The Tribute by Matthew Ward

Author:Matthew Ward [Ward, Matthew]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Tower of Stars
Published: 2016-06-12T06:00:00+00:00

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Aric sat with his back to a tree, rocking from side to side. He stared ahead, lips working manically. His eyes were pools of darkness in a haggard face, empty and forlorn. "The light," he muttered. "The light."

Mira squatted in front of him, and tried to meet his empty gaze. "Where's the box? Where is it?" She reached out to touch him. He whimpered and twitched away.

"Light... Sorry..."

"It's here!" called Jarn.

Mira joined the immortal a pace beyond the path's edge. The silver box lay on the ground, its oilcloth discarded close by. Denied moonlight by Fellhallow's oppressive tangle, it merely gleamed as silver should. The clasp was open, but the lid was shut.

Mira pressed the clasp into place and hugged the box to her chest. "He must have opened it. Father always warned me not to."

Jarn shook his head. "I've seen something like this before. Ashana has shown him the truth."

"What kind of truth could do this?" Mira glanced back at Aric.

"What kind of truth would not? He preyed upon his fellow men. Who knows what lies he told himself each day?"

"Why would truth be in a box?"

"You said you were bringing tribute to Jack. Perhaps that tribute is not the box itself, beautiful as it is, but what lies within."

Mira frowned. "What would Jack want with truth?"

"What would he want with a silver box, even one so lovely as this?"

She drew her wolf-skin tighter and glanced at Aric. The boy seemed insensible to his surroundings, lost in some lonely and fearful realm. Faith in her father's word had brought her this far, but now she wished she'd asked him more questions or, better yet, that he was here to answer them.

Jarn's dark eyes followed her gaze. "Better to kill him now, than to leave him for the whispering ones."

Mira's blood ran cold. "No! Let him be. He can't hurt us."

The immortal's expression creased in disapproval, but he shrugged. "As you wish."

Mira scowled, feeling foolish, but pleased her companion had acceded. "Where now? I thought it'd become obvious when I reached the forest, but nothing's obvious in this gloom."

Jarn swept dead leaves from a nearby rock and sat. "It is late, and we are both weary. Sleep, savim. I will keep watch, and then you may return the favour."

Mira wasn't certain. She no longer believed Jarn wanted the box for himself, but the thought of sleeping in Fellhallow filled her with unease. Nonetheless, she recognised the good sense of his suggestion. She smiled her thanks, and lay down between the roots of a towering beech. With one last glance at Aric, she clutched the box to her chest once more, and succumbed to sleep.

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