Part 23 (2/2)

Her smile faded. 'What would you prefer, Olek? That I simpered and trembled in this room, waiting for strong men to save me? I will succeed - or I will be captured and killed.

No man on this earth will ever terrify me. I will not allow it. Yes, I shall enjoy going to the market. It is something I have never done. I will walk in the suns.h.i.+ne and I will revel in my freedom. I am Sashan, the wh.o.r.e. And Sashan the wh.o.r.e has nothing to fear from Boranius or anyone else.'

He stood watching her for a moment. Then he nodded and bowed. 'You are an exceptional woman,' he said.

'Yes, I am. Tell me about the market.'

They sat and talked for some time about the art of haggling, and how no-one ever paid the first price mentioned. He also warned her against the places women were not allowed to enter: gambling halls, private taverns, and public temples.

'A woman cannot enter a temple?' she queried.

'Not by the main door. At the side there are entrances leading to galleries. Women cannot approach the altar, or sit in the altar hall.'

'Ridiculous!' she stormed.

'Nor once inside the building are they allowed to speak,' he told her, with a smile.

Her grey eyes narrowed. 'I shall change that once I have my throne.'

Skilgannon recalled with great fondness watching her walk away from the house. The sun was s.h.i.+ning on her bleached hair, and turning the cheap yellow tunic to glowing gold. She had subtly exaggerated the sway of her hips, and had smiled broadly at the men pa.s.sing by. It was a fine performance, born of arrogance and courage.

Alone on the jetty Skilgannon glanced up at the moon. 'There never was a woman like you, Jianna,' he whispered. , The day had been long and tense for Jianna, Queen of Naashan. It had begun just after dawn, reading lengthy reports from the various southeastern war fronts in Matapesh, Panthia and Opal. Casualties had been heavy, especially in the jungles of Opal, but her forces had captured the three main diamond mines. s.h.i.+pments of these precious stones would enable Jianna to purchase more iron from Ventria, and weapons from established Gothir armourers. She had breakfasted with four princes from northern Naashan, who had promised men for the coming battles in Tantria. After that she had met councillors and advisers, checking reports on tax incomes and the condition of the treasury.

It was now after dusk, and she was not yet tired as she strode with her bodyguard through the royal gardens, lit now by lanterns on tall iron poles. Behind her walked the Captain of Horse, Askelus, a tall, forbidding man, and alongside him the wiry figure of Malanek the former swordmaster. Both men had their hands on their sword hilts as they came into the open. Jianna laughed. 'They say lightning does not strike twice in the same place,' she said.

'You take too many risks, Highness,' offered Malanek. Moonlight cast shadows on his face, making the lines of age seem even deeper. No longer a fighting swordsman he had grown his hair, though he still sported the elaborate raised crest and pony tail that had marked him as the King's champion. His hair was dyed black - a small conceit, which the Queen did not mind. She was fond of the old warrior.

'I cannot avoid all risks, Malanek,' she said. 'And look, am I not wearing the mail rings you had made for me?'

'Aye, and they look very fine on you, Highness,' he said. 'Which is, I think, why you wear them.'

Jianna did not reply, but walked on. He was right, of course. The thigh-length silver mail tunic, with its backing of soft lambskin, and its wide embossed belt, emphasized the slimness of her waist. It s.h.i.+mmered as she moved. Jianna strode on, sensing the tension in the two men as they approached the Lake of Dreams, a large marble pool on which sat a statue of a fabulously attractive woman. Her arm was raised towards the sky, and entwined around it was a snake. The statue was of Jianna. Often the Queen would wander her gardens, always stopping to gaze upon her own image.

Ten days ago two a.s.sa.s.sins had leapt from the undergrowth close by. Both were dressed as palace servants. Only Malanek had been with her on that night. Despite his age he had acted with great speed, drawing his sabre and darting in to block their a.s.sault. He had killed the first, but the second barged past him and ran at Jianna, knife raised. Leaping high she had hammered her booted foot into his face, hurling him back. Malanek had stabbed him through the lower back. The man screamed and fell. Unhappily the wound was deep and mortal, and he had died under questioning without revealing who had sent him.

It was the fourth a.s.sa.s.sination attempt in two years.

Jianna gazed at the statue. 'She will be beautiful when I am ancient and a crone,' she said wistfully.

'Aye,' agreed Malanek, 'but she will never ride a horse, nor see a sunset. Nor will she ever know the adoration of a people.'

'Adoration comes and goes,' said Jianna. 'The people threw flowers at the Ventrians and garlanded Bokram's horse. They are fickle.'

They came at last to the new gates and the high walls of Jianna's private quarters. The two guards, both handpicked by Askelus, saluted and bowed. 'Who is within?' Askelus asked one of them.

'Four of the Queen's councillors, five royal handmaidens, the blind harpist, and a rider from Mellicane. The Ventrian amba.s.sador has requested an audience. His messenger is waiting outside the gallery.'

The guards pushed open the gates and Jianna walked through. 'Shall I send them all away?' asked Malanek.

'Ask Emparo to stay. I would like to hear his harp later. The Ventrian amba.s.sador I will see tomorrow morning, before the council meeting. Have him brought here. We will breakfast together.' She arrived at the door to her chambers. 'I'll see the rider from Mellicane now.

Askelus, you will stay with me.'

The tall warrior nodded, and opened the doors to the Queen's apartments. Lanterns had been lit within, the light s.h.i.+mmering on silk-covered couches and ornately fas.h.i.+oned chairs. The five handmaidens, all dressed in gowns of white silk, stepped forward and curtsied as the Queen entered. 'You may all go to your beds,' said Jianna, with a wave of her hand. The women curtsied once more, and departed. Malanek strode off after them, returning with a round-shouldered officer. Jianna looked at the man. He had tired eyes.

He bowed to her and waited.

'You have ridden far, sir?' she asked.

'I have, Majesty. Eight hundred miles in fifteen days. Mellicane is on the verge of collapse.'

'What else did you discover?'

'I have brought back all my papers, Majesty; reports on those loyal to your cause, and those we must. . . deal with. I have given them all to Malanek.'

'I shall read them and call for you again,' she said, unable to remember the man's name.

'But why have you waited for me this evening?'

'News of Skilgannon, Majesty.'

'Is he dead?'

'No, Majesty. He had left the church before the riders arrived. He is heading, we think, for Mellicane.'

'Does he have the swords?'

'He killed some men who were seeking to attack the church, Majesty. Our information is that he took sabres from the attackers.'

'He will have them,' she said.

'Hard to believe he became a priest,' said Askelus.

'Why?' countered Malanek. 'Skilgannon brought pa.s.sion to everything he tackled. And pa.s.sion is a gift of the Source.'

Askelus shrugged. 'He is a fighting man. Hard to see him mouthing spiritual inanities.

Love will conquer all. Forgive those who torment you. Nonsense. Soldiers conquer all, and if you kill those who torment you then you are free of torment.'

'Be silent, the pair of you,' said Jianna, returning her attention to the messenger. 'Who do we have following him?'

'I have sent word to our emba.s.sy in Mellicane to watch out for him, Majesty. We also have the original twenty riders in Skepthia, and one skilled a.s.sa.s.sin we can contact. What orders shall I send?'

'I will think on it tonight,' she told him. 'Come to me in the morning.' With that she waved the man away. When he had gone Jianna sat down on one of the silk-covered couches, lost in thought.

Askelus and Malanek waited silently. At last she glanced up at them. 'Well?' she said.

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