‘Has no word come through of the state of affairs in Thandara?’ I asked.
‘No sure word; only rumors.’
‘Very well,’ I said. ‘I bring you word from Brant Drago’s son, governor of Thandara, and the council of captains, and by this sign you shall know me for a true man.’ And so saying I dipped my finger in the foamy ale and with it drew a symbol on the table, and instantly erased it. He nodded, his eyes blazing with interest.
‘This is the word I bring you,’ quoth I; ‘Thandara has declared for Conan and stands ready to aid his friends and defy his enemies.’
At that he smiled joyfully and grasped my brown hand warmly with his own rugged fingers.
‘Good!’ he exclaimed. ‘But it is no more than I expected.’
‘What man of Thandara could forget Conan?’ said I. ‘Nay, I was but a child in Conajohara, but I remember him when he was a forestrunner and a scout there. When his rider came into Thandara telling us that Poitain was in revolt, with Conan striking for the throne, and asking our support – he asked no volunteers for his army, merely our loyalty – we sent him one word: “We have not forgotten Conajohara.” Then came the Baron Attelius over the marches against us, but we ambushed him in the Little Wilderness and cut his army to pieces. And now I think we need fear no invasion in Thandara.’
‘I would I could say as much for Schohira,’ he said grimly. ‘Baron Thasperas sent us word that we could do as we chose he has declared for Conan and joined the rebel army. But he did not demand western levies. Nay, both he and Conan know the Westermarck needs every man it has to guard the border.
‘He removed his troops from the forts, however, and we manned them with our own foresters. There was some little skirmishing among ourselves, especially in the towns like Goyaga, where dwell the landholders, for some of them held to Namedides – well, these loyalists either fled away to Conawaga with their retainers, or else surrendered and gave their pledge to remain neutral in their castles, like Lord Valerian of Schondara. The loyalists who fled swore to return and cut all our throats. And presently Lord Brocas marched over the border.
‘In Conawaga the landowners and Brocas are for Namedides, and we have heard pitiful tales of their treatment of the common people who favor Conan.’
I nodded, not surprised. Conawaga was the largest, richest and most thickly settled province in all the Westermarck, and it had a comparatively large, and very powerful class of titled landholders – which we have not in Thandara, and by the favor of Mitra, never shall.
‘It is an open invasion for conquest,’ said Hakon. ‘Brocas commanded us to swear loyalty to Namedides – the dog. I think the black-jowled fool plots to subdue all the Westermarck and rule it as Namedides’ viceroy. With an army of Aquilonian men-at-arms, Bossoman archers, Conawaga loyalists, and Schohira renegades, he lies at Coyaga, ten miles beyond Ogaha Creek. Thenitea is full of refugees from the eastern country he has devastated.
‘We do not fear him, though we are outnumbered. He must cross Ogaha Creek to strike us, and we have fortified the west bank and blocked the road against his cavalry.’
‘That touches upon my mission,’ I said. ‘I am authorized to offer the services of a hundred and fifty Thandaran rangers. We are all of one mind in Thandara and fight no internal wars; and we can spare that many men from our war with the Panther Picts.,
‘That will be good news for the commandant of Fort Kwanyara!’
‘What?’ quoth I. ‘Are you not the commandant?’
‘Nay,’ said he, ‘it is my brother Dirk Strom’s son.’
‘Had I known that I would have given my message to him,’ I said. ‘Brant Drago’s son thought you commanded Kwanyara. However, it does not matter.’
‘Another jack of ale,’ quoth Hakon, ‘and we’ll start for the fort so that Dirk shall hear your news first-hand. A plague on commanding a fort. A party of scouts is good enough for me.’
And in truth Hakon was not the man to command an outpost or any large body of men, for he was too reckless and hasty, though a brave man and a gay rogue.
‘You have but a skeleton force left to watch the border,’ I said. ‘What of the Picts?’
‘They keep the peace to which they swore,’ answered he. ‘For some months there has been peace along the border, except for the usual skirmishing between individuals of both races.’
‘Valerian Hall seemed deserted.’
‘Lord Valerian dwells there alone except for a few servants. Where his fighting men have gone, none knows. But he has sent them off. If he had not given his pledge we would have felt it necessary to place him under guard, for he is one of the few white men to whom the Picts give heed. If it had entered his head to stir them up against our borders we might be hard put to it to defend ourselves against them on one side and Brocas on the other.
‘The Hawks, Wildcats and Turtles listen when Valerian speaks, and he has even visited the towns of the Wolf Picts and come away alive.’
If that were true that were strange indeed, for all men knew the ferocity of the great confederacy of allied clans known as the Wolf tribe which dwelt in the west beyond the hunting grounds of the three lesser tribes he had named. Mostly they held aloof from the frontier, but the threat of their hatred was ever a menace along the borders of Schohira.
Hakon looked up as a tall man in trunk-hose, boots and scarlet cloak entered the taproom.
‘There is Lord Valerian now,’ he said.
I stared, started and was on my feet instantly.
‘That man?’ I ejaculated. ‘I saw that man last night beyond the border, in a camp of the Hawks, watching the Dance of the Changing Snake!’
Valerian heard me and he whirled, going pale. His eyes blazed like those of a panther.
Hakon sprang up too.
‘What are you saying?’ he cried. ‘Lord Valerian gave his pledge-‘
‘I care not!’ I exclaimed fiercely, striding forward to confront the tall noble. ‘I saw him where I lay hidden among the tamarack. I could not mistake that hawk-like face. I tell you he was there, naked and painted like a Pict-‘
‘You lie, damn you!’ cried Valerian, and whipping aside his cloak he caught at the hilt of his sword. But before he could draw it I closed with him and bore him to the floor, where he caught at my throat with both hands, blaspheming like a madman. Then there was a swift stamp of feet, and men were dragging us apart, grasping my lord firmly, who stood white and panting with fury, still clutching my neckcloth which had been torn away from my throat in the struggle.
‘Loose me, you dogs!’ he raved. ‘Take your peasant hands from me! I’ll cleave this liar to the chin-‘
‘Here is no lie,’ I said more calmly. ‘I lay in the tamarack last night and watched while old Teyanoga dragged a Raven chief’s soul from his body and forced it into that of a tree-serpent. It was my arrow which struck down the shaman. And I saw you there – you, a white man, naked and painted, accepted as one of the clan.’
‘If this be true-‘ began Hakon.
‘It is true, and there is your proof!’ I exclaimed. ‘Look there! On his bosom!’
His doublet and shirt had been torn open in the scuffle, and there, dim on his naked breast, showed the outline of the white skull which the Picts paint only when they mean war against the whites. He had sought to wash it off his skin, but Pictish paint stains strongly.
‘Disarm him,’ said Hakon, white to the lips.
‘Give me my neckcloth,’ I demanded, but his lordship spat at me, and thrust the cloth inside his shirt.
‘When it is returned to you it shall be knotted in a hangman’s noose about your rebel neck,’ he snarled.
Hakon seemed undecided.
‘Let us take him to the fort,’ I said. ‘Give him in custody of the commander. It was for no good purpose he took part in the Dance of the Snake. Those Picts were painted for battle. That symbol on his breast means he intended to take part in the war for which they danced.’
‘But great Mitra, this is incredible!’ exclaimed Hakon. ‘A white man, loosing those painted devils on his friends and neighbors?’
My lord said naught. He stood there between the men who grasped his arms, livid, his thin lips drawn back in a snarl that bared his teeth, but all hell burned like yellow fire in his eyes where I seemed to sense lights of madness.