by Duncan Lay
That brought silence, as everyone looked at the map and tried out her theory.
Gaibun was the first to speak. ‘Attack Dokuzen? But the barrier is still in place. They will be unable to get through and will be thrown back, just as they were before.’
‘The barrier is weak, and getting weaker by the day,’ Asami corrected. ‘Every time we pass through it successfully, it shrinks.’
‘The Forlish are used to solving such problems, finding a way through even the stoutest defences,’ Rhiannon warned. ‘I was there, at the war council meetings with the king. He would not have stopped attacking the barrier until he knew how to defeat it.’
‘Defeat the barrier? That is not possible,’ Gaibun protested.
‘They could attack the plants. That is the weakness,’ Asami said quietly. ‘That is the way I would do it.’
‘But they cannot hope to take Dokuzen with just two thousand men. They would be slaughtered,’ Sendatsu mused.
‘Exactly,’ Rhiannon agreed. ‘This is the diversion, and the body of the Forlish army is the main attack, which will strike once the elven warriors have been drawn out and away.’
‘Impossible!’ Gaibun sneered.
‘Then give us another explanation!’ Rhiannon said.
‘They are trying to surprise you with a flank attack —’
‘But Vales is not in that direction. And why would they need this elaborate move? They don’t know we can watch them, nor do they fear us,’ Rhiannon fired back. ‘You don’t understand the Forlish, how determined they are and the depth of King Ward’s ambition. I sat there in his war council while he told his captains of his dream to unite the world and raise mankind from the mud. Huw, you were there — tell them!’
‘She’s right. He seeks the knowledge that was left behind when the elves disappeared from our lands. Dokuzen will draw him like a moth to the flame. He would risk anything and everything to seize what the Elfarans have.’
Sendatsu rubbed his eyes.
‘I hear what you are saying but the barrier is still a formidable protection. And then there are the warriors. Ward has sent perhaps ten thousand soldiers north. Daichi will be able to meet him with as many. It would be madness. The elven bows will cut the Forlish shield wall apart,’ Sendatsu said.
‘How many times do I have to tell you?’ Rhiannon cried. ‘Put aside all you have been taught and give us the credit for being able to think for once! Ward has crushed most of the other countries using a variety of tactics, and is used to breaking into stone cities. There is nothing he fears. He has found, or thinks he has found, a way through the barrier, or he would not be trying this. Look at the direction of these two armies, the ground they are going on. If the cavalry were to strike here, in the south, then flee, what would happen?’
‘Daichi would pursue, eager to teach them a lesson,’ Sendatsu said.
‘Leaving Dokuzen undefended. Then this army could strike in from the western side and reach Dokuzen before Daichi and the warriors can return. What would you give up, in exchange for your families? And you don’t have to answer that, for I already know. You were happy to abandon us to save your families before. You will give Ward whatever he wants if he seizes Dokuzen.’
They looked at the map in silence.
‘It is the only thing that makes sense,’ Asami stated. ‘Ward has brought far too many men north to merely take Vales. He could do that with half as many.’
‘But why send the army towards Vales?’ Gaibun asked.
‘It is the easiest way for him to reach Dokuzen from the west. And while he will never imagine the Velsh can watch him through magic, he would suspect the elves might have some way of observing what comes up to their borders.’
‘I find it all very hard to believe,’ Gaibun said.
Huw spoke up. ‘Rhiannon is right. Ward is not just a mindless warlord. I despise his methods but he has the right idea, to raise men back up to the level we were at before the Elfarans stole everything from us. If there is a way into Dokuzen, he will find it.’
‘This is merely a guess. We are trying to see too much in Ward. He has an army pointed at Vales. That is all we need to worry about,’ Gaibun insisted.
‘We could talk about this all night and not get any further,’ Sendatsu interrupted, seeing Asami and Rhiannon preparing to continue the argument. ‘The question is, what do we do with this knowledge?’
Gaibun snorted. ‘What knowledge?’
