The Crown of the Usurper (The Crown of the Blood)

by Gav Thorpe

  I would have brought the legions back with me. You've conquered Salphoria once, you can always do it again if you are forced, but you only need to lose the empire once.

  "Maybe you're right, but that doesn't matter now. I made my decision, now I have to live with it."

  It's not too late. Send messengers to Salphoria and bring back the legions.

  "And do what with them? Start another war?"

  You are a general, one of the finest to have ever lived, and you keep hiding from that fact.

  "I'm not going to turn this into a war, not again," said Ullsaard. "I'll not have thousands of my men dying because of Urikh's vanity."

  Then give up your claim to the Crown. Disappear and become an ordinary man, and let Urikh rule. One day, not too distant, you will die of old age anyway, and your son will be the true king. Ullsaard could not allow that, and it was more than just pride that stopped him from slinking away to Cosuan or Salphoria. Of course, the lovely Allenya, pillar of your life.

  "Don't even think about her!" snarled Ullsaard. A couple of men in the yard below glanced up at the balcony; the king's anger had added volume to his voice. Keeping his words quiet, Ullsaard continued. "I'm not going to abandon her, or let her think I am dead."

  So, what you mean to say is that you'll not have thousands die by your vanity, but you will for the love of your wife.

  "Allenya would not have it, so neither can I," said Ullsaard. He turned around and leaned back against the balcony rail, closing his eyes. "I would drown Greater Askhor in blood to be with her again, but she would not take a man who could do that."

  You are a man who could do that, and still she loves you.

  "None of this is helping," said Ullsaard. He opened his eyes and crossed his arms. "I do not have my legions to hand, and I am not going to start a war. Accept that, and tell me what you think."

  You must make embassy to the governors, as you have already concluded. Urikh cannot command the direct loyalty of any legion except perhaps the First and the soldiers of the Brotherhood. As you robbed me, as Lutaar, of my forces, you must have every other legion loyal to you. The threat of force will be enough to bring Urikh to his knees, without having to spill a drop of blood.

  "That's it? You tell me what I already know and call it advice?"

  Go in person, do not send messengers.

  "Why not? It would take a long time to visit all of the provinces."

  When I sent heralds to the tribal chieftains, they ignored my pleas and demands. Some of the chieftains even slew my messengers because what I asked of them was so outrageous. My heralds having failed, I went to the chieftains myself. No ambassador, no herald, can ever argue with the full weight of your authority, nor give concession or make demand like a king in person.

  Ullsaard considered this. His primary concern had been to keep his return secret. He had failed in that goal, even if Urikh was not yet aware of his father's homecoming. The only course of action left to Ullsaard was to control, as best he could, the way the news of his survival was spread. The more people that saw him, the harder it would be to deny his return as a baseless rumour.

  Now you are using that brain of yours. Ullsaard felt a moment of warmth, of genuine pride from the shade of his ancestor. It is a shame that I had to take control of all my sons, I am sure they would have made me very proud as kings.

  Hearing excited voices for below, Ullsaard returned his attention to what was happening in the courtyard. The main gate was being opened for a man in kilt a tunic – Ullsaard recognised him as the runner he had sent out the previous evening, Kaathan. The soldier was talking with the men at the gate as he came in, and they turned and pointed to the balcony.

  "What is it?" Ullsaard shouted. "Why are you back so soon?"

  The legionnaire hurried across the yard and stood beneath the balcony. Ullsaard could not tell if the dampness on the man's skin was moisture from the air or sweat, but he was breathing quite heavily and took in a gulp of air. His black hair was cut short, like all legionnaires, and the wet made it clump into haphazard spikes. Kaathan bowed his head until Ullsaard called for him to stand up.

  "I was leaving Genladen this morning, my king, just a few miles further up the road, when I met with Captain Gelthius and the others." Ullsaard absorbed this information without comment. "He sent me back, to tell you that it might not be safe here. Governor Asuhas definitely knows where we are, or thinks he does."

  "What else?"

  "Governor Asuhas is definitely in league with Urikh, my king. Captain Gelthius said he heard as much with his own ears. Ersua might not be safe for us, he told me."

  "And why is Captain Gelthius not telling me this himself, and why haven't I heard earlier?"

  "I don't know that, he never said. Him and the others are making their way here as quick as they can. They'll be here before High watch at the latest. The captain said he would be telling you everything else he knows when he got here, but it was best if he told you himself."

  Sounds suspicious. I don't know why you trust that Salphor mongrel. And you made him captain?

  "He's honest and loyal, and that's better than most of you pure Askhans," said Ullsaard, although the truth was that as one of the Blood he was about as Askhan as could be possible, even if he had been raised in Enair.

  "I'm sorry, my king, what did you say?" said Kaathan. "Did you want me to go to Askh?"

  "What? No, I don't want you to go to Askh. Since there's no point you going to Marradan, I want you to head off to Thedraan instead. See what you can find out about Asuhas' business lately. Find out if word of my return has spread to there yet."

