A Hero's Tale

by Catherine M. Wilson

  All told I had almost four hundred with me, including my guard, the northern warriors and their chieftains, and the young king and his men. I hoped it was enough to convince Vintel that she had found the enemy, but not enough to make her cautious. I had them form up in a line blocking the narrow pass.

  The place we had chosen was well suited to our purpose. Even if Vintel hadn't been following the trail of the northern army, she would have come this way, because it offered an easy path. She would see us as soon as she crested the hill, and then she would have a long gentle slope before her. It would appear to her that we, being a smaller force, had chosen to defend the pass, though we would stand little chance against her greater numbers. The temptation to charge down upon us would be irresistible.

  We hadn't long to wait. Bru tapped my shoulder and pointed to a hilltop to our right, where one of his men was signaling to us.

  "Get the banner ready," I told him, "but keep it out of sight. I don't want the men to show themselves too soon."

  Vintel's army seemed to take forever. We heard them before we saw them, the tramp of feet as they trudged up the hill, the thumping of shields on armor, the murmur of complaint. I remembered that these were the folk of Merin's house, and for just a moment my heart warmed with anticipation, as if I were expecting, not the army of an enemy, but a visit from dear friends.

  As soon as they crested the hill they saw us and stopped. Someone gave the order to prepare for battle. They unslung their shields from their shoulders and drew their swords. The light of the rising sun glinted on their blades. Slowly at first, they walked in a battle line down the hill. As they drew closer, the first ranks broke into a trot, and before they had covered half the distance they were coming at us at a run.

  Vintel's army made my four hundred seem very small. The noise they made was dreadful, even at a distance. The thunder of their running feet, the roar of their battle cries, grew loud as they drew near. It seemed that the earth trembled under them.

  I glanced at the men beside me. Though they knew I had no intention of allowing Vintel's army to reach us, they had all braced themselves to receive the charge.

  I gave the order to raise the banner. The warriors on the hillsides stood up and showed themselves. They did just as I had told them. With shields still slung over their shoulders, they leaned on their swords. I had an idea that behind the helmets that hid their faces, they were smiling.

  The front ranks of Vintel's army saw them first. They tried to slow their charge, but the warriors behind them pushed them forward. In a moment all was chaos. They were well within the funnel now, and the front ranks were prevented from retreating by those at the rear who had not yet seen their peril. Soon they were tightly bunched together, with hardly enough room to wield their swords. If we had chosen to, we could have trapped them there and slaughtered them. They stood where they were and waited for a charge that didn't come.

  I beckoned to the northerners' go-between.

  "Invite Vintel to parley," I said.

  I sent enough of my guard with her to keep her safe. She stopped well short of Vintel's army and waited. Then I saw Vintel. A few words were shouted back and forth, and the go-between returned.

  "They are yours," she said.

  I pulled the wolf's head down over my face and stepped forward twenty paces. Vintel set down her sword and shield and came to meet me. I could never have imagined the look I saw on Vintel's face. It was her own death she was looking at. She stopped ten paces from me and fell to her knees. Believing that I wouldn't understand her words, she held out her open hands, to beg for mercy.

  I pulled the wolf's head up to show her my face, and said, "Stand up, Vintel."

  For a moment she didn't recognize me. Then her eyes changed. If at first she'd had a hope that she could negotiate a surrender, she let it go.

  "Whose ghost is this?" she whispered.

  "If I were a ghost come back to haunt the wicked, you would have seen me long before today."

  "They told me you were dead."

  "It would appear they lied. Did they also tell you they killed Maara?"

  Her eyes admitted it was so. She got slowly to her feet.

  "Did you murder Merin too?"

  "You may think the worst of me," she said, "but I would not betray my oath. Merin is alive and well and living safely in her own house, and your mother with her."

