Wall of Spears (18 page)

Sendatsu looked around the room, felt the despair radiating from the rest of them but refused to give in to it.

‘We have all said how clever Sumiko is. Now we have to stop her,’ he said.

‘How? Can we turn back time? We thought we had her where we wanted, only she was moving us into position for a bigger fall.’ Gaibun sighed.

‘She might have my father under her control but not Lord Retsu and the rest of the Council.’

‘Except they are prisoners of Ward,’ Gaibun said.

‘We get them all back. Then we have witnesses of Sumiko’s treachery as well as candidates for Elder Elf. The only way to beat her is do the one thing she has not foreseen.’

‘Get them back? How?’ Kelyn gasped.

‘Magic, of course. Where is Ward going to take them?’

‘I’ll ask him next time we’re having drinks in Cridianton!’ Huw snorted.

‘Exactly.’ Sendatsu pointed at him. ‘We go to Cridianton.’

‘What?’ Huw and Rhiannon cried together.

‘That is where we will find answers, if not the prisoners,’ Sendatsu said. ‘We got a message today from Ward’s wife, Queen Mildrith, who wants us to trust her and to stop her husband’s plans. We go there and speak to her. Meanwhile, Rhiannon sends a flock of birds south to see what she can find. Between those two things, we shall know where the captives are held. Huw and Rhiannon both know Ward’s castle, having escaped from there before, so we use that knowledge, as well as the magic, to free the prisoners, confront Sumiko and my father, and put an end to this.’

He looked around the room and received shocked stares in reply.

‘You do know we cannot trust that message from Queen Mildrith. That could be part of the trap, so Sumiko can get rid of me as well as Asami,’ Rhiannon warned.

‘And you realise our faces are known around Cridianton and our lives are forfeit if we are caught?’ Huw asked.

‘I know all that!’ Sendatsu shouted. ‘But what else can we do? Sumiko has won. It is all over. All that remains is for her to finish us off at her leisure. Unless we do the one thing she never expected.’

‘He is right. We have to do this,’ Gaibun agreed.

‘How much of this is wanting to stop Sumiko and how much is wanting to save Asami?’ Rhiannon asked.

‘They are one and the same,’ Sendatsu said.

Gaibun smiled briefly. ‘I am only concerned about Asami and our child. I would exchange my life in an instant for them.’

Sendatsu patted him on the shoulder.

‘Well, we know why you two want this to happen. But for the rest of us, we are risking everything for what seems like a crazy plan. In fact there is no plan, beyond travelling south and hoping a strange message is not a trap,’ Huw said.

‘Huw, Rhiannon,’ Sendatsu appealed. ‘You know what is at stake here. Sumiko will not stop until you are dead. The attack a few moments ago proved that.’

‘But Ward will have the prisoners well guarded. After all, he must know the elves could try something similar,’ Huw said.

‘There is a big difference. Any elf would be spotted in an instant and the prisoners killed before they could get close. But you can pass for Forlish — you did for moons. And you know Cridianton and the castle itself.’

‘You are still talking about walking into the bear’s cave and then kicking it in the balls!’ Huw said angrily. ‘You are only doing this because you want to prove to Asami that you love her more than Gaibun.’

Sendatsu dared not look at Gaibun and instead glared at Huw. ‘You once told me you would do anything for Rhiannon. Now you accuse me of being foolish for love?’

‘There has to be a better way than this. I don’t want to see anything happen to Asami but how is throwing our lives away doing her any good? And, even if we get them out, your idea is to travel to Dokuzen, overthrow Jaken and install Gaibun’s father as Elder Elf. How many Elder Elfs do you want to create? What is this — the third one you have put into the job? When will we find one we like?’

‘This is not a joke!’ Sendatsu roared.

‘I know!’ Huw shouted. ‘You want to throw away our lives in a hopeless pursuit.’

A knock on the door made them all turn, just as the shouting was about to begin again.

‘What is it?’ Huw called.

The door was pushed open and Wendi walked in, holding Mai and Cheijun by the hands.

‘Is this a bad time? Except they both wanted to see you and get a story before they went to bed,’ she said.

