The Oath Breaker: A Novel of Germania and Rome (Hraban Chronicles Book 1)

by Alaric Longward

  'Where have you been?' I asked him, conscious that he wanted words with me. He had an unsettling way of knowing what I was thinking, and I disliked it. Also, since we had last spoken, I had taken my father's side, and my father was sided with Tear and Odo. I was afraid the man was there to tell me he was my enemy after all.

  'Crafting, I just told you. I have been crafting webs, not a table or a chair. I would like to warn you,' he said while gingerly picking up some salted meat from my plate. 'This is not one of the three desperate times I will aid you. Just giving some friendly advice.' He munched on the meat, juices running down his chin.

  'Go ahead then,' I said, sure I was not going to like his advice.

  'You, Hraban,' he said, picking up some more meat from my plate, 'are now in grave danger. I have some sight of my own …'

  'Gods, no…' I whined, but he slapped me with the gravy meat. I started at him incredulously, resisting the urge to lick some of the juices running down my beard.

  'My sight tells me Tear has gotten what she needs from the reluctant spirits. The rancid witch and her ill boy know what is needed. They will want you, and they expect to get you, too.' His eyes were glowing in the dark. 'You put much in risk by staying here.'

  'Want me?' I asked him, dreading his answer.

  'They know much more of the prophecy, Hraban. The Raven is needed for more than finding the small girl. They will need you for themselves. They will bind you, not unlike they have bound Bero, and they will take you away. I don't expect you to return, no matter what comes to pass.' He smiled with relish at the words, as if enjoying my impending doom.

  'Father will guard me,' I told him stoically.

  'The father who you used to hate?' he grinned.

  'He did not know Sigilind, I understand that. In addition, he had a goal, and yes, he used me, but we have come to an understanding, perhaps even love,' I said, miffed.

  He laughed. 'He is a great one for words. He is a lord more than a father, never forget.' I swallowed my anger, not willing to listen. 'Remember, he has tied all his rights to Marcomannic power to Tear's approving words,' Adalfuns said evenly. 'Will he risk it? Possibly. But not for you.' I shrugged, having put my faith in Maroboodus. He saw it, and to my surprise, there was pity in his eyes.

  ‘I cannot steer this ship elsewhere, Adalfuns,’ I told him.

  'I will go.' He got up and pointed a finger at me. 'Just remember, Hraban, to fight Tear. In addition, forgive yourself for the Flowery Meadows. The women you killed were bloody priestesses and priests. They have slain many brave, innocent men, and even a crying child for the gods. I am not saying you should not suffer for what you did, but do not suffer too much. Like Armin, think of higher goals and do not wallow in self-pity.'

  'How do you know these things? The Meadows and Armin? I …' I asked, bewildered.

  He laughed. 'Be calm, no matter what, Hraban. And don't sleep tonight!'

  I cursed him as he left. I waved goodbye to my friends and went to brood in my meager hut. I hated his advice, and his words haunted me. At some point, I lay down, and, despite his advice, fell asleep. I had tried not to, but I did. I awoke to a woman looking in from the doorway. It was pitch dark, and the moon shone briefly from small slits on the wall. I saw it was Ermendrud. I wondered at the risk she was taking as she gazed at the dark, apparently unable to spot me in the dark shadows.

  'What? They will see you!' I hissed at her. Silence, then footsteps running away. I sighed in relief but nearly screamed in terror as she put a cold finger on my lips in the dark and then came close, kissing me gently.

  We made love, and what usually had been wonderful lust was much more gentle that night. I felt she was somehow different, both in spirit and body. I wondered. She had subtle scars on her belly, and she was not as wildly passionate as she usually was, but in the end, she climaxed many times, and so did I. I welcomed all of it after the meeting with Adalfuns and took my time to please her. His speech about Tear and Odo haunted me; his words about Maroboodus were painful, and lovemaking helped me ease my troubled mind.

  In the end, curled next to me, tired to the bone, apparently, she kissed me gently, and then got up. I heard her dressing, the brooches making tiny metallic sounds. At the door, she turned, and I froze as thin moonlight betrayed her lovely face.

  It was Ishild.

