The Doomfarers of Coramonde - Brian Daley, ebook, CALIBRE SFF 1970s, Temp 2
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ForFred, Jim* Judy�andanyone else with the breadth ofspirit to embrace dreamsA Del Key BookPublished by Ballantine BooksCopyright � 1977 by Brian DaleyAll rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada, Limited, Toronto, Canada.Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 76-30343ISBN 0-345-30972-3Manufactured in the United States of AmericaFirst Edition: March 1977 Fifth Printing: August 1982First Canadian Printing: April 1977Map by Robert C. Giordano Cover art by Darrell K. SweetTOf Deaths, Of DepartureChapter OneMan is soul and body, formed for deeds of highresolve.SHELLEY, Queen Mab, iv"EARTHFAST," that place was called, aspiring skyward from roots of caverned bedrock. There was nothing that a palace demanded that it didn't boast, and no feature it lacked that was required in a fortress. From it, the sovereigns of Coramonde ruled.Earthfast's formal gardens were extensive and elaborate, and so it took Queen Fania's personal guardsmen some time to find Prince Springbuck as he brooded near an orchid bower on an out-of-the-way path. He passed his time resisting despair, for he now lived under a death sentence of sorts.Not particularly noteworthy to see, he was slightly under average height; at nineteen, he hadn't yet come into his full growth. He was an open-faced young man with straight, dark hair, some of his late mother's swarthlness of skin, and eyes a light brown like that of his dead father Surehand. He kept his sparse facial hair self-consciously clean shaven and had no scar or other feature, as yet, to set him apart in a crowd.Sollerets rang across marble and two soldiers, a captain and a ranker wearing gilt corselets of the Household, came to him there. The Prince resigned himself to a mandate to appear in his stepmother's Court,There was a modest bow and a barely concealed command to accompany them. He did so with a sinking feeling, and some true premonition told him that blood would soon be let. That this was to happen was no fault of the Prince's, though it stood as high probability that the blood in question would be his own.4 THE DOOMFARERS OF CORAMONDEWhen Springbuck's father, Surehand, had died, he'd made no clear provision as to his chosen heir�who should, by custom, have been Springbuck. The old Suzerain's second wife meant to see her son on the throne and had garnered a good deal of support. There'd been dispute, argument and, in the end, a decision that the matter must be settled in combat.Events had coalesced in such short order that Springbuck, a good-natured unaggressive young man, found himself under a tacit house arrest, slated to measure swords with his half brother Strongblade. It was disheartening enough that the ferocious Strongblade, at seventeen, was the bigger of the two and more accomplished in arms. But Springbuck was not so naive as to think that his stepmother and her adherents would leave this critical issue to chance. After all, the writ of the Protector Suzerain of Coramonde ran for the entire eastern half of the Crescent Lands, that tremendous sweep of lands which arcs around the Central Sea.Even Springbuck's last-ditch offer to abjure his royal heritage without trial was rebuffed with a cold reminder that it was his duty to put the affair squarely hi the laps of the gods.Just as they'd said at Court, Springbuck was not the fighter his father had been. Surehand, a stubborn man with a quick temper, had been aware of his own shortcomings and had tried to school them out of his firstborn son. "Think first," he would tell worshipful Springbuck, "and don't let your hand be hasty to move. Have I not told you that haste is the thing that has caused me more regret than any other? Pause, reflect and weigh your options."In the end, some impulse of self-preservation or awakening of the mettle of his ancestors had moved the Prince to plan escape to preserve his life. But he was unprepared for the events of this evening.He attempted to maintain his dignity as he strode through the great doors�stalwart things of hard ebony bound up in iron and studded with thick rivets�and into the brightness of Court, so familiar in hours spentOj Deaths, Of Departure 5at his father's side, and now seemingly the camp of the enemy.Lanterns cleverly wrought in brass and blown glass lit the spacious, tapestried room and filled it with their sweet scent. The windowless walls were hung with the banners of various legions and houses. Over the dais hung the royal standard, a snarling tiger, scarlet on black, and beneath it the personal ensigns of Springbuck, his stepmother Fania and his half brother Strong-blade�a stag's head, dolphin and bear, respectively.The^ throne was vacant; across its arms rested Flare-core, the greatsword reserved for the ruler of Coramonde�the Ku-Mor-Mai, as the Protector Suzerain was called