Mael laughed at him, as she took the band and examined it. ‘I have never seen workmanship like it, nor gold as red as this. Naza will give you a fair price – and you are right. It is worth far more than you owe. I will see to it that you are reimbursed.’
‘Don’t bother,’ said Beltzer, flushing. ‘Keep it. I’ll probably come back one day, with not a copper coin to my name.’
‘There’s truth in that,’ she told him.
After she had gone Beltzer turned to Kiall. ‘What are you staring at, boy? Never seen a man settle a debt before?’
Kiall had drunk too much wine and his head was light, his thoughts serene. ‘I never thought to see you settle one.’
‘What does that mean?’
‘I took you for a selfish, greedy pig,’ said Kiall, smilingly oblivious to Beltzer’s growing anger.
‘I pay my debts,’ declared Beltzer.
‘Truly? You didn’t even thank Finn for buying back your axe – and that cost him dear.’
‘That is between Finn and me. You don’t count, boy. Now curb your tongue – before I cut it out!’
Kiall blinked and sobered swiftly. ‘And you are a liar,’ he said. ‘You told me Tura was dead, drowned in a dock. All lies. And I don’t fear you, you fat-bellied pig. Don’t threaten me!’
Beltzer lurched to his feet and Kiall rose, scrabbling for his sabre, but not before Beltzer’s fingers grabbed the front of his jerkin and hoisted him into the air. As Beltzer’s fist rose Kiall’s foot lashed up into his groin and the giant bellowed with pain, dropping the younger man and staggering back. Now Kiall drew his sabre. Beltzer grinned at him – and advanced.
‘What are you going to do with that, boy? You going to stick old Beltzer? Are you?’ Kiall backed away, aware that the situation had careered out of control. Beltzer lunged at him, slapping the sabre aside. Kiall hit him with a straight left that slammed into Beltzer’s face. The giant ignored the blow and struck Kiall’s jaw open-handed, cartwheeling the younger man across the floor. Half-stunned, Kiall came to his knees and dived head-first at Beltzer’s belly. Beltzer’s knee came up with sickening force, snapping Kiall’s head back . . .
He awoke to find himself in the chair by the fire with Beltzer sitting opposite him.
‘Want some wine?’ Beltzer asked. Kiall shook his head. Hammers were beating inside his skull. ‘You are a game fighter, boy, and one day you may even be a wolf. But wolves know better than to tackle a bear.’
‘I’ll remember that,’ Kiall promised. ‘And I’ll have that wine now.’
Beltzer handed him a goblet. ‘I love old Finn. And he knows how much it meant to me to have that axe back; he didn’t need any words. Back at Bel-azar, Finn was dragged from the ramparts by the Nadir. Chareos, Mag-grig and me, we jumped down to haul him clear. It was I who carried Finn on my back, and cut a path to the gate-tower. He didn’t thank me then; he didn’t need to. You understand?’
‘I believe I do.’
‘It’s the drink. It makes me talk too much. You don’t like me, do you?’
Kiall looked at the flat, ugly face under the shining bald head; he stared into the small round eyes. ‘No, not much,’ he admitted.
Beltzer nodded solemnly. ‘Well, don’t let it concern you. I don’t like myself much, either. But I was on the mountain, boy. No one can take that away from me.’
‘I was on the mountain too,’ said Kiall.
‘Not my mountain. But maybe you will, one day.’
‘What is so special about it?’
‘Nothing,’ replied Beltzer.
‘Then why should I wish to go there?’
Beltzer looked up from his wine. ‘Because that’s where your lady is, Kiall.’
*
Moonlight bathed the grey stone walls, and a hunting owl swooped low over the deserted ramparts. Chareos could hear the screams of the wounded and the dying, yet there were no bodies sprawled on the stone, no blood pooling by the gate-tower steps. As he sat down on the edge of the crenellated battlement, staring out over the valley of Bel-azar, the screams faded into the echoes of memory. The land was now empty of life. Where Nadir camp-fires had lit the valley like fallen stars, now there was only the shimmering grass, the lonely boulders and a long-dead lightning-struck tree.