"Nothing glorious in that death," she said quietly. "In battle, at least you have the mercy of being surprised. Isn't it a little late for an execution?" It was after midnight, she'd gathered.
"It took the carpenters this long to erect the platform," Teriyan replied, peering into the gloom as he strode, a hand on the hilt of his blade beneath the cloak. "No matter, it creates a diversion for us, in that, his death proves far more useful for the Goeren-yai than his life."
It sounded a particularly callous thing to say, even for Teriyan. "You set him up for this," Sasha said bluntly.
Teriyan grunted. "He set himself up. We needed him out of the way, and we needed a diversion…" he shrugged. "He gets his martyrdom, we get a blind space in which to organise, and most of brother Koenyg's loyal guards are busy expecting trouble at the execution. As if we'll all rise up in protest over that fool getting the axe. Koenyg sees everything, but understands nothing. We're heading north."
Organise? The Goeren-yai? Sasha stared up at his rangy height, her suspicion mounting. Teriyan had been most insistent in accompanying her on this trip. Teriyan, who had many friends and contacts amongst Goeren-yai all over Lenayin. Any Baerlyn man could have accompanied her, but Teriyan had insisted it should be him. "How long have you been plotting?" she asked, her jaw tight.
Teriyan threw her a serious look. "Look, Sasha… you didn't think the concerned folk across Lenayin wouldn't have someone keeping an eye on you all these years? Why do you think you haven't had crowds of the curious and the worshipful come clustering about the ranch or the Steltsyn all days? They needed word on what you were up to. I gave it. Nothing more."
But it had gained him status, evidently. "Kessligh knew about this?" she asked tightly.
Teriyan shrugged. "A little. Never seemed real interested, truthfully. Certainly he appreciated anything keeping the crowds away." Sasha felt her head spin as several new pieces fell into place. Kessligh's displeasure with her occasional long nights in the Steltsyn. Teriyan, on one occasion, sheltering her from the overly nosy questions of one particular out-of-towner. He'd had his curiosity answered later, it seemed.
"You didn't tell me," she muttered.
"Sasha…"
"Damn it, I'd have understood! I'm not stupid, I knew that you and the others deflected some attention from me… but you were using me, weren't you? Planning a bloody uprising, just like Koenyg suspected
…"
"Oh aye, and how safe would that have been, to tell you everything?" Teriyan retorted. "Your brother Koenyg sending his damn spies through the Steltsyn every few weeks… we learned to spot them, you know, even if you never did. Those merchants, traders, wandering minstrels, even some of the damn pilgrimage priests, all fishing for stories about you."
"They weren't all working for Koenyg," Sasha said disbelievingly. She felt suddenly uncomfortable. Could they have been? "Travellers gossip, it's not like every traveller who asks questions is pocketing Koenyg's gold."
"And that's been the difference between the two of us for the last twelve years," Teriyan said firmly. "You could afford to think that, up on your hill with your legendary warrior to watch over you. The rest of us learned to be suspicious. There's a whole stack of rumours and stories about you moving about the towns at any given time, Sasha. You don't think Koenyg wasn't listening to all of them? You don't think that at the first suspicion you were going to be a threat to the lords, by giving the Goeren-yai someone to rally around, he wouldn't have come down on Baerlyn like an avalanche?"
"He'd never have dared," Sasha retorted, eyeing a shadowy figure moving on the dark road ahead. "Any move against me or Kessligh would have achieved exactly what he didn't want-angry mobs of Goeren-yai looking for blood."
"Aye, well maybe you could take that risk. Me, I've got family in Baerlyn, and I'm responsible for all the other families too." He too watched the dark figure ahead. It vanished down an alley. "The lords thought you more of a risk than Koenyg did, they were twisting his arm all the time… shit, you saw what Kumaryn tried. They know that if the Goeren-yai ever got worked up, the lords' heads would be the first on the block-most Goerenyai respect the king, but we've got no time for lords.
"So we kept feeding them all this nonsense about Krayliss, and how he was so popular. I did it myself a few times, just made up some pile of manure about the brave deeds of Lord Krayliss to tell some traveller when he was near facedown in his ale. He spreads it to the next town, and people talk, and the next thing you know, Prince Koenyg's hearing talk of great, heroic stories about Lord Krayliss spreading through Valhanan. Better yet, Lord Krayliss hears them too, and like any fool who thinks the stars circle his arse, he believes the people love him. Soon enough, he believes it so much he picks a fight with Hadryn, kills Great Lord Rashyd, and threatens the king with Goeren-yai rebellion. So while all the nobility's got their frilly lace knickers in a twist over Krayliss, they ignore you completely… or almost. Worked a treat, huh?"
Sasha stared at him incredulously. "They ignore me? You… you make it sound as if… as if I'm some kind of… I don't know…"
"Goeren-yai hero?" Teriyan peered down the dark alley into which the figure had entered. Within, there were only shadows. He shrugged. "Maybe. All I knew was better you than Krayliss. Some of us saw this day coming, Sasha. A day when we'd need someone the Goeren-yai could look up to. Prince Koenyg never really believed it could be you, not truly… Goeren-yai never had women leaders before, it seemed a stretch. And who knows, he might yet be right. We'll see."
"I'm not a damn leader!" Sasha hissed at him. "I'm not some piece on your boardgame to be moved about at your leisure…"
"Kessligh didn't teach you nothing, did he?" Teriyan gave her a contemptuous stare. "We're all just pieces on some damn boardgame, girl. Either you play, or you get played. You choose. You're my friend, and I'm sorry you feel betrayed. But my first loyalty is to my people. I was hoping that'd be your first loyalty too."
"M'Lady," said another man moving up on her side as they rounded a tight bend between stone walls. From a high window, a baby squalled. "I have some men moving to recover the Udalyn children. The Princess Sofy assisted us in finding them in the palace. Should we bring them?"
Sasha looked up at him-way up, for this man was even taller than Teriyan. Goeren-yai, despite lacking the spirit-mask, like Teriyan. And recently familiar, somehow… her eyes widened, recalling the Royal Guard lieutenant who had let her into the Saint Ambellion Temple with Daryd.
"Is it a good idea to bring children?" she asked warily. "Surely they'll be safe enough here?"
"There's no telling that," Teriyan said darkly. They were approaching the Soros Library now, its archways looming on the left above dark, clustered rooftops. "They're proof of bad things happening in the valley, someone might decide them more conveniently disposed of. Besides, we may have use of someone who knows Udalyn lands from the inside-the boy may not speak Lenay, but he can draw maps. In an assault, that could save lives."
"They are Udalyn children, M'Lady," the lieutenant added. "The hardship shall not trouble them."
Sasha did not like the idea of taking children on such a ride. This, she realised, was one of those command decisions that she had always wondered if she would have the strength to make for herself. Many more would surely follow. She was no longer poised upon the point of no return. That point was now behind her. The realisation made her dizzy, with fear, excitement and a dozen other things that she had no name for.
"See to the children," she told the lieutenant. "Perhaps try to find the pony they arrived on, it shall make the journey easier for them."
"Aye, M'Lady," said the lieutenant, and made straight for the side road past the library, vanishing quickly in the night.