“Codrin, we have agreed a solution for our actual … situation,” Drusila glanced at Coleus with contempt, then gestured to include Agatha, Saliné and me in the solution. Which was not true, but I could not protest.
I will speak with Codrin later. My plan of talking with him before this meeting failed when Agatha convoked us in her office, just fifteen minutes after I had left. At least I was able to speak with Saliné, and I felt she was calmer than – as calm as a seventeen-year-old girl could be in such situations.
“A temporary solution until we know more about the general state of things. You won the war against Orban,” Drusila pointed at Codrin, “but the Circle’s nomination can’t be changed before the mandatory ten years come to pass. That brings us to the Spatar role, the second position in every kingdom. We have all agreed to give this position to you.” She pointed again at Codrin, then remained silent.
“In what form?” Codrin asked.
“In the normal form; the King will name you Spatar.”
“The so-called King can reallocate the position any time he wants.”
“He will be advised not to do it. Before we go further, it was also decided that Vio will be your fiancé, and she will receive an important dowry, to cement some links between you and the royal family. As Vio is young, this can be reverted when we decide, together.” She pointed again at Codrin.
I decided nothing...
“Reverted … like the other one can do for the position of Spatar,” Codrin shrugged.
“Bucur needs you,” Coleus interjected. “We will make him understand that.”
“He needs me until he no longer needs me. Without guarantees from the Circle and the Wanderers…” Codrin gestured loosely.
“We can write an agreement,” Agatha agreed.
“The same kind of arrangement you give to the candidate King?”
“That’s not possible,” Coleus said. “There are no rules to gather a Conclave for the Spatar nomination.”
“That’s not my problem,” Codrin said dryly. “You are trying to sell me what you don’t have.”
“Let’s discuss this in the next Conclave.” Drusila glanced sharply at Coleus. “And, Codrin, please take back the Wing Talisman. As I said, what happened in the theater was a misunderstanding. Viler received some Assassin training, which I am sure you already had figured out, and it was supposed to be just a test. It was a great loss for me and for the Wanderers, and for me.”
“You know, Drusila,” Codrin said absently, “I prefer you when you are barking at me.”
“I can do that, if it helps.” Drusila forced a smile to her lips. It appeared wry, almost grotesque.
“We should clarify this in your High Council of Seven,” Codrin said, again absently.
For all her training, Drusila moistened her lips several times. “We can do that. You can keep the Wing Talisman as goodwill token.”
“The talisman will return to me when trust returns too.” Codrin stood up abruptly. “Please give me leave now; I have preparations to make for our return. Agatha, may I speak to you later?”
Agatha glanced at him and nodded; narrowed, her eyes revealed her surprise.
“That’s all,” Drusila said after Codrin closed the door. “Jara, please stay.”
“I need a favor from you,” she said when we were alone. “I have to recognize that this thing with the Wing Talisman puts me in a bad situation. Because of my stupid nephew,” she raised her palms. “Things are fluid now. As you probably know, Dochia is in Silvania to arrange Codrin’s marriage with the daughter of the Silvanian King – the first step to taking back his throne. Silvania has a strong army. With all this mess, he still needs us. Please keep what we spoke about between...” Her finger gestured fast, several times... “between us.”
“I will,” I said tentatively, and went out. I will not even try.
I found Agatha in our room with Saliné. From their faces, I guessed that not much conversation had happened between them.
“We need to talk, Jara,” Agatha said, her voice thoughtful, as if she was only half present in the room.
“Saliné, Codrin will come here,” I said, knowing that she would keep him out until we had finished inside.
“Jara,” Agatha repeated, moistening her lips. “I threw you to the wolves. Not because I wanted to, but because…” she moistened her lips again. “Because it was needed to save the rest of your family. You can curse me if you want, but it was the only way I could find.”
“Such a small thing, a curse, compared with throwing me to the Circle’s wolves. Are you a Sage?” Yes, she nodded. “Then is true that Leyonan will attack us.” She nodded again, one eye closed, the other wide open and frowning. “Codrin is more resourceful than you think.”
