The stragglers screamed and began ducking into alleys and buildings. The invaders ignored them, but when the monkey’s hooting grew louder and faster, the soldiers began trotting. And when they charge, they will slaughter everyone in their way.
One of the ministry guards silenced the monkey with an arrow. For a moment the invaders faltered and then they started to run. Swords rose and fell. Peasants screamed and reeled away, clutching severed limbs or split faces. The invaders slew everyone in their path as if merely clearing foliage.
The press of refugees slowed them slightly, then the ministry guards countercharged. Their archers shot true and well, dropping the short, thick invaders. The spearmen ran them through and kept pushing, knocking front ranks into back. They looked as if they might succeed in forcing the invaders to retreat, but other companies came at a run, some directly and others fanning out to flank the defenders.
Rekarafi waved Keles down from the wall. “We have to go.”
The cartographer fled the compound and raced along the street, with the ministry warriors forming a rear guard for the column. He caught up with Tyressa and grabbed her arm.
“They’re looking for me. If I give up, they’ll let everyone else go.”
Tyressa shook her head. “Rekarafi and I did not cross half the world to give you up. Besides that, you’re wrong.” She pointed to the lurid flames spreading in the east. “If all they wanted was you, they would have made demands before they started burning things. They may want you, but whoever sent them also issued orders that Felarati must die.”
Keles nodded. My grandfather would do that. If he sent them to res-cue me, he would send them to punish Pyrust for being arrogant enough to take me prisoner.
Keles looked back and watched his work burn. “My grandfather did this.”
Tyressa looked at him with half-lidded eyes. “How is that possible? I don’t recognize the warriors or their insignia.”
“I don’t know. I don’t understand it.” Keles shook his head. “And unless we can figure it out, I don’t know how we can stop them.”
Chapter Forty-three
7th day, Planting Season, Year of the Rat
10th Year of Imperial Prince Cyron’s Court
163rd Year of the Komyr Dynasty
737th year since the Cataclysm
Wentokikun, Moriande
Nalenyr
Prince Cyron paused in front of the enclosure housing the clouded linsang. With the owl-moon just rising, the slender tan creature with black stripes and spots should have emerged. He caught a quick flash of tan at the hole, then saw two dark eyes peering out at him.
The Prince smiled and slowly raised the basket he held in his left hand. He plucked a small blue egg from it and extended it toward the linsang. The creature’s face appeared at the hole. His nose twitched, then he hid his face again.
Cyron, shaking his head, returned the egg to the basket and set it on the ground. The sanctuary staff would come by later and feed the creature.
The Prince turned to his companion. “Perhaps I should let you try to feed him.”
The Lady of Jet and Jade politely refused with a shake of her head. “Perhaps he is not hungry, Highness.”
“He’s hungry. My gamekeeper believes the linsangs have mated, and Jorim Anturasi’s notes indicated the male would be hunting more. He tucks the eggs into his cheeks and brings them back to the den.” Cyron sighed and glanced at his left arm. “Linsangs have sensitive noses. He smells the rot.”
“I would counsel against your taking this as an omen.”
“And you are doubtlessly right, but the fact of rot cannot be denied. My arm, everything else.”
The Prince’s wound had not healed well. The Lord of Shadows had stabbed all the way through his forearm, as the Prince had directed. Such was his skill that he avoided nerves, tendons, and blood vessels. It had hurt, but the Prince’s physician, Geselkir, had been confident it would not suppurate.
It did, however. The Prince had tried to ignore the pain, and had not summoned his physician to look at it in a timely manner. Then, in the middle of the night, the pain had been such that Cyron, hot with fever, had risen from bed to get water and to summon help. He fainted and fell on the arm, reopening the wound.
Geselkir had done what he could, cleaning the wound and packing it in poultices. The Viruk ambassador had even come in and offered to work magic to help. Others had suggested that the Prince send a message to Kaerinus to get him to effect a healing, but a half dozen messages to the vanyesh survivor had gone unanswered.
Which is an answer in and of itself.
