The Ruby Knight

‘Do you think any of the Primate’s spies saw us leave your chapterhouse?’

‘They didn’t really have very much time for it,’ Sparhawk said. ‘We’d already gone past them before they came out of their tents.’

Tynian grunted. ‘Which road do you plan to take when we leave this one?’

‘I think we’ll go across country. Roads tend to be watched. I’m sure that Annias has guessed that we’re up to something by now.’

They rode on through the tag end of a foggy night. Sparhawk was pensive. He privately admitted to himself that their hastily conceived plan had little chance of success. Even if Tynian could raise the ghosts of the Thalesian dead, there was no guarantee that any of the spirits would know the location of King Sarak’s final resting place. This entire journey could well be futile and serve only to use up what time Ehlana had left. Then a thought came to him. He rode on forward to speak with Sephrenia. ‘Something just occurred to me,’ he said to her.

‘Oh?’

‘How well known is the spell you used to encase Ehlana?’

‘It’s almost never practised because it’s so very dangerous,’ she replied. ‘A few Styrics might know of it, but I doubt that any would dare to perform it. Why do you ask?’

‘I think I’m right on the edge of an idea. If no one but you is really willing to use the spell, then it’s rather unlikely that anybody else would know about the time limitation.’

‘That’s true. They wouldn’t.’

‘Then nobody could tell Annias about it.’

‘Obviously.’

‘So Annias doesn’t know that we only have a certain amount of time left. For all he knows, the crystal could keep Ehlana alive indefinitely.’

‘I’m not certain that gives us any particular advantage, Sparhawk.’

‘I’m not either, but it’s something to keep in mind. We might be able to use it someday.’

The eastern sky was growing gradually lighter as they rode, and the fog was swirling and thinning. It was about a half-hour before sunrise when Berit came galloping up from the rear. He was wearing his mail-shirt and plain blue cloak, and his war-axe was in a sling at the side of his saddle. The young novice, Sparhawk decided almost idly, was going to need some instruction in swordsmanship soon, before he grew too attached to that axe.

‘Sir Sparhawk,’ he said, reining in, ‘there’s a column of church soldiers coming up behind us.’ His hard-run horse was steaming in the chill fog.

‘How many?’ Sparhawk asked him.

‘Fifty or so, and they’re galloping hard. There was a break in the fog, and I saw them coming.’

‘How far back?’

‘A mile or so. They’re in that valley we just came through.’

Sparhawk considered it. ‘I think a little change of plans might be in order,’ he said. He looked around and saw a dark blur back in the swirling fog off to the left. ‘Tynian,’ he said, ‘I think that’s a grove of trees over there. Why don’t you take the others and ride across this field and get into the grove before the soldiers catch up? I’ll be right along.’ He shook Faran’s reins. ‘I want to talk with Sir Olven,’ he told the big roan.

Faran flicked his ears irritably, then moved alongside the column at a gallop.

‘We’ll be leaving you here, Olven,’ Sparhawk told the scarfaced knight. ‘There’s a half-hundred church soldiers coming up from the rear. I want to be out of sight before they come by.’

‘Good idea,’ Olven approved. Olven was not one to waste words.

‘Why don’t you give them a bit of a run?’ Sparhawk suggested. ‘They won’t be able to tell that we’re not still in the column until they catch up with you.’

Olven grinned crookedly. ‘Even so far as Demos?’ he asked.

‘That would be helpful. Cut across country before you reach Lenda and pick up the road again south of town. I’m sure Annias has spies in Lenda too.’

‘Good luck, Sparhawk,’ Olven said.

‘Thanks,’ Sparhawk said, shaking the scarfaced knight’s hand, ‘we might need it.’ He backed Faran off the road, and the column thundered past him at a gallop.

‘Let’s see how fast you can get to that grove of trees over there,’ Sparhawk said to his bad-tempered mount.

Faran snorted derisively, then leapt forward at a dead run.

Kalten waited at the edge of the trees, his grey cloak blending into the shadows and fog. ‘The others are back in the woods a ways,’ he reported. ‘Why’s Olven galloping like that?’

‘I asked him to,’ Sparhawk replied, swinging down from his saddle. ‘The soldiers won’t know that we’ve left the column if Olven stays a mile or two ahead of them.’

‘You’re smarter than you look, Sparhawk,’ Kalten said, also dismounting. ‘I’ll get the horses back out of sight. The steam coming off them might be visible.’ He squinted at Faran. ‘Tell this ugly brute of yours not to bite me.’

‘You heard him, Faran,’ Sparhawk told his war-horse.

Faran laid his ears back.

As Kalten led their horses back among the trees, Sparhawk sank down onto his stomach behind a low bush. The grove of trees lay no more than fifty yards from the road, and as the fog began to dissipate with the onset of morning, he could clearly see that the whole stretch of road they had just left was empty. Then a single red-tunicked soldier galloped along, coming from the south. The man rode stiffly, and his face seemed strangely wooden.

‘A scout?’ Kalten whispered, crawling up beside Sparhawk.

‘More than likely,’ Sparhawk whispered back.

‘Why are we whispering?’ Kalten asked. ‘He can’t hear us over the noise of his horse’s hooves.’

‘You started it.’

‘Force of habit, I guess. I always whisper when I’m skulking.’

The scout reined in his mount at the top of the hill, then wheeled and rode back along the road at a dead run. His face was still blank.

‘He’s going to wear out that horse if he keeps doing that,’ Kalten said.

‘It’s his horse.’

‘That’s true, and he’s the one who gets to walk when the horse plays out on him.’

‘Walking is good for church soldiers. It teaches them humility.’

About five minutes later, the church soldiers galloped by, their red tunics dark in the dawn light. Accompanying the leader of the column was a tall, emaciated figure in a black robe and hood. It may have been a trick of the misty morning light, but a faint greenish glow seemed to emanate from under the hood, and the figure’s back appeared to be grossly deformed.

‘They’re definitely trying to keep an eye on that column,’ Kalten said.