We open our chapter in the tent of the Tor. Teresa and Geraden find him in great pain and being examined by a physician.
The Tor wants to know one thing -- where is Nyle????For the first time, Teresa saw the place under the lord's ribs where Gart had kicked him.
Involuntarily, she tightened her grip on Geraden.
The Tor's injury was swollen like a tumor, black-purple and angry; it bloated out from his belly as if his skin might burst.
"Oh, my lord," Geraden breathed, nearly groaned. "What are you doing to yourself?"
Geraden admits that Nyle is/was not at Esmerel, and that he (Geraden) and Teresa might have unknowingly led the others into a trap. But he feels that his brother must be nearby, someplace close enough that they can be attacked by High King Festten, and close enough for the little neighborly visit that Eremis, Gilbur, and Vagel had made through the snow. Geraden speculates that Eremis must have a secret base nearby.
The Tor asks what Geraden will do when Eremis uses Nyle against him. But before he gets an answer, King Joyse comes in, looking as if he has been in a battle, and filthy. Yet he bounces like a boy, and grins from ear to ear when he sees Teresa and Geraden.
The Tor asks for the Prince to be summoned. Then:
Joyse then faces challenges from Geraden and Teresa. Geraden demands to know where he has been and who he has been battling with -- and the King tells them that he has been off rescuing the Queen. He had ridden a creature of imagery to Vale House, where he had found the trail left behind by Torrent. Torrent had enabled the King to find the Queen and set her free. After making sure his wife and daughter were safe as could be in Romish, the King had come to the Army camp, without even stopping at Orison for news....he plunged to his knees as if the ground had been cut out from under him.
Ribuld started to help the lord, but King Joyse's presence daunted him.
Bowing his face to the canvas, retching for breath, the Tor panted, "My lord King, I beg you."
King Joyse's smile turned to ashes on his face.
"I beg you. I have brought your guard and your Congery and all your friends to destruction. Tell me I have not betrayed you."
"Betrayed me?" The passion in the King's face was wonderful and dire. As if he had no arthritis and no years, no weakness of any kind to hamper him, he caught hold of the Tor's arms and raised him to his feet by main strength. "My old friend! If you have put all that I love and all of my force in the path of ruin, you have not betrayed me. If you have sold my kingdom to the Alend Contender, so that I have nothing left to rule, you have not betrayed me. You are here -- here, where the fate of the world hinges." Tears trailed through the grime on his cheeks. "My lord Tor, I have used you abominably. I considered you an obstucle, your loyalty a stumbling block. And you have served me better than my best hope."
Geraden then demands to know why the King had given unequal treatment to the sons of the Domne. The King had always been supportive of both himself and Artagel -- but not of Nyle. Joyse admits that he simply doesn't like Nyle, and that is part of the cause. But also, Artagel's worth was obvious, due to his talent with a sword. And He knew that Geraden would be important from an old Augury -- and the king admits that he had failed Nyle, the son of a good friend.
Geraden says that he hates the King's dishonesty, but he swears he will save Joyse if he can.
And then it is Teresa's turn to take the King to task. She tells the King that she had defended him, that she had told the others that the King had made himself the target of the unknown enemies. But she insists that Joyse know who had paid the price of this strategy:
Master Quillon is dead.
Castellan Lebbick is dead.
The Perdon is dead.
The Tor is dying.
Nyle is a hostage.
Houseldon has been burned.
Sternwall is sinking into lava.
Fayle has been depopulated by the ghouls, to the point where the Fayle doesn't have enough men left to rescue his own daughter.
(She could have added that the Tor lost his son, that a physician was killed, and some other bad things as well at this point, too!!)
Teresa asks how anyone can trust him? How can he even live with himself, knowing the cost of his plan to others around him?
Joyse explains his strategy to her, and points out that he has identified the enemy, as well as gaining his attention, and therefore giving hope to all three countries -- Alend and Cadwal as well as Mordant. And then he explains that he has a huge flaw as a hopboard player -- that he cannot bear to sacrifice his pieces. He tells them how he nearly wrecked his own strategy to find out where Princess Myste had gone, and that he had struck Havelock when he had not helped Teresa after Master Quillon's murder. Joyse cannot stand to know what has happened to his people. He knew that he had to wage the battle himself rather than command it.
But does anyone else find it odd that even in this context -- where Joyse is stating so passionately that he hates has happened to his friends and supporters -- that he refers to them as "pieces" rather than as "people"?The blood must be on my hands. I will not have my pieces so contemptuously used. I will not allow Master Eremis to tilt the board, to remake the world in his own image.
Do you agree that this strategy was the only that Joyse could have used? The only thing that could have worked? Was the price to his most loyal friends and followers too high?
The chapter shifts gears a bit after this, and Master Barsonage, Castellan Norge, the Prince, and a mysterious masked person come into the tent. A spirited discussion follows, where Joyse is a bit of a jerk about the Prince (IMHO anyway) and the Prince and his honor are defended by all present -- especially by the masked person, who turns out to be Elega. She takes her turn roasting Joyse, and her father laughs! He ends up telling Elega how proud he is of her.
The group then talks for awhile, and makes battle plans. Geraden has another of his feelings -- that he and Teresa should be elsewhere.Alone, and without power or position, you have made an alliance where none existed.
After the strategy discussion, Geraden and Teresa go find their place to sleep. They talk, relax, make love. The night seems to be over much too quickly.
In the morning battle preparations are made by the army. Geraden and Teresa watch the army getting ready in the company of Elega, who has hope for the day.
As the morning light comes, the army sees that catapults have been pulled up to be used against it. And then King Joyse takes personal command, as the battle is about to begin..."The world is filled with strange things, which our enemies do not understand. Master Eremis comprehends only fear and power. He is blinded by his contempt. He does not grasp how far valor may go against him."