‘Under the circumstances I’d almost have to agree.’
‘What do we do about it then? It’s an interim hypothesis, and it ignores the possibility of pure coincidence, but shouldn’t we take some steps just in case there is some connection?’
‘I don’t think we can afford not to, Sparhawk. I think the first thing you should do is to keep Bhelliom inside that pouch. Don’t take it out unless you absolutely have to.’
‘That makes sense.’
‘And if you do have to take it out, be on your guard for an attempt on your life.’
‘I sort of do that automatically anyway – all the time. I’m in a nervous kind of profession.’
‘And, I think we’d better keep this to ourselves. If that shadow comes from Azash, it can turn our friends against us. Any one of them could turn on you at any time at all. If we tell them what we suspect, the shadow – or whatever it is – will probably know what’s in their thoughts. Let’s not warn Azash that we know what He’s doing.’
Sparhawk steeled himself to say it, and when he did, it was with a vast reluctance. ‘Wouldn’t it solve everything if we were just to destroy Bhelliom right here and now?’ he asked her.
She shook her head. ‘No, dear one,’ she said. ‘We may still need it.’
‘It’s a simple answer, though.’
‘Not really, Sparhawk.’ Her smile was bleak. ‘We don’t know for sure what kind of force the destruction of Bhelliom might release. We might lose something fairly important.’
‘Such as?’
‘The city of Cimmura – or the entire Eosian continent, for all I know.’
Chapter 6
It was nearly dusk when Sparhawk quietly opened the door to his queen’s bedroom and looked in on her. Her face was framed by that wealth of pale blonde hair fanning out on the pillow and catching the golden light of the single candle on the stand at the side of her bed. Her eyes were closed, and her face softly composed. He had discovered in the past day or so that an adolescence spent in the corrupt court dominated by the Primate Annias had marked her face with a kind of defensive wariness and a flinty determination. When she slept, however, her expression had the same soft, luminous gentleness that had caught at his heart when she was a child. Privately, and now without reservation, he admitted that he loved this pale girl-child, although he was still adjusting his conception of her in that regard. Ehlana was much a woman now and no longer a child. With an obscure kind of twinge, Sparhawk admitted to himself that he really was wrong for her. There was a temptation to take advantage of her girlish infatuation, but he knew that to do so would not only be morally wrong, but could also cause her much suffering later in her life. He determined that under no circumstances would he inflict the infirmities of his old age upon the woman he loved.
‘I know you’re there, Sparhawk.’ Her eyes did not open, and a soft smile touched her lips. ‘I always used to love that when I was a child, you know. Sometimes, particularly when you started lecturing me on theology, I’d doze off or pretend to. You’d talk on for a while, and then you’d just sit there, watching me. It always made me feel so warm and secure and totally safe. Those moments were probably the happiest in my life. And just think, after we’re married, you’ll watch me go to sleep in your arms every night, and I’ll know that nothing in the world can ever hurt me, because you’ll always be there watching over me.’ She opened her calm grey eyes. ‘Come here and kiss me, Sparhawk,’ she told him, extending her arms.
‘It’s not proper, Ehlana. You’re not fully dressed, and you’re in bed.’
‘We’re betrothed, Sparhawk. We have a certain leeway in such matters. Besides, I’m the queen. I’ll decide what’s proper and what’s not.’
Sparhawk gave up and kissed her. As he had noted before, Ehlana was most definitely no longer a child. ‘I’m too old for you, Ehlana,’ he reminded her gently once again. He wanted to keep that firmly in front of both of them. ‘You do know that I’m right, don’t you?’
‘Nonsense.’ She had not yet removed her arms from about his neck. ‘I forbid you to get old. There, does that take care of it?’
‘You’re being absurd. You might as well order the tide to stop.’
‘I haven’t tried that yet, Sparhawk, and until I do, we won’t really know that it wouldn’t work, will we?’
‘I give up,’ he laughed.
‘Oh good. I just adore winning. Was there something important you wanted to tell me, or did you just stop by to ogle me?’
‘Do you mind?’
‘Being ogled? Of course not. Ogle to your heart’s content, beloved. Would you like to see more?’
‘Ehlana!’
