"Then Usyn's army headed straight for Ymoth after leaving Halleryn," said one of the yuans, darkly. "No doubt he planned this treachery from the beginning."
"The Udalyn should never have resettled Ymoth," Krayliss rumbled. "It is not far from the valley mouth, amidst fertile lands. Surely it must have tempted them. But the word of protection from successive Verenthane kings has lulled their instincts for survival. Ymoth is too exposed, and the Udalyn too few in strength and weapons to defend it from Hadryn heavy cavalry. I fear the Udalyn have lost valuable forces defending Ymoth. Now, their defences will be fewer. There is no time to lose."
"The Udalyn have strong defences," said Sasha. "Further up the valley, the sides are sheer. And then there are the walls."
"And I say," said Krayliss, with a hardening tone, "that there is no time to lose!"
Sasha met his gaze firmly. "I agree. We should take at least one child to the king. We need to persuade him that the Hadryn must be stopped."
"I have no faith in the farsight and mercy of Verenthane kings," Krayliss muttered.
"The farsight and mercy of Verenthane kings has been the only thing keeping the Udalyn alive the past hundred years," Sasha replied.
Krayliss's eyes blazed. "The Goeren-yai are not weaklings! We can defend our own! We need merely a leader. The spirits show providence that we should all be gathered together so."
Sasha felt her gut tighten in cold anticipation. Krayliss believed someone must lead the Goeren-yai to save the Udalyn, if the king would not. And, of course, he intended that person to be him. That was what he gained by agreeing to leave Halleryn and come to Baen-Tar to face the king's justice. Here, at Rathynal, he would have a far greater audience. There were thousands of Goeren-yai soldiers encamped here before the walls of Baen-Tar. All Krayliss thought they needed was suitable motivation.
"The Udalyn have defended themselves for a century against overwhelming odds," Sasha said coldly. "There should be no rush into a crisis because we were too impatient to make a proper appeal to the king."
"The king shall wait until all are dead and the Udalyn are no more," Krayliss replied, his fist clenched.
"Should you desire my support, Lord Krayliss," Sasha said icily, "then we shall do things my way. Otherwise, you shall not have it."
Krayliss glowered. "When I need your help, girlie, I'll damn well
…"
"Am I the lady of the Synnich or not?" Sasha said sharply.
About the tent, some men made the spirit sign. Krayliss bit his tongue with difficulty. Daryd and Rysha sat watching with wide eyes. Sasha saw that they clasped hands. "M'Lady," said one man, seriously, and with deference. "What action do you suggest?"
Krayliss's scowl grew deeper. "The king," Sasha told the man, coolly. "He is our best chance. Any other course would risk tearing Lenayin apart. We should not lose faith in our Verenthane brothers. Master Jaryd risked much to find these two children, as did many of the Falcon Guard's Verenthane soldiers. Should we ride to save the Udalyn, Verenthanes should ride with us. Lenayin must remain whole. Should a purely Goeren-yai army attack the Verenthane north, all Verenthanes shall rise against it and all shall be lost."
"And should the king not see reason?" Krayliss said darkly. "What then would M'Lady of the Synnich intend?"
Sasha exhaled a long breath, her gaze settling upon the two dirty, frightened children before her. "Let us hope," she said quietly, "that it does not come to that."
Fourteen
One of Krayliss's men arrived the next morning as Sasha went about giving Peg a groom and wash. With the Taneryn man was little Daryd.
"Best you take him now, M'Lady," said the man, a lean Goeren-yai with his hair in many braids, but with no spirit-mask. He seemed edgy as he pushed aside the stall gate, casting a final glance each way up the hall. "We're being watched. The lad drew no special mention through the gates, we said he was M'Lord's nephew, but surely someone would notice that we don't talk to him, or that he doesn't listen."
"Aye," Sasha said, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. "We'll just hope no one wants to question the feral princess. It would be a first, in Baen-Tar."
The Taneryn man gave a wry smile and departed. There was to be a formal welcome to the provinces at Soros Square that morning, with Rathynal proper to start the next day. Things happened slowly in Lenayin, where great meetings were concerned. A holdover, Sasha had heard it said, from the times when Rathynals had taken weeks simply because of all the multiple translations that were required for the discussions.
Sasha took the faintly bewildered, anxious boy to the back of the stable, from where she withdrew a cloth package from the straw beneath Peg's drinking trough. She unwrapped the bundle, to reveal good clothes of about the correct size for a ten-year-old lad. Perhaps Koenyg had been right to reduce access to Goeren-yai servants and staff. These had been delivered by one of Sofy's staff, and only too willing to help, when Sasha had asked. Whether Sofy herself knew, Sasha did not know.
"Here," she said, laying out the clothes. Daryd, however, was staring up at Peg with disbelief and wonder. The Udalyn, of course, would ride traditional dussieh, with perhaps only a handful of lowlands breeds. And, even for a lowlands warhorse, Peg was enormous.
"Big," Daryd said, greatly impressed. So that was one word in common with Edu. Or perhaps he'd learned it just now from the Taneryn.
"Very big," Sasha agreed. "His name is Peg." And when that drew confusion, "Sasha," pointing at herself. "Daryd," pointing at him. "Peg."
Daryd's eyes widened. "Peg?" he asked. "Peglyrion?"
Sasha blinked at him, surprised… until she realised that that, too, was most likely a northern tale in origin. She'd named Peg for the northern star that formed the sword hilt in the constellation of Hyathon the Warrior. That was an old legend, far predating even Tullamayne-Hyathon had named his sword Peglyrion, for the child stolen from him by the dark spirits.
"Peglyrion," Sasha murmured. "Son of Hyathon." As if hearing his name mentioned, Peg lifted his great black nose from his trough, and stretched toward llaryd… Sasha put a hand on the boy's shoulder, but Daryd did not flinch. Extended his hand for Peg to sniff. Peg, of course, was fine with children. In his experience, children meant treats. And Daryd, who had surely never seen an animal even half Peg's size before, was remarkably brave.
"Peglyrion," Daryd breathed, as Peg snuffled curiously at his fingers. Sasha ruffled the boy's hair.
"We've a little time yet," she said. "Dress first, then you can help me groom him."
Sasha and Daryd attracted little attention as they walked the back lanes of Baen-Tar. Daryd stared up at the stone walls around him as they walked, his stride a little awkward in his new, leather boots. His new clothes fitted him well enough and with his longish, light-brown hair brushed into some kind of order, he looked very much the makings of a handsome young man. He found everything extremely strange, that much was clear. Yet if he was greatly frightened, it did not show, and he walked with the air of someone with important business. It was the first that Sasha had seen of the vaunted Udalyn spirit. She was not disappointed.
They arrived at the end of a lane and directly opposite loomed the palace, three storeys of grand, arching windows, and intricate stonework. Sasha cautioned Daryd to remain in the shadow, while she peered each way about the corner… there was street traffic, mostly groundsmen or tradesmen, and the clattering of a mule-drawn cart. Opposite and to the right were the great, rounded steps leading up to the main entrance. Further still, on this side of the road, were the even grander, square steps of the Saint Ambellion Temple.
Sasha pulled up the hood on her cloak-it was not a cold day, with sunlight spilling between broken clouds, but it would not look too suspicious given the gusting wind. She gestured to Daryd to leave his hood down. He, after all, was not the one who would be recognised. She then took a deep breath, grasped the boy's hand and walked around the corner.