I cursed my foolishness profusely as he laughed at me.
He choked and struggled greatly with his mirth until he managed to calm down, though he was still shaking his head. 'Maniac, that is you. She will want to see you, soon. She is smart as a fox. Do not take her for a simple fool. Now, to start your service, you will go and cry about your lot. Tell them you are less than a beggar in my eyes. They are like filthy vermin, strong together, and will seek you out to complement their pack of rodents. You will be my fine tool against Isfried, and then, later, you will be my honored son.'
'Who are these people?' I asked, gathering my strength for the coming trials.
Maroboodus shifted his eyes to Tudrus the Older. 'The Quadi, Tudrus. Tell him you might go with him, as he has offered.'
'How do you know about that, Father?' I asked, surprised.
'It is obvious. Go to him. Go to noble Tudrus, and complain miserably. Armin will appear. Tell him you would serve anyone other than me.'
'What part does Armin have in this? I thought you said Isfried's the problem.'
He contemplated me pensively. 'They are all rodents, Hraban, like I just said. A nasty pack of them, all simmering with discontent at my plans.'
'Tudrus …'
He scoffed. 'Is a Quadi, and, I think, not my friend. Isfried is paranoid. Mad as a gibbering prophet. He would never trust you approaching him. However, if keen Armin starts to plot for my demise, which he will for his dear Thusnelda, Isfried is a natural ally for him. He saw Isfried challenging me, as I hoped Isfried would. Armin is in love, so he will come to you. Give them something to nibble on. Do this, and you will be my dreadful sword lord. Nihta says you have the qualities. Gernot will rule in smaller, mundane issues. One day, you can settle your scores in peace, but serve me now on a darker road. One day, Vago's skull will be in my hands. My oath on it. We will kill him together and remember your mother. Balderich is suffering for his deed; trust me, he weeps like a tormented ghost. One day, perhaps, he will disappear, when he is no longer needed for his blood, the blood you and Gernot have. We will see by whose hands. And Bero?' He laughed. I understood and nodded, feeling nearly sorry for Bero. He continued, 'I will keep an eye on Catualda, too, no matter if he works for me and has done us great service. He still smells of his father. Use Felix well, he is clever. Keep him close. When life is settled down, and we rule wide lands, he will be free and rich.'
'Thank you for burdening me with Felix,' I told him dreamily, his plans and dreams overwhelming me.
'He is a thief and needs a whip, so whip him, or I whip you for his mischief,' he snickered.
We laughed, for the first time together. 'Enough of this. Let us make it look like we hate each other again. Serve me and obey.' He slapped me hard, dropping me from the bench. The room spun as he had not held back much, and people went quiet. Maroboodus ignored me, I cursed him aloud and crudely, and stalked away, holding my burning cheek. I went to the table where Tudrus the Older sat as men returned to their drinks and tales.
He smiled and handed me a mug of ale. 'You holding up, Hraban?'
I shrugged. 'I just want to get my own place amongst the Marcomanni, but he wishes me to serve Gernot. I wish to scream, rage and burn down this hill. Otherwise? I am well. How did your war go? How are the ugly mongrels you call sons?'
He laughed. 'They are fine. All men now.' He looked sheepish as I cursed. I had no spear and shield. 'Your father is a great warrior. Smart one. We cut off the arrogant Hermanduri, harried their greater number mercilessly in the deep nights, and in the end, picked off confused clan after clan until we could meet them on a level field. Then, we broke them with little mercy.' He did not sound entirely happy.
I leaned forward and asked softly, 'What is wrong?'
Tudrus the Older nodded at Maroboodus. 'He asked me if I would join the Marcomanni with my gau.'
'Oh?' I asked, surprised. 'Become one of us?'
'I said no,' he said, cautiously. 'I hope my relatives said so as well.' So that was why Maroboodus disliked Tudrus.
A grunt behind us. Armin leaned over us, his ruddy face serious. Father had been right. He spoke softly to Tudrus but looked at me. Your father, Thumelicus, looked bloodthirsty and dangerous, for that had been a terrible night for him. 'Your fellow rulers Sibratus and Tallo spoke to him?' he asked.
