I straightened, looking round at the shocked faces. “Ha! You got one thing right, though. I do have all the demons of the earth on my tail, and they will be on your tails soon, and then your fancy clothes and jewels and your fat stomachs won’t help you.”
I strode back to Cal, whose mouth was flapping open.
Before I reached him, Shallack said in a low voice, “You see, Most Powerful? She is too young, too unstable, too wild altogether. I do not think her mind is sound. I believe—”
A great bolt of flame shot across the room, crackling and sizzling not far above the table. There were gasps, and several people screamed. Chairs were hastily scraped back. One crashed over, as its occupant made to escape the flames. Then they died away to nothing but a trail of smoke.
“If you would just shut up,” Cal said, striding down the room, cloak flapping around his ankles, “you would do well to listen to Drina’s news before you decide that she’s wild and unstable. Or perhaps you think I am wild and unstable, too? We have flown all the way from the border to warn you, so that you have time to prepare, and all you can do is insult us. Drina, tell them.”
“Here?” I whispered, looking round at the blank faces of the servants in the shadows, pretending not to listen.
“Yes, here and now,” he shouted, so loud that I jumped. Then, more quietly, “They will all know soon enough, anyway.”
Now that the moment had come, I hesitated. On the journey, I’d imagined myself talking to Yannassia in private, or perhaps with the commanders present. She would listen, ask astute questions, make quick decisions. Orders would be given, everything taken care of in a calm and systematic way.
But the atmosphere here was dangerous. Shallack had clearly been busy insinuating himself with Yannassia, and undermining me in the process. He’d never liked me, but he’d never moved openly against me before. He’d never been able to, for I’d always had Yannassia’s support.
No longer, it seemed. And now I wasn’t even sure if she would believe anything I said. But it had to be done.
I licked my lips. “The border has been breached. The Blood Clans have forced their way past our defences and destroyed them. They are even now on the road to Kingswell.”
A long silence. The room was so quiet, I could hear the clattering of pots in the kitchen some distance away.
Yannassia passed a hand over her eyes. “I thought the Blood Clans were defeated. They attacked and we repelled them. The war is over, is it not?”
My heart plummeted. Hadn’t she been reading the reports? “They were defeated once, by chance, because I was able to take Ly-haam’s magic. Without his direction, the enemy scattered. But we were unable to capture him. It was always likely that he would return, as soon as his magic regenerated. Why else would we ask for reinforcements, and for mages to be sent? But this time… I could not reach him. I could not even detect him, except very faintly. Our army could not withstand a massed attack of so many huge beasts. Swords and arrows are no use against such enemies.”
Her eyes narrowed, and she turned to Shallack. “Why was I not told all of this? You have been reading the reports, yet you told me nothing of the possibility of another attack or that these beasts could not be defeated by normal weaponry.” Her voice was sharper, more like her usual self. That was something. But since when did Shallack read the war reports?
He set his wine glass on the table. “The commanders and I agreed that the reports were exaggerated, Most Powerful. I had no wish to trouble you with rumour and hearsay, not in your present state of health.”
Shallack conferring with the commanders? Attending the war meetings? Reporting to Yannassia? He was acting like a war leader. Perhaps that was his objective.
Yannassia put her head in her hands, and that more than anything worried me. This pregnancy was wearing her down. She had never been well from the start, and when she lifted her head again, her skin was grey, like an old woman’s.
“Out. All of you, out.” Her voice was a croak. “Yes, you too, Shallack. Go. I will talk to Drina alone.”
The servants shuffled out of the service door, and the guests, trying very hard not to look offended, through the door to an ante-chamber. Torthran and Cal stayed, and Yannassia made no objection.
“Now, Drina, come and sit down, and tell me everything.”
“May we eat? We have had nothing since last evening.”
Yannassia signalled to Torthran, who moved around fetching us plates and silverware and crystal glasses. I couldn’t wait, and reached for bread, breaking off a chunk and eating greedily. Between mouthfuls, I told her the whole story of the assault, the mages’ failure, my own failure, the devastation, our desperate flight to bring warning.
She nodded thoughtfully. “So they are on their way here. How long do we have?” That was more like the old Yannassia.
“They are travelling slowly, a little faster than a horse’s walking pace, I would say, so several suns.”
“How many of them?”
I pondered that. “Hard to say. Many hundreds. Mostly land beasts, but quite a few birds, too. You saw the drawings we sent after the first encounter?”
She shrugged. “I… do not recall. I have not been much involved with the routine war reports.”
“Routine?”
“Honoured Shallack has been attending the meetings, and reporting anything significant to me. We assumed that the worst was over, that these people would disappear again, having been defeated. That the call for reinforcements was panic.”
That reminded me of a puzzle. “Why Shallack? I would not have set him down as a military expert. His family are merchants.”
“He offered to set up a private army to defend the northwestern border. The contracts were signed this afternoon. That was the reason for the celebration. It was a sensible deal, relieving the pressure from our own army. I saw no reason not to agree.”
