by J Battle
‘And to you, Mr Macky.’
‘Will you have a drink, Mr Meldon? We have no ale, but we can fill you up with tealeaf, if you like.’
‘Thank you for the offer, but I won’t be staying. I’m just here to advise you that your challenge to Prince Torn has been accepted, and he will meet you at noon tomorrow, and may fortune smile on you.’ He finished with a little bow.
‘That’s…Did ye hear that Maree? I face the prince tomorrow noon!’
Maree gave the wooden floor an extra hard final scrub, and then she looked up.
‘I heard well enough, Mack, well enough indeed.’
‘Thank ye kindly Mr Meldon. Will…what weapons? Did he say?’
‘No weapons. It will be hand against hand.’ Meldon stepped back a little to make it easier to look up at the Challenger’s face.
‘That’s fair enough then. I’ll be there and I’ll be ready, I will.’ His great head nodded in time to his words, and his ham-sized fists clenched.
’You will fight naked as the day you were born,’ he said, and ducked his head a little before he turned towards the door, ‘Oh, and one final thing Macky, before I go. The prince, he has suffered a grievous loss just these past few days. I will not say further on the matter, but you may well find him somewhat distracted, and mayhap not at his best.’
‘I will treat him with due respect, Mr Meldon. You can be sure on that.’
‘Fair enough then. I bid you goodbye.’
With the door closed behind him, Mack turned to his wife.
‘It’s finally happening, my dear. This will be the making of us, it will, trust me on that.
Maree stood up and she shook out her apron without looking up at him.
‘I’ll need to make another pot of tealeaf, I reckon, with that cup spilt,’ she muttered, moving towards the sink.
‘Come here, and give me one of your big hugs, my dear.’
She turned and she looked up at him, at the width of his shoulders, and the power in his chest, at the length of his arms.
‘I fear for you Mack, I do.’
He pulled her to him and wrapped those long arms around her. ‘Shush now, my dear. I ain’t never been beat in a fight, I ain’t. And I’ve fought them that thought they were the biggest and the best, and I reckon I proved them all wrong.’
‘But… in the tavern, I heard talk. They say he kilt the last one he fought. Took his head off with his sword, he did. That’s what I heard.’
‘Now, we ain’t using swords, are we, so that can’t happen, can it? Ain’t no man stood up to me face to face in a fair fight and was still standing when I finished with him. You know that, my dear, so don’t you be worrying none about me.’
She pulled back and took one of his hands in hers. It was broad and hard, with knuckles scarred and lumpy from the years of earning himself a living with his fists.
‘I know I said to come, and I got the job in the tavern to keep us whilst we waited, though the customers are as rough as anything, and speak coarse words in front of a woman, but, it seemed so far off, and these weeks, I thought it might never come.’
She dropped his hand and looked up into his eyes.
‘We could go home now, and count ourselves lucky for the experience and no harm done. We could, couldn’t we Mack?’
‘Ay, we could my dear,’ he said, gently, ‘but we won’t. We’ve worked hard to get here, and when I beat him, we’ll get the Wellstone, and we’ll be rich, and I’ll be buying you fine clothes and stuff, I will.’
‘I don’t need fine clothes, Mack. I have all the clothes I can wear. I got my day clothes, and I got my Sunday best. What else do I need?’
‘You might not need them, my dear, but you deserve them, and you will have them, you will.’
‘What if he hurts you, Mack?’
‘If he hurts me, then I’ll just hurt him back, harder. ‘Till he gives in and says he’s beat. Then, think on it Maree, what we’ll have then. We can bring the children over here, and your mother, if you have to, and…the life we’ll have.’
‘If you’re dead set on it, then, don’t take any note of what that Mr Meldon said. About him being distracted and not at his best. Don’t believe that, and don’t you be feeling sorry for him, with whatever loss he’s had. You go in there and hit him as hard as you can, as quick as you can, and I don’t reckon there’s a man alive who’ll be getting up on his feet after you’ve done that.’
