by E. V. Greig
“Oh. So I can talk how I like to, then?”
She laughed. “Of course you may!”
“That’s a relief! Kaiwan talks properly all the time, but I don’t like to. It's boring!”
“Mmn, I know. When I was your age, I certainly didn't have the patience for grammar lessons!”
“Kaiwan just talks like that anyway. She’s strange.” Althanor had decided that he could trust Lady Naomi. “Do you know she didn’t even like the frogs that I left in her bed as a present? She screamed when she found them!”
“Frogs in a bed? Well now, that would have been a surprise. I think I might have screamed too, to be honest, Althanor.”
The youngster shook his head. “No, I think you’re much braver than Kaiwan is. You have strong eyes: like Lonrari does. Like my father does. I miss him. And Lonrari. When are they coming here?”
Naomi opened her mouth to reply, and then winced. Pulling Althanor to her, she shielded his face with her hands. “Misericord, take Althanor back to my uncle please.”
“At once, my Lady.” Misericord stepped into view and scooped Althanor up into his arms. “Let us leave, little lad.” He strode off along the corridor towards the stairwell that led up to Lord Ranulf’s quarters.
Naomi hurried over to where Elharan and his men were carrying Olef’s body into the guardroom. “Do we know who did this yet?”
Elharan sighed and wordlessly handed her a tattered shirt, encrusted with sweat and gore. “Recognise it? Olef had it clenched in his hand. There was a length of newly worked metal pinning him to that wall. What’s more, I sent him to deliver soap to Master Khuff’s household yesterday and apparently Kaiwan was away working in the main kitchen. So Olef took the soap to Hugo, and got a bollocking for interrupting his work - something about sabotaging him.”
“I thought you said that you gave Hugo three days to prove himself as a smith.” Naomi stared at the worn garment in her hands.
“Aye well, maybe I should have kept a closer watch on him! I don’t see many ways to explain this - how could anyone else have gotten hold of his shirt?”
“Kaiwan, perhaps?”
“You think that a slip of a girl could impale a full grown man to a wall?”
“I could certainly do so.”
“With all due respect, Lady Naomi? Kaiwain isn’t you, so bugger that for an explanation.”
Naomi sighed. “Very well, Elharan. Arrest Hugo Khuff - but he is to have a fair trial.”
Elharan nodded grimly. “I’ll tell my men to be professional. And I really do hope that blacksmith has a good explanation for all of this, but I doubt it.”
∞∞∞
A heavy hand pounded on the door of the cottage, waking Hugo and Kaiwan. “Open in the name of the guard!”
Hugo groaned and stumbled to his feet. “Grant us a moment, will you? I have your weapons ready for inspection in my forge - let me dress and I shall show you the quality of my work!”
The door slammed open then, and Kaiwan screamed as a dozen heavily armed guards marched in, led by Elharan. The aged captain scowled and tossed her his cloak. “Master Khuff - you are under arrest for the murder of Olef Vernsson!”
Hugo blinked. “What are you talking about? I’ve done no such thing! I’ve been nowhere other than here in my own house and forge, working!”
“Working, is it? Almost midday, the two of you mother naked and barely awake - oh indeed, I reckon that to be fine work!” Elharan nodded to his men. “Take him to the cells. Lady Naomi insists that he have a fair trial.”
The guards stepped forward and surrounded Hugo, who snarled and raised his fists. “I’ve done nothing wrong! This is all a misunderstanding!”
“The evidence tells me otherwise.” Elharan was not to be persuaded. “Where are your clothes, Master Khuff?”
“My clothes? Upstairs, I suppose. Where I left them when I undressed last night.”
“You suppose?”
Hugo head butted one guard and punched a second. “Aye, that’s right, I suppose my clothes to be where I left them, what of it? Should they have walked off?”
A third guard slammed the edge of his shield down onto the nape of Hugo's neck. The blacksmith grunted and collapsed. “We have him sir. What of the girl?”
“Take the prisoner to the cells. See to it that he has no accident along the way, mind! I will deal with the girl: she may know something useful, she may not, but either way she will need to be questioned.”
