Chapter 37
Word of the episode must have spread, for they had no more trouble on the road from village toughs looking to garner some easy coin. It didn't prevent the occasional boorish person from making snide comments about Randen's disability, but the truly unsavory sorts left them strictly alone.
Their next stop at a Guard post confirmed the rumour that the group had all received sentences of hard labour, ranging from six moons for the followers-on to a full year for the two ringleaders. Those two worthies had apparently tried to appeal their initial, more lenient sentences, only to let it slip that this was not their first foray into banditry. At least one previous attempt had been equally unsuccessful. On learning this, Nikki grimly predicted that, unless the two developed an aptitude for either learning or honest labour within the next year, their lives would be brutal and short.
Kyminn tried to feel sorry for the men, and at first he was troubled by the fact that he wasn't more disturbed by the idea of their probable fate. Had he really grown so cold in so short a time? He was, after all, a Healer. Shouldn't this bother him some more? In a strange way, Kyminn found himself missing Jareth's pithy nagging of the summer before and the Companion's ability to force Kyminn to examine his own prejudices. Kyminn startled all of them with a sudden bark of laughter.
"What's so funny?" Randen cocked an eye from his seat on the wagon bench. While Allek occasionally rode a horse as part of his role as bodyguard, Randen rode only Derris. A horse was simply incapable of adjusting to Randen's balance in the way a Companion could. That meant that whenever there was a chance they might encounter others, Randen drove - or rode on - the wagon.
Kyminn eased Max up beside the wagon, the stolid grey easily keeping pace with the lumbering wagon. "I was actually thinking that I was missing Jareth's nagging."
Randen laughed. "You're probably the first person in the history of Valdemar to complain of missing being lectured by a Companion!"
Kyminn never found out what Derris' response to his Herald's comment was, but judging from the way Randen was convulsed on the seat, giggling in a decidedly un-Heraldlike manner, it had been deeply sarcastic, insulting and quite possibly physiologically impossible. The Healer waited until Randen managed to catch his breath before continuing his explanation.
"I was thinking of those two fellows, the ringleaders, and how Nikki was saying they'd probably come to a bad end. It occurred to me that it ought to bother me, the prospect that they might die at the end of all this." Kyminn sounded pensive.
"Okay, but I don't quite see what Jareth has to do with this?" Derris slipped out of the woods, taking up station on the other side of the wagon. Clearly he was as interested as his Herald in what Kyminn was trying to say.
"Just that last year, whenever I got myself all turned around, it always seemed like Jareth was there with an observation or a comment. It just seemed strange not to have him interject this time." A twisted smile.
"Did you maybe think that this time you don't really need him?" It was thoughtful, as Randen searched for the right words. "Last year…you weren't as sure of yourself. You were making a lot of big decisions that affected quite a few people. I think maybe last year you benefited from another perspective."
"And now?" Kyminn was curious.
A shrug. "Now…you're more your own man. I sometimes wonder if Heralds don't rely a bit too much on our Companions as a conscience. Everyone else has to figure things out on their own. Seems almost unfair, in a way."
Kyminn shook his head in disagreement with that last. "Not unfair at all. Everyone chooses, including Heralds. It's just that your consciences are generally more reliable and immediate than other peoples'."
Derris pretended to look insulted at the "generally" part of the statement, but ended up shrugging in agreement. Randen, perhaps unaware of Derris's expression, gave an almost identical shrug.
"Okay, so back to Jareth and these two criminals. Still unsure?" The Herald seemed quite prepared to listen as long as Kyminn needed to talk.
"No. Not unsure." Kyminn surprised Randen with the quick certainty of his response. "Thinking about what Jareth would have had to say made me give my head a bit of a shake." He gestured up ahead, to where Jareth lurked, unseen in the woods, scouting the path ahead. "It's not my responsibility to feel sorry for those men. They made stupid, stupid choices and did something dangerous and idiotic. For a second time, yet. I didn't cause it, I can't change it and I can't control it. They need to accept the consequences of their actions. We have been as just as we possibly could. The rest is on them and I don't need to feel guilty about it." Kyminn held up a hand to forestall comment. "That doesn't mean I'll be happy to see them hang. If it comes to that, it would be a dreadful waste of what could have been two productive lives. I'll feel about that aspect of it, but not the rest.
"Randen, there's probably going to be a war with Karse by next summer. The four of us all know it, the Circle knows it. We," his gesture took in more than their small group, it encompassed their entire region, "Are doing our best to either prevent it or help as many people as we can. We've helped those two as much as we were able. I'm not going to give up trying to help hundreds in order to save two."
