An insubstantial image of Treysind stood beside the boy's ravaged body, talking earnestly and softly with Randgrithr. Then, suddenly, they both turned toward Calistin.
Instinctively, Calistin raised his sword. He knew he looked a fright, covered from the tips of his hair to his toes in sticky, giant's blood and sweat, his left arm hanging uselessly at his side. Sparing him barely a glance, the Valkyrie turned back to Treysind's soul, her gestures broad and irate. Then, she let her hands fall in obvious defeat, sighed, and nodded.
Treysind's body remained where it had fallen, but the image of him at Randgrithr's side flew at Calistin like an angry wraith. Startled, Calistin kept his sword in battle position, but the image only dissipated like a loose sand sculpture in the wind. Warmth suffused Calistin, so vast and sudden he was seized with the urge to strip off his clothing and leap into the ocean. A new rush of sweat further slicked his every part. Then, as quickly as the fire had flared, it disappeared. A breeze from the ocean whipped his damp limbs into gooseflesh.
The Valkyrie raised her arms to leave, but Calistin caught one, jerking her to face him.
Randgrithr turned and glared at Calistin. "What do you want, Calistin Ra-khirsson?" She made a gesture to indicate the body-strewn beach. "A war of this magnitude is not enough for you? You want at me, too?"
Calistin did not seek a battle this time, but he would gladly fight her if she wished it or refused him the information he craved. "You came for Treysind?"
The Valkyrie regarded Calistin. "He died in brave and glorious combat. He gave himself for you. Twice." She shook her head. "I'm not at all sure you're worth it."
Calistin gritted his teeth at the insult but did not otherwise react. He could not imagine any Einherjar would prefer Treysind over him as an opponent. Yet the Valkyries clearly saw the world differently than their charges. Or, at least, this one did. "I saved his life, too."
The Valkyrie's brows rose over pale eyes, and a thick wad of yellow hair escaped her helmet. "Perhaps. But you did not give him… everything."
Startled, Calistin back stepped. "What?"
In that moment, Randgrithr raised her hands again and disappeared in a golden flash of light.
Valr Magnus rose, staring at the place where she had stood. "That… she…" He looked helplessly at Calistin. "Was that a…"
"Valkyrie, yes." Calistin kicked Treysind's body, wrestling a mass of emotions he could not handle. "You idiot child!" He hammered a toe against Treysind's ear, sending the bloodless face flopping sideways. Sand splashed, clinging to the sightless eyes.
"Stop that!" Magnus made a move as if to grab Calistin but stopped short of doing so. "He's your brother. Don't dishonor him like that."
Calistin bit his lower lip, wanting to continue until the head came fully free and he could send it flying into the surf. "That's not my brother. It's nothing but an empty container. He's dead, and his soul… his soul…" Calistin gazed into the sky. Multihued bands touched the western horizon in layers of color. Only a bare tip of the sun remained.
"… found Valhalla," Magnus finished. "He's Einherjar. When your time comes, you'll see him again."
"No." Calistin understood the Valkyrie's words in a way the general never could. "No. He refused her. He chose not to go."
Valr Magnus stiffened. No Northman could understand why anyone given the opportunity would not accept Valhalla. "Are you sure?"
Calistin nodded grimly. "He made the ultimate sacrifice," one the Renshai found himself incapable of imagining. In all the annals of history, in all the fairy tales of yore, no one had ever performed such an unselfish act, not even one lover for another. For Treysind, Calistin realized, had given up not only his life, but his afterlife. With Randgrithr's help, Treysind had donated his soul to the one living being who had none. I'm not at all sure you're worth it, the Valkyrie had said, and Calistin had to agree. It was a gift like no other; surely no man could ever live up to anything so singularly precious.
Galloping hoofbeats pulled Calistin from his thoughts, and a horse skidded to a stop in front of Valr Magnus, plowing up sand that clung to the drying blood on both men. The Bearnian rider called out, "General, there's an officers' meeting at Bearn Castle as soon as everyone can be gathered."
"Thank you." Valr Magnus waved the soldier off.
