Bronze Magic (Book 1) (40 page)

For once, Rainstorm glanced a request for approval at Raging Water,
before agreeing to accompany Tarkyn. This was not lost on Tarkyn who
asked, as soon as they were clear of the others, “What was that all about?
I thought you kept you own counsel.”
Rainstorm gave a wry smile. “It was out of care for you, if you must
know. I wanted to make sure they had said all they wanted to say to you,
before we left. I know they were trying to make you feel better, even if
they weren’t succeeding.”
Tarkyn stopped and put his hands on his hips as he thought back over
the conversation. “Hmm. I made it pretty hard for them, didn’t I?”
Rainstorm grinned. “Very. But don’t think they’ve given up. They’re
just regrouping.”
The prince gave a short bitter laugh as he dropped his arms and
resumed the walk to the stream. “It might be better if they didn’t try.
Seeing the kindness that exists within woodfolk just makes the distance
between all of you and me all the more difficult, now that I have lived…
or thought I had lived, without that distance.”
As they reached the stream, Tarkyn knelt down on the bank and rolled
up his sleeves. “Never mind,” he said bracingly. “I am back in the role I
was bred to. A prince exists above and apart from his people.” He smiled
at the young woodman as he dipped his arm into the water, preparing to
make a fool of himself again, as he tried once more to tickle trout. “And
despite it all, I am still not as aloof as I was when I entered the forests.”
Having no experience of princes, Rainstorm forbore to mention that
he could not imagine anything more aloof than Tarkyn’s behaviour had
just been towards Autumn Leaves. Instead, he addressed himself to
diverting Tarkyn by tickling trout with him.
aterstone and the rest of Tarkyn’s woodfolk arrived, footsore and
weary, just as the evening meal was being prepared. Rainstorm
warned Tarkyn of their impending arrival several minutes before
they came into view.
Tarkyn walked to edge of the clearing so that he could greet them
away from the forestals. He had no real wish to see them but his sense
of duty upheld him. As Rainstorm had pointed out, if woodfolk were
to be united, he could not avoid them. Using all of his court training,
Tarkyn produced a welcoming smile and let his eyes rove so that everyone
mistakenly assumed that he was spending more time looking at someone
else, when in fact he was avoiding everyone’s gaze. His determination
to remain aloof was nearly undermined by Sparrow who ran at him
beaming, and forced him into catching her by launching herself up into
his arms.
“Tarkyn. Tarkyn. We were so worried about you. I’m so glad you’re all
right.”
Tarkyn smiled down into her earnest little face. “I’m sorry, Sparrow.
I didn’t mean to worry you. I had urgent business with these woodfolk.”
Sparrow nodded wisely and said with a resigned sigh, “I know. Adult’s
business.” Then she gave him a cheeky grin and kissed him on the cheek.
“Well, I’m glad we found you.” She leaned in and whispered in his ear,
“Dad has been so grumpy, you wouldn’t believe it.”
Tarkyn gave a short laugh. “Has he? Well, let’s hope his mood improves
with some food in his stomach.” He dragged his eyes away from Sparrow’s
to address his group of woodfolk. “I apologise for alarming you. As you
no doubt know from Autumn Leaves, the issues have been explained to
me and I am now clearer about the expectations that are placed on you
as woodfolk. In future, should I unwittingly trespass on sensitive areas,
simply tell me that you are unable to answer. Now that I understand that
you cannot be open with me, I revoke my requirement for you to keep
me informed in circumstances where it conflicts with your woodfolk
covenenant. I do not want to make your situation more uncomfortable
than it already is.”
The woodfolk before him glanced uncertainly at one another, wanting
to talk to him and reassure him, but kept at bay by the formality of his
words and demeanour. Waterstone made no attempt to approach him
in such a public forum, knowing from Tarkyn’s courteous tone of voice,
devoid of any true warmth, that the damage ran deep.
Tarkyn waved an arm invitingly. “Do come and settle yourselves
down. Dinner will be ready shortly and you will be astonished to know
that Rainstorm and I have actually contributed three fine trout to the
evening’s meal.”
His attempt at lightness drew smiles from his audience and Lapping
Water managed to say teasingly, “But I doubt that you cooked them,
Sire.”
