Pagan Siege (Tribes of Britain Book 5), Sam Taw [beautiful books to read .TXT] 📗

My temples pulsed with the tension and the overbearing heat. The tip of the blade was directly opposite Tallack’s heart. Ren clenched his fists until his knuckles were white, preparing himself to act. Just when I was beginning to think that it would mark our downfall, Kitto reached out and took the knife. Without pausing, he ran the sharp edge across the width of his palm until it oozed with blood. Spinning the dripping blade about, he returned the knife to our Chief. Tallack did the same. When they raised their palms together, I began to relax, at least for now.

“Do you swear to lead the Hunter Clan with wisdom, honesty and courage, to follow my orders, defend our people, our land and our ways until your dying breath?” Tallack pushed hard against Kitto’s palm, making him counter the pressure with his own. Their hands leaked with the mingled red humours.

“I swear. You have my blood oath, Chief.”

The elders and warriors renewed their cheering and stamping. Tallack grinned and passed the bloodied dagger back to Kitto. As the warrior wiped the knife clean and tucked it into his belt, I wondered just how seriously he’d taken the part about following Tallack’s orders. They were riding into battle of one sort or another and accidents do happen. I’ve lost count how many men I have stitched over the seasons from wounds inflicted by one of our own, deliberate or otherwise.

When the racket calmed to a dull roar, Kitto sat down. Tallack took a sip of something from his cup. If it was ale, then he had more stashed away than I’d thought.

Tallack remained on his feet. “Whether it is common knowledge or not, one of our clans has deceived us.” The Chief waited for the elders to react. Some nodded having already heard the news, others flicked their heads about assessing who among them were in possession of this volatile information. “You heard right, my friends. The Alchemists have turned against us. They have denied us all access to our tin and killed those messengers sent to make peace with them.” The elders gasped, the warriors mumbled, shuffling about as though they were expected to fight there and then.

It wasn’t strictly true, of course. Not all our messengers were killed or we should never have heard about their rebellion. I understood why Tallack garnished the facts though. We needed all the support of the tribe to retake the tin mines.

“This summer’s drought and the raging heath fires are a warning that the gods are angry with us.” Tallack glanced backwards and held out his hand to the priestess. She used his sign of affection as an excuse to stand by his side and cling to his arm. What was he doing blaming the gods? The moors were parched, just like everywhere else in this wretched heat. Fires were only a matter of time.

“This is their way of telling us that we have been too lenient… complacent even, with our mining clan. Our grain stores are empty, the deer and boar have fled, the crops are burned, and we have no tin to trade. None of us will survive the winter unless we act now. The gods are telling us to retake our land by force and punish those who have broken their vow of allegiance. Now who among you will stand with me and rid us of these treacherous foes?”

The men were now so accustomed to cheering, they were barely listening. They all sprang to their feet and yelled their support, punching the air and waving short swords and cups about in the cramped space.

“Hunters ride out with Kitto; sailors join Massen in the estuary, elders send your boys to the forge. We’ll need all our men in this fight.” As soon as Tallack had finished speaking, the warriors jostled and barged their way out into the night air to make their preparations.

Ren got up from the bench and faced my nephew “I assume you want Meliora and me to sail with you, Chief?”

Before Tallack could reply, Endelyn piped up. “There won’t be room for you. Senara and I will be travelling on his ship.”

This was news to Tallack. He stepped away from her and frowned. “We’re going into battle. It’s no place for a woman like you.” I knew what he meant. She was untrained, frail and ill-equipped to deal with the rough conditions ahead.

The priestess pouted, glowering in my direction.  “How come she gets to go and not me?”

Tallack inhaled slowly and let out a noisy sigh. “I need you and mother to stay behind to prepare for the binding ceremony. Someone has to greet the Duro girl when she arrives, make her feel welcome.”

Senara snickered with laughter, clamping her hand over her mouth. I could only imagine what opinions those two women had formed about the poor girl in the privacy of their hut.

Tallack looked over at Ren and me. “You don’t have to come. I’ll have it sorted within a few days. I thought Ren was still recovering from his time in captivity.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Tallack had relied on Ren and I since way before his father’s death. Had he declared us unfit or unworthy of his time? Was our counsel dismissed so easily?

Ren moved closer to the Chief, lowering his voice. “I’m fully recovered.” He lied. “And I think it best if we came along. You’ll need Mel to heal your men and I can help Massen learn the ropes.”

Tallack shrugged before turning his back to us. “Just as you like. It’s your choice, but I’m sure we can manage without you.”

What had triggered this inflated arrogance? Was he stupid enough to believe that a quick mingling of blood was all it took to secure Kitto’s allegiance? We watched him step down from the top table’s raised platform and disappear through the back door with Treeve darting behind him. We had