Rage of a Demon King (33 page)

The magicians nodded.

“Good. That means you’re not totally without hope,” said Pug.

D’ Lyes looked confused at that remark. “Not totally,” he said.

Pug laughed and stood up so all could see him. To the assembled magic users he said, “Even here I suspect you’ve heard rumors of war.”

Some magicians said yes, and others nodded.

“The war is real, but it is not with our neighbors to the south.

“A great fleet comes from across the sea and brings with it an army of terrible size, perhaps a quarter-million men under arms.” At that, several of the magicians began talking among themselves. Pug held up his hands and the group fell silent. “The Kingdom makes ready to defend itself, and as you can imagine, we need a secure border with Kesh. Toward that end, some changes have been made.”

A hush fell over the crowd as they waited to hear what Pug said next.

“Great Kesh and the Kingdom have contested for years over the rich farmlands surrounding the Sea of Dreams. To end this eternal dispute, the Kingdom has ceded certain lands to the Empire of Great Kesh.

“To the southwest of Land’s End is a great rocky prominence, clearly visible from sea and land, called Morgan’s Ruin. Sailors know it well. From the tip of that great rock, straight east to the river Shamata, a new border has been drawn. The Empire of Great Kesh has been ceded all lands south of that line, along the southern banks of the river Shamata, the Sea of Dreams, and the Great Star Lake.”

The assembled group gasped and a few shouted in anger. One man, obviously from the Kingdom, shouted, “You betray us!”

Pug said, “No. Prince Erland has been negotiating with the Emperor of Great Kesh for a long time on this matter. In exchange for Kesh’s protecting our southern flank from the enemy, and for observing our current treaty while we are engaged with a mighty foe, the Kingdom chooses to grant several claims for territory Kesh has held for almost a hundred years. Those of you who are uncomfortable with this change in governance may leave.

“As it stands now, Stardock is still Kingdom territory; still
my
duchy.” Pug glanced from face to face. “Shamata is now being handed over to the Keshians. The Kingdom forces are withdrawing across the Great Star Lake to Landreth. Any of you who wish may travel with them.”

Several more protests were heard, but Pug ignored them.

General Salamon spoke. “We will honor the Kingdom’s claim to sovereignty for Stardock Island.
Stardock town will be Keshian. Until you have arranged for a portage or dock on the north shore, Kingdom citizens will be granted the right of free passage through Stardock town.”

Someone in the crowd shouted, “When are you taking over?”

The General said, “We have taken over. My men are now occupying the small fortress at Port Shamata and the garrison in the city, and we will leave a small force across the water to ensure the peace.” Looking at Pug, he said, “If there is nothing more, I need to return to my men, my lord.”

Pug nodded and said, “Thank you for coming.”

The General and the Kingdom Captain left together, heading down the hill toward the dock. Pug said, “That is the end of it. Now on to another matter.

“This invader I spoke of is an enemy of the most dangerous sort, and I need those of you willing to serve. We need those of you able to heal, able to act as conduits for intelligence, and those of you who may in some way stem the invaders’ magic.” He paused and then added, “They are served by Pantathians.”

At mention of the hated serpent priests, several of those who had been quiet shouted, “I’ll help!”

Pug waited and said, “Those of you willing to travel to Krondor, see Robert d’ Lyes. He is to be my aide in this matter.”

D’ Lyes looked around, confusion on his face. “Aide?” he said as young magicians started to talk to him.

Pug jumped down from the rock and Nakor said, “What do we do now?”

Pug said, “We? I’m going to Krondor with this band, to get them ready; then I travel to Sethanon. You wait here to make sure that this band of fools doesn’t start a war with Kesh in the next two weeks; when you’re certain they won’t, I want you to get to Sethanon.” He reached into his robe and pulled out a Tsurani transportation orb. “Don’t break it or lose it: it’s the last one I have. And it’s a long walk to Sethanon.”

Nakor didn’t look pleased. “Things are coming to a head, and you want me to stay here and wet-nurse this bunch?”

Pug grinned. “Who better?”

So saying he moved through the milling magicians and went to talk to Robert d’ Lyes.

Sho Pi said to Nakor, “Master?”

“What?”

“Have you given thought to what Pug said about thinking of a different plan for Stardock?”

