by Peter Kenson
Several of the councillors looked a little shamefaced at that and there was some shuffling of feet before Grekan replied. “It will be as you direct, your highness. I will draw up the rota myself.”
“Thank you, my lords. And now, if there is nothing further, Perhaps our guests will show Lady Falaise and myself a little more of the palace.”
“There is one thing, your highness,” Meriden said. The council have discussed this in your absence and have asked me to propose it now.”
Jeren settled back onto the throne. “Go on.”
“The people are very happy tonight out in the valley. You have lead them back to Marmoros. Tomorrow, when they enter the city, there will be jubilation which will last for several days. But it won’t last forever. We have brought some supplies of food with us but I do not have high hopes of the storerooms in the city and I fear it will be a hard winter for our people.
“We propose, in say a month’s time, to hold a celebration, to distract them from some of the harsher realities.”
“An excellent suggestion, my lords. To celebrate our return to Marmoros.”
“Well yes, that as well, your highness. But we were thinking more of your coronation.”
“My… my coronation,” Jeren spluttered as Falaise clapped her hands together and lit up the room with a smile. “But I thought there was a minor difficulty over my age.”
“It’s true there is no precedent for crowning a king so young but there is no precedent for what you have achieved either. Look where you are sitting right now.”
Jeren turned to Falaise. “Mother… I mean my lady…”
“I believe the council speak for the people on this, Jeren. Your father would be proud of you and so am I. You have given your people back their honour and now they wish to honour you.”
“Then, my lords, I will accept the honour one month from today.”
***
By dawn the next day, the queue of wagons outside the gates stretched halfway down the valley and more were joining by the minute. The councillors had been busy the previous evening, reclaiming their hereditary mansions and endeavouring to secure properties for their families and supporters. There had been a few grumbles from the incumbents of some of the houses but no serious incidents.
The councillors now were assembled inside the gates, ready to direct the traffic when Jeren and David arrived. A cheer went up from the waiting wagons as the gates were opened and the leading wagon rolled forward across the bridge. Jeren had given instructions that wagons were only allowed in to unload unless the house had a courtyard where the wagon could be stored off the street. Otherwise the empty wagons had to be taken back outside the walls to a large meadow which had been set aside for storage. Even so, some of the back streets quickly became congested with wagons unable to pass an earlier wagon that was still being unloaded.
Jeren watched the first few dozen wagons through, accepting with a smile the waves and shouts of the drivers as they passed. Then he ordered Mandal to take the senior councillors and himself on a tour of the storerooms. The rooms themselves were huge, an aspect made more evident by the fact that they were almost completely empty.
“It appears Lord Meriden’s fears about the state of the storerooms were justified,” Jeren remarked. “We have a problem.”
“I recommend that you buy in whatever food the families have brought with them and then issue it centrally,” Grekan suggested. It was a strategy that lasted only until they reached the treasury which was equally bare.
Jeren looked around in horror. “This cannot be right.”
“It probably isn’t,” David agreed. “I’m not surprised at the storerooms given the state of the fields and orchards that we passed but Kraxis has been raiding caravans all summer long. The contents of the treasury have been taken somewhere and hidden.”
“Who was in charge of the treasury?” Jeren demanded of Mandal.
“It was Lady Deribe, your highness.”
“And where exactly is Lady Deribe?”
“We don’t know, your highness,” David replied. “Jorgen searched the palace, the grounds and the surrounding buildings last night, without finding a trace. We know she didn’t go through the gate and if she went over the wall, she couldn’t cross the river to go down the valley. So she’s either hiding somewhere in the city or she’s gone into the hills behind us. I’ve sent Ash on a patrol into the hills and I’ve given Jorgen every man I can spare to do a house to house search in the city.”
“She surely can’t have taken the treasury with her.”
“No. There’s no way you can take a wagon up into the hills behind the city.”
“Well… that’s not exactly true,” Mandal said as everyone turned to stare at him. “There is a trail that leads up to the mines but it’s not very well used and not easy to find. But the contents of the treasury would have needed much more than one wagon.”
“Jaks,” David shouted.
“Here, milord.”
“Feynor’s at the city gates. Tell him to put a patrol together and meet me in the palace courtyard.”
“Take Mandal with you and find this trail,” Jeren commanded. “We have enough money to buy in some supplies but we need to find the contents of the treasury.”
Feynor was waiting for them with half a dozen men when they reached the courtyard.
“What’s the situation like at the main gates?” David asked.
“I’ve had to close them, my lord. I spoke to the councillors and they agreed we cannot let any more wagons into the city until some of the empty ones start going out. Every back street is totally blocked with wagons either unloading or waiting to get past.”
“What’s happening to the wagons still outside?”
“The councillors are out there now, directing them all onto that big meadow on the left.”
“Okay, we’ll have to leave them to it. Mandal says there’s an old mining trail leading up into the hills behind the city. We’re going to find it and see if it’s been used recently.”
