Daughter of the Witcher Ch. 08

*** Ah well, I missed Hallowe'en once again. :(

This chapter predates some of the last one by a few days at one point, but the rest is pretty much concurrent. I doubt that you'd notice, so it's no big deal, really.

There is a character in it which I've always found to be a little laughable, no doubt the imaginings of some "wise men" someplace. It began as a dragon-ish serpent with a bad reputation, but by the 12th century and onwards, it grew to be confused with the mythical cockatrice and was just as ludicrous in its supposed appearance.

Even Leonardo DaVinci commented on it in his writings and repeated the drivel of those before him - and of course, he'd never even seen one - just like everybody else.

I read the name in a novel and looked it up to be sure. Since they never existed, I made mine as living up to its title - The King of the Serpents.

Just so you know, the bodies of water in this are the North Sea, the Skaggerat and the Kattegat.

The Baltic Sea, where our group of tourists are headed, flows into the Kattegat, a body of water once considered treacherous before the advent of modern navigation removed much of the hazards.

The Kattegat flows into the Skaggerat, known for its sandbars. From there, it's out to the North Sea. Our heroes are sailing the other way, eastward.

There are records which indicate that the Limfjord once had a channel out into the Kattegat but it has since closed off and is a true fjord once more today.

Names?

Chiorstan, an early version of Kirsten and spoken the same way.

The little baby's name is Màiri-Ceit and it's pronounced "Mary-Kate".

Oh, and Gudrun the troll-girl is in it too. :)

0_o

***

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"Three days, "Louhu muttered to herself as she looked out of the window which gave her a view out of the front of the little inn and smithy belonging to Leif and Moppy. It also provided a view of the road which passed by the place and if one had the interest, one could see across that road and into the forest beyond for a little distance.

She was staring at a figure out there among the trees who never moved on and often crept from one vantage point to another. Louhi had no idea just how long the person had been out there, but it became rather obvious to her and Cuilén that the only reason that anyone might have for hanging around in the wet and cold was to keep the place under surveillance.

And she'd been aware of him for the past three days.

Cuilén had suggested that he could likely capture the individual without much fuss, but Louhi felt a slight desire to exercise a bit of caution.

"I do not think that this one is there to choose the best moment to rob the place," she said, "but I do wish to know, all the same."

Ren was asked to investigate and when he returned, they decided that the man out there was keeping watch on behalf of someone else. Louhi nodded to Cuilén and he left by another door.

Twenty-seven minutes later that late afternoon, Gilbert looked up from his quiet observation, wondering at the soft sound behind him in the leaves and he fell unconscious from the blow that he received on the other side of his head from the flat of Cuilén's sword. At that point, Cuilén went to retrieve the glove that he'd tossed to distract Gilbert.

The young man was trussed up and tied to an 'A' frame made from sapling trunks before Cuilén dragged him out of the woods and over the road behind his horse.

Gilbert began to stir when the frame was hoisted up so that he hung from his bonds, but what finally brought him around was the bucketful of cold seawater which Cuilén poured over his head.

Gilbert sputtered and raised his head, almost groaning to see that the one who had captured him so easily was the very same one that he'd told Màiri that he was a little nervous about.

Then he saw the woman who he'd been sent to watch as she sat on an unsplit section of tree trunk which she used as a chair for the moment. They looked at each other for a long few minutes and in that time, Gilbert felt as though she gleaned information from him without even the asking.

"Why were you watching us?" Louhi asked him.

Gilbert was young and rather idealistic, and that feeling was out of a fair bit of gratitude and loyalty to Màiri and Beathag. He held his tongue.

Louhi watched him in silence for a more than ten minutes, hardly blinking and never shifting her gaze - and looking at her cold stare became a little unnerving for Gilbert.

"I can tell you a few things that I see about you," she said, "and then you have a choice to make.

You work for someone -- a woman or women and you pass what you have seen to her -- or them. I would not care at almost any time, but I believe that the woman is a wise one who has an interest in us.

It makes me curious, which is why you are here.

This person is your lover, and I see also that you are very loyal to her. It is very admirable in my eyes."

