The last day’s march was solemn. The men moved in ordered groups, talking, but quieter this time, the next day’s battle at the forefront of all their thoughts.
Hours before sunset, the army was camped by the ancient forest, but it was a long time before things settled down. Robert, with Galiena at his side, moved through the camp, sharing a few words with as many men as possible.
Galiena was subdued at supper. He tried to draw her into conversation, but she was immune. Instead, he left her early and went wandering through the camp again, unable to rest himself. Every hour or so, one of his aides would find him with the latest report on Selar’s army, entrenched beyond the river, but there were no surprises as yet.
Robert climbed a hill opposite the forest and, almost immediately, was challenged by one of his lookouts. He identified himself and continued on until he could see the whole vastness of Selar’s army spread out before him like a quilt, with only the river holding them back: a rare moment when his enhanced sight did him no good at all.
Samdon Nash was down there, somewhere. Probably eating his supper, drinking wine, much as Robert had done. He’d be giving last-minute orders, receiving reports, doing his best to try to guess what moves Robert would make first.
By the gods, why did he have to be fighting his own people?
But, damn it, facing Nash on his own would not stop this army! How many times did he have to remind himself of that?
So many years, so much time, all spent fighting the prophecy, proving it was wrong, fighting the demon – and still he had ended up here, on a hill overlooking two armies. Was this his destiny, to destroy his own people while trying to save them?
‘I thought I’d find you up here.’ Micah’s voice came to him, quiet and undemanding. ‘Not a pretty sight, is it?’
Robert shrugged. ‘From the air, a bird would never be able to tell the difference between us and them.’
‘What do you see?’ Micah stood beside him.
‘Trouble.’ Robert turned, clearing his thoughts. ‘You know, when this is all over you should go back to Dromna and see if you can convince the lovely Sairead to marry you.’
‘What?’ Micah started.
‘Remember? Sairead? The girl you gave your heart to? Or are you suddenly so fickle, you’ve forgotten already?’ Robert smiled and gave his shoulder a nudge.
‘No, I’ve not forgotten her. I doubt I ever will – but going back to Dromna won’t help.’
‘Why not?’
‘I … well, there are … ’
‘Complications?’
Micah gave a short laugh and nodded wryly. ‘You could say that. Any suggestions?’
‘From me?’ Robert almost choked on the idea.
‘Well, you’re on your second marriage. You must have learned something by now.’
Robert grinned. ‘I’m sorry, my friend, but I don’t have any answers. I’m the last person to be giving advice on women. Were you getting bored down there?’
Micah screwed up his face, somewhere between a frown and a smile. ‘Not exactly – but um … there’s someone here to see you.’
*
Nash was restless.
He strode up and down the narrow length of his tent, stopping only to issue yet another order to Taymar, who waited patiently outside. He’d done with meetings and tactics and Selar. He’d had enough of them all. After so very many years pursuing this goal, he just wanted it to be done, finished with, over. Wanted the coming fight to be won already. Food had been brought to him, but he’d left it untouched. Now it sat on the tray, cold and stinking as though rotten. Anticipation and dread had swallowed his appetite.
He turned and stalked outside. The night air was cool and fresh, the darkness cloaking his mood without help from his powers. He walked between the tents raised for the rich and mighty, past the fires built for those of lesser import. Only when he was beyond them all did he stop, still inside the ring of sentries. Before him the river bent its way from the edge of the forest and across the valley to disappear into the cleft of hills to his right.
Of the enemy camp he could see nothing. The forest hid it all, though every man this side of the river knew they were there. Robert Douglas had prepared well.
Would he take the bait? See the needles Nash drove into him, know he was being weakened with every step? Or would the Enemy see the trap – and walk into it anyway? Even with all his own preparations, there was still no way to make sure. But one way or the other, Robert Douglas had to die.
Nash raised his head and scanned the nearest hilltops. Layers of cloud obscured the stars, but moonlight bled through in scattered patches of grey here and there. And on one hill, steep and towering over the river, was a shadow that could have been a man. Nash strained to see, but the harder he tried, the more the figure shimmered and refused to take form. Could it be him?
