Aruscetar looked away from Yeel.
“Yes, the armies would be much stronger if combined. I will contemplate this,” Aruscetar said. “I can promise nothing.”
Jymoor opened her mouth to speak, but Yeel interrupted her.
“Thank you for your consideration, wise monarch,” Yeel said. He looked at Jymoor. He placed a thought directly into her brain without letting the others overhear. “Without the armor, I dare say you would not contemplate arguing with your king?”
Jymoor’s face turned red. The armor had made her bold, indeed! Before she had left on her mission, she was hard pressed to do anything but bow before the king. Now she wanted to argue against his order, to convince him with the fierceness of her spirit!
“Thank you for your consideration,” Jymoor echoed.
“One final note, if I may. This information is best kept secret. There are spies everywhere. Our enemies would prefer to block any plans of cooperation we might make.”
The king nodded. “Of course. I’m not an idiot.”
“I didn’t mean to imply that, I assure you. I spoke only to remind and to implore for further security measures.” Yeel watched the edges of Seer Yune’s mouth turn up ever so slightly.
Chapter 15: Barbarians
Yeel sensed a change in the human soldiers around him. Their movement patterns had changed. Another squad of armored men hurried past.
Not good. They are alarmed. Perhaps the attack has begun?
He found Jymoor at the top of the gate tower where they’d entered the city. She looked out into the distance.
“What can you see?” Yeel asked. “My eyes, without augmentation, are not good at distance.”
“The barbarian army is arriving,” she said. Her voice was somber.
“I guess that’s not surprising,” Yeel said. “We were talking openly about helping Vot. No doubt Yune heard of it and told the Meridalae.”
“What do you mean?”
“The Meridalae always have spies in high places,” Yeel said. “And one of them is Seer Yune. She’s the one who altered my memory augment the very night I read it. They may have learned of our proposal. The surest way to keep us from our plan is to put Maristaple into immediate danger. Even if they aren’t ready to attack the city, their presence here forces the king’s hand.”
“Has Yune been thrown in the dungeon?”
“I haven’t told the king yet. I feared making such an accusation against his mistress would simply anger him and cause him to reject our argument for cooperation with Vot.”
Jymoor opened her mouth then shut it again.
“You’re right. What about the barbarians? Why are they on the side of the Meridalae?”
“They probably aren’t. The Meridalae are masters of manipulation. They seldom do their own fighting. For all we know, this plan is a century in the making.”
For the rest of the day, Jymoor watched the enemy encircle the castle and create huge camps. She gave steady reports to Yeel, who couldn’t see it by himself. All the while, the soldiers within the castle made their last preparations as well. The last few shacks were cleared from outside the wall. Though the vegetation had been cut away weeks ago, scouts milled about outside the wall, making sure everything was in order.
As night fell, Yeel turned to Jymoor.
“I’m going to head back to the house and look for my spyglass. You’re welcome to join me if you wish, assuming you’ve been using the cerebral nutrient replenisher and don’t wish to sleep.”
“I think I will.” She smiled at Yeel.
They walked through the roveportal back to the house. Jymoor looked around the water room.
“It can be creepy here. It’s so large. The armor comforts me, though. Aren’t you ever afraid here?” Jymoor nestled a bit closer to Yeel.
“I guess I’m used to it. I have, after all, been living here a very long time. And I’ve never had any trouble in the house, at least not major trouble. An occasional wild animal is the worst thing the house has let in.”
“But how do you know some Meridalae didn’t just walk up to the front and go in, just as I did? Maybe they’re in here now.”
“The house won’t let most in. It can detect many dangers.”
“So I got in because…I was only a harmless scout.”
“That’s one way to look at it.”
“So…what’s the logical location of the spyglass?”
“Hmm…the glass is for distance sight. The lower level east-west corridor is the longest straight corridor. With a spyglass, I could clearly see down it. On the other hand, the observation lounge at the top level looks out over the Far Coast…”
“…and one might make use of the spyglass from there,” Jymoor finished. “Let’s try this observation room. I’ve never seen it. How did you manage to remember it?”
“Oh, I just assume a wonderful house like this, with such an opulent water room, must have a nice observation spot at the top.”
Jymoor laughed.
They wandered, taking every stair they found until finally, Yeel led the way into a round room at the top of Yeel’s house. The room had three long divans and a few bits of furniture, but no windows.
“There are no windows?” Jymoor asked. Yeel grabbed one of the rods and lifted it. As one, metal panels on the walls rose up. A light breeze came into the room. Jymoor peered out.
“I got my directions mixed up. I guess the coast is over there,” she said, shifting her position. “I can’t see much tonight except the stars, though. It’s very romantic.”
“Then use the night glass,” Yeel said, handing her a deep blue looking glass.
Jymoor hefted the new spyglass to her eye and gazed out toward the coast. She made an appreciative sound.
“Amazing! The view is pretty clear. It would be even better if the mist in the south cleared a bit.”
“There it is,” Yeel said. He grasped another spyglass in a long tentacle.
