She spun and took two long steps back toward him, hand on the hilt of the white sword. “Gyir is dead.” The words landed cold as hailstones. “And he was no mortal’s friend. That is not possible.”
“I am more sorry to hear of his death than you know. I was there in Greatdeeps with him in his last hour, and if we were not friends we were certainly allies.”
The reptilian gaze fixed him. “I doubt that. But what does it matter anyway, little man? He failed me. Gyir is dead, and in a moment you will be too.”
“You may be wrong, Lady. I think there is a chance that despite his death Gyir may yet succeed, and if he does, it will be because of a gift you sent to the king of the Qar—a gift named Barrick Eddon, prince of Southmarch.”
Her hand curled more tightly around the sword’s hilt. She was close enough, Vansen realized, to decapitate him with one swing. He bowed his head, resigned to whatever would happen next. “Gyir did not fail you, Lady, and if he died, it was doing your bidding. The pact could yet succeed.”
He waited for the blow but it did not come.
“You will tell me all you know about Gyir Storm Lantern,” she said at last. “You will live that long, at least.”
37. Under a Bone-white Moon
“The Qar’s Book of Regret is not their only written record. It is said that they also have a collection of oracles called the Bonefall that has been kept since early times. Both are said to be part of some larger book or story or song called “The Fire in the Void”, but no scholar, not even Ximander, can say for certain what that is.”
Briony could not stop marveling at the size of the Syannese camp. She had expected a group of men waiting on horseback, perhaps as many as a pentecount of soldiers camped beside the Royal Highway. Instead, after reaching the road and riding on through the rain for perhaps an hour Briony and her captors reached a muddy meadow full of tents—hundreds of them, she felt sure, an entire military encampment crowded with foot soldiers, mounted knights, and their attendants. As they turned to look at her, curiosity plain in even the sternest faces, her stomach clenched. Would they execute her? Surely not—not simply for running away! But she couldn’t get Lady Ananka’s cold-eyed stare out of her head. Briony had learned early that when you were a king’s daughter people might hate you without ever knowing you.
“Remember, you are not quite real in their eyes,” her father had often said. “You are a mirror in which people, especially your own subjects, see what they wish to see. If they are happy then they will see you in that light. If they are unhappy they will see you as their persecutor. And if a demon is in them they will see you as something to be destroyed.”
If the gods only touched people in dreams, as Lisiya had said, then could they sow lies there as well as truth? Had an evil god set Ananka and the king of Syan against her?
Listen to me! she chided herself. Isn’t it bad enough that I take pride in the number of soldiers sent to shackle me and drag me back to Tessis? Now I flatter myself that the gods oppose me as well. Stupid, prideful woman!
But whatever happened, she would give no one the satisfaction of seeing an Eddon weep and beg for mercy. Not even if she went to the headsman’s block.
When they reached a large pavilion near the center of the camp the captain dismounted and helped her from the saddle with silent and ungracious efficiency. Now that she could see the emblem on his surcoat more clearly she saw that the red hound was almost skeletal, its ribs showing so clearly that they resembled a lady’s comb. It sent a shiver across her skin.
The captain steered her past the sentries outside the pavilion. Once inside, he squeezed her arm hard enough to make her wince to stop her. At the center of the room several more soldiers, all in armor, were bent over a bed covered in maps. Nobody seemed to have noticed the visitors.
“Your pardon, Highness… ?” the captain said at last, clearly unwilling to wait to share his good news and receive his praise. “I have found her—the northern princess—and made her prisoner.”
The tallest of the armored men turned and his eyes widened. It was Eneas, the king of Syan’s son. “Briony… Princess!” An instant later he turned on the captain. “You have done what? What did you say, Linas—made her prisoner? ”
“As you ordered, Highness, I found her and captured her.” But the captain’s voice, so firm and proud only a moment before, now sounded less certain. “You see, I have brought her… brought her to you ...”
Eneas scowled and came toward them. “Fool. When did I ever say ‘make her a prisoner’? I said find her.” He extended his hands to Briony, then to her astonishment dropped to one knee before her. “I crave your pardon, Princess, please. I have confused my own soldiers and that is nobody’s mistake but mine.” He turned to the man who had brought her in. “Be glad you did not put her in irons, Captain Linas, or I might have had you whipped. This is a noblewoman and we have already treated her dreadfully.”
“My… my apologies, Princess,” the captain stammered. “I had no idea… I have wronged you ...”
She did not like the man but she did not want to see him whipped. Or at least not too badly. “Of course, you are forgiven.”
“Go now and tell the others to call off the search.” He watched as the chastened captain hurried out of the tent, then turned to the other armored men, who were watching with amused interest. “Lord Helkis, you and the others may leave me. I would speak to the princess alone.” He thought about it. “No, stay. I do not want this poor woman’s reputation any further besmirched—she has suffered enough at the hands of my family, and quite unfairly.”
The handsome young noble bowed. “As you wish, Highness.” He retired to a stool in the corner of the pavilion. Briony felt almost as though she floated in a dream. One moment she had been wondering whether she would be executed, the next moment a prince was kneeling before her and kissing her hand.
“Please,” said Eneas, “I cannot expect you to forgive my family, or even hope for such a thing—it is not deserved, in any case—but I can apologize again. I was sent away soon after we returned from Underbridge. By the time I found out what had happened and returned to Tessis you were already gone.” He squinted at her. “This is strange, but I could swear that is my old traveling cloak you’re wearing. Still, never mind.”
The prince went on to explain how he had only learned the truth because Erasmias Jino had sent a messenger who had caught up to him as he led his troops south along the southern Kingsway, toward the border. Briony found herself wishing she could thank Jino, whose goodwill—or at least his loyalty to Eneas—she had clearly underestimated.
“When I read the letter, even though it was the middle of the night, I called my Temple Dogs to fold their tents and we turned back to Tessis,” Eneas said.
“Temple Dogs?”
“You see them all around you. They are my own cavalry troop,” he said with more than a little pride. “I picked each one of them. Do you remember how I asked you questions about Shaso and his teachings? The Temple Dogs are modeled after Tuani horsemen. Do not let Linas and his foolish error mislead you—they are the best Syan has, trained to move quickly and efficiently, both on the road and in battle. I am sorry you had such a bad first meeting.”