Best Laid Plans (50 page)

‘There is an ancient story,’ Ignatius stared out at the hoplites, ‘of a few hundred men like these resisting an army of thousands—some say a million. If we get drawn into attacking their position, we may suffer heavy losses.’

He didn’t need to say any more. Theodore could already tell. They might even lose. ‘All the more need for diplomacy to succeed then,’ he said, abandoning the mule and walking towards the hills. Sweat soaked his robes and trickled in stinging rivulets down his legs and into his sandals.

‘Divinity, wait,’ Ignatius said as a ripple passed through the massed troops on the right-hand hill. ‘They’re coming down to meet us.’

About thirty heavily armoured troops, black-cloaked and bearing shields emblazoned with the Sahulian Imperial Fist, made their way through the footmen fanned out along the slope. They marched in column around the front of the hoplites and then formed into a diamond about a central figure who towered over them.

‘Hagalle?’ Theodore watched as the clustered troops set out towards them.

‘If it is, that’s a brave move for an Emperor.’

More so than for an Ipsissimus?
Theodore quashed the thought the instant it reared its head. Mind you, he’d heard Hagalle was fearful to the point of paranoia. If it was him, then either the rumours were false, or Hagalle was facing up to his fears. That might make him a very dangerous man.

Theodore looked back at his own troops some five hundred yards away. They were drawn up in disciplined ranks, and from this distance there was no sign of the red dust that stained their cloaks. They looked pristine, immaculate; a professional army that would be very difficult to beat.

The mule was nuzzling the ground as if it were looking for something to eat. Theodore hoped it stayed put. The walk back in this heat suddenly seemed beyond him. He fingered the Monas around his neck and turned to face the approaching soldiers.

They stopped ten paces away and spread out in a semicircle. They were grim looking men, each with a hand clutching the pommel of a scabbarded broadsword, each glaring with practiced intimidation. Theodore felt his hopes for a peaceful resolution slipping away. The tall man they’d been guarding stepped out in front and advanced alone. The soldiers looked from one to the other and started to follow, but the tall man held up a hand and they stayed back.

Theodore knew at once he’d not been mistaken. Everything about the man’s bearing screamed Emperor. He had a leonine head with a sharp face. His grey-streaked black hair was drawn back in a ponytail, leaving the startling green eyes exposed above a distinguished nose. He wore a black enamelled breastplate above black clothes, and a huge broadsword hung from his hip. If he was suffering from the heat, he showed no sign of it.

Ignatius stepped in his way before he could reach Theodore. Nervous looks passed between the Emperor’s troops, but they made no move.

‘Get out of the way,’ the Emperor said as if Ignatius were a truculent slave.

As Theodore expected, the Grand Master stood his ground. He folded his arms across his chest and met Hagalle with a level stare. Theodore put a hand on the Grand Master’s shoulder and prompted him to step aside. He then lowered his head before the Emperor and dropped to one knee.

‘Divinity!’ Ignatius sounded appalled.

‘Very good,’ Hagalle said with a slow hand clap. ‘And it might work in Nousia, but here in Sahul we despise nothing more than false humility.’

‘Emperor Hagalle—’ Theodore began, still averting his eyes.

‘We also expect men to be men.’ Hagalle looked back at his bodyguards, who chuckled dutifully. ‘Not castrated milksops who dress like women.’

Theodore saw movement from the side.

‘No!’ he said. ‘Stand down, Ignatius.’

‘But, Divinity—’

‘I said stand down.’

Theodore climbed to his feet and did his best to smile as he met the Emperor’s sardonic gaze. ‘Emperor, we have a common foe—’

‘Shut it. Take your girlie army back to the ocean and sail on home to Aeterna.’

Hagalle turned away as if there were nothing else to be said.

‘Emperor, I ask only—’

Hagalle spun, his fist coming straight at Theodore’s face. The Ipsissimus tensed and blinked, but no impact came. Quicker than Theodore thought possible, Ignatius was in between them, his own hand clenched about Hagalle’s fist.

‘Ignatius, no!’ Theodore said.

Hagalle’s other fist came up, but the Grand Master pivoted and straightened Hagalle’s arm behind him, forcing the Emperor to the ground. The black-cloaks roared and drew their swords.

Ignatius jumped back, his own longsword rasping from its scabbard.

‘Back, Divinity,’ he yelled. ‘I’ll hold them.’

‘No, Ignatius. This isn’t what I—’

Hagalle rolled to his feet and whipped out his broadsword, but the black-cloaks were upon Ignatius before the Emperor could involve himself.

Two fell in a heartbeat, the Grand Master gliding in between them and weaving his sword through the air in a glittering sequence of thrusts, slices, and parries. He rolled around an attempted backstab and hacked his opponent across the hamstrings. The man screamed and fell amidst spurting blood.

Theodore winced and flapped his hands around. How had he lost control of the situation? What had he done wrong?

The clash of steel cut through his thoughts as they formed and he could do nothing except stare like a mesmerized beast. Ignatius hammered his sword against a shield and then kicked the man in the chest. He tried to back away, but the others had already started to outflank him. One of them charged at Theodore, but Ignatius still had the presence of mind to spot the peril to his Ipsissimus. He whirled through a vicious array of attacks, battering aside two men and dispatching the assailant at Theodore’s feet.

A group of cavalry sped down the left hill and started out onto the plain. Theodore glanced behind, but his own army remained stationary, as he knew they would. Ignatius had given them a direct order not to interfere—no matter what happened.

A blade passed so close to Theodore’s cheek he felt the rush of air. Ignatius parried it and ran the man through. He spun to meet the onslaught of three others and was powerless to help Theodore as more soldiers cut him off and the Ipsissimus was surrounded.

