Crown of Silence

by Constantine, Storm

  Tayven heard a low, chirring sound and recognised it as a signal from his friend, Gallina. She must have come looking for him for a reason. He crawled carefully back into the spiky shrubs that surrounded the ledge and emerged onto a high cliff path that overlooked a deep canyon, one of the roads through the mountains. Gallina was hunched upon the path below, a slender elfin creature, her long bow slung over her shoulder. She and Tayven had become close over the years, mainly because they shared the faculty of appearing delicate and fey while being at the same time deadly.

  Before Tayven even reached her, Gallina said, ‘Two things will happen. One is that Ashalan will meet at sundown with the Dragon Lord.’

  ‘Already?’ Tayven had not expected it to happen so quickly, and yet why had he been drawn to spy on Palindrake this morning? Tayven never ignored omens. He jumped down beside his friend. ‘Ashalan could be betrayed. This might be a trick.’

  Gallina pulled a sour face and stood up. ‘He has made up his mind. His arguments are persuasive. He doesn’t think it’s a trick.’

  ‘No, I don’t suppose it is,’ Tayven said. ‘What’s the other news?’

  ‘You’ve been summoned to Akahana.’

  Tayven sighed. ‘Why?’

  ‘Maycarpe has sent for you. We are not told why, but we can guess. He will be curious about what is happening here.’

  Tayven shook his head. ‘I take it Ashalan has already made contact with the Magravands, then?’

  Gallina nodded. ‘Yes, while you were here watching them. He sent Mentril and Thayne to intercept some of Palindrake’s Mewtish scouts. They named the time for the meeting. We assume Palindrake will accept it.’

  Tayven uttered a caustic laugh. ‘It was fortunate for Ashalan I came out here, then. He wouldn’t have wanted me around when he gave the order.’

  ‘No, I doubt he would.’

  ‘And Helayna?’

  Gallina shrugged. ‘He waited until she left camp to go hunting. She’ll be back soon, so she’ll hear then. No doubt she’ll insist on being present at any treaty meeting.’

  ‘I will go to Akahana now,’ Tayven said. He was assailed by an instant and overwhelming uneasiness. He had had to get away.

  Gallina regarded him speculatively. ‘You should wait. Go tomorrow. You’ll have more to trade then.’

  ‘I can’t be at the meeting, Lina. Palindrake must not see me.’

  She stuck out her lip, considered. ‘I understand your feelings. Still, you will hear about it afterwards from Ashalan.’ She paused. ‘What are you afraid of? You’re never afraid. That worries me.’

  ‘I feel a hurricane coming,’ Tayven said. ‘I want to take cover.’

  ‘Should I?’

  Tayven glanced at his friend. He knew she looked upon him as her oracle and didn’t want to mislead her. ‘I think this is personal. See what happens at the meeting.’

  Over the years, as Magravandian trackers had continued to hunt them down, the Cossic resistance had moved their encampment higher into the peaks of the Rhye. Many small settlements were hidden among the isolated crags. Ashalan’s latest headquarters was an eyrie of twigs and flapping leather. Dwellings of woven branches were connected by high walkways of rope and boards. From a distance, it looked like the nesting ground of the great dragon vultures that haunted the air above the peaks.

  Gallina uttered the calls to alert invisible guards to their approach, but there was no discernible movement among the rocks as they climbed the treacherous track ways to the camp. Old Mab was waiting for them outside her dwelling. She was drinking tea with a suave Mewt, who was dressed in black suede from head to foot – Surekh, Maycarpe’s messenger.

  ‘You must speak to Ashalan, Tayven,’ Mab said, the moment she laid eyes on him. ‘This meeting with Palindrake is unwise.’

  Tayven bent to help himself to some tea from her pot, which was brewing on an open fire at her feet. ‘So, what’s his excuse for it?’

  The old woman grimaced. ‘Concern for his people, so he says. You and I both know he’s tired of fighting.’

  Not just tired, but disabled. The wound Ashalan had received in his leg had never healed properly. He was still lame, and the mountainous terrain was often difficult for him. Tayven had notice the limp was becoming more pronounced, and it was now beyond his capabilities to lift Ashalan’s spirits. He knew the exiled king believed he had lost his power, his vitality, even his inherent kingship. This day had been presaged for months.

  ‘He’ll return to Cos and leave Helayna to the rest of it,’ Mab said. ‘He thinks his days are done.’

