XXIV
Karvalo now pointed his nose towards sniffing out the true cause of Yorlayvo’s death. Since returning from Fnarslad, he had held Osbago in a small storeroom at the back of the hall, the sort of spot that would be suitably cold and dark and otherwise uncomfortable, and kept his hands and legs bound all the while. Just so was he laid upon the floor when Karvalo and Thorreda came to ask many questions, and with any luck, receive many answers. Karvalo jostled Osbago onto his bottom and said that Yorlayvo had been cremated and buried, and that he wished to know why such strife had come to pass.
‘My beloved lord,’ said Osbago, ‘I will tell you everything and anything I can, and you will find my testimony to be an honest one. I can promise you that much.’
‘Of course,’ said Karvalo. ‘I am willing to accept, Osbago, that much of the fault in this matter was borne by those who now lie dead. I do not expect you to know the full measure of their plot, nor do I care to know it myself. They have been suitably addressed.’
The corpses of Gaymono and Broyndea were both beheaded at Fnarslad. Karvalo had their heads thrown into a bog, and their bodies were stripped and dragged into the moors, to be left for the pleasure of the eagle, the wolf, and the crow.
‘However,’ Karvalo continued, ‘I care very much about understanding your involvement in this matter. Why is it, Osbago, that one of my sheriffs, one of those trusted folk upon whom I impose only the highest standards of loyalty, was conspiring with a pair of wrack-raving northerners, and against his very own lord, no less? Say it now and say it quickly.’
As Karvalo loomed above him, Osbago was seized by a terrible chill, and he cried, ‘They coerced me! My hand was forced!’
‘How so?’
‘They came to my house seeking help, and I let them in, the generous and hospitable man I am—that is not to say I am more so than yourself, of course—and then they put me in ropes—these ropes, as it happens—and they said they would kill me if I refused to do as they asked. They put a knife at my neck and gave me no choice, I swear it!’
‘And what about your household? There were only two of them, and they were hardly kitted for a fight. I understand that you, Osbago, would put up no resistance at all, but I struggle to believe that not one of your kinsfolk thought to challenge them.’
‘They did, not that they had much hope. See, there were rather more of them when they arrived. Twenty-odd, a whole gang of them, all armed alike. They shooed everyone off. Picked up their swords and said, “Get gone or get dead!” So you can understand why my family decided not to tarry.’
‘Twenty-odd? Then where were they?’
‘Ah. Well, the day before you came, they all got to bickering. “This is a bad idea,” they said. “The fruit will not be worth the toil,” and the like. So some of them deserted, and then some more, until only the two remained, and two of them is still more than one of me.’
‘I see. And who do you suppose these people were? How did they come to Fnarslad of all places?’
‘I have no idea, but come they did, and we are all unhappier for it.’
‘Did you not know any of them?’
‘Not a one.’
‘And neither do you know where they went?’
‘I would know as well as a dog knows how to stop eating. Home, if I had to guess, but they never said so.’
Thorreda now leant over to whisper into Karvalo’s ear, and he whispered back to her, then said, ‘Very well, Osbago. We will see what comes of this.’
Then he and Thorreda left the room, and he stepped on Osbago’s ankles as he went.
Having heard Osbago’s account, Karvalo’s next sought that of his family. For this purpose, he gathered a small party and headed to Fnarslad once more, where he sat with Yaro, Osbago’s eldest son, and Seyredha, Yaro’s daughter. Karvalo asked them what had happened when Gaymono first came to Fnarslad.
‘They came along,’ said Yaro, ‘and forced us out of the house. They drew their swords, flung some threats, and saw us off. We all headed off to uncle Ammono’s—just a little skip past the hill—and let me tell you, Karvalo, that man knows how to welcome a guest, if you know what I mean.’
‘Too right,’ said Seyredha. ‘We put our feet up and ate the days away.’
‘Did you not try to resist?’ said Karvalo. ‘There were only two of them.’
‘Only two?’ said Yaro. ‘Ten and two more like, with swords and shields and axes’
‘And why do you suppose they came to Fnarslad so armed?’
‘For vengeance, of course.’
‘As I am aware, but why Fnarslad in particular?’
‘They said nothing about that,’ said Seyredha, ‘nor did we dare ask. You would have to do so yourself.’
‘They are dead.’
‘And we are quite aware of that! What a miserable business it has been to clean it all up!’
At this, Karvalo snorted. ‘Bah! Do you mean to complain to me about the mess made by the murder of my man?’
‘No,’ said Yaro, ‘not at all. What my girl means to say is that we cannot speak of their mind or motive, only the actions borne therefrom.’
‘Of course. Now tell me, did you know any of them?’
‘Not one among the many. I would have better luck telling stones and rocks apart.’
‘And you expect me to believe this?’ said Karvalo. ‘That a whole warband, all decked in their battledress, appeared at your door and wrought terror in your house, and that every single one was a stranger to everyone?’
Yaro and Seyredha exchanged some panicked glances, each considering their position on the truth, until Yaro threw up his hands.
