The Bitter Twins

by Jen Williams

  ‘Stone-Father!’

  Aldasair nodded, although he had no idea what that was. Following Bern’s lead, they began to fly lower, swooping over fields dotted with houses built from grey stone, many with herds of goats and sheep that scattered in all directions at their approach. Jessen was silent as they flew, her black fur rippling constantly in the wind, but Aldasair could feel her mind, close at hand and comforting in its calmness – she was not concerned about this trip. She wasn’t nervous, or worried, so there was no reason that Aldasair should be. Of course not.

  Gradually, the number of houses and dwellings they saw increased, and eventually Sharrik swept closer, slowing down abruptly. Bern was leaning over in his harness again, pointing below them this time.

  ‘What is it?’

  ‘We’ve been spotted. See?’

  Aldasair scanned the ground below, and saw a beacon being lit at the edge of a meandering stone wall. The man who had lit it was staring up at them, and it was possible to see that his mouth was hanging wide open. Aldasair looked away in time to see another beacon lighting up to the north, a bright point of light competing with the sunshine.

  ‘What does that mean?’ he called back.

  Bern shrugged. ‘That someone should come to meet us soon, I think. They won’t want us landing right in the middle of Kotra. We’d cause a bloody riot.’

  Kotra, Bern had already told him, was Finneral’s central city. They flew on, passing the second beacon and continuing to scatter herds of sheep and other animals, until Aldasair caught more movement below. A figure riding on the back of some animal he could not make out, at full pelt across a lush green field. He heard Bern give a joyous shout and Sharrik began to circle, stretching out his long furred legs to land.

  ‘We stop here?’ asked Jessen, her voice soft even over the whistling wind.

  ‘It looks like it.’

  Jessen followed her war-beast brother down, making a much more graceful spiral than Sharrik had done. When Aldasair climbed down the harness, Bern was already there, standing with his hands on his hips, talking excitedly to the woman on the mount. It was the mount that caught Aldasair’s eye first, for he had seen nothing like it outside of their own war-beasts.It was a great bear, almost certainly Wild-touched from the size of it, with shaggy, dark-brown fur. Incredibly, it wore a thick mantle of stone across its back, held in place with leather straps, and this was where the woman was sitting. It also wore a band of polished stone across its forehead, and it regarded them with small, intelligent black eyes. The woman was short and stocky, with a long braid of blond hair hanging down over her shoulder, brighter than beaten gold, and she wore a leather eyepatch over one eye and a coat of black-and-brown striped fur. The one remaining eye was a very familiar green.

  ‘Well, it’s good to see you, you great lump,’ she was saying to Bern. ‘We had thought you might never come back. Here, look, then, here’s the other.’ She looked down at Aldasair steadily, a glint of mischief in her one good eye. She looked, to his eyes, slightly older than Bern, but then he found predicting how old humans were a strange and confusing science. ‘How’re you, young man? Some fine beasts you have there. By the stones, Bern, your father will be beside himself.’

  Bern cleared his throat. ‘Aldasair, this is my mother, Rainya. She should introduce herself, but she’ll be too busy showing off to you now.’

  Rainya made a snorting noise at that, while Aldasair blinked rapidly. Despite their shared blond hair and green eyes, it was difficult to imagine someone of Bern’s sheer bulk being created by this diminutive woman. Uncertain what else to do, he bowed stiffly.

  ‘It is my honour to meet you, Lady Rainya.’

  She raised her eyebrows. ‘Well. Polite. I like that. And these two? Will you not introduce me, son of mine?’

  Bern shook his head in a fashion that suggested that he was quite used to this behaviour from his mother, but to Aldasair’s surprise Jessen stepped forward and lowered her long black snout.

  ‘Thank you for welcoming us to Finneral, Lady Rainya.’

  The older woman pressed her lips into a long thin line, and touched her braid. Aldasair felt another flutter of panic, sure that they had offended somehow, but then Rainya took a long breath through her nose, her good eye shining with unshed tears. ‘It’s my honour, or a dream, I can’t tell which,’ she said, before laughing. ‘To see you both, what a blessing it is.’

  ‘Bern is my human,’ said Sharrik proudly. ‘Thank you for birthing him, Mother Rainya.’

