shame. 'We had to. Otherwise we would have come under Lord Tomavar's boot or Lord Tanu's. In any case. . . '
'Yes?'
'In any case, only one can become king, and we ail agreed that no one deserves the throne more than Lord Avijan.'
I remained silent as I squeezed the hilt of my sword, and I felt Maram, Master Juwam and Liljana looking at me.
'No one, of course,' Lord Harsha went on. 'except yourself. But we all thought you would never return.'
I gazed at him and said 'But I have returned.'
'That you have, lad,' he said. 'And Lord Avijan would release us all from our oaths and be the first to stand for you. But Lord Tomavar commands six thousand warriors, and another four thousand follow Lord Tanu, and they will surely oppose you if you come forth.'
Although Atara, sitting near the middle of the table, kept her face still and stern, I could almost feel her heart beating in time with my own. I wondered if she had foreseen this moment in her scryer's crystal sphere or what might befall next.
'Will Lord Tanu and Lord Tomavar,' I asked Lord Harsha, 'oppose me so far as to go to war?'
I would rather die, I thought, than see Meshians slay Meshians.
'Who can say?' Lord Harsha muttered. 'These are bad times, very bad. And since the Great Battle, Mesh is weaker, much too weak. New trees we need to stand in the ranks and face our enemies, but we'll be a whole generation growing them. Our enemies know this. Already, it's said, the Waashians are looking for a way to attack us. And the Urtuk already have: they invaded through the Eshur pass last fall. They weren't many, only a thousand, and they might have been just testing our strength - and so Lord Tomavar's army threw them back easily enough. And then there is Anjo.'
'Anjo!' I said. 'But Anjo has never threatened us.'
'No, and that is exactly the point: Anjo hasn't had a real king in two hundred years, and can threaten no one. Her dukes and barons still battle each other bloody. You will not have heard that only two months ago, the Ishkans annexed Adar and Natesh. And King Hadaru still looks for other of Anjo's domains to bite off. Lord Tanu has vowed that this must never happen to Mesh.'
'And it must not!' I told him.
'No - and so Lord Tanu has said that Mesh must have a new king, and soon, if we don't want to wind up like Anjo. Lord Tomavar has said the same thing. They have each demanded that the other stand aside, and have made threats.'
'But if they make war upon each other,' I said, 'then they would make Mesh like Anjo!'
Lord Harsha shrugged his shoulders as his face fell sad and grave. He muttered into his cup of brandy: 'These are bad times, the worst of times, so who can blame an old man for wanting to see his daughter well-wed and give his grandson his first sword? Now, in your father's day, and your grandfather's, no one would ever have thought that -'
'Lord Harsha,' I said, with greater force. 'Will Lord Tomavar and Lord Tanu take up arms against me?'
With a jerk of his head, Lord Harsha downed the last of his brandy and sighed out 'I don't know. Lord Tanu will be cautious, as always. Once he makes up his mind about something, though, he can strike fast and hold on like a bulldog. And Lord Tomavar ...'
'Yes?' I said.
'Lord Tomavar is burning for vengeance now. Full of the blood madness, do you understand? His warriors captured thirty of the Urtuk - and Lord Tomavar accused them of helping Morjin escape across the steppe with Vareva. And so he had them hacked to death.'
'But that is not our way!'
'No, it is not,' he said. He let loose an even deeper sigh. 'And so what will he do when you come forth to claim your father's crown? That I don't want to know, lad.'
The sound of steel forks against earthen plates full of pie rang out into the narrow room, and echoed off the stone walls. I noticed Liljana concentrating all her attention on Behira and Joshu, while Master Juwain looked at me as if admonishing me to find a way of peace in a world full of hate and
'Yes?'
'In any case, only one can become king, and we ail agreed that no one deserves the throne more than Lord Avijan.'
I remained silent as I squeezed the hilt of my sword, and I felt Maram, Master Juwam and Liljana looking at me.
'No one, of course,' Lord Harsha went on. 'except yourself. But we all thought you would never return.'
I gazed at him and said 'But I have returned.'
'That you have, lad,' he said. 'And Lord Avijan would release us all from our oaths and be the first to stand for you. But Lord Tomavar commands six thousand warriors, and another four thousand follow Lord Tanu, and they will surely oppose you if you come forth.'
Although Atara, sitting near the middle of the table, kept her face still and stern, I could almost feel her heart beating in time with my own. I wondered if she had foreseen this moment in her scryer's crystal sphere or what might befall next.
'Will Lord Tanu and Lord Tomavar,' I asked Lord Harsha, 'oppose me so far as to go to war?'
I would rather die, I thought, than see Meshians slay Meshians.
'Who can say?' Lord Harsha muttered. 'These are bad times, very bad. And since the Great Battle, Mesh is weaker, much too weak. New trees we need to stand in the ranks and face our enemies, but we'll be a whole generation growing them. Our enemies know this. Already, it's said, the Waashians are looking for a way to attack us. And the Urtuk already have: they invaded through the Eshur pass last fall. They weren't many, only a thousand, and they might have been just testing our strength - and so Lord Tomavar's army threw them back easily enough. And then there is Anjo.'
'Anjo!' I said. 'But Anjo has never threatened us.'
'No, and that is exactly the point: Anjo hasn't had a real king in two hundred years, and can threaten no one. Her dukes and barons still battle each other bloody. You will not have heard that only two months ago, the Ishkans annexed Adar and Natesh. And King Hadaru still looks for other of Anjo's domains to bite off. Lord Tanu has vowed that this must never happen to Mesh.'
'And it must not!' I told him.
'No - and so Lord Tanu has said that Mesh must have a new king, and soon, if we don't want to wind up like Anjo. Lord Tomavar has said the same thing. They have each demanded that the other stand aside, and have made threats.'
'But if they make war upon each other,' I said, 'then they would make Mesh like Anjo!'
Lord Harsha shrugged his shoulders as his face fell sad and grave. He muttered into his cup of brandy: 'These are bad times, the worst of times, so who can blame an old man for wanting to see his daughter well-wed and give his grandson his first sword? Now, in your father's day, and your grandfather's, no one would ever have thought that -'
'Lord Harsha,' I said, with greater force. 'Will Lord Tomavar and Lord Tanu take up arms against me?'
With a jerk of his head, Lord Harsha downed the last of his brandy and sighed out 'I don't know. Lord Tanu will be cautious, as always. Once he makes up his mind about something, though, he can strike fast and hold on like a bulldog. And Lord Tomavar ...'
'Yes?' I said.
'Lord Tomavar is burning for vengeance now. Full of the blood madness, do you understand? His warriors captured thirty of the Urtuk - and Lord Tomavar accused them of helping Morjin escape across the steppe with Vareva. And so he had them hacked to death.'
'But that is not our way!'
'No, it is not,' he said. He let loose an even deeper sigh. 'And so what will he do when you come forth to claim your father's crown? That I don't want to know, lad.'
The sound of steel forks against earthen plates full of pie rang out into the narrow room, and echoed off the stone walls. I noticed Liljana concentrating all her attention on Behira and Joshu, while Master Juwain looked at me as if admonishing me to find a way of peace in a world full of hate and
Similar Books
