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Vaelin watched hiher he cli on the trunk of a great tree He never faltered, never slipped Satisfied he wasn’t actually going to fall Vaelin turned to the brothers and soldiers crouched in the darkness about him They were a mixture of Nortah’s best archers and brothers froainst the nu the usurper but any i uphill road to the keep’s gate, Brother Makril had the coe with Prince Malcius when the gate was opened Caenis would folloith the ainst leading the assault on the gate, Caenis stating flatly that his place ith the men
“I was sent for the usurper,” Vaelin replied “I intend to get him, alive if possible Besides, I’d like the chance to talk to his to say”
“You mean you want to test his sword,” Makril said “His Lordship’s tales ood as you”
Is that it? Vaelin wondered In truth he felt no hunger forsteel with the True-blade In fact he harboured no doubts that he could defeat the man when he found him But he did want to confront him, hear his voice Lord Mustor’s story had indeedthe work of his god, like the Cumbraelin he had watched die in the Martishe What drives theod? But there was soh Keep, the blood-song It was faint at first, but grew in power as night fell It was not a note of warning exactly, ency, a need to discover aited inside
He beckoned Nortah and Dentos closer, his whispered wordsthe air in the darkthe battlements Kill the sentries and cover the courtyard Dentos, take the brothers to the gatehouse, get the gate raised and hold it until the regiment arrives”
“And you brother?” Nortah asked with a raised eyebrow
“I have business in the keep” He glanced up at Gallis’s shrinking form “Nortah, tell your men not to scream if they fall The Departed won’t accept a coward into the Beyond Luck to you, brothers”
He was first to follow Gallis up the rope, the wind a howling, unseento tear hi with the effort and his hands gripped the rope with ice nuers by the time he came upon Gallis The one-time thief was perched just below the lip of the battles braced against he wall Vaelin could only th itGallis nodded as Vaelin dragged hied on the battle lost to the wind Vaelin took a one handed grip on the grapple and flexed the fingers of his right hand to regain solance
“One,” Gallishis head at the battlelance over the wall The guard was a few yards away, huddled in his cloak in the shelter of a suttered in the wind above his head, scattering sparks into the black void The sentry’s spear and boere propped against the wall as he rubbed his hands vigorously, breath stea in the air Vaelin reached over his shoulder to draw his sword, breathed deeply then hauled hile fluid uard calling out the alarm but was surprised himself when thein shocked immobility as the star-silver blade took him in the throat
Vaelin lowered the body to the rampart floor and beckoned Gallis over the wall “Here,” he whispered, stripping the blood-sodden cloak fro it to the climber “Put this on and walk around a bit Try to look Cuuards talk to you, kill the from the cloak but pulled it about his shoulders without co the hood over his head so his face was concealed in shadow He strolled slowly out of the shelter of the s his hands beneath his cloak, giving every i a wall on a cold night
Vaelin ed hard on the rope, once then twice It took an age before Nortah’s head appeared above the wall and even longer before theover the battle slowly to the floor, the tremble in his hands not only a syhts
Vaelin did a head count, grunting in satisfaction that there had been no fallers “No ti him to his feet “You knohat to do Keep it as quiet as you can”
The two parties separated to pursue theirthe battle the brothers in the opposite direction towards the gate house Soon there cas as Nortah’s men dealt with the sentries There were a few stifled shouts of alar clamour from the keep Vaelin found the steps to the courtyard and hurried doards Lord Mustor’s description of the keep had been vague, the man’s memory for detail was so: his brother would be in the Lord’s Chah Keep which could be reached by the door directly opposite the ate