Leaping Wolf, page 23
part #2 of Caledon Saga Series
Rhia couldn’t make any sense of it, either for him or for her reaction. She tried to hate Gawan for what had happened but found that she couldn’t. He was brave and loyal, even noble in his way, and had even slain his own chieftain to keep Baercban from killing her. He’d not done it for her exactly but nonetheless, his sense of honour was unquestionable. Once again Rhia felt guilt interrupt her stream of thought as images flashed through her mind, first of Dane and then of Bevan and Marius. For a moment she felt weak as she looked on the faces of the men she had loved, but she banished them with an effort and spoke firmly to herself. I didn’t ask for him to kiss me! I have betrayed no-one. There had been a time when her inner critic might have mocked her for that but she had learned to fight back against it, and no voice snapped back inside her head. She felt no desire for the man and was not responsible for whatever moment of madness had overcome him just now. But what had caused it?
Rhia stamped across the room and grabbed hold of a cloak, slipping into her shoes as she threw it around her shoulders. It was pointless to stand here guessing when the man himself was still nearby. He had clearly been embarrassed but she needed to talk to him, and better to do so now than to wait for things to fester. In all likelihood it had been some flash of foolish lust brought on from anger and grief. Contact and intimacy made people feel alive, and after a day so full of death it was understandable. He would bark something unpleasant at her, she would say something equally cutting to him, and things would be back to normal again. At least, she hoped so.
Rather than walk through the main hall and risk being accosted by well-wishers, Rhia walked into the barrel room and then slipped out through a side door into the darkness of the early evening. The rain had slackened but the wind had picked up and Rhia flipped the hood up on her cloak before venturing further. Gawan would likely have missed the small door and stormed out through the hall, which meant he would be coming out through the main entrance. He had not been gone for long and if he was heading back to where most of the other Gorvicae were settling then he ought to pass by her on his way there. Rhia began walking to the front of the building, the cloak held tight around her shoulders. What exactly she would say to him she still wasn’t quite sure, but she knew they had to address this and hopefully he would know that too.
The longhall wasn’t large and she reached the main doors in little time, but instead of Gawan coming out she saw Owain and Meg standing there, along with Gregor Galerian and a handful of his guards. The soldiers were looking relaxed and were clearly only there for protocol’s sake, but nonetheless the passing Caledon were throwing them uncertain glances. Can you blame them? Few of us have had good cause to trust a Gaian legionary. Squinting her eyes Rhia saw that the rest of the soldiers had set up tents not far away, and that the Gaians were eying the Lurians with just as much wariness. The sooner we get them back on the road the better. They’ve done us a good turn but now the fighting’s done their presence will do more harm than good.
She put Gawan from her mind for the time being and headed towards the group. Gregor saw her approaching and gave her one of his small smiles. He put his fist to his chest then threw his hand out in salute, but it was only a courtesy, not a necessity. Rhia held no military rank from his perspective but as a patrician and an allied commander it was the polite thing to do. As such she returned the gesture, albeit in a slightly hurried manner. She had no wish to seem more Gaian than she had to out here.
‘General Galerian.’
‘Lady Dessida.’
Back in Tamora it would have simply been ‘Gregor’ and ‘Rhianna’, but the days of social suppers in her townhouse were a lifetime ago and besides, it was perhaps best not to seem too friendly. Gregor understood the precarious position she held and didn’t greet her with an embrace as he would usually have done, settling for a simple nod of his head. Rhia tried to thank him with just her eyes before continuing in her formal tone.
‘General, I...’
But before she could say more the sound of hoofbeats interrupted her and she turned her head in the direction of the noise. A group of mounted figures was approaching through the drizzle, and at a second glance she saw that Alraig was seated at their head. He wore a dark cloak about his shoulders but the hood was down, and water was dripping from his brown-and-grey beard. The light was dim but his expression was clear, and Rhia wasn’t at all surprised when his words came out cold as midwinter.
‘There are legionaries here, Rhianwyn. Gaian soldiers; armed and armoured.’
Before Rhia could answer him Gregor addressed the headman from beside her. The general spoke almost no Lurian but he had picked out the familiar words, and Alraig’s tone had made it clear what he was speaking of.
‘Well noticed sir, and you are welcome for the help.’
Alraig spoke good Vulgare and the sarcasm would not have been lost on him, but he ignored the tall Gaian and kept looking at Rhia. His eyes seemed to bore into hers.
‘Am I to take it that these soldiers came here at your invitation?’
Rhia flipped back her hood to make sure he saw her face and she thrust her chin out despite herself.
‘That they are Alraig, and as you saw they were sorely needed today.’
The mounted chief did not shout but his voice was hard as stone.
‘In spite of all our discussion, you have not only permitted but encouraged Gaian soldiers to cross Caledon land under arms?’
Rhia matched his gaze and kept her tone as polite as she could. Alraig was no fool, surely he could see that without Gregor’s men the day would have been lost?
‘In order to save my people bloodshed, yes; I did exactly that.’
Alraig straightened in his saddle and twitched his lip in restrained anger.
