Just musing, Kurik. Ive been a long time away from home, and its going to take a while to get used to it again.
You may not have a while. Did anyone recognize you when you rode in?
Sparhawk remembered the fop in the square and nodded. One of Harparins toadies saw me in the square near the west gate.
Thats it, then. Youre going to have to present yourself at the palace tomorrow, or Lycheas will have Cimmura taken apart stone by stone searching for you.
Lycheas?
The Prince Regent bastard son to Princess Arissa and whatever drunken sailor or unhanged pickpocket got him on her.
Sparhawk sat up quickly, his eyes hardening. I think youd better explain a few things, Kurik, he said. Ehlanas the Queen. Why does her kingdom need a Prince Regent?
Where have you been, Sparhawk? On the moon? Ehlana fell ill a month ago.
Not dead? Sparhawk demanded with a sudden sinking in his stomach and a wrench of unbearable loss at the memory of the pale, beautiful girl-child with the grave, serious grey eyes whom he had watched throughout her childhood and whom, in a peculiar way, he had come to love, though she had been but eight years old when King Aldreas had sent him into his exile in Rendor.
No, Kurik replied, not dead, though she might as well be. He picked up the large, rough towel. Come out of the tub, he ordered. Ill tell you about it while you eat.
Sparhawk nodded and stood up. Kurik roughly towelled him off and then draped the soft robe about him. The table in the other room was laid with a platter of steaming slices of meat swimming in gravy, a half-loaf of rough, dark peasant bread, a wedge of cheese, and a pitcher of chilled milk. Eat, Kurik said.
Whats been going on here? Sparhawk demanded as he seated himself at the table and started to eat. He was surprised to find that he was suddenly ravenous. Start at the beginning.
All right, Kurik agreed, drawing his dagger and starting to carve thick slices of bread from the loaf. You knew that the Pandions were confined to the motherhouse at Demos after you left, didnt you?
Sparhawk nodded. I heard about it. King Aldreas was never really very fond of us.
That was your fathers fault, Sparhawk. Aldreas was very fond of his sister, and then your father forced him to marry someone else. That sort of soured his attitude towards the Pandion Order.
Kurik, Sparhawk said, its not proper to talk about the king that way.
Kurik shrugged. Hes dead now, so it doesnt hurt him, and the way he felt about his sister was common knowledge anyway. The palace pages used to take money from anyone who wanted to watch Arissa walk mother-naked through the upper halls to her brothers bedchamber. Aldreas was a weak king, Sparhawk. He was totally under the control of Arissa and the Primate Annias. With the Pandions confined at Demos, Annias and his underlings had things pretty much the way they wanted them. You were lucky not to have been here during those years.
Perhaps, Sparhawk murmured. What did Aldreas die from?
They say that it was the falling-sickness. My guess would be that the whores Annias used to slip into the palace for him after his wife died finally wore him out.
Kurik, you gossip worse than an old woman.
I know, Kurik admitted blandly. Its a vice I have.
And then Ehlana was crowned Queen?
Right. And then things started to change. Annias was certain that hed be able to control her the same way that hed been able to control Aldreas, but she brought him up short. She summoned Preceptor Vanion from the motherhouse at Demos and made him her personal advisor. Then she told Annias to make preparations to retire to a monastery to meditate on the virtues proper to a churchman. Annias was livid, of course, and he started to scheme immediately. The messengers were as thick as flies on the road between here and the cloister where the Princess Arissa has been confined. Theyre old friends, and they had certain common interests. At any rate, Annias suggested that Ehlana should marry her bastard cousin, Lycheas, but she laughed in his face.
That sounds fairly characteristic, Sparhawk smiled. I raised her myself and I taught her what was appropriate. What is this illness of hers?
It appears to be the same one that killed her father. She had a seizure and never regained consciousness. The court physicians all maintained that she wouldnt live out the week, but then Vanion took steps. He appeared at court with Sephrenia and eleven other Pandions all in full armour and with their visors down. They dismissed the Queens attendants, took her from her bed, clothed her in her state robes and put the crown on her head. Then they carried her to the great hall and set her on the throne and locked the door. Nobody knows what they did in there, but when they opened the door again, Ehlana sat on her throne encased in crystal.
