Chapter XIV
“The Golden City”
A few hours later they rode on from Tarnvir. At Caeryl’s invitation, Alirah joined her in the carriage again. Before she climbed inside, she caught a fleeting glimpse of Kelorn settling quietly among the mounted soldiers at the rear of the convoy. She felt a pang of both loss and fright as he disappeared from view. Her stomach quivered at the thought that Darion might invent some pretext to kill the young man that very day.
As they rolled along that morning she did her best to pay attention to Caeryl’s stories, but her nerves distracted her and she was soon flummoxed by all the unfamiliar names. Worse, she found herself even more motion-sick than the day before. The vehicles went more swiftly that day, for with the reinforcements from Tarnvir the convoy could now be protected entirely by mounted soldiers. Alirah ended up spending more and more time with her face pressed close to one of the carriage’s little windows, breathing deep and staring out at the passing landscape to steady herself.
Slowly the day wore on. The sun rose to its zenith and began to fall again, shinning brilliantly in an almost cloudless sky. The Great Road turned to run more east than north. It climbed down from the flanks of the Egarines and lost itself again in Verusa’s primordial forest. After a while the warm air and the monotonous view of trees lulled Alirah into a stupor. Still gazing out the window, she slipped in and out of a doze.
Late that afternoon she sat up, startled. She thought she’d woken from a dream in which strange faces were peering back at her out of the woods. But when she rubbed the sleep from her eyes the faces were still there. She sprang back from the window with a gasp.
“What… What is it?” asked Caeryl, startled out of her own dozing.
“There are people!” Alirah exclaimed. “People in the woods!”
Even as she spoke her alarm faded. The faces had startled her, but they were not frightening. Caeryl leaned primly toward the window and looked out for a moment.
“I don’t see… Oh yes, there they are. But it’s nothing to worry about. Probably just some peasants. They hide like that sometimes even in my own realm. I imagine the poor things are even more skittish in this wretched place.”
Alirah nodded dumbly. The image remained graven in her mind: two children’s faces peering out through a screen of leaves. They’d been so young and shabbily dressed that she couldn’t tell whether they were boys or girls. A third small child had pressed against the side of a young woman who must have been their mother. The children looked very thin, but their eyes and bellies seemed large. The woman did not look out but held her head fixedly down, as if to hide behind the thick curtain of her dark hair.
Alirah recalled all the hungry stares she’d seen in Versek, and knew at once that here was a family even more desperate. Her first thoughts were of the food in Tryll’s saddlebags, and of the hard but filling biscuits which she now knew the legionnaires carried in plenty. Then some of Caeryl’s words, and Kelorn’s, rushed back to haunt her. She rounded upon the Princess.
“Did you say you’d come here to collect tribute from these people?”
Caeryl was startled. “Yes… Just the usual, annual tribute.”
“But they’re starving!”
“They aren’t all starving,” said Caeryl. Her words came quick and defensive, but then she blushed and looked down at her lap. She was silent for a moment, but then spoke with a slow, grim certainty, as if recalling lessons all too thoroughly learned.
“Not everyone in my own realm has enough to eat, either. And there have been times when many starved in Arandia, and yet we did not lessen our vigilance in protecting the Tributary Kingdoms. Anyway this year we are only taking gold and silver, even though we don’t really need more of those things ourselves. We usually ask for food or for lumber. But you can’t eat gold, or heat a cottage with it through the winter. So it’s the best and most merciful thing to accept from them now.”
Alirah blinked at her. “But… they could sell the gold, couldn’t they? And is anyone actually threatening them right now?”
Caeryl hesitated again, then let out an anguished sigh. “No! Not right now. I… don’t really understand it either. I try to. I try so hard! Modrin and the others… My father… they all know what we have to do and why, and they try so hard to explain it to me, but I just don’t understand. Sometimes I feel that I must be awfully stupid, or else that they’re right and we aren’t really meant to understand it all in the first place.”
“We?”
“Girls. Women, I should say.”
Alirah snorted. She looked out the window again in disgust, recalling Kelorn’s words in Caluran, and Modrin’s sneering in the courtyard the night before. Caeryl believes it, too! She thought. She thinks she is just a poor stupid girl who could never rule a kingdom on her own.
“Maybe it’s Modrin who doesn’t understand,” she said after a moment. “Maybe you should try teaching him.”
