In fifteen minutes of frenzied order-giving he almost regained control. Almost. The absence of the men who had run made the difference. Once he was certain it was too late, he looked down on the enemy headquarters and murmured, „You know not what all you kill today, Tervola. Kavelin, we mourn thee before thy passing." He punched the men nearest him, demanding their attention. „You. You. All of you. Start chanting. Baxendala. Palmisano. So they never forget."
The end came slowly but inexorably. The madness of their overlords drove the eastern soldiers to needless death. Those great fools wanted so much more than victory. Nothing could satisfy them.
One by one, Kavelin's best went down.
Hardle was among the last. He died with a curse upon his lips, not for his enemies but for his brethren, those of his own class who would now have a free hand with the kingdom.
24
Year 1016 AFE
The short, wide Tervola in the boar mask walked slowly round the hilltop, stepping over torn bodies and mangled limbs. The setting sun cast long shadows across the battle ground. Crows leapt up swearing as he disturbed them. Flies buzzed, rising and falling in dense clouds. They masked the eyes of the dead, filling them with their eggs. „Where do they come from?" he murmured. „Why doesn't the wind blow them away?"
„Lord Ssu-ma?"
„Nothing, Lord Lun-yu. Nothing. Tell me. Will you report this as a great day in the history of imperial arms?"
„You sound displeased, Lord Ssu-ma."
Lord Ssu-ma Shih-ka'i was displeased. „This shouldn't have been. It was a criminal waste of lives."
„But we saw the end of Ragnarson." Lord Lun-yu made that sound like the crucial event of recent history.
„Did we, now? Quite a few of them got away."
„Not he. He stood here on the hilltop till the end. Let's find the body. We'll parade it before the assembled Tervola."
„We will not."
„Lord?"
„There are limits, Lord Lun-yu. While I don't share your feelings about Ragnarson, I understand them. But I won't allow his corpse to be made a showpiece. He was a great foeman. He deserves honorable treatment. Moreover, I'm in his debt. He saved my life the day we finished the Deliverer. As you well know. You were watching from Lioantung's wall."
Lord Lun-yu scowled behind his mask but did not pro test. Lord Ssu-ma was in high favor.
„I pity his kingdom without him," Shih-ka'i said. „Re-274 turn to the Princess. We're finished here. Report a great victory if you dare tell the lie. Tell her I'll send as many men to the Matayangan front as I can." „Lord..."
„Please go, Lord Lun-yu. As you noted, I'm not pleased. I wish to be alone."
„As you command, Lord." Lord Lun-yu withdrew.
Shih-ka'i slowly advanced to the hilltop, stepping around and over the fallen. Here and there men still breathed raggedly, moaned softly, cried out. They begged for water in a half dozen tongues. Below, his men were starting to clean up. They were finishing the western wounded. Their own they were carrying to headquarters. The Tervola there would decide which could be saved. Most who had survived this long would be. The Tervola had the Power to aid them in healing.
Shih-ka'i stared northward, toward the home of the wizard Varthlokkur. He shook his head. He did not under stand. A man didn't abandon his friends.
He reached the circle where the royal guard had made its stand. Kavelin's army had fought well. On this hill the heart and guts had been carved out of two legions. Shih-ka'i thought real winners and losers were hard to dis cern.
What madness had brought Ragnarson through the Gap? He had walked into the trap with his eyes open... . No. He hadn't. He'd believed Lord Hsung to be in command. He wouldn't have come had he known otherwise. And had Lord Hsung been here still, Ragnarsoncrazy gamble would have paid. Western Army would have been swallowed by disaster.
„I have salvaged the east, and now the west. And I feel nothing. Not even a little pride." He looked eastward. „Will she throw me at Matayanga next?"
He circled the heap of bodies marking the westerners's last stand. „This one. His name was Hardle? A great warrior, the Princess said. Sad. Ragnarson's champions went down with him. His kingdom will become a madhouse when those fugitives return." He looked across the plain. Columns of dust marked the whereabouts of fleeing west erners. „You could have won," he told their distant backs.
„You could have won. But you broke discipline when you needed it most."
His own men would have died to the last if never given the order to flee.
He spied the fallen King beneath several of his guards. „And that was the difference, my friend. That was the difference." He rolled one of the dead men off. „Maybe I'll raise you a monument. We shouldn't forget our great enemies." He heaved another dead man aside.
The King groaned.
„Well," said Shih-ka'i. „Well now. You're not completely dead, are you? Which, I suppose, means I have to repay my debt." He knelt, felt Ragnarson's pulse. It was strong. He heaved the last corpse off and examined the man. „Broken ribs. Punctured lung. Cuts and bruises. Otherwise, you're in good shape, my friend. They say you're extraordinarily lucky. And maybe they're right. Maybe your luck didn't turn all the way." He stood, faced his encampment, concen trated on the mask worn by his best life magician. His fingers wove subtle patterns in the air. „Come," he whis pered. „Come here."
Kristen unsealed the letter from Vorgreberg. Sherilee hovered over her shoulder. The messenger remained at the door, one eye on the street. A dozen troopers from the Palace Guard waited there. They were restless, troubled
„What is it, Kris?"
„Michael thinks there might be a big uprising. He wants us to leave the country. He's sending us to a friend in Tamerice."
Elma and Maykin entered carrying a heavy trunk. The messenger called outside, „Bring those carriages up, Slug."
„What are you doing?" Kristen asked.
Maykin replied, „We were told to go with you."
„Why should we go anywhere? I haven't seen any sign of trouble."
„You haven't been out, either, Lady. The kingdom is rushing toward civil war. The Queen has been putting ideas into the heads of the Lords of the Estates."
„That bitch. I'll cut her heart out."
„Calm down," Sherilee said. „Kris, we'd better go. If there is trouble, and she's behind it, it will find us first. You know that. She's doing this for Fulk. We'd better be some place else."
„What's the King doing?" Kristen asked plaintively. „Why doesn't he come back and stop it?"
„He will," Sherilee said. „When he's ready. And he'll get rid of inger, too. You watch."
Kristen folded the letter and rose. „This is scary, Sherry. Really scary. You're right. We'd better go."
An hour later they were in flight again, closely guarded by Slugbait and his squad. Unknown to anyone but Slug himself, and Trebilcock and Prataxis back in Vorgreberg, most of the royal treasury was concealed in false bottoms in the carriages.
„Are you satisfied now?" Nepanthe demanded. Tinkering with the far-seeing mirror, she had learned what had happened in the south. „Gjerdrum never did anything to you, did he? He was always a good friend to me. And Baron Hardle. ... He was the only one who could keep the Estates in line."
Varthlokkur stared at his dry old hands, not responding at all. He needed no outside torturer to rack him.