The Ragged Man Part 44

'It's the prayers you hold,' Isak repeated.

As he straightened a little, his unfastened cloak swung open to reveal the unmistakable hilt of Eolis, tucked through his belt, and a small leather bag, which Isak was holding.

The shape of the bag made Emin hesitate, and almost unconsciously he touched a similarly shaped item hanging from his own belt. He gestured to the open door.

'Come. We need to speak more, and in private.'

Isak, Mihn, Coran, the witch and Legana followed Emin inside, but Doranei held back. Veil gave him a questioning look, but he ignored it and after a moment his Brother indicated the door be shut behind them.

Doranei didn't speak, but reached into a pouch and pulled out his leather cigar case. Veil produced an alchemist's match and held it up. When the initial burst of black smoke had subsided, Doranei put the cigar to the flame and drew on it until it was alight.

'The presence of great men,' Doranei said at last, looking at the top of the keep. He'd stayed here once, as part of the king's retinue.

It was an unlovely construction, built by a local tyrant three hundred years previously, more for practical reasons than for architectural elegance. Once it was open to the elements; now it was partly roofed-over, and there were long banks of shutters on two sides of the square to allow light in.

'Had enough of it at last?' Veil said. There was no condemnation in his voice.

Doranei still scowled, even as he agreed. 'Never meant to get into it in the first place.'

Veil chuckled. 'Aye, the master-thieves in the Brotherhood always laughed at you for never looking where you put your feet. Sure you can keep out of things so easily?'

Doranei watched the lamp-light in the highest room grow brighter. 'I got to try.'

The sight of Morghien recovering some of his old pa.s.sion had sparked an ache in Doranei's heart. I just want to do my job again, serve my king. All this 'grand scheme of things' is beyond me; I'm just a simple Brother. Can't I leave it to someone else again?

He sighed and puffed away at his cigar, the distraction greatly welcome.

But how do I go back to a time before I called lords 'friend' and vampires something more? he wondered. he wondered.

Above the keep the clouds raced, indistinct, looming shapes in a darkening sky. The breeze freshened, carrying a scent too faint to recognise, and yet it put him in mind of the peppery smell of a summer storm . . . but left him uneasy, in the way the promise of rain didn't.

'What do you think he's going to say?' Veil asked after a long while.

'I don't even care,' Doranei said sulkily. 'They can tell me to kill, or to steal, for the good of the nation, and that's my duty. They can't make me want want to get more involved.' to get more involved.'

'Could be worse,' Veil said cheerily. 'Cedei had to spend the day keeping General Daken busy and out of the way. I tell you, that b.u.g.g.e.r can sniff trouble out better'n a dog after a b.i.t.c.h on heat. The king's kept this from him, as you might guess - last thing we need is two b.l.o.o.d.y white-eyes gettin' under each other's skin.' He plucked the cigar from Doranei's unresisting hands.

The pair stood together for a quarter-hour or more, sharing the cigar as Veil patiently stood guard and his friend, eyes half-closed, stared into the night sky. The sounds of the army camp had returned to normal: the clatter of cooking pots and bellowed orders overlaid by the clump of boots on dry, packed earth. They washed over Doranei without effect as he closed his mind to everything but the clouds overhead, losing himself in their swift, silent pa.s.sage. He let the breeze sweep away the tangle of his thoughts, dissipating them like smoke.

Then the door to the tower opened again and the Brothers saw Mihn staring fixedly at Doranei.

Mihn had removed his cloak and pack. He wore his customary black linen trousers and tunic. The failed Harlequin was a short, slim man, especially compared with the men of Narkang, and that difference was highlighted by everyone around him wearing armour. It was somehow hard to believe how capable Mihn was - until you saw him moving with purpose, Doranei thought.

'You want something?' he said eventually.

'You,' Mihn said. 'We have some questions for you.'

Doranei felt his hand tighten. 'Of course you do.' He carefully handed the stub of his cigar to Veil and followed Mihn. 'Don't suppose I'd be lucky enough you'd be asking about swords and the like?' he said dryly.

Mihn hesitated and looked back at Doranei for a few moments. Then, his eyes twinkling in the darkness, he started up the stair again.

'I am sure King Emin could phrase the question in terms of your sword, if that would help,' he murmured.

Doranei sighed.

CHAPTER 33.

Doranei slept poorly in the humid night air. Words and faces danced on the edges of his consciousness, questions and memories colliding uncomfortably. Some part of him sensed the bedroll underneath him, and the pack he was using as a pillow, but at the same time he could feel the cool, clean sheets of Zhia's bed in Byora.

The sensations mingled and added to the mess of confusion in his dreams, and everything was dominated by Zhia's darkly glittering sapphire eyes. The questions continued, voices speaking at once: Mihn's soft lilt, King Emin's crisp, aristocratic tone, and they were all asking about those sapphire eyes.

Can she be trusted? Where do her allegiances lie? Will she take sides?

He couldn't answer any of them. In his dreams his tongue swelled, making speech impossible, but even if he had been able to speak, there was nothing he could say, no a.s.surances he could give.