Caeryl looked shocked. Even the handmaidens were startled out of their apparent indifference. Pala gasped, but Irelle gave a quick snort of a laugh. Caeryl turned a glare upon her and the older handmaiden looked down at her hands quickly.
“You mustn’t say things like that,” said Caeryl, shaking her head. “Especially not to me. Think if he heard you?”
“I don’t care if he does,” said Alirah. “I may not know much, but I know it’s wrong to take things from starving people. And for what? So that you can protect them from nobody?”
Caeryl sighed again. Her hands clenched into tight fists and her face set in lines of pain.
“You sound just like Vidun,” she murmured.
“Who’s Vidun?” asked Alirah, cautiously. The Princess’ sudden distress had taken her aback.
“He was my tutor,” whispered Caeryl. “I… I used to love him so. It was like having a second father. And I thought he loved me. But I know now that he was a traitor, all along. He was just trying to make me soft and weak and turn me against my real father. Modrin found him out. And he didn’t even try to defend himself! He just vanished without a trace, without a goodbye, as if I’d never meant anything to him…”
Caeryl trailed off, choked by anger and distressing memories. She had long ceased to look at Alirah and instead stared down at her white hands. Alirah lowered her own eyes, abashed.
“I’m sorry…” she murmured at last. “I’m sorry for what happened, and sorry if I offended you. I didn’t mean to. But whatever the trouble is, it’s not just that you’re a girl. I mean, there have been queens who ruled Arandia, haven’t there?”
“So the stories say,” sighed Caeryl. “But that was a long time ago, when the world was a different place. A better place, or so everyone says. It was probably a lot easier to rule back then.”
For a few minutes they rolled on in silence. Caeryl continued to stare at nothing, as if lost in her memories, but slowly her distress subsided. At length a faint smile brightened her face. When she spoke again her voice was soft and mischievous.
“You know, I always did love those old stories. About the princesses and the queens who really did things. Vidun used to tell them to me when I was little, when he still seemed so good. I can still remember them all. And there’s one of those old princesses that you remind me of. Have you ever heard of our Princess Erilyn? Erilyn of the Silver Bow?”
Alirah shook her head.
“Well, Erilyn never ruled Arandia,” said Caeryl. “She was never heir to the throne. But she fought for our kingdom. She saved it, really, after her father was killed by the Drûn. You remind me of her. Of how I always pictured her, anyway. Although she was an archer rather than a swordswoman, as you’d expect.”
Suddenly Caeryl clapped her hands in delight. Her eyes shone. “Oh! I have a wonderful idea!”
“What is it?” asked Alirah.
“Oh, you’ll see. It’ll be a surprise. Let’s just say I’ve thoug
ht of a way to reward you properly for all that you’ve done. I can’t wait until we get home!”
“You don’t need to give me anything,” said Alirah, blushing. “I really wasn’t looking for a reward.”
“Nonsense! That’s all the more reason you should have one. Father may make you a Lady of the Realm for what you did. But what I’ve got in mind is something special. I promise you’ll like it.”
“Well… Okay,” said Alirah, sighing but managing a smile. “Just as long as it’s not a silver bow of my own. I’m useless with a bow. My mother used to tear her hair out trying to teach me, but I could barely hit a deer if it was grazing at my feet.”
For the rest of the day they rode on through deep forests. When the sun dropped below the peaks of the Egarines, which were now receding in the west, the royal convoy made a rough camp in as large a clearing as could be found. For a while as she’d talked with Caeryl, Alirah had forgotten that morning’s fears; but as soon as she stepped out of the carriage she ran in search of Kelorn. She felt powerfully relieved to find him safe and sound, setting up a little camp of his own on the outskirts of the legionnaires’ tents.
“I’m fine,” he said. “Nobody gave me any trouble. Modrin’s thugs are keeping their eyes on me, but they haven’t said or done anything. But don’t worry about me; I can take care of myself. Just stay close to Caeryl and make sure she likes us.”
So the next day Alirah rode in the royal carriage again. By then, however, she was getting very tired of sitting in a little box all day, as she put it to herself. Her frustration grew worse later in the morning, when Verusa’s great forests came suddenly to an end.
