In the Ruins (Crown of Stars #6)

In the Ruins (Crown of Stars #6) Page 219

A man strode at the front rank whose proud, arrogant features reminded Anna forcibly of Prince Sanglant, although he had a cold gaze that made her nervous. He surveyed the humans in the same manner that a handsome cat examines a nest of helpless baby mice it has just uncovered.

Yet even he could not match the woman who led them. She was short, sturdy without being either fat or slender: sleek and well fed, a leopard stalking in lush hunting grounds. Her hair was lighter than that of her kinfolk although her complexion was the same: bronzed, almost gleaming. She wore a startling cloak sewn entirely of brilliant feathers. A pair of young people behind her carried a huge golden wheel trimmed with bright green feathers. It was this wheel Anna had seen whirling and flashing in the trees. The richness of its gold stunned Anna. Indeed, every one of the folk facing them wore gold necklaces and gold-beaded armbands and wristlets and anklets and thin gold plates shaped to cover the breastbone, as rich as noble princes arrayed for a court feast. Yet their dress was that of barbarians, plain linen kirtles cut above the knee, feathered and beaded guards on arms and legs. Some of the men, like the old one, wore little more than a white breech-clout, the kind such as farmers and fishermen donned in the heat of the summer while out working in marshland and mud. All wore short capes.

There was silence as the foreigners came to a halt on the other side of the rock corral and the two groups examined each other. Hugh moved first, tugging Blessing forward.

“I seek the one known as Uapeani-kazonkansi-a-lari. This is her granddaughter.”

The fox-masked woman barked words Anna could not understand. Half the company laughed. The old man frowned. The woman in the feathered cloak raised a hand to silence them, but she appeared neither pleased nor offended.

Still, no one replied, so Hugh went on.

“This is the child of Prince Sanglant, your kinsman. I am called Hugh, born of Austra, named lord and presbyter by the right of my noble lineage and God’s blessing. I claim right of speech with your leader.”

“I speak,” said the one wearing the feathered cloak. She spoke in comprehensible Wendish, tinged with a Salian flavor. “Few among humankind know the name of Uapeani-kazonkansi-a-lari. So I told the scouts, who came to me and reported that a group of warriors led by a man with hair the color of sun had come to our border and asked to speak to the woman who chose that name. The priests wish to see you all brought at once for sacrifice. But I said differently. I told them, better to hear what the one with hair the color of sun has to say and kill him after, than to kill him first and never hear his words.”

“Indeed,” agreed Hugh affably. “It is foolish to throw away perfectly good knowledge out of spite.”

She flicked her palm in a dismissive gesture. “Say what you have come to say.”

“I speak to the mother of Prince Sanglant.” It wasn’t a question.

Now Anna saw the resemblance not so much in features as in the way a smile creased that woman’s face. The prince’s smile bore more honest amusement—her smile was cold—but nevertheless the expression was the same.

Hugh nodded, as if in acknowledgment of that smile. “I am come here to offer you an alliance, Uapeani-kazonkansi-a-lari.”

That startled them!

They broke out talking between themselves, commenting and arguing, but when she raised the back of her hand to them they quieted.

“How do you know that name?” she asked, her tone more like a threat than curiosity. “Did my son tell you?”

“No. A man became known to me who had knowledge of you, whom he called Kansi-a-lari. He was called Zacharias.”

This smile was softer and more genuine. “The-One-Who-Is-More-Clever-Than-He-Looks. Still, your pronunciation is almost as good as his. Where is he now?”

“He is dead, caught within the spell on the night the Crown of Stars crowned the heavens. On the night your people and this land returned to Earth.”

“Perhaps not as clever as I thought, then,” she remarked in a careless way.

Dead! This was the first news Anna had heard of Brother Zacharias since he had fled the prince’s retinue at Sordaia. So he was a traitor! He had fled directly to Lord Hugh. Her heart burned with anger, and she was glad—glad—that he was dead. He deserved it for betraying them!

“Clever enough,” said Hugh with a wry smile.

“Why will you, our enemy, offer us an alliance?”

“In what way am I your enemy?” he asked amiably. “The war you speak of took place so long ago it has passed out of human memory. I know nothing of the exiles. I am not at war with you. Nor are any of my people.”