Read Dragonlance 15 - Dragons Of A Fallen Sun Online
Authors: Margaret Weis
"And that truth is?" Mina asked in abstracted tones. She was
looking again at the map.
"He had her poisoned, of course," Galdar returned. "Ask him
yourself if you ever chance to meet him. He will not deny it."
Mina sighed. "Mirielle is fortunate. She is with her God.
Though the Vision she proclaimed was false, she now knows the
truth. She has been punished for her presumption and is now per-
forming great deeds in the name of the One who shall be name-
less. As for Targonne"-Mina lifted her gaze again-"he serves
the One True God in this world, and so he will be permitted to
remain for the time being."
"Targonne?" Galdar gave a tremendous snort. "He serves a
god all right, the god of currency."
Mina smiled a secret, inward smile. "I did not say that Tar-
gonne knows he is serving the One, Galdar. But serve he does.
That is why I will not attack Sanction. Others will fight that battle.
Sanction is not our concern. We are called to greater glory."
"Greater glory?" Galdar was astonished. "You do not know
what you are saying, Mina! What could be greater than seizing
Sanction? Then the people would see that the Knights of Neraka
are once again a powerful force in this world!"
Mina traced a line on the map with her finger, a line that came
to rest near the southern portion of the map. "What about the
conquering of the great elven kingdom of Silvanesti?"
"Hah! Hah!" Galdar roared his laughter. "You have me
there, Mina. I concede. Yes, that would be a magnificent victory.
And it would be magnificent to see the moon drop out of the
sky and land on my breakfast plate, which is just about as likely
to happen."
"You will see, Galdar," Mina said quietly. "Bring me word the
moment the messenger arrives. Oh, and Galdar . . ."
"Yes, Mina?" The minotaur had turned to go.
"Take care," she said to him, her amber eyes piercing him
through, as if they had been sharpened to arrow points. "Your
mockery offends the God. Do not make that mistake again."
Galdar felt a throbbing pain in his sword arm. The fingers
went numb.
"Yes, Mina," he mumbled. Massaging the arm, he ducked out
of the tent, leaving Mina to study her map.
Galdar calculated it would take two days for one of Lord
Milles's flunkies to ride to the Knights' headquarters in Jelek, a
day to report to Lord of the Night Targonne, two days to ride
back. They should hear something today. After he left Mina's tent,
the minotaur roamed about the outskirts of camp, watching the
road for riders.
He was not alone. Captain Samuval and his Archer Com-
pany were there, as well as many of the soldiers of Milles's
command. They stood with weapons ready. They had sworn
among themselves that they would stop anyone who tried to
take Mina from them.
All eyes were on the road. The pickets who were supposed
to be watching Sanction kept looking behind them, instead of
ahead at the besieged city. Lord Milles, who had made one ex-
perimental foray out of his tent following the siege and who
had been harried back inside by a barrage of horse turds, cat-
calls and jeers, parted the tent flaps to glare impatiently up that
road, never doubting but that Targonne would come to his
commander's aide by sending troops to help him put down the
mutiny.
The only eyes in camp who did not turn. to the road were
Mina's. She remained in her tent, absorbed in studying her
maps.
"And that is the reason she gave for not attacking Sanction?
That we are going to attack Silvanesti?" Captain Samuval said to
Galdar as the two stood in the road, awaiting the arrival of the
messenger. The captain frowned. "What nonsense! You don't
suppose she could be afraid, do you?"
Galdar glowered. Placing his hand on the hilt of his sword, he
drew it halfway from its sheath. "1 should cut out your tongue for
saying such a thing! You saw her ride alone into the front ranks of
the enemy! Where was her fear then?"
"Peace, Minotaur," Samuval said. "Put away your sword. I
meant no disrespect. You know as well as I that when the blood
burns hot in battle, a man thinks himself invincible and he does
deeds he would never dream of doing in cold blood. It is only
natural she should be a little frightened now that she has taken
a good long look at the situation and realized the enormity of
the task."
"There is no fear in her," Galdar growled, sheathing his
blade. "How can there be fear in one who speaks of death with a
wistful, impatient look in her eyes, as if she would rush to em-
brace it if she could and is constrained to continue living against
her will."
"A man may fear many things besides death," Samuval
argued. "Failure, for one. Perhaps she fears that if she leads these
worshipers of hers into battle and fails, they will turn against her
as they did against Lord Milles."
Galdar twisted his horned head, looked back over his shoul~
der, back to where Mina's tent stood by itself upon a small rise,
the bloody standard hanging before it. The tent was surrounded
by people standing silent vigil, waiting, watching, hoping to
catch a glimpse of her or hear her voice.
"Would you leave her now, Captain?" Galdar asked.
Captain Samuval followed the minotaur's gaze. "No, I
would not," he said at last. "I don't know why. Perhaps she ha~
bewitched me."
"I'll tell you why," Galdar said. "It's because she offers us
something to believe in. Something besides ourselves. I mocked
that something just now," he added humbly, rubbing his arm,
which still tingled unpleasantly. "And I am sorry I did so."
A trumpet call rang out. The pickets placed at the entrance to
the valley were letting those in camp know that the expected mes-
senger approached. Every person in camp stopped what they
were doing and looked up, ears pricked to hear, necks craned to
see. A large crowd blocked the road. They parted to let the mes-
senger on his steaming horse gallop past. Galdar hastened to take
the news to Mina.
Lord Milles emerged from his command tent at precisely the
same moment Mina left hers. Confident that the messenger was
here to bring word of Targonne's anger and the promise of a force
of armed Knights to seize and execute the imposter, Lord Milles
glared triumphantly at Mina. He felt certain that her downfall
was imminent.
