"Fin?" he said incredulously.
Fin laughed. "Got you there didn't we?"
"Get off you idiot!" Luan was having trouble seeing the joke.
"He sounds really cross!" Brenn, struggling to hold down the legs, sounded worried.
"Cross!" Luan shouted. "I'm ready to murder the pair of you!" And he swung his head up fast in an attempt to butt Fin in the face.
"Whoa, steady!" Fin sounded a bit worried now. "We were only messing about!"
Luan allowed himself to go limp with a deep sigh. "Just let me up will you?"
Fin frowned "Only if you promise to be nice"
Luan was still not happy. "Nice? You're joking! How about I just promise not to smash your face in?"
Fin thought for a moment. "I suppose that'll do," he said, rolling off Luan and sitting next to him on the ground. Brenn removed himself from Luan’s legs.
"We were just playing about," he said, trying to placate his friend. "Also, it was Fin's idea!"
"Thanks!" Fin sounded hurt.
Luan pulled a wry smile and sat up "I think I'd have guessed that."
"What are you saying?" retorted Fin in mock indignation. "Am I the sort of boy that ambushes his friends and wrestles them to the ground for no apparent reason?"
"But that's what you just did!" Brenn was sounding confused.
"Well, technically..."
"Let's drop it," Luan suggested. "Although I still think you are both idiots!"
"Harsh!" intoned Fin.
"But fair!" added Brenn.
The boys set off back towards their canteen.
"Can't believe we had to see the Captean before breakfast!" Fin was fond of his food and felt its absence keenly.
"You didn't have to wait for me," Luan replied. "I would have found my way back."
"What were you talking about anyway?" asked Brenn, as inquisitive as ever.
Caught off guard, Luan couldn't think what to say. "Oh, nothing really," he answered.
Fin stopped and looked at him strangely.
"Nothing? Then why keep you behind?"
"Well, not nothing..."
Brenn looked at Fin. "Something's up!"
"...I just meant nothing important..."
"I think you're right!" Fin replied.
"...you see, I..."
"Luan!" interrupted Fin. "Stop babbling and tell us what's going on!"
"Nothing's going on!" retorted Luan.
"You're going to have to tell us sooner or later." Brenn gave the bigger boy a playful punch. "We'll get it out of you one way or another!"
"Good idea Brenn!" said Fin excitedly. "Let's beat it out of him!
"What?" Luan was starting to feel this was getting out of hand.
"Yeah!" said Brenn. "You hold him and I'll hit him!"
"You can't do that!" replied Luan.
"Only ‘cos Brenn punches like a girl..." Fin replied.
"I do not!"
"...we'll do it the other way around!"
"What?" Luan said again only louder and about an octave higher.
"What do you mean I punch like a girl?" It was hard to tell if Brenn's indignation was feigned or real.
"Look, if you'd met my sister you'd take it as a compliment!"
"Just pack it in the pair of you!" Luan’s raised voice achieved a moment of quiet. "I can't tell you!" he continued. "The Captean gave me strict orders. Yes. Something is going on, but I can't possibly tell you what it is!" and in an attempt to show that the conversation was at an end Luan started walking again.
Fin and Brenn exchanged a look, and then hurried after him.
"That's fine," said Fin
"We respect that," continued Brenn.
"Won't ask any more questions," added Fin
"Especially as we know it's about those two dead boys," finished Brenn. Luan rounded on them furiously.
"How do you know?" he demanded.
"We didn't know exactly..." Brenn replied.
"Until now!" interrupted Fin.
"...but what else could it be?" Brenn continued. "Two boys die suddenly and both times you were there!"
Luan looked at his friends, overcome by a sudden temptation to share his burden.
"I'm not supposed to tell anyone."
"We're not 'anyone'," said Fin eagerly, "We’re us!"
"You can trust us!" pleaded Brenn
"We can help you!" Fin added.
"Alright. I’ll tell you!" Luan felt a strong sense of relief as he said the words. "But not here and not now. We need to find a safe place where no one will hear us."
