The Song and the Serpent

The door to the house was open, and many people were coming and going.

As a young woman carrying an empty basket passed out of the doorway and walked by them, Kian raised a hand.

“Pardon me,” he said. “But do you know if the leader of the Othelli is here?”

The young woman’s eyes widened as saw the two of them, no doubt recognizing who they were. She brushed a lock of dark hair out of her sweating face and cleared her throat.

”Um, yes milord. You mean Leader Corthenu?”

Kian nodded. “That’s right.”

“He’s speaking with Master Hammund on the other side of the house right now,” the young woman answered.

“Thank you,” Kian said with a slight bow.

The woman curtsied awkwardly before continuing on her way.

Adan and Kian turned left and walked around the stone house, stepping on large flat stones that lay on the ground. They rounded the corner, passing between the side of the house and the apple orchard they had seen from the hillside above.

Voices became audible from the back of the house as they drew near.

“I’m only concerned about the resources we might be using unnecessarily for tonight’s meal,” Hammund’s voice could be clearly heard. “I think a feast will do us good, but we cannot be wasteful in our enthusiasm. We have only so many food stores and many mouths to feed.”

”I agree we cannot be wasteful,” Corthenu’s voice replied. “But I do not understand what good can come from using so much of our food stores in an evening of pointless frivolity.”

“Of course you don’t understand,” Adan heard the exasperated voice of Hurst say.

Adan and Kian rounded the corner of the house to find the owners of the three voices standing facing one another beside a stone boulder that sat behind the house like an island of stone in a sea of tall green grass.

Corthenu stood facing away from Adan and Kian, his broadsword clearly visible strapped to his bare back. Laxander stood behind the Chief Bard, listening wordlessly to the conversation.

“You seem intent upon breeding hopelessness and fear wherever you go,” Hurst continued. “Has it not occurred to you that our people need hope and courage instead?”

“Hope and courage?” Corthenu replied. “What about planning and preparing? What about being wise and not allowing our appetites to govern our decisions?”

Kian sighed. ”Not these two again.”

“And what are we celebrating?” Corthenu continued as Adan and Kian stood behind him. ”The disaster that took place last night? The lives we lost because the other village leaders know nothing of warfare? Was the battle last night such a great victory against the Undelmans that we should celebrate it?”

Hurst remained silent, glaring at Corthenu.

“We may not have won a great victory,” Hammund said, “but we succeeded in our plan, albeit at a high cost. Hugo still knows nothing of our location. The Undelmans who attacked us are now dead. We should be thankful for our success.”

“Being thankful and throwing an extravagant feast are two different things,” Corthenu replied.

Kian cleared his throat very loudly from behind Corthenu, who turned around quickly, startled by the sound.

“Kian,” he said, crossing his arms and relaxing. “I was just trying to be the only voice of reason in this place.”

”I heard,” Kian said.

“To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?” Hammund asked.

“I was looking for Corthenu,” Kian replied. “But while you’re here, I wanted to thank you and your wife for your hospitality. We have been well taken care of since we arrived.”

Hammund gave a little bow in acknowledgement.

“I wish to speak with you once your business here is concluded,” Kian continued, turning back to Corthenu.

“I believe it is concluded,” Corthenu said, glancing at Hurst. “I’ve said my piece.”

”I will ensure that no great expenditure of our provisions takes place, Corthenu,” Hammund said. “You are right to be concerned.”

Corthenu grimaced before nodding to Hammund and turning to leave. Adan and Kian turned with him and the three of them walked back around the corner toward the front of the house.

“Please tell me that you don’t agree with Hurst and the other leaders,” Corthenu said as he walked.

“About what?” Kian asked. “The feast tonight?”

“Of course.”

Kian hesitated before answering ”I think you’re in the right, but I also don’t think I can change anyone’s mind about it.”

Corthenu snorted. “Neither did I, but I will not be guilty of remaining silent when everyone else around me is embracing folly. Every time that Chief Bard makes the smallest suggestion, everyone goes along with what he says without question.”

”Did Hurst suggest that we have a feast tonight?”

