by Roger Taylor
The road they were travelling had been selected by Dilrap when, at the Queen's request, he had planned a route by which, together with the King, they might all escape Vakloss to seek help from the Lords in the east. It was a remnant of times long gone, passing now through only a few quiet villages, and its original purpose was long forgotten. For much of its length it was little more than a wide earth track, but it still bore some indications of having been a substantial highway as there were long stretches, particularly in the vicinity of the few villages it served, where its ancient paving was still intact. Isloman noticed that the construction of the paving was similar to that of the roads that criss-crossed Orthlund, though the workmanship was coarser. It had a worn and aged look but it was obvious that efforts were made to maintain it.
He found the sight and the tired song of the rock rather sad, particularly as the road was patently younger than those in Orthlund, and in his fatigue he found himself, head bent low, lovingly repairing and restoring the uneven and worn blocks, his chisel ringing clear and sweet with a pulsating, steady rhythm trimming and refitting rounded edges, lifting out cracked and broken blocks and replacing them with new ones, fitted true to add support to their neighbours.
Suddenly the chisel slipped from his hand, and he started violently. As the chisel struck the stones, its ringing rose up all around him and transformed itself into Sylvriss's laughter as he found himself abruptly awake.
Serian had stopped.
Smiling, Sylvriss dismounted and walked over to him. She held out her hand to support him as he dismounted and unthinkingly he took it.
'I'm sorry I laughed,’ she said, laughing again as he staggered stiffly, ‘but you looked so comical, trying so hard not to fall asleep.'
Isloman gave her a reproachful look.
'Go and lie down and sleep properly,’ she said, still smiling, and nodding towards a nearby copse. ‘I'll tend to the horses and I don't suppose Serian will let us rest for long.'
'What's he stopped for?’ Isloman said.
Sylvriss shrugged. ‘I don't know. He's not tired. Neither's my horse. Perhaps he's concerned about us.'
Isloman doubted it. Looking round he realized that the wind had dropped and that the sky had cleared. In the west the sun was spreading large and red on the dusty horizon and overhead the sky was turning purple.
He nodded. ‘He wants my shadow sight to get us through the night,’ he said, carefully lifting Hawklan down. ‘Don't you, Serian?'
Sylvriss did not understand the remark, but noted the horse's response. Isloman laid his hand gently on its cheek. ‘Give me what time you can,’ he said. ‘I'm too tired to tell dream from reality at the moment, let alone shade from shade.’ The horse shook its head, and Isloman patted it. ‘You saved all our lives,’ he said quietly. ‘Thank you.'
Sylvriss watched the exchange. ‘You're learning, Orthlundyn,’ she said. ‘You're learning. Now go and rest.'
Isloman carried Hawklan over to the copse and, after a little searching, laid him down gently in the shade of an old, wide-canopied tree. Maternally he wrapped Hawklan's cloak about his inert form, and pulled the hood forward to protect his face. Then he sat back, arms hugging his knees, and stared at his friend. As Serian's driving pace had carried them relentlessly through the day, the feeling of pursuit by the power that the appallingly transformed Dan-Tor had released, had passed. But in its place had come equally dark emotions; regret, confusion and doubt coloured all his thoughts, and he became aware of a deeper, more abiding fear as visions of a grim, embattled future began to form. A future without Hawklan to guide and sustain him.
And questions came also. So many questions.
But they would all have to wait until he reached Eldric's stronghold where Hawklan could perhaps be wakened. Now above all he must not allow the possible future to cloud the actual present. Now only the immediate concerns of the moment were important. He must take Sylvriss's advice, and sleep until the horse decided they should move on.
Wrapping his own cloak about him, he lay down by his friend and closed his eyes.
'Isloman, where are you?'
Looking up, he saw Sylvriss standing at the edge of the copse, silhouetted vividly against the darkening evening sky. Her head was bent forward and with her hands to her eyes she was peering intently into the gloom. Isloman smiled. ‘Come to my voice,’ he said, chuckling softly.
