Besides, there were dead men lying up ahead, and more fallen horses. These men did not wear the dark grey of the Hadryn militia at Perys, but rather the black and silver of Hadryn line troops.
“The Hadryn Shields,” Kessligh noted as they passed one man, sightless eyes gazing at the sky, a shaft effortlessly puncturing his mailed chest. His surcoat bore the emblem of a silver shield upon black. “Excellent soldiers. Some of Lenayin's best, not like those idiot militia. Their commanders can sometimes let them down, however.”
The man galloping from the town reached the column's head first, and the forward guard parted to let him through, hands warily on their weapons. Damon halted and Kessligh rode to his left side, Captain Tyrun to the right, as the forward guard held the man's back, and Damon's small Royal Guard contingent clustered close behind. Sasha kept herself in reserve at Kessligh's rear, with Jaryd for company.
“My Prince,” said the rider, with an accent that was somewhat northern, but mostly familiar. He bowed in the saddle, long, braided hair falling about his face. When he straightened, Sasha saw that his face bore tattoo markings, and his ears shone with many rings. “Good that you have come. The Hadryn make war on us, my Prince. This is an invasion, as surely you can see. We defend the rear way to Halleryn and we have not yet let them pass. But the northern clans are more numerous than we, and we fear that a reinforcement may see our number overwhelmed. You must put an end to this aggression, my Prince.”
“What the prince must and must not do,” Captain Tyrun said sharply, “is for the prince to decide.” The Goeren-yai rider simply looked at him, head high and eyes proud. The men of these regions were deferential to royalty, but only from politeness…and when they found some personal benefit in it.
“Lord Krayliss holds Halleryn?” Damon asked the rider.
“Aye, my Prince. And Lord Usyn Telgar puts Halleryn to siege even now. They have heavy cavalry that Taneryn cannot match in the open. We can only defend what is ours and hope for justice from Baen-Tar.”
“And how did Rashyd Telgar die?”
“Some Hadryn priests came to Gessyl, not five folds over yonder,” pointing west toward the Hadryn border. “They disrupted the people's livelihoods, angered the spirits and offended the honour of the women.” Sasha frowned at that. Most Goeren-yai women, though not fighters, could look after their own honour. “They were driven from Gessyl, but invented stories of their mistreatment and of pagan insults to the Verenthane gods. Both Lord Rashyd and Lord Krayliss heard this and rode to Gessyl. Lord Rashyd was upon Taneryn land, my Prince. He invaded our territory, he insulted the people and caused mortal offence to Lord Krayliss. A great lord need not suffer such insults upon his own land. The fight was for honour and my Lord Krayliss proved the most honourable.”
A new thunder of hooves approached and the Hadryn rider was admitted into the circle before Damon, Kessligh and Tyrun.
“My Prince,” said the Hadryn man, all in black and silver, with the leather and chain of the vaunted Hadryn Shields cavalry. He bowed in the saddle. “Well that you have come. Have you more forces on the way?”
“Many,” Damon said flatly. “They arrive shortly. Explain your presence on Taneryn land.”
“The matter is simple, my Prince,” said the Hadryn cavalryman. “My Great Lord Rashyd Telgar was murdered at the hand of Lord Krayliss of Taneryn. By your father's law, my Prince, the now Great Lord Usyn Telgar, son of Rashyd, may seek revenge. Lord Krayliss has refused to yield to the demands of manly honour. Thus, we seek it from him by other means.”
As Sasha understood it, Usyn Telgar could seek revenge as a son, and as a man. But to do so in the capacity of provincial great lord, by risking all-out war, undermined the authority of the king in Baen-Tar. Here, at this moment, Damon represented the king's authority, but was he prepared to use it.
“How dare you murdering thieves speak of honour…” the Taneryn man growled, but Damon held a clenched, gloved fist in the air.
“Insults and posturing shall do nothing to sway my favour,” he said with a dark glare at the Goeren-yai. “I assure you.”
“My Prince,” said the Hadryn Shield, “these animals do not even allow us a pause within which to reclaim our dead and wounded. We fear some of our wounded may even have been