Elyss smiled and took in a long energising breath, stretching her body as she exhaled.
‘I didn’t hear you come in,’ she said.
‘That really shouldn’t surprise you,’ said Auum.
Elyss laughed. ‘Sorry,’ she said.
‘For what?’ Auum shrugged. ‘How are you feeling?’
‘Rested. Ready to go. When will they get here?’
‘We’ve got a couple of days to perfect the trap,’ said Auum. ‘Graf is sending two cells out, Faleen’s and Illast’s, I expect, so we’ll get a half-day warning of their arrival. Build up your strength. You’ll need it.’
‘Auum.’
‘What is it?’
‘Why are you really here?’
Auum leaned back a little way and blew out his cheeks. ‘You’re my Tai. I need to know you are well enough to fight.’
‘Just “well enough to fight”?’
‘Yes. Well, no. Come on, Elyss…’
Auum tried not to squirm but her eyes skewered him. She shuffled herself into a sitting position and took his hands. A thrill surged through him.
‘I know we’re short on time,’ she said. ‘We do not know who will survive the coming fight. I will pray, endlessly, that both of us will walk away. But if we don’t then we cannot live alone or die together regretting what we did not do.’
Auum nodded. His heart was thundering and he wanted, more than anything, to hold her close enough to feel every tiny move she made and to bury himself in her scent.
‘I’m at peak fertility, Auum. There is not an Ynissul that does not feel the pressure to conceive… but I care little for that. I care that the ula I choose is the right one to give my child the best chance to follow me into the TaiGethen. That ula must be someone I love and would lay down my life to save.
‘It’s you, Auum. Would you consent to be the father of my child?’
Auum was unsure if he was feeling fear or feeling faint, but the cold sensation across his body was pure euphoria. He thought he was probably grinning stupidly and he couldn’t have cared less.
‘It would be an honour I could not describe in words.’
‘Then don’t speak,’ whispered Elyss.
Auum drew her towards him and their kiss entwined their souls.
Chapter 21
They think to buy my favour with edulis. Have they really no mind at all?
The Diaries of Pelyn, Governor of Katura
Jeral strode onto the apron before the temple at Aryndeneth. He was alone. There was something fundamentally thrilling about standing at the heart of your enemy’s faith completely unmolested. He turned a slow circle to face the open doors once more. He began to walk towards them, drinking in the silence, the lack of threat and the feeling of victory.
‘What are you doing?’ hissed a voice from the undergrowth.
Jeral glanced over, seeing several figures tracking him.
‘I’m going inside. What does it look like?’
‘That place will be full of hiding places. It’s suicide.’
‘Hynd, there’s no one here. That ought to be obvious, even to you.’ Jeral stopped. ‘Why don’t you all come out here?’
Reluctantly, they did. Forty-seven of them: thirty-eight soldiers and eleven mages. They were all that remained of the two hundred men and forty mages of the First Company, now rather hilariously nicknamed Dead Company. Jeral stared at them and wasn’t sure if they were the cursed or the fortunate. It hurt deeply, far more deeply than Jeral was prepared to admit. He and Hynd had fought to save as many as they could. But Loreb’s delegation to Ishtak had meant other companies were slow to help, unaware of the urgency until Hynd got to them through Lockesh, and by that time it had been far too late. And, in the aftermath of the agonising deaths of so many fine young warriors and mages, it was the captain and first mage of the company who had taken the blame.
‘Fucking typical,’ muttered Jeral. ‘That fucking souse has probably forgotten he sent us here by now.’
They had marched back along the river for a day and then inland for two more while the main force of the army continued towards Katura with agonising slowness. Jeral’s ire had matured with every pace and his determination to survive had been honed in equal measure. And here, on the empty stones before Aryndeneth, he was beginning to feel strong.
‘Your bitterness taints the sweetest of places.’
‘And why not, Hynd? Why aren’t you bitter? Loreb sent us here to be killed. We saw what he did, or rather didn’t do, and the blood of my men is on his head.’
Jeral began to walk towards the temple. He sheathed his sword.
‘What are you going to do about it?’
‘First, I’m going to prove that this place is completely empty.’
‘And then?’
The rest of the raiding party had joined them on the apron. Jeral motioned the soldiers to move around the temple building.
‘Then I’m going to report as much to either Killith or Pindock, whichever dimwit looks the least pathetic at the time.’
Jeral and Hynd walked beneath the dome of Aryndeneth and relaxed in the calming cool, which was augmented by the sound of running water. The two men stared at the statue.
‘Wow,’ said Hynd. ‘That’s a true work of art. No wonder Loreb wants to live here, the whole place just feels beautiful.’
‘Yeah, well, he’ll live here over my rotting corpse,’ said Jeral. ‘At the very least, I reckon I can start our generals bickering over who gets this place.’
Hynd was frowning. ‘Why would they abandon it?’ he asked. ‘Isn’t this supposed to be their most sacred place?’
Jeral slapped him on the back. ‘Ah ha, now you’re starting to think. Why do you think we need to report?’
Hynd shrugged.
‘Hynd, you never studied.’
‘Not boring military crap, no.’
‘Then let me enlighten you. As we explore we will find that this place has been left neat and tidy, telling us that they didn’t run away in a panic when they heard we were coming. That’s because they knew we were coming in good time, or that they guessed we would come.
‘That tells me they are thinking clearly and will have taken any strength in magic or arms away with them, to wherever they think they can best use it against us.’
‘You think they know where we’re going?’
Jeral laughed. ‘God on the bonfire, Hynd, they’ve always known. What worries me is that they know the route we’ll be taking too. Last thing we need is to walk into a carefully planned ambush, don’t you think?’
Jeral walked around the pool and headed off into the depths of the temple. After a few moments, Hynd trotted after him.
‘Don’t we already expect an ambush? I saw the way the army was forming up to move.’
‘Yes, brilliantly done,’ said Jeral. ‘Really slow, ponderous, heavily protected marching formation ensuring the maximum time for the enemy to set up whatever ambushes they want, wherever they want. Loreb has prepared the column for an attack at any time and he’s telling any Sharp who cares to look exactly how the defences will work.
‘As usual, he’s missed the blindingly obvious: to beat this enemy, we have to have proper reactive tactics, something to surprise them, or they’ll hit and run the way they have every other time.’
‘I don’t understand. How does arriving here tell you that?’
‘It doesn’t. It confirms what I already thought,’ said Jeral. He stopped to look at Hynd’s blank face and shook his head. ‘My dear mage, ever since we embarked on this fool’s mission, the elves have out-thought us at every step, despite there being so few of them. This empty temple is just another example of that.
‘We should worry that the Sharps know where we’re going and how far away it is, while we have no clue how much further we have to march. Nor do we know the forest, and so we amble blindly into the shadows without knowing when or where we will emerge. Our wonderful leaders cling to the belief that all the elves are falling back to Katura and will wait there for us to come and slaughter them.