'How few, then? Fifteen? Ten?'
'No, five knights only could I lend you for this task.'
'Very well then, five knights it will have to be. Choose your finest, King Danashu.'
'I shall choose them from among those who win honors at this tournament.'
We clasped hands then to seal this troth, and King Danashu reluc-tandy gave the Lightstone back to Sar Shuradan. He stood up and prepared to leave my tent. And then he said to me, 'It will be good to take meat with the sons of Shavashar Elahad at the feast tonight. But King Waray would speak with you, Lord Valashu, in private before the feast. He has asked me to convey his invitation.'
After bowing to me and my brothers, he collected his two knights posted outside my tent and left our encampment. I noticed him making his way toward some nearby jewelry stalls, perhaps to inspect their wares.
'He calls himself a king,' Yarashan spat out as he watched him stride forth. 'But it seems he's only a king's messenger.'
'No, Yarashan,' I said, 'he is a king, and could file as one if only he turned his attentions toward winning his dukes and barons instead of other kings.'
Asaru said, 'It's clear enough, isn't it, that he's looking for meals at King Waray's table?'
'Yes, that seems certain,' I said, thinking of the surges of emotion pourinig out of King Danashu whenever King Waray's name was mentioned. 'But does he seek a secret alliance with Taron? And does Taron seek alliance Anjo? For King Waray, that would be a dangerous game.'
'It would,' Yarashan agreed. He stood beneath the apex of my tent near Asaru and me, and looked back and forth between us. 'If King Hadaru gained word of this alliance before it was concluded, he might be tempted to march against Taron to preempt it.'
'But why,' Asaru asked, 'would King Waray take such a risk?'
I placed my hand on the hilt of my sword, and the hazy pattern forming up before my inner eye suddenly became vivid and clear. I said, 'King Waray has never liked giving battle, and the Ishkans have the largest army in the Nine Kingdoms. He's always counted on us to keep the Ishkans in check. But if Morjin should move against Mesh, Ishka would be free to turn north against either Anjo or Taron — or both. And so King Waray might see making an alliance with Anjo as the lesser risk.'
'An alliance between Anjo and Taron?' Yarashan snapped. 'Does a lamb make alliances with a lion? Doesn't King Danashu realize that Taron would eat up Anjo in pieces?'
'His position, no matter which way he turns, is weak,' I said. 'Which is why his greatest hope is for an alliance of all the Valari.'
'But he believes this to be impossible!' Yarashan said. 'As it likely is. You heard what he said, Val.'
'Yes, but he also promised to speak in favor of the Trian conclave. And he has pledged five knights to become Guardians.'
'Do you think he'll honor his word?'
'Yes,' I said. 'He is an honorable man, despite his weakness.'
'Five knights,' Yarashan said. 'How is that you invite the Anjoris into our company while you seemed reluctant to accept the Ishkans?'
I said nothing for a moment as I looked at Yarashan's haughty face. And then Asaru answered for me, saying, 'Our little brother only seemed reluctant, isn't that right, Val?'
'Yes, that is true,' I said. 'It was likely that King Hadaru would insist on making Ishkan knights Guardians. The pride of kings, yes? And if all the Valari kings do likewise, they'll see that an alliance is not only possible but inevitable.'
Yarashan nodded his head as he smiled at me. 'You're more cunning than I ever would have thought. But what of King Waray, then? Our father has always said that he's more difficult than even King Hadaru. You certainly won't persuade him as easily as you did King Danashu.'
'We'll find out about King Waray soon enough,' I said. 'Now why don't we get ready for this feast that he's prepared for us?'
I turned to see to a bath and to fresh garments, and I considered what I would say to the man who styled himself as the greatest of the Valari kings.
