Sovereign

He remembered it all. Tears sprang down his cheeks. His stomach roiled.

He wanted to vomit. He wanted to flay off his skin and throw it away. He wanted to cut off his sex. He wanted to dig out his own eyes, slice off his ears, lop off his own hands. He had been so fouled he would never be human again.

And yet he still desired her.

He glanced at his friends again. Ager stirred.

'No,' he said firmly. They must not see him or touch him ever again. He would be the cause of their death. He was becoming like her, like Silona, and everything close to him would corrupt. He would be a charnel house.

He wanted to close his eyes but was afraid of what he would see.

'Finish it,' some part of him said.

Kill myself, he thought. God knows, no one else can.

'No,' that part of him said again. 'Finish it.'

Finish what? He hunted down the thought.

Finish Silona. It was the only way he could be saved.

He slid out of the bed and dressed quickly. He found his weapons under his clothes and strapped them on. He stopped at the door. The Red Hands would follow him. They would never let him be. They would die for him.

'No one else will die for me,' he said, and went to the window. He eased it open and lightly jumped outside. He was in the courtyard. He could see Red Hands posted at each corner. It was too dark for them to see him. Slowly, quietly, he made his way from the courtyard to the stables. There were two hands there playing a game under a lantern. They did not hear him. He went behind the stables to the feeding yard and found a good Chett mare. The horse smelled him and started whinnying, but he held its head without hurting it and spoke to it and let it sniff the back of his hand and then his hair. He gathered a second mare the same way. He chose two bridles from some hanging from the yard fence, fitted them around the horses' heads and led them out of the yard. He snuck back into the stable and took a saddle and blanket, returned to the horses, fit one with the gear and mounted. Holding tightly onto the reins of both horses he kicked the one under him into a gallop, charging out of the palace before any of the guards could challenge him.

Through the dark he rode, east and then south, across the Barda River and deep into enemy territory.

'Where is he?' Jenrosa shouted.

Ager and Korigan leapt into the air, both reaching for their weapons. Jenrosa ignored them and rushed to the bed, desperately whipping aside the sheets even though it was obvious even a child could not have been hiding under them.

Jenrosa grabbed Ager by his poncho. The Red Hands looked on in shock and surprise. Surely even the White Wolf would be more careful around the crookback?

'God's death, Ager,' she shouted in his face, shaking him, 'where is Lynan?'

'I…' He looked around, confused. 'I fell asleep…'

Jenrosa turned on Korigan. 'You must have seen him! You must know where he is!'

Korigan looked blankly at her. 'No. He was here.' She looked up hopefully. 'The Red Hands on guard…'

Jenrosa nodded to two of the Red Hands, who looked shamefacedly down at the ground. 'Lynan did not go past them.' She saw the open window and ran across to it. She leaned out, called Lynan's name, anger and panic in her voice. Red Hands gathered from around the courtyard.

Jenrosa turned around and slumped against the sill. 'He's gone. I'm too late.'

Now it was Ager's turn to grab Jenrosa. 'What are you talking about? What's happened?'

She would not answer. To Ager, she seemed to fall in on herself, become at once diminished. He exchanged glances with Korigan.

'Get Gudon,' he commanded one of the Red Hands, then ordered everyone except Korigan and Jenrosa to leave the room. When they were alone, Ager and Korigan guided Jenrosa to the empty bed. Ager got a cup of water and forced some of it down her throat. She gasped and coughed, tried to push him away.

'Now, tell me what's happened,' Ager demanded.

'I tried to break the nexus between Lynan and Silona,' she said wearily.

'And?'

'And I don't know. Something happened tonight. Maybe the nexus was broken.' She rubbed her face with her hands.'Maybe.'

'Then where is he?"

Jenrosa shrugged. 'I don't know.'

Ager threw away the cup. It shattered on the floor. He held her head in his hands and forced her to look at him. 'You do know.'

She pulled away from him, slapped at his hands, kicked at his legs. 'I don't know!' she screamed. Ager retreated, surprised.

'I don't understand,' Korigan said, looking between the two.

'Jenrosa used her magik to try and free Lynan from the vampire's grip.'

'But something went wrong?' Neither answered ho 'Is he Lynan again?'

Gudon came in, grim-faced.

'Lynan is miss—' Ager started to explain.

'I know,' Gudon interrupted. 'The Red Hands told me he rode out of the palace.'

All eyes turned to him.

'When?' Jenrosa demanded, getting to her feet. Maybe there is still time, she thought. Maybe if we can find him…

'They came to me as soon as it happened.'

'Then we have to go after him,' Korigan said grimly, making for the door.

Ager stopped her.

'What are you doing?'

'Jenrosa?' Ager said. 'You know where he is going.'

How much can I tell them? I can't finish this task without their help. She searched their faces as if she might find the answer there.

'Jenrosa?' Korigan urged. Jenrosa tried to close out the suffering she heard in that voice.

There's only one way to help Lynan now, she thought, and all of us. She said, 'He must be going to her.'

'What?'

'To Silona. I destroyed whatever direct control she established over him after the battle against Charion's rebels. But her hold over him is still strong. She must have called to him as the connection between them was cut. I think he is riding for the forest where she lives.'

'Then we have to go after him,' Korigan repeated, looking at Ager as if daring him to challenge her again.

'We cannot,' Ager said tightly. 'To do so is to risk losing everything he has fought for.'

'We can't let him face Silona by himself!'

'That is not what I said. But you must stay here. You are the ruler of the Chetts, and in Lynan's absence the commander of all his forces. No one must know that Lynan has left Daavis.'

'But he was seen by the Red Hands—'

'They will not talk about it,' Gudon said over her. 'I will make sure of that.'

'Better, those who were on guard tonight can come with me to bring back Lynan,' Ager said.

'You?' Gudon said. 'Truth, better if I go. You will be missed.'

Jenrosa saw her chance. 'You will all be missed,' she said. 'Only I need go. He needs a magiker, not a warrior.'

'You cannot go by yourself,' Ager said.

'I will bring with me the Red Hands you would have taken.'

'You will need more than a handful of guards to ride through Chandra.'

'I am not going to war, Ager Parmer,' she said. 'As it is, we will not catch up with him before he reaches the forest. He is a lone rider, and a good one. Give me an escort of those Red Hands who were on duty tonight, no more. The rest of you must stay and carry on as if Lynan is still here. By now everyone in the city knows he is ill, so no one will be surprised that he is not seen around the palace. Leave the rest to me.'

The expression on all the faces of the other three showed their apprehension.

'You don't have a choice,' Jenrosa said. 'None of us has a choice any more.'

CHAPTER 26

'You are twisting yourself apart, my lord,' Barys told his master.

King Tomar did not reply. He could not deny it, after all.

'You have, I think, already made a decision,' Barys continued.

'Meaning?'

'That you are afraid to implement it.'