“Hadrack,” Jebido said. His face looked strained and his hands were trembling. I’d never seen Jebido like that in the entire year that I’d known him. “Hadrack,” he repeated. “I was there that day in Corwick and I know their names.” I rocked backwards from his words as if I’d been struck. Nothing had prepared me for it and I shook my head, staring at Jebido in disbelief. He opened his mouth to say something more and white-hot rage descended on me. I was on my feet in a moment and I flung myself at him, screaming like someone possessed. Jebido was caught by surprise and he fell backward. I landed on top of him, pounding away at anything that I could with my fists. I heard Baine yelling something beside me and I could feel him trying to pull me away, but I ignored him. Jebido just lay silent beneath me, not trying to protect himself from my fists as they rained down on him. He looked up at me and I thought I could see tears in his eyes before he shifted his gaze past my shoulder and his expression changed to alarm. He shouted, “No!” just as I felt something hard crash against my skull. I sagged into Jebido’s arms and he wrapped them around me protectively as I felt weakness flood my body and then everything went black. When I awoke, it was to find myself lying in my bed, which was really just some straw piled on the floor that I shared with another boy from the other shift. Jebido and Baine were sitting on the floor beside me and looking at me with obvious concern. I learned later that one of the Heads had hit me with his club and that I was lucky he hadn’t crushed in my skull.
“How do you feel?” Jebido asked gently when he saw that I was awake.
“Don’t you talk to me!” I screamed at him, wincing as sharp pain instantly stabbed along my temples.
“Hadrack,” Jebido said softly. He went to put his hand on my shoulder and then thought better of it and he put his hands in his lap instead. “We need to talk.”
“I said I don’t want to talk to you!” I hissed at him. “Go away!”
Jebido bowed his head. “I will. But can you at least let me try to explain what happened first?”
“Explain what?” I asked as I glared at him. “That you’re a murdering bastard?”
“I didn’t kill anybody,” Jebido said softly.
“Sure!” I snorted. Jebido sighed and looked at the ceiling, not saying anything.
“You need to listen to him,” Baine said.
“Why?” I demanded.
“Because he’s telling the truth and he’s our friend. He didn’t kill anyone just as he says.”
I felt doubt rise in me at the earnest look on Baine’s face and my anger cooled a bit as I turned and studied Jebido. He looked terrible, worse even than when I’d first seen him in Tuft’s wagon. Whatever this was about it seemed to be eating him alive. Finally, I crossed my arms and stared at Jebido coldly. “Fine. Say what you have to say and then leave me alone.”
Jebido nodded and paused to compose his thoughts. “I was a soldier, Hadrack,” he finally said. “One of Lord Corwick’s sworn men.”
“Yes, I gathered that,” I said bitterly.
Jebido sighed and looked at his hands. “I’d been employed at Corwick Castle for almost three years before any of this happened.” He looked at me with serious eyes. “I wasn’t one of the nine, Hadrack. I swear by The First Pair that I wasn’t.” I pursed my lips and took a deep breath and waited as Jebido continued, “Late in the afternoon on that day, one of the nine men you spoke of, Hervi Desh, arrived at the castle with news of a murder in Corwick.”
“Heavy Beard,” I whispered, realizing who the man had been.
“Yes,” Jebido said. “Desh told Lord Corwick that the Reeve had bravely tried to stop one of the peasant’s from raping a woman and that he’d been killed for it.”
“That’s a lie!” I shouted. “That bastard raped and murdered my sister!”
“I know that now,” Jebido said, holding up his hand. “At the time all we knew is what Desh told us. Lord Corwick mustered the garrison and we rode out right away. I’d never seen him as furious as he was that day. To be honest, we all were.”
“So you were one of the soldiers that came with Lord Corwick,” I said as I tried to control my anger and understand what he was telling me. “The ones who stayed back and waited for him on the path.”