“So it seems. I did not know that he is a king’s son, but that is a different thing, anyway. We need to talk before your leave, which must be tomorrow morning. All the necessary papers to transfer Valeni to Saliné at my death should be signed by then. It may be that Codrin will buy you some more time, but I want to be straight with you. The Circle will come again after you. Now they use Leyonan, tomorrow...”
“What do they want?”
“I don’t know,” Agatha shrugged. “I am not part of the Circle’s Council. Leyonan was supposed to take you prisoner, and let Saliné go back to Severin. She is the ... Queen.”
“Stop with this,” I growled.
“I might stop, now I have learned about her and Codrin, but they wouldn’t. Arm yourself for the worst. Let’s see if Codrin has arrived, and what we can do now.”
I opened the door: Saliné and Codrin were talking in low voices, and I could not prevent a smile. It was the first time I had seen them talking to each other since Codrin returned home. They became silent and followed me inside.
“You must leave tomorrow,” Agatha repeated. “Leyonan will try to kidnap Jara, at the Circle’s request. It seems that you were already aware of this. Please keep this to yourself. I am a Sage of the Circle, and they will…”
“What changed your mind?” Codrin asked, his eyes fixed on Agatha.
“I started to believe that you may be able to protect them.” She gestured toward Saliné and me. “For a while,” she added thoughtfully. “Things will not stop here.”
“Why is Saliné involved in this? The Black Warrant is only on Jara’s name.”
Agatha’s eyes widened. “So there is a warrant on her,” she whispered. “Cursed be Cantemir,” she growled.
“It was not issued by him. Another Master Sage did it when Jara was only a child. This is how your savage Circle works.”
“Jara? She is no longer Lady Severin to you?” Agatha forced a smile to her lips.
“Jara is more than a friend to me.”
“Agatha, do you know how we met?” I asked; she needed a moment or two to collect herself after Codrin’s words about the Circle she was part of. They had come to her like blows. They hit me too, but I was not yet able to grasp what Codrin meant with that Black Warrant. “Six thugs attacked me in the forest. He killed all of them. A sixteen year old … man. Codrin is like my own child.”
“Just five,” Codrin said. “You killed the sixth one.” True, I nodded. “Why did you try to kill me?” Codrin moved back to Agatha.
“To save Saliné. They threatened to write a Black Warrant on her name too. It’s a powerful thing. And rare, as I know the Circle writes only one or two each year. Leyonan was warned that you would be the Lead Protector, and wanted your head before he could attack Severin’s embassy. Now I understand why. It may be that Drusila was not involved in this, and Coleus played her, but I am not sure.”
“How much I hate that Saliné is the new Queen; she should not be in danger,” I protested meekly.
“She was chosen only five days ago,” Agatha said, “in exchange for this little game here.”
“Aurelian told me that it was done on the first day of the year. They lied to me. They threatened to kill my family, if I didn’
t… So much pressure…” Saliné’s hands were gripping each other, and I took them in mine.
“I doubt that Drusila was unaware of this assassination attempt,” Codrin turned everything back. It was Saliné’s turn to need a respite.
“Drusila was involved, for sure, but she did not want a duel to death. At least, that was my impression,” Agatha shrugged. “Coleus used his voice on Viler. He has this gift of persuasion. Of course he knew about Viler’s pride and desire to match his fighting skills against you, and used his knowledge on that spoiled young man. He wore more gold than an infatuated woman.”
“When Drusila came,” I rubbed my temple to force my memory go back, “the first question she asked was about the duel. She did not expect a duel to death.” I glanced first at Agatha, who nodded, then at Codrin.
“We may learn the truth later, but the plot against me was wider than you think. Aron and Leyonan played together, supervised by the Circle. We have more pressing issues now. There were three guards from Leyona in Valeni.” Codrin stared at Agatha.
