The Invisible Chains - Part 2: Bonds of Fear (28 page)

the new king, Portonas, in your favor. Yes, yes, I remember it all now.

Gran was still indignant about the whole thing. She said Portonas —

she didn’t call him that — did it to make clear who was the ruler of

the land. To humiliate our House.”

In his turn he crossed his arms, and nodded curtly. Obyann’s face

became red.

“Your explanation is good, but your herring doesn’t fry, as we say

in Ramaldah,” he exploded. “The old miserly bastard decreed that you

should give back the meadows west of the Little Brannydenn Road.

But the Merlinger Meadows reached all the way to the Brannydenn

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Highway, didn’t they? He let you keep two thirds of our land. He may

have slapped you on the wrist, ever so lightly, but from one robber to

another thief he let you keep most of your booty. He royally fucked

everybody, that creep, but us he fucked the hardest.”

Arranulf didn’t know what to answer.

“Listen, Obyann, I’m very sorry,” he tried calming his friend, “but

even so... we weren’t even born when all this was decided. Damn, I’m

not sure my father was born at that time.”

“Well, a lot of babies are going to be born, just so they can die by

the middle of next winter, when food starts running out.”

He took his mantle from the peg on the wall.

“And you know what I hate most about all this? You’re not even

using that land for anything. You just wanted to have it to do exactly

nothing with it, as long as we couldn’t use it anymore. It just lies

there.”

Arranulf had become very white.

“Obyann, I honestly didn’t know. I swear—”

“Stinker,” Obyann shouted.

He left, loudly slamming the door behind him.

“What is so urgent, Arranulf, that it couldn’t wait till after my

return from the Plains?” Anaxantis asked.

“My lord, I have to speak to you in your capacity as Regent of the

duchy of Landemere. My duchy.”

“Oh, yeah, sure,” Anaxantis said, mystified. “Do you want

Hemarchidas to leave?”

“No, that’s quite all right. He can stay.”

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Hemarchidas who was already standing up, sank back in his

chair.

“What is it then?” Anaxantis urged him on.

Arranulf opened a parchment he had been carrying.

“I got this from master Tomar’s office. It’ll make it easier to

explain.”

“Oh, a map,” Anaxantis exclaimed enthusiastically. “I love maps.”

“That was very nice of you,” Hemarchidas said as they were

walking the hallway. „And most generous.“

Arranulf shrugged.

“It’s only right, isn’t it? It is their land after all, and really,

Landemere is more than big enough. We won’t even notice that it’s

gone. For Ramaldah it means the difference between life and death

for many of their newborns.”

“Even so. I don’t know many nobles who would see it that way.

And you went an extra mile or two. I’m impressed.”

“And I was impressed by Obyann’s fervor. He takes the

responsibilities of his House very seriously. He was talking about

his people as if they were his family. He spoke about their peasant

women, but I got the impression he knew them all by name. He will

make a fine lord of Ramaldah one day.”

“And a good neighbor, I suppose.”

Arranulf nodded.

“So...” he said hesitatingly, “tomorrow you’re gone. You’re

probably very busy?”

“Nope. I have a whole, lonely afternoon and evening before me.

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You packed everything I could need for the next year or so. Nothing

at all to do. It’s almost noon and I’d invite you over to my barrack for

a meal and a glass of real wine, not that slosh they serve to you in The

Hole, but I’m sure you have plans with your friends—”

“No, no,” Arranulf said hastily. “I have no plans. I have no friends.

None at all. I have a whole, lonely afternoon and evening before me.”

He shut up and blushed. Hemarchidas laughed out loud.

“Come with me then. We can share our loneliness, some food and

some wine. I know next to nothing about you. We must see if we can

remedy that.”

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Tenaxos looked from under his hood at Rullio of Brenx.

“You knew? Since when?”

“Almost from the first minute we met. A hood and a mantle only

go so far in disguising someone. As a companion of Ehandar I lived at

the Royal Castle for years, remember? I saw you many times. Only a

few times from nearby, but it was enough to recognize you.”

“Again I was naive,”
Tenaxos thought.
“At least he has a sharp mind

and he has some bravado about him. Not that I had a choice, but he

seems the right man for the job.”

He filled Rullio in, as far as he thought was useful, in short,

stinted sentences, devoid of emotion. When he had finished, Rullio

was nibbling on his last crust of bread.

“Let me see if I’ve understood the gist of this. First you send your

youngest sons, almost with no means, into a dangerous situation.

Then, when one disappears and the other is far more successful than

you expected, you send the Black Shields after him. Not to mention

that horrible baron. With horrible powers.”

“That horrible baron is to me what you are to Ehandar. Mind

your words.”

“Of course, sire,” Rullio said without batting an eye. “However,

now you’ve reconsidered and you want, how did you put it again... to

level the field a bit?”

“That’s about it. Prince Anaxantis doesn’t know about the Oath

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of Sherashty. He might reconsider once he knows what the risks are

of provoking a full scale war with all the Mukthar tribes. If he does,

there is no reason for Damydas to intervene.”

“I’ll do it. More because I want to find out what happened to

Ehandar than anything else. It seems I need his little brother for that.

