The Chronicles of Hvad Ch. 11

HVAD CHAPTER 11

I spent quite a bit of my time with Keptel. I began to speak Izumyrian with him, in private. He found my first clumsy attempts very entertaining. My understanding far outpaced my ability to speak.

He was a good man. We were able to discuss many things, besides Izumyr, without feeling self-conscious. He was a prisoner, though. I can't say that we were friends - though that might come, one day.

In the meantime, I lost a friend. Dirayr barely spoke to me anymore. But when I asked Lovro about it, LongArm could only shrug.

- "He just grunts at me. Something happened to him. I don't know what it is, but he won't talk about it."

Hravar knew no more. I wondered if Dirayr was avoiding me because I was Borna's Hand, or if he was withdrawing from everybody. But I suspected that Borna's dalliance with Siret was no longer a secret.

If Dirayr did know, then I could understand why he would be angry with me. As Borna's Hand, I would know everything that Borna did - including who he stirred the furs with. Yet I hadn't said a word to Dirayr about Siret. What could I have said?

I missed Payl more than I had expected to. When I thought about her, though, I couldn't help wondering if we had a future. There was no way I was going to live in the Uplands. But could she settle in the Lowlands? Would she even want to?

Thoughts like those led to contemplation of might-have -beens. What if I had married Noyemi? She was beautiful, intelligent, and strong, in her own quiet way. She was also unlikely to die in battle. But now that I knew what singing - performing - meant to her ... could I have asked her to give that up?

I had plenty of time to think, that winter.

So did Borna. And as spring approached, he finally shared his ideas with me.

- "Things are changing." he said.

- "I know: women warriors, female guslars ..."

- "Those too. But I was thinking about Hvad."

- "Hvad? You mean, all of it?" I asked.

We were standing at the edge of the forest, looking at the charred remnants of what had once been our steading. We had grown up there, together. And now it was gone. I knew, instinctively, that Borna wouldn't rebuild it.

- "You're not thinking like a Hospodar anymore, are you?" I said. "Not even like a Ban - even though you haven't actually been that yet, either."

Borna smiled. "You see me so clearly, Ljudevit."

- "Not always." I had been about to add the honorific 'Lord', but checked myself.

- "On this occasion, you do." he said. "What happens if I defeat Leho and Indrek? Ban of Yeseriya. Then the Izumyrians come, and we lose everything."

- "Or we go back to the forest."

- "I don't want us to become foresters. Not permanently."

- "I'm with you there." I said.

- "But I've discovered that I don't want the Izumyrians to take Hvad town. Or even Stonje."

- "You've never been to Stonje."

- "Does that matter?" he asked. "I don't want the Izumyrians to conquer Hvad."

- "You want to stop them? How?"

- "I wonder if Indrek knows that Leho is involved with Izumyr? For some reason, I doubt it."

- "You mean ... split their alliance, somehow?" I said.

- "That would only be a start, Ljudevit. I have to think bigger than that. Two or three provinces - even if one of them was Adarion - wouldn't be enough to defeat an invasion. It would take all of Hvad."

- "With you leading?" I was surprised at the breadth of his vision.

- "I wouldn't trust anyone else to do it. Would you?"

I had never known my friend, my lord, to fail at anything. He would find a solution to every problem, or simply keep trying until he achieved it. Perhaps he just didn't know how to give up. But the immensity of the task he was contemplating frightened me.

- "Borna - there's never been a King in Hvad. You'd never stand for another man to be King; what makes you think the other Bans would accept you?"

- "Not King, Ljudevit." he said. "Never that. But we've had Bans who were superior to the others. Pre-eminent. They just didn't have enough power to organize all of Hvad. I would need something in between."

- "A new title? A new position?" I asked.

- "Both. I think voivode[1] would fit."

- "Warlord? A temporary rank?"

- "It's still just an idea, Ljudevit. The first step has to be bringing Leho down."

- "And you've been thinking about how to do that?" I asked.

- "Oh yes."

I could've said something about Dirayr and Siret. But I didn't. It seemed like a small thing, compared to the grand vision Borna was contemplating.

I should have.

***

I counted our fighters. Including Borna and me, we had a grand total of 50 men and 17 women. When I reported the numbers to Borna, he just smiled.

- "Then we'd better hope for reinforcements in the spring. And that the Uplanders come back."

