by Sam Taw
“Well, I did think of one thing that might be useful, if we can act quickly enough to take advantage of the situation.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
“Go on.” Chief Tallack urged.
My respect for this young warrior maiden was growing every moment. Not only was she skilled with blade and axe, bow and spear but she was intelligent too. That’s rarely the case with the average warrior I’ve found, but then she is far from average.
“It’s just the next valley floor is as boggy as this one after all the rain from the storm and it hasn’t drained away. The Duros moved their camp up the shallow hillside to get away from the mud. They are sitting half-way down the western slope.”
Tallack glanced at me as though he thought her mad. He hadn’t realised the girl’s plan. From the look of his warriors, they couldn’t fathom it either.
“You mean to roll fireballs of willow withies stuffed with kindling down the slope to burn their camp down before dawn?” I had to state it as obviously as possible or Tallack would have shown his lack of mastery over the situation.
“I do, Fur Benyn, but we’d have to act fast. It won’t be long until day break.” She said, smiling at me for giving her this opportunity to show her worth.
Tallack grimaced. “But it’d take us just as long to ride through the marshes as the Duros. We’d never make it unseen.”
“I know a route through, Chief. If a small number of men follow my horse, we can have them aflame and be back before dawn. But we must act now.”
He could hardly argue with the girl. She was willing to put her life on the line to improve our chances of defeating such a number of enemies.
“Fine. Do it, but there is nothing I can do if you get caught.” This was the first time he seemed pleased not to be included in the raid. “And if you do, you’d better keep your mouths shut over the Novantae.” Tallack picked out half a dozen men to go with Senara and explained where they could find withies and kindling from the Chief’s personal stores.
Before he could hunker down with the elders and remaining men to talk siege tactics, I spoke up. “And the beacon, Chief?”
“Oh yes, is there anyone willing to go and knock it over the cliff? We don’t want anyone lighting that and bringing the Novantae down on us too.”
Another of his men stepped forwards, before rushing from the hut to complete his task. I was left wondering what to do with myself.
I was no use in the stealth raid, and no help in battle talks. Too agitated to go back to sleep, I returned to my hut and made porridge for the men, in the hope that Blydh would wake and retain all his senses. I splashed water on my face and changed my stinking tunic, before setting about restocking my medicine kit with wrappings and tonics and ointments.
Kewri appeared as I fed and watered the goats. He emptied the piss pot and nodded his greetings to me.
“You’d better get over to the Long Hut.” I said. “They could use a strapping lad like you in a strategic spot when the Duros get here.”
Kewri gently shook his head. “My place is by your side.” That was all he said before ducking under the thatch to find his bowl of porridge.
A little after dawn, the raiding party returned, whooping and hollering their victory. I didn’t see the smoke myself, but Senara regaled me with a detailed description of the Duros fleeing their burning tents in complete disarray. She said that their horses bolted towards the moors and that many of their tribe were scattered or killed by our warriors as they ran into the woodlands surrounding the dell.
I should have been as jubilant as she, but I was sad. The whole event could’ve been avoided, had Brea been less ambitious and Blydh in better control of his temper. How many children lost their mothers or fathers before dawn, I dare not contemplate, but then if the situation was reversed, the Duros wouldn’t think twice about killing us all.
I heaved a sigh, and congratulated Senara. “I bet the men look at you differently now, don’t they?”
She gave me a huge smug smile and nodded.
“Good. Has the Chief given you any other orders?”
“No, Fur Benyn. Was there something you needed me to do?”
Bless her. She had been awake and active longer than I had after my walk to the Nine Maidens. “Rest, child. They’ll be plenty for you to do come dusk, I’ll be bound.”
“I’ll just go and make an offering to the Morrighan first, then I’ll see if I can find a bunk in the recruits’ shelters.”
