by D. H. Aire
‘Message relayed…’
‘West gates are closed to the city. Closing North gate at fifth morning bell and South gates at sixth bell.’
Ships and boats were leaving the river harbor heading south as fast as they could.
“Esperanza,” he said again, gently shaking her shoulder.
She jerked. “Lee?”
“You must lie down and get some sleep.”
“I… I can’t. There is some much we must know.”
The old scryer at Lord Lyai’s side said, “Please, Mistress, go with your husband for a time. I promise the Network will be no worse for it… Not now that you are its Mistress.”
“How they could have shunted you aside…”
“I was Primus for an age. So, I am temporarily one again. Have no fear, Hayden will not arrive any faster for a few hours’ sleep on your part.”
She leaned on her husband and they left. The old Primus shook his head, privately astonished at her skill for one so young. He sat at the table and poured water into one of the empty bowls. Muttering the spell, the water rippled and he glimpsed the unicorn staring back at him.
He raised one hand and waved back. Her eyes twinkled.
So fate had all the cards on the table. Scryers were not welcome at card games, so his cards had been playing the hand of fate… which meant seeing the Empire become what it was meant to be once more.
“Oh…”
“You’re awake,” Balfour said.
Cle’or rolled over, “Oh. What happened?”
“You and Fri’il apparently had quite a night. You both collapsed right before the storm subsided.”
“Oh, my aching head,” Fri’il muttered.
“Care to tell me what you think happened?” he asked, encouraging them both to drink some water.
Cle’or shook her head, “I suddenly felt I was part of the storm out there…”
Fri’il stuck her head from beneath the blankets, “Whatever happened we weren’t the focus… Se’and was, though.”
“Ugh…” Se’and groaned, waking. She was under the covers and Lonny was sitting in the chair, watching her.
“Good afternoon.”
“Quieter…”
“How much did you drink last night?” Lonny asked.
“Oh, my aching head. Not a drop… did you say afternoon?”
“Most definitely.”
“Ohh… anything happen I should know about?”
“Nothing much… I just bit Grendel and he’s a fine looking stallion now. Oh, and Ruke came home with his own houseful of Cathartan fillies.”
“What!?” she exclaimed, wincing.
“Definitely fate playing with the winds,” Lonny said.
“Get the Mistress,” Primus commanded as one of the scryers got a glimpse of something none had seen before. “Message to all the gates to close immediately!”
Scryers could be heard relaying the order as Clawd ran to warn Master Terhun that something was wrong. Esperanza came running with her husband and several of his personal guardsmen close behind. The old Primus was bent over a bowl, relaying information through the network. “New orders from Lord Sianhiel, reinforce the southwestern wall. Reinforce East Gate.” He leaned back, blinked and gestured for Esperanza to join the link. “We’ve a second force bearing Llewellyn’s standard. It’s circled north and will be assaulting the city out of the northern east.”
Terhun overheard that as he arrived, “How many?”
“Another five thousand.”
“Lord Hayden’s sending a herald under a flag of truce as well,” the old Primus said.
“I’ll report this to Her Majesty,” Terhun said, knowing they all understood that Hayden would be demanding the city and the Empress’s unconditional surrender.
The Empress and George crossed out of the Underhill side of the suite. Both were a bit unsteady on their feet. :Zero gravity can do that do you,:’ Staff opined.
George still wasn’t quite certain if he remembered that happening or not.
:Oh, you were quite entertaining… and the Gate, I believe, thought so, too.:
That was going to take some getting used to, he thought as he leaned on the staff as the Empress leaned on him. “Je’orj, I think I’m going to be sick…” She ran stumbling to the bathroom.
:Congratulations, we may have discovered that elves have near instant morning sickness.:
George groaned, “Don’t be funny. We only drank too much.”
:Keep telling yourself that.:
Chapter
37
Herald Varian rode out the West Gate with four old legionnaires as escort on warhorses. They crossed the bridge spanning river north of the harbor and took the West Road to the river town now abandoned.
Hayden’s herald awaited with four men-at-arms in silver chainmail in the town square.
Varian swallowed hard as he reined in his mount. “Herald Isap, how sad an occasion to see you again.”
“Welp, your rise to Empress’s Herald is about to be the shortest of all time.”
“Well, Isap, I’m here to accept your unconditional surrender and thank Lord Hayden for finally providing his levy for the Legion.”
“Very funny, Varian. You know the city, much less the Empress, cannot stand against my lord’s army.”
“So, I suppose you’ve another to propose as Highmage.”
“Another?”
“Grendel has been arrested for treason. He will be gelded shortly, I’m told. A punishment the Empress will consider for any who dares to become Highmage without the accord of the Conclave.”
“She would not dare!”
“Oh, please! Put Lord Hayden forward as your new choice. Her Majesty will be so pleased to announce his impending gelding.”
“Enough of this idiocy! You are more than aware we’ve two armies confronting the city. The legions are too far away to prevent our breaching your once famed walls, which will not hold up against what we can throw against them… Surrender, Lord Hayden will spare the city. He proposes marriage to Her Majesty. He shall rule the Empire as it ought to be.”
