The Invisible Chains - Part 2: Bonds of Fear (68 page)

536

Andrew Ashling

Chapter 15:

Where the Heart Is

Before Damydas had mentioned it, only Anaxantis and Rullio had

known about the Oath. And the Mukthars of course. Now Timishi

had called the Oath of Sherashty a myth.

For perhaps a minute everybody remained silent.

“Old wives’s tale?”
Anaxantis thought.
“What is going on?”

He shot a look at Rullio, who made a gesture, indicating that he

was nonplussed as well.

“Who are you?” the baron raged in frustration. “But... but... you’re

Mukthars...”

His face showed that he was in turmoil and that conflicting

thoughts were racing through his head.

“You’re a disgrace to your people,” he yelled at the Mukthar

prince. “How dare you...”

“Fine words for a traitor and a liar, Damydash,” Timishi replied,

not in the least intimidated.

“Don’t insult my prince, you worm,” Rodomesh added.

“Prince?” Damydas scoffed. “Which bastard of which whore of

that senile old goat of a quedash are you?”

Bonds of Fear

537

The baron tugged in vain at the hands that were restraining him.

Suddenly his bloodshot eyes seemed to catch something.

“The shirma,” he panted, “you have no right...”

“Shorgah vor,” Timishi said, raising his voice, his right fist held

high above him.

“You can’t,” Damydas yelled, beside himself, “you haven’t the

authority. That’s only for a... wait... the shirma... wait...”

Timishi made an almost imperceptible sign. Faster than lightning

Rodomesh ran up to the baron, dagger drawn, blocking him from

view.

They heard him laugh hysterically.

“I see... the vrangmàhai... of course... the vrangmàhai... you’re a

lack—”

He had stopped speaking abruptly. When Rodomesh returned to

take his place beside his prince, the others saw why. From under his

chin protruded the hilt of the Mukthar’s dagger. Judging by the part

that stuck out, the blade must have gone right through the baron’s

tongue while the tip lodged itself in his palate. Red froth came out of

his mouth.

Still Damydas tried to speak, his eyes darting wildly between

Anaxantis and Timishi.

“You shouldn’t have done that, Rodomesh,” Timishi said in a

gently reproaching tone.

“I know, Timishi,” Rodomesh replied, eyes cast down, “but I

couldn’t stand it anymore. It had to be silenced. It was insulting you.”

“You shouldn’t have done that?”
Anaxantis frowned.
“I saw you

give the sign to do just that. The shirma? The vrangmàhai? And most of

all, the Oath of Sherashty is a joke? There’s evidently a lot you haven’t

538

Andrew Ashling

told me, my Mukthar friend... Well, too late now.”

“Hang him,” he ordered.

The baron howled a painful protest.

Three Clansmen, after having tied his hands behind his back,

began tugging at the rope and slowly the baron was lifted from the

ground. His legs made wild, twitching movements as his face turned

purple and his eyes bulged out of their sockets. Since he was hoisted

up gradually, instead of being dropped down from a height, his neck

didn’t break. He suffocated slowly and painfully, the rope burning

in his flesh and leaving an angry, dark red mark. After minutes his

legs were still twitching. Some of the Clansmen tried to hasten the

process by grabbing them and pulling him down.

They heard a rumbling sound as the baron lost control over

his bowels and soiled himself. Disgusted the Clansmen that hung

on his limbs, hurriedly let go of them. Everybody stood watching

silently while Damydas hung there, his legs trying to find a

foothold that wasn’t there, making wild, spastic motions. It seemed

interminable.

It took several minutes for the baron’s twitching movements

to become less pronounced. Finally they stopped altogether. His

motionless body swung softly back and forth.

“Cut the body loose,” Anaxantis ordered.

“We can’t leave him here,” Lethoras said. “If you want I’ll make

his body disappear. You don’t need to know where. I’ll take him far

from here, so there can never be a connection with you.”

“Good idea. But first, bash in his face. I want it to be unrecognizable.

Remove rings and all clothing that could identify him. Do it now,

please.”

The baron’s body fell with a thud on the ground. Lethoras ordered

Bonds of Fear

539

a few Clansmen to look for something to wrap Damydas’s remains in

and kneeled down beside them. He drew his dagger, and holding it

upside down, let the pommel descend upon the dead face’s forehead.

He made only a slight dent.

Anaxantis kneeled down on the other side. Taking a nearby stone

he brought it down forcefully. When he lifted it, the nose of the face

had caved in completely.

“Do you need me to help you any further?” he asked softly.

Lethoras looked at him as if he saw him for the first time. He

felt the steel-blue eyes staring back at him. The prince’s face was

completely expressionless.

“No, no... I think I can manage,” he said, accepting the bloodied

rock Anaxantis offered him.

“The dagger,” the prince whispered. “I want the dagger. Make it

disappear. I want to have it examined. The Mukthars cut through

heavy leather, muscle and bone with those things. If Rodomesh asks

for it, tell him you lost it.”

Lethoras nodded and set to work. Minutes later nothing remained

of the baron’s face but a bloody pulp. Blood had spattered upon both

the Cheridonian and the prince. Lethoras had almost closed his eyes

while battering in the baron’s head. Anaxantis’s face still remained

impassive.

