‘I thought you made that choice already. Breck told me you planned to go with them.’
‘I’m not sure what to do,’ said Lorn. ‘Or what to believe. You were in Jador. You must have seen something.’
‘You mean magic?’ asked Van. ‘No. Not with my own eyes, at least.’ He glanced down at the ground, shading his eyes from the sun. ‘I never got to ride to Grimhold with the others. My company stayed behind in Jador. After we took the city General Trager ordered it secured.’
‘But there is a Grimhold? It really exists?’
‘Oh yes,’ said Van. ‘It exists.’
Lorn hovered over him. ‘Tell me what happened. It might be your last chance.’
‘Sure,’ Van laughed. ‘Why shouldn’t I? It’s no worse than anything you’ve done in your life.’ He shifted over so Lorn could sit with him. When the older man was settled he began, ‘Jador was a beautiful city. I don’t know what it looks like now, but it was really something when we got there. King Akeela was out of his mind, of course, and General Trager was no better. We’d hunted the Bronze Knight across the desert and there was no way the general was going to let him get away, but the Jadori put up a good fight. They’re a fierce bunch, I’ll tell you.’
‘But you defeated them,’ said Lorn.
‘That’s right. We had too many men with us; the Jadori never really had a chance. After we battled them on the desert we rode into their city. By then they didn’t have many fighters left, but they still wouldn’t surrender.’
‘So you slaughtered them.’
‘Worse than that,’ said Van. ‘They didn’t have a chance but we fought them anyway. We killed most of them in the fight, but those we captured. .’ His voice trailed off.
‘What?’ Lorn pressed.
‘We crucified the ones we captured. Trager had us build crosses outside the city, facing Grimhold. Kind of a warning to them, I suppose. We took the prisoners and hung them there.’ Van’s face paled as he recalled the grisly task. ‘My company was given that duty.’ He shook his head in disbelief. ‘And I did it, that’s the worst part. Some mad general gave me an order and I obeyed. He wasn’t so different from you, Lorn. And he had all of us puppets dancing, doing his dirty work for him.’
‘War,’ said Lorn. ‘That’s what happens. I know. When I was king I expected my orders carried out, no questions.’
‘I tried that excuse,’ said Van. ‘It didn’t work. I still think of those people we hung out there. I think of them every day. I don’t think they’ll ever leave me. Sometimes I think they’re with me, haunting me.’ He laughed, dark and miserable. ‘Like magic, you might say.’
‘What do you know about the other magic? What do you know about Grimhold?’
‘Like I said, I never went there. When we got word that General Trager was dead I was so happy. Akeela was already dead by that point. We all scattered, all us so-called Royal Chargers. You know about that already. But I heard stories from some of them that came back, about the people there. They’re not like the Jadori. They’re a different race. They’re magical beings for sure.’
‘Your companions told you that?’
‘Aye. Some of them don’t even look normal. They look like monsters. But they can do things, weird things with their minds. One of them fought General Trager in the city. Disappeared, right while they were battling! Just blinked right out of sight. That’s a true story, mind you, not some tavern babble.’
‘Ah, but can they heal people?’
Van shrugged. ‘Could be. If they can make themselves disappear I suppose they can do anything. All I know for certain is that Grimhold exists. And I know that Lukien lives there still. Aric Glass’ father, too.’
‘The baron?’
‘Aye, Baron Glass.’ Van’s voice dipped an octave. ‘We were hunting him as well, not just the Bronze Knight. Maybe Aric knows that already. It’s not for me to say either way. But just listen to me, Lorn — if those two scoundrels have holed up there, it must be some kind of special place.’
‘Yes,’ Lorn agreed, nodding. ‘And if they can help Poppy. .’
‘Like I said, maybe the Grimhold dwellers can heal folks, maybe they can’t. But Eiriann and all those others seem to believe it, and whatever those people are they’re not human.’ Van sighed. ‘But then, what does being human really mean? I don’t think it means nailing men to crosses.’
‘Stop pitying yourself,’ chided Lorn. ‘Being a man means making mistakes. And it means following orders, even ones you don’t like.’
‘You say that so easily. You see? That’s why people think you’re a beast. You can order a man crucified and have your breakfast while you watch. Norvor’s better off without you, Lorn. Jazana Carr was right.’
‘Humph, yet here you are, ready to fight her,’ scoffed Lorn. ‘Just like I said you should be.’
‘One tyrant at a time,’ said Van, but there was affection in his face. ‘I’ve got a place here now. Maybe I do have you to thank for that. I’m grateful to be here, I’ll admit. So? What about you? You going?’
‘Eiriann and her father need me,’ he said. ‘I don’t think any of those fools they’re travelling with have any idea what they’ll face on the way. Half of them are crippled and the other half are just plain stupid.’
Lorn realised how hot he was suddenly and reached over for Van’s waterskin. He took a long drink to refresh himself. In the distance he watched the grounds of the library buzzing with activity. He longed to be part of its defence. In his heart he was a soldier, born to fight. But Poppy needed him, and if there was any hope for her to lead a normal life. .
He capped the skin and was about to dismiss himself when he noticed a commotion at the bottom of the hill, way down where the winding road began and the land was obscured by trees. At first he saw a lone horsemen coming around the bend, then another and a half-dozen more, and when he stood he noticed there were scores of men behind them, many lagging back on foot.
‘What’s that?’ he queried. To his eyes they looked Liirian soldiers, but that was impossible. Yet when Van stood to study them he confirmed the strange suspicion.
‘Chargers. They’re Royal Chargers!’
Lorn looked around in confusion. Only now had anyone else noticed the odd brigade. Around the grounds people began dropping their tools and milk stools. At the bottom of Library Hill the sorry-looking soldiers gazed up in tired awe.
‘Van,’ said Lorn haltingly, ‘I think the fence can wait.’
An hour later, Lorn was once again in the great reading room of the library, just as he was that first day he had come to Koth. As before, the room was filled with Breck’s aides, who were all in turn filled with questions. Breck himself sat quietly at the head of the polished table. This time, however, it was not Lorn who was being interrogated. Instead a pair of Liirian officers, both shabbily dressed in dust-caked uniforms, bore the brunt of the questioning. Their names were Nevins, a cavalry major, and Aliston, a captain of archers. And the tale they told made Lorn white with dread.
They had come from Andola, now fallen, leading their men across Liiria over the past week in a desperate bid to reach Koth. Baron Ravel, their former employer, was dead, as was their commander, a man named Colonel Bern, whom Breck seemed to remember personally. They had put up a great struggle against Jazana Carr, but the Diamond Queen had amassed such a force that not even Ravel’s considerable fortune could best her. Andola was now in her hands. Amazingly, she had conquered her first Liirian city. And she had done it in a day.
Major Nevins had come to Koth with more than three hundred men. Some had come with him all the way to the library, others were still at the outskirts of Koth, too exhausted to make the last leg of the journey. They were all famished and the servants of the library were already hard at work feeding them. Nevins and Captain Aliston ate as they talked, devouring the food they were brought and draining tankards of beer. Nevins took long pauses while he told his story, sating his hunger at the same time and talking with his mouth full of food. Breck listened to the major with amazing patience, interrupting only occasionally. Mostly, though, he considered the heavy news the Liirians had brought. Lorn could see his mind working behind his passive expression.