Moonlight on Speartips

Jepna was a less hospitable stop on Sir Danielle Longbow’s journey east than the welcoming town of Cofa two days before. In Cofa, red acolyte Barra Mohani’s explanations about their expedition had been enough when the guards saw that they were from the west.

            “I remember this place very differently. The market here used to sell a thousand spices. There were bags of dye in every colour, a rainbow in hemp sacks. The people all wore smiles. There was food from across the world. War has taken the colour from the city.” Barra sighed. He was an oddly artsy assassin. From what Danielle had seen though, the acolytes of the Church of Red Knives were all raised to know the world far beyond their borders.

            Jepna’s soldiers were expecting attack imminently. Their scimitars were out and held to the throats of Sir Aled Cadogan, Anne Hyland, Barra, Danielle, Sir Euan Errol, and the grey acolyte Una Donohuei. They were searched, what money the soldiers found was taken and they were told there was no place for them in Jepna City.

            Having a stranger’s hands patting her down while the man took his lecherous time had Danielle at the end of her rope and ready for murder. Luckily for the Jepna soldiers, a local man with a room to rent ushered them down an alley. Danielle noted the patches and stains on the man’s once blue kurta as he led the way. His fingers had yellow stains across the fingers and one of his teeth was made of wood.

            “What is he asking?” Danielle wondered aloud.

            “He wants to know if we still have money,” said Barra. His indistinct face half passed for local almost anywhere and the way he spoke he might have been the Jepna man’s brother.

            “Well, we don’t.” Danielle ground her teeth. “They robbed us.”

            “They thought we were spies.”

            “Think they find much useful information tucked under women’s breasts?” Anne asked, her face was flushed with rage.

            Barra handed the man a small pouch of coin.

            “Where were you hiding that?” Danielle asked.

            “He says we can all sleep in his room for the night. While you sleep, I’ll get our money back.” Barra stated it all as a fact.

            “How?” Anne asked. “Can you turn invisible?”

            “I’m a red acolyte. Sneaking into places is my life’s work.” Barra scratched his salt and pepper hair and asked the man something in hushed tones. The old man with liver spotted hands and grey hair poking out from beneath his turban nodded slowly. He could do whatever Barra had just asked for, but he didn’t want to.

            “Let’s get ourselves inside,” Sir Euan said. “If those soldiers find us still here, they’ll be certain we’re spies and hang us.”

            Further down the red sandstone alley that smelled of urine and rotting food, the man let them into his house and locked his door behind them.

            When the six were inside Danielle realised that the room and the man’s home were one and the same. His whole life was gathered on two shelves and a tiny bed.

            “How are all of us going to sleep in here?” Anne asked. “We can barely stand.”

            “Shifts,” Barra said. “Two on the bed, two on the floor, two awake. We can’t risk being all asleep at once anyway. I like this man, but I know better than to trust anyone and I hope you all do as well.”

            “Vedant Varma was fun,” Anne said.

            “And weighed down with scandal after all your screaming,” said Barra of the inn keeper Miss Hyland had her way with in Cafa.

            “He didn’t complain.”

            “His neighbours did,” Sir Errol said. The knight was smiling. “They thought you were being murdered, all that screaming.”

            “It had been a long time, don’t judge me.”

            “I wasn’t,” said Euan, “I was just thinking how lucky he was.”

            “You!” Anne punched the knight’s arm and for once blushed bright red.

            “Start sleeping,” Barra said. “We all need our turn; we might as well get started. The man is giving us the bed. Make the most of it.”

            “I didn’t think you’d approve of that,” Miss Hyland joked.

            “That’s not what I meant, and you know it,” Mister Mohani said. He gathered his clothes around him as if worried that he was showing flesh.

            “You and I will take the first shift on the bed then Sir Euan, unless anyone objects.”

            “No screaming this time please,” Danielle said.

            “No promises, Sir Longbow.”

Danielle slept what felt like forever and woke when Barra shook her.

            “We should go now. I have the money that was taken and more.”

            “What?” She was still drowsy as she listened to him. Dreams about her lover Lupita were still clinging to her imagination.

            “It’s time to go. We need to leave before the guards know what was taken.”

            Danielle realised that the assassin had a sack over his shoulder.

            “What the fuck did you take?”

            “Anything that looked useful,” said the man, keeping his voice low. “Don’t use that tone or our host might guess what I’ve done.” The old man was looking between them with a curious look on his face.

            Barra began pulling clothes out of his sack. He held them up to everyone then handed them out. “Disguises, wear them over your armour and leave those clothes here.”

            “I’m not changing in front of you,” said Danielle.

            “I’ll turn my back. Hurry, there’s word that the city is about to be attacked. We don’t want to be stuck here, fighting other people’s battles. We must head east.” Barra was already ripping off his clothes and changing into some drab stuff that smelled of livestock and flatulence.

            Danielle told everyone else to do as Barra had suggested. He knew the language and as he said, she wanted to get the mission done so she could go home to Lupita.

            “Did you have to find such filthy rags?” Anne complained.

            “They have veils, we can leave Jepna without anyone seeing our faces.”

            When they had all transformed into locals with veiled faces, Barra gave their host more money and thanked him with hands on the old man’s shoulders. They filled a box with their discarded clothes, perhaps the wrinkled landlord would find use for them. The old man bowed deeply to them all and opened the door. Danielle heard the door lock behind them.

            “Fuck. It’s talking,” whispered Barra, as they walked through the streets.”

