Segga of Istin had eaten his evening meal and was sitting with friends when a servant informed him that there was a woman at the gates of the great hall asking for an audience with him. Another woman was with her; and there was also a baby.
Segga guessed at once who they were.
Since making his offer to Shansi to provide refuge for her, Chaldez and, if necessary the king, he had begun to feel somewhat ambivalent about it. He very much wanted to see Shansi again, and in that respect he longed for the chance to prove himself to be her protector and champion; at the same time, however, he knew perfectly well that if Morvina, or indeed Sigmar, should make a determined effort to seize them there was little he could do to prevent it. He also had no great desire to share his home with Egmar, the most obnoxious person he knew. To be told, therefore, that two women and a baby were at his gates made his heart thump. He felt a mixture of apprehension and excitement as he ordered them to be shown in, and was completely taken aback when confronted by two strangers. He gazed at them, aghast.
“The Queen of Sair Jisenner has sent you her son," said Lewvin simply. "I am ordered to give you this token as proof," and she held out Shansi's marriage ring. Segga took it and recognised the royal insignia. "Who are you?" he asked.
"I am Lewvin, her majesty's servant, and this is Dam Fatella, the child's nurse."
"Where is your mistress?"
"In Felewith."
"Why did she not come?"
Lewvin said it had not been possible, but offered no further explanation. Instead she asked if the prince and his nurse might be excused and allowed to rest. "I shall try to answer all your questions," she said, "but we have endured a long and arduous journey. Also our escort are at your gates and await instructions . . . "
Later that evening she was to tell Segga all that she knew of the situation in Felewith, and she briefly described the journey to Istin.
The following day Segga sent a spy to Felewith, who eventually returned with the news that Shansi and Egmar were both dead and that the crown had been offered to Sigmar.
Segga resolved at once to put Chaldez under the personal protection of his paramount lord, Gam, King of Eujinni.
Gam's kingdom, bisected by the great River So, lies to the south east of Sair Jisenner, the border between the two kingdoms being formed by the River Kell.
Segga told Lewvin what he proposed to do.
"I believe he will not be truly safe," said Lewvin, who had never had difficulty speaking her mind, "until he is in Theigia and under the protection of his relative, King Beune. It will be possible then for him to be looked after by his own family," and she explained that Taigram, his grandfather, was himself in exile there with his wife and surviving daughter.
Segga would not normally have entertained the notion of discussing his plans with a servant, but he had quickly recognised in Lewvin a person of rank and sharp intellect; furthermore, Shansi had entrusted her with the prince's safety, and he therefore felt obliged to take note of her opinion in all matters concerning the child.
"I lack the means," he had to admit, "of sending your charge to the Theigan islands. You must ask that of the king of Eujinni; many ships sail from his ports."
Lewvin thought of the Roe Aada ruby, which she still kept. Segga had already told her that the local craftsmen were probably not sufficiently skilled to do as she proposed and mount it within a locket to be worn by Chaldez on a stout chain around his neck. She now wanted to be sure Shansi's instruction could be carried out in Eujinni.
"Gam is ruler of a great kingdom, and among his subjects are very skilful craftsmen," Segga assured her. "My messenger will tell him all that you require."
Lewvin was reassured, but there was another, secret, deeper anxiety troubling her from which there was no relief. Her regular blood purgatives had stopped, and for several days she had vomitted after waking in the morning. She knew what these signs meant: she was going to have a baby - Kiereg's baby! Every day she was reminded of it, and because she thought she was to blame she felt ashamed; and she was frightened of what was going to happen.
To have been able to share her sense of guilt and her fears would perhaps have made them easier to bare, but there was no one in Seggar's household to whom she could turn for comfort or advice. She had never felt so alone.
* * * *
Gam, king of Eujinni, was pleased to offer sanctuary to Chaldez, the son of his ally. News had reached his court at Sorrin of Sigmar's enthronement, and it bothered him.
Volkis and Egmar, being without territorial ambitions, or any other ambitions as far as he could find out, had suited him well as neighbours, but Sigmar was likely to be very different. As a youth he had been a troublesome poacher, crossing into Eujinni from his father's kingdom to take deer and wild boar as though he had a right to them. On one occasion there had been a skirmish in which two of Gam's men were killed. Volkis had made payment in restitution, but Gam considered his quarrel with Sigmar unsatisfied, and by all accounts the new king of Sair Jisenner had run amok in Laifya, behaving no better than a bandit.
Chaldez, when he arrived in the capital, was as welcome as a gift from the gods. Gam installed him in his palace, treated him and Lewvin with every courtesy - and had no intention whatsoever of allowing him to slip through his fingers. If Sigmar proved troublesome he intended to produce him as the rightful king, and back his claim with military force, if necessary.
For the first few weeks Lewvin believed that Gam was making preparations to send her and the prince to Theigia. Only when he had them moved into more spacious quarters within the palace did she begin to have doubts; there seemed to her a permanence about the arrangement which she found disquieting. She at once sent him a message asking for information about the voyage and the preparations which were being made for it. She waited two weeks for a reply, and then sent a second, similar message. Another two weeks passed, and she sent a third and to this one she received a reply.
The king wished her to know that the voyage across the Xaffy Sea had been considered too dangerous because of pirates, and now it was too dangerous because of storms.
Lewvin resigned herself to remaining in Sorrin for the winter.
It was not, in fact, such a bad prospect; she was comfortable, well looked after and treated with respect - and she had resolved the problem of her pregnancy: she let it be known that Pemmel, the Kroyan hero, was the father of the unborn child; Pemmel her husband! The ring he had given her to signify the marriage contract had been stolen by Kiereg, she said.
The baby, a boy, was born in early spring. Lewvin named him Dan-Pemmel, son-of-Pemmel. The king sent his personal servant to her with the message that he desired to be Dan-Pemmel's protector and patron, and that he had decided to adopt Chaldez as his son.
Lewvin knew then that they would never get to Theigia, and she felt a kind of emptiness. Subconsciously she had begun to think of the islands as home, although there was nothing that she had been told about them to make them the least bit attractive. By all accounts they were cold, and inhospitable, and their inhabitants wild, ruthless and cruel. In the past they had frequently raided Kroya, some eventually settling; indeed, the royal family of Kroya was descended from a Theigian prince, and she had been told that her own ancestors, like that of many of the kingdom's great families, were Theigans, not that any of this mattered to her. What drew her to Theigia was the prospect of being reunited with Shansi's family.
Shansi, her friend since childhood, her best friend, was dead, but she felt that by drawing close to her family she might, in some mysterious way, bridge the gulf that lies between the living and the dead; that in Shansi's family she would glimpse Shansi herself.
And then there was Chaldez, for the question of his safety had suddenly become desperately urgent.
Lewvin, already uneasy about remaining so close to Sair, became deeply alarmed when she heard of Sigmar's marriage into the Eujinni royal family. His bride was the daughter of Gam's disgraced younger brother, Harrinkad who had quite recently led an abortive revolt against the king. After its failure, he had fled into exile, but Lewvin was certain that he still had contacts in Sorrin and that through him Sigmar would soon learn of the whereabouts of Chaldez. Ever looming large on her horizon, Sigmar now seemed more menacing than ever.
She persuaded Gam to send her, Dan-Pemmel and the prince to a secluded royal estate far from the Sairish border. And there they remained, receiving an annual visit from the king but for the most part living unobtrusively, the prince's identity a closely-guarded secret.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Segga of Istin had eaten his evening meal and was sitting with friends when a servant informed him that there was a woman at the gates of the great hall asking for an audience with him. Another woman was with her; and there was also a baby.
Segga guessed at once who they were.
Since making his offer to Shansi to provide refuge for her, Chaldez and, if necessary the king, he had begun to feel somewhat ambivalent about it. He very much wanted to see Shansi again, and in that respect he longed for the chance to prove himself to be her protector and champion; at the same time, however, he knew perfectly well that if Morvina, or indeed Sigmar, should make a determined effort to seize them there was little he could do to prevent it. He also had no great desire to share his home with Egmar, the most obnoxious person he knew. To be told, therefore, that two women and a baby were at his gates made his heart thump. He felt a mixture of apprehension and excitement as he ordered them to be shown in, and was completely taken aback when confronted by two strangers. He gazed at them, aghast.
“The Queen of Sair Jisenner has sent you her son," said Lewvin simply. "I am ordered to give you this token as proof," and she held out Shansi's marriage ring. Segga took it and recognised the royal insignia. "Who are you?" he asked.
"I am Lewvin, her majesty's servant, and this is Dam Fatella, the child's nurse."
"Where is your mistress?"
"In Felewith."
"Why did she not come?"
Lewvin said it had not been possible, but offered no further explanation. Instead she asked if the prince and his nurse might be excused and allowed to rest. "I shall try to answer all your questions," she said, "but we have endured a long and arduous journey. Also our escort are at your gates and await instructions . . . "
Later that evening she was to tell Segga all that she knew of the situation in Felewith, and she briefly described the journey to Istin.
The following day Segga sent a spy to Felewith, who eventually returned with the news that Shansi and Egmar were both dead and that the crown had been offered to Sigmar.
Segga resolved at once to put Chaldez under the personal protection of his paramount lord, Gam, King of Eujinni.
Gam's kingdom, bisected by the great River So, lies to the south east of Sair Jisenner, the border between the two kingdoms being formed by the River Kell.
Segga told Lewvin what he proposed to do.
"I believe he will not be truly safe," said Lewvin, who had never had difficulty speaking her mind, "until he is in Theigia and under the protection of his relative, King Beune. It will be possible then for him to be looked after by his own family," and she explained that Taigram, his grandfather, was himself in exile there with his wife and surviving daughter.
Segga would not normally have entertained the notion of discussing his plans with a servant, but he had quickly recognised in Lewvin a person of rank and sharp intellect; furthermore, Shansi had entrusted her with the prince's safety, and he therefore felt obliged to take note of her opinion in all matters concerning the child.
"I lack the means," he had to admit, "of sending your charge to the Theigan islands. You must ask that of the king of Eujinni; many ships sail from his ports."
Lewvin thought of the Roe Aada ruby, which she still kept. Segga had already told her that the local craftsmen were probably not sufficiently skilled to do as she proposed and mount it within a locket to be worn by Chaldez on a stout chain around his neck. She now wanted to be sure Shansi's instruction could be carried out in Eujinni.
"Gam is ruler of a great kingdom, and among his subjects are very skilful craftsmen," Segga assured her. "My messenger will tell him all that you require."
Lewvin was reassured, but there was another, secret, deeper anxiety troubling her from which there was no relief. Her regular blood purgatives had stopped, and for several days she had vomitted after waking in the morning. She knew what these signs meant: she was going to have a baby - Kiereg's baby! Every day she was reminded of it, and because she thought she was to blame she felt ashamed; and she was frightened of what was going to happen.
To have been able to share her sense of guilt and her fears would perhaps have made them easier to bare, but there was no one in Seggar's household to whom she could turn for comfort or advice. She had never felt so alone.
* * * *
Gam, king of Eujinni, was pleased to offer sanctuary to Chaldez, the son of his ally. News had reached his court at Sorrin of Sigmar's enthronement, and it bothered him.
Volkis and Egmar, being without territorial ambitions, or any other ambitions as far as he could find out, had suited him well as neighbours, but Sigmar was likely to be very different. As a youth he had been a troublesome poacher, crossing into Eujinni from his father's kingdom to take deer and wild boar as though he had a right to them. On one occasion there had been a skirmish in which two of Gam's men were killed. Volkis had made payment in restitution, but Gam considered his quarrel with Sigmar unsatisfied, and by all accounts the new king of Sair Jisenner had run amok in Laifya, behaving no better than a bandit.
Chaldez, when he arrived in the capital, was as welcome as a gift from the gods. Gam installed him in his palace, treated him and Lewvin with every courtesy - and had no intention whatsoever of allowing him to slip through his fingers. If Sigmar proved troublesome he intended to produce him as the rightful king, and back his claim with military force, if necessary.
For the first few weeks Lewvin believed that Gam was making preparations to send her and the prince to Theigia. Only when he had them moved into more spacious quarters within the palace did she begin to have doubts; there seemed to her a permanence about the arrangement which she found disquieting. She at once sent him a message asking for information about the voyage and the preparations which were being made for it. She waited two weeks for a reply, and then sent a second, similar message. Another two weeks passed, and she sent a third and to this one she received a reply.
