Published by Raconteur House

Antioch, TN

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and
incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used
fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business
establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

ARROWS OF PROMISE

Book Two of Kingmakers

A Raconteur House book/ published by arrangement with the
author

PRINTING HISTORY

Raconteur House mass-market edition/February 2016

Copyright © 2016 by Honor Raconteur

Cover by Katie Griffin

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Other books by Honor Raconteur

Published by Raconteur House

THE ADVENT MAGE CYCLE

Book One: Jaunten

Book Two: Magus

Book Three: Advent

Book Four: Balancer

Advent Mage Compendium

The Dragon’s Mage

The Lost Mage

Warlords Rising *

Special Forces 01

The Midnight Quest

Kingslayer

THE ARTIFACTOR SERIES

The Child Prince

The Dreamer’s Curse

The Scofflaw Magician

DEEPWOODS SAGA

Deepwoods

Blackstone

Fallen Ward

KINGMAKERS

Arrows of Change

Arrows of Promise

*Coming soon

You gain strength,
courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look
fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this
horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.'

You must do the thing
you think you cannot do.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Chapter One

Mayhap they should have planned this better.

“You can’t put a tannery right here near the shoreline!” a
red-faced man was blustering, arms windmilling in aggravation. “The smell alone,
man!”

“I need direct access to the water,” the tanner argued back,
a vein twitching in his forehead. “And there’s only so much cleared land, you
idiot, so where else am I supposed to build it? EH?!”

They really, truly, should have planned this out better.
This wasn’t the only argument near Riana. Her ears picked up bits and pieces of
about five arguments, two calmer discussions, and a great deal of confusion.
She glanced over her shoulder at her wizard-partner.

Ash had one hand cupping his left ear, the other plugging
his right, all in an attempt to hear better. Catching her eye, he twitched his
mouth into a quick frown and gave her a minute shake of the head. So, he
couldn’t reach either Ashlynn or Edvard? Well that wasn’t good.

Clearly, they’d fallen short here. Someone should have
thought this through. They’d been so focused on contacting people, putting in
the contracts, and gathering the supplies that they had failed to plan out how
the new settlement should be built. They had no layout and so people were
jockeying for position. They’d only been on the new land three hours and barely
had anything unloaded from the boats and already there were arguments springing
up all over the place.

Riana turned to Ash and asked, “Be it no’ possible to just
use the layout of the city?”

He blinked at her as if this idea had not even occurred to
him. “We don’t have enough land cleared to be able to mimic it exactly. I only
had time to clear fifty acres. We’d need ten more to pull that off. At least.
Well, no, actually we can’t afford to do that as we still need some of that
acreage for crops.”

She put her hands on her hips and looked at him with a
bemused exasperation. “Coriander take it, man. We do no’ need to do the exact
layout of the city right this second. All we need to do be start the bare bones
of it.”

Ash looked up the shoreline and then slowly turned, taking
in everything that he had cleared. A contemplative frown furrowed between his
eyes. “There is enough space for that. At least, if we limit it to three streets.
Hopefully we can get the essential buildings in before I have to clear more
land.” He clapped a hand on her shoulder and squeezed before raising his voice
so that the whole crowd could hear him.

“Everyone listen up! We have a plan in place. We will duplicate
the layout of the city here in the settlement. For now, I will mark where the
roads are going to go. As I do that, I will also mark out how much land each
building will get. In the meantime, get everything off the boats, and if you
know what street your business should be on then organize yourselves to where
you were on the correct street. Anyone that doesn’t have a corresponding
location, choose a lot that you like and speak with me. We’ll mark property
down as it’s claimed.”

That stopped all the arguments in their tracks. Some did not
seem very enthused by this idea, but most agreed that it was the only sensible
way to approach the matter. Riana had a notion that people would not be able to
organize themselves quite as well as Ash expected them to. So as he went around
burning lines into the soil and creating magical signs to name the roads, she
tried to organize the people into the right groups. It took a lot of hopping on
her part and shouting the same words over and over, but eventually she was able
to get them more or less sorted.

Edvard’s hopeful estimation that they would be able to start
construction by the second day turned out to be a total miss. By the time that
they got the boats unloaded, the lines of the settlement drawn out, and people
sorted out to where they should go, they were in danger of losing the light
completely. There were just too many supplies that they had to bring over from
Estole. Most of their time was eaten up with unloading the cargo and carting it
to the right spot. People stopped at sunset and set up tents and cook fires and
got ready to make dinner for the night. Riana and Ash were no exception,
although Riana was the one setting up camp for the night as Ash worked on
creating what he called ‘a plan of attack.’

Ash came back to their camp when the light failed him
completely. He flopped down next to her like a puppet with its strings cut.
Even in the dim lighting she could see that he was covered in sweat. Without a
word, she ladled up a bowl of soup and dropped a long piece of flat bread into
it before handing it over. He ate the whole bowl so quickly that it seemed as
if he inhaled it. He handed it back to her for a refill, which she did, but
this time he actually said something to her before eating. “How is it?”

“Everyone be sorted out,” she assured him. “They might
rearrange themselves a little as there was talk when I left about who be best
where. But they all know more or less where they need to be.”

“Thank Macha for that. We really should have come over here
ahead of time and worked everything out before people arrived.”

They truly should have, but even now Riana had no idea when
they would’ve found the time. Ever since she had arrived in Estole, she had
been going hither and thither without more than ten minutes to sit and gather
her peace of mind. And the idea of the settlement itself was so new that they
had not even assigned a provost to it yet. Ash had been deemed the Interim Provost
until one could be officially appointed.

As settlements went, this one was well-funded and well-supplied.
They already had more people here than the entirety of her hometown. They had
tanners, blacksmiths, loggers, carpenters, and at least one innkeeper that had
the sense to get in on the ground floor.

As Ash recuperated, Riana sat there and tried to think
logically through what needed to happen next. Not everyone over here was set to
create a business, of course, as they had at least a hundred contracted workers
who had agreed to do specific things in exchange for land and building
supplies. So they had people on hand to build the city structure itself. With
that in mind… “Ash, I be thinking that the docks should be built first.”

“Considering the trouble that people had today unloading, I
think that a splendid notion. I suppose I should be the one overseeing that.”

“I’ve no notion on how to build docks,” she said dryly, “so
aye, that be best. While ye be focused on that, I think I will stay on top of
people and mediate any arguments.”

“Someone will need to,” he agreed. “That, too, was clear
today.” Lifting his head, he looked at her. “After the docks, I think we need
to focus on specific buildings. The question is, which ones to build first? We
need a lumber mill, a blacksmith, a carpentry, and a marketplace all set up at
basically the same time.”

Riana gave him a level look. “Ash. Do ye like to eat?”

“Of course. Who doesn’t?”

“Then mayhap ye should put the inn in the top part of yer
priorities. For the kitchen, if nothing else.”

He opened his mouth, closed it, and hummed thoughtfully.
“You do have a point. If we can have the kitchen up and running, then they can
feed the whole camp and let us focus on the work. Do we have enough supplies to
get at least the main level of the inn built?”

“Near enough to make no nevermind.”

Ash nodded, decided. “Inn first. Well, actually, we have
enough help up here that I should be able to set some people to building the
inn while others build the…lumber mill? Blacksmith?”

“Smithy be faster to build, I think,” she mused. “Most of
what the man needs is a kiln, a hearth, and work benches. Bulk of his equipment
he brought in with him.”

“I think he might need a few more things than that,” Ash
demurred. “But it will be faster setting him up than getting the mill in.”
Taking a rumpled piece of paper from his pocket, he grabbed the pencil that was
balanced behind his ear and started scratching things out and re-ordering them.
“I’ll get the foundations in for each of the buildings tomorrow, it’s faster if
I do it, and then I will focus on the docks. Can you get the work crews in
place and make sure people know which buildings to focus on?”

“Leave it to me,” she assured him.

Ash folded the paper back up and pocketed it before resuming
his dinner. “Was this what you expected? I know at first you weren’t keen on the
idea of coming up here.”

“This be a far cry from Cloud’s Rest.” She snorted, amused
at her own fears. “In fact, it do no’ have a thing in common with it.”

“I agree. Actually, a strange thought just occurred. When we
spoke of this before, you said that eventually the settlement would grow to be
a city in its own right and would probably get close to Cloud’s Rest, right?”

Wondering where he was going with this, she agreed, “Right....”

“But wouldn’t that mean that Cloud’s Rest would meld into
Estole?”

Her eyes crossed as she realized what he meant. “Ye think
they will be part of Estole?”

“Why wouldn’t they be?” he challenged. “Think about it. Iysh
claims that territory, but they don’t govern it or have any real contact with
it. The village runs itself. If another kingdom came within a stone’s throw of
its borders, then….”

He was right. It was very possible that in the future
Cloud’s Rest would be folded into Estole. The thought boggled her mind. “But
that would mean…?”

“Yes, it would.” Ash seemed to be able to read her mind in
that moment. “That you would eventually be a Councilwoman over your former
hometown.” He slapped a hand against his knee in open amusement. “I’m actually
looking forward to this. The expression on their faces is going to be classic.”

Aye, it would be at that. Actually, now she was looking
forward to it herself. How did that saying go…? Something about revenge being
best served cold. She had to wonder if it was the same for comeuppance. Shaking
the fancy away, she focused more on the here and now. “After the docks, what be
best to do next?”

“Hmm,” he hummed as he thought it through. “I think it would
be best to put in the sewer system under the streets after that. Best get that
in there before they build too far into the road. After that, I guess we will
see what needs to be in the most?”

“Would it no’ be best to put in wells at the same time ye
put in the roads? The channel be no’ freshwater after all.”

“That is a very good point. I will focus on doing that at
the same time then. Why does it feel like everything needs to be done at the
same time?”

That last bit had come out as more of a complaint. But then,
the man had the right to complain. It had been a hard few months. “Because it
does?”

“Not reassuring,” he sighed. Rolling over onto his side he
heaved himself to his feet and staggered for the open tent. “Do not wake me
before sunrise. Not unless something is on fire.”

“Aye, that I will do.” Lifting the dishes, she headed for
the channel. If the man had to do his own washing up, he would’ve thought of
the wells, but she never asked him to do any of it as he was always so drained
and tired at the end of the day. It was just as well, as she did not think that
Ash had been trained in how to do chores to begin with.

She finished what needed to be finished and put things away
before taking off her boots and coat and sliding into her own bedroll. By the
time that her head hit the pillow, she was fast asleep.

Day three dawned as warm as the previous days. Riana sat on
Ash long enough to get breakfast down him before he went off to work on the
lumber mill. Because of the dedicated efforts of the workers, the docks were
now finished, the main frame of the inn was up, and the blacksmith had a
makeshift space to work in as well.

Things were actually going well apace. Riana had assigned
ten women to cook for the camp. People brought them ingredients in the morning
and then came back at lunch and dinner to pick up something warm and tasty. It
was a good system that would pull them through the makeshift camp until they
had proper walls around them.

Edvard sent over supplies regularly, which they were
grateful for, as they didn’t have the structures up yet that would let them
make anything themselves. Riana met the shipment as it came in, checking off a
list of inventory and making sure that everything that they needed had come in.
She did fine up until she reached the barrels that were marked ‘paint’ on the
outside. It was a mite early to be thinking of painting things, wasn’t it? They
didn’t even have walls up on anything yet, the frames still being put together.

Curious, she borrowed a pry bar and cracked open one of the
tops.

Yellow.

Strange color. What were the rest? She went from one to the
next, opening every lid.

They were all yellow. Riana stared at the open
barrels, sputtering in flabbergasted disbelief. Eighteen barrels, and not one
of them was a different color. Or even a primer. Or a stain. Just yellow paint.
It wasn’t even a pretty color of yellow, either! Someone likely had ordered a
‘custard’ sort of color but it was off, becoming more of a burnt yellow that
looked revolting.

Master Rod ran the back of his hand against his chin,
peering over the rim of a barrel. “Yellow again, I take it.”

Riana slapped the lid back on in a huff before spinning to
face him. “This be ridiculous. We can no’ be painting the whole town yellow!”

“Oh, I won’t disagree there, Miss. No, can’t disagree
there.” He peered down the line of barrels, all neatly stacked, still rubbing
at his chin. “Now, what to do with these?”

Indeed, what were they to do with them? Riana wasn’t sure
either.

Rod Hatcher was the dockmaster for Estole. He had kindly
taken on the responsibility of making sure that people and supplies got to the
settlement without delay or more aggravation than could be helped. He looked
like the epitome of an old seaman. His hair was thick and white, skin hard and
dark after decades in the sun, hands rough from years of hard labor, but he had
the most brilliant smile that made a person laugh along with the joke, no
matter how bad it was. So when he started laughing, Riana laughed as well, even
though she was aggravated that some idjut had ordered eighteen barrels of
yellow paint.

“Well, we should all be in a cheerful mood, with this much
yellow about. Man can’t help but be otherwise.”

She shook her head in disagreement. “Or it be making people
sick to their stomachs. One or the other. Well. What about the rest?”

“Oh, the rest of what you need arrived fine. Nails, boards,
floor boards, pipes, tiles, and roof shingles.” He stopped ticking things off
his fingers and thought for a moment before nodding in satisfaction. “That
should be enough to get you started. I reckon the paint is a mistake on
someone’s part. What do you want me to do with it?”

Not much to do, now that it was mixed. “Mayhap Ash can take
a look, turn it to a different color?” she aired the thought doubtfully.

“Wizards have tricks up their sleeves. Wouldn’t doubt he
could.” Master Rod turned and peered behind him, going up and down the
coastline. “It’s him, I take it, that’s putting the docks in?”

“He put the posts in,” she corrected. “The rest of the docks
be built by the workers.”

“Ahh, that so? They made good progress. It was nice, having
a proper place to dock.” He extended a sheet of paper. “Sign off for me,
Missy.”

She took it, scanned through the list, and didn’t see any
discrepancies. With a flourish, she signed it, and handed it back. “So what’s
happening in the city?”

“Missy,” Master Rod sighed, “it be the usual. I ain’t sure
which is harder, dealing with troublemakers in Estole or trying to build a town
from the ground up over here in the settlement.”

“Beginning to wonder the same thing meself,” she muttered
under her breath. “Thank ye, Master Rod.”

He inclined his head toward the structures that were half in
place. “Ya’ll making good progress, I can see that. Anything I can bring ye
that ye need?”

Sanity? Unfortunately, they couldn’t bottle that. Riana
pulled a list out of her pocket and handed it to him. “These. We be short on
everything on that list, so bring what ye can.”

He gave it a quick glance before tucking it away in his
shirt pocket. “See what I can do.”

Chapter Two

Riana turned sideways to let someone pass before she could
get through the inn’s kitchen doorway. The door wasn’t in yet, but at least the
kitchen now had walls and a roof overhead. It had taken two weeks for that to
happen and no one could be happier about it than the women that did all of the
cooking—especially Mistress Violet and Mistress Nicole Sadler.

Now the inn’s kitchen had three long counters to prepare and
make food on, two large pot belly stoves, and a place for a sink to go underneath
a window. It looked much more permanent and habitable than it had the evening
before and it took Riana a moment to realize why. “Did Master Sadler put in
those pot hooks for you last night?”

The women looked up at her entrance and beamed at her. “This
morning, actually,” Nicole corrected her, wiping her hands on an apron and
approaching her with arms outstretched. “He made them up in the forge for me
yesterday, in between making nails, and hung them up so we aren’t constantly
shifting pans. I do love that man.”

Erick Sadler had been the first blacksmith to sign up to
come to the settlement and was one of the more dedicated men to getting the
work done. He was as large as his wife was short, a bear of a man with a gentle
nature to him. Nicole was a perfect complement to him with her sweet smiles and
go-for-it nature.

“Now that the smithy be mostly up, he has the room to work on
extra things, belike.”

“Exactly what he told me,” Nicole confirmed as she took a
bag off of Riana’s shoulders. “What’s in here?”

“Brace of quail,” Riana informed her. “Three rabbits, and I
stumbled across some wild onions that I thought mayhap ye might like to have.”

“Bless you,” Violet said sincerely. “You always bring us
something to supplement the food and it is very appreciated. It certainly gives
us more room to be creative and not make the same things every day. Here, put
them right here.” Violet braced her forearm against the counter and shoved a
pile of vegetable peelings roughly out of the way.

“I did no’ take the time to skin or clean anything,” Riana
warned as she put her bounty down.

“Bosh, don’t you worry about that,” Nicole chided as she put
the sack down and started taking quail out of it. “It’s a miracle you find time
to go hunting every morning. We know things are demanding as it is.”

Lowering her voice, Violet asked almost furtively, “Is
everything alright with Ash? He came by this morning to see how much of the inn
was finished yesterday and I must say, he’s looking much too slim. And a little
pale. I would think he’s getting tanned working under this hot sun.”

Nicole leaned into the conversation as well, joining the
circle, and Riana confided to them both, “Atween the three of us, the man be
overworked. He bounces from project to project, lending a hand with anything
that may be difficult, and does no’ take the time to rest. Or eat. If he comes
by again, force a snack into his hands, and something to drink. I can no’ sit
on him like he needs.”

Violet patted her hand. “Don’t you worry. We’ll do that. I
know the two of you are going opposite directions most days as you’ve got
different responsibilities. We’ll help you take care of him.”

“Bless ye,” Riana responded fervently. It truly worried her,
as the woman was right—Ash was growing thinner by the day.

“We’re stuck here in the kitchen most of the time, so catch
us up. What’s finished?”

Riana did a sweep of the settlement every evening right
before coming here to get dinner, so she was able to rattle this off without
thinking about it too much. “Smithy be close enough to finished as to make no
nevermind. Inn, as ye know, only has the ground floor.”

“And not all of it.” Nicole made a face. “I can’t wait for
the bathing chambers to be finished.”

“I second that.” Violet raised a hand briefly before she
went back to plucking quail. “Miss Riana, take a slice of that bread and eat
something before you go back out. What else is done? Just those?”

“The lumber mill should be done by week’s end, or so I’m
told.” Oh yum, not only was the bread fresh, but there was soft butter and a
little sugar to sprinkle over it. She bit into it with a pleased moan as her
mouth became a very happy thing. “I do send thanks that the bakery was finished
this week.”

“We all do,” Nicole agreed. “The place is certainly busy all
day, trying to keep us supplied with rolls and loaves. But a sandwich is the
only handy thing we can wrap up and send to the men for lunch.”

No one had complained about the repetition of the menu yet,
but when you worked that hard under a blazing hot sun, anything was welcome.
“Butcher shop has the foundation in as of last night. Ash magicked it so it
would set quicker. Tannery be missing some walls and a roof, but it be coming
apace as well.”

“Then we’re making good progress,” Violet observed,
satisfied.

“Ahead of schedule, we be,” Riana confirmed. “Ash said if we
can get the butcher shop, lumber mill, inn and such up and running, then a
marketplace can go in next.”

“Now that is exciting news.” Nicole stopped and
looked around her as if she could somehow see through the inn walls. “I wonder
what this place will really look like once it’s all done.”

“Like a mini Estole at the rate we’re going,” Violet opined.
“What’s next after this?”

“Houses?” Nicole asked hopefully.

“Houses,” Riana confirmed. Ash had spent the first two days
drawing out the lots where buildings needed to go and the places where houses
could be built. Half of the arguments she had fielded the first few days were
about who got which lot. Some of them wanted to be close to their businesses—if
they chose not to build a two-story building and live above their shops. Others
wanted to be closer to the main docks so they could have easy access to Estole.
With only three streets properly in and two others roughly mapped out, there weren’t
a lot of choices and usually people’s needs and wants overlapped with someone
else’s. It had been quite the headache getting it all straightened out. “I be
leaving ye to it.”

“Drink a lot and try to stay in the shade,” Nicole ordered.
“It’s beastly hot out there.”

“I know it.” Riana finished off her bread and waved herself
out. Let’s see, what did she have on schedule for today?

It felt like Riana had just put her head on her pillow when
a loud clanging echoed through the camp. The sound was exactly like someone
taking a hammer to a cast iron pot. And frantically at that. She was rolling to
her feet, tugging on boots and reaching for weapons before she even properly
processed what she was hearing.

Ash burst from his tent, still shrugging into a shirt, and
looked around frantically. “What? What is it?”

“I do no’ smell a fire, and there be no weather to contend
with,” Riana stated grimly, belting her quiver on, “so it be only one other
possibility to my mind: we be under attack.”

His eyes went wide before narrowing. “Let’s go see if you’re
right.”

They ran toward the direction of the banging, and as they
got closer, they could hear a woman’s voice frantically screaming, “THE DOCKS!
THEY’RE AT THE DOCKS!”

Who? Riana didn’t have time to question it, just kept
running, although she was grateful now to have a cemented direction instead of
a vague ‘over there.’ As she ran, others joined them, most of them with some
kind of tool in hands. The loggers had their saws, the others had either
hammers or shovels, but as makeshift as the weapons were, they’d do a serious
amount of damage in a fight.

Ash kept his pace at hers—he being a slightly faster runner—and
she appreciated that as she would not have taken it well if he had raced off
ahead. Fortunately, their camp wasn’t too far from the docks, and they burst
into view to find men swarming around their supplies.

The only real light was from the moon overhead and what few
torches the dock workers had left burning, but even that was sufficient to tell
Riana what they were up against. Bandits. She’d lived her life in these thugs’
shadows; she could identify them in a glance, even if it was just their
silhouettes. Never once had she imagined they’d travel this far in order to
raid someone, though. They were lazier than this and normally stuck to familiar
hunting grounds. What had driven them all the way out here?

There must have been almost thirty of them, and they were
heading for the lighter, easier to carry supplies. Riana didn’t hesitate. She
unlatched her quiver, pulled out four arrows, nocked and fired.

Ash skid to a stop beside her, snapping up his shield, and
started firing off spells in quick succession. She recognized several as they
were his normal attack spells: Wind Shear, Arrows (although they weren’t in the
normal form, being fashioned of fire), as well as his logging spell. In between
his spells, he turned his head enough to bellow to the other men, “BLOCK THEIR
PATH! DON’T LET THEM INTO THE CAMP!”

Riana swore in her head as he gave the order. That would
have been scary, if the bandits had thought to run into the camp and snatch up
people. They were famous for kidnapping, as ransom usually paid out better for them
in the end. Her father had dealt with bandits more than a sheriff would have
for that very reason.

She could hear the men form up a defensive line behind her,
spacing out so that no one had a chance to advance into the camp without going
through at least two of them at the same time. Reassured that there were people
guarding her back, she put that much more focus on the bandits in front of her.

The bandits started forming their own defense, using the
stacked supplies near the docks as barriers. They dove behind them, calling out
orders to each other, and even though she saw it happening she didn’t have the
ability to stop it fast enough.

Then the madness truly began.

Her fingers were a blur, taking down targets left, right,
and center and yet still they swarmed her. Using an arrow like she would a
dagger, she fought two attackers off, kicking to keep one off as she stabbed at
the other.

An arm reached out and snagged her around the waist, yanking
her in, and she didn’t fight it. Riana knew the feel of it too well to be
mistaken. Ash brought her into his magical shield, protecting them both from
being taken down, and then the spells really did come out fast and furious.

Under normal circumstances, she would have continued to
fight, but she didn’t dare. This wasn’t his usual shield, but a weapon’s
shield, meant to protect him from cold iron and steel. She could recognize it
at a glance because it was an entirely different color from his usual shield,
being a more steel-grey and thicker. He could only fight magically and be
attacked magically. In this particular fight, it made perfect sense for him to
use it, because what kind of wizard would turn bandit? But it also meant that
she couldn’t use her own weapons as they would rebound inside the shield.

Well, probably for the best; she was low on arrows anyway.

Standing in the circle of Ash’s arm, she had a very good
view of what was going on and all of the time to observe it in. The bandits
never got to the wall of men behind them. Instead, they either realized that a
wizard was fighting, and tried archery to take him down while firing from
behind a stack of crates, or they hightailed it into the woods. The ones that
kept firing, hopelessly, were shouting at each other in a dialect she knew all
too well.

“Those idjuts be from Cloud’s Rest!” she spluttered,
astonished.

Ash gave her a surprised look that said, ‘Really?!’, but
didn’t lose focus, striving to take down men without destroying their own
supplies in the process. He took three down as she watched and then tried and
failed several times to hit the other two. They were experts at ducking at just
the right moment, and Ash’s attempt to hit them went right over their heads
without singeing a hair on them.

“Riana, I can’t hit them, but I bet you can. Your aim is
better.” Ash fired off another spell, keeping them busy. “I’ll fire again and
then lower the shield.” Another shot, this one just as useless as the previous
four. “Can you take them out when I do that? It’ll have to be done in a split
second.”

A tad reluctantly, she moved out of his arm and gripped two
of the last arrows she had left, notching one in standby. “Ready.”

“That’s my girl. Three, two, one!” Ash fired off a spell
that shot like flaming arrows, lighting up the night sky, then the shield
disappeared without a trace.

Riana moved as if they had practiced this a million times.
Smoothly, she lifted the bow and aimed at one of them, catching the moment when
he lifted up to fire at Ash. Her arrow took a clean hit to the upper chest.
Without pausing a beat, she sighted the only other bandit that was still
standing, whirled the arrow into place, drew back, and fired with equal
precision.

When he hit the ground with a soundless thud the
whole camp held its breath, waiting to see if there was anyone else still left.
But it was dead silent with only the crackling of the torches and the waves
hitting the shoreline to be heard. Riana sucked in a breath and let it out
again, feeling the dew of sweat on her temples and at the small of her back.
Well. That had certainly gotten her blood pumping.

“Ash. Those bandits be from Cloud’s Rest.” Bewildered, she
turned to face him. “What in the wide green world be they doing here?”

Ash groaned, his head falling back. “That is a very good
question. I have a few guesses, and I’m hoping they’re not right. It looks like
word of what we’re doing here has gotten out.”

Well, granted, it wasn’t a stretch to think that word of the
settlement had gone as far north as the mountains. They’d been at this several
weeks, too; word was bound to get out. It didn’t mean that Riana liked it.

“Let’s see if there are any survivors left,” Ash suggested,
already grimly striding forward. “I have questions.”

Riana followed at his heels, eyes panning right and left for
trouble, although she didn’t expect to find any. Some of the men came along
with them, holding torches high to help give them light. Ash, as if realizing
the lack of illumination, belatedly called up several mage lights and set them
around as he moved.

It took them a while, but they found three men who were still
moving. They were holding their hands to their sides and trying to either hide
or hobble away. Riana only had two arrows left, but she drew one of them and
fired right in front of their feet. “Do no’ move.”

The man stopped dead. In the harsh whiteness of the mage
light, and with him bleeding fiercely, he looked like a mangled ghost. Then he
took a proper look at her and grinned. “I know ye.”

Unfortunately, she could say the same. She didn’t know the
man by name, but she had seen his face more than once before, and knew exactly
who he was.

Ash pointed a stern finger toward the sand. “Sit. I’ll put a
spell on you to stop the bleeding. In return, you give me frank answers to the
questions I ask you.” As they sat, he leaned toward her and murmured, “You know
him?”

“Aye,” she breathed, feelings of disgust and resignation
curling up in the pit of her stomach. It felt like she had eaten something
rotten. “Me da mentioned afore that he had experience with bandit gangs? This be
one of them. The Grey Wolves.”

“One of the larger ones?”

“Aye. Unfortunately.” Riana had a bad premonition about this
and she didn’t care for it one lick.

Ash bent down far enough to put a spell on all three of the
men, stopping them from bleeding out. She noticed he did not actually go as far
as to heal them, but that was to be expected. Under Estolian law, these men
would not be shown any leniency, nor should they. These were hardened criminals
and had never shown any regrets over the lives they lived. No punishment would
make a dent with them and releasing them again would mean that some innocent in
the future would be impacted.

“Well, well, well.” The other two didn’t look up at her,
knowing well what their fate was, and just laid flat on the sand. But the first
man to speak was staring at Riana and Ash with a contemplative look on his
face. “Riana Ravenscroft, as I live and breathe.”

She took comfort in the fact that he wouldn’t be doing
either for much longer. “How did ye come to know of the settlement?”

“Oh, word’s all around about this place. Rich prize, this
one. But then, being that it has funding right from a king, no surprise, eh?”
He grinned, showing rotten teeth and an evil glee about the whole situation
that made her skin crawl.

She and Ash exchanged troubled looks. Word was all around?
These were men from one of the largest of the bandit gangs, but the others were
comparable in size. If they had dared to come, then odds were good that the
others would try their hand at it as well.

“Wondered where ye went,” he continued, unprompted. “Ye and
yer da just up and disappeared one day. Thought someone might have finally
taken the pair of ye down.” He gave her a rich leer, stretching from ear to
ear. “Am mighty glad that did no’ happen. But ye got yerself a man, eh? Shame,
that. We been all taking bets on who would be yer first.”

Riana saw red. This lout, what vileness was he spouting?!

She didn’t even see Ash move. He was between the two of them
in a heartbeat, fist lashing out, clocking the man so hard in the jaw that it
knocked the bandit out cold. Shaking with rage, he straightened and reached
back, grabbing her hand almost hard enough to leave bruises behind. “He’d told
us enough.”

