No challenge came from the barracks and the three highlanders disappeared into the alleyways behind the Dancing Bear.
Rayster and Chara ditched their breastplates in the alley, then Kaelin ordered Rayster to return to the wagon and head off towards the west. ‘Chara and I will go directly south,’ he said.
‘Why south?’ asked Chara.
‘We will not have long before they find the bodies. They will expect you to run for home. That is where the search will begin. We will go south, and then turn west into the forest. It will be slower travel, but we have more chance of moving undetected.’
Rayster and Kaelin had bought supplies earlier that afterno’on, and Kaelin took a small sack of provisions from the wagon. Rayster gripped his shoulder. ‘Good luck to you, Kaelin,’ he said. Then he climbed aboard the wagon and flicked the reins.
Kaelin and Chara set off through the deserted night streets, keeping to the darkest places until they reached the edge of the town. The southern road was empty as they left Black Mountain. ‘It would be good if we could run for a while,’ said Kaelin. ‘How is your strength?’
‘Not good, but I can make a mile or two,’ she told him.
Together they began to lope along the road. Ahead, just over a mile away to the right, Kaelin could see the dark outline of the forest. Fear was heavy upon him, for out in the open like this they could be run down by a horse patrol within minutes. He sent up a silent prayer to the Source and increased his pace. Only then did he realize how exhausted Chara was. She struggled to keep up, then stumbled. They had made less than half a mile. Kaelin dropped back. ‘Let’s walk awhile,’ he said, glancing over his shoulder towards the town, expecting at any moment to see horsemen thundering into sight. How long would they have? It was unlikely the whole night would pass before a soldier spotted that no-one was guarding the gates.
They pushed on, running and walking. Chara did not complain, but Kaelin could see she was almost at the end of her strength. At last they reached the rising slope leading to the trees. Chara struggled on, then suddenly sat down, her breathing ragged. Kaelin knelt beside her. ‘Let me help you,’ he said, taking her arm. She snatched it back.
‘I told you not to touch me.’
‘Aye, you did. I understand why. And you should understand that it is stupid. I have strength and you do not. If we do not put distance between us and Black Mountain you will be back in that dungeon cell by daybreak.’
‘They’ll not take me alive again,’ she said.
‘Take my arm, Chara. Then it won’t be me touching you, but you touching me. Use my strength.’
She hesitated for a moment, then hooked her arm in his. Smoothly he drew her to her feet, and they continued up the slope, and into the trees, where he finally allowed her to rest. There was no point pushing into the forest at night. The moonlight was thin, and obstructed by clouds. Here at the edge of the trees there was still some light, but if they moved deeper into the forest they would be stumbling in pitch darkness. Best now to wait for the dawn, and watch the road. Kaelin’s fear was that the enemy would bring tracking dogs to the scene.
Chara lay down on the soft earth, covering herself with the blood-drenched cloak. In the faint moonlight he gazed upon her bruised and swollen face. These wounds were as nothing to those which burned like fire on her soul, he knew. Four years previously a highland woman had killed herself after a rape by beetlebacks. The young Kaelin had not understood her despair. He had voiced his confusion to the Wyrd one afternoon, in the woods just beyond Maev’s house.
‘Why would she do it?’
‘I don’t think any man can understand, Ravenheart,’ she told him. ‘It was not just the act of rape, which is evil enough. It was all the vileness that accompanied it; the fear, the self-loathing, the realization, maybe, that her life was not hers. Rape is the opposite of everything that love-making should be. Instead of being life-affirming it degrades the very value of life. Parsha Willets was raped many years ago. It still scars her.’