The Hekamon

by Leo T Aire

  Phelan was unsure on this point, but the other guard, Collis, had been more observant, "He wasn't wearing caligae, just normal boots."

  "But he was wearing a white tunic, that much I'm sure of," Phelan added.

  Tregarron took his lantern back from his wife and, with a motion of his head, signaled they were leaving.

  "Is this information important?" Kate asked, at the sudden change of plan.

  "Yes."

  Tregarron knew there had been a Coralainian at large, he'd discovered his name and now his location. Not only that, if the man was in the custody of Fennreans, then none had escaped, far from it. The man had ended up in the worst possible place.

  "I'm certain he is our man, and if I'm right, his name is Hayden," he said, as the four of them started walking towards the town. "The coat and boots would fit with what both Tansley and the innkeeper told me."

  "The innkeeper told us that the man was going to the pass," Phelan noted.

  "Yes, he was covering his tracks. It was misdirection, just as I suspected. After attacking Enyon Croneygee, the man rightly assumed that he would be hunted and tried to put us off the scent."

  "Why might the Fennreans have apprehended him?" Kate wondered.

  "They said he had stolen something." Phelan replied.

  Tregarron nodded, "A necklace, and then took it to Croneygee's to get it repaired."

  "Wouldn't it be risky giving a stolen necklace to a workshop to repair?" Kate asked, "It's not what I would do."

  "Yes, but then, you wouldn't have stolen it in the first place," he said smiling at his wife. "With the chain broken it would look stolen and be less valuable for it. And the quality of the chain was too fine to be repaired by an unskilled amateur. A naive apprentice might be gullible enough to repair it for a small fee. Then it could be sold or traded to another shop without the damage that showed it had been snatched from somebody's neck. The thief probably thought the whole thing could be over and done with quickly and that he would be long gone before anyone was any the wiser."

  "How did he steal it? Coralainians don't usually venture into the swamp."

  "There had been Fennreans up near the trading posts recently, one of them probably got robbed on the highway. We need to station guards on the High Gate permanently, our control of that road has been slipping"

  "If the necklace is valuable they're going to want it back," Kate said.

  "Whoever it belongs to will give it up as lost, or at least, they will if they know what's good for them."

  Kate stopped suddenly, "But what if they don't?" she said, before turning to Phelan, "What were the Fennreans going to do with their captive, did they give any indication?"

  "They said they would interrogate him further," Phelan said.

  The three men stopped to look at Kate, who was thinking trough the implications, before she turned to her husband.

  "Is there any way that Coralainian knows you have their necklace?"

  "Yes, Galvyn knew, so the man could have found out from him," he replied, not unduly worried.

  "So what happens when he tells his interrogators you have it? Won't their attention turn to you?"

  "Well, I gave it to Jephson," he smiled, "perhaps he will want to be well guarded," his smile becoming a grin.

  Kate looked at him, unsatisfied with his answer, but he had already started walking again. He understood his wife's concern but he was far less worried now. It looked like one rogue Coralainian called Hayden had caused the trouble. Things would now be settled, he might even be able to orchestrate a favorable resolution.

  If Hayden was in possession of the same gauntlets that the two men held in the prison were sent to recover, and there was every chance he was, then exchanging the necklace for those gauntlets might be achievable. He might even be able to retain those carapaces for himself. Or, if not, send them back to Saceress Volusia, along with Aegis.

  Returning both her son, and the Eagle Standard? Volusia would be very grateful, and Volusia's an attractive woman. Not that Kate…anyway, Tregarron felt sure he could smooth things over to his advantage. A Powerful woman, too.

  Of course, he wouldn't let Jephson get too comfortable, but talk of rogue Coralainians and vengeful Fennreans should be sufficient. It would be the fear but without the danger. Tregarron knew that, for a captain of the guard, it was the perfect scenario. And rich.

  The four guards made it to the town and once there, met with three more guards arriving from the direction of the High Gate.

