by Duncan Lay
He watched Kemal sip the water and nodded to his friends. The moment Kemal had cracked, he had hustled the wife and sons out of the room, where the youngest boy could be cleaned up and the three of them could recover a little. Sister Rosaleen had arrived, Gallagher having gone to get her while Fallon used Kemal’s wife and children to make the Prince talk.
The Sister had been horrified at what they had done but she still used her powers to heal the Prince’s wounds. She was now sitting beside Kemal, her face like stone. Fallon had braved her disapproval and insisted she be there. He did not trust the Prince not to try and offer a few lies mixed in with the truth. And he’d had enough of being lied to. More than enough.
“Sister Rosaleen will be testing the words you say. Aroaril has given her the power to tell truth from lies. Lie to us and your family will be punished, understand?” he growled at the Prince.
“I understand,” Kemal said softly, glancing at Rosaleen.
She held Kemal’s hand, which seemed to calm him, and had her eyes closed, mouthing silent prayers. Fallon was not sure what Rosaleen was praying for and suspected it might be punishment for him. But he was past caring about that. She would prove he had made Kemal bend to his will and then he could be sure the man would return their families. The truth was no longer enough, but it was a good start.
“Our families. Are they safe?”
Kemal nodded. “They are all together. They are at the port of Adana, the closest point to Gaelland. Your wife, Bridgit, is their leader.”
Fallon felt his head whip around so fast to look at Rosaleen that he swore his neck cracked.
She nodded that this was the truth, her eyes wide.
“How is Bridgit the leader?” Fallon demanded.
“She fought back at your village, took down three of my men, and then began demanding better food and conditions for the children. It just grew from there and now she is their leader. She and two of her friends are caring for all the children while the rest of the adults work, preparing for their new lives as slaves.”
“What were the friends’ names?” Devlin demanded.
Kemal screwed up his eyes as he thought. “I can’t remember,” he admitted. “But they were chosen by Bridgit.”
“Nola and Riona. It has to be,” Fallon said.
Devlin leaned back in his chair, staring at the roof and blinking his eyes rapidly, while Brendan buried his face in his hands.
“They are safe and will be well treated. They are valuable property,” Kemal said.
“And they are all still in this Adana?”
“For now. They will be sold off around the Empire within a moon.”
“Well, that is not quite true. But more of that later. Now tell me why you attacked our villages?” Fallon asked.
He watched the Prince slowly sip his water, wincing as the cup touched his lips until he realized there was no pain from them since Rosaleen had healed up his facial injuries too. Fallon sighed and ostentatiously laid his knife on the table.
“It was a bargain with your King Aidan,” Kemal said tiredly.
Fallon leaned back in his chair and glanced over at Rosaleen. She nodded slightly and he pressed on.
“Tell us all,” he said.
“For years we have traded with your people, but always we have been looking you over, seeing if Gaelland was worth bringing into the Empire. My father, the Emperor and ruler of the Elephant Throne, decreed it was time for Gaelland to become part of the Kotterman Empire. He sent me, his first-born son, along with a small fleet of ships, to inform King Aidan of what was to happen and to allow him to prepare his people. We did not want to bring you into the Empire with blood and fire. We would be far happier for Gaelland to see the benefit of being part of the Kotterman Empire.”
“And it would mean you wouldn’t need to waste money rebuilding all the towns you sacked,” Fallon said sourly.
“Of course,” Kemal nodded. “King Aidan was at first furious, then he calmed down and accepted what I said. He offered us a bargain. We would help him prepare his country to become part of the Empire and he would ensure a peaceful handover. For the first year or two I would be here, to make sure all was going smoothly but, after that, he would merely have a Kottermani administrator at his shoulder, checking and approving all his decisions and ensuring the correct tax was being paid back to the Elephant Throne. A few companies of Kotterman soldiers would be stationed here but, once he had proved he would obey all orders from Kotterman, things would go on much like before.”
“What was the bargain? How would you prepare us for being Kottermani?” Fallon demanded.
Kemal took another mouthful of water. He looked tired beyond belief but his voice was still strong.
“King Aidan said he needed to use his people’s superstitions to terrify them and make them think that becoming Kottermani was the only way to keep their children safe. At his request, we gave him three of my father’s bodyguards, men trained to run and fight and hide and move silently. Aidan was going to use his wizard, Finbar, to help them kidnap children and hide them away, tell his people it was witches taking them.”
“And really they would be shipped to Kotterman as slaves?” Fallon asked.
“No! What would we want with children? They cannot work properly. They would be worth little to us.” Kemal sniffed. “No, the King would hide them and then release them when the country came into the Empire, thereby proving that the people were now safe.”
Fallon looked immediately at Rosaleen, who slowly nodded. He glanced around at his friends, who were also looking horrified. There were many more questions here. Why had King Aidan wanted them to kill the snatchers if they were really working for him? It was obvious this was not all the answers: just half of the story. But the really important part was still to come.
“And our villages?”
“King Aidan wanted to use another legend, of seals that come to life as men and commit evil in the night. Your selkies.”
“Aye,” Gallagher said sourly.
