Thalonn Tayn

2 - Mothers and Fathers

One day in the following year, while Asfoa was washing her clothes in the river, she heard panicked voices in the woods above. She clambered up the waterfall to see what was afoot, and there espied four people gathered in a small clearing. Gaylodho was easy to recognise, big and conspicuous, but she did not know the others. One was a young man, and the second was a woman of a similar age. The third was a baby, swaddled in the woman's arms—it could not have been more than a year old. Asfoa supposed the man and woman were the parents. She sat in the bushes and listened to them as they spoke, and the man said they needed Gaylodho's help.

'And why should I help you?' said Gaylodho. He was holding a spade, having been burying his business.

'There was an attack,' said the man. 'Up at Andenn.'

Andenn was a town in the eastern reaches of Eylavol, the seat of the king's reeve in the earldom. It happened in the year after the earls submitted to the king that a company of Eylans led by Throgalo, the last of the sons of Threlbega, brought forth their rage and set upon the town, hoping to oust the Mawks who had made their homes there, or else slaughter them all. What followed was the last revolt of the Norlans, at least for the time being, and it was nothing short of a massacre. Syave the reeve was killed in the fighting, as were many of their followers, and so too was Throgalo, as were many of his. Indeed, so zealous were Throgalo's lotsmen, and so indiscriminate their violence, that when at last the sun rose the next morning, or so it is said, the whole town glowed red for the blood yet caking the ground.

'Dreadful business,' continued the man. 'We managed to flee, but we're quite unsure where it is we've come to.'

The woman said, 'We need to find safety firstmost. If you can spare us nothing else, we would gladly take directions to the nearest place to rest.'

Asfoa could tell they were Mawks, though they tried to hide their accents.

'What were you doing up at Andenn?' said Gaylodho.

'What does it matter? We've found ourselves in need, and we've a child for which to care. Where, sir, is the harm in helping?'

'The harm in helping,' said Gaylodho, 'is in who you help. To that end, it matters very much what you were doing up at Andenn. You see, I am inclined to think you may have been there with that king of yours. Yes, I am not so dull as to let your foul extraction escape me.'

It is fair to say the poor pair grew rather more afraid with every word Gaylodho spoke, swaggering about and eyeing them with contempt. The woman meant to retort, but Gaylodho did not care to hear her. He took up his spade and struck the man on the head with the edge of the blade. The blow killed him on the spot, and the woman's words died with him. She stood still and silent, staring at the man on the floor beside her.

'I know where you are from!' said Gaylodho. 'Do not think I will let you return!'

As soon as Asfoa realised what was happening, she leapt shouting from the bushes to intervene. The woman regained her senses, clutched the baby in her arms, and ran towards her. But, careless in her panic, she crashed into Asfoa, and they both tumbled to the floor, the baby mewling all the while. That was all the misfortune it took, for but a moment later, Gaylodho loomed above them, teeth gritted, hands clenched. He struck the woman's head with the spade, and she cried out.

'Aiee!'

He struck her again. Asfoa leapt up to grapple with him, to wrest the spade from his grip and force him away from his quarry, but it was not until his temper lessened that she could finally overpower him. With an almighty shove, she pushed him backwards onto his bottom, and only then turned to the woman behind her. She was already dead. Asfoa tore the spade from Gaylodho's hands—he was still a bit confused after his fall—and put herself between him and the woman's body.