by Ian Irvine
“Where are you dumping me?” said Glynnie as they approached the situation Rix had picked out for her.
“Canticleer Manor. A friend of mine, Jondo Canty, stands to inherit it when his father dies. He may already have done; the old man was ailing ten years ago. Jondo was the youngest,” Rix reflected. “He’s got five older sisters, but they’re an old, traditional family. Daughters only inherit when there are no sons, can you believe it?”
“I can believe it,” she muttered.
It occurred to Rix, for the first time, that the Cantys might be Herovian. Inheritance through the male line was a Herovian custom, he recalled. And since Rix was descended from the great Axil Grandys, they would certainly want to keep his favour.
The track was winding, potholed and the wagon ruts almost axle deep. Had Canticleer fallen on hard times? It might not be a bad thing — it made the place less of a target.
It was drizzling as they turned the corner and rode up to the gate, which was sagging on its hinges. Weeds sprouted along the wall to either side. The manor was small, square and very plain. Rix’s heart sank as he studied the tiny windows, the mean, nail-studded front door and the dozen squat chimneys. It was a miserably cold day yet only one chimney was smoking. Canticleer did not look welcoming.
He pounded on the gate, and shortly a thin, slatternly young woman appeared on the other side. Her clothes were grimy and so was her hair. She looked him over. “What do you want?”
“Good day to you,” said Rix. “I’ve come to see Jondo.”
“What name?”
“Rixium Ricinus.”
She stiffened and went back inside. Several minutes passed. Rix studied Glynnie from the corner of an eye. The reins were twisted around her hands so tightly that they scored purple marks across the backs. He could imagine what she was thinking. He would not want to be left here either.
The young woman returned with a matron of perhaps fifty years. She was short and stout, with a purple, jowled face and plump fingers, and her grey hair was draggled and stringy. Rix had been looking at her for some moments before he recognised Jondo’s mother, whom he had not seen in ten years. She had not aged well.
“Good day to you, Madam Canty,” he said politely. “You may not remember — ”
“I remember your bitch of a mother,” said Madam Canty. “And how she mocked my son for his old-fashioned manners and rustic dress.”
Rix had not expected such naked hostility. “But — ”
“Our living may have been meagre, but at least it was earned honestly.”
“My mother is dead, and so is my father,” said Rix. “And I — ”
“Executed for high treason and murder! And now your house has collapsed like a rotten melon, you dare come begging at my door?”
“I am no beggar, Madam. I am riding to war to defend my country. I have a maidservant, a clever, hardworking girl who would be an asset to any household. As I have none, I’m seeking a place for her.”
Madam Canty’s hard little eyes surveyed Glynnie, then flicked back to Rix. “Knowing Ricinus’s way with maids, I cannot believe she is one.”
Glynnie flushed the colour of her hair.
Rix dared not speak his rage. “She is an excellent maidservant, Madam. Will you have her?”
“I have five daughters, no husband and no son. I have no need of servants.”
“Ah, I’m sorry. Was Jondo killed in the war?”
Her mouth turned down, became a savage gash. “He was put to death in Caulderon, five days ago. Would that they had done the same to you.” She looked him up and down, her contempt deepening. “Though being your mother’s son, Lord Ricinus, I dare say you bought your freedom with the blood of those more scrupulous and less fortunate.”
Fury was rising in Rix but he clamped down on it. Madam Canty had much to be bitter about and he could not blame her for speaking her mind. He nodded stiffly and was turning away when Glynnie let out a cry of fury.
“How dare you speak about Lord Rixium like that, you ugly old cow! He’s a good and noble man — ”
“Who betrayed his treacherous mother to her death,” Madam Canty said icily. “He’s just as foul as she was.” She met Rix’s eyes. “Begone, Lord Ricinus, and take your leman with you, before I set the dogs on you both.”
