Bridge of Swords (51 page)

One at a time, Sendatsu and Huw had their hands bound, then they were dragged to their feet and pushed back against the oak tree, tied to it around the waist, then their bound hands tied to a branch overhead. They were not gentle about it, hauling Huw’s and Sendatsu’s arms up high, stretching their shoulders, while tightening rope coils around chests and stomachs so they bit into flesh.

‘I thought we were being taken back to Ward,’ Huw grunted, as the rope dug into his chest and his arms ached from being hauled up high.

‘Oh, you will be,’ the Forlishman assured, dragging Rhiannon to her feet.

‘Why aren’t you tying me up?’ Rhiannon blazed. ‘Don’t you think a woman is dangerous?’

‘Not at all. But before you meet King Ward, I thought you would like to meet an old friend first.’ The Forlishman touched his swollen cheek with a still-bleeding hand gingerly. He spoke to one of his men, who raced back down the trail. ‘And then you can tell me what an elf is doing here, what you are doing with the Velsh and your new way of fighting. King Ward will reward me well for those answers.’

‘Listen to me,’ Huw said urgently. ‘I know Ward. He will not reward you for failure. You lost too many men — he will take your knowledge and your only reward will be death! You can’t go back but there is another way. Stay here with us. Work for me. Here in Vales you can make a new life …’

The Forlishman strode across the clearing as Huw tried to give his words every last bit of his skill and persuasion.

‘Live here? Betray my king? Here is my answer!’

And the Forlishman drove his fist into Huw’s stomach. Held by the ropes, Huw could not move and gasped as the air was driven out of his lungs. Winded, he hung in his bonds.

‘Bastard!’ Rhiannon raced at the Forlishman but the other two warriors grabbed her arms, held her as she kicked and screamed threats.

‘Quite her father’s daughter,’ the Forlishman observed.

Even as he twisted in pain, the words cut through to Huw and he glanced across at Sendatsu, to his left, who also looked at him.

‘Were you one of the ones who killed him? I swear I’ll make you pay!’ Rhiannon vowed.

‘Shut up!’ the Forlishman shouted. ‘You know nothing. I am going to give you a gift, you little fool!’

‘I want nothing from you,’ Rhiannon spat.

‘We shall see.’ The Forlishman smiled and turned to Huw and Sendatsu. ‘I have dreamed of this day for a long time,’ he told them. ‘I attacked your village, killed an old man and took four women, only for someone to slaughter half my men and take them back. I think that was you.’

Huw gasped, but not from pain. Was this the man who killed his father?

‘I have hunted you ever since,’ the Forlishman continued. ‘I have many questions to ask you. But first I want you to all meet someone very important. It seems you were about to Walk The Tree together. Well, we may be in the barbarian Vales but even here, isn’t the father invited?’

‘Both our fathers are dead, thanks to you and your kind!’ Rhiannon hissed.

The Forlishman only smiled. ‘Really? Then who is that behind you?’

The men holding her let go of her arms and, against her will, Rhiannon turned.

‘Hello my darling,’ Hector said, a broad smile on his face as he walked into the clearing.

‘You have failed,’ I told Naibun.

He laughed in my face. ‘You always had a rich sense of humour, Sendatsu! This is my triumph and there is nobody to stop me …’

‘I have already. Before I came here I set the Magic-weavers working on the barrier. They are building it now, even as we speak. In another turn of the sun it will be complete and nobody will be able to get in or out of Dokuzen for at least a hundred years. And you know the process. Once started, it cannot be stopped.’

Naibun knew instantly I was not lying, and his fury was terrible to see. When he calmed down, I was lying on the ground in a pool of my own blood and he had smashed everything else in sight.

‘I shall still rule Dokuzen,’ he hissed. ‘You shall die, along with the other humans who dared to challenge the might of the elves. You shall die at dawn and then we shall return to Dokuzen.’

It did not feel like a victory as they dragged me away, but at least it did not feel like an utter defeat.