“Aye sir.” The guards dragged Hugo out of the cottage, leaving Elharan alone with Kaiwan.
“Where are they taking him? Why are you doing this?” Kaiwan had not been able to follow the conversation between the Alnaieans. Now she tried to run after the guards. “Let him go!”
Elharan caught her arm and steered her back indoors. “Alright then, lass. Tell me the truth. Did the smith lay with you this past night and morning?”
Kaiwan blushed and nodded. “He took Althanor to Lady Naomi after supper for being bold of tongue! I was already in bed when he returned. I was sleeping, but after he had undressed he got in next to me by mistake in the dark and I woke up.”
“By mistake. I see.” Elharan nodded and mentally clenched his fists at what he guessed to have been the truth of that mistake. “And then what happened?”
“He put his arm around me. He was weeping and talking in his sleep. Grieving, I think.” Kaiwan shivered. “Then the nhynquara came and scratched at the shutter. I was afraid, but Hugo woke up and drove it away.”
Elharan frowned. “This nhynquara is the creature that Hugo fought in the valley, aye?”
“Yes. It will keep coming until it gets what it wants. Unless it is slain, but it is said to be very difficult to slay such a creature. Only the truest of heroes has ever succeeded in doing so.”
“Back to the matter at hand, if you will. Did Hugo stay the entire night and morning with you?”
“Yes he did.” Kaiwan decided not to mention her casting. “We talked about my friends, and also about the peoples of this world.”
Elharan sensed that she was not telling him everything. “What are you leaving out?”
“I - well, he placed his mouth upon mine. He would not tell me why, or what it meant. Then he came downstairs and I followed him to ask. But he refused to explain. He just told me to leave: he kept insisting that he was dangerous.”
“Dangerous. I see. And did you leave?”
“No, sir. I told him that he was free to do whatever he pleased with me. He seemed to be sad at that. Then he seemed to be angry again, and then he laughed at me. He put his arms around me and we went to sleep by the stove. That is where you found us.” Kaiwan blushed again at that.
Elharan pointed to the stairs. “Show me his clothing please.”
Kaiwan led the way to the bedchamber and pointed to where Hugo’s clothing lay scattered about the floor. Elharan narrowed his eyes. There was no sign of a shirt. Yet Kaiwan claimed that Hugo had been with her all night and morning. Was it possible that Olef had been killed the previous evening?
“The shutters are open!” Kaiwan pointed. “I locked them before I went to bed last night!”
“Could Hugo have opened them?”
“They were still closed when the nhynquara came.”
“And might he have opened them this morning, perhaps say he awoke before we arrived but then went back to sleep? Would you have known? Are you a light sleeper?”
“I - I do not know for certain, sir. I never lay with a man before last night.” Kaiwan hung her head.
Elharan sighed. “Get yourself dressed now, lass. I will take the rest of his clothes with me.”
“Please, what is going to happen?”
“I can’t say for certain either way as yet. You must come to the guardhouse with me now and we’ll write this all down together in front of witnesses. Then you’ll need to put your mark to your testimony. After that the healers must examine you.”
“Why must the healers examine me?”
> Elharan made a mental note to have a quiet word with Hugo about his having taken such an advantage with one so obviously an innocent. He attempted to gentle his voice. “Well, it's really just a precaution. In case Hugo hurt you.”
She flinched and almost unconsciously rubbed at the side of her head. “I deserved it. I had angered him.”
Elharan frowned and carefully lifted her hair aside. There was an ugly bruise forming on her left temple. Upon closer inspection, he saw that her shoulders too were marked, as if she had been seized violently. “These marks - how did you come by them?”
“I was disobedient yesterday morning; Hugo was angered by my behaviour. He shook me. I kicked him and so he cuffed me about the head. But it was only the once, sir.”
“Only the once. I see.” Elharan repeated the words automatically, clinging to his role as a guardsman because Gods help him he would have that bastard’s hide otherwise. “Now see here, lass. No one has the right to handle you roughly, not once or a thousand times. We have laws against such actions. Alright, sweet?”
“But I was being wilful, and foolish! It was ungrateful of me!”
