Chapter 10 #3
‘Hello again, Arrow,’ he said softly. ‘I might be able to find some leftover mutton for you.’
Absent-mindedly, she took some of the offered peat cakes Erann returned with, still musing on what he’d told her, while the crunching of whatever Arrow was chewing filled the void left by their silence.
Erann worked while he ate, moving from an old chest close to the hearth and back to the table, stuffing scripts into another backpack.
Sereh shivered. She’d prefer a fire to warm her, but staying didn’t seem to be his intention, despite what he’d said.
His face was like stone as he pushed the tightly curled scripts into the backpack.
‘This is our family’s history,’ he explained to her, when he must have sensed her gaze.
‘There’s no way Rankil’s going to get hold of it and manipulate it to his own ends.
’ His voice was flat, and Sereh understood.
She knew what it felt like when everything you ever held dear disintegrated to dust. What it was to force yourself to get up every new sunrise and go to sleep at sunset.
She didn’t have any answers; but she had felt the same sense of untethering loss after her parents’ death.
Sereh sighed heavily. Erann had a purpose she lacked.
Almost as if hearing her thoughts, he met her gaze.
‘Will you help me?’ His voice was quiet but determined.
‘I need to take these to the Librarian. He’ll know what to do with them.
He’s the only one who can make sure the truth is told, no matter what lies Rankil spins about my family.
With your testimony, the whole quarter will see what sort of man he truly is.
If he’s going to be jarl – even a temporary one – he needs to be able to afford to give gifts, as our customs expect, but if he chooses to kill off his own children rather than bear the cost of raising them…
Questions will be raised about not just how wealthy he is, but his morals too. ’ Erann spoke bitterly.
‘Yes,’ she replied in a hushed whisper. It felt as though she was pledging herself to something far greater than just a journey to the Library to speak of what she knew.
She cleared her throat. ‘I’ll come with you to the Library and speak to the Librarian.
I’ll help you take your family records to the Librarian.
I only wish I’d been able to do the same.
’ They met each other’s gaze, and silence fell between them.
They were committing to something huge. Erann was potentially consigning his family steading to flames that Rankil would set.
Sereh was resolving to share her terrible secret, even though it would implicate her as well as Rankil.
‘Come on then,’ Erann eventually stated, dragging his assessing gaze from her eyes. ‘Do you have room for these in your backpack?’ He indicated the pile of scripts with his eyes.
‘Yes, hand me some. There’s a great deal of room in this almost empty backpack. We ate all the food.’ Sereh offered a wry smile, even as Arrow’s head appeared over the table at the thought of more food.
‘Of course, we’ll need provisions if we’re going to journey to the Librarian, I’d completely forgotten.
Thanks for reminding me,’ Erann said. ‘Come on, Arrow. There’ll be more in the cold store.
There always has been before,’ he spoke more quietly, and briefly Sereh wondered what he meant, but turned her attention back to stuffing scripts into her backpack.
She continued to pack her backpack with care. She had a reverence for old scripts and didn’t want to damage them when they’d survived for so long the ink had faded on many of them.
Suddenly she heard loud voices from outside. They sounded angry.
Alarmed, Sereh looked towards the door and tunnel entrance. Arrow abandoned Erann and returned to Sereh’s side, a low growl escaping from her, body trembling with fury. Erann ran to the entrance tunnel, his quest for food forgotten about.
‘Rankil’s men, I’m sure of it.’ Erann slid away from the door.
‘I can’t see anyone – they must still be on the other side of the slope.
It’s a still day, their voices will be carrying.
Even so, we must get out of here before they can see this side of the steading.
They’re coming from the back.’ Sereh grabbed both backpacks with fumbling hands and started towards the tunnel.
For all Erann’s words, he ran back to the table, snatching up the last handful of scripts, and thrusting whatever food he’d found on top of them in the backpack. Sereh impatiently watched him take a last look around his family’s home.
‘Come on,’ he stated flatly. ‘Let’s get out of here.’
He strode out through the squat tunnel entrance, shifting the backpack into position only when he could stand upright once more, Arrow at his heels. Feeling as though she moved too slowly, Sereh hurried after them.
Sereh swallowed. She wouldn’t be caught by Rankil’s men. She wouldn’t return to him. She’d remain free, even if that meant exposing herself to the wildness of her lands. Again.