The Queen raised her hand. “You heard what Lady Amice said; there are those in the High Council that can be swayed. If I could speak to them and tell the truth then they will come to the aid of Ampheus. I am a Queen of Terramis. I will not run and abandon Ampheus if there is even a slither of hope that Aquamura could join with us. I must speak to the council.”
Garrett cleared his throat. “I believe Lady Amice knows you well enough, Your Majesty. She foretold that this would be your decision. She offered her villa at Puregrove as sanctuary until a plan of action can be hatched. She also suggested she act as a go-between with yourself and the council members. Again, it will involve delicate negotiations, as they will all have their own personal agendas. She does not hesitate in this regard as her love remains for the land that is her true home, Terramis.”
Rolden said, “If that is our path it is critical that we reach the villa as covertly as possible. Any sighting of a group of men arriving at the villa may lead to idle gossip and rumour that will be our undoing.”
Garrett nodded. “I agreed with Lady Amice that if we choose this path, then we would arrive prior to dawn the day after tomorrow. We will be met at the villa by a couple of her most trusted servants. She has a light contingent of workers currently. It is not the fruit-picking season and hence many servants are in the hills minding the cattle and goats. There will be a skeletal staff at the villa and they can all be trusted.”
Rolden shrugged. “Well then, it’s agreed. I believe we must try and buy ourselves some time to distance ourselves from the caravan before the alarm is raised. I suggest tonight we stage an elaborate party; we’ll let the ale and wine flow freely. Our men will be instructed not to partake as I will place them all on guard duty.
Once the Ambassador and his men are sleeping we’ll take our leave. We’ll slip away and take all of the horses with us; hopefully that will slow the Ambassador down.
I suggest everyone makes their way from the camp as surreptitiously as possible. We’ll reconnoitre a mile to the south east of the camp, and then we can all make our way to the villa together.”
“Would you like me to pay Ambassador Kelton a visit?” said Garrett, holding the handle of his sword.
Rolden smiled and put a hand on his shoulder. “There is still a chance the Ambassador is acting under duress. I suggest we let him enjoy a few more moments, but he is on borrowed time. Pass the word to the men, we travel light, but we leave tonight.”
*
“Ambassador Kelton,” said the Queen. We’ve been travelling for weeks. I think it’s time to give the men a chance to let their hair down. After all, soon we’ll be at Lumines and everyone will be going their separate ways; tonight let’s feast to celebrate our arrival. We still have lots of food left, so let’s enjoy it.”
The Ambassador reluctantly acquiesced. Rolden instructed the Queen’s guards to watch the camp and the remainder of the party settled down to a feast. Rolden ensured the ale and wine flowed a little too freely. One by one the party settled down for the night in a drunken but dreamy haze.
Rolden unbuttoned the rear flap of the Queen’s tent. The Queen waited in her riding gear. He beckoned to her, “Your Majesty, quietly now.”
She stepped out of the tent into the cool night air. The Queen peered up into the sky at the blanket of crystal clear stars. She listened but could not hear anything apart from the occasional whinny of the horses and the muffled snores of the sleeping Aquamurans. They walked for fifty yards or so where Garrett waited with the horses. They mounted and swept round in a wide arc to the front of the camp to where the rest of the guard was gathered.
Rolden checked everyone was present. “Right, it is a day-and-a-half ride to Puregrove, so double file flanking the Queen. Let the gods be with us.”
If Ambassador Kelton had raised the alarm soon after the Queen’s party had departed, there was a chance that they may have discovered them. Or at least sent a guard to track their direction.
The fact was, it was six hours later and the sun was bright in the sky when he staggered out of his quarters. He had a pounding headache and searing pain behind his eyes from the festivities the night before.
The camp was quiet and everyone else felt much like himself, so he decided to go back to bed. After all, the Queen also appeared to be slow to rise this morning.
“Get me up when the Queen awakes; till then do not disturb me or her.” Such was the condition of him and his men, it was a further four hours before someone realised there were no Terramians or horses at the camp. His servant went to the Ambassador with the news. From his reaction it was clear that it had not helped his hangover.
“How could a Queen, twenty Terramian knights and fifty horses just disappear into thin air?” But he knew the answer. They had been duped. He was surprised as to how the Queen’s suspicions had been roused and wondered what she may or may not know. He cursed himself for being overconfident about his ability to deliver the Queen to Gorath’s lackeys. That said it did not stop him from kicking his chief steward who was on his knees in front of him.
What made matters worse was that they remained a three-day ride from Lumines; a five-day walk if they left the carts and equipment here. Unless someone came looking for them it may take some time to raise the alarm. He also had no idea where the Queen and their men had headed and that concerned him the most.
He left three of the men to guard the carts and equipment. Perhaps bandits or a pack of wild dogs may attack them. It would serve them right. The rest of the men gathered their arms, water and rations and started walking to Lumines. Directly into the sun, ahead of them lay leagues of barren rocky wasteland.
It was still morning but the ground shimmered as the sun started to burn the scorched land ahead of them. Ambassador Kenton winced. His head was still throbbing. This was going to be a long, miserable day.
