Still no great eagles coursed the winds to his south, although Jahaksi had no doubt that by tomorrow, at the latest, the sky would be full of them. Fully ten of his troops had the single assignment of watching for the great birds, for once they were sighted all movement from his strike team must immediately cease.
The sorcerer the emperor's liaison had insisted he bring along had by and large proved useless in Mortentia, as Jahaksi had predicted he would. In this land bereft of enchantment the sorcerer's powers were nonexistent, and Jahaksi was glad he had never forgotten the sword in all his years of studying the enchanter's art.
Jahaksi eyed the sorcerer, who had been as powerful a personage as one could envision short of the Emperor back in the Brizaki Empire, with something nearing contempt. As soon as they had set foot on the shores of this land the Highlord Khogar Vai had wept like a human woman, tearing at his clothing and flinging his staff on the grass like a petulant child. Each day that had passed since then seemed to have aged Vai a year or more, and he appeared now as a human might as he neared the end of his life. The swift sure movements of an inner circle wizard were gone, as was the ever-youthful appearance and the aura of otherworldly power. Only the arrogance remained.
"I told you I could find a road such as this." Vai said as he approached, doddering on the staff he now actually seemed to need as a walking stick. Vai was aware of Jahaksi's contempt, and it was obvious that he wished to remind the leader of his continued usefulness. It was true that Vai had found the Sesseri road, but Jahaksi would have found it too, in time. It was easy for the Inner Circle mages to forget that Brizaki strike team leaders also had their share of training in the Art.
"Yes, Vai." Jahaksi kept his tone non-committal, neither congratulating nor mocking the High Lord. After all, if they ever returned from this fool's errand, Khogar Vai would likely regain his power. He would certainly try to take credit with Natarak, the emperor’s liaison. It would not do for Jahaksi to be out of favor with the inner circle. "The road was here, as you predicted."
"And fortunate for us, as well. I was certain that the Sesseri had lived here long ago, and this road proves the point. I say we may encounter some yet, hidden in the deeper dells of this great forest."
Jahaksi remained non-committal. He was not altogether certain he wanted to find Sesseri here, for whatever they might be like in the lands around the Brizaki Empire, they might not be friendly here. In point of fact, the Sesseri and Rindoluisti north of the Empire were not exactly friendly toward the Brizaki anyway. Neutral would be a better term, for they watched and waited like they always did. "I don't hope for such a meeting, Vai." He told the wizard. "It might be good for scholarship, but probably not for our business. Who knows? In a twisted land such as this the Sesseri might even be in league with the men." Jahaksi could be as subtle as Vai, as needed, but he could also be blunt.
"Any trace of your magic returning?" Jahaksi knew the answer before he asked, of course. If Vai's abilities had begun to return, the wizard would have brought it to his attention immediately, in an attempt to reassert some of the authority he had lost when it so abruptly disappeared. The question was a not-so-subtle way to remind the wizard of his present position, and Jahaksi asked in the weak hope that it might take some of the arrogance out of the man.
"No." Vai replied simply. "The realms of Fire, Earth, Air and Wind are all as dead to me here as to any common man. Only in the realm of Seeing is there something, but something twisted and so vague as to be almost nothing at all. I feel it ought to mean something to me, but I cannot read it yet."
"Perhaps with greater study." Jahaksi suggested, meaning to send the wizard back to his studies where he wouldn't have to endure him.
Vai, not taking the hint, continued to stand where he was. "Yes, perhaps. Still, I get the feeling that all that I have learned in several lifetimes of study could do me little good here. There is some power here that not only kills the magic, but actively works against those who work it. I think it is no coincidence that we have heard of witches being burned in this land."
"If they catch us here, they will burn us all." Jahaksi replied. "They have little heard of the emperor's decrees in this strange land."
"Ah, but if our mission proves successful? Perhaps then they will hear more than they like of our sovereign."
"Perhaps. I cannot say I know enough of the emperor’s thinking to guess. But we are very far from our homeland here. Whether we succeed or no, I think it will still be many lifetimes before the empire turns its attention this way again."
