Bridge of Swords (23 page)

‘Huw! How long have you been here?’ he asked, to give himself time to think.

‘Long enough,’ came the reply, while the knowing gaze was enough to make Sendatsu flush. He knew how Huw felt about the dancer — even a blind man could see the attraction the bard had for her. And Huw had shown him nothing but kindness, had even shown him how to lead this village to victory, then had waited out here, listened in, known Sendatsu and Rhiannon were in his dead father’s bed … Sendatsu burned with shame. This was all a terrible mistake. He should leave them now before he did any more harm.

‘Sit down. Have something to eat. We need to talk,’ Huw said, serving up the porridge, thumping it onto the plates as though it had offended him.

‘I’m not really hungry,’ Sendatsu lied.

‘Sit!’ Huw thundered, his trained voice almost rattling the rafters.

Sendatsu sighed. He supposed he owed the bard this much. He would have to explain himself, apologise and then leave.

‘What do you want to talk about?’ Sendatsu sat down tiredly. He felt a little sick but, strangely, also hungry. He hauled a plate of porridge towards himself.

‘Today was a victory. But we need to repeat that at every village across Vales,’ Huw stated, taking a seat opposite Sendatsu and reaching out for a heaped plate, then for the bowl of honey.

‘What do you mean, every village?’ Sendatsu took the honey himself. This was not what he expected Huw to say.

‘We need to travel to every village and show them what we achieved here. We need to protect every Velsh village, not just this one. We have to show them how to build the crossbows, how to protect themselves with palisades, ditches and walls, so that Ward’s Forlish raiders will be thrown out, wherever they try to attack.’

‘And how long will that take?’

‘As long as it has to. We won’t need to stay for days at each village after a while, for they will get the idea, and we can leave them to finish the work themselves. Of course, for the bigger villages, there will be a need to think of different ways to protect them. So you’ll need to talk to all of them.’

Sendatsu was wrong-footed by Huw’s approach. They both knew what had been going on in the bedroom. Why was Huw not talking about that? He forced himself to think. He might feel guilty but he was not going to commit to what sounded like moons of travel and effort — and little promise of the answers he so sorely needed to get back to his children.

‘No. I can’t do that. Surely you can do it now — it’s simple enough: build a wall, craft a few dozen crossbows and surprise the raiders, teach them to fear you Velsh.’ Sendatsu scooped up a huge spoonful of porridge and swallowed.

‘It has to be you,’ Huw told him coldly. ‘Only you can make it happen. If I walk into a village, I am just some strange Velshman with crazy ideas. But you — you are an elf. They will think you a hero. They will listen to you. My people are crying out for a saviour. It has to be you.’

‘I am here to find the answers I seek, nothing more. You want an elf from your legends. I am not that person,’ Sendatsu warned.

Huw leaned forwards. ‘You have to be. There is nobody else! You can’t tell me that today did not change you. I saw your face
as the village cheered you, as people hailed you as their hero. Imagine that happening every day, at villages right across Vales. And then there’re all the men, women and children’s lives you will save. I know they do not mean as much to you elves but I think these people’s lives and dreams, even if they are short, are worth fighting for. Think of them — all alive if you help them, dead if you do not. Will the revels in Dokuzen be as sweet with those deaths on your conscience?’

‘Aroaril curse you!’ Sendatsu dropped his spoon. ‘Of course I care about their lives — that is why I fought for your bloody village today! But I have other responsibilities. I have to get back to Dokuzen as soon as possible. They are counting on me! And I don’t want to be a hero — I never did. I have never cared what people think of me, never wanted to be a leader. You have the wrong elf.’

Huw stared into his eyes. The spirit of his father was with him now and the words were easy to find. Fear, which had so often stilled his tongue in the past, was not a concern now.

‘There is no other. I am sorry but you will be who I need you to be. This is the price you must pay for the knowledge you seek. Rhiannon was right: you will never discover what you need by yourself. Either the Forlish will kill my people or they will run from you. Aid me and I shall see to it that you return to Dokuzen with everything you need. But if you refuse to help, then I shall spread word that none are to speak to you. Every door in the land will be shut to you. You will wander alone, friendless, shouting your questions helplessly.’

