Читать книгу Into a Dark Realm - Raymond E. Feist - Страница 10

KASPAR REINED IN HIS HORSE.

He fought back worry. This was a hard land and he felt a stab of apprehension as to what might be waiting for him. He had considered the little farm something close to a home for months after beginning his exile in this land, and Jojanna and her son Jorgen had been as close to family as any people he had known.

It had taken no more than a glance for him to know the farm had not been inhabited for some time, at least a year from the look of things. The pasture was overgrown and the fence was knocked down in several places. Before Jojanna’s husband, Bandamin, had disappeared they had raised a few steers for the local innkeeper. The corn patch and small wheat field were both choked with weeds and the crops had gone to seed.

Kaspar dismounted and tied off his horse to a dead sapling. The tree had been planted after he had left, but had since died from neglect. He glanced around out of habit: whenever he considered the possibility of trouble, he always made a survey of the surroundings, noting possible places of ambush and escape. He realized there probably wasn’t another living human being within a day’s walk in any direction.

Entering the hut, he was relieved to see no sign of struggle or violence. All of Jojanna’s and Jorgen’s personal belongings, scant though they may have been, were gone. The departure had been orderly. He had feared bandits or wandering nomads might have done harm to his … what? Friends?

Kaspar’s life had been one of privilege and power, and many people had sought him out, currying favours, begging protection, or seeking some advantage, but until he had been deposited in this distant land by Magnus, the former Duke of Olasko had few he could name ‘friend,’ even as a child.

He had terrorized Jojanna and Jorgen for two days before he could make them understand he had not come to this little farm to harm them; he was merely a stranger in need of food and shelter and he worked hard to pay for his keep. He had negotiated a more favourable trade with a local merchant on their behalf and had left them in a better situation than he had found them. When he departed to begin his long journey home, he thought of them as friends; possibly even more than friends …

Now, three years later, Kaspar was back in Novindus. He had been watching the secret cache of Talnoy, providing a sword against more mundane threats to the ten thousand apparently sleeping killing machines, if indeed a machine slept. Two magicians – an older man named Rosenvar and a youth named Jacob – were investigating some aspect or another of their nature, following instructions left by Pug and Nakor.

Nakor had briefly returned with his companion, Bek, to inform the magicians he would be absent longer from his pet undertaking, finding a safe means of controlling the army of Talnoy. Kaspar found the magical aspect of these discussions mind-numbing, but he had greeted the news of the imminent obliteration of the Nighthawks with anticipation.

When Nakor made ready to depart, Kaspar asked him to request someone come to guard the two scholars as he had some personal business he wished to take care of in Novindus before returning to Sorcerer’s Isle. Nakor had agreed and as soon as another had been dispatched to guard the magicians, Kaspar had begun his journey southward.

Lacking the magical devices employed by other members of the Conclave, Kaspar had to endure two weeks’ travel. The closest town to the caves where the Talnoy were hidden was Malabra, and from there the road south became more well travelled. He rode his horses to near exhaustion, trading mounts twice in the towns along the way. Twice more he had outrun bandits and three times he had endured the scrutiny of local soldiers, two of the encounters ending in bribery.

Now he felt a sense of futility. He had hoped to find Jojanna and Jorgen, though he was unsure of what he wished once he found them. He had been exiled to Novindus as punishment for his part in the destruction of the Orosini people and his plots against his neighbouring nations. He had somewhat redeemed himself in the eyes of his former enemies by bringing word of the Talnoy to the Conclave, and had been fully forgiven after his role in foiling the Nighthawks’ plot against the throne of the Empire of Great Kesh. But he had a lingering sense of obligation toward Jojanna and Jorgen, and to Kaspar an unpaid debt was a canker that became more inflamed as time passed. He wanted to see that the pair of them were safe, and leave them with enough wealth to ensure they’d live well for the rest of their lives.

