"The same Dellman who is friend to Jilseponie? " King Danube asked.
Abbot Je'howith raised an eyebrow at that and at the way Danube spoke the woman's name. Apparently, that little spark Je'howith and others had seen up in Palmaris continued to burn. Constance, beginning her eighth month of pregnancy, would not enjoy the sight of that simmering flame.
Constance Pemblebury entered the room then, waddling more than walking, one hand supporting her lower back. Her look was not one of a woman in pain, though, but of a woman fulfilled and in bliss.
King Danube went to her immediately and brushed aside her attendant, taking her by the arm and guiding her to a seat in the audience room's only chair: the throne.
How ironic, old Je'howith mused.
"You do realize, my King," the old monk said, grinning wryly, "that the Church must openly frown on our monarch producing a bastard child."
King Danube turned and scowled at Je'howith, but Constance laughed. "How unprecedented!" she said with complete sarcasm, and then she groaned and winced.
Danube turned to her immediately, feeling her swollen belly, putting a gentle hand to her forehead. "Are you all right? " he asked.
Je'howith studied the man, his movements, and the tone of his voice. Gentle, but not loving. He did care for Constance, but Abbot Je'howith recognized at that moment that Danube would not likely marry the woman, not while images of the fair Jilseponie danced in his head.
Constance assured him that she was feeling quite well, and Je'howith seconded that sentiment, guiding the doting Danube away from her. "She has two months yet to go," the old abbot reminded him.
"And then comes our child," Constance remarked.
"My son," Danube agreed, and again Constance beamed.
To hear Danube speaking of the child with such obvious pride fostered her hopes, Je'howith realized. And what of those hopes? the cleric wondered. What course would King Danube take once the child, his son, was born? Would he employ the Denial of Privilege, as they had discussed, or would he be so overwhelmed by the birth of this child that he would accept it openly?
Wouldn't Prince Midalis be thrilled if that came to pass!
Je'howith couldn't contain a chuckle, though when Danube and Constance looked at him, he merely shook his head and waved his hand dismissively. In truth, the old abbot hardly cared which way King Danube chose to go concerning the child. Certainly, if he did not disavow the child's bloodline rights, the kingdom could be in for a difficult and messy transition, but that would not likely afreet Je'howith, who would probably be long dead by that time. And if King Danube did openly accept the child, keeping the babe, and thus, Constance, at his side, then the possibility of Jilseponie ever getting close toJe'howith's beloved Ursal seemed even more remote.
In either case, this situation could be getting all the more interesting in about two months' time.
Abbot Je'howith fought hard to contain another chuckle.
Abbot Braumin was surprised and quite pleased to see the visitor to St. Precious that day. He was a handsome man of about Braumin's age, with a slender but hardened frame and alert dark eyes that took in every detail of the room about him. He was a military man, obviously, trained in readiness.
The snows had continued heavy that winter, but word had come to Abbot Braumin that Duke Kalas had left Chasewind Manor, and the city altogether, for a trip to the south. And now this, an old friend, the return of a good man who had shared some very important moments in Braumin Herde's life. Yes, the year was off to a grand start.
"Shamus Kilronney," the abbot greeted him warmly. "I heard that you had resigned your post in the Kingsmen and traveled south."
"Not so far south, my friend, Brother-Abbot Braumin," Shamus Kilronney replied. He looked around appreciatively. "You have done well, and are deserving of all that has befallen you of late."
Braumin accepted the kind words with a nod and a smile. Shamus had been with him on that journey to the Barbacan, when the goblins had encircled them, closing in. Shamus Kilronney had stood tall and proud, prepared to die, when the miracle of Avelyn's upraised, mummified arm had sent forth waves of energy to destroy the goblin horde.
Shamus had been beside Braumin again on a second occasion in that same place, when King Danube and Father Abbot Markwart had marched in with their respective armies to take them as prisoners.
In truth, the two men hardly knew each other, and yet they had forged a deep bond in trials shared and miracles witnessed.
