Two Heirs (The Marmoros Trilogy Book 1) (12 page)

“I am yes,” David smiled back. “And you are?”

“My name’s Aron and this is my wife Miriam. We met your man a few minutes ago. He told us to expect you. Said you had a company of men with you.”

“They’re over there,” David indicated with his head. “Taking a break. Tell me, have you seen anything of a caravan with Duke Henry’s soldiers on the trail?”

“No my lord. We were taking a shortcut across country and only joined the trail a while back. Ran straight into Lord Gaelan and his man. He told us what happened in the village. Bad business.”

“Very bad,” David agreed. “So Lord Gaelan is ahead of us on the trail?”

“About half an hour, my lord.”

“And you didn’t see anything of Duke Henry’s men?”

“Well we saw one man in the distance. Could have been a soldier. He was on foot and appeared to be trying to catch a horse. Didn’t seem to be having much luck though.”

David smiled. “It looks as though they’re having a spot of bother this morning. We found another one of their horses on the loose only a few minutes ago. Still, my camp is about three leagues up the trail and your village is another league beyond. Good journey to you.”

“Good day to you, my lord. And good luck.”

David reformed the column and continued the march. Less than thirty minutes later, Ash came galloping towards them with two of his scouts behind.

“We have to turn off the trail here, milord. The caravan’s only about fifteen minutes ahead. It was attacked during the night and the horses were scattered. There’s men out all over the place searching for them.”

“The camp was attacked. By whom?”

“I’ll tell you as we go, milord. But we need to get off the trail now. You two take point and lead the way,” he ordered the two men who had followed him in.

“According to the report my man’s just given me, it was those two lads, Lord Jeren and his friend. Killed one of the sentries, stole six horses, including the captain’s stallion and scattered the rest. The camp is in uproar, the caravan hasn’t moved this morning ‘cos I don’t think they’ve recovered all the wagon horses yet and the captain’s spitting nails. He’s got every man he can spare out searching for the missing horses.”

“This has got to be an opportunity,” David said. “Get me somewhere where I can see what’s going on. Bern, put archers out flanking both sides of the column. If they come across one or two of the Duke’s men out on their own, take them down. Quietly if possible, but take them down anyhow.

“Where is Lord Jeren now?” he asked Ash.

“Hiding up in the hills, milord. They’re okay and they’re in a little gully that’s quite well hidden. Jerome’s looking over them. Oh, and apparently Jerome had to take out one of the Duke’s men last night, to protect the boys’ escape. He hopes that was all right.”

“Of course it was all right. It’s one less for us to deal with and the protection of Lord Jeren is of paramount importance at the moment. Pass on my congratulations when you see him.”

“I will, milord. Now this is where we’ve been set up to watch the camp. We’ve got a good view of the trail and everything around.”

Ash called the scout on duty over to report. “Okay, so what’s going on down below?”

“They’ve still got men out looking for the horses, milord. I don’t think they know that the two boys have got six of them hidden away. They think they’re loose somewhere and they’re trying to find them.”

“Any of them come this way?”

“Not this far up, milord. I guess they figure that horses wouldn’t run this far uphill. Given a choice, a free horse will choose the easiest path. They’ve got most of the wagon horses back now; they didn’t run so far but only four of the riding horses. Mind you there’s two riders came into camp about half an hour ago. Not soldiers, they was dressed more like villagers. Been talking or arguing with the captain ever since. I
seen what looked like a bag of money changing hands and the other one, who seemed to be the servant, handed over a large sack of something but I couldn’t tell what it was.”

“And they’re still down there arguing? Show me.”

The argument was indeed still going on with Lord Gaelan doing most of the talking and the captain, standing there with his arms crossed, shaking his head. There was a small, weedy looking man clad from head to toe in nondescript grey, standing alongside the captain and shaking his head equally vigorously.

“I assume that’s the tax collector down there with the captain,” he commented. “It doesn’t look as though the negotiations for the release are going well.”

