The Orb And The Spectre (Book 2) (15 page)

   "You know my reasons for declaring Emergency. And under that very ruling you are, at this moment, placing yourself at gravest risk. All of you! This assembly is unlawful. It is a flagrant attack upon the Monarchy."  

   Astress of the Far Flame spoke up. "On the contrary, Sire, it is a lawful attempt to save the Monarchy, and the Realm. And indeed, yourself."

   "Under Emergency any defiance of the Sovereign carries the most severe penalties. I had hoped never to have to invoke such a ruling, but you are leaving me with no choice."

   "Sire, the ruling carries no weight at this time. While we acknowledge without question your status as sovereign, we no longer support your actions or your position as ruler."

   Leth looked at their faces. They knew they had him.

   "As your Protector, Sire, I have, in consultation with all relevant persons, come to the conclusion that it is you who are acting unlawfully, or at very least irresponsibly," said Fectur. "Which brings me to the two final charges. They are, Six: that you have declared yourself to be in possession of extraordinary knowledge concerning the gods of Enchantment, knowledge which you have declined to place at the disposal of others. And seven: that you have acted irrationally and extremely, abusing your position as Sovereign - albeit without true malice, while the balance of your mind is disturbed - and that your actions constitute a very real threat to the Realm. We acknowledge extenuating circumstances. You face extreme pressures, possibly more than any man should have to bear, and we are sympathetic. Nevertheless, we adjudge you unfit for rule, and relieve you, temporarily, of that office."

   "You cannot do this!"

   "It has already been done, Sire. I am - for the next few days at least - Regent and Plenipotentiary Absolute. During that time you may rest and recuperate, freed of the ropes that bind you and the stones that bear you down. We hope that your recovery will be swift, and that you can perceive that this action is not taken lightly, but in a spirit of right and proper concern for yourself and our cherished Kingdom. We assume you will wish to take time to consider the charges and present your defence. To that end I present my scrip, with signatures. All details are listed. For now, Sire, I have provided an escort to see you to your apartments. I will join you there presently."

   Four knights of the Security Cadre stepped towards the dais. Leth felt his spirit leave him. The soldiers in the room showed implacable faces.
All Fectur's men!
Hand-picked, obviously. He had the authority to order them to defy Fectur, but he knew they would ignore him and thus his utter hopelessness, the final humiliation, would be exposed for all to witness. The eyes of the faction heads shone, gluttonous at his humiliation. Only Melropius and the few knights of the King's Army remained on his side, but their hands were plainly tied. Again Leth berated himself for his blindness.

   Yes, he thought, this was the only way. You could never have got so many behind you had you simply tried to overthrow me. Nor would they have sanctioned violence. But to declare me insane, and to have the evidence here to point to! Ah Fectur, how I despise you even as I admire you. Yours is a rare and devious intellect. What tragedy that you must target your brilliance against me. Were you of a different cast we could work so well
together.

   He
rose, his legs hardly supporting him, and stepped from the dais. Fectur's knights closed around him. As he passed the Lord High Invigilate he paused and inclined his head towards him. "There will be a reckoning for this, Fectur. Make no mistake."      

SEVEN

I

   Issul rose with the first light of day. With her three remaining companions, Shenwolf, Kol and Phisusandra, she had passed the night at the Green Ram in the township of Crosswood, the same inn in which she had stayed on her way to Lastmeadow. It seemed a lifetime ago.

   Crosswood was busy. Many folk were on the move, heading north for the security - so they hoped - of Enchantment's Reach, driven from their homes by fear of the encroaching Karai. Issul had questioned some and learned of the fall of Wizened Lea. There were rumours that the Karai army was now assaulting Giswel Holt. Crosswood itself had suffered a slooth attack. Everybody was afraid.

   It was a chill, grey morning. The four took breakfast together,
then Kol made off to fetch their horses from the stable at the rear of the inn, while Phisusandra settled their account with a nervy, bleary-eyed landlord. Issul and Shenwolf sat together at a table in the common-room.

   "We’ve been a good company," observed Issul. "I’ll be sad if I must part with these two when we reach Enchantment's Reach."

   Shenwolf nodded. "I don’t think either has definite plans in regard to their future. Certainly, neither Kol nor Phis claim to have close families awaiting them. Kol's only relatives were murdered by the Karai when they attacked his home; Phis seems to be a wanderer. Perhaps they’ll stay. Their surprise will be great when you reveal your identity, but I’ve no doubt that they’ve come to love and respect you first as a loyal friend and brave companion. That’s worth much, I think."

   "It is, and I thank you for your words. But if they stay, they will inevitably be drawn into war. They may prefer another course."

   "They have already been drawn into war. I think they know that there’s now no other way."

   "And you, Shenwolf? What will you do?"

   "You know my plans. I am a soldier in the King's Cavalry. I will serve my King and his young Queen to the best of my ability. If I can I will help rid our land of its invaders."