"The sky is thick with snow," Abbot Braumin remarked. "Why does Shamus Kilronney return to us at this unlikely time? "
"Duke Kalas bade an AUheart knight named Mowin Satyr to serve in his stead while he returned to the court at Ursal at the summons of King Danube," Shamus explained. "Satyr is an old friend of mine, and he knew that I have family within the city, so he bade me to come and aid him."
"Colleen?" "She is north, in Caer Tinella, I have heard," Shamus replied.
"Well, I am glad that you have returned," Abbot Braumin said, motioning for the man to follow him to more comfortable quarters. "You may be aware that the relationship between Church and Crown in Palmaris has not been a good one since the events at Chasewind Manor."
"Duke Kalas has never been fond of the Church," Shamus remarked, "at least not since Queen Vivian became ill and died, and the brothers of St. Honce could do nothing to save her. You will find Mowin Satyr more agreeable, I believe."
"For however long he might serve."
"It could be some time," Shamus explained. "That is why I have come to you. Duke Kalas claimed that he was summoned to Ursal, but none of those remaining at Chasewind Manor know anything about that. Nor, according to Mowin Satyr, is he planning on returning to the city any time soon, per- haps never."
Abbot Braumin couldn't help but smile and shake his head. He couldn't believe how effective his hints concerning the powries had been, further confirmation to him that Kalas had indeed engaged in some sort of underthe-table dealings with the bloody caps. He poured himself a glass of wine and one for Shamus, then handed it over.
"To a better relationship between Church and Crown," he toasted, lifting his glass, and Shamus was quick to tap it with his own.
"I wonder," Abbot Braumin mused aloud a moment later. "Perhaps there is something more you might do for me, my friend, if you are willing."
"If I might," Shamus said.
"Inquire of your friend Mowin Satyr of a battle that was fought on the western fields before King Danube departed the city, around the Calember before last."
Shamus looked at him curiously.
"He will know the fight," Abbot Braumin assured the man, "a quick and easy victory over a powrie band."
"I will ask," Shamus agreed, looking at the monk curiously. "But I say this now, my friend Abbot Braumin, I will not serve as a spy for St. Precious. I have come back to Palmaris because an old friend needed me, and I will do all that I can to bring a better peace between you and whoever is ruling at Chasewind Manor. But I will play no role in this continuing intrigue between St. Precious and Chasewind Manor."
"Fair enough," Abbot Braumin replied. He lifted his glass in toast again, and again, Shamus Kilronney was quick to tap it with his own.
Yes, God's Year 828 was off to a grand start.
Chapter 23
Doc'alfar
Too many wonders have I seen! the man wrote, the edges of many parchments hanging raggedly about his open pack. Oh, for the eyes of one man to so engulf the splendor of the untainted world! What a true blessing God has bestowed upon me, humble Tetrafel, to grant me these visions. And the world will long remember me, I am sure, for when the kingdom of Honce-the-Bear engulfs these western Wilderlands, the wonders they will see-the gigantic waterfalls, the majestic mountain peaks, the forests so thick that beneath their canopy dwells eternal twilight-will be made all the more wondrous by their recollections of these, my words.
The Duke of the Wilderlands glanced up from his parchment to scan the workings of his encampment, the
many servants and soldiers going about their typical late-afternoon routines, preparing the tents and the meals, setting up the perimeter guard-and that line of sentries had proven most necessary in the three years Tetrafel and his fellow explorers had been out far to the west of Ursal, in untamed, unmapped lands, seeking a direct pass through the towering Belt-and-Buckle Mountains into the To-gai steppes of western Behren. King Danube desired a direct trading route with the To-gai clansmen, without the costly interference of the Behrenese merchants.
The initial reluctance of Tetrafel, a man of nearly fifty years, who spent more time on a large pillow than on a horse, to accept the offered mission had been washed away by a grander vision that had come to him. He would be the explorer who opened up the vast western Wilderlands, a region known to be rich in natural resources, towering trees, and coveted peat. Once Danube had agreed to send along a large contingent of soldiersnearly a score now traveled with the Duke-and a similar group of servants-several men and a few young women who would also see to other needs-Tetrafel had recognized the opportunity to bring himself a bit of immortality.
