The Sworn Knight by Robert Ryan (novels to read txt) 📕

So it was that Ferla used all her hunter’s skill to try tohide their trail, and even Asana and Kubodin, no strangers at all to travel inthe wild, admired her talent.

She found hard ground, where she could, that left littleremnant of their passing. When she did so, she changed direction. If there wasa cluster of trees, however small, she entered it. Not because it would hidetheir trail but because anyone who pursued would have to go in there too. Thatwould slow them down, for every time they would have to prepare against thechance of ambush.

The same applied when she entered any of the small gulleysthat crisscrossed the plains. They were good places for an ambush, and shedeliberately ensured their trail was easy to find here. That would make it appearas though she wanted the trail to be found, again triggering an instinctin anyone who pursued that a trap might have been set.

There were animal trails to follow as well. Deer inhabitedthis region, though their tracks were slightly different from those she was usedto. But walking along such a trail helped hide their passage, and being placesthat deer frequented, it was also possible that they would return afterward andobscure the trail further.

Best of all though was the discovery of a wild herd ofcattle.

“Aurochs,” Asana had informed her. There had been no herdsnear Dromdruin, but she had heard tales of them. They were said to be large,far larger than farmed cattle, and looking at the tracks this herd had leftbehind she believed it.

It was a great stroke of fortune though, for the herd waslarge, and she followed the passage of their grazing for miles and veered awayto follow them where they watered. Only the best of trackers could follow atrail through that, but she broke away from the aurochs on a flat bit of hardground, and here she even took the time to double back with a fallen branch andremove the slight signs of their passing.

Kubodin said nothing, but he grinned at her. He was lesshappy at her next trick though, for it required more effort. Not that he waswalking. In his case the effort would be his mule’s, but he still did not likeit.

“We need to split up,” she told them. “Only for a little wayat a time. But the more we do that, even if we regroup soon after, the moreanyone who follows us has to divide their forces and follow all three trails.Or decide at least which of the three trails to follow. Either way, once againit will slow them down.”

Several days like this passed. Nuril Faranar was no longervisible, and the grasslands began to change. There were no signs of the battlesthat had plagued the lands closer to the mountain, and the terrain became moreundulating. If they were being followed, they saw no sign of it either in theair or along their backtrail.

They set up camp one morning in one of the largest clustersof trees they had yet found. It was a little forest, perhaps a half mile by ahalf mile, and in its center was a glade with a hollow full of water. It waslittle more than a spring, but the water was fresh and clear, and they drankdeeply from it before settling down to eat.

When they were done, they talked a little while as theyoften did and made plans for the next night. Not that it would be muchdifferent from the one they had just passed.

Asana stirred and glanced at Kubodin. “I have beenthinking,” he said.

Kubodin raised an eyebrow, “I hear nobles do that a lot. Atleast they exercise one part of their body.”

He looked embarrassed after saying that, for he had now beenrevealed as a noble himself, and his old repertoire of jokes would need to bechanged.

Asana ignored it, though there was the hint of a smile onhis face.

“You are a free man, Kubodin. You have long since paid anydebt to me, not that I claimed one in the first place.”

“If I’m a free man, then I can keep on doing as I have beendoing.”

“That’s true,” Asana replied. “But it’s a matter of choice,and you have it. Should you wish, you could return to your homeland and press aclaim for leadership of your clan. There must be many now who know what yourbrother did, and I will aid you, if you wish, against him.”

Kubodin was thoughtful. “Maybe it’s as you say,” he said atlength. “Or maybe not. I have a claim for the chieftainship, but my brotherisn’t the type to relinquish rule easily. Now that he has it, it’ll be held inan iron grip and nothing will prise it loose.”

“To quote a proverb,” Asana said, “when one sword is drawn,a thousand are unsheathed.”

Ferla had not heard that saying before, but she understoodits meaning readily enough. If Kubodin acted, there would be support for himsomewhere in the clan. Those disadvantaged by the corruption of his brotherwould stand to gain by backing Kubodin. But likewise, those who were advantagedby the corruption would stand with his brother.

“It is something to think about, anyway,” Asana continued.

Kubodin grinned. “I’ll think on it. I often think on it.Every time you see me sharpening my axe, you can be assured I’m thinking onit.” His grin became even fiercer, and Ferla was suddenly glad he was a friend.She would not want him as an enemy.

“Tell us about your magic,” she asked suddenly. “You nevermentioned that in your story.”

The little man lifted up his axe and looked hard at the twinblades.

“My magic is nothing like yours,” he said quietly. “It’s notspoken of much in my clan, but there are those of us who learned the secrets. Iwas one. The shaman another. He is greater in lore than I am, but he doesn’thave this axe.”

Ferla understood. The magic he possessed was one thing, butthe magic of the axe was something else.

The little man sat thoughtful for a while. “The magic amongmy people is different from yours. We are part of the Cheng Empire of old, butthere were many, many clans that