The Hekamon (12 page)

Kormak took the opportunity to examine the other gripper
by the better light. The trading post had been dimly lit but the
grippers had shone even there. By the daylight now streaming through
the doorway of the shack, they positively sparkled.

As he looked at
them more closely, he could see the pattern etched into the
metal carapace was most likely a form of writing. Nothing he could
understand, nor was it in a style he was familiar with.
Nevertheless, he marveled at the skill of the engraver, the
craftsmanship immediately apparent.

The rest of the grippers were equally impressive, they
were presumably made of leather and iron yet looked and felt like
they were made of silver and silk. They had a curious quality of
seeming to be ornate and ceremonial while being the toughest,
hardest wearing and practical of pieces he could have imagined.

"Can I try it on?" Palfrey asked again.

"No," Kormak said, taking it from him, "maybe
later."

Kormak was about to put them back in the bag when Fennelbek's
most skilled herbswoman, Saskia, walked in. She was followed by
Loccsleah, her young companion.

Saskia had been like a mother to he
and Alyssa since her arrival in Fennelbek ten years earlier. Her warm
smile, jet black hair and eyes, a familiar sight to him.

"Kormak, it's good to see you back safely. We were
told you had returned."

Kormak smiled, news traveled quickly here, "I'm
back and I bear gifts," he said theatrically, holding the iron
grippers for Saskia to see, "well, for me, that is, for us. They
belong to all of us, but I will wear them."

Saskia stepped into the room and knelt to get a closer
look. Glancing quizzically from Kormak to the grippers and back
again, "These look…expensive. What did you pay for them,
not one pouch surely?"

"Well I owe the trader some more."

"How much more."

"The price was worth it."

"What was the price?" Palfrey interrupted.

"Well—" Kormak didn't want to say. "Let's
see, some more empessence and some extra pouches."

"How many extra?" Palfrey asked insistently,
while Saskia had been joined by Loccsleah examining the grippers.

"Two
or three,"
or
four
. It was very
close to what he might be able to turn the trade into after seeing
Tansley again, so not a complete lie.

"Which is it," Tolle insisted "Two or
three?"

"Three, plus I might give him more for his trouble,
since he let me take them now."

"Yes, that was trusting of him," Saskia said,
looking at him suspiciously. "Most traders wouldn't."

"It was my negotiating, I guess."

Palfrey looked unimpressed, "For that I would have
expected eight or ten pieces of armor or armament. Worn and rusty yes,
but better than one fancy piece. We're trying to form a unit to
patrol the southern marshes and earn the respect of the Ochre
leaders. You've squandering it on just one pair of grippers for
yourself, it's set us back three or four months at least."

Saskia handed one of the gloves to Loccsleah to to look
at. "They're like jewelry." Loccsleah admired, beginning to
place it on her hand.

Kormak snatched it off her before she could. "This
is serious military equipment. Not a costume."

The three of them looked at him in silence as he put
them back into the bag and fastened it shut. He had to concede,
Palfrey had a point. One pair of iron grippers didn't equate to being
taken seriously as a patrol.

"Well they are certainly of the highest quality, so
there is that," Saskia said, taking a conciliatory tone, "I
think they are worth what you paid for them, maybe more, in my
opinion. And there is always the option of selling them on, should
you want to. You'll recover your investment and more besides."

"Well I won't be doing that. They're just what
we're looking for. We need more of the same or we'll always be on the
lowest tier." Kormak replied becoming agitated.

Saskia rested her arm on his reassuringly. "Kormak
You did well, but you're tired, Alyssa too, I expect—" She
looked around suddenly aware of Alyssa's absence.

Palfrey broke the silence, "He left Alyssa south of
the river, she lost her necklace and she's still there looking for
it."

Saskia turned to Kormak, he saw her expression, closed
his eyes and rested his head back on the leather bag again.

"Please tell me you didn't come home without your
sister," her tone incredulous.

"She wouldn't come back with me, I couldn't force
her."