Now, after three years, the man did not regret his decision, not on this particular day, at least, when he and his companions had easily traveled nearly twenty miles along a huge river-a river the Duke planned to name the Tetrafel-to find, at its end, the most tremendous, stupendous waterfall they had ever heard tell of; Tetrafel Falls, of course.
There had been troubles in the three years, mostly in the form of huge bears, great cats, and other beasts. They had found one tribe of goblins, but their superior training and weaponry enabled them to summarily destroy the ugly creatures; and a fairly indelicate disease had caught up with them several times. But after three years, they had lost less than a handful of their band, including just two soldiers.
All that they had to do now, Tetrafel realized, was find a pass through the mountains when spring opened the trails, and then return to Ursal, heralded as the greatest explorers of the modern age, their names, Duke Timian Tetrafel's at least, etched in tomes and stamped indelibly upon natural and majestic wonders. And finding that pass did not seem like such an impossibility, now that they had gone even farther west, to a point, Tetrafel believed, where crossing the mountains would put them in western To-gai. The peaks were not nearly as towering here, and were wider spaced. The higher elevations still showed snowcaps, though down in the foothills, the winter here was no worse than in Ursal, with the occasional inch or two of snow, but inevitably followed by milder weather that soon cleared the ground.
They were not in sight of the great River Tetrafel now, but they could hear the thunder of the distant falls. For their campsite, they had chosen a small clearing within a ring of towering pines, high natural walls so thick that they blocked out the light of Sheila completely as the moon rose in the east; and they knew that they would see only the slightest hints of the glowing orb until she climbed high in the sky, nearly directly overhead.
The camp was quiet and organized, with the occasional bursts of laughter from one quarter or another, or more embarrassing sounds from under the boughs of a nearby pine, where a soldier and a servant had stolen off to pass the hours. Dinner was not an organized and set event in Tetrafel's camp, but rather a personal option of wandering over to the large cook pots and scooping a bit of broth, or walking by one of the many spits and tearing a limb from whatever creatures the huntsmen had managed to bag that particular day.
Secure in his sentries and satisfied that he had entered enough in his allimportant diary that day, Duke Tetrafel headed for the cook fires. He started for one of the pots, but changed his mind and went to the roasting deer instead, tearing off a huge hunk of meat, dropping as much to the ground as found its way to his mouth.
His actions were not unnoticed.
In a tree not so far away, and well within the set perimeter of the encampment, a pair of slender, white-skinned, blue-eyed humanoids with hair the color of ravens' wings, sat quietly-perfectly quietly-upon a pine branch, studying the scene before them.
They care nothing/or the creatures they slay, one of them motioned to the other in an intricate combination of hand gestures, eye movements, and facial and body expressions.
V or for the spirituality of the mating dance, the other, equally disgusted, returned, a point made even more acute by the grunting sounds from a copulating couple on the ground beneath them. They are killer animals and nothing more.
The other nodded his agreement. "Twick'a pwess fin," he whispered in the tongue of the Doc'alfar, a language not unlike that of the Touel'alfar, distant, unknown cousins of the wingless, white-skinned elves.
"Twick'a pwess fin," the other echoed in agreement, which translated into "a fitting end."
Then they were gone, as silently as they had arrived, slipping past the lumbering sentries with no more noise than a shadow.
"Curse the rotten luck," one sentry muttered, for the wind shifted later that night, bringing the fine spray thrown high into the air by the distant falls over the field and the encampment.
"Not so bad," his companion replied from a short distance away. "Stay close to the pines; they'll keep ye dry."
"A warm bed in Ursai'd keep me drier," the first returned. "Are we ever to get back there? "
"The Duke's seeing a chance to put his name on mountains," the second replied. "But we're all to gain, and if we find the pass, Tetrafel's promised us enough gol'bears to each buy a grand house."
The other nodded, and that promise did seem to warm his weathered bones. But the spray continued, filtering through the trees as a fine, cold mist. And then a foul, rotting odor accompanied it.