They started off down one of the wide avenues, crossed the bridge at the bottom into the market square and then turned left to follow the dried-up canal. The road started again at the edge of the square and followed alongside the canal. The merchant’s houses were clustered close to the market and gradually gave way to smaller properties and finally to an area that was little more than shacks and hovels with narrow winding lanes leading off the main road.
“Slave quarters,” Mandal explained.
“How many slaves are there?” David demanded.
“I’m not sure. Over five hundred I think but some of them worked and lived in the palace and some in the big houses so it was never easy to keep a tally.”
They emerged from the slave quarter into a wide open area with patches that showed some signs of rudimentary cultivation.
“Some of the slaves like to grow their own food,” Mandal shrugged. “We let them get on with it. Otherwise we’d only have to feed them ourselves.”
“There’s no wall on this side of the city?”
Again the old man gave a shrug. “No need. There’s nothing out there but wilderness. Any attacking army would have to go a long way round, through some very unfriendly country to get behind us. And outside of the valley, the winter is murderous.”
“What about the slaves?”
“Oh every year there’s some’ll try it. They either die in the hills or come back starving. Occasionally some will make it as far as the mines and stop there, grateful to still be alive.”
Road and canal rounded a bend and the space opened up into an enormous marble quarry that had obviously been eating its way back into the surrounding hills for centuries. The canal stopped at a point where a small stream tumbled down the hillside, steam rising gently from the surface of the water. There was some seepage in the bottom of the canal here coming from what looked to be a sluice gate.
The road crossed the stream o
n a stone bridge and curved left into the centre of the quarry. Thirty paces beyond the bridge, the rocks came close to the right hand edge of the road and Mandal stopped and pointed to a narrow defile, just wide enough to allow a wagon to pass.
“That’s the trail up to the mines. Doesn’t get a lot of use as you can see.”
Feynor got down to examine the trail.
“There’s wagon tracks but the ground’s so hard it’s difficult to say if they’re fresh or not.”
“Right, take your men up the trail. See if you can spot anything further up…”
David broke off as his mouth dried up with fear and every hair on the back of his neck stood up. Feynor and his men looked round in alarm and even the horses seemed nervous. The feeling of fear only lasted a few seconds and men and animals gradually began to relax.
“What just happened?” Feynor demanded.
“I don’t know,” David replied, “but I don’t think it was anything to do with us. I have to get back to the city. You keep Mandal with you and carry on here but report back before dusk. I want your men in the city overnight. Oh and if you run into Ash, bring him back with you. He has a patrol out here somewhere.”
He wheeled his horse and headed back to the city at speed as a voice spoke in his head.
“Lord David.”
“Suzanne, you obviously felt that too. Did you manage to locate the source?”
“It was either in or very close to the city, my lord but that’s the best I could do. We’re heading down to the planet now and I will ask Mikael to put us into a geostationary orbit directly above you.”
“It has to be the Ystrad heir and terribly afraid of something. Did you get anything else that might help us?”
“Well fear was the dominant emotion but there was something else mixed in there. It felt like… like love.”
“Love! For whom?”
“I don’t know, my lord. There were no details, only emotions.”
“What about the ambassadors up there?”
“The Ystradian ship is hailing us on all frequencies, demanding to know what’s going on. They want to land.”
“No. If the Ystrad picked that up, it’s odds on the Belsi did too. You can let them come overhead alongside you but keep them in orbit. If the heir is in the city, they may be able to pick up something from directly overhead. I’ll check in as soon as I find anything.”
The city was full of nervous looking people as he rode back through the streets. When he reached the palace, Jaks ran down the steps to take his horse.
“Lady Falaise is asking for you, milord.”
“Is she inside the palace and unharmed?”
“Yes, milord.”
“Then I’m afraid she may have to wait a while. Where’s Prince Jeren?”
“He rode out about an hour ago, milord. I think he went to see that girl. You know the one, Rachel.”
“And do you know where she is?”
“I believe she’s still outside the city, milord. In the meadow with the others waiting for entry.”
David took back the reins and climbed into the saddle.
“Send Izzy to find Jorgen and tell him to call off the search and get his men back to defend the palace. I’m going to find the prince. You follow as soon as you can.”
As he crossed the bridge and headed towards the meadow, he could see that his instincts had been correct. In the centre of a cluster of wagons was a large grey hemisphere that looked decidedly out of place. The circle of onlookers parted to let him through but his horse was unwilling to approach close to the grey wall so he dismounted and handed the reins to one of the villagers. The first thing he saw when he walked into the circle was a dead body lying face down and Seb standing over it with sword drawn.
“What’s going on here, Seb?”
“They attacked the prince, my lord, as he was standing there talking to Rachel. They took him by surprise and he got a nasty gash on his swordarm trying to protect her. I think he nicked one of them and I got this one but the others were bearing down on him when this… thing appeared.”
“What happened to the other attackers?”
“They got away, my lord. I’m sorry. They had horses at the edge of the meadow.”
“Okay, let’s take a look at this one.”
Seb rolled him over with his foot and David frowned as he tried to put a name to the face.