   "I’ve never asked you about yourself before. Where are you from?"

   The young soldier gave a quick, almost diffident smile. "A long way from here. My home is beyond the forest. It is a quiet place, generally peaceful."

   "And what brings you here?"

   His brow clouded momentarily. "Simply that word arrived of King Leth's summons to arms. We are remote, but we are your subjects even so. And I’d always dreamed of coming to the capital."

   "But your skills - you didn’t gain those living such a quiet life?"

   "Well, perhaps not so quiet. It’s paceful in the main, yet there are bandits to deal with, sometimes ogres, vhazz, occasional mercenary bands who consider our location ideal for their own purposes and seek to take it from us without asking. My father taught me martial skills from birth, both armed and unarmed. He taught me to hunt and to track, and how to survive in the wild pursuing brigands who have attacked a nearby village or stolen our cattle."

   "So you’ve left your family to come here.
And what of a sweetheart? Is there not a comely maiden back there pining for her lost love?"

   Shenwolf lowered his eyes.
"Ah no. Not now. There’s no one."

   Issul studied his face.
Youthful, not quite handsome, but engaging and open. She sensed a slight evasiveness in his manner, and thought she had seen, just fleetingly, a look of sorrow cloud his eyes. She wondered if perhaps her questions were intrusive, and decided to enquire no further for now, yet she was intrigued to know more. Shenwolf glanced up and met her eye, smiled quickly and looked away.

   Phisusandra appeared. "The bill’s paid and Kol waits outside with the horses."

   As they rode slowly out of the town Issul felt a poignant excitement grip her innards. In just a few short hours she would come in sight of the towers and spires of her beloved Enchantment's Reach, high atop the soaring scarp. By nightfall she would be within its walls, safe within Orbia with her loved ones again. The thought warmed her. Leth would be waiting. Jace, Galry. How would they respond when they saw her? How had Leth explained her absence to the children? She had so much to tell them. Now, all that had passed over the previous days seemed almost a dream.

   She felt a slight heaviness descend. No matter what she had been through, no matter her joyful return, the crisis that faced Enchantment's Reach was far from past, had in fact hardly even begun. She glanced around her at the forest, fearful just for a moment that unseen foes lurked in ambush among the dark and mist-swathed trees, determined to thwart her homecoming.

Yesterday she and her companions had passed the spot where the Karai had attacked and kidnapped her. No traces of the skirmish remained; she had only been able to guess the precise location. But she had thought back then, as she did now, to that day, and had wondered about the child, Moscul, her unnatural nephew. He had escaped her. Where was he now? She shivered, recalling the terrible moments of his birth, the knowing look in his eye when she had spoken to him outside Ohirbe's home. What was he? What was he doing?

   Her fury rose as she thought of Lord Fectur, the way his men had interrogated Ohirbe's family without her permission and made off with the mysterious ivory piece that had been given to Moscul by the stranger in the woods. She bristled at the recollection.
How dare he!
She intended to confront Fectur as a priority upon her return.
Fectur, prepare yourself well. There will be a reckoning
. She promised herself that.

   The day wore on, still grey, a little blustery, but no longer as chill. Phisusandra, Kol and Shenwolf sang for much of the time as they rode. Sometimes Issul joined in, enjoying the easy company of these men, her friends, and for just a few moments actually forgetting that she was Queen. There were many people upon the road, some on horseback or with pack animals or carts, most on foot, often bearing their entire belongings on their backs. There seemed no end to them, and their numbers impeded progress. Issul wondered at the crowds that must already have thronged to Enchantment's Reach.

   The four stopped briefly at midday to eat and rest their horses in a clearing beside the way. A group of travellers were there before them, congregating about a fire. Issul listened for a while to their chat, but learned nothing new about the Karai. She gazed towards the trees and the unseen mountains of Enchantment far beyond.

  
I have entered Enchantment!

   It was like a dream. The mysterious bright oval of the Farplace Opening, her sudden transition from the
Karai camp to the tower chamber, the blazing mountains outside, the swirling coloured air, the three strange children who were Triune, and their bizarre, extraordinary conversation.. . . .

   I have entered Enchantment!

   And she knew, much as she feared the thought, much as she tried to reject the idea, she knew that a little piece of Enchantment now resided within her. Was that what Triune had given her? Whatever it was, she felt she could never rest now. Not with that memory, the knowledge of having been within the unknown land. The Karai camp lay razed in the wilderness, the Farplace Opening entombed beneath it, and it was a mystery she might never leave alone. Much as she yearned to return to her home there was within her, contrastingly, a tug in the opposite direction, back the way she had come, to the Farplace Opening, the way to Enchantment. She knew that she had to return there.

