There was a long, long silence. It was ironic that I had been treated with respect by the Vahsi, who were barbaric to the core, yet these supposedly civilised Karningers were calmly talking of removing parts of bodies, piece by piece. Grief washed over me. What could we do now? How could we surrender to these savages? Yannassia would never agree to be bound by such an agreement. Sooner or later, she would want to attack the golden army somewhere within its vast territory, and then the terrible process would begin. A finger here, a toe there. An ear, perhaps. And then whole feet or hands or arms. I swayed a little, and Arran put his arm around me to support me.
Then, Ly’s voice. “We would like to hear the list of names. Could you read them out slowly, so Rythmarri can write them down?”
My hands were shaking so badly that Arran took the paper from me and began to read. Most of them meant nothing to me, but two of them were Gurshmontas. Shallack hadn’t mentioned that his own son and niece were amongst those captured. Rythmarri confirmed that all her specialists, those who’d been living inside Greenstone Ford for some time and passing information, were on the list. All but one. Lathran was not mentioned.
“Ask Rythmarri what she thinks has happened to him?” I thought to Ly.
After a long pause, he said, “She thinks he is probably dead.” The grief in his mind was palpable. Poor Lathran, and his parents, Millan and Tisha, waiting hopefully for news at Lakeside. Perhaps we would never know what had become of him. It was a dangerous business, being a specialist. No disguise was ever perfect, and the penalty for discovery was severe – a quick death, if you were lucky, or a slow, painful one, involving the removal of parts of the body, or starvation, or repeated beatings.
I swallowed, and my mouth was almost too dry to manage it. “It’s obvious what has to happen,” I whispered. “My life for twenty-four. It is a fair trade.”
“No!” Ly and Arran spoke in unison.
“Absolutely not!” Arran said.
“Yannassia forbids it,” Ly added. “She says that these people knew the risks they took, and they must accept the consequences.” A pause. “She says that we must not attempt to rescue them. There is nothing more we can do. That is the way of war. You are to come home immediately, Drina.”
I nodded. It was horrible to leave them to their fate, but I couldn’t defy Yannassia openly. “Tell her I will return tomorrow,” I said to Ly.
“Well, we have done all we can,” I said, my voice still shaking. “At least we know who they hold. We’ll go back to Kingswell tomorrow and plan our next campaign.”
“You will go,” Arran said quietly. “I stay.”
My heart turned over. No, no, no! Not Arran! I couldn’t say a word. My hand over my mouth, I blinked away tears. Surely he couldn’t mean what I thought he meant?
He took my hand, gazing down at it as if to memorise it. “You see, this is all my fault,” he said gently. “It was my stupidity that told the Gurshmontas what was going on. Without that, none of this would have happened, and everyone would still be safe. But now I have a chance to set things right. One life for twenty-four. A fair trade, you said, and so it is. I will go and be the Bennamorian hostage, and the twenty-four will be free to go back to their wives and husbands and drusse, to see their children grow up, to enjoy their lives under the sun. One life is a small price to pay for all that, I would say.”
“They want me,” I said through my tears. “The heir.”
“Or equivalent,” he said calmly. “I have the same rank as you. I am sure they will accept me.”
“These people cannot be trusted!” I cried. “They will keep you and not release the hostages and then it will all be for nothing.”
“That is a risk worth taking,” he said calmly. “I have to try. I could not live with myself if I tamely run back to Kingswell now.”
“You know Yannassia will not be bound by this?”
“Of course. She must do whatever she has to do, as we all must.”
“And when the time comes for us to fight back against these people, you will die.”
“I am quite hard to kill, as it happens. And chopping bits off will be tricky.”
“By blade or bow or axe, yes, but there’s still poison, or starvation, or drowning.”
He only hesitated for a heartbeat. “Perhaps it will take them a while to work that out. Drina, I am determined to do this.”
“Ly? Tell him not to. Tell Yannassia to forbid it. Please!” But Ly was crying too. There was no hope there.
