A Throne of One's Own
6. Riders of the Dawn
Silver awoke with a start at the sound of iron scraping iron. He turned his head. Susi was still asleep, curled up beside him under the woolen blanket they shared. He looked up. Shadow was standing over them, dressed for battle. Just about able to make out his father's red eyes in the predawn gloom, the knot in Silver's stomach tightened.
"F-father?" he said timidly.
Silver and Susi yelped as gauntleted fingers pinched their ears. Shadow forced the children to their feet and pulled them stumbling across the yard to the roundhouse. Inside, he let Susi go running into Lupe's arms. His son had no such luck.
"Silver, I understand the nights have been warm of late, but that was no excuse to take Susi outside without permission," said Shadow.
"Huh?!" blurted Silver, "B-but you sa—ah!"
Shadow scowled as he gently tweaked his son's ear.
"Lobo and Lupe were worried, son," he said sternly, "Apologize."
The pouting ten-year-old turned his tilted head towards the wolves.
"I-I'm sorry I scared you. I pr-promise I won't do it again," he said with forced earnestness, struggling to not tear up at the injustice of it all.
"Thank you, young lord," said Lobo, bowing deferentially to the hedgehogs before ushering his wife and daughter out into the yard.
Just then, Silver felt his father's fingers slacken a little. Spurred on by indignation, he slipped Shadow's grasp and scrambled across the roundhouse, disappearing through the curtain to his parents' bedchamber. With a sigh, Shadow followed in languid pursuit. He drew back the curtain to find Amaranth putting on her armor by candlelight.
She was to accompany him to the hillfort's gatehouse to see him, Knuxahuatl and Blaze ride off. Naturally, Queen Rouge would also be there, and as a warrior of Dalriada, this obliged his wife to come armed and armored. Not this armored, though. Like him, everything but Amaranth's thighs and upper arms was covered in iron.
While looking her up and down, Shadow glimpsed Silver peering out from behind her turquoise cloak.
"Out of there, son," he snapped.
The child promptly hid his face.
"What's going on?" asked Amaranth irritably as she buckled a bracer.
"Pa made me say sorry to Lobo for camping out in the yard with Susi without asking even though he said I could!" blurted Silver breathlessly, keeping hidden within the cloak's folds.
Amaranth eyed Shadow quizzically as she pulled on a gauntlet.
'What are you playing at?' she mouthed.
A mutual penchant for lipreading had played a big part in keeping their initial dalliance in Erinia a secret for so long.
'Just trust me', came Shadow's silent reply.
Amaranth frowned, then looked at the bulge in her cloak.
"Silver, you know better than to get Susi in trouble with Lobo," she said, nudging him out into the open.
The crestfallen ten-year-old gazed wide-eyed at his mother. His lower lip quivered.
"Y-you don't b-believe me, ma?" he said, voice cracking as he backed against the wall adorned his parents' weapons.
"You…don't believe me, ma?" said Silver, voice cracking as he backed into the wall adorned with his parents' weapons. He slid down the mudbrick wall onto his backside and hugged his knees.
'This had better be good,' Amaranth mouthed at Shadow as she reached down a shortsword and the smallest of her three war-hammers.
"Silver, you will stay here with Susi this morning," said Shadow.
Silver's head snapped up.
"But…what about the horses?" he whined, tears welling.
"The horses have been Lobo's responsibility since long before you ceased to be scared of them," said Shadow.
With a parting look at her forlorn son, Amaranth went to join her husband at the bedchamber's entrance.
"You're not going to punish Susi, are you?" Silver piped up, just as Shadow was about to release the curtain.
"That'll be for Lobo to decide," replied Shadow, letting the curtain fall across the doorway.
Sobs greeted the armored hedgehogs out in the yard. Susi was bawling like a pup in Lupe's arms.
"Take your time," said Amaranth, patting Lobo's shoulder with a gauntleted hand, "We'll go as slowly as we can."
"Thank you, mistress," whispered the brown wolf, moving to embrace the weeping she-wolves.
The roseate hedgehog followed Shadow through the gate in the wicker fence encircling the yard. They set off up the dusty path at an amble.
"Let's hear it then," said Amaranth, "What happened to telling Silver to 'slip out with Susi; last night?"
"I believe I said such a thing," said Shadow flatly.
Amaranth shot her husband a pointed glare.
"Then why're you punishing him?" she demanded.
