The humans and the kender of Solamnia and Throt and East-wilde were as enchanted with Mina as the elves of Silvanesti had been. They viewed her with deep suspicion when she rode in and followed after her with prayers and songs when she left. Castle after castle, town after town fell to Mina"s charm, not her might.
Gerard had long ago given up hoping that the Solamnic Knights would attack. He guessed that Lord Tasgall intended to concentrate his efforts in Sanction rather than try to halt Mina along the way. Gerard could have told them they were wasting their time. Every day, Mina"s army grew larger, as more and more men and women flocked to her standard and the worship of the One G.o.d. Although the pace her officers set was fast and the troops were forced to be up with the dawn and march until nightfall, morale was high. The march had more the feeling of a wedding procession, hastening forward to joyous celebration, rather than marching toward battle, carnage, and death.
Gerard still did not see much of Odila. She traveled in Mina"s retinue and was often away from the main body of the force. Either she went by consent or she was forced to go, Gerard could not be sure, for she carefully avoided any contact with him. He knew that she did this for his own safety, but he had no one else to talk to, and he felt he would have risked the danger just for the chance to share his thoughts-dark and pessimistic as they were-with someone who would understand.
One day Gerard"s contemplations were interrupted by the minotaur, Gaidar. Discovering Gerard riding in the rear, the minotaur tersely ordered him to take his place at the front with the rest of the Knights. Gerard had no choice but to obey, and he spent the rest of the march traveling under the minotaur"s watchful eye.
Why Gaidar didn"t kill him was a mystery to Gerard, but then Gaidar himself was a mystery. Gerard felt Gaidar"s beady eyes on him often, but the look in them was not so much sinister as it was speculative.
Gerard kept to himself, rebuffing the attempts by his "comrades" to make friends. He could not very well share the cheerful mood of the Dark Knights nor partic.i.p.ate in discussions of how many Solamnics they were going to gut or how many Solamnic heads they were going to mount on pikes.
Because of his morose silence and perverse nature, Gerard soon acquired the reputation as a dour, unsociable man, who was little liked by his "fellow" Knights. He didn"t care. He was glad to be left alone.
Or perhaps not so alone. Whenever he roamed off by himself, he would often look up to find Gaidar shadowing him.
The days stretched into weeks. The army traveled through Estwilde, wound north through Throt, entered the Khalkist Mountains through the Throtyl Gap, then headed due south for Sanction. As they left the more populated lands behind, Mina returned to the army, riding in the vanguard with Gaidar, who now paid far more attention to Mina than he did to Gerard, for which Gerard was grateful.
Odila also returned, but she rode in the rear, in the wagon carrying the amber sarcophagus. Gerard would have liked to have found a way to talk to her, but the one time he lagged behind, hoping he wouldn"t be missed, Gaidar sought him out and ordered him to maintain his position in the ranks.
Then the day came that a mountain range appeared on the ., horizon. They saw it first as a dark blue smudge, which Gerard I mistook for a bank of dark blue storm clouds. As the army drew Closer, he could see plumes of smoke drifting from the summits.
He looked upon the active volcanoes known as the Lords of Doom-the guardians of Sanction.
"Not long now," he thought, and his heart ached for the defenders of Sanction, watching and waiting. They would be confident certain their defenses would hold. They had held for over a year now; why should they expect anything different?
He wondered if they"d heard rumors about the horrific army of the dead that had attacked Solanthus. Even if they had, would they believe what they heard? Gerard doubted it. He would not have believed such tales himself. He wasn"t certain, thinking back on it, that he believed it even now. The entire battle had the unreal disconnection of a fever dream. Did the army of the dead march with Mina? Gerard sometimes tried to catch a glimpse of them, but, if the dead were with them, this fell ally traveled silently and unseen.
Mina"s army entered the foothills of the Khalkists and began the climb that would lead them to the pa.s.s through the Lords of Doom. In a valley, Mina halted their march, telling them they would remain here for several days. She had a journey to make, she said, and, in her absence, the army would prepare for the push through the mountains. Everyone was ordered to have armor and weapons in good condition, ready for battle. The blacksmith set up his forge, and he and his a.s.sistants spent the days mending and making. Hunting parties were sent out to bring in fresh meat.
They had only just set up camp on the first day when the elf prisoner was captured.
He was dragged into camp by several of the outriders who patrolled the army"s flanks, scouring the area for any sign of the enemy.
