Chapter Eight
"They're ready. Let' s go."
Lib patted her student on the head and followed Peral into the inn. They picked up their gear and left. Lib blew a kiss to Jaco as she walked out the door and he choked on his ale. They saddled their horses and rode east.
The journey was longer and harder. Snow lay deep in many places. It was twelve days before he stopped at the inn he'd stayed at on his way north. He taught songs to the other guests by the fire long into the night.
He'd smiled at the innkeeper's daughter and she'd stood a half meter behind him all evening. He raced to his room when she went to the kitchen. He shut the door, leaned against it, breathed a sigh of relief, and laughed. The smile had definitely been a mistake.
He met Peral and Lib at the point they'd separated a season before. This time they knew where they were going. They rode east.
"You look great, Doctor. We were pretty worried." Peral didn't quite know how to thank him. Not for himself, for Lib.
"I want to know what you did, and I want it undone! Someone could use us against you." Lib felt guilty and feeling guilty made her mad.
The Doctor smiled at her. "It is undone. It only stayed reversed as long as I held it open. Perhaps, you now understand how I feel about them."
They stared at him in surprise. They'd believed the ruby had taken strength from him, had used him as it had used them. They now knew he had chosen to give it to them.
"Now, since I worked so hard at it, why don't you tell me what we did."
They told him of the inn and the school, of the myth and the beast, of the storm and the climb. They asked him what he had done. He told them he had played tag and remembered why he was alive.
Lib sat and watched the Doctor. They had stopped at a roadside inn. The sun and the fragrance of the air whispered, "Spring!"
He sat midst a group of children and created a flute from a length of bamboo-like growth he had found nearby. He had always smiled easily, now he laughed. He very nearly glowed with the joy of just being alive. She watched him patiently teach small hands and smiled.
"You're wearing the same expression grandmother wore when she watched us play as children." Peral sat on the log next to her.
"I don't know what happened to him, Peral. Something did. He hasn't really changed, but he has."
"Despite that rather confusing statement, I know what you mean. Grandmother told me he'd complained to her once he'd taken more physical abuse in the last ten years than in the two hundred before. He's been prepared for this."
"I meant he just enjoys himself more intensely, enjoys being alive, more than I've ever seen before."
"I know." Lib turned to face Peral. The words had been spoken very softly. "I just wonder... How close to death did he come before he remembered how much he loves life?"
"Peral, we'd have known. The rings would have drawn on us."
"Would they? He reversed the circuit. If he could do that, what makes you think he couldn't turn them off?"
Lib watched Peral as he walked away. She looked down at the emerald she wore and started trying to think of a way to hold hands with the Doctor.
They rode east until the horses wanted to go south. Then they rode south.
"That's not a castle. That's a fortress."
"Lib's right, Doctor. It's four times the size of anything else we've seen. Look at those walls. They must be twenty-five meters high and ten deep."
"We may get a closer look. I believe I see a reception committee approaching. They don't look happy to see us."
The Doctor smiled at the fifty or so armed men who surrounded them and slowly raised his hands. Peral shrugged at Lib and they followed his lead.
The guard troop wanted them down, off the horses. They dismounted and led them into the castle yard. Lib stared around her. She knew a training center when she saw one. The biggest man she'd seen on Laeth came down the steps of the main building. He walked up to the Doctor and said, "I don't believe in myths and legends. I believe in sweat and blood, and life and death."
The Doctor smiled. "Good. Perhaps, we should discuss what's real." Leoht nudged him towards the man. "My horse seems to think we should have a talk."
He was the Baron of Pralth. He had heard of an army gathering in the east and had decided to prepare. The eastern reaches had been a source of trouble for as long as his family had held the land. But there had never been word of an army, until now. "They've been bandits and raiders. Taking flocks and slaves. An evil sort, but nuisance not threat. Never ran in groups of more than forty or so. Every strong arm had followers, but they fought amongst themselves more often than against us. Lately, rumors have come to me that's changed. Every villain with a band of cutthroats has ridden east, promised a share in the bounty when they conquer the world. My borders have been a bit too quiet. Makes me nervous."
"Your instincts are good, Talf. Something evil has come to your world. We followed it."
"Doctor, I'm a practical man. I don't believe in demons."
"Demon. I guess that's as good a word as any. Talf, the creature we followed isn't super-natural, at least not in the way you mean, but it does come from elsewhere. It is malevolent and has great power, but can be defeated. My companions and I are here to prevent it from causing the destruction of this world. I believe part of our task is to help your people prepare to fight it. We'll help you train them."
"That's nice of you, Doctor. Shall we see if you have anything to teach them?"
Lib gripped Peral's arm as Talf drew his sword. Peral felt her intentions and said, "Wait."
