Chapter 45

Chapter XLVII

Three days later, Valun invito rex and his father looked upon their homeland once again. By this time, the elder king had removed the binding around his eyes, and so he was able to follow his son’s direction as the king asked “There is our home, father. Is it not beautiful?”

“Yes. At last I see my home, and yet I care not for it. It is the people I want to see, and the people are in the cities. Take the straight road to the capital, and do not tarry on the way.”

So it was that the party began the last leg of their journey, meeting the road where it came up to join the mountains, and from there riding as swiftly as they were able to reach Corrandion.

When they reached the edge of the city, they were astonished at being greeted by nothing more than vast piles of rubble. Nothing whatever had been done about the destruction of the walls since Richard had ridden away. Passing the remains of the gatehouse, which had straddled the road by which they had returned, they saw that vast swaths of the city itself had also been laid low.

“Who could have done this?” Valun thought aloud “It seems that Robert will have much to answer for.”

One of the guards rode up then, wishing to calm his lord’s mind if he could. “My lord, if I may say so, do not lay the blame too heavily on one man. The signs show that a vast army trampled this ground. Do not disregard that such destruction as we have seen could not have been accomplished simply by neglect.”

“I will see the man himself to hear what he would tell me. But now, as we are safe, go from us and spread out into the city, making known that the kings have returned and will see their people on the steps of the palace.”

Saluting, the guards separated, each taking a different road away from that which they had been on. As Valun and his father continued forward, they could hear the guards moving steadily further away, loudly proclaiming “The people shall come to the palace!” The kings, and the prince Valnor who had remained with them rode unhindered until they reached the gates of the palace.

Acting as herald, Valnor rode forward and cried “Open the gates for your king, Valun conditor diu pacem and his son, Valun mac dilis, wish to enter their hall!” A few moments passed before James Longfurrow, who had stationed himself in the gatehouse, projected his voice out toward them.

“Good day, my lords! I would be out to greet you sooner, but my companions are both dead drunk. Discipline has gone to the wind since my brother left. If you will pardon me, I will inform the Trondale of your safe return and fetch some water. I am terribly sorry for such a greeting.”

James’s greeting was made so apologetically that the royalty he spoke to could not resist laughing at the absurdity of it. Speaking for the kings once more, Valnor replied “It is nothing, boy. You need not scrape the floor. You need only do as you have said as fast as you may. Go on now.”

When James had received the reply, he leapt up and hurried away. Everything he had said to the king was true; in the past week since Richard’s abrupt departure, the men, none of whom had ever been soldiers, but simply men carrying weapons who were loyal to their commander. With no commander to impress them, no one cared for strict discipline anymore, and so they had fallen into carousing to celebrate what victory they could claim.

On his way out of the gatehouse, James stepped over his fellow “watchers” with a look of self-righteous indignation. Dislodging the wooden bar that shut the doors, he muttered “Could have done just as well without you men. We’ll see if you get any glory for this. No doubt when you’re up you’ll be calling the whole city.”

There was actually a trough of water and a bucket nearby, so it did not take him long to retrieve the restorative he needed and then to throw it over the sleeping figures. They came awake with predictable grunts of resentment. “Look here! What’d you do that for? We don’t need no boy to put us out o’ that! We hain’t got no clothes but these here!”

“So you’ve lost your uniform already? No memory of the sword and anvil haunts your sodden heads? Look outside and tell me what you see, if you can. In case you can’t, that’s the king and his father you’re holding beyond their own gates. I would rectify your mistake, but I must rouse the Trondale.” Dodging the blow that was aimed at him, he sped off toward the inner castle.

At that time, Robert Trondale was still lying in a bed which had been assembled for him in a room on the ground floor of the castle, since the healers had decided that he would recover faster if he expended less of his strength. There were two attendants with him day and night, even though, with the stubbornness he had built along with his rocklike strength, he had decided two days ago that he did not require them. So he compelled the attendants to serve more often as runners who would inform him of the developments beyond the walls of the room. On this day, however, he had been asleep until just a short time ago, and so had not thought to send either of the men for news. Quickly, he decided what he wanted and made it known. “Send for my family. All of them. I have matters I wish to settle.”

“It shall be done.” One of the men left the room so silently that Robert hardly noticed the departure.

