The Grand Crusade (34 page)

Alexia gasped and opened her eyes. “Oh, how did you know?”

“Lucky guess. You don’t mind?”

“Mind? My other foot is jealous.”

He winked at her. “It will have its turn.”

He was as good as his word, massaging the other foot, then her calves. His strong fingers found knotted muscle and bled away the tightness. Then he produced soap and a soft cloth, washing her feet and lower legs. He shifted forward and repeated the massage with her hands and arms, then washed them as well.

As his ministrations continued, Alexia began to lose herself in the sensations. The heat and the firm pressure of his touch, the weight and softness of the wet cloth as it slid over her body, felt sublime. She lifted her chin as he washed her throat, then sank down a little to let the water lap at her collarbones.

He moved behind her and drew her wet braid from the water. He unplaited it, then began to soap her hair. He lifted the mass to the top of her head, rubbing and massaging. One hand or the other constantly started at the nape of her neck, working up and over into her hair. Warm suds dripped down over her face and shoulders. With her eyes closed she could feel it move inch by inch over her skin.

Then equally gently he used a small bowl to scoop up water and rinse her hair. He gathered it up and twisted it to wring out most of the water, then let it hang over the back of the tub, resting it on a towel that absorbed much of the remaining moisture.

Crow leaned close and kissed her on the cheek. “I should likely get you out of there before the water cools off.”

She opened one eye and smiled. “You know, there are ways we could heat it up. There’s plenty of room for you.”

His smile blossomed against her cheek. “For another night, my love. Now I think it is our bed that needs warming.”

As she stood, he wrapped her in a thick bath sheet. He gathered her hair in another and dried it, then dried her body, sinking to his knees to get her legs. As he rubbed, he brought a rosy glow to her flesh, pausing every so often to shower her with soft kisses that made her breath come more quickly.

Unable to stand it any longer, she sank long fingers into his hair. “Take me to bed immediately, Crow, or I shall not be responsible for what I do.”

He grinned up at her, his beard brushing her thigh. “As you command, Princess.”

That night, they had not needed a fire to stay warm. On the other nights they’d had fires, but more for the warm glow of the light, and the way the flickering flames danced shadows over their bodies. Though their daily duties might have necessitated their separation, each night they were together. In the morning, when they would awake holding each other, separation seemed only possible because of that evening’s promised reunion.

But now had come the time for Crow to leave for good. They had both tried to ignore that fact in the morning, treating it as any other. They almost accomplished it, save for one point when he could no longer speak and just held her closely; and a time when she pressed her face to his neck and stained it with

tears.

She had gotten up, dressed, and gone out to attend to her duties. She acquitted them well, though Peri and Arimtara noted her distraction and covered for her. Most of what had to be done was clerical work, as supplies kept flowing into the city and had to be allocated. Though no bard’s song ever layered glory on a quartermaster, without warehouses bulging and the means to get supplies to the troops, a war could be lost before even the first soldier fell.

By noon, when Crow and his people were set to depart, she finished and returned to their room. His saddlebags waited on the bed along with Alarien. Crow sat on the edge of the empty tub, knotting some of the sandalwood shavings into a small scrap of silk.

He smiled as she entered. “This will smell better than anything on the road.”

“I hope it will remind you of me.”

“It will.” He stood and came to her, enfolding her in his arms. “I love you, Alexia. I don’t want to leave, but if your plan is to succeed, ifourfuture is to be assured, I must.”

She frowned. “When I formulated this plan, it was supposed to be Resolute leading this group. You were supposed to be with me.”

“And I will be. In Fronosa, and soon enough.” He tightened his hands at the small of her back, pressing her to him.

She smoothed her hands down over the soft doeskin of his tunic. “I know you know the plan, and are confident you can accomplish it, but you are to take no unnecessary chances.”

Crow smiled. “I know that is a directive you give all your commanders, although I’d like to think it holds special meaning for me.”

“It does, Crow, I love you. But, more than that, I trust you. Do what is needed, and we will be together in Fronosa. Not soon enough, but soon.”

He nodded, then kissed her deeply and held her for a long time. Not nearly long enough, but sufficient that his scent and that of the sandalwood became linked. Reluctantly she let him go and watched from the window as he and his five legions rode south.

