‘Are you really sure you want to marry into that family, Sparhawk?’ Ulath asked.
‘Do I have any choice at this point?’
‘You could always run away. I’m sure you could find work in the Tamul Empire on the Daresian continent.’
‘Ulath,’ Sephrenia said, ‘hush.’
‘Yes, ma’am,’ he said.
‘Go ahead, Vanion,’ she instructed.
‘Yes, ma’am,’ he duplicated Ulath’s intonation perfectly. ‘After Arissa had killed Aldreas, Ehlana ascended the throne. She turned out to be Sparhawk’s true pupil. She absolutely denied Annias access to her treasury and she was on the verge of packing him off to a monastery. That’s when he poisoned her.’
‘Excuse me, Lord Vanion,’ Tynian interrupted. ‘My Lord of Lenda, attempted regicide is a capital offence, isn’t it?’
‘Throughout the civilized world, Sir Tynian.’
‘I thought that might be the case. Kalten, why don’t you put in an order for a bale of rope? And Ulath, you’d better send to Thalesia for a couple of spare axes.’
‘What’s this?’ Kalten asked.
‘We have evidence now that Lycheas, Annias and Arissa have all committed high treason – along with a fair number of other confederates.’
‘We knew that before,’ Kalten said.
‘Yes,’ Tynian smiled, ‘but now we can prove it. We have a witness.’
‘I was sort of hoping to take care of suitable rewards myself,’ Sparhawk objected.
‘It’s always better to do such things legally, Sparhawk,’ Lenda told him. ‘It avoids arguments later on, you understand.’
‘I wasn’t really planning to leave anyone around to argue with me, My Lord.’
‘I think you’d better shorten his chain a bit, Lord Vanion,’ Lenda suggested with a sly smile. ‘His fangs seem to be getting longer.’
‘I noticed that,’ Vanion agreed. Then he went on. ‘Annias was a little confounded when Sephrenia’s spell kept Ehlana from dying the way her father had, but he went ahead and set Lycheas up as Prince Regent anyway, reasoning that an incapacitated queen was the same as a dead one. He took personal charge of the Elenian treasury and started buying Patriarchs right and left. That’s when his campaign to gain the Archprelacy gained momentum and became more obvious. It was at about that point in Lycheas’s story that My Lord of Lenda here suggested to him quite firmly that he hadn’t yet said anything momentous enough to keep his neck off Ulath’s chopping block.’
‘Or out of my noose,’ Kalten added grimly.
Vanion smiled. ‘Lenda’s suggestion had the desired effect on Lycheas,’ he said. ‘The Prince Regent became a gold mine of information at that point. He said that he can’t actually prove it, but he’s picked up some strong hints that Annias has been in contact with Otha, and that he’s seeking his aid. The Primate has always pretended to be violently prejudiced against Styrics, but that may have been a pose to conceal his real feelings.’
‘Probably not,’ Sephrenia disagreed. ‘There’s a world of difference between western Styrics and Zemochs. The annihilation of western Styricum would have been one of Otha’s first demands in exchange for any assistance.’
‘That’s probably true,’ Vanion conceded.
‘Did Lycheas have anything at all solid to base his suspicions upon?’ Tynian asked.
‘Not much,’ Ulath told him. ‘He saw a few meetings taking place is about all. It’s not quite enough to justify a declaration of war just yet.’
‘War?’ Bevier exclaimed.
‘Naturally,’ Ulath shrugged. ‘If Otha’s been involving himself in the internal affairs of the western Elene kingdoms, that’s cause enough to go east and do war upon him.’
‘I’ve always liked that expression,’ Kalten said. ‘“Do war.” It sounds so permanent – and so messy.’
‘We don’t need a justification if you really want to go and destroy Zemoch, Ulath,’ Tynian said.
‘We don’t?’
‘Nobody ever got around to drawing up a peace treaty after the Zemoch invasion five hundred years ago. Technically, we’re still at war with Otha – aren’t we, My Lord of Lenda?’
‘Probably, but resuming hostilities after a five-hundred-year truce might be a little hard to justify.’
‘We’ve just been resting up, My Lord,’ Tynian shrugged. I don’t know about these other gentlemen, but I feel fairly well-rested now.’