I had completely forgotten the wretched conditions in which Blydh kept the young trainees. She was one of our most valuable assets and she was not sure of a bed. “Make your offering, Senara, then come back here. You can sleep in my bunk until it’s time.” The smile she shot me etched itself inside my mind forever. That made it two recruits I’d poached from Blydh without his knowledge. If he were to discover my latest infraction, he was likely to banish me for the rest of my days.
With a pocket full of grain from the guarded store, I walked the boards to the horse pen in hope of gaining the attention of my god spirit. His white hind quarters were hard to hide among the leafless trees at the western fringes of the island. His ears twitched when he saw me. I waited for some time at the fence, hoping that he would find the courage to come closer, but he didn’t. More than anything, I needed the confirmation that he was Cernonnus and that we were in his favour.
At length, I poured the grain into a little heap inside the boundary and began to shuffle slowly away. Before I was back to the goats behind my hut, I saw him walk over to my own offering and gobble up the wheat and oats. Maybe he is just a deer after all, and I let my imagination run away with me.
Blydh was sitting up in bed when I got inside. He said nothing, but his face was ashen grey and the wound was more swollen than ever. My resin pot was perilously low, but I knew he needed a dose. I mixed it for him and left Kewri to stand guard.
With the remaining porridge and a wooden spoon in my pocket, I trudged towards the shelter where I knew Tallack had tied up Faolan and Sorcha. After all the kindness they had shown me in the past, I couldn’t let them starve, hostage and traitors or not.
When I walked in, Sorcha began crying. Tallack’s warriors had bound and gagged her and Faolan to a central post which supported the skins covering the shelter. There was no fire for warmth nor any water. Faolan’s eye was badly bruised and almost closed with pus and humours. The warriors had obviously taken out their anger on the old man before leaving him to fester in his own filth.
I took off Sorcha’s gag first and held a cup of water up to her mouth. She gulped it down almost choking.
“Go easy, there’s plenty where that came from. I’ll make sure that someone comes often to give you more.”
She howled as the tears tumbled down her cheeks. “What have we done? We gave you our home to stay in, fed you our best food and protected you from the wild creatures of the mountains. Why are you doing this to us?”
I couldn’t bear it any longer. I slipped the gag back into her mouth and began the procedure again with Faolan. “She told me everything.” I said to him.
He couldn’t look me in the eye. “I guessed as much.”
I let him sip at the water and then gave him a few spoons full of porridge to eat, shovelling it into his mouth like a babe.
“Please, give it to her. She needs it more than I do.”
I left his mouth free of the gag while I fed his daughter.
“Why would you do this? We had a deal all thrashed out. We would have made perfect allies.” I had to know what had brought about the sudden change in our ties of friendship.
“You’re a good woman, Meliora, but you overlook the twin’s faults. They are selfish and greedy and care little for their tribe. You have one who would rather smash down fences and kill everyone who speaks against him and the other who cannot decide which side of the bed to sleep on, or who to share it with. You think I want my Sorcha bound to either of them now?”
“You could have just told m
e that and sailed home with a reasonable tin trade. Why go to such lengths? Call off your sons, Faolan. If you don’t my nephews will make sure that your death is long and agonising to deter other tribes from ever betraying us again.”
“You think death scares me? I’ve had my time. My sons will make sure that this compound is razed to the ground.”
“You want Sorcha to burn alive alongside you, after the warriors have all had their turn at defiling her? You know that is what will happen, long before your ships and men can get anywhere near the estuary. Your head will greet them on a spike at the southern gates, Sorcha’s entrails wrapped around the pole for the dogs to chew.” I described a small fraction of the horrors that awaited them both.
Blydh had more than his fair share of Cador the Cruel’s traits in him. There was every chance that he would think of something far more devastating and spectacular as a warning to others. That’s if he had retained his mind. I spooned in the last of the porridge and let my threats sink in. Sorcha’s tears renewed as did her wailing.
The old man sucked in his lips. I could see that he was set in his ways and wouldn’t back down. Pulling their gags back into their mouths, I pushed myself up from my knees and grabbed the cup and bowl to carry away. Before I left the shelter, I took one last look at them both. “It’s a shame.” I said shaking my head. “She would have made a fine Ruvane for this tribe. She’ll be lucky if anything remains of her to bury.”