She did not so much as glance at him. She stood outside her
tent, awaiting developments with calm detachment, as if she al-
ready knew the outcome.
The messenger slid down from his horse. He looked in some
astonishment at the crowd of people gathered around Mina's
tent, was alarmed to see them regarding him with a baleful and
threatening air. The messenger kept glancing backward at them
over his shoulder as he went to deliver a scroll case to Lord
Milles. Mina's followers did not take their eyes from him, nor did
they take their hands from the hilts of their swords.
Lord Milles snatched the scroll case from the messenger's
hand. So certain was he of its contents that he did not bother to
retreat to the privacy of his tent to read it. He opened the plain
and unadorned leather-bound case, removed the scroll, broke the
seal and unfurled it with a snap. He had even filled his lungs to
make the announcement that would cause the upstart female to
be arrested.
The breath whistled from him as from a deflated pig's bladder.
His complexion went sallow, then livid. Sweat beaded his fore-
head, his tongue passed several times over his lips. He crumpled
the missive in his hand and, stumbling as one blind, he fumbled
at the tent flaps, trying vainly to open them. An aide stepped for-
ward. Lord Milles shoved the man aside with a savage snarl and
entered the tent, closing the flaps behind him and tying them shut.
The messenger turned to face the crowd.
"I seek a Talon leader named 'Mina,' " he said, his voice loud
and carrying.
"What is your business with her?" roared a gigantic minotaur,
who stepped out of the crowd and confronted the messenger.
"I bear orders for her from Lord of the Night Targonne," the
messenger replied.
"Let him come forward," called Mina.
The minotaur acted as escort. The crowd that had barred the mes-
senger's way cleared a path leading from Lord Milles's tent to Mina's.
The messenger walked along the path that was bounded by
soldiers, all keeping their weapons to hand, regarding him with
not very friendly looks. He kept his gaze forward, though that
was not very comfortable for him since he stared squarely at the
back, shoulders, and bull neck of the enormous minotaur. The
messenger continued on his way, mindful of his duty.
"I am sent to find a knight officer called 'Mina," the messenger
repeated laying emphasis on the words. He stared at the young
girl who confronted him in some confusion. "You are nothing but
a child!"
"A child of battle. A child of war. A child of death. I am Mina,"
said the girl, and there was no doubting her air of authority, the
calm consciousness of command.
The messenger bowed and handed over a second scroll case.
This one was bound in elegant black leather, the seal of a skull
and lily graven upon it in silver. Mina opened the case and drew
forth the scroll. The crowd hushed, seemed to have stopped
breathing. The messenger looked about, his astonishment grow-
ing. He would later report to Targonne that he felt as if he were in
a temple, not a military camp.
Mina read the missive, her face expressionless. When she fin-
ished, she handed it to Galdar. He read it. His jaw dropped so that
his sharp teeth glistened in the sun, his tongue lolled. He read
and reread the message, turned his amazed gaze upon Mina.
"Forgive me, Mina," he said softly, handing the piece of
parchment back to her.
"Do not ask my forgiveness, Galdar," she said. "I am not the
one you doubted."
"What does the message say, Galdar?" Captain Samuval de-
manded impatiently, and his question was echoed by the crowd.
Mina raised her hand and the soldiers obeyed her unspoken
command instantly. The templelike hush fell over them again.
"My orders are to march south, invade, seize, and hold the
elven land of Silvanesti."
A low and angry rumble, like the rumble of thunder from an
approaching storm, sounded in the throats of the soldiers.
"No!" several shouted, incensed. "They can't do this! Come
with us, Mina! To the Abyss with Targonne! We'll march on Jelek!
Yes, that's what we'll do! We'll march on Jelek!"
"Hear me!" Mina shouted above the clamor. "These orders do
not come from General Targonne! His is but the hand that writes
them. The orders come from the One God. It is our God's will that
we attack Silvanesti in or.cier to prove the God's return to all the
world. We will march on Silvanesti!" Mina's voice raised in a stir-
ring cry. "And we will be victorious!"
"Hurrah!" The soldiers cheered and began to chant, "Mina!
Mina! Mina!"
The messenger stared about him in dazed astoundment. The
entire camp, a thousand voices, were chanting this girl's name.
The chant echoed off the mountains and thundered to the heav-
ens. The chant was heard in the town of Sanction, whose resi-
dents trembled and whose Knights grimly gripped their
weapons, thinking this portended some terrible doom for their
besieged city.
A horrible, bubbling cry rose above the chanting, halting some
of it, though those on the outskirts of the crowd continued on, un-
hearing. The cry came from the tent of Lord Milles. So awful was
that cry that those standing near the tent backed away, regarded
it in alarm.
"Go and see what has happened," Mina ordered.
Galdar did as commanded. The messenger accompanied him,
knowing that Targonne would be interested in the outcome. Draw-
ing his sword, Galdar sliced through the leather strings that held
the flap shut. He went inside and came back out a instant later.
"His lordship is dead," he reported, "by his own hand."
The soldiers began to cheer again, and many jeered and
laughed.
Mina rounded upon those near her in anger that lit the amber
eyes with a pale fire. The soldiers ceased their cheering, quailed
before her. Mina said no word but walked past them, her chin set,
her back rigid. She came to the entrance of the tent.
"Mina," said Galdar, holding up the bloodstained message.
"This wretch tried to have you hanged. The proof is here in Tar-
gonne's response."
"Lord Milles stands before the One God, now, Galdar,"
Mina said, "where we will all stand one day. It is not for us to
judge him."
She took the bloody bit of paper, tucked it into her belt, and
walked inside the tent. When Galdar started to go with her, she
ordered him away, closed the tent flaps behind her.
Galdar put an eye to the flap. Shaking his head, he turned and