"We will come to a village four days out from Reckonwood, to the northwest as we head for Lalinth. It is walled, but empty. There are no survivors, but a winter rain stopped it from burning. The well is good. There are supplies there. This will be our stronghold until Iceblade moves and we meet him at Lalinth."
"How long is that?" Selas asked.
"No more than ten days after we leave the Wood. He will be goaded by my presence, first to come for me, then to take Lalinth whether or not I'm in his grasp. We must make it to the walled city before he find out exactly where I am."
Selas gave me a significant look. "And how do you expect you'll hold up to his searching?"
"I am stronger now, aside from still being a bit weak physically from the poison. But I also think if I go to him, he won't be able to come to us, and won't be able to figure out where we are." Selas was already shaking his head.
"What if you go to him, in spirit or however you do it, and you can't get back? He nearly held you once. It's less risky just to let him come to us."
I heard the sound of a throat cleared loudly behind us, and jumped. Turning to see who intruded, we found Gronwon.
"Perhaps there's some way we priests can help with your struggle, Lady," he said, leaning forward on the walking stick Wind had carved for him. Since he'd slain Malina, he seemed more hunched over, more tired, much older.
"What can you do?" Selas demanded.
"We can call her back. He can't keep her against us. Not if she wants to come back." They both looked at me, measuring.
"I will not betray the people who need me," I said, leaving no room for doubt in my voice. I held their gazes in turn. "I will fight him until one of us is dead."
"So fight him," Selas said sternly. "Don't go to him and don't let him come."
"There's no way to do both," Gronwon said. "If he has found a way to come to her before, he can do it again if he wishes. He can see you too, can't he, now that he's come to you."
I nodded, stiffly. "No more hiding from him," I said. "If I can't do what must be done now, it won't be done."
"You should have had this time to grow stronger," Gronwon said mournfully. "You should have had this time to build your defenses."
"I am stronger," I insisted. "When we made it to the Wood, I was exhausted right through every part of me. I – I wasn't well. But I won't let that happen this time. Every day I've prayed and meditated. I've found the strength the Goddess has lent me. I am as strong as I will ever be. If not in a physical sense."
"You've fought back an unstoppable death," Selas said. "I don't find your strength to be lacking so far."
I gave him a grateful smile, though I recognized he meant "so far" as a sort of warning even as he meant the rest of it as encouragement. This conversation was emphasizing my own fears, unspoken and swallowed down as best as I could. Within myself, I was deathly afraid I may simply not be strong enough to be the person everybody needed me to be. Being Chosen was a mantle laid on my shoulders and not a change in my flawed build.
"Lady! General Selas!" Looking up, we saw a young blonde man running toward us, shouting. It was Killian, Wyclif's young man, who danced with him at the wedding and shared a shelter with the thief. "Please, Wyclif is bringing a prisoner! He's going to the training ground! You must see this!"
Wyclif had taken his group out on guard duty, watching over the ways into the village. We ran to the training ground to see what he'd found.
Awaiting us was a black painted soldier, surrounded in a circle by six of Wyclif's group, holding him at sword-point. I recognized him as Spider, and my heart pinched in fear.
"By the Good Queen!" Gronwon gasped. "How did one of them find his way here?" I only stared, stunned, feeling grey. We were supposed to be safe from Iceblade's gaze here.
"Where did you catch him?" Selas barked at Wyclif.
"We didn't," Wyclif answered, jerking a thumb to his right. "That's the beast what was holding him down, yowling and all." We looked as one.
There at the other end of Wyclif's gesture sat a silver great cat, as tall as a wolfhound, easily. It was bulky and heavily muscled, watching us through keen yellow eyes with interest but no malice. Its tail twitched just like a house-cat’s, I could see it was waiting for something but could not sense what.
Selas marched over to the crow soldier, Wyclif's men parting before him. "Who are you? Why have you come?" he shouted.
Spider looked without answering, slowly beginning to grin. He began to turn his head back and forth, searching, until his eyes settled on me in my silver and gold armor, my helmet held in my arm. Then he laughed.
