Nathair raised an eyebrow at that but made no comment.

'What would you have us do?' Lothar asked.

'Build roads into Forn, wide and straight like the giant roads of old. Each of you from a different location, set on a course to intersect at Forn's heart. From there, we build a fortress of our own. Dra.s.sil must be found, and the Black Sun dug out from the hole that he hides in.'

'Why not just leave him there?' Belo asked. 'If he is hiding, let him hide. Most that go into Forn are never heard of again.' He shrugged. 'Let the forest do our work for us.'

Nathair stared at him, took a deep breath, not quite a sigh. 'This is a council of kings,' Nathair said. 'Let your King speak for his realm.'

'I advise my King,' Belo said. 'And to do that, I like to understand the facts.'

Nathair pinched his nose.

'I have given you all the necessary facts. The Black Sun is in Forn. We must go after him. To bring the might of our warbands against him we have to build roads for them to march upon, to bring them supplies, to be able to fight without a tree branch getting lodged up your a.r.s.e.'

I think he's getting angry.

'There may be other options.'

Nathair slammed a fist onto the table. 'I have not travelled a thousand leagues, fought myriad battles, dethroned kings and crowned new ones and stormed the gates of Murias to come here and haggle like a fishwife over options.' He was shouting by the end of the sentence.

Belo just stared at Nathair, fingers still steepled under his chin.

'This an alliance,' Belo said calmly, 'not a dictatorship. You do not rule here, or command the kings of the Banished Lands.'

Nathair went very still.

Calidus rose beside Nathair and touched his arm. The King of Tenebral had gone pale. He took a deep breath and sat.

Calidus faced Belo and spoke. 'There are weapons in Forn,' the old man said. 'Relics from the Giant Wars and the Sundering. We have to take them from the Black Sun. To leave him is to allow him to become stronger, and to consolidate his power.' Calidus' voice was deep and resonant, soothing in its pitch and cadence, and Ulfilas felt himself nodding in agreement with the old man's words. 'If left, one day he will emerge from Forn, stronger, too powerful by far, and prepared to annihilate us all.'

'That does not sound so good,' Gundul muttered.

'No. Best we strike now, before he grows stronger,' Jael said.

'That is our reasoning as well,' Calidus said good-naturedly.

Jael has a motive to fight this war, to chase this warband into Forn: Haelan. To catch one is to catch the other. But these other kings, why do they need to do this? To commit their warbands to such a mammoth task?

Ulfilas studied the faces around the table and could see that some at least were thinking along similar lines. Lothar was nodding thoughtfully. Gundul just looked scared. Belo, though, did not look impressed with the idea of carving a route through Forn.

'So you would have us build roads?' Belo asked.

'That is right. Summon your warbands and we shall begin our search for Dra.s.sil and the Black Sun.'

'Forn is a big place,' Belo said.

'Best then that we start sooner rather than later,' Nathair grated.

'There is someone missing from this table,' Belo said. 'Someone whom I have heard has joined your, our, alliance. Queen Rhin.'

'She will come,' Calidus said. 'She is securing her borders, but when we call for her, she will come, and bring a mighty warband with her.'

'Internal strife, then,' Belo said. He looked pointedly at Nathair. 'There are rumours of other realms that are struggling to maintain order within their borders. I have heard the word rebellion mentioned in connection with Tenebral. Is there any truth in this?'

'There has been-' Calidus began.

'It has been crushed,' Nathair interrupted. 'My first-sword has sent me word, Tenebral is at peace, and he brings the leaders of this so-called rebellion here, for my judgement.'

'Veradis, your problem-solver.'

It was Veradis who cut Mandros' head from his shoulders. Belo's cousin.

'Just so,' Nathair said, eyes fixed on Belo, who gave the first sign of any kind of emotion, a tightening in his jaw and narrowing of his eyes.

'I think it is time we retire,' Belo said. 'You have made your case clear, what you wish from us. Gundul and I shall discuss it at length.'

