Authors: Isobelle Carmody
Brydda grew more silent as the day wore on, and seemed increasingly preoccupied. Finally I asked him if anything were wrong.
'I don't know,' he said. 'I feel uneasy about my parents. And we're moving so slowly.' He looked down at Dragon with mingled pity and frustration.
'Why don't you go ahead?' I suggested. 'We can't be more than a few hours away at a fast gallop.'
Brydda bit his lip and looked thoughtful. 'I think I will. Reuvan can come with me.' Thinking of his 'knack', I wondered what he feared.
The triumphant mood of the day occasioned by Dragon's presence evaporated with Brydda's departure. He told us to wait at the Ford until he returned to tell us the way was clear. He refused to say what he was afraid of, but his elaborate precautions only served to heighten my apprehension.
As if to mirror my thoughts, a heavy, dark bank of cloud looming on the horizon billowed in to veil the sun near the end of the day and we reached the Ford just as a light rain began to fall.
There was no sign of Brydda or Reuvan so we decided to make camp behind a copse of trees within sight of the Ford. It proved nearly impossible with the damp wood but finally we managed and sat around it shivering in the chilly wind. No one felt like talking. Pavo was nearly blue with cold, though Kella said this was a symptom of the rotting sickness.
Dragon had reacted to the sight of the Suggredoon with real terror, and it had taken all my strength to reassure her. I was afraid she would run off and be lost. Her reaction to the river and to my submersion seemed to indicate something had happened to her connected with water, but I could not penetrate her mind, and she was unable to explain, only clutching at me in mute plea. In the end, I found myself patting her as I would pet Maruman.
'At least she doesn't stink,' Jik said earnestly when we wondered what might have caused her fear of water. We laughed but oddly this was true. She smelled like rich, dark dirt after rain.
She had not used her remarkable illusory powers since joining us. I hoped she would not tame to the extent of forgetting them altogether. I was trying to persuade her to drop her shield, when I heard the drumming of hooves in the distance.
We all stood, the underlying fears that had gnawed at us since Brydda's departure showing clearly in our faces.
There was one rider, coming fast. Idris gave a shout of joy, as he recognized Brydda's horse, then he fell silent, seeing the rider was Grufyyd, whose face he did not know. Reining the horse in, Grufyyd looked pale and there were dark shadows in his eyes. After a brief greeting, he urged us to pack up quickly and come with him to the cottage.
The serious note in his voice warned me something was badly wrong.
'Brydda?' Idris began worriedly.
'My son is fine,' he said, then once again urged us to make haste.
As we forded the Suggredoon and travelled the road bypassing the village, he said, 'The soldierguards have been here. Luck kept you from coming sooner. They only left yesterday. If you had come before, they would have taken us all.'
'They were looking for Brydda?' I said. But Grufyyd shook his head.
'They said they were looking for Seditioners. Gypsies,' he added significantly.
I stared. 'But how could anyone know that? The disguise was gone before we reached the Lowlands. Unless . . . unless somehow the Druid's friend on the Council tipped them off.' I chewed my lip. That means they must think we reached the Lowlands. I am certain he believed we were gypsies, so why these elaborate precautions for a few rag-tag gypsies?'
'Perhaps they no longer believe that,' Gruffyd said. 'One of the soldierguards said the gypsy attire might be a disguise.'
Uneasily I remembered the look of anger and frustration on Saul's face. He had not liked Gilaine revealing so much to us. Perhaps he had somehow warned the Druid, who had in turn warned his friend, both wanting us dead for different reasons. If the Druid thought we had lied about being gypsies, then he might also wonder at what I had said of Obernewtyn. Suddenly I was frightened.
Katlyn met us at the door of the cottage with smiles and talk of a hot meal and warm beds. Despite everything it was the happiest gathering I had been to since leaving Obernewtyn, the one sad note being Pavo's obvious deterioration.
Wrapped in a blanket and shivering from a chill no fire could abate, he was clearly in great pain. His neck and arms were covered in bruises, another symptom of tissue degeneration. The slightest bump left a livid mark on his skin. Katlyn had done her best for him, feeding him decoctions to numb the pain, but they were only temporary measures, for Pavo was dying.
This knowledge added an unspoken bittersweet note to the celebration, for it seemed to underline the precarious nature of all our lives and hopes.
