death's knight 21

 

Chapter 21

 

“We need them to be on their way before we enact scorched earth on them,” said Harkon, patiently to Thyella. “Once they’ve committed, they won’t pull back. And we want them miserable. Spending all their energy trying to find something to forage; the Selenite way is to live off the land, and be damned to those from whom they steal. Once they reach the lake, they will have fish, but they are not going to be happy, being used to a mix of fish and meat, and the herds will vanish into the hills. Dovrynuk, which they call Megagora, is marked as a city on the map, but though there are a few temples there, it is not occupied all year round, and is readily emptied. There are warehouses there, but tunnels into them will empty them. I think the Selenites will sail their troops up river, and some will come all the way across the Great Lake to Agaropolis, and then march to relieve the troops already here; and the others will sail to Rhinopolis. I’d take light ships past Rhinopolis and portage overland to Lake Olo, and through the river to Lake Ena, but I grew up with the concept of portage. They can’t go through the strait directly into Olo, because there’s a forty-foot drop. Or rather, they’d have to go up a waterfall into Olo.”

Thyella sniggered.

“Do they know that? It just looks as if the lakes join on the map.”

“I don’t know. But I imagine so. We can’t assume the enemy to be that ignorant.”

“I can cause some rain, if not as much as my mother. Shall I rain on them?”

“My most precious darling! Please do!” said Harkon, sniggering.

“It’ll be easy after setting the plains on fire,” said Thyella. “I can use the ash in the air to form drops around them.”

“I’m glad you did not decide to hate me forever,” said Harkon. “I could imagine spending the rest of my life being rained on by my own personal cloud and being made to dance with little thunderbolts, and all inside a promise not to harm me.”

“Oh, now that would be spiteful,” said Thyella. “Mind, I could imagine Zeandine doing so if she had the ability. But what can a goddess of Spring and lust manage? Secalia hasn’t even the brains to imagine wanting revenge, all she can do is grow rye, which when all is said and done is just a special kind of grass, even as Tritica grows wheat, Hordea grows Barley, and Avena grows oats.  They all sprang from Zea together when she gave birth to a single ear of grass and each developed into a different grain, and Zea planted them, and they grew each one into a goddess dedicated to that grain. Including Poacea, true grass, Cypera, sedge, and Junca, rushes. There are others whose names escape me; but I don’t care enough to remember.”

“I love you,” said Harkon.

 

oOoOo

 

“Send the barges upriver with the winter supplies, the men can march or ride,” decided Thea Drex. “That way the barges can carry more. We need more healers to deal with the diseases a besieging army suffers, as well as the marsh fever. They can go in the boats. When they reach the great lake, they can requisition other boats there to cross the lake with the barges, carrying half the men to Agorakome, and the rest to Rhinopolis. The men will have to requisition carts in Rhinopolis and Agorakome to go the rest of the way.”

“You are slipping, my lady,” said General Orgeron Cass. “There is no reason that the ships should not bypass Rhinopolis and go through a narrow strait to the lake named Olo, and thence through a riverine connection to Lake Ena and closer to their destination.” He stabbed his finger at the map.

Thea smiled a brittle smile.

“Have you ever seen that narrow strait, General?” she asked.

“No, but the map is clear enough,” said Cass.

“But it does not tell the whole story,”said Thea. “If you had been there, you would know of the great cascade from Lake Olo into the Great Lake. It’s quite a sight. But with the best will in the world, a boat cannot sail or be rowed up a sheer waterfall forty feet high.”

“It is not marked on the map,” said Cass, accusingly.

“It does not need to be marked on the map,” said Thea. “Anyone with serious pretensions to military ability, who would use the lakes for travel, scouts the terrain first. Your father could have told you; he was a more than adequate soldier. But you are a general on the back of his name”

“I have always suspected you killed my father; you were just a skinny gladiatorix when he took you as his lover, bought you out, and advanced your career in the military.”

“I was fourteen years old, the same as you,” said Thea “And I could make a good case proving that you killed your father for refusing to ‘let you have a go’ with me. Your father was, at least, a consummate soldier, and I learned a great deal from him as I acted his adjutant. Fortunately, he died after I had learned everything I could from him.”

“I did not kill him!” Cass squealed.

“You would have done if you had been in his bed,” said Thea. “But I can prove you did, and you only suspect that I did. I have your letter to your cousin where you wrote, ‘So often I have dreamed of killing my father. Now he is dead and I do not know how I feel.’ It could be read as a confession. And who would be believed? I am not that skinny child, any more. I have power, and contacts. You have cronies and sycophants.”

