Zhia watched emotions flicker in Siala's eyes and felt a moment of amusement. Scree's new ruler was obviously desperate to find out about the Crystal Skull. Possession of the Skull would doubtlessly confer complete control over the White Circle – for someone with enough strength of mind, it might even grant authority over the en¬tire Fysthrall tribe, if she ever ventured beyond the eastern mountains to where they had been banished.
The strongest of the Fysthrall had taken part in the attack on Narkang, all those people gambled away in a desperate attempt to ful¬fil a prophecy, the key mistresses and warleaders lost when Lord Isak called down the wrath of Nartis. The White Circle would not recover its strength in Siala's lifetime, and those that remained this side of the mountains, already divided between cities, would soon discover they had few allies outside their strongholds. The Farlan were not known for their forgiving nature.
'Were we betrayed? Is that how he anticipated the attack?' Siala whispered.
Her thoughts were still on the Skull, but she couldn't ask more without inviting suspicion and curiosity, and Zhia was certain the existence of the Skull was not a secret she'd want to share.
'I doubt that, but King Emin is a clever and well-organised ruler,' Zhia said. 'Perhaps it was unwise to believe we could send an army into his city without his agents noticing.'
'You accuse a dead queen of arrogance?'
'I would not presume to criticise the queen's decisions, but her advisors – Duchess Forell, for example, the senior sister, and a Narkang native: her inadequacies of intellect, information and backbone proved the difference between success and failure. I watched the battle from afar; the opportunity to take the White Palace was within their grasp. Thar battle should have been won.'
Siala sighed and sat down in the monstrously ostentatious ivory and silver chair behind her. A seat of bone… Zhia recalled a rival, a thousand years before, claiming she sat on a throne of her enemy's bones. It had struck Zhia as a ridiculous thing to do, but as a tribute to his originality, she had found a craftsman to make a footstool of his remains.
'Very well, we will speak of this again later. In the meantime I have much to deal with. You have a reputation within the Circle for plan¬ning and common sense, and the Narkang debacle has left us lacking sisters with the necessary ability to pursue the Circle's goals. More than half the Fysthrall Army this side of the Dragonspine Mountains died in Narkang, leaving us dangerously diminished, and there is no sign of reinforcements coming, especially now the tunnel under the mountains has been destroyed.'
'Destroyed?' Zhia exclaimed in genuine surprise. 'I had not heard that.' For once she had been caught out; this piece of welcome news had completely evaded her up to now. The punishment of the Fysthrall for their part in the Great War had been banishment, and only the fortress of Tir Duria, guarded by the descendants of those Fysthrall who had remained loyal to the Gods, allowed passage from that lonely wilderness. Since crossing the mountains had become impossible, the Fysthrall, in typically dour and plodding fashion, had spent nearly two hundred years digging a tunnel. They had help from some rogue devotees of Larat, the God of Magic, among the Menin whose lands bordered the mountain range, but it was rumoured that Lord Styrax had brutally ended that arrangement.
'If we wish to regain contact before a second tunnel can be built, we must restore our own fortunes and deal with matters at this end. Without Lord Isak we cannot fulfil the prophecy and destroy Tir Duria, but before we can turn our attention to that problem, we need to concentrate on shoring up our position here.' She grimaced. 'Our first concern is the Farlan. Once Lord Isak arrives home, he will gather an army and invade. We have recruited as many mercenaries as we can afford, and enlisted citizens of Scree, but they are not an army and the nobles leading them are not officers. They lack discipline and organisation.'
Siala looked harried now and Zhia realised that whatever she might think of the woman personally, Siala truly believed in the White Circle's cause, and she was barely holding everything together.
'That,' she continued grimly, 'is why I have employed Raylin mer¬cenaries.'
'They call themselves Raylin, certainly,' Zhia interrupted, 'but that is an affectation. The Raylin were an Elven order devoted to the per¬fection of martial skills; what you are employing is little more than a rabble of renegade mages and deranged psychopaths.'
The distinction did not appear to bother Siala. 'We need them. There are others, sniffing round the gold. Tachos Ironskin, Veren's Staff and Bane I've heard of, Mistress and the Jesters I have not. Do you know of them? Are they rabble; are they worth paying for?'
Zhia nodded. 'I know them, and if you can control a group of Raylin, some are a veritable army in themselves. Think of Mistress as a superlative horse-trainer, except the horses are wyverns. The Jesters are worth whatever obscene price they will demand; they are bastard sons of Death himself and Demi-Gods in their own right. Veren's Staff, though, might be too much trouble: his reputation often fails to mention his intractable madness – for pity's sake, Veren died dur¬ing the Great War. I'm at a loss to know how the man thinks he is inhabited by the former God of the Beasts. The same goes for Bane, whose obsession with vampires will make him impossible to trust.' She smiled. 'You know, I cannot remember the last time I heard of so many Raylin in the same place at once. It's rare to have more than two or three together, and yet you've gathered a dozen of the strongest in Scree.'
'Whatever it signifies, it will be a blessing for us if we can forge them into an army. That is what I need you to do, Sister Ostia, or¬ganise them so that when the Farlan come we have soldiers who are trained, and know who's giving the orders. The noblemen leading them are under my control, but the troops are not battle-ready. Since you know these Raylin already, you can use that connection to influ¬ence matters. Can you do that? I have few other Sisters of the Circle I can rely on.'
Zhia made a show of thinking, but this was exactly what she wanted. She had a number of enemies amongst the Raylin, but if she was in a position to influence Scree's armies, she could dictate the coming course of events.
'I can do it,' she said finally. 'I'm no soldier but I can organise the legions to bring this about. Do you have any competent Sisters at all I can add to my staff?'
Siala spread her hands helplessly. 'Half of them have fled to Helrect, to be further from the Farlan – as though Helrect could stand if Scree fell – and of the rest, I despair. All I have is what are left of the Fysthrall, who are stretched thin enough already. The Third Army consists of our remaining Fysthrall troops' soldiers, and I need every one of those.'
'What about that new girl, Legana? She doesn't look like a fool, and a pretty face is always useful to get soldiers to do what you tell them. Can I trust her?'
Again, Siala looked defeated. 'I cannot say. If you want her, then take her. Can you trust her? She was working as a whore until I took control of the city and her pimp thought to make some money by selling her to us. A shame he didn't understand the principles of the Circle a little better.' That put the ghost of a smile on Siala's face; the pimp had obviously found a squad of soldiers at his door, keen to explain how the Fysthrall thought women should be treated.
'Then I will take her and deliver you an army as soon as I can,' Zhia said brightly.
'Good. You will find the mercenary captains based in the Dawn Barracks, where I can ensure their obedience. Recruit as many more as you can, just be sure their commanders are drawn from Scree's nobility.' Siala's eyes narrowed. 'There is only one ruler of Scree, so please do not forget that my agents will be keeping a careful eye on everything. And now, I have yet more city officials waiting with yet more requests. Please, send them in on your way out.'