"Great!" Brenn answered. "I've got an idea!"
Fin made a show of rubbing his stomach. "Can we discuss it over breakfast?" he asked plaintively.
SILENCE IN THE FORGE, the bellows stilled, everyone staring at the pool of orange. For a moment Luan felt that same strange slippage he had last felt as he stepped between the worlds. Fear caressed him and he realised he had tried to bury those memories beneath the day to day routine of the Guild. 'It is the edges of things,' he thought. 'That is where it happens. Where the land meets the sky, or the water meets the land, and then here where the liquid metal is taking shape and becoming something hard and enduring.' He watched the pool gradually sink as the metal set, brightness dulling, colour fading. Still the boys stood in silence, waiting for the moment. At the edge of hearing the cooling metal sang its song, the 'tink' and 'plink' like the idle tapping of a coin. The smith stood immobile, all his senses attuned, patiently waiting. Then:
"Sand!"
Two boys leapt forward like dogs unleashed and cleared the sand from around the mould.
"Drustan!"
They stepped forward again, the smith and the boy using the willow to lift the lumpy clay.
"Doors"
Luan ran to throw open the large double doors, weak light feeling its way into the darkness inside, cold air fighting against the heat of the forge. Out they went to the pool and gently lowered the mould. Steam leaped into the air, the water sputtering as it rushed to cool the clay. The acrid smell of burnt animal hair and straw, mixed into the mould to stop it cracking, filled their nostrils. Gradually the spitting and the steam subsided as the mould cooled. Finally the moment had come. Lifted from the water and set down on the hard earth, the mould was an ugly thing. The smith took a chisel and struck three quick blows in a line, levered open the crack that formed and stood back to reveal the beauty inside. Even though it was still covered in fine sand, the sword had a savage grace. The smith pulled a rag from his pocket and wrapped it around the hilt. Holding the sword carefully he dipped it in the pool before wiping away the last traces of the mould. He checked the blade for holes and pieces of charcoal, looked down the length to check the alignment before finally holding it up for the cadre to see.
Six – A Letter
You must know the metal like a man knows his horse, feeling its mood, knowing how far it can be pushed and knowing when to slacken the rein.
"DRUSTAN IS THE KILLER!"
A week had passed. A week during which the boys had found very little time for anything other than their lessons and their duties. The punishments handed out by the Captean had used up not only their time but also a large amount of energy. Their training was demanding enough. Physical exercise every day, marching and running, spear and shield drill and sword practice. Plus lessons in history, metal work, map reading and written communication. Adding on extra duties had the boys falling onto their beds desperate for sleep whenever they had the opportunity. The fact that it was dark and cold, only a few days from midwinter, only made things worse. Now however Brenn and Luan had finished their extra duties, and although Fin had a week left he had found that working in the kitchens had certain advantages. For a start he had managed to acquire extra food on a regular basis, a bonus shared with and much appreciated by his friends. He had also got to know the labyrinth of storerooms, parlours, pantries and cellars that surrounded the kitchens very well indeed and it was one of these storerooms t
hat the boys had chosen as their private meeting place.
Having provoked no reaction from the other two, Brenn repeated his statement. "Drustan! I think he is the killer!"
Fin frowned and then went back to gnawing on the chicken wing he had brought with him, leaving Luan to reason with Brenn.
"Do you really think that he is, or is it just that you would quite like him to be?"
"He's mean enough!" Brenn replied defensively.
"He probably is," agreed Luan, "but why would he want to kill those boys?"
"Why would anyone?" Fin interjected.
"What do you mean?" asked Brenn.
"Well the way I see it," Fin continued, "is that if we knew why they were killed it would make it much easier to identify the killer."
"Drustan just picks on people for fun," said Brenn. "He wouldn't need a reason."
"It's not his style," disagreed Luan. "He picks on people to show how tough he is, he likes to have an audience."
"That's right, and he also likes his little gang with him," Fin agreed. "This was someone alone, secret and stealthy."
