Chapter-2-4

⁠—⁠—⁠— IV ⁠—⁠—⁠—

It was the morning of the third day since Guin had ridden forth to seek the Lagon. The combined force of the Sem, after two days on the move, was now resting at an oasis to the south of Dog’s Head Mountain. After the most recent battle with the Mongauli army, the Karoi tribe had joined with the rest of the wildlings, and now their united army numbered nearly seven thousand. The Sem knew all of the oases in the vast Nospherus desert, and because of their numbers they had chosen to make camp beside the largest of them all.

Rinda and Remus were traveling with Loto’s personal guard, accompanied by Suni and the Raku women. The twins were doing their best to put a brave face on their unease, but they had grown steadily more anxious since Guin had left them on his quest for reinforcements. Since they had first met him, the leopard-man had been their strength, their great protector. Although Suni and Loto treated them with kindness, the Sem were savages nonetheless, and the twins were often frustrated by the fact that they could barely communicate with the wildlings who watched over them. Brother and sister often found themselves thinking back apprehensively over the events of the past few days.

The day after Guin departed for the east, the Sem army headed southward. Soon the main body of the wildlings joined up with the warlike Karoi, who were still in high spirits after their annihilation of Count Marus and his blue knights. Along with the welcome news of the victory, Rinda and Remus had found another surprise awaiting them amongst the Karoi—a familiar figure of human stature standing among the diminutive monkey-folk.

“Istavan!” The twins forgot their resentment at his trickster ways in their happiness to see another human being, someone who looked as they did and who spoke their language. “You are still alive!”

“Of course I am!” Istavan appeared to have suffered an injury, and his right ear was plastered with an herbal poultice, but clearly it was not enough to dampen his high spirits or curb his ill manners at all. “You didn’t really think the Crimson Mercenary would be slain by some common soldier before attaining his destined kingship? My poor young queen, you must have been worried over me.”

Istavan bent down to kiss Rinda’s upturned face, and was met with a sharp slap of her hand.

“Your queen, indeed!” The girl’s face grew red with anger. “I won’t tolerate your impudence!”

“Don’t be embarrassed. I know you missed me—I saw how happy you were when you spied me coming.”

Istavan burst into laughter.

The humans’ conversation was largely lost on the Sem gathered around them. The chieftains Ilateli, Loto, Tubai, and Kalto were preoccupied with the arrival of their new allies, the Karoi; they could not hide their relief that the powerful tribe had joined them, but all except Ilateli of the Guro were more than a little anxious as well. The Karoi were famous for their bravery and ferocity, but the ferocity was a double-edged blade; it had brought the Sem a victory but also increased the instability of their tenuous alliance.

“By the way…” Done teasing Rinda, Istavan had grown serious, and now he looked around intently. “Where is he? After all the trouble I went through for his sake, he could at least come and express his appreciation. Does he think he’s already been crowned King of the Sem? Kids, what is your leopard-headed boss doing?”

“Guin? He’s, um…”

Rinda hesitated, then gave an evasive answer. She didn’t know what Istavan might be hiding or what he had been asked to do, nor did she want to tell him what she knew of Guin’s latest plan; she felt unsure enough about it herself. But Istavan, irked by her circumspection, refused to be put off and kept repeating his questions. Rinda looked to her brother for assistance, but Remus wasn’t inclined to stand up to the mercenary, and so at last she hesitantly told Istavan that in fact she didn’t know where the leopard-man had gone.

“What did you say?”

Istavan’s response was much worse than she had expected. He lunged forward as if he meant to grab her by the shoulders and shake her. Rinda quickly stepped back.

“What does he think he’s doing, absconding like some court spy and leaving both of you here?”

“Don’t say ‘absconding’—that was hardly his intention!” Rinda answered angrily. “Guin is risking his life to save us. He went to seek reinforcements because, without them, the Mongauli will drive the Sem into a corner!”

“Reinforcements!” The face of the Crimson Mercenary was a sight to behold. “I swear by the train of the Queen of the Dawn’s red dress, I would like to know where he can find reinforcements amid all this bleeding sand! Must be he finally got his memory back and took off for his homeland of leopard-headed freaks!”

