The Chronicles of Hvad Ch. 08

- "If a man touches me without permission, I'll kill him. That's not murder."

- "Agreed." said Borna.

- "A new horse for me." added Payl.

- "Agreed."

Payl rolled her eyes, then hawked and spat on the ground.

- "Then we will join you."

***

- "Are you mad?" asked Hanik Sawtooth. "They're wild women!"

- "I see that." said Borna.

- "They'll kill you while you sleep."

- "Probably not." said Borna. "But thank you for the warning."

- "It's on your head if she kills one of my men. You'll have to pay the blood-price."

- "Alright." said Borna.

Payl had brought ten more women warriors with her, including Irija, the archer, and Meeli DeadEyes, the frightening one. Borna was not about to turn them away. But he did ask me to have a little talk with the chieftain.

- "Payl," I said, "I have to ask you a small favour. Could you possibly ... not kill any of Sawtooth's people, while we're here? Please?"

She thought about it for a moment. "You don't have to worry about me, Hand. I can control myself."

- "Thank you, Payl." I said. That was easier than I had expected. I turned to go.

- "It's Meeli you have to watch out for."

***

I was not sorry to say goodbye to that old reprobate, Hanik Sawtooth. Nor would I miss his steading. We left in high spirits, 41 of us in all, more than half mounted.

We needed horses, and we needed information. Borna had been isolated for the winter, trapped in the Uplands. There was no way of knowing how Leho and Indrek had responded to our ambush of their party at Asrava' steading.

Tsoline, scouting ahead for us, found the answer to that question. The enemy had sent a larger force to replace the one they had lost.

- "Forty men." she reported. "Camped in the ruins."

- "Again?" asked Lovro, clearly shocked. "They didn't learn their lesson last fall?"

- "Pray they never learn." said Borna.

- "They've erected some chevaux de frise[1], and they have more pickets - four, this time, plus a roving picket. It's harder to predict where they'll be at any given time." added Tsoline.

- "Get me the captains." said Borna.

- "Nicely done." I said, to Tsoline.

She seemed surprised by my remark.

"Did I say something wrong?" I asked.

- "No ... it's just - I was under the impression that you didn't like me very much." she said.

- "What?" It was my turn to be surprised. "No, Tsoline. I've always liked you."

- "Oh? I thought -"

- "Well, I haven't been ..."

We looked at each other, feeling equally stupid. I broke the spell first.

"My fault. I liked Kanni, so I was probably too distant, out of some misguided loyalty."

- "I like Kanni, too." said Tsoline. "I didn't feel as though I was stealing Borna away from her. I'm more than willing to share him. And he'd damn well better be ready to share me, if I so choose."

- "I heard that." said Borna.

- "You were meant to." said Tsoline.

- "I'm sorry." I told her. "Now I feel like an idiot. And I've wasted so much time, when I could have gotten to know you better."

- "That's alright." she said, with a rare smile. "If you're an idiot, then I am, too."

The Captains arrived. Mutimir was there, of course, and Lunach Kinslayer. Though he had only two retainers, he was held in great esteem by many of the Uplanders. For them, it seemed, murdering all of your extended family was worthy of respect. And Lunach was very, very good at it. Payl was also there. I had amused myself, in the past few days, imagining conversations between the Shining One and our Nanaidh, for example.

Borna outlined his plan to them. Mutimir and Lunach both approved, but Payl objected.

- "Why give them an opportunity to run?" she complained. "Why not wipe them out?"

Borna glanced at me. So I explained it to her. "Cornered men will fight harder. They'll sell their lives dearly, if you leave them no option."

- "They can surrender." she pointed out.

- "To Uplanders?" I said. "You would just kill them."

- "They don't know that."

- "They do." I told her. "Lowlanders - Niskadi - are raised on stories of Uplander cruelty and savagery. They'll be frightened. Terrified, even. Every man who runs is one more who isn't fighting us. That'll make it easier."

- "We can hunt them down on horseback, tomorrow, if you like." said Borna.

- "Why didn't you say that before?" said Payl. She glanced at me, and shook her head.

Borna spent considerable time briefing the Uplanders on his plan. He kept it simple - which was wise - but he also explained to individuals, and to small groups, exactly what was expected of them.

That night, we went in. It was not a typical Borna night - too bright, with a near-full moon, and very little cloud cover.

Irija, the beautiful woman with the tattooed forehead - it was not a scar - was a skilled archer. Two other women, and one of the Uplander males, were good shots. With Tsoline, Aare, and me, we had seven decent bows.