"Lupe was in some considerable distress—"
"Only because she hadn't looked outside yet!"
Amaranth gripped her war-hammer's wooden haft with both hands. The urge to whack him in the head was fleeting yet potent.
"Why do it?" she asked levelly.
"We want to keep him away from the queen, yes?" said Shadow, "This accomplishes that without making him suspicious with limp excuses."
Amaranth gripped her weapon even harder than before. She stopped short of giving him a considerable piece of her mind.
In moments such as this one, she was quick to remember those tense days before their exile from Erinia. In particular, she remembered how coolly Shadow had greeted the news that his own father, Baron Mephiles, urged King Melodeon to execute him after their relationship came to light.
Shadow had never spoken much about growing up in the Baron's household, but if that instance was anything to go by, it was a wonder to Amaranth that these lapses in paternal judgement didn't happen more often.
"If this is the best you can do, I would sooner Silver met the queen than wind up hating you," she said.
"Wind up hating me?" echoed Shadow, "The boy doesn't know the meaning of the word 'hate'."
"Do you want to be the one who teaches him?" said Amaranth.
The black hedgehog grunted dismissively.
The roseate hedgehog rolled her eyes and glanced back down the path. Lobo was lingering outside the yard while Lupe and Susi shared one last hug. She could just see Silver poking his head out of the roundhouse.
"Why're you so dressed up?" asked Shadow.
"For the queen, naturally," replied Amaranth.
"Are you planning to try and take Blaze's place?" said her husband.
"Don't tempt me," said his wife, "It was for Silver, actually. You know how much he likes seeing us like this."
Shadow's eyes narrowed. "Yet in all these years, you've…well, never worn more than the minimum when we weren't going on campaign."
Amaranth sighed. "I wanted to be sure it all still fit right."
"But, Pharlain was barely…"
Shadow paused to look at his wife. His wife walked on.
"Amie?"
Watching her, he frowned. The fit of that armor hadn't been an issue since the day Rufio finished it for her. Not for nearly ten years. Not since shortly after…she'd stopped nursing Silver.
"Amie!" he snapped, running ahead to block her way, "Why didn't you tell me?"
She sighed, more heavily than before.
"I can think of three or four reasons," she muttered glumly.
"You don't need to protect me, Amie," said Shadow softly, "Not…after Drimia."
"Please…don't say that name," Amaranth half-whispered, "And you're not the one I was protecting."
She advanced towards him, seemingly ready to force her way past if necessary.
"I'm sorry," murmured Shadow as he stepped aside.
He stood still for a time, cursing himself for even suggesting it was anybody but Silver's hopes she was scared of raising. The 8-year-old had been all primed for his new big brotherly duties when little Drimia arrived stillborn. Three more would-be younger siblings hadn't quite made it that far.
"My lord?" said Lobo, sounding a note of concern as he and Lupe caught up to their master.
For once, Shadow was glad he was entitled to ignore the well-meaning thrall. He continued along the gloomy path in silence, eventually catching his wife up. Shortly thereafter, Dalriada's gatehouse came into view.
Without stopping to shout orders to Lobo — he would know what to do — the hedgehogs made for the hillfort's stables. As the wooden door creaked closed behind them, there was a clank of metal as the warriors seized each other in an embrace.
"What do we do?" whispered Shadow.
"I don't know," breathed Amaranth, "What can we do?"
"I don't know."
"Just come back safe."
Then, their lips met in a kiss as fierce as those they'd shared overnight.
"I love you," he whispered, drawing back.
"My lord Shadow?" said a voice behind them.
Shadow blinked. It wasn't Lobo.
"Princess?" he said, turning his head to see Blaze.
The slinky cat cut an oddly meek figure, in spite of her iron armor and the single-bladed battleaxe in her hands.
"May I speak with his lordship alone, my lady Amaranth?" she said, sounding almost intimidated.
"As you wish, princess," said Amaranth curtly, letting go of her husband.
"Thank you, my lady," said Blaze, bowing lower than most thralls would have.
'Is she always this sweet?,' mouthed Amaranth as she looked back at Shadow.
Shadow smirked.
'She's practically a child,' he replied silently.
"Best not make her angry," said Amaranth, backing towards the stall shared by his favorite horses.
Before she disappeared inside, she threw her war-hammer at him. He only just caught it. When he turned around, he found Blaze standing behind him.
