‘So amongst everything else – you are now a merchant? That is not the traditional activity of Thanes – or Eaorls – because it is well, to be blunt, appropriate for the lower classes.’
‘Money has no class, Eaorl, if the money won’t come to you; you need to go where it is.’
Octa took another swig of the ale, shaking his head. ‘It is all very disturbing; Taransay is a most unusual place. I’m not sure I’m ready for all these changes –at least my son seems to be embracing them easily. Anyway, I was going to invite you to come with me to Lykiak next summer. I was going to suggest that it is unusual for Thanes to go to the Cotlif but I presume that you were going anyway?’
Conn nodded. He was definitely going.
‘Thought so; anyway, I have been getting questions from the other Eaorls – and they don’t believe anything I say – and I don’t believe a lot of it myself. Nonetheless, I’m displeased at being called a liar, so I’d like them to meet you in person.’
It suited Conn perfectly to go with the Eaorl to Lyciak – as well as selling merchandise, he also had some unfinished business of a personal nature to take care of.
With Octa on his way back to Tabae, Conn stayed to help with the shearing of the flocks of sheep and goats. Derryth even helped; he was in no hurry to return to the forest, and they both stood with Wilgar and a shepherd called Ablendan, watching the last lamb scamper down the chute from the new shearing shed.
To Conn, the sheep were the size of lambs and he commented as such. ‘Meshech certainly has small sheep. In Taransay, our sheep have at least five times more wool then these.’
Ablendan, who was originally from Sirido in Silekia, shook his head. ‘Not all Meshech. The sheep is Sirido are twice as big. Sirido is famous for its sheep.’
Wilgar nodded. ‘That is true. And they protect them well. It is impossible to buy one of their rams; only the wool. Of course, now they will have probably been stolen by the Rakians.’
Sirido had been captured by the Rakians a few months earlier; the Eaorl Eadrys and his family had escaped to Silekiak but the Cotlif had been lost. Conn had about thirty families from Sirido living with him now – the lucky ones who got out.
Conn contemplated the information before asking. ‘If they were going to steal them and take them to Rakia; would they do that before the sheering?’
Ablendan shook his head. ‘I doubt it –they would get too hot and be too heavy – much better to do it after the shearing.’
‘Would they be finished yet?’
Again he shook his head. ‘I doubt that also – the equipment and facilities you have built are second to none. They will have weeks to go yet.’
Derryth was not impressed with the line of questioning.
‘You are not thinking what I think you are thinking are you?’
‘That depends – do you think I’m thinking about going to Sirido and stealing sheep?’
Derryth nodded. ‘That’s exactly what I was thinking. Sounds like a crazy idea.’
‘All good ideas sound crazy to someone – but if what Ablendan says is true, then it is imperative that the sheep not get into the hands of the Rakians – they are much too important. I see no reason that they should have them, and not me – and it isn’t that I will be stealing them – I’ll just be borrowing them for a while. I’ll give them back later.’
Derryth sighed. ‘So when do we leave?’
‘As soon as we can.’
‘Just when I thought things couldn’t get worse – I’m going to be a sheep stealer. I’ll be the laughing stock of all Halani. Are you sure that isn’t the equal of saving your life?’
‘Not even close.’
The next day, Derryth led the dozen riders with packhorses along the river towards Halani. A direct route to Sirido was about a six day ride; taking into consideration the time to get down the escarpment and crossing the river, but they couldn’t go direct; they had to go unnoticed. They had to take the longer slower route through the foothills of the mountains and above the river sources and it would take at least thirty days getting there and back.
Three days later they had successfully crossed the river and started the slow decline into Silekia. After a few days again they were deep into Sirido’s territory, and another four days saw them looking at evidence of destruction caused by the Rakian troops. They avoided occupied Burhs though they did find shelter in some of the deserted buildings on the mountain side.
‘Are the people dead or have they run away?’ Conn asked Ablendan.