The light that streamed in through the windows grew brighter and more golden as the trees failed, but she did not notice the change at first. It was only when a fresh, cool breeze struck the carriage in a sudden gust that Alirah sat up, startled. Then she leaned close to the window and peered out.
The royal convoy had emerged onto a wide, stony plain. Alirah’s view leapt out over miles of wispy grass that had been baked golden by the summer and now rippled in the wind. High above, little white puffs of cloud raced across a blue sky. The land sloped down toward a river which glittered in the sunlight a few miles ahead. The river flowed in a wide, flat bed between two high banks, and its waters were divided into many shallow channels that wound among pebbly islets.
A mighty bridge of pale stone reached from one high bank to the other, spanning all the river’s channels atop high pillars. A small but prosperous town stood on the far side of the bridge. Many of its little buildings were made of stone and roofed with faded red tiles. Upon a tall pole in the center of the town, the blue and gold banner of Arandia rippled in the wind.
Caeryl leaned close to the window next to Alirah for a moment, then sat back upon her seat with a smile.
“That must be the Ramirn River. The village is called Tal Ramirn. Once we cross over we will be in my own realm.”
“Really? That’s wonderful!” cried Alirah.
She felt a thrill of excitement. After so many weeks of journeying they had come to Arandia at last! For a few moments she stayed up close to the window, trying to take in as much of the view as she could and enjoying the feel of the breeze upon her face. Then her neck began to hurt. She leaned back with a heavy sigh. Suddenly the carriage seemed smaller and stuffier than ever. Caeryl noticed her frustration and understood it in a flash.
“You know, you don’t have to stay in here with me if you don’t want to,” she murmured.
“I would like to ride out in the open again,” said Alirah. “But why don’t you just come with me? Wouldn’t you like to be outside too? Especially today! The air feels so cool and wonderful!”
Caeryl’s eyes lit up, but then dimmed again. “I don’t think Lord Modrin would approve of that.”
“So?” cried Alirah, exasperated. “Why does he have to approve? You’re the princess, aren’t you? And how is it any of his business whether you ride in a carriage or on a horse?”
“He says it’s unseemly.”
“Unseemly?”
“Unseemly for a grown-up Princess of Arandia to go bouncing about, perched atop a horse for all to see.” Caeryl made her voice sharp and stern in imitation of Modrin’s.
Alirah stared at her for a moment, dumbfounded. Then she growled in frustration. “No. That’s just stupid! There’s nothing unseemly about riding. You’d have to ride sidesaddle of course, unless you put some pants on; but there’s nothing wrong with doing that! You were doing it when we met!”
“And look how well that turned out,” muttered Caeryl.
“Only because a bunch of thugs attacked you! Now it’s bright and sunny and nobody’s around but us. There’s no reason at all you shouldn’t ride outside if you want to!”
Caeryl hesitated for another few seconds, looking scared. Then slowly she broke into a smile. When she spoke her voice was breathless with excitement, as if she were agreeing to some truly daring adventure.
“Okay… I’ll do it. I will ride outside like everyone else! As soon as we stop for lunch, I’ll have them get a horse ready.”
Alirah grinned.
The convoy paused briefly for lunch less than an hour later. As soon as the carriage rolled to a halt, Alirah sprang out the door and took a deep breath. Then she dashed over to Kelorn and their horses. As soon as she was mounted upon Tryll she rode back up to the front of the convoy where she assumed Caeryl would take her place. She badgered Kelorn into coming forward with her, though he insisted upon keeping his distance from the Princess herself.
“If she asks for me, that’s one thing,” he said in a low voice. “But if I just ride up alongside her it’ll make a lot people nervous, or even angry. You watch yourself, too. Remember, out here a lot of people can see you and hear what you say.”
Alirah noticed two men following them as they rode forward. They were the two armed men who had stood next to Lord Modrin when she’d first laid eyes on him. Now that she looked at them again, she wondered if they were really soldiers at all. They wore bright mailshirts, but no obvious livery to identify them either as Royal Guards or members of some other force. Also, they did not bear the short-swords and squarish shields emblazoned with the golden dragon that most of the legionnaires did. One bore a war-axe at his side and carried a battered, round shield. The other carried no shield at all, but had a great hand-and-a-half sword slung across his back in a metal scabbard. The swordsman was very tall, and had a scruffy black beard to match black hair and black eyes. The axe-bearer was shorter but broader, with a shaved head. Both of them looked older than most of the other soldiers, well past forty, with lined and weathered faces.