He seemed remarkably sanguine, considering how grandiose his plans had become. He made only one small move: Modri and his two friends were sent back to the area around Manahir's steading - their home lands.

Imants was eager to be gone, too, but Borna pleaded with him to stay a little longer. The guslar gave in, with good grace; in many ways, the two of them were tied together in a mutually beneficial relationship. Borna provided Imants with his best material, while the guslar made Borna famous, well beyond the borders of Yeseriya.

The spring came blessedly early, and the temperature rose dramatically. There were puddles everywhere, with the melting of the deep snows.

Borna's optimism was not misplaced. Kawehka left us for a few days, and returned with six foresters - five men and a woman - from forests further away. All were archers, and all were willing to fight for Borna.

I watched him, as he thanked them for coming. He was deeply moved. It might have been their sincere belief in him. Or perhaps he saw their support for his cause as somehow symbolic, or meaningful beyond their numbers.

We had a feast, of sorts, to celebrate the newcomers. Then we waited for more reinforcements to arrive.

Two days after the feast, two men came in.

Three days after that, two women joined us.

The next day, I was trying to wash when Kanni approached.

- "Brace yourself." she said.

- "What?" was the best I could manage.

- "I said 'Brace yourself'." she repeated.

- "What the hell does that mean?" I asked. It was early in the morning, and I was still groggy.

A human missile came flying at me, smashed into my chest, and drove me to the ground, knocking the breath from my body.

- "Did you miss me?" asked Payl. She pressed her lips to mine, slid her tongue into my mouth, and then withdrew it just as quickly. Then she bit me.

"Did you?" she repeated.

- "You know I did." I said. She was considerably filthier than she had been, the last time I saw her. She smelled of wood smoke, horse sweat, and something else that I couldn't identify - but it wasn't perfume.

My Shining One was back, and Mutimir and Lunach as well. I was dying of curiosity to know how many fighters she had brought with her, but Payl wouldn't say. Instead, she helped me rise, and said: "You have to see this."

- "See what?"

- "The thing I want to show you. Are you coming?" And off she ran. I pulled on a shirt, and followed.

It was a long run. Payl laughed, and teased me all the way. She made me run all the way to the high point, overlooking the clearing behind the blueberry patches. And what I saw took my breath away.

The open space was packed with men, women and horses. Uplanders all, by the look of them. I turned to look at Payl, my mouth open.

- "Borna will be pleased, won't he?" she laughed.

He would indeed. We went down to meet them, and found Borna already there.

Mutimir LongRider was back. He had left with five men, and returned with 17. Lunach was there too, with his wife, and four men - two more than he had last year. Payl had found four new women fighters - she had 14 in all, now.

I laughed aloud when I saw Hanik Sawtooth. The old reprobate couldn't resist the lure of spoils. He had 7 fighters with him, and showed a near-toothless grin when he caught sight of me.

- "Ha! Ljudevit the Hand! You owe me a drink - or three!" he shouted.

Bacho BeardEater had not come, for reasons known only to him. But Borna had been right. When Mutimir, Lunach and Payl returned to the Uplands, the word had spread. They had horses, gold, and silver - and salt. Perhaps most impressive of all, Mutimir ThreeNipple was now the LongRider.

Uplanders were absolutely obsessed with winning themselves a name. Or earning a better one. Greed is a powerful motivator - but so is pride. I couldn't say which is the stronger.

I met Broer BugEyes, a filthy bastard with a braided beard. He had the most enormous eyes, bulging from their sockets, so that there was no need to ask how he had got his name. He looked half-mad. But Broer had brought 15 fighters, so Borna embraced him like a brother.

Gatis the Younger was a legend in the Uplands. He was past sixty years of age, for one thing, which meant that he was clever, ruthless, and more skilled at eliminating rivals and enemies than anyone in the Uplands.

Gatis had a long, venerable white beard, but was otherwise bald as an egg, except for a fringe of hair that ran around the back of his head, just below his hairy ears. His nose was ... enormous. Prodigious.

I was in awe of that monstrous nose. But I was also amazed to learn that he had brought 26 warriors with him. This was a Lord of the Uplands, and he had cast in his lot with Borna.

Reego RedFingers was another lunatic, like a wilder version of Lunach Kinslayer, except that his unkempt hair and beard were brown, flecked with grey. His eyes were a bit disconcerting - they were yellow, like a wolf's. But I wasn't going to argue with an Upland chieftain who brought eleven fighters to join Borna.

