“And how exactly did a bunch of farmers defeat the infamous seret?”
“They weren’t farmers; two were Pickerings and there was Hadrian Blackwater.”
“The Pickerings I can understand, but Blackwater? He’s nothing but a rogue.”
“No, there’s more to him-him and his partner.”
“Royce and Hadrian are excellent thieves. They proved that in Melengar and again in Chadwick. Poor Archibald still has fits over it.”
“No,” Guy said, “I think they’re more than that. Blackwater knows Teshlor combat, and his friend, that Royce Melborn is an elf.”
Saldur blinked. “An elf? Are you sure?”
“He passes as human, but I’m certain of it.”
“And this is the second time we’ve found them with Esrahaddon,” Saldur muttered in concern. “Is this Hadrian still here?”
“He is in the infirmary tent.”
“Put a guard on him at once.”
“I had him under guard since he was dragged to the tent. What we need to concern ourselves with is the girl. She is going to prove an embarrassment if we don’t do something,” Guy said and slipped his sword part way out of its sheath. “She is in grief over the loss of her father. It wouldn’t be surprising if she threw herself over the falls in a fit of despair.”
“And Tomas?” Saldur asked, reaching for another handful of berries. “It is clear he won’t be quiet. Will you kill him too? What excuse will you give for that? And what about all the others in this camp that heard him going on all morning about her being the heir? Do we kill everyone? If we did, who would carry our bags back to Ervanon?” he added with a smile.
“I don’t see the humor in this,” Guy snapped letting his sword slide back down in its sheath.
“Perhaps that’s because you are not looking at it the right way,” Saldur told him. Guy was a well-trained and vicious guard dog, but the man lacked imagination. “What if we didn’t kill her? What if we actually made her the Empress?”
“A peasant girl? Empress?” Guy scoffed. “Are you mad?”
“Despite his political clout, I don’t think any of us, including the patriarch, was particularly happy with the choice of Rufus. He was a fool to be sure, but he was also a stubborn, powerful fool. We all suspected that he might have had to be killed within a year, which would have thrown the infant empire into turmoil. How much better it would be to have an empress that would do whatever she was told right from the very start?”
“But how could we possibly sell her to the nobles?”
“We don’t,” Saldur said, and a smile appeared on his wrinkled face, “we sell her to the people instead.”
“How’s that?”
“Degan Gaunt’s Nationalist movement proved that the people themselves have strength. Earls, barons, even kings are afraid of the power which that commoner can gather. A word from him could launch a peasant uprising. Lords would have to kill their own people, their own source of revenue, just to keep order. This presents them with the undesirable choice of accepting either poverty or death. The landholders will do almost anything to avoid such an event. What if we tapped that? The peasants already revere the church. They follow its teachings as divine truth. How much more inspiring would it be to offer them a leader plucked from their own stock? A ruler who is one of them and able to truly understand the plight of the poor, the unwashed, the destitute. Not only is she a peasant queen, but she is also the Heir of Novron, and all the wonderful expectations that go with that. Indeed, in our greatest hour of need, Maribor has once again delivered unto his people a divine leader to show us the way out of darkness.
“We could send bards across the land repeating the epic tale of the pure, chaste girl who slew the elven demon that even Lord Rufus was powerless against. We’ll call it Rufus’ Bane. Yes, I like it-so much better than the unpronounceable Gilarabrywn.”
“But can she be made to play her part?” Guy asked.
“You saw her. She’s nearly comatose. Not only does she have no place to go, no friends or relatives, no money or possessions, she is also emotionally shattered. She’d slit her own wrists, I suspect, if she gets a knife. Still, the best part is that once we establish her as empress, once we have the support of the people so fervently on our side, no noble landholder would dare challenge us. We can do what we planned to do with Rufus. Only instead of a messy murder that would certainly invite suspicion and accusations, with the girl we can simply marry her. The new husband will rule as emperor and we can lock her in a dark room somewhere, pulling her out for Wintertide showings.”
Guy smiled at that.
“Do you think the patriarch will agree?” Saldur asked him. “Perhaps we should send a rider back today.”
“No, this is too important. I will go myself. I’ll leave as soon as I can saddle a horse. In the meantime-”
“In the meantime, we will announce that we are considering the possibility that this girl is the heir, but will not accept her unconditionally until a full investigation is conducted. That should buy us a month. If the patriarch agrees, then we can send out rabble-rousers to incite the people with rumors that the church is being forced by the nobles and the monarchs to not reveal the girl as the true heir. The people will be denouncing our enemies and demanding that she take the throne before we even announce her.”
“She will make the perfect figurehead,” Guy said.
Saldur looked up, picturing the future. “An innocent girl linked with a mythic legend. Her beautiful name will be everywhere and she will be loved.” The bishop paused and thought, “What is her name anyway?”
“I think Tomas called her-Thrace.”
“Seriously?” Saldur grimaced. “Well, no matter, we’ll change it. After all, she’s ours now.”
***
Royce looked around. There was not a single sentry left outside. Several still moved about on the hilltop, but they were far enough away to ignore. Satisfied, he ducked through the flap of the white tent. Inside he found Tobis, Hadrian, Mauvin, and Hilfred on cots. Hadrian was naked to his waist, his head and chest wrapped in white bandages, but he was awake and sitting up. Mauvin, though still pale, was alert, his bandages bright white. Hilfred lay wrapped like a mummy and Royce could not be sure if he were awake or sleeping. Arista stood bent over his cot checking on him.
“I was wondering when you would get here,” Hadrian said.
Arista turned. “Yes, I thought you would have arrived much sooner.”
