The Shining Ones (40 page)

‘All except for Kolata, your Majesty,’ Itagne noted. ‘His involvement almost had to have gone deeper than simple garden-variety political bickering, wouldn’t it?’

‘Kolata was a dupe, Itagne of Matherion,’ Xanetia corrected. ‘It was Teovin who was ever Zalasta’s man at court. It was to
him
that the one called Krager did bring Zalasta’s instruction, and Teovin did tell Kolata only so much as it was needful for him to know.’

‘This brings us to the coup-attempt,’ Ehlana said.
‘Krager told Sparhawk that it wasn’t intended to succeed – that it was only designed to force us to reveal our strengths and weaknesses. Was he actually telling the truth?’

‘In part, Majesty,’ Xanetia replied. ‘In the main, however, was Zalasta uncertain about the truth of Anakha’s declaration that he had cast Bhelliom into the sea. Sought he by raising rebellion in the streets of Matherion and endangering all whom Anakha held most dear to force him to reveal whether or no he still did possess the jewel.’

‘We played right into his hands by going after it, then, didn’t we?’ Khalad suggested.

‘I don’t think so,’ Sparhawk disagreed. ‘We’d never have found out about Bhelliom’s awareness if we’d left it where it was. That’s the thing that
nobody
knew about – except possibly Aphrael. Azash didn’t seem to know about it, and neither does Cyrgon. I doubt that either one would have been so interested in it if they’d known that it might resist their commands – even to the point of obliterating this world if necessary.’

‘All right,’ Khalad said. ‘Now we know what’s led up to all this. What happens next?’

‘That lieth in the future, Khalad of Demos,’ Xanetia replied, ‘and the future is concealed from all. Know, however, that our enemies are in disarray. Zalasta’s position as advisor to the imperial government was at the core of all their plans.’

‘How quickly will he be able to recover, Sephrenia?’ Ehlana asked. ‘You know him better than anyone. Will he be able to strike back immediately?’

‘Possibly,’ Sephrenia said, ‘but whatever he does won’t be very well thought out. Zalasta’s a Styric, and we don’t react well to surprises. He’ll flounder for a while – destroying mountains and setting lakes on fire – before he gets hold of himself.’

‘We should hit him again, then,’ Bevier observed. ‘We shouldn’t allow him to recover his balance.’

‘Here’s a thought,’ Sarabian said. ‘After we went through the secret files of the Interior Ministry, we decided to pick up only the top level of conspirators – the police chiefs and administrators in the various towns for the most part. We didn’t bother with the toadies and informers – largely because we didn’t have enough jail-space. The Interior Ministry was central to the whole conspiracy, I think, and now Zalasta and his friends will probably be forced to rely on the scrapings we left behind. If I send the Atans out to make a more thorough sweep, won’t that push Zalasta off balance all the more?’

‘Let him start to settle down first, Sarabian,’ Sephrenia advised. ‘Right now he’s so enraged that he probably wouldn’t even notice.’

‘Is Norkan still on the Isle of Tega?’ Vanion asked suddenly.

‘No,’ Ehlana replied. ‘I got tired of the forged letters he was sending me from there, so we sent him back to Atan.’

‘Good. I think we’d better get word of Zalasta’s treachery to him as quickly as possible. Betuana really needs to know about it.’

‘I’ll see to it, Vanion-Preceptor,’ Engessa promised.

‘Thank you, Engessa-Atan. If that little outburst in the throne-room is any indication of his present state of mind, Zalasta’s totally out of control right now.’

‘Infuriated to the brink of insanity,’ Sephrenia agreed. It was the first time she had spoken directly to Vanion since the rupture between them. That fact gave Sparhawk some hope.

‘He’ll almost have to do
something
then, won’t he?’ Vanion asked her. ‘In his present state, inaction would be unbearable.’

She nodded. ‘He’ll respond in some way,’ she said, ‘and since he wasn’t at all prepared for what just happened, whatever he does won’t have been planned out in advance.’

‘So it’ll have large holes in it, won’t it?’

‘Probably.’

‘Most likely it would involve the use of main force,’ Sparhawk added. ‘Enraged people usually try to smash things.’

‘You’d better alert Norkan and Betuana to the possibility, Engessa-Atan,’ Sarabian instructed.

‘It shall be as you say, Sarabian-Emperor.’

Vanion began to pace up and down. ‘Zalasta’s still more or less in command,’ he said. ‘At least he will be until he does something so stupid that Cyrgon replaces him. Why don’t we let him have his temper-tantrum, crush it, and
then
round up all the minor conspirators? Let’s frighten our opponents just a bit. If they see us methodically smashing everything they’ve gone to so much trouble to prepare, and rounding up all their friends, they’ll start having thoughts about their own mortality. At that point, I think Cyrgon’s going to have to show himself, and then Sparhawk can turn Bhelliom loose on him.’

