Travel was slower now. Often I thought that Lorcan must be weary of so many women about him, for we were now five to his one. The children were two boys and two girls, one of each being Elesha’s great-grandchildren, and the other two being orphans from Drosdale. It had been their older siblings the outlaw leader had slain. They, like most in a small dale, had been distantly related to Elesha so that she counted them kin. We were ten, but only two of us well-armed, and all ahorse, but thus were we the more tempting to any outlaws who might see us. We needed fighters; luckily Lorcan believed he could find those to join us.
“There are bandits, yes. But there are some who were decent men, who turned bandit to survive being without lord, or dale, or land after the war. Give them coin and one to follow and they will return to what they were. Blank-shields, too, there are, who need employment and will be faithful.”
“How do we know which they are?” I asked dubiously.
Lorcan grinned. “Why, our wise woman of the bees shall try them. Soon there will be another inn on the road. We shall leave our folk to lie up there while we bespeak the innkeeper. He will assuredly know where blank-shields ride, men who seek a permanent home where they can take a wife, raise crops and family. Or serve the keep as guards for their family’s bread.”
“It is a good thought, but how am I to test them, Lorcan? That is not something I have ever done.”
Lorcan smiled at me. “Such men are oft superstitious, fearing anything they do not understand.”
I pondered his hint, so that when we found our inn two nights later I was ready. The host knew of men who sought work. At our bidding he sent a messenger to them so that they attended us the next day. I paced outside to meet them, my winged-ones flying about me. On the wisdom of my choosing might lie the lives of us all. Let me choose aright.
In a line by Lorcan stood three men. Five more waited in a small knot to one side. They muttered together, so I thought them yet deciding if they should step forward. I noticed the leader of the five was eyeing me dubiously, then seeming to study the three men without appearing to look at them directly. Lorcan came to meet me, his voice a quick whisper as I joined him.
“Let me do the talking. You be remote, as if you were calling up powers. I have my doubts about the three here.”
I swept past him in silence, my eyes blank. I did not think seeing my wing-friends would panic those before us. There had been powers and shrines in this land before the dalesfolk ever arrived, and when they came they met such powers often enough to be wary but not panic-stricken.
In my mind I was reaching out for my warriors. Bees have an ability to tell lies from truth—to some extent at least. Deceit has a scent bees can catch; I knew this from the time I had spent sharing hive-mind with the queens. Linked to my warriors, I believed I could learn the truth of those who offered themselves to us for hire. I moved to front the three men. Then I called for all to hear, a soft rising hum which strengthened until my bones vibrated with it. I felt the bees respond to the hive-call. Lorcan spoke in a slow, almost casual voice, without emphasis. It was oddly impressive.
“We see truth and honor. Those who come to my lady’s call will know and judge. Let men who would join us stand forward. Her warriors will see their hearts.” He left it at that, knowing long speeches often betray the man who seeks to impress with no more than wind and empty words.
The first man stepped forward, saying his name. I lifted my hand. In a glittering cloud my wing-friends descended to hover about him as he stepped back, a worried scowl on his face. I was linked, feeling his tiny movements, scenting his sweat through my warriors. He was afraid, that was natural. But there was something about him they did not like. I shook my head looking at Lorcan who addressed the man.
“We have no place for you.” He received in turn a glare which, had it been fire, would have sent him as a cinder to the ground. The man slouched away and from the comer of one eye I saw the leader of those to one side nod very slightly, an approving expression curving his lips.
The second man was judged more swiftly. The warriors rose in a humming cloud to draw away from him so that Lorcan spoke even before I indicated. “Go, we have no place for you.” He went and, before we could judge again, his friend went with him.
The leader of the five blank-shields who had waited walked towards Lorcan then. I could see that our method of hiring might seem strange to him, but he had agreed with our decisions. After all, in the dales where Old Ones still walk now and again, where their shrines still hold power, my method of testing was not unbelievable. I thought he would accept it provisionally and await the outcome. His voice when he spoke was that of a man of some breeding.