The small purse of coins he carried made him a wealthy man in this land. He had travelled the roads of the Eastlands before, on foot and by wagon, and had seen the conditions lingering after the great war of the Emerald Queen, a land still struggling to recover even thirty years after the war. Coins of copper were rare, silver almost never seen, and even a single gold coin was worth a man’s life. Kaspar had enough gold on him to hire a tiny army and set himself up as a local noble.

He left the hut and considered what to do next. He had ridden straight through the village of Heslagnam as he made his way to the farm, and it was on his way back to the Talnoy cave. He would reach it after sundown – it had taken them two days and half a morning to walk there the last first time he had journeyed there from the farm – and while the inn was nothing worth noting, it was serviceable, and he had slept in far worse over the last three years.

He pushed his horse and arrived at the village of Heslagnam shortly after darkness had fallen. The ramshackle wooden inn was as he remembered it, though it looked as if it might have had a new coat of whitewash; in the dark it was difficult to tell.

When no one appeared as he rode into the stabling yard, he un-tacked his horse and rubbed it down. By the time he was finished, he was tired, irritated and in sore need of what passed for a drink in this part of the world.

Kaspar walked around to the front door of the inn, and pushed it open. The inn was unoccupied save for two villagers who sat at a table opposite the fireplace and the owner of the inn, a thick-necked man by the name of Sagrin, who stood behind the bar. Kaspar walked up to the bull-necked man who regarded him closely.

Sagrin said, ‘I don’t forget faces, even if I can’t recall a name, and I’ve seen you before.’

‘Kaspar,’ answered the former duke, removing his gloves. ‘I’ve got a horse out the back. Where’s your lackey?’

‘Don’t have one,’ answered Sagrin. ‘No boys in town. All dragged off to serve in the war.’

‘What war?’

‘Who knows? There’s always a war, isn’t there?’ He hiked his thumb over his shoulder, in the general direction of the stabling yard. ‘You can shelter your horse for free, seeing as I’ve got no one to care for it, but you’ll have to buy your own feed at Kelpita’s store across the way in the morning.’

‘I’ve oats in my pack. I’ll care for the horse before I turn in. What have you to drink?’

‘Ale and some wine. If you know wine, take the ale,’ said the innkeeper.

‘Ale, then.’

The ale was produced and Sagrin squinted a bit as he eyed Kaspar. ‘You were here, what? Two years back?’

‘Closer to three.’

‘Can’t quite place it …’

‘If you sit on the floor and look up at me, you might remember,’ said Kaspar. He took a drink. The ale was as he remembered it, thin and without much to recommend it, but it was cool and wet.

‘Ah,’ said Sagrin. ‘You’re the bloke who came in with Jojanna and her kid. Dressed a fair bit better these days.’

‘Right,’ said Kaspar. ‘Are they around?’

Sagrin shrugged. ‘Haven’t seen Jojanna for over a year.’ He leaned forward. ‘The boy run off and she was nearly frantic and went looking for him, I guess. Sold off her cattle and mule to Kelpita, then found a trader heading south – said he’d take her on for a fee.’ Sagrin shrugged, but his tone was regretful. ‘She’s probably buried under some rocks a day or two south of here.’

‘Jorgen ran off?’ asked Kaspar. He knew Jojanna and her son well enough to know that the boy was devoted to his mother, and he couldn’t imagine any reason why Jorgen would run away from home.

‘Some crew came through and word got back to the farm that the boy’s dad was serving with a company of soldiers out of Higara – seems Bandamin got himself impressed by a company of … well, they’d be slavers no matter what they called themselves, but as they were selling those who were captured into the army of Muboya, they called themselves “recruiters”.’

Kaspar remembered a relatively pleasant supper with a general of a brigade who was cousin to the Raj of Muboya. If Kaspar could find him he could … what? Arrange to have him discharged?

‘How goes that war?’ asked Kaspar.

‘Last I heard Muboya had forced Sasbataba to surrender, and was now battling some bandit lord named Okanala for control of the next bit of land he wants.

