Slave's Gamble

  "Are you ready to meet Lera and Flynn?" Jereth said.

  He walked over to the side of the building and waited. Ordella wiped her face and straightened her grubby tunic. She stood up next to Merisca, and together they crossed the platform.

  Just like the stairs, the curved-walled building was lined with bark. Clumps of moss and strands of ivy covered its wooden tiled roof, making it almost indistinguishable from the platform and branch upon which it was built. No wonder it had been hard to see from the forest floor.

  Jereth rapped his knuckles against the wall.

  "Enter," said a woman's voice from within the building.

  Jereth reached forward and turned a piece of bark that was protruding further than the rest. Ordella smiled. They'd even disguised the doorknob. Jereth pulled open the door and held it for Ordella and Merisca, beckoning them forward with his other hand.

  They stepped inside.

  In stark contrast to the rough bark of the building's outside walls, everything inside was smooth and polished. The whole room seemed to glow, reflecting the light from the lantern sitting on a table in the corner. Next to the table were two wooden chairs. A man with a huge mane of copper hair and large beard sat in one, and a pale woman perched on the other.

  "Welcome to Oakhaven," the woman said. Her cold, blue eyes looked from Ordella to Merisca, her mouth set firm.

  "Yes, welcome," the man said. His voice was loud and booming, as if he was trying to be heard above the chatter of an inn's common room. "I am Flynn, and this"—he gestured to the woman—"is Lera." He scratched at his beard. "Now which one of you is Ordella?"

  Ordella shuffled her feet. "I am," she said.

  Flynn's beard split into a smile. "It would appear that we owe you a debt of gratitude. Young Dorely tells me that, had it not been for you dragging him to his feet, he would have been captured by the bastard Kelsharlans."

  Ordella chewed her lip. "I'm sure he would have done the same for me. If it hadn't been for him, and Jereth and Much, Merisca and I would have been caught ourselves, long before I had a chance to help him."

  Flynn stood up. His broad shoulders seemed to fill the room.

  "Learn to take a compliment, girl!" he roared, but his eyes weren't cross. "Dorely is a pain in my arse sometimes, but he's part of our family here and we'd hate for him to have ended up in the Warren."

  Ordella nodded. Hob wouldn't cut it as a Rabbit. He'd have been slaughtered within the hour. Just another mess for the scrubbers to wipe away.

  Lera touched Flynn on the arm, and he sat down straight away.

  "Much said they first spotted you near to the remains of Marwood. There aren't any other houses left standing in that part of the forest." Lera looked them up and down. "So where exactly were you traveling from?"

  Jereth started speaking before Ordella could answer. "They escaped from the Warren. They took the bloodcap, the Slave's Gamble."

  "A bloodcap. Well done!" Flynn said. "How are you feeling?" He didn't wait for a response. "Some say mad old Dunder took a bloodcap years ago." Flynn clapped his meaty palm against his forehead. "Addled him right here. Hasn't spoken more than a few words of sense since he joined us. If the stories are true, the poor fellow escaped the walls, but lost his mind." He sighed. "I'm not sure if he won or lost the Slave's Gamble. But it sounds like you two did much better." He stroked his beard. "These days Dunder spends most of his time chopping logs down by the caves. Seems to keep him happy."

  Lera crossed her arms in her lap.

  "You look Gilmarian," she said, peering at Ordella. She turned her head to Merisca. "But you weren't born here, were you?"

  "I was born in the Dappled Isles," Merisca said.

  "Tell me," Lera continued, her voice quiet and flat, "How did an Islander end up in the Warren?"

  "I would rather not talk about that," said Merisca.

  "Have you got something to hide?"

  "No I haven't. It's just that, if I'm honest, I'm not sure why you need to know."

  Lera's mouth pursed and she stared at Merisca, her eyes an icy blue.

  "I owe it to my people to know. As a founder of Oakhaven, it is my duty to keep them safe. Like it or not, I am obliged to question everything. Our home's survival relies on it being undiscovered by the Kelsharlans. As soon as they know we are here, it will only be a matter of time before they will raze us to the ground."