Eero was the most normal-looking of the bunch. He was fairly young, to be an Uplands chieftain. But with only one name, perhaps he was motivated by the urge to earn a second. He brought a dozen more warriors.

Vepar embraced me so hard that he knocked the wind from me. It might have been a combination of the strength in his arms and the potency of his body odour.

- "I'm back." he said. "And I will win a name. You have to help me, Ljudevit."

Vepar wasn't alone. There were another 14 Uplanders who were ... unaffiliated, for lack of a better term. I am an inveterate counter, and I wanted to let Borna know what we had, here. So I met every chieftain, and added up their followers.

The total came to 127. I doubted my own results, and started over again. Irija embraced me, and kissed my cheek. Then she breathed into my ear.

- "She missed you, you know." she whispered. That didn't help.

I said hello to Meeli Deadeyes, who was nowhere near so happy to see me. That didn't help my count, either.

But I was close. The actual total was 129 Uplanders. I told Borna.

- "I know." he said. "Isn't it wonderful?"

- "It's amazing." I replied.

- "We have an army." said Borna.

I grabbed his arm. "Borna - I don't want to keep secrets from Payl. Can I tell her? What we talked about?"

- "About Izumyr?" he said. "Why not? It shouldn't be a secret."

- "Yes, that." I said. "But I meant ... about the Voivode idea. Are you including the Uplands? In your ... vision?"

- "Slow down, Ljudevit." said Borna. He pulled me close, so that we were eye to eye. "Let me tell everyone. Soon - it will be soon."

Payl pulled me away from Borna.

- "You never answered me." she pouted. "Did you miss me?"

I had already told her - but some things, apparently, need to be repeated. Frequently. So I took her head between my hands, and kissed her, Lowlander style. Then I drew back, and pulled her forehead next to mine - much like Borna had done with me.

- "Payl?"

She didn't answer, but I had her full attention.

"I missed you more than I thought I would."

***

Borna asked Imants to perform again, hoping that it would help to unite our Lowland and Upland fighters. It worked. The fact that there were so many Uplanders probably helped. Even the most bigoted Lowlander had to recognize what a significant addition they made to our forces.

Yeseriyans came to join us, too. Not so many, perhaps. Manahir's lands were occupied, while Asrava's and Gosdan's steadings had been burnt. There were more warriors out there; they just weren't sure that Borna could win, outnumbered as he was. He would have to show them that victory was possible.

Still, 27 men drifted into the forest, in twos and threes. Some were old friends. Some were raw recruits. Half a dozen women came to fight with us, as well.

To my amazement, four men from Yelsa came to offer Borna their services.

- "Why?" I asked them. "Your Ban is fighting against us."

- "He's under Leho's thumb." they said. "He's fighting for Adarion. And if Leho marries the Ban's daughter, Ahli, then we'll all be serving Leho."

- "They're trying to make everyone Izumyrian." complained another. "I want to be in a druzhina, like a warrior - not a soldier."

Hravar and I both interviewed them at length. We were concerned that these men might be spies, or even assassins. But the more we talked to them, the more we became convinced that they were exactly what they claimed to be.

- "I like them." said Hravar. "They obviously can't count the odds against us."

I was even more shocked, though, when two of our new recruits turned out to have come all the way from Hvad town. They were young warriors, bored with guard duty. Both wanted to see action, to have a chance to distinguish themselves.

Both men had heard Imants and Noyemi perform.

Additions like these to our force were wonderful for morale. But Borna now faced a new set of problems. Somehow, we would have to weld all of these disparate elements into a cohesive fighting force. Also, we now had significantly more fighters than we had horses.

Many of the Uplanders had come on foot. Others rode ponies that looked to be on their last legs. Two of Hanik Sawtooth's men were riding ponies that a butcher would have rejected. Acquiring horses, as Payl and Mutimir had, was one of the main reasons so many of them had come to fight for Borna.

Most of the new Lowlanders also arrived on foot. This would change our tactics significantly. Another 'Long Ride' was out of the question - at least for now. Horse raids would have to come first.

Borna now had just under 250 fighters, men, women, and foresters. And he was ready to use them.

