Byren skated, his body following a mindless rhythm. Having travelled all day the warriors were tired, but Rejulas had ordered the torches lit. Privately, Byren thought they would have been better off skating by starlight, after giving their eyes time to adjust, but perhaps it was a good idea, when you considered it was almost spring cusp. The winter-dormant creatures would be stirring, hungry after their long sleep.
Skating with bound hands interfered with his balance and he couldn't save himself if he fell. But he dare not stumble deliberately. He already had rope burns on his neck from the last time he'd slipped. When the right moment came, he would drive the pole from behind his arms, wriggle his legs through his arms and chew at the knot until he was free. But the moment had not come yet.
Hopefully, Orrade had recovered quickly. He hadn't been unconscious for long the last time. With any luck, Garzik and Orrade were watching him right now, waiting to make their move. Two men against twenty or more — three men once he was free — the odds were not good.
'Not far now, kingson,' Rejulas told him.
They rounded the bend in the canal to see Doveton, across the small lake. There were lights in every window and Byren guessed warriors had taken over the villagers' homes. New Dovecote was also aglow, every window gleaming yellow, while behind it stood the sturdy old keep, lights burning there too. So many warriors, Byren would not have guessed Rejulas could muster such a large force.
His gaze flew to the high tower. Had Lord Dovecote kept the warning beacon readied with oil to hasten its burning? Byren trusted to his thoroughness.
Too late to try anything now. Better to wait until he saw how things were inside Dovecote. Maybe they could free Elina and the old lord. And there was still Lence. Though all the evidence pointed to Lence's betrayal, Byren was convinced his twin had been tricked by Cobalt.
They slowed as they reached the village wharf. Someone shoved Byren backwards until he sat on the wharf step. His skates were unstrapped while his hands remained tied. Then they trudged up the road through the village. It was filled with Rejulas's men. Warriors stood in doorways, tankards in hand as they yelled congratulations and toasted to their warlord's success.
Beyond the village, they wound their way up to the terrace, where light poured from the large indefensible windows. On the terrace, in front of the great double doors, stood the two huge foenixes. Cast in bronze, they had been given to Lord Dovecote by King Byren the Fourth as a reward for his loyalty. Their backs were hollow, forming braziers, and flames leapt from them, casting crazy shadows across the front of New Dovecote.
The big double doors stood closed. Byren frowned. There was something strange about the doors. From where he stood on the terrace below he could see someone was waiting, standing pressed against the door. By the flickering flames Byren suddenly understood what he was seeing. 'Lord Dovecote!'
He staggered.
They'd run the Old Dove through with a lance, pinning him to one of the doors. But why leave him there?
Rejulas laughed. 'How do you like our little welcoming gift?'
Rage surged through Byren. Rejulas was a typical spar warlord, a leader only because he was crueler and more vicious than his barbarous warriors. He did not deserve Piro. Byren was glad she was safe back at Rolenhold. His stomach knotted with fear. If only the same could be said for Elina!
If he could get her to safety he would die happy.
The double doors creaked and swung open, carrying their grisly symbol.
Word of their arrival must have gone on ahead because a tall man in armour strode out, the torchlight glinting on the embossed metal on his chest plate. For a moment Byren could not make sense of what he saw, he had been expecting… hoping to meet Lence and convince him this was all a terrible misunderstanding.
The pattern on the stranger's breast plate was that of a two-headed snake, the amfina.
'Overlord Palatyne.' Rejulas bowed.
Byren felt this revelation like a body blow. It knocked the air from his chest and patches of grey swam in his vision. So Old Man Narrows had not been mistaken. There were Merofynian warriors in Rolencia, making Rejulas a traitor. This explained how the Merofynian army had penetrated the valley without triggering the warning beacons. The warlord of Cockatrice Spar had let them use his pass.
Where was Lence in all this? Captive, Byren fervently hoped. Captive and cursing his naivety.
'I bring you Byren Kingson, overlord,' Rejulas said with a flourish. 'Never question my loyalty.'
'Do you think me a fool, Rejulas?' Palatyne countered.
At his signal two warriors wearing helms bearing horse-hair plumes dyed the royal azure of Merofynia dragged Elina out from the ranks behind Palatyne. Her hands were bound at the wrists in front of her. She almost stumbled. Byren's wanted to help her but he dared not move.
'There, my pretty,' Palatyne gestured to Byren. 'I said we'd bring you a playmate.'
Elina stared at Byren, her dark eyes blazing.