“I was,” Jebido confirmed. He let out a long sigh. “I saw your father executed, Hadrack. Lord Corwick told us that your father was the one who had tried to rape a young girl and that he had murdered the Reeve when he tried to intervene.”
“What!” I cried in disbelief.
Jebido shrugged. “It made sense to us at the time and we rode back to the castle believing justice had been served with your father’s death. It wasn’t until a few days later that we learned that the entire village had been destroyed and everyone had been killed. The official story we were told was that the Piths had raided from the south and had killed everyone.”
“And you believed it?” I demanded incredulously.
“Why not?” Jebido asked. “The savageness of what happened in Corwick could only have been the Piths, or so it seemed to us. No Ganderman would do that.” He looked at me gravely. “They killed the Son and Daughter, Hadrack, and burned the Holy House as well.”
“No!” I gasped in shock.
“Mother Above!” Baine whispered in horror.
Jebido nodded. “So you see, why would anyone even remotely suspect it hadn’t been the Piths? I only learned the truth by accident when I overheard a very drunk Hape talking with Calen about what had really happened.”
“What did you do?” I asked, still shocked by what I’d heard. I thought of old Son Fadrian and pretty Daughter Elias and shook my head in disbelief. How could they have done it? I wondered. What kind of men would dare do such an evil thing?
Jebido sighed. “I foolishly went to Lord Corwick and told him what I had overheard.”
“But he’s the one who told them to do it!” I protested.
“Yes, but I didn’t know that,” Jebido said. “Hape hadn’t said a word about that part. You have to remember that we rode away with Lord Corwick before any of the killings started.” Jebido ran his fingers through his hair again and snorted softly. “Lord Corwick told me in very clear words that if I breathed a word of what I knew, then my head would be quickly freed from my body.”
“Murdering, lying bastards,” I whispered. I could feel my anger toward Jebido softening as I listened to his story. I wanted to believe him, I realized. He had befriended me. We had become close and I knew instinctively that what he was saying was the truth.
“They are all of that and more,” Jebido agreed. “A nest of vipers the lot of them. I should have realized after what I’d overheard that Lord Corwick had to have ordered the village destroyed. I felt like a complete fool. I guess a part of me didn’t want to believe it, I suppose.”
“What happened after that?” Baine asked.
“I demanded that Lord Corwick release me from his service,” Jebido said. He shrugged. “What else could I do? I couldn’t be sworn to that man after what I’d learned.”
“He told Quant to destroy everything,” I said, feeling tired and drained of emotion. “I heard him order it. They burned all the buildings and even killed the animals too.” I looked at Jebido in confusion. “And now you’re telling me he ordered them to kill the Son and the Daughter as well and blame it on the Piths. It doesn’t make any sense.”
Jebido sighed. “I have a theory about the Piths and the Son and Daughter’s murder,” he said. “But it’s complicated and I’ll leave that for another day. I think the main reason he killed everyone else is pretty simple. Lord Corwick is a very vindictive man, Hadrack, and I’m very sorry to have to tell you this, but the Reeve was his brother.” I sagged back on the straw, feeling sick to my stomach as I realized that all of those lives had been lost because of me. If only I had found another way, none of it would hav
e happened at all.
“So, did he release you?” Baine asked breathlessly.
“Yes,” Jebido nodded to him. “He said he respected my feelings on the matter and asked when I’d be leaving. I told him I’d stay until the morning.” Jebido chuckled dryly. “As soon as I walked away from that snake, I gathered what few belongings I had, grabbed a horse and hightailed it out of there.” He grinned. “They sent men after me, of course, but I kept to the hills and stayed out of sight for weeks until I was sure they’d given up and then I headed for Gandertown.”
“And that’s where you met Tuft,” Baine said.
“Yes,” Jebido agreed. “I was drowning my sorrows in a tavern when he walked in and started a conversation. I don’t really remember much of that night, but I must have told him some of what had happened and he knew no one would be looking for me. I remember he told me of the ale he brewed for himself out in his wagon and we went to sample it. That’s all I remember and the rest you know.”
