A Man Rides Through (58 page)

Prince Kragen was waiting for them. They caught him in the act of pacing back and forth across the open area among the luxurious tents.

He was dressed in his ceremonial garb: a black silk doublet and pantaloons covered by a brass breastplate with a high polish; a sword in a gleaming brass scabbard on his hip; a spiked brass helmet on his curling hair. The sheen of the metal emphasized his swarthy skin; it made his black eyes glitter and his moustache shine. And his impatience only increased the self-assertion of his bearing, emphasizing his habit of command.

Three horses were held ready beyond the tents. They, too, were dressed for show, with satin and silk streaming from their saddles and tack, gilt cords knotted into their manes and tails. Around them, an honor guard was already mounted: ten men to carry the Prince's pennon, and his dignity.

Terisa didn't see Elega anywhere.

Prince Kragen nodded to Geraden, bowed to Terisa. In a tightly reined voice, he explained, "The lady Elega sends her goodwill to you—and to her father—but she cannot bid you farewell. She has already been placed under guard. The Alend Monarch intends to assure that no mistakes are made with us, and the lady Elega is his only means to that end. Even I do not know where she is held. Therefore I cannot enable the King's men—or his Imagers—to find her."

Terisa swallowed hard. The sun was up, but it didn't seem to be enjoying its work. The light over the encampment and against the walls of Orison was thin, unconvincing; the air had a cold taste, more like a residue of winter than a part of spring. The castle's battlements looked bleak, as if they had been abandoned. If anything happened to her and Geraden there—but especially if anything happened to Prince Kragen—Elega would be in serious trouble.

"My lord Prince"—Geraden changed the subject awkwardly—"you must have heard about the mirror that attacked the Perdon. If he didn't tell you about it himself, surely Elega did?"

"Yes." A subtle shift in his expression suggested that Prince Kragen was glad to discuss something other than Elega. "But I must confess that I am baffled. Our siege engines have no approach to the gates, except along the road. Our rams must pass through the Image which struck at the Perdon. Yet nothing has been translated against us.

"You have told me that Master Eremis is in league with Cadwal to destroy Mordant—and Alend as well. For that reason, his power has been used to defend Orison against us. Yet we are now within hours—within a day at most—of breaking down the gates, and he has done nothing to hinder us."

Breaking down the gates. Terisa's stomach twisted. So it was now or never. If she and Geraden couldn't get King Joyse to accept an alliance, Orison would fall almost immediately.

The muscles along Geraden's jaw bunched; but if he was worried about Orison's vulnerability to Prince Kragen he didn't admit it. "He probably hasn't given you trouble," he said, "because you haven't been attacking very hard. If you're about to break in, and he still isn't using Imagery, I'd guess his trap is just about ready to spring."

Prince Kragen nodded darkly. Without a word, he beckoned for the horses and his honor guard.

In a moment, Terisa found herself being offered a charger so big that she couldn't see over its back. Oh, shit, she muttered to herself. That was one thing she had learned in Mordant, anyway: after some practice, she was now able to say
oh, shit
without sounding like she expected to have her mouth washed out with soap. If she fell off that beast, she might take days to hit the ground.

Unfortunately, Prince Kragen had already mounted; Geraden was swinging up into the saddle of his horse. This probably wouldn't be a good time to ask for something smaller.

Somehow, she climbed onto the charger's back.

The reins carried so many streamers that they looked like the lines of a maypole. She was afraid to move them: they might make her horse shy. But Prince Kragen and Geraden weren't having any trouble. Apparently, these beasts were trained for ceremonial occasions. Nothing embarrassing happened as she guided her mount to Geraden's side.

"Simply as a precaution," the Prince announced, "we will avoid the road. We will ride to the walls directly, and around them to the gates."

Geraden seemed to think that made sense.

Prince Kragen nodded to his honor guard. His standard-bearer raised the green-and-red pennon of Alend, then affixed a flag of truce below it. The soldiers took their formal positions around their Prince and his companions.

In formation, the riders left the encampment.

The charger's strides made the distance shorter than it had any right to be. Before she had time to accustom herself to the beast's gait, Terisa found herself moving into what looked like arrow-range of the castle. She could see men on the walls now, watching, pointing; some of them hurried from place to place. She tried to stifle the fear that they would ignore the flag of truce and start firing, but it refused to go away.

Luckily, there was still some common sense left in Orison. None of the men on the battlements bent their bows. None of them made any threatening gestures.

Instead, the castle's trumpeter winded his horn, sending a forlorn call like a wail of defiance into the skeptical sunlight. As the riders rounded the corner of Orison and neared the entrance, they heard the great winches squeal against the strain of raising the battered and deformed gates up into the architrave.

Terisa felt nothing to indicate that a translation had ever taken place near here.

In formation, Prince Kragen and his company crossed the bare ground to the road in front of the gates.

Castellan Lebbick and ten of his men came out on horseback to meet them.

Seeing the Castellan filled Terisa's stomach with a watery panic. His men were nervous; the horses fretted because they hadn't had enough exercise. In contrast, he looked too obsessed and single-minded for nervousness. His eyes were red and raw, dangerously aggrieved; he moved as if the violence coiled in his muscles might burst out at any moment. His features were sharp with anticipation—almost with yearning.

"My lord Prince." He bared his teeth: maybe he was trying to smile. "You've got strange friends. A fratricide and a traitor. I never thought I was going to see either of
them
again."

