Brown,_Simon_-_[Keys_Of_Power_03]_-_Sovereign

by Simon Brown

  'I am glad you came,' Lynan said.

  'I believe you,' Eynon replied without irony. Then he noticed the Key of the Sword hanging from the prince's neck. He could not help staring at it.

  'Courtesy of Areava,' Lynan said.

  Eynon looked up in surprise. 'You have slain the queen?' He could not help sounding as shocked as he felt.

  'No. She had given it to her lover. An Amanite called Sendarus.'

  'Then you have defeated the Kingdom?'

  Lynan shook his head. 'We were beaten.'

  Eynon blinked. For a moment he could think of nothing to say, then: 'You are in retreat?'

  'No. Both sides were badly mauled. I think the Kingdom's army was hurt the worst, but they held the field. Technically that means they had the victory.'

  'A Chett would not consider that a victory,' Eynon said matter-of-factly. 'A blood-soaked field isn't worth the life of one warrior. If they lost more warriors than you, then you won.'

  'I lost Kumul,' Lynan said bluntly. 'I did not win.'

  'God, lad, I did not expect to be greeted with a celebration, but I was not expecting this feast of bad tidings.'

  The way Eynon said 'lad' made Lynan think of Kumul. In a strange way—his speech and the manner in which he held himself—the chief reminded him of his dead guardian. He pushed the thought away. 'It is best you know exactly how I stand before you commit yourself to my cause.'

  'You are so sure that is why I have come?'

  'You brought the Key of Union,' Lynan said with certainty.

  Eynon could not help grinning. 'And how do you stand?'

  'My army is mostly intact. The Kingdom's army is not chasing us; they have little cavalry left to speak of, and most of that is made up of knights from the Twenty Houses who are not at all suited to pursuit. There is a third army to the north of us: Salokan's retreating invasion force.'

  'You met Kendra's heavy cavalry?'

  'And destroyed most of it.' Lynan closed his eyes for a moment. 'That was Kumul's doing.'

  'You forgot to mention one thing in your appraisal.' Lynan thought for a moment. 'I do not think so…'

  'You defeated the mercenaries under Prado and Rendle.'

  'Ah.'

  'So as I see it, you have at least one victory to your credit, and possibly a second.' Eynon reached into the pouch around his waist and brought out the Key of Union. 'This is yours, I believe,' he said and handed it to Lynan.

  'Thank you,' Lynan said simply, taking it and putting it around his neck. It clinked against the Key of the Sword and for the briefest of moments he felt a surge of power course through his veins. He was so surprised by it that he barely heard the cheering of the Red Hands behind him.

  Gudon sat at the back of the circle that surrounded Lynan. He was both amused and a little frustrated by the gathering, but had expected that from the beginning. Closest to Lynan were Korigan and Eynon, old rivals now fighting for the same cause, but old rivals nonetheless. Backed up by their allied clan chiefs, each was arguing for a different strategy for the Chett army.

  The discussion was heated, deadlocked and acrimonious. Gudon wondered how different it would have been had Kumul been present, and concluded that his presence would only have raised the temperature even higher. In the time he had known him, Gudon had learned that putting Kumul in a debate was like dropping a lit torch in a dry stable. He winced. Would have been like, he corrected himself.

  His gaze wandered from Eynon to Korigan as each repeatedly argued their particular plan, and occasionally to Jenrosa sitting among the other clan magikers. He could tell she was trying to concentrate on what was being said—or shouted—but her mind was elsewhere.

  And in between it all squatted Lynan, impassive, making no attempt whatsoever to adjudicate between his fractious followers. He waited until Korigan and Eynon had spent themselves, then stood up. All other conversations stopped. He looked at Korigan.

  'As I understand it, you want me to move against the Kingdom's army and finish what we were unable to finish in the battle three days ago.'

  Korigan nodded, and he looked at Eynon.

  'And you want me to move directly on the provincial capital Daavis, taking it while the Kingdom's only army in this province of Hume is still recovering.'

