Blades of the Old Empire (9 page)

He turned and walked away.

“He certainly knows a lot about us,” Egey Bashi said slowly.

“What the hell did he mean by the
other
way?” Raishan wondered.

But nobody had any answer to that.

Evan pulled his mount to a stop. The fortress city of Illitand Hall loomed up ahead like a giant beast crawling out of the water. The jagged stone wall spiraled around it like the spine of a stone dragon curled up for sleep. Inside its protective circle the city rose up in cascaded steps toward the distant castle, its elegant shape reigning over the lake.

The entire city was built on a hill protruding out of the lake near the shore. Technically it was an island, but the strip of water that separated it from dry land was so shallow that a tall man could walk across without getting his shirt wet. Evan had heard stories how during droughts the water receded to make the city stand on land, and how in spring the lake swallowed the stone bridge that connected the island to the main road, keeping carts and wagons away for days at a time. Now, in high summer, the waters stood low, and the bridge lay wide open to the travelers on their way to the lake dwelling of the Illitand lords.

Evan urged his mount on toward the bridge, but Mai placed a hand on his reins, bringing the horse to an abrupt stop. He used his other hand to signal to the Rubies, who rode up and formed a line at the front of the group, with the King and the women behind.

“Forgive me, Your Majesty,” Mai said. “But we can’t approach the city on horseback.”

Evan looked from his bodyguard’s alert shape to the city wall ahead, its massive stones bathed in the warm afternoon sun. The blue haze of the lake made the city look peaceful, like a serene painting by a countryside artist. Yet, from everything he knew about Mai, the Diamond was not prone to sudden panic attacks.

“Why not, Aghat?” he asked.

“There’re archers on that wall,” Mai said. “See those slits?”

The King narrowed his eyes.

The outer ring of the city wall was composed of roughly hewn boulders that rose to a height of at least three houses out of the lake waters. A row of narrow openings ran along its jagged top, placed at even intervals as far as the eye could see. Looking carefully, Evan could now see movement inside those openings, arrow points protruding just enough to be visible to a careful observer. But surely this was no more than a precaution?

“They wouldn’t attack their king,” he said.

Mai’s lips twitched. “Begging your pardon, you don’t look like a king at the moment, Your Majesty.”

“I’m sure they’ll recognize me when we get closer.”

“They
might
. Once we get closer.” Mai met his gaze. In the pause that followed Evan felt a chill run down his spine. The very thought that these men could fire at him from the wall was preposterous. The silent implication that they wouldn’t stop after they recognized their king made it an outrage. Duke Daemur Illitand
couldn’t
give such an order and risk being beheaded for high treason. And yet–

“What do you propose to do?” he asked at length.

Mai raised his hand and pulled his weapon from the strap at his back.

This was the first time Evan had seen Mai draw his weapon for anything other than the daily polishing ritual. Unwittingly, he gathered his reins tighter to make sure his horse didn’t bolt.

“I trust you don’t plan to attack the fortress with only five men, Aghat?” he asked.

Mai shrugged. “We can get you close enough to the wall for them to recognize you.”

At least two hundred yards of open road separated them from the bridge and the tightly shut gate. The stretch lay open, not a single tree in sight.

“You propose to
walk
all this way against the Lakeland archers, Aghat?”

“Would you rather go back, Your Majesty?”

Evan looked at Mai in disbelief. He should have stopped questioning the Majat’s skills by now, but he found it hard to imagine five men, armored in no more than light leather doublets, withstand a direct attack of arrows. It was rumored that a skilled Lakeland archer could pierce a metal breastplate from a hundred yards.

Yet, from everything he knew about Mai, the Diamond was not known for idle boasting. Besides, after all the trouble of getting here, there was no going back.

“Lead on, Aghat,” Evan said.

Mai nodded. “We must dismount and leave our horses here, Your Majesty. The Pentade will walk in front to deflect the arrows. Please stay very close behind.” He turned to the Rubies to signal orders.

“What about Mother Keeper and everyone else?”

“If we get a proper welcome, they’ll join us. If not – we’ll have a better chance to retreat. I suggest you move away to a safer distance,” Mai said to the women. “Behind the road bend should be far enough.” He lifted his leg over the horse’s neck and jumped down to the ground. Then he ran his hand along his staff, drawing the blades at its ends. “Make sure you stay as close to me as you can, Your Majesty.”

“Like your shadow,” Evan assured him.

Mai’s back became tense, but Evan had no time to wonder about this show of emotion, because at that moment he heard a rapidly approaching whizzing sound. Mai’s hand shot up and caught the arrow right in front of Evan’s face. Evan let out a breath, feeling an unpleasant weakness in the area of his knees.

