Across the Face of the World (31 page)

'There are plenty of other ways back home. We don't have to go through Windrise.' Kurr's fierce gaze and unrelenting attack wore at the Haufuth's thin patience, and he took another deep breath to steady himself.

'Do you know of any? Have you travelled any other route, even in summer? Do you really, honestly think we could strike out into the wilderness and survive?'

'We should at least make the attempt—'

'I don't know why I'm reasoning with you, old man,' said the Haufuth, whose patience had given out. 'I don't want anger and blame. I want someone to help me think of a way to stay alive long enough to complete our quest. And you, Kurr, are not helping.' He leaned forward and stuck a chubby finger in the old farmer's bony chest. 'You are not the leader of this expedition. I am. So you will abide by my decision, and unless you have something helpful to say, I expect you to remain quiet.'

'You can't talk to me like that! You're only a village headman, while I'm a Watcher of the sixth rank!'

'You are a dead man in the company of dead men, unless you or one of us comes up with a good idea. Don't you understand that?'

Kurr said nothing in reply, though he remained coiled like an overwound spring held together by last year's twine.

'Haufuth, surely the nature of our quest has changed.' Wira spoke quickly, insistently, as though expecting to be interrupted at any moment. 'Farr is - was - one of our party. Surely he is your responsibility still, no matter how foolish he has been? Do we not have an obligation to attempt his rescue?'

'I'm not sure whether we do have an obligation to your brother,' the headman answered.

'That's the problem I'm wrestling with. What he did may have cost at least a handful of lives, possibly many thousands if we are prevented from warning Falthans about the Bhrudwan plans.'

'What he did was lose his temper in an unfamiliar situation. Farr's never been much good at those. But even he would have held his tongue had he been aware of the consequences!'

'Are you sure, cousin?' Perdu's voice was redolent with bitter¬ness. 'Farr has always been a hothead. You remember when he got you into trouble with the Vatnoyans over the business of the eggs? Did he ever tell you that his cloak was found up near Vinbrenna, and that it was covered with chicken feathers? You took the punishment for him then. How many times since? Isn't it time he faced up to his wrongdoing and took his own punishment?'

'Not when the punishment is death or a life of slavery!' Wira shot back. 'Not when the punishment is out of proportion to the crime! I've just lost my father. Is it your opinion that I should lose my brother also?'

'You've lost? You've lost! What have I lost? I have just lost my wife, my children, and my people. Am I supposed to risk my life to rescue the one responsible?'

For a moment there was silence, more from frustration and exhaustion than a lack of things to say. The quest is flying apart like dry clay on the wheel, the Haufuth realised. No one wants to do what we must do. Yes, must. We can't go back. Our quest is no less right just because it has become more difficult. Our only route to survival lies through the tents of the Fenni.

Whoever wishes to remain part of our Company must ready themselves for danger and death.

Whoever does not wish to face this can leave and find death somewhere on the road home.

There are no other choices!

'I choose to come with you,' Stella said firmly, rising and linking her arm to that of the Haufuth. The big headman realised that he must have spoken at least some of his half-formed thoughts aloud. Wira followed her, linking his arm with hers, with a defiant gaze directed at Kurr and Perdu.

Leith and Hal looked at each other. There really was no choice, not if they wanted to see their parents again. Hal raised an eyebrow, Leith nodded; and they joined Wira, Stella and the Haufuth, who shook his head in sorrow at the risk they were being forced to take.

'You are a fool, Haufuth, and a disgrace to the name,' Kurr ground out as heads turned towards him. 'But you are right. Most High curse you, you are right! We have to go on. Just don't expect me to like it!'

Perdu looked on the forlorn coastlanders for a moment, then laughed bitterly. 'Look at you,' he said. 'You can't begin to under¬stand what you're up against. If the Fenni hold a captive, no one can set him free. Eager as you might be for death, and inevitable as it is whether you go forward or back, death at the hands of the Fenni is a truly awful thing. Last summer I saw them boil alive a Scymrian trader who had short-weighted them. You must under¬stand that the Fenni know no mercy, only the harsh justice of the vidda. It is not cruelty by their standards, merely the balance of life and death. But I must make this clear to you: if you go back to the Fenni camp, they will kill you cruelly.'

