A Cast of Stones (2 page)

With two leagues to go, he stopped under a shelf of limestone and adjusted his load. Beneath the outcropping, the ponderous weight of the rock rose over him like a primitive sanctuary carved by the elements. He smiled. Only bandits worshipped there. Few enjoyed their liturgy of violence. His feet slipped in the dusty earth as he trudged the path that sloped toward the chasm on his right, threatening to pitch him over the edge.

He grabbed a walking stick as long as he was tall from beneath a nearby oak. Years of experience with the gorge and the Cripples had taught him to balance his passage with a stout length of heavy wood. Now no one could navigate the way as quickly.

The air, cooled and calmed by the towers of rock on either side, doused the last of the morning's indisposition from his body. Head clear, he eyed the river running below, impatient with runoff from the melting snows of the Sprata Mountains. He passed the Hollows and quickened his pace, thumping his stick into the ground. That collection of shallow caves blackened by unnumbered campfires had long been a favorite hiding place for outlaws in the winter. He doubted any of them still lingered this late into spring, and Errol would present little enticement as a target for robbery. But the unfamiliar weight of the half crown in his pocket troubled him, and he rushed for the heat and light of the sun up ahead.

When he looked back to gauge his progress, a laurel branch bent and waved next to the trail some hundred paces behind. His heart lurched. No wind penetrated so deep into the gorge. He fought to keep his pace steady, weighing his options. If he ran now he'd alert his pursuer, but he could gain some time by shortcutting across the Cripples. The network of scars lacing his back itched, reminding him of past carelessness on those jagged stones. Crossing would take time, time he might not have, and he would have to ford the river that lay beyond. Keeping the sack dry would slow him down.

If the bandits came after him in numbers, they could catch him in the water. At the very least, the letters for Pater Martin would be lost along with his half crown. If the bandits knew how to swim.

If they just didn't shoot him outright.

Nothing moved on the trail behind, but he found little comfort in the fact. Prickles ran up and down his arms like ants. Unseen eyes swept across him, watching, tracking.

His head pounded, and the sour taste of bile and fear spilled across his tongue.
Think.
He needed to think. Maybe he could throw them off by taking the high trail. It might gain him the precious minutes he needed to cross the water; once in the trackless woods beyond the gorge, they'd never find him.

Errol quickened his steps, made for an outcropping to his left. Rocks scraped his hands as he hauled himself up the pocked face to the other trail. He grabbed his stick and ran in a low crouch along the dusty path. A prayer, half remembered from childhood, sprang to his lips, but the image of Pater Antil holding his whipping rod rose with it, and the plea died away.

Bent almost double, he bolted along the upper trail, darting from bush to tree. If the bandits spied him, they'd shoot arrows at his exposed position until they killed him or he surrendered.

And if he surrendered, they'd probably kill him anyway.

Fifty paces behind him, a heron broke cover with a glottal cry and flew out over the water.

Errol forced his legs into a run, rushing for the point ahead where the two paths rejoined, where the Cripples began. Twigs snapped in an accelerating rhythm behind him. A quick glance still showed nothing. He quickened his pace as the path turned downhill and widened.

The Cripples stretched before him—a hundred paces of slick, pitted rock glistened in the sun, eager to catch the reckless or unwary. He paused, searching for the best route. Even with care, the treacherous footing could turn or break an ankle. His stomach flipped at the thought of rushing through that maze. Behind him, a shadow ghosted among the trees.

A rustle of leaves broke his concentration. He floundered, his stick weaving frantic circles in the air. A man dressed in black regarded him from beyond the stretch of mossy rock, a short bow held in one hand. Not a twitch, not a blink of emotion disturbed the pale mask of a face under hair so light it looked almost silver. He reached back over his shoulder and an arrow of blackest hue appeared in his hand. Errol wrenched his gaze away, jumped for the ledge just ahead.

His feet slipped. Errol curled as he fell and gasped as new cuts joined old scars. The impact jarred his teeth, and he growled curses against the pain.

Sprawled across the stone, he angled away from his pursuer so the rock, his pitiful excuse for protection, shielded him as much as possible. He took a deep breath, darted a look back, and then smiled at his good fortune. The man in black was actually trying to follow him. It would be impossible to get off a decent shot standing on the treacherous stone.

