PROLOGUE (84 page)

"Yet according to my Eagles and other messengers, Sanglant rode east, gathering an army about him."

"The Quman lie east. Do you think he means to make allies of them?" She didn't mean the words to be sarcastic, but Henry glanced at her sharply, jolted out of his reverie.

"Nay, I do not believe any Wendish noble will make peace with the Quman. I think he means to fight them. But the Quman are not

the only people in the east who have an army. It has been months since we had word of Sapientia and Prince Bayan, nor has Margrave Judith sent word nor any representative to my court."

"To what purpose would they revolt against you? How can Taillefer's lost grandchild be a threat to you? Queen Radegundis made no effort to put her son on any throne. She gave him to God's service, not to the trials of the world. Nor did his child ever make any claim to Taillefer's imperial throne, if she even survived infancy."

"But you believe a child was born to Taillefer and Radegundis' son."

"I do believe that, Your Majesty."

He frowned, regarding the trees again with an intent gaze. Rosvita realized all at once the main difference between Henry and Sanglant: Henry had the gift of stillness, and Sanglant could never be still.

"This bodes ill," he said softly.” I fear Sanglant has been bewitched."

"That is a serious charge. Your Majesty, and one that Prince Sanglant has already denied."

"He must deny it, if he lies under a sorcerous spell. Do you know for certain that he was not enchanted, either by Bloodheart or by that woman's influence?"

"Nay, Your Majesty, you must know that I cannot say for certain. We all saw that Prince Sanglant was much changed by his captivity in Gent. It is true that the woman Liathano held some kind of power over him, even if it was only the power of lust."

"Then you do not think him bewitched?"

Yet how could she answer? She, too, had seen the daimone suckling his child. She shuddered, remembering that abomination, and Henry smiled slightly, although the expression seemed more of a grimace.

Just as he seemed ready to comment further, a steward hurried up, followed by an outrider stffl dusty from the road. The man presented himself first to Queen Adelheid and then to the king. Adelheid got to her feet with the assistance of her servants and came to stand beside Henry.

"I am come from Lavinia, Lady of Novomo, to bring you greetings." The man spoke only Aostan, but Henry could understand it well enough as long as the speaker chose his words carefully and spoke slowly.” She rides to meet you on the road, and show you honor."

Henry rose. At his signal the army began its ponderous gathering up, like a great beast getting its legs under it in order to rise and stagger forward.

The valley began to broaden noticeably, hitting a stretch as straight as though a giant had gouged it out with her hand. Cliffs became ridgelines peppered with rock ledges and outcrops, slick with overhanging ferns, brown from lack of rain, crisp moss, and oleander bushes whose white flowers hung like falling water down steep hillside clefts. Farmers had found room to plow fields and plant orchards, and the landscape began to be cut through with fields, clusters of huts, and neatly-kept orchards.

The captain of the vanguard shouted out the alarm, and an instant later a horn rang out. Below, a party ascended along the road to meet them. Banners flew in a stiff spring breeze flowing down off the foothills, gold and white, matched in splendor and number only by the bright pennants and banners of the king's army. Adelheid's personal banner bearing the crowned leopard at rest below the royal sun of Aosta flew at the center of a six-pointed constellation of pennants. These pennants bore the sigils of Henry's rale over the six duchies that made up his realm: Varingia's stallion, Wayland's hawk, Avaria's lion, Fesse's red eagle, Arconia's green guivre, and the red dragon of Saony, the duchy out of which his grandfather Arnulf the Elder had taken control of the kingdoms of Wendar and Varre. Behind these paraded the banners of his noble companions, those who had chosen, or been commanded, to accompany his expedition: Duchess Liutgard of Fesse, Helmut Vil-lam, Duke Burchard of Avaria, and a host of other lords and ladies. His army wound back up the valley, lost finally around a bend. Strung out along the road in marching order, it was an impressive sight.

The king's vanguard formed a protective wall in front of him as Lady Lavinia advanced and, finally, dismounted in order to approach Henry and Adelheid on foot. She looked as if she had aged ten years in the year since Rosvita had last seen her. The line of her mouth was grim, and her hair had gone white. She knelt in the

middle of the road in the dirt, opening her hands in the manner of a supplicant.

"Your Majesties, I pray you, I give myself and all the lands and people I control into your hands. My fighting men are yours to command. You must take what you need from my storehouses, although we are sorely pressed in these days by drought."

Henry seemed ready to speak, but Adelheid made a slight gesture that drew his attention, and he nodded, giving way to her. With assistance, the young queen dismounted. She walked forward to offer her hand to Lavinia.

"I pray you, Lady, rise. Do not kneel here in the dust. We have come as I promised you last year." Lavinia took her hand but did not rise. She seemed incapable of speech, caught in some strong emotion that made her lips work silently. The calm, decisive woman who had aided Adelheid last spring had vanished.” What ails you, Lady?" continued Adelheid gently.” You are much changed."

Lavinia's voice was coarse with fury.” You know that Ironhead took my daughter to Darre to serve as a hostage for my good behavior. Now he has taken her against her will as his concubine. She is only thirteen. I will have revenge for the insult given to my fam-ily."

"So you will." It was always odd to hear such a steely voice emanate from that sweet, pretty face, but Adelheid had been raised in a hard school and had survived a forced marriage, a siege, Ironhead's pursuit of her, and an escape managed only with the aid of forbidden magic.

"She is not the only daughter of a noble house used in such an ignoble fashion," continued Lavinia.” Others have come to Novomo, hearing of your approach. We beg you to let us support you. Ironhead has brought dishonor to our families. Yet we brought the shame upon ourselves by not rising against him when he pursued you, Your Majesty. You see that we are repaid by God for our sins, for there was not enough rain this past winter. I fear there will be famine if no rain falls soon."

