by Tom Lloyd
Like a pair of mismatched lovers, the two walked through the muddy streets of Kamfer’s Ford until they reached the edge of town, the boundary marked by rune-carved stones set there by the king’s mages. Beyond that was a forest of tents set in ordered lines, the pale autumn sunlight glinting from a thousand metal objects, almost like a river at sunset.
And working its way through that river they could see a knot of soldiers wearing the green-and-gold of the Kingsguard, and the slow confusion of the troops in its path parting neatly before it.
‘Looks like the king has gone to meet them too,’ Ardela said. ‘You want to wait?’
‘We can follow on behind. Isak won’t want a grand welcome and the king’s got work to do. He’ll be leaving them to rest soon enough.’
They wound through the army camp into a field of well-trampled grass that ran alongside the stony highway leading north. Carel felt a jolt in his gut as he saw a stooping figure wearing a ragged cloak, taller than those around him and unmistakeable as a white-eye, facing King Emin and his scarlet-coated bodyguard.
‘Gods,’ he whispered, ‘it really is him.’ He squinted to try and make out more, but the distance was too great for his ageing eyes.
‘Seems so,’ Ardela said.
Carel glanced down at the scar on his chest again. ‘To come out of Ghenna – for Mihn to creep in there in the first place … the man was a Harlequin, I know, but merciful Gods, I’d have thought that beyond even him.’ At his side Ardela tensed unexpectedly, and he looked at her. ‘What? What is it?’ he demanded.
‘Ah – bad news. Isak’ll need you at his side more’n ever now.’
He shivered. ‘Something to do with Mihn?’
She said gravely, ‘Legana told me he died – in Vanach. They didn’t say much about it, not in front of Isak, just that he died to cover their escape.’
Carel gaped. That was the last thing he’d expected to hear. Even as he struggled to find words, it felt ridiculous to even consider such a thing. At last he stammered, ‘Mihn covered their escape? Not the Mortal-Aspect of Karkarn? Not the Mad Axe? A small man with a wooden staff decided to take on the entire Vanach Army to let the rest escape? What sort of sense does that make?’
Ardela raised a hand; the other hovered over the hilt of her knife and Carel realised he’d taken a step towards her. He deliberately moved backwards a pace.
‘You don’t need to tell me that,’ she explained patiently. ‘All Legana told me was that he saw something that made him stay behind, and they don’t know what. She thinks it was a Harlequin – which makes sense, I guess, but either way, that’s all I know. Best you ask Count Vesna for the rest of the story.’
Carel fumbled silently for his tobacco pouch. When he pulled it out Ardela took it from his hands, also without saying a word, filled the bowl of his pipe and struck an alchemist’s match to light it.
‘Thanks,’ he muttered, pointing with the pipe towards the meeting up ahead. ‘Looks like we’ve got time for a smoke before I get my turn.’ He offered her the pipe, but she waved it away.
At last they saw the reception breaking up. King Emin headed back to the castle, leaving half of his Kingsguard behind to clear a path for Isak. Carel realised he needed only to stay where he was, for Isak’s party was being led across the field towards him. As soon as he caught sight of Carel, Vesna went ahead, waving away the soldiers who’d been about to drive the veteran out of the way.
Carel watched the emotions flicker on Vesna’s ruby-studded face: the pleasure of friendship replaced swiftly by the pain of grief, then hope mixed with wariness. ‘No greeting for an old friend?’ Carel asked at last, approaching the Mortal-Aspect.
‘Given I failed to find fitting words of parting,’ Vesna said, ‘that’s probably no great surprise. It is good to see you though, Carel – and you’re not so old as that.’
That broke the tension between them, and Carel reached out to embrace the Farlan hero. Vesna wrapped his arms around Carel with a fierce relief, almost squeezing the breath from him.
‘Careful, boy – I’d expect that from him, not you!’ Carel gasped.
Vesna looked behind, and saw Isak was watching them with a frown on his face, and said carefully, ‘Carel, you do know it’s not simply—?’
‘Aye, I do,’ Carel said sadly, ‘but it’s an improvement on never seeing him again, so I’ll take it.’ He stepped back to inspect Vesna. ‘You look well, my friend.’
