Page 17 of Dragonbound

‘Think about it, Sereh. If he holds our lands, the physical seat of the jarlship, as it were, then the people will have no one left to turn to. No one to stand against him. They’ll have to accept he’s replaced my father permanently – as he has done for the last eight rotations. Without this steading, no one will even consider that I should be the one to take my father’s place now I’ve grown to manhood.’

Sereh was far from convinced, and yet, couldn’t deny there was something in Erann’s words. Silence fell between them, broken only by his harsh breathing. ‘What are you planning then? You think you could stand against him yourself?’ she queried.

‘For now,’ Erann answered, ‘as weak as we are – my mother, brother and me – we’re still something. Even without the ability to take part in gift-giving, people still come to us during the Long Day for our aid and our wisdom. If Rankil angers the farmers, they could pledge their support to us, provided we have this steading. I took my mother from here, to my uncle’s. I should have been wiser and brought my uncle here, but hindsight won’t right that wrong. Not now.’

‘Rankil won’t like that,’ Sereh admitted.

‘No.’ Erann shook his head. ‘He wants us gone. His every move chips away at tradition and precedent. He wants my mother dead, alongside my father, for I fear he’s met his death in exile. Rankil wants my home torn apart, and my brother and I reduced to nothing. He wants Ramon to be nothing.’

‘You’re certain of this?’ Even now, and as much sense as it made, Rankil’s ambitions shocked her.

‘You should’ve seen his face when Aras asked if the herb woman could tend to my mother. He looked like he’d swallowed curdled milk leftover from last rotation.’

Sereh could imagine only too well. Rankil wore a permanent sneer that was only made worse by anything he didn’t want to hear.

‘So you’re going to stay here to stop him?’ she finally asked, looking at the cold room. It felt abandoned already.

Erann grimaced. ‘I thought I would. But being here, now, knowing what I do about Rankil, I think there’s another possibility for me, and my family. One you can help me with, if you’re prepared to.’ He stroked the worn leather cover of his journal, and suddenly, his voice lost its vigour, dropping to an almost reverential whisper. ‘Thank you for bringing the journal back to me – it’s far more than I deserve, after what I did.’

Sereh found herself smiling. ‘It’s not a problem. I sensed it was important to you.’ She wanted to ask him more. About the numbers. But Erann was already talking.

‘You know, you could have told me on Vatna Jokull. I’d have helped. Although I guess I didn’t hang around long enough for you to tell me anything. Now, let’s see if there’s something for Arrow to eat.’ His voice rang with humour as they both heard the rumble coming from the wolf-dog’s belly.

As Erann moved away from the table, Sereh appraised the steading. It was exactly as she remembered it. The floor was raised wooden boards to keep the constant damp at bay. Surrounding the huge hearth, lay huge flat flagstones. But the room and its curtains and furnishings looked tired and dirty. She couldn’t imagine Erann’s mother wanting to live like this, and it made sense that she and Erann’s brother were visiting family. Although, now she thought about it, Erann must have taken a terrible risk if they had left on what she assumed must have been the first day of the Long Day. The weather had been brutally cold, and the daylight short.

Unlike Rankil’s steading, the space here was all for living, and while she’d caught sight of the animal barn to the far side of the steading, it was separate. The steading smelled empty and cold, but at least it didn’t stink of animals living in immediate proximity with Erann’s family. Rankil’s steading, by comparison, was small, cramped and very smelly. It wasn’t truly the home of a jarl, but of someone who lacked the wealth to live separately from his herd beasts.

Tail wagging hopefully, Arrow followed Erann as he ventured towards the storage area of the steading. He reached out to stroke the wolf-dog.

‘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.