At that the wizard was silent.
For hours now they had traveled swiftly, taking the road that was not a road away from the place where they had taken the eagle. The Sesseri road was there for eyes that had the knowing, but it was far from obvious. No trace of bent leaf or wagon track lay on the ground to mark its location, and high, thick crowned trees sheltered it from view from above. The road did not run straight, instead it bent this way and that, each time seeming to be little more than a wide, rarely used or abandoned game trail. Each small stretch seemed to end in a blind end, but always there was a turning, subtly marked for those with eyes to see, and always the turning led to another trail, weaving like the branches of a tree.
The road had been designed perhaps for chariots, or perhaps for horses to be ridden side by side. It was only barely wide enough for the narrow wagon. Still, they made as good time on the hidden road as they might have on a paved track, for it avoided difficult passages and heavy brush, and it swept wide loops around mires and tangles. Even if they were spotted by the king's eyes that would soon be hunting for them, this part of Mortentia was so remote and unsettled that it still might be many sixdays before an armed force could intercept them. When Jahaksi mapped out this route, he took into account every road or trail the Mortentians had in the area, and plotted his course to avoid them. The empire’s spies from Zoric had been very busy.
Still, it would be much better if they were not spotted. Jahaksi's scouts could ferret out the trail even by starlight, for he had given them the secret ways of looking for the hidden turnings, and their eyes were as good as his in the darkness. By night they did not make as good time as they did during the daylight hours, but the progress was more certainly secret.
Jahaksi did not fear being caught in the forest. The places to fear were where the hidden road crossed the roads of men or wandered too close to their villages. They would cross a stream near a town called Mangavolle soon, and if the Mortentians there became aware of them, escape would be difficult. Jahaksi feared having dogs put on his trail more than he feared the king's eyes overhead. The eagle riders could not intercept so well-armed a company as his, but they could put ground troops onto them. If the ground troops used dogs, no trail was hidden enough to prevent them catching him.
"Lord!" A shout came to him from the forest to the south. One of his spotters. "Eagles, lord, three of them!"
"All halt!" Jahaksi gave the command, knowing it would be instantly obeyed. In their mottled cloaks, colored to look like the forest around, he knew that unless they moved, his troops would not be seen. Jahaksi looked around at the surrounding forest. Thick, ancient oaks and willows surrounded his little troop of soldiers. It was as good a site as any for a day camp.
Lanae heard nothing of Jahaksi's approach until she heard the rattle of a chain on the outside of the wagon, which had inexplicably halted just half an hour earlier. She heard a lock snap open, then a bolt being drawn. A line of morning sunlight appeared in the wall of darkness behind her, and Sentinel began thrashing at his bonds angrily. Jahaksi's head appeared backlit by the outer brightness.
"Sooth the beast." He commanded. Lanae reached for Sentinel and stroked the bristling feathers around his neck until the great bird stopped thrashing about. She was concerned for the eagle's health, for he was unused to tight confinement, and had not eaten in over a day.
"He is hungry." She told the Brizaki lord.
"What does the beast eat?" Ja
haksi's voice was calm and matter of fact.
"Lambs, sheep and other small animals." She replied. "But he only eats living animals that he has killed."
"What about baby deer? Would he eat a …" Jahaksi found himself at a loss for the right Mortentian word. "You know, a faahn?"
"Yes, he would eat a fawn." Lanae corrected the Brizaki's pronunciation.
"I shall see to it." He replied. "In the meaning time, here is this for you to wear." He threw a garment on the floor of the wagon, and Lanae picked it up. It was a light dress, long-sleeved and colored in the same mottled green and brown that the Brizaki wore. It appeared to have been recently sewn, perhaps from cloth cut from the cloaks they wore. Jahaksi continued to watch her as she picked it up.
"If you don't mind, I would like to dress in private."
"Of course. Please forgive this one for intruding." The door closed again, and Lanae peeled off her flying leathers, grown rank from sweat and fear. She put the dress on, taking time to strap the small knife they hadn't found on her to her inner thigh. She cut off her riding breeches to the length of her upper thigh and put these back on under the dress.