Her laughter was a silvery cascade.
‘All right, let’s get down to more serious matters.’
‘I was being serious, Sparhawk – very serious.’
‘The Pandion Knights, myself included, are going to have to leave Cimmura before long, I’m afraid. The revered Cluvonus is failing fast, and as soon as he dies, Annias is going to make a try for the Archprelate’s throne. He’s flooded the streets of Chyrellos with troops loyal to him, and unless the militant orders are there to stop him, he’ll gain that throne.’
Her face took on that flinty expression again. ‘Why don’t you take that gigantic Thalesian, Sir Ulath, run on down to Chyrellos and chop Annias’s head off? Then come right back. Don’t give me time to get lonely.’
‘Interesting notion, Ehlana. I’m glad you didn’t suggest it in front of Ulath, though. He’d be on his way to the stables to saddle the horses by now. The point I was trying to make is that when we leave, you’re going to be left defenceless here. Would you consider coming along with us?’
She thought about it. ‘I’d love to, Sparhawk,’ she said, ‘but I don’t really see how I can just now. I’ve been incapacitated for quite some time, and I’ve got to stay here in Cimmura to repair the damage Annias caused while I was asleep. I have responsibilities, love.’
‘We were fairly sure you’d feel that way about it, so we’ve come up with an alternative plan to ensure your safety.’
‘You’re going to use magic and seal me up in the palace?’ Her eyes were impish as she teased him.
‘We hadn’t considered that,’ he conceded. ‘It probably wouldn’t work, though. As soon as Annias found out what we’d done, he’d probably send soldiers here to try to retake the city. His underlings would be able to run the kingdom from outside the palace walls, and you wouldn’t be able to do much to stop them. What we are going to do is put together a kind of an army to protect you – and the city – until your own army has time to come back from Arcium.’
‘The term “a kind of an army” sounds a little tentative, Sparhawk. Where are you going to get that many men?’
‘Off the streets, and from the farms and villages.’
‘Oh, that’s just fine, Sparhawk. Wonderful.’ Her tone was sarcastic. ‘I’m to be defended by ditch-diggers and ploughboys?’
‘Also by thieves and cut-throats, My Queen.’
‘You’re actually serious about this, aren’t you?’
‘Very much so. Don’t close your mind just yet, though. Wait until you hear the details, and there are a pair of scoundrels on their way here to meet you. Don’t make any decisions until after you’ve talked with them.’
‘I think you’re completely mad, Sparhawk. I still love you, but your mind seems to be slipping. You can’t make an army out of hod-carriers and clod-hoppers.’
‘Really? Where do you suppose the common soldiers in your army come from, Ehlana? Aren’t they recruited from the streets and farms?’
She frowned. ‘I hadn’t thought of that, I suppose,’ she conceded, ‘but without generals, I’m not going to have much of an army, you know.’
‘That’s what the two men I just mentioned are coming here to discuss with you, Your Majesty.’
‘Why is it that “Your Majesty” always sounds so cold and distant when you say it, Sparhawk?’
‘Don’t change the subject. You’ll agree to withhold judgement, then?’
‘If you say so, but I’m still a little dubious about this. I wish you could stay here.’
‘So do I, but –’ He spread his hands helplessly.
‘When will there ever be time for just us?’
‘It won’t be much longer, Ehlana, but we have to beat Annias. You understand that, don’t you?’
She sighed. ‘I suppose so.’
Talen and Berit returned not long afterwards with Platime and Stragen. Sparhawk met them in the sitting-room while Ehlana attended to those minute details that are always involved in making a woman ‘presentable’.
Stragen was at his elegant best, but the waddling, black-bearded Platime, chief of beggars, thieves, cut-throats and whores, looked distinctly out of place. ‘Ho, Sparhawk!’ the fat man bellowed. He had forgone his food-spotted orange doublet in favour of one in blue velvet that didn’t fit him very well.
‘Platime,’ Sparhawk replied gravely. ‘You’re looking quite natty this evening.’
‘Do you like it?’ Platime plucked at the front of his doublet with a pleased expression. He turned a full circle, and Sparhawk noted several knife holes in the back of the thief’s finery. ‘I’ve had my eye on it for several months now. I finally persuaded the former owner to part with it.’
