by Julia Knight
“Oku lied to put you here. Not Valguard lying to Oku. Oku lying to us all. That’s what Regin couldn’t tell me.”
He stared down at her. “Regin? You saw Regin?” Was she delirious? And… “Oku? Why would he do such a thing?” He’d broken no oath, gone against no law, not for many a year. Oku should have no interest in him.
She groaned and curled up around the arms that hugged her stomach. “Jealous,” she said and those were the last words he could get out of her.
He sat, pulled her on to his lap and held her till the Disciples came for them.
Oaths, Justice and Lies
Nerinna watched Ilfayne regain some sort of normality. Almost. The grey streak still stained his hair and wrinkles pleated his face. At least he was coherent, and they had a plan, of sorts. Play along with Valguard and once they were at the execution Ilfayne would do, well, something. He hadn’t been very clear on that point.
“I’ll think of something, don’t you worry. And Hilde will be there, for sure. Won’t she?” He looked pleadingly at Nerinna and she nodded. He gave her a shaky smile and carried on. “She’ll try something to save her precious Hunter, if I know her. Between us we’ll get that sod Valguard. Maybe hang him instead. Now there’s a nice thought.” Ilfayne’s hand shook in his agitation. “But would Valguard try this behind Oku’s back? Would he dare, even if he’s tainted by Mithotyn? Even if they both are?”
The blood drained from Ilfayne’s face as some sudden thought hit him. “Hilde. I thought I could keep her safe if I kept her out of it, but it’s us he’s been after all along. And I believed him. How could I be so blind? We have to get to Hilde. She’ll be there, I’m sure of it, and in more danger than ever. We have to find her.” He shuddered. “Him all along!”
“Who? Mithotyn? He’s tainted Valguard and used him to fool Oku? Then Hilde was right.” Nerinna stared at him as he paced up and down, his lined face screwed up in panic and desperate thought.
Ilfayne shook himself and checked his rattling trinkets. “Maybe. Maybe he has been. He—”
A knock at the door interrupted him and he swore. “Valguard, I don’t doubt, come to gloat over the execution. Just play along for now, all right? Then I get to fry his arse.” He gave her a feral grin, as though nothing would give him greater pleasure. Suddenly she was not sure who she was more afraid of, Valguard or Ilfayne.
“And Hunter?”
“Yes, yes. All right. We’ll do something about him too.” He sighed in impatience as he strode to the door and opened it.
He staggered back when four Disciples marched in. Two grabbed him by the arms and dragged him towards the door while the others came for Nerinna.
“What in the Dark do you think you’re doing?” Ilfayne asked, but the Disciples said nothing.
The two who came for Nerinna didn’t touch her but she was firmly ushered towards the door. Their unsheathed swords made sure she didn’t resist. She closed her fingers around what was left of the yinae, just in case.
She followed Ilfayne down the corridor, trailed the sound of his peevish voice as he demanded to know what was going on. When they reached the main staircase, and as Ilfayne was threatening to fry some eyeballs, Valguard met them. The Disciples released Ilfayne and he glared up at Valguard. “Herjan’s bloody arse man, what are you doing?”
“Ah, Ilfayne. So glad you could join us. The executions will begin shortly. Please, follow me. And Nerinna, a delight as always. I’d begun to worry. Shame that you wasted your only chance to save Hunter’s life. But Oku told me where you were, and what you were doing.”
Valguard smiled at her in such away that made her feel he even knew what she’d been thinking. Maybe Oku had told him that too. The Disciples prodded her forward.
Mollified, Ilfayne followed Valguard down to the main door of the citadel. “Executions? You’ve found some other poor bastard to hang as well, have you?”
“Indeed I have. One I think you might enjoy.”
“Hunter and I may have had our differences, but don’t think for a heartbeat that I’m going to enjoy this. In fact I’d rather not go, if it’s all the same to you.”
They reached the door and the noise battered at Nerinna’s ears. The square was packed to bursting. Only the efforts of several dozen Disciples allowed them passage through the crowd to a large dais on one side, draped in black silk. Arashin was there, grinning down at her next to a nervous Fadeen.
