The Hekamon Page 31

  "What do we make from that?" Kormak said, as he and Tolle walked back to where Palfrey and the twins were standing with their prone captive.

  "The guards said he had an accomplice and this Coralainian said Alyssa was with someone. Someone who claimed he could help find her necklace," Palfrey said.

  "Yes, it's safe to assume it's the same person. I have to go and find her, she is in danger, I'm sure of it," Kormak said, feeling a cold sweat forming and agitated twitching in his neck. She was being tricked, Tregarron didn't have her necklace, Tansley did.

  "I'll come with you," Tolle said, you can't go alone.

  "I can and I must," he said, with a determination in his voice.

  "She is my betrothal, I have been promised her, it should be me that goes," Tolle replied, equally determined.

  "She is my sister and I left her behind. It's for me to put right, I need to go and get her."

  "Kormak, I can't let you. If someone has hurt her it is my responsibility to bring them to justice."

  The two squared off, and with seemingly neither prepared to back down, Palfrey stepped in with a suggestion.

  "We need to get this Coralainian back to Egret Stockade and he is heavy, Tolle we might need you for that. And since Kormak has made more excursions south of the river, and is more familiar with the area, he might be better at searching for her. We don't know anything about her whereabouts. It might be more about reconnaissance than enforcing justice, tonight anyway."

  The two ferguths softened their stance and looked to the rest of the patrol.

  "I think Palfrey's right," Moxley said, and Loccsleah nodded in agreement, "The man will not be easy to carry and we might be able to get more useful information out of him," she added.

  Kormak placed his hand on Tolle's shoulder.

  "See what more you can find out from him and use whatever means necessary. I'll reconnoiter and bring back any information I can."

  "If you bring anything back, try to make it Alyssa," Tolle said, mirroring his gesture, "If not we'll do everything we can to bring her back tomorrow. We'll find her."

  "Take this back to Egret for me," he said, giving Tolle Alyssa's dagger.

  "Won't you need it?"

  "No. I'll use my own."

  He then watched as the four ferguths lifted up the captive and started to carry him away, along the Ochre Way and deeper into the marshes. It had been a while since they had prisoner at the stockade and their interrogation techniques were likely to be rusty. Kormak hoped his patrol would send word of their captive to Vondern. Since the voight would be much quicker at ensuring the man reveals everything he knows that might prove useful.

  Turning his attention back to the bridge and the street beyond, Kormak could see the guards were still visible. He decided to give them a little more time. He would wait until they were past the bend in the road before crossing to their side of the river.

  As he waited, he considered where he would begin his search. He didn't know how reliable the information was, but it seemed his sister was in the company someone who was, at the very least, an accomplice to theft and violence. And since the two of them were last seen near the village of Tivitay, the village is where he would start.

  83

  Alyssa lead Galvyn through the woods and into the clearing. As far as she knew, everyone called it Tivitayall, even though there was no building here. Just a circle of large stones and a large, ivy covered, sandstone outcrop to the south west of the clearing. Friezes and symbols could be seen carved onto the few areas of stone not hidden by the rampant vines.

  "You say you've never been here?" she asked.

  "No." Galvyn replied, following Alyssa and looking around at the boulder strewn glade.

  "But it's only a few hundred yards from where you live."

  "I know. I had thought of exploring these woods but Mrs. Willard warned me they were unsafe. She said things can get lawless east of the highway."

  "Must be all the Fennreans roaming around here," Alyssa said mischievously.

  "Well—" the boy began, before seeing her smile and giving a relieved laugh, "I think Mrs. Willard may have been thinking of bears."

  "Yes, bears are renowned lawbreakers," she chided, but didn't resent this Willard woman's opinion of them.

  Galvyn's gloominess returned and he became quiet again, before sitting on a rock and sighing, "Yes, she probably meant Fennreans. I'm sorry."

  The rock was large enough for both of them, and so she sat next to him, "She's right though," Alyssa said, and they both laughed, but Galvyn stopped abruptly and looked around.

