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Caravan
Kahanne Arlyne Corbonne dozed lightly in her carriage as she traveled from Murky Lake to the border crossing at Gossamyr. She had attended the previous Kahanne on his tour through the Hansic Alliance and the western provinces of the Federated States, so she was used to long, overland travel. Yet despite her previous experiences, Arlyne found this trip especially trying. Feeling the need for fresh air, she opened a window and poked her head out. As she did so, she heard a raucous cheer from the trailing Khadashites. With a sigh, Arlyne summoned one of the Guardians of Assize, her personal sentries. He bowed his head toward her as he kept pace with the carriage’s movement.
“How long until we reach the border?” asked Arlyne.
“We should arrive within the hour, Holy One.”
Arlyne surveyed the landscape. It boasted no remarkable features — there were flat wheat fields everywhere she looked. Perhaps it was no wonder that the inhabitants developed an eccentric lifestyle. They had to make up for an otherwise dull country.
She returned her attention to the guard who was still marching with his eyes to the ground. “Very well. You may resume your duty.”
“Thank you, Holy One.”
Arlyne retreated inside the carriage and the sentry stepped back into the defensive line the Guardians of Assize had formed around the Kahanne’s vehicle.
One hour, she mused. One more hour.
She found herself thinking about her truncated visit to this country. She had never been forced to cancel an engagement until now, but the vision from the Dark Champion a month ago had caused her to do so. The bouncing carriage lolled her back to sleep again.
*
The carriage halted, snapping the Kahanne awake. She looked out through a side window and saw a dark stone wall stretching across the horizon. Ahead of her was a large, heavily patrolled gate. It was a bright day, though the ground was damp from a recent shower. A cool easterly breeze was blowing. Arlyne could hardly believe that a whole hour had passed. They had reached the border to the Republic of Ghault.
There were six high clerical carriages ahead of hers and six following behind, not to mention the sizable company of attendants and Guardians. Arlyne estimated that it would take hours to process so many papers, yet somehow they managed to move more quickly than she expected. The Ghaultian border patrol must have been alerted to their arrival. Even so, it was still forty-five minutes before Arlyne’s own carriage made it to the gate. Soon there was a polite rap on the window next to her. She opened it and found herself staring at a border sentry who was averting his gaze. He had a short crop of brown hair, a thin neck and a gaunt face with a goatee and mustache. A tight navy blue uniform showed through his black leather armor. His headgear was tucked carefully under his left arm to avoid ruffling a short red plume. Judging by the pips on his collar, he was the regimental commander from the Ghaultian border town of Neufort.
He took three steps back and bowed. He was obviously terrified. “I beg your forgiveness, Holy One, but I’m bound by His Grace’s regulations to inspect all incoming vehicles.”
Arlyne paused for several moments before responding. Could this man be serious? “Do you know who I am?” she demanded.
Only a handful of people in the world were granted the honor of being spoken to by the Kahanne of Assize, but no one had ever offended her. The commander sank to his knees. “Please, forgive me, Holy One, but I have no choice! The command comes from the Padishah’s own office!”
She didn’t really have a choice. Not even the Kahanne of Assize was above Ghaultian law. Besides, if this officer disobeyed his orders, he would most certainly be dishonorably discharged or even imprisoned, and they would simply find someone else to do the job.
“You may conduct your search,” she growled.
With his eyes still averted, the commander got to his feet, approached her carriage and opened her door personally. She stepped out and glanced around. They had stopped right in front of the gate’s huge wooden doors, which were opened wide. The wall itself was two stories high and was well patrolled. It featured a wide walkway with high crenellations. Additional archers had been positioned along both sides of the gatehouse to watch the mass of pilgrims who were being forcibly held back by a line of spearmen. Two squads of Praetorians were also present to make sure that the spearmen didn’t get overzealous in their efforts to keep the Khadashites at bay. The gatehouse itself was two meters higher than the wall. This defense ran the length of Ghault’s boundaries with Khadash and the Federate — a total of more than fifteen hundred kilometers. Its ten-year construction had nearly bankrupted the country.
Arlyne looked ahead and watched as members of her entourage were searched one at a time by sentries wearing the same navy blue uniforms. After a few minutes, the commander emerged from her carriage. He still kept his eyes averted and his head bowed.
“Holy One, again I beg forgiveness for this intrusion. You may pass.”
Arlyne strode regally back to her vehicle. “May the Spirits bestow fortune upon you,” she intoned.
“Thank you, Holy One.”
She entered, shut the door and sat down heavily. She found these border crossings very trying. She would have to bring the issue up again with the Padishah’s officials. What kind of contraband would servants of the Forum be smuggling into the Republic of Ghault? Did the office of Kahanne mean nothing? This was the Padishah’s way of reminding the Kahanne to keep her place, though she suspected that there was something personal in this, too. She shook her head sadly. She had been away from the royal court ever since her induction as a full cleric of Rasqu’il. How long ago was that? Twenty years? Twenty-five? Yet, despite her isolation from courtly life, she felt uneasy about the political future of her country. Unsettling rumors crisscrossed the land, rumors that had even made their way into the halls of the Temple of Assize. Could it be true that two of the dukes were building a private army? Could the stories of breakthroughs in armament technology be valid? And all this at a time when the Champion of Chaos had announced its presence to the world. She wasn’t sure of anything any more.
Her carriage pulled away and her eyes strayed to the window next to her. As she passed beneath the gatehouse, she noticed one of her attendants being led to a door inside the wall by a soldier with a district crest on her shoulder. Arlyne noted that it was the attendant whom she had pointed out to Chancellor Hanser as being an agent for one of Ghault’s covert intelligence networks. Feeling drained, Arlyne sat back in her seat, wondering what he was reporting about.
Stay tuned for the next chapter…
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