Nelesquin laughed shortly. “Not my Durrani. Nothing could take the fight out of them. No, I meant my enemies. Imagine how Soshir would laugh at my infirmity.”
“He would laugh at his peril.” Kaerinus brought a hand up and a black-and-green butterfly picked its way over his knuckles. He watched it for a moment, then smiled. “There is news, my lord. The Anturasi arrived last night.”
Nelesquin drew a robe on and belted it quickly. “Why was I not informed?”
“None of us noticed.” Kaerinus pulled the curtain aside, then sped ahead of Nelesquin to open the tent flap. “When I awakened, I found this.”
South of the army camp on a hilltop-a hill that had not existed when they had made camp-a pavilion had been erected. It dwarfed Nelesquin’s tent, and appeared to be made of granite. This feat was rendered even more remarkable by the fact that the walls fluttered in the light breeze.
“This could be a problem.” Nelesquin’s expression darkened. “I had not expected Qiro to follow me, and I certainly had not expected his power to come with him. In fact, when I left him on Anturasixan, he was a broken old man.”
“No more so.”
“Agreed.” Nelesquin looked around. “Wasn’t there a Durrani regiment camped on that spot?”
“I believe there was. The Sun Bears. They have been moved to the other side of Count Vroan’s Free Naleni Battalion. Better you had spared Pyrust, I think.”
“Pyrust’s eventual rebellion would have been dangerous. Vroan will die in the first wave we throw at Moriande.”
Kaerinus smiled. “I have little doubt Pyrust intended him to die at Tsengui, my lord.”
“But Pyrust also thought Vroan had more than mere political value. I do not labor under such an illusion.” Nelesquin straightened his scarlet robe. “Shall we see what the Anturasi desires?”
Kaerinus’ butterfly preceded them, riding nearly imperceptible breezes like a tiny ship on a storm-tossed sea. The pair threaded their way through the endless rows of tents. They’d been gathered beneath their unit standards, with slit trenches dug to the east and water drawn from streams to the west. Smoke from cookfires created a low haze hiding some of the more-distant tents, and Nelesquin enjoyed the fact that his army was so vast he could not easily see from one end to the other.
Qiro’s hill did provide him more perspective, and that pleased him. In addition to his Durrani troops, he had levies from the Five Princes and mercenary companies joining him. New groups came on in the army’s wake and, to the south, an encampment swelled with those who habitually follow armies.
The question of how to announce himself was rendered moot when the stone flaps slid apart like theater curtains. Guttering torches illuminated a spare interior that appeared, at first, devoid of luxury. The grass underfoot, however, grew thickly and was of no native variety. Flowers blossomed, though hidden in the shadows of stone folds. Two dwarf trees had grown and bore fruit-though on one tree the fruit came in the shape of roasted capons.
Qiro, wearing a white robe featuring a simple gold circle as a crest, bowed his head in greeting. “Your visit pleases me to no end, Highness.”
Nelesquin smiled, hoping Qiro’s good mood would last. “You have no idea how much your joining us pleases me, Master Anturasi. You should have informed us of your arrival.”
“I did not wish to disturb your rest, Highness.”
“You must have news. Have you prepared another womb-land to breed more of my creatures?”
Qiro nodded, but his white brows contracted in a frown. “It was not easy. I cannot bring them to maturity rapidly.”
“How can that be?”
Qiro shrugged dismissively. “You know the nature of magic, Highness. Anturasixan was a place of my creation, so I was the supreme master there. What I wished to happen, did happen. Here, there is a complication. You see, in Moriande, in my tower, I created a map of the world. It was exacting in every detail. I created it with jaedun, before I realized what I was doing. It has become an artifact of great magical power. It is a focus of power, even, and it limits me.”
“It did not limit you splitting Helosunde and Nalenyr. I saw you do that digging your heel through mud.”
“True, Highness, but it is because no one else understood my map and its significance.” Qiro plucked an orange fruit from the other tree and sank long fingernails into it. “It seems that someone who does understand has studied it. Before, it was completely mutable. Now, with another in possession of it, my control is not absolute.”
“You are powerless because of a map in Moriande?”
“Powerless?” Qiro bounced a piece of the rind off Nelesquin’s chest. “Was this hill here yesterday? No? Will it be tomorrow? Only if I will it to be. I have power beyond your wildest dreams. And the meddler will know my power, my wrath.”
Nelesquin plucked a bit of white rind from his breast, sniffed it, then cast it aside. Their gazes met: Qiro’s, angry and resolute; Nelesquin’s so very cold. It would have been the work of a heartbeat to cross the room and snap Qiro’s neck, but Nelesquin needed him still.
“Master Anturasi, when I ask you a question, it is not done to embarrass you, but rather as a solicitation of information. If another’s possession of this map causes difficulties, then I shall take all steps necessary to remove the obstacle. Now, you have said this map is in your tower in Moriande. We must not destroy the building then, correct?”
“Yes, true.” Qiro frowned. “It must be taken intact. No Anturasi blood may be spilled. That must be clear. You shed none of my blood.”
“I shall pass the word to my commander. The focus of our assault is to the west of your tower. If you would be so kind as to draw us a map…”
“Absolutely not.”
Nelesquin’s nostril’s flared. “You try my patience.”
“Have you not listened? I told you the map I created is hampering my ability to effect change in the world. If I were to draw you a map of Moriande with the walls in place, the walls would be in place. Your creatures could vent their fury on them for eternity and they would not fall.”
“Then draw me a Moriande with no walls.”
Qiro’s fist convulsed, spraying juice, then he flung the pulped fruit away. “You do not listen! My map already shows Moriande with walls. They exist. I cannot stop them from existing by drawing a new map. I can add details. I can make the unknown known. I cannot make the known unknown. I cannot render the unreal real with the stroke of a brush. Not now, not before I possess the map.”
Nelesquin scowled. He wanted to remind Qiro that he’d mastered magic eons before Qiro had ever set brush to paper. For Nelesquin, magic was simple. He looked at reality, then imagined a different reality. Through an act of will he created what he desired. The process was not always a simple one, but as strong-willed as he was, it had always been effective.
He understood Qiro’s plight with the map, even though it was no true problem. Having a focus for working magic was common enough. Kaerinus and his butterflies were a minor example. Nelesquin had come to magic through swordsmanship. He saw a sword as his focus-at least at the beginning of his career. He had since moved beyond it.
Qiro might, too.
A chill slid down Nelesquin’s spine. Qiro was wielding power that was all but unimaginable. In fact, it was unstoppable. This critical map might be the only means of controlling Qiro and that would be valuable beyond belief.
In that moment, Nelesquin realized that either he or Qiro would be master of the world. Qiro was incapable of sharing power, as was Nelesquin. He would have to destroy Qiro.
And he was equally certain Qiro had come to the same realization about him.
Nelesquin smiled. “Master Anturasi, if it is your old home that you seek, with your kith and kin hale and hearty, so it shall be. We shall secure it and keep your chattels safe against all onslaughts. Doing that shall be the first installment on repaying the debt we owe you.”
Qiro nodded as if he were already the Emperor. “It is the key to the world. If you wish to rule, you must possess it.”