The Black Company 4 страница

One-Eye said, " In that case I can't vote for acceptance. "

Two men and a woman came down a flagstone pathway, paused overlooking the place where Lord Jalena's party had been. Latecomers? They were surprised. I watched them talk it over.

Elmo voted with One-Eye. So did the Lieutenant.

" Croaker? " the Captain asked.

I voted aye. I smelled a mystery and did not want it to get away.

The Captain told Raven, " I know part of it. That's why I'm voting with One-Eye. For the Company's sake. I'd like to have you. But... . Settle it before we leave. "

The latecomers headed our way, noses in the air but determined to learn what had become of their party.

" When are you leaving? " Raven asked. " How long do I have? "

" Tomorrow. Sunrise. "

" What? " I demanded.

" Hold on, " One-Eye said. " How come already? "

Even the Lieutenant, who never questions anything, said, " We were supposed to get a couple weeks. " He had found a lady friend, his first since I had known him.

The Captain shrugged. " They need us up north. The Limper lost the fortress at Deal to a Rebel named Raker. "

The latecomers arrived. One of the men demanded, " What became of the party in the Camellia Grotto? " His voice had a whiny, nasal quality. My hackles rose. It reeked of arrogance and contempt. I hadn't heard its like since I joined the Black Company. People in Beryl hadn't used that tone.

They don't know the Black Company in Opal, I told myself. Not yet, they don't.

The voice hit Raven like a sledge whack on the back of the head. He stiffened. For a moment his eyes were pure ice. Then a smite crinkled their corners-as evil a smite as I have ever seen.

The Captain whispered, " I know why Jalena suffered his attack of indigestion. "

We sat motionless, frozen by deadly imminence. Raven turned slowly, rising. Those three saw his face.

Whiny-voice choked. His male companion began shaking. The woman opened her mouth. Nothing came out.

Where Raven got the knife I do not know. It went almost too fast to follow. Whiny-voice bled from a cut throat. His friend had steel in his heart. And Raven had the woman's throat in his left hand.

" No. Please, " she whispered without force. She expected no mercy.

Raven squeezed, forced her to her knees. Her face purpled, bloated. Her tongue rolled out. She seized his wrist, shuddered. He lifted her, stared into her eyes till they rolled up and she sagged. She shuddered again, died.

Raven jerked his hand away. He stared at that rigid, shaking claw. His face was ghastly. He surrendered to the all-over shakes.

" Croaker! " the Captain snapped. " Don't you claim to be a physician? "

" Yeah. " People were reacting. The whole garden was watching. I checked Whiny-voice. Dead as a stone. So was his sidekick. I turned to the woman.

Raven knelt. He held her left hand. There were tears in his eyes. He removed a gold wedding band, pocketed it. That was all he took, though she sported a fortune in jewelry.

I met his gaze over the body. The ice was in his eyes again. It dared me to voice my guess.

" I don't want to sound hysterical, " One-Eye growled, " but why don't we get the hell out of here? "

" Good thinking, " Elmo said, and started heeling and toeing it.

" Get moving! " the Captain snapped at me. He took Raven's arm. I trailed.

Raven said, " I'll have my affairs settled by dawn. "

The Captain glanced back. " Yeah, " was all he said.

I thought so too.

But we would leave Opal without him.

The Captain received several nasty messages that night. His only comment was, " Those three must have been part of the in-crowd. "

" They wore the Limper's badges, " I said. " What's the story on Raven, anyway? Who is he? "

" Somebody who didn't get along with the Limper. Who was done dirty and left for dead. "

" Was the woman something he didn't tell you? "

The Captain shrugged. I took that as an affirmative.

" Bet she was his wife. Maybe she betrayed him. " That kind of thing is common here. Conspiracies and assassinations and naked power-grabs. All the fun of decadence. The Lady does not discourage anything. Maybe the games amuse her.

As we traveled north we moved ever nearer the heart of the empire. Each day took us into emotionally bleaker country. The locals became ever more dour, grim, and sullen. These were not happy lands, despite the season.

The day came when we had to skirt the very soul of the empire, the Tower at Charm, built by the Lady after her resurrection. Hard-eyed cavalrymen escorted us. We got no closer than three miles. Even so, the Tower's silhouette loomed over the horizon. It is a massive cube of dark stone. It stands at least five hundred feet high.

I studied it all day. What was our mistress like? Would I ever meet her? She intrigued me. That night I wrote an exercise in which I tried to characterize her. It degenerated into a romantic fantasy.

