They could hear the sounds of pounding feet in a parallel street and the calls of the soldiers.
The trio moved on. Chien drew his curved sword and took the lead. The sound of the pursuing warriors faded away. “They are trying to cut us off from the main gates,” said Tanaki. “That’s good.”
Chien felt there was little good in this entire adventure but held his tongue. They reached the palace corridor and ran into the throne room.
Warriors raced from the shadows, but Chien cut the first from his feet, ducked under a wild slice, and skewered another. Tanaki hurled her dagger into the face of a charging warrior and then saw Tsudai. All thoughts of the quest vanished as she dived to the floor, scooping up the sword of a fallen warrior and rolling to her feet. Tsudai ran to meet her, screaming a battle cry. She blocked his cut, spun, and rammed her sword through his chest.
“Rot in hell!” she hissed as he sagged to the floor.
Chien was surrounded now, and Tanaki wrenched the sword clear of Tsudai’s body and ran to his aid. There were six warriors against him, but she could hear more running in the corridor outside. She stabbed one man in the back and slashed her blade across the face of another. They all fell back briefly.
Asta Khan rose from the opening in the floor and uttered a weird howl. An icy wind blew across the throne room, and the Nadir staggered back, screaming. The first three warriors stumbled to their knees with blood streaming from their eyes.
Tanaki grabbed Ravenna’s arm and dragged her back to the hole in the floor. “Down!” she ordered.
Ravenna clambered into the hole, and Tanaki followed her, leading her down the steps, Chien bringing up the rear.
“Swiftly,” said Asta. “The spell will not hold them long.” Ravenna staggered but stayed upright, and Chien took her arm.
Behind them they could hear the Nadir pounding down the steps …
They reached the darkness. Asta took Ravenna’s hand, and she flinched away from the shaman, but he held her tight. “Now is the time for courage, woman,” he said, and pulled her into the Void.
As before, a circle of flames sprang up around them, and they moved across the darkness. Behind them the Nadir ran—unsuspecting—into the Void. Their screams were terrible.
The circle of fire began to fade, and the dwellers in the dark closed in. Sweat shone on Asta’s brow as he struggled on. Taloned hands reached out for them, but the flames held them back. At last they reached the outer limit and passed through. Asta collapsed to the stone floor. Seeing Ravenna, Kiall ran forward to take her in his arms. Tanaki watched the scene and turned away, her thoughts confused.
Chareos helped Asta to his feet.
The old man shrugged clear of his aid. “We must get out of here,” he said. “Help the woman. Carry her if you must.”
Back they went through the honeycomb of tunnels, arriving at last at the fissure. Kiall, Chareos, Tanaki, and Chien climbed to the surface, Kiall carrying the rope. They lowered it, and Asta made a loop in which Ravenna sat. Slowly the three men pulled her to the top.
Then they began to walk toward the hills. Chareos glanced back to see that half a mile away the city gates had opened and a column of riders was galloping out toward them.
The sound of hoofbeats came from the left. Chareos drew his saber and spun. Harokas dragged his horse to a halt, a string of ponies behind him.
“You had better mount,” said the assassin. They helped Ravenna into the saddle of the first horse, then the others mounted.
“There is only one place we can reach,” said Asta Khan. “Follow me.” He kicked his pony into a run and set off toward the west. The questers followed him, cutting to the right through a series of narrow passes. After an hour’s hard riding with the Nadir closing on them, they emerged at last into a narrow valley.
The moon was high, and Chareos groaned as he saw the broken tower and the stretch of battlements silhouetted against the sky. “No!” he whispered.
But they rode on into the ghostly fortress of Bel-azar.
The eastern gates lay open, and the questers rode their weary mounts inside. Chareos and Kiall dismounted and ran back to the gates, forcing them shut. Harokas found a thick beam, which he and Tanaki wedged into the great bolt plates. Then they mounted the rampart steps and watched from the battlements as the thirty Nadir riders drew rein outside. Asta Khan joined them. He leapt nimbly to the wall and stood looking down at the riders, letting them see him.