Byren's stomach turned over. Seeing her a captive of the Merofynian overlord had made him a coward. He was ready to fall on his knees and promise them anything, as long as they let Elina go free.
'Why did you come here, Byren?' she demanded. 'Why?'
Palatyne caught her chin in one hand and said something softly that made her shoot Byren an agonised glance.
'Don't listen to him,' Byren yelled. 'I'm a dead man anyway.' Then the back of his head imploded and the ground came up to hit him in the face.
Consciousness returned as they dragged him, none too gently, up the steps.
'He weighs as much as a full-grown wyvern,' one warrior complained.
'And smells almost as bad. Quit your griping!'
Byren let his body stay limp, pretending to be worse than he was, as they hauled him across the terrace. They shoved him through the double doors, dragged him past the great fireplace, and came to a halt.
He sagged between them.
Someone grabbed his head by the hair and threw a tankard of wine in his face. He spluttered, pretending to be groggy. It gave him time to look around Dovecote's great hall.
This was not an ancient hall with huge columns decorated with ancestral friezes like Rolenhold, but a well-proportioned long chamber with polished wood panelling, and exquisite hangings depicting famous scenes from Rolencia's history. He pushed away the memory of Lord Dovecote walking them around the hall as children, telling them the stories of their shared history.
Directly in front of him, a balcony looked down from the floor above, where the family's bed chambers were. From this railing, a great embroidered banner hung to the ground depicting the estate's emblem, the feather and the sword.
Byren looked at the elegant brass aviary which housed Lord Dovecote's fancy birds. No birds fluttered from perch to perch, no soft cooing came from the cage.
He knew that if he went closer he would find the doves lying dead and this told him more about his captor than anything else. Harmless, beautiful creatures killed for effect.
Byren glanced away, trying to think. To each side of the fireplace stood stone pedestals on which rested the family's treasured firestones. They were just close enough so that they glowed with a fiery inner radiance, yearning for each other like lovers.
Byren focused on Overlord Palatyne, who stood in front of a high table laden with gold ornaments, personal items of great beauty like tortoiseshell combs and mother-of-pearl jewellery. These things sat oddly amidst steaming dishes of roast mutton, goose and fresh-baked bread. A dozen lordlings roistered drunkenly, waited on by curled and perfumed servants. Byren suspected this was the cream of Merofynian aristocracy, who had come along to see Rolencia conquered. But where were the real warriors?
Two of Dovecote's servants hurried out with a huge chair, which they set up in front of the high table like a throne for Palatyne. Then Byren noticed silent warriors standing in the background, alert but relaxed, their hands resting lightly on their sword hilts. They wore the amfina crest on their surcoats and they watched everything. Palatyne's honour guard, Byren guessed, veteran spar warriors who had come up with their warlord as he rose in rank.
As for the overlord himself, he was perhaps as tall as King Rolen. No longer a young man, by the grey in his beard he looked to be in his mid-to late thirties. His nose had been broken and set badly so that it was flat from the bridge down, giving him a pugnacious aspect.
Palatyne grabbed a sword from the laden table and lounged in the great chair, the weapon resting casually on his lap. For a heartbeat Byren wondered why he bothered, until he recognised the Old Dove's sword, the one that should have been Orrade's.
Just behind him stood an old renegade Power-worker. He wore a necklace of wyvern teeth and, on the tip of his staff, a stone wyvern's head sat. His hair was completely silver and hung in a single thin plait from the crown of his head. His waist-length beard was loose and threaded with bones and things Byren didn't want to identify. Everything about him proclaimed his barbaric Utland origins.
'Your foretelling was right, Utlander,' Palatyne told him.
'Of course,' he countered. 'If you would only trust — '
'You sent for me, overlord?' A tall, iron-haired man, who wore the indigo robes of a noble scholar, entered from under the mezzanine floor and strode around the table to stand on the left of Palatyne's chair. Byren had expected to see barbaric Power-workers serving the overlord but not a cultured man like this.
'There he is.' Palatyne indicated Byren.
The noble Power-worker shifted his weight, causing the globe on the end of his staff to flare briefly, attracting Byren gaze. Penetrating black eyes searched Byren's face.
Byren returned the stare, refusing to back down. His head thumped and his vision blurred. The noble blinked first but Byren's stomach lurched with the knowledge that these were renegade Power-workers like the ones who had murdered his grandfather and uncle from afar on the battlefield. He was grateful he had no Affinity to make him vulnerable.