The Queen and her men had made significant progress during the cool of the night and were ahead of schedule. Rolden kept them moving but cut the pace a little as they did not want to reach Puregrove before nightfall. Although it was desperately hot, they had ample water for them and the horses, but every two hours they rotated the horses to give them a rest. This would also keep them fresh in case they were sighted and needed to take swift evasive action.
They were within five leagues of Puregrove at dusk, dismounted and waited a further hour after nightfall, then made their way seemingly unnoticed to the villa. As promised, two of Lady Amice’s trusted servants met them at the villa’s gates, which they swung open. They led the group to the rear of the villa. The horses were corralled in a field and the soldiers led to a square-roofed stable block ringing a courtyard.
“Lady Amice thought it would be best if you wear simple servants’ clothes while you are here,” said one of the servants. “Your men can sleep here in the stables. It is quiet and secluded at the rear of the villa and near to the horses.
“We have stocked it with food and water that should meet your immediate needs. I suggest that no more than two of you should be in plain sight at any point in time. We don’t want to give any indication that we have a sizeable group of men resting here.”
He then bowed to the Queen. “Your Majesty,” and led the Queen and Rolden up to the main house.
*
Ailin stepped over Leo before he could react and plunged her blade into the guts of the outlander. She kicked him on the chest to free up her sword. “Leo, back to Halle, we’ll keep you covered!”
As he rolled back he saw her slash her blade once again and heard an agonising cry. A spray of red blood arched through the mist.
He found Halle and knelt next to her drawing the blade of his dagger in front of him. He turned to look at her face and was amazed at how serenely calm she was.
Leo could not see anything but could hear the sounds of fighting around him. Occasionally a bodily form could be seen as the mist thinned, but then it w
ould disappear again. He could hear metal clashing with bone, cries of pain and moaning and whimpering of downed combatants.
Then it all went quiet and Leo held his breath for an eternity.
A body appeared from the mist coming towards him. It was Prince Aron. He was covered in blood. Reading the determined look on his face, Leo guessed that none of it was his.
He crouched to check that Leo and Halle were unhurt.
Without warning, an outlander emerged from the fog with a battleaxe raised above his head ready to crash it down on Aron. Halle’s eyes widened and, without thinking, Leo leapt forward, thrusting his dagger into the chest of the outlander. As their bodies collided it checked the momentum of the outlander so that the arc of the battleaxe fell short of the Prince.
Instead, the outlander collapsed on Leo trapping him underneath his weight.
The Prince swivelled and saw the tangled bodies, kicked the outlander off Leo and drove his sword into him. The outlander’s eyes bulged as he let out one final, dying breath.
The Prince patted Leo down to check for injuries before asking Leo how he was, but he was too shocked to answer. The Prince nodded and held his finger to his lips telling them to be silent.
And there they stayed, enveloped in the Prince’s arms, crouched to the ground, listening to the groans, whimpering and wailing of the dying bodies around them. As the sun rose higher in the sky, the heat burnt off the mist and the shapes around them crystalised.
But the Prince did not move. Leo heard him calculate under his breath, five yards, ten yards, fifteen yards. Only when the visibility reached fifteen yards did he stand. They could just make out three slain outlanders’ bodies lying on the ground around them. The mist thinned further, first three more standing figures took form and beyond them, the stallions.
Aron broke protocol.
“Aland?”
“Sire!”
“Ailin?”
“Sire!”
“Daylon?”
“Still alive!”
“Everyone all right?”
“Took a nick to the arm,” said Aland.
“I’ll patch it up,” said Ailin.
“Any sign of the outlanders?”
“I think they learnt a lesson.”
Ailin scanned around her, ticking them off in her head. “Fourteen dead or well on their way to becoming dead.”
“How? What happened?” said Leo.
The Prince wiped his brow with his sleeve and chuckled. “Well it is a tried and tested defence. Speed and surprise. We’ve practised drills and techniques to attack rapidly, unleash a volley of arrows, then disappear just as swiftly before advancing again as the enemy is regrouping. Hitting them from the left and the right. They may have thought the fog was to their advantage. In comparison to well-trained tactics, an arbitrary attack will be foiled almost every time.”
“So, what do we do now?” said Leo.
The Prince remained focused. “First, gather the horses, let’s get out of this swamp and then we’ll take everything from there.”
“Leo, are you all right? You just killed a man.” asked the Prince.
Leo nodded. “It happened so fast I did not think. Also, I do not see it as killing a man; it was more like a feral beast.”
The Prince nodded. “That is a wise way to think about it; the outlander would not have thought twice about killing any of us. Take your time. If you need to talk to me I’ll be here for you.
“It does get easier to kill your enemies, but the first one, well that’s the toughest and it is the one you’ll always remember. You saved both myself and Halle and perhaps yourself, so please don’t lose sight of that. You had no choice!”
Chapter 16
The Staff of Talisien
Gulden pushed on beyond the standing stones that marked Windstrom’s boundaries and towards the City of Celestina itself. He forced Star Chaser forward with his arms with every stride; the dark angels pursuing them, but thankfully not gaining. Farther back, Gulden could see dust trails behind him; the Janshai had found his scent and were closing in on their quarry.
