Homage and Honour (3 page)

“I see.”

Elisabeth had
the nagging suspicion that the man saw all too well and knew
exactly who she was.

“How much money
do you have?”

“This and some
jewels.”

“Show me.”

She did so,
inwardly quaking, her instinct said to trust him but he had
frightened her with his mention of the thieves and slavers.

“You’re a lady
of noble birth are you not? There will be a search called for you
soon.”

Elisabeth hung
her head, she was positive that he intended to hand her over and
collect the reward that her father would have posted.

He debated with
himself. He knew of the disappearance of the Duke’s daughter but he
doubted if any of the villagers would know yet. He paid well for
speedy information, in his line of business it paid in the long
run.

“You’ve got
guts, I’ll give you that,” he said at last as he came to a
decision, “you can ship out with me – though it’ll cost you.”

“I’ll do
anything,” Elisabeth quavered, anything except being returned to
her father.

“Not that sort
of price girl. What sort of person do you take me for?” he declared
with some heat, “shall we say half of these jewels of yours, the
least notable and traceable and two gold circles?”

Elisabeth
nodded. He wasn’t going for the reward after all.

The Landlord
returned with a platter of cheese and bread and looked surprised to
see them together.

“Where d’ya
want to eat?” he asked her.

“The lad will
eat with me,” answered the seafarer with great presence of mind,
“I’ve only just hired him, been looking for a ship’s boy these past
three days.”

He indicated
that Elisabeth should make her way to his table in the corner.
Elisabeth took the hint and shuffled over. Her rescuer took the
wooden tray from the landlord and followed her with a curt nod of
thanks.

“When it’s dark
I’ll sneak you aboard,” he told Elisabeth sotto voce as she relaxed
enough to force some of the dry bread down her throat, “you’re not
the first I’ve smuggled north. It won’t be a comfortable trip mind,
I’ve got a secret compartment fitted out in the fish-hold. No
customs man has found anyone or anything I’ve hidden yet.”

Elisabeth
nodded in between mouthfuls. The bread was at least five days old
she reckoned and the cheese hard, but she was famished. It tasted
like the most scrumptious feast.

“I’m not headed
for either Argyll or the Islands,” he added.

“Where?”

“Vadath.”

Vadath!
Elisabeth knew a little about Vadath – the country in the Northern
Continent ruled jointly by Lind and man. Vadath was the home of the
Vada. She had heard the pages talking about them the afternoon she
had stolen the clothes from the store.

Her face
betrayed consternation at the prospect. What would they think when
a noble female fugitive from the Southern Continent arrived on
their doorstep? Send her back?

“You’ll be
welcomed there lass,” he said, divining her thoughts. “If there is
anywhere on this world where you can be safe it will be there.
Trust me.”

Surprisingly,
Elisabeth did.

The hidden
compartment on the boat was just as uncomfortable and smelly as she
had thought it would be (far worse than the cess cart) but she
endured it, eking out her water and trying not to retch. Of the
hard biscuits and dried fish her protector had given her when he
had led her aboard that evening, she ate only a small portion. She
was feeling so ill with the sway, swell and smell of the hold that
food didn’t seem to matter.

At last the
boat arrived in a wooded northern inlet. Her rescuer was one of
those stalwarts that dared trade with the hated Vadath, not that it
was strictly illegal but he was careful not to draw attention to
his lucrative activities.

Elisabeth was
hustled ashore and into a hut where the sailor took his leave of
her.

“Good luck,” he
said as he disappeared, “someone will come for you in a bit.”

She realised
when he had gone that she hadn’t even asked his name.

Two ‘someones’
came; a man dressed in maroon leathers and his mount, to
Elisabeth’s amazement, was a beautiful creature all shades of blues
and browns.

Now, Elisabeth
had been told about the Larg.

This creature
was nothing like the stories.

It, he, she,
was large, though smaller at the shoulder than her father’s horse.
A riding horse was a rich man’s transport, she had never ridden the
fiery stallion, hadn’t even touched him. This creature was nothing
like her father’s horse.