‘Oh, dear,’ Sephrenia sighed.
‘The important thing here,’ Vanion went on, ‘is that on several occasions Lycheas saw one particular Styric closeted with Annias. Once, he was able to overhear a part of what they were saying. The Styric had a Zemoch accent – or so Lycheas believes.’
‘That’s Lycheas, all right,’ Kurik observed. ‘He’s got the face of a sneak and an eavesdropper.’
‘I’ll agree to that,’ Vanion said. ‘Our excellent Prince Regent couldn’t hear the whole conversation, but he told us that the Styric was telling Annias that Otha had to get his hands on a particular jewel or the Zemoch God would withdraw His support. I think we can all make some fairly educated guesses about which jewel he was talking about.’
Kalten’s face grew mournful. ‘You’re going to be a spoilsport about this, aren’t you, Sparhawk,’ he lamented.
‘That one escapes me.’
‘You’re going to tell the queen about this, I suppose, and then she’ll decide that the information’s important enough to keep Lycheas’s head on his neck or his feet on the floor.’
‘I’m sort of obliged to keep her advised, Kalten.’
‘I don’t suppose we could persuade you to wait a while, could we?’
‘Wait? How long?’
‘Only until after the bastard’s funeral.’
Sparhawk grinned at his friend. ‘No, I’m afraid not, Kalten,’ he said. ‘I’d really like to oblige you, but I’ve got my own skin to consider. It might make my queen cross with me if I start hiding things from her.’
‘That’s about all Lycheas really knows,’ Vanion told them. ‘Now, we need to make a decision. Cluvonus is almost dead, and as soon as he dies, we’ll have to join the other orders at Demos for the ride to Chyrellos. That’s going to leave the queen totally unprotected here. We don’t know when Dolmant’s going to send us the command to march, and we don’t know how long it’s going to take the Elenian army to get back from Arcium. What are we going to do about the queen?’
‘Take her with us,’ Ulath shrugged.
‘I think you might get quite an argument there,’ Sparhawk said. ‘She’s only recently been restored to her throne, and she’s the sort who takes her responsibilities very seriously. She’ll definitely get her back up if you suggest that she abandon her capital at this point.’
‘Get her drunk,’ Kalten said.
‘Do what?’
‘You don’t want to just rap her on the head, do you? Get her tipsy, wrap her in a blanket and tie her across a saddle.’
‘Have you lost your mind? This is the queen, Kalten, not one of your blowsy barmaids.’
‘You can apologize later. The important thing is to get her to safety.’
‘It may not come to any of that,’ Vanion said. ‘Cluvonus might hang on for a while yet. He’s been on the brink of death for months now, but he’s still alive. He might even outlive Annias.’
‘That shouldn’t be too hard for him,’ Ulath said bleakly. ‘Annias doesn’t have much in the way of life expectancy just now.’
‘If I could persuade you gentlemen to curb your bloodlust for a moment,’ the Earl of Lenda interposed, ‘I think the important thing for now is to get someone to King Wargun down in Arcium and to persuade him to release the Elenian army – and enough Pandion Knights to keep the general staff in line when they get here. I’ll compose a letter to him advising in the strongest terms that we need the Elenian army back here in Cimmura just as quickly as they can get here.’
‘You’d better ask him to release the militant orders a
s well, My Lord,’ Vanion suggested. ‘I think we’re going to need them in Chyrellos.’
‘You might also send a letter to King Obler,’ Tynian added, ‘and to Patriarch Bergsten. Between them, they can probably prevail on Wargun. The King of Thalesia drinks too much, and he enjoys a good war, but he’s still a thoroughly political animal. He’ll see the necessity of protecting Cimmura and taking control of Chyrellos immediately – if someone explains it to him.’
Lenda nodded his agreement.
‘All this still doesn’t solve our problem, gentlemen,’ Bevier said. ‘Our messenger to Wargun could very well be no more than a day’s ride away when word reaches us that the Archprelate has died. That puts us right back into the same situation. Sparhawk will have to persuade a very reluctant queen to abandon her capital with no visible danger in view.’
‘Blow in her ear,’ Ulath said.
‘What was that?’ Sparhawk asked.
