Geraint (Hengist-People of the Horse Book 5)

by Jacky Gray

  ‘Two dozen men here, not counting us, Witta has another fifteen. He reads minds so don’t think about this. Slap my face or something.’ She clapped her hands so they made a slapping sound, then he pulled her close again.

  ‘Big raid on food store at Hollywell after dusk next Thorsday. Diversion. Will kill anyone trying to stop them. Another slap and scream my name.’

  ‘Tamas. You stop that right now.’

  ‘Savannah? What’s going on?’ Hereward sounded concerned.

  ‘Nothing. Tamas got sick, but he’s frisky.’

  ‘Tell ’im I’ll chop it off.’ Guaril’s remark got a laugh.

  Savannah whispered to the boy. ‘Are you and your mother all right?’

  ‘Yes. Father’s trying his best and I’m being a pet. I’ll try to get him to let her visit you.’

  ‘No. Don’t risk any more. Just be careful.’

  Riding back to the camp, Savannah got her first good luck. The powder she’d sprinkled on Alfwin’s bread dulled his senses so it did not take much to persuade him to sleep. The two men strapped him onto his horse and Andrzej was none the wiser, agreeing with a grin to lead the sleeping imp’s horse back to the camp while Hereward “scratched the itch where she’d been tickling him all night.”

  As soon as the big man left, they rode to the top of the ridge and he followed her instructions, focussing on an image of Ganieda to strengthen the message as it flew through the ether. Within a few minutes of sending the first message, she received an acknowledgement from her. Recognising the signal was being boosted, she wondered how and an image of Geraint and Siany popped into her head. Good plan – his connection to her was strong. She sent the details of what they’d learnt. But after a few minutes discussion with Hereward, she added a second message with a further warning about the timing. They galloped for a while and were able to catch up with Andrzej before he got back to the camp. Frealof watched their return with brooding eyes, his resentment at missing one of his leader’s legendary drinking parties clear on his face.

  Archer was delighted with the news, spending many hours poring over the map with Finn, Fletch and Kalen, discussing various configurations. Finn concentrated on the scheme Tamas had passed on via the mind links. Savannah sent a written confirmation via a convoluted route involving Fletch’s uncle, the Open Arms innkeeper and his brother. Fletch looked at it from the point of view of manpower, how a good general would deploy his men for maximum effect. Kalen worked with Geraint and Siany to try and improve their clairvoyant abilities, bringing in anyone or anything with a connection to Oxford, the rogue tribes or Edlyn. But all they got were scenes of a fierce battle, lots of noise, flames and a mill building in the background.

  ‘If only we could get something more, it would really help to know which mill they were going to attack.’

  ‘Holywell is the obvious one. It is so far outside the city walls it is going to be hard to protect. The access is good; they can come at it on land from three sides and even put some archers on a barge …’

  ‘You’re right, Finn, but somehow it seems a little too obvious.’ Fletch was not convinced. ‘As though they want us to deploy all our resources there.’

  ‘You’re both missing the point. There are four bands and four mills. A good general would set up a simultaneous raid on each one of them: a short, sharp shock.’ Archer could see he’d captured everyone’s attention and warmed to his theme. ‘And if he told his men dusk on Thorsday, they’ll be doing it at dawn or on Wodensday. The man is far too clever to risk information about the correct time and place to anyone except the other leaders and his seconds.’

  ‘He wouldn’t even tell them until a few hours before. It would help if we knew the exact timing, but more importantly the motivation for the raid.’ Kalen’s superior knowledge came from a lifetime study of military tactics.

  ‘That’s easy, he needs more provisions to feed his troops.’ Fletch pulled out his figures. ‘There are at least seventy of them, including Hereward’s men …’

  ‘But you can’t count them, they’re on our side.’ Finn liked the raw courage of the Renegates, forming a strong bond with them.

  ‘But they still need to eat. I’m guessing he will just steal the harvest after it’s been processed and stored for the winter.’ Fletch voiced the obvious option.

