Bridge of Swords (35 page)

‘I hurt you, Huw,’ she said softly. ‘You have never acted on your feelings for me but I know they are there. And I flaunted my desire for Sendatsu — my desire for glory with the elves — in your face. That must have hurt but you never said so. You never let it show.’

Huw turned away then — the memory of that time in his house, sitting in his father’s chair and listening to Sendatsu and Rhiannon making love, was still red-raw.

Rhiannon reached out and gripped his shoulder briefly. That was all the contact she was prepared to have.

‘I am sorry, Huw. I am not fit company right now. There are things I need to think about. Give me a little time.’

With that she walked away.

Huw was torn between a fear of what might happen if she ever found out about his lies, and a little thrill at the thought of what she had just hinted at. But that was swept away by his worries about the Forlish and how he could protect the Velsh, now elven help was impossible.

He turned to Sendatsu, wondering what his next move should be.

The elf was sitting listlessly, holding onto his children’s toys, eyes streaming.

Huw stormed across to him. ‘Listen to me!’ he snarled. ‘You feel bad? That’s good — you should feel terrible. Your lies have hurt Rhiannon but, more importantly, they have put at risk every Velsh man, woman and child in every village we have been to! The defences we have built are there to stop a few raiders — they will not hold a Forlish army. Ward will bring his men north, those people will die — and it will be because of you!’

Sendatsu looked up. ‘Because of me? You were the one who forced me to do this! I just wanted to get some answers and go home but you had this idea that I could save your people. I told you I wasn’t a hero, I told you I didn’t want responsibility. But you thought you were being so clever by tricking me into helping you!’

Huw paused for a moment — but only for a moment. ‘You are an elf! Of course I was going to think you were a hero! Don’t try and blame me for your lies. If you had been honest with us from the start, none of this would have happened.’

‘Well, if you hadn’t forced me to try and save everyone …’

‘You wanted to help them too — remember? You came away from Rheged wanting to slaughter every Forlishman we found!’

Sendatsu heard the truth in Huw’s voice but did not want to accept it.

‘It’s still not my fault …’

‘What about Rhiannon? Are you going to say you are innocent there?’ Huw spat, his memories of that time still burning inside.

Sendatsu stopped there. ‘I can never make up for what I did to Rhiannon. That was a huge mistake and I wish with all my heart I had not done that to her,’ he said shakily.

Huw quashed the angry words that rose in him. ‘No, you can never make up for that,’ he agreed, his voice cold as ice.

Sendatsu sighed. ‘I am sorry, Huw. I cannot do this any more. I have to go home. I don’t know how but I am doing nothing of use out here.’ It was time to face facts. He was no closer to finding answers and every day he spent out here was harming more than just his children.

Huw swallowed angry words. ‘You can’t leave. Not only are you the best warrior in Vales, but you know so many things that could help make people’s lives better.’

‘I just want to go home,’ Sendatsu sighed. ‘That is all.’

Huw thought quickly. Sendatsu was still the best, indeed the only hope for his people.

‘Just give me one more moon and then I will see you will return to Dokuzen with all the answers you need. I know you want to go back, I know today has shaken you up but you said it yourself — you can’t return without evidence of humans doing magic or they will kill you.’

Sendatsu shrugged. The way he felt now, he was willing to risk it.

‘What good will it do your children if you are dragged away to be executed before you can even hold them? What will happen to them then?’

Sendatsu forced himself to think about that.

‘They will be raised by my father, the one thing I swore would never happen,’ he admitted.

‘Well then — help me for one more moon and then we shall travel east, search for the ruins my father spoke about, find the answers you seek.’

‘And what good can one more moon do? Why can’t we travel east now?’

‘Because people will die — because scenes like that hamlet in Rheged will be repeated all across Vales. Do you want that on your mind?’

‘No,’ Sendatsu reluctantly agreed.

Huw sighed. ‘What is the secret they will kill you for?’

Sendatsu did not have the energy to lie. ‘The barrier around Dokuzen is fading. Soon it will be gone and we shall be part of this world again, whether we like it or not. The magic is also dying within the elves. When we have no more magic than humans, the barrier will be gone.’

‘The elves you serve, the ones who will overthrow your rulers — will they help us against the Forlish?’

Sendatsu looked into Huw’s eyes. ‘Don’t think you can make bargains with them. I have to trust them, because they are my only hope. But they will not hold to a deal with you.’

‘They might — if you make it a condition of you helping them.’

‘And why would I do that? I am in no position to make deals. And why would I demand such a thing? All you have done is try and trick me into helping you.’

‘Well, I would say we have been tricking each other. But, leaving that aside, you make that deal because that will save the lives of women and children across Vales.’

