A Shore Too Far

Chapter 2

Abringol sat on the western extreme of the Gaping Sea and was in my childhood a bleak and dismal port known as much for its corruption as its dilapidation. When my older brother, Eric, came of age, he asked for the rule of the city and my father sent him there with two legions of the North Guard. In a decade, Eric had rebuilt or redone every government building into a gleaming edifice that inspired visitors and citizens alike. Self-serving bureaucracies were replaced and streamlined. The harbor was improved and the wharves broadened. There was not a western power that did not use them to trade with us, and Eric treated them fairly. Though our younger brother, Kollus, had transformed his city of Brenna into a city of learning, the cultures that crossed paths in Abringol so enriched the city that everyone expected Abringol to become the new seat of learning in all of Avandi.

As my men and I approached the city at sundown, riders carrying Eric’s banner emerged and galloped to escort us, their leather armor and green surcoats shaking with their pace. Within moments I could see the trumpets strapped to their saddles. The captain of the escort saluted smartly as his men turned to form a wedge leading us in.

“Prince Eric Asgrand, governor of Mulgrond, Pennett, and Kee, bids his sister welcome, High General, and begs you to allow him to do you all proper honors.” The rider hid his smile well.

Gonnaban leaned in. “Eric’s still fond of you.”

I felt myself blush and resisted glancing at Gonnaban’s grin. I knew it grew wider when the riders sounded their horns, peal after peal, as they were answered by the city watch. The sound rolled off the city’s low hill and took wing in the surrounding scrub wood.

We entered the outskirts of the city and soon came to the old city gate, its wall a crumbling marker of the historic edges for the city, and were met by Eric and his attendants. Tall and bearded, Eric stood beside his mount, his face warmed beyond its usual stoicism. He wore the ceremonial uniform of the city guard, and his poise was that of a man who wanted for nothing but from whom nothing could be taken. Not for the last time, I felt a stab of guilt for having tried to kill this man years ago.

I swung off my mount, too soon perhaps, and clasped his hand and arm. He waited only the merest second before pulling me close to him and embracing me.

“Sister,” he said simply.

“I did not ask Father to send me. I—,” I began.

“We’ll talk of that later,” he said. “Let’s get your men refreshed and we’ll adjourn to the palace.”

He looked above me at my master-at-arms. “Gonnaban, I see you continue to dodge retirement.”

“They thought it unwise, Your Highness, to unleash me onto the women of the land. And they are very prudent there, sir, very prudent.”

Eric smiled and squeezed my arm. “Well, you’ll join us in counsel, won’t you?”

“I go to serve, sir. I go to serve,” Gonnaban answered.

Eric faced me again, and I met those inscrutable, warm eyes of his. He turned to his mount.

We met again in an upper sunroom of the palace, a room that by its high vaulted ceilings and tall windows I could tell Eric had designed. The windows faced west to the sea, and the bay was just as busy as the city was a success. Couches and tapestries lined the wall and the sunset was a fire on the waters, the light almost pressing against us.

Gonnaban stood uneasily, always uncomfortable among any other member of my family. Eric had changed into simple palace gowns, red and silver, though his mind showed in that he wore Ebaddri, the ceremonial sword of the prince. I sat on a windowsill and let the sun warm my dark hair and darker armor.

Eric waved away what servants there were and motioned for the guards to secure the room. “I’ve just had word that Admiral Pulgatt has sent twelve ships,” Eric began. “Another thirty will be here tomorrow.”

“Too few,” grumbled Gonnaban, “if it comes to a matter on the water. On land we should have them, but….” He shrugged.

“Your report was brief, Eric. What more is there?” I asked.

Eric took a breath and faced the bustling harbor. “The ships are large, fine vessels unlike anything seen. And they don’t want their coming to be known. Our initial information came from a Dolbiri merchant who was headed here in a caravan with three other vessels. His first mate had not watched the sails, so the merchant’s vessel had moved considerably ahead of his companions. The strange fleet was just then visible over the aft horizon, and yet the foreign ships overtook and boarded the laggards in the merchants’ caravan. Another of this fleet was dispatched for the merchant’s ship, but he had seen their game and dumped his cargo. Still, it was dangerously close and the merchant was shocked at the speed of his pursuers. The fleet’s ship eventually turned away, but not before the merchant’s hold was empty and he had started hacking off parts of his ship.”

