A Hero's throne

“The fifth?” Daniel asked.

Alex made a vigorous waving motion into the dark bar area of the hotel. A woman emerged from the shadows; she looked to be about fifty, sturdily built, but trim and fit. She wore pea green slacks, walking boots, a wide tartan scarf, and a beige travelling jacket that appeared as old, hard-worn, and tough as she. Her hair, silver- grey, was pulled back in a short ponytail.

“Daniel, Freya, this is my Aunt Vivienne,” Alex said, introducing them.

“‘Aunt Vivienne?’” Daniel said, echoing him. “Seriously?” He made an unattractive sideways smirk at Alex.

“Vivienne Simpson-my dad’s sister,” he explained.

“His baby sister. Call me Viv,” Alex’s aunt added emphatically. “I’ll be joining you”-she lowered her voice-“down under.”

“I don’t think we can be bringing people’s aunts to Ni?ergeard,” Daniel scoffed. “I’ve been there. Not everyone makes it out alive. I can’t be responsible for dragging peoples’ aunts through one of the most dangerous places in the country.” Vivienne's eyes sparkled as she leaned forward, placing her knuckles on the picnic table.

“Young man,” she said in a very lightly accented yet musical voice-was it an Edinburgh accent? “I’ll have you know that I can walk thirty miles a day for weeks, if need be. I’ve hiked up K2 and over twenty Alpine peaks.”

“When? Thirty years ago?” Daniel asked.

She didn’t bat an eye. “I have made countless trips underground; not just in this country, but all over the world. Have you traversed”-Freya loved the way Viv rolled out the word tra- ver-r-rsed-“the hidden tunnels of the Tibetan mountains? Have you mapped the London subterranean passageways, the forgotten undergrounds, the Fleet River? Do you know where the seventeen sunken churches of Britain are located? Have you taken dives to Llyonesse?”

“Well, no, but-”

“Can you not only read but speak seven dead languages? Young man, if you are to have a hope of returning from the underground realms in one piece, then you will do best to heed my experienced voice.” She now straightened to her full height. “And not scoff at assistance freely given. I have already visited the Langtorr, I’ll have you know.”

“Really?” Daniel asked. “How did you get in and out when Ecgbryt only barely escaped from it?”

“How indeed?” Vivienne said coyly.

“Okay, okay, I’m sold,” Daniel said, grinning and holding up his hands.

Vivienne pursed her lips and glared at Daniel, getting the measure of him.

“So that’s settled, then. Aunt Viv, please, take a seat. The plan is this: Daniel, you and Freya will accompany Aunt Viv down to Ni?ergeard-as a special task force.”

“A task force to accomplish what, exactly?” Freya asked.

“Fact finding, primarily,” Vivienne said. “But we shall also function as agents of opportunity.”

“What does that mean?”

“There are additional tasks-missions, if you like-that we shall endeavour to complete, should circumstances present themselves.”

“Such as?” Freya asked.

“Such as the Great Carnyx,” Vivienne said. “It is a large horn-”

“They remember,” Ecgbryt said. “They were there; they have seen it.’'

“I do remember,” Daniel said. “The horn. It’s a bronze sort of thing, long, curved at the top and bottom-made to look like some sort of an animal shouting. You mean that?”

“That’s the one,” Alex said.

“Hey, I remember-if you blow it, then it wakes up all the knights in the country. Why don’t we just get that instead of rounding them up individually?”

“We could if we knew where it was, which is the point of going to look for it. In any case,” Vivienne continued, “we’re not exactly certain what it does. Do either of you know what the inscription says on it?” They shook their heads. “It’s printed up one side and it reads: ‘Blawst?es horn and se?ftera here la? iast.’ ”

The enchantment that Daniel and Freya received on passing through the first arch to Ni?ergeard still worked, for their minds already understood the words and their meaning.

“‘Blow you this horn and summon the next army?’” Freya said. “Is that right?”

“Yes, you have it,” Ecgbryt said.

“Why wouldn’t that inscription refer to the sleeping knights?” Freya asked.

“It may,” Alex allowed, “but it doesn’t expressly refer to them. It could be talking about something else. And without Ealdstan to confirm, we just don’t know.”

“So how do you find out for sure?” Daniel asked. “I mean, if it could be anything. .” Visions of otherworldly armies crossing through fields of mist at the horn’s call flooded his imagination.

“It’s going to be your job to find out,” Alex said.

“You mean find the horn and blow it? Sounds simple enough-if it’s there to blow.”

“A war is not fought with just might of arms,” Ecgbryt said. “It is also won by wit and cunning. Especially when numbers are few or uncertain, a small amount of knowledge can be key. Why, I remember-” He caught himself and frowned, his gaze seeming to turn inward for a moment and then back to them. “I remember times when just a little information has turned the tide of an entire war. That is the sort of information we will need. We not only need to know if this horn can be found and made use of, we need to know what happened to Ealdstan, Modwyn, Godmund, Frithfroth-anything you can find.”

“Mostly we want information,” Alex continued. “If the worst has come to the worst-and we now have every reason to suspect that it has-then Ealdstan has been imprisoned, incapacitated, or even killed. He would not have allowed Ni?ergeard to fall otherwise.”

“Are you sure?” Freya said, clearing her throat. “I mean, when we met him, all those years back, he didn’t exactly seem on top of things. He stopped you from blowing the horn then, if I recall. What’s to say that he didn’t turn traitor?”

Ecgbryt gave a vigorous shake of his head. “Ni?ergeard has been Ealdstan’s labour of love for near a score of centuries. To let it fall into disgrace-he would quicker slit his own throat.”

Freya bit her lip. They weren’t factoring Gad into the equation. Should she tell them? It would be admitting to guilt, admitting to being a silent witness to Swi?gar’s death-of hiding what really happened to him. She opened her mouth to say something.

And then closed it.

“So he’s dead or being held captive,” Daniel said. “We need to free the city and, therefore, free him. I’m ready now. When do we get going?”

“Wait,” Freya heard herself say. “Just wait a moment. I’m uncomfortable with the idea of. . charging back into the city and starting a war by summoning the sleeping knights. Is this really the best plan?”

“The city is occupied,” Daniel said, smacking his palm on the table. “We must liberate it. Stop the dragons, save the world. Right?”

“Okay, but is this the best way? Do we even know what’s going on in-”

“What exactly do we need to know, Freya?” Daniel broke in. “They wouldn’t hesitate to kill us. That’s all I need to know.”

“But we don’t even know what’s going on down there. Maybe it’s best that Ni? ergeard has fallen. I mean, what good has it been doing anyone?”

Daniel nearly exploded. “It’s. . Freya! It’s been-”

Alex held his hand up. “It’s not about what good it’s been-although it’s been plenty over the centuries, that’s certain-it’s about the future, about protecting this country from future invasion-about stopping the one that’s already in progress.”

“Right. Exactly,” Freya said. “It sounds like-with the dragon and everything-as if there’s a larger problem beyond Ni?ergeard. Shouldn’t we address that, instead of a dusty old city that everyone has forgotten about?”

“Young Freya,” Ecgbryt said after consideration, “you may be right. But the situation is as you stated-we