Kelorn noticed her gaze and hissed under his breath.
“Don’t stare at them!”
Alirah looked away quickly.
“I’ve heard of them,” Kelorn continued, in a low voice. “The shorter one with the axe is Gerrick, and the tall one is Drennar. They’re Modrin’s personal bodyguards, but they’re also close friends with the King. Everyone knows they’re pretty much above the law; so even most of the soldiers are afraid of them. Don’t do anything to make them mad.”
When Alirah and Kelorn reached the front of the convoy, they had to rein in their horses and wait. Caeryl was nowhere to be seen. The legionnaires had finished eating and reformed around the vehicles, expecting to move on at once. They began to shift about and murmur in curiosity as the pause lengthened.
Modrin and Darion had ridden out ahead of the convoy during the halt. Now they rode back to find out what was going on. Darion looked immediately at Alirah with a faint, knowing grin. Modrin himself made a point of ignoring her. He called out to Aradin, the young captain of the Royal Guards, in obvious irritation.
“What is it, Soldier? Why are we still stopped?”
“I’m sorry, Milord. But I don’t think her Royal Highness is ready to depa
rt,” said Aradin nervously.
Modrin looked genuinely surprised. “Why not? What is she doing?”
At that moment Caeryl herself appeared, riding sidesaddle upon another beautiful palfrey. Pala and Irelle rode behind the Princess upon two humbler steeds. The handmaidens looked awkward and nervous, but Caeryl herself seemed almost to glow. Her long skirts were draped artfully around her and they shimmered dazzlingly in the sunlight. Her fair skin shone pink with happiness and excitement. Alirah could not help but smile at her, but at the same time she felt a sharp twinge of guilt.
It’s like she was locked in that carriage and I’ve finally let her out, she thought. Is she a princess or a prisoner? Will she be punished for this? Will I?
Ripples of surprise spread among the ranks of soldiers. Up and down the convoy they sat up straighter upon their horses. Some took off their helmets as Caeryl passed. She smiled and waved to them, and they thumped their chests in salute.
For a moment Modrin gazed at Caeryl in obvious astonishment. Then his expression darkened into a glower. At last he turned to look upon Alirah. She forced herself to look away as if oblivious, but she could still feel his eyes piercing her like blades. It was all she could do to keep from writhing in her saddle.
Caeryl looked more and more scared as she approached the First Minister, but when Modrin turned back towards her his expression had become serene again. His voice held only mild surprise.
“I had thought we’d decided that it would be safer and more appropriate for you to remain in your carriage, your Highness.”
“We… we had,” stammered Caeryl. “But it’s just too beautiful today, Lord Modrin. Especially now that we’re out of that interminable forest! I hope… I mean, I trust that it won’t be a problem?”
Her tone wavered between that of a princess, aloof and commanding, and that of a nervous child pleading with a strict parent. Modrin hesitated a moment. Alirah felt certain that somehow, in some way, it would be a problem. She expected him to order Caeryl back into the carriage, and she expected Caeryl to go. Instead the First Minister only smiled thinly.
“Of course not, my Dear. But now, if your Highnesses are quite ready, may I give the signal to depart? We must cover many miles yet before nightfall.”
“By all means,” said Caeryl, sounding relieved.
Modrin nodded once more in deference, then gestured curtly toward Aradin. The young captain immediately began to bark out orders which were repeated up and down the ranks. At once all of the horsemen and drivers urged their steeds forward at a walk. Modrin turned away and rode back to his spot out in front. Darion followed him. Alirah, Caeryl, and the handmaidens were left alone inside a loose circle of Royal Guards.
The convoy spent more than an hour riding down to the Ramirn River. When they reached the great bridge, Alirah found that it was even more impressive than she’d imagined from afar. Its mighty pillars joined together in grand arches as they rose, and the tops of these arches formed rails to guard travelers while they crossed. Overall the bridge spanned nearly half a mile from bank to bank. It rose and fell in a gentle arc, so that at its center the road stood more than fifty feet above the glittering channels of the river. Seagulls flocked and wailed overhead, and from that high vantage point Alirah saw a hazy gleam to the south which hinted at the sea.
