Homage and Honour (41 page)

“What is your
plan?” asked David.

* * * * *

War (1)

The Largan had
sent for his closest advisors and his bravest fighters.

His voice
boomed. “It is time. For too many seasons we have hidden here in
our dens, waiting for the day when we can once again fight for what
is ours by right. The kohorts are at full strength. The time is
right. The time is now. The way is clear. We must not wait until
the melts. Muster the kohorts and lead them to the gathering
place.”

He looked at
the large male who stood quivering at the very front.

“To you, Yvdr
the honour to lead my kohorts to victory. If you succeed in this
the next Largan you will be.”

Yvdr stood tall
and proud.

“I will destroy
them all,” he promised in a ringing growl, “or die in the attempt.
Victory will be ours.”

The war-baying
could be heard throughout the valley and beyond.

* * * * *

Quest (6)

Philip, Ruth
and Tana made good time as they journeyed to the woods where Tavei
and Andrei were waiting. They travelled by night through the
desert, land uninhabited by virtue of its harshness and lack of
water, and resting by day. They neither sensed nor saw any
pursuit.

On the fourth
evening Tana could see the beginnings of the woods. The scrub
becoming more pronounced as they cantered throughout the
night-dark.

“Tavei and
Andrei are close,” Tana announced to the other two.

“You can sense
them?” asked Philip, surprised.

“Yes. They are
at the edge of the treeline. We go that way.” She disengaged her
hands from the reins and pointed. Tana couldn’t wait to dismount
her horse and begin to ride Tavei again. Horseback riding was so
uncomfortable.

“I agree,”
announced Ruth, her voice filled with a longing long
suppressed.

“Is Andrei
mind-linking with you?” asked Tana.

Ruth nodded,
“he is there waiting for me. I can feel it; it’s so wonderful.”

“If you try to
broadcast your thoughts to him,” Tana warned, “all within
telepathic range will be able to overhear. So be careful. Keep your
emotions under control.”

“Can all humans
do that? Broadcast?” asked Philip with interest.

“Not
consciously, no,” answered Tana, “not unless you are vadeln-paired
but the Lind can pick up emotions. So can the Larg. I have no way
of knowing if there are any Larg around. I am trying to suppress my
longing to see Tavei again and Ruth must try to do the same.”
Turning to Ruth she repeated, “try to keep your emotions under
wraps.”

“I will try. Do
you think we are being hunted?” she asked as she nibbled at some
dry trail rations.

“I would be
very surprised if we are not,” Philip said, “hopefully, it will
take them a while to connect the two disappearances and when they
do, they will be searching for two, a man and a girl; not one man
and two others. They will not expect either that we have taken the
route over the desert and they know not that we are meeting two
Lind.”

“We will be
able to go much faster alindback,” added Tana, “and if Philip
changes mounts every few bells we will be able to conserve the
energy of the horses that bit longer. It is lucky that this oasis
is empty as well. A short rest now and then the last run.”

“Canter,” he
corrected her.

“Canter then if
you want to be pedantic about it.” She eyed her present saddle with
disfavour; compared with the comfortable and supple zarova leather
saddle the Lind wore, it was purgatory to sit on it.

After resting,
they remounted and set off on the last stage of their journey to
where the Lind waited.

As they reached
the trees Tana’s eyes began to sparkle, “there are not two Lind
waiting but three!” she exclaimed. “They have met up with one of
the Avuzdel on his way home.” She dismounted from her exhausted
horse’s back and began unfastening her packs. Ruth slid down from
where she had been riding pillion behind Philip. After a moments
thought Tana undid the girths and removed the saddle.

“Avuzdel?”
asked Philip, to whom the word was new.

“A spy,” Tana
answered him, “he will have been trying to find out what the Larg
are up to. Tavei says that he has agreed to carry you to the coast.
An honour no less. Not many will permit a human to ride them that
are not their vadeln except in times of peril but his decision is
worrying. I wonder what he has learned that has made him agree.
Perhaps the Larg are closer than we thought. Try to keep your minds
a blank you two.”