  She laughed raucously at that, grinning and winking with her one eye at her son. ‘Did you hear that, so? First time anyone has ever thanked me for that, I should say. Come on, you’ll come on foot now, will you? Your father is in his hunting lodge and it’s not that far from here, if you even remember.’

  ‘I haven’t been away that long,’ said Bern as he climbed back into the harness. Aldasair followed suit, and soon they were following Rainya on her giant bear. The grass here was thick and lush, reaching up to the bear’s belly, and they passed three tall stone statues; they were each as tall as Sharrik, and appeared to be statues of women, their faces serene and beatific. They all faced the thin strip of sea in the distance, and when Aldasair looked around, he realised he could see lots of them, dotted all over the landscape. In the distance was a dark-green smudge that gradually resolved itself into a small forest, and sitting in front of it was a long, low building of grey stone, with a curved roof of pale-yellow wood. There was a cheery little streak of smoke coming from it. Bern’s mother was keeping up a steady stream of chatter, punctuated with little pauses as she turned in her saddle to get another look at Jessen and Sharrik – every time she did so her eyebrows leapt up, as if she were surprised by them all over again.

  ‘The seas have been good and calm for the spring, thank the stones, because we’ll need all the bloody food and trade we can get now, no doubt. Did you hear of the attack at Coldreef? Destroyed the whole bloody place, those wormy bastards, and what am I even talking about? You were there! Stones shatter, what a time to be alive. I have to tell you, son, I never thought I would see it, never thought you would either, let alone see you flying a bloody great griffin! I just hope your poor father’s head can take it, that’s all I’m saying.’

  ‘Da will outlive us all,’ said Bern. ‘As well you know.’

  As they drew close to the low stone building, Aldasair could see people streaming in and out of three main doors – children carrying baskets, men and women with armfuls of firewood. There was a paddock to one side of the building that seemed to be the focus of all the frenetic activity.

  ‘Is this your doing, Ma?’

  Rainya flapped a hand at her son irritably. ‘You expect us not to make a fuss? Did you spring from a pebble yesterday?’

  ‘We’re here for a serious reason, Ma.’ He leaned forward and buried one big fist in Sharrik’s neck feathers, scratching the griffin behind his ears. ‘You know about the letter, I reckon?’

  Rainya fiddled with the reins, not looking at them. ‘Ah so.’

  ‘It made me think things were pretty bad.’

  ‘They are.’ She turned around in the saddle and flashed him a warning look. ‘Dark things are happening here, don’t be getting me wrong. Young people lost, their poor families going out of their minds, and that evil thing lurking . . . It should have been dealt with a long time ago, but how could we have known?’ She sighed heavily. ‘But it’s not every day your son comes home with an Eboran war-beast and an Eboran prince!’

  Bern looked briefly panicked. ‘Ma . . .’

  ‘I am sorry, Lady Rainya, but I am afraid there must have been a misunderstanding,’ said Aldasair. He had been lulled by the sound of their voices, happy simply to listen to their bickering back and forth, but he hardly felt like he could let that pass. ‘Although it is true that I have been living in the palace for some decades—’

  ‘Decades! Would you hark at him? He looks no more than twenty!’

  ‘I am not r
oyalty. Our family are minor nobles, and that only because everyone else was dead.’

  ‘Sounds good enough to me,’ said Rainya cheerfully. Aldasair glanced at Bern and was surprised to see that his cheeks were faintly pink. ‘Here we are, look. They’ll be talking about this for years. If we live that long, of course.’

  By the time they reached the lodge there was a fair crowd gathered to meet them – men and women dressed in furs and leathers, their hair and beards dressed with tiny polished stones, their bare arms and necks patterned with ink; children with their eyes so wide they looked like they might fall straight out of their heads. A tall, skinny man with a big nose and long ginger braids jumped forward.

  ‘Greetings! Welcome, uh, welcome to, uh, this place.’ He seemed to choke then, and Aldasair looked at Bern, wondering if they should offer to help the man, but he recovered his wits. ‘We have prepared a great feast for you, mighty ones!’

  Rainya was dismounting. She passed the reins of her bear to a young girl, who was dwarfed by the creature. ‘He means the war-beasts. We’ve food for them in the paddocks. Bern, Aldasair, you’re with me. Come along so.’