  She left swiftly, and I sat there for the rest of the night, silent, hugging my knees, Adalfuns's words echoing in my head. I should not have slept. I went over all of it in my head, many times, wondering if I was mad as a rabid cat. I had seen Ermendrud at the door, or had I been asleep? Had I been asleep when she left, seeing things? Was it long-lost Ishild or my lover Ermendrud? If it was Ishild, why had she come there? Was it seidr she had used, and if it were, would she be serving her family in some terrible way. Adalfuns had said they would want me. Not my help. Me. I felt cold and dared not sleep again.

  For days to follow, the preparations for a great Thing were ongoing. I did not train with Nihta or Koun, nor did I serve Gernot. I sent Ansigar away with a threat of death when he came to fetch me for my humiliating duties. Instead, we finished the thatch on the smithy. I saw little of Ermendrud, and brooded ceaselessly over what had happened.

  Then, Father returned to the hill, riding under his standard, haggard and dusty. His face was drawn, eyes red-rimmed and tired after having toured the gaus, elevating men who were willing to forget Bark's accusations and silencing those who were not.

  With him, came many rumors, for men and women arrived in his wake. Many were outright lies and some few bitter truths, but the tale of Manno and Bark finally arrived to Hard Hill. And they had not kept my part a secret, after all. Manno’s words were slithering across the land. I heard some women whispering it was Hraban, son of Maroboodus, who had helped his father slay their holy men. I felt many unkind eyes on me from that day onwards, and uncomfortable silence reigned every time I passed a pair of gossiping tribesmen, all looking down when they spied me.

  Bark was making life hard for us, but so was Father.

  Hard Hill had struck their shields wildly in approval on the day he took over, but now, things were calmer, and people had had time to think. There had not been a proper Thing for weeks, though Gernot had carried much of the weight of the management and law speaking. Instead, to my surprise, some rumors spoke of men who were drafted in the far outlying villages to serve in the Roman fashion, trained like them, with harsh discipline they were unused to.

  There were also rumors of Tear and Odo, the two who benefitted greatly from the death of the vitka, and of their strange power that was growing amongst the Marcomanni and Maroboodus. What had been whole and kind in the religion of the northern gau had turned to uncaring and terrifying. Few dared to beseech Tear or Oro for blessings or auguries. They said many drab men and mad things were drifting to the woods beyond Hard Hill where Tear and Odo lived, and they said they were from the north. Maroboodus could do little to curb these rumors, and did not even bother.

  That evening, the Thing would take place. I seethed with impatience. Armin had not sent any word about Manno, and I was cross with most everyone unlucky enough to deal with me. My foul mood lasted until I saw a fat peasant approach me.

  The man nodded and whispered, 'A pretty lord wishes to tell you one Manno will come here with a boat this very evening. His shield bears a white lizard. Have someone spot him early.'

  I nodded and walked to Bero's old hall, entering the semi-dark main room, where I requested to see Maroboodus. He sat in his seat, talking softly with Nihta, tired to the very bone, slouching on his seat as an old man. He spotted me and waved me over rather lazily. He looked hard and upset, not smiling once. I nodded, hesitant as I approached. I kept quiet and gazed at his eyes, and a spark of interest lighted in his.

  He sent Nihta away. 'So. Something has happened?' he asked hopefully. 'I will host an important meeting this night, so be quick.' He rubbed his temples.

  'I gave you an oath,' I said, 'and I keep it toda
y. There is going to be a vitka, a man called Manno here this evening, one who tries to murder you, Tear, and Odo tonight. His shield bears a white lizard.'

  'I don't care what his shield looks like,' Maroboodus cursed, but calmed. 'Hard trip, Hraban, sorry. They are talking shit all over the woods. Bark is saying we hold part of the statue that was found at the Meadows. The part, Hraban, you had in your hands. There is a man who survived the Meadows, by the way, another chore of yours. So why is this Manno important?'

  I looked around, seeing nobody and whispered, 'That Manno is the man who survived the Meadows.'

  'Truly?' he asked. 'And he is coming here?'

  I nodded. 'It is part of Armin's and Isfried's plot. We must take that man alive, and have Tear torture him for information. He will speak of Bark,' I said, and told him everything.

  He listened, smiling like a sated cat at my words.