“I can tell people that you all but confessed to me to killing my father!” said Cass.

“And I would show proof that you were trying to escape me showing that it was you,” said Thea.

“I worship Thanos! A truth god!”

“Worshippers of truth gods have been known to lie before,” said Thea. “You are only an initiate. I am only going through plans with you because you are the Empress’s lover of the moment.  Presumably you are better in bed than  your father; but the Empress’s power is as nothing next to that of the high priestess of Selen. And the Empress’s consort admires me, and frankly, he has the brains in the palace.”

“You are not even properly noble,” said Cass, resentfully.

“You forget; I was given my second name and lands when I foiled a plot against the Empress, and killed Callax Drex,” purred Thea. “His name and goods were ceded to me for standing in front of the Empress, taking a sword meant for her, and killing her would-be assassin. And I am the only heroine of the cult. The nearest we had to a hero was Ralthur Kron, and he appears to have gone apostate. Now ask General Erlax Sorn to come in; he is a lord and priest of Thanos, and capable of working with the grownups.”

Cass left, muttering about jumped-up second tier families. Thea sneered. She held the name and goods of a first-rank family because of her actions. Erlax Sorn was a double glyph-level because of his actions. Ralthur Kron, however shocking his apostasy, had risen to governor of the city states because of his actions, and his excellent military record. Thea held little respect for the social hierarchy of the empire. She was the only holder of the surname Drex, because she had declined to adopt any of the women and children of Callax Drex’s family, so that they were all sold into slavery in different places, even as all males over the age of twelve were crucified.

She welcomed Sorn when he knocked, and entered, and showed him the map.

“Isn’t there a difference in height between lakes Olo and the Great Lake?” he asked.

“Yes, a forty-foot falls,” said Thea.

“What’s the terrain like before reaching the falls?” asked Sorn.

“Rocky,” said Thea. “You were considering portage from one lake to the other?”

“It crossed my mind,” said Sorn.

“I don’t think it can be done,” said Thea, contemplatively. “However, if you want to send a scout ahead to assess the lie of the land, I’ll be guided by you. It’s not a decision we have to make until we reach Rhinopolis.”

“Thank you, my lady; I will send someone right away, if I may be dismissed; I can see no flaw in your plans otherwise.  We will plunder the villages of the plainsfolks for immediate supplies, of course?”

“And to add to our long term supplies,” said Thea. “They are always rebelling; it will do them no harm to go hungry over the winter, and maybe lose some of their number to disease and famine. It will at least subdue them.”

Sorn did not grimace; it did not do to show the Heroine that one found her chillingly cold. But then, thought Sorn, who would not be cold when captured at the age of seven or eight, trained to be a gladiatorix, and initially put in the arena as a comedy turn – until the comedy turn had systematically ripped apart animals and gladiators pitted against a young girl.

 

oOoOo

 

Harkon observed a rider set out from Selenopolis, and the barges being loaded on the wharfs on the riverside.

“They plan to sail or otherwise take ship upriver then; and presumably continue into the Great Lake,” he said. “That’ll be interesting; the season of rains will put the river in spate, and at times there’s a bore, I believe.”

“Well, that should make them seasick, if nothing else,” said Thyella. 

“Ships are made of wood,” said Harkon. “If struck by lightning, they would burn to the waterline. But I should not ask you to do that. It is too direct an action.”

“But there is no reason I cannot teach you the spells of cloud travel, flash in lightning, and throw lightning bolt, if you will worship me just a teensy bit as my favourite priest.”

“I thought you only had female worshippers?”

“Not amongst the plainsfolk, where they assume I am male,” said Thyella. “So, there is precedence. And I don’t even make them wear curly wigs and false bosoms.”

“Just as well; I’m not up for it,” said Harkon.

“Harkon... no, I don’t need to ask,” said Thyella. “Because I know you love me before you thought of asking if you could use my powers.”

“Besides, we’ll go together,” said Harkon. “And you will just move away so you can say with perfect truth that you did not do anything to the plains or the boats.”

“Such casuistry!” sniggered Thyella.

“But necessary. It is understood that the gods will back their tools, and support the pieces on the board, but should not perform any overt actions personally as yet.”

“The Trickster has done so; I think it was he in the guise of Sky Griffon who brought the egg,” said Thyella.

“Undoubtedly; but we cannot prove it, and moreover, he is expected to cheat. But if the rest of the gods move personally too soon, it will spell disaster. I don’t know in what way, but Fate would not permit Alethos to be with Kaz too soon, remember?”