“Istavan, you are so heartless!”

The mercenary’s lack of manners drove Rinda to distraction, but at the same time, hearing his ranting after they had been separated for a while made her feel a little fondness for him, too. She did not regard Istavan with the same kind of awe that she felt for Guin, but he had nonetheless become a companion—almost a friend.

Abruptly, the princess came to the conclusion that it was best to tell Istavan as much as she knew and not try to conceal anything from him. “Guin took a chance,” she said, and explained the leopard warrior’s plan to go in search of the giant Lagon. The mercenary listened carefully, and as she went on he made a face as though he had bitten into a mouthful of salt.

“Lagon?” he demanded. “You are saying Guin went looking for the phantom tribe of the savage Lagon? In that case our chances of getting reinforcements are about as good as the chances he’ll return with a troop of leopard-headed monsters like himself. By Janos, that is very helpful.” The pragmatist’s black eyes signaled that he thought the very opposite. “And you say he promised to bring this phantom army here within four days? Doesn’t that cat-faced monstrosity realize there are some things he cannot do in this world?”

“You are no different, Istavan of Valachia!” Rinda was furious at the way Istavan had spoken of her protector. “You are always saying that you will do things beyond your ability—it is as if you live in your own dream!”

“She’s right,” Remus joined in. “You say you’re going to find the Shining Lady and become a king.”

To the twins’ surprise, Istavan didn’t respond in anger, but simply winked and smiled. “I may not look it, but I’m a realist,” he informed them. “My guardian deity is Ellis, the Goddess of Suspicion, and the blood that runs in my veins is as bitter as the water of Corsea and won’t accept the temptation of a dream in broad daylight. The only future I claim is the one I can make possible. I never promise anything I cannot do! And I would never go into the desert to chase a wild idea like… like bleeding Lagon.”

“I heard you say before that your guardian deity is the Goddess Irana,” Rinda replied sarcastically. “It seems like all the gods and goddesses are your guardian deities, Istavan.”

“Yes, especially the goddesses. Older women tend to find me irresistible,” Istavan answered shamelessly. “But I guess Guin’s patron deity must be the blind and stubborn god of hell. And both of you are duck-shaped dulax. I don’t understand why you let him go off by himself. If you had just gone with him, you all could have escaped safely, pretending to wander off on some insane hunt for a phantom tribe. It’s not like we have some obligation to share the fate of these desert monkeys.”

“The Sem saved us!” Rinda drew herself up angrily. “And besides, Ilateli didn’t understand that Guin wouldn’t desert the Sem—he thought Guin would run away instead of seeking out reinforcements.”

“That’s why we’re here.” Quickly Remus explained that the chieftain of the Guro had been unwilling to let the twins depart with the leopard-man.

As soon as Istavan heard the boy’s story his eyes narrowed, and his face grew crafty.

“Right.” The mercenary licked his lower lip. “I see. Now I understand my hunch that something was wrong.” He gnawed at the corner of his mouth, a series of sly expressions shifting across his face. “It was too strange that he left both of you here and just disappeared—after all, you can barely even communicate with the Sem. Now I see why.”

“What are you suggesting?” Rinda’s voice rose shrilly. Though she found it difficult to get along with Istavan, she realized that he was far more knowledgeable in the ways of the world. His store of experience seemed endless.

“Hey, how many warriors do the Raku have?”

“W-Why?”

As Rinda grappled with the question in confusion, Remus answered for her. “I believe they number between twelve and thirteen hundred.”

The princess stared at her brother in amazement, unable to believe that Remus had been able to supply that information. As far as she was concerned, her twin was a blockhead and a sissy.

“About a thousand…” Istavan continued to gnaw at his lip. “How about the Rasa?”

“They have about half that number.”

“Ah…”

“What is it? What are you thinking?” Rinda shrieked out, unable to bear the suspense. “Please tell me! Don’t tease me at a time like this!”