Gilbert could not keep the surprise from his face, not being really very far along in this business of being a spy and Louhi nodded to him.

"I see that I am not far from the mark."

She walked up to him and smiled up at where he hung shivering. "Not the best weather to be wet to the skin, I fear."

She looked off at the trees which hid the view of the little cove down below.

"A few more buckets of brine will make matters worse, especially if my large friend here turns the thing that holds you on its end and hangs your head in the cold water. It is a lot of work for the song of a young man, but you will tell me what I wish to know -- and if it must go that way, then I will kill you.

I hold nothing against you, but I need to know why we are being watched. Tell me something that I know to be truth and I will keep you warm and dry - and fed -- until your lover comes for you, for she will because she cares very much for you."

Louhi sighed then, "I do not feel that this woman wishes me harm. If I did, you would already be dead out of principle, the price for putting her nose where it does not belong."

Gilbert said nothing, and Cuilén poured another bucket of seawater over his head as slowly as he could, keeping the stream over the boy's mouth and nose as much as possible.

Gilbert coughed and retched as he hung his head.

Cuilén tied Gilbet's head back against the frame and picked up a second bucket.

"Who is the woman and why does she want us watched?" Louhi asked, "To keep on this way will only cause you to hate us and it is not needed, since I do not think that we are speaking of anything worth your death. I only need to know."

It took four more buckets and then Louhi had her answers. Gilbert was taken down and tied up before Cuilén toweled him off roughly and dragged him off to a warm bed after Ren spoonfed him, while making no answers to Gilbert's many questions.

Annikki walked past once and when Gilbert looked at her, she smiled and said. "He does not speak English at all. You should just eat."

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The next afternoon, Louhi knew it as more than twenty horsemen gathered in the woods across the road, though they stayed out of sight. Màiri and Beathag arrived just after sundown.

"Ride over quietly and take the place," Màiri said, "I want no one harmed -- especially a woman with whitish hair. I need to speak to her."

In a minute, the open space around the inn teemed with horses and it resembled the 11th century equivalent of the modern day biker bar parking lot. Màiri's men entered by the three doors of the place and though Màiri and Beathag watched intently, many minutes passed with no sight or sound to indicate to them that anything had happened at all.

Màiri cursed and rode across the road herself.

As soon as she walked into the door, she stood in inky darkness, though she could see a light up ahead and she wondered. It seemed to be a couple of hundred feet away from her, and yet she knew that the building was not anywhere near that wide and she also knew that there was a cliff and a beach behind it -- also not that far away.

"Tell your men not to draw their weapons," a quiet and accented voice came to her mind, "or they will only harm each other in the dark. They can hear you, so tell them for their sake."

Màiri called out and heard answering cries and she passed on the instructions.

"Do not harm them," she said, "They only follow my orders. They were told not to harm you."

After that, she heard the voice again as it said only, "Then they will be spared. Walk."

Màiri approached the lit area rather slowly and with a bit of caution. Her view opened up and she stopped and turned around. What she'd walked out of appeared as a black wall to her.

There was fog and smoke in the air all around and it was lit in a flickering manner by distant flames from several directions. There were cries and screams from outside her field of view. When nothing came to her, she began to walk again.

The ground was littered with bodies, not all dead. Some were trying to crawl away.

Farther on, she saw two figures, a man and a woman as mostly silhouettes. She recognized the woman from her scrying as the one which she wanted to meet. The woman was talking to a large man who seemed to resemble her in some aspects. Both of them were armed.

Màiri drew the haft of her sword from her cloak and the smoking blade came into view with a whisper.

At the sound of it, the others turned and Màiri saw that they held their weapons in their hands as they approached her. She prepared herself for some sort of conflict.

The couple stopped a few yards off and waited for her.

"I want to speak with you," Màiri said, "alone."

The woman smiled a little at that and said," Speak then. We are alone."

She indicated the man with a motion of her head and said, "He is elsewhere and he cannot understand this speech if you keep using it."

The man spoke then, several questions in a language which Màiri couldn't comprehend and the woman answered him.

"He says that you are very beautiful and he hopes that he will meet you one day."