Squeezing back, she gave a simple, “Aye,” of agreement even
as her heart warmed. Now this was exactly why she was so taken with the man.
She was as precious to him as his own skin and he never left her in any doubt
of that.

Turning, Ash beckoned with a wave of his hand. “McKay. Can
you deal with these three? Lock them up somewhere overnight until we can get
them to my sister in the morning.”

“No worries there, sir, we’ll handle it.”

“Thank you. I’m going to put up a ward around the main camp
and the docks tonight so that we can at least sleep without another attack looming
over our heads. Liam? Spread word that once the ward is up, absolutely no one
can get through until I take it down again. So if someone has business outside
of these two areas, they have about a half hour to take care of it.”

“I’ll see to it,” Liam assured him. “Sir, all respect, but I
don’t think you and Miss Riana should be tramping around the camp alone. Can I
send some men with you?”

Ash was ready to object, she was certain of it, so Riana
quickly cut in. “That be a fine notion, Liam, thank ye. Four or five should do
the trick. Have the rest spread out as watchmen until the ward be up.”

Liam trotted off, calling to people as he went. Ash took
advantage of the preoccupation to murmur to her, “I think we’d be safe enough.”

Shaking her head, Riana responded just as quietly, “Half of
‘em went into the woods, Ash. Now, if any a man has an idea of revenge in his
head, this be the opportune moment to strike. Catch ye on yer blind side as ye
be working, that be bandit tactics.”

He rocked back on his heels, considering this for a moment,
and hummed. “You do have a point. Guard it is. I guess, after that, I get to
call Ashlynn and wake her up.”

Who would in turn wake up Edvard. Who would in turn demand
that a guard be sent over immediately, if not sooner. “It can no’ wait for
morning?”

“You want to explain to her why we delayed eight hours in
reporting a bandit infestation in the settlement, be my guest.”

Riana thought of Ashlynn’s probable response and winced.
“Never mind.”

“Wise of you,” Ash approved with a grin.

Chapter Three

“Bandits just attacked the settlement.” Edvard repeated the
words as if he were trying to do some sort of complicated equation with them,
only nothing was adding up.

Ashlynn apparently was aware that her blood-brother did not
wake up well or quickly. They had dragged Edvard out into the small sitting
room next to his bedroom, hoping that not reporting this while the king was
still in bed might help him wake up easier. It had not yet noticeably helped. She
was patient as she repeated, “Ash just contacted me to report it. No one on our
side was injured, as most fled the minute they were discovered. But Riana tells
me they were from a rather large bandit gang in Cloud’s Rest.”

“The Grey Wolves,” Broden supplied darkly. He had not taken
that bit of news well at all. Half the reason they had moved to Estole was to
get away from the bandits altogether, and now here they were again. It was a
tangled, twisted fate between them, and Broden did not care for it one bit.

Edvard sat on this information for a full minute before
asking, “Why?”

Unfortunately, Broden knew the answer all too well. “Not
much in the way of targets up in Cloud’s Rest. Mostly, the bandits steal from
each other, as there be naught much else to steal from. But the settlement,
now, it can be reached in two days if ye travel fast and hard. It be close
enough to tempt ‘em. And a rich prize, lightly guarded, to boot.” It was, in
fact, the perfect target for bandits. Broden kicked himself for not realizing
it sooner, but really, who would expect them to be willing to travel those two
days? Bandits were notoriously lazy, it was why they were thieves in the first
place.

“So you’re saying, not only will this gang try again, but
the others will likely turn their hand to it too? At least once, to see if the
effort is worth the profit?” Edvard did not wait for his confirmation before
slumping into his chair. “Don’t we have enough problems?”

Broden certainly thought so. “Ash be setting up a ward
around the camp as we speak.”

“That’s something, at least, they can rest tonight. But the
ward can’t be a permanent thing. Right?” He looked to Ashlynn for the answer.

“Right,” she agreed. “There would have to be a permanent
structure for the ward to stay up constantly and the camp doesn’t have anything
like that. So Ash will have to set up a ward every night and take it down every
morning; otherwise no one can leave and no work can get done.”

“A wall?” Edvard offered, only to stop and correct himself,
“No, that limits how much the settlement can grow. It was the mistake we made
here in Estole; I don’t dare repeat it. Temporary wards it is. Ashlynn, how
many men can you afford to send over to the settlement?”

“Not a one. But I’ll find a few people to at least be
lookouts. Really, Ash and Riana are the deadliest fighters over there. As long
as they can be alerted, then no bandit is going to have much of a chance
against them. I’ll set some lookouts, check in with Ash consistently, and hope
the bandits realize quickly that we might be a rich prize, but we’re too costly
to take on.”

Broden would not bet on that last part. Desperate men did
alarmingly stupid things on a regular basis, and the bandits he had fought
against were known for their glaring lack of common sense. It might take weeks
and more than a dozen failed attempts before they even paused to reconsider
their decision. “Lass, we best step up the training for yer new guardsmen.”

“Looks like we’ll need them sooner rather than later,” she
admitted. “Edvard, I’m just reporting tonight, as I think Ash has things well
in hand over there, but we do need to talk about this at length tomorrow and
see if we can’t come up with a counter plan.”

Edvard bobbed his head in a tired motion. “Noted. Go back to
bed, both of you. Wait, were any of the bandits still alive?”

“Three, Ash said.”

“Send them over here. I want them interrogated before we
execute them. More information is vital at this point.”

“I’ll see to it,” she promised. Standing, she led the way
out the door and closed it gently behind her before whispering to Broden, “You
don’t think they’ll stop easily, do you?”

“No, lass.” Broden stared sightlessly down the hallway,
remembering a time that he thought he would be able to forget and never think
of again. “No, I do no’. We be seeing more of them. Mark me on that.”

Things went apace over the next few days. They did have some
injuries, as men grew tired and made careless mistakes, but Ash was always
called for, and in between some old-fashioned poultices and his magic, people
were able to heal up well enough.

Ashlynn had found three men, all of them fresh out of
training, to help stand as watchmen while everyone else worked. Riana took them
under her wing and showed them the best trees to hide in so that they had an
excellent vantage point but were out of sight themselves. Her time with bandits
had shown her that they didn’t look up nearly as often as they should, and she
didn’t want one of these young guardsmen on the ground where they could be
surrounded, and be easily hurt. Better to stay up. She gave each of them a
hunting horn as well, the horns having their own distinct sound, so that they
could tell her instantly if trouble was coming and which direction she needed
to head towards.

Her father came over the morning after the attack and worked
out a plan with the settlement of where to go if there was an attack and who
should be fighting where. With the horns in place, they ran a drill in the
middle of the day, once a day, to keep things fresh in their heads and to make
sure that everyone knew instantly what the horns meant.

They went four days without seeing even a bandit’s shadow.
Riana did not think that they were safe yet just because of those four days of
quiet. Actually, she expected the trouble to start any day now. The bandits had
four days to go back to Cloud’s Rest, report in, and then have them travel
toward the settlement. If they were making good time, that was. Really, it took
most people three days to make that trip, but a determined group could do it in
two.

She guarded Ash with strict attention as he went about that
night putting the ward up. He was halfway around the camp before he stopped
dead and studied her. “Is there a reason why you’re so on edge tonight?”

“Trouble most likely will strike tonight or on the morrow,”
she said frankly.

The mage light floating above their heads was bright enough that
she could see his face clearly. But she couldn’t read the expression there.
“The bandits before knew you?”

It was the first time he had asked that question. Riana had
hoped he wouldn’t. Sighing, she admitted, “Aye. If our old village had trouble,
they called on me and Da to fix it. Or fight it. We crossed paths with every
gang up there more than once.”

“Explain to me exactly how many gangs are up there and why
they’re up there. I mean, there’s not much in those mountains aside from a
few villages.”

“They started out as pirates,” she recounted as they went to
the next spot, continuing to put the ward up. “They had spots along the Western
Sea coast that they’d winter in. Edge of Cloud’s Rest be one of them. Then one
of them, I forget who, lost their ship in a storm and it stranded the whole lot
of them. So they just stayed in their winter hideout and turned to banditry.”

“That makes sense. I suppose they didn’t have any other
options. And the other gangs?”

“Mind, this all took place about thirty or so years ago. The
original gang had infighting—no surprise there—and it split and grew into other
gangs. They could no’ live in Iysh proper at the time. Twenty years ago, Iysh
be much harsher with banditry, and more organized in taking care of thieves.
The only place to live be Cloud’s Rest. So they lived there, and took forays
into Iysh—mostly around Senn—and survived somehow doing that.” Even as she
recounted this history, Riana was surprised herself at how much she knew about
them. But perhaps it shouldn’t surprise her. She’d grown up fighting this enemy
her entire life, and her father had been fighting them most of his, so was it a
wonder that they had learned about the gangs through sheer association? “Now,
the territories up there are so established that they do no’ dare leave them
for any real space of time for fear the others will take over.”

“Even though Iysh is now safer for bandits to live in? Huh.
Very interesting. I suppose if you’ve lived in a place for thirty-something
years, you would get attached to it. Your father mentioned to me while he was
here that they mostly like to steal from each other when they don’t have other
targets handy.”

“Aye.” Riana made a face. “Now, we be the other target.”

“And so you’re jittery because you have a very good idea of
what’s coming next.”

She nodded morosely. “Ash, when I said afore that belike the
settlement will grow to meet Cloud’s Rest, I did no’ mean the bandits too.”

He paused and put an arm around her shoulders, giving her a
comforting squeeze. “I know, I know. We’ll figure out a solution to this
madness. Ashlynn and Broden have both promised me that they’re thinking of a
strategy on how to deal with this. We’re to focus on defense and keep building
the settlement in the meantime. We can’t afford any delays in building. It’ll
hit us badly this winter if we don’t have the settlement up and running by
then.”

While she knew all of that, it didn’t really comfort her
much. At least with the ward up, they could sleep at night, as no bandit stood
a chance of finding a way past it. But that just meant they would be more
desperate during the day to attack. It merely delayed the inevitable. Perhaps
it even made it worse.

Ash might have to work on building the settlement, but she
certainly didn’t. “I be thinking I will take a watch as well during the day,
help our guardsmen.”

“Your talents are better used there,” Ash agreed. “Do what
you need to. And if you really feel like we should expect trouble from tomorrow
on, stop the drills. I don’t want the bandits figuring out our patterns and
finding holes in them to exploit.”

That was a scary notion. “I will. Ye think people know ‘em
well enough now?”

“I think so. The drill today went so smoothly it was near
perfect.”

It did help that they weren’t asking for anything
complicated. Riana nodded, content with this. “Then get this ward up so we can
go to bed. We need to be bright eyed and bushy tailed tomorrow.”

Ash grinned. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Miss Riana,” Thorne greeted respectfully, scooting a little
over on his branch to make room for her. Riana climbed up smoothly, sinking
down into a crouch, as the branch was easily wide enough to support the two of
them.

“Thorne,” she returned the greeting. He was as ginger headed
as she herself was, although with far more freckles, and a turned-up nose that
made him look like he was fifteen instead of nineteen. Ashlynn had told her he
was one of the more observant of the new batch of guardsmen, and because he
often accompanied his father while hunting, he knew how to read the forest. So
far that had been proven true as he saw things the other two watchmen did not.
“What do ye see this morning?”

“Not good things.” Thorne waved her in closer before
pointing steadily outside of the camp. “See that narrow wisp of smoke?”

Her eyes narrowed. “I do. No one out that direction?”

“Hunters staying near the shoreline,” he informed her, not
taking his eyes off that trail of smoke. “No one’s going past me these days,
and good thing, too. That’s a cooking fire unless I miss my guess. It showed up
this morning. I wasn’t on duty last night, but I’d bet a month’s pay that our
bandits arrived last night.”

Riana cursed solidly under her breath. “I will no’ take that
bet, Thorne.”

He spared her a quick grin. “That’s because you’re a wise
woman, ma’am.”

She stared hard in that direction and detected traces of
movement. The bandits were trying hard to keep their presence to a minimum, but
she had twenty years of experience keeping an eye for them and knew what to
look for. “It looks like quite a group is out there.”

“Yes ma’am, it sure does.” Thorne didn’t sound happy as he
said this. “They haven’t come any closer than this, which is why I didn’t
report it sooner, as I knew you were coming to check in with me first thing
this morning. But I don’t give it good odds of them staying in place for much
longer. What do you want me to do?”

“Stay put,” she ordered. “I will call for reinforcements. Ye
sound that horn if they make even a step in this direction. But lad, mind me:
do no’ engage. These be ruthless men and they will no’ hesitate to
overwhelm ye and slit yer throat.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She studied his face but he seemed to mean it. Satisfied,
she slithered back to a lower branch and hopped out of the tree before striding
straight for where she had seen Ash last. He had been making noises this
morning about getting the inn’s kitchen finished, so that’s where she headed.

Fortunately, he was exactly where he said he’d be, under the
sink and helping to install the pipes. All she could see at this angle was his
legs. “Ash.”

He contorted around so that he could see her, although he
stayed down on the ground. “Uh-oh. I know that look. What’s wrong?”

“The bandits be here.”

Ash scrambled to his feet so fast that he brained himself
against the bottom of the sink. Hissing, he held a protective hand to his
forehead even as he demanded, “Are they attacking?”

“No’ as of yet.” Riana grabbed a washcloth off the counter
and wet it. “Take yer hand away, let me look.”

“It just smarts, it’s fine, what do you mean they’re not
attacking yet?”

“No’ as yet. Thorne spotted their cooking fire off in the
woods and it looks like quite a number has gathered here. But they be no’
moving yet.” Getting a good grip on his hand, she yanked it down and saw that
he was right, it was just lightly bruising. She put the cloth to it anyway to
cool it down. She needed him to have a clear head later. “Call yer sister. We
will need every hand she can spare today.”

“You think they’ll attack today?” Ash lifted the caller to
his mouth and spoke clearly, “Ashlynn.”

“Belike today or tomorrow.”

“Ash?”

“Sister dearest, we have bandits camping out in the woods.”

Ashlynn swore, the language vile enough to make a sailor
blush. “How much time do I have to get help to you?”

“We don’t know,” Ash said sourly. “They’re not making a move
so far. Riana says there’s quite the gathering out there, though. We don’t have
the manpower here to fight them off.”

“I’ll get you every person I can spare and then some.
Just hang tight.”

Ash dropped the necklace, grabbed Riana’s hand, and headed
straight for the door. “I want to see this for myself. Should we gather people
in? No, of course we should, we can’t protect everyone spread out like this.”

Riana gently disengaged the hand he had on her and said, “Ye
check in with Thorne if ye must, but I need to have words with the other two.
Mayhap they be seeing something as well.”

“What?” Ash looked and felt panicked to her along their
bond. “No, you’re not going anywhere without me. I’ll go too. We’ll spread the
word as we go. I’d rather not tip the bandits off that we know they’re there
just yet by using the horns.”

“Good thought, that one.” Riana was all for keeping the
status as it was as long as they could. Tipping it either direction would lead
to a disaster until they had more fighters in place. “Then, come along.
Quiet-like.”

Chapter Four

Broden and Ashlynn were not even out of the boat yet when
they demanded of Ash, “Still in the woods?”

“Still in the woods,” Ash assured them, extending a hand and
helping his sister up onto the docks. “I have no idea what they’re waiting for,
but the fact that they’re still waiting is making me nervous. Riana is now
hovering up in the tree and she refuses to move. I don’t think she’s getting down
until they either make a move or I put a ward up.”

When the call had come in this morning, Ashlynn had been
frantic about pulling every available person out and sending them to the
settlement. Estole was now operating under a skeletal crew. She had even called
in several retired guardsmen to fill in the holes, which they had been happy to
do, fortunately. Broden did not think they had left enough men behind to deal
with Estole’s usual problems, so he spent most of the boat ride over sending a
prayer toward the heavens that for once, Estole would have a peaceful day.

“Where be she?” Broden asked, already moving forward.

“Follow the main road all the way down,” Ash directed.
“She’s in that huge hickory tree.”

Broden followed his instructions precisely and even though
he roughly knew where his daughter was, he still could barely detect her up in
the tree. Actually, he saw the young guardsman, Thorne, first. “Ho, ye two,” he
called up softly.

“Da, come up.”

At this invitation, Broden grabbed a branch and hauled
himself up until he was a good twenty feet off the ground. There he found
Thorne and Riana, both perched on the same branch. As that did not leave any
room for him, he went to the next one over, sitting down comfortably. “What do
ye see?”

Riana pointed a finger straight ahead. He craned his neck,
strained his eyes, and saw what his daughter was watching. “Ho now. I do no’
like the look of that.”

“Me either,” she agreed grimly. “Da. I be counting a good
forty men over there. And there be more on the east side. What be the odds that
the Grey Wolves would send their whole gang here?”

“And leave their territory defenseless?” He scratched at his
chin before shaking his head slowly back and forth. “Daughter, I doubt that.
But I know they be no’ this big before we left.”

“Nowhere near,” she confirmed. “So one of two things
happened.”

“Either they grew a lot in the past three months, or…”
Broden hated saying the words out loud, but they had to be said, “we be facing
two bandit gangs.”

“Da,” Riana said mildly, “I did no’ want to hear that.”

“Sorry,” he sighed. “I did no’ want to say it.”

She shifted but the branch was sturdy enough that it did not
even sway. “I could no’ get a headcount of the other bunch,” she admitted
sourly. “They be far enough out I barely could see them at all.”

That meant she had no idea how many they were really up
against. “We brought thirty men with us.”

“Thirty guardsmen, two wizards and two archers,” she summed
up. “Da, ye think we can fight them off with that?”

“They fought off a small army afore this,” he reminded her.
“I do no’ give even two bandit gangs good odds.”

Thorne grinned at them. “Besides, having the two of you tips
the balance in our favor.”

“Ah, listen to the lad,” Broden drawled with a wink at her,
“he makes an old man blush, he does.”

Thorne was one of the ones he helped train and he grinned at
his mentor. “I’ve been practicing religiously, sir. Can I fight alongside you?”

“It would be an honor, lad.” Broden would prefer that,
actually. The boy had skills but no experience and he would like to watch
Thorne’s back until he was a little less green. “For now, stay up here.
Daughter, we need to speak with Ashlynn and make a plan.”

“I’ll keep an eagle eye on them,” Thorne promised them both.

Riana was reluctant to turn her back on an unpredictable
enemy but she followed her father down the tree with the trust that Thorne
would be true to his word. Ashlynn and Ash were standing not far away, just on
the edge of the finished road, both of them with some sort of magical lens up
to their eyes. Broden had seen the lass use it a time or three before and knew
it to be like a spyglass. Only better, according to her.

Ashlynn came up to his side and lifted the lens to his eye.
“What do you see?”

Broden took a long, hard look, taking her wrist and
directing her so that he could pan the woods. With all of the trees and
shrubbery in the way, it was hard to make out details, but he saw enough to
make him want to swear. “Trouble, lass. Daughter, turns out it be the latter
option. We do no’ have one gang out there, but two.”

Riana did not break out in swearing or cry, but he could
tell she was tempted to do both. “Ye see enough to make it out?”

“They got Tree out there.”

“Tree?” the twins repeated, not following.

“Man belonging to the Crimson Tides,” Riana explained. “He
be unusually tall. They call him Tree.”

“Canno’ mistake him for anyone else, the man be a giant.”
Broden panned the area again, trying to gain more information, but it truly was
hard to catch anything solid except what he was catching through glimpses. “But
if Tree be here, then we got two gangs to contend with.”

“How big is each gang?” Ashlynn asked in worry.

“Well, now, they both be about the same size. Eighty or so
in each, I be reckoning. But they will no’ have sent every soul here. Can no’
afford to, what with needing to protect their own territories.” Broden finally
lowered her arm. “Thank ye, lass. I be reckoning mayhap about forty from each?”

“They can no’ send more than half of their force,” Riana
agreed. “No’ without risking losing their territories altogether.”

“So we have roughly eighty men out there.” Ashlynn frowned
into the woods. “Eighty men who are skilled at fighting in the woods and
ambushing.”

“That be the size of it,” Broden agreed heavily. “Even with
the force we have, it be no’ good odds. This will be quite the fight.”

“Will they put up a fight?” Ash sounded skeptical. “I mean,
that first attack, only about ten actually stood their ground.”

“If they brought this many with them, and partnered up with
another gang to boot, they will fight, lad.” Broden blew out a breath and drew
in the courage he needed to once again face the same old enemies that had
haunted his footsteps for so many years. “I do no’ like the fact that the past
be following us here.”

“Me neither,” Riana grumbled. “Da? Can we lure them in some?
Yer guardsmen do no’ have experience fighting in the woods. They be at a
disadvantage.”

Yes, and that disadvantage would get them killed. Fighting
in forests was entirely different than fighting in a city, which was what they
were used to. Broden had learned the hard way what those differences were and
he had had help from Ashlynn with that learning curve. “We need to think of a
way. We can no’ afford to lose even one soul here.”

“Truth,” Ashlynn agreed, nibbling at the edge of her thumb.
“Can we evacuate the people? It’ll be two-fold, getting them safely out of the
way and making it more tempting to the bandits.”

“We’ll have to be careful how we do that, if we choose to,”
Ash cautioned. “I swear to you that they’re just keeping an eye on the
settlement for now and watching our patterns before deciding how to approach.
If we do anything major, then it’s going to upset the status quo we’ve got
right now.”

“Removing the people will no’ go over well,” Broden
disagreed. “They like to take people for ransom.”

“Is that possibly why they’re waiting?” Ash looked disturbed
by this idea. “They’re picking their targets?”

“Aye, belike that be part of it.” Broden knew from
experience who they would choose, too. Children first, as they were the easiest
to control, women second, and then anyone that came along as the last choice.
If those louts figured out that they had high-ranking officials in the camp,
they would head directly for them. Fortunately, neither Ash nor Ashlynn ever
wore anything eye-catching. Especially these days, while they were doing
rough-and-ready work, they chose tough and plain clothing. If they had actually
looked like wizards, the bandits would already be on them.

Broden moved in a slow circle, looking around him at all
angles. There were only a few buildings that had real walls up, and of those,
only one had a roof on it. Considering its size and layout—that had to be the
inn. “Ash. Can ye fit everyone into that building yonder?”

“If we don’t include some of the builders, I think so.
They’ve been adamant about fighting with us to get rid of the bandits anyway,
there’s no way they’d agree to hiding out. Why?”

“I think ye should put all of the people ye can into the
building, set up a ward to protect them. Then mayhap an ‘official’ should come
over.”

Riana caught onto the plan in a flat second and let out a
whistle of admiration. “Smart, Da. Dress someone up fancy-like, have them come
in and put on airs, the bandits be thinking finally they have someone worth
ransoming. It might bring them rushing in.”

“Exactly so.”

“And then when they do come in, create a kill-box and trap
them inside?” Ashlynn shared a speaking look with her brother. “It’s better
than being reactive to whatever plans they have. Who can we dress up?”

“Someone that’s a good fighter. Someone that you can spare.”

“I brought every good fighter that I could spare with me,”
Ashlynn responded with considerable asperity. “Unless you want me to play the
part.”

“Already seen yer face,” Broden disagreed. “They like as no’
have spyglasses aimed at us even now. We need someone else.”

“Marissa? Amber?” Ash suggested. “Have them borrow one of
your fancier dresses before coming over here.”

“If that’s the case, it’ll have to be Amber. Marissa and I
are different sizes.” Casting about, she looked around before asking, “Once we
draw them in, then what? Attack?”

“Bandits do no’ have strategy aside from ambushing,” Broden
observed. “Trying to think of one to combat them be pointless. Hide some men to
ambush them without being obvious about it. Use what walls that are up to yer
best advantage.”

“We’ve been acting like nothing’s really wrong all day, just
going around building.” Ash canted his head toward the guardsmen that were
still waiting at the docks. “If we act like they’re just here to help us build,
we can slip them in without raising any real alarms.”

Broden was not as sure about that, but it was worth a try
anyway. “Then call Amber. It be early in the day yet and if we can get them to
attack now, so much the better.”

“Go back to building,” Ashlynn ordered her brother, “and
spread the word for everyone to go to the inn for lunch as naturally as
possible. I’ll have a ward set up and ready to go by that time.”

“Right.” Ash moved off, Riana like a second shadow.

Broden followed Ashlynn into the inn, where she paused and
made the call to Amber, explaining the plan and what the other woman needed to
do. Amber, bless the woman, readily agreed and promised she would be there
within the hour.

When that call ended, Ashlynn went to every door and corner
of the inn, laying down the groundwork for the ward. Broden kept track of her
by ear as she went about but chose instead to duck into the kitchen and get an
early lunch. A man did not fight on an empty stomach if he had any choice about
it.

Nicole Sadler greeted him with a worried frown. “Master
Broden, how are things outside?”

Grim. He did not say that aloud but put on a smile for her.
“Ah, lass, do no’ ye worry about it. We have seen far worse than this. If ye
can, spare a man a plate of food. Make up one for yon lass as well. We will no’
be able to join ye all for lunch.”

“Of course,” she assured him, already reaching for one of
the wrapped sandwiches. “I have apples too, if you want me to slice you up
some?”

“Bless ye, that sounds fine.” Broden leaned his back up
against the counter and ate steadily as food was passed to him. He gave the
cooks praises, which they appreciated, but he could tell that they knew it was
a bad situation.

Ashlynn came in while he was eating on the apple. He passed
a sandwich to her without a word and she sensibly started eating without an
argument. “I’ve prepared a ward to go up around this building,” she informed
the women in between bites. “If something does happen, run here and either I or
my brother will activate the ward.”

Violet put a hand to her heart as she breathed out in
relief, “Thank you for that. Are we expecting an attack soon?”

“We’re going to try to trigger an attack soon,” Ashlynn
corrected. “It’ll give us the advantage. So for lunch, there’s going to be a
lot of people stuck in here for a while.”

The women exchanged worried looks but nodded in
understanding.

Ashlynn polished off the last of her sandwich. “It’s been
close to an hour. Let’s go to the docks. I bet Amber will arrive soon.”

Broden fell into step with her as they walked that
direction. Keeping his voice down to a confidential level, he admitted to
Ashlynn, “There be a chance that they will no’ take the bait. What do we do
then, lass?”

“Figure out something else. We know they’re going to attack;
sooner or later they’re going to lose patience and rush in, so all we have to
do is stay vigilant and wait for them.” Ashlynn spoiled this confident reply by
adding, “I just hope that they do take the bait. We’re going to be put at a
disadvantage otherwise. Reaction is always harder in battle than action.”

That was truth. Broden prayed their scheme would work.

Chapter Five

Amber arrived with much fanfare, dressed fashionably and
with her hair done up, which set more than one guardsman and miner’s head to
turning. Her brother was acting as her bodyguard and he gave very murderous
glares to anyone that stared for more than three seconds.

No one expected the bandits to move the very second she
arrived. After all, they needed time to realize she was there and then more
time to decide what to do about it. But when an hour dragged by and nothing
happened, Riana lost all patience and went toward the tree Thorne was in.

He saw her approach and leaned forward, belly to bark, to
whisper loudly to her, “No movement.”

She stared up at him incredulously. “At all?”

“At all. Cook fire is still going strong. I think they’re
actually making lunch over there.”

Now didn’t that beat all. Throwing up her hands, she stomped
back toward the inn, where everyone was sitting on the front porch.

“No one be coming,” her father guessed, just off the stormy
expression on her face.

“Aye.” Riana almost snarled the word. Bad enough that they
had bandits sitting on their doorstep, but now they weren’t cooperating at all.

Amber pointed a finger at herself. “I thought I was good
bait. I mean, Bria did my hair and everything.”

“You’re wonderful bait,” her brother assured her, soothing a
hand along her back. “Beautiful. They’re just idiots.”

Ashlynn groaned, thoroughly disgusted. “Sitting here any
longer isn’t going to do us any good. We’ll have to think of something else.”

“Something we have no’ tried afore.” Broden frowned at the
ground.

Captain Bragdon quirked a brow at him. “You’ve done this
before?”

“Something akin to it, aye.” Broden shrugged, palms splayed.
“No’ with these gangs. But someone over there recognized it as the trap it be.”

“Smarter than we gave them credit for.” Bragdon stood,
offering his sister a hand up, which she needed. She apparently didn’t have
much experience in dealing with long hems. “If we’re not going to do any good
here, we’ll go back. Sheriff, rest assured, we have Estole well in hand until
this situation is resolved.”

Ashlynn stopped worrying at the tip of her thumb long enough
to give them a brief smile. “I’m not worried with you in charge. Update Edvard
for me when you get back, will you?”

“Of course.” The Bragdon siblings strode off for the docks
without a glance back.

Ash drummed out a rhythm with his fingers on his right knee.
“I really thought this would work.”

“We all did,” Ashlynn grumped.

“Broden,” Ash waited until the other man looked at him
before continuing, “what other tactics have you used before? That consistently
work?”

“Ambushes work fair against them, if ye can get the drop on
them. No’ that we can do that here.” Broden frowned as he tried to recall
everything he’d done in the past. “Flushing them out works fine most of the
time. Starving them out works even better. That tactic works like a charm.”

