It was then that Thessien stepped forward. "I will answer that question." Whispers and coughs moved about the room as the Eastland soldier addressed the king uninvited. Ilien could see the distaste for Thessien in the men's eyes as they exchanged sour looks, and the princess glanced nervously at her father.
Kysus rose to his feet and pounded his four-fingered fist upon the table. "You are in the king's court, Eastlander, and should I remind you, far from home. You might chance such dishonor at your father's table, but here, oh Brat of Ashevery, you would be wise to hold your tongue until spoken to."
Thessien turned cool eyes on the red-haired warrior. "I am glad you so cherish wisdom for you will soon need it tenfold to what you have."
The room hushed at his words, each of the king's advisors trying to decipher if Kysus had been handed an insult.
"Yes, Gallund is dead," Thessien continued in a loud voice. "You think you know what that means, but you do not. The dark years were well before your time. Your kingdom has been a safe haven for as long as your grandparents' grandparents can remember. My father's kingdom knows not this squalid splendor you call peace. There is a darkness that touches the land still, but like the evening shadows, it touches the West last. Yes, Gallund is dead, and so too is the Binding spell that holds the night from falling."
No one spoke. Even the king sat back down in silence. Thessien seemed to grow taller as he formally addressed the ruler of Evernden.
"King Allen, I mean no disrespect, and though it is true that I hold no love for rule or regency, I speak only the truth. We must put our nations' dark history behind us. I ask you to listen and heed my advice for all our futures hang in the balance. Evil dwells in your backyard. Wierwulvs and servants of the Necromancer have grown powerful." Thessien's hand strayed to his waist where his sword lay strapped. "A NiDemon has crossed."
He stood silent for a moment, his eyes scanning the startled men before him. They fell last on the king. "Yes. A Crossing exists," he said, his voice cutting the stillness in two. "The power of Nihilic remains. I have seen it with my own eyes, in a scroll Gallund found nearly on your doorstep. The Third Rise is upon us. The NiDemon's hand is in this, and if it is then already the Book may be open and the Evil One free."
"But what of the key?" the princess asked quietly. "Is it true that the Book cannot be opened without it?"
"Yes," the king agreed. "Though the Binding spell dies with the caster, we are still safe, so long as the key is safe. Are we not?"
"True enough," Thessien consented, "but Gallund was the keeper of the key. We must assume that the enemy now has it."
Kysus leaned forward, the scar on his upper lip turning his half-smile into a snarl. "But he would have hidden it? Surely he wouldn't have been so stupid as to keep it on him."
"True again," Thessien replied, his fingers brushing against the pommel of his sword as he stared down the red-haired warrior. "But a NiDemon has ways of discerning the secrets of dying men. Dying Nomadin as well."
Kysus slapped the table. "You worry too much! Let's not get ahead of ourselves. The sky is not falling as our Eastland friend suggests. Don't forget that the Book is safely guarded by the Nomadin at Kingsend Castle."
"Is it?" Thessien silenced the room with his question.
"What would you have us do?" Kysus demanded. "Are we to raise an army and march on an unseen enemy? Or raze the forests with flames and rout out the wolves and the rabbits?"
Thessien leaned forward, placing both his hands on the table. "No army you could raise would suffice to do either." He turned quickly to the others. "Do not let yourselves be fooled by wolves—or rabbits. Some appearances are not what they seem. Evil takes many forms. King Allen, I implore your reason. No one outside this room knows of Gallund's death. Yours is the only kingdom able to send riders to Kingsend Castle to warn the Nomadin. They must be told that the spell is broken. The Book must be protected, if it's not already too late."
Again the room fell quiet as everyone waited to hear the king. Ilien's head was spinning. He was trying to understand all that was being said. On top of that, he had never heard Thessien speak so much at one time.
