A Fortress of Grey Ice (Book 2) (34 page)

That was a lot of words for Drey, and he didn’t speak them easily. The sons of Tem Sevrance had never been good with words. Even so, Effie knew what it cost him to speak them. He was a Blackhail hammerman, a sworn warrior of eight seasons, celebrated for saving Arlec Byce on Bannen field and holding the Ganmiddich roundhouse with a force of just eleven. Now he sat before her, proposing to tie himself to the roundhouse like an old man—for they both knew that he could not be absent for as much as one night and hope to keep her safe. Mace Blackhail would not allow it.

Drey reached for her hair, curling one of the auburn strands around his finger. “You and me, little one. Just you and me.”

Effie looked down at her feet. She couldn’t look at him or speak. He felt it too: the loss of Raif and Da. They were the only two left, and she’d been a selfish ninny to think that their parting would affect only her. A sudden memory filled her: the sight of Drey striding through the greatdoor on his return from Bannen. Men surrounded him, pulling him this way and that, wanting his opinion on wounded men and damaged blades, yet he had stopped in the midst of it all, his gaze sweeping across the entrance hall . . . in search of her.

Effie breathed deeply. She knew with unshakable certainty that she must be strong. She could not allow him to halve his life because of her. “I’m looking forward to going to Dregg,” she said, aware that the words were coming out a little too fast but unable to stop them. “Raina’s told me all about the dancing and . . . and the bones. And she said that after a few months all the fuss would die down, and then you can come and bring me home, and everyone would have forgotten what happened to Cutty and Nelly Moss, and everything will be all right.”

Drey’s steady gaze almost undid her. He looked as if he knew just how little it would take to make her cry. “I was ten when our mother died,” he said quietly. “It happened suddenly. No one was expecting it. She carried you well and high, and everyone guessed you’d be a girl, and when she went into labor we didn’t know to be afraid. Then what should have taken hours turned into half a day, and Anwyn came out to speak to Da. That’s when I snuck in to see her. She was so pale, Effie, and scared. There was no blood, not then, but she knew she was failing. She smiled when she saw me, and you know what she said?”

Effie shook her head.

“She said,
Drey, you’re the eldest and that means you’ve had the most love. This little one I’m carrying will have the least. Make up for it. Love her for me when I’m gone.
” Drey was very still for a moment—the only thing moving was a muscle deep within his neck. “The loving is the easy thing, Effie. It’s knowing how best to look after those you love that’s hard.” He looked at her knowingly. “Now I realize I’m your slightly slow-witted elder brother, and you’ve probably fooled me many times. But not in this. Bones? You’re excited about going to Dregg because of bones?”

Effie smiled; it was a bit shaky but still counted. “
Fossils
, Drey. They have this pit outside the Dregghouse that started out as a defensive trench, but they kept finding old bones and treasures in it, and now it’s as deep as a mine.”

“Mm.”

Drey didn’t say anything else, and his silence made her speak the truth. “I don’t mind going to Dregg, not really. I’ll be frightened a bit at first, but Raina said her sister and the chief’s wife will look after me, and I won’t have to worry about anyone hurting me.”

Drey nodded slowly. All the while they’d been speaking he had been curling a strand of her hair around his finger, and now he let it go. “I know you’ll be safer there, little one. That’s why I agreed to let Raina arrange it. It doesn’t mean I have to like it, though. And it doesn’t mean that I can’t ride to Dregg any day I choose and bring you back.” He stood. “Come on. Let’s say your farewells to Mad Binny.”

Effie followed him down the pier. She’d won, but it didn’t feel like much of a victory.

The interior of the crannog smelled like flowers. Mad Binny was cooking up a love potion, either that or a batch of pollen butter. Effie hoped it was the butter. She didn’t believe the love potions worked, of course, but that didn’t mean she wanted Mad Binny using one on Drey. Thankfully, Drey seemed unaffected. He bowed his head respectfully to Mad Binny, and thanked her for taking care of his sister.
His
thanks were accepted a lot more graciously than hers, Effie noticed. Mad Binny was a different person when there was a man about, and even went so far as to serve Drey a cup of best malt with her own two hands. She surprised Effie even further by handing her a full measure of the honey-colored liquid. “Down it in one, girl. For the journey.”

