“And just how are we going to do that?” said Aetius.
“We chase him,” said Caina, looking at Hulagon. “The Kagari are known as the finest horsemen in the Empire. I assume Jurchan kept a stable somewhere near his building?”
Hulagon hesitated, but nodded. “A few blocks to the north.”
“We’ll take some of Jurchan’s horses and ride in pursuit of Taldrane,” said Caina. “Aetius, before you go, you’ll send a message to the urban praetor, accusing Taldrane of planning to enter the Valley of the Emperors. If all goes well, I’ll steal the Sword, and Taldrane will be charged with attempting to desecrate the Valley.”
“And if all does not go well?” said Hulagon.
Caina shrugged. “We’ll improvise.”
“This is a weak plan,” said Aetius.
“Do you have a better one?” said Caina. “Either of you?”
They did not.
“Hulagon, get the horses,” said Caina. “Three for each of us. Aetius, send that message to the urban praetor. We should all meet at the northern gate by noon and depart. Taldrane and his men will be only a half-day ahead of us, and I want to overtake him as soon as possible.”
“Do you seriously think I will work with this scoundrel?” said Aetius, jerking his chin at Hulagon. “He knew what Taldrane planned and did nothing, and he also tried to kill me.”
“Do you think I will ride with you, harlot of the Empire?” said Hulagon. “You distracted me when Taldrane attacked. Perhaps I might have saved my noyan if I fought at his side.”
“You would have died with him,” said Caina. “But Taldrane has wronged you both more than you have wronged each other. Start your vengeance with him.” She offered Hulagon a chilly smile. “If we survive, then you can kill me.”
“Indeed,” said Hulagon.
“Very well,” said Aetius. “I can think of nothing better. I will swear not to lift my hand against Hulagon until after Taldrane is defeated, save in self-defense.
“I offer the same oath,” said Hulagon.
“Good,” said Caina. “Be at the city’s northern gate by noon. Meanwhile,” she tugged her damaged tunic tighter, “I need to find some new clothes.”
***
Chapter 7: The Grinning Dead
Caina half-expected neither Hulagon nor Aetius to return, but both the tarkhan and the nobleman proved as good as their word.
Aetius arrived wearing chain mail and steel plate, a broadsword at his belt and a heavy shield and a pack stuffed full of supplies over his back. Caina had likewise taken a heavy pack for herself, holding food and tools and her shadow-cloak and a few other useful things. Hulagon arrived leading a string of nine Kagari horses, shaggy, grim-looking beasts that seemed to glare at everything around them. The Kagari tarkhan reined up and glared down at her, and Caina met his hard gaze without flinching.
For a moment they stared at each other. There were some shoppers visiting the stalls of the forum of the northern gate, but not many. Most of the traffic to the capital city from the valley of the River Megaros came by the river proper, and the broad length of the Imperial Highway north of the city passed through small villages and farms and noble estates, with nearly a week’s journey on foot until it reached another town.
“Are you a magus?” said Hulagon at last.
“No,” said Caina. “I’m not.”
“Then how do you change your shape so effectively?” said Hulagon. “Your voice and stance are different. Gods of blood and battle, even your face looks different. You are either a witch or a shape-shifting spirit of evil fortune. As well I did not lie with you. Likely you would have consumed my soul for your wicked sorcery.”
“I’m neither a magus nor an evil spirit. Makeup, posture, and practice,” said Caina, gesturing at herself. “That’s all that it is. No spells required.”
“If you say,” said Hulagon.
“If it makes you feel better,” said Caina, “I’ve fooled men far cleverer than you.”
Aetius laughed at that. “Like me, for instance. I was certain that she was a man. Just as you were certain she was a man when she stopped you from murdering me…”
“Bark all you wish, dog,” said Hulagon, his voice cold. “We shall settle matters between us when…”
“Enough,” said Caina. “You can kill each other after we’ve dealt with Taldrane. Thank you for bringing the horses.”