“I want their names,” I said, glaring at Jebido. “The names of the nine that I don’t know. I want them all.”
“And you will have them,” Jebido promised. He put his hand on my arm. “I’ll give you that, my young friend, and I’ll give you much more. I’ll give you the means to kill them.”
I looked at him and shook my head. “No,” I said. “I appreciate it, Jebido, I really do. But I don’t want anybody’s help. This is something that I have to do by myself when I’m ready.”
“I didn’t mean that I’d help kill them,” Jebido said with a slight smile. “At least not in the way you’re thinking. Believe me, I fully understand that the vow you swore to your father and sister is sacred.” He stood up and put his hands on his hips, staring down at me. “The lives of those nine men belong to you, Hadrack, and no one else. I have no doubt that when you’re ready, you will kill them. But it won’t be easy and, if you’re going to succeed, you’re going to have to learn to fight.”
“Here?” I said with a frown as I looked around. Nearly half the straw beds were being used by sleeping boys and I turned and looked up at Jebido. “How can I learn to fight down here?”
Jebido grinned. “I’ll teach you,” he said as he glanced at Baine. “I’ll teach you both.”
About a week after that conversation, Baine and I went to join Jebido by the reservoir and we found him sitting in his usual spot waiting for us and grinning like a fool. Two long wooden swords sat on the stones by his side and, as we approached, Jebido jumped to his feet like a child with a new toy and eagerly displayed them to us.
“Where did you get them?” I asked in amazement as Jebido handed one of the swords to me. It was made of oak, with a rough blade angled at the end and a smoothly sanded grip for the hand. The hilt and cross-guard were thick and crudely cut, but seemed more than serviceable. I took a few practice swings, surprised at the weight.
“Segar got the wood for me and I made them,” Jebido said proudly. Segar was the Head in charge of our team and was a giant of a man with a badly broken nose and one eye that always seemed to focus on something to his left. He had a temper that you had to watch out for, but, as far as Head’s go, Segar wasn’t the worst down in Father’s Arse. Jebido told us how he’d approached Segar and had requested material for the swords, and though Segar had resisted at first, he’d finally relented after extracting a promise from Jebido that we’d increase our quota by a third. Neither Baine nor I were that enthusiastic about the quota increase at the time, but in the end things worked out just fine. So began our training.
Every day after our shift and we’d eaten, Baine and I would spend at least two hours working with the wooden swords while Jebido instructed us. After we were done for the day, Jebido would return the swords to Segar, who kept them locked up in his quarters. As the months went by, more and more of the Turds would come and sit and watch us practice, yelling encouragement occasionally, but more often than not cheering when either Baine or I got whacked by Jebido’s sword, which, truth be told, was more times than I care to admit.
“There are eight basic things you need to know to fight with a sword,” I remember Jebido told us on that first day as he held one of the practice swords in the air. “First, you must be strong,” he said. “Strength and endurance in battle are a necessity. If you are stronger and fitter than your opponent, you will win. Second, you must at all times stay focused and calm. If you let fear overcome you, you will make mistakes and you will die. Third, there is no such thing as fair play.” He paused and lowered the sword and leaned on it as we listened intently. “When you face a man in combat, know that he will stop at nothing to bring you down. The moment your swords cross, it’s kill or be killed. And have no illusions, my young friends. He will stop at nothing to kill you. You must do the same. Fourth, confidence. You must not just think that you can win; you must know that you can win. When the enemy sees this he will be disheartened, and this will weaken him. Fifth, patterns can kill you. A good swordsman knows how to read you. If you are predictable in your fighting patterns, he will see it and he will kill you. Sixth, don’t be intimidated by your opponent. Many fighters use words or bluster to try to plant fear in you. Once the seeds of fear sprout, you are lost. Seventh, timing and distance.” Jebido snapped the blade of the sword up suddenly and swung it. I instinctively drew back as the tip grazed my face. “You must know at all times how far your opponent is from your blade. A miss throws you off balance and could prove costly, as it opens you up to counter attack.” Jebido lowered the sword again. “And finally, eight. The most important of all. Caution. The surest way to get yourself killed is to rush into it. Think, assess, and then act. Never underestimate your opponent.”