“I fired lightning bolts at him to discourage his ardour when Rynn kicked him,” said Thyella. “I am more disciplined than my brothers.”

“Good,” said Harkon. “Kaz... well, she has become my little sister.”

“And she must be in the right time in the right place on the solstice,” said Thyella. “Which is why we are worrying about disturbing the approaching armies now, so they are still disconcerted as the solstice approaches.”

“Exactly,” said Harkon.

“And once you have fired the plain, I am sure one of my mother’s priestesses can be persuaded to make it rain on all that burned earth as the Selenites go up river. If necessary, it can rain for weeks.”

“I find the concept of the Selenite discomfort fills me with no disquiet at all,” said Harkon. “I wonder if that single rider was to set up way posts.”

“Or arrange for ship-building or requisition on the lake,” said Thyella. “Those barges are full.”

“Perhaps they mean to march the men but keep apace with them with barged provisions,” said Harkon. “It is a compromise which works.”

“And horses don’t like boats,” said Thyella.

“They don’t,” agreed Harkon. “They’ll have to embark them at some point, unless they are going to go via the trade route, and I don’t see that happening.”

“Well, let us return home for a while, and you can do a little bit of worshipping,” said Thyella.

“Oh, my love, I do worship you. I worship this bit....” he kissed her lips, “And this bit...” he kissed her collar bone, “And this bit....” as he worked his way down.

There was some wonder at the lightning in a clear sky.

 

death's knight 20

 sorry to be late, I could not sleep for ages, it was so hot. 

Chapter 20

 

 

Thyella and Phaedros had left Kaz, Rynn, and Hraazaz when they emerged from the temple.

“Harkon needs us to add advocacy,” said Thyella. “And he’s hurt so I want to go to him.”

“It’s a routine journey back to Mesolimnos,” said Kaz. “Though, I must say, heroic travel would be useful.”

“You need to concentrate on lifting your body with your kormajeia and carrying it,” said Thyella. “It’s a question of practice.”

“And I am relying on Thyella, because I haven’t mastered it yet,” said Phaedros.

Kaz did not say so, but she hoped she would be able to manage things a little more quietly than Thyella.

“Dear one, I suspect you should consider practising merging with shadows, and moving from shadow to shadow,” said Alethos.

“Good idea,” said Kaz. “I will doubtless exhaust myself, however.”

“There was a plaintive request not quite made in that.”

“I will want a nice Alethos-shaped cushion to sleep on and have nice dreams.”

 

oOoOo

 

 

Thea Drex was not a woman who believed in dreams, especially not the sort of lustful dreams for unattainable men which entertain many a girl through her puberty. Thea had foresworn men to turn herself into a fighting machine for her goddess, and when she looked at a man, it was to assess his ability as a soldier under her command. She had slept with such men as made her path easier, and who could get her into a position where she might prove her worth on her own merits, and they had an unfortunate propensity for dying after she had moved on. This was not entirely Thea’s fault; she did not go out of her way to kill them, at least, not after the first two, whose bedroom activities had disgusted her so much that she wanted to obliterate them. Thea, however, carried an unfortunate chaos taint of being bad luck. Bad luck never fell to her, but it did blight those to whom she was close. It had taught Thea not to ever become fond of anyone, and to subjugate any carnal needs in her duty.

Thea was, therefore, unaccustomed to waking up panting and needy from the dream about the handsome warrior, with the exotic features of the far north. A broad, muscular man, who carried his musculature well, being tall, with blue eyes accustomed to laughing, and neatly cut beard and moustaches, not wild like most northerners, but tamed as many noblemen of her own kind trimmed their face furniture. He was a man who one might see was accustomed to command, and a momentary aberration of thought had Thea wondering whether he could command her.

Thea was herself one of the northern folk by birth, brought to the empire as a child slave, and earning her way up in the world as a gladiatrix and then general, earning a second name. This dream was some half-forgotten memory and of no account. The Empire was a place where even slaves might rise, if they were clever and determined, and gave themselves to the worship of the red moon. Thea was both clever and determined; and could remember little of the gods of her ancestors.

She put the dream to one side, and rose to perform her usual exercises; and worked on banishing the handsome face when it intruded on her thoughts.

There was trouble in the city states and it was time for the empire to put them down properly. She studied the map of the city which had instigated most trouble, Mesolimnos.  The main map merely showed it to be on a river between two lakes, which should not have caused a problem at all to the besiegers, but a runner had returned with a map drawn using the familiar spirit of Allenna Dren.  Such things were never entirely satisfactory as spirits saw in a different way, but it was easy to see that a siege was close on impossible, since the city stood not on the river, but on a number of islands which lay in a braided waterway, all joined by broad, heavy bridges.