”Of course he did. And the other leaders and governors went right along with him without a word of challenge, like they always do. I understand that he’s the Chief Bard, and that he is old and wise and that we would all be dead if not for him, but he is no ruler. Even the wisest of men are still just men.”

The three of them left the stone house behind and began making their way up the hill.

“But enough of my frustrations,” Corthenu continued. “What did you want to ask me?”

”I spoke with most of the village leaders this morning,” Kian said. “I asked about our future here and what their plan was for defeating Hugo. They all seemed to think that staying here and surviving while the Undelman’s take our homeland is the wisest choice.”

“But you don’t agree with their wisdom?”

“Not only do I not agree, I cannot sit idly by and allow Hugo’s armies to sweep away what’s left of Esta.”

The three of them passed between trellises covered in peas and a long row of high corn stalks, slowly drawing near to the top of the ridge.

“So why did you seek me out?” Corthenu asked.

“Because I don’t think you want to stay here and wait for Hugo to find this place either.”

Corthenu took a few silent steps before answering. “Perhaps I do. But what difference does it make?”

“I’m thinking of making a bargain with the other village leaders and I would like your support.”

Corthenu stopped and turned to look at Kian. They had passed through most of Hammund’s fields and stood on the edge of the hill.

“So you're going to do it?” Corthenu said.

Kian held Corthenu’s gaze without a word.

“You’re going to claim what they offered you?”

Realization dawned on Adan as he understood Corthenu’s question. Kian intended to become Lord of New Esta. This realization didn’t surprise Adan. Kian had been hinting that some dramatic action was needed, and taking command of the city was the obvious answer.

“What difference would my support make?” Corthenu asked. “I’m not the most popular leader in the city.”

“You are to your own men,” Kian replied, “and those men are some of the most competent warriors here. I will need their skill.”

Corthenu crossed his arms and his brow furrowed. “So you plan to put their skills at warfare to use?”

Kian nodded.

“You will most likely be sending all of us to our deaths.”

“What is the alternative?” Kian asked.

Corthenu let out a deep sigh and his gaze wandered down the hill toward the workers in the fields.

“If you had asked me when you first arrived,” Corthenu said, “my answer would have been no, partly because of your youth, but also because Hurst suggested it and I thought he wanted you for his puppet.”

Corthenu turned back toward Kian, meeting his gaze. “I don’t think that anymore. And you have been challenged far beyond your years and shown your wisdom.”

Kian said nothing.

Corthenu reached over his shoulder and unsheathed the massive broadsword that was slung across his back.

Stabbing the point of the weapon into the ground, Corthenu knelt, holding the sword with one hand and using the other to put a fist to his chest in salute.

“Mine blade is thine to command,” he said, reciting the old pledge of faith to a leader. “And those in mine charge shall hear and obey, for as long as thou art faithful to those in yours. The Maker will judge between us. May it be so.”

”May it be so,” Kian said, placing his right hand on the pommel of Corthenu’s blade in sign of acceptance.

Traditionally, Corthenu would not have taken his oath until Kian had spoken the pledge of leadership. Corthenu had demonstrated his trust in Kian by pledging obeisance to him before Kian’s oath.

The black haired leader stood and squared his shoulders.

“Now that’s done,” he said. “What else must I do?”

”Nothing for now,” Kian said. ”Just be ready, when the time comes.”

Corthenu nodded.

They resumed their walk up the hill by unspoken agreement.

“Now all that remains is for the rest of the leaders to follow your example,” Kian said.

“Good luck with that,” Corthenu replied. “They may have begged you to take command yesterday but who knows what they think now…”

”Adan! Kian!”

The shout came from a familiar voice back down the hill. Adan turned to see Layla coming up to them from the house, holding the hem of her brown skirt so as not to trip.

Adan felt a familiar thrill of nervous excitement when he saw her.

What is she doing here? He wondered.

She was out of breath when she reached them, and immediately embraced them both. Adan noticed a brown sack slung across her bag that bulged in many places.

“I didn’t expect to see you here,” she said through gasps of breath.

“Nor I you,” Adan said. “What are you doing?”

