none (14 page)

What would they do to him?

The jolting hoofbeats went on for what seemed hours before they slowed, stopped, and Larry waspulled roughly to the ground.

“A good prize,” said a voice, speaking the same harsh and barbarous dialect, “and earnest for good

behavior from those sons of Zandru. The heir to Alton, no less—see the colors he wears?”

“I thought Alton’s son was older than this,” said another voice.

“He’s small for his years,” said the first voice, contemptuously, “but he bears the mark of the Comyn—hair of flame, and no commoner ever wore such clothes, or rode one of the Alton-bred horses.”

“Except when we come back from a raid,” guffawed another voice.

Larry went cold with fright. Was Kennard a prisoner too?

Rough hands pulled Larry forward again; the folds of muffling cloth were jerked away from his face, andsomeone pushed him forward. It was twilight, and it was raining a little, thin fine cold drops that made himshiver. He blinked, wishing he could get his bound hands to his head, and looked around.

They stood in the shadow of an ancient, ruined building, sharp-edged stones rising high around them. Anicy wind was blowing. Larry’s captor shoved him forward.

There were a good dozen of the roughnecks in the lee of the ruin, but he saw no sign of Kennard,

Valdir, or of any of his companions.

Before him stood a tall, strong man, cloaked in a soiled crimson mantle, much cut and torn. Under it wasa dark leather vest and breeches which had once been finely cut and embroidered. The hood of themantle was pushed back but the man’s face was invisible; a soft leather mask, cut to lie close to nose andcheeks, concealed all his features to the thin, cruel lips. He had six fingers on each hand. His voice wasrough and husky, but he spoke the city dialect without the barbarous accent of the others.

“You are Kennard Alton-Comyn, son of Valdir?”

Larry looked around, in dismay, but no one else was visible, and suddenly his mind flashed across the

Page 52

mistake they had made.

They thought
he
 
was Kennard Alton—they had taken him as a hostage—and he dared not even tellthem they had made a mistake! What would they do to one of the alien Terrans?

The man’s words returned to him—
An earnest of good behavior… the heir to Alton
! That soundedas if they didn’t want to kill him—not right away, at least. But how could he keep them from discoveringhis Terran identity? What would Kennard do?

The masked man repeated his question, harshly. Larry let out his breath, slowly and tensely. What would

Kennard do—or say?

He thought of Kennard’s arrogance, facing the street roughnecks a few weeks ago. He drew himself tohis full height and said, clearly, slowly because he was searching for the right words and colloquialphrases, but it gave an effect of dignity, “Is it not courtesy in your land to declare the host’s name beforeasking the name of a—a guest?”

He knew he was playing for his life. He had watched the arrogance of the Darkovan aristocrats, and hesensed that their contempt for these bandits was as great as their hatred for them. He shrugged his cloakaround his shoulders—thank God he had been wearing Darkovan clothes!—and stood unflinching beforethe man’s masked stare.

“As you wish,” the masked man said, his lips curling, “yet build no hope on courtesy, son of the

Hali-imyn
 
. I am called Cyrillon of the Forest Roads—and you are Kennard N’Caldir Alton-Comyn.”

Larry said, “Would it profit anything to deny it?”

“Very little.” Behind the mask, Larry felt Cyrillon’s eyes sharp on him.

“What do you want with me?”

“Not your death, unless”—the cruel lips hardened—“you make it necessary. A pawn you are, son of Alton, and of value to us, but a time could come—never doubt it—where your death would be wiser than your life in our hands. So don’t build too heavily on your safety,
 
chiyu
 
, or think that you can make whatever move you please and that we won’t dare to kill you for it.”

He regarded Larry for a long moment, with eyes so grim that Larry flinched. He was cold with terror; hefelt like breaking down, shrieking out the mistake they were making.

At last Cyrillon released his eyes. “We have a long way to ride, in rough country. You will come with us,or be carried like a bundle of blankets. But on the roads we will travel, men need their limbs, their wits,and the use of their eyes. The passes are not easy even for free men. If I leave you free, and give you theuse of all three, will you pledge me your honor as
 
comyn
 
to make no attempt to escape?”

It occurred to Larry that a promise made under threats was no honorable promise, and involved nothing. He would, doubtless, save himself a lot of trouble by giving his parole. He wavered a moment; then,clearly as sight, he seemed to see the face of Kennard—stern, with boyish pride and the severe Darkovan concept of honor. Could a Terran do anything less? That pride stiffened his voice as heresolved to play his part.

“A pledge of honor to a thief and an outlaw? A man who” —again his thoughts raced, remembering

Page 53

stories Valdir had told about the codes of battle—“a man who carries away his enemy’s son muffled in a

cloak, rather than cutting him down openly in fair fight?”

He hesitated, then the words came to him, almost as if he heard Valdir’s self speak them. “You whobreak laws of the road and the laws of war have no right to exchange words of honor with honorablemen. I will speak to you as an equal only with the sword. Since you are without honor, I will not soil evenmy bare word. If you want me to go anywhere, you will have to take me by force, because I will notwillingly go one step in the company of renegades and outlaws!”

Breathless, he fell silent. Cyrillon regarded him in deadly silence, his lips set and menacing, for so longthat Larry quailed, and it was all he could do to keep his face impassive. Why had he burst out like that? What nonsensical impulse to play the part of an Alton had impelled those words? They had rushed outwithout his conscious control; without even a second thought! It might have been wiser not to enrage theoutlaw.

