'Always preferred doing to jawing,' answered Arik. 'I say let's have at it.'
'Then you'll lead the raid?' said Call.
'I could,' said Arik, 'but it's the southerner's plan, and I'll follow any man with the guts and the ice to walk into an enemy castle and spirit away a prisoner. Leaders need a little ice in their veins. They need to think cool at all times. Me I get carried away in the heat of battle. Let Kaelin Ring lead.'
Call looked suddenly uncomfortable. 'We are talking of the future of our clan,' he said. 'If we win we gain time. If we lose we are finished. I mean no disrespect to Kaelin Ring - for he has proved himself an exceptional warrior - but he is untried in battle and leadership.'
'I disagree, Call,' said Rayster. 'I followed Kaelin's lead when we entered the fortress. If we are to try this hazardous plan then I agree with Arik. Kaelin Ring is the man to head it.'
Kaelin saw Call glance down at the splint on his left arm, and guessed that the Rigante chieftain was wishing he was strong enough to lead the attack himself. 'Let us put it to the vote,' said Call. 'Those in favour of our friend Kaelin leading this attack raise their hands.' Of the thirty men present seventeen voted in favour, including Bael and Rayster.
'Then it is decided,' said Call. He swung to Kaelin. 'How soon?'
'Tomorrow night,' answered Kaelin.
'Very well. This meeting is now over. Arik, will you join Kaelin and myself for a dram before you leave?'
'I never say no to uisge,' said Arik.
For Alterith Shaddler the next twenty-four hours were filled with disappointment. Of the twelve businessmen he sought, seven had left Eldacre unexpectedly, travelling south to Baracum. Four refused point-blank to speak up for Maev Ring, and Gillam Pearce was 'not available' to speak to the schoolteacher. His wife maintained Gillam was ill with a fever.
Close to despair Alterith sat in a small eating house, sharing a meal with Banny. The youngster had grown in the last year. Though still slim he had strong shoulders, the legacy - though Alterith did not know it - of days spent with Jaim Grymauch, learning to fist fight and to wield a wooden sword. He was more confident now -especially after the fight in the summer with Kammel Bard. He had downed the Varlish youth three times, the last with a left hook that had spun Kammel from his feet and pitched him to the cobbles unconscious.
'There is still time, sir,' Banny told the dispirited Alterith. 'We have two more days.'
'There is no-one left to call, Banny. I am filled with despair - not just for the admirable lady, but for the soul of the Varlish. I know the clans believe us to be cruel and spiteful, but there is in our race both courage and nobility of spirit. That so many of my people are ready to lie for wealth, to see a good woman die in order that a few more coins can line their pockets, is a disgrace, Banny.'
'Those we saw today were not willing to lie for gain, sir. Could you not see that they were just too frightened to speak the truth?'
Alterith nodded. ‘I saw. They have been visited by the knights. They have had their heads filled with tales of burning and retribution.'
'I saw two of the knights today,' said Banny. 'They looked very fine with their white cloaks and their silver armour.'
'They are - were - a fine order,' Alterith told him. 'I don't know what to make of them any more. They are pledged to uphold the purity of the Tree, and to combat evil wherever they find it. Yet, in the last few years, I have heard tales of torture and murder. The knights, by nature of their order, do not pledge allegiance to the king. And with the trouble in the south between the king and the covenanters they are a law unto themselves now.'
'What can we do?' asked Banny.
'I will return to Gillam Pearce. By all accounts he is an honest man. I cannot bring myself to believe he will allow Maev to face execution.'
They finished their meal in silence. Alterith gave Banny money to pay for the food, and left the eating house. It was dark as he stepped into the narrow street. Three men emerged from the shadows. Alterith stood very still. All three wore white cloaks and silver helms. 'A word with you, schoolteacher,' said the first.
'What can I do for you, sir?'
'Step away from evil,' the knight answered, 'for a man is judged by the company he keeps, and the company of witches can lead only to the burning. The witch Maev Ring will be punished. As will all those who seek to aid her in her dark ways.'
'We must be talking of another Maev Ring,' said Alterith. 'The one I know is a good woman, with no pretensions to dark powers.'
