The Invisible Chains - Part 2: Bonds of Fear (54 page)

who hadn’t been exceptionally intimidated by the high king himself,

bounced back in seconds.

“But, your highness, what will you do if the Mukthar nation

comes against you with a hundred thou—”

“I will raise an army of a hundred and
fifty
thousand, and I will

beat them.”

“But you can not—”

“What I can or can not, my lord, is my business. And I warn you,

do not presume to meddle in my affairs.”

“Ehandar,”
Rullio at once realized.

He was about to protest further but Anaxantis raised his hand.

“That will be quite enough, my lord,” he said tersely. “This

conversation doesn’t need me anymore.”

He walked back to his men, leaving a confused Rullio standing by

himself.

“You blond devil,”
the young noble mused, not without some

amusement.
“What happened? I’m certain I left you on the edge of

despair. You must have a trump card, or you would be devastated,

unable to hide it. Your plans should be lying in ruins around you. Yet

you seem determined to follow them all the same. Are you that smart,

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421

or just that stubborn? How interesting.”

Anaxantis mounted Myrmos.

“I could raise a hundred and fifty thousand men,”
he thought,

“provided I had two, three years to do it in. As luck would have it the

solution is far more simple and far less costly. But first I must find out

what exactly Damydas’s mission is, though Brenx is probably right. It

fits in with what I suspected myself. Father must have told him to stop

me at all costs, and knowing the Bloody Baron and his ways that means

he will kill me. With a smile on his lips. I’ll be waiting for him. Just

outside the border, before he has had a chance to invoke the powers

of his autarchy. And I’ll not be alone. We’re near Mirkadesh. I’ll collect

some fifty Clansmen, send the Mukthars to Lorseth under escort and...

yes, what am I going to do with Brenx? We’ll have to ride as if Zardok

and his devils were chasing us, but with some luck we should be able to

reach the border before Damydas does.”

His thoughts turned to Lorseth Castle. To the tower and its

occupant.

“He’ll have to wait just a while longer. Damn, I was almost home

and now... But I have to protect us both. It’s not without danger what

I am about to undertake. If anything goes wrong... It doesn’t bear

thinking about. I should have made provisions for him sooner. Too late

now.”

“Gentlemen,” he said, and he smiled, “There’s been a change of

plans. No rest for us, I’m afraid. We’ll have to ride the whole night

through.”

His men and the Mukthars looked expectantly at him.

“To Mirkadesh,” he said, making a sign to start moving.

He turned around in his saddle.

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Andrew Ashling

“My lord of Brenx,” he shouted, “are you coming with us, or are

you going to remain standing there, waiting for spring to arrive?”

“Coming, your highness, coming.”

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423

Mellar had only ten minutes ago relieved another Tribesman

and was still making himself comfortable. He sat behind some

shrubbery where he could not be seen, but from where he himself

had an excellent view of the back of the Guild Station. He had brought

something to drink and some food for later. His shift would last four

hours.

His comrade had left a piece of tent canvas to sit upon while he

kept an eye on the back wall of the hostelry, which judging by the

sturdy walls, had once been a big, fortified farm. The windows were

clearly later additions.

All seemed quiet, and he was just settling down for a boring

watch, when someone came around the corner. Mellar stretched

his neck to have an unobstructed view. The man didn’t look too

steadfast on his feet, and sure enough, there he went, falling flat

on his belly in the mud. He heard him swear. The man had a rich

vocabulary. He crawled more or less upright, put some kind of flask

to his lips, and waggled on, changing directions haphazardly. Then

he looked around, saw the shrubs and stumbled to them, clawing at

his pants. He was going to relieve himself against his hiding place,

Mellar realized. Just his luck.

Mellar knew he should have tried to retire unseen, but that was

impossible as the bushes he was hiding behind were freestanding.

So, he stood up and went over to the man although he knew this

was against every rule in the book. He wasn’t too sure what he was

going to do. When Mellar had almost reached him, the man dropped

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Andrew Ashling

his flask and shakily bended over to retrieve it. Mellar was only two

paces away when the man came upright, in his hand not the flask

but a sharp dagger. Fast as lightning and with sure movements he

fell upon his victim, with one hand covering Mellar’s mouth and with

the other slitting his throat. The wound produced a hissing sound

of escaping air, air that should have stayed in Mellar’s lungs. He

struggled for a minute before dying.

The man laid the body behind the shrubbery on the piece of tent

canvas and then went back from where he had come. On his way

back he made a tentative waving gesture to one of the windows on

the second floor.

After about five minutes, that same window opened, a rope fell

out of it, and soon after two men, one after the other, climbed down.

