and its weapon.»
Now it was her turn to stare. «Do you really think you can do this?»
He shook his head wearily. «I will do it or die trying.»
« Fair enough,” she said. «I will take that as a promise and hold you to it. But hear me. If you survive this, if you manage somehow to come back alive, if you are successful in your efforts to put an end to the threat of this weapon that killed my sons, I will put this entire business behind me. Neither of us will speak of it again. But your service to the throne is finished. You will resign your position as Captain of the Home Guard immediately. You may give any reason you wish so long as my name is not mentioned. You will pack your belongings and leave Arborlon. You may go anywhere within the Westland so long as I never have to see you again. Is that clear?»
He thought of their past, a wisp of a memory turned to frost in the coldness of her voice. «It is.»
She held herself very still. «It could have been different for us, Pied. If you had saved my sons as you had sworn you would do, it could have been different.»
He said nothing in response. There was nothing to say. She might even believe that what she said was true. But he didn’t.
She studied his face a moment longer, then held out her hand for him to kiss, turned, and went back through the tent flap. He stared after her, trying to decide how much of what had just happened was deserved. In the end, he guessed, it didn’t really matter.
> Two hours later, he stood at the edge of the Free–born airfield looking out over the broad sweep of the Prekkendorran to where the fires of the Federation army were being lit against the growing darkness. Dusk had settled in, deep and gloomy on a night that promised clouds and mist. It was the weather Pied had hoped for, an unexpected gift. He was dressed in black, and Drumundoon was standing in front of him applying lampblack to his face.
« She has no right to blame you,” his young aide repeated yet again, scowling.
Pied held himself still as Drum’s fingers worked across his face. «She has every right.»
« She should be grateful you lived. If you hadn’t, she might have lost the whole of her army.»
« She isn’t looking at it that way.»
« Well, she should. She needs to distance herself from her emotions. She needs to exercise better judgment.»
« A mother can’t always do that.»
« A Queen can. And should.»
There was no satisfying him on the subject. He refused to consider any alternative but the one that favored Pied. Drum was nothing if not loyal. He had known of the entire conversation and confronted Pied with the whole of it minutes after Arling’s departure. He didn’t seem bothered in the least by the fact that if he had been caught eavesdropping, he would very likely have been shipped home in shackles. What mattered to him was that the Queen had done Pied an injustice that should be set right, and Pied did not seem inclined to do anything about it.
There were reasons for that, though Pied didn’t want to talk about them. He was sick at heart at what had happened to Kellen and his sons and dismayed by Arling’s response, even though he understood it and did not fault her for it. Mostly, he was weary. When the mission was finished, he did not want to continue as commander of the Elven army. Nor did he want to go back to being Captain of the Home Guard. Even if Arling had asked him to do so, a response he did not foresee, he would have refused. His sense of accountability for what had happened to Kellen and the boys weighed on him as if a tree had fallen on his shoulders. Nothing would ever be the same in his relationship with the Elessedils. He no longer belonged in the position of Captain of the Home Guard. He did not even think he belonged in Arborlon.
Drum would never understand that. So there was no point in discussing it with him. It was better if Pied simply presented it as settled and let time do the rest.
Drum stepped back, eyeing him critically. «You’re done. As good as I can make it.»
« That will have to be good enough,” Pied replied.
They stared at each other for a moment, and then Drumundoon stuck out his hand. «Good luck to you, Captain. I’ll be here when you return.»
Pied took his hand and clasped it tightly. «I count on that, Drum. I really do.»
He turned away and moved to where theWayjord was anchored, signaling to the other dark–clad figures scattered about that they were leaving. The Free–born ship was rigged for sailing and ready to fly, her captain already in the pilot box, her crew of six at the lines and anchor ropes. It was dark enough that they could lift off without drawing attention. If they flew east, into the darkness, they wouldn’t be seen when they turned south. After that, it would be up to fate and luck.
Pied climbed the rope ladder with the other twelve members of his tiny force, taking quick note of the flits that were stacked on both sides of the mainmast before turning to take a head count. As he did so, he caught sight of Troon, black–faced and black–clad like the others, levering one leg over the ship’s railing and pulling herself aboard. Breaking off his count, he went over to her at once, took her firmly by the arm, and drew her aside.
« What are you doing here?» he demanded, trying to keep his anger in check.
She arched one eyebrow. «I think you can figure that out for yourself, Captain. I decided I didn’t want to be left behind.»
« You’ve just finished one mission. You’re not ready for another.»
« I’m ready enough. I had time to sleep last night once I was inside the Free–born lines. I told you it wasn’t that hard. I slept today, as well.»
He shook his head. «I don’t want you doing this.»
« You left it up to the Home Guard to choose a dozen of us. I volunteered, and I was chosen. A Tracker might prove useful.»
« Well, I’m overruling the vote. You’re off.»
She stood her ground. «Because you are afraid I might not be up to doing what’s needed? Or because of something else?» She gave him a moment, then shrugged. «Anyhow, we’re already under way.»
Pied glanced around hurriedly. She was right. TheWayford was lifting off, anchor lines released, her sails catching the evening breezes, the ground falling away below. He watched in frustration as the Free–born camp disappeared into the gloom and the ship swung about to fly east, and then he looked back at her, scowling. «I don’t like it that you’re here. It’s asking too much.»
« Of you or of me?» She glanced into the rigging as if the answer lay there. «For my part, I gather I am asking less of you than some. I am only asking to come along and help in whatever way I can. I might not be getting many more chances to do that.» She looked back at him. «We’ve been friends a long time, Pied. Friends are supposed to stand by each other in difficult times. It seems to me, given how things have turned out for you, that standing by you just now is mandatory.»
He shook his head in exasperation. «Drum just can’t keep quiet about things, can he?»
« It’s the army. You know how it works. Word gets around. There aren’t any secrets.» She glanced down at her weapons belt, and then hitched up her pack on her shoulders. «I don’t like flying. I need to sit down. I’ll be ready when you are.»
He let her go, it was pointless to carry the discussion further because there was no reason to chastise her. She was there because she wanted to be. She was risking her life for him and for her comrades. It was hard to find fault with that.
They flew east until they had reached the far end of the Prekkendorran, then turned south and flew across the flats to the low mountains that buttressed the east end of the Federation lines. Slipping down the far side of those mountains, they got several miles behind the Southlanders, then turned west. In another hour, maybe less, they would reach their destination. It would not yet be midnight.
He glanced over at the flits. They were little gnats compared to the big ships of the line. But gnats were pesky and difficult to swat. Big ships would have trouble getting close to theDechtera. Flits might have a chance.
A small chance,he thought.
He moved over to the railing and settled down to wait.
It was nearing midnight when theWayford, skimming the tops of trees and hills south of the Federation lines, landed beyond a screen of woods that offered some small concealment from discovery. North, the horizon
