Fire And Ice (Book 1)

by Wayne Krabbenhoft III

  “Good. I was more than happy that Coran would have been the one, but now that he is gone, you need to consider alternatives.”

  “He is not dead!” she declared hotly. This was going too far.

  “That is enough of that,” Stemis ordered her, half rising out of his chair. “Perhaps your mother was right, maybe I have been too easy on you. We do not know what may come, and it is my duty to make sure that the Alliance has the best chance of surviving. It is your duty as well. To that end, you must now consider another arrangement.”

  She rounded on him when she was sure he had finished. “I know you have been under a great deal of stress, Father, but I didn’t realize it had addled your brain! Coran is alive! I know it!” she breathed deeply from the anger.

  Stemis regained some of his own vigor in his response, and lost some of the control he had been holding on his temper as he pushed the chair behind him and stood. “You will do your duty! You will choose someone else, or I will do it for you!”

  She pushed her own chair back roughly, and stood. “Then you will have to do it, because I will never choose another! Pick the stable boy for all that it matters to me!” Then she stomped out of the room, yanking open the door so hard that it crashed against the wall. The guards out in the hall jumped at the noise, and glanced around for enemies before realizing who had made the noise. She ignored their uneasy looks as she hurried away.

  She was behaving badly and she knew it, but her father had gone too far this time. Even if he didn’t believe that Coran might still be alive, he should at least show a little more respect and give her time to mourn. She did understand why her father was so anxious over the situation, and she knew that time could be an issue, but she could not admit that he was dead. She could not.

  Chapter 19

  Into Hiding

  He chewed on the piece of dried meat that was his breakfast, while kneeling in a patch of brown, dried-out grass. From his vantage point, he could just see the narrow road between the trunks of the hardwoods. Less than a league to the south, down a cart rutted road, lay their destination. He hoped it would be their final one.

  He heard one of the horses wicker from behind him. Shirri was keeping them back out of sight so no one could see them from the road. Several companies of armed men had passed by the previous day while they were deciding how best to approach the city. Some of the men had been mounted, but most proceeded on foot. The guess was that they were heading north to join the forces already gathered at Sha’Tor. Some could be heading towards Crecy. The problem was that they didn’t know what the enemy was planning, or from how many places the attacks would come.

  That’s why I am here, he thought to himself.

  Miko made the decision to go in alone and get an idea of what they were facing. He was the logical choice since he was the only one of them who had been here before, and he knew a few people. He had left in the middle of the night after getting a few hours of needed sleep. He said he would try and be back by noon at the latest. That was if everything went well, and he wasn’t stopped. If there were any problems then he might need the cover of darkness to leave the city. So Coran had to wait. Miko didn’t say what to do if he never came back.

  He shifted his weight to switch the knee he was leaning on, shifting his sword at the same time so it wouldn’t catch in the dirt. He wanted to keep watch in case he could learn something from the parties of soldiers that passed. So far they were just ordinary Karands. Most wore simple robes or plain clothes of the common man. Only some of the mounted ones wore more colorful outfits that might mean they were uniforms of some sort. By the number of various colors, he thought either his deduction was incorrect or there were many different forces working together. So far he had only rumors from unconfirmed sources, friends of Miko’s, as to what was going on here in the east. All were pretty much the same as what they learned in the first village, that T’Loth and Lornth seemed to be the important ports and Sha’Tor was where the main enemy gathering point was located. He had to get into Lornth to find out the truth.

  His hope was that they could sneak in, get what they needed, and sneak back out. Then they could go home. The problem was that he didn’t know where to sneak in. That was the reason for Miko’s reconnoitering.

  Coran found he was missing the shining city of the Sun. He missed the familiar smells, sounds, and sights of that busy city. Most of all, he missed Katelyn. Before, he would never have guessed at how much. It was as if his whole life had suddenly changed. Everything that he thought was important was now not very important at all, not compared to her.

  The sounds of carefully placed footsteps could be heard approaching from behind. Shirri had been trying to prove something to him for some reason by sneaking up on him and trying to surprise him. She started after the second night, when he was taking his turn at watch. She had tried to sneak up on him and was surprised when he called to her without turning around. She told him that he was just a good guesser and set out to prove she was right. Why, he couldn’t understand. There was a certain spirit about her, something in her that would never allow her to admit she was wrong. She reminded him of Katelyn, at least in her strength of will. Katelyn was not afraid to admit when she was wrong. Not that that was often.

  “Did you want something?” he asked without looking once again. He had to smile when she swore softly at being discovered.

  She came forward, no longer bothering to move quietly, and knelt down beside him. “I was going to ask if you have seen anything,” she said angrily. She wore the dark clothes they had scavenged from the dead woman. They were a little big for her, so they hung loosely on her thin frame. Her dark hair was still dirty and disheveled. No water had been found that was suited for more than the most casual of washing. Coran was feeling decidedly filthy as well.

  “Not since the group that passed right after dawn,” he informed her. “Anything else I can do for you?”