“All right. Shall I tell you? It seems Her Royal Highness has failed to understand what is happening,” Istavan replied sardonically. “Well, your smart brother says that Ilateli wouldn’t agree to you and Guin leaving here together. Ilateli is the chief of the Guro—the black-haired monkey-folk you see all around us, looking bigger and nastier than the rest of the wildlings. That means that both of you—and me, too, now, by the looks of it—have been left as hostages. Do you understand what that means?”

Rinda gasped.

“To make it brief, the Sem don’t really trust Guin—their precious Riyaad. At this point in our little war, our side is pushing forward. But what if the Mongauli army, which has suffered some losses but is nonetheless far better trained than these monkeys, pushes back? At all costs we have to avoid starting to fight amongst ourselves. Even when Guin is here to take command the Sem squabble over whether they will follow him or not. And now, by the pale forehead of the Moon Goddess Aeris, he is long gone!

“He said to wait for four days? Four days? Even one day is doubtful. I imagine the Sem started acting like balto cocks squabbling over territory as soon as he left. But that old monkey Loto wants to protect you. He says that you saved his granddaughter, and he feels he owes you a big obligation.” Istavan snorted derisively. “The dull ol’ Rasa will be on Loto’s side too. The problem is the Guro, those black monkeys—and the Karoi, too, now that they’ve joined the mix. Hey, those guys are actually respectable soldiers. And right now they’re starving for blood. Even I was shocked after I traveled half a day with ’em. Once their blood frenzy gets started, stopping ’em’s harder than peeling off sand leeches. I bet the Guro and the Karoi get along very well.”

Rinda gasped again.

“I am beginning to think that my return was only part of Jarn’s evil plan for me. The Karoi and Guro together are stronger than the Raku and Rasa together—and even if the Tubai came in on our side, the black monkeys are better as soldiers. I don’t know what I was thinking, coming here. After I escaped from the valley, why didn’t I steal a horse and escape from this forsaken desert? What if the Karoi and Guro decide they can’t wait any longer and start to believe more in their own chiefs, who they know can fight for them, than in long lost Riyaad?” Istavan spread his arms wide in a gesture that left the twins to imagine what would happen if that came to pass.

But Rinda wasn’t inclined to agree with Istavan’s assessment of their wildling allies.

“The Sem have only succeeded in this war because of Guin’s help!” she exclaimed. “Without his planning, they would have made a frontal attack straightaway. They wouldn’t have lasted for a single day—they would already be exterminated from Nospherus.” Rinda gestured dismissively with her hand. “And Loto’s not the only one who knows that. Tubai and Ilateli do, too. They’re not stupid! And Guin told them to wait for four days…”

Istavan shrugged doubtfully but offered no reply.

Instead, Remus burst out unexpectedly: “Rinda, Guin hasn’t exactly gained the Sem’s trust by vanishing into the desert!”

Rinda was taken aback by her brother; she had grown accustomed to him following her lead unquestioningly. She stared at him intently, as if she could read in his face what had changed, and he blushed self-consciously. “My, my,” she said, “since when have you become so wise?”

“The prince can see what’s right in front of him,” Istavan cut in brusquely, emerging from a moment of contemplation. “Anyway, if Guin can make it back here a day early—or even half a day—it shouldn’t be a problem. But if the time comes and he doesn’t show, we will soon be fighting for our lives. And if something else cajols the Sem into fighting amongst themselves before then, it will be a terrific opportunity for the Mongauli…

“And then of course there are the monsters of the desert, which might take things into their own hands—or jaws—at any moment. Sand leeches, yidoh, vampire moss, mouths-of-the-desert… And to think that he’s out looking for something that nobody knows how to find! Or maybe Guin does know how. Or maybe not. I wonder…”

“Oh, please stop it! I beg you!” Rinda raised her clenched hands as if to cover her ears. “Please don’t talk about the sand leeches and the yidoh. What if something has happened to Guin? Then we have no choice but to die here—don’t you understand that?”

“Rinda!”

Remus embraced his sister, and the two clung together, comforting each other even as they shared their fears. For a long while Istavan gazed at them in silence. His dark and playful eyes had changed, reflecting some inexplicable mystery; behind them a plan was forming.

