Wizardborn (65 page)

As Wuqaz cried these last words, bowstrings twanged and arrows hissed through the air. From the streets below a roar of panic rose.

Emir Owatt did not need eyes to know what was happening. Archers in the tower fired at the Ah'kellah. Arrows struck among the crowd, skewering men, women, and children. From the sounds of it, fighting broke out even among the crowd—some going to battle against Raj Ahten, others fighting to protect him.

“Father!” Messan cried. “One of Wuqaz's men is hit. He took an arrow in his eye. He has fallen from his horse. Wuqaz and one other are trying to ride away.”

Now a battle raged. A woman shrieked in pain, a horse whinnied, accompanied by the sound of hooves smacking flesh. Men roared. Children cried in terror.

People shouted as horses broke into the streets, and fled.

His son said, “Wuqaz is gone!” But the sound of fighting continued.

“Who is winning?” the emir asked.

“The guards who fight for Raj Ahten,” his son confirmed.

In that moment, a realization struck the emir. He had always thought of the throng below as “his” people. But by surrendering to Raj Ahten, he had given those people away—given them to a man without conscience, a man without honor, who would use them as cattle.

He had not saved himself, his daughter, or his people. He had
surrendered
them.

Now was the time to take them back.

“Hurry,” the emir said. He went to a box and pulled out a bag of coins that held a particularly large ruby. “While the guards are busy at the front gate, I want you to slip out into the streets by the back. If the guards there try to stop you, tell them that today is my
purifam,
and you are going to buy me some figs for breakfast.” He handed the coins to the child and urged, “Once you leave the palace, go to my sister's villa. Do you remember the place?”

“On the hill?”

“Yes. Beg her to hide you. Do you understand? You must never come back! I will not be here.”

“Why?” his son asked. “Where are you going?”

“I am going to war,” the emir said.

Down below, in the Dedicates' Keep, Raj Ahten kept his most valued vectors. The air here at Bel Nai was especially healthy, and so over the years Saffira had convinced Raj Ahten to house here in abundance those who vectored stamina.

The emir was well prepared for this day. He'd long known that he could not strike a meaningful blow against the Wolf Lord of Indhopal from the front lines. But here, from behind the lines, he could be devastating.

He'd have struck a year ago, if not for his children. He'd once held great hopes that his daughter might persuade Raj Ahten to turn away from his evil. Later, the emir knew that Raj Ahten kept Messan here as a veiled threat. If Owatt moved against him, the life of his son would be forfeit.

“What do you mean?” his son asked. “I want to stay with you.”

The emir did not dare tell his son what he was about to do. Instead, he went to the chess set where he and his son had played now for years. Over and over he had warned his son that he must sometimes make sacrifices if he hoped to win a game. He hoped that his son would understand. He twisted the head off the black queen, pulling out a poisoned needle. The body of the queen was like an inkpot, filled with the deadly stuff.

The guards would kill Emir Owatt for what he would do. He only hoped that he could save his son.

“Go quickly now,” he whispered. “Keep your head up and your manner easy.”

   54   

Every day, we each make small sacrifices to ensure the continuity of civilization. In our own way, each of us is a Dedicate.

—
King Mendellas Val Orden

Gaborn's troops began racing north in hopes of cutting off the reavers. Langley led the other half, along with the frowth giants, on the reavers' trail, to slaughter any that fell behind.

Binnesman rode to Averan's wagon, took her by the arm, and scooped her up into his saddle. In the skirmish, a lord had fallen from his horse. Binnesman pointed at a white mare, a mile off, standing over her dead master.

“Would you dare ride a warhorse without help?” Binnesman asked.

“It's easier than riding a graak,” Averan assured him. “And if you fall, the ground isn't a mile below.”

“I daresay,” Binnesman agreed.

They galloped over to the animal, Spring following on her own gray stallion. Binnesman hopped down, and Averan held the mount's reins. She tried not to look at the dead knight while Binnesman used his knife to cut the leather straps of the horse's heavy chaffron.

But she had to look, if only to be sure he was dead.

He'd surely never ride again. He'd fallen badly, snapped his neck and scraped his head against the rocks. The flies were already at him.

In moments Binnesman stripped the animal of its precious
barding, leaving only its saddle beneath a quilted blanket. Now the horse was ready for a quick ride.

By that time, Gaborn's troops had all fled north, and the wagons followed. Averan imagined that she'd be eating trail dust for lunch.

Instead, Binnesman swung onto his mount, got her on the white mare, and spurred east, in the wake of Langley's men.

“What are we doing?” Averan asked.

“We'll carry a warning to Feldonshire,” Binnesman said.

“You mean we won't take the road?” Averan asked.

“We can make it through the forest faster than Gaborn's men can travel the roads.”

