by Sam Taw
“The sky is falling in.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
For a moment, I couldn’t think what he might mean, until a soft clump of snow landed on his head. He almost leapt over the fire in panic.
“Calm yourself, Jago. It’s just snow. Surely, you’ve seen that before. They have snowfall in Frynk.”
He shrank back behind me, trying to hide from the increasing number of flakes tumbling out of the sky. Suliaman’s warriors jumped to their feet from the fire side, waving their spears in the air to stop the flakes from landing.
“Tell them it is cold water, Jago. Look…” I held out my tongue until a few flakes dissolved into the wetness. Still they glowered. “Snow.” I said loudly, looking up until I had collected enough on my face to make blinking difficult. Jago raised his palm in the air. The flakes melted against his warm skin. One of the guards responded to the Prince, who heard the ruckus from inside the cart.
While I rejoiced in seeing the white stuff, the foreigners viewed it with great caution. Suliaman ordered his men to lift him outside. The wind picked up a little, drifting the flakes in swirls about his head. It was almost mystical. The Prince smiled for the first time in days. He spoke to Jago, asking him to relay a message.
“He says that he had heard about this white magic from travellers to his homeland. It is more beautiful than he imagined.” Jago said, pulling his tunic up about his neck.
“He won’t be saying that in a few days when we’re trekking through heaps of the icy stuff.” I laughed. In truth, it had been many years since I’d seen actual snow. Seasons had been a continuous source of rain and mud for at least ten or more cycles. My last recollection of significant snow was from my childhood. Jago’s courage grew. He caught flakes on his hand, his nose and finally his tongue before tiring of his game.
I stacked the fire with logs and went in search of more. If we were to avoid freezing to death, we would need to build a shelter for the night. With a flaming torch in one hand, I called out for Tallack all the while building a small wood pile for him to carry back to the camp fire for me. I shouted his name several times before he answered me, lumbering over the brambles and shrubs to lend a hand. When he did come into view, his hair stuck up in all directions and his clothes were untied and hanging off him.
There was no need to guess what he and Maleek had been doing in the shelter of the trees. “We can’t sleep out in this all night. We’ll need to build shelters. Suliaman’s warriors won’t have a clue how to make them snow proof.” I tried to keep the annoyance from my tone but it seeped out anyway.
Tallack blushed. “Leave it with me. I’ll get them chopping hazel poles and fir branches while Cade and I start weaving them together. There are enough men to make light work of it.” He ran off before I could begin nagging him over his choice of lover.
Jago helped me with the logs in the end. I held up the torch for us both to see while he carried them back to the fire. Renowden appeared from out of nowhere with a half dozen rabbits hanging from a long stick by their sliced ankle skin. I was glad to see him. All the cold and extra work had us all ravenous. The Prince sat in his high chair by the fire transfixed by the snow. It settled on his head and shoulders and glued his lashes together, but he made no attempt to move.
“I suppose it is far too hot for it in your land?” I ventured, filling the awkward silence with polite chatter, and waiting for my slave to translate.
“He says that’s true. He never thought he would live long enough to see and feel such marvels. It is colder than his poor bones can cope with here, but delights such as this make it worthwhile.”
For a brief time, I looked at my homeland through his eyes. Tall trees, lush vegetation and freshwater at every other turn. A dry and sunny day was a rarity for us. Suliaman lived with droughts and curses and precious stones that glinted with coloured light. It must have seemed like another world entirely to him.
“I should like to visit your homeland one day.” I said it before I’d thought it all through. I was too old to embark on such a trip despite the desire to go. “What is it like to live there?” Jago fed my question to the old man and told me his reply.
“It would amaze and astound you. The houses are stacked on top of each other, high into the air. As many as six families can live in one building. Across the warm seas, some of their huts are shaped like the cone of his hat. For hundreds of cycles they were called mounds, with thick walls to protect them from the sun. The Prince lived in a palace, a house of great magnificence. Their settlements are huge, with more people than all your tribes put together living in the same place. In the cities, they build temples to the gods. The sun bakes them all day long before it dips below the ground. Only then, is it cool enough to sleep.”
“It sounds incredible. Why did you go to Frynk if your homeland is so well developed?” I asked, thinking it would be a simple enough question for him to answer. He took his time, thinking how to phrase his response. I guessed that he was wondering how to make a bad situation sound better.
“He says he was banished from the city by the elders in his family, until he found a way to lift the curse. Before leaving, Maleek refused to let him go alone, pledging that he would do whatever it took to return his father to the throne.” Jago explained.
“What’s a throne?”
“Oh um…” Jago considered. “The Chieftain seat for the whole city.”
“So, they are without a ruler right now?” My persistent questions seemed to irk the Prince. His voice turned sharp and snappy. I should have minded my own business.
“Prince Suliaman’s brother now holds the title, but he has no heirs. Maleek will rule when his uncle dies. The Prince was once the King, until the curse was laid at his feet.”
Now I understood why his manner and that of his son’s was so arrogant. Suliaman lost everything but his son since the curse took hold. I wanted to ask more questions, to delve deeper into the actual event leading to his misfortune, but the Prince summoned his men to carry him back into the wagon. He had lost interest in both me and our unusual weather.
The white flakes settled on the ground fast. Tallack and Cade worked like demons to make a temporary shelter large enough to accommodate us all. Some of Suliaman’s men shuttered off the space beneath the cart, while others made a lean-to roof against its sides. With all our body heat collected inside the temporary hurdles, and our furs distributed between us, we made it through the night unscathed and remarkably chipper.
The fire succumbed to the white stuff not long after we all turned in for the night. By dawn, I heartily wished that we’d continued our shift of watches, if only to keep the fire ablaze for our morning porridge.
The snow crunched beneath my feet as I pushed my way through the undergrowth. Everything was still, not a hint of breeze to dislodge snow which had settled on the evergreens. Crouching down and lifting my tunic, I heard the rustle of branches. It was a small herd of red deer less than a boat length from my spot. I stood up slowly, so as not to spook them and a buck raised its magnificent antlers up to stare me directly in the eye. We regarded one another for some time before my innards began to tremble. The spirit of Cernonnus, God of the Wild Forest and Death, sought me out with a message of danger. I was frozen in time, as was he. With a steamy snort to add to my fears, the stag leapt away, taking his hinds with him.
As my senses returned to me, I realised that spears and arrows were flying past my ear in search of the animal’s flanks. Suliaman’s warriors were hunting them. What could I do but to return to the camp with my message from our god and hope that the men had not killed him?
“Tallack?” I flitted about seeking my nephew. “Have you seen him, Jago? I must speak with him right now.” My wits were all over the place in panic.
He came out from the bushes on the other side of the clearing. “What’s got you in a spin. Can’t even take a leak without you getting in a state.”
“Cernonnus appeared to me in the form of a giant stag. It’s a war
ning of death. We must leave this place at once.”
“Or it was just a stag, Aunt. Not every buck with big antlers is a god. This is a good place to be right now, with the snow like it is. We have shelter, plenty of food, and a tasty spring over yonder…I’d be happy to stay until summer.”
“He looked me right in the eye. I tell you he was warning me.”
“Even if it was Cernonnus, death will come whether it’s here and now or two moons away when we’re at the top of the world. You can’t know for sure.” He tied his leggings up around his waist and kicked the snow from the remaining logs in the fire pit. “Relax, Fur Benyn, you know I’m right.” He gave me such a sneer I walked up behind him and clipped his ear with the back of my hand. He jogged away from me laughing. He was right. I couldn’t be sure. Perhaps it was just a feeling that something was not right within our group of travellers. The cordiality seemed forced. They tolerated our needs and customs as we did theirs.
My heart took a little while to quieten. I removed a small stash of dry sticks and branches from beneath the wagon and threw them down at Tallack’s feet. “Make yourself useful and build a fire. We’ll all need something warm to eat if we are to trek in this weather.”
