Adalwulf: The Two Swords (Tales of Germania Book 1) (6 page)

I couldn’t help myself.

I tried to be careful, saw there were shingles lighting the next room, though it was full of shadows, and so I risked it. I looked inside, very quickly, and stiffened with fear.

There was a band of warriors inside. There were dozens. Silent as trees, still as stones, like dangerous statues.

They were a coarse lot, their beards long. They all had gnarled hands, bronzed skins, as men who lived in the woods and under the stars. They all wore cloaks of fur, all had spear and other weapons. They stared at Leuthard respectfully, the giant who was standing in the middle of the room, and a red-headed man of equal stature, with hugely thick hair and beard, with a wide brow faced him. That man held a shield, an unusually wide, black shield, and a crude sword on his hip, and wore a ring mail of darkened metal.

Leuthard was speaking, and there was clear tension between the two. “I don’t care shit’s worth what you will do with the thing. Bero wants it gone. It’s a thorn in his flesh, has always been, and so you make sure it will never come back to Hard Hill. You’ll do it this very night.”

“A nervous master, this Bero,“ the red-head said gravelly, “Not worth the service of the Brethren. Why you serve such the man, is beyond me.”

“I’m
not
of the Brethren anymore,” Leuthard rumbled. “I left them with you. I’ve got bigger plans than mercenary work, living in squalor, and—“

“And yet, you need men who live in squalor, run under the moon, and don’t spit on their god,” the odd warrior said critically. “You need us, as much as you disdain our company. I just don’t like your lord, no matter how many times I’ve done his bidding before.”

Leuthard took a deep breath. He deliberately placed a finger on the chest of the man, and pushed the ring-mailed man so hard he had to take a step back. “Don’t push your luck, Raganthar. I led you, I can take that leash back. You remember
who
made you. I was there before the lot of you, and what you are, or think you are, is for me to take away, if I wish.”

Raganthar’s eyes glittered in the semi-dark, and I was sure he would slam the huge, wide shield in Leuthard’s face. He fought the urge, he struggled, and finally nodded swiftly. “We will do it as agreed. But I warn you now. We have more plans for this thing than just simply hiding it or throwing it to the river. We’ll get paid by someone else if we use it for something.”

Leuthard spat on the ground. “You can saw it in your ass-crack for all I care. I told you. Gods might care what you plan to do with it, but I don’t. Make sure it doesn’t come back to Marcomanni lands.”

Raganthar was not done with the subject. “It won’t. But it
might
stir trouble for the Marcomanni. There is someone who sees value for it. It’s as famous a weapon as your Feud Settler,” Raganthar said, and pointed his thick finger at Leuthard’s hip, where a dark-hilted, hugely long sword hung.

The
Feud Settler? A famous, fine sword, it sounds,
I thought, and hoped to have such as it one day. And were they speaking about another weapon like it? Whatever they were planning, I should not be there, I realized, but could not tear myself away from the doorway.

Leuthard clapped a hand on the hilt. “Feud Settler is as old as it is. Ancient. Our family sword,” Leuthard said lovingly, as he ran a finger over the pommel. “It was given to me, so stop drooling after it, Raganthar. I’ll make this more famous in time. Bero pays you, if you do what we agreed. If you get paid by someone else for something else, I care not,” Leuthard said. “Any trouble it will stir, I can deal with.”

“I wonder,” Raganthar chuckled. “We are done then.”

Leuthard shook his head and snapped the fingers. “Not quite. Bero wants the distraction, as I told you already. If he appears before the evening, make sure the boy is there. Inside the hall. Leave him there, dead. I’ll make sure everyone knows where he hails from, as my lord Bero asked. It will cover the tracks.”

Who were they talking about?
I thought, and felt cold breeze in the room. I turned to look around, but saw shadows, and none of them moved.

“
She
will make sure he will be there, if he even appears,” Raganthar growled. “I’m no slave or a boy to run such simple errands. We will go there
this
night, and he had better be there if you want to distract them. The weapon is the most important matter, and you can tell Bero to grow his balls into man-sized danglies. Distraction! Bah. Your Bero will get his most heartfelt wish, no matter if the waters are muddied or not.”

