Samual (46 page)

“No. Not by Alder's balls or his tits!” It was crude and out of the corner of his eye Sam saw some of the elders' faces fall as the words slipped out. But it was the truth.

“No?”

“No. Heri should face justice for his crimes. A proper trial where he can be judged fairly and then given a swift execution.”

Galan's eyes widened a little in surprise when he said that and Sam wondered why. Did he truly not know of all the terrible things Heri had done to him and his family? But it didn't matter. Neither did his brother's screeching as he lay on the cot. In the end he just wanted to be rid of him. One way or another.

“You will not …?” Galan's words trailed off as he stared at him, maybe a little nervously.

“What, rescue him? Defend him?” Sam was surprised that he could imagine such a thing. But then he guessed that Heri had hidden a lot of what he'd done from the rest of Fair Fields. “By all the gods no. Heri is a monster. He has done terrible harm to me and my family, and disgraced us all. He imprisoned my wife in his dungeons for five years, until I rescued her. He exiled me and sent numerous assassins after me for all that time. A week ago he made another attempt on my life, bringing assassins with shadow vipers to this land, harming many, He again threatened my family and stabbed me with a poisoned blade. He is Alder's very right hand!”

“No I will not protect him in any way.”

“You can't do this!” Heri abruptly started screeching again. “I'm your brother!”

Sam almost fell over in shock when he heard Heri say that. And all around him he could see the other elves staring at one another in disbelief. The sheer effrontery of it was beyond belief. And yet he had said similar things before. Did Heri not understand what he'd done Sam wondered? It was almost as though he had no concept of right and wrong. He recalled having wondered that very thing before. Was he truly so blind? Or was he simply desperate? Either way no one answered him.

“Now Heri,” Elder Bela turned to the fallen king, “Our deal is complete and you are free to leave as agreed. We will even provide you with some crutches to help you on your way.” The instant he said it a healer rushed over with the promised crutches and started to help Heri to his feet.

“And you can go with these men, or alternatively if you choose, run away. We don't care. We just want you gone.”

“But they're going to kill me!”

“That is between you and them. Our deal is done and you are free to go. But perhaps you should start running then.”

Heri gaped at the Elder. At all of them. And then, suddenly realising that he had no hope that anyone would rush to his aid, he started running exactly as he needed to. But his running was a short lived event as Galan simply nodded to his men and a moment later Heri was caught, knocked to the ground, bound, thrown over a horse and quickly lashed to it. Heri never stopped screeching as they did so.

“Elders.” Galan nodded respectfully to them as Heri screeched in terror. And they in turn nodded back.

“Samual.” Galan nodded to Sam.

“Galan.” Sam returned the fairwell. But then thought he should say something more.

“I'm sorry for your loss. Harmion was not a good man, and he like Heri harmed my wife terribly in his ambition. But at least he was a brother and I sorrow that mine took that from you.”

Galan didn't answer him. Sam wasn't sure he had expected him to. But it had had to be said. And he was glad he had as he watched the young Fallbright lord mount up and then ride away with his troop and his prisoner.

Was it over? Sam wondered about that as he watched them ride off into the distance. The Fallbrights would not be counted among his friends he knew. But they had Heri and he doubted that they cared half so much about him. And as for Heri, though the odds were against him he doubted that he could ever say he was safe from him. Not until he was finally dead.

But at least it was over for now.

Ryshal sat on a flat rock on the side of the river that flowed through their new home, her feet in the water as she worked patiently on the laundry.

Laundering clothes wasn't a particularly difficult job. It was just a matter of soaping the clothes, squeezing them against the rocks to get the foam to wash through them, and then rinsing them in the flowing water before pounding them on the rocks to get the water out. Routine, boring and repetitive drudgery, but still good exercise for muscles that had done too little for far too long. And it was good to grow a little strength Ryshal thought. To breathe a little heavily from time to time and feel the blood flowing. And it could be quite pleasant when the sun was shining as it was. Then again the water was icy cold on her hands and feet.

Some days it was also quite a social event as the river was filled with women doing the same as her while the river flowed white with little soap bubbles. It would be good though when eventually they had houses and tubs. Especially once they had warm water. But those days she suspected were a long way off. For the moment they had to do things as simply as possible. You couldn't get much simpler than a bar of soap, some flat rocks and a river.

Today though the river was nearly empty. But from the sound of footsteps behind her she was about to have company. Ryshal looked around to see Mayvelle walking towards her and immediately had to suppress a surprised sigh. If there was one person she had never expected to see again it was her. In fact after the way she and her family had been treated by Mayvelle and her parents, she would have been grateful for that. Even though she guessed the reason for their rudeness, she didn't want to see the Ellosian family again. She had been grateful that she had not seen them since that day. Save for Mayvelle who had been there when Heri had attacked. But she had noticed little of her or anyone else then.

Yet it seemed she was about to see Mayvelle again regardless of what she wanted. But at least it was Mayvelle alone. She wasn't certain she could endure the parents' barely concealed hostility as well. On the other hand she did wonder about the timing. Samual had just returned to his proper duties and studies with the elders that morning, leaving her to do the laundry alone. Was that a coincidence? Somehow she thought not. The two of them had a fractious relationship at best.