‘I should have known that you had become more one of them than one of us. It saddens me to see it in the daughter of Carradan.’
Rhia felt her anger rise but Alraig continued before she could answer.
‘You have broken your own law Rhianwyn. The treaty which you told us would be for our mutual benefit has been flouted by your actions today.’
Rhia ignored the water on her face as she looked up at him through the rain.
‘What I have done is save countless lives Alraig, what else would you have had me do?’
The headman’s face was inscrutable.
‘I would have my appointed chieftain not keep secrets from her advisors. I would have it that when a decision is made and agreed upon, you did not ignore it for your own ends and disregard your own laws in the process.’
Meg spoke up from behind Rhia, anger and impatience in her voice.
‘The Blackbirds saved us all today, what difference does it make?’
Owain piped up in agreement.
‘We would have been outflanked and crushed without their help.’
Alraig turned his eyes on them and his words were flat and cold.
‘If the law is not obeyed it may as well not exist.’ He turned back to Rhia. ‘And if a chieftain lies to her people she has no right to call herself their leader.’
Rhia tried to keep from sounding too exasperated.
‘All I did was ask for some help to defeat an enemy, help that we dearly needed.’
She gestured towards Gregor as she spoke but the general didn’t comment. He might be able to guess what was being said but he could hardly be expected to follow the conversation. Alraig kept staring down at her.
‘Today it is the summoning of one legion; tomorrow it will be another legion sent to “secure us” against the Breiryn threat. The next day we will suddenly need more administrators to help us run our affairs. And the day after that we would awake to find another governor in your father’s seat, and our lands overruled as they once were.’ His eyes flashed though his voice remained calm. ‘Well, not while I live.’
The riders around him looked equally determined and Rhia tried to pacify them. Damn it all she was in the right here, and most of her wanted to be shouting her arguments back at them, but she controlled herself with an effort.
‘Alraig, I swear to you I have no intention...’
But he cut across her.
‘Enough! By your own admission you have broken the laws that you yourself set out. You will accompany me back to Bryngarth and remain there in my custody until the headmen and druids of our tribe can be assembled. They will decide what fate best suits you for what you have done here.’
He swung himself from the saddle and those behind him followed. Rhia saw that they bore an array of weaponry on their belts but that only the two archers were carrying anything in their hands. She also noticed that none wore mail or carried dragon shields. They were Alraig’s own men then, not warriors of the legion. From their position on the ridge they would have seen the fighting below them but few would have fully appreciated how vital the Gaians had been today. She remembered her own company desperately trying to hold their line, and the Gorvicae on the left beginning to crumble. It was true; without the Blackbirds they would have been crushed. But Alraig himself must surely understand? Why does he not see that I was right?
There was no time for contemplation however as the group closed on her, their faces hard. Both Gregor and Meghan stepped forward but it was Owain who placed himself in front of her.
‘Rhianwyn is your High Chieftain and I am your First Man. Unless Reaghan himself comes here with the say so, you have no right to make such a judgement.’
The Gadarim held his hands relaxed at his sides but Rhia sensed that he was ready to draw iron at an eyeblink’s notice. She put a hand on his arm and spoke to Alraig.
‘There is no need for all of this. We will be heading home soon anyway and I can speak to the chiefs then if you wish.’
The lithe headman didn’t quite sneer but his mouth twitched slightly and he continued moving forwards, addressing his answer to Owain.
‘Merwyn and I were named as her most senior chiefs and advisors. If such a chief believes his chieftain has broken the law he has the right to ask his fellows to hear him out, and Rhianwyn has already admitted to betraying us. She may make her case back at Bryngarth to any who might listen.’
A hulking tribesman with arms as thick as Rhia’s legs came up to them and reached out to take her elbow. The move wasn’t a violent one exactly but it was far from courteous, and it was hardly surprising when Owain shoved him into the mud. Rhia could almost feel the fury in his voice.
‘You dare lay your hands on our chieftain like this?’
She opened her mouth to speak but Alraig got there first, his face set and his voice deadly calm.
‘We are not on a battlefield now, Owain son of Perlyn. This affair is for chiefs and druids, not for Gadarim, and you will not stand in the way of our justice.’
The big man had risen to his feet and was glaring at Owain, his hand moving to the axe at his belt. Rhia instinctively reached for where Silverbite would hang but then remembered that she wasn’t wearing her sword. Owain was of course still wearing his, and the bright iron whipped free of its sheath in a heartbeat. The hulking man looked suddenly hesitant and Rhia tried to seize the initiative before things got any worse.
‘For Marna’s sake Alraig see reason! I will speak to you all if you...’
But before she could finish the big tribesman seemed to regain his nerve, or embrace his stupidity, and drew his axe free of his belt. He squared up to Owain and the Gadarim levelled his blade at the man’s neck.
‘Back off boy! Do not make me hurt you.’
