“Did he kill your wife?” Delia asks.
“Not directly, no,” he replies. “She languished in jail, as has my whole family, through the winter. She caught pneumonia and died. My son and his family are still being held.”
“Then what are we waiting for?” announces Jiron. Everyone turns to look at the murder in his eyes. “Seems we have some justice to dispense!”
“I agree,” says James, Delia and Miko both nod in agreement. “We can’t let this continue.” To Illan he says, “We’re with you, just tell us what you want to do.”
“I thank you all,” he says and then marches from the tent. “Jorry! Uther!” he hollers in the tone of voice all have come to know and at times fear.
“Yes, sir?” Jorry replies as he and Uther come running. The others move closer to see what’s going on.
“I’ve got some work for you two,” he says.
Late the following afternoon, Illan along with everyone else but Jorry and Uther, approach the outskirts of Seastar. The mood of the group is somber, the story of what happened to his family has been told to each and every member of their group. They are saddened by his loss while at the same time angered at the man who is behind it.
Jorry and Uther were sent ahead last night to scout the town. They were supposed to have met them on the road this morning but have yet to make an appearance.
“Do you think anything happened to them?” Jiron asks.
“Hope not,” replies Illan. He thought he would be feeling anger and rage at this point, but all that goes through his mind are the memories of his Alaina. They first met when he was but a lad and had just entered service with Madoc’s army. He was on leave and had journeyed to Seastar for no better reason than that he had never been there.
Riding through town, he saw a flash of auburn hair and a friendly smile and was smitten forevermore. Their son arrived three years after their wedding, the only child to have survived. There were two other pregnancies after that but one had been stillborn and the last, a girl, had died before reaching a year.
Memories of their time together wash over him as he passes through the first of the buildings. People upon the street see him riding into town and stop in their tracks. Several call to him but he ignores everyone, intent on his memories.
He leads the group through town and at first James thought he was heading for the magistrate’s office. But instead, leads them through town to the north and into the hills. Not far out of town an estate appears ahead of them, a grand estate with a large stone fence surrounding it. The manor house in the distance stands three stories tall and the road leading through the front gate to the house is cobblestone.
“Is this where you live?” Miko asks once it’s become clear he means to go there.
Illan nods, “My family has lived here for six generations.”
Half a mile from the gates of the estate, two men emerge from the surrounding trees. James sees it’s Jorry and Uther.
“Well?” Illan asks once they’ve come near.
“Two guards stand at the gates,” Uther tells him.
“Not sure how many are inside but we’ve seen four men enter and two leave,” Jorry explains.
”Grab your horses,” Illan says and kicks his horse to move toward the gate. They hurry into the trees and reemerge shortly riding their horses, then fall in line with the others.
He rides without hesitation and is shortly approaching the gate. The two men standing guard move to stand before the gate and one steps forward. Holding his hand up indicating for them to stop, he says, “No one is allowed to enter.”
“On whose authority?” Illan asks, bringing his horse to a stop, scant inches from the man.
“By authority of Lord Faetherton,” he replies.
Illan glares down at the man and asks, “Is this Faetherton here?”
“ Lord Faetherton is currently in town,” the man explains.
Illan glances to Jiron next to him and says, “Open the gate for me.”
“Sure,” Jiron replies. Hoping down from his horse, he moves toward the gate.
The man steps in front of him and actually puts his hand on Jiron’s chest. “I said, no one is allowed to enter.”
Jiron pauses only a moment before his takes the man’s wrist and twists it painfully. With his other hand, he grabs the man by the back of the neck and throws him out of his way. He resumes his progress toward the gate and the other guard draws his sword, moving to bar his way.
“I wouldn’t do that,” a woman’s voice says in the stillness. The guard glances to the others and sees Aleya with arrow knocked and aimed straight at him.
Jiron comes to him and takes his sword.
“Scar, Shorty,” Illan says, “tie them up please.” They immediately dismount and remove rope from their saddle bags.
Outnumbered, the guards remain docile while they’re being tied. “How many more of you are there?” Illan asks.
One guard remains stoically silent but the other says, “Five.”
“Shut up!” the other guard orders.
“What should we do with them?” James asks.
Illan glances at him and says, “No reason to kill them. It’s not with them that I have a quarrel.” He glances at the two men sitting on the ground and adds, “At least not yet.” To Scar and Shorty he says, “You two stay here and keep an eye on them. Let us know if anyone comes.”
“You got it,” Scar assures him.
Jiron pulls the bar and draws the gate open. He pushes it so it swings around and slams into the inner wall where it remains. Returning to his horse, he joins the others as they move toward the manor house.
The inner grounds have been meticulously kept. Off to one side is a flowering garden of magnificent beauty. Stone paths work their way through the blossoms and two benches can be seen where people could take their ease while enjoying the beauty surrounding them. The sight of the gardens brings sadness to Illan. His Alaina had loved them and spent many sunny days among them. A smile comes to him when he remembers his son as a boy and how he once played in her flowers, ruining many young plants. Her anger at him was fierce but he never really learned to stay out of her plants.
