by Eric Lewis
“There was nothing you could do. You’d have been killed right along with—”
“My fault! I should’ve been with them, to whatever end. Now there’s nothing left to me.” He looked down at the blood on his hands. “Except this.”
“Ho there, lass!” The sharp cry came from the remains of the stable. Ulnoth turned a suspicious gaze that way as the woman tottered into view.
“It’s all right,” Alessia said to Ulnoth. “Rhea, where is everybody? Are they…?”
The woman nodded. “Aye, a few’s gone to earth for good. Nothin’ you can do for them. Most is scattered – we got good at that real fast. They’ll come back slow, I reckon.” She eyed the ashes of Firleaf. “Never come back to it as bad as this, though. Them thugs fought ’emselfs out at least, they’re gone. The reds gone back north, gods curse ’em all.”
“What about Quen and her folks? Did you see them?”
“Weren’t much time for takin’ headcount, lass,” Rhea said. “I ain’t seen ’em.”
“Then shouldn’t we go looking?”
“If they run off into the thick, you’ll never find ’em. If they come back it means they’s hale. If not, well….”
Alessia shook with helpless frustration. “Isn’t there anything we can do?”
“Look, you’re a nice girl, still got lots of livin’ left to do. Take my advice – get away from here. This place is cursed, there’s nothin’ for you now. Nor for any of us. Might not even bother to rebuild after this.” She went back to rooting through the cinders for anything worth the effort to salvage.
Alessia held her head in her hands, suddenly grave-tired. “If you see Quen, please tell her I’m sorry.”
“Uh-huh,” Rhea grunted. Nothing left to be said, Alessia began to walk away with Ulnoth in tow.
“You should listen to her,” Ulnoth said. “You’ll go back to your temple, I suppose.”
“I can’t, nothing’s changed. If anything it’s worse. Do you have any suggestions?”
“You could go to Plisten. But after what I done it’ll prob’ly get the same as here.”
“Was it really so bad as that?”
“It was.” Ulnoth frowned, spat a mouthful of phlegm onto the no-longer-green. “That woman said the reds headed north. Guess I will too.”
“Why?”
“I’m dead already. Only question now’s how many of them I take with me.”
“But you said it was the queen’s side that—”
“They’re all the same! Red, green, no matter. They come, we go running, and people die. Every time. If it’s blood they want, blood they’ll get. I’m done running.”
“And how many do you think you’ll kill, the shape you’re in? It’s suicide.”
Ulnoth produced a bitter sneer that filled Alessia with dread. “I’d have a lot better chance with a good physic on my side.”
Alessia nearly choked on her own startled breath. “You expect me to help you kill? For what, petty revenge?”
“Petty? Maybe. But then I’m just a lowly dirtfucker, what do I know? Come with me or don’t, it’s all the same.” He began to stalk toward the road that led roughly north and held up his torn hand. “Thanks for the patchwork.”
What should I do? Stop him? But how? She supposed she could tag along and try to keep him out of trouble, convince him to give up his hateful quest. Maybe find somewhere else to start over again. It’s not like I have anything better to do. She started after him. “Wait.”
“Why?” he said without turning.
“You in a hurry to die? Wait a bit.” She turned toward the ruin of her hospital. “I have some clamps to find.”
After digging a few precious bits of equipment from the blackened mess, they started northward. They kept to the road along the Carsa, but Ulnoth was still wary of people and disappeared into the growth on either side when the odd traveler happened by. He’d watch each with a rabbit’s stare until they were gone beyond the horizon and only then come out again. Alessia wondered how he was going to wreak vengeance with such skittishness.
When they came to a forded stream, Alessia insisted Ulnoth bathe at least once, and while he splashed in the water she sat on the grass and inventoried their supplies. They’d found her bow, some of her instruments covered in the ash she’d dug them out of, and six arrows. Thoughts of the soldier she’d killed came unbidden. It was so easy, she thought. Satisfying, even. The warrior priestess. She glanced at Ulnoth. The Polytheon had arcane texts on how much evil a person could endure without becoming evil himself, but Alessia had never read them. Too morbid, too distant a topic.