I clucked in annoyance. “And he would have collected the black-bark, I suppose? That is how he would have funded the enterprise.” Yannassia’s face told me all I needed to know. “His business amongst the Icthari is in turmoil because of the Vahsi incursions. No wonder he is looking for another opening.”
“You are right. Of course you are. He was never altruistic, always looking for a profit, but it seemed a good deal for us when we thought the war was over. Oh Drina, I have been so foolish. I have failed Bennamore.”
She sounded so tired, so dispirited, that I wanted to rush over and hug her.
“You are not to blame,” Torthran said quietly, patting her shoulder. “You have not been well.”
“The blame is mine,” I said. “I am war leader, I have been in charge of the defence. This is all my fault. Shallack is right – I am too young, too inexperienced.”
“Nonsense,” Cal said brusquely. “And let’s not get into a competition over who is most to blame. This is an enemy that none of us have faced before, powered by magic and far stronger than any conventional army. We were lucky in the first attack, but no one could have stood against the onslaught we witnessed this morning. Swords and spears were useless, Ly-haam was hidden away out of reach, and we had no opportunity to use our magic.”
“Then how under the moon and stars are we to defeat them?” Yannassia whispered.
How indeed. That was the question.
37: Siege
How could Ly-haam’s army be defeated? I could think of nothing we could do against them. Everything had been tried already, and failed.
But Cal smiled. “There is much that we can do. Ly-haam is their weak point, and if ever he emerges from hiding, then Drina can take his magic and thereby neutralise the entire army. That is one possibility. Another is magic. We tried a couple of things, but we had no chance to use them. With some thought, we can come up with much more sophisticated devices.”
“They have their own magic,” Yannassia objected.
“Yes, but it is very specific. It enables them to control the beasts they ride, nothing else.”
“Or nothing else that we’ve seen,” I added.
“Very true. But there is something interesting about these people that we can surely exploit.”
Yannassia leaned forward, spellbound. “Go on.”
“These riders are… driven, somehow. They are like beasts themselves, full of rage which forces them onwards with no regard for their own safety, or sensible tactics. They are not following any military strategy, they are just a rabble, like a rampaging kishorn herd, flattening everything in its path.”
“So?” Yannassia said.
“There is no intelligence behind it. We should easily be able to out-think such a wild pack, given time.”
“But we don’t have time!” I said. “They will be here in a few suns. It is not long enough.”
“Indeed, but we have two very important advantages. We have the Keep, which has never been breached. And we have the Imperial City, which is protected by its own magic. We will be perfectly safe if we stay within the walls of one or the other, and Ly-haam’s mob will not be able to reach us.”
“But what about the rest of the city?” Yannassia said, appalled. “There are thousands upon thousands of people out there. They cannot all fit into the Keep, and only mages can enter the Imperial City. It is unthinkable to leave the ordinary people of Kingswell to face these beasts while we barricade ourselves behind high walls.”
Cal hesitated. “We must think of the greater good, now,” he said gently. “We cannot save everyone. They will have to take their chances on the outside. You must order an evacuation of the city immediately.”
“Impossible!” Yannassia snapped back. “Can you imagine trying to move so many people at once?”
“Can you imagine the consequences if we don’t even try?” I said. “Tell them Ly-haam’s beasts are coming. Then people must make their own decisions – to leave Kingswell or to try to hide. But they must be warned.”
“We can accommodate a few thousand in the Keep,” she said, frowning. “The nobles, of course, and some of the most important citizens—”
I heaved an impatient sigh. “No! Only if they can fight, or heal. The remains of the army must be brought in from the barracks, and we will have the mages here.” Yannassia shook her head disbelievingly. “Look, the nobles all have estates in the country, with walled grounds and their own guards, too. The wealthy citizens have carriages and horses. The poor will have to walk, but once they are clear of the city, they will be safe. The granaries are full, so we must depend on the farmers to feed and shelter them until we can deal with this problem.”
Yannassia was silent, her head in her hands.
“We are under attack,” I said. “We must secure the essentials of our society – you and your family, for leadership, and all those who can fight.” But I could see she was unable to make a decision so important. “Look, no one can leave this evening anyway. Let’s all get some sleep, and tomorrow first thing we can discuss it with the commanders and your law scribes.”
“Yes,” she whispered. “We will think about this tomorrow.”
~~~~~
The commanders and Yannassia’s advisors were no more decisive than she was. It was fortunate that Cal and my mother were there to give strength to the story, because if had just been my word I suspect nothing would have been done. But with three of us all telling the same tale, it could not be set down to the hysterical ramblings of a seventeen-year-old girl. One of the commanders produced the drawings of the beasts which had been sent to Kingswell after the first attack, which was the final convincing detail. The huge scale of the animals with their tiny riders had been set down to artistic exaggeration, but now it proved everything we said.
Within an hour the order went out to evacuate the city. Only mages, healers and fighters were permitted to stay within the Keep, apart from Yannassia herself, her immediate family and advisors.
“I should go, too,” she said wearily. “It is wrong for me to hide myself behind the Keep’s impregnable walls while my people are exposed to every danger. I should lead them to safety.”