Errol slithered around on his belly, reached for his staff when a whine like an animal's scream sounded behind him. An arrow arced overhead, then disappeared among the rocks and water beyond.

He grinned at his pursuer. “I've never heard an arrow make that sound before. You'll find the footing difficult for decent shooting. Why not go back and save yourself the trouble?”

The man in black stopped, considered him in silence, and slowly dropped to his knees. Then he nocked another arrow.

With a shock of realization, Errol leapt for the first shelf of stone, half missed, and slammed into it with his chest. His feet thrashed and slipped across the moss-covered rocks as he tried to thrust the rest of his body up the ledge. Fear filled him, wailed through his blood and bones. He scrabbled at the ledge with his hands and feet.
Move.
He had to move!

The scream of the arrow grew until it filled his hearing. He screwed his eyes shut and pushed against the stones. His feet slipped, and he slid toward the scream. He squeezed his eyes shut, waited a fraction of a heartbeat that stretched to agony.

Behind him the bandit cursed.

A line of fire cut his shoulder before the arrow struck inches from his face. The impact cut the scream and a splinter of stone gashed his cheek. He put his arms under his belly and wiggled the rest of the way onto the outcropping, rolled behind a piece of jutting limestone, and ran to the far edge.

No bandit crossed the Cripples. A sprained ankle meant capture and the gallows. And they didn't use short bows. Errol's mouth went dry. Bandits were a murderous bunch, but they always tried to talk their victims into giving up. It rarely worked, but they always tried. Every now and then they even let one of the few who surrendered live to entice others to do the same.

The man in black hadn't tried to talk him into surrendering. Errol's feet came to the edge of the shelf as his thoughts brought him to an inescapable conclusion: The man hunting him was no bandit.

Errol twitched the sack strapped to his shoulders, and a picture of the nuntius flashed through his mind. Letters, he'd said, the most important in half a century. Important enough to kill for? Errol's heart hammered against his ribs. He looked over the next section of moss-slicked rock. If his hunter gained the shelf before Errol made it to the second outcropping, his aim, already too good by half, would find its mark.

Terror curled its way through his chest. The stranger moved across the Cripples with inhuman skill. Errol shuddered, considered surrender—giving up the letters, the half crown, everything. He shook his head, discarded the idea. The man wanted him dead.

Errol vaulted into the air, ignored the yammering from the part of his mind where he kept his common sense, and forced himself to keep his eyes open. He landed, tried to roll, slipped sideways, and crashed headfirst.

Spots swam in his vision, and he fought to keep darkness at bay. He crabbed sideways toward the next ledge. His ankle throbbed in time with his heart as he hobbled onto the ledge. A crunch of footsteps from behind warned him, and he threw himself flat. An arrow whined in disappointment overhead, pulling the breath from his lungs as it went.

This wasn't working. The next ledge lay less than half the distance across the Cripples, and already the man in black had managed to bleed and hobble him. At this rate he'd be lame in minutes.

Then he'd be dead.

The Cripples spanned the river in a wide arch before ending at a broad, shallow ford. To the right lay a sheer forty-foot drop into a pool fed by runoff that extended all the way to the far bank of the gorge. Water from winter melt spilled over the falls, splashing and churning in a series of whirlpools. Only an idiot would dare those icy depths—or someone desperate to live. The water's chill would leech the warmth from his body in minutes. If his hunter trapped him, forced him to stay in the pool, he would die.

Errol ducked behind a plinth of rock and ran for the far edge of the ledge, his mind racing. If he tried to make the security of each shelf in succession, the mossy pits would slow him, leaving him helpless. If he dared the chill waters of the pool, he'd be lucky to make the far side fifty paces away. Even if he survived, the letter to Pater Martin would be ruined, and with it his chances of keeping his gold.

He should have known not to get involved with the nuntius. “Stupid churchman.”

A glance behind told him all he needed to know. The assassin on his trail moved from the first ledge and stepped with goatlike skill across the rocks. The man didn't even have the decency to slip every now and then.

Errol moved from the security of the second shelf in a crouch, hoping to stay hidden long enough to make the ledge above the pool. The mossy coating seemed to writhe under his feet, conspiring to pitch him headlong onto the rocks. He balanced his weight, his hands groping for a staff he no longer held, and shuffled by inches toward his goal.

