It looked like a coiled snake, but with a grotesquely large head, in which were set two black stones for eyes.
"Make way! Make way there! The emissary of Ramoth approaches!"
"What does he expect me to do, drive into the trees?" Allyn grumbled, and spat, and with a stubbornness born of years waiting for crops to grow and for the turning of the seasons, he drew his cart to a halt.
"Leave this to me." Gawain said softly, but the quiet command left the family in no doubt that friend Traveller was not one whose orders were to be questioned, for all his youth.
"Make way! Make…"
"You make way.” Gawain called back, and the approaching party came to an abrupt halt some thirty paces from the cart, the shaven-headed pole-carrier a mere ten from Gwyn's flaring nostrils.
"Make way for the emissary of Ramoth.” A mounted guard said, clearly amazed that anyone would challenge their right of way.
"There's room for both of us on this road. The wagon is in the ruts. If you wish to pass peacefully, then do so. But do so quietly. Your constant shouting is irritating my horse. And me."
The guard advanced his horse, and eyed Gawain. "Who refuses to make way for Ramoth?" he growled.
"I.” Gawain replied, smiling. Gwyn snorted, and nodded her head. "And my horse.” Gawain added, the smile broadening into a grin.
A hand appeared through the curtains on the sedan chair, and seemed to motion forwards impatiently.
"It looks to me," Gawain nodded towards the gesticulation, "That your employer is anxious to move on. Pass in peace, Serre, or you pass away."
The guard's eyes narrowed, and his horse fidgeted. "Move on," he said after another hesitant look into Gawain's eyes.
And so they passed, in silence, on the other side of the track, the mounted guards eyeing Gawain suspiciously until they had gone by, and even then they cast the occasional glance over their shoulders until they were out of sight.
Allyn let out a huge sigh. "Remind me, wife, when we reach Jarn, to buy friend Traveller a mug of the finest ale money can buy in all Callodon."
Gawain grinned. "There was no danger, Allyn. For all their bluster, they are empty casks that make most sound."
"Nevertheless my friend, there are few enough these days that will stand up to them. Vermin, I say. And you stop elbowing me, woman, I am a free man like friend Traveller here, and entitled to my opinion!"
They set off again, and Gawain felt himself rather enjoying his new role of protector to such honest folk, and the admiring glances he earned from one of them in particular.
"You still haven't told me who they are." Gawain remarked.
"They're a bane. A curse that's sweeping the land. That one? In the chair?"
"The emissary?"
"Aye. So they call themselves. Emissaries!” Allyn spat towards the trees. "There's one in every big town and some of the smaller ones too. That one just gone will be on his way south, perhaps even as far as Raheen. Or to Raheen itself, may the gods protect them."
On hearing the name of his homeland, and Allyn's earnest plea on behalf of his countrymen, he felt his hackles rise.
"But who are they? Dwarfspit, Allyn, tell me before I go mad!"
"They claim to do the will of an ancient god named Ramoth," Lyssa explained as the cart rumbled on. Her soft voice carried a lilting charm, which seemed to command an audience. Even Gwyn appeared to take care lest her clopping footfalls interrupt the girl as she spoke. "Who, they say, was powerful and feared even in the time of the giants.
"When giants ruled the world, and dwelt within the mountains we revere as the Dragon's Teeth, the god Ramoth lived in the dark and barren lands bounded in by the mountains. It is said that in those days all the gods lived north of the mountains, and it was a wondrous place.
"The giants were jealous, so the gods made a pact with them, and gave them all the lands south of the Dragon's Teeth to rule, and all the races of men that lived there.
"So the world was at peace. But in time, the gods fought amongst themselves for dominion of their lands. It was a terrible war. Ramoth, so it is said, sought out the giants, and begged them to help him, and in return promised to do their bidding for ever.
"While the giants gathered to consider his offer, the other gods discovered Ramoth's plans, and brought their terrible powers down upon the giants and the Dragon's Teeth.
"For hundreds of years the war raged. In the end, nothing was left. The gods and the giants were destroyed, though some say giants still slumber, healing their wounds, deep beneath the Dragon's Teeth."
"And today?" Gawain prompted.
"Today," Lyssa continued, looking off into the distance, towards the unseen mountains so far beyond the northern horizon, "Today the Ramoths say that the god survived, protected somehow by dark wizard magic. And that he lives still, and that they do his bidding. They say that the time is coming when Ramoth will be released from the Dragon's Teeth, and claim all this land as his own. It is their duty, they say, to prepare us for his coming."
Gawain's eyebrows arched in surprise. "Is that why they keep shouting 'Make way! Make way!'?"
Allyn laughed heartily. "Ah, friend Traveller, you've a rare sense for a jest!"
Lyssa blushed, and Gawain instantly felt guilty. "But why are people so afraid of them? I didn't see much to be frightened of. I doubt that snake on the pole would frighten anyone other than a weakly child."
"They say they do terrible things.” Lyssa looked down at her hands, and fell silent.
"Aye.” Allyn agreed. "There's more and more fools join 'em every day. In every big town, in every kingdom, except perhaps Elvendere and Raheen. And maybe also the empire, but who's to know about that? They build towers, in which the emissary dwells, right at the top, or so they say. Soldiers guard the towers, and huts spring up all around them. What goes in on there is anybody's guess."
"What do you mean?"
"Strange ceremonies, so it's told. Things not fit for decent ears, friend Traveller, you'll catch my meaning."
Gawain didn't, exactly. But given Lyssa and Karin's blushes, he imagined it was a subject not fit for discussion in their presence. He decided not to press the point.
But a few moments later Allyn spoke up again. "I don't know what the attraction is. Everywhere they go, those vermin somehow attract once-decent folk to them. I've heard talk that rich folk's sons and daughters join up with 'em, and give away their riches and themselves, and once taken, can never be persuaded back to family.
"I've heard that poor folk see their honest and decent children suddenly up, and a-hop and a-skip down the lane after these vile creatures, never to be seen again.
"And for why? No-one knows. The Ramoths, they gather at their towers, behind closed doors. In the day, they go about the towns and villages, telling how we must all prepare for the day when their great snake-eyed master bursts forth from the mountains to claim his lands. By night, who knows?"
"And this is permitted?" Gawain was agog.
"Permitted? Who is to stop them? Everywhere they go, they go with their armed escorts. You've seen them for yourself, friend."
"But the king…"
"The king?” It was Allyn's turn to stare wide-eyed with surprise. "What king dare raise arms against them, when they count kings sons and daughters, and noblemen and high-born among their number?"
Gawain fell silent, deep in thought. My father, he thought. My father is one king that would raise arms against them. If that emissary is indeed bound for Raheen, he'd best learn to fly in the weeks it takes to get there. For he'll be tossed off the cliffs into the Sea of Hope in the blink of my father's eye!