"Now what's bringing the stink? " the first sentry asked, crinkling his nose.
"Smells like a carcass," said the other. "Could be a great cat coming back from a hunt. Get on yer guard now!"
And they both did, setting arrows to their bowstrings and peering into the gray, misty moonlight.
The stench got worse, filling their nostrils, making their eyes run; and then they saw a shape, not of a great cat, but of a humanoid-a man, it seemed-walking stiff-legged through the mist and the sparse underbrush.
"Hold where ye are!" the first sentry commanded. "Ye got two bows aiming at ye!"
Now they did recognize the approaching form-he was barely a dozen strides away-as a man, skinny and grizzled, with long hair and a huge beard. He had to have heard the command, they knew, but he kept on coming in that stiff-legged gait, his arms straight out before him. And he was filthy! Covered in dirt, or peat, and smelling like a rotting and dirty carcass.
"Hold now! I'm warning ye!" the sentry commanded.
He kept on coming; and the sentry, a trained and seasoned soldier, followed his orders to the word and let fly his arrow. It hit the approaching man's chest with a dull splat, and burrowed in deep, but the man kept coming, didn't even flinch!
"I hit him! I hit him!" the confused sentry protested; and now his companion let fly, a shot that took the intruder in the side, just below the rib cage, a shot from a bow so strong of pull that the arrow disappeared completely into the body, its tip breaking through the other side.
The approaching man flinched, the sheer force of the blow knocking him a step sideways. But he kept on coming, coming, his arms outstretched, his expression blank.
"Awake! Awake!" the second sentry yelled, falling back through the wall of pines toward the camp. His companion, though, didn't retreat, but drew out his heavy sword and leaped ahead.
The approaching intruder didn't change his speed or his route, coming straight in; and the soldier exploded into motion, bringing his sword up and over, cleaving one of those reaching arms above the elbow, severing it easily.
A bit of blood rolled out, but more than that came a sickly greenish white pus.
The soldier knew then the horrible truth, understood the stench to be a mixture of peat and rot, the sickly smell of death, but tainted even more with earthen richness. He knew then that he was fighting no
t a man but a corpse! Gagging, horrified, he fell back; but the zombie caught his sword in its bare hand as he turned, in a grip tremendously strong.
He screamed out-somehow he found his voice enough to make noiseand tugged and tugged at the sword, then gave it up altogether and tried to scramble away. But as he turned, he saw them, dozens and dozens of walking dead, coming through the mist. Overwhelmed, he stumbled and went down.
He cried out again as the one-armed zombie fell over him, grabbing him by the elbow, crushing his joint in its iron grip. He shouted and flailed, beating the thing about the head and shoulders, to no avail.
But then his companion was beside him again, and with one mighty swing, he decapitated the zombie.
Still it held on stubbornly. The other soldier, seeing the monsters approaching from everywhere, it seemed, hacked wildly at that clasping hand, severing it, too. He pulled his friend to his feet and dragged him to the pines, but the man was still screaming, for that severed hand was still clutching him! Duke Tetrafel rubbed his bleary eyes and peeked out from his bedroll. The sight of the encampment, of the panic, brought him wide awake, and he scrambled to his feet.
"Attack! Attack, my Duke!" one nearby soldier cried to him, running forward, bearing Tetrafel's sword belt.
Tetrafel struggled to clasp it on, turning, trying to keep up with the dizzying scene.
"The dead, they are!" screamed a sentry crashing through the pine wall. " The dead've risen against us!"
"From the forest, from the forest!" another yelled. The pines all about the small clearing began to shake, and the monsters strode through, in that stiff-legged gait, their peat-covered arms out straight before them. From the back of the camp came a horrified cry that turned Duke Tetrafel about. A pair of sentries scrambled through the pine wall, but got yanked right back in, grabbed and tugged so hard that one of them left one of his shoes behind.
The screams that followed were, perhaps, the most awful sound Duke Tetrafel had ever heard.
"Form a defense!" the captain of Tetrafel's contingent cried, and his men moved back near the fire, forming a ring about it, with the servants and their Duke behind them.
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