Sebastian of Mars (23 page)

But the party went on. There was more
dancing, and more feasting, and then a teller of tales, and Miklos
sang a wedding song raunchy in nature, and then he took to tossing
little Darwin in the air again, and then there was another toast to
my Queen and I, and I gave a toast to everyone back, as did my
wife, and then there were makeshift gifts for her to open, things
we would treasure when we occupied the palace in Wells, an amazing
thought, as I told my bride later, given that when we had met we
were mere kits running though those halls and making mischief, and
now we were to rule them.

And still the party went on, as if no one
wanted tomorrow and its battle to come.

But finally the hour grew late and the wine
grew scarce, and Charlotte looked at me and smiled and we stole
away to my bedchamber, and I kissed her, thinking briefly of
Radion’s absurd thoughts, which I immediately banished from my mind
when she kissed me back, and we made quite a night of it.

T
he next morning, as
the sun rose over a landscape below us shrouded in a soft blanket
of morning mist, I went out to see Radion, who showed no ill
effects of his night of drinking. He was mounted with his fighters,
and ready to join us.

“I wish you would stay behind,” I said, but
this morning he only laughed heartily and slapped his horse. “A vow
is a vow!” he growled heartily, and fell into line behind me as we
began to make our way down the side of the great mountain Olympus
Mons in a series of switchbacks which seemed to go on forever. I
stood at the head of an army four thousand and twenty strong, and
quite ready for battle.

There was a solemn magnificence about our
progress, with only the clopping of horse hoofs breaking the
stillness; a grim purpose to our steady progress. I heard a
droning, and looked up to see Newton’s fleet of sleek black
airships, which began to pound the distant hills with bombs as
prelude to our attack. I could just make out a mass of red which
seemed to coat the hills, two in particular, like ants. I wondered
which of them was Frane, who, I vowed, would taste my blade this
day.

Xarr rode beside me, silent as a specter. His
scarred face was set in a purposeful way.

Finally the silence had stretched too long,
and I said, “Do you think they’ll fight?”

“Oh, they’ll fight,” he said with certainty.
“With bombs at their back, and nowhere else to go, they’ll fight.
Frane knows she’s trapped.”

“Do you know where she is?”

He pointed with his sword. “That farther
hill, behind the first one. She’s a coward at heart, Sire, and will
hide behind the skirts of her troops, what little she has left of
them.”

“Did you send out word of my marriage to her
army?”

He nodded. “And it was a brilliant stroke,
having Newton drop those pamphlets. Nearly half of them deserted
last night. She’s only left with the ones with nowhere to go, now.
Those nearest to her, or subject to her fear, bribes or extortion.
These are the hardest, I’m afraid, but there aren’t too many of
‘em.”

“And they know about my offer of
amnesty?”

“They know. It may even work, for some of
‘em. We shall see.”

He lapsed again into
silence, and we rode inexorably down.

W
hen we reached the
plains it was past noon, and the mists were gone, leaving the bare
and sandy pink-red of the landscape. There seemed to be less red on
the nearing hills. Our spies had reported that F’rar soldiers were
slipping away as fast as they could, and that there had been many
executions for desertion. Newton’s bombing had ceased, giving those
who sought to leave a chance to do so.

We began to pick up stragglers, who threw
down their weapons at our approach. They were herded to the rear.
As we approached the first hill a single desultory arrow came our
way, and landed short of us. It was tied with a white ribbon of
cloth. Then we were approached by an officer, red helmet in
hand.

“We will not fight you,” he said.

“And who are ‘we’?” Xarr asked him
gruffly.

“I am commander Efflar. I control half of
Frane’s remaining troops,” he said. “She has become insane, and
can’t see certain death staring her in the face. The others on the
far hill are with her.” He paused. “We will fight with you if you
wish.” He looked at me. “It is a great thing you have done, King
Sebastian. My men only want an end to this.”

I looked to Xarr, who shook his head. “Take
your troops and head toward Olympus Mons,” he told Commander
Efflar. “Leave your weapons here.”

The officer bowed. “As you wish.”

