The Chronicles: Notomol Ch. 08

Oddly enough, Giedra and I had discussed that very issue, only an hour or so earlier.

- "Kill them?" she suggested. I heard her tone, and knew that she wasn't entirely serious.

- "You could put out their eyes." said Eliv.

- "Cut off their fore fingers." said Rion. "Can't hold a weapon, then."

We hadn't reached a conclusion. Then we learned that the Lowlanders had taken the decision out of our hands.

It was partly my fault, in a way. I'd been too busy thinking about what to do next. The Izumyrians were going to learn that five of their men were missing. They would respond, in some way. They had to.

They did.

Fortunately, I was able to convince the Lowlanders to do things my way. Perhaps Prosquetel felt guilty for killing the prisoners without my approval (I didn't believe for a moment that Iduallon would dare to act in such a way on his own).

The Izumyrians came looking for their missing men. They sent a party of 20, with two mounted officers. Everyone in our band had their appointed task. Seva and Paksyalta had the greatest responsibility: it was their arrows which unhorsed the enemy officers. After that, they had to sprint back down the path, to intercept any Izumyrians who might flee in that direction.

The invaders weren't expecting any trouble - they'd had it far too easy for the last year. They believed that the people of Mahuc were thoroughly cowed. They were stunned to discover that they'd been wrong.

We hit them from three sides. Giedra was unstoppable. Rion was... mad. She had no instinct for self-defence at all. While Eliv guarded Giedra's back, Rion forged ahead on her flank, swinging her axe with no regard for her own personal safety.

The Izumyrians broke and fled. Unfortunately for them, they fled back the way they'd come, along the forest path. We pursued them closely. Seva and Paksyalta were waiting at the edge of the wood.

We accounted for 16 of the twenty. That forced my hand.

- "We have to move - now."

We wasted far too much time discussing and arguing.

"If the four who escaped return to their base, we'll have 25 Izumyrians who know that we're nearby. And shortly after that, they'll call for reinforcements. We have to go forward - now."

Even Prosquetel could see the sense in what I was suggesting.

It was madness, of course. My father would never have done something so foolish, or so rash. We left at dusk, and travelled in the dark. By some miracle, we didn't run into anyone on the way.

As we drew close to our goal, though, dogs began barking.

There were no walls. Most of the troopers were sleeping in a barn, while their officers bedded down in the farmer's house, where they'd forced his wife and daughter into sexual slavery. Can you really call it concubinage when four men force themselves upon you every day and every night?

We blocked the barn door, and then set fire to it. Giedra and our best fighters waited outside. When the Izumyrians broke out of the burning building, they were immediately cut down.

Four officers came running out of the farmer's house. Seva and the archers killed three. One was captured. We didn't learn much from him.

***

We ate the food which the Izumyrians had stolen. It was either that, or steal more food for ourselves. It didn't feel quite right, but we really didn't have any other options.

Every fighter got a share of the spoils: Izumyrian weapons and gears, coins and other valuable possessions. That led to another argument with Prosquetel.

- "The money should go into our war chest." he insisted.

- "What's a war chest?" asked Giedra.

- "We save the money. Keep it in reserve, so that it can be used to benefit the entire druzhina."

Giedra frowned. "Except we're not a druzhina."

- "He means that we should give all the money to him." I said.

- "Of course not!" protested old WhiteHair. "It should be in the keeping of the Duchess."

- "You do that," I said, "and most of our fighters will go home. Isn't it enough that you got the horses?"

Prosquetel and Iduallon had immediately claimed the officers' horses.

- "We need them, if we're to escort the Duchess and keep her safe."

- "Or we could eat them." said Rion.

The Lowlanders had been stunned. From their reaction, you'd have thought that she'd suggested eating a guslar.

To be fair, they also gave Gerimir a horse. There were two more captured beasts, though - and these they assigned to Seva and Odma, who knew no more about riding than I knew about flying. Giedra was offended that she hadn't been offered a horse.

- "I'd look good on one, don't you think?

- "You don't know how to ride, Giedra."

- "I could learn faster than Odma. And if the Duchess can ride, I certainly could. Wait - did Payl have a horse?"

- "'Course she did." said Eliv. "Borna stole hundreds of horses."

- "I want one." said Giedra.

I sighed. "You're going to ride, while Rion and Eliv walk?"

