Gemmell, David – Morningstar

‘In the middle of his sermon. Called him a fornicator.’She said that in church? For a nun she has little shame. Spirited, though. I don’t suppose the priest is campaigning for her release.’Wulf chuckled. ‘Says she’s demon-possessed and ought to burn.’What about the meeting?’

‘You were right. It is at a barn on the western side of the town. They’ll be heading there now.’Then let’s join them,’said Mace.

I was baffled by Mace’s actions, but I said nothing as we walked through the town. The streets were empty, but there was blood upon the hard-baked clay of the town centre.

The barn was tall, used to house all the winter feed for the local cattle, and it was situated in a wide meadow surrounded by trees. As we approached it, a militia soldier carrying a spear stepped out into our path.

‘What’s your business here?’ he asked.

‘We have come for the meeting,’ said Mace.

The soldier stared at him for a moment. ‘I don’t know you,’ he said.

‘Yes, you do, my friend,’ responded Mace, with a broad smile. ‘For I am the Morningstar. And this is Wulf the Hunchback and Owen Odell the bard.’ He did not introduce Ilka.

The man stepped back, mouth open. ‘If this is some kind of jest ‘You think I would jest while my friend is a prisoner in the keep – while they prepare Brackban for hanging?’The man was impressed – as well he might be. Mace was an inspiring figure, tall, handsome and rakish, the very fabric of legend. The soldier hesitated. ‘I’ve been told to keep all strangers away. But not you, sir. They’d not want me to stop you, God bless you!’Mace patted the man’s shoulder and we walked on. He turned to me. ‘Make my entrance dramatic, Owen.’Two more soldiers stood guard at the double doors of the barn, but they had watched us walk past the first sentry and therefore greeted us more warmly.

‘You are a little late,’ said one. The meeting has already started.’Mace said nothing but strode inside. Some forty men were present, seated on bales of hay, listening to a grey-headed elder who was talking of making an appeal to Azrek in Ziraccu. Mace walked to the front while Wulf, Ilka and I remained behind the listeners.

‘Who are you, sir?’ demanded the greybeard.

I let fly the spell and golden light flared around Mace’s head, rising to form an arched rainbow beneath the rafters.

‘I am the Morningstar!’ thundered Mace. He let the words hang in the air for several heartbeats. Then: ‘And I am here to see if you will allow the enemy to hang Brackban.’No, we won’t!’ shouted one of the guards, but the assembled townsmen sat silently. These were hard-nosed men of business, traders, merchants, landowners. They might have been unhappy over the fate of Brackban, but they would sacrifice him in an instant to save their livelihoods.

Mace shook his head. ‘All over the north the banner of rebellion is being raised. The Angostins are finding that the Highlanders do not make willing slaves. They pay a toll now to travel our roads. They pay it in blood. They will go on paying it in blood until we are free of them.

‘I know what you are thinking – each and every one of you. You do not want war to visit this town. You do not want to see your buildings burning, your wives raped and your children murdered. You want life the way it was. There is nothing shameful in that, my friends; that is what we all want. BuHt is too late. In the south of the forest the Angostins have burned and pillaged the settlements. They are bringing in Ikenas to settle the land. Look at the events of today! You are a free town, yet foreign soldiers can ride in, arrest your captain of militia and take their swords to innocent citizens. What will come next? Taxes will be doubled, trebled. They will take everything you have.’And what do you suggest?’ asked the elder who had been addressing the men when we arrived. ‘War? We have just lost a war-all our knights and nobles slain.’ ‘

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142

Leave a Reply 0

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *