Page 36 of Dragonbound

It was stunning.

Then he heard a sharp snap behind him.

He spun, heart pounding.

He could see nothing. No movement. No shapes outlined against the dim skyline. The path he’d come was already swathed in thick twilight. No pinpricks of flames being carried towards him. No sign of anyone following him at all.

As Erann squinted, his eyes glanced upwards, and for a moment, his heart lurched. It looked as though Frey had disappeared from her position in the sky.

He stood as still as he could, eyes and ears straining.

Slowly, he let out the breath he’d been holding. No one was there. No one was following him. And Frey was there, as she should be. His imagination was getting the better of him.

Turning back to his journey, he grinned at his overactive imagination.

As if a whole planet could just disappear.

24

ERANN

He’d been so relieved to see Sereh at the steading the next day. He’d been forced to rest in what was hardly a cave, but it had kept him warm enough as true darkness coated the land during the night. He realised his relief wasn’t just because she had his father’s journal. She was alive. Scowling and fierce as ever, but alive. They’d spoken for a long time, making plans. They’d go to the Librarian. Maybe he’d be able to do something, finally, to clear his father’s name at the next Full Council.

Sereh shifted next to him. He remembered how warm her touch was when she’d handed him the journal. How the air had felt hotter, like little lightning trails had sparked between them. He wondered if she felt it as well. Even now he found it hard to focus on the men circling his home, with her lying beside him on the uneven snow of the ice-encrusted overhang that had protected his home for generation upon generation.

‘Are you sure you want to watch?’ Sereh’s voice was gentle.

She watched what was happening below but asked nothing else. He wasn’t sure whether it was because she knew no words would help or if she simply didn’t know what to say. Whatever the reason, he was glad of the silence and even more pleased another person would witness this atrocity.

He nodded.

Erann was unsure why he felt so compelled to watch. He suspected what the men were going to do: burn down his home and remove the last physical trace of the previous jarl of the Eastern Quarter. Their actions should forever crush him, but he felt oddly relieved to be proved right about Rankil’s character. He’d spent the last eight rotations hating the man who’d exiled his father, while others had been beguiled by him, believing the lies he told about Erann’s father. Now, Erann would have the proof that Rankil truly was as evil as he’d always thought. Between that and Sereh’s testimony, there should be more than enough to damn him at the Full Council meeting.

The day was still enough that the voices of the approaching men could be distinctly heard complaining about the steep hill they needed to crest before reaching the steading, nestled in its depths, long before they came into view. Erann found it impossible that after all his forebears had done for their people, it was going to take a few men to bring it all crashing down. Admittedly, it also suggested Rankil only had these few men to rely on. The thought cheered him.

The people of the Eastern Quarter, for all their outward acceptance of Rankil, were disturbed by his recent actions. As secluded as his family had become, they weren’t without friends and family. They had always done their best to pass on any gossip about Rankil and what he got up to, even in this harsh land where travel was slow and decisions took even longer. His uncle’s words reinforced his belief that Rankil wasn’t well liked.

Erann felt sure that this act of wanton destruction would only serve to make Rankil even more unpopular. Thorkell had alluded to Rankil being less popular than Erann had assumed. And the state of Rankil’s steading only served to reinforce the idea. It was a pity so many thought only of their own gain when Rankil usurped his father’s role using fabricated charges against him.

Perhaps with a little more thought on the part of the other farmers, Rankil’s quest for power could’ve been stopped before it’d begun. Erann was sure people had only gone along with Rankil’s ousting of his father through sheer boredom. His people weren’t known for being particularly dynamic. Their way of life had been the same for generations, and no one questioned it. That was until Rankil came along and questioned everything.

‘Erann Ramonsson,’ a deep voice bellowed. It sent a jolt along his back, even though he was hiding away from the men.

‘Come out, Erann,’ another man called. ‘We’ve come for your steading.’ There was a harsh laugh from the other men. ‘On the orders of Jarl Rankil, this steading is to be fired for being sited on land he claims as jarl.’ Again, Erann juddered. Whatever Rankil had told these men, the only thing that truly warranted burning down a steading was if everyone within had perished and there was no one left to farm the land. That was clearly not the case here.

‘Don’t be shy, Erann Ramonsson,’ the first man shouted again. ‘We know you’re in there.’ Erann watched the group of men. They jostled one another, as though unprepared to carry out their threats.

Eventually, when they grew tired of shouting, Erann heard the outer door creak open.

‘Come out, come out, Erann Ramonsson,’ a large, heavyset man called, as he was pushed inside.

In a matter of moments, the man returned, shaking his head.

‘The weasel isn’t here,’ the man roared. ‘The jarl had it wrong. Erann’s not come this way. The place is deserted. Come on, let’s take what we can find before we set it afire.’

Erann wished them luck with that. He’d removed what he could. They’d not find the almost priceless family tools, hidden now in the deepest snow. He was aware of Sereh’s heavy breathing beside him. He sensed her rage on his behalf.

Suddenly, Erann wanted to leave.