A few of us missed, but the first two sentries went down, bristling with arrows. Aare and I rejoined the main group, while Tsoline and Irija led the remaining archers around the periphery of their camp.

It struck me then, that this was the fourth time I was fighting on this exact spot: Asrava's steading, where Gosdan was set up for betrayal, and Borna's rise began. Odd.

Borna led the bulk of our fighters into what had once been Asrava's steading - I didn't know what else to call it. We came across sleeping men, and the Uplanders proved themselves more than adept when it came to slitting the throats of defenceless victims.

Our enemies raised the alarm sooner this time. Men began to stumble to their feet, reaching for weapons. But we had more killers on this occasion, and some were more eager than others. I caught sight of Meeli, grinning as she stabbed a man in the heart.

I didn't have to see Vepar - I could hear him, grunting like a pig. I found myself following Lunach Kinslayer and his two companions. They functioned as a team. Lunach struck first, and then moved on, to confront the most likely threat, while his confederates finished off the men Lunach had wounded, or stunned.

The enemy ran, as Borna had expected. That was when Mutimir and his men came into action. Borna had sent them round the enemy camp, to wait as we drove fleeing men towards them. I got separated from Borna, but the fighters directly in front of me were at the breaking point, and I gave them the final push to send them on their way.

It seemed only a moment later when Lovro appeared near me, and grabbed my arm.

- "Borna's down!" he shouted.

You can surely imagine how I ran. There was a little knot of people, surrounding the spot where the hardest fighting had occurred. Durra had a spear wound to her leg, but she wasn't shrieking in pain, so I assumed that the bone was not splintered or broken.

Borna had been stabbed in the ribs, and there was a great deal of blood. I am no healer. But what I saw was very alarming.

I fretted and worried, hovered, and generally made myself annoying. It took a while before I realized that Tsoline and Lovro were being far more useful than I was.

- "It's not as bad as it looks." said Tsoline. But Borna was gritting his teeth, his face twisted with the pain.

- "Take charge." said Lovro. "We've got this."

I tried to act as Borna would have. I had Aare gather horses, and asked Payl to find and count all of her warrior women. Anyone who came near me was assigned a task. Then the Uplanders found the enemy's store of hard liquor, and our allies began to drink themselves into oblivion.

We were not in danger. The foe were well and truly beaten - again. One of Mutimir's men was dead, and another Uplander with him. That was the extent of our fatalities. Two. There were many more wounded, though, including Mutimir and Lunach, Meeli Deadeyes, and Durra. But the only injury that really concerned me was Borna's.

But I was also exultant at our victory - because it was swiftly apparent that we had won, by a large margin. We counted sixteen enemy dead. There were two prisoners. That meant that twenty of our foes were in full flight, running away on foot. We had thirty-six horses, and piles of gear and weapons.

It was a busy night for me. I checked on Borna, to make certain that he wasn't going to die - at least, not within the next hour. Then I went back to counting, gathering, managing. There was some unnecessary excitement when one of the Uplanders (male) tried to rape another Uplander (female). She defended herself reasonably well, until Payl heard the commotion, and drove her sword through the rapist's back.

- "That's not murder." she said, when I arrived. "No blood-price."

- "I agree."

- "Good." she said.

I didn't sleep a wink that night.

***

Borna was in no condition to keep his promise to Payl. I would have to organize the pursuit. I took Tsoline and Aare with me, leaving Lovro and Mutimir to keep order in our new camp. Most of the Uplanders were unconscious, or still drunk.

Payl was still eager for more action, though. She painted thick blue circles around her eyes, and brought Irija and two more of her women warriors.

- "Keep the prisoners alive." I told Lovro.

Tsoline admitted that tracking was much easier in the forest. "There are more signs. Footprints in soft ground, broken or bent branches. And you can tell how long ago the trail was made, by signs of animal activity. Tracks, spoor ..."

- "But isn't it easier to follow twenty men, or twenty horses, out in the open?" I asked. "There are fewer distractions. And it's pretty hard to hide the passage of twenty horses."

- "Maybe." she said. "I'd just rather be in the forest."

The enemy who had escaped were mostly on foot, but they did have several hours head-start. We found their tracks, easily enough. But the trail led into the woods. I called a halt.

- "Best we go back to camp." I decided.

- "Why?" protested Payl. "We know where they went."

- "Exactly." I replied. "And we're not going in after them.