Unlike this Merofynian noble, a Rolencian noble with Affinity would have been sent to Halcyon Abbey as a child and taught to serve Rolencia, not a wicked overlord and his corrupt king.
Byren shuddered, licking dry lips. He had really fallen into the fire this time.
Palatyne snapped his fingers and the two honour guards behind the laden table bent down. When they straightened up, they dragged Elina to her feet. Blood trickled brightly from her swollen bottom lip, running down her throat, into the delicate shadow above her low-cut bodice. They marched her around the table to stand on Palatyne's right. Her gaze flew to Byren for one desperate heartbeat, then she looked down at her bound hands, apparently defeated.
Byren steeled himself to give nothing away, not even if they threatened Elina, but the overlord ignored him.
Turning to Elina, he said, 'There he is, my pretty Dove, the second kingson. I already have the heir to use against King Rolen, so I'm going to execute this kingson at dawn. How he dies is up to you. A swift axe or burnt alive? You'll watch whatever happens.'
She wrung her roped hands.
'Well? Are you going to welcome me to your bed tonight?' Palatyne prodded. 'If you please me I may let him live another day — '
Throwing aside the ropes, Elina sprang towards Palatyne, plucked the knife from his belt, and stabbed for his throat. He only just managed to divert the blow so that it wedged in the wood of the chair next to his neck. His great arm swung in an arc, sending Elina flying like a rag doll. He lurched to his feet and the sword fell forgotten to the ground, clattering on the tiles.
Elina hit the floor a body length from Byren, skidding. She lay there stunned.
Byren kicked one guard, shouldered the other and ran to her side, dropping to his knees. His arms pinned behind his back, he leant over her. 'Elina, can you hear me?'
Her eyes fluttered open as she struggled to drag in a breath. He was only vaguely aware that Palatyne had called off his warriors and was watching them.
'Byren,' she gasped, lifting her hands to touch his face. 'Why did you come?'
'I had to,' he whispered. 'I've always loved you, Lina. Always will.'
'I know.' She blinked away tears. 'But I was so angry, so hurt — '
'I'm sorry. I wanted to explain.'
'I read your poem. But, when I went to the water-wheel, you weren't there.'
'You didn't tell Lence to send me away?'
She shook her head.
Byren was aware of Palatyne bearing down on them.
'Ask for quarter,' Byren whispered. 'Go to Sylion Abbey. You'll be safe there — '
'You little bitch.' Palatyne pulled Elina upright by her hair. She cried out as he swung her around, sending her staggering away. 'You two are lovers!'
She kept her feet and straightened up, tears of pain glittering in her fierce eyes. 'No. But I wish we were!'
With a roar he leapt on her, his hands closing on her throat.
Byren lurched, trying to rise, but two of the honour guard held him down. He could only watch as Palatyne throttled her.
The noble Power-worker strode over to Palatyne, slamming his staff on the floor so that the tip glowed, illuminating Palatyne's rage-engorged face.
'Think, overlord!' his voice rang out. 'Think how much more satisfying it will be to bed this wench while her lover is your captive. Think how he will feel going to his death, knowing you have taken what he prized!'
Palatyne grimaced with annoyance but released Elina. She dropped to her knees, gasping for breath. She was only a body length from Byren, yet he was powerless to help her.
'Yes,' Palatyne agreed. 'His suffering will add to my enjoyment.'
He strode towards Byren, a boot swinging for his head. Though Byren threw himself to one side, the tip caught him a glancing blow, sending him sprawling on the floor.
When his vision cleared, Palatyne had Elina's bodice in his hands. With one heave he tore it open and swung her around so that Byren could see her naked breasts. 'Look what I will be enjoying tonight!'
Though every man present stared at her she lifted her chin, staring past them all, her gaze defiant.
Byren's heart swelled with pride.
Palatyne fixed on Byren, triumphant. 'Take him away and lock him up.' He turned to the noble Power-worker. 'See, Lord Dunstany, your prophecy will not come true. I'll kill every last one of King Rolen's kin. They will not be my downfall. I make my own destiny!'
Lord Dunstany's reply was lost to Byren as they dragged him out of the hall, past the sullen, subdued kitchen staff and into the stable yard. Behind the stables, the road rose to the old keep with its warning tower, every window lit. As it loomed over Byren, despair welled up in him. How would Orrade reach him now? How would he light the beacon and save Elina?
He would never get to Halcyon Abbey to deliver his father's message and no one would ever know that he had died loyal to Rolencia.
