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Tarith clearly wanted to continue the argument, and he had all of a life-long retainer’s stubbor
“Aye, Milord,” he acknowledged unhappily.
“Thank you,” Tellian said, punching him lightly on one armored shoulder. Then he turned to Hathan.
“Let’s ride, Wind Brother,” he said simply.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Thalar Keep, the home of Lord Warden Trisu of Lorham and the ancestral seat of the Pickaxes of Lorham, was a considerably more modest fortress than Hill Guard Castle. Then again, the town of Thalar (calling it a “city” would have been a gross exaggeration) was far, far smaller than Balthar. Still, the castle, with its two curtain walls and massive, square central keep, was of respectable antiquity. Indeed, it looked to Kaeritha’s experienced eye as if the outer walls were at least a couple of centuries younger than the original keep.
There was nothing remotely like finesse about the castle’s architecture or construction. It was uncompromisingly angular, laid out with an obvious eye for fields of fire for the archers expected to man its battlements in time of emergency. Whoever had designed it, though—assuming anything like an actual “design” process had been part of its construction—had clearly been less concerned about what an enemy with capable siege engineers might have done to it. It was dominated by a higher ridge to the east, beyond accurate bow range but well within reach for the sort of ballistae someone like the Empire of the Axe might have deployed. Nor was the castle moated. It was built on what appeared to be an artificial mound, too, rather than bedrock. That raised it above the town proper and gave its parapets a greater command of its surroundings, but the earthen mound would have been highly vulnerable to mining operations.
Of course, she mused as Cloudy carried her up the very slight slope towards Thalar just over a week after she’d reached Kalatha, the people who’d built that castle had probably had their fellow Sothoii, or possibly Horse Stealers, in mind. Neither the cavalry-oriented Sothoii nor the relatively unsophisticated hradani would have been in much of a position to take advantage of the weaknesses evident to Kaeritha. And according to Mayor Yalith, Thalar Keep had withstood serious attack at least three times during the Sothoii’s Time of Troubles.
Despite its small size, compared to Balthar, Thalar appeared to be relatively prosperous. There were few houses over two stories in height, but all of the dwellings Kaeritha could see appeared to be well maintained and clean. Despite the incessant spring rains, the local farmers had managed to get their fields plowed, and the first blush of green crops showed vividly against the furrows’ rich, black topsoil. And, of course, there were the endless paddocks, training rings, and stables of Trisu’s home stud farm.
There were laborers in the fields, and most of them paused to look up and study Kaeritha as Cloudy trotted past. Like Thalar itself, they seemed to be sturdy and well fed, if not wealthy, and almost despite herself, Kaeritha was forced to concede that first appearances suggested that Trisu, whatever his other failings, took excellent care of his people and his holding.
The road up to Thalar Keep was at least marginally better maintained than the muddy track Kaeritha had followed across the Wind Plain. She was grateful for that, and so was Cloudy. The mare picked up her pace as she recognized journey’s end. No doubt she was looking forward to a warm stall and a bucketful of oats and bran.
Kaeritha chuckled at the thought, then drew rein as she approached the castle’s outer gatehouse and a bugle blared. Her eyebrows rose as she recognized the bugle call. It was a formal challenge, a demand to stand and be recognized, and it was unusual, to say the least, for a single rider to be greeted by it. On the other hand, she could see at least six archers on the wall. Under the circumstances, she decided, compliance was probably in order.
She and Cloudy stopped just beyond the gatehouse’s shadow, and she looked up as a man in the crested helmet of an officer appeared on the battlement above her.
“Who are you? And what brings you to Thalar Keep?” the officer shouted down in a nasal bass voice. It was unfortunate that his natural voice made him sound querulous and ill-tempered, Kaeritha thought.
“I am Dame Kaeritha Seldansdaughter,” she called back in her clear, carrying soprano, carefully not smiling as his helmeted head twitched in obvious surprise at hearing a woman’s voice. “Champion of Tomanak,” she continued, fighting not to chortle as she pictured the effect that was likely to have upon him. “Here to see Lord Warden Trisu of Lorham on the War God’s business,” she finished genially, and sat back in the saddle to await results.
There was a long moment of motionless consternation atop the battlements. Then the officer who’d challenged her seemed to give his entire body a shake and whipped around to gabble orders at one of the archers. The archer in question didn’t even wait to nod in acknowledgment before he went speeding off. Then the officer turned back to Kaeritha.
“Ah, you did say a champion of Tomanak, didn’t you?” he inquired rather tentatively.
“Yes, I did,” Kaeritha replied. “And I’m still waiting to be admitted,” she added pointedly.
“Well, yes —” the flustered officer began. Then he stopped. Clearly, he had no idea how to proceed when faced with the preposterous, self-evidently impossible paradox of a woman who claimed to be not only a knight, but a champion of Tomanak, as well! Kaeritha understood perfectly, but she rather hoped the average intelligence level of Trisu’s officers and retainers was higher than this fellow seemed to imply.
“I’m getting a crick in my neck shouting up at you,” she said mildly, and even from where she sat in Cloudy’s saddle she imagined she could see the fiery blush which colored the unfortunate man’s face.
He turned away from her once more, shouting to someone inside the gatehouse.
“Open the gate!” he snapped, and hinges groaned as someone began obediently heaving one of the massive gate leaves open.
Kaeritha waited patiently, hands folded in plain sight on the pommel of her saddle, until the gate was fully open. Then she nodded her thanks to the still flustered officer and clucked gently to Cloudy. The mare tossed her head, as if she were as amused as her mistress by the obvious consternation they’d caused, then trotted forward with dainty, ladylike grace.
The unfortunate officer from the battlements was waiting for her in the courtyard beyond the gatehouse by the time she emerged from the gate tu
His coloring was unusually dark for a Sothoii, and he stared up at her, his brown eyes clinging to the embroidered sword and mace of Tomanak, glittering in gold bullion on the front of her poncho. From his expression, he would have found a fire-breathing dragon considerably less u
“Ah, please forgive my seeming discourtesy, Dame … Kaeritha,” he said. There was a slight questioning note in his pronunciation of her name, Kaeritha noticed, and nodded pleasantly, acknowledging his apology even as she confirmed that he had it right. “I’m afraid,” the officer continued with a surprisingly genuine smile, “that we’re not accustomed to seeing champions of Tomanak here in Lorham.”
“There aren’t that many of us,” Kaeritha agreed, amiably consenting to pretend that that had been the true reason for his confusion.