Sinner by Sara Douglass. Book One of The Wayfarer Redemption

Were the human peoples truly muttering about needing a king of their own?

Caelum repressed a shiver. If the people were willing to back Zared there was so much else a King of Achar could restore as well. The hatreds and divisions between the Icarü and the Avar and the Acharites. How well had the humans accepted the return of the Icarü and Avar into southern Tencendor? Not well, if they wanted their own monarch back. And if they wanted their king back, then what else might they consider resurrecting? The Seneschal? A limited war to wrest lands back from the Avar and Icarü?

This time Caelum did shiver. He could all too easily envision a King of Achar leading to another Wars of the Axe and the eventual destruction of Tencendor. Another thousand years of hatreds and bleakness and exile.

How could Zared even think of asking for the throne of Achar? Didn’t he realise the implications? Or did he realise only too well? What else did Zared have planned? A request for the Minstrelsea to be levelled once he had the circlet of king firmly on his brow?

Caelum took a deep breath. This was not just a crisis, but a test. The first real test of his reign. All Tencendor would be watching to see how he coped.

What would his father have done?

“We have to act,” Caelum said, and Askam jerked his head up from his own contemplations.

“How so, StarSon?”

Caelum did not answer immediately, but rose from his chair, walked to the door, and asked the guard to request Strike Leader DareWing FullHeart to attend him immediately.

“Caelum? What do you plan?” Askam said as Caelum walked back and sat down again.

Caelum looked at him, and Askam was stunned to see what appeared to be fear in his eyes. “I plan to quash Zared once and for all,” Caelum said quietly. This is what Axis would have done. “His push for power represents too many evils for me to watch it go by quietly. My father battled for years to reunite Tencendor in the face of Acharite opposition. I cannot lose it for him in just one generation.”

There was a movement at the door, and the Strike Leader entered.

“Ah, DareWing, sit down.”

DareWing, a birdman with sharp brown eyes and saffron wings, sat himself opposite Caelum. “StarSon?”

Caelum briefed DareWing on the situation. “I have to act, DareWing. I cannot let this pass.”

“I agree, StarSon, but surely -”

“Damn it! I cannot believe he would do this!” Caelum said. “Not with all the old hatreds so fresh in our minds. Well, if he has attacked us, then we shall attack him. DareWing, ready the Strike Force.”

DareWing shot an anxious glance at Askam, but Askam’s own face was lit with excitement, and DareWing knew he’d have to fight this on his own.

“StarSon, would it not be better to ask the advice of the other Five Families?”

“No time to call them, Strike Leader. I shall have to rely on my own judgment.”

DareWing took a deep breath. Gods! “Perhaps the StarMan.”

“,’ sit the Throne of the Stars, DareWing! My father has little to do with the world of mortals. This is my decision!”

DareWing tried one last time. “StarSon, at least discuss this with a wider circle. To use the Strike Force to attack humans in Kastaleon – well, nothing could be more guaranteed to provoke old hatreds.”

“Ah,” Caelum said tonelessly, “I do not intend to throw you at Kastaleon, DareWing. I want you and your Strike Force to take Severin for me.”

“But-”

“Seize it as Zared has seized Kastaleon.”

“But-”

“Do it, DareWing! I want to see your battle plans this evening! Now, leave us!”

DareWing rose stiffly and bowed.

“DareWing,” Caelum added as the Strike Leader walked to the door.

“Yes?”

“I want no word of this to get out. Severin must be taken by surprise.”

DareWing nodded curtly, and left.

“A city for your castle, my friend,” Caelum said. “I intend to grind Zared into the dust for his stupidity. For this piece of foolishness Zared will lose his seat of power.”

“Good.” Askam sat back. “You will not negotiate with Zared? You are not considering his rash request?”

