going from storyteller to storyteller is about the best
we've come up with so far.'
"Its going to take a while, you know.'
'Not as long a while as some of the other notions we've
had.'
'The ttime wasn't wasted then.'
'We'll know better after we talk with that tanner in
Paler.'
Ulath and Berit had strung a rope near the fire and
were hanging wet clothes over it when Sparhawk and the
boy returned to camp. 'Any luck?' Ulath asked.
"Some, I hope,' Sparhawk replied. "It's farely certain
that King Sarak didn't get this far south. It seems that
''there was a lot more fighting up in Pelosia and Deira than
Bevier read about.'
'What next, then?'
'We go to the town of Paler up in Pelosia and talk to a
tanner named Berd. If he hasn't heard about Sarak, he
can probably send us on to someone who has. How's
Tynian?'
'He's still asleep. Beviers awake, though, and
Sephrenia got him to drink some soup.'
That's a good sign. Let's go inside and talk with her.
Now that the weather's clearing, I think it's safe to move
on.'
They trooped into the tent, and Sparhawk repeated the
gist of what Wat had said.
'The plan has merit, Sparhawk,' Sephrenia approved.
'How far is it to Paler?'
'Talen, go and get my map, would you?'
'Why me?'
'Because i asked you to.'
'Oh. All right.'
"just the map, Talen,' Sparhawk added. 'Don't take
anything else out of the pack.'
The boy returned after a few moments, and Sparhawk
unfolded the map. 'All right,' he said. 'Paler's up here at
the north end of the lake - just across the Pelosian border.
I make it about ten leagues.'
'That wagon won't move very fast,' Kurik told him,
'and we don't want to jolt these men around. It's
probably going to take at least two days.'
'At least once we get them to Paler we should be able to
find a physitian for them,' Sephrenia said.
'We really don't have to use the wagon,' Bevier
objected. His face was pale, and he was sweating
profusely. 'Tynian is much better, and Kalten and I aren't
hurt that badly. We can ride.'
'Not while I'm giving the orders, you can't,' Sparhawk
told him. "I'm not going to gamble your lives just to save a
few hours.' He went to the door of the tent and looked
out. "It's coming on to evening,' he noted. 'We'll all get a
good nights sleep and start out first thing in the
morning.'
Kalten grunted and sat up painfully. 'Good,' he said.
'Now that that's settled, what's for supper?'
Page 95
Eddings, David - Elenium 2 - The Ruby Knight.txt
After they had eaten, Sparhawk went out and sat by
the fire. He was staring morosely into the flames when
Sephrenia joined him. 'What is it, dear one?' she asked
him.
'Now that I've had time to think about it, this is a really
far-fetched notion, isn't it? We could wander around
Pelosia and Deira for the next twenty Years listening to
old men tell stories.'
"I don't really think so, Sparhawk,' she disagreed.
"Sometimes I get hunches - little flashes of the future.
Somehow I feel that we're on the right course.'
'Hunches, Sephrenia?' he said with some amusement.
'Maybe a little stronger than that, but it's a word that
elenes wouldn't understand.'
'Are you trying to say you can actually see into the
future?'
She laughed. 'Oh, no,' she replied. 'Only the Gods can
do that, and even they're imperfect at it. About all I can
really perceive is when something's right and when it
isn't. This somehow feels right. There's one other thing,
too,' she added. The ghost of Aldreas told you that the
time has come for Bhelliom to emerge again. I know what
Bhelliom is capable of. It can control things in ways we
can't even imagine. If it wants us to be the ones who find
it, nothing on earth will be able to stop us. I think you
might find that the storytellers up there in Pelosia and
Deira will tell us things they've thought they've forgotten,
and even things they never knew.'
'isn't that just a little mystic?'
'Styrics are mystics, Sparhawk. I thought you knew that."
*Chapter11
They slept late the following morning. Sparhawk awoke
before daybreak, but decided to let his companions rest.
They had been long on the road, and the horror of the
previous day had taken its toll. He went out some way
from the tents to watch the sun rise. The sky overhead
was clear, and the stars were still out. Despite
Sephrenia's assurances the previous evening,
Sparhawk's mood was sombre. When they had begun,
the sense that their cause was just and noble had led him
to believe that somehow they would prevail against
almost anything. The events of the previous day, however,
had proved to him just how wrong he had been
about that. He would venture anything to bring his pale
young queen back to health, even to the point of
throwing his own life into the struggle, but did he have
the right to risk his friends?
'What's the problem?' He recognized Kurik's voice
without looking around.
"I don't know, Kurik,' he admitted. 'it all feels as if I'm
trying to hold sand in my fist, and this plan of ours
doesn't really make much sense, does it? Trying to track
down five-hundred-year-old stories is really rather
absurd, don't you think?'
