Bridge of Swords

by Duncan Lay

  ‘Why don’t you sit down?’ he suggested gently.

  Huw’s arms were burning but the pain was nothing to the kick in the guts he had taken when Hector had walked into the clearing. He knew he had to find the words to fight against the tale Hector was about to spin, he had to tell the whole truth — but all he could think of was Rhiannon’s expression when Sendatsu had revealed his lies and the sick feeling inside at the thought of her walking away with Hector and into Ward’s arms.

  Sendatsu could see no good way out of this — and he was also cursing Huw for stopping him. The Forlish would never have killed Rhiannon. It had all been a bluff. But Rhiannon was also their hope, given she was the only one still free.

  ‘Rhiannon! Don’t listen to him! He’s a liar! Tell her, Huw!’ he yelled.

  ‘Sergeant!’ Hector barked and Broyle raced to where Huw and Sendatsu hung.

  Both Huw and Sendatsu tried to protest, to call out to Rhiannon, but Broyle winded Huw with another huge punch, then ripped a strip off his tunic, balled it up and stuffed it in his mouth as a gag. As for Sendatsu, when the elf tried to clench his jaw shut, to defeat the gag, Broyle just held his nose until the elf was forced to breathe.

  ‘What if the elf uses magic to get himself free, like those other ones did?’ Ricbert suggested, drawing his dagger and holding it above Sendatsu’s heart.

  ‘Just stand by him and if he tries anything, slit his throat,’ Broyle said casually.

  Sendatsu spent less time thinking about that than he did the news these Forlish had captured Hanto — although they’d obviously lost him once more. Had Hanto told him anything?

  ‘We need him alive,’ Hector suggested. ‘I doubt we will be able to get all the information we need about Dokuzen and the elven plans from this revolting Velshman.’

  ‘Fine. But if he tries anything, he dies,’ Broyle said harshly.

  ‘Just gag him for now,’ Hector advised, then turned back to a still-stunned Rhiannon. ‘Now, my dear, you can see that I am not just alive but perfectly healthy and in the good graces of our lord the king, otherwise he would not have given me both his soldiers and his seal. So what lies did that filthy Velsh bard tell you to make you leave Cridianton and come and live here among the scum of the earth? What did he say to trick you into satisfying his lust?’

  Sendatsu knew they had to do something to get through to Rhiannon. He grunted at Huw, trying to work the cloth out of his mouth, although Ricbert’s dagger was dangerously close. Huw, for his part, was staring at Rhiannon, his eyes liquid pools of terror. This was his nightmare sprung to life and, just like a bad dream, he could do nothing to stop it.

  ‘He said you were dead and that if I did not come with him, then I would be next. That Ward wanted me to be his mistress,’ Rhiannon said dully.

  Hector gave her his broadest laugh. ‘And you can see the truth of that in front of you! No, the real story is much more sordid than that. He heard how the king thought you were far better than him, how the king was thinking of sending him away, back to stinking Vales. So, in his jealousy and insane lust, he tricked you into following him away from there, away from me and all who loved you!’

  Rhiannon shook her head slowly.

  ‘But he had your ring! You never take off your ring!’ she protested.

  ‘I had taken it off because the king was going to give me another, as thanks for bringing you into his court.’ Hector shrugged. ‘He must have stolen it from my room, breaking in the same way he stole into your rooms.’

  Something was niggling at Rhiannon, something was not quite right — but she dismissed that for the much bigger issue: Huw had lied to her. That blacked out everything else.

  She jumped to her feet and stormed over to him.

  ‘How could you?’ she screamed. ‘How could you do that to me? I thought you were my friend — I thought you were helping me! I cried because I was so sorry I had kept you in Cridianton too long for you to get back and save your father! I stayed awake at nights thinking about that — and all the time you were lying! You knew how much being at court meant to me — but you just had to have me for yourself, didn’t you! Was it all lies? Did you get your elven friend to bed me and trick me so that I would fall into your arms? Was anything you said to me the truth?’

  Both Huw and Sendatsu were trying to speak now, trying to protest her accusations — although of course nothing understandable was coming out of their mouths.