  ‘Maybe they are,’ Tayven said.

  Surekh spoke for the first time. ‘This could be the catalyst you need to find the way to reach and murder Bayard, Tayven. It might be convenient to be able to slip between Tarnax and the mountain encampments.’

  ‘You know too much,’ Tayven said coldly.

  Surekh raised an eyebrow. ‘Providing, of course, Ashalan doesn’t betray the whereabouts of those who don’t share his particular vision of peace.’

  ‘Palindrake might demand that as part of the deal,’ Gallina said. ‘We might all be in peril.’

  ‘Helayna would never allow it,’ Mab said. ‘She is our only hope.’

  ‘You don’t fancy returning to Tarnax, then?’ Tayven said to her, smiling. ‘Don’t you yearn for a comfortable house with doors to lock and a soft bed to climb into?’

  Mab made a disparaging sound. ‘Helayna’s back. You’d better go and arbitrate. No one else can.’

  Tayven found Helayna in her brother’s dwelling, berating him. He could hear her raised voice from over a hundred yards away. A group of her men sat on the ground outside, silent in their eavesdropping. When Tayven presented himself at the doorway, she turned on him. ‘Did you know about this?’

  Tayven glanced at Ashalan. He looked weary, defeated. He was no longer a leader in the sense Helayna wanted him to be. ‘I’ve just heard,’ Tayven said. He addressed Ashalan. ‘Do you know what you’re doing?’ It was a rhetorical question.

  ‘We cannot play at being free in this way,’ Ashalan said, massaging his damaged leg. ‘We are deluding ourselves. We are not free and no longer an irritant to the Magravands. They have driven us too high, too far away.’

  ‘Two years ago, you would have died rather than admit defeat,’ Helayna said. She was eight years younger than Ashalan. She had more stamina and her zeal would endure for longer. ‘There are thousands of us, hidden in the mountains. We are still a force to be reckoned with.’

  ‘Split, divided,’ said Ashalan. ‘Fragmented. We are not an army any more but isolated communities. Children who were born out here are nearly adults. It is different now.’

  ‘We have chosen this life. None of us wants to return to the city and live beneath the countenance of Madragore.’

  ‘I’m sure that won’t be compulsory,’ Ashalan said. ‘We should simply accept what is, and ally ourselves to the greater power. ’

  Helayna threw up her arms and roared. ‘I can’t believe you! I won’t accept this. I won’t!’

  ‘Maycarpe has summoned me,’ Tayven said.

  Ashalan turned his attention to him, clearly grateful for the change of subject. ‘He will want to hear the outcome of this.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Be careful. He’s one of them. Slippery and self-serving.’

  Helayna uttered an explosive snort. ‘The people you would bend your knee to. You coward!’

  Ashalan ignored his sister. ‘Carry word to Akahana. Tell Maycarpe I will go to Magrast.’

  ‘I’m sure he’ll think this the best thing you could do,’ Tayven said.

  ‘What do you think?’

  Tayven shrugged. ‘What is best for you is not best for me. I have been given succour among your people. I have recreated myself. I cannot return to Magrast. Perhaps your place is on the centre stage, but mine will be forever in the shadows. We must each do what is right for the future.’

  Ashalan smiled sadly. ‘Do you
share Helayna’s view? Do you believe we should continue to fight?’

  Tayven shook his head. ‘I haven’t said that. It is not my place to judge. I only know what’s right for me.’

  ‘Oh, for Challis’ sake!’ Helayna cried. ‘Tell him he’s a fool, Tayven. He will lose me and he will lose you, all to become Leonid’s lap dog and live a quiet life. Where’s the victory in that? It’s the easy way out, but the wrong one. If we continue to stand against the Magravands, eventually others will join us.’

  ‘We’ve lost more allies than we’ve gained,’ Ashalan said. ‘Wake up, Helayna. It’s over.’

  ‘For me, never!’ Helayna said. ‘We owe it to our parents, to our people, to keep fighting. The Magravands cannot best us in this terrain. They know that. They cannot win by force, so they attempt seduction. You are mad to fall for it.’ She leaned over her brother. ‘Can’t you see that they need you? Why else would all this be happening? They have never won Cos. They merely keep it in check. They have never routed us. We’re always ahead of them. While our movement lives, Cos has a kind of freedom. The Magravands cannot relax here, nor let down their guard. If you return to Tarnax, everyone will see it as the heart of our country being broken.’

