Free Drenai Saga 02 - The King Beyond the Gate by David Gemmell

soldier. Nothing more. My ancestry gave me fame. I could name many better swordsmen, better riders, better men. But they had no name to carry before them like a banner.”
    “You are too modest,” said Scaler.
    “It is not a question of modesty. I am half-Nadir of the line of Ulric and half-Drenai. My great-grandfather was Regnak, the Earl of Bronze. And yet I am neither earl nor khan.”
    “The Khan of Shadows,” said Scaler.
    “How did such a thing come about?” asked Valtaya.
    Tenaka grinned. “It was the Second Nadir War, and Regnak’s son Orrin made a treaty with the Nadir. Part of the price was that his son, Hogun, should marry the khan’s daughter, Shillat. It was not a marriage of love. It was a grand ceremony, I am told, and the union was consummated near the Shrine of Druss on the northern plain before Delnoch. Hogun took his bride back to the fortress, where she dwelled unhappily for three years. I was born there. Hogun died in a riding accident when I was two, and his father sent Shillat home. It was written into the marriage contract that no child of the union could inherit Dros Delnoch. And as for the Nadir, they desired no half-breed to lead them.”
    “You must have been very unhappy,” said Valtaya.
    “I have known great joys in my life. Do not feel pity for me, lady.”
    “How did you come to be a Dragon general?”
    “I was sixteen when the khan, my grandfather, sent me to Delnoch. Again it was part of the marriage contract. My other grandfather was there to greet me. He told me he had arranged a commission in the Dragon. It is that simple!”
    Scaler stared into the fire, his mind flowing back.
    Simple? How could such a terrible moment be described as simple?
    It was raining, he remembered, when the guard on the Eldibar tower sounded the trumpet. His grandfather Orrin had been in the keep, engaged in a war game with their guest. Scaler was perched on a high chair, watching them roll the dice and move the tiny regiments, when the trumpet call echoed eerily in the storm winds.
    “The Nadir spawn has arrived,” said Orrin. “He picked the right day for it.”
    They dressed Scaler in a cloak of oiled leather and a wide-brimmed leather hat, then began the long walk to Wall One.
    Once there, Orrin gazed down on the twenty riders and the dark-haired youth on the white shaggy pony.
    “Who seeks entry to Dros Delnoch?” called Orrin.
    “The son of Shillat,” yelled the Nadir captain.
    “He only may enter,” said Orrin.
    The great gates creaked open, and the Nadir troop wheeled their mounts, riding swiftly back to the north.
    Tenaka did not turn to watch them go, and no word passed between them. The youth touched his heels to the pony and cantered into the gate tunnel and up onto the green field between walls One and Two. There he slid from the saddle and waited for Orrin to approach.
    “You are not welcome here,” said Orrin, “but I will stand by my bargains. I have arranged a commission in the Dragon, and you will leave in three months. Until then you will learn Drenai ways. I want no relative of mine eating with his fingers in the officers’ mess.”
    “Thank you, Grandfather,” said Tenaka.
    “Don’t call me that,” snapped Orrin. “Not ever! You will call me ‘my lord’ or, in company, ‘sir.’ Do you understand?”
    “I believe that I do, Grandfather. And I shall obey you.” Tenaka’s gaze flickered to the child.
    “This is my true grandson,” said Orrin. “All my children are dead. Only this little lad survives to continue my line. His name is Arvan.”
    Tenaka nodded and turned to the dark-bearded man to Orrin’s left.
    “And this is a friend of the House of Regnak—the only counselor worth his salt in the entire country. His name is Ceska.”
    “Delighted to meet you,” said Ceska, reaching out his hand. Tenaka clasped it firmly, his gaze locking to the man’s dark eyes.
    “Now let us get inside and out of this damned rain,” muttered Orrin. Lifting the