Rhiannon stared in shock as her father strode over and enfolded her in his arms. She stayed rigid, looking at his familiar — and yet forgotten — face with incredulity.

‘Father? Is it really you? Are you really alive?’ she gabbled, tentatively touching his cheek.

‘Of course it is me,’ Hector said with just a touch of asperity, then relaxed a little. ‘I am safe and well, as I always have been.’

‘But how did you get here — are you a prisoner also — what is going on?’ Rhiannon’s last words were a desperate plea.

Since she had seen Hector’s ring in Huw’s hand, she believed her father was dead and her world had completely changed. Now everything was thrown into the air.

‘A prisoner?’ Hector threw back his head and laughed heartily. ‘Quite the opposite! No, Sergeant Broyle here is under my command.’

The three of them looked at the Forlishman with the swollen face, who glowered back.

‘But he killed my friend Glyn, he and his men grabbed me, hit me, threatened to kill me …’

‘No!’ Hector exclaimed. ‘They were told to do whatever was necessary to free you but they were under strict instructions not to hurt you.’

‘Well, that did not happen,’ Rhiannon declared, feeling where her ribs were bruised. ‘Are you sure this is not all some trick …?’

‘Look!’ Hector produced the king’s seal and flourished it for her benefit. ‘I am here by the command of King Ward, to rescue you and return you home.’

‘Rescue me? Bring me home?’ Rhiannon repeated stupidly. She could make no sense of what was happening, it was all too much.

Hector embraced her once more and kissed her gently on the forehead.

‘There is much to tell you, much to explain. You have been lied to by your so-called friends over there and it will take some time to show you the truth.’

He glanced over to where the bard and elf hung in their bonds and could not restrain his smile of triumph. He had waited so patiently for this moment, watching the village and avoiding the Velsh patrols, until the time came to pounce. That they seemed to be ready to Walk The Tree was disturbing, although it had split Rhiannon away from her protectors. But it meant he had to go carefully here. He wanted to storm in and slap the little bitch silly.
Did she have any idea of the trouble she had caused him? Even now it was going to take some fast talking and the information Broyle could wring out of the bard and elf to get back into Ward’s good graces. And to get her to jump willingly into Ward’s bed was going to take some clever work. Indulging his natural inclination to take out his anger and frustration on her could spoil everything.

‘Why don’t you sit down?’ he suggested gently.

Huw’s arms were burning but the pain was nothing to the kick in the guts he had taken when Hector had walked into the clearing. He knew he had to find the words to fight against the tale Hector was about to spin, he had to tell the whole truth — but all he could think of was Rhiannon’s expression when Sendatsu had revealed his lies and the sick feeling inside at the thought of her walking away with Hector and into Ward’s arms.

Sendatsu could see no good way out of this — and he was also cursing Huw for stopping him. The Forlish would never have killed Rhiannon. It had all been a bluff. But Rhiannon was also their hope, given she was the only one still free.

‘Rhiannon! Don’t listen to him! He’s a liar! Tell her, Huw!’ he yelled.

‘Sergeant!’ Hector barked and Broyle raced to where Huw and Sendatsu hung.

Both Huw and Sendatsu tried to protest, to call out to Rhiannon, but Broyle winded Huw with another huge punch, then ripped a strip off his tunic, balled it up and stuffed it in his mouth as a gag. As for Sendatsu, when the elf tried to clench his jaw shut, to defeat the gag, Broyle just held his nose until the elf was forced to breathe.

‘What if the elf uses magic to get himself free, like those other ones did?’ Ricbert suggested, drawing his dagger and holding it above Sendatsu’s heart.

‘Just stand by him and if he tries anything, slit his throat,’ Broyle said casually.

Sendatsu spent less time thinking about that than he did the news these Forlish had captured Hanto — although they’d obviously lost him once more. Had Hanto told him anything?

‘We need him alive,’ Hector suggested. ‘I doubt we will be able to get all the information we need about Dokuzen and the elven plans from this revolting Velshman.’