“I knows ‘im, milord,” one of the crowd offered. “That’s Varga as used to work for Lord Gaelan. Them other two of ’is was ‘ere too, along with ‘is boy Raslo.”
“Gaelan’s here? Or did he just send his men to do his dirty work?”
“Didn’t see Lord Gaelan ‘isself, milord. Just the others.”
“All right, thank you. Now what have we here?”
David walked up to the grey wall and stood close to it. There was no reflection from it, nothing could be seen through it and even without touching it, he felt bitterly cold. He picked up a broom that was resting against one of the nearby wagons and thrust the end of the handle against the greyness. The resistance was total; there was no give at all and the end touching the wall was immediately covered in white frost. He pulled the broom back and tapped the white end with his belt dagger. The handle shattered into a million ice crystals.
He turned and showed the handle to the crowd. “Nobody is to touch that wall,” he warned. “You will lose a hand.”
He walked slowly around the perimeter of the wall. It was, as far as he could tell, a perfect circle about twenty paces across and completely uniform in nature. It also curved inwards at the top to form a dome.
“What is it?” Seb asked as he arrived back at the starting point.
“Difficult to explain,” David replied, “but it’s a kind of magical barrier. Now who or what is on the inside of it?”
“Well Prince Jeren and Rachel of course. Rachel’s wagon is in there but not Blaze.”
“Blaze?”
“Rachel’s horse. He’s tethered over there with the other horses.”
“And you’re sure there’s nobody else in there?”
“Absolutely. We were trying to give them a bit of privacy when it all happened.”
“There’s nobody else in there.” David stopped and gave a little chuckle.
“Suzanne,” he said out loud. “Are you monitoring this?”
“Yes, my lord.”
“What do Mikael’s instruments say about this dome?”
“It does not exist, my lord. There is nothing there. It appears to be a complete sphere, under the ground as well and it does not exist in our space-time continuum.”
The crowd were already looking nervously at David talking to himself and when he started to laugh, those nearest him began to edge away.
“Suzanne, you’d better notify Khan that we’ve all been looking in the wrong direction. The missing heir is not a boy at all. The Ystrad have got themselves a queen.”
Chapter 25
Falaise and Jaks arrived together with Baltur only a few strides behind, but all were forced to dismount at the edge of the crowd by their unwilling horses. Falaise ran into the circle looking frantically to left and right.
“Where’s Jeren?”
David hurried over to stand in front of her and took both her hands in his. “Falaise, look at me. Jeren is inside this grey dome. I believe him to be safe but we can’t get in there or even talk to him at the moment.”
“Why not? What is this thing?”
“It’s a barrier, my lady. A magical barrier that I believe was created to keep the people inside safe.”
“Safe from what? And who else is inside there?”
David led her over to where Seb was standing. She took her hands back and pointed at the body as she gave a gasp of recognition. “That’s Varga. Is Gaelan here?”
“Nobody has seen Gaelan but Raslo was one of the group that attacked Jeren along with those two thugs who tried to ambush you ou
tside our camp.”
“They attacked Jeren? Is he hurt?”
“Seb thinks he has a cut on his arm but nothing worse. He was defending Rachel. You know, the girl who came in with the Benyahim family.”
“And where is this Rachel now?”
David took a deep breath. “She’s inside the barrier with Jeren. In fact I believe this is her barrier. If you remember, Jeren saved her life when they first joined us. I think she created this barrier to save Jeren’s life.”
“You say this is a magical barrier? You’re a magician. Do something about it.”
“Falaise, I cannot. This is way beyond anything that I could construct or dismantle. I think I know what it is but I cannot do anything about it.”
“Then what are we supposed to do?” she snapped. “Just stand here and look at it?”
“There are some people I can summon, Falaise. People like Rachel. But I don’t know if even they are powerful enough to take down this barrier. It may be that the only person who can dismantle it, is Rachel herself.”
“Send for them,” Falaise ordered. “And let me know the moment they arrive.”
David bowed as she turned on her heel and stalked away, the crowd quickly making way for her to pass through.
“Right Jaks, there’s a system on the city walls that can be used to signal the gates at the far end of the valley. Find it and use it. Nobody is to leave the valley until further notice.
“Baltur, I want you to erect a tent around this dome to hide it from view. Then I want guards inside the tent, two men at all times, four hour shifts. I’m putting you in charge of this. No-one is to approach the barrier or be inside the tent without myself or Lady Falaise being present.”
As Jaks and Baltur went hurrying away, a shout went up from the city walls which was quickly taken up by the crowd below. David looked in the direction the arms were pointing to see a dot in the sky that was growing larger by the second.
“Oh shit,” he said to himself. Then out loud, “Seb, come and stand by me and keep your sword sheathed at all times, whatever happens.”
The dot resolved itself into a standard gamma class skimmer that had a crude effigy of a dragon’s head attached to the front and some stylised ‘wings’ sticking out from the sides. It landed in the nearest open space with people scattering in all directions with shouts of terror.