“These are no Haru,” said Gonnaban.

“Nor Dolbiri, Master-at-Arms,” Eric said. “In all his years, the Dolbiri merchant said he’d never seen ships like these. Say what you like about the Dolbiri, but they know their ships.”

“That could still mean they are allies of the Haru,” I said. “The Northmen may have found a land well north of Mun Dovar that we know nothing about, some sailing power that has agreed to smash our navy and seize our northern colonies.”

“I’ve never heard of more pitiful tribes in the northern extremes of Damendine,” Gonnaban countered. “Even the Hard Water is said to freeze that far north.”

“And what land could the Northmen know that the Dolbiri and the Mun Dovari do not?” Eric asked. “Both are naval powers in their own right and surely they have explored what coasts lie north of their own lands, even if their ships cannot endure the full swells of the Hard Water. Damendine is a large continent, but not so large as to hide a kingdom from two sailing nations. And what power would risk war with the Dolbiri by unjustly seizing merchants?”

“Regardless, we must be prepared.” I stood from my seat on the windowsill and looked at my brother. “I will not let Abringol come to harm, Eric.”

Eric regarded me for a moment. “That is your duty, High General,” he said coolly. Then he added with a smile, “But I’m glad to be in your hands.”

I turned to Gonnaban. “Large ships, Gonnaban, not the vessels of the Haru. What does that mean for our numbers?”

“Difficult without knowing the size, but if they’re large—say larger even than ours or the Dolbiri’s—then let’s say at least 40,000. That’s more of a mountain than a hill, if you take my meaning,” Gonnaban said, shaking his head. “We could hold the city perhaps, but not free it. We’d need all of the East Guard and they’re ten days away at least.”

“And unfortunately, that could mean another fleet is on the way,” I said. “Even at 40,000 men, it’s almost enough to take the city, but not all of Avandi. Either this fleet is in league with the Northmen or they are the first of three or more fleets carrying more men. Pulgatt should send his fastest ships out to watch for more fleets.”

“Six hundred ships?” Gonnaban wondered aloud. “What power has such a navy?”

I shrugged. “Obviously a power we’ve never encountered, and one that will take all of our resources to confront. Eric, what men could we pull from the countryside?” I asked. “We’ll need everything we can get to fill our numbers.”

“From the south, a few thousand perhaps. The north has been scarred by plague these past three years. Those villages that aren’t empty are too small to volunteer and not risk starving their children.” Eric sat heavily on a couch and looked up at me. “You’ll not find any help there.”

“Damn their children,” I said. “Starving will be the least of their problems if Avandi falls. Press them into service for the kingdom,” I said.

Eric’s eyes searched my face and opened his mouth to speak, but thought better of it.

“We should also begin gathering each of the Guards. We have to be ready should other fleets attempt to land,” I advised.

Eric nodded and looked beyond me to the sea.

“Perhaps we know more than we know. What of the sailors manning the ship that pursued the merchant?” Gonnaban asked. “Surely, they were close enough to see. How many? What manner of dress and so on?”

Eric turned to Gonnaban and then to me.

“He was…less than helpful in that respect,” Eric said slowly.

“Come again, sir?” asked Gonnaban.

“He said the ship was manned by demons.”

“Well,” said Gonnaban, glancing at me, “that mountain’s looking steeper, isn’t it?”

The Dolbiri merchant had been given a room in the lower halls of the palace and one that, at his own request, faced away from the sea. He was lean and perhaps a few years older than Eric, so near fifty. Clean shaven and neatly dressed, he answered the door promptly.

Gonnaban and I questioned him thoroughly for more than an hour. Through it all, the man struggled to contain his nerves, and at times his agitation overwhelmed him, particularly when we pressed him to describe the “demons” he had seen. He would only say that they were richly attired, but then he would keep muttering, “Dark…dark…dark…” and descend into a nervous silence. We were able to ascertain that the creatures he saw had both swords and bows, but we could get little else from him.

After the merchant saw us out, I touched Gonnaban’s shoulder and gestured back toward the merchant’s room. “He has little enough sense left to tell night from day.”

“It’s the cold bloods.”

“You think so?” I asked. Gonnaban and I had seen enough cases in our time, but never on someone who had not seen battle.