  ‘But why do that now with nowhere to store it? Better to raid each of the warehouses as he needs food.’ Ever the tactician, Kalen tried to get inside the mind of his adversary.

  ‘I still think it comes down to where he’s placed the troops. Remember the diversion?’ Finn moved the marker on the map representing Edlyn’s band.

  Archer sighed as his team debated the options. Whatever the decision, they risked so much if they got it wrong.

  40 The First Skirmish

  ‘You have to be joking. This is a wind up.’ Archer reverted to the speech patterns of the other world in his despair at Kalen’s request.

  ‘I’ve put you through much worse than this in training, and you have endured it with ease.’

  ‘But you don’t understand. That part of my life, those horrific experiences, they could damage me if they were unleashed again.’

  ‘That’s what we told you so you would let us help you to bury them deep in your subconscious and not allow them to fill you with the sort of resentment which eats away at the fibre of your being.’

  ‘Now you want to dig them up again. Ain’t gonna happen. End of.’

  ‘I don’t understand your slang, but the meaning is clear. However, I’m confident you’ll change your mind.’

  Kalen’s secret weapon was Siany. Archer simply couldn’t refuse her big brown eyes as she explained what a difference it might make to the people of Oxford. So that afternoon, Kalen undid the locking spell he’d performed on Archer eight years earlier. Ganieda stood by in case something went wrong, but it was obvious he was no longer the boy who had undergone the massive trauma of defying the powerful magic of the bow he’d created and rescuing his enemy from certain death.

  Archer was in a trance and the others formed a circle around him. Kalen needed to experience the memories in order to lead the subsequent meditations, so Ganieda led the regression back through her foster son’s memories. She seemed unhappy about putting him through this trauma and reluctant to see the atrocities he had to suffer at the hands of such a soulless, spiteful creature.

  As the scenes of torment unfolded, the others seemed barely affected. They might be used to the cruel behaviour of boys, but Siany was not. Each time Archer was tormented, she flinched. It took every ounce of Kalen’s ability to keep her focussed on the tormentor rather than the suffering. But as Archer got older and stood up for himself more, she appreciated the way he managed to outwit his adversary with skill and cunning rather than unnecessary violence. The scenes where Edlyn was torturing him by stuffing his mouth full of poisonous yew leaves made her want to be sick, but when the enchanted yew bow enticed Edlyn into the fire, she felt a powerful triumph.

  ‘What a horrible boy; he’s just a bully.’

  ‘Like Manfrid. And like Manfrid, it looks like he got his come-uppance.’

  ‘Now you know why he wears the mask. Half of his face and body are badly scarred from the fire.’

  ‘But Archer has no scars and he went in to save him.’

  Kalen concentrated on bringing the warrior out of his trance as he explained. ‘His clothes were wet because he threw himself into the river. And the spirit of the tree gave him some protection, she never meant him to get hurt.’

  ‘But Edlyn blames Archer for everything that happened to him, even though it was all his own fault.’

  ‘Yes. I sensed that, too.’ Geraint agreed with her.

  ‘No, I’m talking about now. He’s determined to get back at Archer and all the people of Aveburgh who turned him out of his home, and he sees Guaril as someone who can help him to achieve this.’ Siany no longer spoke about the past; she’d tapped into an existing, powerful emotion. ‘Bu
t why did they make him leave?’

  ‘You don’t need to know that.’ Archer didn’t want her to be subjected to the depths of Edlyn’s depravity.

  ‘It might be an important clue as to why he’s acting like this or what he intends to do.’ Siany’s sincerity earned concerned glances.

  ‘You’re right, child, but you don’t need to hear the ugly details. Suffice to say he was cruel and vicious, especially to anyone vulnerable. There are a number of women in the town who would be extremely upset if they thought he might be close by.’ Malduc’s words sent a shiver of concern down her spine.

  ‘That’s it. That’s why he’s come back. To get his revenge on Aveburgh, but mostly on me.’ Archer was glad it was finally starting to make sense.