  "Hear something?" she asked.

  "No, it's just," he searched for the right words, "is it safe?"

  She could guess what he was thinking. Their dangerous reputation was something the people of Fennelbek actively cultivated, much like the herbs they grew. They wanted to be feared. They were few in number, not well armed and surrounded on all sides.

  Still, their reputation wasn't helping right now and nor had her own behavior. She'd threatened Galvyn with her dagger and now the boy had followed her into unfamiliar surroundings. It was understandable that he was nervous, and since he represented her best chance of recovering her necklace, she would need to reassure him.

  "You're safe while you're with me, from Fennreans anyway."

  "Promise?"

  "Yes, I promise. And am I safe from the guards while I'm with you?" she said, and laughed at his unintentionally funny expression, a combination of alarm and incredulity, before falling silent. He was in a predicament, especially if he was going to go out of his way to protect Hayden. Alyssa thought he was stupid for doing so, it only made his situation more difficult, and with the guards now after him, his despondency was not far below the surface.

  "Who can help you?"

  "Mr. Croneygee, Tansley and Mrs. Willard. Those are the three people I know and trust the most."

  "Two badly hurt the other probably serving tea to Tregarron as we speak."

  "Did you really hurt Tansley?" Galvyn asked, looking at her accusingly.

  "No, it was the Coralainians that hurt him. I would have helped Tansley if I could. He had information that I needed but Tregarron arrived at a bad moment."

  "Yes, he does that. Thank you."

  "What for?"

  "Trying to help Tansley."

  "My reasons were a little selfish, he knew the whereabouts of someone very important to me."

  "Who?"

  "You."

  "Oh," Galvyn said, blushing.

  "I thought you had my necklace."

  "Oh," his face dropped. "Now I'm not important?"

  "I didn't say that. I didn't leave you did I? I could have run."

  "Yes, thank you for staying."

  "Who else do you know who can help, your father?"

  Galvyn shook his head, "He died in the war, in an ambush by—" he looked at her, "it was a long time ago."

  "I'm sorry to hear that. Is your mother still alive?"

  "No, she died last year. It's why I moved to Tivitay, there was nothing left for me in Billestone and the workshops seemed a better prospect than the mines."

  "And are they?"

  "Yes. Mr. Croneygee has been very helpful—" he trailed off and sighed.

  Alyssa sensed his loneliness, she knew the feeling, too.

  "Do you have a family?" Galvyn asked.

  "Yes, well, sort of," she said hesitantly, "I never knew my father, and since my mother died my family have been my brother, well half-brother, we have a different father. Kormak's was a war hero and he doesn't let me forget it. I also have some cousins who live with us. Then there is an herbswoman who has lived with us for a few years. Vondern is the closest I have to a father."

  At the name, Galvyn's ears picked up, "Vondern? Isn't he the lord of Fennelbek? The voight?" He asked.

  "The voight, yes, he's distant with us though, and his nephew, Tolle, mostly runs things at Egret. Tolle is my…patrol leader."

  "What's E
gret?"

  "The name of our base, a stockade in the southern marshes, we live there more than Ochre Hill, or it seems that way lately," she said before remaining silent, wondering if she should be telling him this.

  She probably hadn't said anything that Tregarron didn't know, it was said he was well informed, but she would need to be careful. A few details about her relations was one thing but she shouldn't say anything about their patrols.

  Alyssa lifted her flask from her belt and took a drink of spring water she had filled it with earlier. It was nearly empty, but she offered Galvyn a drink and he accepted the offer.

  "What was your mother's name?" she asked.

  "Ava," Galvyn said, taking a few sips of water, before handing her leather canteen back.

  "And Billestone, is that a mining village?" She asked, finishing off the last of the water and placing the flask back on her belt,

  "Yes, most of Demedelei's villages are, it's a small place, not much bigger than Tivitay really."