He turned in the saddle at the gate and waved, then again at the crest of a far hill. She returned his wave both times, then nodded as he vanished from sight.In Fronosa, my husband. There I shall bathe you.

You’ll die for luring me into this trap,“ Resolute hissed at Banausic, as multiple individuals moved from the shadows in the warehouse district in Otedo.

The black-haired Vorquelf held a hand up. “It’s not a trap, Resolute.”

“No?” Resolute raised his head and hooked his thumbs in his sword belt. “There are a dozen of them, and you make thirteen. Why do you yet work for her when she will lose?”

One of the shadows stepped forward, allowing the weak yellow light from a guttering streetlamp to illuminate his face. As with all Vorquelves, his eyes had no pupil. In the dim light, only a hint of sapphire showed in them, and likewise the darkness made his brown hair seem almost black. Resolute didn’t need the colors to recognize him, and he determined that this one would die first.Not because he is more of a threat than any other, but because I should have killed him long ago.

Predator held his hands up, open and empty. “It is no trap, Resolute. We have come a long way to find you.”

Resolute’s silver eyes narrowed. “Go back to the Yslin slums. Otedo has nothing for you. Nor do I, so your trip is wasted.”

“Wait.”

“Why?” Resolute’s nostrils flared. “Why should I wait for you to say anything? What have you been since our homeland fell? You have been a canker on society. Alcida welcomes us, yet what do you do but prey on the people of Yslin. Worse yet, when a call was made for all keepsakes of Vorquellyn, you withheld something vital. You have done nothing to help redeem our home, so I owe you nothing.”

Resolute had expected Predator to take umbrage at his words. He expected

the thief to launch himself at Resolute, along with the other members of the Grey Mist. He had intended his words to enflame Predator’s passions, but instead each one seemed to shame him. With each sentence the thief’s head bowed and his shoulders slumped a bit more.

“You are right, Resolute. You owe us nothing. We have caused trouble. Our work could have convinced men that we were not worth saving, that our homeland was not worth redeeming. While we did save the Norrington in Yslin, that might well have been too little, too late.”

Resolute nodded slowly. “Your point?”

“My point is this.” Predator looked at the figures lurking in darkness. “It’s time we did something right. We’re going to Vorquellyn with you.”

“You’re what?” Resolute couldn’t cover his surprise. He wasn’t certain what was worse: having a pack of thieves join him, or the fact that his destination was common enough knowledge that the worst of the slum-dwellers in Yslin had heard of it—and with enough time to travel to Otedo. “I want explanations, and I want them now.”

“Ships have been plying the waters from Narriz to Yslin, and they’ve seen other ships. We all know the fight is going to be in Saporicia.” Predator’s features sharpened. “Amends is still getting up a militia of sorts, all fancy dressed to fight the war. The lot of us realized that if things are going to happen, you’ll be in the thick of it. We remembered the Norrington Prophecy, about Vorquellyn being redeemed. We know you’ll be part of it, so we came to join you.”

“The Norrington is dead.”

That revelation staggered Predator. “He is? Will? That little roof-runner?”

Resolute nodded solemnly. “He died preventing his father from killing a dragon.”

Predator shook his head. “That can’t be. If he’s dead

”

“Then your trip is wasted,” Resolute concluded.

Banausic held his hands up. “Listen to them, Resolute.”

“Unlike you, Banausic, I do not have time to waste with gutter scum that can be distracted by shiny leaves and sour ale.” He glared at Predator. “Go home.”

Predator’s head came up. “No.”

The silver-eyed Vorquelf folded his arms across his chest. “There is nothing here for you. Go home.”

The thief looked puzzled. “Oracle said

”

“She said what? She told you that you had to come here?” Oracle was the reason for his journey, and she’d already saddled him with Banausic. Now it seemed her meddling had brought him a dozen city-dwelling elves. For a moment, all the aggravation he’d known trying to teach Will Norrington how to survive in the countryside came back to him. In its wake came a wave of melancholy that broke his anger.