‘I’ll give the boy Raj credit though: after his army leaves, the lands left behind are almost as quiet as they were before the Emerald Queen’s war. Wish he’d send some of his lads up this way to calm things down between here and the Hotlands.’ Seeing Kaspar’s mug was empty, Sagrin said, ‘Another?’

Kaspar pushed himself away from the bar. ‘In a while. First let me feed my horse and make sure there’s adequate water.’

‘Staying?’

Kaspar nodded. ‘I’ll want a room.’

‘Pick any one you like,’ said Sagrin. ‘I’ve got lamb on the spit and the bread was baked yesterday.’

‘That’ll be fine,’ said Kaspar. He left the common room.

Outside the night air was cool; it was winter in this land, but he was far enough north and close enough to the Hotlands that it never got truly cold. He went to the stable and got a bucket, filled it at the well, and made sure the trough was full. He put a nose-bag on his horse and took some time to inspect the animal. He had ridden it hard and he wanted to make sure the gelding was sound. He saw an old currying brush sitting on the shelf next to some worthless old tack, and he picked it up and started brushing the horse’s coat.

As he hurried, Kaspar became lost in thought. Part of him had wanted to return here, to build a new personal empire; but these days the stirrings of ambitions were muted in his heart. But they were never gone entirely. Whatever effect the influences of the mad sorcerer Leso Varen had been on Kaspar, the former ruler of Olasko’s basic nature was still ambitious.

The men who were bringing order out of chaos on this continent were men of vision as well as desire. Power for its own sake was the height of greed; power for the benefit of others had a nobler quality he had only just begun to appreciate as he observed men like Pug, Magnus and Nakor, men who could do amazing things, yet only sought to make the world a safer place for everyone.

He shook his head at the thought, realizing that he had no legal or ethical foundation for building an empire here; he would just be another self-aggrandizing bandit lord carving out his own kingdom.

He sighed as he put away the currying brush. Better to find General Alenburga and enlist in the Raj’s service. Kaspar had no doubt he would quickly win promotion and have his own army to command. But could he ever take service in another man’s army?

He stopped, and started to laugh. What was he doing now? He was serving the Conclave, despite the fact he had never taken a formal oath of service with any of them. Since bringing Pug and his companions word of the Talnoy and the threat Kalkin had shown him of the Dasati homeworld, Kaspar had been running errands and carrying out missions for the Conclave.

Still chuckling as he reached the door to the inn, Kaspar decided that he was serving this land, as well as the rest of the world, and his days as a ruling lord were over. As he pushed open the door he thought: at least life was interesting.

Ten days later, Kaspar walked his horse through the crowded streets of Higara. The town had changed in the last three years; everywhere he saw the signs of prosperity. New construction was turning this town into a small city. When he had last passed though Higara, it had been a staging area for the Raj of Muboya’s army as they readied an offensive southward. Now the only men in uniform to be seen were the town’s constables. Kaspar noted they wore colours that resembled the regular army’s, a clear indication that Higara was now firmly part of Muboya, no matter its previous allegiances.

Kaspar found the very inn where he had spoken to General Alenburga three years previously, and saw it had been restored to its former tranquillity. Instead of soldiers everywhere, a boy ran out of the stable to take charge of Kaspar’s horse. The boy was roughly the same age as Jorgen had been when Kaspar had last seen him, reminding him of why he was making this trek. Putting aside a growing sense of futility in finding one boy and his mother in this vast land, Kaspar handed the boy a copper coin. ‘Wash the road dirt off and curry him,’ he instructed. The boy grinned as he pocketed the coin and said he would.

Kaspar entered the inn and glanced around. It was crowded with merchants taking their mid-day meal and others dressed for travel. Kaspar made his way to the bar and the barkeep nodded. ‘Sir?’

‘Ale,’ said Kaspar.

When the mug sat before him, Kaspar produced another copper coin and the barman picked it up. He hefted it, quickly produced a touchstone, struck the colour of the coin, then said, ‘This will do for two.’

‘Have one for yourself,’ said the former duke.

The barman smiled. ‘Little early for me. Maybe later. Thanks.’

Kaspar nodded. ‘Where’s the local garrison these days?’