‘Fine. But if he tries anything, he dies,’ Broyle said harshly.

‘Just gag him for now,’ Hector advised, then turned back to a still-stunned Rhiannon. ‘Now, my dear, you can see that I am not just alive but perfectly healthy and in the good graces of our lord the king, otherwise he would not have given me both his soldiers and his seal. So what lies did that filthy Velsh bard tell you to make you leave Cridianton and come and live here among the scum of the earth? What did he say to trick you into satisfying his lust?’

Sendatsu knew they had to do something to get through to Rhiannon. He grunted at Huw, trying to work the cloth out of his mouth, although Ricbert’s dagger was dangerously close. Huw, for his part, was staring at Rhiannon, his eyes liquid pools of terror. This was his nightmare sprung to life and, just like a bad dream, he could do nothing to stop it.

‘He said you were dead and that if I did not come with him, then I would be next. That Ward wanted me to be his mistress,’ Rhiannon said dully.

Hector gave her his broadest laugh. ‘And you can see the truth of that in front of you! No, the real story is much more sordid than that. He heard how the king thought you were far better than him, how the king was thinking of sending him away, back to stinking Vales. So, in his jealousy and insane lust, he tricked you into following him away from there, away from me and all who loved you!’

Rhiannon shook her head slowly.

‘But he had your ring! You never take off your ring!’ she protested.

‘I had taken it off because the king was going to give me another, as thanks for bringing you into his court.’ Hector shrugged. ‘He must have stolen it from my room, breaking in the same way he stole into your rooms.’

Something was niggling at Rhiannon, something was not quite
right — but she dismissed that for the much bigger issue: Huw had lied to her. That blacked out everything else.

She jumped to her feet and stormed over to him.

‘How could you?’ she screamed. ‘How could you do that to me? I thought you were my friend — I thought you were helping me! I cried because I was so sorry I had kept you in Cridianton too long for you to get back and save your father! I stayed awake at nights thinking about that — and all the time you were lying! You knew how much being at court meant to me — but you just had to have me for yourself, didn’t you! Was it all lies? Did you get your elven friend to bed me and trick me so that I would fall into your arms? Was anything you said to me the truth?’

Both Huw and Sendatsu were trying to speak now, trying to protest her accusations — although of course nothing understandable was coming out of their mouths.

Hector sat back, satisfied. It was all proceeding as planned. He would let her rant and rave at them some more, then take her a little way away while Broyle worked on them, got them in the right mood to confess to anything. Nothing that would kill them, of course, but enough to make them babble his version of events to save themselves from more pain — and get them ready to tell all about the elves and their plans for a free Vales.

‘You bastard! I was going to Walk The Tree with you! I thought I loved you!’

Rhiannon had been certain she could never feel as bad as when Sendatsu had admitted his lies to her. But this was so much worse. With Sendatsu, she had contributed to her own downfall. With Huw, she thought herself wiser. She thought she knew what she was getting into. This was not some flight of fancy, some little girl’s dream. This was the real thing. She had seduced him. She was going to Walk The Tree with him — they were going to have a life together. To find it was all based on a lie was almost too much for her. Her insides alternately felt as though they were filled with ice, then boiled with rage that she had been fooled — again!

‘You bastard! How could you? How
could
you?’ she screamed, beating her fists against his chest.

‘I’ll never forgive you for this.
Never!
’

Hector nodded. Excellent. Just what he wanted to hear from her. Soon she would be amenable to suggestion herself — he planned to tell her that getting into Ward’s bed was her only way back to court. While it seemed unlikely she was still untouched, he was confident she had the acting ability to fool Ward on the first night. He was imagining what he needed to say to her when it all took an unexpected turn.

Rhiannon stopped hitting Huw and looked at him. ‘Why?’ she pleaded. She had been so sure. He had been there from the start, her only friend — had it all been an act? She was just a foot away from Huw, trying to read his expression. Tears were rolling down his cheeks and he was shaking his head desperately, obviously trying to say something.

