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    The Stricken Field
    The Stricken Field
    The Stricken Field
    Ebook529 pages9 hours

    The Stricken Field

    By Dave Duncan

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    A king resists a sorcerer’s rule over the Impire in this fantasy series from the Aurora Award–winning author of the Man of His Word novels.

    Paranoid but almighty, the sorcerer Xinixo had seized control of the Impire. But ruling the imps and most of the world was not enough. He would never feel safe until he was universally loved, so he would smash everything and then rebuild the whole world in his own insane image. Who could resist him?   King Rap of Krasnegar and Shandie, the rightful imperor, were still at large and determined to resist the evil, however slender their chances. Their one, faint hope was to enlist the help of the remaining free sorcerers of the world, those not already spellbound by Xinixo. Their quest soon ran into disaster. Their messengers were betrayed or ensnared. A rampaging goblin army had captured Shandie and was about to torture him to death. Rap was mired in a tropical jungle, hoping his wife and children were safe back home in Krasnegar. They were not in Krasnegar and certainly not safe.   As the flames of war raged across Pandemia, news of the disasters penetrated even into Thume, the Accursed Land. Outsiders believed that the pixies had been extinct for a thousand years, but they still lived there, hoarding their magic. Their ruler, the Keeper, adamantly refused to meddle in events outside her borders, but one young pixie girl was prepared to rebel against the ancient order . . . 
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Media
    Release dateApr 1, 2014
    ISBN9781497606111
    The Stricken Field
    Author

    Dave Duncan

    Dave Duncan (1933–2018) was born in Scotland, and received his diploma from Dundee High School and got his college education at the University of Saint Andrews. He moved to Canada in 1955, where he lived with his wife. Duncan spent thirty years as a petroleum geologist. He has had dozens of fantasy and science fiction novels published, among them A Rose-Red City, Magic Casement, and The Reaver Road, as well as a highly praised historical novel, Daughter of Troy, published, for commercial reasons, under the pseudonym Sarah B. Franklin. He also published the Longdirk series of novels, Demon Sword, Demon Knight, and Demon Rider, under the name Ken Hood.   In the fall of 2007, Duncan’s 2006 novel, Children of Chaos, published by Tor Books, was nominated for both the Prix Aurora Award and the Endeavour Award. In May 2013, Duncan, a 1989 founding member of SFCanada, was honored by election as a lifetime member by his fellow writers, editors, and academics. He passed away in 2018. Visit https://www.daveduncanauthor.com/ for more information on the author.

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      The Stricken Field - Dave Duncan

      The Stricken Field

      A Handful Of Men: Book Three

      Dave Duncan

      Open Road logo

      All of the books in Dave Duncan’s A Handful of Men series are available:

      1: The Cutting Edge

      2: Upland Outlaws

      3: The Stricken Field

      4: The Living God

      map

      CONTENTS

      Prologue

      ONE Auld acquaintances

      TWO Lonesome road

      THREE Doubt and sorrow

      FOUR Remedies refusing

      FIVE Signifying nothing

      Interlude

      SIX Westward look

      SEVEN We happy few

      EIGHT Afterwards remember

      NINE Pricking thumbs

      TEN Possess the field

      PREVIEW The Living God

      PROLOGUE

      A blustery wind ripped and buffeted at the old house, making roof creak and casements rattle. Clouds streamed through the night sky and played tag with the moon. The air smelled of rain now, not snow; spring lurked outside in the damp woods.

      The old woman wandered the empty galleries, clutching a dancing candle in knotted fingers. She listened to the whisper of the Voices and cackled at their amusement and their joy.

      Coming, is he? she said. Well, you said he would.

      She paused, thinking she had heard a living sound, but there was nothing more. It might have been the child, restless with a new tooth, perhaps. It might have been the soldier. She had forgotten his name, they all just called him Centurion. He prowled at night, sometimes, but the Voices warned her where he was and she avoided him. Dangerous, that one.

      The Voices were joyful tonight. The duke was coming, they said, coming to claim his lady, coming to fulfill his destiny as they had known he would, these many years.

      She wasn’t aware of it yet, the lady—didn’t know he was coming. Pretty, she was. Lovely as a dream, even if she was mother to the brat. And cold. The old couple had a name for her, but they called her Ma’am when they thought they weren’t overheard. They were a count and countess, so what did that make the lady, that they would be so respectful toward her? She had a husband somewhere. Not the duke. Husbands had never stopped lovers much, now, had they?

      The old folk wouldn’t either. Nor the centurion. The Voices knew that.

      Cold, she was, but a lover would soon melt the ice.

      He was on his way at last, the duke. Coming to claim his lady, his destiny. And hers. The Voices knew.

      Wind rattled the casements.

      ONE

      Auld acquaintances

      1

      Lord Umpily had never experienced anything in his life as bad as the dungeon. He did not know how long he had been lying there, alone in the cold, stinking darkness, but when he heard the clatter of chains and locks and saw the flicker of light through the peephole in the door and could guess that they had come to take him away… well, then he did not want to leave.

      Probably he had been there for no more than a week, although it felt like at least a month. In the darkness and silence he would have welcomed even a rat or two for company, but the only other residents were the tiny, many-legged kind. He itched all over; there was a lot of him to itch. He had developed sores from lying on the hard stone, for the straw provided was rotten and scanty. He had lost count of meals, but they seemed to come only every second day, or perhaps twice a week. He had passed the time mostly in thinking of some of the great banquets he had attended in his time, mulling them over in his mind, dish by dish. When he had exhausted even that fund of entertainment, he began reviewing all his favorite recipes, planning the perfect meal, the one he would arrange in celebration were he ever to be restored to court and a normal existence again.

      The mental torment was much worse than the physical. He was no stranger to hardship. As advisor to the prince imperial, he had journeyed with Shandie to almost every corner of the Impire, living in the saddle for weeks on end, bedding in army camp or hedgerow hostel. He had survived forests and deserts, blizzards and breakers—he had never tasted anything worse than this prison gruel, though. At least on those expeditions he had understood why he was there and what he was doing. Life had made sense then, and even if warfare itself sometimes seemed nonsensical, there had always been the consolation that he was helping a future imperor learn his trade.

      He wondered how Shandie was managing now, deposed and dispossessed within minutes of his accession, a hunted outlaw battling omnipotent sorcery. Ironically, when Legate Ugoatho arrested Umpily, he had not ordered him searched, and the magic scroll still nestled safely in the inside pocket of his doublet. Writing in the dark was trickier than he had expected, but he had scrawled a warning that his spying days were ended. Disregard future communications! He could not tell if Shandie had received the message or had replied.

      Always Umpily’s thoughts would return to the dread vision he had seen in the preflecting pool. That prophecy had been fulfilled. A dwarf now sat on the Opal Throne. After more than three thousand years the Impire had fallen, and almost no one knew it. With its immense occult power, the Covin had overthrown the Protocol, deposed the wardens, replaced the imperor, and yet had managed to hide the truth from the world. The sorcerous would know the secret, of course, or most of it—practically all of them had been conscripted into the Covin anyway—but no mundanes did, except for a tiny handful. Zinixo undoubtedly intended to keep his triumph secret indefinitely. What would he do to those who knew it?

      Umpily was about to find out. Light flickered outside the spy hole, chains rattled, the lock squeaked.

      * * *

      Blinded by the lanterns, he was dragged along a corridor and up a flight of stairs. When the cruel hands were removed, he toppled limply to a bare plank floor.

      Oh, you needn’t be so formal, said an odious, familiar voice.

      Umpily forced himself to his hands and knees. Squinting, he made out a pair of smart military sandals in front of him, and shiny greaves above them. How long? he croaked. How long have I been in there?

      A little more than a day.

      Aghast, Umpily registered the reflection on the polished bronze before him. Thinned down by the curvature until it seemed narrow and bony, his own face stared back at him. It wore no beard. He felt his chin and found only stubble. One day?

      The imperor wants to see you, Ugoatho said. Can you stand?

      Grimly, grunting with the effort, Umpily heaved his bulk upright. His eyes were adjusting, even if his mind would not. Swaying, he stared at the hard, hateful face of Legate… no, not Legate. His cuirass was set with gems and gold inlay. The horsehair crest on the helmet was scarlet. Legate Ugoatho had been promoted.

      Congratulations. Was I responsible for that?

      The new marshal of the armies had a grim chuckle. Partly. I was told to bring you at once, but nobody said anything about passengers.

      Passengers?

      Ugoatho wrinkled his nose. Wash him! he snapped. He spun around and headed for the door.

      * * *

      The court was still in mourning for Emshandar IV. Statues and pictures were draped in black crepe. The corridors and halls were almost deserted, and spooky in scanty candlelight. Apart from that, the palace seemed eerily normal. There were no dwarves in sight. Guards, secretaries, footmen… mercifully few spectators saw Lord Umpily being conducted to the imperial presence.

      The clothes that had been found for him were absurdly tight. He could not fasten the doublet, and he was certain things would rip if he tried to sit down. His escort of Praetorian Guards could have no inkling that they served an imposter. Umpily would be dismissed as a raving lunatic if he ever tried to explain that the imperor he was being taken to see was not Shandie, but his cousin, Prince Emthoro, sorcerously disguised.

      In silence the prisoner was conducted across the great expanse of the Throne Room, deserted and huge. There was no sign of Marshal Ugoatho. The usual challenges and responses were proclaimed, all very normal, and then the big door swung open, and Umpily was ushered through into the Cabinet.

      This part of the palace dated from the XVth Dynasty. The Throne Room was for show, the Cabinet was the inner sanctum. A score of imperors had ruled the world from this room. Emshandar had sat at that great desk for half a century, and his grandson had ruled there for half a year as unofficial regent in the old man’s last decline. He had never had a chance to sit there in his own right as Emshandar V.

      Defiance! Umpily thought. I know he is a fraud, and he knows I know it. I will be true to my loyalties. I will not concede.

      The door closed. The big room was scented by the beeswax candles burning over the desk. Heavy, soft shadows outside their oasis of golden light could not conceal the opulence of the chamber—fine carved woods, fabrics of silk. Peat smoldered in the hearth, adding its friendly odor to the candles’. The fake imperor was alone, sitting at the desk, head resting on a hand, studying one of the endless papers that flowed into this center of power. In a moment he marked his place with a finger and looked up.

      It was Shandie!

      For a moment he seemed tired, and worried. Then a slow, familiar smile of welcome spread over the nondescript features. He sprang to his feet.

      Umpy!

      Umpily’s heart twisted in his chest. His eyelids prickled. Shandie—the real Shandie, Umpily reminded himself—the real Shandie had not used that foolish diminutive in ten years. Back when he had been an awkward, friendless adolescent, yes. Never since then.

      Umpily hinted a bow. "Your Maj—Highness."

      The fake Shandie winced. Lord Umpily, then. What in the Name of Evil have they told you? He strode over, with Shandie’s urgent walk. He spread his arms, as if to embrace his visitor, then peered anxiously at him. You’re all right? Believe me, it was a mistake! I had no idea the idiots would put you in a cell! ‘Find him,’ I said. I meant that you needed help! I never intended that you should be thrown in jail, old friend!

      "I am as well as could be expected, your Highness!"

      The imposter shook his head sadly, disbelievingly. Come and sit down.

      He led the way over to a green kidskin sofa. Umpily eased himself onto it circumspectly. Fabric strained, but held. His waistband tightened like a tourniquet. The disguised Emthoro settled at his side, studying his visitor with obvious concern.

      Perhaps you’d better tell me exactly what you believe.

      Gods! It was Shandie to the life—an ordinary-looking, serious young man, with nothing remarkable about him except a burning intensity in his dark imp eyes.

      Believe? Umpily said. What I know of the truth, you mean?

      The imposter nodded. Shandie never wasted words, either.

      You were… his Majesty was sitting on the Opal Throne when word came of your, er, his grandfather’s death. We were rehearsing the enthronement. The warden of the north appeared and warned you, him… Umpily went through the story, struggling to believe that even sorcery could produce so perfect a likeness. Eyes, mouth, voice… The telling was unnecessary, but he kept talking, describing how North and West had acknowledged the new imperor, but South and East had not appeared at all. The destruction of the four thrones, the meeting with King Rap of Krasnegar and with Warlock Raspnex again, the escape to the Red Palace and then to the boat… It was old history, months old. The enemy must already know far more than he did.

      As he talked, Umpily was surprised to realize that he had another listener, back in the shadows. Someone was sitting in the blue silk armchair to his left, although he had been certain that there was no one else present when he came in. He glanced quickly that way, but the chair was empty. He was quite alone with the incredibly convincing imposter. An odd trick of the light…

      When the tale was done, the fake Shandie shook his head sadly.

      I knew it must be something like that. Shall I tell you what really happened?

      Er… Please do. The vague, half-seen shape was back in the corner of Umpily’s vision again. If he looked directly at the blue armchair, it was empty.

      The imperor sprang up and began to pace. Ever since Emine set up the Protocol, three thousand years ago, the wardens have ruled the world. Witches and warlocks, the Four have been the power behind the Imperial throne, correct?

