by R D Blake
Now, all the steeds were becoming restless, unnerved, and the dogs wormed in among themselves with a greater franticness, their whining rising to a crescendo. Teton sensed that this forest becoming alive and whatever creatures dwelt within this green realm, they were coming here! Without thought, Teton’s hand went to the hilt of his own sword. But within a moment of feeling his hand grasp its handle, he knew he had made a mistake. His act would only compel the ones above to act now. Slowly he withdrew his hand leaving it palm up, and open, displaying the fact that he intended no harm here. Swivelling his eyes to and fro about himself, Teton perceived that the men surrounding him were also becoming aware that something here was amiss.
But it seemed Connor was not yet alert to the growing danger. Strutting a circle three times about the creature, with one thrust he slid his sword under the thrown back cowl of the thing and down its back and had ripped its robe to its waist. “Gah! Have you ever seen such an animal! Hair all about its shoulders and down its back. Part toad, part wild pig, and some ape from some southern clime, would you not think? Just what manner of being sired this? And look! It is a hunchback above all else!” Pointing his blade at the creature, Connor jeered out even worse slights while this strange being at his feet clung to the tatters of its remaining clothes, shuddering in abject misery.
Unable to endure more, Teton threw himself off his horse intent to cease this selfish cruelty and urge all to escape this glade; but as with the rest he was startled when a black creature burst out from the surrounding forest.
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Erick felt his heart would burst. Near the end of his madcap race a hawk had joined him, winging scarcely above his head screeching out, urging him on. And the hope that this bird engendered within him energized Erick to ignore his flaming lungs and the pain of his exhausted muscles and when he finally stumbled out into the clearing, he fell to the ground, heaving, gasping, trying to bring one more breath of life into his body. Blackness swam before his eyes and all he wished to do was to lie down on the trampled ground and give himself up to his unbearable exhaustion. But his ears heard her voice and Erick forced himself to his knees. His eyes took in the scene before him: the men, the horses, the hounds, Connor, Teton! But most of all No One laid bare before all these. “Do not! Leave her!” Erick commanded. But the incredulous eyes about him, the disgust some bore him, and the sharp, tight contempt he saw in Connor’s features abruptly brought Erick to realize what this situation demanded.
All these nobles saw before them was a wild looking man of the forest. Almost a creature — a beast like they saw in No One. There was no time and likely no means to convince them of who he truly was. Not with Connor, who was steadily advancing toward him, sword in hand, revealing no kindness toward him for intruding on this hunt and the commanding manner in which he had spoken. Erick prostrated himself before them all. “I beg your pardon, your forgiveness, your forbearance, noble ones. I knew not whom I have become before.”
His words did nothing to appease Connor who now stood over him staring down at him. “Speak! By what right do you come to be here among us? I should kill you right now, peasant.” In one smooth movement Connor tipped up Erick’s head with the tip of his sword.
For a brief moment, Erick feared the earl’s son would recognize him; but he saw no sign of such in the man’s eyes. His long beard, his wild hair, the dirt and rags which comprised his clothing, hid the truth of him. “I have no right, my lord. I am — I am a simple woodsman. I live here abouts. And — and that creature — such as it is. She — it belongs to me.”
“You claim ownership of that thing!” Connor began to circle Erick, seeking to make him the butt of some jest. “And you suggest it is a female? How did you come by this alleged ownership? Hmm?”
“I beg your pardon, my lord. I misspeak. It found me — some time ago.” Erick kept his eyes to the ground. “And chose to stay with me. Please, my noble lord, it causes no harm and — and keeps me company in this empty land.”
Conner chortled, speaking out to the others about the clearing. “Hear that? She keeps him company! I wonder what company this lonely woodman might mean by that!” Connor’s lewd suggestion made Erick burn. It was all he could do to keep his eyes averted and hold his stave loosely rather than swinging it upwards smashing Connor’s teeth straight down into his throat.
Connor began tapping Erick’s back and shoulders with his sword. “You wish to claim her? Well, so do we! We have captured her and have a right to her. But hunting has proven poor in this land and we have lacked for entertainment. I propose you please us by way of a competition. Win and you win her. Lose and you remain with us staked out in the same manner as we will do with this foul creature. And after we have had our fill of seeing all of its ugliness we will kill it, and I propose to hang its head as a trophy within my own rooms in Westhaven. But for you, woodsman, we will leave you to the denizens of this forest for them to render their own decision as regards your fate.
“Siegfried!” Connor shouted out. “You and the others, hack out a circle where our contest will be held.” Connor looked about him and then back to Erick. “Since, you bear only a stave, I will be magnanimous and grant you the use of what you know best. Teton! Cut yourself a similar one from the forest. I know from my own contests together you are the most capable of us all.”
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Erick dared not look at his old friend. Of any here, Teton might see through his wretched disguise and disclose the truth of him. He had heard Teton protest at this use of him. “Connor, leave this creature and this woodsman. I like not this place. Can you not sense it? The forest has gone quiet and look above us. The birds — they watch us.” Erick’s small hope rose. Her guardians had come! And his ears also, like those around him, heard the faint howls of the gathering wolf packs. But would they be enough against all these armed men and how soon would they arrive? The slight gasps of the others, many of whom he knew, betrayed their upward looks.
