Hag of the Hills, page 23
‘That’s right,’ Tratonius said. ‘Come on, son – yes, you have that power, but how do you know we could even trust it? Why, I ought to think that you’re the reason for the evil we’ve faced so far, given your sight and all. I don’t think you can trust that shapeshifter, not any more than you can trust the siren.’
‘Told you it was easier to kill him,’ Aldryd said, nonplussed. He sat with Mawaz in his lap, tickling her to make her wiggle around on him.
‘Tratonius, my good friend,’ Verc said, ‘you must trust in Vidav! When the hag bewitched us, his power was able to break us free from it, and allowed us to escape. When we found that shapeshifter – who knows what would have happened, had he not seen its reality! My good friend, trust in what I say, I was a druid, and by the gods I cannot see well anymore, but I am not blind.’
‘I must refuse,’ Marthelm said. ‘Gentle Verc – I am Vidav’s councillor, as are you, my good friend Verc, and we disagree. Now Vidav gets to decide the vote since he’s the leader, but Vidav ought to know that his men are going to be very displeased with this. Count them – who is with Verc, and who is with me?’
Orca, Aster, and Marthelm all did not budge from Tratonius. Cattos and Antedios then stood at either of my flanks.
‘You, too?’ Tratonius asked. ‘My foster sons?’
‘Verc’s right, we would have been dead, I think,’ Cattos said.
‘Sorry, pappa,’ Antedios said.
‘Looks like we’re tied then,’ Tratonius said with a sigh. ‘What say you, Aldryd?’
‘Don’t care, to the crows with the Hillmen,’ he said.
‘Cicarus?’
Cicarus, who had been sharpening a knife on a whetstone, did not look up while speaking. ‘It’s a stupid idea.’
‘He’s not my man,’ I said.
‘He’s still with us,’ Tratonius said.
‘Then he can leave if he doesn’t like it,’ I said. ‘Because we’re following Seonaidh’s advice.’
‘And what was it, exactly?’ Tratonius asked.
‘Wait three weeks at the camp, and then head down the coast south, no matter what my companions say. That means we head out in three days.’
Tratonius laughed and shook his head and stood up. He grabbed a hold of Sabella’s brown hand, kissed it, and pulled her toward his tent. ‘The Hillmen will come in swarms and kill us here if we wait and do not pay them off. So good luck.’
Verc and Aster began to speak and it quickly delved into anger. They both spoke in Greek, and Verc seemed to speak it just as well as Aster, at least to my ears. For a few moments, I attempted to understand the conversation to practice, but they began to shout at each other and speak quickly, and the dilemma distracted me.
Tratonius was right. This would destroy our morale and turn at least half of the men against me. They were all sworn to me, but men could still break their oaths. A broken oath would damn him to a dishonourable life, yet it would still end mine if he happened to break his oath through my death.
I needed to placate them. I recalled to Dun Ashaig, when the druids all bickered among themselves over the besiegement, right up until Ambicatos’ children had been bloodied in front of their very eyes.
Someone needed to be bloodied now.
Aster ranted. He ranted about Keltoi, about superstitions, and about the need to see an oracle. That much I gathered, and he ranted until he picked up his flute and sat perched on a driftwood trunk, wrapped himself in his cloak, and played the flute.
‘Verc, maybe we should placate the gods?’
‘In what way?’ he asked, his face growing dark.
I told him what I witnessed upon Dun Ashaig. He gagged. He sat down, holding his stomach, as if he would vomit.
‘That’s just what the Greek would love to see us do,’ he said. ‘He thinks us Keltoi are savages and thinks we commit human sacrifices and other such atrocities. Tell me, what harm is it if a man we are to execute anyway is offered the gods? Either way, he is dead. What does it matter what words we say, unless to flatter a god in aiding us?’
‘None of us here deserve execution,’ I said. ‘Perhaps we can abduct some Hillmen.’
‘Not likely,’ he said. ‘It’s risky. Seonaidh told us to stay here. I would think the Hillmen would come down after us. Perhaps Seonaidh protects us. But if we do not listen to him – wait three weeks, and then head down the coast, perhaps he will not protect us any longer.’
