The Traitor and the Chalice

by Jane Fletcher

  “And paid,” Sharl added softly.

  The ferryman shoved his craft into the water and leapt on.

  Flory was not comforted. “You seriously expect me to cross the river on that?”

  “You could swim, like Tevi suggested,” Russ said.

  “Is it safe?”

  “People don’t drown here often.”

  “I know. They only do it once.”

  The ferry was now halfway across. The force of the water tugged the raft downstream, making the strained rope creak alarmingly. However, the ferryman was unconcerned, judging by his tuneless whistling. On either bank, the line was tied around a stake the size of Flory’s forearm, driven obliquely into the ground. The one on their side was several yards back from the water’s edge and presumably beyond the risk of flooding.

  “It will be twelve copper pennies for you and your horses,” were the ferryman’s first words, even before he had stepped off his raft.

  Sharl muffled a laugh.

  Russ leaned forward. Tevi noted that he made sure his mercenary tattoos were showing. “And how much will it be after we’ve stood here in the cold for half an hour, haggling?”

  The ferryman’s eyes flitted between them. “Eight.”

  “I’d have guessed at six.”

  “All right,” the ferryman said after a slight hesitation. “You’ll have to go in two lots. I can only take two horses and two people.”

  “I don’t suppose you’d stretch to two horses and three passengers?”

  “Nah.” The ferryman spat. “To tell the truth, it’s overloaded with two.”

  “In that case, you can have your eight pennies, and we’ll have three trips. I’ll take the first two horses. Flory can follow with Tevi, and Sharl can bring the other two horses.”

  The ferryman’s forehead knotted in confusion.

  Tevi held up her bound hands for him to see. “What he means is they don’t want to leave me on either bank with only one of them to guard me. Think it through.”

  Russ met Tevi’s eyes with a nod of agreement for her reasoning. The ferryman looked startled but no more enlightened, although he was not about to argue at the prospect of extra coins.

  The horses needed blindfolds before they could be persuaded onto the raft. Russ hugged their necks while the ferry was hauled back across the river. While waiting her turn, Tevi stood at the river’s edge and watched the water swirl past. The river had not burst its bank but was clearly deeper than normal. The tops of submerged shapes loomed ghostlike below the surface.

  Sharl joined Tevi and put an arm around her shoulder. “Of course, we all know that this is your best chance to escape. Do yourself a favour and don’t try it.”

  Tevi glanced behind her. As ever, Flory was between her and the horses, watching. His great arms were folded across his chest. Tevi turned back to the river, adding up the chances. Both guards were alert. Even Sharl’s friendly contact was intended partly to hold her secure. However, she still had one element of surprise. Despite their instructions, Tevi was sure that her captors were unaware of her true strength. It might prove decisive. If not, Tevi guessed, she would spend the rest of the journey trussed and bound over the saddle of her horse. Either way, she had to try.

  The ferry with Russ had almost reached the far side. Sharl’s attention was on watching it negotiate the last few yards. Tevi took a deep breath. Now was the time.

  Tevi ducked and turned. Her shoulder slammed into Sharl’s back. For a moment, the scout fought for balance. A second nudge completed the job. Sharl toppled into the water, and Tevi spun to face Flory.

  The tall mercenary’s expression changed from complacency to outrage. “Why, you little—”

  Flory leapt forward, fists raised, not waiting to draw his sword. Tevi ducked under his arms and grasped his leather jerkin. His momentum kept him ploughing forward. Tevi used it against him, hoisting him into the air and hurling him out over the riverbank. Tumbling backwards, one leg trailing, Flory hit the river. A hole seemed to open under him as walls of water shot up; then the surging river rolled back over his head.

  Shouts from the far bank announced that Russ had seen what was happening. With no time to waste, Tevi dived to the stake securing the ferry line. Her fingers locked around the rough wood. Knees bent, feet braced, she threw every ounce of her strength into the effort. For a heart-stopping moment, the stake remained firm, but then a faint shift trembled up Tevi’s arms, followed by a larger movement. To the wet sucking of mud, the stake pulled free.