Averan found that hard to credit. The huge Imperial stallion that the wizard rode was built for speed on the plains, not in the hills. Her own mount, with its small hooves and sturdy legs, might do better in the mountains, she thought. Yet she knew that earth mages had an uncanny gift for finding trails in the forest.

“All right,” Averan said. “But won't Gaborn disapprove? He'll want me at his side, to give him counsel.” The thought of riding with him terrified her. He'd ask her to eat another reaver if they found one that looked anything like the Waymaker.

“Hmmm…” Binnesman said, frowning in concentration. “I've never seen the Stinkwater. How large did you say the pools are?”

“Not large,” Averan said. “They get bigger in winter when the rain fills them, shrink in the summer.”

“I have an idea,” Binnesman said. “It may be that I can heal the Stinkwater, cleanse it rather than poison it. But we must hurry. It's a slow magic.”

“Do you think?” Averan asked. “You're no water wizard.”

Binnesman sighed uncertainly. “I can only try.”

So they rode hard for the hills, the horses racing over plains beneath a yellow cloud. They bypassed Langley's troops.

The wizard spurred his mount up a steep ridge. He stopped a moment, while Averan and the wylde caught up. The forest ahead was a tangle, with only a few wild game trails. Boars had been rooting for acorns here recently. The ground looked as if it had been plowed.

Just to the south, the reavers had gained the woods. Trees began to snap under the onslaught of their charge. A hart came bounding down the trail in a frenzy, its huge antlers clacking against the brush. It saw the wizard, leapt away.

Binnesman raised his staff and chanted, “The road is long, and short the day. Make for us now, a swifter way.”

Ahead a rustling sound broke from the trees, as if a great beast trudged through the woods, scraping against boughs and papery leaves. Suddenly Averan spotted a trail that she'd not seen before. The branches on each side were bobbing.

“There!” she shouted.

“Indeed,” Binnesman said wryly.

He spurred his mount up the trail, galloping like the wind. Averan let him take the lead, followed by Spring. She didn't want to meet any low branches.

But she noticed after the first mile that there were no low branches. The trail remained clear ahead, and almost straight. Though leaves covered the forest floor, the game trails they rode over seemed as free of rocks and limbs as if it were a well-traveled road.

Yet when she looked behind, she could see no trail at all. Branches flung backward like arms, blocking her retreat.

Averan's heart hammered, and she rode in awe. She'd seen the fell mage in battle, casting her destructive spells, and she'd seen Spring kill a reaver with a single blow. But she suspected now that Binnesman was far more powerful than the wylde or any reaver mage.

Thus they raced. The mounts galloped tirelessly, until they gained the main road. Long before Gaborn's men arrived, Binnesman reached the village of Shrewsvale.

She saw it when they came up out of the woods. White
cottages with thatch roofs dotted the green meadows along the northern slope of the vale. Stone fences that had stood for a thousand years sectioned off acreage: here was a meadow speckled with sheep, beyond spread a field of barley. There lay a garden where sunflowers grew tall. Along the southern ridge of the valley, the road wound up to town. A huge inn with a tile roof loomed over the main street, while shops with stone walls squatted to either side.

Binnesman raced to the first shepherd's cottage. Red chickens scrambled from their path as they neared the door. He shouted, “Flee from here, the reavers are coming!”

A shepherd's wife rushed out, wiping her hands on her apron. She was a blunt woman with graying hair and a wide mouth. “What?” she asked gruffly. “What are you yelling about out here? I'm baking.” Obviously she thought that some madman called.

“I'm sorry to disturb you, madam,” Binnesman said in a tone of mock formality. “But reavers are coming, and King Orden is about to fight a war on your doorstep. I suggest that you warn your neighbors, and prepare to flee.”

Averan watched the woman in pity.

The same reavers had destroyed her home at Keep Haberd, and had laid Carris to waste. Now they would tear through this valley, destroying cottages that had stood for generations.

The old woman finished wiping her hands, gave Binnesman a stern look. “You'd best not be telling tales,” she warned. Even as she did, she gaped up at the wylde in confusion. It obviously wasn't every day that she'd had a green woman and wizard show up on her doorstep, warning of imminent peril.

“You'd best run,” Binnesman said.

Then they spurred their horses onward, onto the cobblestone streets of Shrewsvale itself.

It was a pleasant town. Averan could tell by the architecture that they were nearing Feldonshire. The doorposts and lintel of the inn were intricately carved of fine oak. The post on the left depicted a minstrel with a lute under his
arm. The one on the right was a lord talking to him amiably. The perspective was skewed, so that it looked as if both were walking through the door. A carved frieze overhead showed a table filled with fine foods: grapes and apples, bread and a rabbit.

The sign above the inn was gorgeously carved to show travelers on their journey. The sign itself named the place as the the Loaf and Brew.

Binnesman's shouting soon drew every shopkeeper in town. The mayor of Shrewsvale owned the inn. He rang the city bell.