They would have to build or requisition enough ships to make an effective watergate above and below stream of the city as well as get troops round to the west of it.

What Allenna Dren’s familiar could not see were that the heavy bridges also carried sewer tunnels, as the city fathers of Mesolimnos had provided for the disposal of sewerage into the swamp, rather than into the river; and that as well, there were huge numbers of storm drains to deal with the rain on low-lying islands, and that the storm drains ran to secondary water courses rather than adding to the spate of the river on which the city ran. Though the Solosi were in charge of law, it had been the military engineers of the Alethosi who had built the city, including lock gates, run-off pools, emergency water venting channels, and a defensive design which was second nature.  Adding the trógling familiarity with underground places was a bonus. And there were fewer islands than there had been, since spoil from the mines in the mountains of Kyrios had been used to build up foundations and build land, and some of the broad streets of the city had once been bridges. And trógling found uses for the caissons of their one time piers, and merged stone to keep water from seeping into the spaces left where once had been arches.

“Maybe in winter, when it ices up,” muttered Thea. The runner had also brought the unpalatable news that half the besiegers were suffering the fever and ague from the bad marsh air; but winter, too, would cure that.  And there was a prophecy about a long winter.

 

oOoOo

 

Selen chuckled as she joined her brother.

“You stink of that barbarian god,” complained Daze. “What has he got that I do not?”

“Dominion over winds and clouds,” said Selen. “Oh, grow up! I took what I needed, nothing more. I absorbed that silly little bitch of an ice spirit, and took her powers, but I can’t use them fully save locally. I used her appearance to gain his seed My daughter with Ombros will be able to spread cold and ice even as far as Mesolimnos, and keep it there.”

“But how long will we have to wait?”

“Patience! You know that the children of major gods grow fast; look at that little idiot, Phaedros, whose development you stunted; I wager few of his companions know he is only seven years old, and with chaos, I can speed things up. She will be born on the waxing moon this month and be able to help this very winter with wild childhood talent. If she is ill-treated she will react with producing snow and cold. I sense that this solstice will be significant.”

 

oOoOo

 

The Alethosi could do little but prepare for the likelihood of a more sustained siege. Chrysandion Lightspear, Lightfather of Solos, scoffed at first, but Harkon had proved reliable, so he listened, looked at maps Harkon showed him, frowned, and ordered that outlying farmers be brought into the city with their produce and stock for the winter, housing them on the banks of the Red River, inside the stockade thrown up in case of enemy incursion. Many hands willingly built housing for them, and the Solosi took charge of one seventh of all grains, to be held and rationed as needed, buying it from temple funds. It had been a good year for crops, and the farmers were glad to get a fixed rate when they had feared a glut rate; and Harkon was not alone in thanking Zea for her bounty and praying devout thanks to her at the harvest festival.

“We have prophecies too,” said Chrysandion. “This one was ‘make the most of Zea’s bounty for you know not when you will need it; let all rejoice when the lost daughter returns, and know that it is time to garner one seventh of all.”

“Well, that’s clear enough,” said Harkon. “Mycota is returned from the underworld, and restored to her father,  so she’s the lost daughter returning.  I’m going to take some watermen down to the swamp away from the sewerage and gather cat-tails; you can dry the root and make it into a nutritious flour, or bake it as a vegetable.  And better whilst it’s fully flavoured and fat, than half withered when we really need them towards spring.”

“You really do move in some exalted company,” said Chrysandion. He sounded half wistful.

“And we were on our way to the sun court seconds ahead of Tor himself, and I was not displeased to have missed him,” said Harkon.

 

Harkon was much relieved when Protasion led his party, including the new tróglings, into the city, having sailed straight down the lake.

“Those high toróg – who were they?” demanded Protasion. “None of the little guys is able to give me a coherent answer.”

“Remember when the Toróg tried to heal the first curse, which produced only great toróg, because their ceremony involved pre-curse high toróg women all of one clan being impregnated by a single high toróg who serviced his sisters and cousins? Well, that was one of them. Or it may have been both, and because they were twins they were symbolically one. The toróg don’t talk about it, and small wonder. I don’t know if they were the last surviving male high toróg, but if they were, I’m not about to lose any sleep over us having killed them.”

“I can’t believe I managed to wound one!” said Protasion.