'That is not good enough,' Nathair said. Calidus put a hand upon his shoulder but he shook it off. 'Time cannot be wasted. I must have your answers now. This day.'

Belo shrugged and stood, his chair sc.r.a.ping. 'We don't always get what we want,' the ageing warrior said. 'And I for one am not sure I'll be advising my King to listen to a man who cannot even maintain order within his own realm. Come, Gundul,' he said, touching the young King's arm.

'Stop,' Nathair said quietly, venom in his voice.

Belo did stop, for a moment looking with angry eyes at Nathair.

'You do not give orders to us, King of Tenebral. This is a council of equals, and I take my orders from my King, not some upstart with a faded t.i.tle, a realm in chaos and a reputation for murdering kings. Now, Gundul, let us-'

'Sumur, kill this thorn in my flesh,' Nathair said.

Sumur moved without a second's hesitation, walking calmly around the table, hand reaching over his shoulder for the hilt of his blade.

'This is not amusing,' Belo snapped. 'I will not be intimidated.' Ulfilas saw his eyes flickering between Nathair and Sumur.

'My patience is at an end. I will listen to your whining opposition no more,' Nathair said.

With a rasp, Sumur drew his blade.

'This is a council amongst allies,' Belo snapped, disbelief and fear mingling in his voice. He took a few steps back, hand reaching for his own sword.

'You are not my ally,' Nathair said. 'You did not take the oath, Gundul did.'

'This is outrageous,' Belo cried.

Sumur walked on, around the table.

'Alric,' Belo yelled, panic in his voice now, the shieldman behind Gundul shifting, looking between Gundul and Belo.

'Alric, now!' Belo shouted, and the shieldman moved, stepping in front of Sumur and drawing his sword.

Sumur curled a lip and rolled his shoulder, his sword snapping out, the shieldman moving too slowly, staggering into Gundul's chair, gurgling as blood spurted from his throat.

Sumur walked on.

Belo drew his own sword, backing into a column. Sumur reached him and struck an overhand blow, double-handed. Belo blocked it, but Ulfilas heard the unmistakable sound of bone cracking. Ulfilas, no stranger to battle, winced.

He's broken Belo's wrists.

Belo screamed, sword dropping from strengthless fingers.

No one is that strong.

Sumur raised his sword and struck again, Belo's scream cut short, then again, the sound of meat being cleaved, more bone breaking.

'Enough!' Calidus yelled and Sumur froze, looked back over his shoulder, blood splattering his face. He licked a drop from his top lip.

A silence had fallen upon the chamber, kings staring in horror, Gundul's eyes fixed on Belo's corpse. He whimpered.

'I was going to do this later,' Calidus said with a sigh, 'but perhaps it is appropriate now.' He gestured for the feast-hall gates to be opened. Ulfilas thought about questioning him, then looked at the pile of meat and bone that had been Belo and decided to move, nodding to his men to open the great doors. Daylight streamed in, along with a bitter wind. Footsteps thudded and warriors marched in, black-clad men and women like Sumur, a hundred, two hundred, more. They stood before the council table, eyes black and empty.

'They are a gift for my fellow kings,' Nathair said. 'One hundred warriors for each of you, a protection in these dark and dangerous times.'

A protection from whom? More your enforcers. Ulfilas did not like this, not one bit. He could see that the kings and their shieldmen felt the same way. The display of violence had been shocking, but the consequences of this were settling upon him now. Nathair was taking over this council of kings. If each of these warriors before him was half as capable as Sumur, then together they could carve up a warband.

This is Isiltir, not Tenebral. He looked to Jael, hoping that he would give Ulfilas the order to summon his warband and put an end to this. Jael just sat there, looking as shocked and scared as the rest of them.

'Now,' said Nathair, 'let us discuss our a.s.sault on Dra.s.sil.'

CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE.

UTHAS.

