‘I’ve heard all this,’ Farnor interrupted. ‘Why don’t you answer my question?’
There was irritation in the reply. ‘It cost us dear to lead your pursuer astray, Far-nor. It had great power.’ The tone softened. ‘But we had touched you before, and were… intrigued… by such an unusual Hearer. And we had sensed no more evil in you than in most Movers. We protected you out of both curiosity and concern, and perhaps for reasons that are beyond us. But when you were amongst us, we felt your power growing, and we came to fear the darkness that we knew lay at your heart.’ It concluded starkly, ‘We were afraid.’
Farnor looked round at the great trees surrounding him.
‘I mean you no harm,’ he said simply. ‘I wish only to be away from here.’
‘No. You wish for more than that, though there is great pain and confusion in you. Yet you have the power, and while there is the darkness in you that lies beyond us, we cannot know the truth of your wishing.’
There was a long silence.
‘Why have you brought me here?’ Farnor asked again.
There was another long silence. Farnor felt a debate going on about him, then, ‘You are to remain here, Far-nor.’
‘What!’
‘You are to remain here.’
‘I heard that. What do you mean?’
‘You are to remain amongst us until we know whether you are what you seem, or a more subtle seed of the Great Evil come to strike at us from within.’
Part of Farnor wanted to reassure, to help, to co-operate, but a black wave of rage rose to submerge it.
‘No!’ he cried out, both in his mind and out loud. The two horses started, and somewhere a bird fluttered away in alarm. ‘Why won’t you listen to me? Why won’t you believe me?’
‘We have decided.’
‘You can’t do this. I won’t allow it.’ Farnor turned round and round, crouching, as if expecting human assailants to appear suddenly from amongst the vast trunks.
‘We do not wish to oppose you, Far-nor. But we have no choice. If you are Its spawn, then we must hold you as best we can, no matter what the cost.’ There was fear in the voice, but a greater proportion of grim determi-nation.
Farnor saw the trees about him begin to shimmer and change. ‘Get out of my head!’ he roared. Desperately he seized the reins of his horse, swung himself up into the saddle, and drove his heels into the horse’s flanks. The animal trembled, but did not move. He swore and kicked it again. Still it did not move.
Farnor snarled and dismounted. Looking around, he saw that his vision was clear again. But he could feel dispute all about him; restraint and tolerance mingling with fear and the need for desperate and swift action.
‘Move, damn you!’ he screamed at the horse, but it looked at him helplessly. With an oath he struck it viciously across the head, but still it did not move. ‘Damn you all!’ he screamed at the top of his voice. ‘Damn you all! I will not be opposed.’
Then, it seemed to him that all the trees were bow-ing over and reaching down to him. He started to run.
Chapter 16
‘With your permission, I’ll escort you back to your home, ma’am,’ Nilsson said very politely as Marna emerged unsteadily from the spiral staircase that led down from Rannick’s eyrie. As he spoke, he casually brushed his forefinger across his lips, and, with an incongruously paternal gesture, touched a wisp of her hair that was being disturbed by a draught from somewhere.
Then he cast a significant glance up the stairs.
It was then that Marna realized that the persistent draught that had been ruffling her hair and causing the lanterns along the unnervingly steep stairs to flicker was more than it seemed. It was a lingering touch from her would-be lord and lover. Or, if she understood Nilsson correctly, was it perhaps a spy?
Whatever the truth, its irksome, spider’s-web touch was still with her when she emerged into the now torchlit courtyard.
‘See, you made the sparks fly, girl,’ came the same lecherous voice that had addressed her earlier. Even as she turned to look at the speaker she saw Nilsson’s arm snapping out. There was a dull, ground-shaking thud and a rasping gasp of air and the culprit went staggering backwards until he crashed into a wall and slithered to the floor.
Marna looked up at Nilsson to thank him, but his finger surreptitiously touched his lips again and then flicked towards the waiting horse. The incident swept Marna’s dominant concerns to one side for a moment. Nilsson’s swift, yet almost casual, dispatch of the offender had struck deeply into her. Disturbingly, it had a quality about it not dissimilar to one she had often seen in her father as he practised his craft; a complete ease and effortlessness and yet an overwhelming focus of intent. She had learned something important, something she had known all her life, but she was nor sure what.
They were some way from the castle before the faint breeze that was playing about them faded away. She felt Nilsson relax, though he gave no outward sign. After that, their silence became almost companionable.
A little way from her home, Marna asked to be put down. ‘I need to walk for a while,’ she told him. ‘You’re to come for me tomorrow evening, he said.’
Nilsson nodded, but she could not see his expres-sion in the darkness. Then he brought his horse around and gently urged it forward. Marna stood looking after him until his dark silhouette merged into the night.
‘Are you all right, Marna?’ The anxious voice star-tled her. A lantern was uncovered to reveal her father. ‘I’ve been waiting and waiting,’ he said. ‘Wondering what to do. I didn’t know whether to stay here. Or dash up to the castle. I didn’t…’
‘I’m all right, Father,’ Marna said quickly, taking his arm and squeezing it reassuringly. ‘Nothing happened. Nothing happened.’
Questions began to tumble out of Harlen. ‘What did he want you for? What did he say? What did he do? Why…?’
As they walked back towards the cottage, Marna told her father what had happened, though she said nothing about her own unexpectedly ambivalent feelings. Harlen gradually became less agitated, but as she told of Nilsson’s intended visit the following evening to take her to the castle permanently, he froze.
‘No!’ he hissed into the darkness. I’ll cut Rannick’s throat sooner.’
Marna’s eyes widened in alarm. ‘Father, no, please,’ she said, shaking his arm anxiously. ‘Whatever happens, promise me you’ll do nothing foolish. He is so powerful. He can do such – strange things. You mustn’t even try to approach him.’
Harlen was silent.
‘Promise me,’ Marna demanded, suddenly stern. ‘I’m not a child. I’ll find a way of dealing with… whatever happens… somehow. But it’ll be important to me to know that you’re still here, safe. And the cottage. Please don’t do anything. He’ll kill you without giving it a moment’s thought, I’m sure. Just like he did Garren and Katrin.’
Again Harlen did not reply, but Marna heard him taking a deep unsteady breath. Only when they reached the cottage and stepped into its familiar lighted heart did she see that his face was drawn and his eyes were gleaming wet. She could not meet his gaze.
‘I was so afraid for you,’ he said. ‘I didn’t know what to do. I nearly attacked that… Nilsson… when he said what he’d come for. Then you were there, standing between us, so calm. And I thought, what good would that do? He might be dead, but the valley would be sealed, his men would be everywhere. And where could we run to? You’d be taken anyway. Then, you were riding off with him. I couldn’t move. I felt so useless, so…’ His voice faded away. ‘I’m sorry, Marna,’ he finished weakly.
Pity overwhelmed her and she put her arms around him. ‘Don’t be, don’t be, you couldn’t have done anything,’ she said, fighting back tears. ‘You’ve always looked after me, and you’ve brought me up to look after myself as well. We’ll manage between us, somehow. All that’s really important now is to stay alive. We’ve seen enough of what Rannick can do to know we can’t deal with him like a normal person. There has to be another way. And we’ll only find it if we keep watching and listening.’