Vintar entered the captain's mind - and reeled with the horror of his thoughts. Swiftly he made the man see the distant merchant ship and filled his mind with nameless fears. The approaching ship, he made the captain believe, was filled with soldiers. It was an ill omen, it would be the death of him. Then Vintar left him, and listened with satisfaction as Earin Shad bellowed orders to his men to turn about and make for the north-west.
Vintar floated above Rowena and the two men until the merchant ship arrived and hauled them aboard. Then he departed for the Lentrian port of Chupianin, where he healed the captain's daughter.
Only then did he return to the Temple, where he found the Abbot sitting beside his bed.
'How are you feeling, my boy?' he asked.
'Better than I have in years, Father. The girl is safe now. And I have enhanced two lives.'
'Three,' said the Abbot. 'You have enhanced your own.'
'That is true,' admitted Vintar, 'and it is good to be home.'
*
Druss could hardly believe the chaos at the clearing site. Hundreds of men scurried here and there without apparent direction, felling trees, digging out roots, hacking at the dense, overgrown vegetation. There was no order to the destruction. Trees were hacked down, falling across paths used by men with wheelbarrows who were trying to clear the debris. Even while he waited to see the Overseer he watched a tall pine topple on to a group of men digging out tree roots. No one was killed, but one worker suffered a broken arm and several others showed bloody gashes to face or arm.
The Overseer, a slender yet pot-bellied man, called him over. 'Well, what are your skills?' he asked.
'Woodsman,' answered Druss.
'Everyone here claims to be a woodsman,' said the man wearily. 'I'm looking for men with skill.'
'You certainly need them,' observed Druss.
'I have twenty days to clear this area, then another twenty to prepare footings for the new buildings. The pay is two silver pennies a day.' The man pointed to a burly, bearded man sitting on a tree-stump. 'That's Togrin, the charge-hand. He organises the work-force and hires the men.'
'He's a fool,' said Druss, 'and he'll get someone killed.'
'Fool he may be,' admitted the Overseer, 'but he's also a very tough man. No one shirks when he's around.'
Druss gazed at the site. 'That may be true; but you'll never finish on time. And I'll not work for any man who doesn't know what he's doing.'
'You're a little young to making such sweeping comments,' observed the Overseer. 'So tell me, how would you re-organise the work?'
Td move the axemen further west and allow the rest of the men to clear behind them. If it carries on like this, all movement will cease. Look there,' said Druss, pointing to the right. Trees had been felled in a rough circle, at the centre of which were men digging out huge roots. 'Where will they take the roots?' asked the axeman. 'There is no longer a path. They will have to wait while the trees are hauled away. Yet how will you move horses and trace chains through to them?'
The Overseer smiled. 'You have a point, young man. Very well. The charge-hand earns four pennies a day. Take his place and show me what you can do.'
Druss took a deep breath. His muscles were already tired from the long walk to the site, and the wounds in his back were aching. He was in no condition to fight, and had been hoping to ease himself in to the work. 'How do you signal a break in the work?' he asked.
'We ring the bell for the noon break. But that's three hours away.'
'Have it rung now,' said Druss.
The Overseer chuckled. "This should break the monotony,' he said. 'Do you want me to tell Togrin he has lost his job?'
Druss looked into the man's brown eyes. 'No. I'll tell him myself,' he said.
'Good. Then I'll see to the bell.'
The Overseer strolled away and Druss picked his way through the chaos until he was standing close to the seated Togrin. The man glanced up. He was large and round-shouldered, heavy of arm and sturdy of chin. His eyes were dark, almost black under heavy brows. 'Looking for work?' he asked.
'No.'
'Then get off my site. I don't like idlers.'
The clanging of a bell sounded through the wood. Togrin swore and rose as everywhere men stopped working. 'What the. . . ?' He swung around. 'Who rang that bell?' he bellowed.
Men began to gather around the charge-hand and Druss approached the man. 'I ordered the bell rung,' he said.
Togrin's eyes narrowed. 'And who might you be?' he asked.
