Child Of A Guardian And Of The Free (Book 3)

by Dan O'Sullivan

  ‘You were in Nyinaku?’ asked Dale.

  ‘I could see little houses around a lake, and I was so hungry I very nearly went down to beg for food.’

  ‘But you didn’t,’ stated Rudiger. ‘Or you’d be a slave or dead.’

  ‘No. I didn’t. I knew which way I had to go now, so I set off over the mountains once again. I actually think I might have made it home if I hadn’t fallen and injured myself. That was when Catho found me.’

  ‘I’d been watching her and wondered why she was wandering around in Nyinaku,’ said Cathaoir. ‘She climbed up a tree to try to see ahead, and it was really my fault she got injured. She saw me-’

  ‘She saw you?’ Rudiger interrupted in disbelief. ‘That doesn’t say a lot for your tracking skills, Catho!’

  ‘She saw me because I couldn’t stay away from her,’ said Cathaoir seriously. ‘I thought I’d help her out of the tree, but she got such a fright she jumped down and landed badly. So I carried her home. Then I went back and found her some food, and... Someone had to nurse her back to health, and help look after the farm whilst her foot was mending. I’ll say this, Jemicka may not be a hunter, but she’s a really clever farmer, and I think she would have been just fine if she hadn’t had such a run of bad luck. That can happen to anyone, but as it turned out I can’t be more pleased that we found each other. Jemicka taught me everything I know about farming.’ He laughed at his memories.

  ‘What’s so funny?’ asked Dale, raising an eyebrow.

  ‘The neighboring farmers! I can understand why Jemicka didn’t want to ask them for help. They were a bunch of nasty, gossiping busybodies. I remember when some of them dropped by one day. I could sense their thoughts. They were far more interested in seeing how badly Jemicka was doing than in helping her in any way.’

  ‘So what happened?’ Ben asked curiously.

  ‘I can never thank Catho enough for what he did,’ said Jemicka. ‘He’d been working the property for a few weeks when they came, and my broken ankle was mending well, so I was cooking and cleaning again and with Catho’s help I was getting the farm chores done. When they arrived the place couldn’t have been neater! Gardens all tended and the pigs and sheep all fat. And everything was clean and neat and looked like I’d had ten men working on it. Catho stayed hidden whilst they visited, but all the time I could hear his thoughts, I could hear his silent laughter. They just couldn’t believe it! There I was sitting with my bandaged foot up on a stool and everything around me in perfect order, washing done and hanging on the line, chickens fed, and a piece of mutton roasting over the fire. I’d deliberately set the table for one, with a goblet of wine and some freshly baked bread!’ She laughed and turned and kissed Cathaoir happily. ‘The looks on their faces will be burned into my memory forever.’

  ‘So how did you end up here?’ Ben asked.

  Cathaoir’s face darkened. ‘It’s a strange story. I found that I love farming more than anything else I’ve ever done. But we couldn’t stay on Jemicka’s farm. The neighbors would have tried to hunt me down. And I couldn’t take Jemicka into Nyinaku, not with Nandul murdering every human he got within a hundred miles of, and his incredibly ruthless, frightening son sneaking around doing his bidding. If he’d found us, we wouldn’t have lasted seconds.’

  ‘You might be interested to know that Nandul’s incredibly ruthless, frightening son is no longer doing his father’s bidding,’ said Ben, looking at Cathaoir and waiting for his reaction.

  Cathaoir became entirely still.

  ‘Nandul’s not too happy,’ Ben continued with a wry smile.

  ‘Here, sit down,’ said Cathaoir, motioning to the stone benches he had built in a corner of the yard. Jemicka sat on the ground in front of Cathaoir and closed her eyes as he began to run his fingers through her hair. ‘Now tell me exactly what you mean.’

  ‘If you mean Milgorry of Tarl, right at this moment he’s probably the worst enemy Nandul has ever had,’ said Dale.

  ‘You can’t be serious!’ Cathaoir stood up once again and started pacing back and forth across the yard. ‘How did that happen?’

  ‘It started when Nandul tried to take one of the guardians - a young woman called Louisa.’

  Cathaoir stopped moving and turned very slowly to face Dale. ‘A young female guardian - surely he wasn’t trying to...but he was, wasn’t he?’