      Umpily nodded. The real Shandie would not move around like that when he talked. He sat still always, inhumanly still.

      It is a terrible evil!

      Evil, your Maj… your Highness?

      The imposter paused to look at him with a raised eyebrow, then shrugged and continued his restless pacing. Yes, evil. If it is not evil, why does the Impire rule only part of Pandemia and not all of it? We have a stable, prosperous civilization. The outlying races are for the most part primitive, or even barbarous. They fight among themselves and between themselves, constantly. Time and again we have tried to take the benefits of enlightened rule to the lesser breeds. At some times and in some places we have succeeded—but only for a while. Always we have been driven out again, although we have the greatest mundane military power, and the greatest occult resources, also, in the Four. This does not make sense, does it? Do you not see? Ostensibly the Four’s job is to control the political use of sorcery. But who controls them, mm? No one, of course! They play with us, Umpy!

      Again that long-discarded incivility! Play with us?

      We are tokens in the longest-running game in the universe. The Four amuse themselves by playing war games with mundane mankind.

      The only warden Umpily could claim to know even slightly was Warlock Olybino. As ruler of the Imperial Army, East had certainly enjoyed playing at war. Umpily had not thought the others did, though. He said nothing.

      At last one man arose who saw the terrible truth, Shandie continued. He paused and for a moment seemed to be studying that mysterious blue chair in the shadows. Twenty years ago, a clear-thinking, peace-loving, well-meaning young man succeeded to the Red Throne. You know to whom I refer?

      Warlock Zinixo? Umpily did not recall the dwarf as clear-thinking, peace-loving, or well-meaning. More like crazy, deluded, and murderous.

      Zinixo, correct. He became warden of the west, and resolved to stop this evil senseless slaughter. Shandie—Emthoro—resumed his restless movement to and fro. He was very young. Perhaps the others tolerated him at first because they thought he would grow out of what they regarded as juvenile idealism. When they realized that he was serious in his intent, they closed ranks against him. They ganged up on him. He was overthrown.

      I understood—

      Shandie nodded sadly. "They had help, yes. Even all together, the other three were not strong enough to prevail against him, for he had the Good on his side, and the Gods. They enlisted to their misbegotten cause a sinister, perverted accomplice—a sorcerer of frightful capacity, a faun mongrel who went by the name of Rap." He spat the word, scowling.

      But he cured your grandfa—

      A sadist! Shandie shouted. An evil, power-crazy barbarian, who mocked at law and flouted the Protocol! With his help, the other three wardens overturned and dispossessed the rightful warden of the west! He paused and then smiled almost bashfully, as if ashamed of his strange show of anger.

      Fortunately, he continued more softly, the Blessed One survived. He was driven from Hub, out into the darkness, but he did survive. For many years he gathered strength in secret, never flagging in his dream of bringing justice and peace to all of Pandemia. Eventually, of course, the Four learned of their danger. The events you witnessed in the Rotunda were a frantic effort to impose their ancient evil system on yet another imperor—me!

      Umpily licked his lips and said nothing. This man might look exactly like Shandie, and his voice might sound like Shandie’s, but Shandie would never talk with such vehemence.

      Neither, for that matter, would the foppish, languorous Emthoro, who had never been known to work up a passion over anything or anyone: masculine, feminine, or neuter. Whoever this Shandie-figure was, real or fake, he was not his own master.

      Hoping to forestall the reformer, the imperor continued, pausing for a moment by the fireplace to adjust the Kerithian figurines on the mantel, the Four chose to preempt the enthronement ceremony. Two of them would be enough to confirm my accession, of course, and even one of them could bind me to their will.

      But—

      But you thought the imperor was sacrosanct? You thought the Protocol defended him against all use of sorcery? Oh, you poor dupe! And yet millions of others have believed that lie, for thousands of years. No, the imperor has always been a puppet of the Four. That was why Raspnex and Grunth appeared in the Rotunda, as you saw. South and East were elsewhere, attempting to hold off the Godly One long enough for the dwarf and troll to complete the rite. When they failed, when they saw that they were not strong enough to prevail, then they destroyed the four thrones. It was an act of desperation, and of desecration.

      The dwarf Raspnex had admitted doing that, or at least the faun had said he admitted…

      My wife and I escaped in time, Shandie said, walking faster now. You and a few others were not so fortunate. One of those who fell into their clutches was my poor cousin. Prince Emthoro. Do you understand? The dwarf sorcerer who stole you away cast an occult glamour on him so that he appeared to be the rightful imperor! He believed it himself, of course, and so did you, but neither of you is at fault. Whatever Warlock Raspnex may have told you, he sought only to uphold an ancient evil, whose time has now—thank the Gods!—has now passed. The man you thought to be me was actually Emthoro. The burning eyes turned back to Umpily. I do not blame you, old friend. You were deluded by a hideous evil.

