The Bloody Quarrel (The Complete Edition) (22 page)

“All right,” Kerrin said reluctantly.

“Come on, talk to the recruits with me,” Fallon said, hoping that would make Kerrin smile again.

The recruits were certainly delighted to see them both. Fallon still found it strange to have them cheering him and saluting when he walked past. But it was important that they knew he cared for them, for that was the only way to get them to fight and die for him.

“Had enough to eat?” he asked at a score of shelters, which always brought a smile.

Having Kerrin throw a knife into one of the poles holding up the shelter, or loosing a bolt from his one-hand crossbow into the potato that was sitting on someone’s plate made them roar with laughter, while asking where they were from gave him both an idea of how many more might be coming in from the counties and also how this was a cross-section of Gaelland.

“Get some rest, lads,” he told them. “Because tomorrow the real work starts!”

That always brought a groan and, after the twentieth time he said it, he signaled to Kerrin and the pair of them slipped away, Caley at their heels.

*

“What is this for?” Feray asked with disdain.

Fallon bounced the ball, an inflated pig’s bladder reinforced with leather.

“It’s for a game. We use it to keep fit and have fun,” he replied.

“But why have you brought it here to us?” she demanded.

Fallon tossed it to Kerrin, who caught it on his second attempt.

“I thought your boys might like to get outside in the fresh air and stretch their legs, run around and have fun,” he said. “Kerrin and I will be playing out there. You are welcome to come and watch. Or even to join in if you like,” he said casually.

His attempts to win over Feray were going nowhere. Extra food, even Kottermani delicacies, from the palace kitchen was treated with cool distaste. He had known it was not going to be easy, for he had tricked and abducted her, tortured her husband and threatened to do the same to her son. But time was slipping away and he had to try if he was going to use her to influence Kemal, even unwittingly.

“We’re going now. You might like to enjoy a little sun, while it is out,” he said, putting his arm around Kerrin’s shoulder and walking away.

There was a quiet plea from one of the boys in Kottermani and then he heard the footsteps as they followed him.

The little square outside the Guildhouse was empty, although Fallon had left a couple of villagers in the entrance, to keep an eye on anyone who might be coming near and to stop Feray and her sons if they had the idea to run.

Fallon had no intention of playing out in the open, where they could be seen from the street beyond, but over to the left side of the square, the part without the bloodstains etched into the cobbles, there was room to run behind the shelter of the houses lining the entrance. He and Kerrin began by kicking the ball to each other, the bladder bouncing over the cobbles, while the two Kottermani boys watched, Feray holding the hand of each.

Fallon had not played in years, although it was a common enough game among young guardsmen rather than among children. Like the game of hurling, which the nobles loved to bet on, Gaelish football was less of a game and more of a training exercise for guards, so they could get fit and learn to work with each other as a team without risking serious injury.

The old skills came back and he found himself forgetting about training an army, about winning over Feray, even about missing Bridgit as he chased the ball around with Kerrin. He missed a catch and saw that the Kottermani boys were watching avidly. So next time Kerrin kicked it, he deliberately let it bounce past him and right to their feet.

“Kick it to me,” he invited.

The taller of the two boys, Asil, swung his foot and sent the ball bouncing back over the cobbles.

Kerrin raced to get it and kicked it to the other boy, Orhan.

Two kicks later the two boys had torn their hands free of their mother’s and were joining in, the three of them trying to keep it away from the chasing Fallon. Fallon deliberately missed the ball a couple of times to keep the game going but then had Orhan, the boy he had threatened to torture, cornered, Looking at him, he could not believe he had been prepared to use a knife on the lad. It felt like a tale told to scare children rather than something real.

But as he approached, arms outstretched, it stopped being a game – Orhan too remembered all too readily. Abandoning the ball, he raced back to his mother.

Fallon picked up the ball and cursed himself, although was careful not to let anything show on his face. “That feels like enough for today,” he said brightly, puffing a little himself and seeing that the boys were sweating. As Kerrin was also sweating, at least it meant it was not fear making the Kottermani boys perspire.

He tossed the ball back to Asil, who was also edging towards his mother.

“Keep it to play with. Perhaps we can have another game tomorrow,” he suggested.

Without saying anything, Feray hurried her two sons inside. But Fallon noticed they took the ball with them.

“Did that work, Dad?” Kerrin asked.

“We’ll see. But at least we had fun!” Fallon said, turning away and heading back to the castle with his son.

*

“They are not picking up the sword fast enough,” Bran said. “They have forgotten what we have taught them by the time they take another turn with the swords.”

Fallon looked around at his other lieutenants and they all nodded. “We are trying to find the best three hundred and concentrate on them but that is easier said than done,” Gannon agreed. “We can all agree on the best one hundred, perhaps the best two hundred, but then it gets difficult.”