Nakor was silent for a moment, then turned to his student with a wide grin. “Of course I have.”

Erik frowned.

He put the papers on Lord William’s desk and said, “That is what I’m to do?”

William and Calis nodded. “We’ve had a change of plans since my father appeared,” said William, looking very tired. “He went into council with the Prince, James, and myself, and all I can tell you is he convinced us that Calis is needed elsewhere.”

Erik had been operating on the assumption that he would be up in the mountains to the north and east of the city, awaiting the fall of Krondor to launch raids against the invaders as they moved eastward. Now he was being told the roles were being shuffled, like so many cards in a deck.

William said, “I am in charge of the defense of the city. That hasn’t changed. Vykor’s flotilla is hidden down in Shandon Bay and will sally against the raiders as they pass by, to be joined, we hope, by
what is left of Nicholas’s fleet after it’s refitted at the Sunsets.

“Greylock will act as my second with the units up in the mountains.” He pointed at Erik. “That means you will have to fill in for Greylock, where we had planned to use him.”

“The retreat,” said Erik flatly.

“Yes,” said Calis. “By the time we lose this city, we’re going to have a frantic population attempting to flee and a routed army trying to go with them. We can’t allow that.”

“How are you going to prevent it?” asked Erik.

William sighed. “This is what comes of making assumptions. If we had included you in our command meetings you’d know this already.” He handed a large sheaf of papers to Erik. “Read these; the plan is outlined in detail and I want you to have it down cold by tonight. You and I will have dinner and we can dispose of any questions of yours then.”

Erik turned to Calis. “When do you leave?”

“As soon as my father returns from Stardock,” answered William for Calis.

Erik assumed it was implicit no one knew when that was. “Very well, m’lord.”

Erik turned to leave the room, and as he reached the door, William said, “Oh, Erik, there’s one more thing.”

Erik turned and said, “What is that, sir?”

“From this moment on, you’re a Knight-Captain in the Prince’s army. I don’t have time to waste making you a lieutenant, so you’ll just have to skip a rank.”

Greylock smiled, trying hard not to laugh at Erik’s astonished expression. “Me, sir?”

“What’s the matter, von Darkmoor!” shouted Calis in a fair imitation of Bobby de Loungville. “Are you suddenly hard of hearing?”

Erik blushed. “Ah, that means I need a new sergeant major, doesn’t it?”

“Yes. Any recommendations?”

Erik almost said Jadow, because he was the most senior sergeant in the command, but the fact was that Calis had been correct originally when he had given Erik the job. Jadow just didn’t have the command skills for the position; it required far more organizational ability than most of the sergeants possessed. After a while he said, “There are two or three men who would serve, but to be honest, the best of the lot is Duga, the mercenary captain. He’s smart, he’s tough, and he understands exactly what is at stake without our telling him everything. He’s been very useful in persuading those other mercenaries we’ve captured into switching sides.”

“I don’t like it,” said William. “The man’s a turncoat.”

Erik said, “You have to understand how things are across the sea, m’lord. Men there have no strong attachment to a city and there are nothing like the nations here; Duga has been a mercenary all his life, but down there mercenaries live by a strict code of honor. If he swears loyalty—and I can make him understand this isn’t a contract where he can throw down his sword and switch back—he’ll serve.”

William said, “Let me think on this. Perhaps we’ll make him a sergeant of auxiliaries, but I need someone else, now.”

“Then Alfred,” said Erik. “He’s not as sharp when it comes to strategy and tactics as I’d like, but he
understands how to get things done in a hurry with a minimum of fuss.”

“Then he’ll do,” said William, glancing at Calis.

Calis nodded. “I agree. He’s solid, and he’ll do for what we have coming.”

“Go tell him,” said William, and Erik left.

After he was gone, Greylock said, “You neglected to mention he carries the court rank of Baron.”

Calis smiled. “Let’s not get him too upset right now.”

William let out a long, tired sigh. “I’m going to have to deal with his upset when he reads the plans and sees what his role is to be.”

Calis nodded. “There’s no doubt about that.” Then he laughed, a rueful, bitter laugh.

“Darkmoor!” Erik said. “You can’t be serious!” At William’s expression, he quickly added, “M’lord.”

William motioned for Erik to follow him down the hall. “We’re dining with my family tonight. We’ll talk over a quiet meal.”

