Authors: Fiona McIntosh
Loethar was not sure what to make of this latest and rather incredible development. Iselda had needed to be dealt with and he was privately relieved the matter was already taken care of but it was nevertheless a bold move by a mere servant.
His mother was still ranting.
Why do women always harp on
about something that cannot be changed and always when a matter
should be left alone!
‘But, Loethar, could we not have made more use of the royal wretch? Imagine the punishing effect it could have had on the people. This traitorous servant to the Valisars has usurped your authority, surely?’
‘I have spoken with Freath. I did agree that Iselda was his property to do with as he pleased,’ Loethar answered. ‘If I didn’t want him to ill-treat her, I should have made that more clear.’ He shrugged. ‘As it was, I gave him no instructions regarding Iselda.’
Stracker arrived and, without waiting for permission to enter the discussion, announced, ‘She’s being scraped off the cobbles now.’ His amusement was evident.
Loethar didn’t share it. ‘There you are, mother. She’s gone to her god now. Nothing more to be done about it.’
‘And still you allow this man into your bosom.’
‘Bosom?’ Loethar turned on Negev. ‘Where? Where is he that he is so close to me, so deeply involved in my thoughts and actions? I’ll tell you where he is, mother. He’s piling the remains of the woman he just murdered into a slops bucket. Hardly the work of my right hand man, wouldn’t you say?’
She refused to answer him, turning instead to her other son. ‘Is this true?’
Stracker nodded, then laughed. ‘He horrified onlookers by refusing the wych elder chest as a coffin. He insisted that she was not worth the cost and instead tossed her remains into a couple of crates. I’m beginning to like your servant, brother.’
‘Are you satisfied?’ Loethar growled.
Negev didn’t look chagrined but had the good sense to finally leave the subject be, instead turning to her next axe for grinding. ‘Well, now that you ask, no. I have helped you get to this point — both of us have,’ she said, touching Stracker on his broad chest.
‘And?’ Loethar said, keen to get this out of the way now. It had been building for months.
‘Well, son, we have given you more than simply a throne.’
‘You didn’t give it to me, mother. I took it. And my half-brother has certainly played his part and your cunning mind has also played its role, but please never flatter yourselves that you handed me any of the Set thrones on any platters.’
‘Forgive me, Loethar, that was wrongly spoken. What I meant,’ she soothed, ‘was that we’re here now. You are on the throne. You are the emperor already, if I’m not mistaken. So what is the next step?’
‘We arrived only two days ago. We have since slaughtered any number of important people, including the Valisar king and queen. What else would you have me do in this time span, dear mother?’ His last two words were spoken so acidly, Negev took a small step back, a movement that was not lost on him.
Her reply, nevertheless, lost none of its bite. ‘I want to understand your intentions, Loethar.’
‘I see. So crushing the last of the great family dynasties of the Set is not enough?’
‘Except you haven’t!’ she levelled angrily at him.
He glared at her. She still believed he needed her counsel, and it was true that she’d been a formidable woman alongside his warrior father — equally brave, far more conniving and ambitious. Even in old age, she was a force that he had to reckon with. In his quietest, most private moments, he often dreamed of ending her angry, bitter life. A blanket over her face, a poison, a stray arrow. But think it though he did, he could never follow through. It was not a matter of courage — he had that in droves. It was a simple promise given to his dying father that he would forgive his mother her overbearing ways and protect her until she took her final breath. He’d sworn he would as the older man took his own last breath and if there was one person he would keep faith with in life, it was his tribal father.
‘You haven’t!’ she repeated and he despised her in that instant.
‘What do you mean?’
‘The crown prince is alive. You admit it yourself. And that Valisar whore got to rub my face in her dirt, reminding me that Prince Leonel lives, that he will emerge to slaughter you, slaughter all of us!’ Her voice had built shrilly as she spoke until she was near yelling.
Stracker broke the tension, laughing as her voice broke on the last word. ‘He could only be about this tall!’ he cut in, his incredulity at her howling claim obvious. ‘I could snap the life out of him with one hand, even if he were capable of lifting a sword with any menace.’
