Bronze Magic (Book 1) (62 page)

Danton had been shocked by what he had been told about the oath.
Many things concerned him about it. Most importantly, it was clear from
what Waterstone had said, that King Markazon had foreseen his elder
sons’ capacity for treachery and had made provision to safeguard Tarkyn.
Danton pondered this, knowing that Tarkyn had not only refused to
bend to the present king’s ruling but had also defied his father on at least
one occasion.
Danton was quite happy about the commitment the woodfolk had
been forced to make to Prince Tarkyn. That was just as it should be, as far
as he was concerned, and if there were consequences built into the oath,
so much the better. It was unfortunate, though, that not all the woodfolk
had taken it. Then there was the level of commitment demanded from
Tarkyn by the oath. Danton wondered what effect Tarkyn’s forced
identification with the woodfolk’s cause might have on the prince’s birth
commitment to all people of Eskuzor. He would have been even more
concerned had he realised that Tarkyn had now been formally adopted
into the woodfolk nation, but that was a shock yet to come.
After an hour or so of tossing and turning, Danton decided to give up
on trying to sleep. He pulled aside the bramble screening and stepped
outside to go for a walk instead. He nearly tripped over a little girl who
was playing quietly on the path outside the door.
“Whoops, sorry,” said Danton, as he stepped sideways to avoid
standing on her. “Ow. That bush is prickly.”
The little girl stood up swiftly and pushed back her light brown hair.
“Hello. You must be Danton, Tarkyn’s friend. I am Sparrow.”
Danton frowned as he rubbed his scratched arm. Even children were
overly familiar. However, he realised that a rebuke was not the best way
to start a new relationship. So he merely said, “Hello. What are you
doing playing here?” His eyes narrowed. “You’re not keeping an eye on
me, are you?”
Sparrow nodded quite unselfconsciously. “Dad thought you might
need some help, since you’re new here. So I thought I’d just play here
while I waited for you to wake up.” She grimaced a little. “I probably
should have set up a bit further from the door. Is your arm all right?”
Danton gave a small smile, “I’ll live.” He abandoned his plans to go
for a walk and sat down on the ground. “Do you want to show me what
you were doing?”
Sparrow eyed him uncertainly for a moment, then sat down next to
him and showed him a map she had drawn of the local area with all the
hidden shelters drawn in. “I haven’t finished it yet. I was getting it ready
to show you when you got up.”
Danton inspected her handiwork and raised his eyebrows. “This is
a very clear map. That’s the stream there, is it?” he asked, running his
finger over a wavy line that ran down the middle of her diagram. When
Sparrow nodded, he frowned and said slowly, “So that’s the patch of
beech trees we slept in last night and there’s the clearing where we had
breakfast.”
Sparrow regarded him with some surprise. “You’re quite good at
reading maps, aren’t you?”
Danton looked puzzled, “Why wouldn’t I be?”
Sparrow shrugged and smiled, “Tarkyn is terrible at it. I thought
maybe all sorcerers were.”
“Are all woodfolk good at reading maps?”
“Not everyone.” She smiled, “But most people are better at it than
Tarkyn.”
“Well, I think you’ll find most sorcerers are better at reading maps
than His Highness. He has never had a very good sense of direction.”
“No, he’s hopeless.” Sparrow looked at him severely, “But you mustn’t
think he’s bad at everything because he’s not.” Danton was intrigued to
realise that Sparrow was now championing the prince. “Anyway,” she was
saying, “as he’s a forest guardian, he doesn’t need a good sense of direction
because the animals will guide him.”
Danton frowned, “I beg your pardon? What do you mean, the animals
will guide him?”
Sparrow smiled sunnily at him. “Tarkyn can mind talk with forest
creatures. Well, not mind talk, exactly. He uses pictures but it works the
same. So he can ask an animal or bird to show him where to go or to find
things for him.”
A thoughtful expression came over Danton’s face. “Or to keep watch
over someone?” he asked slowly.
“You mean the eagle owl,” said Sparrow inconsequentially. She nodded.
“Tarkyn used the eagle owl to find you and then to watch you until the
others came.”
“I see.” Danton pondered for a moment. “I suppose he hasn’t had time
to talk to me about the owl this morning.”
The little girl put her head on one side. “Don’t worry. He’s not trying to
trick you. Anyway, that’s another thing he’s hopeless at, tricking people.”
