The Tower of Ravens (63 page)

“Hush, hush, my dearling, my sweet, they must no‘ hear,” he whispered, stroking her hair. She buried her head deeper into his shoulder, trying to control her shuddering sobs. Murmuring endearments, he pressed her back so he could lie beside her on the bed, his arm cradling her close. He felt something hard between them, and realised, with a little jerk of his pulse, that she wore the amulet he had carved for her hanging between her breasts. Eagerly he sought her mouth, cradling her head in both his hands, desperate to tell her how sorry he was for betraying her.

She tore her mouth away. “Ye told them! Ye helped them hunt me down!”

“I’m so sorry, my dearling, I’m so sorry, I didna mean for this to happen, I didna want this.” He kissed her wet face and she recoiled away from him.

“Ye told.”

“It just happened, I didna mean to.”

“What do ye mean, it just happened?”

Lewen buried his face in her hair. “I’m so sorry, Rhiannon. Really, I didna mean for them to hunt ye down or cage ye up like this. I just…” Words failed him. He could not explain. After a moment he said again lamely, “It just happened.”

She was silent for a moment, then he felt her lay her head down on his chest again. “Like me and the soldier,” she whispered. “I never meant him harm. It just happened. I wish it never had.”

They lay in silence for a while.

“Will they hang me?” she whispered.

“I willna let them,” Lewen burst out, the desperation in his voice telling her more than he meant to. She shivered and clung to him.

“I have to escape,” she told him. She heard him sigh and shift his weight. “I canna stand it in here,” she went on wildly. “I feel like I canna breathe! The air presses down on me and chokes me. I canna stand it! I canna! Help me get out o‘ here!”

“But how?” he said at last. “I only managed to get in here to see ye by putting a sleeping spell on Rafferty, but I am no‘ strong yet in such Skills, there’s no way I could ensorcel Nina or Iven, I daren’t even try. And even if ye managed to get away from the camp without anyone seeing ye, Nina has only to call out to the birds for help and she’d find ye in minutes.”

“I want my horse,” Rhiannon said passionately. “If I had Blackthorn, I could escape!”

Lewen hesitated, then said, “Blackthorn is near, she follows the caravans. But oh! Rhiannon!”

She pushed herself away from him, her chain rattling. “Blackthorn follows?”

“Aye, she follows, but Rhiannon, I do no‘ think…”

“Lewen, unchain me! Please!”

“I canna,” he said unhappily.

“Why no‘? Are ye afraid?” Her voice was thin with contempt.

“Aye, o‘ course I’m afraid,” he answered crossly. “I risk being charged with treason just by being here with ye, do ye no’ ken that! But I canna unchain ye just because I’m scared, Rhiannon. I havena got the key, and these chains are too thick for me to break, no matter how much I want to. And Iven is asleep just outside, and he’ll wake at the slightest noise. So please, stop rattling those chains and hissing at me! I’ve been thinking and thinking what’s the best thing for us to do, and I canna think that running away is it. Sssh! Please, just listen. Rhiannon, if I managed to free ye now, what would ye do?”

“Find my horse and fly away,” she answered promptly.

“Where?”

“Anywhere,” she answered impatiently.

“Back to the mountains?”

She hesitated. “I dinna ken. Maybe. I’d find somewhere.”

“And what about me?” Lewen asked.

“Ye could come with me,” she said, seizing one of his hands.

“How? Blackthorn canna carry us both, I’m much too heavy.”

“Ye could come and meet me.”

“If I kent where ye were, and if I was no‘ arrested for setting ye free.”

She sighed. “They wouldna arrest ye, though, would they? No‘ ye.”

Lewen shrugged. “I dinna ken. If the Rìgh was angry enough… it doesna matter. I’d be ruined anyway. There’s no way I’d be allowed to join the Blue Guards or be the Rìgh’s squire if I had helped an accused murderer escape, and happen they’d throw me out o‘ the Theurgia as well. That doesna matter. I’d do it if I thought it’d help. But I do no’. All it would mean is that ye’d be on the run for ever after. There’d be bounty hunters galore eager to catch ye if the reward was big enough, and I’m pretty sure the Rìgh would set Finn the Cat on your trail and she
always
finds what she hunts. It’s her Talent.”

He took a deep breath and drew her close to him again. “It’s no life,
leannan
, always on the move, starting at shadows, waiting for someone to bring ye in. And there’d be no chance o‘ mercy if ye made the Rìgh hunt ye down. Nay, I think it would be best to go willingly to court and try and explain to the Rìgh what happened. I’d stand behind ye, and I’m sure Nina and Iven would vouch for ye too.”