“Starving them out,” Ash repeated slowly, turning
considering eyes onto the forest. “We can’t starve them out there, can we?”

“Too much game to be had,” Riana said. “And wild roots and
onions. The diet may be a limited one, but they can fill their bellies.”

“How much spring water be over here?” Broden asked her.
“They can no’ drink from the channel, after all.”

Because it was salt water, right. “There be two within
throwing distance of here.” Riana pointed in their general directions. “Next one
out be much further, several marks inland. And hard to find.”

Ashlynn followed her pointing with fingers of her own.
“Isn’t that the two directions where the bandits are making camp?”

“Aye.” Riana considered that for a moment. They’d made camps
near the only sources of fresh water, which only made sense, that’s what a
sensible person did. Aside from those areas, they’d have to walk a long
distance to reach anything else. “Can we block them from using the springs?”

“If we put up a ward around each of them…yes.” Ash gave an
unholy grin, sitting on the edge of his chair as if he were ready to get up and
do it right now. “Maybe we can’t starve them out with food, but we can do it
with water.”

“Hold up now, lad,” Broden cautioned. “Ye be talking about
getting mighty close to these camps and then doing some timely spellwork.”

“You and Riana are used to sneaking around their camps,” Ash
said confidently, not a trace of doubt in his voice.

“Aye, lad, well….”

“And we don’t have to be smack on top of the springs to pull
this off.”

His twin looked at him in surprise and queried doubtfully,
“We don’t?”

“Riana and I figured this out the first day we were marking
things out,” Ash explained to her quickly. “I put the mark on her arrows, she
fires where it needs to go, and then when the last arrow is in place, we set up
the ward just like normal.”

“Ohhh.” Ashlynn turned to Broden with an anticipatory
expression. “That sounds fun. We can do that too.”

“It would have to be quick.” Broden said the words slowly,
the wheels churning in his mind as he thought it all through. “How many arrows
do we need?”

“Just enough to surround the spring. It depends on how big
the springs are.” Ash turned to Riana for the answer.

“I think eight or so will do the trick,” she answered promptly.
“Neither of them be big.”

“Only eight.” Broden rocked in his chair so that the back
two legs were the only things touching the ground. “And if we be in shooting
distance only, no’ on top of their camps…alright, lad. I grant ye, it be
feasible. We have to be quick, though. And we can no’ do it in broad daylight.”

“Dead of night is better for this,” Ashlynn agreed. She had
a wolfish smile on her face.

Her brother gave her a weary look. “Why do you like to skulk
so much?”

“No idea,” she admitted cheerfully. “We can do this tonight,
right?”

“Might as well plan for that,” Broden said with a sour
glance toward the bandits’ camps. “No’ like they be planning to attack today,
anyhow.”

Everyone chose to sleep early and rise at just around three
in the morning. The twins were at first voting for midnight, but Broden
explained to them that people were still more or less awake at that time. Early
in the morning was the best time to get the drop on people. It also gave them
time to get some decent sleep in before having to skulk around in a pitch-black
forest.

Ash put a spell on Riana’s eyes that let her see like a cat
in the dark. It took some getting used to as things weren’t in true color, but
she liked being able to walk without fear of tripping over something. Her
father, she noticed, didn’t need more than a second to adjust. Ashlynn had
apparently done this to him before. Now when had that happened? On that trip to
get the girls, maybe?

Of course Ash had to take down the ward for a second, just
long enough for them to skip outside of it, before he raised it again. Once
they were outside, they split up, each going for a different spring.

Riana had drawn a map on the ground for her father and
Ashlynn so they knew exactly where to go. She didn’t worry about them as they
split off, heading west as she and Ash went north. They moved quietly, watching
where they put their feet. At this time of year, there were no dry leaves on
the ground, which Riana was thankful for as it would have been a dead giveaway
to their location if someone heard it. The nightlife in the forest had grown
accustomed to the bandits in their midst and they were making their usual calls
to each other. The sounds were reassuring. Dead silence would make it harder on
them to sneak.

Ash stopped and waited for her to pass him before falling
into step behind her. She carefully bit her lip to hide a smile. Wasn’t sure
where to go in the dark, eh? Granted, the place looked different than it did in
broad daylight. She was careful to not lose him as she wound her way in and
around trees.

The bandits weren’t that far away, no more than a skipping
rock could travel. Watchmen were of course on duty but they weren’t being
particularly diligent. This was their second (third?) night out there and they
knew that when the ward was up, nothing would come out of the settlement. Or at
least, they thought they knew that. Riana eased her way around the watchmen and
toward the spring.

At this time of the morning, the fires were down to embers,
barely giving off any light at all. The spring was more than a dozen paces from
the camp, out of necessity, as it was surrounded by sharp rocks on all sides.
It gave them the room they needed to work in without worrying about the bandits
catching on.

Ash leaned in against her shoulder and breathed into her
ear, “Remember, the arrows have to be in line with each other. No obstacles in
the way.”

She nodded her understanding, loosening her quiver enough to
put four arrows into her hand. Ash put his finger briefly on each shaft, the
spell giving off a muted glow. With the last one in place, she nocked an arrow
and carefully fired. Then she held her breath, waiting.

Nothing from the camp stirred. Were they that dead to the
world, that the sound of an arrow whistling past didn’t alarm them?

“Sounds like the wind in the branches,” Ash assured her.
“Fire.”

She didn’t think so at all, but if he said so…twirling
another arrow into place, she aimed and fired. All four arrows formed a rough
half-circle around the spring. It looked like her estimation of eight was
dead-on. Lifting out four more, she waited for Ash to place the markers on
them, then repeated the process for the other half. When the last arrow was in
place, Ash lost no time in activating the ward. Of course, wards glowed, and rather
brightly at that.

“Hey,” one of the bandit watchmen said to the other on duty,
“what is that? That glowing over there?”

“How much did you drink?” the other responded.

Ash and Riana didn’t wait to see how that conversation
played out. Eventually one of them would get curious enough to go see. They
wanted to be well out of the area and back behind their own ward when that
happened. Moving as quickly as they could, without making a lot of racket in
the process, they hightailed it toward the settlement.

When they got there, the ward was down, with Ashlynn
bouncing impatiently on the tips of her toes, waiting for them. They sprinted
the rest of the distance, sliding into place behind her. Ashlynn snapped the
wards into place with record speed.

Only after they were up did she turn to them, giddy as a
child with new toys. “That was fun.”

“Aye, it be that,” Broden agreed, also grinning. “Reminds me
of the old days.”

“You two are incorrigible—” Ash broke off when yelling
started from the bandit camps. “That was quick.”

Riana shrugged, not surprised. “Glowing wards in the dead o’
night bound to get a man’s attention. Da, how much time do ye give it before
they come at us?”

“A day, at most.” Broden inclined his head back toward their
tents. “Get some sleep while ye can. The morning will belike be busy.”

Broden was up with the birds but even then Thorne was still
up in the tree before he could get there. Climbing the hickory, he sat on the
same branch as the lad and peered intently in the direction of the bandit
camps. “No smoke this morning.”

“Not a wisp of it,” Thorne agreed, gaze firmly ahead. “I’ve
been seeing a lot of movement, too. Even hearing some shouting, when the wind’s
strong enough to carry the sounds this way. Your trick of shutting down their
water access has them real riled up, sir.”

“The question be, lad, whether they be riled enough to move
yet.” The fact that they were not stopping to try and cook something for
breakfast suggested they would move soon, though. It would be hard to cook
without water, but not impossible, at least not with one meal. Trying to cook a
day’s worth of meals without water, that was the tricky part.

The ward was still up, granting them safety, but that would not
be the case for much longer. Ash and Ashlynn would be up soon, and after they
had had breakfast, they would take the ward down, as they always did. Broden
had every intention of having people in place when that happened. “Lad. If ye
see them coming, drop out of this tree and go toward the inn. Once we know, find
yerself a good place up high and snipe those that come at us.”

“You don’t want me on the ground, sir?”

Not ever, but Broden would not say that and bruise his
self-confidence. “Ye be one of the few archers here,” he explained, “and ye be
a good shot. Sniping be a good place to put ye.”

Thorne nodded seriously. “I’ll do my best, sir. Wound or
kill?”

“Lad, in the heat of a fight, ye do no’ usually have that
luxury. Protect yer own, that be your only priority.”

“Yes, sir.”

Broden stared long and hard toward the camp for several
minutes but they still had not made any move toward the settlement. Even from
there, they could probably see the glow of the ward. As long as it was up, they
likely would not move. That meant he had time to eat breakfast, wake people up,
and get them into position. He had better use that time while he had it.

He clapped Thorne’s shoulder once, in a friendly gesture of
support, before dropping out of the tree and heading toward the inn. When he
got there, he found Riana already in place on the porch, toast and a mug of
something steaming in her hands. Ash was sitting at her feet, holding the same
breakfast, but his eyes were not entirely open yet.

“Be they moving?” she asked her father. Her expression was
calm. It was her eyes that betrayed her worry.

“No’ as yet.” Broden looked around and asked plaintively,
“Where be my breakfast?”

“In the kitchen. Nicole made us up something.”

Kind of the woman to do that. Then again, most of the
settlement seemed determined to support them however they could so they would
be ready to fight. Broden ducked inside, greeted Nicole, and took what she
offered him with heartfelt thanks.

Ashlynn wandered in, hiding a yawn behind her hand, and went
into the kitchen for breakfast as well. She had half of it consumed before
asking Broden, “Did you check on them?”

“Aye, lass. They have no’ moved as yet. Me guess be they
will no’ until the ward comes down.”

“What makes you think they really will attack today?”

“No cook fires,” he responded with a shrug.

“Ah. That would be a pretty good indication.” Polishing off
the last of her toast, she considered the wards. “I think we should have people
in place before I take those down.”

“Me own thought exactly.”

“Right.” Hands on knees, she pushed herself up to her feet
and strode off the porch, gathering people and talking to them as she went.

Ash stood as well, saying as he moved, “I’ll get the
guardsmen in position.”

That left both archers to direct people and explain what to
do once they reached the inn. Broden did step in a little and directed some of
the better marksmen to be snipers on the only finished roof. Aside from that,
he watched as Ash directed people and found no fault with what he did. It was
no surprise to him. Ash had helped lead an army twice before, after all.

Ashlynn herded the last of the civilians into the inn and
went about renewing her ward on the building. Once she had that in place, she
came back out, reviewed what her brother and Broden had done, and nodded in
satisfaction. “I think we’re ready. Ash, ward?”

“Going.” Her brother was already moving before she had even
asked the question. He seemed to take a deep breath before he dispelled the
ward. It dissipated into the air like glowing smoke, pretty and ethereal in the
morning sunlight.

Broden waited on taut nerves. Either the bandits would move
immediately or they would be playing a waiting game all day. He prayed for an
immediate response because waiting like this would play havoc on a man’s mind
and patience. Seconds crept by, feeling like hours, as everyone held their
breath.

There was a loud thump from up ahead, then someone came in
hard and fast. Thorne skidded into view and Broden knew what he was going to
say before he said it. “They’re coming!”

“How fast?” Ashlynn demanded.

“At a dead run, Sheriff,” he answered, already heading for
the inn roof.

Her lips peeled back from her teeth, magic flaring from her
hands as she primed herself to fight. “Brace yourselves!” she called. “Things
are about to get fun.”

Chapter Six

Bandits were nothing like soldiers. Riana knew this all too
well. Only half of them actually engaged in fighting, while the rest scurried
around like rats and picked up anything that had value before trying to run off
with it. She knew her father had set snipers up on the roof for this very
reason—to prevent anyone from actually succeeding with the theft.

Riana caught this out of her peripheral vision even as she
danced in and out of Ash’s shield, covering his blind spots even as he covered
hers. They’d fought together often enough now that she had a sense of what he
would do next, and words weren’t really necessary between them anymore.
Watching his back was far more important to her than tracking down a barrel of
tools being rolled away. She left that to the snipers—

“DON’T LET THEM ESCAPE WITH ANYTHING!” Ashlynn bellowed out.

—and to Ashlynn, apparently. Of course, as sheriff, any
theft at all was intolerable.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ashlynn and her father
race off toward the western side of the settlement, following a pair of bandits
who had loot in their hands. She didn’t give the bandits very good odds.

The fight this time was harder than usual. Partially because
they were up against seasoned criminals who fought dirty. They didn’t think
twice about coming in at someone’s blind side and trying for a lucky strike. It
kept Riana on her toes, more than usual, because she never knew what they might
try to pull.

But aside from that, they had to be careful how they fought.
Ash was pulling his punches, so to speak, actively trying to not hit anything
except bandits. He didn’t want to have to rebuild something due to a careless
moment in the heat of battle. It slowed him down because he was taking more
careful aim than before, and it gave the bandits another edge.

An edge they didn’t need. Riana had to use her bow like a
staff, knocking a bandit back, because she couldn’t keep up with their
approach. They were coming in faster than she could nock and fire. “Ash!” she
growled in vexation.

“What do you want me to do, burn down a building?”

“Buildings be replaceable, man!” She twirled on her toes to
his other side, aimed, fired, and then had to take a step back before getting
knocked over by a stumbling guardsman. His face was familiar but the name
escaped her at the moment. “Go-to!”

Ash shot off three quick spells, none of which were aimed
anywhere near a building, and only took out two bandits. “See? My aim is off if
I go too fast.”

There were days when Ash’s caution saved them. His ability
to think ahead, and turn something onto different angles, had proven
invaluable. But there were times, like now, when he overthought something and
it was moments like these that she was ready to strangle him.

He must have picked up that emotion as he yelped, “Whoa,
calm down, I’ll pick up the pace!”

About time. She put her back to his again, half-in, half-out
of the shield, and focused on the enemies in front of her.

Ash was true to his word and picked up his pace, although he
didn’t fire off spells as fast as he normally did. It was more like a middle
ground, but it was fast enough to keep bandits from overwhelming them, which
was all she really wanted for the time being.

It became a blur of sweat trying to run into her eyes, the
hum and whistle of arrows being released, the sweet feeling of being incased in
Ash’s magic, and the blur of men running back and forth as they fought. So focused
on only hitting her targets and not accidentally firing at one of her own, it
came as an abrupt shock when she realized that she didn’t have any more bandits
to contend with. Arrow half-drawn, she paused and looked all around.

Not all of the guardsmen were standing; some were down, some
were leaning against the side of the building and clutching at some injury. The
ones not injured were quickly going to comrades and offering help. But no
matter how she looked, there wasn’t a bandit standing anywhere in their area.
“Be that all of them?”

“And whichever ones had the sense to grab and run. Ashylnn
and Broden are chasing them down, though. Even if we knew what direction they
went, it’d be impossible to catch up.”

Riana could track them easily enough so the direction was unimportant,
but he was right in that they wouldn’t be able to catch up enough to do any
good. “Let’s tend to these, then.” Going to the corner of the inn, she called
up to Thorne, “How be it?”

“No more in sight, Miss Riana,” he assured her. Standing, he
took a long look around before continuing, “I don’t see anyone else left. I
can’t see where the sheriff or Master Broden went, though. They went directly
west after a few bandits, but that’s about all I know.”

The bandits were severely outclassed. Riana wasn’t worried.
“Stay on top and keep watch just in case.”

He waved a hand in acknowledgement and shifted to the very
peak of the roof so he had the best line of sight.

Riana went back to Ash and reported, “They no’ be back yet,
although Thorne saw the direction they went off to.”

“That’s something. We’ll track them down if they’re not back
in an hour.” Looking around him, he puffed out his cheeks and blew out a
resigned breath. “In the meantime, let’s start cleaning this up.”

“Are ye no’ forgetting to update a king first?” she reminded
him, eyes crinkling upwards.

“Ah…hmm. Probably a good idea.” He lifted the caller up to
his mouth and called Edvard’s name.

She patted him on the shoulder, leaving him to it, and took
over directing the cleanup.

After that fierce battle, things went quiet again.

Ashlynn and Broden had come back with two bandits in tow and
all of the stolen goods. Altogether, only twenty bandits were still alive after
that fierce fight, and Edvard had them all executed. Within two days, it was
like the attack had never happened, except for one notable exception: Ash put
up a ward around the settlement every night. No one knew, after all, if that
would be the last of the bandit attacks or if some other group would try their
hand. Rather than be sorry, Ash chose to be safe, and the ward went up promptly
as the sun set and was taken down again at first light.

It took another two weeks to finish the inn and that was a
very welcome thing indeed. The innkeeper, Nohilly by name, became so busy
trying to keep hot water in his bathing rooms and food on the tables, that he
hired help from the mainland. Because they were still enjoying the summer
climate, he set tables outside on the front porch as well, and just barely
avoided having a line form up at dinnertime. More often than not, Riana didn’t
get to sit and eat at the tables, but instead grabbed a plate for both she and
Ash. Then she had the fun job of having to track her wizard down. Food was
always cold by the time she found him so dinners were not the warm affairs they
should have been.

Not for the first time, she wished their bond was strong
enough that she could feel where he was. It would save her quite the hunt every
evening.

Riana was no stranger to building things, and she helped out
where she could, but most of the time she was more like the acting provost than
Ash. People couldn’t always find him, and sometimes even when they did find
him, they didn’t want to interrupt him as he was either mid-spell or high up
and building something. It was pure folly to interrupt a wizard while he
worked. So they went to Riana instead, who knew just as much of what was going
on as Ash did, and was just as conversant with the laws. After all, she helped
to create them. It was she more often than not who settled disputes and handled
the governmental side of things in the settlement.

Their paths were so different from each other’s on a day-to-day
basis that Riana basically only saw Ash over breakfast and at night. What she
saw and felt during those times did not encourage her. But she kept assuring
herself that they were almost done. After nearly a month and a half’s work,
even with the bandit interruption, they had completed the inn and the bakery,
the smithy and the carpentry shop, and the tannery. The lumber mill was close
enough to completion that they were already using it, although there was still
some odds and ends left to do, same with the butcher shop.

Once they were completely done with those buildings, and had
the marketplace set up, then Ash could rest. Or at least take it a little
easier. The houses were the responsibility of the people that would live in
them. Edvard had contracted builders over here, of course, and people would be
able to use them. But Ash’s responsibility of building the settlement ended at
streets and the major buildings that were needed in order to run the place. The
houses were not his responsibility.

If she saw him building on any of the houses, she’d be sure
to grab an ear and drag him away from it, too. The man had enough to do without
taking on additional projects.

They hadn’t suffered any repeat attacks by the bandits but
it was early days yet to make any judgments. Maybe another bandit gang would
try for the settlement, maybe they wouldn’t, but it would take more time to
tell. Until then, people kept weapons close by and didn’t breathe a word of
complaint about a ward set up every night.

Now that they had all of the walls up, it was time to paint
things. Although she hadn’t had a chance to talk to Ash about that yet. No
matter what anyone else said, she was not going to allow the whole
settlement to be painted that awful shade of yellow. A girl had her limits and
Riana wouldn’t live day in and day out with that color brutalizing her
eyeballs.

Ash came back to their campsite and dropped like he was a
puppet that someone had taken all the pins out of. Riana had pity, seeing his
exhaustion, and fetched him a mug of water, which he downed in thirsty gulps
before collapsing again.

“Did ye eat?”

“Mistress Nicole tracked me down and made sure of it. Did
you say something to them, by chance? They seem determined to feed me every
time they see me.”

Riana put on her best innocent face. “That be their job, to
feed people.”

“Is that it?” He blew out a steady breath. “The lumber mill
is done.”

She clapped, happy and relieved to hear it. “Good! Then it
just be the butcher shop and the marketplace to finish, and ye be a free man.”

“Free to clear more land and get ready for fall planting,
you mean. Is there anything else I need to do?”

“Change paint colors?” she asked hopefully.

Ash lifted his head enough to stare at her fuzzily.
“Something wrong with the paint?”

“Eighteen barrels of awful yellow,” she explained
succinctly.

“Ouch. All of the same color? Who would do that?”

“Some thrifty soul with the sense of a mayfly.”

Ash laughed and sank back onto the grass. “Alright. That’s
an easy fix.”

“The women have an idea or three of what colors they like.
Ye might want to check with them afore changing anything.” She didn’t get a
response. At this angle, she couldn’t see much of his face in the firelight.
“Ash?” Was he asleep? “A~sh.”

Still no answer.

Rocking up to her knees, she bent over him and found him to
be fast asleep, so deeply in fact that he wasn’t even twitching. Shaking her
head, she fetched something to pillow his head and laid a blanket over him.
Fortunately it was a warm, clear night, so he should be able to sleep outdoors
without any problem. If the man was tired enough to fall asleep on her during
the middle of a conversation, then let him sleep. She could tell him what he
needed to know in the morning.

She’d meant to ask him if he’d heard anything from Estole.
It had been very quiet over there the past several days, no problems being
reported, which she took as a good sign. Mayhap all was going well in the
mainland and there wasn’t anything more for her to worry about.

Hoping things stayed that way, she rolled onto her own
bedroll and called it a night.

Chapter Seven

“What do you mean, we’re running out of money?” Edvard
repeated, voice rising.

“We’re running out of hard coin,” Troi expounded. “To be
exact.”

Broden listened to this report with a sinking sensation in
his stomach. He did not understand the nuances of ruling a people, or forming a
government, but he knew one basic fact to hold true: nothing could be done
without money. Not even kings got very far without it.

He and Ashlynn were in Edvard’s office, giving a report on
the city and coming to speak about another issue altogether, so it was pure
coincidence they heard this other report as it was being given. He was about to
ask just how serious this was when Edvard dropped his head to his desk in a
loud thunk. “That bad, eh?”

“That bad,” Ashlynn confirmed darkly. She looked worried,
too, and this was a lass that was not worried by much. Ashlynn’s approach to
life was direct. If it caused her trouble, she was as likely to punch a hole
through it as she was to fix it. “In history, there have been wars that ended
and kingdoms that fell for the simple lack of money. Troi, what’s causing
this?”

“Iysh finally managed to stop all trade. Even sea trade.”
Troi spread his hands, palm up. “Without any export/import going on, we have
limited coin available in the city and it just doesn’t cover every person. Coin
shortages started early this week, but this morning I actually saw people
writing out vouchers and carrying them about like they’re money, it’s gotten
that bad.”

Something that might have been the word ‘vouchers’ was
wailed against the wood. Edvard still had not raised his head from the desk.

“Edvard.” Ashlynn bit at her bottom lip before asking, “Can
we support the settlement like this?”

“Not at all.” Edvard finally lifted his head. The lines
around his eyes and mouth made him look a decade older. Had the man been
sleeping properly? “We’ll have to stop all support to them immediately. They’re
on their own until we get a solution to this problem.”

“Only one possible solution, to my mind.”

Broden looked at her sideways. “Make our own money?”

She pointed a finger at him, nodding. “That’s it. We make
our own currency.”

“Out of what?”

“I’m assuming The Land Northward has ore. Let’s get more
contractors out there to mine it out. We can make our own coins that way. Until
then, we issue a more formal version of the vouchers, something that we can
make easily.”

“Wood?” Broden suggested. “The way Ash be felling trees, we
have plenty of timber lying about.”

“And who’s going to carve these things?” Edvard raised a
hand. “Wait, that was a stupid question. We have more idle hands than I care to
recall offhand. We’ll contract it out.”

“Best use of manpower,” Troi agreed. “Sire, should I stop
the use of vouchers?”

Edvard considered it for a long moment before shaking his
head. “No. No, it’s the only sensible solution to the problem until I can offer
something as a substitute. It’s not like I can tell people to not buy anything until
then. Ashlynn, you have a list of people that need something constructive to
do?”

“It’s probably not as long of a list as you think it is, but
yes, I do.”

“Find as many people as you need to. Get started on this
today. For now, just use the same currency values as Iysh. We’ll sit down and
discuss this with all of the provosts after dinner tonight. Troi, spread the
word to them that we need to meet.”

Broden cleared his throat. “Edvard, be ye forgetting
something?”

Giving him a perfectly blank look, Edvard parroted,
“Something?”

“A little something called bandits?”

“We haven’t heard anything from them in over two weeks,”
Edvard responded. “Doesn’t that mean they gave up?”

“Iysh hasn’t responded in over three months,” Ashlynn
pointed out sweetly. “Does that mean they gave up too?”

Edvard’s mouth went flat, jaw flexing as he gave a Look at
his sister. “I stand corrected. Broden, you’re our bandit expert. What do you
think is likely to happen?”

“Belike one of two things be happening right now.” Broden
put his hands comfortably in his pockets, rocking a little on his heels. “Two
gangs have lost a lot of manpower because of us. It belike caused a power
vacuum. Odds be that they be fighting it out with the other gangs, struggling
to hold onto their territory. Whether they win or lose no’ be important to us,
but it does buy us peace and time.”

Ashlynn nibbled at her thumb, thinking hard. “How long will
this last?”

“No way of knowing. Now, other thing be this: they likely
had a few that escaped us, running tail back home. Those that did will report to
their bosses and tell them all they know. So, could be we have other gangs
eyeing us as a prize. Could be they decide we no’ be worth the effort. That too
be any man’s guess.”

“Broden.”

“Aye.”

“That was not in the least comforting,” the Estolian King said.

“My apologies on that.” Broden shrugged, resigned. “I been
fighting around these thugs most of me life, Edvard. Their tactics do no’
change much. I give it good odds it be one or the other happening now. Whether
they come again in the future? Well, I do no’ know for certain but I give it
fair odds they will. Aside from attacking Senn, and Cloud’s Rest itself, they
do no’ have much in the way of ready targets.”

Edvard scrubbed both hands over his face. “Noted. But I
can’t dwell on what-ifs right now. We’ll arrange protection for the miners,
once we find a place to mine the metals we need, and hope for the best. Troi,
take that into consideration as well.”

“Sire.” Troi gave a proper bow as both acknowledgement and
dismissal before turning sharply on his heel and leaving the study.

Broden studied his king with narrowed eyes. Edvard’s hair looked
downright unruly, and even though he was as neatly turned out as usual, the way
his shoulders sagged spoke of fatigue. “Edvard. Pace yerself.”

Edvard looked up at him with a dry smile. “I take it I look
terrible.”

“You do,” his blood-sister informed him bluntly. “I think
you need a nap.”

“It won’t do any good,” he negated wearily. “My mind won’t
shut off and let me rest.”

“Then I’ll give you a very nice potion that will fell a
whale. Sleep, Edvard. No one makes good decisions while sleep deprived.”

Wise words. Edvard apparently realized the same, as he
braced his hands on his desk and pushed himself up to his feet. The way he did
so was akin to a man lifting the whole world on his shoulders.

“Fine, Ashlynn. Give me your wonderful potion but wake me
before dinner. And while I’m sleeping, the two of you can think of a solution
to feeding people, as I don’t think we’ll have enough food come spring.”

Not at the rate their population was expanding. Especially
since all trade with Iysh was now completely cut off. That was one problem that
magic couldn’t just conjure up a solution to.

“We be thinking about it,” Broden assured him. “Now, shoo.”

“Shoo, is it?” Edvard chuckled softly as he weaved toward
the door. “Shoo, he says. This from a man that was nervous and awed the first
time he met me.”

“I will be properly awed again after yer nap,” Broden
drawled.

The sleep-deprived king thought this hilarious. He laughed
all the way out the door. Ashlynn apparently decided that this signaled an end
to his sanity, as she grabbed him by the shoulders and frog marched him the
rest of the way to his room. Broden followed as far as the man’s bedroom door,
then stayed there and guarded it. Anyone that tried to approach, he re-directed
to someone else. Really, half of the questions they had should have been asked
of another person. Edvard’s attempt at delegating to his provosts was not
working well. The man needed to be more firm about sending requests to the
right people in charge. Otherwise he would set a bad trend and work himself
into the ground.

Ashlynn came back out, shutting the door firmly behind her
and whispering a word that Broden recognized as a locking spell. “Ye be locking
the man in?”

“More like I’m locking other people out. The only person
that can leave readily is Edvard.” For just a moment, she let her own fatigue
show. “His head barely hit the pillow before he was fast asleep.”

“Potion be a good one, I take it.”

“I didn’t get the potion into him before he sat on the bed.
He was that tired.” Ashlynn ran shaking fingers over her head. “I’m worried,
Broden. What about the people that we sent across the channel? If we have no
money....”

Aye, he was worried about that too. But not as much as
Ashlynn. He put an arm around her shoulders and hugged her to his chest. “Brace
up, lass. They be fine. There be game aplenty over there; they will no’ starve.
And there be timber, and ore, and like as no’ a lot of other things they have
no’ discovered yet. We be in more of a pickle than they.”

“True, they could hunt.” She snorted and there was only a
trace of amusement in the sound. “It might end up that they have to feed us.”

There be truth. “Best I think to tackle one problem at a
time. Let us start with the one that we have a notion of how to solve. What do
we need in order to make money?”

Ashlynn pushed gently away and found her own feet,
re-centering herself. “Offhand, I’m not quite sure. A lot of it needs to be
decided with the provosts. The denominations, the amounts, how much needs to be
made, etcera. But there are some things that we can do to speed the process
along. We can find artists to design the money for us and have them ready to
go. I can contact Ash and alert him that he needs to be searching for ore so
that we know what materials we have to work with.”