Sendatsu nearly hurled himself across the table at the bard but managed to control himself — just. Huw was right, Aroaril damn him. He did need the bard’s help. But there was still a chance to make him see sense …

‘Be reasonable, Huw! What will it achieve? If we protect every village, surely the Forlish will just return with their army and lay waste to Vales anyway. And a few crossbows and a wooden wall won’t stand up to a proper attack.’

Huw smiled. ‘You are right. Which is why, after we have
protected the villages, you are going to take me back to Dokuzen and we will persuade the elves to come and help my people.’

‘What!’ Sendatsu surged to his feet.

‘It makes perfect sense. This is the perfect solution.’

‘That is not going to happen,’ Sendatsu warned.

‘Why not? You can tell your elders, your king or whoever rules in Dokuzen that they need to become part of the world again. They have to stand up now, or they will have their worst fear — a warlike nation at their door. Bring me back to Dokuzen and I will show them Ward will not stop until he has sacked not just our homes but theirs as well.’

Sendatsu almost choked on his porridge. His return to Dokuzen was going to be fraught with danger as it was. Bringing humans back as well would be impossible.

‘Huw, they will kill you if you come back with me. No human has been beyond the barrier for three centuries. They have patrols that do nothing but look for humans. If they ever found any, they would kill them on sight. You would never get to speak to the Council …’

‘You would protect us. Because Rhiannon and I would have the information you and the Council seek. We would give it to them at the same time they hear our plea for help,’ Huw said simply.

Sendatsu gazed at Huw with a mixture of awe and hatred. The bard’s plan to blackmail both himself and the Elven Council into getting his own way was bravery far beyond anything Sendatsu could imagine. Yet it was also immensely foolish, for the Council did not want to hear what Huw knew — they wanted him silenced. Killing him would be their instant solution. He considered telling Huw everything: explaining about the scroll, his father, about Mai and Cheijun. Yesterday he might have but this new Huw, determined to get his own way, was a different story. If Huw knew the truth, would he turn the Velsh against Sendatsu? It was a risk he could not take. He would have to agree to Huw’s accursed demands — at least until he had the information.

‘And don’t think you can pretend to go along with this and then run once we have the knowledge. You won’t be allowed to
speak to the villagers — only me. Only when we are done will I tell you …’

That was too much for Sendatsu … before he knew it, he had leaped across the table and grabbed Huw by his tunic.

‘You can’t do this to me!’ he howled.

Huw did not move, his hands kept by his sides.

‘I am sorry but I have to,’ he said. ‘Hit me all you like. It won’t gain you anything.’

Sendatsu wanted to punch him until the bard agreed to help but hesitated. Angry as he was, he struggled to bring himself to strike the young bard. There was a new determination in Huw’s eyes and he knew the bard would not give in.

‘Sendatsu! What are you doing?’

The pair of them turned, frozen in place, to see Rhiannon hurrying out of the bedroom, pulling her tunic straight, her hair dishevelled.

Neither answered her.

Rhiannon stretched out on the bed, feeling as though everything was right with the world, for the first time since Huw had given her the shocking news Ward had killed her father and was now after her. Everything had seemed so crazy since then but now it made sense. She was going to live in Dokuzen, she was going to dance for the elves — she was going to marry an elf — all her dreams were coming true!

The battle in the village had shaken her — she had been determined not to be one of those helpless maidens from the songs; the ones who waited nervously while the hero saved the day. But the reality of the battle had been dramatically different from the ones she sang about. The noise, the blood, the smells, the sights of men and horses dying … being so close to death, seeing it all around her had made her feel more alive than ever before. Every breath, knowing it could be your last, was impossibly sweet; every little detail was fixed in her brain.

Victory had been the best moment in her life. The feeling as she realised she was going to live, that they were all going to live, had
been indescribable. Exultation had swept through her, her blood felt like it was bubbling with joy — a kind of delight that she had never experienced before.

