A Man Rides Through (55 page)

Slowly, inevitably, one blow at a time, the gates began to fail.

The wood started to compress and crack; stress showed along the iron strutwork; mortar sifted from between the stones which held the gates in the wall; bolts began to work loose.

At the moment, Prince Kragen was paying for this success with dozens and then hundreds of his men. Inside the castle, Orison's defenders suffered no losses. But that imbalance would shift as soon as the gates broke.

"Tomorrow," Lebbick muttered, inspecting their timbers with an expert eye. "Those shitlickers'll be in here tomorrow. We've got that long to live."

He didn't sound upset. He didn't even sound angry.

He sounded satisfied.

Dutifully, he sent a report to King Joyse. Then he reduced Orison's defenders to a minimum. Every guard who could be spared he ordered away to spend as much time as possible with whatever friends or family the man had left.

His wife would have approved of that.

Amiably, Artagel asked him, "What do you suppose King Joyse will do to save us?"

Entirely without warning, Castellan Lebbick recovered his rage. "The way our luck's going"—he was clenching his teeth so hard his forehead felt like it might crack—"he'll challenge Prince fornicating Kragen to a
duel."

With fury crackling in every muscle, he left the gates and the courtyard. While he was angry, at least, he couldn't bear to watch what was happening.

Like the Prince, he had no way of knowing that Terisa and Geraden were already in the Demesne.

Late that afternoon, they rode as if they were fearless straight up to the first Alend patrol they met and demanded to be taken to the lady Elega.

Swords and distrust surrounded them promptly. Terisa's mount showed a distressing inclination to shy in all directions; she had to fight to keep the beast under control. She was conscious that the weather had turned chilly since the previous day's rain. Alends? she wondered. Not Cadwals? Does that mean Orison is still standing? But she had no intention of asking those questions aloud. After all,these soldiers were dressed and armored just like the men who had taken Queen Madin.

The leader of the patrol snapped, "What makes pigslop like you two think you've got a reason to see the Prince's lady?"

Geraden's mouth smiled, but his eyes were hard. "We're servants," he answered with a hint of danger in his voice. "Our parents have served her family since before we were born. We grew up with her.

"We've come from Romish. The Queen sent us to see her."

The Alend leader snarled a curse. "The Queen? Madin, that shithole Joyse's wife?"

The effort of controlling her horse disguised Terisa's face as effectively as a mask. Geraden's expression was positively serene: only his eyes threatened to betray him. "So you've heard of her," he said blandly. "Good. Then you'll understand that the lady Elega won't take it kindly if you prevent us from delivering our messages."

"Queen Madin?" the Alend repeated in a voice congested with hostility. "You've got messages from Queen Madin?"

Geraden's mouth smiled again. "My, you
are
quick." Then, softly, he said, "Take us to see the lady Elega."

A little thrill touched Terisa's heart as she heard the authority in his tone.

The leader of the patrol hesitated; he was taken aback—a fact which seemed to surprise him. To compensate, he growled an obscenity. Then he said, "I think the Prince is going to want to hear your messages."

"As long as we get to talk to her," replied Geraden, "I don't care who else hears us. Take us to see them both.

"Just do it."

To his own obvious astonishment, the Alend leader turned and organized his men to escort Geraden and Terisa toward the encampment. A pair of the Alends galloped ahead; the rest formed a knot around the travelers.

Suddenly giddy with relief—perhaps because her horse had stopped shying—she took the risk of giving Geraden a wink. He pretended not to notice it.

They were closer to the siege than she had realized. In only a short time, they came in sight of the Alend army and Orison.

She was surprised by how small the castle looked under these circumstances, invested by ten thousand soldiers, half a hundred siege engines, and an uncounted number of servants and camp followers. Orison's bluff gray stone, which should have appeared impregnable, bore an unexpected resemblance to cardboard; tiny flags fluttering from the towers gave the place the air of a child's plaything.

At the same time, the breach partially covered by the curtain-wall seemed to gape unnaturally wide, as if it were bigger than it used to be, darker; a fatal wound.

The men who had ridden ahead had already caused a commotion: Terisa could see the army and its adherents shifting to receive her and Geraden. People ran forward to stare; questions were called which the Alend leader either ignored or shouted down. The attack on the gates used only a fraction of Prince Kragen's forces; the rest had nothing to do at the moment except wait and worry. Some of the soldiers only wanted news. But others offered jokes and insults that turned Geraden's eyes as sharp as bits of glass. He preserved his expression of serenity, however, and followed the patrol in through the camp.

They passed an area of tattered and scruffy tents where the poorest of the camp followers lived, ankle-deep in the overflow of their own squalor. Then the order and cleanliness of the encampment began to improve, according to the increasing status of its occupants. In minutes, the patrol brought Terisa and Geraden to an open area like an imitation of a courtyard, around which were pitched several tents so large and luxurious that she felt sure she and Geraden had reached their goal.

Their immediate goal, at any rate. In order to enter Orison, they first had to get past Prince Kragen.

He came out of one of the tents into the evening shadows before anyone had a chance to dismount. He moved as if he intended to approach the riders directly; but as soon as he saw them he stopped. He planted his fists on his hips when Terisa met his gaze; his black eyes flashed as if she had given him a slap. For a moment, forcing himself to be thorough, he turned his head and considered Geraden; then he faced Terisa again.