Effie knew a command when she heard one, and threw the liquid into the back of her mouth. It smoked on her windpipe, its vapors rising straight to her head and releasing a tension that she hardly knew was there. As she went to fetch her cloak and meager bundle, Drey and Mad Binny exchanged a knowing glance.

“What’s couch grass good for?” Mad Binny asked as Effie came to stand by the door.

“For the kidneys and anything to do with making water. You boil the root to make a tincture.”

Mad Binny folded her arms across her chest. “Good enough.” Despite the gruffness of her voice she seemed pleased. “You’ve a memory like a Withyman, Effie Sevrance, I’ll give you that. Now. See that cloth bag on the peg. That’s yours to take. No food, mind. Just a few herbs and simples for doctoring. I’ve heard you can’t gather much except dandelions around Dregg.” She sniffed her disapproval. “Well, best be gone now. I won’t wish you a good journey, as we both know you’re not likely to have one.” With that, Mad Binny ushered Effie and Drey out the door.

By the time Effie had thought of a reply the door was closed behind her. Drey held her hand. “Best pull up your hood. There’s clouds moving south from the Want.” Effie stuffed the little cloth bag containing the herbs into her pack and let Drey lead her to his horse.

The malt liquor had been a clever trick, she thought as she clung to Drey’s waist whilst he galloped Orwin Shank’s fine black stallion south across the Wedge. She was outside with the open spaces of the clanhold spread for leagues around her, and she knew she should be feeling the first stirring of panic—the nearest building was now an hour’s ride to the north, and that meant terrible things could happen and she wouldn’t be able to run for shelter—but all she could feel was a sort of sleepy sense of concern. She hiccuped. Outside wasn’t really so bad, not when you were on a horse and your brother’s head was blocking the forward view. Couldn’t really see much from the sides, either, with your hood up.

When she heard Drey say, “Slide down, little one. We’re here,” she could hardly believe they’d arrived at the farthest edge of the Oldwood. Drey grinned and told her she’d been asleep, but she didn’t believe that for one second. Effie Sevrance
never
slept outside.

Still, she yawned unaccountably when Raina came forward to help her from the horse. “Your cheeks are flushed,” she said. “And you smell of hard liquor. What’s that madwoman been doing to you?”

Effie shrugged. She wasn’t sure she liked Mad Binny, but she wasn’t about to rat on her either.

Raina’s gray eyes looked especially dark and flinty, and Effie suddenly realized she had spoken sharply because she was worried. Looking around the timbered bank, Effie saw two men standing by a covered wagon hitched to a pair of matched ponies. The smaller of the two men she recognized as Druss Ganlow, Merritt Ganlow’s son, and the second had the look of an Orrlsman, if his pale cloak and antler bow were anything to go by. Druss saw Effie watching him and raised a hand in greeting. He was a stoutly built man with the beginnings of a belly, and a baby fluff of fine red hair. Effie did not think he’d given his oath to the clan, nor was he likely to. Druss Ganlow was known as a trader. When Drey walked over to meet him, Druss clasped his arm and the two men fell into easy conversation.
Of course, Drey was at the badlands when Druss’s father died.

Sometimes it was easy to forget the deep and silent connections that bound Blackhail as a clan.

“There’s food and blankets and spare clothes in the wagon,” Raina said to Effie. “I thought the journey would go easier on you if you had a roof overhead. Of course, you don’t have to stay in the wagon if you don’t want to. You can always ride up front with Druss and Clewis Reed. The journey will be pretty slow by pony cart. Druss reckons that with good weather he’ll have you there in under a week. He’s a good man, Effie, and he needn’t have done this for us. He’s got a nice little run heading west to Orrl for fresh meat, and the last thing he needs is a dogleg to Dregg this time of year. Be nice to him. And pray the weather holds.”

Effie nodded. She was beginning to feel a bit sick.

Raina saw this and smiled—her first since Effie had arrived. “Oh dear,” she said, brushing hair from Effie’s face. “Whatever you do,
don’t
throw up in the back of the wagon. We don’t want to try Druss’s goodness
that
far.”

They both laughed, and all three men turned to look at them. Raina put an arm around Effie and guided her toward them. “Come on. I don’t believe you’ve met Clewis yet.”

Drey watched Raina approach, and there was something in his look that gave Effie a small thrill of realization. He’d dressed in his finest clothes for Raina Blackhail.

