The fellow swung down off his horse. Two royal guardsmen strode up to him, their boots scuffing up little puffs of gray dust at each step. The Menteshe knew what they had in mind. He surrendered his weapons without any fuss, even a slim knife he carried in his boot. When the guardsmen were satisfied, they stepped aside. The Menteshe bowed low to Grus.
“Good day, Your Majesty,” he said in fluent Avornan. “I am Falak son of Yinal, and I have the honor to represent Prince Korkut, the son and heir of the great Prince Ulash.” He bowed again. He had a proud, hawk-nosed face with broad cheekbones and elegant eyebrows above dark eyes stubbornly unimpressed by anything they chanced to light upon—the King of Avornis very much included.
“Pleased to meet you,” Grus said politely. “And what can I do for you on this fine day?” It was, in fact, a beastly hot day. Grus had gotten used to the weather in the city of Avornis and in the cool, misty Chernagor country to the north. Southern spring and approaching summer were reminding him how fierce they could be.
“We have not seen Avornans here for many long years,” Falak said. “You would do well to remember what happened to the ones who came before you.”
“I remember,” Grus replied. “You would do well to remember we can take care of ourselves. So would Korkut. And so would the Banished One.” Maybe that last was bravado. No—certainly it was bravado. But if it weren’t also what Grus believed, he never would have crossed the Stura in the first place.
One of Falak’s elegant eyebrows rose. His eyes widened ever so slightly. He hadn’t expected Grus to give back arrogance for arrogance. “You dare speak of the Fallen Star so?” he whispered. “You have, perhaps, more nerve than you know what to do with.”
“Perhaps I’ll take the chance,” Grus said. “I asked you once before—what can I do for you? And for Prince Korkut, I assume?”
He wondered if Falak would try to order him out of the Menteshe country. He intended to say no if Falak did, but it would tell him how confident Korkut was. But Falak did nothing of the sort. Instead, he said, “My master knows you have seen many rebels since you became King of Avornis.”
“True,” Grus admitted. And not only was it true, it was also shrewd. Korkut showed more wits than Grus had thought he owned.
Falak went on, “Since this is true, you will understand how my master feels when he faces a rebellion against him.”
“Oh, I don’t know. Quite a few people would say Sanjar has a better claim to Ulash’s throne than Korkut does,” Grus said.
“Quite a few people are liars and cheats. It is unfortunate, but it is true,” Falak said. “I would not want to number the King of Avornis among them.”
“You would make a mistake if you did. You might be making your last mistake if you did.” Hirundo sounded hard as iron, sharp as a spearhead.
Falak son of Yinal bowed to him. “I have done no such thing, Your Excellency.” He was a cool customer, all right. Turning back to Grus, he said, “Since you have come into my master’s lands with an army behind you, he dares hope you have come to help him defeat the would-be usurper.”
Did Korkut really hope that? Grus didn’t believe it for a minute. Did the Menteshe hope to use the Avornans against his unloved half brother? That struck the king as a lot more likely. He said, “Sanjar hopes I’ll do the same thing against Korkut, you know.”
“He would,” Falak said scornfully. “He has no chance to defeat my master on his own, and he knows it only too well.”
“I’m not so sure about that—and neither is Korkut, or he wouldn’t have sent you to me,” Grus said. Falak only shrugged, neither admitting nor denying. He knew his business; Grus would have been glad to have a man of his talents on the Avornan side. The king continued, “I have nothing against either prince. But I also have no reason to love either of them.”
Falak smiled thinly. “By which you mean you will help the man who gives you the most.”
Grus smiled back. “By which I mean exactly that, yes.”
“My master will meet any price within his ability,” Korkut’s emissary said. “Tell me yours, so I may take it to him.”
“The Scepter of Mercy.”
Falak’s face froze. That jolted him no less than it had Sanjar’s envoy. He took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh. “That, I am afraid, is not within his ability to give.”
“Why not? It’s in Yozgat, isn’t it? He holds Yozgat, doesn’t he? Or has Sanjar taken it away from him in the last few days?”
