The Swans' War 3 - The Shadow Roads (26 page)

In this way they approached the Isle of Battle by morning. Pwyll kept them going, tired as they were, over the dew-slick pastures. Cocks crowed as the dairymen drove their freshly milked herds out to pasture. In the east, a few strands of cloud were awash in orange and crimson.

"A perfect morning," Lord Carl said to Samul Renne.

"It is incongruously peaceful. But even so, you're right. When you believe you're seeing your last graying dawn, each one after seems a miracle."Carl nodded, and then said quietly. "I'm concerned that Prince Michael is becoming desperate. That he might do some-thing reckless."Samul let his eye stray to the Prince, who rode ahead with Pwyll. A grim determination had come over him, Samul thought, as though he would either succeed or die in the attempt. "Some-times it is the act of reckless bravado that wins men over," the Renne said.

"And sometimes it gets you killed. I've seen it.""Yes, but this was a desperate endeavor from the beginning, Carl. The army Menwyn Wills now commands is too large, and too well equipped and trained. All the forces the Renne can muster cannot stand against it in the field. And that is without Hafydd. If he returns—and I don't know how you kill a man who has made a bargain with Death—they will roll over the land between the mountains like a winter storm. If Prince Michael can't succeed in breaking off part of that force, we will all soon be dead anyway. Dead or, if we run, dishonored."

It stood in the center of the river, rising like a tall ship, stone sails billowing in the filtered light of later afternoon.

"There is your island, Sir Hafydd," Kai said. "The Isle of Wait-ing. The Moon's Mirror is said to lie there, though I did not see it when I traveled here with Sainth."Hafydd rose up in the stern of the boat, staring down the river. He glanced around toward the west, shading his eyes and gauging the height of the sun. "Sunset is still some hours off. We will go ashore and find this mirror."The island proved to be farther off than they first thought, its great height creating the illusion that it lay closer, but in time they reached its shore. Beneath the massive cliffs and towering ramparts Lord A'denne thought they must look like a water insect, skimming the green surface of the Wynnd.

"There is a landing place at the far end," Kai said, "or there was—an age ago."What had appeared at a distance to be great billowing stone sails now proved to be the remains of walls, and all about, stairways went winding up, their stone treads weathered and worn away. Trees broke through the stone in many places, roots heaving up steps and paving stones, reaching out from between the stones of walls, doing what siege engines could likely never have done when the fortifications still stood.

As the boat passed, the men stared up at the stoneworks above. It was a quiet place, apparently dry, for many leaves had turned reddish brown, and a thin carpet of the fallen lay upon the ground and the ruined battlements. In the filtered light that fell through the high overcast of smoke, autumn seemed to have come to the isle— as though it lay outside of the time that governed the rest of the world.

At the southern end, a small, man-made lagoon welcomed them, and they drove their craft over the still waters up to a half-submerged stone quay.

Lord A'denne climbed out stiffly, stretching his back, cramped from his unaccustomed duty at the oars. As usual, the black-clad guards gathered close about their master. Another stood a few paces from the noblemen, and A'denne did not need to be told what duty he had drawn—they would never leave them unwatched again, or let them near their master without Hafydd's express command. He had wasted his one chance—and, worse, he felt that Hafydd had made a fool of him, feigning weakness to lure him into the attempt on his life. If it were possible, he hated the sorcerer even more.

Kai was lifted out of the boat and set in his barrow, where his servant tried to make him comfortable. The legless man was in agony, A'denne could see. Hafydd held back the herb Kai needed to govern his pain and portioned out just enough to keep Kai in near-constant torment. There was no reason for this cruelty that the nobleman could see, but then such viciousness was not founded in reason.

Hafydd turned on Kai then. "This is the place…" the sorcerer said. "You're certain?""Yes. This is the place Sainth brought me," Kai said, "an age ago… when I still walked upon the earth.""Then I wonder what use I have for you, Kilydd… ?" Hafydd said softly.

"None," the little man answered, "unless, of course, you wish to return to the land between the mountains."Hafydd nodded to the flowing river. "Oh, I think this branch will join the Wynnd eventually.""I wouldn't wager gold on it. This place is like no other. It lies on the border between the hidden lands and the world that we know. You will see when you climb up. The stairs do not lead where they should, nor even to the same place twice. Even Sainth was confounded. As for leaving… You might set out down the river, but you will soon fetch up on the shore of this island again. The Isle of Waiting, Lord Caibre. Without me you will wait here an age or more."Hafydd turned to his guard captain. "Search him for weapons! See that he does himself no harm." Hafydd turned back to the man in the barrow but still addressed his guards. "He has harbored his pathetic life this long, I hardly think he would chose to end it now—but we will take no chances." For a mo-ment more the knight stared at Kai, who met his gaze and would not look away.