The Doctor smiled and drew Perseveren from its scabbard on Leoht. He saluted the baron and took position. The baron had never seen the salute before, but he liked it. He smiled, copied the salute, and prepared himself.
The clash of steel brought onlookers from everywhere. Soon, more than a hundred people stood watching the two smiling giants duel. Every so often, someone would move in front of Lib and Peral's bench. Peral would say, "Ahem." and they would turn and look at them and quickly move out of the way.
They watched in awe. The baron was the finest swordsman and soldier his planet had ever produced. He and the Doctor were well matched.
"Peral, they're enjoying themselves!"
"Lib, if you didn't have me to work out with, wouldn't you enjoy finding someone that could really make you work hard?"
The duel lasted for more than two hours. Finally, the Doctor caught Talf's blade with his own and spun it from his hand. He grinned at Talf and said, "Now do I get the job?"
Talf roared with laughter, threw his arm across the Doctor's shoulders, shooed a healer who wanted to tend his cuts away, and shouted, "Ale and a feast. I have found my teacher."
Lib and Peral watched them during the feast. They sat at the head of the table, each bloody from a dozen cuts, talking and laughing together. Peral said, "They're having a very good time. They're absolutely delighted to have met."
Lib smiled gently. "Wouldn't you be delighted if you found out you weren't the only hero in the world?"
The Doctor did something that night they'd never even imagined him doing. He got intoxicated. No, actually, he and Talf got uproariously drunk.
They each held a goblet in one hand, threw an arm across the other's shoulders, and staggered together, loudly singing, toward the stairs. They made it to the top. Much to the relief of Peral, Lib, and the captain and two of the baron's guards. Lib could tell by Marn's look of relief he hadn't wanted to try to catch the baron on the stairs any more than she'd wanted to try to catch the Doctor.
Talf and the Doctor sat down, fell down probably described it better, about two meters from the stairs. They clanked their goblets together, then drained them. Talf hiccuped and passed out on his back on the floor. The Doctor smiled down on him a few seconds, then joined him.
As she and Peral picked up the Doctor and Marn and his men p
icked up the baron, Marn grinned at Lib and winked. She grinned back at him. Later, he told her he'd never seen the baron get drunk before.
Marn had told them where to put the Doctor. They laid him on the big bed and removed his boots and breastplate. Peral started to leave, but Lib stopped him. She took his left hand in hers and touched their rings to the ruby the Doctor wore on his right. The rings glowed and she smiled. Peral said, "Just make sure he doesn't find out until he needs us."
"Doctor, you amaze me." Talf was holding his head and queasily gazing at his breakfast.
"I'm a bit amazed myself. I expected to be very hung-over this morning." He looked down the table to where Lib and Peral were droopily eating breakfast and added, "Everyone else seems to be." He decided to have a talk with them. He hadn't realized they'd had that much to drink. "Of course," he admitted to himself, "I wasn't in much shape to notice."
When breakfast was over, they toured the training facilities. Introductions were made and Lib and Peral set up a training schedule. The Doctor and Talf went to study maps. As soon as they'd gone, Lib and Peral excused themselves. They went to the stables and curled up on the hay in their horse's stalls to take a nap. Lib smiled. The Doctor hadn't caught on. She slept off the remainders of his hangover.
Monsters appeared in the land and people appeared at the castle. The Doctor didn't lead any more expeditions against beasts. It wasn't necessary. When one appeared, the local people got together and took care of it, then returned home. Except for a few, who made their way to the castle.
The training grounds outgrew the castle and the land surrounding it sprouted tents. One day a large party showed up looking for Lib and Peral. They had come from the inn that they'd turned into a school. Lib and Peral tested them and set them to training others. Two seasons passed.
"Lib, there's someone here to see you. I think you'd better bring your staff." She looked at Peral's grin, chose someone to continue the class in her absence and picked up her staff.
He stood in the center of the training square waiting for her. Tall for a laethan, he equaled or topped her height by a centimeter or two. He was broad shouldered and well muscled. He looked familiar, but she couldn't place him. That was a surprise. She couldn't imagine herself forgetting anyone THAT good-looking. He smiled and brought his staff to ready position. She laughed and waded in.
They drew a crowd. He was good! Lib spun her staff and he matched it. The crowd watched as they moved like two dancers to the rhythm of the crack of the staffs. It was nearly an hour before Lib knocked him off his feet. He laughed and said, "That was more than ten minutes. Now do I get to defend your back?"
"Lathan?!"
He picked himself up, dusted himself off, and bowed to her. "At your service, Milady."
She smiled and said, "On one condition. No verses."
He laughed and shook his head. "And I've worked so hard on them."
Talf turned to the Doctor and raised his eyebrows. The Doctor smiled and said, "It's been my experience that most really good squires appoint themselves."