“It is the leader’s job to fight for the city,” I said. “If we are right in assuming that the Blood Clans are heading for Kingswell, you will be the one exposed to every danger.”
That was the key point, of course. Were they heading for Kingswell or would they turn aside?
As soon as Sunshine had recovered from the long flight, I sent her off to watch for the Clans’ movements. The other two eagles, we discovered, couldn’t be used for that purpose. Although Cal and my mother could control and fly them using magic, they couldn’t make the connection of minds that enabled them to see through the birds’ eyes. That was something that only I, corrupted by Ly-haam’s blood, could do.
So far, they were following the Kingswell road very precisely. Their progress was slow, since they stopped occasionally to hunt, and then gorged themselves on fresh meat, beasts and riders alike tearing at the carcases. When they came to villages where the inhabitants had all fled, they moved through without pausing. They caused no intentional damage, but their numbers and size meant that they simply walked straight through, demolishing fences and even buildings.
Once they passed through a village that had not been abandoned, and then they ran berserk, chasing every living thing, human or otherwise, that they saw. When they caught a victim, it was mauled to death and eaten. But when a building caught fire, they backed away, terrified, and resumed their relentless onward march.
“Fire. That is interesting,” Cal said, when I told him what I’d seen.
“Wonderful. So we can get rid of them if we burn Kingswell to the ground,” Mother said acidly.
“I said interesting not useful,” Cal snapped. We were all short-tempered as we waited.
The evacuation went as well as could be expected, which meant not very well at all. The nobles tried to wheedle or bribe their way into the Keep. The merchants and shopkeepers refused to leave their goods unattended. The poorest had nowhere to go. A few people with kin in the country set off on foot, but most people stayed put.
I was in despair. “We must force them,” I wailed at Yannassia. “They have to go, or they will be massacred.”
“We have made the proclamations,” Yannassia said, her voice barely above a whisper. “We have explained it to the nobles and the guilds. We can do no more.”
“But we must!” I began, but Cal put one hand on my arm. I was vaguely aware of Torthran rushing forward, and then Mother, as Yannassia slowly slid from her chair to the floor, her face as pale as death.
I stood as unmoving as a statue while mages and waiting women and guards milled round the small, still figure crumpled on the floor. Voices murmured anxiously, then my mother’s louder than the rest – “Stand back!” – then more murmurings. And eventually Torthran striding from the room, the unconscious Yannassia in his arms, my mother pattering along behind him, followed by a great stream of people.
“Well,” Cal said, glancing down at me. “Looks like you’re in charge now.” He grinned at me conspiratorially.
There was nothing in the situation to make me smile. I had never wanted to be a leader of any sort, had fought against it every single step of the way. Even now, as Yannassia’s heir, there should have been many years before I felt the pressure of decision-making. Yet here I was, a reluctant ruler, presiding over a disastrous war, and possibly a devastating defeat. And although I was in charge of the evacuation, I had no idea what could be done to persuade people to leave the city.
But then the first tales began to arrive, brought by refugees from Wemborth. The earliest reached Kingswell by fast horse, followed a sun later by the carriages of the wealthy. I had no idea why they thought to find safety at Kingswell, since it must have been obvious that the Blood Clans were also bound there. But there they were, terrified and desperate, telling everyone who would listen about the enormous and unnatural beasts against whom no normal defender could prevail.
Then there was panic. The streets were
choked with wagons and carriages and petrified horses. Shops with supplies were besieged, and when their owners tried to turn people away, riots broke out and there was looting. Outside the gates of the Keep, a great mass of people pressed and heaved to get in. The gate guards stood in a line six deep to prevent them forcing their way in, but inch by inch they were pushed back.
“What are your instructions, Most Powerful?” the gate guards’ commander asked me, his voice calm despite the obvious worry on his face.
“Is everyone from the army barracks inside the Keep now?”
“A few missing, but most, yes, and all the weaponry is safely stored.”
“And what about the nobles? Have they sent us everyone trained to fight?”
A hesitation. “Some, Most Powerful.”
“Well, it will have to do. Close the gates, Commander.”
He raised an eyebrow. “And the city, Most Powerful? What are your instructions there?”
I paused, knowing what he was asking me. Do we abandon it to the looters and the lawless? But the answer was as clear to me as it had been to Yannassia. “The city has been given the proper warning, and all the guilds and wealthy districts have their own guards and watchers. They must manage as best they can. Close the gates.”
He chewed his lip. “I will do the best I can to comply, Most Powerful, but the crowd is growing ugly. May I have the authority to use force, if necessary?”
I smiled at him. “I have a better idea.”
Although I’d hoped for several mages, in the end Cal was all that was needed. A few blasts of fire over the heads of the rampaging crowd sent them screaming for safety. It gave the gate guards enough space to swing shut the outer metal gates. Then the two inner gates were closed.
It was the first time in hundreds of years that all three gates were shut. Now there was no way in or out. We were sealed inside the Keep.
~~~~~
“How is she?” I hadn’t seen Mother for several suns, but I knew she had spent many hours with Yannassia.
Mother huffed a sigh. “She will do well enough. She is just exhausted.”
The Fire Mages' Daughter Page 35
