‘Aye, true enough,’ Eremon mused, rubbing his wispy chin.
‘Is that all you have to offer?’ Roisin said. ‘After you bring Rhin’s warband howling into Domhain, snapping at your heels, slaughtering our warriors. And you say rock and rain will save us?’
Edana coloured, looking speechless.
‘That is not true,’ Halion said, stepping forward. ‘Rhin was always coming, whether Edana was here or not.’
Roisin turned her look on Halion. ‘That is something we shall never know, now. You play on your father’s good nature.’
Halion stared at Roisin, but said nothing in response. A silence settled over the room, then Rath spoke.
‘Edana and her followers have fought in the battle,’ Rath said. ‘Risked their lives in the defence of Domhain. That counts for something.’
‘In defence of their own plans, more like,’ Roisin said.
‘Enough,’ snapped Eremon, looking more irritated than angry.
Edana took a step forwards. ‘I did not force Rhin to invade Narvon, or Ardan. Did not steer her into killing Owain, or my own mother and father. Rhin has her own plans, and to her I am only one minor inconvenience amongst many. As are you. It is your throne she has her eye on now, the reason she is here. She wishes to rule the west – perhaps the whole of the Banished Lands for all I know. Her ambitions reach far higher than hunting down the last heir to a kingdom that barely exists any more.’ She spoke clearly, her eyes on Roisin the whole time.
Well done, girl, thought Camlin. Give the snake a little venom back.
Eremon patted a chair beside him and clapped his hands. ‘Come and sit, Edana. Drink some ale with me. You must be tired, but I would hear more from you before you retire.’ Servants appeared, carrying food and drink. Camlin and the others were ushered away, leaving Edana with Eremon and Roisin.
‘Let’s get a drink,’ Halion said, blowing out a long breath.
‘I don’t like her,’ Vonn said, taking a sip from his cup.
They were sitting in a corner of the feast-hall, the four of them, huddled in conversation.
‘There’s not much to like,’ Marrock agreed.
‘There’s plenty to like, until she opens her mouth,’ Camlin said.
‘Poor Edana.’ Vonn shook his head. ‘She has had enough to deal with, without vipers like that.’
‘Roisin must have been raging inside,’ Halion said. ‘Usually she pours honey from her lips. All that she says is thought through, has a purpose.’
‘Something is disrupting her composure, then?’ Marrock said.
‘Perhaps that’s to do with a foreign warband marching up the giants’ road,’ Camlin pointed out. ‘Don’t read me wrong – she strikes me as an evil bitch, sure enough. But she’s also a mother, and I get the feeling she loves her son to death and beyond. Might be that the thought of Rhin putting his head on a spear is upsetting her a little.’
Halion nodded thoughtfully.
‘For an ex-thief and murderer you talk a lot of sense sometimes,’ Marrock said.
‘You get a lot of time to think, living in the Darkwood. All that waiting around for people to rob.’
‘What’s going to happen, now?’ Vonn asked. He was looking at Halion.
‘I don’t know,’ Halion said. ‘Like Edana said, I suppose. Hide behind these walls, let them and winter put Rhin off. Then try and think of a way to beat that wall of shields by spring.’
‘I know how to do it,’ Camlin said calmly.
‘How?’ They all looked at him.
‘Don’t go getting excited. It can’t be done here – or out there, anyway, in all those open meadows. That’s the perfect terrain for them. We need to fight them in the woods, where they can’t form their wall. Either that or sit on the top of a hill and roll a few score boulders at them. They might not want to stand so close together, then.’
Halion nodded. ‘You know what – you might just have something there. I’m going to find Rath.’
Marrock clapped Camlin on the shoulder. ‘You are a good man to have around, you know.’
Just then the doors opened and in walked Roisin. Her son Lorcan walked beside her, Quinn the first-sword behind him, with a few others. Roisin saw Halion and strode to him.
‘What are your schemes here?’ she hissed, leaning close to Halion.
‘There is no scheme,’ Halion said. ‘Open your eyes, Roisin. Edana and I, we are swept on the wave of someone else’s plans. Rhin is the great manipulator in all of this. You may have met your match at last.’
‘I don’t trust you, Halion the bastard. Using a young girl to worm your way into Eremon’s court? It will not work.’
Halion jerked away from her. ‘Your paranoia grows, Roisin. I thought it had peaked when it led you to murder my mam.’