2 - The Ruby Knight Read online

  enough to find it, it won't respond unless we have the

  rings.'

  'rings?' Kalten asked.

  'The Troll-Dwarf, Ghwerig, made Bhelliom,' Ulath

  explained. 'Then he made a pair of rings to unlock its

  power. Without the rings, Bhelliom's useless.'

  'We already have the rings,' Sephrenia told him

  absently, her face still troubled.

  'We do?' Sparhawk was startled.

  'You're wearing one of them,' she told him, 'and

  Aldreas gave you the other this very night.'

  Sparhawk stared at the ruby ring on his left hand, then

  back at his teacher. 'How's that possible?' he demanded.

  'How did my ancestor and King Antor come by these

  particular rings?'

  "I gave them to them,' she replied.

  He blinked. 'Sephrenia, that was three hundred years

  ago.'

  'Yes,' she agreed, 'approximately.'

  Sparhawk stared at her, then swallowed hard. 'Three

  hundred years?' he demanded incredulously. 'Sephrenia,

  just how old are you?'

  "You know I'm not going to answer that question,

  Sparhawk. I've told you that before.'

  'How did you get the rings?'

  'My Goddess, Aphrael, gave them to me - along with

  certain instructions. She told me where I'd find your

  ancestor and King Antor, and she told me to deliver the

  rings to them.'

  'Little mother,' Sparhawk began, and then broke off as

  he saw her bleak expression.

  'Hush, dear one,' she commanded. "I will say this only

  once, Sir Knights,' she told them all. what we do puts us

  in conflict with the Elder Gods, and that is not lightly

  undertaken. Your Elene God forgives, the Younger Gods

  of Styricum can be persuaded to relent. The Elder Gods,

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  however, demand absolute compliance with their

  whims. To counter the commands of an Elder God is to

  court worse than death. They obliterate those who defy

  them - in ways you cannot imagine. Do we really want to

  bring Bhelliom back into the light again?'

  'Sephrenia We have to!' SParhawk exclaimed. "It's the

  only way we can save Ehlana - and you and Vanion for

  that matter.'

  'Annias will not live forever, Sparhawk, and Lycheas is

  hardly more than an inconvenience. Vanion and I are

  temporary, and so, for that matter - regardless of how

  you feel personally - is Ehlana. The world won't miss any

  of us all that much.' Sephrenia's tone was almost clinical.

  'Bhelliom, however, is another matter - and so is Azash.

  If we fall and put the stone into that foul God's hands, we

  will doom the world forever. Is it worth the risk?'

  'I'm the queen's champion,' Sparhawk reminded her.

  "I have to do whatever I possibly can to save her life.' He

  rose and strode across the room to her. 'So help me God,

  Sephrenia,' he declared, 'I'll break open Hell itself to save

  that girl.'

  'He's such a child sometimes,' Sephrenia sighed to

  Vanion. 'Can't you think of some way to make him grow

  uP?'

  'i was sort of considering going along,' the Preceptor

  replied, smiling. 'Sparhawk might let me hold his cloak

  while he kicks in the gate. I don't think anybody's

  assaulted Hell lately.'

  'You too?' She covered her face with her hands. 'Oh,

  dear,' she sighed. 'All right then, gentlemen,' she said,

  giving up, 'if you're all so bent on this, we'll try it - but

  only on one condition. If we do find Bhelliom, and it

  restores Ehlana, we must destroy it immediately after the

  task is done.'

  'Destroy it?'Ulath exploded. 'Sephrenia, it's the most

  precious thing in the world.'

  'And also the most dangerous. If Azash ever comes to

  possess it, the world will be lost, and all mankind will be

  plunged into the most hideous slavery imaginable. I

  must insist on this, gentlemen. Otherwise, I'll do everything

  in my power to prevent your finding that accursed

  stone.'

  "I don't see that we've got much choice here,' Ulath

  said gravely to the others. 'Without her help, we don't

  have much hope of unearthing Bhelliom.'

  'Oh, somebody's going to find it all right,' Sparhawk

  told him firmly. 'One of the things Aldreas told me was

  that the time has come for Bhelliom to see the light of day

  again, and that no force on earth can prevent it. The only

  thing that concerns me right now is if it's going to be one

  of us who finds it, or some Zemoch, who'll carry it back to

  Otha.'

  'Or if it rises from the earth all on its own,' Tynian

  added moodily. 'Could it do that, Sephrenia?'

  'Probably, yes.'

  'How did you get out of the chapterhouse without

  being seen by the Primate's spies?' Kalten asked

  Sparhawk curiously.

  "I threw a rope over the back wall and climbed down.'

  'How about getting in and out of the city after the gates

  were all closed?'

  'By pure luck the gate was still open when I was on my

  way to the cathedral. I used another way to get out.'

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  'That garret I told you about?' Talen asked

  Sparhawk nodded.

  'How much did he charge you?'

  'A silver half-crown.'

  Talen looked shocked at that. 'And they call me a thief.