Tarkyn looked at her, felt that he was a hundred miles from her and
produced a smile. “No. I would not want to ruin our afternoon’s work.”
Raging Water stomped over and gruffly reiterated Tarkyn’s invitation,
adding suggestions on where to erect additional shelters. He glanced at
Tarkyn’s set face and thumped him bracingly on the back. “Come on,
young fellow me lad. Come and try some of that fine trout you caught.”
As they turned to walk back to the firesite and Sparrow skipped off to
play with some forestal children, the gnarly old woodman leaned in and
said quietly, “And just remember, they did the best they could with the
restrictions they had at the time. Do not condemn them for holding true
to their heritage.”
Tarkyn looked down at the old woodman. “I do not condemn them,
Raging Water…and I am trying to be conciliatory. But I no longer know
where I stand with them, except that it is not where I thought I stood.
And I would rather err on the side of caution than be caught again
thinking that there was openness where in fact, none exists.”
Raging Water wagged his finger at him. “Now, don’t overstate the case.
As I understand it, they have been open with you except for keeping a
few private woodfolk matters to themselves. Now, get down off your high
horse and give them some respect for the support they have given you
when the rest of us shirked the responsibility.”
“Yes sir,” said Tarkyn meekly, his eyes shining with laughter.
Raging Water scowled. “And don’t you laugh at me, young man. I
won’t have it. Just you remember that it is by our grace that you are still
alive.”
If Raging Water expected this to wipe the smile off Tarkyn’s face, he
was sadly mistaken.
Tarkyn gave a crack of laughter. “No it’s not. Your sense of honour
saved me. Nothing else. You didn’t confer a favour on me. You were
forced into a corner by your own principles.”
“Don’t you dare speak to me like that!” exclaimed Raging Water,
incensed.
There was a fraught silence. Tarkyn became aware that everyone
was watching their interchange. Tarkyn took a deep breath to control
his immediate outrage and then spoke in a low calming voice, “I beg
your pardon for offending you, Raging Water. However, whether you
have sworn the oath or not, I am still a prince of the realm and a forest
guardian. And I have the right to speak to whomever I like, however
I like!” Seeing Raging Water’s face suffuse with anger, Tarkyn waved
a placatory hand, “But I do not choose knowingly to offend or upset
you… and so I offer you my apology.”
Raging Water’s eyes narrowed as he considered the prince’s words.
“You’re pretty precious about your status, aren’t you?” Gradually a little
smile began to play around his mouth. “I accept your apology, young
man. If you think you are that important, I suspect that in your eyes, you
are making quite a concession.”
“Cutting, Raging Water, very cutting.” Tarkyn shook his head,
a smile on his face.“If I were merely vainglorious, I might take
offence at your provocation…But as it is, I will simply assure you that
although I am, as you so accurately point out, cognisant of my status,
I have no wish to abuse my position.” He gave a shallow courtly bow.
“And let me assure you that I respect your words and have taken them
to heart.”
Raging Water waved his hand irritably, “Oh for goodness sakes! Now
he’s bowing. Someone take him away and feed him before he drives me
to distraction.”
Rainstorm appeared out of nowhere with a big grin on his face and
dragged Tarkyn off to partake of their marvellous trout. When they were
settled with a portion of their trout that had been baked slowly in the
coals, Tarkyn asked, “And what are you looking so pleased about?”
Rainstorm chortled, “You winding up Grandpa like that. Even I rarely
make him as angry as all that.” He speared a piece of trout and waved it
about as he talked. “It’s a very good sign, you know. He only gets mad
at people he likes. He mutters behind the backs of people he has no
respect for.”
“He’s kind, isn’t he? Gruff but kind. My father was like that, from what
I remember of him.”
“Who? King Markazon?”
Tarkyn nodded and said dryly, “Yes. The dreaded King Markazon,”
“Hmm.” Rainstorm lapsed into silence as he picked his way carefully
through the bones of the trout.
Eventually Tarkyn could no longer contain himself and asked, “Hmm?”
Rainstorm shrugged, “I was just thinking that your father and my
grandfather are very alike, according to you, and yet their reputations and
their places in history are so different.”
“Not just according to Tarkyn.” Waterstone casually sat down next to
Rainstorm with his own plate. “I worked with Markazon when he helped
our people through the illness. Tarkyn’s right. He was tough but he was
also kind in some circumstances.” He smiled disarmingly. “Very good
trout, boys.”