“Oh, you’re nicely on the hero path yourself,” said Harkon. He thought, rather than saying, that it would be just as well to have several near-heroes, if Selen sent her heroine, Thea Drex, against the city states. “And I know what to do.  I need Thyella.”

“Yes, Harkon, but do get a room,” said Protasion.

“Oy!” said Harkon. “I need her tactically.”

Thyella appeared at Harkon’s side with a light fizzle.

“Are we going spying?” she asked.

“No, well, yes, but I need to go and see a man called Kurihor,” said Harkon.

“I know him. He’s a leader of leaders amongst the plainsfolk,” said Thyella.

“Can you drop me down in front of him?” asked Harkon.

“If you wish,” said Thyella. “It may be an odd conversation, mind you; they think I’m male.”

“Which is why I suggested you dropping me in front of him, not trying to explain who you are,” said Harkon. “I want to offer him a couple of trógling miners to make underground caches for their grain to hide it from the Selenites.”

“If they set fire to the grass – or I do with a storm and lightning strike – they can claim their grain burned,” said Thyella.

“Brilliant,” said Harkon.

 

oOoOo

 

Kurihor jumped when a sizzling lightning bolt landed in front of him and became a figure he recognised.

“Harkon? I thought you were Alethosi, not with the Sky Horse,” said the rebel chief.

“I have an alliance with Pieran,” said Harkon.  “I come with a suggestion and a proposal.”

“Speak; I am listening,” said Kurihor.

“The empire is going to be marching men around both sides of the great lake,” said Harkon. “They’ll expect to live of your people’s food.”

“We can only carry so much as we melt into hidden valleys,” said Kurihor, “But I thank you for the warning.”

“Wait; if I provide you with trógling miners who will create underground caches for grain and hay, and some passages for escape, will you permit the firing of the plains to deny fodder to the Selenite army?”

“Permit? I’ll light fires myself,” said Kurihor. “Can this really be done?”

“Let me consecrate a temple to Alethos, and you will have your trógling,” said Harkon. He had prayed, and Alethos had been willing to permit Kaz to lead trógling, holding her hands, to use the hero’s path between temples.

It was why the Selenite temples in Mesolimnos had been formally desecrated, their bound spirits driven off or destroyed, as soon as they had been expelled for the second time. There was no room for Thea Drex to turn up in the middle of the city. Battling the powerful bound spirits of temple guardians had been a job for those questing for herodom; and to the chagrin of the Solosians, it had been a team of dedicated Alethosi who had taken on the job, lifting more than one of them closer to their goal in ripping the spirits for their power and glyphic association, to deny them to the enemy.

 

“Right; where do you want it?” asked Kurihor.

“Somewhere the Selenites don’t go?” said Harkon.

“Oh, a god of death will not mind our burial grounds,” said Kurihor. “Come this way.”

There were spirits guarding the place of the dead; and Harkon nodded to them respectfully. He pegged out the shape of the death glyph and dug out the shape, cutting his palm to bleed at each point, and setting the iron sword he had brought for that purpose at the centre.

“Let there be a structure put over this, where trógling can live when they are not setting up your caches,” he said. “I have volunteers who will ride with your people to other clans and do the same for them, across the plain from the trade road to the lake.”

“And when will they come?” asked Kurihor.

“As soon as I go back and begin to collect them,” said Harkon, calmly, who knew with certainty that he could walk the hero’s path.

“Not that sassy one, please,” said Kurihor.

“She will bring some, but she has her own duties,” said Harkon.

He saluted Kurihor, and walked through the sword embedded in the ground, and out into his own temple’s sanctum.

“I do love you, Alethos,” he said.

“You are an excellent hero of mine,” said Alethos.

 

Shortly after, trógling in pairs started arriving on the plains, with veils over their faces to guard against the still bright autumnal sun. A female saluted Kurihor.

“We met when you weren’t crucified, though I don’t suppose you remember all of us who guided you,” she said. “I am Arrag, initiate of Alethos, and I am leading the miners here. Let us know where you want us and we will hide your grain. It’s up to you to hide your cattle and other lifestock.”

“The plains are folded, there are places to hide,” said Kurihor. “It’s carrying grain and fodder with us that is a problem.”

“You will have to send sorties to collect it,” said Arrag. “I cannot guarantee to dig passages before they are needed, but we will do our best. I also pay worship to Zog, lord of dirt and stone. He is part of the shadowsphere now.”

“You do as seems best,” said Kurihor, who had not followed a tenth of that and did not plan to get involved in godly politics in any case. “What pay do you want?”