  They climbed down from the war-beasts. Aldasair exchanged a look with Jessen – he felt, in one quick jolt, her discomfort at being separated from him – and then the crowd shepherded them into the nearby paddock. He heard Sharrik exclaim with pleasure over something – it had to do with roast meat, from the scent – and then Rainya led them into the shadowy interior of the lodge. The difference from outside was startling. Inside was a stifling heat, and deep shadows. Small, round windows poked fingers of dusty light across the room without managing to illuminate much, and after his eyes adjusted to the darkness, Aldasair saw that they were in a long room lined with several wooden tables. There were three fireplaces that he could see, burning fiercely despite the mild day outside, and at the nearest, a huge wooden chair covered in furs. Sitting in it was a man even bigger than Bern. Aldasair knew, without being told, that this had to be Bern’s father – it could hardly have been anyone else. He was tall and broad across the shoulders, looming even though he was sitting down, and he had a chest like a reinforced barrel. He did, in contrast to Bern, have a sizeable belly, and as he shifted in the chair, Aldasair saw that his left leg was missing from the knee down, and in its place was a thick wooden peg, carved all over with alarming snarling faces. The man’s hair and beard were a shade darker than Bern’s – his beard was, in fact, a deep, nutty brown – and his eyes were blue, but there was no missing the resemblance from the cheekbones and long, straight nose.

  ‘There you are, lad. Perhaps they’ll all stop running around like headless chickens now you’re here – I’m not sure Finneral has ever seen a carry-on like it.’ His voice was low and musical.

  ‘Father.’ Bern was shifting from one foot to the other. Aldasair watched him with interest, wondering what subtle piece of human interaction he was missing. As far as he could see, Bern’s parents had been nothing but utterly welcoming, yet Bern looked as uncomfortable as Aldasair had ever seen him. ‘You look well.’

  Bern the Elder chuckled. ‘I still get about. Here, love, give me a hand, will you?’ Rainya came forward, and Bern the Elder took her hand in his massive paws. With barely a hint of effort the tiny woman yanked him to his feet. Standing, the big man almost seemed to fill the long hall. He bent and planted a noisy kiss on the very top of the woman’s head, and she swatted at his arm.

  ‘Get off me, ya great oaf.’

  Bern the Elder grinned and came forward, looking directly at Aldasair. Out of the chair, he moved with no difficulties at all, his wooden peg striking the floor with strong, confident knocks.

  ‘It’s getting up and sitting down that gets me,’ he said, as though he had been reading Aldasair’s mind. ‘Lost the thing – what was it, my love, two years ago now? Bitten clean off by a Wild-touched monster.’

  ‘He fell off his bear and had a nasty break, he means,’ supplied Rainya.

  Bern the Elder grinned all the wider. ‘When you’re as big as me, your leg doesn’t take kindly to being landed on by the rest of you. So, you’re our Eboran prince, are you?’ He looked Aldasair up and down once, then nodded. ‘Seems about right. Has he been treating you well, our Bern?’

  Once again Aldasair had the impression there were currents under the surface of the conversation that he had no comprehension of.

  ‘I’m sorry . . .?’

  ‘I may have written home,’ said Bern stiffly, staring at the wall. ‘About you. I mean, about Ebora, the war-beasts, and so on. Important things.’

  Aldasair rallied as best he could. ‘Bern has been an enormous help. He has helped us bring Ebora back, from death and dust and devastation, in so many ways. I can say in all honesty that we could not have done it without him. We will be glad to lend any aid we can to his people.’

  Rainya and Bern the Elder exchanged a quick glance, the meaning of which Aldasair couldn’t fathom, and then Bern’s father slapped his son firmly on the shoulder – a lesser man would have been pelted across the room.

  ‘Come on then, you. We’ve someone who wishes to talk to you.’

  ‘Already?’ Bern’s blond eyebrows climbed his forehead. ‘I thought we would rest at least, eat, perhaps bathe?’ He touched a hand to his beard; during their long journey it had escaped its bonds, bristling and curling at the edges.

  Rainya snorted laughter. ‘She has seen worse than you, no doubt. And besides,’ the merriment faded from her face, ‘these are bad times, Bern. It’s not like anyone expects you to solve this problem overnight, but I think the sooner we put our heads to it, the sooner Finneral can rest easy, so. Besides which, she has travelled a long way to see you.’

