The Caller (50 page)

Tali put her hands on my shoulders, examining me. ‘You look terrible,’ she said bluntly. ‘Here, eat some of this food, it looks a lot better than what they gave us. Mind you, I don’t suppose the household is at its best right now; everyone’s in a state of confusion. Just as well there’s a good steward to give the orders.’

‘Tali, what happens now?’

‘The king and queen are gone; the Guardians whisked them away promptly, and most of the Good Folk have left as well. Lannan’s called a council of the chieftains for tomorrow. He invited me and any representatives I want to bring. I appreciate that; I’d wondered if we’d be forgotten once it was over. The chieftains who supported the king are changing their tune fast now they see a new age coming.’ Her voice was grim. ‘It’s going to be hard to put the past behind us. But we have to work together. Just what my role will be, or even if I’ll have one after tomorrow, remains to be seen. Lannan’s likely to want Flint’s services in establishing something in place of the Enforcers. Yours too,’ she added, nodding at Rohan. ‘And those of any fighting men open to change.’

Flint said nothing.

‘Most of the fellows will welcome that,’ Rohan said. ‘But there will be some who will want to go back to their home villages and start a different kind of life. It’ll be good if they’re given that choice.’

‘What happened to those young men from the south?’ I had seen nothing at all of them today.

‘Not deployed,’ said Rohan. ‘As things fell out, there was no need. Gill ordered them to stay in the annexe until he called them, and he never did. We’ll send them home, those who survived the training.’ A pause. ‘One of the young fellows is out there now, among the crowd waiting to have a word with you. Says he knows you.’

So Ean was still alive. After Andra, after Brenn, after all the others, each survivor was doubly precious.

‘Neryn’s exhausted,’ Flint said. ‘She can’t talk to everyone. This can wait, surely.’

‘If anyone’s exhausted, it’s you, friend,’ said Rohan.

‘With this council tomorrow, you’d both better get as much rest as you can,’ said Tali. ‘You’ll have tales to tell, no doubt, but those can wait.’

Flint looked at me; I looked at him. But it was Sage who spoke.

‘As to the council, I dinna think either of them will be in attendance, important though it may be to the future of Alban,’ she said firmly.

Tali’s dark brows creased into a frown. ‘Lannan’s expecting both of them.’

‘Use your eyes, lassie,’ Sage said. ‘They need time away, time to grieve, time to rest.’

‘Time away?’ queried Tali. ‘Away where?’

‘Ah. Let’s just say there’s a boatie waiting down on the loch, and friends to sail it home. You and your chieftains, you’ll do well enough without these two for a while.’

‘How long is a while?’ Tali’s tone told me she had recognised a force too strong to be argued with.

‘As long as it takes. There’ll be a part to play for the Caller, and for her man, in the mending of Alban – how could it not be so? But not before they’re ready. You’re a leader, lassie. You’re wise enough not to push folk too hard.’

Tali narrowed her eyes at Sage. ‘This boatie. It wouldn’t happen to be one I’ve travelled in myself, would it?’

Sage grinned. ‘It might.’

They must mean the magical craft in which the Hag of the Isles had ferried Tali and me out to a lonely skerry last summer. I felt my heart lift.

‘I’ll come back for you at dusk,’ said Sage, glancing from me to Flint. ‘See you safely away, aye?’

‘Thank you,’ Flint said, and I heard in his voice the same profound relief I was feeling. ‘Neryn, shall we tell all those folk out there to go away?’

‘No, I need to see them. Time enough for rest tomorrow.’ Before Sage left, I had to ask her something. ‘Sage. How bad were the losses among the Good Folk?’

‘You’ll have seen Whisper fall. He died bravely.’

‘He died answering a call from me; to intervene and save Flint. I knew my work today would lead to deaths; I’d been warned to prepare myself. But . . . that was cruel.’

‘You did what you had to do, lassie.’

‘Hollow?’ I made myself ask.

‘Gone back to guard the bridge,’ said Sage, managing a smile. ‘Sent his regards and said you’d understand why he couldn’t stay to greet you in person. Asked me to tell you his door’s open to you, any time you fancy a bit of conversation and a roast dinner.’

