Greendaughter (Book 6) (5 page)

“I decided to return to my family holding and seek assistance from my brothers in the form of money, boats, troops to protect my people, and mages for hire,” Sharl said. “I received”—he paused briefly—“promises of such aid. I was returning to Allanmere with my guard, when north of the forest we were attacked by a large group of fur-clad barbarians with crude weaponry. In the battle we lost most of my guard—you see before you what remains—and only three of our attackers survived. We pursued them into the forest, hoping to question them, but when we found them they were near to killing Valann and Chyrie, and we killed them instead.”

When he was silent, Rowan scowled.

“That is but the beginning of the tale,” she said. “Continue.”

“We nursed the elves,” Sharl said slowly. “We realized that we were already deep in the forest and were likely to be set upon. We attempted to persuade Valann and Chyrie to guide us through the forest, believing that in their company, other elves would be less likely to kill us. They refused. We tried several times to persuade them, and still they refused. I at last told my mage, Rivkah, to lay a geas on them to restrain them to our company, and she did so. She did it most reluctantly and entirely under my instruction; I wish that known. I alone am entirely responsible for the actions of my people, and I think that—”

“What you think is of no importance,” Rowan said. Her gaze at Sharl was as hard as steel. “What
I
think is that you have told me nothing.”

“You said yourself that your spell assured the truth,” Sharl protested.

“What you have told me is worthless,” Rowan said coldly. “You do not endear yourself to me with half-truths, and you do not spare yourself punishment by hiding behind silence.

“That these fur-clad men ambushed you I believe,” Rowan said slowly. “But that you found them important enough to follow into the forest when you already knew, as you said, you would receive no kindly welcome there, that I question. That having already incurred elven wrath by trespassing on their lands, you decided to further enrage them by bespelling two elves and display them through the territories of numerous other clans, that I question. Those acts have the sound of desperation.”

Sharl said nothing.

“The humans who attacked you fled into the forest,” Rowan mused. “Perhaps they did not know the danger in that course. But
you
knew. You knew they would not come out the way they went in, because you were there. You knew that they might be killed in the forest, or they might emerge to the southwest, where your new city is, and where they would be captured. And while they wandered in the forest, walking in circles or being killed, you could quickly and easily take the road around the forest and reach your city in safety. No. You came into the forest for a specific purpose. Tell me that purpose.”

Sharl was silent.

“Your offenses are many already,” Rowan warned. “If I judge you upon what facts we have already observed your death is certain. If you would have a chance for life, speak now.”

“You would let them live?” Valann demanded angrily. “They have captured and enspelled us, risked our lives, and worst of all interfered with our endeavors to conceive a child. How can you even consider sparing them?”

“I did not say I would spare them,” Rowan said calmly. “I said only I would hear them and consider their words, and I shall do so. Well? Will you speak, or will you die?”

Sharl was silent again for some moments. At last he sighed.

“Very well,” he said. “I have nothing more to lose.

“What I told you of my past is true,” he said, “and complete enough. However, my true reason for returning to Cielman, for the reasons I gave, was further prompted by a summons sent by messenger bird from my father and brothers. When I returned they said that there were rumors of war in the north, of displaced peasants fleeing southward ahead of a massive army of barbarians moving slowly but steadily south and west and leaving a trail of utter destruction behind them. Small groups, possibly scouts for such an army, had apparently bypassed many of the larger cities and towns and fared even farther south.

“These rumors made it even more vital that I obtain troops,” Sharl continued. “My father dared send none with me, for such an army would reach Cielman first if they traveled westward enough, but mercenary soldiers and mages for hire were arriving from the west, and we arranged messages for several companies to travel directly to Allanmere. They are likely arriving even as we speak. However, the defenses of Allanmere are hardly begun, and I hurried homeward to speed their construction. At the same time I worried about the hostility between the city and our elven neighbors, because the enmity of the elves, and our inability to obtain game and timber from the forest, would be a serious hindrance. A wagon of trade goods would follow from Cielman, but I had to find some way to make the elves listen to us.”