  "Yes, my king," said Kaathan, bobbing his head and lifting a fist to his chest in salute. "I shall leave within the hour."

  Ullsaard flexed his fingers on the balustrade of the balcony, squeezing the wood with calloused fingers. He had known that Asuhas would learn of his return soon, but it was still slightly unsettling for it to be confirmed so quickly. If Asuhas knew, then there was every reason to expect that the Brotherhood knew as well. Runners moving from precinct to precinct could make the journey from Marradan to Askh in as little as fourteen days, if they could get a swift ship down the Ladmun to the Greenwater.

  Tonight, not fourteen days.

  "What's that?" said Ullsaard, moving into the sparsely furnished chamber adjoining the balcony. This had been a room appointed for receiving visitors, with many chairs and sofas. Ullsaard had turned it into his command office, removing all but one chair and two tables. He sat in the chair behind the largest table and sorted through the pile of papers for a map of Greater Askhor. "If we leave tomorrow, we can cut around the hotwards side of the lake and head towards my Apili estates in Okhar. We'll be into Nalanor before Urikh hears we're in Ersua."

  If the Brotherhood knows that you have returned, and wish for your son to learn of the news, he will either know it already or he will know it by tonight.

  "They would have had to have sent a runner the moment I reached the border," said the king. "Impossible."

  There are other ways to communicate.

  "A carrier bird? Kolubrid rider? Even that takes time."

  Listen to me! It was the first time the old king had ever filled Ullsaard's thoughts with such urgency. The king's head throbbed for a moment, but he caught a backwash of anxiety from the trapped spirit that added venom to his demand. The Brotherhood have means by which they can pass message from precinct to precinct in a matter of hours. Think of it as speaking across that gap between real things that we spoke of earlier. The Grand Precincts receive all of the messages sent between the lesser precincts, and Lakhyri will be monitoring them for any mention of your return.

  Ullsaard groaned and rested his head in his hands, elbows on the papers in front of him.

  "That fucking Brotherhood! You told me they would be loyal to me as the new king. They are nothing of the sort. I wish I had never reinstated the bastards."

  Most Brothers are honest, dedicated servants of the empir
e, Ullsaard. If they are told that Urikh is the rightful king, they will believe it. Why would they not? Lakhyri must keep a lid on the lie he has created about your death. While he masquerades as Head Brother he has full authority from the king, but if the falsehoods he has used to install Urikh begin to spread, his control will crumble.

  "You seem quite keen to help me, all of a sudden. I thought that you and Lakhyri shared the same goal?"

  Perhaps once, though I was never as dedicated as he was. That is why I chose to be immortal in spirit but not body, as he is. Our masters were a means to an end for me, and if I am honest, for the past hundred years I have dedicated less and less effort towards fulfilling their demands.

  "What masters? Who does a king serve?"

  Nobody, and that's my point. Let me just assure you that Lakhyri and I have diverged in our objectives, and in seeking to achieve his, my brother tried to kill me – kill me forever. I knew that he would, as soon as he saw me in your dream. He realised that I like the physical life too much, and that cannot be countenanced by those I once served.

  Ullsaard could feel obstinacy in Askhos and chose not to pursue the point for the moment. Until Gelthius arrived and reported in detail what he had unearthed there was little else Ullsaard could do for the moment. He crossed the room to a set of shelves where his maps were held, and pulled out one covering Ersua and Okhar. If he needed to move to his estate at Apili, it was best that he started the preparations now.

  Yet even as he moved back to the table, Ullsaard returned to the words of Askhos. Pulling a leaf of blank parchment towards him, the king flicked open the lid of an ink pot and took up a quill.

  He had a couple of letters to write first.

  II

  The king was sitting at a broad table poring over maps when Gelthius entered at his call. The third captain had decided to come alone to make his report; there was no need for Muuril, Loordin and Faasil to complicate matters further. The Salphor knew that it had been a mistake for the spies to draw attention to themselves, and he was regretting the decision to back Muuril's plan as he looked at Ullsaard. The king's brow was knotted in concentration, and he did not look up when he spoke.

  "What is Asuhas planning to do, captain?"

  "I can't say, King," said Gelthius. He decided that short, honest answers would be his best policy. There was no point trying to get away from what he had done. "He didn't talk about that when we was listening."

  "I see." The king grunted and sat back in his chair, directing a fierce stare at Gelthius. "Later you can explain why you are back here so soon, without that information. First, tell me what you did manage to find out. Leave out nothing."

  "Yes, King," said Gelthius. He took a deep breath and held it for a moment, telling himself not to rush his words, even though he was as nervous as he was when he went into battle. He slowly let the air out of his lungs and began. "There is a detachment of blackcrests looking for us. They think you must be in Salphoria, or leastways we watched them going towards Salphoria a few days ago."

  "A few days? Be more specific, Captain. When did you see them, and where?"

  "Just a few miles coldwards of Thedraan, King. They took the new road duskwards, towards Magi... towards the ruins. That was five days ago."

