arm. Nectan was holding a pad of cloth on his shoulder trying to staunch the bleeding. Malcolm’s attendants bound Sharn and Fritha’s hands with cord and forced them to their knees before Malcolm.
“This was meant to be a trial of strength and you have turned it into a brawl, bringing shame on my hearth. You will both die tomorrow at dawn. Get them out of my sight.” The spearmen hustled Sharn and Fritha from the yard and locked them up in a tiny storeroom.
They stared at each other in the dim light of the windowless building. Sharn held her at arm’s length – there was something he needed to get off his chest straight away. “Fritha, I’m sorry for blaming you for my problems … before. It wasn’t your fault.”
Fritha brushed this aside with a smile and kissed him to show there were no hard feelings.
And Sharn had something else to say. “No matter what happens … I can face anything if we’re together.”
But Fritha suddenly laid her finger on Sharn’s lips as her sharp hearing picked up something outside. She turned to cock her ear at the door. Sharn orientated and heard the voices too.
Somebody was talking to the two spearmen on guard. Sharn had heard that voice before – it was Bredan. He was reminiscing with the men about their time in the warrior circle and judging from the clinks and slurping noises, he was pressing them to drink. After more drinking and the telling of a long joke which Sharn could not understand, the speech of the spearmen slowed and slurred and then ceased altogether.
Moments later Sharn and Fritha heard the heavy bolt being worked and the door was pushed open. Fritha’s face lit up and she rushed over to Bredan. He kissed her on the forehead and quickly explained that the guards would be out to it for at least a couple of hours, thanks to the poppy juice he had put into their wine. Sharn and Fritha should make good their escape and if they ran fast, they could be deep in the forest before the alarm was raised.
“But what will happen to you?” Sharn asked. “Won’t they punish you?”
“I am not afraid of that. The sun has set on my world and the ancient ones beckon,” replied Bredan calmly. “Now you must go.”
Fritha shook her head – she could not let him make this sacrifice.
“I am your master, girl. You took an oath, remember.” And to clinch his argument, he added, “If you do not go, nor will Sharn – and so you will be responsible for both your deaths.”
The colour drained from Fritha’s face, as she accepted the truth of this.
Bredan led the way through the guardroom where the two spearmen snored peacefully. He put his head out the door to make sure the coast was clear.
“Be safe,” Bredan said.
Fritha embraced him with a sob and Sharn shook his hand for the last time.
“Go like the wind,” Bredan threw after them as they made off into the night.
CHAPTER 18
WALKING SIDE BY SIDE
T heir journey back to Ryant was like a dream. They walked side by side through dim oak forests and out onto sunny, windswept uplands, seeming to be alone in the world. Everything was so perfect between them they started to drag their feet so their journey would last longer.
On the second day, after foraging for berries and nuts and drinking from a crystal stream, they lay down for a rest. A thrush landed on a branch above them and began to sing. Sharn had to wonder why the bird was trilling its heart out. Was it just for their benefit?
“I wish … I could live that way …” Sharn stumbled over the thought, “… just doing what you’re doing … not caring about the future or the past.”
Fritha shook her head from side to side with a smile, as if to say that’s impossible. They lay content on the forest floor and looked at the scraps of cloud showing through the leaves, feeling the spin of the world under their backs.
But Sharn fretted about what was going to happen to his father, and his sister too, for that matter – and it was this that drove
“This was meant to be a trial of strength and you have turned it into a brawl, bringing shame on my hearth. You will both die tomorrow at dawn. Get them out of my sight.” The spearmen hustled Sharn and Fritha from the yard and locked them up in a tiny storeroom.
They stared at each other in the dim light of the windowless building. Sharn held her at arm’s length – there was something he needed to get off his chest straight away. “Fritha, I’m sorry for blaming you for my problems … before. It wasn’t your fault.”
Fritha brushed this aside with a smile and kissed him to show there were no hard feelings.
And Sharn had something else to say. “No matter what happens … I can face anything if we’re together.”
But Fritha suddenly laid her finger on Sharn’s lips as her sharp hearing picked up something outside. She turned to cock her ear at the door. Sharn orientated and heard the voices too.
Somebody was talking to the two spearmen on guard. Sharn had heard that voice before – it was Bredan. He was reminiscing with the men about their time in the warrior circle and judging from the clinks and slurping noises, he was pressing them to drink. After more drinking and the telling of a long joke which Sharn could not understand, the speech of the spearmen slowed and slurred and then ceased altogether.
Moments later Sharn and Fritha heard the heavy bolt being worked and the door was pushed open. Fritha’s face lit up and she rushed over to Bredan. He kissed her on the forehead and quickly explained that the guards would be out to it for at least a couple of hours, thanks to the poppy juice he had put into their wine. Sharn and Fritha should make good their escape and if they ran fast, they could be deep in the forest before the alarm was raised.
“But what will happen to you?” Sharn asked. “Won’t they punish you?”
“I am not afraid of that. The sun has set on my world and the ancient ones beckon,” replied Bredan calmly. “Now you must go.”
Fritha shook her head – she could not let him make this sacrifice.
“I am your master, girl. You took an oath, remember.” And to clinch his argument, he added, “If you do not go, nor will Sharn – and so you will be responsible for both your deaths.”
The colour drained from Fritha’s face, as she accepted the truth of this.
Bredan led the way through the guardroom where the two spearmen snored peacefully. He put his head out the door to make sure the coast was clear.
“Be safe,” Bredan said.
Fritha embraced him with a sob and Sharn shook his hand for the last time.
“Go like the wind,” Bredan threw after them as they made off into the night.
CHAPTER 18
WALKING SIDE BY SIDE
T heir journey back to Ryant was like a dream. They walked side by side through dim oak forests and out onto sunny, windswept uplands, seeming to be alone in the world. Everything was so perfect between them they started to drag their feet so their journey would last longer.
On the second day, after foraging for berries and nuts and drinking from a crystal stream, they lay down for a rest. A thrush landed on a branch above them and began to sing. Sharn had to wonder why the bird was trilling its heart out. Was it just for their benefit?
“I wish … I could live that way …” Sharn stumbled over the thought, “… just doing what you’re doing … not caring about the future or the past.”
Fritha shook her head from side to side with a smile, as if to say that’s impossible. They lay content on the forest floor and looked at the scraps of cloud showing through the leaves, feeling the spin of the world under their backs.
But Sharn fretted about what was going to happen to his father, and his sister too, for that matter – and it was this that drove
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