Do I get documents? A laissez passer maybe? Something to prove

that I’m on a special mission?”

“No. Nothing. In fact, you’re not on a mission. Not an official one

anyway. I, myself, will deny all knowledge of you and whatever you

are doing. You were not supposed to know who I was.”

“Ah, yes, I forgot that for a moment.”

“You’re the third son of your House, aren’t you?”

“Yes, the House of Brenx has always been rather fertile.”

“If you succeed in doing what I ask of you and make sure the

prince doesn’t find out this came from me, you needn’t worry.

You’ll be the founder of a new, independent branch. With its own

demesne.”

“Lord or baron?”

“Oh, baron at the very least. If I’m particularly satisfied, a

countship might not be out of reach.”

Rullio whistled appreciatively.

“You’ve got a deal. My lips are sealed. Quite a reversal of fortunes.

Which reminds me. Why was I kept a prisoner for all these months?”

“Because you spied on a prince of the royal blood.”

“On behalf of another prince of the royal blood.”

“That doesn’t matter. You needed a lesson. You would have been

released eventually, with or without this emergency.”

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The king shoved a leather purse across the table.

“There’s about ten rioghal here. Half in gold coins, the rest in

silver and copper. That should be more than enough. Take a bath and

some rest if you need it. Buy travel clothes. Please, don’t waste any

time unnecessarily. Damydas left Nira two day ago, but he will need

some time in Ormidon to organize a party of Black Shields. Even so,

you’ve got no time to lose. It’s imperative you arrive in the Northern

Marches before him and with ample time to spare. I don’t think he

will be particularly in a hurry, so you’ve got more than a fair chance

to overtake him.”

“I’ll buy the fastest horse there is in Nira.”

“No. Nira has an inn that serves as Post for the Merchant Guild.

You can hire a horse there. They will ask for your destination and

if you will be traveling fast or at a normal speed. You’ll answer the

former, of course. They will ask for the money in advance and give you

a swift horse. They will also provide you with a receipt, a document

with a description of the shortest route and a list of inns that double

as Guild Posts. In each of those you can trade in your tired horse for

a rested one, without having to pay extra. Changing horses can be

done in minutes, if necessary. Staying overnight and meals are extra.

You can change horses as frequently as you like, so you’ll always be

traveling on an animal in top condition.”

“You know a lot about these things, Sire.”

“I helped design the system and urged the Guild to adopt it. I

wanted to stimulate trade. You need fast and safe means of transport

for that. The main roads are in fair to good condition. I saw to that

as well.”

Rullio looked at the king, for the first time with a shimmer of

admiration.

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223

“It was in the early days,” Tenaxos added, “when everything

seemed possible. Me and my friends, we were going to... Well, I won’t

bore you.”

“You aren’t, sire.”

The king nodded with a half smile but didn’t elaborate any

further.

“One last thing that prince Anaxantis should know,” he added

instead. “Twelve years ago I sent Damydas on a similar mission to

the North. He traveled from Ormidon to the Marches, disguised as

a merchant in a caravan. Another one of my innovations. Actually, I

merely organized a practice that until then had been irregular and

haphazard. Once every week caravans of merchants, with all their

wares, servants, and so on travel to different destinations. One of

them is the Northern Trade Caravan to Dermolhea in the province

of Amiratha. For a modest fee, depending on how many persons and

carts there are in your group, you can join it. For security, it is guarded

by a troop of professional soldiers, mostly recent pensioners of the

army.”

“Aha. You think Damydas will be joining such a caravan again.

That will delay him considerably. He’ll have to travel at the pace of

the slowest cart.”

“I can’t be sure. However, you are right. If he joins a caravan he

will be slowed down. The advantage for him is that he will travel and

enter the Northern Marches incognito. He has always put a high value

on the element of surprise. So, it’s a safe bet he will use the same

stratagem again. He probably hopes to surprise Prince Anaxantis by

appearing as out of thin air.”

“So I will come in time?”

“You should. Dermolhea is roughly between five hundred and

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fifty and six hundred miles from here. With always a fast and rested

horse at your disposal, you should be able to cover that distance in

twelve days. Damydas will be traveling at the same speed until he

reaches Ormidon. Once there, he will lose at least a day, maybe two,

to organize his escort, and he’ll have to wait till a caravan to the north

is formed. His speed will drop to about twenty to twenty five miles a

day for the last three hundred miles or so. Half yours.”

“While I will be traveling at full speed. I will make sure to warn

His Highness that Baron Damydas is on his way with an autarchy in

his satchel.”

“That is not enough. You must make sure, very sure — I cannot

stress this enough — that he realizes all the factors of the equation.

Once in the Northern Marches Damydas’s authority is unlimited.

Before he crosses the border his powers are those of a captain of

the Black Shields. Considerable, but far from awesome, let alone all-

encompassing. Make sure the prince understands all the implications

of him traveling incognito.”

“That would be so much easier if I understood them myself.”

The king sighed and hesitated a few moments.

“Very well. As long as he travels in disguise nobody knows who

he is. Nobody knows where he is. There are many robber gangs active