The Grand Crusade (62 page)

“In due time.” She leaned in and kissed him lightly. “Come with me, Crow. We’re bringing our army to destroy the Aurolani host. When we have done that, Nefrai-kesh is yours. Once he is dead, the honor of the Norringtons and the Hawkinses will again be restored.”

How often have you been through here?“ Resolute turned in the saddle and looked at Trawyn. She had spoken to him in Elvish, which was unusual since, beyond some simple courtesies, they had spoken in the common tongue so Adrogans’ scouts would not feel left out. Neither they nor anyone else was particularly close in the column as it narrowed to enter the Boreal mountains, so he answered her in kind.

“Not often, but more than once.”

“How far north have you gotten?”

He shrugged. “Not as far as we are going, but I have ranged over Aurolan. Mostly alone, but more recently with Crow.”

The princess nodded slowly. She rode on his right so she could see him. “It surprises me, your affection for Crow. Even you should have seen the danger of rescuing one who had been completely repudiated by his people.”

Resolute’s eyes narrowed. “Do you say that because you value humans so little, or you do not think a child is capable of recognizing injustice and seeking to right it?”

Her single eye widened. “Your sword is clearly not all that is sharp. I value humans.”

“But not before meeting Will Norrington and seeing how strong they can be emotionally?”

Trawyn hesitated, then nodded. “It is true that I have not much been exposed to them. You have spent lots of time among them. You know them far better than I.”

“I know them far better than I know most elves.” Resolute faced forward, scanning the pathway as it wound up through foothill valleys toward the mountains. “In many ways I find them more honest than elves—at least emotionally.

We are so long-lived that we tend to be laconic as far as our emotions are concerned. We hold them too tightly.“

“That’s not true. We have great passions, Resolute.”

“Perhaps, but we do not show them, not to the world.”

She frowned. “How can you look at thecorüescior the gardens of Rellaence and say that?”

“You make my point, Highness.” He let his gaze travel up the mountains where, at their tips, clouds whipped and curled down. “Thecorüesciis clearly Magarric’s passion, and the gardens were cared for lovingly, but over time. It may be true that a trickle of water will wear stone more effectively than a flood, but a flood is more cleansing.”

“And more destructive.”

“But not all human emotion is destructive.” He smiled at her. “I first met Crow in Atval. He and his companions faced hundreds of gibberers. The chances of their surviving were nil, but still they fought. Crow, in particular, faced four of them. They had longknives and he had a dagger. He stood there, defiant, promising the first of them to reach him would die, and did not quail when they all came for him at once. I intervened, saving him, then taught him how to fight, and he did. He fought very hard, doing all I told him and more. And, later, when he learned about Vorquellyn, he vowed on his honor and life he would see my home liberated in his lifetime.”

“And you saw merit in what was the rash declaration of a child?”

“I heard a declaration that could only have been made by an adult. He assumed full responsibility for what he said. After the decision was made to go north, but not to liberate Vorquellyn, I chose not to go with the expedition. That decision hurt him, and he tried to convince me to go. But he accepted my explanation and vowed that, after it was done, the two of us would go liberate Vorquellyn. I agreed that we would.”

Resolute reined his horse up a small hillock. “A Spritha came to me, dragged me to the Ghost March and through this pass. At the end of our journey I again found Crow beset by gibberers, but still fighting. I brought him out, and that is when his people betrayed him.”

“But, Resolute, even then you should have known that to befriend him would alienate the same human leaders you needed to see your homeland free.”

“I knew that, yes, but they had sent me off on an expedition, supposedly to verify what he had told them. They really wanted all support removed from him. In isolation they broke him, and they used my absence as part of that process. I knew then that he was worth more than any of them. A few, like Augustus, have proven themselves true, but it was not until Chytrine came again that the others chose to face reality.”

As his horse came down the hillock and rejoined the trail, he rode knee to knee with her. “So you wonder at my affection for Crow when he was the only person in the world who would not be dissuaded from the necessity of destroying Chytrine and liberating my home? He is more true to my cause than even I

was.

