The Gathandrian Trilogy 02 - Hallsfoots Battle

has of this one day—the horse ride, the steward, the hidden library—are bound within its strength.
    The emeralds, he thinks, this must be to do with the emeralds.
    Then Gelahn lets go.
    The darkness draws itself together and seeps away. Ralph knows it can’t be real and it’s simply his imagination, but he almost believes he can see it creeping home into Duncan Gelahn’s eyes. Odd how when he’s able to breathe again the day outside is as it should be. The winter sun is shining and there’s a crisp edge to the air in the room.
    Gelahn speaks. “You have found it hard to hold your lands together then.”
    This is not of course a question, but Ralph answers as if it is.
    “The wars with Gathandria have all but destroyed us,” he says, knowing the wars are not the worst of it. “Each battle fought in the mind on our journey there and back has carved out its mirror image in blood and death and grief here. And when our defeat came …”
    The executioner holds up his hand. Fearful of what his enemy might still discover in him, even now, Ralph falls silent. Gelahn leans forward, and the Overlord can see strange grey lights in his eyes.
    “It is not a defeat,” he whispers, but there is no gentleness in his tone. “It is not a defeat when the battle has not yet truly begun. It is a setback only, no more.”
    Ralph cannot help himself. He laughs. “A setback that has torn down so many of our buildings that there is barely an untouched one left, set our fields on fire so our planting is lost and we face starvation, scattered the Lammas people to the lands around us and incited the desire to rebel in those who remain. Forgive me, but, for me, that is far more than a setback . I …”
    Even while he’s speaking, the mind-executioner knocks him to his knees, and Ralph feels the constriction in his throat. Gelahn hasn’t moved. The lack of the mind-cane has not drained his power in personal combat. That much is obvious.
    This time when Gelahn speaks, it is directly to Ralph’s mind, and the Overlord closes his eyes and tries to breathe through the pain.
    Do not insult me again, or what you think of now as disaster will be as nothing compared to what will happen to you and to your people. Do you understand?
    Beyond speech, all Ralph can do is nod. When Gelahn lets go, he turns his back to the Overlord as if he is nothing and strolls over to the window. Ralph clambers to his feet, rubs the soreness at his throat and wishes for wine.
    In the silence, he waits for his conqueror to speak first. He does not trust his voice not to shake. He can still hear Gelahn’s dogs. Outside, thank the gods and stars. Ralph hopes they are harming nobody, but understands that if he makes any more mistakes then deaths will occur.
    What the executioner says is not what Ralph expects.
    “You still have your fighting troops then.”
    Ralph blinks. “Yes. Some of them.”
    Gelahn turns then and fixes him with his gaze. The Overlord is unable to look away.
    “That wasn’t a question, Lord Tregannon,” he says. “I had already gleaned that from your mind. You have always been so open to me. I trust that good wisdom you show will continue, now that we are more in need of each other.”
    Ralph longs to ask how he can possibly need Gelahn when all he has caused is disaster and pain. He expects him to pick up on those thoughts, but the green glow that lurks in the corner of Ralph’s mind is still there and swallows them up. His heart beats faster.
    Gelahn does not react, but simply pauses for a moment and then continues speaking. “Yes, you are in need of me as, without me, your power and command over your people will be nothing. And I …”
    “Yes, Lord Gelahn?”
    “I am in need of you for the men you possess, however few. And most of all for the military skills you have.”
    Ralph laughs and the mind-executioner cocks his head. After a moment or so, when the Overlord is silent, Gelahn inspects his fingernails, waiting for him to speak.
    “I cannot believe that to be true,” Ralph says at last. “You have power enough, even without the mind-cane. You can destroy us all.”
    The mind-executioner’s answer makes Ralph’s thoughts grow as dark as his arrival made the sky outside.
    “That is correct,” he says in a way that makes Ralph shiver. “And, again, you are wise to note it. But this time, Tregannon, the battle will be fought not only in the realm of the mind, but also in the physical realm. This time, the blood