“He did,” Cyrus said, feeling a very taut sensation bubbling back up inside. “I’m sure he’s dancing a merry jig right now at his triumph.”
“Well, I do hope you’re ready to feed that triumph back to him,” Terian said, “blade-first, of course.”
Cyrus started to speak, but held onto his first thought and sighed. “I would,” he said when he spoke, “but this was not a simple attack that merits quick revenge. This was a plotted assassination attempt against me that was followed by a declaration of—”
“Heresy,” Terian said, nodding. “I got the notice yesterday after you were ambushed. They wanted me to turn against you, can you believe it? It’s as though they haven’t been paying attention this last year when we allied against Danay with Emerald Fields.” He broke into a smile. “Naturally, I sent their missive back with one of my own.”
“What did you say?” Vaste asked.
“I didn’t say anything,” Terian replied. “I did, however, wipe my arse on a piece of parchment after a particularly wretched bowel movement and had it sealed with wax, writing, ‘For the Eyes of Pretnam Urides Only’ upon the envelope. I do hope he followed the instructions to the letter.”
“You are the soul of regal comportment, my husband,” Kahlee said.
“Oh, come on,” Terian said, still grinning, “these are the moments that make being Sovereign worth the headaches of trying to get this nation to run.” He looked at Cyrus. “Like I said before, in the Jungle of Vidara, I’m with you. What do you need from us?”
“Nothing at present,” Cyrus said, though he heard Longwell harrumph and tap his lance against the floor of the throne room. “We have enough forces to guard our walls—”
“You have very little in the way of forces left, to my understanding,” Terian said. “Cyrus … with the Luukessians helping my army garrison Emerald Fields against the elven threat, you have less than two thousand members of Sanctuary left at the guildhall. And you’re going to lose some of them now that the pronouncement has been made.”
“You know my numbers better than I do,” Cyrus said, feeling the sting of that as well.
“I don’t take the departures as personally as you do,” Terian said gently. “Though I can’t imagine it’s been easy watching thousands and thousands stream out your doors this last year.”
“Not easy at all, no,” Cyrus said, straightening up. “But that’s irrelevant. We can garrison Sanctuary itself with less than five hundred, and you know it. The Luukessians would be more than glad to send additional help should we need it—”
“As would we,” Kahlee said, apparently pre-empting her husband.
“He already knew that, wife,” Terian said.
“When someone is embattled, husband, it’s good form to offer support, because the encouragement is needed most when clearly absent from all other sources,” she said.
“This is a peculiar marriage,” Calene said in a quiet whisper.
“You said it,” Terian agreed. “In any case … yes, Cyrus, we would willingly reinforce the Sanctuary guildhall if it comes to that. Say the word, I’ll send my best. The civilian council that runs things with me here has already given their approval to aid you as our ally, so … whatever you need.”
“Thank you, Terian,” Cyrus said, looking away from the paladin’s gaze. “I should have known you’d—your loyalty is much appreciated in this hour.”
“Forget all that maudlin sentimentality,” Terian said. “When are you going after these bastards?”
Cyrus looked up to find the Sovereign regarding him carefully. “Terian, Goliath and Amarath’s Raiders are the vanguard of our enemies at the moment. The Human Confederation and the Elven Kingdom are both standing clearly, if not quite as enthusiastically, behind them, with their immense—compared to ours—armies. And as you just pointed out … we have about two thousand guild members, if you don’t count the Luukessians, and I don’t—”
“Ahem,” Longwell said behind him.
“—because of their primary commitment to their new homeland at the moment,” Cyrus said, casting a look over his shoulder at the dragoon. “With the tension between them and the elves right now, that force is going to have to stay in place for the time being. Those troops are useless to us. Even if King Danay didn’t want to involve himself in this little conflict brewing, his mere existence means that we’ve got a hand tied behind our back. The Luukessians are pinned in place.”
“So unpin them,” Terian said, a glint in his eyes.