She leaned in and ripped the gag out of his mouth.

‘Tell me the truth!’ she commanded.

‘Yes, I lied to you about your father!’ Huw cried, agonised, and she turned away, stricken. ‘But only to protect you!’

‘What?’ Rhiannon turned back, tears rolling down her face as well. Huw’s admission of a lie was the final dagger into her heart. She did not know whether to howl or vomit. ‘How can you imagine that was protecting me?’

Hector signalled to Broyle, who ran in to cut Huw off.

‘Your father was selling you off to Ward! Hector promised you would go to Ward with open arms and legs — his price for that was riches and fame!’ Huw yelled as fast as he could.

‘No!’ Rhiannon and Hector exclaimed, but for completely different reasons.

Broyle was there a moment later to cut off Huw’s words with another blow to the stomach, then stem the flow by stuffing the gag back in his mouth.

‘Wait!’ Rhiannon said angrily. ‘I still wanted to talk to him — I had not finished!’

‘He said all you needed to hear when he admitted his treachery in his first breath. Why do you want to hurt yourself further by hearing more lies from his foul mouth?’ Hector said consolingly.
He drew Rhiannon into a gentle embrace and let her tears spill out. ‘After all I have done for you, all I have sacrificed for you, do you really think I would betray you?’

‘No,’ Rhiannon admitted, her face still buried in his shoulder.

‘It’s like I always told you. Men only want you for your body. You should have listened to me. This evil Velshman tried to twist your mind against me. He showed his true background and breeding with the way he behaved. Now, why don’t you come away with me. We shall have something to eat and drink, let you clean yourself up, then we can come back and hear the truth from these two. Sergeant Broyle shall have them ready to talk when we return. Come with me. I am your father, only I know what is best for you. You do believe that, don’t you?’

‘Y-yes,’ Rhiannon sobbed.

‘I have been searching for you up here all this time — only I have what is best for you in my heart and mind. Now come away with me and we shall talk about what we need to do to get back into the king’s favour when we return to Cridianton.’

Hector nodded to Broyle, who drew his knife and eased closer to Sendatsu.

‘I’m going to enjoy this, elfy,’ he sneered. ‘I’m going to make you look like a human. And then you’re going to beg to tell me everything you know about Dokuzen and what an elf is doing here.’

Sendatsu just glared at him.

‘Don’t worry, miss. I’ll make them pay for what they did to you! They’ll be singing soon enough — but not a tune they wanted to make!’

Rhiannon looked up at Hector.

‘There’s no need to do that to them,’ she said haltingly. ‘I can tell you everything about their plans.’

Hector smiled at her. ‘I am sure you will. But we need to be sure. We can’t have the elf using magic on us! Now come with me. Everything will be fine. Everything will be as it was. This will all seem like some bad dream.’

Huw saw her in Hector’s arms and could not stop the tears streaming down his face. How could he have been so stupid?
Sendatsu had told him time and again that he had to tell Rhiannon the whole truth, explain to her about her father and trust she would understand. Now she had heard the lies from Hector’s mouth and not only would she hate him, but Hector would use her for his own foul purposes. Huw thought nothing could be worse than sitting in his father’s chair, listening to Sendatsu make love to Rhiannon in his father’s bed. But seeing Hector’s gloating face and Rhiannon’s tears made that feel like a pleasant experience. He could still see the anguish in her eyes, the expression on her face when she declared she would never forgive him. His own peril and impending torture seemed like nothing in comparison.

Sendatsu watched Rhiannon cry noisily and Huw sob silently but, as much as he felt sorry for them, he was worried about himself. Was this to be the end of everything? He had to stay alive for his children; no matter what they did to him, a priest of Aroaril could fix it, if he could but get back to Dokuzen. If they thought him broken, if they left him alone, then he could use magic to free himself and get away. He told himself that but he could imagine the coming pain and his mind shrank away from it.