At the edge of the moors he had to weave around the tall jagged rocks that rose from the earth. Star Chaser’s hooves scraped on the flint stones underfoot, but he pressed on, not daring to look behind him.
On the horizon he could just make out the shimmering towers of Celestina, but they were still an impossible distance away. Star Chaser was a strong horse but Gulden could tell she was reaching her limits, her breathing becoming increasingly ragged with every stride. “Come on girl!” he urged her on once again.
Without warning, Star Chaser dug her hooves in and came to an abrupt halt. Gulden’s momentum almost pitched him over the horse’s shoulder, but he just managed to grab a handful of her mane and steady himself.
Gulden panicked, as hovering in front of him was a dark angel. He turned to the left ducking under the gargoyle, avoiding the swipe of its claws as it let out a resentful shriek. Suddenly they were on top of him and around him. He clung low to Star Chaser’s back. He drove left then right, ducking to avoid the razor-sharp talons of the dark angels.
Without warning he was sideswiped by a gargoyle with the full weight of its body. Star Chaser staggered sideways under the force of the blow and Gulden was knocked to the ground. He landed on his back, jarring his whole body. The impact forced the air out of him and he rolled to a standstill.
The dust clouded around him, stinging his eyes, and he could taste and feel the grit in his mouth. Gulden lifted himself up on his elbows, gripping the coarse sand grains in his hands. Behind him the dark angel was on the ground, dragging itself nearer on its hooked elbows; its black hunched back and wings like a stain seeping closer to him. Its head bucked towards him, its piercing eyes and gnashing teeth, a malignant stench crawling in his direction.
The gargoyle pinned him down with its weight and crawled up his body using its talons as levers, digging them into his flesh, hissing with the excitement of the kill.
Gulden tried to reach for his sword, but it was trapped underneath him. Instead he managed to free his hand and grab his dagger from its sheath held at his waist.
He freed it and thrust it up, plunging it into the dark angel’s chest. It screamed a blood-curdling cry as its lungs filled with blood and the beast slumped on top of him.
Gulden was trapped under the heavy, warm, twitching body of the gargoyle, its leathery putrid head releasing a sour, stagnant breath as it perished next to him. He could not move, pinned by the weight of the dark angel.
Another two descended upon him. He managed to release his dagger from the chest of the gargoyle. He swung his arm to his left, slashing the next one that lunged at him, but was unable to recover in time to strike the second.
It dug its talons into his arm trapping it. He screamed with pain and dropped his dagger. The gargoyle leant in towards him ready to bury its fangs into his flesh.
Gulden drifted into unconsciousness; he saw a flash of light above him. He had failed. Ampheus would have to face Gorath’s Horde without an alliance and liberation from Windstrom.
*
Gorath summoned Shomari to his pavilion. “Report,” he demanded.
“We are three days away from the new moon; assuming our fox is prepared, the Horde will be set and ready; Ampheus won’t know what hit it.”
Gorath pondered this, “We need some security, a feint, a misdirection to ensure that they do not suspect anything. Perhaps to encourage them to further drop their guard for when we attack. It may also draw some heat away from the fox and his actions. We’ve been constructing our siege equipment but I want to take the bluff a step further. Bring the sappers in to start filling the lake with rocks, timbers and earth.”
“Won’t that bring attention to the fact we will be attacking the drawbridge and gate in three days’ time?”
&
nbsp; “Actually, completely the opposite. We are sending the message that we’ll be attacking it in many weeks’ time. In the meantime, the guards will be putting their feet up at night when they are not bombarding our sappers during the day with boulders, pitch, animal parts and excrement. In fact, in three days’ time they’ll be focusing their preparations for a month’s time.”
“Aren’t we putting the sappers at undue risk?”
Gorath scoffed. “An insignificant price in comparison to the bigger prize I think.”
“Well I’ll at least ensure they construct some wooden walkways or shields; it may give them a fighting chance.”
“How about our other quarries, what is the status?”
“Prince Aron and his companions entered the Unthank Marsh. I think the Janshai narrowly missed them or were perhaps spotted. We have to assume they are aware they are being hunted and will be mindful of that. The Janshai split; a handful went into the bog after the Prince, the rest have circled around the marsh. It is a longer route but quicker. There is a chance they can intercept and ambush them as they emerge by the Ice Fields of Nyle.”
“Ambassador Martis and his entourage?”
“They were trapped and put to death. There is a slight complication, as one of the King’s knights eluded the Janshai and may have the King’s parchment and seal. They are closing in on him and the dark angels also have him in their sights. He will not make it to Windstrom.”
“He’d better not, else we’ll have to rethink all our strategies if Windstrom are alerted and join the fray. The Queen?”
“The last we heard, Ambassador Kelton was about to spring the trap.”
“How long ago was that?” asked Gorath.
“A week,” said Shomari.
“But they are supposed to send a pigeon with a daily update,” said Gorath, raising his voice in irritation.
Ampheus Page 20