Lord of Lies

continued their aggressions, building boats and rafts and simply floating their armies down the river into Alonia. And so finally, the Alonians had spent another hundred years — and thousands of lives — planting their pylons into the bedrock beneath the river itself. They then built the Wall out over the river like a massive bridge. Three feet only, during the Poru's lowest flow, separated the base of the Wall from the waters of the river. And when it was in flood or running high, during the spring and the summer raiding season, the base of the Wall was submerged, impeding the river's flow so that spilled over its banks and created a mire three miles wide.

As we drew closer to the Wall, Sajagax halted his horse on a low rise and sat staring at it. A short while later, with my Guardians behind me, I drew up to him, and he said, 'There it is, Lord Valashu. A dunghill made of stone.'

He swept his hand even with the Wall and continued, 'Do you see how it cuts the earth? Like a belt too tight cutting a man in two. The sagosk cannot cross it; neither the hares nor the antelope nor even the lions. The wild horses can no longer run free! Here, where we Sarni are constrained to live, the steppe is open and the grass grows as long as it pleases. And on the other side … well, you will see.'

Maram, Baltasar, Lord Raasharu and others of our company, gathered around to marvel at this great stone wall. Orox, sitting on his horse near Sajagax, pointed out a place on the wall a quarter mile to the east of us where its gray-green granite had been replaced by a stone pinker in color. He said, 'There is where Tulumar broke the Wall.'

In the year 2057 of the Age of Swords, Tulumar the Great of the Urtuk tribe, with the aid of Morjin, had spread a red substance called relb over the wall and melted its stones to lava. With the Breaking of the Long Wall, as this event was called, Tulumar had led his armies through the huge, smoking hole and had gone on to conquer Alonia and much of Ea.

'I'd break it myself and grind the stones to dust, if I could,' Sajagax said. 'If I had a firestone, I'd burn the whole wall back into the earth.'

Maram, who possessed what might have been Ea's last remaining firestone, shoved his hand down into the inner pocket of his surcoat as he stared at the Wall in silence.

'This is one day,' I said to Sajagax, 'that the Sarni will need neither relb nor firestones to pass through the Wall. Shall we make our way to the gate?'

A few hundred yards ahead of us, across the windswept grasses, a massive iron gate was set into the Wall. Two great, round towers stood to either side of it. The soldiers posted on top of these had seen us approaching before we had seen them. They had hoisted red pennants challenging us to announce ourselves or face a storm of arrows fired by the Wall s archers.

And so, leaving our two companies of warriors waiting behind us Sajagax and I rode side by side down to the Wall. The sally port set into the gate creaked open, and a mail-clad knight bearing a white lion against his green surcoat rode out a lew paces to greet us.

'I'm Sajagax, chieftain of the Kurmak,' Sajagax called out to him. 'Lord Valashu Elahad of Mesh,' I said, presenting myself. I looked back at my knights and added. 'And of the Valari.'

Upon this word, the thick-set knight stared at me in amazement. The sun reflected off the diamonds of my armor seemed to dazzle his eyes.

'Yes, Valari indeed — you must be,' he said. 'But what are Valari knights doing riding across the Wendrush m the company of the Kurmak?'

I did not wish to tell him of my reason for seeking the Lokilani's island, nor that my knights and I bore the Lightstone.

'We are journeying to the conclave that King Kiritan has called,' I said. 'Surely you must have been told to open your gates to any who have been summoned to Tria.'

Lord Halmar, for that proved to be the knight's name, scratched his bearded jaw and said, 'That I was, Lord Valashu. But it was thought that only Sarni would pass this way, if indeed any chose to attend the conclave. What is your business with the Kurmak?'

'Only peace,' I told him, looking at Sajagax. 'We are emissaries of peace.'

Lord Halmar studied my knights spread out on the rise behind us. 'Emissaries bearing lances and swords. And nearly two hundred of you, if my count is right. That is a great many to guard the chief emissary, even if he is a lord of Mesh.'

'These are dangerous times,' I said to him.

'And miraculous times, as well. I've heard that one of the Valari has regained the Lightstone.'

His sharp blue eyes fixed on me like grappling hooks, and would not let go. I held his gaze and said to him, 'We have heard that as well.'

After a few moments, Lord Halmar looked away from me and muttered, 'Very well, then, I will send heralds to Duke Malatam, and he will decide whether or not you may pass.'

On the other side of the Wall, as Atara had told me, lay the demesne of Tarlan, whose lord was Duke Malatam. 'And how far from here is his castle?'

'Two days' ride.'

'Then it will be four days before your heralds return. The delay might well cause us to miss the conclave.'

'I'm sorry, Lord Valashu, but that can't be helped.'

Sajagax finally lost patience and shook his fist at the wall as he thundered, 'It must be helped! I have been summoned to the conclave; and Lord Valashu rides with me. And so does Atara Manslayer, also known as Atara Ars Narmada. If you delay us, Lord Halmar, you will have to explain to King Kiritan why you kept his daughter and the father of his queen from joining him to decide great matters. Now open your cursed gate!'

At this. Lord Halmar paled. I sensed that he was caught in the unenviable position of having to face King Kiritan's wrath or that of his lord duke. 'All right,' he told us, 'you may pass. Call your companies forward and wait here.'

Without another word, he turned his horse and rode back through the sally port, which slammed shut with a loud ringing.

I said to Sajagax, 'It seems he has guessed the nature of the little trinket that we bring to Tria.'

'Indeed. You're not very good at lying.'

'I never denied that we bear the Lightstone.'

'No, but you didn't affirm it either. The truth evaded is a lie.'

So it was. So my father might have told had he been here sitting on his horse in Sajagax's place. I looked at Sajagax and bowed my head to him. I said, 'I don't think you're very good at lying, either.'

'No, I'm not. But then I haven't had much practice.'

Sajagax and I returned to our companies, and we led our men down to the very foot of the gate. There, with the Long Wall towering above us and blocking the sight of half the sky, we waited for the gate to open.

With much shrieking of rusted iron, rattling chains and men shouting, its two doors swung slowly inward. Sajagax led his warriors through the Wall, and I followed him with the Guardians of the Lightstone riding in their columns behind me. Lord Halmar had assembled the entire garrison here, lining up a hundred knights and some four hundred men-at-arms on either side of the road leading north into Tarlan. Only the knights, I saw, were permitted to display their own charges on their shields and surcoats, for that was the way of things in Alonia. The common soldiers, standing stiffly with their long, rectangular shields before them, each wore two badges, one on either arm. The right badge bore the arms of King Kiritan: the gold caduceus on a blue field. And the left badge showed the black saltire and red roses of Duke Malatam. It seemed that Lord Halmar had called up his men to honor us. But as Lansar Raasharu told Lord Harsha in a low voice, it was more likely that they stood ready to do battle with us: 'How can this Lord Halmar be sure that Sajagax hasn't hidden the whole Kurmak horde on the steppe behind us? And that we and his warriors won't fight to keep the gate open?'

Indeed, more than once over the ages, the Sarni had won their way into Alonia through assaults on the Long Wall's gates. Where siege engines or heroic storming of the walls had failed, often bribery of the gates' guards with gold had won the day. But on this day at least, Lord Halmar and his garrison had little to fear, for Alonia and the Kurmak had been at peace for more than twenty years, ever since they had sealed an alliance through the marriage of King Kiritan and Sajagax's favorite daughter, Daryana. Even so, after the last of my knights had passed through the gates, Lord Halmar's men hastened to shut them once again.