***

Modri went ahead, with his two companions, to scout and bring back information. The rest of us marched, and took four days to get into position, a few miles from Manahir's steading.

Modri returned with three more men, and just the news Borna wanted to hear. The steading was occupied by 150 men from Adarion. They found, as we had before them, that while Manahir's steading was fairly large, it was by no means big enough to accommodate so many men and all of their horses.

The place was also virtually indefensible, with gates at the northern and southern ends, and several gaps in the wall - the most notable being the one we had escaped through when Leho and Indrek had come to interrupt the election of our Ban.

The sightseers and most of the merchants were long gone, but there were still many traders, plus the farmers and herders who supplied the warriors. Most of these set up temporary quarters outside the steading wall.

Most of the men of Adarion were inside, but a third of men were camped outside - guarding the majority of their horses.

Borna kept his plan as simple as possible, but it was still quite complicated. Those allotted a task in his design were forced to learn their parts to perfection. He drove us nearly to distraction, making some recite their parts, while others were forced to answer questions about what they would do if something unexpected happened - which it probably would.

Several small groups wandered down towards the steading: Modri and his two men, Kawehka, with a few of his foresters, bearing the carcass of a deer, two more men leading a few sheep. They kept their weapons concealed, for the most part, and tried to blend in with the locals. By dusk, we had twenty of our people just outside the steading.

The Uplanders were not happy to discover that they would not be participating in our raid. Borna tried to convince them that it was necessary.

- "We're trying to keep your presence here a secret - for as long as we can." he told them. "I want the first time the enemy sees you to be a surprise. A big surprise. Don't worry: you'll get your bellyful of fighting. This is just a little raid, to get you some horses. Our gift to you."

They grumbled a bit more, but Mutimir and Payl supported Borna. When Gatis the Younger and Broer BugEyes decided to accept it, the rest followed their lead.

Perhaps half of the Lowlanders were with Borna, Lovro and me. We waited until dark, and began to creep towards the steading. Borna's luck came into play again: the night was dark, with only a quarter moon, and plenty of heavy, blue clouds. It would probably rain on the morrow.

Have you ever crawled a mile? It's no joke. We couldn't go on hands and knees. Instead, we crawled on our bellies, slithering along like snakes, dragging our weapons. Thistles, sharp-edged rocks, crawling insects - I encountered them all. Then I stuck my hand in a pile of sheep dip, slipped, and got it all over my arm, up to the elbow. It was foul-smelling, and I gagged.

- "Shit!"

Lovro giggled like a little girl. "It sure is."

It happened to me twice more. Lovro began to snort, trying to hold in his laughter.

- "Shut up!" whispered Borna. "They'll hear us coming!"

- "They'll smell Ljudevit coming." whispered Lovro. He had to stick his fist in his mouth to keep from laughing aloud. The sounds he made sounded like a sheep having a seizure.

Borna made us all wait until LongArm had recovered.

We squirmed along the ground in the dark until we were only a few hundred yards away from the steading. Then Borna halted us. And we waited.

Off to the south, we saw a flicker of flame. And then a second. Hravar was in position. Borna got to his knees. When he stood up, the rest of us got to our feet.

In a tight cluster, we began to move, in a crouching run. There was no yelling, no shouting of challenges. The men on watch would see us, soon enough - or they would hear us. But they would hesitate, for just a moment. Their friends would sleep on, just that little bit longer.

The alarm went up. There were warning shouts, and someone yelled 'Awake!' at the top of his lungs. We rushed towards them, running across the last hundred yards.

Meanwhile, our friends went into action. Kawehka's foresters fired their arrows at the shouting pickets. Then they turned their fire towards the enemy sleeping near the horse pen. After loosing five or six arrows each, they pulled away, and made for the gap in the wall.

Modri and his men screamed like madmen and rushed at the north gate - but not so quickly that they actually reached it. Their move was a feint.

The guards at the gate, warned by the shouting outside the walls, were alert at their post. When they heard Modri's men screaming, and saw them rushing towards the entrance, they did the sensible thing - they shut the gate, and barred it. They had no way of knowing that this was precisely what we wanted them to do.

Borna led the charge toward the horse pens, looking for enemy warriors. Lovro and I led a second group, whose task was to open the pens, and get the horses out. A third group, of a dozen, went to reinforce Modri. They weren't trying to get into the steading; instead, they were trying to keep the enemy in.