The crowd parted hurriedly as Ilfayne stalked up the steps, glared around and grinned when the few people there refused to meet his eye. Everyone except Valguard. He had a smile of his own, one that turned Nerinna’s stomach. He was gloating.
Aran and Jolnin followed them up the steps, closely guarded. Jolnin’s normally amiable face was gaunt and pinched with grief. Aran looked as though he’d cried a river of tears, though his face was dry now. He tried to smile at Nerinna but it was a poor effort.
Ilfayne glared at Valguard suspiciously and went to the front of the dais. They were high enough to see the entire square—the baying crowds, the Disciples who kept a kind of order, and the gallows set in the centre of the square. A great roar went up, enough to almost send Nerinna to her knees, and Hunter appeared at the entrance to the cells.
***
Hunter stumbled up the steps and squinted into the dawn light. The main square was packed with people and at the sight of him a great roar reverberated round the buildings, echoing back and forth until his mind swam. A prod from behind got him moving again and he started along the narrow aisle of free space, separated only from howling spectators by the line of Disciples. They had their hands full keeping people back. The crowd surged forward, hands stretched past the swords to try and grab him, rip him limb from limb. They thought he’d betrayed them. Maybe they were right.
A second roar, a second rush of people when Hilde staggered out behind him, held between two Disciples, barely able to keep her feet. He turned to help her but two unsheathed swords barred the way and another urged him forward.
He had brought them to this. He who began the worship of Regin, began what ended now with this. With his execution, his ultimate disgrace, any reverence of Regin would disappear. Oku would have the land to himself once again.
He tried to ignore the fingers that ripped at his shirt, pulled out handfuls of his hair and drew blood on his arms. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was the gallows that loomed above him, the disgrace he’d brought to himself, to his family, to Regin. That Hilde was going to die here with him. There was nothing left to do, except one thing. If all he could do was die with dignity, then that was what he would do.
He started up the wooden steps.
***
Nerinna had to turn away. She couldn’t bear to watch, to see Hunter’s own city turn against him. The sound of it was enough to drive a shaft of pity and grief through her. Then a drawn-out groan from Ilfayne made her turn back. Hilde came out too, pushed behind Hunter towards the scaffold. Nerinna’s hand flew to her mouth. Hilde too?
Ilfayne stared down at Hilde in disbelief for a moment before he turned on a gloating Valguard. “What lunacy is this? Release her immediately, or by Herjan’s bloody arse you’ll end the day with no eyes.”
Valguard’s smile grew broader. “And just how are you going to do that?”
Ilfayne advanced on Valguard, raised his hand and muttered a few words. Nerinna didn’t know what he intended but it didn’t happen. Ilfayne stared at his hand as though it had betrayed him. “What have you done?”
Valguard kept his voice low, so only Nerinna and Ilfayne could hear. “I’ve done nothing. But the poison I gave you and Hilde, well, the mage’s blood is acting on her kyrbodan blood. And the kyrbodan blood in it was acting on the magic in your blood. The yinae Nerinna gave you devoured your magic so the poison had nothing to work on.”
Valguard ignored Nerinna’s cry of dismay and continued gloating. “You won’t be casting anything for some time. But that won’t be a problem. Because you’ll only liv
e long enough to see her die, and know that she was right. Hunter is innocent. He did nothing he was charged with. There is no taint of Mithotyn in his supporters. Or in us. You killed all those men for Oku’s lie. Now watch her die before I thrust this sword, Regin’s sword that you made, through your heart. A fitting end I think.”
“He lied? It was him? You did all this for Oku, for his lies?”
“Oh, yes. The lies have purpose, to rid us of the scourge of Regin’s worship. Oku is a very jealous god. I’ll get my reward. I shall marry this young thing here.” Valguard reached out his spare hand to stroke Nerinna’s cheek but she pulled away and spat on his hand. “Shame you didn’t stay last night. I could well have been persuaded to let Hunter live. Even if it was only until tomorrow. I shall marry you and take control of the Three Kingdoms. For Oku.”
Fadeen started at that and whispered hurried words into Arashin’s ear. He took an angry step forward, but Fadeen stopped him with a hand on his arm and whispered again. Arashin smiled at Nerinna, his lips a cold slit in his face. Dear gods, wasn’t Valguard enough?