As they watched Gaelan seemed to give up in despair and turned away. His manservant approached and whispered something in Gaelan’s ear which he paused to think about for a moment. Then he turned back towards the captain and pointed back down the trail. He held up three fingers and, this time, the captain appeared to be considering the offer as he uncrossed his arms. He spoke to the weedy little man who shrugged. Finally he nodded and gave an order to one of his men who moved off towards the prisoners. Gaelan went with him and pointed to one of the boys who the guard cut loose and escorted back to the captain.

“At a guess, I’d say that would be Raslo,” David said. “But I wish I knew what was going on down there.”

The captain gave another order and two of his men went to take the reins of the horses from the manservant. The man obviously protested because one of the soldiers backhanded him across the mouth and he fell to the ground. This provoked another furious outburst from Gaelan but the
captain just shrugged and pushed the boy towards his father. Gaelan put his arm round the boy’s shoulder but continued shouting until, at a sign from the captain, the soldiers surrounding them all drew their swords.

David could see from his posture that Gaelan was still furious but he turned and started walking out of the camp with his arm round the boy and the servant walking behind, still nursing his jaw.

“It would appear that Gaelan has just lost his horses as part of the deal. I wonder what else he traded to get his boy back.”

The captain gave a series of orders and two men mounted Gaelan’s horses. Another two men came trotting up on horses that they had recaptured and the captain spoke to them. Then all four turned and started back down the trail at a canter, passing Gaelan as they left the camp.

“I wonder where they’re going in such a hurry,” David said.

“Maybe Gaelan reported that horse we picked up earlier,” Ash replied.

“No, I don’t think so. He held up three fingers and… Oh, my god,” he gasped as realisation struck. “Aron. There must have been boys in the back of that wagon. The bastard’s sold out Aron.

“Feynor, take six men and get after them. Catch them before they get to that wagon and stop them. I don’t want anything happening to that family.

“Bern, Jorgen, you stay here and let me know if there are any more developments down below. Ash, I think it’s time I had a word with Lord Jeren.”

***

They found Jerome about ten minutes later, watching the entrance to a narrow little gully.

“They’re still in there, milord. There’s no exit at the far end. This is the only way in or out.”

“Okay, good job, Jerome.”

“Um, I had to kill one of the Duke’s men last night, milord. He was an archer and the boys were well within his range as they tried to get away with the horses.”

“I know. Ash told me. You did the right thing. He doesn’t know it yet but young Jeren is now the leader of his people. Protecting him is vital.”

“There’s one other thing, milord. The boys saw me last night as I was covering their escape.”

“Ah, did they now. That changes things slightly. In that case you’d better come in with me and Ash, you stand guard out here.”

The two boys scrambled to their feet as they rode in single file into the gully. Jeren reached for his belt knife only to find an empty sheath. He turned to reach for his bow as David dismounted and held up two empty hands. “Relax, Jeren. No cause for alarm.”

Baltur stood in a fighting crouch with Jeren’s blade in his hand as his friend asked, “Who are you? What are you doing here? And how do you know my name?”

“My name is Held and this,” he said indicating the scout standing at his side, “is Jerome who I think you saw last night. As for why I am here, your mother sent me to find you.”

“My mother,” Jeren said suspiciously. “How do you know my mother? And where is she?”

“Your mother is safe. She is back in the village with her people. However, I’m afraid I do have some bad news for you.”

“Go on.”

“Your father, Lord Brantyen, was fatally wounded by the captain of the Duke Henry’s soldiers, trying to prevent them from taking the boys. He survived the night just barely but died in your mother’s arms when she returned the next day.”

“You’re lying,” he shouted. “You’re a liar, liar… liar.”

Baltur lowered the knife and looked stricken as Jeren dropped to his knees.

“You’re a liar,” Jeren shouted again. “My father can’t be dead.”

David took a deep breath. “He died bravely, Jeren, trying to protect his people. Just as you have been for the last two days. I have a letter for you from your lady mother and she also wanted you to have this.”

He tossed the ring across to land in front of Jeren who picked it up in bewilderment.

“This… this is my father’s ring,” he stammered.

“Yes it is. And I think that now you should read your mother’s letter. It will explain many things.” He walked over and handed the letter to Jeren.