  The king grunted and pulled out a map. From where Gelthius was looking it was upside down, but even so it was easy to recognise the Magilnada Gap. An idle thought entered Gelthius's mind as the king studied the chart, his finger moving along the main road: would the Magilnada Gap be renamed now that the city no longer existed? If people started calling it something else, other people wouldn't know where they meant, but it seemed stupid to name an area after a city that wasn't there anymore.

  "And you're certain that they did not double-back?"

  The king's question caught Gelthius off-guard.

  "No, King. I mean, yes, King, I'm sure. Or at least, when we met Caaspir, one of your runners, in Thedraan, I told him to keep an eye out for them blackcrests and he never caught us up with any news, so I figure they've kept on into Salphoria, right enough."

  "So you sent Caaspir to scout the blackcrests?"

  "Yes, King." Gelthius nodded hard, though judging by the king's expression, Ullsaard was not too happy about that course of action.

  "You did not think it would be better to send him back here with your news?"

  "I did think about that, but I thought that some news was best delivered by me, in person, right enough. Caaspir's a young man, I'd have to have written everything down and to be honest, King, writing is not my strong point. I thought speaking to you would be more accurate."

  "I see," said Ullsaard, though still his frown was saying otherwise. He checked a wax slate. "And what about the runner in Marradan? Josstin? Did you not think to send him ahead of you?"

  "We had to leave in a hurry, a right awkward situation it was. There wasn't no time to send word to Josstin, and we only just warned Faasil and Gebriun in time."

  "I noticed that Gebriun was not with you when you returned," said the king. Gelthius knew that nothing got past Ullsaard, and he had been unsure how to raise the topic. "Did you find some other use for him on the way back?"

  "Bad luck it was, that they got to him before he could get out of the city. The Twenty-first, I mean."

  "All right, it seems that we'll have to start at the beginning, to make everything clear."

  And so that is what Gelthius did, narrating everything that happened between the group's departure from Genladen to the moment Muuril and the captain encountered Governor Asuhas. Ullsaard listened to it all without comment or question, occasionally nodding or shaking his head. When it came to mentioning the appearance of Anglhan, Gelthius hesitated. The king had razed an entire city to get revenge on the traitorous governor – rumour had it that Anglhan had threatened Ullsaard's family – and Gelthius was not sure how Ullsaard would react to the double blow of Anglhan's survival and his continued connections to the king's enemies. It was news of the worst kind and Gelthius sincerely wished he had brought Muuril now, for some support and perhaps to let the sergeant pass on this turd-like nugget of information.

  "What is it?" said the king. "What are you muttering to yourself about? You heard voices on the stairs coming up and you stayed in the great hall. What happened next, captain?"

  "The governor weren't alone, King. It was him, Asuhas, coming up the steps, and there was another man with him. It was Anglhan, King. Anglhan Periusis, my old debt guardian. The governor of…"

  Gelthius' voice trailed away as he abandoned trying to fill the silence left by his announcement. The king had gone very still, like an ailur about to pounce. His eyes were looking at something else, straight through the third captain. There came the scratch of fingernails on wood as the king's hands formed fists on the table.

  "Anglhan?"

  Gelthius might have expected the king to snarl or hiss or shout the name, but instead the word was uttered with no emotion whatsoever. It was a dead sound; disbelief, rage, despair and many conflicting reactions countering each other to create an utter lack of feeling. It was worse than any bitter snarl or angry bellow that Gelthius had heard before.

  "Yes, King," Gelthius managed to say. And because the king said nothing further, he added, "I'm positive, King; saw him with me own eyes."

  "Good," said Ullsaard. "That's good."

  "Is it?" Gelthius' surprise made his voice rise sharply in pitch. He coughed in embarrassment and tried hard to keep his tone even. "Why's that good?"

  "If Anglhan isn't dead, that means I still get to kill him," said Ullsaard, looking properly at the captain. The king's eyes were narrowed and there was a twitch in his jaw.

  Not wishing to stay any longer than necessary in the king's presence, Gelthius chose to continue with his story, detailing what he remembered of the conversation between Anglhan and Asuhas. When the captain mentioned that the two of them had agreed to keep a man called Leraates in the dark about Ullsaard's possible whereabouts, the king re
gained his animation.

  "Leraates is one of the highest ranking members of the Brotherhood, and if Anglhan and Asuhas are working against the Brotherhood we should exploit that split," said Ullsaard.

  "Right enough, King," said Gelthius. "I should mention that, at this point, Sergeant Muuril made the suggestion that we should kill both the traitorous cunts; his words. I thought that we would get caught for sure if we did that, and then you're be none the wiser."

  "A difficult decision," said Ullsaard, "but as I mentioned, you leave me the pleasure of killing that bloated pile of shit. Your appreciation of the strategic overview is welcome, captain."

  "Thank you, King. Erm, though I'm not rightly sure I know what for."

  "You were right to think of the big picture, Gelthius. Getting caught would not have helped me in the slightest. Now that I know Asuhas is working against the Brotherhood, I can drive a wedge between them and maybe get some leverage on both."