The vehicles and shod horses made a great clamor on the stones of the bridge. Also, at the moment when Caeryl’s palfrey stepped onto the Arandian shore, the convoy’s heralds sounded a fanfare upon their golden trumpets. Between the racket and the fanfare and the spectacle of the legionnaires in their gleaming steel, many of the townsfolk rushed out to see what was happening. Soon hundreds of people lined the sides of the Great Road.
The legionnaires immediately closed ranks around Caeryl and the wagons. Modrin and Darion hastened back to ride within the soldiers’ perimeter. Alirah felt a sudden, charged tension in the convoy. Everyone seemed to expect an attack at any moment, but she could not imagine why this was so. Murmurs of wonder and joy, not anger, spread through the crowd as they saw Caeryl and guessed who she was. People in the back pushed forward and craned their necks, trying to get a better view. Parents held up small children so that they could see. Many people began to wave and cheer. Caeryl waved back at everyone, looking a little scared but still radiantly happy; and all the more beautiful for her hint of bashfulness.
They love her, Alirah realized.
She felt shaken to her core. All at once Caeryl seemed every inch a beloved Princess: the cherished daughter of a whole nation returning home. Riding next to her, Alirah felt coarse and rustic. Even compared to the two handmaidens she felt she must seem like an unlovely creature, all windburn and road dust and calluses, wearing a boy’s clothes. She caught the eyes of many in the crowd who frowned at her, and suddenly she shared their questions. Who am I? What am I doing here?
But as they rolled further into the town she saw that the people did not all love their beautiful princess. Among the cheering crowds were many that glared back at the convoy with hard eyes and stony faces. Some wore expressions of outright loathing. They stood out in little groups among the happy multitudes, easily noticeable for their lack of excitement.
Nonetheless, the convoy passed through Tal Ramirn without incident. As they rode into the countryside beyond the town Alirah recovered her pride somewhat. I came here for a reason, even if I’m not sure what it is, she thought. And it takes more to make a princess than a beautiful dress and time in the bath. At least I can ride a horse properly and wield a sword!
For the rest of the day they climbed up from the valley of the Ramirn. The Arandian side of the river was more settled and cultivated than the Verusan side. For a few miles beyond the town the stony plains were dotted with small farms and a thin patchwork of tilled fields. Then as the land rose and the soil became drier, the farmland gave way to a near-wilderness where only a few shepherds tended their flocks.
They made camp that night on a hard, treeless plain. Shade was scarce while the sun was up, and fires were scarce afterwards for want of wood. That evening Alirah noticed Caeryl spent a long time alone with Modrin at her lessons, and she looked very pale when she emerged from the First Minister’s pavilion.
For the rest of the night Alirah seethed with fury and frustration. She was certain that the Princess had been chastised, somehow, and expected her to return to her carriage the next day. She was pleasantly surprised to find Caeryl out on her palfrey again the next morning, but she saw at once that the Princess of Arandia no longer shone with joy. Caeryl did not look as often or as eagerly at the countryside around, and she did not chatter happily about her royal life in Arandinar. More often than not she was silent. Alirah had to pass the hours as she would have with Kelorn, carrying most of the conversation on her own and telling many stories about her life among the Kwi’Kiri.
They spent all that day and the next riding slowly uphill. Alirah did not see any distinct ridgeline ahead, but the road climbed steadily and the eastern horizon crept slowly nearer. It looked as if they were approaching the very edge of the world, where dry golden grass met the blue sky in a sharp line.
After lunch on the second full day from Tal Ramirn, sore and weary from her time in the saddle, Caeryl retreated at last to her carriage. Alirah rode alongside Kelorn once more. Just before the convoy halted for the evening, they climbed over the subtle crest toward which they’d toiled. Over the course of a minute’s slow riding, the world seemed to turn upon a pivot. The land stretched down and away again, and the horizon leapt out across many leagues. Alirah stopped in her tracks. Tryll actually came to a halt of her own accord, as if she were as struck by the view as her young rider was. Kelorn stopped alongside Alirah, grinning at her open-mouthed amazement.
The grassland fell in long, gentle folds, down into what looked like an immense crease in the world. Far away Alirah saw thick little woods spring up here and the
re, along with a rich tapestry of tilled fields and neat orchards. Isolated homesteads and small villages sent tendrils of wood smoke wafting up into the blue sky. In the uttermost depths of the vast crease, a huge river lay sparkling under the last, slanting rays of the sun.
