The Stealers' War (40 page)

‘This is a disaster I say,’ complained Viscount Wallingbeck.

If Leyla hadn’t just had her sport with the clod between the sheets, her ardour would have been quite spoiled now by the fool’s whining. Leyla tried to fake interest in the aristocrat’s grumbles.

‘I need an heir, not a damned duel with my brother-in-law,’ said Wallingbeck. ‘With a grandchild to bounce on his knee, old man Landor will keep on paying me. You told me the prosecutor would ask for Willow to be committed to an asylum, not dispatch her to dangle from the gallows like some common street thief. If I am seen to have a hand in the deaths of both of Benner Landor’s children, it won’t matter if Willow drops triplets in her birthing bed. The old fool will still cut me off without a penny, don’t you see?’

You forget I gave him a son, too; a brat so I can rule in his name.
‘William, you are a fool,’ said Leyla. She stroked the nape of William’s neck but what she really felt like doing was slapping some backbone into the dissolute aristocrat. ‘You are missing the bigger picture.’

‘Which would be . . . ?’

‘That I’m the one member of the family inside the House of Landor that Willow
can’t
force into defending her honour on the field of combat.’

‘I don’t understand.’

‘Of course you don’t and that’s what makes our arrangement so mutually advantageous. It’s a miracle Duncan is still alive, the amount of times Prince Gyal has dispatched him to the front lines.’

‘Doesn’t Prince Gyal like the Landor lad? Duncan seems a steady enough fellow on the battlefield. Not a damn shirker or coward like some of the fools I’m expected to lead into battle.’

You only front the gallop because you lack the imagination to do otherwise; a cavalryman to the bone.
‘Sadly, someone let slip to Prince Gyal about Duncan and Princess Helrena’s rather unservant-like prior relationship. Gyal is as typically Vandian as he is a male. Very keen on the traditions of the imperial harem, but only for himself as emperor, not for Helrena as empress. Gyal doesn’t have the gumption to assassinate Duncan in case Helrena finds out. But killed on the battlefield? Such deaths happen every day.’

‘But as you say, Duncan is still alive. And now I must face him for grass-before-breakfast.’

Grass-before-breakfast. Yes, the old duelling traditions are still alive in the south
. ‘I shall visit Duncan before the duel. Explain to him that I have spoken with you and agreed that this travesty of a trial-by-arms must be won by your house, to ensure Willow doesn’t walk away free. I will arrange for Duncan to drop his guard so that you may stab him through the right shoulder, rendering him unfit to continue.’

‘To first blood in such a public affair? That will not go down well.’

‘Not half so well as when you miss Duncan’s shoulder and run him through the heart!’ laughed Leyla.

‘Then, m’dear, the Landors will have two corpses and I will have unpaid gambling debts and creditors pursuing my carriage through the lanes of Arcadia again. Only I will have the addition of another wailing mouth to feed at the house. Or are you proposing to act as my son’s wet nurse?’ Wallingbeck reached out for her breasts but she slapped his hand away.

‘Don’t be coarse, William. It’s not two corpses I require . . . I need
three
. My dear husband Benner often makes a habit of snoring in his command tent while his artillery company goes about their business. I do believe he could sleep through a hell-storm, that one. So I shall shove Benner into one and discover the truth of the matter. Or rather Nocks will push him off one of Rodal’s high cliffs. They have so many of them. About time they were used for something other than sheltering insurrectionists.’

‘And then you will be sole heir to the House of Landor,’ said William, a modicum of understanding coming to the dolt at last. ‘But how much money will you pay to support a Landor-born grandchild?’

So, even the stupidest of mules can be led to water. Let’s sweeten the trough
. ‘How can I put a value on such a thing, William? Willow’s baby will be an irrelevance. I think it would be unseemly for a lady in my position to remain a widow for too long, don’t you? The war will be over shortly and I will be in need of a new husband to comfort me for the terrible price paid by the House of Landor. How much mightier will the greatest house in the north be after it ties its fortunes directly to one of the oldest and noblest southern lines?’

‘As plans go,’ said the viscount, ‘I like the ring of that one. That sour-faced crimson-hair’s dowry was barely enough to restore the mansion.’