  ‘She’s here?’ Bern looked thunderstruck. ‘So close to . . .?’

  ‘Aye, well, come on.’ Bern the Elder began to herd them easily back towards the door. He had been right; his wooden leg was no concern to him once he was up and moving, and Aldasair felt he could resist no more than he could turn the ocean tides. Even the mighty Rainya was neatly herded out the door with the rest of them. ‘A short walk in my forest, that’s what we’re after now, isn’t it? Nothing like a bit of a walk when you’ve had your arse in the saddle for days, that’s what I say.’

  And that is exactly what they did. As they walked around the back of the long hall, Aldasair glanced over at the paddock and was rewarded with the sight of Sharrik and Jessen in the midst of a great crowd. Both wore garlands of white and blue flowers around their necks, and a stream of people were carrying trays full of steaming meats to them. Sharrik was speaking, and although Aldasair couldn’t make out the words he recognised the expression of pleasure that crinkled his eyes, and even Jessen was content, her eyes narrowed and relaxed.

  The forest was cool and green. Rainya went ahead, her blond head alternately shining like gold in the sun, then darkened to steel with shadows by the canopy. The place smelled of good things – dark soil, newly budding leaves, the lives of small animals – and Aldasair found himself strangely moved by it. Here, he felt, was a place untouched by misery or by illness, or even the worm people. Here, perhaps, was Sarn as it was meant to be. He felt calmer by the moment.

  ‘I hunt here sometimes, Lord Aldasair,’ said Bern the Elder. ‘Aye, I can still hunt! I had my arms-man make this cunning bow, like you wouldn’t believe.’ He tapped Aldasair with his elbow. ‘The bastard thing could take down a charging ox! I will show it to you later.’

  ‘Bern . . .’ murmured Rainya.

  ‘Not that we have ox in these woods, of course. Wild boar, that’s what I take down most here, and some deer. The deer are the most useful, their hides are beautiful and Rainya makes coats out of their skins for the young’uns, but the boar put up more of a fight, which I prefer. Sometimes I have to finish them off with my knife!’ He grinned.

  ‘Da . . .’ Bern still looked strangely uncomfortable. Aldasair made a note to ask him if he was quite well when they were alone together again.
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br />   ‘Quit your nonsense,’ said Rainya, companionably enough. They were in the thick of the woods, and all the hubbub of the lodge and its merry paddock had been left far behind them. Instead, they walked in a noisy green silence, the rustle of leaves and the calls of birds all around. Ahead on the right was a tall stone monolith, at least eight feet tall, the foot of it stained dark with moisture and speckled with moss and lichen. There was the figure of a woman carved into it, long braids hanging either side of a gently smiling face, and she carried a pail in one hand, an axe in the other. Rainya saw Aldasair’s curious glance, and smiled. ‘The stone maidens. You’ll see them all over Finneral – this one is in pretty good shape, but many are worn by the weather, and you can barely see their faces, save for the hint of a smile. They all look out to sea.’

  ‘It is beautiful,’ said Aldasair, and meant it. As they passed the stone maiden he brushed his hand over the stone: a cold, gritty kiss against his fingers. ‘Why do they face the sea?’

  ‘We don’t know,’ said Bern. ‘They’ve been here longer than us, but Ma is right, they really are all over Finneral – you’ll find them up on the peak of Stone-Father, and on the coast. There are even a few under the water. You can see their heads poking up sometimes, when the tides are low.’

  ‘And what a job that must have been,’ added Bern the Elder. He caught his wife’s hand and squeezed it quickly. ‘It’s a particular type of stone, not from round here, as far as we can tell, but once a lot of very determined people brought it here, carved all these bloody women, then set them down all over Finneral.’

  ‘Sarn is full of mysteries,’ said Aldasair, thinking it was something the scholar Vintage would say. ‘Is there a pattern to them? The locations?’

  Bern the Elder raised his eyebrows. ‘I did know a man who intended to map them all once. I thought he was a little worm-touched in the head myself, but perhaps he was on to something. If such a thing exists, Lord Aldasair, I will get you a copy.’