The Shining One (The Swordswoman Book 2) Page 8

  'You were told to stop!' Another of the women shouted. She gesticulated with a long pole, curved at one end and then stepped into the water, hooked one of the boys around the neck and dragged him out. He struggled, yelling as she deposited him, naked and pale on the grass beside the water. A third woman unfastened the sealskin belt from around her waist and began to belabour him, altering her target as the woman with the pole added other boys to her wriggling collection on the ground.

  Bradan watched, frowning, and stepped forward. 'Enough now! These boys have done no harm!'

  The woman with the belt stopped, panting with effort and made the sun-sign at him. 'You were the man at the Blessing,' she accused, stepping back. She hefted her belt as if to strike him.

  'Here's another!' The woman with pole hooked it around a very small boy's leg and dragged him backwards out of the water. 'Teach him!'

  'I will do that all right,' the woman with the belt landed a full overhand stroke that cracked down on the boy. She swung back for a second blow, until Bradan thrust forward his staff and caught the belt in mid stroke. When the sealskin wrapped itself around the staff, Bradan jerked it from the woman's hand, unbalancing her so she slipped and fell into the water. Alva burst into unrestrained laughter; Melcorka smiled and the boys who had so far evaded capture giggled and pointed. The other women screamed and stared at Bradan in horror. One by one they made the bel-sign with thumb and forefinger, forming a circle around Bradan.

  'What in the name of God…' Melcorka said.

  'You there! Stranger!' The voice cracked out across the loch as a patrol hurried over to them. 'I saw that!'

  'Good!' Melcorka said. 'Then you can stop these women maltreating the young lads.'

  There were a dozen warriors in the patrol, each carrying a whale-bone tipped spear or a long sword and a bow. Ignoring Melcorka, the leader helped the woman from the lochan, listened to her high-pitched complaints and approached Bradan.

  'You threw this woman into Bel's holy loch.'

  'I did no such thing,' Bradan said.

  Melcorka stepped closer to lend support, while two of the men lifted Alva. Four others fitted arrows to their bows and pointed them at Bradan.

  'You struck a woman of noble birth and interfered with the ceremony of the sun,' the leader had a whalebone sun pendant hanging around his neck, possibly as a symbol of authority. 'You are under arrest and will appear before the Brehon at noon today.'

  Melcorka began to laugh at the absurdity until she realised that the warriors were in earnest. 'That stupid woman was hectoring the children and fell in the loch', she said. 'You will arrest nobody,' she put a hand on the hilt of Defender until she realised that two of the warriors were withdrawing quickly, carrying a protesting Alva with them and all the others had spears or arrows pointing at Bradan.

  'If you say one more word we will kill the child where he stands and put your man between the fires of Bel.'

  'You will kill nobody…' Melcorka felt the expected thrill of power as she half drew Defender.

  'No, Melcorka,' Bradan said. 'Look at Alva.'

  One of the warriors held Alva by her ankles so she hung upside down while the other had a knife to her stomach. Her hair flopped to the ground as her leine covered her shoulders and face, muffling her cries.

  Melcorka replaced Defender and dropped her hand. 'It seems that I have no choice.' She eyed the men who held Alva. 'It takes two of you to intimidate a child. You are not fit to be called warriors.' She fixed their faces in her mind. 'I will know you both when next we meet,' she said, 'and you had better pray that Alva is unhurt when we do.'

  Chapter Eight

  Shackled at the ankles and wrists, Bradan looked at the guards who stood at either side of him as he was led to the Torr a brithimh, the judgement mound that stood opposite the broch. Three stone steps had been carved into the mound from the living rock, and at the top three low wooden panels, tipped by whalebone spikes formed a hollow box within which the accused should stand. With his back straight and his face expressionless, Bradan took his place and looked around him.

  Surrounded by armed guards, Melcorka stood slightly apart from the crowd that gathered on the shore of the loch, with the broch brooding over them all. She held Bradan's gaze for a moment and looked around for Alva but the child was nowhere to be seen.

  'If Alva is in any way hurt,' she shouted, 'I will destroy this broch and kill every person on this island.'

  The guards said nothing. Some of them made the sun sign. Somebody laughed, but whether in amusement or nervousness, Melcorka was unsure. She tapped the hilt of Defender, looked at Bradan and controlled her rising concern.