‘Don’t have one,’ said the barman. He pointed in the general direction of the south road. ‘There’s a garrison down in Dondia, a good day’s ride. They pulled all the soldiers out of here when Sasbataba surrendered. We get a regular patrol up here once a week, and there’s a company of town militia to help the constables if needed, but frankly, stranger, things around here are quiet to the point of being downright peaceful.’

‘Must be a welcome change,’ said Kaspar.

‘Can’t argue about that,’ said the barman.

‘Got a room?’

The barman nodded and produced a key. ‘Top of the stairs, last door on the left. Got a window.’

Kaspar took the key. ‘Where’s the local constable’s office?’

The barman gave Kaspar directions and after finishing his ale and an indifferent lunch of cold beef and barely warm vegetables, Kaspar headed to the constable’s office. Walking the short distance, he was assailed by the sounds and sights of a bustling trading centre. Whatever the previous status of Higara, it was now clearly a regional hub for the expanding territory. For a brief moment Kaspar felt a twinge of regret; Flynn and the other traders from the Kingdom would have found the riches they sought in such a place as this. The four traders from the Kingdom of the Isles had been responsible for Kaspar coming into possession of the Talnoy, each of them dying ignorant of the part he had played.

Thinking of that infernal device, Kaspar wondered if he should set himself a limit on how long he’d look for Jojanna and Jorgen.

He found the constable’s office easily, and pushed open the door.

A young man wearing a tunic with a badge looked up from a table that served as a desk. With the air of self-importance that only a boy recently given responsibility could manage, he said, ‘What can I do for you?’

‘I’m looking for someone. A soldier named Bandamin.’

The lad, good-looking with light brown hair and a scattering of freckles, tried to look as if he was thinking. After a moment, he said, ‘I don’t know that name. Which company is he with?’

Kaspar doubted the boy would have any idea where Bandamin was even if Kaspar knew that. ‘Don’t know. He was living outside a village up north and got pressed into service.’

‘Pressed man, huh?’ said the youngster. ‘Most likely he’s with the infantry south of here.’

‘What about a boy? About eleven years of age.’ Kaspar tried to judge how much Jorgen would have grown since he had last seen him, and held up his hand. ‘Probably about this high. Blond hair.’

The young constable shrugged. ‘There are lots of boys coming through the city all the time, caravan cooks’ monkeys, luggage rats, homeless boys, runaways. We try to keep them off the streets as much as we can – some of them run in gangs.’

‘Where would I find such a gang?’

The young man fixed Kaspar with what the former duke assumed was a suspicious expression, but all it did was make the lad look ridiculous. ‘Why do you seek this boy?’

‘His father was pressed into the army; the lad came looking for him. And his mother is looking for both of them.’

‘And you’re looking for the mother, too?’

‘All of them,’ said Kaspar. ‘They’re friends.’

The youth shrugged. ‘Sorry, but we only notice those that are causing trouble.’

‘What about the gang of boys?’

‘You’ll usually find them down near the caravanserai or in the market. If too many of them gather, we chase them away, but they just gather somewhere else.’

Kaspar thanked the young constable and left the office. He looked up and down the busy street, as if seeking inspiration, feeling like a man crawling across a battle field seeking one specific arrow among the tens of thousands that had fallen. He glanced skyward and fixed the hour at approximately half-way between noon and sundown. He knew that the markets here were busy throughout the day, with no cease in the afternoon for rest as it was in the hotter parts of Great Kesh. Here the markets were thronged with buyers and hawkers until shortly before sundown, then there was a frantic bustle of activity as the merchants finished for the day. He had approximately two and a half hours before sundown.

He reached the market and glanced around. The market was haphazardly organized across a sprawling plaza created more by happenstance than design. Kaspar assumed that originally there had been one major road through town – the north-to-south highway that dominated this region. Somewhere in years past circumstances had shifted the route a hundred yards or so to the east, and at that point buildings had been thrown up all around. As a result, a half-dozen lesser streets and a handful of alleyways led off from this area; the empty space in the middle served as the market.

