continuing. ‘The priest said some strange things, about our history not being as we believe it to be.’
‘Yes, I know,’ Brynd replied, looking around cautiously. ‘We have figures from the other realm who can confirm this was the case.’
‘These figures,’ Fulcrom said, ‘will they be looking for Frater Mercury?’
‘Yes, I’d say that’s very likely. That will need to happen before the next phase.’
‘What’s that going to be?’ Fulcrom asked. ‘The next phase.’
Brynd turned back to face the sky-city, which was defined only by the absence of starlight. ‘We’ll need to take that thing down and wipe out anything it’s brought to ground and that does not wish to exist peacefully. There are no gentle solutions, and very little room for negotiations. At the same time, we have to accept that we are going to have to share our world with other species. There is plenty of land, many islands that are sparsely populated, but I can’t imagine it’s going to be a smooth journey.’
‘How do you plan to take down the sky-city?’ Fulcrom asked. ‘It’s already obliterated Villjamur.’
‘First, we’re going to complete the evacuation, get ourselves to safety and, once we have time to build up enough of an opposition, then we can begin to consider our real options.’
‘In the meantime,’ Fulcrom said, ‘we lose the island of Jokull?’
‘The Empire may have collapsed, but we still have the people,’ Brynd said diplomatically. As he looked to the future, he had already lost his emotional attachments to the concept of the old Empire. ‘Life as we know it has changed and a new world will form — for better or worse. We need people to shape these events, however — people like you.’
Fulcrom turned to watch the ships again. ‘I’ve never really contemplated what I’d do next. Getting off the island was all I could think about for every waking hour. How could I help?’
‘There will need to be a force similar to the Inquisition — even for a transitional period. Not just in Villiren, where we’re currently based, but the new plans would need defining for further afield. And I tend not to trust many people from Villiren.’
‘I’ve heard it’s a pretty fast and loose city.’
Brynd laughed. ‘Yes, you could say that. And that was
A figure bounded towards them, descending from above; Brynd tensed and moved for his sabre.
‘It’s all right,’ Fulcrom said. ‘It’s Lan, one of the Villjamur Knights — the group I told you about. She’s the last remaining one.’
Brynd examined the newcomer: she was lithe and athletic, with a strong, overgrown dark fringe and an outfit as black as night. There was a strange symbol on the front, now muddied: a white cross set within a circle. ‘A Villjamur Knight,’ Brynd muttered, and nodded. ‘Fulcrom here has been telling me about what happened in Villjamur. So you fought crime on behalf of Urtica?’
‘Something like that,’ she said with a half smile, and he knew by her sarcasm that she wasn’t some pre- programmed Urtican puppet. Lan gave them a report on what was happening with the civilian movements. ‘There are now twenty craft transporting roughly two or three thousand people.’
‘How are they travelling?’ Fulcrom asked. ‘What’s taken the place of the horses?’
‘Nothing,’ Lan said and then laughed gently. ‘The horses are walking on the surface of the sea — it was incredible to witness. They seemed tentative at first but whatever Frater Mercury did to them — or the sea, or both — they’re now happily treading on the surface as if it was sand. We’ve had to space the vehicles wide enough apart so that the waves created don’t soak the people. There’re enough freezing to death already.’
Brynd nodded and gestured to the horizon. ‘I’ve seen to it that every seaworthy vessel is sailing to this island to help with the evacuation,’ he replied. ‘Garudas are helping with their navigation — we didn’t quite know where the exit point would be — but we should have a few thousand fishing boats, longships, trade ships, whatever we can get our hands on, all landing ashore over the next day or two.’
‘Will that be quick enough?’ Fulcrom enquired.
Brynd frowned. ‘I just don’t know. The dragons are transporting another few thousand soldiers so we’ll have more troops ashore before sunrise. We can form several lines of defence, to ensure the safety of the civilian population. We’re doing what we can.’
‘I think the people will be more than grateful,’ Lan said. ‘Now, I should really get back — there were a few fights over who should be evacuated first. You would have thought people could stick together in times like this. Anyway, I have to make sure more conflicts don’t break out.’
‘Excellent suggestion,’ Brynd said.
Lan touched Fulcrom’s arm, and he smiled back at her. She turned and jogged into the distance. Brynd noted those final tender gestures Fulcrom had made towards her, and questioned their status.
‘We are partners,’ Fulcrom confessed, ‘in more than one sense.’
Brynd nodded and thought no more of the comment. He was relieved simply to have met two decent individuals. The future would need people like them.
Hours later, sometime between midnight and dawn, the sea-vehicles returned to the shore. Someone clattered a crude copper bell and started shouting in an attempt to rouse people from their slumber, and for the next wave of evacuees to assemble. There weren’t enough craft for the job — people just had to wait.
Brynd didn’t think it was possible to sleep out here anyway, what with this breeze moaning loudly as it drifted along the coast. A salt tang lingered in the air, and smoke from wood fires was still pungent. He watched in disbelief as the immense horses approached the shore. On the back of one of them stood a much smaller figure, which he assumed was Frater Mercury.
Presently, civilians began surging towards the shore. The tide was out, and many began slipping on the seaweed-caked pebbles. Brynd walked over to a unit of senior soldiers nearby, where he gave orders for a few hundred of the Dragoons to try to organize the most vulnerable — the elderly, the very young, mothers — to evacuate first. Anyone who could last another night was ordered to stay.
There were impromptu farewells between families, and Brynd found the sudden, touching scenes actually moved him — which was surprising, given his recent lack of emotional engagement. Perhaps it was because he was back on Jokull, or perhaps because he had seen just how vulnerable a population could be.
Fulcrom joined him to confirm that all was going well with the next phase of the evacuation, and that any signs of trouble were beginning to fade.
‘Quite a sight, isn’t it?’ Brynd asked.
‘Yeah, it’s certainly something,’ Fulcrom said with a wry grin. ‘Especially now it’s less of a burden and the responsibility’s yours I can finally enjoy the sight.’
‘The burden becomes less of an issue after a few years of doing it. You learn to filter out those kinds of thoughts, for better or worse. Besides, whatever we do someone will end up being hurt or angry with us.’
‘How do you know what the beneficial choices really are? Will there be democratic choices in this new society? We all know the Council elections were a joke.’
‘What would you have in its place? Tell me — you’re someone who has worked with the law for all your life. Where does it
‘It’s not really my place to say, commander.’
‘I’ve spent a lot of my years listening to people who have
‘This is a new regime then,’ Fulcrom replied. The rumel appeared to think about the question for a moment, but Brynd didn’t hurry him. Eventually, he said, ‘Ideally you’d have representatives for the people. I would say that, without a shadow of a doubt, the serious events in Villjamur would not have happened if people had had some say in the matters that affected them. You could have neighbourhood representatives, perhaps, especially if there are going to be communities of different species. All the law books in Villjamur were geared up around protecting land or property in one form or another; presumably when you’re drawing new lines on a map that won’t be so easy. They’ll need someone to champion their concerns. They’ll want land of their own, too, to make a living from.’
