The Poisoned Quarrel: The Arbalester Trilogy 3 (Complete Edition)

by Duncan Lay

  Swane paused and Kemal enjoyed watching the doubt on his face. Then Dina grabbed the Prince’s arm.

  “Sire, he is right. We cannot take on the Empire in a straight fight. They would not rest until we were destroyed and, even if we won, we would have inherited a smoking ruin. Both Gaelland and Kotterman will fall. It is far better to destroy the Empire from within and then take it over. Kemal is the key, and we can use him to unlock unlimited wealth and power.”

  Kemal saw Swane stare at her and he glared at the pair of them.

  “What if we were to take him back to Kotterman and say we rescued him from Fallon and wanted to return him to his father? That would get us inside, right to the Emperor, and then we could strike. We could take over the Empire.”

  Kemal was very aware that she was arguing to save his life but he could not keep quiet at this.

  “My father would never convert to Zorva. He would rather die!” he growled.

  “Probably true,” Dina agreed, then turned back to Swane. “But there will be another son, or relative, or noble, who wants the throne more than anything. If we can get there, we can find them and use them. Through them we shall take control and then, when we are ready, we shall become the true rulers.”

  “But won’t they have even more priests there?” Swane asked.

  “Not like ours. They can’t use magic. They are no more danger to us than a nest of ants and can be stamped on with as little effort.”

  Kemal fought to keep his face impassive. Durzu would certainly jump at the chance to rule Kotterman, no matter what he had to do. The fact he would be a dupe would not worry him, for he would always think he could outwit the Gaelish. Then Kemal thought more about it and could see a chance for himself. The Duchess and Swane did not know the Empire, nor did they know his father. If he could but get back to Kotterman, he could turn the tables on these evil bastards. He tried to make it look like he was worried but that he was trying to hide it.

  It must have worked, for Dina pointed at him.

  “Look at his face. He knows I am right but he fights it,” she said triumphantly. “Why just use this power to take Gaelland and fight Kotterman, when we can use it to take them both?”

  Swane grinned wolfishly and Kemal contorted his face into something looking like anguish.

  “How do we get there?” Swane asked. “And how do we survive this night without Zorva granting me power?”

  “Well, we have plenty of useless wizards here, doing nothing to help us.”

  “An excellent idea,” he agreed. “Take care of Kemal. But drag over a couple of the wizards and we shall see how Zorva likes the taste of their blood.”

  Kemal was hauled away and propped against a fir tree, a wizard’s ill-fitting robe draped over him. He closed his eyes but nothing could shut his ears against the noises coming from the clearing. He sent up endless prayers that he could turn the tables on them and that their plan would be their doom. But the stench of blood and evil filling the little clearing washed away his hope. He almost wished he was burning in Zorva’s pits rather than freezing here, with the evil laughter of those twisted bastards ringing in his ears. But their day of reckoning would come.

  CHAPTER 29

  Fallon swept the map off the table onto the floor and then tipped the table over for good measure.

  “Maybe they are still lost, buried out in a snow drift somewhere,” Gallagher suggested. “You just need to have faith.”

  Fallon did not bother replying.

  The snow had finally stopped the next morning, leaving drifts waist-high in places across the frozen marshland. They had searched the surrounding area carefully but had been unable to find Swane and Dina. Padraig had sent birds in all directions but even they had turned up nothing. All they had found were the bodies of Swane’s army. All those who had run off after the battle had frozen to death. It was unpleasant but at least it solved the problem of what to do with the survivors.

  “We have to have them. Until we know they are dead, we are not safe. And then there is Kemal. Without him, how do we stop the Kottermanis?” Fallon snarled.

  “They can’t get out of Gaelland. We can send out messages across the country and catch them later. But we can’t stay out here,” Padraig said calmly. “The cold will start to kill the men and we have other problems we need to solve back in Berry. The country is yours now. It needs food, it needs law and order and it can’t get either of those things if we are slogging around Lake Caragh.”

  Fallon knew the wizard was right but it was still a bitter draught to swallow. Victory had been sweet but losing Swane again had tainted it.

  “Right. Break camp. We head for Berry,” he said.

  *

  Fallon waved at Bridgit and Kerrin, rushing forwards to embrace them while Caley gamboled around them, barking to join in, while the crowds cheered the returning men.

  He picked Bridgit up and whirled her around.

  “Put me down you great fool! You’ll hurt yourself!” she cried, but there was a big smile on her face as she said it.

  Fallon eased her down and laughed, only a little breathlessly.

  “Enjoy this while it lasts, because we have a mountain of problems,” she said softly.

  “I know. But let’s at least enjoy today. At least I have returned with more food for the winter,” he said. “As long as everyone is happy to eat horse.”

  Bridgit pulled a face. “I don’t think anyone is happy to eat horse,” she said.

  “Well, the wagons are full of them. Hundreds broke their legs in the battle and had to be killed, or froze in the night. We’ll have to thaw them out but they’ll all go in the pot.”

  “And what about the rest of the country? Didn’t Swane strip the east of food for his army? And isn’t the west in an uproar as well without the nobles? And what are we going to do without Kemal?”