So lost in brooding was Alessia that she didn’t notice the rider upon her until the horse neighed its presence. Startled, she jumped to her feet. Against the sun all she could make out was a small man wearing a helmet and overstuffed saddlebags. “Oh! What do you want?”
The rider held up a hand, then dismounted with an expert leap. A slender hand whipped off the helmet and a dark cascade tumbled out. “Calm yourself. Just water and directions.”
“You’re a woman!” Alessia exclaimed.
“And you have a keen eye. While men kill each other there’s all kinds of work to be had. Couriers riding light and fast earn good silver, and no clumsy gowns to wear neither.” She pulled a square of parchment from the folds of her leather brigandine. “You know where the road west to Wengeddy breaks off from the main? If my package is late I only get half pay.”
“Um, I think you passed it. Back south about a day, then west over the river, then north again.”
“Damn it all! Hard to navigate by landmark anymore with so many towns wiped out.”
Alessia eyed the green serpent standard sewn onto the horse’s saddle blanket. “You might want to hide that. There’s been a lot of fighting around here.”
“Hmm? Oh, don’t worry. I have the fox stashed away too, ready as I need it. Long as nobody looks too close I can get wherever I need to most of the time. I bettern’t linger though. I’ll just go down and water the horse—”
Neither woman had marked Ulnoth coming up behind them or the wet rock in his hand. He leaped naked and dripping at the courier, swinging the stone hard. It impacted on the back of her head and they both went to the ground.
“No!” Alessia screamed. The horse gave a startled snort. “Stop! What are you doing, she’s just a courier!”
Ulnoth looked up, eyes blazing. “What? She?” He flipped the limp form over. “What is this? I thought…I mean I saw the sigil….”
“Get back, idiot!” Alessia shoved him aside and examined the damage he’d done. The courier was alive, but dazed. It was a lucky thing Ulnoth was starved weak, else he might’ve killed her. “Get some water.” She pulled out some bits of cloth from her rucksack to cushion the woman’s head, careful not to move the neck too much.
While Alessia watched her drift in and out of consciousness, Ulnoth began digging through the saddlebags. “Hey,” he exclaimed, “there’s food in here!” He shoved a handful of salted bacon into his mouth and chewed as he spoke. “Spare clothes, some coin…. Say, look at this!”
Alessia spared a moment to cast an annoyed glance in his direction. He’d already made a mess at the gray palfrey’s feet. In his hands Ulnoth held a bow bigger than her own, and in better condition. “You know how to use that?”
“Done a little poaching in my day, sure. But I got bigger game in mind.” He lifted up the saddle blanket to reveal another with Pharamund’s banner underneath. “Ha, nice. This is a gift from the gods!”
“Oh, no,” said Alessia, jumping to her feet. “I never agreed to turn blackhand. We’re not bashing this woman’s head in and stealing her stuff!”
“We? Don’t recall asking permission,” Ulnoth said, jabbing a finger at her. “She wears the colors, wears both of ’em! Fair game, I say. Getting off better than most do.” He pluck
ed some fresh clothes from the pile and pulled on a pair of braies that fit too tightly. “I’m takin’ it.”
“Then you’re no better than they are!”
“Never said I was.” He dressed in what bits would fit him, then finished off with the tattered remains of his own clothes. He mounted the palfrey that’d stood placidly the whole time. “You comin’?” Alessia didn’t answer, just stared at the dazed courier, cursing her luck. “Fine,” he said at last, and kicked the horse’s ribs back to the road. “So long.”
* * *
“Ohhh….” The courier slowly floated back to her senses, wincing in pain. “My head….”
“Lie still,” Alessia insisted. “I’m not sure how bad it is.”
“What happened?”
“It was…a bandit. He came out of nowhere. I didn’t see him.”
“Gah,” the woman spat, “they’re a pox on the land! They’ve gotten bold lately. Bastard hurt you much?”