  Hector sat back, satisfied. It was all proceeding as planned. He would let her rant and rave at them some more, then take her a little way away while Broyle worked on them, got them in the right mood to confess to anything. Nothing that would kill them, of course, but enough to make them babble his version of events to save themselves from more pain — and get them ready to tell all about the elves and their plans for a free Vales.

  ‘You bastard! I was going to Walk The Tree with you! I thought I loved you!’

  Rhiannon had been certain she could never feel as bad as when Sendatsu had admitted his lies to her. But this was so much worse. With Sendatsu, she had contributed to her own downfall. With Huw, she thought herself wiser. She thought she knew what she was getting into. This was not some flight of fancy, some little girl’s dream. This was the real thing. She had seduced him. She was going to Walk The Tree with him — they were going to have a life together. To find it was all based on a lie was almost too much for her. Her insides alternately felt as though they were filled with ice, then boiled with rage that she had been fooled — again!

  ‘You bastard! How could you? How could you?’ she screamed, beating her fists against his chest.

  ‘I’ll never forgive you for this. Never!’

  Hector nodded. Excellent. Just what he wanted to hear from her. Soon she would be amenable to suggestion herself — he planned to tell her that getting into Ward’s bed was her only way back to court. While it seemed unlikely she was still untouched, he was confident she had the acting ability to fool Ward on the first night. He was imagining what he needed to say to her when it all took an unexpected turn.

  Rhiannon stopped hitting Huw and looked at him. ‘Why?’ she pleaded. She had been so sure. He had been there from the start, her only friend — had it all been an act? She was just a foot away from Huw, trying to read his expression. Tears were rolling down his cheeks and he was shaking his head desperately, obviously trying to say something.

  She leaned in and ripped the gag out of his mouth.

  ‘Tell me the truth!’ she commanded.

  ‘Yes, I lied to you about your father!’ Huw cried, agonised, and she turned away, stricken. ‘But only to protect you!’

  ‘What?’ Rhiannon turned back, tears rolling down her face as well. Huw’s admission of a lie was the final dagger into her heart. She did not know whether to howl or vomit. ‘How can you imagine that was protecting me?’

  Hector signalled to Broyle, who ran in to cut Huw off.

  ‘Your father was selling you off to Ward! Hector promised you would go to Ward with open arms and legs — his price for that was riches and fame!’ Huw yelled as fast as he could.

  ‘No!’ Rhiannon and Hector exclaimed, but for completely different reasons.

  Broyle was there a moment later to cut off Huw’s words with another blow to the stomach, then stem the flow by stuffing the gag back in his mouth.

  ‘Wait!’ Rhiannon said angrily. ‘I still wanted to talk to him — I had not finished!’

  ‘He said all you needed to hear when he admitted his treachery in his first breath. Why do you want to hurt yourself further by hearing more lies from his foul mouth?’ Hector said consolingly. He drew Rhiannon into a gentle embrace and let her tears spill out. ‘After all I have done for you, all I have sacrificed for you, do you really think I would betray you?’

  ‘No,’ Rhiannon admitted, her face still buried in his shoulder.

  ‘It’s like I always told you. Men only want you for your body. You should have listened to me. This evil Velshman tried to twist y
our mind against me. He showed his true background and breeding with the way he behaved. Now, why don’t you come away with me. We shall have something to eat and drink, let you clean yourself up, then we can come back and hear the truth from these two. Sergeant Broyle shall have them ready to talk when we return. Come with me. I am your father, only I know what is best for you. You do believe that, don’t you?’

  ‘Y-yes,’ Rhiannon sobbed.

  ‘I have been searching for you up here all this time — only I have what is best for you in my heart and mind. Now come away with me and we shall talk about what we need to do to get back into the king’s favour when we return to Cridianton.’

  Hector nodded to Broyle, who drew his knife and eased closer to Sendatsu.

  ‘I’m going to enjoy this, elfy,’ he sneered. ‘I’m going to make you look like a human. And then you’re going to beg to tell me everything you know about Dokuzen and what an elf is doing here.’

