King’s Wrath

‘And he had no other meeting arranged in the north other than with the local mayor?’

Kirin frowned. ‘None whatsoever,’ he said indignantly, hoping his lie sounded convincing. ‘Certainly none that I was privy to.’

Stracker’s glance slid across to Lily. Kirin could feel her flinch beside him.

‘This is my wife, Lily.’

Stracker’s tatua stretched and a ghastly, malevolent smile spread over his face. ‘Mrs Felt. How beautiful you are.’

Lily bit her lip. ‘General Stracker,’ she said, curtseying.

‘You can’t have known Master Felt terribly long.’

‘Actually, general,’ she said, nervously smiling, glancing at Kirin, ‘I’ve known him since childhood. We… er… we both grew up on Medhaven.’

‘Is that so?’

She nodded. Kirin felt his gut twist. ‘We were childhood sweethearts. I thought I’d lost Kirin for good,’ she said, giving Kirin a sweet side smile. ‘But then he came back. No warning,’ she said archly and Kirin loved her all the more for trying so hard when he knew how frightened she was. ‘He just arrived back on the island. “Hello, Lily,” he said, as if we’d only parted a few days previous.’ She gave a soft laugh. ‘I’m embarrassed to say my heart leapt. I thought I was over him, particularly as I was seriously considering Link Chervil’s proposal of marriage.’

‘Link Chervil?’ Kirin repeated in mock astonishment. ‘What an oaf.’

‘Link’s doing very well, if you don’t mind.’

‘What does Link do for a living?’ Stracker asked and Kirin knew he wasn’t in the least bit interested. This was a test.

‘Link is a —’

‘I asked your wife, Master Felt. Mrs Felt?’

Lily hesitated, but tried to cover her nervousness with a small smile. ‘Why, Link is a miller.’

Kirin died inside.

6

Loethar was breathing hard. ‘Elka, stop,’ he croaked.

She turned around and came back to him. ‘Are you in pain?’

He shook his head, unable to talk, as he sucked in air. ‘Can’t breathe.’

‘Does your head ache?’

‘As though it may explode.’

She nodded. ‘Sit down.’ He needed no further encouragement, and dropped immediately to the ground. ‘I think you’ve got what we call “mountain sickness". It’s the air up this high. It does affect some people this way if they’re not used to moving around at such a height.’

‘I’m a tribal man from the plains,’ he said, trying to grin but it quickly turned into a grimace. ‘All right, now I’m hurting. Everything hurts.’

‘So much for the barbarian warlord.’

‘I was never either of those things,’ he complained. ‘That’s a title the Set royals gave me. I’m a king in my own right, of the Steppes even before I took over the empire.’

‘Forgive me.’

He waved a tired hand. ‘Is this going to get any easier?’

She shook her head. ‘Only with many moons of practice. So, first things first. Watch how I’m breathing.’ She began to takevery quick but deep breaths. ‘This will fill your chest with air faster than trying to breathe normally at this height.’

‘Like this?’ he asked, trying to mimic her.

‘Good. A breath every five counts if you can and as deep as you can achieve. And drink. You have to take on more water than normal. Believe me, it will really help.’

He immediately swigged from the water sack she handed him.

‘Keep sipping. It’s important,’ Elka urged. ‘Now,’ she said, sounding distracted as she scanned the landscape, ‘what we have to do is get you lower.’

‘Lower?’

‘You can’t stay this high. Your sickness will only get worse before it gets better. And we don’t have time to spend getting you used to this height. We’ll have to descend. The problem is I suspect Leo knows his way around those lower levels.’

‘Let’s face it, Elka, after living around you I suspect de Vis knows how to handle the higher levels, too. We’re trapped.’

‘Yes, but Gavriel doesn’t know the geography of the higher altitudes as the king must of the lower forest. Besides, we can outwit Gavriel, I know how he thinks. But not the king.’

‘Don’t call him that.’

‘Why? Does it offend you?’

‘Yes, damn you. I am the true King.’

‘And just look at you.’ She laughed but not unkindly.

Loethar found himself smiling bleakly. ‘I’m a picture of power, right?’

She helped haul him back to his feet. ‘Come on, my lord. You can fight it out for the title another time.’

‘Why are you helping me?’

‘Frankly, I don’t know. Behind me is the man I love. And even if I find his loyalty to Leo pig-headed, I couldn’t tell you why I’ve chosen to betray Gavriel and side with the enemy! The problem, I suppose, is that I expected so much more of Leo.’

