The Spirit Stone - Katharine Kerr [226]
He made a sound that might have been either agreement or scepticism. ‘Doesn’t matter now, does it?’ he said.
‘No. I’m afraid it doesn’t matter at all.’
The army had crawled towards home at its usual pace for an eightnight before the Mountain Folk announced that they could no longer endure travelling with snails. On a last wave of promises and handshakes, they assembled in the dawn light, ready to march off north at their own quick pace. Dallandra made a last farewell to Kov.
‘I’m sorry we couldn’t unravel all the runes on your staff,’ she said.
‘Oh, please don’t apologize!’ Kov said. ‘I know a fair bit more about them than I did before, and I’m grateful. Garin will be, too, I’m sure.’
‘Do give him my regards when you see him. I remember him from the siege of Cengarn, and I think highly of him.’
‘And he’s spoken very well of you to me, Wise One. Perhaps we’ll meet again someday? I’ll hope so.’
‘We may well do just that. I’d very much like to talk with Enj about Haen Marn.’ Dallandra laid her hands on her stomach. ‘But it will have to wait for a while, till the child’s born and old enough to travel.’
A scowling Brel Avro strode over to them.
‘I know what you’re going to say,’ Kov said. ‘Everyone’s ready to leave but me.’
Dallandra watched the dwarven ranks march off, hauling their carts with them, then walked through the encampment until she found Salamander, who was rolling up his bedroll. The servants had already packed away his tent. She knelt down next to him.
‘Ebañy, what are we going to do about Neb and Branna?’ Dallandra said. ‘As decent a soul as Tieryn Cadryc is, his dun is not the right place for learning dweomer.’
‘That’s true, oh mistress of mighty magicks. Now, in a few more days, the army will split again. You’ll be heading south to Mandra. I can ride east with the Red Wolf and fetch our two apprentices.’
‘That’s assuming they’ll be allowed to go.’
‘Fear not!’ Salamander smiled at her. ‘I have a ruse, ploy, or stratagem all planned. Since Meranaldar’s taking ship for the Southern Isles, Prince Dar is going to need a scribe. What better scribe than a Roundear, to celebrate the alliance between our two peoples and to cement our enduring friendship and so on and so forth?’
Dallandra laughed. ‘There are times,’ she said, ‘when your talent for blather comes in decidedly handy. I suppose Branna will simply have to go where her husband goes.’
‘Under Deverry law she has no choice. Do you think our prince will speak to Tieryn Cadryc for me? The invitation will look much more official that way.’
‘Oh, I think I can persuade him. As they say in Deverry, done then!’
When the messengers arrived at the Red Wolf dun, they brought with them the news of Tieryn Gwivyr’s death, along with the deaths of so many other good men. Branna was shocked at her own reaction. While Galla wept, mourning her brother, Branna felt very little beyond sympathy for her aunt. It doesn’t seem real, she thought. Da buried in a foreign land, beside a foreign river. As the days passed, and she found herself still unable to weep, she realized at last that death had taken on an entirely new meaning for her. She happened to be sitting on the window ledge in her chamber and remembering how it felt to fly when she thought of her father one last time. I’ll see him again if I need to, she thought, or if he needs to see me. In some When or another.
The returning army arrived a full fortnight after the messengers. When they heard the tieryn’s horn announcing their return, Branna and Solla rushed out of the women’s hall and raced down the stairs to the ward. Lady Galla followed more slowly, yelling after them the entire way to mind their courtesies.
Men and horses filled the ward. The servant lasses whose men had come home rushed to greet them, while those who had lost their men busied themselves with their work, their eyes brimming with tears. Branna and Solla found a place to stand near the entrance to the great hall where they’d be out of the way of the confusion.
‘I feel like running to Gerran’s side,’ Solla said, ‘but what if