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Fifty yards. I saw people above the gate, but no movement that suggested that they were ready to open up. Harkane kept waving the pe
… and something happened.
I don't know exactly what the cause was, but my horse stumbled and I went headlong over him, rolling and tumbling when I hit the dirt. I went down hard, ending up on my back, and that sent such a shock of pain through me that I nearly passed out. My horse jumped over me and kept going toward the castle. I rolled over and found that I still had the elf sword in my hand. Getting up proved to be nearly impossible. I only managed to get as far as my knees by the time Lesh and Harkane got back to me. A
We got to the gate with about a half second to spare. Archers on the battlements turned our pursuers back. More armed men waited for us inside the gate. There were plenty of hands to help me down from behind Harkane-and to support me afterward. I would have fallen without help. Harkane was too shaken by the accident to make his usual a
"I'm Gil Tyner, Hero of Varay." I left off all the jazz about being prince and heir that Harkane would have added. "I need to see the castellan at once."
"I recognize your companions, and I see your father in you," one of the soldiers said. I had lost my steel pot when I fell. "I'm Baron Dieth, Castellan of Coriander." Nothing about his dress distinguished him from the men around him.
"Let's go inside," he said. "You all look to be in need of a meal." That drew a weak smile from me and a noisy smacking of the lips from Lesh.
"We need to talk, Baron," I said. I could hardly recognize my own voice. "But first I've got to check our cargo." As I feared, both of the sacks holding sea-silver had been pierced during the fusillade. At least A
Baron Dieth gave orders, and two of his men carried the leather bags of silver seaweed into the keep, doing what they could to slow down the leakage. We followed. Lesh and Harkane half-carried me. I was too wobbly to navigate on my own.
"I was your father's first squire when he became Hero," Dieth said. "I still grieve at his death."
16 – To Sleep
Coriander had been built strictly for its military function, and it was only barely adequate for that. No thought at all had been given to the comfort of its garrison or to style. Coriander was small, smoky, and horribly crowded with people, animals, and bugs.
Servants were begi
"Not good," Dieth said after he had looked and prodded about a bit. "I picked up some first aid from your father. I'd say the lowest rib is definitely broken, the one just above may be, and there seems to be infection in the wound. I can help some, but you really need more attention than I can provide here. Parthet or your mother would be better qualified." He turned away from me and shouted across the great hall. "Aerbith, I'll need a poultice of rimeweed and the flask of number." He pronounced the last word num-mer, not num-ber. From "numb"-at least, that's how the translation magic gave it to me.
The poultice was bandaged over the wound on my back and stung worse than iodine or Mercurochrome ever did. I squirmed and twisted until Dieth made me drink about a jigger of a bitter green liquid. I can't begin to describe that, but it was the vilest taste I've ever experienced. Still, by the time I sat up and started to put my shirt back on after my ribs had been taped again, the pain in my back was almost gone.
"Better," I said-cautiously, trying a few easy movements.
"That should take care of you for a few hours, time enough to get through supper at least," Dieth said.
Dieth put the four of us at the head of the single trestle table with him. There were loads of food and plenty of beer. Coriander might be under siege, but the magic passages made siege a poor weapon against Varay. An enemy would have to ring every possible supply point for siege to work, as long as there was someone around to open the passages. The entire country would have to be under the domination of an invader, not to mention a certain house in Louisville, Kentucky. As long as there was a family member to open the doors, Varay could resist-unless a greater magic could block the passages. I didn't know if that was possible, but after my run-in with the Elflord of Xayber, I suspected that it might be.
"We haven't been able to send out our usual patrols for ten days now," Dieth said once we were at the table and starting to eat. "The elflord's had us corked up tight."
"Ten days? It's just been six or seven since we saw all the men heading south," I said. I dug right into the food as if I hadn't eaten in weeks. At least the number made it possible for me to shove food in without pain.
Dieth shrugged expansively. "Then they've simply thrown another coil around us, not that they needed it. If Arrowroot's near as hard pressed as we are, there won't be a man available to send against the Etevar."
"You know the situation, then?" I asked, talking around a mouth full of food.
"The Wizard Parthet was here a week back, on his way to Arrowroot. He briefed me. But when he saw the elflord's army outside here, he said he didn't know how it would affect the campaign."
"A week ago? What was he doing, riding?"
"Of course not. He came and went by the doors, the way he always does. Maybe it was even nine or ten days ago. I'm not positive anymore. It's been too hectic here."
It didn't make sense. Parthet wouldn't have gone to Arrowroot to meet me that far back. It couldn't have been ten days before. We had left only nine days ago, and he wouldn't have started out just as we were leaving. Maybe he was inspecting, or maybe he was just moving closer to Fairy to better cast my message to the Elf king. With the doors, Parthet could flit around Varay at will.
"You'll stay the night?" Dieth asked somewhat later. The pace of eating had slowed down a little. I still had an appetite, but I wasn't cramming it in quite so roughly.
I shook my head and took a quick gulp of beer to wash down food. "I have to get to Basil and tell the king and Baron Kardeen what we've managed. But even before that, I need a quick peek at Arrowroot." While I was still free of pain. "You'll show me the doors?"
"Of course, lord."
I stopped shoveling food in for a moment and looked at Dieth. "You were my father's squire?"
"Many years ago, when I was just a lad."
"When this crisis is over, I hope we have time for many long talks. I never knew of my father's life here. A few weeks ago, I didn't even know that Varay existed." Something about the drug Dieth had given me must have mellowed my mood as well.