tone. Something was seriously wrong with her.
Denjon and Linst wheeled their mounts around and cantered back towards the long line of red-coated Defenders. They watched them leave in silence, watched Denjon ride to the head of the column, and heard the faint sound of the trumpet signalling their advance as it was whipped away on the icy wind.
“So what happens now?” Adrina asked after a while.
Damin shrugged. “We wait for the demon child.”
When R'shiel arrived more than an hour later, she was on foot and the two Karien boys were with her. Damin and Adrina both dismounted when they caught sight of her. She was chatting to Mikel and Jaymes as they walked across the trampled grass towards them, the three of them apparently in a fine mood and the best of friends. When she reached them, she was smiling broadly.
“The Defenders got away all right then?” she asked.
“About an hour ago,” Damin informed her. “Where have you been?”
“Communing with the gods,” she told him with a grin. “Let's do something about these Kariens, shall we?”
Damin grabbed her arm as she turned towards the prisoners. “What are you going to do, R'shiel?”
“You'll see.”
Without waiting for his reaction she pulled her arm free and taking Mikel's hand, walked towards the Kariens. Jaymes followed after them. The lad had filled out since he had been training with the Hythrun. At fifteen he was the size of a full-grown man. Any animosity that had existed between the brothers seemed to have been put to rest. That odd turn of events bothered Damin almost as much as what R'shiel might be planning.
Almodavar turned and dismounted at R'shiel's approach. Damin and Adrina threw their reins to Tamylan and hurried after her on foot. The Kariens, sensing something was about to happen, began to grow restless. Those who had tired of standing and were sitting on the cold ground climbed to their feet. The priests pushed to the front of the group, tracing the star of the Overlord on their foreheads as they regarded the demon child with intense suspicion.
“Where is Lord Drendyn?” R'shiel called to the Kariens as she stopped before them. The knight in question pushed his way through the crowd and stepped in front of her belligerently. He was sandy haired and sweating, despite the cold, and looked hardly older than Jaymes.
“I demand you release us immediately and hand over the Crown Princess Adrina so that she may be returned to Karien.”
Damin suspected the young knight's bravado was inspired by fear. His Raiders, with their loaded bows and fearsome reputation, still ringed the Kariens. He had only to raise his arm and there would be a massacre.
“As you wish,” R'shiel replied. “Lord Wolfblade, be so kind as to ask your men to withdraw. Tell them to muster over that way, upwind from us.”
At a nod from Damin, Almodavar gave the order. The Raiders lowered their weapons, replaced arrows in their quivers and wheeled their mounts around. Drendyn looked stunned by her sudden capitulation.
“Is this some sort of trick?”
“Not at all, my Lord, you are free to go. There is a party of Karien knights headed this way. They should be here in a day or two. The Defenders have confiscated your horses, unfortunately, but they have left you sufficient food and water to last until you're rescued.”
“And our Princess?”
“Ah, now that's a different matter. She's not actually your Princess any longer. Adrina is now a Princess of Hythria.”
Drendyn's eyes widened in horror. “Your Highness? Is this true?”
Damin glanced at Adrina, who looked very uncomfortable. “I'm sorry, Drendyn...” Adrina said with a helpless shrug. To Damin's surprise, she appeared genuinely upset that she had hurt the young man.
“And you can give your King a message from me, too,” he added, turning to the distraught young earl. “Any attempt to return the Princess to Karien will be taken as an act of war.”
“But they murdered Prince Cratyn!” Drendyn cried to Adrina then turned on Damin furiously, taking a step towards him, ready to fight for his Princess' honour. “What have you done to her?”
“That's far enough, my Lord,” Almodavar cut in, his sword pressing into the young earl's tabard. Drendyn halted abruptly, looked down at the blade aimed squarely at his heart and wisely took a step backward.
“Hythria will pay for the life of my Prince. And my Princess!” he shouted, albeit from a safer distance.
“Perhaps,” Damin agreed. “But not today, my young friend.”
“Enough of this,” R'shiel declared impatiently. “Damin, I suggest you move back. I have something I wish to do before we leave.”
“Something you don't want us to see?”
“Not at all. You can watch if you like, but I'd rather you didn't hear it.”
“The Overlord will protect us from your evil, demon child,” the priest Garanus warned.
Captivity had not been kind to the priest. His shaven head was covered in black stubble and his cassock was rumpled and dusty. The priests who stood behind him had fared no better. Damin considered his threat rather hollow. Without their staves the priests were simply ordinary men.
“The Overlord has abandoned you, Garanus. Why else would he let you fall prisoner?”
“We will not listen to your blasphemy!”
“Suit yourself,” R'shiel said with a shrug. “Damin, you should leave now.”
“What about Mikel and Jaymes?” Adrina asked, almost as wary as Damin about what the demon child was planning.
“They'll be fine with me.”
Damin still had no idea what she was up to. With some reluctance, he did as she asked. Taking Adrina's hand he headed back to where Tamylan was waiting with the horses. Almodavar mounted and followed them at a walk. Damin swung into the saddle and turned to watch as R'shiel stood facing the Kariens.
“What is she going to do?” Adrina asked as she settled into her saddle and gathered up her reins.
“You know as much as I do.”
“Drendyn was the only person in Karien who treated me like a human being,” she added, staring at the gathering with concern.
That explained her apology to the young knight.
“If she was planning to kill them, she would have done it by now.” It was a hollow reassurance at best. For all he knew that was exactly what R'shiel was planning.
“Or she would wait until there were no witnesses,” Almodavar pointed out.
“She said something about not listening,” Adrina said. “What could she possibly say to them —”
As if in answer to her question a voice reached them. It was high, pure and perfect and the song it sang touched the very core of Damin's soul. It took him a moment to realise that it was Mikel singing. He could not hear the words; the wind tore them away before he could make them out, but he sat there, rigid, as the lilting notes washed over him in haunting snatches. The song was both enticing and entrancing. It slithered into his brain like sweet wine being poured into an empty cup. It warmed and chilled him at the same time. Visions of a land he did not know filled his mind and he found himself yearning for it with a passion that took him by surprise. The song made him want to laugh and cry simultaneously. He wanted to hear more. It was fear and comfort on the same breath. Love and hatred intermingled. He never wanted it to end.
“Damin! We have to move! Now!”
It was Adrina who jerked him back to reality. He glanced at the prisoners and realised that whatever remarkable effect the song had on him, the effect it was having on the Kariens was a hundred times more powerful. As he turned his mount and urged him into a gallop, wisps of the song followed him with tantalising fingers.
Then the tenor of the music changed and no longer did he wish to drown in the beauty of the song. Now it was much more strident, its beauty marred by dark, shadowy images that chased him until they were far enough away that the music no longer reached them.
Once they were safely out of range, they turned and looked back at the Kariens. R'shiel stood before the