“Fear them not, Teton,” Connor replied dismissively. “I wish to be amused. We all wish to be amused.”
Time was what was needed and Erick rose to his feet, firmly grasping his stave. Keeping his head bowed to Connor and the rest, he uttered the only words that might save No One: “I accept the challenge.”
“See, Teton, this woodsman fears not you or this forest. Can you step away from such words! Or are you less a man that I think you are?”
Connor risked much, goading Teton in such a manner. Erick shifted his eyes about gauging the nobles within this glade, assessing where their allegiances truly lay. It was obvious that the majority sided with Connor. That spoke of a long story, but it was one he had no time for and it took all his willpower not to look at No One. She had gone quiet as the birds above them. Erick risked one glance upwards. The trees were full of them. And they waited just as he did. That gave him yet more hope; for even if he failed, they might not.
The broad circle had almost been readied, and even now, Teton was returning from the edge of the glade with a long rod of wood. Erick could readily see that his old friend had no heart for this game. And now he had to risk all. As they entered the circle and walked about seemingly to assess each other, Erick slid his hands up and down his stave, moving his fingers in a certain fashion, praying to God that Teton would notice but not betray him.
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Teton fumed. He wanted no part of this pretence of a challenge. This smaller man had no chance against him. But this competition was less about defeating his opponent and more to do with the game being played among Connor and the rest of them on this hunt. Alliances and relationships were being built, altered and redefined. And this was part of what Connor was really doing. Well, Teton would make short work of the woodsman. There would be little entertainment for any who watched. He would drive the man out of the circle and it would be over with little or no injury done to this wild looking animal of a human being. And if Teton could not arrange for the little monster to be spared, he wo
uld ensure that this man was not left bound in this forest.
But as Teton tightened his eyes on his opponent and saw the play of his hands as he repositioned them on his stave, his eyes widened in astonishment.
This woodsman moved about disguising what he was doing with his fingers. “Friend. Must talk. Secret. Do not betray me.” How did this one know the secret hand signals that only the closest retainers and vassals of the king had been trained in?
“Siegfried, call them to begin!” Connor shouted out. During their preparations, he had wrapped a rope about the creature’s neck and had dragged it to where he sat upon a fallen tree trunk. There she lay crumpled and inert by his feet.
A command was issued by Connor’s closest noble retainer. Teton answered his opponent with a set of hand signals of his own and then they closed to fight.
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Teton’s first blow rattled off his up-thrust stave as Erick darted to the right and then swung his own in an arc that matched his twist and thumped Teton low behind his knees. Teton had answered with a silent acknowledge and a reference to a series of preset practice moves. Erick could tell his old friend was hardly affected by the blow; but he toppled down to the ground, grimacing in false pain. Anton ran closer and pummelled more quick strikes on the arms of Teton bending low to whisper the fateful words that might end this fight sooner than he wished. “Ala domoamah vem sal.” Teton stared up at him, now doing nothing, comprehension rising into his eyes, a lost joy filling his countenance. “Fight!” Erick hissed. “Or all is lost!” He cracked the back of Teton’s head twice more to add emphasis.
There were calls from around the circle to the same effect. Teton stopped Erick’s next blow and rose to his feet and pretended to clear his head while fending off Erick’s next attack. Then he began to take control of their private battle pushing Erick back toward the edge of the circle. But the giant took one mighty swing that was misplaced and Erick managed to spin around behind him and levy another strike that was hardly effective against the larger, more powerful man though gaining him more freedom of space. Teton made a show of needing to rest for a few seconds, to steady his breath, all the time moving his hands and fingers in a silent message. Erick almost balked at what Teton was suggesting.
They fought on, exchanging blows, moving back and forth about the circle, Teton leaving himself open for the fateful blow. But after the giant had levied some quick fast strikes from under which Erick finally fell back onto the ground, Teton straddled him and pressed his stave upon Erick’s throat, choking him. “You must!” Teton whispered under his breath. “It is the only way to convince them all.” And with another hand signal, the giant lifted himself off Erick and grabbed his foot, beginning to drag him toward the edge of the circle as if he was assuming that Erick was almost unconscious.
By the determined slow pace of his feet, Erick knew Teton was intent on his plan and that now his old friend was leaving him with no choice. He would have to hurt him. Risk killing him. Erick he kicked himself loose from the hard grasp of the larger man, and as Teton turned again to face him, he swung his stave such that it met his head near both his eye and temple, so afraid that the bones would break and be shoved inwards into his skull. Teton toppled to the ground, his upper body now outside the circle. If it had been anyone else, the man would have been laid out unconscious, but Teton, after only a few seconds, brought himself up to a sitting position and glanced about in a dazed manner.
Speaking to no one in particular as he brought his sleeve up to his bloodied face, he riddled his remarks with mock astonishment. “How could this have come about? I have been defeated. That one,” nodding toward Erick, “has bested me. Who would have thought such?” Then he stood and carelessly cast his stave away. “Let the woodsman have his prize and let us leave this place.”