'I see that I am not making myself clear, Mr Shaddler.' He stepped closer. Something struck Alterith on the side of the head and he fell back against the wall, dizziness swamping him. A mailed fist hammered into his belly. Alterith fell to his knees, vomiting his meal to the cobbles. 'If you approach Gillam Pearce you will die. I promise this,' said the man. 'I tolerate no evil, and crush it wherever I find it.'
Alterith struggled to his feet. 'If you . . . tolerate no evil,' he said, 'how is it that you can look in a mirror?'
The mailed fist struck him in the face and he pitched once more to the ground, blood seeping from a cut under his right eye.
The three Knights of the Sacrifice walked away. Alterith vomited once more. Banny found him there.
'What happened, sir?'
'Help me up.' Banny lifted the skinny schoolteacher to his feet. 'Fetch the pony and trap. I need to see Gillam Pearce tonight.'
'Yes, sir.'
Twenty minutes later Alterith, still shaken from his beating, pounded on the door of Gillam Pearce's house. His wife opened it. ‘I told you,' she said, 'my husband . . .' Her voice tailed away as she saw the blood on Alterith's cut and swollen face. 'You are hurt,' she said lamely. Alterith looked into her eyes. She was past middle age, her face lined and heavy set. But all traces of irritation had passed when she saw his wounds, and that showed Alterith that she had a kind heart.
'I was set upon, madam, by men who do not wish to see Maev Ring defended. I was told that if I came here I would be killed.’
‘Then you should understand why my husband cannot help you.’
‘What I understand is that a great injustice is being perpetrated, and a good woman - a woman like yourself - faces execution. I cannot let that pass. I will not be frightened into allowing such an evil.'
'Bring him in, Ilda,' came a voice from inside the house. ' ‘Tis too cold to talk on the doorstep.'
Alterith stepped into the living room. A fire was glowing in the hearth, and a small man was sitting before it. 'Shall we compare wounds?' he asked, rising from his chair. Alterith saw that his left eye was black and swollen, and there was a deep cut on the bridge of his nose.
'Bruises will heal,' said Alterith. 'They want to kill Maev Ring.'
'I know, and that saddens me,' said Gillam Pearce. 'She is a fine, shrewd businesswoman. But what can I do, Master Shaddler? Fifteen upstanding citizens claim she bewitched them. If I say they are all liars I will be ruined. No-one will buy from me. Worse, when she is found guilty I will be accused of being her accomplice and then I too will face the rope or the burning. So what is it you ask of me? To stand up before the Church and tell them the truth, though it destroys me?'
'Yes,' said Alterith, 'that is what I ask.'
'And what would the purpose be, pray? We will not save Maev Ring.'
'All trials are recorded, Master Pearce. Recorded for posterity, the evidence sent on to the church authorities in Varingas. That is why the knights are so anxious that you do not speak. Not because you will make a difference to the verdict, which has already been bought and paid for by Jorain Feld, but because their infamy will be seen in your testimony. This trial is a sham; a mockery of all we should believe in. Someone needs to say that on the record. If Maev Ring must go to her death over this, then she should know she had loyal friends, men of honour and courage. Men unafraid to speak the truth and shame the vile.'
Gillam Pearce began to laugh.
'Have I said something to amuse you, sir?' asked Al
terith stiffly.
'Of course you have, my friend. Look at us; a skinny schoolteacher and a worn-out cobbler. What a terrifying army we make against the might of the Church and the Knights of the Sacrifice. We shall have them quaking in their boots.'
'Then you will speak for Maev?'
Gillam moved to a small desk by the far wall. From a drawef he took a sheaf of papers. 'This is my affidavit, sworn out three days ago and witnessed. Take it and keep it safe. It will still be admissible in evidence even if they do carry out their threat to kill me.'
Alterith pushed the papers into the pocket of his coat. 'I am in your debt, sir,' he said.
'Not at all, Master Shaddler. I thank you for reminding me what honour means. I shall - if the Source is willing - be at the Holy Court.'
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
KAELIN RING SAT UPON THE GROUND, WAITING FOR A BREAK IN THE clouds. The weather had not favoured the three hundred and twenty-two men, and the night was pitch dark, storm clouds rolling across the sky.