‘No, the problem, my beautiful mountain goat, is that you didn’t expect to like me as much as you do. You’d anticipated some sort of thuggish monster and what you’ve found during our journey into the forest is the opposite. Handsome too.’ He gave her a smile.

‘Lo save me. Are all the Valisars this arrogant?’ She pushed him forwards and they travelled in silence until he needed to stop again.

She watched him settle himself against a tree. Her brow knitted together. ‘Do you hate him?’

‘Who, Leonel?’ She nodded and he paused while he considered her question. ‘In a way, like you, now that I’ve met him I’ve changed my opinion. I wanted him dead like his father. But now that I see him, I see a young man desperately trying to fulfil what his father had been force feeding him, insisting he achieve since he was born. These last few hours I’ve put myself into Leo’s position and I would be lying if I didn’t admit that I would have acted no differently. So I don’t hate him. I pity him. He is compelled — as I am — to claim what he believes his.’

‘But now neither of you have it. Your brute of a brother does.’

‘He’s my half-brother. We shared a womb, that is all. I wouldn’t hesitate to kill him, nor he me — as you witnessed.’

‘I was surprised that you didn’t fight back.’

‘Perhaps it was a mistake. He is fearless but he is a lout, never did bother to learn the art of war or how to fight with skill rather than brute force.’ He gave a small sigh. ‘I didn’t even bother to arm myself properly. I anticipated a fight, but I should have anticipated the ambush. Somehow I wanted to believe our family had been raised to fight fairly. I am not his enemy. I never was. But he hates me and,’ he shrugged, ‘I am not overly fond of him.’

‘You seemed ready to die.’ She shook her head. ‘I mean, you appeared to accept your fate.’

He nodded. ‘It was a strange moment. It felt fitting at the time. I think I’d become disillusioned. My mother should nothave died — certainly not the way she did. I have never loved my wife. I have never loved a woman.’ Elka looked astonished. ‘It’s true. This sounds arrogant but it’s genuinely the reason: I’ve never found anyone who matched me. Valya is beautiful but I am not a man who chases outward beauty. I love things only if they appeal to me on all levels. Valya is cold, calculating. She is driven by a poisonous bitterness that dates back well before she ever knew of my existence. The tragedy is that Valya, I believe, does love me … and in the right way.’ He shook his head with regret. ‘She is a stunning woman but her looks are constantly compromised by a grasping, shallow, vain, and cruel personality. She actually enjoys watching people suffer. I suppose many would level the same accusation my way,’ he said, when he saw the look of astonishment flit across Elka’s face. ‘But when I punish people my only satisfaction is knowing that I am right. I don’t torture for the sake of it.’

‘You just leave that to your brother,’ she finished dryly.

‘My half-brother can be useful if he’s channelled the right way. Until now my mother and I have been the only people who can really exert control over him. Her death changes everything — from the way he views me to his believing he answers to no one any longer. And that’s dangerous. He’s happiest when there’s chaos, bloodshed, disruption.’

‘And people he can hurt,’ she remarked.

‘Indeed.’

‘From what I hear, you seemed pretty happy with yourself during the overthrow.’

His brow furrowed. ‘War is different, Elka. War is not polite or pretty. But there should always be a decency to it, for want of a better word. If people surrender, it should be accepted without further death. I only ever held the royals of each realm responsible. Their heads were all I was after. The Set kingdoms were so smug and impressed with themselves. We got word that they were laughing at the thought of a Steppes invasion. Not oneof the kings ever for a moment thought a horde of tribal warriors from the plains was a match for even one of their fighting units. So we had to desecrate the armies, completely crush their sense of superiority. That was the only way to force quick surrenders before the civilians began to suffer.’

‘Spoken like a true king,’ Elka said lightly.

‘I am Valisar,’ Loethar replied. ‘Even if my father refused to acknowledge me.’ He gave a harsh laugh. ‘You know, my mother was just a night of diversion. A warm and willing body to forget about the minute he mounted his horse the next morning. But she never forgot him; I suspect she loved him more than she cared to admit.’ At Elka’s look of wonder, he shrugged. ‘She was young, impressionable and no doubt vulnerable. An older, very important man wanted her. Why wouldn’t she fall for him?’

‘Forgive me, but can I ask how it comes about that a woman with a child, already married, is able to lie down with a stranger … a foreigner?’