Next afternoon we encountered a pale-faced rider galloping south in search of our Company. His badges proclaimed him a follower of the Limper. Our outriders brought him to the Lieutenant.

" You people are taking your damned sweet time, aren't you? You're wanted in Forsberg. Quit shitting around, "

The Lieutenant is a quiet man accustomed to the respect due his rank. He was so startled he said nothing. The courier became more offensive. Then the Lieutenant demanded, " What's your rank? "

" Corpora! Courier to the Limper. Buddy, you'd better get hauling. He don't put up with no shit. "

The Lieutenant is the Company disciplinarian. It is a load he takes off the Captain. He is a reasonable, just sort of guy.

" Sergeant! " he snapped at Elmo. " I want you. " He was angry. Usually only the Captain calls Elmo Sergeant.

Elmo was riding with the Captain at the time. He trotted up the column. The Captain tagged along. " Sir? " Elmo asked.

The Lieutenant halted the Company. " Flog some respect into this peasant. "

" Yes sir. Otto. Crispin. Turn a hand here. "

" Twenty strokes should do it. "

" Twenty strokes it is, sir. "

" What the hell do you think you're pulling? No stinking hiresword is going to... . "

The Captain said, " Lieutenant, I think that calls for another ten lashes. "

" Yes sir. Elmo? "

" Thirty it is, sir. " He struck out. The courier flopped out of his saddle. Otto and Crispin picked him up and ran him to a rail fence, draped him over it. Crispin slit the back of his shirt.

Elmo plied the strokes with the Lieutenant's riding crop. He did not lean into it. There was no rancor in this, just a message to those who thought the Black Company second-class.

I was there with my kit when Elmo finished. " Try to relax, lad. I'm a physician. I'll clean your back and bandage you. " I patted his cheek. " You took it pretty good for a northerner. "

Elmo gave him a new shirt when I finished. I offered some unsolicited advice on treatment, then suggested, " Report to the Captain as if this hadn't happened. " I pointed toward the Captain... . " Well. "

Friend Raven had rejoined us. He watched from the back of a sweaty, dusty roan.

The messenger took my advice. The Captain said, " Tell the Limper I'm traveling as fast as I can. I won't push so hard I'll be in no shape to fight when I get there. "

" Yes sir. I'll tell him, sir. " Gingerly, the courier mounted his horse. He concealed his feelings well,

Raven observed, " The Limper will cut your heart out for that. "

" The Limper's displeasure doesn't concern me. I thought you were going to join us before we left Opal. "

" I was slow closing accounts. One wasn't in the city at all. Lord Jalena warned the other. It took me three days to find him. "

" The one out of town? " - " I decided to join you instead. "

That was not a satisfactory answer, but the Captain slid around it. " I can't let you join us while you have outside interests. "

" I let it go. I repaid the most important debt. " He meant the woman. I could taste it.

The Captain eyed him sourly. " All right. Ride with Elmo's platoon. "

" Thank you. Sir. " That sounded strange. He was not a man accustomed to sirring anyone.

Our northward journey continued, past Elm, into the Salient, past Roses, and northward still, into Forsberg. That one-time kingdom had become a bloody killing-ground.

The city Oar lies in northernmost Forsberg, and in the forests above lies the Barrowland, where the Lady and her lover, the Dominator, were interred four centuries ago. The stubborn necromantic investigations of wizards from Oar had resurrected the Lady and Ten Who Were Taken from their dark, abiding* dreams. Now their guilt-ridden descendants battled the Lady.

Southern Forsberg remained deceptively peaceful. The peasantry greeted us without enthusiasm, but willingly took our money,

" That's because seeing the Lady's soldiers pay is such a novelty, " Raven claimed. " The Taken just grab whatever strikes their fancy. "

The Captain grunted. We would have done so ourselves had we not had instructions to the contrary. Soulcatcher had directed us to be gentlemen. He had given the Captain a plump war chest. The Captain was willing. No point making enemies needlessly.

We had been travelling two months. A thousand miles lay behind us. We were exhausted. The Captain decided to rest us at the edge of the war zone. Maybe he was having second thoughts about serving the Lady.

Anyway, there is no point hunting trouble. Not when not fighting pays the same.

The Captain directed us into a forest. While we pitched camp, he talked with Raven. I watched.

Curious. There was a bond developing there. I could not understand it because I did not know enough about either man. Raven was a new enigma, the Captain an old one.