  When I was done, he stretched, much relieved. 'Ah, Armin. Moreover, he has been talking with the Matticati, riling them up. I see. We do not have to torture Manno, but kill him silently, since we already know when Bark will supposedly be there. We make it look good, of course, in case Armin and Isfried have men here. Let’s keep Tear and Odo far away from this business. So, I am to ambush Bark at the Flowery Meadows, and they will, in turn, ambush me with an army?' I nodded carefully. He was musing, making delicate plans to ensure Isfried would not get away. He stretched his huge muscles again, grunting in pain. 'So, how is Ermendrud? Soon I must cement the deal with the Chatti.'

  'I am working on it,' I said, miserable.

  'I hear that from Felix, you goat,' he said sternly. 'If she is pregnant, you will marry the girl.' I nodded, not sure if that was a bad thing. But I had slept with Ishild. Woden, gods help me. 'Anything else?' he asked.

  'Isfried will want me at Grinrock as a hostage. I am to go there. They will not ride otherwise.'

  Maroboodus nodded. 'His army is his old, large family, and their famed men. Some hundreds of the cream of the south. He would not trust the rest of the people down there. So, we will do this.'

  I grunted. 'And if they decide to kill me?'

  He gazed at me in confusion. 'So?'

  'I …'

  He waved his hand to silence me. 'Much has to be risked in life, Hraban. If you die, I will bury and mourn you. It is not for those to become a lord of the Marcomanni who love safety.’

  His words were hard but filled me with pride. I would indeed be a lord of the Marcomanni, and would risk much for that. I shrugged and nodded. 'They speak very badly of me. They think I was party to the murder of the vitka.'

  'And you were,' he grimaced and enjoyed my discomfort. 'Worry not, such things will be covered in dust as great deeds rise above them.'

  I nodded at his logic, hoping he was right. He did not truly understand the Germani. 'Yes.'

  He was musing to himself. 'Manno. I know that name.' He snapped his fingers as he apparently found the answer. 'He, I hear, used to be a famed champion of the Chatti, before the gods filled his head with their grace, and he moved here with his family. A spear master,' Maroboodus grinned. 'Hard man to capture alive. If he thinks you foe, best you stay away from the Thing tonight. Let him try to take Tear, and Nihta will capture him. We will kill him, and you will go and let Isfried know Manno broke and sang like a bird in the spring. Soon, Hraban, we will be the masters of our own world and take more. You need not serve Gernot anymore. In fact, they told me you have not. I will tell him this night it is over, the false service.'

  I cried for joy, but my brother's face went white when Father told him the news of my freedom. I should have been worried, but I was giddy with Father's promises, and forgot Ishild, Gernot, and Koun.

  CHAPTER XIII

  That night I sat with Ermendrud near the docks, wanting to see Manno arrive with a boat. I was sure Father had vigilant men around the Red Hall where the Thing was to take place, waiting to see the man, but I wanted to see him first. Ermendrud was shivering in the chill air, and I held her close. She was not the love of my life, but she was a sturdy, strong girl. I enjoyed her company, but I thought about Ishild, and what had happened with her, if it had been her, after all.

  A silent boat was being rowed from the south, slowly approaching the crowded docks, and would pass us by. A merchant or a lord coming for the Thing, likely. I heard distant yells and glanced up the hill. On top of the hill, Father was entertaining the fawning chiefs, no matter their guarded thoughts about Maroboodus and Bark's stories. Tear would be there, in her customary trance, and Odo would be hovering nearby, his eyes gazing at men and women, scheming for his mad god. I cursed profusely. Manno would have killed them for me, but I had no luck. They would survive, for now. I waited and thought of poor Ishild again. Had it been her, and had she enchanted me? Or did my thoughts wonder, making me one of the madmen we sometimes drive to the woods. Was I a vaettir-possessed, broken-minded fool? Was it the dancing figure, whom I thought Woden, making me soft in the head?

  'Ermendrud,' I said slowly. She smiled briefly and looked up at me.

  'Did I dream of you in my hut?' I asked bluntly.

  She giggled. 'Depends on what we did!'

  'We shared love,' I told her carefully.

  'You have been dreaming, but tell me more,' she told me brazenly.

  I shook my head. 'So you were not in my hut, not even at the door?'

  She smiled. 'Oh, you saw me? I came to check you were there. For Nihta. Felix ran away from the door like a rodent. He is forever looking after you.'