“Will they attack?” asked Kiall. Chareos said nothing.
Asta Khan began to dance on the precarious footing, twisting and leaping. He howled like a wolf, the sound eerie and chilling as it echoed in the mountains. Three Nadir riders turned their mounts and rode back toward the city, but the others dismounted and sat on the rocks. Asta turned and jumped back to the ramparts, his dark eyes gleaming.
“They are frightened,” he said. “This is a haunted place. They know dark spirits walk here.”
In the open ground below Ravenna cried out and clutched her belly. Kiall and Tanaki ran down to her, helping her into a ruined guardhouse where there was a dust-covered bed. Tanaki pulled aside a rotted blanket and placed her own on the mattress; then they lowered Ravenna to it.
“It’s coming,” cried Ravenna. “I can feel it.”
Kiall heard a movement behind him and saw Asta Khan standing in the doorway. The shaman’s face was shining, and the glint of triumph was in his eyes. It chilled Kiall.
“Leave us,” Tanaki told Kiall, and gladly he obeyed, easing past the shaman and moving out into the dawn light. Chareos was still on the ramparts below the ruined gate tower. Chien-tsu and Oshi had lit a fire near the main barracks building and were sitting together, talking in low voices. Harokas had led the ponies back to a paddock section, where he had unsaddled them and was brushing their lathered frames. Kiall walked to the steps and climbed to where Chareos sat watching the Nadir.
“We did it,” Kiall said. “Whatever happens now, we did what we set out to do.”
Chareos looked up and smiled. “Yes, we did it. We found your lady, and we brought her back to Gothir lands. That is a feat in itself. But do not hold out any great hopes, Kiall. I do not wish to sound defeatist, but I do not believe five warriors and a shaman can hold off the Nadir nation.”
Kiall chuckled. “I cannot explain it, Chareos, but I don’t care anymore. All my life I’ve been a dreamer. Now I feel that a dream has been achieved. I’m not even frightened of dying.”
“I am,” admitted Chareos. “Especially here.” He pointed to the gate tower. “There it is, boy, the scene of great deeds. From there Beltzer leapt to win back the standard. There we sat talking with Tenaka Khan. And it was here we were dubbed the ghosts-yet-to-be. It is not a good feeling to be sitting here waiting for death.”
“And birth,” said Kiall. “Okas told us the child would be a great king, perhaps the greatest who ever lived. That’s something, isn’t it?”
Chareos nodded and turned away. The fortress loomed around him, grim and threatening, and he could feel its memories in the cold stone, hear again the screams of the dying and the clash of iron blades.
Tanaki joined them. “It was a false alarm,” she said. “She is resting now. Is there any sign?”
“No,” answered Kiall. “They just sit there and wait—I don’t know what for.”
“They are waiting for Jungir Khan,” she said. “They don’t know why we took their queen, but they dare not risk anything that might cause her harm. Jungir will decide what to do.”
She walked off to the gate tower door and pushed it open. Kiall followed her, mounting the cracked steps to the tower itself, where she sat down and leaned her back against the wall.
“Well,” she said, “you have seen your woman once more.”
He looked down at her and then knelt, taking her hand. “She is not my woman, Tanaki. It was like seeing an old friend. I am not skilled in these matters, but I … I want you to know, before …” He stumbled to silence.
“Before we die?” she prompted.
“Yes, before we die. I want you to know that I love you. I know you do not believe in love, but I would sooner hold your hand here for a night than live a hundred years without you. Does that sound foolish?”
“Yes,” she said, reaching out and stroking his face, “but it is wonderfully foolish. It is beautifully foolish.” She drew him toward her, brushing her lips against his. His arms circled her. “Would you like to make love?” she whispered.
He drew back. “Yes, but we will not—not in this cold stone place which reeks of death and misery. Can we just sit together, close?”
“For a man of little experience, you so often say exactly the right words,” she told him.
The sun climbed high behind them, the sky cloudless and streaked with red. “It will be a fine day,” he said.
She did not reply.