  Eynon nodded. Lynan breathed deeply and then looked directly at Ager, sitting quietly beside Gudon. 'And you, old Crookback, what is your advice?'

  Ager blinked in surprise. All eyes rested on him, everyone aware that as one of Lynan's original companions, he had more influence than the average chief.

  Ager cleared his throat. 'I say, what does the White Wolf want to do?'

  Lynan smiled, and a sigh passed through the meeting. Both Korigan and Eynon looked abashed.

  'The White Wolf says we will not attack the Kingdom's army, nor will we attack Daavis.'

  'Surely we're not retreating back to the Oceans of Grass!' Eynon declared. Under Lynan's suddenly cool stare, he swallowed and said hurriedly: 'I did not bring my followers all this way to go back again without striking some blow for your Majesty.'

  Oh, that was coolly said, Gudon thought, and he could see that Lynan was amused by it as well.

  'You and your followers will strike a blow for me, Eynon,' Lynan told him, speaking loud enough for all at the meeting to hear. 'And for all Cherts.'

  'Then who are we going after?' Korigan asked. 'I speak for all the Chetts when I say we would like a second chance to attack the Kingdom, either against its army or against Daavis.'

  'So would I,' Lynan said. 'But not now.'

  'Why?'

  'Two reasons. First, we don't know whether or not there are Kingdom reinforcements on the way. Second, it is the expected thing to do.'

  'So we go after Salokan,' Ager guessed aloud.

  There was a shocked silence. Eventually Korigan asked: 'But why make a second enemy? He's running away from the Kingdom, and as long as we don't interfere, he'll scarper all the way back to Haxus.'

  'Salokan is already an enemy. Haxus was always a base for mercenaries during the Slaver War, and was again for Rendle this winter. I do not need to remind any here how much pain and misery the slavers caused the Chetts; without Haxus as their main base, they would not have been able to operate as freely as they did.'

  'When do we go after him?' Ager asked.

  'Is the army ready?' Lynan asked Korigan.

  'Yes, your Majesty.'

  'Then we go after Salokan tonight.'

  CHAPTER 2

  For the third day in a row Charion searched the eastern horizon for any sign of dust, puzzled and concerned she could not see any. She had been mentally preparing for an attack from Prince Lynan and his Chett army since the end of their first battle, but even her few remaining foot-scouts had found no trace of the enemy within five leagues. True, some of the scouts had not come back, but Lynan's own pickets would be out whether or not he intended to attack. She was puzzled because she had expected Lynan to use his army's greater mobility to surround her and try to finish what they had started, and concerned because she was afraid that instead he had manoeuvred around her to get to her capital, Daavis. Normally she would not have been worried; the Chetts were nomad warriors, and all their famed ferocity and courage would avail them nothing without a siege engine against the walls of Daavis. But after Salokan's siege, the poor city was in no state to resist a determined assault.

  Galen appeared by her side. 'If Lynan was going to attack us, surely he would have been here by now,' he said.

  Charion glanced at the Kendran noble and nodded. 'We have to get back to Daavis.' She looked at him warily, then. 'I have to get back to Daavis. I will not speak for you.'

  Galen did not answer right away. He knew she was offering him a gift, and was surprised by it. The surviving knights of Kendra's Twenty Houses would follow his command, and Charion was letting him decide just how far her command extended in her own Kingdom. These are extraordinary times, he thought. He knew that half a year ago he could not have
imagined that he would ever serve under an Amanite prince, let alone learn to respect him and mourn his passing. And now Queen Charion, perhaps the least respected of all the provincial rulers, was proving herself as much a diplomat as Sendarus. Maybe Usharna and Areava have been right all along. The Kingdom of Grenda Lear truly is more than just the city of Kendra.

  'You have command here,' he said evenly. 'Unless Areava commands otherwise, I am at your service.'

  'Did you send to her our messages about the battle and the death of her husband?'

  'A pigeon went on the night.'

  'I must protect my capital. From there I can regroup.'

  'And the knights? They will fight behind the walls of Daavis if that is your wish, but they can be better employed.'