Was he restless, like Nash? Climbing to get his first glimpse of the man who would be his destiny?
Was Robert Douglas afraid?
The cold night shifted around him and the figure vanished into the darkness. With a sigh, Nash turned and headed back to his tent.
*
Stubbornly, Micah refused to say a word about the mysterious visitor. Instead, he led Robert back to the camp in silence. Rather than curiosity, Robert felt irritation grow within him and worked hard to control it. Micah led him not to his own tent, but to Aiden’s. He lifted the flap and stood aside to let Robert in first.
The light hurt his eyes for a moment, then he was looking at the Bishop, who had a rather smug smile on his face. Then …
‘Finnlay!’ Robert drew in a breath, stunned to his core. ‘Serin’s blood, what the hell are you doing here?’
Finnlay shrugged. ‘I didn’t want to miss the fight.’
‘But … but it’s too dangerous.’
‘Nash couldn’t possibly have Sensed me leaving the Enclave. I left under the protection of the Key.’ At that, Finnlay stepped aside to reveal a small figure waiting behind him.
Jenn.
Like a frail twig between his fingers, the irritation snapped. ‘Get out!’
I tried to warn you Yd come, but you wouldn’t believe me.
I said, get out of my camp!
I can’t and you know why.
Of course, you’re joined to the Key now. You have no excuse to be ignorant.
I have to be here, Robert.
No, you don’t! But she didn’t move. He drew in a forced breath and nodded once. ‘Fine. Stay. But keep out of my sight!’
With that, he turned on his heel and, ignoring Aiden’s call to wait, strode out of the tent, heading for any place where Jenn wasn’t.
Blind, stupid, stubborn idiot! And she was no better! Why couldn’t she just stay where she was, where it was safe? She’d made her choice, but she still rode in here as though it was all some kind of joke!
‘Robert! Wait!’
He didn’t stop, but Finnlay caught up with him anyway. ‘Don’t blame Jenn, Robert. She only came because of me.’
‘Don’t kid yourself. She’s here for another reason entirely.’
‘What’s that?’
‘Because of him!’
Robert came to the edge of the camp where the forest stood, a curtain of pitch black only yards away. Breathing heavily, he faced Finnlay. ‘She’s the Ally, Finn. His Ally! Why is everyone so blind to that?’
‘Robert, she’d never do anything to harm you! She loves you!’
‘Oh really? She told you that, did she? Eh? Did she actually tell you she loved me?’
‘She … ’
‘Because if she did, it was a damn sight more than she’s ever said to me!’
Robert closed his eyes and dropped his head. The demon rumbled around inside, crashing against things, opening up new wounds, and older ones.
‘You think … ’ Finnlay said quietly, ‘that she loves him? Nash?’
Robert grunted, ‘I know she does. Even if she doesn’t realise it. It’s all in the prophecy. Why else would she be here?’
‘She wants to help. That’s all.’ Finnlay took in a breath. ‘As you were both told, she is the Key.’
Robert froze.
Finnlay continued, gently and carefully, ‘She told me all about it – what happened in Budlandi, when she Stood the Circle. Everything. But she doesn’t know how the prophecy ends, even now. Believe me, she just wants to help you.’
‘Well, she could have done that by … by staying at the Enclave,’ Robert whispered, suddenly drained. ‘I don’t have time for this now.’
Finnlay reached up and took Robert’s shoulder. ‘Come on. I think you need a drink.’
*
At first, Galiena ignored the noise, but then it came so close, she sat up in bed and looked around. Had Robert come back already? But he didn’t normally sneak around like that – and this was definitely a sneaking noise.
A bottle scraping against the table …
‘Who’s there?’ she called. ‘Robert? Is that you?’
The noise stopped and footsteps came closer, breathing slow and heavy. ‘Don’t you know yet the sounds your own husband makes above those of other men?’