The Lord of Shadows had offered to kill himself for what he had done, but the Prince had refused him. Geselkir worked very hard and was confident he had the infection under control. The Viruk had suggested sewing maggots into the wound to let them devour the dead flesh, but Cyron had refused that idea. I already feel dead inside. How would they know when to stop eating?
The Prince gestured gingerly with his left arm. “I don’t know which hurts more: the wound in my arm or the wound in my heart.”
She nodded solemnly. “Both are grievous, Highness. Do not feel you would burden me if you chose to speak your mind. You know that though your words will reach my ears, they will never reach my tongue.”
“I know.”
He reached down and gently grasped his left wrist. Earlier in the day he’d learned that Prince Eiran had gone missing from the Helosundian border. While neither the messenger, his Lord of Shadows, nor the Grand Minister could tell him if Eiran had been assassinated, there seemed little question. The Helosundian Minister of Foreign Relations—a man Cyron had no liking for at all—had been killed in Moriande. It seemed as if the Helosundians had not yet tired of killing each other.
“Here, in my sanctuary, barely three months ago, I shamed Eiran and challenged him. I thought he would break, but he rose to that challenge. He proved himself a loyal and valuable ally. Had I gotten to know him better, we would have become great friends.”
The courtesan smiled and slipped her hand through his good arm, leading him deeper into the sanctuary. “He stopped Count Turcol from reaching you, Highness.”
Cyron laughed lightly. “It was your foot that stopped Turcol.”
“And his that made certain the man did not rise again.” She gave his arm a slight squeeze. “Eiran was devoted to you. Had he lived, he would have been a strong ally.”
“And it was that possibility that killed him.” Cyron ducked beneath a tree branch laden with green buds. “As he grew stronger, his legitimacy as the Prince of Helosunde likewise increased. This made him a rival for the Council of Ministers. His sister’s marriage to Pyrust means that Eiran’s legitimacy would transfer to her children if he died without heir. It would seem someone killed him to cut her children off and bar Pyrust from any legitimate claim to Helosunde.”
He glanced at her. “My ministers say they hear nothing of Pyrust and his planning, but they’re lying. They dare not say what they’re hearing because they know I’ll have to act. They’re concealing bits of news from me, hoping clarifications will undercut their fears. The problem is that their very worst fear is that I will act.”
The Lady of Jet and Jade looked up at him. “You are certain Pyrust is ready to attack Helosunde again?”
“He already has. I can feel it.” Cyron hesitated, afraid to say anything more. Then the absurdity of it all struck him, and he laughed aloud.
“What amuses my lord?”
Cyron stopped and turned to face her. “Your beauty is ageless, which makes it easy for me to forget you have lived many lifetimes. I know you are jaecailyss. The times we have spent together in communion likely have not extended my lifetime, but have enriched it immeasurably. Your mastery of the art of love is, I am certain, unparalleled.”
“You are quite kind, Highness, but how does this bear on the point you were making?”
“You are also a remarkable judge of human nature. You knew how to read Turcol
and acted so you could draw close enough to him to strike. Don’t deny it. I would not presume on your affections enough to assume you would have struck for me, but certainly against him.”
She glanced down. “You underestimate your charms, Highness.”
“And that comment eases some of my pain.” Cyron smiled. “The fact is that Pyrust has always been a wolf. I called him as much when we met here. I offered him grain to hold his forces at bay, but I knew that would be intolerable. He surprised me when he took Jasai to wife. I had expected him to marry a Virine princess, thereby creating a link between nations that would get him whatever he needed—including an ally with little love for Nalenyr.”
“Prince Pyrust is most dangerous, Highness, because he is capable of planning ahead and acting swiftly to seize an opportunity.”
“And I fear moving troops south may have seemed such an opportunity.” Cyron shook his head. “More so if he knows what is happening in Erumvirine.”
She nodded, her voice becoming a soft whisper. “And you have to assume that he does.”
