Hallow wood, p.36
Hallow Wood, page 36
part #4 of The Furyck Saga Series
‘He’s right,’ Berard said, trying to calm Karsten down, though siding with the red-headed giant was hardly going to do that. ‘The book is dangerous. Axl has seen what it can do. And so has Jael. They won’t send us out of the fort until they know they can protect us. There’s no point in trying until we can be sure that we can even reach Hest. You want to get to Jaeger, don’t you?’
Karsten glared at his brother and snorted, turning away from him, disappearing into the crowd before he lost his temper.
‘Your brother looks ready for a fight,’ Thorgils noted wryly.
‘He does,’ Berard admitted. ‘I think he’s just impatient to avenge our father. And, maybe more. Jaeger, he...’ Berard ran his eyes around the hall, lowering his voice. ‘He had his way with Karsten’s wife.’
Isaura swallowed in surprise. She had spent the past few days in Irenna Dragos’ company, trying to help both her and her children. Irenna was morose and never spoke, but her children had enjoyed the distraction of playing with the girls and Mads. Nicolene was sharp and unpleasant, though, and Isaura had struggled to find anything to say to her.
‘Oh.’ Thorgils found a morsel of sympathy for Karsten then. It was hard to expect any man to sit on his hands while his murderous, adulterous brother was ruling the kingdom he had stolen. ‘Well, even so, you’ll have to try and calm him down. We’re not going anywhere in a hurry. Best he realises that now.’
Berard nodded mutely, not having any idea how he was going to do that.
‘You did what?’ Getta flew around the bedchamber like a bird, pecking at her husband. ‘Why? Why, Raymon? After all we talked about? Agreed upon! And now you betray me and the memory of my poor father! Offering our army to the Brekkans?’ Getta was beside herself, forgetting how long it had taken to get their newborn son to sleep.
Little Lothar Vandaal immediately burst into tears, and Getta rushed to him, even more furious with her husband. ‘How could you humiliate me like this?’ She lifted the baby out of his woven basket, holding his swaddled body against her shoulder, cooing in his ear. ‘There, there,’ she said softly, glaring at Raymon as she sat down on the bed and patted Lothar’s back. ‘It’s your mother, isn’t it? She made you do it.’
Raymon would have quite happily blamed it all on his mother just to have some peace from Getta, but he felt the need to assert himself. He was younger than his wife and far less aggressive, he knew. But he was the King of Iskavall. He could not allow himself to be rolled out of the way like a boulder whenever his wife had an opinion. No one would respect a king without a spine. ‘No,’ he muttered. ‘It was not my mother. I said that we’d help them. I want to do what I can to make us safe here. And if there is a threat to the very existence of Osterland, then we will not make ourselves safe by cutting ourselves off from our neighbours, who up until this point, have proven to be very useful allies!’ His voice rose then fell, watching his wife’s scowl intensify.
‘They murdered my father! My brother!’ Getta hissed, trying to calm her son, though he could surely feel the urgent thumping of her heart and hear the sharp screech of her voice, and he was not settling down. ‘You should go. I must get Lothar back to sleep!’ And standing up, and hurrying back to the baby’s basket, Getta ended their conversation.
Feeling his resolve strengthen further, Raymon headed for the door, determined to seek out the head of his army. He would start making preparations for going to war.
Edela poked her head around the door, pleased to see that Ayla was alone. ‘I wondered if you’d like to come for a walk? Biddy is busy with Entorp, so I’m looking for some company. Just in case I keel over in an alley again!’
Ayla turned away from making the bed. Bram had taken Bruno down to the harbour, and she was busy airing out their bedchamber. It was narrow and dark and had previously been used by servants, which was not so bad, but Ayla had dreams of a cottage, with room to cook, and sheds to raise livestock. Maybe a family too. It had always been her dream, though when she tried to see their future, nothing would come.
Just darkness.
It worried her, but she tried to brighten her eyes. ‘I would like that.’
‘Good! It is fine, for now, though I see storm clouds gathering again, so I thought I would get out before the rain.’