Connor also rose to his feet, his visage thickening into a deep scowl. “One might think, Teton, that you let this simple peasant win. Have you no true valour in yourself?”
Erick watched his friend stiffen and the look he saw emerge on Teton’s face was one he knew no man met willingly. Connor had gone too far and as he glanced at the earl’s son, Erick perceived that Connor knew it too. Teton strode over to Connor and loomed heavily over one of the principle nobles of the realm. “You call me a liar, Connor? A man you think less than yourself?” he growled out. Erick kept his silence, but he knew Teton was on the verge of killing Connor with his bare hands. One single blow from his friend would do it fuelled by the rage burning within him.
Glancing quickly about himself, Erick saw more clearly now the manner of all the relationships these nobles had with each other. Some shifted their hands to their swords, as had Connor’s own. Some others moved slightly ready to defend Teton. But most did not want this confrontation; those still not firmly bound to either man.
This altercation might tell all and break open all the subterfuge that Connor had been playing his game at for years. Both men looked unwilling to back down; but it was Connor who gave in slightly, tossing the cord holding No One to the ground at Teton’s feet. “Take this precious prize to the one who bested you,” he barked out in a snarl.
But Erick could see that Teton would do no such thing. He would not countenance being ordered about by Connor in any fashion. Erick scrambled forward bowing in the general direction of both and grabbed at the rope and gently pulled No One a few paces away from the two men. “Thank you, masters. Thank you. You have both treated me with more fairness than any servant of the kingdom truly deserves.” Bowing his head, he went to his knees before the two nobles. Erick knew his actions pierced Teton far more than Connor’s words and demeanour. For of all here, Teton alone knew the truth.
At first, it seemed the staring contest would go on forever; but eventually Teton issued a set of terse orders demanding that those about them to pack up and leave. The dog handlers obeyed immediately not wanting to have any part in this dispute, tussling with the recalcitrant dogs until the hounds understood they were leaving the glade and then they were pulling at their leashes with a jubilant eagerness to be finally done with this place of peril. The other noblemen and vassals followed their example. In a matter of minutes, all had left on their horses or on foot until the clearing was empty except for Erick and No One, Teton and Connor, and Connor’s retainer.
“Go, Siegfried. Teton and I will have words alone. You too, woodsman, you and your thing.”
“He remains,” Teton replied, “until we are done.” The tone of his voice countenanced no discussion on the matter. Both men’s eyes remained firmly locked on each other’s. At first, Erick feared his friend would disclose his secret; but the moving fingers of the giant reassured him otherwise.
When Siegfried had mounted his horse and left the clearing and Erick had gently picked up No One into his arms and stepped back several more paces to give the future earl and duke a greater measure of privacy, Connor took a step back from the broad presence of Teton. “So it comes to this. I had hoped that you would join in with me or at least not oppose what must come. Now, you leave me with little choice, Teton.”
“No, you have no choices left to you, Connor. But I, I have many. And take care what you say for these woods, if you had the wit to notice, have ears. We are not alone here.” With those words, Erick looked about himself. The forest had gone silent. No longer were there calls from the numerous packs that had been nearing; now, there were many shadows moving about beyond the edge of the glade, quick, large, deft: waiting much like the thousands of silent birds looking down upon them all.
Connor shrugged carelessly. “These count for nothing,” nodding at Erick and No One, misunderstanding Teton’s words. “Take this as a warning, duke’s son of Farthingward. Act as you have again and I will have you cut down: you, your father, and your dukedom. Change is coming, whether or not you have a taste or a liking for it. I know of your loyalty and hoped to have it for myself. Consider carefully. Few willingly now oppose me or my father.”
With tho
se last words, Connor turned and mounted his horse and rode off.
Erick looked down at No One. She had remained listless, silent, only slight tremors coursing through her in brief spasms as he had held her. Placing her again on the ground, he removed his outer tunic and wrapped it about her body and over her head, covering her face as much as he could.
“Er — ”
“Say it not!” Erick commanded curtly. “Not to me. Not to her. Not to these green hills. There are indeed those about who would hear and understand and do not think that Connor will not send others back to overhear us. Understand me, Teton; the person bearing that name did die here in these woods and he is not coming back!”
Teton fell to his knees. “But why? Why? Do you know nothing of what is happening in the realm? How much greater the need is for you to return? And what of your mother and father? Do you not care — ”
Erick waved Teton off, picking No One up again in his arms. “I bear one now who has the greater need, but I know of what transpires, for I have travelled through the kingdom to get here and know enough — too much. But it is you, my friend, whom I fear for most. It cost you more than that blow to your face. You have put yourself right in the path of Connor and his ambitions and I know, most of all, that he will countenance no opposition to those. Watch your back, Teton — for he has a knife already in his hands. Now go, for he will wonder much if you stay longer. He did not recognize me, but he may think more on it if you give him cause to.” Erick took a step away. “And thank you, my friend, you have done more for me this day and for her, than you know.”