  He Silled you, Sparhawk.'

  "I needed to get out of the city.' Sparhawk shrugged.

  'I'll tell Platime about it,' the boy said. 'He'll get your

  money back. A half-crown? That's outrageous.' The boy

  was actually spluttering.

  Sparhawk remembered something. 'Sephrenia, when

  I was on my way back here, something was out in the fog

  watching me. I don't think it was human.'

  'The Damork?'

  "I couldn't say for sure, but it didn't feel the same. The

  Damork's not the only creature subject to Azash, is it?'

  'No. The Damork is the most powerful, but it's stupid.

  The other creatures don't have its power, but they're

  more clever. In many ways, they can be even more

  dangerous.'

  'All right, Sephrenia,' Vanion said then, "I think you'd

  better give me Tanis's sword now.'

  'My dear one -' she began to protest, her face

  anguished.

  'We've had this argument once already tonight,' he

  told her. 'Let's not go through it again.'

  She sighed. Then the two of them began to chant in

  unison in the Styric tongue. Vanion's face turned a little

  greyer at the end when Sephrenia handed him the sword

  and their hands touched.

  'All right,' Sparhawk said to Ulath after the transfer

  had been completed. 'Where do we start? Where was

  King Sarak when his crown was lost?'

  'No one really knows,' the big Genidian Knight

  replied. 'He left Emsat when Otha invaded Lamorkand.

  He took a few retainers and left orders for the rest of his

  army to follow him to the battlefield at Lake Randera.'

  'Did anyone report
having seen him there?' Kalten

  asked.

  "not that I've ever heard. The Thalesian army was

  seriously decimated, though. It's possible that Sarak did

  get their before the battle started, but that none of the

  feW survivors ever saw him

  "I expect that's the place to start then,' Sparhawk said.

  'Sparhawk,' Ulath objected, 'that battlefield is immense.

  All the Knights of the Church could spend the

  rest of their lives digging there and still not find the

  crown.'

  There's an alternative,' Tynian said, scratching his

  chin.

  'And what is that, friend Tynian?' Bevier asked him

  "I have some skill at necromancy,' Tynian told him. '"I

  don't like it much, but I know how it's done. If we can

  find out where the Thalesians are buried, I can ask them

  if any of them saw King Sarak on the field and if any

  know where he might be buried. It's exhausting, but the

  cause is worth it.'

  'I'll be able to aid you, Tynian,' Sephrenia told him. "I

  don't practise necromancy myself, but I know the proper

  spells.'

  Kurik rose to his feet. 'I'd better get the things we'll

  need together,' he said. 'Come along, Berit. You too,

  Talen.'

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  'There'll be ten of us,' Sephrenia told him

  'Ten?'

  'We'll be taking Talen and Flute along with us.'

  'is that really necessary?' Sparhawk objected. 'Or even

  WiSe?'

  "Yes, it is. We'll be seeking the aid of some of the

  Younger Gods of Styricum, and they like symmetry. We

  were ten when we began this search, so now we have to

  be the same ten every step of the way. Sudden changes

  disturb the Younger Gods.'

  'Anything you say.' He shrugged.

  Vanion rose and began to pace up and down. 'We'd

  better get started with this,' he said. "It might be safer if

  you left the chapterhouse before daylight and before this

  fog lifts. Let's not make it too easy for the spies who

  watch the house.'

  'I'll agree with that,' Kalten approved. 'I'd rather not

  have to race Annias's soldiers all the way to Lake

  Randera.'

  'All right, then,' Sparhawk said, 'let's get at it. Time's

  running a little short on us.'

  'Stay a moment, Sparhawk,' Vanion said as they began

  to file out.

  Sparhawk waited until the others had left, and then he

  closed the door.

  "I received a communication from the Earl of Lenda this

  evening,' the Preceptor told his friend.

  friend.

  'Oh?'

  'He asked me to reassure you. Annias and Lycheas are

  taking no further action against the queen. Apparently

  the failure of their plot down in Arcium embarrassed

  Annias a great deal. He's not going to take the chance of

  making a fool of himself again.'

  'That's a relief.'

  'Lenda added something I don't quite understand,

  though. He asked me to tell you that the candles are still

  burning. Do you have any idea what he meant by that?'

  'Good old Lenda,' Sparhawk said warmly. "I asked him

  not to leave Ehlana sitting in the throne-room in the

  dark.'

  "I don't think it makes much difference to her,

  Sparhawk.'

  "It does to me,' Sparhawk replied.

  *Chapter2

  The fog was even thicker when they gathered in the

  courtyard a quarter of an hour later. The novices were

  busy in the stables saddling horses.

  Vanion came out through the main door, his Styric

  robe gleaming in the mist-filled darkness. 'I'm sending

  twenty knights with you,' he told Sparhawk quietly.

  'You might be followed, and they'll offer some measure

  of protection.'

  'We need to hurry, Vanion,' Sparhawk objected. 'if we

  take others with us, we won't be able to move any faster

  than the pace of the slowest horse.'

