Banished (30 page)

‘What is your name, boy?’

‘Jesse, sir. My grandfather is Lord Belton.’

‘Belton has been a loyal supporter from the start. You are his eldest grandson, yes?’

The boy, Jesse, nodded, risking a quick proud smile. ‘My father too, sir. We are all happy to serve you in this great time.’

Eadric’s smile was as sickly as it was patronizing. He moved to his desk to pick at a small platter of fruit and cheese. For a while the only sound was that of Eadric eating. He cleaned
his fingers on his shirt before beckoning Jesse closer.

‘Come here, boy.’

The boy didn’t hesitate. He strolled confidently up to Eadric. ‘Would you like me to pour you some wine, sir?’

‘Yes, why don’t you do that?’ Eadric watched the boy’s movements. ‘Do you have brothers and sisters?’

‘I do, my lord. I have two younger brothers and a sister.’ Jesse’s smile was one of pride. ‘They are all here in the camp with my parents.’

‘Good, that is good.’ Eadric nodded, his smile slipping, to be replaced by a look of sadness and perhaps regret. ‘With more siblings to occupy them, it will be easier for your
parents to get over your death.’

‘I . . . what?’ Jesse’s eyes grew huge as Eadric made a lunge for him.

The boy fought valiantly against the older man, but he was slight for his age and the man was wiry and strong.

When Eadric’s servant strode into the tent with his master’s nightcap he came to an abrupt halt.

Eadric sat in the darkened tent, with only the brazier and a small tiered candelabrum for light. Even so, it was easy to see the dark red blood of the young child he clutched to him dripping
down his face and chest, covering his clothes and robes. He looked at his manservant and the man, not for the first time, realized that his master had irrevocably lost his mind. There was no
recognition, no regret, no sadness for the deed done in Eadric’s features. Instead he looked satisfied and a bit bemused at the state he was in. He stood and the child’s body dropped to
the floor at his feet.

‘Clean this up,’ he instructed. ‘Tell Belton we caught him trying to crawl into the cages with the griffins.’

The man nodded. He placed the sleeping draught on the small table with the platter of fruit and bent to pick up the boy. He averted his gaze from the horrific bites on the boy’s arms and
neck and he kept his face neutral as he walked from the tent.

Behind him he could hear Eadric talking to someone, laughing softly. The man risked a glance over his shoulder and saw a group of monstrous shadows writhing against the tent canvas. He snapped
his gaze back, straightened his shoulders and walked into the night with his burden.

‘If you do anything now, you’ll get yourself killed.’

Because the voice echoes what I’m thinking it takes me a full second to realize that someone is speaking in my ear. Remaining absolutely still takes more effort than I would’ve
thought possible. But jumping up now will definitely alert Istvan and his cronies to my location and, even though I am pretty competent with my sword, taking on twelve of them, and Istvan for good
measure, is not something I’d like to try.

‘Good girl,’ murmurs the voice. ‘My name is Crow.’

‘Kit,’ I whisper back, not taking my eyes off the group in front of me.

‘You move with some skill, Kit. But you aren’t from here.’

I risk the slightest shake of my head. ‘No. I’m from the Frontier.’

‘Thought as much. No one here would voluntarily carry iron on their person.’

I frown, wondering what he means, then realize he is talking about the rod strapped to my arm. How would he even know that I’m carrying iron?

‘The smell of it,’ Crow says. ‘It reeks.’

He’d better not be able to read my mind. ‘We have to save the prince,’ I tell Crow.

‘We will, but not yet.’ The presence next to me shifts. ‘Come with me.’

Taking the utmost care, I move backwards, keeping the foliage and ferns between me and the group in front. Crow places a hand on my back and guides me further back until we are several metres
away, shielded by the wide trunks of the trees and more undergrowth.

Crow, like his namesake, has thick black hair and carries a tan that makes me think he’s never spent an hour indoors. His eyes are large and dark, the colour of midnight. He’s
dressed in leathers and pelts and looks feral and unpredictable. He carries an impressive longbow and quiver slung across his back. A large hunting knife rests on his hip.

He is very lean and there is strength in his hands as he moves me slightly further behind the tree trunk.