“Perhaps you’re not listening,” Cyrus said, feeling as though the Sovereign might have missed a step. “Leaving aside the elves for a moment—Goliath is against us. Amarath’s Raiders is against us. Two guilds which competed with Sanctuary in size before we lost half our number in the last two years. The Human Confederation sits in their shadow—”
Terian yawned. “And behind them, presumably, in lessening orders of enthusiasm for making war upon you and Sanctuary are the dwarves and the gnomes. I’m aware of the political state of Arkaria most acutely, my friend. I spend most days considering it for endless hours, thanks to my advisors and their incessant desire to chatter about such things. Here’s what I also know—the Human Confederation has roughly one hundred thousand troops under muster at the moment, the Elven Kingdom roughly fifty thousand—”
“Like a herd of naked dwarves bursting out of your quarters unannounced, I personally find that worrisome,” Vaste said.
“Does … does that happen to you often?” Calene asked.
“They already have us outnumbered some fifteen to one, even if we counted the Luukessians,” Cyrus said, ignoring Vaste.
“Goliath also has some twenty thousand or more, though it’s hard to count because they’re housing most of their forces in the Bandit Lands,” Terian went on, as if reading from a list, “and Amarath’s Raiders has a company of some five thousand, a much higher than usual mix of spellcasters mingled in there, possibly as many as a thousand of their number.”
“So it’s one hundred and seventy five thousand to ten thousand,” Vaste said. “Oh, good. That hope I was feeling at your proclamation of support got quashed all by itself.”
“It’s not that bad,” Terian said, “we’ve got about twenty thousand troops at our command in the Sovereignty, though admittedly many are very young or very old. The war went a little hard on us, after all—”
“Thirty thousand to—” Vaste stopped. “You know, I’m just going to say six-to-one.”
“Easy odds,” Terian said with a grin. “If you wanted to fight them straight up … though I wouldn’t exactly recommend it.”
Cyrus’s head felt as though it were spinning. “Then what do you recommend? Because all I’m hearing now is talk of armies and comparisons with staggering numbers of troops at a level I can’t even conceive of battling against.”
“Cyrus,” Terian said in disappointment, “you took ten thousand charging Luukessians against a hundred thousand dark elves at the Battle of Sanctuary, and you wiped them out utterly.”
“We caught them with their backs to us on a charge,” Cyrus said. “It wasn’t a fair fight—”
Terian clapped his gauntlets together. “Exactly!”
“You’re suggesting we start an unfair fight?” Calene Raverle asked in utter bewilderment. “Oy, between the herds of roving naked dwarves and all the war and defeat, I feel a bit dizzy …”
“You’ll get used to it,” Vaste said.
“Damned right I’m saying you should start an unfair fight,” Terian said. “We set the terms of these engagements and knock them back in pitched battles where they don’t even realize they’re battles until they’re counting their dead with regret.”
“I don’t think Malpravus feels regret over the dead,” Vaste said. “More like fond longing. Glee, even.”
“Aren’t you a paladin now?” Cyrus asked Terian, feeling once more as though he’d been turned in a circle quite rapidly.
“Paladins protect other people; i
t’s our highest law. Aren’t you facing enemies that set a trap for you using your former wife’s signature and then stole your sword right off your belt while your back was turned?” Terian asked, now serious. “These people are treacherous dogs and you’re not a paladin. You’re a man who’s surrounded by his enemies and is about to be run through on all sides. If you want to try and fight them fair without Praelior, you can do that.” He shook his head. “But I wouldn’t bet on your survival, and neither would anyone else. You need to be the General again, the one who valued his army’s lives so much he never got in a fight unless he had six tricks up his sleeve.”
“Assuming I—” Cyrus quit his question right in the middle of it, running his gauntleted fingers over his forehead and coming back with their tips moist. “I don’t know how I would even approach this, assuming I bought into your conceit about an unfair fight.”
“How would you have approached it when you were in the Society?” Terian asked, once more looking especially sly. “This is a fight for survival, Cyrus. They started it. They’ve wanted you dead all along, now they’ve just snapped it to highest priority. They will come at you with everything, and it’s not just you—it’s your guild, it’s the people you care about, it’s your allies—they’re going to come at us, in any part of Arkaria where the Leagues hold sway. You can meet them in honest battle if you want. I know you tried the more deceitful tack with the titans and didn’t like the taste of treachery, but these bastards are going to do their best to crush you, and they’re not going to do it cleanly or politely or honorably.”
