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CHAPTER II
And in that year, at that conflagration, there was revealed once again upon the world that presence that had been withdrawn for so long. All else must be disregarded as mere commentary. That new old lurking presence asserted itself and the Night acquired the taste of blood and iron. Street Prophet, Kan
THE BREATH OF RILLISH'S MOUNT FOGGED IN THE COOL NIGHT AIR. He stroked her muzzle, waiting in the courtyard alongside his readied troop. Prepare for travel and battle. Nil's message had said and so he'd had Sergeant Chord fall everyone out. Though where within riding distance could any battle be found? Negotiations were still proceeding with the envoy along predictable lines – the same phrasings as in earlier treaties signed decade after decade and similarly broken one after the other. Were the twins so fed up they pla
‘Riders,’ Chord said aside though Rillish could hear them just as well.
Shortly afterwards the twins followed by a guard of some twenty veterans thundered into the courtyard. They reined in close to Rillish. The brother and sister wore thick dark-blue tunics sashed with trousers and leather boots. Nether's long hair was pulled back and tied in leather strips. Horn-handled long-knives thrust forward from under their arms. Nil looked down at him and the severe set of his mouth tightened further. ‘Just you, Captain.’
He glanced between them – something had changed. They looked… intent upon something neither were happy about. Talia appeared at his side, took his hand while disguising the gesture between their bodies. ‘Just me?’
Nether motioned to the road. ‘Come. We must hurry.’
‘Very well.’ He mounted, caught Sergeant Chord's eye. ‘Take care of things for me here, Sergeant.’ Chord tilted his head in assent, spat on to the ground.
Talia had a hand on his boot. ‘What's going on?’ she asked, her voice low.
‘I don't know. Listen to Chord.’ He adjusted the weight of his new hauberk of banded iron, the hang of his swords. ‘Take care of yourself. I'll… I'll see you later.’
‘Come back to me,’ she said, her voice so tight as to be almost breathless.
‘Yes.’
The twins urged their mounts onward and the troop exploded forward, hooves hammering the beaten earth of the court. Rillish noted that almost all the guard accompanying Nil and Nether were old veterans of the Seven Cities campaigns – a hard-bitten if ancient lot. They drove hard, taking the road south, and as they went they passed contingent after contingent waiting strung out along the darkened road. Sweet Fanderay! Must be a thousand! All waiting in the night. He urged his mount forward and room was made for him next to Nil at the van.
‘What's going on?’ he shouted.
He was relieved when Nil offered him a familiar smile. ‘You remember our conversations some days ago? We are setting out to seal our agreement with the throne. And in such a way that ca
‘Is this what the envoy-’
A negative wave. Nil pushed his wind-tossed hair from his face. ‘No. This is nothing to do with him. We and the witches have been sensing the west. All are agreed a confrontation is gathering such as Quon has not seen in a century. We go to tip the balance and our price of Laseen will be sovereignty!’
Sovereignty? Oh, Nil, Nether, I hope so for your sake. A high goal for your people. Worthy of… Rillish craned his neck, sca
And he rode with them. He leant to Nil once more. ‘I am honoured, Nil. But why me? Why am I here?’
A fey, easy laugh. ‘Should we win through, Captain, someone must negotiate. You know your own court's ways. You must study every word, every statute. Make sure the terms are binding!’
‘I shall, Nil.’
‘Good! I know you will,’ and he laughed in a completely unrestrained boyish ma
The column reached a bridge and rumbled across, the hooves sounding like a thunderstorm over the cut and set limestone blocks of its sturdy arches. Torches appeared at nearby guardhouses, i
Rillish knew, of course, that the Wickans had no intention of riding all the way to Heng. That left travel through Warren – another reason perhaps that he alone had been chosen to accompany them, having just recently endured such a mad journey. And he frankly dreaded any revisit.
Yet he had to admit to some curiosity: how would it be done? All some thousand of them? Such a passage would be unheard of. From what he had pieced together mage-invoked travel through Warren was similar to that of a mouse daring a daylight raid upon a cat's milk-pan. Done most timorously.
Again, however, the grim and deadly intent upon the faces around him determined his answer: none intended a return in any case. Therefore, no price, no matter how high, would prevent their going. Gods! And he was part of this charge!
He urged his mount close to Nil once more. ‘What Warren?’ he called.
The young warlock pulled his gaze from ahead, appeared puzzled for a time, then gri
Stu
Ahead, the starry sky swirled, blurring and smearing in a sickening way. The road broke up in wavering lines like those of heat-mirages, though the night was cool. Rillish chanted prayers to Fanderay, Soliel, the Queen of Dreams, Dessembrae, and Trake: may they find a firm something under the hooves of their mounts and air to breathe. The column's van, led by Nil and Nether together with a troop of other warlocks and witches, disappeared into the void revealed beyond, opening the way. The column pressed onward, unflinching, and Rilllish felt a scream gathering itself in his chest. It clawed its way up to his throat as his place in the ranks neared the void, then burst forth along with other shouts and calls from those alongside him as many drew swords, mounts leaping, ‘Hood look away!’
From cover lying flat within tall grass at the crest of a hill, the setting sun behind, Hurl, flanked by Sergeant Banath, sca
‘I don't think so.’
‘What if the Guard breaks through – what's to stop them from heading north?’ and Banath raised his chin to where the tall glowing pavilion advertised the presence of the Imperial person herself.
‘They might. But I don't think she'll hang around for them.’