'Nevertheless,' said the Haufuth.

It was perhaps two hours shy of dawn, as far as Leith could tell. Back home in Loulea the farmers would be well up, and most others in the village would soon begin the business of the day. Ahead, however, the Fenni camp lay in darkness. Ahead lay danger and death.

'This way!' a voice hissed from the blackness to his left. It was Perdu, calling the main group forward. That left Leith and Wira to approach from behind the tent Perdu had identified as Farr's likely holding place. There was little in the way of a plan beyond the hope that the Fenni were not expecting a rescue attempt, and for weapons the Company had nothing more than a few sticks they had found by a frozen stream before the moon had set.

Leith crept forward, following in Wira's footsteps. He had always prided himself on his ability to move quietly, but now his life depended on it. He would soon know if his skill was sufficient.

'Listen to the noise,' one of the chillan guards remarked to the other. 'Are all underworlders truly so talentless?'

'Their food falls from the sky on to their plates,' his fellow replied. 'Why should they learn anything about the hunting arts?'

'It's time,' said the first, more quietly now as the two groups of underworlders approached the tent.

Wira stretched out an arm towards the tentskin, keeping his weight evenly distributed on both feet to ensure that his joints made no sound. With all the care of a man tickling a trout, he raised the skin a fraction, just enough for Leith, who was lying prone, to look inside. After a moment the boy signalled with a slight movement of his hand, and Wira let down the skin.

'Guards by the front of the tent, looking the other way,' Leith whispered into Wira's ear.

'They're gambling, doing something with dice. Farr is awake, in the back of the tent only a few feet to the left, bound hand and foot with ropes.' Wira nodded his understanding, then lifted the flap again.

This time Leith pushed a stick into the hole, in the direction of Farr. He had overestimated the distance between Farr and the back of the tent, so rather than the merest touch, Leith managed to jab Farr in his neck. Farr let out a shout, Leith dropped the stick and Wira let go the tent flap; but amazingly there was no movement from the guards, whose silhouettes remained near the front of the tent. Wira looked at Leith, who was taking great gulps of air in an attempt to calm himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lifted the tent flap again.

Farr had spun himself around so that he could see the back of the tent, and so when Leith's face appeared in the hole, he was ready for it. Hands reached for him as he scrabbled towards his rescuers and the tent frame groaned as Wira made the opening wider; surely they were making far too much noise. But still the guards did not turn, seemingly engrossed in their gambling.

After what seemed to Leith like an hour or a mere moment -he couldn't be sure which - Farr's bound shape was outside the tent, and Wira, with Leith's help, picked him up and carried him off.

When the noise had finally receded into the distance, the chillan turned to each other and shared a quiet laugh, then went on with their dicing.

'We have him, we have him!' Leith whispered exultantly as they met up with the remainder of the Company. Wira, with Farr on his back, was completely out of breath. 'Did you get the horses?' he managed to ask.

The Haufuth shook his head in reply, and pointed down a short slope to where the animals were kept. Leith could see nothing but shadows among shadows.

Then there was a movement from his left, and to his horror a dark-cloaked figure stepped out from between two tents and stood in front of the Company, arms raised in a pronouncement of doom. It was the priest of the Fenni.

In the pre-dawn darkness, with his doom assured, Leith noticed the most trivial of details.

Beside him Wira coughed, and his breath clouded in the cold night air. Away to the east the sky lightened, and the starlight faded in response. A faint breeze ruffled his cloak, then died away again. The priest's robe hung down from his shoul¬ders, unaffected by the breeze, making the man look like some bird of prey, a circling falcon ready to swoop upon the helpless rabbits caught in its gaze.

But were the rabbits helpless? Wira turned to Kurr, both with the same thought: One of him, many of us. Beside Leith, Stella coiled herself as though readying to spring upon their adversary.

