Honored Enemy (48 page)

‘No, Asayaga, they wouldn’t.’

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‘Then Hartraft, our truce is at an end. We have reached the lines where our war resumes.’

Dennis nodded, his hand drifting to the hilt of his sword. Asayaga’s did the same.

Tsurani and Kingdom soldiers slowly moved to take up positions behind their respective commanders. The women and children felt something coming and retreated into a small knot in front of the horses.

The two leaders stared at each other. Dennis could sense the expectant hush, and knew that everyone was waiting for what had to come. He thought of his duty, for here were thirty-one surviving Tsurani – enemies who, if he let them go today, he would undoubtedly face again come spring; enemies who might slay other Kingdom soldiers, for they had learned their skills well in the last month and would be the nucleus of a formidable unit.

‘What are you thinking, Hartraft?’

‘I am thinking that if I let you go now, you could do considerable damage to my side come next spring.’

‘Just as much damage as you will do to us, no doubt.’

Dennis looked past Asayaga. Roxanne and Alyssa were standing nearby, watching, both silent. Behind them he could see so much more – his burning keep, Gwenynth dying, Jurgen in his cold grave, and others as well, young Richard and Osami, the look in Asayaga’s eyes as he cradled his nephew and then knelt by Tinuva’s side.

Tinuva, buried in the woods thirty miles to the north, resting beside his brother . . . He wondered if somehow the two would find peace together in their afterworld.

Dennis smiled. His hand fell away from the hilt of his sword and he extended it to Asayaga. ‘Honoured enemy,’ he whispered.

Asayaga, not sure if this was the start of the challenge, or something else, grasped Dennis’s hand. ‘Honoured enemy,’ Asayaga replied, repeating the words in his own tongue.

For a moment no one moved on either side, then Kingdom and Tsurani soldiers approached each other and repeated the gesture.

Men who had bled side by side embraced and the phrase ‘honoured enemy’ was spoken many times.

Dennis looked over at Gregory and nodded.

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Dismounting, Gregory raised his bandaged hand and pointed to the south-east. ‘Asayaga. A quarter of a mile ahead there’s a trail that turns to the east. Stay on it and you’ll loop around the flank of the dwarf kingdoms. I will convince them that you will honour a truce. As long as you stay on the trail they shouldn’t bother you.

Three days’ march will eventually bring you west, to where their realm borders territory you might be familiar with, ground fought over by Kingdom troops and your own.

‘Once there –’ he shook his head, ‘– well, you’re on your own, but given everything you’ve learned, you should get through. Most of the Kingdom forces will be wintering in LaMut, Yabon and Ylith, so you’ll only have to avoid occasional patrols and stay away from stockades. You should reach your own lines a few days later.’

Asayaga nodded, saying nothing. The whole time Gregory was speaking he had continued to look at Dennis as if not quite believing what was taking place.

‘Asayaga,’ Dennis said, drawing closer. ‘I must insist that what you see as you cross through the Kingdom lines you will not reveal. You won’t fight unless attacked, you’ll cross through as quickly as possible and take no advantage from this truce.’

‘Is that an order, Hartraft?’

Dennis hesitated, then shook his head. With a slight smile, he said,

‘A suggestion, from an honourable enemy. I only ask the same as if you were an envoy travelling through enemy lines.’

Asayaga laughed softly. ‘Agreed.’

‘There is a problem though, Asayaga.’

‘And that is?’

‘What do we tell our superiors?’

Asayaga nodded and looked back at his men. After a moment, he said, ‘We were cut off, we fought, we survived. Nothing more.

If word leaked out on either side, all would soon know, and by the gods that would wreak havoc, wouldn’t it? My master could never be made to understand.’

Dennis laughed and nodded in agreement.

The sight of the two laughing and the way Gregory pointed out the trail was indication enough of what had been decided and the mood of the men around them instantly relaxed. The two groups milled 312

together, chattering, men searching out comrades on the other side, shaking hands, exchanging small trinkets and gifts.

Smiling, Alyssa and Roxanne approached Dennis and Asayaga,

‘I’d have killed both of you if you had started to fight,’ Roxanne announced. ‘I’m sick to death of fighting.’