A few of the Clansmen brought back a piece of canvas of the tents

they had found amidst the ruins and after having cut the baron’s

clothing away, helped Lethoras roll the now naked body in it.

“I’m leaving,” Lethoras said. “It’s getting dark, but I want this...

this thing as far away from here as possible. What are you going to

do?”

“Leave as soon as possible as well,” Anaxantis replied. “I’ll just

540

Andrew Ashling

have the men scan the terrain quickly to see if there are any survivors

of mother’s men. I would have liked to search it more thoroughly, but

I need to cross the border again this evening.”

“Mother must be here somewhere in the vicinity. A pity really. I

would have loved to see her, but I can’t stay longer than strictly

necessary. The fewer people who know I was here at all, the better.

And I want to go home. Finally... Strange, when did I begin to think of

Lorseth as home?”

“That seems very wise. Was this it? What’s to keep your father

from sending another autarch?”

Anaxantis shrugged.

“Nothing, I suppose. But I don’t think he will. Since Damydas’s

mission was confidential he has to wait until he gets news, either

from him or from his informers. He will wait and wait. Then he will

want to know what happened, before making a new decision. Of

course, he will never find out. By the time he realizes that, months

will have passed.”

Again he shrugged.

“Then we’ll see,” he continued. “By then the Mukthar problem

will have been taken care of. If we’re lucky. To give him some food for

thought however, I will make sure that he knows about the Oath of

Sherashty being a sham. I’ll let it be put in one of the official reports the

administration sends him regularly that I know this from a Mukthar

prince I captured. Not immediately, though. Then he’ll understand

that Damydas has deceived him all these years. He’s smart enough

to understand why. Oh, he’ll try to investigate what happened to his

autarch, but something tells me that he’ll also take an uncomfortably

close look at the treasury of the House of Damydas.”

“You act as if you suspected immediately that there wasn’t

Bonds of Fear

541

anything to the Oath of Sherashty.”

“Oh, that’s just your impression,” Anaxantis smiled. “Eymar told

us the baron had said something about scaring father with ghosts,

but I didn’t make the connection when Damydas’s mentioned the

Oath. I was as surprised by Timishi’s revelation as everybody else, I

assure you.”

“Even more so. If only you knew just how serious I have taken this

Oath.”

They didn’t mean any disrespect. While cursorily inspecting the

grounds some of the men felt the need to relieve themselves. They

went behind some bushes.

It was just one more indignity that befell Jerruth that day.

The men had of course no idea they were pissing on a grave.

542

Andrew Ashling

Emelasuntha and Sobrathi waited until Anaxantis and his men

were gone before they stood up.

“Come, dear, let’s clean you up a bit,” the baroness said. “Smile

for us, yes?”

The queen grimaced, and the dried up mud on her face cracked.

Her friend wiped most of it away.

It was almost dark when they and their group got back on the

Garstang Road. There they were joined by the men who had stayed

with Eymar. The young Tribesman had died, this time for real. One of

the men had laid the body on his horse.

The queen decided they should ride on, albeit it at the walk. She

felt the need to keep moving. The baroness rode beside her.

“I’m sorry, dear,” she said after they had been on the road for

more than half an hour. “I never meant to—”

“Oh, you were right,” the queen interrupted her. “Of course I

would have tried to take over. Of course I would have corrected him

at every instance. Of course I would have taken all decisions out of

his hands. It’s... it’s just that I don’t know how not to.”

Sobrathi felt an immense compassion for her friend.

“Well, there were times when you had to, weren’t there? And

everybody was glad that it was you who made the decisions.”

“That’s nice of you to say so, dear.” The queen laughed. “I wonder

Bonds of Fear

543

if he would have let me though. Did you see how... how very much

in command he was? How his men executed his orders without the

least delay? How they followed him with their eyes. And that tall,

handsome guy, how protective he looked?”

“Yes, and were those really Mukthars, those young guys?”

“I suppose so. Damn, I’d give a small fortune to know how he

made their acquaintance. Anyway, how magnificent he looked, so

self assured, so... so regal.”

“And so healthy, dear, you forgot healthy. He looked positively

strong. Must be something in the northern air.”

“Not being poisoned on a daily basis would help too, don’t you

think?” the queen said.

They both laughed out loud.

“I think I was most proud of him when he bashed in the face of

that swine,” Emelasuntha said. “He didn’t hesitate or flinch. He was

prepared to do himself what he had ordered that man to do. He gave

the example. Just as a leader should... Oh, well, I got to see him at

least. That’s something, I suppose.”

“Yes, it is, isn’t it?” the baroness concurred.

They both fell silent for a long time.

“You seem deep in thought, dear,” the baroness said eventually.

Emelasuntha looked up as if waking from a slumber.

“Oh, yes, I was writing.”

“Writing?”

“Yes, in my head. As soon as I get the chance I will commit them

to parchment.”

“Them?”

544

Andrew Ashling

“The letters. One to Anaxantis and one to the Grand Keeper of the

Royal Crypt in Torantall.”

“You can’t send a letter to him. It’s far too dangerous.”

“No, no. I’m just going to write it now. Not send it. Now that

everything is still fresh in my head. Now that it is still alive. He’ll get

it whenever the circumstances permit.”

“You’re going to tell him we saw him?”

“No, I don’t think so. But I will tell him what Jerruth did for him. I