“He’s seen something that’s put him in a bad place, that’s nine of ten easy,” Gonnaban said. “I don’t know if it were these demons or maybe seeing the others of his ships get taken, but he’s got cold bloods for sure.”

“I can’t fight an enemy that can do that to my men, Gonnaban,” I said, pointing to the merchant’s door.

“Well, he’s a merchant, mind, and not no proper soldier. Our boys are hard enough, I reckon.” Gonnaban stopped by a broad window that looked north over the rolling plain beyond the scrub wood. “You remember that boy Eldrig? An archer wasn’t he? He got the cold bloods after that little scrape in the mountains. Sobbed for a week.”

“And I flogged him for it,” I said softly. “His tears didn’t change from one lash to the next.”

“Yeah, but the rest of us felt better knowing he had something to cry about finally. It’s no good hearing a fella go on like that for nothing.” Gonnaban scratched his cheek.

“It wasn’t for nothing, Gonnaban. He had the cold bloods, just as that merchant does. The difference is you and I can take the demons Eldrig saw.”

Out the window, the scrub wood lay on the northern hills in heaps of bramble and gnarled trees choked with dark green leaves. A road split the foreboding foliage and led to the villages of the plague-haunted north. Suddenly, a mounted figure emerged onto the road, galloping south toward the city. Soon, the galloping figure resolved into that of a young girl, perhaps ten or twelve summers old. Gonnaban glanced at me as Eric’s city guard rode out to intercept the child. The guard drew around her and brought her to a stop. A moment later, one of the city guards turned and galloped toward the city.

Gonnaban watched the guard intently. “I don’t suppose anyone gallops for good news nowadays, do they?”

Gonnaban and I marched through the palace and out to the main courtyard in the hopes of finding Eric or the rider. As we entered the courtyard, groups of people whispered excitedly in huddled masses. A guard stood holding a panting horse just beyond the maw of the outer gate.

“Well, we’ll hear soon enough,” Gonnaban said.

I nodded and turned to reenter the palace.

“Princess Kara of Peth and Culling,” a voice called. “High General of All Forces, conqueror and hero to all who see her.”

Gwey stood at the palace’s outer gate, his foot playing at the cobbles of the courtyard as though awaiting permission to enter. He was dressed in a vest and long coat, gems glittering from his hand and neck, his light brown hair swept from his clean-shaven face. He was tall and wide in the shoulders with a face of charm and cunning. A merchant and my occasional lover, he leaned against the stone arch of the outer wall’s gateway and took me in with a smile as rich as wine.

“The Nine Fathers be praised,” said Gonnaban, “Gwey is here.” Gonnaban stomped off.

I strode toward Gwey and presented my hand. He took it with a subversive smile and kissed it gently and bowed.

“These past weeks have kept you well, Highness,” he said, his eyes the color of mischief. “When the prince’s horns welcomed you to the city, their sound warmed my heart.”

“You’re too rich not to know what’s afoot, my dear Gwey. What can I do for you on this day the kingdom is imperiled?” I asked, forestalling any other goal.

“I was coming to ask your brother to lift the ban on the harbor. It would seem that fourteen of the royal navy have blocked us in, and I have a ship loaded with goods bound for Irritirri, a little port in the Sand Republics.”

“The navy has sent only twelve ships, Gwey. Does your urgency push you to lie to win my support?” I asked.

“Ah,” he said, raising a finger, “that was before the dear admiral permitted his captains to seize ships for the present emergency. Four have been so borrowed, two of which have already sailed from sight, and another four are being emptied. Fourteen of Pulgatt’s fleet now blockade us to encourage ships to stay to be borrowed. I would like my ship to be gone before it is borrowed.” He shrugged. “A small favor to beg, surely. Perhaps you can ask Eric yourself?”

I smiled at the game. Gwey already knew the answer and came to ask anyway. He and Eric had crossed paths years ago when Eric was cleansing the city of its corruption, chief among it Gwey’s father Udderopt, a harbor master swollen with bribes. Now the two passed amiably enough so long as I was absent, but Gwey could not resist.

“I would be happy to ask his highness, but I should warn you it may take several weeks; we have a number of pressing matters at present, the safety of Avandi, for instance.” I patted him affectionately on the cheek and turned on my heel.

“I hope to see you soon with his answer, Princess. You have but to send word!” he called behind me.

