by Peter Kenson
“Ambush?”
“Looks like it, milord.”
“Wait here a moment.”
Inside the tent, Falaise was still sobbing and Leyla and Mo had their arms around her, kneeling on either side.
He knelt himself in front of her and gently raised her chin until she was looking at him. “Falaise, my lady, I’m sorry. I must ask you this. Did you have an escort here tonight from the village?”
She looked at him in surprise. “No, not at all. I came alone.”
“Do you know that you were followed from the village or why anybody would have done so?”
“No… no. I have no idea.”
Outside the tent again he spoke quickly to Feynor. “Take some men and bring those two in. Alive if possible; I want to know what they’re up to. But make sure that neither of them get away.
“Marta can you come in with me now, please.”
The scene inside was calmer now. Leyla and Mo had retreated to the back of the tent and Falaise sat there alone, drying her eyes on a linen handkerchief. Marta went straight over and knelt beside her. “Milady, I am so sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you, Marta. You are very kind. And I think I should apologise to you, my lord,” she said looking up. “I do not normally go around striking people.”
“Your behaviour was understandable in the circumstances. No apology is necessary, my lady.”
“Falaise, please. I am no longer a lady. My lord husband is dead, my son is missing and I have no position within the village anymore.”
“If I recall an earlier conversation, my lady, it is not a matter of birth but how you live your life. You are and always will be a lady but I would be pleased to call you Falaise. And in return, I would be honoured if you would call me David.”
She nodded in acquiescence as sounds of a commotion came from outside the tent.
“We have them, milord,” Feynor called out.
“Falaise, we’ve brought in the two men who were following you. If you please, I would like you to come and see if you know them.”
The two men were standing with their hands tied behind their backs, surrounded by circle of Feynor’s men with weapons drawn. Both were dressed in dark clothing of inferior quality but well suited to the night. The older one had a look of defiant anger on his face while the younger looked considerably more scared. They both had signs of blood and bruising on their faces.
“Any trouble?” he asked Feynor.
“No, milord. Quiet as lambs they were,” he replied with a broad grin.
Held turned to Falaise. “Do you recognise them, my lady?”
“I do. They’re a pair of layabouts who do odd jobs for Lord Gaelan, my husband’s cousin.”
“And the man who now styles himself Regent in your place. I wonder what odd jobs they were doing tonight.
“So tell me,” he asked. “What were you doing out there on the trail?”
The older one stared at him. “We was told to look out for the Lady Falaise, that’s all,” he spat.
“Told. By whom?”
“Lord Gaelan.”
“I see. And what exactly did he tell you to do to Lady Falaise?”
“Well, sort of protect her like.”
“You’re lying,” Held said. “What’s more, you’re not even lying very well. I think you were waiting out there on the trail for Lady Falaise to return and that, when she did, she was going to meet with an unfortunate accident.”
There was no reply from either man.
Held pointed at the older one with the defiant look on his face. “Feynor, take that one away and kill him. Painfully.”
As the guards dragged the older man away, Held strode up to the other and thrust his face in close. “Now then, my young friend. You have precisely until Feynor returns from doing what he’s doing, to tell me everything you know. Otherwise he’s going to take you away as well.”
“I ain’t saying n n... nothing,” the young man stammered.
“I don’t believe you,” Held said amiably. “I think you’re going to tell me everything I want to know.”
Just then an ear-splitting shriek of pain came across the camp and the man slumped to his knees. The two guards on either side hauled him roughly to his feet and Held looked at him expectantly.
“We… we was only following orders, sir, I mean milord.”
“Orders from Lord Gaelan?”
The man nodded his head.
“And what were those orders?”
“We was to follow the lady around and arrange for her to have an accident somewhere. Well that was near impossible inside the village but when she left to come here, we thought we’d find an opportunity. So we followed her.”
“What sort of accident were you supposed to arrange?”
“He didn’t specify, milord. Said we was to use our imagination.”
“And what did your imagination come up with?”
There was no answer until another shriek of agony broke the silence and the man collapsed again. Held grabbed the front of his jerkin and hauled him up. “What?”
“We… we was going to have a bit of fun with her first…”
“And then kill her? Is that it?”
“I didn’t want to, milord, but Cud said it were the only way to keep her quiet.”
“Alright, I’ve heard enough. Feynor bring the other one back.”
Feynor and the guards appeared from out of the darkness, dragging the other thug who by this time was limping quite badly but seemed otherwise undamaged.
“Put these two under guard for the night,” he ordered. “I’ll decide what to do with them in the morning.”
He turned to look at Falaise who was standing there with a look of horror on her face and Marta’s arm around her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Falaise, but you see now why I was concerned.
“Perhaps we’d better go back inside,” he continued gently.
When they were all seated again, Falaise was the first to speak. “I don’t know what to say. I knew he was ambitious; Gereld, my late husband, told me as much. But I never thought….”
