Prince of Malorn (Annals of Alasia Book 3)

by Annie Douglass Lima

Every evening Chun found a valley with a stream in it where the army could camp. After they had all unloaded their horses and set up their tents, the Mountain Folk lit twenty or thirty separate campfires, around which they crowded to eat suppers of dried meat or whatever they had found that day. There was talk and laughter, storytelling and singing, until finally they all crawled into their shared tents for the night. Only then was Korram able to relax, knowing that no one would stray far from camp before morning.

  After they passed the point where he had first met Ernth’s family, Korram took over from Chun and led the way himself. He remembered – at least roughly – the route he had taken with Trayven; they had traveled due east from Sazellia into the mountains, and then more or less south. So, keeping an eye on the sun, he led his army north, keeping mostly to the foothills where it wasn’t as cold. When they spotted towns or mining camps – which happened at least once a day – they gave them a wide berth to avoid any possible trouble with the Lowlanders.

  The further north they traveled, the fewer high peaks surrounded them. At last, one sunny but cold autumn afternoon, they stopped to rest at the top of a low slope from which they could look down and see a flat gray expanse far off to the right.

  “What’s that?” exclaimed Thel, peering down at it from beside him. “I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

  “Me neither,” Ernth agreed from Korram’s other side.

  “That’s the ocean,” Korram told them. “Picture a lake, but bigger, and salty. I’ve actually only been close to it a couple of times.” He pointed to the faint blue line they that could barely see cutting across the landscape ahead of them. “Where the Grenn River empties into the ocean, it splits into dozens of smaller channels. The whole delta area is one big swamp, and there aren’t any really good beaches, except maybe off behind the mountains where no one’s been. Malorn doesn’t have much coastline.”

  “What’s on the other side of the river?” Thel wondered.

  “That’s the kingdom of Alasia. The Grenn forms the border.” Korram turned and pointed to the left, where bare farmland and meadows stretched into the distance, scattered villages dotting the landscape here and there. “Sazellia, Malorn’s capital city, lies about half a day’s ride in that direction, just a couple of miles south of the river.”

  “Are we all going to go there?”

  “I’m not sure,” Korram admitted, looking down the slope toward where his Lowland home lay, out of sight in the distance. “I think I should first find out what’s been happening while I’ve been gone and talk to my family about what to do next.”

  He glanced back at the Mountain Folk crowded behind him. Most of them had dismounted and were peering across the plains or staring out at the ocean, asking each other what they thought it was. “This is basically the end of the mountains, so maybe we should set up camp for now, and the army can wait here for a few days while I ride into Sazellia. I don’t think it would be a good idea to bring everyone there at once, at least not at first.”

  “I suppose I should probably come with you, though,” grumbled Ernth from Korram’s other side. “Maybe I’ll have a chance to save your life there, and then I can go home.”

  “I’ll come too,” Thel announced, “and don’t you dare say I can’t.” Her eyes flashed ocean-gray as she shot Korram a challenging glance. “I’ve been looking forward to seeing what a city is like since the day you first told me who you were. If Ernth can come, so can I.”

  Korram grinned. He liked the idea of showing Thel around Sazellia. “The three of us will go tomorrow, then,” he decided.

  In the meantime, there were still a few hours left before dark, and it occurred to him that it would be a good idea to have his army do some drilling. His soldiers all had spears, but they had yet to begin any real training. Normally they only used their spears as walking sticks or staffs to herd goats with, or for hunting or fishing. But they ought to know how to use them against people, and that would require a whole different set of skills.

  Getting his soldiers together to practice proved to be the biggest challenge Korram had faced since recruiting his army. Some of the Mountain Folk had started to unload their horses, sensing that they were stopping early for the night; and several had even begun setting up tents. Others had scattered to gather firewood, and a few had already disappeared to go hunting. The rest were chatting, stopping politely to listen when Korram came around to explain what he wanted, but in no particular hurry to follow his instructions.