King Allen steepled his hands and stared at the glittering ring upon his finger. When he spoke, his face looked drawn. "Gallund was not only a buckler against evil, but he was also my friend and teacher." He cast his softened gaze upon Ilien. "Not unlike you, young apprentice, Gallund sought to be my mentor in a great many things. Ours is a history that dates back to my grandfather's grandfather, you might say. In fact, if it wasn't for Gallund I wouldn't be here at all. He saved my great, great grandfather, King Braul, from the army of the very man who stands before me now. Is that not right, Thessien Atenmien?" He dropped his eyes to the rough-hewn table. "I must say, Gallund's death is a great blow to my heart."
The king bowed his head in silence. When at last he looked up, his eyes held a flame of hope, but a flame like an oft-burned candle, pale and wavering.
"Yet I wonder," he said. "Is not the Necromancer's prophesy of some importance? Does Law and Legend count for nothing? Is it not true that only the Prophesied One can release the Necromancer from his prison? Has there been no diligence on the part of the Nomadin? Are we to fear and call to arms if the Nomadin have kept to their oath?"
"Prophesies are but well-trodden paths for sheep," Thessien answered, "and oaths are broken always, if given enough time. We should not be sheep led to the slaughter by the Dark Shepherd. And the Nomadin mark their days in our years a thousand to one. There may yet be a grandchild of the First Line, hidden, unknown to any but a few. We can be certain of nothing, save that all I've said is true."
The king's advisors fell silent and Kysus shook his head. King Allen, though, rose from his seat, the flame in his eyes suddenly bright. "I have been aware of the dangers brewing in my own backyard for some time now. My own daughter has spoken of them to me many times, but I did not listen." The princess smiled encouragingly at her father. "I fear my delay in dealing with them has been a grave mistake," he maintained, "but no longer will I delay good judgment. You are right. The Nomadin must be warned. I will send riders to Kingsend Castle come daybreak."
"My Lord," Kysus implored, "to send troops south, what would our people think if they knew our reasons? NiDemon? Dark magic? Old tales retold, that's what. They have outgrown such Eastern mythology. Would you have them think we pin our medals on the jackets of the East?"
"Perhaps Thessien is right," the king said. "Perhaps our people have lived too long in the squalid splendor of peace. But we all know that peace is only an illusion. Gallund's death should be proof enough of that." He glanced at the carved double doors and shook his head with a sigh. "But you are also correct, Kysus," he continued, turning to the red-haired warrior. "I will send only three men to Kingsend Castle. Their departure will not be noticed, and three will travel faster than thirty." The king then turned to Thessien. "You serve your father with honor. Will you serve our cause as well? Will you ride south with my men?"
"I still serve the cause that was set before me from the start," Thessien said, straightening, "though I may already be too late. My mission travels a different road from yours. I must ride north in the morning."
"So be it." The king's eyes fixed on Ilien. "And what of you, young apprentice?"
Ilien was stunned silent. The king had actually asked him for an opinion. He cleared the frog from his throat.
"The apprentice stays here with you," Thessien stated flatly. "It was Gallund's wish before we left."
Ilien bit his lip. So much for his moment of glory.
"Very well," the king replied, nodding. "My daughter will enjoy the company." The princess raised sharp eyebrows at Ilien as her father pushed his seat back. "Thessien, we part ways in the morning. I pray our next meeting brings better news between us. When you return home, tell your father that we prize the squalid splendor of peace above all else, and will not hand it over so easily. The West will make a ready ally in the battle against the N
ecromancer. Now go, and fare well."
The men around the table rose and left with many mumbles and silent curses, but Ilien remained sitting, eyeing Thessien curiously. Brat of Ashevery? If he'd heard right, Thessien was a prince, a prince who wished he wasn't. Why hadn't Gallund told him that he'd be traveling with a prince? He might have been better behaved. And what of this prophesy the Necromancer had made? Gallund never told him about any prophesy, either. Not for the last time, Ilien wanted to know more but knew he'd get no answers.
As Ilien watched the room clear, he remembered Thessien's words and shuddered. There is a darkness that touches the land still, but like the evening shadows it touches the West last. Ilien would soon be returning home, but with all that he now knew, and with all that had happened, he wondered if he'd ever truly feel safe again.