  “I understand why you are here, but going to Lornth is foolish.” Her tone was harsh by the time she finished. It usually was when she wanted to argue about something. “See what you can from outside the city, but do not go in. That is suicide and I do not want to be freed only to die by your foolishness.”

  “You do not have to stay,” he told her again. This was not the first time she had argued the point. For some reason she always waited for Miko to leave or be out of earshot before she started in on him about something. “You can take the horse and leave right now if you wish.” He didn’t think she would take him up on the offer. It would be a long and dangerous journey back to Crecy alone.

  She grumbled something under her breath and headed back the way she had come. He noticed that reminding her that she was free to go was the best way to diffuse her arguments.

  Coran froze as the sound of horses reached him from the road. He lowered himself to his belly down on the ground. A moment later he saw the first troops appear. It was another group of Karands. He noted a hundred men ahorse at the front of the column. He tried to count the numbers of those afoot and lost track at a thousand. He guessed it to be twice that many by the time they had all passed. He waited a few moments to make sure it was clear before rising back to one knee. That was the largest force to pass so far since he started watching. That could be the last party headed north, which could mean preparations were ending and the time for action was beginning. That would not be good. The Alliance was not ready yet. He wished Miko would hurry.

  The pudgy Arencian trader returned a little before noon as promised. He came in brushing against leaves and stepping on twigs, Coran unsheathed his sword at the noisy approach until he saw who it was. Miko smiled at his initial expression of alarm, causing Coran to ram the borrowed blade back into the leather sheath harder than he normally would have. Miko left his horse with the others, where they munched together on the dry grass, then came over to stand by him. Shirri joined them as well from where she had been going through one of the saddlebags liberated from her former captives. Anything
useful that had been found she had placed in the bags.

  “What did you see?” Coran asked quickly. “Is there a fleet, and an army like we heard?”

  “That and more,” the trader responded gloomily. “The harbor is packed with large vessels. The army is camped just to the north of the city and there must be twenty or thirty thousand of them.”

  That was a large number to be stationed here in the south. He thought it was the extra men who were being sent to Sha’tor which made him wonder just how many Karands were being pressed into service. “Are there enough ships to carry so many?”

  Miko nodded and Coran felt despondent. It was an army large enough to overwhelm any of the Midian coastal cities. That the army could be disembarked anywhere meant that there were not enough men to adequately defend the entire coastline. If Midia was going to have a chance to stop it he had no choice but to either find out where the fleet was supposed to land, or to somehow disable at least some of the ships.

  “Do we go back now,” Miko asked, “to warn your people of the fleet?”

  “Not yet.” Even if he did leave there was no guarantee the fleet would not leave the harbor before he could warn anyone. If the harbor was as full of ships as Miko attested it could be nearing completion or already completed. “I still need more information. Is there some way we can get inside the city?”

  Miko was silent as he thought about it. “The foreigners gather up suitable men to train.

  Some are sent away north and others are kept here to defend the city if it is needed, or help with the fleet. Most are sent away though. They might try to take you too, but maybe as an Anagassi they will take pause. It might be long enough to get you someplace where you can hide. Getting out could be more difficult.” He looked at Coran carefully. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

  “I have to.”

  Seeing Coran’s determination Miko didn’t argue. “Then there is no point in waiting.”

  They gathered the few things they had out, and put them back on the mounts. Shirri kept giving him reproachful glances, reminding him that she thought his idea foolish, or maybe that he was foolish. Coran wrapped the cloth around his head again to cover his features except for the eyes. He put on the wider curved blade in place of the long sword. He tied the red sash on, but left the brown robe in a saddlebag. He was an Anagassi again.

  They set out at an angle towards the road. They came out on the worn dirt road just as the low walls of Lornth became visible in the distance. The woods disappeared as they came closer and Coran could see the once white walls. Cracks appeared in the walls and green vegetation had seeped in. It was more evidence of a people who either lacked the desire, or the resources to care for their environment.

  “I thought there would be more wealth here, being in a real city.”

  Miko laughed and Shirri’s look said that he knew nothing. It was Miko who answered him. “You refer to the condition of the walls? This is how it works. The local administrator writes down how much gold he needs to repair the streets or keep up the walls. He takes the money, say a hundred golds to repair a particular street, then pays someone one gold to stand around and look busy, the rest he keeps. The walls are still cracked and the streets still full of holes.”

  Coran was shocked by the blatant corruption. “How can they get away with it?”

  “Some of the money goes to paying for more guards. That keeps the people in line. No other official will say anything since they are just as corrupt. As for the Zahr of the land, as long as he receives his taxes and the city remains loyal he does not care.”

  Zahr. That meant leader, or maybe king, he thought. There were no more chances for speaking as they neared the space in the walls where a gate of iron bars stood open, and slightly slanted on loose hinges. Six men in dirty pants and robes stood at their approach. They were bareheaded and stubble dotted their unclean faces. They couldn’t be regular guardsmen. They must have been the unwilling recruits Miko mentioned who were to defend the city. Coran they watched guardedly.

  “I see you found your sister,” the closest noted to Miko. The trader must have used an excuse for coming back out without raising suspicions. “Don’t know why you were so worried about her,” he said without having to glance at Coran.