‘This is a dangerous game you are playing. You gamble not just with your life but with many lives,’ Sendatsu warned. ‘And I have not even agreed to help you again.’

‘But you will — for you have no choice. Listen, my father taught me not to live my life as a lie. I was not able to do that and, as a result, my father died. I learned a bitter lesson. You too are facing a hard test now but you refuse to learn from it. You ran away from Dokuzen and you are running away still.’

‘What?’

‘You see yourself at the mercy of me, of your doubtful allies back in Dokuzen — everyone. You are letting others dictate your life to you. You need to step forwards, run your own life, seize control of your own destiny.’

Sendatsu heard the words — they were but a variation on things he had been told many times before — but they washed over him.

‘You don’t believe me, do you?’ Huw accused. ‘You think everything can go back to the way it was, that you can overturn the rulers of Dokuzen and just go home and hug your children like nothing happened?’

Sendatsu opened his mouth to protest, then shut it again. Nothing would be the same.

‘Look, I will help you — but you have to help me as well. You think that crazy old man back in Rheged was right, that the elves massacred humans and there was a terrible injustice when the elves left this land? Then make up for it. Do something for the humans, unite elves and humans once more!’

Sendatsu shuddered at the thought. That was too much for anyone, let alone him, to achieve.

Huw could see the vision but, sighing inside, realised this was not the elf to do it. Or at least not yet … he needed to play this carefully. Already, another idea was forming in the back of his mind, a way to use Sendatsu’s knowledge to save his people. But it required more thought before he said it aloud — and much more thought as to how to persuade the elf.

‘You want to get back to your children, yes?’

‘Of course!’

‘Then help us for one more moon and I promise you on my father’s grave that I shall not stop until you can go home and hold your children.’

‘Nothing more?’

‘That will be the whole of our deal.’

Sendatsu looked at Huw doubtfully. He knew the bard well enough that there was something else hidden. But, for the life of him, he could not see what it was. ‘What about Rhiannon? Will she still let me travel with you?’

Huw opened his mouth but then shut it again, slowly. He had been so concerned with getting through to the elf he had not thought about what came next. Rhiannon would want nothing more to do with Sendatsu, while Huw wanted everything to do with Rhiannon.

He was furiously thinking how to get around this when a faint cry made him look up.

‘Where is Rhiannon?’ he asked in sudden fear.

It was a time of death. My loyal supporters were slowly whittled away, although I did not see it that way. I still thought I had almost all the people behind me — including Naibun. But while his supporters were unharmed, those who were loyal to me only were dying in all sorts of ways. Accidents, rogue Magic-weavers, human attacks — all of them at the hand of Naibun.

Meanwhile, the people were afraid of the humans and the humans were being taught a false history about us.

And I sat in my villa and grieved for my dead wife.

Looking back on it now, I could have brought a stop to it. If only I had led more, pushed more, taken more control, then none of this would have happened. Probably. But I sat back and drifted, went along with the flow, trusting that my friend was steering me right. Only the ship of my life was being directed towards rapids.

Rhiannon stalked away, not caring where she went, as long as it was far away from Sendatsu. The land around here was hilly, full of cuttings and folds in the ground. She crossed one of them, finding a quiet spot, a large stone to sit on while she tried to come to terms with everything.

As much as she wanted to blame Sendatsu — as much as he was to blame — her conversation with Huw had revealed a nasty truth. Sendatsu had lied to her, had tricked her into bed — but she
had still gone there of her own volition. She could have walked away but she was so blinded by her own desire for a better life, one with the elves, she fell prey to Sendatsu’s desires.

She looked back at how she had been behaving around Sendatsu, how she had been infatuated with the idea of the elf, rather than with who Sendatsu was. She had doted on his every word, flattered and admired everything he did. Now it seemed so obvious, and she cursed herself. She thought about her father, and how he had warned her about men like Sendatsu. Well, of course they had been men, not elves, but it had been for the same reasons. If he had been here, would things have been different? She grimaced at that. Things would be very different if her father was alive. Apart from everything else, she would not have been allowed to do anything. Fighting Forlish, riding horses — he would have rather swallowed broken glass than let those things happen.

It was strange. At first she had missed him bitterly but had barely thought of him recently. What would she have been doing if her father was still alive? Then she shook herself. It was a pointless thought, for Ward would still have wanted to drag her to his bed.

Not unlike Sendatsu, she told herself darkly. Only his methods were more subtle and even more reprehensible. He was an elf! He should know better! How could he lie to her? Yes, she had helped him with her own foolishness and naïvety but he had still looked her in the eye and lied. Elves were not supposed to do that! How could she possibly look at him again without wanting to put a crossbow bolt through his lying tongue? She could not bear to see him again. They did not need him. Huw could do just as good a job.