“It isn’t sealed,” he said, suspicious again.

“Your uncle Gaelan has taken your father’s seal and all his other appointments. The ring was all your mother was able to save. Please Jeren, please read the letter.”

He opened the letter and read for a long time. When he had finished, he got to his feet and handed it wordlessly to Baltur. Then he pointed directly at Jerome. “You. I knew I’d seen you somewhere before. You were one of the bandits who kidnapped my mother.”

“He is a bandit no longer, Jeren” David interposed smoothly. “He is a mercenary soldier in the employ of your lady mother.”

Jeren rounded on him furiously. “It’s Lord Jeren to you, Held” he shouted. “Bandit, mercenary, whatever you are.”

David inclined his head. “Very well,
Lord
Jeren.”

“How many men do you have with you?” Jeren asked

“Not as many as I would have liked but enough to deal with the situation. You and Jerome here removed two of their number last night and four of their men are now cut off from the main group. That improves the odds somewhat.”

Just at that moment, Ash rode through the entrance to the gully. “There’s news, milord.”

“What is it?” David and Jeren asked simultaneously.

Ash looked a little surprised but spoke to David. “The caravan’s on the move, milord. They brought in the last wagon horse just now and hitched them straight up. They’ve only got three riding horses left. The captain’s taken one and he’s sent the other two out still looking for the missing horses. All the other men are either on foot or on the wagons and some of them don’t look too happy about it.”

David smiled. “Any of the riders coming this way?”

“No, milord. They’re searching back up the trail.”

“Right, get back and get the men together. Leave one man for when Feynor returns and bring the rest this way. We need to circle round and get ahead of that caravan.”

“Yes, milord.”

As Ash disappeared through the narrow entrance, Jeren spoke up, a little more uncertain this time. “Held. You said your name was Held. But your man addressed you as ‘milord’. Are you Lord Held?”

“I make no claim to a title,” David replied. “But the men address me as such.”

“Well either you are or you aren’t,” Jeren said in exasperation. “Which is it?”

“I’m sorry, Lord Jeren. Not everything is totally black, nor totally white. You must take me as you find me and address me as you see fit.”

“Well then, Held. What is your plan?”

David sighed. “They are still a strong body of men. I would like to lay an ambush and take them by surprise during the hours of daylight. But until I see where my scouts will take me, I do not know if that will be possible.”

“Right. We will come with you and I will command the attack.”

“Uh yes and no, Lord Jeren. Yes, you will come with us because I am not leaving you out here on your own; your mother would skin me alive. But no, with your fifteen years of battle
hardened experience, my lord, you are not going to command the attack.”

“You forget yourself, Held. I outrank you. And when we get back I will tell my mother…”

“You will tell your mother,” David interrupted, “that I placed you across my knee and spanked you with the flat of my sword. And then you will have to explain to your lady mother exactly why I did that,
Lord
Jeren. Now which is it going to be, my way or the hard way?”

There was a long silence before Jeren spoke again. “I will not forget this, Held.”

“Lessons worth learning should never be forgotten, my lord. Now bring your horses and let’s get out of here.”

Ash was waiting with the men drawn up in formation as they exited the narrow defile.

“Any news of Feynor yet?” David asked.

“Not yet, milord. I’ve left one man where we stopped and I’ve sent two more to keep an eye on those loose riders.”

“Okay, how far are we from the river?”

“At least two leagues yet, milord. But when they reach it, there’s a well-defined trail along the banks of the river. They’ll turn east towards Stadenbridge and then the high road to Paelis.”

“Will they make it to the river before dark?”

“It’s possible, milord. They’re still making slow progress and they made a very late start but it is possible.”

“Alright. Take us round. I want to intercept them before they reach that river.”

The route they took was circuitous but they still made better time than the caravan. They reached the escarpment leading down to the river and moved along the edge until they could see both the main trail along the river and the side trail coming in from the village. There was a small wooded area at the junction of the two trails, mostly on the eastern side but with some cover also on the west. That was where David decided to lay the ambush.