Page 46 of Witchcraft and Fury (Chronicles of the Divided Isle #1)

RIVERHAWK

Welcome, gentlefolk, to Riverhawk, unless you be one of these three abominations:

A fire-breathing dragon

A fearsome woman wielding magic and devilry

A harlot with the clap

(Door plaque, travellers’ temple, Riverhawk)

The following weeks were the happiest of Solar’s life.

She and the other trainees had grown into a group that was unrecognisable from the bickering class they had been just six months before, and, to Solar’s complete surprise, they arrived in Riverhawk as heroes.

The people of the city lived for tales of the famous wizards that ranged the lands, rescuing ordinary folk and fair ladies alike from the clutches of monsters.

Loveday, with his striking good looks, winning smile and flowing, golden hair, was a firm favourite of the crowds.

When they rode through the city gate, the guards announced their arrival with silver trumpets and formed up an honour guard to escort them to the royal palace.

Their armour shone, their spears were lifted joyously to the sky and their blue cloaks flowed in the wind.

Crowds flocked to line the streets at the sound of the fanfare, clapping and cheering uproariously.

More than a few young women and teenage girls called for Loveday or Cal to take their hand in marriage, or join them for rather more hot-blooded, short-lived dalliances.

Amongst this clamour Solar even heard the names of the trainees, including her own, called out.

‘They don’t care that I’m a witch,’ she murmured wonderingly.

‘How do they know our names?’ Bear asked Loveday, shouting to make himself heard.

‘I send reports to Kenric Storrbury after each field mission, using mind roosting, just as the other rovers of the land do,’ Loveday called back over his shoulder, a handsome grin on his face.

He seemed to be loving the attention. ‘The king then has his servants read out our adventures in public squares across the city. Sometimes troupes of actors even put on plays about us.’

‘Why would the king do that?’ asked Solar.

‘Entertainment is his way of keeping the people happy – that and the free bread distributed each day. This is a city of two hundred thousand people. With their support, his rule of the south of the Divided Isle is reasonably secure; without it, he is no king at all. We are the heroes of the hour, Solar, and trust me, the adoration of the masses never gets old.’ He raised a hand and waved to the crowds, bestowing on them a dazzling smile.

They roared their veneration in response.

The avenue they took through the mountain-cradled city followed the River Sildu on its snaking journey, the water glittering under an ever-cloudless sky.

The mountain air, cold, crisp and clean, invigorated them.

Solar was grateful for the crowds that slowed their progress to the palace, for it gave her time to gape at each spectacular view that unfolded as they rounded a bend.

The valley was narrow, so that the city nestled within was stretched long and thin, hugged by mountains, with each and every building crowding round the river and set against a magnificent backdrop of temple-studded peaks.

The royal palace eventually came into view.

It was built of white brick and stood on the flat summit of an enormous rock, known to the people of Riverhawk simply as ‘The Rock’, its back to the warren of streets behind it.

The palace faced another river that swept from west to east, its waters swelled by the River Sildu, which joined it from the south-west. This river was named the River Vulnus, and formed part of the frontier that cleaved the Divided Isle in two.

Beyond the River Vulnus, the city continued its sprawl between the mountains, but under a different name: Khylfierum, capital of the northern kingdom of Arkundu.

The River Vulnus was the most heavily fortified border in the known world.

Great watchtowers stood on both its banks, crossbows protruding from the windows night and day.

The single bridge in sight had collapsed in the middle, rendering it unusable, and fortresses large enough to house two thousand men stood at either end.

Across the river, another palace – equally splendid to that which Solar now found herself approaching – rested atop a hill. The kings of each realm held their courts at these frontier palaces for the simple reason that they wished to keep an ever-watchful eye on their rival across the river.

When they arrived at the foot of The Rock a great gate of wrought iron blocked their way.

A fussy steward appeared from within the palace complex to greet them.

He ordered the palace guards to open the gate and welcomed them inside, giving a little bow to Loveday.

They followed the steward up a rocky path that curled higher and higher until they came to a second guard point at the summit.

A dozen soldiers stood at either side of a gate set within a monumental wall that enclosed the palace.