“Sanjar has done no such thing,” Falak said indignantly. “My master does hold Yozgat. And the Scepter of Mercy is there. I have seen it with my own eyes.” Grus was suddenly as jealous as a lovesick youth seeing the girl of his dreams walking with someone else, someone he couldn’t stand. Falak either didn’t notice or, more likely, affected not to. “My master could not yield it up, though. The Fallen Star—”
“Has nothing to do with it,” Grus broke in. “Is your master his own master, or is he not?”
“Prince Korkut owns no man his master. That includes you, Your Majesty,” Falak said pointedly.
So there, Grus thought. But it wasn’t enough of a so there to slow him down. “That’s nice,” he said. “It doesn’t answer the question I asked, though. Is he his own master or not? If he is, will he give me the Scepter of Mercy in exchange for help against Sanjar? If he isn’t, why am I wasting my time talking to you? Let the Banished One send me an envoy if he wants something from me.”
Now Falak bared his teeth in what looked like a smile but wasn’t. “Be careful what you ask for. You may get it.”
Grus pretended less concern than he felt. “Avornis has met his envoys before. The last one came to tell us everyone in the capital would starve to death in the coming winter. You see how true that turned out to be.” He remembered the winter the Banished One had sent Avornis. He hadn’t been king yet; he’d been down in the south, and it was appalling even there. It had been worse up at the city of Avornis, but the city—and the kingdom—came through. How close it had been … He preferred not to think about that, and so he didn’t.
Falak bowed. “Say what you will. I see this discussion is pointless. If you and Korkut meet, it will be on the field. And if the Fallen Star does deign to notice your nerve, may you have joy of it.” He bowed again, then bounded up into the saddle. He jerked savagely at the reins to turn his horse’s head and trotted back toward the south. Hirundo waved to the scouts who’d brought him in. They rode off, too, to return Falak’s weapons to him and to escort him out beyond the Avornans’ lines.
“As you say, Your Majesty, it was worth asking.” Hirundo shrugged. “Too bad he told you no, too.”
“Now we have some idea about which of Ulash’s sons is more in awe of the Banished One,” Grus said. “Sanjar might have given up the Scepter if he’d had it. Maybe I should have thrown in with him.”
The general shook his head. “I doubt it. If he did hold the Scepter of Mercy, he’d’ve hung on to it just like Korkut. It’s a lot easier to think about giving away something you haven’t got.” He stared south. The dust their horses kicked up began to swallow Falak and his Avornan escorts.
“I suppose you’re right. No, I know you’re right,” Grus said. “We just have to go on, then. And if the Banished One does send an envoy”—he shuddered—“well, we’ll deal with that as best we can, too.”
Lanius put smoked salmon and sliced onions and olives on a roll. He slid the silver tray across the table to Ortalis and Limosa. “Here you are,” he said. “This will make a fine breakfast.” Turning to Sosia, he added, “Pass the pitcher of wine when you’re through with it, please.”
“Of course,” she said, and she did. The pitcher, also silver, was decorated with a relief of Olor in pursuit of a goddess who would become one of his six wives. Since she wasn’t overburdened by clothes, she looked as though she had a good chance of escaping him this time.
Ortalis piled salmon and onions high. He went easy on the olives; he wasn’t as fond of
them as Lanius was. “Your turn,” he said to Limosa.
She usually liked smoked salmon. Today, she put a little on a roll. She looked at it. She added a few sliced olives and then hesitantly reached for a pungent slice of onion. She raised the roll to her mouth, but put it down before she could take a bite. “Please excuse me,” she said, and bolted from the table.
“Oh, dear,” Lanius said, and then, at the sound of retching a moment later, “Oh, dear. How long has she been sick?”
Sosia had another question for her brother—she asked, “When is she going to have the baby?” Lanius kicked himself for not figuring that out on his own.
“Some time this winter,” Ortalis answered. “She only realized she was carrying a child a few days ago. We were going to wait until we were surer before we told you—but it looks like there’s no more need to wait now. If the gods are kind, they’ll send me a son.”