Beyond the river the land climbed more quickly than it had dropped. A richly settled countryside hugged the great river for a few leagues, but then it gave way to high, forested hills. In the distance a new line of snowcapped peaks arose again and receded beyond the limits of sight. To Alirah, it looked as if the Egarines, after taking a break for a few hundred miles, had decided to rise up again and continue on their northeastward march. However, these new mountains rose higher than even the mightiest of the Egarines. Their summits stood thousands of feet above the tree line, and even now as summer waned they were clad entirely in gleaming snow.
Among the green hills beneath the first high peaks, Alirah saw a gleam of gold. It shone like a brilliant spark, clear and bright against the green backdrop. She squinted at it, trying to make out what it could be.
“That river is the Isedwyn,” said Kelorn proudly. “It is the biggest river in the world, as far as I know. And it’s the heart of the Kingdom of Arandia. Beyond it are the Imperial Mountains. What you see shining there at their feet is gold leaf upon the domes and towers of Arandinar. That’s why they call it the Golden City.”
It took three days to climb down to the great river, and another day to cross it. No bridge spanned the Isedwyn for almost a thousand miles of its course, up from where the port city of Cadirn stood beside its many mouths. Where it met the Great Road its waters spread out for at least a mile. The river was shallow and lost among forests of reeds along its banks, but was so deep in its center that big ships from the sea could navigate up it with ease.
The royal convoy crossed over the Isedwyn atop broad, flat ferries crewed by burly, sun-browned men. They then spent three more days climbing up from the great river. Time had not passed so slowly for Alirah since Kelorn had first delivered his message in the Council Tent and she’d realized that she must journey back with him. Her thoughts bent in vain upon the Arandinar as she approached it. She felt certain that whatever she was supposed to do, she must do it there. Wild hopes and fears played endlessly in her mind. She could not sit still upon her saddle, and she could not pay attention when anyone spoke to her.
At their southwestern end, the Imperial Mountains thrust out two last arms of lower peaks. The Great Road climbed over the skirts of the southern arm, and then dropped down into a deep, wedge-shaped valley which lay between the arms. On the third day since crossing the Isedwyn, the royal convoy came to a high, open spot where the forest which covered most of the foothills gave way. From that place Alirah had her first clear view of the valley, and of the Golden City which lay at its head.
Arandinar stood upon a cluster of hills at the feet of Mount Corune, which was the tallest and most rugged of the valley’s encircling mountains. A mighty wall of gray stone encircled the entire city. The wall was forty feet high at its lowest point, and it rose and fell in accordance with the hillsides beneath it. Great gates opened to the southwest at the foot of the hills, while upon their northeastern heights sentinels on the wall looked out at Corune’s rocky flanks over a dim, narrow canyon.
The citadel of the High Kings stood upon the summit of the hills, surrounded by a second high wall. Far more than a simple castle, and vastly larger than the fortress at Tarnvir, Alirah thought the citadel looked as if a number of immense buildings had been piled atop one another. She saw a bewildering collection of walls, courts, and towers, all of which climbed towards a grand, central hall, where the banner of the golden dragon streamed out upon a tall spire.
Below the citadel, the city spread south and west down the slopes of the hills upon a series of low terraces. The largest and grandest buildings stood closest to the fortress. Huge swaths of gold leaf covered the roofs of these buildings, as well as the domes and turrets of the citadel itself, so that the heights of the city blazed golden under the high sun. Lower down, however, the buildings were roofed with unadorned slate, tile, or even thatch.
The royal convoy paused briefly in that open spot to make some final preparations before it arrived. Sergeants moved up and down the lines of soldiers making sure everyone was in good order. Even Caeryl, who was riding outside with Alirah again, fussed about her dress and her hair. But just as the convoy was ready to move on again, Modrin approached, looking grim. He insisted that Caeryl return to her carriage.
“Out among the Five Kingdoms you are safe enough, perhaps. But in Arandinar itself you will be in more danger. There are no few people in our great city who hate their country and their king. They might seek to do you harm, or at least make your arrival unpleasant. I will be returning to my own carriage as well, until we are safely inside the citadel.”