  Alyssa nodded. She, along with her brother and cousins, would sometimes climb the taller trees in the marshes and look out west. It seemed every small hill there had the distinctive wooden head-frame structure of a mine, that presumably stood atop a mine shaft. Surrounded by a few timber framed houses, set among the parched dusty fields.

  "How is it you never knew your father?" Galvyn asked, "If that's not a personal question."

  "It's a very personal question," she replied, and raised an eyebrow at him. She had only just met Galvyn, yet knew exactly how he would react to this gesture.

  "I'm sorry, forgive me, I shouldn't have pried," he said, apologetically.

  "It's okay, I asked about your family. You were not prying but being polite."

  Alyssa thought Galvyn to be considerate of her feelings, more so than anybody she had met before, more than any of the boys anyway. Maybe he was like this with everyone, yet something intrigued her, Galvyn had seemed to understand the importance of the necklace to her before he had even met her, how could that be? If it had spoken to him, what did it say?

  Suddenly she jumped off the rock, startling Galvyn in the process. She wasn't sure if she had heard something or if it was her intuition, but she started feeling apprehensive. She instinctively reached for the necklace around her neck. She could really do with a feeling of intuitiveness and some soothing words now. Its absence vexed her greatly. It was Galvyn's turn to ask if she had heard something.

  "What can you hear?"

  "I'm not sure, but I don't think we should stay here."

  "Why? Do you think the guards might look here?"

  "It's a place they might try, if they are continuing to search they might follow the Tivitayall Road, it passes though here," pointing to the dirt track that ran through the clearing.

  The road was rarely used and barely visible in places, it could hardly be called a road anymore. But it cut a path through the trees and the stone circle, and made for an obvious route they could have followed.

  "You might be right," Galvyn said, standing and looking at the path too, "We are easy to see here. Do you think we should we go into the forest?"

  "I've got a better idea." Alyssa said, thinking of the times she, her brother and cousins had stayed overnight this side of the river. It didn't happen often, but when they hunted game here, during the lean winter months, they made use of a place that gave good shelter from the cold.

  "There are some caves nearby. They are only a little way off the road and not well hidden but we could try there."

  "Wouldn't they be as obvious a place as this clearing? For anyone familiar with these glades?"

  "Yes, but if we are going to stay out over night we might need to rest somewhere, unless you know of a better place."

  Galvyn shook his head, "A few hundred yards from Tivitay and I'm lost already, let's go with your idea."

  "There's something else there too, brambles, hazelnut bushes and pear trees. So we can get something to eat." It was only now that she mentioned food, that she realized how hungry she was.

  "Sounds good," Galvyn replied, and the pair of them started east out of Tivitayall and up the hill, with Alyssa leading the way.

  As she walked, she wondered whether she should answer Galvyn's question. The answer to which, set her apart from the other Fennreans and had caused her mother even more trouble.

  In the end she blurted it out, it felt like a confession.

  "He was a Coralainian."

  "Who was?"

  "My father."

  Chapter 14

  84

  It was dark, pitch black. So black, that he moved his hand in front of his face, while giving serious consideration to the possibility he'd gone blind. Only after sitting up and looking around did he see a faint glow of light emanating from somewhere away to his left. So if he wasn't blind, why were things so dark?

  Feeling around his immediate location he could tell he was somewhere dusty. While the faint echo of the sounds of his shuffling, suggested a large cavernous space. Could he be in one of the caverns that lay deep in the heart of the mountain? No, he immediately discounted that possibility. He was too accustomed to the look and feel of those caverns. The pale glow, the cold, hard rock and the sharp, lasting echos it created were too distinctive to mistake. This was somewhere quite different. He was encountering wooden posts and a web of ropes as he felt his way around. These were not surroundings he was familiar with.

  He'd walked about thirty paces, when he was overcome by an intense nausea. Crouching and retching, he tasted blood, and placing a hand on the back of his neck, he felt blood, too. The warm and sticky sensation making him feel ill, with the disorientation caused by the darkness only exacerbating the feeling. Wherever he was, he needed to get out and quickly.

