‘And I do not speak with Chancellors for mine,’ he said.
He flicked his horse’s harness out of Mordyn’s grasp and nudged the animal forwards. The Chancellor shook his head like a man faced with a petulant child. He raised a hand, and guards spread themselves across the gateway. Beyond them, inside the city, a small crowd was gathering, drawn by the sight of their infamous Chancellor.
‘You are tired and the road must have been a long and hard one for you and your men,’ said Mordyn. ‘Your impatience is understandable. However, I must insist that you find the time to speak with me. I have news that you will want to hear now rather than later, and I will not give it in the street.’
Taim slumped in the saddle as his horse slowed to a halt. Behind him, some of his men were pressing up, and he could feel the tension in them without looking round. All he wanted to do was find a quiet, warm bed and sleep, dreamlessly. His dreams had been unforgiving of late. He wanted to set the world aside, even if just for one night.
Instead, he turned to the Chancellor. ‘Very well,’ he said.
He dismounted and passed his reins to the closest of his men. He sent the company on without him, while he followed Mordyn and his honour guard on foot to the Palace of Red Stone .
The palace, one of several magnificent residences constructed for the family and high officials of the Haig Blood, was not far away. It abutted the inner face of the city wall, and was raised up on a terrace from which trailing vines and bushes overflowed. Its walls were inset with blocks of red porphyry. Sentries in immaculately polished breastplates and gorgets stood on the broad steps leading up to the entrance. Their helmets bore plumes the colour of corn.
A faint, rich scent in the air distracted Taim as he walked beside the Chancellor through marble halls. The sounds of the city faded behind them, soaked up by the Palace’s massive bulk. Pillars as thick as hundred-year-old trees supported a painted ceiling. They passed a fretwork grill set into the wall and Taim glimpsed female faces behind it, watching him go past. He thought he heard whispers and laughter.
The Chancellor led him to an audience chamber. There was a great desk of dark, almost black, wood there, decorated with gold leaf. Mordyn Jerain ignored it and gestured to a pair of cushioned chairs.
‘Please have a seat,’ the Chancellor said. ‘Can I send for some food or drink?’
A maidservant, hovering between the motionless guards who flanked the doorway, looked hopeful. Taim dismissed the suggestion with a shake of his head and the woman departed.
Taim sank into the chair and was for a moment seduced by its luxurious comfort. He almost had to suppress a sigh of relaxation and relief. The feeling took him a thousand miles, more, away from the memory of the unyielding mountains of Dargannan-Haig. Mordyn’s voice dispelled the sensation.
‘You will forgive my insistence, and my departure from the usual courtesies, I think, when you hear what I have to say. I was told yesterday that Inkallim have overrun Castle Kolglas.’
Taim’s mind went blank. He could not unfix his gaze from the knots and whorls in the wooden arm of his chair. He was, he noticed in a detached way, all of a sudden clutching that arm fiercely. The cloying aroma he had smelled in the halls returned. It had a clovey, spicy texture.
‘Little is certain,’ the Chancellor was continuing, ‘though it does seem clear that the castle was burned, and that the attackers escaped into the forest.’
‘Kennet?’ asked Taim. He longed to believe Mordyn was lying to him. He could imagine no reason for such a deceit, though.
‘I cannot say. I expect more messengers at any time. The first knew only what I have told you.’
‘It is not possible. They could not reach Kolglas. What of Tanwrye, and Anduran?’
For the first time, the faintest hint of doubt seemed to touch the corner of Mordyn’s eyes. It was there for a heartbeat before being extinguished.
‘There was mention of Kyrinin,’ he said. ‘It is... well, it seems absurd, but it may be that woodwights had a hand in the assault. You know how confusion thrives at such times, so I would not place much faith in the report. Still, if the White Owls have aided the Black Road it might explain the inexplicable.’
Taim could find no words. He shook his head.
‘I fear this may be the herald of worse news to come,’ Mordyn said. ‘It seems unlikely that the Gyre Bloods would commit the Inkallim so far beyond their borders, in numbers large enough to take the castle, if it was not part of a grander scheme. The whole valley may be beset. Soon, if not already.’
Taim glared at the Chancellor. Mordyn was unperturbed. ‘I speak the truth, Taim. You must know it. The Inkallim do not make empty gestures.’
‘What...’ Taim fought to master himself, wrestling with a tide of emotion that threatened to blind him. ‘What will you do?’
Mordyn arched his eyebrows. ‘I? Await the High Thane’s return. I sent messengers south as soon as I had the news. You no doubt passed them on your way here.’
‘Wait?’ snapped Taim.
‘And gather our forces as quickly as we can. Even if there was an army provisioned and ready here now, it would still be three weeks or more before it reached Anduran. That means fighting in winter, and if we are to do that it must be with the strength to be certain of swift victory.’
‘Lheanor will not wait,’ said Taim darkly.
‘The Thane of Kilkry-Haig will do as his master commands, I imagine.’
‘He will not wait,’ Taim repeated. ‘He is a true friend to my Blood.’
‘Taim, Taim,’ the Chancellor said, ‘your Blood’s truest friend now is Gryvan oc Haig. He can bring twenty, thirty thousand men to Croesan’s aid. Yes, it will take time, but Gyre will regret its ambition.’
‘I do not care about Gyre,’ muttered Taim. ‘Only Lannis... Lannis-Haig... and my Thane.’
‘Of course,’ said the Chancellor. ‘I understand that, and I counsel you not to let your fears run too far ahead of our knowledge. This may yet prove to be nothing but a raid. And your Blood has, after all, won great victories over the Black Road before. The High Thane’s support, or that of Lheanor, may not even be required.’
‘Perhaps not. It may well have been so, had I and my two thousand men not been summoned south.’
Mordyn Jerain smiled tolerantly.
‘We can all share in that regret. You know it was necessary, though. Igryn’s open defiance of the High Thane could not stand. The True Bloods are nothing if they cannot hold together in the face of rebellion by one of their own. It was fitting that every Blood should play its part in Igryn’s defeat. No, more than fitting: essential. We live in dangerous times. If our enemies saw divisions between us, they would not be slow to act.’
‘The Black Road is our greatest enemy,’ murmured Taim. ‘It always has been. My Blood has not forgotten that. Nor has Kilkry-Haig. The True Bloods might hold together more easily if others shared that view, rather than spending all their time dreaming of the riches that could be theirs if only the Free Coast, or Tal Dyre, or even Dornach, would fall to them.’
A decorous cough drew the two men’s attention to the doorway. The woman standing there was of a beauty that caught Taim’s breath in his throat for an instant. Thick, glossy black hair fell across her shoulders and she wore a silken dress that could not be imagined upon another, so perfectly did it fit and become her. Gold dripped from her ears, her neck and her wrists; a glut of the metal that would have hypnotised a greedier soul than Taim’s. It seemed to him that the rich scent pervading the palace clung, as well, to her, so that as she entered she brought it into the room with her.