The king wished her to know that the voyage across the Xaffy Sea had been considered too dangerous because of pirates, and now it was too dangerous because of storms.
Lewvin resigned herself to remaining in Sorrin for the winter.
It was not, in fact, such a bad prospect; she was comfortable, well looked after and treated with respect - and she had resolved the problem of her pregnancy: she let it be known that Pemmel, the Kroyan hero, was the father of the unborn child; Pemmel her husband! The ring he had given her to signify the marriage contract had been stolen by Kiereg, she said.
The baby, a boy, was born in early spring. Lewvin named him Dan-Pemmel, son-of-Pemmel. The king sent his personal servant to her with the message that he desired to be Dan-Pemmel's protector and patron, and that he had decided to adopt Chaldez as his son.
Lewvin knew then that they would never get to Theigia, and she felt a kind of emptiness. Subconsciously she had begun to think of the islands as home, although there was nothing that she had been told about them to make them the least bit attractive. By all accounts they were cold, and inhospitable, and their inhabitants wild, ruthless and cruel. In the past they had frequently raided Kroya, some eventually settling; indeed, the royal family of Kroya was descended from a Theigian prince, and she had been told that her own ancestors, like that of many of the kingdom's great families, were Theigans, not that any of this mattered to her. What drew her to Theigia was the prospect of being reunited with Shansi's family.
Shansi, her friend since childhood, her best friend, was dead, but she felt that by drawing close to her family she might, in some mysterious way, bridge the gulf that lies between the living and the dead; that in Shansi's family she would glimpse Shansi herself.
And then there was Chaldez, for the question of his safety had suddenly become desperately urgent.
Lewvin, already uneasy about remaining so close to Sair, became deeply alarmed when she heard of Sigmar's marriage into the Eujinni royal family. His bride was the daughter of Gam's disgraced younger brother, Harrinkad who had quite recently led an abortive revolt against the king. After its failure, he had fled into exile, but Lewvin was certain that he still had contacts in Sorrin and that through him Sigmar would soon learn of the whereabouts of Chaldez. Ever looming large on her horizon, Sigmar now seemed more menacing than ever.
She persuaded Gam to send her, Dan-Pemmel and the prince to a secluded royal estate far from the Sairish border. And there they remained, receiving an annual visit from the king but for the most part living unobtrusively, the prince's identity a closely-guarded secret.
Segga guessed at once who they were.
Since making his offer to Shansi to provide refuge for her, Chaldez and, if necessary the king, he had begun to feel somewhat ambivalent about it. He very much wanted to see Shansi again, and in that respect he longed for the chance to prove himself to be her protector and champion; at the same time, however, he knew perfectly well that if Morvina, or indeed Sigmar, should make a determined effort to seize them there was little he could do to prevent it. He also had no great desire to share his home with Egmar, the most obnoxious person he knew. To be told, therefore, that two women and a baby were at his gates made his heart thump. He felt a mixture of apprehension and excitement as he ordered them to be shown in, and was completely taken aback when confronted by two strangers. He gazed at them, aghast.
“The Queen of Sair Jisenner has sent you her son," said Lewvin simply. "I am ordered to give you this token as proof," and she held out Shansi's marriage ring. Segga took it and recognised the royal insignia. "Who are you?" he asked.
"I am Lewvin, her majesty's servant, and this is Dam Fatella, the child's nurse."
"Where is your mistress?"
"In Felewith."
"Why did she not come?"
Lewvin said it had not been possible, but offered no further explanation. Instead she asked if the prince and his nurse might be excused and allowed to rest. "I shall try to answer all your questions," she said, "but we have endured a long and arduous journey. Also our escort are at your gates and await instructions . . . "
Later that evening she was to tell Segga all that she knew of the situation in Felewith, and she briefly described the journey to Istin.
The following day Segga sent a spy to Felewith, who eventually returned with the news that Shansi and Egmar were both dead and that the crown had been offered to Sigmar.
Segga resolved at once to put Chaldez under the personal protection of his paramount lord, Gam, King of Eujinni.
Gam's kingdom, bisected by the great River So, lies to the south east of Sair Jisenner, the border between the two kingdoms being formed by the River Kell.
Segga told Lewvin what he proposed to do.
"I believe he will not be truly safe," said Lewvin, who had never had difficulty speaking her mind, "until he is in Theigia and under the protection of his relative, King Beune. It will be possible then for him to be looked after by his own family," and she explained that Taigram, his grandfather, was himself in exile there with his wife and surviving daughter.
Segga would not normally have entertained the notion of discussing his plans with a servant, but he had quickly recognised in Lewvin a person of rank and sharp intellect; furthermore, Shansi had entrusted her with the prince's safety, and he therefore felt obliged to take note of her opinion in all matters concerning the child.
"I lack the means," he had to admit, "of sending your charge to the Theigan islands. You must ask that of the king of Eujinni; many ships sail from his ports."
Lewvin thought of the Roe Aada ruby, which she still kept. Segga had already told her that the local craftsmen were probably not sufficiently skilled to do as she proposed and mount it within a locket to be worn by Chaldez on a stout chain around his neck. She now wanted to be sure Shansi's instruction could be carried out in Eujinni.
"Gam is ruler of a great kingdom, and among his subjects are very skilful craftsmen," Segga assured her. "My messenger will tell him all that you require."
Lewvin was reassured, but there was another, secret, deeper anxiety troubling her from which there was no relief. Her regular blood purgatives had stopped, and for several days she had vomitted after waking in the morning. She knew what these signs meant: she was going to have a baby - Kiereg's baby! Every day she was reminded of it, and because she thought she was to blame she felt ashamed; and she was frightened of what was going to happen.
To have been able to share her sense of guilt and her fears would perhaps have made them easier to bare, but there was no one in Seggar's household to whom she could turn for comfort or advice. She had never felt so alone.
* * * *
Gam, king of Eujinni, was pleased to offer sanctuary to Chaldez, the son of his ally. News had reached his court at Sorrin of Sigmar's enthronement, and it bothered him.
Volkis and Egmar, being without territorial ambitions, or any other ambitions as far as he could find out, had suited him well as neighbours, but Sigmar was likely to be very different. As a youth he had been a troublesome poacher, crossing into Eujinni from his father's kingdom to take deer and wild boar as though he had a right to them. On one occasion there had been a skirmish in which two of Gam's men were killed. Volkis had made payment in restitution, but Gam considered his quarrel with Sigmar unsatisfied, and by all accounts the new king of Sair Jisenner had run amok in Laifya, behaving no better than a bandit.
Chaldez, when he arrived in the capital, was as welcome as a gift from the gods. Gam installed him in his palace, treated him and Lewvin with every courtesy - and had no intention whatsoever of allowing him to slip through his fingers. If Sigmar proved troublesome he intended to produce him as the rightful king, and back his claim with military force, if necessary.
For the first few weeks Lewvin believed that Gam was making preparations to send her and the prince to Theigia. Only when he had them moved into more spacious quarters within the palace did she begin to have doubts; there seemed to her a permanence about the arrangement which she found disquieting. She at once sent him a message asking for information about the voyage and the preparations which were being made for it. She waited two weeks for a reply, and then sent a second, similar message. Another two weeks passed, and she sent a third and to this one she received a reply.
The king wished her to know that the voyage across the Xaffy Sea had been considered too dangerous because of pirates, and now it was too dangerous because of storms.
Lewvin resigned herself to remaining in Sorrin for the winter.
It was not, in fact, such a bad prospect; she was comfortable, well looked after and treated with respect - and she had resolved the problem of her pregnancy: she let it be known that Pemmel, the Kroyan hero, was the father of the unborn child; Pemmel her husband! The ring he had given her to signify the marriage contract had been stolen by Kiereg, she said.
The baby, a boy, was born in early spring. Lewvin named him Dan-Pemmel, son-of-Pemmel. The king sent his personal servant to her with the message that he desired to be Dan-Pemmel's protector and patron, and that he had decided to adopt Chaldez as his son.
Lewvin knew then that they would never get to Theigia, and she felt a kind of emptiness. Subconsciously she had begun to think of the islands as home, although there was nothing that she had been told about them to make them the least bit attractive. By all accounts they were cold, and inhospitable, and their inhabitants wild, ruthless and cruel. In the past they had frequently raided Kroya, some eventually settling; indeed, the royal family of Kroya was descended from a Theigian prince, and she had been told that her own ancestors, like that of many of the kingdom's great families, were Theigans, not that any of this mattered to her. What drew her to Theigia was the prospect of being reunited with Shansi's family.
Shansi, her friend since childhood, her best friend, was dead, but she felt that by drawing close to her family she might, in some mysterious way, bridge the gulf that lies between the living and the dead; that in Shansi's family she would glimpse Shansi herself.
And then there was Chaldez, for the question of his safety had suddenly become desperately urgent.
Lewvin, already uneasy about remaining so close to Sair, became deeply alarmed when she heard of Sigmar's marriage into the Eujinni royal family. His bride was the daughter of Gam's disgraced younger brother, Harrinkad who had quite recently led an abortive revolt against the king. After its failure, he had fled into exile, but Lewvin was certain that he still had contacts in Sorrin and that through him Sigmar would soon learn of the whereabouts of Chaldez. Ever looming large on her horizon, Sigmar now seemed more menacing than ever.
She persuaded Gam to send her, Dan-Pemmel and the prince to a secluded royal estate far from the Sairish border. And there they remained, receiving an annual visit from the king but for the most part living unobtrusively, the prince's identity a closely-guarded secret.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Lewvin's deception in naming Kiereg's son Dan-Pemmel worked; she herself even began to believe it. She obliterated Kiereg from her memory. To all intents and purposes Pemmel was the father of her child, and she became so accustomed to referring to him as her husband that he might just as well have been. She often spoke to Dan-Pemmel about him. Chaldez, on the other hand, became increasingly uncertain about his own status.
Lewvin spoke to the boys in her native Kroyan tongue as well as in Sairish. The language spoken in Eujinni also became familiar to them, and fearing that Chaldez might blurt out more to a servant than was wise, Lewvin hid the truth from him. Nevertheless, he became aware that Gam, the king, had a special interest in him, and it was obvious to both boys that they were not treated the same.
They had the same tutors and were instructed in the same noble arts of warfare and single combat, but a deference was shown to him which was absent in the treatment of Dan-Pemmel; if they got into mischief it was Dan-Pemmel who was invariably blamed and punished, despite being younger by nearly a year.
By the time Chaldez was ten, these differences in their treatment were beginning to matter to him because they emphasised his sense of being in a void. More and more he needed to now who he was and where his mother and father were. Lewvin's prevarications made him hate her, and she was wounded by his sullen resentment. For a while she endured the pain, but eventually she told him that Gam was his father.
This satisfied the child for a time, but the more he learnt about the court and its manners the less his position made any sense. Why was he not at court; why was he not referred to as "your highness," and why was his life so completely different from that which his tutors described when speaking of other royal princes?
Lewvin's answers were never so convincing that he was entirely satisfied by them. As he grew older he wanted to know more and more, but was told, it seemed to him, less and less. His mother, he knew, had died, but Lewvin never talked about her; she never even mentioned her name. If he asked about her she would invariably change the subject, steering it inevitably to Queen Shansi of Sair Jisenner and about the murderous Morvina and her wicked son, Sigmar. One day, she would say, they would be punished for their crimes, but she never said what their crimes were, or who would punish them. Chaldez was irritated by the mysterious King Egmar and his tragic queen Shansi: why was he supposed to be interested in them anyway?
Dan-Pemmel sneered at his dissatisfaction, and teased him for being King Gam's bastard, an accusation which Chaldez half believed must be true.
The two boys were opposites. Chaldez was shy, introspective, retiring; a willing but uncertain horseman, and a somewhat reluctant student of the martial arts. He was, however, fascinated by history, and he impressed his tutors with an intuitive grasp of the principles of military strategy.
There was a scandal when it became known that he had persuaded a scribe to teach him to read and write, but he threw such a tantrum when the learned man was dismissed that he had to be recalled and the lessons continued.
Dan-Pemmel, on the other hand, was the very model of what a young nobleman should be: he possessed an easy charm, loved to ride and hunt, was an inspirational swordsman and, for his age, very strong. Lewvin would sometimes watch him and think how much better suited to kingship he was than the retiring and bookish Chaldez.