  'For Father. Did you stay?' I asked, cursing the Gaul. Felix knew about my relationships.

  She shook her head. 'I felt a bit sick. I was tempted though.'

  I groaned. Why had Ishild come there? Was she jealous? Did she know about Ermendrud? I cursed as I saw the ship go past. A heavy, short man with a bristling beard was standing on the prow, a sturdy framea in his powerful hand. He held a shield with a painting of a dirty white lizard, and wore a thick, notched belt. It was Manno. I felt a shiver of fear.

  'I must go,' I said, and Ermendrud nodded.

  'Gunhild has some chores for me,' she said, bitterly. Gunhild was a hard mistress, especially for the spoiled daughter of a former champion.

  I nodded nervously, kissed her briefly, and then ran carefully for the wide harbor where I hid in the deep shadows of a former warehouse. The ship arrived, slowly splashing away from the mist. The man on the prow emerged from the dark. I saw his face, and I knew it was the man who had lifted the drink from the cellar that night when I had inadvertently poisoned them and then quite knowingly butchered the rest.

  I shook as the man jumped from the ship, waved his hand at the men mooring it, incautiously stomped forward and stopped a peasant with a horse. The peasant nodded carefully and pointed up to the Red Hall. There were many chiefs arriving, this was just one amongst many. I saw Manno go, a man knowing he would possibly die. There would be others to help him, he thought, but it would be a desperate fight nonetheless. He was entirely nonchalant about it, marching calmly forward as if he was going to fetch a rod and go fishing. I was going to go to the smithy and start to prepare for my perilous trip for Isfried.

  Just before I entered the repaired crafts hall, Gernot appeared out of the dark.

  He stopped before me, holding his unused shield and unbloodied spear loosely. He had a strange look on his face, intense, scared yet determined at the same time. 'You need not to go fetch your friends,' he told me brusquely. 'You and I have a meeting to attend to.'

  'Go away, Gernot,' I said. 'I will go, forget your shivering presence and the smell of shit you no doubt will leave behind.'

  'In there you will see,' he told me, flipping his hair back, pointing towards the smithy, 'Euric, oafish Wandal, and corpulent Ansbor.' I nodded, waiting. He grinned. 'But not Felix.'

  My eyes narrowed. 'Felix serves my father. He spies on me. You will get in trouble with our master.'

  He spat. 'Our father has made me an unimportant little law speake
r for petty things while scheming with you. For a while, he was speaking respectfully and confiding with me, but then you ruined it all. He has pushed me out of his confidence. He has betrayed me.'

  'So. Law giving is not enough for you? You wanted more. You did that yourself, Gernot. You are a drunken coward. Did you truly think you would fit in with a lord like that and his many heroes? You look like a shit they have squeezed out of their asses. Where is Felix?' I asked dangerously.

  His face went white from fury. 'I have other plans than my father's, Brother. I have always had them, knowing Hulderic would push me down, at some point. Then came Father, but no, he, too, is playing games that will be, no doubt, unjust towards me. He gave you to me as a plaything, but now, he is scheming with you. So now, I will finally act. I know much about you, Brother. Much,' he was gloating, peering towards the smithy, where Wandal could be heard laughing dully.

  'Where is the Gaul?' I asked, dangerously close to clobbering the fool.

  'Follow me, and we shall discuss,' he said, and walked off. I cursed and followed him. We walked to the harbor's edge, where stood an abandoned Roman warehouse. Its door was slightly ajar, and I saw a light flickering inside. Gernot went in, glancing at me, his face drawn with scared excitement. I hesitated. There would be nothing there I would enjoy. I could walk away. Felix, while an amusing boy, was hardly a friend.

  But I went in, for I liked him.

  There, on the other end of the long hall, stood Gernot in the shadows. Felix was on the ground, bound, bleeding from his face, his lip rudely split. He looked at me, terrified, and his eyes were pleading for help. Gernot put a foot on his chest. 'Now, Hraban. Get on your knees before me, or you will see a death that is not pleasant,' Gernot told me, a bit breathless.

  'And why, Brother,' I started, pointing languidly at Felix, 'would I sacrifice my honor and life for a slave of Father's, who is no friend of mine?' Felix whimpered.