“Why?”
“I’m not certain, but I have a suspicion. Follow me.”
Penny stood and followed as the queen led her to one of the side chambers off the throne room. She glanced at the sentinel crystals as she always did when entering the room, but they were all dark. She wondered if any of them were still active.
Anneli directed Penny over to the map table and traced the edge of the forest. “You know that the large black trees that grow around the edge of the Great Forest are what sustain the ward keeping the Dourosh inside. They draw the magic up through the earth, and the barrier spreads from tree to tree, forming a kind of lattice. When Lanioc raised the ward, he began in the northeast and continued this way.” She ran her finger clockwise around the edge of the forest. “When he reached the north, though, his energy was drained. He spent weeks in recovery. Shortly after that, he was overtaken by the magic and never had a chance to complete his work.”
“I didn’t realize he’d created the ward so close to the end of his reign.”
“It was just after he crafted the Lion’s Sword,” Anneli said, “so the two events may have been related. He was certainly attuned to Dourok’s influence, as I am. He may have felt it begin to spread again and anticipated that Dourok would emerge from hiding and try to raise a new army.”
“So there is no ward in the north?”
“There is. Lanioc knew he couldn’t leave a gap, but the trees there are spread farther apart, making the ward weaker. If Dourok wanted to breach the ward anywhere, that is where he’d do it.”
“And knowing this, you had no soldiers, no fortress to protect that area?”
“The North Wood has the thickest growth and the roughest terrain in all the Great Forest. It was always a natural impediment. Any army moving through there would have to move slowly, and we always had patrols of scouts watching for it. But nearly every scout and soldier I had on patrol was recalled when we were under siege from the Dourosh. And Dourok, it seems, was busy building this city while we were occupied with the battle and its aftermath.” She bit her lip. “Or perhaps he began even before that. Shortly before your arrival, I did lose contact with a band of scouts who were patrolling the North Wood. Everything happened so quickly after that, I didn’t have time to find out what happened to them. So if he was building this city before the attack on Lanion, what was…?” She shook her head. “I suppose it doesn’t matter now.”
Penny placed her fingers on the map, at the edge of the North Wood. “Even if the ward is weak here, it doesn’t necessarily mean he can get through, right? He hasn’t been able to do it in two thousand years.”
Anneli rapped her fingers on the table. “Yes. Unless….” She straightened and gestured toward the door. “I’m sorry, Penny, but your training will have to be postponed. I must be alone.”
“Is there anything I can do?”
“Go study your books, practice your magic. You must be able to cast spells without thought, without delay, and you are not quite there yet.”
Penny moved toward the door, but a call from the queen stopped her.
“Penny?” Anneli said. “Tell me something.”
“Yes?”
“Do you love Sir William fully, unconditionally?”
“Of course.”
“There is no other you might have feelings for? No one from your past?”
Penny’s stomach twisted into a knot. She knew who the queen meant. “No. No one. Why do you ask this?”
Anneli lowered her eyes. “If it becomes relevant, I will tell you. But for now, know that when it comes to Dourok, anything is possible. Prepare yourself to face any kind of challenge, even a challenge to your love for William. Whatever you do, do not drift from him. Do not think about things that might have been. Leave the past where it belongs.”
Penny nodded and turned away again. As she strode across the throne room, her footsteps echoing off the smooth stone, the sword in her hand vibrated, as though in response to her fear. It almost seemed to draw power from it. She gripped it more tightly and took a breath. No, sword, she thought. You won’t use this against me. Not now, not ever.
She stopped before reaching to doors leading into the great entrance hall. It was said that Lanioc had talked to the sword. Is this how it began?
She unlocked the doors and ran out, past the startled guards, and didn’t stop running until she reached her room. She threw open the door and found William at the wash basin, splashing his face. She tossed the sword onto the divan at the foot of the bed and ran into his arms, pressing her cheek against his wet face.
“What is it, love? What happened?”
“I don’t know yet, but promise me something.”
“Anything.”
“Never leave me alone with that.” She glanced at the sword, and William followed her gaze.
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know. Just never leave me alone with it. At least not when it’s dark out. If I sneak away in the night, follow me. If I tell you to leave, don’t. Promise me.”
“I promise.”
He pulled back to look at her then leaned in to kiss her lips. She melted into his arms, and even though she tried not to, she began crying. He held her, comforting her, until the tears stopped. When she opened her eyes again, the humming from the sword had abated. She took several deep breaths and nodded. No, the sword could not have her fear. Or her anger or her sadness or anything else negative. It would not use her emotions against her. As long as William was at her side, it would never be her master.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The Queen’s Favorite
Winter in the Great Forest was deeper and darker than any Penny had ever experienced. Magic kept the streets of Lanion clear, but the snow piled up against the walls of the city, rising up to the ramparts and overflowing onto the tops of the walls. The Ancieth River snaking through the center of the city was frozen solid, and the peaks of the mountains that surrounded the valley revealed not one solitary patch of bare rock. Everything was white, everything was frozen, and the sky was forever dark, forever showering down snow, and the sun had become but a distant memory.