‘Milord.’ Sparhawk bowed to Stragen.
‘Sir Knight,’ Stragen responded, also bowing.
‘All right, what’s this all about, Sparhawk?’ Platime demanded. ‘Talen was babbling some nonsense about forming up a home guard of some kind.’
‘Home guard. That’s a good term,’ Sparhawk approved. ‘The Earl of Lenda will be along in a few moments, and then I’m sure Her Majesty will make her entrance from that room over there – where she’s probably listening at the door right now.’
From the queen’s bed-chamber came the stamp of an angry foot.
‘How’s business been?’ Sparhawk asked the gross leader of the underside of Cimmura.
‘Quite good, actually,’ the fat man beamed. ‘Those foreign church soldiers the Primate sent to prop up the bastard Lycheas were very innocent. We robbed them blind.’
‘Good. I always like to see friends get on in the world.’
The door opened, and the ancient Earl of Lenda shuffled into the room. ‘Sorry to be late, Sparhawk,’ he apologized. ‘I’m not very good at running any more.’
‘Quite all right, My Lord of Lenda,’ Sparhawk replied. ‘Gentlemen,’ he said to the two thieves, ‘I have the honour to present the Earl of Lenda, head of Her Majesty’s council of advisers. My Lord, these are the two men who will lead your home guard. This is Platime, and this, Milord Stragen from Emsat.’
They all bowed – at least Platime tried to bow. ‘Milord?’ Lenda asked Stragen curiously.
‘An affectation, My Lord of Lenda,’ Stragen smiled ironically. ‘It’s a carry-over from a misspent youth.’
‘Stragen’s one of the best,’ Platime put in. ‘He’s got some strange ideas, but he does very well – better even than me some weeks.’
‘You’re too kind, Platime,’ Stragen murmured with a bow.
Sparhawk crossed the room to the door to the queen’s bed-chamber. ‘We’re all assembled, My Queen,’ he said through the panel.
There was a pause, and then Ehlana, wearing a pale blue satin gown and a discreet diamond tiara, entered. She stopped, looking around with a queenly bearing. ‘Your Majesty,’ Sparhawk said formally, ‘may I present Platime and Stragen, your generals?’
‘Gentlemen,’ she said with a brief inclination of her head.
Platime tried to bow again, badly, but Stragen more than made up for it.
‘Pretty little thing, isn’t she?’ Platime observed to his blond companion.
Stragen winced.
Ehlana looked a bit startled. To cover the moment, she looked around the room. ‘But where are our other friends?’ she asked.
‘They’ve returned to the chapterhouse, My Queen,’ Sparhawk informed her. ‘They have preparations to make. Sephrenia promised to come back later, though.’ He extended his arm and escorted her to a rather ornate chair by the window. She sat and carefully arranged the folds of her gown.
‘May I?’ Stragen said to Sparhawk.
Sparhawk looked puzzled.
Stragen went to the window, nodding to Ehlana as he passed, and drew the heavy drapes. She stared at him. ‘It’s most imprudent to sit with one’s back to an open window in a world where there are crossbows, Your Majesty,’ he explained with another bow. ‘You have many enemies, you know.’
‘The palace is totally secure, Milord Stragen,’ Lenda objected.
‘Do you want to tell him?’ Stragen wearily asked Platime.
‘My Lord of Lenda,’ the fat man said politely, ‘I could get thirty men inside the palace grounds in about ten minutes. Knights are all very well on a battlefield, I suppose, but it’s hard to look up when you’re wearing a helmet. In my youth, I studied the art of burglary. A good burglar is as much at home on a rooftop as he is on a street.’ He sighed. ‘Those were the days,’ he reminisced. ‘There’s nothing like a nice neat burglary to set the pulse to racing.’
‘But it might be a bit difficult for a man weighing twenty-one stone,’ Stragen added. ‘Even a slate roof can only hold so much weight.’
‘I’m not really all that fat, Stragen.’
‘Of course not.’
Ehlana looked genuinely alarmed. ‘What are you doing to me, Sparhawk?’ she asked.