"Haul the boat up on the quay and make it fast to a tree. We don't want to be swimming when we leave." Hafydd turned brusquely away and mounted the stair. Lord A'denne helped Ufrra and Beldor Renne bear Kai's barrow up, and it was not light, even with Ufrra taking half the weight.

There were two stairways ascending from the quay, and Hafydd chose the left. The stair wound steeply up through the autumnal trees, its uneven treads allowing not a moment of inattention. The bootblack tried to help with the barrow where he could, but was too small and almost more of a hindrance, getting under the feet of the others, until Beld warned him away. Finally, the stair crested at a landing. The bases of columns could be seen there, in a field of dried mustard-colored moss. The view over the winding river was beautiful, Lord A'denne thought. The thin light upon the treed banks, the glittering waters. Everyone caught his breath after the climb, then Hafydd turned to Kai. He gestured down what ap-peared to be an old walkway that sloped up and curved out of sight, cliffs both below and above.

"Where does this lead?"

Kai shrugged. "Not to the same place twice. That is the truth. I spent almost a fortnight here with Sainth, and soon gave up trying to understand the place myself. But Sainth was more tenacious, ex-ploring every inch of the island, coming to some understanding of the maze, if anyone could understand it." The little man shrugged. "Let me warn you—do not let your company become divided, for you will not soon find each other again."Lord A'denne saw the black guards glance at each other, appre-hensive, he thought.

"We don't have a fortnight," Hafydd said, and set out along the mossy walkway.

The trees were strange, yellow trumpet flowers hanging down from some, others with whirling silver bark and leaves the colors of sunset. Beneath their feet a carpet of leaves crunched as they walked. Light filtered down through the stained sky—smoke from Hafydd setting the world afire—and the silence of the place was lulling. Lord A'denne found himself slipping into daydream, and he wanted nothing so much as to lie down and sleep.

Part of the bank had fallen away so that the pathway narrowed. Only one might pass at a time, so the entire company fetched up there, sorting themselves into single file.

A'denne fell in behind Kai, the bootblack, Stil, behind him, fol-lowed by Beldor Renne and Hafydd's last guard. The embankment had eroded away over the years and in places become so narrow that Ufrra bore Kai upon his back, while his barrow was moved with difficulty by Lord A'denne and Beldor, with Stil trying to help and getting in the way, more often than not.

At a particularly narrow point, the bank broke away beneath Stillman's feet, and the boy lost his balance and fell. Before Lord A'denne could react, Beld threw himself after the boy, the two of them going over the edge. A'denne spun around to find Beldor clinging to a thick root, his fist locked around the boy's arm. A'denne and Ufrra hauled the two of them up, Beld curs-ing and swearing.

"Stay out of the damn way, boy!" the Renne said, brushing the dirt from his clothes.

Lord A'denne realized that Kai was doing as he was—staring at Beld in wonder. The cripple and the nobleman shared a look. This was the boy who, a few days before, Beld had threatened to kill if Kai did not lead Hafydd to this very place. And now he had almost lost his own life trying to save him. Lord A'denne could not begin to explain that. The man had tried to murder his own cousin. Why would he care about the life of a bootblack? Unless there was some-thing about young Stillman that they did not know. Or something about Hafydd's plans.

They carried on for some time along the western shore of the island. At last they found a stairway, though it led down. In half an hour they arrived back at the quay on the south end of the island, having traveled in, more or less, a straight line north. Hafydd glared at Kai.

"It was not my doing," the legless man said evenly. "That is the nature of this place—paths lead where they should not, where they cannot, most would say.""And this mirror—you don't know how to find it? Look at me when you answer."Kai gazed up at the knight. "If Sainth found it, he said nothing to me—which was not unlike him, as you would know. I brought you here, but I can do nothing more than guide you back."The sun fell in among the hills in the distant west, setting the river ablaze. Firewood was gathered and a rough camp pitched there on the broken quay. Hafydd relented and gave Kai some of the mysterious seed to subdue his suffering, though Kai did not ask for it, nor did he ever complain. He was clearly never going to show weakness to Hafydd.

"Tomorrow I will leave you and your servant behind with the boy," Hafydd said to Kai over their meager supper. "A'denne, you will come with us, as will you, Lord Beldor."A'denne spread his blankets upon the hard stone and laid his aching muscles down. He desperately needed sleep, but thought how poor such sleep would be upon this hard mattress, then he knew no more. Morning was upon him in what seemed like an instant.