  ‘He was. I know he would have killed her once her child was born, but all he wanted was her child. Child of a guardian and of the free. If the legends are correct, and if he’d succeeded in making her fall pregnant, perhaps the child would have the power to return the gifts that were taken from the free.’

  ‘What do you think about that?’ Jemicka asked her husband.

  ‘I think he’s fooling himself. I think the legend is more like a myth. We agreed to give up many gifts so we could have our freedom. I don’t think a child is going to have some kind of legendary power to return them. I don’t think it works that way. Besides, I’m happy just as we are. But tell me, if Milgorry is Nandul’s worse enemy - what happened?’

  ‘Milgorry fell in love with Louisa and she fell in love with him. She’s carrying his child. Ben’s right. Nandul isn’t happy.’ Rudiger supplied this piece of information with a pleased grin.

  Cathaoir drew breath sharply. ‘So we still have the problem - child of a guardian and of the free, unless Nandul hunts them down and murders them both first.’

  ‘I thought you didn’t believe the legend,’ Rezon said drily.

  ‘I don’t! But if I’m wrong...I don’t want to find out!’

  ‘Nandul will have a hard time catching Mil,’ said Rezon. ‘You said it yourself. Mil’s got all of his father’s abilities, but he’s far more dangerous. He’s intelligent. He refuses to let his father do his thinking for him any longer.’ He pursed his lips then exhaled slowly. ‘It would be worse than a nightmare to have Mil come after you, if he was serious about returning you. I’m sure Nandul is having more than a few sleepless nights wondering when his son is going to catch up with him.’

  ‘Perhaps he has his own motive for going against Nandul.’ Cathaoir raised his hands questioningly.

  ‘I think you can relax, Catho. Mil isn’t exactly the same person you remember. Even Tiernan chose to let him live when he turned up at the Dwellings.’ Eibhear spoke for a long time of the changes in Alkira and Nyinaku pausing only to answer Cathaoir’s questions.

  ‘It sounds like I got Jemicka out of there just in time,’ Cathaoir murmured when Eibhear had finished speaking.

  ‘Maybe,’ Eibhear agreed. ‘But how did you get here?’

  ‘First we went to Sagria, but they’re not exactly fond of the free, so we’d planned to go back to Khynol and then maybe south into the mountains for a while. We paid a man to take us as far as Warbilla by ship. The price was that we work for our passage. I trusted him because I knew he carried the blood of the free, which was fairly stupid of me, and I assumed - wrongly - that he was just willing to help us. The ship didn’t go to Warbilla, and if the bastard had been on board I’d have returned him for his treachery. He just badly needed a crew. Anyway a lot happened, but we ended up here. And we like it. So we stay.’

  ‘What did he want? Why was he sending ships here?’

  ‘I’m not sure. Ships arrive - I can even show you where they dock. But they never leave. He’s building up a huge fleet for some reason. When we first saw them we thought some might head back home - new trade or something, but each time I go back to look, the ships are all still there. All being well maintained, but not going anywhere.’

  ‘But Catho, everywhere we turn here people are fighting each other. Doesn’t that bother you?’

  ‘Actually, Jemicka being human and me being one of the free has its advantages. If the free come, I stay in sight and Jemicka hides. If humans come past Jemicka does all the talking and I’m busy elsewhere. This is home. There are people who we are friends with on many farms not too far away. Both humans and free, and in most cases we’v
e been able to help them accept each other. We don’t want to leave here now. This truly is now our home.’

  ‘And Cathaoir tells me I’m getting more and more like his own people every day. So we would have the option of going back to Nyinaku...if we really had to.’ Jemicka didn’t sound entirely pleased with this notion.

  ‘So all the fighting...’ Dale raised his hands questioningly.

  ‘The humans just want this place to themselves,’ said Cathaoir. ‘It’s not going to be easy for them, but they do have the numbers. We stay out of it. We’re happy here.’

  ‘If you’re happy I guess it doesn’t matter where you live,’ said Eibhear. ‘When is your baby due?’

  Jemicka was confused. ‘Baby?’

  ‘Uh...never mind,’ said Eibhear, looking away quickly.