  "Let me guess," he called to Teague, as the guardsman drew close, "No sign of anyone at the pass."

  "That's right, sir," Teague said, gasping and red in the face. He was more accustomed to sitting in the gatehouse than running up and down hills. "Nobody there and nothing untoward."

  It was the final confirmation, "Thank you, Teague, and everyone else for your assistance, you can call it a night. Report for duty as normal in the morning."

  "Thank god," Teague said.

  "Are we calling it a night too?" Kate asked.

  "I'll speak to Jephson before turning in, but I think our work here is done."

  98

  Stepping out into the darkness, Saskia took the torch Vondern had placed on the wall, and followed the others over to the shape on the ground. If it were not for the fact that Saskia had been told the creature before her was a man, she would not have guessed right away. Caked in mud, and trussed up like a hog with a sack over his head, the man made for a pitiful sight. She watched as the sack was pulled off to reveal that he was gagged, also. Not that he was likely to say much in his current state.

  "His he alive?" Vondern asked.

  Tolle kicked the captive, who groaned in response.

  "Yes," Tolle said, matter-of-factly.

  "Hold these," Vondern said, handing her the keys to the stockade, "and give us some light."

  Saskia held the torch high to provide illumination, while Vondern, Tolle, Palfrey and Moxley each grabbed a piece of the prisoner, and between them, they manhandled him over to a wooden structure, twenty yards from the stockade.

  She and Loccsleah stood and looked on, while the man was prepared for the pit, but before that could happen, the pit needed to be prepared for the man. This involved removing the wooden slats that covered the deep, excavated hole in the ground and hoisting up the iron cage it housed.

  Years ago, during the bewailings, the pit was used as a prison cell and could hold several men at a time. In more peaceful times, it was where they would keep wild boars to tenderize the meat prior to slaughter.

  The cage could be accessed either from a grille on the top, or by a door on the side. It was useful to just drop a boar in from the top and Saskia thought they might do the same with the prisoner, but on this occasion, Vondern winched the cage out completely, and perhaps wisely. In his tied up state, the fall might kill the man. Meaning any information he had would die with him.

  Once the cage was clear of the hole, Tolle pulled it to one side and Vondern lowered it to the ground.

  "Key," Vondern demanded.

  She handed him the keys, and after unlocking the cage, the men bundled the prisoner inside. He didn't put up any resistance and was not even conscious.

  "This wretch isn't going to give us any information, he may not even survive the night." Vondern said, catching his breath from the exertion of raising the cage and moving the man. He continued looking at the wet and muddy prisoner, deciding what to do with him, before turning to her, "I'll leave him in your capable hands, Saskia," he said, handing her the keys once more, before making his way back in the direction of the stockade.

  The three young men of the Egret Patrol looked at each other, perhaps deciding whether or not they should follow the voight's example, and leave the women to deal with the prisoner.

  "Could you tell us more about the Haaken Iron Grippers?" Tolle called after his uncle.

  "If you want," Vondern said, without stopping or looking back. The boys needed no further invitation, and le
ft Saskia and Loccsleah to it.

  The two of them exchanged looks, before Loccsleah spoke warily.

  "What should we do with him?"

  "If we leave him like this he won't survive, he's wet and the night will only get colder," she said, kneeling down next to the cage and starting to undress the man inside. "The pit will keep him a little warmer since it's sheltered, but we need to get him out of these wet clothes."

  "I can see why they've left it to us, he's a mess," Loccsleah said, prodding the man uncertainly.

  Saskia took her dagger from her belt and began cutting away the man's tunic.

  "Shouldn't you do that more carefully?" Her young companion asked.

  "He has stolen from Alyssa, what else might he have done to her?" she replied, slashing even more vigorously.

  "He might have information of her whereabouts, too. He knows something of who she was with, I'm sure of it."

  The words had an immediate effect on her and she proceeded more carefully. And as Saskia started removing his tunic, Loccsleah considered the threat the man posed.

  "Are we in danger? Just the two of us, I mean, alone with this Coralainian."