Elharan bundled the smith’s ragged clothes under one arm and waited quietly for Kaiwan to finish dressing. “Alright then: let’s be off and get all of this written down properly, eh? And maybe we can get you a nice cup of tea. What do you say to that?”
Kaiwan nodded obediently and followed him back down the stairs and out of the cottage. “Is Hugo in trouble, Captain Elharan?”
“That’s not for me to say, lass. But never you worry about it either way: he’s a big man and well able to take care of himself.”
Chapter Ten
Misericord finally found the cat curled up quite calmly atop the roof of the tallest of the towers. It was staring fixedly off into the middle distance, green eyes untroubled by the glaring sun. Quite how it had gotten up there was a mystery. But then, this was no cat, Misericord reminded himself, oh no: this was no mere cat! No simple scrap of pied fur and whiskers this! And he intended to make much of that. “You saw something, Spellsnitcher.”
The cat yawned. “And what if I did, witchfinder? What careth thee for mine testimony?”
“I care not, beast. But the Lady does. She seeks to save the smith. Now - say what it was that you saw. Who slew the unfortunate Olef?”
“Not whom but what, witchfinder. ‘Twas a hag of some type: fierce and swift, yet lacking a limb. It staked your guardsman. And then it placed some garment in his dead paw and fled.”
“I see. So you say that the smith is blameless, beast?”
“Dost thou seek to hear a cat laugh, witchfinder? Nay, never blameless, not that one. A dark soul has he indeed. But he slew not your guardsman, if that be your question.”
Misericord turned away from the creature and followed its gaze. “What is it that you watch, beast?”
“The restless dead art many here. But hark that way: off beyond those hills - I dost sense worse from there. Do not let the Lady stray there, witchfinder. Lest we lose her to her own shadows.”
“You bear the blame for those better than any other, beast!” Bile rose in his throat and he almost drew his blades. Almost. But that would be improper. A loss of temper, of self-discipline. Improper. And Misericord was always proper. For it was only proper to be proper. He knew that, for he was a proper sort of a person, and proper people properly knew the importance of being proper. He slipped back the way that he had come instead, leaving the cat to its musings.
Spellsnitcher stretched. “’Twas fine blood at least.”
∞∞∞
“How long do you suppose until they start torturing us for information?” Ruiryk had decided that he might as well attempt to talk to their fellow prisoner. The scarred man had been unconscious, filthy and naked when the guards put him into the cell. Now at least he was awake, albeit brooding in the farthest corner by himself.
“He doesn't speak Anyosian by the look of it,” Banor observed. “Try another.”
Ruiryk frowned and switched to Anthiri. These Alnaieans had appeared to have some grasp of that. “Hey you - are they likely to torture us?”
“Doubtful.” It seemed that their fellow prisoner finally understood him. “What did you do?”
“Nothing! It was a bit of a misunderstanding, that's all.”
“What sort of a misunderstanding?”
“The sort where they threatened the Lady Naomi’s life in front of her personal bodyguard. He didn’t take it at all well, from what I’m told. Not that I’m told much.”
All three prisoners looked at the speaker. The scarred man broke the silence. “Captain Elharan.”
“Master Khuff. I am here to formally inform you that you have been formally acquitted of the murder of Olef Vernsson. A witness has identified the real culprit as that accursed nhynquara. However, during my investigation, I had cause to interview Kaiwan and she has related some information that I consider to be very serious indeed. Therefore, you shall be remaining in this cell until such a time as I see fit to release you. Have you anything to say in your defence?” Elharan’s voice was the flat tone of one who had seen too many hangings.
Hugo stared at him. “What am I being accused of now?”
“Assault and battery of a household chattel, for one. And taking advantage of the unknowing nature of said chattel in order to deflower her, for a second. How do you plead?”
“Chattel, what chattel? I have no idea what you mean!”
Elharan stepped up close to the bars. “I mean sir, that you took your temper out upon Kaiwan. I mean sir, that by our laws that is a crime. I mean sir, that she is a person of your household, whom you had tasked with keeping house for you. And that therefore sir, you have committed assault and battery of a chattel. I mean sir, that you also lay with her, and that it is my very firm conviction that she was not well enough informed to give you her consent. And therefore sir, you have committed rape. Now sir, have you anything that you wish to say?”