   As she dwelt upon this Issul grew aware of the tone of the conversation around her. There was tension among the people with whom she sat. Their words had become sullen and resentful. Criticisms were being levelled against King Leth and the manner in which he was said to be handling the crisis. Issul bit her lip and held silence rather than draw attention to herself. But the criticisms became jibes and poisonous denunciations, and when an elderly man declared Leth a base coward she could hold back no longer.

   "The King is no coward!" she declared angrily. "He is doing everything he can to save our country. Only a fool would march out now to meet the Karai."

   "Oh, is that so?" The man looked at her with cynical surprise. "And who might you
be, missie, to know so much?"

   "Someone who takes no pleasure in finding herself among ingrates who readily take refuge behind the King's shield yet can do nothing but insult and deride him."

   A dark-haired woman spoke up. "Easy for you to say. Obviously you have not lost your home to the Karai, nor seen your friends and neighbours murdered. Where was the King's shield then, when it was most needed? There was not a soldier in sight.”

   There was a low chorus of agreement at this.

   "You are from Wizened Lea?" enquired Issul in a softer tone.

   The woman nodded, her mouth twitching, too emotional to speak further.

   "I know you must have suffered greatly. But I’ve also experienced much at the hands of the Karai. We are together in this, all of us. It helps no one to blame King Leth."

   "He should have sent his soldiers!" said another man, and turned to Shenwolf. "Where were you? Why did you not come to save us?"

   Now Issul realized that the comments had been chiefly aimed at goading Shenwolf, who still wore his blue tabard bearing the royal coat of arms.

   Others echoed the man's words. "Where were you? Where was the King? Why were we sacrificed?"

   Shenwolf looked thoughtfully from one to the other. "You weren’t sacrificed. For my part, I have been fighting the Karai elsewhere. My companions also. Many of us who rode out have not returned, nor will they ever. We can’t be everywhere, and my friend Jace is right, it would be unwise for King Leth to attempt to meet the Karai in open battle. They are strong and have powerful allies. We must bide our time."

   "Bide our time!" spat one man. "That’s the action of a weak and indecisive leader." He rose angrily to his feet and stabbed a finger at Shenwolf. "Why are you here, then? Why are you not now fighting the
Karai? Are you afraid? Do you call yourself a soldier when you do not even dare to fight?"

   Shenwolf gazed steadily into his eye but took the taunt in silence. Issul began to speak but the man butted in, grabbing a staff and thrusting its end towards Shenwolf. "Is that the truth, soldier? Are you afraid? Are all the king's men afraid?"

   "Losses are inevitable against an enemy as powerful as the Karai," said Issul angrily. "Wizened Lea was not sacrificed, but we knew it could not be defended. We sent warning and the promise of shelter weeks ago, to you and to the nearby villages."

   "We?" said the woman.
"We? Who are 'we'?"

   "The King," said Issul quickly. "Envoys were sent out. It was well broadcast within the city-castle."

   They did not want to hear. The man with the staff was shaking with emotion. "Cowards! Skulking behind walls!"

   He thrust his staff at Shenwolf. It would have struck the young soldier upon the breastbone with some force, but he fended it with his hand.

   "Fight me!" snarled the man. "Fight me! Or are you afraid of me, too!"

   Issul glanced around at the other travellers. They were mainly elderly, or women and children, but their mood was becoming ugly and there were enough of them to constitute a mob. She stood, as did Shenwolf and the other two.

   "Plainly you do not wish us here. We will leave."

   The man with the staff swung at Shenwolf, who stepped lithely to the side. The blow went wild. He grasped the staff, twisted quickly and pulled it from the man's grasp, then cast it to the ground.

    Issul motioned him away. She backed off, Kol and Phisusandra beside her. They mounted their horses, watched by the group who had now fallen into a sullen silence and seemed a little uncertain of itself.

   "You people," Issul called. "You will be made welcome at Enchantment's Reach.
Every one of you. The King will turn no one away, not even those who deserve only his disfavour. But come peacefully. Troublemakers will be arrested and dealt with harshly."

   She put heels to flanks and rode back onto the way, watched by puzzled, haggard faces.

   Midway through the afternoon the cloud broke up, and at last, rounding a bend, Issul saw in the distance before her the vast towering scarp. She brought her horse to a halt, her heart pounding as she peered into the far, high distance and, yes! there at the crest, the high walls and the towers behind them, shimmering in the sunlight. She turned to Shenwolf, smiling with tears in her eyes. "I am home!"

   He returned the smile. "It’s a good feeling, is it not?"

   As they passed on none of them took notice of a bent figure at the wayside. It was one among several, poorly garbed, nondescript. A woman, advanced in years, heavily built and leaning upon a staff. She wore a long dress of dark fust and a worn and faded green shawl pulled up over her grey hair. Scored upon the flesh of her left cheek were the marks of deep fingernail scratches where she had once, not long ago, struggled with a child in the woods, and lost him.