“Sorry, you know how it is when you’re having fun. You lose all track of time, but I did locate your weapons, again. You know how upset you get when you don’t have your swords. Can you ride?”
“If I can walk, why not?” he raised an arm and Royce offered his shoulder, helping him to stand.
“What about me?” Mauvin asked, holding his side and sitting up on his cot. “You’re not going to leave me, are you?”
“You have to take him,” Arista declared. “He killed two of Guy’s men.”
“Can you ride?” Royce asked.
“If I had a horse under me I could at least hang on.”
“What about Thrace?” Hadrian asked.
“I don’t think you need worry about her,” Royce told him. “I was just by the bishop’s tent. Tomas is demanding that they declare her empress.”
“Empress?” Hadrian said, stunned.
“She killed the Gilarabrywn right in front of the deacon. I guess it made an impression.”
“But what if they don’t? We can’t leave her.”
“Don’t worry about Thrace,” Arista said. “I’ll see she’s taken care of. Now you all need to get out of here.”
“Theron wanted at least one of his children to be successful,” Hadrian muttered, “but empress?”
“You need to hurry,” Arista said helping Royce pull Mauvin to his feet. She gave all three of them a kiss and a gentle hug and then pushed them out like a mother sending her children to school.
Outside the tent, Magnus arrived w
ith three saddled horses. The dwarf looked around nervously and whispered. “I could have sworn I saw guards watching this tent earlier.”
“You did,” Royce replied. “Three horses-you read my mind.”
“I figured I needed one for myself,” the dwarf replied pointing at the shortened stirrups. He looked at Mauvin with a scowl. “Now it looks like I’ll need to get another.”
“Forget it,” Royce whispered, “Ride with Mauvin. Take it slow and make sure he stays in the saddle.”
Royce helped Hadrian up onto a gray mare then started to chuckle to himself.
“What is it?” Hadrian asked.
“Mouse.”
“What’s that?”
Royce pointed to the horse Hadrian sat on. “Of all the animals he had to choose from, the dwarf stole Mouse.”
Royce led them away from the camp, walking the horses across the scorched land where the ash muffled their movement. He kept a close eye on the distant sentries. No outcry, no shouts, no one appeared to notice and soon they slipped into the leafy forest. Once there he turned back toward the river in order to throw off anyone who might look for their tracks. Once he had them safely in a shallow glen near the Nidwalden, Royce ordered them to stay put while he went back.
He crept up to the edge of the burned area. The camp was as it had been before. Satisfied they made a clean escape, he walked back toward the river. He found himself on the trail that led to the Wood’s farm and the shell of the old building. Inexplicably, the fire never reached this far and it remained untouched. There was one change, however; in the center of the yard where they first saw the old farmer sharpening his scythe, there was a mound of earth. A stack of stones borrowed from the walls of the farmhouse circled the oblong mound. At its head, driven into the ground, was a broad plank and burned into it the words:
THERON WOOD
Farmer
Below that, scratched in into the plank, Royce could just make out the additional words:
Father of the Empress
As Royce stood reading the words, he noticed it-a chill making the hair on his skin stand up. Someone was watching him. On the edge of his sight, a figure stood in the trees. Another stood to his left. He sensed more behind him. He turned his head, focused his eyes to see who they were-nothing. All he saw were trees. He glanced to his left and again nothing. He stood still listening. Not a twig snapped, nor leaf crinkled, but he could still feel it.
He moved away from the clearing into the brush and circled around. He moved as quietly as he could, but when he stopped, he was alone.
Royce stood puzzled. He looked for tracks, where he saw the figures, but none existed, not even a bent blade of grass. At last, he gave up and returned to where he left the others.
“All’s well?” Hadrian asked, sitting atop Mouse with the sun on his bare shoulders and chest wrapped in broad strips of white cloth.
“I suppose,” he said mounting up.
He led them southwest along the highlands near the falls, following a deer trail that cut through the deep forest. It was the same trail he had found in his hours searching for a tunnel to the tower. Hadrian and Mauvin appeared to be doing better than expected though each of them winced in pain whenever their horse took a misstep.
Royce continued to look back over his shoulder but nothing was ever there.
By midafternoon they had cleared the trees and found the main road heading south to Alburn. Here they paused to check Mauvin’s and Hadrian’s bandages. Mauvin started to bleed again, but it was not bad and Magnus turned out to be almost as good a nurse as he was a sword smith, fashioning a new pad for his side. Royce searched through the saddlebags and found Hadrian a suitable shirt.
“We should be fine,” Royce told them, going through their inventory. “With a little luck we should reach Medford in a week.”
“In a hurry are you?” Hadrian asked.
“You might say that.”
“Thinking about Gwen?”
“I’m thinking it’s time I told her a few things about myself.”
Hadrian smiled and nodded.
“You think Thrace will be alright?”
“Tomas seems to be watching out for her pretty well.”
“Do you think they’ll really make her empress?”
“Not a chance,” Royce shook his head and handed the shirt to him.
“Arista told me you two were with Esrahaddon in the tower last night. She said he needed help with something, but wouldn’t tell me what it was.”
“He was using the tower to look for the Heir of Novron,” Royce replied.
“Did he find him?”
“I think so, but you know how he is. It’s hard to be sure of anything when dealing with him.” Hadrian nodded and winced as he pulled the shirt over his shoulders.
“Having troubles?”
“You try getting dressed with broken ribs sometime. It isn’t so easy.” Royce continued to look at him.
“What is it? Am I that entertaining?” Hadrian asked.
“It’s just that you’ve worn that silver medallion ever since I’ve known you, but you never told me where you got it.”
“Hmm? This?” Hadrian said. “I’ve had this forever. My father left it to me.”
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