  Sendatsu just glared at him.

  ‘Don’t worry, miss. I’ll make them pay for what they did to you! They’ll be singing soon enough — but not a tune they wanted to make!’

  Rhiannon looked up at Hector.

  ‘There’s no need to do that to them,’ she said haltingly. ‘I can tell you everything about their plans.’

  Hector smiled at her. ‘I am sure you will. But we need to be sure. We can’t have the elf using magic on us! Now come with me. Everything will be fine. Everything will be as it was. This will all seem like some bad dream.’

  Huw saw her in Hector’s arms and could not stop the tears streaming down his face. How could he have been so stupid? Sendatsu had told him time and again that he had to tell Rhiannon the whole truth, explain to her about her father and trust she would understand. Now she had heard the lies from Hector’s mouth and not only would she hate him, but Hector would use her for his own foul purposes. Huw thought nothing could be worse than sitting in his father’s chair, listening to Sendatsu make love to Rhiannon in his father’s bed. But seeing Hector’s gloating face and Rhiannon’s tears made that feel like a pleasant experience. He could still see the anguish in her eyes, the expression on her face when she declared she would never forgive him. His own peril and impending torture seemed like nothing in comparison.

  Sendatsu watched Rhiannon cry noisily and Huw sob silently but, as much as he felt sorry for them, he was worried about himself. Was this to be the end of everything? He had to stay alive for his children; no matter what they did to him, a priest of Aroaril could fix it, if he could but get back to Dokuzen. If they thought him broken, if they left him alone, then he could use magic to free himself and get away. He told himself that but he could imagine the coming pain and his mind shrank away from it.

  ‘What are they doing?’ Rhiannon pointed to where two of Broyle’s men were stoking a fire, heating the tips of their swords inside the flames.

  ‘We need the truth out of them. After what they did to you, you’d probably like to take the knife to them yourself.’ Broyle chortled.

  That gave Rhiannon pause. As much as she wanted to lash out at Huw and Sendatsu, as much as she felt betrayed, the idea of torturing them made her feel even more sick.

  ‘What are you going to do to them?’ she demanded.

  ‘I don’t think you need to worry yourself about that. Sergeant Broyle and his men know what they are doing. Don’t concern your little head about it. Come with me now.’ Hector’s grip on her arm was firm and he began tugging her away.

  But as much as Rhiannon was delighted to see her father, his declaration that all would go back to the way it was, he would make the past months seem like a bad dream, did not sit well. For all the wrong Sendatsu and Huw had done her, they had also shown her she was a strong woman, able to make decisions on her own, able to take action. Whatever else had happened, she did not want to go back to being a little ornament, totally dependent on her father. Now she had tasted freedom, she would not walk so easily back into the cage he offered.

  ‘Wait! Father, listen to me,’ she said sharply. ‘Trust me, please! I told you I know everything about their plans, about them. I can tell you and King Ward everything you need to know.’

  Hector smiled thinly. ‘I am sure you can. But he does not want to hear it from you. We shall leave now …’

  ‘Aren’t you listening to me?’ Rhiannon cried, fighting back against his pull. ‘Father, none of this is necessary …’

  ‘Get her out of here, Hector. We need to go to work,’ Broyle grumbled, holding up a sword with a glowing tip. ‘I’ve been waiting a long time to get my hands on these two.’

  ‘Come on, dear.’ Hector began pulling Rhiannon away but she dug her heels in and ripped her arm free of his grasp.

  ‘Who is in charge here?’ she demanded. ‘Father, if these men are truly under your control, then order them to stand down. I will tell you now about Sendatsu and why he is here …’

  ‘Of course they are under my control!’ Hector blustered. He glanced over at Broyle, who was staring flatly at him, flanked by his men, all of them holding swords. ‘And I am instructing them to get the knowledge from this filthy Velshman and his elven accomplice!’

  ‘So you won’t even listen to me?’ Rhiannon gasped. ‘I have a voice here. I thought this was all about rescuing me?’

  ‘And it is!’ Hector snapped. ‘But I know what is best for you and you need to obey me now!’

  He reached for her again but she stepped back, knocking his hand away.

