Knightfall: Book Four of the Nightlord series

by Garon Whited

  “Possibly. They’ll certainly attack Peleseyn and then Traga. After Traga, they’ll hit either Hasilel or Riverpool in order to secure a bridge across the Oisen. If they only want to beat back our borders, though, they don’t need to do more than sack Peleseyn and take that end of the Kingsroad through the Darkwood. From my reports, their armies are larger than is required for such purpose. I will be surprised if they don’t make an attempt on Carrillon, but I’m sure they mean to dominate most of the land between here and the western shore.”

  “I’m sorry, but I don’t know much about the lands west of Carrillon. I’ve never been there. I’ll have to look at a map. But I accept your evaluation unreservedly. What do you need from me? This sounds like a straight military matter.”

  “And that’s the trouble,” Lissette grumped. “The military men are certain they can run this war without bothering Her Majesty.”

  “Ah.”

  “Yes.”

  “Give an order,” I suggested. “Take charge. And when someone fails to hop, have him executed.”

  Lissette’s eyes widened. Mary, off to the side, bit her lips to avoid laughing.

  “I’m serious,” I went on. “If they don’t take you seriously, make them.”

  “When I summoned the Demon King,” Lissette said, slowly, “who did I get?”

  “Halar,” I reassured her, “with no inclination to suffer fools gladly. Look, I know you’ve studied all the arts of war. I remember. You’re a good swordswoman, you’ve got brains, you understand the logistics side of things, and you’re strong enough to be taken seriously as a ruler. While you may not be the greatest general in history, neither am I. We—you—have people for that. The only difference is your people don’t understand how to behave in a manner for you to use them properly.”

  “I don’t follow.”

  “Neither do they. They seem to think they need to run the war, right?”

  “They do. That is, they think so.”

  “What they need to do is what your council is supposed to do: Provide you with information and options, and opinions if you ask for them. If they want to run the war to suit themselves, you execute them. Or, if you prefer, demote them, lock them up, whatever. Disobeying the orders of his sovereign in time of war is treason, after all. But don’t have a trial until after the war. Make sure whoever it is sits in a cell and misses the whole thing. Then put him on trial.”

  “Hmm.”

  “I really don’t want to walk into the Palace and take charge. If you insist, I’ll do it, but I’ll mostly sit there and ask you—in front of people—what you want done and then tell them to do what you said. I can keep that up all day. I’m sure the smarter ones will figure it out fairly quickly. What I’d rather do is help you from behind the scenes so you aren’t relying on the Demon King. You’re proving to everyone you don’t need me, even though you can call on me.”

  Lissette sat back in her chair and drummed her fingertips together, thinking. Mary moved to the side of the mirror and nodded at me, giving me a double thumbs-up. I immediately wondered if I was doing the right thing.

  “That might actually be best,” Lissette agreed, thoughtfully. “Unless, of course, you’d care to drive off the combined armies of Hyceteyn, Actareyn, and Lyraneyn?”

  “Do you think our military muscle is up to the task?”

  “Yes, provided we can get the army into position. We will need to gather the troops in a hurry if we’re going to meet them before they attack Riverpool or Hasilel.”

  “What about Pelle-whatevever and Traga?”

  “Peleseyn and Traga are too far west for us to muster, march, and do battle before they fall. We could reach Traga, perhaps, but the men would be exhausted from the march.”

  “Hmm. How sure are you this is religiously motivated?”

  “The Church of Light has full-fledged temples in all three cities. I’m told there are priests attending to the armies, as well. I don’t know they have actually orchestrated it, but they do seem rather heavily involved.”

  I did some mental math and consulted my memory of my sand-table map. If the three big cities were on the western coast, they would be almost twice as far from the mountain’s Hand-irradiation spells. The power of the spells dropped off with distance, since it was generating an area of effect, rather than sending the spell out to a specific point. At that distance, the effect on any Hand medallions would still be hazardous, but it would take more time before the damage built up inside a person….