‘I hate it when he’s like this,’ Sephrenia said to Xanetia. ‘He’s so certain – and probably so right. Men are much more appealing when they’re just helpless little boys.’ The casual-seeming remark was startling. Sephrenia was clearly stepping over ancient racial antagonisms between Styric and Delphae and speaking to Xanetia as one woman to another.

‘Then all we really have to do is sit here and wait for Zalasta’s next move,’ Sarabian observed. ‘I wonder what he’s going to do.’

They did not have to wait long for the answer. A few days later an exhausted Atan stumbled across the
drawbridge with an urgent message from Ambassador Norkan.

‘Oscagne,’ the message began with characteristic abruptness, ‘round up every Atan you can lay your hands on and send them all here. The Trolls are dismantling northern Atan right down to the very bedrock.’

‘We
can’t
send them, Engessa-Atan,’ Sarabian said. ‘We need them right where they are. At the moment, they’re all that’s holding the Empire together.’

Engessa nodded. ‘I understand the situation, Sarabian-Emperor, but Betuana-Queen will only wait for so long. If the lands of the Atans are in peril, she will have no choice but to act. She will order the Atans home – despite her alliance with you.’

‘She’s going to have to pull her people back,’ Vanion advised the huge Atan. ‘She doesn’t have enough warriors to defend the north against the Trolls, so she may have to abandon northern Atan for a while. We won’t be able to send full garrisons to her aid, but we
can
pull one or two platoons out of each garrison. That’s several thousand warriors altogether, but it’s going to take them longer to reach Atan because they’re so spread out. She’ll just have to pull back until we can get there.’

‘We are Atans, Vanion-Preceptor. We do not run away.’

‘I’m not suggesting that, Engessa-Atan. All your queen will be doing is repositioning her forces. She can’t hold the north at the moment, and there’s no point in wasting lives trying. The best we can do for her in the meantime is to send some Genidian advisors and Cyrinic technical assistance.’

‘Not quite, friend Vanion,’ Kring said. ‘I’ll go to Tikume in central Astel. The eastern Peloi aren’t as fearful of forests as my children are, and Tikume loves a good fight as much as I do, so he’ll probably bring several thousand horsemen with him. I’ll gather up a few
hundred bowmen and come to Atan ahead of his main force.’

‘Your offer is generous, friend Kring,’ Engessa said.

‘It’s a duty, Engessa-Atan. You serve as Mirtai’s father, and that makes us kinsmen.’ Kring absently rubbed his hand across his shaved scalp. ‘The bowmen are very important, I think. Your Atans have moral objections about using bows in warfare, but when we met those Trolls in eastern Astel, we found out that you can’t really fight them without shooting them full of arrows first.’

‘Here’s another thought,’ Khalad said, holding up his crossbow. ‘How do your people feel about these, Engessa-Atan?’

Engessa spread his hands. ‘It is a new device here in Tamuli, Khalad-squire. We have not yet formed an opinion about it. Some Atans may accept it; others may not.’

‘We wouldn’t have to arm
all
the Atans with crossbows,’ Khalad said. He looked at Sparhawk. ‘Will you be needing me here, my Lord?’ he asked.

‘Why don’t you see if you can persuade me that I won’t?’

‘That’s a cumbersome way to put it, Sparhawk. We’ve still got all those crossbows we gathered up when we put down the coup. I broke most of them, but it won’t take me too long to fix them again. I’ll go north with Engessa-Atan and the technical advisors. Engessa can try to persuade his people that the crossbow’s a legitimate weapon of war, and I’ll teach them how to use it.’

‘I’ll join you in Atana later,’ Kring told them. ‘I’ll have to lead Tikume’s bowmen to the city. The Peloi tend to get lost in forests.’

‘Never mind, Mirtai,’ Ehlana told the giantess, whose eyes had suddenly come alight. ‘I need you here.’

‘My betrothed and my father are going to war,
Ehlana,’ Mirtai objected. ‘You can’t expect me to stay behind.’

‘Oh yes I can. You can’t go, and that’s final.’

‘May I be excused?’ Mirtai asked stiffly.

‘If you wish.’

Mirtai stormed toward the door.

‘Don’t break
all
the furniture,’ Ehlana called after her.

It was really only a small domestic crisis, but it was a crisis all the same, largely because the Royal Princess Danae declared that she would die if her wandering cat were not found immediately. She wandered tearfully around the throne-room, climbing into laps, pleading, cajoling. Sparhawk was once again able to observe the devastating effect his daughter could have on someone’s better judgement when she was sitting in the person’s lap. ‘
Please
help me find my cat, Sarabian,’ she said, touching the Emperor’s cheek with one small hand. Sparhawk had long since learned that the first rule in dealings with Danae was never to let her touch you. Once she touched you, you were lost.

