‘That’s an understatement,’ Aaren said caustically.
‘What’s the matter?’ Marna asked, unable to remain silent in the middle of all this strange concern.
The four exchanged glances, then Engir spoke to her, his voice gentle, but full of grim resignation. ‘We understand a little about the power that your Rannick uses, Marna. We’ve… met it before. I was reluctant to accept that it was here again, but…’ He shrugged regretfully. ‘It’s a terrible thing,’ he went on. ‘Not something any of us would willingly meet again. And not something that can necessarily be dealt with by simple force of arms. It needs someone with the same skill.’ He cast a sidelong glance at Levrik. ‘The problem that Levrik spoke of is that none of us here has that skill, nor can we bring such a person here without a journey of many months.’
Marna’s commonsense completed his tale, unbid-den. ‘But he’s getting stronger every day,’ she said forcefully. ‘All manner of people are coming to join him, and raiding parties are going out every few days. We can’t wait months before we do something.’
‘They’ve found them.’ Levrik’s voice again broke into the discussion.
Marna looked back up towards her home. She could see the tiny dots converging. ‘Will they find us?’ she asked, suddenly fearful, her mind filling with images of the man she had just killed.
Engir shook his head. ‘Probably not,’ he said. ‘But you must do everything we tell you, immediately and without question, do you understand?’ Marna nodded, now not so much the gawky outsider as a nervous waif.
While Levrik continued his relentless watch on the approaching riders, the newcomers returned again to their wider difficulties.
‘I can carry on with my journey to the capital,’ Marna offered. ‘Take your messages with me. The king could send the army.’ She brightened. ‘Or we could all go. If you can’t do anything here on your own, there’s not much point staying, is there?’
There was another exchange of glances amongst her listeners.
‘I wish you’d all stop doing that,’ Marna flared in-dignantly. ‘Looking at one another as though I’m some kind of idiot.’
Engir raised his hands appeasingly. ‘I’m sorry, Marna,’ he said. ‘It’s just that you seem to have led such a sheltered life here. There’s so much…’
‘It’s not sheltered any more,’ Marna retorted angrily, before he could continue. ‘Foulness has come from the north, from the south, and from within. These last two months or so might as well have been twenty years. Now tell me what’s bothering you, straight out, and how I can help, or let me get on my way, and I’ll help myself and my friends as best I can.’
Levrik cast her a brief, unreadable glance, the two women looked awkwardly at one another, and Engir nodded his head, genuinely chastened by this outburst. ‘You’re right, Marna,’ he said. ‘You’ll have to make allowances for our strange ways, and the strange times. The past couple of months might have been bad for you, but over the last few days we’ve had to come to terms with facing something – something truly awful – that we’d all thought finished and gone for ever years ago.’
Marna was in no mood to make concessions. ‘Shall we all go to the king, then?’ she demanded.
This time there was no debate amongst the four, silent or otherwise. ‘Your land has been very prosperous for a long time, Marna,’ Engir replied. ‘A peaceful place, as I imagine your own valley has been. Your king is a just and kindly man. But…’ He hesitated, as if what he had to say were deeply distasteful. ‘Because of the very peacefulness, there’s been no need, no inclination, for your people to bear arms, to maintain the military skills that helped your forebears to build and sustain this very peace. Whatever army the king ever had is little more than a ceremonial guard now.’ He leaned forward. ‘It was only fear of the pursuers they knew were following that kept Nilsson and his troop moving on.’
‘They fled from four of you?’ Marna said disbeliev-ingly.
Engir smiled weakly. ‘They fled from what they’d done and the accounting that they knew would be demanded of them sooner or later. Just a whiff of our very existence in the wind was enough to galvanize them. To rob them of any peace.’
‘And now?’ Marna asked.