  More shouts erupted across the river. Russ had disembarked and was pulling his bow from a saddle pack. On the near bank, Sharl was hauling herself out. Flory had surfaced mid-river. Somehow, the huge warrior had gained his feet but was unable to move against the current. A bow wave streamed around his thighs. One cautious attempt to move almost cost his balance, and he slid a few more feet downstream.

  Sharl lay sprawled half out of the water. Tevi shoved the scout back, then knelt and held out the stake. “Why don’t you take this and rescue Flory? Russ can pull you both to the far side.”

  Sharl gave her a venomous look. “Don’t be a fool. The guild will get you.”

  “I swear I’ve done nothing wrong. You’re the victims of a trick. I’m quest-bound at the moment, but I promise when it’s over, I’ll come to Lyremouth and answer for everything.”

  Tevi pressed the rope at the half-submerged woman. At that moment, a fresh vortex hit Flory, causing him to shout in alarm as stones slipped under his feet. Fear was starting to show on his face. Sharl looked over her shoulder and then, without a word, took the stake. She wrapped the rope once around her body and kicked off, letting current swing her in an arc across the river.

  The horses were standing a few yards away. Tevi leapt onto the nearest and caught the dangling reins of the other. She headed for the trees and protection from arrows. Only once she had got there did she look back. There was no need to worry. Russ had abandoned his bow, and with the help of the ferryman, he was pulling his comrades to safety.

  Tevi found a sharp knife in the saddlebags. Soon, her hands were free. Meanwhile, Sharl and Flory had been dragged ashore, aided by several other villagers who had been attracted by the commotion.

  Tevi looked at the sky. Night was approaching rapidly. The storm clouds were hanging low and heavy. She doubted the others would be able to cross the river again before dark, but it was certainly advisable to get far away as quickly as possible.

  Sharl, Flory, and Russ stood in a grim line on the far bank. Tevi raised her hand in a friendly salute that was not returned, then she urged her horse around and rode back down the trail.

  Chapter Twelve—Victims of Magic

  Ponderous clouds, black and purple, loomed over the farmlands, hastening the onset of night. Under the trees, it was even darker. A rising wind shook the branches in a hissing imitation of the river’s roar. The weak light glinted off pools of black water that flooded dips in the riverside path.

  At the point where the track reached the trees, a smaller trail branched up the side of the valley. Bare earth showed pale in the gloom, littered with pinecones and mud-smeared rocks. The path rose steeply before levelling out and disappearing between the trees. A line of hoofprints indicated that the track was passable on horseback. There was no way of knowing where it led, yet it had to be safer than the flooded riverbank.

  Tevi looked back. Russ and the others were watching, but her route could not be kept secret. Sharl would have no problems tracking her across soft ground. The most important thing was to put as much distance as possible between herself and the pursuit. To that end, the track up the hillside was probably as good as any other.

  After a few hundred yards, the path rounded a rock face where water dripped from clinging beards of moss. The track bent north, still climbing steadily, but the trees were closing in. Tree roots jutted clawlike from the eroded red soil. The sound of the river faded away below to be replaced by an oppressive silence in which the horses’ h
ooves fell with dead thuds. Tevi had to duck repeatedly to avoid low branches and was eventually forced to lead the horses on foot.

  Higher up, the wind blew fiercely but provided little relief from the heavy, charged air. Thunder boomed in the distance. Eventually, the track rolled over the brow of the hill and began a steep descent while degenerating into little more than a mud-filled gully. The horses’ nostrils flared as they slipped and skidded. Tevi carried on doggedly, although she was increasingly aware that she might have to retrace her steps.

  There was little now to distinguish the path. The light was so poor that Tevi had to guess the way. Before she could stop, the horses slithered down a vertical bank, and then the ground bottomed out in a grassy hollow. Tevi halted at the edge of the clearing to calm the animals. She prayed there was a way forward. Getting back up that last sheer section would be a challenge.