It was then that the tranquility of the room was shattered by the arrival of James, who had hurried there at his utmost speed and seemed to have been energized by the effort, rather than otherwise. “Lord Trondale, the king is at the gates!”

“The king is at the gates? Did you see him? Is he well or injured, and is he alone?”

“Yes, sir, I saw him. He appears well, and there are two men with him. One is very old and the other is perhaps younger than the king himself, sir.”

Upon hearing the answers to his inquires, Robert’s impulse was to leap up and run to the gate, but a sharp pain froze him and caused the remaining attendant to move to his side and pressure him back down. He insisted on protesting vigorously at this, however, shouting “I can not remain here! The king has come home and I must be there to see him! James, run to the gate. You will have to speak for me.” concluded the furious knight, relaxing when he saw that he was unable to force his way out at that time.

Nodding, James ran straight back out toward the courtyard again, from whence he could hear that the great gates were finally opening. By the time he arrived, the kings had crossed the threshold and were standing in the middle of the courtyard, as if they had suddenly remembered something important. As he drew close, James could hear the king say to the others “pater, frater. Nos ad principium. Sint rata et convertimini ad finem dolore magna felicitas, si in nobis. Sic loquor tamquam regi et ita dicam potero.”

The king had recited this proclamation as if he were standing in the temple. Out of respect for the king’s evident reverence for the moment, James froze where he stood, but four feet from them, and resolved to be unknown until they saw him themselves. He did not wait long. Almost immediately after the speech, which James had failed to understand one word of, the oldest man acknowledged his presence.

“And who is it who has come from our house to greet us, and why is he the only one?”

James guessed immediately that the man was the king’s father and chided himself for not realizing this immediately. Composing his face to show no reaction whatever, he bowed and replied “My lord, I am James, of the house of Longfurrow, brother to the king’s great friend of that name. I am afraid the castle is empty, save for the lord Trondale, who lies injured, and an attendant healer. My two companions of the gatehouse appear more concerned with their sleep.”

“You speak well, but why are there so few men at present?”

James turned to the king, who had spoken, and answered “Because we of the city weathered a great attack not long after you departed, my lord. Those who remain were ordered to begin rebuilding what was destroyed.”

“How many survived?”

“Only one thousand, my lord. With them, there are one thousand prisoners from the enemy whom my brother pardoned in your name and offered homes. Sixty-five men are from the lord Trondale’s command.”

The king shook his head slowly, seeming astonished at the numbers. “So few left? It is truly a return to the beginning.” He sighed heavily, as if he were adjusting a heavy load on his shoulders.

Then the prince, who had not spoken since entering, reminded the king “All is not lost, my brother. The towns and villages were not touched. Send men to call the people out. Remember what you have said.”

“It shall surely be as you say. And now, I wish to speak with Robert Trondale alone.”

Seeing that the king had taken control of the situation, the others with him actually stepped away to allow him to depart. James turned to watch his passage, thinking to himself that perhaps the old king, who had cried for their approval on the steps of the temple, was already gone, swept away in the flood of his lost people.

Valun was taken aback by the dim light of Robert’s room. He stood in the doorway, unnoticed, for a full minute before he spotted the attendant’s seat and commandeered it. Then he waited until they noticed his presence.

As the attendant was looking the other way, Robert was the first to react. He surged upward, defying the attendant’s futile restraint, as he cried “Look to your lord, man!”

The attendant shuffled back, ashamed, as he bowed toward Valun and said “My lord. It is joyfully that I recognize your return to us. It has been too long.”

Valun dismissed the attendant with a simple gesture. “You may go. I intend to speak to the Trondale alone. Go and see to the care of my father.” Even in the poor light, Valun could tell that real happiness had shown itself at the mention of his father. Would that venerable king’s word be enough, in the end, to make the people, or even he himself, accept that he was now, indisputably, the king of the Corridanes? Pulling away from his self-induced torments, Valun moved closer to the soldier in the bed.

“Can you explain yourself?”

Reaching back to deal with an itch he could barely reach, Robert asked tonelessly “Explain myself concerning what, my lord? Inflicting grievous injuries on myself because it was the alternative to death at the hands of a Naibernese giant? I would think I deserve some honor. No other man has survived jumping from the top of the city walls, have they?”

