Edith Pattou - Fire Arrow

EIGHTEEN

Bren-huan

As she made her way back through Ardara, Brie spotted Lorn.

"How was Sago?" he asked as they fell into step together.

Brie shook her head. "He says he will journey north with us."

"He has not the strength."

Brie nodded her agreement absently. Then she cleared her throat. "Uh, thank you for sending me Araf. I am afraid she ran off."

"She found her way back to Ardara."

Brie looked surprised.

"Yes, somewhat of a miracle. But Araf is smarter than she appears to be." They exchanged a smile.

Brie took a breath. "Lom, I..."

"No," Lom interrupted, raising a hand. "I know. I knew when you left Ardara. Your way lies somewhere other than a small Dungal fishing village."

Brie was silent for a moment, then, "I wish it were not so."

"I know that as well." He smiled at her. "Perhaps I am like the horse Araf in that way."

Brie laughed with Lom, then her smile faded. "Will they come? The Ardarans?"

Lom shook his head. "I do not know. Some, but there are many who are afraid. And the innkeeper's words will give them a reason to stay."

"The innkeeper serves the sorcerer Balor. He helped to plant the stonefish that sickened Sago."

"I see." Lom looked grim. "Well, there is still time before dawn. I will do what I can do."

***

Brie slept poorly that night. By the time dawn came she had been awake for some time, having brewed a pan of cyffroi, given both Fiain and Ciaran thorough rubdowns, as well as a hearty breakfast of oats, and even begun work on new arrows for her quiver.

Collun joined her at the fire, and she handed him a cup of cyffroi. He drank it quickly, expressing doubt that he could ever get used to the taste. Veena Creek was low, showing signs of the drought.

Lom was the first to come, with Jacan, Ferg, Hyslin, and Gwil not far behind. Lom told Brie that his father, Farmer Garmon, had wished to come, but Lotte had begged and pleaded with him to stay, until, unwilling, he capitulated. Hyslin was there to see Gwil off. A large farmer named Huld arrived at the creek, followed by two brothers, both fishermen, who looked alike, lean and small. A boy named Marc, brother to the girl Beith, who loved to tease Ferg, came. Beith was there, too, to see her brother off. There was no laughter in her snapping black eyes this morning. Dil, the boy to whom Brie had given archery lessons, rode up on a dappled pony. He grinned at Brie, holding up his homemade bow. Then a young fisherman with thick eyebrows called Clun came, accompanied by his younger sister, at whom he frequently scowled for coming against his wishes. She was Maire, a tall girl with a stubborn chin. Then Henle arrived, accompanied by five other fishermen.

And after that no one came.

The moments stretched out, taut/and uncomfortable; the sun rose higher in the sky. There was little talk. One horse whickered loudly, while another stamped its hoof against the ground. One of the fishermen coughed. Hanna's dog Jip got into a friendly, but vocal, skirmish with another of the villager's dogs. Finally Brie, numb, said, "It appears our..."—she paused—"um, army is complete." They numbered twenty. "There may be more as we head north, but ... At any rate, it is not too late to change your mind."

There was an uneasy silence. Brie avoided looking anyone in the eye. The silence remained unbroken. "Very well then." She mounted Ciaran, looking to Lom or Jacan to take the lead.

"Lead us, Biri," came Hanna's voice. Brie thought she heard a muffled "Aye." She hesitated, but then awkwardly moved Ciaran forward, heading north along the creek. Hyslin and Beith stood together forlornly, watching them go.

Brie had not gone more than a hundred yards when she heard Lom's voice call out, "Hold!"

Brie turned to see a lone straggler riding up behind them. It was Sago.

He had found a pony somewhere—an odd-looking beast, tan with a black patch on its forehead and a short white tail that splayed out from the horse's broad hindquarters, almost like the tail feathers of ¡a seabird. Still, it was a solid, sturdy-looking animal, though Sago must have been no more burden than a feather resting atop the pony's saddle.

***

That night as they made camp Brie noticed Collun and Lom talking together amicably.

Before arriving in Ardara, Brie had told Collun of her friendship with Lom and even of dancing with him on the deck of the Storm Petrel. Collun had listened, saying nothing. But when she first introduced the two, Brie's stomach had been knotted tighter than one of Jacan's halyards. They shook hands and smiled genially, then someone called out to Lom and he left them. Brie had waited, tense.

"Seems a decent fellow," was all Collun said. He had started to walk away, then stopped, adding, "D'you think he'd be willing to teach me to dance as well? Talisen was always telling me I had two left feet, but since it looks as though you'll be leading the next Beltaine dances..." He had grinned at her and Brie grinned back, realizing again how little she knew of this new Collun.

At each village and farmhold the army came to, they told of the attack on Prince Durwydd's dun and of the enemy who gathered a war host in the north. And at each village they were greeted with a mixture of fear and disbelief. They fared best with the fishing villages, hard hit by the blight of sumog, but still their army remained modest. By the time they had reached the beginning of northern Dungal, they numbered no more than eighty.

It was a small, motley army, but Brie was humbled by them, astonished by their courage and their loyalty. In their turn, the army seemed to regard Brie with an affectionate sort of respect, even awe, that embarrassed her. They had taken to calling her "Bren," which meant "little queen" in Dungalan. Sometimes they added "huan," the Dungal word for sunlight, because of the times the sun reflected off her hair, a blur of gold at the head of the ragtag army. "Bren-huan," they would say, "you shall lead us to victory like our queen Fionna."

Brie demurred with a laugh. "The color of my hair is the only thing I have in common with your queen."

If Brie was the army's "little queen," Lom quickly became the one they turned to when a problem arose, such as when a harness needing mending or for advice on saddle sores or to grumble about empty stomachs. Though the army was not large, it still needed to be fed every day, and Lom was the expert on foraging for food and other supplies. /Foraging grew increasingly difficult as they journeyed farther north, where there were fewer villages, but Lom somehow managed. He also, along with Jacan, Hanna, and one of the fishermen, led the army in various training exercises and war games.

Brie usually rode at the head of the army, with Collun at her side. He had refused to let Brie tell the Dungalans that he was Wurme-killer. They had a quarrel about it, Brie arguing that it would do much for the army's morale and Collun adamantly refusing to go along with her wishes.

Collun often slipped to the rear to check on Sago. He and Hanna were using all their combined herb lore in an attempt to boost the sorcerer's failing health. Brie was impressed by Collun's ministrations to the sorcerer, and wondered if perhaps he did it partly because of a certain wizard of the trees whose death he yet felt the sting of.

And, indeed, Sago showed some small improvement. The Sea Dyak sorcerer had brought his amhantar. In it he carried a sliver of wood he said was from his boat, Gor-gwynt, something prickly he told Brie was a dead ghost anemone, a moon shell that he said he'd found on his last treasure hunt, and another small dead fish that looked familiar to Brie, though she could not recall its name. Sago took the moon shell out frequently, running his fingers over the whorled, gleaming surface. The Sea Dyak sorcerer had also brought along some rope and string, and he began fiddling around with the making of a small fishing net. As he rode, his fingers were constantly tying, knotting, and weaving. He was a comical sight, the Sea Dyak sorcerer, bringing up the rear of the army, sitting on his fat little pony, weaving nets and singing nonsense songs.