Chapter VIII
The Groll
The evening was fast approaching when the princess brought Ilien and Thessien out to the west gardens of the castle, under the shadow of the surrounding forest. Kysus, as usual, followed close behind. When Ilien asked the princess about the red-haired warrior, she answered him in low tones.
"He's supposed to be my bodyguard, something my father so graciously supplied against my wishes. He's not a very good one either, which is fine with me. I don't dare tell my father that he's hardly ever around, he's always mysteriously disappearing, sometimes for days. If he knew, he might find me a better one and then I'd never get any privacy."
She looked back to make sure Kysus wasn't within hearing range. "He goes off into the forest, you know. I saw him once, at dusk, when I went gathering teaberries. I don't think he saw me, but I saw him."
Ilien glanced back at Kysus, but Thessien ignored the princess' remarks, caught up in his own thoughts. Tomorrow, Thessien would continue north to Greattower, and Ilien could sense the restlessness in the Eastland prince, as if the late afternoon sun chastised him for not riding onward even then. But they both knew there was no sense leaving till morning, so for now they let the princess indulge them in a leisurely tour of the castle and its grounds.
"These gardens might be of interest to you, Ilien," the princess remarked as they walked through a large, brown tract of land spotted with small beds of green plantings. A row of wooden trellises stood empty to their left, while to their right a low wall of stone separated the garden from the well-manicured castle grounds. "It's here that we grow the wolfsbane that kept Thessien alive until your timely arrival with the Illwood bark. As you know, wolfsbane is thought by most to have magical healing properties."
Ilien, of course, did not know this.
The princess stooped to pull a few weeds from beside a prickly looking bush growing in one of the beds. "We grow many healing herbs here in the west garden. The plants fare well in the shade. When the last frosts have gone we'll plant the annuals. They're the most potent healers."
The garden was immense, even compared to the large garden kept by Farmer Parson, Ilien's closest neighbor back home. Arranged in neat rows beginning at the very foot of the forest and spanning several hundred feet all the way to the low stone wall, it also stretched left and right as far as Ilien could see. Most of it lay unplanted—a tangle of dry, brown refuse with here and there a square, green patch thrown in, but it was still impressive.
The princess stood and wiped her dirty hands on her dress. "My father permits these gardens because plants are things he can see and feel. But like you, Ilien, I have a different understanding. I also know the power of magic."
"Are you an apprentice to a wizard, too?" Ilien asked.
She laughed. "No. I'm afraid I'm not that gifted. I looked at your spellbook but it made no sense at all."
Ilien straightened in surprise. "My spellbook? You have my spellbook?"
"Don't be angry. I was going to return it to you. It was in the saddle bag of Gallund's horse."
"You have Gallund's horse, too?" Ilien looked questioningly at Thessien, who merely raised an eyebrow in surprise.
The princess motioned toward a nearby bench. "I'm sorry. I should've told you. Sit down and I'll explain everything."
They sat on a long stone bench beside a small bed of deep green holly. Kysus remained standing some distance away. The shadow of the forest lay dark and cool around them, the tall trees casting their long, spiky images over the low, stone wall and across the manicured lawn leading up to the castle.
"Six days ago," the princess began, "while in the forest at night, I came across a magnificent grey horse. To tell the truth, it came across me while I was gathering teaberries for a potion. As you probably know, teaberries only come out at night."
Ilien didn't know that either. "A potion?" he asked, his curiosity piqued.
"Yes. You do know what a potion is?"
Ilien nodded. "Of course. I was just—"
"Well, I was gathering teaberries for one," the princess continued, "when I heard a soft nicker. A beautiful, grey horse stepped out from behind a tree into my lantern light and limped right over to me. It had been attacked by wolves." She stopped for dramatic effect, then went on calmly. "The wounds weren't severe, but I took it straight back to the castle anyway, to Kemp, my stable master. He recognized it right away as the grey mount of Gallund the wizard and I sent him to tell the king immediately. Meanwhile, I unsaddled the poor wounded creature. It was then that a book spilled out from the saddle bag. It was obviously a spellbook. What other book would a wizard carry with him, a history book?"