Agatha breathed briefly, without looking at Codrin. “And I thought I was good at this game. Leyonan sent them to find out when you would leave. They are gone now. I told them that you would leave in two days. You should leave tomorrow morning, before they arrive. There will be an ambush on the road to Severin going through Leyona. On both roads,” she added after a while.
“They should already be here.” Codrin rubbed his chin, then remained silent.
“Not in Valeni, but I agree with you, it is a four-day ride to Leyona, so they are waiting somewhere at Valeni’s border.”
“We need some more men,” Codrin said. “Can you give us twenty?”
“My old men. You threatened to take Valeni in minutes.” Agatha laughed, and despite her anger against the game played on us, her amusement was genuine.
“More like a turn than minutes,” Codrin said, a touch of amusement filling his voice too.
“That will mean war with Leyonan and the Circle.” Agatha rubbed her left temple for a while. “I am an old woman, and the Valeni inheritance will be settled today. So be it,” she cocked her head. “You will have twenty men.”
“Codrin.” I touched him, hoping to change his mind, and come up with another solution.
“Your men will not fight, but I need a diversion to help us leave Valeni. You … wanted to be sure that we would take one of the roads going through Leyona County,” Codrin massaged his chin, “and sent them to escort us out of Valeni. The road going through Dorna is too long.” He guessed my next question. “The shorter the road, the better the chance we have to escape unharmed. We’ve made a map of your northern lands, but it is incomplete, and we need to know what roads go over your borders.” He glanced at Agatha, and unfurled a piece of paper on the table. “Here is the fork where the roads to Leyona and Dorna split,” he tapped on the map. “The eastern road to Severin goes north from the one leading to Leyona. This area I know well. Here,” his finger marked another fork, “is where the middle road to Severin splits from the main one to Dorna. What I don’t know is where this little road goes.” His finger followed a thin line on the map.
“It’s used mostly by shepherds going with their flocks to the mountains. This area,” like Codrin, Agatha used her finger to mark a remote northern part of her lands, “has scarcely any population. It may help you to hide better. Somewhere, here,” her finger went outside the map, “in Leyona County, there are even smaller roads, more like paths, going east and west onto the main roads. There may be other small roads further to the north, but I am not sure.”
“Thank you,” Codrin said, wrapping the map. “I need to go. My scouts should return soon. “We leave early in the morning.”
“Codrin,” Agatha’s hand landed on his arm. “I will not apologize for what happened here, but I am glad that things turned out this way. Take care of my family.” She pulled back her hand brusquely, and went out of the room like a storm.
Emotions… I stared at the open door. A rare thing with Agatha. I realized that Codrin had left the room only when the door closed.
“You seemed lost,” Saliné said. “Codrin told us to be ready in the morning.”
“Then let’s be ready,” I sighed, touching her chin.
Chapter 13 – Codrin
As it traversed the wide plain, the first part of the northern road from Valeni was safe, or at least as safe as it could be. In the large villages, lined along the road like beads on a string, there were no good places for Leyonan’s soldiers to ambush us. The road swung right, when the hills appeared, small mounds on the horizon. Vlaicu took the front, and I took the rear with Vlad, the most likely place where we would be attacked. In front of me, their heads hidden inside common helmets, Jara and Saliné were indistinguishable from the other riders. Half of Agatha’s soldiers wore Valeni colors, half were dressed in black, with no colors. We rode at leisure, to keep the horses fresh. Severin’s guards were dressed in black too, and also bore no colors.
“First split at the fork!” I shouted before the road to Dorna would lead off to the left.
At the fork, I rose in the saddle, and watched the hills on the right-hand side: they were still a long way off. It was not the hills I feared, but the forests. Even with my spyglass, I could not see much between the treacherous trees, aligned, like some motionless soldiers, in tight rows about a half mile from us.
