The Empress and the Acolyte

by Jane Fletcher

  The herald jolted as if he had been punched, and his eyes glazed. When they cleared again, his expression was one of fear and confusion. His head jerked from side to side, clearly trying to work out where he was. Mavek had gone.

  “You can go. As a herald you have safe passage from this town,” Tevi told him.

  Possibly, the man had some idea of what had happened to him. He nodded and scuttled from the room like a rabbit chased by hounds. As the door slammed shut behind him, Jemeryl sank onto the chair with her head in her hands.

  “He’s right. It is my fault.”

  Tevi moved to Jemeryl’s side and put a hand on her shoulder. “No, it isn’t. It’s a stupid argument. Mavek is responsible for his own actions.”

  “Some of the blame is mine. I can’t ignore the part I played in sending him over the edge.” Jemeryl wrapped her arms around Tevi’s waist and buried her face in Tevi’s stomach. “He wouldn’t be so bad if I hadn’t hurt him.”

  “You don’t know that for certain.”

  “I can’t imagine the old Mavek threatening to wipe out Uzhenek.”

  “Can you stop him?”

  “Mavek on his own, no trouble, even if he had another of the acolytes helping him. But I won’t stand a chance against all six, and he’ll have dozens of witches in support, and all his weapons ready.” Jemeryl leaned back and looked up at Tevi. “I’m sorry. I know that you feel responsible for the townsfolk, but we’re going to have to make a run for it. With luck, I’ll be able to sneak us through the lines. Maybe he won’t attack once he learns that we’ve gone.”

  “He’ll attack at first light tomorrow before he has the chance to find out. And we’ve got no hope of outrunning him.”

  “Why not?”

  “The state the herald was in. Did you notice his blue lips and the way he twitched?”

  Jemeryl shook her head. “Not really. What does...?”

  “It’s one of Dunarth’s potions. She calls it sleepstop. The troops have cruder names for it. When someone takes it, they don’t sleep, they don’t feel tired, they don’t feel much pain. As long as they take the drug, they can run all day and all night until they drop dead.”

  “And that’s how he got his army here so quickly. I’d been wondering—” Jemeryl broke off, frowning. “It can’t be safe.”

  “It isn’t. Like I said, people will keep going until their hearts burst. But the really dangerous time is when the effect wears off, and the build up of exhaustion hits all at once. If his foot soldiers have run all the way from Tirakhalod, then I guess that two-thirds of them will be dead once they stop taking the drug, and the other third won’t be far from it. I doubt that he has enough sleepstop to keep his army going for more than another day or two, which is why he’s going to attack at the very first opportunity. He won’t have an army left once the sleepstop runs out. But the only real use he has for common soldiers is to deal with large numbers of ungifted opponents. Once Uzhenek is massacred, he won’t have any more need of them.”

  “Why did the soldiers agree to take it?”

  “Because very nasty things happen to common soldiers in Bykoda’s army who don’t obey orders.”

  Jemeryl’s grip on Tevi tightened. “Did anyone ever force you to take it?”

  “No. They never give it to officers. The witches are too valuable to risk losing, and they wouldn’t have wanted to upset you by making an exception in my case. But they give it to horses. Which is another reason why Mavek will attack early. We won’t be able to outrun him if his horses don’t need to rest. He’ll want to conserve stocks so that if we escape from Uzhenek, he’ll be able to keep the acolytes and witches on horseback for as long as it takes to catch us.”

  “So what do we do?”

  Tevi closed her eyes. Through her mind ran images of the excited children chasing after her, the cheering soldiers wearing their blue and black braids, and the weeping mother clinging to her. “We can’t abandon the townsfolk, but I don’t see how we can protect them.”

  “At the moment, I don’t see how we can do anything. I wish I’d never come to Tirakhalod.”

  Tevi cut off the self-recrimination. “This isn’t your fault.”

  “Yes, it is. The only reason—”

  “No. The only reason we’re in this mess is because Bykoda wanted to rewrite her past mistakes. But the way you deal with your mistakes is to face the consequences, make what amends you can, learn, grow, and move on. That’s what life is, growth and change.”