Ayla followed Edela out of the chamber and through the busy hall, enjoying the smell of fresh bread wafting from the kitchen whose fires were burning day and night, trying to keep the influx of warriors and workers well fed. ‘I don’t think the gods have been happy for some time. All this terrible weather? The storms are a sign.’
‘Mmmm, if things go as we suspect, we are going to need all the help we can get,’ Edela muttered as Ayla grabbed her arm to help her down the hall steps. ‘Including the gods. They may not be able to stop the Book of Darkness or undo any of Raemus’ spells, but hopefully, they can help us in other ways.’
Ayla shivered despite the sunshine that greeted them. ‘I hope so. It feels as though something is coming soon,’ she murmured, glancing around. ‘I worry that it is. I’m not dreaming much. I don’t see anything but a deep, dark hole.’
‘Oh, I would happily trade your deep, dark hole for my nightmares of Tuura. All I see are flames. Hot, towering flames, devouring us all. I wake up with the smell of smoke in my nostrils. The memories of that night won’t leave me alone. Though,’ she mused, ‘I’m pleased that it’s gone. That temple. It was my home for years, but it appears to have always been corrupt. The Following hid the truth from most of us for a long time.’
‘But now they are gone.’
‘Gone?’ Edela shook her head as she watched Eydis and Amma approach. Leaning towards Ayla, she lowered her voice. ‘While Morana Gallas and her brother live, they’re not gone. While there is breath in their lungs, they will still fight for Raemus and the return of the Darkness.’
‘Though if what you saw of Draguta is true, there might not be breath in their lungs for long. She doesn’t appear overly fond of The Following.’
The frown between Edela’s eyebrows deepened. She doubted that Morana Gallas was a woman foolish enough to get in Draguta’s way.
Jaeger watched Evaine walk away from the castle with Draguta, heading towards the markets. He stood on the steps, wet after a long swim in the cool water of the cove. His body felt refreshed, but his mind was still jumping with irritation. Evaine was intent on ignoring him, and nothing he tried seemed to get through to her.
He was not used to being rejected by a woman, though he comforted himself with the fact that her soul was bound to Eadmund Skalleson’s. It would be impossible for anyone to break through such a powerful spell, he was sure. But it didn’t stop him fantasising about taking Evaine to his bed.
If they even made it there.
She was exquisite. He had to have her.
‘Meena!’ Jaeger called, pleased to see her shuffling towards him, struggling with a large bronze bowl.
Meena froze. She had been so lost in her thoughts that she hadn’t looked up in time to avoid him. Morana had sent her to find more blood. She’d had to kill four chickens, and the memory of it was still upsetting her. Varna had sent her on many such missions, of course, but Meena had never enjoyed it. ‘I have been with Morana,’ she mumbled. ‘Preparing for tonight.’
Jaeger’s eyes glistened at the thought of what Draguta had planned. What she had retrieved from the crypt had piqued his interest. ‘Mmmm, I’m looking forward to that, but in the meantime, Draguta has gone to the markets, so why don’t you and I go and visit her chamber? Perhaps if you touch the book, it will help you dream?’
Meena’s mouth made a series of strange shapes as she tried to express her reluctance. She shook her hair, wobbling the bowl from side to side, slopping blood over the edges, splattering her boots.
‘Meena,’ Jaeger soothed, pushing her up the steps. ‘She won’t even know we were there. Her mind is on other things.’
Meena stumbled before him, trying to keep the blood in the bowl, suddenly desperate to tap her head again.
‘Looking for an escape?’ Thorgils joked as he came across Karsten Dragos, who stood by himself, staring at the main gates. ‘Likely you won’t get far. Not with Draguta out there, watching.’
Karsten scowled and turned around.
‘You’ll be staring at those gates a while yet, I’d bargain,’ Thorgils went on. ‘Unless you want to do something foolish and get yourself killed. Don’t imagine your mother would be very pleased about that. Maybe even your wife too.’
Karsten snapped, visions of Jaeger bursting into view. He lunged at Thorgils. ‘What do you know about my wife?’ he spat, jutting out his bearded chin.