He watched her as she started to put together a mental list
of things to do. How did women do this? They went from being depressed and in
low spirits to energetic and ready to tackle the world all within a minute. He
had watched his Riana do the same thing several times. Broden smiled as he
suggested, “Best to talk to Ash first, I think.”

Nodding in agreement, she lifted a hand to her ear and
called her brother’s name distinctly. “Ash.”

Ash cupped a hand to his ear and listened intently for
several moments before growling in disbelief, “We’re what?”

Riana stopped dead in her tracks. She didn’t like the tone
in his voice, not at all. They had been in the middle of discussing which land
needed to be cleared next to make room for a marketplace when the call from his
sister had come in. Whatever it was that Ashlynn was saying was not good news.

“I take it that I need to go looking right now. Yes,
alright. I know that you need an answer on this soon, but I’m not sure if I can
deliver one by the time that the provosts meet. As long as you realize that.
Fine, I’ll look now. Go find an artist or ten.” He dropped his hand and looked
at his partner. “We are running out of money in Estole.”

Riana’s mouth dropped open in dismay. “What do we do?”

“Make our own money. It is the only thing we can do.”

He said that so simply, but it must be more complex than
that.

Ash looked at the water pouch at his waist and peered
inside. “I think we have enough to do a bit of a hike with. Let’s go exploring,
shall we?”

It was safe enough to do that at the moment. They hadn’t
seen hide nor hair of a bandit. Still, she made sure she had a full quiver of
arrows before joining him. He had mentioned something to Ashlynn about looking,
but Riana wasn’t sure what they were looking for. “So,” she queried as she
followed him further into the woods, “what be we looking for?”

“Precious metal. Or I should say, ore to make metal with.
The Land Northward is a very mountainous region so odds are good that we have
plenty of ore, aside from iron, here to work with. If I can find it.”

Riana looked around her, eyebrows screwing up in confusion.
All she saw was a lot of trees, foliage, and some gentle rises in the land. How
in the world did a man tell if there was ore anywhere nearby? “Ye have a spell
for this?”

“Not precisely, but I have a spell that will work well
enough for this task. It just has a short range, so we will be doing a lot of
walking as I’m not sure how far out will need to go. And we will need to find
different types of metals to make money out of.”

This part made sense to her immediately. Money was not
formed all out of the same type of metal, after all. The worth of the money was
dependent upon the metal it was forged from. Copper was not worth much, which
was why it was used for the smallest coin. Gold was worth quite a bit which was
why most used it for their most valuable coin. Of course they would not be able
to deviate from the system. “Ye think ye can find copper and silver and gold
here?”

“I’m not as confident about gold and silver. But we should
be able to find copper and nickel at the very least. We’re more likely to find
gold along the coastline. It tends to collect around salt water.”

She learned something new every day. “And silver?”

“Silver’s the same. But copper’s easy. It likes to form in
the ground, and it’s usually found with lead and zinc. Well, it forms with gold
and silver too, but not in very large amounts.”

While all of this was fascinating, she had to wonder, “How
do ye know this?”

“Hmm?” He paused and glanced back at her, drawing a wand
from his belt as he answered, “My master is a strange man in some ways. Very
old fashioned. He never let us buy the materials we needed to make our wands or
tools. We always had to go mine the metals we needed and refine them ourselves.
He said that if, in a pinch, we were stuck without our tools or needed to make
something, we needed to know how to do it from the ground up.” Ruefully, he
added, “I cursed him at the time, but you know, all of that knowledge has saved
my hide more times than I care to recall. Now, for instance.”

Now, indeed. “Ye probably never thought that what ye learned
under him would save a country someday.”

“No, the thought never crossed my mind. Actually, if I had
known what I’d be doing ten years down the road, I would have paid a lot better
attention. The benefits of hindsight.”

She let the matter rest there as he worked his magic,
searching about him for any hints of ore. He didn’t seem happy with the
results, as he didn’t find anything worth mentioning, and they trudged along,
heading deeper into the woods. Riana was automatically alert to her
surroundings as this was uncharted territory and she had no idea what dangers
might be lurking in here. She also had no faith in Ash’s ability to navigate
their way back. The man seemed to be a little lost without roads. City-boy that
he was, it wasn’t much of a surprise.

It was turning out to be a blessing that Ash and Ashlynn had
figured out how to boost the caller system. They’d had to craft much larger
versions, connecting them in a way so they all powered each other, but they now
had roughly three times the range they did before. The instantaneous
communication made an already challenging job that much more manageable.

Ash stopped again and cast his spell, but this time he
looked faintly hopeful. “I’m getting a ping over in this direction.”

Riana followed his pointing finger and noted, “That be
towards the coast.”

“Is it?” he asked, genuinely surprised by this.

Thank Macha she had been paying attention earlier. He really
had no idea where he had been going. She fell into step with him as he cast the
same spell again in a continuous loop, and watched him work from the corner of
her eye. She would never, ever, let him go out into the woods alone. She’d
never find him again.

In between renewing the spell, he observed, “I’m going to be
tied up with mining some of this, at least to start with, until we can get
miners established over here. It’s going to delay getting the marketplace in.”

That…was not good. “Belike we will need to set guards around
the mines as well so people can work. At least until we be sure the bandits
will no’ be returning.”

Ash nodded, indicating his necklace caller. “Ashlynn is
aware of that and already working on the problem.”

That was good. Riana looked around at the forest, but didn’t
see it, as her mind turned over the problems they had at hand. Not that they
had much other choice in the matter, they really had to have money to run the
country on, but… “Ash, be there a spell to make two of ye?”

He snorted. “I wish. It would be handier if we could
duplicate me and Ashlynn. Actually, I’ve been thinking about that recently. At
the rate we’re going, just two magicians can’t handle the workload. We really
need to scout out other magicians, see if we can’t lure them in to working for
us.”

It was not a bad notion. “Have ye a thought on how to go
about it?”

“I do, but I’m not sure how viable the idea is. Ah.” He
stopped dead and pointed to a rolling hill that looked craggy around the base.
“I’ve found our copper. And possibly zinc. Let’s mark this area.”

As he put up magical lights around the base of the hill, she
asked, “Can ye be telling how much there be?”

“A good deposit is here. It might be enough to do a whole
new currency with. It’s a little hard to tell, as the deposit goes deep.” Ash
gave her a cheerful smile. “Well, those two were easy. Let’s go searching for
the hard ones.”

Chapter Eight

Broden sat at the table on Ashlynn’s right and tried to be
as still as possible. As foolish as it was, people often overlooked something
that was still and quiet. He harbored the hope that if he sat like a statue, no
one would think to draw him into this debate.

All of the provosts sat around the oblong table, Edvard at
the head, as usual. Ashlynn had brought in one of her larger Callers, this one
linked to the other magician in Tierone’s service so that the other brother
could weigh in with his opinion as well. Ash was connected in so that he could
report. All told, they had fourteen people in this meeting, three of them
without being in the same room.

And was not that a thought to boggle a man’s mind with.

“We have two important topics to discuss today.” Edvard was
back to his usual self, seemingly in control and much calmer than before his four-hour
nap. He still looked a mite tired to Broden’s eyes, but then four hours of
sleep could not solve everything. “Food shortage for this winter and currency.
I think we should discuss currency first as that is the most pressing problem.”

“Agreed,” Tierone’s voice came through loud and
strong. “I understand from Ashlynn that she has been doing some footwork in
that quarter.”

“Ash and I both have, actually,” she corrected. “Provosts, I
have lined up five artists who are ready to design our new currency once we
tell them the denominations. I also have twenty-three workers who have
experience working with metals, four blacksmiths, and promises from every money
exchanger in the city that they will distribute the new coins as soon as they
have them in hand.”

Broden was gratified to see that every person at the table
looked impressed by the sheer amount of groundwork she had already laid for
them. As well they should be. Lass nearly ran off his legs getting all of that
done in four hours.

“Now, as for the metal itself.” Ash sounded a bit
smug. Gloating, even. “I’ve found deposits of copper and zinc over here that
are near the surface and will be easily mined. I’ve also found aluminum and
tin. We’re so near the coast that I think there’s gold and silver to be had as
well, I just haven’t found it yet.”

The man had only been looking four hours. It was a miracle
he had found as much as he had!

Zorich, a rather stout and short man, leaned over the table,
making the wood creak a little under his weight. His dark eyes were seemingly
glued to the caller. “So we actually do have the means to make our own coins.”

“Exactly so,” Edvard agreed as if he had known this all
along. Actually, the man had only been awake fifteen minutes, and this was the
first he had heard of it. “Now, provosts. I think we should settle on how many
types of coins we need to make and what their worth shall be.”

“Let’s not confuse people,” Ross suggested. He was stroking
at his tawny beard in thought, lanky build stretched out comfortably in the
chair. It almost looked as if he were taking this discussion casually except
that his brows were furrowed in concentration. “Let’s keep the coins the same.
We’ll just have our own version of it.”

“Won’t that be more confusing in the long run?” Captain
Bragdon protested. “How will people tell the difference between Iyshian coinage
and ours?”

“He does have a point,” Troi agreed. “The confusion we’ll
have with a new system will be short lived, just long enough for everyone to
get used to it. Perhaps two, three weeks.”

“That’s for the people that are already here,” Haney pointed
out stoically. As a large man, his words were more ponderous and weighty, as if
his presence alone made them so. “But we get an influx of people weekly. What
about them?”

“They’ll catch on quickly enough.” Troi splayed his hand in
a dismissive gesture. He clearly didn’t worry much about this. “Even the influx
of people will die down eventually. It’s not like this steady stream is going
to keep up forever. Eventually, the people that want to leave Iysh will have,
and the people that can’t leave for whatever reason will remain where they are,
and our population growth will plateau.”

Broden certainly hoped so. Because the ‘influx,’ as they put
it, was no jesting matter.

“But if we stick with the Iyshian system, I anticipate one
of two things will happen.” Edvard frowned, speaking slowly as if he were
working through the idea out loud. “One, because our coins have their own value
and aren’t dependent on the treasury to support it, it’ll be easy for Iysh to
claim them as a ‘new’ version of the coinage and steal them. We won’t have any
legal course of action to stand on and they’ll profit from it greatly.”

Ashlynn hissed out a breath. “That’s exactly the sort of
underhanded thing they’d do, too.”

Well, now. That nap had done the man wonders after all, if
he could think that far ahead.

“The other thing is,” Edvard continued, “I don’t think the
people will accept anything that bears such a strong resemblance to Iysh. We’ve
been using their money simply because there was no other choice. But now? Now
we do have the means to come up with something different. If we offer them more
of the same, would they take it?”

Towan cleared his throat, expression disagreeing. “This is
money we’re speaking of, sire. They’d take it.”

“Would they?” Ranun countered thoughtfully. He had seen a
great deal of sun recently as his dark skin was peeling pink around the nose
and cheeks. He’d also lost several pounds, if Broden was not mistaken. He had not
seen the man face to face in a good month but Ranun had seemed more…stout
around the stomach area before. Now he looked almost trim. “I’m not so sure.
When the Iyshian money started disappearing, they just wrote up their own
vouchers, came up with payment in kind, and kept moving forward. I’m not sure
if they would just blindly accept anything that we made.”

“We need a new system.” Edvard’s tone was firm,
uncompromising.

“I agree,” Tierone put in. “Actually, I had a
feeling that things might come to this. It’s not just you that Iysh has cut
off, after all. We’re not in quite the same predicament, but it’s going to
happen in the next few months, I think. When I realized that, I did some
research. Edvard, are you aware that the old government you copied your new
monarchy from had a money system that bears no resemblance to Iysh?”

Edvard blinked, then blinked again. “Truly?”

“Not in the least whit. I was just as surprised, but
pleasantly so. Their money was quite simple and straightforward. There were
only seven denominations.”

Broden internally cheered. Seven types of coin was very
simple in something as complex as a country, but really, it would be pushing
their resources to do any more than that.

“Just seven?” Edvard repeated doubtfully. “Is that enough?”

“To start with? Heavens, man, do you want to work people
to death? If it’s not enough later to support your population, you can always
add more in.”

Edvard seemed sold on this idea but Ashlynn had more caution
than that. “How was it divided up?”

“Bit, denning, kroner, mark, gulden, reales, trillina.”

A what now? Broden was gratified that he was not the only
one at the table that had trouble following that rattling of foreign sounding
names. At the risk of drawing attention to himself, he requested, “Run us
through that again, slower, and with a proper knowing of what be what.”

“Ah, Broden, you are in the meeting after all. I was
beginning to wonder as I hadn’t heard your voice.”

It be a shame, it was, that a man could not glare through
Ashlynn’s caller.

“Certainly, I’ll go through them again. Bit. It’s rather
like half a copper. Denning is a full copper. Kroner is roughly ten coppers.
Mark is half a deneres. A full deneres is a gulden. Ten deneres is a reales. A
hundred of them is a trillina.”

Broden thought that through. Really, it was not a bad
system. It was missing a few coins in the middle, but a man could get by with
that, and make change well enough if he needed to. He personally did not see
the need for a coin large enough as that tril-whatchamacallit, as a man very
rarely spent that sort of money, but maybe he was the only one that thought
that way?

“They didn’t have anything larger than a trillina?” Edvard
asked, eyebrows kissing his hairline in mild surprise.

Apparently he really was the only one at the table.

“Things didn’t cost as much back then,” Tierone
drawled. “Well, what do you think?”

Troi was already nodding in approval, practically radiating
it. “It’s good. It’s workable, it’s divided up enough to be usable no matter
what rank you are, and it’s foreign enough that no one can get mixed up with
another country’s currency. Sire, I think we should adopt it.”

“We already adopted the government, I don’t see why we can’t
do the money as well,” Amber observed. “Do we have any objections to this?”

Not a single person raised a hand or a voice.

Edvard was the only one that seemed to hold any
reservations. “I still think we’ll need a few more in there, but for now, this
will do. Ash, which metals did you find again?”

“Copper, zinc, aluminum, and tin,” the wizard
patiently repeated.

“That’s not enough choices to make seven types of money
from,” Edvard grumbled.

Ranun cleared his throat. “Speaking as a former mine
owner…copper and tin make bronze.”

Broden blinked at him. Did they really?

“So we actually have five?” Edvard cocked his head in
question. “How difficult of a process is this?”

“Not. It’s quite common practice, actually. Bronze is only
slightly more valuable than straight copper, it’s that cheaply done.”

“Oh-ho. Then let’s assume one of the coins will be bronze.
Ash?”

“Yes?”

“How certain are you that you can find silver and gold along
the coast?”

“Dead certain. Copper, zinc, aluminum, silver, and gold
all like to appear in the same areas. Especially with this much sea water at
hand, it’s bound to be over near the coastline somewhere. I just haven’t
stumbled across it yet.”

“Then we’ll assume that bird is in hand.” Edvard pulled a
fresh sheet of paper from the center of the table toward him and started making
quick notes to himself in a sloppy hand. “My proposal is this: aluminum for a
bit, zinc for a denning, copper for a kroner, bronze for a mark, tin for a
gulden, silver for a reales, and gold for a trillina. Any objections?”

“What if we need to make more coins later?” Ross asked with
a half-raised hand.

“We will cross that bridge when we come to it. Any other
objections?” Edvard’s stare practically dared someone to speak up. Fortunately,
no one seemed to find anything wrong with this plan. “Good. Ashlynn, speak with
your artists and tell them what we’re planning. I want sketches of the new
money in two days. Ash? Get people mining the ore that you have already found
and get it to me as soon as you can. Let’s see, where to best set up a factory—”

“My district,” Captain Bragdon said firmly. “You’ll need
water to do all of this work with, and I don’t have a lot of people yet in my
areas. I have more space to build in.”

“Good point. It’s yours, then. Build something or repurpose
something to suit. Tierone, I assume you want to assign some of your people to
develop coins as well?”

“You assume correctly.”

“Then send a courier over here to pick up the new designs of
the money. We’ll figure out how much ore you need later. Ashlynn, do we have a
guard rotation figured out to protect the settlement during the day?”

“We do, roughly. We’ll be a little shorthanded here in
Estole for this week, but the week after, our newest guardsmen finish their
training. At that point I’ll have enough to redo our rotation schedule and cover
everything.”

Zorich lifted a finger to call attention to himself. “May I
ask, what do we know about the bandits at this time? I haven’t heard anything
about them since that last attack.”

“We haven’t seen any since then,” Ashlynn answered. “Things
are extremely quiet in that area. We’re not sure if they’ve given up or if
they’re just retreating until they have a better plan. Right now, we’re
guarding the settlement as best we can just in case they do come back.”

The provost did not seem quite happy with that answer, but
no one was. Then again, there was little they could do about it except wait
them out. Or go after them. They did not have the resources to go hunting down
bandits now, more the pity. Broden was all for it but they really had enough on
their plates as it was.

Edvard ticked points off on his fingers, nodding when he
realized he had covered everything. “Good. Now, let’s talk about food.”

Chapter Nine

Riana sat at Ash’s side, listening to the meeting. So far,
she hadn’t a comment to make that someone else didn’t voice, and she was
content to just listen as things played out. The money issue had been settled
far faster than she’d expected it to be. But then, there were people who had
seen the warning signs and were already planning ahead.

Pity of it was, no amount of forethought or research could
solve a shortage of food.

“Someone run me through the numbers exactly. How short
are we going to be?” Edvard requested.

It was Troi, Master of Spies and Fount of All Knowledge,
that answered. “I’ve made a prediction based on the number of people we’re
getting every week. It takes, roughly, an acre to feed one person for a year.
Right now we have a population of twelve thousand, one hundred, and
twenty-two.”

“That number exactly?” Tierone asked in surprise.

“That was the count I had three days ago, when I checked
our logs. It’s probably gone up by then. If I may continue? Supporting that
number is not quite four thousand acres of developed farmland.”

Riana shared a speaking look with Ash. In other words, they
were already short on farmland and it was just a matter of time until food ran
out.

“Troi,” Edvard’s voice was mild, “are you saying
we’re at a critical level now?”

“We will be by the end of fall, yes. The only reason why
we’re fine for the moment is because we’re not trying to feed people for a
whole year and we’re supplementing our diet with the fresh catch from the
channel. Without that, we would already be in trouble.”

Ash cleared his throat. “I take it that I need to start
clearing land for farmland immediately.”

“I think it would be best if you do, Ash,” Edvard
agreed. “I’ll get contracted farmers over there as soon as I can find them.”

“Even if you do, there’s not much you can harvest or
plant in the winter months.” Towan did not sound pleased by this
conversation. “In fact, isn’t it only vegetables?”

The look on Ash’s face said that he clearly didn’t know.
Riana was surprised by this. How could the man not know what food was
available? Then she realized that there was dead silence on the other end. They
didn’t know either?!

Well. Apparently she did need her voice for this meeting
after all. “Ah, begging pardon, but I know the answer?”

“Riana,” Edvard sounded amused, “why am I not
surprised by that? Alright, what can we grow in winter?”

“Well, there be several things that you can grow all year.
Leeks, chard, spinach, kale, they grow all year long and be no’ fazed by a mild
winter. Onions, now, they grow best if planted at the start of the year.
Lettuce too. Peas grow best in winter, just plant them as the air gets a cold
snap to it.” She ran through a list of what she’d had planted in their home
garden, seeing if she had missed anything. “Ah, and potatoes. They can be
planted beginning of the year, or thereabouts, and harvested about three months
later.”

Ash turned to give her a bemused look. “I’m sorry, what was
that last one?”

“A potato?” she responded slowly. What was that look on his
face for? Come to think of it, she hadn’t had a single one since coming into
Estole. Was it not a food that they grew down here?

Her father must have realized in the same moment what she
had, as he drawled, “Well, now, I can see by yer faces ye have no idea what
she be talking about. A potato is a tuber, about as big as a man’s hand, brown
on the outside, white on the inside. It be easy to grow, easier to eat. Man can
fry ’em, boil ’em, mash ’em, mix them in with soups and things. Good eating, it
be.”

“Are they a vegetable too?”

“Aye, I suppose they be that. But they be filling, as
filling as bread be.”

“And they’re as filling as bread is…” Edvard trailed
off, tone thoughtful. “Towan was right, it’s mostly vegetables that we can
grow in winter, and not the sort that we can survive on. Winter game will be
scarce, and it’ll be hard to fish in the channel as it will likely ice over.
Even if we plant things, we’ll not be able to completely offset a lack of
filling foods. Potatoes will help significantly, if we can plant enough of them.”

“We can hunt now, store up meats,” Riana pointed out.
“Vegetables might be sold as quick as a farmer can put them on the table, but
the meats be a different story.”

Captain Bragdon hummed a note of approval. “That is a
very good point, Miss Riana. I have a few men in my district that are hunters.
I’m sure I’m not the only one. Edvard, perhaps we can employ these men?”

“I don’t see why not. And Riana is right, storing up meat
now will help us during the winter. Provosts, start gathering hunters and send
them to Riana. She’s no doubt already figured out where the best hunting spots
are.”

“Only a few,” she responded modestly.

Ash quirked an eyebrow. “And when did you do that?”

“I been following ye about for hours now in these woods,”
she pointed out dryly. “What do ye think I been looking at while ye mutter
spells to yerself?”

Her wizard found this funny. His eyes crinkled up in a
silent laugh. “Point.”

To the caller, she said, “Ye send them to me, I will point
them in the right directions.”

“Good enough for me. Now, about these potatoes. Are you
both sure that it’ll be a good source for food?”

“Aye,” Broden said firmly.

“Then let’s clear two fields and plant them as well. Ah,
assuming we can find them?”

“They grow wild up here,” Riana assured him. “I can ferret
them out.” Perhaps not enough to plant two field’s worth, but cleared land
could always be filled with something plantable.

“Really,” Edvard said in a tired voice, “I think
that’s all we can do. If we plant as much as we can, and store up as much as we
can, we’ll be able to scrape through the winter and early spring. Long enough
for us to start planting and harvesting summer crops, at least. And surely we
won’t be in this situation again come the next winter, not knowing how big our
population is and being able to adjust for it.”

Riana personally thought that last bit was wishful thinking.
Life was never predictable to plan that far ahead, not in her experience,
leastways.

Edvard got his ‘king’ voice on as he directed, “For now,
ration the food. Not severely, just enough to where we can keep everyone fed
without straining ourselves. Riana, find me these potato plants of yours. Ash,
clear more fields. Provosts, find me hunters and farmers and send them to
Riana. Ashlynn, find places we can store food and prep it with the right spells
so that the food doesn’t spoil.”

“I was wondering if you’d thought of that. I’ll do it,
Edvard, but be warned—space is at a premium right now. We’re already going to
have to find buildings to use for making the new currency. I’ll need at least
three warehouses in order to store enough food to feed a country. Even one as
small as ours.”

“Space is not a premium over here,” Ash pointed out. “I’ll
have someone start building warehouses.”

Riana counted up the things that Ash was in charge of doing
and frowned. The math didn’t add up in her head. He was already supposed to
clear more land, and finish putting in a marketplace, and finish the butcher
shop, and find gold and silver to mine, and start the mines so that
people could work in them, and now he was supposed to build warehouses to store
food in?

Did the man plan to sleep in the near future? Eat? Bathe?
Breathe?

“I think we have a plan. Any objections? None? Good.
Then, move. Ash, before you leave, give me an update on what has been done.”

Ash ran him through the basics of what had been accomplished
in the time they’d been there. Riana only listened with half an ear as she laid
out a mental timeline. No, no matter how she thought about it, Ash had simply
taken on too much at once. He was near exhaustion as it was and he was still
taking on more. In Riana’s opinion, he needed Ashlynn, but she couldn’t be
spared from Estole right now. It was only her magical influence that kept the
city under control.

They really did need to go scouting for other magicians.

Four hunters arrived the next morning on the very first boat
they could launch. The sun was barely up; for that matter, Riana was barely up.
She was dressed, and sitting in front of her fire, enjoying a hot bowl of
porridge when they came off the docks and made a beeline for her.

It no longer surprised her that people now recognized her on
sight in Estole. All they had to do was look for a young woman with flaming red
hair, and odds were, it was her. She’d seen few redheads in this new country.

The four men coming toward her just had that look of an
outdoorsman. They all were in cotton shirts and pants, leather vests and
rawhide boots, caps over their heads to combat the morning sun. Two of them had
skin as black as pitch, eyes a golden brown. It took her aback as she had rarely
seen that color of skin before. The only other person she’d met was Zorich,
whose parents were originally from Vian. He bore a striking resemblance to
these men. Were these recent newcomers to Estole?

“Riana Ravenscroft?” one of them hazarded.

“That be me,” she returned, setting her bowl aside.

He held out a hand, what might have been a smile turning up
the corners of his moustache. “Carhart’s the name. I greet you.”

The men behind him jostled and greeted her in quick
succession. “Roskin,” this was a younger man, with the air of a young husband
and father, “I greet you.”

“Weston,” one of the Vianian men said, teeth a blinding
white against his skin, “I greet you.”

“Orba,” the other Vianian greeted her with a hand that could
make two of hers. Really, in spite of being from the same place and race, the
two men didn’t look a thing alike. His face was wider, nose thicker, and more
muscular than the other man. “I greet you, Riana Ravenscroft.”

“May harmony find ye,” she returned to all of them, finally
getting a word in edgewise. “Well, now. Have ye thought to take breakfast?”

Orba found this question amusing. “We’re ready to go now,
Miss Riana. But we’ll let you finish yours.”

“Generous of ye,” she drawled, which made him chuckle.
“Alright. Let me find me wizard.” Sidestepping the fire, she poked her head
into Ash’s tent. No, wasn’t there. She hadn’t thought he was, as it was dead
quiet in there, but when exactly had he disappeared on her? Heavens, come to
think of it, what time did the man rise that he was up before she was?

Shaking her head, she drew back out and scooped up her bowl.
“Never mind. Sit yerselves, gentlemen, and tell me what game ye like to hunt
best.”

They sat and talked, and she got a feel for what areas they
needed to be in. The youngest of the bunch, Roskin, was more of a snare man.
Rabbit was his game, and squirrel, and things of that ilk. He cheerfully
admitted that he couldn’t reliably hit the broad side of a barn but there
wasn’t a creature he couldn’t trap.

The other three were more traditional in that—they liked to
ambush their prey and take in larger game. So after she finished her breakfast,
and gave the bowl a quick rinse, she led them out of the encampment and through
the settlement.

As they walked, the men looked about them with open
admiration, sometimes letting out a low whistle.

“You’ve been busy,” Carhart observed, turning and walking
backwards a few steps so as to get a better look at something. “I knew there
were streets in, and some buildings, but this is more than I expected. It
almost looks like a proper town. How many streets?”

“Five streets laid.”

Roskin pointed off to the far right. “The new city will go
that direction?”

“No,” she corrected with a shake of the head, “that be
cleared for farmland. We be dreadful short of cleared land in Estole, and if we
do no’ plant now, there be no’ enough to eat in a month or three. So that over
there be for planting. If we need more room for people, it be straight ahead we
go.”

“Is that right.” Roskin frowned in that direction. “I knew
we were short on food, that was explained to us, but is it really going to
happen that soon?”

“Aye, at the rate people be coming in. So gentlemen, look
sharp and if ye know of any others that be huntsmen, and want to work here,
then tell me. We need all hands.”

“We’ll do so,” Orba promised from behind her. She glanced
back and the expression on his face made her think that he already had someone
in mind. Mayhap several someones.

“Also, be on the lookout for bandits or any signs of them,”
she cautioned.

“Sheriff warned us of it,” Roskin assured her. “At the first
sign, we’ll come running back to warn you. Don’t you worry.”

They still had no sign of the bandits returning, so it was
safe enough today, but Riana hoped they kept their wits about them as they went
off. She had crops to worry about. Reminded of the fields that still needed to
be planted, she brought them over to a crop of wild potatoes that she had found
the night before. It was within throwing distance of the last street, and all
she had to do was take ten steps away from the game trail to show them exactly
what they were looking for. “Now, as ye be hunting, keep an eye out for these.”
Kneeling, she lifted one of the stalks with a gentle hand. The dark green, wide
leaves were easily discernable in the brush. It didn’t look like any other
frond or plant in this forest, which was why it had been so easy for her to
spot. “These be potatoes.”

Carhart and Roskin both looked clueless but Weston and Orba
perked up with interest.

“Come again?” Roskin asked, puzzled.

“Potatoes,” Weston repeated, already kneeling next to her
and working at the soil. “They’re a vegetable, and a good one. You can add it
into soups, bake it, fry it, or even eat it raw. It’s good for filling a man’s
stomach. I didn’t know they grow up here.”

“No surprise,” Riana observed as much to herself as anyone
else, “as no one here knows a thing about them. Now, these be the ticket to
feeding people in the early spring, if we can find enough to plant. So keep a
sharp eye out for ’em. Dig ’em up careful-like and bring back what ye can
find.”

Weston and Orba seemed content with a look, but then, they
were familiar with the plant already. Carhart and Roskin both broke off a part
of the stalk to take with them so that they had something to compare it to.

Satisfied that part of her job was done, she pushed her way
up to her feet and turned back toward the forest. “Now. Follow me and I will
show ye what places seem the best for game.”