“Of course I know that. You don’t have to say it,” the mercenary whispered at last, his voice taking on a tone the twins had never heard before. Perhaps he was thinking about the two thousand soldiers and one gray-haired old knight that he had betrayed to death, who had died screaming his false name—died in fire and agony, swearing they would never forgive him. He noticed that the twins were looking at him strangely and mumbled something about not feeling like himself before disappearing towards the opposite side of the oasis. Remus and Rinda watched him go without another word.

Despite Istavan’s dire predictions, and the twins’ ever-growing worries, little more happened that day. Guin did not return, and there were no enemy attacks. In fact the day was unusually calm, and the desert did not seem like the battlefield it had become.

The air grew very hot and still, as if the sandstorm that had passed earlier had taken every breath of movement with it. As the sun rose higher the heat grew steadily worse. There was no sign of a breeze, and the Sem, gathered around the oasis pools, dully soaked their feet and hands. The children and the elders had been sent into shelter to the north, so there were no longer any youngsters running around playing their wildling games. Rinda and Remus kept company with Suni, and together the three rested in the limited shade of the oasis trees, trying to escape from the heat. When the sun finally set and the temperature cooled with characteristic desert swiftness, everyone was relieved. Yet it wasn’t long until the pleasant evening coolness had turned to uncomfortable cold—another hallmark of the unique Nospherus climate.

The chieftains of the Sem had all grown quiet and surly, isolating themselves from one another. The hostile mood of the Karoi seemed to have infected them all, and spread in an unfriendly wave among them. Now the wildlings of each tribe avoided associating with members of the other tribes and seemed reluctant even to talk with their own elders and leading warriors. The Karoi themselves—though they had ostensibly come to ally themselves with the rest of the Sem—were the worst of all. They seemed to simmer with ferocity, as if ready to unleash new atrocities at any moment, and even Loto wouldn’t get close to them.

This was the state of the Sem army at nightfall. The mixed horde of wildlings, with no overall leader, had lost all semblance of being a unified force. The different tribes had withdrawn into separate parts of the encampment, where they gathered aimlessly, ate simple food, and slept deeply without bothering to post sentries. After a quiet day, and without Guin to lead them, the Sem had quickly grown slack.

So it was that no one noticed when a squad of Mongauli scouts quietly approached the oasis, drawn by the brilliant glimmer of the water reflected in the night sky. The squad stopped cautiously at a distance, and just two or three scouts separated from the main group and crept forward stealthily. They seemed no more than shadows in the darkness, but these were watchful shadows that moved in as close as they dared to the oasis and carefully observed the dispositions of the Sem. Then they slipped back to the squad and were reabsorbed. Tense, whispered voices carried out a quick conversation; the soldiers quietly retraced their footsteps back the way they had come until they had reached a sufficient distance from the sleeping Sem, at which point they galloped headlong all the way back to the Mongauli camp.

The scouts’ report was exactly what the Gohran army had been waiting for. The Mongauli ranks parted to make a lane down which the triumphant squad marched to the general’s pavilion to make its report. The information they bore had already been sent to Amnelis before the procession arrived, and she was waiting for them just inside the pavilion entrance dressed in full regalia for the coming battle—white gloves, a matching belt, and a long mantle flung back over the shoulders of her gleaming armor. Her lips were taut, and she held her joy in check as she listened to the report.

“This is good news,” she said at last. “Feldrik! Carry me a message!”

“Taking the field, I presume,” the knight replied and dashed away.

For a moment Amnelis remained gazing at the leader of the scouting squad. She seemed on the verge of making some extended speech, but simply said:

“This is a glorious achievement, Astrias!”

“Yes, my lady.”

Astrias' whole body was shaking with emotion. But when he raised his eyes, the general was already striding away.

Moments later Feldrik was addressing the gathered invaders while Amnelis, resplendent, looked on. “Army of Mongaul! Prepare for departure! Our goal is the army of the Sem, encamped in an oasis to the northeast!”

The knight’s voice was husky as he continued the general’s message.

“We shall launch a surprise attack before sunrise!”