Trawyn remained silent for a time, then glanced at him. “Do you find yourself hating elves because we have not helped you more?”

He shrugged, swallowing the words he wanted to say. “You told me you felt Vorquellyn could never be liberated and restored. If that was your belief, why would you commit people to certain death in a futile effort?”

“Because it was the right thing to do?”

Resolute laughed. “To Chytrine, conquering the world is the right thing to do. You know, Highness, I may have spent my entire life killing things, but that does not mean I don’t understand how precious life can be. Crow is not my first friend. I have lost others in this war, and I mourn. Seethe, like Oracle, was a cousin of mine. I have seen others die—through war, through their own hands, or through foolishness. I feel those losses. I cannot fault you for not wanting to lose friends and kin.”

She reached up and adjusted the patch over her right eye. “You may be right, Resolute.”

“I undoubtedly am, but on which point are you seeing how wise I have become?”

“There is something to be said for human passion. I think, as we bind ourselves to our homeland, our passion becomes entwined with it. I think that is why those bound to Vorquellyn had to leave. It was painful for them, yes, but it also left them emotionally barren. They could not feel at all. You, because you are not bound, have your emotions intact. You have great passions, almost human passions, and they have kept you alive and thriving. I don’t have that, and I envy you.” She smiled at his reaction. “Don’t look so surprised. Days pass slowly for me, and I am not anxious about their passing because I know they will continue. There are times, however, when the anticipation of waiting for a flower to open, loses its edge because I have seen thousands of flowers open, and I know I shall see thousands more. What a human may regard as a once-in-a-lifetime experience, I can relive countless times.”

Resolute frowned. “I would find that incredibly boring.”

“I sense that about you, which makes me wonder something else.” Her voice shrank. “Something terrible.”

“What’s that?”

She pointed toward the mountains. “In a week or two we will have slain Chytrine, or will have been slain by her. If we are successful, what will you do? If Vorquellyn is redeemed and you are bound to it, will you find that existence boring? Have you made yourself into something that is a means for achieving for others what will never satisfy you?”

Her questions slammed home and caused him to bow his head as he considered them. His life had been about combat. The child he had once been—the innocent lad who reveled in stories and wished to be a hero—had been caked in

so many layers of blood that a million floods might never uncover him again.Could I go back to being that child?

In an instant he knew he could not. A small trickle of fear seeped into his guts. What if the world post-Chytrine was one without a place for him? He could, he had no doubt, continue to hunt down gibberers and frostclaws and other remnants of her evil for centuries, but what then? Could the world become a place that did not need someone whose skill was killing?

And what role would Vorquellyn demand of him? His thoughts ran to his father, who kept bees. Resolute had loved helping out, learning all there was to the apiarian arts, but could he be content doing what his father had done?

It became clear in asking himself that question that part of him did not want to surrender who he had become. He had worked so very hard to develop his skills, and he had done things to win the magicks that aided him. He had slain more creatures more ways than most could imagine, and he was very good at what he did. Granted, his goal was a world where no one like him would be needed, and he did not repudiate that end at all. That it would make him obsolete was something he thought of as good in a general sense.But, for me, it will be a world that smothers me and views me as a relic!

He smiled. Perhaps he would be like Temmer, the terrible sword that had lain hidden for centuries until needed again. That thought pleased him until he recalled the sword’s being shattered. Even if another evil rose in the world, it might be a challenge that was beyond him.How driven will I be to succeed if the cause for which I fight is no more?

That was the key, he decided. Ever since Vorquellyn had fallen he had had a purpose for his life: its liberation. Once that had been accomplished, he would need a new purpose. But would the purpose given to him through the linking to Vorquellyn satisfy him? Would it require him to give over a piece of himself and become less than he was now?Being Resolute is not a costume I can remove.

His left hand drifted to the hilt of Syverce. That the blade did not sting him gave him heart. At least something elven understood him and his value in the world. He had to hope the same would be true of Vorquellyn.Perhaps the task I will be given is not just what Vorquellyn requires of me, but what I require of Vorquellyn.