Tana unbridled
her mount then slapped at her rump. “Off with you now,” she
said.

Philip was
copying Tana’s actions and unsaddling his gelding. After a moments
thought he removed the bridle as well and watched him walk off into
the wood-gloom behind Tana’s mare with a pang of regret. The
gelding was a very old friend and he would miss him a lot.

Ruth wasn’t
being much help. She was in a state of quivering excitement as she
sensed Andrei getting closer.

“Tavei is
taking steps to block them though even he and I will keep our
mental distance from now on.”

“I can see
them,” cried the excited Ruth.

“I’m coming
north with you,” announced Philip in a rush, “but you knew that
already didn’t you?”

“I knew that
you couldn’t go back,” she answered with an arch look and a wicked
grin, “no matter what you were telling me. That first night out you
should have returned then you could have made an excuse and
pretended that you had gone out looking for us but you did
not.”

While Ruth was
murmuring sweet nothings to Andrei and Tana was welcoming her
Tavei, Philip was staring at the large dun-coloured Lind that was
to be his mount with dubious trepidation, why he was quite as big,
bigger even than the horses of the Royal Ceremonial Troop!

This, his first
experience of riding one of the fabled Lind was to be one he would
remember for as long as he lived. He wrapped his legs tightly round
its barrel and took hold of the silken ruff hair as Tana had
instructed.

“Hold on
tight,” the Lind rumbled.

“Don’t try to
direct him,” ordered Tana, “let him make the decisions. He is not a
horse.”

“No reins,”
Philip agreed.

“And keep your
heels to yourself, “this is no battle ride, it is a run. There are
some spare harnesses at the dom where we will rest. You’ll find it
easier then.”

They were off.
Philip, with a shock, realised that the Lind did not walk, trot,
canter and gallop like a horse, they ran a mile-devouring lope that
conserved energy and was surprisingly smooth. He began to relax and
prepared to enjoy himself. Glancing over at Ruth he realised the
girl was in a seventh heaven of delight. The princess had always
been an excellent horsewoman, unusual for a female in Murdoch.

As the night
wore on Philip’s last doubts about his decision to go north
disappeared. He would not have missed this for all the kala on the
planet.

The Lind had
not questioned him being there either. He had sensed not a glint of
suspicion, merely acceptance that he was a friend of Tana and Ruth
and that he had helped them get away.

As promised,
they reached the dom without incident. Tana told him that most of
these hidden doms were located on high ground and within thick
woods. They struggled up the almost sheer slope to reach the
top.

“We will be
safe here,” announced Tana, echoing Philip’s thoughts, “these woods
go on for miles, right up to the coast where the boat will come for
us. Once we have rested and eaten we will go on.”

“Where are we
exactly?” asked Ruth with interest. She had settled herself down
beside Andrei, the very picture of contentment. Philip had never
seen her look so alive and happy.

“We are on the
eastern fringes of Graham. There are few farms around here,
forestry is the main occupation. The villages are set beside the
rivers so that the wood can be transported easily. We’ll stay away
from these areas and ride through the middle. The Lind are at home
in the trees.”

“Didn’t you
come south the same way?”

“We came over
the Islands.”

“In the
winter!”

“It took some
doing,” admitted Tana, “the seas were rough and I wondered from
time to time if we would survive the experience. I’ve never felt so
wet and cold in all my life, not even when I had a duty stint in
the mountains during midwinter and it is a journey I will never
repeat, however many princesses need rescuing!”

The six wound
their way through the forest until they reached the inlet where the
boat awaited them (Beth would have recognised it).

As Philip
dismounted and thanked the Lind (he never did learn his name) for
permitting him to ride him, the male cocked an ear at the Lord
Marshall’s son.

“Tavei tells me
that you are a warrior,” he said.

“Tavei is
right,” Philip confirmed.

“You come with
us to Vadath.” It was a statement of fact.

“If you will
have me.”