  She gripped the arms of the chair with her slender hands.

  "I am not prepared for us to suffer the same fate as Marwood and Birch and Gedgrove and the dozens of other villages which have burned in the enemy's fires." She stood up. "See the world through my eyes, and you will understand my need for answers. Can it be mere coincidence that soon after two slaves have escaped from the Warren, mounted Kelsharlan guards enter the forest?"

  "They weren't looking for us in particular," Ordella said. "When they caught up to us, they didn't mention anything about any escapes. They thought we were part of a group with Hob, I mean Dorely, and Much. Ask them. They'll tell you the same." Ordella looked at Merisca and she nodded.

  Jereth cleared his throat. "I'd have to agree. The soldiers were part of a standard patrol. These two"—he pointed at Ordella and Merisca—"were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

  Flynn clapped his hands against his knees. "Excellent. Now that's been settled, let's discuss what you can bring to Oakhaven. Everyone in our village has to earn their keep."

  Ordella bit her lip. She couldn't stay here. She'd made a promise to her grandmother. If Gwenith was right, her father was alive and out there somewhere.

  "And what if we don't wish to stay?" she said.

  Lera stared at her. "And why would you want to leave a place like this?" She steepled her hands in front of her. "Oakhaven has everything you'll ever need. Food, water, protection, community." Lera straightened her back. "Besides, as you now know the location of our village, the matter of your leaving becomes a little bit more complicated."

  Ordella clenched her fists at her sides. Jereth had led them into a trap.

  Flynn squeezed Lera's hand. "I can see from your face, Ordella, that this has come as unwelcome news, so let's put it another way, shall we?" He rose to stand next to the pale woman. "Allow us four weeks. And if, after that time has passed, you still wish to leave, we'll have another conversation then. How does that sound?" His eyes twinkled in the lamplight. "But I'll wager that you will both soon start to think of Oakhaven as your home, and leaving it will be the last thing on your mind."

  He sat back in his chair. "Now, let's talk about what you can do for us."

  He looked at Merisca, and ran his hand through his thick red hair. "What did you do before you were taken to the Warren? What can you bring to the people of Oakhaven?"

  "I know plants," Merisca said. "I know their properties and how to use them to heal and..."

  "Good!" Flynn said, clapping his hands together. "I'm sure Krafe will appreciate an assistant."

  "Krafe was schooled in the university at Lavellum. He is more than capable of tending to the people of Oakhaven. He certainly doesn't need the help of an untrained Islander." Lera stared at Merisca. "More harm than good will come of it, mark my words."

  Ordella rubbed her eyes. How dare she talk about Merisca like that. She knew nothing about her. Words formed on Ordella's tongue, but a slight shake of Flynn's head made her catch them in her mouth.

  Flynn looked at Lera. A brief flash of exasperation passed over his face. He turned back to Ordella.

  "And you. How are you going to earn your keep?" he asked.

  She paused. What could she tell him? Tile cleaning and rat-catching probably weren't what he was looking for. She chewed her lip.

  "I'm a hard worker," she said, batting a strand of loose hair away from her face. "But I don't really know how to do anything better than anyone else."

  "That's not true, Ordella." Jereth spoke up from behind her. "That's not true at all. I saw the throw you made when the soldiers were pursuing you. O
n a good day, there are only a handful of us here at Oakhaven who could have hit the target at that range. And you were exhausted, and you had the Kelsharlans bearing down on you."

  A heat spread across her cheeks and she looked down at her feet. Her mind raced. Jereth wasn't to be trusted, that much was certain, but his words made her stand a little taller.

  Jereth looked past Flynn and stared straight at Lera. "If it pleases you," he said, "I would like to train Ordella myself. I believe she has the makings of a fine archer."

  Lera nodded without changing her expression.

  "Well that's settled then," Flynn said. "Jereth will show you to your sleeping platform. It should be ready by now. There will be new clothes waiting for you, along with some soap and water." He stood up. "You will, of course, be joining us for dinner. Listen out for the call and follow your nose. Chegg never fails to rustle up something tasty."