  ‘I can do no good for Cos out here,’ Ashalan said. ‘Times are changing. The empire is unstable. I need to be in Tarnax. Maycarpe is our ally. He will help us.’

  ‘Maycarpe thinks only of himself. You said so.’

  ‘Perhaps so, but in his selfishness, he gathers allies.’ Steel came into his voice, and for a moment, Tayven could see a ghost of the man Ashalan had once been. ‘You are right. Two years ago, I would have died rather than admit defeat. But I can do no more out here, hiding among the crags, my body ravaged by pain. I am no longer fit for this life. Why can’t you accept that? In Tarnax, my health will improve. If Tatrini has created a chamber of leaders, I must be among them. It makes sense. I am no longer a warrior, Helayna, but I can be a politician. I can still work for our people. Two years ago, I wouldn’t have been given the option.’

  ‘Then do it alone,’ Helayna said in a low, cold voice. ‘I cannot condone it.’

  ‘Will you attend the meeting with Palindrake?’

  She expelled a contemptuous snort. ‘If I do, it will be only to fire an arrow through his heart.’

  Ashalan glanced at Tayven, who shrugged. ‘I won’t be there, Ash. I’m sorry. I can’t.’

  ‘Then I will do it alone,’ Ashalan said. ‘I know you each have your reasons for abandoning me, but I don’t hold them against you.’

  ‘Pompous prig!’ Helayna cried and marched out of the room.

  ‘Tay?’ Ashalan murmured.

  ‘She feels things strongly,’ Tayven said. ‘She’s hurt, because she fears she’s losing you. Maybe she is.’

  ‘Am I losing you?’

  ‘I think you’re doing what’s best for you,’ Tayven said guardedly.

  The Dragon Lord had been asked to visit the Cossic encampment an hour before sundown. Ashalan’s most trusted scouts, Mentril and Thayne would meet him some distance from the camp. Whether Palindrake would agree to be blindfolded for the journey, Tayven could not guess. Somehow, he doubted it.

  Shortly before the Dragon Lord was due to arrive, Tayven climbed one of the high blackwood trees at the edge of the encampment. He crawled out along one of the thick branches that overhung a drop of several hundred feet. He wondered how it would feel if he was the sort of person who would consider throwing themselves down into the green abyss below. Death had never been an option for him. That was something Almorante had been so wrong about. He pushed the thought from his mind. He didn’t want to think of past associations. Palindrake was different. Tayven had never really known him in Magrast. Now, as he sprawled along the thick tree limb, soaking up the last heat of the day, he thought about what Maycarpe believed, or wanted, Valraven Palindrake to be. Did the Dragon Lord know that some people thought he could be a rival to the warring Malagash princes? And, if so, did he share that dream? Tayven wasn’t sure what he thought about the matter himself. He had to admit most of what he knew about Valraven Palindrake came from the legends that had risen up about him, and most of those were probably extremely exaggerated, if not entirely untrue. He’d had very little first hand experience of the man. In Magrast, Tayven had been no more than Almorante’s concubine, far beneath Palindrake’s notice. Still, it was tempting to believe the Dragon Lord could eventually take over from the Malagashes. To Tayven, he was the better of two evils. At present, there was no other potential emperor lurking in the wings, not one Tayven knew about.

  The sun sank down behind the mountains, casting a pink glow over the landscape. Tayven extended his senses and fancied he could hear the jangle of harness, the clop of hooves upon the gravelly track far below. He heard the chirring calls of his comrades, passing messages back and forth from hidden crags. Tayven looked down and saw a strange tusked face looking back at him from the branches of a lower tree. A Magravandian fetch? He cast a symbol of greeting to it, and the creature disappeared in a flash. Tayven laughed softly. He felt aflame, full of a sense of imminence, and climbed further up the tree into the thick dark foliage, to a place where he could watch the camp below. A fire had been lit and already Ashalan’s most trusted staff were seated around it, speaking quietly but urgently. Rings flashed in the firelight as they gestured at one another. Ashalan was not there and neither was Helayna or her clique of close allies. Would she shun the meeting or insist on being present to cause trouble? It was impossible to judge.

  Valraven Palindrake came alone. He rode his fine black horse into the camp, accompanied only by Mentril and Thayne. He was not blindfolded. Once he’d dismounted, and was standing haughtily, oblivious to the men around the fire, Ashalan came out of his dwelling. He had dressed well, but his limp was apparent as he made his way slowly to the Dragon Lord.

