The Witch of Glenaster (24 page)

The day grew colder, an
unnatural cold even for the time of year, and I thought it could not be
possible to go much further, when we saw the Ice Bridge ahead, like a rumour in
the low fog. It had been built by imperial engineers nearly two hundred years
before, when the Witch was still sleeping, and it stood weathered but unbroken
by many winters. Once, the emperor had thought to destroy it, in order to
prevent the servants of the Witch from crossing the river; but the soldiers
sent to perform the task had never returned, and anyway it was a futile
gesture, for when the river froze over, in the depth of winter, the Witch’s
armies could cross it at will.

We trudged the short distance
towards the bridge - though it seemed much further because of our weariness -
and when we were almost about to set foot upon it, Thomas stopped, and turned
to me, and said:

“Esther, it may be best if you
wait for me here. You can hide - it will be as safe as anywhere - and I can
leave you some supplies. I hope to return in no more than a week, for it is
three days’ journey from here into the heart of
Glenaster
,
and at least that many back again. I thought for a while that you might come
with me, and indeed I would be glad of the company; and it may be, perhaps,
that the answers we both seek are on the other side of that river. But now that
I am here, I fear to take you with me, and I have put you in enough peril
already.”

I thought for a moment, and
then said to him:

“I think both our paths have
been leading us here, and I think also that we have both come too far now to
return. You do not need to explain yourself to me. My mind is made up.”

But he bit his lip, and
hesitated, saying:

“You are still very young,
Esther, and I fear you do not grasp the full import of what you are saying. I
am old by the reckoning of warriors, and cannot have many fighting years left.
If I do not do what I have come to do now, I think I will no longer have the
heart or the strength for it. But there is little enough left for me on God’s
earth, and no one to mourn me if I should not return. Therefore I say again:
you may wait here for me, and if I am not returned in six days, you should find
your way back somehow to what safe places are left. Or we can part now, for as
likely as not I will not be coming back.”

I listened for a moment to the
sorrowing wind, as it sang high and mournful above our heads, and the naked
trees bowed to the earth. I might never see my brother again. Thomas was all I
had.

“I will follow you, even if it
means my death,” I said, defiant. “For I may be young, but I have seen my share
of it, and I do not think there is much joy for me anymore, except to bring
justice upon those who killed my family, and destroyed my home. So you can
judge me or not, as you wish. I am resigned to it.” And I stood as tall as I
could, and my face, I think, took on a proud aspect as I looked at him.

“Those are bitter words,” he
said, “and I hope never to hear them again from one so young. Still, they do
you credit, Esther; and I swear to you, if we survive this week, I shall be
your bodyguard and protector for as long as I live, and no enemy shall touch
you while I have breath. And if we should return victorious, then the whole
world will know of what you have done, and I will kill any man who does not
give thanks when he hears of it.”

I smiled, and said:

“I hope we are not always so
sombre…”

And at this he laughed, and
nodded. I wrapped my coat about my shoulders, and started to walk towards the
bridge. But he held me back for a moment, saying:

“Before we cross the river,
there are things you should know. When we reach the northern shore, it is as
likely as not that we will become known to the Witch – even more so than we are
now – and will come under the influence of her mind. This may make us do and
say things strange and alien to us, so we must be sure to keep our wits. Do you
understand?”

I nodded.

“I know you are weary, but
there is some food to be had where we are going, and though it is often strange
and mean-tasting, it can give us strength enough for what we have to do, and
will keep us alive. Esther
- ”
And he put his hand on
my shoulder. “There is fear where we are going, and horror. I know you would
not flinch from it, for you are stronger in heart and mind than most grown men;
but still…”

He reached for his belt, and
unhooked from it his
seax
, in its leather
scabbard, and passed it to me.

“Once, all women carried these,
as well as men, as a symbol of their freedom. Keep this close about you. Do not
hesitate to use it, against anyone – even me, Esther – if need presses. You
promise me?”

I whispered, yes, and pushed
the knife into a pocket of my coat, and thought: I will stain this with the
Witch’s blood.

And so we crossed the Ice
Bridge of
Sennow
, that leads to
Glenaster
,
and we
did not look back.

The fire hissed and spat in the
wind, and once or twice threatened to go out. But Thomas sheltered it, and us,
as best he could, and we gained a kind of warmth from the flames. We were three
days out from the Green Cities, which now seemed as unreal as a dream, and deep
in the Lessening Lands.