She gestured toward the orchards and fields. In truth Rosvita could see that the winter wheat was stunted and yellowing, and the new leaves on pear and apple trees were already curling.

"I have brought King Henry of Wendar and Varre, as I promised," said Adelheid.” We have wed. I am pregnant with a child who joins the blood of both Wendar and Aosta."

Tears ran down Lavinia's face as she kissed Adelheid's hand.” Bless you, Your Majesty."

"Come then, Lady. Rise. We will not march to Darre on our knees."

"Nay, nay, we will not." Lavinia got up at once and came forward to kiss Henry's ring and offer him her allegiance, but it was clear that she looked first to Queen Adelheid.

"Who awaits us in Novomo?" asked Henry when Lavinia's horse had been brought and both the lady and the queen mounted. At his signal, the royal party started forward at a sedate pace. Lavinia's retinue split to either side of the road to let the royal party pass through their ranks, and for some while the cheering of Novomo's soldiers drowned out any attempt at conversation.

"Who awaits us in Novomo?" Henry repeated as Lavinia's retinue fell in behind, being given the place of honor behind Henry's noble companions and his cohort of Lions but before the king's clerics and schola and the rest of his army.

"Richildis, Marquess of Zuola. Gisla, Count of Placentia, and Gisla, Lady of Piata. Tedbald, Count of Maroca, and his cousin, Red Gisla. Duke Lambert of Uscar, who can bring all of the nobles of his lands if he calls them."

"That is half of the north country," said Adelheid.” Some of these refused to aid me when my first husband died. How can I trust them now?"

"It is true that some may be spies for Ironhead, but they have all come here to pledge their support to Your Majesties. They like Ironhead no better than I do. The drought has affected all of us, and we fear worse, because the Most Holy Mother dementia, she who was raised to the seat of the skopos eight years ago, is dead."

Rosvita drew the Circle of Unity at her breast and murmured a prayer for God's mercy, just as others did, even and especially the king.

"May God grant her peace," said Adelheid.” She is my great-aunt."

"Truly, she comes out of a noble lineage," agreed Lavinia. Anger lit her expression again.” Rumor whispers that Ironhead

means to appoint his cousin as the new skopos, although she is not even a cleric!"

Rosvita leaned forward over the neck of her mule.” Have you heard any rumor of a Wendish frater among Ironhead's counselors, Lady?"

"Nay, Sister Rosvita, although it is said that a Wendish-born presbyter held great influence with the ailing skopos. I have even heard it whispered that he used sorcery to keep her alive, for she suffered greatly from a palsy in her later years. No one knows whether this presbyter supports Ironhead, or defies him, although it's said that he tried as well as he could to keep young women out of Ironhead's rough hands. But I hear only rumor. No noble lady or lord who travels to Darre is safe from Ironhead. None of us dare go there ourselves, for fear he'll kill us outright. You know, of course, that he gained his lands and title by murdering his half brother, and that he murdered his wife when he had no more use for her."

"How many wait for us in Novomo?" The catalog of Ironhead's sins had made Henry impatient.” Who else will march behind our banners? What number of milites and horsemen may we expect?"

"The wars have taken a toll on us, Your Majesty. Perhaps seven hundred."

They rode on for a while in silence. The ring of harness serenaded them. The muted rumble of wagon wheels behind them sounded like distant thunder, but the sky remained cloudless, a hard blue shell.

"Shall we gather more support, Your Majesty?" asked Lavinia finally, as if she could bear the silence no longer.

"Nay," said Adelheid fiercely, "let us strike hard and immediately at Ironhead, before Lord John has time to respond and build up his army." But as she spoke, she looked toward her husband. It was his army, after all.

Henry stared ahead. They had come within sight of Novomo, its walls and towers rising where the land opened into a fine landscape of rolling hills and extensively farmed lands, fields cut by ranks upon ranks of orchards and vineyards. They had come down far enough that, looking north, Rosvita could again see the tips of the mountains touching the heavens, distant and cold.

Beyond Novomo the road ran south to the heart of Aosta. Some trick of perspective allowed her to see a distant, flat-topped hill studded with dark shapes that she first took for sheep. With a shudder of misgiving, she recognized the hilltop of standing stones. Through those stones she and Adelheid and Theophanu and the pitiful remnant of their armies had staggered over a year ago, in the spring, propelled to safety by Hugh's magic. A spike of dread crippled her heart. Certainly they had escaped John Ironhead's army, but they had not yet escaped the full consequences of letting a man accused of sorcery harness a most dangerous magic, one long ago condemned by the church, to help them. She could not erase from her mind's eye the sight of the daimone Hugh had bound. She still saw clearly its writhing fury, heard the resonant bass hammer of its voice, felt the damning chill that boiled off the threads of hard light that made up its body, if the creatures known as daimones even had true bodies.

She had seen what the others had not, and yet she had acquiesced. She knew in her heart that decision would come back to haunt them all.

"A well-fitted army with horses and stout soldiers can reach Darre in ten days," said Lavinia as they approached the gates of Novomo.

In Darre lay the key to the imperial throne that Henry had for so long dreamed of possessing.

"God march with us," said Henry.” Adelheid is correct. We must not wait. Let us feast this night in your hall. In the morning, we will march south."

It seemed the entire populace of Novomo turned out to greet them, running out to stand alongside the road or waiting in the narrow streets and leaning out of the windows in their crowded houses inside Novomo's walls. Their cries and cheers rang to the heavens. When they came to the steps of Lavinia's palace, fully two dozen noblemen and -women laid their swords at Adelheid's and Henry's feet.