‘A bit of both, I suspect. The new Eaorl will have brought most into the main Burhs; to keep an eye on them. Here on the outskirts the land lies deserted.’
‘Seems a funny way to run a country.’
After ten days, they sat overlooking the valley that housed the Burh. It had been a difficult ride staying out of view. There was certainly no evidence that they had been spotted – yet. Now was the hard part.
Ablendan had advised him that the best sheep lands were on the north side of the valley. There was a gap in the mountains and it would be there that the Rakians would gather the sheep and drive them over the mountain into Melnik and then Tovio, before reaching Rakia.
Leaving the shepherds behind, Derryth, Wilgar and Conn left to scout the area. They were gone about an hour, travelling on foot, when Conn literally stumbled over someone; she was a woman, and she must have been over seventy.
‘Careful, young man’ she called out, ‘You could hurt someone running around like that.’
Conn stopped and righted himself. He could have sworn there was no one there moments before. He whistled to his companions and they filed over. She observed them as they assembled.
‘What an unusual group to be skulking around the hills in Sirido.’ She looked at Derryth, and bowed slightly. ‘It is rare to see one of the Twacuman so far out of the great forest these days. It must be a great quest that brings you this far.’
Derryth bowed back. ‘Indeed, Wyrtgaelstre, but not so much a quest as an errand. I fear you have surprised the Feorhhyrde. Your steps are indeed light.’
She smiled as much as a craggy ancient face could do. ‘I was resting as I collected herbs. But you made so much noise.’ She looked at Wilgar and then at Conn. ‘One is from here, but the other is not. Where are you from, Feorhhyrde?’ She directed the question at Conn and she used his title without flinching. Conn hadn’t seen that before.
Still annoyed with himself, Conn’s answer was short. ‘Taransay.’
‘Taransay? Really? I do not recall hearing of such a place; but then I do not know everything. I do know that I would like some tea. Do you have any?’
‘I think we do…’
Wilgar immediately set to work building a small smokeless fire and boiled a pot of water. Conn put in leaves and after a while poured it into their mugs. Nothing had been said all this time.
Whilst Camellia sinensis was widely consumed, they drank it as a green tea. The tea in the mug that the old lady was handed was some of the first that had been through a process of drying, flavouring and fermenting to become black tea; Conn’s preference. The old lady, however, drank it without flinching.
‘This is very nice.’ she said when she was finished, ‘very refreshing.’ She handed back the cup, and looked at Conn. ‘So tell me why you are here in Sirido; you and your unusual group of companions.’
‘I’ve come to collect some sheep.’ Conn decided to be honest. ‘I think that the Rakians might want them and I don’t particularly want them to have them.’
‘So you want to steal the sheep that the Rakians have already stolen?’
Conn nodded. ‘That’s about it. Do you know where we can find them?’
‘You are a day late – though luckily not too far behind. A group of Rakians left with several hundred sheep only yesterday right over the top of this mountain. If you go further east you will find their tracks. I think they have found the first day a lot slower going than they had planned so have not got too far.
’
‘How many people?’
‘More than fifteen. Some were shepherds and the rest were Rakians. They were not nice men, I think, the Rakians. They will not be missed. If fact none of them will be missed.’
Conn wasn’t sure exactly what she meant but he didn’t ask for an explanation. ‘So this way?’ He pointed to the east. It was now late afternoon.
‘Yes, and if you hurry, you will reach them before dark. Anyway, I must be off. It is a long walk back to the village.’ She stood, and looked him up and down. ‘Farewell Taransay, and thank you for the tea.’ and she walked, surprisingly quickly, down the hill and was soon out of sight.
They were silent as they travelled quickly along the mountain side and within an hour they had found the tracks – of course a few hundred sheep and a few dozen horses leave a fairly wide trail behind. By the time they had caught up with the flock the light was fading. The Rakian had made a camp on the mountain side and had posted sentries more than guards. They didn’t for a moment think they were in any danger of attack. The Rakians were there mostly to ensure that the Silekians behaved.