As they move down the cobblestone road, the front door opens and a man emerges. Dressed finely with an air of command, he watches them approach. “How dare you forcibly enter Lord Faetherton’s estate?” From windows on the second and third floor, three men have crossbows aimed at them.
“This is my house and I have no need to explain myself to you,” Illan tells the man as he looks down at him from the back of his horse. “Tell those men with the crossbows to lower their weapons or we’ll kill you all, right here, right now.”
The man stands there a moment assessing the situation. That was definitely not the response he was expecting. Since coming here to Seastar, he’s heard rumors of this Illan for this is who must be before him. Some of the rumors he didn’t give much credence to. It only takes him a moment to decide he’s woefully outnumbered and hollers up to the others, “Lower your weapons.”
“And tell them to leave my house,” he says.
“Everyone, out!” the man yells. The three men covering them with crossbows from above leave the windows and come join the man in front of Illan.
“Where’s the other guy?” James asks.
“There is no other,” he tells them.
“We were told to expect five here,” Illan explains. “So where is he?”
“I assure you,” the man says, his nervousness rising, “there is no one else here.”
“Jiron, take Yern and Potbelly and search the house,” he says.
Dismounting, Jiron says “You got it.” With Yern and Potbelly beside him, he makes his way to the front door.
Raising his voice loudly, the man says, “I assure you, there is no one inside this house!”
Jiron pushes him out of the way and enters through the front door, the other two right behind.
“Miko, tie them up,” Illan says.
>
Getting down from his horse, Miko removes a coil of rope and begins securing the hands and feet of the four men.
“Lord Faetherton will not take too kindly to this intrusion,” the man warns Illan as Miko ties his hands behind his back.
“No, I suppose not,” he replies. “And as far as Faetherton is concerned, where might I find him?” When the man fails to respond, he says, “No matter. I’ll find him in due course.”
Suddenly, from the back of the house, the sound of a horse reaches them just before a man appears riding hard toward the gate. “Don’t let him leave!” orders Illan.
Aleya and Errin turn in the saddle and draw back their arrows. After taking aim, they let their arrows fly but the rider dodges and the arrows fly wide. A whine begins to be heard as several slingers twirl their slings before letting their slugs fly toward the fleeing man. One manages to strike him in the side and almost knocks him off his horse but he somehow keeps his balance.
“Shorty!” Jiron yells as he races from the back of the house.
At the gate, Shorty and Scar have been observing the events transpiring by the manor house. When they see the man racing toward them, Scar moves to close the gate while Shorty takes position in the road. Shorty removes a throwing knife and throws, catching the horse in the chest.
The horse stumbles and crashes to the ground, throwing the man several feet where he lands hard. Shorty runs over with another of his knives in hand but slows when he sees the man is not moving. As he draws close, he finds that the man broke his neck when he struck the ground.
Turning to the others at the manor house, he yells, “He’s dead!”
“Get him and his horse out of the road and behind the wall,” Illan hollers back to him.
Shorty nods and then he and Scar begin the gruesome job of dragging the dead man and horse to the wall.
“Who was that?” Illan asks, turning back to the man before him.
“Nobody,” he replies.
Illan eyes him a moment and then dismounts. To Caleb he says, “Go tell Shorty and Scar to continue keeping watch and to shut the gate.” When he runs off to do as bid, Illan turns to Nerrin and Moyil. “Go down there and bring the two guards back here with the others.”
“Yes, sir,” Nerrin says and then they begin running down to the gate.
“Delia, take our prisoners around back and keep an eye on them,” he tells her. “Don’t want them seen should anyone approach.”
“Right,” she replies and then gets her slingers to escort the prisoners to the rear of the house.
Illan gives James a glance then enters the house with James, Jiron and Miko right behind.
The front room looks just like any other lady’s drawing room with couches where visitors can rest and so forth. He makes his way deeper into the house, passing a side corridor and several doors before coming to what looks to have at one time been a strong wooden door. Axes or something had chopped away at it until a hole was wide enough for a man to enter.
“What’s in there?” Jiron asks.
“Some of the more important items my family holds dear,” he explains as he stops before it. Reaching into his pocket, he produces a key and inserts it into the lock. Turning it, he unlocks the door and swings the broken door open.
“Shouldn’t we go get your son and his family out of jail?” questions Miko.
“All in good time,” he replies. “They’ve been there for months, another hour won’t do them any more harm.” Entering through the door, he takes the stairs down to the basement.
Signs of looting are everywhere. Shelves smashed, boxes and chests opened if not outright destroyed. “They took everything!” exclaims James.
Illan turns to him and asks, “Can we have some light?” An orb springs to life on the palm of James’ hand, flooding the basement with light. He glances to the others and says, “They didn’t take everything.”
He moves to the far wall where two chests stand smashed open. “Give me a hand,” he says and the others move to help him slide the chests away from the wall. Once they’ve been moved back four or five feet, he leaves the chest where it sits and returns to the wall. He simultaneously presses four bricks and a soft ‘click’ can be heard.