‘We all need some fresh air anyway, don’t we?’ Sarabian said to the others. ‘We’ve been sitting in this room for more than a week now. Why don’t we suspend our discussions and go find Princess Danae’s cat. I think we’ll all be fresher when we come back.’

Score one for Danae, Sparhawk smiled.

‘I’ll tell you what,’ Sarabian continued. ‘It’s a beautiful morning. Why don’t we make an outing of it? I’ll send word to the kitchens, and we can all have our lunches out on the lawns.’ He smiled down at Danae, whose hand might just as well have been wrapped around his heart. ‘We’ll celebrate the return of Mmrr to her little mistress.’

‘What a
wonderful
idea!’ Danae exclaimed, clapping her hands together. ‘You’re
so
wise, Sarabian!’

They all smiled indulgently and rose to their feet. Sparhawk privately admitted that the Emperor was probably right. The long day’s conferences
were
beginning to make them all just a little fuzzy-headed. He went to his daughter and picked her up.

‘I can walk, father,’ she protested.

‘Yes, but I can walk faster. My legs are longer. We
do
want to find Mmrr as soon as possible, don’t we?’

She glared at him.

‘You’ve got everybody under control,’ he murmured to her. ‘You don’t have to herd them around like sheep. What’s this all about? You can call Mmrr back home anytime you feel like it. What are you
really
up to?’

‘There are some things I want to get settled before we get too busy, Sparhawk, and I can’t do anything with all of you huddled together in this room like a flock of chickens. I need to get you all out of here so that I can straighten things out.’

‘Is Mmrr really lost?’

‘Well, of
course
she isn’t. I know exactly where she is. I just told her to go chase grasshoppers for a while.’

‘What sort of things were you talking about? Exactly what is it that you want to get straightened out?’

‘Watch, Sparhawk,’ she told him. ‘Watch and learn.’

‘It’s just not done, Kalten,’ Alean said in a sorrowfully resigned voice as the two walked out across the drawbridge with Sparhawk and Danae not far behind.

‘What do you mean, “not done”?’

‘You’re a knight, and I’m only a peasant girl. Why can’t we just leave things the way they are?’

‘Because I want to marry you.’

She touched his face fondly. ‘And I’d give anything to be able to marry you, but we can’t.’

‘I’d like to know why not.’

‘I told you already. We come from different social classes. A peasant girl can’t marry a knight. People would laugh at us and say hateful things about me.’

‘Only once,’ he declared, clenching his fist.

‘You can’t fight the whole world, my love,’ she sighed.

‘Of course I can – particularly if the world we’re talking about consists of those butterflies that infest the court at Cimmura. I could kill a dozen of them before lunch-time.’

‘No!’ she said sharply. ‘No killing! Can’t you see what that would do? People would grow to hate me. We’d never have any friends. That’s all right for you, because you’ll be off at whatever war Prince Sparhawk or Lord Vanion sends you to, but I’ll be completely alone. I couldn’t bear that.’

‘I want to marry you!’ he almost shouted.

‘It would make my life complete as well, my dear love,’ she sighed, ‘but it’s impossible.’

‘I want you to fix that, Sparhawk,’ Danae said out loud.

‘Quietly. They’ll hear us.’

‘They can’t hear us, Sparhawk – or see us either for that matter.’

‘You’re using a spell, I gather?’

‘Naturally. It’s a useful little spell that makes people ignore us. They kind of know we’re here, but their minds don’t pay any attention to us.’

‘I see. It tiptoes around the moral objection to eavesdropping too, doesn’t it?’

‘What on earth are you talking about, Sparhawk? I don’t have any moral problems with eavesdropping. I
always
eavesdrop. How else am I supposed to keep track of what people are doing? Tell mother to give Alean a title so that she and Kalten can get married. I’d do it myself, but I’m busy. Take care of it.’

‘Is
this
the sort of thing you were talking about earlier?’

‘Of course. Don’t waste time on all these silly questions, Sparhawk. We’ve got a lot more to do today.’

‘I
do
love you, Berit-Knight,’ Empress Elysoun said a little sadly, ‘but I love him too.’

‘And how many
others
do you love, Elysoun?’ Berit asked her acidly.

‘I’ve lost count,’ the bare-breasted Empress shrugged. ‘Sarabian doesn’t mind. Why should you?’

‘Then we’re through? You don’t want to see me any more?’

‘Don’t be ridiculous, Berit-Knight. Of
course
I want to see you again – as often as I possibly can. It’s just that there are going to be times when I’ll be busy seeing
him.
I didn’t
have
to tell you this, you know, but you’re so nice that I didn’t want to go behind your back to…’ She groped for a word.

