by Rick Shelley
Maria remained able to communicate freely with Silvas, without detracting from anything else. There was much to share, even in the midst of a fight. They clearly understood that there was more at stake in this confrontation than their personal survival or destruction. Death, if it came, would be total; nothing of them would survive. But if they were disgraced yet somehow survived the battle, they would lose perhaps all of their new adherents, and they would have little chance of replacing them in the land of the gods. They also realized that they absolutely had to have such supporters to have any hope of long-term survival.
For many minutes, the contest was an even duel between the two pairs of gods. Silvas and Barreth sparred with each other while Maria and Gioia were similarly occupied. Heavy blades clashed against each other and against shields and body armor. The ring of spectators remained behind clearly defined boundaries, as if held back by force.
Only slowly did Silvas realize that the spectators were being restrained. They could see and hear everything that transpired now, but they could not get close. Barreth and Gioia wanted no interference with their sport. For the moment, Silvas was content to let things stay as they were. The longer that he and Maria were able to hold their own against older and more experienced gods, the more they would gain. If they survived.
Bay needed no direction to keep pressing for the most advantageous position in the duel. He knew his business, and that meant that Silvas had one less complication to worry about. Camiss was not experienced in this work, but she responded instantly to whatever demands Maria made of her. Maria was there in Camiss's mind, calming the mare, urging her on with every bit of encouragement she needed.
After a time, Barreth and Gioia started to show signs of impatience. This was not Gioia's type of combat. She preferred her bow and distance. And even Barreth took more pleasure from watching others fight than he did at fighting on his own part.
We have survived too long for their liking, Silvas told Maria.
That is a victory in itself, she replied.
But it was not sufficient. Neither of them let down their guard. Their opponents began to wear their frustration more openly. Barreth's anger was especially obvious. The look of concentration on his face became a frown of eloquent depth.
At last, Barreth spoke a word of power. Silvas was prepared for any such word directed at himself or Maria, but this word was not aimed at them. Rather, it released the barrier that had held the crowd away from the duel. A company of soldiers in the livery of Barreth's service charged out into the cleared circle, eager to help finish off their master's enemies.
Silvas did not hesitate. He projected his own call for assistance. My friends! To me!
Josephus and the rest of the soldiers that Silvas had enlisted galloped toward the fray, looking to intercept Barreth's soldiers before they could reach Silvas and Maria. But, to Silvas's surprise, many other people came forward at his call. Many were armed, but some were not. And all of these additional people were on foot.
Barreth and Gioia seemed equally astonished by the response to Silvas's call for aid. Momentarily, they held back their own attacks, going on the defensive, merely meeting the continued strokes of Silvas and Maria. Barreth tried to impose a new barricade, tried to stop help from reaching his enemies, but Silvas was there, immediately countering everything that Barreth attempted.
Barreth's soldiers were intercepted by Josephus and the mercenaries who had been armed by Silvas. Barreth's partisans were also caught up from behind by many of the new volunteers. Several were pulled from their horses, bludgeoned by clubs and fists. Many had their weapons taken away and used against them. The confusion of the melee was quickly complete.
Silvas and Maria pressed their advantage, forcing the attack against Barreth and Gioia, moving forward, so heartened by the response around them that their strength seemed to increase by a half. More of Silvas's new adherents came toward the gods, despite the risk to mortals in such a gesture. The old gods gave way before the combined assaults, moving toward the cluster of Barreth's beleaguered soldiers.
Barreth gave some silent command to his troops. As best they could, they disengaged from the fighting and rallied around their master and his sister. Slowly, the company moved toward one of the exits from the plaza, abandoning more than a dozen of their number dead or wounded on the ground. Maria and Silvas pressed forward until it was obvious to everyone that the old gods were retreating in disorder, then they stopped, and held back their supporters.
"This game palls on me," Barreth shouted from a distance of fifty yards. "But do not mistake to gloat. Your destruction comes soon, and that of all who take your part."
The laughter-from hundreds of throats-that met Barreth's threat further reddened his face, and speeded the pace of his departure.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Silvas and Maria were left in command of the plaza, with their supporters gathered around them. The much larger numbers of people who had taken no part in the fight still hung back, now of their own accord. But many seemed to take up the mood of the victors' celebration, and most obviously wished to hear whatever words might pass among the victors.
Josephus formed up the original contingent of mercenaries. None had been killed in the fight, though several had been wounded. Silvas dealt with those injuries quickly, and with those suffered by the others who had come forward to take their part, and even the wounded left behind when Barreth and Gioia fled. Only four of the unexpected volunteers had died in the fight.
After the injured were healed, Silvas and Maria turned their attention to the hundred or more people who had answered his call for help, apart from the thirty-two who had worn the new livery of the Seven Towers. They had clustered together in several groups. Since they were all on foot, Silvas dismounted, took off his helmet, and handed it to Maria, then moved toward the waiting men.