‘It usually works,’ Ulath said. ‘At least it does in Thalesia. I blew in a girl’s ear in Emsat once, and she followed me around for days.’
‘That’s disgusting!’ Sephrenia said angrily.
‘Oh, I don’t know,’ Ulath said mildly. ‘She seemed to enjoy it.’
‘Did you pat her on top of the head too, and scratch her chin – the way you’d have done if she’d been a puppy?’
‘I never thought of that,’ Ulath admitted. ‘Do you think it might have worked?’
She began to swear at him in Styric.
‘We’re getting a little far afield here,’ Vanion said. ‘We can’t compel the queen to leave Cimmura, and there’s no way to be absolutely certain that a force large enough to hold the walls can reach the city before we’re called away.’
‘I think the force is already here, Lord Vanion,’ Talen disagreed. The boy was dressed in the elegant doublet and hose Stragen had provided for him in Emsat, and he looked not unlike a youthful nobleman.
‘Don’t interrupt, Talen,’ Kurik said. ‘This is serious business. We don’t have time for childish jokes.’
‘Let him speak, Kurik,’ the Earl of Lenda said intently. ‘Good ideas can sometimes come from the most unusual places. Exactly what is this force you spoke of, young man?’
‘The people,’ Talen replied simply.
‘That’s absurd, Talen,’ Kurik said. ‘They aren’t trained.’
‘How much training do you really need in order to pour boiling pitch down on the heads of a besieging army?’ Talen shrugged.
‘It’s a very interesting notion, young man,’ Lenda said. ‘There was, in fact, an outpouring of popular support for Queen Ehlana after her coronation. The people of Cimmura – and of the surrounding towns and villages – might very well come to her aid. The problem, though, is that they don’t have any leaders. A mob of people milling around in the streets without anyone to direct them wouldn’t be much of a defence.’
‘There are leaders about, My Lord.’
‘Who?’ Vanion asked the boy.
‘Platime for one,’ Talen offered, ‘and if Stragen’s still here, he’d probably be fairly good at it as well.’
‘This Platime’s a sort of a scoundrel, isn’t he?’ Bevier asked dubiously.
‘Sir Bevier,’ Lenda said, ‘I’ve served on the royal council of Elenia for many years now, and I can assure you that not only the capital, but the entire kingdom as well has been in the hands of scoundrels for decades now.’
‘But –’ Bevier started to protest.
‘Is it the fact that Platime and Stragen are official scoundrels that upsets you, Sir Bevier?’ Talen asked lightly.
‘What do you think, Sparhawk?’ Lenda asked. ‘Do you think this Platime fellow could really direct some kind of military operation?’
Sparhawk thought it over. ‘He probably could,’ he said, ‘particularly if Stragen’s still here to help him.’
‘Stragen?’
‘He holds a position similar to Platime’s among the thieves in Emsat. Stragen’s a strange one, but he’s extremely intelligent, and he’s had an excellent education.’
‘They can call in old debts as well,’ Talen said. ‘Platime can draw men from Vardenais, Demos, the towns of Lenda and Cardos – not to mention the men he can get from the robber bands operating out in the countryside.’
‘It’s not really as if they were going to have to hold the city for an extended period of time,’ Tynian mused. ‘Only until the Elenian army gets here, and a great deal of what they’ll be doing is going to be pure intimidation. It’s unlikely that Primate Annias will be able to spare more than a thousand church soldiers from Chyrellos to cause problems here, and if the tops of the city walls are lined with a superior force, those soldiers will be very reluctant to attack. You know, Sparhawk, I think the boy’s come up with a remarkably good plan.’
‘I’m overcome by your confidence, Sir Tynian,’ Talen said with an extravagant bow.
‘There are veterans here in Cimmura as well,’ Kurik added, ‘former army men who can help direct the workers and peasants in the defence of the city.’
‘It’s all terribly unnatural, of course,’ the Earl of Lenda said sardonically. ‘The whole purpose of government has always been to keep the commons under control and out of politics entirely. The only purpose the common people really have for existing is to do the work and pay the taxes. We may be doing something here that we’ll all live to regret.’
‘Do we really have any choice, Lenda?’ Vanion asked him.