As he walked off to gather his men, Xarr
commented, “I know of Efflar. He is a butcher, and merciless. If he
has given up hope it is all but over. But it would have been
foolish to let him join us. They could have turned on us at any
time, and would instantly do so if things turned Frane’s way.”

“I will take that as an education.”

“You will be educated by many things today,
Sire.”

We rode through retreating, tired F’rar, at
least two thousand of them, who trudged past us with their heads
down. A mountain of swords and arrows was left behind.

The second hill grew larger, and now, as
expected, a rain of arrows came at us. Above, the sleek black
airships began to bomb again, driving Frane’s remaining troops down
the hill and toward us. We spurred our horses and, at Xarr’s shout
of “Attack!” we rode forward, into the fray.

There was chaos, with moments of lucidity.
The men who came at us were mad with hatred, and with the
realization that they had nowhere to go and nothing to do but meet
death head-on. These were Frane’s inner circle, the assassins and
murderers and torturers who had brought her back to power and kept
her there with their maniacal devotion.

But there were not enough of them to stop us,
barely a thousand. The battle was fierce but short, and I was
pleased to discover that Miklos had been right, that I was better
with the sword than I thought. Xarr and I soon found ourselves with
no one to fight at the top of the second hill. A carpet of
red-suited bodies lay behind us.

Miklos rode up with an ashen look on his
face. “My king,” he choked out, “my brother, he is wounded . .
.”

A bolt of pain and rage coursed through me.
“
No!
” I cried out, turning my horse to follow Miklos back to
Radion, who lay motionless on the ground. Another gypsy cradled his
head, but I dismounted and took over the task.

“Radion,” I sobbed, looking down at him.

His eyes were clouded, but then they focused
on me. He smiled, and lifted a paw to weakly waggle a finger at
me.

“The cards . . .” he whispered, and then
added with urgency, “You . . . I know now the meaning of the last .
. .”

Then his eyes went blank as opaque glass, and
his last breath left him.

I rocked his massive head and sobbed, until
Miklos gently disengaged me from his brother. “We will attend to
him, my King.”

I nodded, and stood. A rage unlike any I had
ever known coursed through me. I mounted my horse and rode back to
Xarr, who was surveying the far hills and plains.”

“Fools,” Xarr marveled. “They threw
themselves at us like devils. Pure suicide. To save Frane, no
doubt.”

“Where is that monster –” I drew out my
spyglass, the gift Radion had given me, and fiercely went over the
landscape before us.

And then I spotted the rogue Queen in the
distance, alone on a chestnut colored horse riding wildly, her red
robes flaring wildly behind her.

And then, suddenly, she vanished.

“I’ll kill that beast myself,” I vowed, and
tore off in the direction she had gone, with Xarr shouting behind
me.

I drove my horse over smooth plain which
suddenly gave way to rough brush and scattered desert grass.

And then I saw what I was looking for.

Ahead, the terrain sloped down to a small
open valley floored with red sand. The slope to the right was
smooth, but on the left there was a wall bearing four cave
openings.

“I have you, you wretch,” I spat, drawing my
horse up at the first yawning hole and studying the ground.

Horse tracks led toward the third cave, the
largest of the four portals, and then they turned away, up the far
ridge.

I saw Frane’s horse up there, as if lost.

I dismounted and saw feline boot prints
leading into the cave.

Behind me I heard distant shouts, and Xarr’s
booming voice calling for me.

I ignored it.

I drew my sword and entered.

I was surrounded by gloom, and the
temperature dropped. The floor turned from a dusting of washed sand
to hard rock. Each one of my steps echoed like an announcement.

“Enter, boy,” Frane’s voice echoed ahead of
me, but I could not tell from where.

“Are you ready to die, Frane?” I called.

I was greeted by a laugh. “Not this day, pup.
I should have let them torture you to death. But it wouldn’t have
been a grand enough demise for Haydn’s fetid spawn.”

I advanced, trying to muffle my boot
steps.

“Just a bit closer, pup,” she laughed, and
then I heard and saw her all around me.