As the years went by, I grew bigger and stronger and faster. Jebido had told me early on that I was a natural with the sword, and he was right. I took to it easily, though it would be several long years of bumps and bruises before I managed to actually hit Jebido. Baine, on the other hand, struggled. He was fast, faster than I was in fact, but he was predictable in his attacks and could be easily disarmed, even by me.
“You need to change things up,” Jebido scolded him during one such practice as Baine’s sword went twirling from his hand for the third time in as many minutes. “You’re making it too easy.”
Baine walked over to the sword and picked it up and shrugged. “I’ll never be a swordsman, Jebido, and we both know it. I’m too small.”
It was hard to argue with that, as I was thirteen and already as tall as Jebido, while Baine, on the other hand, though a year younger than me, still barely came up to my shoulder. Baine was stronger than he looked, but he was slightly built and we all knew he would be easily overcome in combat where strength and raw power could overwhelm speed.
“When we get out of here I’ll teach you the bow,” Jebido promised him. This seemed to perk Baine up and he showed more enthusiasm in the lessons, at least for a little while.
By the time I was fourteen I was taller than Jebido and I was managing to catch him with my blade every once in a while. I still had ten bruises for every one I gave him, but it was still satisfying nonetheless.
One day while we were sparring, Baine, who’d been watching intently with some of the others, mentioned he needed to piss and that he’d be right back. I remember noticing someone get up and follow Baine, but I didn’t have time to dwell on it as Jebido rushed at me with his sword held above his head. I raised my sword to counter his, realizing even as I did it that it was a feint and I spun aside at the last moment as Jebido’s foot narrowly missed my midriff and glanced off my hip. I managed to keep my balance and I swung back and down with my sword as I turned, gratified to hear a sold thwack as the edge of my blade caught Jebido’s lower leg. The Turds sitting around watching cheered mightily at that.
“Mother’s tit!” Jebido grimaced. He paused, bending his knee back and forth gingerly before grinning at me. “Well met, Hadrack! I thoug
ht I had you with that move.”
“It was a near thing,” I said, grinning back at him.
I looked for Baine, intending to give him a turn with the sword, and then I remembered he’d gone to piss. I frowned as I recalled someone getting up quickly and following him, and I felt a jolt of fear as I realized it had been Wigo Jedin!
One of the first things we boys learned when we were brought to Father’s Arse was to watch out for ourselves. There were no women in the Hole and many of the men had no qualms about buggering a boy if they could. Some boys went with them willingly, and if that was their choice, then so be it, as we turned a blind eye to such things down in the Hole. There were a few, though, that liked it rough and preferred to take what they wanted. Wigo Jedin was one of these. The other boys liked to joke that he’d bugger a hole in a rock if it were big enough and knew how to fight back. I thought about sharing my concerns with Jebido, but then changed my mind. It was probably nothing and Jedin had just gotten up to go get some sleep. “I’m going to take a piss,” I said to Jebido. “I’ll be right back.” Jebido nodded, still flexing his leg and wincing as I pushed my way through the Turds. Several of them congratulated me on my swordsmanship and I grinned and nodded to them sheepishly. I reached the dimly-lit tunnel that led to the latrine, which we called the shit pit, and entered as the sounds of the Turds behind me were abruptly cut off. A candle burned weakly on a ledge halfway along the right-hand wall, the flame flickering in protest as I passed by. There was a boy, Folclind, his name was, who was not quite right in the head and whose only job down in Father’s Arse was to ensure the candles never went out. Without their light, it would be very easy to get lost forever in the network of tunnels down in the Hole.
The Nine Page 8