Leyla smiled.
Luckily for me, I don’t intend keeping your ancient rundown pile after Nocks has slipped a garrotte around your thick neck. Your title is the penultimate stepping stone in the game of respectability. No, I believe the civil war’s dying gasp might just be the rebels’ revenge assassination of Marcus’ pasty-faced little wife. I’ve tried the king’s bed, and it’s a lot more comfortable than a viscount’s. Far past time my occupancy of it became recognized in law.
Briefly, Leyla wondered how long she would be satisfied with merely sitting next to the throne.
I dare say it will become deadly dull in time.
Well, King Marcus was the most terrible hypochondriac. Wouldn’t it be the most delicious of ironies if he actually did succumb to some nasty little illness?
The nation has had enough of kings. Time for a queen, I think.

Temmell shot a morose stare at Carter before he spoke to Sariel. Carter’s eyes drifted back to the sorcerers and away from the scale models of aircraft hanging from the workshop’s ceiling timbers.

‘So,’ said Temmell, ‘how in the name of the myriad stars did this whelp of a young Weylander come to be fashioned as a key?’

‘Lord Carnehan found our staging post inside the great Vandian stratovolcano. The machines recognized he had come into contact with me and trusted that he might do so again. He was passed everything needed to reconstitute us.’

‘If ever there was proof that machines should not be allowed to think,’ said Temmell, ‘here it is. The machines might as well have imprinted a turnip and tossed the root back into the world. I’m surprised its little brain didn’t implode under the pressure of carrying so much.’

‘A little compassion, please. It is these people whom we must preserve.’

Temmell glared at Carter, as though blaming him personally for everything that had happened here. ‘You should have gone insane.’

‘I nearly did,’ said Carter.

‘A deranged turnip,’ muttered Temmell. ‘Yes, yes. I will work on the compassion thing, Sariel Skel-bane. Is it worth asking where the ethreaal who should have come looking for us are, to replace us if necessary?’

Sariel shrugged as though the mere absence was answer enough.

Temmell snorted. ‘I was going to enquire how the struggle is going, but if we are all that is left, I have answered my own question.’

‘I will not lie to you,’ said Sariel, ‘the stealers have spread everywhere. They stand behind the emperor’s throne in Vandia, in Weyland too and no doubt every nation of significance within a million miles of us. They can triangulate the location of an activated gate now. As soon as I close a tunnel the stealers overload the gate to ruination and come haring after me.’

‘Oh joy,’ said Temmell. ‘I do so love walking incognito across Pellas. Well, at least my new Nijumeti skyguard may cut a few centuries off my aimless wanderings.’

‘We do not have that long. Your gift and mine will not be enough. We need to find Eremee.’

‘I’ve died at least three times without my memories since the party was ambushed. How would I know where the hell she is now?’

‘You and Eremee were close,’ said Sariel.

‘If you want me to take you to every beach and mountain-top where we ever shared a sunset together, we might as well allow the stealers to end the world now.’

‘I visited the ambush site,’ said Sariel. ‘I found evidence there which suggested you and Eremee might have stayed alive longer than the rest of the expedition.’

‘I don’t suppose you found a centuries-old message scrawled in blood on a stone telling you where she’s hiding?’

‘Less triteness
and
more compassion.’

‘By the stars, man, I’ve only recovered for a day. How long did the turnip give you before he started with the pestering?’

‘If there’s anyone who’s been pestered in this arrangement,’ said Carter, ‘I think it’s me.’

‘Take that thought, let it fester for a geological age, then you’ll have an inkling of how I feel,’ said Temmell.

Well, he’s talking to me rather than over me. That’s got to count as progress
. ‘What about your patron, Kani Yargul?’ said Carter. ‘He has united the clans using your advice. There’s a horde riding around out here, a horde armed with its own skyguard. You know your history, don’t you, Temmell? You understand what happens every time the Nijumeti unite?’

‘No, you’re not a turnip after all,’ said the younger sorcerer. ‘I quite enjoy a nice bit of mashed turnip with a side-plate of lamb. Do I know my history? I’ve
lived
it, whelp!’

‘Weyland’s rebels are our allies in this fight,’ said Sariel. ‘As is Rodal.’

‘The stealers back one side, we support the other. Are we really fighting another conflict by proxy? This is too tedious for words.’

Carter almost lunged for the arrogant younger sorcerer, but Sariel restrained him. ‘How much more tedious for those who have died to assist us, Temmell Longgate?’

‘Ah, I remember now. Compassion.’

‘The saints rot your compassion,’ said Carter. ‘I have family and friends back in Rodal.’

