I heard screaming. Carpets were raining. All those Taken had been Taken by the Lady herself, and after what had happened on the Plain, she had made certain her fate would be their fate. So now they were undone, and soon dead.
Not much magic left on that field. Tracker, too, was a goner, mauled to death by the Dominator. I believe he died happy.
But there was no end yet. No. There was Raven.
Fifty feet away, he let go of Case and bore down like nemesis itself. His gaze was fixed on the Lady, though you could tell by his very step that He was on stage, that he was going to do a deed to win back Darling.
Well, Croaker? Can you let it happen?
The Lady’s hand shivered in mine. Her pulse was feeble, but it was there. Maybe...
Maybe he would bluff.
I picked up my bow and the arrow recovered from Limper. “Stop, Raven.”
He did not. I do not think he heard me. Oh, damn. If he didn’t... It was going to get out of hand.
“Raven!” I bent the bow.
He stopped. He stared at me as if trying to recall who I was.
That whole battleground fell into silence. Every eye fixed upon us. Silent stopped moving Darling away, took up a sword, made certain he was between her and potential danger. It was almost amusing, the two of us there, like twins, standing guard over women whose hearts we could never have.
One-Eye and Goblin began drifting our way. I had no idea where they stood. Wherever, I did not want them involved. This had to be made into Raven against Croaker.
Damn. Damn. Damn. Why couldn’t he just go away?
“It’s over. Raven. There ain’t going to be no more killing.” I think my voice began to rise in pitch. “You hear? It’s lost and won.”
He looked at Silent and Darling, not at me. And took a step.
“You want to be the next guy dead?” Damn it, nobody could ever bluff him. Could I do it? I might have to.
One-Eye stopped a careful ten feet to one side. “What are you doing, Croaker?”
I was shaking. Everything but my hands and arms, though my shoulders had begun to ache with the strain of keeping my arrow drawn. “What about Elmo?” I asked, my throat tight with emotion. “What about the Lieutenant?”
“No good,” he replied, telling me what I already knew in my heart. “Gone. Why don’t you put the bow down?”
“When he drops the sword.” Elmo had been my best friend for more years than I cared to count. Tears began to blur my vision. “They’re gone. That leaves me in charge, right? Senior officer surviving? Right? My first order is, peace breaks out. Right now. She made this possible. She gave herself up for this. Nobody touches her now. Not while I’m alive.”
“Then we’ll change that,” Raven said. He started moving.
“Damned stubborn fool!” One-Eye shrieked. He flung himself toward Raven. I heard Goblin pattering up behind me. Too late. Both too late. Raven had a lot more fire in him than anyone suspected. And he was more than a little crazy.
I yelled, “No!” and let fly.
The arrow took Raven in the hip. In the very side he had been pretending was crippled. He wore a look of amazement as he stumbled. Lying there on the ground, his sword eight feet away, he looked up at me, still unable to believe that, in the end, I was not bluffing.
I had trouble believing it myself.
Case yelled and tried to jump me. Hardly looking at him, I whacked him up side the head with my bow. He went away and fussed over Raven.
Silence, and stillness, again. Everyone looking at me. I slung rny bow. “Fix him up, One-Eye.” I limped over to the Lady, knelt, lifted her. She seemed awfully light and fragile for one who had been so terrible. I followed Silent toward what was left of the town. The barracks were still burning. We made an odd parade, the two of us lugging women. “Company meeting tonight,” I threw out.at the Company survivors. “You all be there.”
I would not have believed myself capable before I did it. I carried her all the way to Blue Willy. And my ankle never hurt till I put her down.
Fifty-Nine
Last vote
I limped into the common room at what was left of Blue Willy, the Lady supported under one arm, bow used as a crutch. The ankle was killing me. I had thought it almost healed.
I deposited the Lady in a chair. She was weak and pale and only about half conscious despite the best One-Eye and I could do. I was determined not to let her out of my sight. Our situation was still fraught with peril. Her people no longer had any reason to be nice. And she was at risk herself- probably more from herself than from Raven or my comrades. She had fallen into a state of complete despair.
“Is this all?” I asked. Silent, Goblin, and One-Eye were there. And Otto the immortal, wounded as always after a Company action, with his eternal sidekick, Hagop. A youngster named Murgen, our standard-bearer. Three others from the Company. And Darling, of course, seated beside Silent. She ignored the Lady completely.
Raven and Case were back by the bar, present without having been invited. Raven wore a dark look but seemed to have himself under control. His gaze was fixed on Darling.
She looked grim. She had rebounded better than the Lady. But she had won. She ignored Raven more assiduously than she did the Lady.
There had been a showdown between them, and I had overheard his half. Darling had made very clear her displeasure with his inability to handle emotional commitment. She had not cut him off. She had not banished him from her heart. But he was not redeemed in her eyes.
He then had said some very unkind things about Silent, whom, it was obvious, she held in affection but nothing deeper.
And that had gotten her really angry. I had peeped then. And she had gone on in great length and fury about not being a prize in some men’s game, like a princess in some dopey fairy tale where a gang of suitors ride around doing stupid and dangerous things vying for her hand.
Like the Lady, she had been in charge too long to accept a standard female role now. She was still the White Rose inside.
So Raven was not so happy. He had not been shut out, but he had been told he had a long way to go if he wanted to lay any claims.
The first task she had given him was righting himself with his children.
I halfway felt sorry for the guy. He knew only one role. Hard guy. And it had been stripped away.
One-Eye interrupted my thoughts. “This is it, Croaker. This is all. Going to be a big funeral.”
It would. “Shall I preside as senior officer surviving? Or do you want to exercise your prerogative as oldest brother?”
“You do it.” He was in no mood to do anything but brood.
Neither was I. But there were ten of us still alive, surrounded by potential enemies. We had decisions to make.
“All right. This is an official convocation of the Black Company, last of the Free Companies of Khatovar. We’ve lost our captain. First business is to elect a new commander. Then we have to decide how we’re going to get out of here. Any nominations?”
“You,” Otto said.
“I’m a physician.”
“You’re the only real officer left.”
Raven started to rise.
I told him, “You sit down and keep quiet. You don’t even belong here. You walked out on us fifteen years ago, remember? Come on, you guys. Who else?”
Nobody spoke. Nobody volunteered. Nobody met my eye, either. They all knew I did not want it.
Goblin squeaked, “Is anybody against Croaker?”
Nobody blackballed me. It’s wonderful to be loved. Grand to be the least of evils.
I wanted to turn it down. The option was not there. “All right. Next order of business. Getting the hell out of here. We’re surrounded, guys. And the Guard will get its balance pretty soon. We’ve got to get gone before they start looking around for somebody to whip on. But once we get clear, then what?”