Bridge of Swords (13 page)

‘If that was the best entertainment that King Ward’s court can provide, I’m glad I’ll never go there,’ the miner Sendatsu had hurled through the air groaned as he emerged from the wreckage of his friends.

The barman watched him without sympathy.

‘You just don’t appreciate culture,’ he told him, blowing his nose on his rag, before using it to clean out an empty tankard.

Huw raced out of the hall at Caerphilly not far behind the elf and tried to stay with him, ignoring the wobble in his legs and the burning in his lungs. He was not going to let the elf get away this time.

Nobody stopped them, although plenty stared — especially at Huw in his bright bard costume of red tunic and green trews. By the time they had reached the outskirts, Huw was panting like a dog and almost reeling from exhaustion. The elf, on the other hand, showed no signs of slowing down. Barely a hundred yards from the last house, a wood began. Huw was staggering by the time he reached it, the elf long gone.

‘Wait! I just want to talk! Please!’ he puffed as loud as he could, then leaned on a tree and sucked in great gulps of air.

When his legs stopped shaking and it felt like he could breathe again without coughing, he straightened and looked around. Nothing. He cursed. He spun around desperately and came face to face with the elf. His sword was in his hand and it was pointed at Huw’s throat.

‘You’ve got some explaining to do,’ the elf said coldly. ‘Talk fast.’

‘What happened here?’ Broyle demanded, stamping around the clearing, staring at the bodies of his men they had found littered through the woods. The ones killed by a sword were obvious enough but several had been killed by something else. At first he thought they were from a crossbow but they looked different, with a smaller entry wound.

‘I knew we should have all stayed together. The women are gone!’ Ricbert grumbled.

‘Well, I think we can safely say they didn’t do this!’ Broyle snarled. ‘Cenred was one of the best swordsmen in our regiment. There must have been dozens of them — enough to kill our boys and then enough to take their own dead away.’

‘You think the Velsh did this?’ Ricbert asked.

‘Well, it wasn’t a bunch of woodland elves!’ Broyle growled.

‘So what do we do, sarge?’

‘Horse tracks lead towards that village we raided. We shall head back there. But slowly. Cautiously. I want them to think they got away with this,’ Broyle said carefully.

‘Why?’

‘So when I do rip them apart, I can enjoy it more,’ Broyle vowed.

Sendatsu had made the shelter of the trees easily and watched the bard stumble to a halt and then lean against one, gasping for air. He was the most unlikely opponent Sendatsu had ever seen but it never hurt to be cautious. He used the bard’s heavy breathing to cover the slight noise of his own approach and to draw his sword. When the bard turned, he was ready.

‘Talk fast,’ he ordered the frightened Velshman. ‘Why are you following me?’

The bard gulped. ‘I need your help to save my people. We’ve come from the court of King Ward in Cridianton — he’s the king of Forland, a country to the south of here that wants to rule the world. He’s sending soldiers north to raid and attack my people and I have to warn them. You can use your magic to save them — what are you doing here …’ he gabbled.

Sendatsu sheathed his sword. There was no danger here. ‘Do you want to slow down a little?’ he suggested.

‘Yes!’ the Velshman breathed out. ‘Only you said to talk fast, so I thought …’

‘Look, how about going back to the beginning?’

‘Yes! Great idea!’ the bard said excitedly. ‘But maybe you should come with me first — I have a couple of rooms back at that inn and we can talk there in more comfort. Besides, Rhiannon wants to meet you, and needs to speak to you as well …’

Sendatsu hesitated. ‘Fine. Lead on,’ he said shortly, to cut off the bard’s flow of words.

‘Sensei Sumiko, what can we do? The thought of Sendatsu out in the human world is eating me up inside. He could be dead already!’ Asami declared.

‘Hush!’ The High Magic-weaver looked around dramatically, which set Asami’s teeth on edge. She knew Sumiko’s powers would have told her if someone had been within hearing distance, while her garden would have seized anyone who dared enter it without her permission. It was particularly vibrant today and Asami wondered what that meant for her.

This had been her first opportunity to come here. The Elven Council had forbidden mention of Sendatsu’s name. Everyone was talking about it, of course — it was the topic of conversation in every part of Dokuzen. But only with trusted friends and family. Clans were quick to point the finger at each other for disloyalty to the Council and the Council Guards were always ready to pounce. Gaibun had also had many angry words about that kiss she and Sendatsu had exchanged in the garden.