It was
beautiful with soft glossy fur, striped blue-brown and when she
looked closer, she noticed that it had tinges of grey and yellow at
its neck ruff and on its face.

The man at the
creature’s side was grey-haired. He had a craggy face,
criss-crossed with fine lines and a scar down one cheek.

A fighter,
Elisabeth realised. Some of her father’s most experienced battle
retainers looked the same, it told of a life spent in the pursuit
of arms. She wondered who or what this man had fought against.
Elisabeth knew little about the countries in the Northern
Continent. A southern female’s education, even a noble’s
daughter’s, was sketchy at best and devoted to what was known as
‘womanly pursuits’.

That there were
no Dukes in Vadath as in Murdoch, intermittently squabbling with
each other, she knew that much. So Elisabeth wondered greatly as
they drew closer and the man introduced himself and his Lind
partner.

His accent was
strange, oddly clipped and the words seemed to tumble into each
other.

“I am Harld,”
he announced, “Supply Officer at this station and this,” he
indicated the Lind with a wave of his hand, “is Alya. You are?”

It was time to
eradicate the last link with her old life.

“Beth.”

“That your real
name?”

She shook her
head.

“Fair enough.
It’s as good as any other. What brings you to Vadath at such great
cost and danger?”

“I am running
away.”

“I and Alya
know this already. What we need to know is from whom and from
where. Are you running away to escape justice?”

So she told
him, of how her father had arranged the marriage, of how she had
engineered her escape, how she had made her way along the coast and
her experience in the tavern.

“You were lucky
it was him who found you and not a slaver or worse.”

Beth had
stumbled across something here, something she did not
understand.

This feeling
was substantiated as Harld began to grill her unmercifully about
everything she knew about the Graham demesne. How many men had her
father? What did she know about the Larg? Beth got the distinct
impression that Harld knew the answers to most of the questions
already but she told him what she knew. It wasn’t much.

“I’m a female,”
she explained, “the men don’t tell us much.”

Harld
nodded.

Another man
appeared, older than Harld and carrying a bread roll and some root
tea. Elisabeth thought it strange that the man was doing what she
had always considered to be a woman’s task, unless he was a slave,
then she remembered that there weren’t any slaves in the North. The
man placed his burden down on the table beside her and left.

“What do you
intend to do now that you’re here?” asked Harld.

“I’ve still got
some of my jewels,” Beth answered, “I thought I could sell them to
get enough money until I find a job.”

“You trained
for anything?”

She shook her
head.

“Thought not. A
Duke’s daughter wouldn’t need to be would she?”

Harld thought
for a moment. His eyes grew distant. Alya’s eyes mirrored his and
with a start Beth realised that the rumours were true, the Lind and
their human partners could converse telepathically.

“The best thing
I can do for you,” he said at last, “is to send you up the line to
Vada. They’ll find you somewhere to live and something to do. What
do you think? You’re a free woman now, you can do what you
like.”

Beth blushed
and Harld had another thought.

“What age are
you?”

“Almost
fifteen.”

“In that case
you haven’t a choice. Up to Vada you go. You’ll need to attend
classes, catch up with your education.”

Beth was
surprised.

“We educate
both sexes here in Vadath, Argyll too and we make provision for
orphans and the like. Have you ever ridden?”

“Not very
much.”

“Don’t tell me,
females don’t often ride where you come from. Well, I’ll go and get
you some clean clothes. These reek of fish and after you’ve washed,
changed, eaten and had a rest for what remains of the night, you
can be on your way. I’ve a message to send anyway, a written
message. You can take it.”

“I’m scared of
horses,” she confessed.

“Great Andei’s
pawprints girl, you won’t be riding any horses! This is Vadath.
Here we ride the Lind.” His eyes grew distant again, he grinned at
Alya, smiled in a whimsical way and added, “and I am reminded that
even then it is with permission, of a sort.”

Alya chortled
and set her deep blue eyes on Beth and the girl had no inkling of
the fact that the two were discussing her.