Ruiryk slammed into Hugo, locking his hands around the older man’s throat. Behind them, Banor snarled: hefting the bench that he had been sitting on. Hugo grunted and ducked: swinging Ruiryk forward over his shoulder to block the incoming piece of furniture. “I say that I struck her once, yes, we quarrelled and it was wrong of me. I told her to leave. She refused.”
“So you raped her?” Elharan spat.
“No! I swear it: I would never do such a thing. We lay in each other’s arms, yes, but nothing happened. She is lying if she told you otherwise - a damned lying witch!” Hugo shoved Banor away from him. The gnarled old varyn tumbled backwards across the cell with a string of curses.
Elharan frowned as he considered Kaiwan’s phrasing. “Well, the healers will soon determine if that is the truth or not. They are examining her now.”
“So I’m innocent as long as she has her maidenhead intact?”
Ruiryk was back on his feet. “You piece of filth! She was pure, innocent - if you have taken that from her; I swear by Moorgi that I shall hang you by your own intestines!”
Hugo kicked him hard in the jaw, sending him reeling to land on top of Banor. The cell began to fade away as redness flooded his vision. The familiar chasm yawned before him: beckoning him on into his rage.
A voice pulled him back. “I suspect that you mean with, not by. My uncle always does stress the importance of words.”
“Lady Naomi,” Elharan acknowledged, quietly glad of her arrival. “What say the healers?”
“Pure as unicorn spit. I've spoken with her closely, Elharan. Nothing happened, but she has led a most awfully sheltered life. Which does explain her confusion regarding what lying with a man actually entails. All a dreadful misunderstanding. Although he did strike her. You may charge him with that, but nothing more. And frankly I suspect that she provoked him.”
“No excuse: he broke the law, he pays for it.” Elharan folded his arms.
“Of course: I’m merely providing the necessary context for the
framing of his punishment, Elharan.”
“You are interfering with my work, Lady Naomi.”
“Do I need to remind you whose keep this is, Captain Elharan?”
“Do I need to remind you of the time that I pulled you out of that canal?”
In the cell, Ruiryk, Banor and Hugo exchanged glances. Then they shrugged and sat down. Ruiryk rubbed his jaw. “It appears that we owe you an apology, Master Khuff.”
Hugo sighed. “Don’t bother. I take it that you’re her friends?”
“Yes, I’m Ruiryk De Laney and this is Banor.”
“Huh. Hugo Khuff.”
“Thank you. For saving Althanor and Kaiwan, I mean.”
“Are there any other survivors?”
“Luath Windriversson: a par’anth. But he may not pull through. His mind is elsewhere, and his soul seems all too keen to follow it.”
“I see. That will sadden the witch, I am sure.”
“Why do you call her that?” Ruiryk wondered how much this man knew.
Hugo laughed bitterly and indicated the singed skin on his body. “She panicked and hit me with a bolt of lightning. And later she bound our fates with some protective rite. She seemed to like me then. I’m less certain now though.”
“Alright, we’ve discussed the matter.” Elharan nodded to one of his men to unlock the cell. “You’re all free to go. But I’m putting a watch on you, Master Khuff; for the good of the keep. You have a troubling amount of rage in you.”
Hugo held out his hands. “I’ll take my clothes back now, thank you. And then once I have dressed and fetched my sword, I shall take my leave of you all. This keep is no place for one such as me. You’re right about my rage. I’ll take it elsewhere, and put it to work in a manner that suits it.”
Naomi shook her head angrily. “And what manner shall that be?”
“Fighting the agents of the Vor’Barysk. He’s coming here next. You may ask Kaiwan and her friends to confirm it, for they are the ones planning on stopping him by sacrificing her. To you, good lady, I bid a grateful farewell. Know that should you ever have need of me that I shall gladly lend you my sword. But never ask me to dwell here again, for I could not stand to be in a place that would judge a man so very wrongly.” With that, he snatched his clothes from the guardsmen and walked away, dressing as he went.