“I am Levas. Once I was a fighter against the invaders, a blank-shield captain with my own troop. These four are all that is left of us. We are good fighters, experienced. But none of us grow younger. We seek a place where we might live out our days as guards. We offer standard contract with further terms to be agreed.”
I considered him. To the eye he and his men were all competent. I saw no rust on their chain. Their clothing was clean; their cloaks, though threadbare in places, had been neatly mended. They looked hard-faced, yet I saw no signs of evil. Only a weariness, as if they had fought too long without rest or safety, as well they might have, for none would be less than late thirties and most in their early forties. I signaled the bees, who rose to surround the five men. None of them flinched, standing steady as my warriors hovered about them tasting the air they breathed out
Slowly the bees judged. Here was no hint of deceit, no feeling of evil. They could be wrong, they were not perfect, but they could judge evil and that did not stand before me. They could feel, too, where deceit or betrayal was being contemplated. Whatever these blank-shields might have done in battle-heat, they carried no taint of true evil, nor did they plot deliberately to betray us. I nodded to Lorcan as the bees rose up and away.
“Levas, will you take service with the lady and me?”
“What terms?”
Lorcan was not to be caught so easily in any trade. “Let you state them. We will consider.” The blank-shield looked at us. A faint smile glimmered in his eyes. That was good, let him see that we might be young but we were not fools.
“Very well then, Lord. If we take service we ask these things. First, horses for each of us and one pack-beast.” Lorcan nodded, that was fair. It was to our own benefit as well; afoot they could not keep up with us even with our slow group of women and children. If they chose to remain with us the beasts could be theirs. If not, then we could match those purchased against the ones held in Honeycoombe’s inner valley. Those of lesser quality could be sold again.
“Second, let you pay us one silver a ten-day in the hand and all found. One half of the first silver in advance.”
That, too, was fair. It was less than most blank-shields had used to be paid but after the war there were many who had been fighters who now had no place. The “found” he asked would see he and his did not starve or go cold without bed or roof. Levas was naming a price we could not call too high. Nor was he rating himself and his men too low. As for the advance, I suspected there were small things they required and had not the money to purchase. They could take the money and leave, but by and large blank-shields were honorable. Lorcan spoke after he had seen my agreement.
“That we agree. What else?”
I could not swear to it, but the man seemed embarrassed. Yet, what would embarrass a blank-shield who had seen everything and done much of it himself? Twice he seemed about to speak and shut his mouth again. I could see a red flush spreading over his cheekbones as he looked back towards the nearby stables. What was this? Did he have some woman he wished to bring? Some girl they had been sharing who otherwise would be left penniless to starve?
I spoke carefully. “Levas, if there is one you would bring let you call her to you. If the bees judge her as well as they have judged you and your men then she, too, has a place with us.”
I
knew in the last few years I had been fortunate beyond my own deserving. It was through no great virtue of my own I stood a maid still. Neeco’s band would have left me ravaged and dead but for my warriors and the advice of the queens. I would lay no harsh names on another who had done whatever she must to survive.
Levas’s face lit in relief. “I thank you, Lady.” He half-turned, pursing his lips in a low whistle. A small furry form ran to him, climbing his leather trews and nestling into his arms. From there it eyed me doubtfully. My gaze met that of Lorcan, both of us muffling our mirth. I could see that he, too, had leaped to my conclusion. Levas fronted us.
“We found her in a keep which had been raided. She was so tiny then, but fierce. The raiders had slain all her family disliking her kind as they do, yet she stood against us wailing in defiance. We buried her kin and took her up. She is a fine hunter, Lady. She has brought us luck since the day she came to us.”
I found my face had creased into a wide smile, so wide my very cheeks ached. The five men clustered about her as she looked up into their faces in turn. Something inside me suddenly wished to weep at the sight, that in the midst of war and death such men as these should take up a kitten and love it.