“Yes. He gave us a local guide and we used our ships and men trained to dive deep under the water to catch lobsters, to instead take men from fishing boats and isolated houses. And from two villages, one small and one large,” Kemal said.
“And were these people to be returned after we all became Kottermani?” Fallon interrupted.
Kemal shook his head. “No, these were slaves. The first payment of many to come from Gaelland and a deposit on the bargain we made with Aidan, a sign of his good faith.”
“They were our wives and children, you bastard!” Brendan thundered.
Kemal faced him without flinching but Rosaleen put up her hand in warning and the big smith subsided.
“The local guide? Who was he?” Fallon demanded, thinking of his friend Hagen and wondering if the man really had been a traitor, or just forced to do it by the King – and then killed by the King’s agents for his trouble.
“I do not know. We would meet them by boat every other day and be given a list of places to avoid and others to hit.”
Fallon clenched his fists together. He dearly wanted to know the truth about their betrayal. “And the Duke of Lunster? Was he taken because he disagreed with the King?” he asked, remembering Hagen’s warning to him.
Kemal looked down at the table. “I never attacked the Duke of Lunster’s ship. The biggest boat we took was a fishing boat with ten men inside,” he said.
Fallon shook his head. “I thought we understood this was only to be the truth?” he snarled. “We saw the Duke’s ship! It sailed right into our village, stripped empty, and there was a bloodstained quarrel in the Duke’s cabin, one just like the ones you used when you attacked our village!”
“As I told your wife when she asked me, I don’t know what you are talking about. If the Duke’s ship was attacked, it was nothing to do with us. In any case, we were only taking those approved by the King,” Kemal replied, his voice rising in pitch.
Fallon did not need to glance at Ro
saleen to confirm what he already suspected – Kemal was speaking the truth.
“When did you speak to Bridgit about this?” he demanded.
Kemal shrugged. “She was asking about the Duke, wanting to know why he was not the leader of your captured people. I gave her the same message. The King demanded that his nobles be protected. None of them were to be harmed. We were to only take ordinary people as our slaves.”
Fallon rubbed his hands through his hair. Something at the back of his mind was jumping up and down, demanding attention. He closed his eyes for a moment and then it swam out of the depths of his memory. The scroll he had found in the King’s rooms, detailing the counties and villages and their tax take, filed in the Kotterman section, now made sense.
“What else?” he asked harshly.
“On my return, I was to deliver the final terms to the King, which I have done. He has until the next full moon to formally sign over Gaelland to the Kotterman Empire, or we shall come back in the spring and take it by force. I am just awaiting his acceptance.”
“And the meetings with Prince Swane? Or men you thought to be from Cavan?”
Kemal shrugged. “We always knew that King Aidan was going to be a difficult man to deal with. He is unpredictable and volatile. It seemed sensible to meet his heir. We were approached by men claiming to be from Prince Cavan and, after a series of meetings, we had agreed to him replacing King Aidan. That was what was in my scroll to your King. The final act of his reign is for him to hand over his power to Prince Cavan and to take no further part in running Gaelland. It was the justification I used for taking your country. At least it would be governed properly and we would see that life improved for the ordinary people.”
“Really?” Gallagher asked sarcastically.
Kemal glanced over at him. “We have done this before, many times. Once we tried to keep the nobles happy but we learned that was not enough. The nobles can do nothing without the support of the people. Get the people happy and they will cause no trouble.”
“Except for the ones taken away for slavery,” Devlin added.
“What, do you think we are going to keep storming into homes and tearing people away? That was for your King’s benefit, not ours. We would take slaves, yes, but they would be criminals. The penalty for thievery, rape and murder would not be flogging or hanging but the rest of your life as a slave far from home. Everything we have learned about Gaelland told me there would easily be two hundred men a year to fill that quota.”
Fallon had to agree that was probably true. He looked across at his friends. Something had changed in the last few questions. It was as if Kemal were getting his confidence back.
“So what was Swane’s plan? Why have these meetings?” Fallon asked.
Brendan, Gallagher and Devlin all took turns to shrug.
“It may have been to test us. Or me,” Kemal said into the silence.
“What do you mean?”
“When I first came here, it was to promise King Aidan that he could remain as a figurehead. Orders from Kotterman would have to be obeyed, of course, but he would still have power, and respect. Soon after that, the request to meet with Cavan – sorry, Swane’s men – came to my agents. Perhaps King Aidan was seeing whether we could be trusted.”
“He’s certainly playing his own game,” Fallon said sourly. “We killed your father’s three men and rescued many of the people they were holding. But there has been no sign of the lost children they took.”
“You killed them?” Kemal asked. “I did not think they would die easily. They had been trained since birth in fighting.”
“And they had been given some magical help as well,” Devlin added.
“Now the King has many questions to answer,” Fallon said, then pointed at the Kottermani. “But first we need to deal with you. This is what is going to happen. You are going to return to your ships, this night, and sail for Kotterman. Once there, you will release our families, put them on a ship and return them to us. And to make sure you do, your wife and sons will be staying here with us. If our families do not return, or if you come back with an army, I can promise you that your family will die in ways that will give you nightmares for the rest of your life. But, as soon as our families are back, your wife and children will go back on the same ship, unharmed.”