The Lanosh took it in stride—it was a yearly occurrence for them—but for those from outside the Hobswood, the gloom became and ever-present source of apprehension. Penny continued to train, devoting ten or twelve hours a day to it, and Owen’s own lessons occupied the same amount of his time.
William and Sir Stephen, lacking magical abilities, spent the time honing their martial skills. Even as knights of Emberlyn, they had much to learn from the palace guard. Sometimes, when she couldn’t focus on her books any longer, Penny would go watch them as they trained in the great hall or in the courtyard, braving the cold so as to build up their endurance.
Penny worked with Anneli several hours a day, but most of her time was spent in silent, solitary study. During these hours, she kept the sword nearby but not on her hip. She felt all right during the day, but at night she couldn’t stand being alone with it.
She was engaged in study in the library, the sword in one of the side alcoves, when she reached the end of a book and slammed it closed. She could not go on; it was only early afternoon, but she was finished for the day. The tome had been one of the most complicated and esoteric she’d read thus far, detailing a dozen competing philosophies of magic. She didn’t know why it was important to know the various theories about what magic was, where it came from and exactly how a person manipulated it. Not knowing the trivial details of each concept hadn’t yet prevented her from casting any spells.
Even so, it had been on the long reading list Anneli had given her, and she respected the queen’s judgement. Perhaps in the morning, after she’d let her mind rest, she’d look over it again and try to glean something of value, something she could use in practice. She glanced at the top sheet on the stack of papers beside the book. The titles of the next few volumes on her reading list weren’t encouraging; they appeared to cover similar subjects. She
had noticed that the closer to the bottom of the list she got, the less practical the information became. At least Anneli had placed the most useful books at the top. Maybe it wouldn’t be too lamentable if she didn’t finish the list. She counted the number of books she had left to read: nine. Even if she managed to muddle her way through them, there was nothing to stop Anneli from assigning her more. The way it looked, Anneli had filled the sheet with as many titles as she could and stopped when she’d reached the bottom. There might be a second and a third list waiting for her.
Sighing, she stood and stretched her arms and back. She returned the book to its spot on the shelf, retrieved the sword then made her way to the great hall, where she could hear sparring. She entered the hall and stood to one side as William and Stephen, back to back, fended off attacks from four palace guards. They were using dull training swords, but the exercise was still a dangerous one. Penny immediately saw that the Lanosh guards were using magic to enhance their abilities. William and Stephen were not only outnumbered but also outmatched. She smothered the urge to cry out her disapproval. William and Stephen would have to learn how to deal with magically enhanced opponents. Most Dourosh did not possess the abilities of the palace guard, but if there were another battle, there was always a chance one of the knights would find himself facing off against a Dourosh officer.
The two men fought off a flurry of blows and held their own for several seconds before one strike found its mark, and Sir Stephen crumpled to the ground, screaming in pain. The dull blade had struck his forearm. She immediately sent healing magic toward him to assess the injury; the arm had been broken. She began moving toward Stephen, but before she got there, the doors to the throne room opened, and Anneli rushed through.
She ran to Stephen and crouched down next to him, holding her hands over the injury and speaking softly. Penny stopped beside William, and a warmth spread through her chest as she looked at Stephen and Anneli. Neither had said anything, but she, William and Owen had all seen the change between the two. They were being discreet, but no one had failed to notice that they went off together every so often. William had even told Penny he’d sometimes found Stephen’s bed empty and unrumpled when he’d gone to rouse him for training early in the morning.
As Anneli soothed Stephen’s pain and began to heal the break, the affection was apparent. After several minutes, she helped him stand. “I will personally treat it every few hours, strengthening the bone until it has healed.”
Stephen shook his head. “I cannot allow that. One of the dedicated healers can see to it.”
Anneli rolled her eyes. “I said I will take care of you, Sir Stephen. Do not argue.”
Penny stifled a laugh as Stephen muttered a reply.
“Go rest in your room,” the queen said. “I will come tend to you shortly.”
Stephen grinned at this.
“I’ll help you up the steps,” William said, and the two men slowly began moving in the direction of the stairs.
“Penny?” Anneli said.
The queen waved for her to follow. They ended up in the sitting chamber off the side of the throne room. Anneli closed the door and smiled. “I suppose I cannot hide it now. Everyone saw my concern for Stephen; I could not help myself.”
“Why would you need to hide it?”
“I am the queen. He is an outsider. A… a hornless. Many would not approve. Most of the elders certainly wouldn’t.”
“I won’t tell.”
The queen sat next to Penny and put her arm around her. “I know you wouldn’t, dear girl. But six palace guards, eight or nine other onlookers who were watching the contest… word will spread.”
“You are a queen showing concern for one of your soldiers.”
Anneli laughed and put a hand to her cheek. “Oh, no one will believe that. But let them disapprove. There is no law against it; no one could stop me even if they dared to try.” She sighed. “It’s the season, you know. The cold. It makes people pull together for warmth and comfort. I never should have let it happen.”