‘I am one of Aelfric’s foresters,’ Crow says, keeping his voice very quiet. ‘You find yourself in the Dark Forest. How did you come to be here?’

‘How can I be sure I can trust you?’ I counter. ‘I don’t know you from Adam. All I have is your word that you work for Aelfric.’

‘Don’t you think that I would have betrayed you to them if I had not been an ally?’

He had a point. ‘How do you know I’m not the enemy?’ I counter.

‘There are rumours going about the forest, about a human girl who has lost her heart to the Dragon.’

I tut irritably and pray that he doesn’t notice my heightened colour as my cheeks flame red. ‘I don’t even know what that means. Also, how can there be rumours in the forest?
You are the only person I’ve seen and I’ve not told you anything.’

Crow’s smile reminds me of Aiden. Here’s another cheeky one, I realize. Just what I need.

‘You have been watched since you left the tower. We are all very excited to see a human child in the forest. It has been an age since we had someone from the Frontier visit us.’ He
gestures, looking contrite. ‘Voluntarily, that is.’

‘I’m not here to have high tea,’ I whisper fiercely. ‘I’m here to save your prince.’

Crow blinks in surprise at the anger in my voice but nods. ‘I know. But there is no reason not to be friendly.’

I yearn to stomp my feet in frustration but I don’t. Instead I give him one of my practised level looks à la Nan.

‘Listen, are you helping me to figure out where they’re taking Thorn or are we going to stand around here all day?’

‘I know where Istvan is taking the young prince. I can show you if you like?’

So help me! I clench my fists and nod, taking a few seconds to get my impatience under control.

‘How do I know you’re taking me to the right place?’

‘You don’t.’ He bends to draw something in the dirt at his feet. ‘We will have to go round Duke Eadric’s army and conjure a spirit to help you cross the Lake of
Sorrows. There is an island in the middle of the lake. That’s where they are taking Thorn.’

‘That would be just . . . great. How far is it?’ The sketch makes no sense to me. I walk over and stand next to Crow. Ah, now I can see what he means. The lake doesn’t seem to
be that far. However, between us and the lake is a huge army. He’s drawn a wide curve to show our expected journey.

Crow nods and smiles happily. ‘Not far, as the crow flies.’

We walk for five hundred million miles. Or that’s what it feels like. Occasionally we stop to rest, but mostly we just walk at a punishing pace. It doesn’t help
that I know I’m slowing Crow down.

‘You are doing well,’ Crow says over his shoulder. ‘For a human.’

I grimace. ‘Thanks.’

He nods, taking my thanks at face value, completely unaware of the sarcasm. ‘We will have to walk most of the way to the lake edge,’ he says after a few more minutes.
‘Eadric’s forces subdued the Perun’s tribes, gaining control of the gateway that leads to the island.’

I stop as a branch swings back and almost hits me in the face. Crow sighs heavily and gestures impatiently at the branch and it moves out of my way. I gape as it does. ‘The trees are very
curious about you,’ he says. ‘Can you hear them talking?’

I shake my head numbly. ‘So how much time will we waste walking to the lake?’ I ask him, ducking below another set of reaching branches. ‘How much will they gain?’

Crow passes back a skin of water which I gulp, not spilling one drop.

‘A few hours only,’ he says, waving his hand negligently. ‘They don’t have a forester with them so their march is slow.’

I nod as if I know exactly what he means. Part of me wonders why I’m even trusting this guy. But, like he said, why would he go through the motions of helping me, if all he had to do was
hand me over to Istvan and his pack of chimeras? As we walk he forages and passes nuts and berries back to me to eat. My initial reaction is to decline them but after the first handful of nuts my
shakiness dissipates. He fills his water skin in a small stream and passes it back to me. I sit down briefly and drink deeply, relieved that the nausea that accompanies the start of my migraine
attack seems to be fading, along with the heaviness in my head.

I thought I’d done pretty well earlier, climbing over obstacles, ducking beneath branches and things, but walking with Crow is like strolling, at a rapid pace, along the high street. He
manages to choose the easiest way through the forest, no tree roots to clamber over, no branches to duck. I’m aware too of how noisy I am. I clomp through the forest like a herd of angry
buffalo rather than ghost through it as Crow does. I bite my lip in frustration and grudgingly accept that maybe I will have to work on my stealth tactics.