Negev visibly calmed herself, her nostrils pinched as she inhaled a steadying breath. ‘Stracker, dear, you’re my flesh … my blood runs thick through your veins. But you should never believe that you are more imaginative than I. I am well aware of the boy’s age and I can guess at his height — I did raise two sons of my own. This is not about strength or fighting capability. This boy is no longer a prince.’
Stracker frowned at her and Loethar sighed inwardly. His half-brother was not dumb — not by a long shot — but he could be obtuse when his arrogance overrode everything.
‘You haven’t grasped it, have you, son?’ Negev cajoled. ‘Look to your brother. He will enlighten you.’
Stracker glared at Loethar, who regarded him with a small measure of sympathy. He, too, had been on the receiving end of their mother’s sharp tongue all of his life. ‘As soon as Brennus breathed his last, his heir became king. Our mother is simply making the point that the boy is now King Leonel in spite of his youth, and as long as he remains alive, he becomes a symbol of hope for Penraven.’
Negev couldn’t contain herself a moment longer. ‘He is a symbol of freedom, a rallying point, a hook upon which to hang an entire region’s hope! Faith is an incredibly powerful force, especially among those who have been crushed. As long as King Leonel is at large, the people of the Set will endure. As long as the stories of his survival race like a plains fire out of control from realm to realm, his stature and his presence will grow, whether he’s this tall or this tall!’ she said, mimicking a child’s height and then a man’s with her hand. ‘And as long as he continues to grow, any rebellious element within the people will have their fiery dreams of vengeance stoked.’
‘He’s a child!’ Stracker hurled back at them, incredulous. ‘You’re scared of a child?’
‘Only what he represents,’ Loethar said patiently. ‘Leonel the boy is, at this moment, irrelevant. It’s the fact that he lives that matters. The blood of the Valisars pumps strong through him for he is the rightful heir. Did Iselda give any indication that she knew where he was?’
Negev shook her head. ‘No. But she believed him alive, revelled in the knowledge. She must have known something.’
Loethar’s expression darkened. ‘She could have just said that out of maliciousness.’ He shook his head, thinking of the dour manservant’s actions. ‘I still can’t believe Freath was so brutal. He seems so very conservative and contained.’
‘Well, believe me, he enjoyed it. It surprised me too,’ his mother grudgingly admitted. ‘The look on his face. Animal-like fury.’ She shook her head. ‘It doesn’t solve the issue, Loethar,’ she added pointedly.
‘No,’ he said, noncommittally.
‘So, we hunt him down. Destroy him,’ Stracker said. ‘Send me. I’m done here.’
Loethar nodded to himself in thought, cast a glance absently at Vyk, who was as still as a statue. He looked back at Stracker and his mother.
‘May I?’ Negev asked. He nodded. ‘I think you should take your brother up on his offer. Let him get together a group. Keep it small. You’ll move more easily around the realm that way,’ she said, turning to her eldest son. ‘He’s had a couple of days on us and perhaps he’s getting help. He is only young so he’ll be scared, no matter how courageous he is. He also won’t be as resourceful as you or Loethar. Try and think as you did when you were his age, Stracker. At twelve summertides your belly’s needs overrode everything — trust me on this. He’ll stop often to eat, not thinking so carefully about cover of darkness. He’ll take risks when he’s famished — perhaps try and steal food from remote homes or from other people’s traps. Put the word out. Put a reward up. Make it generous. Someone with a grudge against the royal family might just speak up. I would urge —’
‘Stop, mother,’ Loethar said wearily. He rubbed at his eyes. ‘There is a far more simple solution, one I believe will not only win the entire Set’s attention but will satisfy my half-brother’s lust for bloodletting.’
Stracker grinned with sinister anticipation. ‘I can’t wait to hear it.’
Negev, clearly unhappy at being interrupted but unable to wipe her curiosity entirely from her expression, looked to him expectantly.
