Darksong Rising

by L. E. Modesitt Jr.

  But it wasn't. You're upsetting the ideas of those who rule, not those who live there. Those who live there don't want their daughters to have to submit to any noble who wishes it. They don't want taxes and tariffs levied willy-nilly. They don't want to have to scrape and bow because they'll get killed if they don't....

  It's still a fine line... and you know it.

  But the sobs still came.

  And so did the odor of death and fire, and charred brush and bodies.

  Then came the wind-cold and empty, metallic, bearing the memory of another kind of death-moaning across the road and the hills.

  With the wind came the rain, rain that was more like liquid ice, colder than anything Anna had felt in Liedwahr, hard drops to pelt both body and soul, cold as a damned soul in Dante's inferno's lowest level.

  Slowly, the Regent-sorceress walked toward Farinelli, sensing, rather than really seeing the gelding, feeling that through the cool downpour, Kinor and Jimbob, and all her players and lancers watched... and waited.. . waited for the sorceress of destruction to leave the field.

  Even tall Nelmor sat motionless on his mount. Appalled... no doubt.

  Chill, ice-and guilt-poured over her.

  95

  The mixture of ice and cold rain rattled and pattered against the tent. Anna sat on the stool, slowly sipping water and chewing on cold bread and colder cheese. Her head still throbbed. Her eyes were blotchy, and her voice was shot.

  Liende stood just inside the tent, looking at the bedraggled Regent.

  Idiots! They invade another country, and then they think that they've been insulted after their allies have been destroyed when they're asked to do something reasonable-like let somebody with experience who's a Neserean run the place. Was she being unreasonable? Anna shook her head. Was it just because you're a woman who had the temerity to suggest something different? All those men killed... every time you try to avoid killing, somehow you end up having to kill more people. Is any form of compromise or common sense considered weakness unless you scorch the earth first?

  Another line crept into her thoughts: "unlettered lads as mad as the mist and snow." But the lords and officers of Liedwahr weren't lads, even though they behaved like spoiled brats. Then, maybe there was more of an Irish heritage in Liedwabr than she knew. Or had the Celts stayed Germanic in Liedwahr?

  And how soon before some of them understood what her sorcery could do? She shook her head. People don't like to believe what they haven't seen or felt, and you haven't left a lot of survivor... and communications here aren't the most rapid or reliable.

  "Chief Player? Regent?" Hanfor peered into the tent, water oozing down his face and into his beard.

  "Come in, Hanfor. You can take a moment and get dry."

  The arms commander stepped out of the rain and shook himself slightly, then wiped the water off his forehead to keep it out of his eyes.

  "We need to send a messenger to the Neserean forces at Denguic," Anna said. "Or get there quickly."

  Hanfor raised his eyebrows.

  "There's a good chance those lancers and armsmen are the ones I spelled, and that means they have to listen to me. But I don't want to chase them all the way across Neserea."

  Liende and Hanfor looked at Anna.

  "You are but skin and bones, Lady Anna," Liende finally said. "Better you eat and rest, and ride more slowly."

  "If we can ride at all tomorrow," said Hanfor.

  "We can leave now. This rain isn't good for the lancers. I've got a tent. They don't," Anna pointed out. "Besides, if we wait. the roads will just get worse"

  Liende walked to the mirror case on the camp table and eased out the scrying glass. She walked back to Anna and held up the mirror. "If you would but look...?"

  Anna looked. She tried not to wince. Her face was drawn, with her cheeks almost sunken below the cheekbones. Deep black circles ran under both eyes. Her eyes were bloodshot. Even the slightly bubbled silver behind the glass could not disguise the combined pallor and flush that suffused her face. Her collarbones even jutted out under the shirt and vest. How had she gotten so thin? Was she that obsessive? Yes...

  Liende lowered the glass.

  "I'll eat more. Now," Anna added. "And we'll ride slowly." She looked at Hanfor. "I can't let them freeze. Not Nelmor's or Falar's men, either.

  Liende and Hanfor looked at each other.

  "Nor the players," Anna insisted.