“Yeah, but I learned from my mistake with the titans not to buy into unfounded assumptions,” Cyrus said. “Like believing that they were going to teleport into the north when they couldn’t.”
“Do you believe Goliath is not going to come for you?” Terian asked, arms folded. “Because I think they’ll siege the Sanctuary guildhall the moment they believe they could win. They’ll pull the wall down brick by brick, or blow it open with Dragon’s Breath, and they’ll come in and slaughter everyone, then set up their headquarters there. It’s what Malpravus has wanted all along; he didn’t even need an excuse to do it before, but now he’s got one, and Sanctuary is weaker than it has been since Enterra.” Terian took a step closer and looked up at Cyrus. “You’d better get ready. You’d better prepare to do the ugly things. You’re not a paladin; you’re a warrior and a heretic, and they’re going to come at you like you’re one. They will beat you any way they can, and they won’t care about the high-minded ideals of Alaric Garaunt, even if you do.”
“Doesn’t that mean I should care more about them?” Cyrus asked quietly.
“Your tribe is growing smaller by the minute,” Terian said. “When it’s all done washing out, Sanctuary is going to have less than a thousand members. You will be strained. They will attack us—all of us—in ways we can’t predict.”
“The sidewinders,” Vaste muttered under his breath.
“This is the last stand against Goliath,” Terian said. “It’s going to be you or them this time.”
“Make it you,” Kahlee said quietly. “I hate Malpravus. You, I like—though I think you should be—”
“Taller, yes, I get it,” Cyrus said.
“I was going to say meaner,” Kahlee said, smiling at him.
“If you follow their lead,” Terian said, stepping right up to Cyrus, “if you wait for them to move before you counter, you will lose. Their attacks will be merciless, their treachery unfathomable. Malpravus … he knows no law but power, and he will do anything, say anything, to anyone, in order to get what he wants.”
“If I sink to that level … I’ll be as bad as he is,” Cyrus said. “Do you not recall? I led an expedition that started a war with the dragons in order to smear the titans—”
“Smite the titans,” Terian corrected. “They ended up pretty damned smited. I’d take that as the lesson.”
“We lost—”
“You will lose more,” Terian said. “Get ready for it. This is war. You can no longer try and merely be the Guildmaster of Sanctuary, Cyrus. Alaric never attempted to be both, and for good reason. You need to be the General again.” The lines on his face softened. “I’m sorry, my friend. I truly am. I wish this weren’t so. I wish that all in Arkaria were good and virtuous people, seeking nothing but to live in peace.” His gaze hardened again. “But they aren’t, and you need to make a decision. Give it some thought. Mull it all over. Talk to Vara about it. These people … they want to destroy you because they couldn’t control you, and now your very existence threatens their control over everything else. They won’t let you live, and they won’t hesitate to wipe out anyone standing near you for fear that if they let even one live, they’ll never be able to regain that control again.”
9.
“Where is your lady wife this fine day?” Administrator Cattrine Tiernan asked Cyrus as they walked through the woods near Emerald Fields. There was a rustling sound between the branches, and a flock of birds broke loose from a large oak to their left. Cyrus could see his guard within fifty paces of him, but he and the Administrator were speaking in whispers so as not to be heard.
“She sends her regrets,” Cyrus said, “but she’s staying at Sanctuary to oversee the defense. We’re … running a bit thin on help at the moment.”
“Yes, Terian told me,” Cattrine said, causing Cyrus to miss a step.
“Terian told you?” Cyrus hurried to catch up, avoiding the natural ups and downs of the wooded path. “You two have regular meetings?”
“As good allies and most favorite trading partners should, yes?” Cattrine frowned slightly.
“Sorry,” Cyrus said, shaking his head, “I just had a recollection of the times in Luukessia when you and Terian did not, er, see eye to eye.”
“A trip across the seas and a change of responsibilities for each of us has had a wonderful leveling effect on our perspectives,” Cattrine said. “Also, he’s considerably less of an arse now.”