“And you were the first because…”

“Richard found me. Please call my attendant back. My back torments me.”

“Perhaps you should do it yourself, and call on the Longfurrow boy, if your throat has not also been injured?”

Sensing a challenge, Robert drew in his breath and bellowed the suggested name so loudly he would have been heard halfway across the battle of the great canyon, had he been there.

As James hurried in, Valun inquired of his captain “Do you know that Richard is not present?”

“I knew that. He told me himself he was going to hunt John, who rushed out the rear gate after the fight began.”

“Did you not have only two thousand men when I left? What occurred, that this should change?” Valun continued, guessing the answer as he spoke.

“At the critical point, when my men had nearly lost the walls, the Longfurrow and his whole force arrived to break the enemies’ rear. I have not seen what became of the city, because I have not stepped out of the castle in days. I know only that Richard won the battle.”

“You will live?”

“Since I have survived to see you return, I know that is likely, but those healers still insist that I should not yet rise. I regret that I may not greet you properly.”

Striding over to the bedside and extending his arm, Valun took the proffered, unpliable, wrist in his hand, even as Robert took his. Grasping this living steel beam in his own appreciably strong grip, Valun stood for a moment, then said “You who leapt four times your length to meet death. You who inspired men to stand against a horde, you who are master of your fate, it seems. The kingdom salutes you.”

Valun had never known Robert to show a true reaction in his life. But this time, he was, however mightily he struggled against it. Nearly choking on the words, Robert Trondale, that immovable pillar, gasped out “My lord… That is all I wished for… The One knows that I did not go seeking fame… but I still wished that fame would come to me, seek me out, so that my father would know… and my house would have honor… Is it wrong to wish that one be known, when one does as I have? But I did not want to stand over other men. I only wished to know that men would mark my passing.”

“You, my friend, are a great man. Upon my word, when the time for your passing comes, the people will know you.”

They released each other’s wrists. The king left the room, feeling strangely lighthearted and trailed by James. Robert sank back into his bed, relieved at having said his piece at last and now content. He was soon soundly asleep.

Chapter 44

Chapter XLVI

The decision pronounced and determined, the party made ready to leave the hall. As he rose, an action which released all the others to do so in turn, Elmbran reminded the group “I was not prepared to take such action. I require time to call on my people. I do, however, have a matter in my keeping which king Railon and lord Richard may like to see.” Thereupon, Elmbran left the hall, as John followed quietly behind.

Left alone in the company of the Princess, who did not offer to speak, but only sat silently watching the men, Richard inquired of the desert lord “What would he have us see?”

“Prisoners. I have seen them already. Evidently the prince John foiled their attempt on his brother’s life, which was a reaction to the failure of their father to hand over the king Valun. So I was told by my brother-daughter herself.”

No sooner had Railon finished, then the doors opened again and two prisoners who resembled the guards Richard had previously seen accompanying the Princess. They were evidently worse for the wear; one was missing his left hand and the other had obvious marks of a beating on his face. Railon was unperturbed, only said “The guards had to deal harshly with them to convince them to talk. Eventually they did. They speak the guards’ tongue, so we will translate.”

Indicating his assent, Richard began putting questions to the mutilated men which he knew Railon had probably already asked himself.

“Who is your master? Who ordered you to assault the king?”

The men spoke in unison. They were evidently agitated and desperate to say everything that might be asked almost at one time. When Richard had endured a full minute of babbling, Railon relayed the statement.

“They repeat several times that they were paid by the man we have already heard of, this emperor Kalveston of Naibern. They wish you to know also that they will hold nothing back. They await the lord’s questions.”

Surprised by the prisoners’ subservient behavior, Richard wasted no time in continuing his questioning. “Why were you ordered to kill my king? And why do you do this so many years after he departed from here?”

The answer he received this time was simple enough: “Emperor Kalveston ordered that it be done. He wished to spread fear and distrust by employing us, men of Gairbairia, to kill the king of Corridane in the house of Ronaiera. We returned because he wished to remind you small men that his arm is so long.”

Disregarding the broken prisoners, Richard remarked to Railon “Small men we are not, in my land, nor, I daresay, in yours, lord Railon. I bring word from the knight Dunstan of your people. He desires to move those men he has with him to a brighter land. I have offered him ours. What say you?”