“None will be above Oku,” Valguard carried on, unaware of Arashin’s plotting at his back. “He’ll not suffer another god to have more worship than him. He’ll not suffer Regin to be worshipped at all.” He leant further forward till his mouth was close to Ilfayne’s ear. “So watch her die, then I will take your heart and you will both go down to the Dark, long awaited by all those you’ve murdered. Awaited by Mithotyn himself.”
Ilfayne seemed to shrivel more at every word. “But my oath. Oku swore—I’d be spared that even if I never went to the Halls. He gave us both that. He swore!”
“He lied. Oku only wants to stop this heresy, this worship of the false godling, Regin, and to rid himself of two servants who give him nothing but trouble, who ever question in their hearts whether he is right. Through Hunter was the best way. Oku will have all worship to himself again. And he’s wanted to get rid of the pair of you for some time. That kyrbodan! Beings who read the minds and hearts of men before they shred them and steal their souls. They’re wretches who must die for their crimes. And you, who flaunts our most basic law, who ever betrays his master. It’s been an honour, and a very great pleasure, to serve him this way.”
Valguard reached behind him and pulled out Regin’s sword, hefted it in both hands and aimed it at Ilfayne. “Oku lied to you. You’ll have the Dark when you die, all three of you. Now watch.”
Aran stepped forward, fingers grasping vainly for his own sword that was not at his waist. “Valguard, you think I’ll allow this? Allow you to hang him for that?”
Valguard slid his eyes over to Aran. “You’ve no choice, Highness.” He nodded at two Disciples who stepped forward and held Aran at sword-point. “You’re nothing more than one of Oku’s subjects. And you’ll do as he says. Or you too will hang.”
Aran struggled but the older and vastly stronger Disciples overpowered him. Even when Jolnin leapt to his defence. They could do little, unarmed and against so many. Arashin’s cold smile grew broader as he watched.
“Very good. Now let’s all watch the entertainment so thoughtfully provided by our god.” Valguard curled his lip in disgust. “Why would anyone worship a god who thinks you deserve to live? A mage. A murdering, foul-minded maggot. He couldn’t let you both live. He had no choice.”
He prodded the sword at Ilfayne and the mage turned mechanically and stared down at the crowd, at Hilde. Powerless to do anything about it.
Fear grasped at Nerinna’s hands and made them tremble. Their last hope, that Ilfayne could somehow stop this, was gone. She had no choice left but Valguard, or Arashin. But that wasn’t what caused her to grip the back of a chair with shaking hands, afraid that she would fall otherwise. It was what lay below her in the square.
She shut her eyes against the sight of Hunter struggling through the crowds. But hearing the blood-hungry was almost worse than seeing. Her mind conjured up all manner of things they were doing to Hunter, that they would do to him. And in the end, she had to watch. She had to let him know, somehow, anyhow, that at least one person here believed him innocent. That she knew the truth now.
Nerinna looked across the heads of the crowd. Hunter was buffeted among them, and the Disciples did little to hinder them, but he held his pace with a muted gravity that broke her heart. Hands ripped and pulled at him, drew blood along his arms and face and he bore it all stoically, when it was all she could do not to scream at them, to run down there and pull them from him with nails and teeth.
Hunter escaped the clutches of the crowd, up the steps to the scaffold. A noose was draped around his neck and he stood straight and tall. So steady, so calm in the face of his own death. Kyr, please, please save him. And if you cannot save him, let him have peace and a quick death.
He looked up at Nerinna. She could not have drawn her eyes away if Mithotyn himself was behind her. Hunter smiled at her, a gentle, pitying, loving smile, and Nerinna’s legs wouldn’t hold her. She gripped the chair, determined to be as calm as he was but knowing she never could be.
The rope was drawn up snug around his neck. He was still smiling at her, telling her it was all right maybe, but she could barely see through her tears. She couldn’t watch them do it, didn’t even want to hear it, but she must. Someone must who believed him. Who loved him.
She had never let him know how she felt, and she’d only seconds now. She raised trembling fingers to her lips, kissed them and held them out to him. It was all she could do. His smile tightened, twisted as though she’d stabbed at his heart, and she would have sworn tears wet his beard then.