“Let’s move,” Mai said.

The Majat formed a line, with Mai in the center and two Rubies on each side. As they started to move, arrows came down from the wall to meet them, a dark cloud descending onto their group at high speed. The Majat raised their weapons, their blades a blur in their hands.

Mai held his staff in front of his body, rotating it with two hands to create a wide, impenetrable circle more than big enough to protect Evan behind him. On his sides, Brannon and Lothar moved their swords in figure eight-shapes. The Rubies on the outside completed the semicircle, surrounding Evan with a front of force.

As the formation advanced in slow, steady steps, broken arrows cascaded to the ground around them. Walking behind Mai, Evan could feel the wind on his face, splinters of wood falling like a cracking rain as if the arrows hit an invisible shield.

The Majat’s faces were calm; their breath, even. Eyes, fixed on the oncoming flow of arrows, held expressions of detachment, making this violent head-on advance onto a line of the kingdom’s best archers seem no more than a training exercise, a curiosity that absorbed their minds but did not occupy the rest of their senses. Only by being so close could Evan see the ripple of muscles under their silky clothes as they moved forward with the ease and grace of attacking panthers.

Leaving a trail of fallen arrows in their wake, they stepped onto the bridge and made their slow way across, raising the weapons higher as the speed and angle of the arrows flying from the walls became steeper and harder to deflect. From this distance Evan could clearly make out the men hiding behind the narrow openings of the wall. There were two archers in each slit. They shot arrows in turn, sending them evenly upon the advancing group.

Evan judged the distance. They were close enough to hear clanking coming from behind the tall protrusions of the wall, and the muffled swearing as each new wave of arrows failed to reach the target. From this distance he would have no trouble being heard.

He raised his hand.

“Gate captain!” he shouted. “Cease your fire! We come in peace!”

The man in a tall plumed helmet signaled, sending down a new wave of arrows. Evan waited until the cracking of the broken shafts quieted down.

“We pose no threat to you! All we want is to talk!”

He stepped sideways, making sure the slanting beams of the setting sun fell on his face. The man hesitated and lowered his arm.

Bows lowered everywhere in sight. Several shapes appeared behind the gate captain, engaged in a frantic conversation Evan couldn’t quite hear.

“They’d need a gracious way out of this,” he said quietly to Mai.

The Diamond kept his eyes on the wall openings above. “They wasted far too many arrows for a simple group of travelers approaching the gate. I’d say you were expected, Your Majesty.”

Evan shook his head. “Daemur Illitand is many things, but he’s surely not suicidal. He wouldn’t give an order to shoot his king.”

“If you say so, Your Majesty.”

“No one in this city would follow such an insane order,” Evan insisted, feeling less and less confident as the conversation on top of the wall showed no sign of ending. “I’m sure the only reason they didn’t stop sooner was because they felt too threatened by the Pentade’s skill.” He strained his eyes for a better look at the man in charge. He thought he’d recognized the voice. Besides, he knew of only one man in the Illitand city guard who could take so much time with an important decision. He decided to try.

“Captain Ragan, if I’m not mistaken?”

The activity on the wall ceased. The gate captain slowly stepped into the opening, his figure coming into full view. “M’lord Evan Dorn? Sire?”

Evan gave the gate captain a radiant smile. “Good to see you finally recognize me, captain. Now that’s settled, I hope you’ll let us in at once. I am sure Lord Daemur wouldn’t want you to keep us waiting any longer.”

There was a commotion behind the wall as more figures appeared at Ragan’s back.

“Your Majat guard will have to stay outside,” the captain said.

Evan’s smile became wider. “Out of the question, captain. They go where I go. You do remember, captain, that their job is only to protect me. They pose no threat to anyone who isn’t trying to harm me.”

He made sure these words rang clearly enough through the battlements to reflect even in the dimmest of minds. It never hurt to be careful.

The captain disappeared from the wall, and Evan saw shapes move past the stone openings. After a long while the heavy gate rattled and rolled open. A group of men came forward, led by the slightly disheveled Captain Ragan. His dirty blond hair cascaded down his shoulders from underneath the tall pointed helmet. Small eyes that looked even paler on the background of his sunburnt skin studied Evan and his retinue with suspicion.

Ragan and his men saluted and stood to attention in front of Evan.

“Forgive us for not recognizing you sooner, Your Majesty,” the captain said. “Your clothes and your retinue were quite unusual. We thought–”

Evan waved a hand in dismissal. “No harm done, captain. Your defenses are commendable. I’m guessing you don’t get many visitors, do you? At least none that make it as far as the gate?”

The captain showed no reaction to the irony. “Not ones so heavily armed, Your Majesty. Before we let you into the city, your Majat guards must surrender their weapons.”