"You should've stayed with her, she's not safe on
her own," Saskia said accusingly.

"She is capable of looking after herself, she's not
a child," Kormak now raised himself up on his elbows daring
Saskia to contradict him.

The herbswoman often talked admiringly of
Alyssa's capabilities and how she was as good as any of the boys.
Even at typical boyish pursuits like hunting, climbing and yes,
fighting, when she needed to.

"It was wrong of you to leave her," Saskia
said, standing up, "she wouldn't have left you."

Kormak grimaced and looked away. She was right about
that and it pained him to admit it.

Saskia turned to leave, then stopped, thinking for a
moment before turning to him, "Her necklace, it's all that she
has of her mother. Not only that it's…well…you wouldn't
understand, its more than valuable, she won't come back until she
finds it," Saskia studied him carefully. "She will find it,
won't she?"

Loccsleah and Palfrey looked at him too. He could
tell from their accusing stares that they were beginning to work out all might not be as it seemed.

He climbed to his feet.

"I'll go to the Rhavenbrook Bridge and wait there,
if she's not back by sunset, I'll go and look for her and bring her
back safely."

"And her necklace?"

"We'll find it eventually," he said, holding
Saskia's stare. She acknowledge his reply and turned to leave.

Palfrey stood and walked over, "I'll come with
you."

"Me too," Loccsleah added.

"We'll stop by at Egret and get Tolle and
Moxley, too." Kormak said, and the others nodded in agreement.
He picked up the bag containing the grippers and they set off, out of
Ochre Hill and into the marshes.

After a further few minutes searching, Gregario opened
one of the window blinds. Peering out through the gap, he could see
the road was empty and none of the other trading posts were close
enough to observe. There would be no reason to think it wasn't
Tansley anyway, the man's exit had been secretive. Despite opening
the slats only very slightly, the effect was to illuminate the room
considerably. Just as he was about to make use of the better light
and return to the search, he was interrupted by a noise from the
other room.

He stopped and listened, he heard an unusual sound, like
something falling or being dropped. Had Aegis knocked something over?
He heard rustling and then the hushed and alarmed voice of
Aegis.

"Fennreans."

Slowly raising himself, Gregario walked tentatively
towards the curtain that separated the front and back rooms of the
hut. Peering through, he stopped and surveyed the room, there was no
sign of Aegis. Could he have gone upstairs?

"Aegis?" he called out.

"Yes?" Aegis said, suddenly standing up from
behind a counter, startling him in the process.

"Don't do that." he said, flinching at his
young companions sudden appearance next to him.

"I'm sorry," Aegis said, placing a fur bag on
the counter as he did so, "but I found this."

"Where was it?" he asked, his interest
aroused.

"It was hidden under the floor. When I felt the
lose tile, I thought we might be in luck, but its only Fennrean balms
and ointments," Aegis said, opening the rabbit skin pouch and
revealing several small clay vials.

Gregario moved around the counter and examined the
secret compartment in the floor, but saw it was too small for
anything much bigger than the pouch on the counter. It was probably
where Tansley hid his purse or moneybag for safe keeping. Nothing of
any real size would fit there.

He then turned his attention to the
contents of the small gray bag. The writing inscribed into the clay
of the vials was a clue to their origin but the odor was a dead giveaway. He agreed with Aegis's assessment.

"He's been dealing with Fennreans, that's for
sure," he said, placing the vial he was inspecting back in the
pouch, rolling it up and placing it inside his tunic. He knew these
balms, ointments and essences could be valuable. Some with medicinal
purposes some, supposedly, aided in conversing with the spirits.
Highly in demand in certain quarters.

Aegis watched him pocket the fur bag, "So far we've
broken in and stolen something, yet we're no closer to finding what
we're looking for." The young man said, looking at him
disapprovingly.

"Let's search upstairs," he said, heading into
the hall, but he was beginning to suspect Tansley had gone and taken
the Eagle Standard with him. If so, the onus was going to be on
Decarius to recover it.