"My friends," he said, spreading his arms in an inclusive gesture. "I thank each of you for your help. Your actions show heart, courage, and daring. To any of you who wish to continue in our service, we open our arms. Follow us to the sign of the Eye where we will make the arrangement formal. You've already shown yourselves worthy. If any of you do not wish to join our service, please accept our deepest thanks for your assistance here. For whatever good it may do, you will leave with our appreciation and our blessing. Come forward now, and we will give you a more tangible reward to take away with you as well."
Silvas waited, but no one came forward to claim a reward and leave. After a couple of minutes, Silvas smiled and nodded.
"Thank you again. Follow us to the sign of the Eye where we can talk more comfortably."
"The Seven Towers will grow more crowded," Maria whispered after Silvas had remounted.
"We have room," Silvas replied. "This is a more heartening day than we could have imagined."
"Providing it isn't spoiled before the end," Maria said.
"My own thoughts exactly," Bay injected.
The troop was more impressive than ever as it followed Silvas and Maria. Josephus and the liveried soldiers rode right behind their leaders. The rest followed them. There was an air of celebration to the last contingent in the parade. The men who had joined the melee on impulse were experiencing a euphoric reaction to victory. They showed none of the discipline of a trained unit. They were little more than a mob that had chosen the right side in a skirmish.
The Inn of the Eye was jammed when everyone followed Silvas and Maria into the courtyard. With insufficient room in the public room for all of his adherents, Silvas ordered trestle tables set up in the courtyard, as well as kegs of beer and wine and all of the food the landlord could get out to them.
"I much regret to inform you, Lord Silvas," the landlord said while his servants were scurrying to accommodate so many patrons, "that we do not have the facilities to house all of your people overnight."
"I wouldn't expect to place such a burden on you," Silvas said. He dug into his purse and pulled out more than enough gold coins
to recompense the landlord. "For your services and your trouble. We will remember your house kindly."
"Thank you, my lord." The landlord touched his forehead in salute before bowing over and over as he retreated from the armored figure. "I pray you will honor my house again when your travels bring you back to the Shining City."
Silvas and Maria circulated among their followers, those who had joined before the trek to the Citadel and those who had joined in the face of immediate danger. They talked to each of the men in the latter group, to ask after names and to confirm that the men wished to continue in their service. Each was armed and armored in turn, a token of acceptance. Josephus was set to purchase horses for the new men, and the animals were also armored and decorated. Each of the new men was also given one of the small silver coins. By the time Silvas and Maria completed their rounds, an hour and more had passed. The celebration was becoming even noisier than it had been at its start.
"Eat up, and drink while drink remains," Silvas urged. "We leave shortly for the Seven Towers, whose device you now wear."
– |It took until mid-afternoon to collect enough horses to mount all of the new soldiers. When the troop rode toward the gate out of the Shining City, they looked as imposing as any force in the city. People turned to stare. Those in their way moved quickly to one side or the other. Bay alternated his pace between a walk and a soft trot while they were in the city. Behind him, the horses of the mercenaries and volunteers moved in a ragged formation. Once the procession cleared the drawbridge and put the Shining City behind it, Josephus moved up and rode next to Silvas and Maria.
Silvas used the time as they crossed the plain to explain to Josephus the arrangements that existed in the Seven Towers. "We were never set up for such an array as this, but we'll manage. Until this time, the establishment has featured roughly equal numbers of humans and gurnetz, with a smaller number of esperia."
Josephus was familiar with the other races, though he had seldom had occasion to be around them.
"The captain of the guard in the Seven Towers has always been a gurnetz," Silvas explained. "Braf Goleg has commanded the castle guard for nearly twenty years now. Since he has become one of my formal counselors, he may wear that title as long as I wear mine. Our arrangements will be somewhat parallel. You will command this force under me. The castle guard will remain his."
"However you wish to use me, lord," Josephus said. "I put no constraints on my service."
When the force reached the top of the grade leading away from the Shining City, they could see the bubble lying across the horizon in front of them. The sight caused a few murmurs, but no real fear. Soldiers who dared to rush forward to battle gods were unlikely to be intimidated by anything to be found in the mortal world. They were used to a different land, where the remarkable was-generally-unremarkable. They were accustomed to the feuds of the gods, and they had some idea of what they were exposing themselves to before they accepted service under Silvas and Maria. Serving a god might be dangerous, but the potential rewards were extravagant enough to draw many.
As soon as the force passed through the barrier around the valley of the Seven Towers, Silvas projected word of their coming ahead to warn Braf and the sentries on the walls that they were coming, and that they were not an enemy force come to assault the Glade. There was no need for Silvas to concern himself with what the people of the village might think of his force. The direct road was not visible from the village or from the field around it.
It was time for the evening meal when the columns of soldiers rode through the gate of the Glade. Warned of their approach, Braf and Bosc were there to greet Silvas and Maria.
"Things are in a fine state here," Braf said. " 'Twill take time to find room for so many."
"Especially the horses," Bosc said. "Our mews are not meet to house half this number." Even that was an understatement. There was hardly room for a dozen new horses to be stabled along with those that were already there.