“I spend the mornings at Corfield helping Helena with candlemaking,” she said in explanation, as she regained control of her breathing. “They barter candles and other goods for labor in the fields from many of our people. But what about you?”

Adan glanced at Kian and Corthenu before answering. “We needed to speak with Corthenu and we found him here. We were just going back.”

“I am as well,” Layla said. “May I walk with you?”

Adan looked at the two others again and they shrugged.

“Certainly,” he replied.

Kian and Corthenu continued walking side by side, while Layla fell in step with Adan. Adan deliberately walked slower than Kian and Corthenu, trying to put a small amount of distance between them.

“How’s your leg?” Layla asked.

“Sore,” Adan replied, “but not unbearable. I haven’t checked the bandage since last night.”

“You should check it again this afternoon,” she said. “Best to keep it clean.”

Adan nodded. “I’ll do that.”

They were silent for a moment, cresting the ridgeline and looking down on the New Esta shining in the late morning sun.

“Is it true that Kian and Calden fought last night?” Layla asked in a hushed tone.

Adan smiled, resisting the urge to laugh. “You could say that, but it wouldn’t be the whole story. Calden didn’t feel that he could agree to Corthenu’s plan in good conscience. He thought allowing the Undelmans in would violate his oath, and insisted that he would need to be commanded by the Lord of New Esta or be bound and stopped by force.”

“And so Kian attacked him and bound him?”

Adan nodded. “He seemed satisfied once they led him away.”

“He wasn’t entirely satisfied,” Layla said in a quiet tone.

“What do you mean?”

“He managed to wiggle free of his bonds in the main hall.”

Adan looked over at Layla with surprise. “He did?”

“Yes, but by then, the Undelmans were already in the city.”

Adan shook his head. “That old man is more stubborn than anyone I’ve met.”

“It turned out for the best because a few of the Undelmans broke free of the battle and tried to get into the citadel.”

”What?”

”I think they would have made it inside if Calden hadn’t been there.”

Adan shook his head again. “Thank the Creator he was there then.”

The notion that the Undelmans had nearly succeeded in breaching the citadel made Adan grind his teeth. This was another example of the incompetence of the warriors fighting against the enemy in the city the night before.

As the four of them descended the grassy hill and drew near to the gate, Adan saw another cart loaded with Undelman bodies leave the city.

“Do you know what they are doing with the Undelman dead?” he asked.

“I believe they are piling them a good distance from the city and leaving them,” Layla said. ”They don’t want to burn them because we haven’t had much rain recently and a large fire might get out of control.”

“Very far from the city, I hope. I don’t want to be able to smell them later.”

They made their slow way down the hill and passed under the arch of the gate, entering the gatehouse.

“Where are you going from here?” Adan asked.

“I have to go check on my Auntie. That and have a bite to eat. What about you?”

”I’m not sure,” Adan said.

When Kian and Corthenu reached the archway that led out of the gatehouse, Kian stopped and stood at the stone corner. Corthenu turned toward Kian and gave him a slight bow before continuing on, turning left and making for the Othelli camp. Adan and Layla caught up to Kian, who stood waiting for them.

“What is your plan for the rest of the day,” Adan asked.

A small smile touched Kian’s face. “You may go with Layla. That’s what you’re really asking me, isn’t it.”

Adan looked at Layla, who smiled and looked at the ground.

”I wouldn’t object to at least escorting her to her hut,” Adan replied.

Kian nodded. “You can do more than that, for as long as you like. I think I’ll revisit the Bygone Wall.”

Adan saw pain in Kian’s grin, a sadness bleeding through his playfulness. Kian seemed happy to see Adan and Layla reunited and spending more time together, but Adan could detect the taint of grief in Kian’s face and voice. Was it jealousy? Envy? Or just sorrow?

Adan remembered the way he had felt when he would see Kian and Vallessa together, watching them fall more in love with each other. Now their roles were reversed, but Kian had no hope of ever seeing Vallessa again.

“Thank you,” Adan said, as sincerely as he could, trying to communicate his understanding of Kian’s grief in his tone.

Kian nodded. He gave Layla a slight bow before turning and walking in the direction of the citadel.