Crossing the Ice Bridge had
taken only minutes, yet it had seemed more, and there was the unmistakable
sense of moving from one domain to another; never have I felt it more keenly.
Most borders are marked only by signposts, or lines on maps, or perhaps high
walls. Yet here one could feel in one’s heart that one was leaving the world of
men behind, and entering another one altogether, where other laws held sway,
and few dared to tread.

I watched the river sweep
below, churning, unmindful of human affairs. It said, Here I have forged a path
through the hills and mountains, and ground solid rock to dust for centuries;
and here I will remain, long after you are gone. The bridge swayed a little in
the wind, and let us pass; I suppose it had seen many foolish souls take this path,
and we both knew, though we did not say it, that whatever happened now, we had
brought it upon ourselves.

The lands on the northern side
of the river did not at first seem unfriendly; indeed, they actually seemed
rather cheerier than those we had left behind - the ground warmer, the wind a
little less harsh. I felt a kind of light-headedness at the thought of our
adventure, and even forgot for a while my recent sorrows; but I was mindful of
what Thomas had told me, that here there were many spells designed to entrap
the unwary, and merely by crossing the Soar we had probably released many of
them. And so I was careful, whenever I felt about to think or say things that
seemed out of character, to check my tongue, and remind myself that, if we were
to retain control of our wills, we had to always be on our guard. There would
be no real rest now, until either we, or the Witch, were dead.

Thomas gathered winterberries,
and even killed some small animals to cook on the fire; and though they were
mean eating, they kept us alive, and I was grateful for them. Yet, in truth,
everything in this strange land had a bitter taste to it, including the air,
and all the living things that crawled or flew about us cast dark shadows.

By late morning on the second
day, the landscape of high grass and battered trees gave way to a more barren
one, and I knew we must be in the Lessening Lands. Mile after mile of jagged
rock had been sharpened to daggers by the ferocious wind, and many travellers
had succumbed to cold or hunger here, without ever reaching
Glenaster
.
But Thomas knew the safest paths through the wilderness, and led us along them
quietly and quickly.

Still, the lack of real
shelter, and the merciless cold – especially during the night, when the sun hid
its face – drained my courage, and though Thomas did his best to keep us both
warm and dry, I could not help but shiver as I lay against the cold rock.

That third night out on the
plains of the Lessening Lands was to be our last.

“Tomorrow we will be in
Glenaster
, all being well,” Thomas told me, as I crawled
beneath my blankets to sleep. And, despite the cold, I soon fell to dreaming.

In my dream, I saw a woman’s
face, and I supposed she must be the Witch, for she looked old and young all at
once. And she sang to me in the stillness, and whispered my name:

“Esther.”

And her laughter was like water
dripping gently into a pool, and she kissed me then, over and over, on my face,
until my eyes ran with tears, and my heart sang with joy. And I loved her.

I felt my shoulder shaken then,
and my eyes focus hazily on the world outside my mind.

There was Thomas Taper,
kneeling above me, and his look was grim.

“Esther,” he said, in a
whisper. “Esther, wake up. We have to find better shelter. There are Watchers
moving through the valley.”

We had been fortunate –
suspiciously so, perhaps – in not encountering one of the
drooj
,
or their brethren, since crossing the river; and I supposed the Witch thought
us no threat, for we were hardly much of an army. But then I thought how she
had harried and hounded us all the way on our journey from the South, from at
least the moment we stepped on to the Fearless Plateau, if not before; and I
wondered if she had simply
allowed
us to come this far unhindered, and
was waiting for us to be drawn further into her web before destroying us at her
leisure.

We gathered up our things, and
made our way in the dark - Thomas leading, clutching my hand – toward a small
tor, which loomed like a house against the star-rich sky, and managed to
scramble on to the top, from where we could see, lying flat on our bellies and
gazing across the valley, a long procession of lights, which flickered in a
great arc towards the Ice Bridge, and the river.

The line of marchers went on
and on, and seemed to have no end; it must have moved across the horizon, a
good half-mile from where we lay, for over an hour, and seemed in no hurry.
Many times I looked up at Thomas, to try to read his face, but he only looked
as he had before: weary, and sorrowful. After a good while, he said, without
looking at me:

“I have been selfish, Esther.”

When he said nothing more, I
asked him why.

