danger.”
Or they will turn on the Italgas was the unspoken truth there. Cazia felt sick to her stomach.
“We still have to warn them,” Lar said. “Loyal to the throne or not. I’m king to all of them.” There was something bitter about the way he said it, and Cazia wasn’t the only one to notice.
Gerrit nodded. “I will make my mirror available to you immediately, my king. And I recommend that you have each Tyr’s child with you when you give your warning; their word will give credibility to your story.”
It would also remind the tyrs that their children were still held hostage, Cazia knew.
“I saw the Bendertuk boy being carried away,” Gerrit said. “And the Witt was with him. Where is the Simblin girl?”
For some reason, they all looked at Cazia. Was she supposed to look after the little girls and the grown women, too? “She didn’t make it.”
“That’s bad,” the commander said. “Rolvo Simblin is the roughest, least honorable of them all. He’s practically half sea-giant himself. Still, he’s the farthest from Peradain, so we will have time to prepare if he marches against the king.”
“Prepare what?” Lar said. He spoke as if he was half strangled. “Peradain is gone, and the king’s armies... Tyr Treygar, what of the king’s army?”
Stoneface answered as though he was confessing to a crime he had long kept secret. “A full tenth was inside the city, disarmed, so they could compete in the games. They were the cream at the rim of the pitcher. There were five hundred or so militia fighters inside the city as well. Another thousand would have been stationed at each of the outer forts: the southern, northeastern, and northwestern holdfasts. Third Splashtown was a fifth of the strength of the northeastern, and they were utterly destroyed.”
“Third Splashtown is gone?” Gerrit sounded shocked.
“In minutes,” Col said. “Short minutes.”
Cazia realized she was holding her breath. Peradain was gone, and when it vanished, so did the power and authority that protected them all. That power had been such a part of her life that it had been invisible to her, but now, with nothing but a burning, overrun city down in the grasslands, Lar had nothing left to protect him. The same name that had safeguarded him for his whole life now made him a target for any tyr who wanted a crown of his own.
She felt as though she’d been cast out into a storm to fend for herself. How could they restore that power? Yes, the society she’d grown up in had been full of Enemies, but this was Lar’s life they were talking about. This was everything. The emptiness she perceived in the world was like a collapse of a city wall or the destruction of an army. How could they feel safe again? How could they bring it all back?
“I suspect there is little chance that I have any troops at all,” Lar said quietly. “And I’m not sure troops can even address the problem. The creatures are enchanted; the one advantage of being a scholar is that you recognize magic when you get close enough. Their entire bodies are suffused with it.” He took a deep breath. “That’s why I intend to travel to Tempest Pass.”
“My king—!” Stoneface said.
“I know what you’re going to say,” Lar told him. “My father died in the face of the enemy, and what did I do? Ran away. That’s how the tyrs will see things, yes? And now, instead of rallying support and leading a force to retake the city, I’m fleeing to the far end of the empire to talk with a hermit scholar.”
Stoneface nodded to show that Lar had understood. “The tyrs will be expecting certain behavior from their king.”
Cazia stood beside Lar. “That’s because they don’t expect enough,” she said defensively.
Lar laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Living among the tyrs while they gather their armies, I would have only the authority they were willing to grant me. And I would have to be constantly on the lookout for the edge of a
Or they will turn on the Italgas was the unspoken truth there. Cazia felt sick to her stomach.
“We still have to warn them,” Lar said. “Loyal to the throne or not. I’m king to all of them.” There was something bitter about the way he said it, and Cazia wasn’t the only one to notice.
Gerrit nodded. “I will make my mirror available to you immediately, my king. And I recommend that you have each Tyr’s child with you when you give your warning; their word will give credibility to your story.”
It would also remind the tyrs that their children were still held hostage, Cazia knew.
“I saw the Bendertuk boy being carried away,” Gerrit said. “And the Witt was with him. Where is the Simblin girl?”
For some reason, they all looked at Cazia. Was she supposed to look after the little girls and the grown women, too? “She didn’t make it.”
“That’s bad,” the commander said. “Rolvo Simblin is the roughest, least honorable of them all. He’s practically half sea-giant himself. Still, he’s the farthest from Peradain, so we will have time to prepare if he marches against the king.”
“Prepare what?” Lar said. He spoke as if he was half strangled. “Peradain is gone, and the king’s armies... Tyr Treygar, what of the king’s army?”
Stoneface answered as though he was confessing to a crime he had long kept secret. “A full tenth was inside the city, disarmed, so they could compete in the games. They were the cream at the rim of the pitcher. There were five hundred or so militia fighters inside the city as well. Another thousand would have been stationed at each of the outer forts: the southern, northeastern, and northwestern holdfasts. Third Splashtown was a fifth of the strength of the northeastern, and they were utterly destroyed.”
“Third Splashtown is gone?” Gerrit sounded shocked.
“In minutes,” Col said. “Short minutes.”
Cazia realized she was holding her breath. Peradain was gone, and when it vanished, so did the power and authority that protected them all. That power had been such a part of her life that it had been invisible to her, but now, with nothing but a burning, overrun city down in the grasslands, Lar had nothing left to protect him. The same name that had safeguarded him for his whole life now made him a target for any tyr who wanted a crown of his own.
She felt as though she’d been cast out into a storm to fend for herself. How could they restore that power? Yes, the society she’d grown up in had been full of Enemies, but this was Lar’s life they were talking about. This was everything. The emptiness she perceived in the world was like a collapse of a city wall or the destruction of an army. How could they feel safe again? How could they bring it all back?
“I suspect there is little chance that I have any troops at all,” Lar said quietly. “And I’m not sure troops can even address the problem. The creatures are enchanted; the one advantage of being a scholar is that you recognize magic when you get close enough. Their entire bodies are suffused with it.” He took a deep breath. “That’s why I intend to travel to Tempest Pass.”
“My king—!” Stoneface said.
“I know what you’re going to say,” Lar told him. “My father died in the face of the enemy, and what did I do? Ran away. That’s how the tyrs will see things, yes? And now, instead of rallying support and leading a force to retake the city, I’m fleeing to the far end of the empire to talk with a hermit scholar.”
Stoneface nodded to show that Lar had understood. “The tyrs will be expecting certain behavior from their king.”
Cazia stood beside Lar. “That’s because they don’t expect enough,” she said defensively.
Lar laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Living among the tyrs while they gather their armies, I would have only the authority they were willing to grant me. And I would have to be constantly on the lookout for the edge of a
Similar Books