  Tayven’s heart convulsed. He knew Ashalan was a good man, who was trying to salvage something useable from ashes. He would be of more use to his people in Tarnax. Helayna was blinded by her passions, her prejudices.

  Tayven heard a strange swishing sound and then a sharp thunk. An arrow. It had hissed out of the dusk and struck the earth near Palindrake’s feet. The Dragon Lord ignored it, and nobody else seemed even to notice it, as if a glamour had been cast upon them. Tayven squinted into the twilight. Helayna must have been responsible? Where was she? Did she really intend to try and kill the Dragon Lord or had that just been a warning? Palindrake did not appear either vulnerable or uneasy. Fire another shot, Tayven thought, and one of our own people will take it through the heart.

  Palindrake bowed. ‘I am pleased we are having this meeting, your majesty.’

  Ashalan sat upon a chair that had been placed in readiness for him. ‘Inevitable,’ he said. ‘Please sit.’

  Palindrake glanced at another empty chair set nearby and after a slight pause sat down in it. As he did so, he looked up at the blackwood tree and Tayven’s whole body shuddered.

  The meeting was hardly exciting fare and progressed exactly as Tayven had envisaged. Tatrini was the power behind the peace campaign and, yes, Ashalan was invited to Magrast to partake of her hospitality. There, he would meet Leonid and the tempting offers would be made. It seemed too good to be true. Helayna was right about one thing: Ashalan clearly was quite important to the Malagashes. His was the bloodline of the great King Alofel, who’d once bested Mewt. He would make a charismatic ally, whose co-operation would show the world how powerful Magravandias had become. In return for Ashalan’s fealty, and the surrender of his troops’ arms, certain Cossic prisoners would be released and land would be restored to those Cossic nobility in exile who were prepared to follow Ashalan’s lead.

  The only difficult moment came when Valraven Palindrake said, ‘You can, of course, guarantee that all your people in the Rhye will lay down their arms and follow your orders?’

  Ashalan hesitated.

  ‘If they do not,’ Palindrake continued smooth
ly, ‘Leonid will order me to root them out. And I will, eventually. Their safety cannot be guaranteed. I hope you understand this.’

  ‘I understand your words,’ Ashalan said.

  ‘Princess Helayna?’ Palindrake murmured politely. ‘Does she understand?’

  She will come forward now, Tayven thought. She will insult him, cause a scene. Yet there was only silence, but for the crackling of the fire and the uneasy movements of the Cossics around it.

  ‘I am doing what I think is best for my people,’ Ashalan said. ‘I will not go back on my word. But you and I both know I cannot speak for everyone. Opinion is divided. It is beyond my control.’

  Palindrake inclined his head. ‘I understand the difficulty of your position, but if you have any care for the dissenters, you will use your royal powers of persuasion to make them see sense.’

  ‘One man’s sense is not another’s,’ Ashalan said. ‘All I can give you is myself and those who are loyal to me.’

  Palindrake nodded thoughtfully. ‘I too have a headstrong sister,’ he said. ‘For all the problems she presents, I would not want her to be any other way.’

  Still, Helayna did not show herself. Tayven imagined her in hiding close by, feeling much as he did now, wrestling with conflicting feelings concerning Valraven Palindrake. He knew Helayna well, and guessed that part of her could not help but admire the man who came alone to an enemy camp, who did not flinch as an arrow hit the dirt at his feet. Part of her would want to join Ashalan and share the feast that Old Mab had prepared, but her principles would not allow her to give in.

  ‘I will escort you personally to Magrast,’ Palindrake said to Ashalan. ‘You will, of course, be permitted a retinue. It would be best if Princess Helayna was part of it.’

  Old Mab brought out the feast then, casting caustic glances at the Dragon Lord. Was this how it was to end, so bloodlessly? Tayven slithered back along his branch. He felt he should seek Helayna out, that she would need his company.

  With barely a rustle of leaves, Tayven dropped to the ground and slunk off into the darkness. Where would she be? He skirted the camp, heading for the cave, which Helayna had made her home. He sensed she was alone. Such was Palindrake’s power that her companions would have made themselves scarce. Talk and bluster was one thing, action in the face of Palindrake himself another. Tayven jumped with the ease and precision of a cat onto a ledge above him. His senses did not alert him to anything being amiss. Therefore, when someone grabbed hold of him, pinning his arms to his sides from behind, he was taken completely by surprise.