Kaelin strolled towards the old barn. Maev called out to him: ‘There’s nothing there for you. Let the girls get on with their work.’ Then she walked up to Jaim, and linked arms. ‘Come walk with me awhile,’ she said.
‘You want something from me, lass?’
‘Why do you say that? Why should I not want to walk with an old friend?’
He laughed. ‘Now you are scaring me. Scolding I understand. Hell, I even enjoy it. But I’m not comfortable with this strange softness.’ Maev forced a smile and the two of them walked out into the calf meadow. Once there she released his arm, and sat down on a split log. ‘Where do you think Chain Shada might have gone?’
‘How would I know?’
‘We owe him, Grymauch.’
‘For what?’
‘You didn’t see him grab the Keeper of the Sands. He forced the man to give you extra time after the foul blow. More important -as you just heard me say to Galliott – he did not rip your stupid head from your shoulders as the crowd urged him to.’
‘Stupid head? Now that’s the Maev I know and love.’
‘Be serious, will you? He knew that by not crushing you he would be in trouble. I doubt he realized his life depended on it, but even so. It was – though I hate to admit it – a noble and selfless act. He risked himself for you, Grymauch. Now he is alone and hunted. Find him.’
‘Just like that? An army is seeking him, but old one-eyed Grymauch can just walk into the mountains and the big Varlish will emerge from behind a bush? I don’t think so, Maev.’
‘You’ll not do this thing?’ she asked, surprise in her voice.
‘No.’
‘This is not like you, Grymauch,’ she said, staring at him intently. He was suddenly uneasy under her green-eyed gaze.
‘Maybe it isn’t like me,’ he admitted. ‘But then maybe it’s time old Grymauch started looking out for himself. You heard what he said. Huntsekker is on his trail. I don’t want that scythe on my neck.’
Maev rose from the log, still holding his gaze. ‘I know you, Grymauch. I know you better than you know yourself.’
‘Obviously not,’ he retorted, taking a step back.
‘You are not frightened of Huntsekker.’
‘All men are frightened of something. Shada will either escape or he won’t. No sense in us getting involved.’
Maev was about to speak, then Grymauch saw her relax. She smiled and stepped close. ‘Damn, but you already have him, don’t you? Where is he? In that cave of yours?’
‘Whisht, woman. Have you taken leave of your senses?’
‘You went out three nights ago and only came back this morning. I thought you were whoring with Parsha Willets. But you weren’t, were you, Grymauch? You went into the mountains and you found Chain Shada. Look me in the eye and tell me you don’t have him.’
‘I don’t. . .’ He paused. ‘Dammit, woman, but I think you’re a witch.’ He glanced round to see if anyone was in earshot. ‘Yes, I have him, but I didn’t want to put you in peril by sharing the secret. I’ll get him across the river tomorrow night.’
‘That’s my Grymauch,’ she said fondly. ‘He’ll need coin once you bring him to the Finance’s territory. I’ll give you two pounds for him.’
‘Two pounds, is it? You’ve never given me two pounds.’
‘You’re not worth two pounds,’ she snapped. ‘Now there is something else we must discuss. How does Kaelin seem to you?’
Grymauch shrugged. ‘He’s a mite withdrawn since they killed the lass. He’ll get over it.’
‘He has not spoken to you, then?’
‘About what?’
‘The murders of Bindoe and the boy.’
‘No. Why would he?’
‘The killer is said to have shot Bindoe in the face and then stolen his sabre.’
‘So I heard.’
‘Kaelin came back that morning and hid Lanovar’s pistols and a sabre in the old barn.’
Jaim Grymauch stood silently for a moment. ‘I’m sorry to hear that,’ he said at last. ‘Not that they didn’t deserve to die, you understand.’
Maev nodded. She knew he was thinking about the manner of their deaths, and trying to come to terms with the fact that his beloved Kaelin was capable of such crazed behaviour. ‘He liked the girl, you know,’ he said. ‘His mind must have been . . . unhinged.’