Caeryl looked crestfallen, but she nodded at once and murmured assent. She and her handmaidens rode back to their carriage. Grooms there took charge of their horses while they climbed inside. Modrin watched her go, gave Alirah a brief, disdainful look, and then rode over to the second carriage which he and his fellow councilors shared.
Alirah looked after the Princess, feeling sorry for her. She found herself hating Modrin more than ever, even though for once his concern seemed to be genuine. For a moment she wondered if she ought to follow Caeryl and try to coax her back out again. Then all at once Kelorn rode up alongside her.
“Go with her,” he said in a low voice.
“What? Why?” she cried, irritated. “I want to see the city.”
“It’ll probably be dark by the time we get there, and the carriage has windows.”
“So?”
“So for once Modrin is right. Even if they’re only curious, thousands of people will come out to try to get a glimpse of the Princess. And there are a lot of people in Arandinar who will be angry, rather than curious. You really will be safer in there. And also the fewer people who see you arrive and wonder who you are, the better.”
Alirah glared at him. She had no desire to just go and do what she was told like Cearyl had, but Kelorn looked very serious and scared. At last she sighed, made a face at him, and slid down off of Tryll.
“Well, you’ll have to take care of her then,” she muttered, passing him the horse’s reins. “Have fun.”
She walked over to the Princess’ carriage. By then the Royal Guards positioned around it were used to her. They did not look twice as she climbed inside. Caeryl and the handmaidens all looked up in surprise, however. The Princess initially seemed to be delighted, but then her eyes dimmed and she hung her head.
“You don’t have to ride in here with me, if you don’t want to,” she murmured.
You don’t have to ride in here yourself, if you don’t want to, thought Alirah. But she managed a smile that might have looked genuine.
“Oh, I’m tired of sitting on that saddle anyway. And I’m not used to seeing so many people. It’ll be nice to have some privacy.”
The convoy spent several hours riding down into the valley and then up to Arandinar’s great gates. By then the sun had set. Stars were glimmering forth from behind a patchwork of high, thin clouds that looked like wisps of shadow overhead. The gates themselves were massive, wrought of thick steel and adorned with gleaming gold. As the Princess’ carriage passed through, the convoy’s heralds sounded the same fanfare with which they had crossed over the Ramirn. This time the fanfare did not die away however, but was taken up by other trumpeters upon the walls. In the city beyond the walls Alirah heard dozens of bronze bells begin to toll in celebration.
As the carriage rolled up from the gates, Alirah and Caeryl both peered out of one of its windows. They had to press almost cheek to cheek to see out of the little opening. Alirah looked with amazement, and no little fear, at the crowd which swiftly gathered. She was soon glad she’d taken Kelorn’s advice.
> Just as he had said, first hundreds and then thousands of people came forth to line every street. Alirah saw far more people at once even than she had in Rusukhor. The noise of their shouting and cheering drowned out even the clatter of the horses’ hooves upon the cobblestone street. She could see the crowd’s uncountable faces in the light of a handful of brilliant, golden elf-lamps, as well as hundreds of more ordinary lights. Among the masses she saw laborers, craftsmen, merchants, scholars, and even a few farmers or shepherds in homespun clothes who looked as if they’d just wandered into town.
She also saw beggars. There was no shortage of men, women, and children in rags, who looked up at the royal convoy with the same hungry eyes as she’d seen in Verusa. There were others who glared with hatred. Alirah was reminded of those few in Tal Ramirn who had scowled while their companions had cheered; but here there were many more of them, and after a while they did more than scowl.
Rude shouts and curses began to ring out from hecklers in the crowd. Often the hecklers were shouted down by their fellow citizens, but others always took up their cries. Alirah heard shouts of ‘Down with Tyrants!’ and ‘No more blood for gold!’ Most of the crowd’s ire seemed to be directed at Archandir and the Tyrant Kings in general, but she heard a handful of rude and vulgar cries directed at Caeryl herself. Alirah was soon red with shame and anger on the Princess’ behalf. Caeryl kept on smiling and waving at everyone as if she were deaf, though Alirah saw her cringe now and then as something particularly awful was said.
For maybe half an hour the convoy rolled up through Arandinar’s winding streets. From inside the carriage Alirah could not tell how much progress they were making up toward the citadel, but she could tell that they moved forward ever more slowly. Now and then they came to a complete standstill. The soldiers on escort began to shout and curse at the crowd, which seemed to press ever closer and angrier in reaction.
