Elder Isles 2: The Green Pearl (40 page)

Almost as an afterthought, King Fidwig ordained a palace, and Jehaundel was built to a scale as prodigious as the walls of Xounges.

Much reduced from its old magnificence, Xounges remained as secure against attack as ever. The aristocracy had maintained tall stone townhouses; and formed the nucleus of the small army which defended the city from the Ska.

Jehaundel, now the palace of King Gax, showed a massive facade to the market square, but, like the palaces of the lesser nobility, made no pretense of ancient glory. The wings were closed off, as were the upper floors save for the suite used by King Gax: a dreary set-of chambers carpeted with woven rushes and furnished with massive pieces scarred by the hard usage of centuries. Fuel was an item of expense; the bedroom where King Gax lay dying was warmed only minimally by a mean little smolder of turves.

In his prime Gax had been a man of noteworthy stature and strong physique. For thirty years, while the Ska advanced their black battalions, first into the Foreshore, then across North Ulfland, his rule had gone badly. He had fought hard and suffered wounds, but the Ska were relentless. They destroyed his forces and crushed three proud Daut armies fighting under a treaty of mutual assistance. At last the Ska drove Gax to bay, behind the walls of Xounges. Stalemate came into being. The Ska were powerless to strike at him; and he could exert even less pressure against the Ska.

From time to time Ska emissaries brought Gax lukewarm offers of amnesty, if he would open the gates of Xounges and abdicate in favor of the Ska designate. Gax rejected all such overtures, in the wistful hope that King Audry might once again honour the ancient pact and send a great army to drive the Ska into the sea.

In this policy he was generally supported by his subjects, who saw no advantage for themselves under Ska rule. Sir Kreim, next of the royal succession, also endorsed Gax’s intransigence, if for reasons quite at variance with Gax’s own. Sir Kreim was a burly heavy-faced man of middle maturity, with black hair, lowering black brows and a short curling black beard in stark contrast to the pallor of his complexion. His appetites were large; his tastes were coarse; his ambitions were unbridled. When he himself assumed the throne, he hoped to use the office for his best personal advantage, either through alliance with the Ska, or abdication at a price which would afford him a luxurious estate in Dahaut.

Time passed and King Gax was unconscionably slow about his dying. If rumor were to be believed, Sir Kreim contained his impatience only by dint of great effort and perhaps had even considered methods to hasten the natural processes.

The chamberlain Rohan, upon learning that Sir Kreim had shown great favor to a pair of the guards outside King Gax’s bedchamber, ordered new dead-bolts affixed to the doors and reassigned the guards to permanent night duty on the outer parapets, where rain and storm were merely signals for augmented vigilance. Rohan also devised a system which guaranteed that King Gax’s food was the most wholesome in all Xounges; each of the kitchen cooks was required to eat of Gax’s food before it was served.

Sir Kreim, taking note of the precautions, congratulated Rohan for his fidelity and grimly set himself to wait for King Gax to die at his own pace.

Meanwhile, the stalemate persisted. King Audry not only failed to succor his ally King Gax; the Ska insolently drove into Dahaut and occupied the fort Poelitetz. In outrage King Audry issued a series of ever more emphatic protests, then warnings, then threats. The Ska paid no heed, and King Audry finally turned his attention elsewhere. In due course he would assemble an invincible army, with a hundred carriages of war, a thousand knights in full regalia, and ten thousand valiant men-at-arms. In a magnificent glitter of sharp steel and silver crests, with banderoles streaming overhead, the great army would fall upon the Ska and send them reeling and skreeking into the sea; and Audry sent King Gax a document asserting his firm decision in this regard.

King Gax seldom stirred from his bed. He could sense the ebbing of his vitality, and sometimes thought to feel the passing of hours and minutes as if they were grains of sand in an hour-glass. His face, once ruddy, was drawn and gray, but his eyes still burned with the smoky yellow gleam of intelligence. He lay motionless, propped up on a pillow, arms arranged on the coverlet, and spent long hours watching the flicker of fire on the hearth.

Occasionally, under Rohan’s watchful eye, he conferred with his staff and received visitors, including a deputation of high-ranking Ska: the Dukes Luhalcx and Ankhalcx, and an entourage of lesser lords. While they spoke bluntly and to the point, they conducted themselves with all propriety, and King Gax could find no fault with their general behavior.