in the Old Tongue. Springbuck's stepmother held Court seated in an ornate chair at the foot of the dais; she wanted no accusations that she was disrespectful of her late husband's memory or custom. She wore a robe of imperial white which contrasted well with her thick, raven's wing hair.Because Earthfast was the best fortified place in Coramonde there were only eleven men-at-arms hi the throne room itself. Eight archers watched, weapons at ready, from ledges above the milling courtiers, four at either side of the room. They wore brown leathers, had quivers of barbed arrows at then: shoulders and were now sworn to Fania by secret oaths.On the dais itself, behind the Queen, were three fighting slaves, family heirlooms after a fashion, yielded to Springbuck's grandfather by a conciliatory king after the epic battle at Skystem Crag. They were not members of the race of men, and many called them ogres. Bigger than humans, coarse and mighty as oaks, they were dressed cap-a-pie in plate armor thicker than any man might wear.Springbuck heard muted laughter and murmurings from the throng as his entrance drew attention. The lush smells of their mingling perfumes and oils came to him, and the dainty scuffing of slippers and stirrings of extravagant clothing. The Court had, beforetimes, been composed of wise advisers, faithful deputies and stern fighting men. Under Fania it consisted of carpet knights6 THE DOOMFARERS OF CORAMONDEand dissipaters; Surehand's old confidants didn't come often or stay for long.He realized that, aside from the titterings, there was an unaccustomed silence in the chamber, then spied the figure�difficult to discern, since his vision was somewhat weak at a distance�of the famous and formidable Duke Rolph Hightower.The Prince's entrance must have interrupted an exchange. With the note of one resuming a train of thought, the Queen said, "And here now is our stepson, come at his own good time from sulking alone in our gardens." Her voice was rich, vibrant, but always cold and closed to Springbuck, however, much he'd tried to ingratiate himself to her. Still flanked by the two guardsmen, he forebore to reply; Fania was as expert at these skirmishes as his instructor in arms, Eiiatim, was with the sword"He cringes from meeting Strongblade in combat,'* she persisted, "and would like to think up a way to avoid battle, but take the throne of the Ku-Mor-Mai nevertheless. But he will not! Not while my son and I live."At this the Prince struggled to master his anger, refusing to be drawn into another contest of words with Fania. But the powerful voice of Duke Hightower rose then, with an edge to it to prove that he and the Queen had already had their differences that night."Who would not, facing a death under these circumstances?" he countered. "I'm very sure that Your Grace means what she says, that you mean for Strongblade to rule, but any man with sense in his head and a bit of spine might question the truth of your motives and the legality of this pending duel."Springbuck studied the Duke, who stood defiant and alone in the exact center of the wide floor. Not Springbuck's friend particularly, he had still been a staunch ally and supporter of the Prince's father, though rarely a visitor to Court. He was even more conspicuous than usual in these surroundings, tall and broad-shouldered, contrasting the gleaming finery of the courtiers with plain, service-worn traveler's attire of gray. He bore an unadorned broadsword at his side and a cap held sol-Of Deaths, Of Departure 7dierly in the crook of his left arm. Greaved legs widespread, he set his right fist on his hip and glared at Fania without deference. The lantern jaw was set, the high forehead creased by beetling brows and beneath the flaring mustachios the Duke's mouth was drawn into something dangerously resembling a snee'r of contempt, displaying large horse-teeth."Legality," Fania said, rolling the word off her tongue with a kind of languorous menace. "The Duke implies that I'm committing some crime? Hightower, who comes so seldom to our councils, would now countermand me? Too long has his insolence gone unchecked, I think."The Duke's voice was brittle with rage. "Insolence? Insolence?" He slammed his chest with a battered, vein-mapped fist. "/ am Coramonde's bastion in the East; from the shadows of Spearcrest to the foot of the Keel of Heaven I am the arm and eyes of Coramonde! How many times has my family defended our stone donjon with our lives at risk? Do you even know, you who were born in another country? I have paid my homage, aye, and paid again. Who questions Hightower's right to say his say at Earthfast?"Fania couldn't speak to this, nonplussed in the face of truth so furiously set forth. But an inhumanly calm voice spoke next, one that had always sent fear shooting through every inch of Springbuck's being. He didn't have to turn or squi...
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