'The new charge-hand,' replied Druss.
'Well, well,' said Togrin, with a wide grin. 'Now there are two charge-hands. I think that's one too many.'
'I agree,' Druss told him. Stepping in swiftly, he delivered a thundering blow to the man's belly. The air left Togrin's lungs with a great whoosh and he doubled up, his head dropping. Druss's left fist chopped down the man's jaw and Togrin hit the ground face first. The charge-hand twitched, then lay still.
Druss sucked in a great gulp of air. He felt unsteady and white lights danced before his eyes as he looked around at the waiting men. 'Now we are going to make some changes,' he said.
*
Day by day Druss's strength grew, the muscles of his arms and shoulders swelling with each sweeping blow of the axe, each shovelful of hard clay, each wrenching lift that tore a stubborn tree root clear of the earth. For the first five days Druss slept at the site in a small canvas tent supplied by the Overseer. He had not the energy to walk the three miles back to the rented house. And each lonely night two faces hovered in his mind as he drifted to sleep: Rowena, whom he loved more than life, and Borcha, the fist-fighter he knew he had to face.
In the quiet of the tent his thoughts were many. He saw his father differently now and wished he had known him better. It took courage to live down a father like Bardan the Slayer, and to raise a child and build a life on the frontier. He remembered the day when the wandering mercenary had stopped at the village. Druss had been impressed by the man's weapons, knife, short sword and hand-axe, and by his, battered breastplate and helm. 'He lives a life of real courage,' he had observed to his father, putting emphasis on the word real. Bress had merely nodded. Several days later, as they were walking across the high meadow, Bress had pointed towards the house of Egan the farmer. 'You want to see courage, boy,' he said. 'Look at him working in that field. Ten years ago he had a farm on the Sentran Plain, but Sathuli raiders came in the night, burning him out. Then he moved to the Ventrian border, where locusts destroyed his crops for three years. He had borrowed money to finance his farm and he lost everything. Now he is back on the land, working from first light to last. That's real courage. It doesn't take much for a man to abandon a life of toil for a sword. The real heroes are those who battle on.'
The boy had known better. You couldn't be a hero and a farmer.
'If he was so brave, why didn't he fight off the Sathuli?'
'He had a wife and three children to protect.'
'So he ran away?'
'He ran away,' agreed Bress.
'I'll never run from a fight,' said Druss.
'Then you'll die young,' Bress told him.
Druss sat up and thought back to the raid. What would he have done if the choice had been to fight the slavers - or run with Rowena?
His sleep that night was troubled.
On the sixth night as he walked from the site a tall, burly figure stepped into his path. It was Togrin, the former charge-hand. Druss had not seen him since the fight. The young axeman scanned the darkness, seeking other assailants, but there were none.
'Can we talk?' asked Togrin.
'Why not?' countered Druss.
The man took a deep breath. 'I need work,' he said. 'My wife's sick. The children have not eaten in two days.'
Druss looked hard into the man's face, seeing the hurt pride and instantly sensing what it had cost him to ask for help. 'Be on site at dawn,' he said, and strolled on. He felt uncomfortable as he made his way home, telling h
imself he would never have allowed his own dignity to be lost in such a way. But even as he thought the words, a seed of doubt came to him. Mashrapur was a harsh, unforgiving city. A man was valued only so long as he contributed to the general well-being of the community. And how dreadful it must be, he thought, to watch your children starve.
It was dusk when he arrived at the house. He was tired, but the bone-weariness he had experienced for so long had faded. Sieben was not home. Druss lit a lantern and opened the rear door to the garden allowing the cool sea breeze to penetrate the house.
Removing his money-pouch; he counted out the twenty-four silver pennies he had earned thus far. Twenty was the equivalent of a single raq, and that was one month's rent on the property. At this rate he would never earn enough to settle his debts. Old Thorn was right: he could make far more in the sand circle.
He recalled the bout with Borcha, the terrible pounding he had received. The memory of the punches he had taken was strong within him - but so too was the memory of those he had thundered into his opponent.
