The Chronicles of Hvad Ch. 04

- "This is hemlock. You can make tea from it."

- "Tea? We make brooms with it. And the tanner uses it [3]." I said.

I could easily spot jack pine - they were everywhere, the first tree to spring up after a forest fire. I could also pick out the pitch pine, which we used for resin, axle grease, and torches.

Once I smelled it, and saw it close up, I could also identify red cedar. Our carpenter loved it for making chests, and cabinets. Now I learned that forest wildlife loved it too - for the berries.

Tsoline, though, could tell a white pine from a red pine, and white cedar from red cedar.

- "White cedar tea is good, too. But the wood is light to carry, easy to split. Good for starting a fire." she said.

- "I feel so ignorant." I admitted, to both Tsoline and her brother.

- "You shouldn't. You know more 'bout axes and shields, and that. And Hospodar things."

- "And you've seen a guslar." said Kawehka, with genuine longing.

- "That's a poplar." said Tsoline, pointing.

- "Home remedies?" I guessed.

- "That's right." she beamed, proud of her new student.

I learned to spot a shagbark[4], and butternut[5]. Ironwood, or Hornbeam, I recognized: the hard, tough wood made excellent tool handles. But now I learned that it was popular with deer, and the smaller game birds, who browsed its twigs and foliage. The same was true of the quaking aspen, and the beech.

Stave oak for barrels, Bur oak for acorns, and red oak for furniture and fence posts. Shadbush for the berries, black ash for baskets, and red elm for its thick, slightly fragrant inner bark which - wonder of wonders - was edible. And those were just the trees and bushes.

Following Borna's instructions, I absorbed everything they could teach me. That included much more than the identification of trees by their leaves and bark. The siblings also taught me to track wildlife, and even how to move in the forest. Most important, they showed me how to properly cover my tracks.

I did not become a forester. That would have taken years. But I did come to understand them a little better, and I think they appreciated that. It was probably part of Borna's plan all along, when he asked me to learn from them.

***

I didn't know what I was hearing, at first. It wasn't a sound that I was intimately acquainted with. I listened more closely.

It was Kanni. She was singing. Rather tunelessly, I thought, but it was definitely singing.

- "What song is that?" I asked her.

She blushed. "Just an old song my mother used to hum." she said. "I don't even know the words. But it reminds me of her."

- "You liked your mother?"

- "Of course I did. I loved my mother. She was a wonderful woman."

I didn't know Kanni's story - her life before she became a slave. So I asked her. "If you don't mind talking about it, that is."

- "Why would I mind? My mother was a sweet woman. She hugged us every day. But she died of the flux when I was nine. My brother was only seven."

- "I didn't know you had a brother." I said.

- "Now you do." she replied. "My father was lost without my mother. The farm started to fail, and he turned to drink, and then to borrowing. In the end he had no choice but to sell us, to cover his debts."

- "How old were you?"

- "Eleven." she said.

- "Where is your brother now? You never mentioned him." I said.

- "His master was cruel, so he ran. It was a mistake."

- "He was caught?"

- "They flogged him to death." said Kanni. "We all had to watch."

- "I'm sorry." I said, though I knew how little the words were worth. She merely nodded.

"What was his name?" I asked.

- "Krsto."

It was my turn to nod, without saying anything.

"Thank you." said Kanni. "For asking."

- "I'm sorry. I've spoiled your mood." I said. "You were singing happily, and I've brought back bad memories. At least ... you sounded happy."

Kanni gave me a long look. "Why wouldn't I be happy?" she asked.

Again, I had no answer.

"I'm no longer a slave. I'm with a man who treats me well, supporting him in a just cause. He tells me that I'm free to leave, or to marry another man, if I feel so inclined. I know that he'll marry, eventually - but for now, what more should I ask for?"

Kanni gave me another long look. Not for the first time, I saw those big eyes, in her rather plain face.

"The real question," she said, "is why you aren't."

- "I'm his Hand. My happiness doesn't matter."

- "You know, Ljudevit, being aware that most people are stupid doesn't mean that you aren't part of the majority."

She left me with that.

***

Garine died, on a bitterly cold night, in the depths of winter. She had a dagger jammed into her neck, so there was no question about what caused her death. I covered her body with my cloak, so that Noyemi and the other women wouldn't see it.

- "Bitch tried to slit my throat!" swore Khoren.

