Lycaelon smiled. "You are very formal with me this morning, Anigrel."
"It is a day for the greatest of formality, Lord Arch-Mage, for it is a day that will change the future of Armethalieh forever. The delegation of the Enlightened has arrived. They await us outside the walls. Let us ride forth and escort them into the City."
He had spent last night in communion with his Dark Lady, preparing for this moment. She was very near now. Soon he would behold her face, flesh to flesh, for the first time in his life.
He would give her Lycaelon.
Then he would return to the City, alone, to tell the High Council that the Wildmages had captured and killed the Arch-Mage. He would tell them that an emergency Working must be done to strengthen the Wards upon the walls.
But he would not strengthen them. He would destroy them completely.
The time for subtlety was nearly past.
But just now, a little subtlety was still needed. Enough to overshadow Lycaelon's will, to convince the Arch-Mage that it was, indeed, a very good idea to ride out with Anigrel to meet these new allies…
* * * * *
IDALIA rode up to Redhelwar and Kellen. It was two hours before noon. The walls of Armethalieh were already visible in the distance.
"They're not going to attack," she heard Kellen saying, as she approached.
"In fact, Vestakia can't sense Them at all any longer all of a sudden," Idalia said. "Though somehow I doubt that They've left. And the dose of potion I gave her wore off hours ago."
"They haven't," Kellen said concisely. "Jermayan may not be able to speak from Ancaladar's back any longer, but he can still talk." He pointed up toward the sky where, high above, Ancaladar's black form circled. Intermittently, flashes of light appeared, as if Jermayan were holding… a mirror?
"Jermayan knows the mirror code," Kellen explained, "and here, where the skies are clear all day and the air is always calm, he can use it. I can't read it, but Dionan and Redhelwar can. Jermayan says that They have split the army. Most of Them are about twenty miles off in that direction " He pointed.
Idalia groaned faintly. "That's about where I think the Delfier Shrine is. Too bad we couldn't afford to put part of the army on top of it to defend it."
"They'd have been slaughtered where they stood," Kellen said simply. "It's more important to take the City, and keep Them from getting Their hands on the Great Sacrifice whatever it is and taking it to the Shrine, than to try to hold the Shrine. Especially since that's something we couldn't do anyway."
"Kellen," Redhelwar said suddenly. "They're opening the City Gates."
In the distance, Kellen could just make out the Delfier Gates beginning to move. Not the Lesser Gates, the ones that were opened for the Farm Caravans and to cast out Outlaws but the Great Gates themselves, the ones that stood as high as the City Walls.
"They're going to ride outside the walls?" Kellen demanded in disbelief. "Somebody get Cilarnen."
* * * * *
BY the time Cilarnen had ridden to the top of the column, the gates were almost completely open. Cilarnen stared, as disbelieving of the sight as Kellen.
"The Great Gate hasn't been opened in… even Master Hendassar wasn't sure of the last time it had been opened," Cilarnen said in awe. "They must have seen us, and be planning to attack us. I think I hope I can Shield well enough to stop the first attack; once they recognize they're facing High Magick, they might break off," he added. But he didn't sound certain.
"And if Ancaladar makes a pass over them, their horses certainly won't stand."
"That's true enough," Kellen agreed. Fortunately, they didn't have to try to
figure out a way to tell Jermayan to try that. Jermayan had been trained in the House of Sword and Shield for far longer than Kellen had; if Cilarnen could think of something like that, certainly Jermayan would, too.
"Line halt. Skirimishers to the fore," Redhelwar said.
The horns echoed back down the column.
"Here they come," Cilarnen said nervously, as the first horses came through the gates still miles away at a slow walk. "City Militia. Wait. They're carrying the Arch-Mage's banner. I recognize House Tavadon's colors. And Lord Anigrel is with him see the cadet pennon? They shouldn't be here."
"Oh, Gods of the Wild Magic," Idalia groaned. "Who symbolizes the Land in Armethalieh but the Arch-Mage of the City? Lycaelon is to be the Great Sacrifice! Anigrel must have told him some tale to convince him to come outside the walls where They could get at him!"
"Look," Kellen said, pointing. "There They are."
Another group of riders had just come out of the forest, directly opposite the City gates and the emerging High Mages.
There were perhaps twenty of Them. Once They had taken Their position, They stopped and sat perfectly still. Their horses were whiter than snow, as were Their flowing garments. Even Their hair was white. They wore no armor, carried no weapons. They radiated beauty and calm purity.
"Stop the Armethaliehans before they reach Them," Redhelwar said.
Dionan blew the order. Skirmishers to the charge.
* * * * *
KELLEN and the other skirmishing units galloped across the snow at a dead run, the only thought on anyone's mind to reach the Armethaliehan party before it could reach the White Riders.
Kellen knew what this must look like to those watching from the walls: an attack by the Elves on the Arch-Mage and his escort.
He couldn't allow that to matter to him. There would be time later to explain. Right now, they had to stop the Demons from getting Their hands on the one thing They needed to win.
* * * * *
EVEN though the skirmishing units were farther from the Armethaliehans than the Armethaliehans were from the White Riders, for a few moments it actually looked as if they would reach them first. The Armethaliehan party was moving forward at a slow ceremonial walk, and the White Riders were not moving at all.
Kellen's first hope was that the sight of sixty Elven Knights bearing down on them at a thundering gallop would simply cause the Armethaliehans to turn and dash back inside their walls. It would have been the smartest thing to do.
But the City Militia that formed Lycaelon's honor guard had no concept of warfare or proper tactics. When they saw the enemy approaching they stopped, milled uncertainly for a moment, then formed a protective barricade around Lycaelon and Anigrel, stopping dead where they were. He saw Lycaelon raise his staff of office.
"Scatter!" Kellen shouted. He urged Firareth to an even faster pace as the riders around him broke ranks in every direction.
The lightning bolt struck just where he'd been a moment before. He saw Lycaelon reel back with the effort of casting so powerful a spell, and consoled himself with the knowledge that Lycaelon unlike Cilarnen probably did not have more lightning bolts in reserve.
Now the White Riders spurred Their mounts forward.
* * * * *
IF They had dared to take on Their true forms, it would have been a slaughter instead of merely a battle, but here, so close to the walls, They must continue to seem to be human.
Kellen dropped instantly into Battle-mind.
It was unlike any of his previous experiences. This time the double-sight did not come, overlaying his vision of the enemy with a map of their potential attacks and his. This time, it was as if he simply surrendered himself completely to the Wild Magic, becoming a tool for it to move as it willed. He felt fully alive, fully aware, fully present but his volition had become a part of a force far greater than himself.