  If members of the Hand were still alive on the west coast, the Church of Light might well be behind it. As much as I hate the idea of a holy war, I might not have a choice.

  “From a troop movement standpoint,” I began, “you’re saying you can get the army to Traga, but they’ll be too tired to fight. Is that it?”

  “Yes.”

  “Is that the biggest problem?”

  “From a military standpoint? Yes. Even your knights… I mean, even the Royal knights will be reduced. Their horses are huge, as they must be, but they are war animals, not suited to long runs, much less carrying the knights on the road. While the knights may rest in the saddle, they must also walk to spare their horses. The infantry will arrive in even worse condition, having marched all day, every day, along the Kingsroad.”

  “All right. I’ll see about slowing down the enemy army. I’ll also send you some drawings for a horse-wagon and troop wagons—I thought I ordered some, but maybe I’m thinking of something I intended to do and didn’t. They won’t help in this conflict, but you can have them built in time for the next one, I think. In the meantime, did you decide if you wanted me to be public or private about helping?”

  “I think we should be private. You are right about convincing the less-converted.”

  “Let’s try for that. I’ll get back to you.”

  “Halar?”

  “Yes?” I asked. She looked at me with a strange expression. I don’t know what to call it. For a moment, she seemed vulnerable, somehow.

  “Thank you.”

  “Always a pleasure, Lissette.”

  “I’ll be expecting your call.”

  The mirror rippled into reflection.

  “Mary?” I asked. She braced to attention and saluted.

  “Sir!”

  “You cut that out.”

  “Yes, Sir!”

  “I mean it. I’m in no mood for it.”

  “Sorry,” she apologized, relaxing. “What do you need?”

  “Can you run the sand table while I talk to Beltar? I’d like some idea of the troop movements, numbers, and so on.”

  “Sure. Anything else?”

  “Not for now.”

  “Okay. I’ve got a question.”

  “Shoot,” I agreed.

  “Are you okay with all this? I mean, you went to a lot of effort to abdicate. And now, just as you thought you were out, they pull you back in.”

  “I knew this could happen,” I sighed. “I actually sort of expected it while I hoped against it. And not quite this soon.” I looked around for someplace to sit, but my geode room lacks chairs. I sat down on the edge of the central pool, instead. I rubbed my face and rested my elbows on my knees. “I hoped I could find someplace, settle in, and have a little bit of vacation. Maybe I just don’t live right.”

  “You only live part-time,” Mary reminded me, with a chuckle. I chuckled a little, too.

  “You’re right. Maybe that’s it. But I’d hoped to take a rest, first. I’m tired of…” I trailed off, unable to express what I was feeling.

  “Playing Atlas?” Mary guessed. “Being responsible for so many people? Having power and using it wisely?”

  “All that and more,” I agreed. “I’m not cut out to be a king, not even a Demon King. If I’m honest, I don’t even want to be here, doing this. I’m tired. But it’s the aftermath of my mess, and I have a lot of mess to clean up. I don’t feel I can leave this to others to mop up, no matter how much I would like them to.”

&
nbsp; “I’m not surprised. But you’re not doing this alone. You have Firebrand, Bronze, and me.” Firebrand chorused a You betcha, Boss! while Bronze snorted smoke and nodded.

  “I know I can count on all of you, and we’ll muddle through this. Thing is, I thought I might have to show up and pound some chauvinist’s head in once or twice to convince the hard-line male superiority, female inferiority jerks. I didn’t anticipate a semi-external war, especially not a religious one.”

  “You figured the Church of Light would be less of a problem if you were gone?”

  “Of course!”

  “But aren’t they the ones who tried to seize power in Rethven? Way back when?”

  “They didn’t exactly try to seize power… I’d say it was more like assuming it. The old king of Rethven wasn’t a strong king, as I understand it, and the Church of Light gained a lot of influence and favors.”

  “But they did gain a lot of political clout, right? They eventually want a theocracy of their very own, don’t they?”

  “I guess so.”