There was a deep gash on his chin. If Khoren had instinctively lowered his head when she tried to cut him, the wound made sense. It looked much too deep to be self-inflicted.

Besides, Khoren had no need to concoct a story. She belonged to him, and he could beat her to his heart's content. Killing her was extreme - but if she had tried to kill him, then no one would argue that he had acted incorrectly.

- "It's not murder." ruled Borna. "But however justified you were, you owe the blood-price to her family."

- "What?"

- "Ten silver pieces." said Borna. Khoren couldn't complain about the cost. According to Borna's judgment, Garine wasn't the daughter or sister of a Hospodar anymore - she was a lowly slave.

So Khoren gave Noyemi ten silver pieces because he had killed her sister.

And because Borna said so. Khoren didn't have ten pieces, so Borna provided the balance from his little hoard.

The foresters didn't understand, at first. By their custom, anyone who kills is killed. Their code certainly had the virtue of simplicity. But they had adopted Borna's cause, so they accepted his ruling.

I had to wander off by myself, and try to puzzle out what this meant - for me. Borna's judgment made sense. It was a difficult situation, but he had acted quickly, and decisively - which is two-thirds of a good law. It was the final third that was troubling me.

My bias was plain to me. Khoren and I would never be friends. He was a brute, and a rapist. Borna needed him, and so I had to swallow my dislike. If Borna's druzhina was to be limited to people I liked, then it would be very small indeed. And if it was to be composed of only those who agreed with me, it would be smaller still.

That was when I saw that Kanni had followed me.

- "I won't make very good company, right about now." I said.

- "That's not why I'm here." she said. "It's not always about you, Ljudevit."

- "I don't ... what do you mean?"

- "It's not always about you." she repeated. "There's a young woman over there, whose sister has just been stabbed to death. She's terrified, and she's alone. And there's no one who will even talk to her."

I was about to answer - and then wisely shut my mouth. She was right. Given their former positions, and the reversal of their roles, it wasn't Kanni's place to console Noyemi, or even to commiserate with her. That task fell to me: her owner.

Noyemi was sitting by herself, on a fallen log. She was staring off into the forest. There were tears on her cheeks, and her nose was running. I sat down next to her. She sniffled, and bowed her head.

- "I'm sorry." I said.

We sat in silence for a time.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" I got out. It sounded stupid the moment I said it. What could I offer her? The one thing she must have wanted was the one thing I couldn't grant.

- "What do you mean?" she asked.

- "I don't want anything to happen to you." I replied.

- "What's going to happen to me?" she returned. She lifted her head, and looked at me with those uncannily bright eyes.

- "I ... I don't want anything bad to happen to you."

- "Like my sister, you mean?"

- "Well - yes." I was supposed to be offering Noyemi comfort, but I seemed to be angering her, instead.

- "I'm nothing like my sister. You can't see that?" she said.

- "I didn't -"

- "I was a moral coward. I never opposed Garine, when she was petty, or mean. And I never challenged my brother, when he was brutal, or cruel. I was afraid of criticism. Of my father's harsh words. Of my siblings' sneers."

"But Garine was a physical coward. I swear to you - had our roles been reversed, I would have killed Khoren while he slept, that very first night. And then I would have killed myself."

"It took Garine until now to find the courage. And then she botched the stroke."

I realized that my mouth was open. I closed it. Noyemi looked me in the eyes. How had I ever imagined her as fragile?

"Yes, if you had touched me, that first night, I would have killed you. But instead, you talked to me. It was confusing, but I realized the next morning that you had saved both our lives. Thank you - for that."

- "Noyemi?" I said. "What do you want?"

- "What do you want?' she replied.

- "Justice. Borna restored to his rightful position." I said. "Vengeance. The innocent avenged. And an end to ... Vazrig."

- "And my brother?"

- "Yes." I admitted.

- "And then Maigon? And Manahir?"

- "Yes."

- "And then?" she asked.

- "I don't understand."

- "When it ends, Ljudevit - if it ever ends - what would you give me, then? Where do I fit into your plans? Not just Borna's - yours."

- "I wouldn't harm you, Noyemi." I didn't know how else to answer her.

- "That's something." she said.

***

Borna gathered us together, two nights after Garine's death. He had a plan, but told people no more than they needed to know before he sent them off with a task. Then he asked Kawehka and Dirayr to stay. He didn't have to ask me - I wasn't going anywhere.

