Mayor Gunather looked irritated at the interruption. He cleared his throat. “These comrades of yours have just arrived from the Protectorate. It seems a young mercenary matching your description has fallen in with bad company and has broken numerous guild rules. They have the guild master’s warrant for your arrest. Do you have anything to say for yourself?”
Tevi lurched to her feet but froze at the sound of a sword half-drawn. There were footsteps, and a hand fell heavily on her shoulder. Tevi let herself be pushed back onto the stool despite her urge to resist. In both Ekranos and Horzt, she had concealed her true strength to avoid attracting attention. Her chances of escape would be better if these strangers remained unaware of her capabilities.
Tevi shrugged off the restraining hand. “I’ve done nothing wrong.”
“Then you’ve got nothing to worry about. The guild master just wants to ask you a few questions,” the eldest mercenary said calmly. By his actions and manner, he was the leader. Tevi felt him lift her leather sword belt from her shoulder over her head. The weapon was pulled free and tossed to one of the others.
“Honestly, there’s been some mistake. I’m not going to put up a fight.” Tevi hesitated, watching the mayor. “But I wasn’t aware that the guild master’s warrant was valid in Horzt.”
“It isn’t,” the mayor snapped. His ego was an easy target. He rose and leaned over the desk, gesticulating with the warrant in his hand. “It goes without saying that this piece of paper has no authority here. Horzt is outside the jurisdiction of the guild master and the Coven.”
The woman mercenary spoke. “We’re not asking you to obey an order, merely to demonstrate goodwill to the guild. So many of our members work in Horzt; a friendly relationship is in everyone’s best interest.” Despite her conciliatory tone, there was no mistaking the threat in her words. Without the guild, the town militia would collapse.
The captain by the window shuffled her feet. Her eyes flitted anxiously around the room and ended up fixed on the man standing behind the desk. Mayor Gunather continued to wave the paper, but it was empty posturing, as everyone knew.
“I’m not going to interfere between the guild and its members,” the mayor said at last, glowering at Tevi. “Permission is granted for these three to take you prisoner. You are relieved of your contract. Any outstanding salary is forfeit. “ He sat down with the expression of a sulking child.
The captain claimed Tevi’s helmet, cloak, and cotton surcoat. Tevi looked at her remaining clothing thoughtfully. The material was warm, and the leather jerkin was sturdy, but they were not sufficient for a long journey.
“Could someone collect my belongings from my lodgings?”
“And alert your friends? I think not,” the mercenary leader said.
“I can’t go all the way to Lyremouth like this,” Tevi pointed out reasonably, although getting news to Jemeryl had indeed been her main intention.
“I’ll see what I can find,” the captain volunteered quickly, undoubtedly wanting the guild master’s emissaries away from Horzt before the mayor did something silly.
While waiting for the captain’s return, the mercenary leader ordered, “Hold out your hands.”
Tevi froze in dread. Expelled mercenaries lost their hands, but surely only after due legal process. However, the man merely pulled a cord from his pouch. Tevi meekly allowed her wrists to be bound.
“We want to leave before any of your friends learn what’s happened. We don’t want you slipping out a message, do we?” he said in conversational tones as he tied the knots.
“You don’t want to take these accomplices as well?” the mayor asked.
“I doubt we’d be able to. Apparently, they include a high-level magic user. We’ve been given a charm, so they can’t trace us magically once we get a couple of miles away. But you’d better be on the lookout. They might cause trouble here.”
“I doubt there’ll be anything I can’t cope with. Even a sorcerer might think twice about tackling Horzt.” Mayor Gunather spoke breezily.
The man tying Tevi’s hands had his back to the mayor. Judging by the look he shot at his colleagues, he thought the mayor was absurdly overconfident, although nothing was said.
The door opened for the captain’s return, bringing a waterproof riding cloak and a couple of worn blankets. Tevi was hauled to her feet.
The mercenary leader shook out one blanket thoughtfully. “At least you won’t freeze.” He tossed it over Tevi’s head, hiding her from view. “Can’t do any harm, and it may slow down any gossip in town. Plus there’s less temptation for you to do anything rash. We’ll take it off once we’re well away.”