  “Help me gather everyone together in that open area,” Korram told Thel and Ernth.

  The three of them began to circulate among the others. “Leave your horses and packs where they are. Bring your spears and come to the meadow over there,” they told their friends.

  Finally, gradually, people did, wandering over in twos and threes. Some were munching on snacks they had dug out of their packs; others were followed by curious horses; all were conversing casually.

  “We need to practice fighting,” Korram called out, trying to get their attention. Some quieted down and listened; most continued their own conversations.

  “Let me try,” Thel suggested, sensing his growing frustration. She cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, “Hey! Everyone! Stop talking! Korram has something important to tell us!”

  Finally the crowd quieted and turned to face him. “We need to practice fighting,” Korram repeated. “Choose a partner and work together to figure out the best moves to use for attacking people and defending yourself.”

  Korram had expected the practice to be disorganized, but he wasn’t prepared for the absolute chaos that ensued. In the first place, not everyone found partners right away, and many ended up in groups of three or more. Some of these groups began by discussing what they knew of fighting and comparing the length and sharpness of their spears, describing how and when they had made them and joking about whose was the best or worst. Even those who did pair off and begin to duel right away didn’t do it as Korram intended. They used their spears more like clubs, swinging them to try to hit each other with the butt ends.

  “Someone could get hurt,” Fretchal pointed out, as though it should have been obvious, when Korram suggested they work on stabbing maneuvers.

  Some of the groups went after each other so vigorously that they bumped into others, knocking people over and startling horses, who shied out of the way with alarmed whinnies. Many turned it into a game, and soon there were chains of young men and women chasing each other with their spears, shouting and laughing and dodging through the crowd, tripping and crashing into people left and right.

  Korram ran his hands through his hair in helpless dismay. It had never occurred to him that he would have this much trouble training his army, but it was obvious that none of these people had ever before done anything like what he wanted. How in the world was he supposed to turn them into soldiers? If real troops were to attack, his friends would all be slaughtered.

  It’s a good thing Rampus can’t see my army right now. The only danger the regent was likely to face from them was laughing himself to death at their antics.

  “What’s the matter?” Thel wanted to know, slipping out of the crowd and coming over to Korram’s side. “Is this not what you wanted us to do?”

  “No,” Korram admitted, “but I’m not sure how to get people to do what I want. Actually, I’m not even sure of the best way to go about this. Fretchal is right: if we practice properly, people will be injured. We don’t have blunt weapons to practice with like the regular army uses, or shields, either.” He sighed in frustration. “And I really don’t know anything about training soldiers. I need advice from a better leader than I am.”

  I have to talk to Mother and Arden. Mother may not have trained an army, but she knows how to lead, and she always finds ways to get people to do what she wants. And Arden understands how people think and how to get through to them.

  Korram ran a hand through his hair again, wondering how he could talk to the
m without Rampus finding out he was back. He wasn’t ready to deal with the regent yet. Maybe he could somehow send a message and arrange to meet them somewhere. But even if he could find a guard or servant or High Council member to deliver the message, could he trust the person not to tell Rampus? It was hard to be sure. So many people were on Rampus’s side, and so many more were afraid of getting on his bad side.

  Then again, I probably don’t look much like Prince Korram anymore. Perhaps he could get someone to deliver a letter to the palace without revealing who he was. It was worth trying. In any case, he still needed to look around the capital and find out what had been happening.

  “I’ll get help or advice in Sazellia one way or another,” he told Thel. “We’ll plan on spending two or three days down there, and when we come back, I’ll have a better idea of how to train our army.”

  At least, he hoped he would. Otherwise it wouldn’t matter how much he had learned about the mountains and their inhabitants or what difficulties he had endured to get Accepted. If he couldn’t get his army properly trained, he might as well not even have one.