‘Then we should sacrifice someone to him, to ensure he protects us.’
Verc went ashen. He looked outright disgusted, and he drew a knife. I flinched, as if he were to break his oath at the very thought of what I suggested.
‘You better not be suggesting what I think you are’
‘Not one of the men,’ I said. ‘One of the slave girls!’
Verc shook his head slowly, and then sheathed his knife. ‘Very well. Sacrificing one of our slaves will show the gods we are committed to more than mere wealth. It will bring us all together, methinks. Besides, slaves aren’t much better than beasts.’
‘But which one?’
‘Let me decide,’ he said. ‘I will watch them for signs. Bring them out to me when the moon is at its zenith, we shall conduct the ritual the night before we embark toward Dun Torrin.’
To that, I agreed. I retired to my tent. I thought of my farm, and how I must return there someday. I had left Bodvoc and Lappie’s skulls there, exposed on the ground, but I had to retreat with my men to safety. That Hillman – once a Celt – defeated me, on my property, in the presence of the ghosts of my ancestors. And now the truce was broken, and half my men were against me.
I laid there upon a blanket, wrought with the weight of my burden. The hag. I had seen her again, and so did my comrades. How, and why, did she vanish, and how did the Hillmen end up so far away, when they were
so close?
Myrnna came into the tent through the tight flap. She wore her heavy woollen cloak and she had her hands cupped in front of her. She smiled at me.
‘I have some hazelnuts for you,’ she said.
She kneeled next to me, and she poured the hazelnuts into my hands. I ate them, one by one, sitting up. She carried Vidav in its scabbard, having washed and shined it free of blemish. The tent was lit by the moon. Her hair looked so dark and skin so light, and when she removed her cloak, my eyes were drawn to her supple white shoulders. I realized why I had this burden now.
‘We’re going to Dun Torrin soon, aren’t we?’ Myrnna asked.
‘Yes, in three days,’ I said.
‘Cattos and Antedios went and scouted,’ she said. ‘They say there are thousands of Hillmen on the coast.’
‘So be it,’ I said.
Myrnna sat down next to me, and put a hand on my shoulder.
‘Brenn,’ she said.
‘Vidav,’ I said.
‘Vidav,’ Myrnna said. ‘How can we?’
Her face looked white.
‘How can we hope to face thousands of them? And what about the truce? Please, do what is reasonable, pay them off, get another truce.’
‘Didn’t you see the hag?’ I asked. ‘Didn’t you see the giant? Didn’t you see the loch monster? I saw the hag again earlier today. We couldn’t move and the Hillmen were going to kill us and then all a sudden she disappeared. I don’t know what is going on, or what my power is, but that Seonaidh – the shapeshifter, as we call him. I have a feeling to follow what he says.’
Myrnna laughed short and hard. She mocked me with her laugher. ‘A feeling? Is that what you base your leadership on?’
‘Don’t you mock me,’ I said, and now I faced her. ‘Don’t you dare! I risked my life against that giant. I risked my life against that loch monster. I would never put you in danger if I didn’t know what was best for me, for you, for all of us.’
Myrnna shrieked at me. ‘Father would never want you to do this!’
She huffed and stormed out of the tent. I did not go after her. It was loud, loud enough for all the men to hear, and it would humiliate me to face them now. We had been demoralized enough.
I laid down alone and slept.
I gathered my fishing equipment in the early morning and met Marthelm in the dim light. We started toward the strand with our rods, buckets and a pouch of worms, when some barks from the heather in the hills startled us. There came much commotion when a black blur trampled into the camp harried by our dogs, with Cattos and Antedios chasing after them.
‘Boar!’ one of the lads cried.
The boar ran through the hard dirt of the camp. It smashed through pots and buckets and barrels and terrified the mules, who ran off to the limits of their tethers and brayed. The dogs cornered the boar into a cluster of tents, and the two dogs barked from its flanks, and then it charged Chaser. Chaser lunged out of the way and the boar ran through the campfire, kicking up ash in its wake and ploughing into a tent. The tent came crashing down, and out came naked Sabella, running away screaming while holding her tits with one arm.