An unexpected chill shivered down Doranei's spine and he jolted awake, heart hammering and dread slithering across his skin. The room was dark, and as he sat up his head cracked against the underside of the dining table under which he'd been sleeping. A deep thump reverberated around the room as Doranei fell back onto his bedroll, gasping.

'Told you,' whispered someone nearby.

It took Doranei a few moments to focus as he winced and rubbed his stinging head. When the stars cleared he saw Veil, watching him owlishly from the other side of the table.

'Told me what?'

Veil grinned. 'That you wake up sudden-like sometimes, so maybe under a table ain't the best place to sleep.'

Doranei looked around at the rest of the dining room: a long, ancient hall - older even than the keep - that had been incorporated into the newest wing of Moorview Castle. Apart from the huge, empty fireplace there was precious little s.p.a.ce not occupied by dozing King's Men. He opened his mouth to reply, but hesitated, remembering the strange sensation that had woken him.

'Thought I heard something,' he said at last.

'No, you didn't,' Veil said. 'You'd have a sword in hand if you did. You dreamed you did, or some girl with sapphire eyes just reached out and touched you.'

Doranei frowned and tried to order his thoughts. He didn't remember dreaming of anything that would wake him so abruptly. Zhia's touch was accompanied by a memory of her perfume; this was neither, it was something unfamiliar.

'Think I'll go get some air,' he muttered.

Veil watched without comment as Doranei picked up his sword; unnatural happenings and strange sensations were familiar to the Brotherhood, as were overactive imaginations in the dark of night. However, the need for caution was ever-present, and confusion hadn't overridden Doranei's natural mistrust.

Doranei slipped out of the darkened hall and found himself in a moonlit corridor. He didn't know what bell it was, but the stillness indicated the depths of night. He looked around and as he shivered involuntarily, his hand closed around the sword grip . . . but nothing happened, so, feeling foolish, he released it again and buckled the scabbard properly to his waist.

He still felt better when he was holding the sword. King Emin's belief that Lord Styrax would not use subterfuge to win this battle was small comfort in the dark hours of the night.

Magic had always been feared by the common folk; its use in battle was accepted, but few generals made their name off it. Styrax might have the advantage there, with his awesome powers, but his plans extended further than mere victory. Intelligence reports were coming in all the time: four Menin armies of ten to fifteen thousand men were destroying great swathes of the Narkang nation as three of them made their way towards Moorview Castle. Each army comprised soldiers from all his conquered cities, most particularly the remnants of the Chetse elite known as the Ten Thousand.

Part of the reason for bringing them here was to keep the vanquished troops under control - if they were ravaging King Emin's lands, they would not be fomenting rebellion in their homeland. But that was not the whole of it: Lord Styrax had ama.s.sed a larger host than ever before for a more fundamental reason. Forty thousand or more men were marching on Moorview to take part in the battle he wanted every bard to sing of for centuries to come.

Somewhere up ahead Doranei heard the scuff of a shoe on the flagstone floor. He started to draw his sword - and stopped, struck by the sight of the black blade in the darkness. The provenance of the sword he'd taken from Aracnan's corpse was unknown, but it was certainly old and powerful. In daylight it p.r.i.c.kled faintly with tiny sparks of light. Now it was more like the night sky on a clear night, casting a very faint light of its own. He sheathed it again, suppressing his fascination for the time being. When he reached the corner of the corridor he stopped and peered around it. He saw no one, but whispering voices were coming from somewhere at the far end.

This was the opulent part of the castle, away from the servant's quarters, and there were long, narrow rugs running down the centre of the corridors. A wide variety of paintings, both portraits and landscapes, were displayed on the walls, and ahead of him Doranei could see a large map of the whole area covering one wall. It had been painted by Countess Derenin, the lady of the house, and was accurate enough that the king had consulted it often in the past few days. The local suzerain's family was an ancient one which had managed to adapt and thrive under King Emin's rule, unlike many who didn't understand the art of compromise and had been eclipsed by the king's ambitious supporters.

Doranei walked silently on the rug until he was almost at the end. There he stopped, feeling horribly exposed, as another deep voice joined in. He heard the words clearly, though there was a thick stone wall between them; the voice echoed in Doranei's head without hindrance or distortion, though it was quiet and sounded strangely far away. It made his teeth ache, and as he winced at the sensation his bruised head increased its throbbing, sending flashes of pain down across his eyes.

'You ask me to put myself in the power of others.'

Doranei covered his ears, but it made no difference - the voice was not loud, only penetrating, and his hands felt as insubstantial as the walls. He could hear nothing but the words - no cadence or accent to place the speaker.

'What did you think would happen?'

He recognised that voice; it was Lord Isak, more focused than he had been earlier that day. Whoever - what whatever, Doranei realised - Isak was talking to, they had made him forget his pain, for a little while at least.

'It cannot be permitted.'

'It must,' whispered a third person - Mihn - urgently, 'there is no other way.'

'Find another.'

'No,' said Isak. 'You cannot command me; that much I know.'

The white-eye sounded strange to Doranei and after a moment he realised it was the lack of antagonism in his voice. The spark of aggression, that fire within all white-eyes, had been extinguished within him.

