Before the Dawn (26 page)

When Raven's mother gave a sharp command in
an unfamiliar language and they all moved as one to bow down before
her son, Trevor figured out what was so weird about the
soldiers.

They were mere creations of metal and
magic.

***

Chapter 26

The sun in the green and violet sky was
starting to sink when Raven and his company arrived at the camp of
the elder Princes. His brothers and their soldiers had struck their
tents a good distance away from Silverhaven's protective circle of
trees and they were now waiting for twilight to begin their
assault. When the watchers caught sight of Raven's standard and
announced his arrival, a loud cheer broke out from his brother's
soldiers. It was not because the men harbored a particular fondness
for the young Prince, though. Rather, it was because of the
fighters he had brought with him.

"The Lady Ceirdwyn's automatons," the burly
brother Trevor recognized from the visit to the castle earlier
walked among the silent ranks of the clockwork warriors, marveling
at the skill and magic that had gone into their making. He was a
large man with long golden hair and topaz-like brown eyes who bore
no resemblance to Raven whatsoever, with a face that was more
rugged and masculine with a square jaw. He looked absolutely
thrilled as he inspected the mechanical soldiers. "I have heard
many tales of these fellows, and I cannot wait to see how they fare
in battle. I am certain it would be even more impressive than the
stories tell it." His gaze sought out Raven's mother, who was
beaming with cool pride as she sat upon her mount. "My Lady," he
bowed. "This is an honor."

She inclined her head graciously in
acceptance of his thanks and compliments.

While most of the men were admiring the metal
fighters, Raven dismounted from his horse and signaled for Meran
and Trevor to alight from the chariot they had been traveling in as
well. He had hoped that the presence of the two mortals would go
unremarked, since they were dressed in the colors of mere servants,
but one of his brothers still found the sight odd enough that he
broke away from the throng studying the automatons and approached
Raven.

"What's this then?" This brother was as tall
as the blond one, but leaner and red-haired with well-sculpted
features. His gray eyes, which had the sheen of opals, roved over
Meran's figure appreciatively for a moment before he looked back at
Raven, who appeared to be biting his tongue. "Did you finally
establish a Court for yourself? And with human servants?" He
laughed. "Well, at last, you're acting like a responsible Prince.
Come here, little bird!" Then to the surprised amusement of the
humans, and Raven's total embarrassment, his older and bigger
brother grabbed him in a rough hug and tousled his hair.

"Would you get your bloody hands off me?"
Raven snarled and twisted away from the arms that held him. His
brother only laughed louder before releasing him.

"It's good you have finally arrived," he told
Raven. "We have barely enough time to hold a council before we
begin our attack. Come." He turned away and gestured for the
younger Prince to follow him.

"My servants go with me," Raven called after
him.

"As it pleases you," his brother replied
negligently and went off to gather the other Princes. After casting
a few last admiring looks at the clockwork men, five warriors in
armor followed after the red-haired Prince. Raven's mother also
trailed them and they all made their way to a large tent erected in
the very middle of the camp. Six standards flapped in the breeze
from the tent's central pole, and these were soon joined by a
seventh that bore Raven's seal.

"So, uh,
little bird
?" Trevor had been
making an effort to suppress his laughter, but he finally lost it
when he saw Meran smirk at Raven as she echoed his brother's
words.

The Prince scowled and muttered something
under his breath in the weird language that sounded like the one
they had heard his mother use earlier. "My older brothers are
buffoons!" he snapped. "Ignore whatever they say unless I tell you
otherwise." Then, in an obvious bid to distract them from their
amusement over his nickname, he rapidly began to tell them facts
about the other Princes that they needed to know before they showed
up in the council.

