The Sword of Bheleu

by Lawrence Watt-Evans

  “Go on, then; you just explained how the Council came to grant their permission for this venture.”

  “Oh, yes. Well, Kyrith had no trouble in finding sixty volunteers, and was allowed a dozen warbeasts as well. We marched down and arrived yesterday morning, but the Baron refused to see us; one of his guards told us he was sick in bed. Galt thought that we should just set up camp somewhere to the north, in the hills, and wait, but Kyrith didn’t want to do that; she was afraid that the Baron might slip out unnoticed, I think. There was a vote, and Kyrith won, and we laid siege to the town yesterday afternoon.”

  That was a relief, Garth thought; it was too soon for any messages to have reached the cities of Eramma. It was possible that Skelleth’s people had not yet even noticed that they were besieged; things could still be handled peacefully.

  “All right;” he said, “you’ve done your duty, but I’m relieving you now. You go back and tell my wife to call off this ridiculous siege. I’m safe and well and I’ll come and find her as soon as I’ve finished a little business of my own in town. Where is she camped?”

  “The main encampment is on the Wasteland Road to the north, but I can’t leave my post yet.”

  “Nonsense. You go tell her I’m here.” Garth was in no mood to argue; if he left Thord standing guard here on the main highway, the fool might attack a caravan or an innocent traveler, should one happen along.

  “I have my orders, my lord.”

  “Forget your orders. I outrank whoever gave them and I’m countermanding them. This siege will end immediately; as a member of the City Council, the Prince of Ordunin, and a lord of the overmen of the Northern Waste, I am assuming command. Now, go tell that to Kyrith and tell her to wait for me and do nothing hostile toward the humans until I arrive. Is that clear?” Without his intending it, his right hand crept down toward the hilt of the great two-handed broadsword; the gem in the pommel gleamed blood-red.

  Thord hesitated a moment longer, trying to decide whether Garth did in fact have the authority to overrule a commander appointed by a quorum of the City Council. Garth was here and annoyed; the Council was not. That decided him. “As you wish,” he said, as he turned his warbeast’s head northward.

  Garth watched him go; he was growing angrier as he thought about the stupidity of the overmen who could plan and execute such an inept maneuver—his own chief wife among them. A siege was a delicate and sometimes dangerous operation, not a casual lark. It would serve the lot of them right if someone did happen along and take them in the rear. It would be only just and fitting if the entire sixty were slaughtered. For half a silver bit he’d go up there himself and teach them all something about war—teach them at swordpoint!

  “Garth?” Frima’s voice was not entirely steady.

  The human had interrupted his chain of thought—the insolent creature! He almost snarled as he asked, “What do you want?”

  “The jewel’s glowing again.” She pointed.

  It was, indeed, and glowing relatively brightly. He looked at it and told himself that the anger he felt was not his own. There was no reason to be angry with the girl, who had acted as she thought best. There was no reason to be angry with Kyrith and her volunteers—at least, not reason enough for him to take action. They didn’t know any better.

  It took several minutes of effort to force himself back to a state of comparative calm. When he had managed it, he told himself that he would really have to get rid of the sword as soon as he possibly could.

  Well, that was part of the personal business he wanted to attend to here in Skelleth; he intended either to deliver the loot he had brought from Dûsarra to the Forgotten King or dispose of it someplace where it wouldn’t endanger anyone in the future.

  With that in mind, he urged Koros forward toward the town’s southwestern gate.

  There was no guard; had the townspeople realized they were besieged, there almost certainly would have been, he told himself. Therefore, they apparently hadn’t noticed. That was good; it meant that no act of war had yet taken place as far as the humans were concerned.

  It struck him as curious that the only gate the Baron saw fit to guard was the one leading north. True, the other four all faced nominally friendly territory, and there was no real threat in any direction—except perhaps from his own people. Duty at the North Gate was a convenient punishment for guardsmen who had displeased the Baron; Saram had told him that, months ago. The other gates were less suitable, since they were more sheltered from the cold winds and more likely to have traffic disrupting the boredom.

  Whatever the reasoning behind it, he was glad that the Baron did guard only the north. It meant he could enter the town unseen.

  The gate before him was actually merely a gap in the wall where the road wound its way through the rubble of long-fallen towers; there was no trace left of the actual gate that had once been there. Koros had no trouble in making his way through it. The road through the West Gate was partially blocked by debris, but this one was not; it was kept clear for the caravans that provided Skelleth’s only real contact with civilization.

  Inside the wall, Garth found himself surrounded by ruins. The town had once been a fair-sized city, in the days when it was humanity’s main bulwark against the overmen in the final years of the Racial Wars three centuries earlier, but when the fighting stopped, so did the flow of supplies and men from the south. Skelleth had withered, shrinking inward, until now it was mostly abandoned. The remaining village was clustered about the market square and the Baron’s mansion, surrounded by acres of crumbling, empty buildings.

  His goal was the King’s Inn, the tavern where the Forgotten King lived. It stood on a narrow, filthy alley behind the Baron’s mansion, right near the center of town, so there was no way he could hope to reach it undetected. That being the case, he saw little point in trying; skulking about through the ruins would just slow him down, and he wanted to get to Kyrith’s encampment before she had time to do anything else stupid.