In all the years I have known the Captain I have learned almost nothing about him. Just a hint here and there, fleshed out by speculation.

He was born in one of the Jewel Cities. He was a professional soldier. Something overturned his personal life. Possibly a woman. He abandoned commission and titles and became a wanderer. Eventually he hooked up with our band of spiritual exiles.

We all have our pasts. I suspect we keep them nebulous not because we are hiding from our yesterdays but because we think we will cut more romantic figures if we roll our eyes and dispense delicate hints about beautiful women forever beyond our reaches. Those men whose stories I have uprooted are running from the law, not a tragic love affair.

The Captain and Raven, though, obviously found one another kindred souls.

The camp was set. The pickets were out. We settled in to rest. Though that was busy country, neither contending force noticed us immediately.

Silent was using his skills to augment the watchfulness of our sentries. He detected spies hidden inside our outer picket line and warned One-Eye. One-Eye reported to the Captain.

The Captain spread a map atop a stump we had turned into a card table, after evicting me, One-Eye, Goblin, and several others. " Where are they? "

" Two here. Two more over there. One here. "

" Somebody go tell the pickets to disappear. We'll sneak out, Goblin. Where's Goblin? Tell Goblin to get with the illusions. " The Captain had decided not to start anything. A laudable decision, I thought.

A few minutes later, he asked, " Where's Raven? "

I said, " I think he went after the spies. "

" What? Is he an idiot? " His face darkened. " What the hell do you want? "

Goblin squeaked like a stomped rat. He squeaks at the best of times. The Captain's outburst had him sounding like a baby bird. " You called for me. "

The Captain stamped in a circle, growling and scowling. Had he the talent of a Goblin or a One-Eye, smoke would have poured from his ears.

I winked at Goblin, who grinned like a big toad. This shambling little war dance was just a warning not to trifle with him. He shuffled maps. He cast dark looks. He wheeled on me. " I don't like it. Did you put him up to it? "

" Hell no. " I do not try to create Company history. I just record it.

Then Raven showed up. He dumped a body at the Captain's feet, proffered a string of grisly trophies.

" What the hell? "

" Thumbs. They count coup in these parts. "

The Captain turned green around the gills. " What's the body for? "

" Stick his feet in the fire. Leave him. They won't waste time wondering how we knew they were out there. "

One-Eye, Goblin, and Silent cast a glamour over the Company. We slipped away, slick as a fish through the fingers of a clumsy fisherman. An enemy battalion, which had been sneaking up, never caught a whiff of us. We headed straight north. The Captain planned to find the Limper.

Late that afternoon One-Eye broke into a marching song. Goblin squawked in protest. One-Eye grinned and sang all the louder.

" He's changing the words! " Goblin squealed.

Men grinned, anticipating. One-Eye and Goblin have been feuding for ages. One-Eye always starts the scraps. Goblin can be as touchy as a fresh burn. Their spats are entertaining.

This time Goblin did not reciprocate. He ignored One-Eye. The little black man got his feelings hurt. He got louder. We expected fireworks. What we got is bored. One-Eye could not get a rise. He started sulking.

A bit later, Goblin told me, " Keep your eyes peeled, Croaker. We're in strange country. Anything could happen. " He giggled.

A horsefly landed on the haunch of One-Eye's mount. The animal screamed, reared. Sleepy One-Eye tumbled over its tail. Everybody guffawed. The wizened little wizard came up out of the dust cursing and swatting with his battered old hat. He punched his horse with his free hand, connecting with the beast's forehead. Then he danced around moaning and blowing on his knuckles.

His reward was a shower of catcalls. Goblin smirked.

Soon One-Eye was dozing again. It's a trick you learn after enough weary miles on horseback. A bird settled on his shoulder. He snorted, swatted... . The bird left a huge, fetid purple deposit. One-Eye howled. He threw things. He shredded his jerkin getting it off.

Again we laughed. And Goblin looked as innocent as a virgin. One-Eye scowled and growled but did not catch on.

He got a glimmer when we crested a hill and beheld a band of monkey-sized pygmies busily kissing an idol reminiscent of a horse's behind. Every pygmy was a miniature One-Eye.

The little wizard turned a hideous look on Goblin. Goblin responded with an innocent, don't look at me shrug.

" Point to Goblin, " I judged.

" Better watch yourself, Croaker, " One-Eye growled. " Or you'll be doing the kissing right here. " He patted his fanny.

