‘I can understand,’ said Druss, ‘that a man will seek to protect what is his, and not steal or kill for gain. But it does not explain why you risk your life tonight for women you do not know.’
‘Never back away from an enemy, Druss. Either fight or surrender. It is not enough to say I will not be evil. It must be fought wherever it is found. I am hunting Collan, not just for killing my son but for being what he is. But if necessary I will put off that hunt tonight in order for the girls to be freed; they are more important.’
‘Perhaps,’ Druss said, unconvinced. ‘For me, all I want is Rowena and a home in the mountains. I care nothing about fighting evil.’
‘I hope you learn to care,’ said Shadak.
*
Harib Ka could not sleep. The ground was hard beneath the tent floor and despite the heat from the brazier he felt cold through to his bones. The girl’s face haunted him. He sat up and reached for the wine-jug. You are drinking too much, he told himself. Stretching, he poured a full goblet of red wine, draining it in two swallows. Then he pushed back his blankets and rose. His head ached. He sat down on a canvas stool and refilled his goblet.
What have you become? whispered a voice in his mind. He rubbed at his eyes, his thoughts returning to the academy and his days with Bodasen and the young Prince.
‘We will change the world,’ said the Prince. ‘We will feed the poor and ensure employment for all. And we will drive the raiders from Ventria, and establish a kingdom of peace and prosperity.’
Harib Ka gave a dry laugh and sipped his wine. Heady days, a time of youth and optimism with its talk of knights and brave deeds, great victories and the triumph of the Light over the Dark.
‘There is no Light and Dark,’ he said aloud. ‘There is only Power.’
He thought then of the first girl – what was her name, Mari? Yes. Compliant, obedient to his desires, warm, soft. She had cried out with pleasure at his touch. No. She had pretended to enjoy his coarse love-making. ‘I’ll do anything for you – but don’t hurt me.’
Don’t hurt me.
The chill winds of autumn rippled the tent walls. Within two hours of enjoying Mari he had felt in need of a second woman, and had chosen the hazel-eyed witch. That was a mistake. She had entered his tent, rubbing at her chafed wrists, her eyes large and sorrowful.
‘You intend to rape me?’ she had asked him quietly.
He had smiled. ‘Not necessarily. That is your choice. What is your name?’
‘Rowena,’ she told him. ‘And how can it be my choice?’
‘You can give yourself to me, or you can fight me. Either way the result will be the same. So why not enjoy the love-making?’
‘Why do you speak of love?’
‘What?’
‘There is no love in this. You have murdered those I have loved. And now you seek to pleasure yourself at the expense of what dignity I have left.’
He strode towards her, gripping her upper arms. ‘You are not here to debate with me, whore! You are here to do as you are told.’
‘Why do you call me a whore? Does it make your actions more simple for you? Oh, Harib Ka, how would Rajica view your actions?’
He reeled back as if struck. ‘What do you know of Rajica?’
‘Only that you loved her – and that she died in your arms.’
‘You are a witch!’
‘And you are a lost man, Harib Ka. Everything you once held dear has been sold – your pride, your honour, your love of life.’
‘I will not be judged by you,’ he said, but he made no move to silence her.
‘I do not judge you,’ she told him. ‘I pity you. And I tell you this: unless you release me and the other women, you will die.’
‘You are a seer also?’ he said, trying to mock. ‘Are the Drenai cavalry close, witch? Is there an army waiting to fall upon me and my men? No. Do not seek to threaten me, girl. Whatever else I may have lost I am still a warrior and, with the possible exception of Collan, the finest swordsman you will ever see. I do not fear death. No. Sometimes I long for it.’ He felt his passion ebbing away. ‘So tell me, witch, what is this peril I face?’