Tudrus looked uncomfortable, talking with Armin about such matters. 'They might have, I know not.' He clapped his knee to break the mood and laughed hugely. 'But Vannius, Koun's brother, is a happy addition to our following! The lad has balls. I have beaten him a few times, and he is learning. Great warrior one day. Misses his brother, though, but he even wears a Suebi knot on his hair. Pragmatic bastard. Excuse me.' Tudrus got up and turned to me. 'Indigestion. Need sleep. Going to leave for home tomorrow, but be careful,' he said to me, and glanced at Armin who smiled to put him at ease.
I ignored Armin as I nodded at Tudrus. 'I am thinking about joining you, Lord, if you will have me,' I told him.
He glanced at my father and shrugged, making no commitment. He smiled, thinking about my words. 'We will see, Hraban. We will see.' He walked off.
I turned to Armin. He was at ease, his face reddened from the heat of the fireplace. His eyes pierced mine, his face was very, very handsome. I was irritated by that. 'Hraban? No?' He sat down.
I nodded, morose. 'Hraban of No Consequence.'
He laughed. 'Surely not so! I saw how you took your damned beating! Bravely. I like how you kept looking at me, too. You know who is the thinker in our family. You know I have mixed thoughts about your great father.'
I nodded and spat in Maroboodus's direction. 'You need Maroboodus's ring, but you want him dead.'
He looked at my sullen face in surprise, and was about to get up, but sat back down slowly. He hesitated and licked his lips. 'Bold words.'
I shrugged. 'Bold? Why? I do hate him. He is a pig, and I want him to die of disease that makes him squeal. He has taken everything from me.' I had been too bold, indeed. This was not giving them something to nibble at; this was blunt like an axe in a skull. I gestured at the departing Quadi. 'Tudrus knows. This is not what I expected.'
He sat there, gauging me. I wanted to glance at Father, but I did not. Then, finally, Armin shrugged, taking a deep breath. 'I do wish he died. I want Thusnelda to stay at home, far from this place.'
I laughed bitterly. 'Why? Segestes will not let you touch her.'
He grimaced as he regarded his fat uncle. 'Things change. But you are right in the other claim as well. Inguiomerus was right. We need the eastern Suebi pacified. We need the great ring.'
'Ah, you know of the ring. How?'
'I am a knowledgeable adeling,' he said evenly. 'We need it.'
I sipped my drink. 'I would not give it to you, if I had it.'
He thought about it for a while. 'But you could come to the Cherusci and help us?' he said, calmly. 'If you should come to possess it?'
'How could I? Only Isfried could kill my father, and I cannot get the ring unless he is dead.'
He nodded. 'One day, Hraban, we can smile and forget all this sadness, and be great and happy. Now, when things are dark, I will help you and myself, and we will tread a sad, harsh road together. I will travel your lands, when my family leaves for the north. I will be back here. Do you know where the skulls your father took from the Matticati and Hermanduri are?'
'The skulls? Likely decomposing before they can be put on shelve and rafters. I can ask a rat called Felix to find them. Why?' I said.
'Get me the one of the Matticati. The one of Hengsti's relative,' he said, guardedly. I nodded, and he relaxed.
I fetched Felix, who grimaced in disgust, but that evening, Armin rode north with a skull. He told Father he would ride to meet some relatives in the east, and was given leave to travel the land of the Marcomanni. I glanced at my father, and our eyes met. He nodded and smiled briefly. My service to him had started. He would want Isfried, and Armin would deliver.
It was up to me
. I would not fail for with just few words, my father had pulled me back from the abyss. I only had to survive single-minded Tear, dangerous Odo, hopeful Ishild, impatient Gernot, and even amorous, scheming Ermendrud, and find out who had killed Hagano. But I would manage, get my fair vengeance, and be great and happy. I finally had my father. I thanked Woden, and the Spinners spun away on my thread, shaking their heads.
CHAPTER XII
Next day, Hard Hill was moist with the morning dew, birds sang with bright voices, and the day promised to be a beautiful one.
Nihta made the morning unpleasant.
Flies bothered us mercilessly while we jogged, but left us alone when we sprinted. Before we started with the swords, he spoke to me. 'You will train with Koun in the afternoon. Best not aggrieve him. He serves Maroboodus, yes, but not out of choice. Well, yes, out of choice, but a bitter choice,' Nihta told me seriously.
'He killed Hulderic,' I said simply. 'Possibly Hagano. I will have to find out the truth.'