“But they hunted me down!” Rhiannon cried.

“Sssh!” He put his hand gently across her mouth. “No‘ so loud,
leannan
, ye’ll wake Iven and then I’ll really be in the soup. I ken they caught ye, my love, and chained ye up in here, but they were following orders. Iven was once a Blue Guard, remember, and he still works in the Rìgh’s service. He could no’ let ye go, but I swear he feels bad about it, and Nina too. I’m sure they’ll speak up on your behalf, and they are good friends o‘ the Rìgh’s and will have influence over him, I’m sure. And I ken His Highness would no’ want to hang such a bonny young lass.” He bent and kissed her mouth. She sighed and kissed him back, tasting the salt of her tears on his skin.

At last they drew apart. “So ye will no‘ help me escape?” she said in a very low voice.

He shook his head. “Rhiannon, I love ye. I love ye so much. I want a life with ye. I do no‘ want to be a fugitive the rest o’ our days, sick at heart ‘cause I betrayed my Rìgh’s trust. I do no’ want ye just to fly away into the blue yonder, never to be seen again, either. This is the only way I can think o‘ to make sure we can be together. If ye swore service to the Rìgh, as penance, perhaps? There must be something we can do.”

“What if there’s no‘? What if he says I must hang?”

“Then I will free ye then, and we’ll run away somewhere together, I promise. I will no‘ let ye hang.”

Rhiannon nestled her head on his chest. She was so tired, it was a relief to murmur an agreement and let her muscles sag and her eyelids close. She felt like she had been running and fighting for so long, and all to no avail.

Lewen kissed her forehead. “
Leannan
, I must go. My sleeping spell willna last forever.”

“Do no‘ go,” she murmured, not opening her eyes. “Please, do no’ leave me.”

His chest rose and fell under her cheek as he took and released a deep breath. His arm came tightly round her, holding her close, and Rhiannon sighed and slipped into sleep.

She woke drowsily some hours later, as Lewen stiffened and tried to sit up. Rhiannon would have rolled over but the shackle on her wrist prevented her. The painful tug of the chain jerked her to wakefulness, and she opened her eyes and levered herself up on one elbow.

Iven stood in the doorway of the caravan, regarding them thoughtfully. Behind him stood a tousled and indignant Rafferty.

“I thought Nina told ye to leave Rhiannon be?” Iven said.

Lewen nodded jerkily. “Aye, she did, but I needed to talk to Rhiannon, I needed to explain.”

“I see,” Iven replied. “I suppose Nina and I have no real authority over ye, Lewen, but ye were placed in our care and so I would expect ye to listen to us and obey us.”

“I had to see Rhiannon,” Lewen repeated. “Nobody could have stopped me.”

Iven stroked his beard.

“I didna help her escape,” Lewen said defiantly. “We are both still here.”

“Aye, I can see that.”

“Rhiannon’s promised she willna try to escape,” Lewen said, with a quick glance at her. “Ye do no‘ need to leave her locked up in this stinking caravan anymore. It’s no’ right. She hates being confined. Will ye no‘ let her come out and breathe the fresh air and sit in the sunshine? It’s cruel to lock her up like this.”

Iven’s brows drew together. He looked consideringly at Rhiannon. “I hope ye will no‘ take this the wrong way, Rhiannon, but I canna feel sure that a promise from ye is to be trusted.”

Rhiannon did not reply.

“I will stand warranty for her,” Lewen said.

“I ken how ye must feel, Lewen,” the jongleur said after a long pause. “But ye must remember Rhiannon’s crime is a serious one, and she has lied to us and tried to flee afore. I canna allow ye to take such a responsibility. If she fled, ye would hang in her place, do ye understand that?”

Lewen swallowed convulsively.

“What if ye shackled her to me?” he said after a moment. “She can ride with me, she can lie with me. I will keep her close, I promise.”

“I’m sure ye will,” Iven said, with a faint smile. He scratched his cheek, regarding them with thoughtful eyes. “How am I to be sure that she will no‘ hurt ye to try to escape?” he asked, half under his breath. “We have seen how ruthless she can be. It takes a cold head and heart to hack out a man’s teeth and his finger.”

“I had to do that!” Rhiannon cried indignantly. “If I had no‘ claimed blood-right, I would have lost everything, and I’d have been scorned by the herd. Worse, they would’ve been suspicious and watched me, and I could never have escaped. Ye think I enjoyed doing it? It made me sick to my stomach, and I shook all over. I could no’ bear to wear the necklace afterwards. I had to do it, though. Have ye never done things ye wished ye did no‘ have to do?”

