The Ghost Of Eslenda (Book 1) (16 page)

"The first wave of scouts has returned to the camp, Captain," said Grawlin. "They will report directly."

"Thank you, Grawlin."

James requested his men call him Captain, instead of Prince, for the obvious protection of his identity, but also because he needed a deeper trust among his men. He would ask his men to leap into mortal danger and they would leap without question. He did not want to distance himself from them. They knew he would take a blade for them and they would do the same for their captain.

"I feel a change in the air, Grawlin. There are more potent forces than just warfare. The world is changing."

"Yes, Captain."

"Prepare the first raid for six hours past sundown. We shall penetrate one line of campfires, no more, and then pull back."

"As you command, Captain." Grawlin hustled away to his duties. James grinned to himself. Grawlin always squirmed when James spoke of omens and dreams. Grawlin liked what he could see and touch; he desired not to read the currents of the air and listen to the changes in the grass. No matter how close James tried to get to his men, his thoughts and understanding of the world around him separated them again.

Presently, the scouts approached. They saluted and waited at attention.

"Report."

"Captain, Cane's men approach from the southeast. They have few scouts out. They are moving rapidly and should reach the flat land just beyond the Great Rocks by nightfall. Tomorrow they should meet up with more of Cane's men coming from Riverdowns. There are many refugees in the plains - prisoners from Riverdowns. They aren't a threat, but they are unhandy."

James smiled at the understatement of the scout.

James gave word to pull back the majority of his men. He did not want to be too close to Cane. After the hit and run attack tonight they would need to put some distance between them and Cane. Then the next night they would strike again.

The first raid began after midnight. Grawlin sent two parties, one from the southeast and the other circled around the Great Rocks to approach from the west. They waited silently until the whistle rose over the camp and then they charged. The thunder of their approach shook the tents and they caught Cane's men unawares, cutting down several before the defenders could put up resistance. They drove the defenders into the tents, one row, and then a second. The power of the horses tore down the tents and the blades of James' men cut down the defenders. The short battle was fierce and bloody. A shrill whistle pierced the darkness and the horsemen turned and galloped back into the darkness. Cane's men gasped for breath, some not sure what happened. They stood with their unbloodied weapons, staring into the darkness. Their captains screamed and kicked at them. The sound of hooves faded.

James finished his breakfast as he watched them bring the woman to him. She had been found trying to steal food. Most soldiers would have struck her down, but James' men followed a strict code and merely bound her. She told the soldiers she was fleeing Riverdowns.

She was pretty despite her condition and appeared a Nunari. She was slight of build but carried a presence about her. Her haunted copper eyes bore into him. She had seen too much in her life. There was no joy in her eyes and James felt a hard pang inside him. Why had Henry kept such prisoners? Henry never tried to ransom them. James heard rumor that they were used for slave labor, among other things. There was a dark side to his grandfather that he did not want to uncover.

"You are safe now," said James. "After you rest I will send to Far Greening where you can find fresh clothes and rest."

"Then what will you do with me?" Her voice sounded stretched and weary, a person consigned to their bitter fate.

"Me? I will do nothing with her except to help you return to Nuneland."

"No! I cannot return! I am no longer worthy."

This startled him for a moment, but he did not show it.

"Then you may stay at Far Greening as long as you desire. How are you called?" He could see dirt and grime darkened her hair. It was difficult to say whether her hair was blonde or white, although she seemed too young to have white hair. Then he saw a red streak among the dirty strands. It seemed to resist the dirt unlike the rest of her hair. He thought he knew her identity.

"I was called Sena."

"Then you shall be called Sena again. Who are your parents? Husband? We should send word that you live."

"I do not want to burden my parents. I have no husband. I have been in that hell for nearly ten years. I am dead to them now and I cannot return. I have been used badly in my time as a non-person. I will bring no honor to my family to return. It would have been better had I died. I have no home to go to."

Something in her words tugged at him.

"Sena, I promise you we shall do everything we can to help. You can stay at Far Greening as long as you want."

"Why would you want to help me?"

"I don't know. There is something in your face. Its beauty cannot be dimmed."