  ‘Eibhear?’ Cathaoir’s voice came out as a whisper.

  Eibhear smiled. ‘I’d say in not much less than eight months. It’s really too early to tell when. Jemicka is human after all, so a short pregnancy.’

  Jemicka was staring at Cathaoir with a look of awe. ‘Did you know?’ she asked.

  ‘No! I don’t have the gift! Eibhear, are you certain?’

  ‘The soul of your little boy whispers.’

  Jemicka wrapped her arms around Cathaoir’s torso. He laughed with joy and rubbed his hands up and down her back. ‘That’s just too wonderful,’ he murmured and she pressed her face against his chest. Tears of happiness wet his shirt.

  ‘Why did you come here?’ Cathaoir eventually asked.

  ‘We didn’t mean to,’ Dale admitted. ‘We were heading for the Dwellings and somehow we ended up in a little bay west of here. Strangely, everyone on board was confused about what day it was, what they were supposed to be doing and how much time had passed since we left Castle. Now I think we’d been at sea a lot longer than we suspected.’

  ‘Ah. The Doreckian mist,’ said Jemicka with a look of comprehension.

  ‘Exactly what is that?’ asked Dale.

  ‘It’s a natural mist that rises from the ocean, but it’s not just a mist, there’s something in it that affects people very badly. It’s incredibly rare, I’d never heard of it until we came here. I was told it only happened close to this land, but if you were affected near Alkira, I suppose that’s not necessarily the case. I heard that the free in this land have found a way to harvest it.’

  ‘What do you mean ‘harvest’ it?’ asked Dale.

  ‘They somehow sift the mist and I have no idea how they do it or what it is they get out of the mist, but they can use it as a weapon. Some say it can make you sleep so deeply that you never wake, you just sleep until you die.’

  ‘That’s horrible,’ said Raline with a shudder.

  ‘You’re cold,’ said Cathaoir.

  Rezon put his arms around Raline. ‘Actually Catho, we came to ask for your help. It’s getting colder - too cold for Raline and Dale. We wondered if you might let us sleep in your barn or somewhere a bit sheltered.’

  ‘There’s enough room inside,’ said Jemicka and Catho nodded in agreement.

  ‘Can you show us where the ships are?’ asked Dale.

  ‘I can.’ said Cathaoir. ‘They’re difficult to miss. Are you planning to take one? You might have a little trouble sailing it by yourself.’

  ‘I just want to look,’ said Dale. ‘I intend to find out what they’re planning to do with them.’

  ‘I don’t recommend you go sneaking around down there by yourself. It’s only about six hours walk from here - for a human, but the population gets far thicker towards the coast. The free who live here are...I guess their abilities have lessened over time or something. They’re different, like the half humans in Nyinaku, but some can still sense your thoughts so don’t think you can fool them. I’ve had almost no contact with them. We have everything we need right here.’

  Dale sat lost in thought as the beginning of a plan formed in his mind.

  Chapter 29

  Stowaways

  To Kelian’s surprise everything settled into a strange but predictable routine. At dawn, food was brought to the cabin. Guard Penn, to whom everyone seemed to answer, was present for these visits. He would stand in the passageway outside the cabin door and wait as his guards checked who was awake. If Borgulnay, Milgorry and Gilgarry were asleep, they would leave food. On Kelian’s suggestion, Callian ensured Milgorry, Borgulnay and Gilgarry were actually sleeping most of the times Penn approached. When they chose to remain alert, Penn left neither food nor water.

  Several pails had been left in the room and they understood very quickly that these were to be used for their own waste, as no-one seemed inclined to suggest they come forward to the ship’s head. This was uncomfortable and embarrassing and incredibly malodorous until they moved the pails into another unoccupied cabin and simply placed them back in their own cabin if a crewmember approached. Milgorry snapped the lid from an empty chest in the cabin and then broke it in half, and they laid the pieces over the pails, which reduced the offensive odor significantly.

