The Songs of Slaves (41 page)

“We need them more than he does,
” Connor said, as he crossed the room towards the door.

“Where are you going?”

“I need more information. I need to figure out exactly what position we are in before I can figure out what to do. One thing I do know right now is
that there is nowhere to run
tonight. I will be back soon. When I do come back I will knock in this pattern – listen. Now when you hear that knock, open the door carefully. If
you do not hear that exact knock, do not under any circumstances open the door. Do you understand?”

Lucia
stood, not giving Connor the satisfaction of a nod.

“I could be in Massilia right now,
” Connor said. “I came back here to help you. I know that you do not believe me. I know that maybe right now you are thinking that you do n
ot need my help. You are an intelligent young
woman, and you are probably form
ulating your own plans
. But consider this – I am the only fighter that
you have on your side
. You may perhaps think of me as a slave; but as far as those men out there are concerned I am a warrior and you are
now
my slave. If you do anything to upset that image, they are going to be on both of us before we even know what is happening. Think about that before you act, and before you speak to me around them.”

Connor pushed the trunk aside and slid the bolt.

“And one more thing – when I come back later I am sleeping in that bed. It is a big bed and you are welcome to sleep in it to
o, and I promise I will not
touch
you – but if anyone is sleeping on the floor
tonight
it is not going to be me.”

“Connor,
”
Lucia
said
, her tone softened
.

“Yes?”

“There is a wooden box, about this big, under my bed in my room. I need it. I also need my
athame
. I dropped it. Could you find those things and bring them back to me?”

“So that you can put hexes
on me?”

“Please, Connor. I need them.”

“I think your goddess is going to have to stay here for now. I seem to be cursed enough. Now remember, don’t open the
door until you hear my knock
.”

Connor pulled the door closed and waited to hear
Lucia
pull the bolt and push the trunk back into place. He shuddered as he heard her softly weeping on the other side.

The courtyard was dark and deceptively peaceful. There had been no slaves to light the torches.
Connor paced the walkway to the stairs and descended them as quietly as he could. He w
as not sure what he would
say when he did find
Valia
. One thing he felt sure about was that he needed to be open to abandoning the lie. If he did not, he would almost certainly be caught in it. But beyond this,
Valia
was a man of honor. He had told him the story of his people, and it seemed that if anyone should be able to accept Connor’s story, it should be him. And yet Connor could not risk being denigrated. He could risk death, but could not risk being sold back into slavery. There simply was no good strategy, he decided. He would have to see how the Wheel turned.

His hand rested on his sword hilt as he reached the bottom. He was alone. He walked over to where Montevarius had lain, but the body had been removed. Connor retraced his steps through the courtyard. The broken boughs marking the fighting ring were still in place. Connor was again struck by how clo
se he had come to dying
as he stepped over them. When he blinked he could see the helmeted face of Arastan screaming in blood
y
fury as he charged him. He reached the overturned urn where that monster and his men had pinned
Lucia
. Connor ran his hands over it,
shaking off the wave of nausea that came over him. He had faced Arastan’s fury for her; and though she may curse him, he was glad that he did and would readily do it again.

Then something caught his eye. The white ivory of
Lucia
’s
athame
dimly reflected the light of the waning moon. Connor picked it up and slid it in his belt.

“There you are!”

Connor turned to see Gaiseric standing in the doorway that led to the main section of the manor house.

“Easy there! Let up that death grip on your sword! Fighting’s done for the day, and you did it all besides. I just came out here for a piss.”

Gaiseric moved over to one of the olive trees.

“Where are
Valia
and the others?”

“
Well, Tuldin is out somewhere, standing watch. He’s disappointed that he hasn’t killed anyone yet. Valia and most of the others are near
the kitchen, of
course. You’ll come too? We can’t be celebrating without you.”

Gaiseric retied his drawstring
and motioned for Connor to follow him. Connor tried not to let his companion sense the alarm he felt as he walked through Montevarius’s great house. Curtains were torn from the windows, cabinets were broken open, urns were knocked over – the place was already ransacked. He knew that if the corridors looked like this then what must the library o
r the living quarters look like?
When the host of Goths arrived tomorrow they would probably go through everything more carefully – they may be travelling light, but they would be sure to take anything to replace what was worn out or that was just too good to pass up. But in the fading light of day and into the evening, while Connor had been trying to save
Lucia
and secure what future he could for both of them, both Arastan’s and
Valia
’s men had been hard at work trying to sea
rch out anything they could steal
to add to their wealth.

A flood of firelight and noise met them as Gaiseric opened the door to the dining room.

“
Look who I found skulking about,
” Gaiseric announced.

To Connor’s surprise,
Valia
and the seven other
men who had been seated at the M
aster’s table stood up and bellowed their greetings. Henric and two or three others even offered a few claps of applause.

