by Pedro Urvi
“I’m so happy to see you!” she cried. With the excitement she failed to notice the blond soldier’s foot as he turned, and she tripped over it, sweeping his leg off the ground. She shot forward and crashed against Lasgol, knocking him over. As he fell, his satchel and bows fell from his shoulders, so that the soldier lost his balance and fell back against his partner, who had turned half-around. Both of them fell over.
“That’s… quite some welcome…” Lasgol said to Nilsa from the ground. He was laughing.
Nilsa, who was on top of him, was smiling delightedly. “I can’t believe you’re here!”
Very funny, Camu transmitted. Lasgol pictured him doing his happy dance while they were all on the ground.
“How can you be so clumsy!” the officer exclaimed angrily.
Nilsa looked up at him. “This mammoth tripped me up,” she said, pointing to the blond soldier.
“By all the icebergs of the north!” he yelled at both of them. “You’re soldiers of the Royal Guard! Get up from the ground!”
“The redhead,” the soldier protested. “She bumped into the leg I was standing on…”
“And that’s enough to knock you over? You’re going to have to stand up to the charge of a semi-giant, you waste of space!”
The other soldier did his best to justify himself. “She caught me by surprise. And this one weighs as much as a house.”
“You’re a disgrace to the realm! Off to clean latrines! Right away!”
“Me too?” the redhead soldier asked, as if it had not been his fault at all.
“The two of you!” the officer shouted at the top of his voice.
You were right, Lasgol admitted to Camu as he got back to his feet with Nilsa’s help. The redhead had leapt straight to her feet, showing off her great agility.
I know.
“Take care of the Ranger,” the officer said to Nilsa. “I don’t want to see him outside the permitted area.”
“Yes, sir.”
The officer left in a fury, cursing as he went.
“I see you’re the same as ever,” Lasgol said with a broad smile.
She smiled back. “There are things you can’t change. How are you?”
“Very well. In fact, you’ve cheered me up, you don’t know how much.”
“And you me. It seems to me you’re more grown-up.” She was walking around him in a circle, studying him. “Yup, definitely more mature. I think you’re even better-looking, you mark my words.”
Lasgol laughed. “Nonsense. I’m just as dull as ever.”
“Nonsense! You’re better-looking and more mature. Yes, that’s it, I think you’re more experienced, that’s what it is.”
“Well, at least it’s not better-looking,” Lasgol said, smiling.
Nilsa hugged him tightly and kissed him on the cheek. “Oh, I’m so glad to see you!”
“And me to see you!”
Nilsa moved away a little and gave him another look. She too had grown. She seemed more mature, less childish and shy, more a cheerful, determined, articulate woman, even though she was as clumsy as ever.
“How long has it been? An eternity?”
“It’s only been a year.”
“To me it’s been an eternity.”
“Yeah, it’s true, it does seem like a century ago.”
“At least you were all together. I’ve been here, in the big city, in the court. All by myself! Just imagine!”
Lasgol shook his head “No, I can’t imagine it, quite honestly. It must have been quite an experience.”
She raised her arms to the sky. “Much more than that!”
He smiled. “Well, I think you’re wonderful.”
“You’ve no idea how many messes I’ve gotten myself into!”
“You’ll have to tell me all about it.”
“You too!” she said. She began to stomp on the ground as though she were dancing from excitement.
Seeing her again had driven all the pain and sorrows from Lasgol’s heart.
I greet Nilsa, Camu transmitted.
“Camu wants to say hello.”
“Is he here with us?”
“Yes.”
“Tell him he can say hello, but no dirty magic tricks.”
You heard her.
Suddenly Lasgol saw her shivering and smiling.
“Camu, you’re tickling me,” she said, still smiling, raising one foot and then hopping away.
Don’t attract people’s attention…
I invisible.
Yeah, but she’s not, and she seems to be acting weird.
She always weird.
Lasgol shrugged. That’s true too, he had to admit.
“Stop it, you’re tickling my legs,” Nilsa begged. She was still laughing and hopping up and down.
Camu finally brought his greeting to an end.
“Is he the same as ever?”
“He’s grown. You’ll see how he’s changed.”
“Fine, but when we’re alone.”
Lasgol nodded. “Where can we talk in private?” he asked. He was feeling uncomfortable amid the soldiers who thronged the great central courtyard.
“Come with me. I’ll show you everything. It’s a bit of a labyrinth, all made of ugly dark rock. But you get used to it in time.” She was already on her way to a section of the fortress on the western side of the yard. Lasgol picked up his things and followed her.
It was true that the royal fortress was a maze of corridors, stairways, rooms and towers which would take him some time to get used to. As they went on, Nilsa explained each area and whether or not he was allowed in it. From what he gathered from what she was telling him in her usual hurried, rapid-fire way, was the Rangers were only allowed in their own section, which was one of the towers in the west wing. This was for the ones who were passing through on a mission. Gondabar and the Royal Rangers had access to most of the castle, even the Throne Hall. Nilsa, as the Ranger’s Liaison in Gondabar’s service, also had access to it.
“It must be an honor, this new post of yours.”
