‘You are a disgraceful man, Grymauch.’ Kaelin chuckled. ‘It is no surprise that decent people avoid your company.’
‘Will you be attending the feast, Grymauch?’ asked Banny, more to practise use of Jaim’s name than anything else.
‘Perhaps, lad. I’m still considering it.’
‘You won the fist fighting two years ago. There’s another tournament this year, they say.’
‘Not for me, Banny. The Varlish will gather round the circle and bay and cheer as clansmen whack and thud at each other. I’ve no mind to add to their entertainment.’
‘The tournament is open this year,’ said Kaelin. ‘There’s thirty chaillings to be won. I’ve heard that there will be Varlish looking to win it.’
‘Is that so?’ replied Jaim, taking another deep swallow.
‘According to Captain Galliott two fighters are coming up from the south. Big men. Varlish champions. I expect they’ll be looking to show that clansmen are easy meat.’
Jaim chuckled. ‘You are trying to goad me, boy. I’m not so drunk I cannot see it.’
‘I am not trying to goad you,’ Kaelin told him, with a wink to Banny. ‘You are getting too old to fight, Grymauch. You’ve said it yourself. I think you should let the tournament pass.’
‘Too old, am I? You rascal! It may be that I will show these southern Varlish the error of their thinking.’
‘Thirty chaillings is a great sum,’ put in Banny. ‘There’ll be more to be made on the side betting,’ said Jaim. ‘I’d say the winner of the tourney would clear maybe four . . . five pounds.’
‘How much is that in chaillings?’ asked Banny, who had never seen a pound. ‘Tell him, Kaelin.’
‘Twenty chaillings to a pound . . . one hundred chaillings.’
‘That is a fortune,’ whispered Banny. He closed his eyes. There were twelve daens to a chailling. He knew that much. The sum was the equivalent of twelve hundred daens. Enough to feed Banny and his mother for … for … he tried to do the calculation but it was too difficult. Shula had managed to scrape enough food for them on three daens a week. Ten weeks then would be thirty daens.
Concentrating hard, Banny carefully built the sums in his mind. A year would cost one hundred and fifty daens, ten years one thousand five hundred. The difference was three hundred, or two years. According to his calculation the winner of the tourney would have enough money to feed himself and his mother for eight years!
‘Could you teach me to fight, Grymauch?’ he asked, sitting up. ‘I could teach any clansman to fight. It’s in the blood.’
‘I’m not a clansman,’ Banny told him. ‘My mother is Varlish.’
Jaim put down his bottle. Removing his black headband he scratched at the empty socket, and turned his one-eyed gaze on Banny. ‘This Rigante eye is magical,’ he said. ‘It sees into the hearts of men. And when I look at you, young Banny, I see a clansman. And that’s an end to it.’
Banny felt as if his heart would burst. His throat tightened and he could not speak. He glanced away so that the others would not see tears in his eyes.
‘Let’s be getting back,’ said Kaelin. ‘Shula has made a fruit pie.’
‘It’s a good one,’ said Jaim. ‘I had a little taste before coming to meet you boys.’
Apothecary Ramus drew rein on his small, fat-bellied pony, and carefully dismounted at the gates of the Moidart’s Winter House. A soldier expertly searched him, then opened the gate. Ramus did not remount. A small man, with an arthritic hip, Ramus needed a mounting step or a box in order to climb to the saddle. Slowly he walked towards the house, leading the pony.
A servant came out to meet him. Ramus recognized the old retainer, Maldrak, and greeted him with a smile. The pony picked up its pace as Maldrak approached. He knew the old man would feed him carrots, or sweet apples.
‘Good morning, apothecary,’ said Maldrak. ‘Are you well?’
‘I am, sir. Is the nettle tisane still keeping the rheumatik at bay?’
‘Mostly. Save when the weather is bad.’
Ramus nodded. ‘No herb can completely repair the ravages of time.’ Maldrak took the reins and the two men walked side by side towards the rear of the house. Some two hundred paces to the north – almost hidden by the trees – Ramus could see the blackened remains of the old house. Weeds had grown over the ruined walls, and a tree was growing through the collapsed roof. ‘You were here, were you not, when fire consumed the old house?’