‘Well, we know there are thousands of Forlish soldiers marching north, and another two thousand riding towards Dokuzen’s southern border. I think we should tell Daichi. He will need to know.’
‘And how do we explain it?’ Asami asked. ‘I was supposed to be teaching elven dancing to Rhiannon while preparing a new generation of Magic-weavers to be loyal to the Council, not watching out for Forlish armies. If he thinks I have been trying to help the Velsh, I could end up alongside Sumiko in the mines.’
‘If you go to Daichi with this, he will laugh you out of his office and never listen to you again,’ Gaibun said. ‘You accuse us of looking down on humans but we have been working with them for the last moon. We have some idea of what they’re capable of. Daichi will never believe Ward can think like that.’
Rhiannon took a deep breath but Asami laid a hand on her arm and she subsided a little.
‘Gaibun is right,’ she said slowly. ‘Daichi will not believe us.’
‘So what do we do?’ Asami asked. ‘We have knowledge, how do we use it?’
‘First, you can tell Daichi you have detected an army of humans approaching your southern border. He cannot say anything about that. If, as we expect, the Forlish then attack the border, you can tell him about the second army,’ Huw suggested.
‘Won’t work,’ Gaibun said tiredly. ‘If this is Ward’s plan, then it is brilliant. Daichi will never believe a human could do that. Nothing will stop him from gathering the clans and racing south to destroy the Forlish cavalry. He will pursue them until he has caught them and taught them a lesson. To do otherwise will make him appear weak in the Council’s eyes and, after what we showed him, he already fears there are more plots against him.’
‘So you believe that now?’ Rhiannon challenged.
‘I did not say that. I just said if it is a trap, then Daichi will fall into it.’
‘Surely he cannot ignore a second army on his western border?’ Huw said.
‘He can if it is not threatening him. If the Forlish are just grinding their way north, attacking Velsh villages along the way, he will see that as separate. He will not make the link until it is too late. He has no regard for humans.’ Gaibun shrugged.
‘Nobody could be that blind to the truth.’ Huw shook his head.
‘Watch and you will learn.’
‘We have to show him the truth,’ Sendatsu said. ‘When the Forlish hit from the south, we have to persuade him to only send a small force out to pursue.’
‘Good luck with that,’ Gaibun said.
‘You are the one who has to do it,’ Sendatsu continued.
‘What?’
‘Well, you are a captain in the Border Patrol. And your father is known to be an honourable elf. He is the one person Daichi might listen to.’
‘What of you?’
‘I shall stay here, to keep training the dragons. No matter what, the Forlish will attack villages through Rheged. We have to watch them, protect as many as we can.’
Sendatsu kept his thoughts hidden as he spoke. An idea had popped into his head while he was talking about Gaibun’s father. While Daichi would not listen to them, Jaken might. He forced his mind away from that thought and back to the conversation.
‘So Rhiannon stays here, to help communicate?’ Huw suggested.
‘Gaibun and I return.’ Asami looked hard at Sendatsu as she spoke.
‘For now,’ Sendatsu agreed.
‘And if Daichi does not listen? We cannot let Ward get his hands on Dokuzen. The thought of what he would do to these lands, the re
venge he would exact on Vales, with that power in his hands …’ Huw said.
‘There is one thing we could do,’ Sendatsu heard himself say.
‘What?’
‘We use the dragons we have trained. And we free my father and put him in charge of the Council.’
He regretted it as soon as he spoke, as everyone turned on him.
22
Some of them were not as evil as others and tried to help — but many of those were killed, by their own kind. Elfaran homes among us were burned out and the blame put on us, making it seem as if we were the evil ones.
Huw’s song
Sendatsu had to speak to Asami before she left.
The talk about installing Jaken as Elder Elf had not gone well. It had not so much been a discussion, more everyone else coming up with reasons why it was madness.
‘We would have to be desperate indeed to even think about it,’ Asami had concluded.