Sosia murmured something that had no words in it. Lanius sipped at his wine to make sure Ortalis couldn’t see his face till he got it under control. He didn’t much want Grus’ legitimate son to have a male heir. Ortalis’ son would be a rival for Crex. So far, Ortalis hadn’t shown much interest in the throne. The kind of power he craved was more personal than political. But he might well want to seize for a son what he didn’t care about for himself.
Limosa walked back into the dining room. She looked wan. When she sat down, she reached for her winecup. She sloshed the wine around in her mouth before swallowing it.
“Are you all right?” Lanius asked.
“Better now, anyway,” she answered. “I’m afraid I, uh, didn’t quite make it to the privy. The servants have a mess to clean up.”
“That’s what servants are for,” Ortalis said with a wave of the hand.
I’m sure they love you, too, Lanius thought. He nodded to Limosa. “So—another baby on the way? Congratulations!” He could say that and still hope she would have a girl.
She blushed, ever so slightly; that she’d been so pale made it easier to see. “Thank you, Your Majesty. You’re kind to say so.” She picked up the roll she’d so hastily abandoned. This time, she did take a bite.
“Will it stay down?” Sosia asked.
“I think so.” Limosa’s smile was wry. “I’m going to find out, aren’t I?” She paused apprehensively, as though listening to her stomach. Then her smile got wider. “Yes, it’ll be all right. Everything’s fine in there now. I got rid of what was bothering me—until the next time.”
“Yes—until the next time,” Sosia echoed with womanly sympathy. She knew what Limosa was going through in a way that Lanius couldn’t. Morning sickness was nothing he’d ever wanted to learn about at first hand, either.
Even though Limosa said she was feeling better, she didn’t finish the roll and the smoked salmon. She excused herself again. This time, Lanius was glad to see, she didn’t leave the room at a dead run. The king looked across the table at his brother-in-law. “Be careful with her,” he warned.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ortalis asked, but his eyes said he knew.
Lanius spelled it out anyway. “While she’s with child, leave the whip … wherever you keep it. Hunt more instead, do whatever else you think you need to do, but don’t give her new stripes. This isn’t the time for it.”
Something hot and unpleasant kindled in Ortalis’ eyes. “You mind your business, Your Majesty, and I’ll mind mine.” In his mouth, Lanius’ title sounded more like curse than compliment. Grus’ legitimate son rose from the table, turned on his heel, and strode out after his wife.
“I wouldn’t have told him that,” Sosia said.
“Why not? Because Limosa enjoys it as much as he does? That’s not reason enough, not when she’s going to have a baby,” Lanius said. “He’s liable to get carried away, and who knows what would happen then?”
His wife shook her head. “No, not because Limosa likes it. Because if she does die … then or in childbed, we don’t have to worry about any son of Ortalis’. We don’t have to worry about him so much, either.”
From a political point of view, Sosia made breathtakingly good sense. She had much more of Grus’ ruthless pragmatism than Ortalis did; all he’d gotten was the ruthlessness. Even so, Lanius said, “I don’t want Limosa dead. I can’t stand her father, gods know, and your brother—” He broke off before resuming, “Well, he is what he is, that’s all. But Limosa? She’s kind of sweet, even if she … likes what she likes. Who would have thought Ortalis could find such a good match? And having him running wild again might make things worse, not better.”
“Maybe.” Sosia didn’t sound as though she believed it for a minute. “You’re too soft for your own good, if you care even a copper for what I think. Who cares about likes? You want Crex to be king after you, don’t you?”
“Of course I do. But—”
“No buts.” Now Sosia swept out of the dining room. Lanius stared after her. One piece of well-meant advice, and he’d managed to clear the room. If that wasn’t a record, he didn’t know what would be.
Pterocles pointed to a mound rising from the mostly flat land of the Menteshe country. Sadly, the wizard said, “Another one. That’s the third or fourth we’ve seen.”
“I know.” King Grus sounded none too happy, either. “They’re what cities look like after they die. The rubbish the people who live there throw out year after year makes the ground higher than it is anywhere else. And when the walls get knocked down and the buildings fall to pieces, too …”
“This is what’s left,” Pterocles finished. “I wonder what happened to the people who used to live here.”
