ditch that ran straightaway from the fortress town. Malden didn’t look back until they were a quarter mile away. Then he looked to see lights burning in the keep and palace, the sealed gates of Helstrow, and the empty villages that stood outside each portal. No lights there-the people who lived in those villages had all been herded inside the walls, either for their own safety or so they could be conscripted.
He saw Velmont looking back, too, and wondered if Velmont had ever in his life been beyond that wall before. It could be a terrifying experience, first setting foot in a countryside of which you knew nothing. Malden knew-until his recent adventure, he’d spent every day of his life in Ness, and the first time he left, it felt like he’d been picked up by a great wind and thrown out into the middle of the sea. He’d never quite gotten used to country life.
“In a few months,” he told the Helstrovian thief, “the war will be won. You’ll return richer than when you left-and you’ll like Helstrow all the more for the money you bring back.”
“Assumin’ your barbarians don’t stink my city up too much, after they turn it into one o’ their tent camps.” Velmont’s face contorted through a variety of emotions. “There’s a piece of me-not a big ’un, mind, but a piece- wishes I could stay to see what’s goin’ to happen.”
“You want to remain here and fight for your home?” Malden asked, a little surprised. Thieves as a rule were not known for their patriotic sentiment.
“Nah,” Velmont said with a chuckle. “I kinda wanna stay and watch it burn.”
Chapter Twenty
In the king’s own chapel in the keep at Helstrow, Croy knelt before the altar of the Lady, hands clasped in supplication. He did not see the burning censers set all around him by the acolytes, or smell the pungent incense they contained. He did not see the golden cornucopia that hung on the wall before him. He saw nothing but the Lady in his mind’s eye, a woman of supernal radiance clothed all in green and white. His ears heard nothing but the whispered prayers that came from his lips, faint rustlings barely recognizable as sounds after a night without wine or even milk to sustain him.
He did not hear the clank of Sir Hew’s armor as the Captain of the Guard entered the royal chapel, nor the polite clearing of Sir Hew’s throat. Nor even his own name, spoken in hushed tones, as Hew tried to get his attention.
It was not until Hew’s hand fell on his shoulder that his vigil was broken.
“It’s dawn, Croy,” Hew said, not unkindly. “You’ve been here long enough.”
Croy blinked and looked up. He saw everything, heard all. His senses felt tuned to an agonizing pitch.
Slowly he shifted on his knees. Brought one leg up and put his foot on the floor. His knee joint popped and clamored in pain. Every part of his body was stiff as he rose carefully to his feet.
There had been a time when he could kneel in vigil for days on end, and leap to his feet when he was done, without so much as a groan or an ache. There had also been a time when he could meditate on the Lady for just as long-and not see Cythera’s face when he looked into his goddess’s eyes.
“I’m getting old,” he said to Hew with a weak smile.
The Captain of the Guard clapped him on the shoulders. “Knights so rarely do. Ancient blades even less often. Take it as the Lady’s blessing that she let you live this long.” Hew steered him toward the chapel door. “Don’t complain overmuch, man. We have a full day ahead of us, and I don’t want to catch you napping. Where’s your squire-what was his name, Malden?”
“He should be here attending me. Perhaps asleep in one of the pews,” Croy said, looking around as if he expected to see the thief at once. “That’s odd. I don’t see him here anywhere.”
Hew raised one eyebrow. “I knew that boy was no good. If he’s run off-with an Ancient Blade on his belt… I’ll have the guard look for him. Damn my eyes. He won’t get far.”
“Make no curse or oath in this place,” Croy chided.
Hew laughed as he led Croy out of the chapel and down toward the armory in the cellar of the keep. They passed down a long stair, their weapons and armor clattering in the enclosed space. “The same old Croy, I see. Most devout of us all-and the most trusting. Are you sure this Malden is worth your faith?”
“He’s a good man. I’ve seen true honor in him, though he denies it if he’s asked.”
Hew scowled. “If I find him down by the gates trying to bribe his way out, I won’t ask your permission before I have him beaten. What were you thinking, giving Acidtongue to that boy?”
“He saved my life, and my honor, which I value more,” Croy told Hew. He needed to change the subject. If Hew found out he’d sent Malden away, there could be real trouble. “What work do you have for me today?”
“I want you fitted for a proper suit of armor.” Hew slapped Croy’s ribs. “What are you wearing, a brigantine? That’s infantry stuff.” He pushed open a door at the end of a dim hallway and gestured for Croy to go through. “Here, meet Groomwich, our armorer. He’s a dab hand with a hammer and tongs, no matter what he looks like.”
The armorer bowed low as the knights entered his domain. He had the permanently blackened skin of a metalsmith, save on the left half of his face, which was a horrid expanse of burnt tissue, white and rugged in the light of his forge.
“Get this one in a proper coat of plate,” Hew commanded. “And ready another suit, for a boy the same height but about half his size. You stay here, Croy. I’ll go roust out Malden. After you’re done here you need to go down to the archery butts and say some inspiring words to the new recruits. That’s what the king feels we Ancient Blades are best employed at-rousing speeches.”
Croy frowned. “He’s never had faith in our strength of arms. Not since our father died. I worry he won’t use us to best advantage.”
“Well, I suppose our time will come soon enough, to show him what we can do.”
Hew left him then. The silent armorer got to work right away, fitting various pieces of steel to Croy’s body. The work required him to stand perfectly still for long stretches of time, and wasn’t that different from the vigil he’d just completed. As each piece was measured and marked, Groomwich would hammer it into the right shape and size. He never said a word. In the heat of the armory, Croy soon found himself falling asleep, rising only when he was called upon to stand and be measured again.
It must have been hours later when Hew came back, his face red with anger, to say that Malden was nowhere to be found-nor Cythera. How they had escaped the fortress of Helstrow was a complete mystery, but Hew did not hesitate a moment to blame Croy for what he considered a crime of the first magnitude: Malden had taken Acidtongue with him.
“The thrice-damned barbarians already have two of the seven,” Hew said, spittle leaping from his teeth. “Now some frightened boy has another-Croy, how could you let this happen? How could you give such a treasure to someone so clearly untrustworthy? If it were anyone else, I’d have you drawn and broken as a traitor. If it was anyone else, I’d think you were trying to undermine us! But I know you too well, Croy. I know you’d never be capable of such folly. If only you had as much brains as you do honor!”
Croy stood there and listened with a contrite expression. After a while he heard none of the words. He stopped hearing the endless pounding of Groomwich’s hammer as well, and no longer felt the heat of the forge on his skin.
In his mind’s eye he only saw the Lady, dressed in green and white. And wearing Cythera’s face.
Chapter Twenty-One
The day after the gates of Helstrow were sealed, the town moved quickly to a war footing. Wagons full of men streamed toward Helstrow from a hundred villages. Croy and Hew stood on horses near the main gate, watching as each new consignment was checked in and sent to be armed and trained. These were farmers, men- boys-who had never been more than a mile outside their homes. They all had the same goggle-eyed expression as they first took in the colors and chaos of Helstrow. They’d never seen a town before, but even if they had, they couldn’t have been prepared. The outer bailey was packed now from side to side with humanity, every house a billet