The space between his shoulder blades itched, and he tensed against the expected impact of an arrow—as if by tightening the muscles in his back he could keep it from killing him. With ten feet to go, he looked back to see the man in black climb onto the ledge he'd just left. In seconds, the man would nock another arrow. In seconds more, Errol would die.

Throwing himself into a flailing run, he made for the pool. A patch of green betrayed him, and he fell. He spun as the ground rushed up to meet him. When he rose, he found himself looking his would-be killer in the eyes. The man nodded. Then he reached back over his shoulder.

With a yell, Errol scrambled to his feet, took two steps and jumped to his right, soaring over the icy water that waited for him so far below. An arrow ripped through the air where he'd been, screaming as it passed his ear and flew out of sight to the far side of the pool.

Errol fell, amazed at the long, long time it took to meet the water.

The impact hit him like a blow to his stomach, forced the air from his lungs. Cold pierced him and light faded. Needles of pain stabbed him everywhere as he struggled to stay submerged, frog-kicking in desperation toward the far end of the pool. He opened his eyes to the sting of the water, but saw only blurred ocher outlines.

He reached and pulled for the far side of the pool, his strokes frantic with cold. Fire burned through his lungs with the need to surface. The man in black surely stood at the edge of the pool by now, bow drawn and waiting.

Errol swam until spots danced in his vision, his body begging for air. With a pair of strokes he surfaced like a fish breaking water, darted a glance behind before sucking air into his tortured lungs and diving again, away from the figure in black.

The sounds of his efforts and splashing filled his ears. He forced his trembling arms forward, jerked them back to his sides. Only the current against his face told him he advanced. Violent chills rippled the water as his body fought to stay warm. His shaking limbs lurched in a parody of his usual stroke. Bolts of pain shot through his calves and thighs. His legs refused to move. They hung from his torso, dragged him down. He reached out, struck mud. One shaking hand at a time, he pulled himself forward.

At last he broke the surface. His hands clawed forward until they brushed against rough bark. They clutched the thin trunk, locking around it as if it were his last hope. Water drained from his ears, and he listened for his attacker. Nothing.

Errol's body convulsed with cold as he clutched the sapling, straining to move, turn his head, anything. His muscles refused to obey. His hands clenched the tree, refused to let go.

Above and behind him the wail of an arrow began. He willed himself to let go, roll over, but spasms pinned him to the spot, left him helpless. The arrow's scream grew, its pitch rising until its keening filled his hearing.

Errol sobbed, tried once more to move, and failed.

He clenched his eyes against the blow.

 2 
Sacrament

T
HE IMPACT
slammed him against the ground. He clung to the tree, waiting for a tearing pain that never came. He slid sideways, tried to roll and couldn't. When he slipped the sack's straps from his shoulders, he discovered the reason he still breathed. The assassin's arrow had lodged itself squarely in the center. Looking back and up at the ledge over the pool, he saw nothing. The man in black was gone.

He grasped the arrow with both hands and worked it up and down until the thick leather released it. With it tucked under one arm, he hurried away from the pool making for Pater Martin's cabin.

As he climbed higher into the ridge he assessed himself. His head hurt where he'd banged it against the rocks, and his cheek still oozed blood. Cuts and scrapes covered his midsection and . . .

He gave up. The exercise was pointless. If he needed help, it would be found at the priest's cabin. Pater Martin or his servant would know what to do. With one last glance behind, Errol forced himself to a shambling run through the woods.

Hours later, the sting of sweat marking each injury, Errol entered the clearing where Martin resided and paused. Humidity clung to him like a heavy cloak.

Martin sat beneath the giant oak that sheltered his cottage, his bulk sprawled across a crude ladder-backed chair. Errol looked away and coughed as he entered the shade of the tree from the priest's left. Martin sat nearly naked, his cassock nowhere in sight. He wore a plain linen under tunic hitched up in the moist air until it barely covered his thighs. At Errol's cough, the priest looked up from the book he held in one huge hand and gave a raucous laugh. Errol blushed and kept his eyes on his feet.

Martin loomed larger than life. Errol had never known the man before his hair silvered, but his eyebrows, dark as ebony, showed the color those loose curls would have been in his youth. A strong nose thrust forward aggressively from wide, high cheekbones over a mouth that was thin and full by turns depending on the state of its owner's thoughts. The deep dimple in his chin, rather than lending the face any expected charm, solidified the impression of dogged determination that Errol always felt whenever he came to visit Martin's secluded cottage. Yet for all the power that emanated from Martin's eyes, face, or bulk, he always greeted Errol with warmth.