  "That might be best for them," Hanfor agreed. "It is not good for you."

  "We can always stop if I fall apart." But I won't. "And I'll eat more." You have to....

  96

  Shifting her weight-and her soaked trousers-in the saddle, Anna looked through the cold mist that had replaced the icy rain. In addition to being tired and underweight, she was going to have legs and a rear that were going to be badly chafed. The once-muddy road had turned back into damp clay-slightly slippery, but not a sloppy mess. The rain had turned first to drizzle, and then to mist, as the Defalkan force had struggled westward. Now the mist had gotten finer, but the process had occurred slowly over almost ten deks of muddy and slippery roads.

  The lower legs of the mounts were mud-splattered as well, and Anna knew that grooming Farinelli would be a long chore. The sorceress peered more intently at the indistinct light that had to be the sun trying to break through the clouds. Then she smiled. "See... there's a rainbow! We're almost out of it."

  Riding to her right, Kinor laughed.

  Beside him, Jimbob murmured, "I'm ready for the rain to end. I was ready for it deks back."

  "We might get somewhere dry before it gets dark." Anna remembered to take another swallow of water, and more of the cheese from the food pouch. She had to keep eating, because there was still far too much left undone, and it would remain undone unless she did it. That was becoming all too clear. She managed to push down another mouthful of cheese, swallowing with difticulty, despite her memory of the mirror image Liende had shown her.

  Shortly, another scout trotted through the mist from the west to report to Hanfor. Even from ten yards away, Anna could see the arms commander's smile.

  "Hanfor looks pleased," observed Kinor.

  Anna nodded, waiting as the arms commander turned his mount and eased his way toward the sorceress, and Kinor and Jimbob.

  "The scouts say that the Nesereans remain encamped where they have been. The ground is dry another two deks ahead. Denguic is almost ten deks beyond where we would stop. Everyone is tired-you most of all. To go on would risk danger to all." Hanfor's eyes were intent on the sorceress as he spoke.

  Anna surrendered. "As long as it's dry-that's fine. We can manage another two deks." She had to admit that even her cot sounded wonderful, and she wasn't sure she'd felt that tired in a long time. "And as long as it will be all right for the lancers."

  "Everyone will be better just ahead than back in the rain," Hanfor said. "But we all need rest."

  That Anna definitely knew. She nodded soberly.

  97

  Anna woke bolt upright at dawn, at the first hint of grayness coloring the dingy silk of her tent, mumbling to herself "Have to get to those lancers.... have to."

  She found herself shivering-and that hadn't happened very often in Defalk. Her breath steamed in the tent, and she shuddered from under her blanket into her clothes and her jacket. Then came the boots, but donning them took longer because her fingers were cold, and the leather felt stiff.

  When she did stand up, her shoulders and neck were sore. After stepping over to the camp table, she slid out the traveling mirror and looked down into it. Her face was still pale, but without the sickly flush of the previous day. And the circles under her eyes weren't quite so pronounced, but her cheeks were still hollow. "You need to eat more."

  Eating more was always a problem, first, because Avery had always been on her about her weight, and, now, because field rations were always short. she always feel guilty about stuffing herself. Putting off the eating question, she slipped toward t
he entry panel to the tent to reclaim the bucket of water. Outside, in the predawn grayness, a thin rime of frost covered everything, but there wasn't a film of ice on the water, anyway.

  Bersan and Lejun were the duty guards. "Regent."

  "Good morning." she said as she reclaimed the bucket.

  "Good morning, Lady Regent Commander Hanfor, he didn't expect you'd be up so early," Lejun said.

  "I'd like to see him and the chief player in a bit, if you'd get word to them," Anna said.

  Someone else had been watching her tent. Kinor came charging with a basket, the same one he'd been bringing every morning, except this one was clearly overstuffed. "Mm-the chief player said you needed to eat as much of this as you could."

  "I'll try, Kinor." Anna managed to keep from smiling at the young man's almost inadvertent mention of the chief player as his mother. The sorceress slipped the bucket inside the tent, then took the basket, noting that besides two loaves of bread, there were several apples, two wedges of cheese, and two hard-looking biscuits.