Tentatively Sylvriss moved forward into the shade, very discreetly checking the knife in her belt. Isloman chuckled again. ‘Don't be afraid,’ he said. ‘Accept my knowledge of the shadows as I accept your knowledge of the horses, Muster lady.'
She faltered slightly, and Isloman could sense her blushing. ‘I'm sorry,’ she said. ‘It's just so dark in here ... ooh!’ The cry was caused by Gavor, swooping purposefully through the trees and narrowly missing her. He landed by Isloman.
'So sorry, dear girl,’ he said offhandedly, then to Isloman, ‘How is he?'
'Still alive, Gavor,’ Isloman replied, ‘but no different.'
Gavor flapped his wings uneasily. ‘What can we do?'
'Nothing,’ said Isloman. ‘Nothing except travel as quickly as we can and hope for better guidance at Eldric's.'
Gavor made a clucking noise and moved to take up sentry duty by Hawklan's head. Isloman closed his eyes again.
Sylvriss reached them and, sitting down with her back to a tree, pulled her knees up to her chest. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness, but even so she found it difficult to see the three figures beside her.
She too was burdened with questions; not least about her strange travelling companions. But overriding them all was concern for the fate of Rgoric. Away from the solace of her riding, her mind too was prey to darker thoughts. The memory of the frenzied activity that had started the day returned, together with all the aches and pains of her fall. She wriggled restlessly, unable to sit comfortably on the hard ground.
As she listened to the soft rise and fall of the sleeping Isloman's breathing, she found her eyes being drawn towards the edge of the copse, looking for the shadow that would be the pursuing Rgoric seeking her out. That he could not possibly have ridden as fast or as far as they had that day, she knew, but still she looked. He would be out there somewhere, striving to come near to her as desperately as she was moving away from him.
Then she found her mind living sunlit future days with him, hopeful and tender. She pushed the thoughts away fearfully, glancing round as if to see whether some malevolent sprite of providence might have caught them. Overhead the trees fluttered against the darkening sky reminding her of the great tree in the Crystal Room where she had taken Dilrap as her ally in her new intent against Dan-Tor. Abruptly her throat tightened and she felt tears forming in her eyes. ‘No,’ she whispered softly to herself as she tried to hold them back.
'Don't be afraid of your fear, dear lady,’ said a voice, soft and gentle in the shadows. It was Gavor.
There was such compassion in his voice that it overwhelmed Sylvriss's restraint utterly and with a little sob, she dropped her head on to her knees and let the tears of months flow silently down her face.
As her low sobbing gradually faded, she leaned back and, resting her head on the tree trunk stared up at the stars beginning to litter the sky. They were streaked and unfocussed and she lifted her hand to wipe her eyes.
'Here, dear girl,’ Gavor said. He had left his sentry post and was standing by her side holding a kerchief in his beak. ‘It's Hawklan's,’ he said. ‘He won't mind you borrowing it.'
The incongruity of Gavor's words made Sylvriss smile unsteadily, and taking the kerchief she wiped her eyes until the stars above were sharp and clear.
'Who are you, bird?’ she asked, after a while, her voice uncertain through her aching throat.
'Hawklan's friend,’ replied Gavor, turning away and returning to his vigil.
'But...'
'Rest, Sylvriss,’ Gavor said before she could continue her question. ‘Serian won't allow you much time.
'
'I can sleep while I ride,’ Sylvriss objected.
'Rest anyway,’ Gavor replied. ‘We've some way to go, and plenty of time for talking.'
Sylvriss, however, could sleep only fitfully. Fear for her husband weighed too heavily, as if when she slept Rgoric was in some way unguarded.
When Isloman awoke, he was alert and aware almost immediately. The first thing he saw was Serian standing at the edge of the copse, black and solid through the darkness. Gently he touched Sylvriss's arm and she wakened with a slight start.
'We must go now,’ he said, standing up and stretching. Sylvriss struggled to her feet slowly and ungracefully as her sleepiness and the stiffness caused by her unusual sleeping position multiplied her aches and pains mercilessly. She shivered.
'It's too dark for safe riding,’ she said.
