Legions of Antares [Dray Prescot #25] Read online

  He looked up at me, opened his mouth, did not laugh as he said: “And?"

  “And what?"

  “And what do I say to my Jiktar, Jik?"

  “You are doing the right thing. You have no need to worry."

  Lobur walked in front of Thefi, both huddled in cloaks, and I unlatched the doors to the vanlike rear of the courier voller.

  Just as they were entering, Lobur started to speak, and I said, “Shastum!” which is one way of saying “Silence!” and Bonzo got out of the pilot's seat and came around the back. He gave that little swallowing laugh, a cough to precede a statement.

  “I am a courier now, Jik. But I have eyes, and have been well-schooled, if prematurely cut off, as my father was a businessman who traveled the world. I do not think—"

  “Good!” I said.

  “What—?"

  “Good. It is good that you do not think."

  “But, Jik—I do. And what I think—"

  I walked around to the pilot's seat and jumped in. Bonzo let out a yell. We took off even as he ran up and made a frantic grab at his Courier voller. I looked down and through the windrush I yelled, “Remberee, Bonzo! I'll try to give your voller back."

  Over my shoulder I could hear Thefi laughing.

  Hamal's laws ensure that the Hamalese number everything. I had been a number in the Heavenly Mines. A brass plate gave the number of this voller as Jay Kay Pe 448 with an appended V to indicate she was of recent construction. The wind blustered past and we lifted and three inquisitive patrols, one after the other, nosed up and saw the little green airboat with the big yellow-gold courier and simply flew away. Our credentials were impeccable.

  Now Lobur laughed, also.

  “Pandahem, Jak!” he called over my shoulder. “My thanks!"

  My uneasiness persisted. I could not make up my mind about Lobur. Tyfar had appeared to approve of his sister's attachment to the Dagger, and I fancied Tyfar would accept what had happened if it was what his sister wished. As for Nedfar, I felt the worst of scoundrels and rogues, for his love for his daughter had not encompassed the idea of her going off in this way. And Thefi herself? Here was the source of my greatest concern. Was she merely caught up in the romance of this affair, liking Lobur and being carried along by his vehemence? Would she bitterly regret her impulsive acquiescence? I did not know. Useless to say it was no business of mine. By Zair! It was business of mine, now, because I had been brought into it no less than for my love for the participants. If only my daughter Jaezila was here! She'd know what was right like a shot.

  A bur and a half later—for courier vollers by the nature of their business must be fleet craft—we reached the Caves of Kov Mak. As I began to descend, Lobur, who was in fine spirits, called, “You go down!"

  “Aye."

  Because things had worked out so well I was almost bound to be at the rendezvous before Mathdi. This was all to the good. We touched down and the airboat rocked to stillness. We all got out.

  “Why, Jak?” said Thefi.

  I found a smile for her. Her face tilted up and by the light of the Moons of Kregen she looked lovely, by Zair. If there was hesitation on that face, was not that understandable?

  “I leave you here, princess. You may fly to Pandahem at will."

  Lobur's laugh rang out. He was in fine fettle, brimming with good spirits. “You are a marvel, Jak, a real marvel."

  “I want to have a word with the princess in private.” I did not wait for him either to acquiesce or argue; I took Thefi by the elbow and moved away into the darkness. Surprised, she allowed herself to be drawn along. She was totally unused to such behavior.

  “Listen, Thefi—"

  “You—you are peremptory, Jak!"

  “And if you say I am presumptuous, I shall say I presume on my affection for Tyfar and my regard for your father. Listen, Thefi. Do you really wish to go with Lobur?"

  Now it was out, flat and bald and ugly, and I heard the stupidity of it even as I spoke. What else could she say but the answer she gave? But she spoke well, give her that.

  “But for my friendship for you, Jak, I should be displeased. Lobur and I—we thank you for what you have done for us. You will be rewarded, and I say that in no demeaning way. Somehow I shall make sure of that. But, anything else—you run friendship perilously close to animosity—"

  “Because you are a princess? Or because you are not sure?"

  In the light of the Moons her face darkened as the blood rose to her skin. “No more, Jak. I command you."

