where Wulf was sitting with Ilka beside the fire. ‘The hunchback is my friend, brave and steadfast. Yet when first I saw him he was kneeling over the body of a traveller he had slain; he was cutting the rings from the dead man’s fingers. And Ilka – sweet Ilka – was raped as a child and had her tongue torn from her mouth. Where ischivalry in this? A man who taught me to create illusions of light, sweet and beautiful, now transforms men and animals into demonic creatures filled only with the lust to kill. Where is honour in this?’Honour is here,’ she whispered, placing her hand over my heart. ‘Or do you believe that good can only exist in pure surroundings, untouched by the world’s darkness? What value would there be in that? Virtue is like a ring of gold. It does not matter where you place, it, in a swamp or a cowpat; it will remain gold, untarnished. Lesser metals are corroded, ruined, corrupted. Not gold. The true heart remains true.’Just words,’ I snapped, more brutally than I intended. ‘The evil triumph always, for they are strong and merciless. Good men are hampered, chained by their honour. They cannot compete, for they play by different rules.’For a while she was silent and we sat in the new sunshine, each lost within our own thoughts. I think I almost hated myself for voicing such a philosophy of despair, and my heart was heavy. But after some minutes had passed she spoke again.
‘I do not agree with you. A thousand years ago the Vampyre Kings ruled this land. They were brought down and destroyed. Their evil was colossal, yet a good man destroyed them. The battle between good and evil is circular. Good wins, evil wins, good again. The rules are immaterial.’How is your philosophy different from mine, sister?’ I countered. ‘If such a circle exists, then there can never be a true victor.’I know,’ she whispered. ‘But then victory is not the prize; it is the battle itself. You are part of that battle, Owen. You and Wulf, and Piercollo. Yes, even Jarek Mace, though he knows it not.’Oh, he is a warrior, no doubt of that,’ I agreed. ‘But which side does he fight for? I don’t think he cares about good or evil. He cares only for Jarek Mace.’Piercollo awoke and groaned in pain and Astiana rose and moved to where he lay. I stood and walked out into the sunlight.
The ring, with its pale stone, felt heavy on my hand.
In that moment I felt like pulling it clear and throwing it high over the hillside. I would be free. I could walk from the forest and head south, all the way to the coast and my father’s estates, far from war and brutality. I could sit by a warm-fire in the evenings, my belly full, and I could play my harp and sing my songs without fearing a dagger in my ribs or a demon at my soul. It was tempting.
But at that moment – perhaps because I was thinking of home -I saw again my father sitting in the high-backed chair, his children at his feet, his warhounds close by. And I could hear his voice, deep and slow, as he told us stories of manhood or set us riddles to solve:’There were once three men, proud and strong, the best mountain climbers in all the land. In every city tavern people would gather and wonder which man was greatest. Finally they agreed to meet to decide the issue once and for all. There was a peak of sheer granite, three thousand feet high, which men called Rasboreth. No one had ever conquered Rasboreth, though many had tried, and many had died or been crippled in the attempt. Just as they were about to begin the climb, an angel appeared and told them all that their deaths were but one day distant. The first man said, ‘I shall go home and fill my belly with wine until the time of my death,’ The second man said, ‘I shall find a woman with a soft body and welcoming eyes, and I shall lie with her until the time of my death.’ Both turned to the third man. ‘And what of you?’ they asked him. ‘Me? Why I shall climb the mountain.’ ‘He had laughed at our non-comprehension and we had gone to our beds none the wiser. But now I knew what he meant. A man must finish what he starts, allowing no threat or fear to stand in his way.