As the two men left, Ananais gently removed the black leather mask. Then he filled a bowl with water and dabbed the red, angry scars. The door opened and he swung round, turning his back on the newcomer. Having settled the mask in place, he offered Lake a chair. Rayvan’s eldest son was a fine-looking man, strong and lean; his eyes were the colour of a winter sky and he moved with animal grace and the confidence of the man who knows he has limits, but has not yet reached them.
‘You are not impressed with our army?’ he said.
‘I am impressed by their courage.’
‘They are mountain men,’ said Lake, leaning back in his chair and stretching out his long legs on to the table top. ‘But you did not answer my question.’
‘It was not a question,’ replied Ananais. ‘You knew the answer. I am not impressed. But then they are not an army.’
‘Can we turn back the Legion?’
Ananais considered the question. With many another man he would have lied, but not with this one. Lake was too sharp.
‘Probably not.’
‘And will you still stay?’
‘Yes.’
‘Why?’
‘A good question. But I cannot answer it.’
‘It seemed simple enough.’
‘Why will you stay?’ countered Ananais.
‘This is my land and they are my people. My family brought them to this.’
‘Your mother, you mean?’
‘If you like.’
‘She is a fine woman.’
‘Indeed she is. But I want to know why you will stay.’
‘Because it is what I do, boy. I fight. I’m Dragon. Do you understand?’
Lake nodded. ‘So the war between good and evil does not concern you?’
‘Yes, it does, but not greatly. Most wars are fought for greed but we are luckier here – we fight for our lives and the lives of the people we love.’
‘And the land,’ said Lake.
‘Rubbish!’ snapped Ananais. ‘No man fights for dirt and grass. No, nor mountains. Those mountains were here before the Fall and they will be here when the world topples again.’
‘I don’t see it that way.’
‘Of course not – you’re young and full of fire. Me – I’m older than the sea. I have been over the mountain and looked into the eye of the Serpent. I have seen it all, young Lake. And I am not too impressed.’
‘So! We understand one another, at least,’ said Lake, grinning. ‘What do you want me to do?’
‘I want men sent now to the city. We have only seven thousand arrows and that is not enough. We have no armour – get some. I want the city scoured. We need food, oats, meal, dried beef, fruit. And I want horses – up to fifty. More if you can get them.’
‘And how will we pay for all this?’
‘Give them notes.’
‘They will not accept promises from dead men.’
‘Use your head, Lake. They will accept – because if they don’t, you will take what you want. Any man who refuses will be branded a traitor and dealt with accordingly.’
‘I am not going to kill a man because he won’t let us rob him.’
“Then go back to your mother and send me a man who wants to win,’ stormed Ananais . . .
The weapons and food began to arrive on the morning of the third day.
*
By the morning of the fourth day Galand, Parsal and Lake had chosen the two hundred men Ananais had requested to stand against the Legion. Parsal had also organised the finest of the archers into a single group of just under one hundred.
As the sun cleared the eastern peaks, Ananais gathered the men together in an open meadow below the camp. Many of them now carried swords, by courtesy of the city armourer. All the archers carried two quivers of arrows, and even the occasional breastplate was to be seen among Ananais’ new foot soldiers. With Parsal, Lake and Galand flanking him, Ananais climbed to the back of a cart and stood with hands on hips, eyes scanning the warriors seated around him.
‘No fine speeches, lads,’ he told them. ‘We heard last night that the Legion is almost upon us. Tomorrow we will be in position to greet them. They are heading for the lower eastern valley, which I am told you call the Demon’s Smile.