As soon as they reached the dining hall, Erik felt his anger drain away. The “quiet” meal the Knight-Marshal spoke of included Duke James, Lady Gamina, their son, Lord Arutha, and his two sons, Dashel and James.

Erik almost blushed at being included with the Duke’s family, and quickly took a seat to William’s right. As servants began to bring in the food, the magician Pug entered through a door across from Erik’s seat. Erik saw only that his hair and beard had been cut close, until he came to sit between William and Lady Gamina, at which point Erik saw what appeared to be faint burn marks on his neck and face.

Jimmy and Dash stood, as did Arutha, James, and Gamina. William hesitated a moment, and rose, while Erik quickly did as well. “Great-grandfather,” said Dash in greeting.

Pug kissed Gamina’s cheek and shook hands with James and then with William. “I’m pleased we’re all together,” said Pug.

Erik saw, and with sudden clarity realized, why there was a somber mood in the room; this might very well be the last time Pug’s family would gather. And many of those here might not be alive soon.

Erik whispered to William, “If you’d prefer, sir, we can talk about my mission tomorrow.”

William shook his head. “At first light tomorrow, I want you up in the hills inspecting the first line of fortifications outside the city to the east. Then you need to be back here by the day after tomorrow.” He glanced at his family. “We don’t have time, I’m sorry to say.”

Pug said, “Before anything else, I have one thing I must say to all of you.”

William turned to look at his father, as did James and Gamina. Pug said, “I have been absent from your lives far too long, and for this I must beg your forgiveness.” He then reached out and placed his hands over William’s and Gamina’s. “And I also need to tell you how very proud of you I am.”

William looked as if he didn’t know what to say. Gamina smiled and moisture gathered in her eyes as she leaned over and kissed her father’s cheek. Erik had seen enough strange things in the last four years to find nothing odd in the image of a woman who looked old enough to be Pug’s mother being his daughter.

Gamina said something to her father by mind speech, and he smiled. “I wish she were here, too.”

William said, “Thank you, Father.”

Pug removed his hand from Gamina’s and put it over the one that still gripped William’s. “No, I must thank you, for being who you are, and for holding to your own dream, no matter what I thought you should be doing. I learn slowly at times, I fear.”

William smiled and Erik could see the resemblance between father and son. There was a sheen of moisture in the Knight-Marshal’s eyes, and Erik found his own throat tightening with emotion. This was what this war was about, protecting those we love, he thought. Somewhere in the night his mother and the only man he thought of as a father were sitting over a table in the back of an inn, and somewhere out there the woman he loved was hiding, on her way to join his mother and Nathan.

Erik suddenly felt a presence in his mind, a gentle touch, nothing more, but he knew it was the Lady Gamina. He glanced over and she saw was smiling at him. Then words came into his mind.
Your young woman is safe, I am sure.

Without knowing quite how to do it, he tried to say,
My wife.

Gamina laughed and William said, “What?”

The Duchess said, “Our young friend has gotten married since the last time we met.”

Pug, William, Arutha, and Gamina all offered congratulations, while the two younger men glanced at their grandfather. Pug said, “James?”

The former boy thief shrugged and grinned, and there was a hint of boyish playfulness in his manner. “I knew. So did Dash and Jimmy.”

Arutha said, “You knew?”

Duke James laughed. “I had to get Erik’s mind back on the days to come, so I let him think he was being terribly clever sneaking his young wife out of the city.” He pointed an accusatory finger at Erik. “Don’t ever disobey me again, Captain.”

At the admonition and use of his new rank, Erik couldn’t help but blush.

“Captain?” asked Dash, nodding in approval.

Gamina and Arutha both said, “Congratulations.”

William said, “We’ll see how much congratulations are in order after this coming battle.”

At mention of the conflict, the mood in the room fell somber again. After a moment of quiet, Pug slapped his hand on the table. “Enough! Let us steal a moment of happiness while we can.” He glanced at his grandson, Arutha. “My only regret is that your wife is not with us.”

Arutha smiled, and Erik again saw the echo of both his father and mother in his features. “She visits her parents in Roldem.”

Jimmy said, “Perhaps we should all go to Roldem for a visit.”

Pug laughed, and the others joined in. The meal passed quickly and pleasantly, as those dining together found reassurance in one another’s company.