Arik Ironlatch moved alongside him. 'What is your plan?' he asked.
Kaelin could scarcely make out the man's grizzled features. 'We go down in squads of twenty,' he said. 'The ledges will not accommodate more. That is, of course, if the clouds break and give us the moon.'
'They will or they won't,' said Arik. 'No point worrying about it.'
Kaelin did not reply. His stomach was tight with worry, and there was little he could do about it. When they had first reached the peaks there had been a little light, and Kaelin had walked to the lip and gazed down. The rock face he had climbed late yesterday seemed doubly daunting now, dark and sheer, the trees far below. His confidence, so high when he spoke at the meeting, was draining away by the moment. The wind was gusting, and there was the smell of rain in the air.
Climbing was perilous in good conditions, but to attempt a night descent was fraught with problems. In climbing up a man could see the holds just above him, but descending meant feeling your way. The face was exposed. Billowing winds could dislodge a climber, or rain could make the rock slippery and treacherous.
Kaelin's mouth was dry. He pictured the climb, breaking it down in his mind. The ropes would help. There were a number of trees near the lip, and the men could lower themselves to the first of the ledges. He tried to recall if there were jutting rocks that would support ropes further down. Then he realized Arik was speaking again.
'So, how is my farm prospering?' he asked.
'Your farm?'
'The farm I sold to Maev Ring.'
'It is making a good profit, sir,' answered Kaelin.
'We don't sir each other in the highlands,' Arik told him. Then he chuckled. 'That farm made no money for me. I danced for joy when I tricked your aunt into buying it for half again what it was worth. Now it is valued at six times what she paid for it. A shrewd woman is Maev Ring.'
'Aye, she is.' Just talking about the mundane realities of life away from war and peril relaxed Kaelin. He felt the tension and the fear easing out of him. Arik leaned towards him.
'Now tell me again of what we are to do when we reach the ground.'
'We wait for the dawn and then you take a hundred men and charge the cannoneers. I will lead the rest against the main force,' Kaelin told him, surprised that his voice sounded calm and confident.
'Then Call brings his men out of the pass?'
'Let's hope so,' said Kaelin.
The clouds parted. Kaelin glanced up. Moonlight shone down upon the peaks, but the clouds were still thick and the light would not last long. Pushing himself to his feet he gathered a rope and walked to the edge of the cliff. Gazing down, he could see the first ledge some forty feet below. Moving back from the edge he tied the rope to the trunk of an old tree. Tossing the coil out over the cliff he watched it snake down. While the moon was still bright he hooked another rope over his shoulder and lowered himself to the ledge. It was around four feet deep and thirty feet long. Kaelin scanned the area, seeking a jutting rock to which he could belay the second rope. There was nothing. The moon vanished again, and Kaelin sat down quietly in the darkness to wait.
His thoughts turned to Chara and her ordeal. He had not seen her since she walked into the great house, and, despite his memories of the conversation with the Wyrd, had no depth of understanding of her suffering. He hoped with all his heart that, as the days passed, she would rediscover her joy in life. Then he recalled the words of Call Jace, after he had spoken with her.
'I thank you, Kaelin, for bringing my daughter home. You are a good man, and a brave one. I will always be in your debt. I also want you to know that I will understand if you withdraw your offer of marriage.'
Kaelin had sat silently, trying to make sense of the words. Call misunderstood his silence. 'I am sure Chara will understand too,' he said.
'I love her, Call. Nothing has changed for me. When she recovers we will wed as we planned. If that is what she wants.'
Call Jace placed his hand on Kaelin's shoulder. 'Spoken like a Rigante. We will see.’
‘I'd like to speak to her.'
'She doesn't want to see anyone. Give her time, boy.' The wind gusted again, shrieking across the rocks. The clouds broke, and within minutes the moon shone bright once more. Kaelin looked at the heavens. Stars were glinting, the sky beginning to clear.
