A Hero's Tale (33 page)

"Call my captains," I said to Bru.

When they had gathered around me, I told them where to deploy their men. They were to separate into two groups, each one to form up on the high ground, along each range of hills. They too had read the battlefield, and they knew at once what I wanted.

I reminded them that we were not there to fight.

"No one is to show himself until I give the signal," I told them. "Stay out of sight, just behind the hill's crest, and keep your eyes on me."

I asked for someone to bring me a banner. Matha stepped forward at once, holding high a standard. From it hung a banner bearing a wolf's head. I didn't have an opportunity then to ask him how he came by it, but I had an idea that he had taken some trouble to find it for me.

"My guard and I will bait the trap," I said. "When you see us raise this banner, have your men show themselves. Don't look as if you're about to charge down on them. I don't want to frighten them to death or make them run away. Just stand there easily, leaning on your swords. Remember, though they appear to be the enemy, they still belong to me."

"What about the northerners?" Bru asked me.

"Are they with us?"

He nodded.

"Good," I said. "I want their chieftains to come with me. Have them bring their go-between along. Let them bring a few hundred of their warriors too, and send the rest to the hilltop where they waited yesterday. Make sure they understand that they must stay hidden until they see the others show themselves."

"Why bring so many of them with us?" Bru asked. "We don't know them. There's no telling what they'll do."

"They're the enemy Vintel expects to fight," I said. "They're what she expects to see."

"Will they obey you?"

"We'll soon find out," I said. "They have pledged themselves to follow me. I might as well discover now how well they keep their promises."

Bru told the captains to prepare their men. They ran to carry out their orders, and soon everyone in the camp began to move.

"Wait here a moment," Maara told me.

"Why?" I asked.

But she had left me already and was running back to the tent. She went into it and came out again at once, holding my wolfskin. A young man with a bandaged arm and shoulder stepped into her path. In less time than it takes to tell, I nocked an arrow and drew my bow. I set the arrow's tip in the center of the young king's back.

Maara saw me. The young king glanced over his shoulder, to see what she was looking at. He met my eyes. Slowly he turned around and showed me his empty hands. I lowered the bow.

"What did you think you were doing?" Maara asked me, when she returned to my side.

"Better safe than sorry," I replied.

"Not to worry," Maara said. "He begged my pardon for believing Elen's lie. And he offered you his help. He is unfit to fight himself, but he has a hundred men still able to bear arms." She moved closer and said in a low voice, "I think you should accept his offer."

I nodded, and Bru went to speak with him.

Maara draped my wolfskin around my shoulders and tied the thong that held it in place. Before I could ask her why she wanted me to wear it, she put the wolf's head up over mine and said, "If you pull this thing down to cover your face, can you still see out?"

"Yes."

"Good. I don't want Vintel to know it's you until she comes to parley."

"Why not?"

Maara grinned. "Let's surprise her," she said.

The march to the hills took more time than I thought it would, and it took even longer for our warriors to reach the hilltops. I was afraid that Vintel would appear before we were ready for her, but at last everyone was in place.

All told I had almost four hundred with me, including my guard, the northern warriors and their chieftains, and the young king and his men. I hoped it was enough to convince Vintel that she had found the enemy, but not enough to make her cautious. I had them form up in a line blocking the narrow pass.

The place we had chosen was well suited to our purpose. Even if Vintel hadn't been following the trail of the northern army, she would have come this way, because it offered an easy path. She would see us as soon as she crested the hill, and then she would have a long gentle slope before her. It would appear to her that we, being a smaller force, had chosen to defend the pass, though we would stand little chance against her greater numbers. The temptation to charge down upon us would be irresistible.

We hadn't long to wait. Bru tapped my shoulder and pointed to a hilltop to our right, where one of his men was signaling to us.

"Get the banner ready," I told him, "but keep it out of sight. I don't want the men to show themselves too soon."