  As relieved as I was to hear that both Merin and my mother were still among the living, I was dismayed to think that they had stayed in the same house with Vintel, who they must believe had either driven me away or murdered me. Perhaps they'd had no choice about it. Someone else would have to satisfy my curiosity. I did not intend to ask Vintel for news.

  "You have much to answer for," I said.

  Vintel shrugged. "You are the victor here. Do what you will."

  Vintel understood her position very well. If I chose to take it, her life was mine. I would never have to ask forgiveness. We were on the battlefield.

  I knew what Vintel was feeling. I had faced my own death too. With no choice but to wait upon the will of the powerful, she had abandoned herself. She knew she was powerless. She didn't care. I wanted her to care.

  "Do you believe I intend to treat you as you would have treated me?"

  "Why would you not?"

  "Because you and I are not alike."

  "I dispose of my enemies before they can dispose of me," she said. "If you are too stupid to do the same, then Merin's house has been well rid of you."

  "Merin's people had a right to choose."

  A light came into Vintel's eyes, as she caught her first glimpse of a way out of her predicament. "Which of us would they choose now, I wonder?"

  "Will you put them to the test? Will you abide by their decision?"

  "You little fool," she said. "I have no doubt of their decision. What will you do when they turn their backs on you?" She gestured at the warriors of my army, looking down upon us from the hillsides. "More to the point, what will they do?"

  "I can't speak for the warriors of the northern tribes," I said, "though I think they are too few now to trouble you. If Merin's warriors choose to follow you, I will take any of my friends who wish to join me and leave you in peace. If they choose me, I will expect you to do the same."

  Vintel scowled at me. "What kind of trick is this?"

  "Whether it's a trick or not, I hardly see how it could put you in a worse position."

  Vintel hesitated, while she thought it over, but she soon saw the sense in what I'd said.

  "All right," she said. "Let's get this over with."

  92. Excuses

  Vintel's warriors stood behind their shield wall, swords in their hands, in case our negotiation failed. Together Vintel and I approached them.

  The moment I took my first step toward Vintel's army, my guard, prompted no doubt by Maara, rushed forward to surround me. I agreed to be accompanied by no more than half a dozen. The rest insisted on following not far behind.

  As I approached Vintel's army, I looked for the shields of people I knew. Many I had never seen before, but I did recognize a few of them. When I came close enough for the warriors of Merin's house to see my face, a murmur began among them. Those who knew me passed the word along to those behind them who couldn't see. I doubted I could find my friends in all that multitude. I hoped that my friends, if I had any friends here, would come forward on their own to greet me.

  When at last I stood before them, a few in the front rank set down their shields. The rest waited, uncertain and suspicious, to see what I would do. Before I could address them, I heard a cry and a commotion from within their ranks. Someone jostled her way to the front and pushed roughly through the shield wall. It was Sparrow.

  I believe she too thought I was a ghost, but she didn't seem to care. Before any of my guard could stop her, she rushed at me and threw her arms around me.

  "You're real," she said into my ear. "You're flesh and blood and bones. I can't believe it." She l
et me go and held me at arm's length. Tears started in her eyes. "Where have you been?"

  "I've been in exile," I replied.

  Anger kindled in Sparrow's eyes. It was not meant for me. She rounded on Vintel.

  "Liar!" she said.

  Vintel lifted her chin against the accusation but made no reply.

  "Liar!" Sparrow said again. "How could you tell me such a dreadful thing if it wasn't true? Did my grief mean nothing to you?"

  "If Vintel told you I was dead," I said to Sparrow, "it was because she herself believed it. It seems her loyal band of warriors couldn't face her with the truth -- that we escaped them."

  Sparrow turned on me. "How can you defend her!"

  "I don't defend her," I said. "I've come to accuse her. It was Vintel's treachery that set all of this in motion. It's time the folk of Merin's house learned the truth about her."

  There was another commotion in the ranks of Vintel's army. Several warriors emerged from the shield wall with Laris at their head. She extended her arm to me, and when I took it, she grasped me firmly, as if she didn't doubt that I was as alive as I appeared to be. She grinned at me and gestured to my army, and said, with a twinkle in her eye, "May I assume you're not going to put us to the sword?"