The carriage had ground completely to a halt for the third time, and they’d been sitting still for nearly a minute, when suddenly something struck the outside of the carriage with a resounding thwack. The impact reverberated through the carriage and made it rock a little on its wheels. Alirah gasped and leapt back instinctively from the window, though she had no idea what had happened.
For a split second everything went quiet. It was as if that sharp crack had silenced every voice and every echo ringing off the stones. Then in the eerie stillness another thwack rang out, followed by two more in rapid succession. Only then did Alirah realize what was happening. People were throwing rocks at the carriage.
Everyone else realized it at the same time. A deafening roar arose from the crowd, far louder and far angrier than anything Alirah had ever experienced. Terrified, she reached up to shut the window on her side of the carriage. Just as her hands closed upon the shutters a rock sailed through the opening. It passed an inch from her cheek and slammed against the far wall behind her. The stone must have ricocheted, for she heard Pala yelp suddenly in pain and fright, but Alirah did not turn around. For a few seconds she could do nothing but stare out the window in horror.
The crowd had gone insane. Everyone was now either screaming in fear or bellowing in rage. A great press of people surged towards the royal convoy and the line of soldiers protecting it. In the night’s shadows they seemed to be all one writhing, living mass, rushing forward with an animal rage. At the same time, behind this surge, people were turning upon each other. While the fury of many people was directed at the royal convoy, there were many others just as angry to see it attacked.
Alirah stood there, wide-eyed and horrorstruck, until suddenly Darion loomed up beside the carriage upon Eilach. He’d drawn his sword, and his face was a terrifying mask of fury.
“Shut the window!” he roared. Then he rode out of sight.
Alirah slammed her window shut. She fell back into her seat just as Irelle hauled the other pair of shutters closed.
She felt as if she’d been struck blind. Faint lines of dim, reflected lamplight shone through the gaps in the shutters, but it took many long seconds before her eyes adjusted to where she could see anything again. In the meantime sounds loomed large and threatening in the blackness. The roar of the crowd grew ever louder. Terrified and agonized screams mixed into a sea of enraged voices. Horses neighed crazily and their hooves rang upon the pavement as they reared and stomped. More rocks struck the carriage. They were quickly followed by a number of softer but much heavier thuds that Alirah guessed must be the bodies of men or horses being shoved against the carriage’s walls.
Nightmare images played before her eyes. She envisioned the throng of people attacking and overwhelming the soldiers, hauling herself and the others out of the carriage, or just setting it on fire. Then, with a horrible clenching in her gut, she remembered that Kelorn was still outside. Suddenly all she could see was him foundering under that enraged sea of humanity: trampled, torn apart…
“I have to get out…” she gasped. Nobody heard her over the tumult, and before she knew it her voice rose to a scream. “I have to get out!”
She lunged blindly for the door. Caeryl and the handmaidens cried out in alarm.
“Get out?”
“Are you crazy?”
“No! You mustn’t!”
Caeryl reached out and groped for her arm, just as blind in the darkness as Alirah herself.
“Kelorn is out there!” Alirah screamed.
Abruptly the carriage lurched forward. Alirah tumbled back into her seat. She heard the driver shouting and his whip cracked in the air. The carriage picked up speed even as she scrambled up and sought again for the door. She found the bar which Irelle had drawn to lock it, but the black metal was nearly invisible in the darkness and there was some catch to be released that defied her fingers. Before she could open the door, Caeryl caught her arms again.
“No! You’ll be trampled!”
“Let go of me!” screamed Alirah, shoving her away.
But then she hesitated. By then the carriage was bouncing and jostling along at a great pace, and it was still accelerating. If she leapt out, she’d fall and roll when she hit the ground. It was more than likely she’d find herself under the carriage’s wheels or the thundering hooves of its escort. Her heart screamed at her to jump out anyway, but bent upon survival, her body would not obey.
At last Alirah fell back into her seat, trembling. The carriage raced on. The shouts and screams now fell steadily behind, until at last they dwindled to nothing. Soon the convoy was safe again. But whether Kelorn still rode with it, or whether he lay dying on the pavement far behind, she had no idea.
A Daughter of Kings, Part I Page 14