‘Of course. Thank you for looking after them. If you could just wait outside for a few moments, we are almost finished here.’ Sendatsu smiled at his children, who waved back.

Wendi stepped back outside, an uncertain smile on her face. Cheijun began to protest, but his words were cut off by the slam of the door.

‘See? You need to think about your children. What will they do with you running after Asami?’ Huw said.

‘I think of nothing else!’ Sendatsu snarled. He clenched his fists, then took a deep breath. ‘Nothing is hopeless, least of all this idea,’ he said, more calmly this time. ‘This is our chance to defeat Sumiko and protect your people. With Retsu in charge —’

‘That was what you said last time with your father!’ Huw cried. ‘And look how that turned out.’

‘Mock all you like. But I will go there. I cannot let Asami die without trying to save her, even though I know I need you to get out again.’

‘That goes for me as well,’ Gaibun added. ‘So how will you hope to fight in Vales without the two of us to lead your dragons?’

Huw shook his head. ‘What if the message from Queen Mildrith was another of Sumiko’s games? She must know that you and Gaibun will do anything to get Asami back?’

‘I think this is real,’ Sendatsu argued.

‘And I thought kind, wise, magical elves who always did good were real — but I learned that was a huge mistake,’ Huw countered.

‘Very funny. I leave tomorrow at dawn, with or without you,’ Sendatsu said and strode across to the door, flinging it open with unnecessary force.

‘Are you done now, Papa?’ Mai asked.

‘Yes, I am.’ He gathered them up into his arms, taking comfort from the feel of the small bodies snuggling into him. ‘Thank you,’ he told Wendi again.

‘Any time. But is it really true that you are all thinking of going to Forland to get back your love?’

‘Yes, it is.’ Sendatsu had no energy to make something up.

‘Good. My husband Glyn would have done the same.’

Sendatsu smiled for a moment, then let his smile fade as he remembered how Glyn had been killed by the Forlish with Rhiannon’s father. ‘I am sorry he is not here.’

‘Not as much as I,’ Wendi replied. ‘Good night.’

Sendatsu walked back to his home, his children in his arms, cuddling in close.

‘Papa, is it true you are going to get Asami back from the Forlish?’

‘Maybe,’ Sendatsu said carefully.

‘You should. But I don’t think you should make Retsu into the Elder Elf.’

‘How long were you listening out there? How did you hear all that?’ Sendatsu nuzzled her cheek with his nose until she laughed.

‘Well, you were shouting loudly. And my ears work well,’ she told him, giggling.

‘So who should be Elder Elf then?’

‘You, of course!’

Sendatsu was so surprised that he nearly dropped them, turning it into a close hug instead. ‘Me? That’s a silly thought!’

‘No, it’s not,’ Mai disagreed. ‘Grandfather is the Elder Elf now and if he can’t do it any more then it should be you. You know lots about the Velsh and the Forlish and know how to take care of us, so you can take care of everyone else as well.’

‘I don’t want to be Elder Elf,’ Sendatsu said, with feeling.

‘But sometimes you have to do things you don’t like, when it is the right thing. You taught us that.’

‘Like cleaning up,’ Cheijun agreed. ‘Don’t like that. Or eating turnips.’

‘Well, I promise there will be no turnips.’ Sendatsu winked.

‘You would make a good Elder Elf. Because you listen,’ Mai said.

Sendatsu kissed the top of her head. ‘Sometimes I think you listen to me too much!’

She cocked her head on the side. ‘No, I think it’s about right.’

‘But we come too,’ Cheijun said.

‘No. It will be too dangerous for you,’ Sendatsu said.

‘But we can help you. You only get into trouble when we are not there. And everyone smiles at us, thinks we are harmless,’ Mai said.

‘Then I kill them all,’ Cheijun said, slashing his hand around like a sword.

Sendatsu was about to squash the idea when he thought about it. She was right. It would be a great disguise to use to look around.

‘I’ll think about it.’

‘Can you think about a story?’ Cheijun asked.

‘Already done. I’ll tell you over dinner and you can tell me about your day.’

‘I saw lots of poo,’ Cheijun said with a smile.