Ryshal concentrated on washing the clothes as the woman approached, deciding not to change her routine just because she had a visitor. And besides, laundry wasn't a task she particularly enjoyed. It was best to get it over with as quickly as possible.

“Ryshal?” Mayvelle greeted her.

“Mayvelle.” She could have been rude and ignored her she supposed, but Ryshal saw no point in that. Besides, her parents would have been unhappy with her if she had done that. “I didn't expect to see you here.”

“And did not wish to either, at a guess.”

Ryshal didn't answer her. There was no answer she could give that was both polite and true. Instead she concentrated on her work, pressing the clothes against a flat rock to squeeze the soapy water out of them, then dunking them again in the river before repeating. Eventually Mayvelle seemed to understand that she wasn't going to get an answer and carried on.

“I came first to apologise.”

“There is no need for apologies among family,” Ry answered her automatically.

“Yes, but sometimes there is a desire. And my family and I were unfailingly rude to you and yours. I desire to repair that failing.”

“It is repaired and forgotten.” Ry finally looked up to see her standing there looking awkward. No doubt Mayvelle didn't do a lot of apologising in her life. But she also looked nervous. Annoying and direct as she was, Mayvelle was never a nervous woman. This was not about a mere apology. Something else was weighing on her mind.

“Thank you. Your husband was most … certain in his words to me.” Mayvelle said it awkwardly.

“My husband is like you, a soldier. He can be very direct. Especially when he believes his family has been wronged in some way.” Ry managed a small smile. If Mayvelle was apologising than she had to be gracious. “But I will speak to him, and I apologise on his behalf if he was too direct.”

“He was not. Sometimes it is good to hear the truth plainly spoken.”

“Then I will tell him that, and thank you for your understanding.” Ry returned to her work, knowing that there was more that Mayvelle wanted to say but also that it wasn't her place to ask.

“You are well after the attack? Your parents too?”

“Yes. It was painful, like someone shredding the bones of our skulls from the inside, but thanks to yourself and Samual it ended quickly enough and no harm was done.” It would have been if the vipers had not been stopped, and probably many would have died as the vipers bit them while they lay there, helpless. But that had not happened, praise the Goddess.

“Samual was able to fight because he is vero eskaline?”

“Yes.” Ry heard the alarm in Mayvelle's voice as she asked the question and abruptly understood why the soldier had come to her. This was about blood. She had doubts about her heritage. “As one of part human and part elf blood his hearing is not so sharp as some. He heard the hiss and it hurt, but not so greatly that it could prevent him from doing what he had to.”

“Nor I.” Mayvelle lowered her head. “And I wonder why.”

But she didn't wonder. Not really Ry knew as she stopped working once more and looked up at her. Mayvelle had guessed the truth and the pain was written all over her long face. She just wanted it confirmed. But that could not be done by her, Ryshal knew.

“Among our people there are some with sharper eyes and some with poorer. The same is true of hearing. Perhaps your hearing is simply not as sharp.”

“And perhaps there is a reason for it. As there is for my speed and strength. My stature.”

Ry sighed quietly, knowing that she could not give the soldier the answers she wanted because, firstly it was not her place, and secondly all she had herself was supposition. Mayvelle didn't know that of course. She suspected Samual had more knowledge. And that because of that Ry would. That was why the soldier had come to her. But she didn't and yet she had to say something. Eventually some words came to her.

“I'm sorry but I cannot answer your questions. I simply don't have the answers. The only ones who do are your parents.” She guessed though that they would not want to provide Mayvelle with those answers if they were what she suspected.

“But you can guess.” Mayvelle suddenly looked up from the ground to stare straight at Ryshal, her eyes at once both pleading and accusing.

“What you are speaking of is a matter too important for guesses. You need the truth.”

There was silence after that as neither of them knew what to say. How to broach the difficulty that lay between them. But eventually Ry saw Mayvelle's shoulders begin to relax as she realised that she had told her all she could.

“You are right and I thank you for your wisdom.” Mayvelle nodded politely to her. “But I need to return to my duties. I just wanted to see that you were well and to apologise for my rudeness of the other day.”

With that the soldier abruptly turned and left her, leaving Ry with a view of her departing form and endless questions. She didn't know what Mayvelle would do. Whether she would broach the matter with her parents. It was not an easy thing for a daughter to do. Not even for an adult daughter. Nor did she know what Mayvelle's parents would say. Most of all she didn't know what the outcome would be if her parents did tell Mayvelle what Ry was sure was the truth. But she feared that things would not be easy in the Ellosian wagon for a while. It would be best that none of that was laid at their feet.

Still, she knew as she returned to her work that it was something she could do nothing about. She had said what she could and had been very careful in it. All she could do for the moment was wash the clothes. And speak to her parents and her husband in time so that they knew what had happened.

Maybe too she would say a prayer to the Goddess for the soldier. In the end it was the Goddess who had allowed her to survive for so long in that prison cell. Had she not held to her faith she would have died early on. And she was certain that the Goddess was behind Samual's incredible growth as a mage. That the Fire Angel was her servant even if he did not know it.

Surely she could do something for the Fire Angel's sister as well.