‘but they may yet make a mistake in the heat of the moment. If nothing else, it will give them pause for thought while they attempt to charge through us.’ He started towards a ballistae station on their right, where the rampart walkway bulged to allow easy movement, but before he reached it, the voices within the fort were dropping and faces began to turn his way.
The king faced his men, then swept off his flamboyant hat so his face was visible to all. He gave them a moment to remember the stories, the legend of a king to rival any the Land had yet seen. He had as commanding a presence as any white-eye, and his quiet assurance and cold eyes gave no reason to doubt the reputed genius of his intellect, nor the ruthless ambition that had driven his own conquest two decades previously.
‘Brothers,’ King Emin called in a loud, clear voice, ‘our time of reckoning has come.’
Doranei watched the effect of the king’s piercing ice-blue gaze sweeping over his troops, as the men stood a shade more upright under that imperious stare.
‘The so-called “first tribes” have marched on our lands,’ King Emin announced, raising his arms as though to embrace the army, ‘intent on destroying all we have built and all we hold dear.’
He looked around, catching people’s eyes, so every man thought he spoke directly to him. ‘In their envy,’ he cried, ‘they come to kill us, to murder this dream we share. They see the twilight of their own kind and for that they fear us.’
He raised his voice, little by little, as he went on, ‘They fear our great kingdom, because it stands for an end to the ways of the past - an end to the ties of tradition and ancient prejudice. An end to the dream that they are better than we.
‘Twenty years ago I realised the truth, one I see realised in the faces all around me: I believed that we were equal of any of the seven tribes - but now I see we are greater still!’
He paused, waiting and watching, until the watching soldiers were breathless with anticipation.
‘When the White Circle attacked Narkang, many of you fought alongside me, fought as equals alongside Lord Isak himself, and when the breach came it was his actions that saved the day, and yet - and yet he did not claim the title of hero that day, though he was more than entitled.’
Doranei could feel the expectation building like a tidal wave inside them all.
‘Young as he was, Isak knew his God would protect him as he called the storm down, and secure in that knowledge, he sought to close the breach alone.’
King Emin paused again. The faces were rapt, every man holding his breath until the king slowly raised a finger. Doranei felt the murmurs building from the crowd.
‘But . . . but in that breach he was not alone — ’
He got no further as a roar of approval crashed out around the fort, drowning out all other sounds. The king waited for the tumult to die down again, knowing their pride would eclipse any thing else he might now say. Many of those present had fought on the walls of the White Palace; many friends had died beside them, and they had all known their lives were hanging in the balance when Lord Isak of the Farlan had stayed alone to defend the wall.
‘ — yes, brothers, there was another - one who was neither white-eye, nor favoured of the Gods. Commander Brandt was a man, no different to you or me, and yet he was a hero! He was not even a soldier - the City Watch was his mistress, and he served it faithfully, man and boy.
‘When the time came, this simple watchman sacrificed himself for the city he loved, for his wife and children, and to protect this dream we share! And he did so gladly.
‘He stood, back to back with a figure from myth - back to back and unafraid!’
King Emin turned to the advancing Menin Army, then back to his men, a mocking smile on his lips as he made a dismissive gesture.
‘Equal to the Seven Tribes? No - not that day, nor for ever more! They come to kill us; they come to conquer us, because they fear us! Without the patronage of Gods here we stand, as strong as any of them, and solely through our own endeavour. Even now they dare