"Castellan Lebbick." Prince Kragen lacked Lebbick's air of madness, but he matched the Castellan's tone. "Geraden and the lady Terisa accompany me under a flag of truce. I have no interest in your opinion of them. You will respect the flag."

"Oh, of course. They're as safe as babies. Especially since they're with
you.
You're the man who intends to break down my gates. I wouldn't lift a finger against any of you."

Prince Kragen clenched his jaws. Before he could speak, however, Geraden said hotly, "Castellan, I didn't kill my brother." His face was flushed; anger glinted from his eyes. Hints of authority echoed in his voice. "Terisa isn't a traitor. It's time for you to start believing us. You're doomed if you don't."

The Castellan actually laughed—a rough sound like a piece of stone being crushed. "Believe you?
I
believe you. I don't need you to tell me I'm doomed. That's not the problem."

Prince Kragen contained himself. "What
is
the problem, Castellan?"

"The problem, my lord Prince," retorted Lebbick fiercely, "is that I'm the only one. Nobody else here cares enough. Nobody else is
desperate
enough."

Terisa recoiled from his vehemence. She didn't want to know what he was talking about: she wanted to get away from him. Geraden leaned forward in his saddle, however; he was almost panting. "Did I hear you right, Castellan?" he demanded. "Did I just hear you admit Terisa and I are innocent?"

"No." The Castellan bared his teeth again. "You heard me say I believe you. They all think I'm insane. If I said the sun is shining today, the people in there"—he indicated Orison with a twitch of his head—"would run to get out of the rain.

"Nobody cares what a crazy man believes. Besides"—he shrugged maliciously—"I might be wrong."

"Castellan Lebbick." Prince Kragen spoke harshly, trying to gain control of the situation. "We will discuss the question of your sanity at another time. As you may guess, Geraden and the lady Terisa have traveled widely since they departed Orison. They bring news. I must have an audience with King Joyse."

"An audience?" Lebbick snapped back at once, "you? The Alend Contender? Any news you want King Joyse to hear is either false or dangerous. They're going to scream for your heart's blood when I let you in. Of course you can have an audience."

Wheeling his horse as if the matter were settled, he faced his men. Counting off four of them, he ordered, "Tell King Joyse. I'm going to take Kragen and these two to the hall of audiences. Tell him there are going to be riots unless he backs me up. We'll have to kill people to keep the Prince and his friends alive if King Joyse doesn't come to the hall."

At once, Prince Kragen put in grimly, "And tell him also that the lady Elega is being kept hostage. Until now, she has been an honored guest and friend of the Alend Monarch. To ensure my safety, however, she has been deprived of her freedom." He spoke as if he intended to make someone pay for the necessity which compelled him to let Elega be used in this way. "If any harm comes to me, or to my companions, she will be hurt as well.

'Tell King Joyse
that."

"Oh, of course, my lord Prince," the Castellan grated without looking at Kragen. "I burn to do everything you command. My men will keep you alive. Somehow."

His four guards rode back into the courtyard. Terisa saw them dismount, saw them head at a run for one of the inner doorways.

"Come on," added Lebbick. He might have been speaking to the wall stretching high above his head over the gates. "Or ride back to Margonal and admit you haven't got the bare courage to do whatever it is you've got in mind."

With his remaining men, he reentered the mouth of Orison.

Prince Kragen stared at the Castellan's back. He made no effort to lower his voice. "That man has lost his mind."

Still aching inside, Terisa murmured, "King Joyse cut the ground out from under him. His wife died, and he didn't have anything else to live for except his loyalty, and the King made him look like a fool for being loyal."

"A pitiful tale," rasped the Prince. Obviously, he had no patience for Lebbick's problems. "Sadly, it does not tell us whether or not he can be trusted. Will he not have us killed as soon as we cross that threshold?"

"Suit yourself." Abruptly, Geraden jerked up his charger's head. "I trust him. I'm going in."

Breaking formation, he started for the gates.

Prince Kragen swore at him, ordered him back. Terisa was already following him, however, urging her mount almost onto his horse's heels. The Prince and his guard had no choice but to enter Orison behind Geraden and Terisa.

As she passed through the thick stone wall into the protected rectangle of the courtyard, her pulse went up a beat. In spite of her numerous anxieties—or perhaps because of them—she had the strange sensation that she was coming home.

The interior faces of the castle loomed above her, crowded with spectators, punctuated with clotheslines. Castellan Lebbick had dismounted in the mud. When the Alend party approached him, he saluted with withering sarcasm. At once, his guards took the heads of the horses and held them so that Prince Kragen and his people could dismount in an orderly fashion.

Pulling her leg hesitantly off the back of the charger, Terisa found herself caught and lifted down in Artagel's grasp.

He embraced her as if she were dear to him.

"Artagel!" He had hurt her once, badly. On the other hand, he was Geraden's brother; she knew most of his family. And his hug was as eloquent as an apology. Instinctively, she flung her arms around his neck.

After a moment, he pushed her away and gave her a lopsided, rather embarrassed grin. "Be careful, my lady." He rolled his eyes at Geraden. "We don't want to make him jealous."

"Artagel."
Geraden practically jumped on his brother; he grabbed Artagel, shook him, hugged him, thumped his back. "How are you, how's your side, are you all right, what's going on here, what's the matter with Lebbick?" Geraden's face shone with joy. "Do you realize how long it's been since I saw you
well?
I can tell you, the Domne had some stern things to say about letting yourself get hurt like that."