“I am doing your work, my king,” I said, “at your request. But remember you this—I am Erekosë. I have been many other champions. What I do is for the human race. I have taken no oath of loyalty to you or to any other king. I am Erekosë, the War Champion, Champion of Humanity—not Rigenos’s Champion!”
His eyes narrowed. “Is this treachery, Erekosë?” It was almost as if he hoped it were.
“No, King Rigenos. Disagreement with a single representative of Humanity does not constitute treachery to mankind.”
He said nothing, but just stood there, seeming to hate me as much as he hated the Eldren girl. His breathing was heavy and rasped in his throat.
“Give me no reason to regret my summoning of thee, dead Erekosë,” he said at length and turned away, going back into his cabin.
“I think it would be for the best if we discontinued our conversation,” said Ermizhad quietly.
“Dead Erekosë, eh?” I said, and then grinned. “If I’m dead, then I’m strangely prone to emotion for a corpse.” I made light of our dispute, yet events had taken a turn which caused me to fear that he would not, among other things, allow me the hand of Iolinda—for he still did not know that we were betrothed.
She looked at me strangely and moved her hand as if to comfort me.
“Perhaps I am dead,” I said. “Have you seen any creatures like me on the Ghost Worlds?”
She shook her head. “Not really.”
“So the Ghost Worlds do exist?” I said. “I had been speaking rhetorically.”
“Of course they exist!” She laughed. “You are the greatest sceptic I have ever met!”
“Tell me about them, Ermizhad.”
“What is there to tell?” She shook her head. “And if you do not believe what you have heard already, then there’s little point if I tell you more that you will not believe, is there?”
I shrugged. “I suppose not.” I felt she was being unduly secretive, but I did not press the matter.
“Answer one thing,” I said. “Would the mystery of my existence be found on the Ghost Worlds?”
She smiled sympathetically. “How could I answer that, Erekosë?”
“I don’t know. I thought the Eldren knew more of—of sorcery…”
“Now you are showing yourself to be as superstitious as your fellows,” she said. “You do not believe…”
“Madam,” I said, “I do not know what I should believe. The logic of this world—both human and Eldren—is, I fear, a mystery to me.”
17
NECRANAL AGAIN
ALTHOUGH THE KING refrained from further outbursts against either myself or Ermizhad, it could not really be said that he warmed to me again, though he grew more relaxed as the shores of Necralala drew closer.
And eventually Noonos was sighted and we left the better part of the fleet there to refit and reprovision, and sailed back up the River Droonaa to come again to Necranal.
The news of our great sea victory was already in Necranal. Indeed, it had been amplified and it seemed that I had sunk some score of ships and destroyed their crews single-handedly!
I did nothing to deny the truth of this. I was worried King Rigenos would begin to work against me. The adulation of the people, however, meant that he could not be seen to deny me anything. My power had grown. I had achieved a victory, I had proved myself the champion the people wanted.
It now seemed that, if King Rigenos acted against me, he would arouse the wrath of the people against him—and that wrath would be so great it could lose him his crown—and his head.
This did not mean, of course, that he had to like me, but in fact, when we had once again reached the Palace of Ten Thousand Windows, he was almost in an affable mood.
Exhaustion makes us see threats from outside when really the threat is from within—the signals of failing physical powers: I think he had begun to see me as a threat to his throne, but the sight of his palace, his people and his daughter, the promise of rest and security, reassured him that he was still the king and would always be the king. I was not interested in his crown. I was interested only in his daughter.
Guards escorted Ermizhad away to her quarters when we arrived. She had departed before Iolinda came running down the stairs into the Great Hall, her face radiant, her carriage graceful, kissing first her father and then myself.
“Have you told Father of our secret?” she asked.
“I think he knew before we left.” I laughed, turning to Rigenos, upon whose face there had come something of an abstracted look. “We would be betrothed, sire. Do you give us your consent?”