Fallon leaned back against the castle wall and forced a smile to his face. “Look happier,” he said out of the corner of his mouth. “Some of them are watching us.”

As the others straightened up and took the sour looks off their faces, he nodded approval. “Then we only take two hundred for the swords. Work them every day.”

“What of the others?”

“Spears,” Fallon said instantly. “I want them drilling with spears. I don’t know if the Kottermani armor will stop a sword blow but it will not be able to block a spear. I want to fill these streets with long spears, like hedgehogs. Lines of them. A first rank with swords and shields. A second rank with regular size spears, the height of a man, a third rank with spears half a length longer and a fourth rank with spears twice that length. If the Kottermanis want to get through, they will each be facing three spears trying to impale them, just to get to the men with shields.”

“Where are we going to get spears like that from?” Brendan asked.

“We have the spearheads already. Just cut longer poles. See the shipbuilders down by the docks and get the poles they use for pushing ships out, as well as ones they use for oars. All they have to be taught to do then is stand firm and don’t thrust it through the man in front.”

“A spear twice the height of a man will be fearsomely heavy,” Bran warned.

“Then we find the strong ones. Surely that is easier than finding the best swordsmen,” Fallon said encouragingly.

“Aye,” Gannon admitted.

“Then let’s not waste any more time. Who knows how much we have?”

*

Fallon wandered through the square, keeping a close eye on what was going on around him. One of Gannon’s men was screaming at the recruits and he tapped the man on the shoulder, leading him a few paces away.

“They are not men who are doing this for money. They are going to fight for their country. We have to build them up, not break them down,” he said in a whisper, keeping a light smile on his face. “We don’t have the time to do it the normal way.”

The guardsman nodded sullenly and Fallon patted him on the shoulder, keeping the man there with a forceful hand.

“You might be thinking I’m too soft on them. That men who are about to go into battle have to obey without thinking. Yet they will not be standing in a big line with everyone else. They will be split into small groups, fighting alone in streets, not knowing if they are the only ones left. They have to trust you, not fear you, or you will be left to face the angry Kottermanis all alone,” he said.

The guardsman nodded uncertainly and Fallon let go of him, turning instead to the group of ten who were wrestling with the longer spears and nearly hitting each other.

“Men! Come closer!” he called and they stood straighter, delighted to see Captain Fallon taking an interest in them.

He made them stand shoulder to shoulder, physically moving men in until they were touching each other.

“You’ve got to be closer to the man next to you than you are to the women you are shagging,” he told them.

“What if you’re not shagging anyone, Captain?” one of them asked nervously.

“Oh, you will be soon enough. Just tell them you were one of Captain Fallon’s men and they’ll be falling over themselves to get close to you,” he said, making them laugh.

“That’s the way,” he said, inspecting their new line. “Remember that. And remember I am proud of you. All of you!”

He gave them a cheery wave and nodded to the guardsman.

“Dad, what were you talking about?” Kerrin asked.

“Just a silly joke,” Fallon said hastily. Sometimes he forgot Kerrin was there … Now that Bridgit was on her way back, he would have to be careful what he was saying. It would just be his luck for her to get back and find Kerrin swearing like a drunken sailor. That fear made him strangely happy. For the chance to see her again, he would happily endure any number of tongue-lashings. And worrying about her return was far better than worrying about her never returning.

“What do you want?” Gokmen demanded grumpily.

Bridgit smiled thinly. Since she had fooled him into thinking she was carrying Prince Kemal’s child, he had treated her warily. That had changed to something close to respect after the doctor had confirmed she was pregnant. The slave master had even let the doctor keep visiting her and the children once a quarter moon, making sure that all were healthy. His earlier bluster and shouting was almost gone – she could sense the prospect of an outraged Prince Kemal demanding revenge hovered over him at all times.

“Before my people are sold away, they must be brought here, so I can speak to them and they can spend a last day with their children,” she said briskly, making it sound as though there was no choice in the matter.

“Why?” Gokmen growled. “Why can they not see the children as they have been doing?”

“If you want them to be good slaves, then you will do this. They need a proper day together, not just a turn of the hourglass. It makes far more sense to have them all here at once, then they all leave at once.”

Bridgit paused while Ely finished off the translation. Gokmen understood most of what she said but not all and she wanted him to know exactly what she was asking.

“Why do they need this?” Gokmen asked.

“You want them to be good slaves? Then they need this. Or you will find some of them causing trouble – and it will be you who pays the price,” Bridgit said sternly.

“If they try to run, they know the penalty,” Gokmen said remorselessly. “And if they do anything worse, I will kill some of the children.”

Bridgit bit back her fury. “I shall speak to Prince Kemal when he returns. He knows that I alone can make my people into good slaves for you. You will be the one facing the whip if this does not happen,” she threatened.