Aran came to the front of the dais and laid an arm around her shoulder, watched as her tears dripped unheeded onto her hands and let his arm drop. She barely even noticed.
One of the men on the gallows gave an order and another scurried off to the lever. Hunter’s eyes never left hers, and she couldn’t tear away. If this was all she could do for him, be with him as he died, maybe let him have one crumb of comfort, then she must do it no matter how much her heart wanted to stop beating from the pain.
She stared into his eyes and waited for them to pull the lever.
A Jealous God
Hunter tried to still his shaking body. He wouldn’t appear weak now, not in front of Nerinna, in front of everyone. He stared up at her, holding on to her eyes as though her look could keep him from death, that she could save him. Hoping she knew now that he loved her. Her eyes were puffed from crying, her hair awry, her clothes stained and rumpled, and she’d never looked more beautiful.
She raised her hand to her lips, kissed her fingers and held them out to him. Everything else faded away. There was no noise, no crowds, no noose around his neck. Just him and her. Please Regin, don’t let her have to see this.
A louder noise jabbed at his attention, but he ignored it until a wedge of men struck through the crowd in front of him. Someone barrelled into him, knocked his feet from under him and the noose tightened around his neck before it all came loose. Someone had cut the rope. Hunter fell forward onto his knees and struggled to rise with his hands tied behind him. What in the gods’ names—
A familiar voice came from behind him. “You think we’d let you die?”
Sannir. What useless show of bravado was this? Valguard would hang him too. Hunter turned to speak, to tell him to get out, to leave him and then someone blew through the crowds before the gallows. A hooded giant of man who punched, crunched and groin-shotted his way through the crowds by his sheer size. He had no weapons that Hunter could see but no one stood against him, or not for long.
A crowd of Hunter’s guards and others followed him, shouting his name, men he didn’t recognise, who pushed and shoved people away from the gallows. Hunter had never seen anyone fight like this, as though every move were a dance step, every thrust or punch a whirl of perfection. No one since Regin at least. At that thought the man turned to face Hunter and he almost fell to his knees again with shock. It was Regin.
He grinned at Hunter before he turned to the dais and shouted up at Ilfayne. “Get on with it, idiot!”
***
Nerinna stared down in disbelief, her hands gripping the chair so tightly her fingers were numb. Men flooded into the square crying Hunter’s name and forced back the crowds. A giant swept men before him like leaves on the wind.
Valguard swore when several men leapt up onto the gallows platform and downed his Disciples. One of them set Hunter free of the noose and Nerinna sagged with relief. Others headed towards the dais.
“I’ll have you dead if nothing else,” Valguard said to Ilfayne and raised Regin’s sword, ready to take Ilfayne’s head.
Nerinna was powerless to move for a moment, too stunned at the turn of events to even raise a hand. She forced herself to think. If only she had a knife, some sort of weapon. There must be something here, something she could use to help Ilfayne. She looked around in desperation. She was a thinker, not a fighter, but thought couldn’t get her out of this. Nothing but furniture. The chair under her hand. Maybe if she—
A voice roared up from below, a voice she recognised. The man who had brought her to Ilfayne. “Get on with it, idiot!”
Valguard brought the blade down, but Ilfayne just stared across at the gallows and the giant, as though he could not believe what he was seeing. Then he laughed, a jagged, uncontrolled sound that made goosebumps run up Nerinna’s arm and Valguard falter in his swing.
Ilfayne dropped to the floor and roared with laughter. He looked at Valguard and laughed ever harder, tears rolling down his cheeks. “Oh dear, you’re royally buggered.”
Men charged onto the dais and Disciples ran to meet them. Aran and Jolnin took their opportunity and fell on the Disciples from behind. Jolnin got hold of a blade and the fight quickly degenerated into little more than a brawl.
Ilfayne’s laughter died as he pulled himself to his feet and leapt at Valguard. His hand clamped about the priest’s throat and bore down. “You’d have had me kill her for your lies. Well, Oku gave me leave to kill those here tainted by Mithotyn. Today that’s you.”
