by J Battle
‘Oh…’
‘Well, that’s all well and good, and we may laugh about it tomorrow, if you return with pouches jangling with coin.’
Bob ducked his head a little. ‘That’ll be fine then, sir. And you can be sure we’ll be no trouble, will we Henery?’ As he spoke, he walked around the other two and was half way out of the tavern.
Henery held his place for a moment, with his narrow chest stuck out, and his unprepossessing chin held high.
‘We’ll see. We’ll see, I reckon,’ he said, slowly, before he joined his friend.
Richard closed the door behind them and threw the heavy bolt.
‘I’ll have an hour’s peace and quiet before I open up again,’ he said, with a sigh.
It had seemed a good idea when he first came here, in search of the last Trytor. Somewhere to hide and wait in plain sight. But running a busy tavern is a full-time job, from early ‘til late, with little time to himself in between.
The one saving grace was the view from the new window he’d put in before he’d even opened the place.
His customers had stood and muttered about the wisdom of such a thing, with clear glass and all.
‘We don’t want the missus looking in and finding us here,’ said one.
‘Sunshine’ll make the ale go flat,’ said another.
‘I don’t want to see what I’m eating when I eat your tatoe pies,‘ said another.
Of course they had no idea of the real purpose of the wide clear window. It wasn’t to let people look in, or to let the sun in so people could judge what they were eating. Its purpose was to enable him to look out and watch the great high doors that led to the Trytor’s home.
Chapter 19 Meldon
It was early yet, with the sun reluctant to show itself, but Meldon was walking the corridors of Palace Gail with a scowl on his face that would have turned the freshest of milk. He threw doors open, uncaring of the noise and stormed along, muttering gross curses to himself.
He came to the stairs that would lead him to the dark back room where he’d hidden the Wellstone. He gripped the polished wooden banister with one hand and dragged himself up, refusing to allow his fear to halt his progress.
‘Sir,’ Courtney had said, with an arrogant slant to his head, ’it has been mentioned, by foolish people of course, and I would not countenance it myself, under normal circumstances, but still, it warrants some consideration, but…’
‘Get to it, man!’ Meldon had snapped.
‘I beg your pardon, Lord Regent, but I do have a tendency to…Well, I’ll be more precise in my words. It has been said that there have been no displays, no demonstrations, no proof, if you like, of your access to Magic. I wouldn’t say anything of course, but, it would be wise to quash these vile mutterings with…well, I’ll leave that up to you, Lord Regent.’ With a deep bow and a wave of his elegant hand, he’d turned and strolled languidly away.
A year ago, Meldon would have killed him right there, with a thought, as the power of the Wellstone coursed through him.
But now, what could he do? He hadn’t touched the Stone for a year, and that wild Magic was just a memory.
He’d tried to sleep, but the anger and the fear were poor bedfellows.
He climbed the stairs, his pace growing slower with every step. There was no other solution to this doubt growing amongst the court members, he had to place his hands on the Stone and endure the agony; he had to.
He closed the door behind him and threw the bolt. Then he knelt by the bed and pulled out the small wooden chest. He hesitated for a moment before he lifted the lid. His hands were shaking, and perspiration was dripping in to his eyes.
He stared down at the dull uncaring Stone for an age, and then the surface of the Stone began to glow, as if it was suddenly aware of his intent.
With a sob, he slammed the lid shut and threw himself onto the bed. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t face the idea of the pain. He knew that he would feel extraordinary afterwards, but he couldn’t do this again, he couldn’t make himself take that first step.
‘There has to be another way,’ he sighed, with his eyes closed. At last he relaxed and sleep claimed him for a while, for he had found the other way.
It was two days later when he called Courtney to his rooms.
‘Forgive me, Lord Regent for anything I may have said the other night,’ he began quickly, as soon as the door was closed behind him. ‘I’m sure I’d had mayhap a little too much wine, and my mouth may well have run a little too far ahead of my mind, sir.’ He bowed from the waist, his floppy fringe falling across his face.