"This is for you, my lord," she said, thrusting out a fist. A crudely-carved wooden amulet dangled from it.
"What…is it?" he asked uncertainly, resting Amaranth's war-hammer across his left shoulder.
"It will help Him protect you better."
"Him being Iblis?"
Blaze nodded vigorously. A hint of a smile crossed her lips.
Faced with her imploring gaze, Shadow couldn't bring himself to refuse.
"Thank you," he said, taking the amulet with his free hand.
The beaming cat watched intently as he examined the small wooden block's flame-shaped engraving. It was no artisan's work, but one section of the flame seemed especially jagged.
"I'm sorry it's so shoddy," said Blaze meekly.
The truth was, she hadn't had the nerve to take back the knife Hunni had confiscated. She'd had to finish the carving with her claws.
"Should I…put it on for you?" she asked, eyeing Amaranth's war-hammer.
Shadow handed back the amulet. Before he knew it, Blaze was behind him, tying the amulet's cord around his neck. She was still doing so when Amaranth emerged from the stall, leading two bay mares behind her.
The roseate hedgehog's questioning glance quickly evolved into a smirk. She proceeded on without comment. The mares brayed as the stable door swung open again. Knuxahuatl entered, dressed in armor, with a pattern blanket draped over his shoulder. He stood aside to let Amaranth by.
Out in the stable yard, she found Lobo waiting by Shadow's chariot. Lupe wasn't with him. Starting towards him, she glanced about. Her mood darkened as a result.
Across the yard, Queen Rouge of Dalriada stood in full battle dress, leaning on a spear as she spoke to one of the two white rabbits flanking her. The duo, named Thorn and Bramble, were sisters. Also nearby was the queen's bodyguard Hunni, holding one end of a leather cord. The other end was tied around the distraught Lupe's wrists.
"I'm so sorry, Lobo," Amaranth whispered as she passed the mares' lead-ropes to the thrall, "One of us should've stayed with you."
The brown wolf shook his head amiably and set about yoking the horses to the chariot.
"There my emissaries are!" remarked Rouge as Shadow and Blaze emerged from the stable. She beckoned them over, "Trialing a new weapon, Shadow?"
"Oh, uh, no, my queen," said the black hedgehog, shifting the war-hammer he still had custody of.
"I'm almost disappointed," said Rouge, squinting at the crudely-carved amulet, "What would that be? A souvenir?"
"A trinket, my queen," interjected Hunni, "Peddlers sell them by the dozen at Tophet."
Blaze scowled at her fellow Agnian. The flaxen-furred feline blew the princess a kiss.
"More Iblisian magic?" said Rouge thoughtfully, "Could that pyromancer have made a deeper impression than we thought?"
Before Shadow could think of how deny any belief in Iblis without offending Blaze, the queen looked away. He looked over his shoulder to see Knuxahuatl galloping across the stable yard on a palomino stallion. There was no rope or bridle around the horse's head. Just the patterned blanket beneath the echidna on its back.
The sight never ceased to astonish him and Amaranth. In Erinia, horses pulled things: carts, plows, chariots. They were not ridden. A few daredevils might be seen galloping round the Kithe on a sunny morn, but never in numbers. Among the kingdom's nobles, it was considered suicidal. The hedgehogs had cast off many of the taboos of their former homeland, but not that one.
"You'll find your chariot's been generously provisioned," said Rouge, turning back to Shadow and Blaze, "I hadn't planned on making a speech so, please, climb aboard."
With that, the ironclad bat and her entourage started towards where Knuxahuatl looked to be having a disagreement with his restless steed.
"It's not too late to yoke a chariot to that beast!" Rouge called out.
Knuxahuatl shot the queen an indignant glance, only for his stallion to rear up and almost unseat him. Undeterred, Rouge continued towards him. At Hunni's command, Thorn and Bramble ran ahead of the monarch, shields raised. Rouge casually pushed the nervous white rabbits aside.
"Don't forget what we discussed last night," she said.
"I haven't forgotten, my queen," said Knuxahuatl, "Nor will I."
"Spoken like a king," said Rouge, smiling as she turning away.
Meanwhile, Shadow was trying to return his wife's war-hammer.
"Are you sure you won't take it?" said Amaranth, finally laying hands on the wooden haft.
"For what?" asked Shadow, "Arkadians wear no armor."