“You chose a strange manner in which to make friendly overtures,” Valann growled.

“Hush,” Rowan said, refilling Val’s goblet. “Let him speak. Do you see it as a certainty that this barbarian army will not pass us by?”

“Some part of the force certainly will,” Sharl answered. “But it is inevitable that others will come. There are no other cities within many days travel of Allanmere, and certainly some part of the army must follow the trade roads to Allanmere in search of supplies. Even if they were farther east, the river is deeper and swifter there, much harder to cross, and they must either change their course radically or fare farther west looking for a ford, which will, in turn, lead them back toward Allanmere.”

“Continue your story,” Rowan commanded, nodding her understanding.

“When we were attacked by a small party of the barbarians as I told you,” Sharl said reluctantly, “I at first had no thought to pursue them into the forest. Then I realized that pursuing these men made a likely excuse to enter the forest and perhaps earn a little goodwill with the elves. At least if we killed those who might endanger them, elves might be disposed to listen rather than slay us immediately. And a little time could be gained, as well, if we could travel directly through the forest instead of around it.

“I wish we could have caught up with the three before they happened upon Valann and Chyrie,” Sharl continued earnestly. “I swear to you that I have never wished them the slightest harm. We were delayed, however, fleeing an elven patrol roused by the barbarians, and forced from our intended road for some time before Rivkah’s magic allowed us to find our way back to their trail unseen. Her magic concealed us while we followed, although it was a heavy drain on her. We found Valann and Chyrie at the place of the altars as I said.

“Valann and Chyrie’s reaction, even in the face of our rescue of them, convinced me that my plan to gain the elves’ gratitude would never work,” Sharl said. “I would be lucky even to leave the forest alive to warn my people. I told Rivkah to cast the geas upon Valann, hoping that his presence would at least get us through the elven lands safely. We had no idea that Chyrie would share the bespelled wine and become similarly bound.”

“To free Chyrie would have meant lifting the spell from Valann as well,” Rivkah interrupted. “I might have risked it, but—well, Sharl felt that Valann couldn’t be trusted, and in any event, by that time it was almost as far back to their own territory as it was to the edge of the forest. Sharl was right that it was safer for Chyrie to return around the woods with Valann than to travel back through it by herself.”

“And you would have freed them at the edge of the woods?” Rowan asked, turning to Sharl.

Sharl was silent.

“I thought not,” Rowan said. “No, when their presence seemed to grant you safety, you had another thought: They could be used as hostages to force the elves to listen, to deal with you, and a female ripe with child would be doubly valuable.”

“That I did
not
know,” Sharl countered. “Your folk are far different from the other elves we have met to the north. We had no way of even knowing that Chyrie was with child. She herself only now knows.”

“That is true,” Rowan agreed. “But you would have held them as hostages nonetheless, is that not true?”

Sharl glanced briefly at Rivkah, then lowered his eyes.

“Yes,” he said. “I hoped to force them to act as go-betweens with the elves, and as hostages against a favorable trade treaty.”

“Did you never consider warning Valann and Chyrie of the approaching army?” Dusk asked, scowling. “Or us, when you were captured? Did you not hope that such warning would buy your freedom?”

“Our freedom wasn’t enough,” Sharl answered slowly. “I had learned from Valann and Chyrie how little unity there was among the elves. I knew that if they were free, they would simply return to warn their own clan and likely no others, and there would be no chance of a treaty. I thought the same of your folk, Rowan—that even if you warned the other elven clans, that you would become involved in your own protections and have no reason to grant us anything.”

“So you would have held us ransom against a favorable bargain with the elves while they yet had no knowledge of the approaching army,” Valann said quietly, “and warned us and our folk when it was advantageous to you to do so—time enough for us to arm ourselves and provide a buffer between you and the advancing forces, but not so soon that we would turn our resources to our own preparation before you had all that you needed from us. That at least I can understand—the first action you have taken worthy of a Wilding.”

“Thank you,” Sharl said sourly.

