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.”
Chapter