Kaspar saw a fair number of children, most helping their families in booths or tents. There was little order to the market in Higara, save by common agreement it appeared no one was permitted to erect a tent, booth, or table in the centre of the square. There a single lamppost reared up, equidistant from the intersections of side streets forming the square. Kaspar wandered over to it and saw that it had a usable lantern hanging from the top, so he assumed it was lit by some townsman each night, perhaps one of the constables. This was the only lamppost he had seen in Higara, so he assumed the office of lamplighter was hardly likely. He noticed faint writing carved into the post: somewhere back in antiquity a ruler had decided a direction marker had been necessary at this point. Kaspar ran his hand over the ancient wood, wondering what secrets of ages past it had overheard whispered below its single lantern.

Leaning against the post, he surveyed his surroundings. Like the practised hunter he was, he noticed little things that would have escaped the attention of most others. Two boys hung around by the entrance to an alley, apparently discussing something, but clearly watching. Lookouts, Kaspar decided. But lookouts for what?

After nearly half an hour of watching, Kaspar had some sense of it. Every so often one boy, or more often a pair, would exit from or enter the alley. If anyone else approached too closely, a signal was made – Kaspar assumed a whistle or a single word, though he was too far away to hear. When the potential threat moved past, another signal was given.

Curiosity as much as a desire to chase down information about Jorgen and his mother impelled Kaspar through the market to the distant alley. He approached, but halted just shy of where he had seen the lookouts.

He waited, observed, and waited some more. He could sense as much as see that something was about to happen, and then it did.

Like rats erupting from a flooding sewer during a sudden downpour, the boys came roiling out of the alley. The two lookouts just ran, in seemingly random directions, but the dozen or so after them were all carrying loaves of bread – someone must have found a way into the back of a bakery and handed out as much fresh bread as he could before the baker cried alarm. A moment later shouts echoed across the square as merchants became aware that a crime was in progress.

One boy of no more than ten hurried right past Kaspar, who reached out and snagged him by the collar of his filthy tunic. The boy instantly released his bread and threw his arms straight up, and Kaspar realized he was about to slip right out of the rag he wore as a shirt.

Kaspar grabbed him instead by his dirty long black hair. The youngster yelled, ‘Let me go!’

Kaspar hauled him away down another alley. When he was out of sight of those in the market, he hiked the lad around and inspected him. The boy was kicking, trying to bite and strike him with surprising strength, but Kaspar had grappled with an assortment of wild animals all his life, including one unforgettable and nearly disastrous encounter with an angry wolverine. Hanging on to that creature’s neck with an iron grip and holding its tail had been the only thing between Kaspar and being eviscerated, until his father’s master of the hunt could come and dispatch the animal. He still carried an assortment of scars from that encounter.

‘Stop struggling, and I’ll put you down, but you have to agree to answer a few questions.’

‘Let me go!’ shouted the dirty boy. ‘Help!’

‘You want the constable to come and talk to you?’ asked Kaspar as he held his struggling prey high enough that the boy had to dance on his toes.

The boy ceased struggling. ‘Not really.’

‘Now, answer some questions and I’ll let you go.’

‘Your word?’

‘My word,’ answered Kaspar.

‘Swear by Kalkin,’ said the boy.

‘I swear by the God of Thieves, Liars and Tricksters I’ll let you go when you’ve answered my questions.’

The boy ceased his struggles, but Kaspar hung on. ‘I’m looking for a boy, about your age I’m thinking.’

The young thief fixed his eye on Kaspar and said with a wary tone, ‘Just what sort of boy did you have in mind?’

‘Not a sort, but a particular boy, named Jorgen. If he came through here, it would have been a year or so ago.’

The boy relaxed. ‘I know him. I mean, I knew him. Blond, sunburned, farm lad; came from the north, looking for his pa, he said. Nearly starved to death, but we taught him a thing or two. He stayed with us for a while. Not much good with thievery, but a stand-up boy in a fight. He could hold his own.’