After a few moments of uncertainty, she heard a hesitant knock on the door. "Are you dressed?"
"Yes." The Brizaki was certainly treating her with respect, she realized. It had not been the kind of treatment she had expected when they'd taken her prisoner.
The door opened again, and the Brizaki lord motioned her to come out. He took her hand with a strangely deferential touch, as if she were a highborn lady. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the bright outdoor light. Jahaksi took her by the elbow and directed her to a place beneath a large oak. A blanket the same color as her dress lay spread on the turf, and a bottle and two loaves were presented to her.
"We break fast together." Jahaksi's voice was again hesitant, almost as if he were requesting her permission.
"Thank you. I am very hungry." She could be courteous, too, despite the awkwardness of the situation. As she bit into one of the loaves she looked at the wagon. Instead of the garish colors of an Entreddi wagon, she saw that several large canvases had been drawn down from the roof and tied so as to cover the wagon's exterior. The canvases were nearly the same drab colors as her dress and the rest of the Brizaki gear, and she realized that the cloth had been dyed to make it harder to see from a distance. Even the eight draft horses that stood yoked to the wagon seemed to have been selected for their coloring, for they were all either dark tan or brown, although they were good animals with a look of strength.
She was surprised to see that there was no road nearby. Indeed, it appeared that the wagon had been driven directly into the forest, and she wondered how they had managed to avoid breaking a wheel, driving through the night.
"Are you comfortable?" Jahaksi's voice cut into her thoughts. She was surprised at the question.
"Why yes, thank you." She wondered if his people were just naturally courteous or if he wanted something from her and was trying to put her off her guard. Probably a little of both, she thought.
Another voice seemed to come out of the very forest itself. She saw a man standing nearby, and she was surprised that she had not noticed him before. Perhaps it was the cloak he wore, for even when he spoke it took a moment for her eyes to find him against the background of light and shadow. He spoke in what she assumed was the Brizaki language, for she didn't understand him.
"Stop romancing this prisoner." Da'all Khor complained. "You do wrong in not killing her."
"I do not have to explain my actions to you, Da'all Khor." Jahaksi found his second in command's insolence provoking. "I am in command here. I will tell you this one time, in case you should find yourself in my stead, one day. It is part of my duty to instruct you in the art of leadership, and a leader must consider all possibilities. We may yet need this girl to accomplish our mission."
"I do not believe it. You spare her because she reminds you of your daughters. We will not need her. We have the magic of the chains. Besides, she would not help us if she could."
"Do not be a fool, Da'all Khor. Do you really think it is a certainty that the magic of the chains will even work in this land? The wizard grows weak and is powerless, and you would put faith in the Art."
"She is dangerous. If she alerts others to our presence…"
"If she gets close enough to others to give us away we will have failed in our vigilance and we will be lost anyway. Watch the things I do and learn from them, Da'all Khor. Do not question."
"What of our orders? We were to kill all who became aware of us."
"Enough!" Jahaksi's voice was iron. "It is your duty to follow my orders, not to see that I follow other orders of which you know little. I am not a fool, and I do not hesitate to kill when it is necessary. Have you forgotten?"
Da'all Khor bowed reluctantly. He would make a good commander one day, Jahaksi admitted to himself. Stolid, implacable, and smart, Da'all Khor had good connections in the Empire and was nearly as good with a sword as Jahaksi himself. Nearly, but not quite there. All he needed was some imagination and seasoning.
Lanae watched the exchange closely, for she was certain they were arguing about her. The language was at times harsh, at times musical, and altogether different from Mortentian. Whatever Jahaksi and his follower…she supposed he was that…were arguing about, it concluded momentarily, and plainly Jahaksi had come out on top. There was something in the catlike eyes of the other -she had heard the words like 'dayal core', so she supposed that was his name- that chilled her. Plainly he didn't like her, and he frightened her.
She found herself grateful to Jahaksi. She sensed intuitively that he was her protection.