Then the world changed as the priest lowered his arms and put a finger to his lips, begging them for silence. The Company were shocked into stillness, unable to keep up with the twists and turns of this strangest of nights. Perdu stepped forward into the stillness and exchanged quiet words with the priest.

'It's all right,' Perdu breathed. 'The clan chief plays his own game. Follow me. And make no noise!'

Leith followed, as did the others, wondering how being captured by the Fenni could possibly be all right. The priest led them away from the tents, over a low hill and down a defile until they were well out of sight of the encampment. There stood half a dozen men with torches, including the two guards from the tent where Farr had been held captive. With them was the clan chief.

The man in white came forward and beckoned Perdu to his side. He slipped something into the outcast's hand, then stood back with his arms folded as Perdu approached the still-bound form of Farr, took the knife he had been given and cut the cords binding him.

'Cousin,' he said quietly as Farr rubbed his arms, 'for my part in what happened last night I am sorry. I did not intend to offend you. Can we make peace?'

'Yes, cousin, we could make peace,' came the proud reply. 'But with whom am I making peace? A strong Vinkullen man, or a Fenni of the wild wastes?'

'A dead man,' was the prompt reply. And you are a dead man too, unless we make peace right here, right now. Can you do it? Can you control your infernal pride long enough for us to survive this? Come on, man. Take my hand and at least act like you're sorry! If not sorry for what you said to me, at least sorry for breaking Fenni protocol!' And, having said this, Perdu held his hand out to Farr.

The mountain man paused, just long enough for fear to again grip Leith; then he stepped forward and clasped Perdu in a tight embrace. 'Does this priest person understand our language?'

'He does not.'

'Then I declare that I'm not sorry at all. You've turned your back on us and taken up with hsian. You are hsian yourself. I will not speak to you again until you repent and embrace once again the ways of the Most High.' He released Perdu, stepped back and gave the man a broad smile. 'I am a man of principle.'

Expressions guarded, betraying nothing, the Company watched as the clan chief came over to them. He began to speak, and Perdu interpreted for him.

'I regret our rough treatment of you yesterday, both when you first set foot on Fenni lands, and when you fought in our tents. I have been assured that you are trustworthy, and that you had no part in Fenni deaths. So, although it is not Fenni custom, we gave you our hospitality.

'It is a grave matter to offend the Fenni, especially when we have set aside our rules to accommodate you. This is why I brought a harsh judgement against you. My people expected it. Had I shown you mercy, their displeasure would have had me unseated as clan chief before next summer's clan gathering. Worse, it would have sown doubt amongst our people, who must remain singleminded in order to match their strength against that of the vidda.

'But it is in our best interests for you to be on your way. There are matters of which I must be mindful, but about which you know nothing. Perdu tells me that your beliefs do not allow you to consider the courses and counsels of the great heavenly houses, the stars which guide us in our journey through life. You do not know, then, that the sky itself has spoken of you.'

The priest came and stood beside his clan chief. 'The Five Houses of the West have come together for the first time in a thousand years,' he said, as Perdu interpreted. 'They are stretched out across the heavens like a vast hand, and they point to the east, where a great flame has arisen. Behold!' he cried, and pointed to the eastern horizon, where the sun was beginning to rise. 'The West unites in fiery opposition to the Flame of the East. Soon there will be a conflagration, and all will burn as the fire of heaven falls to earth. It is written across the sky in the handwriting of the gods. They have declared it, and so shall it be.'

'You pursue your enemies across the vidda,' the clan chief continued. 'Yet my priest tells me that you are part of a much larger plan. The Five Houses of the West hover over you. There is something you must do, something greater than the pursuit of the four horsemen; something in the lands of the underworlders, something that affects the Fenni. Therefore, you see, I must let you go.

'That is why I did not have you killed outright last night, as was my right under Fenni custom.

Sometimes it is necessary to break small customs to keep the larger ones, and now is one of those times, I deem. So today I send you to seek those who have done you wrong, and to discover what it is the gods would have you do. You must leave soon, so my people do not discover my deception. Therefore I cannot offer you food to break your fast, but I have filled your packs with provisions enough for many days.