Caelum grimaced. “A King of Achar is the very last thing that Tencendor or I need, Askam. Rest easy, your lands will be safe. I shall send word that I request Zared to stay at Kastaleon while I summon the other Heads of the Five Families to meet at the castle to discuss the throne – peace, Askam! I simply do not want Zared moving anywhere else until I’ve had time to move. If he believes I’m prepared to negotiate he’ll stay in Kastaleon.”

Caelum smiled grimly. “By the time I’ve finished with him, no-one will support him.”

“When do we ride for Kastaleon, StarSon?” “As soon as DareWing sends word that he has secured Severin. A few days, no more. And within a month, Askam, no-one will want to offer Zared so much as an apple in case it be construed as support.”

DareWing FullHeart led the Strike Force himself, saddened beyond measure that the StarSon had asked him to do this. Severin was a lovely town, bustling and open-hearted. It had no idea of the forthcoming attack, no reason to expect it.

DareWing did not lead the full twelve Wings of the Strike Force. Severin would offer no resistance, and six Wings would do as well as twelve.

Besides, once word of this filtered through Tencendor, who knew where else the Strike Force would be required? Damn Caelum for reacting this savagely, DareWing thought, damn him! Why couldn’t he have talked with Zared first? Surely this could have been solved around the negotiating table?

But he obeyed anyway. Not to do so would be worse than complying with his order.

DareWing attacked, if such a manoeuvre could be called attack, at dawn. The townsfolk were only just waking up, and most were still fogged by sleep. The militia were cold after a night’s watch – and, DareWing noted, were sparse anyway. Zared must have moved most of his forces further south.

No-one offered much resistance. The six Wings dropped out of the dawning sun, subduing the watch with virtually no bloodshed. As had been the case in Kastaleon, the watch assumed that the Icarü dropping out of the sky were on a friendly, if puzzling, mission and did not offer any resistance until too late.

Once the militia were subdued, DareWings ordered guards be placed at the main roadways, public buildings, and informed the mayor personally that for the moment Severin was under martial law. StarSon Caelum’s martial law.

“What?” the mayor spluttered over his eggs and toast. “Why?”

“You have not heard what Zared has done?” Dare Wing asked.

“No.” But the mayor narrowed his gaze, and Dare Wing wondered if he had guessed.

“He has seized Kastaleon from Prince Askam, claiming it as compensation for the people of the West and North. As reprisal, Caelum has ordered Severin seized.”

“He can’t do that!”

“Nevertheless,” DareWing said, “he has. Now, I require a tour of the town and what fortifications and weapon stores it has. Immediately, if you please.”

The mayor pushed aside his toast and eggs and stood up. As he did so he glanced at his wife hovering in the kitchen doorway. She nodded slightly, and backed silently into the kitchen.

“This way,” the mayor said, and pushed past DareWing to the front door.

“Severin is taken,” the farflight scout reported to Caelum, standing in Sigholt’s central courtyard.

“Good,” Caelum said, and turned to Askam. “Then we ride for Kastaleon in the morning. Will we be able to get there before word reaches Zared of the Strike Force’s action?”

“Yes, StarSon. Severin is slightly closer to Kastaleon as the raven flies, but we can use the river transports on the Nordra. They await us at Gundealga Ford as I speak.”

“Good, then see to the final preparations.”

Caelum strode back inside Sigholt, irritated at his inner uncertainty. He knew he was doing the right thing. Surely. What else could he do? Negotiate with Zared over the throne of Achar? Never! A King of Achar would only ferment the hatreds of the past.

But would Zared do such a thing? Did he not say that he only wanted to create a ceremonial position?

“No,” Caelum muttered aloud as he strode along the corridors towards his private apartments. “If not Zared then his son, or his great grandson. I cannot allow even the seeds to be sown, let alone watch the harvest ripen into despair.”

Caelum opened the door to his apartments, and stopped short in shock. ” WolfStar!”

He slowly closed the door behind him. “Why are you here, WolfStar? Is it the children? Are they closer?”

“No,” WolfStar said shortly and far too sharply, and gestured impatiently. “Caelum, where did your father secrete the Rainbow Sceptre?”