Loethar sighed. ‘I know it seems hard to imagine in this day and age but nearly forty anni ago there were strange customs. The Steppes people were quite used to seeing trade caravans going into or out of the Set. I think my mother and Stracker’s father were having difficulties. I don’t really know what occurred — she refused to talk about it with me — but whether she spent that time with the Valisar royal simply to spite him or there were other circumstances, I’ll never know. The fact is Stracker’s father treated me as his own son. I will always respect and admire him for that. He was a good man.’

Elka shook her head in quiet disbelief. ‘Did your mother know her lover was the king at the time?’

‘I honestly don’t know. Perhaps.’

‘But his scorn hurt her,’ Elka mused.

‘That’s right. When he didn’t come back for her or show the slightest care about the child she was carrying she wanted to make him pay for using her. And by then she did know hisposition and I suspect it offended her to realise she was carrying a royal child in her belly that no one wanted to acknowledge.’

‘How was he supposed to know she was pregnant?’

‘I gather she sent word somehow.’

‘Did she really believe he would look after her?’

He nodded. ‘I think she did,’ he said softly. ‘She was a beautiful woman in her youth and she came from an old, very proud line. I imagine she convinced herself that a marriage between a Steppes woman and a Valisar king could work.’

Elka shook her head. ‘And you?’

‘Me?’

‘Do you think marriages between different cultures can work?’

‘I do. I’m proving it. We have mixed marriages all over the empire. It’s just a matter of breaking down old attitudes.’

‘So in your eyes, Gavriel and I aren’t such a ridiculous match?’

She said it lightly, but Loethar took her seriously. ‘You are a bad match, you two. He doesn’t love you romantically, Elka. He loves you as his best friend.’

He watched the amusement and the interest in their conversation in her eyes wilt and found a grin for her. ‘So, marry me instead, Elka. I think we’d make a fine couple and a great example to the rest of the empire.’

‘You’re married already, and a father.’

‘I despise my wife and we are estranged. My daughter is dead. Truly, what a ruin I am.’ He kept his tone dry, afraid of sounding self-pitying.

‘I’m really very sorry about your daughter,’ Elka said quietly.

Loethar was surprised to feel his throat close up. He swallowed hard and nodded, trying to keep his emotions in check.

‘Forgive me, I don’t mean to upset you.’

‘You’re not, Elka,’ he said softly. ‘You’re a comfort. I haven’t yet grieved for my daughter. I needed a son for political reasons and it was a disappointment that a daughter was born. And then to hear that she was sickly and likely to succumb … I walkedaway. I had just lost my mother and Freath; I couldn’t bear to look upon my daughter and love her if I was only going to lose her. But I regret that decision now.’ He shrugged. ‘Here, beneath the sky, away from all that and with a clearer view of life, I wish I could hold her, tell her that I love her and am proud to be her father.’ His throat felt tight again, and he cleared it. ‘My true father didn’t love me and I just gave the same hurt to my daughter.’

Elka looked shaken. ‘I’m so sorry.’

He gave her a searching glance then shook his head hopelessly. ‘Don’t be. I deserve to suffer.’

She smiled quizzically. ‘You’re a very complicated man, Loethar. Lucky for you life is a lot less complex in the mountains.’ She sighed. ‘Come on, let’s find somewhere safe but lower. You’ll feel better almost immediately once we descend but you’ll still need to rest.’

‘Excellent news. Now you’ll have to forgive me, Elka, because right now I have to —’

He didn’t finish what he was going to say. Instead, he turned quickly, and violently retched.

She sighed. ‘Men are so weak,’ she muttered, and won a growl from her companion.

Back at the camp the men had gathered around Leo. It had taken him a long time to assemble them, but he was determined to gauge their reaction as a group, hoping one would give away the truth if they knew what their leader was up to. And he had to be careful about it, for each of these men, he was sure, remained intensely loyal to the outlaw.

‘None of you have any idea where Kilt has gone?’ he asked, masking the disbelief in his voice, turning it into concern. ‘I was with him only a short time ago, just before he sent me to speak with Loethar. I need to know what he wants us to do. I have to report to him.’

‘We haven’t even seen Kilt or Jewd for hours,’ Tern replied.

Leo held his tongue with difficulty. Tern was doing a good job at disguising the stiffness in his tone but Leo had spent many anni learning how to see past the obvious. ‘Well, I’m sure they’ll let us know soon enough what they’re up to,’ he finally said, deciding it was better to appear confused in return for remaining close to the only family he’d known in a decade. ‘What now?’