Mack smiled as he grabbed her and picked her up in his arms and gave her just a little squeeze.
‘That’s the honest truth, my dear, and that’s for sure.’
‘That tealeaf won’t get made, with me here in your arms, Mack, so let me go.’
‘Naked, he said. I don’t know if I likes that,’ he said, with a worried frown.
‘Ah now, you’ve nothing to worry about there, Mack. The ladies will swoon at the sight of you, and the men grow green with envy.’
‘Well… then you best pass me that shaving blade, my dear, I won’t have a hair on my head when I face him. I won’t give him something to grab hold of, I won’t.’
Chapter 12 Cavour
Cavour strode across the Rulehall like a man who didn’t know his place. His cloak was thrown across his thin shoulders, and one hand was on the hilt of his sword.
‘Lord Trytor!’ he called, his voice resonating in the empty hall.
Lydorth stopped in his tracks, and then he turned, with a sneer on his long face.
‘Oh, Cavour, I thought you’d be along soon enough, all hot and bothered and angry.’
Cavour continued towards him, and a mortal man might have quailed at the sight of him.
‘Tell me what has happened…my Lord Trytor. Forgive my tone, but I am sorely concerned.’
‘What happened? You wish to know what happened to your family? That is the first thing you say to me when you have been about on my business? No report to be had? No duty to fulfil?’
‘My Lord, please…I shall report in full when I know what has happened since I’ve been gone.’
‘Well now, am I offended by your tone? By your lack of respect?’
Cavour sighed, and then he bent his knee to the Trytor.
‘Ah now, that is better. So easy to please me. I am a simple creature after all.’
‘My family?’
‘Oh now, there’s a tale. Your parents, your treacherous parents. Did you know what they planned? Are you tainted by your close relationship? I must think on that.’
‘What has happened to my parents?’
‘Oh, they were found out, and arrested and interrogated.’
‘And now?’
‘They failed to survive the…process. Would you call it a process? A consecutive string of actions; yes, a process will do.’
‘They are dead?’ His hand gripped the hilt of his sword, knuckle tight.
‘Alas. But you haven’t heard the worst of it. Ask me about your brother.’
Cavour fought the urge to draw his sword and strike the mocking creature before him.
‘What of my brother?’ he said, through clenched teeth.
‘Oh, you’ll be so surprised when I tell you. He betrayed them, you see. They’d never have been caught otherwise. What a family you have, or I should say, you had.’
‘My brother is dead?’
‘No, not yet.’
Cavour closed his eyes for a second as he desperately tried to work out a plan.
‘I must see him.’
‘You dare to use words like ’must’ to me? Your master?’
‘I… I beg your pardon, my Lord Trytor. I would ask that you allow me to speak to him.’
‘That’s better. Is it too much to expect a little respect from my servant?’
‘No my Lord, it is not. Respect is due to you. I am sorry.’
‘Very well, then. We can forget the matter.’ He turned to move away.
‘My Lord?’
‘Oh, he’s in the dungeons. You may find him a little…bruised, I thi
nk.’
Cavour rushed past him and through the door that would take him below. He was accompanied by the sound of the Trytor’s laughter as he raced down the steps.
The well-lit steps ended in a dimly lit ante-room.
He paused for a moment to get his bearings and allow his eyes to adjust. Then he walked through the open doorway to his right.
A single lamp spluttered high on the wall, giving barely a hint of the three cells the room contained.
‘Brother?’ asked Cavour; his voice a whisper.
There was a rustle to his right.
‘Ay, brother, I am here.’
Cavour stepped up to the bars.
‘Let me see you.’
‘I… No, I’ll stay where I am, if it is all the same to you.’
Cavour peered into the shadows. He could just make out his brother’s pale face.
‘Is it true?’
There was no response.
‘Tell me, is it true?’
‘I… Yes, it is all true. There is nothing more to say on the matter.’