            “What is?” Asked Sir Euan.

            “The helmet I found in the chest.”

            “You found a haunted helmet in a chest? And you put it on?” Anne’s high tone caused them all to shush her. “You shush.” She pointed at Barra. “That idiot is wearing a cursed helmet.”

            “Possessed I think, not cursed.”

            “Same difference, take it off and throw it away.”

            “Not a chance.”

            They reached the gate and a crowd of Jepna guards. The local soldiers all had hands ready on the hilts of their scimitars. Barra spoke with them, calmly at first, then getting more and more passionate as they questioned him. The red acolyte began pointing at Anne and yelling louder, pointing to the ironclad gate.

            The guards with their fire lances and scimitars grumbled. They opened the gate a crack and waved at them all to squeeze through. Barra bowed deeply to the moustached men in their battle-scarred armour.

            “What did you say to them?” Anne asked, when they were outside the gate and beyond earshot. The silhouettes of the guards on the wall could still be seen from the light pollution behind.

            “I told them you were betrothed to a wealthy merchant in Jekopran and that there would be consequences if you did not make it there on time. I said we were all hired bodyguards to get you to the wedding safely. It’s common here for wealthy families to hire portrait artists to take a painting of a potential bride to the would-be groom. If the suitor likes the painting, then the family hires bodyguards to escort the bride to the wedding.”

            “What about the family?” Anne asked.

            “They either go along to the wedding or take the money from the wealthy family and say their goodbyes before the bodyguards take her away.” Barra shrugged. They could all hear Anne’s disgust in her heavy breathing.

            “That’s barbaric.”

            “It’s the custom here, among the rich. Weddings for low born people are almost the same as in Crann or Sliabh,” he said of Anne’s and his home kingdoms respectively.

            “We’re going to have blistered feet halfway to Jekopran if we have to walk the whole way.” Danielle sped up to be by Barra’s side. “We need horses.”

            “Then go back to Jepna and ask for them, sir.” Barra didn’t look at her. “They will be besieged in a matter of hours, if that.”

            Most knights would have taken the assassin to task for talking to them like that. Danielle had been raised among fishermen and spent years homeless after her mother threw her out. Though she wouldn’t scold him, he was a hair’s breadth from a slap that would set his world spinning.

They walked through darkness. Only the sound of their breathing and the animals of the night broke the silence. Then the rhythmic thunder of hooves racing towards them made the hairs on the back of Danielle’s neck stand up.

            “Everyone get down,” whispered Sir Longbow. Barra and his fellow assassin Una were already hidden in long grass.

            The four soldiers of Crann joined the assassins, diving into blades of grass that were razor sharp as Danielle pushed into them. She winced as a cut opened on the side of her hand.         Drawing her sword, she waited.

            The horses snorted as they clopped past.

            The six who had journeyed from Crann breathed a sigh of relief.

            Then the men spoke in a tongue only Barra understood. The sound of hooves grew louder again.

            “They smelled something,” the red acolyte hissed.

            “I told you,” said Anne. “Fucking rags.”

            “Weapons ready,” Danielle whispered.

            Four black silhouettes with spears trotted back towards the long grass. Moonlight revealed the steel of the spear tips. Sir Longbow presumed her blade was as obvious in the dark.

            Barra and Una both had blades in their hands, but neither knife glinted in the moon’s glow. She made a mental note to ask why later.

            A spearpoint stabbed into the long grass, hitting nothing but the air beside them.

            Another steel point shot into the grass. The shaft of the spear passed to Danielle’s left.

            Without thinking she grabbed the spear and gave a sharp tug. The horseman holding it fell from the saddle to the ground with a grunt.

            The other three yelled.

            Danielle’s sword found the flesh of the fallen rider at the end of the spear he was still holding. He screamed a raw cry that cut the night. The soldiers of Crann stood in the dark and leapt towards the mounted spearmen.

            Looking at the silhouettes against the midnight blue sky, she saw one fall, screaming, for no apparent reason.

            “One down,” said Una.

            Another cry preceded a second man falling from his horse.

            “Two,” said Barra.

            “Die!” Sir Euan’s yell was too loud for anyone with sense. “I killed him. That’s the last of them.”

            “Good,” said Barra. “Now shut up before the whole continent hears you. Yelling just tells the enemy exactly where you are.”

            “Much as I hate to agree with the assassin, he has a point.” Danielle sheathed her sword. “Do you have the horses’ bridles?”

            “I do,” said Barra.

            “As do I,” Una said.

            “I’ve got one,” said Anne.

            “The fourth horse?” Danielle asked.

            “Got away,” said Sir Euan Errol, sighing.

            “Three horses for six of us is better than none. Two on each. The heaviest and the lightest and so on would work best,” said Una Donohuei.

            “She’s right,” Sir Longbow agreed. “That puts me with Una. Sir Aled with Anne and Barra and Sir Euan. Mount up.”

            “Aye sir.”

            The world was just as dark on horseback as it had been on foot. Danielle hoped the horse she rode could see where it was going.

            “Which way is east now?” Danielle asked. “I lost my sense of direction during the fight.” The bright blue moon gave no hint to her. This was not her land. Guessing would do them no good.

            “Follow me,” said the black shape of Barra with Sir Euan holding onto him from behind.

            They tried.

            In the darkness, Una’s arms wrapped around her, Danielle steered the horse towards Barra’s voice and kept going as the night wore on, hoping he knew the land of Iripth as well as he thought he did.