“They call you ‘the Unrivaled’ here,” I said. “Your men are obviously loyal. They follow you because you saved them. You’ve already proven yourself, my lord. You’ve already beaten Kasse. You don’t have to keep on fighting.”
“There’s Drin,” said Diriel. “And Isowon. All the old lands of the empire. I’m intent on them. That’s the only way to protect ourselves. No more Bitter Kingdoms. We’ll be an empire again.”
“And what about the people? The Kassens you haven’t killed yet. What about Drin? You plan to kill them all?”
“Yes,” said Diriel firmly. “Or make them slaves.”
“And you’ll be the emperor?”
“I am the emperor.”
I looked down at his treasured peacock. “You know, I’ve been playing for time here, wondering how to tell you my decision. You already have an army of monsters. Why would you need one more?”
“The people of Isowon didn’t help us, but they didn’t make war on us either. You can spare them the fate of the Kassens, Sir Lukien, just by getting me that creature. It’s my right to rule that beast. My privilege as emperor. But wait.” He took my shoulder. “Before you decide, let me show you something.”
Diriel urged me back toward the colonnade, where Cricket waited and Grecht stood with a stupid smile. Cricket looked excited, hoping we were finally leaving. I moved in a fog, wondering what last atrocity Diriel had to show us.
“Lukien?” asked Cricket as we approached. “Are we going?”
“Yes.” Whether Diriel allowed it or not, we were going.
Diriel led the way, back through the colonnade, into the deserted castle and toward the gate where we’d first entered the day before. I caught sight of Wrestler, standing at the threshold with a wicked smile. Just ahead of him stood Zephyr and Cricket’s pony, refreshed and rested, just like Grecht had promised. A flame of hope flickered inside me. But like a stiff wind, what I saw next extinguished it.
All across the battlements and catwalks, lined up along the castle wall and crowding the yard, stood a silent army, a phalanx of dead-eyed legionnaires, unmoving, armed with swords and spears and war scythes. I came through the gate and saw a hundred of them. Then hundreds more. An impossible number that made my bones freeze. All I heard was Wrestler laughing, loving my shock. The soldiers stretched beyond the courtyard, even around the castle’s twin turrets. Dressed in their ragged uniforms and cast-offs, it seemed that every able man in Akyre had been turned into one of Diriel’s soulless slaves.
“They’ve been called here,” said Diriel. “From Kasse and the Drin border, mostly. Regular soldiers, too. Just so you see what Fallon would be up against. I thought you should know.” He smiled in a way that made his lips twist. “Don’t put me to the test, Sir Lukien. All of Akyre will be mine again, but you can save the folk of Isowon from the worst of it. Now tell me, what you have decided?”
I couldn’t hide my contempt. “You have me,” I confessed. “But I can’t make promises. I don’t know if I can control the creature. Maybe no one can.”
“Don’t worry, Bronze Knight,” jeered Wrestler. “If you die trying, you can always try again.”
“One week,” said Diriel. “After that my army marches for Isowon. Tell Anton Fallon this. Warn him of our coming. We’ll see if he’s man enough to stand his ground or if he runs back to Zura.”
“He’s got an army of his own,” said Cricket. “He’ll fight you.”
“He’ll lose,” said Diriel. “Be a friend to Isowon, girl. Help your master Lukien get me the creature.”
Wrestler winked at Cricket.
“What about him?” I asked. “You’ll call him off? That’s got to be part of the bargain.”
“One week,” Diriel repeated. “After that, you and the girl are fair game. Isowon, too.”
I nodded and pushed Cricket toward her pony. “You hear that, Wrestler?” I asked him. “Seven days. After that, you’re fair game to me.”
19
I couldn’t get Cricket to speak. She simply wouldn’t talk to me.
At first I barely noticed her silence. We were too busy riding out of Akyre to pay much attention to anything, and I kept worrying that Diriel was already sending his soldiers after us. I let Cricket take the lead again, confident she’d find us the fastest path south. We rode like that for over two hours, until our mounts were exhausted, and I was confident we weren’t being followed. Finally, when I called for Cricket to stop, I thought she didn’t hear me. She just kept right on galloping away.
“Hey!” I shouted. “Stop now!”
She jerked back the reins of her pony. The animal halted but Cricket didn’t turn around. I’d already lost patience with her. I was tired, hungry, and more than a little afraid. I should have seen what was happening to her.
“We’re gonna kill these horses if we don’t slow down,” I said, catching up to her. “The river’s close. We’ll find it and rest there. Nice and easy now.”
Cricket didn’t even nod. She rode off at a slow saunter. I kept back a few paces, taking the time to clear my head. To be honest I was grateful for the quiet. Malator must have sensed that, because he didn’t bother me either. My mind kept tripping over what I’d seen: the legion of the lost, that mad midget Grecht, even the peacock. I tried to remember everything Diriel had told me. I needed sleep. But we were on a dirt road, out in the open, and more than anything we needed shelter.
So we were going back to Isowon. Not just to warn them, but because I needed a place to hide Cricket. Wrestler was coming for her; I’d seen it in his eyes. Some sick kind of lust. Some men see a thing and have to have it. They get obsessed. Whatever it was, I knew Cricket wouldn’t be safe until we were far away from the Bitter Kingdoms or Wrestler was dead. I’d already made my choice, and it wasn’t to run away. I wanted to fight, not just Wrestler but the monster, too. I was making mistakes and knew it.
I let Cricket ride ahead of me for a while longer, hoping she’d calm down. In time she’d forgive me, I figured. She was owed an apology for being taken to Akyre, but I can’t abide being ignored. I’d never regretted taking Cricket with me or making her my squire until right then.
“If she were a boy she’d be less moody,” I grumbled. I dug into my saddlebag and took out an apple, one of the last Marilius had given us. Thinking it a good peace offering, I called out to Cricket. “You hungry?”
She rode on, swaying on her pony with her back to me.
“You haven’t eaten a thing today.” I held out the apple, hoping she’d turn around. “Here.”
When she didn’t answer me, I almost threw it at her.
“All right, enough,” I snapped. “Now you’re just acting like a child. What is it? Sky Falls? Or are you mad about Akyre?”
At last she muttered something, but I couldn’t make it out.
“You’re afraid. I know, but you don’t have to be,” I said. “We’ve got a week before they come. That’ll give us time to help Fallon plan a defense. No one’s going to hurt you, Cricket, I promise.”
That’s what set me off-making that promise and being ignored. I tossed the apple to the ground.
“We can run if that’s what you want,” I shouted. “Is it? But you won’t get your memories back. They’re here, not back in Jador. I’m not going to help Diriel get that monster. You know that. But we can’t just walk away from Marilius and the others. They’re innocent. They’ll be slaughtered. I don’t think that’s what you want, is it Cricket?”
At last she turned around to face me. “It’s just fine, Lukien.”
She smiled, an empty, blank smile. Like she didn’t know why. Like she wasn’t even seeing me. I’d seen that look before-vacant, lost. In battle we call it “the stare.” My guts seized.
“Yeah?” I asked carefully. “You’re all right?”
“Fine,” she sang. “Fine!”
She turned, spiked her heels against her pony, and drove the creature madly down the road. I sputtered before urging Zephyr after her, hearing her broken laughter as she sped away. She kept on singing and laughing, even screaming, bouncing on the pony’s back, about to be thrown over. Zephyr dug into the road. We closed the gap, and I saw Cricket’s gritty face, determined to outrun me. Then suddenly she let go of the reins and raised her hands to the sky.