The men broke their fast quickly, some bathing in the lagoon. Kai caught Lord A'denne's attention as he readied himself for an-other strange expedition.

"There is a flower growing here. I have seen it. It blossoms blood red and grows in little patches. It is the seed I require. If you have a chance to steal some away…"Lord A'denne nodded. It was a measure of Kai's desperation that he would beg such a favor—for certainly Hafydd would be in a rage to learn anybody supplied Kai with the herb. But A'denne did not care. He was going to give his life for something, and if it could not be Hafydd's death, then relieving Kai's agony would be his cause.

Hafydd had them bear two things with them that day—a wooden box, which was trusted to Beldor Renne, and a large earth-enware pot, stoppered by a cork sealed with wax. This burden Hafydd almost entrusted to A'denne, but then changed his mind and gave it to one of his guards with an admonishment not to drop it. A'denne wondered what might be carried in these two contain-ers, and whether it might be worth his while to send either of them over a precipice—if such an opportunity were to be offered.

They went up the same stair, but at its crest found not the walk-way of the previous day but another stairway branching to the right. For a moment Hafydd gazed at this, his black-clad guards glancing one to the other, shifting about uncomfortably—showing some human weakness after all.

Hafydd made up his mind quickly and led his company up, his guards scurrying to surround him. The path curved around the southern end of the island, running almost level for a time, then an-

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other set of stairs took them up. After a time they came to a place where a stair branched and climbed what appeared to be a cleft in the natural stone. It was all but overgrown, roots, and even mature trees shouldering the stones apart, breaking through to daylight. Hafydd sent two men along the now-level pathway they had been following, to see if it continued much farther, but they did not re-turn within the hour as he ordered.

"Shall I go search for them?" Hafydd's guard captain asked.

"No," Hafydd said, shaking his head. "I should have heeded Kai's warning. Hopefully they will find their way to us again." He pointed up the stair. "We will try this way."They climbed the stair in the warm sun, wondering what man-ner of place they had been carried to—where paths led off… but did not bring you back again.

Kai sat in his barrow in the shade of a tree that leaned over the an-cient quay. Occasionally a golden flower would fall near him—like a trumpet dropping from the sky—though they made only the soft-est sound when they fell. The day so much resembled the one pre-vious that Kai had the strange feeling that days were merely repeating themselves. A thin light fell through the film of smoke that still spread over the sky, and a soft breeze from the south ca-ressed his face and carried the musky scent of the river.

Ufrra busied himself about the encampment. His big hands piled firewood that he and Stil, the bootblack, had collected. Hafydd's guard had spent the morning pacing back and forth across the broken quay, but now he sat in the sun, his back against a large block of stone. He wore no helmet, and strands of his black hair wafted in the breeze, tickling him into partial wakefulness— but then he would fall back asleep again.

A lull in the breeze hushed the whispering of the trees, and Ufrra stopped his labors. Kai nodded to him, and the mute picked up a heavy stick of firewood. He crossed to the slumber-ing guard without hesitation and raised the club high. Something warned the guard, and his eyes snapped open as Ufrra swung his cudgel down. The guard rolled aside, the blow glancing off his shoulder. He reached for his sword as he came to one knee, but a second stick caught him hard on the temple and stopped him cold. For a moment he seemed to hang there, frozen in time, then Ufrra struck him on the skull with a second blow, driving him to the cobbles. A third blow caved in the bone, and the guard lay still—still as the stone that made his deathbed. The boy, Stillman, stood wide-eyed and panting, his bloodied club gripped by white fingers.

"Thank you, boy," Kai said.

Ufrra crouched before the child and pried the club from his hands. The child burst into tears, and, for a moment, the mute took him awkwardly in his arms.

"Can you launch the boat yourself, do you think?" Kai asked, as the boy pulled free, wiping his eyes and nose on a sleeve.

"I'll help him," the boy volunteered.

"I'm sure you will," Kai said, "but it is a cumbersome craft for so few."Ufrra could barely get the heavy boat to move, but they quickly levered it up and found some round sticks to lay under it to act as rollers. Kai watched the stair apprehensively as this went on.

"I think I hear voices," he whispered, as Ufrra and the boy pushed the boat toward the water. It slid the last few feet and splashed into the lagoon.

"Get the guard's sword and dagger," Kai whispered to the boy, as Ufrra wheeled his barrow toward the boat.

There was no question by then—there were voices coming from above, and they could hear footsteps thumping down the stair. Ufrra tumbled his master aboard, then dashed back to snatch up an axe and some bedding. Stillman vaulted over the gunwale as the mute shoved the boat out into the waters.