‘So how do we do this?’ Derryth asked as they sat about a hundred yards away. ‘If we want to do this without letting everyone know we’ve done it, does that mean we need to kill them all – even the Silekians?’
The old woman’s word came back to him.
‘No, just the Rakians – the Silekians will follow their flock, I’m sure. AS for the Rakians, it is a bit dark for bows now, so we’ll have to use swords. So – Wilgar, you take the one on the right. Derryth the two on the left and I’ll take the ones in the camp.’
‘The four of them?’
Conn nodded and smiled. ‘Seems fair. And she did say that they were not nice men, didn’t she?’
‘Yes, she did.’ Derryth slipped out of their hiding spot and Conn watched Wilgar head to the right. Conn had spent a lot of time training the boy so knew he would be fine. He then headed for the main camp. Silently he crept down the mountain. Eventually he was able to grab one of the shepherds as he watched the sheep and drag him out of sight. He held his hands over his mouth as he told him what to do. As the fear left the young boy’s eyes, he replaced it with resolve. Conn let him go and he jumped up and started to scream.
‘Brigands, brigands, we are being attacked by brigands.’
He then ducked out of sight with a scream as if struck by an arrow. Conn let a few arrows fly into the trees next to the camp to get the point across. The Rakians grabbed for their swords and raced up the hill. Conn could see that Wilgar was soon engaging a sentry on the left and Derryth had already dispatched one and was about the engage another sentry. Conn raced down the hill, his twin Katana in his hands.
It was short and very bloody; the four Rakians really didn’t know what hit them. The first two closed on him swords swinging but without effect. They died in seconds. The next two had more time to contemplate the fight but not enough to know they were outgunned – even if they were two against one. Very soon the seven lay dead on the mountain side.
Derryth and Wilgar joined him and a few of the Silekians did as well. A couple were young females and it was obvious that the Rakians hadn’t brought them along to be shepherds. Their first act was to go and spit on the corpses. The second was to thank Conn. Conn didn’t feel sorry that he had killed their tormentors.
By the time Derryth and Conn had buried the bodies, it was dark. They joined Wilgar and some of the shepherds near the fire. Their leader was a young man called Cengar, and he handed them food from the earthen pot as they sat.
‘The Folctoga has explained what you want to do — and we are happy to go with you; anything to keep our sheep from the hands of the Rakians.’
By mid-morning the next day, they were back in Sirido, and by night had made contact with the rest of Conn’s shepherds. With plenty of horses to ride and hands to guide the flock, they made an uneventful journey back into Lykia and Hama. A blow had been struck for justice – albeit one that would mystify the Rakians in both locations – what had happened to the herd of sheep?
Leaving the sheep and their shepherds behind, Conn returned to Haran as Derryth headed back to Halani. He was not really that happy about the whole turn of events.
‘I don’t know how I’m going to explain my smell to Caewyn and Elva – I left smelling like a goat and now I smell like a sheep!’
CHAPTER 07
Summer turned to autumn and the summer crops of oats and barley surpassed all expectations, filling the existing granaries to overflowing. Additional facilities were under construction to store the wheat that they intended to harvest next spring – the largest area planted so far. As farm work slowed for winter, idle farm workers were sent to assist in workshops, while children, spent their winters in Conn’s new schools. Any students particularly attracted to learning would continue on through the winter and summer months as his operations had an increasing need for intelligentsia. With no one dependant on the physical efforts of family members in his cash based society, families were never reluctant about their children changing careers.
As well as teaching in the schools, working with the Craeftiga and patrolling with the wiga, Conn even found time to travel to Halani to visit Elva and Jowan, who was born almost an exact year after his arrival. Light brown skin and black hair but with the unusual blue eyes, he was a force to be reckoned with. It was while returning from a trip to Halani that he encountered a patrol led by Eadgar, their paths converging.
