He sat down, and the assembly chamber muttered and seethed with voices. Men stirred restlessly, talking to their neighbors, turning this new thought over in slow minds. Someone stood up and screamed for the instant death of the blasphemers, but was shut up by an armed guard. The tone that grew slowly out of the noise was confused: many were frightened and hostile and wanted a hanging, many were simply bewildered, a few cried for the release of the prisoners and the changing of the law.
Donn stood up again. “This is heresy!” he shouted. “Men only make the laws of men. They cannot change the laws of the gods.”
Carl could not suppress a grin, even then with the shadow of the noose on him. Hardly a Dalesman had any idea of what “heresy” could be; the gods were mysterious powers to which one sacrificed and made magic, that was all. Donn had spent so many years in his few old books that he had lost the feeling of life.
But others were more dangerous. Taboo was a very real and terrible thing, whose breaking was sure to cause ruin. They yelled for the boys’ deaths. But magic could be set against magic; a man armed with the sorceries of the ancients could laugh at the powers of the gods. So there were others who shook their weapons and cried they would burn the gallows first.
Ezzef’s voice lifted over the gathering roar: “Who stands with us? Who’ll fight to save these lads and conquer the City?”
“I, I, I!” Swords leaped out. The group of young men stood up and waved their blades whistling in the air. Others, scattered through the Hall, pushed toward them.
“Kill the luckless ones!” A giant farmer rose, brandishing his ax. “Kill them and appease the gods!”
“No!” John was on his feet now. “No, I’ll fight for them—”
“Order!” wailed the elder feebly. “Order! Remember the law!”
The gong thundered. Its brazen voice was almost lost in the rising clamor. Swords were aloft and men scrambled for a place to fight.
Ralph sprang to the front of the stage. His great voice bellowed forth like angry thunder:
“Stop! Stop this! Sit down! I’ll kill the first peacebreaker myself!”
That turned their heads. They saw him towering there, stern and wrathful, a spear poised in one hand. They knew he could fling it to the farther end of the Hall and slay. They knew he was the Chief.
Slowly, grumbling and growling, the men lowered their weapons and sat down. Slowly the storm died. When it was past and the silence lay heavy, Ralph’s scorn was whiplike:
“Are you the Dalesmen, or are you wild dogs? What madness is this? With the enemy at our very walls, haven’t you got enough fighting to do? Or do you want to play into their hands and make them a present of all we’ve striven for? Hah, I don’t know why I should bother leading you. I’d sooner lead a pack of woods-runners. Now be quiet and listen!”
All had forgotten that he was not presiding, that he spoke only as a common tribesman. “We have to work together,” he said, his tones now earnest and persuasive.
“We have to forget grudges and differences until this common danger is past. Let us therefore reach a decision quickly, and let it be by the old method of law. Will all who favor keeping the taboo and hanging the boys raise their hands?”
There were many hands that went up, thought Carl sickly. Some rose at once, some came slowly and hesitatingly, but the majority voted for death.
Ralph did not stir a muscle, and his speech was unwavering. “Now let those who wish to change the law and release the boys raise their hands.” Perhaps a hundred were lifted, mostly by younger men.
“Very well.” Ralph smiled. Only those on the stage were close enough to see the sweat that beaded bis forehead. “As is the custom of the Dales, I suggest we compromise. Since most of us want to keep the law as it is, let it be so. But to satisfy the other party, let us set these lads free on their promise not to violate the taboo again. And if the gods grant us victory, we shall give them a double sacrifice at the next festival.”
That drew nods and muttered agreement from the bulk of the people. A few men, as usual, had to make speeches proposing this or that, or simply for or against Ralph’s suggestion, but it didn’t take long. In the end, the Council voted to adopt the motion, and Wellan closed the meeting.
The great assembly filed out slowly, talking and arguing. John sprang up on the stage and folded his sons in his arms, weeping without shame.
Ralph wiped his face and grinned at Carl.
“Whew!” he said. “That was close!”
“Too close,” said Carl. He,felt no relief. There was a bitter taste in his mouth.
Donn shook his head. “I do not know if this was wise,” he said. “But—” Suddenly he smiled. “But believe me, Carl, I’m glad. If misfortune is to come, then let it!” His eyes grew piercing. “Now come with me to the temple and take the oath.”
Carl stiffened his back. “No,” he said.
“What?” screeched Donn.
“I will not promise. Instead, I swear I will go back to the City whenever I can—again and again—until that vault is open!”
“You’re mad!” cried Ralph. “Carl, you’re raving!”
“You must die,” said Donn in a dead voice.
“No!” Ralph stepped forth. “Can’t you see? He’s sick. Maybe he’s possessed by a devil. I don’t know. But he isn’t himself.”
“That may be.” Donn stroked his chin. “Yes, that may well be. The curse of the City can work in strange ways.” He came to a decision. “I’ll do what I can to drive the devil from him,” he said. “Tomorrow I’ll come with all that’s needful. But meanwhile he must go back to jail.”
Ralph bit his lip. After a long while, he nodded.
Carl was led away. No one had noticed that Tom and Owl had left with their father, making no promises either. Or else they had not been thought important enough to matter. Ralph walked from the Hall out into the market square. His face was drawn, and he smote his hands together in pain.
Chapter 15
THE FRIENDLESS ONES
“It’s shameful!” said Ezzef. “It’s a cursed, crying shame!” He sat on a bench outside one of Dales-town’s public stables, leaning forward with fists clenched on knees. Tom and Owl had slipped from their joyful parents to meet him and stood before the young guard. Half a dozen others also gathered around, reckless youths who had shouted for blood in the Council and still chafed at its decision. All bore arms and all were angry.
Tom had just reported what had happened to Carl—he’d heard rumors that his friend was back in prison, and had stopped to talk with him through the barred window. “And tomorrow,” he finished, “the Doctors will come with their drums and rattles and vile potions, to drive out the fiend they think has possessed him.”
“I doubt if there’s any such thing,” said Owl. “But that kind of treatment will break anybody’s will in time.”
“I don’t know if they’d get an oath from Carl,” scowled Ezzef. “He’s always been a stubborn sort when he thought he was in the right.”
“In that case,” said Nicky, a son of Black Dan, “they’ll end up hanging him after all.”
“By that time,” answered Tom gloomily, “the Lann will be here and may do the job for them.”
“Yes, so.” Ezzef waved a sinewy hand at the nearest watchtower, where it bulked over the thatch and wood roofs. “They’re waiting outside—just waiting, curse them! That’s all they need to do. Hunger and sickness will fight for them within our walls.”