After snapping a short order to the prisoners, who slunk away toward the edge of the room, Railon replied “I came to lord Elmbran with the same thought in my mind. I do not see why we should cross to your land, when this one here is readily available.”

Seating himself again, Richard asked “What does the lord Elmbran say?”

“He allows the space and the means to build a town of our own, but we must build it ourselves. His people will not aid us. I deem it fair.”

“Fair it is, but what of yourself? If you settle here, do you renounce your crown?”

“I am still the leader of my people. In light of our plight, we are to be allowed a city-state, where we and our descendants shall live.”

“Descendants? Did not your families flee the invaders?”

“Yes. They have been waiting in this city for us to return. The Gairbairns shall not be vanquished so easily. Moreover, I swore an oath to my dying brother that I would reclaim his land for him. It will not be easy, but I will not rest until it is done.”

“I see that I need say no more, lord. Would you not consider joining me in my quest? I return now to my land. Through his agents, this emperor Kalveston slew your brother, displaced your people, burned your cities, slaughtered my family and burned my house, killed the lord Elmbran’s father, and threatened his life and that of my king, Valun, whose demise he may yet achieve if no one is there who knows of the danger. Is that not enough to convince you that all should join in the quest to visit justice upon him?”

“I can not yet leave my people.”

“Your knight Dunstan is leader of them by your word. Let him continue in that and come with me. Send word to the Prince John that we ask him to join us.”

“Your argument is clear. I will come, as, I expect, will the Prince John. He is eager to prove himself before you.”

“Very well. We should ride with all speed. Tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow the three lands will ride together again.”

Chapter 43

Chapter XLV

Valun rose from his position leaning on the shoulder of his father, mopping his face with only his forearm. As he did so, the antique prisoner who was all that remained of Valun II, the architect of the most lasting peace the lands had yet seen, croaked out “Is not Valnor with you? They took him away from me. I know not what has come of him.”

In response to this, the erstwhile prisoner of war whom Valun had taken as his guide across the country stepped forth and cast off his hood. “I am here, father. I was conscripted into the black forces and made to fight our subjects, which I shall everlastingly regret. In the end, my brother had me captured and brought to his tent. After a time, he guessed who I was, and we returned.”

This revelation took Valun completely aback. “Valnor! I had not thought…Surely, I guessed it, but it was beyond reason to think the man might be you! I saw no more than a desperate man, who with his desperation, intrigued me.” Without further words, there was another joyful reunion, now that the two brothers could recognize each other fully once more.

The business of reuniting completed, the rulers of Corridane turned to the business of escaping. Valun, as the recognized king, and the strongest of them, immediately took charge. “Father, have you strength left in your legs to make the journey up the stairs? We can do no more until you reach the landing. Did the guards leave food, and did you eat of it?”

“What could I do? It was the only stuff I had to keep myself alive until you came.”

“Then we must hope, and pray to the One that it was not poisoned. Man, run back up and do your utmost to open the passage. We must return to true air as quickly as we may.”

Nodding acknowledgement, the guardsman turned and could be heard pounding up the stairs. As he did so, Valun and the prince turned to lifting the old king off of the slat he lay on. Each taking an arm, they heaved. In one swift jerk, they had brought the old man up, for they were still strong, and he was greatly weakened by his long imprisonment. Immediately, they started up the stairway, taking each step as if it might trigger some hidden response.

When they had at last reached the landing, they found the guardsman leaning against the far wall, breathing heavily. “I am sorry, my lords. I could not shift it.”

Gently breaking his father’s hold on his shoulders and lowering down to rest, Valun replied “Three men came out. Perhaps it would take all three of us to release ourselves. Have you still strength for the task?”

Mopping his brow, the man replied “Enough to push, with my lords’ aid.” So the three men arrayed themselves against the wall, Valun in the center. Then they leaned all their weight against the block of stone, and suddenly felt that it was moving. It slid only a foot farther before it stopped, and then suddenly jerked forward.

As soon as the platform had come to a stop for a second time, leaving it extended several feet out into the room, the guard who had been on it leapt down to aid his comrades, who had evidently been pulling the rope, but now were now sitting awkwardly on the floor. “All is well” he said “But you will want to rise sooner than that.”