The Regis Highway swept down through the hills, with
tree lined banks either side. The golden leaves remaining on the
higher branches above Decarius, catching the midday sunlight.
Scattered about his feet, the fallen ones, yellow and burnt
orange, rustling under each step he took.

The man he was following
had traveled far enough along the road that he too was out of the
shadow of the mountains. The white sack he carried, distinctive
against his blue jacket and highlighted by the sun, bouncing with
each step, like the buff tail of a scampering rabbit.

Decarius had allowed the man to gain some distance
again. And while the shaded woods were providing good concealment for
now, within moments he too would be bathed in sunlight and far more
visible, should the tradesman look back.

He slowed down even more, giving the man enough space. He was
almost certainly heading to Tivitay Village and it was unnecessary to
be so close to him. The straight row of shops and houses that made up
the village would make it easy to see which building was
Tansley's destination. Once that had been established, he could plan
his next move.

Then, at the Burntoak crossroads, Tansley turned left.

With the sudden change of tack, Decarius found himself on
the wrong side of the highway. Not only that, the highway was busier
with pedestrians, too.

Ten or twelve people were making their way
along the road between the village, the town and the workshops of
Serfacre that lay in between. While it wouldn't be a problem to be
seen by any of these people, Decarius knew that his furtive behavior
might draw attention more than anything. At least he couldn't see any
guards. From what he knew of their movements, they remained in and
around the fort and the town, but his experience here was limited.

He was reluctant to simply walk out of the forest and
into plain sight, in a manner that might draw suspicious glances, so he
waited for a moment of calm. Once the way was clear, he darted out
and across the road, before rounding the corner and onto the
Demedelei Road. His desire to stay hidden had slowed him down and
Tansley was even further away now.

Looking ahead he could see his man, one hundred yards
away. While several hundred yards further on, the road climbed up to the
gatehouse of the Demedelei Fort. The fort itself was clearly visible,
standing high on a rocky hill overlooking the area.

He tried to work out where the merchant was heading. If
it was to the town why not take the earlier turning? Was it possible
he was going to the fort? He had assumed the point of the trading
posts was that they operated outside the jurisdiction of Lord
Jephson. They lay east of the Regis Highway, the border
line of Demedelei territory, and did so for that very reason. Were
there arrangements that he didn't know about?

If the gauntlets where taken to the fort, their extraction would
become impossible and their permanent loss would ruin everything. To
lose the Eagle Standard was one thing but to have it fall into the
hands of Jephson and his ilk would be a scandal. It must not reach
the fort.

His heart pounding, Decarius began to close the distance
between himself and the tradesman ahead. Moving quickly now, he saw
there were four people between himself and Tansley, he positioned himself
so they gave him some cover should the man look back.

Walking briskly, he passed one, then two of those ahead.
He would be less obscured should Tansley have his wit's about him but
this was becoming less of a consideration. If the merchant was indeed
going to the fort, then he would have to close in and intercept him
anyway. But how? Robbing him in front of witnesses, and in view of
the manned gatehouse, was surely out of the question.

Should he stop him and ask him what was in his bag? It
was such an implausibly simple solution. He had planned to buy the
gauntlets from merchant anyway, enabling the smooth the transition of
the Standard into his possession with minimum fuss, and only modest
expense.

The problem was that he now suspected Tansley knew their
true worth. Some very old armor would be cheap to buy, the Plautius
Gauntlets were priceless. If he approached Tansley, and the man refused to
co-operate and shouted for guards, the situation would become
difficult. His own identity might be discovered.

What would they make of an undercover militiaman? One
operating secretly in Demedelei, and the most senior militiaman at
that. He would spend time in the fort's prison without doubt, even if it was only to be interrogated, hardly a minor inconvenience. The captain of
the guard here had a reputation that went before him. Decarius needed
to ensure his own fate was not to end up in the fort, every bit as
much as the gauntlets.