  No more was right. By Vox! What a ninny I was even to dream she would deign to confide in me. I was just a plug-ugly adventurer, a hyr-paktun, a man who had rendered service to her father and brother. Beside Lobur the Dagger I was a nothing in her eyes. So, with a grimace that might have been a smile, I said: “You are right, princess. But when I tell Tyfar I shall tell him you went away happily. This is true, because you say so."

  “It is!"

  Then Lobur came up and it was time for them to go. They had a fair old way to go; but the time would pass quickly for them.

  So the courier voller lifted off and vanished amid moon glow and star glitter. I shook my head and stared at the jagged line of hills where the Caves of Kov Mak tunneled for miles, and I turned around, and Mathdi, showing lights, descended an ulm away.

  A voller landing just here right now had to be Mathdi. I walked across and as I neared I let rip a bellow or three to let them know I was coming. If I had done right, if I had done wrong, I did not know. What I did know was that the escapades of lovers would no longer play any part in my plans for empire.

  Stern business and hard fighting lay under my hand, and I would wish they did not. Rather, I reflected as, observing the fantamyrrh, I climbed aboard Mathdi, rather the adventures of star-crossed lovers than the bloody adventures of battle.

  * * *

  Chapter nineteen

  A Grand Tour Weaves the Net

  Over the succeeding days a very great deal of work was done. Organization and reorganization followed on our experiences. We regrouped. Now this word is often used euphemistically to cover the collecting together of shattered forces after a battle and getting the men in the right frame of mind to fight again; our regrouping was carried out with other ends in view. I made a kind of grand tour of the invading forces, beginning with Seg's in the north. He was his usual magnificent self, filled with zeal, a comrade I would trust with my life, a man among men.

  “And, my old dom,” he said, his wild blue eyes afire with what he saw of the future, for the folk of Erthyrdrin are fey. “Your plan will work. In the knowledge of Erthyr the Bow, I see it!"

  “And you will bear the brunt of it, Seg."

  “Rightly so. By the Veiled Froyvil, Dray! Of course! I'll have the most troops, so—"

  “You'll have precious little air."

  He sniffed. We sat outside his tent with a wide panorama spread before us and the noise of the host in our ears. The Suns of Scorpio shone and I joyed in the company of Seg Segutorio, and I pushed aside the hateful darkness that might blight his happiness. He glanced up to where a skein of flutduins from Valka flew strongly out on patrol. He jerked his chin up.

  “Oh, aye,” I said. “But the skyships of Hamal shrug off saddle flyers as a calsany shrugs off flies."

  “Maybe, maybe."

  We spent a glorious two days together, and bemoaned the absence of Inch and Turko and the others, and then I was off again, to see Drak. By this time Mathdi had been repainted in a decent russet and ochre color scheme and much of her Hamalian nature had been obscured. She flew the red and yellow flags of Vallia and the red and white of Valka, and the blue and yellow of Zamra, and, also, the orange and gray of Djanduin. When I saw Drak he wanted to know why Seg was to have the glory.

  “Glory! Glory? Have you learned nothing?"

  He was stubborn. Well, he would be. He was intense, serious, and I believed dedicated to Vallia and capable of being a truly great emperor. I was abrupt with him.
<
br />   “When you take over as emperor, my lad, then you may order as you see fit. But the people saw fit to Fetch me to be their emperor, and I am telling you that Seg will take the risks—"

  “You perhaps think to shield me, because I am your son—"

  “Because you are the future Emperor of Vallia, ninny! And the quicker we can sort everything out the quicker you can take over. And I will not hear anything about your refusing the job. By Zair! I've had enough of it!"

  “I believe you—but—"

  “I'm off to Vallia to see your mother, if she's not off adventuring. Have you any messages?"

  “My deepest regards to Queen Lushfymi—"

  He saw my expression and he quelled the fury that flowered into his face. He spoke with precision.

  “I hold the queen in great esteem. Her country of Lome will be freed one day, and then—"

  “If you suggest you'll go off and be King of Lome I'll—I'll—I'll—"

  “Yes?” Now he was amused.

  “You're getting as bad as your brother Jaidur! At least he has acquired some sense now he's King of Hyrklana."