Then Valun emerged from behind the wall. “Behold your king.” The king’s guardsmen understood his manner well enough to know that he was probably not referring to himself, but they nevertheless saluted him abruptly. However, when he had helped the frail old man whom he had referred to down to the floor, the men positively abased themselves before the recent prisoner, so grateful were they that he was alive yet.

After a moment, the men rose and one said “My lord, permit me to speak for your whole people in saying that we have never forgotten you and wished always for your return. If we may, my companions and I will arrange what we can for that return.”

“Go as swiftly as you are able.” replied the elder king. “We will follow as swiftly as we may.”

While walking down the corridor at their own sedate pace, Valun took the opportunity to inquire into the truth of the circumstances he had waited so long to understand. “Why were you imprisoned at all? Did they claim even a false charge?”

Their father was still weak, so Valnor answered his brother. “They, meaning those officers who could be bought by the chancellor, claimed they had heard that father was bargaining with king Meltran to get me named the successor to the Brandian throne, for their king is childless. Not two days after we arrived, we were locked into the prison and Meltran and all the true-hearted officers were thrust out. It was not until you demanded our release that they placed us in the secret row.”

Nothing more was said until they reached the doors of the prison. There they found the three guardsmen holding the horses the party had arrived on. Whipping the cape off his back, Valun gave it to the guards to suspend between the spearshafts they had contrived to attach to the saddles of two of the beasts. One of these was Valun’s own steed, Ironheel, while the other had belonged to the dead guardsman and would now be taken by Valnor.

The stretcher having been arranged, the brothers brought their father over to it and let him lay down. When he straightened up again, Valun reminded the men “You must bring your comrade. It would be a violation of our duty to leave him unburied.” Pulling some coins out of his purse, Valun added “Valnor, ask those two men over there to do this for us.” Valnor having stepped aside and the guardsmen having reentered the building to retrieve their comrade and his effects, Valun was left alone with his father. “Father, is there any more that may be done for you now?”

Still sprawled upon the cloak, and with his eyes firmly closed, the old statesman replied “You must bind my eyes. I dare not yet look at the light of the sun.”

Tearing one of his sleeves and tying it over the peacemaker’s eyes, Valun said “But surely they did not leave you in complete darkness? There were torches on the stairway?”

“True daylight, my son, is greater than any torchlight, and so should not be taken lightly.”

“Yes, father.”

“Why have we not started yet?”

“We are retrieving one of the men, who died in the attack.”

“How many came with you?”

“Only Valnor and the four of my sworn guard.”

“At least it was so few.”

“No, father, an army came with me.”

The answer made a child out of the tallest king the west had ever seen. “You should not have done so.” the father pronounced in his sternest tone.

“But father, I gave them leave to go back. They came for you!”

“I do not approve…but, I know, it has been done, and many men died. For me, you say. For them, I hope to see Corrandion again.”

By this time, Valnor had exhausted all words for the Brandians, and had returned to stand over the kings. “Father, I think Valun means to renounce the crown and return you to the throne, since you live.”

The three guardsmen returned from their quest in time to hear the peacemaker pronounce “I refuse. My time has passed, and I name Valun III, my son, true king of the Corridanes until he dies. Will you Valun, wear the Aquilla Rona in honor, justice, and humility, as I strived to do?”

Valun found himself struggling not to weep again as he answered “I accept, and I will strive to do as you have asked. Will you forgive the invasion, father?”

“I forgive it. Never has a son shown such devotion to his father, that I have heard tell of. I name you Valun, invito rex, mac dilis.” With that, Valun II, conditor diu pacem, passed into sleep.

The guardsmen balanced the body on the spare horse, along with his blade and shield, and started the horses down the streets as softly as they could go. The two Brandians Valnor had paid followed silently after the royal party. They had no interest in the proceedings which had passed, but they had been paid, and so they followed.

They buried the guardsman under a tree about one hundred yards beyond the walls of Bernola. When this duty had been done, the Corridanes mounted their horses and started off down the road which would lead back to the edge of the great canyon. The Brandian undertakers left without speaking. The royal brothers rode at a walk to avoid jostling their father, who still slept peacefully. The three guardsmen rode on their flanks to warn of surprise attacks by rouge bands of Damerson’s troops. Thus did a whole day pass until the sun set.