  Chapter 17

  Thel and Ernth gazed about in nervous fascination as they rode through Sazellia with Korram late the next afternoon. They had arrived on the outskirts a few hours earlier, but Korram had spent most of the afternoon taking them on a tour of the city.

  “There’s so many people,” Thel exclaimed, wide-eyed, turning back and forth to stare at them as they passed. “Who are they all?”

  “I don’t know,” Korram replied, chuckling. “Just citizens of Sazellia. Far too many people live here for anyone to know all of them.” He glanced around, seeing the crowded street through his friends’ eyes. Houses and businesses – many of them two stories high – lined both sides of the road with little space between them. It was the busiest time of the day now, with people returning home from work on horseback or on foot or in carriages. Quite a few of them paused to stare at the three strangers; after all, it wasn’t every day that people rode bareback through the capital dressed in animal skin clothes and carrying wooden spears. We should have left the spears behind. Too late for that now, though.

  “I never knew people just stand around making music in the Lowlands,” Thel exclaimed in wonder, pausing to stare at a man playing a flute on a street corner. Passersby tossed coins into the hat on the ground by his feet. “What a pretty tune!”

  “A lot of minstrels in Sazellia make their living that way,” Korram explained as they passed. “Many people here enjoy music; sometimes those who hear them play will hire them to perform for special events. It’s a good way for those just starting out to gain experience and get noticed.”

  “How interesting. I think it would be fun to live in a place where you could hear music all the time. Did you live around here?” Thel wanted to know. “Which of these buildings was your home?”

  “The palace is at the other end of town,” Korram told her. “I’ve purposely kept us away from that neighborhood. I’d like to show you my home, but it isn’t worth the risk that someone will recognize me.”

  “No one will recognize you anywhere in the city,” predicted Ernth. “They haven’t yet, and we’ve been riding around a long time now. If you stop to talk to anyone, it will be just like what happened at first in Nilvey.”

  “Things will be different here,” Korram assured him. “In Nilvey, they were used to Mountain Folk being unfriendly, but no one in Sazellia really knows what to expect from us. They might think we’re odd and out of place, but that will be all.”

  He hoped he was right, but in fact Korram wasn’t sure what to expect. As far as he knew, no Mountain Folk had ever actually been seen in the capital before. Well, the three of them would just have to be sure they made a good first impression.

  “Let’s stop in a tavern,” he suggested. “We’ll order an early supper and try to listen to some conversations. Our trip around the city didn’t show me anything out of the ordinary, so I need to find out more before I can make a plan. And then I need to see about some way of sending a message to my mother. You do have money with you, right?”

  “Yes,” grumbled Ernth. “I brought it like you said, but I hope we’re not going to have to use it all.”

  “Don’t worry. When I see her, I can ask for as much as we need,” Korram assured him.

  They stopped at the next tavern they came to. Dismounting out front, Thel was eager and curious, Ernth reluctant and uncomfortable. “I’ll wait out here with the horses,” Ernth told the others. “You can take the money and go in.”

  “No, I think we’d better stay together,” Korram objected. He had a bad feeling about leaving his friend alone on a busy city street. “Come on, it will be fine.”

  “I don’t like being inside buildings.”

  “You’ll get used to it. Besides, what if someone in there tries to kill me?” That decided Ernth, as Korram had known it would.

  After a moment’s hesitation, Korram fastened the ends of Clinja’s reins to the hitching bar beside the tavern. Mountain horses never seemed to stray far, but this was an unfamiliar place, and it wasn’t worth the risk that she would wander off and get lost. “Let’s leave our spears out here,” he suggested, laying his down in a clump of bushes. “We don’t need people staring at us any more than they probably already will.”

  It may have been his imagination, but he thought Clinja’s snort sounded decidedly annoyed as Thel and Ernth left their horses to stand loose nearby. “Wait for us here,” Thel instructed Avalanche as the two Mountain Folk followed Korram into the building.