That got through to her. Giedra glared at me. "Damn you, Guenna - couldn't you let me enjoy myself for another moment or two? I was picturing myself on horseback."

- "We all need horses." I realized. That was how we could stay ahead of the inevitable Izumyrian pursuit. A handful of their soldiers had escaped; they would carry the news of what we'd done to larger enemy forces.

But we needed Hvadi ponies - not these monstrous Izumyrian beasts. I doubted my own ability to master such a huge, powerful animal. Most of the Uplanders would be in the same boat.

I raised the issue that night, when we met to decided our future course of action.

- "The Duchess must show herself to the people." said Iduallon.

- "Pardon?"

- "Her Grace must be seen, so that people will know that she has returned. Then they will rally to our banner."

- "We don't have a banner." said Giedra.

- "The banner is metaphorical." said Prosquetel. "But we have to announce that we are here. We can't very well send Uplanders to spread the word." He smiled smugly.

- "Which direction will you be riding in?" I asked.

- "Why? Is the direction important?"

- "Yes - because the rest of us will be running in the opposite direction."

- "What? You would abandon us?"

It was like talking to petulant children.

- "How, exactly, do you see this working out?" I asked. "The Duchess rides into a village, and every able-bodied man immediately picks up a weapon and joins us?"

Prosquetel squirmed a little. "No, Guenna. We will also appeal to the Hospodars. They can bring trained warriors."

- "But the Izumyrians occupy the steadings." I pointed out.

- "Then we'll re-take the steadings!" shouted Iduallon.

I could only shake my head. Stupid petulant children.

- "There are 34 of us, moron." said Giedra. "And three of those are wounded."

- "We can fight." persisted Iduallon. "We'll win - and the people will hear of their Duchess' victories."

He was giving me a headache.

- "If you insist on riding about, shouting out our location, then the first armed men to find us will be Izumyrian. What do you think will happen if there are 100 of them? Or 200? And if they catch us in the open - on horseback?"

That sobered them up, a little.

"Let's imagine that we can ambush 100 Izumyrians, and defeat them. What do you expect us to do when they come back with 500? If they capture the Duchess -"

- "That cannot happen!" snapped Prosquetel. "That cannot be allowed to happen! It's your responsibility to see that it doesn't."

Giedra stood up slowly. She rolled her shoulder, flexed her arms, and then looked at her hands. Finally, she raised her eyes to stare at Prosquetel.

- "Your horses." she said. "Your war chest. Your plans. But Guenna's responsibility?" The big blonde warrior shook her head. "I don't think that I like that arrangement."

The silence that followed her statement was very uncomfortable. I was afraid that the next words someone spoke might make matters worse.

- "Here's my suggestion." I said. "We can't attack a steading - yet. But we can strike at another force like the one we just defeated. That should be enough to attract the attention of your Hospodars - wherever they may be."

No one raised any immediate objection, so I continued.

"We go back into the forest tonight. We'll rest during the day, and then move out in the evening."

The Duchess made a face.

- "Why go back to the woods, when we can stay in this house tonight?" By 'we', of course, she meant herself and her lieutenants.

I ignored her, and turned to Prosquetel.

- "The Izumyrians know this farm. Plus, several of them escaped. If there's another force within 20 leagues, this is the first place they'll come looking. I'd rather not be here when they arrive."

I was still grumbling when I lay down to sleep. At this rate, Prosquetel and the Duchess were going to drive me to distraction.

- "We could kill them and bury them in the woods." said Giedra. "No one would ever know."

I wanted to smile. The thing was, it wasn't entirely a joke. The temptation to do away with them was... real enough.

- "Unfortunately, we need them." I said. "What Lowlander in their right mind would join a band of Uplanders? They're more likely to see us as bandits."

- "True. It might be different if I had a name, though."

- "I don't think so. Can you imagine Payl - or Mutimir ThreeNipple - walking into the Lowlands and gathering an army? The Niskadi need a symbol to rally around. Unfortunately, that's not you, yet. But they'll come out for the Duchess."

- "You hope."

***

There was no need to send Uplanders to spread the word: the Lowlanders did that themselves. Curious people even ventured into the forest to get a look at us. They wanted to see the Duchess, of course, but also gawked at us, as if they were expecting us to have two heads, or fangs.