  “Do you really think that?”

  “Yes.”

  Tevi knelt and pulled her lover into a hug. She had to get Jemeryl into a more positive frame of mind if they were to stand any chance. Her eyes flitted around the room, hunting inspiration, and then she spotted Klara, perched on the back of the chair.

  “Could Klara take the talisman?”

  “Kla—Where?”

  “To Lyremouth. It isn’t that heavy. Could she carry it and fly over the Barrodens?”

  Jemeryl summoned her familiar onto her outstretched hand and considered the magpie thoughtfully. “I’d guess so. Certainly with a couple of spells to help her along. But it would be dangerous.”

  “More dangerous than the talisman staying here? If we sent her off now, by dawn tomorrow she’d be hundreds of miles away. Then we could tell Mavek that there was no point attacking Uzhenek, because the talisman was beyond his reach no matter what he did.”

  Jemeryl shook her head. “He’s psychotic. He still might kill us. But I could fix it so that Klara would carry on, even after my death. Except she wouldn’t have any protection. She’d be as vulnerable as an ordinary magpie. There are buzzards and hawks on the plains, and eagles in the high Barrodens. If she was killed, the talisman would be left lying around for anyone to pick up.”

  Klara ruffled her feathers. “Charming! For a moment there I thought you were worried about me.”

  Tevi grinned, mainly in relief. It was the first time that Klara had spoken since Jemeryl had arrived in Uzhenek. Playing with the familiar as her alter ego was the best sign yet that the sorcerer was getting back to normal.

  Tevi dragged a second chair over and sat down beside Jemeryl. “We could keep it as a last resort, if we can’t come up with a better plan. The risk of Klara getting attacked by eagles is still safer than the certainty of Mavek using the talisman.”

  Jemeryl nodded. “True. But there has to be another option. We just need to work it out.” She rested her chin on her fist and stared at the wall opposite, but then her gaze returned to Tevi. “Come on. You’re supposed to be the military tactical expert here. Haven’t you got any good ideas from playing on your battle table?”

  Tevi opened her mouth to deny having any worthwhile ability, then closed it again, frowning in thought. Similarities with various other battles leapt into her head, although none of them had a positive outcome.

  “Well...as a straight battle, it’s hopeless. So we need to come at the problem from a different angle. See if we can think of a way to attack that Mavek won’t expect and won’t have made plans for. The biggest mistake any commander ever makes is in letting the enemy pick the battle plan. We can’t afford to merely react to what Mavek does.”

  “What sort of thing are you thinking of?”

  “Nothing definite at the moment. But we need to really search our memories and make sure we aren’t overlooking anything. Somewhere there has to be something we can use. And the more unconventional it is, the more likely that it will outfox Mavek.”

  Jemeryl reached out and took hold of Tevi’s hand. At the touch, Tevi felt a grin grow on her face. The situation still looked grim, but working together, she was sure they would find a way through.

  Chapter Fifteen—Night Sortie

  Sunset was long past and the moon was low on the horizon. A cold wind gusted over the plains. Darkness in Mavek’s camp was broken only by the flickering from campfires, each with its knot of soldiers huddled around, silent and unsleeping. Their eyes were fixed on the
snapping flames. Most were standing, a few sat, but none lay on the ground, apart from the dead.

  As Tevi marched by one group, a soldier collapsed in a shuddering heap and then was still. She glanced at him in passing—an older man, heavily built. It was always the ones with tired hearts who went first. His comrades dragged him away, to add to the piles forming out on the plains beyond. As yet, the number of corpses was small in relation to the size of the army, but once the sleepstop ran out, the situation would change. Who would be left to bury them all?

  Tevi’s teeth clamped together. For the moment, qualms about her mission faded. Cold-blooded assassination was not something she could ever feel happy about, but Mavek had to be stopped.