‘Take a seat there, Courtney, if you will. No need to fuss over what was said; not at all. Words once spoken cannot be withdrawn, however, no matter the quality of your bow.’
‘I…’
‘Sit, man and take a drink if you will.’
‘That’s very kind of you, sir,’ Courtney sat as instructed, ‘and very…forgiving of a…’
‘Who said there would be forgiveness?’
‘But…’ Courtney’s face suddenly hardened. ‘As you will, Lord Regent.’
‘Now, I would like to talk to you, Courtney, but first, will you join me in a drink?’
‘It’s rather early for….yes, that would be excellent. ‘
‘Good man. Now, here’s a wine I had brought over from Midland. It has a certain rustic flavour, I think, but there is also something of a bite to it.’
Meldon poured a goblet full for each of them.
Courtney nodded his thanks and let his nose hover above the rim of the goblet.
‘It certainly has a sharp bouquet,’ he said, before taking a small sip.
‘They say that this is a drink better drank than sipped, Courtney,’ suggested Meldon.
Courtney smiled. ‘In that case sir, I’ll take a man’s drink.’ With that he lifted his head high and drank his fill.
He gasped when he placed the empty goblet on the side table next to his chair.
‘That is…’ What his judgement of the wine might have been will never be known, as his face reddened and his throat closed. Blue veins sprang up on his forehead, and then the convulsions began.
Meldon watched in fascination as the man died before him, a victim to the Hell’s Nectar poison that was assaulting his body.
When the deed was done and Courtney was lay still on the ground, Meldon took a cloth and wiped the foaming spittle from his chin. With a grunt at the effort, he lifted him back to his chair and arranged his body just so.
Back in his own chair, he checked his frills and his cuffs, but everything seemed in order. Then he rang the little silver bell beside him.
His steward rushed in.
‘Yes, Lord Regent?’ he said, his long narrow body bending slightly.
‘Have his lordship’s body removed, will you?’
‘Oh…yes, my Lord Regent.’ He hovered for a moment as if unsure what to do.
‘He angered me,’ said Meldon, by way of explanation.
Chapter 20 Dryan
Dryan took a moment to rest. It was hard work, and the bag was heavy; and he was not a young man.
With his breath regained, he nodded at young Addam, who seemed to be having less trouble with his bulging sack.
‘Wait here, until I have to call you. If that happens, bring the bag in and leave immediately, for we may be in some difficulty.’
‘He’ll not be angry with us, will he Mr Dryan? I wouldn’t like that; my Ma said not to make him angry when I first came here to work, and that’s the truth and well it is.’
‘You have no need to worry; he doesn’t even know who you are. It is me that will have to deal with his anger, but not for the first time.’
‘So, I wait here, on this side of the door; where he can’t see me?’
‘That is right, Addam.’
He gave the lad a sad little smile and then he pushed his shoulder against the great door of the Rulehall.
He heaved the heavy bag through with him, and l
et the door slam closed behind him.
‘Dryan,’ called Lydorth from his high throne, ’you have been gone so long. I thought you had finally weakened and fled the land rather than face me again.’
‘No, my Lord. Here I am in honor, loyalty and trust, and here I shall stay, as long as my services are required.’
‘Well now, my good steward, what do you have there?’
‘Merely what you ordered, my Lord.’ He pulled the bag forward, closer to the throne.
Lydorth’s eyes fell on the heavy canvas sack, leaking blood as it lay at his feet.
‘The heads of the firstborn, my Lord, as you instructed, to impose respect on your subjects, as is only right and just.’
‘It’s not a very big bag; I expected more.’
‘This is just the first, my Lord. I have twenty more out in the corridor, and that is just from the town. We go tonight to collect the rest from around the land. Your people are fecund, and the task is arduous, but we will not stop until the task is done.’
‘But the bag is leaking blood onto the floor, and it smells a little too fresh for my liking. And, you’re making a mess here, Dryan.’