‘Really? Well, I heard lots of it.’ Sendatsu smiled and their laughter pealed out.

‘I think we should go with Sendatsu and Gaibun,’ Rhiannon said.

‘You could have said that before, it would have saved us plenty of argument,’ Gaibun grumbled.

‘I was thinking about it carefully,’ Rhiannon said. ‘You forget the memories I have about Ward’s castle and my father.’

‘No wonder you don’t want to go back,’ Dafyd said with feeling.

‘Do you really think we can get into Cridianton and back out again with a dozen prisoners we have freed? When everyone will be looking out for elves?’ Huw challenged.

‘I don’t know. But we need to try,’ Rhiannon said. ‘Sendatsu is right. This is the real battle here.’

Huw shook his head. ‘It will be the end of one or more of us.’

‘So be it,’ Gaibun said. ‘I would happily give my life for my wife and child.’

‘Huw, we need your knowledge. You are the one who got me out of the castle without anyone seeing. You know the servants’ passageways through the castle, which we can use to get around the guards.’

She turned the full force of her persuasiveness on him and felt him give way. She knew Cridianton was the source of as many bad memories for him as it was for her — although his were more to do with the lies he had told to get her out of there. ‘I am going. And if I am to come back, I shall need you.’

‘Really? Bevan can’t help you?’ Huw asked.

Rhiannon flinched a little but faced him squarely. ‘Bevan is my student, nothing more. It is something we have to do. We began this journey together in Cridianton. Going back will close the circle. Please, I need you with me.’

Huw stared at her for a long moment, then looked down and she knew she had him.

‘I’ll do it,’ Huw said at last.

‘I knew you would. It will be good to go back. We need to put those memories behind us.’

‘Just as long as we have something to remember with,’ Huw muttered.

‘That’s the spirit. Positive thinking, there’s the way.’ Dafyd smiled.

Asami woke, her heart pounding, only to feel a cool hand brush her face and soft words calm her.

‘What happened? Where are we?’ She looked around but it was dark, just a little light thrown by a spluttering torch outside a small window. She felt lost, disorientated. The couch she lay on was bumping around and making a strange noise.

‘You are safe and alive. We are inside a carriage of the Forlish king, being carried south to his castle,’ a familiar voice said gently.

‘What?’ Asami felt desperately weak still, her eyes gritty and her wounded arm throbbing. It felt like someone had been beating her with a club. Then she remembered what had happened in the Council Chamber and that made sense — someone
had
been beating her with a club. She tried to sit up, only to have the gentle hands turn firm and hold her down.

‘Ssh. We are being guarded by Forlish. Do not try anything foolish. Use magic on them and the other prisoners will all die.’

‘Lady Noriko?’ Asami asked, trying to place the voice.

‘It is I.’

‘What were you doing at the Council Chamber?’

She heard Noriko laugh. ‘Well, I never expected that question! I thought I was the guest of Lord Retsu but it seems I was just another pawn in Sumiko’s game. She created this. She and that creature of hers, Oroku.’

‘Are we really guarded?’ Asami tried to sit up, only for Noriko to hold her down.

‘Stay where you are for now. Retsu told me what you have been doing and you need to build up your strength.’

‘I need to get us out of here.’

‘Listen to your friend,’ a strange voice said harshly.

Asami peered through the gloom and her eyes responded this time, revealing a pair of burly humans sitting either side of Lord Retsu. Both had blades out, which were digging into Retsu’s sides.

‘Rest. Now is not the time,’ Noriko said gently.

‘How did Oroku get the Forlish past the guards around the park?’

‘He didn’t need to. He brought them through your house.’

Asami closed her eyes for a moment and cursed herself. ‘Of course. How arrogant of me to think they just wanted me dead. It was also to secure a base for the Forlish and to make it look like I was the one responsible.’

‘You cannot blame yourself.’

‘Who is there to blame for this mess? We thought we had Sumiko where we wanted and all the time she was laughing at us.’ Asami beckoned Noriko closer. ‘We have to get out of here,’ she said softly into the older elf’s ear.

‘If it was just us, then I would agree with you. But there are others to consider,’ Noriko murmured.