- "But they're on foot! Many have no shields. We have bows. We can kill more of them - easily!"

I had to be diplomatic. Borna wouldn't want me to offend one of his new allies. And Payl was the leader of a quarter of our force. But Uplanders have no manners, and despise courtesy, which they see as weakness.

- "Not easily, Payl. Riding horses in the forest gives away the advantage. They can set up an ambush. And these woods are thicker than your Upland forest. It's harder to get a clear shot here, with a bow."

- "That's true." said Tsoline.

- "Most important, there are only seven of us. Borna would kill me if I came back without Tsoline. Or you. We don't know if there are more enemies nearby."

Payl didn't like it. She looked to Irija, who shrugged, and then nodded. In a fit of temper, Payl jerked the reins and pulled her horse's head around. She galloped away from the rest of us.

Back at camp, Borna was sleeping peacefully. Durra was awake, sitting up with her leg in a splint. Lovro sighed deeply. "Thank the stars you're back."

- "Why? What happened?"

- "Vepar took it upon himself to interrogate the prisoners."

- "Shit."

- "Exactly. He didn't like the answers he was getting, so he killed the man. Just like that."

- "And the other one?" I asked.

- "Still alive. Shat himself, though." said Lovro.

- "Where's Vepar?"

- "Over there."

I went over to face the Boar. He didn't like me standing over him, and he certainly didn't care for the expression on my face.

- "Vepar," I said, "do you know whose prisoners those men were?"

- "Borna's?" he guessed.

- "That's right. And you killed Borna's prisoner. It would be different if he had asked you to do it. But how do you think he would react if you killed one of his horses?"

This was logic that Vepar could understand. "He'd be angry."

- "Yes, he would." I said. "You owe him blood-price for one prisoner."

- "What? How much is that?"

- "I don't know. I'll have to ask Borna when he wakes up."

I turned on my heel, and left him there. As I did, I nearly bumped into Payl, who had been standing behind me the whole time. I was several inches taller, and much broader, but there was no question that the Uplander warrior woman was far more intimidating.

There was the limed hair, the blue circles painted around her eyes, and the necklace of teeth around her neck ... Thank goodness I hadn't stepped on her foot, or slammed into her. I had no idea what to say. An apology was unnecessary, and probably unwise. So I simply looked at her.

That was definitely unwise. I noticed that beneath the paint - and if one ignored the necklace - it was quite plain that Payl was a striking woman. If someone could persuade her to wash her hair, and perhaps comb it ... She was still young, and had excellent teeth, unlike most Uplanders.

It was also difficult, at close proximity like this, not to notice the way her soft leather armour swelled around her chest ...

- "I would have killed him." she said. "But maybe you're right. Borna wouldn't like it."

- "Excuse me, Lady." I said, as I stepped around her. That last word was a mistake, and I shouldn't have said it - it just slipped out.

Payl just laughed. "Listen to him! 'Lady', is it? Now I really am curious."

- "About what?" I replied. I had to bite my tongue - I had been about to say 'Lady' again.

- "To see how you torture a prisoner. Somehow, I don't think you have the stones for it."

- "I'm not going to torture him at all." I said.

- "What? How else can you get him to talk?" said Payl.

- "He doesn't know that I'm not going to torture him. But I can persuade him to talk." Then a thought struck me. "You know, Payl - it might actually be helpful to have you there. I can always threaten to simply hand him over to you. That should have him talking in no time."

- "You say the sweetest things." laughed Payl. "But Meeli always get results. Let's see what you can do."

The captured man stank of shit. No one had thought to let him clean himself. I got a bucket of water, and gave the fellow a moment of privacy to wash. Payl shook her head, but thankfully didn't interfere.

- "Where are you from?" I asked him.

- "Yelsa." he said.

- "You serve Ban Indrek?"

- "Yes."

I can't swear that he responded to my kinder, more reasonable approach. It might have been the sight of Payl, fingering her necklace of teeth, or the simple fact that he had witnessed Vepar slaughtering his last companion. This man was, after all, alone in a camp full of Uplanders.

But he answered the questions I put to him, and sounded honest enough.

Leho of Adarion had taken over Manahir's steading, and then simply carried on with the election that Borna had called - with himself as the only candidate. No one was foolish enough to stand against him.

His men, and those of Indrek, his ally, were still spreading across Yeseriya. They occupied Gosdan's steading (I still didn't think of it as Borna's), and Asrava's. They pursued Borna, whom they believed to be hiding in the forest.