I eyed the small beast. She eyed me back. I know well what she saw; I saw a half-grown cat, perhaps six months in age, her fur a soft gold, darker gold spots against the lighter fur. Her face and body were broad but lithe. Her paws were larger than I had ever seen on a cat her size before. She was small, but I believed with ample food she would grow considerably as yet. I should judge her, too. It would not be well if she attempted to make prey of my warriors.
“Place her upon the ground again.”
Levas obeyed. My wing-friends came, their leader and the largest of them floating down to hover by her face. Bee and cat eyed each other for long moments. Then the cat turned away to wash. From the bees I felt a humming in my head. They approved her. She was wise and sensible. She knew them and she would not foolishly harass the hive.
“The winged-ones have judged,” I said, as Levas and his men waited. “For her, too, there is a place. Hearth and home. Let her ride with us, one welcome holds for you all.” Lorcan grinned.
“It seems I bargain better than I know. I hire five and gain six, and the sixth asks no horse and no silver.” Levas began to chuckle; his men joined in, and as Lorcan and I laughed with them what had begun as amusement became gales of laughter which left us with tears on our cheeks. Oh, it was good to laugh in such a way. I had not laughed so since I had dwelled in Honeycoombe with Ithia and my family. I moved to stroke the cat’s soft fur. She looked up at me and mewed, then purred.
“Levas? I am Meive of Landale.”
Lorcan cut in, “Wise woman, wing-friend, accepted by a shrine of the Old Ones and given gifts of them. I am Lorcan, once of the line of Paltendale, now liege-man to the lady. Let you name your men and this small comrade.” I saw their eyes react at the name of Paltendale. It had been a name known. But Lorcan had not said he was of the House, only the line. By that they would know he came from a cadet branch and made no claim upon Paltendale itself. Levas named his men, then nodded to the purring cat.
“We named her Gathea.” Both Lorcan and I recognized the name. It was that of a legendary wise woman who had been with our people when first we came into the dales.
“Well named,” Lorcan said. “Another Gathea shall lead you home.”
It took time after that. We had to bargain for five mounts and a pack-pony. We could not find the latter but found instead a mule, a jack, middle-aged, sure-footed and steady. With him was a second, a jenny. They stood together, obvious trail-mates, and I begged Lorcan to take both.
“Drustan is old. Once we reach Honeycoombe he should be turned to light work. Let the children ride him for pleasure. But the mules have worked as a team and that will be useful.”
“Then, too,” Lorcan said dryly, “you do not wish to separate them.”
“They will be useful,” I said again. Both comments were true but I did not wish to appear foolish in his eyes. Lorcan looked thoughtful, then he bargained with the owner, buying both beasts. We purchased other items, amongst them bags of grain. He loaded those onto the mules, smiling at me.
“You were right This pair will indeed be useful.” He said no more. With loaded mules, replenished supplies, and our caravan now numbering thirteen—fourteen if one counted Gathea—we moved onto narrower roads. The beasts ate the grain Lorcan had purchased, but I noticed each night he added kindling wood bound with dry grass within the sacks so they appeared no thinner and still as heavy. I kept silence, as did Levas, though I saw that he, too, took note of this.
As we entered the area closer to the coast, Lorcan swung us towards the South-east. I knew it was hereabouts his own dale had lain and believed that we were to go there. That night, as we made camp and I moved to stand my turn at guard, Lorcan took me aside.
“Meive, how do you judge Levas and his men?” I had watched them as we traveled. Old Elesha’s daughter Vari had lost her man several years earlier. The eyes of our blank-shield leader had been drawn to Vari from the beginning. I believed them of similar age and she would bring children to his roof. A ready-made family. Indeed, already there was a faint air of paternalism about him when he spoke to the small ones.
“I judge Levas a man who needs hearth and family. His men are the same, Lorcan. They are not wild lads, nor even young men who must prove themselves. They have fought their wars, taken their wounds. Now they seek a home, a place they may defend because it is in their hearts, and not for coin. I believe we can trust Levas.”