Brenn sighed. "You're right," he conceded, "which leaves us with who and why?"
"An enemy plot?" suggested Luan. "That's what the Captean thinks anyway."
"Or someone with a grudge?" Brenn added. "Maybe someone who blames the guild for something and wants revenge!"
"Or perhaps it's just someone who hates boys," Fin said. "Most of our teachers for example!"
Luan yawned and then pulled himself to his feet.
"Come on," he said, "time to go. I'm worn out and the last thing I need is to get more extra duties for missing lights out!"
"That's right," Brenn agreed. "Some of us have finished our extra duties," and he stuck his tongue out at Fin.
Fin pulled a face back. "Actually, I've finished as well!"
"How come?" asked Brenn, sounding disappointed.
"Well," Fin replied, "the head Cook said that I worked so hard he would let me off the second week!"
"Ha!" responded Brenn. "You probably just ate too much food!" He ducked just in time to dodge the chicken bone that Fin aimed at his head.
"New class tomorrow," said Luan, "horsemanship!"
"Excellent!" replied Brenn, doing a good impression of a haughty nobleman. "Yet another thing I am amazing at!"
As they walked back to their barracks something caught at the edge of Luan’s awareness and he turned and looked back towards the kitchens. There, silhouetted against the light of the doorway was the unmistakable shape of a large black dog.
IT WAS NOT UNHEARD of for breakfast to be disturbed by the delivery of letters, but it was sufficiently rare that when one of the older boys entered carrying a scroll the whole cadre took notice.
"Luan ap Garioch?" he called out.
It took Luan a moment to realise that the scroll was for him.
"Here!" he called somewhat hesitantly, and then stood up to accept the scroll. He sat down again, looking at the paper in his hand, wondering whom it could have come from.
"Go on then!" Fin interrupted his thoughts. "Open it!"
Luan’s broke the seal, unrolled it and began to read.
'Luan. I hope this letter finds you well and that you have settled into your training. Thanks to you, Bridie and the care I received at the House of Collection, I am fully recovered and Bridie and I have at last managed to complete our journey. We arrived safely in Sanlynn and have taken employment at the Dragon Inn. The landlord is a fat fool and the customers have no appreciation of my talents but in spite of this my songs and tales have gained quite a following. The Inn is doing quite well because of it and I am sure that the landlord will welcome you if you come. Bridie is looking forward to seeing you again. They say novices are allowed in to the town on midwinter’s eve so we shall hope to see you then. Mack.'
"Well?" asked Brenn.
"Well what?" replied Luan.
"What does it say?" asked Fin impatiently.
"Oh, nothing really."
"Give it here!" Brenn snatched the letter and began to read.
"Hey!" Luan tried to grab it back. Fin restrained him and the two struggled while Brenn started to read bits out loud.
"Bridie is certainly very keen to see you again!" Brenn grinned what he thought was a knowing grin but which actually made him look slightly insane. "Have you been keeping secrets from us Luan?"
"Who's Bridie then?" Fin teased.
"She's just a girl I know," said Luan defensively.
"You never said you knew a girl!" replied Brenn in mock outrage.
"What? You think I can't know a girl?" Luan responded.
"How did you meet?" asked Fin.
"Well, I sort of rescued her."
"Rescued her?"
"She was being chased by slavers."
"This is quite a story!" Fin looked sceptical.
"But it's so romantic," Brenn said in a high voice, clutching his hands to his heart and fluttering his eyelashes in an alarming manner. Luan was starting to get flustered.
"Well it wasn't like that! I actually thought she was a boy!"
Fin and Brenn dissolved into a fit of giggles while Luan just stared at them helplessly.