  “Tomorrow,” he said firmly. “The least we can do for these lads is roast a few horses and have a party!”

  “You and I have very different ideas of what is a party,” she said with a shake of her head. “We have so much to do.”

  “Did you need me, Dad? Did you keep yourself safe?” his son demanded.

  “I wish you could have been with me but you were needed here, to keep an eye on your mam. You know she gets into trouble without me,” Fallon said with a wink, picking up his son.

  “That’s right, only the other way around,” she said.

  Fallon tousled his son’s hair and put him down. “We just need to kick over a few rocks and find where Swane, Dina and Kemal are hiding,” he declared. “Then we can make Prince Cavan’s dream of a better Gaelland come true.”

  Bridgit stepped closer to him. “So I take it you’re not still having those dreams where you have destroyed Gaelland with your choices?” she whispered.

  “Not since the battle,” Fallon said, running his hands down her back. “Since then I’ve been having very different dreams.”

  “That’s enough of your blarney,” she said, with a smile. Fallon released Bridgit reluctantly. “I’ll start my hunt for Swane tomorrow. At least Berry is safe now.”

  *

  Munro looked down the street outside his shop. He had been followed for the last two days but he had easily spotted the watchers’ clumsy efforts. They had seemingly given up today but he was still wary. “This changes nothing,” he said.

  He had made it back to Berry long before Fallon and his men. He had heard news of the battle won by Fallon but nothing of Swane and Dina. He had ordered his men to keep working and gathering information, because he knew someone would want it, at some time, and pay handsomely for it. Then had come a message from Dina, brought to him by a magicked bird. They had escaped the destruction of their army and were traveling south, to Lunster. There the Duchess had friends and they would sail for Kotterman, where they planned to return with a Kottermani army under their control, then unite the two countries into one Empire, ruled by them.

  It was ambitious but she promised hi
m untold wealth if he undermined what Fallon was doing and prepared for their return.

  “Winter is biting,” Munro said. “And hunger will be biting deeper. They will have to send huge amounts of food to the east of the country, if there is not to be a huge famine there. We shall whisper that they are selling it and making themselves rich, while keeping the best for themselves.”

  “They brought in a herd of horses, as well as hundreds of dead ones loaded into carts. And they had all the supplies they captured from King Swane as well. That much food, as well as that fresh meat, will go a long way to feeding the city,” one of Munro’s lieutenants muttered.

  “Not if most of it has to be sent out again. And that is perfect. Everyone has seen how much food arrived in the city. They will think they are getting more. But when they get nothing, or even less, then the disquiet will grow. When the bellies rumble, then the people grumble. All we have to do is help that along,” Munro said. “Repeat a lie often enough and people start to think it is the truth. So get out there.”

  CHAPTER 30

  “Fallon, you need to wake up,” Bridgit shook his shoulder until his eyes opened. She had not wanted to wake him, because he’d looked tired, despite the brave face he was putting on things. But there was so much to talk to him about before he rushed off to begin hunting for Swane.

  He sat up, rubbing his eyes, and she handed him a warm tisane. He normally didn’t like those but she had packed it full of honey because she needed him wide awake.

  He drained it and she saw his eyes widen.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “I know you liked the idea of this Ruling Council, because it meant everything was not resting on your shoulders. I thought it was a good idea as well but we made some bad decisions. We let Prince Kemal escape. We have to be better now. We don’t just have Berry to worry about, we have the whole country. You already said the western towns are falling apart without anyone to tell them what to do. And, if I know Swane, the east will have been left in a mess. It could be even worse there.”

  “So what are you saying?”

  “I think we need to take a stronger role. Nola is consumed with worry about Brendan, because he can’t shut down the anger inside him, while Riona is happy to laugh along with Devlin rather than look at the serious side of things. And as for Gallagher—”

  “I know. They are all struggling,” Fallon said. “And you are right. I need to lead them more.”

  She hesitated. “Don’t you mean we need to lead them?”

  “You need to rest and take care of the baby. We can’t risk that,” he declared.

  “I’m sure I can handle sitting and talking,” she said testily.

  He pulled on a shirt. “We both know it is more than that. Long days of work and worry. I can’t let you go through that. Don’t fret, now that Swane is defeated, Aidan’s words won’t come true. I can do this.”

  She was not convinced but he was like a man on a mission, rushing around, getting ready to leave.

  “Fallon, sit down and talk for a moment,” she said.

  He shook his head. “No time now. Talk later,” he said as he hurried out the door.

  CHAPTER 31

  Fallon tapped the map of Gaelland that was stretched out on the table before them.

  “We’ll start at Meinster and work from there. If Swane and Dina aren’t there then we keep going, until we find them. Padraig and his wizards will open up gateways for us to travel through and then bring us back.”

  “We need to send not just soldiers but priests and food to every major town. Then we can spread the word that anyone who is running out of food can go to one of the big towns and at least they will not starve,” Rosaleen said.

  “And the villages?” Nola asked.

  “We leave them for now. There’s just too many. Besides, there will be many villages that don’t even know what has happened,” Bridgit said. “Some of them probably still think Aidan is King but it’s probably better that way. They are used to getting through the winter without anyone helping them anyway.”