  The sound of women singing heralded Hector's appearance from the doorway of the broch. Tuath and a handful of tough-looking warriors formed a guard around him. He did not even glance in Melcorka's direction. 'Send for the Brehon!'

  'Who is the Brehon?' Melcorka asked, to be met again by utter silence. 'I asked you a question!' She fixed on the biggest and toughest looking of Hector's guards, a man with a short black beard and a broken nose. 'You! Who is the Brehon?'

  The man looked at his companions before he grinned. 'The Brehon is the chief judge of the island … here he comes now.'

  The broch door opened again and four men appeared, with a great carved chair balanced on a platform on their shoulders. On the chair sat Conall the Steward, giving his greasy smile as he swayed toward the judgement mound.

  'That man is no Brehon,' Melcorka said.

  'Conall the Steward is the chief judge,' the broken-nosed man told her. 'It is a hereditary position; his father was Brehon before him, and his father before that.'

  Conall lifted a hand to acknowledge the crowd, smiled to Melcorka and settled back in his seat.

  'You know where I should be,' he told the chair-porters. 'Put me directly opposite the judgement mound.'

  Bradan watched impassively as Conall's chair was set down.

  'Bring me the witnesses,' Conall said, watching Bradan all the time.

  One by one the women from the need-fire circle related what had happened, from Melcorka and Bradan witnessing the sun ceremony to their presence at the lochan and finally the incident where Bradan interfered.

  'The boys were polluting Bel's Holy Loch with their behaviour,' the woman who had carried the looped pole said, 'and we were taking them out and correcting their behaviour.'

  'That is the right and proper thing for you to do,' Conall told her.

  'Yes. And this stranger-man prevented us with his stick. He knocked Olwen there into the water so it was doubly polluted.'

  The other women nodded, hissing, making the sun sign at Bradan and adding caustic comments he had never made but which made the tale more colourful.

  'So this foreign man, this self-confessed wanderer who belongs to no community and no family, insulted you and knocked you into Bel's Holy Loch,' Conall said slowly.

  'That is what happened,' the woman said, and one by one all her companions agreed.

  At last Conall asked Bradan his version of events. 'You may give your side of the story, Bradan the Wanderer,' Conall said.

  'It is partly as the women said,' Bradan spoke quietly and slowly. 'I did witness the sun ceremony and later I was at the lochan, although I did not know it was holy.'

  The crowd hissed at the admission, with some again giving the sun-sign to him.

  'The statue of Bel is plain for all to see,' Conall said, quietly and truthfully.

  'There were a dozen little boys playing in the lochan,' Bradan said, and that woman,' he nodded to her, 'shouted at them and then another pulled them out with a long looped pole. Once they were out that other woman began beating them, so I stopped her and she fell into the water.'

  The crowd gave a great growl of anger.

  'You admit it!' Conall sounded shocked. 'You admit that you watched the sun ceremony and interfered with the hardening ceremony as well as knocking Olwen into the Holy Loch.'

  'I watched the sun ceremony
…' Bradan began.

  'A ceremony that is prohibited to men!' Conall hissed. The crowd gasped in obvious horror.

  'I did not know that,' Bradan began.

  'Ignorance is no excuse. Did you see any other men present?' Conall asked, and then answered his own question. 'No you did not. That ceremony is sacred to women; you defiled the sanctity of Bel.'

  Bradan looked toward Melcorka, raised his eyebrows and mouthed 'where is Alva?'

  Melcorka shook her head. 'I do not know where Alva is,' she replied in clear tones.

  'The foreign woman will remain silent or she will also stand on the Justice Mound,' Conall was enjoying himself. He returned his attention to Bradan. 'Not content with your blasphemous conduct during the sun ceremony, you also decided to despoil the boys' hardening ceremony.'

  'I did not decide any such thing,' Bradan said.

  'The foreign prisoner will remain silent or the court will have him gagged,' Conall said, to the obvious approval of the audience. 'You witnessed the first part of the hardening ceremony, where every boy in the island must spend one hour in Bel's Holy Loch to harden themselves, while remaining a strict silence. If they break their silence then the Priestesses of the Sun shall drag them out without entering the water, for no female shall enter Bel's Loch.'