Gerard was at the smith"s, having his sword mended and finding it strange to think that the very enemy who might soon be spitted on that sword was now working hard to fix it. He had determined that he would take the opportunity of Mina"s absence to try to convince Odila to escape with him. If she refused, he would ride off for Sanction alone, to take the news to them of the approaching enemy. He had no idea how he was going to manage this, how he was going to elude Gaidar or, once he reached Sanction, how he was going to pa.s.s through the hordes of the enemy who had the city surrounded, but he figured he would deal with all that later.
Bored with waiting, tired of his own gloomy thoughts, he heard a commotion and walked over to see what was going on.
The elf was mounted on a red horse of fiery temper and disposition, for no one was able to get near the beast. The elf himself seemed uneasy on his mount, for when he reached down a hand to try to sooth the animal, the horse flung his head about and bit at him. The elf s.n.a.t.c.hed his hand back and made no further move to touch the horse.
A crowd had gathered around the elf. Some knew him, apparently, for they began to jeer, bowing before him mockingly, saluting the "king of Silvanesti" with raucous laughter. Gerard eyed the elf curiously. He was dressed in finery that might have suited a king, though his cloak of fine wool was travel-stained and his silken hose were torn, his gold-embroided doublet worn and frayed. He paid no attention to his detractors. He searched the camp for someone, as did the horse.
The crowd parted, as it always did whenever Mina walked among them. At the sight of her, the eyes of both horse and rider fixed on her with rapt attention.
The horse whinnied and shook his head. Mina came to Foxfire, laid her head against his, ran her hand over his muzzle. He draped his head over her shoulder and closed his eyes. His journey ended, his duty done, he was home, and he was content. Mina patted the horse and looked up at the elf.
"Mina," said the young man, and her name, as he spoke it, was red with his heart"s blood. He slid down off the horse"s back, stood before her. "Mina, you sent for me. I am here."
Such aching pain and love was in the elf"s voice that Gerard was embarra.s.sed for the young man. That his love was not reciprocated was obvious. Mina paid no attention to the elf, continued to lavished her attention on the horse. Her disregard for the young man did not go unnoticed. Mina"s Knights grinned at one another. Bawdy jests were whispered about. One man laughed out loud, but his laughter ceased abruptly when Mina shifted her amber eyes to him. Ducking his head, his face red, he slunk away.
Mina finally acknowledged the elf"s presence. "You are welcome, Your Majesty. All is in readiness for your arrival. A tent for you has been prepared next to mine. You have come in good time. Soon we march on Sanction to lay claim to that sacred city in the name of the One G.o.d. You will be witness to our triumph."
"You can"t go to Sanction, Mina!" said the elf. "It"s too dangerous . . ." His words faltered. Glancing around the crowd of black-armored humans, he seemed to have only just now realized that he had ridden into a camp of his enemies.
Mina saw and understood his unease. She cast a stern look around the crowd, quelled the jokes and silenced the laughter.
"Let it be known throughout the army that the king of the elves of the land of Silvanesti is my guest. He is to be treated with the same respect you treat me. I make each and every one of you responsible for his safety and well being,"
Mina"s gaze went searchingly about the camp and, to Gerard"s great discomfiture, halted when it reached him.
"Sir Gerard, come forward," Mina ordered.
Aware that every man and woman in camp was staring at him, Gerard felt the hot blood suffuse his face, even as a cold qualm gripped his gut. He had no idea why he was being singled out. He had no choice but to obey.
Saluting, he kept quiet, waited.
"Sir Gerard," said Mina gravely, "I appoint you as special bodyguard for the elven king. His care and comfort are your responsibility. I choose you because you have had considerable experience dealing with elves. As I recall, you served in Qualinesti before coming to us."
Gerard could not speak, he was so astonished, primarily at Mina"s cursed cleverness. He was her avowed enemy, a Solamnic Knight come to spy on her. She knew that. And because he was a Solamnic Knight, he was the only person in her army to whom she could entrust the life of the young elven king. Set a prisoner to guard a prisoner. A unique concept, yet one that must work in Gerard"s case.
"I am sorry, but I fear that this duty will keep you out of the battle for Sanction, Sir Gerard," Mina continued. "It would never do for His Majesty to be exposed to that danger, and so you will remain with him in the rear, with the baggage train. But there will be other battles for you, Sir Gerard. Of that, I am certain."
Gerard could do nothing but salute again. Mina turned her back, walked away. The elf stood staring after her, his face bleak and pale. Many in the army remained to stare and, now that Mina had departed, resume their gibes at the elf"s expense. Some started to grow downright nasty.