Dennis looked over at her, wanting to speak, but was unable to do so. She drew closer. She indicated to Asayaga with a nod that he should speak to her sister.

As Asayaga walked a short distance away with Alyssa, Roxanne asked, ‘Do you have anything to say to me, Hartraft?’

Dennis turned away and she followed him, the circle of men around them parting to let them through. When they were a little distance from the others, he said, ‘Thank you for saving my life back at the bridge.’

‘We saved each other in more ways than one.’

He looked at her and nodded.

‘You’re going to tell me you aren’t ready yet, aren’t you?’ She sighed.

He nodded woodenly and she looked away.

‘Gwenynth still haunts me. The anger, the rage – that burned away out there – ’ He pointed back to the northern woods.

‘Watching Tinuva die, knowing what he was sacrificing . . .’

He stopped for a moment, head lowered. ‘I saw it. He had his brother at his mercy, and yet he stopped, unable to strike the final blow. His love spared the one who killed him, and yet he would not have wanted it any different. At that moment it all burned away in me. From that, and from the way Asayaga held his nephew and then rose up to try and save Tinuva – I learned from all that.’

‘Is that why you did not pursue Corwin?’

Dennis did not reply for a moment. As the battle-fury ended only then had he remembered that Corwin was with the band they had destroyed. But his body was not found, and he seemed to have been one of the few who escaped. Some of the men cried out to press the pursuit; even Asayaga wanted to, but he had refused. The children and women back at the bridge had been left with only four men to guard them, the men who had managed to cross the river. He had 313

turned away from that hunt without a backward glance, which had startled many.

‘He is his own poison. I’ll cross paths with him some day.’

‘Will you seek that path?’

Dennis smiled. ‘Not everything changes in a moment. I will seek it, but I won’t live for it.’

She smiled and placed a hand on his arm. Then after a moment, she drew herself close to him and kissed him, deeply.

His arms slipped around her, and he returned her kiss, then gently disentangled himself and pushed her away. ‘It’s true that I am not ready,’ he whispered. ‘I may never be ready to love again. And you should not have to wait. I’ll get you and your people to safety in Yabon City, and I will visit you when I can.’

She stifled a sob and forced a smile, though tears shone in her eyes. ‘I knew that is what you would say, Hartraft.’

‘Dennis, can’t you ever call me that?’

‘Of course, Dennis.’ She stood up on tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek. Then she drew back, her hand brushing his for a moment before letting go. Then she walked quickly towards the horses where the other women and the children waited.

As Dennis watched her retreating back, the striking poise of her strong, tall body erect with pride and self-assurance, he felt another crack in the hard stone that was within him. For a long moment, he felt deeply alone, and then as he saw her mount a horse and signal to her sister, a faint smile grew on his lips.

Asayaga stood on the crest of the road a hundred paces away from the others. He stiffened as Alyssa laid her hand upon his arm. ‘It must be goodbye,’ he said.

‘Why?’ she asked. ‘I have no home, no family but Roxanne, and I could go with you.’

Asayaga shook his head. ‘It is impossible. To my people you are a barbarian, fit only to be a slave.’ He fell quiet for a moment, then added, ‘To suggest we wed would bring dishonour to my house in their eyes and my lord would order me to take my own life, if he did not hang me in shame first. They would wonder why I did not keep you as a concubine.’

‘Then I will be your concubine, Asayaga.’

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He looked long at her as if weighing the offer, then said, ‘It cannot be. I have come to know your people, Alyssa, but you know nothing of mine. We can be a hard people, and love is often put aside for honour and duty. Even though we shared a bed each night, during the day you would be kept apart, and . . .’ he swallowed hard ‘. . . our children would be slaves.’

She looked at him, her eyes rimmed with tears. ‘You’ve never told me you love me,’ she whispered. ‘But I see by the way you look at me.’

Softly he said, ‘I have not told you because I cannot.’ Then he looked into her eyes and his own grew moist. ‘But you read my heart and you know how I feel.’ Stepping back, he said, ‘Let us end this now, for to linger only heightens the pain.’