Erik was pleased to have the opportunity of seeing this family together, for in this room sat three of the most important men in the Kingdom, Lord James and his father-in-law and brother-in-law. The food was beyond a doubt the best Erik had ever had, and the wine was beyond comparison, wine grown in his own Darkmoor region, but too costly for a commoner
like himself to have ever tasted. He and William quietly discussed the plan for the defense of those leaving the city, in the corner, while the other family members chatted about matters of small importance and ignored the darkness coming their way.

After supper they ate sweets and drank Keshian coffee with small glasses of an exquisite fortified wine from Rodez. As Erik felt a warm glow fill him from head to toe, Calis hurried into the dining room. “Sorry to intrude,” he said without greeting, “but a message has arrived.”

James stood and held out his hand, and Calis gave him the message. William said, “From Land’s End?”

“Yes, by fast riders. The invaders’ fleet was sighted just after dawn yesterday.”

William said, “With a favorable wind, that will put them off the point the day after tomorrow.”

James nodded. “It begins.”

Erik squinted, trying to will sight in the gloom. He stood on the outer breakwater, on the forward firing platform. As he had threatened, Greylock had seem that Captain de Beswick was given the dubious honor of being the first officer to face the enemy at Krondor’s wall.

If the formerly hostile Captain felt any resentment over Erik’s promotion, placing him above the career officer from Bas-Tyra, he hid it well, and was nothing if not polite when Erik gave him orders.

“Where are they?” asked Erik.

De Beswick said nothing, realizing the question was rhetorical. As the sun lit the sky to the east, the western horizon continued to be cloaked in fog and darkness, accommodating the enemy’s advance. De
Beswick said, “I know little about this sea, Captain, but if the weather is at all like Bas-Tyra’s, the haze should burn off by midmorning.”

Erik said, “By midmorning you may have warships sitting close enough to throw rocks at.” He looked over the defenses for what seemed to be the hundredth time since he had returned from his inspection of the nearby defenses to the east of the city.

Long minutes dragged on, and Erik kept returning to examining those forward elements. The outer breakwater had been restructured, so that to reach Krondor harbor a ship now had to sail as far south as possible around a large jetty, atop which sat the platform Erik stood on; that was manned by a company of catapult crews, bowmen, and a shoreside detachment, all armed to the teeth. Any ship approaching this end of the jetty would be fired upon. The seawall ran almost due north, separated from the inner wall by a distance of less than a quarter mile. At the north end of the wall, another company waited, and any ship attempting to come up the channel between the inner and outer walls would be subject to a withering cross fire. Across the water on the inner wall, another company of soldiers manned their war engines. Erik considered that once the enemy saw the new defenses, their only choice would be to attempt to seize all three platforms. If they were foolish enough to send ships into the channel before they cleared
away the defenders, they ran the risk of a ship’s being sunk to block the channel. What Erik knew and they didn’t was that a clever set of traps awaited the ships that came through that channel, even if the defenders were swept away from the walls.

Erik looked at the small boat tied off below, less than twenty feet down a rope ladder dropped over the edge of the platform. “I’m going to leave you the boat,” said Erik. He knew that the men on this and the next three stations were likely to be obliterated before they could withdraw.

De Beswick looked at Erik, and raised an eyebrow in question.

“If you need to send a message in a hurry, it’s faster than running along the top of the wall.”

“Of course,” said de Beswick. Then, after a moment, he said, “Rather decent of you, actually.”

Erik put his hand on the man’s shoulder and said, “Goodbye and good luck.”

He ran along the top of the jetty, along the small path cut atop the mountains of rocks placed there by convict labor so that the ballista and catapult platforms could be installed. For more than three quarters of a mile he trotted to the second platform, where he accepted the salutes of the officers waiting there. He didn’t stop to speak, but continued along, turning eastward at the top of the inverted U the two walls formed. For a quarter mile the Knight-Captain of the Prince’s army hurried along, them turned south. The day was getting warmer, and Erik was perspiring when he reached the third platform. He quickly inspected stores and equipment, then turned back north. The last platform was the most isolated, for as at the first one on the outer wall, the men would have to flee along the exposed path and across the rock jetty to reach the old north jetty, which had traditionally shielded Krondor’s harbor from the Bitter Sea’s south-running tides.