“Indeed,” Cyrus said, walking along beside her. “And what does our present predicament look like from your current perspective?”
“Altogether grim,” Cattrine said quietly. “At least, on your side. You stand in the midst of all your enemies once more. It is becoming something of a pattern with you.”
“I’d love to be standing elsewhere, I assure you.”
“Yet you’re not,” Cattrine said, glancing at his scabbard as the new sword rattled within it at a hard step. “I have heard of your history with Goliath, and I know of Vara’s past with this Archenous Derregnault—”
“You know an awful lot.”
“It pays to know much when one’s country is so little,” Cattrine said, not turning back to look at him. “You would be wise to do the same.”
Cyrus felt a stiffness in his chest. “It’s not the first time someone has suggested I employ more spies and listeners. I doubt it’ll be the last.”
“In statecraft, honor is not assured,” Cattrine said. “We must deal with loathsome people.”
“Like Terian?” Cyrus asked with a smirk.
“Terian is by far the least loathsome of the leaders of the major powers,” Cattrine said with a shudder. “Paying tribute to King Danay over these last years has convinced me more than ever that I must never let myself become more than an administrator bound by the wishes of the people. And your Human Confederation—”
“They did pronounce me heretic and cast me out, so I don’t think they’re really mine anymore.”
“—and its Council of Twelve, a messy, prideful batch of oligarchs supping on the veins of what was until recently the most powerful nation in Arkaria?” Cattrine shuddered in disgust. “I’m thankful I don’t have to deal with them and can go directly to the Confederation territorial governors. At least the dwarves, gnomes, and goblins are more reasonable. Ancestors, even the trolls have more honor.”
Cyrus raised an eyebrow. “You deal with the trolls?”
“I dea
l with anyone who has coin or trade,” Cattrine said with a slight smile. “In case you missed it, in the last two years Emerald Fields has risen up to become nearly its own nation, for we are supplying the foods that half Arkaria eats.”
“That was fast,” Cyrus said, cocking his head as he looked at her admiringly. “But it couldn’t happen to a more worthy people.”
“Well, we’re hardly out of it yet,” Cattrine said, clasping her hands together behind her back. “After what the titans did to us last year, we’re still building and rebuilding the settlements, but at least our crops are in place. Our prosperity grows, and the armies we have are enough to make good a fight if our putative ‘allies’ in Pharesia decided to bring one.” She looked sharply at him. “We are in far better condition than you at present.”
“Everyone keeps pointing that out to me,” Cyrus said darkly, “as though I don’t already know.”
Cattrine stepped closer, her expression guarded. “I can never tell what you know and what you ignore anymore. You built a small nation and a massive army in the Plains of Perdamun, winning title to that place from all powers … and yet you never treated it like a nation, and now it is fast becoming a no man’s land.”
“I had … other concerns on my mind in the last year and more,” Cyrus said, laughing bitterly. “The titans, for one.”
“I am aware,” Cattrine said seriously. “But … it is incumbent upon you to lead now, and to do the things that leaders do. Even the unpleasant ones,” she added with a little bit of a point to her words.
“Did you and Terian discuss what path Sanctuary should take in all this?” Cyrus asked, getting the distinct feeling that he was behind the curve once more. Birds tweeted overhead while he awaited Cattrine’s answer.
“We did,” she said. “But ultimately, the Sovereign of Saekaj Sovar and I can discuss your course all day and it matters little.” She leaned closer, her gaze intense. “We could both counsel war against these adversaries, but you will be the one who has to take up the burden, for you know my state is watching its own borders and Terian’s greatest focus is on his. You are the vulnerable one in this, the one who’d need to lead and put himself out front. You are a bold and brave warrior, Cyrus, and you have won many ugly battles against fierce foes, but now you face the whole land turned against you in a way you haven’t before, and it comes when your strength is ebbing.” She looked away to where a sparrow sang in a nearby tree. “I cannot decide for you to fight this. In fact, I heard your first instinct was to surrender to it, and that does not exactly instill confidence in me or your followers.”
Heretic (The Sanctuary Series Book 7) Page 6