'He is content,' Darga sent from where he lay on the hearth. 'He is not afraid to die.'
After we had eaten, Katlyn managed to do what we had failed, and persuaded Dragon to wash.
Jik, Idris, and Reuvan went off with Grufyyd to organize sleeping quarters in the barn, and Kella went to sort out blankets.
I was glad to find myself alone with Brydda, having had no chance to question him about the soldierguards. As if by agreement, nothing more had been said of it.
His first words took my breath away. 'I don't suppose you come from Obernewtyn?'
I gaped at him.
He nodded. 'It was a thought I had earlier, for I guessed you weren't quite telling the truth when you said you came from the Highlands. Then my father said one of the soldierguards had mentioned Obernewtyn, and everything came together. The soldierguards were here looking for Seditioners possibly disguised as gypsies, and they asked about Obernewtyn. I heard the place was burnt out by a firestorm.'
'A lie to keep people away,' I said, realizing there was no point in further lies. 'Do your parents know?'
'I don't think so. My father only spoke of it in passing as a curio. But I would not panic just the same. Perhaps the soldierguards were told to mention it to see if there were any reaction. I don't think they knew anything for sure. How could they?'
'They couldn't have managed to connect us and Obernewtyn . . . unless the Druid is mixed up in it.'
'You think the Druid has got his friend to send out soldierguards?' Brydda asked. I had told him earlier what had happened in the Druid camp.
I nodded. 'I told them I had seen Obernewtyn burned out, but if he has guessed we were not real gypsies, he might question it. I must warn Rushton.'
Brydda nodded. 'It might be safer for you all to leave Obernewtyn. Especially if an investigation is going to expose the lie about the firestorm. If you ever need refuge, I would be happy to have your people join me.'
'Rushton will have to decide that,' I said.
Idris opened the door and asked Brydda to help shift the books from the cart into the shed because it had begun to rain again. Left alone except for Pavo, I tried to imagine how it would be to leave Obernewtyn. I could not bear to think of it. I looked at Pavo and felt a pang of sorrow at the thought that he would never see Obernewtyn again.
Seeming to read my mind, his eyes fluttered open. 'Don't be sad for me, Elspeth.' His voice was barely audible. Even talking exhausted his meagre reserves. 'I have lived free in a world where freedom is rare. I have pursued work I love. I have learned much and I have had good friends and perilous adventures. What man that lives three times my span can say as much?'
I blinked hard and found I could say nothing without crying. I was glad to see everyone troop back in laughing and talking. Kella called out that she was warming some fement. This prompted Brydda to sing a rollicking song about a drunken seaman. In the midst of uproarious laughter, the door opened and Katlyn entered with a stranger.
The room fell into an astounded silence. The unknown girl was slender as a willow wand with creamy pale skin and a flame-coloured mop of curls. But the most startling thing of all was the girl's extraordinary beauty.
Slowly it dawned on us who we were looking at.
It was Dragon.
'I don't believe it!' Jik gasped.
I was stunned. Who would have suspected what lay under the dirt? Even clad in a rough hessian shift, she was fair. And her hair! I had never seen hair that colour - like gold and flames entwined. Later Katlyn told me it had broken her heart to cut it, but it had been so matted and fused with dirt, she had no choice.
Dragon's eyes, blue as the summer sky, flickered round uneasily.
'Don't stare at her. She doesn't understand,' I said softly.
Though unable to stop looking, the others sank into more natural poses. Beaming with pleasure, Katlyn ushered Dragon around to my side. Reaching out, I tugged at one springing fiery curl.
Dragon took the strand of her hair and pulled it round to her eyes, then she let it loose and promptly lifted the shift to show the blue underskirt I had given her.
Reuvan burst out laughing. She looked up at him startled, and bared her teeth. That broke the spell woven by her dramatic transformation. 'She may be a girl,' Reuvan said, 'but she is still dragon-natured and had better keep her name as a warning to anyone who might think otherwise.'
Brydda patted his mother's shoulder. 'Well, I always knew you were a witch.'
Even Pavo smiled at this absurdity.
