze to Geraden's face. For an instant, Terisa thought he was angry. Then, however, she saw a suggestion of a smile touch his old mouth. "That is true, Geraden," he said. "My stubbornness does nothing to change your problem. You and the lady Terisa are Imagers, and the evil of Imagery must be met and answered by Imagers. That is your 'Care,' in a manner of speaking.

"I will give you supplies. If you need it, I will give you a map. And I will give you two men to ride with you as far as you choose— to Orison, even to Esmerel. They will be useless against Imagers, but they will know how to use their swords to guard your backs and clear your road."

Before Geraden could reply, Terisa asked, "Can they take us to the Queen?"

Geraden was surprised: apparently, he hadn't given much thought to Queen Madin. The Fayle raised an eyebrow; but this time his smile was plain. "A good thought, my lady," he murmured. "It would have come to me in a moment. My men can certainly take you to the Queen. She has a clear right to know what her husband has been doing." His smile faded at the memory. "After all, she has been deeply hurt by his
policy.
And it is possible that she may want to do something about it."

In response, Terisa swallowed hard and said, "Thanks. I appreciate that." The force of her relief took her aback. She had known that she wanted to meet the Queen, but she hadn't realized before just how terrible she would feel if she and Geraden came all this way and then left without taking the time to share what they knew with King Joyse's wife.

Geraden stared at her, but he didn't argue; he didn't say, That's a delay we don't need, a day we could spend better on the way to Orison. Luckily, his instinct to trust her was still intact. After a moment, he let the matter drop and concentrated on eating his supper.

Later that night, however, when she and Geraden were in their bedding together, a short distance away from the Fayle's men, he said under his breath, "I didn't know you wanted to meet Queen Madin. Or is it Torrent you're so interested in?"

Terisa didn't answer directly. After musing for a while, she murmured, "Do you remember what the Castellan said to Elega—the message he said King Joyse sent to her?" In case he didn't remember, she reminded him: '"I am sure that my daughter Elega has acted for the best reasons. She carries my pride with her wherever she goes. For her sake, as well as for my own, I hope that the best reasons will also produce the best results.'"

"Yes," returned Geraden. "It still doesn't make sense. It still doesn't fit with what Master Quillon told you."

"Wait a minute," she said to keep him quiet. "Do you remember that talk I had with Adept Havelock, while you and Artagel were on the other side of the pillar—after he rescued us from those insects?"

Obediently, Geraden nodded.

"He talked about Myste," she whispered, "and the Congery's champion. He said he had cast an augury about King Joyse, and one of the Images showed Myste and the champion together."

Obediently, Geraden didn't interrupt.

"I've always wondered why he told us that. If it wasn't just because he's crazy. And I've always wondered why King Joyse got so upset when I lied to him about Myste—when I said she went back to her mother. Why he was relieved when I told him I helped her go after the champion."

In silence, Geraden waited patiently. At last, he suggested, "Why don't you tell me what you think?"

"I think—" Terisa held her breath, then forged ahead. "I think there's more to King Joyse's plans than Master Quillon told us. I think his daughters are important—I think his whole family is important somehow. I think he wanted to throw Elega and Prince Kragen together. I think he wanted Myste to go after the champion."

"You think he wanted us to go talk to Queen Madin and Torrent? Isn't that a little farfetched? After all, he didn't know either one of us had any talent. There was no way he could have predicted we would ever be here."

That was true. And it made everything more dangerous. Nevertheless Terisa persisted. "I think," she said, "
I
want to go talk to Queen Madin and Torrent. Just in case." After a moment, she added, "He had reason to think we
might
have talent."

She could feel Geraden grinning in the dark. "My lady, you've got a remarkably subtle mind. Or indigestion—I can't figure out which."

She got a hand under his jerkin and poked him in the ribs until he apologized.

Then she poked him for apologizing.

With so many potential spectators nearby, she and Geraden actually got more sleep than usual. And the next day two of the Fayle's men guided them to Romish.

The lord's seat was situated on a fertile plain uncharacteristically—for this Care—devoid of trees. The land for a mile or two in each direction had been cleared to make room for the fields which fed the city. But Terisa saw no more of Romish itself than the earthwork wall around it. As Myste had said, Queen Madin and Torrent lived in a manor outside the city.

The manor, Vale House, which a former Cadwal prince had raised to shelter his poor relations while he ruled Fayle, was tucked into a fold among small hills perhaps half a mile upstream along the small Kolted River which provided most of the water for Romish and the fields. As a defensive position—Terisa surprised herself by thinking about such things—the location of Vale House left a lot to be desired: in full daylight, a rider could probably get within twenty yards of the building unnoticed. On the other hand, the House was so easily reached from Romish, and so stoutly constructed, that it was probably in no danger most of the time. Its walls were of stone—strong against ghouls—and the timbers of its doors were banded with iron.

Through the long dusk of the plain, the Fayle's men guided Terisa and Geraden among the hills to Vale House. They dismounted before the high doors. The Fayle's men told the emerging servants to fetch torches for light, grooms for the horses; also the lady Queen Madin. The windows of the House filled up with brightness as lamps and lanterns were lit inside. In a short time, a woman came across the porch to the steps with a blaze of illumination behind her, as regal as if she ruled the world.

The Fayle's men bowed and stepped back.

"My lady Queen." Geraden bowed as well, bending so low that he nearly fell over. There was a suggestion of tears in his voice. Madin was a sovereign to him, after all—and the wife of the King he loved. "It does my heart good to see you again."

"Geraden." Queen Madin's tone conveyed the immediate impression that she knew how to make up her mind. "This is quite a surprise. But a good one—so far." She didn't sound harsh, and certainly not cold; she only sounded quick to choose. Decisiveness was a power she wielded without noticing it. "I am glad to see a friendly face from home. And I will be glad to hear your news, whatever it is." A moment later, she added, "But if that old fool Joyse sent you here to plead his case, you can forget about it and go back. I will not have it."

"My lady Queen," repeated Geraden. He bowed again, this time to cover a smile. "This is the lady Terisa of Morgan."

"Ah." Queen Madin turned toward Terisa, but Terisa still couldn't see her face; dark against the glow from the house, her features were undecipherable. "The lady Terisa. My father mentioned you, after his return from Orison.