  Therefore he rode straight onward, ignoring the astonished pedestrians and householders who stared as he passed.

  It was quite likely that word would reach the Baron, which was unfortunate; Garth was still, after all, under sentence of exile, forbidden to enter Skelleth without the Baron’s express permission. He might have to kill a few guardsmen in order to convince the humans that he would come and go as he pleased, with or without their permission.

  It might be fun to kill a few guardsmen; he would use the sword, of course, and hack at them until...

  He caught himself and glanced down at the glowing ruby before Frima had time to say anything.

  It would not be fun to kill anyone. Humans had just as much right to live as he himself did. If he were forced into a confrontation with the Baron’s soldiers, he would just have to hope that he could bluff them out of attacking, as he had done once before. He would not kill anyone if he could help it.

  He didn’t want to harm anyone, he told himself.

  He had to repeat it over and over as he rode through the streets, watching the townspeople scatter at his approach. He had to resist the temptation to order Koros to charge, to ride them down like so many goats, to snatch the great sword from the warbeast’s harness and swing it among them.

  By the time he reached the King’s Inn he was muttering aloud, “I mustn’t harm them. I mustn’t kill anyone.”

  Far to the west, in the city of Dûsarra, in a room draped in black and deep red and lit by a single huge candle, a pudgy, balding man in a flowing black robe held a clear crystal globe and stared into its depths. Constant use of the scrying glass was tiring and it seemed to age him, but it was one of his greatest pleasures. His abilities grew stronger with practice, and of late he had practiced much.

  He had not, however, practiced as much as he might have liked; he had other duties now, many of them. A month ago he had been under orders that severely limited hi
s use of the glass, but when his special abilities were not needed his time had been entirely his own. Now he had no restraints upon him, no one who could tell him what to do or not to do, but with this freedom had come responsibility for all the affairs of his sect. He, Haggat, was the new high priest of Aghad, god of fear and hatred, and it was his job to keep the cult healthy and active. He could not do that merely by studying his glass; he had to sit in judgment on disputes, choose what course the cult would take, and sift through and consider all the information gathered by means both magical and mundane.

  He had delegated many tasks, as many as he thought be could without weakening his authority, but he still found much of his time being spent on administrative trivia. It was a relief and a joy when he could return to his first love, spying.

  Unfortunately, his time was running out; be had to go and tend to business, choosing a candidate for the night’s sacrifice. He could not put it off if the victim was to be readied in time.

  That was a great pity; he had been watching his favorite subject, the overman who had made him high priest by slaying his predecessor. Garth’s image had been hard to summon of late, and Haggat did not think it was entirely due to increasing distance. Something was interfering, some magical force of great power. It was probably the Sword of Bheleu that was responsible.

  The overman was not doing anything of great interest at the moment; he had apparently arrived in Skelleth and was making his way through the streets. Now he seemed to be stopping at a small tavern. He was muttering something, but the glass showed images only, without sound, and the scene was not sufficiently clear for lip-reading.

  Haggat had better ways to spend his time than watching an overman take his noon meal, which was undoubtedly Garth’s intent. The image was blurring, and the sacrifice had to be chosen. He lowered the sphere, letting the vision within fade out of existence.

  He would return, however, when time allowed. Garth had defied and defiled the cult of Aghad, and it was Haggat’s duty to make sure that he suffered for that.

  The cult of Aghad was quite expert in such matters.

  Chapter Three

  “Where are we?” Frima asked.

  “This,” Garth answered, “is the King’s Inn, where the Forgotten King may be found.”

  “Does he own it? Is that why it’s called the King’s?”

  “I don’t know; it doesn’t matter.”

  “Are you really going to give me to him?” Her tone was wistful; Garth could not precisely identify the emotion, wistfulness being more or less alien to overmen, but he realized she was not pleased.

  “Yes, I am; that is why I took you from the altar of Sai and brought you to Skelleth. I have no other use for you. It may well be that he will have no more need for you than I do, though, in which case you will most likely be free to go your way.”

  “Oh.” That single syllable carried many mingled emotions; Garth was aware of none, and even Frima herself did not fully understand her feelings at that moment. There was trepidation as she faced an unknown fate, mingled with anticipation of meeting a wizard, hope that she might be freed, regret that her association with Garth was apparently about to end—a maze of confused and confusing sentiments.

  They were in the alley behind the Baron’s mansion, surrounded by filthy mire and an appalling stench. A few paces ahead, on their left, was the open door of a tavern, and its broad, many-paned window of ancient purpling glass was just beyond. The day was still gray and cloudy, so that the alleyway was full of shadows and the lanterns gleaming inside the King’s Inn made the door and window into welcoming oblongs of light.

  No one had dared interfere with the warbeast’s smooth, silent progress through the town, but any number of villagers had seen it pass, and it was possible that some had recognized which overman it was carrying. Word had probably already reached the Baron of Garth’s arrival; he could not afford to waste any time. He hoped that he would be able to speak with the old man and be gone before any opposition could be sent to stop him.

