Tides of Rythe (The Rythe Trilogy) (10 page)

Gradually, watched every second of the way (not because the guard was bound by duty to be observant, but because day in day out there was little else to look at on this side of the city) the riders drew closer, at a gallop.

Staring into the distance all day had given the guard fine eyesight. He gradually made out that the two men were warriors. They rode upright, bore weapons and had stout shoulders. The one on the left, who rode a white horse, was a thick set man with dark skin. His head was shaven. The one of the left, some glinting blade attached to his left arm, wore a full beard and long, unruly hair.

Weapons were of course permitted within the city walls, but these two men had the look of an invading army all by themselves. The guard thought about calling his superior down from his drink in the turret above the gatehouse, but he would no doubt berate the soldier for taking him from his rest.

He thought, ever so briefly, about challenging the two men as to their destination within the city, and even more briefly about asking them to relinquish their swords, which he could see were not for self-defence but for war.

But he was not a stupid man.

They drew level with him, and as they looked at him, he thought better of everything, and even of being a guard. They did not pay him enough.

Shorn and Wen passed unchallenged.

As he watched their receding swords, the guard decided he was long overdue a toilet break.

*

Chapter Nineteen

Sturmen think the wind is the spirits talking, those anguished souls that cannot pass Madal’s gates. Sometimes they scream. Today, the wind was picking up, howling through the city. A man could be forgiven for thinking the spirits were being tortured.

Shorn strode up to the doors of the barn, his legs now supporting him, but there was a pronounced limp, the legacy of a snowy night high in the Culthorn mountains, and the poison of a deep, muscle rending bite from unnatural hounds. He pushed the doors aside and saw the back of the man who had rescued him that night. He almost failed to recognise him.

Renir swung around as the wind howled through the open barn door, and saw his friend standing watching him at his exercises.

“Shorn!” he cried, all thoughts of form forgotten, and dropped his axe where he stood. He covered the distance to his friend and the two warriors clasped hands. The mercenary noted how Renir’s grip had strengthened while he had been away.

Renir pulled his friend into a hug. After a moment, the taciturn mercenary pulled away, a grin on his battered face.

“Renir, it is good to see you. I am glad that you have not squandered your time on ale and women.”

“I can’t lay claim to an ale free time. I might have supped a few in your absence,” he said with a glint in his eye. “I think you’ll find that it’s the Bear who’s been sampling the local ladies. I, alas, remain innocent.”

“The Bear?”

“Bourninund. It’s my pet name for him. He pretends he hates the name, but I think secretly he is pleased.”

“Well, I think we can dispense with the training for now. We should make a special night of it, for tomorrow we ride. I hope Bourninund has trained you well. Our journey only becomes more difficult with time.”

“We are to leave?”

“Aye, it is high time. I have already been gone too long, and the Seafarers w
on’t wait for long. They only co
me on sufferance. They know me well.”

“They don’t know me.”

“But they do know Wen.”

“He’s here?”

“He’s talking with Drun.”

“I take it you made up, then.”

“After a fashion. I suppose you could say so.”

“Can’t wait to meet him. No hard feelings, eh?”

Shorn shrugged and forced a smile. “There will always be hard feelings. You can strike a man and get over it, but to scar a man – that cuts all ties. But Wen knows the meaning of duty. He owes me, and I am no longer the man I was. I can understand the need for allies, and he is a powerful man.” Shorn clasped Renir’s shoulder, noting the firmness there where once there was only bone. “I believe you will find him…interesting. I’ve had the time to get to know him again, and we’ve both changed. He’s still formidable, but while his arms grow stronger with time, his mind…I think I’ll let you see for yourself. I have said enough.”

Shorn steered the fledgling warrior to the door, before Renir remembered his axe. 

A few seconds later and they were on the way to the bar. Renir’s mind raced. He was apprehensive. He was about to meet the man who gave Shorn his scar. His mind was full of questions, but, he supposed, they would have to wait until later. For now, the chance to meet new friends, and greet the old.

*

Chapter Twenty

One look at the man seated with Drun and Bourninund, quaffing ale like a man with a fatal thirst, and Renir understood more than he wished to.

Shorn’s old mentor and teacher, Wen Gossar, was more than slightly suicidal. The dark skinned man was a giant, broad across the shoulder and chest, with thick, strong hands. His back was bowed with age, but he looked hale enough to Renir His head gleamed in the bright sunshine that streaked through the slats across the windows, and a strip of light fell on his face, lighting the man’s eyes – it was a sight that Renir thought would live long in his memory.

Renir tried to refrain from making an instant judgement, but, he thought, Shorn must be as insane as his teacher surely was to bring him along. Renir could see insanity bubbling in those red-rimmed eyes, shining bright with madness. The man’s mouth leered on one side, like someone affected by a heavy blow to the brain. He was dribbling his beer on his stained jerkin, looking around the room distractedly as Drun was saying something to him.

The man was too busy eyeing the bar to take note of Renir’s examination, although Renir knew he had spotted them entering the tavern. In a glimpse of those eyes Renir saw not only madness, but a cold intelligence, despite the slack features on one side of his mouth.