  “None of that matters until we have Swane,” Fallon said gruffly.

  “It all matters,” Bridgit said crisply. “We can’t let the country slip into chaos, like Rexford.”

  “How bad was that really?” Riona asked.

  “Well, the manor was stripped and the people almost rioted. Those who had lorded it over the others were lynched and there were scores of fires as people took revenge for years of misrule. Pretty much like every party night in Baltimore,” Devlin said, looking around the table with a grin.

  “We have to win them over. They have to trust us,” Bridgit continued, ignoring him.

  “If we come bearing food, they have to like us,” Gallagher said. “And we bring them news that Aroaril is stronger than Zorva, and has won the battle.”

  There was a short pause.

  “How do we get the food to them? We can’t get carts through an oak tree gateway, only what can be carried,” Padraig warned. “And we can’t hold open a gateway for too long. Even with a wizard at either side, it is exhausting.”

  “Horses,” Nola said promptly. “They can carry it through and then become the food as well.”

  “Wait,” Fallon said. “Obviously any horse killed in the battle might as well go into the pot but the ones we captured are warhorses, the only ones we have. We might need them.”

  “We will need people alive enough to ride them more,” Nola said tartly. “And won’t they just sit around all winter, eating their way through fodder that we don’t have?”

  “It doesn’t matter. We shall still need them. The Kottermanis are still out there and a few hundred cavalry could be all the difference. No, we have to keep as many as possible.”

  “Well, should we not put it to a vote? There are seven of us for a reason, after all,” Nola said reasonably.

  “But I am the leader of the army and it is my decision to keep the horses for that. We captured some cart horses as well, those can go through if need be.”

  “But there’s two score of cart horses but hundreds of warhorses,” Nola protested.

  “My decision is made,” Fallon said. “If we still had Prince Kemal, maybe we wouldn’t need to worry about cavalry but you decided it wasn’t important to guard him.”

  Bridgit winced at the expressions on her friends’ faces and composed herself as both Nola and Riona looked at her appealingly. Her first instinct was to keep the people alive, not the horses, but Fallon was right in that they could need a cavalry force against the Kottermanis. And she had just spoken to Fallon about taking a stronger stand in the Ruling Council. It hurt to go against her friends but she had to back her husband, even if she was not sure he was right.

  “I think Fallon is right. We keep the warhorses back for now. And we can always use them later, if things get truly bad, or they begin to sicken,” she said.

  Fallon slapped the table. “Once we get Swane and Kemal back we can think again. They can’t escape Gaelland in this weather.” He pointed out the window, to where a fine snow was falling. “We just need to kick over enough stones until we find them.”

  *

  “I never thought I would be glad to see the back of that place,” Swane said, as Lunster slipped over the horizon.

  “I never wanted to see it again and I was delighted to leave it the first time, let alone this time,” Dina countered, drawing her cloak closer around her as the raw wind pushed icy fingers underneath.

  “Are you sure this was the best ship we could find? It would barely be allowed in the docks at Berry,” Swane sniffed, looking up at the rough sail as it pushed against the creaking mast.

  Dina grimaced. She had known that her underworld contact was gone, captured by Fallon’s men, but she had thought it would be much easier to find some of her former servants and use their knowledge. Yet much had changed since she had been away and it had proved almost impossible to find anyone she knew. Rather than bribe their way onto some proud tradi
ng vessel, they had to scour the harbor for something suitable. That was not easy, as most traders stopped sailing through the winter and had hauled their ships out of the water to work on the hull and refit everything that had broken during the sailing season.

  The only thing that looked remotely suitable and nearly seaworthy was still a poor choice, a coastal trader that had seen better days. But, between Swane’s powers from Zorva and the assorted powers of the remaining wizards, who had recovered on the journey south, they were confident they could get across the sea safely. Rather than bother with bribing the captain, they merely grabbed his family and gave him a choice—help them or see his wife and children sacrificed to Zorva. In a short time they saw the ship refloated, filled with food and enough of a crew rounded up by Kane and his handful of guards to enable them to sail in darkness with the rising tide, slipping out of the quiet harbor without anyone asking questions.

  Yet the ship was hardly comfortable, while the wailing of the crew’s families imprisoned in the hold, hardly made for a peaceful trip.

  “Should we not just begin to sacrifice them now?” Swane grumbled, fondling the bone knife he had made from a wizard’s leg to replace the crude wooden one he had first used.

  “We need the sailors,” Dina cautioned, delighted that he was still seeking her advice. That had been her greatest fear, he would think himself invulnerable with Zorva’s power and then she would be at his mercy and in danger of ending up on the sacrifice table herself. “If we start killing their families then they could do something foolish. Better to save them for when we might need them, if Finbar cannot keep us safe.”

  Swane nodded, although she could see he was not happy.

  “I will remember this,” he said viciously. “And when I rule the Empire, I shall live a life of luxury such as nobody can even imagine.”

  Dina nodded thoughtfully, although she reflected that she could imagine a pretty luxurious life. That was, after all, the only reason she was doing this. That and revenge on Fallon, of course.