Wall of Spears (4 page)

‘What are you saying, sarge? I am the epit — the pitolee — the epitomememe of Forlish manhood,’ Harald said proudly.

‘That makes me fear for our country,’ Caelin told him.

‘I joined up because there was never enough to eat at home. The villages down south might be stuffed full of plunder from the wars but, up here, you don’t see much of that. It was hard work, all day and every day, then not much to eat. The army gives me two meals a day,’ Ruttyn said.

‘Well, you know why I joined up. It was either do that or spend the next ten years having the wife’s mother abuse me for being useless, the bitter old cow,’ Harald said.

‘I knew your wife’s mother would be the reason for something.’ Caelin chuckled.

‘Dunholm isn’t too far away. I could duck back there and get her out here for you to see, then you’ll know I’m not joking. If any elf tries something, we could turn her loose on them. Forget magic barriers that pull your legs off, her tongue can rip the skin off a man at ten paces!’

‘A charming picture,’ Caelin murmured.

‘We’ll do our duty when the elves come,’ Ruttyn said, after a moment’s pause.

‘What’s that, lad?’

‘Die. That’s what we’re here for. We failed to take Dokuzen and they’ll be coming for us. After what we saw at Dokuzen, there’s no way we can win. But we’ll still fight,’ Ruttyn said.

‘Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that, eh?’ Caelin said gruffly.

None of them said anything else, but they looked north, to where the Tregarth forest lurked balefully on the horizon, almost out of sight but never out of mind.

Asami put down the book with a shaking hand. This was the third book she had worked on translating but the first to have anything useful. She had begun the task excitedly, thinking she would uncover dramatic revelations that would force Jaken to step back from his plan to rule the humans and accept they were all the same. Her enthusiasm had begun to wane as the second book proved just as dull as the first, a straightforward account of life in Nippon. It was interesting to hear how the Elfarans had found a home there, how they had multiplied over the years, each of the original twelve marrying a score or more times as their wives died through childbirth or plain old age, how their children had shown magic from the first and had all revealed a mixture of features from their Nipponese mothers and also the strange ears of the Elfarans, the result of spending so much time with the dragons. It was curious that the forefathers had been the ones to begin the practice of decreeing who could marry, ensuring that the clans did not become inbred. But apart from that, tales of ordinary life in Nippon were deadly dull and she had to force herself to keep reading and translating.

Then she came to a third book. There was no way to tell which order they should follow and, in this one, events had moved on. The Elfarans had left Nippon and settled here, begun to splinter apart into the group that wanted to live in peace with the people they had found here and the group that called themselves elves and thought themselves superior. This new book was written by the old Tadayoshi Sendatsu, the one whose words from the past had come to light and sent her Sendatsu out into the human world in search of the truth — a search that had uncovered far more than anyone expected. In this book the old Sendatsu explained the fears of the forefathers, who knew that magic was a great circle, just like life. It had to die and be reborn — and it was getting close to its end. The magic had given them incredibly long lives but when it was reborn, that would end — and them with it. The forefathers were desperately afraid they would die before they could finish their work here and bring Velsh, Forlish, Breconian and Elfaran together. Their long lives and the loss of so many loved ones had seen them drift apart from everyday life. To protect themselves, they had shut themselves away — and then realised, too late, what a mistake that was.

Sendatsu wrote sadly about how the forefathers never got the chance to make amends for their mistakes. Just as they had begun repairing the damage, the magic had ended and they had crumbled to dust, gone in an instant. The magic returned the next day but everything had changed — their deaths had put the Elfaran people firmly on the path that led to the betrayal, the barrier and three hundred years of arrogance.

Asami wondered what had happened, when the magic had died and been reborn. Obviously it was working normally now but, without it, surely all life would end? Had it been a simple process, had dragons been involved, or had it been some desperate struggle, with the fate of all life resting on the shoulders of a few? She smiled to herself. That was just foolish thinking.

On she read, about the lies told to humans and to Elfarans alike, of the deceit and trickery. It was all here, everything in the scroll and far more. Then came the truly shocking part — how the older families had begun putting themselves up as better than others. Not only was this against everything the forefathers wanted but it was in complete defiance of sense.

Each member of a clan had a common thread, could trace their ancestry back to the same forefather, somehow. But the first few families had begun to put themselves above all others, say that they were somehow better because their great-grandmother had married a forefather years earlier than another’s great-grandmother.

