The Mirror of Her Dreams (88 page)

The climb was easier than she expected. There was enough rock under the snow and dirt and the autumn's layer of fallen leaves to give her secure footing; and her legs were glad to do almost anything that didn't involve clutching at a horse. She reached Ribuld only a moment or two behind Geraden and Argus.

'Good timing,' Ribuld whispered, grimacing around the old scar that ran from his hairline between his eyes almost to his mouth. 'He's been here a while. The others just arrived.'

Kneeling in the snow at Geraden's side, she looked past the edge of the ridge into another ravine like the one behind her. Directly below her, a horse champed at the cold. Near it, a man with his back to her stood beside a small fire that burned almost without smoke. She took him. to be Nyle. His fire seemed so wonderful to her that she could practically taste its warmth,

On the other side of the bottom, four men were busy securing more horses. Three of them looked like bodyguards.

The fourth was Prince Kragen.

'NYLE,' THE PRINCE said,

Geraden's brother returned the greeting. 'My lord Prince.'

Terisa could hear them perfectly. It was astonishing how well the cold and the ravine-wall brought the sound up to her.

'I hope you were not kept waiting long.'

'
Just long enough to build a fire.'

Like his men, Prince Kragen was wrapped in a white robe, with boots of white fur on his feet and a white fur cap on his head, using the winter itself for concealment. At first glance, Nyle's black-brown garb, his half-cloak and leggings, looked like a bad choice by comparison. But his clothes were indistinguishable from the colours of the driftwood in the ravine, the dark trunks of the trees. If he stood still, no one would see him.

'What news do you have of Orison?'

'What's the news of Alend, my lord Prince?'

A fringe of black hair showed around the rim of Prince Kragen's cap, hair as black as his eyes. He studied Nyle for a moment, then turned to his men and gave them a gesture which set them in motion. Two of them went in opposite directions to keep watch up and down the ravine. The third began to unpack bundles tied to the back of his saddle.

A bit sadly, Prince Kragen commented, 'You still do not really trust me, do you, Nyle?'

'Yes and no, my lord Prince.' Nyle's voice emerged from a clenched throat. 'I'm committed to you. But we're traditional enemies. That's hard to forget.'

At Terisa's side, Geraden picked up a handful of snow and rubbed it across his face to cool a reckless inner fire.

'I understand,' replied the Prince evenly. 'But I am more at risk here. You can ride back to Orison and resume your life. As soon as we separate, you are innocent. If
I
am caught, Castellan Lebbick might have me executed before anybody can explain to him that killing foreign princes is rarely wise. 'What news do you have of Orison?'

Argus turned away. Ribuld hissed at him for silence; he ignored the warning and began to pick his way back down the slope. Fortunately, the wall cut off the noise he made. Grudgingly, Nyle answered, 'Elega is in trouble.' Prince Kragen flashed a glance. 'What trouble?' 'For some reason-I don't know how-that woman Terisa of Morgan decided you and Elega are plotting against the King. She convinced my brother Geraden. And he convinced the Tor. 'I told you the Tor has set himself up as some kind of chancellor. He issues orders as if he has the King's authority behind him, and no one questions him. It might be true. After all, he
is
the Tor-the lord who gave King Joyse his start.' 'He is also,' the Prince put in, 'a drunken fool.' 'He is. That's probably why he believed Geraden. There aren't many people left who can muster that much optimism.'

Geraden heard this with a grimace which reminded Terisa of Artagel's fighting grin.

'And what trouble has this drunken fool caused for the lady Elega?' pursued Prince Kragen.

'He told her he knows what she's doing. Then he went off on a long lecture about the loyalty children owe their parents.' Nyle shrugged. 'She says it wasn't much. She gave him a piece of her mind and left him looking-she says he looked ''cowed'. And she
says
he won't be able to interfere with her part of your plan. I'm not so sure. All he has to do is drop a few hints to Lebbick, and she won't be able to take a step without half the guards in Orison watching her.'

'I see.' Prince Kragen thought for a moment. 'I regret that she is at hazard. But she has assured me many times that her role is secure-and she is a woman who conveys conviction.' In a decisive tone, he concluded, 'We must trust that she will do what she has said.'

Nyle's voice sounded like he had both fists knotted around it. 'I'm still waiting to hear exactly what that is.'

The Prince stiffened. With misleading casualness, he said, 'My lord Prince.'

'My lord Prince.'

Prince Kragen's nod advised, Remember it. His mouth commented, The lady Elega's safety and success depend upon secrecy.'

Then maybe you'll tell me the news of Alend. My lord Prince.' Nyle's anger was controlled, but unmistakable. 'Maybe you'll tell me why we had to meet today. Not sooner. Not later. All I've had so far are assurances and rhetoric. Maybe you'll tell me what's going on.'

Geraden bobbed his head in approval. 'Good,' he breathed. 'Make him tell you what's going on.'

Ribuld glowered at the Apt for speaking.

'In a moment.' Prince Kragen's composure was equal to the occasion. 'I will answer a number of your questions in a moment. First, however, I prefer to tell you what I want you to do.'

Nyle still had his back to the eavesdroppers: Terisa couldn't see his face. But his shoulders hunched as though he were strangling things inside himself.

'I asked you to meet me here on this particular day,' the Prince said steadily, 'and I asked you to be prepared to leave Orison, because I want you to ride to Perdon. I want you to find the Perdon and offer him the kingship of Mordant.'

