by Duncan Lay
He paced around the table, drawing out the anticipation of his words, until all eyes and attention were fixed firmly on him. He had learned such tricks working as a bard in Forland and never had they been more useful.
‘Will this be the first action of the new Vales? To take the woman who is our hope and saviour and hand her to our enemies?’ he shouted, using his trained voice to reach even the furthest watcher.
‘Mark my words, the elves cannot be trusted. Three hundred years ago they betrayed and murdered those of us with magic. Now we have found another with the power to change our lives and we want to give her to our enemies? The elves will kill her to protect their lies and hide the truth. We face a difficult choice that will either save all humans or doom us to centuries more of living in despair. There is magic within us. Rhiannon can find it. She can change everything for us. Give her a moon to find Velsh with magic and it doesn’t matter whether the Forlish, the elves or all of them come for us — we will be able to meet and match them. Think about it — does putting aside your sling, your dogs and your knife make your flock safer from the wolf?’
He stared around one more time, noting with pleasure how most people were nodding in agreement, before signalling to Rhiannon. They had talked about this the night before and he had worked hard to persuade Rhiannon not to do something terrible to Griff or anyone else who wanted to hand her over to Sumiko, told her they were scared men but not bad men. He hoped she would remember that now and that the anger, which often seemed to be just below the surface with her, did not bubble over.
As he took his seat and Rhiannon stepped forwards, he crossed his fingers beneath the table. As always, eyes were drawn to Rhiannon and she walked carefully around the table until she was standing behind Griff, forcing him to turn awkwardly to watch her.
‘The Magic-weavers don’t want peace with us. They fear more humans have magic. You think sending me to the elves will protect you. All it will do is hand them the power. I have magic, more magic than almost any elf. I can find and teach others, if I am here. If I am dead, then I can do nothing to help you. And there are men, women and children alive here today because of me. Do you want that to be the message from Vales? Help us and we shall give you to our enemies?’
‘Wait! We only have your word for it that the elves want to kill you. But all our legends say that elves are good and kind and honourable,’ Griff protested.
‘Tell that to the scores of skeletons lying in an unmarked grave west of here, beside a Velsh church to Aroaril that the elves destroyed,’ Rhiannon fired back. ‘You have been given a gift, will you throw it away?’
Huw glanced around the table and tried to judge the mood of the headmen. Some were nodding at Rhiannon’s words while others appeared unsure. He looked across at the crowd and saw a much better response there. He surged to his feet.
‘What do the people think? Should we throw away the greatest gift the Velsh have ever received, sacrifice a young girl who has fought and suffered for us?’ he shouted.
The roar that came back from the crowd made most of the headmen turn. Rhiannon waved to the people and the noise doubled. Huw knew many of them were dragons but that did not lessen their importance. He stared at the headmen again and felt his confidence grow.
‘So who stands with me?’ he challenged them.
‘Who wants to see their children grow up free and strong?’ Rhiannon added.
Llewellyn was the first to his feet, followed by most of those around the table. ‘We shall stand with you. It is a chance worth taking.’
Griff pushed back his chair and joined them. At first Huw could not believe his eyes, then he saw Griff raise his hands, appealing for quiet. The crowd initially jeered at him but calmed down as he stayed still, arms raised in appeal.
‘I can see where this is going to go but I don’t want any part of it. You have many fine words, better than those I can come up with. But I know there is an army of elves and a Forlish army that are looking to come here and take Rhiannon, or get some revenge, or both. Words won’t stop them. I am walking away from Vales and if you have any sense, the rest of you will as well,’ he announced.
A dozen other headmen stood to join Griff, their faces equally grim.
‘We must stand together,’ Huw protested. ‘United we have a chance. Divided they will pick us off. And the Forlish will not care whether you are standing with us or not —’
‘It is too late. There is nothing you can say that will convince me to stay,’ Griff announced.
Huw felt his heart sink but was prevented from arguing further by a commotion in the crowd. He turned. Someone was approaching through the crowd, the people parting before him.