Harokas saw them from the courtyard and sighed. Then he caught sight of Asta Khan moving furtively from the main barracks building; he was carrying something. As Harokas squinted against the sunlight, he saw that the shaman was holding a bleached skull, which he carried to the room where Ravenna lay. Harokas watched him slip inside.
The assassin strolled up to where Chareos sat. “This would be a good time to ride off deep into Gothir lands,” he said.
Chareos shook his head. “The woman would lose the babe. She is close to giving birth.”
Harokas sighed. “If we stay, we will all die. And women can conceive a second time, Chareos. It would not cause the world to fall into darkness were she to lose this one child.”
“The child is special,” insisted Chareos. “But more than that, I am meant to be here. I cannot explain it, but I have known for many years that my destiny lay here.”
“I think Asta Khan feels the same way. I have just seen him carrying an old skull into the woman’s room. Truly the ways of shamans are beyond me, I am happy to say.”
“A skull?” The words of Okas came flooding back to him: “Why are Tenaka Khan’s bones buried at Bel-azar?” Chareos pushed himself to his feet and descended the broken steps, crossing the courtyard and opening the door to the old guardhouse. Ravenna was sleeping, but at the foot of the bed was Asta Khan, sitting cross-legged, a skull in his lap.
“What are you doing here?” asked Chareos.
The shaman glanced up. “Nothing that will harm the woman, Chareos. You have my word.”
“And the child?”
“The child was not part of the bargain, but she will give birth to a healthy babe.”
“What is it that you are not telling me, Asta? What foulness are you planning with those … those relics?”
“Relics? If you had any idea of what these bones …” He stopped and forced a smile. “I have kept my bargain with you, Blademaster. You cannot fault me. But I, too, have a quest, and it is worth more than my life.”
“You promise me you do not mean to harm Ravenna or the child?”
“The child will be born,” said Asta with a secretive smile. “He will be born strong and grow fast. He will be the great khan. No harm will come to him or to the mother of his flesh.”
“Chareos!” came Kiall’s voice. “Come quickly!” The blademaster turned from the shaman and ran back to the wall. Beyond, on the open plain, a horde was galloping toward the fortress. Leading them was a warrior dressed in black, riding a gray stallion.
“The whoreson is riding to kill me on my own horse,” exclaimed Chareos.
“See who rides beside him,” said Harokas. “Now, there is a surprise!”
On a bay stallion, his blond hair glinting in the sunlight, rode the Earl of Talgithir.
The Nadir halted some two hundred yards from the fortress and dismounted, while the earl kicked his horse into a canter and rode up to the walls.
“Open the gate!” he called.
Chareos leaned over the ramparts. “For what purpose?” he asked.
“Because I demand it!” roared the earl, his face reddening. Then he recognized Chareos. “Oh, it is you, is it, Blademaster? I should have guessed. Now open the gate and you will all live.”
“I asked you for your purpose,” said Chareos.
“I do not need to answer to you, swordsman. I am the Earl of Talgithir, appointed by the lord regent.”
“And you have no jurisdiction at Bel-azar,” said Chareos. “Talgithir is far from here.”
The earl leaned back in his saddle and laughed. “You have been gone for some time, Chareos. I am now the regent’s envoy to the Nadir, and as such, my orders are to be obeyed anywhere in the realm. Now, will you open that gate?”
“I do not think that I will,” said Chareos. “I care not what appointment you have received. You are a slave trader and a traitor to your people. When the lord regent hears of your dealings, you will hang.”
“You are hardly in a position to threaten me. But I will wait.” Swinging his horse’s head, he cantered back to the Nadir.
“I don’t understand this,” said Harokas. “Why is he so calm?”
Chareos shrugged. “I have an uncomfortable feeling we are going to find out.”
Throughout the morning the Nadir remained where they were, but as the sun reached noon and the shadows disappeared, there came from the west the sound of walking horses. Chareos and Kiall ran to the western gate, dragging it open. Three hundred lancers were riding to the fortress, led by Salida.
Kiall cursed. “That’s why the earl was so calm—his soldiers have come to meet him. Now we are truly trapped.”