Now all the mercenaries came out of their tents and armed themselves. Cicarus, Cattos, and Antedios perused after the dogs with their longspears. Myrnna emerged out of our tent and I shouted at her to run out of the camp. She did. I grabbed a longspear from the weapon rack.
‘Watch out!’ Tratonius shouted and pulled Cattos out of the way of the charging boar. They both thudded to the ground.
‘We’re going to eat good tonight!’ Antedios yelled as he leapt over his foster brother and father toward the boar, longspear in hands.
The hounds chased the boar to the junction between two tents, and then the boar charged Cicarus. Cicarus pivoted out of the way and went to stab the boar, but one of the dogs had gotten in between them and he pulled his spear back. The boar, silent and sturdy, now stood cornered by the two hounds. It began to grumbly low as I approached it, spear first. The two dogs flanked it, growling, with lips stretched over their fangs.
Badb pounded in my chest. One wrong move and the boar would gore me. It had wrecked our camp and threatened our lives. I must show the men that I am unafraid of this danger, and that we shall feast on its flesh tonight. There were worse ways to go, for we revere the boar. It is the symbol of bravery for us, and indeed this boar was brave, for he charged me headlong.
I stepped back, his jaws snapping at me. I stepped backwards, and it charged me. I aimed for its throat and stabbed, but hit its haunch. It squealed as I stabbed it again through the side, and backed up, and stabbed it again, and again until it fell to the ground and spun on its back. I ended its life through the neck, it quivered, and it died a glorious death of painful suffering.
‘Fix the tent,’ I said to the lads, after taking a deep breath.
‘Why us?’ Antedios asked.
‘You brought the boar here,’ I said. ‘Didn’t you lead it here?’
‘Cicarus told us to,’
I looked over at Cicarus.
‘A lord should be able to defeat a boar,’ he said.
‘Then I am that lord,’ I said, and he said nothing. ‘Sabella!’
She came trotting back, nude, with a pitiful attempt to cover herself. ‘Oh, domine! You slew the beast!’
‘I slew the beast,’ I said, loud enough for all the mercenaries around me to hear them. ‘Now, all of you – right this camp. We feast in three days!’
The next three days passed. We fished in the morning, and trained and sparred with Verc instead of Aster.
‘My feet are both my first offensive, and first defence,’ Verc said. ‘My shield is my weapon. My sword is my shield. Finally, my sword is my weapon.’
He then lunged at me, right foot first against my right side, shoved me back with his shield and slid his cold, sharp blade across my belly. A little blood dribbled down the shallow slash. He backed away.
‘You’re off balance. Look at my feet.’
I mirrored his pose, with my right leg forward, my left leg behind, my thumb on the underside of Vidav.
‘I defeat my enemy not with my sword, but with their own feet. Footwork is my most valuable lesson to you. Listen to it well. You are not to train to win, but to train to be the best fighter.
Then you will win.’
During the nights, we all ate, drank, told stories, and the men enjoyed the slave girls. I refrained. I did not wish to touch any of the three whores. I thought them dirty and my father once told me he who sticks his cock in fire gets burned. I never understood what that meant until Tratonius explained it, and that scared me from the whores.
I will tell you, Luceo. I desired Myrnna. She had a true beauty to her, her milky skin contrasted to dark hair, her big, shiny brown eyes. Her tits and arse. If Myrnna had thrown herself at me, I would probably have broken my oath, and regretted it little. Alas, I could not touch her. I swore an oath to her father to wed her as a maiden. I knew not what that entailed, but to be safe and to upkeep my oath, I would not even kiss her, and felt guilty for seeing her naked in the morning, yet I could not bring myself to avert my gaze.
Those three days passed, and the Hillmen never came. We scouted and watched and waited. None. None attacked us at all. There were Hillmen by the thousands on the strand south of Dun Torrin, which was still under siege. And of Seonaidh, I did not know, Luceo, if he had been truthful, or if he had just been another dastard sidhe that would lead me astray. We must placate the gods, improve our morale, and enjoy our last night of peace before the day of war.