“Vadath will
have you,” the Lind replied, “I think you will do well there.” He
then moved away from Philip and padded to the water’s edge.

The sail north
was, like their run north, without incident. Philip stood at the
stern of the boat and watched as the coastline faded into the
distance. He would not return to his homeland, that part of his
life was over, he was going to Vadath, his welcome uncertain, to a
country which was as different as it could be from everything that
he knew. As he stood thinking, long after the coast-haze had
vanished, he wondered what was happening back at the Palace.

Guard Sergeant
Donald
had
seen Tana in her guise as the Graham messenger
leave the Palace without much thought. His Captain and Count Graham
kept in regular touch with one another, had done since boyhood. He
supposed the lad was carrying his Captain’s letter of reply.

He had also
accepted the fact that Captain Ross would be absent most of this
day and the next, having a message to deliver from the Queen to her
daughter the Duchess Annette Baker at the Baker manor some miles
south-west of Fort.

He went to bed
that night little thinking what the morrow would bring.

* * * * *

Molly, Princess
Ruth’s maid, arrived at her charge’s room with the breakfast tray.
Opening the door, she peeked round to see if she could see the
princess. The bed was empty but that was not unusual. Ruth often
went for an early morning stroll in the gardens.

Molly sat down
to wait.

She waited then
waited some more.

No Ruth
appeared.

Now, Molly was
not the brightest of girls, she didn’t try to look for Ruth but,
having decided that she must do something, did a spot of tidying
and got Ruth’s clothes ready for when she returned.

She laid out an
appropriate dress and hunted for the matching slippers but as time
passed she began to feel uneasy. Where was her Highness? Molly
began to think that something was very wrong. She opened the dress
closet and mentally catalogued its contents. If Princess Ruth had
got up and dressed herself before taking her matutinal stroll, what
had she put on?

The three
riding habits were on their hangers. The day dresses were all
hanging limp to the right of the rail. The formal court dresses
were all present and there was no way Ruth could have laced them up
herself.

Why, the
Princess must have gone out wearing only her undergarments! Wild
and unconventional Princess Ruth might be, but to go out thus!

Molly was now
thinking very fast for her. She counted the dresses again just to
be sure then sat back on a nearby chair to consider the
conundrum.

She looked
under the bed, though why she thought Ruth was likely to be there
no-one afterwards could guess and peeked into the water closet. No
Ruth.

Thus it was
that, after a while, Molly went to seek the Housekeeper to ask her
what she should do.

“She is not in
the gardens, nor has she gone for a ride,” announced the Palace
Seneschal to the Housekeeper, “her palfrey is in its stable and
none of the staff there has seen her.”

“She can’t have
gone far,” announced the Housekeeper. “Have you told the
Guard?”

“I have,” the
Seneschal answered, turning to Molly.

“When did you
last see her girl?”

“Last night
sir.”

“Did she say
anything to you about what she might be planning for this
morning?”

“Only that she
intended to sleep late and that I was to attend later than
usual.”

“It is now
almost the twelfth candlemark. You should have come to tell us
before this.” The two people responsible for the smooth running of
the palace looked very worried as they gazed around Ruth’s bedroom
looking for inspiration. Molly began to panic. What if they blamed
her?

Housekeeper and
Seneschal looked at each other.

“Has she been
kidnapped?” she mouthed.

He shrugged his
shoulders.

“Princess Ruth
has not been seen since last night, there is no sign of her in the
palace grounds. I will have to inform the Queen but let us first
see if Molly here can tell us anything more.”

Was there
anything amiss with Princess Ruth last night?” asked the
Housekeeper.

Molly thought
hard.

“She said that
she wasn’t feeling well before bed,” she offered.

“How so?”

“I don’t know,”
stammered a confused Molly, “she never said.”

“Did you tidy
up this morning when you came in?” asked the Housekeeper, her
glance sweeping round the room again.

“Molly nodded,
“yes I had to, it was such a mess. There were clothes all over the
bed, the floor too.”