“Do not be so sure,” whispered Chareos. “Salida is no lickspittle.”
“He’s unlikely to take on a Nadir army and his own earl,” said Kiall.
Chareos moved out before the riders. Salida drew rein and stepped from the saddle. “Well met,” greeted the officer. “You do turn up in the most unlikely places.” He lifted the water canteen from his saddle and drank deeply.
“The earl is outside the fortress,” said Chareos softly. “He is with Jungir Khan and a thousand Nadir warriors.”
“There is a treaty being negotiated. It does not concern you,” Salida said.
“There is a slight problem,” Chareos told him.
Salida walked to a boulder and sat down. “Somehow I did not doubt it,” he said wearily. Chareos joined him and swiftly outlined the journey into Nadir lands and the secrets they had discovered concerning the earl’s dealings with the Nadren. Finally he told of the rescue of Ravenna and the imminent birth.
“What is it you have against me, Chareos?” asked Salida. “Why must you turn up like a bad smell just when life is looking good? I have had a raise in pay, and I now command three hundred men. We have a treaty in prospect, and my career is golden. Now you tell me the earl is a traitor—and you have kidnapped the Nadir queen. Excellent!”
“What will you do?”
“What would you have me do?” snapped Salida. “The lord regent is expecting a treaty, a treaty he believes will safeguard the Gothir nation. Do you think he will risk a war because of a stolen peasant girl?”
“It is your decision, my friend,” said Chareos softly. “All Jungir Khan wants is my life and the lives of my friends. Such a small price to pay for peace, is it not?”
“For the guarantee of peace I would pay more than that,” hissed Salida. The captain stood and looked to his men. “Dismount!” he called. “Take the horses inside. Beris!” A young officer came forward. “Twenty groups to the wall, eight groups in reserve. Let the others look to the horses and prepare some food.”
“Yes, sir. Sir?”
“What is it?”
“Are we here to fight? I thought we were to accompany the earl back to New Gulgothir with the treaty.”
“So did I, my boy. Isn’t life full of nice surprises?” He turned back to Chareos. “I assume you have the proof to back up your accusations?”
“Of course. The finest proof of all: the word of the Nadir queen and the man who collected the earl’s profits. And la
stly, the Nadir princess who dealt with him.”
“This is insane, Chareos. You know that, don’t you?”
“I know that you’re a better man than the one you serve.”
“You can forget the compliments,” snapped Salida, marching into the fortress and ascending the battlement steps. Seeing Harokas, he scowled.
“Welcome, Salida, old friend,” greeted Harokas. The soldier grunted and watched his men fan out along the wall.
The Nadir rose as the line of armored men took up their positions. Once more the earl mounted his bay and galloped to the wall.
“Good to see you, Salida,” he called. “Arrest those people and open the gate.” Behind him the Nadir had mounted and were riding slowly forward.
“You have been named as a traitor,” answered Salida. “I ask you now to surrender yourself to me. You will be taken to New Gulgothir for trial before the lord regent.”
“Are you mad?” stormed the earl. “Who accuses me? Chareos? A man I forgave for murder?”
“I do,” said Harokas. “You trafficked in slaves, and I collected your gold. The Princess Tanaki is also here. Answer that—my lord.”
“I need not answer to you. Come, Salida, think of your position. You have three hundred men. There are a thousand here and a thousand thousand still to be called upon. You cannot prevail. Open the gates and we will ignore this … this insubordination.”
“I ask you again, my lord, to surrender yourself.”
“I’ll see you dead, you miserable cur!” the earl shouted.
Jungir Khan spurred the gray alongside the nobleman. “Why are they not opening the gate to you?” he asked mildly.
“They are traitors,” snarled the earl. “Kill them all!”
“You cannot even control your own captain,” Jungir said. “How, then, can you serve me?”
The earl started to answer, but Jungir’s hand flashed up—and the curved dagger blade plunged into the earl’s heart. Slowly he slid from the saddle. Jungir rode the gray stallion forward.