The blond one was the eldest of the King's
sons. His name was Brannon and he held Court in Kirkglen, which had
the oldest forests in all of the Strangelands. "People say he's a
good fighter, the best swordsman in the kingdom," Raven said. "But
I say he's arrogant and loud and he eats like a hog," he added
unkindly. "He's got the manners of one, too. He often shows up at
the King's Court on some pretext or other, but he's really only
there for the banquets." Meanwhile, the red-haired Prince who had
accosted him was Rogan. This brother ruled over Carragh Peak. "He's
supposed to rule over it, anyway," was Raven's comment. "But he
spends most of his time wandering in the mountains like a bloody
vagabond. Whenever his Lords wish him to attend to Court matters,
they have to track him down in the woods where he runs around stark
naked, frightening the birds."

The next two Princes were twins. Kei had been
born first and he was the ruler of Nishihama, which ran the length
of the Kingdom's coastline. His hair, almost but not quite as dark
as Raven's, was tied back in a short, straight pony tail. His
slanting onyx eyes were set in a proud-looking face that was always
carefully impassive and he spoke as little as possible. "He used to
stutter horribly, you see," Raven explained, "then he decided he'd
try being all mysterious and silent because that would get him more
attention from the Court ladies." Kei's younger twin, Kaemon,
looked exactly like him in every aspect, but had a completely
different manner. "He is the most annoying person in the entire
Kingdom, I swear," Raven told them. "He never shuts up and he's
always laughing and joking and getting drunk and chasing women.
He's got a whole castle of concubines. It's disgusting!" Kaemon was
in charge of Kishima, a chain of islands just off the coast of
Nishihama.

Baydr was the King's fifth son. He had dark,
gold-toned skin and light amethyst eyes. His head was clean-shaven
and, in the tradition of his mother's people, he bore the tattoos
and markings of royalty on his back, shoulders, arms, throat, and
face. "He doesn't get along with our father, at all," Raven
confided. "That's why he set up his Court in Magra in the middle of
the desert. I could almost like him, if he wasn't such an
insufferable stuck-up snob." Then there was the sixth Prince,
Orland. His hair was a soft brown while his green eyes were as
vivid as emeralds. "He hasn't got a single sensible thought in his
head," Raven sneered. "His Lords in Verdeciel do everything for
him, including picking out the clothes he should wear. He's always
off in the woods to dream or write poetry and nonsense like
that."

"What's the name of your Court, or the place
where you hold Court, or whatever you call it?" Trevor asked after
Raven was done describing his brothers in as unflattering a light
as possible.

Raven drew himself up and straightened his
spine even more as if the question offended him. "I," he said,
"don't have one."

"What? Why?"

"Because I never cared to have one," Raven
shrugged. "I had a castle built and everything, with servants
everywhere I turned, but it got boring after a few centuries and I
ended up spending more time in Silverhaven than in Ashthorn."

"Plus, no other families really wanted their
sons to be Lords in your Court, right?" Meran guessed dryly.

He snorted, suppressing a laugh, then he
shrugged and admitted, "Yes. They were all afraid that I would
influence their precious heirs and turn them into debauchers or
berserkers. No one wanted their sons to play with Lady Ceirdwyn's
son for fear they'd offend him somehow, and then she'd slaughter
their entire bloodline. They may not have a very high opinion of my
mother, but they are all terrified of her as well."

Trevor would have asked more questions,
because it seemed to him that everything Raven said in answer to
questions inevitably raised even more, but they had entered the
tent by this time, so he shut up. Apparently, there was some sort
of seating order that had to be followed because Raven ignored the
empty spot right in front of him and walked to the other end of the
tent before taking his place in a circle of his brothers. His
mother moved to stand on his right and hissed a command at the two
mortals to stand a few feet away from them, which they hastily
obeyed. Once all the Princes were seated, the council began.

Brannon swiftly took charge of considering
their strategy and formulating battle plans. Raven had evidently
told the truth about his eldest brother being a good warrior
because the blonde Prince spoke knowledgeably about Silverhaven's
defenses, the Lords who would likely be fighting against them, and
what their army of soldiers needed to do in order to subdue the
enemy forces and conquer Benwyr's domain. The other Princes also
had their own suggestions for their planned attack and they
discussed things quite vigorously, and a little violently to the
alarm of the mortals, before everyone was satisfied with the course
of action they were going to take. Lady Ceirdwyn's expertise and
counsel were much sought after and valued, and they incorporated
several of her ideas into their final plans. Raven's power as a
seventh son, in particular, became an integral component of their
strategy.

