Bronze Magic (Book 1) (25 page)

There was a long silence. Tarkyn picked up another long twig and
started breaking bits of it while he waited. When that twig was in
little pieces on the ground, he debated whether to pick up yet another
twig or whether just to get up and leave. He decided for one last try.
He picked up a third twig and said inconsequentially, “Of course
Autumn Leaves may be right. I might just be an utter bastard...
in which case you’re better off keeping well away from me, like most
woodfolk do.”
Waterstone finally spoke. “Autumn Leaves said that?” He smiled
reluctantly. “Maybe he really did think he risked being burnt to a cinder,
after all.”
The sorcerer shook his head, smiling. “I doubt it. Not by then, anyway.
But I do know he would have risked it, if he felt he had to.”
At last, Waterstone turned his head to look at the prince. “Do you
know what upset me most?” Tarkyn decided this was rhetorical and
didn’t answer. “I wasn’t able to do what I had contracted to do. I pulled
out of the memory instead of allowing you to choose. After all that effort,
I wasn’t able to prove that there was nothing I couldn’t show you because
I stopped the memory, not you.”
“Waterstone, you’re too hard on yourself. I understand completely
why you were unable to continue at that point.”
“You may understand but that will not stop the doubts.”
The prince smiled wryly. “I may be an utter bastard but I am neither an
utter fool nor a liar. I said I trusted you beyond any doubt and I do. That
last memory and your strong reaction to it showed me the motivation
for your friendship. That’s what I needed to know. The earlier memories
didn’t, which was why I asked you to keep going.” Tarkyn threw down
the remains of his twig and sat up. “I hope the cost wasn’t too high -
Autumn Leaves tells me it was – especially when the trust you won from
me is something you take for granted from everyone else. I hope it was
worth it to you. It is beyond value to me.”
The woodman’s face broke into a slow warm smile. “Now I understand
all that, it was worth it ...and I’m glad you pushed the point until you were
satisfied. So, if you still wish to maintain this friendship, even knowing
the unkind thoughts I had about you when you first arrived, I suppose
I can deal with your occasional flashes of ruthlessness.” Waterstone
rocked backwards as a wave of relief poured over him. He shook his
head, laughing. “You are hopeless. Your emotions get the better of me,
let alone you.”
A few minutes later, Autumn Leaves finally ran out of patience and
turned up with a stone carafe of apple juice.
“Whoops. Sorry,” said Tarkyn. “I forgot to send you another message.
How was the last message?”
Autumn Leaves blinked as he thought about it. “Hard to say. Since
I now know more about your attitudes, I wasn’t offended by it. I think
people will have to get to know you better to interpret your messages
properly, though. So”, he said, as he poured the juice into the three
goblets, “Have you two sorted yourselves out?”
“Yes, thanks,” replied Tarkyn with laughter in his eyes.
The other two looked at him. “What’s so funny?” demanded Autumn
Leaves.
“I’ve never had so many people treating me in such an avuncular
manner before.”
“Who else is?” asked Waterstone. He frowned. “Not me?”
“No. Not you, but Stormaway and Thunder Storm both seem to have
taken me under their wings.” He chortled. “And of course Autumn Leaves
is busy looking after both of us.... now that he’s stopped lecturing me.
Even Summer Rain had an unexpected moment of kindness last night.”
He shook his head. “I am struggling to maintain a dignified distance, I
can tell you.”
The two woodfolk stared at him. Then, their eyes glazed slightly as they
thought amongst themselves. As the seconds drew out, Tarkyn cocked his
head to one side and asked, “Would you mind sharing whatever thoughts
you are having? It’s becoming a little lonely out here.”
Waterstone came back into focus “Sorry. We were discussing whether
there is a need for a dignified distance, as you call it. From your point
of view, from our point of view, practically and traditionally, especially
when we have such different societies. We got carried away.” He nodded
thoughtfully. “It’s complicated, isn’t it?”
Tarkyn nodded, suddenly nothing more than a young man trying to
make sense of the world from a very strange standpoint.
“And really, it is your sole decision, isn’t it?” Waterstone shook his head
slowly. “It’s a big decision to make, for a young prince who has suddenly
become the liege lord of such a different society.”
“And because of all that has happened, I still haven’t stated my
expectations as I promised I would on the night of the feast,” said Tarkyn.