SCENE BREAK
Days turned to sennights turned to moons. Summer edged towards its peak and then began the slow slide towards autumn. The four of them bought horses, walked mile after dusty mile, listened and worried. Small dribbles of whispers of stories, threads sent back to the capital, there to be stitched into an alarming quilt.
Karse, ever closed to Valdemaran traders, tightened their borders still further. Farmers spoke of foreign traders, men offering to buy up seed grain and then asking too many questions about the harvest to come. The border, always porous where bandits were concerned, grew oddly lopsided as bandits who were accustomed to slipping back into Karse to evade Valdemaran retribution suddenly found those tracks closed to them. Guardsmen and villagers alike complained that those same bandits were bolder, more desperate, digging even deeper into the flanks of Valdemar than ever before. The foursome increased their watchfulness, waiting, wondering.
:Kyminn.: That was all. Just a single word from Jareth. Kyminn, seeming to be dozing aback the bay horse, dropped his shields and reached. On the road, Skip, the blue dog, began to chase his tail, a signal to all to be alert. The dog leapt onto the wagon seat, nudging Randen's arm. The Herald responded to the animal's overtures, a stroking hand sliding into the shadows to uncover the strung bow.
The dog continued to nudge the Herald, six times. Seven. After the eleventh nudge, the dog sighed and flopped down on the bench, his eyes fixed on a copse of trees just up the road. Silent signals, well rehearsed, loosened swords and settled riders deeper into their seats. The two mastiffs wove their way through the legs of the horses following, slinking into the bushes beside the road.
"Hai!" Kyminn's shouted warning that hidden archers had released their flight gave the others enough time to twist aside. The bandits, counting on surprise and that first, critical volley, had expected find themselves facing an unprepared, confused and terrified foe. Instead, the would-be victims split aside and instead of fleeing, swung around to carry the fight to their attackers.
Still, the odds heavily favoured the bandits. And although the bandits' armour consisted of poor and broken cast offs, most were wearing more armour than the party of travelers. The boldness of the defenders caused the bandits to pause for a moment, but was not enough to deter them.
The four bowmen, surprised at the initial failure of their first shots to strike any targets, nonetheless took advantage of the range to fire again. Or at least, they tried. Allek's Fetching gift wasn't especially strong, but he and Randen had practiced. Randen's Farsight told Allek where the bowmen were, and Allek's Fetching gift was enough to stir dust, leaves and twigs into the faces of the bowmen, making it impossible for them to aim. Of the four, only one got off a second shot.
The remaining seven attackers broke onto the road, three on horseback from one side of the track, the four on foot from the other. Allek abandoned the bowmen, leaving them to claw grit out of their eyes. He focused his attention next on the trailing string of horses, using his Gift to tug loose the quick-release knots on their halters. Jareth, for his part, was free to focus all his own attention on the attackers. He managed to pound one of them into mud while his rider was still untying horses.
Derris charged through the three horsemen, his leap off the bank taking him over one of the riders. The bandit had the presence of mind to duck when something huge and fast came at his head, but the flying kick that shattered his spine ended the battle for him instantly. Derris eeled up beside the wagon, not even pausing when Randen leapt off the bench. Without the thrust of a second leg, it was more of a controlled fall than a leap, but somehow, Derris' saddle was underneath Randen at the exact moment required.
Kyminn was the sole member of the foursome who did not charge the foe. Instead, he put his back to the side of the wagon and reached again. The wagon team, driverless, froze in place instead of fleeing. Heads tossed and eyes rolled, but they stayed. The six untied horses turned in uncanny unison, and as a line, charged the bandits attacking from on foot.
Nikki and Hugo found themselves facing the two remaining mounted fighters. Shocked at the turn their attack had taken, the two split, trying to divide her attention, snarling their hate as they drove towards her.
Nikki parried the first easily, a touch of her knee signaling Hugo to lash out at the horse coming up on his off side. The massive warhorse gladly complied and the attacker veered away from the blow. The two bandits had not been trained in fighting as a team. Had they done so, they might have succeeded in overwhelming their opponent. Instead, they fought with desperate savagery, unwilling to lose, unable to overcome.
The bowmen never got the chance to attempt a third shot. The two mastiffs, sent by Kyminn, succeeded in savaging two of their number before the bowmen even knew the dogs were there. Their fellows pulled out their own swords, hacking at the snarling dogs. The dogs withdrew just out of sword reach, both of them bleeding freely from the bowmen's frantic slashes. Canine snarls matched Karsite curses, growl for growl.