‘No, Vanion, I don’t think we have.’
‘Let’s get started with it then. My Lord of Lenda, I believe you have some correspondence to catch up with, and Talen, why don’t you go and see this Platime fellow?’
‘May I take Berit with me, My Lord Vanion?’ the boy asked, looking at the young novice.
‘I suppose so, but why?’
‘I’m sort of the official envoy from one government to another. I should have an escort of some kind to make me look more important. That sort of thing impresses Platime.’
‘One government to another?’ Kalten asked. ‘Do you actually think of Platime as a head of state?’
‘Well, isn’t he?’
As Sparhawk’s friends were filing out, Sparhawk briefly touched Sephrenia’s sleeve. ‘I need to talk with you,’ he said quietly.
‘Of course.’
He went to the door and closed it. ‘I probably should have told you about this before, little mother,’ he said, ‘but it all seemed so innocuous at the beginning –’ He shrugged.
‘Sparhawk,’ she told him, ‘you know better than that. You must tell me everything. I’ll decide what’s innocuous and what isn’t.’
‘All right. I think I’m being followed.’
Her eyes narrowed.
‘I had a nightmare right after we took Bhelliom away from Ghwerig. Azash was mixed up in it and so was Bhelliom. There was something else as well though – something I can’t put a name to.’
‘Can you describe it?’
‘Sephrenia, I can’t even see it. It seems to be some sort of shadow – something dark that’s right on the very edge of my vision – like a flicker of movement to one side and slightly behind me. I get the feeling that it doesn’t like me very much.’
‘Does it only come to you when you’re dreaming?’
‘No. I see it now and then when I’m awake too. It seems to appear whenever I take Bhelliom out of its pouch. There are other times as well, but I can almost count on seeing it anytime I open the pouch.’
‘Do that now, dear one,’ she instructed. ‘Let’s find out if I can see it too.’
Sparhawk reached inside his doublet, took out the pouch and opened it. He removed the Sapphire Rose and held it in his hand. The flicker of darkness was immediately there. ‘Can you see it?’ he asked.
Sephrenia looked carefully around the room. ‘No,’ she admitted. ‘Can you feel anything coming from the shadow?’
‘I can tell that it isn’t fond of me.’ He put Bhell
iom back into the pouch. ‘Any ideas?’
‘It might be something connected with Bhelliom itself,’ she suggested a bit dubiously. ‘To be perfectly honest with you, though, I don’t really know that much about Bhelliom. Aphrael doesn’t like to talk about it. I think the Gods are afraid of it. I know a little bit about how to use it, but that’s about all.’
‘I don’t know if there’s any connection,’ Sparhawk mused, ‘but somebody’s definitely interested in doing me in. There were those men on the road outside Emsat, that ship that Stragen thought might be following us and those outlaws who were looking for us on the Cardos road.’
‘Not to mention the fact that somebody tried to shoot you in the back with a crossbow when we were on our way to the palace,’ she added.
‘Could it be another Seeker perhaps?’ he suggested.
‘Something like that maybe. Once the Seeker takes control of somebody, the man becomes a mindless tool. These attempts on your life seem to be a bit more rational.’
‘Could Azash have some creature who could manage that?’
‘Who knows what kinds of creatures Azash can raise? I know of a dozen or so different varieties, but there are probably scores of others.’
‘Would you be offended if I tried logic?’
‘Oh, I suppose you can – if you feel you must.’ She smiled at him.
‘All right. First off, we know that Azash has wanted me dead for a long time now.’
‘All right.’
‘It’s probably even more important to Him now, though, because I’ve got Bhelliom, and I know how to use it.’
‘You’re stating the obvious, Sparhawk.’
‘I know. Logic’s like that sometimes. It doesn’t always happen, but these attempts to kill me usually come sometime not long after I’ve taken out the Bhelliom and caught a glimpse of that shadow.’
‘Some kind of connection, you think?’
‘Isn’t it possible?’
‘Almost anything’s possible, Sparhawk.’
‘All right then. If the shadow’s something like the Damork or the Seeker, it’s probably coming from Azash. That “probably” makes the logic a little shaky, but it’s something to sort of consider, wouldn’t you say?’
The Sapphire Rose Page 10