A pressure on the end of her bed and she scrambled away, pulling the blankets around her in a gesture she knew was futile. ‘Who are you? What do you want?’
A sigh. ‘Oh, how you hurt me. Do you not know your own brother after only six years? Sister, I’m wounded.’
Galiena gasped, ‘Kenrick? How can I know you? It’s so dark in here.’
‘Then I’ll light a candle.’
Instantly a flame sprang to life, a short squat candle held in his hand. His face was illuminated from below, oppressive and only a little familiar. ‘Now do you know me?’
She stared at the candle, then at him. She’d seen Robert do the same trick a dozen times.
‘Yes, wonderful, isn’t it?’ Kenrick laughed lightly. ‘I had no idea until I found myself doing such things. Every day I learn a little more. Of course, Father knows nothing about it. Actually, it was something I wanted to share with you first. Wasn’t that nice of me? To want to keep something just between us?’
Galiena didn’t move. ‘How did you get in here?’
He raised a shoulder carelessly. ‘Another trick, nothing difficult. I even made it past the sorcerer guards your husband has out there. I suppose he’ll be quite angry with them when he finds out.’
By the gods, he’d changed so much! As a child, he’d been petulant, sometimes selfish and always wilful. Now he was all of that full grown, and more. Mother would have been horrified to see her greatest fears realised. Galiena certainly was. Rosalind had died trying to prevent this very creature from forming.
‘Are you happy then?’ Kenrick continued, one hand snaking out to her ankle beneath the blankets. ‘You chose a fine hero for a husband. A man the people look up to – even after so long in the wilderness, his ballads are still sung in taverns across the country. But I wonder if they’ll sing when they understand the temerity of his ambition.’
He caught her ankle and pulled it towards him, firmly, so she couldn’t escape. ‘Are you expecting him, sister? Do you enjoy sharing the pleasures of his bed? Does he kiss you? Touch you and make you cry out in delight?’ In one swift movement, his hand sought the warmth between her legs.
With a desperate shove, she kicked him away and crawled to the furthest corner of the bed. ‘What do you want?’
‘Nothing but peace between us, sister. Our Father and your husband, I fear, will have nothing but war. I can get you out now, if you like. You know I’ll take good care of you.’
‘I’m not leaving! You go – or I’ll call the guards. Robert’s close by. I don’t care how many powers you think you have. They’re nothing compared to his!’
‘How proud you are of your sorcerer husband. I suppose that’s only proper. Oh well, if you don’t want to come with me, I can’t very well drag you away kicking and screaming. You’d wake both armies with your noise – and we can’t have them turning up to fight in the morning sleepy-eyed and grumpy, can we?’
‘Just get out!’
He stood and grinned a moment. ‘As you wish, sister. Don’t say I never asked. Farewell!’
The light blinked out and his footsteps disappeared into the night.
Galiena sat on her bed for a long time, trying to listen for him over the thumping of her heart. Slowly, in the silence, she relaxed a little, sliding across the bed to put her feet on the rug. She took the blanket with her, drawing it over her shoulders. Unsteadily, she got to her feet and made for the table. With shaking hands she poured out wine, spilling some in the dark. Taking a deep breath, she swallowed until the cup was empty. Gradually the shaking stopped and she turned back to the bedroom. There was no point calling the guard; Kenrick would be long gone by now.
*
‘Hey, steady with that.’ Finnlay raised his hand, but Robert ignored him. Instead, he lifted the flask once more and took a solid mouthful. Then he rested his head back against the tree and closed his eyes.
The forest was about the only place Robert could really be alone. But there was no way Finnlay was going to let him out of his sight. He sat with his back to his own tree, at right angles to Robert, sipped his own flask of ale and held a modest mask steady against anyone coming past.
It was uncanny; Robert looked like a man without a care in the world. No frown, no lines about his eyes to give anything away. But Finnlay had seen him like this once before, seen enough to be frightened of it. The surface was there, unbroken, untouched. But Finnlay was no longer blind to what lay beneath.