Mai changed the grip on his staff in a swift movement that made the entire welcoming party back off. The Rubies held their swords bare, blades lowered as they all looked at Mai for a signal.

“They’re my bodyguards, captain,” Evan said. “How’re they supposed to protect me if they’re unarmed?”

“But they’re Majat of the top gem ranks,” the captain said with uncertainty.

“Exactly.”

The captain’s eyes darted from the silent figures of the Majat to the open gate and back to Evan, who gradually realised that the entire gate garrison was probably not enough to stop the Majat now that the defenses were lowered.

“Sire.” He bowed.

Evan smiled. “Good man. I’ll be sure to commend you to Lord Daemur, captain. I’d appreciate it if you see to our mounts and to escort our companions into the city. They are waiting over there behind the road bend.”

The houses lining the streets of the Illitand city were several stories high, their flat roofs perched against each other as they rose step-wise along the slope to the upper city. The main street ascended steeply from the gate, but after the first bend it became almost level, enabling them to ride side by side.

Ellah ended up at the back of the procession, between Mother Keeper and Odara Sul. The two women rode in silence, their side glances making Ellah uncomfortable. Yet, when the question came, it nearly caught her unawares.

“So,” Mother Keeper said in her most innocent tone of voice. “How is your power working with Aghat Mai?”

Ellah jumped in the saddle.
Can Mother Keeper read thoughts?

“It isn’t working, is it?” Mother Keeper insisted.

“What makes you say that?” Ellah tried her best to sound nonchalant.

Mother Keeper smiled. “Gem-ranked Majat have very controlled minds. Especially Diamonds. Even in a normal situation he would have been a challenge. But with the way he makes you feel emotionally–”

“I’m not emotional!” Ellah blurted out. She immediately bit her tongue, but it was too late.

Mother Keeper gave her a knowing look. “You blush every time he looks your way. You lose your voice every time he speaks to you. You’re so overwhelmed by him that you become all but senseless when he’s around. If you want to become good at using your gift, you must overcome this.”

Ellah kept her eyes on the road. She was afraid to open her mouth, of saying something foolish again. She knew Mother Keeper was right. But there was no way in the world she was going to admit it. She really wanted to be able to use her power with Mai, to learn if he meant what he said to her that evening. But every time he spoke, the color purple filled her vision, overpowering everything in sight. She was helpless against it.

“However dashing he may seem,” Mother Keeper went on, “you must learn to see him for what he is. He’s a ruthless killer. He never does anything without a purpose. He might find it irresistible to play with you, and I don’t blame him. Any man would be flattered to see a girl blush so deeply every time he looks her way. But, do you really think such a man would take a fancy in a girl like you?”

Kara could
, Ellah thought. Kara had the same training as Mai and was no less ruthless or capable of killing, but it was obvious she really cared for Kyth even if she never acted on it. In fact, Ellah was pretty sure that their feelings for each other went far beyond simple fancy. Why couldn’t it be the same for her and Mai?

At the same time, a more reasonable part of her realized that Mother Keeper had a point. There was no way that Mai, so handsome, so competent, the best of the best, would pay any attention to her, a simple girl who couldn’t in all honesty even call herself pretty.

And yet, what if? After all, by Mother Keeper’s own admission, he found her
irresistible
to play with. The mere thought brought color to Ellah’s cheeks.

Mother Keeper studied her intently.

“I can see it will take more training than I thought,” she said. “Unfortunately, we don’t have much time. So, listen carefully. We’re about to reach Castle Illitand. Whoever meets us there will try to convince King Evan to do things their way. You must make yourself unnoticeable among the King’s retinue and keep a very close eye on everyone who talks to us. It will be critical to know if they are telling the truth. Stay in my line of sight and keep at least one of your hands visible to me. If you hear the truth, I want you to hold out one finger. If you hear a lie, two. Can you do that?”

Ellah nodded. She watched Mai, riding in the lead next to Evan. He was so handsome in the saddle, his posture graceful and alert, his eyes darting back and forth in search of possible danger.
Could such a man take a fancy to a girl like me?
Ellah forced herself to look away.

After the last bend the street opened up to a wide plaza, ending in an ornate gate; it was open. Beyond the gate, Castle Illitand shot its tall jagged spires up into the clear Lakeland sky. Its slender towers connected by arches and galleries made the stone structure look airy. It almost seemed as if a strong gust of wind could dislodge the entire castle from its perch on the hilltop and carry it off into the blue.

