‘He did this alone?’ said Jasaray.
‘Aye, alone,’ agreed Fiallach. ‘It is a source of great shame to me that I was not there.’
‘How did he accomplish this feat?’
‘The raiders had split up, to confuse any chasing force. Connavar killed the men with Tae, then led her deeper into the woods. One of the men he killed was Shard’s brother. Shard made a Blood Pledge that day to avenge the death.’
‘Great men always make enemies,’ said Jasaray. ‘I was saddened to hear of the death of Tae, which, as I recall, was also the result of a blood feud. Why has Connavar never remarried?’
The tribesmen had looked uncomfortable at the question, and it was Bran who finally answered it. ‘He is wedded to the cause of the Keltoi, Majesty, and has no time for personal pursuits. Much like yourself.’
‘Indeed so,’ said Jasaray, and the talk had returned to treaties and closer ties between races and cultures.
By the time the emperor ended the evening Bane had almost lost the will to live. He and Rage had returned to their quarters. The older man had taken to his bed immediately. Bane had drunk a little wine and had sat on the balcony, gazing at the stars. Then he too had slept.
The nightmare had been violent and terrifying.
Bane’s heart was still hammering, but the nightmare was receding now, falling through his memory. He recalled that Banouin had been in his dream. His friend was trying to tell him something. Bane couldn’t remember what it was. Something about a vision! A vision of demons, hunting him? Then he remembered the night, back in the house of Barus in Accia, when Banouin’s screams had wakened him. He had run to his friend. ‘The walls are alive!’ Banouin had shouted, his face gleaming with sweat. ‘And there is a demon hunting you, Bane. Ah! I see him. Talon and claw. He is coming for you.’
What else had he said? In the quiet of the room Bane pictured again that scene. ‘You were walking through . . . through corridors, but the walls were alive and writhing. You were carrying a short sword, and there was a man with you, an older man. And a demon was stalking you. A terrible beast of incredible speed and strength.’
Rising from the bed Bane walked to the balcony. It was cool now, a fresh breeze blowing in from the sea. He glanced down, at the emperor’s private gardens, and the moonlit maze. He saw a movement. It was the emperor. He was naked, and moving swiftly along one of the lanes. Bane smiled. It was an oddly comical sight. Still, he thought, if a man ruled an empire as mighty as that of Stone, he could behave as he liked. Bane yawned, and cast his gaze around the gardens. Then he saw another movement. He blinked. It had been so swift that he could not quite believe what his eyes registered.
A striped beast had padded across the clearing in the centre, then disappeared from view. Bane focused his gaze on the spot. Lanterns had been lit throughout the maze, and he wondered if what he had seen was actually a trick of light and shadow. Then he saw the beast again. It was massive – and it was hunting.
Bane ran back into the room and roused Rage from sleep. ‘The emperor is in danger,’ he said.
‘What?’
‘There is a beast hunting him in the maze.’
Bane moved out onto the balcony, glancing down at the fifteen-foot drop to the grass below. Then he climbed over the top, hung from his arms, and fell to the grass, rolling as he struck. He came to his feet just as Rage dropped alongside him. The older man landed with a grunt. Neither man had any weapon. Only the royal guards were allowed to walk armed within the palace.
They ran around the western perimeter of the maze – straight into four armed men. Two of the assassins carried short swords, the others knives. The first swordsman ran at Bane, lunging his sword towards the other man’s chest. Bane side-stepped, grabbed the man’s wrist, and head-butted him full in the face. Holding to the wrist Bane twisted it savagely. The man cried out, the sword spinning from his grasp. Rage caught it, leapt forward and killed the second swordsman, slicing the gladius through the man’s throat. A knifeman ran at Bane, who ducked, then threw himself at the man. They fell together. Bane sent a right hook into the knifeman’s jaw. The last of the assassins turned to run. Rage hurled the gladius, which plunged into the man’s back. Bane hit his own assailant twice more, then rose. The man he had disarmed was running back into the palace.