  “And how do you feel about that?”

  “I’d start a holy war, but I hate those. Come to think of it, I’m not fond of wars of any sort. They’re loud, widespread, and indiscriminate. They usually have a bunch of innocent people killing another bunch of innocent people, with liberal doses of misery spread around like glitter after a bachelorette party. I’m against them. I’d like to keep this as low-key as possible.”

  “Sometimes, you’re adorable. Naïve, but adorable.”

  “Huh?”

  Mary kissed my cheek and skipped off to spy on an army. I wondered what she meant. Shrugging, I trudged down deeper corridors to the Temple of Shadow.

  Beltar was, of course, delighted to see me. If you’ve been true and faithful, it’s a good thing when god drops by to chat. I stopped him before he could go to one knee. Simply making it as far as Beltar already involved a couple dozen people bowing and kneeling and genuflecting and whatnot. I resolved to have a Word with him about the proper way to not do that.

  “Beltar. Can we talk privately?”

  “This way, my lord.” Beltar led me to a private chamber. He lived in the Temple, or under it. Nice rooms, really, somewhat reminiscent of mine. Smaller, yes, but very clean and organized.

  “How many of the grey sashes are wizards capable of charging a power crystal?”

  “All of them.”

  “What, every single one?”

  “One cannot gain the grey sash without passing the tests. Tests of proficiency with arms, spells, and letters, tests of strength, speed, and endurance. Even then, one must still be passed by a septate of grey sashes who believe him to be of noble spirit and good heart before he may stand vigil before the temple statue for his final judgment.”

  I pretended I understood the last part. I suspected it involved spending the night under the discerning gaze of the statue in the main temple area. Whether this was purely a psychological thing or not was a good question, but my money was on not. My psychic energy copy probably eyeballed all the candidates. I know I would. Quality control is vital.

  “Good. Get everybody together and start charging as many of the things as you can. You’re going to express your disapproval of a minor rebellion.”

  “Yes, my lord.” He saluted and ran off without so much as a single question. I’m not sure I could have done it; my curiosity bump is huge. I shook my head and sighed before I wandered into the main temple area.

  “Is it easier to talk to me in here?” I asked, “or do I need a face of smoke?”

  No problem, replied the statue. At least, it seemed to come from the statue. I turned to face it. This is a place of power for me. The smoke-face is easier for regular people, but talking to you isn’t a problem.

  “Good to know. Are you aware of the armies to the west?”

  Yep. The Church of Light is pushing the three lesser kingdoms to rebel. It’s a more direct thing than we’re used to from the Lord of Light. Kind of surprising, really. But it didn’t take much pushing, he added. They don’t like being client states even in name.

  “Okay. So answer me this: If we start a holy war, how’s it going to end?”

  It’ll be messy and divisive. If you’re dead-set on one, I’d wait a generation or two. By then, your new system of religion-aiding-authority should have taken firm root and be the accepted mode. Then you can consider stomping on troublemakers.

  “Won’t that just drive them underground within the kingdom? Those it doesn’t force to flee the kingdom?”

  I hate to tell you this, but you’re never going to have a unified, homogenous population of happy peasants, kind lords, generous merchants, and friendly priests. There are always going to be thieves, rapists, murderers, muggers, and profiteers. Not always a lot of them, granted, but they’ll always be there. Having a couple of secret, underground cults is pretty much to be expected.

  “I hate it when you’re right.”

  You hate it when I’m right about something that ruins your day, he corrected.

  “True. All right. Any advice?”

  Keep Mary at a distance from the priests of Light.

  “What? Why?”

  You are an avatar of a fellow god. She is a black-blooded abomination that will burn beneath the holy light.

  “Ah. Good point. I’ll bear it in mind.”

  Another thing to bear in mind. El Lumino is grumpy at you and at the rest of us up here for going along with “My” plan for cooperative action in Karvalen. He feels it weakens his position as an independent, self-sufficient deity and blames you and me for it.

