The Hob's Bargain

Aren might be the key to that—or not.
    Killing the raiders had done something to her. Remembering the rage she fought with, he hoped it had been the right something. Vengeance was a cold, hard thing.
    He’d taken her not to use as a spokesperson in the village, but to see the enthusiasm she’d shown looking at the warning stone on his mountain this spring. Instead, she showed him that she could perform the dance of death with courage. A useful quality, but not much fun.

    T HE WAY WE TOOK WOUND THROUGH THE ORCHARD and berry brambles, over fence and hedge. My knee throbbed with every stride, but it was better when the hob and the pony slowed after only a few minutes of running. Never having wandered through the manor’s pastureland from this direction, I wasn’t certain where we were. Judging from the marshy ground and the thick brush, we might be close to the bridge. If the pony had been as big as Duck, we’d never have made it through.
    Gradually I heard the murmur of quiet voices. Caefawn and the pony edged forward until I could hear plainly everything the raiders were saying. They used the king’s tongue, not patois—gossip, not orders.
    â€œWhere’s the capt’n?” The speaker was a boy with a thick southern accent.
    â€œOff looking for some poor fool he can send into that copse to lure the berserker out of there.” The second speaker was a man full grown, and his accent reminded me of Moresh and Wandel’s. He must be noble-born, or raised among them.
    â€œWhy didn’t he order us to do it?”
    The older man laughed. “Too smart. He knows I’d refuse, and he’s not good enough to force the issue—and he can’t give the order to you while I’m here. Poor bugger.”
    â€œThe capt’n or me?” There was a touch of humor in the boy’s voice, and the man laughed.
    â€œNeither. I meant the berserker. He’s been trained—no way a one-armed man could fight that well without some training. He’s got to know he has no chance. There aren’t enough fighters in the whole village to push us out now—he’ll have no rescue, but he’ll take out as many as he can in the meantime.”
    â€œIf he’s no threat, can’t we just let him go?” asked the boy softly.
    â€œNot with Sharet as captain we can’t.” The older man sounded bitter, but after a moment he said, “No, that’s unfair. I wouldn’t leave him alive either. He’s too good. He’d pick us off one by one while we slept. Bet you he’s the one who got Edlen and those other fools. Edlen was nigh on as good as me with the sword, and from what I could tell, he didn’t even manage to nick his attacker. No, the captain will lure him out in the open and I’ll pick him off from a distance.”
    They were silent for a moment. Then the younger man said, “I wish, sometimes, that I’d never caught the capt’n’s eye. That I was still back home herding goats.”
    The veteran sighed. “Be a fool if you didn’t—or worse. But life’s like that sometimes. Your village was overrun, Quilliar, and there’s no one herding goats there anymore.” I stiffened at the realization that the boy bore the same name as my brother. Not that it was an uncommon name, but hearing it was unsettling. “Much as I don’t like killing civilians, the capt’n’s right about this valley. There’s no future in warfare, not the kind that’s taking place now. There’s only losers who fight never-ending battles. When we set up a permanent camp here, we’ll make our own home and none will take it from us. You can herd goats here if you like.”
    The boy swallowed, then said in a hushed tone, “But couldn’t we have found a valley not taken already, Rook?”
    â€œBoy,” said the man gently, “if a place isn’t taken already, there’s a reason for it. Life’s not a game you can afford to lose.”
    â€œLife’s what you make it,” said the hob softly, stepping through the bushes.
    Without prompting, the pony followed. Not that I would have wanted to remain hidden. Really.
    The older man had stepped in front of the younger. He held his sword in his right hand, his left hand empty—though there was a crossbow lying on the ground nearby, as if he’d just tossed it there. His hair was gray and gold, longer