Vintel's army seemed to take forever. We heard them before we saw them, the tramp of feet as they trudged up the hill, the thumping of shields on armor, the murmur of complaint. I remembered that these were the folk of Merin's house, and for just a moment my heart warmed with anticipation, as if I were expecting, not the army of an enemy, but a visit from dear friends.

As soon as they crested the hill they saw us and stopped. Someone gave the order to prepare for battle. They unslung their shields from their shoulders and drew their swords. The light of the rising sun glinted on their blades. Slowly at first, they walked in a battle line down the hill. As they drew closer, the first ranks broke into a trot, and before they had covered half the distance they were coming at us at a run.

Vintel's army made my four hundred seem very small. The noise they made was dreadful, even at a distance. The thunder of their running feet, the roar of their battle cries, grew loud as they drew near. It seemed that the earth trembled under them.

I glanced at the men beside me. Though they knew I had no intention of allowing Vintel's army to reach us, they had all braced themselves to receive the charge.

I gave the order to raise the banner. The warriors on the hillsides stood up and showed themselves. They did just as I had told them. With shields still slung over their shoulders, they leaned on their swords. I had an idea that behind the helmets that hid their faces, they were smiling.

The front ranks of Vintel's army saw them first. They tried to slow their charge, but the warriors behind them pushed them forward. In a moment all was chaos. They were well within the funnel now, and the front ranks were prevented from retreating by those at the rear who had not yet seen their peril. Soon they were tightly bunched together, with hardly enough room to wield their swords. If we had chosen to, we could have trapped them there and slaughtered them. They stood where they were and waited for a charge that didn't come.

I beckoned to the northerners' go-between.

"Invite Vintel to parley," I said.

I sent enough of my guard with her to keep her safe. She stopped well short of Vintel's army and waited. Then I saw Vintel. A few words were shouted back and forth, and the go-between returned.

"They are yours," she said.

I pulled the wolf's head down over my face and stepped forward twenty paces. Vintel set down her sword and shield and came to meet me. I could never have imagined the look I saw on Vintel's face. It was her own death she was looking at. She stopped ten paces from me and fell to her knees. Believing that I wouldn't understand her words, she held out her open hands, to beg for mercy.

I pulled the wolf's head up to show her my face, and said, "Stand up, Vintel."

For a moment she didn't recognize me. Then her eyes changed. If at first she'd had a hope that she could negotiate a surrender, she let it go.

"Whose ghost is this?" she whispered.

"If I were a ghost come back to haunt the wicked, you would have seen me long before today."

"They told me you were dead."

"It would appear they lied. Did they also tell you they killed Maara?"

Her eyes admitted it was so. She got slowly to her feet.

"Did you murder Merin too?"

"You may think the worst of me," she said, "but I would not betray my oath. Merin is alive and well and living safely in her own house, and your mother with her."

As relieved as I was to hear that both Merin and my mother were still among the living, I was dismayed to think that they had stayed in the same house with Vintel, who they must believe had either driven me away or murdered me. Perhaps they'd had no choice about it. Someone else would have to satisfy my curiosity. I did not intend to ask Vintel for news.

"You have much to answer for," I said.

Vintel shrugged. "You are the victor here. Do what you will."

Vintel understood her position very well. If I chose to take it, her life was mine. I would never have to ask forgiveness. We were on the battlefield.

I knew what Vintel was feeling. I had faced my own death too. With no choice but to wait upon the will of the powerful, she had abandoned herself. She knew she was powerless. She didn't care. I wanted her to care.

"Do you believe I intend to treat you as you would have treated me?"

"Why would you not?"

"Because you and I are not alike."

"I dispose of my enemies before they can dispose of me," she said. "If you are too stupid to do the same, then Merin's house has been well rid of you."

"Merin's people had a right to choose."

A light came into Vintel's eyes, as she caught her first glimpse of a way out of her predicament. "Which of us would they choose now, I wonder?"

"Will you put them to the test? Will you abide by their decision?"