‘I believe,’ Robert said lightly, ‘that it’s something of a tradition for generals to take a sup of ale before a battle.’
‘But not to get drunk.’
‘Why not? It could be my last chance. Yours too, for that matter.’ Robert swallowed noisily. ‘He knows I’m the Enemy, brother, but I’ll bet any money he’d give a country or two for your blood. You escaped him three times. A man can only take so much before he buckles under the weight of dented pride.’
Finnlay snorted and put his bottle down.
‘Don’t worry, I’m not going to get drunk and embarrass you.’ Robert chuckled, emptily. ‘Have you met my new wife?’
‘No.’
‘You’ll like her. She’s very … tough. Her mother’s daughter. I just hope I survive long enough to make her completely miserable.’
‘You know, Robert, you’re really unpleasant company in this mood.’
His brother gave another hollow laugh before replying, ‘I’m surprised you never noticed that I’m in this mood most of the time. My problems, you see, never seem to come one at a time, so I can deal with them. They always fall on me in a big fat heap. I scramble and scramble but I just can’t seem to get on top of it all. And things like that tend to affect a fellow’s mood. Of course, I probably take them too seriously. But inside I … ’
Robert was staring into the darkness, abruptly sober. There was too little light for Finnlay to see more.
‘I don’t know,’ Robert whispered, ‘I should be. I know he’s out there, waiting for me. But I’ve been scared for so long now, I can’t tell if this is new or not.’
Finnlay turned to look at him, but his gaze was elsewhere, puzzled, bemused and uncomprehending.
No, Robert wasn’t afraid of dying tomorrow. He was afraid of losing.
As he watched, the gaze refocused, met Finnlay’s squarely. A long silence ended when Robert said, ‘I have to tell you something. Now, just in case … ’ He swallowed but didn’t look away. ‘You were right.’
Finnlay snorted again, unimpressed. ‘About what?’
Robert took another drink, then put the flask down, shoving the stopper in firmly. He settled back again. ‘I should never have sworn an oath to Selar.’
‘What?’
‘You heard me.’
Finnlay stared. This had to be some kind of joke. There was no way Robert would say something like that – not after eighteen years. ‘No. I don’t believe it.’
‘Nevertheless, it’s true. I think I knew all along, but I couldn’t bring myself to tell you. I didn’t want you to think you were right. Pride, you see?’
Finnlay could find nothing to say, and Robert continued, relentlessly honest. ‘You don’t know how many times I could have killed him – and got away with it. But I was convinced I was doing the right thing. All I can say in my defence was that I was young. I kept trying to think what Father would have done in my place.’
‘He wasn’t a sorcerer.’
‘And isn’t it strange how that always makes a difference?’ He paused, half a smile on his face. ‘You and countless others wanted me to kill Selar and take the throne. Stubborn to the last, I refused to listen – and yet look at me now. Personally, I think you would have made a much better job of it.’
‘What?’ Finnlay lifted his head. ‘Are you sure you’re not drunk? Could you really see me as King? Impatient and headstrong and completely incapable of listening to reason? What a charming concept.’
Robert ignored the joke. ‘You were right – I have become obsessed with the prophecy and, in the process, I’ve become blind to the hurt I cause. For years I’ve tried to convince people that sorcery itself was not evil – but I have this demon inside me and I know otherwise.’
Extremely uncomfortable now, Finnlay tried to object. ‘Robert, you’re not evil … ’
‘It was so easy to just blame the Key,’ Robert continued, his gaze floating into the darkness, ‘but it was never the Key, Finn, it was me. Even as I fought it, I allowed it to mould my character, devour my attention, infiltrate my every thought. And still my destiny awaits me, untouched by any of my efforts to stop it. All these years and I never realised I was fighting the wrong battle.’ He turned and faced Finnlay again, his voice quiet. ‘You have no idea how sorry I am, Finn. For everything. I’ve made a lot of mistakes and you – you’ve borne the brunt of most of them.’