‘There are times to win hearts and other times to impress one’s control. Stracker, get your Greens on the march. Surround the realm. And then you may kill every male child aged between eleven and thirteen summertides. If there’s one skill Penraven possesses, it’s excellent records. The Valisars are notorious down the ages for it and, according to Valya, one particular aspect they loved was the census. Ask Freath to help — in fact I’ll tell him to. He’ll know where to find the books that will give you names, locations and ages. Make it swift and brutal. No torture, Stracker. Behead each publicly; leave the families nothing but the headless bodies to bury. You will make it known that every one of these boys is being slaughtered because the prince — and you must never call him king, Stracker — is a coward. Put up notices for those who can read, send out criers for the majority who can’t. It is summertide now. They have until the first leaves begin to fall before the next wave of killing begins. We will be merciless if the prince is not given to us. Are you confident the armies are quelled?’
Stracker nodded. ‘Totally, in all realms. All weapons have already been confiscated, all senior members are dead. There will be no opposition. They’re still trying to clear their dead!’
‘Good. Then begin with the army sons just to make sure they understand that it is our rule now. You will move in one rolling cull, starting in Penraven and moving into the other realms until the prince is found. Once that is done, the numbers of boys in the prince’s age range will be all but annihilated. Those remaining will stick out like a pimple on the nose and can be dealt with swiftly. Stracker, remember that people are extremely resourceful. Once word gets out of the slaughter, they will do everything to protect their children. Some boys will be turned into girls overnight; others will be sent off into remote areas, certainly to the coast to find any seaworthy vessel. They will wear false beards or will miraculously age. Our men need to be vigilant, so lead by example. We cannot expect you to catch all in your net but those who remain will have to go to ground and then we can begin to hunt him more methodically with a lot less chance for him to disappear into the cities or villages posing as some peasant.’
Stracker nodded. ‘I get you.’
‘Heed me. Don’t waste time making these boys suffer. We’re using shock tactics. We need this to be a hard, fast strike to do away with as many potential King Leonels as possible. The less you play, the more vicious it will feel. You must put the fear of the barbarians into these people once again, so that they have no dreams of rebellion to cling to.’
Negev was frowning. ‘But the prince could simply hide.’
‘Yes he could,’ Loethar replied. ‘But he will need to be awfully patient and at his age he probably won’t be. Not unless he receives a lot of help from others. And that’s how we will catch him. If others are involved, the secret is shared. And we all know what happens once a secret is shared. Tongues will wag. Information can be bought.’
‘You want me to put a price on his head?’ Stracker asked.
‘No. Money only goes so far when it comes to betrayals of this nature. I am talking about a blood price. The killing of the Set’s young males will be the first warning, will set the scene, shall we say. After that, we will threaten to kill every male child over the age of eleven and under the age of eighteen summertides if Leonel is not yielded by the thaw. The people will already be mourning a lost son and the thought of losing another will very quickly loosen tongues. Believe me, someone somewhere will have knowledge of something — a chance sighting, a whispered rumour here, an overheard conversation there. The moment Leonel declares who he is to one other person, we have a chance of catching him.’
Stracker exploded into delighted laughter. ‘Never let it be said that your mind wasn’t capable of great evil, Loethar.’
His mother’s eyebrows arched and she looked suitably admonished. ‘Inspired. A way to completely terrify the population as well as make the boy feel utterly conspicuous simply by remaining alive. Those with family will yield the boy without hesitation if it means their precious sons will survive.’
‘Exactly,’ Loethar said, satisfied. He turned away to scratch Vyk’s head. ‘Incidentally,’ he added, ‘if the prince is found, the killing stops. It’s important we keep faith. I want the people to feel the ruthlessness when called for, but also the fairness of my rule if they obey.’
‘You see, Stracker, this is why Loethar is emperor, and you are not.’
Negev’s eldest son didn’t seem offended by the insult. ‘So long as he keeps giving me tasks like this, he can remain emperor.’
Loethar paused at his half-brother’s words but almost immediately returned his attention to the raven. The wording of Stracker’s reply was revealing, he thought.
His mother interrupted his quiet moment. ‘And what will you do, Loethar, in the meantime?’
He sighed, turned back to face them. ‘I’m not sure. I’m half tempted to take a lone and very unannounced ride around this realm, possibly the Set.’
‘What? But that would take months, at least!’
He shrugged. ‘This is my empire. And there is not much to do in these early days of settling the realms down — the Set will probably run itself easily without me, with you supervising.’