“You do remember that I’m your Chieftain now don’t you, Aunt?” He grinned, ducking for cover as I slung a stick at his head.
Tallack and Blydh were the fourth and fifth Chieftains during my lifetime, and none of them expected me to observe the hierarchy as another tribal member would. I was daughter, sister, aunt and great aunt to each of them, allowing me a unique favour from all. On this day, I needed that privilege more than ever.
Renowden went in search of more food for our supper, while Cade and Jago strapped the new hurdles onto the sides and roof of the wagon. We would need those at our next stop to stave off the bitter cold winds.
I went to check on the Prince’s health. Clambering up the back of the cart, I was met with a string of garbled words and his healer blocking my way. I tried to ask after Suliaman’s wellbeing, but he would not allow me to see or speak with him. I dare say he’d doped him up on too much resin again and was keen to hide his actions.
Cade and Jago cut enough poles and withies to construct another two panels, and then stowed the additional kindling under the cart. Suliaman’s warriors returned with three red deer, tied at the ankles to poles and hoisted up on their shoulders. These beautiful creatures will feed us all for days. I gave a silent prayer to the Summerlands, that the stag was not among the kill.
No one seemed in any particular hurry to leave. Each of the men helped with the butchery, or wove new shelter panels or sharpened axes and spears. I was left with a growing restlessness, knowing that Tallack and Maleek were missing once again, and the available light was fading behind the trees. I tried to busy myself, looking for useful plants to harvest, but I found none and fretted all the more. Keeping within a short distance of our clearing, I was able to see when Tallack arrived back in camp. The moment he did, I pounced on him.
“If we don’t leave now, we’ll have to stay here for another night.” I chided, trying to keep the whining tone from my voice and failing.
“So? I like it here. What’s the harm in restocking our supplies and resting the horses for a bit? We’ve pushed them hard in the last few days.” He didn’t wait for my answer, wandering off towards his new love. His statement summed up his decision all at once.
“Hmm, no wonder you like it here.” I muttered beneath my breath. “Plenty of cover for you and Maleek. I hope to Cernonnus that the Prince does not find out.” There was nothing I could do. Cade and Jago took the hurdles down from the cart and bound them together in a sturdier shelter for the night. Suliaman’s men carved great chunks of meat from a deer carcass and rubbed a reddish-brown powder into the flesh, mixed with a little oil.
Our fire was even bigger than the night before, sizzling with the fatty splashes of grilling meat and smoking with cooked spices from the other end of the world. The men drank their ale and laughed with bawdy jokes and had such a feast worthy of any Chief’s Long Hut. I remained quiet and observant. Tallack seemed to have forgotten the incident where his lover’s men almost severed his head but I hadn’t. There was little they could do now to earn my trust, even if food and bedding and the warmth from the fire was shared equally.
The Prince was well enough to perform his own sacrificial offering to the grinning idol, who now had its own shelter for the night. I was glad that it didn’t have to squeeze in among the rest of us to give me the creeps while I tried to sleep.
The skies cleared in the early morning, plunging the temperature and freezing a thick crust on the top of the snow. Now when we walked, it made a cracking noise with each footfall. Tallack had no excuse for lingering at this place. Between him and Maleek, the camp was packed away and our ponies made ready for the next leg of our journey north.
In bright spirits and renewed vigour, we followed the trail through the remaining part of the forest. As the spaces between the trees grew wider, I saw the diminished herd of deer running from our path. Twisting around on my horse, I watched them leaping and bounding over bushes and fallen trees into the dense undergrowth. When they were almost out of sight, the stag stopped and faced me once more. His breath billowed from his nostrils in great plumes of steam. Kicking out at the snow, he stared me down. I knew then that I was communing with the God of Death. In that moment we shared the same thought. One of us will die.