He turned and shouted a command, and his men broke away from the Kingdom soldiers. Final handshakes were exchanged, many of the Tsurani formally saluting Dennis as he passed them. Tasemu approached, saluted, then extended his hand. ‘Goodbye, friend,’ he said in the common tongue.

‘Goodbye.’

‘I hope I not see you again in this war,’ the Tsurani Strike Leader said haltingly, and then he stepped back, saluted once more and started to bark out commands.

He reminded Dennis of Jurgen in the way he moved about, showering abuse on some, and then a second later giving an affectionate cuff on the shoulder to another as they formed ranks.

‘Just like Jurgen,’ Gregory said, coming up to join Dennis.

‘Yes, that’s what I was thinking.’

‘Jurgen would approve, you know.’

‘Yes, he would.’

‘So would your father,’ Gregory added.

Asayaga walked across with a purposeful stride, once more as if on a Tsurani parade ground and Tasemu snarled the command for the men to come to attention. There was a quick inspection, Asayaga nodding with approval, and then another flurry of commands.

Six men stepped out from the column, bows in their hands, and sprinted out over the hill.

‘Forward scouts,’ Gregory said. ‘My, how they do learn quickly.’

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‘I hope Tasemu is right,’ Dennis said.

‘About what?’

‘About our not meeting again.’

Gregory said nothing.

The column started off, the horses carrying the Tsurani wounded falling in at the middle. Many of the women and children from Wolfgar’s stockade openly wept at the parting.

Asayaga looked over at Dennis and nodded. Dennis left Gregory’s side and fell in with the Tsurani.

‘Remember, avoid contact going through the Kingdom lines: you promised that.’

‘Is that an order or a request, Hartraft?’

‘You know.’

Asayaga smiled and nodded. ‘A request then from me, Dennis.’

‘What?’

‘The war between our nations might last for years yet. We serve on the same front. If a day should come when we see each other again, in the woods, or across that open field . . .’ His voice trailed off.

‘That we back away,’ Dennis suggested.

‘Yes,’ Asayaga said after a hesitation. ‘Yes, my honoured friend.’

Dennis nodded and extended his hand.

Asayaga grasped it firmly, then let go. Alyssa came to Dennis’s side and Roxanne joined her sister, who put her arm around Dennis’s waist, and he put his arm around her shoulder. He was surprised at himself for doing it, but whatever comfort he gave her was returned.

He glanced back and saw Roxanne watching Asayaga and her sister with a slight smile on her lips, though tears ran openly down her cheeks as the Tsurani marched off.

Silhouetted by the evening sun, the column moved over the crest of the hill and disappeared. The world seemed strangely empty. Dennis waited, giving them time to go down the road and then turn into the woods. Then, finally, he nodded.

‘Standard march,’ he announced, ‘Sergeant Jurgen . . .’

He fell silent, looking at his men who were gathered around. He glanced at Gregory. ‘He’s gone, isn’t he?’

Sadly, Gregory said, ‘Yes, Dennis, Jurgen is gone.’

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Acting Corporal Jenkins stood at the head of the column, waiting for an order to lead the men out.

Dennis looked at him, and at the men, women and children waiting behind, all of whom depended upon him to get them to safety.

Finally, Jenkins said, ‘Sir, shall I lead the trail-breakers?’

Dennis was silent for a moment, then he smiled. ‘No,’ he whispered, ‘I’ll lead. Now let’s go home.’

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epilogue

Reunion

The day was warm.

Captain Dennis Hartraft of Highcastle, Squire of Wolfgar’s Hold, shaded his eyes to look at the evening sun setting beyond the mountains which rimmed the valley.

Bow over his shoulder, he slowly walked back from the woods.

He carried no game, though he had seen more than one stag. But the larder was full, the valley was rich, and he felt no desire to draw his bow on this warm spring evening. Hunting had been an excuse for some quiet time alone, to think. His conversation with Alyssa this morning over breakfast had put him in a reflective mood, making him ponder the strange twists of fate that had led him back to this valley after the war. And the children were running riot through the keep. At times he wondered why he found their noise far more stressful than the din of battle. He smiled at the thought of his eldest, Jurgen, trying to lift his father’s shield, though he was only four years of age.