‘I shall just be about getting the next bag, my Lord, and the next after that, until they are all here, for you’ll want to inspect your prize, I should think. Will you want them all cut open and emptied onto the floor? They’ll make a pretty picture to some eyes.’
Lydorth stared at the blood pooling and congealing around the neck of the sack.
‘No, Dryan, hold still for a moment. We don’t need any more bags of heads, and this one is making enough of a mess, just sitting there. In fact, take it away. I don’t need to see any more. Yes, take it out of my sight, and send someone in to clean up the mess.’
‘Yes, my Lord, if you are sure,’ said Dryan, bowing to take hold of the sack.
At the door, he paused. ‘My Lord, you did say that, when I’d done what you instructed, you would free my daughter.’
‘Aye, Dryan, I did say that, and I will be true to my word, but, as yet, the task is not complete. You said yourself that you have still to collect the heads from outlying villages and such, so I have a little time still to play, do I not?’
Dryan bowed. ’As you say, my Lord; as you say.’
He allowed the door to close behind him, and took a deep breath.
‘How did it go, sir?’ asked Addam, anxiously.
‘Oh, he wants you to go in.’
‘What! No, I can’t; not if he’s angry with us! No.’
‘Don’t worry, he only wants you to clean up the mess the bag left on his precious floor. But don’t say anything. Just go in, bow, and clean up.’
‘Did it work, then?’
‘Yes, Addam, I believe it did. When you’ve finished here, you can take these bags back down to Harnie the Butcher, and thank him kindly for the loan of his pig heads, and that’s the truth.’
He left him then and walked to the little room at the mouth of the cave that he’d taken for his office.
He looked around at the few bits of furniture. He wouldn’t be sorry to leave this place, and soon he would have to. If Esmere could survive the following day, and news of what he’d done did not find its way to the Trytor’s ears, he’d take his family from this place and across the sea to safety.
Mayhap he’d see again the youngsters he’d already sent on that journey, to tears of sorrow and gratitude from their parents, in place of losing their heads to the Trytor’s bloody whim.
Chapter 21 Boys
Gorge slipped into the field, with Tom and Sam following closely behind.
It was already dusk, but he was sure he'd be able to find the trail of the second stranger.
'Look here,' he said, 'you see them broken stalks? Yes? He came this way. Come on before we lose him.'
'We'll never find him; it's getting dark, and you know I don't like the dark,' said Sam.
'Come on before we lose him,' hissed Gorge.
'Wait for a thought, there Gorgie, before ye go rushing off all helter skelter,' said Tom, with a smile in his voice.
'We ain't got the time to waste,' said Gorge, already two steps away.
'Always time for a thought. That's what Dan the Man always says.'
'That's just 'cause he'd rather think than do.'
'Ay, you're right there, but that don't mean he's wrong. Now listen for a minute there, Gorgie, and tell me if I'm right.'
Gorge sighed and moved back to his friends.
'Now, you want us to follow this stranger through all these fields and such, in the dark soon enough, and get dirty and scratched, and we'll probably lose him in the end anyways.'
'We can't just let him go.'
'No, you be right there. But we don't need to follow him. 'Cause I knows where he be going.' He finished with a most satisfied smile.
'Where he be going then, Tommy? If you be so clever and all,' said Sam, annoyed at the argument.
'Why, can't you see which way he went? He's off to the Mage's palace, I reckon to save his friend. So we can just trundle along this road, and keep nice and clean and unscratched, and, when he comes out of the field to get to the Mage’s place, why, we’ll be right there awaiting for him.'
‘Is he right, there, Gorgie? He sounds right to me.’
‘Yes, Sammy, I think he might just have me there.’
‘Hey, Sammy boy, I told you I could figure all in my head, just like Gorgie here.’ Tom smiled at his friends.
‘Ay, that may be, but you don’t know your numbers, Tommy; not like Gorgie.’
‘Who needs numbers, when you can just use words to get what you want?’