Filled with remorse and regret, I watched Cernonnus fly after his herd and disappear. For a few moments afterwards, I was caught in a trance. My stomach danced inside me. I rattled through all the potential ways for us to leave the quest, but came up with nought. We had to see this through to its lethal end, or suffer Suliaman’s wrath for breaking our word. Desolate and fearful, I slumped over the horse’s mane, cuffing the tears as they spilled from my eyes.
“Great lady, are you unwell?” Jago enquired, resting his gentle hand on my back as we rode together on my white steed.
“I am sick in thought and deeds, Jago.” He didn’t understand me, bless him. He offered to make a tonic for me, or to stop and light a fire to warm my heart. His kindness is all the warmth I need. There was no point in informing Tallack of my latest sighting. He would have dismissed it as the ravings of a silly old woman. I rode on behind Cade and Renowden, and before the Prince’s wagon.
“There’s just one more long bend in the track, if memory serves me, and then it’s flat fields and lowlands for a couple of days.” Cade announced to no one in particular.
He was right about the final bend in the forest. What he did not foresee, was the enormous gathering of tribesmen awaiting us as we cleared the tree line.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The sight was as incredible as it was frightening. The number of warriors standing in our way was in the tens of hundreds. A massive camp lay in the distance, sporting coloured flags and a great many fires. At the head of our welcoming party was an older man astride a huge black stallion. He wore the skull and tusks of a boar on his head and his face was streaked with red clay.
I watched as Cade rode closer to him with his arms held up in a signal of submission. Every one of the warriors at the man’s side, wore a stern frown and held a glinting spear. This tribe meant to harm us. Tallack cantered to the head of the line, passing me in all haste.
“I thought you said that the Catuve were allies?” Tallack yelled as they drew near. “They look pretty angry to me.”
Cade bowed his head and stopped his pony a short distance from their leader. “May we approach?” He shouted. The man at the heart of the tribe nodded. Cade kicked his horse and trotted towards the party. Tallack followed keeping his head bowed and his swords sheathed as he drew closer. I crept my pony up to their backs, hoping to hear what was spoken. This was the leader of the Catuve-Llaunii. He stared Cade down without uttering a word.
In respect to his seniority and position, Cade dismounted his horse. “Chief Osbert,
I hope that we find you and your family well on this cold winter morning.”
“You did not find us at all, Cade of the Cantii. You took it upon yourself to march right through our lands without tribute or permission.” Despite his small frame, the chief had a booming and authoritative voice. I jumped when he began to speak, making my horse fuss and fidget.
“You know that I would have waited at the crossing for your blessings if I could, but we are on an urgent errand. It will not happen again. Of that you have my word.” Cade placed his hand on his chest and smiled a big toothy grin. I winced at his insincerity. If I could detect it from behind, I was sure that the Chief had.
The older man sneered. “Your word means nothing, or you would have respected our ways and paid tribute under the arrangements with your father.”
“As I said, this was an exceptional case, and will never be repeated. We bring your wives gifts of gold and spices from exotic lands.” Cade stepped aside and pointed to the wagon as though it were filled to the roof with jewels instead of a sick old Phoenician man.
“What use are spices and gold when our allies go back on their promises? You have insulted my tribe, and I grieve for the loss of goodwill between us.” The Chief picked up the reins of his stallion and pulled them to one side, turning the enormous beast around. Those surrounding him followed suit, leaving just the warriors with their spears at the ready and blocking Cade from following.
“Please, Chief Osbert, I beg you. My father would string me up for insulting your honour and that of your tribe. How may I make amends?” Cade shouted above the crunching hooves in the snow. “Please?”
This was precisely what the Chief wanted, a complete capitulation. He had Cade on the back foot, willing to do whatever it took to heal the rift before his father learned of the insult. From where I sat on my horse, I could see the Chief halt. The tusks of the boar skull came into view as he turned his head a fraction and nodded.
Each of the warriors pulled back their spears and allowed Cade through on foot. The moment he cleared their line, they raised the defences against us.