‘We are all dead anyway. Our guards may be Forlish but we were captured by Sumiko. She will not let us live.’

‘You don’t know that.’

‘The Forlish obviously seek to bargain for our lives, demanding magic in return. Do you honestly think Lord Jaken will hand over magic to the gaijin to save our lives?’

‘No.’

‘Well, then. Sumiko will use this to overthrow Jaken — the disgrace of having the chamber attacked, the Council and his wife captured …’

‘They also burned the chamber down when they left.’

‘Jaken might as well hand over the seal of the Elder Elf to Sumiko now and save her the trouble of demanding it. And then she can use our deaths as an excuse to destroy the humans. We have to get out.’

‘Do not worry about me,’ Retsu said from across the other side of the carriage. ‘I am quite comfortable.’

Asami glanced across at him and he nodded once, decisively. She could tell he was prepared to sacrifice himself to give them a chance. She tensed, gathering the magic in, but Noriko gripped her head fiercely, forcing Asami to look into her eyes.

‘Do not do this. I don’t want to live without him,’ she whispered.

Asami was so surprised, she let the magic fall away.

‘What?’

‘I have loved him for as long as I can remember but we were forced by politics to marry other people. Now, with Jaken’s disgrace, we finally have a chance. I cannot see that go.’

‘I never knew,’ Asami whispered.

Noriko smiled. ‘Few do. But I don’t have to tell you about hopeless love, do I?’

‘That doesn’t change anything. We are all going to be killed.’

‘You forget one thing: with Jaken gone, Retsu should become Elder Elf. He is our only hope. We cannot throw that away. Without him, there is no alternative to Sumiko.’

‘Again, if we are all going to die, it makes no difference,’ Asami said, beginning to gather her magic once more. It felt distant, sluggish, and kept trying to escape from her but, with an effort of will, she drew it to her.

‘You are forgetting one more thing.’

‘What else happened while I was asleep?’

‘Nothing more. But I talk of Sendatsu and Gaibun and your human friend Rhiannon.’

‘She is no longer my friend,’ Asami said automatically but her concentration was broken and the magic slipped away again.

‘They will come for us. We just have to give them a chance.’

Asami sighed. ‘How will they find us?’

‘They will find you. You might have rejected him but Sendatsu will still come for you.’

‘How can they get us out of a human castle?’

Noriko chuckled. ‘If I know my son, he will find a way. And if he doesn’t, my granddaughter will find it! I only hope you have a child like that one day.’

Asami closed her eyes and Noriko seized her hand. ‘What is it? Are you in pain?’ she asked anxiously.

‘I am carrying Gaibun’s child. That is why I told Sendatsu I could not leave for the human lands with him, because I knew Gaibun would never let me go,’ Asami confessed.

Noriko embraced her.

‘You don’t think me a fool?’

Noriko kissed her head. ‘I have known you since you were a small girl. I know what is in your heart. And you forget, I know what it is like to marry for politics, not love, and then be forced to deal with the consequences. I am the last person to judge you. And Sendatsu will not judge you, either.’

‘But it was all a mistake. After I made the decision to leave with Sendatsu, I discovered I was pregnant and I had to send him away.’

‘I told him there was more to it than first met the eye. And I know my son. He can be pig-headed and foolish, even blind to what is in front of him sometimes, but his heart is in the right place. Talk to him and he will understand.’

‘But what if I never see him again?’

‘He will come for you. Until then, worry about staying alive. We all need to make it back to Dokuzen.’

‘But —’

‘Trust me. If it comes to it, we can always use your magic to break out of their castle. And, by then, they will not be expecting it. Now they are ready — as well as the guards in each carriage, there is cavalry to either side.’

Asami relaxed. ‘I am struggling to get my magic,’ she whispered.

‘Then rest. It will come back to you. You need your full strength if we are to escape.’

Asami nodded and closed her eyes, as Noriko stroked her hair gently.

‘She is going back to sleep. There is nothing to worry about,’ she told the guards on either side of Retsu.

At long last they relaxed, removing the blades from Retsu’s sides, and he breathed out, stretching his wounded leg. He looked at Noriko.

‘Why?’