Thorgils stuck out a hand, keeping Karsten back. ‘I know she fell for the charms of your brother and that can’t be easy to bear. But I also know that she’s here, with you now, and your brother won’t be alive when you get your hands on him.’
Karsten sunk back seeing that Thorgils wasn’t poking fun at him. There was no smile on his face. Just sympathy. Still, he felt embarrassed. Angry. Stir crazy. ‘He’ll only get stronger,’ he insisted. ‘He’ll repair the harbour, build ships, drill the army. Make more weapons. Jaeger won’t be waiting for us to come. He’ll attack as soon as he’s ready.’
Thorgils shrugged, turning away from the gates, hoping to convince Karsten to walk with him. ‘I expect so. But what do you think we’re doing here? And besides, our army will outnumber his. What chance will he have against all of us?’
Karsten shrugged and followed him. ‘If what you say is true, they’ll have this Draguta woman, and who knows what creatures she’ll have in her army. If she can bring that serpent to life?’ He swallowed, remembering his brother’s surprised face as he was yanked from the ship.
‘True, which is why we need to take time to prepare. We don’t know what we’ll be facing, so we can’t walk towards it with our eyes closed. We need to give Jael time to get that book. To find a way to protect ourselves.’
‘And why do you have so much faith in what Jael Furyck can do?’ Karsten sneered, swerving out of the path of a horse who was pulling a cart full of firewood towards the armourers.
Thorgils stopped and stared at him. ‘Well, Jael just happens to be the one person I have the most faith in. I’ve seen what she can do, and from what I hear, so have you. And if that’s not enough for you, so did the person who wrote the prophecy all those years ago.’
Karsten scratched his beard and closed his mouth.
‘We make ourselves safe, then we attack. It’s the only way to survive.’
Karsten blinked, remembering his father. When Jaeger had railed against Haaron, wanting to rush to Saala with their army, desperate to take back his wife, his father had insisted that they make themselves safe first.
He had been determined to strengthen their defenses before launching an attack.
Karsten dropped his shoulders. ‘Well, you’d better give me something to do that involves a lot of smashing, then. It sounds as though we’re going to have a long wait.’
‘The soul spell is one of the strongest you can cast,’ Draguta said as she walked with Evaine under the shade of the coloured sails draped over the market stalls. ‘And you did well to follow Morana’s instructions. I feel how strong the bond between you and Eadmund is.’
Evaine smiled happily, pleased to be talking about her favourite subject.
‘You are not a dreamer, of course, but there are things you can do. Ways to reinforce that bond. Morana will bring Eadmund to you soon, but in the meantime, you should take his things to bed with you. His hair. His arm-ring. Hold them while you sleep. Draw him to you in your dreams. Anyone can do that. Focus your mind on him. It is very important that we take him away from that woman.’ Draguta shuddered as the clouds swept overhead, darkening the sky. She squeezed Evaine’s delicate hand. ‘Eadmund is meant to love her. To be with her. Their destiny was planned by the gods themselves. They thought to defeat me with two humans!’ Draguta laughed loudly. ‘Two humans, and another book!’
Evaine frowned. She wanted no part of what Draguta was planning unless it involved bringing Eadmund to her.
‘You and Morac will come to the stones tonight,’ Draguta purred. ‘You may think that you want no part of this, my dear, but you’ll change your mind once you see what is possible. They think that they can hide from us with symbols,’ Draguta said, narrowing her icy blue eyes. ‘But not tonight. Now let us go back to my chamber and retrieve Eadmund’s things. Then you may start focusing your mind on bringing him here.’
Thorgils and Torstan watched from below as Eadmund walked the ramparts with Gant. They had been spending more time together, overseeing the shoring up of the fort’s defenses, ensuring that there would be enough sea-fire jars and catapults for their assault on Hest. And keeping the Islanders from killing the Alekkans, and the Andalans from killing them both.
‘He’s been up there all morning,’ Torstan muttered.
‘Well, Gant seems like he’s got a good eye on him,’ Thorgils groaned, stretching out his back. ‘You can go. I’ll take over now.’
‘You really think he needs watching all the time?’ Torstan wondered, coiling a length of rope around his arm.
