Lord of a Shattered Land by Howard Andrew Jones

Author:Howard Andrew Jones
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Fantasy, Epic, Action & Adventure, Historical, Fiction
ISBN: 9781982192723
Publisher: Baen
Published: 2023-08-01T04:00:00+00:00

VI

The next morning Antires woke in a wagon, where he lay in a huddle of blankets. Momentarily confused as to his whereabouts, he sat up, and then groaned. Nearly every muscle in his body throbbed.

Hanuvar walked at the wagon’s side. The morning sun was bright, and Antires raised his hand to shade his eyes. “What happened?”

“You passed out. You’d endured a lot.”

“I should say so. But how did you get free of all those soldiers?”

“The soldiers are dead. Only the slaves escaped alive.”

“What killed the soldiers?”

“The ghosts, I expect,” Hanuvar answered. “There wasn’t a mark upon their bodies.”

“And the elephant?”

“Marching in the column with us.”

He was glad of that. Antires had been worried for her, but most of all for his friend. “You risked your life to free me,” he said. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

“And I shouldn’t have allowed you to risk your own life to gather information. But it’s done.”

Antires shaded his eyes and looked at his friend. “I didn’t tell them anything.”

Hanuvar’s frown suggested that was the least of his worries. “I’m sorry they hurt you. None of the damage seems permanent, though, and the circus healers say you’ll be all right in a few days. For best results, you’re going to need to rest.”

Despite his pain, Antires grew conscious of a more troubling worry. “Do we have time for that? Won’t someone come after us?”

“There’s no one left to come after us. Catius kept his doings secret. Someone will investigate how thirty cavalrymen died, but there won’t be any good answers.”

Antires stated his fear more clearly. “You’re not leaving me here with the circus, are you?”

Hanuvar smiled faintly. “I would be a poor friend if I did that. The circus will provide us with a good cover while we travel, at least until we draw closer to the Ardenines.” He paused, his voice lowering. “Once we cross them, I will tell you what I plan. And I will want your help after, if you still wish to give it. I can’t succeed by myself.”

“I will help you,” Antires vowed.

“You should wait until you hear what I mean to do.”

“I know you well enough to promise it now.”

Hanuvar patted the wagon’s side. “What is it that alerted Catius?”

“Maybe my story wasn’t as clever as I thought. But I think the senator was just paranoid. It was you who threw that glass in the fire, wasn’t it? What was that?”

“Thanks to your clever note, Nyria, the circus’ magician, cooked up ingredients she said would sever a spirit’s hold on the real world. I thought it would simply send Adruvar back. But it also sheered the sorcerer’s control over the spirits.”

“So you didn’t mean for any of that to happen?”

“No. I was just trying to free my brother. I should have known he’d do his best to free me as well.”

Antires quietly absorbed that thought. “What was it like, to hold them, one last time?”

Hanuvar didn’t answer.

“It’s all right if you don’t want to say.”

“No, I think I owe you my honesty.

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