Chapter Ten

Broden had a thief’s arm bent behind his back, face smashed up
against an unyielding wall, when heard Tant excitedly calling, “BRODEN!
SHERIFF!”

“Mite busy here, Tant!” Broden called back, not looking away
from the thief in his grasp. This was a wily one. He had already spent three
hours chasing the man down and he was not going to repeat that helter-skelter
experience, thank ye very much.

Ashlynn was the one that had her hands free, although they
were currently pressed up against her heart as she struggled to catch her
breath. “What is it, Tant?”

Tant skidded to a stop, face flushed from his mad sprinting.
“I have good news and why aren’t you responding to your caller, Sheriff?”

“Didn’t hear it,” she replied.

Broden snorted. The callers were not that loud to begin
with, and if you were chasing after a criminal, the noise of the chase would
cover the caller completely. The twins had been tinkering with the callers for
weeks now and had figured out how to extend their reach, but not how to
increase the volume. Hopefully they hit a breakthrough soon.

“Good news?” Ashlynn prompted.

“A priest has arrived.”

Broden’s and Ashlynn’s head snapped up and they demanded in
unison, “What?!”

“A priest arrived, not ten minutes ago, at North Gate. He
said he’s here to be the priest for Estole if we need one.”

There was no ‘if’ about it. Broden turned his head enough to
command, “Tant, come take this fool and do something about him.”

Tant immediately laid hands on the man even as he asked,
“Crime?”

“Theft. We be reporting the details later, but for now, lock
him up.”

“Understood, sir. Come on, you.” With a firm grip on him,
Tant marched the thief away.

Ashlynn was already striding for North Gate as fast as she
could, considering she was still winded and had a stitch in her side. “Why
would we suddenly get a priest now?”

“Mayhap one developed a conscience?” Broden offered, keeping
pace with her easily. What with all of the chasing after criminals they’d done
in the past several months, Ashlynn’s stamina had improved, but he was able to
boast that his was still better. He took pride in that, considering he was
almost twice her age. “Edvard always said if we could find a priest that
revered their god more than their king, we would have one for Estole.”

“And we all agreed, but we’ve been searching for months
without any luck and suddenly one arrives on our doorstep? I’m dying to hear
the story on this one.”

Broden had to agree.

They were not far from North Gate so it took them barely ten
minutes to get there. When they arrived, Marissa Allen was standing off to the
side speaking to a man in the pure grey-blue robes of the Goddess Regina,
mother of healing, crafting, and motherhood. Broden blew out a secret breath
upon seeing that color. If there was any god’s blessings that he felt Estole
needed most, it was Regina’s. Either that or Macha, the god of sovereignty and
war.

Ashlynn slowed down to a more sedate walk, partially to
avoid looking like she had hurried over here. It gave Broden a few moments to
study the priest openly without being caught staring. Looks-wise, there was not
much to him. Hawkish nose, thinning hair, small frame, he looked more like a
money exchanger than a priest.

Marissa spotted them and waved a hand before speaking to the
priest. Broden was just close enough to catch part of her words. “—Sheriff of
Estole and her partner, Broden Ravenscroft. We have to report to them when
anyone comes in, you see.”

“In these troubled times, daughter, I quite understand.” The
priest turned and gave them a slight bow and genteel smile. “Greetings and
blessings upon you.”

Ashlynn extended a hand, which he took in a gentle grip. “I
greet you. I’m Ashlynn Fallbright, Sheriff of Estole.”

“My name is Anthony Graff, and I am a priest of Regina. May
harmony find you, Sheriff.”

Broden also extended a hand, which the man reciprocated
with a firmer grip. “Broden Ravenscroft, yon lass’s partner.”

Graff’s smile lifted the corners of his eyes into crinkles.
“A wizard-partner is a rare thing to have. You are blessed indeed, Sheriff.”

“On days like today I especially am thankful,” she told him.

Broden, knowing she was referring to that three-hour chase,
grinned at her. Of course Marissa and Graff had no idea what she meant so gave
her slightly confused smiles.

“Well, Priest Graff, I am very surprised to see you here.”
Ashlynn offered him a chance to go into the guard house, which he took, and
followed her into seats next to a cold brazier. “We’ve been sending out letters
and requests for a priest for a month without any response whatsoever.”

“Yes, such a letter went to my superior. He was disinclined
to accept any position here—more because of age than anything else—but
encouraged me to go.”

As much as Broden hated to question a gift horse in the
mouth, they still had to do an entrance interview of some sort to make sure the
man wasn’t an Iyshian spy. “Why did ye come, if ye do no’ mind my asking.”

“Even the Orders are ruled by the Bindings, my son.” Graff’s
lips twisted into a sardonic expression as he said this. “My ability to rise in
the ranks of my Order are limited because of my own birth and my lack of the
right connections. I could never be more than an assistant to someone else
throughout my life. The lack of a promotion grated on me some, but it was the
inability to make the changes I thought should be done that was the hardest to
bear.”

That made perfect sense to Broden, who had once lived in a
situation that also prevented him from ever changing.

Ashlynn picked up the thread smoothly, having done this more
than a few hundred times. “And so you leapt to the decision to come here? It must
have weighed on you heavily.”

“It was not such a challenge, my child.” Graff lifted his
shoulders into a shrug. “I had little to lose or leave behind. Also, I was
touched by the letter that your king sent out. He was quite eloquent in his
plea for help. I felt that he was a good man and I wanted to try serving a king
that I actually liked for once.”

That struck a chord within Ashlynn. She out and out grinned
at the man. “It’s a novel concept, isn’t it? So far I quite like it. When did
you get the letter?”

“Almost precisely three weeks ago. I had several things to
attend to and finish before I could leave, hence my delay in arriving here.”
Bracing himself, a half-wince already on his face, Graff asked, “How long has
it been since a priest attended to Estole?”

“Two and a half months,” Ashlynn responded sourly.

“Oh dear,” Graff said, concerned. “Has there been no one to
attend to them all this time?”

“There be a list,” Broden assured him. “And a proper
chapel.”

“Although the chapel will undoubtedly need cleaning,”
Ashlynn put in. “But Priest Graff, I promise you that you will have help. I
will draft them myself so that you have hands available for any work that needs
to be done. The people here have been complaining about the lack of a priest
and are going to be overjoyed to see you.”

“I am very sorry I did not arrive sooner than this. I had no
idea that the state of things would be this severe. But I will do all I can,”
Graff promised. Taking one of her hands in his, he said earnestly, “Sheriff, go
and find me help to clean the chapel. I understand that I have a procedure to
follow to become a citizen here.”

Marissa nodded confirmation.

“But after that is finished, I will go directly there and
start working. Do you think it possible to have the chapel ready by tomorrow?”

“If not, it’ll be close enough to at least do simple
ceremonies in,” Ashlynn assured him. “Marissa, expedite the process for our new
priest. I’ll notify Edvard and get the ball rolling on my end.”

“Certainly. Priest Graff, if you could come this way?”

Ashlynn lost no time in leaving the guard house and heading
straight into the city. “Broden, I’ll notify Edvard. But I think it’ll be more
time efficient if you go find us some volunteers.”

“I know just where to find them,” he assured her, already
grinning. “I be thinking that cleaning the chapel be a fitting punishment for
some of our miscreants.”

“You do read my mind sometimes.” Grinning at him, she shot
him a wink before splitting off and heading for the castle.

It took the space of an hour to inform everyone. They all
met this news with open relief and celebration. Edvard actually dropped
everything and went to the chapel to meet the man himself, welcoming him like
one would a long lost uncle. The priest looked overwhelmed by this whirlwind of
greetings and Broden felt a pang of pity for the man. His head was likely
swimming with names.

As it happened, the voluntold were not the only ones that
cleaned the chapel. Word spread like wildfire through the city and so many
people showed up to clean—most of them housewives—that it was like a swarm of
locusts had descended on the place. There wasn’t enough elbow room for them to
clean more than a tile on the floor without bumping into each other, but each
person was determined to clean some part and get the chapel ready for use that
much sooner. Broden wisely kept out of the way and in the doorway. His sole
task was to make sure his criminal crew did not try to run off, and that was
all he did. Interfering with a woman on a mission was foolhardy in the extreme
and he would hope that, after nearly forty years in the world, he knew better
than to try.

By ten o’clock that night, the chapel was gleaming from
ceiling to floor, not a speck of dust to be found in the place. More, the
priest was stocked with food in the larder, enough to last him a month, and the
women had made sure he had clean linens to sleep on, and fire for the hearth.
The man looked touched by this care for his wellbeing and was very vocal in
expressing thanks to all of them.

Broden sent his criminals back to their cells and returned
to his own room in the castle. He gained the hallway connecting his room with
the twins’ and heard Ashlynn’s voice faintly as she reported to Ash what had
happened that day. So the settlement now knew too that they had a priest? Good.

Glad to have at least one thing going right this
week, Broden went to bed and hoped that tomorrow life might get a little
easier.

Over the course of the week, Riana grew more and more
concerned about Ash. He slept less, ate little, and worked himself more than
anyone else did. It got to the point where he would only eat if she brought him
something and forced him to sit down. He slept perhaps four hours a night, barely
enough to exist on. He’d become this hollow-eyed man that blearily stumbled
around the settlement from one project to another.

A sleep-deprived wizard working magic frankly scared the
light right out of her. But she couldn’t seem to get him to settle down and
pace himself. He argued with her that everything had to be done now,
that he had no time to sit and rest. She had no good argument because he was
right, it was all needed. The now part was a different story, they were
just now approaching fall, he had time to work. But she had a feeling he was
trying to get more of the settlement in before they were attacked again, by
either Iysh or bandits. Having to maintain a ward up every night for the past
three weeks to defend against possible sneak attacks was not helping matters at
all.

This morning, she caught him before he rolled out of his
bedroll, shoving a bowl of porridge and a thick, honey tea into his hands.
“Eat.”

Almost gratefully, he consumed the hot food, letting it warm
him up. The air was cooler in the mornings than during the day. Not cold, by
any means, but the difference was noticeable when they were used to working out
in a blazing hot sun. “I need to get the other two mines properly started today.”

He looked as if he had lost a stone of weight. Along their
magical connection, he didn’t ‘feel’ himself either. Ash usually gave off a
brilliant wash of light so that he burned brightly in the back of her mind. But
today it was a muted glow, barely discernable to her. She had to be paying
attention to even notice it. All of this boded ill to her mind. “It can no’
wait a day? Ash, ye be staggering for want of sleep.”

Shaking his head, he drained the tea and pushed both cup and
bowl into her hands. “No, I need to go. This is the last major project I have
to do and then I can take it a little easier come tomorrow. The marketplace is
in, the butchery was finished yesterday, the fields cleared. All I have left is
building the food storage buildings and we’ll be set.”

‘Just’ build three huge buildings. Aye, that was ‘easier’
alright.

Two miners appeared at the edge of their camp and gave her
respectful nods of hello.

“A top of the morning to ye, McKay, Liam.” These two men had
come in the day before yesterday and she had gained an instant good impression
of them. They were solid, salt of the earth people, who were respectful and
enjoyed working. While waiting on Ash to get to the mines, they had pitched in
and helped people build their houses the past two days. “Have ye had
breakfast?”

“We have, Miss Riana, thank you.” McKay scratched at his
beard before fanning his face with a palm. “Already warming up this morning.
Ash, we marked the places we think it best to dig, as you asked.”

“Ropes, shovels, buckets, and pulleys are already standing
by as well,” Liam pitched in. “I have word from my brother that more are coming
over and I expect them in the next hour or two. After you get the main shafts
in, we can take it from there.”

Oh? So Ash wasn’t expected to do the bulk of the mining
himself? Well, that was a blessed relief.

Ash put both hands to his knees and pushed himself to his
feet slowly, like an eighty-year-old man creaking upwards. “That sounds fine.
Thank you, gentlemen. Let’s get to it, then.” As if just realizing, he turned
to Riana. “What are you doing today?”

“Hunting potatoes. I have more hunters coming over today as
well that need to be shown which areas be theirs.”

“Ah. Good hunting, then.” With a brief smile, there and
gone, he turned and went off with the men.

Riana watched him go with worry tightening her mouth. Come
tomorrow, no matter what, she was forcing him to rest. Even if she had to sit
on him. He was so exhausted, he wouldn’t be able to put up much of a fight. And
she had a feeling that if he just sat still for more than ten seconds, he’d
pass out.

They truly needed more magicians. She was going to drive
this point home with Edvard the next time she talked to the man.

Still worried, but not knowing what else to do, she went to
her own work.

The new hunters arrived, so she set about showing them the
virgin areas to set traps and ambushes. So far, they were bringing in a good
amount of game per day. There were three dedicated butchers who took it all and
preserved it, prepping it for storage. It took only an hour to show them the
ropes and then she went back to potato hunting.

Riana had a system in place between her and the younger
children. She’d put the plants she found into coarse sacks. The children would
come to the dump sites she’d marked and take them to the fields before planting
them as she’d taught. They were promised five coppers for every sack they
planted, which, for a child, was good money. Riana had thought of this system
in part to save her back from having to haul all of this back and forth, but
also to give a little extra income to the families moving in here. What with
the shortage of coins, what she actually gave them was a voucher. The children
were using what they earned to buy things from Estole—blankets, food, building
materials, and the like. She had eight of them under her charge and she had to
admit she was becoming fond of the scamps. They were such cheerful, hardworking
youngsters. It was hard not to like them.

At noon, she stopped and ate the bread and cheese she’d
packed. Fortified, she grabbed the two sacks she had and hauled them to the
drop off point. She found Helmi already waiting there, her hair done up in a
braid around her head, wearing her brother’s pants. As usual. At eleven, the
girl was as tall as any boy her age, just as strong, and had the view point
that anything a boy could do, she could do. Riana had yet to see her fail at
anything. So far, Helmi was in the lead for the most earned.

“Helmi, here be two.”

The girl reached out and took both sacks from her. It was a
bit of a strain for her to handle both at once, but she tossed one over her
shoulder, the other she tucked under her arm, and gave Riana a game smile.
“I’ll get them planted quick. Miss Riana, these potato things, you sure they
good for eatin’?”

“Eh, they be that. Fine eating. When they be big enough to
harvest, I will show ye how to cook ’em.”

Helmi looked a little doubtful still, but it earned her good
money now to plant them, so she wasn’t arguing this too much. “Momma told me to
tell you that we have eight rows planted.”

“Lovenanty!” Riana exclaimed in true surprise. “I have no’
gathered that much.”

“No,” Helmi agreed with a gap-toothed grin. “But the hunters
bring us some to plant, and now that we know what you’re looking for, we’re
finding them on our own. You owe us lots of money, Miss Riana.”

“Cernunnos smile on ye, lass, but ye be an enterprising
sort.” Riana was astounded at how quickly they had leapt into the work and
weren’t depending on her every direction. “Eight rows, ye say? Well, now, if
that be the truth, then—” She stopped dead when she realized that the faint
presence of Ash in the back of her head had gone abruptly out.

Helmi asked in worry, “Miss Riana? You look like someone
just smacked you in the back of the head.”

Grabbing the girl’s arm, she commanded urgently, “Get me two
strong men and send them to the mines. Then tell the next boat that comes to
wait.”

Alarmed, the girl demanded, “What happened?”

“Ash be down. I can barely feel him. Fast and snell, girl,
move!” Turning on a heel, she took off in a dead run, or as fast as she could
move in this virgin forest. Behind her, she heard Helmi drop the sacks of
potatoes and run the opposite direction, toward the settlement.

Riana’s blood thrummed in her ears, her heart screaming in
panic. She and Ash hadn’t quite gotten to the level where they could tell where
the other was at all times—they could just feel strong emotions—and she cursed
the fact that she couldn’t find him through their connection. She’d known that
he was going to put mines in today, but hadn’t thought to ask him which mines.
There were three possible locations, some of them far flung from the
settlement, and she didn’t know which one to try first.

Heavens, Helmi wouldn’t know which one either! Snarling to
herself, she promised that she would make sure things became more clearly
marked later, so they wouldn’t be in this situation in future emergencies. But
for now, she had to just try the nearest one to her and hope that was it. If
not, she’d go to the next.

Stumbling into the first location, she saw equipment stacked
up and ready to go, but no people or overturned earth. Cursing aloud, she
whirled and headed southwest, going for the second place. Even as she ran, she
searched for Ash’s presence over and over. She could still feel him, but it was
reed thin, and it made her feel as if his life were teetering on the edge of a
cliff.

She knew she was headed to the right place even before it
became visible. It was the smell of overturned earth and smoke that told her
people were close. She rounded a large tree trunk and skidded to a halt in the
manmade clearing. For a split second, she took in the situation.

Three men were lying on the ground, each of them with a cold
cloth on his head. Only one, McKay, was still standing, and he was tending to
the three of them. Ash was one of them, looking unnaturally still. At her
entrance, McKay looked up, and reading the panic on her face well enough,
hastily assured her, “He’s fine, Miss Riana. Just fine. We hit a bad pocket of
air while tunneling through and it made these three pass out. But they’ll be
back on their feet in a few minutes. Just need some clean air in their lungs,
is all.”

As if to prove his point, Liam groaned and lifted a hand to
his head.

“See? Just a few more minutes and the rest will wake up as
well.” McKay knelt next to Liam and put a hand on his shoulder. “Deep breaths,
man.”

Was it really just that? Not convinced, she knelt down next
to Ash and put a hand against his cheek. He felt cold, and fine tremors
vibrated under her hand. He was shivering hard. This wasn’t a matter of hitting
a bad pocket of air and needing to get his wind back. This was something else
entirely. What, she wasn’t quite sure, but it was no doubt weeks of not
sleeping or eating enough catching up with him.

Braun, the third man, stirred and sat up, wincing as he did
so. “That was a bad pocket of air. We mark that?”

“Marked,” McKay assured him. “I’ll get it vented so we can
work down there a few days from now.”

“Ye will be doing so without Ash,” she informed them firmly.
“McKay, help me. We need to get him to the mainland.”

McKay opened his mouth, ready to protest, then took a second
look at Ash. “He should be waking up by now…” he trailed off uncertainly before
kneeling at Ash’s side and putting an ear to his lungs. Frowning, he sat back
up. “His lungs sound clear. Why isn’t he waking up?”

“Oh, I can think of many a reason,” she growled unhappily.
“McKay, help me. He needs to get to Estole.”

“Right,” the man agreed, catching on to her urgency. “You
two fine here? Good, good. I think we’re done for the day, so go on home until
we know we can work here again. Miss Riana, if you can get his feet, I’ll take
the torso.”

Between the two of them, they got Ash off the ground and
headed for the settlement docks. Halfway there, two men from the settlement
came running up, Helmi’s father being one of them. They took over, slinging Ash
between them, which Riana was thankful for as she didn’t have the strength to
cart the man the whole distance. She walked alongside most of the way, then
when they were close enough, ran ahead to the docks.

Helmi, bless her, had a hand on the ferryman’s sleeve and
was holding on to him with determination. The ferryman—Mark? Marcus?—stood
there with an aggravated expression on his face and was saying to the child, “I
can’t stand here all day, I have a schedule to keep. Whatever emergency this
is, can’t it hold for an hour so I can return and get the next shipment
over—ah, Miss Riana, what is this about?”

“Ash has fallen.”

For a split second, it didn’t connect with him, and then the
ferryman’s eyes bugged out of his head. “Wizard Fallbright has fallen?!”

“I need to get him to Estole. NOW.”

Fortunately for the man’s future health, he saw her point
immediately, and leapt back into his boat and started clearing space. Riana
followed him in, helping, and by the time they had a clear spot to lay Ash in,
the other two men labored up, huffing and puffing. Under her direction, Ash was
settled into the bottom of the boat. She crawled in next to him, his head in
her lap, and she threw her cloak over him, as his shaking had gotten worse.

To the ones still standing on the dock, she commanded, “Go
on working, do no’ stop. If ye have questions, send a message on to me at the
castle. I do no’ think we be back in the next week.”

“See to him,” McKay urged her. “We’ll handle things here.”

Good man.

The ferryman put the boat into motion, his small crew of
rowers propelling the boat across the channel with admirable speed. Still, it
was not fast enough to suit Riana. She was so used to magic, and being able to
talk to people at will, that the sudden lack of it grated on her. She
desperately wanted to contact someone from Estole and get help set up for them
so that they had it ready when she arrived with Ash. But there was no way for
her to do it.

They pulled up at Estole’s docks with a jarring bump and the
rowers leapt out to tie the boat firmly up. Then they reached down without her
asking and hefted Ash into their arms.

“The castle, Miss Riana?” a man she didn’t know asked.

“Aye,” she confirmed, right behind them. She debated between
running ahead and getting help set up or staying right next to Ash. Her
instincts were torn, uncertain which would be the best course of action. In a
split second, her mind flashed with a segment of conversation, something that
her father had mentioned to her in passing. Ashlynn had emergency callers
throughout the city; that’s how the guards contacted her if something went
wrong.

Whirling to the nearest man, she demanded, “Where be the
nearest caller?”

“Sheriff Fallbright’s posts, you mean? Dead ahead, on the corner
of the third street.”

Riana didn’t hesitate. She bolted into a sprint, leather
boots scraping on the wood of the docks, and ruthlessly shoved people out of
her way. It took far longer than it should have, but she finally spotted it,
standing next to a lamppost—three wavy lines embedded in gold. Riana wasn’t
quite sure how these worked, but every time that she had seen Ash or Ashlynn
work them, they’d always touched them first. Not knowing what else to try, she
put three fingers against the gold and spoke clearly, “Ashlynn.”

It took a second, long enough to make her doubt it had
worked, and then Ashlynn’s voice came through clearly. “Riana?” she
asked, clearly startled.

“Ashlynn. Ash be unconscious. He be barely breathing.”

There was a moment as this sank in and then Ashlynn turned
the air blue with curses. “I knew that fool was overworking himself! Riana,
where are you?”

“The docks.”

“I’m on the opposite end of the city. Can you get him to
the castle?”

“Aye, I have men helping me carry him there.”

“Then go. I’ll meet you there.” The connection
abruptly ended.

Riana turned, stepped five feet into the street, and looked
hard toward the docks. While she had been speaking to Ashlynn, the men had made
good progress, and almost caught up with her. She waited for them to come
abreast of her, then she stepped in alongside of them, peering anxiously at
Ash’s face. He still showed no signs of waking up, but it was clear his sleep
was not a peaceful one, not from the tight expression on his face and the
twitchy, jerky motions he made.

A dark-haired guardsman jogged up to them. “Miss Riana?”

It took her a minute to recognize him and put face to name. Rich.
She’d trained him in archery near daily until being reassigned to help build
the settlement. “Sadler. We need to get Ash to the castle.”

Rich took a good look at the wizard, eyes flying wide with
alarm. “What happened?”

“He just collapsed. Overworked, belike.”

One of the traits of a guardsman was to be quick on the
uptake. Rich took one look at the situation and asked the rowers, “Have you got
a good grip on him? Can you manage it all the way to the castle?”

“We can,” several assured him all at once.

“Then I’ll clear a path.” Rich stepped around them and to
the front, acting as a trail blazer, and bellowed in an ear-splitting voice,
“MOVE! MAKE WAY!”

People were startled by the abrupt order, and their heads
turned about as they tried to pinpoint the source. It took Rich yelling twice
more before they finally understood and obeyed the instruction. They split to
either side of the street, leaving a swath in the middle clear, and it was only
then that they could move at more than a shuffling pace.

Riana was acutely aware of time crawling past, like ants
across her skin, and she hated it. When the castle finally came in sight, she
felt like throwing her hands up in victory.

“Riana!” Broden’s voice came out over the crowd clearly.

Her head snapped around. “Da!” Waving an arm above her head,
she gave him a clear indication of where to go in case he hadn’t spotted her
yet.

Broden obviously did see her in the crowd as he made a
beeline for her, brows drawn together tightly in worry. “Daughter. What
happened?”

“Ash be working on the mine when they hit a bad patch of
air,” she explained quickly, her eyes roving around, looking for Ashlynn. “Only
he did no’ awake like the others. I be thinking, it had nothing to do with the
bad air, it just be exhaustion on his part. Belike more. He be shivering hard.”

“Aye, that I see.” Broden slung the bow and quiver off and
handed them to her as he said to the rowers, “Good work, lads, and thank ye.
Hand the lad over now, I be taking him the rest of the way.”

Not one man there questioned it, never mind that it had
taken three to carry Ash this far and there was only one of Broden. They just handed
him to Broden, helping to arrange him over his back, Ash’s arms dangling over
Broden’s shoulders. The archer hefted him like he was a heavy sack and then set
a quick pace for the palace.

The rowers hovered for a moment before heading back for the
docks, but Rich remained, still acting as a fore-guard and shoving people out
of the way so that Broden had a clear path.

Riana wasn’t surprised by this show of strength. Her father
had always been much stronger than the average man. She just kept pace and
asked, “Where be Ashlynn?”

“Lass said something about it likely being magical
exhaustion, or depletion, or some sort of thing. Said she knew what to do and I
was to take the lad straight to his rooms.”

That was a relief. Although Riana wouldn’t breathe easy
until she saw color return to Ash’s face and he stopped shaking.

Ashlynn met them at the side door of the castle. She took
one look at her brother’s face and ordered Broden grimly, “Get him into bed.
I’ll take care of the rest.”

Chapter Eleven

Broden heaved Ash into the bed and stepped back, not knowing
what else to do, and waited for his partner’s orders. Ash lay as still as the
living dead, not so much as twitching, just breathing shallowly.

From the way that Ashlynn moved, it was clear that she did
know what to do. She was efficient, not a movement wasted, as she set lavender
oil on his feet and hands. Tucking him back firmly under the blanket, she then
went to his chest and put a hand firmly against it, mirroring the movement by
putting a hand to her own heart. She spoke four distinct words, the syllables
hard and crunched, and then waited.

Broden couldn’t really see anything but he could certainly
feel it. Ashlynn was like a burning light to him, a strong presence that he
could feel even in a dead sleep. That very power was slowly draining out of
her, weakening her presence in his mind. If not for the fact that she was in
control of this and was clearly doing it of her own will, it would have alarmed
him. Even knowing, it alarmed him. It was clear what she was doing—transferring
some of her magical power over to her twin.

Riana hovered at the foot of the bed and he glanced at her,
finding her drawn and worried. As the power was transferred, however, her tight
expression eased a hair and she breathed easier. Broden couldn’t feel it, but
she did, as her partner gained strength.

“Riana,” Ashlynn asked quietly, “how does he feel to you
now?”

“Tired, aye, but no’ drained as before.”

Ashlynn withdrew her hand, the gesture lank as if she had no
more energy of her own. “I’ll stop here, then. We’ll monitor him and see if I
need to do this again later.”

Riana’s eyes were fixated on Ash. “Be it that dangerous.” It
wasn’t a question.

“It could have killed him. Fool,” Ashlynn said despairingly.
“Why did he think he could do it all? Why did we think he could?”

Why indeed. Broden knew that they had more problems than
solutions most days. Certainly they had a shortage of manpower and more than
one person in Estole was juggling three hats. But even then, was there no other
way to protect the people than to work a good man into the ground like this?

He sensed it more than saw it, the moment when Ashlynn’s
exhaustion caught up with her. Broden moved, crossing the few feet of
distance between them in a split second, his arms out and catching her just as
her balance faltered and she started falling backwards. Ashlynn hit his chest
with a soft ooph of sound, hands coming up automatically to grab hold of
him.

Riana was two seconds behind and stopped when she realized
that her father had it covered. Her eyes took in Ashlynn from head to toe in a
shrewd study. “Belike Ash no’ be the only one overworked.”

“Aye, daughter, ye be right on that.” Broden just tried to
keep up with Ashlynn most of the time and he could feel the tug of exhaustion
on his own coat tails.

Ashlynn was tired enough not to fight his grip, just stayed
leaning against him. He got a better hold on her and led her out of the room
and into the little sitting parlor outside of it, settling her into a chair near
the fireplace. “Lass, sit and rest.”

“I will, but we can’t tarry for long here.” Ashlynn’s eyes
were at half-mast as she said this, clearly on the verge of falling asleep.

“Lass, do ye no’ trust yer people?” he chided her. “They can
manage for half a day. Rest. Else who will take care of ye when ye collapse
like Ash?”

She took his point although from the pout on her face, she
didn’t like it. “If the city burns down around our ears, I will blame you.”

“Aye, ye do that.” He grinned at her in amusement. Fussy
like a child, this one, about taking a nap. Foolishness, that. Naps were always
a welcome joy to adults and one that not many got to indulge in.

In ten seconds, she was fast asleep. Riana went and fetched
a blanket, covering her, then stepped back and drew her father out to the
balcony so they could talk without waking either wizard. Even then she kept her
voice low. “Da. I think it be time we press matters.”

“About getting more wizards here?” he asked, sure they were
talking about the same topic, but making certain regardless. “Aye. That be a
sound notion. I be willing to hunt up Edvard and bend the man’s ear, if ye wish
to stay and watch over the two of them.”

“I will,” she consented, already shooing him toward the
door.

Broden went.

Being the middle of the day like this, it was quite the hunt
to track down his king. Edvard was not one for sitting still after all. He was
constantly on the move, working through problems, listening to people, and
trying to sort through things before it become too huge of a situation. Broden
finally tracked him down just outside the castle, in the main shopping
district, speaking to several business owners all at once.