He sighed. “So do I. But before I tell him anything I must tell you more than I have said before.” Then he spoke of Erondale’s treasure again. “It should be here still, Meive. There is little gold. Mostly it was changed to silver generations ago. But of silver there is, well,” he paused. “There is enough to rebuild Honeycoombe. To enlarge the keep, to build guardhouses upon the track into the dale. To make of it a place of comfort and security.
“I plan to take part of it now. The grain sacks the mules carry are all but empty. Yet they still appear full from the wood I have placed within. For the remainder of the night that shall fuel our fires, leaving small trace of what we carried. I will go down alone and place within the remaining grain small sacks of silver. Enough that if any study the pack-beasts tracks they will but think them to be carrying an ordinary load. Keep all of our people here, watch that none follow me.”
“And Levas?”
“Stand guard with him alone after I am gone. Once you are alone tell him as I have told you.” I saw the wisdom in that. Levas would know we trusted him, though he would not know where the treasure lay nor how to find the rest of it. I said so.
“As you say. I will tell you how to find the remainder once I return.” His gaze seemed to fasten upon mine. “If I am slain it would please me to know you need never be in want; that Honeycoombe may still prosper.” His voice became a whisper so light upon the air I could not be sure of the words.
“I would never wish anything but good for you …” Were those last words “my love?” I could not be sure, nor dared I ask lest I was wrong. But my pulse raced. I found myself swaying towards him. Then I caught at my scattered senses. Was this a time to stand in the dark desiring kisses? With all others of my dale dead, I was Landale’s lady. My behavior must be an example. Let Lorcan ride while I guarded. If he truly cared for me as I knew now I cared, then there would be time. Once we were safe in Honeycoombe I might have all the time we wished.
“Ride safe. Return soon,” I bade him.
“Guard well, be safe until I do.” Before I could reply he was gone into the dark leading Rez and Reza down the narrow path into his once home. I had no great fear for him. The mules were sure-footed and like most of their kind could see well in the moonlight. His mount, Tas, was neither sweet-tempered nor beautiful but he, too, was steady and walked as with eyes in his hooves. I had seen him canter do
wn trails that I would only risk at a walk. Once all but us two were asleep in the camp I talked to Levas, who asked questions, listened carefully to my replies, then spoke slowly.
“Lorcan is wise, Lady. If any have seen us pass it will appear that we carry grain to our dale. Why should they think it to have changed to silver overnight? Do not tell the women. I do not think they would betray us, but they may speak of it amongst themselves. Children overhear such things.”
“And may without wishing to bring danger, speak of it to another child or talk about it while we are at a market?” I saw the sense in what he said. “Yes. You are right, Levas. Let you not discuss this with your men either. I trust them but the fewer who know, the better a secret is kept.”
He glanced upwards. “The night wears on, let you sleep since your watch is done. I will wake you once the Lord Lorcan is returned.” I went to my bedroll as he had said. I thought to lie awake awhile waiting for Lorcan’s return, but I was tired enough to sleep quickly. It was some hours later that I was shaken by the shoulder. I came awake and started up.
“Be at ease, Lady. Lorcan returns.”
We met, the three of us outside the camp. The two men unloaded the mules in silence while I brought food and drink. Lorcan ate and drank eagerly.
“I have the silver. Enough to begin what we would do. While I worked I thought. Levas, look about you while we travel. I would take more folk, perhaps steady men with families. Then once we are home and work has begun, I can ride with them and with you as master-at-arms, to bring back more silver. It will appear as if we go to trade. Once back here we gather the silver left and return, trading as we go.”
“A good plan. Men with families are best.” He smiled gently. “I shall seek men who love their kin and would not betray us since that would betray them also.” They finished stacking the grain sacks and freed the hobbled mules to eat. We slept late that morning and were not upon the road until near noon. It was good for the children to have rest from the riding and they took full advantage of it, making up some children’s game which involved much running about and yelling.