'Drink, my lord?' a throaty female voice piped up.
The Merofynians stopped and turned around to see a pretty serving girl standing in the kitchen doorway. She held a tray laden with tankards and a steaming jug of mead.
'This is for them in the keep, but they've been guzzling all evening.' She nodded towards the warning tower, where men could be heard singing loudly off key. 'Want a sup?'
'Don't mind if I do.' The leader of their group strode back towards her, followed by the other four guards with Byren in the middle.
Byren noticed a familiar face peering out from behind the serving girl's skirt. Rifkin, the kitchen boy. As the honour guards grabbed themselves a tankard, the lad caught Byren's eye, holding his gaze with desperate but impenetrable meaning.
A body barrelled into Byren's back, driving him to his knees. The Merofynian groaned and collapsed beside him, blood dark as night, pooling on the churned up snow.
'Hold still,' Orrade whispered, grabbing Byren's arms.
His shoulders protested. Then he felt the blessed release as the pole was pulled out and the ropes fell off his hands. 'What took you so long?'
Orrade laughed and hauled him to his feet. Two bodies shot past them, locked in desperate combat.
Byren blinked recognising one of them. 'Winterfall?'
Orrade nodded. 'Eight of your honour guard. Chandler and Winterfall convinced them that you were wrongfully accused.'
Crack. Mead showered Byren's left leg as the serving maid smashed the jug over the last struggling Merofynian. Young Chandler cut his throat, then cleaned his knife.
'We couldn't let you down,' he said.
Byren grinned and tried to massage feeling back into his hands.
'We're in luck,' Orrade whispered. 'Only Palatyne and his lordlings are housed in New Dovecote. His honour guard refused to sleep under the same roof as Rejulas's honour guard. Couldn't stomach traitors. So they've taken the old Keep and Rejulas's men have the town.'
Byren grinned. 'You've been busy.'
'Servants hear everything.'
'What of the townspeople?'
'Turned out of their own beds. They're sleeping in the servants' quarters in New Dovecote. Here's your hunting knife. It was all Rifkin could steal.'
'I'm obliged,' Byren said, slipping the knife into its customary place. If he were Palatyne, he would have Rejulas and his warriors killed the moment they were no longer useful. Anyone who could betray their sworn oath of allegiance was a worthless ally. 'Where's the healer and Affinity warder?'
'Willowtea's dead. The Affinity warder took a blow from one of Palatyne's Power-workers. They thought it had killed him but he was just knocked out. The cook hid him. Unfortunately he's too weak to help us.'
'Too bad.'
By the time Byren could use his fingers, they'd dragged the bodies away to hide them and Rifkin was raking the snow to disguise all sign of the skirmish.
Winterfall returned with a broken nose and a sheepish grin. 'I neber doubted you.'
Throat tight, Byren hugged him. 'Pack snow on that nose.'
As the maid took Winterfall off to apply the snow, Chandler said, 'You've eight more swords at your back.'
Eight honour guards, some of them mere callow youths, townspeople and servants… Byren ran his hand through his hair. They were vastly outnumbered; subterfuge was their only hope. 'We need a plan.'
'This way.' Orrade led them back into the new wing, through the kitchen and down a long hall where the able-bodied townspeople huddled. They touched Byren as he passed and whispered a welcome to Orrade and Garzik. Byren's bloodied honour guard impressed them.
Orrade led Byren into the cold-cellar. Great blocks of ice lined the walls to preserve food all year round. Amidst the frozen meat and stores, about two dozen men and half as many women waited, their breath steaming. Byren surveyed them by the light of the single lamp. He recognised stable lads, household servants and gardeners; most of the males were under sixteen or over sixty. At ten, Rifkin was the youngest.
Orrade gestured. 'This is all that remains of Dovecote's defenders.'
'Captain Blackwing?' Byren asked.
'Amongst the first to fall.'
'I'm sorry — '
'What should we do first, Byren?' Garzik asked. The boys of thirteen and fourteen had gravitated to him, eager to follow his lead.
Byren's heart sank. They were all going to die. He glanced to the old gaffer who used to look after the chickens. From his expression, it was clear he knew it too but he still clutched the garden scythe in his gnarled hands and waited for orders.
'Byren?' Orrade prodded.
'Right,' Byren muttered. 'We need to light the warning beacon. Is it prepared?'
'The Old Dove always keeps it ready,' the chicken keeper said.
