Jaim seemed lost in thought and Kaelin did not disturb him. Instead he thought back to the four-rope gibbet and the people hanging there. He wondered what their crimes had been, and what the oldest of them had done to deserve having his eyes put out and his hands cut off. He shivered again.
“Tis getting colder,’ said Jaim. ‘Could snow today, I reckon.’
‘What was the crime, do you think, Grymauch? You know . . . for the man on the gibbet. The one who was maimed first.’
Jaim shrugged. ‘I’m not a great student of the law. I know the punishment for cattle-stealing, but I don’t know what a man would need to do to suffer having his hands cut away.’
The buck-toothed woman laid a wooden tray on the bench table. Upon it were two deep bowls of fish soup and a loaf of crusty bread. ‘Best not to ask about the hanging,’ she told them. Dropping her voice she leaned in close to Jaim, though Kaelin could just make out what she told him. ‘The trial was in secret, but it is said that a Varlish noblewoman claimed the man climbed into her bedroom and assaulted her.’
‘What did the others do?’ asked Kaelin.
‘The woman was the man’s wife, the other two his sons. Apparently they lied to the beetlebacks about his whereabouts.’
‘They hanged his whole family for that?’ said Kaelin, shock: making him forget to keep his voice down.
‘Hush, stupid boy!’ hissed Meg. ‘You want to hang with them?’ Red-faced and angry, she walked away.
Kaelin leaned in towards Jaim. ‘You think she was telling trie truth?’ he asked.
‘Probably, boy. Eat your soup.’
‘I’ve lost my appetite, Grymauch.’
‘Eat anyway. You’ll need your strength later.’
‘I think I can hate the Varlish without knowing them all,’ said Kaelin suddenly.
‘I hope not,’ said Jaim sadly.
The moon was bright in a clear sky above Moon Lake, the dark water glistening and still. Jaim Grymauch crept down the hillside.,, his young apprentice moving silently behind him. With great care they approached the outbuildings of the Moidart’s estate. Jaim led Kaelin to a log stack, and the two of them crouched down behind it and waited. After a short while two guards came wandering along the shoreline, talking in low voices. They passed the paddock on the western side, skirted the fence, then swung towards where Jaim and Kaelin were hidden.
The black bull stirred, its great head swinging towards the walking men and fixing them with a baleful stare. ‘Should have killed it,’ Kaelin heard one of the guards say. ‘It near ripped Ganna apart.’
‘He’s a fine beast, though,’ said the other. ‘No denying it.’
‘I’ll remind you of those words when you’re lying on the ground with your guts in your hand.’
The men were closer now and Kaelin, peering through a gap in the logs, could see their faces in the moonlight. Both looked powerful. They wore no swords, but one carried a staff while the other had a long knife scabbarded at his hip.
Jaim drew the youngster back as the guards strolled past the log stack. As they moved out of sight the huge warrior came smoothly to his feet and followed them. Kaelin heard a grunt, then a stifle