"I found her, my Prince!" he shouted. Dread shot through me. I ran forward, dropping my helmet. Pulling off my glove, I reached out, Wyclif's men moving farther aside to allow me by. The only thing in the world at that moment was that black-painted thief with the look of triumph on his face. To my eyes, he glowed with the power of someone's scrying – sorcerous scrying.
He raised his hands to stop me and two of Wyclif's men pulled his hands behind his back and held him. My bare hand fell on his forehead. I could see the scryer, Wandis, stiffly entranced, looking into her scrying bowl, seeing us there. Behind her stood Iceblade, his face furious and exultant. He saw me.
I screamed in anger and destroyed the thief. My will crushed his brain still inside his skull, and he dropped dead to the ground, the scrying magic fading. As I stood there, my chest heaving, my eyes wide, Selas bent to check the soldier for any sign of life.
"He won't be answering questions," Selas said, biting his cheek, his expression sour. "How'd he get in here?"
"The Wood allowed him in because there was only one, thus little harm to us," I said, regaining some semblance of my calm. "This is Spider, one of the higher ranking soldiers, and the one who ran from Wyclif's group. Iceblade knows we're here, he saw me. We must move today. We have to get to the walled village before he does, or we'll be trapped here in the Wood." I eyed Selas, knowing he saw in me what I feared most.
That part of me anticipated the chase, wanted to be chased and caught, like the Goddess in the forest.
"We'll be ready within the hour."
"See to it!" I hissed when he didn't move fast enough. He gave me a look that spoke of his irritation that I would act as if I mistrusted his speed or skill, but acquiesced without a word. I watched him go to work, shouting, shoving, getting the entire camp in motion.
Samar nudged me, handing me my helmet back. I gazed at her without any emotion on my face, winding my braid around the crown of my head and pinning it before taking the helmet and putting it on. She stared at me intensely, then nodded, approving. The slim young woman ran off, blowing her horn, calling her troops ready.
The silver cat bounded after her. She spared it a glance, then a second glance. They stared at each other for long seconds, then she nodded, and it nodded back.
It had found who it was looking for, and stayed by her side. Daltorn named it Jansen, after a guardsman in Narwich.
We left twenty of the trained soldiers behind, to protect the village should any more of the crow soldiers make it in. I put Renata in charge of the village, and named Big Martin her constable. Declan kissed his wife and held her close for long moments. They exchanged tender words unheard by anyone else. By the time night fell, those of us joining the fight had left our refuge, and behind us lay a suddenly quiet and nearly empty village.
Chapter 11
Run
We reached the northwestern edge of Reckonwood as the moon reached its apogee. Here I hesitated, and for long minutes my army stood ready behind me. Selas stood beside me, silent, waiting.
"There's a group out there," I said after a time. "About forty crow soldiers. If any of them escape, our effort is doomed."
"How far?"
"They're about an hour directly north of here. They mean to spread out and attempt to breach the Wood, one by one, now that they know I am here. They don't know we're leaving."
Selas went to wor
k, dividing us up. The main group of us, including me, would go directly north, letting the enemy catch sight of us. Selas and Wyclif would be bringing two separate smaller groups around to close in the enemy and prevent attacks. Nefen, Wyntan, Daltorn, Samar and Declan placed themselves around me, and we walked in the center of my group.
Wyclif gave me a roguish wink, then he and his twenty eight men moved away from us, going east through the wood. Selas and his group of thirty went that way soon after. The rest of us waited for an hour, then marched out, north, toward the waiting swords of our enemy.
"Declan," I said in a quiet voice as we walked. "Renata longs for a child."
"I know," he said. "But she fears she's too old."
"Her change hasn't come yet," I said. "She still has some six years. If you have Fiona bless her womb when you go back to the village, Renata will bear the two of you a family."