The patrol had been hurrying; their horses were breathing heavily as he arrived; wiga were searching through the woods on foot.
As Conn arrived, Eadgar came out to greet him.
‘Thane – we are in pursuit of a band of Rakians. They crossed the border much further up than we expected and when we discovered their trail, they had been able to get behind us.’
‘Where are they now?’
‘Heading for Haran – they are in pursuit of Silekians. We have already discovered bodies along the way – some had arrows in their backs.’
A voice called out. ‘There’s one over here – he’s still alive.’
Conn walked through the forest to a body lying on the ground. He was a young man and an arrow protruded from his shoulder. But he was lucky; it must have been deflected by his shoulder blade. He was floating in and out of consciousness.
‘Has he told you what happened?’ Conn asked the wiga who was holding him.
‘He said that they have been on the road for several days, and were heading for us when the Rakians spotted them. They ran, and while some were cut down by arrows, others were captured. When he was hit, he pretended he was dead.’
Another of his wiga raced over.
‘Thane, the beacon has been lit.’ Haran had a distress signal, and when it was set alight, it created a pillar of black smoke that could be seen for miles. It was under attack.
Conn turned back for his horse. ‘Eadgar, leave some men to bring the dead and injured to the keep. The rest of us will ride ahead.’
Eadgar yelled orders as Conn mounted the stallion.
‘At the gallop.’ Conn instructed and they headed out, on a fast but not breakneck speed, and in less than half an hour, they arrived on the outskirts of the Burh. The village was silent and deserted as Conn expected it to be; everyone should be behind the palisades as the lookouts would have sounded the alarm when the brigands were spotted. As they closed in on to the keep, Conn sent wiga left and right as he continued ahead; unsheathing their bows as they travelled slowly between the walls. No longer on the cobblestones, their approach was silent except for the heavy breathing of their horses. As they got nearer, they could hear the conversation between the Rakians and Annisa. The Rakian was clearly upset.
‘Haven’t I made myself clear enough’, he shouted, ‘if you don’t hand me back the theow that are rightfully mine, then I will be forced to kill these Lykians – and my men will have their merry way with these girls in front of your gate. You ha
ve to hand them back – that is the law!’
Not totally stupid; the Rakian had a human shield with him when he approached the gates. The bowmen were clearly visible as you got closer.
‘I just don’t see any of that happening’, Annisa replied even voiced, ‘I will not return the refugees to you, and if you touch any of our people you will regret it’.
‘They are not refugees,’ the leader said exasperatedly, ‘they are theow. They belong to the Eaorl of Salvia, and they are branded as such.’
‘Well, the Thane of Haran doesn’t recognize your right to claim them as theow.’
‘Doesn’t recognize the Eaorl’s right – who does he think he is – who is he to deny the law? And where is he to tell me what to do?
‘Behind you.’
The Folctoga was surprised at this comment and wheeled his horse around to see Conn and five wiga, with bows set, walking towards them slowly on their horses, not thirty yards away. Conn on the great buckskin Lusitano stallion was an impressive sight, and it clearly surprised the twenty plus Rakians, who milled their horse to face Conn; their swords now in their hands, their shield at the ready.
Conn voice was cold. ‘Who are you to demand that we turn over people who have claimed sanctuary in our hall?’
‘I am the Folctoga of Salvia. The people who claim sanctuary in your hall have no right to do so – they are theow.’
‘According to who?’ Conn asked rhetorically.
‘According to who? Who?’ According to the rules that have governed Meshech for five hundred years.’
Conn shrugged. ‘Be that as it may, but not according to me. I’m giving them sanctuary.’ Ignoring him Conn continued on. ‘Which brings me to my grievance – according to me, you have committed a crime against humanity.’ Conn pulled up the stallion. ‘How do you intend to satisfy your debt?’
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