Chapter 11
An hour later I rode out alone to answer King Waray's invitation Many knights, on their way to visit friends or kindred in other encampments, passed by in continual streams of snorting horses and brilliant surcoats flapping in the wind. A dirt road connected the Meshian pavilions with the Tournament Grounds' main road. At the intersection, where teams of workmen made busy preparing the Sword and Chess Pavilions for the coming competitions, 1 turned east and let Altaru gallop full out for a few hundred yards to give him a little exercise. Soon we came to the Taroners' encampment. I counted hundreds of pavilions sprung up from the soft green grass like so many brightly colored mushrooms. In a little field between them, many rows of tables were being set with plates and goblets for the evening's feast Grooms working the firepits there roasted whole lambs on black, greasy spits while others nearby hurried to and fro bearing casks of brandy or baskets of bread. King Waray's pavilion, overlooking all this activity, was like a small palace constructed of red and white silk. After tethering Altaru outside it, I made my way toward its open door. I gave my name to one of the guards posted there, and he vanished inside the pavilion to announce me. A few moments later, a tall, dignified man came out to greet me. His long red tunic was emblazoned with the white winged horse of the House of Waray.
'Lord Valashu Elahad!' King Waray said to me. He clasped hands with me as if we were old friends. 'Welcome to Nar!'
With his aquiline nose and black, luminous eyes, he appeared the epitome of a Valari King. His high forehead seemed to radiate a shining intelligence. But as he thanked me for honoring his summons and began speaking of the friendship of our two kingdoms, the words that poured from his thin lips seemed sometimes to squeak like mice and at other moments to roar like mountain lions. His was a curious voice: pinched and nasal, gravelly and sweet — all at once. It might, I thought, as easily disarm and charm a friend as it could flay an enemy. It was clear from the first that King Waray intended to charm me. He hailed me as the Lord of the Lightstone. He praised the beauty of my horse and my skill at mastering such a magnificent and ferocious beast. And then he laid his arm about my shoulders and gently urged me to walk with him through the Taron encampment.
'Yes, a fine horse, indeed,' he said as he watched Altaru's neck arch downward to graze on the rich spring grass. 'One of the Anjori wild Blacks, isn't he? We've all heard the story of how you risked your life, when you were still a boy, to break him.'
'Altaru,' I said to him, 'was never broken. He allows me to ride him, but no other.'
'Of course — well, it was still a great feat. Just as it seems more recently you've tamed the mighty Ishkan bear.'
'King Hadaru,' I said, fighting back a smile, 'might think otherwise.'
'Of course he would. But he has chosen Ishkan knights to join your Guardians, hasn't he? And he has ridden with an Elahad all the way from Ishka into Taron.'
'Truly, he has,' I said, watching as King Waray's bright eyes watched me. 'For at least a hundred miles, Ishka has made alliance with Mesh.'
King Waray smiled at me. 'King Hadaru and I spoke together earlier today. He has assured me that he favors an alliance of all the Valari, even as you propose.'
As we paused in front of his huge pavilion, I had to fight to keep the fire of hope from flaring too brightly on my face. I asked him, 'Do you favor such an alliance, King Waray?'
'Of course I do — how else are we to oppose Morjin?'
'My apologies, but King Danashu has given me to understand that you consider such an alliance an impossibility.'
'King Danashu sees impossibilities everywhere,' he said. 'Perhaps he heard me speak of the great difficulties in forging such an alliance and misconstrued this to mean I thought it would be impossible.'
'Then you do think it's possible?'
'My father, a very wise man, once asked me this: How is it possible that the impossible is not only possible but inevitable?'
My heart sounded in my chest like a thunderbolt. I said, 'That is m
y feeling, exactly. The Valari must unite. Any difficulties must give way like darkness before the light of the stars.'
'Beautifully said, Lord Valashu. And I have invited you here so that we might speak of these difficulties. Why don't we begin with King Hadaru, who is a very difficult man?'
'But you say that he has spoken in favor of the alliance.'
'Indeed, he has. But then: was everything about his maner, the very tone of his words, that suggested he hopes to lead this himdelf.' King Waray, as we began walking between the Taroners pavillion slid this innuendo into me as snoothly as might an assassin a knife. He was a shrewd man and subtle. He had a cool polished facade like the marble of his great Sun Tower, and his casual knowledeability and seeming goodwill concealed a monumental arrogance and desire to control others. I knew that he wasn't telling me the whole truth, about King Hadaru or anything else. And yet I also knew that he sense of honor would not permit him to lie outright. He was. rather, like a knight facing formal combat or playing a game with strict rules of his own making. I recalled then that, in his time, for many tournaments he had remained undefeated at chess.