‘I know your feelings for him. But to do that in front of others! You shamed me!’ he spat at her.

‘And you taking lovers across half of Dokuzen does not shame me?’ she fired back.

‘At least I am discreet. At least I do not do anything in front of servants and mere soldiers!’

‘No, just in front of enough people that all our friends gossip about it behind my back!’

‘I would not expect a woman to understand honour!’

‘If that is your version of honour, then I am glad it makes no sense!’

They had not spoken since, except for him to forbid her going near Sumiko. But he was out on patrol near the border and she was willing to take the risk — any risk.

‘The Council has ears everywhere. We must be careful …’

‘Aroaril curse being careful! Sendatsu saved us and is now risking his life to help us again. We need to give him all the aid we can,’ Asami argued. Behind her, a vine exploded into life, silently twisting and crushing the rose bush next to it.

‘Agreed,’ Sumiko said quietly. The vine slithered back into the earth, leaving the rose bush to collapse noiselessly to the ground. ‘The best way is to do something here. We both saw
the effect one scroll from the tombs of the forefathers had on Jaken and the cursed Council. One scroll! And yet there are dozens still in there. We must go through them, find what is inside.’ Another bush burst into life, rich red berries on its stems tempting a pair of birds who sat on the wall overlooking the garden.

‘But I thought that was what Sendatsu had to do, why he was sent into the human world?’ Asami could feel the magic flowing around her, worried what it meant, but dared not look behind.

One of the birds could not resist the beckoning berries and flew down, looking for a place to land.

‘Yes,’ Sumiko agreed. ‘But we would be foolish not to try this. If we can get the evidence first, overthrow the Council, then there is no need for Sendatsu to be out there and we can bring him home. We have already begun the process, the people are already being prepared …’

Awareness came to Asami then. ‘You were already planning this, even before Sendatsu,’ she breathed.

Sumiko smiled thinly. The bird had now landed on the very top of the bush and was edging lower, looking at the plump, ripe berries with a hungry eye.

‘Of course. We have seen the magic dying within the elves, the barrier protecting Dokuzen decaying. We had to find out why. The history of the Magic-weavers makes for interesting reading but that alone would not be believed. After all, the Council has seen to it that we are despised. Every child is taught we are not to be trusted, and should be watched always. But the words of our forefathers themselves carry even more weight.’

‘But will it be in time? He will not know how to deal with humans …’

‘We have to move carefully. The Magic-weavers have been working towards this for too long to risk revealing ourselves too soon. You have to trust me,’ she said persuasively.

Asami felt a chill. She could not turn back but neither would she walk blindly into Sumiko’s plans.

‘So you seek to use me to achieve your goals, with no guarantee that it will save Sendatsu?’

The vine suddenly surged behind Asami, rearing tall above the slim elf. ‘Yes,’ Sumiko admitted. ‘But you asked me for help. And this is your only chance.’

‘Then tell me what to do,’ Asami said simply.

The vine disappeared back into the ground, leaving the plants to their ordered beauty, while beyond them the bird jumped down a branch and reached for the first berry. Before it could pick one, the vine exploded out of the ground and plucked the bird from the branch, taking it so fast that barely a leaf was disturbed, the both of them vanishing below the ground in the blink of an eye.

One solitary feather floated down, landing on the patch of disturbed soil.

‘You are going to break into the tombs of the forefathers and steal every book there.’ Sumiko smiled.

Rhiannon paced nervously up and down. The thought of meeting an elf was so thrilling she had forgotten for the moment what she was doing here and why she had fled Cridianton. Geography had not been one of the things Hector insisted she learn but even she knew Dokuzen, the fabled land of the elves, was to the north-east. If one elf was walking among the humans again, who knew how many might be out there? Perhaps they were even now thinking about rejoining the world!

The idea of dancing for the elves, with the elves, consumed her. She even tried out a few steps, to see how it felt. She was spinning around when a knock on the window almost made her fall. She rushed over, to see Huw and the elf standing there. It took her a moment to work out how to open the crude horn panel that served as a window, then stepped back as Huw waved the elf forwards. ‘This is Rhiannon of Hamtun, the most talented dancer that Forland, perhaps any land, has seen. Rhiannon, this is …’ Huw paused as he realised he did not know the elf’s name.