More than likely, if you knew Gallund, thought Ilien. He was about to say just that when the princess laughed nervously and smoothed her long green dress on her lap and wiped at the drying dirt there before saying, "Being interested in magic as I am, and being a mage, I looked inside."
"A mage?" Ilien asked.
"Yes. A mage." The princess stressed the word to give it special meaning. "You know, a user of magic." She ruffled her dress before continuing. "As I said, I couldn't understand a single word. Most of what I could read was gibberish, even though I am quite skilled in the use of magical items."
"Magical items?"
"Ilien, you're beginning to sound like a parakeet." The princess was obviously trying not to lose her patience. "Magical items? Talismans? Enchanted things? You know, magical items." She tilted her head and smiled. "How do you think I managed to save you from those wolves single-handedly?"
Ilien could still see the big, grey wolf chewing on his leg, and he shuddered. He recalled how the princess was the first to reach him, but he had assumed there were others with her, many others. "Single-handedly?" His eyes narrowed. "I heard the horns of a small army!"
The princess met Ilien's flustered gaze with one of her own. "If you'll just let me finish I'll explain everything!
Thessien was his usual guarded self, but from the amused look on his face even he was interested in the story's ending, or the princess' complete loss of patience, whichever came first.
She took a deep breath. "Now I've lost my train of thought." She looked around the garden as if she might actually find it again. "Oh yes—I was saying I couldn't understand a word in the spellbook, and that's when my father received the news that Gallund's horse had been found without Gallund on it. He was concerned, of course. He began to talk about Gallund lying wounded in the forest, or worse yet, dead. He called his advisors together." She stopped and looked over to see if Kysus was listening. "My father can't seem to make a decision without consulting his advisors."
Thessien chuckled.
"Precious time was passing." The princess threw Thessien a dark look, "And if Gallund was lying wounded in the forest then I couldn't see how calling a council of men together was going to solve anything. So I rode back into the forest, to the spot where I found his horse. It wasn't hard to pick up its tracks and follow them back along the route it had come. And that's when I found what I thought was a wizard. I didn't know then, but it was only an Eastland soldier."
She glanced, suddenly red-faced, at Thessien. "I mean no disr
espect, you know."
"None taken," Thessien replied evenly, but his stern face told otherwise.
She pushed him a relieved smile, then said to Ilien, "It was no easy task but I did manage to coax him back onto his horse."
"You mean my horse," said Ilien.
"Your horse, his horse—what's the difference?" She stopped and smirked openly. "Though, now that you mention it, the animal was a bit small."
Ilien ignored the pointed remark, but then remembered the great, black steed and how it had disappeared. "Thessien, your horse!" he started. "The wolves—"
"I'm sure old Talamar is fine," Thessien offered, placing a comforting hand on Ilien's shoulder.
"Sure he is," the princess said. "He's in my stable. You put him there yourself."
Ilien looked accusingly at Thessien, and the Eastlander's smile widened to a grin.
"He's fine," Thessien admitted. "A few nips here and there, but no worse for the wear. He showed up two days ago."
"As I was saying—" The princess smoothed her dress upon her lap once more. She evidently wanted to tell her tale without further interruption because she looked hard at both Ilien and Thessien and cleared her throat meaningfully. "After I found Thessien, I coaxed him back onto your horse."
"Coax isn't the word," Thessien cut in, rubbing his cheek wryly.
"I did what I had to!" the princess countered, her hands at her hips. "Now if the two of you don't mind, I'll finish my story now, thank you very much."
"Please do," Ilien said, rolling his eyes at Thessien, who had turned mock-serious and merely nodded.
"After I found him," she continued, "I brought him straight to the king. My father didn't know who he was at first, but he did know that he wasn't Gallund. I think he was a little upset that I had gone back into the forest alone because he began ranting about councils and procedures." She shook her head in annoyance. "He said he had met with his council and they had decided to wait and search the forest the next morning. He forbade me to go looking for anyone else in the forest that night, and I promised I wouldn't."
Nomadin Page 8