  “I do not design to be King of Lome.” He smiled and the day warmed up. “And give my—regards—to Silda."

  “I will.” Silda was Seg's daughter, and Delia and I would dearly wish to see Drak have the sense to marry her instead of scheming Queen Lush of Lome. So, with the ice melting a little, I called the remberees and Mathdi was off for Vallia.

  As I had feared, Delia was not in Vondium, and no one knew where she was. Rather, the Sisters of the Rose knew, but they would never tell a mere man. So I had Mathdi seen to again and replaced some of her ballistae with the superior Vallian gros-varter, and then we were off, flying hard, to see Jaidur. During that short period in Vondium I had attended to a deal of detail and got through a pile of work, the effects of some of which will no doubt surface later in this narrative...

  Amid all the political wheeling and dealing I'd gone through in Vondium, and the minimal social occasions, the major concern was the problem of the Wizards of Loh. As to social occasions, minimal but of a nature I could not and would not cut: How refuse to attend a ceremony honoring Vallia's dead, and bestowing medals on the wounded survivors? How to avoid spending a precious two hours opening a new school complex where the children sang and danced and behaved with amazing decorum, quite unlike their real selves which were harum-scarum to a delightful degree? An emperor's life is not all giving orders, pigging at banquets, having people's heads off and fighting battles.

  Deb-Lu told me, “Phu-Si-Yantong is exercising his powers again in exemplary fashion. Khe-Hi and I resist; but it takes effort.” He looked tired, his turban awry, his red hair straggling. As for Khe-Hi, that young wizard looked murderous with frustration. “We believe we can overcome Yantong if it comes to the final struggle in the occult. I do apologize, Jak—majis—I do apologize for failing to make contact. But I must warn you that even that communication could be broken—"

  “You mean Yantong would know, would listen in?"

  “Suspect, at the least.” Deb-Lu abruptly reverted to old habit, and Spoke In Capitals. “I have Managed to Keep an Observation upon You, and in Lupu Watched. Your Messages were Taken In."

  “At least, that is something. But I fancy the attack on Vallia will not now take place. The Hamalese are pressed back."

  “They lure you on, and seek to destroy you by a trap."

  I told Deb-Lu, and finished, “We're just going to have to make our trap snap harder than theirs. It's all we can do."

  Khe-Hi handed me a small bronze brooch. “A signomant, majis. It will help our communications.” I pinned on the brooch, pleased.

  Jaidur and Lildra were pleased to see me. I wasn't too happy about Lildra accompanying her new husband on campaign; but that little word “new” explained it all. They were confident and when I expounded the plan agreed to go along with it. Although Jaidur in his reckless way, said, “We will cut them up, and finish them, by Vox!” and Lildra held his arm, smiling, I had to squash any feelings of unease. After all, Seg was shouldering the major burden of battle.

  “As soon as we reach the best point, I'll have the troops marching,” promised Jaidur.

  “Good. Remember—timing is important, so leave plenty of time for emergencies."

  “I will."

  He told me he had formed a bodyguard after the style of the Emperor's Sword Watch and the Emperor's Yellow Jackets. Well, that was his privilege. Those two corps had been formed by others for my protection, as I had formed the Empress's Devoted Life Guard and intended to form a second body of a similar nature. I explained it to Jaidur. “They say it is better to have more than a single bodyguard, Jaidur. You split the command. Then you don't have palace revolutions. That is the theory."

  “But your ESW is with Drak, and the EYJ are with Seg."

  “True.” I did not exactly laugh as let my lad see my amusement. “If they want to be revolting, they can be—after we've dealt with Hamal. Anyway, the first regiments only are there. The second regiments are occupied elsewhere."

  We talked for a space, for my life had denied a great deal of my family's company, and then Jaidur said, “It is a great sadness that Thelda died. But Seg is well over the death of his wife now. And—” Here Jaidur made an expressive gesture. “Aunt Thelda always fussed so."

  I turned the conversation as soon as I could. I did know that the moment Hamal was turned into an ally against the Shanks, I would speak to Seg about Thelda. I am a coward in these matters; I know that.