The pounding of hooves rolled like thunder across the plain and Theodore forced his eyes shut, seeking out an instant’s peace before the end. Grunts and cries came from the left where Ignatius was still battling, but then a trumpet cut across the din. The clash of blades stopped as everyone turned to the north.

Dust rose in plumes behind a wedge of horsemen thundering to intercept Hagalle’s light cavalry. Theodore squinted as the Imperial riders wheeled to meet the threat. The newcomers were in Nousian white, sunlight glinting from drawn swords. At the tip of the wedge rode a gaunt man in a pilgrim’s hat and a black coat, the tabard of the Elect billowing beneath.

They wouldn’t dare,
Theodore thought. The Elect would never disobey their Grand Master. But then he realized the Elect hadn’t moved. These riders had come from nowhere. No—they came from the same direction as the Imperial forces: they must have ridden from Sarum. And then he recognized the man in the pilgrim’s hat: Deacon Shader.

The white knights smashed through the light cavalry like they were chaff, scattering them and continuing on through. Shader reined in before Hagalle’s black-cloaks and leapt from the saddle. The others split, one group watching the black-cloaks, the other keeping an eye on the Imperial army. Impossible, Theodore thought. Reckless. There were only a dozen or so of these white knights, and yet they stood against the foe with the same insolence that he’d come to expect from Ignatius.

Hagalle raised his sword and opened his mouth to bellow something, but Shader darted through the black-cloaks like a striking serpent and pressed the tip of the Sword of the Archon to the Emperor’s throat.

‘Call off your grunts, Hagalle,’ Shader said through clenched teeth.

Hagalle tensed and snarled. Shader’s sword pressed harder and drew blood.

‘Last chance.’ Shader’s voice was ice.

‘Stand down,’ Hagalle said. ‘Do it, now!’

The black-cloaks sheathed their swords and bunched together, glowering.

‘Now,’ Shader said. ‘You two have something to talk about.’

Hagalle’s face burned red. ‘I will not—’

‘So talk.’

***

‘Ignatius Grymm, Barek Thomas,’ Shader said as Barek dismounted. ‘Ignatius here is Grand Master of the Elect. My former boss, if you like.’

‘Former?’ Ignatius growled, although Shader saw the glint in his eye. ‘Vows are for life, Shader, or had you forgotten?’

Ignatius reached out to take Barek’s hand, but the lad bowed his head and dropped to one knee.

‘I see you’ve trained him well,’ Ignatius said. ‘But as for you not genuflecting before the Ipsissimus, Shader, I imagine the Judiciary will have a thing or two to say about that.’

‘Oh, they’ve got enough to beat me over the head with already,’ Shader said. ‘I shouldn’t bother them with something so trivial.’

Ignatius tapped Barek on the shoulder. ‘No need to kneel, lad. We’re only joking.’

Barek stood and did his best to smile. ‘Master Shader spoke of you often. I’m honoured.’

Shader inclined his head towards the Ipsissimus and the Emperor who were engaged in a battle of words. At least that’s how it sounded. Hagalle was looming over the Ipsissimus, emphasizing every point with a thump of his fist into the palm of his hand. He shouted, rather than spoke, and seldom allowed the Ipsissimus to complete a sentence. The man was a bully and an idiot, Shader thought. If this went on much longer…

The black-cloaks were leaning on their shields, watching the argument with sullen expressions and occasionally whispering to one another. The White Order circled the gathering. Shader saw Solomon and Gord, Elgin and Justin, and smiled. Oh, they had their flaws, just as he did, but it was good to see them alive.

The Ipsissimus was speaking in a quiet voice, saying something about mawgs and holding out his Monas for Hagalle to see.

‘Then it should be mine,’ Hagalle cut him off again. ‘It came from Sahul in the first place, and it’s Sahul that’s under threat, is it not?’

Ignatius’ eyes narrowed and his hand went to his sword hilt.

The air behind Hagalle shimmered and then swirled with green luminescence. Huntsman stepped out of the air followed by Sammy and Rhiannon.

Shader gasped and felt his heart thudding in his chest.

‘This is bigger than Sahul, stupid white fellah,’ Huntsman said as the portal winked out of existence.

Sammy staggered and dropped to his knees. Rhiannon knelt beside him and cradled his head.

Huntsman’s hands were curled into claws. He perched on one leg like a brolga and fixed Hagalle with venomous eyes.

‘This boy has more sense than you.’ He indicated Sammy who was pale and shivering, even in the heat. ‘He use all his strength to bring us here quick enough to stop your nonsense.’

Hagalle roared and drew his sword. Huntsman made a grabbing motion with his fingers and the Emperor stumbled away clutching his throat.

‘Kill him!’ he gasped between pants.

The black-cloaks moved to obey, but Justin Salace nudged his horse closer and glared down at them.

Huntsman stalked towards the Emperor, fingers splayed. ‘Aristodeus said you would be ready; said you weren’t as stupid as you looked. I need your army, white fellah. I need it now.’

‘Huntsman, no,’ the Ipsissimus said, moving between the Dreamer and Hagalle. ‘This is not the way.’

The intervention seemed to break the spell. Hagalle coughed and then lunged at Huntsman, barging the Ipsissimus out of the way as he did. Ignatius tackled him and landed atop Hagalle, fist raised to strike. The black-cloaks surged forward and the White Knights drew their swords.

‘Cut it out, you flaming idiots!’

Everyone froze and looked back towards Rhiannon. She lay Sammy back on the ground and stood, dusting herself down. She then walked through the black-cloaks, who parted as if she were their queen. Shader took a step closer in case anyone tried to harm her.

‘Back off, shoggers,’ Rhiannon said. ‘You too, knight-boy.’ She touched Ignatius on the shoulder and he nodded, standing to resume his place beside the Ipsissimus.