nobody has found you yet.'
Reifan had to think for a while before he replied.
'Seven years, I think. Maybe it has been eight.' He looked away, deep in thought. 'Yes, eight. I'm sure of it.'
As they talked, they crossed the open ground between the cliff edge and the tents. The footing was slippery with moss and Anglhan wished he hadn't worn his best boots.
'It used to be that the brigands around here would move around a lot,' Reifan continued, raising his voice as the wind gusted away his words. 'They were afraid that the king would send men after them. Lord Aroisius realised that was their problem; they were easy to pick off, one group at a time. Although we have raided caravans in the past, we tend to go coldwards to Ersua instead, which means the chief of Magilnada isn't really bothered by us. That means we've been left alone to gather our strength. Aroisius the Free wants to take the city before winter comes. That way, the king won't be able to do anything until next spring, by which time we'll be ready to take whatever he sends at us.'
They were in the camp now, threading their way through a maze of guy ropes and canvas. Contrary to Anglhan's first impression, the camp was not deserted. Groups of men clustered around small fires. They sharpened weapons, ground grain, stirred pots of broth or skinned deer and rabbits. Here and there small corrals had been made of rope fences, holding longhorned goats.
'In here,' said Reifan, lifting the flap of a tent to their left. A warm gust greeted them and Anglhan realised how chill his skin had become despite the sun. With a nod of thanks, he ducked inside.
Aroisius the Free and his chieftains sat on a circular rug at the far end of the tent, arguing. The leader was a gaunt man, even taller and skinnier than Reifan. He had a wispy beard and thinning black hair that hung lankly over his shoulders. Anglhan guessed him to be about forty years old, though he could have been older. He looked up with bright blue eyes, animated, analysing every detail of his visitors in a sweeping glance.
Aroisius stood up as far as he could and walked towards them, neck bent so that his head did not touch the ridge pole running the length of the tent. He extended a bony hand and Anglhan shook it strongly.
'What a magnificent enterprise!' declared Anglhan, wearing his broadest smile. The chieftains looked at him dispassionately, eight bearded, gruff faces. The debt guardian continued on regardless, reciting the speech he had been rehearsing to himself for several days.
'I know that at first you must think me a strange convert to your cause. Am I not one of the men that has profited from the misery of those enslaved by the cruel edicts of that spirit-cursed fiend Aegenuis? I confess to you now that I was such a man. But sometimes a man lives his life with his eyes only half-open. He sees only what he wants to see, and I am ashamed to say that I was such a man until recently.
'But if the spirits bless a man, sometimes his eyes will open full and he will see all of the world, and the true part he has to play in it. Some do so reluctantly, bowed by the burden that they see they must bear. Not I! I am, it has been said, a man of opportunity. When I-'
'Shut him up before I do,' growled one of the chieftains, rising to his feet, his fingers on the haft of a small axe at his belt.
Aroisius held up his hands for silence. He cocked his head to one side and looked Anglhan straight in the eye.
'Do not think that I am an idiot because I live in a tent on a hillside.' His voice was soft, cultured. 'I know what it is that drives men like you: greed.'
Anglhan opened his mouth to protest, but Aroisius stopped him with a raised finger.
'That was not meant as an insult, merely an observation. We all have our weaknesses. But we also all have our strengths, and it is those that interest me more. Even now, your mind is whirling with the possibilities. You are looking for the profit in this.'
'I assure you, my intentions…' Anglhan's defence died away under Aroisius' unblinking stare. The rebel leader smiled thinly.
'I am sure we will come to understand each other better. For now, you should know two things. Firstly, that you are at my mercy. Your crew are being disarmed as we speak, and your Nemurians are being offered an agreement far more handsome than the one you have with them. This is not a threat, merely a statement of the measures I am taking to protect myself.'
Anglhan smiled bravely, though inside his guts writhed with worry.
'And the second thing?' he asked.
Aroisius laid a hand on the landship captain's shoulder and gently guided him to the rug. A little pressure directed Anglhan to sit, and Aroisius joined him, crossing his long legs. He gestured to one of his chieftains, who twisted around and picked up a small chest. It was passed around the circle until it reached Aroisius, who placed it in front of Anglhan.
'Secondly, you should know that whatever schemes you were concocting, I can make it far more profitable to serve me.'
The rebel leader opened the chest. Inside was filled with minted gold pieces, small and triangular with a stylised face on one side and a ziggurat on the other. Anglhan stared at it. He dragged back his hand, realising that he had reached out towards the money. Something struck him as odd.
'Those are askharins,' he said.
Aroisius's reply was a lopsided smile.
V
Though he could not see Anglhan's face, Furlthia could guess at his captain's expression when the gold was revealed. The first mate hung back by the tent entrance while Aroisius continued at length, talking about the need to claim Magilnada so that it could become the capital of a new state free from the tyranny of slavery. He spoke about the huge swell of support that would erupt across Salphoria once this haven was created, and how Magilnada would become the new centre of power for the Salphors.
Anglhan picked up one of the Askhan coins and examined it closely. He tapped it against a tooth and even smelt it.
'These are real,' he said. 'Where do they come from?'
Aroisius plucked the coin from Anglhan's fingers and dropped it back in the chest, which he shut with a thud.
'It is where some of them may end up that you should concern yourself with,' said the rebel leader. 'In your trove, perhaps?'
Anglhan shrugged.
'That's quite a bit of coin, but it's not enough to equip an army.'
'There is plenty more, believe me,' said Aroisius.
'And what sort of employment do you have in mind for me?'
Aroisius stood and gestured for Anglhan to do likewise. He led the landship master to the door of the tent.
'That is for a future discussion. Please return to your men and assure them that they are under no threat. Please also convey my regret at having to detain them at the moment. I am sure they will all become worthy soldiers in the army of liberation, but for the moment I must insist that they remain in camp.'
'That applies to me as well?' said Anglhan.
'More than anyone,' said Aroisius, with a smile that did not reach his eyes.
Anglhan signalled for Furlthia to leave first, and outside they found Reifan waiting for them.
'What would happen if I tried to leave?' Anglhan asked innocently as they walked back through the camp. Reifan glanced around, to the mountain and across the valley to the slope on the other side. Furlthia followed the rebel's gaze and saw more than a dozen wooden structures concealed behind branches and rocks. There were several bowmen in each covering the mouth of the valley.
'I am sure you can find your own way back,' said Reifan when they reached the top of the path.
Furlthia went first so that he could help Anglhan clamber down the track. The captain was pensive for some time, saying nothing until they were almost halfway down the cliff face. As if a lamp had been lit, Anglhan's expression brightened.
'So that's the wonderful Aroisius the Free, eh?' he said. He tapped his fingers together excitedly. 'I think this might turn out even better than I had hoped.'
