The Chronicles: Three Sisters 04

We left the trail, and approached from upslope. There was a good vantage point there, behind a stand of stunted pine. The three of us carefully - and quietly - took up position where we could see down into the little clearing.

There were nine men camped in front of Svijo's house. They were lazing about, in the summer sunshine, cleaning their weapons or just dozing in the heat. They were heavily armed: I saw swords and axes, at least three bows, and three shields. Several of them had bits and pieces of armour, like shoulder guards, or studded gauntlets. One had a shirt of chain mail.

Svijo was lying next to the door, in a pool of what appeared to be his own blood. His head had been split open.

There was no sign of his sister. That did not bode well.

As we watched, two men came out of the house. I didn't know them.

But Yevna caught her breath, and squeezed my arm. Slowly - very slowly - I turned my head.

Yevna was too experienced, now, to speak aloud. Voices can carry. She only mouthed the word. I didn't know what she was saying. My daughter moved her lips very slowly, exaggerating every syllable.

Kes - tu -tis.

Bacho's son. I turned back to look at him again. He was a full-grown man - he would be 20 years old, now. He had long, wavy blonde hair, bushy eyebrows, and a short beard, which he had begun to braid, with a pierced gold coin at the end of the braid.

He was powerfully built, with bulging biceps beneath his short-sleeved coat of mail. He wore a broad leather belt, and a saffron kilt.

- "You two -", he pointed at two of the warriors. "You're up." He jerked a thumb at the cabin behind him. I knew then where Svijo's sister was.

And there was precious little we could do about it.

Three of us - including a sixteen year-old girl, and a man with one and a half hands - against 11 warriors. I didn't recognize these men, which told me that Bacho had been recruiting killers. Reivers and murderers, they looked like - but dangerous men, nonetheless.

My first instinct was to try to rescue Svijo's sister. If she was still alive, they would continue to rape her, and then probably kill her before they moved on. I admit that I had a momentary vision of killing Kestutis, and beginning to avenge my wife, and my son. My hands trembled, a bit, as I imagined driving my sword into his throat.

But the men here were not of SmallFoot's ilk. They were probably more than a match for Inisian - and for me - one on one. Yevna had a bow, and she was quite good with it. But even if she killed one man outright ... no, it was insanity. If we had to run, we would lead them straight to Moruith, and my daughters.

Inisian would follow my lead. But when I looked into Yevna's eyes, I saw the same hatred, the mad urge to destroy, that had nearly swamped me. So I reached out, and touched her arm.

I shook my head, slowly.

My eldest had sworn to kill Kestutis. But any attempt to do so today would lead to our deaths - all three of us. And then Moruith and my other two daughters would die as well. And it would not be pretty.

I mouthed the syllables to her: three - sis - ters.

If we attacked these men, Tanguiste and Guenna were as good as dead.

Yevna's face revealed the struggle, in her mind, between vengeance, and common sense. Thankfully, wisdom prevailed, and she brought herself under control.

Then I led the way back.

It was late afternoon when I opened Moruith's door, and stepped inside.

- "Pack up the food, and your extra clothing." I said. "We're taking only what we can carry. And we leave within the hour."

Moruith looked like she might protest. Inisian went over, and took her by the hands.

- "Reivers, Mother. Ten of them. Too many for us. They're probably looking for Veran and the girls."

- "Kestutis leads them." spat Yevna.

Tanguiste and Guenna - bless them - wasted no time on wailing, or unnecessary questions. They knew that they would hear the full story later. There was no time to spare, and they immediately got to work. I was very proud of my girls, that day.

Moruith was steady, too. She set out the food we could take, and made bundles of clothing for the girls to carry. In the corner of the room, she dug up the pitifully small cache of coins which she and Miek had accumulated over the years.

We were unlikely to be coming back. That was why we ruthlessly stripped the house of anything useful or valuable that we could carry, and broke or disposed of the things we could not take with us.

Much sooner than I expected, we were ready to go.

- "East?" asked Inisian.

There was no other choice. West would lead us towards Kestutis. Even if we got past him, there were high mountains further west, which would force us to turn south, towards the lake - and Bentwood - Bacho's home ground.

North was wild country, populated by savages, where even Kestutis would fear to tread, with his ten men. We wouldn't last a week if we went there.