‘“Us”?’ asked Kaspar.

‘The boys and me, my mates. We all hang together.’

A pair of townsmen turned into the alley, so Kaspar put the boy down, but held tight to his arm. ‘Where did he go?’

‘South, down to Kadera. The Raj is fighting down there and that’s where Jorgen’s pa went.’

‘Did Jorgen’s mother come after him?’ Kaspar described Jojanna, then released the boy’s arm.

‘No. Never saw her,’ said the boy; then before Kaspar could react he darted off.

Kaspar took a deep breath, then turned back towards the market. He’d look to a good night’s rest, for tomorrow he would be moving south again.

Another week saw Kaspar leaving the relative prosperity of what, he had learned, was now being called the Kingdom of Muboya. And the young Raj had taken the title Maharajah, or ‘great king’. Again he was riding through a war zone, and several times he had been stopped and questioned. This time, he found little hindrance because at each stop he simply stated he was seeking out General Alenburga. His obvious wealth, fine clothing and fit horse, marked him as ‘someone important’, and he was motioned on without further question.

The village, he was told, was called Timbe, and it had been overrun three times, twice by the forces of Muboya. It was a half-day’s ride south of Kadera, the Maharajah’s southern base of command. After riding in at dawn, Kaspar had been told that the General had come to this village to inspect the carnage the last offensive had unleashed.

The only thing that convinced Kaspar the Muboya army hadn’t been defeated was the lack of retreating soldiers. But from the disposition of those forces still in the field and the destruction visible everywhere, Kaspar knew the Maharajah’s offensive had been halted. At the very best, the Maharajah had achieved a stalemate. At worse, there was a counter-offensive coming this way in a day or two.

Kaspar had little trouble locating the commander’s pavilion, situated as it was on top of a hill overlooking what was likely to be the battlefield. As he rode up the incline, he could see positions to the south being fortified and by the time he was approached by a pair of guards, he had no doubt as to the tactical situation of this conflict.

An officer and a guardsman waved to Kaspar and the officer asked, ‘Your business?’

‘A moment with General Alenburga.’ Kaspar dismounted.

‘Who are you?’ said the officer, a dirty and tired-looking young man. His white turban was almost beige with road dust and there was blood splattered on his leggings and boots. The dark blue tunics of both men did a poor job of hiding the deep red stains of other men’s blood.

‘By name, Kaspar of Olasko. If the General’s memory is overwhelmed by the conflict below, remind him of the stranger who suggested he leave the archers at his rear outside Higara.’

The officer had appeared inclined to send Kaspar on his way, but he said, ‘I was part of the cavalry that rode north and flanked those archers. I remember it being said an outlander gave the suggestion to the General.’

‘I’m pleased to be remembered,’ said Kaspar.

To the guard, the officer said, ‘See if the General has a moment for … an old acquaintance.’

After a moment, Kaspar was bade to enter the pavilion’s main tent. He gave the reins of his mount to the guard and followed the officer inside.

The General looked ten years older instead of three, but he smiled as he looked up. His dark hair was now mostly grey, and combed back behind his ears. His head was uncovered. ‘Come back for another game of chess, Kaspar?’ He rose and extended his hand.

Kaspar shook it. ‘I wouldn’t have expected to be remembered.’

‘Not many men give me a brilliant tactical plan and beat me at chess in the same day.’ He motioned for Kaspar to take a canvas seat near a table covered with a map.

Then the General signalled for his batsman to fetch something to drink. ‘Could have used you a few times along the way, Kaspar. You have a better eye for the field than most of my subcommanders.’

Kaspar inclined his head at the compliment, and accepted a chilled cup of ale. ‘Where do you find ice around here?’ he said as he sipped.

‘The retreating forces of our enemy, the King of Okanala as he calls himself, had an ice-house in the village we liberated a few days ago. They managed to haul off all the stores and destroy anything else that might have been helpful to us, but somehow I guess they couldn’t work out a quick way to melt all the ice.’ He smiled as he took his drink. ‘For which I’m thankful.’ He put his cup down. ‘Last time I saw you, you were trying to take a dead friend home to be buried. What brings you this way this time?’

