‘I’m not running,’ she replied. ‘I’ve waited for this opportunity for years. I’ll do whatever it takes to kill that bastard.’
Kayne noticed Isaac watching him curiously. Again, he felt there was something odd about the manservant, but trying to pin down exactly what was akin to biting his own elbow.
‘Why are you here anyway? Is it just the gold?’ asked Isaac.
‘Gold’s always welcome.’ Twenty-five gold spires. Enough to buy a small farm in the Unclaimed Lands, maybe. Then what? Raise a family? I’m too old for that. I had a family and I lost it. And the Shaman won’t ever stop hunting me, not unless I flee to the furthest reaches of the world. Maybe not even then.
‘Kayne?’ Sasha said. She was looking at him with concern.
‘I’m fine,’ he replied. He had to stop doing that, sitting there and getting lost in his memories. It didn’t do a man any good to wallow in the past. ‘I’m going for a stroll,’ he announced. ‘See if I can walk off this damned cramp.’
He got to his feet and half limped from the campfire. Curious faces turned to stare at him. He caught Three-Finger gazing at Sasha, a hungry look in his eyes. He reckoned he was going to need to have words with the ex-convict at some point.
Hard words.
The following morning was every bit as glorious as the one previous. The sky was a clear blanket of blue without a cloud to be seen, and the sun promised a hard march ahead of them. He washed the sleep from his eyes at a nearby stream, had a bite of dry bread and an old apple, and then sat down to oil his greatsword. All around him mercenaries were doing the same. There was no telling what awaited them when they arrived at Dorminia.
Jerek strolled over and gave him a nod. He nodded in response. Nothing else needed to be said. They’d both done this often enough in the past. They knew how it went. You put your head down, kept your legs moving and focused on anything but the bloody carnage to come.
It took a little under an hour until the army was ready to march. The mercenary army decamped as quickly and efficiently as it had bivouacked, separating into the three individual companies that comprised the force. The two Highlanders, Sasha and Isaac travelled in the foremost company under the banner of General Zahn. The giant strolled along at the very front of the army, his bald head visible above the mass of men behind him. Above him was a flag depicting a golden spear skewering what looked like a column of warriors. Brianna and the Darkson were somewhere up alongside him, Kayne knew.
He glanced behind him. He could just about see General D’rak at the head of his own company, his banner displaying what looked like a dancing skeleton. The third company was somewhere behind. He hadn’t yet seen their general, who was apparently a fellow named Zolta. Chances were he was every bit as fierce as his peers. Behind the last company came the siege engines, followed by a score of the White Lady’s pale servants. The women spoke to no one and kept their own counsel.
They marched eastwards, following the coast. As he predicted, the sun was merciless and bathed them in an oppressive heat that, to his frustration, the Sumnians apparently seemed to enjoy. He couldn’t help but notice the glowing orb had a distinctly crimson hue this morning. He hoped that wasn’t an ill omen.
By the time the sun was again sinking beneath the western horizon they neared their destination. His legs ached like something unholy and he smelled worse than that, but all things considered he had endured much longer and more unpleasant marches. The army halted a mile or so from Dorminia’s walls, on a shallow hill overlooking the city.
‘This is it,’ Sasha said. ‘Do you think we will attack tonight?’
Brodar Kayne glanced up at the darkening sky and then at Dorminia. Lights twinkled from within the Grey City, but he couldn’t see much of anything else at this distance. ‘It seems like a good night for it,’ he answered. ‘I guess we’ll find out soon enough.’ He looked around. ‘Where’s Isaac?’
‘I don’t know. He was right next to me until a few moments ago.’
The Highlander sighed. ‘I expect he’s scarpered off to do some last-minute sketching or plant collecting.’
Jerek scowled and spat. ‘You ready for this, Kayne? They’re watching our every move.’ He jerked a thumb skywards to where a hawk of some kind had been circling overhead for the last few minutes. It screeched once and then flew off in the direction of the city.
‘Mindhawks,’ said Sasha darkly.
‘Can’t be helped now,’ said Kayne. ‘You set yourself against a Magelord, you don’t go in expecting a fair fight.’
He should know. He had learned that lesson the hard way.
Good News, Bad News
‘It is time.’
Barandas finished strapping on his sword and stared out of the window. The city was still silent at this early hour, but the first light of dawn had split the sky like a bloody wound and soon the streets would be heaving with activity.
Marshal Halendorf had taken a turn for the worse after the council meeting three days ago. According to Timerus, none of Halendorf’s four captains were fit for the task of overseeing the army in his absence. As a result, Barandas once again found himself in temporary command of the Crimson Watch while the Marshal recovered.
It couldn’t have happened at a more inopportune time. The Council had received the message late last night. The Sumnian force had landed yesterday afternoon and would be outside the walls by the time the sun fell this very evening.
‘This is ridiculous,’ Lena complained again. Her green eyes were full of worry. ‘How can they expect you to lead the city’s defence? You have your own responsibilities. Your own men to manage.’
He gave her a rueful smile. ‘We are less than half the force we were. According to Timerus the militia need someone they can look to. Someone to inspire them.’
‘It’s a shame Halendorf wasn’t inspired to find some better officers.’
Barandas was inclined to agree with his wife. He hadn’t realized just how bad the situation had become over the years. The Council had grown lax, content to place an incompetent bully like Halendorf at the head of the city’s army in the belief the Crimson Watch would never be truly tested. And for many years that had been the case; the great cities of the Trine had been at peace for decades, and who would dare challenge a metropolis ruled by the greatest wizard in the north? Even a forest of steel would melt before a Magelord’s fury.
Salazar’s power was now but a shadow of what it had been. The ruler of Dorminia might never recover his full strength. For the first time in centuries, the Grey City was vulnerable — and as a result, Dorminia’s armed forces had been caught with their pants down. Bullies and thugs were well suited to keeping a cowed populace under control, but they made poor soldiers.
Yet again Barandas wondered why his master had expended so much of his own vitality destroying Shadowport. Why had he not challenged Marius, decided the fate of the Celestial Isles Magelord to Magelord instead of massacring an entire city? The world was a hard place, but there were some things that could never be justified.
Those were troubling thoughts. He did his best to suppress them, to focus on what was important. Lena was looking at him with concern. ‘You’re tired,’ she said. ‘You haven’t been sleeping lately.’
‘I’ll rest once the city is safe,’ he replied. He noted with a smile that she was wearing the green crystal he had found in the Mother’s temple. There was a glow about her, he thought. A radiance that made her even more beautiful than usual.
‘Ran,’ she said. There was something odd in her voice. His eyes met hers in sudden alarm.
‘Yes? What is it?’
‘I’m pregnant.’
He gasped as the world seemed to shift around him. Before he knew it she was in his arms. He felt her warmth pressing into him, the jasmine scent of her golden hair filling his nostrils.