The Hekamon Read online

  With his back to the wall, Kormak looked to his right and saw that the footsteps belonged to a man. Not just any man, but one wearing a heavy blue coat, iron helmet and carrying a six foot long halberd. Thankfully, the guard didn't stop, or look to his left. Instead he turned right, and walked on along the rear of the neighboring house. Kormak watched him with one eye. If the guard stopped and looked back, he would be seen, even in the falling light, since he was only half covered.

  The guard did stop.

  87

  Elidyr Tregarron stood beneath the lantern swinging from the ceiling of the prison cell, watching as it swept gently to and fro. His eyes following its movement, and his mind entranced with the light and the shadows it cast. It brought forth recollections. Memories of fables told around campfires. And of torch-lit mead halls full of soldiers, enlivened with boisterous folk songs and tales of legend.

  One such story told of a Coralainian called Plautius, who, centuries earlier, had worn a pair of mythical gauntlets. It was said the gloves had given him the strength to move a huge stone that had been blocking a tunnel into the mountains. And by opening the caverns below the Halvyon Temple, he gave access to the treasures and power that lay therein.

  To Tregarron it was just that, a story, a myth.

  To Coralainians it was history. It was how their forebears established the temple. It was the founding act, that the Greavus family claimed cemented their authority, and the gauntlets had played an important role ever since.

  The ceremonial rites that would take place at various times would usually involve the sacerdos, or their ennobled choice of kentarch, wearing the gauntlets as a symbol of their power. They were their equivalent of the robes of state, seal of office, crown of kingship.

  Tregarron knew that since Aegis was the son of the saceress, and presumably lined up for kentarch, and eventually the role sacerdos himself. Then the gauntlets were the symbol of his status, they were his birthright. The man might be youthful, but if the gauntlets really had been stolen, then it would fall to him, more than anyone else, to get them back again. He had a vested interest in their recovery.

  Tregarron ended his reverie and started moving back toward the Coralainian, finding it hard to keep the smile from his lips.

  "You say something valuable was stolen, what exactly?"

  "Something valuable, that's all you need to know," Aegis said, sullenly.

  "It would be careless to lose the Plautius Gauntlets, very careless."

  Aegis looked at him, his eyes wide, faced puzzled and indignant.

  "You know about them? Do you have them?"

  "Alas, no."

  Oh, to have possession of them, that would be something. It had long been rumored in Demedelei that they were not the relic of Plautius at all, but rather those of Caeradac. An ancient pair of carapaces once worn by the revered leader of Demedelei. The Coralainians had stolen them when they took control of the water source in the mountains. Thinking of this, Tregarron's mind started to wander at the possibilities.

  What if he was able to secure the carapaces for himself? They would be a powerful bargaining chip if nothing else. Yet, he knew that if he were to secure possession of them, then he would not want to give them up again. Not in some shady political horse trading, or to barter them away cheaply. Once he held them, he could not imagine he would allow them to become lost again, or fall back into the wrong hands, or—

  He stopped himself.

  Just the thought of the Caeradac Carapaces was effecting his judgment. They were well out of reach and even if they weren't, the risks were too great. The theft of what they called the Eagle Standard, was likely to be causing ructions in Coralai. And with Aegis in his custody the stakes were high. As much as he would like to seize the opportunity, Tregarron knew Demedelei must not be seen to be involved in any way. Still, there was nothing wrong with trying to determine their location. He would start by placating Aegis and finding out what he could.

  "I don't have them," he said gently, turning to the boy, "nor do I know where they are, all I know is that you are looking for them. What made you think the merchant Tansley had them."

  The young Coralainian seemed reluctant to answer, but after a moments thought, explained his reasoning.

  "We think we know who stole them, a man called Hayden. He left the Halvyon Temple shortly before they were discovered missing. We knew he was traveling this way and so…Gregario and I traveled to the Regis Highway to investigate the trading posts, while a larger search party was organized."

  "In case the thief sold them on quickly?" Tregarron said, familiar with the common practice of those handling stolen goods.

  "Yes."

  "And did he?"

  "Gregario seemed more certain than I. Hayden had certainly visited that trading post, so the possibility existed."

  "How do you know he had been there?"

  "I found his dagger among the wares, I'd seen it before and recognized it, and the merchant said that a man had traded it for a coat and boots for a journey north."

  Tregarron recalled that the merchant had told him that too, "What else did Tansley tell you?"

  "I don't know, I went into the woodshed to get some wood and that's the last thing I remember."

  "Tansley made no mention of the gauntlets?"

  "No, he would have done though."

  "How can you be sure of that?" Tregarron asked, a little perplexed by the prisoners certainty.

  It was Aegis's silence that gave him away, and Tregarron put the details together.

  "You had Tansley tied up and were getting wood to stoke the fire, crude but effective."

  "That was more Gregario's idea."

  "Blaming your partner in crime, crude and effective, also."

  "He just seemed more certain that the merchant was hiding something. The man's behavior had been suspicious, I just wasn't so convinced."