‘As do you.’ Vesna pointed to the sword at Carel’s hip. ‘Particularly now you’ve finally realised a swordstick is a little girl’s weapon.’ He hesitated, and then said gruffly, ‘I’m sorry for leaving Tirah so abruptly. A friend shouldn’t have acted that way.’
‘None of us are so attractive in grief,’ he said, forgiving him instantly, ‘not even you.’ He plucked at the Mortal-Aspect’s shirt. ‘Godhood clearly suits some better’n others.’ Vesna’d always that uncanny knack of looking ruggedly dishevelled where others were filthy and exhausted, even before he’d been filled with divine power. ‘Anyways, time’s come to forget our failings and go back to what we know.’
‘An old friend?’ Isak called from behind Vesna. ‘From the Ghosts?’
Carel went to face the white-eye he now barely recognised, but before he could get there, the dog lurking at Isak’s heel had leaped forward to place itself between the two of them. Then the dog caught Carel’s scent, and after a moment’s hesitation it began to wag its tail, sniffing at the hand Carel offered.
‘I was in the Ghosts, but you introduced us, lad,’ Carel croaked, buffeted by his emotions. It was all he could do to stay upright as he stared at the damaged man. With his knees buckling underneath him, the dog’s fawning almost pushed him over until Vesna clicked his fingers and drew it away, leaving the two men to their strange reunion.
Isak tilted his head, searching his tattered memory. ‘I – I don’t …’
Carel raised a hand. ‘I know, lad. There are holes in your mind. Don’t try and remember.’ He gazed at his boy: every visible part of Isak was marked somehow – even the lightning-kissed hand was now a mess of scars, some haphazard, some runic, and the end joint was missing entirely from two fingers. The very lines of Isak’s face, once as familiar a sight as any in the Land to Carel, were altered, his jaw uneven, furrows of deep scar, and frayed edges to lip and ears.
‘Damn, but it’s good to see you, boy,’ Carel croaked.
Isak’s face twitched and his stoop became a little more pronounced, his left shoulder dipping forward as though the weight of everything had grown too much. Then he touched his white fingers to the bulge at his hip, and that steadied him. Now Carel could see Isak’s right hand was oddly clenched, not quite in a fist, but his fingers were curled as though he was holding something.
Grey scars showed up plainly against his blackened skin, and his thumb turned inwards at a strange angle. Carel wondered how well he could grip a sword, but then he realised Isak wasn’t wearing a weapon. For the first time since he’d seen Isak return from his first battle, Eolis was nowhere in sight.
‘Not a distinguished list, that,’ Isak said at last, ‘folk who’re pleased to see me.’
‘Aye, well, more distinguished round here, I’m guessing. Anyways, less you’ve changed as much as it looks, you won’t care how distinguished a man is if he’ll let you take his tobacco.’ He held up his pipe. ‘Never had any money of your own; years back I decided lettin’ you help yourself was better’n watching you steal it from others.’
Isak looked blank, but he took the pipe from Carel’s unresisting hand and as he inspected it briefly, some shadow of recognition passed across his eyes before he raised it to his mouth and began to smoke. In a handful of white-eye-sized inhalations the pipe was finished.
Isak tossed the pipe back to Carel. ‘Vesna says my sense of humour’s returning,’ he said with a tentative, crooked smile.
Carel stared at the spent pipe. ‘Don’t throw a parade just yet,’ he muttered, ‘it was never up to mu
ch, you little bugger.’
Isak’s face froze. ‘Mihn was your friend too?’
‘He was,’ Carel said, ‘and I’m waiting for an explanation better’n the one Ardela just gave me. Covering your retreat? Remember what happened last time some bloody fool decided to do that?’ Without even intending to Carel found himself poised to prod Isak in his scarred chest as he made his point, but his expression of alarm and dismay stopped him in time, reminding him that former closeness between them no longer existed.
‘Do I remember that?’ Isak said in a hollow voice, ‘yes, all too well.’ His face tightened and became resolved. ‘Just remember: I had reason for doing what I did.’
‘And Mihn shouldn’ve known better than to take a second crack at the other lands,’ Carel snapped. ‘Dyin’ in a fight ain’t the same as lettin’ some witch half-drown you – and there’s no one ready to go in after him that I can see.’
