Samual (69 page)

“And in the world of men the ancient treasures have been given to those who will make good use of them. They will help to restore much of what was lost five thousand years ago. Those who have been driven from their homes will in time return to them. Once more a lesson of unity has been taught, as the greatest victories were won by those who stand as one. The greatest defeats suffered by those who remain divided.”

“And lest I forget one corrupt king has been removed from his throne. That will stand as a warning to others. A reminder that even the most powerful must submit to the All Father. Gods and kings both.”

Heri gathered he was the corrupt king Augrim was referring to. But for once he held his temper. He was beginning to realise he was in trouble. Especially when he saw the snap wolf yawn as Augrim petted it, and saw the shocking array of weaponry in its mouth.

“But you'll have plenty of time to learn the rest of it.”

“How much time?” Heri heard the part about him having time and immediately started to panic. It was starting to sound as though he'd been sentenced and he hadn't even had a trial. But trials were mortal things. The gods didn't generally get involved in such matters as he understood it. They just decided what punishments people would receive.

“Why, the rest of your life of course.” Augrim laughed merrily as if it was some sort of joke.

“But that's –.”

“ – Your fate.” Augrim finished Heri's sentence for him. “And it is of your own choosing.”

“My –?!”

“You were given the choice. I told you when your brother attacked the keep that he was too strong for you. That he was working with others more powerful still. You could have walked away. You should have. But you chose to let your hatred dictate your actions. And everything has followed from that. Now here you are.”

“Be grateful. The All Father could be much harsher. But he still intends to make an example of you.”

“Now drink up. You have a lot of work to do and it begins today. There are temples to rebuild, people to bring to them, offerings to be collected, prayers to be intoned and temple floors to clean.”

“But I'm not a priest!” Heri objected.

“No, of course not.” Augrim pretended to look concerned for a moment. Then his expression hardened. “You're a serf.”

“I am not –!” Heri lost his temper and again tried to yell, only to have his voice dry up. But this time he didn't care that he couldn't scream at the wizard and he couldn't move. He was simply too angry to care.

“Yes you are.” Augrim started preening his beard some more. “Some serve from love as do the priests. Some serve by their nature as does your brother. And some serve as slaves, as now do you. This is the All Father's judgement.”

“For the rest of your life you will be Heri the serf. The people will see you scrubbing the floors of the temples, cleaning out the waste ponds and mucking out the pigs. And they will know that you were once a king who betrayed his family, his people and his god. They will laugh and pelt you with rotten fruit. The bards will sing of your fall for a thousand years and across a thousand realms. Artists will travel the world to paint your image. And perhaps a few of the high and mighty will learn a lesson from your example.”

“No!” Heri gave up and yelled at the former wizard, and this time he actually managed to get that one word out before he locked up. But he was a king. He could not become the village idiot. A figure of ridicule. Someone to laugh at. It was just too much.

“Yes.” Augrim let that smile of his spread over his entire face. “You should be pleased. You will finally be the king whose name the world will remember!” Augrim finally gave up on restraining himself and burst into great peals of laughter and the snap wolf started growling in agreement.

Heri meanwhile just had to sit there, completely frozen, unable to even object, and listen to his former magic adviser laughing at him. He thought in that moment that his hatred for him almost eclipsed his hatred for his half-brother. But no amount of hatred was going to help him. Because while the anger and the hatred flowed through him like water, he still knew that there was nothing he could do. He was completely helpless. And that he slowly realised, was his destiny.

It just wasn't fair!

Home! After so long spent on the back of a horse Sam was infinitely glad to see the last length of the journey in front of him. A long straight stretch of track with only small trees lining either side. The new city of Shavarra was only a league or so in front of him. He was glad too to no longer be riding a moose. It had taken him a week to find a wild horse to ride, and a week on the back of a moose had felt like an eternity of suffering. It had been a loyal animal and it had served him well, but it simply wasn't meant to be ridden. Now hopefully it was back with its herd, no doubt telling them equally unpleasant things about the human who had chosen to jump on his back and ride him.

Sam was confused as he set eyes on the distant city. Why was the sky filled with rainbows? That didn't look right. One rainbow he could understand. But scores of them? They had transformed the entire sky into something he didn't recognise, though it was beautiful. And where was the rain that went with them?

And where were the people? Normally the stretch of track he was on would have others on it. Foresters hunting logs for the city as it was built. Hunters out looking for food. Traders who regularly plied the routes between the cities of the Golden River Flats. But looking ahead all he could see was an empty track.