“I’m afraid it may be even worse than that, Falaise. The rumour is that he wants to replace Jeren with his own boy, Raslo. Removing you is just the first step on the way.”
She looked at him in shock. “How do you know this?”
“Well that last part is only rumour at this stage but, in the light of tonight’s developments, it perhaps needs to be taken more seriously.”
“My lord, David, I came here tonight to ask for your help to get those boys back. They took every boy aged between five and fifteen, eighty four boys plus my own son and his friend are missing. It’s ripped the heart out of the village. The people are absolutely devastated. Is there anything you can do?”
“What you mean like ride in there on a white charger, beat up thirty of Duke Henry’s soldiers and then herd the children back to the village?”
“Now you’re making fun of me.”
“Not entirely,” he smiled. “I could certainly do that and rescue the children for you but there will be costs and consequences. There will certainly be casualties among my men and possibly in the confusion, among the children. If I accept this mission that is a risk that you must accept on behalf of your people.”
She lowered her eyes. “I know that I am asking a lot of you, David.”
“Will your own people do nothing to recover the boys themselves?”
“Gaelan is telling the people that the only way is to try to buy them back. He is going round to each family begging for money, pieces of silver plate, anything they have of value. He says he will take it personally to the tax collector and negotiate the release of the boys.”
“I don’t believe he will succeed. I don’t think the boys were taken for money. The captain said they were to be taken to Paelis to be tested. I do believe that all those who fail the test will be sold as slaves but that is not the reason they
were taken. Duke Henry is looking for one special boy.”
“How do you know all this,” she asked again.
“I don’t know, Falaise,” he said sorrowfully. “It’s there in my head and I know what’s happening but I don’t know why or how I know it.”
“Well if Gaelan cannot buy them back, what alternative do we have? Will you help us, David?”
“Of course we will help. But there will be a price to pay.”
“Ah,” Falaise said. “You are a mercenary company now.”
He inclined his head. “If we no longer go round robbing and stealing what we want, then we have to find some other way of earning our keep. We have returned a wagon load of supplies to your people that would have gone a long way to seeing us through the winter. I have to look after my people now as you do yours. And that includes the widows and orphans of those under my command who do not survive.”
“I understand,” she said. “So what is your price for this rescue?”
“One silver talon for each child safely returned to his family; payable by the family.”
Falaise pursed her lips for a moment and then shook her head. “That is too much, David. Some of the families were blessed with two or even three boys. They cannot afford so much.”
“Hm. Okay then, one silver talon from each family to whom a child is returned.”
“That would be acceptable except that you said there was a risk of casualties among the children. I propose there should be a payment of five silver talons to every family whose boy is not returned safely. Consider it as an incentive.”
“Ha,” he exclaimed. “Where did you learn that one, Falaise?”
“I told you, David, we are a race of merchants. I learned to negotiate at my mother’s teat.”
“You appear to have learned remarkably well,” he commented. “Very well. One silver talon from every family to whom we return a boy safely and a payment of five talons, from company funds, to every family we fail.”
“Agreed. But please, David, keep an eye out for Jeren. From what we have learned tonight, he may be in greater danger than I thought.”
“Ah yes, Jeren. Looking at his mother, I would guess that he was the tall slim one with the blond shoulder length hair rather than the short stocky one with the dark hair.”
“You have news of them,” she gasped.
He smiled at her. “They are safe; at least for the moment,” he added. “And they are not prisoners of Duke Henry. Who is the other one, by the way?”
“That will be Baltur,” she replied. “They are inseparable, those two. They do everything together. Apparently they were off hunting when Duke Henry’s men came to the village.”
“They are certainly dressed for hunting but at the moment they are following Duke Henry’s men and marking the trail behind them.”
“He doesn’t know his father is dead,” Falaise said sadly. “He will be expecting his father to lead the men of the village in a pursuit of the boys.”
“That is what my scouts think also.”
“Please David, please get him back. I will pay any price you ask to have him safely returned.”
“I want no money for the safe return of your son, Falaise. I have something else in mind.”
“Oh,” she said in sudden confusion and then coloured as understanding dawned. “Oh. I had not thought it of you, Lord Held, but I can have no shame where my son is concerned. If my body is the price I have to pay then you may have it.”
“No, no. Not that,” he said hastily ducking beneath the daggers being thrown at him by Marta. “I mean… yes you are an exceptionally beautiful woman who any man would desire but I would not insult either one of us by forcing such a bargain on you.”
The tension eased slightly as the rain of daggers from Marta’s eyes dried up.
“Then what is it you want from me?” Falaise asked.
“I want your influence with your people, Falaise. I want you on my side when I come to negotiate with them.”