‘
This is a lie. We are all the same. Some have even begun calling the newer members of their clan esemono, after a Nipponese name for the lowest labourers
,’ the old Sendatsu wrote. ‘
This practice of claiming there are different ranks among us, that some families are better than others, is hated by the forefathers. Talented Elfarans are being overlooked in favour of fools from the “right” families. After the way we are treating the Velsh and Forlish with magic, this is our worst crime
.’

Asami put the book down with shaking hands. Now
this
would turn Dokuzen upside down. This was the book that Sumiko really wanted to get her hands on. To tell all the lower classes they had as much right to luxury and riches as the nobles would set Dokuzen afire. But what should she do with this knowledge? She had no desire to help Sumiko but neither could she let this go by. She burned with shame at the thought of the Elfarans who worked for her. She had two gardeners, a maid and a pair of cleaners, all of whom only received a small wage each moon. But for an accident of birth, that could have been her, forced to clean up after others, never getting the chance to develop her powers.

She stood abruptly. She could not sit here in this house and let such things go on around her, like the forefathers did, thinking only of themselves. She had to get out and do something.

Jaken had always wanted to be Elder Elf of Dokuzen. In his mind’s eye he had seen himself taking the honour from Daichi, his enemy humbled and forced to acknowledge his brilliance. Instead he had been handed the role by his son. At the time he had rejoiced, thinking Sendatsu had finally grown up and they could rule Dokuzen together. But, just when he saw the son he had always wanted, Sendatsu had defied him and left Dokuzen. It was galling. Luckily he had Sumiko. His mind had been turning more and more to the idea he would put aside his wife Noriko and marry Sumiko. The people would allow it, he felt. As the saviour of Dokuzen and the ‘gaijin slayer’, they would let him do almost anything. Besides, even though Sumiko was past her child-bearing years, perhaps with the magic there was a chance to have another son, one he could be proud of this time.

‘Lord Jaken?’

The guard’s voice broke his reverie and he turned to see Sumiko being ushered into his office.

‘Leave us,’ he commanded.

‘Yes, lord.’ The guard bowed low and then shut the door.

Jaken strode across the room and enfolded Sumiko in his arms. ‘Welcome back! I have missed you,’ he told her, his hands slipping down her back.

Sumiko stepped adroitly away. ‘We need to talk first,’ she said sternly.

‘Really? It has been almost a quarter moon since we were together and the guards know never to disturb me.’ He reached for her again.

‘Lord, I am tired from bringing not just myself but everyone else home from the Forlish capital through an oaken gateway. I would not want the magic to droop within you at a critical time …’

‘Of course.’ Jaken masked his horror at such a thing happening as well as his frustration at not being able to release his desires. He had plenty of time to think about this moment as, without her, thinking was all he could do. He moved back to his desk and poured tea for them both. ‘Tell me what happened in Forland.’

She accepted a cup from him and smiled her thanks.

‘The Forlish king agreed to our plan, just as I told you he would.’

‘Truly?’

‘He will lead his army north and crush the Velsh, just as we want.’ Sumiko sipped her tea.

‘No tricks?’

‘No. He could see our argument — that we were negotiating from a position of strength. I gave him a choice: he could win our friendship or earn our enmity. After we crushed his army and sent them running with just a few hundred warriors, he is terrified of what we might do to his country with thousands.’

‘And he was not suspicious?’

Sumiko chuckled throatily, the way that she always did when she released the magic into him and he had to restrain himself from reaching out to her.

‘Of course he was suspicious! It took me days to convince him, which is why I was so long down there. He wants to crush the Velsh, of course — they have defied him and defeated him twice now, apparently. And they possess the coal, iron and tin that he wants. But he is afraid of what we might do if his army is mired in Vales.’

‘So how did you convince him?’

‘I gave him what he really wanted from us, why he tried to invade us in the first place.’ Sumiko drained her tea and replaced the cup on Jaken’s desk. ‘The Forlish king was dying and he thought we possess the secret of immortality. He read it somewhere, in some ridiculous story made up about us hundreds of years ago. So I had Archbishop Fushimi heal him and I promised that he and his followers would be made immortal once he had destroyed the Velsh and showed us that we could trust him with that power and knowledge.’

Jaken gasped. ‘You did what?’