'No, Sparhawk,' Kurik said, 'not really. You could run
around northern Pelosia or Deira with a spade for the
next two hundred years and not even come close to
Bhelliom. The farmer was right, you know. Trust the
people, My Lord. In many ways, the people are wiser
than the nobility - or even the Church, for that matter.'
Kurik coughed uncomfortably. 'You don't necessarily
Page 96
Eddings, David - Elenium 2 - The Ruby Knight.txt
have to tell Patriarch Dolmant I said that,' he amended.
'Your secret is safe, my friend.' Sparhawk smiled.
There's something we're going to have to talk about.'
'Oh?'
'Kalten, Bevier and Tynian are more or less out of
action.'
'You know, I believe you're right.'
That's a bad habit, Kurik.'
'Aslade says the same thing.'
"your wife's a wise woman. All right. Part of our
success in getting around difficulties has been the
presence of men in armour. Most people don't interfere
with the Knights of the Church. The trouble is that now
there's only going to be ulath and me.'
"I can count, Sparhawk. What's your point?'
'Could you fit into Bevier's armour?'
'Probably. It might not be very comfortable, but I could
adjust the straps a bit. The point, though, is that I won't
do it.'
'What's the problem, you've worn armour on the
&nbs
p; practice field.'
That was on the field. Everybody knew who I was,
and they knew why I was doing it. This is out in the
world, and that's altogether different.'
"I really don't see the distinction, Kurik.'
'There are laws about that sort of thing, Sparhawk.
Only knights are permitted to wear armour, and I'm not a
knight.'
The difference is very slight.'
'But it's still a difference.'
'You're going to make me order you to do this, aren't
you?'
"I wish you wouldn't.'
"I wish I didn't have to. I'm not trying to offend you,
but it involves our safety. You'll wear Beviers armour, and I
think we can stuff Berit into Kalten's. He's worn mine
before, and Kalten and I are about the same size.'
'You're going to insist, then?'
"I don't really have any choice. We've got to get
through to Paler without any incidents along the way.
I've got some injured men, and I don't want to risk them.'
"I understand the reasons, Sparhawk. I'm not stupid,
after all. I don't like it, but you're probably right.'
"I'm glad we agree.'
'Don't get too ecstatic about it. I want it clearly
understood that I'm doing this under protest.'
'if there's ever any trouble about it, I'll swear to that.'
'That's assuming you're still alive,' Kurik replied
sourly. 'You want me to wake the others?'
'No. Let them sleep. You were right last night. It's
going to take two days to get to Paler. That gives us a little
time to play with.'
'You're very worried about time, aren't you,
Sparhawk?'
'We've only got so much of it left,' Sparhawk replied
sombrely. This business of running around listening to
old men tell stories is likely to chew up a great deal of it.
It's coming up to the point where another one of the
twelve knights is going to die, and he'll give his sword to
Sephrenia. You know how that weakens her.'
"She's a lot stronger than she looks. She could probably
carry as much as you and I put together.' Kurik glanced
back towards the tents. "I'll go and build up the fire and
put her tea-kettle on to boil. She usually wakes up early.'
Page 97
Eddings, David - Elenium 2 - The Ruby Knight.txt
And he went back towards the camp.
ulath, who had been standing watch nearby, loomed
out of the shadows. 'That was a very interesting conversation,'
he rumbled.
'you heard, then?"
'Obviously. Voices carry a long way at night.'
'You don't approve - about the armour, I mean?'
"It doesn't bother me, Sparhawk. We're a lot less
formal in Thalesia than you are down here. A fair number
of Genidian Knights are not, strictly speaking, of noble
birth.' He grinned, his teeth flashing. 'We usually wait
until King Wargun is roaring drunk and then file them in
so he can bestow titles on them. Several of my friends are
barons of places that don't even exist.' He rubbed at the
back of his neck. "Sometimes I think this whole nobility
business is a farce anyway. Men are men - titled or not. I
don't think God cares, so why should we?'
'You're going to stir up a revolution talking like that,
Ulath.'
'Maybe it's time for one. It's starting to get light over
there.' Ulath pointed towards the eastern horizon.
'Right. It looks as if we might have good weather
today.'
'Check with me this evening, and I'll let you know.'
'Don't people in Thalesia try to predict the weather?'
'Why? You can't do anything about it. Why don't we
go and have a look at your map? I know a bit about ships
and currents and prevailing winds and the like. It could
just be that I can make some guesses about where King
Sarak made his landfall. We might be able to figure out
which route he took. That could narrow things down just
a bit.'
'Not a bad idea,' Sparhawk agreed. 'if we can work that
out, at least we'll have some idea of where to start asking
questions.' Sparhawk hesitated. 'Ulath,' he said seriously,
'is Bhelliom really as dangerous as they say it is?'