Kaspar glossed over what had happened after the last time they had met and said, ‘The occupant of the coffin got to where he was intended to be, and other duties have overtaken me since then. I’m here looking for friends.’

The General said, ‘Really? I thought you said when last we met you were merchants. Now you have friends this far south?’

Kaspar understood the suspicious mind of a general who just lost a major battle. ‘They are from the north, actually. A man by the name of Bandamin was pressed into service quite far up north – I believe he was taken by slavers, actually, who were most likely illegally doing business outside of Muboya with your press gang.’

‘Wouldn’t be the first time,’ said the General. ‘During a war, it’s harder than usual to observe the niceties.’

‘He had a wife and son, and the son got word that his father was with your army and came south looking for him. The mother followed the boy.’

‘And you’ve followed the mother,’ said Alenburga.

‘I’d like to get her and the boy back home to safety.’

‘And the husband?’ asked the General.

Kaspar said, ‘Him, too, if possible. Is there a buy-price?’

The General laughed. ‘If we let men buy their way out of service, we’d have a very poor army, for the brightest among them would always find a means. No, his service is for five years, no matter how he was enlisted.’

Kaspar nodded. ‘I’m not particularly surprised.’

‘Feel free to look for the boy and his mother. The boys in the luggage-train are down the hill to the west of here, over by a stream. Most of the women, wives as well as camp-followers are nearby.’

Kaspar drank his ale, then stood. ‘I’ll take no more of your time, General. You’ve been generous.’

As he turned to leave, the General asked: ‘What do you think?’

Kaspar hesitated, then turned to face the man. ‘The war is over. It’s time to sue for peace.’

Alenburga sat back and ran forefinger and thumb along the side of his jaw, tugging slightly at his beard for a moment. ‘Why do you say that?’

‘You’re recruited every able-bodied man for three hundred miles in any direction, General. I’ve ridden through two cities, a half-dozen towns and a score of villages on my way here. There are only men over forty years of age and boys under fifteen left. Every potential fighting man is already in your service.

‘I can see you are digging in to the south; you expect a counterattack from there; but if Okanala has anything left to speak of, he’ll punch through on your left, roll you up, and put your back to the stream. Your best bet is to fall back to the town and dig in there.

‘General, this is your frontier for the next five years, at least, ten more likely. Time to end this war.’

The General nodded. ‘But our Maharajah has a vision, and he wishes to push south until we are close enough to the City of the Serpent River that we can claim all the Eastlands are pacified.’

‘I think your ambitious young lord even imagines some day he might take the city and add it to Muboya,’ Kaspar suggested.

‘Perhaps,’ said Alenburga. ‘But you’re right on all other counts. My scouts tell me Okanala is digging in, as well. We’re both played out.’

Kaspar said, ‘I know nothing of the politics here, but there are times when an armistice is a face-saving gesture and times when it is a necessity, the only alternative to utter ruin. Victory has fled, and defeat awaits on every hand. Have your Maharajah marry one of his relatives off to one of the King’s and call it a day.’

The General stood up and offered his hand. ‘If you find your friends and get them home, Kaspar of Olasko, you’re welcome in my tent any time. If you come back, I’ll make a general out of you and when the time comes we’ll push down to the sea together.’

‘Make me a general?’ said Kaspar with a grin.

‘Ah, yes, I was the commander of a brigade when last we met,’ said the General, returning Kaspar’s grin. ‘Now I command the army. My cousin appreciates success.’

‘Ah,’ said Kasper shaking his hand. ‘If ambition grips me, I know where to find you.’

‘Good fortune, Kaspar of Olasko.’

‘Good fortune, General.’

Kaspar left the pavilion and mounted his horse. He walked the gelding down the side of the hill towards a distant dell through which wandered a good-sized stream.