- "Dirayr, choose the people you need. I want our horses. Here - as soon as possible. Kawehka, I will need you to guide us. Can you do it?"

- "Where to?" asked the forester.

Borna told him.

When he had finished, Borna dismissed them. Then he turned to me.

- "So how do we do this?"

***

It took us two days - two awful days - to get there. The weather was bad when we left, and rapidly turned worse. The only positive aspect to this development was that no one else could possibly have found us. All sane men and women were in their beds, or next to a roaring fire, safe and warm indoors. Only idiots like us were abroad in this storm.

The driving snow obliterated our tracks within minutes. Visibility was abysmal. But Kawehka got us back into the woods again, where the conditions were nowhere near so bad as they were out in the open.

Kanni and Noyemi remained behind, with the carpenter and his bride. That gave us a party of seven warriors, plus Shant, Berit and Tsoline, Kawehka and two more foresters. Thirteen, in all.

We spent an atrocious, bitterly cold night in the forest. No one complained. I believe that this was when Borna began to exert his will, and the others started to accept that whatever he wanted was not only possible, but inevitable.

The next day was brutally difficult, since the storm had become a maelstrom of wind and snow. There were deep drifts to negotiate. We could see next to nothing. Our horses put their heads down, and forged ahead, even when our spirits flagged. My feet were particularly cold, and my fingers grew numb.

I don't know how he did it, but Kawehka found a way through another forest. The trees cut the wind, and the relative silence was a blissful comfort.

And then, to my amazement, the forester lifted his head, and said: "We're here."

- "You're sure?" asked Borna. "Do you know how long we have before dawn?"

They had a hurried conference, and then Borna gathered us all together.

"We are very close to Mushtal's steading. As you can imagine, he has no idea that we're close."

There was a growl from several of the warriors. Berit bared her teeth.

"I know that you're cold, and tired." said Borna. "We've come a long way, in adverse conditions. But I intend to attack tonight. Are you with me?"

We were. Had we lit a fire, and let them get warm, we probably couldn't have gotten them moving again. But with one of our main enemies nearby, and a chance to strike a blow ...

Anger and a thirst for vengeance are powerful enough. But I believe that they would have followed Borna anywhere, at that point. He had the finger of fate upon him, and we could feel it.

Kawehka's two forester friends remained behind, to watch the horses. If the decision were up to me, I would have preferred to leave Berit and Shant, and maybe Tsoline. But Kawehka didn't balk at the inclusion of his sister in the war party, and if we had tried to leave Berit behind, we might have faced a one-woman revolt.

I had no part in finding Mushtal's steading - that was all Borna and Kawehka.

Asrava's son had learned a little caution: the gates were closed. But a steading is no walled fortress. We only had to follow the palisade for a hundred yards, and then Borna chose Kawehka, Khoren, and Priit to accompany him. He instructed me to bring the rest of the party back around to the gate, and then we simply boosted the foursome over the log wall.

Priit made a hash of it, catching his leather belt on the tip of one of the logs. Khoren scraped over the top, making enough noise to wake the dead. Somehow, though, there was no alarm raised.

They opened the gate from inside. There had been three guards, but given the conditions, they had been sheltering under a lean-to, with a good fire of their own going. It cost two of them their lives.

Luck was with us. Khoren and Kawehka made short work of their men, but Priit, a moment before striking, recognized the fellow he was about to kill. His name was Aigars, and he was one of ours - a member of Gosdan's druzhina.

Borna was questioning him as Priit and Khoren unbarred the gate.

- "You're sure? Lives depend upon it." I heard Borna say.

- "Positive." said Aigars. He was an older veteran, with streaks of grey in his beard.

Borna turned to me. "Look who it is." he said.

- "Aigars." I said. "You're lucky, tonight."

- "Ljudevit." he said. He seemed a bit shaken, still. "I'll be grateful later, I suppose."

- "Most of our men sleep in the houses, with their families." said Borna. "Only a handful are in the great hall."

- "Mushtal doesn't trust them?" I asked.

- "Not really." said Aigars. "Wants his own fellows around him, mostly. Never leaves any of our old crew on guard without some of his own to keep an eye on us. Even this guard on the gate - it's more to keep people in."

- "Any of Mushtal's men in the houses? With their families?" I asked.

