Sovereign

'I believe Ager spent a good part of his life working on merchant ships.'

'Yes.'

'I wonder if he misses it.'

'I wonder, cousin, why you are talking about the sea instead of Lynan.'

Korigan laughed bitterly. 'Because I am afraid of what you and I might discover between us.' She glanced at Gudon, almost shyly. 'Do you know he did not come to our bed last night? Tomar gave us a sumptious room. I waited for him. I wanted to tell him how glad I was to be with him again. I fell asleep eventually.'

'How much do you love him?'

Korigan's gaze dropped to her feet. 'I don't know. What can I compare it to?'

'You've had lovers before.'

'Yes, and never loved them. I don't know if it is possible to love someone more than I love Lynan.'

'And?'

'But I think it is possible for Lynan to love me more than he does.'

'Ah.'

'In a way I am glad he did not come to bed last night. I am afraid to be alone with him again.'

'But he is no longer under the influence of Silona.'

'I have only known him with the vampire's blood flowing through his veins. Will I know him now?'

'Truth, cousin, you already know him. The Lynan I knew before Jenrosa gave him Silona's blood was the same man afterwards. Until his last great fever, he only changed in battle. If he loved you then, he still loves you now.'

'Perhaps.' She stopped, looked north out over the ocean and tried to imagine what lay beyond the horizon. She had heard of the Far Kingdom, a legendary place on the other side of the Sea Between, a land peopled with strange and monstrous beings. Was it possible to travel so far you could leave behind all your fears and doubts? And what would life be like without those fears and doubts? Was there someone at this very moment in the Far Kingdom looking south and wondering the very same thing?

'When I received Lynan's message that Jenrosa had died destroying Silona and saving his life,' she said, 'my first reaction was to wish it had been me who had died for him. In that moment I forgot I was a queen, that my life is never truly my own. Lynan has that power over me, you see.'

Gudon did not know what to say. He had never before heard love professed so earnestly, so honestly, and it made him feel ashamed.

'How up to date is Tomar's information on the Great Army?' Ager asked Lynan.

'Very. Largely heavy infantry; some archers, but not as many as they would have had if Chandra had contributed. Some cavalry, most light, a few medium regiments. Nothing like the knights, though.'

'So our lancers are the heaviest horse?'

'So far as Tomar knows.'

'That's good. And what exactly will Tomar contribute to our army?'

'I've asked mainly for infantry, especially the Arran Valley regiments. Otherwise mainly supply—food, wagons, ambulance carts and surgeons.'

'None of his cavalry or archers? They are very good.'

'They will be needed to hold Sparro and the surrounding countryside. If Areava has any military advisors worth their salt she'll try to take the province by sea. She has the only fleet left in Theare after we burned most of the Haxan navy at their docks.'

'What chance have we of stopping that?'

'None, but if we are forewarned then Tomar can prepare a warm welcome for any invasion.'

'And who will forewarn us?'

'I have an idea about that,' Lynan said.

'I assume that's why we're walking along the harbour.'

In answer, Lynan pointed to a ship tied to a dock about forty paces away. Ager squinted at it with his single eye. 'She looks trim. Whose is it?'

'Do you not recognise it?'

Ager shook his head. 'Should I? Is it one of my old berths?'

'You could say that.'

By now they were close enough for Ager to read the name on the bow. He laughed softly. 'The Dry Land?'

'Turn it around.'

'The Land Dry?' he asked, and Lynan groaned. 'Oh, I see. Dry for wet. Land for sea.' Something clicked in his brain and he laughed softly. 'Dry for spray. The Seaspray, of course!'

'If you look on the foredeck you'll see its owner waiting for us.'

'Grapnel! Grapnel Moorice!'

The man on the foredeck waved at the pair. When they reached the ship he gave them each a hand-up. After quickly embracing, Ager stepped back to take a good look at the man. He was tall, with closely cropped brown hair; huge gold earrings hung from each lobe, arid a white scar on each cheek that joined with the corners of his mouth made him look as if he was sardonically grinning at them.

'You haven't changed at all!' Ager said, smiling broadly.

'It's only been a year and a half since we last met,' Grapnel said.

Ager was surprised. 'God, it seems like ten years has passed. So much has happened.' His smile disappeared. 'I suppose Lynan's told you about Kumul and Jenrosa.'

Grapnel nodded grimly. 'I was sorry to hear it. I did not think anything could kill Kumul. I expected him to outlive us all. And though I only met Jenrosa the once, she seemed a brave lass. I am sorry for your loss.'

'What are you doing here?' Ager asked, quickly changing the subject. 'And what have you been doing?'

Grapnel shrugged. 'What else can a merchant do except play at trade? I lost my business in Kendra, of course, and knew I had to lie low. After I helped you lot make your escape from Kendra I headed out to sea as far as I dared. It was a Jong, hazardous journey, the telling of which I'll bore you with one night. Eventually we made Kolby. I stayed there for half a year, changed the name of the ship, and started plying the coastal waters between Haxus and here.'When word got around that Tomar had sided with Lynan, I went to the palace.'

'And was immediately conscripted for scouting duty,' Lynan finished. 'Ager, meet the admiral in charge of my fleet.'

'Admiral Moorice? And how many ships do you have it your disposal, Admiral?' Ager asked.

'One,' Grapnel said. 'But she's a beauty.'

Ager could not help grinning. 'Wonderful. Lynan's Royal Navy has one ship, and it's called the Dry Land.'

'Dry Land for not much longer,' Grapnel said gruffly. 'She'll be Seaspray again by this time tomorrow.'

'Grapnel will take Seaspray and stand out to sea; no other ship and crew in Theare has their experience on the wide ocean. Tomar will have plenty of warning should Areava's navy be ordered to attack Chandra.'

'Before that happens there's much to be done here,' Grapnel said. 'So if you will excuse me, my crew and I have work to do. When this is all over we can spend a night telling each other tall tales about our adventures.'

Lynan and Ager said goodbye to Grapnel and watched him board his ship. 'It's strange how close I feel to that man,' Ager said. 'I had not met him before that night we fled the palace, and talked with him only briefly for the short time we stayed in his home. And yet I feel about him the way I might feel about a brother I had not seen for many years.'

'We are bonded by our misfortune,' Lynan said sadly.

Ager put a hand on his shoulder. 'I cannot stop thinking about her, either.'

'She should be here with us. If I had fought Silona's control with greater determination and courage she might still be alive.'

'Taking that line, if you had commanded the army better in our first battle against Grenda Lear, Kumul would still be alive.'

Lynan looked up sharply at Ager, his face crestfallen.

'And if you take that line,' Ager continued, his voice angry, 'Berayma met his end when he did because you were too self-absorbed to see what Orkid and Dejanus were planning to do.'

'That isn't fair!' Lynan cried.

Ager jabbed him hard in the chest with a finger. 'And blaming yourself for Jenrosa's death is?'

Lynan blushed. 'I… I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said what I did.'

Ager's anger bled out of him. 'No, but grief can make us say and do things we don't mean to.'