When the second had reached the ground, the rope was pulled up

again, and the window closed silently.

The men hastened over the open stretch of land behind the Guild

Station. They relaxed somewhat when they reached the woods.

“That went surprisingly well,” Xirull said.

“We’re not there yet,” Damydas said curtly. “Pay attention, these

woods stand on a swamp. One wrong step...”

For more than half an hour they plodded on. A few times they

fell on the slippery ground, making foul reeking mud stick on their

mantles. Eventually they reached the other end of the woods. A pale

moon shone over fields, fields as far as the eye could see, except for

five men and seven horses who were quietly waiting.

“Captain, sergeant,” one of the men greeted them.

Damydas nodded curtly.

“Is everything going as planned?” he asked.

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425

“Yes, captain. We have bypassed the tail group of the Tribe of

Mekthona. Their vanguard unit is about eight miles from here. We’ll

drive for fifteen miles on these side roads and then join our own

vanguard. Without complications we should be in Elmshill, the day

after tomorrow.”

“How many men do we have at our disposal?”

“I recalled everybody I could from non essential duties. About

sixty.”

The baron nodded. It was difficult to tell if he was satisfied or not.

Although they were some miles behind the Guild Station they

rode slowly and silently for another five miles.

Then the baron gave his horse the spurs.

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Andrew Ashling

About two hours after the Bloody Baron had left the Merchant

Guild Station unseen, somebody grated at Emelasuntha’s room.

She woke up immediately out of her light sleep. She had slept fully

clothed, wearing pants and a thick shirt.

She opened the door and two men entered, followed by Sobrathi

who had heard them arrive.

“I have a message from Master Dram, your highness. He thought

you should know as soon as possible. He has captured the grandsons

of baron Damydas.”

The queen smiled broadly.

“Finally things are going our way. Very good, Ffindall. Now, I have

some bargaining chips. His grandsons. It could be enough to make him

stop and think again. Or slow him down. Just enough for us to catch

him and then...”

“Where is Master Dram at this moment?” she asked.

“Making his way by small roads to the Northern Highway. For the

first fifty miles he had to keep the boys out of sight. The risk was to

great they would be recognized, or that they would cry for help.”

“By the Great Goddess, don’t tell me he forgot—”

“No, my lady, he drugged them.”

“Good. When does he expect to get here?”

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427

“Difficult to say, my lady. At least two days, maybe three. He’s

traveling as fast as circumstances permit him. He has to be cautious.”

“Yes, I understand.”

She thought for a moment.

“See that this man gets something to eat and that he finds a soft

bed,” she said. Then she turned again to the messenger. “Thank you.

Master Dram has done an outstanding job and so have you. Go and

enjoy your meal.”

The man was visually pleased with the compliment and the

obvious concern the queen showed for his personal welfare.

When they had left, Emelasuntha turned to Sobrathi.

“Finally, finally, we have something in our hands to hold over that

animal.”

“Yes, dear, and I’m glad for Anaxantis’s sake, but still, they’re so

young.”

“Oh, Sobrathi,” Emelasuntha said, smiling smugly, “we’ve been

over this. Listen, they’re just little rats who will grow up to be

horrible big rats like their grandfather. In that family they can’t turn

into anything else but vicious, cruel brutes. A double plague on their

fellow humans.”

“But as of now they have done nothing wrong.”

“Look at it this way. Remember that woman they hanged in

Torantall a few years ago? The one who had poisoned her parents

for the inheritance, then poisoned her husband for
his
possessions,

and finally gutted her two little daughters because they hindered her

love life and cost money?”

“Of course I remember. But she was a horrible, horrible woman

who had murdered little children, much like you pl—”

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Andrew Ashling

“Ha. A moment, my dear. I’m not going to harm my baby daughters,

and you know I never could. That is not the point. If you could save

those adorable little girls, and the poor husband, and the parents,

would you do it?”

“Of course, I would. Gladly.”

“See, that’s what I thought. So would I. Now, pay attention. What

if you knew, oh, let’s say twenty years earlier that someday she would

commit these despicable crimes?”

“Well, I’m not sure...”

“No? The woman was in her late twenties, so she would be eight

or nine. An adorable little girl herself. So you would let her live?”

“Probably.”

“Knowing that by letting her live you sign the death warrant of

five innocent people, among which... two adorable little girls?”

“Hey, wait a moment—”

“You’re far too sentimental, dear. Sentimental for the wrong

reasons and at the wrong time. I tell you, no matter how cute they

may be now, their fathers were raised by the Bloody Baron, and they

will grow up in an environment where they will learn that a human

life counts for nothing if it is in the way of their ambitions. Nobody