Perhaps he had been expecting that someone would be waiting to greet him? The Fire Angel returning from his mighty victory? Then again perhaps that was just arrogance and false pride. Besides, how would they know he was here? The Window of Parsus was an incredible ancient treasure, but it had its limits. It was easy enough to use it to show far away cities. But they were always in the same place. Trying to find a man on horseback who could be anywhere was much harder.

Still, the empty track seemed strange. Then again, they were living in strange times. He didn't understand why or how exactly. But the world was changing. The elders had managed to contact him once as he'd travelled to the Dead Creek Pass and told him a little of what was happening in the world.

The phoenix was now flying the skies. The glorious symbol of the Goddess was now seen over the entire continent and perhaps beyond. And they were no longer certain that it was just one. Dragons were being seen more often now too. They were flying the skies above their mountain lairs. As for the trolls they had reverted all the way back to savagery. They no longer wore clothes – not even the rags they once had. They no longer spoke. And they no longer carried weapons. They didn't even stand up straight. Whatever it was that had once made them like men had vanished. Sam wasn't completely certain whether that made them less dangerous or more. But what he did understand was that it made them no longer Crodan's followers. Crodan no longer had any. And that weakened him.

All of that was in part his doing and yet he wasn't certain he had actually caused any of it. He was certain though that any of it that was his doing he hadn't intended. It hadn't been an accident either. Others had been guiding things. Actually they had been directing them. He'd just been used. And he knew he wasn't alone.

Heri had certainly been used, though no one could explain how it was that he had become a vessel for the All Father. Or when it had happened. Nor could they explain how or why he had had so many ancient treasures – including of all things, the ones they would need to defeat the Dragon.

And Sam suspected that the Dragon had been manipulated as well. He had left his island because he had thought an attack was imminent. So he had looked for another base. Sam still didn't know why he'd believed that an attack was coming. But he was sure it was the reason he'd moved. It was the only thing that made sense.

It went beyond just pushing and prodding though. The gods had done more than that. He suspected that they had actually empowered him. He didn't know how exactly. Or when or even why. But he had had time to recover his magic on the month and a half long trip back here, and he knew he no longer had the strength he had once had. It was as though they had granted him a little extra magic just so he could do what he needed to, and now that he didn't need it they had taken it back. In the same way he had been granted knowledge. The shape to call a roc and to transform it into a phoenix. That knowledge was gone now. He had done it. But he could no longer remember how he had done it.

All three of them; him, Heri and the Dragon had all just been pieces in some giant game, and had been moved around by players they couldn't see. But what else could you expect when the gods were getting involved? The only real question was who were the gods? Crodan? The Goddess? Draco? The All Father? Or all of them?

And of course there was another, perhaps even more important question. Were the gods finished with them?

Sam didn't know and he guessed he never would. That was the sort of thing the priests would argue over for years. A wise man, he decided, wouldn't concern himself with such matters. Whether the gods were involving themselves in the affairs of the world or not, a man still had to live his life as if it was his own.

And that began with his wife who abruptly appeared from out of nowhere to drag him off his horse, push him down in the long grass and start covering him with kisses. She was happy to see him he gathered. Impatient too since he hadn't even reached the city. The horse seemed a little confused though. Probably because she kept calling him her beautiful man. That was one thing he had never thought of himself as being.

“Ryshal.” He murmured her name a few times until she finally gave him a chance to speak. But not a chance to get up. She wasn't having that.

“Yes husband?” She smiled happily and returned to her kissing.

“Isn't this a bit open? I mean someone could see.” Not that he really cared. Normally he would. He hated to do anything that could cause embarrassment – especially to Ry. But she felt so good in his arms. Warm and soft and filled with life. And all he wanted to do was make love to her.

“No one will see and no one will care.” And then she proved how little she cared by starting work on the straps to his armour.

That was as much as Sam needed to hear and he grabbed her up, carried her to a quiet spot between a few trees a little distance from the track, and laid her down in the long grass as they both wanted. Soon after that they were eagerly renewing their wedding vows, while the light of the sun and the rainbows played over their naked bodies.

Afterwards both of them lay there for a time, enjoying the peace and each other, but saying little. For his part Sam was most curious about his wife's belly, and kept rubbing his hands over it, feeling the very slight bulge that he knew was the promise of their child to come, and wondering how it could finally be. It seemed so incredible after everything else.

But he also found himself wondering why it had taken so long. They had lost five years and those years should never have been lost. Yet this last year for all that it had been so hard on them all, had been wondrous. Maybe it all balanced out somehow. He didn't know.

