Quentis sneezed. Bryck looked her way as she tightened her coat across her shoulders. She was another factor in all this. She had made contact with Radstac and Deo. She had felt the ring of sincerity in Deo's wish to join the rebellion. She fit into that wonderful assembly of semi-improbabilities that had produced this fabulous scheme.
Bryck gave her a soft, tiny, candid smile, remembering the feel of her against himself, remembering how fine it had felt, physically and on levels deeper than that. Quentis smiled back.
"I can bring Abraxis to Callah," Aquint said quite suddenly, in a tone that was almost comically conversational.
Bryck's head whipped back toward him. Behind, Deo stiffened noticeably. Radstac showed no reaction.
"You can?" Bryck heard himself ask dumbly.
A hardness came to Aquint's face. "Before we get down to that, however, you send someone back to that godsdamned lot where you waylaid me. You find Cat's body and bring it to me. I want my friend buried. Properly. Even though he probably wouldn't care about it. Understand?"
Bryck nodded. "It'll be done."
Aquint looked up at the jagged remains of the roof. "Now I'd like to get properly indoors. And if you could provide a cup of something with a little bite to it, so much the better. This has been quite a day."
RAVEN (5)
Orders had come for the halt, then for the scrambling reorganization of the lines. Something big was happening, on top of the very obvious magnitude of the enemy army they were now clearly facing in the last fading bits of daylight.
Torches were being fired all around. They lit among the enemy ranks, too, points of light neatly delineating those large opposite numbers. That was a sizable army. The massive, collective glow of torchlight beat back the emerging pinprick lights of the stars above.
Were they going to fight a night battle? From what Raven had overheard from the soldiers around her, this Felk army had never undertaken a major engagement at night during this whole campaign.
Then again, this army had never faced an enemy so large and evidently organized.
Raven's heart was racing, but not entirely from fear. This was undeniably exhilarating.
This will be Weisel's true test, Vadya said.
Raven had climbed off her horse. She looked around at the frenzied activity. You mean Dardas's test. She was still astonished by what she'd learned from Kumbat. Vadya, too, had been surprised to learn that Lord Weisel was the vessel for Dardas, a warlord of the Northern Continent who had been resurrected two and a half hundredwinters after his death.
I think Dardas passed his tests centuries before either of us was born, Vadya said. But now, wearing the form of Weisel, he must vanquish a new enemy, with a new army. And if he succeeds, it will be Weisel who gets the credit.
Raven nodded, slowly. Resurrection magic certainly made for strange conceptions about identity. She knew it only too well.
You still haven't reported to Matokin, Vadya said.
I don't see how I could find Berkant in all this tangle, Raven said, referring to the Far Speak wizard who had a direct line of communication to Lord Matokin in Felk.
You're not going to report Kumbat's abduction? Vadya asked.
Raven softly bit her lip. I know I should...
But? Vadya prompted.
Is that really the right thing to do? Raven blurted, then immediately regretted it. She hadn't meant to reveal her misgivings to Vadya so nakedly.
After a long silence in Raven's head, Vadya said, Your loyalties are divided, between Matokin and Weisel—or is it Dardas?
Raven lowered her eyes to the ground. I do feel an allegiance to both men, she admitted.
It's a tricky situation you're in, Vadya said.
I know.
Raven looked around. It was difficult to get an overall sense of what was happening. Troops appeared to be shifting into new patterns, companies rearranging themselves, presumably to engage this enemy. The wizards, in their black robes, were being mobilized as well.
Whatever was happening, it was being done quickly, and on a massive scale. Raven wasn't among the combatants. Actually, she wasn't sure where her place was just now. Maybe she should go check on Kumbat. But no, he was being securely guarded.
Perhaps you should report to the general, Vadya suggested.
Raven noticed how Vadya had avoided naming him. Maybe it was strange, even for her, to think of Weisel and Dardas existing within the confines of the same being.
It was a good idea though. Raven mounted her horse once again and swung it about. She had to pick her way carefully, with all the troops and equipment being moved about. Even amidst all this confusion, she was aware of those male stares that followed her everywhere. Her beauty was a radiant thing, as glorious and entrancing as a full moon.
She had a rough idea where she could find Dardas in this huge array of military might. He would be toward the rear, insulated from harm, and with a good commanding view of his army.
With that army halted and currently redeploying, the general had set up a very temporary base of operations. He was dismounted and standing with a few select members of his senior staff. They were gathered around a mapstrewn table, and Dardas was pointing and speaking rapidly. His personal guard ringed the scene.
Raven reined her horse. The foot traffic was becoming too thick for her to navigate. For a moment, she sat and watched as the general gave his orders. He certainly appeared to be in his element. There was no hesitancy in his manner, no hints of self-doubt.
For so long now she had thought this man was Weisel, a Felk lord turned military leader. She had accepted Weisel as her superior, as one who treated her as a confidant. She had accepted him as a lover.
Now she knew her beliefs were awry. When she had made love to that man, it was actually two men. The thought was peculiarly unsettling. Peculiar, because when he had made love to her it was, in fact, to two women.
Raven hopped off her horse once more, shaking her head. Whatever the new dynamic, she supposed she could get used to it.
As she approached she began to realize that all wasn't actually right with the general. There was something strange in his body language. His movements were just slightly off. As she got near enough to see his face, she noticed that his expressions were somewhat exaggerated, the facial muscles pulling tautly, the eyes protruding from the skull.
With a start, Raven realized that this disturbing appearance reminded her sharply of when the general had experienced that strange paralysis just before... just before... she had been struck by that crossbow bolt.
She sucked in a breath. It was the first time since her resurrection that she had remembered the event so vividly. It was her own death, and she was remembering it!
Plainly, this wasn't the same kind of episode, whatever was now happening to the general. But something odd was going on, she was sure. She sensed it.
The guards passed her through, and Raven edged unobtrusively up to the tight circle of senior officers gathered with Dardas around the maps.
Now she could hear him speaking. "The scouts confirm it! East and west, precisely like I said. They're flanking us. It's a very clever battle plan. They're making the best use of their numbers, hemming us in. They can do us real damage. Whoever's strategizing for that army, they have a genuine flair. I admire it."
Raven listened closely. It was the voice she was used to hearing, but it was pitched somewhat differently. It was strained, as if some struggle were going on behind the words. But that was mad. Or was it...?