Some of the Guardians now managed to get off a few arrows. More of the improvised Scadori cavalrymen went headfirst out of their saddles, more of their comrades piled up behind dying horses. But more than half the Scadori were left alive and mounted, to charge straight home.
For a moment Blade was sure he was simply going to be crushed flat, like a worm under a steamroller. Horses and men pressed all around him. The smells of sweat and blood were overpowering. He stabbed, pushed, kicked, elbowed, roared curses. He would have used his teeth if he'd been able to reach anything with them. A hoof nearly came down on his foot. His short sword opened a horseman's leg to the bone. Blade grabbed the bloody leg and heaved. The man came out of the saddle with a yell.
Blade grabbed for the saddlebow without waiting for the man to land, then hurled himself into the saddle. All around him was a hideous tangle of men and horses, both men and animals fighting for their lives.
In the next moment a clear space opened in front of Blade. In the moment after that someone reeled back against Blade's horse. Blade looked down, and saw that it was the Emperor. The decision exploded in his mind. He dropped the reins, reached down with both hands, and grabbed His Sacred Majesty by the collar of his filthy purple tunic. The Emperor shot into the air with a choked-off yell of surprise. Before he could draw a full breath he was perched on the saddle behind Blade.
«In the name of whatever you worship, hold on!» Blade roared. He drew his broadsword and dug his spurs into the horse. It leaped forward, and Scadori darted out of its path.
One enemy warrior stood his ground-Chudo. Blade saw him holding a long heavy spear, ready to thrust it into the horse. Once Chudo had been Blade's comrade. Now that spear he held meant nothing but Blade's death. Blade jerked the horse to one side. Chudo's first thrust missed its mark. Before he could make another Blade's sword whistled down on Chudo's bare head. The skull split apart from crown to chin. Chudo sprawled face down among the bodies carpeting the ground, and the sword flew out of Blade's hand. The horse reached a canter, then a gallop, tore through the last thin line of Scadori, and went thundering away downhill. A few arrows sailed after Blade, but all of them went wide in the gathering darkness. Then the last sounds of battle faded away to the rear. Blade and His Sacred Majesty Jores VII of Karan were alone in the darkness, the only sound the furious pounding of the hooves of the horse under them.
Chapter 17
Blade and the Emperor soon left the pass and the mountain below it behind them. At that point Blade let the horse slow from a gallop to a trot. It was beginning to stagger, and it would have dropped dead long since if the whole mad gallop hadn't been downhill.
Even downhill, the weary, half-starved horse could carry the two men only so far. It plodded on through the night, moving more and more slowly as the hours passed. It finally collapsed when dawn was appearing in the eastern sky, and the open plateau was visible beyond the last foothill.
Blade saw that the horse would never get to its feet again and put it out of its misery with a quick slash of his sword. Then he drank and washed off some of the caked filth and blood in a small stream nearby. After that he felt it was time to pay some attention to His Sacred Majesty Jores VII.
The Emperor was sitting on a stump, his sword across his bony knees. His head drooped until his chin touched his chest, and his shoulders sagged. He seemed numb and dazed, either with exhaustion or with the horror of seeing a whole army of his finest troops wiped out around him. The courage he had shown in the battle might revive later, but for now he was clearly a man at the end of his tether.
«Your Majesty,» said Blade gently. He had to repeat his call several times before the Emperor raised his head. «Your Majesty, forgive me for my breach of the law in addressing you, but-«
Jores VII found the energy for a harsh, dry-throated laugh. «Does the law matter here and now? There are none to hear except the birds in the sky and the insects that crawl under the logs. So speak your mind.»
«Your Majesty, I think we had better move on as soon as possible and get out on the plateau. The commander of the camp will surely be sending patrols out toward the mountains. We are more likely to meet them, and less likely to meet more Scadori.»
«Very well, Blade. That makes good sense. You have Our permission to move on.»
Blade kept quiet until he was able to find neutral words. «Your Majesty does not wish to go farther?»
Jores' fatigue-reddened eyes met Blade's. «In Our place, would you? Seven thousand of Our soldiers lie dead up there.» He waved a hand toward the north. «We see clearly now that it was Our own lack of wisdom and great desire for glory early in Our reign that caused this. Our soldiers were dead before the Scadori struck a blow.» Jores' voice was that of a man who would like to burst into tears but knows that he shouldn't.
Blade wasn't sure whether the Emperor was inviting his comments or not. But he could hardly be punished for making them. He spoke slowly.
«It is not for me to argue with my Emperor about the causes of what has happened. But Your Majesty has asked what I would do if I were in his place. I would continue on, to the camp on the plateau. There I would rally what remains of the Guardians and lead them and all the camp followers and the infantry at the pass out of Scador.»
«What good will that do?»
«The loss of the Guardians does not mean that all is lost. Your Majesty's army is still strong, and the Scadori have also lost many warriors this day. You also have many loyal subjects who look for leadership to the Coral Throne. If you die here in the mountains, there will be none to lead them.»
«There is truth in that,» said Jores slowly. «We have no son.»
Blade nodded. He might be taking a risk by saying, this, but there would never be a better time for it. «There is also this. Your Majesty has a good many overmighty subjects with great ambitions for themselves and their friends. If you vanish in the snows of Scador, many will give free rein to their ambitions. The Empire can afford yesterday's defeat. But it cannot afford to be divided by the plots and wars these ambitious men and women will unleash. It will fall. Then the Scadori will camp in the ruins of Karanopolis and send their Karani slaves to fight in the High Arena!»
The Emperor held up a hand to halt Blade's oratory. «We understand your concern for Our subjects. But this is a matter We must decide. We shall sit apart for a time, and return when We have decided.» The Emperor rose and walked stiffly off into the trees.
Blade would have liked to hold him back or at least follow him. He was not happy about letting the Emperor out of sight in the man's present mood. But he couldn't push things too far. He had the Emperor's ear for the moment, but he could easily lose it.
A few days before, Blade could not have shown this much concern for the fate of Karan or anyone in it except Tera and Zogades. Now he found himself pleading with the Emperor himself. What had happened?
Blade wasn't sure. By now he was tired and hungry enough to be a little foggy-minded. But perhaps it was simple enough. He could not manage to completely ignore the fate of a good many million more or less innocent Karani. He didn't like their lust for blood in the High Arena, or many other things about them. But he couldn't quite walk away and let their world collapse about their ears when he could do something to help.