  I smiled back at her. "I doubt that will be necessary. We can, I think, settle our dispute without too much bloodshed. I've challenged Vintel to single combat."

  Laris looked alarmed. "With swords?" she asked.

  "With words."

  "Oh," she said, relieved. "In that case, Vintel had best admit defeat now and retire from the field."

  "Mind your tongue, Laris," said Vintel, "if you expect a welcome next time you come to Merin's house."

  "A welcome?" Laris spat back. "Who came to me, begging me to bring warriors to her aid?"

  I stepped between them, before they could come to blows.

  "Laris," I said. "You know the warriors of Merin's house. Will you gather their captains together and ask them to hear my cause against Vintel?"

  "So," she said. "You do have cause against her. I'm not surprised." She glanced at Vintel over my shoulder. "I suspected she was responsible for your disappearance. I only found out this spring, when I arrived in Merin's house, that you and Maara had been gone since harvest time. Vintel claimed that you ran off. I didn't believe her."

  Vintel made a sound to let Laris know that she didn't care if Laris believed her or not, but Sparrow shot a glance at her that made her take a few steps back.

  "Vintel would have had us murdered," I told Laris. "We escaped her and took refuge in the north. Now I've come back, to accuse her of treachery and to give her warriors an opportunity to choose again whom they will follow."

  Laris frowned. "You should come home to Merin's house, to plead your cause before Merin and the elders."

  "No," I said. "It was these warriors who disregarded both the counsel of the elders and Merin's leadership and instead followed Vintel to war. I believe I can persuade them that they chose badly."

  "And if you don't succeed?"

  "As you can see, I have made a few friends in the wider world. They will be glad to make a place for me."

  Laris took me by the arm and drew me away from Vintel. Sparrow followed us.

  "You don't know the situation here," Laris whispered. "In Merin's house Vintel is the power now. Half the warriors there are hers alone, with no loyalty to Merin. Merin is permitted to remain in her own house as a courtesy and to give Vintel the appearance of legitimacy, but she is no longer in authority."

  "Then she can hardly help my cause," I said.

  "She may remind her warriors to whom they made their oath."

  "Laris," I said. "I won't go where I'm not wanted. If Merin's people trust Vintel's leadership, let them bear the consequences. Only tell my mother that I am living, that I am well and happy and with people who value and respect me. I know you have your own house to return to, but I will welcome any of Merin's people who wish to come with me."

  Sparrow slipped her hand into mine. I squeezed it, to let her know that wherever I made my home, she would have a place there.

  "Vintel's warriors deserve to bear the consequences of their choices," said Laris. "What about the innocents who will also have to bear them? Will you abandon them?"

  "What would you have me do? Shall I impose my will on Vintel's warriors at swordpoint? Can I win their loyalty with force? If I can't persuade them now of my fitness for leadership, how will I ever persuade them of anything else?"

  Laris sighed. "I will call Merin's warriors to council," she said.

  More warriors had come forward out of Vintel's army, some because they knew me, some out of curiosity. A few went to speak with Vintel, but most of them would have approached me if they had not been kept at a distance by my guard. Behind their shields, swords drawn and ready, Bru's men formed a strong circle around me.

  Maara appeared at my side. A look passed between her and Sparrow, and Sparrow let go of my hand.

  "Come away a bit while we wait," said Maara.

  "Why? I'm safe enough."

  "You and Vintel have nothing more to say to each other, and there's no point in trying to explain yourself to the curious. Save your words for the time when they will count."

  It was wise advice.

  After we had withdrawn a little distance, Maara turned to Sparrow. "What does Tamras need to know?"

  Sparrow didn't understand what she was asking.

  "What has Vintel told people about our disappearance? What excuses has she made? What has she accused us of?"