“Why not?”
“I can’t afford the distraction right now. Your training, in addition to all my other duties, should keep me busy from morning till night.”
“But such a pace cannot be sustained. You need rest. You need… diversion.”
Anneli raised an eyebrow. “Oh, he is diverting.”
“Do you love him?”
Penny felt the queen’s body stiffen. “I cannot. There will be war in the spring, I am certain of it. I cannot fall in love now. And even if there is no war… family, children… I cannot give my energy to such things.”
“I didn’t ask if you could love him, I asked if you do.”
Anneli pulled Penny against her. “I will not answer that.”
“Why not?”
“Because come spring, I must end our relationship. It cannot progress beyond what it is.”
Penny turned her head and looked at the queen. She knew it was best not to press her further. “If you wish to talk more about it, you can put your trust in me.”
“I know.”
Penny liked sitting with the queen’s arm around her—it was comforting and made her feel peaceful—but she could sense Anneli wanted to be holding someone else. She stood. “You should go tend to Stephen. He needs you.”
Anneli smiled and also stood. “Yes. I think I will do that. Thank you, Penny.”
“For what?”
“For being my friend. As queen, it is not something that is easy for me. But you make it easy.”
Penny accepted a hug from Anneli then watched her as she left the sitting room. She followed a few moments later and found that William had returned to the great hall. He was sparring with one of the guards but much less aggressively than before.
He stopped as he saw her and turned to meet her. “I’m afraid Stephen’s injury has taken some of the pleasure out of training.”
“He’ll recover quickly under Anneli’s care.” She took his hand. “Now let’s go find Owen. I think we all deserve to take the rest of the day off, and I want to spend some time with the two people I love most.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
The Snow Troll
The cave only went back seven or eight feet; it would have been uncomfortable for his entire band of scouts, but now that he was alone, Faric had plenty of space. He sat at the entrance, looking out across the white landscape. The cave opened up over a shallow gully, and this had been the feature that had caught his eye. As the winter progressed, the snow would fill the gully and hopefully leave the cave entrance clear. So far, it had. The gully was all but invisible now, just a slight dip in the ground in front of him.
He looked off to the left, where he’d left his cousin’s body. Arric was completely covered now. In the spring, if there was a chance, he’d lead a party to recover it and take it back to Lanion. As for his other dead comrades, he’d try to find their bodies, but he’d been forced to leave them behind during the battle. There was every chance they’d been scattered by the animals.
Beyond the gully and over a rise, he could see a curl of smoke. The band of Dourosh who’d killed his scouts was close by. They’d tracked him as far as they could, but the snow had thankfully refused to let up. He and Arric had reached the shelter just before a heavy snowfall that had wiped out their tracks and made it nearly impossible for their enemy to continue on.
He still wondered about his pursuers. They’d attacked from behind, not from the new fortress the Dourosh had built, and there had been no tracks indicating that there were regular patrols of the area. Neither he nor any of his scouts would have failed to notice such activity. It wasn’t surprising that the Dourosh didn’t have guard patrols. The forest was so thick that no army could move through it at any speed, and there was open ground between the edge of the clearing and the nearest of the structures. If there was an attack, there’d be plenty of time to prepare to meet it. Besides, the fact that there was no wall around the city meant that they didn’
t expect attack, at least not until the spring.
So the Dourosh who’d ambushed them had either encountered them by chance as they returned from a mission or else had been tracking Faric and his scouts. If it was the latter, why? His stomach twisted as he remembered the soldier he’d interrogated on the shore of Lake Dranith. He’d told that man that he was the queen’s brother. It had been a foolish, impulsive thing to say. It may have gotten his cousin and the other scouts killed, but he would have to live with that. There was no changing the past.
He looked back at the smoke rising up beyond the trees. He knew the spot where the Dourosh had stopped; he had briefly considered it for a secondary shelter, but even though it was defensible, there was little to keep out the elements. The Dourosh would be kept busy every day until spring removing the fresh snowfall from their camp. They were perhaps just twenty miles from the clearing and their city, but the snow was too deep to risk the journey. It would take hours to travel even a single mile, and they would face the risk of getting caught in the open during another storm. If their leader had any magic, he almost certainly could not afford to waste his energy melting snow to clear the path.
Faric didn’t know if they realized he was so close. If they did, would they try to attack? Probably not. This time of year, every scrap of a man’s energy had to be devoted to survival.
Without his bow, he had found little luck hunting. Instead he’d been forced to ambush small game in their winter burrows. The small scraps of meat, lightly seared over a stingy flame, were keeping him alive, but only just. Whatever energy he got from it was spent in trying to obtain his next meal. He had the provisions from his and Arric’s packs, but he was saving those for the coldest, deepest part of the season. By then he’d have depleted the area of small game, and any movement away from his shelter would carry with it the risk of frozen death.
The Lion's Crypt (The Emberlyn Chronicles Book 2) Page 13