"Why do speak thus to me? You are a Prince. Take what you want!" She spat out the words.

The anger in her voice forestalled his words. He shook his head.

"I wish to take nothing from you. I have no desire to add to your shame. Please, eat and rest a little before you go to Far Greening. I do have a washbasin nearby if you wish to use it. The stream water is very cold, but refreshing." He smiled at her and then pretended to turn to other business.

"You are a strange man, Prince James of Eslenda."

"You are a beautiful and strong woman, Sena Tagjet of Nuneland."

"You know who I am?" she gasped.

"I will keep it secret, do not worry. You have the look of your brother, Per. I met him last year and he spoke of his lost sister. You are missed despite what you may think. Your identity will not be revealed by me, although some others might guess it as I have. Especially if you wash the dirt out of hair. No one else has such hair. Your red streak is very striking in your white hair. It should be released to the world again. But it is your unusual copper eyes that mark you."

Sena looked at James. "You look barely twenty, from where does this wisdom come?"

James laughed. "Wisdom? Oh, for some wisdom, I would give much. Sena, I do not profess to be wise. I only do what I must. If it is wisdom I speak, I am not aware of it. Now, please take some refreshment and in an hour or so I shall send an escort with you to Far Greening."

He bowed to her and smiled. Sena did not smile, but her eyes were not so dead.

"I was to be a seer," she said suddenly. "Onyax Lor said the red streak was a mark of the gods. Onyax Lor was to teach me when I returned from a wilderness search."

"Onyax Lor is the Wiseman? I think I saw him once. What is a 'wilderness search?"

"A pilgrimage for the initiate. To hear the voices of nature, to discover the power within that would determine what type of seer you would become. I spent two weeks alone in the wild before I ran into the soldiers who took me to Riverdowns. I was thrown in prison. No one even spoke to me. No one asked my name."

James felt the burning in his gut. Everything she said brought more questions to him about his grandfather. Who else knew what was happening? His father? His uncle? Edward would have been eighteen when Sena was captured. Edward could have been involved with her imprisonment. It was possible his grandfather never knew although unlikely. Could Edward have been a rouge even then?

The guards at the riverside of the camp cried out of an approaching rider. James recognized Jed Turlane from the distance. Jed did not waste much time bantering with the other soldiers, which was unusual. James braced himself for the news he would receive.

James had sent an embassy to Lan Tagjet a week prior to ask for assistance in scouting and information. The Nunari were excellent huntsmen and woodsmen who would greatly help James' endeavors. The Nunari Bearclaws were great fighters, but too few for this warfare.

"Captain!" Jed Turlane saluted James.

"How was your journey?"

"The journey was passable, however my news is not. Kal Tagjet, son of Lan Tagjet was killed by Cane's men."

James pressed his lips together.

"He was leading the hunt, his first time, and ran into a squad. Unfortunately, the boy outran them to his death. They killed him on the spot. Lan Tagjet is a strong man. He said he would come in five days, but he must see to his son."

"I understand," said James. "He didn't need more reason to hate Cane. He might have come to us on his own." He glanced over to Sena who was now returning from washing. Her white hair could be plainly seen.

"What of Cane's men?"

"The hunters killed them all. One of the Bearclaws was with them. Ank Rak."

"Ah, a formidable fighter. Say no more of the killing." He turned to Sena who had waited out of earshot until they finished. He beckoned her forward.

"Jed Turlane, a valuable man in my command. Jed, this is Sena Tagjet."

Jed started, but smiled quickly. "A pleasure to meet you."

She nodded to him.

"Captain, there is more."

James watched Sena find a place to sit. "Speak."

"There were two Daerlan with Lan Tagjet. After he conversed with them, he asked me to join him. When he leads his men to Far Greening, he will ask your father to join him in a quest that the Daerlan brought to him."

"A quest? For what?"

"I do not know. Their news had shaken Tagjet, even more than his son's death."

"What?" said Sena. "Who died?" James cursed himself for being only half sensitive to his guest's presence.

Jed Turlane paled and looked stricken. James waved him away. "We will speak later."

James turned to Sena. He exhaled and looked firmly in her eyes.