Autumn Leaves was regarding Tarkyn with some concern. “I hope I
haven’t offended you, Your Highness,” he said, “I am not used to dealing
with princes. None of us is.”
“No. You haven’t offended me...At least no more than anyone else has,
given the differences in our customs.” The prince smiled and shook his
head.“You will know if you really offend me, I can assure you. You have
not behaved around me as I have been used to, but it becomes increasingly
obvious that the woodlands are nothing like court and, without wishing
to be rude, woodfolk are not very good at being courtiers.”
Seeing Autumn Leaves frown, Tarkyn continued, “It does take years of
training, you know. You have to grow up believing in the monarchy and
its importance to the whole structure of the nation. Everything in our
society - all the feast days, all the customs, all the routes to wealth and
power - originate from my family.”
Tarkyn picked up another twig and set about destroying it slowly, like
those before it. “You people have only known a king for two days and
me for how long - three weeks? Nothing in your society depends on the
monarchy except, of course,” he put in dryly, “the safety of the forest.”
The prince shrugged, “But your society and customs and etiquette are
not built around the monarchy. You don’t even seem to have a hierarchy.
So you don’t know how you should behave towards a nobleman, let alone
towards a member of the royal family.”
He stood up and walked a little away from the two woodmen. Standing
with his back to them, hands on hips, the prince stared unseeingly into
the tangle of hawthorn and said quietly to himself, “And therein lies the
dilemma.”
He swung around and walked back to stand towering over them, his
long black hair framing his face, his drawn brows shading his strange
tawny eyes. “And the other side of that dilemma is that I am not used to
such familiarity. Even within my family, there have always been protocols,
particularly but not only, when members of the public are present. Even
close friends are expected to show deference and follow rules of etiquette.”
The two woodmen sat watching him intently, waiting to see where this
monologue was heading. The prince glared down at them. They waited.
Finally the prince threw up his hands. “You see! With the best will in the
world, you have no idea what I’m talking about.”
“Well, why don’t you stop standing over us like some looming bird
of prey and sit down, have another drink and explain it better so we do
understand?” suggested Waterstone mildly.
At that, Tarkyn broke into laughter tinged with more than a little
hysteria. He threw himself down on the log next to them and gulped
down the best part of a cupful in one draught. He looked at Waterstone
and Autumn Leaves incredulously. “Don’t you know you shouldn’t sit in
my presence if I’m standing?”
“No,” they chorused. “How would we?” added Autumn Leaves.
“Or that you shouldn’t lean over me, as both of you have done in the
past?”
“Obviously not or we wouldn’t have.” replied Waterstone tartly.
“Or that you should bow every time you approach me?”
The woodman goggled at each other.
“Or that you shouldn’t raise your voice to me?”
“Well,” said Waterstone promptly, “I’ve failed signally on that one but
I bet Autumn Leaves kept his voice down. He’s good at saying what he
wants to without raising his voice.”
“Or that you shouldn’t speak to me until I address you first?”
“Oh, I certainly failed on that one,” chortled Waterstone, rolling
his eyes at Autumn Leaves. “I talked to him for days when he was
unconscious, before he addressed me.”
A wave of frustration tinged with anger rolled into the minds of the
two woodmen.
“Now settle down, Waterstone.” said Autumn Leaves gently. “You’re
starting to upset him.”
Waterstone calmed himself and smiled ruefully at the prince. “I’m
sorry, Tarkyn. I shouldn’t tease you when you’re trying to be serious.”
He gave the prince a friendly pat on the knee not realising that, once
more, he was transgressing. “Look, if you want us to learn these things
and behave in certain ways, we’ll just have to learn. I’m sure Stormaway
would be happy to teach us.” Waterstone smothered a smile as he added,
“It could take us a while to get the hang of it and there are quite a large
number of us to teach. Still, it will keep Stormaway out of mischief.”
The prince frowned suspiciously, “What are you laughing at?”
Waterstone whooped with released laughter, “I’ll show you,” he gasped.
He sent the other two a mental image of groups of woodfolk trying to
remember to stand and speak at the right times using Stormaway as their
guide.
Woodfolk are bobbing up and down in confusion as Tarkyn stands or
sits. Since they are mainly sitting on the ground or low logs, by the time they
scramble to their feet, Tarkyn is sitting down again. The woodfolk then all
look uncertainly at each other and subside slowly to sit again apprehensively,
ready to bounce back up at any moment. Then they sit in deathly silence
around the fire, waiting expectantly for Tarkyn to say something. Needless to
say, it is not long before the woodfolk revert to mind talking and simply leave
the prince out of the equation.