Engir looked at the distant riders. ‘And now, some-how, they’ve regained their confidence, their morale, and the whole land… perhaps more… lies hostage to what’s happening here. Nilsson’s a military man, a capable and ambitious one. He can and will use terror as a weapon of power. He’s had a rare instructor. He knows that it’ll take very little to subdue this entire country. And with Rannick behind him he won’t hesitate to move even further afield.’ He had to force his final words out. ‘He understands those who can use the power better even than we do. And what we shake and tremble before, he’ll have opened his arms to and embraced.’
Chapter 20
Marna felt herself go cold at the almost fatalistic acceptance in Engir’s words. The mountains that had sheltered and held secure the only home she had ever known seemed now to be like the walls of a cruel prison, and the warm sunlight pervading the high lookout mocked her with its bright contrast to her dark fears. ‘We can’t just do… nothing,’ she said, more plaintively than she had intended.
For a long time no one answered, then, as if they had reached a conclusion after holding a prolonged debate, Levrik said, ‘We kill him then?’
Marna started at this unexpected and blunt an-nouncement, though none of the others showed any signs of surprise.
‘I can’t see any other alternative,’ Yehna said after a while. ‘If he wants… Marna… here, then he’s got plenty of down-to-earth appetites left. And that means he’s a long way short of being totally consumed by the power yet.’
‘And thus vulnerable,’ Aaren concluded, a knife appearing in her hand.
Marna suddenly felt herself the centre of attention again. It took her a little while to appreciate the message she was being given. When she did she waved her hands in denial. ‘No, no!’ she said emphatically. ‘I couldn’t do it. Last night I thought perhaps I could, but I was wrong.’
‘You’ve killed one man already,’ Aaren said starkly.
Marna’s mouth dropped open as she drew in a sharp breath. Her shocked reaction was reflected, albeit less visibly, in Levrik and Engir. They glanced at one another to confirm that they could play no part in what was to follow.
Marna blasted out her response in a voice full of both anger and reproach. ‘That was an accident, for mercy’s sake.’
Aaren shook her head. ‘It was your better judge-ment,’ she said calmly. ‘Your life was threatened and you did what was necessary, quickly and efficiently.’
‘No!’
‘You didn’t kill him?’ Aaren said, eyebrows raised.
The two men watched, helpless as Marna looked from side to side, as if for some way to escape this unexpected assault. ‘You know I did, you bitch,’ she snarled, finding none. ‘But it was an accident. I didn’t mean…’
‘That’s twice you’ve said that, and twice you’ve been wrong,’ Aaren interrupted, making no response to the abuse. ‘I’m not saying you enjoyed it, or that you weren’t sickened by it, but don’t keep blaming it on some chance happening. Face what you did, girl, you’ll survive it, and while it’s unlikely you’ll ever be happy about it, you’ll be the better for it. Just thank your ancestors for breeding wits enough into you to make sure you could do the right thing when you had to.’ She levelled a finger at Marna. ‘And you don’t need me to tell you that you did do the right thing, do you?’ she said. ‘Or that you’d do it again if you had to.’
The two women stared at one another. Levrik and Engir waited. Then Marna let out a noisy breath, and sagged. ‘I don’t know, I don’t know,’ she said uncon-vincingly. ‘I… I couldn’t do it to Rannick, all the same.’
‘Fancy him, do you?’ Aaren asked.
Surprisingly, Marna replied without either hesita-tion or rancour. ‘Up here, no,’ she said. ‘But close to…’ She shook her head, and coloured a little. ‘I don’t know.’ She paused for a moment, then suddenly, she was once more on her back, fighting against a choking blackness and thrusting her hands up into the figure straddled over her. The vision, intense though it was, passed as suddenly as it had come, leaving her shivering and nauseous. A hand came forward to help her, but she brushed it aside almost angrily and forced herself to speak. ‘Anyway,’ she managed, ‘doing something in the heat of the moment is one thing. Doing it…’ She gritted her teeth. ‘Killing someone in cold blood is another. Even Rannick, and knowing what he’s done. I couldn’t do it. I’ve known him too long. Part of me still… feels sorry for him.’