by J. K. Swift
“I know why you hide,” Leopold said. “I do not fault you for it. It took a brave man to come here tonight.”
Leopold turned away from Noll and began walking to the gate as soldiers hurried to his side. Before they reached him, he turned back one last time.
“I will see you soon. Enjoy the night, Arnold.”
Leopold disappeared amongst a sea of torches. Seconds later he was back inside the walls.
Noll sat shivering in the dark for a long time before he dared to move. He did not feel like a brave man.
Chapter 11
Seraina watched Noll pace circles around the only tree within the walls of the Altdorf fortress. The last of the day’s sun had fled, leaving the two of them shivering in the pre-darkness of night.
“You were right,” Noll said. “I admit it. The Venetians have no interests but their own at heart.”
Seraina did not answer. What could she say that would not agitate Noll further? He had been stewing and miserable ever since he returned from delivering Landenberg to Habsburg Castle.
She put the hood of her cloak up and tested the air with her breath. It was cool, but no mist formed.
“Perhaps we should go in,” she said.
Noll stopped pacing and leaned against the tree.
“I would rather not. I spend too much of my time inside as it is,” he said. “The place feels like a crypt.”
Seraina knew exactly what he meant. She too could not shake the ill feelings she held for the Altdorf fortress. And it was not just because of her vision. The massive stone structure, with its high walls meant to hold out the world, was a constant reminder of how her people had been subjugated by outsiders for centuries. It began with invading Germanic tribes from the north, then the Romans from the south. And now, the Habsburgs, on behalf of the Holy Roman Empire.
“The men like the Venetians well enough,” she said. “I watched several training sessions while you were gone, and they seem to be learning.”
“I am sure they work hard enough. I have no qualms about that. But most of them have yet to touch a real sword. Pomponio has them tapping at each other with sticks all day long. At some point I have to see them properly armed.”
“Was there nothing in the armory?”
“A few blades. Some spears. But no more than a hundred in all,” Noll said. He leaned his head back against the tree and looked up into its almost leafless branches.
A sadness tore at Seraina as she looked at Noll. He did not know it, but he had much of the Old Blood in his veins, and the way he naturally sought comfort by pressing himself against the tree proved it. Seraina had done the very same thing herself many times as a little girl. Gildas would often find her sitting in the shadow of one giant oak in particular, picking at clover. Somehow, he always knew where to find her, and what to say to ease her troubles.
Seraina stepped in and took Noll’s hand. At her touch, Noll looked up and, for the briefest instant, the creases on his forehead and around his eyes smoothed over. Seraina saw the same handsome, self-confident, young man who had startled her six years ago by swaggering out of the woods into her camp; his presence unannounced by neither the wind nor the rustles of the trees. He was a child of the Weave, and Seraina had recognized him immediately.
She made it her purpose to protect him, then, and to guide him along the complicated paths the Great Weave had in store. And that was why, as she watched his face harden once again, and dark worries cloud his eyes, she could not help feeling responsible for his pain.
He had been the cocky son of a well-to-do farmer, a freeman, when she had first met him. For the first time, she wondered where Noll would be now if she had not come along. Would he have struck Landenberg’s collector when he tried to take the family’s ox? She thought back and tried to remember what she may have said that would have prodded him into action on that fateful day. She could think of nothing. And everything.
“Seraina…” Noll said.
She looked up and realized Noll had moved closer. Very close. He took her hand off his arm, eased her toward him, and before she knew it, he was kissing her.
It was a strong kiss. Not forceful in any way, but it was the action of a man who knew what he wanted and was not afraid to let anyone know. Seraina felt her lips, and her body, respond.
She opened her eyes. When had she shut them? She let go of his strong hands and forced her arms between their bodies.
“Noll, no… I cannot,” she said, leaning away.
He wore a half-grin. The old Noll had returned. “You just did,” he said.
He made no move to back away and his blue eyes were as warm as Seraina had ever seen them. She stepped back, creating some space to breathe.
Seraina shook her head. When she spoke her voice was firm. “I have told you before that we can never be together. Not like this.”
The moment was gone, if there had ever truly been one, and Noll sensed it. He threw up his hands.
“Why not?” he asked. “And do not tell me it is because I am this Catalyst you are so fond of preaching about. I am not sure I even know what the word means! There is no mystical hand guiding my actions. I do what I think is right—nothing more.”
“That is precisely what makes you special,” Seraina said. “For very few people have the courage to do what they know is right. It is not important for you to understand what being a Catalyst means. It is enough that you are.”
“I am a man. That should be enough.” He slid down the tree and sat on its roots. “What exactly is it that you want from me? If anything.” He looked up at her. “You drive me mad. Do you know that? I look into your eyes and I have no idea what you are thinking. It is like gazing into the green waters of a bottomless lake.”
His words stirred a memory in Seraina. The recent conversation she and Gildas had had when he left her and Thomas.
“…and so was I. Happier than at any other moment in my long years. And when I look at you now, it gladdens me to see that green lake reflected so clearly in your eyes. Somehow, you have preserved the same wonder and innocence as back then, but like those waters, I see the strength of steel as well.”