“Look at all these rings!” Jymoor said. Yeel looked over. Jymoor had opened a small chest beside the divan. It was filled with dozens of bright rings of gold and silver.
“Oh yes. That is only one of my stashes I feel sure.”
“Are any of them…special?”
“They all are. Why else keep them?”
“In what way?”
“I have no recollection. Oh. Except for that one. And that one. And that one…”
“Anything that could help us with the siege? Yeel, what if the solution to our problems is an artifact here in your house, but you don’t remember it?”
“Well, yes, it’s possible…I mean, life comes with no shortage of problems. You’re really luckier than you know, having such a sharp memory. Anyway, these rings likely won’t help us in the big picture.”
Jymoor couldn’t keep her eyes off the ring. Yeel surveyed the contents again.
“If you want one, I know the double ruby pattern there. That one. It’s called a second chance ring. Your first wound incurred on any given day is rapidly healed. But your second wound is much worse. The trick is, to take the ring off after the first wound. Ideally, you then give the ring to your enemy. Also, it’s been known as a torturer’s ring.”
“Ugh. Interesting, but unpleasant,” Jymoor said. “Besides, I would be wearing it under my gauntlets. So I wouldn’t be able to take it off easily in combat, which is where I’d likely be getting wounded.”
“Good point.”
“How about this one?”
“Oh. I don’t remember exactly, though the top twist of silver means it is related to sexual rites of another species than your own—”
“Yuck. This one?”
“I don’t know.”
“This one?”
“I don’t know most of them.”
“Do you know this one?” Jymoor held up a gem-encrusted double ring, apparently meant for two fingers side by side.
“Yes. It’s a detector.”
“What does it detect?”
�
�I have no idea.”
Jymoor sighed. “Maybe there isn’t anything here powerful enough anyway.”
“The more powerful the item, the more likely I am to remember it. And we do have some amazing items around here. But defeating the horde is no small matter.”
“We aren’t going to defeat them. I no longer think we can do it.”
“Don’t give up hope. We still may be able to get Vot’s help.”
“It doesn’t look like it.”
“I have some ideas. Let’s get back.”
Yeel placed the spyglass into his travel pack. Jymoor walked up to Yeel and kissed him.
Yeel stopped. He noticed something from one of his detached eyes. How far away, or which eye, Yeel wasn’t sure. It didn’t look like anyplace he’d recently dropped one.
He saw something stir. A shape.
“Is something wrong?” Jymoor asked.
Then another shape resolved. They were out of focus. Two dark shadows remained still to either side. The shapes straight ahead were lighter, and moving.
“Well, look at that!” Yeel said as he watched. The shapes kept moving. One of the shapes was…a human. Or looked like a human. It opened a jar.
“What?” Jymoor asked in irritation. She stepped away.
“Interesting! One of my eyes seems to have been…preserved!”
Yeel tried to focus, but it remained difficult…as if the eye was inside another jar.
“Yeel, I don’t follow you. What does kissing have to do with…whatever you’re talking about?”
“I must have done that. How clever of myself. I am really quite the planner, aren’t I?”
“I don’t understand,” Jymoor growled.
The shape moved its jar to one side and walked out of view. Then the light dimmed again and Yeel stopped seeing anything from the remote eye.
“Nothing, it’s a magical matter. Too bad I don’t remember exactly where it is,” Yeel murmured. He headed for the door. Jymoor stomped after him.
They walked out of the maze of rooms by trial and error, found the fountain room, and then emerged back in Maristaple. Once home, Jymoor took her leave abruptly.
The next day as the horde outside kept growing from constant new arrivals, Jymoor and Yeel asked for another audience with King Aruscetar.
This time, the monarch spoke to them as soon as they arrived.
“All chances of our army being able to help Ascara-home are now gone. The barbarians surround us. Great Yeel, I hope you choose to defend us as you have promised.”
“I’m not yet ready to discard our plan,” Yeel said.
“I won’t leave, not now.”
“I have a proposal. If I make the army outside decamp and disperse, will you consider helping Vot?”
“You will do that? You can do that?” King Aruscetar grasped at the straw Yeel offered him.
“I believe I can make them go away, for a time. Not permanently. If I do send them away, I hope you can join Vot in defense of her fortress. With the understanding, of course, that if we are victorious, you will need her assistance in turn when the barbarians come back.”
Aruscetar nodded. His face held an expression Yeel recognized as grim resignation in humans.
“My field commanders have assured me we have little chance of victory here. If you can send them away, then I agree to help Vot.”
“Then the plan stays the same,” Yeel said. “It just has a new first step. A new, very challenging first step. I’ll begin right away.”
Chapter 16: Parlay
Yeel looked out from the gate tower across the vast army besieging Maristaple. Tents dotted the landscape in all directions. The warriors were wearing only animal hides and bones.
“A savage lot, even by your standards,” Yeel said.
“They’re animals,” Aruscetar growled. “If this city falls, my nation is ruined. My people are ruined. They will rape, burn…everything here will be gone. Mankind will fall into an age of ruin.”
“One of them is signaling us to talk,” the captain of the guard called out.
