Magician (57 page)

Longbow said, “Highness, another
band of moredhel have come north. I led them here, so the Tsurani
could be too busy to attack tonight.”

Arutha said, “That is welcome
news. Come, we’ll have a cup of wine, and you can tell of what
you saw.”

Longbow sent Garret off to the kitchen
and followed Arutha and Roland into the keep. The Prince sent word
asking Gardan to join them in the council room and, when they were
all there, asked Longbow to recount his travels.

Longbow drank deeply from the wine cup
placed before him. “It was touch and go for a while. The woods
are thick with both Tsurani and moredhel. And there are many signs
they have little affection for one another. We counted at least a
hundred dead on both sides.”

Arutha looked at the other three men.
“We know little of their ways, but it seems foolish for them to
travel so close to Crydee.”

Longbow shook his head. “They
have little choice, Highness. The Green Heart must be foraged clean,
and they cannot return to their mountains because of the Tsurani. The
moredhel are making for the Northlands and won’t risk passing
near Elvandar. With the rest of the way blocked by the Tsurani
strength, their only path is through the forests nearby, then
westward along the river toward the coast. Once they reach the sea,
they can turn northward again. They must gain the Great Northern
Mountains before winter to reach their brothers in the Northlands
safely.”

He drank the rest of his cup and waited
while a servant refilled it. “From all signs, nearly every
moredhel in the south is making for the Northlands. It looks as if
over a thousand have already safely been by here. How many more will
come this way through the summer and fall, we cannot guess.” He
drank again. “The Tsurani will have to watch their eastern
flank and would do well to watch the south as well. The moredhel are
starved and might chance a raid into the Tsurani camp while the bulk
of the army is thrown against the walls of the castle. Should a
three-way fight occur, it could get messy.”

“For the Tsurani,” said
Gardan.

Martin hoisted his cup in salute. “For
the Tsurani.”

Arutha said, “You’ve done
well, Huntmaster.”

“Thank you, Highness.” He
laughed. “I’d never thought to see the day I’d
welcome sight of the Dark Brotherhood in the forests of Crydee.”

Arutha drummed his fingers upon the
table. “It will be another two to three weeks before we can
expect the armies from Tulan and Carse. If the Dark Brothers harry
the Tsurani enough, we might have some respite.” He looked at
Martin. “What occurs to the east?”

Longbow spread his hands upon the table
“We couldn’t get close enough to see much as we hurried
past, but they are up to something. They’ve a good number of
men scattered throughout the woods from the edge of the clearing back
about a half mile. If it hadn’t been for the moredhel hot on
our heels, Garret and I might not have made it back to the walls.”

“I wish I knew what they were
doing out there,” said Arutha “This attacking only at
night, it surely masks some trickery.”

Gardan said, “We’ll know
soon enough, I fear.”

Arutha stood, and the others rose as
well. “We have much to do in any event. But if they do not come
this night, we should all take advantage of the rest. Order watches
posted, and send the men back to the commons for sleep. If I’m
needed, I’ll be in my room.”

The others followed him from the
council hall, and Arutha walked slowly to his room, his fatigued mind
trying to grasp what he knew were important matters, but failing. He
threw off only his armor and fell fully clothed across his pallet. He
was quickly asleep, but it was a troubled, dream-filled slumber.

For a week no attacks came, as the
Tsurani were cautious of the migrating Brotherhood of the Dark Path.
As Martin had foretold, the moredhel were emboldened by hunger and
had twice struck into the heart of the Tsurani camp.

On the eighth afternoon after the first
moredhel attack, the Tsurani were again gathering on the field before
the castle, their ranks once more swelled by reinforcements from the
east. Messages carried by pigeon between Arutha and his father told
of increased fighting along the eastern front as well. Lord Borric
speculated Crydee was being attacked by troops fresh from the Tsurani
homeworld, as there had been no reports of any troop movements along
his front. Other messages arrived with word of relief from Carse and
Tulan. Baron Tolburt’s soldiers had departed Tulan within two
days of receiving Arutha’s message, and his fleet would join
with Baron Bellamy’s at Carse. Depending upon the prevailing
winds, it would be from one to two weeks before the relief fleet
arrived.