‘You betrayed them?’ The words so quiet.
‘What else do you want me to say Cavour. Yes, I did. No excuses, and nothing else to be said. I’ll take my punishment; it’s all I have left.’
‘What were you thinking? What were they thinking? I told them to do nothing; say nothing.’
‘Well, brother, it seemed they ignored even you. You know our father; actions before thought was always his way. Now, be gone and leave me in peace. The Trytor will have my head tomorrow, I expect. So, I’ve little time for conversation.’
Cavour leant his head against the bars, trying to see more clearly.
Then, with half a groan, he turned away.
‘Brother, before you go.’
Cavour remained still, with his back to the cell.
‘Will you take my hand one last time? Will you do that, Cavour?’
Cavour’s shoulders rose as he took a deep breath, and then he walked from the dungeons and did not look back.
**********
‘Miss Higard, you’ll do me a kind service if you takes them off me hands, like. They be only boys, and they need a woman’s touch, they do. And I ain’t the right sort for them.’
Old Maid Higard looked down on him from her window, and then she glanced away, with her nose held high.
‘I’m too busy for all that, I tell you. Too busy, indeed.’
‘But, I’m just a rough old fisherman and a sometime sailor, I don’t right know what to do with them.’
‘Hah now, you should be careful what you catch of a moonlit night, you should.’
‘I couldn’t hardly throw them back, could I?’
‘Three boys, is it? They’ll take some feeding, they will. And the clothes they’ll go through, you wouldn’t believe. There’ll need to be some coin in it, for my troubles, you see?’
Old Jones shook his head, and he grunted and shuffled his feet.
‘I don’t know about that. I ain’t caught nothing but boys all week, I haven’t. But I’ll stand you a drink or two in The Lazy Dog if that will suit.’
‘A couple of drinks? To take on three lads? You must think my old brains have leaked out of my ears.’
‘No, don’t be saying that, my dear. I’ll lay me hands on a couple of coins for you, I will, though they be hard come by.’
‘And next week as well, I’ll need it regular, I will. They won’t stop eating next week, will they?’
Old Jones put his hand on the shoulder of the lad named Sam.
‘Ay, you’re right enough, I suppose, but I’ll have to tell Bert he’s got to open his purse too, as it’s only fair, as he helped pull them in.’
‘I’ll just be finishing my pipe here, then I’ll be down and let them in, if it suits me.’
Old Jones smiled up at her.
‘I knew you were the right one for this, Sally. I knew.’
‘Sally? Wash your mouth out with soap for your cheek and disrespecting, Old Man Jones,’ she said, with half a smile. ‘Sally, indeed.’
‘Ah, you were pleased enough to be called Sally when we were acourting, you were, if my memory serves.’
‘Them days have been and gone, these many years.’
‘Ay, that’s true enough, but thee I still remember.’
Chapter 13 Lord Richard
‘They are ready for you now, lad.’ Her voice was soft as she bent over him.
‘I…’
‘Shush now. No need for words to be spoken. Just come along and take your poor girl’s hand, and we’ll go and say goodbye.’
Lord Richard stood up and nodded at her, and then he took Alice’s good hand.
‘It’s time, my dear,’ he said, and he even found the strength for a smile.
Together they followed Ellaine from Lancer’s home and began to make their way along the narrow path that would take them to Rizer’s Edge.
Ellaine huffed and puffed as she walked, striking the ground firmly with her staff.
Soon they reached the road and they stopped at the sight of the battered and broken carriages, all gathered together in a great funeral pyre. At its highest point was braced a flat carriage bed, supporting five bodies, wrapped in coarse blankets to hide them from view.
Ellaine moved forward and handed Ferrooll the tinderbox she’d taken from Lancer’s home.
‘Time to light them away, Ferrooll,‘ she said, and there were tears in her eyes.
Ferrooll grunted and then he bent to the task of lighting the pyre.
As the flames sprang upwards, Ellaine took a couple of steps back, and bowed her head.