The wall was some forty feet high and topped all along by ramparts.

Defensive towers soared above at regular intervals, and two jutted out at either side of the gate at which they now stood.

When they were let through this final defence they came into an enormous courtyard and were rewarded with an unobstructed view of the royal palace.

It stood behind a deep, wide moat, its drawbridge down.

Dozens of towers, turrets and spires rose into the blue sky, and flags fluttered gaily in the wind.

Solar could not count the number of windows dotting the walls.

Loveday went straight to the king in his throne room to pay his respects, whilst Binns and the students were escorted to one of the palace towers. There, the master-at-arms and Solar were each assigned sumptuously decorated chambers, and the boys one to share. Even the imps were given a room.

Solar had never experienced such luxury.

She had a four-poster bed with plump pillows and a wardrobe full of beautiful clothes she doubted she would ever wear, and an adjacent room even had running water.

Double doors opened out onto a spacious balcony with commanding views of the city and, across the River Vulnus, Khylfierum.

It was three weeks until the coronation, and the students used that time to explore the palace and wider city from dawn until dusk.

The palace was a cheerful, bustling place, and the city prosperous.

Solar learned from palace conversation that King Algar had been popular as a prince and was now proving a capable and proactive ruler, although his more radical policies, such as the abolition of the slave trade, were ruffling a few aristocratic feathers.

Solar spent many a happy hour wandering the royal kitchens with Pingot, watching the cooks prepare lavish feasts for the important guests who arrived daily for the coronation.

They sampled as much as they could get away with.

Even so, when they sat down for dinner in a dining room reserved for their exclusive use, Solar still found it within her to tuck into second and third helpings of roasted meats, spiced vegetables, pastries and exotic fruits with abandon.

Loveday and Binns never ate with them. Loveday always seemed to have important dinners with foreign dignitaries to attend, whilst the master-at-arms preferred to tour the city’s alehouses and brothels until sunrise. He stumbled back into the palace each morning bedraggled and outrageously drunk.

When Solar wasn’t in the kitchens she often went hunting with Oswald and Wyman in the surrounding mountains, visited temples with Bear, their arms laden with ripe fruits he wished to offer to various gods, or sparred with the king’s men in the training courtyard.

Cal gave her private tours of the expansive royal art galleries, whenever she could give her friends the slip.

Though he had not visited them before, he recognised most of the painters and the scenes depicted, and he shared their fascinating histories with her.

As interesting as art was, especially with as knowledgeable a guide as Cal, they found each other far more enthralling subjects.

The hours they spent in the galleries consisted of agonisingly long stretches waiting for other visitors to leave the room they were in, Solar unable to do more than exchange knowing glances with Cal or impart a light touch, yearning for the next precious few minutes when they’d find themselves alone, Cal pressing her back against the wall, his hands running up and down her body, her hands in his hair, their mouths locked, eyes closed, breath mingling, tongues dancing, barely remembering and scarcely able to listen out for approaching footsteps.

*

On their fifth day at the palace, Solar was practising archery with Bear in the training courtyard when Cal appeared, with Pingot, Oswald and Wyman hot on his heels.

‘Can I spar against you first?’ Oswald asked him excitedly.

‘Will you let me have a go with it once you’ve beaten Oswald?’ said Pingot.

‘I can’t believe you’ve already carved it; you’re just nineteen!’ moaned Wyman, green with envy.

In Cal’s hands was an ash staff, some six feet long. He was smiling with pride. Solar and Bear dropped their bows and ran over to take a closer look.

‘It’s made of ash!’ gasped Solar. ‘So that means—’

‘—I’ve decided to become a rover, once my training is complete,’ finished Cal for her, grinning self-consciously. ‘I have no head for politics. I won’t stay at court for the rest of my life. It’s the road for me, keeping the king’s peace and protecting the innocent.’

Solar had forgotten that Cal had also earned a pendant – and his fourth at that – for his work in Wolfport. She hadn’t actually seen Loveday give it to him. ‘So you’ll stay at Loveday’s encampment to continue your studies, even though you have your staff?’ she asked him.