by Duncan Lay
“The quicker the better,” Swane agreed. “I have been too long away from my father’s throne.”
They had left Lunster behind, with just a small company of five hundred to watch the ships. Dina had not wanted to leave even that many but, after what the Kottermanis had done to the town, it was necessary. Two days of rape, theft and murder left the remaining residents in an ugly mood and it would not do to take Berry and return to find half the ships burned by an angry mob.
“We can clean out the city on our return, making sure any who defy you are removed as slaves,” she said. “But we need to get to Berry as fast as possible. We cannot give Fallon time to prepare his response. He lured us into a trap at Lake Caragh and he will seek to do the same again here.”
“With what? He cannot stand against our might,” Durzu chuckled.
Dina acknowledged the size of the Kottermani army with a nod. Over seventeen thousand battle-hardened veterans was more than Fallon had ever faced. But she did not want to take a risk.
“What is the word from your agents in Berry?”
“Sadly, our best man was captured,” Dina admitted. “But we have sent messages to others and we should know by dawn.”
“Cheer up,” Durzu said with a smile. “All we need to do is ride up to the capital and then divide the spoils, before enjoying the execution of our enemies.”
Dina bowed her head. After that she could work on her own plans. First Swane, then Durzu. Only then could her victory be safe, and complete.
*
Kemal shivered. Not at the cold Gaelish wind that whistled off the water but by the feeling of having silk clothes against his skin again. He had been taken off the ship, washed and allowed to dress so he no longer looked like a slave. But he was just as much a prisoner. Durzu had made the Emperor give orders to his guards, who watched them both. He was with his father but he might as well have been riding with a dummy. The Emperor never said a word, nor reacted when Kemal tried to speak to him. And the guards were always there, so he had no chance of escaping from Durzu. And if he did, who could he appeal to? All the nobles he remembered were gone.
Still, he was off that damned ship so maybe there was a chance. Durzu and his Gaelish allies thought they had already won. But maybe Fallon could spoil their plans and give him a window of opportunity. Kemal smiled to himself, a little, at the thought of needing his erstwhile enemy to help him. There was little else to smile about.
CHAPTER 68
It had been a long day and even a quick bowl of stew did not revive Bridgit much. She could see the others were much the same and the temptation was to go to bed, try to forget what had happened and hope maybe things would improve in the morning. But time was running out.
“We can still try our plan. It is the only one that stands a chance. If we can put five thousand men together that will be enough to get the attention of the Kottermanis and, once we have Swane and the rest of their leaders, numbers don’t matter,” Gallagher said.
“Except we don’t have that many. We have about two thousand men who fought with us at Lake Caragh and a few hundred others, at best. Our men will be slaughtered in a hundred heartbeats by the Kottermanis,” Fallon said tiredly.
“Can we make it seem as if we have more men with magic?” Nola asked.
“Yes, we can,” Padraig said. “For about two hundred heartbeats. Then they will all disappear.”
“We could hold the walls. They were scared of what we did in the harbor. We can do the same with the walls,” Devlin offered.
Fallon scraped grit out of his eye. “Too much wall and not enough men. We would need five times as many to hold such a long wall. And if we had that many we could march out and meet them.”
“The castle then. We hold the castle,” Devlin continued.
Bridgit ignored Fallon’s careful explanation of why a defensive battle could not work. All they were doing here by talking was wasting time. The solution was obvious: they had to get the people to rise up. Even an army as big as the Kottermanis could not hope to stand against a whole city. And, in the tight confines of the streets, anything could happen. They had proved that once, already. The question they should be asking was how to get the people to rise up in fury and fight. It could be done—they had been ready to do that the day Aidan had been executed, but it had slipped away during a cold winter. She thought she had a way of making them fight but it was a crazy idea, one that scared her and went against every instinct she had. But maybe it was the only way. Still she hesitated. There were too many things that could go horribly wrong.
*
Fallon shook his head at Gallagher’s fresh suggestion that Aroaril would provide and they should pray all night for a way out of this dead end. Whatever was put forward had the same ending. They were all dead and Swane triumphant. He only had one thought now, a crazy idea, which scared him. But it could save almost everyone’s lives. He wanted to say it but the words would not come.
He glanced around the table and saw Bridgit absent-mindedly rubbing her gently swelling belly. Such a simple act made his stomach twist and he came to a final decision.
“I know what to do,” he said, and the words set him free. He felt himself relax, for the decision was made now. They would have to go along with it, for he would not be turned aside. He looked around the table as they all leaned forwards excitedly. He locked eyes with Bridgit for a moment and it was as if she already knew what he was going to say. He cleared his throat.
“We are all agreed the only way to victory is to use some distraction to kill Swane and Dina. I will be that distraction. I will wait here in Berry, with a few volunteers. Swane and Dina will not be able to resist their prize. I shall lure them in close and then kill them with crossbow bolts from the wall.”
“Are you crazy, man? The chances of that working are tiny!” Devlin was the first to react.