Arutha stood at his usual place upon
the west wall, Martin Longbow at his side. They watched the Tsurani
taking position as the sun sank in the west, a red beacon bathing the
landscape in crimson.

“It seems,” said Arutha,
“they mount a full attack tonight.”

Longbow said, “They’ve
cleared the area of troublesome neighbors by all appearances, at
least for a time. The moredhel gained us a little time, Highness, but
no more.”

“I wonder how many will reach the
Northlands?”

Longbow shrugged. “One in five
perhaps From the Green Heart to the Northlands is a long, difficult
journey under the best of circumstances. Now . . .” He let his
words trail off.

Gardan came up the stairs from the
courtyard. “Highness, the tower watch reports the Tsurani are
in formation.”

As he spoke, the Tsurani sounded their
battle calls and began to advance. Arutha drew his sword and gave the
order for the catapults to fire. Bowmen followed, unleashing a storm
of arrows upon the attackers, but still the Tsurani came.

Through the night, wave after wave of
brightly armored aliens threw themselves at the west wall of Castle
Crydee. Most died on the field before the wall, or at its base, but a
few managed to crest the battlements. They, too, died. Still, more
came.

Six times the Tsurani wave had broken
upon the defenses of Crydee, and now they prepared for a seventh
assault. Arutha, covered in dirt and blood, directed the disposition
of rested troops along the wall Gardan looked to the east. “If
we hold one more time, the dawn will be here. Then we should have
some respite,” he said, his voice thick with fatigue.

“We will hold,” answered
Arutha, his own voice sounding just as tired in his ears as Gardan’s.

“Arutha?”

Arutha saw Roland and Amos coming up
the stairs, with another man behind. “What now?” asked
the Prince.

Roland said, “We can see no
activity on the other walls, but there is something here you should
see.”

Arutha recognized the other man, Lewis,
the castle’s Rathunter. It was his responsibility to keep
vermin from the keep. He tenderly held something in his hands.

Arutha looked closely: it was a ferret,
twitching slightly in the firelight. “Highness,” said
Lewis, his voice thick with emotion, “it’s—”

“What, man?” said Arutha
impatiently. With attack about to begin, he had little time to mourn
a lost pet.

Roland spoke, for Lewis was obviously
overcome at the loss of his ferret. “The Rathunter’s
ferrets didn’t return two days ago. This one crawled into the
storage room behind the kitchen sometime since Lewis found it there a
few minutes ago.”

In choked tones, Lewis said, “They’re
all well trained, sire. If they didn’t come back, it’s
because something kept them from returnin’. This poor lad’s
been stepped on. His back’s broken. He must’ve crawled
for hours to get back.”

Arutha said, “I fail to see the
significance of this.”

Roland gripped the Prince’s arm.
“Arutha, he hunts them in the rat tunnels under the castle.”

Comprehension dawned upon Arutha. He
turned to Gardan and said, “Sappers! The Tsurani must be
digging under the east wall.”

Gardan said, “That would explain
the constant attacks upon the west wall—to draw us away.”

Arutha said, “Gardan, take
command of the walls. Amos, Roland, come with me.”

Arutha ran down the steps and through
the courtyard. He shouted for a group of soldiers to follow and bring
shovels. They reached the small courtyard behind the keep, and Arutha
said, “We’ve got to find that tunnel and collapse it.”

Amos said, “Your walls are
slanted outward at the plinth. They’ll recognize they can’t
fire the timbers of the tunnels to bring it down to make a breach.
They’ll be trying to get a force inside the castle grounds or
into the keep.”

Roland looked alarmed. “Carline!
She and the other ladies are in the cellars.”

Arutha said, “Take some men and
go to the cellars.” Roland ran off. Arutha fell to his knees
and placed his ear on the ground. The others followed his example,
moving around, listening for sounds of digging from below.

Carline sat nervously next to the Lady
Marna. The fat former governess made a show of calmly attending to
her needlepoint despite the rustling and stirring of the other women
in the cellar. The sounds of battle from the walls came to them as
faint, distant echoes, muted by the thick walls of the keep. Now
there was an equally unnerving quiet.

