2 - The Ruby Knight Read online

  "is he hurt!' Bevier asked, dismounting and coming

  towards them, his face showing his concern.

  "I think he'll be all right.' Then Sparhawk rose,

  controlling his temper with some effort. 'Sir Bevier,' he

  said rather formally, 'you've had training in this sort of

  thing. You know what you're supposed to do when

  you're under attack. What possessed you to dash into the

  middle of them like that?'

  "I didn't think there were all that many of them,

  Sparhawk,' Bevier replied defensively.

  'There were enough. It only takes one to kill you.'

  'You're vexed with me, aren't you, Sparhawk?'

  Beviers voice was mournful.

  Sparhawk looked at the young knight's earnest face for

  a moment. Then he sighed. 'No, Bevier, I suppose not.

  you just startled me, that's all. Please, for the sake of my

  nerves, don't do unexpected things any more. I'm not

  getting any younger, and surprises age me.'

  'Perhaps I didn't consider the feelings of my comrades,'

  Bevier admitted contritely. "I promise it will not

  happen again.'

  "I appreciate that, Bevier. Let's help Kalten back down

  the hil. I want Sephrenia to take a look at him, and I'm

  sure she'll want to have a taUc with him - a nice long one . '

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  Kalten winced. "I don't suppose I could talk you into

  leaving me here? This is nice soft dirt.'

  'Not a chance, Kalten,' Sparhawk replied ruthlessly.

  'Don't worry, though. She likes you, so she probably

  won't do anything to you - nothing permanent,

  anyway. '

  *Chapter3

  Sephrenia was tending a large, ugly-looking bruise on

  Berit's upper arm when Sparhawk and Bevier helped the

  weakly protesting Kalten down the hill to her.

  "is it bad?' Sparhawk asked the young novice.

  "It's nothing, My Lord,' Berit said bravely, although his

  face was pale.

  "is that the very first thing they teach you Pandions?'

  Sephrenia asked acidly, ' - to make light of your injuries?

  Berits mail-shirt stopped most of the blow, but in about

  an hour his arm's going to be purple from elbow to

  shoulder. He'll barely be able to use it.'

  "you're in a cheerful humour this afternoon, little

  mother,' Kalten said to her.

  She pointed a threatening finger at him. 'Kalten,' she

  said, 'sit. I'll deal with you after I've tended Berit's arm.'

  Kalten sighed and slumped down onto the ground.

  Sparhawk looked around. 'Where are ulath, Tynian

  and Kurik?' he asked.

  "They're scouting around to make sure there aren't any

  more ambushes laid for us, Sir Sparhawk,' Berit replied.

  "Good idea.'

  That creature didn't look so very dangerous to me,'

  Bevier said, ' - a little mysterious perhaps, but not all

  that dangerous.'

  "It didn't hit you,' Kalten told him. "It's dangerous, all

  right. Take my word for it.'

  "It's more dangerous than you could possibly imagine

  Sephrenia said. "It can send whole armies after us.'

  "if it's got the kind of power that knocked me off my

  horse, it doesn't need armies."

  'You keep forgetting, Kalten. Its mind is the mind of

  Azash. The Gods prefer to have humans do their work

  for them.'

  'The men who came down that hill were like sleepwalkers,'

  Bevier said, shuddering. 'We cut them to

  pieces, and they didn't make a sound.' He paused,

  frowning. 'I didn't think Styrics were so aggressive,' he

  added. 'I've never seen one with a sword in his hand

  before.'

  'Those weren't western Styrics,' Sephrenia said, tying

  off the padded bandage around Berit's upper arm. 'Try

  not to use that too much,' she instructed. 'Give it time to

  heal.'

  'Yes, ma'am,' Berit replied. 'Now that you mention it,

  though, it is getting a little sore.'

  She smiled and put an affectionate hand on his

  shoulder.

  This one may be all right, Sparhawk. His head

  isn't quite solid bone - like some I could name.' She

  glanced meaningfully at Kalten.

  'Sephrenia,' the blond knight protested.

  'Get out of the mail-shirt,' she told him crisply. 'i want

  to see if you've broken anything.'

  'You said the Styrics in that group weren't western

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  Styrics,' Bevier said to her.

  'No. They were Zemochs. It's more or less what we

  guessed at back at that inn. The Seeker wil use anybody,

  but a western Styric is incapable of using weapons made

  of steel. If they'd been local people, their swords would

  have been bronze or copper.' She looked critically at

  Kalten, who had just removed his mail-shirt. She shuddered.

  'you look like a blond rug,' she told him.

  'it's not my fault, little mother,' he said, suddenly

  blushing. 'All the men in my family have been hairy.'

  Bevier looked puzzled. 'What finally drove that

  creature off?' he asked.

  'Flute,' Sparhawk replied. "She's done it before. She

  even ran off the Damork once with her pipes.'

  'This tiny child?' Bevier's tone was incredulous.

  'There's more to Flute than meets the eye,' Sparhawk

  told him. He looked out across the slope of the hill.