Predator replied in a small voice. “She didn’t tell us anything, Resolute. I just remember the prophecy. She said Vorquellyn would be redeemed. You’ve said

that for a long time, too. You know, you’re not the only one who wants to see that.“

He turned and opened his arms, taking the others in. “You think we don’t care because we just stayed in Yslin’s slums and paid no attention to anything but ourselves and our concerns. You judge us all by yourself, but we aren’t as strong as you. You think we didn’t care, but we did and do. It just hurt to think of it being so far away.”

“You could have done something, Predator.”

“What, Resolute?” The thief laughed. “Amends and his ilk have worked on generations of men, trying to ingratiate themselves. It did no good, and they never convinced either the humans or our other brethren to launch an attack. What other course was left to us? To do what you did?”

Resolute nodded solemnly. “Exactly.”

“Oh, Resolute, you’ve forgotten, haven’t you? The brothers Right and Might, Victory—you knew her—Seethe even, and dozens of others. All of them walked the same path you do, but you now walk it alone. They’re all dead, and Vorquellyn is no closer to being free.”

“This is not a path for the weak.”

“I know.” Predator held out a hand. “So show us how to be strong.”

Resolute snarled and balled his fists. “There isn’t time to show you.”

“We’re not helpless, you know.”

Resolute shook his head. “This will take more than stowing away aboard some Alcidese supply ship.”

Light laughter sounded from the shadows.

Predator smiled. “We didn’t stow away.”

“Then how did you get here?”

“Loquellyn once gifted one of their galleys to the Kings of Alcida.” Predator shrugged. “They didn’t know how to use it, so we borrowed it.”

“How did you

?”

Predator’s chin came up. “You were very young when our homeland was lost. I might not yet have been bound, but I had served on a galley my uncle commanded.”

Resolute frowned. “I saw no silverwood shark in the harbor here.”

“Of course not. We have it hidden in the swamps. Most of the crew is still with it.”

“How many?”

“A legion or so, including some healers who wanted to come.”

Resolute’s eyes narrowed. “How did you know to come here?”

More light laughter sounded from the shadows and color came to Predator’s cheeks. “We got here by accident. I know how to make the ship work. Navigation, on the other hand

We were trying for Narriz and ended up here. Oracle said

”

“Oracle said you were meant to be here.”

“Yes. Look, Resolute, I didn’t find Narriz but I know I can get us to Vorquellyn.”

“No, we’ll go up the Varasena.”

“But that will only get us to the headwaters, then it’s overland through Loquellyn. We’ll have to get another ship. Let’s just strike out from here.”

Resolute cocked his head. “You said you wanted to come with me, correct?”

“Yes, but

”

“Then you will go where I go. I have my orders.” He thought for a moment, then nodded. “Bring your ship into the harbor. We’ll leave in a day or two, once we get provisions. Is there a problem with that?”

“No, no, we can do that.” Predator gave him a dark stare. “The Norrington’s really dead?”

“The Norringtondied. Oracle says he’s waiting for us on Vorquellyn.”

“All the more reason we should get there by the quickest route.”

“We will.” Resolute smiled. “You’ll just have to row fast, then walk faster.”

General Pandiculia gave them whatever provisions they needed. She stood at the river quay as the Vorquelves brought the silverwood ship up the Varasena, docked, and began to load it. She shook her head as she watched them work, then smiled at Resolute. “Interesting crew you have there.”

“Utterly lacking in discipline, scruples, and combat experience.” He sighed. “I’ll keep them out of the city so you don’t have to deal with the aftermath of their thieving ways.”

“Actually, I was thinking I’d trade you crack troops for them. They are actually working well. My troops, as you saw on the road, are just going to be slow. We’ll never make the rendezvous with Alexia on time.”

“You have my sympathy.”

“And you, mine.” She stared distantly toward the northeast. “I don’t expect our paths to cross again. I wish you luck.”

“I extend to you the same. I’ll send reports if I can.”

She shrugged. “Save the reports. Just kill things.”

Resolute laughed. “As you desire, General.”

She headed out to get her own troops moving, so Resolute helped with the loading and expedited matters. By midday the ship was ready to go. The Grey Misters took to the oars and began to propel the ship up the river. While quarters were cramped, ample room was found for everyone in the party, with Rym’s box being lashed to the deck between the mast and aftcastle.