  Before I left for the south I cautioned Jaidur. “Seg has the most troops and the post of greatest danger. But you will be severely attacked, and will be thin on the ground. Don't take any foolish chances. Run if you have to."

  “Run!"

  “Aye, Vax Neemusjid. Run!"

  His glare was a marvel of compressed ferocity. Lildra put a hand on his arm. “I learned a very great deal when I ran in the rain from the Castle of Afferatu, my love. Listen to your father. He speaks sense."

  So we left it at that, and Mathdi took off for the south.

  “By Spag the Junc!” quoth Dav Olmes when we touched down, and I explained to him. “It might work—no, it will work!"

  “I do not want to be too long away from Ruathytu, for I have unfinished business there. But you folk from the Dawn Lands have so many different columns—"

  “We have, and wisely so, since many of the countries do not get along. But I will have the word spread. The King of Hambascett marches a full two days apart from the King of Ezionn—back home they'd be at each other's throats at the least excuse. But I'll see to all that."

  “You fellows from the Dawn Lands—united you could walk all over Hamal."

  “Maybe. But we are as we are. A patchwork quilt of honor and enmity and friendship. A Rapa of Sinopa would as lief slit the gizzard of a Rapa of Sokotro as any old Fristle. I tell you, Jak, it's a balancing act even to get ‘em all to march."

  “Any news of Kov Konec?"

  “His illness persists; but he is gaining strength. I do not think he will join the army in time for the last battle."

  I didn't bother to ask if there was news of Prince Mefto the Kazzur. Dav's forces were in good heart, and he did have a fair quantity of air, which was heartening. His king had entrusted a sizeable force to him, and Dav had grown easily to fill the position. I nodded to a party of Mionches shambling along over the brow of the hill. They did not look happy. Their helmets, high-horned, were pushed back on straps over their shoulders, and their round shields and pairs of spears dangled and slanted any old how. At their head they carried a banner; but this was cased.

  Dav shook his head. “I know, Jak. But I can only do what any sensible commander does. Everyone knows Chuliks will not serve in any army containing Mionches. Perhaps it is because a Mionch has tusks twice as long as those of a Chulik."

  “Perhaps. Although I fancy there is more to it than that."

  Whatever the reason, mercenary
Mionches would not be tolerated by Chuliks, and as the fighting ratio was something of the order of six to one, any sensible commander would do what Dav was forced to do. All the same, you could not help feeling a stab of sympathy for the Mionches.

  Although Dav would contact other columns marching up to the northwards, we in Mathdi made sure we visited the kings and kapts commanding the armies that might be—quite by accident—left out. By representing myself as a pallan at large from the Emperor of Vallia and the King of Hyrklana, I managed to obtain overall consent to our joint plans. Mind you, it would be folly to imagine everything would go smoothly. Always there would be the odd joker who disagreed, had a better plan, was feeling out of sorts, any excuse just so he or she could carry on doing what they wanted to do. I did my best to weld the disparate forces together, seeing more and more the task of the Dawn Lands armies as grapplers of the Hamalese as the Vallians and Hyrklese delivered the knock-out blows. Our greatest concern was that the enemy would concentrate overwhelming strength against one of our columns; and to thwart this an arrangement of patrols and scouts kept well ahead to apprise us of any forward movement. Then the aerial forces would bring reinforcements and succor as fast as they could fly. So far we had not experienced any disasters.

  During this time as I flew from army to army it was my fortune to witness only two battles, and these mere delaying skirmishes on the part of the Hamalese. They held us up, when we landed in rear they would detour and run. Then, a few sennights later, they'd set up another block. Their plans were being carried out.

  Soon—but not all that soon, by Krun!—it was time for me to go Djanduin.

  The little signomant in the form of a bronze brooch given me by Khe-Hi contained nine gems of different colors and values arranged in a circle. Weird though it was, I knew that the two Wizards of Loh could go into their trance state of lupu and witness events through these gems. The value of this brooch was immense, because usually Wizards of Loh concealed their signomants in massive bronzen plates so as to make movement difficult. Yet the task was difficult and fraught with peril, for if Yantong caught a sniff of our Wizards of Loh at work, his own kharrna would lash out with diabolical viciousness. What might happen then I did not care to dwell on.