  'Talen,' he shouted, 'stop that.'

  Talen, who had been busily pillaging the dead, looked

  up with some consternation. 'But Sparhawk -' he

  began. just come away from there. That's disgusting.'

  'But - '

  'Do as he says!' Berit roared.

  Talen sighed and came back down the hill.

  'Let's round up the horses, Bevier,' Sparhawk said. 'As

  soon as Kurik and the others get back, I think we'll want

  to move on. That Seeker is still out there, and it can come

  at us with a whole new group of people at any time.'

  "It can do that at night as well as in the daylight,

  Sparhawk,' Bevier said dubiously, 'and it can follow our

  scent.'

  "I know. At this point I think speed is our only defence.

  We're going to have to try to outrun that thing again.'

  Kurik, Ulath and Tynian returned as dusk was settling

  over the desolate landscape. 'There doesn't seem to be

  anybody else out there,' the squire reported, swinging

  , down from his gelding.

  'We're going to have to keep going,' Sparhawk told

  him.

  The horses are right on the verge of exhaustion,

  Sparhawk,' the squire protested. He looked at the others.

  'And the people aren't in much better shape. None of us

  has had very ,much sleep in the last two days.'

  'I'll take care of it,' Sephrenia said calmly, looking up

  from her examination of Kalten's hairy torso.

  'How?' Kalten sounded just a bit grummpy.

  She smiled at him and wiggled her fingers under his

  nose. 'How else?'

  "if there's a spell that counteracts the way we're all

  feeling right now, why didn't you teach it to us before?'

 
; Sparhawk was also feeling somewhat surly, since his

  headache had returned.

  'Because it's dangerous, Sparhawk,' she replied. "I

  know you Pandions. Given certain circumstances, you'd

  try to go on for weeks.'

  'So? If the spell really works, what difference does it

  make?: '

  'The spell only makes you feel as if you've rested, but

  you have not, in fact. If you push it too far, you'll die.'

  'Oh. That stands to reason, I suppose.'

  'I'm glad you understand.'

  'How's Berit!' Tynian asked.

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  'He'll be sore for a while, but he's all right,' she replied.

  'The young fellow shows some promise,' Ulath said

  'When his arm heals, I'll give him some instruction with

  that axe of his. He's got the right spirit, but his technique's

  a little shaky.'

  'Bring the horses over here,' Sephrenia told them. She

  began to speak in Styric, uttering some of the words

  under her breath and concealing her moving fingers from

  them. Try as he might, Sparhawk could not catch all of

  the incantation, nor even guess at the gestures which

  enhanced the spell. But suddenly he felt enormously

  refreshed. The dull headache was gone, and his mind

  was clear. One of the packhorses, whose head had been

  drooping and whose legs had been trembling violently,

  actually began to prance around like a colt.

  'Good spell,' Ulath said laconically. "Shall we get

  started?'

  They helped Berit into his saddle and rode out in the

  luminous twilight. The full moon rose an hour or so later,

  and it gave them sufficient light to risk a canter.

  'There's a road just over that hill up ahead,' Kurik told

  Sparhawk. 'We saw it when we were looking around. It

  goes more or less in the right direction, and we could

  make better time if we follow it instead of stumbling over

  broken ground in the dark.'

  "I expect you're right,' Sparhawk agreed, 'and we want

  to get out of this area as quickly as possible.'

  When they reached the road, they pushed on to the

  east at a gallop. It was well past midnight when clouds

  moved in from the west, obscuring the night sky.

  Sparhawk muttered an oath and slowed their pace.

  just before dawn they came to a river, and the road

  turned north. They followed it, searching for a bridge or a

  ford. The dawn was gloomy under the heavy cloud

  cover. They rode upriver a few more miles, and then the

  road bent east again and ran down into the river to

  emerge on the far side.

  Beside the ford stood a small hut. The man who owned

  the hut was a sharp-eyed fellow in a green tunic who

  demanded a toll to cross. Rather than argue with him,

  Sparhawk paid what he asked. 'Tell me, neighbour,' he

  said when the transaction was completed, 'how far is the

  Pelosian border?'

  'About five leagues,' the sharp-eyed fellow replied. "if

  you move swiftly, you should reach it by afternoon.'

  "thanks, neighbour. You've been most helpful.'

  They splashed on across the ford. When they reached

  the other side, Talen rode up beside Sparhawk. 'Here's

  your money back,' the young thief said, handing over

  several coins.

  Sparhawk gave him a startled look.

  "I don't object to paying a toll to cross a bridge,' Talen

  shrugged. 'After all, somebody had to go to the expense of

  building it. That fellow was just taking advantage of a

  natural shallow place in the river, though. It didn't cost

  him anything, so why should he make a profit from it?'

  "You cut his purse, then?'

  'Naturally. '

  'And there was more in it than just my coins?'

  'A bit. Let's call it my fee for recovering your money.

  After all, I deserve a profit too, don't I?'

  'You're incorrigible.'

  "I needed the practice.'