‘Sendatsu!’ Rhiannon exclaimed.
Sendatsu pushed past the last few people flanked by Cadel and Bowen and stepped into the open hall, his children holding his hands. All eyes turned to him.
‘Nobody is going anywhere,’ Sendatsu said harshly.
‘Sendatsu! What are you doing here?’ Huw asked.
Sendatsu glared around the hall. ‘Stopping an outbreak of stupidity,’ he said.
‘We have the right to vote on our future —’ Griff began.
‘You — sit down now!’ Sendatsu barked.
‘How dare you speak to me like that! You’re not even Velsh!’
Sendatsu let go of his children’s hands and stalked across the hall until he was right in front of the plump Griff.
‘No, but unless you listen to me, you’re going to be dead and your precious village in ruins. You have one chance at living past Midwinter and that is to listen to me.’
Griff’s eyes darted from side to side but nobody seemed willing to join him in standing up to Sendatsu — except for Huw.
‘Sendatsu, you cannot do this. This is Vales and this is how we want to rule ourselves. They are right, I made a huge mistake in going to help the elves —’
‘Huw, you can sit down and shut up as well!’ Sendatsu glared at him.
‘You cannot talk to us like this!’ Griff snorted. ‘You are not one of us.’
‘I am now,’ Sendatsu declared, causing most of the crowd to gasp. ‘I have left Dokuzen. I will make my home here in Vales, and I will help you stop the Elfarans destroying you.’
‘What if we don’t want you?’ Griff challenged.
‘You don’t have a choice. I am going to save you, whether you like it or not. My father is Elder Elf and he will not listen to reason, nor will he show mercy. He is intent on destroying you all, whether you support Huw or not. Your only chance of survival is with me — and with Rhiannon.’
‘So we have exchanged the Forlish menace for one that is much worse?’ Llewellyn asked.
‘Yes. But I can help you. I know who you will fight against, for I have fought against him all my life,’ Sendatsu told them. ‘We can beat them — but only if we stay together. Split apart and they will show you no mercy. Every one of you knows there is no such thing as an elf and that humans have magic. Dokuzen cannot allow that to continue.’
‘We only have your word for it,’ Griff pointed out.
Sendatsu loomed over him. ‘You can believe me or not. But you will prepare for them. Or you can stand against me with a sword.’
‘Sendatsu, you cannot do this. We are free people and we decide for ourselves,’ Huw argued.
‘Once the Elfarans are defeated you can do what you want. Until then you will listen to me,’ Sendatsu told him.
‘That is not the way it is supposed to work!’
‘Do you want to save your people or not?’
‘Of course. That is not in question —’
‘Good. Then understand this is no longer about villages against bands of raiders, or even Vales against Forland. Now it is about elves against humans. The barrier is down and only one race will be able to rule these lands. Now you have magic, it cannot stop until we have reached the end.’
‘Surely not!’ Griff protested.
Sendatsu stepped even closer to him, forcing Griff to sit
down. ‘I have never been more serious,’ he promised.
‘But why are you telling us this? Aren’t you being a traitor to your own people?’ Dafyd blurted.
‘I am not an elf. There are no elves. We are all humans. You have to realise they are no better than you or you might as well give up now,’ Sendatsu told him.
‘But why is this our fight? Can’t we make a deal?’ Griff protested.
‘There will be no deal!’ Sendatsu roared. ‘You live free or you work as slaves. That is your choice. And I am not about to let you be defeated. If I have to, I will come to your village and find new leaders who will fight. So, either you are with me, with Vales, or you can run over the border into Forland and see how they greet you.’
Huw watched Griff shrink down in his seat and reluctantly nod his agreement but it gave him no pleasure.
‘Come back tomorrow and you shall hear how we can protect Vales,’ Sendatsu said. ‘And you had better be here, or I will hunt you down and drag you back.’
Griff squirmed down in his seat, thoroughly cowed. Huw knew he should have been enjoying such a sight but doing it this way left a bad taste.