The forest far to the East was just as bad. But I thought we might go as far the river, and then turn south, or southeast. That decision, though, was a problem for another day. Our goal this evening was to put as much distance between us and Kestutis as we could.

Moruith didn't complain. Nor did my girls.

We covered several leagues before it grew dark, and then we continued on, slowly. We stopped, to rest and to eat, but I would not allow a fire. Inisian knew these woods very well - even Yevna and I felt comfortable here. But a fire might be seen by one of the two families who lived nearby. I didn't want them to tell Kestutis - willingly or otherwise - that we had passed this way.

Guenna was only 12, of course, and Tanguiste 14. Yevna was much harder, and a much better forester, at 16. But there was a limit to what I could ask of her sisters, in terms of strength, and of endurance. Moruith was not accustomed to long hikes, either.

That was why we stopped, mid-morning, and let them rest. Inisian, Yevna and I took a turn at watch, and a turn sleeping, so that there were always two of us alert and on guard.

In the afternoon, we covered several more leagues.

- "I don't know about moving in the dark, tonight." said Inisian. "I don't know this land very well."

- "Neither do I." I admitted. The girls and I might have come this way, six years earlier.

We camped that night, and slept, though again I would not permit a fire.

The next morning, we crossed a piece of high ground, and found a ridge overlooking the river, still a few leagues away. Off to the south, we could see the head of the lake.

Inisian and I identified a stretch of the river that looked narrower.

- "Might be a ford there." he said, optimistically.

- "Or a boat." I said. "Or we can build a raft. I'd like a closer look, though."

Inisian led the way, with sharp-eyed Yevna beside him. Then came Moruith, Tanguiste, and Guenna, with their bundles. I brought up the rear, casting frequent glances over my shoulder, and pausing frequently to watch our back-trail. There were no signs of pursuit.

Sheer bad luck led Inisian into a low-lying marsh. The ground grew softer, and soon we found that our footprints began to fill with water the moment we lifted our feet. Inisian hesitated to go any further, and I called a halt.

We backed out of the swampy terrain, even though we knew that the river was not much farther.

- "Sorry." said Inisian.

- "Not your fault, lad." I told him. "You were right to stop. We can go around it."

- "North of it? Or south?"

- "South."

It wasn't long before I regretted my choice. The forest here was thicker, the trees closer together. We couldn't see more than twenty or thirty yards ahead. The spruce trees blocked our way. Where they didn't, young pine trees and cedars competed for space.

It was easier by far to skirt the forest, even though that meant retracing our steps to the west for a few hundred yards. Then we were able to move south. with the impenetrable forest on our left.

Less than a league later, we came to an open space of rock and moss, with a few bushes, very much like the northern shore of the lake. It was very familiar to me, at least. We turned east again, hoping to find the riverbank.

Instead, we found another thick forest, which looked even darker and less hospitable than the first. There was a wooded hill to the northeast. Or, we could turn southwest, towards the head of the lake.

- "I don't know which way is wiser." said Inisian.

I didn't, either. That's why I did something foolish. I hesitated. I tried to gauge the distance between us and the river. I listened - hard, hoping to hear the sound of rushing water. And I forgot that we were standing in the open.

- "Papa." said Yevna - a moment too late.

- "You should follow us." said a male voice. It wasn't Inisian.

I turned about to face him.

There were two of them. The first man was tall, and strongly built. He wore an odd, archaic-looking helmet with cheek pieces and a noseguard. He had long, braided hair, light brown in colour. He carried a shield and sword. But it was the expression in his eyes which gave me pause; he didn't look like a man to be trifled with.

His companion was younger, but carried a shield and an axe. The youth was bareheaded and clean-shaven. He had dark red hair.

- "Another behind us, now." said Yevna, softly.

I risked a glance over my shoulder. There was a young woman, with shockingly red hair, holding a bow, with an arrow nocked. The string was drawn taut.

I raised my hands, to show that they were empty. We had nothing to gain, in a fight with these people - and much to lose.

- "We mean no harm." I said. "Are we trespassing on your land? If so, it was unintentional."

- "Who are you?" asked the man in the helmet.

This was a question I had been dreading. Surely Bacho or Kestutis would reward anyone who could lead them to me - or to my girls. But in the Uplands, to hide one's identity, or to lie about your name ... that was not quickly or easily forgiven.