He felt a rising disquiet as he approached the luggage wagons, for he could see signs of battle all around. The traditions of war forbade attacking the luggage-boys or the women who followed the army, but there were times when such niceties were ignored or the ebb and flow of the conflict simply washed over the non-combatants.

Several of the boys he saw bore wounds, some minor, some serious, and many were bandaged. A few lay on pallets beneath the wagons and slept, their injuries rendering them unfit for any work. Kaspar rode to where a stout man in a blood-covered tunic sat on a wagon, weeping. A recently-removed metal cuirass lay on the seat next to him, as did a helm with a plume, and he stared off into the distance. ‘Are you the Master of the Luggage?’ asked Kaspar.

The man merely nodded, tears slowly coursing down his cheeks.

‘I’m looking for a boy, by the name of Jorgen.’

The man’s jaw tightened and he dismounted slowly. When he was standing before Kaspar he said, ‘Come with me.’

He led Kaspar over a small rise to where a company of soldiers were digging a massive trench, while boys were carrying wood and buckets of what Kaspar assume was oil. There would be no individual pyres for the dead; this would be a mass immolation.

The dead were lined up on the other side of the trench, ready to be carried and placed atop the wood before the oil was thrown over it and the torches tossed in. A third of the way down the line the man stopped. Kaspar looked down and saw three bodies lying close together.

‘He was such a good boy,’ the Master of Luggage said, his voice hoarse from shouting orders, from the battle dust, the day’s heat, and strangled emotions. Jorgen lay next to Jojanna, and next to her lay a man in soldier’s garb. It could only be Bandamin, for his features were similar to the boy’s.

‘He came looking for his father almost a year ago, and … his mother soon after. He worked hard, without complaint, and his mother looked after all the boys as if they were her own. When their father could, he would join them and they were a joy to know. In the midst of all this—’ he waved his hand in an encompassing gesture, ‘—they found happiness in just being together. When …’ He stopped and his eyes welled up with tears. ‘I asked for the … father to be detailed with the luggage. I thought I was doing them all a favour. I never thought the battle would spill over to the luggage-train. It’s against the compact of war! They killed the boys and the women! It’s against every rule of war!’

Kaspar took a moment to look down at the three of them, reunited by fate and fated to die together, a long way from home. Bandamin had been struck a crushing blow in the chest, from a mace perhaps, but his face was unmarked. He wore a tabard in the blue and yellow of Muboya. It was faded and dirty and slightly torn. Kaspar saw the man Jorgen would have become in his father’s face. He had an honest man’s face, a hard-working face. Kaspar thought Bandamin had been a man who had once laughed a lot. He lay with eyes closed, sleeping. Jojanna appeared unmarked, so Kaspar suspected that an arrow or spear point had taken her in the back, perhaps as she ran to protect the boys. Jorgen’s hair was matted with blood and his head rested at an odd angle. Kaspar felt a tiny sense of relief that it must have been a sudden death, perhaps with no pain. He felt an odd, unexpected ache; the boy was still so young.

He stared at the three of them, looking like nothing so much as a family sleeping side-by-side. He knew the world spun on, and no one but he, and perhaps one or two people in the distant north, would note the passing of Bandamin and his family. Jorgen, the last scion of some obscure family tree was dead, and with him that line had ended forever.

The luggage-master looked at Kaspar as if he expected him to say something. Kaspar looked down on the three bodies for another moment, then put heels to his horse’s sides, turned the gelding and began his long ride northward.

As he cantered from the battlefield, Kaspar felt something inside him turn cold and hard. It would be easy enough to hate Okanala for violating the strictures of ‘civilized’ warfare. It would be easy to hate Muboya for taking a man from his family. It would be easy to hate anyone and everyone. But Kaspar knew that over the years he had issued certain orders, and because of those orders hundreds of Bandamins had been taken from their homes, and hundreds of Jojannas and Jorgens had endured hardships, even death.

With a sigh that felt as if came from deep within his soul, Kaspar wondered if there was any happy purpose to existence, anything beyond suffering and, at the end, death. For if there was, at this moment in his life he was sorely pressed to say what it might be.