Isloman was bending down to pick up Hawklan. ‘No,’ he said. ‘We'll not travel as quickly, but we'll make good progress.’ Reaching the waiting horse, Isloman breathed deeply and savoured the cool night scents. His brief sleep had refreshed him considerably and despite the worries that still fretted him, he felt less lost, more hopeful.
He became aware of Sylvriss moving uneasily to her horse. ‘I needed that rest,’ he said casually. ‘How are you?'
'Dreadful,’ she replied crossly, ignoring his offered hand. ‘Mount up.'
A bright but narrow moon illuminated the night, though not greatly, and as they rode steadily through the darkness Sylvriss found that she had to trust Serian as blindly as she had previously advocated to Isloman. It was not easy, and it took her some time to refrain from snatching nervously at her horse's reins when occasionally the tree-shaded darkness seemed to close about her like blindness. As before, Serian was setting the pace but now, Sylvriss noticed, Isloman was holding his reins lightly and sitting very easily as he gazed at the road ahead.
Gavor was perched on Isloman's shoulder, and in an attempt to draw her mind away from the strangeness of the journey, Sylvriss spoke to him. ‘Did you see any riders pursuing us, Gavor?’ she asked self-consciously.
Gavor turned to look at her, and his black eye shone bright in the faint moonlight. ‘No, dear girl,’ he said. ‘But I wasn't looking that way. I was looking for patrols ahead. Nothing behind was going to catch us.'
Dilrap had chosen this road because it was seldom used and was thus presumably infrequently patrolled. However, it was a presumption, as he was not privy to the operational schemes of the Mathidrin, and Sylvriss was a little shocked to find that she had let the Mathidrin and their patrols become so slight in her considerations after leaving the City. True, it was understandable. More pressing problems had dominated the journey from the outset, with the earth-shaking roar that had nearly lost her mount, then her frantic and painful encounter with her new companions, and the strange and terrible things that they had told her of. Nevertheless, understandable though it might be, it was not excusable. She had been careless, and carelessness in these new times might prove disastrous.
Then another thought came to her in the wake of her self-reproach. As Gavor had said, nothing behind could catch them, but what of Rgoric and Eldric? They could be caught. She drew in her breath sharply as the thought struck cold to her heart.
'What's the matter?’ Isloman said, without taking his eyes from the road ahead.
'I'd forgotten about the patrols,’ she confessed. ‘I hope Rgoric and Eldric don't run into any. They'll be less able to outrun them than we are.'
Isloman nodded. He could offer little reassurance. Travelling with the two Goraidin, he and Hawklan had seen no Mathidrin on their journey to Vakloss, but then they were travelling over the countryside, well away from any roads. And he recalled Yengar's surprise at the number of Mathidrin that had apparently been used to occupy the city on the night of Eldric's arrest at Lord Oremson's. Perhaps Dan-Tor had called in all his resources to ensure that he could contain any difficulties that would arise from this treachery?
He was about to mention this possibility when he recalled also that a small patrol had seen Yengar and Olvric leaving the City and had pursued them relentlessly across the country until they themselves were killed or captured. He realized the Queen had not been alone in her complacency.
'They'll have to fend for themselves,’ he said regretfully, after a pause. ‘But you know your husband, lady, and from what I know of Lord Eldric, he's a resourceful man, not given to foolishness. The best we can do for them is reach Lord Eldric's and let them know what's happening.'
Sylvriss did not reply. Isloman's summary had been gentle, but brutally accurate.
They rode for the remainder of the night in silence. Isloman peering into the moonlit shadows ahead, gently touching Serian's reins from time to time, and Sylvriss wilfully turning away from thoughts of events that she could not influence so that she would not burden her horse with her doubts. It was trusting Serian, she must trust it. Gavor slept.
Gradually the clear depths of the night sky faded into an untidy grey dawn, and with the light came a breeze that brought in low leaden clouds and squalling showery rain.
The two riders pulled up their hoods and the note of the steady drumming hooves changed as the horses began to splash through puddles forming in the uneven road surface. Free of his responsibilities as guide, Isloman became once again a little more ill at ease on his mount, though Sylvriss noted he was far more relaxed than he had been the previous day. To her surprise, she found herself admitting that he rode remarkably well—for an outlander.