“—don’t see why you can’t set up shops in both places, if
you have family or friends you trust enough to start up a branch and run it in
the settlement,” Edvard was saying to what looked like a clothier, a mercantile
owner, and two shoemakers. (Broden was sure he was right as they had different
pieces of their merchandise still in hand or pinned to their aprons.) “It’s not
lack of land over there, it’s more a lack of business and people.”

One of the shoemakers asked cautiously, “The land’s free?”

“The land’s free,” Edvard assured him, tone suggesting he’d
said this at least a dozen times before. “You just have to fund building the
business and putting product into the store.”

The clothier scratched at his chin, eyes narrowed in shrewd
calculation. “Mighty generous of you, Your Majesty.”

Edvard’s mouth twisted up in a grimace of a smile. “Not at
all. I’ve run out of room to put people here. I’ve got to convince them to move
over the channel, otherwise we’ll be filled to bursting soon. But my generosity
does have a time limit. I can only do this until winter hits, and then everyone
who’s here is stuck here until spring. Wouldn’t you prefer to have elbow room
between you and your neighbors throughout the winter?”

The mercantile owner muttered something under his breath
that sounded like “I certainly would.”

Edvard turned his head and caught Broden standing nearby,
waiting for him to finish. A frown passed over his face before he turned back
to the owners and said, “Think about it. Discuss it. Come to me with questions.
Or your provost, they will also know how to answer you. Alright? Good, thank
you.” With that polite dismissal, he spun on his heels and came to Broden.
“What is it?”

“Ash has fallen.”

The blood drained out of Edvard’s face and Broden realized
belatedly that he could probably have phrased that better. “He be recovering,”
he added quickly. “Ashlynn has seen to him and he be resting comfortably in his
own bed. But Edvard, the man be no’ able to work for at least another
fortnight, I think. And our lass be in no’ much better shape than he.”

Edvard scrubbed a tired hand over his face. “I’m overworking
them. I know that. You have a solution?”

“I have an idea of a solution,” Broden corrected.

“I’m seeing with my own eyes how they are first,” Edvard
stated, already moving toward the castle with a ground-eating stride. “We’ll
talk after that.”

It was love of family that had made this man revolt against
his king and set up his own country, as arduous and dangerous an undertaking as
that was. Broden didn’t believe for one second he could stop Edvard from
checking in on his ‘siblings’ so he followed silently in the man’s wake. People
that saw Edvard tried to stop him, but he would politely put them onto someone
else for an answer to whatever question they had, and bulled forward. He
wouldn’t be distracted for more than a second or deterred from his course.

He reached Ash’s rooms in remarkably good time, all things
considered, and stopped in to look at both with critical eyes. Riana hovered
again, fidgeting openly, concerned he would wake them. But Edvard made an
effort to move quietly and both wizards slept through his visit without even
twitching.

Only when he was satisfied that they were resting did he
draw the archers out onto the balcony, the only safe place to talk without
disrupting anyone, and closed the glass doors behind him. “Alright. I see what
you mean about their exhaustion. Broden, you said you had an idea?”

“The lass’s, more like. She made mention a time or two of
the master she and Ash trained with.”

“Gerrard?” Riana asked, tone indicating she knew exactly who
he was referring to. When both men looked at her with mild surprise, she
explained without prompting, “Ash mentioned the same to me. Said if we were of
a mind to recruit, his old master be the first person to contact.”

Edvard rubbed at his chin, brows furrowed as he pondered.
“I’ve never met the man, just heard stories from the twins, but from what I’ve
heard of him, that’s likely the case. Gerrard is one of the premiere wizards of
this age, so good in fact that he founded his own school. It’s part of the
reason why the twins were sent to study under him, as father wouldn’t have any
use but for the very best. That said, he’s also quite the rebel. Some said that
he founded a school because the Council of Wizards wouldn’t let him work on any
governmental projects anymore. He apparently caused quite the scene at one of
them. I’m shaky on the details—it happened when I was very young—but after that
he founded the school and hasn’t left it.”

“It be a good idea, then,” Riana ventured.

“Oh yes, an excellent one. Or would be, if I had any idea of
how to contact the man. None of the magical contact methods will work. He’s too
far away. We’ll have to go the more traditional route and actually send someone
to talk to him. But that’s a dangerous trip. Really, it would take a full guard
of people—which I can’t spare—or a wizard-pairing to make the journey. And
whoever went would have to be fast, because we can’t spare anyone away from
Estole for long.”

Broden saw the problem, but putting this off would only
create more problems, not solve anything. “Edvard. Be there a reason why we
have no’ borrowed Tierone’s wizard to help out?”

“Ah, well, he had a few issues he had to straighten out and
couldn’t spare the man.” Edvard grimaced. “I did ask, I promise you. But I’d
better ask again because I think we need him more than Tierone does at the
moment.” The light entered his eyes as a thought occurred. “If I can get him
over here, that should free up one of the twins to go, wouldn’t it?”

“Aye,” Broden and Riana agreed at once.

Edvard got that determined look in his eye, one that Broden
recognized well, and he grinned to see it. When Edvard wore that
expression, then kings trembled, because the man would not be put off by
anything until he got his way. “I’ll talk to him when Ashlynn wakes up. But
which one of you should I send out?”

Broden and Riana shared a speaking look. Both of them were
in rather vital roles, neither could easily step out and go, and yet one of
them had to. Broden was of a mind to say Riana should do it, because he had
gone last time, but it might not be a safe option what with Ash’s magical core
being so low.

Shaking his head, Edvard held up a hand. “Never mind, I
withdraw that question. I need to ask it when all four of you are present and
can talk about it. Alright, I’m going back to the tasks I had lined up for
today. I’ll be in Market Square most of today. Come fetch me when these two are
awake.”

“We will,” Riana promised.

Chapter Twelve

There was a soft knock on the door. Riana put aside the book
she had been reading and crossed to the door, opening it to find a very worried
Priest Graff at the threshold. “Priest Graff.”

“Hello, Miss Riana.” He kept his voice low, barely above a
whisper. “I understand that Wizard Ash has fallen ill. Is that correct?”

“No’ quite,” she denied, standing aside and gesturing him
into the small sitting parlor. “Truth told, it be a magical drain. He be
recovering, though.”

“A magical drain,” the priest repeated in a tone of
understanding. “Yes, I’ve seen that happen once before. It looks very much like
a deathly illness. I now understand how other people were confused and gave me
such a misunderstanding. But you say he’s recovering? Magical drains are
usually very difficult to get over.”

“Ah, that? His sister did some magicking and it be helping
him along.”

“I didn’t realize that could be done. Or is this something
that is possible because they’re twins?”

Now that was a question she hadn’t thought to ask. “Mayhap?
Ashlynn had no doubt of what she needed to do, just went about it. It could be
too that it be because their magic be akin to each other’s.”

Graff looked as if he were filing this information away. “It
is a very interesting thing indeed. Well, I came here to offer a blessing of
recovery.”

Riana had gone without a priest most of her life so it
hadn’t occurred to her that she now had a priest at hand to ask a blessing
from. “Please do, sir.”

Pointing at the door, Graff whispered, “Is he still
sleeping?”

“Aye, although it be no trouble if ye wake him. Man’s been
asleep for a full day already.”

Seeming more at ease, he straightened and didn’t bother to
lower his voice as much. “Then if you don’t mind, I’ll leave a quick blessing
before going. I actually have four weddings this afternoon to get ready for.”

Riana didn’t doubt that one bit. She led the way to Ash’s bedside
and watched as Priest Graff put a dot of oil on Ash’s head and spoke a prayer,
asking for a blessing of renewal and healing. Riana had little experience with
seeing things like this, but the blessing was shorter and more to the point
than previous times. Maybe Graff was the sort to do short and sweet? Or he
realized he really didn’t have time for a lengthy prayer, not with four
weddings lined up.

That done, he backed off and gave her a smile. “I’m not sure
how much our Goddess Regina does with magic, but hopefully she has some wiggle
room to help him recover. Please do keep me updated on his progress. I
understand that he is a pillar in this country and seeing him like this has
disturbed everyone.”

“I will,” Riana promised.

Ash took two days to wake up.

If not for the fact that she could see him breathing and
feel him in the back of her head, Riana would’ve been worried out of her mind.
But Ashlynn assured her, several times, that deep rest like this was actually a
good sign. It meant that his body was catching up with the sleep it needed and
properly rejuvenating.

Riana spent those two days preparing various things that
were good for the body, checking in with the settlement to make sure that
people knew what to do, and scheming. Mostly scheming.

When Ash finally awoke late in the evening, she was more
than ready for him. His eyes fluttered open, stubbornly, as if he still wanted
to sleep. Riana was having none of it and poked him in the arm. “Ash.”

With a groan and inarticulate muttering, he finally rolled
over to his side and propped himself up on one elbow. Only one eye was open,
the other squinted shut. “Wha?”

Riana took a cup steaming on the nightstand and wafted it
front of his nose, like a cat fanning cheese at a mouse hole. The mouse took the
bait and Ash latched onto the mug with both hands, draining it in one long
gulp. Then again, he hadn’t eaten in two days, he was bound to be thirsty at
the very least. Once it was down, he lowered the cup and looked at her with
more alertness. “That was wonderful. Lemon?”

“Lemon, cinnamon, honey, and a spruce of ginger,” she responded,
smiling at his smile. “It be good for the body.”

“Yes, with those ingredients, it certainly would be,” he
admitted. “It’s sure to warm the blood and help fight off sickness. Another?”

She took the mug from him and turned to her tray. Ashlynn had
fixed this up for her, a way to keep water magically hot while waiting for him
to awake. Everything else was fresh, and she squeezed and poured ingredients in
before stirring it all thoroughly and handing it back to him. He didn’t drain
this one, sipping it instead, and took more time savoring the flavor. His eyes
studied her over the brim. “How badly did I scare you?”

“I might be having a few grey hairs with yer name on ‘em.”

He winced. “Sorry?”

“Aye, ye best be that. Sorry enough not to repeat this
foolishness.”

“Ahumm,” he mumbled, wisely drinking and not responding to
that. “Is Ashlynn trying to build everything?”

“No,” Riana denied gently, taking his cup from him.
“Another? No? Tierone sent over Parlan and the man tackled what ye left undone
and be maintaining the ward. I heard from yonder this morning and he be making
good progress.”

“That’s a relief,” Ash responded, tone sincere. “I assume
Ashlynn told you that my magical core has been badly drained and I’m not to
lift a magical pinky for another two weeks?”

“She said a week, but aye.”

“You’re holding me to that, aren’t you.” It wasn’t a
question.

Riana gave him a serene smile, one that was sweet on the
surface and pure steel underneath.

“I thought so.” Ash didn’t seem surprised by this, only
resigned. “Hopefully the work will wait a week, then.”

“Oh, belike it will wait a mite longer than that.”

He blinked at her, not understanding that cryptic statement.
“How so?”

Rising from his bedside, she directed, “Wash up. I’ll fetch
dinner for ye. While ye eat, we’ll explain.”

“Have you been plotting? Without me?” Ash objected.

“Yer fault for sleeping,” she caroled at him, not the least
bit repentant. She nearly skipped out the door, calling to people as she went
that Ash was awake again.

In short order, the wizard was washed up, in clean clothes,
and a proper dinner was set in front of him. Riana had him settled near the balcony
doors so he could enjoy the breeze and he was not arguing about being ensconced
in his favorite armchair. Ashlynn and Broden were already entrenched in their
chairs, although both were working, each having their own reports to write or
review. Riana had not commented on the fact that Ashlynn chose to work here
instead of her office until her brother woke up.

Edvard came in with his own plate in hand, sitting in the
only other vacant chair, and pointed a stern finger at Ash. “No more
collapsing. You gave me heart failure.”

“Note how he acts like he played no part in this,” Ashlynn
said to the air, not looking at anyone in particular.

“I hear that, aye,” Broden rumbled with a dark look at
Edvard. It was enough to make the king flush. “A better topic to visit, me
thinks, be how to prevent this from happening again.”

Edvard latched onto this like it was a lifeline. “Quite so.
Ash, while you were sleeping, we’ve been discussing this and have decided that
our best bet is to go talk to your master.”

“Master Gerrard?” Ash sounded intrigued by this idea. “It
has occurred to me before, but it’s a dangerous trip, and it’ll take three
weeks. At least. If any of his students decide to move here and take up the
fight, maybe longer. Who do you propose to send?”

The whole room looked at him pointedly.

Ash nearly choked on his biscuit. Coughing, he pounded a
palm against his chest. Words strangled, he objected, “Me?”

“Give it two days for your strength to return,” Ashlynn
ticked off days on her fingers as she spoke, “then another day for journey
prep, and by the time that you reach the border you should be able to work
magic without much issue. But stay here, and you’re likely to fall back into
old patterns and overwork yourself again. Best you go.”

Shaking his head adamantly in denial, he corrected, “You
need to go talk to Master Gerrard and convince him to send some of his students
here.”

Ashlynn blinked at him. “Me? Why me?”

“He likes you better,” Ash responded as if it were the most
obvious fact in the world.

“Nonsense.”

“I’m serious. He only smiles at you. I have to do the
equivalent of slaying a dragon just to get an approving nod from him. Hence,
you need to go talk to him.”

“Ash,” there was a note of forced patience in Ashlynn’s
voice, “Did you forget that I have a whole city to govern?”

“Those problems have surely died down now that the
settlement is started,” he protested.

“No, darling, the problems have not magically gone away. We
just have more places to put people now. If I don’t keep tabs on this city,
it’s like to tear itself apart. I can’t leave.” She stabbed a finger at his
chest. “You go.”

“Me?” he objected. “But he won’t be convinced by anything I
say!”

“Be charming.”

“Charming? Really? That’s what you’d advise?” Like a
petulant five year old he whined, “Ashlynn.”

“No. You have to go, Ash, there’s no one else that can. You
know him—”

“That’s rather half the problem—”

“Don’t be silly, he likes you fine, I don’t know where this
idea came from—”

Riana’s eyes darted back and forth between the two, feeling
as if she was starting to lose track of this verbal ball. They were going back
and forth so quickly that she couldn’t quite understand every word they were
saying, and was picking up as much from the tone and body language as anything
else. With each exchange, they were speaking more quickly, trying to get their
point across before the other interrupted.

“You’re only saying that because he dotes on you, Ashlynn,
the whole school knew it and—”

“He dotes on all of his students, you’re just not as good at
seeing past that gruff façade of—”

“Ah, no, that was not a façade, he’s blunt to the point of—”

“Blunt is not the same as—”

“I’m not arguing that, all I’m saying—”

“It’s fine—”

“—you’re not seriously thinking—”

Riana gave up on keeping up with the twins and leaned in
closer to murmur to Edvard, “Be you following this?”

“Just fine,” he assured her with a twinkle in his eye. “But
then, I’ve had decades of practice.”

“But—”

“No—”

“Is not—”

“You’re—”

“—easy for you—”

Riana completely gave up when the words started melting
together. She could swear they were speaking another language entirely.
Twin-speak, maybe.

After several minutes of this, the twins stopped cold and
just glared at each other. This standoff lasted a full ten seconds before Ash’s
shoulders slumped and he heaved a sigh heavy enough to dent the earth. “Fine. I’ll
go.”

Ashlynn beamed at him, completely confident that she had her
brother where she wanted him, and patted him lightly on the shoulder in a
consoling way. “You’ll do fine. He likes you. Truly.”

“Let’s hope you’re right,” he grumbled, mopping up the rest
of his gravy with his biscuit. “Otherwise finding other magicians to help us is
going to get a lot harder.”

Riana cleared her throat in a pointed way. “Afore we go off
wizard hunting, there be something else we need to do.”

Ash gave her the blankest stare she’d seen all month. “We
do?”

“Aye. We do.” Her mouth went into a flat, determined line.
“We need training, ye and I, about how to find each other. When ye went down, I
could no’ find ye. It scared me, Ash, that ye be down and I could no’ find
where ye were. Ye said once that if the bond be strong enough and we have
practice in it, that we can find each other by feel alone.”

“I did,” he agreed. He reached out and gripped her hand,
touch warm and reassuring. “I did, and that’s a very good point to make. Yes.
Before we go harrying off, we should certainly be able to find each other.”

A thought occurred and she asked uncertainly, “This will no’
take magic to do, will it?”

“No, none,” Ashlynn assured her. There was a contemplative
gleam in her eye as she looked at Broden. “But it is a very good notion to
explore.”

Broden was matching her look for look. “Lass. Seems to me
these two have the right of it.”

“Oh yes, I agree wholeheartedly. Let’s practice in this as
well. We’ll start somewhere safe and then go to a more complicated environment.
Ash, Riana, I suggest you do the same.”

“At the moment, the settlement area is the safest to do this
in,” Edvard offered. He had been quiet until that moment, letting the two
pairings work through things on their own. “Ash, I think that you can take a
week to recover and practice with Riana, get a good grounding on this, before
you need to leave. I’d rather not have one of you go down and become lost to
us. If there’s anyone that can be considered ‘indispensable’ then the four of
you qualify.” With a self-mocking smile—more of a grimace, really—he added,
“Even more than me some days. Now. I have things going apace and I need to
check on a few things before bed. Ash, no more collapsing and giving me
unwanted grey hairs. Ashlynn, learn from your brother’s bad example and don’t
do what he did. If I start overloading you with work, complain and charm your
way out of it.”

Ashlynn gave him a mocking bow. “Understood, sire.”

“Good, good.” Groaning up to his feet, Edvard carted off his
empty plate with him, leaving the room as abruptly as he had come in.

Ash caught himself in a yawn mid-way, lifting a hand to
cover his mouth. “Why am I still so tired?”

“Yes, I wonder,” Ashlynn drawled sarcastically. “Riana, tuck
him back into bed, will you? Broden and I need to check in with a few people as
well before bed.”

“I will,” she promised, already pulling Ash to his feet.

“I’m not a child,” Ash protested good-naturedly, “I can see
to myself, y’know.”

“No, I do no’ know,” Riana answered back smartly, pinning
him in place with her eyes. “Show more sense than a child would and do no’
over-do and then I may believe ye.”

Ash winced, putting a hand to his heart as if wounded.
“Ouch. Alright, I may have deserved that.”

“You did.” “Ye did.” Broden and Ashlynn were in perfect
sync, even tones matching.

Getting no help from any quarter, Ash did the safe thing. He
went promptly back to bed.

Chapter Thirteen

“Ash! Visitor!” Bria smiled as she said it, ushering Gwen
into the small sitting room.

Looking up from his book, Ash took in his sisters with a
blink and then grinned, setting the book aside. “Welcome visitors. Hello, my
pretty little sister.”

Gwen beamed at him, happy for the compliment, and lugged
over the wooden box she had in her arms. “Ash, Bria said you were sick.”

“I am sick, my magic is very low, but I’m getting better,”
he assured her gently. “In fact, in a few days, I’ll be back to my usual self.”

“Oh.” Satisfied, she put the box in his lap. “Then, can you
play with me?”

“I would love to play with you, dear heart.” Ash honestly
meant it. After being cooped up in the room for three days with nothing but
sleeping and reading to do, he was interested in any diversion that came his
way. “What did you bring with you?”

“Go and Kensington.”

Ash’s interest went up another level. “Oh-ho, plan on
beating me today, are you?”

There was a wicked smile on Gwen’s face. “Yes.”

To Riana, Ash explained, “I’m terrible at both games, barely
can remember the rules, and it always takes me a round or two to warm up enough
to stand a chance against her. If you want to know who the natural strategist
in the family is, it’s Gwen. She beats the pants off of us on a regular basis.”

“Ah, I see.” Riana wasn’t that surprised to learn that Gwen
was a good strategist. Seeing the way that she maneuvered her siblings around
to grant her every wish had told Riana who really had the brains in this
family. She and Bria helped set up a table in between them, and dragged a chair
closer so Gwen could comfortably sit. Then she sank onto her haunches so she
was eye-level with the little girl. “Gwen, can ye promise to keep an eye on our
boy, here? Make sure he do no’ over-do it.”

Gwen gave her a serious nod, woman-to-woman. “I can. I
promise to play with him all day.”

Ash choked and Riana could feel him laughing on the inside.
It made it hard to keep her own face straight and she felt like kicking him.
“Good. There be things I need to do and I did no’ want to leave him by
himself.”

Really, Gwen was just as happy to have some one-on-one time
with her brother as that had been in short supply recently. It was Ash that
questioned it. “What are you wanting to do?”

“We have quite a few things that need to be mended,” Riana
started ticking things off on her fingers, “traveling clothes to have made up for
the road, and I have a craving for certain chocolates.”

“Chocolate cordials?” Ash wasn’t asking, he knew good and
well what she was referring to. “I see Ashlynn was right, she really did get
you addicted to those things.”

Not bothered by that in the least, Riana shrugged, a sense
of anticipation filling her. She’d been craving those chocolates all week.

“And I will go with you,” Bria told her, not about to be
dissuaded. “You haven’t been in Estole for a while, the city has changed quite
a bit; you’re likely to get lost.”

Riana had never had a chance to learn more than the main
streets even before she had gone to work on the settlement. She was more than
willing to have a guide if it prevented her from being lost all day or, worse,
having to get one of the guardsmen to rescue her. “That be fine by me.”

“I’ll watch him for you,” Gwen promised her seriously.

Riana patted her fondly on the head. “There’s a lass. Knew I
could count on ye.”

They both ignored it when Ash choked again, this time as a
sound of protest.

Bria waggled her fingers at the pair. “Bye, you two, have
fun without us.”

“Yes, yes, go away. I have games to lose.” Ash made a face
at them before turning his attention to Gwen. “Which game first?”

Leaving the two happily in each other’s company, Riana
snagged Bria and led her into both Ash’s room and hers, picking up the coats
and boots that needed to be mended and tucking them under her arm. Honestly,
she was glad to get out, as sitting around for three days straight had nearly
driven her mad. Sitting still did not suit her.

Bria eyed the bundle in her hands. “Shoemaker first? They
look like they’ll take the longest to fix. If we go there first, we can go to a
clothier that I know of next, and it’s all along the same street.”

“Sounds good,” she agreed. Really, she had no idea of the
best place to go. Her tentative plan was to visit the same shops that Ashlynn
had taken her to last time. If Bria knew of other places, she was willing to at
least go and take a look.

“Then, the east side door is our best way out.” Bria led the
way down the stairs and out the door. “Tell me, how is Ash really doing? I’ve
never seen him so pale and listless like this.”

“A magical drain be a scary thing. I did no’ realize meself
just how serious it be for a wizard. Ashlynn said it be akin to a deathly
disease, although thankfully, one that can be recovered from.”

Bria shuddered, disturbed by this. “I didn’t realize it was
that serious. I expected him to just recover like you would from a bad cold.
We’re all very grateful, you know, that his partner is you. Because if he
didn’t have you, he’d have collapsed like this, and they would have thought it
was from some other cause, and they wouldn’t have gotten him to Ashlynn fast
enough. Given a day, or even several hours, of waiting and his core might have
drained out completely. Ashlynn was ranting about it a little last night and
saying how glad she was you had the sense to bring him directly here.”

Pointing toward the side of her head, Riana explained, “I
could feel it, how low his magic be. It scared me so that I took him here.”

Bria gave her a shrewd look. “How, ah, in touch with my
brother are you?”

“We feel each other now.” Riana struggled with how to
explain this as every day, the boundaries that separated them grew a little
thinner. “Like a presence in the back of our heads. Emotions, too. They be
coming in stronger by the day.”

“Thoughts?” Bria asked hopefully.

Shaking her head, Riana gave her a sad smile. “Not as yet.
But we both be wishing it to happen. Given time, I think it will.” It was
interesting, though, that she was being asked this. Was the whole family hoping
that their partnership would develop into something more? Riana was a little
scared to ask.

They rounded the corner to the miniature garden, heading for
the last door that would let them out into the city. Riana went all of two
steps before coming to an abrupt halt. Lingering inside the doorway, just
inside of the wall, was Seth. He had a shy look on his face, body leaning ever
so slightly toward Darisa, words kept soft enough that she couldn’t hear him
from ten feet away. Darisa was leaning toward him as well, hanging on every
word.

“That,” Bria breathed to her, eyes alight, “looks terribly
suspicious. Don’t you think?”

“Terribly,” Riana agreed, studying the two who were
obviously flirting. My oh my, what would Edvard, Ash, and Tierone say when they
saw this pairing? Their words of ‘stations do not matter’ aside, they would not
be pleased to see their sister flirting with a prefect. Riana thought it to be
truly romantic, that they could see each other without a silly thing like
titles and stations getting in the way, so was inclined to support them for
that alone. She truly liked both of them and didn’t see why they couldn’t be a
couple if they wanted to. “Do we interrupt them?”

“Of course,” Bria answered, not even hesitating. “How else
can I tease them?” The words were barely out of her mouth before she was
charging forward, still with that evil smirk on her face.

Riana was on her heels, waiting for her to say something,
but Bria didn’t speak a word. She just went forward until the two noticed her.
Then, like guilty teenagers, they sprang apart, a flush on their cheeks and
their eyes looking elsewhere.

It was Seth that found his manners first and he gave them
both a bow. “Miss Bria, Miss Riana, good day.”

“Good day, Prefect Seth,” Bria greeted cheerfully before
giving her sister a pointed look and an arched eyebrow.

“Um,” Darisa managed intelligently. Her eyes were imploring
both of them: Don’t make a scene!

Having pity on the pair, Riana stated firmly, “We do no’ see
ye.”

Seth and Darisa didn’t catch on to her meaning for a full
second before they slumped in relief. Then, of course, they realized that they
only had her cooperation and not Bria’s and they turned nervous looks toward
her.

“Do we, Bria?” Riana prompted. Teasing aside, Bria needed to
put them out of their misery, otherwise it would become outright cruel.

“See who?” Bria responded, all innocence and confusion. “I
don’t understand what you’re saying, Riana.”

Riana had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from
laughing. Casting them both a wink, she sailed through the door with Bria. They
went ten steps and then stopped and laughed aloud. “What was that?” Riana
demanded, holding her hands a foot apart and then jerking them wide, mimicking
what the couple had done earlier. “That skip earlier? Like a skittish doe found
by a pack of wolves.”

“That’s exactly what it was like,” Bria agreed, laughing
hard enough that tears were seeping out of the corner of her eyes. “My, oh my,
this is hilarious. I knew Darisa was sweet on someone, she’s been putting more
effort into dressing up recently, but she wouldn’t tell us who. Now I know
why!”

“Seth be no’ a bad choice,” Riana defended.

“Heavens no, I agree, he’s a good man. He’s helped me out
several times in this chaotic city and Ashlynn swears he’s one of the most
steady guardsmen she ever saw. It’s why Edvard promoted him to prefect. We all
expect him to make provost in ten years, the way he’s going. It’s just the way
those two are acting, you’d think they were having an illicit affair.” Bria
nibbled on the edge of her thumb, thinking hard. “It’s because of Edvard, I
bet.”

“And Ash,” Riana drawled, “no’ to mention Tierone.”

“Tierone will be more tolerant of this, I bet. So will Ash,”
the look she gave Riana spoke volumes, “all things considered.”

Riana took her meaning and blushed, not quite able to meet
the other woman’s eyes.

“But Edvard? Oh no, that is a different kettle of fish
entirely. He’s your typical overprotective brother. He wants all of his sisters
married to nice men who have a healthy income. I don’t think a prefect makes
enough to satisfy him.”

“Be that important?” Riana didn’t see how it would be, but
then she’d lived in absolute poverty for most of her life and knew good and
well that money did not equate happiness.

“To him. Not to the rest of us. Our father was not known for
taking good care of his mistresses, especially if they were already married. So
some of us, like Ash and Ashlynn, at least got a good education. Others…not so
lucky.” Bria pulled a face, nose crinkling. “Darisa and Catriona are the ones
that weren’t so lucky. Which is really why, I think, Darisa will be more
comfortable married to a man like Seth. She wouldn’t know what to do in a
nobleman’s family. She doesn’t really have the education for it.”

From behind, there was the sound of rapid footsteps. Riana
turned and tracked it automatically, not believing that there was danger coming
up from behind, but unable to ignore the sounds of pursuit after so many years
of being trained to keep an eye over her shoulder. Darisa skidded to a stop
just before she plowed into them, cheeks rosy from the mad sprint, looking a
little short on breath.

“Darisa, dear sister,” Bria cooed, slipping an arm around
her shoulders and securing her with an iron grip, “do tell us about your beau.”

“Bria,” Darisa pleaded, “please don’t pass this around the
family. Not yet. We’re not ready for that yet.”

“I won’t,” Bria promised soothingly, “but only if you spill.
Every. Little. Detail.”

Not looking relieved by this promise, Darisa stared
uncertainly at Bria, worrying at her bottom lip with her teeth.

“If Edvard loses his top over this, I will shoot him in the
foot,” Riana swore, only half-kidding. “The man do no’ have the right to choose
his sisters’ lovers, no mind what he thinks. And he do no’ have a leg to stand
on where Seth be concerned.”