As I walked to the stream to rinse the bowl, I thought about how Treeve had reacted to the notion of Sorcha binding to Tallack. He too had threatened to kill her rather than have her take his lover from him. Now I was doing the same thing. This was what I was reduced to in the protection of my kin. The truth is that none of my warnings were bluffs.
Both Blydh and Tallack would expect the Novantae to die in a horrible manner, unless there was a way to call a truce. I suspected that neither of Faolan’s sons cared much for their sister, especially when they had the chance to replace their father as Chieftain of their tribe.
There was still time for the stubborn old brute to change his mind and force the Skotek fleet to stand down. Perhaps he just needed time to think about the fate of his daughter in the twin’s hands.
Blydh was sitting up in the spare bunk when I walked in to my hut. He still looked grey and gaunt, but then he’d hardly eaten a thing since his injury. He must have been weaker than a day-old chick. Kewri was scraping out the wood ash and piling more logs onto the fire. I sat beside my nephew, wary of his anger.
“How is the pain? Do you need some willow?” I watched the movement of his eyes. The left one was still as it was before. The dark spot in the centre was big enough to cover over the ring of colour.
He cleared his throat. “It’s bearable. I’ll have some willow later.” That was a good start. He hadn’t yelled at me, but then he hadn’t called me Aunt Mel either. I nodded to Kewri to untie the bindings from one side of the bunk while I loosened those closest to me.
Blydh flexed his hands and rubbed at his wrists.
“I’m sorry, but we had to stop you from scratching the wounds and shifting the gold plate in your head.” I leaned back in case he felt like lashing out at me.
He reached up to his hair and gently touched the line of catgut stitches, wincing where they strained against the swollen flesh. Kewri and I sat by as he tested the capabilities of his body, clicking his stiff neck muscles and moving his legs. When he cupped his right hand over his eye, I knew that he was trying to see through the blown left one. Within moments, his hand slumped down into his lap and his face slackened. It was obvious he had not regained its use.
I jumped up and grabbed the axe with the massive curved blade from the end of his bunk. “See what Tallack had made for you.” I said, hoping that it would please him. “The handle is fashioned from a rare white hart antler, the spirit of Cernonnus himself. It matches another that Tallack wields. When you are recovered, the pair of you will be formidable.” I tried to make my voice sound jolly and hopeful, but it fell on deaf ears. Blydh was not interested. He wouldn’t even take the blade from my hands.
“Kewri, pop and fetch Kerensa will you, please? I’m sure that she will want to see Blydh now that he’s awake.” He did as I asked, but Blydh did not seem keen to see her.
“How far are the Duros from our camp?” He trained his good eye on me, making me more uncomfortable under his gaze than ever. His wits had returned but brought melancholy along for the ride.
“It’s all in hand, there is nothing for you to worry about. Tallack has things under control.” I slid the axe to the floor and tore a chunk of fresh bread from the loaf baking on a flat stone by the fire.
He pushed my hand away when I offered him the bread. “How far?”
“In the next valley, just over the rise, but a raiding party has already thinned their numbers with fireballs before dawn.”
“Then they will come tonight, be assured of that.” He swung his legs to the side of the bunk and struggled to get to his feet. I didn’t know whether to help him or not, considering his fluctuating temper towards me. Instead I hovered close by, ready to slip my arm under his if he was in danger of collapse. Kewri returned before Blydh could slip on the rest of his clothes. He was alone.
Frowning at him, he shrugged at me behind Blydh’s back. Maybe she was with Cryda or somewhere Kewri would not think to look. Lifting the axe to pass to Kewri, I said; “Can you carry this for the Chief…”
Blydh snarled at me, snatching it from my hand. “I can manage. I’m not a child.”