“You’ll tell your girl to do it well, then,” Leuthard insisted. “
If
it is possible.”

Silence. I could feel Raganthar pushing back another savage retort. “I’ll speak with her,” he said at length. “If I see her before. She said it might be too late now.”

“Good, whatever. Just try,” Leuthard muttered. “So that is how it shall be,” he said, and then the two grasped forearms, though reluctantly. “If something changes, I know where to find you.”

Raganthar shook his head. “No, we won’t be there. As I said, the weapon has a use. We will be out for a week. But we will leave our old man in the Den. He knows about it, if the need is dire.”

Leuthard stepped back, his hand on the sword. “Leave Ear there,” he said, and it sounded like an order. “In case I need him. Tell him where you are. He is unpredictable anyway.”

‘Ear?” Raganthar laughed. “My young brother is always a bit of a problem, isn’t he? He loved you best, always did, and I don’t trust him. He’ll be there, in the Den. I dare not, and care not, take him. Can’t take the brute with us anyway. Would spook everyone. Just one more question. What if that lord is in the hall? Shall we slay him then, as well?”

Leuthard smiled. “Trust us. The lord shall be away. They shall be elsewhere, and they won’t bring their weapons, the sword, or any other. The hall will be empty this night, save for the guards and the boy, if you find him. Will there be … more questions, friend?”

They would kill men
, I thought, and cursed I had heard anything at all.

‘There won’t be any more questions,’ said Raganthar darkly. “None.”

“I have one,” Leuthard asked, and I saw his grip on Feud Settler tighten. “Where did you take the poor fool who was asking all the questions two days past? The one we captured?”

“The visitor?” Raganthar asked timidly, and looked embarrassed. “You gave him to us after he left Balderich’s hall.
You
gave him to us.”

“I did, “ Leuthard said with a growl and nodded quickly. "I should have known better. But there was a Gaul merchant here, speaking with Bero just now, and he told a story of a man being ripped open in the woods. He had seen it from his ship. He said he saw men chasing another, and then, like a pack of animals, they tore him apart. You killed him
here
, in Hard Hill? So near my home?”

Raganthar snorted. “We did. It was the night for it. You know it. Full and bright, and a sacrifice was needed. It makes us stronger before battle, like it used to make you. By Hati’s hairy balls, you don’t have to get so damned upset. I am no fool, and a Gaulish merchant means nothing—less than shit under your shoe—and so we shall do the deed today, and be careful. We shall, as we have given you an oath. We’d not risk that or our pay. What else do you want?”

“I do want the sword taken away,” Leuthard growled. “I want it, because Bero wants it. It’s a sword that should be his, like the ring, but that is lost with Maroboodus. We will find that golden treasure one day. But if you make a mess of this by slaying the wrong Marcomanni before this work is done in your damned bloodlust, then we have a problem. Don’t make mistakes again. You should have killed him later, far from here, and screw your sacrifices. The god would have understood if there were none. Careful this night, then get the Hel out of here. That’s all you need to know, you turd snuffling hound.’

“Yes, Leuthard,” Raganthar said bitterly. “But I’m a lord as well, and have been since you left. I’m the Black Shield, and Hati’s Claws, and you should remember that. And I tell you, if this brother of Bero’s will be there nonetheless, I’ll not spare him.”

What were they planning? A hall-burning? Theft, certainly. Bero’s brother?

Hulderic?

They were after Hulderic’s sword, a weapon of fame.

“Bark,” Leuthard said.

“Bark?” Raganthar growled. “You mock me? I’ll bite rather than bark, cousin.”

“Bark is the vitka of the town,” Leuthard said with a threatening voice that left no doubt he didn’t fear Raganthar. “They will sit down for the last Thing tomorrow, south and north gau and all the chiefs, and will ride to the Flowery Meadows this night for a ritual. Bero paid Bark well, and so Bark had a miraculous sight. This night, it is forbidden for any men to bring weapons to the Meadows. Not one. They must be left behind, everyone has to be there, and so all the warlords and their men will come with their shields alone. If Bark says god Donor will have no weapons there, then they will come without.”

