Bronze Magic (Book 1) (72 page)

“You realise, that if any of you are captured, Danton would know you
could be held to ransom in exchange for me. He knows I would give
myself up to save you.”
Waterstone patted the prince on the knee. “Tarkyn, you might
want to, but you couldn’t. Even if those captured were threatened with
execution, you couldn’t agree to exchange yourself for them. You would
be condemning the rest of the woodfolk to losing their livelihood, their
home and their safety. They would all die, but more slowly and painfully.”
He smiled, “But if it’s any consolation, I think Danton will have figured
that out and would know that you couldn’t give yourself up, whatever
your wishes on the subject.”
“This bloody sorcerous oath drives me crazy.”
Waterstone glanced at the prince’s set face. “I hope you remember our
conversation about self sacrifice. I’m not sure how much you’ve taken it to
heart. Nobody wants you to sacrifice yourself, under any circumstances.
Oath or not.”
Tarkyn ran his hands through his long black hair and pulled it over
one shoulder. “I think we’d better get going.”
The woodman put a restraining hand on the prince’s arm as he went to
rise. “Just a minute. You don’t believe me, do you?”
Tarkyn glanced at him then looked down at his hair as he fiddled with
the ends of it. “Hmm. I’ve been sacrificed before, for what might be
considered the greater good. The next time, I’d rather do it myself than
have it done to me. Anyway, this is different from last time we talked. I
wouldn’t be sacrificing myself because of falling out with you. It would
be to save the captured woodfolk and, even more importantly, rid your
society of my presence and the oath.” He sighed, “I don’t know that I
can face a whole new barrage of resentment with the spread of the oath.”
Tarkyn waved a hand impatiently. “But this is a pointless discussion. I
couldn’t do it even if I wanted to.”
Waterstone stared at him, concern written on his face. “Do you know,”
he said slowly, “for the first time, I begin to be glad of this sorcerous oath?
Without it, you would be totally unsafe from yourself. You could talk
yourself into sacrificing yourself as a way of protecting us and thereby
fulfilling your side of the oath. If the forest’s safety did not hinge on us
protecting you, nothing would stop you, would it?”
Tarkyn looked at him long and hard, then turned his eyes away. “No.
Nothing would.”
“Is life so hard?”
The young sorcerer sighed. “The uncertainty is hard. Waiting for
everything to fall apart is hard. Knowing that I stand in the way of everyone’s
contentment is hard. And in the end, knowing that my brothers, whom I
have loved and lived with all my life, were willing to lock me up and throw
away the key while my own mother watched, is hard. Very hard.”
He flicked a glance at Waterstone, “If the people who have known me
all my life can turn on me like that, how can you expect me to believe
that the woodfolk, who have only known me a few weeks and have had
me foisted upon them, would have any concern for my welfare beyond
the oath? Why would you care if I found a way to sacrifice myself that
left the forest intact?”
Waterstone’s face was tight with shock. He took a deep breath, “Tarkyn,
I am more sorry than you can imagine to hear you talk like that. I know
your faith in your fellow man has been shaken but I did not realise the
depth of your unhappiness. The questions you ask me sound rational and
yet I cannot provide satisfactory rational answers to them.”
“Because there are none,” said Tarkyn bleakly.
“I may not be able to answer how and why but I can demonstrate that
it is so,” continued Waterstone, ignoring Tarkyn’s interjection. “I cannot
create years of friendship to justify my care for you. Anyway, it seems
longevity of acquaintance by no means guarantees loyalty. I can, however,
produce memories that you may scan any time at will, if you are in any
doubt.”
Tarkyn shook his head, “No. I would not do that to you again.”
“But you must at least accept my offer as a demonstration of good
faith.” He waited until Tarkyn had nodded reluctantly, before continuing.
“There are, of course, the things you have done and will do for woodfolk.
Warning us of the wolves, rescuing us from the storm and whatever else
you will do in the future as the forest guardian.”
“That may be true until the danger has passed.”
Suddenly Waterstone’s eyes lit with anger. “Yes. But being the
ungrateful people that we are, you would then expect us to turn on you,
would you?”
Tarkyn glared back at him, “From my experience of the world, yes.
Once my usefulness is over, if you were given the choice, then yes, I would
expect to be rejected. However, since you and I will have no choice, we
will both have to endure my continued tenure in the woods.”