Màiri tilted her head, "I thought that you said that he wasn't here. This is your man? Who is the dark-haired one then that I have seen?"

The woman chuckled softly for a moment and then she translated for the man who laughed and bowed before walking off into the smoke.

"He is not my lover," the woman said, "He is my father, though what you said has made him laugh."

She planted the tip of her sword in the ground and stood leaning on it with a small smile. "Why were you watching me? It almost caused the death of your Gilbert.

I like your taste, by the way."

Màiri told herself not to get caught up in any deception as she returned the gaze, "Where is he? Why did you capture him? He meant no harm."

The woman nodded, "He is safe, Màiri Ciar. It took a little time and work, but he told me that you wished to meet me. We did not harm him at all, though he may be at the start of a cold from it.

My name is Louhi Fornjot and I think that you wanted to meet me in some circumstances which you had not yet contrived so that you could deal with me from a better position.

I merely used the knowledge to change that position to my advantage.

Please, ... your sword. It might be interesting, but we will not talk very much if we must swing our swords. Walk with me a little instead and we will see where we end up."

With that, Louhi slid her sword into the scabbard that she wore on her shoulder and waited.

Màiri's sword flickered and was gone as she pocketed the haft and stepped closer. Louhi held out her hand.

After grasping Louhi's arm for a moment, they fell into step together, walking slowly.

"Where is this place?" Màiri asked as they passed an abattoir with its shutters wide open. Màiri saw several people inside, moaning as they hung from meat hooks. A few were struggling weakly and she stared until they were past.

"The place where I grew up, "Louhi said quietly, "Though it looked better than this then. This is as it looked the last time that I was there with my father. We came to do this in vengeance for what was done to us and our family friends. Does it bother you? I can show it as it looks now."

The smoke was gone as were the people and several of the buildings. There was ground fog everywhere and it was all desolation and burned-out homes.

"What was the reason why you wished to meet me?"

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Louhi nodded after hearing it all.

"But you know only that you are all being used to little purpose. You wish to go away and know no place where this growing fight would not follow you. Is that right?"

Màiri nodded, "Can you help us? We have lost a few already."

"Perhaps I can," Louhi nodded, "My friend and I were here only to pass over the land on our way to Iceland, but it looks as though we will not ever get there now, and staying here over the winter loses its charm to us by the day. I do not think that I am one who can live beside the sea when it is not sunny and warm. Here, that is never.

My father asks me to go to him and I think that I will. I find that I miss my family now.

They are not in the land where we come from any longer. They are more than four hundred leagues from here as the birds fly -- farther on the ground. They now live in some mountains and from what my mother told me as a girl, the mountain meadows are very pretty and it is easy to keep sheep, if one had the mind to.

There are four of us. You said that you have -- sixty, no, perhaps a hundred with their families. A long way to go for that many to travel together."

"I don't think that all of them will want to go that far, "Màiri said, "I need to ask to see. But how will we get there?"

"The same as most travelers, I would guess," Louhi said, "By boat into the Baltic Sea and then overland south."

She turned and cautiously placed her hand on Màiri's shoulder, "You are offering friendship? I think that it must be that way. We want to go back to the mainland at least and I want to see my family. You look for a home for your people."

She held out her hand once more and Màiri clasped it, nodding.

"But no more of this," Màiri said, waving her other hand around her, "It needs to be open between us."

Louhi nodded, though with a little smile once more, "If I had not held your Gilbert to make you come to me, what would you have done?"

Màiri thought about it and then she grinned back, "The smaller of the men among you, I was thinking of capturing him. You make a fair point, Louhi, and I see it. We are agreed.

If we can manage the start of this together, I think that we might use the time on the boat to learn of each other."

They decided to take two days to take stock and meet again at a place near the docks in the nearest town.

"You know the way out?" Louhi asked and without any sign of smugness.

"Of course," Màiri smiled, "I only had to think on it a while. In two days then."

"In two days," Louhi agreed, "Wait a little outside and Gilbert will come to you. He is very nice to look at."

