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raiders from Trawn farther than ever before, with stolofs and even the rare
riding meytans. It was unlikely the raiders would push this far, but Blade was
taking no chances.
The day after the messenger left, Kulo came running in to announce that three
warriors of the king's guard were approaching. Blade washed himself hastily,
pulled on some respectable clothes, and went out to greet them.
"Blade," said the leader. "King Embor approaches. With him are the queen and
Princess Neena, also various clan chiefs and their guards."
"I am greatly honored-" began Blade politely. The leader cut him off with a
gesture.
"Hear us. They come to see what you have done with what you have been given,
for the greatness of
Draad. They must be satisfied that you have done well, or it will go ill with
you."
Blade nodded, but he did not like the leader's words or his tone. Something
was badly wrong-he was under suspicion. It was hard to even tell what was
wrong. He had given Queen Sanaya no reason that he knew to tell lies. Unless
she had, this royal visit made no sense.
Damn! Blade did not like being pitchforked into dangerous situations where he
didn't even know which way to look for the danger. There was only one thing to
do: try to look in all directions at once.
Chapter 21
The royal party arrived shortly after breakfast the next morning. There were
at least a hundred people in it, but Blade had eyes for only four: King Embor,
Queen Sanaya, Princess Neena, and the High Kaireen.
Clean and well dressed, Blade advanced down the path toward Embor. Kulo walked
behind him and the other three assistants followed Kulo. Blade carried a
bottle of the sleeping water, and Kulo carried a sprayer.
King Embor halted the party as Blade approached. Then he motioned for the
warriors on the flanks to close in around Blade and his assistants. Blade had
the uncomfortable feeling that they were watching for him to make some
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suspicious move.
The king bore himself with even more dignity than usual, standing so straight
that he seemed to tower even over Blade. Queen Sanaya was smiling, but the
expression on Neena's face was unmistakable.
Anger, suspicion, fear-and jealousy-all fought each other for control. Blade
tried to meet her eyes, but she turned her face away from him, until her
father noticed what she was doing and glared at her. Slowly
Neena looked back toward Blade and stared at him defiantly.
Then the king spoke. "Prince Blade, you have had much time to work upon what
you promised to make for us. Have you done what you promised?"
The king's tone was almost completely expressionless, which was more of a
surprise to Blade than outright hostility. He decided that whatever was going
on here wasn't going to fit into any category.
"That is for you to judge, my Lord King," he replied. "I have worked hard and
done my best. Kulo here has also worked well, and I pray you will see fit to
reward him." Regardless of what happened to himself, Blade was determined to
see that Kulo got credit for what he'd done. The young man deserved it.
"I have come to judge your work, Blade," said the king. The same neutral
voice. "What you have done will be properly tested, and soon." He turned away
from Blade and raised his voice to a commanding shout.
"Ho, guards. Forward, to make camp. Then begin the testing arena for Prince
Blade."
What King Embor meant by "the testing arena" was soon obvious. A party of
about forty warriors and servants marched a short distance downhill. Then they
began cutting down every tree in a circle about fifty feet across. As the
trees crashed down, they were hauled to the edge of the circle and piled up to
form a high, thick wall around it.
This took most of the day. Before darkness fell, the men moved still farther
downhill. They chopped down more trees and began building rough log
enclosures.
The king explained. "Tomorrow the hunting parties will go out. They will catch
wild animals of every kind they can find, and put them in those cages. When we
have enough animals, you will go into the arena."
He pointed at the large circular walled area. "Then the wild animals will be
thrown into it, one by one, and we shall see-how well you have done what you
promised."
Blade frowned. So he was going to have to play Roman gladiator, with his
sprayer and sleeping water against whatever beasts the hunters might bring in.
The water worked on insects and very small animals.
That he already knew.
But a black stalker or one of the seventy-foot snakes would be another matter.
Certainly it would be as rigorous a test as anyone could wish. If he
failed-well, failure in this case would carry its own swift and drastic
penalties. That was probably exactly what King Embor had in mind, and perhaps
Neena as well.
There was a problem, though.
"Do you think it is wise to show everyone what-what we may have done-so soon?
The clan chiefs will be looking on, won't they?"
Embor nodded and looked around, to see if anyone was within earshot. Then he
spoke quickly, in a low, voice. "Blade, it is absolutely necessary that what
you have done be shown to everyone, especially the clan chiefs. Believe me
when I say that this is the only way." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