‘You are the hope of the elves now, as well as my hope. I will protect that for as long as possible,’ she replied defiantly.

Retsu grunted. ‘I hope your faith in our sons is justified. They have not exactly done much to inspire hope in me lately.’

‘They have only just begun to learn what they can do,’ Noriko said determinedly.

‘I also hope you are right,’ Asami murmured, feeling herself drifting off.

‘Go to sleep. Let me worry about that.’

‘I can’t help but think of what Sumiko is doing in Dokuzen now.’

‘That will give you bad dreams. And there is nothing we can do to stop what will happen there.’

For the first time in many moons, Sumiko found herself pacing around nervously. She needed news from Dokuzen and from Vales. The Velsh news was important but paled into insignificance compared to what was happening in Dokuzen. It would be reassuring to know Rhiannon was dead but far more important to hear her gamble had paid off and Jaken was at her mercy. She had been forced to go to his bed again last night and she had sworn to herself it would be the last time. If all else failed, she would destroy him with magic. But it would be so much more satisfying to see him fall from his lofty perch and have the people turn on him and carry her to the top instead.

She imagined talking to her father about all she had done, showing him how she had avenged him and returned the Magic-weavers to their rightful position at the head of elven society. She had worshipped him but, after he had been humiliated by Jaken and his friends, following years of being despised by Daichi and the rest of the Council, he had given up and died, a broken shell, long before his time. Today, she would take revenge.

‘Have you seen some trouble ahead, my lady?’ Jaken asked.

Sumiko forced a smile for him. ‘The Forlish army has not moved from its camp on the border. I fear the Forlish king is not going to live up to his part of the deal and destroy the Velsh for us.’

Jaken chuckled. ‘I suspected your plan was too complicated! We shall have to do things the proper way — crush the Forlish and then turn on the Velsh. At least he has thoughtfully brought his army north. We can destroy them here rather than spend moons running after them all over the countryside.’

‘Indeed, my lord.’

She hid her feelings until he looked away and then glanced back over her shoulder. Surely the riders from the city should be arriving soon!

‘My lord! Riders approaching from Dokuzen — they come as though a horde of demons was at their heels!’ someone called.

Sumiko turned her sigh of relief into a gasp of surprise as everyone turned to see three riders galloping their horses along the column, heedless of those around them, forcing elves to leap for safety. They hauled their horses to a stop beside a furious-looking Jaken.

‘What is the meaning of this display?’ he demanded.

The three flung themselves to their knees before him.

‘A thousand apologies, lord,’ the lead rider said. ‘But we bring terrible news. Gaijin have attacked Dokuzen by magic, warriors appearing in the heart of the city to burn the Council Chamber, seize the Council and your wife as their prisoners and killing and wounding many as they made their escape by magic.’

Sumiko composed her face into shocked surprise as she drank in Jaken’s expression, watching the shock and horror turn to fury.

‘How is this possible?’ he roared.

‘The humans must have learned to use magic, just as we feared,’ Sumiko said, making sure her voice dripped with sorrow.

‘I want a score of clan Tadayoshi guards with me — all others wait here,’ Jaken ordered. ‘We must go back to Dokuzen to see for ourselves.’

‘I shall send out birds in all directions, see if I can discover where the humans have gone or where they came from,’ Sumiko told him.

She watched with carefully concealed glee as the news burst across the elves like a wave. She sent birds out in every direction — except, of course, the direction that might have discovered something. She thrilled to the way the elves stared at Jaken angrily as he rode past and marked the ones that muttered and pointed. None were saying anything yet but they would, she judged.

They pushed the horses hard, racing back along the rough road. Once it had been little more than a game trail but, thanks to the first Forlish attack, it had been made wider and the earth packed harder, allowing them to move much faster. Having thousands of humans march in and then run out again had made all the difference.

The smoke could be seen before they reached the tombs of the forefathers and only grew worse the closer they came to the city.

When Jaken had left the city, the people had been throwing flowers at him, cheering and applauding and hailing him as the saviour of Dokuzen, the gaijin-slayer and protector. Now, as he rode through the streets, there was silence. People glared at him, or turned away. A handful even jeered as he went past.