Bronze Magic (Book 1) Page 36

  Tarkyn saw Rainstorm’s eyes dilate in shock and added hastily, “No. Don’t panic. I have no intention of ruling over you. Ask these two. Even with the oath, we negotiate nearly everything…and you aren’t even subject to the oath.”

  A few minutes of intense mind talking ensued while Autumn Leaves and Waterstone tried to use images of past conversations to reassure the young woodman.

  Tarkyn frowned, “Why is this taking so long?”

  Waterstone laughed. “Because, for all your good intentions, you are quite clearly exerting authority in most situations we can think of.”

  The prince looked quizzically at Rainstorm. “Well, I did say I couldn’t come to terms with being totally equal, didn’t I?”

  Rainstorm scowled at him, “You had better not try to order me around.”

  Tarkyn could feel that the other two were also waiting to hear what he was going to say. “My friend, from what I have seen of you, you make your own judgements on the value of people’s requests to you and act accordingly. If you do the same for me, I could ask no more.”

  The young woodman raised his eyebrows and nodded. He looked at the other two woodmen. “He’s not bad, this prince of yours. Friendly, but with just a hint of menace!”

  The sorcerer looked crushed, “What do you mean, a hint of menace? I bend over backwards not to be intimidating.”

  “Exactly,” exclaimed Rainstorm. “None of us needs to do that.” He laughed. “You should have seen him when he first got here. We’re trying to kill him and he’s getting crabby because people are firing arrows at him. Not frightened, mind you, crabby. He called us a bunch of hooligans!”

  Autumn Leaves and Waterstone both turned their heads to stare at Tarkyn. Then they looked back at Rainstorm. “And exactly how close did he come to getting himself killed?”

  “Oh, he was safe enough then,” replied Rainstorm airily. “He had his shield up at that point.” Just as the other two began to relax, he added, “But it was on a knife edge for the best part of an hour at least - only because he chose it to be, by relinquishing all his defences. He even made sure his hands were tied behind him not in front, when none of us would have known the difference.”

  Tarkyn was looking steadfastly at the ground, “Ah, but in time you would have discovered that I had made fools of you if I pretended to be helpless with my hands tied in front.” He looked up, “Besides, I am not in the business of giving false impressions.”

  This statement, which began as a simple explanation of Tarkyn’s actions, ended hanging in the air as an indictment of the fact that the woodfolk sitting on either side of him had concealed the presence of their kin from him. “So, on that topic… ” said Tarkyn slowly. The two woodmen braced themselves as the prince picked restlessly at the bandage on his arm. Rainstorm was intrigued to notice a wicked little smile playing around his lips. Then, seemingly unaware of their tension, Tarkyn continued, “So on that topic, what are we going to do about Stormaway?”

  Two relieved woodmen punched him simultaneously on the nearest shoulder to them.

  “Ow. That is a serious question,” said Tarkyn, laughing.

  “You’re a bastard. Do you know that?” said Waterstone, half smiling, half frowning. “Exactly how long are you going to make us pay?”

  Tarkyn put his head on one side, a smile lurking in his eyes, while he considered it. “Well, let me see. I had to endure total misery for nearly twenty-four hours, deal with isolation for a week, not to mention the previous weeks of deception. So I think you might still have a bit more coming to you.” He put up his right hand to forestall a sudden movement of Waterstone’s. “Now stop. You can’t punch me any more. You might wake Sparrow!”

  As Waterstone subsided, Rainstorm asked, “So who is this Stormaway?”

  “There you are,” said Tarkyn, smiling at the young woodman.“At least someone is taking me seriously. For your information, Stormaway is the wizard who devised the spell-bound oath for my father and is my faithful but determinedly disobedient retainer.”

  Rainstorm nodded, catching on. “I know. He’s the one who thought that woodfolk would kill you if you didn’t have the oath to protect you.”

  “Yep. That’s the one.”

  “He wasn’t far off, was he?” observed the young woodman dryly.