‘We’re moving camp,’ Tern replied. ‘It’s no longer safe here.’

‘Really? We weren’t followed,’ Gavriel said.

Tern shook his head. ‘Kilt never takes chances. In fact, we’re splitting up.’

‘What?’ Leo, who had been sitting down, trying to remain casual, jumped to his feet. ‘Who ordered that?’

The men around him began to mutter between themselves.

‘No one did, majesty,’ Tern said and Leo noted with satisfaction Tern’s use of his title. ‘This is what we do if we feel in any way threatened. It’s a precaution. We will re-group.’

‘When?’

Tern shrugged. ‘Whenever. You know how it is. We always seem to find one another.’

‘What should I do?’

‘You are welcome to come with me, majesty. I would consider it an honour.’

Leo had to think. He glanced at Gavriel. So long apart hadn’t changed that bond they’d shared through his childhood. He could see that Gavriel didn’t believe a word of what was being said here.

‘No, thank you. I might wait here in case Kilt returns. I have things to tell him. He would expect it of me, I think. I’ve made too many mistakes recently and I don’t want to disappoint him again.’

Tern nodded unhappily. ‘As you wish, highness. De Vis, can I leave you to protect the king?’

‘It’s what I was born to do apparently,’ Gavriel replied. He said it lazily but Leo could hear the barb in it.

‘We’ll carry on then,’ Tern said, and motioned to the men to continue their plans for dispersal.

As they moved away, Gavriel arrived alongside Leo. ‘They’re lying.’

‘I know.’

‘Why?’

‘Kilt got to them.’ Leo’s face twisted in anger. ‘He knows what we were planning.’

‘How?’

‘I think you’ve forgotten just how sharp Kilt is. He and Loethar are well suited for their cunning minds.’ He grimaced. ‘All the more reason we can’t let them meet.’

‘Leo, you have to trust me when I say that Elka will not permit Loethar to do this… this… ’

‘Trammelling,’ Leo offered.

‘Exactly. And even if she did entertain such an idea, it wouldn’t be without my sanction.’

‘I hope your confidence is borne out, my friend. Otherwise Loethar will be invincible and you might as well run me through with that blade of yours now.’

‘So what do you suggest we do now?’

Leo shook his head with disgust. ‘I’m torn as to whether to hunt down Kilt, who I need for protection, or Loethar, to ensure my safety.’

‘Do you want to hear what I think?’

‘I know your idea will be to pursue neither of them.’

Gavriel waited.

‘All right, let’s hear it, Gav,’ Leo sighed.

‘Loethar isn’t your primary threat any longer. Right now he’s too injured. And no matter how you like to colour it, he is my prisoner.’

‘Yours?’ Leo said, surprised, unable to mask the scorn in his voice.

Gavriel nodded, irritatingly calm. ‘Elka will do what I say.’

Leo wanted to say something cutting but was all too aware that apart from Gavriel de Vis he had no one. ‘You said Loethar is no longer my biggest threat. So who is?’

‘His half-brother, Stracker.’

‘Stracker doesn’t even know I exist.’

‘That’s a fair point. But he doesn’t need to know you exist to be your problem. As we stand here, Leo, Stracker is, I imagine, laying claim to the empire. And because, according to Steppes law, any man of any tribe can fight for kingship when the king dies, Stracker won’t claim Loethar to be dead. Instead, he’ll say he’s lost or was grabbed by renegades, so he can continue to sit the throne without having to fight for it. As long as Loethar lives, we have time to plan properly. The empire won’t be embroiled in war or a struggle for rulership. We can move around freely. No one outside of this forest knows either of us is alive; neither of us is recognisable either.’

‘All right. But what is your actual plan?’

‘To remain here for the time being. I have no plan. I think we need to take some time to think everything through properly. No rash decisions.’

‘But what about Kilt? I need him.’

‘Faris has kept you safe and alive for a decade without your having to eat him!’

‘And I intend that he will continue to do so.’

Gavriel looked pained. ‘I’m sorry, Leo, but I won’t be a party to such a move.’

‘Your father never refused his king.’

‘My father was never asked to participate in such a debased practice.’

‘You can’t know that.’

‘No, that’s true. But I do know my father …’ Gavriel hesitated but said no more and Leo knew his old friend wanted to add: which is more than you can say about your own.

‘Well, you’ve made your position clear.’

Gavriel’s eyes narrowed. ‘All I’m saying is wait. Don’t do anything rash. I am prepared to agree that if as a last measure all I have standing between you and Loethar’s blade is Kilt Faris, I won’t permit your death.’