  She began with a chunk of bread and some cheese, and a bite of the firmer apple. Then she washed her face, wincing at the chill of the water, but deciding against any sorcery that wasn't absolutely necessary. The recollection of the hollowness of her cheeks strengthened that resolve. Alternating food and her minimal field toiletries, she found she had finished a loaf and a half of bread, both cheese wedges, and an apple by the time she was halfway presentable.

  She had no more pulled back the tent flap to signify that she was ready to see people when Hanfor appeared, followed closely by Liende.

  "How are the lancers?" Anna asked Hanfor, gesturing for both to enter, before inclining her head to Liende, "And the players?"

  Hanfor stood by the camp table and waited for the chief player to speak.

  "The players are better, except for Yuarl. She struggles with a fever."

  Anna felt guilty. She hadn't even known that the thin violino player had a fever.

  "It was better that we found a drier place for her. She slept well," Liende continued.

  "I'm hoping that we won't need the players for a few days," the sorceress said. Or Longer. "We might. . . but I'm still hoping. Can they ride?"

  "Even Yuarl will ride."

  "We need to get to Westfort before the word spreads," Anna said. "Before the Nesereans decide they can leave."

  Hanfor raised his eyebrows. "Who might tell? None of the Mansuurans survived. Nor did any of the Nesereans who were with Rabyn."

  "Jearle or the Nesereans might have a seer." Anna moistened her lips. "You both know what I have in mind. I don't want to fight another war, especially this year. I want to talk to the Neserean captain before he understands he has the largest force of armsmen left." She frowned. "That's probably the largest body of armsmen in one place south of Nordwei and east of the..."

  "The Westfels," supplied Hanfor. "But they could not stand to your sorcery."

  "No armsmen can," Liende added. "Not while you can sing and we can play."

  "If they would support Hanfor, it would make life in Liedwahr a lot more pleasant." Anna said. And life in Defalk as well.

  "They may not," demurred Hanfor.

  "You just don't want the headaches you've seen me face," Anna suggested, with the hint of a smile.

  "No armsman of judgment would, lady." Hanfor snorted.

  "still..." mused Anna, "we have to get it across that they've got a choice between a civil war or an invasion by Mansuur if they don't support you. Do they want that."

  Hanfor shrugged. "I would say not, but seldom do armsmen make such choices."

  "All we can do is ask" Anna glanced through the open tent flap toward the tielines where Farinelli was tethered. "How soon before we can be ready to ride?"

  "A half-glass, perhaps a bit longer."

  "Then let's get started." Anna paused. "I'd better talk to Lord Nelmor and Falar, too. I've probably been neglecting them."

  Anna packed up saddlebags and mirror and was taking apart the cot when Nelmor and Falar arrived. She motioned both inside.

  "I'm sorry I haven't been more careful to keep you both informed of what has been happening." She looked apologetic. "Sorcery takes a lot out of me, and I don't always consider how others feel. Especially people like you, who have been very supportive and helpful."

  "Regent," Nelmor began, "you and your arms commander have been most courteous."

  "Most courteous, and with the strain you have faced," added Falar, spoiling the serious words with the hint of his smile.

  "Thank you both." Anna paused. "There is one last group of Nesereans in Defaik. They're besieging-or camped around Westfort. That's where we're headed. It's not even ten deks from here."

  Nelmor nodded. "I had known we were close, but with the mist and the rain."

  "I'm going to try to persuade them to leave peacefully," Anna said, "but I'd like you two to accompany me, if you would."

  "For ten deks... to see the end of this war? After this whole season?" Nelmor shook his head. "I would scarce miss that chance, especially saving that the journey back to Dubaria lies that way as well."

  Anna looked to Falar.

  The redhead grinned. "Fussen and Ustal would not welcome me any sooner."

  "Thank you both." Anna inclined her head. "We'll be riding out in less than a glass. I'm sorry I didn't let you know, but I didn't know for sure until a bit earlier myself."

  "We will be ready, Regent, and glad of it," said Nelmor, smiling broadly.

