‘I don’t know. We let a crazy man come to power.’
‘Did we truly? It seems to me that a man has only as much power as we allow him. Can Ceska move mountains? Can he put out the stars? Can he tell rain to fall? He is only a man and if everyone disobeyed him he would fall. But they don’t, do they? It is said that he has an army of forty thousand men. MEN. Drenai men! Ready to march on other Drenai men. At least in the Nadir Wars we were sure of our enemy. Now there is no enemy. Only failed friends.’
‘What can I say?’ asked Ananais. ‘I have no answers. You should have asked Tenaka. I am just a warrior. I remember a tutor who told me that all of the world’s hunters had eyes that faced front: lions, hawks, wolves, men. And all the world’s prey had eyes on either side to give them a greater chance of spotting the hunter. He said Man was no different from the tiger. We are nature’s killers and we have great appetites for it. Even the heroes we remember show our love of war. Druss, the greatest killing machine of all time – it is his image you stare upon in the council chamber.’
‘True enough,’ said Rayvan. ‘But there is a difference between Druss and Ceska. The legend fought always for others to be free.’
‘Don’t fool yourself, Rayvan. Druss fought because he loved to fight – it was what he did well. Study his history. He went east and battled for the tyrant Gorben; his army razed cities, villages, nations. Druss was part of it, and he would have offered no excuses. Neither should you.’
‘Are you saying there never were true heroes?’
‘I wouldn’t know a hero if he bit my buttocks! Listen Rayvan, the beast is in all of us. We do our best in life, but often we are mean, or petty, or needlessly cruel. We don’t mean to be, but that’s the way we are. Most of the heroes we remember -we remember because they won. To win you must be ruthless. Single-minded. Druss was like that, which was why he had no friends – just admirers.’
‘Can we win, Ananais?’
‘No. But what we can do is to make Ceska suffer so greatly that someone else might win. We shall not live to see Tenaka return. Ceska is already on the march; but we must tie him down, give him losses – crack the aura of invincibility he has built around his Joinings.’
‘But even the Dragon could not stand against the beasts.’
‘The dragon was betrayed, caught on open ground. And many of them were old men. Fifteen years is a long time. They were not the real Dragon. We are the real Dragon – and by the Gods, we’ll make them suffer!’
‘Lake has devised some weapons he wants you to see.’
‘Where is he?’
‘In the old stables at the southern quarter. But take some rest first – you look exhausted.’
‘I will.’ He pushed himself to his feet, staggered slightly and then laughed. ‘I’m getting old, Rayvan.’ He moved away several paces, then returned and placed his huge right hand on her shoulder. ‘I am not good at sharing, lady. But I’m sorry about Lucas. He was a good man – a credit to you.’
‘Go and get some rest. The days are growing shorter and you will need your strength. I’m relying on you – we are all relying on you.’
After he had gone she wandered to the wall and gazed out over the mountains.
Death felt very close.
And she didn’t care.
*
Tenaka Khan was sick with fury. His hands were tied tightly with rawhide thongs and his body was lashed to the trunk of a slender elm. Before him five men sat around a camp-fire searching through his saddlebags. His small cache of gold had been discovered and now lay next to the leader – a one-eyed rogue, thickset and surly. Tenaka blinked away the thin stream of blood that trickled into his right eye and closed his mind to the pain of his bruises.