That made her think of Huw. She had not ignored him, exactly, but — compared with the excitement of an elf and the lure of Dokuzen — his careful courtship had been rebuffed. She buried her face in her hands. She had made so many mistakes. She had to learn from them. It was the one thing she was sure of. For most of her life she had been kept away from everything, sheltered
from not just men but life itself by her father. Like a bird caged for too long, she had ached to spread her wings and fly but had learned there were reasons for a cage, even though hers had been too small and the key kept from her for too long. But she was a fast learner and she swore no man would ever take advantage of her or lie to her like that again.

In a perverse way, she was almost grateful to Sendatsu. It was not a lesson she wanted to learn but she felt stronger for it. It had changed her. She had been walking along with her head in the clouds, dreaming of Dokuzen and the glory that waited for her. The romance had blinded her to the truth. Having that taken away allowed her to see things far more clearly. She could not thank Sendatsu for it but knowledge was power and although it had come at a bitter cost, she was wiser now.

That led to the question of what to do about Sendatsu? Apart from taking a sharp knife to his groin, that was. Without him, what would happen to their mission to protect the Velsh? The elf gave them respect and attention. Suspicious villages warmed instantly as soon as they saw Sendatsu and heard his stories of Dokuzen. Then there was his skill as a warrior. There were still dozens of bands of Forlish roaming around and neither she or Huw had the ability to fight them off. But, even if she swallowed her anger — after he had grovelled out endless apologies — where would that leave them? They could hardly lie to the people and tell them the elves were coming. The idea of parading Sendatsu in front of people, singing that song about him, making them look up to him made her want to vomit. Things had to change — but she could not think how. They could not leave the Velsh to their fate but, equally, how could they save them?

‘What are you doing out here?’

The strange voice made her look up, to see five men walking towards her, grinning. Her heart stopped for a moment, then began pounding rapidly. All five were wearing old clothes — but had swords at their hips and the voice of their leader was unmistakeably Forlish.

‘Rhiannon!’ Their leader, a tall, unshaven man, was smiling broadly. ‘I remember seeing you at Cridianton. You dance well — the things you can do with your legs …’

Rhiannon had no intention of hanging around to hear the rest of the man’s filth.

‘Help!’ she shouted at the top of her voice, then sprang up and raced back for the top of the cutting, where she knew Huw and Sendatsu were. She would even be glad to see the elf at this moment.

For a heartbeat she thought she had surprised them and her long legs ate up the ground. But the Forlish reacted swiftly, racing up to cut her off.

She saw quickly that they would close the angle, so she turned and tore back downhill, off into the Velsh countryside. She did not know what she was running towards — but it had to be better than what was behind her. Again, her quick reactions surprised them and she opened up a sizeable lead. She risked a quick look over her shoulder and saw them spreading out into a half-circle, running hard with swords in hands.

‘Rhiannon! Stop! We’re going to take you to your father!’ the leader shouted. ‘He wants to talk to you!’

Anger spurted through her. She would only see and talk to her father again after death — he was boasting he wanted to kill her too! Saying those words with a sword in your hand could mean nothing else. She stopped looking back over her shoulder and concentrated on picking her way over the unbroken ground.

‘Sarge, we should have waited until Hector got here!’ one of the Forlish gasped.

‘How was I to know the silly bitch would run? He told us she was being held against her will!’ Sergeant Edric growled.

‘Maybe we should put away our swords …’

‘Don’t be an idiot! Have you ever tried to run with a scabbarded sword? It’ll trip you before you’ve gone fifty paces! No, lads, she won’t get far. She’s just a girl.’

‘You go and find her. She doesn’t want to see me,’ Sendatsu said dully. ‘And she is right to want to stay away from me. I would.’

‘We don’t have time to wallow in pity — she could be in trouble and need our help,’ Huw snapped.

‘She’s probably just angry. And I don’t blame her. Go and find her, go and comfort her. You two deserve each other. I will just get in the way,’ Sendatsu sighed, thinking of Asami and Gaibun as he said that.

‘But what if she’s in trouble?’ Huw demanded.

‘There’s nobody around here. We would have seen a Forlish band long before now. Go! She will need someone like you now. She deserves someone like you.’ Sendatsu pushed Huw away.

Huw hesitated a moment longer. He was worried about Rhiannon but the opportunity this presented was too good to ignore. Not only was she in need of a shoulder, but Sendatsu had encouraged him.

‘All right — but come looking for us after the count of two hundred, if we have not returned,’ he suggested.

‘Just go!’ Sendatsu waved him away, wanting to be alone with his misery.

Huw hurried across to the horses and quickly grabbed his mount. Not only would it help with looking for her but he thought she might like a ride back and the thought of sharing a saddle with her was definitely a warming one.

