The Witch Woman's Prophecy

42 | A Bargain |

The air was chill against my face as I followed Hericle into the dark night. He carried on walking away and only stopped when the voices of the people around the fire could no longer be heard, then he stood with his back to me. I took a couple of steps towards him, unsure of how I should approach him; the boundaries of our relationship were unclear.

He turned around and looked at me with a strange expression on his face. 'I know the place you seek and I can help you get to it, but you must make me a promise,' he said in a quiet voice.

'A promise? Why?'

'I want your promise to aid me in the future. You will not find the place marked on the map without my help. The land has changed since the map was made, but I can take you there.'

I thought for a moment. I had no home, no other family, the only friends I had of my own age were Soni and Naamiya, and they would have to return to their own lives in Polemmy soon. I was being offered everything I wanted. There was something wrong, though. Something I couldn't understand.

'Of course I will help you. I'll do it gladly, so why do you need me to make a promise?'

Hericle drew himself up straight and squared his shoulders. 'I am the rightful ruler of Polemmy. My grandfather was murdered by an underhanded conspiracy between the merchants and the guards. I should rule the city and deal fairly with all the people in it and around it.' He paused to draw in a deep breath and a frown darkened his face.

'Instead I'm cowering here beyond the mountains like a bandit, trying to raise enough men to help me claim what is mine. It also means that you are next in line to rule the city. Did you not wonder why they wanted to kill you? Without my protection you will never be safe anywhere. Somebody will be always be waiting for you with poison or a knife in a dark corner. Do you understand me?'

I thought of all the attempts to kill me, even before the mob had been stirred up. I shuddered and nodded.

'I need you to help me get into the city. My followers will have more faith in me if they know there is a way to get into Polemmy and that I know it weaknesses. You can tell me about the city and its defences, then we can plan a way in. If I just march up to the gates, they'll barricade themselves in and I will never be able to take it.'

'But if you try to attack Polemmy, people will die! I don't want any more people to die because of me.' I was alarmed and my palms were sweaty, I did not want to be a weapon for Hericle to wield.

Hericle held my shoulders and looked down into my eyes. 'Leaders sometimes have to make difficult decisions. Do you think that none will die if I stay here beyond the mountains? How many will survive the famine that is coming? By taking Polemmy I may well be able to save more people from dying of starvation than die in the attack. I may not have to attack if I can find some other way to get in.'

I pondered these words. They made a kind of sense but surely things weren't as dire as he predicted.

'There are stores in the Council Hall, I've seen them.' But even as I said this I wondered how much was stored beneath the Council Hall. I'd seen the contents of one storeroom, but how many more rooms were there? I had no clear idea of how many people lived in Polemmy and outside its walls, but it was clear, even to me, that huge stores of food would be needed to get them all through even a short period of famine.

'And who will get that grain, do you think? Will it be the poor people or will it go to those who can afford to pay for it? What about the people who live outside the walls? Do you suppose that the Council will feed them when they are starving?'

I only shook my head in reply; he was right. If the poor people like Umae's family were not even allowed shelter within the city walls, then any thought of them being given food when there was a risk that the wealthy people would starve was a foolish dream.