“Yannassia says…” A long pause while Ly tried to compose himself, not entirely successfully. “Yannassia says that if he does this, there must be no rescue attempt. She says she will not risk any more lives. She wants your word you will not try anything.”
“Not even try?”
For a moment there was nothing in Ly’s mind but grief. Then, hesitantly, he said, “Yannassia says… even if we cannot rescue him, he will make the perfect spy, since we can see and hear everything that goes on around him. And we can tell him what is happening on the outside. He will be very useful to us, she says, before… before…”
Then he was gone, too distressed even to talk to me.
Arran gently stroked my face.
I bowed my head. “I can’t lose you,” I whispered. “How can I live without you?”
He brushed away my tears with one finger. “Drina. Sweet Drina. I know you will be fine, because you have Ly to take care of you. Just…” For the first time, his voice cracked. “Do not let Callon forget me. And tell Amandissia and Arrynyor that their father loved them. As I love you, my darling.”
“Don’t leave me!” My voice was no more than a thread.
“I must do this. For once in my life, let me do the right thing. Sweetheart, I have loved being your drusse, every moment of it, and I would like nothing more than to stay by your side for ever, but this is something I have to do. We will not be apart, not really. We can still talk, and even if they throw me into the darkest cell, I will still see the sunlight through your eyes. I will be with you for as long as I live. And… and you will never have to wonder about me, because when I die, you will know it at once.”
He held me in his strong arms and rocked me gently, and I clung to him, weeping, as my heart shattered into a thousand pieces.
31: Inside
Within the hour he was gone. He left behind his sword and daggers, left off the armoured gear and went alone, wearing only his shirt and trousers, so they would see no threat in him. Kalmander flew him to the far side of the bridge, and from there he walked up the road to the gates.
I crawled into the tiny tent we’d shared only the night before, and curled up into a weeping ball. But Arran was still in my head, talking to me, and so was Ly, and that brought me a little comfort.
Through Arran’s eyes, I watched him approach the gates, still closed as they had been for several suns now. There was no window, no opening, no one peering down from above, just the blank face of the wall and the forbiddingly locked gates.
He stopped, looked up and down. Nothing happened. He stepped forward, rapped on the small door, stood back. Still nothing happened. He raised a hand to knock again, but the small door creaked open and a helmeted head peeped out.
“What is it? What do you want? Market is not till tomorrow.”
“I am Most Powerful Arran abre Teynia fen Hextor, drusse to the Most Powerful Lady Axandrina, Bai-Drashonor of all Bennamore and its dominions. I surrender myself as hostage in exchange for the twenty-four you hold.”
He spoke loudly, as if the poor gatekeeper could understand him any better that way. The man looked bewildered, then he pulled his head back inside and slammed the door.
There was a long wait. “Why does he not come back?” Arran said fretfully, and his impatience tore at my heart. He’d made the decision to offer himself, and now he wanted it to be done, for something to be happening, not this interminable standing around. But every moment of it lifted my spirits just a little. I tried not to think of
it, but at the back of my mind was the tiniest sliver of hope. Perhaps they wouldn’t take him? Perhaps he would be turned away, and I wouldn’t have to lose him after all?
But the door opened again, and my spirits plummeted. The same helmeted face, beckoning Arran inside. He stepped over the threshold and into the walled town of Greenstone Ford. All around him were tall men in shining armour, their faces impassive under their helms. And in the middle of a small gaggle of regular guards, a familiar face. Trimon, the Dragon God himself.
“I am Most Powerful Arran abre—”
“Yes, yes, I remember you. The one who is like a husband.”
Arran bowed. “I am here to exchange myself for the prisoners.”
Trimon’s eyes narrowed. “Why? You are not the heir. Why does she not come? We could have some fun with her.”
That chilled me to the bone. A bolt of rage shot through Arran, but then Ly’s voice. “Be calm, Arran. Very calm.”