“I have other choices, but each is more stupid than the preceding. If I assume he has remained north of the Black River, I won’t be able to stop him when he moves south. So, I have issued a call to the westron lords for troops, and I’ve gathered all those I can in the east. The latter I have sent south because I can trust them. The westrons, I can’t.”
Cyron sighed and sat on one of the sanctuary’s stone benches. The Lady of Jet and Jade, wearing a white silk gown trimmed in emerald and embroidered with black dragons, looked a vision of loveliness that eased his heart somewhat. She reached up and plucked a blue blossom from a tree branch and tucked it behind an ear. Her silver eyes flashed playfully and his heart leaped.
“Were my brother still alive, he would have a solution to this problem. He’d pull troops back from the passes in the Helos Mountains, luring Pyrust down.”
“What are the chances that Pyrust would accept the challenge and invade Nalenyr?”
“Knowing my brother, none.” Cyron smiled. “My brother would have our troops in the south and would quickly smash the invaders, then move an army north to punish Pyrust. Aralias would have been able to get Count Vroan to lead the army of the south and keep the invaders occupied. That was his strength, inspiring troops. He was a leader.”
“You inspire as well, Highness.”
“Yes, but what I inspire does not seem to bear on this situation.”
“Do you see no solution at all, Highness?”
The Prince leaned forward, wincing as he rested his left forearm on his thigh. “This is the one problem the Empress Cyrsa did not anticipate. She assumed that by splitting the Empire into the principalities she would guarantee no one was powerful enough to reunite it in her absence. Setting aside the effects of the Time of Black Ice, her plan has proven sensible. No one predominates, so no one launches a large-scale war. The masses avoid the hardships and the chances of triggering another Cataclysm are minimized.
“The difficulty right now is this: outsiders who may be strong enough to take principalities have attacked. We’ve no news from Erumvirine, and none from the Five Princes. If the enemy has overwhelmed all of them, taking the northern principalities is not a matter of if but when.”
The courtesan slipped her hands into the opposite sleeves of her robe. “Were the Empire intact, there would have been a solid response that could have crushed the invasion.”
“I think so.”
“Then why don’t you make Prince Pyrust an offer of unity? Certainly Nalenyr, Helosunde, and Deseirion united could oppose the invaders.”
“That would be my hope, but it is not something I can agree to in good conscience. The war against the invaders would likely be fought here, in Nalenyr. It would lay waste to my nation.”
“But that is likely to happen anyway, isn’t it?”
“True, but I have to hope we can hold them in the mountains. Pyrust and his troops would be of great value there, or even pushing into Erumvirine. I do not doubt his skills as a general—I respect them enough to fear them.” He sighed with exhaustion. “To put him on my southern border, however, requires him to pass through Nalenyr. It is inviting the wolf into your house to help rid it of vermin. The wolf may not choose to leave again. If he were to drive into Erumvirine and liberate it, he would not put the Telanyn family back on the throne. Nalenyr and Helosunde would be trapped. Helosunde would fall because of his wife. Nalenyr would be next, and the Five Princes after that.”
She smiled bravely. “Perhaps that is just your take on things. He may see things differently.”
“No, he’s read things the same way. Likely he read them before I did. He’s coming, and I have to act to save my nation or save my people. It’s a difficult choice, because I cannot save both.”
“Is there no other possible solution?”
He smiled indulgently. “The Stormwolf could return from the other side of the world with a fleet bristling with warriors.”
“Is that so impossible?”
“Perhaps not.” He nodded, then levered himself off the bench with his good hand. “It is a dream that is worth having, I suppose.”
“You don’t think it likely?”
He shook his head. “Most likely is that the invaders learned of us because of the expedition. The Stormwolf found the new continent, which Qiro Anturasi named after himself. I’ve seen the map. He even may have tried to warn us. In his own blood he wrote, ‘Here there be monsters.’ ”
The Lady of Jet and Jade came to him and caressed his temple. “Be careful, Highness, that you let no monsters dwell here. What you face are men. If they were utterly wise or invincible, they would have long since reunited the Empire. That they have not, that Nalenyr yet exists, means there is hope for a solution.”
