Jack Whyte - The Eagles' Brood

"You didn't do too well, did you?" I raised my arm and our circle broke apart as I had ordered, leaving a ring of mounted men behind which three large arrowhead formations formed, their points facing inward. He watched my people carry out their orders like machines, his face losing some of its high colour. Three single trumpet blasts told me the manoeuvre had been completed and I raised my arm again. The remainder of the circle broke and formed one massive square formation behind my arrowhead. The young giant in front of me returned his gaze to mine, his face gaunt.

"It is time to die, my friend," I said. "We cannot afford to keep you alive, and besides, with any luck, my cousin Uther has already killed King Lot. Fight well, and farewell." Again I started to raise my arm and again he stopped me.

"Your cousin Uther? That means you must be Merlyn."

I bowed my head slightly in acknowledgement. "I am. So?"

"They say you are a man of sense and honour."

"Do they?" I felt a wry smile on my face and a tug of regret that I had to kill this man. "And who are they? Lot of Cornwall knows nothing of sense or honour, and I would be surprised to hear any ally of his profess to know of them."

"I have heard the Druids speak of you."

I was becoming impatient and ill at ease with this. I had no wish to personalize an enemy before killing him.

"What is your point, man?" My voice reflected my impatience.

"I will make a bargain with you, Merlyn." His eyes were desperate and I felt a formless stirring of distaste.

"What kind of bargain do I need to make with the likes of you?" I asked with half a sneer forming unbidden on my lips.

"Life! Lives.. .Your men and mine."

Now what? "Go on," I said, "I'm listening."

He swallowed hard and looked at the men crowded behind him. Their faces were grim, but I took it as a sign of respect for their king's son that their silence remained absolute. He spoke again to me.

"Enough have died. My people will never recover from this loss. We are beaten." He drew a great, shuddering breath. "If we have to die now we will, but we will take a lot of your men with us."

"So? That is a soldier's risk." I pursed my lips. "I'm still waiting for you to make your point."

"It is this: You fight me, man to man, on foot. If I win, let my men and I go free, back to our boats and home. You have my word of honour that you will hear no more from us."

I raised an eyebrow. "And if I win?"

He shrugged. "Then my people withdraw, leaving their weapons here."

"And go home anyway? You call that a bargain? You win both ways."

He shook his head, a short, violent shake. "No! You do. All of your men remain alive too, but they keep their weapons either way. If my men go home without theirs they will be disgraced forever."

"Disgraced forever? Why?"

He shrugged his huge shoulders. "It is the way of our people. Cowardice is unforgivable."

"So why would you even suggest such a solution?"

He looked me straight in the eye and I saw truth in his gaze. "I think I can beat you. But even if I lose, they will still be alive. They will continue my race."

I decided quite suddenly that I liked this young man. He had a dignity about him that reminded me of my great-uncle Ullic. I considered his bargain and my mind leaped ahead of it. He was big and strong enough to beat me, but that did not worry me. If we fought, I felt that I would have the victory, but then I remembered my father's recent rebuke after my foolish confrontation with the bear. In the fight the young Celt was proposing, one of us must die, and the odds were even that it might be I who fell. It would be irresponsible to take that risk in front of my own troops. I shook my head.

"No," I said. "But I have an alternative offer. Surrender yourself, alone, to me personally, as my prisoner. If you do so, I'll escort your men back to their boats and send them home, with their weapons. You will be hostage for their good behaviour."

He frowned at me. "Without a fight?"

"You've had your fight." I nodded to the road behind him. "You lost, remember?"

He shrugged his shoulders again and looked down at the axe in his hands. "I have no choice, have I? How long will you keep me prisoner?"

I had not even considered that. I did so now. "Five years," I told him. "If at the end of that time we have had no more trouble with your people, I will release you."

"Five years?" He was aghast. "Five years of bondage? Chained up like a bear?"

I shook my head slightly. "I made no mention of chaining you up. You will be my prisoner. You gave me your word that your men would leave and stay away as part of your initial bargain. You did so in a manner that made me believe I might trust that word. I would be prepared to trust it still if you promised not to attempt escape, but to serve your time with me."

"Serving you?"

"Serving with me."

Our eyes locked and his narrowed as if trying to see beyond mine, into my head. Then he gave a curt nod. "Agreed. But let my people go."

"I will. Did any escape from the far side of the woods?"

"I don't know." His eyes were bleak.

"Well," I said, "we will find out. If there are survivors there with my father's troops, Will they be bound by your bargain, too?"

His eyes narrowed again. "They will. They are my father's people."

"Good, then we had better go and find out if any of them are still alive. Tell your people what is happening. I'll tell mine." I turned to my standard-bearer and spoke in my own language. "Bring Achmed Cato and Lieutenant Maripo here to me." When they arrived I told them what I had arranged. Maripo said nothing, but Cato looked worried.

"Commander, can you trust a man like this? A pirate?"

I nodded. "I think I can, Cato. He is no pirate in the ordinary sense. He's an envoy of his father, the king of the Scotii. Anyway, time will prove me either right or wrong, and in the meantime we have saved ourselves from losing men needlessly. I want to send an escort of two hundred back with them to the coast. You will lead them. I don't expect you to have any trouble on the way, but if you do, I expect you to conduct yourself accordingly. If they break faith with you, wipe them out. We'll disarm them before they leave and keep their weapons under guard. See them loaded into their boats and under way, then make your own way directly back to the Colony."

"Are we allowing them to keep their weapons? Really?" His eyes showed his surprise.

"Aye." I gave a small smile. "When the men are aboard, let them have their weapons back;"

He still looked dubious, but he did not demur, merely shrugging his shoulders. "You're the commander, Commander," was all he said.

My smile grew wider. I instructed him to hold the prisoners there pending other arrivals and further orders, then I returned to my young prisoner, who had finished talking to his own men. "Did you tell diem they would be allowed to keep their weapons?" I asked him.

"Aye. I told them they would have them back once aboard ship."

"That is correct. I have instructed the commander of the escort that will accompany them back to their boats. They are aware of the terms of your hostage status?"

"Aye. They are aware."

"Good. I hope they hold you in high esteem. Ask them now to throw down their weapons, all of them in a pile, and move away from them. My men will load them on to one of our commissary wagons later. Do you ride?"

"No."

"Then I hope you can walk quickly. We are going to check the extent of the slaughter up ahead there, in the woods. You will have to come with me. It will not be a pleasant passage, but if there are any of your people left alive on the other side of the woods, we should try to get there before someone decides to execute them all Let's go."