: Altei I
think :
Alya telepathed to Harld after some heated mental
debate.

: Are you sure
Alya? I thought Lalya, she is faster :

: Definitely
not, it must be Altei, Lalya is far too inquisitive, she is also
female :

: What has
that got to do with it? :

: Think about
it :

“One of the
unpaired Lind will take you,” Harld informed Beth, “better get you
a provisions’ sack too. Apart from the farms, the countryside
you’ll be passing through is pretty empty and it will be best if
you don’t stop.”

“You want me to
journey to this Vada place on my own?” squeaked Beth.

“Why not?
You’ve got this far haven’t you? This isn’t Murdoch. You’ll be safe
with Altei. You were in far greater danger when you ran away from
your father.”

Beth did not
sleep well. As she tossed and turned, her dreams relived her escape
and, as dreams do, embellished them. A vengeful, looming father
haunted her. She relived the candlemarks spent in the tavern; she
was a slave, slave tattoos black against her skin, dressed in rags
as she worked in the fields in mute terror of what was to come. The
overseer drew her aside into the trees and lifted her tattered
skirts.

Beth woke
trembling. She lay for some time before drifting off to sleep
again.

This time
terrifying images did not haunt her dreams. They did try to return
but it was as if a nebulous sheet of light was between her and them
and she sheltered within the protection they provided. Within the
light a shadow was moving. Beth walked beside this shadow under
tall trees, serene and content. She wanted this part of the dream
to last forever.

Of course it
could not. Morning came at last and Harld arrived, set down the
bundle he was carrying on a small table and opened the shutters of
the tiny cabin.

“Good sleep?”
he asked with grave courtesy.

Beth sat up and
rubbed her eyes.

“If you wash
and then dress? The tub is through that door there. In the bundle
I’ve packed some spare clothes for your journey in case you need
them and a bedroll. They’re waiting outside. Altei, the Lind who
has consented to carry you to Vada knows the route well, I think I
told you last night that there are no Supply Stations on the way,
this close to the Stronghold we don’t need them.”

Beth nodded
sleepily, her brain still fogged with the dreams.

“Boots too,
I’ve put them on the table. They’re not new but should fit well
enough. It’s not as if you’ll be walking.”

He made for the
door adding as he went, “come when you’re ready. Breakfast is
waiting.”

Beth was very
hungry. She made haste to do as she was bidden and stepped outside.
Now it was light she could look round.

The hamlet was
set back from the coast a little ways enclosed by gigantic trees,
but she could still hear the waves. The cabins were built
differently than in her father’s demesne, the buildings were wider
and lower, their roofs almost touching the ground. The doors were
wider as well and could be swung open easily; she realised this was
so that the Lind could pass in and out without the problem of
handles and locks. There was a well in the centre of the hamlet and
around it, not two but five Lind were lounging, taking their ease
in the sunshine.

They looked at
her with interest and she stared back at them.

One of them
rose to its feet. Its face crinkled into what could only be a
smile. It had very large white teeth. It also spoke.

“Beth.”

The fascinated
Beth could only stand and stare.

“I am
Altei.”

Beth wondered
what to do. How did one greet a Lind? However, she was not a Duke’s
daughter for nothing. She might not know how to read, write nor
reckon much but she did know her manners.

She
curtsied.

The other four
Lind she noticed, appeared to find her action somewhat amusing.
They began to wag their tails and to whine. Was this how the Lind
laughed?

She flushed in
embarrassment.

“You have met
our friends then?” Harld asked, walking towards her, “and Altei has
introduced himself too I see. You’ll get to know him better during
your travelling. He will teach you about Vadath and the Lind.”

“Yes,” Beth
faltered.

“First though
it’s breakfast and then I’ll send you both on your way.”

Surprising
herself, Beth answered, “I’m looking forward to it.”

Harld looked at
her although all he said was, “glad to hear it. Perhaps Alya and
I’ll see you at Vada when we get a spot of leave.”