Resignation.
'Rest now, sire.'
Snuffling, searching, finding, wolfish chuckling.
'A gift, Ibris. An old and joyous dream. Sleep in peace. You are guarded in all places by a great and ancient strength.'
Darkness.
Chapter 26
Arwain looked along the broad valley towards Whendrak. Rooftops, towers and pinnacles floated on a light morning mist which was turning yellow in the rising sun. The air was cold and damp, but fresh and clean.
Whendrak was no Serenstad, but it was a fine, lively city. Its architecture mingled the spartan Bethlarii style with that of the ebullient, adventurous, Serens, and showed an equal irreverence for both. It was distinct and unmistakably characteristic. As were the Whendreachi; honed by the generations of warfare that had passed over them.
Rising out of the mist, the city was a beautiful sight, but for those who knew it, the valley carried too many memories for the scene to be observed untainted. Throughout the long history of the land, bitter battle after bitter battle had been fought there over Whendrak, and where the birds were now rising in song with the burgeoning day, the awful screaming song of battle had many times held sway. And the dew-soaked grasses now darkening under the horses’ hooves had as many times been prodigally drenched in blood.
Arwain had a great sympathy, and no small affection, for the Whendreachi, though it was not to be denied that they were a hard, obdurate and abrasive people. They seemed to possess an uncanny knack for self- destruction which was matched only by their seemingly relentless will to survive. And these two attributes they bound together with an acidic, graveyard humour. They tended to be both the delight and the despair of thinking people.
Arwain shook his head as he looked at the city. What the devil was going on there now? Would it prove to be no more than a little local political intriguing? Or would it be some ugly burst of tribal anger threatening to bring riot and terror to the streets and striking the sparks that could lead to war? Or …?
He dismissed his conjectures. He would find out soon enough when he reached the city and he would have to think on his feet then, unclouded by too many prior judgements.
Nonetheless, he was still uneasy. It was true that, of the travellers they had passed on the road, more than usual seemed to be entire families moving wholesale, and many bore a harassed, if not fearful, look about them. But that, though ominous, was not the main cause of his present concern. That came from the conduct of the Mantynnai among his guard.
In the night he had half woken from a fitful sleep to hear the low murmur of voices nearby. Turning, he saw that it was a group sitting around the campfire. They were talking softly but earnestly-agitatedly even-from their gestures. His eyes closing of their own volition, Arwain had made no effort to listen to what they were saying, but words had floated over to him. Strange foreign words, resonant and strong, that in some way made him feel a poor, inadequate creature. The men were the Mantynnai, he realized as he drifted into sleep again. And they were holding this soft, anxious debate in their own language.
Now, in the cold morning, he saw the incident as yet another in the strange chain of events that had started with their chance meeting with Estaan in the crowded Moras street, and gone on to the equally chance encounter with the two riders on the bridge. Seemingly trivial incidents which had left the unshakable Mantynnai uncertain and even defensive.
On an impulse, he signalled the platoon to halt, then motioned Ryllans forward, out of earshot of the others.
'You disturbed me with your debate last night,’ he said, looking intently at him.
Ryllans did not reply immediately. ‘I'm sorry, sir,’ he said flatly after a moment.
'Ryllans, it's not enough,’ Arwain went on, fighting down a twist of anger at this offhand reply. ‘In all the years I've known you, I've never heard you use your own language, even in private when you were alone with your compatriots. And I've never seen you so … uncontrolled … so unsettled. We may be riding into great danger here, as you yourself pointed out. I must know what's happened that could so unman my father's finest guards before I risk entering Whendrak.'
Ryllans met his gaze unflinchingly. He opened his mouth to speak, but Arwain spoke first.
'Elder to younger, Ryllans,’ he said. ‘No deceit, no equivocation.'
Ryllans’ expression softened and he almost smiled. ‘An excellent throw, sir,’ he said. ‘A finely judged lack of opposition to overwhelm me. You're an apt pupil.'
'And none of that either,’ Arwain said sternly. ‘I want the truth. Now!'
Ryllans turned towards the city and shook his head regretfully. ‘I'm sorry,’ he said. ‘I told you yesterday, it is truly not my story to tell.'
Arwain's eyes narrowed, but Ryllans reached out and took his arms, almost fatherly.
'You're correct,’ he said. ‘We are … disturbed.’ He hesitated. ‘Echoes from our past have reached us. Rolling out of nowhere like thunder out of a cloudless summer sky.’ Pain came into his face but he crushed it. ‘Echoes of a past of guilt and shame for which we try ever to atone. Two great blows came yesterday. Separate. But coming together like hammer and anvil. The evil we … followed…’ He forced the word out. ‘…and thought dead, is perhaps with us again. And those we wronged are come to seek us out.'
'The two riders?’ Arwain exclaimed, his face disbelieving. ‘Two men! How could two men exact retribution from you? Besides, you have the protection of all of Serenstad if you need it, you know that. And whatever you may have done, it's long atoned for by your service here.'
'They have the law of our homeland with them. And right,’ Ryllans said simply. ‘And they will seek an accounting, not retribution. Punishment will lie in the hands of others.'
His voice and his whole manner were oddly fatalistic. Arwain put his hand to his head. ‘I don't understand,’ he said. ‘We have our own law here. And no one can…'
Ryllans’ hand tightened about his arm. ‘I told you this, because our shock had infected you and was likely to mar your judgement,’ he said. ‘What I told you yesterday about Whendrak is still also true.’ He pointed towards the city. ‘There is what must occupy your full attention now.’ There was a hint of anger in his voice. ‘We are not unmanned. We are warriors. We move as an attack demands, when it demands. Where there is no foreknowledge, there can be no forethought. And there is never true foreknowledge. That you should know already. We are your Mantynnai, you have our hearts, spirits, and sword arms unimpaired, here and now. Serve us and Serenstad similarly in Whendrak, Ibris's son. All other things in their due time.'
Though softly spoken, Ryllans’ words impinged on Arwain powerfully. He struggled briefly to find an answer to the Mantynnai's ruthless logic, but could not.
Instead, he laid his hand on the hand that was holding his arm and gripped it powerfully in acceptance, then he signalled the platoon forward.
They approached the city at a leisurely walk and with the Duke's pennant well displayed, if a little reluctant to flutter in the still morning air.
'They're extending their walls,’ Ryllans said as they drew nearer. He pointed.
Arwain followed his finger and saw the cobwebs of scaffolding blurring the line of the walls. ‘They're a neutral city, they can do what they want,’ he said with a slight shrug. ‘But it's not good. The Whendreachi wouldn't spend money like that if they weren't very concerned about something.'
They continued in silence until they came to the first gate. It was closed, and a small crowd of people were gathered in front of it, waiting with surly patience for it to be opened. A large burly man sitting on a rock by the side of the gate looked up as Arwain's platoon arrived. Seeing them, he shook his head wearily and stood up, taking hold of the leading rein of a string of donkeys as he did so.
Muttering to himself, he walked over to a wicket door in the gate and began beating on it with a massive clenched fist.
'Come on!’ he bellowed, in the unmistakable Whendreachi accent. ‘Get off your lazy backsides in there. I've