"Come on," said Gerard and, seeing that the elf was not going to move unless prompted, he grabbed hold of the elf"s arm and hauled him off bodily. Gerard marched the elf through the camp toward the area where Mina had raised her tent. Sure enough, another tent had been set up a short distance from hers. The tent was empty, awaiting the arrival of this strange guest.
"What is your name?" Gerard asked grumpily, not feeling kindly disposed toward this elf, who had further complicated his life.
The elf didn"t hear at first. He kept looking about, trying to find Mina.
Gerard asked again, this time raising his voice.
"My name is Silvanoshei," the elf replied. He spoke Common fluently, though his accent was so thick it was hard to understand him. The elf looked directly at Gerard, the first time he"d done so since Gerard had been put in charge of him.
"I don"t recognize you. You weren"t with her in Silvanesti, were you?"
No need to specify which "her" he was talking about. Gerard could see plainly that for this young man, there was only one "her" in the world.
"No," said Gerard shortly. "I "I wasn"t." wasn"t."
"Where has she gone now? What is she doing?" Silvanoshei asked, looking about again. "When will she come back?"
Mina"s tent and those of her bodyguards stood apart from the main camp, off to themselves. The noise of the camp faded behind them. The show was over. The Knights and soldiers went back to the business of making ready for war.
"Are you really king of the Silvanesti elves?" Gerard asked.
"Yes," said Silvanoshei absently, preoccupied by his search, "I am."
"Then what in the Abyss are you doing here?" Gerard demanded bluntly.
At that moment, Silvanoshei saw Mina. She was far distant, galloping on Foxfire across the valley. The two were alone, happy together, racing the wind with wild abandon. Seeing the pain in the young man"s eyes, Gerard answered his own question.
"What did you say?" Silvanoshei asked, sighing and turning around. Mina had ranged out of sight. "I didn"t hear you."
"Who"s ruling your people in your absence, Your Majesty?" Gerard asked accusingly. He was thinking of another elven king-Gilthas-who had sacrificed so much to save his people. Not run away from them.
"My mother," said Silvanoshei. He shrugged. "It"s what she"s always wanted."
"Your mother rules," said Gerard skeptically. "Or the Dark Knights of Neraka? I hear they"ve taken over Silvanesti."
"Mother will fight them," said Silvanoshei. "She enjoys fighting. She has always enjoyed it, you know. The battle and the danger. It"s what she lives for. I hate it. Our people, dying and suffering. Dying for her. Always dying for her. She drinks their blood, and it keeps her beautiful. But it poisoned me."
Gerard stared at him in perplexity. Even though the elf had been speaking Common, Gerard had no idea what he was talking about. He might have asked, but at that moment, Odila emerged from a tent that was set up next to Mina"s. She stopped at the sight of Gerard, flushed self-consciously, then turned swiftly and walked off.
"I will fetch you some hot water, Your Majesty," Gerard offered, keeping an eye on her. "You"ll want to freshen up and clean away the dust of the road. And I"ll bring food and drink. You look as if you could use it."
That much was true. Elves were always thin, but this young elf was emaciated. Apparently he was trying to live on love. Gerard"s anger started to fade. He was beginning to feel sorry for this young man, who was as much a prisoner as any of them.
"As you wish," said Silvanoshei, not caring. "When do you think Mina will return?"
"Soon, Your Majesty," said Gerard, almost shoving the young man into the tent. "Soon. You should be rested."
Having rid himself of his responsibility, at least for the moment, he hurried after Odila, who was walking through the camp.
"You"ve been avoiding me," he said in an undertone, catching up to her.
"For your own good," she replied, still walking. "You should leave, take word to the Knights in Sanction."
"I was planning to." He jerked his thumb back over his shoulder. "Now I have this besotted young elf king on my hands. I"ve been a.s.signed duty as his bodyguard."
Odila halted, stared at him. "Truly?"
"Truly."
"Mina"s idea?"
"Who else?"
"How clever," Odila remarked, continuing on.
"My thoughts exactly," said Gerard. "You don"t happen to know what she plans to do with him, do you? I can"t think she"s romantically inclined."
"Of course not," said Odila. "She told me all about him. He may not look it at the moment, but he has the potential to be a strong and charismatic leader of the elven nation. Mina saw the threat and acted to remove it. I don"t know much about elven politics, but I gather that the Silvanesti will not willingly follow anyone but him."