‘Why not now?’ Llewellyn asked.
Sendatsu glared at him. ‘Because I’ve ridden hard and my children want to rest and eat. Anyone disagree?’
There was silence.
He turned and stalked out, holding out his hands to Mai and Cheijun as he did so.
‘Sendatsu, wait!’ Huw raced after him, Rhiannon a pace behind. ‘You can’t act like that!’
‘Someone needed to do it,’ Sendatsu said shortly. ‘My father won’t be defeated by clever words but by swords and magic.’
‘Is he really coming?’ Rhiannon blurted.
‘He and Sumiko, yes. They fear you and the Velsh.’
‘You have really left Dokuzen?’ Huw asked.
He nodded. ‘I have. I would not live there under my father’s rule after what he did to you — and what he plans to do.’
‘And Asami?’ Rhiannon asked.
Sendatsu grimaced. ‘I asked her to come with me but she chose to remain in Dokuzen with Gaibun.’
‘What? But she does not love him!’
‘Well, she still chose him over me,’ Sendatsu said, the pain dripping from his voice.
‘That is a blow. With her magic as well …’ Huw sighed.
‘I am so sorry —’ Rhiannon began.
‘We do not have time for that. I don’t know when my father will march but it will be before the snows fall. He cannot campaign through that, even with magic.’
‘What do we need to do?’
‘Find Velsh with magic. As many as we can — and then train them to use that magic.’
‘Are you sure they are coming for us?’
‘Sumiko is driving my father. I don’t know what hold she has on him —’
Rhiannon gasped.
‘What?’
‘She must have been the spy in the Magic-weavers who was helping him — and his lover. There is no other explanation for her wielding such power over him.’
Sendatsu’s jaw dropped and he put his hands over Mai’s ears. ‘I always thought his mistress would be younger,’ he said softly.
‘Why? Because a woman is ugly after her thirtieth summer?’ Rhiannon snorted.
‘No — just because that is the way of things. Sumiko is as old as my mother. Why does he not stay with her?’
‘Because love is blind? Because Sumiko gives him something your mother does not?’ Rhiannon suggested.
‘What are you talking about?’ Mai demanded.
Sendatsu grimaced. ‘Can I stay at your home until I build one of my own?’ he asked Huw.
‘Of course. I don’t think I will have much time for sleeping anyway,’ Huw said wistfully. ‘Tomorrow I’ll send the rest of the dragons out to find new recruits, as well as anyone who might have magic.’
‘Do that.’
‘Do you really think we have a chance?’ Huw asked.
‘Find us twenty Velsh with magic and ask me again then,’ Sendatsu said.
4
One of the things you might hear is I never really loved your mother. That is not true. I always loved her. Things just … got in the way of us. It seems funny to be writing of such matters when the lands were going up in flames and the fate of so many hung in the balance. But then, no matter what we do in the rest of our lives, we always seem to be defined by our relationships.
‘What do you want, sire?’
King Ward reflected that his title could be said many ways but only Mildrith could invest it with so much scorn.
‘I have called you here to talk to you about the future,’ Ward said carefully, keeping his eyes on his sons, Wilfrid and Uffa. He had had so many glorious moments in his life, so many successes, that these two failures seemed even more painful. He marvelled that he had been able to put that aside earlier. Now it felt like a thorn sticking in the back of his mind.
‘What has happened to you, Father?’ Uffa blurted.
Ward looked down at his hands again, unable to get enough of seeing them strong and healthy.
‘The elves have come to us with an offer, and have healed me as part of that, as a gesture of their good faith,’ he said.
‘So you are immortal now?’ Mildrith asked, alarmed.
Ward smiled, and it was no longer a death’s head grin. ‘No, they tell me there is no immortality. I do not fully believe them but they have given me enough time for a second chance.’
‘A second chance at sacking Dokuzen? Why would they give us that?’ Uffa wondered.