If they were spies, or traitors, I didn't see that there was much we could do about it. One man showed up with a spear and a long knife. He attached himself to the Duchess' crew.

I don't know if it was her idea, or Prosquetel's, but Temara got onto her Izumyrian horse, and pranced about a bit, holding a sword. She was putting on a show. She'd never actually used a weapon, from what I'd seen. She was a beautiful woman, with long, black hair hanging all the way down her back.

After a while, she put down the sword, and held up her baby for the locals. Prosquetel and Iduallon let people know that this was Borna, the heir to the Duchy.

When the performance was over, I went over to have a word.

- "You have lovely hair, Lady Temara." I said. "May I suggest, though, that you tie it up? If any enemy gets close enough, he's going to grab your hair and use it to pull you out of the saddle."

She simply stared at me. Was she thinking of an answer? Or trying to decide whether to answer me at all?

- "I shall consider your advice." she said, finally.

Which meant that she'd ignore it. Her choice, I suppose.

***

It took us two nights to cover 18 leagues. The locals had informed us that there was another Izumyrian force posted there, engaged in the same activities as the first group we'd attacked: stealing food, and keeping an eye on the farmers.

We got plenty of information. Even travelling by night, and setting up camp in the forest, there seemed to be people everywhere. Most were simply curious. Two more armed men joined us. But I worried that it would only take one to run ahead and tell the Izumyrians where we were.

- "They're loyal, Guenna." said Prosquetel. "You need have no fear on that account."

Unfortunately, Old WhiteHair was wrong about that.

We didn't walk into a trap - perhaps because the Izumyrians didn't know which direction we'd be coming from - or when. Or maybe they just didn't like venturing into the forest. But they were certainly waiting for us.

There were several bonfires going, in the farmers' fields, and quite a few torches, as well. That alone should have alerted me that something was wrong. I briefly considered pulling back into the woods. But what then? Where could we go?

With a little luck, I imagined that we could repeat our first success. I was wrong.

Seva and Paksyalta took out a picket. Then Giedra, leading half of our force, ran into a pair of guards where none should have been.

The sound of fighting came too early. I realized at once that we'd lost the advantage of surprise - our only advantage. I immediately began calling for a retreat. Unfortunately, some of our fighters heard the clash of weapons, and decided that the attack was joined.

The Izumyrians had been on alert. More than a score came boiling out of the barn, fully armed and armoured. Another dozen poured out of the farmer's house and outbuildings.

They had the numbers, and they were ready for us. We fled.

Hours later, we re-grouped in the forest where we'd camped the day before. The Duchess was already there, with Prosquetel, Iduallon, Odma, and the two newest recruits.

I gave a tremendous sigh of relief when Giedra appeared, with Rion and Eliv and eight more Uplanders. I hadn't even begun to consider what I would have done if she hadn't come back.

The archers were next to appear, and then stragglers came in, in twos and threes. Everyone had different, confusing accounts of what had gone wrong. Seva and the archers had eliminated a pair of guards; Giedra and her crew had killed two more.

There were only a few hours before the dawn, but I insisted on moving us again.

- "If it was a traitor who told the Izumyrians that we were coming, then he or she might also know where we camped yesterday. We can't risk it."

Three Uplanders - all women - never came back. Neither did the first Lowlander who had joined us. I never did learn if he'd been killed, or had simply run away.

***

We moved north. It wasn't much of a choice: going east would have meant re-tracing our steps, while west would have taken us right back to the enemy we'd just attacked. South would be towards the lake - I didn't want to be trapped against the shore.

It proved to be the correct decision.

The word of our first, successful attack had spread. The tale of our failure hadn't. People came forward to tell us where the Izumyrians were, and where they weren't. It certainly seemed, though, that folk in Mahuc had no great difficulty finding us. I resolved then and there never to spend two consecutive nights in the same camp, if I could help it.

Four armed men came to join us, two at a time. And then we gained a very unusual recruit. She was sitting on a tree stump, in a forest clearing very close to where I'd planned to stop for the day. She sat very still, even when our archers found her.

- "She was just... sitting there." said Paksyalta. "Just like she is now."

I approached, to find a big blonde woman, wearing a pair of wolf skins, crudely stitched together, as a cloak. She had a sword, planted in the ground before her, and leather bracers on her forearms.

- "I thought you might come this way." she said. "Are you the Uplander Hospodar?"

