‘Who is the Watch Master anyhow?’ I asked, short of breath and clanking along loud enough to keep the bears from hibernation.
One of the watchmen glanced back, an old fellow, gnarled as the trees. ‘Lord Vincent de Gren.’ He spat into the bushes to show his regard for the man.
‘Your father appointed him this spring,’ Captain Coddin said from behind me. ‘I gather it was a punishment of some sort.’
The Forest Watch made its headquarters by Rulow’s Fall on the plain where the River Temus meandered before gathering its courage for the leap down a two-hundred-foot step in the bedrock. A dozen large cabins, wood-shingled and log-built, nestled among the trees. An abandoned mill house served as the Watch Master’s keep, fashioned from granite blocks and perched at the head of the fall.
A few dozen watchmen came out to watch our column wind up to the keep. Not much entertainment in these parts I guessed.
The old watchman went in to announce us while we tied our steeds. He didn’t hurry out, so we waited. A cold wind blew up, stirring the fallen leaves. The watchmen stood with us, black-green cloaks flapping. Most of the watch held shortbows. A longbow will get tangled in the trees and you’ll never need great range in the forest. No Robin of Hood here, the watchmen weren’t merry, and they were apt to kill you if you stepped out of line.
‘Prince Jorg.’ The keep door opened and a man clad in ermine stepped out, his fingers hooked in a belt of gold plates.
‘Lord Vincent de Gren, I’m guessing.’ I gave him my most insincere smile.
‘So you’re here to tell us we’re all going to die over some stupid promise a boy made to impress his father!’ he said, loud enough for the whole clearing to hear.
I had to hand it to Lord Vincent, he certainly cut straight to the chase. And I like that in a man, I really do, but I didn’t like the way he said it. He had a screwed-up sort of face did Lord Vincent, as if the world tasted sour in his mouth, which was odd, because he had the sort of butterball shape that takes some serious eating to acquire and a few dozen extra stoats to cover in ermine. I took him to be about thirty, but it’s hard to tell with fat people: they’ve no skin spare for wrinkles.
‘News travels fast, I see.’ I wondered if my father wanted me to fail even more than he wanted the Castle Red. In a way it would be a compliment, implying he felt I had a chance. But no, this had a woman’s touch, maybe the touch of a woman still smarting over ‘Scorron whore’. A woman used to teasing out post-coital secrets. A woman who might send riders to Rennat Forest. Even to Gelleth.
I strode across to the man. ‘I wonder my Lord de Gren, would your men follow you to the death? I’m impressed that you’ve won their respect so rapidly. I hear that the Forest Watch are a hard lot, tougher than nails.’ I put an arm around his shoulders. He didn’t like it, but you can do things like that when you’re a prince. ‘Walk with me.’
I didn’t give him a choice. I steered him downstream toward the glistening line where the River Temus vanished, replaced by a faint haze of mist. ‘Follow on,’ I shouted. ‘This isn’t a private meeting.’
So we came to stand on a shelf of wet stone, fifty yards down from the mill house, where the waters leapt white over the rocks, gathering for their plunge over Rulow’s Fall.
‘Prince Jorg, I don’t …’ Lord Vincent began.
‘You, come here!’ I took my arm from de Gren and pointed to the old watchman who’d spat out the Watch Master’s name earlier. I had to shout above the voice of the river.
The old fellow came to join us by the edge.
‘And who’s this proud example of the watch, Watch Master?’ I asked.
Fat people’s faces are wonderful for emotion. Or at least Lord Vincent’s was. I could see his thoughts twitching across his brow, quivering in his jowls, twisting in the rolls around his neck. ‘I…’
‘There’s two hundred of the buggers. You can’t be expected to know them all,’ I said, all sympathy. ‘What’s your name, watchman?’
‘Keppen, yer highness,’ he said. He looked as if he’d rather be somewhere else, had his eyes open, looking for the out.
‘Order him to jump, Watch Master,’ I said.
‘W— what?’ Lord Vincent went very pale very quickly.
‘Jump,’ I said. ‘Order him to jump over the fall.’
‘What?’ Lord Vincent seemed to be having difficulty hearing over the roar.
Keppen had his hand on his dagger-hilt. Sensible fellow.
‘If your men are all going to die over some stupid promise a boy made his father, well, it’s only sensible for the boy to make sure they’ll follow your orders when it means certain death,’ I said. ‘And if you say “what” again, I’m going to have to slice you open here and now.’
‘W— But, my prince … Prince Jorg …’ He tried to laugh.
‘Order him to jump, now!’ I barked it in de Gren’s face.
‘J-jump!’
‘Not like that! Put some conviction into it. He’s not going to jump if you make it a suggestion.’
‘Jump!’ Lord Vincent reached for some lordly command.
‘Better,’ I said. ‘Once more, with feeling.’
‘Jump!’ Lord Vincent screamed the word at old Keppen. The colour came back now, flushing him bright crimson. ‘JUMP! Jump, damn you!’
‘Buggered if I will!’ Keppen shouted back. He pulled his knife, a wicked bit of steel, and backed off, wary like.
I shrugged. ‘Not good enough, Lord Vincent. Just not good enough at all!’ And with a hearty shove he went over. Never a wail from him. Didn’t even hear a splash.
I moved quickly then. In two strides I had Keppen by the throat, with my other hand on his wrist, keeping that knife at bay. I took him by surprise and in another step I had him backed out over the edge, heels resting on air, and my grip on his neck all that kept him with us.
‘So, Keppen,’ I said. ‘Will you die for the new Watch Master?’ I gave him a smile, but I don’t think he noticed. ‘This is the bit where you say, “yes”. And you’d better mean it, because there are a lot worse things than dying easy when given an order.’
He got a ‘yes’ out past my fingers.
‘Coddin.’ I pointed him out. ‘You’re the new Watch Master.’
I pulled Keppen back and walked back toward the keep. They all followed me.
‘If I ask you to die for me, I expect you to ask when and where,’ I said. ‘But I’m not in any hurry to ask. It’d be a waste. The Forest Watch is the most dangerous two hundred soldiers Ancrath has, whether my father knows it or not.’
It wasn’t all flattery. In the forest they were the best we had. With a good Watch Master they were the sharpest sword in the armoury, and too clever to jump when told.
‘Watch Master Coddin here is taking you into Gelleth.’ I saw a few lips curl at that. Lord Vincent’s long jump or not, I was still a boy, and the Castle Red was still suicide. ‘You’ll get within twenty miles of the Castle Red, and no closer. You’re to spend two weeks in the Otton forests, cutting wood for siege engines and killing any patrols that come in after you. Watch Master Coddin will tell you the rest when the time comes.’
I turned from them and pushed open the door to the keep. ‘Coddin, Makin!’
They followed me in. The entrance hall gave onto a homely dining room where the table was set with cold goose, bread, and autumn apples. I took an apple.
‘My