“You’d certainly create distance between
yourself and us but I’m not sure how dignified it will be.”
Although he was smiling, Autumn Leaves shook his head. “I don’t
think that’s kind, Waterstone. Tarkyn is trying to….”
The prince waved Autumn Leaves to silence. He, too, was smiling, if
a little reluctantly. “Thank you for your support, Autumn Leaves, but
Waterstone is not just teasing. He’s showing me the reality of trying
to impose my culture on yours.” He took a sip of wine and looked at
the woodmen over the rim of the goblet. “You will be pleased to know,
Waterstone, that I had actually figured that out already.”
“So why are we talking about it then?” asked Waterstone impatiently.
“I suppose, because I need to work out what is reasonable to expect,”
answered the prince. “From my framework of understanding, ever since
I arrived here, I have been constantly overlooking transgressions, some of
them severe enough to merit banishment or even imprisonment.”
Waterstone smiled. “I know you have. I’ve seen you do a double take
when someone is unexpectedly familiar with you. Anyway, you don’t
need any of these niceties from your society to keep your distance, if
that’s what you want. All you need is a few of those withering words of
yours and a few of your supercilious looks and people will never take you
for granted.”
“And there’s always the oath to fall back on.” added Autumn Leaves
encouragingly.
Tarkyn was visited with a queer sensation of wading through treacle.
At least it’s friendly treacle,
he thought.
Waterstone stood up and walked a few steps away before turning to
look at the prince. Tarkyn realised that, despite the teasing, the woodman
had carefully made sure he wasn’t standing over him. “Tarkyn, in your
society we wouldn’t stand a chance because we don’t know your rules.
But from our point of view, everyone has tried to treat you with respect
and to overcome whatever resentment they might be feeling. You feel you
have been generous with us. We feel we have been generous with you.”
“You have. You have been much kinder to me than I expected. Not
everyone, but certainly most of the woodfolk who stayed here with me
have been.”
“And another thing you haven’t considered,” said Waterstone, crossing
his arms, “You’re assuming we’re all commoners. But we see ourselves as
all of equal rank. Why do you assume that it is the lowest possible rank?”
Tarkyn stared at him for a moment. “I suppose because in a hierarchy,
the vast majority of people are commoners.”
“But we’re not a hierarchy. The lowest possible rank here is also the
highest possible rank” As he saw the prince frown, Waterstone added,
“Don’t worry. I’m not mounting an argument to usurp your authority.
No matter what rank you may consider us, you still outstrip us all,
because of the oath.”
A wave of uncertainty rolled around the clearing. The young exiled
prince put down his wine and stood up. He picked a small green shoot
off his staff before setting it firmly on the ground. “I’m sorry,” he said,
“I’m going to have to think this through on my own. Thank you Autumn
Leaves, for all your help and Waterstone, I’m glad we’re back on an even
keel. Don’t worry. I’m not offended by anything you’ve said. I just need
time to think. I’ll see you this evening.”
arkyn wandered out of the hawthorn patch, not sure where to go
next. He didn’t want to run into Stormaway at the moment, whose
strong views would only add to his confusion.
Suddenly, he was seeing the forest far below him. Tarkyn staggered as
the image overwhelmed him and he lost his balance. He clung to his staff
for support as his mind soared in a great arc across the top of the trees.
As his vision swung around across the river, Tarkyn’s body lost its battle
to stay upright and crumpled in a heap on the ground. His staff crashed
away from him and skittered down a slope.
His mind raced low over the trees heading towards the west. Ahead
of him he could see grey shapes moving beneath the trees. Wolves. He
felt a fugue of anger and hatred emanating from them as they ran singlemindedly, the lead wolf clearly sniffing its way along a specific trail
through the woods. His mind swung up higher to show him the scope
of the danger. There were wolves spread through the trees, all headed
towards where his body lay. His mind soared away from the wolves
and back over the river. He watched as two woodfolk rushed up to his
prostrate form lying in the middle of a path. With a sickening lurch,
he was back in his body; lying on his back and watching a huge golden
brown eagle glare down at him through the trees, before it slowly flapped
its enormous wings and glided out of sight.