Chapter Thirty-One
Treason
The forest was filled with the sound of clashing steel and the cries of men. Horses fell and kicked in the grass. Blood splashed the trees.
Sir Anthony struck at Yan-Lai and Jai-Soo as they dodged around his horse. Two more Destroyers quickly joined the fight, one of them was Hai-Fam. Sir Anthony looked around in despair, his eyes finding Prince Carl.
“Flee, my Liege! All is lost! Flee for your life!” he shouted to the Prince.
Another Destroyer ran forward, her sword raised, and she sliced at the hindquarters of Sir Anthony’s horse and it staggered and fell. Rolling over, it trapped Sir Anthony underneath.
When he looked up, Sir Anthony saw the Destroyers standing over him, their swords held like daggers. “God rest my soul…,” he muttered, and then they struck, stabbing him in a wild frenzy.
The Hunt was not going well.
They had come upon Jai-Soo and Yan-Lai near the river. Their delight at finding their quarry had soon turned to despair when they realised their numbers.
For years, men from the Royal Court had hunted the Destroyers who still roamed the forest for sport and their pleasure. But their numbers were always few, and they were seldom seen. In recent times Hunts were often unsuccessful, but they still continued. This year was different.
This year was the year of the ship, and its passage close to Ellerkan, for just four days, had gathered the Destroyers from far and wide to the ancient crash site of its sister ship. Now on this day, the last day of the ship, all the Insiders who had survived from the Althon Gerail had returned to the forest. Those that had fallen in the attack on Gil-Yan the night before were soon replaced and bolstered by others who arrived the next morning. Now over a dozen were gathered by the river. They had scented the approaching humans, and knew easily their intent. But instead of fleeing, they had waited.
When Sir Anthony had led the charge on the two Destroyers, they had found themselves quickly surrounded and at the centre of an ambush. Sir Charles had fallen to one of Nan-Po’s arrows almost as soon as he drew his sword, and two more men were cut down soon after.
Prince Carl looked around at the carnage, Sir Anthony’s last words ringing in his ears. He dug his spurs into the flanks of his horse and rode away as fast as he could. One man raced after him, but he had travelled only a short distance before another of Nan-Po’s arrows struck him, and he, too, fell.
Prince Carl rode on alone. For an instant he thought he would escape, but then Kai-Tai emerged from behind a tree and struck at his horse’s legs as it galloped by. With a whinny it fell, tumbling over and throwing Carl from its back. He landed heavily, badly.
As the horse kicked and bled to death, Kai-Tai advanced on Prince Carl. He still lay on the ground, dazed and winded. She had almost reached him when she stopped and raised her head, staring off into the trees beyond him.
Prince Carl lay on his face in the grass. He waited for his death, but he could still hear his heart beating in his ear. It was loud and vigorous, and it kept getting louder and louder. Slowly, he opened his eyes. Horse’s hooves pounded on the grass. They ran all around him, many of them, dozens of them. One set of hooves came to a halt next to him. Prince Carl raised his head and looked up. His neck and shoulder hurt, and he could hardly see properly, but who he saw, he recognised.
“Why, cousin, your arrival is most fortuitous!” he said through clenched teeth.
L’Roth stared down at the stricken Prince and nodded. “Yes, most fortuitous. Most fortuitous indeed.” He climbed from his horse and crouched down next to Carl. “You don’t look well, Sire. Are you in pain?”
“I fear my shoulder is broken,” Prince Carl replied, the pain evident in his voice. There was blood on his face; it ran from his nose and a split lip. His eyes watered. He swallowed loudly. “But I will survive, and I will repay you for what you did this day.”
L’Roth reached out and slapped Carl gently on his back. “I would not be so presumptuous, Sire. You may wish these Destroyers had slain you.”
Prince Carl looked confused. “What say you?”
“Let me explain.” L’Roth sat cross-legged next to the bemused Prince. “I am going to take the crown from your father. I am going to take it because he had no right to it. My mother was oldest, but because she was a woman she was cast aside and her younger brother became King. He was crowned when he was four. Four! Would you believe it? My mother was twenty by then and already married. My father never challenged his brother-in-law for the crown. Many said he should have done, and that he would have been successful had he tried. I am going to put that right. Now do you understand me?”
“You speak of treason!” Prince Carl gasped. “You will lose your head for this!”
“And who will take it from me? You?”
Before Prince Carl could reply, L’Roth struck him on the head with his mailed fist. Carl slumped on the grass.
As L’Roth got to his feet, Sir Edmund and several men rode up.
“The Destroyers have butchered the Prince’s men and fled!” Sir Edmund announced. “Only two they leave behind, and one of them fell to our arrows as she ran! Should we give chase?”
“No.” L’Roth gestured towards the unconscious Prince. “Find a horse to throw him over, we ride back to the castle.”
Sir Edmund looked surprised. “But what about the children who escaped?”
“Forget them! What could news of their arrival mean to the Royal Household compared to the death of the Crown Prince, slain by Destroyers?”
Sir Edmund smiled. “They will be down-hearted. There will be confusion and dismay. The perfect time to strike! Kill him now, L’Roth! Put an end to him!”
“No, not yet. We will take him back to the castle and give him to Sir Henry and his slut. Let them kill him. And then, if fortune does not smile on our enterprise, we can condemn Sir Henry as the murderer and throw him to the axe-man in our place.”
Sir Edmund laughed. “Your treachery knows no bounds! I am a child compared to such cunning and deceit! Me thinks my pact is well made!” He turned to one of his men. “L’Harn! Find a horse with all four legs among these carcasses! We need a mount for our Royal charge!”