When they were little, the two boys were friends, but as he grew up, Dan-Pemmel became increasingly aware of the favoured treatment which his companion received, and he resented it. He would speak derisively of his inferiority as a horseman and combatant - accomplishments which Chaldez, for his part, became increasingly disinterested in. Dan-Pemmel detected in the other's manner a detached superiority, and disliked him the more for it. The impression was misleading; Chaldez was merely retreating from areas in which he knew he could not compete, besides which, Dan-Pemmel was a reminder of his own lack of identity and made him feel uncomfortable. Chaldez also envied him his popularity and confidence.
For all Lewvin's determination to keep the true identity of Chaldez a secret, she was powerless to prevent the speculation which his presence provoked among the members of the household, and it was only a matter of time before most of them knew for a certainty, if not for a fact, that he was the dispossessed king of Sair Jisenner.
In Sorrin, Gam's notion of keeping the existence of Chaldez a secret was to tell everyone but the scullion, and it was from the court at Sorrin that confirmation of the rumours eventually came.
Dan-Pemmel was 12 when he found out the truth about Chaldez. He went at once to tell him.
Chaldez was having lessons in playing the zaratha, a stringed instrument favoured by minstrels. Dan-Pemmel waited until the musician who was instructing him had gone, then said "I know who your father was. He was the king of Sair Jisenner."
Chaldez played some notes on the zaratha. Without looking up from the instrument he said "His Majesty King Gam is my father, everyone knows that."
"That's what you think! I've just been talking to Iggon."
"So?"
"He's just got back from Sorrin. He says everyone at court knows you're not the king's son. He only adopted you. Your father was Egmar, who's dead."
For a moment Chaldez did not want to believe any of this; then he realised it had to be true for it explained everything: it explained why he did not live at the court in Sorrin; why he so rarely saw Gam; why his life was so different from that of any other prince of the blood, and why Lewvin was always telling him about Egmar and Shansi. He felt a sense of immense relief, as though he had been holding his breath all his life and could now, for the first time, breath.
He dropped the zaratha and ran out, calling for Lewvin.
"I'm Egmar's son!" he shouted when he found her. "The king adopted me."
"Who told you this?" Lewvin demanded, panic driving the colour from her cheeks.
"Dan."
Dan appeared at that moment.
What's this you've been telling Chaldez?" screamed Lewvin. "Why have you been lying to him?"
Chaldez said "He wasn't lying. Queen Shansi was my mother. Now I . . . "
"You know nothing" snapped Lewvin.
"Tell her about Iggon," Chaldez told Dan.
Dan was too frightened to say anything.
"But it's true, isn't it?" Chaldez pleaded. Dan was sullen. Lewvin was silent for a long time. She looked at Chaldez. His face was alight with excitement. "Yes," she said at last, and very quietly. "It is true."
Chaldez was bursting with questions, and he and Dan then heard the whole story, including the escape from Felewith, but omitting the name of Kiereg. When she had finished Chaldez said: "Sigmar still wants to kill me, doesn't he?"
"Yes," said Lewvin. "That is why he must never find out where you are."
Dan said: "He's safe here, isn't he?"
"I don't think he is now," said Lewvin. "We must all be very, very careful."
Following this conversation Chaldez found that he no longer felt discomforted by Dan. He quickly acquired a self-assurance which altered his outward behaviour, and Dan began to see that he was not the detached, superior person he had seemed to be. Each boy began to accept the other for what he was, and while there remained little affection in their relationship, there came into it a new element of mutual respect.
Lewvin decided she could give Chaldez the Roe Aada ruby now that she did not have to hide its significance from him.
Gam's smith, a master of miniaturisation, had set it in a spherical brass locket which was so finely crafted that it appeared to be solid. It was attached to a stout brass chain with a fastening which could only be released by a slender "key" - in effect a pin with two tiny prongs which depressed corresponding projections in the fastening mechanism. The locket itself sprang open only when two very precise points on the casing where tightly squeezed. Chaldez tried, but hadn’t the strength in his fingers to do it.
Lewvin put the chain around the boy's neck and fastened it. Chaldez waited to be given the key. "You won't need this," she said, "and no one else must use it, either. I shall see that it is destroyed.”
* * * *
Shortly before Chaldez's 15th birthday he and eight members of the household were poisoned. Lewvin escaped because she was observing her monthly purification fast.
Dan was at the same table as Chaldez, and was served with the same meat; he was about to take a mouthful when he pushed away his plate. "Don't touch it!" he said.
"Why?" asked Chaldez, his mouth full.
"It's bad."
Chaldez spat out the meat, wiped his mouth on the back of his hand and said, accusingly, "What do you mean, it's bad? It tasted fresh to me."
"Don't eat any more. Tell them to take it away. You must!"
Chaldez was perplexed, and a bit unnerved; he had never before seen Dan so agitated. Dan picked up his own plate and hurled it to the ground. "It's poisoned!" he cried. He and Chaldez watched the dogs gulp down the meat in chunks. "You'll see," said Dan. "You'll see!"
Chaldez ate no more. Three hours later he became ill; within four days eight members of the household who had had the same meat were dead. Chaldez survived only because he had swallowed very little, but the poison was so powerful that it seemed to Lewvin, as she nursed him, that no more than a thread kept him alive. The crisis eventually passed and he sank into a state of exhaustion, which lasted for two weeks.
Dan was to say later that he was certain the food was dangerous because
everything about the meal was familiar, and he was suddenly aware that a dream he had had was being acted out; a dream in which the food in front of them had been poisoned.
While Chaldez was still very ill Lewvin decided that if he recovered he should leave Eujinni and continue his long-broken journey to Theigia. But would Gam release him?
As soon as Chaldez was strong enough for the journey she took him and Dan back to Sorrin to confront the king.
News of the poisonings had preceded them, and Gam had to concede that Sigmar, or his mother, had discovered the prince's hiding place. Lewvin argued forcefully that no matter what precautions they might take, Chaldez was in danger for as long as he remained in Eujinni.
Gam had no wish to lose his grasp upon the prince, but realised he was of more potential value to him alive in Theigia than dead in Eujinni. Reluctantly he agreed to make the necessary arrangements for their voyage. They would sail from his port of Venka near the mouth of the River So.
Lewvin spoke to the boys in her native Kroyan tongue as well as in Sairish. The language spoken in Eujinni also became familiar to them, and fearing that Chaldez might blurt out more to a servant than was wise, Lewvin hid the truth from him. Nevertheless, he became aware that Gam, the king, had a special interest in him, and it was obvious to both boys that they were not treated the same.
They had the same tutors and were instructed in the same noble arts of warfare and single combat, but a deference was shown to him which was absent in the treatment of Dan-Pemmel; if they got into mischief it was Dan-Pemmel who was invariably blamed and punished, despite being younger by nearly a year.
By the time Chaldez was ten, these differences in their treatment were beginning to matter to him because they emphasised his sense of being in a void. More and more he needed to now who he was and where his mother and father were. Lewvin's prevarications made him hate her, and she was wounded by his sullen resentment. For a while she endured the pain, but eventually she told him that Gam was his father.
This satisfied the child for a time, but the more he learnt about the court and its manners the less his position made any sense. Why was he not at court; why was he not referred to as "your highness," and why was his life so completely different from that which his tutors described when speaking of other royal princes?
Lewvin's answers were never so convincing that he was entirely satisfied by them. As he grew older he wanted to know more and more, but was told, it seemed to him, less and less. His mother, he knew, had died, but Lewvin never talked about her; she never even mentioned her name. If he asked about her she would invariably change the subject, steering it inevitably to Queen Shansi of Sair Jisenner and about the murderous Morvina and her wicked son, Sigmar. One day, she would say, they would be punished for their crimes, but she never said what their crimes were, or who would punish them. Chaldez was irritated by the mysterious King Egmar and his tragic queen Shansi: why was he supposed to be interested in them anyway?
Dan-Pemmel sneered at his dissatisfaction, and teased him for being King Gam's bastard, an accusation which Chaldez half believed must be true.
The two boys were opposites. Chaldez was shy, introspective, retiring; a willing but uncertain horseman, and a somewhat reluctant student of the martial arts. He was, however, fascinated by history, and he impressed his tutors with an intuitive grasp of the principles of military strategy.
There was a scandal when it became known that he had persuaded a scribe to teach him to read and write, but he threw such a tantrum when the learned man was dismissed that he had to be recalled and the lessons continued.
Dan-Pemmel, on the other hand, was the very model of what a young nobleman should be: he possessed an easy charm, loved to ride and hunt, was an inspirational swordsman and, for his age, very strong. Lewvin would sometimes watch him and think how much better suited to kingship he was than the retiring and bookish Chaldez.
When they were little, the two boys were friends, but as he grew up, Dan-Pemmel became increasingly aware of the favoured treatment which his companion received, and he resented it. He would speak derisively of his inferiority as a horseman and combatant - accomplishments which Chaldez, for his part, became increasingly disinterested in. Dan-Pemmel detected in the other's manner a detached superiority, and disliked him the more for it. The impression was misleading; Chaldez was merely retreating from areas in which he knew he could not compete, besides which, Dan-Pemmel was a reminder of his own lack of identity and made him feel uncomfortable. Chaldez also envied him his popularity and confidence.
For all Lewvin's determination to keep the true identity of Chaldez a secret, she was powerless to prevent the speculation which his presence provoked among the members of the household, and it was only a matter of time before most of them knew for a certainty, if not for a fact, that he was the dispossessed king of Sair Jisenner.
In Sorrin, Gam's notion of keeping the existence of Chaldez a secret was to tell everyone but the scullion, and it was from the court at Sorrin that confirmation of the rumours eventually came.
Dan-Pemmel was 12 when he found out the truth about Chaldez. He went at once to tell him.
Chaldez was having lessons in playing the zaratha, a stringed instrument favoured by minstrels. Dan-Pemmel waited until the musician who was instructing him had gone, then said "I know who your father was. He was the king of Sair Jisenner."
Chaldez played some notes on the zaratha. Without looking up from the instrument he said "His Majesty King Gam is my father, everyone knows that."
"That's what you think! I've just been talking to Iggon."
"So?"
"He's just got back from Sorrin. He says everyone at court knows you're not the king's son. He only adopted you. Your father was Egmar, who's dead."
For a moment Chaldez did not want to believe any of this; then he realised it had to be true for it explained everything: it explained why he did not live at the court in Sorrin; why he so rarely saw Gam; why his life was so different from that of any other prince of the blood, and why Lewvin was always telling him about Egmar and Shansi. He felt a sense of immense relief, as though he had been holding his breath all his life and could now, for the first time, breath.
He dropped the zaratha and ran out, calling for Lewvin.
"I'm Egmar's son!" he shouted when he found her. "The king adopted me."
"Who told you this?" Lewvin demanded, panic driving the colour from her cheeks.
"Dan."
Dan appeared at that moment.
What's this you've been telling Chaldez?" screamed Lewvin. "Why have you been lying to him?"
Chaldez said "He wasn't lying. Queen Shansi was my mother. Now I . . . "
"You know nothing" snapped Lewvin.
"Tell her about Iggon," Chaldez told Dan.
Dan was too frightened to say anything.
"But it's true, isn't it?" Chaldez pleaded. Dan was sullen. Lewvin was silent for a long time. She looked at Chaldez. His face was alight with excitement. "Yes," she said at last, and very quietly. "It is true."
Chaldez was bursting with questions, and he and Dan then heard the whole story, including the escape from Felewith, but omitting the name of Kiereg. When she had finished Chaldez said: "Sigmar still wants to kill me, doesn't he?"
"Yes," said Lewvin. "That is why he must never find out where you are."
Dan said: "He's safe here, isn't he?"
"I don't think he is now," said Lewvin. "We must all be very, very careful."
Following this conversation Chaldez found that he no longer felt discomforted by Dan. He quickly acquired a self-assurance which altered his outward behaviour, and Dan began to see that he was not the detached, superior person he had seemed to be. Each boy began to accept the other for what he was, and while there remained little affection in their relationship, there came into it a new element of mutual respect.
Lewvin decided she could give Chaldez the Roe Aada ruby now that she did not have to hide its significance from him.