THE SARGENT OF HORSE was a short, bandy-legged man. His dark complexion, thick black hair and peculiarly shaped eyes marked him out as an Eastern Tribesman, reputedly the best horsemen in the world. In general he preferred horses to people on the grounds that they were reliable, hardworking and didn't talk too much. People he divided into two groups: those that looked after their horses and those that didn't. He carried a leather riding crop with handle inlaid with silver as a badge of office. He never used it, at least not on a horse. It had seen occasional use on those boys unwise enough to make fun of his somewhat peculiar way of talking. His sentences usually started slowly and then speeded up, rising in pitch and volume until the last word was uttered as a screech punctuated by the slap of the riding crop against his gloved hand. Fin thought the Sargent of Horse hysterical, Brenn was terrified.
"If you are thinking about getting on a great big warhorse and going charging off saving the world then you are being very stupid boys!" the Sargent screamed. "You think you learn about horse? No! You learn from horse!"
"Our teacher is a horse?" Fin whispered out of the side of his mouth.
"Shhh!" Luan whispered back.
"Hey you! Clever boy!”
"Too late," muttered Brenn. Fin tried his best to look innocent, shrugging and pulling a 'Who? Me?' type of face, but it was no good.
"Yes you! Come here!" The Sargent slapped his crop against his hand as Fin walked nervously to the front of the group of boys. "If you're such a clever boy, maybe you ride horse now, hey?" Fin said nothing, he just looked nervously at the horses hitched to the rail in front of him. They were sturdy beasts, shaggy maned and hooved, not large but still big enough to look intimidating. Especially if, like Fin, you were not overly familiar with horses.
"Go on!" instructed the Sargent, pointing. "Get that one, the piebald."
Fin looked blank.
"The black and white one!"
Fin walked slowly up to the horse. It eyed him contemptuously and then turned its back, giving the boy no room to get to the reigns. Fin backed up and walked around the other side but with a snicker the horse turned its body to block him again. There were a few sniggers from the watching boys.
"Come on clever boy," called the Sargent. "We are getting bored!"
Fin stomped back around to the other side of the horse. Unfortunately he did not see the horse kick until it was too late. The hoof lashed out, catching Fin on his backside and pitching him to the floor. The watching boys laughed uproariously, as Fin, red faced, picked himself up.
"See!" shouted the Sargent. "Horse is more clever than you!"
But Fin wasn't beaten yet. He walked around the horse again but this time when the kick came he was waiting. Quick as a flash he grabbed the horse by the leg and then charged forward, pushing t
he horse bodily into the rail. The horse swung round with a snort and a glare, snapping its long teeth. Fin dropped the leg and grabbed the bridle pulling the horse's head down level with his own.
"Now then my beauty," he said using a strange languid tone that Luan had not heard before, "thee and me are going to be friends." The horse snapped again and tried to pull away but Fin pulled it closer still until he was eyeball to staring eyeball with the, now nervous, creature. "And seeing as how we're going to be friends, best stop playing silly buggers, tha knows!"
He held the horses stare for a moment while his left hand slowly undid the reigns from the hitching rail. Then with a yell he grabbed the mane and threw himself onto the horse’s back. The surprised creature whinnied loudly and reared up, pawing the air and spinning in a circle while Fin desperately held on. Then it leapt forward and galloped across the field with Fin shouting something that sounded suspiciously like 'Yeeha!'.
"What is he doing?" asked Brenn in disbelief.
"I have absolutely no idea," Luan replied.
The class were no longer laughing, instead they were shouting and cheering as Fin rode round the practice field and then headed back. By the time they arrived the horse was trotting with Fin riding comfortably on its back.
"Whoa!" He pulled the horse to a halt and then slipped nimbly off. Ignoring the applause of the assembled boys he instead looked nervously at the Sargent. He needn't have worried.
"You really are clever boy!" The small man grinned. "Cheeky but clever!" he added and then swept the surprised Fin into a bone crushing hug. "You make great horse warrior. Maybe one day we ride together and crush our enemies beneath our horses’ hooves!"
"Er, that would be great," replied Fin, an uncomfortable look on his face.
IT WAS LATER THAT DAY and Brenn was annoyed. The slight boy was trying not to show it but Luan could tell that something was really getting to him.
"What's up?" he asked.
The Guild of Warriors Page 5