“Even the chronicler who betrayed me wasn’t so dour. You’re a mystery to me, little scholar. A mystery.”
We rolled closer and I saw two soldiers above the crenellations at the top of the tower, watching us as we approached. A small breeze stirred the banner just long enough for the white horns on the green field to show. The tower appeared to have been built for observation across the fields and the solitary road rather than for defense, as the gate and walls surrounding the compound were wood, and not high or thick. But the outpost looked like it could still house a fair number of men, and my nerves were jangling as three Hornmen stepped out of the barracks and walked over to the road, hailing us.
Braylar waved back, smiling, and then turned to me and said, very quietly, “I don’t suppose I need to remind you to keep your mouth shut? I know it shouldn’t be necessary, but I somehow feel as if I still should.”
I shook my head.
“Very good.” He kept waving and smiling.
A Hornman with yellow teeth, a yellowed surcote, and an old yellow horn hanging from his chapped baldric addressed us, looking around at the wagons and horses tethered to the side, “Any difficulties on the road?”
He sounded much more bored than threatening, but the first Hornman in the Green Sea hadn’t appeared overly hostile initially either, and every one of them since had tried to kill us. So there was that.
Braylar shook his head. “No, my lord. Thank you very much for your concern though.”
The Hornman nodded, clearly unconcerned. “You the leader of this outfit?”
Braylar nodded. “I am, my lord. Though ‘outfit’ is probably too generous a term.”
The Hornman seemed completely disinterested. “Coming from the Great Fair, I expect?”
“Yes. Our fourth time.”
The Hornman glanced at me, and I tried to smile, though my lips suddenly felt like wriggling worms that moved of their own accord, so I stopped trying immediately.
He asked what we were hauling. Unlike the Hornmen in the grass, who were no better than bandits themselves, this man seemed perfunctory and eager to be done with questions.
Braylar regaled him with an abridged version of the quill merchant speech he’d used on the Hornman in the Green Sea, which seemed a very poor choice considering how badly that had ended, but aside from making one slightly sympathetic noise during the tale, the Hornman didn’t seem to even be listening.
The captain concluded with, “So, my lord, is this a tax station then?”
“That would at least give us counting coins to while away the hours. No, it’s a watch station.”
Braylar asked, innocently, “To what end?”
The Hornmen responded slowly, as if he were speaking to the dullest of dullards. “To keep watch.” When Braylar looked at him as if he still didn’t entirely understand, he added, “Brigands. Grass Dogs that lost their way. Whatever other evil element there be.”
“Ahh, I see. And so you patrol this territory then?”
The Hornman was clearly done with of the conversation. “Patrols patrol. Watchers watch. And merchants should move on instead of flapping their lips if they hope to secure any trade down the road.”
Braylar waved. “Good day to you, my lord. I’ll alert you or one of the patrols should I encounter anything nefarious on the road.”
“You do that.” The Hornman was turning away and heading back to the barracks, the other two soldiers behind him.
I started to breathe easier, cursing myself for being so skittish, when another Hornman came out of the tower, rubbing his hands together and blowing on them, and headed in our direction. While age didn’t always equal a higher command, in addition to greyer locks and a more grizzled face, he had the bearing of the more senior officer as he addressed the soldier who had been questioning us. I overheard him say, “That’s it? Not even a cursory inspection?”
The other man shrugged, then looked over his shoulder at us as he responded. “Judgment call. And I judged I wanted to be back in front of a fire sipping sour wine, not out here wasting our time inspecting a wagon we got no reason to be inspecting.”
“The reason,” the older man replied, voice filling with disdain, “is it is your job. Your duty. Your sworn vow. And if you shirk it, you can be sure I-”
The other threw his hands in the air. “Fine. Waste of plaguing time. But fine. No need to go reporting nothing now.” He turned to the two Hornmen next to him. “Be quick about it.”
As the younger soldiers approached the wagon again, clearly irritated and put out, the two senior Hornmen stayed back.
Braylar whispered, lips barely moving at all, “You will walk to the back. When I give the order, pull the flap and get out of the way.” Then he turned to me and said loudly enough for the Hornmen to hear. “Be a good lad-jump down and show them in through the back gate, would you? Let these fine soldiers be about their business so we can continue.” He was smiling, but it didn’t come anywhere near his eyes, and barely even touched his lips.
Looking at him, I dreaded what I was about to do, but knew there was nothing I could do to stop it either. You ride with the Syldoon, you ride with the Syldoon.
I gave the smallest of nods and climbed down. It felt like my short boots were lined with lead as I hit the ground, my heart lodged in my throat, my blood pounding in my ears as I slowly walked toward the rear of the wagon. And yet, even though I was moving, it seemed like time had almost ceased unspooling altogether.
I looked over my shoulder as I got to the end of the wagon. Captain Killcoin had jumped down and was standing nonchalantly alongside the bench, looking at the older Hornman watching the proceedings, the false smile still on his face. How could they fail to see through it, to suspect nothing at all? But they watched their cursory inspection happening, no sign that anything was remotely amiss. Even the soldiers at the top of the tower had disappeared to get out of the wind that had picked up, blowing suddenly cold and fickle.
The two Hornmen looked at me as I stood there dumbly, waiting for something, a sign, an order, anything. One with piercing green eyes glared at me. “Well? Let’s get on with it. Open her up already.” The moved around me so they were standing directly in front of the gate.
I nodded and reached for the canvas flap, when I suddenly heard pounding hooves-four Syldoon were galloping out of the treeline, riding hard for the tower, clumps of dirt and grass erupting behind them.
Braylar yelled, “Now!”
Even being ready for it, I wasn’t quite ready for it, and nearly let the flap slip free before jerking it open. Two bolts flew out and I nearly pissed myself. One of the Hornmen fell on his rear, staring dumbly at the fletching sticking out of his chest. The other stumbled back several steps, trying to grab the bolt in his belly with one hand, fumbling for his sword with the other. He looked over at me as the blood started to spread across his gambeson, a dull almost drunken expression on his face, when another bolt shot out and struck him in the chest. He toppled over and curled into a fetal position in the dirt.
I glanced in the direction of the watch tower-the senior Hornman was also down, a bolt sticking up from just above his sternum, and he didn’t look to be struggling at all. The other Hornman with the yellow surcote was crouched down and frozen, apparently torn between running for the cover of the tower and charging Braylar, who was working the devil’s claw with expert efficiency, spanning and reloading it with devilish speed.
That indecision proved his undoing. The Hornman started toward Braylar with his sword finally drawn, saw that he couldn’t make it in time, and turned and ran for the door. But he didn’t get far before Braylar’s bolt caught him in the small of the back. He fell forward, nearly collapsed but somehow maintained his balance as he took another few halting steps. Braylar cursed.
But the Hornman didn’t make it to the door. There were two Syldoon in the rear wagon, and they had been ready to attack as well, both taking aim at the wounded man. Each crossbow loosed with a hard twang, and one bolt caught the fleeing Hornman in the leg, the other in the shoulder. He dropped to his knees, coughed, and kept crawling.