"Do you See this?" he asked. I heard a yearning in his voice. He wanted children, and he wanted his wife to have her heart's desire. In his mind I saw a picture of Renata holding a tiny fuzzy-haired infant.
"I do," I answered. I smiled at him. "I Saw it when you kissed her goodbye. You will return to her, and if you bring Fiona, you will have your children." I didn't mention that the first time Renata conceived, three babies would fill her womb. No need to frighten him.
"Renata's first husband was very old," Declan said. "They had an affectionate marriage, but there were no children. She wept for children. He could give her none, and I'm not sure he wanted to. He treated her much like a daughter." He grinned suddenly at me. "She will be so happy to have her own baby in her arms, I will be able to do no wrong in her eyes for the rest of our lives." He laughed.
I beamed at him, happy to see that blessings were to be found yet on the burned soil of Dragon's Tooth.
We walked in the meager moonlight. The moon was nearly gone, a bad sign for those about Galiena's business as the absence of a moon favored Dagar. I hoped this would not hold true for us. The air of the night was crisp, but there were signs everywhere of imminent spring. The snow had melted away in the past day's light, leaving great bare patches of dead grasses waiting to be wakened in the coming warmth.
In the short time since we'd left Reckonwood behind us, I'd begun to feel Iceblade's presence more strongly than I had even before we'd come to the Wood. I could feel his anger and his longing. He was angry that I'd hidden from him for so long, angry that he'd used so much time and so many of his people searching for me, diverting them from his evil work. His resolve had hardened into steel, he meant to destroy everyone who came between him and his bride.
"They see us. Ready yourselves!" I called. Samar blew her horn. The archers stopped where they were, turning in the direction Felan pointed, cued by my signals. The pikes pivoted and steadied their heavy weapons in the ground, forming a barricade of glinting steel heads. We stood our ground, waiting. I sensed Ethan behind me, his weapon ready, eager for the fight to begin. Shaking my head, I turned to look at him.
Hold fast, I told him, mind to mind. His eyes widened and he nodded.
The crow soldiers made no cry of war as they charged in unison over a ridge on the east of us, exactly where we faced. As they charged, my armor brightened the area even more, shining a morning-bright light on our battlefield.
My soldiers rushed forward to meet them, the pikemen staying in place to protect the priests and those who had volunteered to help in the field hospital. I pulled out my mace, but stayed where I was for the moment. My honor guard surrounded me as Daltorn and the others moved to engage the crow soldiers. Jansen bounded out into the fray, yowling ferociously.
Wyntan came back almost immediately.
"It's over," he said, and he was right. The crow soldiers before us hadn't stood a chance, their small number to our small army. "But there's only thirty of them, not forty."
I closed my eyes, seeking out Selas or Wyclif. "Wyclif found the others," I said. "They've separated. They hope to get someone past and report to Iceblade. Perhaps two can make it... Selas has them. It is over."
"That was fast," Ethan said in disappointment.
"Good," I told him sternly as my army regrouped. "There will be plenty of chances to blood your weapon at Lalinth."
Wyntan chuckled and gave the boy a rough punch. "Be eager, but be smart," he said. "Don't waste a drop of your blood needlessly."
Ethan nodded, looking at the warrior with worshipful eyes. "Yes, sir!"
Selas and Wyclif rejoined us within the hour, and we continued on. We traveled through the night and the next day. Fiona and Gronwon became so exhausted they could walk no more, and places were found for them to sit in the wagons. Finally, as night fell at the end of our first full day out of Reckonwood, we camped near a destroyed village.
Campfires were laid and bedrolls placed around them. Tents were erected for the priests, and for me and the group leaders. Food was soon bubbling away in pots near the fires, bread baked just before we left the Wood was handed out to everyone. Two hour watches were assigned. As soon as everyone not on first watch finished eating, they bedded down.
I delayed, cowardly, putting off the moment I would go to Iceblade. Feeling a hand lay on my shoulder, I looked up into shy Ceilan's face.