“Have you told Drey about the Maimed Man at Black Hole?” Raina asked Druss as she came to a halt by the wagon. If she had noticed Drey’s attention, she did not show it, merely put her foot upon the mounting step and gave her attention to Druss Ganlow.

Druss shrugged. “Nothing to tell, except I heard that one of the miners spied a lone horseman on the ridge east of the pit. Said he was riding one of those shaggy little ponies the Maimed Men are known for.”

Drey immediately became serious. Black Hole was the last open silver mine in the clanholds. Blackhail had mined silver in the balds for two thousand years, and the clan’s wealth had once been dependent upon it. Mordrag Blackhail, the Mole Chief, had dug the first foot of earth from Black Hole with his own two hands and had used the first nugget of silver mined to forge a bracelet for his child bride. The trouble with the silver mines was their location: in the balds far north of Blackhail. They were four days’ hard ride from home. Effie didn’t know much about Black Hole for the men who lived there kept themselves separate from the rest of the clan. They lived in queer little shanties with sparkly lodestone walls and only a few of them had oaths. The miners came to the roundhouse twice a year, trading cartloads of raw ore for supplies.

“Did the miners give chase?” Drey asked.

Again Druss shrugged. He was dressed strangely for a Hailsman, with no colors or badges to show his clan, just a short cloak of brown greasewool and a set of bleached leathers beneath. “Can’t say. I only heard the story briefly.” His green eyes, so like his mother’s, twinkled brightly, and for a moment Effie was reminded of her uncle, Angus Lok. “Probably nothing to worry about. No one’s going to make raid on Black Hole. Only thing they’d come away with is a wagonload of raw ore. No smelting gets done up there.”

Effie watched Drey nod in agreement, and wondered why he couldn’t see what was obvious to her: Druss Ganlow wasn’t speaking the truth.

“Still,” Drey said. “I’ll speak to Mace about it. Get him to run a patrol from the northern borderhold. Check on the miners every few days.”

Druss nodded. “That’s as well.” He rubbed his nose with the back of his hand. “I think we’d best be off. Clewis doesn’t like the look of those clouds. What d’you call ’em, Clew? Dark horses. Says there’s no way of telling what they’ll bring and when they’ll bring it.” Scratching the stubble on his chin, Druss looked to the Orrlsman for confirmation.

Clewis Reed had positioned himself to the rear of the wagon, and from the way he stood and the manner in which he held his horn bow, Effie guessed he was standing guard. His Orrl cloak was pale as mist, softly shadowed with the color of storm clouds and old snow. Clewis himself was tall and gaunt, and he carried the longest bow Effie had ever seen. It was a good foot taller than he was, backed with clarified calf’s hide that let the greenish tint of the horn show through. He nodded mournfully toward the sky. “Day’s half done. Be lucky if we can put two leagues of road behind us afore dark.”

Druss smiled easily at Drey as he swung himself up onto the driver’s seat. “An Orrlsman has spoken, and you learn quickly to ignore them at your peril. Effie, be a good lass and squeeze yourself in the back. I knocked together a little pallet for you to sit on. Should be good and snug as long as you watch for nails.”

Effie looked to Raina and then Drey. It was happening too quickly. There had to be something more before she left.

Raina guided her toward the back of the wagon, finding little excuses to touch her hair, her arm, her cheek. “I’ll come and visit when all the fuss dies down. I’ll be there by spring thaw, just you wait and see.”

Raina wasn’t speaking the truth either, just saying wishes out loud. Effie looked down at her feet. The wagon’s wheels had gouged tracks in the soft mud bank, and some enterprising blackbird was scouting the ruts for worms. Strange how she didn’t feel sick anymore, just sort of heavy and achy in the head.
Wintergreen leaves boiled in water would cure that
, she thought inanely.

“Take care. And give my love to my sister.”

Effie nodded. She didn’t look up. After a long moment Raina squeezed her shoulder and walked away.

“So, little one,” came Drey’s voice. “Are you going to promise you won’t forget me?”

More nodding. The blackbird was pulling a worm from the mud.

“You know, I don’t think I’ve ever told you how much you look like our mother.”

That made her look up.

Drey smiled, but it was a serious thing, quickly done. “What I remember most is her hair. The exact same color as yours.”

He looked at her and waited.

He was good at waiting and this time he won, for she couldn’t bear the quiet and the stillness and broke it by rushing forward to hug him.