Tevi was propelled down the stairs and hoisted onto a waiting horse. She clung to the saddle horn with her bound hands. The congested mud tracks of the trader’s encampment slowed the horses to a walk, but soon, the sounds faded and the pace increased. The blanket prevented Tevi from seeing where they were going, and she could learn nothing very useful from the sounds. The only thing she could do was hang onto her horse and hope.
*
After an hour of hard riding, the group stopped, and the blanket was removed from Tevi. They had reached the western flank of the valley, where farmland gave way to rough pasture and pine forest. With each gust of wind, heavy droplets fell from the rain soaked trees towering over them. The road was a mosaic of puddles laced with ripples. Tevi almost asked for the blanket to be replaced. It had kept her dry.
The oldest of the mercenaries reined his horse around and faced her with an ironic smile. “I guess it would be polite to introduce ourselves. My name’s Russ. I was born in Horzt, so I know the local roads. I will be our guide on this little expedition.”
Tevi had surmised as much from his guttural, singsong accent.
Russ pointed to the woman mercenary. “Sharl is a tracker, in case we’re careless enough to lose you. Flory is simply solid muscle, including the contents of his head. He’ll be keeping an especially close eye on you, so with any luck, Sharl’s talents won’t be needed.”
Flory was unperturbed by the jibe. “Mercenaries need a bit of muscle. Maybe not so much scouts, but warriors...” He treated Tevi to a critical look.
“Don’t be so confident. Our instructions warned she’s a lot stronger than she looks,” Sharl said.
“It also said we’ll be well rewarded. I wouldn’t take it too much on trust,” Flory threw back at her.
“The sooner we get back, the sooner we’ll all find out.” Russ pointed to a broken cliff above the trees. “The path we want leads off in about a mile, up the side of that escarpment.”
Flory nodded and set off at a trot, pulling Tevi’s horse by a tether. The others fell in behind. Around the next bend, they passed a farmer herding three placid brown cows. Her colourful string of curses did not falter as the riders passed. If she noticed Tevi’s bound hands, she wisely gave no sign, but a young child tagging along stopped and stared until another turn took them from view.
The farmer’s swearing had just faded when a shout from Russ halted the group. He pointed at a ragged break in the wall of pine branches lining the road. The gap was unrecognisable as the start of a path.
“Not the scenic route!” Flory groaned. “I don’t want to spend the next month going in circles around a peat bog.”
“And we don’t want to be followed. It’ll be fine. We don’t all have as little sense of direction as you,” Russ replied
Sharl smiled as she slipped from her saddle. “Go ahead with the prisoner. I’ll disguise our tracks.”
The trail was so narrow that they were forced to go single file. Russ led the way with Sharl’s horse in tow. After a long look at the impenetrable forest on either side, Flory slipped the tether from Tevi’s horse and slapped its rump. The horse trotted along the path a couple dozen yards to where Russ had stopped. Despite her bound hands, Tevi managed to scoop up her reins, although it put her no more in control. She felt utterly trapped. The weak daylight was reduced to heavy dusk under the trees. She twi
sted to peer back, but Flory’s bulk blocked the view of the road they had left.
“It all went to plan. No hitches, which is better than I expected from the instructions,” Russ addressed Flory.
“You can say that when we deliver the prisoner.”
“You’re such a pessimist. If we’d had longer in Horzt, I’m sure I could have put a smile on your face.”
“I saw enough of the town. I’m quite content to be away in one piece.”
“You don’t know what you’ve missed.”
“I’ll try and live with the loss.”
Russ laughed. “I know this bar on the south side where—”
Tevi could stand the trivialities no more. “Tell me, now that there are no witnesses, are you going to kill me here, or will you hand me over to Levannue?”
Confused silence greeted her words. Eventually, Russ answered. “Neither. Like we said, we’re taking you to Lyremouth. I don’t know who Levannue is.”