Leo felt a thrill of relief. So they weren’t really on opposite sides. Gavriel just needed time to adjust. He could bide his time. Plus they were safer up here in the forests than anywhere else. He was sure Kilt wasn’t coming back to the camp and Loethar wouldn’t dare. ‘All right. We’ll remain here and consider our position.’

Gavriel nodded. ‘Very good, Leo,’ and from the tone of his voice Leo knew his old friend meant it from the heart. ‘I’m starving. Do we have any food in this place?

Elka returned to where she’d left him. ‘No signs of anyone. I think we’ll be all right here for the time being,’ she said, looking up into the tall tree beneath which Loethar was slumped.

‘How are you feeling now?’

‘I might not look it but I feel entirely different.’

She nodded. ‘Recovery is surprisingly fast if we get a rapid enough descent in time. We did the right thing for you. Now I have to think about all your other problems. Did you keep drinking?’

He nodded. ‘Lucky we found that mountain stream. My nephew would have given me nothing.’

‘Neither would your aegis, remember. Leonel was simply following orders.’

‘Orders.’ Loethar grimaced. ‘He’s a king apparently. He’s Valisar. He should be giving orders, not taking them.’

She sighed. ‘Frankly, I’m tired of the Valisars.’

‘They’re so unnecessary now, aren’t they?’ he asked in an ironic tone.

She joined in, smiling. ‘Too pre-empire for my taste!’

Loethar gave a big belly laugh. ‘I’m glad I’m with you, Elka, and not that sour de Vis. He doesn’t deserve you.’

‘Gavriel’s a good man. Worth far more than you credit him. The very fact that he’s not hunting you down — and believe me, he is now a frighteningly good tracker — means that he’s somehow controlling Leo’s desire to bond you.’

The emperor’s face grew serious. ‘Why would he do that, do you think? He hates me, wants to kill me.’

Elka sat down beside him and took a swig from the water sack. ‘With good reason. But you’ve seen for yourself that he’s not nearly so one-eyed as Leo clearly is. Your nephew …’ She shook her head. ‘I still can hardly believe you’re doing this to each other. You are family.’

‘I learned the hard way that the Valisar family is one-eyed, particularly if you’re the one on the throne,’ he said, bitterness lacing his tone.

She nodded. ‘Anyway, I suspect your nephew is being driven by a different hunger. He wants revenge and he’s also got the Valisars’ problem of believing nothing and no one matters but them. You laid waste to the royals of the Set. Don’t blame Leo for wanting to punish you. But I think Gavriel sees beyond his own youthful craving to make you pay for the savage, cowardly death that you gave his father. Gavriel’s older, wiser, and doesn’t have the all too proud, too self-absorbed, too-royal Valisar blood pounding through his veins. And he can see that times have changed — that there’s peace and prosperity now.’

‘So now I have to rely on my enemy?’

She laughed. ‘Yes, Loethar. I think you do. And until I hear from him you remain my prisoner.’

‘If I give you my word that I will not harm you and won’t try to escape, will you agree to unbind me so I don’t feel like an animal? Perhaps I can actually be of some help.’

She considered this, staring at him. He returned the gaze steadily. Finally, Elka nodded. ‘Gavriel will kill me but I’m going to trust you, Loethar. I do believe you are a man of your word.’

‘Indeed. I am Valisar, after all.’

She snorted with derision. ‘That has no effect on me.’

‘Then I give you my promise as a man who owes you the debt of his life.’

‘Now that means something to me.’ Producing a blade from the sheath at her hip, she cut his bonds. ‘Are you ready to travel? We might as well keep moving while you have some strength.’

‘I’ll move until I drop. Where are we going?’

‘Home. I can keep you safe in the mountains.’

‘Indulge me, Elka.’

‘You have a better plan,’ she said. ‘Yes, of course you do.’

He shrugged, though it obviously hurt him to do so. ‘Will you hear it before you dismiss it? I will not risk your life, that I promise. And we will go to the mountains directly after.’

She stared at him for a few moments, weighing him up. ‘Tell me on our way to Francham. Wherever we’re going we’ll need horses and medicine. Let’s go.’

7

Roddy clung to Ravan gleefully, his breath whipped away by the speed at which they were running. They were already approaching the forest and he knew they would be into the trees in a few heartbeats. Ravan began to slow. He didn’t even sound breathless when he spoke.