Gam's smith, a master of miniaturisation, had set it in a spherical brass locket which was so finely crafted that it appeared to be solid. It was attached to a stout brass chain with a fastening which could only be released by a slender "key" - in effect a pin with two tiny prongs which depressed corresponding projections in the fastening mechanism. The locket itself sprang open only when two very precise points on the casing where tightly squeezed. Chaldez tried, but hadn’t the strength in his fingers to do it.
Lewvin put the chain around the boy's neck and fastened it. Chaldez waited to be given the key. "You won't need this," she said, "and no one else must use it, either. I shall see that it is destroyed.”
* * * *
Shortly before Chaldez's 15th birthday he and eight members of the household were poisoned. Lewvin escaped because she was observing her monthly purification fast.
Dan was at the same table as Chaldez, and was served with the same meat; he was about to take a mouthful when he pushed away his plate. "Don't touch it!" he said.
"Why?" asked Chaldez, his mouth full.
"It's bad."
Chaldez spat out the meat, wiped his mouth on the back of his hand and said, accusingly, "What do you mean, it's bad? It tasted fresh to me."
"Don't eat any more. Tell them to take it away. You must!"
Chaldez was perplexed, and a bit unnerved; he had never before seen Dan so agitated. Dan picked up his own plate and hurled it to the ground. "It's poisoned!" he cried. He and Chaldez watched the dogs gulp down the meat in chunks. "You'll see," said Dan. "You'll see!"
Chaldez ate no more. Three hours later he became ill; within four days eight members of the household who had had the same meat were dead. Chaldez survived only because he had swallowed very little, but the poison was so powerful that it seemed to Lewvin, as she nursed him, that no more than a thread kept him alive. The crisis eventually passed and he sank into a state of exhaustion, which lasted for two weeks.
Dan was to say later that he was certain the food was dangerous because
everything about the meal was familiar, and he was suddenly aware that a dream he had had was being acted out; a dream in which the food in front of them had been poisoned.
While Chaldez was still very ill Lewvin decided that if he recovered he should leave Eujinni and continue his long-broken journey to Theigia. But would Gam release him?
As soon as Chaldez was strong enough for the journey she took him and Dan back to Sorrin to confront the king.
News of the poisonings had preceded them, and Gam had to concede that Sigmar, or his mother, had discovered the prince's hiding place. Lewvin argued forcefully that no matter what precautions they might take, Chaldez was in danger for as long as he remained in Eujinni.
Gam had no wish to lose his grasp upon the prince, but realised he was of more potential value to him alive in Theigia than dead in Eujinni. Reluctantly he agreed to make the necessary arrangements for their voyage. They would sail from his port of Venka near the mouth of the River So.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The master of The Serrin, the vessel which was to take Lewvin and the two boys to Jeggan, capital city of the Theigian islands, said the voyage would take three days, but perhaps twice that if the winds were unfavourable.
His ship was a two-masted, square-rigged merchantman with ports below the main deck for ten long oars, two men to each oar. A stepped, two-tiered housing in the stern incorporated a tiny stateroom, to be shared by Chaldez and Dan, and two smaller cabins, one of which was to be Lewvin's.
On the second day out of Venka the wind, until then a steady and helpful easterly, freshened noticeably. By evening The Serrin was plunging and bucking on a wild and boisterous sea beneath a blackening sky. Chaldez, looking out over the stern from the stateroom window, was appalled to see waves as high as the ship's masts rearing up and racing towards him, as though to engulf the puny craft. As they passed underneath, lifting The Serrin up and up, until it seemed she must brush the torn, scudding clouds, his terror gave way to wonder and exhilaration. The continuously repeated drama enthralled him, and it was sometime before he realised that Dan was not sharing his excitement. Dan was prostrate in his cot, moaning and whimpering.
By morning the gale had lost some of its bluster, and towards midday there was a cry from the look-out that land was in sight. Chaldez was already on deck, and he peered towards the lifting and falling horizon. Then he too glimpsed a dim, rugged line that betrayed the nearest of the Theigan islands. They would be in sight of one island or another for the remainder of the voyage, the ship's master said. Chaldez felt a sense of disappointment, as though the adventure had slipped away from him.
Dan and Lewvin had both been sick all night, and although the storm was now in its dotage and weakening fast, Lewvin kept to her cot. Dan, red-eyed and wan, came out on deck, and seemed to find some comfort in the news that the open sea was now behind them.
Chaldez thought that they must reach Jeggan in another day or so, and was surprised that evening to see the mariners reducing the canvass, rather than putting up more in order to take advantage of the brisk easterly. The helmsman pointed with his thumb over his shoulder when Chaldez asked him why. "Baggamanzi's just taking a breath," he said, referring to the demon king of the sea. "He was only playing with us before. Tonight he'll mean business, you see."
The storm broke at about midnight. Chaldez was tipped out of his cot, and water slopped over him. The ship's motion was so violent that he was unable to get to his feet. Timbers creaked, the wind shrieked through the rigging and there was a constant roar of crashing waves, and through it all he heard Dan moaning and crying. Guided by the sound, he attempted to make his way towards him, crawling on all fours, but was repeatedly thrown on to his side; his head, arms, legs and body crashing against the sides and pieces of cabin furniture.
How could he have thought that a storm at sea was nothing to be afraid of? He was now more terrified than he had ever been in his life before. If the ship would only remain still for a moment he could find his bearings and get a grip on his senses, but The Serrin seemed to be alive, and determined to break every bone in his body.
He was sliding across the floor when his right hand touched, and grasped, the fixed leg of the table. He pulled himself up to it, and clung there as the water sloshed back and forth over his legs. He was so cold that he had lost all feeling in his fingers; his whole body was shaking convulsively. He was hauling himself up into a standing position when The Serrin gave a shuddering lurch and he was thrown to the deck once more, striking his head as he went down. For several moments he lay where he had landed, too dazed to move. Gradually he became aware of voices shouting above the clamour of the storm. The cabin door was flung open and a figure was silhouetted against the grey night sky.
"We're on a reef!! We're on a reef!" Then the figure was gone.
Chaldez managed to get to his feet. Helped by the dim light from the open door he reached Dan's side. He felt his body in the cot; touched his face. It was cold and damp. "Dan!" he bellowed. "We've got to get out of here! We're on a reef. We must find your mother. Get up, Dan!" He clawed at Dan's body, dragging it out of the cot. Dan struggled to his feet. Clinging to one another, they groped their way to the door. Beyond it they found themselves engulfed by pandemonium.
The moon, low on the horizon, showed her full pale face fitfully through ragged clouds. By her dim light it was possible to make out a tangled mass of rigging strewn over the deck and the shattered mast to which it was still attached. Figures, drenched by torrential rain and cascading spray, clambered feverishly about as though pursued by demons, and then The Serrin gave another violent lurch as a giant wave lifted her up momentarilly and smashed her down on to the reef a second time. For a moment the storm's cacophony was blocked out by the groans and crack of her timbers as they stove in.
"She's breaking up!" a voice cried. "Every man for himself!"
The door to Lewvin's cabin, unfastened, was swinging to and fro. Dan went inside and a moment later reappeared. "Help me get her out!" he shouted. She was on the floor of the cabin, and apparently injured. They half dragged and half carried her out. She was barely conscious, and moaned continuously.
The Serrin shuddered as another huge wave crashed over her. Chaldez steadied himself and looked up in time to sea a dark, transluscent wall of water towering above him, then all was confusion as he was swept off his feet and over the side.
As he sank down and down he was at first conscious only of the silence in which he was suddenly and totally enveloped, and then of the dim, greenish light before his eyes. He seemed to sink for ever. His lungs now were bursting; he was seized by panic, overwhelmed by the need to take breath. He struggled violently, and was on the point of taking a fatal gasp when his head burst through the tumultuous surface, and he filled his lungs with air. Then once more the sea embraced him in green suffocating silence.
The next time it delivered him to the surface his flailing arms struck a floating spa. He hugged it to him, coughing and spluttering. A wave almost tore them apart, but he clung on. The waves and the wind bore them through a gap in the reef, and onwards towards a rocky shore.
That turbulent voyage, in which he was as often below the surface as above it, lasted, it seemed, for an age; consciousness was slipping away. The hands that pulled him roughly out of the surf seemed unreal. Was he in the land of the dead? A torch, its flame flattened by the gale, was thrust towards him. By its uncertain light he could make out bearded faces peering into his own. Words were spoken, but he had no idea of their meaning. He was pulled to his feet and led, stumbling and staggering over jumbled boulders, to where the bubbling, shallow water of a stream emerged from a narrow, steep-sided valley cut into the steep, angular cliff.
There were two men on either side of him, big men, who took his weight whenever he lost his footing and was in danger of falling as together they followed the course of the stream. It rose sharply, the water rushing over the rock-strewn bed and tumbling over countless little falls.
After a short but difficult climb, the three of them came out at the top of the ravine from where they continued inland across rolling downs. The low-slung moon lit the soft curves in her eerie, colourless light, filling the hollows and folds with black shadows. The thunder of the sea grew fainter, and the wind, though blustery and wild, had shed its terrifying madness.
The trio trudged on over the spongy turf. Chaldez, aching, bruised, exhausted and cold, felt as though he had been walking for ever when at last their route took them off the higher ground. Then they were passing what looked, in the moonlight, like wide grassy mounds. Chaldez was puzzled until he realised that they were dwellings; he was in some sort of village.
The two men, who had not uttered a word since leaving the shore, tightened their grip on his arms, and led him down a narrow side track which passed between two of the half-buried houses. They passed through a gateway and stopped in front of a wooden hut; one of the men lifted out a retaining bar and pulled open the rickety door. Chaldez was pushed through; the door was pushed to, he heard the bar being replaced, and then he was alone. The voices of the two men, who had begun to exchange muttered remarks as soon as the door was closed, quickly faded.
Chaldez was enclosed in total darkness. The hut smelt of hay and animals, and was quite warm. He stood, listening, and then pushed against the door experimentally. The retaining bar, as he had guessed, held it fast. Then he sank to his knees, put his face in his hands, and wept.
For a long time his mind was in turmoil as he re-lived the terrors of the ship-wreck, and wondered again and again what had become of Lewvin and Dan. And what was to become of him, among these strange and unfriendly islanders?
The loss of his friends, and the uncertainty of his future, brought the tears to his eyes once more and he sobbed uncontrollably.
His ship was a two-masted, square-rigged merchantman with ports below the main deck for ten long oars, two men to each oar. A stepped, two-tiered housing in the stern incorporated a tiny stateroom, to be shared by Chaldez and Dan, and two smaller cabins, one of which was to be Lewvin's.
On the second day out of Venka the wind, until then a steady and helpful easterly, freshened noticeably. By evening The Serrin was plunging and bucking on a wild and boisterous sea beneath a blackening sky. Chaldez, looking out over the stern from the stateroom window, was appalled to see waves as high as the ship's masts rearing up and racing towards him, as though to engulf the puny craft. As they passed underneath, lifting The Serrin up and up, until it seemed she must brush the torn, scudding clouds, his terror gave way to wonder and exhilaration. The continuously repeated drama enthralled him, and it was sometime before he realised that Dan was not sharing his excitement. Dan was prostrate in his cot, moaning and whimpering.
By morning the gale had lost some of its bluster, and towards midday there was a cry from the look-out that land was in sight. Chaldez was already on deck, and he peered towards the lifting and falling horizon. Then he too glimpsed a dim, rugged line that betrayed the nearest of the Theigan islands. They would be in sight of one island or another for the remainder of the voyage, the ship's master said. Chaldez felt a sense of disappointment, as though the adventure had slipped away from him.
Dan and Lewvin had both been sick all night, and although the storm was now in its dotage and weakening fast, Lewvin kept to her cot. Dan, red-eyed and wan, came out on deck, and seemed to find some comfort in the news that the open sea was now behind them.
Chaldez thought that they must reach Jeggan in another day or so, and was surprised that evening to see the mariners reducing the canvass, rather than putting up more in order to take advantage of the brisk easterly. The helmsman pointed with his thumb over his shoulder when Chaldez asked him why. "Baggamanzi's just taking a breath," he said, referring to the demon king of the sea. "He was only playing with us before. Tonight he'll mean business, you see."