The Bearnide reined his horse and headed along the beach to inform the others.
Calistin found himself nearly incapable of thought. Every part of him ached, and his arm desperately needed the attention of a healer. He battled emotions he usually kept well-suppressed, and his thoughts scattered like the sand beneath the horse's hooves.
Valr Magnus cleared his throat. "So, Calistin. The war is essentially won. Do you want that battle now?"
Calistin glanced up.The general looked a fright, his helmet dented and askew, his mail sliced open, his every part smeared with blood. The Renshai knew he looked equally horrible: his arm broken, his body covered with bruises and slashes, fully steeped in Firuz' blood. He considered the general's offer for less than an instant. Magnus had killed his mother and exiled his people from the only home he knew. And, though that combat seemed grossly unfair, Magnus himself had fought with honor. The desperate urge to destroy Valr Magnus, once a burning and insatiable need, had died with Treysind. At the moment, Calistin felt nothing but overwhelming grief, sorrow, and fatigue.
Still, the challenge needed answering, his honor and that of his tribe depended on it. "Valr." Calistin's voice sounded strangely raspy, and he cleared his throat. "For the first time in my life, I saw a live Renshai willingly give his sword to another." He granted the general a look intended to demonstrate, beyond a doubt, the significance and seriousness of that statement. "I can have no quarrel with a man so respected by the immortal and consummate Renshai, Colbey Calistinsson."
All remaining color drained from Magnus' face, making the blood still leaking from his side resemble fire. "Colbey Calistinsson?" He whirled toward the place where he had acquired his newest sword, though the stranger had long since disappeared. Valr Magnus muttered, clearly quoting, "Your blade can't hit him; mine can." A smile crossed his lips. "Colbey Calistinsson."
The moment was historic in so many ways-because of two enemies bonded against a magical foe, the pirates had lost their great leader and, soon, the war itself. Yet nothing cemented it more than the immortal being, dismissed by Northmen as a figment of foolish Renshai imagination, handing over his most prized possession to a Northman, a sworn enemy of Renshai, the very cause of their exile.
To Calistin's own surprise, a laugh escaped him.
Valr Magnus also smiled, then honest laughter rumbled from him to join with Calistin's own.
For several moments the two stood, dripping, on the beach, laughing at a joke only they understood.
"Come on," Magnus finally said, placing an arm across Calistin's shoulders. He reeked of blood and death, of sweat and steel, of salt and wind. "Let's wash up and get to that meeting."
"Meeting?" Calistin gave the Aeri general a sideways look. "I'm not an officer."
"Sure you are." Steel still clanged along the beach as the last battles raged to their foregone conclusion. Without the leadership of their only Kjempemagiska, the pirates seemed confused and uncertain. "You're the captain of…" Valr pursed his lips. "The captain of… my… Renshai."
Calistin's brows rose. It seemed petty to argue over the pronoun "my" when they had just laughed off a prearranged battle to the death. "So, basically, I command… myself." Calistin stopped there, not bothering to mention what they both already knew. Once the war in Bearn ended, they would have to go their separate ways, not only because Calistin already had a commitment to his own people, but because all Renshai were banned from the Northlands.
"Well, someone should. And I can't think of anyone else you'd listen to."
Deliberately keeping his thoughts off Treysind, Calistin forced a smile. For the moment he wanted to enjoy this one small alliance, a tiny victory in a crusade that sp
anned centuries.
The door to his sickroom eased open silently, yet the movement still awakened King Tae Kahn. Even a recovery from near-fatal injuries failed to steal the wariness ingrained in him nearly since birth. He remained still, as always, one eye open to a slit, just enough to catch the identity of the person who had disturbed him without revealing his awakening. He continued to breathe deeply, in the pattern of his previous sleep.
The newcomer wore the familiar black and silver of his Eastern army, without the bulk of mail or lacquered leather. Instead of the ornate helmets that served as a badge of honor for the Eastern leaders, he wore only a hat from which jutted the familiar five feathers of his highest general. By movement alone, through the slit of one eye, Tae could tell this was not General Halcone, the previous high commander of his armies. Apparently, Tae now faced Weile's acclaimed mystery general.