“Do you truly believe that?”
“Have I any choice?” She took his hand in hers and kissed it. “Your true enemy is despair. Surrender to it, and the gods themselves could not save you or your nation.”
Chapter Forty-four
7th day, Planting Season, Year of the Rat
10th Year of Imperial Prince Cyron’s Court
163rd Year of the Komyr Dynasty
737th year since the Cataclysm
Kunjiqui, Anturasixan
“Yes, my lord, it is magnificent.” Nirati’s eyes shone brightly as she hung on Nelesquin’s arm and stared up at the huge ship. In design, it reminded her very much of the Stormwolf, yet this ship was bigger in every dimension. The figurehead was a bear rampant, clawing the air as if, by the strength of his massive arms alone, he could drag the ship through the waves. “What will you call it?”
Nelesquin chuckled warmly. “This is the Crown Bear. I’m having my smiths create a crown of gold for the figurehead.”
She looked up, surprised. “What if it falls off?”
He turned to her and took her face in his large hands. “What if it does? Anturasixan could produce a crown for every person in the Empire—nine times over. The riches in this land know no equal—and the greatest treasure here is you, my love.”
She smiled and stood on tiptoes to kiss him. “You are too kind, my lord.”
“Only to you, Nirati.”
She smiled and looked back at the ship, secretly acknowledging the truth of his comment. Nelesquin had moved heaven and earth for his building projects. He’d required Qiro to find a slice of his continent where vast forests could be raised, then another where creatures suited to harvesting them could be created. Once that work had been done, mountains rose to create the valleys through which rivers would flow to carry the wood to the coast, and there the shipwrights could begin their work. Back in the mountains, yet other creatures burrowed, and fires burned within the mountains as smiths worked day and night—both of which passed swiftly there—fulfilling the demands of Nelesquin’s army.
Nelesquin drove everyone hard, and while he did grant them rewards for their successes, his punishments were often cruel and f
inal. He tolerated no revolt, accepted few excuses, and seemed more content to have her grandfather create a new race that would bend to his will than retraining those who had already failed him.
Only once had she seen his darker side directed at her. Her fondness for Takwee had inspired her to set aside a portion of Anturasixan where surviving members of the races he’d destroyed could live in peace. Ever practical, Nelesquin would not destroy one group until another was ready to take their place, which gave her time to spirit a small population away.
When he discovered what she’d done, his fury had been monumental. She’d quailed and Takwee had bristled, baring her teeth. This show of defiance seemed to amuse him and broke his mood. From that point forward, he allowed Nirati her sanctuary. He referred to it as the Land of Lost Toys, and seemed further amused by what these creatures did when left to their own devices.
Fortunately, he did not have much time to observe them. “The Crown Bear will be magnificent, and I cannot wait to be on the ocean again. I used to love it so. Wind in the face, spray washing the deck. I was quite the mariner in my youth, but then other interests and politics drew me home to Erumvirine.”
He smiled, but his eyes focused differently. “Before the Turasynd ever threatened the Empire, the Dark Sea pirates bedeviled us. A great deal of trade came through Ixyll to Dolosan ports and across the Dark Sea to the Empire. The pirates preyed on all of it. The Emperor tasked me, among others, to crush the pirates. Fight them we did, and ended their scourge. I was part of the conquest of Dreonath.”
Nirati shook her head. “I know nothing of that, my lord.”
“No?” Nelesquin drew her down with him to sit on the grasses in the Crown Bear’s shadow. “I can barely believe subsequent events have eclipsed what was the greatest naval campaign ever waged. The pirates had gathered under one leader, a Viruk named Dosaarch. Outlaws all, and renegades against Imperial authority, they fought us tooth, claw, and blade.
“We chased them from the sea to Dreonath. The Viruk claimed a ruined fortress, saying it had once been a family holding. I don’t know the truth of that or not, but it was an evil place—a fell warren full of traps and sorceries that killed many a valiant man and hero alike.”