Seeing Sendatsu save them all, hearing how he had defeated no less than five of the vicious Forlish raiders, seeing him return to the cheers covered in blood, it had been natural to want to help him. She wanted to show that she was just as valuable. Then he had taken his tunic off and she wanted to see him up close. From afar he had looked just like a man and she was sure he had to be different somehow. At first it had been easy, he had sat there like a statue, but then something changed and he reached up and kissed her … She shivered a little, remembering it. How had it happened so fast? She had never intended to do that. But she had been swept up in the moment and, before she knew it, Sendatsu had brought her in here. All the way he was telling her how beautiful she was, how she was the most stunning human he had ever met, the only one to compare with the elven maidens at home. And all the time he was kissing her, touching her.

It had been so easy to just go along, caught up in the mood of ecstasy from the battle, from having everyone’s hero tell her she was special, the one human he had actually been attracted to.

Even so, she had baulked when he had tried to take off her tunic.

‘I’m not ready … I don’t think we should,’ she had said breathlessly, placing her hand on his rippling chest.

‘Of course we should! You can’t stop what we are both feeling,’ Sendatsu said hoarsely, head dipping to kiss her neck.

She thrilled to the feeling for a moment, then gently pushed him away.

‘No,’ she said firmly. ‘I can’t lie with a man until we have Walked The Tree together, sealed our marriage before the people …’ Thinking of the people made her imagine Huw, with his burning brown eyes and his gentle smile, watching her Walk The Tree with Sendatsu and she drew back.

‘But elves don’t Walk The Tree,’ Sendatsu pointed out, drawing her back in again, his hands slipping down her body. ‘We exchange vows before Aroaril.’

All thoughts of Huw vanished from her mind.

‘What do you mean? You will take me to Dokuzen with you — will we exchange vows there?’ she breathed. ‘We shall marry?’

‘Yes, oh, yes.’ Sendatsu’s hands were roaming lower, while his lips were on her neck. But she listened to his words, not the meaning behind them.

Thoughts of seeing the elves, of achieving all she had ever dreamed, filled her and the exultation sweeping through her was even greater than after the battle. She kissed him deeply, barely even aware as his hands went to her tunic once more, began to lift it upwards.

Every time she thought about stopping, she imagined Dokuzen and the wonders they would see together and that promise filled her with a great warm feeling, more pleasure, even, than what they had done in the bed, amazing as that had been.

Now she lay here, torn between regret and excitement at what the future held. Perhaps this was all meant to happen, she mused. She had lost her father but that tragedy had brought her here, had enabled her to meet Sendatsu and have the chance to go to Dokuzen. Obviously this was her destiny, just as Sendatsu said. An elf and a human … the songs and the lore said such a thing could never work but Sendatsu was not so different from a man — just better. But she would rewrite the songs, would go to Dokuzen and create new ones. In her mind’s eye she saw herself wandering the fabled streets with Sendatsu, hand in hand, as he pointed out the marvellous sights. She could see herself being introduced to his parents, being embraced by his friends and family. Best of all, she could see herself dancing for them, singing for them, performing in some great arena that put even the stone theatres of Cridianton to shame. And she could hear the cheers as they acknowledged her talents, rose as one to applaud her performance. It warmed her, even more than Sendatsu had been able to do.

But slowly, noise from outside intruded on her comfortable daydream. Sendatsu was arguing with … Huw! A tiny sliver of fear, of uncertainty, shot through her. She thought about
staying in bed, hiding away for as long as possible, but the voices grew louder and she could not bear to imagine Huw seeing this. He was her friend, her first friend, and she had no intention of hurting him. If Sendatsu had not been here … She pushed that thought aside with the fear Huw might see her like this. She hunted for her clothes, carelessly strewn on the floor. She had better get out there and try to pretend nothing had happened.

She hurried out, to see them locked together, Sendatsu about to strike Huw with his fist.

‘Sendatsu! What are you doing?’

Neither answered her.

‘What is going on? You are friends, you worked together to save this village — why are you fighting?’ she demanded.

Huw was the first to recover, with Sendatsu struggling to think of something that would get him out of this situation.

‘Sendatsu and I are discussing why he should take me back to Dokuzen with him, so I can persuade the elves to come and save my people from Ward and the Forlish armies,’ he said coolly.