Free The Aebeling by Michael O'Neill Page B

significantly.
    ‘That is because it doesn’t – Lykia is all high country until the coast. And it goes down very quickly there.’
    ‘So there are no seaports?’
    Oswald nodded. ‘Yes – the Eaorl of Sabatah has the biggest seaport – but you need to ask the Eaorl – I have yet to see the sea.’
    ‘And the eastern border – into Silekia?’
    ‘It is mostly a sheer escarpment down to a river, and there are few places that riders can travel down into Silekia or up to Lykia in safety. That is why we have had no wars for hundreds of years.’
    Conn continued to quiz Oswald as they travelled; not that he was very worldly. He was able to tell him that Lykia was once part of Moetia, but a successful uprising a two hundred and sixty years ago led by the Eaorl of Lykia had resulted in it getting its own Aebeling. Unfortunately the position was currently vacant as the male line had died out, and whilst there were many pretenders to the position, the Witan had been unable to decide on a replacement – and had been unable to do so for a generation.
    The broadleaf woodlands opened up into intermittent rolling hills and forest clumps, and there was little sign of farming activity though abandoned cottages did appear from time to time. It was explained that a decade of very bad seasons had resulted in some of the more marginal and outlying domains becoming unviable, and consequently deserted.
    It was evening when they arrived at a collection of empty buildings that sat on the top of a small hill and overlooked the road west to Halani and north to Tabae.
    ‘This,’ Oswald explained, ‘was once the Thane fief of Hama. It is the closest Burh to Halani and two hundred years ago was the most important transit point between Halani and Lykiak. Today the family is long gone – all dead – and its inhabitants moved to other domains.’
    Conn walked around the decrepit buildings and the remnants of a stone keep. The fields had not been planted for many seasons so were overgrown, and it would take some effort to reclaim this domain. There were sufficient buildings, however, to provide them all with shelter for the night, and protection from the rain squalls.
    In the morning, and back in sunshine, they resumed their trip to Tabae; staying two more nights along the way. Here the burghs were inhabited and the Thanes hospitable; allowing them to sleep in barns and abandoned houses. Although friendly towards Abrekan, they were cautious of Conn and the Silekians. Outside, farmers were active in the fields with teams of oxen pulling heavy wheeled ploughs, while children herded sheep and goats. Some fields had a ripening crop of winter wheat, albeit a very poor one, but reportedly better than usual.
    Osward explained that of the people in the fields, some were Ceorl, who rented land from the Thane to grow crops, while others were common tilia, who worked in exchange for money or food. Yet others were theow; but they were few in Tabae due to the poor harvest and pestilence over the last few years.
    By midday on the third day the long convoy arrived outside the cotlif of Tabae; clearly a large settlement that had seen better days, and there were no great walls to protect the townspeople or even the keep itself. Remnants of palisades did exist but were poorly maintained. The guard houses were still manned, however, and the Folctoga reported to the guards and a runner was sent to the Eaorl. Inside the old palisades, occupied and unoccupied longhouses lay scattered along the winding roads that led to the keep; all the buildings were desolate and run down, in need of rethatching and rendering, and with the recent rain providing mud and mold for everything, they also needed a good clean. It fitted Conn’s image of a medieval village even more than the villages in Halani.
    They continued their way to the sole Inn in the village; it was old, dark and damp, and it stood next to a livery. They put their animals into stables, enticed the hostler with