King Rigenos opened his mouth, wiped his forehead and swallowed before nodding. “Of course. My blessings to you. This will make our unity even stronger.”
A slight frown came to Iolinda’s brow. “Father—you are pleased, are you not?”
“Of c… yes, naturally I am pleased… naturally. But I am weary with travelling and with fighting, my dear. I need to rest. Forgive me.”
“Oh, I am sorry, Father. Yes, you must rest. You do not look well. I will have the slaves prepare some food for you and you can dine in bed.”
“Yes,” he said, “yes.”
* * *
When he had gone, Iolinda looked at me curiously. “You, too, seem to have suffered from the fighting, Erekosë. You are not hurt?”
“No. The battle was bloody. And I did not enjoy much of what we had to do.”
“Warriors must kill. That is the way.”
“But must they kill women, Iolinda? Must they kill children? Babies?”
She moistened her lips with her tongue. Then she said: “Come. Let’s eat in my apartments. It is more restful there.”
When we had eaten, I felt better, but was still not completely at ease.
“What happened?” she asked. “At Mernadin?”
“There was a great sea-fight. We won it.”
“That is good.”
“Yes.”
“You took Paphanaal. You stormed it and took it.”
“Who told you we ‘stormed’ it?” I asked in astonishment.
“Why, you do—the returning warriors. We heard the news shortly before you came back.”
“The city gave no resistance,” I told her. “There were some women in Paphanaal and there were some children in Paphanaal and they were butchered by our troops.”
“A few women and children always get harmed in the storming of a city,” said Iolinda. “You must not blame yourself if—”
“We did not storm the city,” I repeated. “It was undefended. There were no men there. Every one of the male inhabitants of Paphanaal had sailed with the fleet we destroyed.”
She shrugged. Evidently she could not visualise the true picture. Perhaps it was just as well. But I could not resist one further comment:
“And, although we would have won anyway, part of our sea victory was due to our treachery,” I said.
“You were betrayed, did you say?” She looked up eagerly. “Some treachery of the Eldren?”
“The Eldren fought honourably. We slaughtered their commander during a truce.”
“I see,” she said. Then she smiled. “Well, we must help you forget such terrible things, Erekosë.”
“I hope you can,” I said.
* * *
The king announced our betrothal the next day and the news was received with joy by the citizens of Necranal. We stood before them on the great balcony overlooking the city. We smiled and waved but, when we went inside again, the king left us with a curt word and hurried away.
“Father really does seem to disapprove of our match,” Iolinda said in puzzlement, “in spite of his consent.”
“A disagreement about tactics while at war,” I said. “You know how important we soldiers think these things. He will soon forget.”
But I was perturbed. Here was I, a great hero, loved by the people, marrying the king’s daughter as a hero should, and something was beginning to strike me as being not quite right.
I had had the feeling for some time, but I could not trace the source. I did not know whether it was to do with my peculiar dreams, my worries concerning my origin or merely the crisis which seemed to be building between the king and myself. There again, I was still very weary and probably my anxiety was baseless.
Iolinda and I now went to the bridal bed together, as was the custom in the Human Kingdoms.
But, that first night, we did not make love.
* * *
Halfway through the night I felt my shoulder being touched and I straightened up almost instantly.
I smiled in relief.
“Oh, it is you, Iolinda.”
“It is I, Erekosë. You moaned and groaned so in your sleep that I thought it better to wake you.”
“Aye…” I rubbed my eyes. “I thank you.” My memory was unclear, but it seemed to me that I had been experiencing the usual dreams.
“Tell me something of Ermizhad,” Iolinda said suddenly.
“Ermizhad?” I yawned. “What of her?”
“You have seen much of her, I heard. You conversed with her. I have never conversed with an Eldren. Usually we do not take prisoners.”
I smiled. “Well, I gather it’s heresy to say so, but I found her quite—human.”
“Oh, Erekosë. That’s a joke in bad taste. They say she’s beautiful. They say she has a thousand human lives to account for. She’s evil, is she not? She has lured many men to their deaths.”