  “Troubled times,” Miko explained sadly.

  The guard bobbed his head in agreement. Then he leaned closer to Miko’s saddle. “Some of them Makkura fellows might not know about Anagassi.” He stepped back slowly and waved them through.

  The name Makkura sent a shock through Coran. He half expected to find that the strangers would be from Makkura, after what Gelarus told them, but to actually hear it confirmed was still a surprise. To know that the evil that had destroyed the Vusaari had returned would unsettle anyone at first.

  Miko held back a little to speak with Coran. “Be careful. Those Makkurans are the ones from across the sea. Your disguise might not help us with them.”

  Coran nodded. He had guessed as much from the guard’s warning. Why a Sha’elt would bother to warn a clear follower of She’al might be important. Are conditions so bad that they would rather fight with a mortal enemy than aid the invaders? He got most of an answer as they dismounted and moved through the crowded streets. This was the first place he had seen in this land that was crowded. The people shuffled around aimlessly. Women carried crying babies, the old tried to avoid being trampled in the tunnel like streets. Buildings showed the same dilapidation that afflicted the walls. The whole of Eastern Karand seemed to be rotting.

  Miko shook his head at the depravity of it all. “Elthzidor sent the Zahr of the Etrani here to ready things. Food was gathered from surrounding towns and brought here for the army. These people were starving and came here to look for food. There isn’t any, at least not for them, all the supplies are being set aside for the army.”

  Coran felt bad for the people but he heard something else in Miko’s comment. “Is Elthzidor not here himself?”

  “I do not think so. Apparently, he was here not long ago and left soon after, but he comes and goes without warning.”

  Coran glanced at Shirri just behind him to see how she was doing. She was looking around her in confusion at the inhabitants. Conflicting emotions appeared on her face. It was probably difficult to feel pity for a people she had always hated. He was reminded of his own readjustment in thinking when it came to Karands.

  He had trouble understanding why it was so bad. His father told him a great deal about Karandi, that they were not as wealthy as the average Midian was true, but he never said it was this bad. Was it because of Elthzidor? Or was it already getting bad before he came. He thought of Crecy and wondered. What he had learned of the Karands when he was younger was that they had beautiful cities with flowing architecture, and the people dressed in rich, colorful clothing. He had seen none of it so far, even Venusia was about the same as Arencia. Neither city was exactly poor, but they were not like what he had been told. Of course he had only traveled to the worst places, where conflicts had occurred. Maybe other places were not so bad. He could hope.

  The streets twisted and turned so much that he lost track of the direction they were going. The buildings were tall and the space between narrow so he had no indication of where the sun was located. They reached an area where the streets widened a little and guards became more evident.

  “We must be careful here,” Miko warned him in a low voice. He pointed to the slim opening of an alley that ran between two stone buildings on the other side of the small square. “We go down there.”

  Most of the Karands about didn’t seem to notice them beyond a casual glance, and those were wary. As they neared the mouth of the alley their luck ran out. Two men in a strange armor of overlapping scales called to them in heavily accented Karandi. “Hold there!” They eyed Coran as they came closer. “I have not seen anyone like you before.” The look took in his sword. They were not as dark skinned as Karands, Coran was reminded more of Ithanians, except taller. “The
army could use another fighting man.”

  “I am an honest merchant and he is my guard,” Miko put in quickly. “After his service to me is done you may do with him as you wish.” He tried to sound reasonable. Coran didn’t think these men could be reasoned with.

  “He will come with us.” The man’s face was set. “Now.”

  These were people who were not used to being denied anything. Talk was not going to get them out of this one. The men before him reached for their swords, and Coran reacted quickly. He drew his wide blade and struck instinctively. The fight was short. The two Makkurans lay motionless in growing pools of their own blood. Coran looked quickly around the square for any more sources of danger, as did Miko. Few of the Karands had stayed to watch, too afraid to be found near fighting. Two Karandi guardsmen, in sleeveless, orange shirts, nodded in approval before disappearing themselves. Just because they were being forced to fight for someone did not mean they liked them.

  Coran felt a tugging on his sleeve, and he turned his head to see who was doing it. Shirri was pulling at him.

  “We must get out of here,” she pleaded. He could see the urgency in her eyes, there was no hint of her former mocking. He wondered if she actually cared about what happened to him. No, she was worried because without him, she would have a more difficult time getting home.

  “She’s right,” Miko added and gestured towards the opening between two buildings. “Come on.”

  They followed the trader down the alley. It was barely wide enough for the horses and they had to go single file with Coran bringing up the rear. He kept watch for any signs of pursuit. Miko moved quickly and turned down a connecting alley. The tight passage smelled of garbage and other things that made him wrinkle his nose.

  They stopped abruptly, he almost ran into the rear of Shirri’s horse. He could see a wooden door set into the wall on their left. Miko knocked once and waited until the door opened. A Karand in a sky blue atiefa stood in the doorway, and he ran his gaze over them before stepping back inside. They followed Miko into the dim interior. The horses became difficult when they encountered stairs leading down, but they eventually managed to coax the nervous animals inside.