He heard the iron gate creak at the far end of the garden and saw a shadowly figure making his way towards the house. Moonlight glinted from the man's bald pate, and he seemed colossal as he strode through the shadowed trees. Druss rose from his seat, his pale eyes narrowing.
Borcha halted just before the door. 'Well,' he asked, 'are you going to invite me in?'
Druss stepped into the garden. 'You can take your beating out here,' he hissed. 'I've not the money to pay for broken furniture.'
'You're a cocky lad,' said Borcha amiably, stepping into the house and draping his green cloak across the back of a couch. Nonplussed, Druss followed him inside. The big man stretched out in a padded chair, crossing his legs and leaning his head back against the high back. 'A good chair,' he said. 'Now how about a drink?'
'What do you want here?' demanded Druss, fighting to control his rising temper.
'A little hospitality, farm boy. I don't know about you, but where I come from we normally offer a guest a goblet of wine when he takes the trouble to call.'
'Where I'm from,' responded Druss, 'uninvited guests are rarely welcome.'
'Why such hostility? You won your wager and you fought well. Collan did not take my advice - which was to return your wife -and now he is dead. I had no part in the raid.'
'And I suppose you haven't been looking for me, seeking your revenge?'
Borcha laughed. 'Revenge? For what? You stole nothing from me. You certainly did not beat me - nor could you. You have the strength but not the skill. If that had been a genuine bout I would have broken you, boy - eventually. However, you are quite right - I have been looking for you.'
Druss sat opposite the giant. 'So Old Thorn told me. He said you were seeking to destroy me.'
Borcha shook his head and grinned. 'The drunken fool misunderstood, boy. Now tell me, how old do you think I am?'
'What? How in the name of Hell should I know?' stormed Druss.
'I'm thirty-eight, thirty-nine in two months. And yes, I could still beat Grassin, and probably all the others. But you showed me the mirror of time, Druss. No one lasts for ever - not in the sand circle. My day is over; my few minutes with you taught me that. Your day is beginning. But it won't last long unless you learn how to fight.'
'I need no instruction in that,' said Druss.
'You think not? Every time you throw a right-hand blow, you drop your left shoulder. All of your punches travel in a curve. And your strongest defence is your chin which, though it may appear to be made of granite, is in fact merely bone. Your footwork is adequate, though it could be improved, but your weaknesses are many. Grassin will exploit them; he will wear you down.'
'That's one opinion,' argued Druss.
'Don't misunderstand me, lad. You are good. You have heart and great strength. But you also know how you felt after four minutes with me. Most bouts last ten times that long.'
'Mine won't.'
Borcha chuckled. 'It will with Grassin. Do not let arrogance blind you to the obvious, Druss. They say you were a woodsman. When you first picked up an axe, did it strike with every blow?'
'No,' admitted the younger man.
'It is the same with combat. I can teach you many styles of punch, and even more defences. I can show you how to feint, and lure an opponent in to your blows.'
'Perhaps you can - but why would you?'
'Pride,' said Borcha.
'I don't understand.'
'I'll explain it - after you beat Grassin.'
'I won't be here long enough,' said Druss. 'As soon as a ship bound for Ventria docks in Mashrapur, I shall sail on her.'
'Before the war such a journey would cost ten raq. Now. . . ? Who knows? But in one month there is a small tournament at Visha, with a first prize of one hundred raq. The rich have palaces in Visha, and a great deal of money can be made on side wagers. Grassin will be taking part, and several of the other notable figures. Agree to let me train you and I will enter your name in my place.'
Druss stood and poured a goblet of wine, which he passed to the bald fighter. 'I have taken employment, and I promised the Overseer I would see the work done. It will take a full month.'
'Then I will train you in the evenings.'
'On one condition,' said Druss.
'Name it!'
'The same one I gave the Overseer. If a ship bound for Ventria docks and I can get passage, then I will up and go.'
'Agreed.' Borcha thrust out his hand. Druss clasped it and Borcha stood. 'I'll leave you to your rest. By the way, warn your poet friend that he is taking fruit from the wrong tree.'