“I did not ask her about that,” I said. “Mainly we discussed broad matters of philosophy.”
“She is very clever, then?”
“I do not know. She seemed almost innocent to me.” Then I added hastily, diplomatically: “But perhaps that’s her cleverness—to seem innocent.”
Iolinda frowned. “Innocent! Ha!”
I was disturbed. “I only offer my impression, Iolinda. I have no opinions, really, concerning Ermizhad. Or for that matter the rest of the Eldren.”
“Do you love me, Erekosë?”
“Of course.”
“You would not betray me?”
I laughed and took her in my arms. “How could you fear such a thing?”
We fell again into sleep.
* * *
Next morning, King Rigenos, Count Roldero and myself got down to the serious business of planning our strategy. Concerning ourselves with maps and battle plans, the tensions between us began to relax. Rigenos was almost cheerful. We were in unison about what should be done. By now it was likely Prince Arjavh would be attempting to retake Paphanaal—and assuredly failing. Probably he would lay siege to it, but we could bring in supplies and weapons by ship, so he would waste his time. Meanwhile, our expedition to the Outer Islands would attack Eldren positions there and, Roldero and Rigenos assured me, make it impossible for them to call on their halfling allies.
The plan, of course, depended on Arjavh’s attacking Paphanaal.
“But he would have been already on his way when we sailed in,” Rigenos reasoned. “It would be pointless for him to turn back. What could he achieve by doing that?”
Roldero agreed. “I think it’s pretty certain that he’ll concentrate on Paphanaal,” he said. “Another two or three days and our fleets will be ready to sail again. We’ll soon have the Outer Islands subdued, then we move on to Loos Ptokai itself. With luck, Arjavh will still have his main force concentrated on Paphanaal. By the end of this year, every Eldren position will have fallen to us.”
I was a trifle cynical about his overconfidence. Katorn at least would have been less sure. I half-wished, in fact, that Katorn was here. I respected his advice as a soldier and strategist.
Next day, while we still pored over maps, the news came.
It astonished us. It altered every plan we had made. It made nonsense of our strategy. It put us in a frightening position.
Arjavh, Prince of Mernadin, Ruler of the Eldren, had not attacked Paphanaal. A great proportion of our troops waited there to greet him, but he had not deigned to pay them a visit.
Perhaps he had never intended to march on Paphanaal.
Perhaps he had always planned to do what he had done now and it was we who were the dupes! We had been outmanoeuvred!
“I said that the Eldren were clever,” said King Rigenos when we received the news. “I told you, Erekosë.”
“I believe you now,” I said softly, trying to grasp the enormity of what had happened.
“Now how do you feel about them, my friend?” Roldero said. “Are you still divided?”
I shook my head. My loyalties lay with Humanity. There was no time for conscience, no point in trying to understand these unhuman people. I had underestimated them and now it seemed that Humanity itself might have to pay the price.
Eldren ships had beached on the coasts of Necralala, on the eastern seaboard and reasonably close to Necranal. An Eldren army was pushing towards Necranal herself and, it was said, none could stand against it.
I cursed myself then. Rigenos, Katorn, Roldero, even Iolinda had all been right. I had been deceived by their golden tongues, their alien beauty.
And there was hardly a warrior in Necranal. Half our available force was in Paphanaal and it would take a month to bring them back. The fleet Eldren craft had probably crossed the ocean in half that time! We thought we had defeated their fleet at Paphanaal. We had only defeated a fraction of it!
There was fear on all our faces as we made hasty contingency plans.
“There’s no point in recalling the troops in Paphanaal at this stage,” I said. “By the time they got here, the battle would have been decided. Send a fast messenger there, Roldero. Tell them what has happened and let Katorn decide his own strategy. Tell him I trust him.”
“Very well,” Roldero nodded. “But our available warriors are scarce in number. We can get a few divisions from Zavara. There are troops at Stalaco, Calodemia and some at Dratarda. Perhaps they can reach us in a week. Then we have some men at Shilaal and Sinana, but I hesitate to recommend their withdrawal.”
