Lord of Lies

toward you now. But things build inside men like layers of snow. And even a whisper, at the right moment, can set off an avalanche. Maitreya or no, Valashu, who knows what you've set to whispering in others' hearts?'

Kane, sitting next to Asaru at the other end of the table, kneaded his hands together as if they ached to grip a sword. Then he growled out, 'So, even if Ishka or Kaash do march to aid Mesh, they might march too late. What if Morjin moves first?'

Asaru eyed Kane as if he didn't quite like his look. 'The Sakayans sit on the steppe, at the mouth of the Eshur Pass. We've counted seven of the Urtuk clans waiting with them. We don't know what they are waiting for.'

At the mention of the Urtuk clans, Kane, Maram and I all looked at Atara. It finally came time for her to tell of the battle that she had seen from afar, and this she did.

'It may be,' she said, 'that Morjin pauses to care for his wounded — the Niuriu's arrows struck down many.'

'We've had no news of this battle,' my father said. He regarded Atara with that kind off creeping dread that people often feel toward scryers.

'It may also be,' she said, 'that Morjin awaits reinforcement from the Adirii clans.'

'That would be bad news, indeed,' my father said. 'We've counted twenty-five thousand Sakayans under Morjin's command, and two thousand Urtuk.'

'And how many can we field?' I asked.

'We're hoping that sixteen thousand will answer the call. Perhaps seventeen.'

At this, Maram began drumming his fingers on the table as he said, 'Then even if Morjin is not reinforced, he would still outnumber us nearly two to one.'

'One Valari,' Asaru said to him, pointing at Maram's ring, 'is the equal of any two Sakayans who ever lived. Don't forget that you are a Valari knight, now.'

'In spirit ah, yes I am,' Maram said. 'And it's to be hoped that the Valari fighting spirit will hold off the Red Dragon and keep him from fighting. Why else would he wait before the gateway to Mesh?'

'We cannot overlook the possibility,' Master Juwain said, 'that he awaits the right moment. Surely he would look to the heavens before so great an undertaking. With Argald conjuncting Siraj in only another ten days, and the Wolf on the ascendent, then …'

For a while, he went on to speak of omens and stellar configurations. And then my mother, who was always practical in a way that reminded me of Liljana, brought matters back to earth. 'Perhaps he only waits to bring up more rations and arms. He must be at the end of a very vulnerable and long line of his supplies.'

My mother, I thought, a woman given by nature to love poetry, music and meditation, had spent too much of her life in the company of warriors and kings.

My father sighed as he steepled his fingers beneath his chin. Then he told us, 'Any or all of what has been said are good enough reasons. But we must also consider the letter that Morjin sent to my son. He threatened to destroy Mesh if the Lightstone was not returned to him. Well, the Lightstone has now returned to Mesh. Perhaps Morjin had news of this — or deduced this, and has only been awaiting his chance.'

'But what sort of chance is this?' Asaru said. 'We're agreed that he cannot defeat us.'

'Are we?' my father said to him. 'Your confidence and courage befit a king, and yet a king should never forget the uncertainty of battle.'

'Morjin faces the same uncertainty. Perhaps now that he has come this far, he hesitates to come the final miles. Perhaps he hopes that glowing us his army will make us give him what he wants.'

'Now, it seems, we come closer to the truth of things,' my father said. 'Morjin made a threat to us, and may have made it known to others. He may have marched, in part, to keep true to his word.'

At this, Kane threw back his head and let loose a howl of laughter so loud that not even the books along the walls could soften the savage sound of it: 'Morjin, a man of his word — ha! The Lord of Lies, he is. So. So. King Shamesh. You know that Morjin hates the truth as the night does the sun. But you are right that he wants to be seen as keeping his word. A dragon that threatens a village with fire is scorned if he fails to burn it.'

My father studied Kane for a few moments, and then said, 'You seem to know a lot about the Red Dragon.'

'That I do. I've fought him in Yarkona and in Argattha. And in other places.'

'And what places would those be?'

'Faraway places,' Kane said. 'Dark places.'

Kane, I thought, was an even greater mystery to my father than he was to me. At Kane's request, I had said nothing of his origins to my family, or to anyone. My father knew of him only as a matchless old warrior who had fought with me side by side in Argattha, cutting and slaying without mercy to face down Morjin and seek his revenge.

'Very well,' my father said to Kane, and to everyone. 'The Red Dragon has made his threats. Asaru is right that his marching on us may only be another. Therefore it follows that he may send envoys demanding the Lightstone's return.'

'But you can't gamble on that!' Kane snarled out. 'You can't wait upon these envoys and leave your realm open to invasion!'

My father cast Kane a cold, hard look. He did not tolerate presumption, and Kane could be the most presumptuous of men.

'No one is suggesting that we do,' my father told him. 'The kel keep at Eshur Pass has already been reinforced from the garrison at Lashku. They could hold back Morjin's army for a day, possibly two. As soon as my warriors and knights are assembled, we'll make forced march to the pass. And there intercept Morjin's envoys — or his army.'

Neither Asaru, Lord Raasharu or I could fault my father's plan. But Atara sat in silence, twisting her scryer's sphere around and around in her long hands. And Kane glared at a brazier full of coals near his corner of the table. His black eyes seemed as hot as coals as his jaw muscles worked beneath his taut skin.

'Do you have an objection to make?' my father asked him.

'So, there's something here that we do not see.'

'And what is that then?'

'How should I know? How can anyone see. . what he cannot see?'

'But you have a sense of things, yes?'

'So, a sense. I smell a trap. The Red Dragon has set many such before.'

My father sat drawing in deep breaths of air, and then releasing them slowly. He finally said, 'If you perceive the nature of this trap please inform me. But until then, there's much to be done. Now, if no one has anything to add, let us all go about our duties.'

After we left the library, I took Maram aside and told him, 'I'm sorry I led you to this. You might have returned home to marry Behira instead of making war.'

And he told me: 'Ah, well, don't distress yourself, my friend. It's sad, in a way, that the events in Tria have postponed my plans. And now this. But the truth is, I'm still not fit to be anyone's husband. If you had claimed the Lightstone and learned to wield it, I had hoped. . ah, that things might have been different. And some day they might be. But until then, I'll need to claim my own sword and wield it more wisely, if you know what I mean.'

Maram seemed almost relieved that the urgency of the situation might occupy his other talents and keep him out of trouble. For my father had been right in what he had told us: thousands of tasks must be accomplished, and soon, to make the castle and kingdom ready for war. My mother took charge of the castle's domestic affairs, finding rooms or sleeping space for the many new people taking shelter there. Asaru rode off to see to the assembly of the army. His would be the critical command of the right wing of heavy cavalry, if my father kept to the usual order of battle. Lansar Raasharu, as my father's seneschal, would act as his closest counselor in all matters of strategy as well as logistics. Since Kane, Atara, Master Juwain and Liljana were guests of Mesh, my father required nothing of them. But he expected a great deal. They did not disappoint him. Master Juwain went to work with the other healers to prepare the army's field infirmary to care for the wounded. As at Khaisham, Liljana would assist him, along with Behira and others. Kane, prowling the castle like a caged tiger, threw himself into whatever work came