Her eyebrows rose. “Good. Just making sure the sudden independence and recent taste of leadership hasn’t gone to your head and given you more silly ideas.”
He looked up at her. “More silly ideas? What—?”
“I’ll be watching you,” she warned him. “Though . . . where do you think the battle will take place? In the city?”
“No,” he replied. Does she mean my guild of magicians idea? “That would put the people in danger, from both our magic and the enemy’s, and rubble from any houses that are struck. We’ll go outside to meet them. What do you mean, sil—?”
“Where do you think the best place to watch would be?”
He felt a pang of concern. She should stay out of sight – out of any danger. But he doubted she would, so he had better think of a safe place to suggest. “Somewhere elevated, so the closer to the palace the better. Avoid houses. You don’t want to be inside a house if a bit of stray magic comes your way.”
“But magic could come my way anyway.”
“If your feet are on the ground, all you’ll need to do is shield. If you’re in a collapsing house you have a bit more to deal with.”
“Ah.” She grinned. “I see what you mean.”
His heart seemed to shiver within his chest. I don’t think I could endure it if she died... He pushed the thought away. “So what did you mean by—?”
A gong rang out, drowning out his words. Tessia turned away. Sighing, Jayan followed her gaze to the cart in the centre of the square. The king had returned and was climbing up onto it. Sabin followed, holding a large striker. A large golden gong hanging within a frame had been placed beside the cart, probably wheeled down from the palace.
Magicians and apprentices shuffled closer. Dakon appeared with Narvelan and the other leaders. Seeing Jayan and Tessia, he beckoned. Together, they wove through the crowd to his side where, curiously, they found Mikken. The young man grimaced apologetically at Jayan.
“Sorry for disappearing. They recruited me as a messenger,” he murmured.
Dakon leaned closer. “There are more Sachakans,” he told Jayan. “They appeared in the south a few days ago and made their way here.”
Jayan felt his heart sink.
“How many?” he asked.
“About twenty.”
Surely it won’t be enough. Not against the strength of thousands. But then he realised that if Takado thought his army wasn’t a match for the Kyralian army, strengthened by its people, he wouldn’t be attacking again.
Dakon looked at Tessia. “The king has said that if we lose this battle, apprentices should leave Kyralia.”
She opened her mouth to protest, but Dakon lifted a hand to stop her.
“The Sachakans will kill you all. Your only chance is to seek safety in other lands. Then, perhaps, you might work towards winning back Kyralia in the future.”
She closed her mouth and nodded. The crowd had quietened now, and everyone turned towards the king.
“People of Kyralia,” Errik began.
As the ruler addressed the crowd, in a speech similar to the one he’d made on arrival, but full of thanks and praise, Jayan’s attention strayed to the small group of Elynes standing nearby. They looked relaxed and unworried. Some of them looked bored, though the leader was watching King Errik with thoughtful attentiveness. Dakon had told him that Ardalen’s method had been no revelation to the Elynes.
I wonder what other magical tricks they’ve known all along that we haven’t yet discovered? Could they be persuaded to share them with us? Perhaps in exchange for being part of a magicians’ guild? He glanced at Tessia. Does she really think it’s silly?
Suddenly everyone was cheering. Jayan joined in.
“Tonight Sachaka will learn to fear the people who once feared them,” the king shouted. “Tonight the Sachakan empire ends for ever!”
More cheers followed. The king jumped down from the cart, Sabin following. As he strode forward, magicians began to follow. Dakon paused to look at Tessia. She patted his arm and shooed at him. Then she looked at Jayan and her eyes narrowed.
“I’ll be watching,” she told him, barely audible over the noise.
Then she hitched an arm in Mikken’s and led him away. Jayan quashed a sudden flare of jealousy and hurried after Dakon as the magicians of Kyralia started towards the edge of the city, and their last chance to defeat Takado and his allies.
Tessia wasn’t able to take Jayan’s advice at first. Once the magicians had passed, the crowd fell in behind and she was carried along with it. Her arm slipped out of Mikken’s and when he looked back at her anxiously she waved to show she was fine. Whenever she could, she resisted moving left towards the river side of the road, and took every opportunity to move right, where the land sloped upwards.
Soon the last of the city buildings slipped by and the crowd was moving past the slum houses and makeshift shelters of the poor and homeless. Tessia finally made it to the edge of the crowd. As she stepped out of the tide of people, she joined a thick wall of spectators. Back towards the city, she noticed a group dressed more finely than the rest, and then her heart skipped a beat as she recognised them.
The healers, she thought. And Kendaria!
Her friend had seen her, and was beckoning. Weaving and dodging between the spectators and the edge of the moving crowd, Tessia made her way back. A few of the healers nodded to her politely, but they said nothing. She saw one lean close to another and whisper something, and they both stared at her with narrowed eyes.
“Apprentice Tessia,” Kendaria said, shouting over the noise. “What is going on? Why are the people leaving the city?”
“Probably to watch the battle,” Tessia shouted back. “Which is not a good idea. They should stay inside. Keep their distance.”
Kendaria grimaced. “Can’t stop people being curious. Where are you planning to watch from?”
Tessia smiled. “Jayan recommended I go up there somewhere.” She pointed uphill. “Near the palace. Can I get there from here?”
“Sure, but you’ll have to cut through the slums. Can I come with you?”
“Of course.” Tessia looked at the other healers. Kendaria glanced at them, then shrugged.
“Don’t worry; they don’t care where I go.” She hitched a hand through Tessia’s arm. “Let’s go.”
The makeshift shelters were a disordered, confusing maze, but Tessia kept heading uphill, keeping a globe of magical light hovering above them. She was surprised to see how many people were here, either unaware or not caring that a battle to decide their future was about to take place close by. Many looked too sick to care. Some were drunk, slouching or staggering about, or asleep. At one point they stepped over a dead man lying across a gap between shelters. She exchanged several looks with Kendaria, each time seeing that the woman was as dismayed as she by what they encountered. Some day I’ll come back here and try to help...
At last the number of shelters began to thin and the slope grew steeper. Twenty or so paces past the last, collapsed shelter, Kendaria turned.
“Do you... think... this will do?” she panted.
They were still nowhere near the palace. Tessia stopped and looked back. “I think it will.”
The slums, road and land before the city spread before them. The crowd had spilled out on either side of the road, stretching from the edge of the river in a widening arc that reached up the slope of the hill, in front of the shelters. Lamps had been set around the entrance to the city. Beyond it was the Kyralian army, now split into groups of seven magicians and moving out to form a line.