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

by Alaric Longward

'I won't hurt you,' I assured her. 'You can heal?'

  'I can heal, I know my medicine, yes, but why should I?' she asked stubbornly.

  I walked up to her and gazed at her. I pointed at Ansbor. 'If you heal him, I will let you go. You can return home, enjoy your father's fortune, live free. You own your land?'

  'I do,' she said guardedly. 'My father had no other relatives. My future husband is to manage it.'

  'Then heal him and go back to your life,' I told her, pointing at Ansbor, and that was when Nihta came in, for it was close to morning. He walked up to us and placed a hand on my shoulder. Grim men followed him. 'Give me time, just …' I started, but he shook his head.

  'Well, Hraban, no time is left, and so you will come,' he told me sternly, and Cassia was also grabbed. He took my sword and my helmet.

  'What are you doing?' I asked him, clenching my fists.

  'You,' he pointed at two men. 'Stay here, and … guard Ansbor.' He looked at me. Something was afoot. The men cast me blank looks. Ansbor was a hostage.

  On top of the hill, men stood silently in ranks, many bandaged and grim. All the surviving chiefs were there, in the early morning light, mumbling as I came forward. I noticed Wandal and Felix running after us.

  'So, not exactly positioned to promise me freedom, are you, Hraban?' Cassia asked maliciously as she was struggling up the hill behind me. I offered her my arm, but she glowered at me.

  Maroboodus saw me coming and smiled. On the side stood Tear, her face haggard, but very much alive. We were guided to stand before glowering Maroboodus. I saw Burlein there, next to Melheim, whose face was streaked with tears and puss streaming from the hole where his eye had been. Maroboodus regarded me, then Cassia. 'Who is she?'

  'A woman who can help heal my friend. I got her from Varnis.' I stared at Tear, and then at Father. Tear lived. Adgandestrius rode slowly up the hill, and I saw Gernot and Ansigar exiting the Red Hall in a gear meant for travelling, carrying heavy cloaks and sacks of food.

  Maroboodus nodded. 'It is good you look after your friends. Continue to do so. Many dangers in this land of ours, these days.' His warning was clear, and I took a deep breath as his face was hard as rough stone. Maroboodus snapped his fingers at me. 'Son, I will soon lead the Marcomanni, both the northern ones, and the southern ones to punish the marauding Matticati. We will purge their land with fire and iron as they did ours. Now that we are united,' he smirked at stone-faced Burlein, 'we will kill the lot. I have a fine plan, one that will swallow all the little fish conspiring against us.'

  'I know, Father, that you have many plans,' I said, looking at Tear. She was supposed to be dead. Would he keep his word?

  He saw my furtive look. 'Tear? She is my truth speaker. Her son Odo, though, we will hunt down. He took a man of mine, Koun, because I did not give him you. Which I regret.' The chiefs nodded and slammed their thick spears on their famed shields, appreciating his words. Tear looked at me, the look in her eyes hinting at desperation. Koun was taken, and Odo was blackmailing Father. Bark was not the only one who could hurt Maroboodus and his legitimacy with the Marcomanni.

  He would sell me out.

  'Hraban,' he said. The villagers eyed me. 'Son?'

  'Yes, Father,' I said, steeling myself for a blow. Tear looked down.

  'I name you, Hraban, the Oath Breaker,' he said venomously, enjoying each word as if he had waited for a long time to utter them. For him, it seemed like a purifying bath, and he looked uncannily happy, and I froze in bitter disappointment as silence reigned around me. 'I name you thus, for you have betrayed me many times. You betrayed your holy oaths to me, to my poor father, to my lost wife, who all died. You betrayed even the fool of Isfried, for Burlein tells us of your promises to him. Shame you have brought us, and to your friends.' I hissed, but his eyes flickered at Cassia, Ermendrud, and Wandal. I shut my mouth, seething. He would hurt them all should I defend myself. I had failed, now I could only save them by remaining silent and shamed. 'I will give you spear and shield, Hraban. Here.' They were thrown before me, plain, but serviceable. 'Now you may fight for your honor.' I looked at Tear. They would send me away to Odo, but they would hurt me first. I wondered if that was what Odo wanted, or Maroboodus.

  'What is it that Koun knows, that you are willing to trade for me?' I asked him softly.