  Bradan glanced at Melcorka, who shook her head.

  'I did not know that it was a religious ceremony,' Bradan said.

  'Ignorance is no excuse,' Conall said. 'As you do not deny the charge, and there are a dozen witnesses, then I find you guilty of that charge also. Thirdly and finally there is the charge of assaulting Olwen, a noble woman and a Priestess of the Sun, thereby causing her to fall into Bel's Loch and polluting both it and herself.'

  'I was trying to stop her from striking the boys,' Bradan said.

  'That is another admission of guilt,' Conall sounded smugly satisfied. The crowd barked its approval. 'You are guilty of all three transgressions by witness and on your own admission.'

  'He is guilty of nothing except kind-heartedness,' Melcorka shouted.

  'If you utter one more word you will be on trial for contempt and your child will be drowned as sacrifice to Bel,' Conall said. 'Now as for you Bradan the clanless, it is the sentence of this court that you go between the fires of Bel. Sentence to be carried out immediately.'

  As the crowd cheered wildly and the women jeered at Bradan in triumph, Melcorka could only stare at Bradan. With Alva held as a hostage, she was powerless to help.

  'Do you know what that means?' The broken nosed guard asked.

  Melcorka shook her head, powerless to intervene as a group of guards grabbed Bradan and hustled him off the justice mound.

  'Do you see these two trees there?' The guard pointed to the two charred trees that Melcorka had noted when first they had arrived at the broch.

  'I do,' Melcorka said.

  'Well, your friend will be chained between them with a fire in front of him and a fire behind him. These are the fires of Bel. Your friend has been found guilty of blasphemous practises, so he will be slowly roasted to death as a sacrifice to Bel.' The guard grunted. 'And we all have to watch.'

  For a moment Melcorka could say nothing at the thought of her kind-hearted, intelligent Bradan being slowly roasted to death. 'That's pure vindictive murder,' she said.

  The guard took a deep breath. 'It is the law,' he said.

  'Who made that law?' Melcorka demanded as her anger mounted.

  The guard shrugged. 'I don't know and I don't care. That wandering man broke it and now he will burn.' He tapped the base of his spear on a rock. 'It will keep the people's minds off the Caterans for a while and show that Hector is still in charge, so it is good for the island.'

  'You inhuman animals!' Melcorka grabbed for the hilt of Defender, only for the guard to laugh in her face. 'You may kill me if you can,' he said, 'and then Conall will take your little girl – what was her name, Alva? – And he will drown her in Bel's Holy Loch as a purifying sacrifice. Draw your sword, Melcorka, and you condemn her to death.' He was laughing as he walked away, with his companions openly grinning.

  'Hector!' Melcorka strode toward Hector, feeling the anger burning inside her. 'Hector! You know this is a travesty! This is murder, not justice!'

  As Hector turned to face her, Tuath took a step to the side and balanced his axe across his shoulder with both hands. He eyed Melcorka dispassionately while the other bodyguards loosened the swords within their scabbards or hefted their bone-pointed spears.

  Five of them, Melcorka thought. Tuath looks like a man who knows how to fight while the others are just muscle and aggression. I will kill Tuath first and the rest will lose heart.

  'You witnessed the trial,' Hector said mildly. 'Bradan admitted his guilt in disrupting the ceremony of the sun and the ceremony of hardening as well as in assaulting a noblewoman and priest. He could not be guiltier.'

  'He did not know!' Melcorka said.

  'Ignorance is no excuse,' Hector was remarkably quiet. 'What would happen if some stranger walked into one of your churches and pissed on the font, or used a cross as firewood? That would be sacrilege to you, would it not?'

  'It would,' Melcorka agreed.

  'And would your Church accept ignorance as an excuse?'

  'I do not know,' Melcorka said honestly.

  'Well then; there you have it. Bradan was given a trial and a chance to speak in his own defence and all he did was admit his guilt. Being sacrificed is an honourable death.' Hector shook his head. 'There is nothing malicious in this Melcorka; you know how much I like you. Bradan broke the law and must suffer the consequences, as must we all.'

