Though Ullsaard found it hard to accept this reasoning, he trusted Aalun to know about this sort of politics. There was only one other thing that caused him to hesitate.
"You know that I could never raise a weapon against another Askhan," he said.
"Of course not!" said Aalun. His look of revulsion would have been no greater if Ullsaard had suggested the prince perform a sexual act on his sickly brother. "Implied threat, Ullsaard. Implied."
Finally satisfied, Ullsaard stood up. He shook hands with the prince and turned to leave. As he grabbed the door handle, he looked back at Aalun.
"Is this politics or plotting?" Ullsaard asked.
The prince looked at him with surprise.
"Is there a difference?"
V
That night, Ullsaard slipped into bed beside Allenya. She rolled over and stroked his arm.
"You are tense," she said.
Ullsaard said nothing. He planted a long kiss on her lips. His attentions moved to her neck as his hands cupped her breasts. He stroked them gently and lowered his head to kiss them. Allenya giggled as his beard tickled her stiffening nipples. She threw an arm around his shoulders and pulled him closer, her other hand moving to lightly scratch the back of his thighs with her long nails.
He continued downward, ducking beneath the covers to kiss her belly before moving on to her thighs, placing delicate kisses in a trail from waist to knee. Allenya's hands pushed through his hair, tightening as his tongue delved into the bush of hair between her legs. His hands lifted her up, always strong but gentle, caressing her buttocks, running along the outside of her legs.
She pulled him up, rolling onto her back so that he could enter her. His lips found her mouth as he slid inside, and she clasped him tighter, pulling him down onto her. They embraced as he began to thrust slowly, her hips moving in time to his. Allenya felt his measured breaths on her cheek as he moved his head to kiss her shoulder. She planted her hands on the small of his back and urged him to go faster, wrapping her legs around him.
Harder and faster he thrust, still planting kisses on her; on her breasts, on her chin, on her forehead. With shuddering sighs they both reached the point of climax. Ullsaard clasped onto Allenya, holding her tight, until he was soft inside her. He rolled to his back and stared at the ceiling. She took her hand in his.
Not once had Ullsaard looked Allenya in the eye.
"You are leaving," she whispered. His only reply was a tightening of his grip on her fingers.
Free Country
Autumn, 209th Year of Askh
I
It was a pretty model, Anglhan had to admit. Using little more than bits of wood, pebbles and old frayed rope, Aroisius had cobbled together a scale representation of Magilnada. The miniature city sat on a hummock of dirt and rocks, just as the real Magilnada squatted on the slope of Mount Gellian. Anglhan had been to the city more than two dozen times, and all of the winding main streets, the marketplace, towers and barracks were where they should be.
Aroisius the Free, self-declared rebel leader and hope for future generations of exploited Salphors, explained how his army would capture the city.
"Two hundred men could easily take the coldwards tower by climbing down the cliff face above the tanneries and across to the wall." Aroisius dangled a few pieces of string down the corresponding rock face. "When the tower is in our hands, the garrison will have to move up from the wall barracks in the merchant quarter, along the wall here. An attack at the gatehouse will trap them between two forces."
The chieftains squatting around the model grunted and nodded in appreciation.
"How would you get enough rope?" asked Barias, a roundshouldered man with a hook for his left hand.
"Rope isn't difficult to buy or steal," replied Aroisius. "The cliffs around the camp will allow our men to train on similar terrain. I am confident that the descent can be done in darkness and at speed. The tower guards will have no time to react."
"What about the militia house over here?" asked Griglhan, a lean Salphor brigand with pock-marked skin inflicted by some past disease. "What's to stop the militia coming along the cartway from the duskwards wall?"
Aroisius peered at the model with a slight frown and rubbed his chin.
"Burning arrows across the wall targeted at the millhouse beside the river," he said confidently. "That would keep the militia busy enough until we have control of the dawnwards wall."
He looked at the chieftains, but they had no more questions.
"Good," said Aroisius. "I'll find someone to procure more rope, and we'll begin selecting the soldiers who'll train from the cliff climb. I want to attack before the eve of Serinalia. After that, the weather will quickly worsen and the climb might be impossible. We take the city by the start of winter, and the Salphors cannot respond until spring. Is everybody agreed?"
There were nods and words of assent. Anglhan cleared his throat loudly. Aroisius and the others turned to look at the debt guardian-turned-rebel standing leaning against the cave wall with crossed arms.
"You have a comment?" asked the rebel leader. Anglhan nodded.
"How many men do you have?"
"Two thousand full fighters," Aroisius answered. "Perhaps the same again of elders and boys."
"And how many soldiers defend Magilnada?"
Aroisius shrugged.
"Perhaps two thousand as well. Mostly militia, poorly trained."
"I see," said Anglhan, pushing himself away from the cave wall. "Do you expect any of the city's people to take up arms in defence of their homes?"
"Why should they? There'll be no looting or raping. We'll be liberators, not conquerors."
There were a few bemused noises from the chieftains at this announcement. It was Lubrianati — oldest of the chiefs, a wiry, bearded dwarf of a man — who voiced their dissent.
"The men will want some compensation for risking their lives," he said.
"And they will have it," replied Aroisius. "When I become lord of Magilnada, every man who fights with me will be granted a home in the city and deeds to lands outside."
The chieftains exchanged dubious glances but said nothing. Anglhan had noticed the divided agenda before; Aroisius was so possessed of his goals that he was blind to the nature of the men he had recruited.
"A worthy reward indeed," Anglhan said with a smile. "They will, of course, be keeping any arms you give them."
Barias erupted with a snorting laugh.
"A few bows and pikes? Pot hats and bucklers? That's not a lot to take home."
"I have men out trying to find more supplies of weapons," Aroisius said quickly. "I understand that our equipment might not be the best, but it is the heart behind a sword that counts for as much as the sharpness of its tip."
"I am puzzled by something else," said Anglhan. "I have been with you for the best part of fifty days, and you have yet to tell me what my part I can play in this war for our freedom."
"Yes, I am coming to that." Aroisius stood up, annoyed. "I want you to spy for me. Take the landship into Magilnada a few nights before we attack and scout out the city to make sure there is no call for last-minute alterations."
"Your spies seem to be doing a good job already," said Anglhan, pointing to the mock city. "I don't see how I could help further."
Aroisius looked a little uncomfortable and darted a look at the chieftains before he answered.