      Shandie? Umpily’s heart had started to pound. He could feel sweat trickling down his ribs. Which of the two was the real one? Had he been misled all this time? Had he betrayed his best friend, his liege lord?

      Fortunately, Shandie said, smiling grimly, there is little harm done. Their mischief was of no avail, except to deceive you and a few who were with you. I reign, as you see. The Four are all still at large, but we shall run them down in time, and they will suffer for their own sins and the sins of all their uncounted predecessors, back for three thousand years. The Almighty is with us.

      Umpily shot a quick glance at that blue chair. It was empty. When he looked back at Shandie again, it wasn’t.

      But you did have an enthronement…

      You were there? Shandie looked surprised, annoyed, and then amused, in fast succession. My, you are a dedicated old snoop, aren’t you? Well, yes, we did. And yes, it was a total fake. It seemed wisest to follow the ancient practices until the people can be educated in the new ways. That’s all. Why not?

      S-s-sire?

      Shandie’s smile broadened at the word. After all, what they don’t know won’t worry them. Not everyone will understand the truth at first. People can be misled so easily… even yourself. What you thought you knew was not very probable, now was it?

      No, Sire! Gods, what a fool he had been! What a witless, misguided, idiot!

      Shandie waved his fists overhead in triumph. And we shall prevail! The Almighty is with us, and we are his chosen vessels! Can you see the glorious future that awaits us, Umpy? No more will the evil Four crouch in their webs and roll dice with human lives. We are blessed among all generations! We shall see the Impire spread out to the four oceans and all men shall know the benefits of universal peace and tranquility. Did you meet the faun?

      Yes, Sire.

      Did he… Shandie was suddenly very intent. Did he display his powers at all?

      Very little. He made some garments. He claims that he is only a very weak sorcerer now. Sire.

      The imperor nodded, as if that were a satisfying piece of confirmation. Mm? But do we believe him, eh? Well, no matter. Time will tell.

      With difficulty, Umpily heaved himself to his feet. He had been cut almost in half by his belt and it was wonderful to breathe again.

      Shandie threw an arm around his shoulders. I shall be the first imperor to rule all the world! And you are my first and truest friend!

      Umpily was blinded by tears. He had never known Shandie to display such emotion—but justifiably, of course! No more wars? Universal justice and prosperity! It was a staggering, awe-inspiring concept.

      Sire, Sire! I have been a fool!

      But no real harm done. You have missed a few good meals, I expect.

      Worse! I have been tattling all this time to the imposter! Hurriedly he pulled the little roll from his pocket. This is a magic scroll. Sire. The impostor has its companion—

      Shandie snatched the parchment and opened it. His face darkened. He limns a fair version of my hand, doesn’t he?

      Umpily had often found his ability to read upside down to be a useful knack. In the brief moment before Shandie rolled up the scroll again, he had made out the message: I am grateful. The Good be with you.

      Insolence! That the evil charlatan should have the gall to invoke the Good! The scroll always managed a superb forgery of Shandie’s handwriting, of course.

      I shall hang on to this, Shandie said thoughtfully. Have you any idea where we might find him?

      None, Sire. I left them all on the boat. I suspected that they were heading for the north shore.

      And long since departed elsewhere! Well, no matter. They can cause little trouble… Can they? I wonder what they think they can accomplish. Did you hear any of their vile plotting?

      Oh, yes! They talk of setting up a new protocol.

      "A what?" Shandie almost never showed his feelings, but now he turned quite pale with shock.

      A new protocol, Sire! They hope to bribe all the, er, unattached sorcerers in the world to rally to their cause by promising a new order.

      The imperor spun around and stared for a long moment at that ominous blue chair. He licked his lips. New order? Was this the faun’s idea?

      Yes, sir.

      Of course! And what exactly is he promising?

      Umpily tried to remember all the crazy ideas that had been tossed around on the ferryboat. They will outlaw votarism. Sire. No sorcerer, even a warden, will be allowed to bind another to his will. They hope to establish sorcery as a force for good in the world…

      Shandie laughed, rather shrilly. Well, I wish them luck! The attempt should keep them out of any real mischief, and we shall catch them soon enough. I feel sorry for my poor cousin. When we catch him, he will be restored to his wits and given full pardon. The Four will meet their just deserts. And that faun… He stared again at the blue chair. He did not complete the thought, but Umpily shivered.