“Split up now!” I ordered after a while, just because we could not stop to search more through the forest. As we had arranged in detail at the castle, ten riders, led by Maxim, took the left fork, half of them wearing Valeni’s colors. Two of them had no helmets on their heads, just manes of blond hair flowing in the wind. Clicking along to the rhythm of the horses, their helmets hung, tied to the saddles. At some distance, I had another look at the blond men: they looked like good bait.
After a while, we left behind the place where the main road to Severin led to the left, and took the main road to Leyona. The next fork was closer, and we split up once more, as we took the small shepherds’ road to the north.
“Ride well,” Bran shouted, his left hand rising in a brief salute. I answered with a slight bow.
After a minute, I checked the forest again, to the right of us and behind. A mass of Leyonan riders were heading down the highest hill in the area.
“Gallop!” I shouted. Too fast... They’ve found us too fast. I did not expect them to be watching this small road too.
The road was in good shape, and let us gain some more distance – riding downhill is a tough sport. Going toward the mountains, the road in front was rising slowly. It was an open game; we could see our pursuers, and they could see us. At the forks, they split into three groups, ten to fifteen riders in each one. Over the hill, our road dipped, and I lost sight of them. They appeared on the top of the hill that we had just passed, some fifteen minutes after us. We were already climbing again on an even taller hill, although the slope was not steep. From that hill, we did not head down again; the road wound abruptly right, toward Leyona, going straight into the mountains. Far behind, another troop of Leyonan riders was converging on our road too – the second bait had been discovered. Twenty minutes of delay. It was not much of an advantage for us, but it was better than nothing. The first bait, led by Maxim, was still keeping one of their groups away.
On a long straight path, I observed that Saliné’s horse was losing ground against all the others, and I pushed Zor forward until I reached Vlaicu.
“Slow down a notch,” I shouted. “Saliné’s horse is lagging behind. Don’t look now, but check again in one minute.” Vlaicu nodded and I let Zor’s halter loose, to slow him. We rode in parallel for a while, and Saliné glanced at me, a touch of worry on her face. I smiled to comfort her. When she was again in front of me, I checked her mare. She was not limping and did not look tired, she was just a less capable horse; there was no way to extract more from her, even though Saliné was a skilled rider. I may need to take Saliné with me.
We turned off the straight stretch of road before our pursuers had turned onto it. We may have enough time. If only that horse… I checked Saliné’s mare again. If not fast she was at least steady. The road became filled with gravel, vibrating rhythmically under the iron of the horseshoes. With each minute, the rocky hills came closer to the road, and then we entered the gorge. I pushed Zor faster until I reached Vlaicu and Ban. I raised my hand with two fingers up, and signaled for them to take the rearguard.
For a half turn, we did nothing other than gallop, with no respite. That was when Saliné’s mare slowed even more, and there was no way to know how far behind us the Leyonan riders were. The gorge ran tight along the small river, and I could not see any valleys to the side that might hide us. Somewhere behind, a horse neighed, its sound echoing through the gorge.
I slowed down again. “Come with me,” I shouted, riding alongside Saliné, and we almost stopped. At my sign Vlad stopped too. He had the best horse after me. I snatched Saliné from her saddle, and settled her in front of me.
“Take the mare with you,” I said to Vlad. Ride at the front, I gestured to Vlaicu and Ban.
We galloped in silence for some time, a thin fragrance of lavender passing through her helmet to me. My helmet was tied to my saddle, and at that moment I wished both of us were without ring-mail.
“I am sorry that I slowed you down,” Saliné said, her voice muffled through the cage of her helmet.
“And I thought that it was the mare’s fault,” I laughed. “I will put the blame for this on Mohor. His purse is too tight.”
The road wounded abruptly to the left, then right, in a tight hairpin. Seventy paces further on, a huge rock partially blocked the road. It had been there for a very long time. On the rock, trees were growing like strange hair, and there were a few trees in front of it too. Caught tightly in the cleft carved by rock and water, the road narrowed to find a way around the block, on the left. Vlaicu and Ban were already on the other side when I saw the path. At the foot of the large boulder, I stopped abruptly. Vlad stopped too, and turned back.
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