“It is. I was really pleased when they appointed me, even though I suspect Gondabar gave it to me because of the complaints the Royal Guard had made about the Rangers who were passing through, not because of any virtue of mine.”
“If he appointed you, then it’s because he trusts you.”
She shrugged. “Or because it keeps me away from him.”
“That won’t be it.”
“Well, before that he had me as his messenger and errand girl all the time…”
“Well, look on the bright side.”
“I do. I’m now a Ranger aide for everything, and not everybody can say that.”
Lasgol smiled. “That’s right.”
“One very important warning: never go into the barracks of the Royal Guard, and still less those of the Invincibles of the Ice. They go crazy if an outsider goes into their barracks. A mistake like that might cost you an ear, or both of them.”
“I’ll remember.”
“You can’t go into the court chambers, where there are always nobles visiting with their retinues and escorts, and of course never into the royal ones. You could lose your life.”
“I can imagine…”
“Here we are. This has been our tower since not long ago. The King moved us here – I don’t know the reason. But I like it. It’s like our own mini-castle.”
Lasgol smiled and looked up at the enormous structure which rose to the sky. It was round, with a pointed tip.
“The tower’s really tall.”
“Wait until you see the view, it’s amazing. You can see the whole city, and nearly a league away in all directions.”
“There’ll be watch-guards, right?”
“Yes, there are always two Royal Rangers on duty at the top of the tower.”
“Okay.”
“Come in,” she said as she opened the door. It was guarded by two Rangers, who gave a slight nod in greeting.
They went into the tower. Camu, are y
ou inside?
Yes. I inside.
Lasgol saw that the base of the tower was actually square inside. There were a dozen rooms.
“These are for the people who are just passing through,” Nilsa explained. “There’s room for four of us in each of them, though there are never so many people in here at once. Rangers come and go, but they don’t stay in the castle more than a couple of days. Gondabar soon finds something for them to do. There’s too much work as it is. It really needs twice as many Rangers.”
“The war doesn’t help to swell our numbers…”
“Yeah, the number of casualties we’ve had is appalling.”
As they went on, a Ranger came out of one of the rooms. They exchanged greetings.
“This’ll be your room,” Nilsa said. “It’s the best one.”
Lasgol saw two bunk beds at the end of a sparsely-furnished room with a couple of bearskins on the floor and a low hearth. There was only one window.
“This is the best one?”
Nilsa giggled. “This one has a fireplace and a window. There are plenty without luxuries like that.”
“Well, of course. Never let it be said that Rangers live like nobles.”
“I’ll light the fire.”
While Nilsa attended to this, Lasgol left his things on a chest beside one of the bunks. He noticed that the door to the room had a lock, so he shut it so that nobody would bother them.
Camu, you can become visible now. We’re safe.
I happy, he transmitted back and became visible.
Nilsa gave a little scream of fright. “I’ll never get used to his bloody magic!”
Camu looked at her, cocked his head and gave a mournful little shriek.
“Actually, yes, he really is enormous.”
“Come on, pet him, don’t be like that, he loves you.”
“He has magic… you know what I think.”
“I know, but come on, it’s Camu.”
The creature gave another little shriek, as if he were sobbing.
“All right… give me a hug,” Nilsa said. She spread her arms wide.
Camu shrieked in delight and jumped on to her, which unbalanced her so that both of them nearly ended up inside the fireplace.
Nilsa stroked him and laughed with him. All the same, after a moment her fear and hatred of magic got the better of her and she moved away from him.
“That’s enough greetings.”
Camu leapt to the floor and began to explore his new surroundings. Nilsa got the fire going and the two of them sat down on the bearskins.
“Tell me… have you seen Astrid? Her orders were to come to the capital.”
Nilsa nodded. “I saw her arrive, but before we could talk she was taken to see Gondabar.”
“You didn’t talk?”
“All I could do was say hello. I had to deliver some messages, and by the time I came back and looked for her, she’d already left.”
“Left? For where?”
Nilsa shrugged. “No idea. From what I could gather, Gondabar took her to see Thoran. I don’t know why. There was a short meeting, and she left in the middle of the night.”
“With orders from the King?”
Nilsa was biting her nails. “I guess so. He must have explained her mission, and she left at once to carry it out.”
“That doesn’t sound right at all,” Lasgol said. He was concerned about what would happen to Astrid.
“I guess it must be an urgent mission, and that’s why she had to leave so quickly. I was very sorry not to be able to talk to her a little.”
Lasgol breathed out heavily. If the King had summoned Astrid the moment she had arrived, it must have been because of something urgent and serious. This was a synonym for risk and danger. At this very moment she would be carrying out some risky mission for Thoran. Considering how advanced the war was, and her specialty, he feared the worst.
“Don’t worry, I’m sure she’s fine. She’ll carry out her mission successfully.”
“That’s what I’m hoping, but I can’t stop worrying about her.”
“That’s logical, you love each other,” Nilsa said, and smiled mischievously.