Uthas strode along beside Rhin, Dun Carreg towering above them upon its cliff like some predatory bird. Horns blowing, Rhin's honour guard rippled to a halt on the giantsway.

Honour guard! More like a warband five hundred of Rhin's shieldmen and fifty Benothi giants. Not a sight often seen in Ardan.

Uthas looked about him, drinking in the view like a half-parched man.

Ardan, they call it now, but it was only ever Benoth to me. There was a time when I thought I'd never see this land again.

Ahead of them Dun Carreg sat on its high cliff, at its foot the sprawl of a fisher-village, and all about them were rolling meadows, to the north the glitter of a pewter sea, and behind it all the cry of gulls. Uthas sucked in a deep breath, savouring the salt air and chill that filled his lungs.

'Was this your home, once?' Rhin asked him.

'Home, no,' Uthas said. 'I dwelt in Dun Taras, governed that part of Benoth for Nemain, but I came here often. I have . . . fond memories of this place.'

'The truth does not often live up to the memory,' Rhin said, looking up at Dun Carreg high above. 'Let us see what welcome Evnis has prepared for us.' She clicked her horse on and they headed through the fisher-village, the inhabitants hustling off the streets into houses as they saw Uthas and his kin approaching. They carried on up the winding road to the fortress, hooves clattering on the stone bridge as they crossed the chasm that separated the fortress from the mainland, the wind blowing up around them in great gusts.

Warriors lined the courtyard beyond Stonegate, turned out in their finery to greet their queen. With Rhin's warriors and fifty giants striding into the courtyard it soon became crowded.

'Where is Evnis?' Rhin said with a frown to the man who stepped forward to greet her, a captain named Andran.

'He rode south, my Queen,' Andran said. 'He received word of the rebels in Dun Crin.'

'How far is Dun Crin?' Rhin asked, looking annoyed.

'A ten-night down the giantsway,' Uthas answered. 'Through the Baglun and out the other side. Dun Crin is sunk in the marshes, though.'

Rhin nodded thoughtfully. 'Well, we do not need him for what we came for, I suppose. I just would have liked to see him.' She ordered her honour guard and mounts cared for, her warriors to be escorted to the feast-hall for a meal.

'Your giants should accompany them,' Rhin said.

'They may cause unrest,' Balur said.

Giants walking abroad in Dun Carreg this has not happened for a thousand years. And the reaction they are likely to provoke is the reason Rhin came with us.

'They are my guests here. Any unrest will end with heads on spikes.' She said that loud enough for the whole courtyard to hear.

That should be enough. Rhin's presence in the fortress, combined with her commands, should be enough to keep my people safe.

'Eisa, you lead the kin,' Uthas said. 'Eat, drink, rest with our friends. And be courteous.' He held her gaze and raised an eyebrow. 'Salach, you will stay with me.'

'And now I will defer to you, Uthas,' said Rhin. 'Let us go in search of your Treasure.'

Uthas led Rhin and Salach through the streets of Dun Carreg, a sense of wonder filling him. He gazed about at the wide flagstoned roads, the stone buildings looming over them, and remembered when his kin had gazed back at him from shuttered windows and bairns ran laughing in the streets.

Soon they pa.s.sed around the keep and into a wide courtyard, a pool with fountain and steps dominating the square. Then, further on, down the steps into the tunnel that led to the great well. It was all exactly as he remembered, even the damp smell, the drip of water, the echo as they entered the circular room with the wide hole that sank deep into the bowels of the cliff that Dun Carreg was built upon.

Uthas nodded to Salach, and he squatted beside the well-shaft, reaching down along the rough stone. He nodded as he found what he was looking for, then there was a click, a hiss and the outline of a door appeared on the wall to the left of them.

Rhin nodded approvingly and the three of them walked through.

'Lasair,' Uthas commanded, and the torch of rushes in his hand sparked into flame. He led them on into the tunnels beneath Dun Carreg, excitement coursing through his veins.

Nemain's necklace, one of the Seven Treasures.