‘Mihn made his choice,’ Isak said stonily. ‘He thought the risk worth taking.’
‘For what, eh? You can’t tell me that, you can only guess!’ Carel shook his head. ‘Ah, lad, I’m sorry; it ain’t your fault your recklessness is rubbin’ off on others. Only to be expected from the Chosen, I guess.’
‘You’ve got the scar,’ Isak said abruptly, staring at his ripped shirt. ‘You’ve linked yourself to me.’
Carel nodded. ‘Whatever foolishness you’ve got planned, I’ll be right behind you from now on.’
‘You want to restrain me?’ Isak sounded incredulous.
‘No, lad, just clip you round the head from time to time, make sure you’ve really thought through whatever you’re planning to do next. Never was able to stop you from doing what you wanted, but I could make you think again sometimes. The more you stand there lookin’ like some tortured God, the more that might be in the interests o’ the whole Land.’
Isak looked down at his strange, mismatched hands. ‘God? No God ever looked like this.’
‘No mortal’s got skin that colour either, Isak,’ Carel said. ‘Vesna looks normal in comparison now.’
‘Maybe we need new Gods,’ Isak replied, abruptly crouching, and the dog immediately broke from Vesna’s grip and leaped forward to tuck itself under his white arm. Isak hugged the animal close with that one arm and rested his chin on its head. Carel noticed he kept his black arm well clear.
‘Maybe it’s time to change this old order a little,’ Isak murmured, ‘make Vesna and Legana our Gods instead.’
‘And that would be better? Vesna’s just a man, touched by Karkarn or not.’
Isak nodded distantly, his eyes still averted. ‘Maybe our Gods just need to do better, then.’
Carel forced himself to laugh. ‘Aye, well, if any man could chastise ’em, it’d be you.’
A ghastly smile crept onto Isak’s lips. ‘There’s another, but he’s feeling a bit ragged these days.’ He stood again, apparently having found strength in the dog’s presence. ‘So is this how our friendship worked?’
‘How’d you mean?’
‘I steal your tobacco; you lecture me about life.’
Carel hesitated, then smiled. ‘More or less, come to think of it. Oftentimes there’s beer involved somewhere too.’
The white-eye grinned, the gaps in his teeth adding to an already macabre expression. ‘Let’s do that then.’
CHAPTER 25
‘So this is the price of command?’ Amber asked.
Nai gave him a puzzled look. ‘Price?’
‘To hide at the back like a damned coward,’ the general clarified. His face was mostly hidden by his steel helm, but his stance was telling: taut, ready to charge.
Nai made a point of checking all around. ‘Nope, we don’t seem to have moved by mistake. Exactly what part of this is cowardly, General Amber?’
Amber loomed towards him, his hands in fists. ‘We’re at the back of an army, you fool!’ He looked at the ranks ahead of them. ‘The enemy’s the other side of that lot.’
‘But we’re still on foot, right?’ Nai looked down mournfully at the heavy boots he wore. ‘This might be my first battle, but I’m pretty sure cowardly would be to have horses so we could run away if it went bad – Ghenna’s teeth, in any other company I’d call that sensible!’
‘Any other company?’ asked Sergeant Menax at Amber’s side, a man nearly as tall as the general himself, if rather less inspiring. ‘Just what’re you sayin’ about us?’
Sergeant Menax had been given the job of leading Amber’s troop of bodyguards because the general had asked for the ugliest, evilest bastard sergeant in the whole army. For reasons Nai didn’t understand, sergeants who’d got away with every sort of vicious criminality ended up as highly valued in Menin armies – those failing to make the grade were generally hanged somewhere along the way.
‘You people are the most insanely death-obsessed madmen I’ve ever met,’ the former necromancer said. ‘Your interest in surviving any battle seems transitory at best, and at worst a secret shame you’re determined to make amends for.’
‘Eh?’
‘You’re all fucking idiots is what I’m saying.’
Amber raised a hand before Menax tried something stupid.
‘I’m a front-line officer. That’s where I should be when the fighting comes.’