- "My name is Guenna ThreeSisters." I said. Somehow, the name just popped into my head. I'd always thought of myself as one of three sisters, just the like the mountains overlooking the lake. Yes - I do realize that I have only two sisters, but I'd begun to think of Nameless as my sister by adoption. I think that my father would have liked that. I wasn't going to claim a title, but an extra name might prove useful.

"I'm no Hospodar. Nor a chieftain. I am an Uplander, though."

- "I'm called Liesma." she said, as she stood up.

Damn me, but the woman had to be at least six feet tall. Liesma had powerful shoulders, long arms and legs, and absolutely huge hands.

- "Liesma the Tall?" I asked.

She smiled. "I wish. No - I'm known as Liesma HorseFace."

Unfortunately, the name was all too accurate. Liesma wasn't ugly, exactly, but when I'd first seen her, in profile... she did look a little long-faced.

- "We can call whatever you would like." I said.

- "Thank you. But I've been HorseFace for years now. And I've earned a little notoriety under that name."

- "Notoriety?"

- "The invaders killed my parents. They said we were hiding food. I killed two of the men who raped me - and four more since then." She said it all so matter-of-factly. "I want to keep fighting them, if that's why you're here."

Of course I had to introduce her to my friends. Rion and Eliv loved her right away. They had a great deal in common, and Liesma was an impressive physical specimen.

That might have been why Giedra had mixed feelings about her. They were both blonde, both obviously warriors. My friend was a handsome woman, where Liesma was not, but HorseFace simply towered over all of us. I don't think that Giedra liked being overshadowed.

- "Give her a chance - for my sake?" I asked.

- "As long as she can fight." said Giedra, grumpily.

She was much happier with the next arrivals to our camp. They were four armed men, led by a rather colourful character. He had a knife in his boot, a broad belt with a large, circular buckle, and a pair of weapons: a sword, and a long knife.

His hair was long and thin, and he wore a huge golden earring in his left ear. But what caught Giedra's attention was the item slung across his back.

- "Is that a gusle?" she asked.

- "It is."

- "You're a guslar?"

- "I have that honour. I am known as Thuruar HoneyTongue."

- "HoneyTongue?" Giedra laughed like a little girl. "Are you really a guslar? You don't look like any guslar I've ever heard of."

- "Not all guslars are old and ugly."

- "Alright, you're not that old." said Giedra. She couldn't help herself: she started laughing again. To his credit, Thuruar laughed right along with her.

- "Ouch! You have me there, Lady SharpTongue."

Giedra immediately shook her head. "No - that's not my name. I'm Giedra. I don't have a second name - yet. But you're going to help me get one, Thuruar. A great one."

Much as Giedra wanted to believe that Thuruar was the guslar that her destiny had called up, he had really come to meet the Duchess.

He bowed to her, with a little extra flourish. "I am at your service, Your Grace - and honoured to be so." he said. That flowery start immediately endeared him to Temara and her entourage.

- "You are welcome among us." she said, with a rare smile.

- "I've come to bring you support." said the guslar. "Or, to be more precise, to bring you to your support."

It wasn't a riddle, exactly. Thuruar knew of a location where we could find fighting men. It was also a refuge, difficult for the Izumyrians to find.

"I will gladly lead you there, if you are not averse to travelling by night."

I was wary of a trap, but even at my most suspicious I couldn't believe that a guslar would betray us. Unless... was he really a guslar?

It was the Duchess who answered that question for me: she asked Thuruar if he would play for her.

He could, and did. For the first time in my life, I heard old, familiar tales the way they were meant to be heard - to the accompaniment of a gusle, recited by the powerful and sonorous voice of a guslar.

HoneyTongue, indeed. I wasn't the only one there with tears in my eyes. Giedra herself was positively glistening. She saw me looking at her, and sniffed.

- "Lovely man." she said. "Just what I've been looking for. 'Course - if he leads us into a trap, he'll be the first to go."

***

Thuruar's route was confusing, but he kept us, for the most part, in the relative safety of the woods, and crossed open fields only with the greatest of caution. His three companions seemed to be fairly skilled foresters, who knew all of the best paths to take.

Travelling in the dark is, by necessity, considerably slower than marching by day. I wasn't quite sure just how much distance we covered. On the third night, though, we entered a very different type of forest.