“Fine,” Raganthar said. “Fools to listen to a corrupt vitka of a weak god, but I guess it will be fine.”

I was nodding in panic. They were almost done with their business, and while they were plotting against each other, against a man I had heard great things about, perhaps Bero and this Hulderic were no different from each other. They plotted theft. Murder, perhaps. Was it important?
No,
I thought.
It was all normal, it was as things were, and so hearing all this evil changed nothing
, I insisted in my head. Still, I felt uneasy about stepping out, asking to join their ranks. Leuthard might say yes, knowing I had heard their plans, or they might kill me. Raganthar
had
killed someone, hadn’t he? Leuthard said so. They had killed someone badly, which upset Leuthard. They were plotting to take someone to Hulderic's hall while they steal the sword?

I’d not go to Leuthard
, I decided.

They would not hesitate to kill me, if my service was declined. I’d have to ask the great man later. I’d sleep on it, and find them the next day, when it was all over, their planned mischief. After a small break to gather myself, I’d know what to do, and I needed time to think, to sleep. I’d go to the hall of Danr, or the blacksmith’s, where a bed awaited me, a nice meal, likely, and think deep on my choices.

I turned to exit the room.

A mass of dark rose before me.

Instinctively, I slapped at it, but it was a feeble move, born of fear, and I hit nothing. It was a man-sized shadow, smelled of sweat, and I thought I saw a fur cape, but then, suddenly, it seemed much taller, and I realized it had charged me. It moved like fog in the wind across morning swamp, silent and ethereal. The man, if it was one, struck me across the face so hard I saw darkness even in the dark room, and everything slowed down. I rolled in the dust and broke a bench or two. I heard yells nearby, feet stomping floor, and remembered the casual murder Raganthar had mentioned, and saw myself being ripped apart in some green field where none would witness it.

I rolled, dodged a stomping foot where my face had been and rolled again, and then vaulted forward and out of the hall. I did it with great energy, fell down the stairs, and struck my face on a stone. I tried to get up, but my legs decided against it, and I fell again, this time bumping into a thin man with a scar, who fell besides me, cursing. I felt like a wounded hare, being stalked by a pack of ravenous bears, and inspired by that, I pretended to be unconscious.

Men gathered around, and squinting, I saw, to my relief, they were not men from the hall, but guards, craftsmen, and slaves, and some foreign merchants. It would not save me, I knew, because should Leuthard demand it, they would give me over to him with a smile and probably gifts. I felt him there, coming, heard the weight of his steps bending the floorboards. I also distantly heard the whispering of many men, including Raganthar.

I didn’t move. I prayed, even when a girl pulled my face up to her, and she smiled gently. She was beautiful as the stars, with pursed lips and intelligent eyes. There was a hint of sorrow in them, as well, as if she had suffered terribly lately. “He is badly hurt,’ she proclaimed, and I frowned in my show of senselessness.

Was I?
My head hurt terribly, and I felt sick.

“Let’s carry him away,” she said. I saw there were soldiers around her, Marcomanni, and I knew Leuthard was not happy. I could feel it, his malice reaching out, and that of Raganthar as well, as they looked on from the hall. There were men you needed not see to feel their hatred, and Leuthard was one of those men.

She smiled at me, as I opened my eyes fully. “I am Gisil.”

“Thank you, Gisil,” I said. “Look—‘

“Shh,” she said, and looked over me to where the enemy was, and I realized it was likely so. They would be my enemy now. “I’ve been waiting for you,” she whispered.

“
You
?” I asked, bewildered. “They said there was a woman—“

“They didn’t lie,” she smiled and helped carry me, as someone grabbed my arm. “Come, let’s take him inside.”

I turned to look at the man who had been carrying hay, Bellows. He looked down at me sheepishly, holding on to my spear and shield with one hand. “Sorry. I guess it was a bad idea.”