  "We aren't going to untie him, just clean and dry him off. Go and get some rags and blankets from the stockade while I finish here," she said, moving to untie his boots while Loccsleah duly obliged.

  Left alone with the man, Saskia's thoughts turned to the last time they had a Coralainian prisoner here.

  It must have been five years ago. It had been a lean winter and food was scarce for everyone. The man had been caught poaching deer in the woods to the east. It might not have been so bad for him but he put up a fight while trying to evade capture and drew Fennrean blood.

  The ferguths who captured him then brought him to the stockade, where his possessions were confiscated and he was placed in the pit.

  Over the subsequent weeks, the man revealed what he knew about the other poachers from Coralai. About how they used mountain tunnels to move into the glades, and if seen, make good their escape. It seemed that they normally used the cover of night but the deer were proving elusive, so the man had taken some ill advised risks and hunted by day.

  With little food to spare, the man grew weak and Vondern had ordered him sacrificed in a ritual to alleviate the winters hardship. The voight believed the spirits would respond favorably, especially if their actions were just and the victim deserving.

  It worked, too. The meat was tender and liver flavorsome, while the offal sustained the tamed boar they kept around Ochre Hill's lowest tier.

  Like most things in the marshes, nothing went to waste. Bone meal was used to supplemented feed-stock, hair for twine and sinews made for excellent draw strings for bows. Even the skin could be put to use, the tannery used it to make parchment. While Saskia had claimed a pouch for the more delicate ointments she made.

  When Saskia had finished undressing the prisoner, Loccsleah returned with some rags and the two of them set about drying the barely conscious man. They cleaned the mud off him quickly but his hair took longer to get dry.

  "We could put this to use," Loccsleah said, running her fingers through the luxuriant hair.

  "Yes," Saskia replied, she too was weighing up the prisoner. Running her hands over him, and finding the well built and muscular Coralainian a much healthier specimen than the last one. "If he is unforthcoming about what has happened to Alyssa, or if we find he has harmed her in anyway, he will be both nourishing meal and a capacious vessel."

  Loccsleah laughed in agreement, before her mood turned somber, "Is it too much to hope that he hasn't harmed Alyssa?"

  Saskia sighed, "I'm finding it hard to be optimistic. He took her dagger, he disarmed her for a reason. She is no longer acting of her own free will, I'm sure of it. If she was, she would have returned by now."

  With the prisoner dry, Saskia wrapped him in the blanket and locked the door of the cage. She then turned the winch handle to raise the cage, before Loccsleah moved to steady it as it swung over the pit. Once over the hole, Saskia lowered it in. They placed the wooden slats over the top and rejoined the men in the stockade.

  As they entered, she could hear Vondern talking to the ferguths about the grippers and the significance of their return. But the only thing that concerned Saskia was Alyssa's return.

  She promised herself, that if the voight didn't extract every relevant detail out of the prisoner, or determine everything the man knew about Alyssa's whereabouts, then she would.

  99

  "Should we start roasting the nuts?" he asked, but guessed her answer.

  "Yes, let's get them started, that pear helped, but I'm ravenous."

  They carefully placed the nuts that Alyssa had gathered on a flat stone at the edge of the fire, while eating a few raw as they did so.

  "If you love me pop and fly…" Alyssa said, crunching on some of the nuts.

  "Eh?"

  "…if you hate me burn and die."

  "What?!"

  "It's a song we sing, well, some of us anyway," she laughed.

  "What's it about?"

  "Hazelnuts."

  "Ah," He said, laughing too, and before long all the nuts were roasting.

  As they sat, Galvyn once again noticed the small tattoo just above Alyssa's ankle.

  "What's the meaning of that pattern?" Galvyn asked, watching Alyssa reaction to his question carefully.

  Her eyes flickered with emotion, pain and then pride, before a distant look took over her. He could tell powerful memories had been brought to the fore. "You don't have to answer," he added, not wanting to upset her.