“Duties permitting, Gwey,” I answered and reentered the palace.

I made my way quickly to Eric’s throne room. Eric sat, chin perched intently in hand, as a kneeling guard spoke with urgency. Gonnaban sat awkwardly on a gilded chair to Eric’s left. Three other city guards, captains by the look of them, stood beside the kneeling guard. I entered quietly and stood behind the captains as the guard finished his report.

“Very well,” said Eric, straightening in his seat. “Bring her to me when she’s rested. Treat her warmly and see to it she has something to eat. Ask one of the serving girls to keep her company.”

The guard nodded, bowed, and marched away, saluting me as he passed.

Eric looked through the three captains to me. “Well, High General, our mysterious fleet is closer than we had hoped and they still struggle to maintain secrecy. Another ship has been overtaken and this one within sight of land.”

Surprised at my presence, the captains turned to me and saluted quickly. I returned the gesture promptly and looked past them to Eric.

“The girl?” I asked.

“Her mother saw the father’s sailing vessel approaching at great speed, but it was for naught. A great golden ship filled with dark figures forced it to stand down, and he was boarded.”

“Only a single ship?”

“Pickets, Your Highness,” Gonnaban said, and then caught himself having interrupted the prince. “If you’ll beg my pardon,” he added.

Eric looked at Gonnaban, smiled, and turned again to me. “A scout,” he said, “hoping to stop any word from reaching shore.”

“But they were within sight of land already,” I returned. “Surely the surprise is gone.”

“The village of Temladow has a lighthouse. The girl’s mother brings the keepers their lunch. From that height she saw her husband’s ship boarded,” Eric said. “And now they will land somewhere north of Temladow well before nightfall. Two hundred ships of dark figures that grown men call demons.” He looked to his city captains and stood slowly, a single stately movement like a ship cresting a wave. “Begin patrols and sound the watch.”

The horns of the city were still sounding when Gonnaban and I finished our war plans. Riders had been dispatched to the east, north, and south. Those headed east carried my summons to my East Guard, though Gonnaban was right in that they were at least ten days away and more likely fourteen if they were to bring provisions. The south riders were of two different tasks: a messenger to my father requesting that his Central Guard gather at the capital with provisions for a north movement and a set of criers who would call to arms what men they could from the southern parts of Eric’s provinces. The northbound rider sought troops from the northern villages.

The rest of our war talk concerned combining my East Guard cavalry and Eric’s into a unit that could at least harass an enemy long enough for help to arrive. Gonnaban was taking that in hand even now, but a few hours is hardly enough time to forge two units into one. To enter battle, even just the harassment of an enemy, without that unity meant we risked orders being misunderstood or, worse, orders being mistrusted because they came from men of a strange unit. With the East Guard weeks off, we were already divided and could ill afford discord between the forces we had. All of this, I knew, didn’t matter until we could look these foreign visitors in the face and know our enemy—or at least know if he should be called enemy.

With all of this on my mind, I retired to the chambers Eric always reserved for me. Guards stood at the hall and saluted me as I entered. Outside my door, servants stood at my approach and bowed low, my lengthy title murmuring from them like water over distant stones. Moments after the doors closed behind me, I heard the deferential rap of a servant.

“Enter,” I called absently.

Eric stood in the doorway, the servants in the hall still bent low at his passing.

“I thought we might speak,” he said.

I smiled. “Of course. You won’t mind me removing my armor, will you?”

He gestured for me to continue, and I unbuckled my sword and began fretting with the buckles of my breastplate.

“I saw our little brother a few months ago,” Eric began. “He visited to advise me on a new library.”

“Oh?” I said, setting my armor on one of the parlor’s rich couches.

Eric moved to sit in a nearby chair. “He mentioned you and he had conferred on his defenses to the east. Your two armies even worked on some joint maneuvers together.”

“Yes, he’s not the most tactically minded, our Kollus,” I said, taking a seat beside my leather chest piece. “He should drive his men much harder.”

“He didn’t say anything to you about expanding eastward? Perhaps challenging the Men of the Gray Valleys for control of those provinces abandoned by the Killain?” Eric watched me with veiled eyes.

“I didn’t really ask, though he did mention the Men of the Gray Valleys—” I stopped short and looked hard at my older brother. “What are you saying, Eric?”