“Isap, Her Majesty marries on the morrow Lord Je’orj, who will have the full force of the Gate at his beck.”
“He’s only a human. He will have no mastery of it.”
“Yet, he did not fail a single test in the Conclave.”
“He will never have the support of the people.”
“You mean the elvin houses.”
“Of course, to our masters the soulless humans matter not at all.”
Varian nodded. “Then once we report back the truce is ended.”
“Sianhiel, Varian’s returning,” Archmage Regis said as they stood in the turret of the Seventh Tier wall overlooking the river.
“When they cross the bridge, you know what to do,” he replied walking the fire pit in the center of the room. The flames fanned out an image of the city and the surrounding area.
“That will slow down one army, but not the one that’s already on this side of the river,” Regis said.
“The Lyai legionnaires are too few. Less than half the number of Llewellyn men-at-arms.”
“And we must worry about those loyal to Grendel or Hayden, or loyal to worse, who will undermine our defense from within.”
“Then it’s good we’ve such unusual allies as we do.”
“Sianhiel, what we need most is… a warder mage or two. The node is making even that three times stronger than it should be. If Stenh doesn’t succeed, we could lose the city to storms that never end and raze it to the ground.”
“Excuse me.” Regis winced, hearing that voice.
Sianhiel turned to the figure entering the turret room, “Archmage Abernathy, I’ve been expecting you.”
Se’and stared.
“Milady,” Ruke said, inclining his head, as the nine black liveried girls bowed.
“Mahr? What are you doing here? Better yet, does your mother know?”
“Se’and, I mean, Lady Se’a
nd, the Mother Shaman will have told her by now.”
“De’ohr is here? Who else?”
Mahr looked uncomfortable and Za’an said, “Lady Se’and, the House is Shattered.”
“Shattered… Father’s dead.”
“Murdered,” Mahr said.
Shaking her head, “The Sisters are scattered, then.”
“No, My Lady…”
“No? They stayed with Vyss, then?”
“Your mother and a few others did…” Mahr said.
“A few others? My brother is Secondson!”
Za’an said, “The Houses wouldn’t support him. He’s gone into hiding. The Sisters have come here.”
“All the rest?”
Mahr and the others nodded.
Eyes wide, Se’and muttered, “Je’orj isn’t going to like this a bit.” She glanced from Ruke to the girls, “You haven’t bonded him?”
Za’an hastily said, “No, My Lady, we have not.”
Mahr smiled thinly.
Kolter touched the Tier wall. It was warmer. The city wards were definitely stronger than Lord Hayden suspected and would be blocking scrying eyes outside the city.
“Master, the gates are sealed.”
“This is happening sooner than we planned… Worse the Old Man, who we dare not harm, walks the Tiers again.”
“Master, Krahiel is said to have been arrested for treason, too.”
“And do we still have a way out of the city?”
“For a short time, but the way will not remain open for long.”
“The storm last night heralded the long quiescent central node’s becoming unstable. The node will go critical without a warder mage. Even if Stenh manages to train one and return from what the Academy-trained call the Old Hall, the warder would not long survive. None of them shall. I have made sure of that. So, there is nothing more we can do here.”
He smiled thinly, his hand rubbing against the patch of wall. They could leave the city and return to Lord Hayden’s side. It was inevitable now that Hayden would take the city, claim the throne, and sadly die when the node went critical.
“It is time to leave, my friend.”
“We will return to Hayden, then?” his friend asked as his features began to shift, the city wards disrupting the illusion.
“No, he is no longer our concern… It is time to gather the others,” he said to the goblin, who pulled up his cowl. “The Empire will soon fall. Our master shall be pleased.”
“You’re looking rather tired,” Terhun said.
“Thanks, I feel I’m worse than I look.”
“Don’t expect to get… much sleep for the next few days.”
“Get me up to-date.”
“Fine. Externally, we’re facing to armies… internally, you had best speak to the Lady Se’and. She’s received some very upsetting news from home.”
“Our home?”
“The old one.”
“The old one in Cathart?”
“Well, actually, your relatives are actually now here in the city.”
“What? How many?”
“All of them, I think.”
The scouts were riding hard toward them out of the tree line. “Lord Talik!” the legionnaire sergeant shouted.
“I see them, Mak. Call the legion to a halt.”
“Legionnaires,” Mak yelled, turning on his mount, “halt!”
“Lee-JUN,” they cried, stopping their march.
Several battle steeds rode up from the rear of the column, an ogre keeping pace with them. Talik sighed, “What now?”
The silver-haired Lord Winterhil, former General and one of the Councilors of Lyai, chuckled, “He’s younger than he looks.”
“I know. I just wish I could have gotten him to stay at home.”
“What’s happening?” the young lord asked as he reined in, his ogre companion frowning.
“Lord Niota, the scouts apparently found something they don’t like at all,” replied the mage, who was cousin to Lord Lyai as well as the Faeryn Master of the province.
The scouts drew their mounts to a stop. “Milords, Llewellyn men-at-arms between us and the city.”
“Numbers?” Talik asked.
“At least four thousand, perhaps, five.”