  "It's okay, I can tell you. To some, it means life, death and rebirth, but to me it means truth, wisdom and intuition. It's the most important of the symbols on the Ettinshel and carries the most significance. My mother once told me that it gave the Ettinshel certain powers. I didn't know what she meant, until shortly after she gave it to me and I experienced the power of it myself." Alyssa said, her soft voice giving her words an enchanting aura.

  It seemed she was going to say more but the practicalities of their situation were on her mind. They needed to prepare for a night in the open air.

  "We should really be collecting some bedding. The cave floor will be too hard and cold to sleep on otherwise," she said, standing and looking around, "let's do so before it gets completely dark."

  "You're right," he agreed.

  They spent the next few minutes gathering material from the forest floor that they thought might make for a comfortable bed, and while they did, they talked some more.

  "What powers does the Ettinshel have?" he asked, intrigued.

  "It can vary from person to person. I find it gives me a connection to other living things, birds mostly, I can't explain how or why."

  "Are you sure you don't just imagine it?" he asked, realizing immediately that this was the wrong thing to say. It caused Alyssa to stop what she was doing and look at him.

  "You sound like my brother," she said, "and before you ask, no, that's not a compliment. Not when it comes to talking about my necklace anyway," she added, placing the leaves she was carrying on the cave floor. "Besides, Saskia senses the power of the necklace, too, it gives her a connection to the land, or so she says, and strengthens her powers of intuition. For me, as its rightful owner, the effects are more powerful. I hear my mother's voice, she tells me things, words of encouragement, or warnings of danger." As she spoke, their eyes met, and in the look she gave him, he could sense her sadness at her loss.

  "Are you sure its your mother's voice?" he asked cautiously, not wanted to question her judgment but finding the revelation disturbing.

  "Of course. It's a woman's voice and sounds very familiar to me, who else could it be?" she answered assuredly.

  "I you believe you," he said, but he wasn't sure if he had said it out of politeness, or if he really did believe her. Alyssa believed it, that much seemed certain, and he didn't want to give her the impression that he doubted her.
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br />   With a suitably large pile of leaves placed on the floor of the cave. The effect was completed by mixing in some long grass that could be found growing out of crevices in the rocks around them. Their seeds had long dispersed and the dry stems broke away easily. Once woven in, the grass helped hold the mattress of leaves together.

  "It should be fine for one night," he observed.

  "Yes," Alyssa agreed, "now let's eat the rest of the hazelnuts."

  They moved back to the fire and Galvyn watched, as Alyssa took a stick and scraped some of the crisp, golden brown nuts off the flat rock on which they'd been roasting. Shelling them as she did so, before carefully popping them into her mouth. Galvyn did likewise and soon they were all gone.

  Their warm and nourishing meal consumed, they shared a drink of water from Alyssa's flask. Their hunger satisfied, it was time to try out the bed they had made, to see if it was going to be comfortable enough to sleep on.

  "Do you want to go cave side, or fire side?" Alyssa asked.

  He thought for a moment. The warmth of the fire was tempting and the dark of the cave forbidding, but chivalry called for him to do the right thing.

  "Cave side," he said.

  "You're kind," Alyssa smiled, "but I'm wearing two layers of clothes, I'll let you feel the benefit of the fire," she said graciously, leaving him room on the side of the bedding closet to the fire.

  "Thank you," he replied, eyeing the recess of the cave warily before settling down, laying on his side facing Alyssa, with his back to the fire, making sure he left her enough space.

  He decided he would let Alyssa determine what was the appropriate distance for them to lay apart and didn't object when she chose to be close. As they lay there, facing each other, Galvyn's attention returned to the necklace.

  "I'll do whatever I can to help you get it back," he said.

  "It's kind of you to help but I don't think it's going to be easy. I don't know if Tregarron or Jephson know what it is, but if they do, or find out, they might want to destroy it, and the good it can bring will be lost forever."

  "If it's powerful, like you say, won't they want to keep it?"