The storm broke at about midnight. Chaldez was tipped out of his cot, and water slopped over him. The ship's motion was so violent that he was unable to get to his feet. Timbers creaked, the wind shrieked through the rigging and there was a constant roar of crashing waves, and through it all he heard Dan moaning and crying. Guided by the sound, he attempted to make his way towards him, crawling on all fours, but was repeatedly thrown on to his side; his head, arms, legs and body crashing against the sides and pieces of cabin furniture.
How could he have thought that a storm at sea was nothing to be afraid of? He was now more terrified than he had ever been in his life before. If the ship would only remain still for a moment he could find his bearings and get a grip on his senses, but The Serrin seemed to be alive, and determined to break every bone in his body.
He was sliding across the floor when his right hand touched, and grasped, the fixed leg of the table. He pulled himself up to it, and clung there as the water sloshed back and forth over his legs. He was so cold that he had lost all feeling in his fingers; his whole body was shaking convulsively. He was hauling himself up into a standing position when The Serrin gave a shuddering lurch and he was thrown to the deck once more, striking his head as he went down. For several moments he lay where he had landed, too dazed to move. Gradually he became aware of voices shouting above the clamour of the storm. The cabin door was flung open and a figure was silhouetted against the grey night sky.
"We're on a reef!! We're on a reef!" Then the figure was gone.
Chaldez managed to get to his feet. Helped by the dim light from the open door he reached Dan's side. He felt his body in the cot; touched his face. It was cold and damp. "Dan!" he bellowed. "We've got to get out of here! We're on a reef. We must find your mother. Get up, Dan!" He clawed at Dan's body, dragging it out of the cot. Dan struggled to his feet. Clinging to one another, they groped their way to the door. Beyond it they found themselves engulfed by pandemonium.
The moon, low on the horizon, showed her full pale face fitfully through ragged clouds. By her dim light it was possible to make out a tangled mass of rigging strewn over the deck and the shattered mast to which it was still attached. Figures, drenched by torrential rain and cascading spray, clambered feverishly about as though pursued by demons, and then The Serrin gave another violent lurch as a giant wave lifted her up momentarilly and smashed her down on to the reef a second time. For a moment the storm's cacophony was blocked out by the groans and crack of her timbers as they stove in.
"She's breaking up!" a voice cried. "Every man for himself!"
The door to Lewvin's cabin, unfastened, was swinging to and fro. Dan went inside and a moment later reappeared. "Help me get her out!" he shouted. She was on the floor of the cabin, and apparently injured. They half dragged and half carried her out. She was barely conscious, and moaned continuously.
The Serrin shuddered as another huge wave crashed over her. Chaldez steadied himself and looked up in time to sea a dark, transluscent wall of water towering above him, then all was confusion as he was swept off his feet and over the side.
As he sank down and down he was at first conscious only of the silence in which he was suddenly and totally enveloped, and then of the dim, greenish light before his eyes. He seemed to sink for ever. His lungs now were bursting; he was seized by panic, overwhelmed by the need to take breath. He struggled violently, and was on the point of taking a fatal gasp when his head burst through the tumultuous surface, and he filled his lungs with air. Then once more the sea embraced him in green suffocating silence.
The next time it delivered him to the surface his flailing arms struck a floating spa. He hugged it to him, coughing and spluttering. A wave almost tore them apart, but he clung on. The waves and the wind bore them through a gap in the reef, and onwards towards a rocky shore.
That turbulent voyage, in which he was as often below the surface as above it, lasted, it seemed, for an age; consciousness was slipping away. The hands that pulled him roughly out of the surf seemed unreal. Was he in the land of the dead? A torch, its flame flattened by the gale, was thrust towards him. By its uncertain light he could make out bearded faces peering into his own. Words were spoken, but he had no idea of their meaning. He was pulled to his feet and led, stumbling and staggering over jumbled boulders, to where the bubbling, shallow water of a stream emerged from a narrow, steep-sided valley cut into the steep, angular cliff.
There were two men on either side of him, big men, who took his weight whenever he lost his footing and was in danger of falling as together they followed the course of the stream. It rose sharply, the water rushing over the rock-strewn bed and tumbling over countless little falls.
After a short but difficult climb, the three of them came out at the top of the ravine from where they continued inland across rolling downs. The low-slung moon lit the soft curves in her eerie, colourless light, filling the hollows and folds with black shadows. The thunder of the sea grew fainter, and the wind, though blustery and wild, had shed its terrifying madness.
The trio trudged on over the spongy turf. Chaldez, aching, bruised, exhausted and cold, felt as though he had been walking for ever when at last their route took them off the higher ground. Then they were passing what looked, in the moonlight, like wide grassy mounds. Chaldez was puzzled until he realised that they were dwellings; he was in some sort of village.
The two men, who had not uttered a word since leaving the shore, tightened their grip on his arms, and led him down a narrow side track which passed between two of the half-buried houses. They passed through a gateway and stopped in front of a wooden hut; one of the men lifted out a retaining bar and pulled open the rickety door. Chaldez was pushed through; the door was pushed to, he heard the bar being replaced, and then he was alone. The voices of the two men, who had begun to exchange muttered remarks as soon as the door was closed, quickly faded.
Chaldez was enclosed in total darkness. The hut smelt of hay and animals, and was quite warm. He stood, listening, and then pushed against the door experimentally. The retaining bar, as he had guessed, held it fast. Then he sank to his knees, put his face in his hands, and wept.
For a long time his mind was in turmoil as he re-lived the terrors of the ship-wreck, and wondered again and again what had become of Lewvin and Dan. And what was to become of him, among these strange and unfriendly islanders?
The loss of his friends, and the uncertainty of his future, brought the tears to his eyes once more and he sobbed uncontrollably.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Chaldez awoke to find himself curled up on the mud floor of the hut, and was sure he had not slept at all. Dazzling strips of sunlight showed through numerous cracks in the walls, and he could now see that there was a pile of loose straw at the back of the hut. Gratefully he crawled into it and dozed off.
He was awoken again by the sound of the bar across the door being lifted out of its slots. The door was dragged open and daylight flooded in. Chaldez blinked at the figures silhouetted against the bright sky. One of them came towards him and pulled him to his feet and led him out. Chaldez stared at his visitors. The two men of the night before, one of whom was now grasping him, had been joined by two women and a number of children, who gazed at him in open-mouthed silence while their elders spoke angrily among themselves.
Chaldez watched their faces, and realised that they were not in fact angry. The words they used had a hard sound, and were uttered with a vehemence that was at odds with the facial expressions that accompanied them.
The two men were not quite as large as they had seemed the night before, and he was shocked by their coarse appearance. One of them had a cast in his eye and the other a scar down one side of his face but they were of similar build. The women could not have looked more different from one another. One was dumpy, and had a round face, the skin on it taught and shiny. The other was small and slight, the boney ridge of her narrow nose standing out between close-set eyes. Teeth, crooked and blackened, crowded behind the thin lips of a wide mouth. Her voice, even more than that of the others', seemed to be raised permanently in a strident, hectoring tone. And she it was who first noticed the stout brass chain that Chaldez was wearing around his neck. She pointed at it, and the man with the scar - he was also the taller of the two men - came close to Chaldez and examined it. He fingered the oval locket, but it had been designed to keep secret from just such as he the Roe Aada ruby lying inside it. He tugged at the chain and shouted into Chaldez's face when it failed to come away. Chaldez shrugged, and immediately received a stinging blow across the cheek from the thin woman. She repeated the man's command.
How could Chaldez explain to these people that the chain could only be unfastened by a key, which he did not possess? Tears welled up in his eyes. The woman pushed the man to one side and examined the chain and locket herself. She could see that the chain was fastened by an unusual mechanism, and gave it a couple of tugs. Her initial excitement passed, perhaps because the chain had proved to be brass when she had thought it might be gold. She glared at Chaldez, fury in her eyes, spat a remark into his face and turned her back on him, jabbering all the while to the others. The children continued to stare at the stranger, and were then hustled away by the two women.
Daylight allowed Chaldez to see his surroundings properly for the first time. He was in a fenced compound and on either side of him numerous unglazed earthenware vessels of more shapes and sizes than he would have imagined possible were piled up. Between them and the compound fence tottered untidy heaps of spiky brushwood.
Immediately in front of him was the strange half-buried house he had noticed the previous night. Its gently domed roof, which appeared to be made of sods of earth from which grass and weeds sprouted like unruly hair, was not much higher than himself. Narrow slits in the low walls served, he presumed, as windows, and the doorway was so low he supposed an adult would have to bend double, almost, to get through it.
Around the house, on it even, were goats and chickens.
Hardly had Chaldez time to take all this in than he was locked up once more in the rickety wooden hut. Quite soon a girl of about his own age brought him a wedge of bread and some water in an earthenware pot. She handed them to him without smiling, and in silence, and was gone.
Chaldez was still trying to swallow the last of the coarse hard bread when the door opened once again and he was pulled outside by one of the men, and set to work.
His captors were potters, and as he soon realised, brothers. They lived in neighbouring compounds, and Chaldez's main tasks were connected with their joint enterprise. Half an hour's walk from the village was a clay pit, and from here he had to dig out clay, carrying it back in a wicker basket. Sometimes he was taken to a wood to gather fuel for the kiln, dragging it behind him on a sort of sledge.
The potters themselves supervised him on these excursions, or if too busy, put him in the charge of one or more of their children.
The potter in whose hut he slept was called Kadz, the one with the scar. His wife, the thin bitter woman who had first noticed the Roe Aada locket,was Venna. It was soon apparent that she regarded Chaldez as the family's own slave. In the mornings, before the men had found any work for him, she would have him brought to the door of the house by one of the children, and there he would have to wait until she was ready to give him his instructions. At night the members of the family relieved themselves into shallow, wide-rimmed pots, and invariably Chaldez's first task was to carry these out and empty them into a pit, which he would have dug previously. Venna always watched him closely, and should any spill, or should the pit not meet with her approval for one reason or another, she would belabour him with a flat but sturdy length of wood which she kept handy for chastising the children with.
Among other jobs she made him do was to chop wood for the domestic fire, and pluck, draw and clean the foul that the family occasionally ate. If a goat was killed he had to clean that too, and he had to be careful not to throw out offal that he would not have dreamed of eating, but which his captors prized highly. Every error he made earned him a furious beating from Venna's piece of wood, her random, ill-aimed blows accompanied by shouts and curses.
The children regarded him as though he was one of the livestock, hitting and kicking him when he failed to understand their commands. Only Doo, the eldest daughter, gave any indication that he was not be used and abused with casual disregard. Sometimes he would glimpse a fleeting half smile when she brought him his wretched food, and her brothers and sisters learned that it was unwise to ill-treat Chaldez in her presence because she was likely to lash out, if not with her tongue then with the back of her hand. The first time they experienced this they would stare at her with wounded astonishment, but her authority was such that they dare not remonstrate.
Of the two potters, Kadz was more inclined than Hagrig, his brother, to grow angry with Chaldez when he failed to understand an instruction. He might repeat it two or three times, and if Chaldez still failed to grasp what was wanted of him, give him a cuff or simply shrug and walk away. Hagrig would then patiently show him the task that had to be done. He also made an occasional effort to get Chaldez to repeat names of things, or perhaps a sentence, so that in time the Sairish prince picked up a working knowledge of the islander's language.
The highlight of his life became the visit to town, half a day's walk away, where the potters displayed a selection of their wares. It meant setting out well before sunrise, but this was a minor nuisance compared with Venna.
The town was poor and mean, but its market was full of interest for Chaldez. There was always a troop of musicians, and sometimes there might be a powerful lord in evidence, his bossy and flamboyant entourage pushing aside the crowds to make way for him.
A market was held roughly every 28 days; on his fourth visit Chaldez was setting out the potters' wares when an agitation in the crowd alerted him to the approach of some great nobleman. Craning his neck, he caught sight of a small troop of soldiers, followed by the great man himself, surrounded by his officials and attendants. And among these, quite well turned out, was Dan Pemmel.
Chaldez recognised him immediately, but it was a moment or two before he could believe that it was indeed his friend. With a frenzy borne of desperation he called and waved, but he had left it too late, and anyway, the market-day hubbub completely drowned his voice. He attempted to push his way through the throng, but had gone only a few paces when a hand closed on his shoulder, the fingers digging into his flesh so that he yelped in pain. He turned to find himself looking into the angry face of Hagrig.
