Part 27 (1/2)
Her eyes went back to the s.h.i.+mmering expanse of the Sand Hills, then to the road ahead, the long road to Synek...and the longer road to b.l.o.o.d.y Elahwa.
43.
There's someone riding toward us,” observed Rickel, checking his blade and glancing toward Blaz, who rode on Anna's left, away from the River Syne, a narrow and placid strip of brown water winding between intermittent low hills.
The hills were covered mostly with a mixture of brown and green gra.s.s with patches of trees that represented woodlots for the cots that appeared at irregular intervals.
”In a hurry,” suggested Blaz, as both guards reached for the large s.h.i.+elds they carried to protect Anna for enough time to allow her to use her spellcasting.
Anna squinted into the low, late-afternoon sun, looking to see if she could discern any sign of Synek, but all she saw was the rider, and a good dek farther up the road, on a hillcrest to the west, another group of riders, two of whom appeared to be the scouts Himar had sent out ahead of the main column. She readjusted the floppy brown hat, but the sun was too low for the hat to help much.
”Ready arms!” ordered Himar. ”Bowmen, first squad!”
Jecks drew his blade and eased up beside Anna.
Anna turned in the saddle and slipped the lutar out of its case. She glanced back at Jimbob and Kinor, both of whom had drawn steel, and then at the small round s.h.i.+eld in the open-topped case at her knee, spelled against weapons directed toward her-an idea Jecks had forced upon her when they had begun the campaign in Dumar, but one that had proved its value more than once. Then she began to check the lutar's tuning as Rickel and Blaz eased forward so that they could lift the s.h.i.+elds to protect her.
A rider in a green tunic neared, one hand on his mount's reins, and a second empty hand held clear of mount or the long blade he bore in a shoulder harness.”Greetings!” came the call as he reined up. ”Regent and sorceress... Lord Hadrenn sent us to escort you to his hold.” The black-haired lancer gestured.
”My squad waits with your scouts.” He paused, looking fl.u.s.tered, then extended a gold ring to Rickel. ”My master's seal ring... to... so that...”
Anna took the ring from Rickel. ”I will be happy to return it to Lord Hadrenn.”
As Hadrenn's escort turned his mount, Anna slipped the ring into her wallet, but kept one hand on the lutar as they rode uphill and westward. Below, along the river, those few trees not uprooted or buried in piles of clay were bent over, almost touching the uneven ground on the lower riverbanks. The leaf patterns were uneven, with some trees having but few leaves at all, and one or two having full leaves, although touches of red and yellow were beginning to appear.
When the riders reached the hillcrest on the packed-clay road, Anna finally saw Synek on the far bank and to the northwest. At the next dip in the road, a crude timber bridge spanned the narrow river-the only bridge Anna could see looking either up or down the river, and clearly placed there because of its location on the narrowest part of the Syne.
”We must cross here,” announced the guide. ”Perhaps some of your force, then my squad, and then the Regent and players, and then the remainder of your lancers...”
Anna touched the s.h.i.+eld at her knee, but it remained still, without vibration.
”Two companies first,” suggested Jecks.
Anna nodded.
”Purple and gold companies to the fore!” ordered Himar.
Anna, Jecks, Jimbob, Kinor, and Liende and the players gathered to one side of the clay-packed causeway leading to the bridge as the two companies crossed and formed up on the northern side. Then Jecks and Blaz started across, and it was Anna's turn.
The bridge flexed, alarmingly to Anna, under Farinelli's weight, even as they took it in single file with no more than two mounts on the structure at a time.
On the north side, as she waited for the remainder of the long line of lancers, Anna retuned the lutar, her eyes flicking along the north river road every few moments. Except for her escort and her own force, both roads remained empty.
Skent led his company-the cyan company-across the bridge with a show of confidence. Anna just hoped the young man was not too confident.
Once all had crossed, and they rode slowly back westward toward Synek, Anna studied the southern riverbank, the one that showed the most damage-more than half the area within a hundred yards of the water had not been repaired or rebuilt, and pile after pile of bricks and debris filled the ground. In a few places, dwellings and shops, seemingly rebuilt from the yellowish bricks, rose in clumps.
Anna swallowed. While she had not meant to visit such destruction on Synek...
she had. The most d.a.m.ning obituary, someone said, is: ”She meant well.” You meant well, and did worse. Yet what else could she have done?
”There is Lord Hadrenn's hold.” The guide gestured to a structure built of tan stone and yellow brick, not even so large as Loiseau, set on a hilltop perhaps a dek to the north of Synek. ”We take the next lane.”An effort had been made to fill in the worst of the potholes on the side road, and to cut back trees and bushes, some of the saw cuts so recent that Anna could smell the odor of pine resin and other saplike odors.
The hold itself lacked a separate wall for fortification, but the windows on the lowest level were infrequent, small, and iron-barred. Otherwise, the mansion appeared more like an English country estate, but without either lawns or gardens. Several outbuildings flanked the dwelling hall, and one was newly built of old yellow bricks. Armsmen's and lancers, quarters, no doubt.
”This is Lord Hadrenn's family home and birthplace,” explained the guide.
The man who rode out alone down the road from the mansion toward them was stocky, almost overweight, for all that he was probably less than thirty years old, Anna estimated. He was already mostly bald, and a scar ran from the side of his nose to below his right ear. Anna recognized him from her efforts at scrying him.
”Regent and sorceress?” His voice was surprisingly uncertain ”Yes, Lord Hadrenn. I'm Lady Anna, Sorceress and Regent of Defalk.” Anna gestured. ”This is Lord High Counselor Jecks; Lord Jimbob, heir to Defalk; Liende, my chief of players; and Overcaptain Himar.”
Hadrenn inclined his head deeply. ”To bring such... you honor me. You honor Synek.” When he looked up, Anna noted that his eyes were deep and brown, almost cowlike except for the intentness and concentration they held.
”There is much to do,” Anna temporized.
The young lord bowed again. ”Lady Regent, I cannot say I expected you to come to my aid... even after your messenger arrived.”
Anna smiled politely. ”I am here... and we need to talk about what we should do.
After we are settled and somewhat refreshed.”
At her shoulder, Jecks nodded.
44.
ENCORA, RA.NUAK.
The blonde woman taps on the study door, a door slightly ajar.
”You may come in, Alya,” responds the Matriarch.
Alya slides through the door and closes it behind her, if gently and nearly silently. ”You have heard, Mother?” Her eyes focus directly on the round-faced Matriarch, who wears gray and black, not the usual garb of brighter colors.
”About the fate of the freewomen in Elahwa?” The Matriarch looks up from the sheet of parchment on the table-desk and nods somberly. ”Your sister still lives. Beyond that, I do not know.”
”Did you... have to... send her?”
The Matriarch looks up at her older daughter with eyes that are reddened. and ringed with black. ”What would you have me do? Should my own daughter not follow the rules of harmony, the laws of Ranuak?”
”Why... why didn't Veria listen?””Because she could not accept that harmony is paid for again and again, endlessly. Or that harmony requires what it will and not what we wish. You see this. Even the sorceress from the mist worlds understands this.” The Matriarch offers Alya a sad smile. ”She does not know how dearly she will pay.”