They rode away with as much dignity as they could manage. Glynnie was shaking and almost incoherent with fury. “How. Dare. She?” she finally ground out.
“She’s lost her only son,” he said mildly, “and she’s wondering how they’ll survive the war — or if they will.”
“You didn’t buy your freedom. And… and…”
She was flushing again, and he felt an urge to tease her, gently. “What are you trying to say?”
“You’re a gentleman. You would never take advantage of… of…”
“Of a maidservant who had no one to protect her? Ah, Glynnie, if you only knew what gentlemen are really like. Taking advantage of innocent maids is one of their principal sports.”
“I know exactly what those gentlemen are like,” she said hotly. “And I also know you. I trust you with my life, Lord. My life and… and everything.”
She jabbed the horse with her heels and it trotted ahead. Her head was held high and she wore a faint, enigmatic smile. Glynnie was not altogether displeased with the way things had turned out.
Rix felt a slight heat in his cheeks. Someone should remind her that it was possible to trust too much.
“I’m sure we’ll have better luck at Corkyle Manor,” Rix said that afternoon. “Tyne is an old friend.”
Glynnie went pale. “Better luck at what?”
“Finding you a place.”
“But… I thought you’d given up on that.”
“They’re going to hunt me down like a dog, Glynnie. And even if I could escape them, I can’t take you to war.”
“I thought you were going to find a place to build an army.”
“I am.” Why hadn’t he told her about Garramide? If he mentioned it now it would only infuriate her more.
“That’ll take weeks, even months. Why do you want to get rid of me now?”
“You’re deliberately misunderstanding me. I don’t want to get rid of you. But I don’t want you in danger, either.”
“Hightspall is at war. Wherever you banish me to, I’ll be in danger.”
He ground his teeth. “Not as much as if you were with me.”
“Your refuge in the mountains — it’ll be a castle or fortress, I assume.”
“Yes, a place with strong defences.”
“And you’ll have soldiers to help you defend it?”
“As many as I can round up. Hundreds, hopefully.”
“And dozens of servants to manage daily life in the fortress?”
“I’ll need servants, and you’re not going to be one of them.”
“What’s wrong with me? If you can fight for our country, why can’t I?”
“You’re going, and that’s that.”
“Arrogant pig!” she muttered.
“I beg your pardon?”
“Madam Canty was right about you,” she snapped. “There’s nothing noble about you; you’re not even a gentleman’s… backside.” She galloped ahead.
He gave her fifteen minutes, then rode up beside her. “It’s still no.”
Her shoulders sagged. “What about Tyne’s lady? What’s she like?”
“Tall, bony, sharp tongued, but underneath it all, Felmae is a kindly woman.”
“I suppose she’ll have to do, then. How long have I got?”
“Before we get there? About five minutes.”
“You… you bastard!” she shrieked, so self-consciously that he was sure she’d never used the word before. “Why didn’t you tell me we were so close?”
“Must have slipped my mind,” he lied.
“You’re a stinking liar, Deadhand.” She wrenched her horse’s head around and faced him, a compact ball of fury dwarfed by the enormous horse. Glynn
ie swallowed the fury with an effort and said calmly, “At least your treachery has solved one problem.”
“What’s that?” Rix said uneasily.
“I hate you! I’m glad to be getting rid of you, you great arrogant lump. And… and, if you should ever come by to visit me, not that you would, I won’t be in.”
She turned away, evidently thinking she had won a great victory.
It was snowing gently as they rode up a winding track between small, leafless trees. Granite boulders dotted the slopes to either side and the air was very still, with a hint of wood smoke.
“It’ll be nice to relax by the fire with old friends,” said Rix. “And sleep in a proper bed.”
“Are you staying the night, then? I thought you’d dump me and run away to play at your wars.”
Rix felt his jaw muscles tighten. “You never let up, do you?”
“Surely you didn’t think I was going to make it easy for you, Deadhand?”