His eyes widened in anger and, for a moment, she thought she had gone too far – then the familiar wary expression crept over his face. He obviously felt he could not risk the Prince’s wrath.

“But when the Prince returns, when I tell him of how you have helped, you will be well rewarded,” she added, softening her voice.

Gokmen tugged at his beard. “Why here?”

“Here is familiar to the children. Here they are happy,” Bridgit said simply. “This is one final day of happiness, before their parents leave for a life of slavery. Place guards outside the front door and we shall be just as safe as any other day of visits.”

Gokmen considered this as Ely translated it into Kottermani. Bridgit hoped the young woman was saying all the right things.

“There must be no trouble. If there is, the children will pay for it,” he said finally.

Bridgit hid her relief. Without this, her plan to get the people out of Adana was doomed to failure. “They will arrive after morning prayers and leave after evening prayers,” she said.

Gokmen scowled at her but obviously could not see anything wrong with this. Again she kept her face still. The whole plan was based around giving the guards a series of drinks through the day so that by the evening they would be drowsy and even more bored than usual.

“And there will be plenty of food and drink for them,” she added.

Gokmen grunted. “Agreed then. It will happen next quarter moon. Prince Kemal will be back soon, perhaps even by then.”

“I shall tell him how you have been a good and faithful servant of his and helped my people adjust to their new life,” Bridgit said, then her brain caught up with what Gokmen was saying. “Prince Kemal is returning early?”

“He is,” Gokmen confirmed. “You will be pleased to see him?”

“Oh, most pleased,” Bridgit lied. “But how did you hear these glad tidings?”

Gokmen pointed upwards and rattled off a string of Kottermani.

“What is it? A special wind at this time of year?” Bridgit asked Ely impatiently.

“Birds,” Ely said. “Messenger birds, trained to fly to their home. It seems one of them arrived today from Prince Kemal, as he sails back to Adana.”

“My joy will be complete then,” Bridgit said with a broad smile that got nowhere near her eyes. “Did he say why he returns?”

“He has ordered a muster of soldiers and for a fleet to be ready. He will return to Gaelland with an army,” Gokmen said. “You will have more of your people to look after soon, I think.”

“That will be another thing to look forward to,” Bridgit lied brightly. “Thank you, slave master Gokmen.”

He nodded, she bowed and then left him, her mind racing.

*

“Why does he want an army? Does he seek to take Gaelland, make us part of his filthy empire?” Ahearn asked.

“Well, if he does, we have to get back as fast as possible. If nothing else, we need to warn them what is coming,” Bridgit said.

“How can they stop a Kottermani army? We have no army of our own, just a company or two of guardsmen with each noble and the fyrd, which is us, armed with whatever we have,” Ahearn said. “We have seen their soldiers in armor and those huge bows that they have on the wall. What can we do against them?”

“More there than what we can do here,” Bridgit said crisply. “And once we are there, who knows? There are men who will fight, men like Fallon.”

Ahearn grunted. “You told us that he would come for you and the rest of your village and that has come to naught.”

Bridgit bit her lip at that thought. She had been so sure Fallon would come. It would be the sort of idiotic thing he would do. Having seen Adana and its defenses, she knew that any attack he made would have been doomed to failure. But surely he would have tried anyway?

She shook her head. Now was not the time for such thoughts. They had to get home before they thought about anything else. “That is by the by,” she said. “This is the plan.”

She looked around at the ring of worried faces. This was the fourth group of adults who had come to visit the children that day and none of them had appeared excited about her idea. But none of them could come up with anything better and, try as she might, she could not either.

She took them through how it would work, from drugging the guards, to luring them in and overpowering them, taking their weapons and heading to the docks. Once there, a small group would have to cut the cords on the giant bows while the others hurried onto a ship.

“I have been through the city twice just after prayers and it is quiet,” she said. “But if we do meet some guards, we shall have to put them down quickly and silently. We need time to get to the ship, make sure there is enough food and water on board and secure those giant bows. And the children are not going to be able to run fast, either. We cannot have a panic where some are left behind in the rush for the ship.”

“I can lead the men to take out the bows,” Ahearn offered.

Bridgit shook her head. “We need you to captain the ship. You are too valuable. We cannot take the chance of losing you.”

The other men looked at each other and she sighed to herself. None of the other groups had volunteered either. It sounded like it was going to be a death sentence for whoever was going and the fact she had just stopped Ahearn from going was hardly encouraging them.

“I will lead you. I just need six strong men who can cut through horsehair ropes,” she said, glaring at them.

Ahearn grunted. “You sit back while a woman offers to lead?”

The other men half-heartedly agreed to come along and she felt a trickle of fear along the back of her neck. The chances were they would be cut off and forced to jump into the harbor, swim to the ship and try to climb up a rope to get to safety. She wanted to tell them that she was too important to risk on such a dangerous mission but could not. It had to be done and, if nobody else was willing to take it on, she had to step up. She knew that from Fallon. A leader had to do the things everyone else was too scared to try.