      It is good to have you back in our councils, old friend, the imperor said. I have convinced you? No qualms now?

      None, Sire! None at all. Oh, what a fool he had been to trust a dwarf and a faun!

      That’s good. And should you, in your dallying around the court, hear of any others voicing doubts, or criticism… of course you will inform us at once. Again Shandie put an arm around Umpily, a most unusual gesture for him. The audience was over, they were heading for the door. You will not speak of the Almighty One. That sounded like a statement of fact. And your old quarters at Oak House are still as they were. We must find somewhere for you in the palace itself—and I don’t mean a dungeon! Now I shall let you go. If I know you, a small repast will be uppermost in your thoughts after that unfortunate misunderstanding.

      With Shandie’s familiar quiet chuckle, the imperor bade his old friend farewell.

      2

      Far to the north, near the eastern end of the Pondague Range, a galaxy of twinkling campfires nestled within the Kribur Valley. The winter dark was raucous with guttural male voices; the crackle of firewood blended with horses’ whinnies and the scream of dying captives.

      The goblin horde under Death Bird had met up with the dwarvish army led by General Karax. Now the leaders were planning a combined advance southward, into the heart of the Impire. Four legions had been slaughtered in the last two weeks and there were no more in the vicinity. The road to Hub was unguarded; the capital lay naked and vulnerable as it had not been in centuries.

      The dwarvish end of the combined camp was an untidy city of tents, but goblins would sleep under the sky, spurning this puny southern cold. The junction between the territories was an uneasy border, for the two races had never worked together before and their ways were different. Goblins sneered at the mailed dwarves and wondered aloud how fast those little legs could run. Dwarvish nerves were strained by the noise of the goblins’ barbarous amusement. The alliance was fragile.

      Near the frontier dividing the two forces, but within one of the dwarves’ tents, Queen Inosolan of Krasnegar was attending to her toilet with the aid of a bucket of icy water. As she had lived in the same clothes for a week and had no clean garments to replace them, she had little hope of doing much about her disgusting condition. She could do nothing about her crushing exhaustion, either. She ached as she had never ached in her life. At fourteen, Gath and Kadie were withstanding the rigors of fatigue better than their mother, but all three were close to the breaking point.

      The tent was shabby and well patched, typically dwarvish. It smelled bad, but it was roomy enough. The floor was muddy grass, and there was no bedding. At least it was shelter—there would be snow tonight, likely—and there was even a dreary little lantern, which qualified as a luxury by dwarvish standards.

      Mom! Kadie squealed, peering at something she held pinched between her finger and thumb. "What’s this?"

      If it’s what I think it is, darling, it’s a louse.

      Kadie screamed and hurled the offending parasite from her.

      Then she burst into tears.

      Stripped to the waist, her twin brother Gath shivered over another bucket. He looked around briefly, before remembering that he was supposed to keep his back turned.

      I’ve got fleas, as well, he remarked wryly. Want to trade?

      Inos pulled her blouse closed, then enveloped her daughter in a tight hug. It made no difference. Kadie was working herself into hysterics. Not unexpected. Overdue, really.

      Hush! Inos said. This isn’t going to help, dear.

      Lice! Oh, Mother! Lice! Ugggh!

      Hush! There are guards outside, remember. Lots of people have lice. There are lice in Krasnegar. And fleas.

      Bet mine are bigger than yours, Gath said.

      You keep out of this! Kadie, stop it! You’ve been very brave, dear, and I’m proud of you. And of Gath. But you’ve got to keep on being brave.

      Kadie gulped stridently for breath, then resumed howling.

      Inos released the hug, took hold of her daughter’s shoulders, and shook her, hard. Stop it! she shouted.

      Shocked, Kadie fell into wide-eyed, shivering silence.

      That’s better. Hug again, tightly. Now listen! We’re in great danger. You know that, and I won’t lie to you. All we can do is try to be as brave as we can. Think of your father and try to do what he would be proud of. Think of Eva and Holi, back home in Krasnegar. One day we’ll go home and tell them of all our adventures. But that isn’t likely to happen if you start behaving like a crybaby. It wasn’t very likely if she didn’t, either, but one must not say such things. Innocent bystanders caught up in one of the worst wars in Pandemia’s bloody history had very poor prospects for survival.