"Your brother Kal is dead."

"Kal. You can't mean Kal! He's a baby, he… He was only five when I saw him last." Tears welled up in her eyes. "Tell me." Her hand reached out toward James briefly before her walls slammed in place again.

"He was leading the hunt."

"Ah, he had grown so."

"He outran the rest of the men chasing their quarry and stumbled into Cane's soldiers. They killed him immediately. Ank Rak and the rest found him too late and killed the soldiers."

"Never a man, now," she said softly. "Father must be so sad. And Per. He doted on Kal."

"They will need you," said James softly.

Her eyes flashed and color rose in her face. "Do not press! Your man said my father would come to Far Greening. Very well. I shall see him there and dance the mourning dance. I can still remember that. If he accepts me, he will dance with me. If not, he will watch and leave without me." She looked into James' face.

"Do not worry so, my Captain. I am made of hardy stock. Kal's death will be harder on others than me for I once thought they were all dead to me and any that accept me will be more than I expect."

"I wish to see some joy in your eyes."

"Do not send me away. Let me fight with you." There was iron within her yet.

"I don't know. Not fighting, not yet. You need rest and food to build up your strength before you raise a sword. But you may stay. We shall go to Far Greening together to hear your father ask my father to his quest."

Sena bowed her head slightly, smiling, but her eyes did not yet dance. A beginning, such as it was.

There was a shout to the west. A clash of steel. Men ran gathering weapons. James drew his sword and ran to the commotion. A squad of Cane's men had attacked. They had circled to the west and slipped past the sentries. When James arrived, Cane's men had been backed toward the south but held the line. James and Grawlin slammed into the attackers, their blades flashing. Repeatedly James hacked and spun, his great blade slicing through the trunks of men and he cried out with a great voice, killing another man. James's fury could not be snuffed and his opponents gave ground. Soon the numbers were not favorable and Cane's men turned and ran, routed by the Captain. James' company had lost two men and killed thirteen, five by the Captain himself.

James left the bloody ground and found Sena several paces behind him, a knife in her hand. She slid it in her belt and waited for him. He gave commands to his men. Together they returned to the center of the camp to the command tent. James' washed while Sena ate and rested, but her eyes seldom left him.

James waited two hours after Cane's attack had been beaten back before sending his men riding again. Grawlin led the raiders in one group and they drove to the middle of the camp, then fought their way out the other side and rode off around the Great Rocks. Cane's men had been celebrating their attack on James' camp when Grawlin killed their captain with a blade to his neck. Once again, the disorganized soldiers could not raise a defense.

James felt the second raid hurt Cane's forces. There was a little extra in his men's efforts after Cane's attack on their camp. It had stung his men to be caught unprepared by their foes. His men felt his anger and embarrassment. It put fury behind their steel to make Cane's men pay for their boldness. Cane's men fled their campsite, running into the night.

James would let Grawlin command while he returned to Far Greening to report to his father in person. He would also escort Sena himself. He smiled and hummed to himself.

Grawlin laughed aloud and waved to his Captain. Grawlin saluted him and James returned it. James turned his horse and rode off next to the woman with the white hair. They rode in silence for a quarter hour.

"Hal is your father?"

"Yes."

"He is king, then?"

"By right he is, but Edward is proving an unwanted uncle."

"He is a beast." Her voice was hard, but she said no more, her mouth closely tight.

James knew somehow not to say anything.

Quink sat in a chair that he removed from one of the sitting rooms. There was a wide interchange of tunnels that allowed room for the chair and a small table. He setup this area as a hideaway from Edward and his servants. Here he could think, he could ponder the recent changes of his life and he could evaluate what he overheard from the spy holes. Not everything was useful for Lockwell. He sipped from a jug of wine and ate muffins he had stolen from the kitchen. This was a new sense of freedom for him. Edward ignored him, there was little merriment in Edward's court at the moment, and so his time was his own for now. He had sent a second message to Lockwell about Edward's instructions for Cane to lay siege to Far Greening and kill Prince James - and Hal if he showed up. Cane's men had left Riverdowns immediately riding north.