"We are ready, Lady," he said. "We will bring you back if you cannot come on your own. Gronwon sends me with this amulet for you to wear. If you try to come back and cannot, we will know, as long as you wear it." He handed me the amulet, a leather thong necklace holding a disc of copper set with circles of agate, hematite, and obsidian.
"Thank you," I said, giving him a look of gratitude. He blushed, stuttered.
"It is our honor, Lady." He scurried back to the priests' campfire.
I was thus girded for my own battle. I pulled on the amulet and went to my tent. Laying down on my cot fully clothed, I took some time to meditate and try to center myself, to find my strength. Without noticing the transition, I fell into sleep.
I found him in his tent, a single candle burning on his campaign desk. He lay asleep in his bed, far grander than my cot. His bed was wide with a thick mattress, suspended off the ground by a series of poles that would fold nearly flat. It looked something like a canopy bed with no canopy. Laying sprawled in the center, blankets hanging off his naked body, Iceblade slept on his stomach, unaware of the presence of his worst enemy.
I watched him hungrily. He was beautiful to my eyes, and that frightened me. Now, as I looked closely, I could see the scars of his childhood abuse. Long-healed scars from burns and lashes laced over his back and legs, there was the scar of a knife wound on his upper arm. Gently, I traced it with my impalpable finger, and knew his mother had done it, at a dinner table, when he chose to ignore her. No more than fifteen years of age, he had looked at his bleeding arm, then gave his mother a cold, steady stare before returning to his meal as if nothing had happened. Enraged, Deirdre had threatened to kill him, and he laughed outright. Without him, all her plans of revenge would come to nothing, she needed him far too badly to end his life. In response his mother had stormed from the room and down to the stables. She had his favorite horse taken out to the courtyard and burned alive, leaving the charred remains there for a week, where Tirk would see it every time he left Deirdre's castle.
Iceblade stirred at my touch, coming awake. He smiled when he saw me, pleased and elated. Without bothering with his blankets, he sat up on the edge of the bed.
"You couldn't stay away any longer," he said, his rasping voice satisfied. "You've come to me."
"I've come to warn you, that's all," I said, averting my eyes. He stood, taking step after step toward me as I stepped back, trying to avoid getting a good look at him. My gaze swung up to the ceiling of the black tent, around to his desk, back determinedly to his face and only his face.
"That's not true," he said silkily. He leered suggestively at me. I would not notice his splendid state of arousal, caused only by my presence, and he chuckled mockingly. We were still doing ou
r dance, me backing away and him stepping close. The dance stopped when I hit a cabinet with the backs of my thighs; I could tell the cabinet was there and though I could not physically feel it, I could not pass through it either.
He stood so close I could have tasted him with only the slightest movement, had I been flesh. No longer smiling, his violet gaze absorbed with me and absorbing me, he was silent. I couldn't speak.
"Tell me you missed me," he demanded finally. "Please. Just say it, I can see it in your dark lovely eyes, they devour me. So allow me to hear it from your own sweet mouth."
"I... I did. Miss you," I admitted. "I didn't know if I could bear it." He leaned even closer, his face nearly touching mine. I leaned back, panicked. "But it doesn't change anything." My heart cracked at my words and I fought to ignore the pain of it.
He gave a half-smile. "It changed you. It changed what is between us."
"No." This meeting was not going the way I had planned. I slipped away from him, passing partway through him, and we both trembled with it. He turned to face me as I stopped by his desk. "Nothing has changed for me. I came this one final time only to tell you I want you to stay away from me. Don't come to me anymore."
His lean, pale face tightened with irritation, then returned to a half-smile. "If that's what you tell yourself, so be it. But you came to me because you couldn't stay away. Don't tell me you are so worried I'll divine your position by visiting you that you are simply trying, defensively, to preempt me. I couldn't find you last time. No, you wanted to come."
I shook my head as if that would make his words untrue, knowing he wasn't completely wrong.
"I'll make you a bargain," he said. "I'll do what you ask and stay away, though it will be agony for both of us. I'll do it, because I know you will come back to me."
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