The crowd moving through the square did not pause by the gibbet, but moved on, eyes downcast. Kaelin could not take his eyes from the scene and slowed. A man behind walked into him and cursed loudly. Jaim grabbed Kaelin’s arm and drew him on.
The market beyond the square was thronging with people as Jaim and Kaelin eased their way through. At the far side was an eating area, with a series of bench tables set around three fire pits and several long, stone-built grills. It was crowded, but Jaim found a couple of seats and he and Kaelin sat down to await one of the many serving maids rushing hither and yon, bearing trays laden with food.
A stout, round-shouldered woman with buck teeth approached the table and stood before Jaim. ‘So, it’s you, is it?’ she said, her voice cold.
‘Good to see you, Meg. You look lovely,’ said Jaim.
‘You cause any trouble today and I’ll see you dungeoned. I swear I will!’
‘I’m just here with my nephew for a little breakfast,’ said Jaim, uneasily aware that several of the other diners were staring at him. ‘Kaelin, this is Meg, the finest fishcook this side of Caer Druagh.’ Kaelin rose and bowed. ‘Meg, this is Kaelin, the son of Lanovar.’
The woman’s hard face softened momentarily. ‘Aye, you’re a handsome lad,’ she said. ‘You have your father’s looks and your mother’s eyes. You are also, it seems, blessed with good manners. You should know, though, that a man is judged by the company he keeps.’
‘Only until his deeds are known,’ said Kaelin.
‘His deeds are known,’ snapped Meg, returning her attention to the one-eyed clansman. ‘He is a drunkard and a trouble-maker. He should have stayed in the north with the Black Rigante. However, since you, at least, are the son of a hero I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and feed you both. You can have the soup and the bread,’ she told Jaim. ‘No ale, though. And it’ll be payment now, if you please.’
‘You’re an unforgiving woman,’ muttered Jaim, delving into his money pouch and producing two copper coins. Meg took the coins without a word and moved off towards the main building.
‘She really dislikes you, Grymauch,’ observed Kaelin.
Jaim forced a smile. ‘How little you understand women. She adores me, boy. I sang her a song once and her heart is mine. Oh, I’ll admit she struggles against it. ‘Tis only show, however.’
Kaelin said no more on the subject. He had seen – and recognized, despite Jaim’s attempt to hide it behind a display of good humour – the embarrassment and shame the big man had felt. The woman had treated Jaim scornfully, and Jaim had accepted it. This surprised Kaelin, for had it been a man who had spoken so slightingly Jaim would have reacted with sudden and extreme violence. Not that the youngster would expect Jaim to strike a woman – no clansman worthy of the name would ever commit such a heinous act – but that the warrior should meekly accept such treatment without, at the very least, rebuking the woman was beyond Kaelin’s understanding. It left the youngster feeling vaguely uncomfortable. He felt that one of life’s lessons had been laid out before him, yet he could not quite grasp the significance of it. He shivered as the wind shifted, then pulled up the collar of his coat.
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.’
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