Tavis shook his head. “Someone wants those people to reach us,” he said. “The more crowded your castle, the more uncomfortable we’ll be during the siege.”
“Siege?” gasped the earl. “Here? Already?”
“I’m afraid so,” Tavis said. “We know giants from at least three different tribes are converging on Cuthbert Fief-the hill giant marauders, the frost giants who ambushed Prince Arlien’s caravan, and the fog giants in High Meadow. That can’t be coincidence, nor can it be happenstance that the hill giants encircled the castle so quickly after our return.”
“I’ve never seen giant tribes work together like that,” Arlien objected. “They’re too imperious. The chiefs would start a war over who gets to be leader.”
“Not if they were taking their orders from a higher authority,” Tavis countered.
“The Twilight Spirit?” Brianna asked.
Arlien furrowed his brow. “Who is this Twilight Spirit, and what does he want with the queen?” he asked. “My, ah, informant has told me little about him.”
“That’s because we don’t know much,” Brianna replied. If the prince’s mention of his spy irritated her, she did not show it “From what little Basil has learned, the Twilight Spirit is a ghost or phantom haunting someplace called the Twilight Vale. The giant chieftains rely on him for advice and counsel.”
“And what does he want with you?” inquired the prince.
“I don’t know,” Brianna said. “And I’m not sure I want to.”
The queen was being less than forthright, but Tavis understood her reluctance to be entirely candid. Their best guess was that the Twilight Spirit wanted to use his magic to get a giant’s son on her. Such a child would give the giants a claim to the throne of Hartsvale, which was an important trade center for all their tribes.
Tavis felt a guilty hollow forming in the pit of his stomach. “Milady, I’ve led you into a trap,” the scout said. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. It’s not your fault.” Despite her brave words, the queen could not keep the quaver out of her voice. “I’m the one who wanted to inspect the damage personally. You told me it would be dangerous.”
“But a good leader goes where she is needed,” Arlien said. “You were right not to shy away. It would have set a bad example for your subjects.”
“Yes-um-well, at the moment we’re all at risk.” Earl Cuthbert’s voice had a nervous edge to it. “And I fear my wife and daughters are not as courageous as our queen. The peasants’ reports have already terrified them. What will they think when we start preparing the castle for a siege?”
“They’ll think we are in grave danger, which we are,” Brianna said sharply. “But I suggest you don’t underestimate them, Earl. Women are made of sterner stuff than men realize. Tell them the truth and put them to work. They’ll be fine, and you can see to the defense of your castle, which is what an earl should properly do at a time like this.”
The earl’s eyes flared at the rebuke, but he bowed to the queen. “Yes, of course, Majesty,” he said. “It’s been three hundred years since Cuthbert Castle was assaulted, so the shock of facing a siege so suddenly may have caught me off guard.”
“How off guard?” Brianna demanded. “Cuthbert Castle does have an ample supply of stores, does it not?”
Cuthbert’s face reddened. “The winter was a hard one, Milady,” he muttered. “My serfs were starving-”
“How long?” Brianna demanded, cutting him off.
The earl looked out an embrasure. “We have ample water, of course,” he said. “But food is another matter. There is enough to feed us and our soldiers for perhaps a month. But with all my serfs in the castle, the supply will last no longer than a week.”
“One week.” Brianna shook her head in disgust. “The winter wasn’t that hard, Earl.”
“I’m sorry, my queen,” Cuthbert said. “But how was I to know? We didn’t have this kind of trouble when Camden was king.”
Brianna’s face turned crimson, but she made no reply.
Tavis turned a thoughtful eye on Cuthbert’s cringing face. Shortly after the giants had razed their third village, the earl had sent a frantic messenger begging the queen for a contingent of her best troops. She had complied immediately, yet now the man blamed her because his castle was about to be sieged. To the scout, such ingratitude spoke volumes about the fellow’s character. The earl would bear watching in the days to come.
“Perhaps you should try to escape tonight, Your Majesty,” suggested Cuthbert. “Before more giants arrive.”
“Are you that much of a coward?” Tavis snapped. “Would you turn your own queen out to fight three tribes of giants?”
The color drained from the earl’s face. He backed away from Tavis, as though he feared the firbolg would hurl him off his own keep. “That’s n-not what I m-meant,” he stammered. “But tonight’s your best chance to escape. By tomorrow, we’ll be s-surrounded.”
“We’re surrounded now,” Tavis growled.
“Almost certainly,” agreed Arlien. He pointed at the giants in Basil’s mirror. “Otherwise, they wouldn’t be sitting there. I’d say Tavis’s grasp of the situation is absolute.”
“Then we should shut the gate,” suggested Avner.
“Don’t say such things, boy!” Tavis scolded. “Don’t even think them!”
“Why not?” the youth pressed. “The giants aren’t bothering the serfs. It’s Brianna they want.”
Brianna laid a gentle hand on Avner’s shoulder. “Your idea has merit, but if we lock the serfs out of the castle, the giants will turn Lake Cuthbert red with their blood.”
The queen looked across the dark waters, staring at the mountains in the distance. Their summits marked the southern boundary of Cuthbert Fief, and, save for a single narrow pass, their steep flanks formed an impassable wall of stone and ice.
“Our only hope lies outside the fief, I fear,” Brianna said, turning back to the others. “Tavis, you’ll have to sneak over the mountains and fetch the rest of my army.”
“But I’m your bodyguard!” the scout objected. “I can’t leave without you.”
“Well, you certainly can’t leave with me,” Brianna countered. “I’m not stealthy enough to sneak past all those giants. Besides, our only hope of saving Cuthbert Castle is speed, and you’ll move faster alone.”
“But if the giants storm the castle, you could be captured,” the scout objected. “I wouldn’t be here.”
He didn’t need to say why he needed to be present. They all knew what he was to do if the giants captured the queen.
“That’s a chance we’ll have to take.” Brianna stared into the scout’s eyes with a look of utter trust “But you’ll be back long before that comes to pass-and if I’m wrong, I have every confidence that you’ll track me down and put your golden arrow to good use.”
Tavis shook his head. “My place is at your side.”
“Not right now.” Brianna looked up at Basil. “Why don’t you and the others see what’s on the other side of the keep?”
The verbeeg frowned in confusion. “I’m sure we’ll find nothing but more-”
Avner grabbed the hem of the runecaster’s cloak. “Come along, Basil. It won’t hurt to check.”
The youth pulled the verbeeg toward the far wall, with Cuthbert and Arlien following close behind.
Once the others were gone, Tavis said, “You know I can’t leave your side, Brianna.”
“Why not?” A mocking smile crossed the queen’s lips. “Are you afraid to leave me alone with Arlien?”
Tavis knew better than to deny the charge. Like all firbolgs, he found it all but impossible to lie. The strain of uttering false words would cause his voice to crack, he would break out in a cold sweat, and his guilty conscious would not let him sleep for a week.
“My reluctance is due to more than Arlien,” he said. His voice almost cracked. “If the giants capture you, tracking them down may not be as easy as you think. And I’ve never loosed an arrow against someone I love. My aim might not be true.”
Brianna took his hand and squeezed it. “Your aim would be dead-on-I know,” she said. “And you mustn’t worry about Arlien. I have no feelings for him.”
“Does that mean you won’t marry him?”
“What difference would that make?” Brianna asked. “It’s you I love.”