      Kadie sniffled, dribbling tears on Inos’ shoulder. She was still shaking violently, and the cheek she pressed to her mother’s felt colder than the wash water.

      That’s better, Inos said. What else could she say? I’m afraid real adventures are not as nice as adventures in storybooks. You’re not the Elven Queen of Giapen, dear! In real life people die or get hurt. They go hungry and they get lice. Now, look on the bright side.

      Is there a bright side? Gath inquired from the background. It could have been Rap speaking. He sounded absurdly like his father when he managed to display his manly new tenor.

      Inos must remember to tell him so.

      Yes, there is. First, Death Bird is our friend. He owes your father a lot, and he knows it.

      I killed his nephew, Kadie whimpered.

      Served him right! Don’t worry about that. I don’t think the goblins will hold that against you, dear. They were more likely to take it as a challenge. Who would demand the next try at taming the killer virgin from Krasnegar? Don’t even think about that… And second, we have magic. All three of us have magic. That’s very lucky.

      Three of us? Kadie wiped her eyes and her nose with the back of her hand. My sword? Gath’s prescience? You?

      I told you, Inos said gently. She thought the fit was over. Long ago, when your father helped me drive out the jotnar, he put an occult glamour on me. When I give royal orders, people have to obey me.

      Then why don’t you just order them to send us home? Kadie sniveled.

      For one thing, goblins became so infuriated at being ordered around by a woman that they might easily react by killing her. Don’t say so.

      I could, but how can they? I crossed the taiga in winter once with a band of impish soldiers. That was bad enough—I don’t want to try it with goblins. We’ll have to wait until summer and then go home by sea. Meanwhile, we have other problems, don’t we? Gath, what can you foresee now?

      They come for us soon, Gath said. He was dressed again, his bony face pale in the gloom, and he was hovering nearby—longing to be included in the hugging and unwilling to admit such unmanly sentiments even to himself. He was a kid trying to be a man under conditions few men could have handled.

      In a sense, both Gath and Kadie were protected by their innocence. If they had any concept of how the world should be, they would not be withstanding this nightmare transformation of it nearly so well. All that two fourteen-year-olds really could understand was that this was not Krasnegar.

      Inos detached one arm from her daughter and pulled her son into the joint embrace. But you’re sure about the imperor?

      Yes. Usually he recognizes me, too.

      "What do you mean usually?"

      Mean it’s fuzzy. Not certain. May not happen that way.

      Thank you, dear. And I tell Death Bird that his prisoner is Shandie?

      That’s solid enough.

      Who needed a seer to know that much? How could Inos ever just stand by and watch the imperor being tortured to death without even trying to save him?

      Then what happens?

      Then they argue. Gath sounded grumpy. Either he disliked being questioned about his prescience or he was unsure of the fall of events.

      But again, who needed a seer? Death Bird and his green horrors might choose to torment a royal victim, but dwarves would never squander a valuable hostage. Argument was almost certain. How durable was the coalition? Suppose the argument became a quarrel?

      Gath could not foresee the outcome yet, apparently, or at least Inos found she could coax nothing more out of him. She wished his range was days or weeks, instead of only an hour or two.

      How could the goblins have captured the imperor? Kadie sniffed. And how can they not know it?

      I don’t know, dear. Perhaps he was leading one of the legions they ambushed. Inos did not want to speculate, even to herself. She did not think the imperor would ever lead a single legion, or even two. It was only three months since the old Emshandar had died, and Shandie ought to be in Hub, tending his inheritance. Why should he be here, in northwest Julgistro, hundreds of leagues from his capital? Could he have been on his way to Krasnegar? Gath had seen him in a vision; Rap had speculated that Shandie might similarly have seen Gath. She hoped the imperor had not been coming to consult his old sorcerer-friend Rap. That would mean that Rap, when he headed off to Hub, had failed to meet up with Shandie. Sorcerers did not make mistakes like that. The implications would not bear thinking about.

      Then she heard the guttural jabber of goblins outside, mingled with the subterranean rumble of dwarves. She was summoned to the feast.

      * * *

      The leaders of the coalition were still holding court within a burned-out shell of a barn, but there had been changes in the last couple of hours. The central bonfire roared even larger, and there were more chiefs in attendance. They were sitting in a ragged circle on boxes and barrels instead of the littered floor, which meant that dwarvish customs had prevailed over the goblins’. They alternated—mailed gray men and half-naked greenish men.

      Inos sensed a new antagonism. Weapons had disappeared, no one was smiling. The negotiations had not gone well, then.