  'Here he comes now,' Tuath said as Hector walked toward Bradan. He looked at Melcorka, frowning. 'It was a fair trial, Melcorka. Hector is correct.'

  'It is judicial murder.'

  Tuath looked genuinely upset as his fingers moved on the shaft of his axe. 'No, Melcorka, that is not right. You saw the Brehon; he judged fairly.'

  Melcorka looked at him. 'You are an honest man, Tuath, and I have no wish to offend you. Is there any way to alter this sentence that does not involve me killing you, Hector, Conall and every other living soul on this island?'

  'We have your little Alva as hostage,' Tuath explained patiently, 'as is the custom. If you do not agree the sentence you can have her killed instead.' He shook his head. 'She is well cared for, with two guards looking after her.' He smiled, as if he was talking about domestic matters rather than the imminent fatal roasting of Bradan. 'Little Alva is the most lovely little girl, Melcorka. It would be a terrible shame to have to drown her when she has done nothing wrong.'

  'Where is she held?'

  Tuath shook his head. 'You know I cannot tell you that, Melcorka. I can only say that the guards have orders to drop her into the loch with a great stone tied round her feet the second you cause any trouble.'

  'If you tell me where she is I can save her,' Melcorka said.

  Tuath shook his head and glanced at Hector. 'I am Hector's bodyguard,' he said, 'and I am loyal to my trust even if I do not always like what I have to do.'

  'You are loyal to a man who does not deserve your loyalty, Tuath,' Melcorka said. 'I hope we never have to fight. I do not wish to kill you.'

  'Nor I you, Melcorka,' Tuath said sadly, 'but if Hector commands it, then I shall.'

  Conall led the dozen guards that were with Bradan. Holding a staff with an end that had been shaped into a circle, he supervised as the guards prepared Bradan for his death.

  'Naked he came into the world, and naked he shall leave,' Conall said, touching Bradan on the chest with the end of his staff. 'Take his clothes off.'

  The guards nodded and stripped Bradan naked before they stretched his right arm out and shackled it to one tree, and then his left to the other. They did the same to his ankles so he was spread-eagled between them.

  All the time the guards worked, the priestesses were walking in a sun-wise circle, slowly chanting as they made the symbol of Bel
with their thumb and forefinger. The instant Bradan was secured they closed around him in a circle, made the sun sign once more and began to pile up brushwood and peat in two large mounds, one three feet from his face and the other four feet from his back. Melcorka was surprised how solemnly they performed this task, as if it was indeed some important religious ceremony and not an act of gratuitous vengeance.

  'I have a request,' Bradan shouted. 'Once I am dead; could you put what is left of me in a coffin of rowan-wood? I do not wish the People of Peace to take me.'

  'I will ensure that happens,' Melcorka replied over the low chanting of the priestesses, 'but don't give up hope yet, Bradan.'

  Olwen, the woman that Bradan had caused to fall in the loch, looked him up and down, showing interest for the first time. 'You are a fitting sacrifice to Bel,' she said. 'It is almost a pity that you must die, for I can think of other uses for you.'

  Olwen's words seemed to break the religious dam, for her companions chuckled and added anatomical details of their own that would have made Melcorka angry in other circumstances. In this case the comments reminded her of Hector's interest in her own body. 'Hector!' she shouted. 'Hector! I have a proposition to put to you.'

  Hector gave the sigh of a long-suffering king. 'Give me your proposition then, Melcorka but it will avail you nothing. Judgement has been proclaimed.'

  Olwen took a last look around; the fires were in place, Bradan remained stretched between the two trees, naked and vulnerable. Dropping all pretence at religious interest, Olwen circled him, smiled, ran her hand down his body and shook her head. 'You are lean,' she said, 'without much fat. You will burn slowly. And I could do so much with you…'

  Resisting her temptation to rush forward and slice off Olwen's head, Melcorka faced Hector. She forced herself to keep calm even as Olwen accepted two sticks from a fellow priestess and began to rub them together.

  'Your island is scourged by Caterans, Hector,' Melcorka said, 'and you are unable to destroy them. If you free Bradan and Alva, I will locate and destroy this nest of Caterans and kill or capture Osprey, their leader. I give you my word that I if I am unsuccessful I will return here to Ulvust and do whatever you wish.'