“We shall use the noyan’s horses to avenge him,” said Hulagon. “It is fitting. Though I wonder if you can ride as the Kagari ride.”
“Let’s find out,” said Caina.
They left Malarae, riding through the northern gate and past the massive octagonal towers that fortified the city’s wall, and headed north along the Imperial Highway.
They made very good time.
For one, the road was broad and level, the horses’ steel-shod hooves clicking against it. The Emperor had ordered the construction of the Imperial Highway to expedite the march of the Legions to the Imperial Pale to repulse any barbarian incursions from beyond the Great Mountains, and the road had been built to the excellent standards of the Legions.
For another, the Kagari horses had stamina. They were small and wiry, but they could trot for long periods of time. Every half hour, they slowed to a walk to rest the horses, and a half hour after that, they traded for one of the remounts. Caina had heard that bands of Kagari horsemen could travel at great speed, taking their enemies unawares in storms of arrows, and after seeing Hulagon’s skill with horse and bow, she could believe it.
By late afternoon, her legs and hips ached from the effort of keeping her saddle and the constant jostling of the horses’ stride had given her a headache. Caina knew how to ride, but she didn’t have very much experience with it, especially riding so quickly.
She knew that showing weakness to either Hulagon or Aetius, and especially Hulagon, would be unwise, so she kept all trace of the discomfort to herself. Aetius trusted her, she thought, especially after she had saved his life at the wine shop. Hulagon hated her, and she had no doubt that sooner or later he would try to kill her. She thought he would hold himself in check until they had dealt with Taldrane, but the minute Caina had the Sword, she knew the tarkhan would turn on her.
He might try even before they caught up to Taldrane. She would have to be on her guard.
Yet Hulagon proved his worth. He ranged back and forth before them, disappearing into the farmland to the east and the hills to the west. Soon he found evidence of tracks, and announced that Taldrane had headed north with at least thirty Magisterial Guards and a half-dozen wagons. Several times they passed merchant caravans, and Caina took a moment to speak with the guards. They reported with some disgruntlement that they had been forced off the road by a group of Magisterial Guards and a half-dozen wagons. None of the merchants were happy about it, but none of them were foolish enough to challenge a master magus.
“You were right, ‘Master Sebastian’,” said Hulagon, filling the false name with scorn. “We are a half day behind the dog Taldrane and his soldiers.”
“If we keep up this pace,” said Aetius, “we will overtake him soon, within the next day or two. Certainly before he takes the pass to the Valley of the Emperors.”
“Well and good,” said Hulagon, “but what shall we do when we catch him? We but three, and while a Kagari warrior is worth ten men, an Imperial lordling and a lying harlot certainly are not. We cannot fight the Magisterial Guards.”
“Who said anything about fighting them?” said Caina, rolling her shoulders. “We’re going to steal the Sword, not fight anyone.”
At least, she hoped they were going to steal the Sword. Getting it away from thirty Magisterial Guards and one master magus might prove something of a challenge.
They made camp that night off the road. There had not been bandits this close to the Imperial capital for generations, but they set a watch anyway. Aetius took first watch, and Caina slept on the far side of the fire from Hulagon, making sure she kept a n
umber of weapons near at hand. She slept fitfully, expecting an attack at any moment, yet nothing happened.
The next morning they resumed their journey. Again Hulagon found marks of the passage of the Magisterial Guards, and again Caina found witnesses who had seen Taldrane pass. The master magus was making no effort to hide his passage. There was no reason. Magi often traveled back and forth between the capital and the borderland of the Imperial Pale. Caina feared what would happen when Taldrane left the Imperial Highway and turned towards the Valley of the Emperors. He might kill anyone who saw him, preferring to leave no witnesses behind as he had done at Jurchan’s stronghold.
At noon Hulagon reined up, frowning at the dust upon the broad concrete slabs of the Highway.
“They turned here,” said Hulagon, squinting at the ground. “Turned west and headed into the hills…following that trail, there.”
“That looks like a wide damned trail,” said Aetius, pointing at the dusty ribbon wending its way between the rocky green hills.