  Jemeryl marched in line behind her. Tevi would have preferred walking side by side, and even holding hands for comfort, except that the action might compromise their pretence of being soldiers in Mavek’s army. After considerable debate, Jemeryl had decided not to use magic, either to disguise them or render them invisible. The ungifted and most witches would not see through the cover, but in the case of the acolytes, magical disguise would alert rather than fool them. And the acolytes were the ones who posed the greatest risk. Anyone else, Jemeryl might have some chance of silencing without raising the alarm.

  A simple spell had diverted the attention of the sentries when they infiltrated the enemy line. Apart from this, Tevi and Jemeryl were merely dressed in the uniforms of common soldiers with smears of mud across their faces for disguise. So far, it was working. No one was giving them a second look as they marched through the camp in search of Mavek’s quarters.

  Tevi had been tempted to ask directions at one of the fires. Was it unreasonable that in a camp of this size, some soldiers with a legitimate need to find the commanding officer might not know where he had based himself? However, there was no need to take the risk. Time was not an issue and they had only to march the full circuit in a purposeful fashion to locate their target.

  Seen from Uzhenek, the campfires formed a perfect, unbroken ring. From in their midst, the situation was far more chaotic. Sentry points had been set at regular intervals encircling the city, but behind them, the fires were scattered at random, without planning or order. The gaps between them varied from a spear length to an arrow flight. The most distant were a quarter mile out into the plains.

  Supplies and weapons had been dropped wherever the owners saw fit. Bows and swords lay unprotected in the damp grass. Some groups had made attempts to erect bivouacs, but few were completed, and none were in use. Tevi wondered at the mental state of the soldiers. In Ranenok’s section of the army, sleepstop had been given as a last resort. In her time serving under him, Tevi had only seen it used twice. Both instances had been for short periods, but even then, the deterioration in the soldiers’ ability to think and act rationally had been manifest.

  These soldiers were clearly not in a normal frame of mind. If it came to battle, how would they perform? Could they still obey orders? Would they be able to fight at all? Or might they be reduced to acting like frenzied animals? That last possibility was obviously the most worrying.

  Tevi gave a quick glance behind her. Jemeryl had been very keen not to take the lead, in case they were stopped and questioned. Not only was there slightly more chance of Jemeryl’s face being recognised by someone with enough power to cause problems, but the experience at the fort in Redezth had shown the gaps in her experience. Leaving the talking to someone who could give the right sort of military answers was definitely a good idea.

  Walking along, Tevi once again reflected in amazement on her lover’s naivety. How long had Jemeryl thought a captured deserter would be allowed to live? If it had not been for the captain’s desire to make a public example, Tevi doubted that they would have even bothered taking Jemeryl as far as the cell. Did Jemeryl not have the first idea of what the life of a common soldier in Bykoda’s army was like?

  A soft tap on the arm broke into her thoughts. Jemeryl was pointing furtively towards a distant collection of tents gathered around a high pavilion. A stacked bonfire blazed in an open space before it like a beacon. The skyline beyond was broken by the ominous silhouettes of huge catapults and trebuchets. A trio of banners flapping in the wind provided further confirmation that this was Mavek’s headquarters. If he was not in the pavilion, then he would surely not be far away. Tevi changed course.

  From some way off, Tevi could see a few figures gathered around the bonfire, clearly in search of warmth. However, unlike the common soldiers, these stood in relaxed poses. A flagon was making the rounds on the far side. Heads were turned together in conversation. Obviously the people here had not taken sleepstop, which meant that they were most likely officer witches.

  Tevi’s intention was to skirt around the headquarters area, avoiding the firelight, and then loop back behind the pavilion. Only when it was too late did she spot the two people standing alone in shadows between outlying tents.

  Ranenok was facing in their direction, although his attention was focused on another person who had her back to them—Kharel. Tevi recognised the seer from her outline against the firelight. The pair were standing close and holding hands. Either they were taking chances, or Mavek was unconcerned about liaisons between his more powerful followers.

  The path Tevi was on went within a few feet of where the two acolytes stood. And it was too late to back away. Such behaviour would only risk drawing attention to herself. Tevi marched on without a pause.