Her breath stopped.
Noll sensed something, for his eyes narrowed. “What is it?” he asked.
“I see the strength of steel as well!” she said.
Noll cocked his head. “What are you talking about? When you say things like that I—”
Seraina cut him off. “Noll! Stop talking and listen to me. I think I know where we can get swords for the men! I cannot believe I did not see it until now.”
Noll crossed his arms. “You do know how to change a topic. I will give you that,” he said.
***
Thomas had leaned a few cut saplings against the warm outside wall of the forge to construct a simple roof over his head. The open-ended shelter was not high enough for him to stand in, but it provided more than enough space to spread his bedroll. As long as someone kept the forge burning, it would serve Thomas all winter. If it became colder, all he needed to do was close off the ends with skins to retain more of the forge’s heat.
Thomas lay under his blankets and looked up at the patchwork roof. It was dark, but flickering torches nearby allowed him to see enough to make him cringe at the shoddy workmanship. A child could have built a similar structure. Perhaps he should have tried to make it more elaborate.
Of course, why would I bother?
It could have been a good permanent home… for someone. But as far as Thomas was concerned, it need only last until the Austrians came. After that, he did not care who took over the space.
“You have made quite the cocoon for yourself, ferryman.”
Thomas jumped at the sound of Noll’s voice. Every muscle in his body seemed to contract and lift him a hand’s width off the ground.
Damn him. The man treads on cat paws.
“Sorry. Did not mean to startle you.”
“Was just falling asleep, is all,” Thomas said, his pulse beati
ng out of control.
He sat up and looked over his shoulder to see Noll crouched outside the lean-to. Torchlight glowed behind him, basking Noll’s face in shadow. He picked at a stone on the ground and tossed it away, then plopped down to sit cross-legged. Thomas could not tell where he was looking, but he had a feeling it was the ground.
Trapped, Thomas thought. He prayed the man had not come to ask forgiveness again for what happened to Pirmin. He turned around and pulled himself out of his warm blankets to sit facing Noll. The cool autumn air soon had him reconsider. He pulled a blanket over his shoulders.
“Something on your mind?” Thomas did not want to ask, but the sooner Noll said his piece, the sooner he could go back to his bedroll.
“Seraina,” Noll said.
That was not the answer Thomas had expected.
“What about her?”
“She has to go on a journey. It will take a couple days and I would ask you to go with her. To look after her.”
“She has done well enough until now, without me looking after her. Or anyone, I suspect.”
“Just the same,” Noll said, scratching at the dirt with one hand. “Will you do it?”
Of course he would, Thomas thought. But he hesitated with his response. It was not like Noll to ask a favor of someone like this.
“Why not go with her yourself?”
“Because she wants you,” Noll said.
“I spoke with her today and she mentioned nothing of—”
“Damn it, Thomas. You do not make this easy. Will you do it or not?”
Thomas nodded. There was nothing he would not do for her. Even if she had not saved his life. Thomas realized that Noll probably could not see him nod in the darkness.
“You know I will,” he said. “Anything else?”
“I want you to take command of the Army of Free Men.”
If Thomas was surprised at Noll’s first request, he was doubly so at this last one. He did not answer for a long time, and the two men sat in the darkness with silence hanging between them. A few scattered bits of conversation from nearby cooking fires drifted up to them, but the words were gibberish whispers by the time they reached Thomas and Noll.
“I cannot,” Thomas finally said. He found his hand holding a pebble he could not remember plucking off the ground.
“You mean you will not,” Noll said. There was a bitterness to his voice but Thomas did not feel that it was meant for him.
“They would never follow me.”
“They would if you were backed by Furst, Stauffacher, Gertrude, and myself.”
Thomas shook his head. “You are the reason they are all here, Noll. They follow you. I think the fools have come to believe in your cause more strongly than you do.”
“Be careful, ferryman. No one believes we would be better off out from under the Habsburgs than I do.”
“Then why this sudden back-stepping? Why give up control of your own army?”
“Because if I lead them into battle, not one of them will live through it! There. Is that what you wanted to hear?”
Thomas remained silent. What could he say? For perhaps the first time, he completely agreed with Noll Melchthal.
Noll took a deep breath and when he spoke again his voice was quiet and under control.
“I have been to Habsburg,” he said. “I saw the army Leopold is building and I counted at least three thousand men. Hardened soldiers. Not a farmer among them, I suspect.”
“It is early,” Thomas said. “The ranks could swell to triple that just before they march.”
Noll became quiet and Thomas regretted saying what he had. But it was the truth. Leopold would gather a few infantry about him now as a precautionary measure, but horses would be too expensive to keep all winter. His knights would flock to his banner at the last moment. If the sight of simple infantry had unnerved Noll, what would he think when faced with fully armored knights mounted atop steel-clad war horses?