Kyminn didn't attempt to retain control of the horse string. He'd sent them at the foot borne bandits more of a distraction than an attack and had, in fact, succeeded in forcing the group apart. He then turned his attention to the two mounted opponents. His Foresight caused him to retch a little, but he did it anyway. A twist of his Healing gift and one of the horses went down, muscles suddenly gone limp. When he felt the beast's leg snap as it struck the ground, this time he did surrender his stomach.
Nikki's next blow took advantage of her foe's momentary startlement at seeing his fellow's horse collapse, biting deep into his chest and ending his surprise forever. The bandit on the ground had been unable to roll clear when his horse fell. Tangled in the saddle, he lay twisted, sword cast aside in surrender.
The three remaining opponents, having expected that their numbers would give them a fairly easy victory, had initially attacked the two Heralds with confidence. Possibly they hadn't realized what the Companions were in terms of opponents, or possibly they had and believed they had no options when facing 'White Demons'. In any case, they fought to the last man, refusing to throw down their weapons even when called on to do so.
The two remaining bowmen surrendered to Kyminn. Bound and disarmed, they nonetheless tried to flee when they encountered the Companions. Somewhat disgusted, Nikki trussed the two up with hobbles, finally gagging them when they started ranting in Karsite.
Of the eleven attackers, five survived. The two bowmen were unhurt and the fallen rider had suffered only a broken arm. The rider with the smashed spine was, against all odds, still alive but not expected to survive past the next few hours. The other survivor was one of the bowmen, both arms torn open by one of the mastiffs.
Of the defenders, only Kyminn was unmarked. Nikki was bleeding freely from a deep slash down the back of one shoulder while both Allek and Randen had numerous cuts and bruises. Derris had a deep bruise where a sword had struck his saddle. Had Randen still had his right leg, the blow would probably have severed it. Instead, the sword had bit deep into the saddle pad, nearly cracking one of the Companion's ribs.
The last, desperate shot of the bowmen had actually found a mark, with Hugo limping from the arrow buried deep in his haunch. All three dogs were also injured, with one of the mastiffs having lost part of an ear.
It was a long night for all of them. Both of the two badly injured Karsites died during the night, in spite of Kyminn's best efforts. The remainder of the Karsite horses were located, hidden in a nearby thicket. In spite of the fact it was late summer with plenty of grazing, the beasts were still scrawny and scrubby, raw with sores and mistreatment. The horse with the broken leg was put down, with Kyminn gratefully accepting Randen's offer to help bolster his shields while Nikki took care of the unenviable task. He'd known the horse was going to die, known it even before he reached out with his Gift during the battle. But with its rider about to drive a sword through Nikki's back, he'd had to choose. He'd had plenty of time to learn that sometimes, there was no good choice.
Near dawn, Allek and Jareth left to find the Guard. Although Allek was still a Heraldic trainee and not in uniform, Jareth himself was all the credentials required. The remainder stayed where they were, Derris and Hugo not yet being Healed enough for the rigors of travel.
Allek returned three days later with a squad of Guardsmen and a Healer. Among the group were two Guardsmen who spoke Karsite. Finally able to question their captives with something more than pidgin trade tongue, Randen wasted no time invoking the Truth Spell. What the captives revealed was worrying.
Karse was systematically withdrawing its populace from the area immediately around the border. By winter the area would be largely empty. Something, or someone, the men weren't sure, would be moving into that area. The men had heard rumours, most involving an unknown mercenary force, one the bandits had no desire to mix with.
As for the attack on the group, the reasons were complex. The group was openly buying animals for resale to the crown of Valdemar. In Karse, any group buying or selling to the army would be doing so with the consent of the priests. It went without saying that any group dealing with the army or priests would also be spying for them as well. The bandits had seen the capture of the group as a way to buy their way back home to Karse. They preferred to take their chances at home, taking steps to avoid whatever was to come, rather than trying to remain in Valdemar. The bandits had, in fact, already approached the Karsites and had received a conditional promise to 'consider the request' once the 'spies' had been delivered. A substantial bounty had also been obliquely suggested, along with a pointed reminder that the Karsites didn't particularly care which group of Karsites delivered the spies, so long as they were delivered. First come, first served as it were.
"Well." Nikki gave a whuff of shock. "That tears it. Herald Randen," she used his formal address for the first time in months, "Given this, I don't see us being able to effectively carry out the current mission. I formally suggest that we request additional instructions."
"Heralds are supposed to rely on their own judgement." Randen took a deep breath. "But given that our work was supposed to be discreet and it is now anything but discreet…I think you're right. I think we need to reconsider."