He headed towards where she had gone, wondering how far she might have reached. He was only a little worried — if she had run into trouble, she would be racing back towards them and there was no sign of that as yet.

Instead he found himself thinking about how upset she would be, and how she needed comforting. Her dream of performing for the elves had been dashed and he was the best person to sympathise about that. It was too soon to try anything. But just the chance to sit and talk, perhaps to hold her, was enough to get his mind leaping ahead …

The land around here was creased, like an old tunic thrown carelessly on the floor, with endless little ridges and valleys going in all directions. There was no sign of her.

‘Rhiannon!’ he shouted, hoping she would reply and give him some clue as to where she was.

A faint shout from his left made him turn and peer across the land — to see a group of men running hard, swords in hands. He could not see who they were chasing but the answer was obvious.

Without thinking, he kicked his horse in the ribs and raced after them, fumbling desperately for the crossbow behind his saddle.

Rhiannon paused at the top of a short rise, her lungs heaving and her legs shaking, not just from the fear. She had thought herself fit but racing up and down hills had her gasping for air. The good news was the Forlish warriors were still behind her. The bad news was they had halved the gap, and she feared she had exhausted herself.

‘Wait! Rhiannon! We mean no harm!’ the Forlish leader shouted, his own voice puffing for air.

She heard that and it gave her a little surge of hope, although she had no intention of obeying them. Meant her no harm! Why, then, were they running after her with swords in hands?

The short pause had given her a little breath back. She hawked and spat, clearing her throat, then set off again, trying to eat up the distance with long paces and hoping that Huw and Sendatsu would bring her a horse before the Forlish got much closer.

But the little valley that she was running through dog-legged to the left and, when she rounded the corner, she discovered it finished in a rock slope steeper than anything she had tried before. She threw herself at it, scrambling up. If she could make it to the top, perhaps she could use some of the loose stones, drive the Forlish back — or at least put some distance between herself and her pursuers, maybe even find a hiding place.

The footing was treacherous and she had to use her arms as much as her legs to pull herself upwards. As she got further up, she slowed down, being forced to pick her way carefully.

‘Give it up! You cannot get up there! Come down, for pity’s sake — we’re just going to take you back to your father, and the king!’

She wanted to scream at them, call them liars, tell them they were murderers, but she did not have the breath — she had to save it for the climb. Then she reached a huge boulder that blocked her progress, its smooth surface proving an impossibility. She tried to scramble up it but just slipped back down.

‘Give it up! You can get no further! Look, we are putting our swords away — just come with us and you’ll be with your father before day’s end!’

She shook her head violently, searching for a way around the boulder. Below, a pair of the Forlish had sheathed their swords and were now scrambling up after her.

‘Leave her alone!’

Everyone turned, to see Huw on his horse, dragging it to a stop as he rounded the bend in the valley.

Rhiannon was delighted to see him — but terrified as well. He had his elven crossbow but there were too many Forlish for him.

‘Leave the girl,’ the Forlish leader snapped. ‘She won’t be going anywhere.’

Drawing their swords again, the five of them spread out and slowly advanced at Huw.

‘Keep back — I warn you!’ Huw threatened.

‘That’s a crossbow, laddie — it’s got one shot and then it’s done,’ the leader said grimly.

‘Not this one,’ Huw said defiantly. ‘As you shall discover if you take one more step!’

The Forlish leader stopped and, for a moment, Huw and Rhiannon both dared to hope the threat had been believed.

‘That’s the bard,’ the leader exclaimed. ‘The king will be almost as happy to see him as he will be to get his hands on the girl. Take his crossbow but don’t kill him!’

Huw levelled his crossbow and worked the lever, shooting out crossbow bolts as fast as he could. The Forlish ducked and jumped about as bolts flickered towards them — but they were
spread wide apart and quick to drop to the ground, or dive to one side as the crossbow swung around to point at them.

When Huw had finished, one of the Forlish was swearing at a bolt deep in his thigh, while the leader was nursing a grazed shoulder — but the rest of the bolts had been wasted on the grass.

‘That was a pretty trick. The king will be most interested to see that when we bring it back.’ The leader examined his torn tunic wryly, then turned back to where Huw was frantically trying to load more bolts into his crossbow.

‘Get him! Alive — but no need to be gentle about it!’

Four of them rushed at the bard and Rhiannon wanted to yell at Huw to get away, save himself.

Then the front Forlishman was knocked sideways, tumbling onto the grass, where he lay unmoving. Everyone stopped cold, staring at the body — and the arrow jutting from its side. As if compelled, every head turned and looked up, to where Sendatsu stood high above, bow in hand.

Rhiannon had never thought she would be glad to see him again — but his arrival was perfectly timed. He even had a sense of style about it. He did not yell, did not threaten, just stood there with bow in hand, another arrow on the string.