‘Let them stay there,’ sighed Temmell. ‘Keep the old game in play, Sariel. I shall let Madinsar and her harpies have their way and set the horde galloping north against Persdad. It will be worth changing strategy just to see the old witch’s face as I agree with her plans. Maybe she’ll suffer a heart attack from the shock of it.’

Sariel’s face turned stern. ‘Better if you had never stirred the hornet’s nest in the first place.’

‘And which of us has the greater taste for mischief ?’ said Temmell. ‘Well, I may not know where Eremee is, but I do possess the map coordinates of a soul-sphere that very well might.’

Sariel spluttered in dismay, as close to outrage as ever Carter had seen the old trickster. ‘You sealed off part of yourself ? Of all the prohibitions to break!’

‘Don’t you dare lecture me,’ said Temmell. ‘I’ve gone centuries without once remembering Eremee even existed. I would say I possessed good cause to keep a little of myself out of the Unity and stored safely away. You might be happy to rely on the likes of
this
—’ he indicated Carter ‘—to keep you from near-senility, but I’d say that in light of current events, my recovery plan has proved less paranoid and more prophetic, wouldn’t you agree?’

‘Where did you hide the sphere, you dog?’

‘I buried it deep in the shadow of the Rodalian Mountains close to Dalranga.’

‘Then let us pray the stealers have not discovered it while you wandered lost.’

Temmell smiled, but he did not seem very happy. ‘I think we both know we wouldn’t be here if they had.’

‘We need to leave the steppes,’ said Sariel.

‘We shall. But first I will sit in council with Kani Yargul and his captains, settle matters here before I depart. Madinsar will be so overjoyed to see the back of me, she’ll probably offer to load my wagon herself and drag it halfway to Rodal to ensure I don’t turn back.’

For once, Carter felt a little lift of hope at the sorcerer’s words.
Leaving here without being burnt at the stake. That’s got to count as a victory, too
.

Carter and Sariel left the sorcerer to settle his arrangements. Outside Temmell’s workshop, they found Sheplar and Kerge waiting.

The Rodalian aviator stood there as still as a statue with his arms crossed. Sariel seemed indifferent to the pilot’s presence, but not so Sheplar Lesh. ‘Why does it not surprise me that you and Temmell are cut from the same cloth, you old vagrant?’

‘Understanding an idiot’s mind would make me the dullest creature upon the world,’ said Sariel.

‘You don’t have to worry about scavenging flying wing parts anymore,’ said Carter, trying to forestall a fight. ‘We’ll soon be heading back towards Rodal with a nomad escort to keep us safe.’

‘What of the young bumo?’ said Sheplar.

‘For once, we’ll ask Lady Cassandra what she wants,’ said Carter. ‘I owe her that much for slipping me out of my manacles.’

‘It was Madinsar who procured the key and instructed the Vandian on what must be done,’ explained Kerge.

‘Well, the witch rider’s got her reward,’ said Carter.
Hell, she as good as arranged the future she wanted.
‘Temmell is leaving with us. I have a suspicion Lady Cassandra’s answer will involve her staying here with that blue-skinned gallant close by her side.’

‘It is a strange thing,’ said Sheplar. ‘For Rodal to be fighting Weyland, while finding allies among the nomads.’

‘You’re not fighting every Weylander,’ said Carter.
Maybe a half at most
. Sadly, it was the half with the rifles and mills to churn out more. There was something about Kerge’s expression that worried Carter. No longer a thrall here, but almost as unhappy as when the gask and Carter had both been kept as prisoners inside the sky mines. ‘You don’t want to leave the clans?’

‘I have been trying to recover my golden mean,’ said Kerge. ‘Much has been restored to me under Madinsar’s tutelage. I am sure I shall recover the rest by myself in time. But I fear to trust the branches remaining open on the great fractal tree. I hope instead that I am still broken in my gift.’

‘Speak your visions clearly,’ commanded Sariel.

‘Darkness,’ said Kerge. ‘Darkness closing in and very little light left to walk in.’

‘Then I fear you have seen the future as well as any of your kind may,’ said Sariel. ‘But our end is not guaranteed, Kerge. Not so long as we live to divert it.’

Carter felt the weight of the world slip back on his shoulders again. Somehow, he had thought that reaching Sariel’s missing comrade and restoring his memories would be enough by itself. That together Sariel and his old companion could beat the stealers and cast the usurper and the Vandians out of Weyland. Restore the world to how it had been before. Instead, all Carter faced was a long journey and a head full of worries about Willow and his father. Sheplar and Kerge left to pack supplies for the journey back to Rodal.