They entered a large yard, paved with marble so white it hurt the eyes in the bright sunlight. On the steps leading up to the castle stood a slender young woman of about sixteen, clad in a green dress with a golden trim. She had a heart-shaped face, rich auburn hair, and deep green eyes that shone with chilling intelligence on her porcelain-smooth face.

Ellah had seen this girl before during the Duke of Illitand’s visits to the King’s court. Lady Celana, the Duke’s daughter.

The party dismounted. Ellah hurried on after Evan, with her hand in view. She rested it against her thigh, fingers half-closed so that she could easily hold out one or two without drawing attention to the gesture.

Lady Celana stepped toward Evan and dropped to a deep curtsey.

“What an honor, Sire.” Her voice was clear, with a sharp ringing timbre that echoed through the stone court. “Welcome to the Castle Illitand.”

The deep green of Lady Celana’s dress made Ellah’s mind fill with this color, but as the royal lady started to speak, waves of pink washed over it, slowly turning into a deep red. Ellah held out two fingers and caught Mother Keeper’s barely perceptible nod.

“Please forgive my father, Your Majesty,” Lady Celana said. “Urgent business prevents him from being here to greet you. He sends his deepest regrets and will be along as soon as he can.”

The color was still red. Ellah kept her fingers steady as Evan nodded to the royal lady’s greetings.

“It is a joy to see you, Lady Celana,” he said. “Lord Daemur couldn’t have pleased me more than by sending you in his stead.”

“Your Majesty is too kind.” Lady Celana bowed her head. “Please allow me to escort you to your chambers and see to the comforts of you and your suite.”

They followed the royal lady up the marble steps. Servants wearing green and yellow Illitand livery joined them as they entered the cool shade of the castle. From where she walked, behind the Pentade, Ellah found it hard to catch the conversation, but she did her best to guess by the fragments that floated her way. It was mostly polite nonsense. And the colors in her mind mostly wavered between pink and red. She let her hand swing as she walked, with two fingers out.

They moved up the stone stairs, through ornate hallways, along narrow and wide galleries. Through the arched windows Ellah could catch the light breeze that brought in smells of fresh water and sunlight. Most of the windows faced the lake, so big that the strip of greenery on the other side was just visible in the distant haze.

As they reached a wide hallway located at least five flights of stairs up from the castle entrance, Lady Celana stopped. At her signal a servant flung open a large door, letting in the breeze and the Lakeland sunshine from the windows in the suite of chambers beyond.

“Thank you, my lady,” the King said.

“Mother Keeper.” Lady Celana turned to the Keepers. “We have prepared chambers for you and your ladies in the North Wing. My father and I would be honored if you–”

The older woman smiled. “I regret that I must trouble you, Lady Celana, but I would be very obliged if I could stay close to King Evan. It has been my privilege to accompany His Majesty on this trip, and I prefer not to be separated from him now that our mission is so close to completion.”

The royal lady returned her smile without a flinch. Ellah marveled that someone so young could have such composure.

“Of course,” Lady Celana said. “Forgive me for being so inconsiderate, Mother Keeper.” She signaled to her servants and they moved to another door down the hall which, when opened, revealed a similar set of chambers as the one offered to Evan.

“My servants will see to your needs,” Lady Celana said, “and will escort you to my father once you are refreshed and rested.”

She bowed deeply to King Evan, gave a lesser bow to Mother Keeper and her eyes flitted over Mai before she departed. Most of her retinue left with her, but several servants stayed, moving through the guest chambers to set out basins of water and arrange the pillows on the tall, massive beds.

Ellah walked into the Keepers’ suite and looked around. The doorways of the three adjacent rooms opened into a long gallery. Each room contained two curtained beds that looked large enough to accommodate at least five people. Coming closer, Ellah could see a lace of castle galleries and towers cascading down the steep hill toward the distant roofs of the city and the water beyond.

As she lowered her gaze to the inner castle grounds, Ellah saw two figures standing together in a small courtyard below. One of them was dressed very brightly, a bold splash of color in the calm grays of the castle decorations. His scarlet and blue robes accented the color of his deep chocolate skin and brought out the glimmer of his pale bronze hair. Ellah was fairly sure she recognized the man. It was ambassador Tanad Eli Faruh, the trusted advisor to Princess Aljbeda of Shayil Yara.

But it was the other man who drew Ellah’s attention, making her heart jump. He was lean and muscular, wrapped in a black hooded robe that revealed just enough of his face to notice his gaunt features. From up here, Ellah couldn’t see his eyes, but she had no doubt that the way he wore his hood deliberately left the eyes in shadow. He had the composure of a trained fighter, his movements so light and precise that it reminded her of the ranked Majat.

Ellah could swear she knew who that man was.

Kaddim Tolos, the man who had attacked Kyth back in the royal castle.