As she put it, "My son is the only one among
us who can match Prince Benwyr's magic. My clockwork warriors can
engage Silverhaven's soldiers, so Your Highnesses would be able to
lead your men against the Lords. This would allow Raven to battle
Benwyr without the distractions of dealing with other opponents."
The other Princes nodded and agreed that she was absolutely right,
so the final details were worked out then everyone was
dismissed.

Once the council was over, the camp began to
bustle with activity as the Princes prepared their men for the
coming battle. There was a lot of rushing to and fro, shoving,
impromptu sword fights, shouted arguments, short-lived rivalries,
and good-natured boisterous teasing. Trevor looked on at the antics
of the soldiers and frowned worriedly. When Raven finished speaking
with his mother and she finally walked away to check on her
automatons, he cleared his throat quite loudly and, once he was
able to claim the Prince's attention, he commented, "Your brother's
soldiers seem to be taking all of this rather lightly. It's almost
like an outdoor rock concert in here."

Raven merely shrugged. "Warriors," he said
dismissively, "They are all a bit touched in the head. It has been
ages since the last time anyone tried to wage war on anyone, now
they are going to be fighting a seventh son and, if they would have
their wish, they would also be fighting against the Kingdom's
enemies soon enough. As long as they get to wave their swords about
and skewer a man through his guts, they're happy."

"What about your mother?" Meran asked, and
they all looked at Lady Ceirdwyn as she inspected her fighters
while obviously enjoying the attention of the soldiers who were
hanging around her like smitten boys. "She also seems to relish the
thought of the coming battle." As they watched, Lady Ceirdwyn
finished her inspection and then took up the challenge offered by
one of the soldiers who wanted to engage her in a swordfight. Soon,
she was clashing swords against seven men and she was laughing
delightedly the whole time.

"Lady Ceirdwyn used to be a battle maiden,
and one of the most fearsome the Strangelands have ever seen." The
one who answered Meran was Rogan. He appeared by her side and
smiled down at her quite charmingly, his pale eyes glinting. Trevor
heard Raven's teeth start to grind together and he winced. Then he
was amused at the helpless fury he could see in the Prince's
face.

Meanwhile, Rogan kept flirting with Meran,
who looked completely oblivious and immune to all the charm the
red-haired Prince was throwing her way. He was now telling her
stories about Raven's mother's exploits in the battlefield during
her younger days and she occasionally made polite noises to let him
know she was listening, but she wasn't encouraging him to go on
either. Then things became more interesting when Princes Kei and
Kaemon joined them. It soon became a competition between Brannon
and Kaemon to see who could best flirt with the mortal girl.

Meran was having no trouble ignoring all the
outrageous compliments, hints, and innuendos the two Princes were
working into their conversation with every chance they got. She
continued talking to them like she had no idea what they were
really saying. All the years of dealing with the amorous Lords of
Benwyr's Court had clearly equipped her with the right skills to
effortlessly deflect the less-than-honorable intentions of rich,
spoiled men. Raven, however, was having more and more trouble
reining in his temper. His face got redder and redder with every
flattering word that came out of his brothers' mouths until,
finally—Trevor took a step back when he sensed it was coming—Raven
exploded.

"Shut up, you bloody fools!" he suddenly
snarled, then grabbed Meran and positioned himself in front of her
like a vicious animal protecting its territory, or its mate. "She
doesn't want to have anything to do with you, she's not one of the
human girls you can sweep away with love charms, and she is most
definitely not going to be another one of your romantic conquests
who litter the entire Kingdom from end to end! Stay away from
her!"

Trevor fully expected to hear roars of
offended male pride and for a nasty fight to break out after that,
but instead Rogan and Kaemon, even the stoic Kei, broke out into
wild laughter. Raven's face turned even redder at the sight of
their amusement. "What is so bloody funny?" he demanded
furiously.