Sendatsu had not disagreed with them. He merely tucked the idea away, hoping he would never need it.
Asami and Gaibun had decided to leave that night, so they could speak to Daichi as early as possible in the morning, although promising to stay in touch thanks to Rhiannon’s and Asami’s powers.
‘While we work together, there is always hope,’ Huw said.
Sendatsu did not care about that, only about Asami. Using Mai and Cheijun as a pretext, he managed to get her to stay behind.
‘Asami, I want you to stay here with me,’ he said softly, knowing he had to be quick, for Gaibun would get suspicious and return at any moment.
‘What do you mean? I thought we agreed I was going to watch things from Dokuzen,’ Asami replied.
‘There is too much to do here. These people need our help and we owe them, for what was done to them in the past. I can teach them how to defend themselves and you can show them how to use the magic.’
‘They have Rhiannon now. She can show them magic.’
‘Not the way you can. Besides, she would not be accepted in other countries the way we would be. We could change these lands, give them back what was taken from them, make up for the evil that was done by Daichi’s ancestors. We could devote our lives to this task.’
‘It would be a life away from our friends, from responsibilities — from everything we have worked to achieve!’ Asami pointed out.
‘None of that matters. It is all built on lies. We have to start again and this is the best way.’
‘Is it the humans you care about or the thought that we can be together, away from Gaibun and Dokuzen?’ Asami asked suspiciously.
‘Of course I want to be with you. Of course we should be together. But our first duty would be to the people of these lands.’
Asami shook her head. ‘I am the leader of the Magic-weavers now. My first duty is to our people. I am the guardian of elven magic. If I was to leave Dokuzen, it would be a disaster!’
‘If you don’t, it will be a disaster for these people. Asami, I swore an oath to a murdered child, killed by elves. If you had seen what I had …’
‘But I have not seen that, nor sworn any oaths to them. The only oaths I am thinking of now are the ones I said in the church to Gaibun and offered to Daichi to lead the Magic-weavers. I can talk to the Elder Elf. I have clan leaders listening to me now. Soon, the ordinary people will respect Magic-weavers again and embrace our use of magic. Thanks to me!’
‘Don’t you see? You are working for the wrong people! The elves have always had magic. Giving them more power will just see Daichi and the Council crush the humans. But come with me and we can build a new life while we build these people up again.’
‘But I can’t see how we can build a new life out here? Away from everything and everyone we know? We don’t like the food, we would forever be the source of curiosity and then there is Gaibun. He would never live down the disgrace. He would come looking for us and I could not bear the thought of the two of you fighting over me. I never want to see that.’
Sendatsu shook his head. ‘You don’t understand what happened three hundred years ago and what I want to do to make up for it.’
‘I think I understand what is happening now. You want me to run away with you and are using ancient history to try to win me over.’
‘It’s not like that. Being out here has changed me. Yes, I want you by my side. I would be lying if I said otherwise. But is that such a bad thing? We have wanted to be together for years. Why cannot we have happiness for ourselves while we help the humans?’
‘Because things have changed. Things are changing around us even now,’ Asami said gently. ‘Your idea might work if there was peace here. But there is a war raging around us. Do you think the Velsh will let us go off and help other countries, when they need us to survive? Do you think the Forlish will ignore us? Do you think our people will let their one magical hope walk away? Does that not give you pause?’
‘No!’
Asami threw up her hands and turned away. ‘You don’t know how frustrating you are!’ she cried. ‘Just when I think you are changing, you return to the old Sendatsu.’
‘I am doing what is right, by us and by the people of this land,’ Sendatsu argued. ‘I cannot be happy without you. These lands will never be happy until magic is returned to them.’
‘But I cannot be happy like this. So why are my feelings less important than yours? Why do I have to give everything up for your plan?’
‘That is not what I am asking —’
‘Yes, it is!’ Asami buried her face in her hands. ‘You say you want to help the humans but it comes from selfish reasons. As always,’ she said in a muffled voice. ‘All these years, I cherished a little hope and it has been growing these past moons. To have it dashed is somehow worse than to have never had it at all.’
