Crown of Stars (Crown of Stars #7)

“She saw it ‘bright as day,’” said one, “so that means she saw no thing.”

But their leader frowned. He was young to be in charge, but he had a clever face and a suspicious gaze. “Either you mean it, or you’re having a game with us. Either way, I don’t like what I’m hearing.”

“Take me to see Princess Theophanu, I pray you. You may have my weapons as surety. I am an Eagle riding in the regnant’s service. I have news for Princess Theophanu and King Sanglant that they must hear, and hear soon.”

“You’ll not be riding through to Kassel today,” remarked the wit.

His leader elbowed him. “Shut up! Well, then, give your weapons to me, and I’ll escort you back. Listen, you slow-witted hounds. I’d tell you to keep your wits about you, but I think you’ve none to gather. Be ready for anything. Expect the worst. Come on, Eagle.”

The others hunkered down, glancing nervously along the road and into the forest; its vistas were wider here, as beech took hold. She led her horse around the barrier, handed sword and staff and bow to her escort, mounted, and followed him west along the road.

“I’m called Johan,” he said after a while.

“I’m Hanna,” she said and, without meaning to, she giggled.

“What’s so funny?”

“I joined the Eagles to get out of marrying a man named Johan, that’s all.”

He considered her a moment, and offered her weapons back. “If I didn’t before, I believe you now,” he said cryptically.

She nodded, and almost giggled again, strung so tight she knew she was about to laugh madly or burst into tears.

Soon they reached a second barrier. She smelled smoke ahead and heard the thunk of ax blows and the ring of hammers. A short distance after, the camp came into view. Theophanu had taken the high ground just before the hills sloped abruptly down into the valley surrounding Kassel. There had once been a hamlet here, a dozen buildings strung along the road. Men dug ditches to break up gentle slopes where riders might strike. Fences made of sharpened poles snaked along the contours of the ground to create a barrier between storehouses. At the high point in the village, a group of people clustered by a narrow break in the trees that offered a view of the besieged town.

Guards paced before the old longhouse that would once have housed the most well-to-do family. When Johan brought her to the door, these guards indicated the distant gathering. She dismounted and walked out to the promontory, with four soldiers as escort. Johan rode back to his post.

Eagles rarely waited. When the nobles and captains saw her, they moved aside to let her approach Princess Theophanu. The princess wore over her tunic a tabard marked with the red eagle of Saony. Her hair was braided tightly and pinned up, and the cloak she wore, whipped by the wind up on this height, fluttered against her knees. Hanna had forgotten how tall Theophanu was, almost as tall as many of the men; she was her father’s daughter, well built and handsome.

“An Eagle,” she said, looking Hanna over with narrowed eyes. “Who has sent you?”

“Sister Rosvita, Your Highness.”

Around her, folk murmured to hear the cleric named, but if Theophanu was surprised, she concealed her emotion. “She rode south with Henry long since, and was lost: It was said that she died in the city of Darre. Yet I see you reached the south, as I commanded you. How long ago was that? Two years? Three? Yet now you have returned to us.”

“Would you have me speak to all those assembled here, or with more privacy, Your Highness?” Hanna asked.

Theophanu smiled thinly. “Your news must be shocking. Best you speak before all assembled here. Have you a message for me?”

“No, Your Highness. I must tell you what I know, and what I have seen, and what and who Rosvita brings with her, for that company rides several leagues behind me. It is a long tale to tell. First, I must tell you that not two leagues from this camp I glimpsed an Eika scout in the forest.”

“Triple the guard,” said Theophanu to one of her captains. “Command all to arm. Get these trees down, as we spoke of Send two hundred men to escort Sister Rosvita’s party in to safety. As for the rest, let this company retire to the hall. It seems you have traveled a long way to reach us, and I expect you will welcome a place to sit and a flask of ale to drink.”

The hall was crowded with crudely-built benches, by which means it had been turned into a meeting house and chapel. It was not long abandoned, or not abandoned at all; possibly the large family living here had simply been told to leave.

Hanna was given a stool to sit on and wine to drink. Only after Hanna had slaked her thirst did the princess ask for silence. From outside, Hanna heard axes thwacking into wood.