‘Karvalo, no,’ he said. ‘It appears we have misled you. Let me clarify. They were not strangers to all of us. No, it seemed they may or may not have had some kind of acquaintanceship, if you will, with my dear old father, the exact nature of which I could not know.’
‘Osbago knew them?’
‘That is not what I said, but that was the impression I got, yes.’
‘And how do you suppose they were acquainted?’
‘Again, I could not know.’
‘How fascinating. You see, I doubt it will surprise either of you to learn that I have already spoken with Osbago, and he has assured me that he knew none of them. He has claimed just as much unfamiliarity as do each of you. It would seem someone is lying to me.’
‘I must be mistaken, then. Pay it no mind.’
‘Or,’ said Seyredha, her eyes alight with conniving. ‘Perhaps not. Perhaps my old git of a grandfather is lying! He did seem awfully chummy with the lot of them, and he tried to drag us into the matter.’
‘I do not quite remember that bit, my girl.’
‘You should! When the northerners all came in, he told us we should help them, and when we refused, he told us to leave or face the consequences. And we like consequences no more than anyone else, so we left. We went round to old Ammono’s, see, and what a treat it was! He knows how to bake bread, but he knows better how to break it! In fact, I have half a mind to move over there for good.’
‘No, no, my girl. Ammono will give you none of that, so long as you hold his horse. The good is for guests, and what have you.’
‘Enough of this,’ said Karvalo, and he left the house.
It was not long before Karvalo stood glowering above Osbago yet again, and he said, ‘I have spoken to the foremost members of your household, and they have told me some very interesting things.’
‘They are very interesting people,’ said Osbago, cowering.
‘Save your glibness for some lesser man than me, Osbago, for I will not bear it willingly. You are to listen. Your granddaughter has said that you were not only familiar with the folk from Eylavol, but entirely complicit in their plot, and intent upon rendering your family just the same. What do you say to that?’
‘That is a lie! Balderdash and then some! They were egging me on, the little squealers, and telling me to cooperate with the thugs. But I adore you, Karvalo, my most irreplaceable lord, and I adored Yorlayvo, and I would not budge! I remained unflinching! At least until I had a stopper in my mouth and a knife at my neck. I assure you! My involvement was unwilling! Please be assured!’
‘Really, Osbago? You remained unflinching? Did the sun set at dawn?’
‘Please believe me! They are lying! They have it in for me! They want to get me gone so they can steal the farm! I had an inkling at first, but I really am very sure of it now. Hang them all! Every one of them! As soon as I thought I could help Yorlayvo out, I did so. I failed, but I tried! I really tried to save him! I really did!’
Karvalo pressed Osbago with more questions, but he was getting nothing more from him than whimpers of fear, and grief, and regret. He ended the day there and took his thoughts to bed.
On the following day, Karvalo returned to Fnarslad and sat with Yaro and Seyredha just as he had before. He asked them about Osbago’s accusation that they had goaded him into working with Gaymono’s troop.
‘So we did,’ said Seyredha. ‘I am surprised you would question it.’
‘Let me clarify,’ said Yaro. ‘You must understand that they threatened to kill him if he refused to help. Now, I might not be on the best terms with my father, but I like him well enough not to wish him dead, and I hope he would return the sentiment. So, when we were looking at a gang of brutes bursting into our house and waving their weapons, it was rather difficult to refuse them. We said he should do as they told him, for his own safety, and he said the same to us. We left as soon as we had the opportunity, for that seemed preferable to furthering our involvement.’
‘You said,’ said Karvalo, ‘that he seemed well disposed to these people. And yet they threatened to kill him?’
‘Yes, so he seemed. There was a warmth in his greeting that I have never received, and they knew him by name. But then they threatened to kill him. Perhaps he thought it was a more pleasant call than it turned out to be?’
‘And in any case,’ said Seyredha, ‘a friendship need not go up as far as it goes down. One can loathe while the other loves, as it were. Let me tell you all about that.’
Karvalo left the house before Seyredha could tell him all about that. He had Thorreda finish things at Fnarslad while he went home to take his questions to Kolmago. This proved utterly useless, however, for that sorrowful lad could speak of nothing but the horror of the hood, the knife against his neck, and the wretched ride home. Karvalo left him.
After a few days had passed, he resolved to make his sheriffs keenly aware of his displeasure, to make an example of Osbago, and to make sure such events could never again take place under his lordship. He sent out his thanes to meet with his sheriffs and summon each of them to a shrieval assembly. This was to take place beneath the next full moon, leaving time enough for rumours of its purpose to emerge, for gossip and intrigue to swell as all turned their ears to Pearmol, eager to know what words might await them. Then, when the time finally came, Karvalo’s sheriffs—some delighted by curiosity, some laden with fear—all descended upon his hall, all sat at his benches, and all fell silent.
In came the man himself. Draped in his finest dress and topped with his lordliest hat, Karvalo cut a fabulous figure indeed, for he stood at the very height of noble fashions, and he knew it. How he swaggered down the aisle! With all eyes fastened upon him, with radiant Gantewre at his side, he taunted each of the sheriffs with grins and glares, revelling in the awe and the terror with which they beheld him. That prideful man!