After a moment Arran said, his voice wavering only slightly, “The Drashona would not permit it. The message asked for the heir or equivalent, and I have the same rank as the heir.”
“Rank?”
“Status. Position.”
“So she values you as much as this heir?”
Arran was silent, not correcting him.
“Perhaps it is so.” Trimon’s face hardened. “Or perhaps she keeps the valued heir, and sends someone of no account, eh?”
“I am not someone of no account!” Arran said, with genuine indignation. “I am noble-born, and drusse to the heir.”
“Like a husband, I get it. And you’re so important, you’re worth twenty-four people. She obviously wants them back, these prisoners. So maybe I’ll do better to keep them and you, eh? What will your queen have to say about that, eh, Master Like-a-husband?”
“I cannot speak for the Drashona, but I know what I would say about a man who offered a deal and then reneged on it. I would call him dishonourable, Master Dragon God.”
I held my breath. Surely such cheek could only end badly? Arran had never been much of a diplomat. There was a time and a place for defiance, and this wasn’t it.
But to my surprise, Arran’s judgement was better than mine, for Trimon burst out laughing. “You have spirit, I’ll give you that. Very well, your queen can have the twenty-four and I’ll have you. I’m sure we can dream up some entertaining games to play with you. Nothing life-threatening, mind, because I’m a fair man and I keep my word. As long as your queen keeps away from my lands, you get to stay in one piece. Slightly damaged, perhaps, but still whole. Do you think she will stay away, eh?”
“I trust the Most Powerful to do what is right.”
“You’d better hope your trust is well-founded, because if not – you start losing bits and pieces, my noble-born friend. Take him away. The black cell.”
The guards closed in and dragged him away through the town, first up a wide street lined with shops or stalls, bustling with many people who leapt out of the way. Then a narrower street, shaded and cool, with water running in a gutter. Several times Arran fell, although I couldn’t see why, and was hauled to his feet again. Another street, a tree-lined square, an archway and a courtyard. Around it, high buildings that looked like barracks. Through a door, down a long, dark corridor, then down stone stairs. Again he fell, and was pulled up. Then a wooden door was opened, he was pushed through hard enough that he landed on hands and knees. The door slammed shut with a rattle of keys. Darkness.
“Arran?”
“I am fine. My defences protected me, so I am fine. Oof!”
“What is it?”
“The wall. Oh, here is a bench or something of the sort. There. Now I have a seat.”
There was a long pause then. I just couldn’t stop crying.
“Drina?”
“Yes?”
“Tell me when he releases the others.”
“I will, yes.”
Another long pause.
“Drina?”
“Yes?”
“Are you all right?”
“Of course,” I said, knowing that I would never be all right again.
~~~~~
Within an hour, I had Kalmander’s distinctive voice in my head. “Lady? They are coming out.”
“Ah, good. Can you count, Kalmander?”
A burst of amusement.
I took that for assent. “Will you let me know when they’re all out, please? All twenty-four.”
“I will, Lady.”
He was back almost immediately. “Twenty-four.”
I believed him, but I needed to see for myself what state they were in. I sent Sunshine aloft to look down through her eyes, because I couldn’t see through Kalmander’s. There they were, a little trickle of people, drifting slowly down the road to the new bridge, then across it.
“I will go down and meet them at the other side of the bridge,” Flenn said. “In case anyone needs healing or…”
He didn’t finish the sentence, but he didn’t need to. The prisoners were all able to walk, but one or two needed to be supported, and perhaps their clothes concealed injuries. Perhaps Trimon had chosen to have some ‘fun’ with them before sending them on their way.
“I’ll come, too,” I said. “Maybe it will reassure them to see me. Most people know me by sight.” That was one of the advantages of dark skin in a largely pale population. Everyone knew me.
Flenn shuffled his feet. “If you will take my advice, Most Powerful, you will not show yourself so close to the town. This Dragon God knows you by sight as well.”
“Oh. I suppose you’re right. But I hate to skulk here when there are people needing help.”