During the Ska’s first audience with King Gax, necessarily in his bedroom, Sir Kreim and two others were also in attendance. Duke Luhalcx stated the deputation’s business: “Your Highness, we regret to find you unwell, but all men die, and it appears that your time is close upon you.”

King Gax managed a weary smile. “While life remains, I live.”

Duke Luhalcx bowed curtly in acknowledgment. “I intended the comment only as a step-board for the burden of my message, which I now state. The Ska nation rules North Ulfland, and intends to restore the ancient glory. We will expand our power: first to the south, then to the east. The city Xounges is a nuisance to us: a stone in our path. We must guard its approaches lest the Dauts attempt a reinforcement, which would place an enemy force full on our flank and threaten our control of Poelitetz. We want both the city Xounges and the titular rule of North Ulfland, that we may rescind the treaty with Dahaut. With our flank secure, we are free to subjugate South Ulfland, where the new king is becoming obstreperous.”

“I am not interested in expediting your conquests. To the contrary.”

“Still, you die, and events will pass you by. There is no royal prince in the statutory line of succession… ”

Here Sir Kreim indignantly thrust himself forward. “Absurd and incorrect! I am in the direct line of succession, and I shall be the next king of North Ulfland!”

Duke Luhalcx smiled. “We understand your ambitions very well, since you have communicated them to us on several occasions already. We intend to buy neither Xounges nor the title from you.” He turned back to King Gax, who had watched the interchange with a wintry smile. “Your Highness, we request that you immediately anoint our designate as the king of North Ulfland.”

Sir Kreim cried out: “Your Majesty, the insolence of this proposal is exceeded only by its coldblooded arrogance! We obviously reject it with indignation!”

Duke Luhalcx paid him no heed. “We will thereupon grant you and all present inhabitants of this place amnesty for acts committed to our detriment and we will confiscate neither wealth nor property. Will you agree to this proposal?”

“Certainly not!” declared Sir Kreim.

Gax spoke in irritation: “Sir Kreim, please allow me to formulate my own responses.” He turned back to Duke Luhalcx. “We have survived the displeasure of the Ska for many years. Why should we not continue to do so?”

“You can assure this policy only while you live. Upon your death, Sir Kreim, should he become king, will attempt to extort treasure from us. Our easiest recourse is to pay, then recover this treasure by a levy upon all the folk of Xounges. I assure you that not one groat of Sir Kreim’s fee will come from our own coffers.”

“There would be no negotiations!” snapped Sir Kreim. “On this I am firm! But if there were, you would be forced to stipulate financial as well as physical amnesty for our entire population!”

King Gax spoke sharply: “Sir Kreim, I have heard enough of your interpolations! You may leave the room at once!”

Sir Kreim bowed and departed.

King Gax asked: “Suppose the next king for a fact continued my policies: what then?”

“I do not care to reveal all the details of our plans. Suffice it to say, we would feel that we must take Xounges by force.”

“If this is so simple, why have you not done so before?”

Duke Luhalcx considered a moment, then said: “I will tell you this: we do not regard Xounges as impregnable. If we decide upon siege, then you will know a total blockade and full deprivation. Rain will be your only drink, and grass your only meat. If we were to take Xounges by force, and if a single precious Ska life were lost, every man, woman and child in Xounges would know the shackles of slavery.”

King Gax made a flickering gesture of frail white fingers. “Go. I will consider my opportunities.”

Duke Luhalcx bowed and the deputation departed.

A week later the Ska returned. Sir Kreim was again present, on condition that he maintain full silence, unless his opinions were solicited.

Duke Luhalcx presented his compliments to King Gax, and asked: “Your Highness, in connection with our proposal, have you reached a decision?’

Gax gave a hacking cough. “You are right in that my life is leaving me. I must choose my successor and soon, or I shall die with the deed undone.”

“Whereupon Sir Kreim becomes king?”

“True. Unless I anoint him, or someone else, such as good Rohan here, before I die.”

“The Ska preference, even over the excellent Rohan, is the Duke Ankhalcx. His nomination would ensure for Xounges the advantages of which I spoke.”

“I will keep your recommendation in mind.”

“When will you undertake the ceremony of coronation?”