'King Hadaru,' I told him, 'has always seen himself as the strongest of the Valari kings. And he doubts that I could be the Maitreya.'
'Many doubt this, Lord Valashu,' he said And then he slid another knife into me and twisted it. 'I think you even doubt this yourself.'
I remained quiet for a moment as I stopped to look at him. And then I said, 'And you, King Waray? Are you one of the doubters, too?'
'Well, what does it really mean to be a Maitreya?' He asked me, giving voice to the question I most wanted answered. 'I can tell you that if any Valari deserves to be Maitreya, then surely it is you.'
'Thank you,' I said. 'One of my reasons for journeying here was to cast more light on this matter.'
'Of course — you hope to unite our people. If you accomplish this, you will prove yourself to be the Maitreya.'
I bowed my head to him and said, 'You are very perceptive, King Waray. But it's also my hope to search inside the Brotherhood school. There might be knowledge there that could settle this question.'
'The school has been closed,' he told me. 'Your Master Juwain has seen to that.'
'We were hoping you might be persuaded to reopen it.' 'Perrhaps some day I might be.'
The light of the late sun glinted off the helm of a passing knight, and I suddenly realized something: He does not want me to be the Maitreya. He does not want any Valari to be this Shining One. 'What would it take; then, to persuade you, King Waray?'
'That is still to be determined. You see, the Brotherhood has gath-ered much knowledge that is difficult to interpret or is actually misleading. And this is a time where we Valari must not be misled.' 'Truly, we mustn't. And that is why the Maitreya must be found.'
'Of course, he must be found, if it that is possible,' he said. 'But what if it should happen that Valashu Elahad is not the Maitreya? What if none of the Valari is? Even so, the Valari must find a way to unite.'
King Wara's black eyes were bright with dreams, and I suddenly realized something else: He truly desires a Valari alliance — but with himself as its leader.
'The way to unite is simple,' I said to him. 'Each king has only to pledge his support to every other, should Morjin threaten to march against any of our kingdoms. And then to meet in conclave in Tria.'
'Of course, it is simple to say this, but much more difficult to accomplish. King Mohan, for one, cares little for Morjin's threats.'
'That is because he knows little of Morjin.'
'He knows enough to determine that Morjin has problems of his own. Since you made off with the Lightstone, it's said that some of the Dragon Kings have plotted against Morjin and have tried to assassinate him.'
'And how has this news come to you?'
'A king always has his sources,' he said mysteriously. 'I've always striven for peace, always tried to understand the true concerns of those around me. To achieve this, one must know a great many things.'
'Does King Mohan favor a Valari alliance?'
'That is difficult to say. He certainly favors anything that would promote Athar's gaining glory, particularly if that occurred to the detriment of Lagash and King Kurshan.'
'The old dispute,' I said, shaking my head.
Long ago, in the Age of Swords, King Saruth the Great, whom King Mohan claimed as a distant ancestor, had made a bid for empire and had conquered parts of Taron and Lagash — and even Delu. The old tales told that King Saruth had captured and murdered King Thanasu of Lagash, and had forcibly taken his daughter as his wife to strengthen his line. The Lagashuns had never forgiven the Atharians for this ignominy. More recently, thirty years ago in one of the endless wars between these ancient enemies, both sides claimed the other had broken the rules of formal battle: Lagash accused Athar of commencing the fight before giving Lagash a chance to negotiate, while Athar held Lagash guilty of slaying captives out of hand.
'Of course, I've tried to reason with both King Mohan and King Kurshan,' King Waray said. 'King Kurshan speaks of sailing to the stars even as he builds a great fleet of ships. Who could blame King Mohan for fearing that King Kurshan will use this fleet to strengthen Lagash against Athar? Well, King Mohan is hotheaded and has an evil temper, and so I suppose we can all blame him for that. And so I've tried to find words to cool his heart. I count it as one of my greatest victories that during my reign, war between Athar and Lagash has thrice been
averted.'
