Sapphire woke once more, I was half asleep myself but listened to him anyway. He talked randomly, feverish, not knowing I was there and I think not even fully conscious. I learned some things then that I would rather not have known. Details about his childhood, if it could be called that. After he fell silent I lay barely awake myself, wondering about the kind of men who would subject a child to such horrors, put them under such extreme pressure in order to mold a tool for their own use. For him, from the age of five, every single day had been a test, with pain or death the consequence of failure. Sometimes pain was the test. 'First to cry out dies,' and then they had burned them with hot irons until one cried out. How many had he said? A thousand children, and twenty to survive. No wonder he was what he was, I thought. No wonder.
I slept, but didn't sleep well. In my dream there was mist.
I knew it was Jocasta even before I saw her.
“Sumto?”
“I'm here,” I told her.
The mists cleared and there she was, beside her stood a shadowy figure I could hardly see. She was holding the shadow, as though supported by it. She was pale, swaying. Behind her was an indistinct gray backdrop. I glanced around. We were in a tent, just the two of us and the shadow propping her up.
“Are you all right?” I stepped closer. “Where are you?”
She smiled. “I am well enough, Sumto. I'm with the army. The enemy pulled out of Undralt and two days later our forces arrived. We are with the army now, safe as we can be. The army is close to the Eyrie.”
“I know.”
Her face went very slowly still. “Where are you?”
I pulled a face. I didn't want to tell her.
“You're there, aren't you? In the Eyrie. What are you doing there? Why are you there? Are you all right?”
I held up a hand to still the flood of questions. “I am okay for now. I came for Tahal Samant.”
She hissed out a breath and rolled her eyes to the ceiling. “Are you insane? Why? Why did you do it?”
I shrugged. “I had to do something. I dared not stay with you. The dogs…”
“Dogs? Those dogs were something to do with you?”
I nodded, told her briefly. She didn't say anything for a while.
“Don't come in after me,” I told her. “The army will take the Eyrie… it is big enough a force to do the job isn't it? They haven't sent too small an army?”
She shook her head. “Four legions. The north is going to be… well,” she shrugged, “pacified.”
I blinked. Four legions. Over thirty thousand men, and who knew how many battle mages. Enough to do the job and to spare. “How far away are they?”
“A few miles. Close. I think they will close at dawn and attack at once. Where are you?”
“The vaults,” I answered absently. I imagined what would happen. The battle mages would bring down the walls, our soldiers would stream into the breeches. It would be a slaughter. “They know you're coming. Where are the rest of their forces?”
She shook her head, touching my lips to still them. “The Prashuli and Orduli chieftains were killed in battle at Paresh. The bulk of their forces destroyed, the rest fled. Are you alone?”
“No. Sapphire is with me but he is badly hurt,” I told her. “They got as far south as Paresh?”
“Listen to me. Yes, and further. Muria was almost overrun before they were stopped. But I understand that ever since then we have been breaking them and haven't lost an engagement. At Paresh we broke them and their alliance dissolved. It's been mopping up since then. A legion or two breaking off to deal with minor armies as the rest pushed north.”
“The Eyrie is the last?”
“The Orduli and Prashuli have sued for peace, offered terms. Nothing is settled yet but they won't be taking part in the fighting any more. Unless we decide to punish them.”
I nodded, thinking. “And further north? Other tribes to the east and west?”
“I don't know everything, Sumto. I don't. I'm not being told.” She looked fretful.
“What's wrong?”
She looked down, shrugged and looked up at me again, raising her chin. “My family are not happy with me.”
“They should be proud of you. Tell them from me…”
She stopped me. “Tell them yourself, when you are free.” She shook her head, smiling up at me. “My heroic fool, what were you thinking, going after Tahal?”
I shrugged. “I don't know. It seemed like the thing to do. I needed to do something to redeem myself.”
“I wish I could help you.” It was admitting that she couldn't. “If I had known where you were I never would have let them take the greater stone from me,” she frowned.
Just then the shadow moved and I heard something, clearly a voice but nothing distinct enough to understand.
“I have to go. Good luck, my love.”
Well, I thought, when she had gone and I drifted through the fog back to a natural sleep. Love. She didn't mean it, of course. It was surely just a turn of phrase.