Gallow by Nathan Hawke Read Free Book Online Page B

so very deep inside her. But only for a moment. He touched a finger to the locket under his shirt. Maker-Devourer, what scorn she’d pour on him for
that
if she knew! ‘He stays until he’s well,’ he called after her.
    At the open door little Feya and Tathic peered up at him with their big child eyes. Pursic was probably out in the yard crawling in the mud. Jelira would be watching Nadric in the workshop. Gallow smiled at them and knelt down. ‘Listen to me, little ones. When boys grow to be men they may carry swords or they may not, but every man and every woman carries their own heartsong. It’s not a thing you win in battles. It’s a thing you’re born with and you must always listen to it. It will tell you what is right and what is wrong. You must look after it too, because if you don’t then one day it might go away, and when it goes it won’t come back. More men lose their heartsongs in their own home than lose it in a wall of shields.’
    They kept staring, too young to understand. Gallow took their hands, one in each of his. ‘There’s a stranger here, in the night room. A man who helped me fight. He was very brave but now he’s hurt. He’ll stay until he’s well. You must leave him alone and you mustn’t tell anyone that he’s here. He’ll be gone soon.’
    Tathic nodded, his face serious. Feya smiled and yawned and reached out to pull Gallow’s nose.
    ‘Do only boys have heartsongs?’ asked Tathic. ‘Jel says girls have heartsongs too, but they don’t, do they?’
    ‘Oh they very much do, little man. Everyone has a heartsong. Boys and girls, men and women, Marroc and Lhosir.’
    ‘Does Ma have a heartsong?’
    ‘Of course she does. Do you not hear it? It’s the strongest heartsong in our house.’
    ‘See!’ Feya pushed Tathic. ‘I do have har-sow!’ She scampered behind Gallow to hide. Gallow ruffled her hair and shooed them back into the yard to chase each other in the twilight. When they were gone he drew back the curtains to see what Arda had done to Corvin. The Screambreaker was sitting up against the wall. His face was ashen but his eyes were clear. He had a gash over his temple and around his forehead as long as a finger and swollen up like an egg. Blood oozed from it. Arda’s stitching hadn’t been kind.
    ‘She said I was cut to the bone.’
    ‘You were lucky to live.’
    ‘Where am I?’
    Gallow sat down beside him. ‘You’re in the house of Nadric the Smith in Middislet. About three days’ walk inland from Fedderhun.’
    Corvin closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and moaned. ‘Marroc.’
    ‘Yes.’ The pain must have been bad for Corvin to let it show. ‘No one outside this house knows you’re here. Best it stays that way. The Marroc still curse the name Screambreaker.’
    ‘I thank you for your hospitality.’ The words were forced between his lips, empty of feeling. ‘Send your wife to me. I will thank her to her face even if she spits at my feet. In the morning I’ll take my horse and be gone.’
    ‘To where, Screambreaker? Fedderhun is surely fallen and Andhun is a week’s ride across unfamiliar country along paths you won’t remember. You’ll not get any help from any Marroc, not looking as you do. You’ll die before you get there. You’re feverish already.’
    The Screambreaker snarled. ‘Who are you to tell me what to do, no-beard? I’ll be gone in the morning and that’s the end of the matter, and if I die before Andhun then that’s my fate and the Maker-Devourer will have me. I’ll not lie here like some invalid in the bed of a downy-cheeked
nioingr
.’
    The blood rushed to Gallow’s face. If he’d had a knife he might have pulled it. As it was, he grabbed Corvin’s head in his hands and forced him to meet his eye. ‘I didn’t save your life to kill you here, but your tongue will not travel with you to Andhun unless it learns some manners. You’re in my house, under my roof. I followed you into battle for years. I’ve fled from the