  “No,” said Tarkyn, “but just far enough.” The prince rolled his head from one woodman to the other, “So, the question remains. What are we going to do about him?”

  Rainstorm frowned. “Am I to understand he’s an outsider who knows about woodfolk?”

  Waterstone nodded.

  “Well. It’s easy then. We will just have to kill him before he tells anyone,” said the young man with an air of finality.

  Tarkyn shook his head, smiling. “Much as I admire your straightforward, bloodthirsty style, I should point out that Stormaway has already known about woodfolk for some twelve years and if he dies, I will never be able to find out how to release the welfare of the forest from the oath.”

  Rainstorm gave this some thought, then said, “Right, then. Let’s find out how to disarm the oath. Then we can kill him.”

  Tarkyn raised his eyebrows. “If I had realised I had such simplistic minds as this around me, I might have taken a few less chances with the forestals.”

  “Very funny,” growled the young woodman.

  “Stormaway has visited us, off and on, ever since the oath was first sworn to Tarkyn’s father,” explained Waterstone. “He was appointed as judge of Tarkyn’s fitness to assume the role of liege lord. So he had to stay in contact with us. Over the years, we began to use him as an agent to sell produce to outsiders so we could buy things we don’t want to make or can’t obtain ourselves.” He smiled at Rainstorm. “I think you’ll find that all woodfolk products that go to outsiders are channelled through him.”

  Tarkyn looked puzzled. “If everyone is using Stormaway as an agent, why doesn’t Rainstorm know about him?”

  “I can answer that myself,” put in Rainstorm. He cleared his throat self-consciously. “I have only just reached an age where I have any interest at all in adult affairs. So there are still a lot of things I know little about.”

  Tarkyn smiled warmly at him, “Now there you are, you see. That is the advantage of not being a prince. I’ve been forced into adult affairs ever since I can remember. Do you know how old I was, when I first swore that oath?` Seven.”

  Rainstorm whistled. “Wolves’ teeth! You didn’t have any choice, did you?”

  The prince laughed. “No. None at all. But I wouldn’t change it now, even if I did have.” He fiddled with his bandage again, lost in his own thoughts for a while. Then he looked up again, “So, we still haven’t sorted this out. What are we going to do about Stormaway?” He gave a wry smile. “I have to warn you; he is only an hour away. So you’d better get it sorted somehow.”

  Autumn Leaves showed no surprise but heaved himself to his feet. “I’ll go and talk to the others about it. Come on, young man. You can help me as long as you don’t advocate killing off the prince’s loyal retainer.”

  “Autumn Leaves, please let us know if there is likely to be any danger to Stormaway,” said Tarkyn gently but firmly. “Despite my differences with him, I really couldn’t countenance any harm coming to him, after all his years of holding true to my father and me.”

  Autumn Leaves smiled reassuringly, “Tarkyn, if we don’t want him to find us, he won’t. We don’t need to kill him. If he is nearly here, he is following the path we have laid out for him.”

  When they had gone, Tarkyn turned his head to look at Waterstone.

  “I haven’t had a chance to thank you yet,” began Tarkyn.

  Waterstone shook his head, “And I haven’t had a chance to apologise for my presumption.”

  “No.” said the prince softly. “Don’t say that. I meant what I said. I am truly honoured to be part of your family.” He looked down at his bandage and pulled at a loose thread.

  “What’s wrong? Yo
u keep fiddling with it. Is your arm hurting?”

  “Hmm? No. My arm is fine.” Tarkyn threw the woodman an embarrassed glance and looked back down. “I just like having the bandage on there. It keeps reminding me that you...” he shrugged, “I don’t know….that you were willing to risk me rejecting you in front of all those people, that you are willing to have me in your family.”

  Waterstone shook his head in wonder. “You’re a strange character, young Tarkyn. One minute, you’re the most arrogant thing on two legs. The next minute, you are so humble, it’s scary. I can’t work you out at all.”