  The first drops of rain splattered on Tevi’s face. Within seconds, the downpour rose into a crescendo of drumming. Tall grass in the clearing was flattened by the force of the rain.

  Tevi was looking up, cursing the storm, when the sky was torn apart by white-hot lightning, etching the treetops in silhouette. Thunder broke as a pounding onslaught of sound. The panicked horses wrenched Tevi off her feet, yet she managed to hang on and regain control. She dragged them under the shelter of a pine and tied their reins to the trunk. Progress would be impossible until after the storm had blown over. Maybe not even then.

  Tevi returned to the open ground in defiance of the storm. The ground squelched underfoot, even more than could be attributed to the pelting rain. The clearing was not manmade, but a spring. On the downhill side, straggling bushes knotted in an unbroken hedge. Uphill, the steeply rising ground formed the sheer sides of an eroded basin. There was no exit. It would seem that she had reached the end of the trail.

  Tevi sank back against a rough tree trunk. Continuing to wander aimlessly in this nightmare of mud and rain was completely insane, risking injury to herself and the horses. By morning, they would be exhausted and still no farther from the pursuit. There was also not the slightest risk of anyone’s crossing the river that night. Making camp was easily the wisest course. Maybe daylight would reveal a missed turning in the trail.

  The centre of the storm was moving away, although thunder still pounded over the mountains. It alarmed the horses and complicated the task of removing their saddles. Tevi discovered her confiscated sword wrapped in one pack. The emotion was totally irrational, but she felt less helpless with it in her hands.

  She shared a couple of apples between the horses. It was insufficient for their needs, but the animals seemed to find it reassuring. Her own meal came from food rations she found in the saddle packs. A waterproof sheet made a tent.

  By the time she had finished, the thunder was just the occasional rumble in the distance. However, rain still fell in sheets, lashing the forest. The horses had calmed. They nuzzled against her hands with only the softest whicker of complaint. There was little chance of their straying—not least because there was no obvious way out of the hollow. Tevi turned them loose to graze or find shelter as they chose and crawled into the damp blankets of her bed.

  *

  Tevi awoke to the first uncertain trill of birdsong. The storm had blown itself out. Predawn light picked out details of the sodden vegetation. Across the hollow were the dark forms of two horses. Stars still twinkled brightly, but to the east, a pale tint was gaining strength. The air was bitterly cold. Tevi pulled herself from her tent and stood, stamping her frozen feet and slapping her arms. The horses ambled to her side.

  Hazy blue-grey light filtered through the forest. The trees stood like ranks of ghostly soldiers, wreathed in tendrils of mist. Some twenty yards downhill, a brighter patch in the forest indicated another clearing. Tevi set off to investigate.

  The wet grass drenched her feet and legs. Heavy splats of water dripped fitfully from branches. Somewhere, a bird warbled out its territorial claim. The song and the snap of twigs were the only sounds as Tevi broke through the thicket barrier and onto a well-trodden forest road.

  The route was deserted. To the west, Tevi guessed it led to the spot that Russ had claimed was a ford in summer. In the other direction, it headed into the unknown, although surely it would eventually link with the Gossenfeld-to-Horzt road.

  Tevi chewed her lip as she thought. This was clearly a well-used highway. Her experience of the previous night had proved that she could not match Russ’s ability to navigate the wilderness. Her best hope lay in speed and taking advantage of the head start. Maybe, in the traffic, Sharl might lose her tracks.

  A short way off, a lively stream washed across the road. Tevi walked to the spot and peered into the forest. The remnants of a path ran beside the brook. The summer’s growth of bramble had obscured the track but proved no match for Tevi’s sword. In a matter of minutes, she had hacked her way through to the marshy spring head.

  The daylight was strengthening, putting green back into the foliage. The horses were swiping huge mouthfuls of the wet grass. They watched with disinterested eyes as Tevi packed. She saddled both horses. The chance to swap mounts might give her the decisive edge.