I guess that answered my question about his state of mind. I needed to keep my distance or fear him using his new axe on me. Tallack may have forgiven me my sins, but Blydh sure hadn’t. Cernonnus only knew how he would react when he discovered Faolan’s treachery. Blydh dragged the axe along the ground, churning up my rushes and the mud in a great wake of mess behind him. Kewri and I watched him stagger about without coordination nor balance in a sweeping arc towards the Long Hut.
In two minds whether to go or stay, I figured that I could never live with myself if he fell and killed himself before my handiwork could heal. This was one of those times when I wished I’d stayed on the moors with the priestess of the Nine Maidens. It’s a simple but bloody way of life.
Hurrying after my nephew, I reached the Long Hut only moments after he’d arrived. The warriors, elders and his mother were all overjoyed to see him up on his feet so quickly. He even managed a faint smile for her, as Cryda smothered him in kisses instead of touching foreheads together as we usually do. It was a sensible move considering the swollen skin on that part of his head.
“Where is Tallack?” Blydh turned in a full circle about the Long Hut in search of his brother, but he was nowhere to be seen. Whether Blydh noticed it or not, Kerensa was also missing. He sat in his wolf’s head chair and dropped the axe, while Cryda wove between the crowds to take the Ruvane chair at his side.
It took her less than a few moments to inform him of the latest developments with the Novantae. Why she couldn’t have waited until Tallack was present before giving him such explosive information, I will never know.
Blydh was wild. His nostrils flared; his speech slurred so that it was difficult to understand. Red in the face, he rocked his body until he had enough momentum to stand. As soon as he was upright, he tried to stoop for the axe. That tipped his balance, sending him crashing into the table below.
In a tangle of legs and bronze blades, his fall was cushioned by poor Glaw who almost lost an ear for his troubles. The mountain man shoved Blydh until he could find his feet. Blydh reeled from the pain, clasping the sides of his head as he stomped through the group of warriors and elders towards the front door.
Everyone pushed and clamoured to follow him, me included, but I was swamped by the force of the crowd. I knew where he was headed. Turning on my heels, I scurried as fast as my old bones could carry me through the rear entrance and out past the fire pits.
Ahead of
me, Blydh dragged his feet, scraping the axe behind him. The noise from everyone shrieking and talking brought others out of their huts. Almost everybody from our camp watched Blydh stumbling towards the shelter where we had Faolan and his daughter held captive.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Wasn’t anyone brave enough to stop him? Where was Tallack? I fought my way through to Cryda and grabbed her arm. “You can’t let him kill them. They are hostages, we need them as leverage.”
“How am I supposed to do that? He doesn’t listen to me.” She let her eyes roll as though I was stupid for interfering. If she wasn’t going to try and prevent the bloodshed, I had to, there was no other choice. I knew that I was taking my life into my own hands. Sneaking beneath the elbows of the warriors pushing around the shelter, I got inside. Blydh already had the axe high above his head.
“Please, Nephew, I beg you to wait.” I slipped around his narrow body and stood between him and our captives. It was a risky move, considering his altered feelings towards me. He was just as likely to dispatch me to the Underworld as them. “Faolan has a massive fleet of ships with all his warriors aboard in the next bay. They could attack us at any moment or side with the Duros until we are dust beneath their feet.” I clasped my hands together in front of my chest, imploring him with closed eyes. “Please, Chief Blydh. They have value alive. They are useless to us dead. There is still time enough to forge a treaty with his sons.”
“A treaty? You still expect me to bind with this traitorous scum?”
“No, not that. Please, let me fetch Tallack and together you’ll be able to convince Faolan to call off the attack.”
Faolan sneered up at Blydh, goading him to end his misery quickly. “I’ll nae beg for ma life, if that’s what ye think.”
Blydh rammed the end of the handle into Faolan’s face. Blood splattered from his nose, but the old man stayed quiet.
“Think about it, Nephew, if you kill him quickly now, his suffering will all be over. Let him live until a new agreement is made, if you don’t get what you want from him, then you can make it a slow passing into the Underworld, without ever claiming his seat among the gods.”