Until that moment the thought of attempting to escape had not occurred to Chaldez, and for the simple reason that there was nowhere for him to escape to. But he knew, with a feeling of dread that froze him, of what Hagrig now suspected him. Back among the pots the two brothers railed at one another - or seemed to - interspersing their shouted remarks with many an angry look in his direction. He assumed they were blaming one another for so nearly losing him.
For the remainder of the day he was watched closely, and punished for the most trivial mistake or misunderstanding. That evening, after the long walk back from town carrying as many unsold pots as could be draped around him, he was given no food but thrust roughly into the hut. He was uncomfortable from hunger and still tense with alarm, and yet felt more hopeful than at any time since the shipwreck.
Not once during his captivity had he dared to think about the future; he had lived from day to day, but now he gave himself up to speculation and planning.
Dan, he felt sure, was far better off than he was. It was more than probable that he was being held in servitude, but his appearance and bearing suggested that it was no where near as vile and demeaning as his own. If only he could get a message to him . . . he was certain that Dan's master would remove him from Kadz and Hagrig as soon as he found out who he was. He began then to pin his hopes on seeing Dan at the market again, and in no time he believed himself to be as good as rescued.
The next morning Venna kept him waiting at her door longer than usual, and when eventually she came out she began at once to scream at him and strike him with her piece of wood. But worse was to come; when the next market day arrived Chaldez was left behind. Venna scolded and bullied him all day. Towards the evening, his co-ordination destroyed by exhaustion and hunger, for he had been allowed even less food than usual, he accidentally knocked over a stack of storage jars, and several broke. Venna ran at him with her piece of wood and rained down blows on his shoulders, arms, head, legs - anywhere she could hit him. He did what he could to fend them off but she was remorseless. He fell to the ground, and still she beat him. She would, perhaps, have continued until he was dead had she not been interrupted by the wife of Hagrig, the plump Fyre who at that moment entered the compound.
She flew at Venna, shrieking in alarm. Venna ceased her onslaught, and Fyre at once went down on her knees and cradled the head of the barely-conscious boy in her arms. Venna flung down her piece of wood, and cursing furiously, stamped off into her house.
He was awoken again by the sound of the bar across the door being lifted out of its slots. The door was dragged open and daylight flooded in. Chaldez blinked at the figures silhouetted against the bright sky. One of them came towards him and pulled him to his feet and led him out. Chaldez stared at his visitors. The two men of the night before, one of whom was now grasping him, had been joined by two women and a number of children, who gazed at him in open-mouthed silence while their elders spoke angrily among themselves.
Chaldez watched their faces, and realised that they were not in fact angry. The words they used had a hard sound, and were uttered with a vehemence that was at odds with the facial expressions that accompanied them.
The two men were not quite as large as they had seemed the night before, and he was shocked by their coarse appearance. One of them had a cast in his eye and the other a scar down one side of his face but they were of similar build. The women could not have looked more different from one another. One was dumpy, and had a round face, the skin on it taught and shiny. The other was small and slight, the boney ridge of her narrow nose standing out between close-set eyes. Teeth, crooked and blackened, crowded behind the thin lips of a wide mouth. Her voice, even more than that of the others', seemed to be raised permanently in a strident, hectoring tone. And she it was who first noticed the stout brass chain that Chaldez was wearing around his neck. She pointed at it, and the man with the scar - he was also the taller of the two men - came close to Chaldez and examined it. He fingered the oval locket, but it had been designed to keep secret from just such as he the Roe Aada ruby lying inside it. He tugged at the chain and shouted into Chaldez's face when it failed to come away. Chaldez shrugged, and immediately received a stinging blow across the cheek from the thin woman. She repeated the man's command.
How could Chaldez explain to these people that the chain could only be unfastened by a key, which he did not possess? Tears welled up in his eyes. The woman pushed the man to one side and examined the chain and locket herself. She could see that the chain was fastened by an unusual mechanism, and gave it a couple of tugs. Her initial excitement passed, perhaps because the chain had proved to be brass when she had thought it might be gold. She glared at Chaldez, fury in her eyes, spat a remark into his face and turned her back on him, jabbering all the while to the others. The children continued to stare at the stranger, and were then hustled away by the two women.
Daylight allowed Chaldez to see his surroundings properly for the first time. He was in a fenced compound and on either side of him numerous unglazed earthenware vessels of more shapes and sizes than he would have imagined possible were piled up. Between them and the compound fence tottered untidy heaps of spiky brushwood.
Immediately in front of him was the strange half-buried house he had noticed the previous night. Its gently domed roof, which appeared to be made of sods of earth from which grass and weeds sprouted like unruly hair, was not much higher than himself. Narrow slits in the low walls served, he presumed, as windows, and the doorway was so low he supposed an adult would have to bend double, almost, to get through it.
Around the house, on it even, were goats and chickens.
Hardly had Chaldez time to take all this in than he was locked up once more in the rickety wooden hut. Quite soon a girl of about his own age brought him a wedge of bread and some water in an earthenware pot. She handed them to him without smiling, and in silence, and was gone.
Chaldez was still trying to swallow the last of the coarse hard bread when the door opened once again and he was pulled outside by one of the men, and set to work.
His captors were potters, and as he soon realised, brothers. They lived in neighbouring compounds, and Chaldez's main tasks were connected with their joint enterprise. Half an hour's walk from the village was a clay pit, and from here he had to dig out clay, carrying it back in a wicker basket. Sometimes he was taken to a wood to gather fuel for the kiln, dragging it behind him on a sort of sledge.
The potters themselves supervised him on these excursions, or if too busy, put him in the charge of one or more of their children.
The potter in whose hut he slept was called Kadz, the one with the scar. His wife, the thin bitter woman who had first noticed the Roe Aada locket,was Venna. It was soon apparent that she regarded Chaldez as the family's own slave. In the mornings, before the men had found any work for him, she would have him brought to the door of the house by one of the children, and there he would have to wait until she was ready to give him his instructions. At night the members of the family relieved themselves into shallow, wide-rimmed pots, and invariably Chaldez's first task was to carry these out and empty them into a pit, which he would have dug previously. Venna always watched him closely, and should any spill, or should the pit not meet with her approval for one reason or another, she would belabour him with a flat but sturdy length of wood which she kept handy for chastising the children with.
Among other jobs she made him do was to chop wood for the domestic fire, and pluck, draw and clean the foul that the family occasionally ate. If a goat was killed he had to clean that too, and he had to be careful not to throw out offal that he would not have dreamed of eating, but which his captors prized highly. Every error he made earned him a furious beating from Venna's piece of wood, her random, ill-aimed blows accompanied by shouts and curses.
The children regarded him as though he was one of the livestock, hitting and kicking him when he failed to understand their commands. Only Doo, the eldest daughter, gave any indication that he was not be used and abused with casual disregard. Sometimes he would glimpse a fleeting half smile when she brought him his wretched food, and her brothers and sisters learned that it was unwise to ill-treat Chaldez in her presence because she was likely to lash out, if not with her tongue then with the back of her hand. The first time they experienced this they would stare at her with wounded astonishment, but her authority was such that they dare not remonstrate.
Of the two potters, Kadz was more inclined than Hagrig, his brother, to grow angry with Chaldez when he failed to understand an instruction. He might repeat it two or three times, and if Chaldez still failed to grasp what was wanted of him, give him a cuff or simply shrug and walk away. Hagrig would then patiently show him the task that had to be done. He also made an occasional effort to get Chaldez to repeat names of things, or perhaps a sentence, so that in time the Sairish prince picked up a working knowledge of the islander's language.
The highlight of his life became the visit to town, half a day's walk away, where the potters displayed a selection of their wares. It meant setting out well before sunrise, but this was a minor nuisance compared with Venna.
The town was poor and mean, but its market was full of interest for Chaldez. There was always a troop of musicians, and sometimes there might be a powerful lord in evidence, his bossy and flamboyant entourage pushing aside the crowds to make way for him.
A market was held roughly every 28 days; on his fourth visit Chaldez was setting out the potters' wares when an agitation in the crowd alerted him to the approach of some great nobleman. Craning his neck, he caught sight of a small troop of soldiers, followed by the great man himself, surrounded by his officials and attendants. And among these, quite well turned out, was Dan Pemmel.
Chaldez recognised him immediately, but it was a moment or two before he could believe that it was indeed his friend. With a frenzy borne of desperation he called and waved, but he had left it too late, and anyway, the market-day hubbub completely drowned his voice. He attempted to push his way through the throng, but had gone only a few paces when a hand closed on his shoulder, the fingers digging into his flesh so that he yelped in pain. He turned to find himself looking into the angry face of Hagrig.
Until that moment the thought of attempting to escape had not occurred to Chaldez, and for the simple reason that there was nowhere for him to escape to. But he knew, with a feeling of dread that froze him, of what Hagrig now suspected him. Back among the pots the two brothers railed at one another - or seemed to - interspersing their shouted remarks with many an angry look in his direction. He assumed they were blaming one another for so nearly losing him.
For the remainder of the day he was watched closely, and punished for the most trivial mistake or misunderstanding. That evening, after the long walk back from town carrying as many unsold pots as could be draped around him, he was given no food but thrust roughly into the hut. He was uncomfortable from hunger and still tense with alarm, and yet felt more hopeful than at any time since the shipwreck.
Not once during his captivity had he dared to think about the future; he had lived from day to day, but now he gave himself up to speculation and planning.
Dan, he felt sure, was far better off than he was. It was more than probable that he was being held in servitude, but his appearance and bearing suggested that it was no where near as vile and demeaning as his own. If only he could get a message to him . . . he was certain that Dan's master would remove him from Kadz and Hagrig as soon as he found out who he was. He began then to pin his hopes on seeing Dan at the market again, and in no time he believed himself to be as good as rescued.
The next morning Venna kept him waiting at her door longer than usual, and when eventually she came out she began at once to scream at him and strike him with her piece of wood. But worse was to come; when the next market day arrived Chaldez was left behind. Venna scolded and bullied him all day. Towards the evening, his co-ordination destroyed by exhaustion and hunger, for he had been allowed even less food than usual, he accidentally knocked over a stack of storage jars, and several broke. Venna ran at him with her piece of wood and rained down blows on his shoulders, arms, head, legs - anywhere she could hit him. He did what he could to fend them off but she was remorseless. He fell to the ground, and still she beat him. She would, perhaps, have continued until he was dead had she not been interrupted by the wife of Hagrig, the plump Fyre who at that moment entered the compound.
She flew at Venna, shrieking in alarm. Venna ceased her onslaught, and Fyre at once went down on her knees and cradled the head of the barely-conscious boy in her arms. Venna flung down her piece of wood, and cursing furiously, stamped off into her house.
Over the next few weeks the feud between the two sisters-in-law simmered dangerously. Fyre began to pay more attention to Chaldez than she had done previously, smiling at him and bringing him food. She would come into Kadz's compound on any slight pretext with the clear intention of signalling to Venna that she was keeping an eye on her.
Both women complained about the other to their husbands, whose own relationship was consequently strained. They no longer chatted away to each other. Kadz remained as harsh in his treatment of Chaldez as ever, but Hagrig, who had been the more sympathetic of the two, changed. It was as though, for him, Chaldez no longer existed. He would not even look at him, unless by accident, and then he would quickly avert his eyes.
Despite the brutality and indifference which surrounded him during daylight, Chaldez's worst hours were those he spent alone in the darkened hut at night. He was then overtaken by despair and self-pity, retreating more often than not into sobs and tears. There was no one to hear him and he wept shamelessly. It brought a kind of comfort.
It was while he was moaning and crying one night that he became aware of someone's presence immediately outside the hut. He was at once silent, his heart thumping, and presently he heard receding footsteps.
Several nights later, after a particularly brutal day, he once more abandoned himself to tears, but this time he was interrupted by the sound of the retaining bar against the door being lifted out of its slots. The door was dragged open, and he held his breath. The girl Doo stood in the doorway. She paused there, then stooping, came in and sat down on the straw next to where Chaldez lay defensively. She put out her hand and touched his head, and his cheek. Chaldez was astonished at how small and soft and warm if felt against his skin. He lay perfectly still. Doo began to make gentle clicking noises with her tongue, like a mother calming a fractious baby.
She remained there. saying nothing and doing nothing else until Chaldez, physically and emotionally drained, fell asleep.
The next morning he wondered if the visit had been a dream; certainly Doo gave no hint of it when she came with his meal of dry bread and water. He studied her face, but she avoided looking him in the eyes.