Màiri stepped out of the doorway and back out to where her riders sat immobile on the backs of their horses. None of them had ever been inside the building at all. Her face showed nothing, but Màiri wondered at Louhi's ability to create and manage an illusion on such a scale. She walked across the road toward the pair of women over there.

"Who is this?" she asked Beathag who stood with her arms crossed and glaring at Annikki, whose face carried and open and pleased smile as she stepped forward to grasp Màiri's arm and introduce herself.

"The light-haired one's stooge," Beathag said in a venomous tone.

Annikki pretended not to hear the remark and she was polite and friendly anyway, "The meeting went well, Màiri?"

"Well enough," the red-haired one nodded back with a smile, "It seems that we all might be traveling together if we can manage it somehow. I hope that your own meeting with Beathag went -- "

"About as I thought that it might," Annikki grinned, "We stood here and hissed at each other like a pair of cats. I can see that a sea voyage will hold even more charms, but I am glad to meet you -- both - and hear that it went at least fairly well. A pleasant night to you, "she smiled as she began to turn away.

"And you," she said to Beathag over her shoulder, "I would tell you that you can lick my ass as a parting thought, but I will not."

Seeing Beathag's eyes open for a moment before they almost glowed in suppressed anger, Annikki sighed, "You are probably not very good at it anyway."

Màiri's laugh echoed against the wall of the forest, but she placed her arm on Beathag's, "Do not take the bait, Beathag. As yet, it needs almost nothing to ruin this before it has even begun."

"I would kill her for her words and her tone," Beathag seethed.

"But you will not," her old friend smiled, "If you could see past your choice not to remain at least neutral, you might look at it in another way."

"What other way?" the black-haired witch growled as she watched Annikki make her way smiling through the rather astounded riders to step into the door of the inn.

"Why not at least try to get along, since you may be trapped with her in a small place for some time as we sail? She sounded a little disappointed. Why not seek to show her that she was wrong?"

Beathag looked as though she could have exploded, "What? She --"

Màiri put her arm around her friend, "Oh calm yourself. I know how wrong she was.

Now go and get my horse. Tell the men to follow us."

She smiled, "Now that I think of it, let us hurry back. This talk reminds me of how it calms you if I do it for you and I can see that you need calming now."

Beathag walked to where her horse was tied and she heard the low whistle. When she turned her head, she saw Annikki guiding Gilbert out toward her.

"I do not think that our interests will be served well if we behave like a pair of sisters at twelve years of age," Annikki said, "I would try to at least accommodate you and help where I may, if you will do the same.

Here is your boy. We have not harmed him."

Beathag recalled Màiri's words and she did try to smile pleasantly, "Thank you. I cannot say where my anger came from in me, but I do not want this ruined because of it. You behave better than I and it shames me a little."

Annikki waved it off, "Let us forget it all. I have seen that sometimes what begins badly can turn into friendship. I do not know if it can be so for you and I, but I will try to hold my tongue if you will."

Beathag stepped over and began to guide the bewildered-looking Gilbert to her horse, "I do not know and cannot say, but your way sounds a little better. A good night to you."

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Louhi stood where Màiri had left her wondering if they ought to even get involved.

She looked back as Gunnar walked up to her.

"Do you need me, Father?" she asked.

He nodded, "I need to be somewhere where I can really hold my girl to me again. There will be trouble where we three are very soon and Koten will find himself at the center of it, I fear."

Louhi nodded with a determined look, "Then we will come -- somehow."

She watched as Gunnar walked off before she dispelled the rest.

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Gunnar sat back from his bench with his eyes wide for a moment before he began to smile.

"What is it, Father?" Koten asked, "I heard Louhi's voice for a little while as you looked."

Gunnar sighed and he smiled in a little hopeful relief, "Louhi is coming."

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Màiri and Louhi met with a few others on the appointed day and they sat looking down at the harbour a little wistfully.

"I do not think that it can be done now, "she said, "We began as rangers with sixty-four riders. Over the time, we lost some in fights and were at a strength of sixty. Talking with the men and their families has brought me down to fifty-one, though I tried to be fair and make it plain that to remain here alone was to be hunted and likely by both sides.