'He is his own man,' said Druss.
Borcha shrugged. 'Warn him anyway. I'll see you tomorrow.'
Chapter Two
Sieben lay awake, staring at the ornate ceiling. Beside him the woman slept, and he could feel the warmth of her skin against his side and legs. There was a painting on the ceiling, a hunting scene showing men armed with spears and bows pursuing a red-maned lion. What kind of man would have such a composition above the marital bed, he thought? Sieben smiled. The First Minister of Mashrapur must have an enormous ego since, whenever he and his wife made love, she would be gazing up at a group of men more handsome than her husband.
Rolling to his side, he looked down at the sleeping woman. Her back was turned towards him, her arm thrust under the pillow, her legs drawn up. Her hair was dark, almost black against the creamy-white of the pillow. He could not see her face, but he pictured again the full lips and the long, beautiful neck. When first he had seen her she was standing beside Mapek in the marketplace. The minister was surrounded by underlings and sycophants, Evejorda looking bored and out of place.
Sieben had stood very still, waiting for her eyes to glance in his direction. When they did, he sent her a smile. One of his best - a swift, flashing grin that said, 'I am bored too. I understand you. I am a linked soul.' She raised an eyebrow at him, signifying her distaste for his impertinence, and then turned away. He waited, knowing she would look again. She moved to a nearby stall and began to examine a set of ceramic bowls. He angled himself through the crowd and she looked up, startled to see him so close.
'Good morning, my lady,' he said. She ignored him. 'You are very beautiful.'
'And you are presumptuous, sir.' Her voice had a northern burr, which he normally found irritating. Not so now.
'Beauty demands presumption. Just as it demands adoration."
'You are very sure of yourself,' she said, moving in close to disconcert him.
She was wearing a simple gown of radiant blue and a Lentrian shawl of white silk. But it was her perfume that filled his senses - a rich, scented musk he recognised as Moserche, a Ventrian import costing five gold raq an ounce.
'Are you happy?' he asked her.
'What a ridiculous question! Who could answer it?'
'Someone who is happy,' he told her.
She smiled. 'And you, sir, are you happy?'
'I am now
.'
'I think you are an accomplished womaniser, and there is no truth to your words.'
'Then judge me by my deeds, my lady. My name is Sieben.' He whispered the address of the house he shared with Druss and then, taking her hand, he kissed it.
Her messenger arrived at the house two days later.
She moved in her sleep. Sieben's hand slid under the satin sheet, cupping her breast. At first she did not stir, but he gently continued to caress her skin, squeezing her nipple until it swelled erect. She moaned and stretched. 'Do you never sleep?' she asked him.
He did not reply.
Later, as Evejorda slept again, he lay silently beside her, his passion gone, his thoughts sorrowful. She was without doubt the most beautiful woman he had ever enjoyed. She was bright, intelligent, dynamic and full of passion.
And he was bored. . . .
As a poet he had sung of love, but never known it, and he envied the lovers of legend who looked into each other's eyes and saw eternity beckoning. He sighed and slipped from the bed, dressing swiftly and leaving the room, padding softly down the back stairs to the garden before pulling on his boots. The servants were not yet awake, and dawn was only just breaking in the eastern sky. A cockerel crowed in the distance.
Sieben walked through the garden and out on to the avenue beyond. As he walked he could smell the fresh bread baking, and he stopped at a bakery to buy some cheese bread which he ate as he strolled home.
Druss was not there, and he remembered the labouring work the young man had undertaken. God, how could a man spend his days digging in the dirt, he wondered? Moving through to the kitchen, he stoked up the iron stove and set a copper pan filled with water atop it.
Making a tisane of mint and herbs, he stirred the brew and carried it to the main sitting room where he found Shadak asleep on a couch. The hunter's black jerkin and trews were travel-stained, his boots encrusted with mud. He awoke as Sieben entered, and swung his long legs from the couch.
'I was wondering where you were,' said Shadak, yawning. 'I arrived last night.'