- "A few, maybe."

- "No time." said Borna. "We'll have to keep an eye out for them. Aigars - I need you to do something for me."

Aigars looked distinctly unenthusiastic. I knew the man. He was no coward. But he had broken bread with Mushtal's men, these past weeks.

- "I'm not asking you to fight." said Borna. "I won't ask you to break any oaths. But I don't want any of our friends getting hurt by mistake. Will you go to their homes, and tell them to stay inside?"

Aigars thought it over. "I can do that."

- "The first man you tell can pass on the news. That'll split your task in half. Good man - off you go."

- "New plan?" I asked Borna.

- "Same plan - only we watch our backs." he said.

Borna gave Aigars as much of a head start as he could. Then he led our entire party toward the great hall. Both of us knew that we could not simply repeat our first attack on Asrava. They had been drunk then, after celebrating their victory over Gosdan. Also, Mushtal had taken half of their men to help Maigon and Vazrig capture our steading.

It was even more complicated now, with our own people mixed in among our enemies. We could not simply sneak in and murder them in their sleep. No matter what plan we considered, it seemed impossible to distinguish between friends and enemies. We had to accept the likelihood that some of the wrong people might be killed or injured in our attack.

Borna even contemplated burning down the hall, with Mushtal inside. But he was willing to consider my alternative suggestion. That was why we had collected so many fallen leaves from the forest floor.

They were damp, and beginning to rot. We gathered them by the armful, and wrapped them up in blankets and spare cloaks. It was easy to tie them together, and sling them across our horses, like pregnant saddlebags. We had no trouble carrying or dragging them across the snow-covered fields outside Mushtal's steading.

Borna gave the signal, and we rushed the hall. Khoren, Lovro, Priit and Dirayr went first. They simply slaughtered anyone they encountered. It was extremely bad luck to be sleeping near the doors, that night.

Behind them, the others passed me the bundles of wet leaves, and I shook them out on to the glowing coals of the firepit. A few of the drier leaves immediately burst into flame, but most were too damp to catch fire. Instead, they began to smoke.

- "Done!" I shouted. "Done!"

The four attackers knew the plan. Even so, I had to yell my head off to get their attention. We withdrew, and gathered outside the doors of the great hall. Inside, the alarm had been raised.

There were shouts and a scream, as sleepers awoke to find that they were under attack, and that the front of the hall seemed to be on fire. The smoke was billowing now, in great clouds. We couldn't see inside, but we could hear - and imagine - the confusion.

A man rushed outside, unarmed. Lovro slammed into him with his shield, and hammered the fellow to the ground.

- "Stay down!" screamed Lovro.

The fellow did. I suspect that he was a servant, rather than a warrior. Either that, or Lovro had knocked the wind out of him.

A moment later, three men burst out of the cloud of smoke. Two were armed. One had a shield and spear, the other an axe. They were stunned to see a dozen of us waiting.

Kawehka and Tsoline fired arrows at the swordsman. One hit him in the chest, but the second arrow glanced off his axe, which he was holding in front of his body.

We rushed them. The wounded man never had a chance. The spearman blocked two thrusts with his shield, but there were too many of us, and the blows came from every direction. A spear pierced his side, and when he lowered his shield, another spear stabbed into his throat.

There was a scream as someone hacked at the unarmed man with an axe. He crumpled in a heap.

- "Shield rush the unarmed ones!" shouted Borna. "They could be our own!"

I might have underestimated the heat of the firepit. Our leaves smoked for a few minutes, but then they burned off rather quickly. I wondered if the sudden flames made our enemies think that their hall was on fire. Whatever the reason, no one else came outside.

The smoke cleared, for the most part. We still couldn't see the inside very well. By the same token, I doubted that those inside could see out any better.

- "Is that you, Borna?" came a shout from inside.

- "I've come for you, Mushtal!" roared Borna. "I told you I would!"

- "Your fire went out!"

- "It was meant to! I can always start another!"

- "You're a dead man!" shrieked Mushtal. "You've come to your doom!"

- "My skull is right here, Mushtal! Come and get it!"

They kept us waiting. And then we saw shapes moving through the lingering smoke.

Mushtal was true to form. The first people to come out were women, and unarmed servants. It might have been too dark, or too confusing, but Tsoline loosed an arrow. It struck one of the male servants in the shoulder.