  There was a stable just past the inn, but he ignored it and left Koros standing in the alley while he gathered together the booty he had brought from Dûsarra in fulfillment of the Forgotten King’s task.

  Most of it was contained in a single good-sized sack, which he slung over his shoulder. Frima was another part; he lifted her to the ground and ordered her to accompany him and remain silent. Finally, there was the bewitched sword; he was hesitant to handle it directly, since he well knew that, even when he was not actually touching it, it was able to exert considerable control over his emotions and actions. There seemed no good alternative, however, so at last he pulled it from the warbeast’s harness, using only one hand and keeping a layer of cloth wrapped about the hilt so that his flesh was never in direct contact with the metal or the black covering of the grip.

  At Garth’s command, Frima led the way into the bright, clean interior of the tavern; she was less able to run away with him immediately behind her. He carried the sack in his left hand and the sword in his right, but had she made any suspicious move, he could have dropped them quickly and grabbed her.

  The inn’s main room was a pleasant contrast to the noisome alley; it was just as Garth remembered it, warm and clean and worn. The walls were paneled in dark woods, and light came from several oil lamps on tables and overhead beams, as well as from an immense fireplace that occupied much of the right-hand wall. Glassware and pewter sparkled faintly on shelves. The wall to the left was lined with great barrels of ale and wine, bound and tapped with shining, polished brass. At the rear a wooden stair led to an upper floor. To the right lay the broad slate hearth that spread before the gaping stone fireplace.

  The oaken floor was worn into strange, smooth shapes that showed that the furniture had not been rearranged in centuries. Shallow troughs led between and around the tables, where the feet of countless patrons had scuffed along; slight grooves marked where each chair had been dragged to and from its table over and over again. The tables themselves stood atop low hills, their legs perched on the only parts of the floor that had not been worn down.

  Half a dozen humans were present. There was the portly, middle-aged innkeeper, a trayful of ale-filled mugs in his hands. There were two unkempt villagers in dirty tunics who had been calling for their ale when the girl and the overman entered; they fell suddenly silent as they caught sight of the newcomers. There was a guardsman in mail shirt and leather helmet, speaking to a black-haired man with a neatly trimmed beard; Garth recognized the civilian as Saram, formerly a lieutenant in the Baron’s service, and a man who had sometimes been of service to both Garth and the Forgotten King.

  And finally, there was the King himself. He was an old man wrapped tightly in his tattered yellow cloak and cowl, sitting at a small table in the back corner beneath the stairs. He might once have been tall, by human standards, but was now ancient, bent, and withered. The cowl hid much of his face, so that all that could be seen was the tip of his bony nose and the wispy white beard that trailed from his chin.

  Garth pointed him out to Frima; she stared in open astonishment. “That’s the king you want to deliver me to?”

  “Yes,” Garth replied. He fought down annoyance at the girl’s surprise; he was very much aware of the sword he held in his right hand and the faintly glowing red gem set in its pommel.

  The innkeeper and the other four patrons watched silently as the pair made their way to the corner table. The innkeeper stood still, not daring to move, lest he block their path accidentally, until they had passed him; then he hurried to deliver the ale he carried, before his customers had a chance to react to the overman’s presence by leaving without paying.

  The pair of civilians muttered quietly to one another. The guardsman, with no pretense of stealth, told Saram, “I think I had better go and tell the captain.”

  “You do that,” Saram answered. “I’ll stay here and watch.”
His eyes followed Frima across the room.

  The soldier nodded, rose, and departed, as Garth seated himself across from the yellow-garbed figure. Frima nervously sat at the nearest unoccupied table; there was something about the old man she found disturbing. She realized that even when she looked directly at him—or as nearly as she could—she could not see his eyes, but only darkness. His face was dry and wrinkled, drawn tight across the bone, and no matter how much she adjusted her position or her gaze, she could not make out his forehead or his eyes through the shadows of the overhanging cowl. They must, she decided, be sunken back into his head; he did not seem to be blind. There must be more there than empty sockets.

  Garth paid no attention to the shadows; he had seen the old man before and knew that he always appeared thus. He was not certain why the King’s eyes could not be seen or how the trick was managed, but it had become familiar. He knew that the old man could see, and that sometimes a glint of light could be seen, as if reflected from an eye, so he was sure it was just a trick of some kind.

  “I have brought you what I found upon six of the altars in Dûsarra,” he said without preamble.

  The old man shifted slightly and placed his thin mummylike hand atop the table. “Show me,” he said.

  His voice was a dry, croaking whisper. Frima shuddered. The voice sounded of age and imminent death. It reminded her of the stories she had heard of P’hul, the goddess of decay. It was said that where the goddess walked, the ground turned to dust, plants fell to powder, pools dried up, and trees withered and died; the Forgotten King’s voice would have fitted such a deity to perfection.

  Garth dropped the sack he still held to the floor beside him and gripped the sword with both hands. “First,” he said, “there are matters to be settled.”

  “What matters?”

  The voice was the same; somehow Frima had thought that it would change, that the old man’s throat would moisten.