  The inside of the tavern was dim and smelled of roasting meat and ale. Ernth and Thel crowded close at Korram’s heels as he led them inside. The place wasn’t too busy yet, since it was still a little early for supper, but there were plenty of people in there enjoying a drink after work. The room was full of the low hum of conversation and the clink of silverware.

  Korram found room for three on a bench in the middle of one of the long tables. The customers on either side and across from them stopped their conversations and turned to stare as the three sat down and took off their jackets. A few of those close by wrinkled their noses and scooted a little further away.

  “Good evening, travelers,” the tavern keeper greeted them as he hurried over, eyeing the newcomers as curiously as everyone else was. “What can I get you to drink, or would you like some supper?”

  Thel opened her mouth to reply, but Korram nudged her and spoke up before she could say something that would draw even more attention to them. “We’ll take supper. What are the choices tonight?”

  “Pork chops or roast beef, steamed mixed vegetables or vegetable soup, and you can have your potatoes mashed, boiled, or fried,” the man recited. “There’s beer or ale to drink, and apple pie for dessert, with coffee.”

  “What are pork chops?” Thel wondered from beside Korram.

  “What’s beef?” Ernth demanded at the same moment from his other side.

  Korram glanced back and forth between them in surprise. He hadn’t realized his friends wouldn’t know this. “Pork chops are flat pieces of pork – pig meat. Beef is cow meat.”

  “What’s a pig?” Thel inquired.

  “What’s a cow?” Ernth asked at the same time.

  Everyone at the table was staring at them now. “We’ll all take the roast beef,” Korram announced quickly, “with the mashed potatoes, soup, and ale. My friends aren’t from around here,” he added apologetically.

  “I can see that. Welcome to Sazellia.” The man smiled politely and left to fetch their meal.

  “I don’t like it here,” whispered Ernth. “I knew we should have brought our own food. Let’s go find something else to eat.”

  “You’re not likely to find any food around here except what’s served in buildings,” Korram told him. “Don’t worry, you’ll like it. Just wait.”

  “Where you folks from?” inquired a man across the table from them.

  “I’m
from here in Sazellia, but I’ve been away awhile,” Korram replied. He had already decided what to say if anyone asked. “I’m a fur trader. I’ve been working up in the Impassables for the last couple of months with my partners here, who grew up in the mountains.”

  The man’s wife, beside him, raised her eyebrows. “The mountains, eh? They say folk up there are wild and uncivilized.” She looked pointedly at Ernth, who was darting anxious glances around the room like a trapped animal searching for a way out, and at Thel, who had picked up a fork and was examining it with obvious curiosity.

  “So, what’s been going on in the Low- I mean, around here lately?” Korram asked, trying to take attention off the two of them. “Anything new?”

  The man shrugged and sliced off another bite of his pork chop. “There’s trouble across the border, they say. Apparently the Alasians have been threatening to attack.”

  That’s nothing new. For nearly a year now, government sources had been hinting that Malorn would be wise to prepare for aggression from their northern neighbors. Korram didn’t believe a word of the propaganda; it smelled too strongly of one of Rampus’s schemes to build his own power. But possible danger from Alasia had made a useful excuse for his plans to recruit an extra army from up in the Impassables.

  “But we’ll be ready for those foreigners,” the woman assured him, misinterpreting his expression. “Regent Rampus has been building up our military, and they say it’s powerful enough now to protect us no matter what. The Alasians would be stupid to try anything.”

  You mean, powerful enough to protect Rampus no matter what. So that I would be stupid to try anything. It was just as Korram had suspected. What can my poor little untrained army possibly do against him?

  The tavern keeper returned at that moment, accompanied by a freckle-faced serving boy, both carrying trays of food. “Here you go.” They set plates, bowls and cups in front of Korram and his friends.

  Thel leaned over her plate eagerly. “Something smells good.” She picked up the slab of gravy-slathered roast beef as though it were a slice of bread and took a bite. “Interesting. I like the flavor.”