  'For the moment I need a rearguard, one strong enough to dissuade any enemy scouts from following us but mobile enough to avoid serious trouble. Once we get to Daavis we'll have a better idea of our situation—and maybe news from Areava—and we can decide then how best to use your heavy cavalry.'

  'When do we leave?'

  'Tomorrow. First light, in case Lynan changes his mind about attacking us.'

  'Your Majesty?'

  The words echoed in the dark room. Orkid Gravespear, Chancellor of the Kingdom of Grenda Lear, felt foolish standing in the doorway of Queen Areava's private chambers. Behind him, Harnan Beresard, the queen's secretary, fidgeted with his writing equipment.

  'Your Majesty? Your people have need of you—'

  'Enough, old bear.'

  Orkid sighed with relief. At least she was talking to him.

  'The Kingdom needs its queen,' he persisted.

  'My brother needs his sister,' she replied. 'The Key of the Heart has taken his mind, leaving nothing but a child behind.'

  'I have correspondence,' Harnan said from the background in a hopeful voice. 'Urgent messages that need answers.'

  'Orkid, you take care of it,' she said dismissively.

  The two men looked at each other with something like resignation. 'I told you,' Harnan mouthed.

  'Your Majesty, others can take care of his Highness,' Orkid said. 'But only you can run Grenda Lear.'

  'Olio needs me.'

  Orkid retreated from the doorway and a guard took his place. Harnan looked at him desperately. 'What can we do?' the secretary pleaded.

  The chancellor shook his head. 'I'm not sure. If only there was some way to help her brother…' His voice drifted off for a moment, and then he said to Harnan: 'Find Edaytor Fanhow.'

  'The prelate? All the magisters of the theurgia have said there is nothing they can do to help his Highness.

  They say the Key of the Heart has stolen his mind. If the magisters themselves can do nothing, what can that fat bureaucrat—?'

  'Just bring Fanhow to my office,' Orkid insisted and left before Harnan could argue any more.

  Father Powl, Primate of the Church of the Righteous God, was leading the daily service for the soul of tiny, mutilated Usharna, the baby Areava had lost at the moment of birth at the same time she had lost her husband Sendarus at the hand of Lynan. The dead baby had been dressed and her body smeared with preserving lotions, the worst of her terrible wounds covered in scented wrapping. She would stay exposed on the altar of the royal chapel until Areava herself came to give her blessing for the child's cremation, and from all accounts Areava had not stirred from her rooms for over a day.

  When the service was done, the other priests left to attend their duties, but Powl stayed behind, kneeling in front of the altar, his face contorted in concentration.

  'Without your name the Kingdom cannot be protected from evil, my Lord,' he whispered fiercely. 'Please have mercy on your people. Please have mercy on Queen Areava, who has suffered mightily. Please accept this child's soul into your keeping. And please, Lord, please let me know your name so that Grenda Lear may be saved from all that is wrong with this world.'

  He waited for God to answer him, hoping that he had been forgiven for murdering his predecessor—Giros Northam; without the name of God, Powl was primate in name only. But God, as always, remained silent.

  Shaking with the effort spent praying, Powl rose unsteadily to his feet. He turned and saw Father Rown waiting for him at the end of the chapel. Powl swallowed, and wondered if his second-in-command had heard any part of his prayer. There was nothing in the priest's expression that showed he did, and Powl let himself relax.

  'Father? Is there something I can do for you?'

  'I am concerned for her Majesty,' Rown said.

  'As we all are, my son.'

  'I thought she might see me, being her confessor, but…' the priest shrugged '… but she will see no one, not even the chancellor.' He looked pleadingly at Powl. 'Your Grace, you were her confessor for many years before me. You may know her better than any living man. Maybe you can get through to her?'

  Powl lowered his gaze. He, the primate of the Kingdom's church, could not even get through to God. What chance did he have with Areava? He sighed deeply then nodded. 'I will try.'

  'What exactly did you and Prince Olio do with the sick?' Orkid asked.