“Oh! To be sitting here like a
caged bird,” said Carline.

“The walls are no place for a
lady,” came the retort from Lady Marna.

Carline stood. As she paced the room,
she said, “I can tie bandages and carry water. All of us
could.”

The other ladies of the court looked at
one another as if the Princess had been bereft of her senses. None of
them could imagine subjecting herself to such a trial.

“Highness, please,” said
Lady Mama, “you should wait quietly. There will be much to do
when the battle’s over. Now you should rest.”

Carline began a retort, then stopped.
She held up her hand. “Do you hear something?”

The others stopped their movement, and
all listened. From the floor came a faint tapping sound. Carline
knelt upon the flagstone. “My lady, this is most unseemly,”
began the Lady Marna.

Carline stopped the complaint with an
imperious wave of her hand “Quiet!” She placed her ear
upon the flagstones. “There is something . . .”

Lady Glynis shuddered. “Probably
rats scurrying about. There are hundreds of them down here.”
Her expression showed this revelation was about as unpleasant a fact
as imaginable.

“Be quiet!” ordered
Carline.

There came a cracking sound from the
floor, and Carline leaped to her feet. Her sword came out of its
scabbard as a fracture appeared in the stones of the floor. A chisel
point broke through the flagstone, and suddenly the upturned stone
was pushed up and outward.

Ladies screamed as a hole appeared in
the floor. A startled face popped into the light, then a Tsurani
warrior, hair filthy from the dirt of the tunnel, tried to scramble
upward Carline’s sword took him in the throat as she shouted,
“Get out! Call the guards!”

Most of the women sat frozen in terror,
refusing to move. Lady Marna heaved her massive bulk from the bench
upon which she sat and gave a shrieking town girl a backhanded slap.
The girl looked at Lady Marna with wide-eyed fright for an instant,
then broke toward the steps. As if at a signal, the others ran after,
screaming for help.

Carline watched as the Tsurani slowly
fell back, blocking the hole in the floor. Other cracks appeared
around the hole, and hands pulled pieces of flagstone downward into
the ever-widening entrance. Lady Marna was halfway to the steps when
she saw Carline standing her ground. “Princess!” she
shrieked.

Another man came scrambling upward, and
Carline delivered a death blow to him. She was then forced back as
the stones near her feet collapsed. The Tsurani had terminated their
tunnel in a wide hole and were now broadening the entrance, pulling
down stones so that they could swarm out, overwhelming any defenders.

A man fought upward, pushing Carline to
one side, allowing another to start his climb upward Lady Mama ran
back to her former ward and grabbed up a large piece of loose stone,
which she brought crashing down on the unhelmeted skull of the second
man. Grunts and strange-sounding words came from the tunnel mouth as
the man fell back upon those behind.

Carline ran the other man through and
kicked another in the face. “Princess!” cried Lady Marna.
“We must flee!”

Carline didn’t answer. She dodged
a blow at her feet delivered by a Tsurani who then sprang nimbly out
of the hole. Carline thrust and the man dodged. Another came
scrambling out of the hole, and the Lady Marna shrieked.

The first man turned reflexively at the
sound, and Carline drove her sword into his side. The second man
raised a serrated sword to strike Lady Marna, and Carline sprang for
him, thrusting her sword point into his neck. The man shuddered and
fell, his fingers releasing their grip on the sword Carline grabbed
Lady Marna’s arm and propelled her toward the steps.

Tsurani came swarming out of the hole,
and Carline turned at the bottom of the stairs Lady Marna stood
behind her beloved Princess, not willing to leave. The Tsurani
approached wanly. The girl had killed enough of their companions to
warrant their respect and caution.

Suddenly a body crashed past the girl
as Roland charged into the Tsurani, soldiers of the keep hurrying
behind. The young Squire was in a frenzy to protect the Princess, and
he boiled over three Tsurani in his rush. They tumbled backward,
disappearing into the hole, Roland with them.

As the Squire vanished from view,
Carline screamed, “Roland!” Other guards leaped past the
Princess to engage the Tsurani who still stood in the cellar, and
more jumped boldly into the hole. Grunts and cries, shouts and oaths
rang from the tunnel.