  Staggering towards one of the patches of light, he started to regain some balance. The improving light meant he could now navigate from pillar to post, steadying himself each time.

  After a few minutes of slow progress, he left the cavern behind and entered what appeared to be a tunnel. The ground sloped gently downwards and he placed an outstretched hand on the tunnel wall to steady and guide himself as he went. Ahead, a cool breeze drew him on, and before long he was out of the cave's stale air, but his relief at being out in the open was short lived.

  Directly ahead of him, and just visible through the gloom, was a dark and menacing shape.

  As impossible as it seemed, the shape ahead of him was that of the Demedelei Fort, rising up on its rocky hill. There was no mistaking it; the rocky motte, the bailey wall with its defensive ramparts, and the towers of the keep rising above them.

  He could see torchlight inside, too, shining through the arrow loops of the towers and battlements. Light even emanated from fissures in the motte itself, the cold, dark heart of the fort where the prison was located. Immediately his nausea returned and he had to sit down on the grassy bank, a bank he now knew to be part of the Old Moat Road.

  Taking a moment to rest helped to dispel one discomforting feeling but another soon replaced it. He was the wrong side of the mountains.

  Getting home was now the priority and would need to be achieved quickly. This thought infused his mind with a sense of purpose, prompting him to stand and continue on.

  Perhaps the cold bracing air had a revitalizing effect, or maybe it was the sight of the fort that brought him to his senses. Either way, a number of things came back to him, not least his name and reason for being this side of the mountains. His name was Decarius and he was on a mission to recover the most valued of Coralai's treasures, the Plautius Gauntlets. Just as quickly another recollection came to him; they were in the fort. His mission had failed more completely than he had thought possible.

  All he could do now was to try and make it back south. Get back in one piece and let Hayden take the blame. That was all he could hope to salvage from the situation, and maybe not the worst outcome. He would have wait until his mind was clearer but felt some redemption was possible. The
re was still the matter of getting back, it was dark and he had miles of difficult terrain to traverse.

  Moving south along the grass bank, he became aware of a burning, acrid smell so strong he could taste it. The air was also filled with sparks, the sound of clinking, grinding metal and shouts of men. For a moment he wondered if the shouts were directed at him. He stopped and looked about him but saw nobody. It quickly became clear that the voices were not aimed at him but were the loud conversations of workmen. Even so, it was enough to discourage him from venturing in that direction. The sounds he could hear, along with the fiery red glow that seemed to emanate from all around him, gave warning of the danger he would face should he make a wrong turn.

  Decarius carefully made his way up a narrow dirt path, climbed a grass bank and stepped onto a more substantial pavement. He stumbled on and up a cobbled street, weaving from side to side as he went. The darkness was punctuated by a series of lamps, sitting atop a cast iron posts. When he reached the first of these, he leaned against it and it provided him some temporary support. No sooner had he decided to rest there for a time, bathed in the soft and comforting light, than he heard footsteps approaching.

  "Are you alright there, mister," a voice said, startling him.

  Decarius couldn't immediately tell where the voice had come from, or to whom it belonged, until a figure stepped into the glow of the lamplight ahead of him. As the man came closer, he spoke again.

  "Can I help you at all?"

  When Decarius had woken, he'd wondered if he'd gone blind, now he thought dumbness had struck him. However much he tried to say, that he was fine and needed no help, only a incoherent mumbling came forth. He tried waving the man away instead, but the stranger was insistent.

  "You're hurt man, you're bleeding. I thought you might be the worse for drink but some mischief has befallen you old fellow."

  Now the man had stepped into the light, Decarius could see him better. He was an older man, smartly dressed with well groomed mustache. Again he tried to tell him he was fine but the exertion of getting this far had drained whatever energy he had left. He could feel his legs giving way beneath him and it took a combination of his grip on the lamp post and the old man's help to prevent him falling to the ground.