What? Sparhawk exclaimed.
Its as clear as glass. You can see every freckle on the Queens nose, but you cant get near her. The crystals harder than diamond. Annias had workmen hammering on it for five days, and they couldnt even chip it. Kurik looked at Sparhawk. Could you do something like that? he asked curiously.
Me? Kurik, I wouldnt even know where to start. Sephrenia taught us the basics, but were like babies compared to her.
Well, whatever it was that she did, its keeping the Queen alive. You can hear her heart beating. It echoes through the throne room like a drum. For the first week or so, people were flocking in there just to listen to it. There was even talk that it was some kind of miracle and that the throne room ought to be made a shrine. But Annias locked the door and summoned Lycheas the bastard to Cimmura and set him up as Prince Regent. That was about two weeks ago. Since then Annias has had the church soldiers rounding up all his enemies. The dungeons under the cathedral are bulging with them. Thats where things stand right now. You picked a good time to come back. He paused, looking directly into his lords face. What happened in Cippria, Sparhawk? he asked. The news we got here was pretty sketchy.
Sparhawk shrugged. It wasnt much. Do you remember Martel?
The renegade Vanion stripped of his knighthood? The one with white hair?
Sparhawk nodded. He came to Cippria with a couple of underlings, and they hired fifteen or twenty cutthroats to help them. They waylaid me in a dark street.
Is that where you got the scars?
Yes.
But you got away.
Obviously. Rendorish murderers are a trifle squeamish when the blood on the cobblestones and splashed all over the walls happens to be theirs. After I cut down a dozen or so of them, the rest sort of lost heart. I got clear of them and made my way to the edge of town. I hid in a monastery until the wounds healed, then I took Faran and joined a caravan for Jiroch.
Kuriks eyes were shrewd. Do you think theres any possibility that Annias might have been involved in it? he asked. He hates your family, you know, and its fairly certain that he was the one who persuaded Aldreas to exile you.
Ive had the same thought from time to time. Annias and Martel have had dealings before. At any rate, I think the good primate and I have several things to discuss.
Kurik looked at him, recognizing the tone in his voice. Youre going to get into trouble, he warned.
Ive had the same thought from time to time. Annias and Martel have had dealings before. At any rate, I think the good primate and I have several things to discuss.
Kurik looked at him, recognizing the tone in his voice. Youre going to get into trouble, he warned.
Not as much as Annias will if I find out that he had a hand in that attack. Sparhawk straightened. Im going to need to talk with Vanion. Is he still here in Cimmura?
Kurik nodded. Hes at the chapterhouse on the east edge of town, but you cant get there right now. They lock the east gate at sundown. I think youd better present yourself at the palace right after the sun comes up, though. It wont take Annias long to come up with the idea of declaring you outlaw for breaking your exile, and its better to appear on your own, rather than be dragged in like a common criminal. Youre still going to have to do some fast talking to stay out of the dungeon.
I dont think so, Sparhawk disagreed. Ive got a document with the Queens seal on it authorizing my return. He pushed back his plate. The handwritings a little childish, and there are tearstains on it, but I think its still valid.
She cried? I didnt think she knew how.
She was only eight at the time, Kurik, and quite fond of me, for some reason.
You have that effect on a few people. Kurik looked at Sparhawks plate. Have you had all of that you want?
Sparhawk nodded.
Then get you to bed. Youve got a busy day ahead of you tomorrow.
It was much later. The room was faintly lit with the orange coals of the banked fire, and Kuriks regular breathing came from the cot on the other side of the room. The insistent, nagging bang of an unlatched shutter swinging freely in the wind several streets over had set some brainless dog to barking, and Sparhawk lay, still half-bemused by sleep, patiently waiting for the dog to grow wet enough or weary enough of his entertainment to seek his kennel again.
Since it had been Krager he had seen in the square, there was no absolute certainty that Martel was in Cimmura. Krager was an errand boy and was frequently half a continent away from Martel. Had it been the brutal Adus who had crossed that rainy square, there would be no question as to Martels presence in the city. Of necessity, Adus had to be kept on a short leash.