Danton smiled suddenly. “You do know him well, don’t you?”
Sparrow nodded, “Dad and I looked after him all the time he was sick
and that’s how we all became friends.” She looked down at her map and
started working on it again as she talked. “And now Tarkyn’s my uncle,
and Dad and Ancient Oak are his brothers.”
Because she was concentrating on her map, Sparrow missed the look
of consternation on Danton’s face. As the silence lengthened, Sparrow
looked up.
“And how did His Highness become part of your family?” he asked
carefully.
“My Dad and he became blood brothers, so Tarkyn could become
a woodman. No one has ever become a woodman ever before. That’s
because Tarkyn was really brave…and the oath of course.”
“And who is your father?” asked Danton tightly.
“Waterstone, of course.”
“I see.” With years of court training coming to his aid, Danton
managed to produce a small smile to cover his concern. “Same green
eyes. Same light brown hair. I should have known.”
Sparrow laughed. “You’re silly. We’re all like that.”
“I know,” said Danton lightly. “I was joking.”
Sparrow considered the guardsman. “I like you. I’m glad you’re
Tarkyn’s friend.” She paused as she decided to confide in the sorcerer. “I
felt Tarkyn’s feelings when he saw his brothers riding through the forest.”
Tears sprang to her eyes. “They were very bad to him. People have been
so mean to him and he doesn’t deserve it, you know. He thought no one
would be his friend any more after what happened.”
Danton looked thoughtfully at her. “You know, I wasn’t there, and
each version I heard was more terrible than the last. But I have always
been his friend and I always will be, no matter what he’s done. If he
lashed out and killed all those guards, he must have had a good reason.”
Sparrow’s eyes widened. “You think Tarkyn did that? … And you still
want to be his friend?” She shook her head emphatically. “No, it wasn’t
like that at all.” She told him Tarkyn’s version and added, “But Tarkyn
still thinks everything was his fault because it was his fear that made the
shield go wrong.”
“But I hope he can see that his brothers’ action precipitated the situation
and at the very least, they should share the blame,” put in Waterstone, as
he rounded the corner to join in the conversation.
Danton scrambled to his feet. Despite any misgivings he might have
about Tarkyn being considered a member of a woodfolk family, the
sorcerer was determined to behave correctly. He bowed and said, “Your
Highness, I beg your pardon for not showing you due respect earlier.”
Waterstone looked over his shoulder and, seeing no one there, asked,
“Who are you talking to?”
“You, my lord. If I had realised….”
Waterstone cut across him, “Now settle down. What’s Sparrow been
telling you?”
“That you are bloodbrother to the prince,” replied the sorcerer.
“True enough.” Waterstone frowned at his daughter, “But I was going
to let Tarkyn tell Danton that himself, Sparrow.”
“Your Highness, I would never have questioned your right to tell me
what to do if I had known. Why didn’t you tell me then?”
The woodman frowned. “Because I was speaking to you with the
authority of a woodman as I told you. I did not ask Tarkyn into my
family to hang my consequence on his shirttails. I have sufficient of my
own, as does every other woodman or woman.” He bent down, picked
up Sparrow and swung her onto his hip as he spoke. “And Danton,
much as I appreciate the honour you do me in recognising my right to
that title so unquestioningly, I have no wish to be referred to as ‘Your
Highness’.”
A hint of panic flared in Danton’s eyes. “Your values are so alien to
me. I can’t imagine anyone in Tormadell not flaunting such a connection
with a prince.”
Waterstone’s eyes narrowed, “Now, let us be completely clear on
this. I would never use any connection I had with Tarkyn, either as a
friend or as a brother, to my own advantage. To do so would be to use
him as a commodity and betray his trust in me.” A wave of pride and
gratitude broke around the three of them. Ignoring it for the moment,
the woodman clapped the bemused sorcerer on the shoulder with his free
hand. “Don’t worry. It will be easier than you think. There are less rules in
our society, not more.” The woodman smiled broadly, “And just to make
you feel more comfortable about it, I will undertake not to call you ‘my
lord’ in return!”
Before Danton could react to this last sally, Waterstone called quietly,
“Come on, where are you, Tarkyn? You must be here somewhere. I can
feel you.”
Tarkyn appeared around the bend in the track through the brambles,
grinning, “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. I was just coming to find Danton
and stopped when I heard what you were talking about.”