Ward was about to rage at his youngest son but bit back the angry words. He was a new man and he had a new attitude. ‘No, my son,’ he said instead. ‘A second chance for all of us. I have years left to live. I want to use those to secure Forland for all time, so that our empire stretches from sea to sea — and also to be able to hand it over to one of you.’
‘What about Edmund?’ Mildrith sneered. ‘I thought he was the son you always wanted and never had?’
Ward shook his head. ‘Edmund is my greatest general and will stay so. He would make a great king of Forland but I want to give you the chance to show me you are ready to learn, ready to rule —’
‘They already are!’ Mildrith snapped.
‘Skies above, woman, will you shut up and allow me to talk!’ Ward roared and the three of them cowered in their seats.
Ward clenched and unclenched his fists. This was harder than he had imagined. He was tempted to walk away but the thorn in his mind pricked his conscience once more. ‘You are my sons and I always dreamed you would follow me onto the throne, as I followed my father. You are not ready yet. But, if you are willing to learn from me, that can still happen.’
‘What do we need to do?’ Wilfrid asked.
‘Learn to think,’ Ward said persuasively.
‘I don’t understand,’ Uffa whined.
Ward looked at the ceiling until he could control his voice. ‘Are you willing to work for me or not? We have been given this second chance, all of us. I want to make the most of it.’
‘What do we do first?’ Wilfrid said.
‘You need to leave your mother, go north and take command of a regiment apiece, get them ready in case the elves try to betray us.’
‘We won’t let you down, Father,’ Wilfrid said.
‘You won’t regret this,’ Mildrith agreed.
Ward watched them leave with a thin smile on his face. When the door had shut behind them he stayed seated until Edmund pushed open a second door and took the chair where Mildrith had sat.
‘Do you want me to leave Cridianton, sire, take command of the army again?’ Edmund asked.
Ward shook his head. ‘I am getting my sons away from their mother’s poison. But, if they are not good enough, then the task still falls to you.’
Edmund cleared his throat. ‘Sire, what you said once about killing them after your death …’
‘Nothing would give
me greater pleasure than seeing them become men I can be proud of. But if the choice is between them and Forland, then I will always take Forland, may the stars forgive me,’ Ward said grimly. Yet even as he spoke, he knew he could not order their deaths.
Sendatsu found Huw’s home much as they had left it and wasted no time in unpacking and installing Mai and Cheijun in Huw’s old room, taking Huw’s father’s room for himself. He looked at the bed and felt a shiver of guilt for the way he had tricked Rhiannon into it but pushed that aside.
‘We did the right thing, Papa,’ Mai told him, helping carry in some of her toys from the horses outside. They had ridden fast across the Velsh countryside, Sendatsu using his hurt and anger to drive himself hard. Mai and Cheijun had not complained and he marvelled again at how lucky he was to have them.
‘You will beat everyone,’ Cheijun predicted.
‘We shall help you,’ Mai amended.
Sendatsu hugged them both and helped them put toys on Huw’s crude shelves, then placed folded robes on others.
‘We shall build an extra bed for you,’ he promised.
‘There are more important things.’ Mai smiled. ‘It is not as bad as we thought it might be.’
‘No poo in here!’ Cheijun confirmed.
Sendatsu left them to finish while he started a fire. They had stayed here while he and Gaibun had been training the dragons for a Forlish invasion that had never happened, so they were happy enough to settle back in. But thinking of Gaibun just led to thoughts about Asami, no matter how much he tried not to dwell on her. Rhiannon’s words, while well meant, had reopened a still fresh wound. How could Asami have chosen Gaibun? How could he have lost her? There was an empty space inside him and, no matter how hard he tried to fill it with anger, it did not go away.
‘Sendatsu? It is just us,’ Huw called and he turned away from the fire to open the door, revealing the bard and Rhiannon.
‘Come in. We brought as much as we could carry, so I am afraid we have turned your home into a mess already,’ he apologised without feeling sorry.
‘We are not here to talk about that but what you are doing here at all — to ask the questions we could not with everyone else around. Jaken is the Elder Elf, you could have anything you wanted back in Dokuzen. What are you doing here?’