‘What about the Folk Below? And your own people?’

‘The Northies came through it; they’re hard folk to kill, especially when someone’s decided to take the magic out of cold iron. That was quite a surprise. How did you do it, in the end?’

‘I asked the Master of Shadows for a favour. But it’s only until you all get home.’

Sage stared at me, her bright eyes astonished, her mouth curled in amusement. ‘Oh aye? Can it be you have power enough to charm even a Guardian?’

‘Power, no. It was a trick. Something he understood. Tell me about your own people, Sage. Did any fall in the battle?’
Let it not be Red Cap,
I prayed.
Or Gentle, or Daw, or Blackthorn.

‘We’re not a clan of fighters. They’ll have been watching on from up in the woods. You called well, Neryn; I think you dinna ken just how well. Brought the ones you needed; spared those who would have been cut down before they could make a difference. Ended the battle before the losses were so grievous folk could never forgive.’

‘The last part happened almost despite me,’ I said. ‘As for fighters, you are one, surely. You showed that today.’

‘Ah, well.’ For a moment she seemed lost for words. ‘I’ll be off, then, and let you chat to your visitors. Pack a wee bag before dusk; you, too, laddie.’

She left, but Rohan and Tali stayed. Rohan let people in one by one; Tali kept our mead cups full and made sure nobody stayed too long. There were indeed many who wanted to see me, and more than a few who wanted a word with Owen Swift-Sword. Osgar, who had shown me the secret lookout; Tallis of Stag Troop, with a bandage around his head. Gill of Wolf Troop. Devan the spinner, eyes round with wonder, hugging me and babbling about how she’d be able to go home now, her daughter was almost one year old and she hadn’t seen her since soon after she was born, and how she’d owe me a debt forever. And Ean, Silva’s brother.

‘You did it!’ he said, not bothering with preliminaries. ‘I can hardly believe it!’ And after a pause, ‘I’m sorry about Brenn. He was a good man. Neryn, he told me Silva’s safe down at Callan Stanes.’

‘When I left her she was settling in there,’ I told him. ‘What happened today, the appearance of the White Lady, means Silva has done something extraordinary, Ean. When you get home, you must tell her exactly what you saw. She’ll know what it means. Will you head back there straight away?’

‘I’d best do that.’ He looked at Rohan; at Flint. ‘I wanted to fight today. I should have been part of it.’

‘You, perhaps, might have made a difference out there,’ Rohan said gravely. ‘If Galany had sent the others in, they’d have been mown down like ripe barley before the scythe. Be glad he had the wisdom to hold you back. If you’re still minded to be a warrior after you’ve been home to see your people, I think there will be work for you here. Everything’s changing, but there’s always a need for fighting men. Seek me out if you do choose to return.’

‘Time’s up,’ said Tali. ‘Neryn’s tired.’

‘Give Silva my love, and say thank you.’

‘I will.’ Ean hesitated, then added a little diffidently, ‘And thank you, Neryn. I’m starting to understand what a debt we all owe you.’

I spoke to a long string of folk: men-at-arms, others whom I had tended to in the infirmary. Then Fingal came with a group of Shadowfell rebels, and Tali let them in all at once. They brought ale and more food, and despite the losses of the day, their mood was buoyant. We spoke of hope and of the future. I wondered where they would go now, and what they would do. Would they find work in the fighting forces of the new regency or with the chieftains, or would they return to their home settlements, the rebel fellowship broken, their lives once more quite ordinary? That would not be easy, for Shadowfell had forged powerful bonds.

At a certain point, Tali said, ‘Everybody out now. Neryn has to rest. And then she and Flint are going away.’ Some protest at this, but she hushed them. ‘Only for a while. People don’t do what they did today without a cost. Come on, all of you. We need to talk about this council; prepare what we have to say.’

I bade them farewell, one by one; I wondered how many of them I would see again. Last, I embraced Tali. ‘I’ve never had a sister,’ I said. ‘Until now.’