  'Healed them,' Magiker Prelate Edaytor Fanhow answered.

  The two men were sitting either side of Orkid's large, plain desk.

  'Through the Key of the Heart?'

  'Yes. At first his Highness needed a magiker to help channel the power of the Key, but the more he used it the more attuned the Key became to Olio's own presence. In the end he could use it by himself.'

  'And what happened on the day of the fire?'

  'He was being escorted back to the palace from the docks where he'd been helping those fleeing the fire in the old quarter of the city; on the way he came across the ruins of an inn where the worst of the injured were being cared for. He told his guards to wait outside. We're not sure what happened afterwards. That he healed many people there is no doubt, but how long it took for the Key to completely use him up is not known. By the time I got there he was as he is now.'

  'The Key damaged his brain?'

  Edaytor shrugged. 'No one knows. The theurgia know less about the Keys of Power than the Rosethemes themselves. I don't think any of the Keys have ever been used as extensively as Olio used his in the last year.'

  'The theurgia know no way to reach him,' Orkid said; a statement, not a question.

  'That's right.'

  'Do you?'

  Edaytor looked up sharply. 'What do you mean?'

  'You were closest to the prince during this time. Is there anything you can think of that might help bring him back?'

  The prelate shook his head. 'No.'

  'Are you sure?'

  'What do you think I've been doing these last three days!' Edaytor snapped. Orkid recoiled in surprise, and Edaytor gasped at what he had done. 'Chancellor, I'm sorry—'

  Orkid waved him quiet. 'No, I am sorry. You answered my question the first time.' There is more in this man than Harnan knows; perhaps more than any of us know. And then he understood that among all at court, only Olio himself had truly seen the prelate for the man he was. That explained a great deal about the relationship between the two. 'I need your help.'

  'My help?'

  'More accurately, the queen and the Kingdom need your help.'

  'Anything.' .

  'Stay with Olio. Try and find a way to heal him. Use whatever resources you need.'

  'Me? But surely Dr Trion, or one of the more powerful magikers, would be better suited. I can recommend a number—'

  'No. I do not think any within the theurgia will be able to help, or maybe it's that they are afraid to dabble with any of the Keys; you yourself just told me their power lay beyond any magiker's ken. And this problem is certainly beyond Dr Trion's experience. You were closest to Olio. You knew him better than anyone, except perhaps the queen herself.'

  'Then the queen, surely, should have the task.'

  'The queen has other duties. The Kingdom needs her. Her responsibility to all her people outweig
hs her responsibility to her brother.'

  'But she has lost so much in the last three days,' Edaytor said reasonably. 'Her husband and child as well as Olio. Surely the Kingdom can give her some time to herself.'

  'She might yet lose the Kingdom,' Orkid said sombrely.

  Edaytor stared at the chancellor in amazement. 'Surely not!'

  'Our army is still in the north, victorious—if we can believe what Queen Charion wrote us—but battered. The outlaw Prince Lynan has crossed from the Oceans of Grass to the east with a Chett army, and his next move will no doubt be to organise support against Areava.' He pursed his lips. 'And of course against Olio, being Areava's brother.'

  Edaytor was lost for words. He knew the situation in the north was troublesome, but the Kingdom had been secure for so long under Usharna it was hard to believe anything could seriously threaten it, even her renegade son Lynan who had never been anyone of significance within the court while Usharna was alive. There were many things that mystified Edaytor, but one of the most troubling was why Usharna, on her deathbed, had given Lynan one of the Keys of Power.

  'So you see,' Orkid continued, 'it is vital that Areava's attention be diverted entirely to the welfare of the Kingdom as a whole.'

  'Yes. Yes, I see.'

  'Shall we go, then?'

  'Go?'

  Orkid stood up. 'To Areava's chambers. She is looking after Olio there.'

  Edaytor realised then he had surrendered already and there was no point in arguing any further. In something of a daze he followed the chancellor, feeling a mixture of dread and anticipation. Maybe, just maybe, a part of his mind was saying, I can do something. He wished he felt more convinced.