They had also arrested several of Borna's key adherents. This news worried me quite a bit, though I did not let it show. The prisoner had no idea who they were, and couldn't name any names.

- "What does 'arrested' mean?" asked Payl.

- "Kidnapping." I told her. I didn't mind her interruption. It served as a reminder to the prisoner that she was still there.

He knew that all was not quiet. Two of their men had been ambushed, near Gosdan's steading, and there were rumours of a 'gang' on horseback, making attacks closer to Manahir's steading.

After a while, I was convinced that this simple warrior didn't know much more of value. He couldn't tell me, for example, how many men were occupying Borna's steading, except that their party was much larger than his had been.

- "That's it?" asked Payl.

- "I think so."

- "I could have gotten more, if I'd let Meeli at him."

- "Maybe." I said. "But she'd have killed him."

- "Eventually." said Payl, with a shrug. "Does it matter? One less mouth to feed."

- "But if I think of a question that I forgot to ask - tomorrow, say - he's still alive to answer it."

- "Hmm. Maybe. Let's eat." she said. "I'm hungry."

It was decidedly odd, to find myself sitting down next to Payl, sharing a meal. Hanik Sawtooth had been frankly terrified of her. Mutimir kept his distance, and even Lunach walked warily around her - and he was as mad as she was.

- "What is the significance of Irija's tattoo?" I asked her, looking for a safe topic of conversation.

- "Ooh - you find her appealing?"

- "No. I mean ... she's very attractive. But I'm not interested."

- "You have a woman?" asked Payl.

- "Not at the moment, no." I replied.

- "You prefer men? I've heard that there are Niskadi who do."

- "I'm really just interested in Irija's tattoo."

- "The wavy stroke represents her freedom. The four vertical slashes are for her father, her mother, and her two brothers." she explained.

- "What happened to them?" I asked.

- "She killed them."

I have had some unusual conversations, in my time, and have met some unusual people. But Payl was in a class of her own.

- "Do you really think I'm a savage?" she asked, out of nowhere.

- "Pardon?"

- "You said that Niskadi children grow up on tales of our cruelty and savagery."

- "I did." I admitted. "But let me ask you this: do you not tell stories about Lowlanders? The Niskadi, as you call us?"

Payl grinned. "Of course we do. Now answer the question."

- "Yes." I said. "We no longer hang severed heads outside our steadings. We don't expose babies, or torture prisoners, or rape women. These things still happen - I'm not saying that they don't - but we punish the people who do them. And you think that we're soft because we do. Just as we think that you're still savages."

- "Fair enough, I suppose." she said. Then she surprised me again. "Is Borna very attached to the bow girl? LongShot?"

- "Tsoline? Yes, I think so. Isn't it obvious?"

- "So ... he would take it amiss if I killed her?" asked Payl.

I choked on my food. Payl slapped me on the back, several times. She hit me so hard, I feared that she had dislocated my shoulder.

- "Tsoline might take it amiss." I finally managed to say. "Her brother, too. In fact, I wouldn't like it, either."

- "Hmm." she said. "Well, it was just an idea. I suppose you'll have to do, then."

- "Do for what?"

- "To keep me warm, tonight."

That was how she said it. I didn't know whether to be flattered, insulted, or frightened. But I was fairly certain that rejecting Payl would not be very ... diplomatic. And, I will admit that I had been growing more aware of her as a woman.

She nearly killed me.

When I tried to kiss her, she bit me. She fastened her teeth into my lip, and wouldn't let go. At one point, I thought that she was going to tear my arm off and beat me over the head with it. She pummeled me with her fists, to the point where I honestly believed that she had cracked one of my ribs.

Payl rode me so hard, she left me black and blue, battered and bruised.

- "Stars above, woman!" I protested. "I'm not a pony!"

- "I know the difference." she replied. "Ponies are better-looking. And they have more stamina. What are you complaining about? Are there no men in Yeseriya?"

I survived. Barely.

The next night, she came back for more.

- "Really?" I said. "I thought you'd prefer an Uplander. Or a pony."

- "Eh." she grunted. Then she shrugged. "You'll do - in a pinch."

*****

[1] cheval de frise (plural 'chevaux'): a defensive, anti-cavalry measure of the middle ages. It consisted of a frame (sometimes just a log), with many long, projecting spikes or spears. They could be moved, quite quickly, to block a breach. The literal translation is 'Frisian horse'. They were used as late as the American Civil War. If you do an internet search, the image will be immediately recognizable.