That night she returned to the hut. For a long time they sat next to each other on the straw, not speaking. Then she got up and left. Chaldez's heart leapt when he thought that she might not put the bar across the door. The dull thud as it fell into its slots murdered his hopes. They were, anyway, absurd. Even if he could escape where might he go? His chances of finding Dan before the potters found him were practically non-existent.
As the hopelessness of his situation bore down on him he almost began to cry again, but the sting of tears in his eyes reminded him of Doo's visit, and he held them back. He supposed she would be half killed if her mother found out about her visits, and he wondered why she was prepared to take that risk. Had she guessed that he was high born? He would have liked to think there was something about his bearing which had betrayed his royal rank, but he could think of nothing he had done to give it away. No, Doo had taken pity on him because she was kind-hearted; she could expect nothing for her actions but trouble, and Chaldez began to feel ashamed; he had been behaving like a baby!
Eventually shame gave way to resolve; in future he would bare himself like a prince and a man, and if he lived until he reached 16 and manhood he would show the world he had already left childhood behind him. But where would he be at 16 - still a slave of the potters? It was an appalling thought and he almost gave way to self pity. But the moment passed; instead of blubbering, he promised himself that however badly his captors might treat him they would never drag him down to their own mean level. And when he escaped they would never recapture him. He had, he reminded himself, two allies: Doo and Fyre; they might help him when the time came.
The next morning, as he waited at the door for Venna, he felt strong and proud. Whatever she did to him, whatever menial tasks she made him do could not alter the fact that he was of royal blood - and that she was but filth.
When later she launched into the inevitable beating - he was not even sure what he had done wrong - he looked her in the eye, not deigning to raise his arms in self defence. It was a display of insolent arrogance which drove her into a frenzy. She screamed for her husband, who came reluctantly out of the house, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand. He grasped Chaldez by the hair, forcing his head backwards, but seemed uncertain what to do next. Venna stood next to him, stamping her feet with rage. On the ground beside her was the hand axe used for chopping wood for the kiln, and in another instant she had picked it up and was pressing it upon Kadz. He took it with his free hand, and seemed to be about to strike Chaldez with it when Fyre burst into the compound and seized his arm. She was shouting and weeping; Venna was screaming, and Kadz was thoroughly confused. Venna tried to drag Fyre away from her husband, and Fyre, perhaps to prevent it, groped wildly at the man's head and face. Her finger went into his eye. With a great bellow, he flung up his arm and brought it down hard. There was a sharp crack of splitting bone, and Fyre wheeled away, clasping the top of her head. Kadz, Venna and Chaldez stood as though turned into stone while she staggered and fell, sending a stack of earthenware pots rolling in all directions. Kadz looked down at the bloody axe in his hand, and dropped it. Venna's shouts of fury turned into wails as she ran to her sister-in-law. Chaldez had still not moved when Hagrig entered the compound. He stared, white-faced, at Kadz, then shifted his gaze slowly to where Venna was cradling his wife among the broken pots. Blood was everywhere. It had been spurting out from the wound in Fyre's head, but had now stopped. The ground, the pots and Venna were streaked and spattered with it.
Hagrig thrust Venna to one side, picked up his wife's limp body and strode out of the compound with it.
Chaldez was paralysed by what he had seen. Kadz and Venna left him standing where he was; when he realised he was alone he went into the hut, where he lay on the straw, trembling.
No one bothered him. Later in the day an official with a military escort came and took Kadz away, watched in silence by Venna and the children, and observed by Chaldez from the door of the hut. Later still Hagrig returned to the compound. He looked into the hut, saw Chaldez and began gesticulating. Chaldez looked at him without comprehension. Hagrig pulled him to his feet. Saying nothing, and occasionally looking over his shoulder, he pushed him towards the open gate in the compound fence, and at last his meaning was clear to the boy; he intended him to leave. Chaldez walked down the narrow path, devoid of sensations. At the road he turned towards the distant town; he had gone about 20 paces when he heard footsteps behind him and turning, saw Doo hurrying after him. She stopped, her small face pale and thin. She remained motionless, as though she had forgotten what she had come out for, then turned and walked back towards her house.
As Chaldez continued along the uneven track, in his mind's eye he kept seeing Fyre wheeling away from Kadz, her hands clutching her head.
He walked on, aware of a chill in the air against which his thin, ragged clothes provided little protection; he supposed autumn was not far off, and began to wonder about finding shelter for the night. And food. He had not eaten all day.
Both women complained about the other to their husbands, whose own relationship was consequently strained. They no longer chatted away to each other. Kadz remained as harsh in his treatment of Chaldez as ever, but Hagrig, who had been the more sympathetic of the two, changed. It was as though, for him, Chaldez no longer existed. He would not even look at him, unless by accident, and then he would quickly avert his eyes.
Despite the brutality and indifference which surrounded him during daylight, Chaldez's worst hours were those he spent alone in the darkened hut at night. He was then overtaken by despair and self-pity, retreating more often than not into sobs and tears. There was no one to hear him and he wept shamelessly. It brought a kind of comfort.
It was while he was moaning and crying one night that he became aware of someone's presence immediately outside the hut. He was at once silent, his heart thumping, and presently he heard receding footsteps.
Several nights later, after a particularly brutal day, he once more abandoned himself to tears, but this time he was interrupted by the sound of the retaining bar against the door being lifted out of its slots. The door was dragged open, and he held his breath. The girl Doo stood in the doorway. She paused there, then stooping, came in and sat down on the straw next to where Chaldez lay defensively. She put out her hand and touched his head, and his cheek. Chaldez was astonished at how small and soft and warm if felt against his skin. He lay perfectly still. Doo began to make gentle clicking noises with her tongue, like a mother calming a fractious baby.
She remained there. saying nothing and doing nothing else until Chaldez, physically and emotionally drained, fell asleep.
The next morning he wondered if the visit had been a dream; certainly Doo gave no hint of it when she came with his meal of dry bread and water. He studied her face, but she avoided looking him in the eyes.
That night she returned to the hut. For a long time they sat next to each other on the straw, not speaking. Then she got up and left. Chaldez's heart leapt when he thought that she might not put the bar across the door. The dull thud as it fell into its slots murdered his hopes. They were, anyway, absurd. Even if he could escape where might he go? His chances of finding Dan before the potters found him were practically non-existent.
As the hopelessness of his situation bore down on him he almost began to cry again, but the sting of tears in his eyes reminded him of Doo's visit, and he held them back. He supposed she would be half killed if her mother found out about her visits, and he wondered why she was prepared to take that risk. Had she guessed that he was high born? He would have liked to think there was something about his bearing which had betrayed his royal rank, but he could think of nothing he had done to give it away. No, Doo had taken pity on him because she was kind-hearted; she could expect nothing for her actions but trouble, and Chaldez began to feel ashamed; he had been behaving like a baby!
Eventually shame gave way to resolve; in future he would bare himself like a prince and a man, and if he lived until he reached 16 and manhood he would show the world he had already left childhood behind him. But where would he be at 16 - still a slave of the potters? It was an appalling thought and he almost gave way to self pity. But the moment passed; instead of blubbering, he promised himself that however badly his captors might treat him they would never drag him down to their own mean level. And when he escaped they would never recapture him. He had, he reminded himself, two allies: Doo and Fyre; they might help him when the time came.
The next morning, as he waited at the door for Venna, he felt strong and proud. Whatever she did to him, whatever menial tasks she made him do could not alter the fact that he was of royal blood - and that she was but filth.
When later she launched into the inevitable beating - he was not even sure what he had done wrong - he looked her in the eye, not deigning to raise his arms in self defence. It was a display of insolent arrogance which drove her into a frenzy. She screamed for her husband, who came reluctantly out of the house, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand. He grasped Chaldez by the hair, forcing his head backwards, but seemed uncertain what to do next. Venna stood next to him, stamping her feet with rage. On the ground beside her was the hand axe used for chopping wood for the kiln, and in another instant she had picked it up and was pressing it upon Kadz. He took it with his free hand, and seemed to be about to strike Chaldez with it when Fyre burst into the compound and seized his arm. She was shouting and weeping; Venna was screaming, and Kadz was thoroughly confused. Venna tried to drag Fyre away from her husband, and Fyre, perhaps to prevent it, groped wildly at the man's head and face. Her finger went into his eye. With a great bellow, he flung up his arm and brought it down hard. There was a sharp crack of splitting bone, and Fyre wheeled away, clasping the top of her head. Kadz, Venna and Chaldez stood as though turned into stone while she staggered and fell, sending a stack of earthenware pots rolling in all directions. Kadz looked down at the bloody axe in his hand, and dropped it. Venna's shouts of fury turned into wails as she ran to her sister-in-law. Chaldez had still not moved when Hagrig entered the compound. He stared, white-faced, at Kadz, then shifted his gaze slowly to where Venna was cradling his wife among the broken pots. Blood was everywhere. It had been spurting out from the wound in Fyre's head, but had now stopped. The ground, the pots and Venna were streaked and spattered with it.
Hagrig thrust Venna to one side, picked up his wife's limp body and strode out of the compound with it.
Chaldez was paralysed by what he had seen. Kadz and Venna left him standing where he was; when he realised he was alone he went into the hut, where he lay on the straw, trembling.
No one bothered him. Later in the day an official with a military escort came and took Kadz away, watched in silence by Venna and the children, and observed by Chaldez from the door of the hut. Later still Hagrig returned to the compound. He looked into the hut, saw Chaldez and began gesticulating. Chaldez looked at him without comprehension. Hagrig pulled him to his feet. Saying nothing, and occasionally looking over his shoulder, he pushed him towards the open gate in the compound fence, and at last his meaning was clear to the boy; he intended him to leave. Chaldez walked down the narrow path, devoid of sensations. At the road he turned towards the distant town; he had gone about 20 paces when he heard footsteps behind him and turning, saw Doo hurrying after him. She stopped, her small face pale and thin. She remained motionless, as though she had forgotten what she had come out for, then turned and walked back towards her house.
As Chaldez continued along the uneven track, in his mind's eye he kept seeing Fyre wheeling away from Kadz, her hands clutching her head.
He walked on, aware of a chill in the air against which his thin, ragged clothes provided little protection; he supposed autumn was not far off, and began to wonder about finding shelter for the night. And food. He had not eaten all day.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
His night was spent miserably in a shallow depression beneath a rocky outcrop. He had gathered rushes to make a kind of bed, and enough to provide a thin, inadequate covering and he may have dozed off once or twice but was too cold to sleep properly. At sunrise he searched for water, coming across a clear stream from which he slaked his thirst. He ate some hard, unripe berries, then returned to the track and once more headed towards the town.
The sun was well up when he heard the sound of horses' hooves behind him. He stood to one side, but when the riders came up to him they stopped. There were three of them. One called down, and Chaldez was about to shrug and shake his head to show incomprehension when he realised he was being asked if he had belonged to the potters. He nodded. A moment later he was being hauled up behind one of the riders, and hardly was he in position than they all set off at a canter, presently striking away from the main track along a rough path.
They rode on for a while, passing a number of farmsteads and hamlets, and at last approached a steep embankment surmounted by tall wooden stakes. Clustered near-by were five or six of the half-buried houses which were typical of the island.
The riders followed the track as it threaded among them and arrived at a gateway in the embankment. The gates were open and they rode through.
In the enclosed space beyond them were a number of single-storey wooden buildings, one being noticeably larger and generally more imposing than the rest.
Before sundown that day Chaldez had been fed and put to work in a kitchen. He was to sleep, he found out, in a dormitory with 20 or so other menials whose initial curiosity did not long survive the discovery that he understood little of what they asked him. Very soon they were behaving as though he was not there.
Chaldez was still too bewildered to be able to give much thought to his new predicament, but as he lay on the loose straw in one corner of the long, low room he remembered his resolve to behave always like a prince; he would not be cowered by anyone.
In the kitchen he had to hump carcasses, scrub roots, bring in wood for the vast cooking fires, and help keep the cooks supplied with water from the well. He was treated by everyone with indifference, but not treated badly. And the food was better and more plentiful than that which Venna had given him.
Eight days after his arrival he saw Dan Pemmel. He shouted his name and Dan turned; for an instant he seemed not to recognise him, and in that instant Chaldez was filled with a sudden terror: would he pretend not to know him? Dan stared, unable to believe his eyes. His friend, if it were his friend, was barely recognisable. He was taller than he remembered, his face was gaunt and pale, and he was dressed in rags.