“Done already?” Henric said, pushing out a chair for Connor to sit in.

“You know how the young are!” Gaiseric offered, to the laughter of all.

Connor colored slightly at the chiding, groundless as it obviously was. He had not expected a warm welcome from the men, who less than an hour before had seemed
almost as ready as Arastan
to wash their hands of his trouble. 

Valia
stood up and raised a goblet.

“To Connor, provider of our feast,” h
e said, and then looking around to see that none of Arastan’s men might be nearby he added “And the champion of our fox hunt today.”

The men raised their goblets and drank.

“Where are our manners?” Henric said, filling a goblet with red wine and sliding it to Connor.

“There is a vast store of wine in this place!” Gaiseric said.

“Is there?” Connor said, accepting the goblet.

“Guess all that land under vine should have been a give-away, but still. The others will be very happy when they arrive.”

“If we le
ave them any!” one of the men
jested.

“If Arastan leaves them any
, drowning his sorrows as he is,” H
enric said. “Not gracious in defeat, they aren’t. It’s not like we’re depriving them of everything, just helping ourselves to a share of it. And it’s not like you killed their leader, Connor; you just humiliated him in front of everyone.”

“Which I thank you f
or,
”
Valia
said, pointing his dinner knife at Connor. “Not the h
umiliation part
–
though I richly enjoyed that. I thank you
for not killing him. Even though it was a fair duel in accordance with the law, slaying the youngest son of Sarus would be more trouble than any of us could be ready for. You had
the chance to kill him, maybe even twice, but you showed great restraint. You took him down tonight and
still kept us all out of the rip current
.”

He raised his goblet
again, and the others followed his lead.

“Now mind you, this truce attached to you
r victory will hold for tonight,
”
Valia
continued after he had wiped some of the wine from his short beard. “But even though Arastan should realize that he is in your debt because of your
mercy, your
clementia
, he will not see it that way. The humiliation you dealt him – hell, even your refusal to just let him run his sword through you – has made him your enemy for life. And he is a conniving and tireless enemy, Connor. Stick close to us and you should be alright, but never let your guard down around him and his. Never let your guard down. I hope you were not on your way anywhere important when you ran into us yesterday, because unless you want to face Arastan’s hunting party alone you are probably stuck with us for a while.”

The men laughed. Connor pretended to laugh too.

“Now, enough grimness for one day!
Have some of this mutton. It’s cold, but it’s good. You need some bread, too. We’re out of bread.
Woman!”

T
he door to the kitchen opened and Mella emerged. She spotted Connor at the table and her face went white. Connor’s heart sank to the pit of his stomach. He should have told
Valia
sooner. Now he was caught.

Recovering, Mella’s face took on a hard look; but then she looked away from Connor to
Valia
.

“Yes,
Dominus
?”

“More bread
.
And some more of those raisin
cakes, and some apples.
And have one of your friends go back to the cellar for some more wine.
And no tricks, please, as she will be drinking the first taste in front of us.”

“Yes,
Dominus
,” Mella said with a bow. She shot Connor one more icy
glance before retreating to the kitchen. Connor shuddered. Like
Lucia
, she must think that he had brought the Goths here. The word would spread amongst the slaves in no time – they would all believe that he was a traitor.

“The
girls here are very friendly,
” Henric said. “I would say that you should go down to them later like some of us
already have, but
you already have the one you wanted bad enough to fight a warlord for.”

So the slaves who were not in hiding were cooperating? The body of Lu
cius Montevarius was not even cold
yet, and already his household was making the marauders welcome. But what else were they to do? It was the best way to preserve
themselves
, the only way they knew anymore. Connor shook his head – not him, he would never return to that. But he had to say something – he would rather have talked to
Valia
in private, but there seemed to be no time for that. He had to come clean before word of his origins reached
Valia
through the wrong channels. Connor opened his mou
th to speak, but did not get the chance
.

“As we were riding up here today, not sure of what we would find,
” Valia began, addressing the table,
“
I said to Connor ‘Friend, if this plan works out tonight, and I am sitting around the fire with you
–
good wine in our goblets and new gold in our pouches
–
then I will forgive you for your many oddities’.  Well, I am glad I took the chance on you, my friend. We are rewarded for
our patience as well as our daring tonight; and tomorrow our families and our fellow warriors will get their share of this prize. May the strength we all glean from it sustain us
through some of the hard times
ahead.
As for you, Connor, I know not where you came from; but I do know that you are a good man to have around.”

The others laughed, and two or three of the drunker ones banged their goblets on the table.

“You’re welcome to r
ide with us as long as you like,
”
Valia
said.

“Thank you, Lord
Valia
.”

“No formalities, please.
You are too serious all the time.”

Mella returned with the bread and the fruit and placed them on the table. As she did so, one of the
men put his hand on her round bottom
. Mella turned to him and forced a smile.