A second week, a third, a fourth passed in the same way. The sleeping water was steadily accumulating, in large pots and small leather bottles. Kulo had made a dozen of the sprayers himself and was now teaching the other three assistants to make them. Soon there would be more than enough for any test.
Blade found himself still getting tired and still losing weight. It was not surprising. Six days of each week he worked eighteen hours a day. On the seventh day he tramped across the hills to couple with Queen Sanaya in her hut. Blade was as tough and indestructible as any human being could be, but he was still human.
The fifth week came, and went by without any invitations from Sanaya. Blade decided that the time was at hand for the test, and sent one of the assistants down the mountains to carry that message. He also sent an escort of six of the mountain hunters with the messenger. There were rumors of scouting parties and raiders from Trawn farther than ever before, with stolofs and even the rare riding meytans. It was unlikely the raiders would push this far, but Blade was taking no chances.
The day after the messenger left, Kulo came running in to announce that three warriors of the king's guard were approaching. Blade washed himself hastily, pulled on some respectable clothes, and went out to greet them.
«Blade,» said the leader. «King Embor approaches. With him are the queen and Princess Neena, also various clan chiefs and their guards.»
«I am greatly honored-«began Blade politely. The leader cut him off with a gesture.
«Hear us. They come to see what you have done with what you have been given, for the greatness of Draad. They must be satisfied that you have done well, or it will go ill with you.»
Blade nodded, but he did not like the leader's words or his tone. Something was badly wrong-he was under suspicion. It was hard to even tell what was wrong. He had given Queen Sanaya no reason that he knew to tell lies. Unless she had, this royal visit made no sense.
Damn! Blade did not like being pitchforked into dangerous situations where he didn't even know which way to look for the danger. There was only one thing to do: try to look in all directions at once.
Chapter 21
The royal party arrived shortly after breakfast the next morning. There were at least a hundred people in it, but Blade had eyes for only four: King Embor, Queen Sanaya, Princess Neena, and the High Kaireen.
Clean and well dressed, Blade advanced down the path toward Embor. Kulo walked behind him and the other three assistants followed Kulo. Blade carried a bottle of the sleeping water, and Kulo carried a sprayer.
King Embor halted the party as Blade approached. Then he motioned for the warriors on the flanks to close in around Blade and his assistants. Blade had the uncomfortable feeling that they were watching for him to make some suspicious move.
The king bore himself with even more dignity than usual, standing so straight that he seemed to tower even over Blade. Queen Sanaya was smiling, but the expression on Neena's face was unmistakable. Anger, suspicion, fear-and jealousy-all fought each other for control. Blade tried to meet her eyes, but she turned her face away from him, until her father noticed what she was doing and glared at her. Slowly Neena looked back toward Blade and stared at him defiantly.
Then the king spoke. «Prince Blade, you have had much time to work upon what you promised to make for us. Have you done what you promised?»
The king's tone was almost completely expressionless, which was more of a surprise to Blade than outright hostility. He decided that whatever was going on here wasn't going to fit into any category.
«That is for you to judge, my Lord King,» he replied. «I have worked hard and done my best. Kulo here has also worked well, and I pray you will see fit to reward him.» Regardless of what happened to himself, Blade was determined to see that Kulo got credit for what he'd done. The young man deserved it.
«I have come to judge your work, Blade,» said the king. The same neutral voice. «What you have done will be properly tested, and soon.» He turned away from Blade and raised his voice to a commanding shout.
«Ho, guards. Forward, to make camp. Then begin the testing arena for Prince Blade.»
What King Embor meant by «the testing arena» was soon obvious. A party of about forty warriors and servants marched a short distance downhill. Then they began cutting down every tree in a circle about fifty feet across. As the trees crashed down, they were hauled to the edge of the circle and piled up to form a high, thick wall around it.
This took most of the day. Before darkness fell, the men moved still farther downhill. They chopped down more trees and began building rough log enclosures.
The king explained. «Tomorrow the hunting parties will go out. They will catch wild animals of every kind they can find, and put them in those cages. When we have enough animals, you will go into the arena.» He pointed at the large circular walled area. «Then the wild animals will be thrown into it, one by one, and we shall see-how well you have done what you promised.»
Blade frowned. So he was going to have to play Roman gladiator, with his sprayer and sleeping water against whatever beasts the hunters might bring in. The water worked on insects and very small animals. That he already knew.
But a black stalker or one of the seventy-foot snakes would be another matter.
Certainly it would be as rigorous a test as anyone could wish. If he failed-well, failure in this case would carry its own swift and drastic penalties. That was probably exactly what King Embor had in mind, and perhaps Neena as well.
There was a problem, though.
«Do you think it is wise to show everyone what-what we may have done-so soon? The clan chiefs will be looking on, won't they?»
Embor nodded and looked around, to see if anyone was within earshot. Then he spoke quickly, in a low, voice. «Blade, it is absolutely necessary that what you have done be shown to everyone, especially the clan chiefs. Believe me when I say that this is the only way.»
For the first time since he'd arrived, Embor's voice had not been carefully neutral. The king was in deadly earnest about something exceedingly important. Blade still despaired of making any sense of what was going on, but decided to play along the way the king wanted it.
The mystery deepened for Blade during the days it took to catch and bring in all the test animals. Neena was obviously avoiding him. She would look at him or speak to him only when there were other people around. Then both her face and her voice would be cold and expressionless, and she would talk about nothing more personal than the weather or the progress of the hunting. Obviously she wouldn't have even said that much if King Embor hadn't been pushing her to keep up appearances.
There was also Queen Sanaya. She had no chance for a private word with Blade and apparently wasn't looking for any. But she spoke to him freely enough in public, politely and even graciously. She gave no sign that she had anything at all unusual on her mind. She seemed to be perpetually smiling, laughing, taking the king's arm. She seemed to be treating this unexpected stay in the Mountains of Hoga as a sort of picnic.
Blade found relief from wondering what plots were waiting to spring out at him in watching the hunters bringing in the animals he would have to overcome. They made an impressive array, and the huts and enclosures were quickly filled. The camp was already a noisy place, with the crackle of campfires, the drums and flutes of King Embor's musicians, and the drunken singing of the warriors at night driving away the normal brooding quiet of the forests. Now the animals added to the noise, with a continuous chorus of hissings, screechings, growls, howls, twitterings, and other less describable sounds. The uproar must have been audible for miles. No one in this part of the forest could have any doubt that something unusual was going on.