“Some of them died,” Grus said. “Got killed, I mean. Others? Others are bound to be the ancestors of the thralls you’re freeing. That town’s been dead a long time.”
As the Avornan army drew nearer, he could see the jagged remains of walls and buildings crowning the hill and giving it a silhouette no natural rise would have had. He wondered what the name of the place had been. If he described where it lay, Lanius could probably tell him. Lanius knew all sorts of things that didn’t matter. Things that did? A different story.
But the Banished One took Lanius seriously. Grus couldn’t let himself forget that. The exiled god wouldn’t have threatened the other king in dreams if he hadn’t. He threatened only people he took very seriously indeed. Hirundo, for instance, had done as much as any man to turn back the Menteshe and to beat the Chernagors, but the Banished One let him sleep undisturbed of nights. Grus scratched his head. He didn’t pretend to understand the choices the Banished One made.
Grus laughed. It was funny, after a fashion. Had he understood all the choices the Banished One made, he would have been well on the way toward godhood himself. Part of him—the part that wanted to live forever—wished he were. But he knew too well he wasn’t. His beard had far more salt than pepper in it these days. He remained healthy enough, but knew he lacked much of the strength and stamina he’d enjoyed when he was half his age. Sooner or later, he would lose what he still kept. He didn’t like that—he hated it—but he knew it was true.
He looked toward the dead, abandoned city. Places had lifespans of their own, just as people did. They usually lasted far longer, but the Banished One had watched this town age and wither and die while he went on. He’d probably smiled as he watched, too. The town had been full of Avornans, and had gone to ruin at the hands of the Menteshe. They worshiped the Banished One; why wouldn’t he smile to see their triumph?
Unlike people, though, places could come back to life. Grus turned to Hirundo. “Do you know what we ought to do?”
“I’ve got a list as long as your arm, Your Majesty,” the general said. “Most of it is things I need to do day before yesterday. The less important bits, though, I can get away with doing yesterday. So what’s yours?”
He sounded as serious as he ever did. Grus explained, finishing, “If we’re going to take this land away from the Menteshe, we’ve got to do something with it for
ourselves. If we could bring it back to the way it was before the nomads swept down on it …”
“Don’t get your hopes up too high,” Hirundo said. “Back in the old days, they didn’t have to worry about the Menteshe at all. Even if we do drive ’em back, they’ll be right over the border, just waiting to pounce when they see the chance. We can’t clear them out of this whole country. It’s too big, and there are too cursed many of them.”
Grus wished he could find some way to contradict that, but he couldn’t.
“If things work out the way we want them to, though, people will remember us for as long as Avornis lasts.” Grus supposed that kingdoms flourished and then grew old, too, the same way people and towns did. Not wanting to think that might happen to Avornis in years yet to come, he went on, “That’s about as close to living forever in this world as we’re likely to come.”
“There are children,” Hirundo pointed out.
“Well, yes. So there are.” Grus let it lie there. He was disappointed in his son, and feared he always would be disappointed in Ortalis. His hopes along those lines ran through Sosia and his grandson. He didn’t like having more faith in his daughter and her line than in the one he’d always wanted to be his heir.
He also didn’t know what Crex would turn out to be like. The boy was still too young to make that plain. The one thing Grus could say was that he didn’t seem to be vicious. He wished more than anything that he could say the same about Ortalis. He’d tried to believe Ortalis would outgrow whatever gave him the need to hurt things, tried long after it should have been obvious that his legitimate son’s ways were set. He didn’t believe it anymore. I may have been foolish to expect he’ll ever have it in him to give. I was foolish. But there’s a difference between foolish and blind.
Did King Olor, looking down from the heavens, have the same sort of thoughts about mankind as a whole? Grus shrugged. He couldn’t do anything about that. He didn’t look up past the sky. He looked south, toward the mountains where the Banished One lived. The Banished One doubtless had his own thoughts about mankind, too. Grus aimed to prove him wrong.
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