‘Since I can remember, Eadmund has always needed watching all the time!’ Thorgils laughed. ‘Nobody gets themselves into more trouble than Eadmund Skalleson, except perhaps his wife. They do deserve one another!’ He bent down to Vella who had her paws up on his leg, sniffing his hand. ‘You think I have a treat for you, young miss?’ And reaching into his pouch, he pulled out a scrap of salt fish. ‘Here you go. Go make your brother jealous!’
Vella ripped the treat out of Thorgils’ hand and tore off into the crowd of men and women who were busy shepherding their livestock into the fort and sorting through the freshly harvested crops. If Draguta sent another creature to attack them, it could wipe out their winter stores.
Everything was being brought into the fort in anticipation.
Eadmund peered down at his friends, and they quickly turned their eyes away, paying a lot of attention to the catapult they had just finished.
‘He’s spellbound,’ Thorgils said hoarsely, looking up after a while. ‘A man who is spellbound is not in control of himself. Who knows what they can do to him? Who knows what he’ll do in return?’
‘But don’t the symbols stop any spells from getting through the fort?’ Torstan wondered, pulling a piece of salt fish from his pocket. It was covered in wood shavings, but he brushed them off and quickly started gnawing on it.
Thorgils shrugged. ‘No idea. Makes no difference to us. We keep one eye on him day and night. That’s not Eadmund anymore, so we have no idea what he’s capable of.’
Eadmund frowned as he turned back to Gant, uncomfortable with the way Torstan and Thorgils kept staring at him. Every time he turned around, there they were. One or the other. Sometimes Bram. All three of them, watching him.
They were definitely watching him.
But why?
‘There’s not much more we can do,’ Gant decided. ‘Except wait. For Jael and Aleksander. For this woman to make her next move.’
Eadmund looked up, sensing the sudden retreat of the sun. He could see dark clouds edging in from the corners of the sky. ‘For another storm.’
Gant frowned himself, watching the urgency of the clouds. ‘That’s the last thing we need.’ He looked down into the fort. ‘I’ll get everyone moving inside. It looks like it will hit soon.’
Eadmund nodded distractedly as Gant strode away, his mind drifting to Hest as it did whenever he was alone. He remembered his time there with Jael, but those memories were faded now, barely mist, evaporating so quickly that they might never have happened at all.
All he could see was Evaine standing before him, her hand out, calling to him.
Urging him to hurry to her.
32
‘Do you know where we are?’ Jael asked. Every row of trees looked the same, and the sky felt like a dark cloak draped above the tree canopy, making it hard to see.
‘I don’t think I do,’ Aleksander admitted. He had started to realise that they must have taken a wrong turn at some stage.
But when?
He’d been hoping that he would eventually get his bearings but it had not happened yet, and he could hardly keep pretending anymore.
Jael eased Tig to a stop, desperate to get down and stretch her lower back. The ache was unbearable. Her body was irritating her in ways she’d never experienced before. She was used to wounds and scars, but the twinges and pains in odd places were wearing, and her mood was fraying quickly.
She dismounted and bent over.
‘What is it?’ Aleksander frowned, watching as Jael hunched up her shoulders, letting her braids touch the thick carpet of soggy leaves beneath her boots.
‘We need to be going in the right direction!’ she grumbled, straightening up. ‘Why keep on this path if it’s the wrong one?’
‘What path?’ Aleksander wondered irritably as he joined her down on the ground. ‘The trees are closing in on themselves. Blocking out the sun. I can’t see what time of day it is, or where we are. Can you?’
Jael peered up at the dense canopy. Aleksander was right. They couldn’t see the sun. It could have been dusk or mid-morning. The only thing it wasn’t, perhaps, was night. Her irritation peaked. ‘Feed me and leave me!’ she announced. ‘I’ll see what I can do.’
‘Leave you?’
‘I need to try and focus my mind,’ Jael said, opening her saddlebag, hoping to find something to eat. ‘Apparently, dreamers can do that. Find answers when others can’t. So... maybe I can? Who knows, but it’s better than carrying on like this.’ She found nothing to eat and looked expectantly at Aleksander.