As the other man turned to quietly close the door, Tae opened both eyes and sat up in his bed.
The curtains to the open, fourth-story window fluttered in the breeze; then, as the door clicked closed, went dormant.Tae discerned as many details as possible in the moments before the man turned to face him. First, he was a bit shorter and far leaner than Halcone; and his movements demonstrated a grace and quickness that the former high general did not share. The visible flesh at his wrists and neck looked far too pale to fit the swarthy East, and the hair that feathered out from beneath his hat was short and brilliant yellow. A Northman, Tae realized, and that only confused him. Why would Weile Kahn put a Northman at the head of our troops? Why would the men accept and follow him?
Tae eased himself from the covers, though it seemed pointless. He did not yet have the strength to do much more than hurl himself out the window to his death.
The man in Eastern silver and black turned. He swept his hat from his head to his hand.
Tae recognized him instantly and found himself incapable of keeping that knowledge to himself, "Talamir?" Myriad questions sprang to mind, but he did not voice them.
"Yes, Sire." Talamir moved nearer and bowed.
Tae only stared. "But you're… you're…"
"Dead?" Talamir supplied.
It was the right word, but clearly stupid, so Tae discarded it. "Obviously not.You're… my… general?"
"Yes, Sire." Talamir came even closer, standing at the side of Tae's bed. He looked fresh and strong. If he had taken part in the long battle, he had suffered no injuries and cleaned up well. "I couldn't use the armor, of course, or the beautiful helmet."
"Of course." Tae knew the laws of Renshai well. The answer to all his questions came to him in a rush of logic. "This was my father's idea."
Talamir shuffled his feet, touched his hilt. "I'm not permitted to say, my lord."
"Of course not. Nothing Weile Kahn does is ever 'on the record.' " Tae forced a smile. He knew what had to come next but had spent too much time flirting with death to care. "Does Subikahn know… you're… alive?"
"Yes, Sire."
"Good."
Talamir's brows rose. "Is it?"
Tae suppressed a sigh and tried not to hesitate. "Yes, it's good. Subikahn will need someone to look after him, someone to love him, after I'm dead."
"Dead, Sire?" Talamir continued to stare at Tae, though he still avoided the king's eyes. "But the healers told me you're past the point of uncertainty.Your wounds are definitely healing, Sire."
Imorelda crawled out from under the bed, yawning widely and stretching each leg.*I told you.*
Tae ignored the cat. "True, but you've come to kill me, haven't you?"
Talamir back stepped. "Sire?"
Imorelda stopped in mid-stretch and jumped onto the bed, as if to defend her master.*Sire?* she repeated, equally surprised.
Tae merely studied Talamir, trying to catch the gaze that kept dodging his. The Renshai still saw him as an authority figure, one he obviously intended to obey.
Talamir cleared his throat. "Sire, I have no intention of committing regicide, even were you not the beloved father of my… my…" His voice faded into nothingness, clearly worried to offend by whatever word he chose.
"Beloved?"The word caused Tae physical pain, and his hand went to the agony still brewing in his lung. "Talamir, you must know by now. Subikahn hates me."
"Never, Sire."
"He hates me for what I did to you. To both of you." Tae closed his eyes. "And without my son, I have no reason to go on."
A claw dug through the blankets into Tae's leg, and Imorelda glided up to rest beneath his arm.*What about me? Aren't I worth something?*
Wincing, eyes flashing open, Tae took Imorelda into his arms.*Of course.You're worth your weight in fish heads, my darling; but Subikahn is my son.*
Talamir bit his lip, as if trying to contain words that burned his tongue. In the end, they slipped out, "I didn't rape him. I would never do that to anyone, but especially not to the one I love more than my own self."
Tae raised a hand to stem the tide. "I know. Subikahn convinced me, and I've had several days lying here with nothing to do but think. It took me a while to figure out why you confessed to a crime you never committed."