‘Sendatsu,’ said Sendatsu as he hauled himself through the window, dropping lightly to the floor and straightening up.

Rhiannon had a thousand things she wanted to say but her throat seemed too tight, while her feet seemed too big, so she did not think she was capable of speech or movement.

‘Sendatsu?’ Huw asked. ‘I thought elven names were longer …’

Sendatsu looked from Huw to the blushing Rhiannon. Huw grunted and wriggled his way into the room, dropping in an ungainly heap on the floor.

‘Well, it’s Tadayoshi Moratsune Sendatsu,’ he said pleasantly.

Rhiannon swallowed. It was as if something forgotten or long-hidden had come alive within her. She could feel everything around her, sense the mice in the walls, the insects under the floor. It seemed as if she had but to ask, and the world would do her bidding. It left her feeling faint. ‘Tadayoshi Moratsune Sendatsu,’ she whispered.

‘Very good,’ Sendatsu complimented her, feeling a little alarmed at the way she was looking at him — and the way she was looking in general. Was she sick? He had never seen skin flush red like that on an elf. Was it perhaps the unwashed smell he imagined was coming off him in waves? Self-consciously, he tried to step back a little.

‘Anyway, you wanted to know the truth of what happened in the taproom,’ Huw interrupted, not particularly liking the way Rhiannon was gazing adoringly at Sendatsu.

‘You’re warning people about the raiders roaming Vales.’ Sendatsu waved him away. ‘I understand that. Then you saw that I was an elf, realised I could not be working for King Ward and decided to try to make up for the damage you so nearly did.’

Huw paused. ‘Yes,’ he agreed.

‘Good. Now we have that sorted …’

‘But we need to talk to you!’ Huw exclaimed. ‘What are you doing in Vales?’

‘Well, I think we both need to talk. I need answers from you as well …’

‘Are there more elves roaming the human world? Does this
mean you are ending your exile?’ Huw pressed. ‘We need help, my people desperately need a hero like you …’

Sendatsu shuddered at the thought. But he should go carefully with these two. He looked around and saw there was but one chair in the room, so gestured Rhiannon towards it.

‘You might as well make yourself comfortable,’ he suggested. ‘It sounds like we have much to talk about.’

‘Oh, the bed is more comfortable — and big enough for two to sit on.’ Rhiannon smiled. ‘Come, sit beside me.’

Sendatsu regarded her doubtfully as she patted it. It was just a straw mattress on some wood and not what Sendatsu thought of as a bed — but better than a rancid wolfskin on the floor. At least she was obviously not too concerned about his smell. He sat down gingerly, leaving a scowling Huw to take the chair.

‘Well, there are no more elves in Vales. And my people are not planning to end their exile, as you call it, any time soon.’ Sendatsu hesitated. They claimed to know about the elves. How much could they tell him, how much should he reveal of his mission, the fact his life was forfeit if he returned without some evidence and his role in possibly overthrowing the Elven Council? It was a delicate balancing act.

‘I am here to try and find out the truth about why the elves left the human world, to see whether any humans have discovered Aroaril and if they have discovered magic. I am trying to find answers and I hope you can help me.’

‘So what have you found out?’ Huw asked instantly.

‘And when are you going back?’ Rhiannon said in the same breath. ‘Would you be able to take us?’

Sendatsu sucked in a breath. ‘As to when I return — I cannot say. I would like to go back tomorrow,’ he admitted with feeling, ‘but I cannot return until I have answers. As far as allowing humans into Dokuzen …’ He paused, knowing there was more chance of his father welcoming him back with open arms. ‘I don’t think that is a good idea.’

‘But if we had a special talent, if we had a dream to one day dance with the elves …’ Rhiannon sighed, her eyes distant. ‘If
we could help you in your quest, would you take us back as a reward? And we can help, can’t we, Huw?’

‘Well, it depends what Sendatsu wants to know,’ Huw said sourly.

‘I promise you this — if you can help me finish my quest, I shall show you Dokuzen,’ Sendatsu vowed. If you can decipher that book, or do magic, then I shall have to take you back — although it will put your lives in as much danger as mine, if not more, he added silently.