“Please allow me to negotiate,” Yeel said. “I need to see these warriors up close. I want to analyze their leader. We need to gain some insight into what we face.”
“No, Yeel!” Jymoor said. “You’re too valuable. If they kill you—”
“I have a few tricks up my sleeve. It wouldn’t be so easy.”
“I believe you,” Aruscetar said. “They don’t know who they’re dealing with. The mighty Yeel! You should kill their leader and wash flame across their army.”
“Oh, well, I think negotiation is in order first. Then…yes, then the flames.”
Aruscetar shrugged.
“Go ahead. Once you see what those Baltamic animals are really like, you’ll find us gentle as lambs.”
Yeel was lowered down on a tiny rope elevator, as Aruscetar refused to open the gates even for a moment. He scanned the field before the gates. Every bit of vegetation had been stripped away to prepare for the siege. He saw the barbarian signaling halfway across the field. It was a warrior atop another animal, holding a white skull up with a stick. Yeel wondered if the man was some kind of shaman. He moved out onto the vast field toward the warrior.
Yeel felt the strain of many minds focused on him. He strained to maintain the illusion of his appearance as a man in all their minds. It wouldn’t do for any of them to see him as anything else…yet.
Yeel approached to within a comfortable speaking distance, just for appearances. He’d actually be able to communicate with the man from much farther away, but he didn’t want to arouse any suspicion.
“I’m here to take your surrender,” the man growled. “You see our numbers. You know you have no chance.”
“We might consider it. I wish to speak with your leader…what might his name be?”
The warrior laughed aloud. He opened his mouth as if to reply, then lost himself to another fit of laughter. Finally he got himself under control.
“You speak our language perfectly, yet pretend you do not know of our war-king Methric. You attempt to trivialize him as if he were nothing. Should you speak with him, don’t try that trick. He will slay you for such a slight.”
“I apologize. You are right, of course. I was merely attempting to get some leverage. But you have me. I should not have underestimated your obviously considerable intelligence. Please allow me to speak with Methric.”
The man shrugged. “You refuse to surrender? He may simply have you killed to send a message. Do you really want to see him still?”
“Yes, being a brave and formidable man myself, a human like all the others in the city, but still, of power, and man of heroic deeds, I am of course very brave—did I mention that? Yes, I still would like to speak with him.”
The warrior shrugged.
“Follow me, then,” he said. He turned his horse around and trotted back toward the nearest cluster of tents.
Yeel slid along after. The barbarian army grew closer. He saw the angry stares of hundreds of them as he approached. The men looked determined, or desperate. In any case, they were hostile as they stared upon him.
The warrior who had signaled for parlay jumped off his mount and strode over to a large tent. It had countless symbols stained onto its outer surface. Yeel didn’t recognize any of them.
I wonder if they are decorative, functional, or both.
Just before he stepped into the tent, Yeel decided to project a different image of himself. He chose the idea of a strong, seasoned warrior. A tall, armored man of lean strength and rugged appearance.
The air in the tent held a tang of burnt herbs. The skulls of dead beasts hung on the poles holding up the tent. Fine rugs, tapestries, and cushions littered the tent. Yeel supposed this was a trove of items won in conquest.
He stepped toward a large chair holding a man who must be the barbarian king Methric. Many gold objects were on display by the makeshift throne. Yeel wondered if they turned the gold into a lighter metal when it
was time to break camp and move elsewhere.
Their leader looked savage. His broad chest spoke of great physical strength. His arms bulged with power. His light brown hair fell across his shoulders in ragged locks. The prodigious claws of some predatory beast hung around his neck. Bands of bronze encased his forearms.
Yeel approached the huge warrior king carefully. He bowed.
“I am Yeel. King Aruscetar has sent me to speak to you, which is what we’re doing right now. So you can see I’m a loyal servant of the king. Nothing more. Loyal, servile—that’s me.”
“Tell me, then, is King Aruscetar reasonable? I think we could come to some kind of agreement.”
The huge barbarian’s voice was soft. Yeel examined the man again. Were his eyes friendly?
“Of course we could! There’s no need to shed blood! We can reason this out,” Yeel said. “Cooperation might provide a superior end result for both our people.”
“It’s possible. Here is my offer. Give up the city to my people, and I will allow half the Rikenese to migrate south.”
“Um, er, I don’t think we are asking to migrate south, so giving us that concession is not worth any offer in return,” Yeel said carefully. “We would like to keep our libraries intact, though.”
“Your libraries? They’re filled with heretic books of false gods. I myself read over a dozen of the books at Talgam before its destruction. I was not impressed.”
“You read a dozen Rikenese books at Talgam?”
“You sound surprised. Yes, I am fluent in Rikenese. I studied their language, culture, and history for years before launching this massive migration. It seemed only wise, given the magnitude of the task before me. You see, I had to save my people.”
“But you have chosen to try and save your people by destroying another civilization,” Yeel said.
“My people must be dominant in order to secure a better result for themselves. We’re now bargaining from a position of strength. If you don’t give me sufficient concessions, then I will simply destroy the city. We’re superior to the Rikenese. I’ll prove it if necessary.”
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