  ‘Oh no, it’s much more than that. Edlyn knows that once Hengest takes Oxford, he can take over the whole country.’

  Archer stared at her in admiration. ‘You can determine that? Of course it does make perfect sense. If he held Oxford, the rest of the country would be struggling to get weapons.’

  ‘And if he controls the food stores, he controls Oxford.’ Kalen finally worked it out. ‘He going to go for all four at once. Not to take over; he will destroy the ones he doesn’t need.’

  Having identified this missing piece of the puzzle, everything else fell into place. They made their plans and tailored the training so each person knew exactly what they had to do. Ganieda returned to Wantage with Geraint and Siany. When Savannah transmitted another message, she passed on Archer’s suggestions. They could do nothing now except wait.

  First priority was an undercover operation to remove the stored food from the warehouses. A clever strategy meant no increase in the amount of wagons coming from the threshers, sousers, abattoir and smoke houses. By swapping the functions, they came in laden with empty boxes and went out full. The extra food was spirited away before curfew to the university colleges and stored in unused classrooms. The best scouts from both Townies and Renegates kept a constant surveillance of Guaril’s camp, led by Hunter, who seemed able to go without sleep for days at a time. Fletch helped with this, running a network of boys within the city who trained under the name “Fletch’s Arrows.” They were happy to provide a constant watch on Edlyn and Gunari’s tribes. Every two hours, a report was sent through the city to where he and Kayleigh were co-ordinating the marshals and volunteers.

  Rattrick’s Renegates brought their wagons to a position a few miles east of the city. Except the wagons contained nothing but battle-ready men. Rattrick’s women were sharing wagons with Pitivo’s women while their men folk fought for their freedom to move around the country without the constant threat of harassment.

  The innkeeper at the Open Arms had been very accommodating. His business had tailed off to virtually nothing, so he was more than happy to find room and rations for the advance cohort of Aveburgh warriors who were preparing for battle. By Tiwsday eve there had been nothing to indicate it was going ahead, but that night, several receptives had dreams of the impending battle.

  Fletch’s Arrows provided an early warning when most of Edlyn’s tribe disappeared on Wodensday afternoon, and a small contingent of volunteers and youths was left with two of the fire wagons in case they repeated the burning wagons trick. The meticulous plans were put into place and the available resources deployed where they would be most effective. The mills at the Castle to the west, and Holywell to the east, had teams standing by with fire wagons and at least a dozen marshals each. Two fire wagons, manned by small teams of wardens and volunteers, were placed at either end of the high street on the off-chance the city had been infiltrated by saboteurs.

  The remaining three wagons were stationed just inside the old Southgate, within easy reach of the great warehouses which serviced Blackfriars mill and Trill mill. All the information pointed to these being the ones they would retain. They were outside the city walls and easy to defend, being surrounded by the small tributaries of the Isis on all four sides with the only access via two narrow bridges.

  Archer’s team had pieced together the outrageous plan to capture half of the food reserves for the city and burn down the other two stores. As people exclaimed their disgust at the senseless waste, Archer focussed on the bigger picture. The towns-people would be at the mercy of the black-hearted gang and the leader obviously had plans to invite the other Renegates to join him. With a powerful city like Oxford under his control, Guaril was in a central position for expanding his dominion over the whole country.

  They were prepared for him, or so they thought. But they’d reckoned without two small details: The fact Guaril’s men were masters of disguise and the man himself was cunning and ruthless.

  All the preparations they’d made limited the damage at the two warehouses. Several minutes before sunset, Holywell in the east became the first target. Gunari’s men were acting as lookouts and his deputy seemed to be in charge of lighting the oil-soaked bundles as the leader looked on, swaying in his saddle as though drunk. In a well-coordinated attack, marshals from inside the warehouse put out the fires as over a dozen warriors from Aveburgh and several more from the Renegate tribes captured all of the ruffians, throwing them into an empty grain silo at the mill. An extra layer of iron bars were chained to the existing padlocked grilles and four burly marshals stood guard.