Jahaksi returned to sit cross-legged on the blanket. She saw that beneath his cloak he wore armor, like all the Brizaki did, unfamiliar banded mail of flat gray steel. He wore the armor with the same casual ease that she had seen in the men of the King's Guard, as if he were more comfortable wearing it than not. That and the easy way he wore his sword made it clear that he was a fighter of no small skill.
Still, he continued to be courteous, and they talked as if nothing more important was happening besides a casual picnic in the country. They talked about her family and the weather and the crops, the simple subjects that a girl from a small farming cothold found most comfortable. He had an easy way of talking, even with his strange accent and the difficulty he had with some words. After a while she grew used to his cat-eyed stare and his pale, aquiline features.
In time she even stopped being afraid of him.
Chapter 16: The Muharl Ogre Territory, West of the Bone River
Gutcrusher licked the Aulig blood from the spikes of his black steel mace, cleaning it. He and his six had caught the Cthochi hunters west of the Bone River, and only the Lord of Skulls knew what the pigsuckers were doing there. Gutcrusher had lain the ambush with the cunning expected of a leader of six, and they'd fallen on the Auligs only after he'd made sure their scout was dead.
That fool Garn had let the pigsuckers put an arrow in his ass and he was groaning like a whelp. Let him groan some more and he'd join his bones with the four Auligs in the cookpot, blast him. The Crusher couldn't abide whining. Gutcrusher's other four were still hot from the fighting, even though it had all been one-sided. They sat around the fire waiting for the meat to boil.
The Auligs had even brought a wench along, and once they'd finished with her she'd gone in the pot, too. Gutcrusher scratched irritably at the lice under his hide loincloth. He had a lot to think about, and for an ogre, thinking was damned uncomfortable.
Spearshaker had come to him under a flag of parley two nights ago, and Gutcrusher had let the fool talk. Spearshaker had him a spear, one of them steel-tipped stomach rippers from the Olden Times, and like Gutcrusher's spiked mace, it was a weapon to be feared. Even a nick from one of the ancient weapons would lead to black-rot and death, so Gutcrusher hadn't taken the chance on fighting the big bastard.
Instead he'd hear
d him out.
Spearshaker had done some good talking, too. He pointed out that Gutcrusher's six and his nine were getting shat on by bands from up the Bone River, and that Skullbuster's nine had killed two of the Crusher's boyos and one of Shaker's too. There were others, the Bloodhands, the Hounds, the Corpse-stealers. All of them making free to raid on Spearshaker's lot and Gutcrusher's, too.
It made Gutcrusher mad just thinking about it. So Spearshaker had talked truce and hooking up, go up north and catch Skullbuster out, teach him to mind his bounds. Gutcrusher had listened and said neither aye nor nay.
"I'll talk to my boyos." Was all he'd said, but it probably sounded like a yes to the bastard.
Maybe it was a yes. Gutcrusher'd been taking a lot of pain off them others, and the Auligs had been making free to cross the Bone, too. Two times in the last winter he'd lost boyos to the fornicating pigsuckers, and he was thinking of that, too. Maybe it was time to cross the Bone eastward this winter, make the damn pigsuckers pay. With his six and the Shaker's nine…
Well, that made something like…well, more than ten, anyway. Like all ogres, the Crusher got confused when he tried to count past the number of his fingers. "Assbutt!" He shouted.
His five boyos didn't pay him any attention. They were wont to hurl obscenities at the world without cause.
"It’s ready." Balls announced. Balls was the oldest of the six, and he did all the cooking. A lot of bands liked their meat raw, but Gutcrusher liked his meat boiled. Most of Balls' teeth had rotted and fallen out of his head he was so old, and being the cook was the only way he could make sure he got the soft meat to eat. Still, Balls could swing his stone axe with the toughest of them, and Gutcrusher knew you didn't live long enough to get gray hair unless you were tough. Balls was loyal, too, and that was rare.
Winter had been a long time departing, and Gutcrusher could still see his breath in the air when he breathed. Still, the snow had all melted down in the low lands, and the trees were starting to green up. The new grass would bring the big deer, and they were good eating.
War of the Misread Augury: Book One of the Black Griffin Rising Trilogy Page 12