Erik turned and, hunkering down so those marching post on the wall wouldn’t notice him, moved off. The sentries weren’t there to keep Erik and the others inside, he was now certain, but to ensure no one outside got close.
The two young men circled around to the far side of what Erik had come to think of as the officers’ quarters; at least, that was where de Loungville retired every night, and where Calis seemed to reside. They ducked along, keeping away from the line of lancers, who sat their horses easily as they turned their mounts around and began riding back toward the gate. Erik glanced at them long enough to realize they weren’t heading out again, merely moving away from the command building. Erik had a suspicion but said nothing to Roo.
The two of them darted along behind the building, and crept under a window. Faint voices carried. Erik motioned for Roo to remain silent and moved to another window. Here he could barely make out the sound of conversation.
“. . . need to be gone before the camp rises. Every man here has seen me at least once. It would not do for my presence to be detected. Too many questions.”
A man’s voice—Erik thought it sounded like Calis—answered: “I agree. Something urgent must have brought you here. What is it?”
“Nicholas received a warning from the Oracle. She begins her mating with the eldest of her attendants, and the new Oracle will be conceived this summer.”
Calis was silent a moment, then said, “I know as much about the Lifestone as any living, Miranda, save those who saw it at Sethanon. I’m not certain I appreciate the significance of what you tell me, though.”
Miranda laughed, and Erik thought it a sound without humor. “It seems that as we embark on this dangerous course, the Oracle of Aal begins a mating, birth, and death cycle that will take the better part of five years. In other words, just as we seek to end the danger to the Lifestone, the Oracle is going to mate, give birth to her successor, and die. We will be without the oracle’s visions for the next twenty-five years, until the daughter reaches maturity.”
Calis said, “I know little of the Ancients of Aal, save the legends about them. I take it this mating is a surprise to you?”
Miranda mumbled something Erik couldn’t hear, then said, “. . . the limit of seeing one’s own future, I suppose. A rebirth that limits the Oracle’s abilities for a twenty-five-year period once every thousand years is little more than an inconvenience, from that perspective, but it’s certainly ill timed from ours.”
“Is Nicholas thinking of canceling our plans?”
Miranda said, “I don’t know. I can’t read him as I could his father. He’s so much like him in some ways, yet so different in others. I’ve only met him twice before, and I have no doubt he would have little trust for me were it not for you and James vouching for me.”
“You’ve convinced us of your sincerity and commitment to stop the enemy, even if you’re damn unbending in revealing much about yourself.” He paused a moment. “What’s the upshot of all of this?” asked Calis.
“It means we need to move even sooner than we thought. It means you should dismantle this camp starting today and have your ships ready to depart next week.”
Calis was silent. Then he said, “I have six men who are not trained, and we’re barely half the number we had planned on. I cannot depend on hired mercenaries. Too many good men died last time because I made that mistake. I need—” He stopped himself. “You know all the arguments. Bobby and I made them to Arutha three years ago. If we must go with only thirty-six men, I will take the next nine days to evaluate the last six. I’ll hang them myself before I’ll let them become a weak link in the chain we’re forming, but I’ll at least give them that little bit of time to prove themselves.”
Miranda’s voice rose. “I have been through a great deal to select these men, Calis. I think I know each one well. I think you have only two who might break, Goodwin and de Savona. The others will do as we need.”
“Might break,” he repeated. “That’s the problem. You think. If I knew they would break, I’d execute them tonight. If I knew they would stand fast, I would leave tomorrow. But if we judge wrong, and if one of them breaks at the wrong time . . .”
“Nothing is certain.”
There was a dry chuckle and Calis said, “Working with an oracle has given us something of a false illusion of certainty, I’m afraid. If we return to the certainty that nothing is clear before it happens, we might survive this venture.”
“I’m leaving. If you insist on lingering the next nine days, so be it, but Nicholas is adamant we should move as soon as possible. We’ve captured two agents and they know we’re up to something.”