“Our brother could use a boost to his military record,” he said, watching me carefully, “particularly in our father’s eyes. A show of strength would also help silence some of Kollus’s restless nobility.”

“Are you—?”

“Did it not occur to you how it would look? You two conferring militarily? Your forces combined?” His anger was evident now but I should have seen it much sooner. He could always hide himself from me; it remained the only time I still felt a child beside him.

“I sought only to improve the security of the kingdom, Eric, not—not lend support to him in some political game,” I insisted. Our tradition is not prima geniture as it is with the Dolbiri or the Men of the Gray Valleys; the oldest does not necessarily inherit the throne. Instead, a monarch abdicates and announces a successor, whether one of his children or some ally from outside the family.

“You cannot act as though the kingdom is not watching,” Eric said, his voice measured. “All of Avandi watches when any of us succeed or fail. Can you honestly say you have no ambition to follow our father?”

I turned my face away and examined my armor. “I did,” I said softly.

“And you still think that you can act as you please?” Eric stood and moved angrily about the room. “Do you know how you are perceived, sister?”

I was surprised how difficult I found his anger toward me. “Tell me,” I said, not lifting my face from the leather lines of my breastplate.

“Your military victories have endeared you to every soldier in the kingdom. Burning Eshjja, the very capital of the Gray Valleys, an impenetrable mountain citadel! Killing Boolunnt at Falling Timber and pushing his forces from the north mountains! You have overseen the reorganization of every army of the kingdom, and you are the pride of its fighting men.”

“I meant to imply nothing in helping Kollus, Eric,” I pleaded quietly. “Besides, we have many seasons before Father is unable to rule.”

“We have enemies, my sister,” he said gravely. “Jenaeus’s Northmen would push past Abringol to kill Father if they could. The Men of the Gray Valleys have unsurpassed knowledge of poisons. Assassination is always a possibility.”

My heart leapt to my throat. I let the silence grow for a moment and then said, “I will follow Father’s wishes when he chooses to abdicate.”

“And if your forces disagree with his decision? If there is a cry from the ranks to put you on the throne?”

“I have told Father and I tell you, I will not serve. I will kneel before whomever Father chooses and pledge my service and life.” I looked at him now. “What else can I do, Eric?”

I picked up my sword still in its sheath on the couch. Elkrull had been forged at my request. Until that point, there had never been a symbolic sword for princesses. I saw to it that it was no mere symbol, but a thing for taking life.

I held it out for him to see. “This will stand before anyone who objects to Father’s choice of successor. Even if it be my own men. Even if it be my own blood. What else can I do?”

“Are you sure you could strike me down with that?” he asked.

“You would fall in many pieces,” I answered, perhaps a little too quickly.

He glared at me for a long moment. His gaze was unyielding and more powerful than I remembered. Here was the mind and will that had tamed a city. Finally a smile played at his lips and he broke. He laughed and I could not help but share it. His shoulders dropped and he looked away.

“I didn’t mean to make you doubt my intentions,” I said. “I take Kollus at his word that he wanted my advice. His men certainly benefited from the maneuvers.”

Eric held me by my shoulders and looked down at me, a weary smile at his lips. “So long as those were the only maneuvers at work.”

I let slip a short laugh. “They’re the only ones I’m any good at, Eric.”

“Perhaps I give you too much credit, eh, little sister?” He sat down slowly and looked at me.

I pushed at him as he sat. “Was there really talk after Kollus and I met?”

“There was…and is,” he answered, rubbing his eyes with a hand. “There is always talk, Kara.” He looked again at me as my older brother. His dark hair was graying now, but his eyes were as I had always remembered them.

“Then I’m sorry I’m not better at this,” I said, and sat again beside my silent armor.

He nodded and looked off into the room. I stared down at our feet. The sounds of the palace began creeping in: someone shouted orders in a courtyard, horses passed through an alley below, servants laughed in the hall.

“When will we ride to look upon the fleet?” he asked at last, his eyes still elsewhere.

“In less than two hours, if our estimates hold of where they might land. It will be dark long before we reach them. Gonnaban is choosing some of our cavalries to come with us, particularly ones who grew up around ships.”

Eric turned to me and reached for my hand. His touch was always hot, and he squeezed my fingers fiercely. “Then I’ll meet you in the courtyard in two hours.”

He rose and I watched him as he moved to the doors.