Now Waterstone was fired up, “So, I presume you do not value, as I
do, your membership of my family?”
This did give Tarkyn pause. He sighed and said gently, “No, don’t
presume that. Being part of your family, and the acceptance into the
woodfolk that goes with it, is probably the only thing that keeps me
afloat when I am drowning in confusion. That, and your friendship.”
Tarkyn’s words took the wind right out of Waterstone’s sails. He shook
his head and smiled sadly, “Tarkyn, do you understand how much it
signifies that I asked you to join Ancient Oak, Sparrow and me? I did
not have you foisted on me by birth as Kosar and Jarand did. Nothing
in the oath forced me to take you in. I chose to have you as a brother.”
He paused to let his words sink in. “And Tarkyn, I will never choose to
let you go.”
Tears sprang into Tarkyn’s eyes. He turned his head away quickly and
pulled away, trying to stand up. But Waterstone held him by the arm
and used his other hand on Tarkyn’s shoulder to drag him back around
to face him.
“Come on, Tarkyn. Stay. Don’t run away.”
Tarkyn faced him unwillingly, his eyes bright with unshed tears, his
chest heaving with restrained sobs. Waterstone wrapped his arms around
the young sorcerer and held him as the dam of pent up feeling finally
spilled over. Eventually Tarkyn quietened and the next time he pulled
away, Waterstone let him go.
Tarkyn sat up and looked at the woodman out of red-rimmed eyes
and sniffed, “Bloody Danton. I was all right until I saw him having such
a great time with Andoran and Sargon. I tried to trust him. I really did.
That’s why I let him know I was watching.” He wiped the back of his
hand across his face and sniffed again. “I don’t know. Maybe it will be all
right. I’ve lost all ability to judge people, if I ever had any.”
Waterstone smiled reassuringly. “Well, I’ve never had any trouble
judging people and I think Danton is the genuine article. Saying that, I
don’t have much experience of sorcerers but I judged you to be all right.”
“And I don’t know what happened yesterday morning but when you
all came back, something had changed that I didn’t understand.” Tarkyn
glanced sideways at the woodman. “Whatever it was, brought you all
closer together. I asked you, but you never told me.”
“And you’ve been worrying about it ever since? Sorry Tarkyn, I wasn’t
hiding anything. I simply forgot.” Waterstone looked at him, “You’re
tuned like a fine bowstring to the slightest change in people around you,
aren’t you?” When Tarkyn nodded, he continued, “Well, you needn’t
have worried. Quite the opposite, really. Tree Wind said she thought
we’d be all right with you and suddenly everyone knew it was true. All
the anxious years of waiting were laid to rest.” He slapped Tarkyn on
the back, “I should have told you, shouldn’t I? You’ve achieved the near
impossible, allaying everyone’s fears after the way your father treated us.”
Tarkyn smiled, his eyes shining with tears. He couldn’t answer, so
merely nodded in response.
“I guess what you picked up was that something important had
happened amongst us. But although it was about you, it didn’t include
you.”
Tarkyn took a deep breath and managed to regain control of his voice,
“Food for the paranoid mind,” he said shakily. He wiped his hands across
his eyes and took another breath. “That, on top of Rainstorm’s and your
reaction to the spread of the oath and North Wind brushing me off has
all been a bit much. Then Danton consorting with the enemy was the
final straw.”
“No wonder you were feeling so bad. You have a lot to contend with
at the best of times, without all that lot adding to your woes.” Waterstone
grunted, “Don’t worry about North Wind. He’s just a bit confused at the
moment. He’ll come around.”
Tarkyn gave him a watery smile, “I’m sorry. Some forest guardian I
turn out to be, sitting here blubbing my eyes out when we’re supposed to
be mounting a rescue.”
“Plenty of time. It’s nearly sunset. They will be feeding the wolves soon
but then we’ll have to wait for the sorcerers to go to sleep. Let’s move
location and have some dinner. Then you can tell us what is happening
at the encampment.” Waterstone stood up and put out a hand to pull
Tarkyn to his feet. “And this time, you might like to keep at least me in
the picture about Danton and the other two instead of keeping your fears
to yourself. Agreed?”
Tarkyn nodded. “Agreed.” As he turned to walk beside Waterstone, a
small private smile played around his mouth. He glanced at the woodman
but said nothing.