As I listened to King Waray's sweetly deceptive voice I had a strange sense that his words had actually inflamed King Mohan's fear of King Kurshan — and perhaps King Kurshan's dread of King Mohan. I sensed that King Waray liked to fan the flames of such fires and then inter-vene with his talk of peace to put them out. In this way did he disarm the kings around him even as he gained their gratitude. In this way did he gain prestige and power.
We began walking again down the rows of the Taron tents Knights dressed in fine tunics for the coming feast passed by us on their way to visit with friends or perhaps take in a game of dice before sitting down to table. Out of respect, they gave us wide berth — all the while straining their ears toward us and stealing glances at me as if hoping for a glimpse of the Lightstone.
And then King Waray lowered his voice as he said to me, 'It may indeed be difficult to win King Mohan to the idea of alliance, for he has grievances against many kingdoms, and Mesh not the least. However, King Talanu is a different question. As always, he will favor anything that Mesh does.'
King Talanu Solaru of Kaash, my grandfather, had been unable to journey to the tournament because of his failing health. But he had sent his son, Lord Viromar, in his place. Although my uncle's friendship was much more with my father than with me, he could certainly be counted on to speak for a Valari alliance, for Kaash and Mesh themselves were ancient allies and supported each other in almost all matters.
'Of course,' King Waray continued, 'King Talanu's unconditional advocacy of this alliance is itself a strike against it.'
'Because of Waas?'
'Exactly. Anything the Kaashans support, King Sandarkan will oppose on first impulse. The Waashians remain too bitter.'
For three hundred years, the Waashians had made war against Kaash in an attempt to recover a large chunk of territory lost in one of their formal battles. But the Kaashans' ferocity and their long swords — with the aid of Mesh — had defeated the numerically superior Waashians again and again.
'Bitter they might be,' I said. 'But they will never regain the Arjan Land through war.'
A little light flared in King Waray's eyes just then, but he kept his cool demeanor. His voice rolled up from his throat through his mouth and long nose: 'There speaks Meshian pride. Is it any wonder that King Sandarkan would speak against this alliance?'
I found that my hand had fallen upon the hilt of my sword. Too many of my friends, I remembered, had died beneath the Waashians' spears only a few years before
. Even so, I commanded my fingers to relax. The war with Waas, I reminded myself, had been won. And if an alliance was to be achieved, Mesh and Waas must never make war again.
'King Sandarkan,' I said, 'would then speak against the very thing that preserves his kingdom.'
'Preserves it against Morjin, do you mean?'
'No, against the Valari. My father showed great restraint in not adding Waashian territory to his realm. But the other kings surrounding Waas would not be so kind. King Mohan looks always to the south, doesn't he? Even King Hadaru might be tempted to break truce with Waas if he saw the eagles gathering to rend her apart. Even yourself. King Waray.'
He shrugged his shoulders at this and told me, 'I've said many times that Taron seeks to gain no new territories. I've assured King Sandarkan of this. I believe I have his trust, and 1 also believe that I can persuade him of the necessity of an alliance.'
At what price, I wondered? Would he promise King Sandarkan the return of the Arjan Land in exchange for his support?
'If you could soften King Sandarkan's heart, that would be a great thing,' I told him.
'Of course — I would like to help you in any way I can.'
I realized then another thing about King Waray: that if he failed to gain the leadership of the alliance because I proved myself as the Maitreya, he would try to control me by making himself indispensable.
'King Sandarkan,' he said, 'journeys to Nar often. In time, I'm sure he'll see the sense of things.'
'We have little time, King Waray. The tournament begins tomorrow and lasts only a week.'
'Well, we mustn't rush things — this isn't quite the moment for the alliance you seek.'
'But the conclave will begin in Tria and the end of Marud! The Valari kings must be there.'
'Lord Valashu,' he said, catching me up in the command of his dark eyes, 'it is one thing for the Valari to come together in alliance with each other. But it is quite another to make alliance with outland kingdoms. That, I'm afraid, is impossible. And more, it is not even desirable.'
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