  He flinched and made a fist, and his eyes darted to Wandal. I tried to calm myself. He saw I was going to remain silent and continued. 'Spare us your foolishness, boy and take up your new spear and shield. I will make you a man, something you ever desired.'

  I looked at the fine items on the ground, but they held no luster in my eyes. My honor and hopes were gone in his service, and he was going to sacrifice me. 'Were you ever going to kill Vago?' He didn't answer. I shook my head. 'I take nothing from you. Do what you will.'

  'Fine. I will banish you for your crimes against the Marcomanni, boy, but for your crime against Ishild you will lose your hand,' he said calmly, and I nearly sobbed as Nihta took up an axe, and I saw a fire roaring, and they would cauterize the wound there.

  Nihta would have fought me in any case, and I would have lost a limb no matter what. Maroboodus was keen on bleeding me there, that day. I would be a maimed proof of his justice to the Marcomanni. He would not spare his own son. I stared at Maroboodus, whose eyes gleamed with amusement, and I think he was also hoping to make sure I would not ever come back with a sword in my hand, should I escape Odo. I spat at him and despised him. Guthbert came forward, oath bound to hold me while Nihta would do the terrible deed, and I heard Gernot laughing somewhere in the crowd. Adgandestrius was sitting on his horse, clearly unhappy, about to speak on my behalf.

  It was then I remembered the scroll Koun had given me, the one from old Adalfuns, and if this was not a time of great need, then what was? I glanced around knowing it was still on my horse, the one that had died under me, and I cursed deeply. Maroboodus's eyes glinted with amusement as he looked at my distress.

  Then, a miracle happened. Felix threw it at my feet, and I blessed him with a gratuitous look. The boy did not look at Maroboodus, keeping his eyes on ground, and I admired his bravery, for he made a terrible enemy. I quickly grabbed the scroll, opened it with a brisk jerk and read it. Everyone was still, surprised. I read it and then I smiled widely and laughed rudely. I laughed for a long time, arrogantly, apparently carefree, and saw the Marcomanni make warding signs, for they thought me touched by the gods. I ignored Nihta, who was hovering near me, his axe half ready, and Guthbert who was hoping to hold me. I threw the scroll at the feet of my father.

  'Father, it seems there is no crime against Ishild. Adalfuns claims fathership over fair Ishild and approves my marriage with her. He has spoken to some of the elders and told them it is so.' Two older men came forward, though reluctantly, both frowning at me and nodded gravely as Maroboodus's eyes desperately sought theirs, hoping they would deny such claims, but their honor held them, and they did not. Father's shoulders slumped.

  Most of the others looked thoroughly astonished, and I enjoyed their slack faces. Some of the chiefs were no longer scowling at me, surprised, certainly, but apparently happy the customs were not defiled. They were whispering amongst themselves. Maroboodus glanced at them briefly, mulling over the situation, grinding his teeth together.

  Tear, his truth speaker, grinned as well, glanced at Maroboodus maliciously and said, 'True. I was married to old Adalfuns once, when I was still happy. He is father to Ishild, at least to her. He saved me after Bero's mercenaries hurt me.'

  Maroboodus spat and stalked back and forth. He was not a man to leave enemies alive. He had decided to be rid of me, and had hoped to make sure I was no threat, no matter what happened with Odo. Now, he could not. Not while I was in Hard Hill. A vein in his forehead was throbbing as he looked at me murderously, and I wondered at how a man can mimic love and care for his son one day, then curse as he cannot maim him the other. I saw he contemplated on butchering me after all, but the elders were there, looking calmly
at him, finding no fault in me in this regard, and so Maroboodus could not appear a beast and defiler of customs.

  'The charge, Father, that you planned to maim me for, was of a crime between Ishild and myself. Are you trying to find new ones as this one is no longer valid?' I asked him with spite.

  He stopped striding around and took a deep breath. His finger pointed at me. 'No, you will escape once again. You will be banished, Hraban. Since you took no weapons from me, you are still a boy bound to my will, and will obey. You will ride with us as we go to war, and when the time is right, you will be dropped from our sight like a filthy turd. Your brother goes to his marriage, but you will not. You might not have broken the propriety of our manners in this regard, but you have broken your oaths.'