  Eleven

  The mouthwatering aroma of roast pork and the sound of voices drifted towards them on the evening breeze.

  "Over there," Merisca said. She pointed beyond one of the smaller sanctuary oaks. Ordella peered through the leaves. There was definitely something in the shadows. A building perhaps, or a large wall.

  They picked their way through the forest. The noises became louder, and the smell more intense.

  A structure loomed in front of them, and flashes of light flickered through the small gaps in its walls. Ordella walked closer. It wasn't a building at all. At least, not in the normal sense. What had looked like walls were actually huge panels of woven bark strips lashed together and hung between a ring of trees. They stretched up beyond the trees' lower branches, creating a large open-roofed circular space with a firepit in its center. A wooden archway had been constructed between two of the sections, and this appeared to be the only way in or out.

  A small girl in a green tunic walked through the opening and stopped. She looked up at them.

  "You must be Ordella and Merisca." She said their names slowly and precisely as if reciting a script. "Please follow me and I will show you where you'll be sitting."

  Ordella smiled. "Thank you."

  The girl led them through the opening.

  Rows of wooden benches were arranged in circles around a roaring fire, its flames lapping against a large hog that was being turned on a spit.

  The room was nearly full. Green-clad men and women chatted and laughed. They clutched mugs in their hands and balanced steaming bowls in their laps. Children played in the spaces between the benches, adding their cries and shouts to the din.

  The girl stopped at an empty bench that had been pushed up against the wall opposite the entrance and indicated that they should take a seat.

  "Would you like me to fetch you some soup?" she said.

  Merisca nodded, and the girl headed towards the fire pit, dodging through the gaps between the seats. She stopped next to an elderly man stirring a large cooking pot and said something to him. A brawny man stood next to the old man, turning the spitted pig. Beads of sweat on his forehead glistened orange in the firelight.

  Ordella flattened her new tunic and bit her lip. The man and the woman sitting on the bench to the left of her had stopped talking. Ordella could sense their eyes on her, and she snapped her head around to face them. They immediately looked down at their bowls, but others had noticed them too, stealing glances between mouthfuls of soup.

  Like a row of candles being blown out, the room got quieter one bench at a time, as more and more of Oakhaven's residents cast their eyes in Ordella's direction.

  Flynn stood up from a bench, his thick hair gleaming like polished brass.

  "I see that you've noticed our guests." His voice cut through the whispers. Lera sat next to him, her hands clasped in her lap.

  "Ordella of Gilmaria and Merisca from the Dappled Isles will be staying with us. I trust you will make them feel welcome." He nodded to Ordella and smiled. "Now let's enjoy our food!" He gulped his soup straight from the bowl and wiped his bearded mouth with the back of his hand, then sat back down. He reached for his drink, and people in the room started to talk again.

  The young girl returned, carrying a tray laden with two full bowls of soup and two mugs. Ordella and Merisca took it from her, placing it between them on the bench.

  "You didn't tell us your name, child," Merisca said.

  The girl's cheeks flushed. "I'm Snowdrop."

  "That's a very pretty name," Merisca said.

  "It's where they found me. Lying asleep among the snowdrops. Then they brought me here." She smiled, lowered her eyes, turned around and darted through the crowd in the direction of the firepit.

  Ordella picked up a bowl from the tray. The soup was thick and tasty, flavored with a lemony spice that she couldn't place.

  "Wild taringe," Merisca said. "It tastes like wild taringe, but I'm sure it doesn't grow in these parts." She scraped up the last spoonful from her bowl and looked over to the fire. The old man was ladling second helpings into the bowls of those who had formed a line next to the cooking pot.

  Merisca licked her lips. "I think I'm going to get some more. Do you want any?"

  Ordella shook her head.

  "You'll be alright on your own for a bit?" Merisca said. "It's just that I'd like to find out what ingredients the cook used."

  Merisca made her way through the crowds towards the firepit. She joined the queue, smiling at the people who had stopped eating and were staring at her.

  Ordella finished the last mouthful from her bowl and set it down on the tray. Her tongue tingled, and she took a large gulp from her mug.