Rix couldn’t take any more. He spurred his horse and galloped ahead, up the hill, around a tight corner where the trees grew so closely together that they made a black wall to either side, then down a straight drive. Ahead were the simple, elegant lines of the old keep, built in pink granite a thousand years ago. The smell of wood smoke was stronger here, and he soon saw why. The manor behind the keep was a smoking ruin.
He careered down the track. It need not mean what he feared. The keep was strong; a hundred people could hold up there for weeks. But as he came closer Rix saw that its doors had been smashed in. A trail of smoke still issued from inside, as though the last combustible items had almost been consumed.
He was staring numbly at the hacked bodies of the lord and lady of Corkyle when Glynnie reached him. Many other bodies were scattered around them, but not all looked as though they had been killed in battle. Several, including the lady, appeared to have been cut down after they had surrendered.
They searched the keep and the ruins but found not a living soul. Not even children had been spared. Yet the manor had not been looted. Most of its artworks and other treasures had been burned or hacked to pieces, as if the intention of the raid had not been conquest, but simple, bloody destruction of all that had been built here.
“Why would the enemy do this?” said Rix.
“They hate us.”
If he’d left Glynnie here a day ago, she would have been one of the butchered. His eyes moistened; he had not appreciated how dear she had become to him. He turned away and she went with him.
“I’m sorry, Lord,” she said quietly. “To see your friends like that must be the worst thing in the world.”
“They were good people. They never hurt anyone.”
“Do you want to bury them?”
Rix put a hand on the hilt of Maloch and felt a shock that jolted his hand into the air.
“What was that?” whispered Glynnie.
“A warning. Maloch keeps doing that. We’re in danger and it’s getting closer.”
“We have to go, don’t we?”
“The least I could do would be to honour my friends with a respectable burial, and I can’t even do that. It’d take a day to dig graves in this rocky ground. Come on.”
“Where are you going?” said Glynnie.
Previously she would have said, Where are we going? Had she given up?
He balanced his sword on a rock, and spun it.
Glynnie checked the angle of the sun. “Maloch always points in the same direction, north-east. What’s it pointing to?”
“There’s a fortress called Garramide. A very old place, high up.”
She stared at him. “Lady Ricinus talked about Garramide.” Her green eyes narrowed. “Wasn’t it — ?”
“It’s mine,” Rix admitted.
“But you lost it when House Ricinus fell.”
“No, it’s still legally mine. I inherited it last year from a great-aunt who had nothing to do with House Ricinus, so not even the chancellor could confiscate it.”
“And you’ve known this all along,” she said, sparks flashing in her eyes. “When did you propose to tell me? Or were you going to dispose of me first, so I’d never know?”
“Not all along. I’d forgotten I owned it.”
It was the wrong thing to say. “How could you forget you owned a manor?” she shrieked.
“When I was heir to House Ricinus, I stood to inherit a hundred manors,” he said lamely. “What difference does it make? You know now.”
“I thought we were the same,” she said bitterly. “Two people who’d lost everything, working together like friends, just trying to survive. But we were never the same; you’ve been acting under false pretences.”
“I don’t understand what’s bothering you,” said Rix.
“That makes it even worse,” she screamed. “If I had one lousy brass chalt in my purse, I couldn’t forget I had it — yet the great Lord Rixium is so stinkingly rich he forgets he owns a manor! No wonder you want to get rid of me. There’s no place for me in your world.”
And she broke down and wept.
Rix stood there awkwardly, trying to work out why she was so upset. I thought we were the same. Did she think he was rejecting her, or repudiating what had grown between them during the escape and the journey?
Or did it go deeper? She was no fool; she knew that wealthy lords often dallied with maids, but they never took them as equal partners. Yes, that had to be it.
What was he going to do about it? There was a vast gulf between them, but not the way she imagined it. Glynnie was strong and brave, but she was also an innocent, while Rix felt old and tainted. In no way was he worthy of her. Besides, any friend, any partner of his would be in as much danger as he was, and he wasn’t going to inflict that on her.
