No, the Vhelny whispered.

"Yes. And thank you for your congratulations, and to paraphrase, I'm sure you will be of use to me."

I will be free. I will grind everything in you.

"I don't think so. Now, what say you fly me back into the mountain and we find my companions."

You will pay.

But something wrapped around him, and in a moment they were soaring though the air, and he laughed in sheer delight.

He couldn't wait to see Zemle. And Winna. And Aspar. And Queen Anne, especially Queen Anne. The best part was how surprised they would be. He loved it when people were surprised, when they finally got the joke.

Of course he did. That was why they called him the Black Jester.

ANNE COULDN'T FEEL the reins anymore. The breeze seemed to spin her around, and then the ground reached for her.

She still could see, but nothing she saw made much sense. Horses' legs were everywhere, and men were reaching for her, and then it was all just noise and color, and finally she was elsewhere, lying in a meadow by a mere. She lifted her hand and saw that there was no shadow. Her side hurt, and when she reached to feel it, there was a stick there. She pushed at it, and agony erupted along her ribs. Her hand felt wet and sticky, and when she looked at it, it was red.

"Shot," she managed. There had been a lot of arrows; she remembered that. And then the horses coming together, a shock like a giant ocean wave that threw everyone around her down until she drew, drew down from the sickle moon hanging pale as a cloud in the sky, and struck through them. She remembered seeing their eyes explode in gouts of steam, and the screams…

I did that?

"You did it," her arilac confirmed, rising up from the earth. "Even Genya Dare would have been impressed by that."

"Did we win?"

"You broke their charge and killed half of them before you got shot. Beyond that, I don't know."

"I am shot."

"Yes."

"Am I dying?"

"I don't know, but you shouldn't stay here in this condition. If he should come, you won't be able to fight him."

"I don't-" Black spots were dancing before her eyes.

"I'll help you," the arilac said, and smoothed her forehead with one burning hand.

A hoof thudded in the earth next to her head, and someone shouted her name. She tried to sit up and gasped.

"She's here!" a man shouted. "Saints know how. We were looking there-"

"She's shot." A face appeared above her.

"Hello, Cape Chavel," she said.

"You can hear me?"

"Yes."

"I have to get you up. Do you understand? I can't leave you here; we're in retreat. Unless you can-" He grimaced.

"I'm too weak," she replied.

"You'll ride with me. Your Craftsmen and the heavy horse have formed a rear guard. My horses are faster. We'll get you back to camp and to a leic."

Anne searched for a response, but she felt too tired.

It did hurt when he got her up in the saddle with him, and it hurt more every single time his horse took a stride. Although she tried not to, she cried, wanting nothing more than for the pain to end.

She woke flat on her back in a small, rumbling room that she eventually recognized as a wain. She remembered that Nerenai had given her something bitter to drink, and she had fallen asleep.

She felt at her side and found the arrow gone. So was her clothing. She was wrapped loosely in a blanket.

"There, mistress," she heard Nerenai say. "Lie still."

"What's happening?"

Before Nerenai could reply, Emily broke in. "It's very exciting. They say you made their eyes explode. Is it true?"

"I'd rather not talk about that," Anne murmured. "Can you find Artwair for me?"

"No, Majesty," the girl said. "He's out forming up the lines. You killed a lot of them, but there's plenty left. Like they knew we were coming."

"They did know we were coming."

"How?" the girl asked.

"I was outmagicked," Anne replied. Pray saints Alis and Neil find this Hellrune and know what to do about him. He's stronger than I.

A sudden thought occurred to her. "If we're fighting, why is the wain moving?"

"We're retreating," Emily replied. "But orderly, so we don't get slaughtered. Artwair's a smart general."

I led him into a trap, Anne thought. That will be hard to mend. Yes, she was queen, but she needed her generals to believe in her, especially Artwair.

"How many have we lost?"

"I don't know. They think around two thousand. They attacked our infantry where we were camped, too."

Two thousand? The number seemed unreal. Had she ever even met two thousand people in her life?

For three more days they fell back toward Poelscild. Losses on both sides were minimal. And then, a day's march from the northernmost dike, the Hansan army stopped following them.

The next day Anne wasn't sleeping in a wagon anymore but in a fine bed in Poelscild's keep.

The count had almost three thousand of her soldiers sleeping in the ground.

"They haven't gone far, Majesty," Artwair told her the next day.

"You look tired, Cousin."

He did. His face looked lined and ten years older than it had a month earlier.

"I'm well, Your Majesty."

"So where have they gone, then?"

"About a league north, in Andemuer. They're building a redoubt there. I expect they'll reinforce it and then come here."

Anne nodded. She'd made Nerenai and Emily sit her up. She couldn't stand, but she didn't want to face Artwair on her back. "And the fleet? Any word?"

"They anticipated us there, too," Artwair said. "Met Liery in open sea. Five ships were lost, and about that on the Hansan side. Sir Fail brought them back to Ter-na-Fath."

"So we're in retreat everywhere," Anne said.

"Everywhere we've ventured."

"Everywhere I've sent us, you mean," Anne said.

"There's no blame to Your Majesty. It seemed like a good plan to me, too. But it wasn't the surprise they thought it would be. And things could have been worse. This Hellrune of theirs isn't perfect, either. He may have managed to trick you, but you fought out of his trap."

"Barely. But I agree that things could have gone worse. I may know little about war, but I know that armies in retreat often fall apart and are destroyed. This could have been a rout. Your leadership prevented that, Duke Artwair."

"I'm not the only one to credit. Lord Kenwulf kept our left flank, and young Cape Chavel our right. If we had ever been encircled, that would have been the end of it."

"I will commend them, too," she said. "What happens now?"

"I've sent for reinforcements, of course. Many of the landwaerden levies are already either here or reinforcing other forts along the edge of Newland."

"Then we're giving them Andemuer and the Maog Voast plain?" Anne asked.

"We're not giving it; they have it. Northwatch fell two days ago, so reinforcements can come along the Vitellian Way without resistance. Copenwis is open to their ports. No, Newland is better fortified than the northern border and always has been. Andemuer has gone back and forth between Hansa and Crotheny for exactly that reason. But they'll have a harder time breaking us here. And if they do, we'll retreat to the next canal and flood these poelen behind us, so they'll have to swim at us."

"You mention the danger of them coming down the Dew. Have you any reports from the east?"

"No report of attack yet, no, but I expect it."

"And the south?"

He nodded. "We've heard that at least three Church legifs are camped along the Teremene River. That news is a few days old, of course. They may have started fighting already."

Anne remembered Teremene.

"The river is in a gorge there," she said. "They'll have to cross at Teremene town or go north into Hornladh…" She trailed off.