“I’ll see you then,” I said.

He nodded, paused at the door just a moment, then left.

Eric and Gonnaban were already assembled in the main courtyard when I came down, and a dozen mounted cavalry stood at attention behind them. The first lanterns were being lit for evening and I regretted not being able to stay and watch as they winked on throughout the city.

Eric pulled on his gloves as I approached. “Rested, Princess?” His eyes were warm, and I felt some of our distance close. I was shocked to remember how handsome Eric looked, how proud I was of him, in his full armor. A shirt of chain with the surcoat of the Anchor and the Oak, the symbol for Abringol, protected his chest. Greaves inlaid with gold covered his arms and legs, and a visored helm sat on his head, its high green plume dancing with every movement.

I smiled back. “I am, Highness.”

I wore my dark leather armor, though no helm despite Gonnaban’s constant nagging. For the ride, I had pulled my hair back with a jeweled band my mother left me.

“Gonnaban, are these our experts for the night?” I asked.

Gonnaban gestured to four men at the far end. “They are, sir. The rest of these are only good for stopping arrows, but they’ll do in a pinch.”

We mounted our horses as the gate watch sounded a single note. The palace doors swung outward.

“The command is yours, General,” Eric called as we rode into the city.

“Three hours’ hard ride to Temladow, Highness. My guess is we’ll find them ashore an hour or so thereafter. It will be dark, but let’s hope their own lanterns will betray them. Then, if you wish to approach, we’ll sound the horns and parley.”

Eric nodded, and we picked up our pace through the broad avenues that swung north. The faces of the people we passed were turned up at us in anxiety. The fleet was coming, they had heard. The fleet from nowhere.

The city fell away behind us as we entered the farmland that bordered Abringol. Large farmhouses or, more often, small cottages dotted what fields were still being tended. Farmhands struggling with late chores raised their heads at our passing, some lifting calloused hands and glowing lanterns to bid us well. In no time, we were in the scrub wood beyond, and our horses worked themselves into a good pace.

I could feel the emptiness of the land as soon as we passed through the first of the woods. We saw no farm carts or pilgrims, no merchants or idle rich. Just expanses of rolling plain dotted with scrub wood and abandoned farms. I was reminded of the Northmen’s hunger for this underused land and knew that if they ever made it past the mountains, we could never push them back.

Eventually, the lights of Temladow came into view and we sent a rider ahead to gather news as we gave our own horses a respite.

Even on the outskirts of the village, tensions were higher, faces tauter.

Our rider rejoined us at the crossroads within the village. He rode to Gonnaban and they spoke quietly as we passed out of this community of fishers and farmers. Eric pointed silently at the lighthouse to the west, its light turning against the dark.

“Well, they’ve stopped seizing ships, at least,” Gonnaban began. “A handful of fisherman to the north called it a day and headed home at the first sight of the fleet. There wasn’t any pursuit or the like.”

“And no sign of them on land?” Eric asked.

“No, sir, but the feeling is that they’re not more than a league from here. The next village is mostly empty, but it has a pretty deep bay. Big enough for a few ships to reach the pier at least.”

“General?” Eric said, looking to me.

“It changes nothing. We’ve brought your standards if you want to talk. We’ve brought horses if we need to run. In either case, I’m going to get a look at them before we do either.”

Eric nodded and freshened his horse’s pace.

After a few stops at farms to confirm our location, we reached a low hill that locals had assured us would offer a vantage point overlooking our foreigners. Gonnaban and two of our ship experts now crawled on their bellies to the brow of the hill. Eric and I stood by our mounts, our faces lit only by the moon.

Gonnaban stopped at the crest and lifted his head slowly. Satisfied, he rolled onto his back and began assembling a farlook, a long tube of leather that held a circular lens at each end and could bring distant sights closer to the eye. As he tightened the last strap, he rolled back and peered secretively, scanning slowly back and forth. After several moments, he nudged one of the cavalrymen at his side and passed him the farlook. Gonnaban made the slow way back down the hill and rejoined us.

“Well, Gonnaban, our long wait is over,” Eric said. “What did you see?”

Gonnaban bunched his mouth up and glanced uneasily at Eric and then at me. My master-at-arms looked back over his shoulder as though he considered going back up.

Finally, apologetically, Gonnaban said, “Demons.”