“Because it’s not a trail,” said Caina, thinking back to the Count’s map. “At least, not originally. It used to be the road leading to the Valley of the Emperors.”
“Taldrane has six wagons with him,” said Aetius. “Perhaps we can overtake him in the hills.”
“I am certain we shall,” said Hulagon. He gave Caina an icy glare. “Then we will see if we can steal the Sword back.”
“We will, won’t we?” said Caina.
They followed the ancient road into the foothills of the Great Mountains. Malarae and the lower valley of the River Megaros were almost always warm and mild, if rainy, thanks to the Bay of Empire. The air began to grow colder and drier as they climbed, the trees thinner and tougher, the hills rockier. Here and there Caina saw the ruins of old towers and broken walls. The valley of the River Megaros was peaceful now, but in ancient times many wars had been fought here, first between the Nighmarian nobles, and then by the unified First Empire against barbarians tribes from the north.
Unfortunately, it seemed that Taldrane knew how to make good use of those ruins.
After nightfall, Caina crept around a boulder, Hulagon following her. The Kagari tarkhan had wanted to go scouting alone, but Caina insisted upon coming with him. He seemed surprised that she was able to move just as quietly as he could. Stealth was stealth, whether in Malarae or in the foothills of the Great Mountains.
Taldrane had not bothered with stealth. He didn’t need it.
The master magus had camped in a ruined tower crowning a rocky hill. The roof and part of the tower’s upper levels had collapsed into rubble, but the interior was still clear. Within the tower itself Taldrane had pitched his tent, and likely he had the Sword of Nicokator with him. His Magisterial Guards raised their tents outside the tower and patrolled the ground at its base. Two bonfires blazed on either side of the tower, their light bathing the summit of the hill.
Caina stared hard at the tower. The Magisterial Guards knew their business. She could not see an obvious way past them to reach Taldrane’s tent, and she had no doubt that Taldrane had raised protective wards around the tower. Already she felt the faint tingle of the spells. Caina eased forward another step, hoping for a closer look, and the tingling presence of spells grew sharper. No, a single spell, one blanketing the entire hill, and…
Hulagon took a silent step past her.
Caina seized his shoulder. He glared back at her, and Caina gave a sharp shake of her head and beckoned for him to move back. Hulagon stared at her for another moment, and then followed her back down the side of the hill.
They returned to the ravine where Aetius guarded the horses. He had not been pleased about remaining behind, but he had no skill at stealth. Had he tried to climb the side of the hill to spy upon Taldrane, every last one of the Magisterial Guards would have heard him coming.
“I would not have believed,” said Hulagon, “that a woman could move so silently. Are you sure you are not a sorceress? Or a blood-drinking demon of the night?”
“Pretty sure,” said Caina, looking at the distant glow of the firelight atop the hill. Frustration boiled through her. The Sword was so close, yet it might as well have been a thousand miles away.
Hulagon grunted. “I assume you learned the skill by robbing your lovers as they lay unconscious in your harlot’s bed.”
Caina sighed. “I assume you are familiar with the practice because harlots are the only women ever found in your bed.” Aetius laughed at that, louder than Caina would have wished. “You can insult me later. We need to decide what to do.”
“Why did you stop me?” said Hulagon. “Those Magisterial Guards were blind and deaf. I could have crept up and slapped them on the back of the head.”
“No,” said Caina. “We almost blundered into a spell. Taldrane put a ward over the hilltop. Another step or two, and we would have set off a sorcerous alarm.”
“Ah!” said Hulagon. “Then you are a sorceress!”
“No,” said Caina. “You know how a man can break a bone and then feel it ache when the rain comes? A long time ago a sorcerer almost killed me with a spell, and ever since, I’ve been able to feel sorcery when it is nearby.”
“A likely tale,” said Hulagon.
“You don’t believe me?” said Caina. “Fine. Go test it for yourself, and when the Magisterial Guards cut off your head, you’ll see that I’m right. If you scream loudly enough when they kill you, that might be the distraction I need to steal the Sword.”