“Because I have claimed to be
your protector, but I have only taken you to your doom.” And he looked at me
then, and his eyes had a fierce light; but his lashes were fringed with tears.
“Many years ago,” he said, “I was a guardsman, a Captain of the Keep –
commanded to protect the emperor from assassins, and to keep safe the Citadel.
Of course there were other captains, but I was one of the bravest: or most
foolish. I had fine apartments in the Palace grounds, and the admiration of my
men. It was a good life. Then came word from the
North, that
the Witch had woken from her long sleep; and many good warriors volunteered to
go to
Glenaster
, to destroy her. None returned. I too
had volunteered, but the emperor would not let me go, commanding that I stay
and defend the Keep. And so I did, and many of my soldiers with me: William
Bowyer, Griffin Drake, Lukas. But the Witch grew in strength, and our armies
were beaten back time and again; and soon whole swathes of the empire were left
undefended, and at the mercy of the fire-drakes. And the emperor fell into a
gloom from which he did not stir; and the court squabbled about which was the
best way to defeat the Witch, and who might succeed the emperor when he died,
for he has no heir. And, being impetuous, and thinking myself better than other
men, I was openly critical of their schemes, and called them fools, even to
their faces, especially when I had had too much wine. I told them I would send
my finest lieutenant, Tom Showers, and a band of men under his command, to kill
the Witch; and the orders they would follow would be mine. And so, to keep me
quiet, they allowed me to go ahead with my plan, and I wish to God that that
they had not, for it cost many lives, and many good men perished. Tom and the
others made it as far as
Glenaster
, but then they
were scattered – killed or driven mad by the Witch’s servants – and only one
man returned to
Ampar
to tell us what had happened:
Ben Weekes, one of the bravest soldiers of the Keep, and he was dead within
days. Tom Showers appeared not long after - or rather his head did, driven onto
a stake at a crossroads just north of the city. We never found his body - nor
those of the others – though Ben claimed before he died that he had seen them
turned into Watchers, and the Third Eye tattooed upon their foreheads. I took
responsibility for their deaths, and for the failure of their mission, and I
was banished to High Meadow, in the Far West, and many of my men with me. But
my punishment did not end there, for the journey was long and perilous, and we
were attacked more than once by the fire-drakes; and it was one of these that
took my wife, Eleanor, and my two young sons.”

Unconsciously, he clutched at
the pendant, hanging about his neck, and I saw now that on it was carved the
likeness of a woman, and a single letter: “E”. The tears unlocked themselves
from his eyes, and ran freely to the ground.

“That was nearly ten years ago
now. I arrived at High Meadow a childless widower, and my heart broke like a
stone and will not now heal. And I made a pledge before God, that I would have
my revenge on the Witch, though it cost me my life; and several of my men swore
an oath to help me. But it took many years of planning, and long service in the
wars against the emperor’s enemies in the western lands, before I was able to
leave my post; and I contrived an urgent errand, far to the south; and
afterwards set rumours about the land that I had been killed by bandits on the
road. And I sold my horse, and went by foot, and spent long months in the Far
South, lying low, before finally returning north, to meet with my companions in
Ampar
, as we had previously arranged.

That was when I encountered
you, Esther, and your brother: it was I who followed you through Calm. I had
stayed away from the roads to avoid being seen, for I knew I might be hanged as
a deserter, but when I saw you had also done so, I wondered why.

All my instincts told me to
leave you behind, after I had killed those robbers; but I suppose I was lonely,
and I missed my own children. I don’t think I expected you would come with me,
and certainly not this far.”

He looked out at the line of
torches, moving with unearthly silence across the plain, and shivered.

“I do not know if I have the
strength to kill the Witch,” he said then, so softly I could hardly hear. “But
I have to try. But I am sorry I have brought you here, Esther; it was never my
wish…”

The grim procession continued
on its way through the Lessening Lands, seeking only sorrow, and the
destruction of the Witch’s enemies. And we were silent for a long time. But
then I said, taking Thomas’s hand:

“There is no shame in your
words. I too wish for revenge upon the Witch, for the murder of my family, and
I don’t suppose you or anyone else would have stopped me. But I do know that
most likely I would have been dead, and my brother with me, long ago, if you
had not come to our aid. And so we are both fools, Captain, you and I; and we
will pay for our foolishness together.”

He looked at me then, as if
seeing me for the first time; and we took comfort in each other’s company,
gazing out at the Witch’s armies, as they crept towards the river, and the world
we knew.

And so we passed the last night
before crossing into
Glenaster
.