‘Lady Lisbeth, we see thee, and fare thee well.’ There was a singsong tone to her voice.
‘Brederick, we see thee, and fare thee well.’
She went through the names, one by one.
When she came to the last, Richard could not hold back the sob that burst from his throat.
‘Clara, we see thee, and fare thee well.’
He dropped to his knees, and his daughter beside him.
Ellaine moved away from them, to give them time, her job done for the moment. One day she would sing their names again, and mourn for them once more.
Ferrooll was standing close to the fire, with his head bowed as he muttered ancient Giantish words of grief.
Across the road was Belloom, sitting in the dirt, and he too mouthed the words, those that he could remember.
When the pyre collapsed in on itself, Richard gently pulled Alice to her feet.
‘It is time, my dear.’
‘What happens now, father?’
‘They’ve gone, my dear, and it is time for us to do the same. We must travel home, or else I’ll not feel that you are safe. We’ll go directly south from here, and catch ourselves a ship when we reach the coast. And then we’ll sail to Hesselton. In just a few days we’ll be home.’
‘Mother never liked to sail, did she father?’
‘No, my dear. The sea didn’t agree with her.’
He turned to Ellaine.
‘What will you do now?’
‘Oh, I’ll warm myself here for a while longer, if I may. And then I’ll be going east, I will. Mayhap I’ll continue on down to Hesselton myself, if I don’t get all confused and lose my mind.’
Richard touched her shoulder gently, before he turned and walked over to the Giants to bid them farewell.
‘Look after him, my girl,’ said Ellaine, as she laid her own hand on Alice’s shoulder. ‘He’ll try to be strong, but men, they ain’t as strong as they seem. You know that, don’t you, my dear?’
Alice nodded at the old woman, but no words came to her.
‘Thank you for all of your help,’ said Richard, to the Giants. ‘And don’t forget what I said about your welcome in Hesselton.’
‘Giants don’t forget nothing, do we?’ replied Ferrooll.
‘Oh no, we don’t. Not so far as I can remember,’ said Belloom, with a nod of his great head.
�
��What will you do now?’
Ferrooll grunted and snorted at his old friend. ‘Well, he won’t be going anywhere, but I’ve got business about these parts. So, I’ll be off soon enough and I’ll be back in a day or two to make sure this old fool hasn’t let himself get all starved to death, and then I expect I’ll be off again, I will.’
Richard and his daughter left their well-met new friends behind on Rizer’s Edge and started their journey south. Before they left the road they stopped, and they both spent a last moment with their dead before they turned again and left the road.
Chapter 14 Ashlorn
He walked with a troop of 20 men, but they were an honour guard rather than an actual guard, for who would attack the mightiest of the Trytors?
Still, it wouldn’t do to be out and about all on his own as if he lacked importance.
He crested the steep slope that led to the pass that would take him from his land and into the free lands below. As he waited for his guard to catch up, his eyes scanned Rizer’s Edge as it dipped and twisted across the high hills.
The Giant wasn’t easy to miss as he sat beside the road a brace of miles from Ashlorn’s vantage point.
‘Tarrd, come along here now,’ he called without turning.
A round fellow with a sword and a shield and heavy armour bustled closer.
‘Yes, my Lord Trytor?’
‘Run on ahead and distract this Giant, so he doesn’t run off in fear at the sight of his approaching doom.’
‘His approaching doom?’
‘That means me, you fool. Now, you go and talk to him.’
‘What shall I say to him? I ain’t spoken to a Giant before.’
‘Just say the first thing that comes into your head, just as you usually do.’
‘Right, my Lord. I’ll do just that. I’ll talk about the weather. I reckon a Giant will be interested in the weather, what with his head being so close to the sky.’
‘Be off then.’
Tarrd bowed and then he set off, in an awkward, energy-sapping running style that was hardly faster than a brisk walk.
Ashlorn shook his head as he watched him run.