"You little fool," she said. "I have no doubt of their decision. What will you do when they turn their backs on you?" She gestured at the warriors of my army, looking down upon us from the hillsides. "More to the point, what will they do?"

"I can't speak for the warriors of the northern tribes," I said, "though I think they are too few now to trouble you. If Merin's warriors choose to follow you, I will take any of my friends who wish to join me and leave you in peace. If they choose me, I will expect you to do the same."

Vintel scowled at me. "What kind of trick is this?"

"Whether it's a trick or not, I hardly see how it could put you in a worse position."

Vintel hesitated, while she thought it over, but she soon saw the sense in what I'd said.

"All right," she said. "Let's get this over with."

Vintel's warriors stood behind their shield wall, swords in their hands, in case our negotiation failed. Together Vintel and I approached them.

The moment I took my first step toward Vintel's army, my guard, prompted no doubt by Maara, rushed forward to surround me. I agreed to be accompanied by no more than half a dozen. The rest insisted on following not far behind.

As I approached Vintel's army, I looked for the shields of people I knew. Many I had never seen before, but I did recognize a few of them. When I came close enough for the warriors of Merin's house to see my face, a murmur began among them. Those who knew me passed the word along to those behind them who couldn't see. I doubted I could find my friends in all that multitude. I hoped that my friends, if I had any friends here, would come forward on their own to greet me.

When at last I stood before them, a few in the front rank set down their shields. The rest waited, uncertain and suspicious, to see what I would do. Before I could address them, I heard a cry and a commotion from within their ranks. Someone jostled her way to the front and pushed roughly through the shield wall. It was Sparrow.

I believe she too thought I was a ghost, but she didn't seem to care. Before any of my guard could stop her, she rushed at me and threw her arms around me.

"You're real," she said into my ear. "You're flesh and blood and bones. I can't believe it." She let me go and held me at arm's length. Tears started in her eyes. "Where have you been?"

"I've been in exile," I replied.

Anger kindled in Sparrow's eyes. It was not meant for me. She rounded on Vintel.

"Liar!" she said.

Vintel lifted her chin against the accusation but made no reply.

"Liar!" Sparrow said again. "How could you tell me such a dreadful thing if it wasn't true? Did my grief mean nothing to you?"

"If Vintel told you I was dead," I said to Sparrow, "it was because she herself believed it. It seems her loyal band of warriors couldn't face her with the truth -- that we escaped them."

Sparrow turned on me. "How can you defend her!"

"I don't defend her," I said. "I've come to accuse her. It was Vintel's treachery that set all of this in motion. It's time the folk of Merin's house learned the truth about her."

There was another commotion in the ranks of Vintel's army. Several warriors emerged from the shield wall with Laris at their head. She extended her arm to me, and when I took it, she grasped me firmly, as if she didn't doubt that I was as alive as I appeared to be. She grinned at me and gestured to my army, and said, with a twinkle in her eye, "May I assume you're not going to put us to the sword?"

I smiled back at her. "I doubt that will be necessary. We can, I think, settle our dispute without too much bloodshed. I've challenged Vintel to single combat."

Laris looked alarmed. "With swords?" she asked.

"With words."

"Oh," she said, relieved. "In that case, Vintel had best admit defeat now and retire from the field."

"Mind your tongue, Laris," said Vintel, "if you expect a welcome next time you come to Merin's house."

"A welcome?" Laris spat back. "Who came to me, begging me to bring warriors to her aid?"

I stepped between them, before they could come to blows.

"Laris," I said. "You know the warriors of Merin's house. Will you gather their captains together and ask them to hear my cause against Vintel?"

"So," she said. "You do have cause against her. I'm not surprised." She glanced at Vintel over my shoulder. "I suspected she was responsible for your disappearance. I only found out this spring, when I arrived in Merin's house, that you and Maara had been gone since harvest time. Vintel claimed that you ran off. I didn't believe her."

Vintel made a sound to let Laris know that she didn't care if Laris believed her or not, but Sparrow shot a glance at her that made her take a few steps back.