Lord Winterhil frowned, “So it’s begun. Scryer!”
An elfblood ran from the column. “Sir.”
“Message the Capital.”
“We’ve lost our link, Sir.”
“Talik, we need to get a message to Lady Esperanza. Take a detachment and swing south enough for our scryer friend, here, to link. Our only chance will be to attack them from the rear before they mark our presence… and I expect your faeryn to mask us from their scrying as well.”
Talik smiled, “Have no fear about that.” The mage gestured to a score of steed mounted legionnaires who rode up beside him. “Scryer Zedan, you’ll ride with me.”
The scryer poured his water back into his canteen, and put his bowl back in her haversack. Talik held out his hand and the scryer climbed into the saddle behind him. “We’ll be back as soon as we can.”
“No, Thomi,” Lord Niota’s ogre bodyguard said as he could see his friend’s desire to go with Talik.
The young man, who had turned back Fenn’s invaders with but a bunch of refugees and the ogre who had become his friend, nodded.
Lord Winterhil nodded, issuing orders. “Legionnaires, fall out! Sentries to the fore!”
Chapter
38
Za’an and the other black liveried Cathart adolescent looked up as Lord Je’orj, staff in hand, came down the corridor they had been given to guard. Ruke shook his head after a meaningful look at Za’an, who shrugged.
“Milord,” Mahr said, uncertainly blocking the door.
“Out of my way, please.”
Staff glowed and Ruke said, “It’s all right.”
George entered the room as Se’and looked up, and stood sobbing, “Je’orj… My father’s dead and Vyss… He’s gone into hiding. It shouldn’t be this way.”
Planting his staff behind him, he cradled her close, “I’m so sorry.”
“Message from Lord Talik!” a scryer cried.
Esperanza hurriedly went back to her scrying table, sat and bent over her bowl. ‘There are four to five thousand men-at-arms between us and the city. Their mages have cut off direct scrying. Lord Winterhil needs you to do a sortie out of the city. We will attack from the rear.’
The scryer’s apprentice swallowed hard. “I’ll inform Lord Sianhiel immediately.’
The scrying apprentice climbed the stairs of the gate tower, “Sianhiel?”
“What is it?”
“Lord Talik asks us to sortie from the East Gate to draw the Llewellyn forces in.”
“Sergeant!”
“Yes, Milord!” Sergeant Enri shouted from his spotter’s position above.
“I need everyone we can get on the steeds to ride double with archers!” Enri raced down the spiral stairs, pausing at the landing, knowing what that meant. “And we’ll need to reinforce this wall.”
“With what, Sir?” Enri asked.
Regis replied, “Not the best use of dwarves… but, I dare say, those Cathartans should prove helpful and Terhun has arranged some additional support.”
“And we’ll leave the rest to our Faeryn friends.”
Sergeant Raymor needed every steed they could get. Though, he’d been told this one a groom was struggling with needed more than a sure hand. This was one steed they could do without. “Put the stallion back in the stables and be sure he cannot get out… He’s to be gelded soon, by order of the Empress, in any case.”
The steed in question abruptly settled, eyes wider than saucers, then began really struggling to get free.
“Lads, mount up.”
“Settle down!” The stableman shouted at the tall beast as the groom fought to turn him. “Or do we move to gentle you right now, though we’ve so much else to deal with?”
The stall
ion breathed heavily, lowering his head, and allowed the groom to lead him back to a stall. Carefully looking around, knowing he had lost his ability to form words and much of his mental faculties, but he knew what gelding meant. He was also still canny enough to plan his escape from that fate… but as a horse he knew his options were limited. As a steed, he had a mission. Not yet a clear one, but he knew he was meant to be so much more. He intended to be… the greatest steed ever.
His eyes suddenly dimmed as his hunger drew him to the bucket of oats the groom offered him in his stall. He ate eagerly and dimly remembered that he yearned to be free, so he could – run far.
Thirty elfblooded legionnaires mounted on steeds, including one hundred and seventy human legionnaires mounted on warhorses. Among them riding toward East Gate was Corporal Grigg. They passed a troop of dwarves and hundreds of the Irregulars posted to this section of the Seventh Tier.
As they approached the gate hundreds of black liveried Cathartans were climbing the walls, bows and quivers filled with arrows strapped to their backs. Sergeant Enri came out of the gate tower, “Raymor, I’ve got longbowmen for you, courtesy of the Merchant Guild. Says they’ve protected more than two dozen caravans which have traveled from Gwire to the Southern Crescent.”
“Wonderful… The mission?”
“Tweak the Llwellyn’s interest and return to the gate.”
“And how many has the traitor raised?”
“Five thousand according to the Scryers.”
“What support can I expect?”
“The Faeryn will be lending you an illusion or thrice.”
A Legionnaire standard was brought, marking them as The Empress’s First Legion. The bowmen came and laid in multiple quivers, then mounted behind the legionnaires. Enri shouted, “Raise the gate!”
“Pardon me, Lord Je’orj,” Ruke said.
Se’and turned away, wiping at her tears.
“Master Terhun is asking for you.”
“Give us a moment. We’ll be right with you.”
“Thank you, Milord.”