Looking around she tried to find her bearings. She was unfamiliar with this part of the country, but she had spent some time discussing the route with Dilrap and studying the map that he had found for her.
From what she could recall it seemed that they might indeed have made remarkable progress. Then they were clattering over a wide wooden bridge, its colourful carvings dulled by the grey sky. She recognized it from Dilrap's description. They had made good progress.
'Slow down,’ she said. ‘I think there should be a village ahead where we can get supplies. We mustn't go charging in at this speed.'
Isloman objected. ‘We can live off the land,’ he said. ‘It's not pleasant, but it'll only be for a few days. Let's ride on through.'
Sylvriss shook her head. ‘No,’ she said. ‘The supplies should be ready for us. It'll only take a moment to collect them. Living off the land takes time, and we don't have any.’ Her tone brooked no argument.
Serian too, however, seemed to agree with Isloman, and ignored his half-hearted tug on his reins. Sylvriss's jaw tightened, and leaning across she took the rein from Isloman unceremoniously, and shouted a sharp command to the stallion. With an irritable shake of its head, the horse slowed to a walk. Gavor emerged from underneath Isloman's cloak and looked around unhappily at the damp morning. ‘I'll fly ahead,’ he said reluctantly after a moment. Hopping off Serian's head he dipped low over the road and then, wings beating purposefully, he rose up and flew off into the rainy greyness.
Minutes later, Sylvriss and Isloman found themselves in the main street of a quiet Fyordyn village. Most of the cottages were single-storey with high pitched roofs and, to Isloman, used to the taller, stone buildings of Orthlund, with their low pitched roofs and jutting eaves, they seemed small and constricting, though they did not have the squat solidity of those he had seen clinging to the mountains when he and Hawklan had first entered Fyorlund.
Nevertheless, with its colourful wooden carvings and its flower-filled gardens that seemed to be spilling out from inside the houses through copious and prolific window-boxes, the place had considerable charm, even in the wind and rain, and Isloman sensed a small hint of the harmony that he had almost forgotten in the turmoil of recent events. The dawn scent of a flower reached him and, unexpectedly, a wave of homesickness for Pedhavin and his friends and his old life passed over him. It showed on his face.
'What's the matter?’ Sylvriss whispered as if fearful of disturbing the quiet calm of the street
.
'Nothing,’ he said, waving his hand. ‘Just tired.'
Sylvriss nodded and reined to a halt. She looked up and down the street thoughtfully. Apart from a solitary and bedraggled dog, and a bleary, incurious face glancing briefly through a rain spattered window, there was no movement.
'We've hardly roused them to battle stations,’ Isloman said with gently irony, shaking off the last remnants of his brief longing.
Sylvriss did not reply, but dismounted and began walking along the street looking carefully at the threshold carvings. Isloman made to join her, but silently she signalled to him to stay mounted. They might yet have to leave quickly. The cold memory of her neglect in forgetting about the Mathidrin patrols was still with her and she would not be so careless again. This village was the old Fyorlund and it could protect neither them nor itself from the new.
At last she found the cottage she had been seeking and handing her reins to Isloman she walked up the short paved path and knocked softly on the door. There was no reply. She knocked more loudly.
Isloman glanced up and down the street, feeling peculiarly exposed. Overhead he heard the thrumming beat of Gavor's wings.
Still no reply.
Frowning anxiously, Sylvriss walked round to the side of the cottage and, hands around her eyes, peered in through a window. Isloman saw her tapping vigorously and then signalling to someone inside.
Then she ran quickly back to the door which opened to reveal a small, elderly lady clutching a nightgown about herself. She curtseyed slightly to the Queen and smiled affectionately, though Isloman could see that she too was anxious and concerned. He threw back his hood to improve his visibility.
There was a whispered conversation, then Sylvriss disappeared into the cottage to reappear almost immediately carrying two large panniers. After a further, brief conversation, the old lady reached out and embraced the Queen tightly, patting her back gently, reluctant to have her leave, reluctant to have her stay.