  "She told everyone you ran away, back to whatever home you always intended to return to, and took Tamras with you. But that's not what she told me. She told me both of you were dead, and she said it was my fault."

  "Your fault?" I said. "How could it be your fault?"

  "Because I let you out of the armory. Vintel claimed she only meant to drive Maara away, so she locked you up, to keep you from interfering."

  "Would she have let me go, to accuse her before the household?"

  "She said she had a way to keep you quiet. She said she never meant for you to come to harm."

  "And you believed her?"

  "I didn't know what to believe. She said you attacked the warriors who were holding Maara. They had no choice but to fight back, and one of them was killed. That much I knew was true. They buried her in secret, but Vintel took me to see her body. It was your arrow in her chest."

  "She told you they killed both of us?" asked Maara.

  Sparrow nodded.

  "But she didn't tell that to the others."

  "No."

  "Why not?"

  "She was afraid they would blame her for Tamras's death."

  "They would have," Maara said. "And Namet would have had something to say about what Vintel had planned for me."

  "Namet knew Vintel was lying," said Sparrow. "She came to me and demanded to hear the truth. I told her everything. I told her about finding Tamras in the armory, and I told her what Vintel told me. She wouldn't believe that you were dead. She said that if she were twenty years younger she would go to look for you herself."

  "How is she?" asked Maara. "Is she well?"

  "I don't know," Sparrow replied. "She went home to Arnet's house before the snow fell. She refused to stay in the same house with Vintel."

  "Is Merin well?" I asked.

  "Merin is very well," said Sparrow, "and it's your mother we have to thank for that. The day you left, Merin fell ill. I couldn't convince her that Tamnet was alive. I'm not surprised she didn't believe me. I was deep in grief myself. Tamar came back just in time, and Tamnet grappled Merin back from the brink."

  "How did Vintel explain her lie to Merin?" I asked.

  "I don't know what she said to Merin," Sparrow replied. "By then Vintel was afraid that she would be found out. She said nothing publicly, and no one dared confront her about it. Instead she put the word around quietly that it must have been Maara who started the rum
or of Tamnet's death, to explain your disappearance and to ensure that that no one would think to search for you until it was too late. Vintel implied that it was she who guessed the truth and sent for Tamnet."

  In my mind I compared Elen and Vintel. Next to Elen, Vintel appeared to be no more than a simpleminded blunderer, yet the grief she had caused, the harm she'd done, were as hideous as Elen's wicked deeds. Perhaps stupidity is as dangerous as evil.

  "I should have said something," Sparrow whispered. "I should have told everyone what Vintel told me."

  "Why didn't you?" Maara asked her.

  "I thought you both were dead," she replied. "I didn't see what good could come of tearing the rest of Merin's house apart. I spoke to Namet about it, and she agreed with me. She said if you were dead, Merin's house would need Vintel. If you were not, you would return and bring about Vintel's defeat."

  "Namet was right," said Maara.

  "Not yet," I said.

  93. You and What Army?

  Laris soon assembled a council of half a hundred. Each of them had made her oath to Merin, not Vintel, and each of them led a band of warriors loyal to her. If I could win these few, the rest would follow.

  I stood silent for a time before them. One by one I met their eyes. I made them look at me. I knew them all.

  "Didn't any of you wonder where I was?"

  It was not what I had meant to say, but as I looked into the faces of these people with whom I had once shared a place, with whom I had once shared a life, I asked myself why I had believed I could come home. Why should I try to win over the very people who betrayed me? Their loyalty came, not from the oath they took nor from their sense of honor nor from their respect for the wisdom of Merin and the elders, but from fear. All Vintel had had to do was frighten them.

  For a moment I was tempted to frighten them myself. A signal from me would bring my army down upon them. They saw my anger in my eyes and shrank away from it.

  "Cowards!" I said to them. "Was it easier to shelter from your fears behind Vintel? Was it easier than thinking for yourselves?"

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Maara approaching me.