“I shall have the crossbows hidden and the quarrels will be made out of solid metal, so the Zorva lovers cannot affect them with their dark magic. And I shall coat the heads in that poison we took from Munro’s agent, the woman who tried to kill us with porridge. Even a scratch will kill them,” Fallon said calmly. “Once they are dead, the Kottermanis will have no puppet ruler and will need to deal with us. In one stroke, we go from defeat to victory.”
“You are gambling everything on a poisoned quarrel,” Nola said.
“Because there is no other choice,” Fallon said. “But I know how risky it is. I will only stay here with a small number of volunteers. Everyone else needs to get on the captured Kottermani ships and get clear. Padraig can use his magicked birds to see what happens with me. If all goes well, then you can come back to Berry. If not, head for Cavan’s island. There you can make a new life, away from the evil here.”
“But, even if you kill Swane and Dina, there is no guarantee the Kottermanis will deal with you. Prince Kemal hates you,” Brendan warned.
“Aye. But we don’t know he is even in charge. But, if he is, he will be content with just taking my life. Swane and Dina would not stop until all of us are dead.”
“This is madness,” Riona said flatly.
Fallon shrugged. “Madness is all we have left. You all know how good I am with a crossbow. Get Swane and Dina within fifty paces of me and they are as good as dead. I will hit them—and that is all we need. Once they are gone, everything changes. I can try and make a deal with the Kottermanis. Even if they rule, at least there will be no more sacrificing children.”
“Except you will be dead as well,” Bridgit said.
Fallon swallowed. “And that is a small price to pay for knowing you are safe,” he said. “And after all I have done, it is a fair price to pay. I was the Lord Protector and failed to protect the people. They won’t even fight for me against the evil that’s coming. And I killed Cavan. If I had not done that, we would not be in this mess.” He swallowed down bile at the thought, his throat almost closing over. “But I will not be looking to die. I want to kill those two and then offer a d
eal to the Kottermanis. We could still all walk out of this with what we wanted from Kemal—the chance to run Gaelland like we did Baltimore, just sending tribute to our lord but being left alone otherwise.”
The others were all shouting now, trying to protest, but he just held up his hands until they eventually fell silent. Bridgit looked at him and twitched her head. He sighed and stood. Of course she wanted to talk but he would not step back from this plan. It felt too right. He joined her on the other side of the room, conscious that the others were all trying to hear what they were saying.
“You know this will not end well. Even if you kill Swane and Dina, whoever rules the Kottermanis can’t let you live. You are too dangerous,” she said. “What about me, Kerrin and the baby? Don’t you want to be there for us?”
Fallon stroked the hair back from her face. “I am not the man I was, nor the man I wanted to be. I am no longer worthy of you. I have to put my fate in Aroaril’s hands. If he finds me worthy, then I will survive and I have a future. But my life is a small price to pay for you being safe.”
She kissed his hand and looked into his eyes. “I want us to be a family again. Can you not turn your back on your guilt to do that?”
He wanted to say yes but it would be a lie and he could not lie to her. “I wish I could, with all my heart. But I am only half a man. Please, Bridge, if you love me, you will let me do this.”
She looked at him for a long, long time. He could see she was about to say something, but then she just nodded, her eyes filling with tears as she hurried back to the table. He followed, much slower, seeing his friends watching him expectantly.
“We don’t have another choice. Swane and Dina must be stopped and I can do it. And if it goes wrong, at least I can look Cavan in the eye when I see him in the next life,” he said.
“Well, you shall not be alone. I will stand with you,” Brendan said immediately.
“Brendan!” Nola cried.
The big smith turned to his wife, a gentle smile on his face that reminded them of the old Brendan. “It is all I am good for now,” he said. “I know you and the girls are safe and that’s all I ever wanted. I am no longer fit for living, only for dying. I cannot put down my hammer. They will have to rip it out of my dead hands.”
Fallon clasped his friend’s shoulder. “I should be honored to have you beside me, my friend,” he said.
“This is insane! This is the craziest thing I have heard from you, and I have heard plenty!” Nola cried, her voice almost hysterical. “Bridgit, tell them!”
He felt everyone’s eyes swivel to Bridgit and he joined them. She was staring down at the table but, when she looked up, her tears were gone. Still, she would not meet his eyes.
“Fallon is right. There is no other choice. The people will not stand with us and we cannot defeat this army by any other means. We do not have enough time to show the people how bad Swane truly is,” she said dully. “I hate it but we have to do it.”
There was no uproar this time, instead a deathly silence, broken only by Nola’s sobs. Fallon closed his eyes. How had it all gone so wrong? How had it come to this? A vision of Prince Cavan came to him and his eyes snapped open. Bridgit, Kerrin and the baby would survive. That was all the comfort he needed.
“No!” Gallagher howled suddenly, jumping to his feet. “It cannot be like this! It must not end like this. We need to get together, to pray for guidance. There is another way—”
Fallon strode across to his friend and embraced him.
“If this is all part of a plan, then so be it,” he whispered into Gallagher’s ear. “But it has to be done. Bad things happen. My friend, you know that more than most.”
He pulled his head back and saw the horror on Gallagher’s face. “But all you need is to believe in Aroaril,” the fisherman whispered.