Over steaming mugs of fement, we talked of ways and means to get to our various destinations. I told Katlyn and Grufyyd the whole story of Obernewtyn, deciding they knew so much already, it was better to take them into our confidence. If Obernewtyn were under investigation, we would have to leave it anyway and, if not, I had an idea that Katlyn and Grufyyd would be a great deal more content in the mountains than in Sutrium. Besides, like Brydda, I felt we would be allies.
Our only chance of reaching the Highlands before winter set in was to take the same path as Brydda planned, fording the Suggredoon, round Berryn Mor, to avoid Sutrium and along the main road, since the soldierguards would have returned to their camps. My one concern was of our dwindling hope of reaching Obernewtyn before the pass froze. Even without the inevitable delays, it would be a trip of many days.
'If only the Olden pass had not been poisonous,' I sighed.
'Poisonous . . .?' Brydda began.
Suddenly Darga growled and Dragon jumped to her feet.
'What is it?' I said, but Brydda hissed. In the silence we could hear a horse galloping fast towards the house.
A lone rider could not mean soldierguards, but who would come out so late in a cold wet night? There was nothing to do but wait, and there were enough of us to deal with one, so we waited calmly, listening to the horse approach, and its rider dismount. There were steps on the porch and the door was flung open.
'Domick!' cried Kella starting to her feet. For a moment Domick stared at her, then he strode into the room.
'Thank Lud you're here. You must leave here tonight, all of you,' he said.
'What is it?' Brydda asked sharply, rising to tower over the coercer. Domick's face changed as he noticed Idris, Reuvan and Dragon.
'It's all right, Domick. They're friends,' I said quickly. 'They know about us and Obernewtyn.'
Domick looked less disapproving than I expected. He glanced at Brydda speculatively. 'I guess you are Brydda Llewellyn, better known as the notorious Black Dog. It is good to meet a man whose name I have heard so many times.'
Brydda met this with a curious look. Domick sighed. 'It's a long story. Too long for now, but I'll give you the meat of it. Why you have to get away from here tonight, and how I have heard Brydda's name so many times, are part of the same tale, so I'll go at it from the head.'
He threw off his dripping oilcoat. 'I first heard the name of Brydda Llewellyn here, but I heard it again before I had even crossed on the ferry. Soldierguards were watching the ferry, looking for you. I overheard them saying Brydda Llewellyn's network of Seditioners had been exposed and he was on the run. I wanted to come after you, Elspeth, to warn you, but I knew I would be too late to get to you before you got to Aborium.' An expression of such indecision crossed his face that I realized what a struggle it had been for him to go on to Sutrium.
The first thing I noticed about Sutrium was the number of Herders about. They seemed to outnumber Councilmen, and there was a definite feeling of fear whenever they were around.
'I mingled with people wherever there were crowds. I had the feeling I was safer in that way. I let people understand I was a trading Jack until my cart had been burned in a firestorm. That explained my ignorance about customs Lowlanders take for granted. And it let me ask questions. I spent handfuls of silver trying to loosen men's tongues with fement. I knew I had to get close to the Council, but I couldn't think how.
Then one night in a drink hall, I heard two men talking about a third man who was to take up a job at the Council. They were laughing and warning their friend that his new job was dangerous and risky. The third man was beside himself with fear by the time they left. I got into conversation with him by offering him a mug and learned that he had come from the Highlands to work in Sutrium. He had been recommended by a Herder, and though he neither wanted nor liked the idea of going to Sutrium, he dared not refuse. In the end, I managed to persuade him to let me take the job.' Domick flicked a look at me which told me what sort of persuasion he had used. 'I turned up in his place, and was accepted at once, since they were expecting someone from the high country.
'At first I heard nothing useful. It was a menial job and I began to think I would have been better off applying to be a soldierguard. Then I realized I could not have found a better way to spy on the Councilmen. Once my face was familiar, it was as if I were nothing more than a broom or mop and they talked quite freely in front of me.
'I heard them talk of a sweeping investigation of the Highlands planned next year to flush out traitors and Seditioners, and I heard enough to make me certain the Council knows the Druid is alive. I heard much talk about the Black Dog and his efforts to undermine authority and plunge the Land back into chaos. They think of you as a terrible threat, Brydda, and hunger to get hold of you. They were expecting news of your capture from Aborium, but I guess it was bad news.' He grinned at Brydda.