  Was this the whole village? She ran her eyes over the people sitting at the benches. Fifty? Eighty? One hundred? Perhaps more. It was hard to guess at the number with everyone moving about.

  Much, Hob's thin friend, was sitting with a group of other boys about the same age as him. They were shoving each other and laughing loudly. Jereth sat a few benches to the left of the boys, a mug cradled in both hands, and his bow and quiver propped by his side. He was deep in conversation with the person sitting next to him, a tall balding man with a grey beard.

  "Mind if I sit down?"

  Ordella startled, spilling some of her drink.

  "Of course not," she said. She wiped the bench dry with her tunic and pushed the tray aside. Hob sat down next to her.

  "So what do you think of Oakhaven?" he said.

  "I've hardly seen much of it so far," she said. "But the buildings in the trees are going to take some getting used to."

  Hob nodded. "I don't really remember my home before Oakhaven, but I've seen some of the other normal houses around these parts. I don't think I'd get on with living on the ground again. It just wouldn't seem right."

  "I'd much rather be on the floor," she said. "I'm not good with heights."

  Hob laughed. "Give it a few weeks. You won't even think about it."

  A few weeks? By then she'd be well away from here. "Let's hope so," she replied.

  Hob looked down at his feet. "The real reason I came over is that I wanted to..." He paused. "I wanted to thank you for what you did for me when the Kelsharlan's were chasing us. You could've left me and run on, but you didn't. If you hadn't pulled me up and thrown that rock, I'd be on my way to the Warren right now."

  "It's what anyone would have done."

  Hob shook his head.

  "No. No, it's not." He looked down. "Much definitely wouldn't have, and, if I'm honest, I'm not even sure I would've stopped to help you." He sniffed and turned away.

  "But you did lead us to Jereth. Without you, we wouldn't even have made it up the hill," she said.

  His face brightened.

  "That is true," he said. "I suppose that's something."

  Ordella nodded and Hob drew a bit closer.

  "Jereth was furious that we took your rabbit." He wrung his pudgy hands as if he was reliving the dressing down. "We were only supposed to watch you. To find out where you were heading."

  "Is
that what you do here?" she asked. "Are you some sort of lookout?"

  Hob straightened his back. "Yes. I'm one of Jereth's Owls. Me and Much and Tal and the others. We're Oakhaven's eyes. We make sure that we know where the Kelsharlans are at all times and that they never find the village." He motioned to the doorway. "There are Owls out there right now, doing their job so that we are safe."

  Just as she suspected, it would be almost impossible to walk out of the village without being spotted.

  "Have you been told what you're going to do?" asked Hob. "I know they're always in need of more people down by the caves."

  "Jereth said something about training me as an archer," she said.

  "An archer!" A strange expression came over his face as if he was both surprised and cross at the same time. "An archer. You must be really good then. Jereth only trains a few people himself each year."

  Ordella kept quiet and shrugged her shoulders. Hob wouldn't want to hear that she hadn't picked up a bow since she was nine years old.

  "I'm a fair shot," said Hob. "I'm better than Much, that's for sure." He glanced in the direction of his friends. "All of us Owls have to practice, it's just that we never get to go hunting or to man the Ends."

  "Man the what?" Ordella said.

  "The Ends. You know, the traps. Like we led them into the other day when Jereth was there. That one's known as Stone Run. But there’s lots of others. Kipp’s Stand is one of the largest."

  Ordella was about to ask if there were other archers up on the ridge, but Hob was staring at the firepit with his mouth hanging open.

  He pointed to the spit. "I think Chegg's going to cut up the meat soon. I'd better get back to the others." He stood up, straightened his tunic then turned back to Ordella.

  "I'm glad you're here," he said. He looked away quickly and walked over to his friends without glancing back.

  Ordella stared at the line of villagers silhouetted against the cook fire's flames. If what Hob had told her was true, it was no wonder Oakhaven hadn't suffered the same fate as the other villages in the Border Wood. Not only were it's buildings concealed, but they'd also taken measures to make sure unwanted eyes didn't get close enough to see it even if they could.