  Most people around me looked happy with his decision. They hated me deeply, for I was ill fortune and likely, a slayer of holy men, a traitor and an oaths breaker. Gernot mounted a horse, a gold ring glittering on his finger, and he regarded me suspiciously, deeply disappointed at my escape. I could not see well enough, but I supposed it was the Draupnir's Spawn. Ansigar got up on his bay horse as well and Adgandestrius led them off, the adeling glancing my way with a mysterious look. The meeting was over, and I stood there, abandoned like an orphan, but for two guards. I noticed Ermendrud with Wandal, whispering angrily. Maroboodus was still staring at me, shaking his head and came close.

  'Well, Father,' I told him bitterly, hating him. 'Seems I made a mistake. I should have helped Isfried, then.'

  He snorted. He gave me another scroll, one I had seen before.

  It was the one Antius the Roman had taken from me.

  He whispered to me. 'A filth of a scroll for another like it, boy. Despite this unfortunate situation with the bastard Koun and treasonous Odo, you would have gone to Hel, Hraban. You see, Sigilind's assurances of love give me no pleasure. I do not trust her, never did, nor you. You betrayed me, with the damned Bero, Balderich, and even the dolt Tudrus, and I used you like I would use any shifty, yet resourceful bastard. Now your use is over, and it is indeed bad luck I cannot make sure you will never come back with a sword, but it is just a matter of time you die. When we ride, we will have time to make it so, before you go to Odo. Out there are thickets and woods where the Marcomanni will not learn of anything I do to you. I am patient as a beaver, and I have time. Soon you will be gone for good, never a son of mine. Try to run from Nihta, and your friends suffer. I will make new, finer sons, and perhaps I will even adopt Catualda, who has served me well. Do not speak to me again, someone else's bastard.'

  He walked away, and I stared after him. His hateful words echoed his truest feelings. He hated me deeply, always had, and he had hated Sigilind and his father. All his honeyed words, lies. All his high promises, fine dust. He had used me like a whore, fallen women of other nations we often heard about, a woman who can be paid for, and I felt empty and devoid of life. Around me, everything I knew was hostile, my own people and my enemies both hated me. My foolish choices, my orlog, all terribly bad; my wyrd, utterly harsh. I saw his gloating eyes regard me as he went. Where had he gotten the scroll from, I briefly wondered, but then felt tired, hopelessly tired, and I dropped the scroll, not caring about it.

  Wandal came to me carefully. 'Euric said the pretty Gaul woman will help poor Ansbor. They are all as safe as they can be.'

  'So are you, my friend,' I said hollowly.

  'Ah, no. Not safe, eh?' he said, sheepishly. 'She insisted I guard you,' I glanced at Ermendrud and Cassia, talking animatedly. Ermendrud eyed me and blushed. Cassia saw this and rolled her slanted eyes. The women were trouble, but I was grateful to both. I was also grateful for Ansbor and for Wandal, both whom I should have lost long before.

  We watched as merciless Guthbert hung Melheim before Burlein's eyes, a not-so-subtle warning to the one remaining lord of the south. Father ruled with an iron fist but dared not break the laws. Not yet. And so, I still lived, and had the use of my limbs. They were all I had.

  PART IV: TORN MASKS

  'It is curious how strong arms and legs are dropped all over the damned field in the battle, but when you have to take them off, it is such hard work. Farewell, Hraban. May we meet again.'

  (Adgandestrius to Hraban.)

  CHAPTER XVIII

  In a week, the tribe would march. I was pushed to a guarded hut, and Wandal resolutely stayed with me. We heard nothing of Cassia and her hard work to save Ansbor. Ermendrud was not to be seen. We waited, utterly bored, and then one bright day, we were brought out by guards, put on some slow horses and taken down the bustling hill.

  There some four thousand men milled around, an incredible sight. Nihta saw us come and pointed us to a place near him, and men guarded us. An army on a march, Lord, was a fabulous thing. It made your blood surge to see so many splendid men ready for terrible war. Our tribe had some fifteen thousand men, but Maroboodus had only taken swift cavalry. There was much grumbling in the host. There would be no women with us either, and so the men would cook and clean their own wounds, a thing unheard of as no Germani went to war without their partner, but Maroboodus forced this on the men, and they reluctantly agreed.

  We saw standards of many kinds, individual warlords sitting on their great horses, drinking sweet mead and sour ale, making terrific boasts. We saw thousands of sharpened spears and swift javelins, rectangular and oval shields of all colors, adorned with strange beasts, beautiful stars, and rayed suns. It was the army of the hard, bearded bordermen, best of the best. There were even over a thousand men from the south, the ones that could be gathered. It was a war to free Balderich, and I did not care. I did not wish to see my father, and wanted to see Balderich dead, both traitors. Felix carefully approached us. He peered at Maroboodus and Nihta, but came to ride next to us.

