‘I’m looking forward to going home,’ he said cheerfully. ‘We’re very near now. I heard Rodrik Varl say we’ll be there by afternoon tomorrow.’
‘Yes, we’re very close,’ said Jazana. Her mind was elsewhere though, and because she didn’t want to talk she made no eye contact with her servant. The dark-skinned man picked up on her reticence at once. Without a word he let his horse fall back a pace. But Rodrik Varl had heard their conversation and so had fallen back himself, dropping out of point and pausing for his mistress to catch up. When she did he trotted his white gelding alongside her. His smile was scimitar-sharp.
‘Habran has his eye on you, eh?’ he asked in his rolling brogue. ‘Should I be worried?’
His wit warmed Jazana. She replied, ‘He speaks to me only to make you jealous, dear.’
‘Ah, now I am worried!’ Rodrik Varl laughed and pulled at his scarlet beard. ‘Perhaps I should shave when we get home. Then I will look more like a man-girl, like him.’
‘No, one is enough, thank you,’ said Jazana. She welcomed Rodrik’s distraction and decided to ask about their progress. ‘Another day, do you think?’
‘A day or less. We’re almost out of the forest.’
‘Yes,’ said Jazana. Very soon they would find the road to Haverthorn. Her riding slowed almost imperceptibly. Rodrik Varl noticed the slackness of her smile.
‘My lady is troubled,’ he said. ‘Why?’
‘We’re going home,’ said Jazana. ‘It makes me pensive.’
‘It shouldn’t. For the first time you’re returning home as queen.’
Jazana nodded. ‘But there’s much yet to do.’
‘Aye, there is that,’ agreed Rodrik. From the moment she’d ascended Norvor’s battered throne he’d reminded her of her myriad problems. ‘But you’ve done well so far, my lady. I’ve been watching you. You have grown quickly into your queenship. The people love you.’
‘Not all the people,’ said Jazana sourly. Though the women of Carlion had been quick to accept her, many men still did not.
‘That will change. Once they all know that you can feed them, keep them safe, they will see the truth of you.’
‘The truth of me?’ The Diamond Queen laughed. ‘What is that, I wonder? The people will love me if I bribe them — is that all I am to be?’
‘It is what the country needs now, my lady. When people starve they need bread. Give them bread and they will listen to anything you have to say. That’s how you will change things, my lady. First, feed their stomachs. Then feed their minds.’
Jazana considered the advice. In the weeks since winning Norvor, her bodyguard had become a surprisingly wise advisor. That he cautioned slowness bothered her, though, and she knew he suspected the reason for their return to Hanging Man.
‘I do not have time for them to love me, Rodrik,’ she reminded him. She glanced at him, and when he did not reply she pressed him. ‘You see that, don’t you? We must move on Liiria while we have the momentum.’
‘Liiria will wait, Jazana. Norvor needs you first.’
‘I have the means to control both.’
‘I’m not talking about money,’ said Varl sharply. ‘Norvor needs your attention, not just your diamonds.’ He shook his head, trying with difficulty to mask his displeasure. ‘All these years it took you to win Norvor. Now you have it and you’re not satisfied. And the worst of it is you do this thing as a vendetta.’
‘I do not,’ said Jazana icily.
‘You promised Thorin you’d conquer Liiria, so now just to spite him you’ll risk Norvor.’
‘Rodrik, your jealousy is showing.’
Her bodyguard looked at her with pity. ‘My lady, be I jealous of Thorin or not matters little. His leaving hurt you deeply, that I know. But if you think conquering Liiria will salve your broken heart, you are wrong.’
His perception was like a rapier to Jazana Carr, who winced at the accusation. ‘You don’t understand, Rodrik, and you never have. This isn’t just about Thorin. It’s about me.’
‘Aye, it’s about proving yourself to the whole world. I know you better than you think, my lady.’
Perhaps he did, thought Jazana. Not liking the conversation, she ended it. ‘We’ll stop here,’ she said. ‘We’ll rest and set out again in the morning.’
Rodrik looked at her, confused. ‘Here? Why?’
‘Because I said so and because I’m tired.’
‘But there’s hours of sunlight left, my lady. We can cover miles more before night falls.’
‘No. I want to stop here. Call your men to halt.’
‘Jazana, we have time to rest and to continue,’ said Rodrik. ‘If you’re tired-’
‘Yes, I’m tired of you questioning me! Now call a halt, damn you!’
To make her point Jazana reined her horse to a sudden stop, then stared at Rodrik. Instantly those who had seen their queen halt did the same. Rodrik muttered an obscenity before complying, then told his lieutenants they would be camping here for the night. His men shared his surprise but did not complain. As they dismounted Rodrik could barely bring himself to look at his queen.
‘You get more difficult every day, Jazana,’ he said. ‘I ask myself why I stay with you.’
‘Because you love me, you fool,’ chirped Jazana, happy to have gotten her way. ‘Now listen — I want you to be ready at dawn. You and I have somewhere to go.’
Her bodyguard snorted. ‘Yes, to Hanging Man!’
‘No, somewhere else,’ said Jazana. She got down from her horse and rolled her head on her shoulders to stretch. ‘Just you and I, Rodrik.’
‘Just us?’ asked Rodrik with annoyance. ‘Where are we going?’
Jazana Carr no longer wished to talk. She turned and went toward Habran, eager for a massage while her other servants erected her pavilion.
That night, Jazana Carr slept in her pavilion of silk pillows, dreaming of Haverthorn and her long-dead father. Then, before the sun rose, she awoke and purposefully tore the sheets off her body, calling for her servant Faruna to attend her and help her dress. She sent word to Rodrik Varl to ready their horses, attired herself in rugged riding gear with tall boots and black leather gloves that climbed to her elbows, then pulled open the flaps of her pavilion to greet the new morning. As expected, she found most of her men still asleep. Even the pack animals barely stirred. Around the wagons and carts, little campfires smouldered from the night before. A handful of mercenaries milled about the encampment, lazily guarding their queen and cargo. Jazana Carr ignored them as they snapped to attention, startled by her presence. In the distance she saw Rodrik Varl waiting for her atop his horse. Her own mount stood next to him, saddled and ready, as did two more of Rodrik’s many mercenaries. Obviously only recently roused from sleep, the two men struggled to sit up as their queen approached. Rodrik’s beard parted with a yawn. She frowned at him, slightly annoyed.
‘I told you,’ she called across the camp, ‘it’s just to be the two of us.’
The ruddy soldier shook his head. ‘No, my lady, you know I can’t allow that. We’ll need protection, wherever you have us going. Where is that, by the way?’
‘I have you to protect me, Rodrik,’ Jazana shot back. ‘That’s what I pay you for, is it not?’
‘My lady flatters me, but even I’m not enough to protect your person in these parts. So? Is our destination to be a surprise?’
‘Yes,’ said Jazana. Before mounting her horse she considered the two guards. Their names were Den and Gace, a pair of brothers from Rolga who had joined Jazana’s army long before their city fell. She knew they were trustworthy and good fighters, but she had hoped to be alone for what she had planned.
‘I don’t like surprises,’ said Rodrik Varl. ‘Especially so early in the morning.’