  'I know that, Sparhawk,' Vanion replied patiently.

  'You won't need to stay with them for very long. Wait

  until you're out in open country and the sun comes up.

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  Make sure nobody's too close behind you and then slip

  away from the column. The knights will ride on to

  Demos. If anybody's following, they won't know you

  aren't still in the middle of the column.'

  Sparhawk grinned. 'Now I know how you got to be

  Preceptor, my friend. who's leading the column?'

  'Olven.'

  'Good. Olven's dependable.'

  'Go with God, Sparhawk,' Vanion said, clasping the

  big knight's hand, 'and be careful.'

  "I'm certainly going to try.'

  Sir Olven was a bulky Pandion Knight with a number

  of angry red scars on his face. He came out of the

  chapterhouse wearing full armour, enamelled black. His

  men trailed out behind him. 'Good to see you again,

  Sparhawk,' he said as Vanion went back inside. Olven

  spoke very quietly to avoid alerting the church soldiers

  camped outside the front gate. 'All right,' he went on,

  'you and the others ride in the middle of us. With this

  fog, those soldiers probably won't see you. We'll drop

  the drawbridge and go out fast. We don't want to be in

  sight for more than a minute or two.'

  That's more words than I've heard you use at one time

  in the last twenty Years,' Sparhawk said to his normally

  silent friend.

  "I know,' Olven agreed. "I'll have to see if I can't cut

  back a little. '

  Sparhawk and his friends wore mail-shirts and travellers'

  cloaks, since formal armour attracts attention out in

  the countryside. Their armour, however, was carefully

  stowed in packs on the string of a half-dozen horses

  Kurik would lead. They mounted, and the armoured

  men formed up around them. Olven made a signal to the

  men at the windlass that raised and lowered the drawbridge,

  and the men slipped the rachets, allowing the

  windlass to run freely. There was a noisy rattle of chain,

  and the drawbridge dropped with a huge boom. Olven

  was galloping across it almost before it hit the far side of

  the fosse.

  The dense fog helped enormously. As soon as he had

  galloped across the bridge, Olven cut sharply to the left,

  leading the column across the open field towards the

  Demos road. Behind them, Sparhawk could hear startled

  shouts as the church soldiers ran out of their tents to stare

  after the column in chagrin.

  'Slick,' Kalten said gaily. 'Across the drawbridge and

  into the fog in under a minute.'

  'Olven knows what he's doing,' Sparhawk said, 'and

  what's even better is that it's going to be at least an hour

  before the soldiers can mount any kind of pursuit.'

  "Give me an hour's head start, and they'll never catch

  me,' Kalten laughed delightedly. 'This is starting out

  very well, Sparhawk.'

  'Enjoy it while you can. Things will probably start to go

  w
rong later on.'

  'You're a pessimist, do you know that?'

  'No. I'm just used to little disappointments.'

  They slowed to a canter when they reached the Demos

  road. Olven was a veteran, and he always tried to

  conserve his horses. Speed might be necessary later, and

  Sir Olven took very few chances.

  A full moon hung above the fog, and it made the thick

  mist deceptively luminous. The glowing white fog

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  around them confused the eye and concealed far more

  than it iluminated. There was a chil dampness in the air,

  and Sparhawk pulled his cloak about him as he rode.

  The Demos road swung north towards the city of

  Lenda before turning south-easterly again to Demos,

  where the Pandion Mother-house was located. Although

  he could not see it, Sparhawk knew that the countryside

  along the road was gently rolling and that there were

  large patches of trees out there. He was counting on

  those trees for concealment once he and his friends left

  the column.

  They rode on. The fog had dampened the dirt surface

  of the road, and the sound of their horses' hooves was

  muffled.

  Every now and then the black shadows of trees loomed

  suddenly out of the fog at the sides of the road as they

  rode by. Talen shied nervously each time it happened.

  'What's the problem?' Kurik asked him.

  "I hate this,' the boy replied. "I absolutely hate it.

  Anything could be hiding beside the road - wolves, bears

  - or even worse.'

  'You're in the middle of a party of armed men, Talen.'

  'That's easy for you to say, but I'm the smallest one

  here - except for Flute, maybe. I've heard that wolves

  and things like that always drag down the smallest

  when they attack. I really don't want to be eaten,

  father.'

  That keeps cropping up,' Tynian noted curiously to

  Sparhawk. 'You never did explain why the boy keeps

  calling your squire by that term.'

  'Kurik was indiscreet when he was younger.'

  'Doesn't anybody in Elenia sleep in his own bed?'

  "it's a cultural peculiarity. It's not really as widespread

  as it might seem, though.'

  Tynian rose slightly in his stirrups and looked ahead to

  where Bevier and Kalten rode side by side deep in

  conversation. 'A word of advice, Sparhawk,' he said

  confidentially. 'You're an Elenian, so you don't seem to

  have any problems with this sort of thing, and in Deira

  we're fairly broad-minded about such things, but I don't