Krager would not be hard to find. He was a weak man with the usual vices and the usual predictability of weak men. Sparhawk smiled bleakly into the darkness. Krager would be easy to find and Krager would know where Martel could be found. It would be a simple matter to drag that information out of him.
Moving quietly to avoid waking his sleeping squire, Sparhawk swung his legs out of the bed and crossed silently to the window to watch the rain slant past into the deserted, lantern-lit courtyard below. Absently he wrapped his hand about the silver-bound hilt of the broadsword standing beside his formal armour. It felt good like taking the hand of an old friend.
Dimly, as always, there was a remembered sound of the bells. It had been the bells he had followed that night in Cippria. Sick and hurt and alone, stumbling through the dung-reeking night in the stockyards, he had half-crawled towards the sound of the bells. He had come to the wall and had followed it, his good hand on the ancient stones, until he had come to the gate, and there he had fallen.
Sparhawk shook his head. That had been a long time ago. It was strange that he could still remember the bells so clearly. He stood with his hand on his sword, looking out at the tag end of night, watching it rain and remembering the sound of the bells.
Chapter 2
Sparhawk was dressed in his formal armour, and he strode clanking back and forth in the candlelit room to settle it into place. Id forgotten how heavy this is, he said.
Youre getting soft. Kurik told him. You need a month or two on the practice field to toughen you up. Are you sure you want to wear it?
Its a formal occasion, Kurik, and formal occasions demand formal dress. Besides, I dont want any confusion in anybodys mind when I get there. Im the Queens Champion, and Im supposed to wear armour when I present myself to her.
They wont let you in to see her, Kurik predicted, picking up his lords helmet.
Wont let?
Dont do anything foolish, Sparhawk. Youre going to be all alone.
Is the Earl of Lenda still on the council?
Kurik nodded. Hes old, and he doesnt have much authority, but hes too much respected for Annias to dismiss him.
Ill have one friend there anyway. Sparhawk took his helmet from his squire and settled it in place. He pushed up his visor.
Kurik went to the window to pick up Sparhawks sword and shield. The rains letting up, he noted, and its starting to get light. He came back, laid the sword and shield on the table and picked up the silver-coloured surcoat. Hold out your arms, he instructed.
Sparhawk spread his arms wide, and Kurik draped the surcoat over his shoulders, then he laced up the sides. He then took up the long sword belt and wrapped it twice about his lords waist. Sparhawk picked up his sheathed sword. Did you sharpen this? he asked.
Kurik gave him a flat stare.
Sorry. Sparhawk locked the scabbard onto the heavy steel studs on the belt and shifted it around into place on his left side.
Kurik fastened the long black cape to the shoulder plates of the armour, then stepped back and looked Sparhawk up and down appraisingly. Good enough, he said. Ill bring your shield. Youd better hurry. They rise early at the palace. It gives them more time for mischief.
They went out of the room and on down the stairs to the innyard. The rain for the most part had passed, with only a few last intermittent sprinkles slanting into the yard in the gusty morning wind. The dawn sky, however, was still covered with tattered grey cloud, although there was a broad band of pale yellow off to the east.
The knight porter led Faran out of the stable, and he and Kurik boosted Sparhawk up into his saddle.
Be careful when you get inside the palace, my Lord, Kurik warned in the formal tone he used when they were not alone. The regular palace guards are probably neutral, but Annias has a troop of church soldiers there as well. Anybody in red livery is likely to be your enemy. He handed up the embossed black shield.
Sparhawk buckled the shield into place. Youre going to the chapterhouse to see Vanion? he asked his squire.
Kurik nodded. Just as soon as they open the east gate of the city.
Ill probably go there when Im through at the palace, but you come back here and wait for me. He grinned. We may have to leave town in a hurry.
Dont go out of your way to force the issue, my Lord.
Sparhawk took Farans reins from the porter. All right then, Sir Knight, he said. Open the gate and Ill go present my respects to the bastard Lycheas.
The porter laughed and swung open the gate.
Faran moved out at a proud, rolling trot, lifting his steel-shod hooves exaggeratedly and bringing them down in a ringing staccato on the wet cobblestones. The big horse had a peculiar flair for the dramatic, and he always pranced outrageously when Sparhawk was mounted on his back in full armour.