The Born Queen - J. Gregory Keyes [92]
“You’re taking her prisoner,” Aspar said, his voice flat.
Emfrith strode angrily toward him, and for a moment Aspar thought he might have succeeded in starting the fight he had wondered about earlier. His hand went back to the feyknife.
But Emfrith stopped a kingsyard from him. “I love her, holter. I’m doing what I think is best for her.”
“And I’m not?”
“I don’t know. But she’s not in the best shape to travel, is she? To be chased over hill and stream by this horde? Women die from that sort of thing.”
“Yah. But you’re still taking her hostage.”
“If you want to look at it like that, I can’t stop you,” Emfrith said. “But this is how it’s going to be. Now, you can sulk about it, or you can help me win. You’ve fought more of these things than any of us. We have a day. What should we do?”
“Run.”
“Raiht. Besides that.”
Aspar shrugged inwardly, and his mounting anger leveled off. Maybe this was for the best, for them to all die here. Better than waiting to see what the witch had in store for Winna and her child.
“To begin with,” he said, “three of the Sefry warriors are something Leshya calls Vaix. They’re supposed to be stronger and faster than Mannish warriors. They have swords like my knife and Grimknows what else. Leshya can probably tell us more.” He rubbed his chin.
“Some of the beasts aren’t that smart,” he went on. “Leshya and I killed several of them with pit traps. You might want to dig some of those. And haul heavy things up here to drop on them. Do you have any siege engines?”
“I’ve got one catapult.”
“More would be better.”
“We’ll make do,” Emfrith said. “Why don’t we go find Leshya and some beer? I know greffyns, but the other things Arn describes are new to me.”
“How did you kill the greffyn?” Aspar asked.
“Eight of us charged it on horseback. Two of us managed to hit it in that sally. That didn’t kill it, but it slowed it down. We just kept lancing it.”
“You didn’t lose any men?”
“We lost two horses, and three of my men got pretty sick, but no one actually touched it. Winna warned us about that.”
“Some of these will be harder than that,” Aspar said. “I’ll help. You’ve got my word. But you won’t keep Winna locked up.”
Emfrith held his gaze for a moment then nodded curtly.
Sir Evan of Leanvel had a loose sort of face with several chins and cheeks threatening to join their number. At the moment his bushy eyebrows were pinched together in a frown.
“What’s that, then?” he asked, pointing at Fend and his monsters.
“Name it whatever you like,” Emfrith replied. “Manticore is what I’ve been calling it.”
“I fancy that,” Sir Evan replied. “Like the beast in the story of the Knight-Prince of Albion.”
“There’s more of them,” Leshya said.
Aspar already had noticed that. The number of men and Sefry looked about the same, but Aspar now counted seven utins loping along, four greffyns, and two manticores. There were also a couple of wagons Aspar hadn’t seen before, likely because Fend hadn’t wanted to bring them over the pass.
“Theres something odd about a Woothshaer with a supply train,” Emfrith said.
“Yah,” Aspar allowed. “But Haergrim’s hunt is mostly dead men, alvs, and booygshins. They don’t need to eat. The monsters probably eat off the land, but that wouldn’t leave much for Fend and his men.”
The enemy was still a good ten bowshots away, approaching the Warlock River across a wheat field. Aspar and his companions were watching from a low bluff a bowshot from the river. The land below the rise was clear and flat, a good place for a charge. Better yet, Fend had to cross an old stone bridge that was wide enough for only about three horses to go abreast.
Aspar still didn’t feel particularly hopeful.
“Celly Guest would like the honor of the first charge,” Sir Evan said.
“It’s my duty, sir,” Emfrith replied.
“Come along, lad; let us have a go first. We’ll save you a greff or two.”
“You’re the senior,” Emfrith said. “If you ask like that…”
The knight smiled and reached to slap Emfrith on the back. “Very good. Down we go,