Crown of Stars (Crown of Stars #7)

Crown of Stars (Crown of Stars #7) Page 118

“Did they not come this way?”

“I have not seen them at Hersford. There is another route they might have taken. If they were riding to Kassel, they would turn toward the Hellweg at the crossroads at die Eiche. That’s a better road, the main route through this region.”

“Where is that? Did we miss it?” demanded Baldwin.

Ortulfus smiled almost mockingly. “Fear not, friends. It lies a short way ahead. You may leave us there and go on your way. Yet tell me all before you go.”

Ivar rubbed his face. He was so tired, and none of it ever made any difference. “We were come to Autun with Biscop Constance, whom you know.”

“She lives?” The abbot’s expression changed. For a moment it seemed the sun had come out to illuminate him.

“She lives, Father. She is burdened with troubles and injuries, but she is alive—or was when we saw her.” Quickly he sketched the scene.

Ortulfus groaned aloud. “I have heard stories of these Eika raiders. I thought they were no longer a threat. And never a threat so far inland. If the biscop’s party moves so slowly, and they race up behind …” He looked away, too stricken to finish the sentence.

“There’s nothing we can do,” Ivar said. “She escaped them, or she is dead. We must reach Lady Sabella and Duke Conrad, so they can turn back to save Autun.”

“They are not the only ones who can save Autun.”

“Who else can you mean?”

“Only this.” Father Ortulfus wore a Circle of Unity hammered out of finest silver, but his hand briefly folded to form the hand sign depicting the phoenix. “King Henry’s heir rides abroad in these lands. He defeated the invaders at Osterburg. He shattered their army and drove their remnants into the east. It is said he saved Henry from a terrible malefic spell set on him by an evil man. That he brought Henry’s army out of Aosta when no other man could have done so. He could save Autun.”

“You are speaking of Prince Sanglant. Lady Sabella and Duke Conrad are riding to Kassel to fight him.”

“Best we get moving.” Ortulfus set out, striding easily.

Ivar swung into the saddle and moved up alongside.

“Will you ride, Father?”

He glanced up. “Nay, Brother. I must walk beside those we have salvaged from the ruins.”

“Is that why you are come here, to find the survivors?”

“Yes. Ten or more days ago a woman staggered into Hersford. She brought with her a terrible story that none among us wished to believe. Who would believe the shadows that once roamed the deep forest would become flesh, and walk in daylight? We thought she was a lunatic, although we should have known better. Another came, crying the same tale, and more yet. So we set out to gather up what remained of the flock. You see them, there.”

The party struggled at a staggeringly slow pace, but the monks chivvied them patiently, herding up straying toddlers and hungry goats, giving an arm to a stumbling man with an injured leg, taking turns pushing the pair of handcarts that held two elderly women too weak, it seemed, to move along on their own power. If the Eika were hunting behind them, these people had no chance to survive the encounter. If slender dog-women ghosted out of the forest with bows and knives, these people would all die.

“Hersford is close,” said Ortulfus. “We boast a crossroads as well, a path leading east and a road that runs south and west. It joins up with the main road farther southeast from the crossroads at die Eiche.”

“Did you not see Sabella’s and Conrad’s armies? No sign of them?”

“We did not. As I said, the main road bypasses Hersford. But if you look at the road closely, you can see the signs that reveal they passed this way recently. Grass cropped. Manure and waste. Scraps of cast-off leather. Splinters of wood, and abandoned campfires. Back in Dibenvanger this army camped out the night on the green court within the cloister, some of them.”

“I didn’t notice,” said Baldwin.

“Perhaps the wind blew the signs away. Sabella and Conrad ride ahead of us. Thank the Mother they did not disturb Hersford in their haste to march on Kassel.”

Ivar spoke. “What of these villagers? Did they see the armies?”

“I have not yet asked, but most of these have been hiding in the woods. Camping under the trees. They fear to return to the villages where they once lived.”

“It’s easier to hide among the trees,” said Baldwin confidingly. “That’s what we did.”

Ortulfus’ sharp smile was softened by this confession. “I’m sure it’s true, Brother Baldwin, but you would be well served to spend the night within Hersford’s walls before you ride on.”