“Come now, Errol.” Martin called to him across the grassy space. “My under tunic satisfies the demands of modesty, and we are created in the image of Deas, after all.” He slapped his paunch and looked Errol up and down in mock jealousy. “However, I seem to have been gifted with substantially more image than you.” He pointed to the bulky sack slung from Errol's shoulder with a hand that would have looked more at home dangling from a blacksmith's wrist. “You have the sacraments?”

Errol stepped from the shade to stand before Martin. “Yes, Pater, and letters as well, but I'm afraid it's all ruined.” Errol's voice sounded strange to his ears, as if he had forgotten its timbre during his struggle in the gorge.

Martin's smile transformed to a scowl as he took in Errol's
appearance. The old priest's gaze trickled from Errol's crown, paused at his scraped hands, and finished at his bleeding feet.

“Come, boy. Let's go inside. Only a fool could fail to see you have a story to tell. And I would not have it said I kept an injured man on his feet.” He levered his bulk from the chair, placed a hand on Errol's shoulder, and guided him into the small cabin.

Errol sat at a small table at Martin's bidding. He tucked the attacker's arrow and his soggy leather pack under the broad oak bench while the priest went to a cupboard and rummaged through an assortment of bottles and earthenware containers. “This will take a few moments, lad, to prepare. Suppose you tell me what brings you here.” His voice became stern. “Leave nothing out.”

Errol told of his encounter with the nuntius and the man's offer.

Martin turned at the mention of the price, his face wreathed with disbelief. “One of the crows offered to pay you a gold crown? Surely not. Churchmen hate parting with money. It's against their religion. I should know.”

Errol dug the coin from his pocket and placed it on the table. “Here's the half of it.”

Martin's eyebrows made fair to climb up his forehead, and he moved across the cabin to pick up the coin and examine it.

“I'll have to give it back,” Errol said. “I'm sure the message is ruined.”

Martin eyed Errol's battered legs. “Boy, if any man's ever earned a crown for delivering a message, you have. Keep the coin, and demand the rest. I'll vouch for you to the churchman, if needed.” He retreated to the cupboard and returned with a thick salve that smelled heavily of lemongrass, lamb's ear, and soulsease.

Cupping Errol's face in a beefy hand, he smeared the salve over the cut on his cheek. “Take your shirt off, lad.”

When Errol did so, Martin whistled. “I think the churchman may owe you another crown. You know the gorge better than any man alive. How did you come to this state?”

Errol winced. The salve felt cool and hot at the same time, and
it stung. “A man tracked me from the overhang where bandits hide. I tried to shake him by crossing the Cripples, but he was nearly as fast across the rocks as me. Every time I made for a ledge, he tried to put an arrow in me.”

Martin scowled, his brows knitting together over the deep brown of his eyes. “It's rare to find a bandit possessed of such determination.”

Errol shook his head, and strands of brown hair fluttered in front of his eyes. “I don't think he was a bandit, Pater. Bandits don't cross the Cripples, at least not to chase down the likes of me.” He reached under the table, grabbed the short black arrow, and laid it in front of the priest. “And I've never seen a bandit or anyone else shoot one of these.”

The priest reached out to run one considering finger along the arrow, starting at the point, moving down the shaft to end at the midnight fletching. “Tell me, boy. How fares everyone in the village?”

Errol shrugged. “Fine. Cruk threw me out of the inn again.”

Martin nodded without seeming to hear him. “Hmm. And Liam? Is he well?”

“Yes, Pater.”

The cabin grew still. At last Martin turned from the arrow and began daubing salve into the cuts on Errol's legs and feet.

Martin's gaze met his. “You should rest.”

Nothing else was said, but Errol knew what he had seen in Martin's eyes at the sight of the arrow—recognition.

Errol descended into a slumber filled with dreams of stone and water. A face, pale and racked with pain, floated across his vision. He thrust himself from the memory, forced himself to wake.

He stirred to the sound of voices. His dream faded as the plain surroundings of Martin's cabin came into focus. Shadows stretched and lengthened outside. It would be dark soon.

At the table, Martin and his servant, Luis, regarded the contents of Errol's pack. Martin hefted the skin of wine. “At least the wine survived the boy's adventure.” He nudged a folded
package of waxed paper. “What think you, Luis? Can the bread be salvaged?”

