Valour by John Gwynne Read Free Book Online

steering oar.
    ‘We need to find land. Somewhere to get food and water.’
    ‘Uh,’ Mordwyr acknowledged. His eyes were red rimmed, his face lined with grief. He had left Bethan, his daughter, amongst the dead in Dun Carreg.
    I was not the only one that lost kin last night
, Corban thought.
    Mordwyr pointed into the distance, northwards, and Corban saw a dark line on the horizon. Land.
    ‘We’ll have to risk it,’ Halion said. He patted Mordwyr’s shoulder and made his way back along the boat, to where Edana sat with her head bowed.
    The Princess of Ardan, now heir to its throne, had said nothing since they had climbed aboard the fisher-boat. The last sound Corban had heard from her was screaming as she witnessed the death
of her father.
    She’ lost both her mam and da, now. At least I still have my mam, someone to share my grief with.
    Storm’s muzzle touched his hand. Corban tugged on one of her ears, grimacing as the movement sent a ripple of pain through his shoulder. Brina had tended the wound where he had been
stabbed during the battle in the feast-hall. Helfach had done it. The man’s life-blood still stained the fur around the wolven’s protruding canines. Brina had assured him the wound was
not deep and was clean, but it still hurt.
    He looked for the healer and she caught his eye, beckoning him over. Craf, the healer’s unkempt crow, clung to the boat’s rail above Brina’s head.
    ‘
Cor-ban
,’ it squawked as he squatted down before Brina.
    ‘What was that about?’ she asked. ‘Between Halion and Mordwyr?’
    ‘Time to find some land. For food and water.’
    ‘Ah. Out of the cook-pot and into the flames,’ Brina muttered.
    ‘What do you mean?’
    She looked over the boat’s side at the growing line of land. ‘That’s not Ardan. Not that Ardan’s the safest place to be right now. Still, that’s Cambren. Rhin rules
there.’
    ‘Oh.’ Corban frowned, remembering the kidnapping of Edana’s mother, Queen Alona, back in the Darkwood, where Alona and so many others had died. All because of Rhin. ‘But
what choice do we have?’
    ‘None, I suppose.’ Brina sighed, wiping rain from the tip of her pointed nose.
    ‘
Wet
,’ muttered Craf.
    ‘Why should you care?’ Brina snapped at the bedraggled bird. ‘You’re a crow.’
    ‘
Cold
,’ it grumbled. ‘
Fire
.’
    ‘I’ve spoilt you,’ Brina said.
    The rain was falling heavier now, a cold wind throwing it stinging into Corban’s face. In the distance the black smudge of land had grown closer, blurred by rain. The sea was an
impenetrable iron grey, the waves about the boat higher, white-flecked with foam, whipped by the wind. Corban grabbed the rail and steadied himself as the fisher-boat rode a huge swell then sped
down the other side. The boat’s only sail was straining, thick ropes creaking. Corban felt a flutter of panic in his gut, then he saw Dath climbing amidst the ropes and sailcloth. His friend
flashed him a weak smile.
    He doesn’t look so worried
, thought Corban.
    The sun was sinking, only a diffuse glow behind thick cloud, when they reached the coastline. Mordwyr steered the small skiff into a narrow steep-cliffed cove sheltering a
strip of empty beach. Craf exploded into the air with a noisy squawk. Everyone disembarked – Storm needing a little encouragement from Corban – and the skiff was beached safely.
    Marrock, Camlin and Dath set off to scout the area and to try and hunt something to eat.
    Brina and Heb, King Brenin’s old loremaster, led Edana off the narrow beach and settled her in a sheltered dell under a dense stand of rowan and yew, an icy stream bubbling through its
middle.
    Storm lapped at the stream, then padded off into the deepening gloom.
    Halion set two men on watch. The rest of the small band set to chopping wood, clearing space for sleeping, digging out a small pit for a fire. Soon flames were crackling greedily in the dell and
the rain-soaked band crowded round for some heat, even