Tarkyn’s eyebrows flickered at the form of address but he gave
Waterstone a genuine smile. “I’m very proud of it. It’s the first trout I
have ever caught.”
“We will make a woo… forester of you yet.” Waterstone grimaced at
his faux pas.
“Yes,” said Tarkyn heartily. “That’s what I’ll become. Not a forestal or
a woodman, of course, but a forester. Good term, Waterstone. Perfect
description for an outsider living in the woods.”
“Ah sorry, Tarkyn.” Waterstone ran his hand across his eyes. “This is
hard for all of us. You don’t have to pretend you’re all right, if you’re not.
In fact, please don’t.”
Tarkyn realised that Rainstorm had mysteriously disappeared. “He’s
developing tact, that boy,” he muttered to himself. As he returned his
attention to Waterstone, the need for revenge warred inside him against
his understanding of the woodman’s predicament. As he remembered
everything Waterstone had done for him, rationality won by a slim
margin. “Autumn Leaves is a very good advocate. He champions your
cause against me over and over again. He produced all sorts of hypothetical
arguments but in the end, all he ever needed to say was that you were
under oath. I know you are people of honour and that you could not
break your avowed commitment to your people.” He gave a little shrug,
“So. There it is. The beginning and the end of it. Nothing else needs to
be said.”
Waterstone looked sideways at the prince, trying to gauge the innuendo
beneath the words. “Yes, it does.”
“No,” said Tarkyn firmly. “I accept that your friendship is genuine but
also that it has limitations. And you and I will have to live with that, just
as we live with so much about the oath that is distasteful.” He glanced
briefly at Waterstone before looking away. “Obviously, from now on, we
will both be aware of the distance in our relationship whereas before,
only you were.”
Waterstone threw his plate down with a clatter. “No Tarkyn. It was
not like that.”
Tarkyn looked at his friend with some sympathy. “Yes it was,
Waterstone. You just assumed that woodfolk business was exclusively
between you people. And you were right. It was and still is. I will not
insist on intruding. When you want my assistance as forest guardian, no
doubt you will decide among yourselves what I need to know. Hopefully,
you will not inadvertently exclude me from any vital information.”
“That sounds very lonely, Tarkyn.”
Tarkyn bit his lip. After a few moments he said, “For a woodman,
used to sharing every thought, that may be lonely. But I was brought
up to stand apart. For a while, I nearly escaped my heritage. But it was
an illusion, and now my heritage has come back to haunt me.” He gave
a wistful smile, “We are what we are, Waterstone. You are a woodman
and I am an exiled sorcerer prince, an outsider among you, made more
welcome than I could have dared to hope.”
Waterstone grimaced, “Stop being so bloody noble about it. I think I
would prefer anger from you, rather than this stoic acceptance.”
Tarkyn gave a grunt of laughter. “I’ll admit I did consider raging at
you but Raging Water saved you. He said you did your best under the
circumstances and I believe you did. So,” he shrugged, “what else can
I do but accept the situation?” He slapped Waterstone on the knee.
“Come on. Cheer up. From your point of view, you are in a less invidious
position than before, because now you don’t have to conceal the fact that
you woodfolk harbour secrets between you. Just tell me and I won’t ask
any further.” And because Tarkyn had years of court training behind him,
he almost convinced Waterstone that all was well.
But as the week wore on, and various woodfolk new to Tarkyn arrived,
the change in the prince became apparent. As soon as he knew of an
impending arrival, he would absent himself, going off for long solitary
walks, albeit overseen by a discreet lookout, or retiring to his shelter.
He made no attempt to meet these new woodfolk and would not allow
anyone to speak to him about them, reasoning that the woodfolk were
under oath not to reveal the presence of their kin.
“But you already know of their presence,” protested Waterstone on
the third day, catching up with him as he headed off once more into
the woods. “Stop being such a martyr. You are making everyone feel
uncomfortable. Don’t make the situation worse than it is. There will
be times when we confer on our own but we have agreed that you, as
forest guardian, should be able to meet these people. Besides, the fact that
you have vowed to protect us, and that you already know of woodfolk
presence, means that the rules apply differently to you.”