Finally, he glanced at Trawyn, noticing, for the first time, how the sunlight softened her features and reminded him of more peaceful times. “What you ask could be true, Highness. It could be that I am something not suited to the world that will come. I shall hope, however, that because I have had a hand in the world’s shaping, there will be room for me in it.”

She canted her head for a moment, then nodded. “I shall hope that, too, Resolute. A world that cannot accommodate you will be a sad one, and likely one not worth the price paid to attain it.”

A small part of Marcus Adrogans found it curious that he, and not Phfas, felt impatient with Kerrigan Reese and whatever Rymramoch was. Phfas had never had much patience for anything, save perhaps the ways of theyrun. He’d also been quite contemptuous of most magicians, but Kerrigan Reese fascinated him, and the diminutive Zhusk shaman had been positively enchanted by the scarlet-robed Rymramoch.

Adrogans had spent the days while Reese and Rymramoch worked on the wood samples preparing his troops for their fight. He’d slowly infiltrated troops into Alcytlin. The Loquelven Blackfeathers had all but demanded the honor of being the first in, and he granted it. He understood well what the rape of Loquellyn meant to them. While elves generally seemed quite reserved, what emotions they did possess had come boiling toward the surface when Princess Trawyn had briefed them about things back home.

Along with them he sent in the Nalisk Mountain Rangers and two battalions of the Jeranese Mountain Guards. That gave him almost a regiment of heavy and elite foot soldiers in the ruins. When Kerrigan’s plan went into effect, he expected a flood of Aurolani to flee into the city. Rooting them out of the ruins would take a long time, so having troops in place to slay them before they could hide would make the job much easier.

Most of his cavalry he was holding back, instead preparing to deploy his infantry in the waterfront area. The only exception to that rule was to have the Alcidese Wolves, the Alcidese Horse Guards, and the Jeranese Horse Guards ready to race through to what they took to be a firedirt factory. Adrogans wanted that taken and held. The Savarese Knights had demanded a target of similar importance, so they were given the job of holding what Adrogans

believed was an armory. He was hoping he might capture draconettes or more dragonels—though whether or not he’d be able to make use of them in the future was a serious question.

He cleared his throat. “I am well aware we wanted this operation to begin at noon. All will be ready?”

Rymramoch turned his masked face toward Adrogans, and the general could have sworn he heard a slight squeak. “It shall, General.”

Kerrigan looked up from his work area. A huge table had been created and a map of the city nailed onto its surface. Each wooden sample had been painstakingly tested, using some manner of searching spell that located correspondences between the samples and the products the wood had been put into or come out of. Much of the wood coming from the west remained in the lumberyard, but some had been incorporated into a few ships, some boats, and other little things. Adrogans’ scouts had been very skillful at obtaining samples and shavings from almost everything else, including all of the barracks buildings. There were a couple of ships that had no sampled wood in them, and most of those that did were still in the shipyards.

“Okay, we’re ready.” He looked to Rymramoch. “Aren’t we?”

“Indeed, we are.”

Between the two of them had been set a tripod of iron rods, and snugly fitted within the uprights was an iron pot. Coals had been poured into it and Adrogans could feel the heat coming off it—heat that was hardly welcome on what proved by noon to be a blistering day. Rymramoch had worked some sort of magick over it. Kerrigan picked up one of the wood samples, snapped it in half, and tossed it almost casually into the pot.

Adrogans walked up the hill to where he could see over the crest and looked down at the quiet city. In the harsh noon light he saw a supply hoy moving out toward the fleet’s flagship. That displeased him, but nothing could be done about it now. The flagship had been one of those with no sampled wood in it, so if it weighed anchor and sailed, asullanciriand an Aurolani regiment, along with many dragonels, would be free.

He turned inward for a moment and sought thesullanciri. He found her easily and smiled. She lay asleep, unsuspecting that anything was about to happen. It had been her own carelessness that left her in that particular state, since she had done little to make sure the surrounding countryside was safe. Because he had done nothing, so far, to disrupt the creation of her fleet, she’d been content. By focusing on the future, she lost sight of the present and that would cost her dearly.