"Chaldez!" he shouted. Excusing himself from his companions, he ran to him, stopped when he was still a couple of paces away and exclaimed "By the gods!"
Chaldez grinned. Then he pulled himself up straighter and rather stiffly held out his hand. Dan was momentarily perplexed, and then embarrassed. "Not here," he said, realising that Chaldez expected him to kiss it. "Not now. I'll explain later. It's best they don't know," and he indicated the group from which he had just detached himself. "Come," he said, "I'll take you to Datzcrig."
Chaldez walked along with him towards the main entrance to what he now knew to be the master's hall. He was aware that the two of them were the object of intense interest. "Datzcrig?" he asked.
"My master," replied Dan, then corrected himself. "Our master. He's the ruler here. A powerful man. This way."
For all his importance, Datzcrig was prepared to grant Dan an interview almost straight away. Dan addressed him in his tongue, then whispered to Chaldez "I've told him you were in the shipwreck."
Datzcrig, a heavily-built man with a craggy face all-but hidden by a massive red beard and heavy eyebrows, looked at Chaldez, and then spoke to Dan, who bowed and backed away. The audience was over.
Chaldez was removed from the kitchen, given fresh clothes and assigned to Dan, who in turn was an underling on the steward's staff. The steward, Chaldez found out soon enough, was a compactly-built individual with a brusque manner, a hearty laugh and a short temper. His name was Kaddigs.
As soon as Chaldez and Dan-Pemmel were able to, they caught up with each other's news.
Dan was appalled by what Chaldez told him. Then he said "I didn't go over with the wave that took you: managed to grab something and stopped myself going, but it didn't make much difference because the boat was breaking up anyway so I had to jump. There was a lot of wreckage and stuff in the water and like you it kept me afloat 'til I got to the beach."
Chaldez asked "Your mother . . . ?"
Dan hesitated; raised his eyes, and Chaldez wished he had not spoken. He would have hated to see his friend cry, but Dan quickly took charge of his emotions. He cleared his throat. "The wave that took you . . . I didn't see her again . . . " he frowned and Chaldez knew he was reliving those awful moments on the deck of The Serrin. Chaldez, for some reason, had known that Lewvin was dead; he had known it from the moment he had seen Dan in the town and to some extent he had come to terms with it, but Lewvin had been a mother to him and having to confront the fact of her death was a shock to him. Both boys were silent for a while, then Chaldez said "I owe her my life. I will pray to Murgeve" (Lord of the Dead) "for her soul. She and my mother will be a comfort to each other."
Dan was closer to tears than he cared to be. "Where I got washed up there wasn't anyone," he said briskly. " I got to the top of the cliff and just walked and walked. A shepherd found me, took me in, gave me some food. I helped him for a bit then ended up in Tinsig - the town where you saw me - and got by with any jobs I could find. Mostly I worked for Azarig a carpenter. Someone ordered a chest from him and I helped him with it, then when we'd finished I helped him take it to the customer's house. On the way back some ruffians ambushed us - they must have thought he'd got some coin on him. Well . . . Azarig can look after himself, and you know me! There were four of them but they were soon sorry they'd ever bothered us! We were just seeing them off when Kaddigs and an escort turned up. I suppose he could see I knew what I was about and he brought me back to serve Datzcrig."
It was to become clear to Chaldez that despite his age - he was not yet 15 - Dan had done very well for himself. He was being trained to serve in Datzcrig's bodyguard, but not only that; as one of Kaddigs' underlings he was already part of Datzcrig's executive arm, and Datzcrig, an absolute ruler who collected his own taxes, administered his own law and maintained the peace throughout his island, had need of a strong one.
* * * *
After their interview with Datzcrig, Dan and Chaldez reported to Kaddigs the Steward. He walked all round his new recruit, sizing him up, then handed him a sword and told him to use it against him, if he knew how.
For a while Chaldez laboured away ineffectually with the heavy two-handed piece, and then lost it to a twisting counter stroke, its blade clanging against a stone. The remark Kaddigs made was lost on Chaldez, but he was clearly not very impressed. (Afterwards Dan told him that the Steward had complimented him on the quality of his teacher, but regretted that so little of his skill had been passed on).
Kaddigs was just turning away when the Roe Aada locket caught his eye. "What's that?" he said, pointing at it.
Since his arrival at Datzcrig's fortress, Chaldez had learned more of the islanders' language than he had done in all the time he had been the potters's slave, but he still lacked the words to tell Kaddigs what he now demanded to know. Dan intervened. It was, he said, a family heirloom.
Later Chaldez asked: "Why didn't you tell him? Why don't you want them to know who I am?"
"I don't trust Datzcrig," said Dan. "He'd hold you prisoner."
"What good would it do him?"
"Ransom."
Chaldez was incredulous. "Who would pay a ransom for me? The usurper Sigmar? I'm not worth my weight in sand. What's the word here for prince? If you don't tell Datzcrig I will."
Dan held out, but it was clear that Chaldez would not be deflected. He requested another audience with Datzcrig but this time it was two days before he and Dan were admitted to the nobleman's presence. They stood before him while he quaffed wine from a richly ornamented golden chalice. His mood was very different from that of the earlier interview. Now he was bellicose, and, Chaldez thought, probably dangerous.
"Well?" he demanded.
The sun was well up when he heard the sound of horses' hooves behind him. He stood to one side, but when the riders came up to him they stopped. There were three of them. One called down, and Chaldez was about to shrug and shake his head to show incomprehension when he realised he was being asked if he had belonged to the potters. He nodded. A moment later he was being hauled up behind one of the riders, and hardly was he in position than they all set off at a canter, presently striking away from the main track along a rough path.
They rode on for a while, passing a number of farmsteads and hamlets, and at last approached a steep embankment surmounted by tall wooden stakes. Clustered near-by were five or six of the half-buried houses which were typical of the island.
The riders followed the track as it threaded among them and arrived at a gateway in the embankment. The gates were open and they rode through.
In the enclosed space beyond them were a number of single-storey wooden buildings, one being noticeably larger and generally more imposing than the rest.
Before sundown that day Chaldez had been fed and put to work in a kitchen. He was to sleep, he found out, in a dormitory with 20 or so other menials whose initial curiosity did not long survive the discovery that he understood little of what they asked him. Very soon they were behaving as though he was not there.
Chaldez was still too bewildered to be able to give much thought to his new predicament, but as he lay on the loose straw in one corner of the long, low room he remembered his resolve to behave always like a prince; he would not be cowered by anyone.
In the kitchen he had to hump carcasses, scrub roots, bring in wood for the vast cooking fires, and help keep the cooks supplied with water from the well. He was treated by everyone with indifference, but not treated badly. And the food was better and more plentiful than that which Venna had given him.
Eight days after his arrival he saw Dan Pemmel. He shouted his name and Dan turned; for an instant he seemed not to recognise him, and in that instant Chaldez was filled with a sudden terror: would he pretend not to know him? Dan stared, unable to believe his eyes. His friend, if it were his friend, was barely recognisable. He was taller than he remembered, his face was gaunt and pale, and he was dressed in rags.
"Chaldez!" he shouted. Excusing himself from his companions, he ran to him, stopped when he was still a couple of paces away and exclaimed "By the gods!"
Chaldez grinned. Then he pulled himself up straighter and rather stiffly held out his hand. Dan was momentarily perplexed, and then embarrassed. "Not here," he said, realising that Chaldez expected him to kiss it. "Not now. I'll explain later. It's best they don't know," and he indicated the group from which he had just detached himself. "Come," he said, "I'll take you to Datzcrig."
Chaldez walked along with him towards the main entrance to what he now knew to be the master's hall. He was aware that the two of them were the object of intense interest. "Datzcrig?" he asked.
"My master," replied Dan, then corrected himself. "Our master. He's the ruler here. A powerful man. This way."
For all his importance, Datzcrig was prepared to grant Dan an interview almost straight away. Dan addressed him in his tongue, then whispered to Chaldez "I've told him you were in the shipwreck."
Datzcrig, a heavily-built man with a craggy face all-but hidden by a massive red beard and heavy eyebrows, looked at Chaldez, and then spoke to Dan, who bowed and backed away. The audience was over.
Chaldez was removed from the kitchen, given fresh clothes and assigned to Dan, who in turn was an underling on the steward's staff. The steward, Chaldez found out soon enough, was a compactly-built individual with a brusque manner, a hearty laugh and a short temper. His name was Kaddigs.
As soon as Chaldez and Dan-Pemmel were able to, they caught up with each other's news.
Dan was appalled by what Chaldez told him. Then he said "I didn't go over with the wave that took you: managed to grab something and stopped myself going, but it didn't make much difference because the boat was breaking up anyway so I had to jump. There was a lot of wreckage and stuff in the water and like you it kept me afloat 'til I got to the beach."
Chaldez asked "Your mother . . . ?"
Dan hesitated; raised his eyes, and Chaldez wished he had not spoken. He would have hated to see his friend cry, but Dan quickly took charge of his emotions. He cleared his throat. "The wave that took you . . . I didn't see her again . . . " he frowned and Chaldez knew he was reliving those awful moments on the deck of The Serrin. Chaldez, for some reason, had known that Lewvin was dead; he had known it from the moment he had seen Dan in the town and to some extent he had come to terms with it, but Lewvin had been a mother to him and having to confront the fact of her death was a shock to him. Both boys were silent for a while, then Chaldez said "I owe her my life. I will pray to Murgeve" (Lord of the Dead) "for her soul. She and my mother will be a comfort to each other."
Dan was closer to tears than he cared to be. "Where I got washed up there wasn't anyone," he said briskly. " I got to the top of the cliff and just walked and walked. A shepherd found me, took me in, gave me some food. I helped him for a bit then ended up in Tinsig - the town where you saw me - and got by with any jobs I could find. Mostly I worked for Azarig a carpenter. Someone ordered a chest from him and I helped him with it, then when we'd finished I helped him take it to the customer's house. On the way back some ruffians ambushed us - they must have thought he'd got some coin on him. Well . . . Azarig can look after himself, and you know me! There were four of them but they were soon sorry they'd ever bothered us! We were just seeing them off when Kaddigs and an escort turned up. I suppose he could see I knew what I was about and he brought me back to serve Datzcrig."
It was to become clear to Chaldez that despite his age - he was not yet 15 - Dan had done very well for himself. He was being trained to serve in Datzcrig's bodyguard, but not only that; as one of Kaddigs' underlings he was already part of Datzcrig's executive arm, and Datzcrig, an absolute ruler who collected his own taxes, administered his own law and maintained the peace throughout his island, had need of a strong one.
* * * *
After their interview with Datzcrig, Dan and Chaldez reported to Kaddigs the Steward. He walked all round his new recruit, sizing him up, then handed him a sword and told him to use it against him, if he knew how.
For a while Chaldez laboured away ineffectually with the heavy two-handed piece, and then lost it to a twisting counter stroke, its blade clanging against a stone. The remark Kaddigs made was lost on Chaldez, but he was clearly not very impressed. (Afterwards Dan told him that the Steward had complimented him on the quality of his teacher, but regretted that so little of his skill had been passed on).
Kaddigs was just turning away when the Roe Aada locket caught his eye. "What's that?" he said, pointing at it.
Since his arrival at Datzcrig's fortress, Chaldez had learned more of the islanders' language than he had done in all the time he had been the potters's slave, but he still lacked the words to tell Kaddigs what he now demanded to know. Dan intervened. It was, he said, a family heirloom.
Later Chaldez asked: "Why didn't you tell him? Why don't you want them to know who I am?"
"I don't trust Datzcrig," said Dan. "He'd hold you prisoner."
"What good would it do him?"
"Ransom."
Chaldez was incredulous. "Who would pay a ransom for me? The usurper Sigmar? I'm not worth my weight in sand. What's the word here for prince? If you don't tell Datzcrig I will."
Dan held out, but it was clear that Chaldez would not be deflected. He requested another audience with Datzcrig but this time it was two days before he and Dan were admitted to the nobleman's presence. They stood before him while he quaffed wine from a richly ornamented golden chalice. His mood was very different from that of the earlier interview. Now he was bellicose, and, Chaldez thought, probably dangerous.
"Well?" he demanded.
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