“Soon. I have sent a courier to King Audry, asking his advice. A response should arrive before the week is out. Until then I will have nothing further to say.”

“But you have not ruled out our candidate Duke Ankhalcx?”

“I have come to no firm decision. If King Audry instantly mobilizes a great army and marches west, naturally I will not throw open the gates to you.”

“In any case, you will still wish to nominate and anoint your successor?”

Gax reflected a moment. “Yes.”

“And when will this ceremony occur?”

Gax closed his eyes. “Seven days from today.”

“You will give me no prior indication of your intentions?”

Gax spoke with his eyes closed. “Much depends upon the news from Avallon. In truth, I expect very little, and I will die a bitter death.”

The Ska departed, tight-lipped and muttering among themselves.

THE TROICE WARSHIP TIED UP TO A DOCK in the Xounges harbor. Aillas disembarked with Tatzel, the captain and two others from the ship’s crew.

The group passed under a raised portcullis, through a tunnel thirty feet long and out upon a narrow cobbled street which wound up to the market square. The facade of Jehaundel loomed opposite: a set of ponderous stone blocks, devoid of grace or delicacy. The group crossed the square, entered Jehaundel by the front portal, which was opened for them by a doorkeeper.

In an echoing stone foyer a footman came forward. “Sir, what is your business here?”

“I am a gentleman of South Ulfland and I request an audience with King Gax.”

“Sir, King Gax is ill, and sees few persons, especially if their business is casual or inconsequential.”

“My business is neither one nor the other.”

The footman brought the High Chancellor from his office, who asked: “You are surely not another courier from Avallon?”

“No.” Aillas took the official aside. “I am here on a matter of urgency. You must take me directly to King Gax.”

“Ah, but that I am not allowed to do. What is your name and how is your business so urgent?”

“Mention my presence only to King Gax and in private.

Tell him that I am intimate with Sir Tristano of Troicinet, whom perhaps you yourself will remember.”

“I do indeed! What name, then, shall I announce?”

“King Gax will want my name spoken to himself alone.”

“Come this way, if you please.”

The High Chancellor led them into the main gallery and indicated benches along the wall. “Please be seated. When the king is able to see you, Rohan the chamberlain will so inform you.”

“Remember! Not a word to anyone but King Gax!”

Half an hour passed. Rohan the chamberlain appeared: a stocky short-legged person of mature years, with a few wisps of gray hair and an expression of chronic suspicion. He inspected the group with automatic distrust. He spoke to Aillas, who had risen to meet him. “The king has taken favorable notice of your message. He now confers with the Ska, but will speak with you shortly.”

The conference in King Gax’s bedchamber was short indeed. Sir Kreim, already on hand, stared sullenly into the fire. As soon as Dukes Luhalcx and Ankhalcx entered, King Gax indicated a blond young gentleman dressed in the flamboyant style of the court at Avallon.

“There is the Daut courier. Sir, read out King Audry’s message once again, if you please.”

The courier snapped open a scroll and read: ” ‘To the attention of Gax, King of North Ulfland: Royal cousin, I send you my dearest regards! In the matter of the Ska brigands, I counsel that you fall on them tooth and nail and defend your great city for yet another brief period, until I can mitigate one or two carking local problems. Then together we will destroy this black-hearted human plague once and for all! Be of good cheer, and know of my hopes for your continued good health. I am the undersigned, Audry, King of Dahaut.’”

King Gax said: “That is my message from Audry. It is as I expected; he intends to do nothing.”

Luhalcx, with a grim smile, nodded. “So then: what of my proposal?”

Unable to repress his fury, Sir Kreim called out: “I beg you, sir, make no commitments until we have conferred!”

Gax ignored him. To Luhalcx he said: “Put your proposal in the form of a written protocol, with your guarantees delineated in bold black ink. In three days will be the coronation.”

“Of whom?”

“Bring me your solemn handwritten document.”

Luhalcx and Ankhalcx bowed and left, the chamber. They descended the stairs and turned down the great gallery. To the side sat a group of five persons. A young woman in their midst cried out in a poignant voice: “Father! Do not pass me by!”

Tatzel jumped to her feet and would have run across the gallery had not Aillas caught her around the waist and pulled her back down upon the bench. “Girl, sit quiet and make no bother!”