Ry didn't think as he did though. She had forgotten the pain and hardship quickly and knew only the joy and the hope for the future. It was something he had always admired in her. And something he thought their child would find a blessing in his or her mother. She wasn't thinking of anything but their marriage and their child to come. Or probably he guessed, their children to come. She liked to think ahead.

“I suppose I should visit with the elders,” Sam said finally, remembering his duty.  Still, he was loathe to leave.

“They don't really have time to see you beloved.” She laughed merrily. “They don't really have time for much lately.”

“Mmm?” He twirled a little of her hair in his hands, so very glad that he could. It was once more her rowell aylin. Her golden crown.

“It's been six weeks since you killed the Dragon.”

“I didn't kill him.” He corrected her without thinking even though he hated doing it. “Heri did?” And he still didn't understand that.

“You did defeat him though. And Heri's not going to be taking any praise for the act. Or any praise at all. In fact he's very unhappy at the moment.”

“He's – ?! … You've seen Heri?” Sam was surprised.

“Through the Window of Parsus. He's in the great temple of the All Father in the Fedowir Kingdom. He has been relegated to menial chores and is being regularly pelted with rotten fruit by those of Fair Fields who fled there. And a giant snap wolf watches over him, preventing him from running away. Your brother is a very unhappy man.”

“Good!” It might by churlish and less than noble but Sam was pleased by that. Besides, Heri should really have been put to death. Ryshal tittered happily into his chest which he assumed meant she agreed.

“The elders though are far more concerned with the rest. With the sylph who arrived here a couple of weeks ago. They are apparently upset because they have a phoenix problem.”

“A phoenix problem?” Sam raised an eyebrow in question.

“The phoenix has nested in the mountain above their city of Istantia in Racavor. They believe it's laid a clutch of eggs and soon they'll be overrun. Their flocks of sheep will be at risk. And they say it's our fault. They want compensation.”

“These would be the same sylph who refused to raise a finger to help when Fair Fields was threatened?” Sam wasn't particularly upset by the idea that they would lose a few sheep. Perhaps that showed.

“The elders have made that point themselves. Several times!” She laughed softly. “But the sylph still want access to the treasures from Heri's sanctum as payment for the trouble we have caused them. They are a difficult people.”

“That they are.” Sam agreed with her, though he would really have described them as arrogant.

“The priests have been difficult too.”

“Priests?” He wouldn't have thought of priests as difficult. Annoying sometimes and occasionally in the way. Actually they were mostly annoying and in the way. But by and large they didn't cause trouble.

“Both the priests of the All Father and Draco are requesting that they be permitted to build large temples within Shavarra. The priests of the Goddess say no. They can have shrines only. They say that this is the Goddess' land and we are her people. They say that the priests of the All Father and Draco have no place here. They are however considering allowing the priests of Phil the White to build a healing chapel. The elders have been hearing submissions on the matter every day.”

“I'm sure the matter will die down in time.” He wasn't actually though. It was just something reassuring to say when he didn't know what the future held. And really, Sam's thoughts were once more with Heri. His brother had saved his life and destroyed the Dragon! That still seemed impossible. But mostly he thought about what Heri had said afterwards. That he would make sure Sam's story was told. The last thing Sam wanted to be was a symbol or a witness for several faiths to fight over. Was he the witness to the All Father's victory over Crodan, the caller of Draco's Dragons or the Goddess' servant? Suddenly he wasn't so sure he wanted to visit with the elders. Not when three faiths might each want to claim him as theirs. Somehow he suspected he was going to be approached by all of them in time.

“And the rainbows?” Sam changed the subject, not wanting to dwell on matters he could do nothing about.

“Didn't I tell you? It's been six weeks since the Dragon was defeated. And for six long weeks we've been celebrating. The rainbows are created by one of the treasures from Heri's sanctum. And you're just lucky that you aren't close enough to hear the drum.”

“The drum?”

“Another ancient treasure. Whenever anyone beats it, everyone within hearing starts dancing for joy. You can't help yourself. It's like some madness that sweeps everyone up. And when it ends everyone's left exhausted. After six weeks of it people are beyond simply exhausted. In fact I think that may be one of the treasures the elders would be happy to give to the sylph!”

“It's good that the war has ended.” Sam tried to turn things back to the positive.

“Ended? It's more than that. The Dragon's dead. The war's over. The machina sit rusting in the streets and fields, never to move again. The trolls are mindless. Far less of a threat than they once were. And all of it is your doing. The bards spend endless hours in every inn and alehouse in every land, making up songs of the Fire Angel's heroic deeds and mighty victory.”