‘Odd pair of sisters: raven and lark. But I feel just the same.’ She gave me a squeeze, then stepped back. ‘Not quite goodbye yet, anyway. Dusk, wasn’t it? I’ll be down there to see you off. Though how she’s going to get the boat from Deepwater to the Isles I can’t imagine.’

‘The same way she got us off that cliff top and into the boat, I should think,’ I said, remembering the powerful magic that had picked us up and whirled us down into the vessel.

‘Sooner you than me,’ said Tali.

The boat was moored at the Summerfort jetty, or not moored exactly, since this particular craft held its position without the need for ropes or knots. At midsummer, dusk came late, and the sky was a shimmer of blue and pink, gold and grey. Birds flew overhead, crying farewells to the day, winging their way into the darkening woods on the hillside above. In the encampment outside the fortress walls people were sitting around little fires, preparing food, tending to horses, as if this had been an ordinary day.

We walked down to the shore. Rohan carried Flint’s bag and Tali mine. Flint and I had only a staff apiece. Sage led the way, her small, cloaked figure moving on steady feet. Her own staff, which had blazed with light as she stepped out to defend Flint, seemed now no more than an ordinary length of oak.

The Hag’s boat was long and sleek, finely made in every particular, with an elegant high prow and a single mast from which hung a sail that shimmered even in the uncertain light of dusk. Beside the fishing boats tied up at the jetty it stood out like a lovely swan among humble ducks. That it was a thing of magic, nobody could have doubted. And there was the Hag, waiting on the jetty.

Don’t tell me I can’t bring Flint this time
, I willed her.
Because if you do, I’m not coming.
‘Ready?’ she asked.

‘We’re ready.’ I made sure I looked her straight in the eye.

‘Bid your friends farewell, then, and step aboard.’

I hugged Tali; Flint and Rohan exchanged a manly embrace. I heard Flint say, ‘You’ve been a friend in a time when friends were rare. You took a great risk.’

‘None took more risk than you, Owen. Safe journey, comrade.’

‘Farewell, Sage,’ I said, crouching down to kiss her. ‘Please tell your people I’ll be forever grateful for their help. And bid them farewell from me, for now.’

‘No need for that,’ she said. ‘Look yonder.’

They were there, all of them, standing on the shore ready to wave goodbye. Delicate Silver; Blackthorn, gnarled leader of the clan; Gentle the healer; Daw the bird-man in his garment of night-black feathers. Others behind them. And with them, also, Good Folk from Shadowfell: Bearberry, Hawkbit and the wise woman Woodrush. And there was Red Cap, with his little one out of the sling, holding his hand and standing on its feet. But the sling was not empty; an even tinier pair of ears poked up over the top. I waved, tears half-blinding me, and Red Cap waved back.

Flint took the two bags and climbed aboard. He helped me in. I did not see the Hag embark; between one breath and the next, she had left the jetty and was seated in the prow, the pale strands of her hair lifting in the light breeze.

‘We’ll be on our way, then,’ she said. And without her lifting a finger, the sail filled with air, the boat turned, and we moved away westward along the loch. Tali raised a hand in farewell; by her, Rohan stood strong. The Good Folk waved wildly. But soon enough we picked up speed, and they were lost in shadow.

‘Hold tight,’ said the Hag. And we were taken up and whirled about, water and trees and sky a dizzying confusion around us, until the boat steadied and settled, and we found ourselves not on the peaceful inland loch of Deepwater, but sailing westward through ocean swell in the summer half-dark, with the isles rising in mysterious hummocks around us like great sea creatures resting.

Flint put his arm around me. I laid my head against his shoulder. The boat sailed on, finding its own true path. Gulls flew out of the night to land on the rim rail, a guard of honour to welcome us home. And in the dark water beside us, something was swimming, sleek and graceful as it surfaced and dived, surfaced and dived.

‘Himself is glad to see you,’ the Hag observed. ‘And he won’t be the only one.’ Then, after a silence, ‘I’m proud of you, lassie. You did fine.’

But I found, suddenly, that I was bone tired again, too weary to manage even the words for a thankyou.