On the last night, I had my lessons from Aster in Greek grammar, philosophy, and warcraft, and at the edge of twilight I declared the feast.
We roasted the boar over the fire upon two firedogs. Myrnna and the slave girls had collected wild onions and herbs, and they made a stew.
Verc commanded Cattos and Antedios to spike their hair and twirl their budding moustaches with wax. They came out shirtless and painted in woad, bearing two carnyxes. They were long, polished bronze that looked dark in the waning light, horns longer than men that ended in snarling boar-heads. Verc walked between them, carrying the boars’ head on a platter; it was dozed in white flowers. The lads played their carnyxes with long and short toots of their horns. The music filled the camp and echoed throughout the moors, and all men ceased chatting and all attention turned to them, and we all stared, mesmerized by the music.
Tratonius looked nervous, undoubtedly worried that the war-trumpets would signal to the Hillmen that we meant war, and that they may attack us if they heard them. Yet he too became captivated by their serenade. The two lads played in sync, and it had been so loud, yet so soothing, that the music haunted the entire strand. Chaser and Groaner both fell to their bellies with their ears perked, and even the mules, tethered in the uplands, ceased their grazing.
Verc walked ahead of them. Cattos and Antedios played short bursts now, like a wounded boar, and then long groans when Verc placed the platter on the table. Sabella and the slave girls brought out an amphora of wine, and Myrnna placed a plate of wild forage around the platter. Verc, shirtless and painted like the Dobunni lads, held a knife in his hand, and he raised it to the sky and called out to Taranis, Teutoles and Esus, the triple sky god of thunder, lightning, and clouds, that the men down in Gaul worship. He beckoned me over.
I, dressed in full war gear, with my torc and sword and cloak, marched up to him, with a straightened back. He handed me the knife. I was to make the first cut of the best part of the meat. I was their lord, and their lord always gets the best part of the meat, even if he himself had not taken part in the hunt. This act was what had been conferred to us by our laws, and it was one I had to partake in, if I were ever to garner respect from both my kin and other Celts.
The cooked boar’s aroma made my mouth water. When my knife sliced into its soft, tender thigh, all my pride came forward. If only my father could have seen me, there with men who knew me as Lord, with the oath-brooch at my chest, the lord’s torc around my neck, and the honours of the first cut conferred upon me.
Someone’s sun-burnt hand ripped the thigh of the boar off. There stood Cicarus, in his dark-green cloak and green-blue plaid trousers, with boar leg in hand. He bit into the meat, and chewed with his mouth open, grizzle sticking in his red beard. He chewed loudly and swallowed hard, and with bright eyes, he stared at me.
I winced. He was taller and more skilful and he challenged me. He had approached me from the left, and both he and I knew that was an act of aggression, and he had taken the best cut of the meat right from under me. He had beaten me once and now, Luceo, now he goaded me into a challenge that I could not back down from, so he may beat me again.
‘Cicarus, just what do you do?’ Verc asked. ‘Why do you make war among friends?’
‘Friends indeed,’ he said between chews. ‘What sort of friend would I be, if I let my friends march to their deaths on the morrow?’ He beckoned to the men behind me. ‘I challenge this madman that you call lord – I have taken the prime of the meat. Come and face me – and if you lose, then all of my friends are free from their oaths.’
He leapt upon the table, still holding the leg of boar, and he swallowed his last bit and shouted.
‘What say you all?! Do you march to your deaths like fools tomorrow, because this man has a feeling, or shall you be free of your bondage?!’ No one said anything, and he turned to me, ‘what say you, so-called lord of the sellswords?’
I drew Vidav, the hiss from its scabbard soared over the roar of the fire behind me. Tratonius grabbed my arm. ‘No blood,’ he said.
There were many things I could have done, dear Luceo. I could have had my men kill him, for one. I had to accept his challenge, but I did not have to follow his request. The men were oath sworn to obey my commands. That would have been disastrous because they were all friends with him. Indeed, I did not know his true motive, but his plea for their lives resonated with the men who were in doubt of my plan. Killing him would have killed our waning morale.