He let out an almighty groan. “I’m sorry, Glynnie.”
She wiped her eyes, squared her shoulders and looked up, the good servant again. “Forget I said anything, Lord. I was just being silly. Emotional. It… losing Benn, and everything… it’s all been a bit much. And here’s you with your friends murdered… I’m sorry.”
She mounted her horse. It wasn’t over, nothing like it, but Rix seized the diversion gratefully. “I can’t do anything for them. We’d better go.”
“What’s your manor like?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I haven’t been within twenty miles of the place. But I may have to fight for it.”
“Why?”
“In times of war, the moment a great house falls, the hyenas move in to take everything left undefended.” He climbed onto his horse. “Coming?”
“Where?”
“To Garramide.”
She did not move. “You’re not sending me away? You’re taking me with you?”
“I’m not letting you out of my sight,” said Rix.
CHAPTER 19
Tali bolted down the black stone corridor past the last of the cells to the great iron rear door she had seen the day she arrived. An icy draught whistled underneath it, suggesting that it led outside. She was not dressed for winter, she had neither money nor food, but she did not hesitate. If she could not escape she was going to die, one way or another. She raised the latch, slipped through into the dark and the wind-driven rain, and closed the door behind her.
Where to go? She had no idea. All she knew about the fortress, and the town of Rutherin below the cliff, was the glimpse she’d had after the wagon’s axles broke.
She was in a large, paved yard surrounded by the knife-edged ridges she had seen as she arrived, which were too steep to climb even had she been fit. The main building loomed behind her against a dark sky. There was no moon to guide her, not even a star. Everything was obscured by a heavy overcast. The only light came from several small windows on the topmost level of the fortress, barely enough to see by.
First she must get out of the fortress. If she did, she would worry about where to run, where to hide, how to survive. She turned around and around, willing her underground-sensitive eyes to
reveal what normal people would never see. There, up the steeply sloping yard, two shadowy rises in the wall must be the gate towers.
She had to hurry — Kroni would have seen the blood-drenched, empty cell by now. Within minutes the gates would be sealed and everyone would be on the hunt. Nothing mattered but speed.
Tali darted across the yard and scuttled along beside the wall. She wasn’t used to running and already her knees felt weak. There was a light in the guard box and she saw a shadow there, and heard a rhythmic thudding. It was miserably cold; the guard must be stamping his feet to keep warm.
She felt her way along to the main gates, but they were locked and barred at night. A small gate beside the guard post, only wide enough to admit one person at a time, was also closed and she could not open it without being seen.
The gate was her only chance, so she had to distract the guard. If she’d had command of her gift it would have been easy, but even after Rannilt’s intervention Tali could raise no more than a trickle of magery.
She crept closer until she could see the guard in his little wooden guard box. An elderly, sad-eyed fellow with sagging jowls and pouched eyes, he looked as though he had seen more than enough of the misery of the world. Did he have a soft heart, though? If his troubles had hardened him, her plan would fail.
The great fortress gates were made from six-inch-thick slabs of timber reinforced with vertical lengths of the same timber, though here and there she could feel cracks between the slabs. She slid along the gate until she was behind the reinforcing slab nearest the guard box, praying that it was enough to conceal her. It might do, as long as he didn’t shine his lantern along the gate.
In Cython, Tali had been the best of all the slave-kids at hiding, and Nurse Bet had taught her to throw her voice so as to send pursuers the wrong way. Could she still do it?
She put her lips to a crack between two slabs, cupped her hands around her mouth, then threw her voice so it would seem to come from outside. She had to use a trickle of her precious magery to make sure, and it still did not sound very convincing, so she picked up a small piece of rock from the road and tossed it over the gate. It clattered away, outside.
“Help,” she moaned in her highest, most child-like voice. “Help, help!”