“A place to live and our keep and needs until the job is done, and acceptance,” said Arrag.

“That is easily promised,” said Kurihor. “You have our gratitude for keeping our meagre crops from the enemy.”

 

Death's Knight 19

 

Chapter 19

 

 

Protasion helped Harkon out from under the maul, and went to help mop up the last darkling warrior.

“Burn... burn the bodies so they cannot be used as undead...” Harkon began, but Mycota was touching each body, and as he watched, they sprouted with fungi and were consumed. Protasion went through breaking up every bone left intact, the others copying him.

“Now, let us grab the trógling and go!” said Harkon.

“I will open a way through the mountains,” said Zog. “We must go to the sky; you will come, friend Harkon, and your fellows lead the trógling.”

The earth opened smoothly, with steps down.

“You have command, Protasion,” said Harkon.

“It goes all the way to that city; when you are inside I will close this end,” said Zog.

 

The tróglings had been tearing into food as if they were starving; which they were.

“Eat on the march; or we may be pursued,” said Kuros. They did as they were bid, following him down the steps and not asking where they had come from. Protasion saw everyone else down before following, with a salute to Zog. They had to trust the Toróg god, and follow his underground passage, and trust to it being good. Vulk growled; but went. Polia rode on him, her leg hurt by a spear, but that could be seen to later.

Zog closed the pathway, and took Mycota’s hand, and Harkon’s; and Harkon muttered the prayer to Pollonis that he had learned for the purpose to transfer them to the court of the sun-god, Solos. They were rising up through the air as the cave through which Mycota had come  disgorged more toróg of all kinds, and the hulking brutish figure of Tor himself.

Harkon shuddered. Not a moment too soon, and whether they were out of the frying pan and into the fire was yet to be determined. He wished he might have Protasion for his smooth law-trained tongue, but hopefully he could recall all the arguments.

And then they were all but falling on the floor in the divine throne room, and Harkon’s bad shoulder touched down, and he lost consciousness.

 

oOoOo

 

Harkon came to, with warmth in his shoulder, which felt a lot better.

“You have made an abrupt arrival, my associate priest,” said Pollonis, in some amusement.

“Just ahead of Tor,” said Harkon. “Where am I? Did mighty Solos hear and accept the petition of Mycota and Zog?”

“Zog knelt, and petitioned to be a lord of the shadows, and to be the consort of Mycota, and Mycota cried and said that she needed her family. Zog pointed out that she was no longer bound by the law having given not one but two lives in the persons of her daughtes to Tor. Thyella and Phaedros came to add their petitions, and Thyella pointed out that as clouds cast shade, and shade comes in many degrees, she was a part of the shadow court herself, as lightning could cast the darkest of shadows.  There are new powers in the world.”

“Kaz is of the opinion that when chaos is driven out, those gods who can adapt to change will live, and those who cannot will die,” said Harkon. “Thank you for healing me. I was a bit, er, mauled.”

“Killing the twins of Tor will be much celebrated,” said Pollonis. “You are becoming famed; but beware of my sister Zeandine; she has taken a dislike to you for your fair justice over that foolish competition and she is spiteful and rather limited. I fear she will be one of those who does not survive change,” he added, unhappily.

“Thank you for the warning, divine one,” said Harkon, who always felt he had to be more formal with the god of light than with Alethos, who was... well, a friend.

“Sleep; when you awaken, you will be back in your own bed,” said Pollonis. And Harkon felt himself overwhelmed by healing sleep. He sensed the presence of Thyella beside him as he drifted off, and snuggled into her arms.

 

oOoOo

 

Thyella and Phaedros left Kaz, Rynn, and Hraazaz when they emerged from the temple.

“Harkon needs us to add advocacy,” said Thyella. “And he’s hurt so I want to go to him.”

“It’s a routine journey back to Mesolimnos,” said Kaz. “Though, I must say, heroic travel would be useful.”

“You need to concentrate on lifting your body with your kormajeia and carrying it,” said Thyella. “It’s a question of practice.”

“And I am relying on Thyella, because I haven’t mastered it yet,” said Phaedros.

Kaz did not say so, but she hoped she would be able to manage things a little more quietly than Thyella.

“Dear one, I suspect you should consider practising merging with shadows, and moving from shadow to shadow,” said Alethos.

“Good idea,” said Kaz.

 

oOoOo

 

“Harkon disrespected us both,” said Zeandine to Secalia. “We should have our vengeance on him.”

“Shall we ask Thyella to help?” said Secalia. “She was really upset over being called a cheat.”