In the afternoon of the second day out, they encountered a band of outlaws in the middle of the road, who had Meltran at their head. Halting his own party with a gesture, Meltran greeted the Corridanes. “Hail, Valun, king of the Corridanes.” In this manner he at once acknowledged both the old and the young man. Continuing, he said “Who is this you have got with you? I know you had a prisoner. I did not know prisoners were held in such high regard by their captors. Why, to see this, I might have myself captured!” At this statement the king and his whole band laughed heartily.

“Honorable king of the Brandians” Valun answered “My prisoner proved to be my own brother, and my father is alive, so our house is happily reunited. I am now the true king of the Corridanes in fact as well as name, and because of my hesitation, my father has named me invito rex, the reluctant king. If you make haste, you can replace yourself on your throne before the forces of your enemy return.”

“I thank you for your help, but I know that. I have been keeping close watch on him since he fled. Your own men turned back toward your home the moment you rode off.”

“That, too, is good news. I will not hold you any longer, as I wish to bring my father back to his own people as quickly as I may.”

“Then go, but for one thing. This road leads to the edge of the great canyon, but the path across it is hard to find. Eldarn! See the kings across the canyon, and then hasten back to me at Bernola! I will wish for your presence there when I am crowned again.”

Saluting, Eldarn detached himself from Meltran’s band and took his place at the head of the Corridanes.

At the parting, Meltran informed the Corridanes “The great canyon is at least three days in front of you. Perhaps more if you continue at no more than a walk. In any case, you can not hope to reach your capital in less than two weeks.”

Finally taking their leave of the Brandian, the Corridanes continued on their path, led by Eldarn, for several days, until they reached the edge of the great canyon, where the decisive and only battle had been fought. Here they paused for a time, for the Peacemaker wished to commemorate the deaths of so many fine men who had come for his sake. At each mound, of which there were hundreds, he stopped and said quietly “May the One accept your sacrifice.” as steadily as if he had said it only once. When he had finished visiting every mound, he turned to his sons, who stood beside him on either side, and said “This meeting has replenished my strength, but I still fear that I have lost too much. Let us hasten back so that I may greet my people that still live.”

Accepting the weight his father laid upon him, Valun asked “You do not think the faster speed will tire you overmuch?”

“No, my son. As I am now, I believe I will be allowed to see Corrandion again, at least. Beyond that, however, my time runs short. I am an old man, made older by the Brandian’s barbarous cruelty. May he live to repent, though he will not if Meltran has any say in the matter.” Allowing himself a dry laugh, the old man continued in silence.

They then turned back, and returned to the horses, which Eldarn had been watching for them. As soon as they regained their seats, they started off again, still following Eldarn, who had consented to guide them through the forest before at last taking his leave of the Corridanes. As there were only five horses this time, rather than thousands of men on foot, the journey passed much faster than it had the previous time. At the far edge of the forest, Eldarn parted from them, and before long had disappeared into the trees.

Now the Corridanes set their horses into a trot, determined to reach the foothills of the mountains before night fell. As they rode, the stretcher carrying the old king began to creak under the strain of the swifter motion. A whole hour passed before anything came of it, at the end of which both the staffs broke with loud snaps, leaving its passenger clinging tightly to Valun’s saddle. Checking his speed for one brief moment, Valun pulled his father up behind him. “Hold tightly” he whispered “Now we shall ride.”

Valun then gave his horse its head, and in response it sped off toward the open road ahead of the leading guardsman. The thrill of the speed came as a surprise to both riders, even though they had both been expecting it. Their reaction to the stimulation was to laugh. Long, loud laughter such as had not been heard anywhere since the menace of Kalveston’s hordes had descended upon the land.

It began as a response to the stimulation of the horse’s speed, but it soon changed course, to become a replacement for all the words both men had previously wished to say to each other, in a feeble attempt to reclaim the lost years. All the apprehension, all the questions, all was washed away in this one wave of the uncontrolled mirth of the father and son. They were together, they were both alive, and they were speeding home as fast as the horse could bear them. Crowned heads or no, they would have been perfectly happy as they were.

And so we shall once again leave the Corridanes, three hours ride from the foothills of the mountains, three days ride from home, and yet perfectly satisfied.