And enrage him he had; Cyrillon’s odd hands were clenched on his knife-hilt till the knuckles stood out,white and round; but he spoke quietly.

“Fine words, my boy. See, then, that you do not whimper at their results. Tie him, Kyro, and make a

good job of it this time,” he said to someone behind Larry.

The man cut the cords on Larry’s wrists, then pulled his hands forward. He tied them together with athick wool scarf which he took from his own throat; then the wool padding was crossed with tight leatherthongs which, without the padding, would have bitten deep into his flesh. They left his feet free, butpassed a rope about his waist, securing it by a long loop to the saddle of his captor. Then the man tookwater and wet the leather knots. Cyrillon watched these proceedings grimly and, at last, said, “I speakthese orders in your presence, Alton, so that you will know what to expect. I do not want you killed; youare more useful to me alive. Just the same, Kyro, if he tries to run from the path, cut the sinew in one ofhis legs. If he tries to drag and hamper our climbing, once we get on the mountain, cut his throat rightaway. And if he makes any disturbance whatsoever as we go along the Devil’s Shelf, cut the rope and lethim drop down into the abyss, and good riddance to him.”

Larry felt his heart suck and turn over; but although his cheeks blanched, his eyes did not falter, and, atlast, Cyrillon said, “Good. We understand one another.” He turned to mount, and Larry, somehow,sensed that he was disappointed.

He wanted me to be frightened and plead with him. He would get some kind of satisfaction out ofseeing an Alton pleading—with him! How did I know that?

The man who had him captive lifted Larry to the back of his horse.

“For the moment we can ride,” he said, grimly. He looked ill-pleased. “Don’t give me any trouble, lad; I have no stomach for torturing even a whelp of the
 
Hali-imyn
 
. Never doubt he means what he says, either.”

The other bandits were mounting. Larry, stiff and cold and frightened, looked up at the high wall ofmountains that rose ahead.

And yet, for all his fear, a curious and unquenchable pulse of excitement and curiosity beat within him. He had wanted to see the strange and exciting life of the alien world— and here at the foot of the strangemountains, under a strange sun, he was seeing it undiluted. Even with Kennard, there had been the sense

Page 54

that somehow everything was a little different, because he was Terran, because he was alien.

He realized that he had really no grounds for even the slight optimism he felt. For all he knew, Valdir and Kennard, and all their companions, might be lying dead in the valley where they had been ambushed. Hewas being taken—alone, unarmed, a prisoner, an alien—into some of the wildest and most dangerousand impassable country on Darkover.

Yet the indefinite lift of optimism remained. He was alive and unhurt—and almost anything could happennext.

VIII

«^»

LARRY WAS DREAMING.

In his dream he was back on Earth, and Darkover was still a faraway, romantic dream. He was on acamping trip, sleeping out in an old forest (or why would he be so cold, with the cold dampness of rain inall his bones?).

Then, through the dream, there was a faint blue glimmer, and an urgent voice speaking.
 
Where are you?

Where are you? We’ve been close enough for a long enough time, that if I can pick you up I canfollow you and find you. But don’t let them know you’re Terran
 
…

Half impatiently he tried to shut the urgent voice away, to recapture the peaceful dream. He was back inthe Terran Zone; in a little while his father would come in and waken him… Someone had left theair-conditioning turned up to maximum; it was cold in here, colder than even the Darkovan night… andwhat was the matter with his arm? Why was his bed so cold, had he fallen asleep on the floor? With alittle groan, he rolled over, his eyes blinked open and he was back in the terrible present. He squeezedhis eyes shut again, with a spasm of despair. He was in the mountain fort of the bandits, and he was veryhelplessly a captive and alone, and although during the day he could keep up some hope, just now hewas only a frightened boy, frightened in a strange world.

His left arm had been cruelly forced backward and strapped behind his back, the left hand at theshoulder-blade, in a sort of leather harness. The fingers had long ago gone numb. The first night of hiscapture, the man who had carried him along the mountain trail had lifted him—numb and helpless—fromthe saddle, and brought him to their fire; he had, half pityingly, thrown a blanket across him, and cut thethongs on his wrist so that he could eat. Then the masked man had given orders, and two of the men hadbrought the leather harness. They had begin to tie his right hand behind his back when Cyrillon, whosecold eyes seemed to be everywhere at once, said harshly, “Are you blind? The little
 
bre’suin
 
isleft-handed.”

They had not been gentle, but he had not tried to fight or struggle; the fear was still on him, but he wouldnot give them the satisfaction of pleading. Only once, in despair, had he thought of the last resort—tellingthem he was not their coveted hostage—

But then what? They probably wouldn’t even bother with a prisoner of no importance; they might evenkill him out of hand. And he did not want to die; although now, cold, wretched and in pain, he thought itmight be rather nice to be dead.

Page 55

He turned over, painfully, and looked about his prison.

A grim, pale light was sneaking its way through windows curtained roughly with threadbare tapestry, andshuttered with nailed boards. The room was spacious, with worm-eaten paneling, the hangings mustywith age. The bed on which he lay was large and elaborate, but there were neither bed-coverings norsheets; only an old horsehair mattress and a couple of fur rugs. The other furniture in the chamber wasrickety and depressing, but he supposed he was lucky that he wasn’t in a dirty dungeon somewhere; hisbrief glimpse of the outside of the fort looked as if there were dungeons aplenty beneath the grim stonewalls.