“If the Shadowhawk has no loyal subordinates, who were you fighting until a moment ago?”
“You mean those men hide behind a woman?”
“I believe there are women in your army too. Is today their day off?”
Of course there were. But in Binias’s mind, a woman in a dress and a female soldier had nothing in common. It was also true that spelling out every detail would have been tiresome.
“Very well. Listen. At first, the general had no intention of punishing you. He meant only to punish the Shadowhawk. But the Shadowhawk refused his proposal. That is why you have been punished.”
“I don’t understand what you mean. The Shadowhawk had already gone before you arrived. He doesn’t even know his house is ruined. He must be having dinner somewhere.”
“Do you mean to say he has not hidden himself in fear of the general?”
Rosa looked amused.
“Surely you don’t think he knew and still went away? Certainly not. The Shadowhawk wouldn’t be so inconsiderate. If he’d known you were coming, he would have waited, if only to give you a neat little trim above the shoulders.”
She had intended the mockery. Though they were surrounded and had lost their nerve, she wanted to show that the Shadowhawk’s men still had the composure to ridicule their opponents. Binias looked puzzled, then, the moment he understood what a “trim above the shoulders” meant, lost his temper and shouted.
“The general intended mercifully to forgive you at this point! Must every last one of you lose your head before you come to your senses?”
“Forgive us?”
Rosa’s smile vanished, and her slanting posture straightened.
“Before you talk of forgiveness, why don’t you explain what your great general meant to do by kidnapping my sweet little sister? Where I come from in the north, people who do that aren’t fit to be called men. Is it different when someone’s a general? Yes, I was the one who asked the Shadowhawk’s twin swords to rescue her. Do you think I don’t know you’ve started this fight to kill us both and bury your filthy crime? You thought that if you dressed it up as a grand siege, no one would know? You wanted to say you were fighting the Shadowhawk. So you attacked while he was away. Had he been here in the first place, you wouldn’t have stood a chance. Aren’t you afraid even now that the Shadowhawk might return?”
Bewilderment spread across Binias’s face. The patrolmen inside were startled too, looking at one another as though asking, “Was that what happened?” Gayar blinked in confusion and glanced at Hanbun, who shook his head. Never careless about anything, Hanbun usually kept close track of Gene’s daily life, movements, and the rumors surrounding him. Famous though Gene might be as the Shadowhawk, and however capable he was of protecting himself, Delphinad was still foreign ground. Hanbun had a duty to protect him. From what Hanbun had learned, General Nikephoros truly had been trying to do something to Gene. He did not believe Gene had been drawn in solely because the general was after Rosa and her sister.
But even Hanbun had not discovered why the general had kidnapped Nana.
And naturally, Rosa too had said things on impulse. It was true that the general, or his men, had kidnapped Nana. If he really was among those pursuing the sisters, she had merely smeared him with a particularly filthy accusation to provoke him into revealing himself. In the process, she had praised Gene so lavishly that she felt a little embarrassed, but he was not here, so she could gloss over that.
Driven into a corner, Binias raised his voice.
“Enough of your shameless lies! The general punishes only the guilty! The Shadowhawk is no match for him!”
“Really? If you’re not afraid, wait until the Shadowhawk comes. He’ll be here the morning after tomorrow, so it won’t be long. Surely you can’t boast you’ve defeated a hawk after trampling the empty nest while the hawk is away? If you’re confident you can face him, why are you smashing his nest? No one will agree you’ve caught the hawk merely because you broke its nest.”
Several patrolmen applauded, clearly gratified. Scattered applause sounded among the spectators too. Binias, on the other hand, was speechless. Then someone among the soldiers spoke.
“The beast howled.”
The voice carried strangely well. Rosa’s brow twitched. Who was it?
“But it was feeble. What can a so-called great sword that struggles with such a little power be, except a stick of wood?”
Rosa flared up and shouted.
“You seem to know very little. Do you think the likes of you could even imagine it?”
Inside and outside Hawk House, countless people stared wide-eyed, unable to understand the exchange. Hal nudged Neups.
“Anyway, the captain rescued Nana then, didn’t he? That’s why she and the young lady came here.”
Hal and Neups had been guarding the front entrance on the day Rosa first arrived. Neups answered, “Granted, but why is General Nikephoros after those two?”
“How should I know? What’s the manure about, and what beast?”
“How should I know?”
They stared at each other, equally baffled. Then Hal pulled Neups close and whispered, “But one thing’s certain. Those men don’t know what’s going on any more than we do. Look at their faces.”
He was right, except for one man. Among the soldiers, Rosa saw a hooded figure raise both hands. Instantly, she tensed and clenched her fist. To outward appearances, nothing happened. Soldiers and patrolmen alike heard only the night breeze crossing the darkened square.
But Rosa heard a voice inside her head.
Welcome the king, descendants of the sacrifices.
Then an invisible hand gripped and dragged her. Rosa planted her feet, clenched her teeth, and recited an incantation.
“Moel siork miun, daoni husenor.”
Her body shook, but the spell barely held her in place. Then another power seeped through the opening. A malevolent wave swept over her, making what she had resisted before seem no more than bait. A voice began sounding in her head, then became an ominous whisper clinging to her ears. The same words rang again and again. Welcome the king, welcome the king, welcome the king. Once she grew used to those words, their content changed. Remember the glory of the poem, remember the glory of the poem, remember the glory of the poem.
Then she felt a new power at her back. It was fury. The instant she realized it belonged to Nana, a surge of tension made the whispers blur. Rosa shouted, “Get out!”
The voice broke off. She staggered, her vision reeling until everything before her was in confusion. When she finally recovered, the hooded man had already disappeared among the soldiers. Someone behind her took her arm. She turned. It was Terry.
“Um, you looked as though you were struggling. Are you all right?”
This time she had not the strength to shake him off. Straightening with his help, she looked at Binias.
“Then shall we wait together for the Shadowhawk? I’ll trust your good faith and leave the door open.”
The door could not have been closed anyway. Rosa went inside before he could answer. Lost for words, Binias glared at the spot where she had stood. Of course, he need not do as she said. Yet it was questionable whether shooting an arrow into the back of a woman in a dress before the Shadowhawk even arrived would carry the slightest honor. Meanwhile, Neups poked his head out in her place and called out to finish matters.
“Hey, Adjutant Binias. The young lady’s suddenly feeling unwell. Is it because your face makes her sick? Anyway, you’ve nothing more to say, have you? Why don’t you light a campfire there until the captain returns? It’s just the spot for one…”
He immediately darted back inside and hid behind the wall, grumbling, “Draw a bow the second I make a little joke? One more word and they’d kill me.”
Hal looked at him in disbelief.
“What do you think they’ve been doing to us until just now?”
Binias returned among his soldiers, but there was no sign that the attack would resume. The patrolmen exchanged light arguments about whether the fighting had ended like this or they were merely going to wait for Gene. With darkness, it became harder to see the movement outside. Nor could they climb high to look out, since the second floor had been destroyed. Except for the one man everyone had forgotten.
“Oh! There he is!”
The patrolmen started and looked up. Terry tilted his head.
“Who was up there?”
Just then, screams erupted outside, from more than one or two men. Loud footsteps followed. They heard people running in every direction, then even approaching. As men rushed toward the entrance, the patrolmen began to murmur.
Discover more from Lilly Translations
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.