‘Protecting you, My Queen,’ he replied. ‘Annias wants you dead. He’s already proved that. As soon as he finds out about your recovery, he’ll try again. The men he sends to kill you won’t be gentlemen. They won’t leave their cards with the footman at the door when they come to call. Between them, Platime and Milord Stragen know just about everything there is to know about slipping into places unobserved, and they’ll be able to take the proper steps.’
‘We can guarantee Your Majesty that no one will get past us alive,’ Stragen assured her in his beautiful deep voice. ‘We’ll try not to over-inconvenience you, but there’ll be certain restrictions on your freedom of movement, I’m afraid.’
‘Such as not sitting near an open window?’
‘Precisely. We’ll draw up a list of suggestions and pass them on to you through the Earl of Lenda. Platime and I are men of business, and Your Majesty might find our presence distressing. We’ll remain in the background as much as possible.’
‘Your delicacy is exquisite, Milord,’ she told him, ‘but I’m not all that much distressed by the presence of honest men.’
‘Honest?’ Platime laughed coarsely. ‘I think we’ve just been insulted, Stragen.’
‘Better an honest cut-throat than a dishonest courtier,’ Ehlana said. ‘Do you really do that? Cut throats, I mean?’
‘I’ve slit a few in my time, Your Majesty,’ he admitted with a shrug. ‘It’s a quiet way to find out what a man has in his purse, and I’ve always been curious about that sort of thing. Speaking of that, you might as well tell her, Talen.’
‘What’s this?’ Sparhawk asked.
‘There’s a small fee involved, Sparhawk,’ Talen said.
‘Oh?’
‘Stragen volunteered his services free of charge,’ the boy explained.
‘Just for the experience, Sparhawk,’ the blond northerner said. ‘King Wargun’s court is a bit crude. The court of Elenia is reputed to be exquisitely courteous and totally depraved. A studious man always seizes these opportunities to expand his education. Platime, on the other hand, is not quite so studious. He wants something a little more tangible.’
‘Such as?’ Sparhawk bluntly asked the fat man.
‘I’m beginning to give some thought to retirement, Sparhawk – some quiet country estate where I can entertain myself in the company of a bevy of immoral young women – begging Your Majesty’s pardon. Anyway, a man can’t really enjoy his declining year
s if there are a number of hanging offences lurking in his background. I’ll protect the queen with my life if she can find it in her heart to grant me a full pardon for my past indiscretions.’
‘Just what sort of indiscretions are we talking about here, Master Platime?’ Ehlana asked suspiciously.
‘Oh, nothing really worth mentioning, Your Majesty,’ he replied deprecatingly. ‘There were a few incidental murders, assorted thefts, robberies, extortions, burglaries, arson, smuggling, highway robbery, cattle-rustling, pillaging a couple of monasteries, operating unlicensed brothels – that sort of thing.’
‘You have been busy, haven’t you, Platime?’ Stragen said admiringly.
‘It’s a way to pass the time. I think we’d better just make it a general pardon, Your Majesty. I’m bound to forget a few offences here and there.’
‘Is there any crime you haven’t committed, Master Platime?’ she asked sternly.
‘Barratry, I think, Your Majesty. Of course I’m not sure what it means, so I can’t be entirely positive.’
‘It’s when a ship captain wrecks his ship in order to steal the cargo,’ Stragen supplied.
‘No, I’ve never done that. Also, I’ve never had carnal knowledge of an animal, I’ve never practised witchcraft, and I’ve never committed treason.’
‘Those are the more really serious ones, I suppose,’ Ehlana said with a perfectly straight face. ‘I do so worry about the morals of foolish young sheep.’
Platime roared with sudden laughter. ‘I do myself, Your Majesty. I’ve spent whole nights tossing and turning about it.’
‘What kept you untainted by treason, Master Platime?’ the Earl of Lenda asked curiously.
‘Lack of opportunity, probably, My Lord,’ Platime admitted, ‘although I rather doubt I’d have gone into that sort of thing anyway. Unstable governments make the general populace nervous and wary. They start protecting their valuables, and that makes life very hard for thieves. Well, Your Majesty, do we have a bargain?’
‘A general pardon in exchange for your services – for so long as I require them?’ she countered.