“I am in this to the end,” Noll said. “One way or another I will make a stand. And I will do everything in my power to give the men and women who side with me a fighting chance. Even if that means relinquishing control of my army. I am wise enough to know when I need help.”
“And foolish enough to ask me for it,” Thomas said.
“There is no one else,” Noll said. “You are the only one.”
“And what would you expect of me?” Thomas said. He felt his heart quickening and his face flush. “I do not have God’s ear any more than the next man, and the truth is, without His help we will not hold Altdorf. It does not matter who leads the defenses. You saw Leopold’s army yourself. He has the finest fighting men in Christendom at his disposal. What do we have? A partially built fortress with not half enough men to defend its walls.”
“You speak as though the battle has already been fought. If you feel our cause to be such folly, why do you stay?”
“I do not have to explain my actions to you or any other man,” Thomas said.
Noll stood and brushed off his breeches. “No, ferryman, you do not. But do not expect any special treatment if you intend to stay on as part of the Army of Free Men.”
Thomas turned his back on Noll and began to slide under his blankets. “I have asked for nothing so far, and I do not expect that to change,” he said.
Noll grunted and turned to leave, but whirled around at the last moment. “And do not discount your countrymen so easily. We are more resilient than you know.”
He tried to leave again, but after only a step, he stopped and leveled a finger at Thomas. “And one more thing! If you hurt Seraina, I swear I will come and kill you in your sleep.”
Thomas blinked and sat upright. Why in God’s name would I hurt Seraina?
Noll appeared to stomp away in the darkness after that, but try as he might, Thomas could not hear a single footfall. He rolled himself up in his blankets and pressed his back against the heated wall of the forge.
He was warm and comfortable, yet sleep was a long time coming.
Chapter 12
Thomas and Seraina took the main road north to Brunnen, and when they came to the site of Thomas’s ferry, they stopped to rest. Thomas’s tent still stood, and when he poked his head inside he was surprised to see his belongings still there. That is, the few things that he had salvaged from the burned out remains of his cabin.
He changed into a fresh tunic and strapped on his belt knife. He also added another blanket to the bedroll he carried slung over one shoulder. The days were still comfortable enough, but the nights were not getting any warmer.
When he ducked back out of the tent, Seraina had covered a boulder with a cloth and spread out some cheese and black bread.
“You had best eat something,” she said. “Soon we should stay off the road as much as possible, so you will need your strength.”
Thomas spoke little during the simple meal, and when they were done, he stood, eager to be away. His eyes settled on the nearby woods for a moment. There were memories here: a forest missing four score of trees, cut, limbed, and peeled by Pirmin and himself. The work had taken them all spring and part of the summer.
“You can come back here,” Seraina said, mistaking his pause as a sign of him not wanting to leave. “You can rebuild the ferry. The people of Schwyz would gladly help.” She spoke quickly, her words full of hope.
A ferry. It had been a childish dream, nothing more.
“Altdorf is not your fight, Thomas, and Noll has more than enough men. After we get the swords for them, you can come back here. Rebuild. The people will need a ferryman.”
He looked at the yellowed end of a cut stump. He saw Pirmin laughing, as the tree that used to be there fell in the opposite direction Thomas had intended, and crushed their cooking pots.
“We shall see,” Thomas said.
Seraina started, and looked to the road. Thomas followed her eyes and saw what she was looking at: two people walked toward them. After a moment, Seraina relaxed and waved.
The innkeeper and his daughter joined them for their simple meal. But Thomas had lost what little appetite he had. He kept staring at the heavy packs Sutter and Mera carried.
“Where are you headed?” Thomas asked.
Sutter glanced out over the lake. It was Mera who answered.
“We are on our way to Altdorf. Father has decided to join Noll’s army and I insisted on going too. Someone has to feed them all.” She gave her father a stern look.
Thomas and Seraina looked at one another. “This is the very thing you said you would not do,” Thomas said.
“You are right that Noll could use your help,” Seraina said, directing her words at Mera. “But Altdorf will be a very dangerous place to be when the Austrians come. No one will be safe.”
Thomas sensed she was trying to keep her voice calm. Something that he should do as well, but he could not.
“Turn around right now and go back to your inn, Sutter. Altdorf is no place for you. And definitely no place for a father to allow his daughter to go,” Thomas said.
Sutter glared at Thomas. “You think I do not know that? You have no right to tell me how to protect my own family. Once Leopold has an army in Altdorf, do you really think he will leave Schwyz alone and unscathed?”
“And you think Noll’s army can stop him? You are a fool,” Thomas said.
“My father is no fool!” Mera said. “He believes in Noll and his cause. As do I.”
Sutter put his hand on his daughter’s shoulder.
“But what about Vreni? Who is helping her look after the inn?” Seraina said.
Sutter grunted. “What inn? It is no more than a large house that eats firewood these days. Leopold has all but shut down the roads to simple travelers, and he has put out the word that merchants are to bypass Schwyz. Vreni is staying at her cousin’s farm.”
“Then you should both join her there,” Thomas said.
Sutter stood. “Come Mera. It is time to be on our way.”