This encouraged her and Darisa’s worry eased. “He is
a good man.”

“One of the best,” Riana agreed. Putting her free arm around
both women, she nudged them all into motion. “Now, I have shopping to do. Tell
us, lass, how this came to be as we go along.”

“Wait, first, tell me about Ash. If you’re out here
shopping, is he doing better?”

“Much,” Riana assured her, not looking at either woman, but
studying the street as they walked along. This looked very different from the
last time she’d walked through this section of the city. In fact, she barely
recognized anything. Had it really changed that much in such a short time
frame? “We have Gwen babysitting him.”

Darisa put a hand to her heart. “I’m relieved to hear it. In
more than one sense. Gwen has been badgering us because she missed Ash.”

“Back to Seth,” Bria ordered. “How did the two of you meet?”

“Well, we knew who the other person was, of course. As
prefect, he comes in and out all of the time, giving Edvard reports. We’d
bumped into each other. But it all really started about three weeks ago. I was
out running an errand for Ashlynn went I got completely lost. Lot Neighborhood,”
she said as if that explained everything.

“Ah, there,” Bria said in complete understanding.

Riana pointed a finger toward herself. “I do no’ follow.”

“The Lot Neighborhood—that isn’t the official name, it’s
just what we all call it—is where they’re building all of the houses,” Darisa
explained. “You know the open land that used to be farmland to the north and
west side of Estole proper? Edvard had that all converted over to housing. Each
house got a specific size lot to be built on, and it’s one huge neighborhood,
all of it connected. Hence the name. Some of the more industrious people have
created little businesses in the front of their homes, or built a shed in the
back, and you can find some very interesting things in there if you know where
to look. While I was there, I got turned around, because frankly all the houses
look the same to me. It was so frustrating. I must have wandered around for an
hour, not sure how to get back out, when Seth stumbled across me. He had someone
in hand, but he told the man,” in a credible impression of Seth’s tone, she
mimicked, “‘This is Miss Darisa. You will behave while I escort you both back
to Estole proper.’ And the man did, like he was afraid of what would happen if
he didn’t, and once Seth had stowed the man in with the guard, he escorted me
all the way to the castle. It was such a sweet thing to do, because I really
was fit to be tied by that point. Of course, I couldn’t let it go at that, so I
made him up a lunch the next day and left it at his office, as I couldn’t catch
him. He came up the next evening to thank me for it, and…well…” Darisa trailed
off with a sappy smile on her face.

The story was a sweet one. Riana would have followed it up
with a question but she had arrived at a road that she didn’t know, and the
road they had been walking on ended there. “Right or left?” she prompted them.

Bria and Darisa blinked, as if realizing that they were
supposed to be navigating, and then looked around to gather their bearings.
Then they frowned and looked to each other. Riana could decipher their
expressions well enough and groaned. “Ye both do no’ have a clue.”

“Not one,” Bria admitted frankly, craning her head around to
look again. “Edvard’s convinced so many storeowners to move to the settlement
that the shops all are different now, as other businesses come in to take their
place. This doesn’t look familiar at all. Darisa?”

Putting her hands on her hips, Darisa growled, “Where’s Seth
when I need him? We should have been paying attention while we were walking.”

“It’s my fault,” Bria admitted. “I knew that Riana isn’t
familiar with this section of the city; I was supposed to be guiding her.
Alright, let’s backtrack the way we came. Eventually we’ll be in a place we
know again.”

They reversed and started the way they had come. Riana paid
better attention this time, trying to put this place into memory, so next time
she wouldn’t be so confused.

Estole, fortunately, wasn’t that big. They’d work
themselves free of this maze eventually.

Chapter Fourteen

Where in the devil was he?

Riana and Ash had come over this morning with the intent of
practicing. Ash was back on his feet again, stronger than before, although not
quite at full strength. They had deemed it a good day to go out try. Staying in
Estole had been promptly vetoed as neither of them could walk the streets
anymore without being bombarded by requests. The settlement was the better
option for this practice.

She had been in and out of these woods on a regular basis
for over a month. Riana knew them well. So why couldn’t she find him anywhere
here, by sight alone if not by feeling? While they were supposed to be
practicing, they had set up a safeguard and marked a certain area to stay in.
She’d been all through it and couldn’t find hair nor hide of him.

The only option was that he was in the settlement somewhere.
Growling in vexation, she turned smartly on her heel and headed that direction.
He’d sworn to her he wouldn’t work on anything while over here, but old habits
did die hard. Was he secretly working or checking up on something? If he was,
she was going to give him quite the earful.

Riana was so aggravated with him that it took a second for
her to realize that she was feeling a spark of something in the back of her
mind. An emotion not her own. It was one of forced patience. Oh? Was she
starting to pick up other emotions from Ash, finally?

That made her a little happy. Almost happy enough to
momentarily forget she was irritated with him. Her steps slowed a mite as the
thought occurred: why would he be feeling forced patience? Surely not because
of her, not when he’d left their area. Had he been dragged into something after
all?

A little worried now, she quickened her step and headed
directly into the settlement, trying to discern where this emotion was coming
from. Where had he gotten off to? The settlement wasn’t that big of a place,
not yet, but it wasn’t the tiny little camp anymore they’d started out with.
Ash had built a great deal before collapsing, the people that intended to live
here had been very busy building, and then Tierone’s wizard, Parlan, had been
pushing day and night to get things built. With all of that concentrated
effort, the settlement had naturally grown by leaps and bounds. It was more
like a town now. It had several paved streets, proper houses were in various stages
of construction along the streets, and of course the framework for a warehouse
for food storage. Even the docks had expanded while she hadn’t been looking and
now could hold up to eight boats without strain.

Riana stopped at the edge of one of the streets, closed her
eyes, and tried to really concentrate. She was starting to pick up more now.
There was the forced patience, sparks of…amusement? But even though she felt
him a little better than before she still had no sense of direction.

Giving up, she went with common sense and started from where
she was, mapping out a search in her mind of what places to try. Eyes peeled,
she went down that street, trying to spy her missing wizard.

As she walked, she picked up other little sparks of
emotions, nothing solid but very fleeting: Minor annoyance, something that
might have been a prick of pain, as if he had poked a finger with something
sharp, and other things of that ilk. None of these were emotions that she felt
from him when he was working magic. So whatever he was doing, odds were, it
wasn’t magic-related. Just what had he been dragged into?

Well, he wasn’t on this street. Switching to the next, she
continued. The emotions were coming somewhat stronger now, or at least she was
getting better at deciphering what they were. It was becoming increasingly
obvious to her that whatever Ash was doing, it wasn’t by his own choice. That
feeling of forced patience was very strong and judging from the random flashes
of irritation, his patience was running thin. Had something gone very wrong
that people needed his help? If so, then why wasn’t he using magic? She was
almost positive he wasn’t, as she wasn’t feeling any change in his magical
core. After two weeks of monitoring him, she was hyper sensitive to that.

Curiouser and curiouser.

It took changing streets three times before she heard his
voice, raised in exasperation. “I do appreciate the sentiment, truly, but I’ve
been here for over an hour now. Riana expects me to be somewhere else.”

“She’s a capable sort, she’ll find you.” A familiar male
voice responded. Was that Emil? “Now pay attention. You’re like to take a hand
off if you don’t.”

Completely baffled now, Riana followed her ears around the
carpenter’s shop and to the back, where the actual workshop sat. There she
finally found Ash, sitting on a bench with a hammer in one hand and a box of
nails at his elbow. He was set to put together a series of wooden crates, or so
it appeared.

Emil looked up at her entrance and greeted her with a smug
grin, or at least she assumed it was under that ginger beard of his. “There,
see? She found you fine.”

Ash gave her an apologetic smile. “Sorry.”

Now that she’d found him, and knew he was well, her
irritation eased. Crossing both arms over her chest, she greeted the pair of
them. “Lads. Care to tell me what ye be doing?”

“As to that, Miss Riana, we all talked after Ash was taken
back to Estole.” Emil readily jumped into the explanation. The tone almost made
it sound as if he had rehearsed this in his head, just in case. “It came to us
that perhaps he wouldn’t have collapsed like that if he had done more with his
hands and not relied on magic as much. And then we thought, schooled as he was,
and without a father growing up, that perhaps no one had taught him to work
with his hands.”

She felt it as much as saw it, the moment when realization
hit Ash and he felt the loss of something he should have had but was denied as
a child.

Emil, oblivious to this, kept talking. “So we decided that
when next he came, we’d all take him and teach him the basics of things. We
can’t afford him overworking himself like that again and to my mind it’s not
healthy either, using magic to solve all problems. Good hard work can do the
trick more often than not. So if you don’t mind, Miss Riana, I’d like to borrow
him for another hour until I’m sure he’s got a good grounding in woodworking.”

Ash was giving her a look that begged her to say no, she did
mind, and for her to take him away. But Emil’s argument was a good one and she
saw his point. Ash did rely a little too much on his magic because it was what
he was comfortable using, and also because he didn’t think of doing it with his
own hands instead. Oh, he was aware that people could and did build things with
labor. But for some reason he acted as if doing it that way didn’t apply to
him.

No, the settlers here had the right of it. If nothing else,
it would be good experience for Ash. So she smiled at Emil and said cheerfully,
“No, I do no’ mind. It be a good thought, Master Emil. By all means, teach
him.”

Her wizard gave her the most betrayed look that ever graced
the face of a man. She smiled at him, using it like a shield, and parked
herself on the bench next to his.

Watching this exchange, Emil cleared his throat. “Miss
Riana, by chance, do you know how to build crates?”

“As it happens, I do,” she admitted. And quite a few other
things, to boot.

Ash pointed a hammer at her. “Prove it.”

Taking the hammer from his hand, she picked up three nails
and a board. Then placing it on the frame, she gave the nail a quick tap to set
it before hitting it hard, driving it completely home with a single blow.
Picking up another board, she set it the same way, and within a minute had one
side in place.

“How’d you do that?” Ash demanded, astonished. “It takes me
at least four blows to get a nail in! And most of the time it goes crooked
halfway in!”

“Practice,” she purred at him, beyond amused at his
response.

His competitive spirit sparked. She felt it thrum along
their bond and Ash promptly took the hammer back from her, grabbed nail and
board, and set himself to try and copy what she had done. Emil gave a cough
that sounded suspiciously like a laugh. With his hand covering his lower face
like that, he well could have been hiding a smile. Riana sent him a wink on the
sly. Nothing like a little competition to focus an unwilling student.

Ash did not magically learn how to get a nail in with just
two blows after watching her, and he had her demonstrate several times how to
do it. His hammering skills did improve, though, so that he no longer bent the
nails. Or was forced to take out nails because the board slid on him. It took
the full hour, but he eventually got the crate together and was as proud of it
as if he had given birth to a child.

“Good!” Emil approved. He lifted it in his hands and looked
at it from every angle. “Yes, good. It’s sturdily built.”

Ash beamed at him.

Emil clapped his hands together. “Now. Next thing.”

Freezing in place, Ash gave him an unnerved look. “This
wasn’t the only thing?”

“Of course not,” Emil chided. He had a very parental look on
his face, the one that said a child had just asked a silly question. “We
noticed Miss Riana always does the cooking for breakfast. So next you’ll go to the
inn so Mistress Violet can teach you a few recipes.”

Riana was all for this as she thought it only fair that Ash
cook at least some of the time. So she grabbed him by the elbow and pulled him
off the bench. “Come along, Ash.”

Pointing an accusing finger at her, he grumped, “You’re
enjoying this.”

Aye, as a matter of fact, she was.

It didn’t end at making a crate and a learning how to fry
flat bread. No, of course not. Although seeing Ash try and fail to make the
simplest version of bread four times in a row was vastly entertaining, the
people here had a full list of things for him to learn, and didn’t let him
dwell on any one thing for more than an hour or so. Riana followed him from one
thing to another, internally snickering although she didn’t dare let it slip
out onto her face. Ash would have strangled her.

He went from cooking to sewing—nothing more than a simple
seam and buttons—and from there to leatherworking. Leatherworking, at least, he
seemed to know something about. Riana had a notion this was similar to
apprentice work he had done long ago and so it was not so foreign to him.

After that he went to the fields and helped with planting
some of the potatoes that were gathered. Riana’s group of child-helpers had not
been idle in her absence and had been racking in money by finding potatoes on
their own. They had almost a full field planted now. It warmed Riana’s heart to
see it, as this could feed a lot of people through most of the winter months.
The strain of the uncertain future eased.

It was there that Ashlynn and Broden found them, elbow deep
in soil and potato sprouts, with children and adults swarming about them.
Ashlynn put her hands on hips, arms akimbo, and surveyed the scene. “Ash, I
know that I said you shouldn’t use magic at all for this whole week, but
planting by hand?”

Ash straightened and gave his twin a sour look. “The people
here have gotten it in their heads that I collapsed because I overused my
magic—”

“You did,” she pointed out.

Glaring, he continued as if she hadn’t interrupted, “—and
that I overused my magic because I don’t know how to do anything by hand.
Hence, I have been run all over this place learning how to cook, sew, do
leatherworking, carpentry, masonry, and now planting.”

Ashlynn’s eyes went wide, a smile turning up the corners of
her mouth. “Really. Have they really? Oh, that’s marvelous. And hilarious!
You’ve become an apprentice settler.”

Helmi, nearby, overhead this. One eye squinted up in a
judicious frown, she grabbed a sack of potatoes from nearby and thrust it at
Ashlynn.

Blinking, Ashlynn looked down at her in confusion. “Yes?”

“You plant too,” Helmi ordered firmly.

Ash slapped a hand against his leg, roaring. “You just got
apprenticed right alongside me, sister dear! Get planting.”

“No, sweets,” Ashlynn responded, trying to reason with the
little girl, “I’m just here to check up on things, I don’t have time to plant
anything—”

Helmi got a stubborn look on her face and pushed the sack
right into Ashlynn’s stomach, forcing her to take them or have a bag dropped on
her toes. The wizard grabbed them out of reflex more than anything else.
Broden, chuckling, put a hand on her shoulder. “Lass, I think we can spare an
hour or three. Planting will no’ kill ye.”

“But, Broden—”

“Green, leafy bit stays on top,” he instructed with a grin.

Chapter Fifteen

Finding each other through bond alone was not something that
could be achieved in a day. In fact, even after three days of practice, Broden
barely had the hang of it. Not that they could spend three full days on the
exercise. The demand of their jobs was such they could spare a span of hours
and no more. Broden was not sure if he was grateful for that or not. He wanted
to catch on to this quickly, but he was not able to focus that intently for
more than two hours at a time. A man’s mind could only stand so much before
becoming a pile of goo.

Searching for Ashlynn through their link was akin to
prodding at a sore tooth that was not actually in your own head. You knew it
was there, could feel it, but did not have the ability to actually put a finger
readily on it. No wonder it took three days before he could at least determine
her general direction.

Ashlynn had an easier job of it simply because she was more
in tune with magic than he. It took her two days to reliably find his location
and three before she could walk directly to him every time. Broden’s
competitive spirit was rankled by this. The next time they practiced, he would
hide and then see how easily she could find him.

The moment might be several weeks away. Unfortunately, their
free time had come to an abrupt end this morning when Edvard summoned them. Ash
and Riana were in the middle of preparations for the trip, but he and Ashlynn
were able to respond promptly.

Broden sat at what had become the informal council table in
Edvard’s study, a frown on his face and a throbbing in his temples. “What do ye
mean, the old problems be coming back?”

“Old problems in a new way, I should say.” Edvard was
rubbing at his eyes with the pads of his fingers, beyond tired. “We finally
have an answer for why they haven’t made a move against us. Rather than sending
another army, Zelman is using us to his advantage. The Iyshian king has finally
found a way to pick a successor. We’re the proving ground. If a prince can
solve the problem of Estole, then they get the crown.”

Broden did not like the sound of that at all.

Ashlynn let out a feral, disgusted sound. “Kind of us to
provide him with a test.”

“Isn’t it though,” Edvard drawled sarcastically.

“The only thing that has given us a reprieve is that there’s
been so much in-fighting they haven’t been able to focus on us.” Ashlynn
thumped a fist against the table’s surface. “If that’s at an end, we’re in
trouble.”

“I know it,” Edvard acknowledged grimly.

In a desire to know what to brace himself for, Broden asked,
“There be three princes?”

“Yes,” Ashlynn confirmed. “The two oldest are twins, from
the first wife. The third son is from the second marriage. The oldest, Maddox,
is a brash, might-always-wins sort. He’s likely to gather up an army and march
right over us.”

Edvard picked up the thread smoothly. “The second prince, Savir,
is more thoughtful, more prone to other tactics. But he’s also used to
following his older twin’s lead. I only met him a few times, but he struck me
as the sort that doesn’t like to rock the boat. I’m not sure if he’s a very
strong contender.”

“And then there’s the third prince, Hendrix.” Ashlyn pursed
her lips, staring blankly up at the ceiling. “Not sure if he’s really a
contender at all.”

“He’s from the second marriage and has never been a favorite
of his father’s,” Edvard explained to Broden. “He doesn’t think like most of
his family. His father more or less banished him from court by sending him on
missions that take a full year or more to complete. I don’t think he’s been
home longer than a month in six years. The court might not remember he exists.”

“So,” Broden summed up, “It truly be the first prince who be
the only horse in the race.”

“More or less,” Ashlynn opined. “Edvard, I’ll start strengthening
Ash’s wall around the city with more wards, shall I?”

“Please,” the Estolian king requested wearily. “And where
I’m supposed to gather up an army is beyond me. Or how to equip one, for that
matter.”

“I think we definitely need Ash to go recruit more wizards.”
Ashlynn pushed the chair back and stood. “I’ll go talk to him about this
directly. It won’t hurt him to spend two days in the saddle while his magic is
recovering. I think he needs to leave tomorrow.”

Broden went hunting for Ash and Riana, knowing that the pair
were in the castle somewhere, but not sure where. He had heard they had gone
out shopping that morning to prepare for the trip. They were supposed to leave
the day after tomorrow, after all. But now that the timeline had been moved up
a day, Broden hoped that they had found all they wanted today, as they wouldn’t
have time to really go back out in the city in the search for anything else.

He started with their rooms and knew he was right once he
reached the hallway. He could hear a lot of laughter and yelling coming from
Ash’s room. The two of them were in a fine humor, it sounded like. The door was
wide open, so he just stepped inside, taking in the scene with a quick glance.

Riana stood behind one of the chairs, weight on her toes as
if ready to take off in either direction. In her hands was a nicely crafted
saddlebag made of dark leather and pretty stitch work. Ash was on the other
side of the chair, also on the tip of his toes, ready to give chase. He was
pointing an outraged finger at her although there was a grin on his face. “You
give that back.”

“But Ash, it be the perfect size,” she responded in all
innocence, eyes as wide as an unblushed maiden. “A lass always be needing more
luggage space, ye know that.”

“You are a mountain girl who has packing the bare
essentials down to an art form,” he shot back. “Don’t pull that innocent act
with me, I know better. I am not used to traveling and I want my bag back.”

“Ye be a wizard, ye can make do with less,” she riposted
still in that innocent, sweet tone. Broden knew that tone. She was teasing for
the sake of it and couldn’t give two hoots about the bag.

“I am not allowed to use magic for another two days and that
is so not the point. You can fit everything you want into just one side of that
thing, there’s no way you need another bag.” Ash thrust out a demanding hand.
“Give.”

Riana gave him a sunny, reassuring smile. “No mind that,
Ash. I can find things to fill the other side.”

“That is so not the point.” When words had failed him, he
darted sideways in a feint.

Not fooled, Riana stood right there, eyebrow arched in
challenge.

Growling, he gave up and began the chase, which was what
Riana had been waiting for this whole time. Giggling all the way, she skipped around
the side of the chair, using the placement of the furniture to her advantage to
block him from actually catching hold of her. The way she so deftly moved,
without a second of hesitation, made a man wonder if she had been planning
this.

Ash chased after her at first, but he soon caught on to the
pattern of her movements. Broden often forgot that Ash had been a lead general
in Edvard’s army, capable of strategizing and analyzing an enemy army’s
movements. So often he was the builder, the creator, the voice of reason that
it escaped Broden’s mind from time to time that he possessed a keen tactical
mind. In a flash, he saw that mind at work as Ash abruptly reversed directions,
spinning on his heel, and instead of giving chase to Riana, he put a hand on
the back of the chair and flipped himself neatly over it, catching her around
the shoulders.

Not in the least upset by this, Riana laughed out loud and
tried to wiggle free. Well, she acted as if she were trying. Her father knew
quite well that if she had really been trying, Ash would already be on
the ground and nursing a broken bone or three. No, this was play-acting at its
finest as Ash pretended he really wanted his saddlebag and Riana pretended she
had no intention of giving it back. What had started the game was anyone’s
guess, but Broden was of a mind that the two of them were in a mischievous mood
and anything would do. The saddlebag had been handy as a prop and nothing more.

He did not think that either of them had really noticed him,
wrapped up in each other as they were, but he was proven wrong. Ash, still
holding firmly onto Riana, and Riana with her arms outstretched as much as
possible to keep him from actually getting the saddlebag, both asked in unison,
“Need something?”

“Entertaining as this be, and loathe I am to interrupt it,
but there be a development.”

That finally caught their attention and they both dropped
their hands, turning to him. Broden hated to see it, as the joy and teasing of
the moment before fell away from their faces entirely and they became adults
again, expressions filled with a mix of resignation and determination. But what
he had said needed to be said, so he pushed his own feelings aside and
continued, “Our favorite king of Iysh has declared that whichever prince can
solve the riddle of Estole be the one that gets the crown.”

Ash gave a slow blink, and in those two seconds, understood
the full repercussions. “The first prince, Maddox, is the strongest contender.
He’s most likely to gather up an army and march straight for us. If he does,
we’ll be slaughtered. It won’t be like the previous times where they sent a
small force at us. This time, they’ll be prepared to face Ashlynn and me.”

“We need to leave tomorrow morning,” Riana said the obvious
aloud. “We have no more time.”

“We have some,” Ash corrected. “Just not much. Maddox can
hardly put together an army and march them toward us right now. It takes time
to make all the preparations, gather the supplies, set up the army’s command
before he can march. We still have spies in Iysh that can tell us when they’re
actually ready to leave. If he takes his time putting an army together, we
might be able to avoid a conflict this year altogether. He must strike within
the next three months otherwise he’ll be waging a battle in winter, and no fool
does that by choice.”

Riana had a look of open worry on her face. “We have time to
fetch help, then. Question stands, how much help?”

“Every single person we can find.” Ash took the saddlebag from
her, this time without so much as an acknowledgement he had done so, and turned
for Ashlynn’s room. “We need a brace of healing charms, I think. Riana, how
close are you to being packed?”

“I have no notion how to pack for a trip like this,” she admitted.
Nor would she, as she had never done it before. Even coming here, she had
simply packed everything she had. “Ye best check me.”

It was obvious to Broden that the two of them knew what
needed to be done. He called to them, “I will tell Edvard and Ashlynn ye be off
in the morning.”

“Do that,” Ash called back from inside the room. “Oh, and
Broden?”

“Aye?”

“Tell Ashlynn to write a letter to our master. I might need
it.”

Chapter Sixteen

Riana and Ash left at dawn’s break. Riana, a habitually
early riser, didn’t mind it but Ash certainly did. She was convinced he was
riding with one eye open, the other still glued shut with sleep. Eventually the
motion of the horse woke him up and he was paying attention by the time they
reached the far outskirts of Estole.

Ashlynn had told her that their master was outside of
Honora, south and west of Estole. It was clear across the country, actually,
which was why the journey would be so dangerous. No one thought that they would
need to break into any buildings, as they weren’t on a rescue, so this time
they chose to go light and fast. Just the two of them, traveling as incognito
as possible, and avoiding people as much as they could.

In an effort to blend in with the populace better, Riana had
a hat on to cover her distinctive red hair. Ash wore one as well, something
with a low brim, but she doubted it was a disguise on his part. Belike more an
effort to ward off the sun. His fair skin burned more easily than hers did.
Riana, used to the sun, didn’t mind it much. Ash had a very different opinion.

They had a rhythm with the horses: a fast trot for an hour,
a walk for an hour, pacing the beasts and themselves so that they didn’t
exhaust either but covered ground quickly. Riana timed it so that the next time
they were at a walk, she could ask, “Tell me more about yer master. Aside from
a mention here and there, I do no’ know much about the man.”

“Gerrard is his name. He’s a large man, gruff, blunt to the
point of leaving open wounds. He’s a good man, solid, and extremely capable. At
one time, probably thirty years ago, he was acknowledged as one of the best in
his field and the king himself appointed him as one of the wizards of the
court. But it didn’t last long.” Ash snorted, shaking his head. “I don’t know
why anyone thought it would. Master’s many things, but controllable is
not one of them. The man has a stubborn streak as wide as an ocean and he
doesn’t deal well with authority. To put him in a court position, of all
things, was folly. The height of folly. He lasted a full year and then left as
abruptly as he came in. He’s been on the outs with the magical community ever
since.

“In spite of that, he was still well recognized enough to
build his own academy. Well, I call it an academy, but he’s basically the only
teacher. The older students are set to teach specific things to the younger
ones, which is how he handles the workload. By the time that Ashlynn and I were
given to him, he’d had the school for about five years.”

He was smiling, saying this. For all of his protests about
his master not liking him much, he still remembered those student days with
fondness, eh? “So he be running this school of his for thirty years?”

“About that,” Ash agreed. “He’s produced some amazing
wizards, some even more talented than he himself. You wouldn’t think it,
looking at him, but he’s a very good teacher.”

He must be that, to produce wizards as capable as Ash and
Ashlynn. But in this story, Riana heard more than what he said. She started
making her own plans of what to say if Ash failed because she had a notion that
there was a possibility here, one that Ash had clearly not thought of.

Knowing well that she had only a map and a description to go
by, Ash was kind enough to give her updates as to where they were as they rode.
It gave her a sense of direction, certainly, but it also taught her the road.
Riana was certain that if something happened, and she had to navigate her way
back, then she could do it.

They stopped that night outside the edge of Estole’s
borders, properly in Iysh but near no major cities. There were only trading
posts and small villages along this part of the road, so small that some of
them didn’t even have names. Avoiding people as they were, they didn’t stop at
any of them, but instead found a depression off the side of the road that would
give them shelter from the wind and a place to hide a cook fire.

Ash set up a charm in camp to ward off insects, which
allowed them to be able to sleep comfortably. At dawn, they were up again, and
back on the road.

They were at a walk, the sun warming up her right side, and
thoughts of a mid-morning snack drifting through her head when Ash started
fumbling for his front breast pocket. Riana frowned, shifted in the saddle, and
finally heard the faint voice coming from that direction.

“Ash.” Ashlynn repeated again patiently. After a
solid decade of using these devices, both siblings had learned that they
weren’t particularly loud and sometimes you had to repeat yourself several
times before the other person could hear you.

“Here!” he said, voice going up in a short victory as he
finally got his necklace out. “Here. What’s going on?”

“Please explain to Edvard that he’s an idiot.”

Ash blinked and responded slowly, “I thought we had already
established that?”

From a distance, a voice protested, “Hey!”

“What has he done this time?” Ash prompted, grinning at being
able to rile his blood-brother even from a distance.

“We’ve been discussing ways to stop Iysh from marching
against us. Edvard is dead set on his plan, which isn’t possible. He wants to
sneak in and steal the treasury, or put a glamour over the treasury, or
something along those lines so that the Iyshian government believes it’s broke
and can’t afford to mount an army in the field.”

Ash pinched the bridge of his nose, hard. “And which fool
idiots are supposed to sneak into a highly guarded facility and steal all of
that money?”

“We are, of course.”

“And which other idiots are supposed to cart all of this
away? Because two people won’t begin to manage it.”

“I told you it wouldn’t work,” Ashlynn said
triumphantly to Edvard.

There was a distinct note of sulking that carried through
the caller clearly. “I don’t see anyone else coming up with a viable idea.”

“I thought half the reason why I’m on the road is to find us
a magical fighting force?” Ash responded, exasperated.

“I need builders just as much.”

Riana had to admit the truth of that. Most of the time, it
was the building that took up so much of the wizard’s efforts. Not the
fighting. Kneeing her horse closer, she pitched her voice to carry clearly. “We
promise to think on it.”

“Anything else going on that I should know about?” Ash
prompted.

“Not a thing,” his sister denied. “You do realize
that this will be the last time we can talk? We’re straining the limits of our
callers right now.”

“I know,” Ash assured her. “But it’ll be fine. We’re being
very cautious.”

“Glad to hear it. I have a worried father over here
fidgeting.”

Broden gave a wordless noise of protest that no one actually
bought into.

“Stay safe, you two.” The caller abruptly went quiet.

Ash studied the gold medallion in his hand. “She must have
been tying together at least two callers just to get that strong of a
connection. Our system has improved, but not by that much.”

Riana had been faintly surprised it worked at all. Not that
she really understood all of the magical mechanics behind it, just what had
been explained to her, and the pieces she’d overheard as the three wizards had
put their heads together to try and improve the system. Still, knowing that she
was now completely outside where she could call for help sent a tingle of unease
racing up her spine.