Tevi stared at him. The eyes that met hers seemed free from deceit or coercion, but how could any ungifted human tell for certain?
Sharl pushed past Tevi’s legs and swung onto her waiting horse. “It’s all right, boys. I’ve finished the arty bits.”
Tevi kept her eyes on Russ. “Whether you know it or not, Levannue is the one behind all this.”
“Who’s Levannue?” Sharl asked innocently.
Russ shrugged his ignorance and urged his horse forward. Behind her, Flory also moved, herding her horse through the tunnel of trees.
Tevi looked about, searching desperately for some way of escaping. On either side, the forest floor was thick with pine needles, but scant undergrowth grew. Low branches, knotted with fir cones, swept close to the ground. To leave the trail, she would have to crawl while being an easy target for arrows.
Tevi chewed her lip. She would have to bide her time, but how long did she have? How long before Levannue showed up?
*
At midday, they rested in a fern-filled clearing atop a ridge. The rain had ceased temporarily, but the wind was damp. A ragged belt of blue broke between the clouds. Tevi stood, kicking her feet to aid the circulation to tired muscles. She rotated slowly as she did so, absorbing the view.
Folds of tree-clad mountains rolled away south. To the north, clouds swallowed the higher peaks. To the east, the air was streaked yellow with falling rain. Her captors also stretched cramped limbs. They acted in a relaxed fashion, yet Tevi was aware of their continual attention. Someone was always between her and the grazing horses.
Russ opened a bag and passed around hard cheese, dried fruit, and drier bread.
“The delights of the open road,” Flory muttered. “Anything to wash this down with?”
“Water.”
“Anything better?”
“Not unless you pop back to Horzt and get it.”
“Do you think if we’d asked nicely, the mayor would have given us a few bottles from his cellar?” Sharl joined in.
“Empty ones, maybe.”
The exchange was light-hearted. The same natural banter had been going on all morning. Tevi was increasingly convinced that her captors were not ensorcelled. They certainly did not match Jemeryl’s description of listless puppets, and neither did they seem corrupt. Tevi was confused. It did not make sense.
“Who told you to come to Horzt to take me prisoner?” she asked in a lull.
“Our captain,” Russ answered.
“The instruction came direct from Lyremouth?”
“Yes, via carrier pigeon. We’re from the garrison in Gossenfeld. The order arrived two mornings ago. The captain picked us for the job.”
“Oh, of course,” Tevi said with sudden enlightenment.
Three confused faces turned towards her.
“You’ve got to believe me,” Tevi said earnestly. “The order wasn’t from Lyremouth. It must be a forgery by Levannue.”
“What makes you think that?” Russ was clearly unmoved.
“Because I know I haven’t done anything wrong.”
“And this Levannue’s got a grudge against you?” Flory was also sceptical.
“Maybe not me in particular. But she’s a renegade, and I’m with a group trying to capture her.”
“It’s a pretty neat trick to kidnap one of the guild pigeons and forge the guild master’s seal. This Levannue is obviously very resourceful.”
“She could do it easily. She’s a Coven sorcerer.”
There was a long moment of startled silence.
“Oh, girl, what have you got yourself messed up in?” Sharl asked softly.
“If you credit the story,” Flory said.
“It may be true,” Russ said slowly. “I’ve heard rumours. The whole Coven is in uproar, and now I think of it, the name Levannue does sound familiar.” He fixed Tevi with a level gaze. “Take my advice; you’re well out of it. Let the sorcerers sort out their own problems. It doesn’t concern the likes of you and me.”
“But you’ve got to let me go. Levannue is probably lying in wait ahead. If she captures me, she’ll read my mind, and...” The three faces watching Tevi were implacable. She sighed. “I know it sounds like I’m making things up so you’ll let me go.”
“It certainly does that,” Russ agreed.
“What can I say to make you believe me?”
“It’s irrelevant what you make me believe. I’ve been given orders, and I’m obeying them. It can all be sorted out in Lyremouth,” Russ said firmly, clearly terminating the conversation as far as he was concerned.