  Her old commander was clearly unhappy. The stump of his left arm was tapping his side in a gesture she recognised as annoyance. Even in the darkness, the frown on his face was unmistakeable. The faint glimmer from the bonfire accentuated the downturn of his lips.

  Tevi passed by close enough to hear him murmur to his lover, “I wish I knew what was going on in Mavek’s head. Why ruin the army to attack a town like Uzhenek? What does he want from Jemeryl?”

  For a second, Tevi was tempted to stop and answer the questions. She still respected Ranenok and would rather have him as an ally than an enemy. Maybe she and Jemeryl could tell him the truth and win him over, but the risk was not worth the chance. She carried on.

  For his part, Ranenok did not even glance in her direction. At that time of night, few common soldiers were still occupied with errands, but enough were active to make the sight of two more marching through the camp unworthy of notice. The sound of his voice faded into the night behind her.

  Beyond the tents lay an unoccupied region given over to engines of war. Tevi wondered why they had been dragged all the way from Tirakhalod. Was it just Mavek seizing the chance to play with his creations, like a child with a previously forbidden toy? Uzhenek no longer had any walls to batter down and no defences to justify using such overwhelming power.

  On Tevi’s right, the machines were a silent, deadly presence. On her left, the nearest campfire was more than fifty yards away. No one was around to see or hear them. Tevi checked to front and rear and then ducked into a gap between two carts. Here the darkness was total. She felt, rather than saw, Jemeryl slip into the space beside her.

  “We’ve found his headquarters. What now?” Tevi asked.

  “You could wait here while I go to tackle Mavek.”

  “No.”

  Jemeryl had not wanted Tevi to come on the night sortie and had initially tried to talk her out of it. Only Tevi’s experience with the army had silenced her objections and cut short the argument, since there was no chance that Tevi would have quickly agreed to her lover going alone. She was not about to change her mind now.

  Jemeryl sighed but did not try to restart the debate. “Well then. I guess that we sneak up carefully, find Mavek, and kill him.”

  Tevi could not bring herself to speak. She had liked Mavek, and now she was preparing to murder him. Restraining a groan, she let her head fall back and looked up. Black against the stars were the outlines of giant catapults mounted on carts. Their ammunition would be nothing so mundane as rocks. The vision of
fire and acid falling on Uzhenek rose before her mind’s eye. Tevi thought of the girl who had brought the message about the herald, with her trusting smile and coloured braids, and then imagined the sight, sound, and smell of the girl screaming as the flesh was seared from her bones.

  Alternately, Tevi thought of Mavek claiming the talisman and destroying half the world. The scenario was less gruesome and violent, but far more devastating. The people would not merely die, but never even have existed. Their lives would be erased utterly.

  Mavek had to be stopped.

  “Did you hear what Ranenok was saying?” Jemeryl asked.

  Tevi drew a deep breath and turned her thoughts away from images of death. “Yes. And I bet he’s not the only one who’s confused by Mavek’s behaviour.”

  “None of the ordinary soldiers were talking.”

  “That’s the sleepstop. At first it makes people jabber away, but as time goes on, they get quieter and quieter.”

  “Did you see any other acolytes around the fire?”

  “No. I kept my eyes straight ahead. Why?”

  “I wonder what happened to Anid. She can’t have passed on what I told her to Ranenok or Kharel.”

  “Do you think she challenged Mavek?”

  “She said that she was going to.”

  “Mavek is still here, so I guess he killed her before she got the chance to speak to the other acolytes.”

  Jemeryl only sighed in response.

  “Whatever happened to her isn’t your fault.”

  “You keep saying that about everything.”

  Tevi found Jemeryl’s hand in the darkness and squeezed it. “Once we’re safely back in Lyremouth, you have my permission to start wallowing in guilt, but not before.”

  “I may hold you to that.”

  Despite the words, Tevi could hear a smile in Jemeryl’s tone. Tevi squeezed her hand once more and then let go. “Time to move?”

  “Yes. I’ll lead.”

  Jemeryl slipped past her and continued along the space between the carts. The darkness was too complete for Tevi to see anything, and she only realised that Jemeryl had stopped when she banged into the sorcerer’s back.