Danton’s looked puzzled. “How did you know he was there?”
“Didn’t you feel the wave of feelings?” asked Waterstone.
Danton’s face cleared, “Was that you, Sire?”A smile dawned on his
face, “I can see why you feel that way. I, too, would be proud to call
Waterstone my friend.”
Waterstone, usually so rock solid and imperturbable, was clearly
flustered by this remark. He cleared his throat and managed, “Thank you,
Danton, I am honoured by your words.” The woodman glanced wryly at
Tarkyn. “You are a lot quicker off the mark with your offer of friendship
than your liege was.”
“Ah, but my liege’s trust in you has paved the way for me and I do
not have his experience of betrayal to overcome,” said Danton gently.
“To the unjaundiced eye, your integrity shows through in everything
you do.”
Waterstone cleared his throat again and asked the prince, “Is he always
this embarrassing?”
Tarkyn gave a short laugh. “Only to people he likes. Now if you don’t
mind, you two, I need some time to talk to Danton before this meeting.”
“Well, don’t stand all over my map because I haven’t finished it yet. It’s
to show Danton everything,” said Sparrow.
Tarkyn ruffled her hair as Waterstone carried her past him. “We won’t.
I promise. I’ll see you in a little while.” He turned to Danton, “Shall we
go back inside?”
When they were both seated inside the small shelter, Danton said, “I
don’t know why you would rather be in here than out in the forest.”
“Privacy, Danton. Privacy. You can’t tell whether woodfolk are
anywhere near you unless they choose to let you know.”
“Are there things you wish to say that they may not like to hear, Sire?”
asked Danton, with a faint edge of eagerness in his voice.
Disappointingly, Tarkyn shook his head. “No, Danton, there are not.
But there may be things you wish to say that they may not like to hear.”
“Oh. I see. And I am free to say what I like?”
“Yes, my friend. It is much better that you talk to me about it here
rather than stir up ill feeling outside.” Tarkyn smiled at him, “So. What
would you like to say or ask?”
Danton looked down at the ground for a while then brought his gaze
up to meet the prince’s, his purple eyes twinkling with mischief. “They
have funny voices, don’t they? It’s really hard to switch from listening to
one voice then tuning in on the next, isn’t it?”
Tarkyn nodded, smiling, “Yes, very. You get used to it after a while
but it is hard. Waterstone is often hard to hear properly when you’re
near a stream. Autumn Leaves’ voice gets lost when a sudden gust of
wind scatters leaves. Their voices blend in. I thought there was running
water nearby for days when I was semi-conscious and all the time it was
Waterstone talking to me.”
“And it’s just as well their voices are different because how are you
supposed to tell them all apart?”
Tarkyn laughed. “You get used to that, too. They all look completely
different from each other to me now. But they didn’t at first.”
Danton became more serious, “Sire, I am very confused about the
proper way to act. I don’t want to offend anybody but the woodfolk’s
behaviour towards you offends me continually. None of them show you
the proper respect due to your station.”
The prince regarded him thoughtfully. “And what about Waterstone,
for instance? Do you think he does not respect me?”
“He doesn’t use your correct title. He doesn’t bow to you. He doesn’t
treat you with the respect due to a prince.”
“Danton, that was not my question. I said, do you think Waterstone
does not respect me?”
Danton thought hard. Slowly, he shook his head. “No. I couldn’t say
Waterstone does not respect you.” A reluctant smile dawned. “In fact, I
would say he respects you a great deal. In fact a great deal more than many
of the courtiers who have given you all the ostensible signs of respect.”
Tarkyn watched the sorcerer work his way through this new perspective.
“And which do you think I would consider more valuable?”
Danton smiled, “Sire, I am not a fool. Obviously, just from the
questioning if nothing else, you consider Waterstone’s respect to be more
valuable.” He put his head on one side as he thought about it. Then he
shrugged and said slowly, “And I suppose I would have to agree with you”
Tarkyn pulled a stick off the interior of the shelter and began to break
pieces off the end of it. “Do you know, Danton, it has taken a long
journey for all of us to get to where we are now. On my own, I have had
to decide how I wanted to be treated. I could have insisted on rigid court
etiquette. But can you imagine how hard it would be for Stormaway and
me to train an entire nation of people in something of which they have
little knowledge and consider to be mildly ludicrous?”