‘Come on then, Tommy, let’s trundle along, as you say, and catch us a dangerous spy from beyond the mists,’ said Gorge; his voice all creepy and mysterious.
‘Don’t talk like that, Gorgie. You’ll set me off being nervous again.’
‘Don’t worry, Sammy, I’s only joking. With my brains, and Tommy’s clever words, and your strong hands, we’ve nothing we need to be worried about.’
‘I ain’t supposed to fight no more. Dan the Man says so. He says I’m too strong to fight other boys, ‘cause I might hurt them bad, and he says I’ll be too strong to fight men soon enough. So, I don’t know who I’m supposed to fight, less you’ve got a handy Giant with you.’
‘Don’t worry Sammy, boy. When he sees the size of your fists, he’ll come quietly. You won’t hardly need to hit him,’ said Tommy, giving him a stinging punch in the arm.
The boys set off along the road, with Tom laughing quietly, Sam rubbing his arm and complaining, and Gorge silently watching the fields as they passed.
**********
The light was so bright that he had to shield his eyes, but the heat warmed his old flesh, so that he stepped dangerously close to the burning beacon.
'Look Henray, can you see inside?'
'Yes, my Lord, there be something there, for sure.'
'I believe I see either a large man, or a small Giant. What say you?'
'He's certainly broad enough to be a Giant, if I can make him out clear enough.'
Elstar took a long step away from the tower of heat and light, and then he turned his back on it.
'What does it signify?' he said, quietly.
'Sorry, my Lord?'
'What does it signify? Its purpose; its position; its very existence.'
'It is beyond the mind of a poor man, my Lord, and that's the truth, if you pardon me for saying.'
'It is a proclamation of power. It says 'here be Magic'. But why here, in this cold hard place?'
'The glacier turns away at the heat, my Lord. Mayhap that will be its purpose, and the reason for its placement?'
'Look ye here, Henray, with your keen hunter's eyes. What do you see here on the ground, there in the mud?'
Henray bent to examine the ground.
'Footprints, my Lord, two different sets. They've been here a while, and they walked back and forward, and they lead here and they
lead there.'
'What do the footprints tell you?'
'There be two; one with long feet, but maybe not very heavy. The other? He be smaller, and his right foot twists as he walks. He may have a limp, but, though he be smaller than his companion, he seems heavier.'
'Can you say from whence they came, and which way they took?'
Henray straightened with a little groan, and his eyes scanned the area around them for a moment.
'They came from yonder glacier, my Lord; from God's Saddle, and they walked this way last of all, towards that there rock, with the wooden pole beside it. But then the trail ends, my Lord.'
'It ends? How could it end? Did they sprout wings and fly away?'
'I can only say what the marks in the ground tell me. My Lord. And this is where they end.'
'Show me. Show me the very last footprint you can see.'
'Here, my Lord, just by this here rock.'
Elstar bent his long body until his wrinkled face was inches from the ground.
'You can see that this is the second of them, as the heel moves to the right as he walks.'
'Fascinating, Henray. You have done well. But what is that half-circle I spy, just a little beyond?'
'My Lord, you have sharp eyes indeed. That looks like the heel of the first man. I cannot believe I didn't spot it myself. Look, it's a full footprint; clear as day.'
Elstar had stopped listening to him. He was staring past the rock, away from the beacon.
'Why can we see so little, when it is so bright?' he said, half to himself. 'Step aside Henray, for there is Magic here, and I will not be swayed. Place yourself immediately behind me, and grasp my cloak. Have each of the men do the same to the man before him, and we shall walk in line.'
'Where to my Lord? I see nothing beyond the rock.'
Elstar stared at the place where something ended and nothing began and, perhaps because he knew that it had to be there, he saw the first wisps of mist, tantalising and ephemeral.
He stood up straight and he laughed.
'That is where we shall pass, through nothing into something wonderful. Grasp my cloak and do not let go, for I will not stop until we pass through, and you will be lost in the midst of nothing.'