  ‘No,’ she said.

  ‘What?’ Hector asked dangerously.

  ‘I will not obey! I am trying to tell you everything you need to know and you won’t listen to me. Why can’t you see that …’

  ‘Enough!’ Hector roared, swelling up. He had tried to be patient with her, tried to be kind, but the frustrations of the last few months bubbled over. ‘I see you have been in this dirty little country too long! You will learn your place again. I spend months looking for you and when I finally rescue you, this is all the thanks I get!’ He loomed over her, sure she would crumble and fall down, beg forgiveness, as she had always done in the past. He added the final threat, the trick that had always worked on her. ‘Your mother would be ashamed of your behaviour!’

  But that was a different Rhiannon.

  She felt the habits of a lifetime urge her to give in, to obey whatever her father told her. Then she ignored them, as her mind sifted through what he had been saying.

  ‘But if you have been looking for me all this time, why did you not simply ride up to the village by yourself? I would have seen you and come running out!’

  Hector paused for a moment, thrown by her question. ‘Well, that elf would have spitted me on an arrow before I got close! Anyway, what has that got to do with anything? I am ordering you to follow me now. I should have known this would happen — I knew he was trouble from the start. The Velsh have a smell about them, you can tell them right away,’ he snarled at her, towered over her.

  Rhiannon looked at him anew. Perhaps he did fear that Sendatsu would kill him from a distance if he had ridden in, although that did not quite seem right. But there was another point there.

  ‘You’ve said it again,’ she said slowly. ‘That you knew Huw was Velsh. But I was the only one who knew. You thought he was from Forland, from Browns Brook.’

  ‘I found out — I have ways and means …’ Hector defended but she interrupted him now.

  ‘No. You would have denounced him. You did not know he was Velsh but you just lied to me and told me you did. Why did you lie?’

  Her voice was calm but inside all was boiling. Could no man she loved tell her the truth?

  That was too much for Hector. ‘You dare accuse me of lying?’ he screamed at her. ‘You will regret that!’

  ‘So it was a lie,’ Rhiannon said flatly. ‘And if you were lying about that, what else have you been lying about?’

  ‘How dare you?’ Hector’s voice shook with anger. ‘After all I have done for you, this
is how you repay me? You should fall on your knees and beg forgiveness! No other man would have looked after you like I did, would have devoted themselves to your dream …’

  Once, Rhiannon would have fallen on her knees and apologised. Once she would have accepted what her father said without question. But that time had passed.

  ‘Was it my dream — or was it yours?’ she asked. ‘Tell me — was what Huw said the truth? Were you planning to sell me to Ward?’

  Hector goggled at her defiance. He had never imagined such a thing could happen. She had been under his thumb for so long, to see her stand up to him was impossible to believe. On top of what she had already put him through, his anger surged out of control. He backhanded her across the face, sending her to the ground.

  Both Huw and Sendatsu surged forwards — or tried to — their bonds held them in place.

  Hector glared down at Rhiannon, who lay on her stomach.

  ‘That was for your own good,’ he told her. ‘You asked for that. Now stand up and follow me and we can discuss what is going to happen next.’

  Rhiannon pushed herself to her knees and wiped away a trail of blood from her mouth, where her lip was split.

  ‘Now I can believe those men were under your command,’ she said bitterly. ‘But I do not know what else to believe.’

  ‘Believe the evidence of your eyes! That Velsh bard said I was dead and I stand before you, ready to accept you back, ready to forgive your mistakes.’ Hector held out his arms, restraining himself from hitting the insolence out of her.

  ‘But was that his only lie? Or were you really planning to whore me to King Ward? For I shall not be sold off to any man. I will never trust another man enough to get into bed with him.’ Rhiannon forced herself to her feet.

  For a moment Hector thought about trying to come up with a convincing story to persuade her but then he saw the look on her face and lost control. His dreams, his plans, everything was built around getting her to walk willingly into Ward’s bedchamber. There was no chance of that now. Everything was turning to ashes, because the stupid little bitch had run away. Well, if she could not be persuaded, she would be taught her place.