  "Why not? From what you've told me, it seems your suspicions were confirmed."

  "I knew Hayden from his time at the Halvyon Temple these last few months. It didn't seem like the kind of thing he would do, but everything did point in his direction. It's just…he knew the gauntlets were very important, the merchant could never have given a fair price for them, so why would he do that?"

  Tregarron conceded the young man's reasoning, he considered it further. Maybe this Hayden fellow had stolen them but hadn't yet sold them. If so, it would probably mean they were still in his possession. He ran the idea past Aegis.

  "If he stopped by the store but didn't sell them, then do you think he would he still have them with him?"

  "That's possible," Aegis said, before becoming assertive once more. "I've told you what you want to know, and our reason for being on the highway, now let me go."

  "Not so fast, there's something I still need to establish. If you and Gregario tied Tansley up, who tied you two up?"

  This seemed to puzzle Aegis, "Wasn't it your men?"

  "No, we found you like that. I was investigating another incident that took me to Tansley's hut. I ordered you brought here for questioning. Are there any other Coralainians this side of the mountains, anyone you know of."

  Aegis hesitated before shaking his head, "Only Hayden. It must be Hayden, there is nobody else it could be."

  Tregarron considered the timing of events as best he could ascertain them. From the information he had gathered, it seemed that it would be difficult for one man to be responsible for all the assaults. Difficult or impossible? He was inclined more towards the latter, and feeling the rabbit skin bag inside his coat, realized he had to find out how they fitted in. The prisoner had been co-operative up until now, but Tregarron would watch his reaction to the next question carefully.

  "If what you say is true, and there are no other Coralainians here, then I need to know, have you been dealing with Fennreans?"

  "Fennreans?" The young man was incredulous, "The savages from the swamp? What would we want with them? I've never even seen a Fennrean, and have no wish
to do so."

  "You know, Aegis, I don't like being lied to, It's just one of those things. I consider it no different to being punched, kicked or spat at, and I retaliate in kind. Why are you lying to me?" Tregarron said, getting close to the young man and fixing him with a stare to convey his seriousness.

  "Captain, I'm not lying. There has been no dealing with Fennreans, nor will there be," Aegis said, returning the stare, to emphasize his truthfulness.

  "Then why did I find this," he said, taking out the bag of clay vials, "on your companion's person," holding it up in the light of the lantern.

  Seeing the pouch, the son of the saceress closed his eyes. It was obvious that he both recognized it and knew it could spell trouble. He sighed deeply, before answering quickly and, Tregarron suspected, truthfully.

  "When searching for the gauntlets, I found that bag under a lose tile on the floor of the trading post. Gregario took it for himself. He shouldn't have done so. It was not what we were there for, I should have made him put it back."

  "Why didn't you?"

  "The men don't always do what I tell them, even though I'm their superior, I don't think they like taking orders from a younger man. I just let some things go."

  Tregarron straightened, returned the bag to his coat and, without speaking, took the lantern down from the hook and moved toward the door.

  "Captain, are you going to release me?"

  "No."

  "I demand to be released. We were on the highway, the route of safe passage, and not in uniform."

  "The rules of the Aquassent Treaty are not complicated," Tregarron grew angry, "each of our militaries keeps to its own territory. You may not have been in the guise of your militia but you were conducting business as such."

  "But—"

  "There has been an assault here in Demedelei, in the shadow of this very fort. I will investigate it until I'm satisfied I have the answers," he said, his anger subsiding and authority returning.

  "But I haven't done anything wrong."

  "You broke into a trading post, you assaulted and stole from the merchant there and, if that wasn't enough, you were found to be in possession of illicit herbs," he said, before turning back toward the door.

  "That was all Gregario's doing," Aegis said plaintively.

  As he opened the cell door, Cardell arrived with a bowl of broth. Tregarron waited for him to hand it to the prisoner, before they both left the cell and Cardell locked the door.

  "Was he co-operative, Captain."

  "Yes he was," he replied, as the two men moved along the passageway, with the light cast by the lanterns causing their shadows to dance on the walls around them. "And he is not someone we can be heavy handed with anyway. Not unless we want to resume hostilities with Coralai. Be gentle with him Cardell, it's not an order I give very often I know, but that's how it is with that one."

  "As you wish, sir," Cardell said, despondently.

  "However, he has accused his fellow Coralainian of breaking and entering, assault, false imprisonment, theft and possession of hallucinogenic substances."

  A huge grin spread across Cardell's face, and Tregarron shared his smile this time.

  "His he off limits too, sir."

  "No Bailiff, he isn't and I think he will tell us everything we want to know."

  "I can guarantee it, sir."

  "Is he ready to be interrogated?" he asked, remembering that the man had been the more badly injured of the two Coralainians.

  "The last time I looked, he was still out cold," Cardell replied.

  "Then it will have to wait. I will use the time to speak with Lord Jephson. He is going to be very interested to know who is residing in his prison."

  88

  The guard had reached the next alleyway.