"But he wants to sleep at the foot of my BED!"
"Lib, that's what squires do."
"Your grandmother wasn't quite so adamant, but I awoke with her sleeping at my feet more than once."
"Doctor, you're KIDDING!"
"No, Lib, I'm not." He smiled at the memory. "She only did it when I was hurt or threatened. Usually, when I wasn't in any condition to object. I gave up trying to break her of it. She'd agree it was foolish, then something would happen and there she'd be, cozying up to my toes."
Peral laughed. The thought of his grandmother; a woman who, with his father's help, had dragged a world out of brutality and illiteracy with her bare hands, sleeping curled up at the Doctor's feet delighted him. The thing was, he could see her doing it.
"Well, that doesn't solve my problem. I'd like to be able to get out of bed without having to find a dressing gown and worrying about how I look." Peral and the Doctor burst into laughter. Lib gave them a dirty look and went to find a class to teach. She still didn't know what to do about Lathan.
Later, she would find the answer. She didn't tell them, but the Doctor and Peral knew how she'd solved the problem. Lathan was a VERY happy young man.
"Amda!" Peral was delighted to see her, but not quite prepared for the hug and kiss she gave him.
"I found my knight, Peral. He's here and he brought three hundred troops. We've been training them." Her smile grew wider. "Men and women."
Peral laughed. "Amda, we hoped you wouldn't cause too big a change in this world. The Doctor's not supposed to do that."
"I did not change anything. He was already doing it. He believes women should do what they think right. If that means marching into battle, he'll teach them how to fight." Her face softened and became gentle. "It was how I knew he was my knight. Nemir found hers too." She giggled. "He took much convincing. Each morning he would throw her out and each night his daughter let her in. The next morning she would lie at the foot of his bed and he would throw her out again."
Amda's face got hard and the smile went away. "One night assassins came from the sky. Nemir said the noise of their coming terrified the guards, but they love their leader and did not run. Nemir fought at her knight's back that night. They battled to reach the nursery. They killed eight in the nursery, but the eight had killed too. Nemir became squire the night she held the Sultan of Karishdan as he wept beside the bodies of his wife and youngest child. The first he sent her to teach was his daughter. He too now believes women should be able to fight. The sultan's daughter brings one third of his armies north. They will come when leaves fall. They come to learn the way of battle in the cold."
The story pained Peral. He remembered the gentle, gracious, lady and happy boy the sultan had introduced with such pride and love. "Amda, who do you follow?"
"I follow the Duke of Merale, but do not know if I have done right. Can one be both squire to knight and wife to him?"
Peral laughed and spun her around. "Yes! That's wonderful! I want to meet your duke!" He set her down and bowed to her. "Fair Lady Amda."
She giggled. "But Peral, you already know him. You call him Logan."
She smiled at the Doctor's shocked expression. "I have learned the northern winter is cruel. We have no knowledge when battle may come. I have brought some that they may learn the way northrons prepare to battle cold and enemy together."
The Doctor smiled gently. "What's your name?"
"I am Cermine, Doctor. I am daughter to the Sultan of Karishdan. I ask my troops be given food and water. The harvest will be good I have given many coin to bring it here, but it is not yet in. We need supplying til it is done."
"We will help. How many troops did you bring?"
He wondered about her smile until she said, "Some over five thousand, Doctor." He laughed and she ran and hugged him.
Peral remembered her from the sultan's palace, but he was sure the Doctor wouldn't have. Later, he asked how he knew her so well. He smiled and said, "I used to chase her. She's very fast."
Lorin arrived by herself with a staff in her hand and decided Peral was her knight. He didn't know what to do with her any more than Lib had known what to do with Lathan. He solved his problem by telling her, "If you want to be my squire, you'll have to be a good one." He taught her to fight and she slept at the foot of his bed. He wondered who had taught her to use the staff so well. She'd been very happy to see Cermine again. And pleased with the Doctor's smile.
Bethda and Merdin arrived together with troops from the west. Bethda was Queen of Perline and rode the finest of derkine at the head of her nobles and men at arms. Merdin walked barefoot with staff and bow and a thousand peasants at her back. They too were pleased with the Doctor's smile.
Farmers arrived with the bounty of the fields. Cellars were dug and silos were built. The farmers stayed and took up a
rms.
The winter was harsh. Lives were lost to its ravages. Cermine lost nearly fifty in her camp, but the others learned the way of the cold.
Spring arrived and the Sultan of Karishdan came with ten thousand. The rumors from the east spoke of oppressed people, enslaved to prepare the machines of war. And evil that stole the souls of men.
Cermine was a gifted quartermaster. Supplies flowed from everywhere. Her agents found suppliers and organized caravans and sent them to her. No army of twenty thousand was ever better fed.