  Tarkyn stroked Sparrow’s head and kept his eyes down. “It is one thing to know your worth as a prince or leader among men. It’s quite another to be accepted by someone when they don’t have to accept you and when you know most people are either scared stiff of you or resent you.”

  The woodman patted him on the shoulder. “You know, Tarkyn, I think you’re a little out of date with your perceptions. Thunder Storm and Autumn Leaves would have gladly taken you into their family too, you know. I nearly had to fight them for the privilege.”

  Tarkyn looked up in surprise. “Really?”

  “Yes, really. None of us who knows you is frightened of you any more. We might be frightened for you after your shenanigans with the forestals, but not of you.”

  The prince gave a slight smile. “You know, I was beginning to think things were settling down,” the smile faded, “but when I found out about the other woodfolk, everything I thought I knew, fell apart.”

  Waterstone heaved a sigh, “I can imagine it did. I am so sorry, Tarkyn, that you had to go through feeling betrayed again. I was as open as I possibly could be, given the demands of secerecy placed on us by woodfolk lore.” He looked at the prince. “I really don’t have any ulterior motives for my friendship with you…. And I’ve done the best I could to repair the damage.”

  Tarkyn gave a relaxed smile as he went back to fiddling with his bandage, his arm still around Sparrow. “Don’t worry. Your best is well and truly good enough.”

  After a minute or two, the forest guardian shifted his weight under the little girl and said, “I keep receiving images from various animals and birds warning me of Stormaway’s impending arrival. I don’t know why - maybe because he is very angry and they can sense his antipathy towards us. I think we had better go and meet him before he storms in here and wreaks havoc. What do you think?”

  Waterstone nodded, “Good idea. Then we can stall him, if we need to, to give those woodfolk who wish to, time to leave. I’ll ask Creaking Bough or Thunder Storm to mind Sparrow. They can keep her with their two kids.”

  “So, do I need to ask a creature to guide us to him?”

  “Much as that would be entertaining for me, no,” replied the woodman. “I know where to find him. He will be following our trail.”

  Twenty minutes later, on a thin deer track through the depths of the forest, Stormaway rounded a corner and came into view. When he spotted Tarkyn and Waterstone, he stopped dead and put his hands on his hips.

  “So, you found him, did you?” said the wizard sternly. Stormaway then ignored Waterstone and turned the full strength of his wrath on Tarkyn, “Heavens above, Sire, what on earth did you think you were doing, disappearing like that?” He waved his hand in the woodman’s general direction. “I’m used to this lot disappearing but not you. The forest’s a dangerous place. There are all sorts of people lurking in the forest who might wish you harm.”

  Tarkyn raised his eyebrows. “What? Me, in particular?”

  “Yes. You, in particular. In case you’ve forgotten, you’ve been branded a rogue sorcerer.”

  The sorcerer grimaced. “Hmm. I do keep forgetting that, I must admit.”

  “So what were you doing with yourself?” demanded Stormaway angrily. “And why didn’t you let anyone know where you were going? You left everyone in a total panic.”

  Waterstone waited with interest to hear how Tarkyn was going to respond to this.

  The prince looked his retainer in the eye and drew a breath. “Stormaway, I apologise if I distressed you in any way. However, I was upset and needed time away from you all to sort things out.” He let a faint note of hauteur enter his voice. “Beyond that, there is nothing else I am prepared to tell you. My business is my own, after all.”

  “Bloody arrogant Tamadils!” exclaimed the wizard. “I don’t know how I’ve put up with you all. You’re as bad as your father. Use you one minute. Freeze you out the next.”

  Tarkyn relented, “Stormaway, I don’t mean to freeze you out. However, equally, there will always be times when what I am doing is not necessarily your business, or anyone else’s, for that matter.” He paused. “I don’t know everything about you. You don’t need to know everything about me.”

  Stormaway eyed him, only half placated. “But you can’t just run off when it suits you. You need the protection of the woodfolk.”