" When pigs fly. " He is a more skilled wizard than Goblin or Silent, but not half what he would have us believe. If he could execute half his threats, he would be a peril to the Taken. Silent is more consistent, Goblin more inventive.

One-Eye would lie awake nights thinking of ways to get even for Goblin's having gotten even. A strange pair. I do not know why they have not killed one another.

Finding the Limper was easier said than done. We trailed him into a forest, where we found abandoned earthworks and a lot of Rebel bodies. Our path tilted downward into a valley of broad meadows parted by a sparkling stream.

" What the hell? " I asked Goblin. " That's strange. " Wide, low, black humps pimpled the meadows. There were bodies everywhere.

" That's one reason the Taken are feared. Killing spells. Their heat sucked the ground up. "

I stopped to study a hump.

The blackness could have been drawn with a compass. The boundary was as sharp as a penstroke. Charred skeletons lay within the black. Swordblades and spearheads looked like wax imitations left too long in the sun. I caught One-Eye staring. " When you can do this trick you'll scare me. "

" If I could do that I'd scare myself. " .

I checked another circle. It was a twin of the first.

Raven reined in beside me. " The Limper's work. I've seen it before. "

I sniffed the wind. Maybe I had him in the right mood. " When was that? "

He ignored me.

He would not come out of his shell. Would not say hello half the time, let alone talk about who or what he was.

He is a cold one. The horrors of that valley did not touch him.

" The Limper lost this one, " the Captain decided. " He's on the run. "

" Do we keep after him? " the Lieutenant asked.

" This is strange country. We're in more danger operating alone. "

We followed a spoor of violence, a swath of destruction. Ruined fields fell behind us. Burned villages. Slaughtered people and butchered livestock. Poisoned wells. The Limper left nothing but death and desolation.

Our brief was to help hold Forsberg. Joining the Limper was not mandatory. I wanted no part of him. I did not want to be in the same province.

As the devastation grew more recent, Raven showed elation, dismay, introspection easing into determination, and ever more of that rigid self-control he so often hid behind.

When I reflect on my companions' inner natures I usually wish I controlled one small talent. I wish I could look inside them and unmask the darks and brights that move them. Then I take a quick look into the jungle of my own soul and thank heaven that I cannot. Any man who barely sustains an armistice with himself has no business poking around in an alien soul.

I decided to keep closer watch on our newest brother.

We did not need Doughbelly coming in from the point to tell us we were close. All the forward horizon sprouted tall, leaning trees of smoke. This part of Forsberg was flat and open and marvelously green, and against the turquoise sky those oily pillars were an abomination.

There was not much breeze. The afternoon promised to be scorching.

Doughbelly swung in beside the Lieutenant. Elmo and I stopped swapping tired old lies and listened. Doughbelly indicated a smoke spire. " Still some of the Limper's men in that village, sir. "

" Talk to them? " "

" No sir. Longhead didn't think you'd want us to. He's waiting outside town. "

" How many of them? '. '

" Twenty, twenty-five. Drunk and mean. The officer was worse than the men. "

The Lieutenant glanced over his shoulder. " Ah. Elmo. It's your lucky day. Take ten men and go with Doughbelly. Scout around. "

" Shit, " Elmo muttered. He is a good man, but muggy spring days make him lazy. " Okay. Otto. Silent. Peewee. Whitey. Billygoat. Raven. ... "

I coughed discreetly.

" You're out of your head, Croaker. All right. " He did a quick count on his fingers, called three more names. We formed outside the column. Elmo gave us the once-over to make sure we hadn't forgotten our heads. " Let's go. "

We hurried forward. Doughbelly directed us into a wood-lot overlooking the stricken town. Longhead and a man called Jolly waited there. Elmo asked, " Any developments? "

Jolly, who is professionally sarcastic, replied, " The fires are burning down. "

We looked at the village. I saw nothing that did not turn my stomach. Slaughtered livestock. Slaughtered cats and dogs. The small, broken forms of dead children.

" Not the kids too, " I said, without realizing I was speaking. " Not the babies again. "

Elmo looked at me oddly, not because he was unmoved himself but because I was uncharacteristically sympathetic. I have seen a lot of dead men. I did not enlighten him. For me there is a big difference between adults and' kids. " Elmo, I have to go in there. "

" Don't be stupid. Croaker. What can you do? "

" If I can save one kid... . "

Raven said, " I'll go with him. " A knife appeared in his hand. He must have learned that trick from a conjurer. He does it when he is nervous or angry.