It must be just before midnight when he stops abruptly and I walk into his back. He grabs my arm to steady me. ‘Look, you can see the glow of the campfires of Eadric’s
army.’

I turn to follow his outstretched arm. We’re standing on a slight rise and the view is spectacular. For miles around us I see fires burning and with dawning horror I realize exactly how
huge Eadric’s army is. If Aelfric’s army looked big to me, his brother’s army is at least four times that, if not more.

Crow adjusts his bow so that it doesn’t whip me in the face as he turns to survey the small clearing. He touches my arm to draw my attention. ‘There will be patrols about. We must be
careful.’

I’m too tired to say anything and only nod. He sets off again, this time slower and even quieter still. I watch the way he moves and try and copy it. I get it right, or I think I do, for
most of the time but at one stage when I step on something that squirms under my feet, I suppress a squeal and clutch at him in surprise. He pats my arm and I’m pretty sure I can see him
laughing at me but he wisely keeps his mouth shut for the next few minutes.

‘We will rest soon, once we are near the lake. I don’t know when they’re planning to perform the ritual, but my bet is either dawn or sunset.’

‘Ritual?’ I ask him, keeping my voice low. I wonder if I’ll ever not feel dumb. ‘How do you know about it?’

He turns his head to look at me. ‘I’m one of the foresters,’ he says, as if it explains everything.

‘You may need to spell this out for me,’ I say to Crow. ‘I get that you are a forester. Is that like a groundskeeper? You keep things tidy in the forest, check on animals and
things?’

‘I have been a guardian of the Dark Forest for a long time. For maybe as long as Aelfric’s been king, maybe a bit longer. Time is different here.’ He helps me over a low rock
and I like how his touch doesn’t linger. It’s there, then gone. Businesslike and brief. ‘The forest is at the heart of Alba. We nurture it, make sure it stays healthy. If the
forest dies, Alba dies. It is simple, really.’

‘And the forest tells you things?’

Crow’s dark head nods. ‘It tells us when it senses threats, or when something has raised its curiosity. It is very curious about you, as I said. Can you hear it
whispering?’

I want to tell him no, not to be absurd, but I can hear the whispering. I can sense it all around me, movement in the air above me, the leaves rustling and a great sense of lots of people
watching me.

I draw a deep breath and I reach hesitantly for my magic, feeling the raw edges of it where Istvan tore it from me, and I wonder how much of it has been drained from me. It’s difficult to
describe quite how strange it felt having another person touch that well of power and mess around with it. The reservoir of power lies there, quietly thrumming, waiting for my attention. Gently, I
coax it forwards and upwards and let it surface so that it hovers like a soft film just above my skin.

The touch of my magic as it settles around me is calming and I let out a sigh, realizing suddenly how tense I have been. I look around me carefully. The entire forest pulses with life and
energy, a soft luminescence that covers everything. The night is no longer dark.

‘Wow,’ I say. ‘I should have done this earlier.’

‘We were wondering about that,’ he says. ‘You don’t use your magic often.’

I shake my head. ‘Usually when I use my magic I become ill. Especially when I use a lot of it. And hungry, I’m hungry for days after I use my magic.’

‘You are far stronger than you think, Blackhart.’ He crouches low and pulls me down next to him. ‘You need to realize that your magic isn’t separate to who you are.
It’s part of you. Like your hands or eyes.’ He presses a finger to his lips and motions for me to stay quiet.

Three redcaps blunder past us, trampling the undergrowth. One has a stick he’s using to swat tall bushes. They don’t see us at all. We remain sitting beneath a large fern for a few
more minutes. The night around us is quiet and I’m very aware of my pounding heart and Crow’s strong fingers on my wrist. It’s as if my magic has heightened all my senses tonight,
not just my sight, the way it usually does in the Frontier. I hear a dull thrumming noise and turn my head in the direction. An owl sweeps past, something clutched in its claws, and I can feel the
air of its passing.