‘You’re a general now,’ Nai countered, ‘which means you need to stay alive more than lead the charge. I’m guessing the king’ll use sarcasm at me if my first report says you died fighting in the line.’ The newest King’s Man pointed off to their left, where the small knot of undead soldiers stood unnaturally still and quiet. ‘Anyways, once they get stuck in, I’m pretty certain you’ll not keep clear.’
Amber turned to follow Nai’s gesture. The Legion of the Damned were less than a legion now; it was hard to count them accurately when they were standing in a formless mass, but he estimated some six hundred of the undead mercenaries remained. He could only communicate properly with them though Nai; the mage had some way of planting directions in their leader’s mind. Without that he’d be forced to resort to hand gestures – as if battlefield communication wasn’t hard enough at the best of times.
‘Having a horse is still cowardly,’ Menax repeated. ‘It ain’t the Menin way.’
‘Your armies have cavalry,’ Nai protested. ‘They’re over there!’
Menax sniffed. ‘And a bunch of fucking cowards the lot of ’em, chinless noble-born brats with no spine, savin’ yer presence, General, o’ course. Useless, the whole crew.’
‘What about Colonel Dassai’s troops? Our supporting legions are led by Narkang noblemen, but I hear they give good account of themselves.’
‘That’s easy when you’re trying to cause trouble, distract an army from its purpose. Might have t’let a wasp sting you before you c’n swat it.’
General Amber let out a heavy breath and the pointless conversation fell dead. They were waiting on a floodplain where a Devoted army had established camp thirty miles in from the Narkang border. Colonel Dassai was making a nuisance of himself as best he could, with half his Green Scarves occupying the high ground to the left while the rest busied themselves raiding the Devoted line. The cavalry had sparked a near-revolt within the Menin ranks, until wiser heads had prevailed. Amber had been careful to keep the Menin-hating colonel and the blue-tattooed élite cavalry away from his Menin infantry. Under General Daken, the Green Scarves had seen more fighting than any other legions during the Menin invasion, and neither side were showing much interest in forgiveness.
The bulk of Amber’s army was spread out ahead of them: his five heavy infantry legions were formed up in two lines, with a third of medium infantry. On the left flank the useless Menin cavalry waited; the Menin archers were on the right, where they could support the infantry, but would be able to withdraw easily without being massacred or disrupting the spear-wall.
In the sky wisps of thin cloud stretched like lace in the gusty wind. A flock of black birds turned above the plain, delighting in the
surging wind as they readied for the feast Amber intended to provide. He could feel the wind on the back of his neck, bearing a promise of autumn.
Everywhere I see black birds, he said in the privacy of his mind. The call of crows wake me at dawn, ravens attend me at dusk. Are they the souls of those we’ve killed? A colder prickle went down his neck. Am I drawing them in my wake like I’m already marching up Ghain’s slope, the chains of sin around my neck? Or is Nai right and they’re the souls of those we’ve lost, come to guide us?
‘Does this general have no pride?’ Amber wondered aloud. ‘We’ve been here all morning, making him look like a coward in front of his men.’
‘Cautious, perhaps?’ Nai ventured. ‘They might not know you’re a bunch of madmen eager to die in battle. He might be wondering what an army half the size of his is doing here.’
‘His Litse white-eyes have had plenty of time to scout for surprises,’ Amber said. ‘There are none – none that they’ll be able to find anyway.’
‘My point exactly,’ Nai said darkly. ‘Might be they’re not fools.’
‘You wouldn’t understand, Narkang man,’ Menax said scornfully.
‘I’m from Embere,’ Nai protested.
‘Same place as this lot, no?’
‘Dassai said their banners’re from Mustet, southwest – Embere is east. That’s hundreds of miles’ difference.’
Amber nodded. ‘And Nai’s not a man for patriotism anyway. His allegiance is to his art, right, Nai?’
The King’s Man looked shocked. ‘Quoting the mage Verliq to me now? I’m impressed.’
His lack of response showed how much Amber cared about that and they fell silent again while the breezes danced around them and black birds circled overhead.
Bringers of the Slain maybe, Amber mused. Guess if any Gods have the strength to be abroad these days, it’d be them. ‘Anyone seen the Bringers of the Slain before?’ he asked, surprising himself almost as much as those around him.
‘You don’t see ’em,’ Menax said, ‘not without gettin’ your eyes plucked out.’