Finnlay couldn’t look at him then. Slowly, the fingers of fury unwound themselves from his stomach and he was left raw and hollow.
‘It’s always amazed me,’ Robert murmured, his voice almost inaudible, ‘that you continued to stick by me.’
Swallowing hard, Finnlay replied thickly, ‘You know why.’
‘We’re quite a pair, aren’t we?’
Now Finnlay looked up to find Robert getting to his feet. He held out his hand and Finnlay took it, standing a little unsteadily himself despite his words of warning to Robert. ‘Come on, we’d better get back.’
Before either of them could move, a flash of light split the night. Following hard on its heels was a cry from the perimeter to their left and the unmistakable ring of steel.
Robert was already moving. ‘Get Arlie’s men over here now! That’s a Malachi attack!’
*
Finnlay ran flat out through the camp, desperate to get back to Robert. Already the army was roused, men darting everywhere in a confusing mass, trying to find out where the threat was coming from. He caught sight of two more flashes, alongside cries of pain and the clash of steel. He broke free of the camp and arrived to find Robert in mid-battle, his sword ringing white against the night, illuminating the trees towering above. His opponent swung wildly and in a second, Robert had cut him down. Others still fought on as Finnlay dashed into the fray. Men, dead and dying, were scattered around the forest edge. A figure lunged at him from the darkness and he spun, ready to defend with fire if he had to, but this was no Malachi.
He parried and thrust, but the man was already wounded and died before Finnlay could even get a look at his face. He whirled around, ready for the next – but now there was silence.
‘Bring those torches over here!’ Robert’s voice rang out and Finnlay joined him as he knelt down beside a wounded man – one of Payne’s. ‘Quickly,’ Robert added. ‘Bind up that cut before he bleeds to death. I’ll see to the others.’
More men came from the camp now, doctors and Healers alike, carrying torches, bringing help. Finnlay left his man in better hands and joined Robert standing in the centre of the small battlefield, a deep frown on his face.
‘You all right?’
‘Fine.’ Finnlay nodded. ‘But you’ve got a nasty cut on your arm.’
‘It can wait.’ Robert turned as Arlie emerged from the forest, shaking his head.
‘Both my sentries are dead. Arrows. I don’t know how those bastards got past the others – but I’ll double the guard for the rest of the night.’
By now, Payne had arrived, his face pale with shock and horror at what had happened to his men. He stopped before Robert.
‘Sorcerers?’
‘Malachi. The worst kind.’
‘How many?’
‘Twenty at best count, but only three Malachi. At least that’s three fewer we’ll have to face tomorrow.’
Payne spread his arms side. ‘What did they hope to achieve?’
Robert sheathed his sword. ‘A test of our resolve – and to see how good our defences are. Pass the word on, double guards on every station, another on backup. We can’t afford another mess like this tonight. You’ve lost half a dozen good men, Payne. Look after the rest.’
Finnlay grabbed a bandage from the nearest Healer and took Robert’s arm. He wound it firmly around the wound, but as he tightened it up, a voice came to him from the forest. He looked up to find Murdoch stumbling towards them, a body across his arms.
‘I caught one, Robert!’ Murdoch almost roared with triumph. ‘She was keeping back, watching the attack. I knocked her out – but she’s Malachi, all right. A Malachi prisoner!’
Murdoch stopped before Robert and laid the girl on the ground. She was unconscious and Robert knelt, waving a torch closer. She was young, golden-haired and very pretty, even with the wound on her head, already turning into a bruise.
‘Well done, Murdoch.’ Robert looked up with a smile. ‘Well done indeed – and she won’t have any powers for some time thanks to that knock to her skull.’
‘Are you sure?’ Payne asked.
‘Positive. I’ve had enough personal experience. Arlie?’
‘Yes?’
‘Bind her hand and foot and put her in that tent over there, on the perimeter. I don’t want her anywhere near the centre of our camp. Salti guards only, understand?’
‘Perfectly.’
‘Once she’s settled, get her awake. I want to talk to her.’