  “If it makes you feel any better, I can tell you that I do not intend to make a habit of running off, as you put it.” The prince raised his eyebrows derisively, “And I think I have made it clear in the past that I value the woodfolk rather more than you do.”

  As they neared the clearing, Tarkyn could see that there were notably fewer woodfolk. However, he was shocked to realise that many who had attended the ceremony had remained. He spoke quietly to Waterstone, “We can’t just walk in without preparing him. He might attack them to protect me.”

  Once the woodman had nodded his agreement, Tarkyn turned to the wizard and placed a restraining hand on his shoulder. “Stormaway, before we go on, I must ask you to trust me. Whatever happens, do not attack anyone. At the very worst, raise your shield if you must.”

  Just as he finished speaking, Raging Water stomped up to Stormaway. “Good evening, old man. You’ll be wanting something to eat and drink after your long walk, I’m thinking. I am Raging Water.”

  Stormaway, with years of court intrigue behind him, barely missed a beat as he replied, “Good evening. I would indeed be glad of some refreshments after my long solitary journey here.” He sketched a slight bow, but tension showed in every line of his body. “I am Stormaway Treemaster, wizard.” As he fell in beside the old woodman, he asked tightly, “Would I be right in assuming that you are not bound by the oath to His Royal Highness?”

  “That would be correct, wizard.”

  Stormaway sent a sharp glance to Tarkyn. “And this would be your private business you would say nothing about, I presume?”

  The prince nodded.

  They reached the firesite and Stormaway was introduced to the wide array of woodfolk from different parts of the forest. He sat himself down on a log and was given wine and a plate of spit roast deer, bread and fruit.

  Everyone seated themselves comfortably around him and indulged for a short time in a desultory chat about the weather, the harvests and the potential for marketing.

  “I did have my suspicions that there might be more woodfolk than I had met,” said Stormaway eventually. “There was so much produce from such a small number. However, I thought the prince would be safe enough as long as he was with woodfolk who were sworn to protect him.” The wizard took a sip of his wine and turned to frown at Waterstone. “I am surprised you brought him here, nevertheless. I don’t know how you could be sure that you could protect him against so many, if it were needed - no offence intended.” he added, glancing around the group. “Besides, don’t you have a code of secrecy?”

  Amused glances passed between the assembled woodfolk.

  Raging Water answered. “Wizard, your young prince appeared among us many hours before Waterstone and his lot arrived.” The woodman bent a rather evil smile on the wizard. “He’d have been long dead by then if we had decided to kill him.”

  Stormaway turned a stony face towards the prince.

  Tarkyn smiled cheerily at him. “But as you can see, I am still alive and kicking. Better still, woodfolk don’t have to worry about protecting
me against each other and we can all get on with facing the coming threat together.”

  If Tarkyn thought this would mollify his faithful retainer, he was sadly mistaken. Stormaway glared furiously at him and demanded angrily, “Your Highness, how could you place yourself at such risk? Have you no understanding of your importance both as prince and as guardian of the forest?”

  For the first time, the new woodfolk saw Tarkyn’s arrogance emerge. In a cool voice that sent a chill up the spine of his listeners, the prince replied, “I know exactly how much or how little I am worth. I will place myself at risk when and where I see fit and, unlike you, I will place my trust in the good sense and honour of the woodfolk. Not only that, but I will thank you to remember to whom you are speaking and to treat me with some vestige of respect.”

  The woodfolk watched him in shock. Gone was the placating, selfdeprecating sorcerer with whom they had spent the week. In his place, was the proud, sure prince of the realm asserting his authority. Then Tarkyn’s anger was gone as quickly as it had come. He took a short breath and continued more calmly, but still in a manner that would brook no opposition. “Stormaway, I am not answerable to you. I know you have my best interests at heart and I will always listen to your advice, but I will not be called to account by you.”

  The wizard looked steadily at him. “I beg your pardon, Si`````re,” he said stiffly after a moment. “Perhaps I did not express myself very well. I would appreciate it if someone could take the time to tell me what happened that has led us to where we are now.”