“My people hate you, David. Not you personally, of course, but they probably regard you the same as Manny. That may change if you succeed in returning the boys but you are wrong; I have no influence with my people. My position as Lord Brantyen’s wife is no more. I am apparently not allowed to be Regent, against my husband’s dying wish. And without Jeren, I am only the mother of the missing heir. I fear I cannot help you.”
“I think you understate your position by some way, Falaise,” he insisted. “My man says that you are well respected in the village and have many friends there. Many of the people love you, not for who your husband was, but for yourself, and I can certainly understand why. Yes, the council is male dominated, but all those men go home to their wives at the end of the day. And those wives cook for them, they sleep with them and provide marital comforts and, above all else, they talk to them. And you talk to the wives. That is where your influence lies. You and Marta here, are not so different. You both have influence way beyond any official post you may hold.”
The two women looked at each other. Falaise put her arms around Marta and to David’s great surprise, both women burst into floods of tears.
“God’s teeth,” he muttered as Mo and Leyla came rushing up with tears in their eyes also and a fresh supply of linen handkerchiefs in their hands.
When the floods subsided, all four women looked at him without speaking but with expressions on their faces that ranged from pride to gratitude.
“What?” he exclaimed. “What did I say now?”
It was Marta who spoke for them. “Everything,” she replied softly. “You said everything that needed to be said, milord. And we thank you for it.”
David shook his head as Falaise spoke up next. “Lord David Held, you are a strange one but I think you will do very well. When you return with my son, you will have my strongest support within the village and I will bring all the influence I can, to bear on the council.”
“Thank you, Falaise. I will bring him back to you. But you remember I said earlier, there would be costs and there would be consequences?”
“I remember you saying it but I’m not sure what you meant by it.”
“If I go in there and rough up a not insignificant number of his soldiers, together with his tax collector and then deprive him of some eighty odd boys that he is expecting to see in Paelis, I fear that Duke Henry is going to be more than a little put out. He is going to send more troops, probably a lot more troops and with orders not to be so nice next time. The village cannot still be here when they arrive.”
“My people are used to moving on at short notice, David. They have had to do it many times before.”
“Then you had better prepare them to do so again because all hell is going to break loose when I come back with those boys.”
“Tomorrow, I will tell all the people who need to be told. Or at least, their wives,” she smiled.
“Thank you. And there is something I need you to do for me now.”
“Anything.”
“Jeren almost certainly does not know his father is dead. And he only knows me, or at least my men, as the bandits who kidnapped his mother. If I approach him without proof, he will likely accuse me of lying and jump to all sorts of unfortunate conclusions. I need some sort of token to show him. I also will need a letter from you explaining what has happened and stating explicitly that I am now working for you and that I’m not one of the bad guys anymore.”
“I have his father’s ring here which Jeren will recognise and if you would be kind enough to provide me with writing materials, I will draft the letter immediately.”
David nodded to Leyla who scurried away into the back of the tent.
“Thank you, Falaise. And now, if you’ll excuse me, I must go and talk to the men about tomorrow. Marta, we will be breaking camp at dawn. I want to move the camp to the other side of the village and then the men and I will be riding on.”
Marta nodded her agreement to this.
“Falaise, when you ride back to the village, Kemon will ride alongside you. Tomorrow, while I’m sure he will try to be his usual inconspicuous self, he will be very close at hand. If there is any problem, you can trust him implicitly. He’s a good man.”
Chapter 6
It was the white room again. No visual clues as to where he was but always the voices murmuring in the background. He strained his ears to listen.
“What do we tell him about the mission?”
“The absolute minimum. He’ll have to know the objective of course but not the significance of the target.”
“How will he recognise…?”
“He’ll have to have that as part of the mission objective.”
“What about his other… abilities?”
“Tricky. We’ll suppress what we can of his technical knowledge and training but we have to leave him something in order to do his job. We’ll just graft a new skill set on top that’s appropriate to the environment.”
“Will it work?”
“Absolutely. He won’t know he’s not native… at first.”
“At first?”
“Depends how long he’s down there. Over an extended period, there’s a risk that some of the suppressed memories may leak back to the surface. If he suffers any breakthrough, it’s the telepathy area where it’s most likely to occur.”
The white dreams had come back again and David woke in a sweat before dawn. Carefully extracting himself from between Mo and Leyla, he quickly dressed and pulled a cloak around his shoulders against the chill of the pre-dawn air. Stepping outside to clear his head, he did the rounds of the sentries, stopping to exchange a few words with each as he passed.
As he approached the final post, he met Feynor doing the rounds from the opposite direction. “You should be resting, my friend.”
“As should you, milord. Busy day today.”
“Will it be action today, milord?” the sentry put in.
David smiled. “Don’t be too eager. I won’t know until we get there and I can see how the land lies. We need to take them by surprise and, if we can’t ambush them during the day, then it’ll have to be a night attack.”