At the front of the hall, Karvalo rose up to the platform, sat upon his chair, and waited a moment, revelling in the hall’s attention, before standing once more to welcome his guests.
‘Welcome to Pearmol,’ he said. ‘I would thank you all for coming, but it would be foolish to thank the sword for swinging. One swings the sword, and the sword swings. I bid you come, and you come. That is the nature of our relationship. I command, and you obey. And yet, there are some who seem to think otherwise. There are some who would attempt to cheat me, to lie to my face, to make false promises and bad oaths and think they can get away with it. Alas, some such folk sit in this very room. Even now they sit among you, my most dependable servants, believing they can shirk their obligations, that they can wield no respect for anyone, that they can bear themselves with as little dignity as they like. But I am a benevolent man, generous, and magnanimous, and forgiving, and I have offered them chances manifold to improve, to show me that they yet have some honour—some loyalty! So it is with tremendous regret that I see my generosity being so flippantly flung back in my face that the treachery of my bondsfolk has dealt the sorest of wounds to even my most cherished friends. That is unforgivable.’
Karvalo paused and had Osbago brought into the room—his ankles freed, but his hands yet bound—and dragged up onto the platform. Osbago was ever a slight man, but the weeks spent lying in the cold dark of the storeroom, the weeks of fear and terror, had done much to shrink him further. Slumped beside Karvalo, so enormously built, the mere sight of him was pitiful to see.
‘Now,’ said Karvalo, ‘my patience is spent. I will tolerate this disgrace no longer. If you think you can undermine me, if you think you can usurp my authority, I say this: try it! Sit upon my chair, Osbago, Lord of Pearmol, and see what comes of it.’
Karvalo waved Osbago towards his chair, but he had neither the courage nor the strength to speak, and gently shook his head.
‘But this is what you wanted. This was your intention, was it not? To make a mockery of me? I offer you this, Osbago, so do as I bid and have it!’
Karvalo now seized Osbago’s arm and thrust him into the chair, sparing no thoughts for propriety.
‘Behold, my friends, your lord and mine! Behold his treachery! Behold his folly! Behold his death!’
Then he drew flaring Gantewre, spewing forth its radiant light, that deadly flame, and swung out, his mind set only upon his right to retribution. Osbago fell out of the chair with a yelp and tried to escape that blazing blade, but such was not his lot. With but one frenzied blow, gleaming Gantewre cleft through his neck, parting head from body as he tumbled off the platform to bleed into the firepit.
The hall watched on in silence. It was a horrible thing, they must have thought, to see mighty Karvalo, decked in his lordly trappings, strike at his own bondsman, to spill blood on his very own floor. That was a most unseemly end to a life.
Karvalo put himself back above his sheriffs and said, ‘I am a benevolent man, but my judgement is incontrovertible. See this wretch upon my floor, his blood, his head, and see the cost of defiance. See the work of my wrath. Let it not fall upon you.’
Then Karvalo left the room, and the assembly was dismissed.
Osbago’s relatives were present at the assembly, having received a special invitation, and they all sat aghast as they watched his execution. They took his body back to Fnarslad for burial, and Karvalo found another of his bondsfolk to take up the shrievalty, unwilling to grant it to one of Osbago’s heirs. He had fewer issues with his sheriffs for a while after that.
Although three lives had been spent in Karvalo’s pursuit of vengeance, he was not yet satisfied. He thought to bring his ire against Thalo likewise, for it was his deeds that spurred Yorlayvo’s killers, but Thorreda dissuaded him.
‘The lawmoot is coming up,’ she said. ‘You have already lost one of your thanes over this, and murdered one of your sheriffs. Consider the impression this will have upon your peers.’
Karvalo said, ‘Was he not the one who brought this quarrel to my house?’
‘Tell me, did Thalo kill Yorlayvo? No. Those who did have all been held to account. You offered them compensation, a more generous offer than was necessary, and they refused. There is no need to lose another thane, to further sully your dignity, because of their stubbornness.’
Karvalo thanked Thorreda for her counsel and resolved to let Thalo off with only a flogging, but he also seized the sword Ograme, which Thalo had brought back from Fnarslad. He had a pair of large men grab him from his bench one morning, strip him, and drag him out into the countryside. There he was to spend the day digging a ditch as deep as he could. When the sun set, the men climbed into the ditch and beat him with sticks, whereafter he was charged with filling the ditch again and making his own way home in the darkness of the night. When he finally came back to Pearmol, he was so pained by the ordeal that he collapsed onto his bench, and he struggled to move much at all the next day. Indeed, simply raising his arms proved so difficult that he could not dress himself until Ormana came along to help him.
Thus did Karvalo consider Yorlayvo avenged at last. He went back to the cemetery to visit his grave every day thereafter, but though the number of his visits dwindled over the following months, he always found himself back there in time, kneeling before his dear friend’s grave and softly singing his grief.