"Or so we're told."
"You doubt Knuxahuatl now?"
"No," sighed Amaranth, "Just her."
She glanced at the chariot. Lobo was trying his best to encourage Blaze to climb aboard.
"Promise you won't come back a fire-worshipper," she said, pinching the Iblisian amulet.
Shadow caught his wife's wrist and pulled her close.
"What if it works?" he murmured.
"You don't need a god's protection," said Amaranth, kissing him, "Except from me, perhaps."
Shadow grunted mirthfully.
"Stay safe," he whispered, placing a gauntleted hand on her breastplate.
"We will," breathed Amaranth, "Now begone."
"I love you."
"I love you, too."
Amaranth pulled down his helmet's visor as she stepped back and nudged him towards the chariot.
"Enough dallying, princess," said Shadow, brusquely pulling Blaze onto the chariot's footplate as he stepped aboard.
Taking the reins in hand, he cracked them across the mares' backs. Blaze grabbed the railing tight as the chariot lurched forward. Knuxahuatl rode ahead of them at a canter. Once they were clear of the stable yard, all three horses broke into a gallop.
"Amaranth!" called Rouge over, "Join us."
Blindsided, the roseate hedgehog had no choice but to comply.
"Lobo, go on home," she said, reluctantly making her way across the stable yard.
The queen and her entourage — including the bound Lupe — made their way up onto the gatehouse's battlements. From there, they watched Knuxahuatl and the chariot descend the road to the hillfort and eventually disappear into the surrounding hill country amid a rolling dust cloud.
"And away they go," said Rouge, looking across at Amaranth, "How nice to see you again, Amaranth. Not since, well…"
"The lunar banquet, my queen," said Amaranth.
"Of course it was," said the bat airily, "I'm pleased to see we had the same thought."
The hedgehog tensed as the queen reached out and ran an index finger across her breastplate.
"It's always good to give Rufio's handiwork an airing," said Rouge, "We don't make use of it nearly so often these days."
"You would prefer we did, my queen?" said Amaranth tersely.
Rouge smiled wryly.
"Always so prickly," she said as she withdrew her finger, "Where did we go wrong, you and I?"
The answer to that question was currently straining for a better view over the gatehouse's battlements.
"Get away from there," snapped Hunni, tugging on the leather cord binding Lupe's wrists.
"But there's someone down there," the she-wolf protested.
Rouge and Amaranth turned their heads. Through the lingering haze of dust thrown up by the horses, they saw a black wolf cub stumbling up the road to the hillfort.
"You clever pup," said Rouge.
"My queen!" blurted Hunni as the queen spread her wings.
Ignoring her bodyguard, the bat climbed onto the battlements and jumped off.
"Don't just stand there!" hissed Hunni, glaring at Thorn and Bramble.
The cat and rabbits bolted for the steps. Lupe struggled to keep her feet as she was dragged along behind them. Amaranth lingered, watching Rouge glide down to meet the cub. To her surprise, the bat laid down her spear and knelt down to speak to the young thrall.
Her curiosity piqued, Amaranth turned and followed after Hunni and company, down the steps and out the gates. When she caught up, Rouge was still on her knees.
"What's happened?" asked the hedgehog.
"Little Gelert here tells us Valens is dead," replied the queen, getting to her feet.
"Valens?" said Thorn.
"Dead?" said Bramble.
Amaranth understood their shock. Valens had been part of Aero and Rouge's original warband that set out from Broskos and ultimately conquered Dalriada. He later served as the late King Aero's bodyguard. Upon Rouge's ascent, the battle-weary bat had retired to one of the farmsteads that kept the hillfort fed. Judging by the state the wolf cub was in, his master's end hadn't been a clean one.
"Bramble, take this mutt back to the mead hall," said Hunni, motioning towards Lupe, "Thorn, rouse Kastan and Fogue and—"
"And do no such thing," Rouge cut in, "Either of you."
"My queen?" said Hunni, visibly stunned by the interruption.
"What do you see here, Hunni?" said the bat, picking up her spear, "I see five well-armed warriors and an obedient thrall who can tend to this poor cub. Release her, Bramble."
The younger white rabbit untied Lupe's bonds. She scrambled to Gelert's side.
"You see, the Moon Wolf of Dalriada still has her uses," said Rouge, patting the she-wolf's head, "Now, let us go. A visit from me is the least Valens deserves."