“No, I don’t like her,” said Zeandine. “And she’s been weird lately. You’d almost think she’s found a lover.”

Secalia giggled unkindly.

“What, Madam Stuck-up Celestial Virgin? Hardly. Who’d have her? Her hair is an absolute fright, frizzing out like it does when she’s all full of lightning, and so skinny! And abrasive! No man could possibly stand her.”

“No, you’re right,” said Zeandine. “And what could she add to help us plot? She doesn’t understand men as we do.”

“What had you in mind?” asked Secalia.

“Harkon spurned all my suggestions of lovers,” said Zeandine. “I offered him the woman said to be the most beautiful mortal in the world, Vaudia Cass, the betrothed of Ralthur Kron, until he changed sides. She has sweetly rounded limbs and a full bosom, and a perfect pear shaped body, with long dark hair and skin of the palest. I will give him to someone much less palatable; Thea Drex, heroine of the Selenite pantheon, who is all muscles, and tanned by being outside much of the time. I will give her dreams of Harkon and offer him to her as her sex slave. Imagine, a warrior being tied to a woman warrior who can give him orders, and who has no softness to rest against! It will be torture to him.”

Secalia gave a screaming little laugh.

“Oh, how clever!” she said. “But isn’t this woman on the chaos side, and aren’t we supposed to support the Alethosi?”

Zeandine shrugged. The amount of movement this engendered would have horrified Harkon, but many men found such movement mesmerising.

“Oh, politics; I stay out of such boring things,” she said. “Besides, it’s only one man and one woman; how can that make much difference? And in a hundred years they’ll likely be dead, anyway; mortals never live long enough to be much fun to play with.”

“How is she going to get hold of him?”

“I will have him given a lust potion so that when he sees her he is overcome by lust. It can only be countered by someone who is truly in love, and Harkon is too cold to love anyone.”

 

 

Unaware of the depth of Zeandine’s spite and malice towards him, Harkon awoke in his own temple in the arms of his wife. It seemed a very satisfactory reward to him for being wounded sorely in the rescue of her aunt.

Harkon preferred not to dwell too deeply on the relationships of the solar pantheon; Solos was known to play away, and Zea had had at least one lover in the begetting of sundry grain goddesses, and Harkon did not approve of such behaviour from a cult which supposedly upheld law and family values.

He reported to Pythas when he got up; and it must be said that this was only when his wife had made sure that every part of him was in working order.

It seemed rather mundane to be back in a besieged state, as the Selenites had abandoned Lazar Kron to captivity rather than withdraw; it would go harder on the Selenites as winter drew in. Though the two great lakes mitigated the severity of winter to some extent, they also made winters wetter, with many feet of snow possible, and wet fogs common. There were plenty of supplies in the city for those living there, and any who felt the cold, or were infirm were to be welcomed into any temple, where they might do some work according to their abilities to pay for somewhere to stay, food, and warmth. This generally involved things like peeling vegetables for stews, or sharpening weapons, mending leatherwork or such occupations if they had the knowledge. At the moment, most women in the city were busy preserving for the winter, busy with brine and vinegar.  There might be a shortage of honey for preserving fruits, because of the siege, but the warm late summer had seen many fruits being dried on racks and laid away in dry cellars. There was meat being salted down from herds brought in by the plainsfolk and fish from both lakes, and the besiegers could not stop either. It was amusing in a way. But of course, the Selenites would not let it rest like that, which was why provisioning was so important; Harkon knew what he would do in their shoes. First, he would have the current besieging garrison replaced with fresh troops, prepared for winter conditions, and able to dig in with plenty of supplies; and then he would send a second army across the plains, skirting the lakes rather than risking the marshes between the great lake and lakes Ena and Olo. That way, the siege could be extended to the currently ‘safe’ side of Mesolimnos. Or they might sail as far as Rhinopolis and then march round; sailing the length of the great lake would leave them on the same side of Mesolimnos without the ability to get through the Akerusian swamps to surround the city. And the greatest danger was in crossing the great plains where they would be harried by plainsfolk; and who might also negotiate the Drylands to harry the Selenite army.

“Sometimes I wish I could fly, so I could see the disposition of the enemy,” said Harkon, frustrated.

“But, darling, you can fly; you can cloud walk with me,” said Thyella. “Shall we go?”

Harkon stared, open mouthed.

“Darling, you’re brilliant,” he said.

“You know what I love about you, Harkon?” said Thyella. “You love me, not what I can do for you. It never occurred to you to use my powers.”