" Think you can bluff twenty-five men? "

Raven shrugged. " Croaker is right, Elmo, It's got to be done. Some things you don't tolerate. "

Elmo surrendered. " We'll all go. Pray they aren't so drunk they can't tell friend from foe. "

Raven started riding.

The village was good-sized. There had been more than two hundred homes before the Limper's advent. Half were burned or burning. Bodies littered the streets. Flies clustered round their sightless eyes. " Nobody of military age, " I noted.

I dismounted and knelt beside a boy of four or five. His skull had been smashed, but he was breathing. Raven dropped beside me. " Nothing I can do, " I said.

" You can end his ordeal. " There were tears in Raven's eyes. Tears and anger. " There's no excuse for this. " He moved to a corpse lying in shadow.

This one was about seventeen. He wore the jacket of a Rebel Mainforcer. He had died fighting. Raven said, " He must have been on leave. One boy to protect them. " He pried a bow from lifeless fingers, bent it. " Good wood. A few thousand of these could rout the Limper. " He slung the bow and appropriated the boy's arrows.

I examined another two children. They were beyond help. Inside a burned hut I found a grandmother who had died trying to shield an infant. In vain.

Raven exuded disgust. " Creatures like the Limper create two enemies for every one they destroy. "

I became aware of muted weeping, and of cursing and laughter somewhere ahead. " Let's see what that is. "

Beside the hut we found four dead soldiers. The lad had left his mark. " Good shooting, " Raven observed. " Poor fool. "

" Fool? "

" He should've had the sense to run. Might've gone easier on everyone. " His intensity startled me. What did he care about a boy from the other side? " Dead heroes don't get a second chance. "

Aha! He was drawing a parallel with an event in his own mysterious past.

The cursing and weeping resolved into a scene fit to disgust anyone tainted with humanity.

There were a dozen soldiers in the circle, laughing at their own crude jokes. I remembered a bitch dog surrounded by males who, contrary to custom, were not fighting for mounting rights but were taking turns. They might have killed her had I not intervened.

Raven and I mounted up, the better to see.

The victim was a child of nine. Welts covered her. She was terrified, yet making no sound. In a moment I understood. She was a mute.

War is a cruel business prosecuted by cruel men. The gods know the Black Company are no cherubim. But there are limits.

They were making an old man watch. He was the source of both curses and weeping.

Raven put an arrow into a man about to assault the girl.

" Dammit! " Elmo yelled. " Raven!... "

The soldiers turned on us. Weapons appeared. Raven loosed another arrow. It dropped the trooper holding the old man. The Limper's men lost any inclination to fight. Elmo whispered, " Whitey, go tell the old man to haul ass over here. "

One of the Limper's men took a like notion. He scampered off. Raven let him run.

The Captain would have his behind on a platter.

He did not seem concerned. " Old timer. Come here. Bring the child. And get some clothes on her. "

Part of me could not help but applaud, but another part called Raven a fool.

Elmo did not have to tell us to watch our backs. We were painfully aware that we were in big trouble. Hurry, Whitey, I thought.

Their messenger reached their commander first. He came tottering up the street. Doughbelly was right. -He was worse than his men.

The old timer and girl clung to Raven's stirrup. The old man scowled at our badges. Elmo nudged his mount forward, pointed at Raven. I nodded.

The drunken officer stopped in front of Elmo. Dull eyes assayed us. He seemed impressed. We have grown hard in a rough trade, and look it.

" You! " he squealed suddenly, exactly the way Whiny-voice had done in Opal. He stared at Raven. Then he spun, ran.

Raven thundered, " Stand still, Lane! Take it like a man, you gutless thief! " He snatched an arrow from his quiver.

Elmo cut his bowstring.

Lane stopped. His response was not gratitude. He cursed. He enumerated the horrors we could expect at the hand of his patron.

I watched Raven.

He stared at Elmo in cold fury. Elmo faced it without flinching. He was a hard guy himself.

Raven did his knife trick. I tapped his blade with my swordtip. He mouthed one soft curse, glared, relaxed. Elmo said, " You left your old life behind, remember? "

Raven nodded once, sharply. " It's harder than I thought. " His shoulders sagged. " Run away, Lane. You're not important enough to kill. "

A clatter rose behind us. The Captain was coming.

That little wart of the Limper's puffed up and wriggled like a cat about to pounce. Elmo glared at him down the length of his sword. He got the hint.

Raven muttered, " I should know better anyway. He's only a butt boy. "

I asked a leading question. It drew a blank stare.

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