Nihta laughed and hurt me with a slap of the flat edge of the sword. Then we trained, and I took stab after painful stab though I managed to avoid many. He forced me to use my quick legs, always legs, to position myself.
'I have seen grandmothers who move more deftly, here,' he told me as I clumsily stopped to skewer him, and he kicked the legs out from under me. 'If you ever fight a better man, try to find his weak spot. Get to know him, if you can, before crossing swords. In battle, not much time for that,' he told me as he pulled me up. 'Go and eat. Tomorrow, we do it again.'
I wiped sweat off my chest and walked inside Bero's former hall, smelling cooking porridge. I came face to face with my nemesis. Gernot stood there, bruised in body and ego, and Ansigar was with him, scowling at me. 'You little shit,' my brother told me. 'You truly wish to challenge me? Father will never trust you. He gave me many duties this morning. To you? Nothing. The marriage is but a dream, Hraban.'
I grunted and looked over him at my friend. 'Ansigar? You ready to leave the little hog? He is a nothing.' I knew Ansigar; he was smart. Surely he had seen Gernot's lack of valor and for his own good, he might think to serve some other man. Yet, Ansigar shook his head.
He said, 'No. He has a future. And so do I.'
I nodded, curious at his stubborn faith in my bastard of a brother. 'Well, Gernot. You go ahead and rule on the number of barley fields a man can have and make judgments on the possession of the cows for bickering peasants. Such tasks need a dedicated man though such man is usually a cripple and good for little else than speaking the law, but you are not far from one.'
Gernot pointed a finger at me. 'Keep on your toes. No matter what happens, no matter if we ride together for Gunda. I will thrive, and you will not. I promise this.'
I laughed. 'You might as well promise to piss straight, but we both know you cannot. Get away from me.'
'Be on your toes, Hraban,' he said softly, as he left.
I decided against eating in my father's hall. I hiked downhill to meet Wandal and Ansbor. The latter spied me coming as he was lounging on the doorway of a ramshackle old smithy, yelled a warning inside and then disappeared in there, cursing. I grinned and followed him through to a smoky room. Euric was lifting a charred beam, and Wandal was helping him, grunting and soaked in sweat. Ansbor strode to a side room. Wandal lifted a finger to silence me, and Ansbor came out with a grimace, dragging scared Felix. My fat friend pushed the youngster towards me. 'This Gaulish bastard you sent to us? He stole our few coins! I had some from the slain Hermanduri, but he took it all. Do you really need him, or can I …'
'I did not!' Felix claimed insipidly. 'They just had awful luck at gambling. I cannot help it if they throw a coin with a man who is well loved by Fortuna!'
'You are no man, Felix.' I sat down. 'Have anything to eat? I could eat at my father's hall, but I cannot stomach Gernot. Let him go, Ansbor.' He did let go of Felix, reluctantly, but stayed next to him, in hopes of being allowed to wring the Gaul’s neck.
'Some porridge, turnips, eh?' Wandal told me, grunting, as the beam was taken clear. 'Garlic.'
Euric wiped sweat from his face. 'How's your back, boy?'
I touched the wounds, putting my hand inside the tunic, feeling skin tear, and my fingers came away bloody. I frowned at that, and Felix took the chance to escape Ansbor, who huffed as Felix ran to fetch me a bowl of simple food, and water in a wooden cup. Felix placed the food before me, carefully peeled off my tunic, clucked his tongue, and took a relatively clean rag from his belt to clean the wounds. 'Looks like a pig after a butcher is done with it. I hear fresh garlic could help, keep them wounds clean. Here.' He placed his hand on my back with the garlic. It burned like hot coals, and I screamed and slapped him. He stood away from me, grinning. Ansbor and Wandal gathered around me as I settled to eat, cursing the Gaul.
'So, our mighty, peerless and bleeding lord. What next?' Ansbor asked, sarcasm heavy in his voice.
I ate calmly as they fidgeted. Finally, after stuffing the final pieces of vegetable in my mouth, I burped and sighed. I gestured at them. 'Well, you sorry boys. I will train, and suffer until something changes. I will sleep up there, it seems. If you want another lord, feel free. I hear we will go for the Matticati soon, this summer, and you should be part of that. I try to be. I am also to be married,' I told them, and they blanched.