"Probably even more so. Ghwerig made it, and he's not
really very pleasant - even for a Troll.'
"You said "is". Don't you mean "was"? He's dead by
now, isn't he?'
'Not that I've heard, and I rather doubt it. There's
something you ought to know about Trolls, Sparhawk.
They don't die of old age like other creatures. You have to
kill them. If somebody had managed to kill Ghwerig,
he'd have boasted about it, and I'd have heard the story.
There's not much to do in Thalesia in the wintertime
except listen to stories. The snow piles up by the foot
there, so we usually stay inside. Let's go and have a look
at that map.'
As they walked back towards the tents, Sparhawk
decided that he liked Ulath. The huge Genidian Knight
was normally very silent, but once you managed to
unlock his friendship, he spoke with a kind of droll
understatement that was often even more amusing than
Kalten's exaggerated humour. Sparhawk's companions
were good men - the best, actually. They were all
different, of course, but that was only to be expected.
Whatever the outcome of their search might be, he was
glad that he had had the opportunity to know them.
Sephrenia stood by the fire drinking tea. 'You're up
early,' she noted as the two knights came into the circle of
light. 'Have the plans changed? Are we in some hurry to
leave?'
'Not really,' Sparhawk told her, kissing her palm in
Page 98
Eddings, David - Elenium 2 - The Ruby Knight.txt
greeting. 'Please don't spill my tea,' she cautioned.
'No, ma'am,' he agreed. 'We're not going to be able to
cover much more than five leagues today, so let the
others sleep a while longer. That wagon's not going to
move very fast, and besides, after what's been happening,
I don't think wandering around in the dark would be
such a good idea. Is Berit awake yet?'
"I think I heard him stirring around.'
"I'm going to put him in Kalten's armour and have
Kurik wear Bevier's. Maybe we can intimidate anybody
who might be feeling unfriendly.'
'is that all you Elenes ever think about?'
'A good bluff is sometimes better than a good fight,'
Ulath growled. "I like deceiving people.'
'You're as bad as Talen is.'
'No, not really. My fingers aren't nimble enough for
cutting purses. If I decide I want what's in a man's purse,
I'll hit him on the head and take it.'
She laughed. "I'm surrounded by scoundrels.'
The day dawned bright and sunny. The sky was very
blue, and the wet grass that covered the surrounding
hills was shiny green.
'Whose turn is it to cook breakfast?' Sparhawk asked
Ulath.
'Yours.'
'Are you sure?'
'Yes.'
utensils out of one of the packs.
After they had eaten, Kurik and Berit cut spare lances
from a nearby thicket while Sparhawk and Ulath helped
their injured friends into Talen's rickety wagon.
'What's wrong with the ones we've got?' Ulath asked
when Kurik returned with the lances.
'They tend to break,' Kurik said, tying the poles to the
side of the wagon, 'particularly in view of the way you
gentlemen use them. It never hurts to have extra ones.'
'Sparhawk, ' Talen said quietly, 'there are some more of
those people in white smocks out there. They're hiding
in that brush along the edge of the field.
'Could you tell what kind they were?'
'They had swords,' the boy replied.
'Zemochs then. How many of them are there?'
"I saw four.'
Sparhawk went over to Sephrenia. 'There's a small
group of Zemochs hiding at the edge of the field. Would
the Seeker's people try to hide?'
'No. They'd attack immediately.'
'That's what I thought.'
'What are you going to do?' Kalten asked.
'Run them off. I don't want any of Otha's men trailing
along behind us. Ulath, let's mount up and chase those
people for a while.'
Ulath grinned and hauled himself into his saddle.
'You want your lances?' Kurik asked.
'Not for a job this small,' ulath grunted, drawing his
axe.
Sparhawk climbed up onto Faran's back, strapped on
his shield and drew his sword. He and Ulath set out at a
menacing walk. After a few moments, the hidden
Zemochs broke from their cover and fled, crying out in
alarm. 'Let's run them for a bit,' Sparhawk suggested. "I
want them to be too winded to turn around and come
back.'
Page 99
Eddings, David - Elenium 2 - The Ruby Knight.txt
'Right,' Ulath agreed, pushing his horse into a canter.
The two mounted knights crashed through the bushes
at the edge of the field and pursued the fleeing Zemochs
across a broad stretch of ploughed ground.
'Why not just kill them?' Ulath shouted to Sparhawk.
"It's probably not really necessary,' Sparhawk shouted
back. 'There are only four of them, and they don't pose
much of a threat.'
'You're getting soft, Sparhawk.'
'Not really.'
They pursued the Zemochs for perhaps twenty
minutes, then reined in.
'They run very well, don't they?' Ulath chuckled. 'Why
don't we go on back now? I'm getting tired of looking at
2 - The Ruby Knight Page 20