" 'Servants of the Queen'?" he demanded of his men in a tone that might have been jesting or bitter. "They said that, and you believed them? Did not one of you louts think to ask them their
names?"

He didn't give the leader of the patrol a chance to respond, however. "Oh, let it pass. They would have lied about their names as well, and then you would have been worse fooled than before.

"At least have the common sense to disarm them. Then go."

Stung, the leader of the patrol snatched away Terisa's and Geraden's weapons, the swords the Termigan had given them. Then the men withdrew.

Prince Kragen gave the impression that the patrol had already ceased to exist as far as he was concerned. He was concentrating exclusively on Terisa.

"My lady Terisa of Morgan." He spoke slowly, drawling in a way which suggested humor or scorn. "You astonish me entirely. And your companion must be the infamous Apt Geraden, the butt alike of mirth and augury. I can think of no other possibility.

"However, you may amaze me there as well. Since you are
out here"
—he released one fist from his hip to gesture at the ground between the tents—"when it is obvious that you ought to be
in there"
—he indicated Orison—"I conclude that you have a remarkable story to tell me.

"You will tell it"—gradually, his tone convinced Terisa that he wasn't in a happy mood—"now."

"My lord Prince," Geraden put in steadily, as if he weren't interrupting the Alend Contender, "where is the lady Elega?"

"I am here, Geraden."

Terisa turned in her saddle and saw the King's daughter.

Elega stood between the flaps of one of the tents. A streak of sunset caught her face, so that her usual paleness was covered with an orange-gold blush, and light muffled the vividness of her eyes. In that way, she looked like she had become an entirely different woman since Terisa had last seen her.

"So it is true, my lady Terisa," she said clearly, lifting up her voice as though this were a formal occasion. "It was always true. You are an Imager."

Prince Kragen's mouth moved under his moustache, swearing. When he spoke, however, he kept his tone neutral. "How do you reach that conclusion, my lady Elega?"

Elega's gaze didn't shift from Terisa; she studied Terisa through the failing beams of the sun. "As you said, my lord Prince, they are not in Orison. It is doubtful that they were able to creep out through your siege. Therefore they must have removed themselves by Imagery."

"Or someone else removed us," Geraden put in acerbically.

"Don't forget that possibility. You don't think Gart does his own translations, do you?"

An unexpected silence fell over the tents. Elega half raised a hand to her mouth, then dropped it. A glint of white teeth showed between Prince Kragen's lips. From somewhere in the distance, Terisa heard a methodical booming, a deep thud at once so hard and so far away that it seemed to come through the ground rather than the air. Men shouted faintly. Her presence there, and Geraden's, must have come as a complete surprise to Elega and the Prince. Now the idea Geraden suggested appeared to shock them further, as if it made the whole situation incomprehensible.

Well, Terisa thought, this was better than being tied up—or cut down. She felt an off-center, almost loony desire to give Geraden a round of applause. The men who had taken Queen Madin were Alends. And Terisa and Geraden had so many questions— And they wanted to get into Orison. If Kragen really had ordered the Queen's abduction, their only hope was to keep him off balance and pray for something unexpected to happen.

Trying to make a contribution, she asked, "My lord Prince, may we get down? I've been on this horse ever since I can remember."

A small shudder seemed to pass through Prince Kragen, a brief convulsion of will. At once, he became calmer, as if his self-possession had been tightened a notch.

"Of course, my lady Terisa." He moved toward her. "Where other matters are concerned, I have said that the debts between us are settled. Yet you are a friend of the lady Elega's, and so you are welcome among us. Permit me to offer you the Alend Monarch's hospitality."

He reached up his hands to help her dismount.

That was a courtesy to which she wasn't accustomed, but she did her best to let him assist her. Geraden swung down and came to her side; at once, he bowed formally to Prince Kragen.

"My lord Prince, I haven't been properly presented, but you've named me. I'm Geraden, the seventh son of the Domne, an Apt of the Congery of Imagers.

"As you say, we have a remarkable story to tell." Somehow, he contrived to sound like he couldn't think of a single reason to distrust the Prince. "And there must be a lot you could tell us, if we can persuade you to do it."

"Geraden." Elega had come forward while Terisa was focused on Prince Kragen. Her face and form were in shadow now, with the paradoxical result that she looked brighter, keener; more capable. "What does this mean?" she demanded. "Why are you here? And
how?
Surely you will not ask us to believe that this is nothing more than another of your colossal mishaps?"

"No," Geraden replied. "On the other hand, I do expect you to believe that it's hard for me to trust you enough to tell you anything."

There: he had given the first hint of his loyalties; therefore of his intentions. Terisa held her breath, afraid that he might be risking too much too soon.

Fortunately, Kragen wasn't surprised enough to react badly. He knew what had happened to Nyle's attempt to reach the Perdon: he was probably able to take Geraden's loyalties for granted. Before Elega could respond to Geraden's gibe, Prince Kragen stepped between them and took Terisa's arm.

"We will discuss such things thoroughly, I assure you," he remarked, "but I can see no reason why we should not discuss them in comfort—and in private." With his hand on her arm, he urged Terisa into motion, steering her toward the largest of the surrounding tents. "In addition, I have offered you the Alend Monarch's hospitality, and he does not like to be refused." As if she weren't already moving—as if she had a choice—he asked, "Will you come with me?"