Sumiko laughed. ‘Do not worry — of course I was lying to him. But he is only a gaijin, so it is no sin. He was less than a moon away from an unpleasant death and we have given him back another five years of life. He thinks it miraculous and so he believed everything else I told him.’

‘Such as?’

‘That the Velsh had betrayed us and stolen from us, tried to get the secret of immortality from us, so had to be punished. We wanted to do that ourselves but did not trust the Forlish not to attack us again while we were in Vales — or for the Velsh to make an alliance with the Forlish to attack us. We wanted to find an ally, I told them, and this was their chance to show they were worthy of trust — and win the secret of immortality as well.’

‘He really believes we are immortal? When his men saw us die in battle?’ Jaken let his tea grow cold.

Sumiko smiled. ‘I told him we could be killed in battle — just never die from old age or disease. To a man dying of disease, that was a powerful temptation. I pretended we could not let it go to a human, tried to buy him off with gold and jewels. When he insisted on immortality, I knew we had won. After that, it was simple. He will lead his army into Vales within the next moon. All we have to do is head west and watch the battle unfold. When the Forlish are tired and bloodied by the Velsh, we shall strike and destroy them. Both our enemies will be gone in one stroke.’

Jaken leaned back in his chair, unable to keep the smile off his face.

‘With them both out of the way, we shall round up the survivors and make them our slaves. The people will fall over themselves to worship me when the treasure of two nations flows into Dokuzen. I shall be the greatest Elder Elf in history!’

‘Indeed!’ Sumiko smiled at him.

Jaken stood and walked around the desk, taking her hand and pulling her to her feet.

‘Are you sure you don’t have enough magic to use on me?’ he asked thickly. ‘The way I am feeling, it would not take much to get me ready …’

Sumiko put her finger on his lips. ‘I wish I could,’ she said sorrowfully. ‘But I need to recover from my journey. Tomorrow will be the earliest.’

‘First thing. Come and see me,’ Jaken demanded.

‘We have to be careful, my lord.’

‘Aroaril take that! I don’t care who sees us!’

‘Then it is a good thing I do. I shall see you after the Council meeting tomorrow. None will question that. I know it is hard for you to wait but if you stiffen your resolve, you will find the wait is worth it,’ she said throatily, brushing her fingers across his cheek.

He reached for her once more but she stepped back and opened the door.

‘Until tomorrow, my Lord Jaken. We can announce the plan to destroy our enemies at the Council meeting. I shall show you then how much I live to serve you.’

Jaken let her go and struggled to turn his mind back to his earlier thoughts, as well as her report from Cridianton. All he could think of was the way her hair looked, splayed wide on a bed. She had a way of getting inside his mind, the way nobody else was able to do. But, then again, she was the only lover he could ever have.

Asami paced around the garden for the twentieth time that morning. Just a moon ago, when she had been running the remnants of the Magic-weavers, she had been so busy that she could not remember having the chance to come out here. Between trying to help the younger students and training Rhiannon, there had been scarcely time to eat, let alone sit and relax. Back then she had fantasised about spending a whole day in the garden, relaxing, eating and sleeping; now that was all she could do, it felt less like a garden and more like a prison every day.

Gaibun and Lord Retsu were insistent that she stay at home, in case Sumiko tried anything else. She had kept her end of the bargain but they had so far failed to meet theirs. The investigation into the market attack was going nowhere. Lord Jaken had visited to announce he was doing everything to find out who was behind the attempt on her life but the words he left unspoken were much more informative. He had no idea who was responsible. Even the gossip in the market had died down, apparently. Or that was what her servants told her, because she was not allowed to go there herself.

She had spent one morning placing magical defences around the house, preparing items near the front door, the walls and of course the oak tree in the garden in case they tried anything here. Now she found herself wishing someone would attack, to give her something to do.

‘My lady, your parents are here,’ her maid announced.

Asami walked back into the house, her feet dragging. As if the day wasn’t bad enough, now her parents had come for a visit?

They were waiting for her in the reception room, admiring the new floor that had been laid after the blood of Sumiko’s attackers had ruined the last one. As she walked in, they rushed to embrace her, fussing over her and insisting she sit down.

‘Thank you for coming —’ she began.

‘How could we not? When we heard the happy news from Gaibun we had to rush over immediately!’ her mother said excitedly.