She dropped down from the ceiling, her
blood-red cloak billowing, and I caught sight of her hidden perch
as she fell upon me, screaming like a shrill beast.

“
Die, Sebastian!
” she shrieked, and I
saw her mad, shriveled face before me and the quick thrust of the
long thin dagger in her hand which pierced me in the middle. The
blade retreated, red with my blood, and knew that the last card’s
prophecy had come true.

Radion had not been wrong after all – I had
been loved by one F’rar woman, and killed by another.

I felt warm and cold, and fell to my knees,
gasping.

Frane drew back, and held the dagger up. “The
thrust itself was not enough to kill you,” she spat, her eyes
blazing. “But the blade is covered in the same poison that killed
your foul mother. May it comfort you to know you will die the same
way.”

There was a sound at the cave entrance,
calling voices, and Frane hissed.

“
Good-bye, spawn. Think of me on your
death bed.
”

She gave me one more blazing look of hate,
then turned and ran off, deeper into the cave.

I sank from my knees and collapsed onto my
back. I could not breathe. It was as if a warm hand had smothered
me, and was driving me down into unconsciousness, while at the same
time there was cold all around me.

There passed what seemed a long time where I
saw nothing, and then I looked up and saw Xarr’s face but could not
hear his words, though his mouth was moving.

And then Newton’s face replaced Xarr’s, and I
saw him mouth the word, as I closed my eyes to die, “Quickly.”

I
was awake. But
wakefulness came suddenly, as if a switch had been thrown. One
moment I resided in dreamless slumber, numb nothingness – and then
I was fully engaged and alert.

I lay quietly, staring at something blue over
me, like a shield, or the sky of a strange planet. Earth? That was
preposterous. And there were no clouds or night stars, only a
glassy curve of blueness that I could almost see through.

I tried to move my head but could not.

And neither could I move my limbs, which
seemed, not leaden, but absent.

Was I dead?

And then something moved in the blue canopy
above me, a shadow like the silhouette of a god, and I thought I
must surely be dead.

“Sebastian?”

“Yes?” I answered, as if commanded, though
the voice was gentle enough. It seemed to surround me as a god’s
voice might. My own voice in kind sounded small and artificial,
tinny and weak.

“Good. He’s responding.”

This obviously to someone else – another
god?

The silhouette was joined by a second,
filling my sky, and I lay in awe.

“Sebastian, it’s Newton.”

“Newton!” I cried, though it still kept its
tepid tininess, with no increase in volume.

“Only answer my questions with yes and no,
please. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Newton.”

Something that resembled a gravelly chuckle
from the other side, and one silhouette turned to the other.

“Still stubborn, I see.”

“Yes,” I responded, and the chuckle
repeated.

“Sebastian,” Newton asked, “can you move any
of your limbs at all?”

“No.”

“Can you move your head?”

“No.”

“Your lips?”

Startled, I realized that I was answering his
questions but that I could not feel my own mouth moving when I did
so.

“I don’t think so.”

“Just yes or no, Sebastian.”

“If I must. No, then.”

Another slight chuckle.

“By the way,” Newton said, “Thomas is here
with me. He sends his best greetings, and wants you to know that
the Second Republic is safe, and that Wells is almost back to
normal. There has already been a meeting of the Senate in the Hall
of Assembly, including the new F’rar Senators. Peace has been
restored throughout Mars.”

How long had I been in this condition? Before
I could continue to wonder, he answered my question:

“You have been here” –
where?
I
wondered – “for three weeks. If you hadn’t had partial immunity to
the poison Frane inflicted on you, you would not be here at all.
But while your mother was carrying you and your sister her litter
was passed this partial immunity which she herself possessed. It
was gained during the murder of her first kits.”

Again he answered some of my questions for
me, in a clinical way: “In case you are wondering, we are in the
realm of One.”

One! And Quiff was here, I suppose?

“Quiff is about, and has helped attend you
these past weeks. There is more I must tell you, and for a reason.
You must stay very calm. Please answer me now. Can you move your
right paw?”