CHAPTER TEN

THE PROMISE

Sigmar's arrival in the capital was the occasion for great festivities. The mob turned out to hail him, aware, perhaps, that here was a ruler who would make them proud of being Sairians. On the council's behalf Garapu offered him the crown, and the other counsellors could not wait, it seemed, to swear oaths of loyalty.
When Sigmar asked Garapu how Egmar had died he was told that a broken heart had deprived him of the will to live. "He never got over the tragic suicide of his queen," he said.
Sigmar had already been told that Shansi had killed herself in a moment of insane grief following the death of Chaldez.
Morvina, meanwhile, had received information that a search party had encountered Pemmel in the Tew valley. She was certain now that the fugitive prince had been on his way to Segga of Istin. At the time of the naming ceremony she had noted the attention being paid by Segga to Shansi, and she was aware that he and Egmar were related. She sent a spy to Istin, and expected to hear from him any day.
One of the people whom Sigmar had brought with him from Laifya was his shrewd and wily scribe by the name of Lam. Lam it was who first told him of the rumours that the official versions accounting for the deaths of Chaldez, Shansi and Egmar were lies.
Sigmar waited until after his coronation, and then sent for Garapu. He told him what he had heard, and that he wanted to know the truth: Garapu was to uncover it, and report back.
The following day Morvina made a point of seeing her son. He was with Lam and Hiera, a counsellor, and the Lord Vanchis, a Laifyan nobleman who had allied himself to Sigmar's cause, and thanks to his defeat was now destitute. Morvina curtly dismissed them, and Sigmar was astonished by the way the elderly Hiera, who had served his father for years, meekly bowed and left. Vanchis and Lam looked to Sigmar for his consent. He nodded and they went too.
Morvina's look of disapproval suggested that she resented their deferment to her son. When they were gone she said: "I am a bit surprised. Surprised and disappointed."
Sigmar smiled innocently.
"You have been given a full account of the events here that led up to my rescuing you from ignominy, but it seems you are not satisfied?"
"I am more than satisfied," said Sigmar. "But I have heard rumours . . . "
"Rumours!" cried his mother. "There are always rumours. Take no notice of rumours."
" You have heard them?"
"Indeed I have! I have even heard that Chaldez is not dead! I saw his corpse with my own eyes! Am I supposed not to know my own grandchild?"
"Not your grandchild, mother."
"If you want to be pedantic, no, not my grandchild. But did I not know him as well as if he had been? Did I not visit him every day? Did I not dandle him on my knee?"
Sigmar let the matter rest. After she had gone he summoned Garapu again. He began by thanking him for his loyalty. Garapu was modest; he protested that it was his privilege to serve such a king as Sigmar; how could he be anything but loyal?
"I wasn't thanking you for your loyalty to me," cut in Sigmar, "but to my mother. You have served her well, but now that I am in Felewith you may consider yourself absolved from the obligation you undertook after my father's death - your promise to defend my mother's interests."
He paused, then went on: "The counsellors who served my father and my brother won't do for me. You understand that? But you, Garapu, I am undecided about. I wonder if it would be to the advantage of the crown to have both you and your son Saminad serving it as counsellors - or should I let you retire to your estates?"
He studied Garapu's face for a reaction, and Garapu was betraying his anxiety. He knew what a great distinction - perhaps a unique one - was being held out, and he was aware of the influence, power and wealth that would accrue to the family as a result of it. Huskily he said: "You may count on my loyalty, Sire."
"Good!" exclaimed Sigmar. "In that case you will tell me, now, about the circumstances surrounding the deaths of Egmar, his wife and their son."
Garapu, uneasily at first, but gaining confidence and fluency as he proceeded, told Sigmar all he knew, including the fact that Chaldez had probably been taken, in the first place anyway, to Segga of Istin.
Sigmar did not immediately make use of this information; uppermost in his mind was the task of removing from his council the elderly noblemen, with the exception of Garapu, who had put his father on the throne, and supported his mother's interests when she was widowed. Their places were to be taken by the young men who had shared his Laifyan adventure with him, and whom he now wished to reward for their loyalty. If he could also present them with estates of their own in his new kingdom their continuing loyalty might be assured. He therefore began to make a series of impossible demands upon the older generation of noblemen so that a number of them were eventually driven to complaining about him, at first, and then to conspiring against him. Because it was precisely what he had expected they were easily exposed. The ringleaders were executed, and their supporters banished. Their estates Sigmar gave to his friends.
Morvina was furious and accused him of murdering his father's most loyal friends. He listened for a while, and then he roared "Silence!" at the top of his voice.
Startled, and a little bit frightened, Morvina was silenced, and when he next spoke it was very softly: "Murderer?" he said. "I am no murderer; but you, mother, have made me a usurper. You gave me a crown that was not mine to take, and in doing so condemned me to spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder for the rightful heir. I speak of Chaldez, a year old by now, and with every year that passes a more potent threat to my life and my position."
Morvina's eyes filled with tears.
Sigmar said: "I cannot spend my life guarding my back; there is too much else to be done. Few people in this kingdom realise it yet, but a great power is gathering in the west, a storm cloud that will break over us and carry us into oblivion. Our little cares, our petty schemes will count for nothing then. I speak of war-like and terrible barbarians who are even now overwhelming the Laifyans. They thought I was their enemy, but in truth I was their salvation for I would have united them and made them strong. Without me, Laifya is no longer a bulwark between the peoples of Sair and their destroyers. My destiny is to make Sair mighty enough to throw back the barbarian hordes, as once it threw back the oppressors of the Sei Empire. The petty rulers of Sair Jy-Din will acknowledge the king of Sair Jisenner as their paramount lord; I will see to it! This kingdom will be as great and powerful as it ever was under Bedekka, or it will be wiped from the face of the earth." Sigmar paused; he was not accustomed to making speeches, and he wished to observe the effect this one was having upon his mother.
She was gazing at him with something like awe.
He went on; "How can I do the great things that are demanded of me if I must spend time and energy hunting for a mere child? Yet find him I must."
Morvina touched her son's arm. "He is as good as found," she said. "Every day I get closer - do you think my people have not been searching for him night and day? This is my responsibility; I beg you, allow me to discharge it."
Sigmar looked at her doubtfully. "You have the means?"
"Of course. If Chaldez is alive, I will find him. You need not be troubled by thoughts of him. His existence, my son, is over."