“Of course I love you,” said Harkon. “Being a goddess is neither here nor there; but I confess, it would be useful to go and spy.”

“Then, spy we shall.”

“Thyella, how deep can you drive a lightning bolt?”

“I don’t know; what had you in mind? I thought we weren’t to actually start the gods war that is fortold too early?”

“I was wondering if you could open a shaft to water below the drylands, to establish safe ways of travel only known to a few,” said Harkon.

“There are seasonal rivers, which mostly run underground,” said Thyella. “I should think I could reach water, and if we made love there enough to call rain, and got some vegetation growing, it ought to be stable enough. Did you want to do that instead of spying?”

“No, but it was something which occurred to me in passing,” said Harkon.  “We can do that when we have some spare time.”

“Shall we go, then?” said Thyella.

“Not yet,” said Harkon. “I don’t think that the Selenites have taken us seriously enough before to have heroes involved; but even assuming they sent messages by spirits back to Selenopolis, there has to have been discussion and decision about what’s going on. I want to know when they move, but I don’t feel that they have yet.”

“I could go and see if there were people on the move, and collect you when they are, as part of my job taking storms,” said Thyella.

“Well, if you would, I’d be grateful,” said Harkon.

Thyella kissed him.

“I’m so glad I can help,” she said. “I’d ask Ombros as well but I can’t guarantee he wouldn’t boast about it, and he’s been talking about a new lover; some ice spirit from the north.”

“I have a bad feeling about this,” said Harkon. “Still, at least we can go and look; and if I was them, I’d sail as much of the way as I could.”

“You know about ships and shipping, don’t you?”

“I come from the Depression,” said Harkon. “There’s a large lake, and there’s the sea, and the depression is between them, where the earth was stretched as it bucked in agony after portions of the Blue Moon fell. My father was a fisherman.”

“What made you and your brother come south to the city states?” asked Thyella.

“Seeking revenge,” said Harkon. “Pirates raided, whilst my father, my brother, and I were out at sea. They seized our mother and sister; our mother’s body was left at the waterline, horribly cut about, and we found it when we returned. Of our sister, Sjurgi, there was no sign. We had to assume she had been sold into slavery, probably in the empire. We wept; and in spring, my brother, who had a spirit many times larger than his stunted body, declared that he was going to look for answers. He went off with a band of traders. He wrote twice, and then there was a kindly letter from Pythas, about how he died bravely. He wrote that there was money banked for me if I wanted it. I wanted it; but my father was old and sick. I stayed until he died, mostly of grief.  Torval was four years older than me, so I was sixteen when I came to the city states, green and ignorant. Our sister was almost eight when she was stolen away, four years my junior. My parents did the correct rituals to Freega Allmother, whom I know now as Zea, for the most fortuitous space between children. We had a younger brother, too, but he was sickly, and died. I have no more family, for I don’t suppose Sjurgi survived. She was a bright little spark and not given to being pushed around; with two older brothers, she always wanted to tag along, and show us she was as good as we were. That would not go down well in a slave.”

“You could ask Alethos,” said Thyella. “He would surely know who had passed through the halls of the dead.”

“I... I had not thought of it,” said Harkon. He thrust his sword into the ground, and knelt by it to pray.

“No, my hero, no Sjurgi, Gordsdottir, has passed through,” said Alethos. “Gord, Solvi, and Sjen rest in the halls of the dead, for those of no strong faith.”

“Then I must visit,” said Harkon, tears flowing down his face. “And I must look again for Sjurgi; though I doubt she would know me, now, any more than I would know her, if they have changed her name, as they are wont to do.”

“I would have carried you to your father’s home if he had still lived,” said Thyella. “But I will take you to the path of the dead any time.”

“Thank you,” said Harkon.

 “And if you get any clue, I will take you to where there might be news of Sjurgi,” said Thyella.

“I... I am almost afraid to hope,” said Harkon. “I used to ask every trading band for news, but as time passes, you lose hope.  I even visited Selenopolis once, but I found nothing of use.”

“I think we will find her,” said Thyella. “Though somehow, I doubt she will be the loving, spirited sister that you knew.”

Harkon considered grimly that a pretty, exotic northern girl would have learned fast how many ways a girl can be hurt, and was probably now someone’s scrub maid, or used to breed soldiers for the empire. 

“And do not berate yourself!” said Alethos. “You had to be where you had to be. My mother tells me that this is the way it had to be.”

Alethos did not say that his mother spoke sorrowfully of a heartbreaking reunion where many things would depend on choices made by Harkon and his sister.