My lord seemed surprised to see me, when I landed in the center of his camp. I use the word surprised because pleased hardly seemed to fit.
“Z’el. I never would have put money on your return.” My lord seemed to appraise me, frowning. “You look terrible.”
I shrank, pulling my wings round like a cape to hide my offenses. “I come bearing a plan,” I said. “Their army is weak, and ragged. They have only one spine among them, and that resides in their Captain. Meet with him,” I suggested. “Convince him to surrender, and this can all end.”
“An afternoon’s siege would accomplish the same.”
“Yes.” I raised a finger. “But my way is quick, and clean, and will cost you not a single casualty. Think of it: winning a war using only words. How terrified your enemies will be to learn you no longer need to raise arms to defeat them.”
The Magician smiled. “Very clever, my pet. Very clever.” He came forward and stroked my matted hair, my sunken cheeks. “When this is done, we shall have a feast. I can’t stand to see you so ill-fed.”
I kissed his hand, and, with his leave, turned back to deliver the news to Captain Barrett. Surrender. A bloodless defeat. I would be a hero to both sides.
Captain Barrett looked up at my arrival with more than a hint of surprise, as my lord had. Harmon, though, actually seemed pleased by the sight. “Angel,” he said. “How quickly you return.”
“Yes, and I come with good news for you and yours. I have found the solution!” I spread my arms. “Surrender!”
Harmon frowned. “Your lord is surrendering?”
“No no no, you silly man. You are! You’re surrendering to the Magician, saving the lives of every man beneath your banners.”
“I can’t surrender,” he muttered. “Not after all we've lost.”
“It's that, or lose everything. Think of your men, captain. What would they choose?”
He licked his lips, though his tongue possessed no moisture. “Your lord is not known for his mercy-”
“Quite the opposite,” I agreed. “But think of it not in terms of mercy, but as tactics. While my lord has no interest in engaging your troops, he also can’t be bothered by strays getting in the way or mucking about on the sidelines. He wants to arrange an official armistice.”
Harmon looked at me uneasily. “I don't trust him,” he said. “And I can't trust you. So where does that leave me?”
“Atop the chain of command, making the hard decisions. Choosing whether your men go home to their families, or die with the dawn.” I stared into his drawn face. “The choice is clear, Harmon. Do what's right for them.”
His shoulders sloped. “All right. I will meet with your lord. Stay here, and I will fetch the horses-”
I scoffed. “I'm not clambering on a filthy horse's back. Beside which, we wouldn't reach the meeting until nightfall.” I shook my head and spread my wings. “I've a much better way.”
“You can't be serious.”
“And yet I am.”
“You can carry my weight? Armor and all?”
I appraised him in all his bedraggled, steel-armored glory and gave him a sharp smile. “You'd be amazed what I can do.”
After encouragement and a test flight to settle his nerves, Harmon wrapped his arms around my neck, his legs around my waist, and we took off. I couldn't fly as high as normal, nor as smoothly, but I'd hefted boulders heavier than him before. We made our way through the deep night, soaring up over the familiar valley, the cold air streaming past.
Harmon stayed quiet, radiating a steady mixture of fear and awe.
I cleared my throat. “When your men first caught me, and you put me in the cage…why didn’t you accept my lies? Your men did. Happily.”
“I might have,” he said, his stubble scratching my shoulder. “But you never told us your name. A true man would have. Captured, tortured, a man can be stripped of everything, except his identity. Were you really a potter, you would have said that first. Your name, your village. It’s all you have, in the end. Your name is your rope and shield.”
“I could have been so traumatized that I’d forgotten. Or I might have been more concerned with the family I’d left behind.”
He shook his head. “No, I caught you there, too. I’ve become passing familiar with this area over the last decade, and the name Lyann has been out of fashion for half my life. It’s just now coming back to favor, making your supposed wife either an infant, or a crone.”
I couldn’t help but smile. “Clever you.”
Silence spooled out as we flew, until I discovered a question I just could not contain. “Harmon,” I ventured at last. “Coming face-to-face with the Magician...aren't you afraid?”
“Of course I am,” he said. “But I know the names and faces of every man back in camp. I know what villages they left behind to fight at my side. Anything I can do to keep them safe, I will.”