  Falar nodded.

  As she watched the two walk away from the tent, Anna wanted to shake her head. She was usually good at reading postures, and both men had seemed pleased. Why, she wasn't certain, but it was better to have done something right and not understood all the reasons why than the other way around.

  She looked at the remaining food in the basket and groaned, but she broke off another chunk of bread and slowly chewed her way through it. "You can finish the bread... you can."

  The sun had barely risen when Anna guided Farinelli back onto the road westward. Rickel and Lejun rode before Anna, while Hanfor rode beside her. Kinor and Himar rode behind them, and Anna's remaining guards rode between them and the players. The mounts' hoofs echoed dully on the partly frozen road clay, and the light and chill wind blew out of clear northern sky, so clear that it seemed as much green as blue.

  "It will be a long and cold winter," predicted Hanfor. "Let's hope it doesn't start too soon. There's a lot I need to do before snow or freezing rain starts to fall."

  "Regent-I fear there will always be more for you to do than glasses in which to do such tasks." Hanfor shook his head.

  "Two years I have known you, and yet you find there is more that you must do, for all that you have done, yet all Liedwahr is changed."

  Not near enough. "I haven't done that much."

  Anna ignored the barely concealed snort from Jimbob, riding behind her.

  "Some would say that you have all too much," Hanfor responded, "those such as Lord Ehara, Lord Behlem, Lord Bertmynn, Lord Rabyn..." A lopsided grin appeared.

  "The names change, but not much else does," countered Anna.

  "More than you think, I would venture."

  "Much more," came a murmured assent from one of the two young men riding behind Anna. Jimbob, she suspected.

  As the sun struck the frost that costed the grass and the trees, mist began to form and rise, giving the land an almost-surreal look. Anna took in the beauty, leaning forward in the saddle and patting Farinelli on the neck. "We don't see many mornings like this," she whispered, just looking out silently as the gelding carried her onward.

  The mist and the apparent stillness before her reminded her of New England, in the days when she had been married and much younger, and far more innocent. For a moment, she had to close her eyes. Then she straightened and looked westward.

  The lands around Westfort still lay in darkness when Anna reined up on the road crest and looked out over the valley at
the keep, standing like a sunlit isle above the long morning shadows.

  Anna turned in the saddle. "Liende! Have the players ready. The long flame song. I hope we don't have to use it, but I'm not trusting anyone right now."

  "Yes, Regent." The white-haired player turned in her own saddle. "Dismount and prepare to play. The tuning song."

  "Raise high the Regency banner!" ordered Hanfor.

  The Regency banner rose on the ridge to the south of where the Nesereans were camped. The discordant sounds of violinos, woodwinds, and the falk-horn rose around Anna, but she continued to watch the camp below.

  "There's a banner being raised over the keep gate," announced Jimbob.

  "And on the tower," added Kinor.

  Anna glanced at the two Westfort banners. She could not make out the details of either, but the gates of Westfort remained closed.

  A rider in blue spurred his mount toward the tent in the center of the Neserean camp. Within moments, he turned and rode up the hill, bearing a white banner. The Neserean camp began to bustle, with riders seeking mounts and armsmen scurrying into formation.

  Behind Anna, the tuning grew.

  Lejun and Rickel eased their mounts forward. They had unstrapped and now bore the oversize shields they used to protect Anna.

  As the sole rider neared the Defalkan force, Hanfor nodded to Himar. The overcaptain and a pair of lancers rode forward toward the scout or messenger who bore the white banner.

  Himar spoke to the lancer but for a moment, and then gestured in the direction of Hanfor and the sorceress.

  Anna turned. "Jimbob... Kinor... if you would wait here..."

  "Yes, Lady Anna."

  "Let's see what they want," Anna suggested.

  "Their lives," Hanfor responded, "else the banner would be blue."

  "I hope you're right." Preceded by her guards, Anna and Hanfor rode along the road to where the messenger waited.

  Anna reined up a good eight yards from the messenger, and Rickel and Lejun closed in front of her, leaving just a narrow opening with the shields.