'You invite catastrophe - - you do not understand the forces you play with.' you do not understand the forces you play with.'

Isak laughed, although it was more a strangled wheeze. 'I have nothing but the scars of understanding. I was born to command, born to change.'

'This will be done,' Mihn added, 'and you must must play your part.' play your part.'

There was a long period of silence, and Doranei waited with his fists clenched tight in antic.i.p.ation of the echoing voice in his head.

At last, 'What of the Ralebrat? They will not heed my call.'

'They will heed ours,' Isak said.

'They are not to be trusted.'

'The service I ask is great. They must be rewarded for their losses. The price is forgiveness, long overdue absolution.'

The voice became no louder, but Doranei felt it press all the harder on his eardrums, an intensity born of outrage. 'You presume too much.'

'As is my lot,' Isak said, the weight of the Land in his voice. 'This Land shall be made anew, the cruelties of the past left behind.'

Doranei crept closer. Now he could see the door at the end of the corridor was ajar, a faint blue light spilling around its edges and outlining a dark figure. Though he was unable to make out any detail, Doranei still felt terrified, and the air grew thick and heavy around him.

'Some crimes haunt you still,' the figure said with cold derision.

Its face was hidden, but Doranei felt the force of its presence like the looming bulk of Blackfang, and for a moment he was sure the figure's words were directed at him, rather than Isak.

'There is a scent of vampire about these halls. Are you so sure of those around you?' the figure asked, and Doranei flinched, an icy ball of dread filling his stomach.

He backed off down the corridor and wasted no time in fleeing silently to the furthest corner of the castle, the panicked thump of his heart pounding in his ears.

Knight-Cardinal Certinse looked up from the pile of papers on his desk. The night was well advanced and his head was pounding. The hot summer's day had left his study stuffy and malodorous; the bunches of fragrant lavender and pepper gra.s.s hung over the door and windows had done more to add to the heavy atmosphere than relieve it.

His eyes drifted to the door that led to his bedroom; the thought of sleep was enticing, especially compared with tallies of import taxes. Certinse stood, reaching for the candlestick on his desk, but he was stopped by a m.u.f.fled commotion from somewhere downstairs.

'What now?' he wearily asked the empty room. 'I'm too tired for another late-night chat with High Priest Garash.'

Abruptly the door opened and Captain Perforren entered, a worried expression on his face. 'My apologies, Knight-Cardinal, but a visitor has just arrived.'

'A visitor? There are still Menin soldiers outside the house, aren't there?'

'And men of the Devout Congress inside the door,' his aide added. 'They, ah, they didn't manage to stop your visitor. I think he has them confused.'

'Explain quickly,' Certinse said, hearing boots on the stair.

'He arrived with one of the Jesters! The soldiers don't know what to do; he's a Demi-G.o.d, after all.'

Certinse managed a smile at last. 'That'll confuse the b.a.s.t.a.r.ds sure enough. Is the visitor Luerce?'

'Nope,' said a deep voice from the corridor, 'no one so special.' A tall man entered. A white patchwork cloak didn't do much to disguise his powerful frame. He wore a sword at his hip and held a dagger in his left hand. Certinse blinked a moment before recognising the man, d.u.c.h.ess Escral's bodyguard, Kayel.

'A little late for a social call, isn't it, Sergeant Kayel?'

Kayel raised his right hand, in which was a gla.s.s bottle of brandy. 'Never too late for a drink between friends.'

Certinse regarded him for a moment, his face blank, before gesturing for Perforren to leave. 'Your young prince is still looking to be friends then?'

Kayel watched Perforren shut the door behind himself before heading for the gla.s.ses on a side-table. He poured a large measure of brandy into each wide-bottomed gla.s.s and handed one to the Knight-Cardinal.

He raised his gla.s.s in a toast. 'Ruhen stands for peace in this Land,' Kayel said gravely. 'Friends is all he's looking for.'

'Tell that to the priests plaguing me,' Certinse muttered, showing the sergeant to one of the chairs at the far side of the room, set on either side of the empty fireplace. 'I'm amazed some of those fools preaching in Akell got out again without being lynched. Ruhen may have his admirers here, but they're keeping their heads down.'

'Who can blame 'em? It's better than getting 'em chopped off.' Ilumene took a big gulp of brandy. 'Speakin' of your priests, I thought I'd come see how that situation was workin' out.'

Certinse gave him a sour look. 'Is that supposed to be funny?'

'You see me laughin'? It's my concern when Ruhen's Children ain't allowed to spread their beliefs, when they get strung up for the heresy heresy of criticisin' priests. An' I b'lieve it's your concern that you, as Knight-Cardinal, ain't in command of your own Order - that you got to answer to a crowd o' fanatics who've forced their way into power.' of criticisin' priests. An' I b'lieve it's your concern that you, as Knight-Cardinal, ain't in command of your own Order - that you got to answer to a crowd o' fanatics who've forced their way into power.'

'I'm not sure what you're saying here,' Certinse said cautiously. 'Are you asking whether I'm plotting against fellow members of the Knights of the Temples?'