‘Selfish? Is that what you think of me?’ Sendatsu snarled. ‘Come with me now and I will show you how elves massacred every human with magic. I’ll show you how these poor people live, how they suffer because of us. And then tell me wanting to make up for that is selfish. Tell them that! I can’t believe I am telling you the truth and you think I am lying!’
Asami held up her hand. ‘I cannot do this any more,’ she said. ‘There comes a time when you have to stop dreaming. We always joke together but this is no laughing matter. I thought we always knew each other’s minds but it seems we don’t understand each other.’
He opened his mouth to heatedly disagree when she simply turned on her heel and walked away. For a moment he considered running after her but swiftly realised that would do nothing. He cursed and wished there were Forlish nearby, so he could take out his frustration and anger. How could she have misjudged him so badly?
Gaibun and Asami were waved off — as well as escorted — by a score of Gaibun’s favourite students. Sendatsu did not watch them, let alone ride with them. He could have done so but did not want to face Asami after she had refused him.
Mai and Cheijun had been asking for extra stories, so he sat with them and read.
Mai picked up on his mood. ‘Why are you sad, Papa?’
Sendatsu sighed. ‘I had hoped Asami would stay with us.’
‘Do you need her to fight the Forlish?’
Sendatsu closed his eyes for a moment. ‘I asked her to stay with us but she had more important things to do in Dokuzen. I thought we could all go away together, I thought we could bring the magic back to these lands.’
‘But what about the Velsh? We cannot leave our friends Huw, Daffy and Roowelly! What would they do without you?’
Sendatsu opened his eyes to see her staring at him seriously. ‘Our duty is to help all these people, not just the Velsh,’ he said.
‘But we have to help our friends. We cannot leave them.’
Sendatsu smiled. ‘And we will help them. But I had hoped we could be a family.’
‘We are a family. We are everything you need.’
Sendatsu stroked her hair. ‘You are the best. But now you need your rest.’
Sendatsu watched Mai and Cheijun lying in the bed, so peaceful and innocent, and wondered what sort of world they would want to grow up in.
He could not stand to think of disappointment in Mai’s eyes or, worse, that she would look upon him the way Rhiannon had come to regard Hector. Mai thought he was the best, so he had to live up to that. If he could do that, then surely Asami would see him in a better light.
‘Where is Sendatsu? I thought he would have wanted to offer you a kiss goodbye,’ Gaibun commented as he and Asami rode across the meadows.
‘He is sulking because I refused to run away with him,’ Asami said.
Gaibun said nothing for a long time, so long that she glanced across at him.
‘I thought you might have said yes. That is what you want, after all,’ he said mildly.
‘I don’t want to leave my people without magic, leave my responsibilities and my ambitions behind,’ Asami corrected. ‘He has this crazy idea about bringing magic back to every human land. But it is all about him. He could not see that anything I do is more important than his ideas, his happiness.’
Gaibun sighed. ‘How could he not understand what you are doing with the Magic-weavers? It is more important than anything for our people. I know you won’t want to talk about Sendatsu with me but, for what it is worth, I am always here for you. After all, I know you two best of all.’
Asami laughed shortly. ‘The crazy thing is, I feel I can talk about this with you but when I try to speak to Sendatsu, we end up in an argument.’
‘He is a fool. How could you run away when the whole of Dokuzen depends on you?’
‘Exactly. Why could he not see things as you do?’
Again he said nothing for a long while. ‘Perhaps because I have had longer to understand my mistakes. I spoiled my chances with you and have learned from that. Still, perhaps there is hope that Sendatsu will understand better what he has done. I wish with all my heart I had not made so many mistakes in our marriage. I was trying to forget about you, and all I did was make it worse by trying to find solace in mistresses. But of course finding another lover did not work, no more than it did for Sendatsu out here.’