“There is one thing you could do,” he said. “Fly west, and see if you can find the guards from the camp. They will not be moving fast, and perhaps they can turn back and provide a safe escort from predators or Vahsi. There is an inn a sun’s march from here, and if we are lucky, they will have stopped there for a little rest and relaxation.” He winked.
It gave me something to do, and activity was a blessing just then. So I flew above the road on Sunshine, and I was lucky, for I found the guards just about to set off from the inn. They turned at once and began the journey back to meet the former prisoners. Ly told me that Shallack Gurshmonta had sent a number of wagons from Kingswell. The twenty-four had only to make their way to the inn, and await their arrival.
In my mind, Arran’s presence was strong and calm. After a while, his emotions were so even that I guessed he’d fallen asleep. He’d been up all night watching my little adventure, so he must be exhausted, and now he was shut away in the dark, with nothing else for him to do. I was glad he had some respite from his situation. I wished I had some too, but the emptiness inside me was something I would have to learn to live with, for it would never leave me.
~~~~~
I stayed one more night in the makeshift camp. It would have been more sensible to go to the inn, perhaps, but the camp held the small tent I’d shared with Arran, and the blankets we’d wrapped ourselves in after we’d made love. I was so tired that I couldn’t help sleeping, but it wasn’t restful. Almost every hour I found myself jerking awake and searching in a panic for Arran’s mind. It was always there, a constant reassurance. He was well, and calm, and, above all, still alive.
Flenn stayed with me, tending the fire and sharing the last of the food that Arran had brought. Kalmander was there, too, perched watchfully nearby. And when I mounted Sunshine and flew west, Kalmander followed. The sun had almost set by the time I arrived at Kingswell, luckily, because it was very close to darkmoon.
Ly had known I was coming, of course, so there was quite a crowd waiting for me on the roof. And the first to rush forward to embrace me and cry all over me was Yannassia. I don’t suppose she even knew how to find her way to the roof, for I’m sure she’d never been there before.
“So brave!” she whispered. “He never lacked courage, but this is beyond anything.”
That star
ted my own tears again, and I couldn’t say a word.
Mother was there to weep and hug me, too, and Cal. And Ly, who was crying as hard as anyone. I’d seen him in some dreadful states, but I’d never seen him so distressed. When everyone else had had their turn, he held me so tightly it hurt.
“But he is cheerful, Ly says,” Yannassia said. “He is not downhearted. And they have not… not hurt him.”
“No, they are treating him well, so far. The food is plain, but he gets three meals each sun.”
“He is locked away in the darkness, poor man.”
“Yes, but he can still see the outside world through Ly and me, even though he can see nothing of his own surroundings. There are no minds there he can bond with, either. Well, not human ones. Plenty of rats in the cells.”
Yannassia shuddered. “The Gurshmontas plan to erect a statue of him in Mellonan Square.”
That made me laugh through my tears. “He would like that,” I said.
“Drina, will you tell everyone not to cry so much. I am not dead yet. And I should like a statue very much.”
I laughed out loud, and relayed this to the others.
“So much courage,” Yannassia said quietly. “They have begun calling him the hero of Greenstone Ford.”
“He’s always been a hero to me,” I whispered.
There would be reports to make, and meetings to attend, and every detail of the last few suns to be described and chewed over and analysed, but all of that could wait.
“Ly has given us very full descriptions of everything that went on, so you may take your time, Drina,” Yannassia said. “I must say, I was concerned about this blood-bonding, but it has proved its worth. Arran is not cut off from you, which must be the greatest comfort to all of you just now. But for tonight, what do you wish to do? If your own apartment would be too upsetting, you may come and stay with us.”
I hadn’t even thought about that. Did I want to go back to the home I’d shared with Arran for so many years? Every room would remind me of him. Every hour there would be some little thing – the rug he’d chosen, his shirts in the closet, a favourite dish appearing at evening board. And there was Callon, who would look at me with his father’s face and break my heart again and again.
The Second God Page 29