To Darkness Fled (4 page)

"Bad dreams may come, but you won't lose your mind. Caleb and I will take first watch. Fear not and rest."

Vrell lay down on the greasy leather and curled into a ball, bringing her knees to her chest. Her body sank slowly into the wet lichen. She concentrated on Mother's face and knocked.

Still no answer.

4

Achan untied the bandage from his face. He lay on his back, ankles crossed, feet sticking off the end of the bedroll that was too short for his six-foot frame. He stared into the blackness above and traced his fingertips over the scabs forming on his cheeks where Esek had cut him. Would he bear these marks forever? If so, he would grow a beard, a thick one.

Had his father worn a beard?

Achan broke the stillness with a question, careful to move his cheeks as little as possible. "What happened to my father?"

A prolonged silence followed. He was thankful for these knights, who'd made it their life goal to find him, yet so many questions plagued his mind. Did these men see taking care of him as penance for failing to protect their former king?

He tried again. "Were any of you there when he died?"

"Aye," Sir Gavin finally said. "But not when he died."

Achan propped himself up on one elbow. "What happened?"

"One of our own betrayed us. A young knight named Kenton Garesh."

"The Shield?" Sir Kenton, also known as The Shield, served as Esek's personal bodyguard. The human fortress had crushed Achan on more than one occasion. Most recently, just prior to Esek slicing open Achan's cheeks.

"Aye, he drugged our stew and we slept through the dawn. The king had a schedule to keep. He was headed to Carmine to consult with Duke Amal--this was before the duke passed on. Kenton urged King Axel to go on without us, to take the secondary guards, half of which were loyal to Kenton."

The pecking noise grew loud overhead, but Sir Gavin spoke over it. "I woke in time to hear my king bloodvoice for aid. But when I reached for him, he closed his mind, a sign he was hiding something. To this day I don't know why he kept me from seeing what happened. When I couldn't connect with King Axel, I called to Dara, for your mother was gifted also. But all I heard before she perished was the word--"

"Stray," Achan said.

It was common knowledge a stray had murdered the king and queen--Achan's parents. As a result, strays were branded, forced into lives of isolation and hard labor. Achan bore the S mark of a stray on his shoulder. Lord Nathak, the disfigured and menacing Lord of Sitna, had been his owner, had branded him in order to hide his true identity all these years, substituting his son, Esek, in Achan's place.

Achan knew what came next as well. "Darkness arrived almost immediately. Arman cursed the land."

"Nay, Achan," Sir Gavin said. "That's a myth. The world's way of assigning blame to what they don't understand. The evil in men's hearts brought Darkness to Er'Rets. It had been growing on the western horizon for years, threatening Barth and Land's End. The murder of our faithful king extinguished the only light left in the west. Darkness stretched across Er'Rets to the place King Axel died. You see, Arman gives the king the task of teaching the people what's good and pure and noble. Without a king, no man existed to spread the truth to the people, to shine the light. Until now."

The words spoken to Achan's soul when he had stood before the Council of Seven that morning boomed in his memory.

FOR I HAVE APPOINTED
YOU
AS KING OVER THIS NATION. THERE IS NO ONE LIKE YOU AMONG ALL THE PEOPLE.

Arman had spoken to him, singled him out as king. These knights claimed Arman was the only god, that all others were false. Sparrow also went in for that view. Achan wasn't convinced, yet he couldn't deny Arman's existence. No human voice sounded like Arman's--had the effect Arman's did. But did that mean every other god was false? Inko had prayed in Caan's name, Caan the warrior son of Arman. Didn't that mean there were two gods? How could they say there was only one?

It was all too confusing to grasp.

Liquid suddenly coated his heel. He bent his knees and pulled his feet away from the soggy ground and onto the end of the bedroll. He let his mind float to the past again. "But why kill my father? Sir Kenton seems to have gained nothing."

"These men were usurpers, Your Highness," Sir Caleb said. "They supported the one who wanted to overthrow the throne and take it for himself."

Achan could only imagine one man deceitful enough to lead such a cause. "Lord Nathak?"

"We're not knowing his name," Inko said. "But it is being someone beyond Nathak, we are believing."

Achan stared through the inky blackness in the direction of Inko's voice. "How can you suspect a man of trying to take the throne and not know who he is?"

"We sensed his bloodvoice," Sir Gavin said. "'Tis still strong today, but he shields well."

Who could be so powerful? "Then why'd he wait all these years for Esek to come of age? Why not take the throne by force after he'd killed the king?"

"Perhaps he didn't have as much power then as he would have us believe," Sir Caleb said. "Or he knew he couldn't defeat King Axel's army, so he designed this deceit with Esek to give him time to plot his takeover."

"So Lord Nathak and Esek work for him?"

"We don't know," Sir Gavin said, "but it's clear Nathak was involved. When you were lost, I sought your mind and found you right away. But you were so young. Not yet three years old. You couldn't articulate your whereabouts. You weren't in pain. You weren't afraid. But I couldn't guess your location. And then your presence vanished."

Sir Gavin paused as the mysterious beast screeched. "Two months passed before Nathak supposedly found you wandering in the fields south of Sitna. According to him, you wore King Axel's signet ring on a chain around your neck. He said he took you to his home and later journeyed to Mahanaim to give you to the Council of Seven. Of course, 'twasn't you at all. When I finally saw you--or Esek--he looked like you, though I could no longer sense your bloodvoice. I feared Nathak had done dark magic to you. Years passed before it occurred to me you might not be
you
at all."

Achan twisted Prince Oren's ring around his finger. He'd been alone, an abducted babe whose parents had been slaughtered.

Lord Nathak had given Achan to Poril, his cook, to raise. Poril had named him Achan Cham.
Achan,
which meant "trouble" in the ancient tongue, and
cham,
a fire-breathing bear. All strays were given animal surnames to proclaim their lowly status.