  “He didn’t exactly like me in the first place, now did he?”

  You said it, brother! Ever since your diatribe about Tobias in front of all those nobles, he’s had it in for you. Then you go and ruin his minions’ plan to dominate the kingdom. Wrecking the Hand compound in Telen didn’t make him any too happy, either. They still haven’t managed to dig out the vaults underneath.

  “Okay. Question.”

  Shoot.

  “Why not?”

  You mean you don’t know?

  I tried to project an emotional thoughtwave, rather than publicly cuss out a quasi-deity in his own temple. I finished it verbally.

  “So, while I have some half-remembered dreams from those days following my post-demon-invasion coma, I don’t really know anything about it.”

  Um. I assumed again, and I apologize.

  “I’m okay. I think. Give me a minute to breathe.” I sat down on the altar and he didn’t say anything about it. After a dozen deep breaths and some centering exercises, I felt calm enough to continue.

  “Want to try answering now?”

  “They haven’t penetrated the vaults because they don’t dare use magicians to help. Magicians can’t be trusted with this kind of stuff. Remember, these vaults were the Hand vaults, under the Hand compound. They contain artifacts and relics of immense power, things they either decided to keep locked away against some future need, or couldn’t destroy and didn’t want to fall into the wrong hands.

  “Yeah, it rings a bell.”

  Hopefully not the Bell of Woes. Nasty piece of work, that thing.

  “You can tell me later. But why did the Hand put their compound in Telen? I get the impression the Church of the Lord of Light is a… more widespread? Larger? It’s a religion that isn’t centered in Rethven. Don’t they have some sort of equivalent to the Vatican?”

  Yes and no. It’s not on this continent.

  “Okay. Why didn’t the Hand bury the vault under the main temple complex?”

  That’s a really good question. Maybe they’re a semi-independent, quasi-secret-society, borderline splinter group within the religion and don’t want to turn that kind of power over to the real priests?

  “That’s disturbingly plausible,” I admitted. “So, what happened to the vault?”

  The tornado wrecked everything above ground, of course, and the fires didn’t help. The destru
ction collapsed the stairs down to the vault itself. This triggered some containment magic—contingencies in case something tried to force the vault doors. Since they lost the majority of the Hand leadership—and thanks to Tobias, most of the Church leadership—they didn’t have anyone of sufficient… not “rank” but maybe faith. Talking to god is a difficult thing at best, for a mortal, and their religion was falling into a pit of secularism anyway. It’s only been in the last decade or so that it’s really gotten back to its roots as a faith, rather than a school of cooperative, ritual magic—

  “As much as I appreciate the historical background,” I interrupted, “we have a habit of going off on a tangent during the lecture portion of the lesson. I get they didn’t have anyone who could open the vault. I get they only recently had anyone of sufficient gumption to succeed in asking their god how to do it. Please continue from there.”

  Right. Uh… I guess that’s it, really. I don’t think they’re actually digging out the stairway to get to the vault. It contains immense amounts of evil, so the Lord of Light probably wants it to stay right where it is.

  “And you bring this up because…?”

  All I did was mention burying the vault as one of the things you did that annoyed them. You’re the one who wanted more information.

  “I—okay. I accept the blame.”

  Good for you, my son. Confession is good for the soul. Now go do an act—

  “Don’t push it,” I advised. I heard the chuckle in my head.

  Anything else?

  “No, I think that covers it, for now. No, one more thing. How are the others upstairs taking to the new religion-helping-authority thing?”

  No complaints, as such. Some grumbling, but since we all seem to be showing a profit, I’m cautiously optimistic.

  “Okay. Need anything from me?”

  Not right now. I’ll let you know.

  “Then I’m off.”

  I accidentally picked up a pair of grey sashes on the way back through the under-passages. I blamed Beltar, but I didn’t argue. If it makes them feel better, I can live with it. Besides, a Church of Light assassin might be lurking somewhere. You never know.

  Mary was in the scrying room and had the sand table humming along.