Breathing too loudly, Argus came back up the hill carrying his pouch of brandy. His companions paid no attention to him. At Prince Kragen's announcement, Geraden's whole body twitched. Terisa stared. At least temporarily, even Ribuld was too interested in what he heard to be interrupted by liquor.

Nyle's surprise showed in the way he stood. 'Why?'

'Why the Perdon?' Prince Kragen hid a trace of amusement under his black moustache. 'Why the kingship? Or why you?'

Nyle seemed unable to do anything except nod.

The Perdon is my only reasonable choice. You see, I profited from my meeting with the lords, although it did not have the outcome I desired. The Fayle is too old-and too loyal. The Tor has become a drunken fool. The Domne would refuse. The Armigite-' Prince Kragen snorted. 'As for the Termigan, he is too far away. Also he is concerned only for the fate of his own Care.

The Perdon must be offered the kingship to prove our good faith.'

Furiously, Geraden whispered, 'Not to mention the fact that the Perdon is the only lord with an army close enough to threaten you, my lord Prince.'

'Despite what King Joyse and Castellan Lebbick believe,' Prince Kragen continued reasonably, 'it has never been the Alend Monarch's intention to conquer Mordant for himself. His first priority-his only over-riding commitment-is to fill the vacuum of power in Mordant so that the Congery of Imagers will not fall into the hands of Cadwal. To accomplish that, we will conquer Mordant because we have no alternative. What else can we do? The King insulted my mission. The lords refused the union Master Eremis and I offered them.

'But we will not take Mordant for ourselves if the Perdon can be persuaded to be King. That will be your job. He might not listen to such a proposal from me. We are traditional enemies, as you have said. But a son of the Domne-a lifelong friend of the lady Elega-may perhaps persuade him. For the good of all who oppose Festten and Cadwal. 'Will you do it, Nyle?'

Nyle was silent for a long time. When he spoke, he sounded both astonished and relieved.

'Yes.' In spite of its softness, the word came out with too much steam, as if it were exploding from inside him. 'Yes, my lord Prince. I'll do it.'

Geraden covered his head with his hands, inadvertently smearing snow into his hair.

'Good.' Prince Kragen stepped closer to the fire to warm his hands. Then you will need to know 'what's going on', in order to convey that information to the Perdon.'

Argus put his brandy pouch down in front of Terisa. Noticing it, she realized that she was miserably cold. With a shiver, she loosened the neck of the pouch and raised it to her mouth. Like her cheeks, her lips were too numb to know what they were doing; but her tongue verified that the brandy was going into her mouth rather than down her chin. It tasted h'ke badly perfumed tarnish remover, but it did what it was supposed to do: it raised the temperature of her blood several degrees.

She passed the pouch to Geraden.

Down in the ravine, Prince Kragen crooked a finger at the bodyguard who had unpacked the bundles. The man came to him and handed him a stylus and a small writing tablet. Standing by the fire, Prince Kragen began to write. His fingers held the stylus as though they knew nothing about swords and had never helped save Terisa's life.

'
Is that a message to the Perdon, my lord Prince?' Nyle's tone suggested impatience.

The Prince shook his head. To my father. The Alend Monarch needs to know that you have agreed to approach the Perdon for us.'

'What will he do?'

'
What he is already doing.' Prince Kragen's mind was on his message. 'In the bazaar of Orison during the first morning of the thaw, you brought me the lady Elega's word that she had learned a way to fulfil her part of our plans. You noticed, I think, that I was pleased by this news.

'I was pleased because much hinges on her role. While you and I spoke together-while we chose the day and place for this meeting-my father and his armies were already crossing the Pestil into Armigite.'

Argus, Ribuld, and Geraden became still: all movement was sucked out of them. They didn't blink or glance around; they didn't appear to breathe. Every part of them-their arms and legs, the angles of their backs, the set of their shoulders- concentrated on what they were hearing.

So it was all a lie, thought Terisa. His
peaceful
mission. His meeting with the lords. A lie. The Alend Monarch had begun marching before he even had time to learn the outcome of his son's mission. He had never intended to do anything except invade Mordant.

Like an echo of her shocked thoughts, Nyle articulated softly, 'You never wanted peace. You never meant King Joyse to take your mission seriously. You just came here looking for people to help you betray him.' Both arms leaped outward in a gesture full of violence, fiercely truncated. 'This is what you call 'good faith'?'

Distinct and sibilant in the cold, a sword came out of its sheath. Prince Kragen's bodyguard moved forward, aiming the tip of his blade at Nyle's throat.

Ribuld clutched at his own sword.

But a quick wave of the Prince's hand stopped the bodyguard. The man shrugged stiffly and resheathed his longsword.

'I understand your anger, Nyle.' Prince Kragen spoke calmly, almost casually, but his tone warned Nyle not to push him too far. 'You misunderstand me, however. The problem is one of communication, is it not? Knowing that I spent nearly thirty days in the worst of this winter making my way from the Alend Monarch's seat in Scarab to Orison, you believe that we have had no time to exchange messages since my arrival here. Therefore you conclude that I have come merely to serve plans which he made before I left him.' Nyle didn't move.

With a faint smile, the Prince continued, Those unruly barons, the Alend Lieges, are always striving to gain the advantage over each other. At last their petty wrestling has produced something useful.' Another gesture to his bodyguard brought the man forward carrying a bundle which appeared to be a swath of cloth wrapped around a rigid frame.

Prince Kragen rolled his message tightly and tied it into a tiny packet with a piece of thread. When he was done, his bodyguard unveiled the bundle, revealing a bird in a square cage.