Prophet of Moonshae - Douglas Niles [58]
"Your son," Keane finished, cutting Blackstone off and at the same time wiping the smile off his face.
"My son?" inquired the earl, shocked.
"I should be delighted to accompany the princess and her party," announced Sir Hanrald, standing and stepping forth from his brother's side.
Blackstone choked on his objections, but he couldn't banish the scowl from his face as he agreed to the arrangement.
"We'll need fresh horses," said Alicia. "And rations for several days. Sir Hanrald, I presume, knows the path?"
"Naturally, my lady."
"Very well." Alicia turned, relishing her sudden sense of command. Around her stood an earl, two knights, a wizard, and a bard. All of them stood poised for action, sent into motion by her commands. It was a heady sensation she had never known before.
"We ride within the hour," she concluded.
* * * * *
The Earl of Fairheight spoke to his older son in a hushed tone, reluctant to broach even this much of his plans. Yet he needed to take someone into his confidence, and he was glad it would be Gwyeth and not Hanrald.
The princess and her three companions had just ridden from the manor gate, on the road to Fairheight Pass. The earl and his son had retired to the noble's private chambers, where he had chased the housekeepers from their chores so they could have the rooms to themselves.
He had begun by telling Gwyeth of the iron golem and the attempt against the life of the princess. The younger man already knew of the threat posed to the Blackstone fortune by Alicia's insistence that the Moonwell be spared. It didn't take much thinking for the ambitious knight to see the necessity of his father's plans.
"For a moment, it seemed that all lay in disaster," Blackstone explained. "But now-the coming of these northmen is like a gift from the gods! Now all depends upon you."
"I am ready, my father!"
"Pay careful attention, and obey my commands to the letter," the earl stressed. "Assemble two dozen of your most trusted archers. Tell them they will be well rewarded. Take crossbows and gather bolts from the armory-bolts from the royal stock, feathered in the king's colors."
Gwyeth nodded, knowing that his father's arsenal, like the arms of all King Kendrick's vassal lords, included an extensive supply of arrows in the royal colors, for use when the earl's men-at-arms were outfitted for a mission of the king's business.
"Ride along the shepherds' trail. Bring yourself through the pass in good haste, ahead of the High Princess," continued Blackstone. "It shouldn't be difficult. Your party will be young warriors, while they ride with two women!"
"Aye. And then what, Father?" growled Gwyeth. The memory of his humiliation at Keane's hands still burned fiercely within him, and he sensed the approaching moment of his vengeance.
"Find this body of northmen, while yourselves remaining concealed. You'll have the high ground and can look downward from the heights to espy them."
"And when they're discovered?" Gwyeth had begun to perceive the earl's plan.
"You attack from ambush. Remain hidden, and use your horses to escape-but only after several of them have been slain. Do I make myself clear?"
"Indeed, my father!" Gwyeth smiled, his beard split by a cruel leer. "The princess and her companions shall ride into the face of a force enraged by the death of their comrades!" Suddenly his expression darkened. "But, Father, Hanrald rides with them!"
"Aye." Blackstone sighed and straightened his back as if to relieve an ache in his spine. Then he shook his head. "Damn that wench! A keen ruse, to take my son with her. He's all but hostage!"
He turned his dark eyes on his other son, and the hardened determination there was obvious to Gwyeth. The earl grunted awkwardly, clearing his throat, and continued. "Hanrald will have to take care of himself. If he dies, it will be in cause of his family's destiny. No warrior could ask for better."
For a moment, Blackstone's mind wandered back to a night twenty years before. His wife had perished on that night, and the third Blackstone