Waterstone’s eyes narrowed. “What?”
Tarkyn gave a broad grin, his red-rimmed eyes shining with laughter,
“You must actually, really care about me if you could even contemplate
being glad about any part of the oath.”
“Of course I do, you big galoot.” Waterstone raised his eyebrows.
“You’re not the only one prepared to make sacrifices.” He stopped and
put his hands on his hips. “In fact, if Stormaway tells me that he had
decided to disarm the oath, I will tell him not to, at least for the time
being.”
Tarkyn’s eyes went all watery again. He laughed through the tears.
“You know, that’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.”
Waterstone gave a snort of laughter and clapped him on the back as
they turned to continue walking. “You poor old bugger. You’ve had a
hard time of it, haven’t you? I keep forgetting you’re so young, too. Too
much poise for your own good.”
“Not at the moment.”
Waterstone smiled. “No. Not at the moment. We’ll take the longer
path back to the others, shall we?”
s soon as Tarkyn and Waterstone entered the clearing where the
others were gathered, Rainstorm came bounding up to them, full of
plans for the evening. He took one look at Tarkyn’s face and frowned,
“You all right?”
“Dust and not enough sleep last night,” interjected Waterstone,
knowing Tarkyn wouldn’t be able to lie.
“I might go down the stream and freshen up a bit,” suggested Tarkyn.
“Good idea.” Waterstone gave him a pat on the back to send him on
his way. “I’ll broach the idea about the horses while you’re away.”
Rainstorm clung to Tarkyn’s side like an eager puppy as he wandered
down the path to the stream. Tarkyn glanced down sideways at him but
said nothing.
“You’re not all right, are you?” persisted the young woodman.
“I’m better than I was,” replied Tarkyn shortly.
“So, what’s the matter? Nothing I’ve done, I hope… other than make
you feel hideous about the oath.” Rainstorm looked up expectantly but,
receiving only a slight smile in response, continued huffily, “Fine. Then
don’t tell me. None of my business anyway, I suppose.”
“Rainstorm, I just finished talking to Waterstone about it. I don’t want
to start all over again.”
“Fine. I’ll leave then. You might just remember sometimes that
Waterstone is not your only friend.”
He turned to leave but Tarkyn put out a restraining hand. “Don’t go.
Come down to the stream with me.”
Rainstorm eyed him belligerently for a moment, then grinned, “All
right, I will and if you’re very lucky I might just shut up.”
Tarkyn laughed, “I think that might be a bit much to hope for.”
When they reached the stream, Tarkyn dragged off his boots and
waded straight in. Rainstorm watched him, horrified. “What are you
doing? It’s freezing in there, prince.”
Tarkyn ducked his head under the water and came up gasping. “Yep.
It certainly is.” He shook his head and sent his long black hair flying. He
grinned, “Don’t tell me you’re going to let me suffer alone.”
“I was thinking of it, I must say.”
“Come on. Don’t be a wimp. Get in here,” said Tarkyn before
disappearing under the water again
In a split second, it ran through Rainstorm’s head to wonder if this
was an order. In the same instant he knew it was not. He suddenly
understood what Waterstone had meant about the oath getting in the
way of friendship. He put his hands on his hips and tried to work out
what his natural response would be. Before Tarkyn had time to resurface,
he shrugged, threw off his boots and gingerly stepped into the freezing
water. This might not be what he would usually do. He wasn’t sure. But
it was what was needed at the moment.
Tarkyn came up close to him and blew a spout of muddy water into
the air that landed neatly on Rainstorm’s head and dripped in icy rivulets
down his back.
“Wolves’ teeth Tarkyn! Stop it! That’s freezing.”
“Come on. Stop standing there, shivering. Just get in. Once you’re in,
it gets better.”
Rainstorm took a deep breath and resolutely let himself fall forward
into the shallow waters. As soon as he could get his feet under him, he shot
upwards, gasping. “Stars above, prince. You’re mad. This is murderously
cold.”
Tarkyn grinned, “I know. You have a streak of true heroism in you,
Rainstorm.”
Even as Rainstorm’s eyebrows twitched together in suspicion, Tarkyn
sank under the water again. Moments later, a tug on Rainstorm’s ankle
dragged him under. He just had time to grab a breath before he was
submerged in the icy water. When he came up spluttering, he found
himself face to face with an expectant Tarkyn.