  With his back to Kormak, the man looked to his left and into the forests of the glades, and then to his right, and down the alley to which he was adjacent. Kormak moved his hand to the handle of the blade on his belt, waiting for the man's next move. The guard waited a few seconds and then turned to his right, walked into the alleyway and out of sight. Kormak hadn't realized he was holding his breath until that moment, he exhaled with relief and smiled at the close call, but knew he couldn't dwell.

  During his time in the Egret Patrol, Kormak had spent many hours doing just that, patrolling. Walking the paths and circling the perimeter of the Egret Stockade. That guard hadn't been out for an evening stroll, he was patrolling the village, and maybe even guarding this very building. The one between the two alleyways he had just traversed. If he was, then he would be back, and soon.

  Kormak knew the monotony of walking the same route would dull the man's senses and lower his alertness, but not to the extent he would fail to spot him a second or a third time.

  He tried to gauge the size of the building and the time in would take the guard to make is way back around again. The answer, he realized, was not very long at all, a minute at most.

  If Kormak wanted to continue searching Tivitay, he could take the chance to get passed these alleyways now. The opportunity was there, since the guard was probably around the front and on the street, but nearly being caught had unnerved him. He tried to understand what the guards were up to. Why was there a guard patrolling here anyway? There was one here and two had even gone as far as the bridge. It was rare for them to go that close to the marshes, and for them to have followed the Coralainian that far, suggested something serious must have happened.

  He would have to think about it but he couldn't do it here, he wanted to get away and into the cover of the trees and fast. He felt exposed, vulnerable. Looking to his right and left, and seeing the way clear, he broke away from the wall and ran across the open ground to the tree line, before weaving through the first few trees and throwing himself behind the wide trunk of a large tree.

  Its rough bark and reassuringly solid bulk obscuring him from view. He peered around and back the way he'd come, but saw nothing and heard no sounds that would suggest he'd been seen.

  Staying close to the tree, he continued to watch.

  Once again heard the sound of footsteps, muffled this time by distance and the trees of the forest. A few seconds later, the guard reappeared, emerging from the same alley he had a minute earlier. Stopping, the man turned and looked to his left. If the guard had done that last time, he would have been seen. What would have happened then? Before he had a chance to tell himself he would have escaped the situation without difficulty, the guard spoke loudly.

  "Any plans for this evening?"

  Kormak drew back, hiding behind the tree completely. Could he have been spotted? Not in this light, surely, with only his face visible and from a distance of fifty yards. His tattoo was not only a badge of honor, it served to camouflage him, the irregular dark blue, almost black patterns disguising the features of his face. But what if he had been seen? Might he be a match for them with just a dagger? He started to doubt it. In that case he was limited to one option.

  If he'd been seen he would need to run, and if he was going to run, the sooner the better. Go, while he had a head start. Run and follow a circuitous path back to the bridge, his plans for bringing Alyssa tonight back evaporating before him. As he readied himself to burst out from his hiding place. Another voice stopped him, and not a moment too soon. He hadn't been seen after all.

  "Nothing I couldn't cancel," another guard said, from the side of the village closer to the marshes.

  There were two of them. They were calling to each other, and not to him. He wasn't about to get caught, not yet anyway, but his situation was still precarious. He pressed himself close to the tree but the sounds that followed told him that the danger was receding. Footsteps, reverberating on the cobblestones and diminishing into the alleyways.

  Kormak wondered how close he had come to being to being seen by the other guard. Maybe some alleys were not paved. Or maybe that man was just lighter on his feet, his footsteps harder to hear. Or he'd walked a longer route. Whatever it was, he knew
it had been a close call.

  Getting arrested by the guards was looking a real possibility. Especially if there were going to be a number of them prowling the alleyways. But why were they even in the village? Who or what were they looking for?

  From what he could see they were patrolling rather than searching the properties, which suggested they were either looking for someone, or guarding against someone.

  Could the focus of their interest be the Coralainian that crossed the bridge earlier? If that was the case, why continue to patrol the village? The two returning guards would have seen the man was in Fennrean custody, there would be no point searching for him here now. Perhaps the accomplice the two guards spoke of was the object of their attention. This seemed more likely.

  Satisfied the patrolling guards were now gone, Kormak put more distance between himself and the village. Since a direct route back to the bridge was risky, he thought it would be better to head toward Tivitayall first. He started walking in that direction, and fifty yards further into the woods, the village behind him was already out of sight. It gave him the opportunity to consider things and make sense of the guards behavior.

  There were two explanations he could think of. The first was that their actions were not unusual. He didn't know the movements of the guards well enough to judge whether their patrolling of Tivitay was normal or not. This might just be how they do things here. He and his fellow ferguths kept watch along the Fennelbek Way. The guards here might do the same, along their stretch of the route of safe passage, this seemed entirely possible.

  The second thought worried him more, much more. Could it be something to do with Alyssa? Might she have been suspected of being a Fennrean up to no good and reported? Or worse still, might something have been done to her? Something that got the attention of the guards. Her dagger had been taken from her, that much he knew. A scenario presented itself to him.