Another brick looks to have been damaged at one time, a jagged hole, barely an inch in diameter sits just off center. Illan inserts his finger into the hole and then pulls. The wall swings open to reveal another room on the far side.
Indicating the smashed chests and boxes in the outer room he says, “In case of thieves, we kept some of our money and treasures out here, those we were willing to lose. The important items lay in this room.”
Several chests sit undisturbed against one wall. Many weapons of master craftsmanship are displayed upon the walls. Other items, including statuettes and figurines are situated upon various shelves lining the room.
“Magnificent,” James says as he comes into the room.
“Why did we come in here?” Jiron asks. “I mean, we have plenty of coins and gems.”
“That’s not why we’re here,” Illan says as he crosses through the room and comes to the far wall. He again removes a key and slides it in a crack between two bricks and turns it. Pulling on the key, he opens yet another secret door.
When the door opens, James hears Jiron gasp when he sees what lies on the other side. Looking within, he finds a breast plate, a helm, a shield, a sword, and a banner, all bearing the same insignia. A black bird of prey in flight poised to strike, upon a red heraldic field. Behind the hawk are two crossed swords.
“You’re the Black Hawk?” Jiron asks with a trace of awe in his voice.
Nodding, Illan says, “I was.” He begins removing his old sword belt from around his waist and casts it aside. Stepping within the room, he takes the sword belt with the Black Hawk insignia and straps it on.
“Black Hawk?” questions James.
“The Black Hawk was a ruthless leader during the War of Barrowman’s Field,” explains Jiron. Glancing to Illan, he says in a subdued voice, “Said to have committed all manner of atrocities upon the enemy.”
“I heard that the Black Hawk once put an entire village to the sword as an example,” Miko says.
Illan continues putting on his accouterments bearing his insignia without commenting.
“What supposedly happened to this Black Hawk?” questions James all the while watching Illan.
“None knew for sure,” replies Jiron. “Some thought he had been killed while others claim he went to a far land in search of more blood.”
James looks to Illan as he puts on the last item, the helm. “Illan?” he asks.
Turning back toward the others, he stands there in all his glory. From head to toe he looks like a hero out of the sagas. “It’s true I’m sorry to say,” he says. “When the war was over, I put Black Hawk away and became Illan. I had enough blood and death to last a lifetime. We did what needed to be done to stop the Empire, though I’m not proud of it.”
“My Alaina knew and some close friends,” he explains. “There are others from my men who came to live here with me, many joined the regular army. It was a bad time and one which I wished to put behind me.”
“So why come here and don your old armor?” asks James.
“My Alaina is gone. There will be those who remember the Black Hawk, both here in Madoc and within the Empire, which may be to our advantage. It was a name to strike terror in the enemy, and it may serve us with what’s to come.”
He walks away from the room, leaving the banner behind. “Aren’t you taking the banner?” Miko asks.
Shaking his head, he says, “No.” He glances to James and says, “Now let’s go find my son.” Securing the secret door behind which the banner lies, he then takes them from the treasure room and closes the secret door. With their help, he puts the chests back in front of the hidden door and takes a moment to hide the fact they were ever moved. When he at last is satisfied, he turns and heads back up the stairs.
C
hapter Five
When Illan comes out of the manor house, whatever conversation the others were engaged in comes to an abrupt halt when they see what he’s wearing. Murmurs of ‘Black Hawk’ and other awed exclamations are heard as each comes to understand just what they are seeing.
Some of the recruits, having come from Cardri, are not familiar with the significance of the emblem he’s wearing. The others quickly fill them in.
James comes out behind him and says, “We camp here this evening. Delia, you’re going to be in charge for awhile. We have some business in town to take care of.”
“Very well,” she says.
Illan steps down off the porch and comes to where Moyil is holding his horse for him. Moyil’s eyes widen as he draws near. Without saying a word, Illan takes the reins from him and mounts.
To those gathered around, James says, “We’re going to rescue his son. Jiron and his group will join us. Delia, you and your slingers will remain here to look after the prisoners until our return.”
The recruits look upset at not being allowed to accompany them, but realize there is little use in protesting. Those who are leaving with Illan and James mount up and follow them down the lane to the gate.
As they near the gate, Shorty and Scar see him riding toward them in his new armor. “I knew it!” exclaims Shorty with a holler.
“I can’t believe this,” Scar says somewhat at a loss for words, for once.
When Illan draws close, Shorty stands there with a grin on his face and says, “I knew there was something about you.”
“You did, did you?” Illan replies from the back of his horse. “You two stay here and watch the gate.” Without any further explanations, he continues through the gate and heads into town.
As Potbelly passes Scar he says, “Things should be more interesting from here on out.”
“You got that right,” agrees Scar.
Once past the gate, James drops back a little bit and rides between Uther and Jorry. To them he asks, “So what’s the full story behind the Black Hawk?”
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