Pagan Siege (Tribes of Britain Book 5) by Sam Taw (10 best novels of all time TXT) 📕

yourself up and be quick about it. We’ve a lot to do today and no time for your antics.” I ducked into my house and allowed myself a moment to laugh. By the time she was back inside with a half empty bowl, I’d managed to recover my sternness.

Vina strapped my empty hemp sacks and bags on my horse and walked it to the southern gates. I took a short detour to check up on Ren before meeting her. He too was not surprised by my news of Endelyn’s pregnancy. If she was indeed bearing my dead nephew’s child, her status within our tribe would be assured for all time. The young wolf would be of Chieftain’s blood, and unless Tallack took a wife and issued an heir, the priestess would become the future mother to our tribal Metern after Tallack’s time.

We both recalled that dreadful night when Blydh lost his senses and accused her of working with our enemies. The cruel punishment he inflicted upon the innocent woman was heard throughout camp all that night. Ren looked up at me. I could tell that he had a question but didn’t want to give it a voice.

Had she brought the assault on herself following days upon end of whispering into his ear? What had she promised him while he was half addled from the evil spirit that took him over? It was certain that she was reeling him in and positioning herself to become his wife. It was doubtful she could have predicted that he would attack her. One thing was evident; we would never know what prompted him to take such brutal action.

Safe in the knowledge that Ren was on the mend, Vina and I walked out along the river heading south. Sullen at first, the Duro girl relaxed a little when we found some duck eggs along one of the tributaries. The birds themselves flapped out of our grasp, but we were able to paddle through the shallow waters to collect all that we could find. We were lucky that not many people knew about this spot. My age does have some advantages. There were still a few choice foraging areas I kept secret from the youngsters.

Wandering towards the estuary, I scanned the marshlands and drier banks further along and was saddened to see so many people poking sticks into the silt of the low tide, scratching about for something to eat. Everywhere we looked, the plants had withered and died. With nothing to feed them, animals move on. Our people had nothing left to hunt. “Come on.” I said, warming to my new helper. “Let’s try the forest at the northern side of the camp.”

I could have left her to scurry alongside my horse, but the day was scorching and I didn’t fancy nursing her back to health after a bout of heat sickness. Offering her my arm, I helped her up onto my pony behind me and together we ambled along the trail to the woodlands. At least here it was cooler. The dense canopy shaded us from the stinging sun.

We found a cool place in which to rest and unhitched the bags from the horse. As Vina led him down to the water, he broke free from her grasp. She panicked at first, but I reassured her that he was a faithful old boy. When he’d taken his fill of the cold water, he would return to us. The horse folded his legs and sat down in the stream, frolicking about like a new foal. After a full morning of gathering, we’d taken just eight eggs, a small amount of willow bark strips, and a handful of herbs. Slim pickings indeed.

We ate some dried venison and refilled our water bladders from further upstream, before moving through the dense undergrowth. I showed her the leaf shapes to avoid, and those that could be of use, but it seemed to me that she had no interest in learning the arts of healing at all. It couldn’t have been her idea to train under my guidance, but that of her uncle. That made me like her a little more, especially since I too had little interest in teaching her. It was my mother’s wish that I should become the tribal healer after her time was over. My earliest memories were of wanting to be a shield maiden and fight battles and lead raids like my dear father. My cruel brother put paid to that notion as soon as he became Chieftain of our tribe.

As it happens, being the only medicine woman in the tribe has proven more useful than I could have ever imagined. The rarity of my skills has helped me out of a tricky situation more times than I care to admit. Training this youngster could be the only chance I have of passing my knowledge onto the next generation, and if that helps to cement ties with our new allies, so much the better.

We passed thick patches of brambles and scraped moss from fallen logs and rocks, listening out for the rustling sounds of animals nearby. The forest was surprisingly quiet for the season. What noises we heard turned out to be small birds; sparrows, crows and the like, none of which make good eating and are pretty hard to catch.

“Can you hunt, Vina? Are you good with a bow and arrow?”

She shook her head.

I sighed. “What can you do?” It was meant to help me figure out what I needed to teach her, but it came out a bit strong. She thought I was mocking her.

She folded her arms across her chest and pouted. “Well not much of any use to you, obviously.”

We’d started off on the wrong foot, and if we were to make a success of this alliance, I had to turn that around. “I didn’t mean it like that. What did you do to occupy your time in the Duro camps?”

Her arms flopped to her side, her gaze distant and wistful.