‘To be unfaithful?’ he said bluntly.

‘I’m
never
unfaithful,’ she said indignantly. ‘You take that back right now. I’m the most faithful lady in the whole court. I’m faithful to at least a dozen young men all at the same time.’

He suddenly burst out laughing.

‘What’s so funny?’ she demanded.

‘Nothing, Elysoun,’ he replied with a genuine fondness. ‘You’re so delightful that I can’t help laughing.’

She sighed. ‘Life would be so much simpler for me if you men wouldn’t take these things so seriously. Love’s supposed to be fun, but you all scowl and wave your arms in the air about it. Go love somebody else for a while. I won’t mind. As long as everybody’s happy, what difference does it make who
made
them happy?’

He smiled again.

‘You
do
still love me, don’t you, Berit-Knight?’

‘Of course I do, Elysoun.’

‘There. Everything’s all right then, isn’t it?’

‘What was that all about?’ Sparhawk asked his daughter. They were standing fairly close to Berit and Elysoun – close enough to make Sparhawk slightly self-conscious, at any rate.

‘Berit was getting just a little too deeply involved with the naked girl,’ Danae replied. ‘He’s learned what she could teach him, so it’s time for their friendship to calm down a little. I have other plans for him.’

‘Have you ever considered letting him make his own plans?’

‘Don’t be ridiculous, Sparhawk. He’d just make a mess of things. I
always
take care of these arrangements. It’s one of the things I do best. We’d better hurry. I want to look in on Kring and Mirtai. He’s going to tell her something that isn’t going to make her happy. I want to be there to head off any explosions.’

They found Kring and Mirtai sitting on the lawn under a large tree ablaze with autumn color. Mirtai had opened the basket the kitchen had provided and was looking inside. ‘Some kind of dead bird,’ she reported.

Kring made a face. ‘I suppose it’s civilized food,’ he said, trying to put the best face on it.

‘We’re both warriors, my betrothed,’ she replied, also looking less than happy with what had been prepared for their lunch. ‘We’re supposed to eat red meat.’

‘Stragen told me once that you ate a wolf when you were younger,’ Kring said, suddenly remembering the story.

‘Yes,’ she replied simply.

‘Do you mean you actually
did?
’ He seemed stunned. ‘I thought he was just trying to fool me.’

‘I was hungry…’ – she shrugged – ‘and I didn’t have time to stop. The wolf didn’t taste very good, but
he was raw. If I’d had time to cook him, he might have been better.’

‘You’re a strange woman, my beloved.’

‘That’s why you love me, isn’t it?’

‘Well – it’s
one
of the reasons. Are you
sure
we can’t talk about our problem?’ He was obviously coming back to a subject they had discussed before – many times.

‘There’s nothing to talk about. We have to be married twice – once in Atana and then again when we get back to Pelosia. We won’t be really married until we’ve gone through both ceremonies.’

‘We’ll be
half
married after the ceremony in Atana, won’t we?’

‘Half married isn’t good enough, Kring. I’m a virgin. I’ve killed too many men protecting that to settle for “half married”. You’ll just have to wait.’

He sighed. ‘It’s going to take a long time, you know,’ he said mournfully.

‘It’s not
that
far from Atana back to your country. I’ll race you there.’

‘It’s not the journey that’s going to take so long, Mirtai. It’s the two months you’ll have to spend in my mother’s tent before the wedding in Pelosia. You’ll have to learn our practices and ceremonies.’

She gave him a long, steady look. ‘You said I have to
what?
’ There was an ominous tone in her voice.

‘It’s the custom. A Peloi bride always lives for two months with the groom’s mother before the ceremony.’

‘Why?’

‘To learn about him.’

‘I already know about you.’

‘Well, yes, I suppose you do, but it’s the custom.’

‘That’s ridiculous!’

‘Customs often are, but I
am
Domi, so I have to set a good example – and you’ll be Doma. The Peloi women
will have no respect for you if you don’t do what’s expected.’

‘I’ll
teach
them respect.’ Her eyes had turned flint-hard.

He leaned back on his elbows. ‘I was sort of afraid you might feel this way,’ he sighed.

‘Is that why you didn’t mention it before?’

‘I was waiting for the right time. Is there any wine in that basket? This might be easier if we’re both more relaxed.’

‘Let’s wait. We can get relaxed
after
you tell me. What
is
this nonsense?’

‘Let’s see if I can explain it.’ He rubbed his head. ‘When my people say that the bride is “learning about her husband”, it doesn’t really mean that she’s learning about what he expects for breakfast or things like that. What they’re really talking about is the fact that there’s property involved.’