Part 18 (2/2)

'You do me great honour.'

With that he walked Boranius and his men to the front door, and waited as they mounted their horses and rode away.

Sperian came out and breathed a sigh of relief. 'I thought we were all to be arrested,' he said.

'The man is a viper,' said Skilgannon.

'Aye, your father thought that. Never liked the family.'

'Can you get a message to Greavas tomorrow?'

'Yes.'

'Tell him not to come home for a while. Go through the market. Tomorrow is auction day.

There will be hundreds there. You should be able to slip through unnoticed.'

Sperian looked uncertain. 'You think I might be followed?'

'It is a possibility.'

'My eyes aren't good, Olek. I am not skilled at this sort of thing.'

'No, of course you aren't. Foolish of me. I will take it myself.'

Now Sperian looked even more worried. 'He doesn't want you involved, sir. He would be most put out if I told you where he was.'

Skilgannon put his hand on the retainer's shoulder. 'If he comes out into the open he will be arrested. Probably executed. Most certainly tortured. I don't think you should concern yourself with his annoyance at your disclosure.'

'It's not just that, sir. It's who he's with.'

'Tell me.'

'He has the Empress and her daughter hidden. He's looking for a way to get them out of the city.'

Skilgannon was jerked from his memories as the reeds rustled and shook. The Swords of Night and Day flashed from their scabbards. A small dog darted by him, sniffed the ground, then ran on towards the circle. A little girl called out a name and the dog barked and scampered over to her. Skilgannon let out his breath, and continued his walk.

There was no sign of the beasts. Turning back towards the refugees, he saw the ma.s.sive figure of the axeman emerge from the long gra.s.s. Beside him was the boy, Rabalyn.

CHAPTER NINE

SKILGANNON ORGANIZED THE EIGHTY OR SO REFUGEES INTO A TIGHT column, which moved slowly through the reeds. He took point and moved ahead of the column, while Druss and Garianne walked at either side of the centre. The two brothers brought up the rear. Other surviving fighters kept to the outsides of the column, and walked warily, swords and knives at the ready.

There was only one moment of anxiety during the morning, when an old bull pushed its head through the reeds, causing children to scream and scatter. Other than this they pa.s.sed through the countryside without incident.

For a time Rabalyn walked with Braygan at the centre, then he dropped back to where the brothers travelled. They were an odd pair, he thought, noting how the bearded Nian constantly held on to the blue sash at Jared's waist. Druss had said they were fighting men, and Rabalyn believed it, despite their odd appearance.

Towards afternoon the column halted at the base of a low hill. There was a stream close by, and many of the women gathered water and prepared their meagre rations. Druss had wandered off with Skilgannon, and the strange girl was sitting alone on the hillside, staring out towards the northwest.

Rabalyn hunkered down with the brothers. 'Have you known Druss long?' he asked.

'A long time,' said Nian. 'More than a year. Chop chop. That's Old Uncle. Then they all ran away.'

'Who ran away?'

'All the bad men. We killed some too, didn't we, Jared?'

'Aye, we did.'

'And Garianne shot their leader through the head. Right through the head. He looked really silly. He tried to pull it out. Then he was dead. It was funny.'

The story made no sense to Rabalyn. He gave Jared a quizzical glance. 'We were paid to guard a village,' said Jared. 'About a dozen of us. We were informed there were some twenty bandits. But it was a far bigger group, around sixty men, half of them Nadir outcasts. Vicious b.a.s.t.a.r.ds. They attacked just before dusk. We should have been overrun.

No question about it.'

'Chop chop,' said Nian happily.

'Druss just charged into the middle of them, his axe cleaving left and right. You'd have thought they'd have borne him down with weight of numbers. Nian and me rushed in. So did some of the others - and some of the villagers, armed with scythes and sticks. Garianne was coming down with the sickness then, but she staggered out and sent a bolt straight through the forehead of the outlaw leader. That finally broke them. At the end there wasn't a scratch on Druss. Knives and swords had bounced off his gauntlets and his shoulder guards - even his helm. But nothing had touched him. Amazing,' he said, awe in his voice.

'He was covered in blood. None of it his.' Jared shook his head at the memory of it. 'Thing is, in a fight, he's always moving, never still. Always attacking. Having seen that I now know what happened at Skein.'

'Skein?' queried Rabalyn. 'But we lost at Skein.'

'Yes, we did.'

'I don't understand. How could we lose with Druss on our side?'

Jared laughed. 'Are you mocking me, boy?'

'No, sir. Brother Lantern told me Druss was at Skein, with the Immortals.'

'I think you misheard, lad. Druss was with the Immortals once. At Skein he fought with the Drenai. It was Druss who broke the last charge and turned the battle. He broke the Immortals, by G.o.d. That's not just a man we're talking about. That's Druss the Legend.'

'Does that mean he's our enemy?' asked Rabalyn, concerned.

Jared shrugged. 'Not mine. Neither Nian nor me would be here had it not been for Druss.

And I certainly don't want him for an enemy. I'm pretty good with this longsword, son. I'd fancy myself against just about anyone. Not against Druss, though. Nor that Skilgannon either, come to that. How did you come to be travelling with him, Rabalyn?'

Rabalyn told them the story of the riot at the church, and of how Brother Lantern had quelled it.

'There's no accounting for people,' said Jared. 'Who would have thought it? The d.a.m.ned became a priest. There's always something to surprise you in this life.' Beside him Nian began to moan. Rabalyn glanced at the man. His face was grey, and sweat was gleaming on his skin.

'Hurts, Jared,' he whimpered. 'Hurts bad.'

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