“And what manner of trade goods were you intending to offer us?” Rowan asked, ignoring the exchange.

“We had no way of knowing what elves might need,” Sharl said. “So we brought what we wanted them to have—metal and weapons.”

Weapons! Chyrie and Valann exchanged glances. Chyrie’s dagger was over six centuries old, thin and worn, and Valann’s not much newer. Their short swords were just as old but in somewhat better condition, due to less use.

“You offered us no such weapons,” Valann said suspiciously. “Only the useless soft metal disks.”

“As I said, the wagon of trade goods was to follow,” Sharl said. “I had no extra weapons to offer.”

“Is there anything further you wish to tell me?” Rowan asked.

Sharl thought for a moment, then shook his head wearily.

“No,” he said. “Only that these other three acted completely on my orders. Any offense they might have committed against your people is entirely my responsibility. I ask that you not punish them for following my orders, as your people would follow yours.”

“And you have concealed nothing more from us?” Rowan asked.

Sharl looked her directly in the eyes. “Nothing.”

Rowan turned to Rivkah.

“And you, do you concur with what he has said?”

“Well, I—” Rivkah paused. “What happened, yes. I honestly believed that Valann and Chyrie would be released when we reached the edge of the forest. Sharl never told me the rest of his plan. But yes, he told you everything that happened. I—I am ashamed that I cast that spell.”

“Then lift it now,” Rowan said quietly.

“It is already done,” Rivkah said tiredly. “I lifted the spell when the nets fell upon us, so that if we were killed, Valann and Chyrie at least would be free to escape if they could.”

Sharl gaped openly at the mage, and Chyrie, as surprised as he, searched her mind for the invisible barrier and found it was gone. She nodded at Rowan’s questioning glance.

“That speaks in your favor,” Rowan said. “I will consider it in rendering my judgment.”

“What
will
you do with us?” Sharl demanded.

“I have not yet decided.” Rowan turned to Dusk. “It has come, then, sooner than I supposed. All the other clans must be warned. First, tell me this: How far is this army, and when might we expect it to reach us?”

Sharl shrugged.

“They have only the horses they have captured on their way,” he said. “They move with great speed for foot soldiers, but parts of the army stop to attack and loot wherever they can for supplies. At the rate they have traveled so far—and this is only hearsay and rumor—the first wave should reach us in a month and a half or less—possibly much less, since as I said, there’s little to delay them north of Allanmere. The main body will come less than a week afterward, although I can only hope part of the main force will pass us by. How many there are, no one knows.”

“Then there is no time to be lost,” Rowan said, nodding to Dusk.

Dusk stepped to the back of the hut and returned with a rolled skin, which he unfolded near the fire. To Val’s and Chyrie’s wonder, the skin held a map of the entire forest, with clan symbols marked in places.

“There are still many clans we have not located,” he said. “It would take many days to question bird and beast to find them. Wilding is one we have not located.”

Rowan turned to Val and Chyrie.

“When the humans began to settle near the forest, we feared a day would come when our many clans would face a common threat,” she said. “I thought it would be the humans of the city. I joined the clans of Inner Heart, Moon Lake, Redoak, and Owl against such a time. It has been difficult, but four clans together are stronger than four clans apart. Do you understand?”

“I understand that you must send us back to our people,” Chyrie demanded. “They are on the northeast side of the forest and must be warned. Our lands will be among the first attacked.”

“It would take you many days to return,” Dusk said patiently. “A message sent by magic would reach your people in moments. But I must know where to send it. And not only Wilding, but every clan must be warned. Every hand must hold a sword, every eye watch for intruders, every ear listen for signs.”

“You propose that Wilding work for the defense of Inner Heart?” Chyrie asked incredulously. “You ask that we spend our lives to save out-kin?”

“I propose that we form an alliance, many strong against many,” Rowan said firmly. “I propose that Inner Heart and Wilding stand together, back to back, to defend the forest in which we all live. At the very least each clan must be warned; can you not agree with that?”