'But the tower was the first place the Merofynians took over,' a stable lad piped up. 'It's full of them!'
'They're nearly all drunk,' the serving maid announced, eyes sparkling.
'We've been keeping them well supplied,' the cook explained. 'They think they're safe because no one knows the Merofynians are here except for Rejulas and his men.'
'Good.' With everyone watching him, Byren felt the weight of their expectation.
'We need to get Elina away from Palatyne,' Orrade said. 'He's taken the Royal Chamber.'
'I'll go save her,' Garzik offered, 'then kill Palatyne!'
'Let me go,' Winterfall offered.
Orrade caught Byren's eye. Garzik wouldn't stand a chance against a warrior of Palatyne's experience and Winterfall was not much better.
'No, I need you two to lead the youths. Dress as servants and sneak up to the top of the warning tower to light the beacon,' Byren told him. 'But don't do it until you get my signal. Once the beacon is alight the Merofynians will know we've risen.' He caught the cook's eye. 'I want to get the household servants and townspeople out into the forest and hidden before then.' He was thinking aloud. Seeing the fate of Lord Dovecote and his birds had convinced Byren that Palatyne would not hesitate to take his anger out on the servants, women and children alike. 'I want everyone hidden before we light that beacon. Just as well the tower guards are drunk.' He smiled at the cook and she blushed as if she was fifteen, not fifty. 'This will make it easier for Garzik and my honour guard to get past them to the top of the tower.'
But how would they get down again? And what about Rejulas's men in the town?
'Set fire to the town. It's wooden, it'll go up like tinder,' Orrade suggested, following the same train of thought. A dismayed mutter arose from the townspeople.
'While the town burns Rejulas's warriors will be too busy escaping with their lives to hunt down the townspeople,' Byren assured them.
Orrade nodded. 'I'll send some men into Doveton to prepare the fires. They can light them the moment the beacon is lit.'
'I'll go,' the chicken keeper offered. 'Take the stable boys with me.'
'What of Lence Kingsheir?' Rifkin piped up. 'He's being kept in the blue chamber.'
Byren felt his first surge of hope. Everyone looked to him. Did they suspect that his twin was a traitor? Why should they?
'I'll deal with Lence,' Byren muttered. If it came to the worst and Lence had betrayed them, he was anxious to save his family shame.
'We can deal with the Merofynian servants,' the cook volunteered. Half a dozen serving girls nodded eagerly. 'Not a warrior amongst them!'
'Good, but quietly,' Byren warned. 'I don't want Palatyne slitting Elina's throat.'
'Goddess forbid!' the cook cried, echoed by others.
Byren smiled. 'Mistress cook, you organise the household staff. Deal with the Merofynian servants then as soon as Palatyne and his lordlings fall asleep, grab food and blankets and lead the townspeople out. Hide in the forest tonight and tomorrow…' Where would they go? '…head into the Divide. That goes for all of you. Don't waste your lives trying to fight the Merofynians. Hide until it is safe to come down.'
They all nodded.
'What of Rejulas?' Garzik asked, rubbing his arms to keep warm. 'He betrayed King Rolen. His life is forfeit. Let me go after him. Winterfall can light the beacon.'
'Rejulas is in the Green Chamber,' the cook volunteered.
'I'll deal with Rejulas,' Byren decided. The last thing he wanted to do was place Elina at risk but his duty was to Rolencia. He fixed on Garzik. 'The beacon is most important. We must alert my father so he can muster Rolencia's defences.'
'What of Elina?' Orrade caught his arm. 'Let me go. I'll slip into Palatyne's chamber, cut his throat and — '
Byren nodded. 'When I give the signal. Once you have her, take her to Sylion Abbey. They'll protect — '
'Not the Divide?' Garzik asked.
Byren shook his head. He didn't know how many of them would reach the dubious safety of the Divide or how long they would be living like savages in the high country.
'If you think Elina will run from a fight you don't know her,' Garzik muttered.
He knew her. The problem was he loved her. 'Time to get moving.'
'Right.' The cook gathered her people and left.
As the last of the women filed out Byren caught Winterfall's shoulder. 'Watch over the young ones.' He didn't mention Garzik by name, didn't want to shame him. 'This won't be like weapons drill. Afterwards meet me at the water-wheel.'
Winterfall nodded then led the youths and the honour guard away. Byren watched them leave with their makeshift weapons, wishing he did not have to send them on this task.
As soon as they were alone Orrade turned to Byren, face grim. 'I'm coming with you when you confront Lence.'