"Why doesn"t she just kill him?" Gerard asked. "Death would be more merciful that what she"s doing to him now."
"His death makes him a martyr, gives his people a cause for which they would fight. Now, they do nothing but sit and twiddle their thumbs, waiting for him to come back. There"s Gaidar watching us," she said suddenly. "I should go on alone. Don"t come with me."
"But where are you going?"
She did not look at him. "It is my task to take food to the two wizards. Force them to eat."
"Odila," said Gerard, holding her back, "you still believe in the power of this One G.o.d, don"t you?"
"Yes," she said, casting him a swift and defiant glance.
"Even though you know it"s an evil power?"
"An evil power that heals the sick and brings peace and comfort to hundreds," Odila returned.
"And restores hideous life to the dead!"
"Something only a G.o.d could do." Odila faced him squarely. "I believe in this G.o.d, Gerard, and, what"s more, so do you. That"s the real reason you"re here."
Gerard tried to come up with a glib rejoinder, but found he couldn"t. Was this what the voice in his heart was trying to tell him? Was he here of his own free will, or was he just one more prisoner?
Seeing he had no response, Odila turned and left him.
Gerard stood in troubled silence, watched her make her way through the bustling camp.
8.
Knight of tire Black Rose.
The journey this time was brief. Tas had barely started to grow annoyed with the tumbling about when he was suddenly right side up and standing solidly on his own two feet. Time, once again, stopped.
He exhaled in relief and looked around. The Hedge Maze was gone. Conundrum was gone. Tas stood alone in what must have once been a beautiful rose garden. The garden was beautiful no longer, for everything in it had died. Dried rose blossoms, that had once been red, were now dark as sorrow. Their heads hung drooping on the stems that were brown and withered. Dead leaves from years that knew nothing but winter lay in piles beneath a crumbling stone wall. A path made of broken flagstones led from the dead garden into a manor house, its walls charred and blackened by long-dead flames. Tall cypress trees surrounded the manor house, their enormous limbs cutting off any vestige of sunlight, so that if night fell, it came only as a deepening of day"s shadows.
Ta.s.slehoff thought that he had never in his life seen any place that made him feel so unutterably sad.
"What are you doing here?"
A shadow fell over the kender. A voice spoke, a voice that was fell and cold. A knight, clad in ancient armor, stood over him. The knight was dead. He had been dead for many centuries. The body inside the armor had long ago rotted away. The armor was the body now, flesh and bone, muscle and sinew, tarnished and blackened with age, charred by the fires of war, stained with the blood of his victims. Red eyes, the only light in an eternal darkness, were visible through the slit visor of the helm. The red eyes flicked like flame over Ta.s.slehoff. Their gaze was painful, and the kender flinched.
Ta.s.slehoff stared at the apparition before him, and a most unpleasant feeling stole over him, a feeling he had forgotten because it was such a horrible feeling that he didn"t like to remember it. His mouth filled with a bitter taste that stung his tongue. His heart lurched about in his chest as though it were trying to run away, but couldn"t. His stomach curled up in a ball and searched for some place to hide.
He tried to answer the question, but the words wouldn"t come out. He knew this knight. A death knight, Lord Soth had taught the kender fear, a sensation that Ta.s.slehoff had not liked in the least. The thought came that perhaps Lord Soth might not remember him, and it occurred to Tas that it might be a good thing if Lord Soth didn"t, for their last meeting hadn"t been all that friendly. That notion was quickly dispelled by the words that bit at the kender like winter"s bitter wind.
"I don"t like to repeat myself. What are you doing here?" don"t like to repeat myself. What are you doing here?"
Tas had been asked that question a lot in his long life, although never quite with this shade of meaning. Most of the time the question was: "What are you doing here?" here?" said in tones that implied the questioner would be glad if whatever he was doing said in tones that implied the questioner would be glad if whatever he was doing here here he would do it someplace else. Other times, the question was: "What are you he would do it someplace else. Other times, the question was: "What are you doing doing here?" which really meant stop here?" which really meant stop doing doing that immediately. Lord Soth had placed the emphasis on the "you" making it "What are that immediately. Lord Soth had placed the emphasis on the "you" making it "What are you you doing here?" which meant that he was referring to Ta.s.slehoff Burrfoot directly. Which meant that he recognized him. doing here?" which meant that he was referring to Ta.s.slehoff Burrfoot directly. Which meant that he recognized him.
Ta.s.slehoff made several attempts to answer, none of which were successful, for all that came out of his mouth was a gargle, not words.