“No, I, um, didn’t have anything worth stealing. He took your horse though.”
She sat up slowly and probed the back of her head. “Ow!”
“Careful!”
“Must’ve been in a hurry,” she said. “I still got my purse.” She fumbled at the leather pouch at her waist, and a cache of coins jingled. “And my helm, for all the good it did me.”
“Don’t wear it,” said Alessia. “Not until the swelling goes down.”
“Help me up. I guess the only thing is to go back the way I came. My employer won’t be too happy, but it’s a risk of the job.” On wobbly feet she gathered up some bits of clothes and other things scattered on the ground.
“You’re going on foot?”
The courier nodded. “I’ll hitch a ride or hire one, if any come along. Thanks for looking after me. Sorry about the trouble – I think I made too tempting a target. Never shoulda let my guard down.”
The absurdity struck Alessia almost as hard as Ulnoth’s rock. “Um, think nothing of it. I’ll come with you, make sure you’re all right—”
“No, don’t. Wouldn’t want you to get attacked again on my account. I’ll be fine.”
And so the woman whose name Alessia never learned cradled her helm under one arm and began shambling back south. Feeling more helpless and useless than ever, Alessia slung her rucksack over her shoulder – gods I’m starting to hate this thing – and turned the opposite direction, northward.
She walked with her head down, watching her shadow grow longer as the sun neared the horizon. After about half a mile a rustling erupted from the roadside thicket. She was only mildly surprised by the familiar horse climbing out of a ditch.
“I suppose you’re feeling terribly pleased with yourself.”
“Have to admit, I’ve felt worse.”
“Why did you wait?”
Ulnoth shrugged. “I wasn’t gonna. I got curious. Your friend’s whole?”
“Maybe. I told her an outlaw attacked and robbed her.”
“True enough, I guess. Hop up, we got a lot of ground to make up.”
“I’m not riding with you, you….”
“What?”
“I don’t know, I’ll think of something!”
“You’re an accomplice, you know. You distracted her—”
“Don’t you involve me in your—”
“You’re already involved. If whoever pays that courier gets wise, you’ll go up on the cross sure as me, whatever you intended. You’re light, it’ll take you days to die. So come on,” he said, slapping the back of the stolen saddle. “Nothing to do except get some distance ’twixt us and here.”
Growling, Alessia took Ulnoth’s hand and shimmied into the saddle behind him. “You still stink.”
They made a few more miles before sunset, and Alessia convinced Ulnoth to camp on the wayside rather than stealing deep into the forest. He sat gnawing on more stolen bacon and rooting through the saddlebags.
“Anything interesting?” Alessia asked as she tied the horse up where it could graze.
“What do you care? You don’t want to get involved, remember? Um…can you read?”
“Of course,” said Alessia, “can’t you?”
“Sure, a little. Much as I need.”
“Why?”
Ulnoth presented a leather folio. “I found this….”
“Give it here.” She held the documents up to the last light of day and squinted. “This is what the courier was delivering, I think. It’s from…it’s from Queen Engwara! To some count named Vendreesen.”
“Never heard of ’im,” said Ulnoth.
“It says, ‘Our Majesty regrets that we will be unable to relieve Wengeddy of its imminent siege, as our forces are currently occupied in pacifying the southern Bergovan counties.’”
Ulnoth frowned. “Pacifying? What’s that mean, killin’ every damn thing in sight?”
“Apparently. It commands the count to hold out as long as possible, ‘as Wengeddy is our easternmost possession and beacon of our undoubted triumph’.”
“I’d say it’s more than a little bit doubted. What else?”
“Just self-important fluff. Great, just great. We—Well, you robbed the queen’s own messenger.”
“What can I say, I aim high.”
“This is serious! She’ll probably send an army just to root us out.”
“And the greens’ll run right into the reds and cut each other down. Suits me just fine.”
“It might not suit the folk that get caught in the middle,” said Alessia. “Wengeddy’s going to get it bad.” She put down the folio and glared at Ulnoth. “We have to go there.”