The giant ducked to one side and tried to slap the blade down with his axe-haft but Owain was too quick for him, flicking the blade in a half-circle and nicking the other man’s chin. It was only a scratch, barely more than he’d have suffered from a long rose-thorn, but it made him jerk his head away and spots of blood flew into the rain. And one of the archers behind Alraig nocked, drew, and loosed before he even straightened up.
Meg and Rhia cried out at once as the shaft thudded into Owain’s chest, but only the redhead was wearing a dagger at her belt. As Rhia caught the Gadarim’s weight in her arms Meghan launched herself at Alraig’s men with a scream that came straight from the Pit, drawing her blade free as she charged towards the archer. Rhia heard Alraig’s voice bark out ‘Wait!’ but it was too late to stop the bowman as he loosed another shaft. Rhia didn’t see the arrow as it entered her friend but she saw the bloody tip emerge from halfway up her back. Meg collapsed to her knees and Rhia’s vision turned red. She pounced on the big man and slammed her fists into his ribs, the punches knocking the wind from him and doubling him over. She lashed out at his jaw and felt a crack as the blow made contact, and the tribesman’s head snapped sideways before he crumpled to the ground.
Rhia screamed as another man approached with his arms outstretched to grab her, and she flung an uppercut under his pointed chin, the blow taking him clean off his feet. She saw tribesmen drawing weapons and the archer nocking a shaft but she didn’t give a damn anymore. Owain and Meg were dead or dying, who cared if she crossed the bridge beside them? Her eyes darted around for another target but the men were standing back. Alraig raised his arms and called out to them.
‘Stand off! This is not what we came for!’
Rhia bared her teeth. She didn’t give a blighted rat for what they came here for; they had just killed her friends and they would take what was coming to them! She felt a pressure on her arm and spun to strike her new attacker, but pulled herself short as she saw that it was Gregor. Without ceremony he yanked her back towards the building and called out in Vulgare to his guards.
‘Form!’
A second later they were surrounded by half-a-dozen armoured men, their short swords held at the ready and their faces blank as masks. Rhia tried to calm herself enough to realise what was happening. A small crowd was gathering around them as people were drawn to the commotion, both tribesmen of the Caledon and the legionaries nearby. No-one really seemed to know what they should say or do, and an eerie quiet fell upon the scene. Rhia bit back a sob as she saw her two friends on the ground, their outstretched hands just inches from each other. The anger and grief at seeing them threatened to overturn her reason but she fought hard to focus her thoughts on what was happening. This must not go further. It mustn’t! All she wanted to do was to avenge Owain and Meg but she had to think of her people, however wrenching it might be.
Beside her she saw Gregor pull a tin whistle from his tunic. He spoke to Alraig, his voice steady.
‘Stand your men down, right now.’
The headman seemed enraged more than concerned by the threat but he managed to keep his own voice under control. He did not address the Gaian but spoke directly to Rhia, ignoring the men around her completely.
‘Would you have more Caderyn die tonight for what you have done?’
Rhia struggled to keep her rage in check but it spilled into her answer.
‘I have killed no Caderyn today Alraig! These deaths are on your head, their blood is on your hands!’
Her accuser didn’t contradict her but he made no apology either.
‘I have no wish for more bloodshed. Call off your guards and come with me!’
She heard Gregor whisper in her ear, though it was loud enough for all of them to hear.
‘A cohort of my men stands mere yards away, Rhianna. Say the word and we will cut through this rabble and get you out of here.’
Alraig’s mouth twitched again.
‘Your Gaian friends may indeed help you escape from us Rhianwyn. Most of our people sleep or eat, believing themselves to be safe. You may kill us all and run to Tamora where no Caderyn could follow you.’ He leaned forwards and glared at her, moving into easy cutting range of the Gaians and not showing an ounce of concern. ‘But it will only prove me right.’
Rhia hated to admit that a part of her was tempted to run. Gregor could get them clear and they could all make straight for Bryngarth. She could collect Lucan and then be on the east road before anyone could think to stop her. What did she have left but her boy anyway? She ground her teeth and balled her fists and tried hard not to think of the two bodies that lay nearby. Why not go? Why not choose safety in Tamora? She sighed as her father’s face appeared before her eyes. Because without you and Lucan your tribe will be lost. They may not love you for it, they may even hate you for it, but you are the best chance that they have to live and prosper in a world run by the Gaians. And the one thing you have left besides your son is your duty. You have no choice.
She looked up at Alraig, the rain still dripping from his beard, and tried to marshal her thoughts through the anger. If she went with him there would be many who might speak against her, but also many who might take her side as well. All the Dragon Legion had seen how needed the Gaians had been today, and there were headmen among the cohorts they’d brought with them. The druids were more of an uncertain factor, but Bael would probably see things her way and if Reaghan appeared from wherever he’d been chances were he would as well. There were no guarantees but there was at least some hope she would be heard.
There was danger in it for her, but far less so than there was to her people if she allowed this to escalate further. She fought back the urge to fight and wreak bloody vengeance for Meg and Owain and took a few deep breaths, praying quietly. She asked every god she knew to stay with her if they would, and then she put her hand gently on Gregor’s arm.
