The Sapphire Rose

‘We sent a great many messages to you, Your Majesty,’ Patriarch Dolmant said.

‘I’m sure you did, Your Grace,’ Wargun said sourly, ‘but only one of them reached me. Martel cluttered most of Arcium with small bands of ambushers. I expect that most of your messengers are lying in ditches down there in God’s own rock-garden. Sorry, Dregos,’ he apologized to the Arcian King.

‘That’s all right, Wargun,’ King Dregos forgave him. ‘God had a reason for putting so much rock in Arcium. Paving roads and building walls and castles gives my people something to do other than starting wars with each other.’

‘If there were ambushers out, how did anybody manage to reach you, Your Majesty?’ Dolmant asked.

‘That was the strange part of it, Dolmant,’ Wargun replied, scratching at his tousled head. ‘I never really did get the straight of it. The fellow who got through is from Lamorkand, and it appears that he just rode openly all the way across Arcium and no one paid any attention to him. Either he’s the luckiest man alive or God loves him more than most – and he doesn’t look all that lovable to me.’

‘Is he nearby, Your Majesty?’ Sephrenia asked the King of Thalesia, her eyes strangely intent.

‘I think so, little lady,’ Wargun belched. ‘He said something about wanting to make a report to the Patriarch of Kadach. He’s probably out there in the hall somewhere.’

‘Do you suppose we might ask him a few questions?’

‘Is it really important, Sephrenia?’ Dolmant asked her.

‘Yes, Your Grace,’ she replied, ‘I think it might be. There’s something I’d like to verify.’

‘You,’ Wargun said sharply to one of the soldiers standing at the door, ‘see if you can find that seedy-looking Lamork who’s been trailing after us. Tell him to come in here.’

‘At once, Your Majesty.’

‘Naturally “at once”. I gave an order, didn’t I? All my orders are obeyed at once.’ King Wargun was already on his fourth tankard of ale, and his grip on civility was beginning to slip. ‘Anyway,’ he went on, ‘the fellow arrived at that castle I was besieging no more than two weeks ago. After I read his message, I gathered up the army and we all came here.’

The Lamork who was escorted into the room was, as Wargun had said, a bit on the seedy-looking side. He was obviously neither a warrior nor Churchman. He had thin, lank, dun-coloured hair and a big nose.

‘Ah, Eck,’ Patriarch Ortzel said, recognizing one of his servants. ‘I should have guessed that you’d have been the one to make it through. My friends, this is one of my servants – Eck by name – a very sneaky fellow, I’ve found. He’s most useful when stealth is required.’

‘I don’t think stealth had much to do with it this time, Your Grace,’ Eck admitted. He had a nasal sort of voice that seemed to go with his face. ‘As soon as we saw your signal, we all rode off to the west as fast as our horses could run. We started to run into ambushes before we even reached the Arcian border, though. That’s when we decided to split up. We thought that one of us at least might get through. Personally, I didn’t have much hope of that. There seemed to be a man with a longbow behind every tree. Anyway, I hid out in a ruined castle near Darra to think things over. I couldn’t see any way to get your message through at all. I didn’t know where King Wargun was, and I didn’t dare ask any travellers for fear that they were some of the men who’d been killing my friends.’

‘Perilous situation,’ Darellon said.

‘I thought so myself, My Lord,’ Eck agreed. ‘I hid in that ruin for two days, and then one morning, I heard the strangest sound. It seemed to be music of some kind. I thought it might be a shepherd, but it turned out to be a little girl with a few goats. She was making the music on those pipes that herders carry. The little girl seemed to be about six or so, and I knew as soon as I saw her that she was Styric. Everyone knows that it’s bad luck to have anything at all to do with Styrics, so I stayed hidden in the ruins. I certainly didn’t want her to give me away to any of the people who were looking for me. She came right up to me as if she knew exactly where I was, though, and she told me to follow her.’ He paused, his face troubled. ‘Now, I’m a grown man, Your Grace, and I don’t take orders from children – and particularly not from Styric ones – but there was something very strange about this little girl. When she told me to do something, I went right ahead and started to do it before I even stopped to think about it. Isn’t that odd? To make it short, she led me out of those ruins. The men who were looking for me were all around, but they just acted as if they couldn’t even see us. The little girl led me all the way across Arcium. Now, that’s a long, long way, but for some reason it only took us three days – four actually when you count the day when we stopped so that one of her nanny-goats could give birth to a pair of kids – cute little beasts they were, too. The little girl even insisted that I carry them on my horse when we moved on. Well sir, we reached the castle where King Wargun’s army was laying siege to some Rendors inside, and that’s when the little girl left me. It’s the oddest thing. I don’t like Styrics, but I actually cried when she went away. She gave me a little kiss before she left, and I can still feel it on my cheek. I’ve thought about it a lot since then, and I’ve decided that maybe Styrics aren’t so bad after all.’

‘Thank you,’ Sephrenia murmured.

‘Well, sir,’ Eck went on, ‘I went to the army and told them that I had a message for King Wargun from the Hierocracy. The soldiers took me to His Majesty, and I gave him the document. After he read it through, he gathered up his army, and we made a forced march to get here. That’s about all there was, My Lords.’

Kurik was smiling gently. ‘Well, well,’ he said to Sephrenia, ‘it looks as if Flute’s still around – and in more than just spirit – doesn’t it?’

‘So it would seem,’ she agreed, also smiling.

‘Document?’ Patriarch Emban said to Patriarch Ortzel.

‘I took the liberty of speaking for the Hierocracy,’ Ortzel confessed. ‘I gave each of my messengers a copy for King Wargun. I thought it might be all right, under the circumstances.’

‘It’s quite all right with me,’ Emban said. ‘Makova might not have liked it very much, though.’