A canteen of water was passed around. Tevi took a long swig, restraining any further pleas. It would be wisest to avoid conflict with her captors. She had to escape and knew she would get only one chance. In the meantime, she had no choice but to let herself be taken farther away from Horzt—and Jemeryl.
*
The route Russ picked kept to little-used forest trails and was clearly chosen for secrecy rather than speed. They saw no trace of human habitation until two days later, when their path descended the wooded side of a broad valley. At the bottom was a fast-flowing river with farmlands on the other side. The hills rising beyond were far lower than those they had been through. They were leaving the Barrodens. Somewhere downstream, the smoke from several chimneys drifted in the wind.
Russ grinned at Flory. “I told you we wouldn’t get lost, and it should have thrown any pursuit. Now we can quicken the pace. Gossenfeld is sixty miles southeast of here, but we’ll head straight for Rizen and take the Langhope Pass. We’ll be at Lyremouth inside twenty days.”
Flory merely grunted and looked at the raging waters, swollen by the recent rain. Fierce eddies sucked at the banks. Cascades were stained brown by mud and interspersed with strips of glassy black water. Leaves and other debris danced in frenzied swirls to the thunder of the river.
“How do we get across?”
“Can’t you swim?” Tevi asked with mock innocence.
Flory’s momentary look of horror brought amused chuckles from Russ and Sharl. An easy rapport had grown between Tevi and the others, despite their respective status as prisoner and escort. Tevi could admit to a genuine respect for her captors. They had acted with capable professionalism, allowing her not the slightest chance to escape, but never treating her vindictively or unfairly.
“Anyone who fancies the swim is welcome to try. However, there is a better way,” Russ said as he steered his horse onto the mud-clogged path along the riverbank.
“If I volunteer to try swimming, would you untie my hands first?” Tevi asked, joking.
“No.” Russ matched her tone and turned to look at her. “Hopefully someday, we’ll travel together in happier circumstances. You can demonstrate your swimming ability then.”
“You mean you think I might be innocent?”
“I think you’ve got involved in things out of your depth. But no, I don’t think you’re a wrong ‘un. And I’ll say as much for you at Lyremouth.”
“Thanks, but there should
be no need. I really have done nothing wrong.”
Sharl leaned over and squeezed Tevi’s shoulder. “I hope so, for your sake. You’ve got nice hands.”
Even Flory managed a few words of comfort. “Look on the bright side. If you are innocent, you’ll get to spend a free winter in Lyremouth, which will be more fun than freezing your arse off in the snow at Horzt.”
Tevi sighed. Despite her liking for the three, she had no intention of going to Lyremouth, but it seemed that she might get no option. At least her fears of being ambushed by Levannue had diminished.
The river had burst its banks in places. The horses waded knee-deep between half-submerged bushes. It was slow progress, hampered by the fading light. Sunset was more than an hour away, but thick grey covered the sky. It grew steadily darker as storm clouds rolled over the mountains. Branches shook in the rising wind. Fumbling with bound hands, Tevi tugged her cloak around her shoulders.
Eventually, a hamlet came into view on the far bank, made up of a dozen squat cottages with adjacent barns and pigsties. Tevi peered down the river, hoping for a sight of a bridge. Just before they drew level with the first building, the path crossed a broader road that rolled down the hillside and disappeared into the water.
Russ stopped his horse. “There’s a ford here in summer.”
“There isn’t now.” Flory stated the obvious.
“So it’s just as well that there’s a ferry.” Russ grinned and led on.
A hundred yards below the hamlet, the river looped away from the side of the valley. The trees gave way to an uneven expanse of hummocks and tufts of waving long grass. The river broadened out, which took the edge off the torrent. A thick rope was strung across the river at the widest point. Beached half out of the water on the far side was a raft, attached to the line by running loops and a pulley arrangement.
“Ahoy!” Russ shouted, hands cupped around his mouth.
Before his voice had died away, a door to the nearest cottage swung open, and a thickset man strode down to the water’s edge.
“I’ll bet he was watching us ride along, but they do like to be called.”
The Traitor and the Chalice Page 21