Had Achan cried for his father in those first few days with Poril? Or had he simply forgotten the man and replaced him with the cook? Had he missed his mother? Achan's earliest memories were of Lord Nathak and Poril, who had beaten him at the slightest breeze. Achan shuddered as truth and understanding met in his heart.

"The young
prince
had, according to Nathak, taken such a liking to him during their time together," Sir Caleb said, "that the Council asked Nathak to raise the boy. They gave him a fief for his
loyalty.
He not only earned the title of Lord with the prince as his ward, but he expanded Sitna Manor and added guards and slaves. Over the years, he lobbied for a place on the Council, without success."

"Aye," Sir Gavin said. "The man is resourceful. Sitna was originally a poor trading and farming village. Nathak developed it over the years, mostly by stealing land and resources from Carmine. He proposed to Nitsa the very day her husband died. To my knowledge he's continued to ask for her hand again and again over the years. She's always refused."

Duchess Amal's constant rejection of Lord Nathak had been a favorite topic of gossip among the serving women in Sitna. It startled Achan how Sir Gavin referred to the duchess by her first name, Nitsa. Could they be friends?

"The duchess is smart enough to be knowing Nathak is only wanting her seat on the council," Inko said.

"And her power," Sir Caleb added. "And her land. I'd wager that's Esek's goal in seeking to marry Lady Averella. Carm Duchy has traditionally controlled everything north of Mahanaim. If Nitsa never remarries, whoever marries Lady Averella is her heir."

Achan slapped away another mosquito. "Bran Rennan."

"Who?"

"Sir Rigil's squire. He and Lady Averella are to be wed. Sir Rigil told me."

Sir Caleb clicked his tongue. "That young squire with the red face? Who is his father?"

"How should I know? He's from Carmine."

"Then his father is no one of importance," Sir Caleb said.

"And why should
that
matter?" Sparrow's bossy voice spiked above the others.

Achan had thought the boy asleep. He shivered. His pants were still damp. He hoped it wouldn't get too cold tonight. The moisture from the ground seemed to rise into the rank air.

Sir Gavin rebuked Sparrow's concern. "Nitsa can't let her heir marry the first young buck she lays her eyes on."

Sparrow huffed. "Well, maybe the duchess wishes her daughter would marry for love."

A brief silence settled over the group, then deep laughter burst out from Sir Caleb. Achan didn't find it humorous. He had lost Gren to an arranged marriage.

"Don't be too skeptical." Sir Gavin's voice cut through the chuckles. "I don't doubt Nitsa capable of such mercy."

Pecking trilled above from two places. Achan pushed the surrounding fear from his mind, wanting to get back to the subject. "So you think Lord Nathak and Esek were plotting for Carmine, each trying to marry their way into controlling it?"

"So it would seem," Sir Gavin said. "But Nitsa is smarter than Nathak. Unfortunately, the rest of Er'Rets bought into his treason. After King Axel's death, we gave testimony before the Council. Kenton and his men had set up two of my men, my generals, claiming they were the assassins or had at least been involved with the stray who did kill them. I fought all I could for them, but no one would hear me. The evidence pointed to them and they were convicted."

"Your friends on Ice Island." Sparrow's raspy voice always sounded like he had a cold.

Achan considered the purpose of their journey into Darkness. "And we're going to free them?"

"That and more. There are over two hundred and forty Old Kingsguard soldiers on Ice Island. All my men, all falsely imprisoned over the years, most for being a stray at the time of King Axel's murder. They will be the start of your army, Achan. And we need an army if we're to turn this kingdom back into Arman's hands before it's too late."

"Before Esek becomes king," Sparrow said.

Two hundred and forty men didn't sound like much of an army to Achan, but it was better than just these three knights, he supposed.

Sir Gavin snorted. "Esek is the least of our concerns. The more Er'Rets turns from Arman and worships the false gods of fables, the more people kill and murder and hate and serve themselves, the more Darkness will consume this land. It grew at King Axel's death and it grows still. When I stood in the western watchtower in the Mahanaim stronghold five months ago, the Evenwall reached the sixth buttress. Yesterday, the mist had drifted within feet of the tower itself, five buttresses closer. 'Tis moving two hands' breadths a month."

Darkness was growing? Achan felt the blood draining from his face. "Can it be stopped?"

"Only one man can push back Darkness, Achan. Arman called him to this divine purpose. Darkness has spread these past years because the truth was hidden from Arman's chosen. But I knew he lived. For if he had truly died, Prince Oren--being next in line for king--would have begun to hear Arman's voice. But Arman did not speak to Prince Oren. He spoke to you."

Sir Gavin's words knotted Achan's stomach. "So it's be king and everything is great, or don't be king and the world is consumed by Darkness forever? Nice choice."

"Darkness will continue to grow no matter what you decide. Only when the Light grows stronger than the Dark will Darkness retreat. You must rally the people. Remind them who created them and why. Take them back to truth. Others are ready and willing to step in as king, should you refuse. Esek. Lord Nathak. Though they will not push back Darkness. The choice falls to you. Will you lead us?"

A silence descended upon the camp the darkness seemed to magnify. Achan didn't respond. He couldn't. The idea was so farfetched. First, that there might be only one god, and second, that this God had chosen Achan to push back Darkness, the magnificent curse of Er'Rets. Him. Achan. Barely a man himself.

He spoke in a whisper. "Why didn't Lord Nathak kill me when he had the chance?"

"I know not, lad," Sir Gavin said. "I can only guess he was afraid to, knowing who you truly are."

Achan recalled odd encounters with Lord Nathak: times when he'd sensed fear, how Lord Nathak had ordered the guards and Esek to go easy, to not kill him. "He's afraid of me."