  'They will not like that, Felix,' I said. 'But I thank you for my good health.'

  'Maroboodus told me to join you in your exile. He didn't give me the great riches I was promised, though. You two stink, by the gods! No baths?' he wondered, but leaned on us. 'Ansbor is not dead. Not yet. Cassia is working miracles, fair Ermendrud is helping her, and grumpy, worried Euric is very unhappy with the two commandeering women in his formerly peaceful house. I think the old goat is just horny, and could use …'

  Nihta turned and growled at Felix to be silent, and then turned to regard me. 'We will ride to the north and part ways sometime after the river. Make no trouble. There will be mortifying problems for your friends if you do.' He turned to assemble his men into a thick column.

  Maroboodus came, wearing Head Taker, riding under the great banners of the bear and of the chain and wolf of Aristovistus, wearing his brilliant war glory and Hulderic's fine helmet on his head. He did not look my way but raised his sword high while tear-faced Gunhild stood near him, seeing him off. They had married, but she was not happy, and I felt sorry for her. She had obeyed Father and poisoned me, but she was lonely and scared. My mighty father, I knew, could dazzle most people with false promises and a few kind words. But she had fallen in love with Koun, and would now suffer lonely fear and terrible heartache.

  Then Father had the harsh horns blown, and we rode forth.

  We rode for a long day, witnessing many former homesteads and abandoned villages burned by the heavy hand of the Matticati. We slept uneasily, rode another day, gathering more stray men from northern villages and then came to the swift Moenus River. We spent a dangerous night crossing it, eating in our saddles, shivering uncontrollably, very cold and totally wet. It took a long time, and we lost some unlucky men and horses in the dark. After the perilous crossing, Burlein's men went and scouted stealthily ahead while the main host rode after them, already tired. Then, very late, we slept a few hours. Wandal was quiet and worried, and so was I. Only Felix kept strangely cheerful until I threw some cold mud at him.

  The next day was uncomfortably breezy, and the usually happy birds did not sing. Burlein's men came back from the hills and brought two bruised prisoners with them. One was
killed outright, the other persuaded by this brutal act to be free with his words, and he gossiped like a woman. The Matticati, the prisoner claimed, were not expecting us, and Hengsti was in his great village, healing from stubborn wounds and bruises he received at the battle of the Hard Hill. The man died as Nihta ran him through. A vitka Maroboodus had apparently created with a promise of wealth chanted and made mysterious auguries, and Maroboodus smiled. The omens were good, unsurprisingly.

  I saw Catualda riding about, and he smiled as he spied me. He rode closer. I kept a stony face as he regarded me. 'Well, Hraban. Looks like your father made his choices. Gernot over you.'

  'How are you enjoying his service?' I asked. 'He is thinking about adopting you, by the way.'

  He shrugged and spat. 'He has grand plans, no doubt. But I think that it is time to start making my own. I helped him with Bero, and with Isfried. I have seen little trust though, and I want no strange father to lord over me. I am my own man, I wish to live my own life, and not end up like you or be married to a strange woman.'

  'Gernot will not marry Gunda. No woman would have him, and no sane and loving father would accept him after his public humiliation,' I said morosely. 'Of course, not all fathers are sane or kind.'

  He laughed, nodding, for both our fathers seemed to suffer from these maladies. 'Perhaps you are right, and Gernot held a fake ring,' Catualda said mischievously. 'Nihta has the real Draupnir's Spawn. I saw him receive it from your father.' I nodded sagely. It would make sense. If he was to give me to Odo, the red-headed bastard needed the famous ring, as well. Maroboodus did not think to cross Odo with Koun's secret hanging over his head, whatever that was. Catualda smiled at me. 'I will try to help you, when the time comes.'

  I eyed him strangely, dismissed his words as useless banter, and felt cold terror at the bottom of my belly. Somewhere there I was to be given to Odo, who hated me. The army moved north, and by evening, we saw the tall, almost mountain-like hills separating the valleys of the Matticati from the Moenus River area. The army was moving forward in silent woods and wild pastures. Every now and then, we ran across bloodied bodies. Some were Matticati warriors, others mere peasants, and some even women.