  Tevi led the horses along the newly hacked path. The first bands of pink were touching the eastern sky as she swung into the saddle. The horses raised their heads to sniff the sweet dawn air. They needed no urging. Her mount sprung forward. The other, tethered to the saddle, matched it stride for stride. The pounding of their hooves resounded over the forest as they galloped towards the rising sun.

  *

  On the afternoon of the following day Tevi re-entered the Horzt valley. So far, everything had gone without incident. Nobody had paid attention to the young guild mercenary racing by like a courier on official business. The good roads had cut a day off her return journey—a healthy pace, even allowing that Russ’s route had been chosen for stealth rather than speed.

  Now things needed a bit more thought. Entering Horzt could be dangerous, but Tevi did not know how else to find Jemeryl. She stared at the distant walls. The mayor had been unenthusiastic at handing her over in the first place. Would he see it as purely the guild’s problem that she had escaped? Or was he too dependent on the guild to risk a show of defiance?

  Not that it matters, Tevi told herself. If the other mercenaries believe I’m a renegade, they’ll take me prisoner without needing his say-so. She would have to slip in at dusk under cover of the general licentiousness. No one bothered with drunks as long as they did not cause trouble. It was not a great plan, but nothing better came to mind.

  Tevi pressed the horses on in a steady canter until she came across a fork in the road. An impulse prompted her to take the smaller branch, which hugged the western flank of the valley. However, she had not gone far before she was questioning her hasty decision. The rutted cart track would have fewer witnesses than the main road, but those she did meet might wonder what a guild courier was doing out in the farming fringes. Yet now that she had made her choice, there seemed little point going back. Tevi shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts.

  An hour later, the road began to look familiar. This puzzled Tevi until she recognised the spot where the foul-mouthed farmer had been driving the cows. She was now heading in the opposite direction and must already have passed the start of Russ’s forest trail. Soon, she reached the place where the blanket had been removed from her head. A narrow track split off from the road she was on and headed through the fields straight for Horzt—the route by which the mercenaries had escorted her from town.

  Although she was unclear about her own reasons, Tevi kept to the edge of the valley. She stopped only when a farm appeared, sprawled along the side of the road. Chickens and children ran between the buildings. In the fields were horses and farm workers. Tevi was not sure why she wanted to avoid the inhabitants, but she spotted a path running up the hillside. Without thinking, she left the level road.

  For the first few hundred yards, the trail cl
imbed across open sheep pasture. Thereafter, it entered dense woodland with no obvious destination, still rising steeply, although unlike the one in her previous experience, this path showed no sign of fading away.

  For once, the clouds had dispersed, and autumn sunshine bathed the woods in a mellow afternoon light. The heavy warm silence was broken only by the clump of hooves, distant birdsong and the drone of insects. The peace soaked into Tevi, filling her with untroubled drowsiness. She was barely aware of it, and certainly not concerned, when her head began to nod.

  *

  Tevi awoke to find herself high in the mountains. Rocky outcrops broke from the upland, their bases littered with cracked boulders and rubble. The trees were sparse and stunted amid the gorse and heather. From the sun’s position, Tevi knew it was nearly evening. Hours had passed in her daze.

  Tevi pinched the bridge of her nose hard, partly to drive away the cobwebs, partly to give expression to her anger with herself. Succumbing to sleep went against all her training. Not even the last two restless nights offered an excuse. Now it would take hard riding to reach Horzt by dusk, if she could work out where to go.

  Neither signpost nor landmark were in sight. The path behind disappeared over a ridge, while ahead, it dipped down into a valley. Her first thought was to turn the horses around, but the idea left her uneasy. She had no idea how she had got where she was and no wish to spend the night criss-crossing the mountains. Perhaps the valley would contain a road or a hamlet where she could ask directions.

  A prod set the horses off at a brisk pace, but ripples of lethargy begun to wash over Tevi again. The hillside was drifting into nothingness as she left a wooded hollow and the valley floor came into view. With an almost audible snap, the spell broke. Someone had made camp beside a leaping brook. Tevi dropped from the saddle and pulled the horses back under the cover of the trees.