“Rest at night. Eat and drink as much as you can, especially on that day,” she said, changing the subject to something they would be happier to talk about. All were looking leaner as a result of their moon as slaves. The food was generous but the unrelenting work had trimmed them all down. “We shall have extra food and drink and we need to eat and drink all we can, for who knows how much food we will be able to take with us? You may be feeling fear, worrying too much to want to eat but you have to force yourself to.”

They did not look much happier at that idea and she had little else that was pleasant for them to hear.

“Ahearn, you must not pick up a weapon and instead go in the middle of the column, with the children,” she continued. “You are the most valuable one among us. Without you, we will not be able to navigate back to Gaelland. We cannot risk anything happening to you.”

Ahearn muttered something under his breath at that but nodded slowly. “You realize we shall be lucky if any of us get to those ships?” he asked.

“No, we shall all get to the ships,” she said crisply. “That is my worry. You worry about getting us home. That is your concern.”

He grinned then. “By Aroaril but you have the heart of a lion! You can count on us.”

“I always knew I could,” she lied with a smile. “Just be ready to follow me on that day.”

*

“There is a problem with two of your people,” Gokmen said angrily. “You must solve it or I shall be forced to.”

“Take me to them and I shall talk sense into them,” Bridgit said briskly, covering her fear. Surely all of them knew what was at stake now? They had been told to act cowed, to be as obedient as possible, so the guards would think them broken, and relax. Maybe not all had believed her when she said she would get them out, they just had to be patient, but they had understood what they needed to do. She did not want to see anyone else suffer the same fate as Sean and Seamus or, worse, have her plan wrecked by one idiot.

The walk through the city down to the docks gave her time to calm down and clear her head. Ideas were already forming as to how to get them out of there and she had to let this pair know that. Or maybe it was a couple of mothers or indeed fathers who were missing their children. They would be easy to reassure.

Then she saw the pair surrounded by Kottermani guards and her heart sank. Blaine and Carrick. For a moment she thought about leaving them to Gokmen’s punishment but the thought of watching Sean and Seamus scream out their last on the boiling sand made her shudder. She owed it to them to at least try to save these two.

“Leave them to me,” she told Gokmen, then strode onwards.

“What is happening here?” she asked briskly, gesturing for the brothers to move a little away from the guards.

“You need to talk to these guards, make them leave us alone. We need all our strength to make the escape,” Carrick declared.

“Don’t be fools,” Bridgit snapped at them. “And for Aroaril’s sake keep your voices down!”

“They can’t understand us. But you need us, so make it so we can rest this afternoon. We are sick of working ourselves to death,” Blaine complained.

The pair of them loomed over her but she stood her ground, poking Blaine in his large stomach. “You stupid bastards. We can’t let them suspect we are doing anything! For Aroaril’s sake, get back to work!”

“You need us,” Carrick said, flexing his arms. “And you owe us for what you did to Sean and Seamus. Just tell them we are sick and need to rest. We deserve that at least.”

She stared at them in disbelief. “If it was just your lives then I would not care,” she told him. “But you put at risk every child the Kottermanis took. You would have seen them playing around Killarney over the years. Would you like to see them die?”

“Without us they won’t get away. We deserve a little special treatment,” Blaine growled back.

“You want special treatment? I’ll get you special treatment!” Bridgit snarled at him, stepping closer and forcing the bigger man to step back. “I just have to say the word and you will be tupped by every guard here, used like a woman by all those men.”

“You are saying that to scare us,” Carrick complained.

“You should be scared!” Bridgit hissed at him. “They will make your every waking hour a living hell! Now, I should be happy about that. I should be helping pick out the guards who want to rut you like you would a sheep. But because of what happened to your cousins, Aroaril rest their souls, and because you could be useful, I have sworn an oath to get you home safe. Don’t make me break that.”

She glared at the two of them and they quailed a little before the fire in her eyes.

“But we’ll be too tired to help the escape,” Blaine muttered.

“Grow up and act like a man. At the very least, die like a man. Or,” Bridgit pointed out one of the bigger guards, a man as tall as Carrick, “if you don’t want to be a man, I’ll have him use you like a woman.”

The guard, who obviously did not understand any Gaelish, nevertheless leered at the two men and smoothed his bushy moustache.

“Now, who’s going to work? You on the docks, or the guards on your arse?” she demanded.

That was seemingly enough for the two of them. They both turned and picked up sacks, putting them over their shoulders. She turned, although she could feel their stares burning into her back.

“You won’t have any more trouble with them,” Bridgit assured Gokmen.

He nodded at her, offering a hint of a smile.

But will I have more trouble with them?
she wondered.