"We'll do what we can for now, and make better arrangements as soon as we can," Silvas said. "For now, let's see to the immediate needs of the horses and get the rest of us to table."
Caring for the horses took another half hour. The delay did give the household staff time to erect several trestle tables and rearrange the customary smaller tables in the great hall. It also gave the cooks time to finish preparing the vast additional amounts of food that so many extra bellies would require.
The great hall was a particularly noisy place that evening. The veterans of the day's encounter in the Shining City talked about their experiences, both among themselves and with the folk of the Seven Towers. The brief confrontation grew in the telling and retelling. By the end of the meal there seemed to be a half-dozen mutually exclusive versions of the fight, as if there had been that many separate battles.
At least there were no fights over conflicting versions. Silvas, Maria, and the others at the head table with them-Josephus and Felix-watched closely for any sign of an argument grown serious.
"A good mix," Silvas observed after watching and listening for quite some time. "We'll have to work quickly to provide suitable housing for everyone. I mislike the idea of having people merely grab a little straw on the floor. It goes against the traditions of the Seven Towers."
"If I might make a suggestion?" Josephus said. It had already been decided that he would have a room in the keep of the Glade, on the same floor as Felix's.
"By all means," Silvas urged.
"There seems room along the curtain wall, this side of the mews, for an additional building, with stables on the ground floor and barracks above."
"Show us." Silvas touched his forehead with a finger.
Silvas, Maria, and Josephus closed their eyes and Josephus showed them, quickly erecting the building he envisioned in their minds. Room and more, Josephus pointed out. This might handle even fifty men more than we brought with us today.
The revision to the Seven Towers appeared as real and solid as any of the older portions. The three divines walked about it in their minds, looking at it inside and out.
This would take months to build, Maria observed.
Only if you insist on mortal craftsmen, Josephus countered.
I never would have dreamed of so ambitious a magic before, Silvas said. But now it seems little more than what it took to provide weapons and armor for the men.
"Exactly," Josephus said, opening his eyes and looking toward Silvas.
"We'll go outside first," Silvas said. "I would abhor any error that caught someone in the way of such work."
When the three of them got up from the table and headed for the front door, Felix trailed along. He had been unable to follow the tour the others had taken in the spirit, but his awakening powers had shown him that something was in the wind. Braf, Bosc, and Koshka also followed, and behind them perhaps half of the folk in the great hall.
Outside, they saw that several horses had strayed into the area where Josephus had placed the new building in thought. Silvas sent people to move the horses to a safe distance, and to make certain that no others strayed into danger.
"Hold the image in your mind," Silvas told Josephus when the area was clear.
Silvas reached into Josephus's mind and grasped the structure of the building with many tendrils of power. At this juncture, Maria and Silvas were working fully as one, without any trace of separate identity in their movements in the spirit. They lifted the model of the building and placed it against the curtain wall of the Seven Towers, then quickly withdrew.
The new building appeared all at once, in less than the blink of an eye. A gasp of amazement came from all who had come out to watch. Though the folk with long experience of the Seven Towers had seen magics enough, they had never seen anything to rival this. Even the folk who had just come from the land of the gods had rarely, if ever, seen its like.
"There," Silvas said, turning to face the crowd of onlookers. "That will ease the crowding. Bosc, there's sufficient room for the h
orses below, as well as additional stores of fodder. And rooms above for the men."
– |When Silvas and Maria were finally able to retreat to their apartments above the great hall, they both felt that their day had been more than full.
"It isn't the magic that was so draining, or even the duel we fought in the Shining City," Maria said as she prepared for bed. "I really can't explain what we did this day that was so depleting."
"Nor I," Silvas said. "But I feel the drain as well, as if some force were attempting to suck power from us the way a leech sucks blood from a body."
"You don't actually think that's what is happening?" Maria asked, allowing minimal concern to show in her voice. Alone in their bedroom, they sought the open communication of mere mortals, setting aside the direct link between them to a subconscious level. Already, both of them craved such moments as this, temporary abdications of the greater whole they had become.
Silvas reflected for a moment, then shook his head. "No. I think rather that this is a natural effect of some sort, perhaps customary to such as we have become."
They talked, and they moved toward each other across the large bed they shared. Even after they reached each other and moved toward physical intimacy, the conversation continued, though it became more and more disjointed as their passions grew.
"To think, it's been little more than a week since Carillia joined us together," Silvas managed as he caressed Maria.
Maria had changed physically in the brief time she had been with Silvas, no doubt a reflection of the inner growth that Carillia's gift had forced upon her. She no longer appeared to be an awkward adolescent having difficulty coming to terms with new womanhood. Her figure had filled out to a more mature lushness, but that was not the most astounding facet of her physical transformation. That was in the mature beauty of her face, a veneer of serenity almost as complete as that which Carillia had customarily worn. When Silvas first met Maria, in the great hall of her father's castle, he had not thought her especially attractive. Now… she seemed almost as beautiful as Carillia had always appeared.