Lasgol was not only concerned about what might happen to Astrid during her mission, but also about the consequences for her once she had completed it successfully. The probability was that the mission the King had entrusted to her was murder, and of someone important. Thoran was temperamental and impatient. He would eliminate his rivals, which would put Astrid in a very dangerous position. If she survived and succeeded in her mission, Lasgol was afraid of two serious consequences: on the one hand the moral harm it would cause to her, and on the other that if she was successful, the King would entrust her with more missions of the same kind. Both of these things turned his stomach.
“I’m not at all happy about this,” he confessed.
“Astrid knows how to look after herself. She’s fierce and intelligent. Never fear. She’ll come back with her mission accomplished and without a scratch.”
Lasgol sighed. “I hope so. I’d like to find out what mission she was given.”
“There are some things it’s better not to know… Going by what’s rumored at the court, anyone who asks too many questions loses his tongue and then his head. The secrets of nobles and kings are things it’s better not to know. They can take you to the grave.”
“Who explained all that to you?”
“I have friends among the Royal Rangers. One in particular is more of a friend than the others.” She giggled, then blushed. “There are things they know. They protect the King, they see and hear things… Gatik makes them swear they’ll forget everything they see or hear at once. Mentioning anything to do with the King, no matter how small, is punished with the noose. Thoran doesn’t pussyfoot around. Both Gatik and Sven control their men with an iron hand. They’re risking their own heads. Nobody’s safe from the King’s temper, not even those two. That’s why they’re merciless with anyone who makes mistakes, among the Royal Rangers, just as much as the Royal Guard.”
“A pretty effective way of avoiding secrets leaking out…”
“You bet, and it’s not just rumors. Both the Rangers and the Guard have lost men for talking too much.”
“Recently?”
Nilsa nodded heavily. “One of the Guards was hanged for comments he made at a bar in the capital when he was on leave. It seems he drank… in bad company…”
“Bad company who wanted to get information out of him?”
“It looks like it. It’s not known for sure, but they were thought to be agents either of the west or of the Zangrians.”
“You mean spies?”
Nilsa nodded and bit her nails.
“It looks as though a slip can cost you dearly.”
“That’s why I only talk to Rangers. You know how nervous I get, and sometimes I talk too much…”
“But among our own people you shouldn’t have any trouble.”
“Exactly. I never speak to strangers. Just in case.”
“Smart girl,” Lasgol said, and winked at her. “I’ll keep my mouth shut and my eyes wide open.”
“That’s the way. And don’t be worried about Astrid, we’ll soon see her safe and sound.”
Lasgol nodded, grateful for the optimism. But he could not manage to quell the storm that was beginning to gather force within him.
“And now tell me all about it,” Nilsa said, “and then I’ll tell you a few things you’re going to find really interesting.”
Chapter 23
Nilsa listened to everything Lasgol had to tell her with enormous interest. She could not stay still, she bit her nails, clapped, cried out and made endless gestures with every new experience or discovery he told her about. When he had finally told her about the business of Isgord and his terrible end, she was left open-mouthed, her eyes like saucers.
“Noooooo! Why did he go so far? It’s unthinkable!”
Lasgol sighed. “That deep hatred he felt end
ed up consuming him.”
She nodded sadly. “I always thought that one day he’d see the light and change. I really hoped he’d manage it, in spite of what he did to both of us.”
“You have a good heart, and that’s why you wanted to save him, but unfortunately in the end, things didn’t work out like that. He couldn’t change.”
Nilsa shook her head. Her eyes were moist. “I’m sorry for him. A terrible end. I can hardly believe it. How horrible!”
“In a strange way, I’m sorry for him too…”
Nilsa smiled and gave him a hug. “It wasn’t your fault,” she whispered in his ear.
“I know. I tell myself that whenever I start to doubt.”
“Don’t. There are bad situations and bad people in the world. Some of them you can never change or avoid…”
He nodded. “Yeah, that’s what I think too.”
Suddenly she changed the subject and raised her arms excitedly. “I can’t believe you have a snow panther. That’s fantastic!”
Camu, who was clinging upside-down to the ceiling and watching her, started doing his happy dance.
“Yes. She’s a beauty, and very obedient.”
“You haven’t brought her into the city, have you?”
“No, don’t worry. She’s outside, in the forest. She’ll wait there until I go for her.”
She clapped her hands. “How good and well trained. I think it’s wonderful!”
Me too, Camu transmitted.
“Camu says he’s good and obedient too.”
Nilsa looked up at him. “Oh, yeah? If you’re good, I’m a Princess of the Kingdom of Erenal.”
Camu lowered his head and stopped dancing. He did not like the reply.
Lasgol laughed.
Nilsa wagged her finger at Camu. “Be good. Here in the Royal Castle they’re all very serious, and at the least little bit of nonsense they give you the axe.”
I well-behaved.
“He says he’ll be well-behaved.”
“He’d better be, and so had we,” she said, and there was concern in her eyes.
“We’ll be very careful,” Lasgol assured her, and put his hand on her shoulder to emphasize the message.
“I’m puzzled by this business of the Dark Rangers. I haven’t heard the slightest comment about it, and Rangers come through here all the time. Not only that, the Royal Rangers and the First Ranger are always here with the King. I talk with them a lot. For some reason they seem to like me.” She shrugged and smiled, looking down.