Luis nodded and by way of answer took that portion of the sacrament over to the fireplace. Unfolding the paper, he laid the thin wafers with care on a metal grill and rested it on the hearth. Then he added pieces of kindling to the bed of coals until a small fire blazed. Resting his hands just above the bread, he tested the warmth. Satisfied, he turned and gave Martin a small nod, holding up one finger. “I think it will dry soon. What of the boy?”

Seeing Martin turn to face his pallet, Errol closed his eyes. A momentary pang of guilt coursed through him, but he dismissed it with a mental shrug. If he could learn the identity of his attacker by feigning sleep, then so be it.

“He sleeps,” Martin said. “If I'd had to cross the gorge with someone shooting arrows at me, I'd sleep for a month.”

Luis snorted. “Yes, as would I, but we're no longer young. Errol lies at the dawn of his prime.”

“Prime? The boy hasn't had much chance at a prime. Look at him. He's a handsbreadth shorter than Liam and thin as a wafer. A young man his age should not be so lean.” Martin paused in his assessment. “Yet as he has come of age there is something about his visage, the high cheekbones and the dimples that appear when he smiles, that almost reminds me of someone.”

A silence ensued, and Errol longed to open his eyes, to question Martin about the resemblance, but he could feel the two men gazing at him and wanted to hear more of what they might say, so he concentrated on keeping his breathing regular.

“He smiles rarely enough,” Luis said.

“The boy has no reason.” After a brief pause, Martin continued, “It's time for us to return.”

Errol opened his eyes the barest fraction. Acceptance marked Luis's face. Martin's wore regret.

Luis lifted his shoulders a fraction, dropped them. “It's been five years, Martin. I'm surprised the king lasted this long.”

The priest beat one hand on his thigh. “We're not ready, Luis.
Why did I delay in coming here? I waited nearly a year after you cast for the village, telling myself there was no rush.”

Luis shook his head. “Not this again, Martin. All three of us had things to do before we left. We're ready enough. I can complete my work in Erinon.”

Three?
No one else lived in the cabin.

Martin turned toward him, and Errol quickly closed his eyes.

“You're right, of course, but he's not ready yet. Things will be more difficult now.”

Luis laughed. It sounded harsh in the confines of the small cabin. “You still have a gift for understatement. More difficult? They're impossible, and you know it. Even the few friends you have left in the Judica won't believe you.”

Martin's voice grew cold. “They will have to believe. Once the lots are cast, they won't have any choice.”

“It is not beyond doubt, my friend. They're not perfect yet. We may be surprised in the end.”

“Is there a problem?” Martin's voice sounded worried.

Luis chuckled. “No. I'm just tired. I've held the vision of the soteregia in my head for a very long time.” He sighed. “The secondus would have been better suited for this task.”

“I didn't fancy sharing a cabin with Sarin Valon for five years,” Martin said.

Luis shrugged. “He is brilliant, the most gifted reader we've had in generations.”

Martin shrugged. “Perhaps, but there was something in me that balked at using him.”

Luis sighed. “We have more immediate concerns, anyway.” He lifted the short black arrow. “What do we do about this?”

Errol held his breath, strained to hear past the surge of his heart.

Martin sighed. “We've been found. I don't know how, but the good captain will handle it.”

Errol started at that, then disguised the movement by rolling over on his pallet.

Luis laughed again. “After half a decade? Don't you think he might be a little rusty?”

“Don't underestimate him, Luis. He left a captaincy behind.”

Luis moved to stand before a heavy trestle table. He picked up a knife and began peeling a potato. A moment later he spoke, slow, almost conversational. “Who do you think sent him?”

Martin pulled at his jaw muscles. “It's been five years. It could be anyone.”

“We'll have to close the windows and take turns keeping watch.”

“I know. I hate closing the windows. It makes the cabin stuffy.” Martin reached under a cabinet on the far side of the cabin and pulled out a crossbow.

Errol waited for the conversation to resume. When it didn't, he opened his eyes and sat up to stretch aching muscles. The price for his frolic at the Cripples would be days in paying. Everything hurt.

Martin, seeing him awake, smiled in welcome. “You see, your trip wasn't wasted. Luis says the bread will be dry soon. We will be able to celebrate the sacraments tonight.”