“I agree,” I said. “The ports must be defended at all costs. Who knows how many other fleets the Eldren have?” I cursed. “If only we had some means of gathering intelligence. Some spies…”
“That’s idle talk,” Roldero said. “Who among our people could disguise himself as an Eldren? For that matter who would be able to stomach their company long enough?”
Rigenos said: “The only large force we have is at Noonos. We’ll have to send for them and pray that Noonos is not attacked in their absence.” He looked at me. “This is not your fault, Erekosë. We expected too much of you.”
“Well,” I promised him, “you can expect more of me now, King Rigenos. I’ll drive the Eldren back.”
Rigenos scowled thoughtfully. “There’s one thing we have to bargain with,” he said. “The Eldren bitch—Arjavh’s sister.”
And then an idea began to dawn on me. We had thought Prince Arjavh must certainly march on Paphanaal and he had not. We had never expected him to invade Necralala. But he had. Why?
“What of her?” I said.
“Could we not use her now? Tell Arjavh that, if he does not retreat, we will slay her?”
“Would he trust us?”
“That depends on how much he loves his sister, eh?” King Rigenos grinned, his spirits rising. “Yes. Try that, anyway, Erekosë. But do not go to him in weakness. Take all the divisions you can muster.”
“Naturally,” I said. “I have a feeling that Arjavh will not let sentiment stop him while there is a chance he can capture the capital.”
King Rigenos ignored this. Even I wondered about the truth of it, particularly since I was beginning to think there might be something more to Arjavh’s decision.
King Rigenos put his hand on my shoulder. “We have had our differences, Erekosë. But now we are united. Go. Do battle with the Hounds of Evil. Win the battle. Kill Arjavh. This is your opportunity to strike the head from the monster that is the Eldren. And if battle seems impossible
—use his sister to buy time for us. Be brave, Erekosë, be cunning—be strong.”
“I will try,” I said. “I will leave at once to rally the warriors at Noonos. I’ll take all available cavalry and leave a small force of infantry and artillery to defend the city.”
“Do as you think fit, Erekosë.”
I went back to our apartments and said farewell to Iolinda. She was full of sorrow.
I did not call on Ermizhad and tell her what we planned.
18
PRINCE ARJAVH
I RODE OUT in my proud armour at the head of my army. My lance flaunted my banner of a silver sword on a black field, my horse pranced, my stance was confident and I had five thousand knights at my back and no idea of the size of the Eldren army.
We rode from Noonos eastwards to where the Eldren were said to be marching. We planned to cut them off before they reached Necranal.
Well before we met Arjavh’s forces, we heard stories of their progress from fleeing villagers and townspeople. Apparently the Eldren were marching doggedly for Necranal, avoiding any settlements they came to. There were no reports, so far, of Eldren atrocities. They seemed to be moving too fast to bother to waste time on civilians.
Arjavh appeared to have only one ambition—to reach Necranal in the shortest possible time. I knew little of the Eldren prince save that he was reputedly a monster incarnate, a slayer and torturer of women and children. I was impatient to meet him in battle.
And there was one other rumour concerning Prince Arjavh’s army. They said it was partly comprised of halflings—creatures from the Ghost Worlds. This story had terrified my men, but I had tried to assure them that the rumours were false.
Roldero and Rigenos were not with me. Roldero had returned to supervise the defence of Necranal, should we be unsuccessful, and it was in Necranal that Rigenos also stayed.
For the first time now, I was on my own. I had no advisors. I felt I needed none.
* * *
The armies of the Eldren and the forces of Humanity saw each other at last when they reached a vast plateau known as the Plain of Olas, after an ancient city that had once stood there. The plateau was surrounded by the peaks of distant hills. It was green and the hills were purple and we saw the banners of the Eldren as the sun set and those banners shone as if they were flags of fire.
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