Child of Flame (Crown of Stars 4)

Men crowded up from the back to see the spectacle, all of them yelling and taunting the twenty or so Quman prisoners, who stood their ground with expressions of blank indifference. Bulkezu laughed, as though to spur Sapientia’s anger further. She shrieked with fury and lifted her sword.

“Quiet!” Sanglant’s voice rang out above the outcry. He rode up beside Sapientia and caught her arm before she could strike. “Nay, Sister, we’ll have no killing of prisoners. Not when they can serve us in another way.”

“Hang him then, as the Eagle says! Then everyone will know with what dishonor we treat heathens!”

“He’ll serve us better alive than dead.”

The words brought disbelieving silence as men murmured and Sanglant’s pronouncement was passed by means of whispers to the rear ranks. Only one person had the courage to speak up.

“He’s a monster,” cried Hanna. “You must see that justice is done for all the ruin he’s caused. I witnessed it, in the name of King Henry!”

“Worse ruin will come if we do not fight the enemy that threatens us most. Lady Bertha. I pray you, come forward.”

Bertha rode up with her standard-bearer at her side and, with only a cursory acknowledgment of Sapientia, placed herself before Sanglant. Without question, Judith’s daughter had summed up the situation quickly. She had a cut on her face that hadn’t been there last night, and one hand bound up in linen—she was not a person he would care to face on the battlefield, strong, cunning, and ruthless.

“I’ll give you what you want,” he said, “if you’ll pledge me your loyalty.”

Sapientia gasped. “I was named as Henry’s heir! This is my army—”

“Nay, Sister. This is my army now.” He beckoned Heribert forward. “I’ll have it now,” he said in a low voice. “It’s time.”

With a brilliant grin, Heribert fished in the pouch hanging from his belt and brought out the gold torque that Waltharia had offered Sanglant months before. The prince took it, twisted the ends, and slid it around his neck. The heavy gold braid rested easily there. He had forgotten how natural its weight felt against his skin, the tangible symbol of his rank, his birthright, and his authority. His soldiers raised their voices in a deafening cheer. Sapientia’s face washed pale, and she swayed as if dizzied by the noise.

Sanglant rode forward to take the rope bound to Bulkezu’s neck out of Ingo’s hand. “My army,” he repeated, “and Bulkezu is my prisoner.” The Quman chieftain said nothing, only watched, but his lips quirked up as if he were about to break out laughing. Sanglant turned to address Judith’s daughter. “Lady Bertha, have we an agreement?”

“Ekkehard to marry my sister in return for my troops riding under your command? I’ll accept that exchange.” She grinned. “I was hoping there might be more fighting.”

He stood in his stirrups, half turning to survey the soldiers winding back into the woods, awaiting his command. He pitched his voice to carry toward the rear ranks. “The war is not over yet, although we’ve won a great victory here. The threat to Wendar from the Quman is ended. But our enemies have not been defeated. Now I’m riding east. Who will ride with me?”

Not one among that host refused him.

XIX

THE UNVEILING

1

ADICA returned home just after sunset, stepping from southern heat to autumn chill as she crossed through the gate woven of starlight and set foot on familiar ground. She stood shivering and coughing as her lungs made the adjustment, as she struggled to place herself in the wheel of the year. The heavens were unbelievably clear. A full moon rose in the east, washing a silvery light over the sky that obscured all but the brightest stars.

Those bright stars told her what she needed to know. By the position of the Dipping Cup, swinging low in the north, and the trail of the Serpent along the southwestern horizon, she knew that the autumn equinox would have fallen just before the last new moon. That being so, the sun was only a short way from reaching the nadir of the heavens along its cyclical journey, and therefore she had less than a moon’s cycle left to her before that night came in which all the alignments of the stars and the heavens were in place for the great working.

She would never see another full moon.

She would never again lie with Alain and caress his body with only the moon to watch over them.

Unable to help herself, she wept. Far to the south, Shu-Sha’s weaving would tens of days ago have faded into sparks lost in the night, just as Alain and the men left behind to guard him had been lost. She twisted the lapis lazuli ring on her finger and with an effort wiped away her tears. Shu-Sha had scolded her more than once during the five days she had dwelt in her hall down in the southern lands.

“Do not mourn over the happiness you were fortunate enough to possess, lest you turn that joy into grief. Be glad that you had what others may never in their lives experience. The gods have dealt kindly with you, Daughter.”

It was impossible to argue with Shu-Sha, the great queen, who with her vast girth and magnificent beauty was often called the living embodiment of the Fat One, most powerful of the gods because she held both life and death in her hands. The people ruled over by Queen Shuashaana did not call their goddess the Fat One in their own language, of course, but in her heart Adica knew it was the same power who lived in both places no matter what name was used.

As a child, she had learned to stifle her tears and get on with it. She slung her pack over her shoulder and set off for the village. Her people had been busy. The lower embankment circling the tumulus had a stout palisade of logs set around it as far as she could see under moonlight. Piles of fresh earth alternated with crude shelters built for the workmen on lower ground between the ramparts. A whistling man came walking around the curve of one rampart, saw her, and stopped short. He put a horn to his lips and blew, three times, to alert the village.

o;Worse ruin will come if we do not fight the enemy that threatens us most. Lady Bertha. I pray you, come forward.”

Bertha rode up with her standard-bearer at her side and, with only a cursory acknowledgment of Sapientia, placed herself before Sanglant. Without question, Judith’s daughter had summed up the situation quickly. She had a cut on her face that hadn’t been there last night, and one hand bound up in linen—she was not a person he would care to face on the battlefield, strong, cunning, and ruthless.

“I’ll give you what you want,” he said, “if you’ll pledge me your loyalty.”