“How can I believe you will just let them go? How do I know you will not try to keep using them against me, or give them to the King to do the same?” Kemal demanded.
Fallon held out his hand to Sister Rosaleen. “I will swear on anything you want,” he said. “All we want is our families back. Once we get them, then your family is no longer needed.”
“But you will be trying to live in a country ruled by me, or at least by my father. Surely you must be thinking that I will return to take a terrible revenge on you, unless you have something to use against me,” Kemal insisted.
Fallon stared at him. “We shall not be staying here. As soon as our families are back, we shall be leaving here and sailing away from Gaelland and away from you. We will live free, and live in peace, and you will never find us.”
Kemal looked thoughtful. “I wish I could believe you,” he said. “But this is my family’s lives we are talking about.”
“Prince Cavan discovered a deserted island, big enough for our village, hidden amid rocks and sandbars,” Fallon said. “I would show you but I do not plan to have any visitors once we are there.”
“Why do you not come on your ship with me? We can exchange families at sea,” Kemal suggested.
Fallon shook his head. “That would put us in your power,” he said. “It would be too easy for you to surround us. No, this is the way we will do it. And I will swear an oath before Aroaril on Bridgit’s life that I will protect your family as my own until ours are returned.”
Kemal tugged at his beard. “And how am I supposed to get your families away from Adana? I cannot just walk in and set them free. Questions will be asked. Money has already changed hands.”
“Think of something! Pretend it is a new deal with King Aidan! Lie! You are the Crown Prince, for Aroaril’s sake!” Gallagher growled.
“Word will still get back to my father,” Kemal warned.
“We don’t care. Anyway, this is not a discussion,” Fallon said with finality. “You will do these things or your family will suffer. Terribly.”
Kemal shook his head, lowering it. When he looked up, Fallon could see tears in his eyes. “I will do what you say. But I swear to Aroaril that if my family is harmed, I will devote my life to hunting every last one of you down. You will all die screaming if a hair on their head is out of place. I don’t care if I have to search every cursed island out there!”
“You have nothing to worry about. As long as our families come home,” Fallon said.
Kemal shuddered. “Can I at least say farewell to them?” he begged.
Fallon hesitated, but only for a heartbeat. “You can say your good-byes. Which was far more than you gave us. With a good wind, you will only be apart for a moon. Go on, the Sister and Brendan will take you. But be quick.”
*
Kemal had to force himself to not limp, for he was so sure his healed foot would hurt that he flinched when he put it down, even though the priestess had repaired the hideous damage. But the imagined pain from his wounds was as nothing to the burning shame he felt inside. He had broken and let Fallon beat him.
But he forgot all about that when he stepped into the small windowless room where his family were huddled together. The old man who was sitting with them stood with a smile and stepped outside, shutting the door behind him. The moment the door was shut, Kemal rushed over to enfold them in his arms.
The four of them clung together, Kemal letting the tears trickle silently down his face as his wife and children sobbed in his arms.
“It is over. They will not try to hurt you. You are safe,” he said softly, putting all the reassurance into his voice he could manage.
“Baba, I am sorry
, when I saw you and when that man was yelling—” Orhan said, his voice muffled by his sobs.
“You have nothing to be sorry about. It is I who is sorry, for putting you in this danger. Do not blame yourselves: we could all do nothing more. The ones to blame are the Gaelish out there and the fools who allowed you to be taken from our ship. Both will pay for what they did,” Kemal told them, unable to keep the anger out of his voice.
“They were in the cabin when I returned to check on the boys. But I do not understand how they managed to get in there without being seen or heard,” Feray said.
“I suspect magic. The old wizard there has it, as does that priestess of theirs. No wonder my father hates it so much,” Kemal said.
“Baba, can we go home now?” Asil asked softly.
Kemal took a deep breath. “Not yet,” he said. “I must return home and free their families. That is the price they demanded.”
“And us?” Feray whispered.
“You must stay with them until their families return.”
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, his sons began to wail, until he silenced them with a glare.
“They promise to take care of you like their own children and they know that if a hair on any of your heads is harmed, my revenge will be terrible. They want me to just return their families and wait for you to arrive in Adana by ship, but I will escort their people back with a fleet. We shall exchange you and then it will be time for revenge,” he said.
“But, Baba, I don’t want to be here! Don’t make me stay with these stinking Gaelish!” Asil begged.
“This will be good training for you both. I had you taught Gaelish, so you will be able to talk with them. We will rule here by next summer and it will give you a good insight into these people. Asil, you will one day follow me onto the Elephant Throne, and it will help prepare you for that. Now, have I ever broken a promise to you?”
The pair of them solemnly shook their heads.
“Well then. I promise that I will be back for you within a moon. Are we agreed?”
The two boys nodded again, just as solemn, then they both stepped forwards and flung their arms around him. Kemal held them back, not wanting to let them go, but knowing there were things he needed to say to Feray. He kissed them both on their heads and then gently pried their arms away.