      She was led to an unoccupied nail keg between Death Bird and Karax. Possibly that was intended to be the place of honor. More likely, both wanted to know why she was there and neither trusted the other alone with her. Gath was given a patch of dirty floor on the opposite side of the fire, the smoky side. Kadie had not been included in the invitation. After some grumbling, she was allowed to remain, sitting in a corner by herself. Fair enough!

      Inos thought Death Bird looked tired, although the heavy tattooing on his face made it hard to read. His bulky torso and limbs shone greasily, and every now and again she would catch a stomach-turning whiff of rancid goblin unguent. He gnawed on a meat bone in ominous silence.

      The dwarvish general was older than she had realized. There was silver in the natural gray of his beard, and his rough-hewn face bore many tiny wrinkles, like cracks in weathered sandstone. Even for a dwarf, he was surly. His table manners were no better than Death Bird’s.

      Nor were hers, of course. She bit listlessly at her own hunk of meat, wiping her mouth with her hand and her hands on her robe. The fire crackled and sprayed sparks up into the night sky. There was very little talk anywhere in the company, and where there was, goblins were conversing across dwarves and vice versa, not to one another. Language was part of the problem, but distrust was playing a part, also. Again she wondered how long this unlikely coalition could survive.

      Gods, but she was tired! Every bone ached. Six days in the saddle!

      Eventually the diners began tossing their discards into the embers. She copied them with relief. Then she licked and wiped her fingers as best she could and waited for the greater ordeal to begin.

      She wished she could see Gath more clearly. Being an hour or two ahead of her, he could give her hints, were the fire not between them. Sometime soon she was going to be asked what her mission was. To confess that she had blundered into this disaster by sheer accident would leave her very little status to bargain with.

      At last Death Bird belched and threw away his bone. He shot an unfriendly glance past her at Karax. Start entertainment?

      The dwarf scowled as only dwarves could. Just two.

      Was agreed, two. Death Bird spoke in goblin. He could manage fair impish when he chose, although he still had the jotunn accent he had picked up years ago from Thane Kalkor’s crew.

      But first I want to hear from Queen Inosolan, Karax said.

      The goblin shrugged his enormous shoulders. Speak, woman. Why here?

      Inos drew a deep breath. She decided to stick to the truth as far as she could. If she tried lying and was disbelieved, then her later efforts to save Shandie would be made more difficult. Your Majesty… your Excellency… I thought I was here by accident, but now I suspect otherwise. She could address only one at a time, and watch only one face at a time.

      Tell where Rap! Death Bird demanded, in no mood to listen to speeches.

      He went to Hub.

      When?

      Three months ago, or more.

      Why?

      Inos turned to the dwarf. My husband is a sorcerer.

      I know.

      He spoke with a God. He was given a warning to pass on to the Impire. And he himself foresaw a great disaster.

      Death Bird chuckled coarsely and switched to impish. His warning was not believed then.

      Not you. Not this. The danger is occult, and it threatens goblins and dwarves just as much as the Impire.

      The goblin grunted skeptically. He told me. This is old news, Inosolan.

      But perhaps still timely. The millennium has not come yet.

      Never mind the sorcerer, Karax rumbled. Stop evading the question. Why are you here?

      There is a magic portal between my kingdom and the house at Kinvale. I came through and was captured by Death Bird’s troops.

      The Dwarf cleared his throat harshly and spat toward the fire. That’s all? Then you are a blundering fool. Your loyalty is to the Impire. You are spies, or will be if you get the chance. We should kill the boy now, then give you and your daughter to the troops.

      Inos hoped that was merely an initial bargaining position, although dwarves were notoriously suspicious and untrusting. She turned her head to study Death Bird’s reaction. My husband was a good friend to you once.

      Long ago. For him I spared your town many times, when my young men wanted it for sport. What happened to Quiet Stalker? His angular eyes glinted with cold anger.

      He tried to rape my daughter. A sorcerer’s daughter. That was unwise.

      The goblin showed his white tusks, but he did not seem to be smiling. No, he didn’t. Your son gave him the girl for the night to seal a treaty. So it was not rape! Your son knew she bore an occult sword, one that cannot be seen unless she wishes it to be seen. He is a cheat and a murderer.

      Inos’s heart was beating much too fast now. She could feel sweat streaming down her face, and that was not all due to the heat of the fire. He did not promise she would submit. The condition was that your nephew could subdue the girl. He failed.

      "Against

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