Nicknames, especially, could not simply be discarded. That was why Rymvi SmallFoot met with such scorn and derision when he tried to call himself something else.

- "My friend here is Inisian." I said. "This is his mother, Moruith. The girls are my daughters. My name ... is Veran One-Eye."

The redheaded youth reacted: his mouth fell open. But the other man - the one with the old helmet - only blinked. He had piercing blue eyes, I noted.

- "I knew of a Veran, once." he said. "He was known as Hammerfist."

- "I am One-Eye now." I said.

The youth licked his lips. The man in the helmet studied me for a moment.

- "You must come with us." he said.

- "Where?" I asked. "We might be pursued, by reivers. We haven't seen them for two days, but if they are on our trail ... there could be trouble."

- "They won't find us." he said. He pointed towards the hill. "Follow Seva."

The red-headed girl with the bow scowled, but she turned and led the way. I nodded to Inisian and Yevna; we had little choice but to do as they said. Inisian might be able to hold his own against the redhead, and Yevna might be capable of outshooting the girl named Seva ... but I didn't like my chances against the man in the helmet. Besides - they hadn't threatened to harm us - yet. Nor had they attempted to disarm us.

We entered a gap between the forests, one to the north, and one to the east. Ahead of us was a wooded hill, with extremely steep slopes. I wasn't sure that it would be possible to climb up.

Then we rounded a corner, and found a break in the trees. There was virtually no chance that a person could have found this spot, unless they already knew that it was there. A ten-foot gap in the trees opened up slightly, and led to a narrow path.

Twenty yards further along, we came to the foot of the hill. There was a rough trail, which seemed to climb straight up the slope. There were footholds - or handholds - but it looked tricky. Treacherous, even.

The redheaded girl - Seva - whistled.

A boy appeared at the top of the nasty trail. He bent over, and then flung a knotted rope down the side of the hill. Without hesitation, the girl slung her bow across her back, seized hold of the rope, and began to climb.

She used the footholds, and pulled on the rope. Even for an agile, physically fit young woman, it didn't look like an easy climb.

I glanced at the man in the helmet. How did he expect Moruith, or Guenna, to make that ascent?

- "They can do it." he said - as if he knew exactly what I was thinking.

They did. Helmet-man sent Yevna up, next, and then Tanguiste and Moruith. The redheaded youth went after them. That left Inisian and me at the bottom - but three hostages for our good behaviour at the top.

Guenna went next. She managed the climb easily.

The person who had the most difficulty was ... me. The footholds were already a little muddy, and after multiple uses, they were growing slick, and treacherous. I had only my good left hand, and a few reliable fingers on my right. It was not easy to release the rope with my left, and then seize hold again, a little higher up.

I made it look considerably more difficult than the others had, and slipped more than once. I was covered in mud, and quite embarrassed by the time I reached the top.

As I recovered my breath - and my self-respect - I noticed a pile of stones, next to the stout tree which anchored their rope.

If someone attempted to climb the slope, without permission ... they would it find it much more difficult than I had, if these stones were being dropped on their heads.

The man with the helmet swarmed up the rope in no time. He didn't seem to be out of breath at all. Inisian was last.

The girl with the bow - Seva - ran off ahead - no doubt to carry word of our arrival.

The redheaded youth led us further onto the hill, around and between stands of poplar, red maple, and red pine. The path was reasonably well-worn. Only a few moments later, though, we reached a clearing, where I was surprised to see half a dozen dwellings. They were made of wood, and looked to have been built only recently - five years ago, at most.

Three young lads and a little girl stopped their play - or work - to look at us. An old woman poked her head out of one of the houses.

The man in the helmet simply halted us, roughly in the centre of the little settlement.

- "What is this place?" I asked him.

- "Prospal Hill." he said. His level stare gave nothing away.

- "Who rules here?" I asked.

- "You'll see." he replied.

He led us to the door of one of the houses. The lintel was low, and I had to stoop to enter. It was dark inside, and it took moment for my eye to grow accustomed to it. The others came in behind me.

By that time, I could see that there were two women in the room. The first was old - almost ancient. Beside, but a little behind her, sat a younger woman. I didn't get a very good look at her, because she kept her head down, and her hair shielded most of her face.

But I didn't look at her very long at all, because I recognized the old woman: Guengerthlon Nadesti.

*****