'Married? Eh?' Wandal said, full of wonder and fear. It was not the looming battle with Matticati that made his knees go weak, but the prospect of being with a woman.
'To a Chatti princess, Gunda,' I said, smiling happily, proud as a great warhorse, blithely forgetting to mention she was calm and wise, and likely not a beauty. Felix smiled back, stood up slowly, and walked away. Euric held a hand on his wide face. Wandal and Ansbor got busy with the smithy. 'What?' I asked. 'It is an honor,' I said in wonderment.
'Married?' asked a female voice behind me. I turned to see the furious face of Ishild. 'Married to a smelly Chatti princess? No? Is that what you said?'
'I had no choice, they …' I started, heard Euric snort in disgust, but she grabbed me resolutely by the arm and dragged me out of the smithy to go to the woods. We went forward for a while, dodging branches and stones. She gazed at me carefully, her eyes wild, and I was actually a bit scared. She was a völva, after all.
We stopped, and she poked a finger at my chest, painfully. 'I told you; I like you. I told you; believe in me. You kissed me, you told me you liked me as well. Today, you smile like an idiot child when you are given to another?' she hissed at me, poking my chest even more forcefully, harder with each word. She looked pretty, blonde and furious, with a lively mouth ready to chew me up. 'You will know, Hraban, that while I do my mother's bidding, you are more to me than just the Raven and an amusing pastime. You are the first and only normal man I have in my sorry life, but you stab me foully in the back, drop me like a rotten bone to the filthy dust,' she told me furiously while crying softly.
I gingerly took her hand mid-poke and stood close to her. 'Your mother and brother are making me their tool; my father is doing the same. I do not know what to make of that. You are her daughter. But I have never met the Chatti girl, and I do like you.'
'You do?' she asked, miserable. I looked at her. It was true. I liked her. However, I knew I did not love her. She was too dangerous. Too strange.
'I wish to be your friend,' I said softly, feeling regret. Few men willingly let go of a woman who is interested in them. 'I would like to be one. But perhaps, only that.'
She nodded, and hugged me, desperately, and I felt sorry for her. She cried softly. 'So, you will not be mine?' she asked with a small, betrayed voice. 'You are not my man?'
I cursed and took a shuddering breath. 'I don't really even know you.'
'We played together many times in the past,' she pouted, wringing her fair hands behind my back.
'We were children,' I told her timidly, but gathered my strength and put my hands on her shoulders and pushed her to arm's length as I was determined to make
my point understood. 'I will be your friend, and aid you in anything you need. I give you that oath. Let us aid each other, and see what the future has for us. Perhaps one day …' It was a lie. I did not see us together. She was pretty as the light of the sun, and she had been the first girl I had kissed, but I did not want her. Father and Tear did not approve. It was wise, I thought. After sleeping with Ermendrud, I felt no true lust for her either. I realized I did not enjoy her company, and that I feared her strange, desperate mood. Nevertheless, I could not close all the doors that should be closed, and so I had staved off the inevitable, and given her hope.
She looked me in the eye. 'There is nothing normal about our family, and then you came along, free, happy, arrogant. I envy you and love you. They will use you like I have been used, but together, I thought …'
'I know,' I said, miserable to the core. 'I can listen to you, and be your solid rock. Friendship is nothing to be mocked.'
She nodded, shuddering with disappointment. 'They will want more of you. I came to warn you. The hair you cut did not convince them. They know she is alive.'
'Your sister is alive, you mean,' I stated morosely. 'Something you might have mentioned to me, if you really cared for me.'
She looked shocked. Then she nodded. 'She is. Veleda is. She … I barely remember her. She was taken from us to keep her safe by her father.'
'Woden took her, but the Raven is to find her, eh?' I said, tired.
'Woden or her father took her, yes. Raven is to come to find her. When you meet next time, it will be a terrible thing,' she told me sadly. ‘We will have to help her.’
'I let her go, Ishild. The prophecy is gone.'
She was silent as she gazed at me, but took a ragged breath, and spoke. 'No. It is still ongoing. I think there are other things that have to happen before you were to find her. We just do not know the riddle yet. We will soon.'
The Oath Breaker: A Novel of Germania and Rome (Hraban Chronicles Book 1) Page 31