  The warriors then took a shortcut through the city to help with the main battle at the south. Darrack looked back in satisfaction as one of the fire-damaged wagons was set alight a reasonable distance away from the mill. Rattrick had the idea to re-use the wagons, filled with a combination of old rags and other rubbish. These were treated so it would burn for a long time and create a lot of smoke, thus anyone watching from a distance would think the warehouse burnt.

  It was a different story at the Castle. They hoped Hereward’s men would be more or less on their own so they could merely set light to the rubbish mound at the castle. Unfortunately, Guaril placed no trust in Hereward and when Edlyn’s men had ridden past the camp several hours earlier, three more of his men had joined the one already there. Acting on Guaril’s orders, Alfwin insisted the boys and women, including Savannah, had to accompany Edlyn and the rest of his men down to Guaril’s camp. No-one wanted to stand up to the vicious masked man after he threatened to kill a boy or woman for every minute he had to wait.

  Edlyn’s men obviously expected some kind of treachery as they did not get close to the target. Instead, his men perched on their horses ready for flight at the slightest trouble while Hereward’s men placed the bundles. Although Hereward knew the gist of the Townies’ plan, he did not know the detail, and worried that whoever defended here would not be able to tell the Renegates apart. The biggest part of his mind screamed at him to get after the women and boys, but he had to make it look credible.

  He had the bright idea of shooting flaming arrows into the bundles to start the blaze, but Edlyn’s men were not happy about it. While they were arguing the pros and cons, the marshals and warriors appeared. Hereward fired his flaming arrow in the general direction of the warehouse and drew his sword. His men fought well, making it look realistic. Some of Edlyn’s men scattered. Two of them were wounded and a third captured, but the forth had escaped with several warriors after him.

  The fighting looked fierce, but Archer and Finn had spent some time briefing the men in tactics which gave the impression of being lethal but were in fact harmless. Hereward’s men wore headbands which glowed in the dark so they could be distinguished easily. Finn ordered the prisoners to be taken to the castle dungeons; which was the signal for Hereward to call the retreat. As Edlyn’s men were on their way down to the dungeons, they heard a shout that the warehouse was burning and gave a cheer.

  41 The Battle for the Mills

  The waiting was most definitely the worst bit. Archer pulled the dark hood around his face to shelter from the biting wind as he took his turn to watch from the roof of the old friary, now the warehouse storage for Blackfriars mill. The rest of his troop
assembled in the courtyard below, ready to fight as soon as they got the signal. He and Kalen had determined the best place to conceal the warriors and they’d decided on a three pronged attack. For the past couple of days, the food wagons had ferried men into the friary instead of goods for storage, and had brought the stored goods back into the town. The most able horsemen were hiding in the woods south of the mills, and the marshals were waiting inside the Southgate. Every movement happened with secrecy and precision, each person only aware of their small part in the overall scheme. The only people who knew the full picture were himself and Kalen. Since they discovered Guaril had mind link capabilities, it was important no one knew a single fact more than they needed to.

  Ganieda had given him a protection against Guaril’s intrusion, but it meant she could not do anything about the memories of Edlyn Kalen had unleashed. He figured remembering could not be a bad thing if it meant purging them from his system rather than continually suppressing them. But right now, alone and cold, they were not what he wanted to keep him company. As they played out, he wondered what made Edlyn hate him so much, and if he could have done anything to change that terrible day.

  ‘Nothing you could have done would have made any difference. He has always had the power of free will, but he chose to be the unprincipled bully he became.’ Archer hadn’t heard the voice inside his head for many years. Low and throaty, it was instantly recognisable as the voice of the tree spirit inside the bow he’d carved. An image of the wood-nymph filled his vision and he smiled at her beauty; every bit as potent as he remembered. As were her words.

  ‘You let him live before, but he did not learn his lesson. He’s still as evil as back then, but now even more bitter, and he wields a lot of power. If you let him live again, many people will die.’

  ‘But I can’t just kill him in cold blood.’

  ‘Kill who? And who are you talking to?’