"I did it for Subikahn."
"Yes." For a long time, the Renshai's selflessness had defied Tae's understanding. "You did it to protect Subikahn, to save him from execution."
Talamir nodded. "I was dead either way, whether for rape or for consensual sodomy. But, in the latter case, you would have had to execute Prince Subikahn with me."
"I would never have done that."
Talamir looked directly at the floor now. "I couldn't take that chance."
Imorelda purred beneath Tae's touch.
"But that's not why I came to see you, Sire." Talamir continued to avoid Tae's gaze, clearly uncomfortable and needing to change the subject. "As your general, I came to inform you of the officers' meeting taking place in the Strategy Room. It's my job to either accompany you or represent you."
Tae considered. Matrinka had kept him apprised of the war as it progressed, and he knew this phase had all but ended. "With help, I think I can make it. Someone needs to tell them not to celebrate too quickly, that the next round we'll face more men and many more giants."
Talamir stiffened and finally looked toward Tae again. "Next round? You mean… it's not over?"
"Not nearly." Tae remembered the jumble of information he had taken from the pirates' minds. "They underestimated us once, but they will not do so again. They made a lot of assumptions and fatal mistakes, expecting us to have no magic, for example. Thinking they would find us as consistent as their alsona. They did not expect the Northmen, believing their lands uninhabitable. Though they had a bit of experience with Renshai, they did not anticipate them organized and in such numbers. Our enemy came at us cocky and overconfident, but the loss of one of their Kjempemagiska has taught them otherwise. Next time, they will attack in true force; and, without the elves and their magic, we will be overcome."
"Overcome? In battle? Never!" It was the only response a Renshai could give, yet it demonstrated the worst vice of the tribe.
Tae knew he had to attend the meeting. Talamir might be incapable of delivering the proper message. In addition to believing whole heartedly in their own skill, Renshai had a tendency to blurt news that should be handled with subtlety and caution.
Talamir turned. "I'll see you in the Strategy Room, Sire."
Tae could not let him go, not yet. "Talamir?"
The Renshai looked back, hat still clutched in his hand. "Yes, Sire?"
"I'm sorry, Talamir. I made a huge mistake."
"Mistake, Sire?" Talamir turned around, and this time he met Tae's gaze. "Your reaction was completely understandable."
It was? Tae found himself incapable of blinking. Imorelda's purring died, and she went utterly still.
"And your strategy was brilliant. I could have saved myself a lot of pain and worry had I seen through it sooner."
Bewildered, Tae let Talamir speak.
&nbs
p; "You had to test us. I mean, you had to make absolutely certain I loved Subikahn for himself, not for his wealth or power."
So far, Talamir spoke with eminent intelligence.
"Ye-es?" Tae encouraged.
"And you had to make sure I hadn't beguiled Subikahn, that he had entered the relationship of his own accord."
Tae saw where Talamir was going. And, though they both knew it was a game, he played along. "And that Subikahn had the fortitude to take my place someday."
"So," Talamir said, "you concocted this whole terrible scheme but made sure your father would give me the means to survive it." A slight smile played over Talamir's lips as he looked askance at Tae. *You're making this up!* Imorelda looked from man to man.*You're making this all up!*
"And," Tae added thoughtfully. "Had I directly asked you to lead my army, you would have refused, given your need to return to the Renshai. This way, I got you."
"How very clever," Talamir exclaimed a bit too eagerly. "I would have missed that part." He winked. "And when I'm finished explaining all of this to Prince Subikahn, I'm certain he will forgive you."
Tae grinned. He could think of nothing more important than reclaiming the love and respect of his son. "And after I've explained it all to Weile Kahn, I may disappear under mysterious circumstances." Despite his words, Tae reveled in the chance to actually appear as if he had conned his inhumanly clever father. He just had to be careful not to harm Weile's reputation while rescuing his relationship with his only son.
"Oh, I think you'll find he's proud of you. I suspect it's been many decades since anyone manipulated Weile Kahn. To have one's son finally surpass him, I'm told, is the secret dream of every father."
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