Iven nodded. “I’m a soldier,” he said wryly. “O‘ course I have.”

“Well then,” Rhiannon answered, her voice losing none of its passion. “Why judge me so hard? Ye do no‘ ken what it was like in the herd. Any sign o’ weakness, and they would have killed me. I was fighting for my life.”

“It is no‘ for me to judge ye at all,” Iven said rather coolly. “That will be me court’s job. Mine is to bring ye to them safely.”

Rhiannon lay back, covering her face with her arm. “I canna bear it in here,” she whispered. “I canna.”

Lewen drew her closer.

“Lewen, truly I do no‘ think this wise,” Iven said warningly.

“If ye willna let her out, I will stay in here with her,” Lewen said. “We may no‘ have much time together, I willna be parted from her.”

“Lewen…”

“Please, Iven.”

Iven sighed. “Rhiannon, ye must give me your solemn oath that ye will no‘ try and escape. And do no’ think I willna be watching ye.”

“I will swear a blood-oath, if ye will give me a knife to cut myself with.”

“No need for that,” Iven replied, wincing a little. “Ye have wounded yourself enough, I feel. Very well then, if ye promise.”

“I will no‘ try to escape while I am in your care,” Rhiannon said. “After that, I will no’ promise.”

“Fair enough,” Iven replied. He put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a key. “I will shackle ye together, though,” he warned. “I’m not taking any unnecessary risks.”

“All right,” Rhiannon said, so thrilled at the idea she might be allowed out of the caravan that she would have accepted far stricter preventative measures.

Lewen slid away from Rhiannon and stood up. As Iven stepped past him, Lewen touched his arm briefly. “Thank ye,” he said.

Iven nodded and unshackled Rhiannon. As she rubbed her bruised and chafed wrists, he unwound the chain from the bedpost, pausing to examine the damage she had done to the wood, then quickly and deftly snapped one of the shackles around Rhiannon’s wrist and the other around Lewen’s. “I hope I’m no‘ being played for a fool,” he said to no-one in particular and stood back to let Lewen lead Rhiannon out into the dawn.

The other apprentices lay in their sleeping rolls around the fire, which had sunk into grey ashes. Although it was light enough to see, the sun was not yet up and no birds called. The horses stood with sunken heads and relaxed forelegs in their hobbles. Even Lulu slept in a little round huddle.

“That was some sleeping spell ye cast, Lewen,” Iven said wryly. “I felt like I’d been hammered over the head when I woke. Your teachers at the Theurgia must be pleased with your progress if ye can cast a spell as strong as that already.”

“Me?” Lewen asked in amazement. “I canna cast sleeping spells that strong. Most o‘ my power lies in wood-working, ye ken that. My spell should have kept Rafferty sleepy for half an hour at most.”

Iven raised one eyebrow. “Look at the horses,” he said. “Look, even the bird in that tree is asleep. Happen ye’re stronger than ye thought.”

“I ken my strengths and weaknesses well,” Lewen argued. He glanced at Rhiannon. “Happen it was Rhiannon,” he said, frowning. “She has Talent, we ken that, but she’s never been tested. We have no idea what she can or canna do.”

“A sleeping spell is no‘ the easiest o’ Skills,” Iven said. “Ye have to be very subtle if it is to work, and no wild talent is ever that subtle, no matter how powerful they may be.”

Lewen shrugged. “It seems very odd,” he began.

Just then the door of the blue caravan opened and Nina stood with her shawl wrapped tight about her nightgown, her dishevelled hair hanging almost to her knees. “Roden!” she cried, in a voice made shrill with anxiety. “Roden! Where are ye?”

Iven started forward. “Nina! What’s wrong?”

“Where’s Roden?”

“Is he no‘ with ye?”

“No, no, he’s no‘. I canna believe I did no’ feel him getting out o‘ bed.” She put her hand to her head, swaying. “I feel so sick, so heavy-headed. I slept so very deeply. Maisie is still sleeping, I couldna wake her. Oh, that naughty lad! Where can he be?”

Nina called her son’s name again and again, and began to search through the bushes, though her feet were bare and the grass icy with dew. Iven and the others began to search too, everyone feeling a creeping sense of dread. There was no sign of the little boy. Nina became increasingly distressed.

“He was sleeping right beside me, I had my arms about him, and Maisie slept on the other side. No-one could’ve stolen him, it’s impossible.”

“Unless a very strong spell was cast indeed,” Iven said grimly. “We all slept heavily, every one o‘ us. I could no’ believe it when I woke and it was dawn. I was meant to wake and relieve Rafferty o‘ guard-duty in the dark hours. I have never no’ woken afore.”