Fallon squeezed him harder. “There is another side and they believe hard, too. We are not puppets, dancing to the tune of a God. We are men and we make our own choices. My mistakes have led me here and this is my chance to make amends.”
Gallagher’s eyes cleared. “Then I shall stand with you.”
“No. For you are the only man who can find Cavan’s island for everyone. They will depend on you. I will depend on you. If we fail, you have to succeed.”
“I can’t believe it has to be like this,” Gallagher said. “We don’t deserve this, after all we have been through.”
“You didn’t deserve to lose your wife and boys either. But you did. Now you just have to swallow it down and get on. Understand?”
He let Gallagher go and the fisherman slumped into his seat, his head in his hands.
“This is a joke,” Devlin said slowly. “Come on, the pair of you. Have a laugh and prove to us that this is a joke.”
Brendan laid a huge hand on the farmer’s shoulder. “There is no jest. We are deadly serious,” he said.
“But it has to be a joke. A bad one, but still a joke. How could you think to end it this way?”
“Because as much as we like to laugh, sometimes life brings you to tears,” Brendan said gently. “If you want to help me, tell jokes to my daughters. Make them smile again, when you find Cavan’s island.”
Devlin’s face was aghast. “How can I laugh about the death of two of my best friends?” he whispered.
“You must find a way,” Brendan said remorselessly. “Make my girls laugh again, or I shall know about it.” He buffeted Devlin on the shoulder again but the farmer merely shook his head.
“I cannot leave,” he said. “I will stand with you.”
“Now you are jesting. And this is not the time,” Riona said.
Devlin reached out and clasped his wife’s hand. “I am sorry, my love. But I cannot turn my back on my friends. I could never smile again knowing I did not stand with them.”
“Devlin, this isn’t funny,” she snapped.
He raised her hand to his lips. “I know,” he said. “When you were taken, I could not laugh. When you returned I tried too hard to laugh. But I am not the same as I was. I don’t want to, but I need to do this.”
She snatched her hand away and stared at him.
Fallon cleared his throat, breaking the uncomfortable silence. “This is not the end,” he said. “The poisoned quarrel will finish Swane and Dina and we can all laugh about this later.”
Nobody looked even remotely like laughing, although both Nola and Riona were glaring at Bridgit. But she was just staring at the table.
“Come on. We need to get back to work. We have to see who’ll stand with us against Swane and Dina and then plan the voyage to Cavan’s island,” Fallon said.
“It should not be like this,” Rosaleen said slowly. “What if we can think of something better?”
“Then do so,” Fallon said. “But make it quick. The Kottermanis are marching and will be here within a few days.”
*
As soon as Fallon had walked out of the room, Bridgit grabbed hold of Padraig’s arm. “I need you to send a bird south,” she whispered.
Her father’s face crinkled in confusion. “But we are already watching the Kottermani advance,” he said.
“No, further south. To Baltimore. I need to know what is happening there, but only for my ears.”
He gazed at her for a long moment, then nodded. “You know I will. Whatever you need. But, tell me—”
She placed a finger on her lips. “Come and see me afterwards and I will explain everything,” she whispered.
He looked at her strangely but she ignored him and pushed back her chair. “I need to go and talk to Kerrin, before he hears any of this talk around the castle,” she announced.
“Bridgit, you will really let this go ahead?” Nola asked, her eyes red-rimmed, her voice cracking.
“It makes my skin crawl,” Bridgit said. “But I can see no other way. The people are not with us and we face a choice between life and death. How can we not choose life? One day we can return, once the people are sick of Swane’s evil, and lead them
again. But now we would just be signing our own death warrants.”
“But letting them die? Devlin, Fallon and Brendan?” Riona groaned.
“They have to do it,” Bridgit said. “What they have been through has left its scars on them. They are not the same men they were. And maybe that is a lesson for Gallagher.”
“How do you mean?” Rosaleen asked, bristling.
“Fallon and Brendan could not find their way back again after what they were forced to do. Don’t let their fate become yours,” she said. “And now I really must find Kerrin.”
She left them sitting there, stunned. She had to find Kerrin fast, or otherwise he would hear the news directly from Fallon and that would not do. She took a moment though, leaning against the wall to get control of herself. She felt like panicking, like rushing after Fallon and forbidding him from doing this. Even riddled with guilt as he was, even lost as he was, she knew he would not go against her if she pushed hard enough. But he was right in one way. She could not see another way of defeating Swane and the Kottermanis. It was a crazy plan, a ridiculous plan but, try as she might, she could think of no other. The thought of raising Kerrin and the new baby without Fallon wrenched at her heart and almost set her to weeping. But she took a deep breath. That time on the ship sailing back to Gaelland had taught her to do what was right, no matter the cost. This was the only way. And, besides, there was always hope. She just had to explain that to Kerrin.
CHAPTER 69
“I had never been with a woman with blonde hair before,” Durzu said lazily, lying on his back. “Are all Gaelish women like you?”
Dina smiled. One day manipulating men would get boring but that day had not arrived yet.
“You will never find anything like me,” she purred, running her hand through his thick chest hair. “And I have never found another man like you.”
She watched him flush with pleasure. Men were so stupid! Now he was bound to say something about Swane.