The next ledge was sixty feet down, and slightly to the right. Kaelin swung the second rope from his shoulder and tied it to the first with a reef knot. Dropping the coil he watched it fall. It dangled some five feet to the left of the ledge below. Needing more ropes he scaled the face, pulled himself back over the lip of the peak and strode back to where Arik was sitting beside Rayster. It had surprised Kaelin that the tall clansman had joined them, for he had made clear at the meeting he had no wish to meet his doom on a cliff face in the dark. 'A man should always face his fears,' was all Rayster had said.
Kaelin dropped down alongside the men. ‘I’ll take another rope down. Watch for my signal, and then let the men follow in groups of no more than twenty. The climb must be done as near silently as possible. If we are discovered on the face we'll be wiped out.'
'We're not noisy climbers,' said Arik. 'We won't be singing battle songs.'
'I know,' said Kaelin. 'What I am trying to say is that any man who falls must not cry out.'
'They all know that, Kaelin,' said Arik softly.
'Let the first of your climbers bring down more ropes. We'll need at least ten more.' Kaelin turned to run his eyes over the waiting warriors. 'Some of them still have scabbards at the hip,' he said. 'Get them all to loop them over their shoulders.'
‘I’ll do that, general,' said Arik, with a wink. Kaelin relaxed and smiled.
'I must be the youngest general in Rigante history,' he said.
'Bendegit Bran was about your age,' said Arik. 'And Bane was only a little older when he became a gladiator. We Rigante grow fast to manhood.'
The sky was clear of clouds now and Kaelin took a deep breath. 'It is time,' he said. Taking another rope he returned to the edge and swung himself over. Once on the ledge he signalled for the first of the climbers to follow him.
Rayster came down, bringing another rope. He reached the ledge and looked over at the forest hundreds of feet below. 'I do not like this at all,' he muttered.
'Warn the men that on the next drop they will need to swing across to the ledge. The rope is a little shy.'
'Oh, what a nice thought,' said Rayster.
Kaelin glanced up. 'Best move aside,' he warned. The second of the climbers was on his way down.
Once the first twenty had safely reached them Kaelin lowered himself until he was alongside the second ledge. Gently swinging on the rope until he was above it he dropped to the shelf of rock. Signalling Rayster and the others to wait he examined the area. Here there was a chimney-like fissure, and within it a small column of stone some three feet high. Belaying another rope around it he tied it securely and watched as the coil unravelled on its fall to the next sh
elf of rock. From here he could not see how far down the rope hung. It seemed, though, that it was shy of the ledge. Kaelin waved to catch Rayster's attention and gestured him down.
The clansman came down smoothly, then swung on the rope as Kaelin had done. Only he did not let go as his feet swung over the ledge. Kaelin saw that he was very pale, his knuckles white as they gripped the rope. Panic was on him, and he could not let go. He swung back and forth over the dizzying drop.
'Rayster, listen to me. You will not fall. I will catch you. You hear me!’
'Damned hands won't obey me,' said Rayster. He was sweating now, and staring down into the darkness.
'Look at me!' Rayster's eyes met his. 'Keep looking at me.' Kaelin held out his hand. 'Now swing, and, when I tell you, release the rope. I will catch you. Trust me, Rayster.'
'I'm not sure that I can do it.'
'I am sure,' said Kaelin softly. 'You are a brave man, and you are facing your fears. Now we are going to climb down this cliff, and we are going to smite the enemy. We are going to fight for the Rigante, and avenge Chara. So start to swing.'
Rayster pushed his feet against the rock face. The rope groaned as he swung back and forth.
'Now!' said Kaelin.
Rayster let go and cannoned into Kaelin, almost knocking him from his feet. Rayster stumbled and fell. Kaelin reached out, grabbing his shirt and hauling him back from the edge. The clansman's face was ghostly white. 'Breathe deeply and slowly,' said Kaelin.
'I am all right. I'll not panic again.'
'Wait here,' said Kaelin, taking the coiled rope from Rayster's shoulder. Then he lowered himself onto the face, moving down hand over hand.
The first rope ended some eight feet short of the shelf. Kaelin found a foothold and steadied himself against the face. The wind was blowing strong over the exposed rock. Kaelin played out a little of Rayster's rope, then looped the remainder back over his shoulder. Adjusting his feet more securely he half turned his body and slowly tied the two ropes together. Once the reef knot was tight he dropped the coil to the ledge and climbed down.