  From the other side of the river there came a howl of

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  anguish. "I'd say he just discovered his loss,' Sparhawk

  observed.

  "It does sound that way, doesn't it?'

  The soil on the far side of the river was not a great deal

  better than the scrubby wasteland through which they

  had just passed. Occasionally they saw poor farmsteads

  where shabby-looking peasants in muddy brown smocks

  laboured long and hard to wrest scanty crops from the

  unyielding earth. Kurik sniffed disdainfully. 'Amateurs,'

  he grunted. Kurik took farming very seriously.

  About mid-morning the narrow track they were following

  joined a well-travelled road that ran due east. 'A

  suggestion, Sparhawk,' Tynian said, shifting his blueblazoned

  shield.

  "Suggest away.'

  "It might be better if we took this road to the border

  rather than cutting across country again. Pelosians tend

  to be sensitive about people who avoid the manned

  border-crossings. They're obsessively concerned about

  smugglers. I don't think we'd accomplish very much in a

  skirmish with one of their patrols.'

  'All right,' Sparhawk agreed. 'Let's stay out of trouble

  if we can.'

  Not very long after a dreary, sunless noon, they

  reached the border and passed without incident into the

  southern end of Pelosia. The farmsteads here were even

  more run-down than they had been in north-eastern

  Elenia. The houses and outbuildings were 'universally

  roofed with sod, and agile goats grazed on the roofs.

  Kurik looked about disapprovingly, but said nothing.

  As evening settled over the landscape, they crested a

  hill and saw the twinkling lights of a village in the valley

  below. 'An inn perhaps?' Kalten suggested. "I think

  Sephrenia's spell is starting to wear off. My horse is

  staggering, and I'm in not much better shape.'

  "you won't sleep alone in a Pelosian inn,' Tynian

  warned. Their beds are usually occupied by all sorts of

  unpleasant little creatures.'

  "fleas?"" Kalten asked.

  'And lice, and bed-bugs the size of mice.'

  I suppose we'll have to risk it,' Sparhawk decided.

  The horses won't be able to go much farther, and I don't

  think the Seeker would attack us inside a building. It

  seems to prefer open country.' He led the way down the

  hill to the village.

  The streets of the town were unpaved, and they were

  ankledeep in mud. They reached the town's only inn,

  and Sparhawk carried Sephrenia to the porch while

  Kurik followed with flute. The steps leading up to the

  door were caked with mud, and the boot-scraper beside

  the door showed little signs of use. Pelosians, it

  appeared, were indifferent to mud. The interior of the

  inn was dim and smoky, and it smelled strongly of stale

  sweat and spilled food. The floor had at one time been

  covered with rushes, but except in the corners, the rushes were buried

  in dried mud.

  'Are you sure you don
't want to reconsider this?'

  Tynian asked Kalten as they entered.

  "my stomach's fairly strong,' Kalten replied, 'and I

  caught a whiff of beer when we came in.'

  The supper the innkeeper provided was at least edible,

  although a bit over-garnished with boiled cabbage, and

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  the beds, mere straw pallets, were not nearly as bug-infested

  as Tynian had predicted.

  They rose early the next morning and rode out of the

  muddy village in a murky dawn.

  'Doesn't the sun ever shine in this part of the world?'

  Talen asked sourly. "It's spring,' Kurik told him. "It's always cloudy and

  rainy in the spring. It's good for the crops.'

  "I'm not a radish, Kurik,' the boy replied. "I don't need

  to be watered.'

  'Talk to God about it,' Kurik shrugged. "I don't make

  the weather.'

  'God and I aren't on the best of terms,' Talen said

  glibly. 'He's busy, and so am i. We try not to interfere

  with each other.'

  'The boy is pert,' Bevier observed disapprovingly.

  'Young man,' he said, 'it is not proper to speak so of the

  Lord of the universe.'

  'You are an honoured Knight of the Church, Sir

  Bevier,' Talen pointed out. "I am but a thief of the streets.

  Different rules apply to us. God's great flower-garden

  needs a few weeds to offset the splendour of the roses.

  I'm a weed. I'm sure God forgives me for that, since I'm a

  part of his grand design.'

  Bevier looked at him helplessly, and then began to

  laugh. They rode warily across south-eastern Pelosia for the

  next several days, taking turns scouting on ahead and

  riding to hilltops to survey the surrounding countryside.

  The sky remained dreary as they pushed on to the east.

  They saw peasants - serfs actually - labouring in the

  fields with the crudest of implements. There were birds

  nesting in the hedges, and occasionally they saw deer

  grazing among herds of scrubby cattle.

  While there were people about, Sparhawk and his

  friends saw no more church soldiers or Zemochs. They

  remained cautious, however, avoiding people when

  possible and continuing their scouting, since they all

  knew the black-robed Seeker could enlist even normally

  timid serfs to do its bidding.

  As they came closer to the border of Lamorkand, they

  received increasingly disturbing reports concerning termoil

  in that kingdom. Lamorks were not the most stable

  people in the world. The King of Lamorkand ruled only