Renir wondered if the sparseness of customers was because of the unusual heat, or because the customers of the Horseshoe were wise enough to place self-preservation above the desire for cool ale. Renir thought it was probably the later. Shorn left Renir standing just inside the door and walked to the small group. Renir found himself rooted to the spot. Of all the crazy things he had done since finding Shorn that cold night so long ago, meeting Wen was the thing he least wanted to do. It was more than apprehension. It bordered on fear.

He would not let it rule him.

Urlane, although a vague memory, would never allow him to be a coward, and usually Renir gave little thought to his own welfare. It was not a habit he would let himself fall into. He pulled his feet from the boards and walked slowly, reluctantly, to meet the giant.

“Ah, and this is Renir. He, too, joins us on our journey,” said Drun by way of introduction.

Renir felt himself weaken as Wen looked him up and down. The leer on his face did not distract from the danger this man posed. He was far from finished. Renir noted, now that he was closer, how the man’s eyebrows stood out, white where his skin was otherwise darker than that of a Sturman.

“He’s just a boy,” growled Wen, taking a swig of his ale and dismissing Renir.

Shorn felt obliged to defend his friend. “And proven in battle already. He’ll stand true.”

“I hope so.” Wen’s eyes darkened and he fixed Renir in his powerful stare. “Do you feel the moons, Renir? I feel them pulling at me. They are full, and the Seafarers will not wait much longer. Are you ready to put your life on the line?”

“I am,” said Renir with more surety than he felt. “I’ll not be left behind. But what of you? Are you to be trusted?”

Renir sensed Drun’s warning glance, but ignored the priest. He would not be put on the spot by a stranger, with whom he had shared nothing. It might be wise to fear the man, but he was far from wise, and wiser than most men in that he knew his failing.

Wen laughed, his voice cracked in what Renir knew was the throat of one accustomed to the harsh smoke of seer’s grass. It changed minds, Renir knew, and not for the better. That would explain the red-rimmed eyes, and perhaps the permanent leer fixed on his face. 

“I’m as reliable as rock. I will stand.”

“Well, then that’s the introductions over with. Whose round is it?” asked Bourninund.

“I’ll stand this one, and pay up what you owe. I have money in abundance,” said Wen. He drew a pouch from his belt and tipped the contents out on the table.

The silence was sudden.

Hundreds of tiny, cut rubies tumbled across the wooden table. Shorn was the first to react.

“Put them away, man! You’ll have every thief in the city trying to cut our throats!”

Wen barked a laugh and scooped the rubies back into the pouch. “The wages of death, my friend. I have saved every one. It is only fair that the dead should pay our passage north. They know their own kind.”

Renir wondered if the man thought he was dead, and if he was some strange assassin who only accepted payment in rubies.

“We’ll take the money where we can get it, thank you, Wen,” said Drun, ever polite. “But I think one should be sufficient to cover the remainder of our bill.”

“Very well. I will save the rest. The Seafarers have a liking for baubles, too. Although I don’t know why. It’s not like there’s any use for gems in the ocean.”

“You do know why,” said Shorn, “Don’t pretend like you’re some fool who’s never left home.”

“Every man is a fool, student, but I left home many years ago. I know it well. I remember the day I left, and every day before it.”

Shorn ignored him. He had heard the tale of the weapons’ master’s exile many times during his tutelage. It was a sad tale, but Shorn would not let it have unmanned him as it had his old teacher.

But then, perhaps Shorn had his own bane. Every man of war was beset by ghosts. It was just that Wen communed with his, whereas most warriors merely pretended they could not hear the babble of the slain on their shoulder.

Renir took a seat next to Drun, and beckoned the barmaid with a gesture. He studiously avoided looking at Wen, and glanced round the tavern. There was not much to see. It was early yet, and few men in Pulhuth had the time or the money to spare to spend all day drinking.

He was fortunate indeed.

As the older men discussed their journey, Renir watched them and held his council. Once, when his journey had begun, he would have tried to lighten the mood. Now he knew he would have only done so to alleviate his own discomfort. He was a different man now, but still, somewhere deep inside, there was a core of innocence and decency that could not be tarnished by the trials he had already born, and the hardships yet to come.

But he was not blind. There was some tension that Renir could not fail to notice, and fresh wounds on Wen’s bare upper arms. He came to the obvious conclusion that the two men had fought, and not with fists, but he could see none of the animosity that was so often evident in Shorn’s manner. It was as though Shorn was resigned to the fact of Wen accompanying them on their journey north, and had set aside any thoughts of revenge on the giant warrior.

It must have been some fight, thought Renir. From what he knew of Shorn, it would not have gone easy. And for this man to have trained him…the ground must have shook.

R
enir felt it was up to him to steer the conversation into more friendly waters. Perhaps if he got to know Wen better he would feel less apprehensive about the man.

“And where do you come from, Wen?” he asked as a convenient gap opened in the conversation. “You have a strange accent, if you don’t mind me saying so.”

“I come from a distant land, boy. Far from here, across the endless seas. People on Lianthre call it the fourth continent. We call it Makref. It means ‘land of sand’. It is a largely barren land, peopled with strange creatures much like the Protectorate that you flee, and human people, like me. It is there that I learned to kill, and there I learned to enjoy it. But that is all I will say. There is plenty of time to get to know one another on the journey to the north.”