  Within a few days of beginning the voyage, Gilgarry discovered a small, hidden hatch opening to a ladder which led into the depths of the vessel, and they began to move undetected between the cabin and the hold, were they found crate upon crate of food and supplies. Over a few days, Milgorry and Borgulnay made some slight changes to storage arrangements, as subtly and undetectably as possible, freeing up a surprisingly large space in the hold where they could allow Kalinya to play. He had no difficulty entertaining himself. Louisa and Milgorry took it upon themselves to ensure the child was ceaselessly guarded, an arrangement which Kalinya found pleasing when Louisa was present. They had several near mishaps when Penn made unexpected decisions to approach the cabin and everyone needed to rush back to their cabin and be locked inside before he appeared. Once Callian was certain he’d been seen, but by the time he’d finished with Penn’s mind the Guard didn’t seem to remember why he’d even come to the cabin in the first place and he returned to his tasks shaking his head in confusion.

  The only thing that made Penn slightly suspicious of their activities was that they neglected to return the water jug to its proper stand. Araas said afterwards that Penn wasn’t entirely sure it hadn’t been in the room in the first place, so fortunately no harm came of the oversight.

  At dawn, after the food and water was delivered Elena rationed it carefully, until they found that most of the time they were left on their own for the remainder of the day and night, which allowed them to steal as much food as they required from the stores in the hold. Also at dawn, the night soil was removed. The guardians knew that at least seven guards accompanied Penn every time he came down the passageway, but he showed no surprise that Milgorry, Borgulnay and Gilgarry were often asleep when he approached, making everyone certain that something was being added to their food which would cause them to sleep more than normal. Upon this realization, they began disposing of the food Penn provided, and eating only what they stole from the hold. Every couple of days Milgorry or one of the soldiers would remain awake to ensure Penn didn’t notice the pattern.

  The days dragged by and they spent the time refining their plans for how best they might take the ship. They had become used to which members of the crew were using nearby cabins, though no-one seemed to be housed within at least five cabins of the one in which they were being held. This made things a little easier, and as they watched the rigid routine of the crew, they quickly worked out when they could leave the cabin door open for air.

  After a week the routine changed. Callian had just caused Milgorry, Borgulnay and Gilgarry to sleep and barely had time to leave the cabin when Penn arrived with his usual escort of guards. He hesitated at the door then opened it and stepped inside.

  ‘Get up,’ he said curtly. ‘Follow me.’

  The girls stood up nervously and followed Penn down the passageway and up onto the deck. To their surprise once they were on deck, they were ignored. If it wasn’t for the occasional curious gl
ance, they would have wondered if they were invisible, as no-one stared, no-one spoke to them and no-one approached them. They lifted their faces, relieved to feel the caressing breeze and the warm rays of the sun. They walked around the deck, savoring the chance to move about freely. More than an hour later they were returned to their cabin. Again, Penn actually entered the cabin, though this time he put a thin leather cord around Elena’s neck and held her in front of his body before stepping inside.

  Milgorry, Borgulnay and Gilgarry had woken and they leapt up, their faces livid.

  ‘If you try anything, she dies. I will snap her neck long before you get to me.’ Penn’s attempt at sounding confident was ruined by the nervous darting of his eyes between the warrior and the two soldiers. ‘You will go up on deck for some air and some exercise,’ he continued. ‘I will stay here with the women, and if I get even the vaguest sense from any of my crew that you’re doing anything I don’t want you to do, I will kill them both and deal with the consequences later. Do you understand?’

  ‘I’m not going,’ said Milgorry curtly, sitting on the edge of the bunk.

  ‘Suit yourself,’ said Penn with a shrug. ‘By the end of this journey you’ll have the strength of a bandicoot.’

  Milgorry glared at Penn but remained silent as he listened to Callian’s thoughts. ‘He’s not going to harm the girls whilst you’re gone Mil, and if he changes his mind he’ll be dead before he can blink. Trust me; I managed to plant the idea in his mind that he should let everyone get some air and exercise. He thinks he just wants to keep you all alive long enough to make certain he doesn’t lose any advantage he has by keeping you captive.’ Milgorry made no comment but followed Borgulnay and Gilgarry up onto deck. Milgorry and the soldiers were not ignored. Every member of the crew watched them warily, either openly or from half closed eyes and with nervous glances, seeming to be fully aware of the potential danger of having these three men on deck. Kelian lost no time in laying down the rules.