“What? Why?”
“We should deliver this message. It might give the town some time to—”
“I don’t think you quite understand how this works,” Ulnoth snarled. “I aim to murder these bastards, not work for ’em.”
“But the townspeople—”
“Ain’t my problem. You wanna make ’em yours, be my guest, but leave me out of it!”
“Ha, now look who doesn’t want to get involved. Admit it, you need my help. That’s why you came back. You’re still half dead and you’d be all the way there without me to do your thinking for you.”
“That…that’s not true—”
“It’s true enough. And maybe I need you too – I haven’t done so great on my own either. You want to kill reds and greens? There’s bound to be both at Wengeddy. And people that need help too. So why not?” Ulnoth stared at her for a long time. Whether he was considering her proposal or trying to come up with an excuse to refuse it, Alessia couldn’t say. “Well?”
He made a guttural sound. “Fine, you win. All the same to me. Prob’ly too late anyway.”
Alessia nodded. “Good. Tomorrow I guess we turn around.”
“And risk running into your friend again? Nah, we keep north.”
“But—”
“There’s another way. Couple more days, then there’s a footbridge cuts west. Army don’t let it go on maps so people won’t wear it out, but it’s there.”
“Oh. See? Working together.”
“Uh-huh. Now that’s decided….” He laid his head on the saddlebag with the serpent banner wadded up for a pillow. “Sweet dreams, bandit.”
* * *
“Gods take me, there they are!”
“Who?” Alessia leaned to look around Ulnoth. She’d stared at the back of his neck for the better part of a day, and anything else would be an improvement.
“The reds that ruined Firleaf. Up ahead.”
“Then we’d better slow down or get off the road!”
“Hold on a minute,” Ulnoth said, slowing the palfrey not one bit. If anything he nudged it faster.
“What are you doing?” asked Alessia in a whisper even though they were still far off. �
��Are you nuts? Oh wait, of course you are. You’ve been skittering into the bushes at every sound for two days. These ones are actually dangerous, so naturally—”
“Uh-huh, just hold on,” he said again, his attention far away. He watched the marching column like they were a company of tumblers, waiting for one to fall. “About fifty altogether. Headed back home? Hmm…those on the end….”
“What about them?”
“Stragglers. They’re falling behind. Far behind…tired.”
“Wait. Don’t. Don’t you even think about—”
“Get off,” he told her.
“No. I’m not letting you—”
“Fine.” He kicked the horse faster, gaining on the company. Alessia reflexively held tighter, not sure what she should do.
“Ulnoth, for the love of the gods, stop!”
“Gods got no love for me,” he said, the rhythm of the horse’s hooves nearly drowning him out. “And the feeling’s mutual.”
“This is madness!”
“It’s a mad world, sister.”
Just when it seemed Ulnoth was going to charge into that mass of flesh and iron, he drew rein and wrenched the horse to a stop. They were still far enough away that the clamor of their march muffled his approach. He hopped down from the saddle, leaving Alessia alone.
Ulnoth trailed the column from about twenty yards back. Not one soldier bothered to look behind or they’d have caught him straight away. The last line was no line at all but weary sluggards that trudged rather than marched. One in particular was fallen farthest back, a halberd slung across his back with both arms draped over the shaft. Alessia realized Ulnoth’s plan and considered turning the horse around and leaving him to his fate. Why not? He deserves it. One less rogue to trouble the world. But something held her fast. Morbid curiosity to see the bloody spectacle played out? Or perhaps some vague hope that he might actually pull it off? She felt herself take the reins and spur the mount not back, but forward.
* * *
The end of the column crested a small hillock on the road and began falling away, out of sight. It was now or never. Ulnoth chose now. As the last man was about to go over the top he rushed, wrapped his arm around the soldier’s throat and jerked him backward. They both went tumbling. Ulnoth dove for the halberd but the soldier lay dazed on top of it. He punched him in the mouth but the poorly aimed blow hit the nasal of his helm.