Hulagon scowled again, but remained where he was. Evidently he did not want to test it firsthand.
“Fine,” said Aetius. “How are we going to get the Sword?”
“At the moment, we can’t,” said Caina. “It’s too well-guarded, and the Magisterial Guards are too vigilant. We shall have to wait for a better opportunity.”
“A better opportunity?” said Hulagon. “When shall that be? When they are carrying away the treasures of the tomb of Nicokator?”
“I don’t know,” admitted Caina.
“You should have thought up a better plan, Master Sebastian,” said Hulagon.
Caina said nothing. After all, Hulagon was right. Caina should have come up with a better plan. Yet she was not sure what else she could have done. Perhaps she should have gone to Halfdan and summoned aid. Yet Halfdan, for all his influence and reach, was still a circlemaster of the Ghosts, not a lord or a magistrate, and Taldrane was a master magus of the Magisterium. If Halfdan had called in favors from the magistrates, Taldrane would have had more than enough time to conceal the Sword somewhere Caina could never reach it. Any charges against Taldrane would collapse for lack of evidence, and once the investigation closed, Taldrane could open the tomb of Nicokator at his leisure.
No, as risky as this was, it was still the best course of action.
“What now?” said Aetius.
Caina nodded, looking at the distant glow of firelight upon the hill. “All those men and wagons are leaving a trail.”
“Of course they are leaving a trail,” said Hulagon. “They are leaving a trail a blind man could follow.”
“And a trail that the Imperial Guard and the civic militia could follow as well,” said Caina. The urban praetor would have responded to Aetius’s letter, and sent men to investigate the report. Entering the Valley of the Emperors was a serious enough crime that the praetor would have no choice but to investigate the matter. “The urban praetor’s men won’t have any trouble following them. Taldrane isn’t bothering to cover his trail because he thinks that no one is pursuing him.”
“Given that one Kagari warrior, a harlot, and an Imperial lordling are following him,” said Hulagon, “perhaps he is right not to fear.”
“He ought to fear the urban praetor and the civic militia,” said Caina. “If he’s caught in the Valley of the Emperors, he’ll have charges brought against him no matter what he does.” She thought over that. “Which means our best chance is to reach the Valley of the Emperors first.”
; “I do not understand,” said Aetius.
“Of course you do not,” said Hulagon.
Caina resisted the urge to hit them both. “There is only three of us. We can travel faster than Taldrane’s party. It will not be hard to reach the pass to the Valley before Taldrane. Once we’re there, we can find a way to slow him down. There are many narrow paths and old bridges in the Valley, and if we block them, we might be able to bring them to a halt while they search for another path…”
“And while they do,” said Aetius, “the urban praetor’s men come and arrest them all. Or demand that they return to Malarae.”
Caina nodded. “At best, we’ll have a chance to steal the Sword. At worst, Taldrane will be forced to return to Malarae to face trial, and he won’t be able to open the tomb. In Malarae we can work out a…less improvised plan to reclaim the Sword.”
“This plan seems sound to me,” said Aetius.
“It does not seem sound to me. Yet I can think of nothing better,” said Hulagon.
“I thought not,” said Caina. “Get some sleep. If we leave before dawn, we can get ahead of Taldrane’s men before they break camp.”
###
The plan started well enough.
They left before dawn, circling around Taldrane’s hill, and then cutting hard to the northwest, making for the mountain pass that led to the Valley of the Emperors. Hulagon ranged ahead, scouting for paths and trails, and soon they returned to the ancient road climbing to the Valley. With their remounts, they made good time, even making their way up the increasingly steep hills.
At noon Hulagon returned from one of his scouting trips, his scarred face grim.
“We must get off the road,” he said.
“What?” said Caina. “Why?”
“A group of about forty armed men have set up camp three miles ahead,” said Hulagon.
Caina blinked, her mind working through the implications. Had Taldrane sent men ahead to await his arrival? Or had the civic militia somehow circled in front of them?
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