She spent the rest of the day riding under a cloud of trepidation.
Riana might have grown up in a hostile environment but she had never been alone
before. Well, she wasn’t alone now, but it was different. This was completely
foreign territory to her. She didn’t know where to go to hide, or for help, or
if help was even an option open to her. The only solid thing she had to depend
on was Ash, and even he was questionable at the moment because he hadn’t quite
gained all of his strength back yet. Instead of depending on him, it was more
like she felt she had to be strong enough he could depend on her.

Not for the first time, she wished that they had been given
another two or three days’ grace so that Ash could get his full strength back
before taking to the road. This was indeed nerve-racking.

They found a nice copse of trees that night that was set a
small distance from the road. It didn’t have water, but it gave good shelter
for a cook fire, so Riana was quite happy with the spot. She settled into
making camp with a small sense of security.

It was a feeling that Ash obviously didn’t feel as he
immediately went around to the trees and started setting up a ward.

She frowned while watching him. “Ash, be that necessary?”

“I’m not going to be able to sleep tonight out in the open
like this without a ward up.”

While she did see his point, she had to wonder at this
choice as he wasn’t supposed to use magic at all for another day. And even
after that day had passed his sister had restricted him to minor magicks and
not anything remotely on the scale that he had been doing.

Seeing him work magic set ill with her, but she let it lie
and continued setting up camp. As he set his ward, she went out and gathered
firewood, as she wouldn’t be able to do that later, and answered a call of
nature while she was out of sight of him. That accomplished, she came back with
an armful and set it in the middle, setting up a fire ring.

Riana turned to find flint in her packs when she heard a whoosh
sound behind her and the crackle of flame. Snapping about, she found that Ash
had set the fire magically ablaze. “Ash! Be still, man.”

Startled at this chastisement, he jerked his head up. “What?
Oh, no, Riana this barely takes any power at all.”

She glared at him. “Yer sister be adamant on this, Ash. No
using magic at all. The ward I let pass as it be dangerous out here
alone, but the fire be a different story. That we need no’ use magic for. Use
yer hands.”

He looked set to argue this but at the fierce frown on her
face, he reconsidered that idea and subsided. The set to his mouth wasn’t quite
a sulk but it was near enough to look ridiculous on a grown man. Riana stared
at him, bemused and exasperated all at once. Was he in such a habit of doing everything
with magic that he found it too tedious to do it the old fashioned way?

Trying to set aside her irritation, she reached for the pack
of food and shifted through it. What to do for dinner? They still had bread,
and jerky, and meats and cheeses. She could do some cold-cut sandwiches but
they’d had that for lunch, eating in the saddle. Might as well take advantage
of the fire while they could. A stew would require a lot of water, which they
didn’t have, so perhaps roasting something in the coals would be the best ch—

From behind her, she felt it when Ash used just a trace of
magic. She whirled about on her heels so quickly that she nearly upsetting her
own balance. He had a finger on the ground, tracing a design into it that she
recognized, designed to make the ground softer to lay on. Her temper flared hot
and wild and she nearly tackled him. “QUIT!”

Ash jerked away from her, eyes wide. “Riana! Stop reacting
like that, you’re scaring me.”

“I be scaring ye? Me?” It took great control but she didn’t
reach out and start strangling him. “Ye be scaring me. Ash, be sensible!
The comfort of a night’s sleep be no’ worth using magic now.”

He got that look on his face that said he was forcing
himself to be patient. But this close to him, with their emotions running high,
she knew he was feeling anything except that. “Riana, it’s little traces of
magic—”

She had heard that excuse enough times that it grated along
her nerves and she had no patience to listen to it again. “Lovenanty, man, but
do ye take me as a fool? No magic at all be what yer sister said. Ye
agreed with her at the time! And now ye find excuses here and there to cheat.
It be akin to poking at an open wound over and over, just a little here and
there. It will break it open again, ye know it will.”

“It’s not the same principal at all—”

“That be how Ashlynn described it to me, and at the moment,
I trust her more than ye.” Riana knew the second those words left her mouth
that she should have phrased it differently. It struck a chord in him that was
better left alone.

A dark thundercloud swept over his face and he growled at
her. “Then maybe you should have been her partner.”

She felt sorry for the way she had worded it, but her stance
was still right, and it wasn’t something that she could take back. For his
sake. So she held firm. “It would no’ have gone well for ye. Me dad’s like to
clobber ye for rashness like this. Ash. It be another day. Ye can no’ wait
another day?”

“Exactly. It’s one more day. What difference does a day
make?”

Right. That tack hadn’t worked. Time to try another one. “We
be alone out here, far from help, and I will no’ know what to do if ye fall
again.”

“I’m not going to collapse!” he nearly shouted at her. “My
magical core is fine!”

“Ye said that to me the very morning ye went down!” she
shouted back. A dam burst open and she lost what grip she had on her temper.
“Blessed be, Ash, I can no’ trust ye to take care of yerself. Ye proved that to
me a week ago. For both our sakes, leave off on the magic.”

He abruptly stood and turned his back to her. “I’m not
arguing this anymore.” Gait like a miffed tiger, he stalked out of the ring of
the camp.

Alarmed, she shot up to her feet as well. “Where be ye
going?!”

“For a walk!” he practically snarled, not even glancing back
at her.

Riana stared at his retreating back in open dismay. That had
not gone well. Not at all. They’d never argued before like this so she didn’t
know if Ash was the type to sulk for long or not. This wasn’t the right sort of
place for them to have discord between them.

Hopefully it didn’t take him long to regain his temper.

Chapter Seventeen

Three hours passed with no sign of Ash returning.

Riana had at first thought to let the man have his space. It
was only after he had left that she realized where she had gone wrong with the
argument. All of her life, she and her father had been partners. They worked
together in every single aspect in order to survive, so she was used to
depending on a partner and being depended on in return. It was as natural to
her as breathing. Switching partners to Ash had been uncertain at first because
she’d never worked with anyone aside from her father, so it was new and
different. But at the same time, it was the same, as she was basically doing
what she had always done.

What she had failed to consider was that Ash was completely
different from her. He had never once had a partner growing up. While he and
Ashlynn were twins, and worked well together, they normally didn’t team up on
projects because their talents and specializations were different. To Ash, the
concept of having a partner was welcome but radically different from normal. He
was still getting accustomed to the idea of having her. Being an independent
man most of his life, he didn’t really know how to depend on her yet. He was
far more comfortable with having her depend on him, as that was how people had
interacted with him most of his life.

All of that boiled down to this: telling him that he could
not work, that he could not do what he had trained for years to do, would not
go over well. That wide, stubborn, independent streak of his would make him
rebel against such a saying. Whether or not it was coming from his partner
would make no difference. Ash took care of the world—that was what he thought
he was supposed to do. It had driven him into the ground to begin with. Her
mistake had been in thinking that a simple word from her would change him.

Three hours of introspection had told her what she had said
wrong, but that didn’t necessarily mean that she knew what to change to make it
right. But she did know that she couldn’t afford to sit there any longer. It
had become very late, the fire was down to embers, and Ash was wandering around
in country he didn’t know that well. If he found trouble, he would be ill
prepared to meet it head on, his condition being what it was. Riana sat there
and debated for a full minute on what to do. Her first instinct was just to get
up and track him but she couldn’t leave the camp as it was. There had been
sparse traffic on the road today and she’d seen nary a sign of bandits, but
that didn’t mean it wise to leave everything behind.

Finally, she decided to pack back up before looking for Ash.
She stuffed everything back in the packs, re-saddled the horses, and then
grabbed a branch from nearby to make herself a makeshift torch. With that
lighting her path, the reins of the horses in her free hand, she set off in the
direction Ash had disappeared into.

In pitch darkness like this with only torchlight to go by,
tracking a man wasn’t the easiest thing in the world. The ground was hard,
there were barely any signs to go by, and it became a guessing game very
quickly if she was reading Ash’s tracks or someone else’s. Riana managed
several hundred feet before she came to rocky ground and the tracks disappeared
completely. She stopped dead.

Disgusted, she growled at the ground, “This be a fine
pickle. When I find the man, I be giving him an earful, see if I do no’.”

At this point she only had two options left to her. She
could go back to the camp and wait, hoping that nothing would happen to Ash
during the night and that he’d find his way back to her at some point. She
didn’t like that option at all. It sat ill in her stomach like bad food would.

The other option would be to put their bond to use and see
if she couldn’t find him that way. In practicing at the settlement, she never
had quite caught the knack of it. She could feel his emotions strongly now and
she had a very good sense of his magical core, after concentrating on it for a
straight week. But locating him using those two things had proven to be
difficult in the extreme. She only had a vague indication that he was off in
that direction, somewhere.

If she decided to follow the bond, then she would also be
resorting to wandering around out here in the darkness, which wasn’t exactly a
safe thing to do. Sitting alone in a camp was marginally safer but the idea
still set ill with her. Stuck between two options, neither one of them that
appealing, Riana wasn’t quite sure what to decide.

As she stood there debating with herself, Ash decided the
matter for her. She was as focused on him as ever and she felt several emotions
from him that spoke of nervousness, discomfort, and growing unease. It told a
story to her—he was most likely lost.

“Of course he be,” she said to the horses, glad for someone
to speak to even if they did have four legs and a tail. “Because when he has a
mad-on, he stalks off any which way and pays no’ a mite of attention to where
he be going. So of course he did that and now has no reckoning of where he be.
I really will wring his neck when I find him, mark me on that.”

The horses, sleepy after a long day, blinked at her and did
not respond.

Blowing out a steady stream of air, she tried to calm
herself enough to concentrate. Her da had said that finding someone through a
bond was akin to searching for an aching tooth that wasn’t in your own head.
Riana had laughed at the analogy. It was a rather accurate description though.
That was exactly what she felt like she was doing. She closed her eyes and focused
entirely on that feeling of Ash, magical core, emotions, all of it.

Slowly, she opened her eyes again. It was tenuous, but she
had the distinct impression that he was ahead and to the left. Torch held high
to light her way, she set off in that direction. Her pace was not quick,
partially because of the uncertain footing, partially because she was mapping
out her route mentally so she could trace her steps back to the camp, but
mostly because she was afraid that if she went too fast she’d lose the feeling
of where Ash was.

Curious thing was, the further she walked, the more sure of
herself she became. The sense of him became stronger in her head. She had no
idea of distance—that part wasn’t clear at all—but she knew he was directly
ahead of her. Or was it because she was getting closer that she could feel him
better?

From the darkness, a familiar voice floated out from in
between the trees, “—should never, ever have walked off like that. No matter
how mad I was. If Riana has to come find me, she’ll flay me. And I’ll never
live it down.” There was a string of curses and then a hint of light bobbed in
between the trunks. “I wish I could make the mage light brighter than this. Why
do these things take so much energy?”

Relieved, she nearly skipped ahead to meet him but
restrained herself. In a loud voice, she called ahead, “I have no notion, but
ye best snuff it quick-like!”

There was dead silence. “Riana?”

“Aye, Ash.”

“I’m never living this down.”

“Not even if ye live to be a hundred,” she agreed. Almost giddy
with relief, she lengthened her stride as much as she dared, meeting him
halfway.

When her light came in close enough to illuminate him, Ash
let his mage light wink out. The lighting was dim enough that half his face was
shadowed but she didn’t need to see to know he felt remorseful for the whole
debacle. But there was another emotion mixed in that she couldn’t quite read.
Anticipation?

“Riana.” His voice held a note of hope and curiosity. “Did
you track me?”

“No tracks to follow,” she denied. “Ground be too rocky for
that.”

“So you used our bond?” Ash didn’t wait for a response, just
punched a victorious fist in the air. “Good for you! I wonder why it worked out
here better when you struggled with it so much in Estole?”

“Too much of a safety net at home, I be thinking. Here, I
had no choice but to find ye.”

“That…could well be it. Humans are capable of doing amazing
things when their backs are against a wall.” Sounding as if he were trying to
make the best of things, he declared, “Well. Good you figured out how to do
it.”

“Ash.”

He groaned, “I know. It won’t save me. I’m still in
trouble.”

“Aye. Glad ye ken.”

His head cocked slightly. “But you don’t feel that angry to
me?”

Riana mentally swore. The problem with the bond now being
strong enough to feel emotions was that Ash could always know her state of
mind. Like now. When she really should be angry with him, what she mainly felt
was relief.

Ash eased up to her and put arms tentatively around her
waist. “So. Um. My apologies for losing my temper.”

She felt his sincerity, and her own anger subsided a little.
“Apologies for nagging. Ash, be clear on this: very little in this world be as
important to me as ye. So if I see ye doing something that will harm yerself, I
will speak out.”

“I know you will.” His voice was husky with emotion and his
grip tightened on her. “I’ll try to remember that in the future.”

It was a good enough compromise for this moment. She let go
of her anger, expelling it all out in one long breath. “Well enough.” Stepping
back, she jerked her head, indicating back the way they had come. “Let’s
return.”

Taking one set of reins from her, he climbed into the
saddle. “Ah, where am I, anyway?”

Got well and truly lost, eh? Snorting, she turned them
around the right direction. “Camp be back this way.”

“You brought everything with you, looks like.”

“Aye. Did no’ dare leave it unguarded.”

“That’s probably wise. Iysh is very unsettled and somewhat
lawless these days.” There was a pregnant pause and then Ash spoke in a
wondering tone, “I think our bond strengthened again.”

She twisted hard enough to make the leather saddle creak.
“What?!”

“Close your eyes,” he urged, “test it for yourself.”

Promptly, Riana did just that. She focused on their bond in
the back of her head and found that he was right. His presence was stronger
now. In fact, it was almost tangible, as if she could reach out and touch it.
“It be no’ because of how close we be.”

“No, has nothing to do with distance,” he agreed. He was
nearly chortling with happiness. “Well. Something good came out of this fight
after all.”

Somehow that didn’t surprise her. Only people that were
truly close to each other could fight and reconcile. That didn’t mean she
wanted to continuously fight with Ash, though. Riana wasn’t the sort to seek
conflict, especially not with her nearest and dearest. “All the same…”

“We’ll try not to fight again in the future,” he assured
her, still happy.

Glad he understood that. She led them back to their camp
with the hope that they would sleep well with what they had left of the night
hours.

The next week of traveling was uneventful and yet it was
precious time all the same. They got up early each morning, decamped and rode
until the light faded, made camp, and slept. The routine didn’t change. As they
rode, they spoke more freely and they tried several exercises that helped them
both grasp exactly how their bond worked. While Ash had never before had a
partner, every wizard knew what it was like to have one in theory, so he had a
rough idea of what to do. This was the first time that they both had time to
just focus on their bond without any distractions in the way. The exercises
didn’t always work, Riana struggled to grasp some of them because of her lack
in magical training, but the ones she could do, they did repetitively. Doing
them strengthened it yet again, although more gradually. She was glad for this
instruction as it became more obvious to her how to really read the bond.
Instead of it being there and steady, she now could read the nuances of
how it felt. Things like distance became more obvious to her. If Ash got
himself lost again Riana was now confident that she could track him down
without trouble.

To their mutual relief, they arrived in Honora without
trouble. In her life, Riana had never seen a place so big. Even Estole didn’t
compare. The city to her eyes was massive, a sprawling complex that stacked
people on top of people. How did someone live in such close quarters with so
many strangers and stay sane? It boggled her mind. It had taken her weeks just
to get used to Estole and it was a fifth of the size of this place.

Ash must have sensed her unease as he reassured her, “The
academy isn’t actually in Honora.”

Phew. “So we do no’ need to go into the city.”

“No, actually we want to go south of it.”

Thank the heavens for small favors. “Lead the way, then.”

Her wizard might easily get lost if he ventured off into the
countryside, but give him roads to follow, and he knew exactly where to go. He
struck off confidently to a southern highway and then branched off again onto a
side road that was smaller but still large enough to let a cart travel
comfortably. They followed that for a good hour before he lifted a finger and
pointed off to the left. “There it is.”

Riana lifted a hand to shield her eyes from the afternoon
sun, squinting to see better. She had never seen an academy of any sort before
so had no idea what to expect. But this place looked more like a church to her
than a school. “An abbey?”

“It used to be,” Ash confirmed. “Master Gerrard bought it decades
ago and restored it. I understand it had been abandoned by the church because
it was just falling to pieces. It took a full year before it was habitable
again. The academy has been here ever since.”

That seemed a strange thing to do, to buy an abbey and
restore it to teach magic in. “Why did he buy it?”

“I understand it was dirt cheap,” Ash responded, eyes still
trained on the academy. “Cheaper than buying land and building something. As a
student there, I enjoyed it immensely. There were all sorts of hidden spots
that a child could play in.”

Thereby suggesting…that this church had its secrets?
Interesting. After the way that all of the churches had reacted to Estole, she
wasn’t too surprised by that.

No one was outside the abbey when they approached. Riana
felt the tingle of something in the air, and she recognized the feel of a ward
instantly. This tingle didn’t feel comfortable but that was undoubtedly because
it was someone else’s magic. If it had been Ash or Ashlynn’s, it would have
been completely comfortable. This was actually the first time that Riana had
been in direct contact with magic that wasn’t the twins’ doing. It felt very,
very strange. She didn’t care for it at all.

Ash lifted a hand and spoke a word and the area around them
cleared of the ward, like a portal door opening. She expected Ash to
immediately ride through but he paused, straightening his shirt and coat,
smoothing a hand over his hair, and such.

Nervous, eh? “Ash.”

“I know, I know, don’t be nervous.”

“It will be fine,” she soothed.

He sucked in a deep breath, let it out again. “I hope you’re
right. Let’s go.”

Chapter Eighteen

They rode into the courtyard, Riana looking around in every
direction. The place from the inside seemed more like a fortress than an abbey,
what with the stout walls and the guard towers on each side. She saw students
crossing back and forth, none of them younger than eight and one in her early
twenties. This was the first she’d heard that even full-grown adults could
study magic. But the woman was clearly a student as she wore the same patch on her
sleeve.

Ash stopped off to the side, dismounting and tying his horse
to a hitching post. Riana followed suit.

“Ashtian Fallbright!” a voice boomed out over the courtyard.

Ash flinched, looking wide-eyed and guilty. Riana blinked,
staring up at him with growing confusion. “Ash? Why be ye looking like ye got
caught with a hand in the honey jar?”

“Force of habit?” he muttered back to her.

Her humor kicked in at that point and she had to bite her
bottom lip to keep from smiling. “By chance, be ye a troublemaker as a boy?”

“Only half the time.”

“And the other half the time, ye be sleeping,” she finished
in a drawl.

Ash relaxed enough to give her a wink. “I did grow out of
it.” Saying that seemed to remind him that he was an adult now, hadn’t done
anything to get him trouble, and he should be able to face his old master
without flinching. He took in a breath, squared his shoulders and raised a hand
in greeting. “Master Gerrard.”

Gerrard was a powerful figure of a man. He was as big and
muscle-bound as any soldier, tall enough to make Ash look a little on the short
side. His hair was greying but still thick, beard neatly trimmed and also shot
with grey. In Riana’s perspective, his dark eyes were sparkling with delight in
seeing his former student. He held out a hand, which Ash firmly grasped, and
greeted in a low timbre, “Well met, you scoundrel. For a traitor of Iysh, you
look well enough.”

Ash took this as the compliment it was meant and responded
honestly, “You haven’t aged I day, I swear you haven’t.”

“Ha! The age is in my bones, not on my face. Where’s my
Ashlynn?”

‘My’ Ashlynn, was it? No wonder Ash felt his twin was more
favored than he.

“At Estole, still.” Ash retrieved his hand. “She’s actually
Sheriff of Estole now, running the whole city.”

“Not a criminal wants to cross her, I bet.” Gerrard was
delighted while saying this. “And this pretty little archer at your side?”

Riana held out her own hand. “Riana Ravenscroft. I greet ye,
Master Gerrard.”

“She’s my partner,” Ash tacked on.

Gerrard clasped hands with her and really looked her over,
gaze intense. “Is she now. May harmony find you, Miss Ravenscroft. Rare to see
a female partner, very rare. I’m glad Ash found you.” He released her hand and
took in the pair of them. “I doubt this is a social call, considering how
dangerous it is for you to be wandering about Iysh. But let’s go inside and
talk about it. This heat is too much for an old man.”

After being out in the summer sun for a week and a half
solid, Riana was looking forward to sitting somewhere cool and shady.

They followed him inside through arched doorways and into a
building that had seen a lot of use. It didn’t look poorly maintained, but more
like in the time it had existed, it had seen many comings and goings. There
were blast marks that had been mended, deep gouges that had been mostly fixed,
and signs that certain walls had either been replaced or repainted recently.
The hallways were wider than usual, as well as the doors, and Riana wondered at
it.

Gerrard led them directly down the main hallway until they
ended up in a large, spacious room that had twenty-foot rafters. Three
fireplaces were in the room, directly ahead and one to either side. All of them
had benches and chairs set about them. In between the fireplaces were rows of
tables and benches. Was this a gathering place for all of the students? Must
be. Several were there now, books spread out over the tables, or plates of
food, or sometimes both as people studied and ate at the same time. They
glanced up as newcomers came in, then stopped and stared outright for several
seconds before excitedly chatting to their neighbors. Riana heard the words
“Ash Fallbright,” “rebellion,” and “one of the best students” several times.
Ho. Ash had been one of Gerrard’s best students? Now that was a piece of
information she hadn’t heard before.

Gerrard ignored the lot of it, as did Ash, and headed for
the central fireplace. He plopped down in a chair that was apparently the
favorite, with Ash taking up a chair next to him. Riana, by default, chose the
chair next to Ash. The bench right in front of the cold fireplace tempted her,
but it would put her at an awkward angle in speaking with the other two. She
chose not to crane her neck.

Crossing one leg over another, Gerrard commanded, “So. Tell
me what brings you here.”

“How much are you aware of? About what’s going on at the
moment, I mean,” Ash hedged.

“Likely more than you. I still have ears in the court that
pass things along to me. Can’t be the master of a wizarding school and survive
otherwise. So tell me what brought you here.”

Ash took in a breath, to steady his nerves or find his
courage—she wasn’t sure. Mayhap both. “We need help.”

Gerrard gave no sign of what he thought of this request
aside from a lift of the eyebrows. “You need help.”

“We’re completely shorthanded,” Ash admitted frankly before
launching into part of his prepared speech. “When we started this, we had no
intention of founding a growing nation. Edvard simply wanted to be independent
of Iysh, to overturn the Bindings, so that he could better care for his family
and his people. We didn’t anticipate that so many other people would throw off
Iysh and join us. Now the city is bursting at the seams, we’re spreading over
the channel and creating a settlement there, and still we can’t keep up with
the influx of people. It’s run Ashlynn and me into the ground and we simply
can’t keep up with the workload. Honestly, if an army came at us right this
minute, they’d win because we’re too exhausted to put up much of a fight.”

His master gave a snort at this. “You don’t have to tell me
that. I can see it by looking at you. Tell me, did you stop before you drove
yourself into magical exhaustion, or did you collapse and scare the magic right
out of your partner?”

Riana gave Ash a dirty look.

“Ah, I can see it on her face. You collapsed.” Gerrard shook
his head in exasperation. “I wonder some days why I bothered to teach you
anything, I truly do. You never do what I tell you to.”

Ash flushed, not able to meet either of their eyes.

It occurred to her that if the master could still see the
signs of depletion, then Ash might not be as recovered as she thought. Alarmed
at this thought, she jerked taut in her chair. “Be he still—”

Gerrard waved her down. “His core has recovered, he’s fine. It’s
nothing more than flickers along the edges where his core hasn’t completely
stabilized yet. He can’t be doing anything momentous for another week yet, but
everyday things are fine.”

Relieved, she sank back into her seat.

Addressing his student again, Gerrard growled, “You idiot.
Are you asking me to send some of my students in there, knowing they’ll do the
same fool things you’re doing?”

“This situation isn’t permanent,” Ash quickly assured him.
“I mean, the number of people coming in even now is plateauing. And when winter
hits, we’ll have a chance to catch up and get everything done. I just need to
borrow people for a few months. If, however, you know of anyone that would like
to throw off the old Bindings and make a new start in life, then they’re
welcome in Estole. Edvard is offering full citizenship to anyone that moves
there.”

“Ha!” Gerrard rolled his eyes expressively to the ceiling.
“He thinks a few months and he can catch up on things. And what about that army
that will likely come at you? You have any plan for them?”

“It’s not something I’ll involve your students in,” Ash
responded painfully neutrally. “If a wizard wants to join us, that will be
their choice to make, whether they fight or not.”

Riana frowned at him. This was not what she thought he
should be saying. Shouldn’t he be more persuasive? Wasn’t he here to get them
fighters as well as builders?

Gerrard turned and said to her, “The problem I always had
with this whelp is that he didn’t really know how to ask for help. Oh, on the
surface, it looks like he is. He says the words well enough. But what he really
needs help with, that he won’t ask for, as it’s too much of an imposition to
burden someone else with it. You won’t believe how many times he nearly got
himself killed by taking too much on all at once.”

“Oh, I believe it fine,” she assured him darkly.

“That right?” Gerrard cast Ash a glance. “How long have you
two been partners? And already she’s mad at you. It’s not good, Ash. Keep that
up, and she’ll leave, and you’ll never be able to replace her.”

Ash gave Riana a pained smile. “I know.”

“He knows, he says. Ha! I’ll have to see that to believe
it.” Putting his hands on the armrests, Gerrard pushed himself to his feet.
“The problem with students is, you never really get done raising them. They
always come back to you. Never when they need to, mind, but when things have
gotten to a ridiculous stage.”

Riana’s lips parted in delight as she cottoned on to his
meaning. “Ye be coming.”

“What?” Ash asked in confusion, looking between the two of
them.

Gerrard grinned at her, eyes crinkling up. “Always was.
Mind, I’m still mad that neither he nor Ashlynn thought to invite me to this
party at the start. But I never intended to just sit here.”

Ash bolted to his feet. “You’re coming?!”

“Pssh, boy, you think I like Iysh? All of those rules they
make me obey, and all these students they don’t want me to train because
they’re not from the right ‘class,’ never mind how powerful or how talented
they are. You think I like any of that? Of course I’m going to Estole. Your
king is sensible and if he’s offering full citizenship to everyone, I’m taking
it.”

For the first time, Ash really looked around him, eyes
taking in the room and perhaps the academy with new eyes. “You’re packed.”

“Oh, finally noticed how empty the place is, eh?” Gerrard
chuckled. “Been packing for months. If you hadn’t come to talk to me by the end
of next week, I was coming to Estole without an invitation or by-your-leave.
Taking my whole academy with me. No sense leaving them here.” Adopting a more
serious demeanor, Gerrard said in a mock-serious tone, “I trust your King
Edvard won’t mind.”

“He won’t,” Ash breathed, caught up in surge of delight.

“Even if he does, come anyway,” Riana said firmly.

Gerrard thought that funny and chuckled. “I do like this
girl, Ash. Young lady, where does that cute accent come from?”

“Cloud’s Rest.”

“All the way up there?” He seemed genuinely surprised. “If
that’s the case, how did you two meet?”

“That be a fine tale. Mayhap I can tell it to ye as we
travel to Estole?” Riana offered.

“Stories and traveling go best together,” Gerrard agreed.
“In that case, tonight we focus on packing everything up. Tomorrow morning, we
head out. If we leave Iysh tonight, it wouldn’t be soon enough to suit me.”
Clapping his hands together, Gerrard called out to the students in the room,
ordering them to start packing and move smartly about it.

Riana leaned into Ash’s side and whispered, “And why be ye
worried that the man might not help, again?”

“You have to understand, most of my childhood, that man was
busting my arse for getting into trouble. As an adult, rebelling against a
country is probably the most serious ‘trouble’ you can land yourself in. How
was I to know that he would so readily join in?”

Ah, had that been it? “Ash. Yer sister be right. Ye cannot
properly see the man.”

He looked at her in complete confusion. “Eh?”

“Do ye no’ recognize a fellow troublemaker when ye see one?”
She pointed with her chin at Gerrard. “The man was making sure that as a child,
ye did no’ follow in his footsteps. But now yer a grown man, he does no’ have
to guide ye along anymore. Now he can just join in.”

“That…” Ash burst out, only to trail off. His eyes went wide
as memories hit, seen now from an adult perspective instead of a child’s.
“That…he’s…”

“Ah, ye see it now, eh?” she said knowingly.

“But how did you catch on to that so quickly?” he protested.

“Ash.” She said it as patiently as she knew how. “The man
was thrown out of court for causing a ruckus and then founded a school where he
constantly thwarts the Powers That Be. I knew afore coming he be a
troublemaker.”

Her partner was reduced to incoherent sputtering.

Amused at his response, she put both hands out and pulled
him to his feet. “Best we help the man pack, I think. No need to let moss grow
on this rolling stone.”

Chapter Nineteen

Riana’s initial assumption about older students turned out
to be wrong. Some of the students, having not been in the right ‘station’ in
life, or lacking the backing that Ash and Ashlynn had, were not able to find
work. So they stayed on at the academy and acted as teachers. In the course of helping,
Riana came to know the two women very well—Maree and Loraine.

Maree was as dark as she was fair, black hair wiry and
constantly up in braids, and had a very taut build that spoke of many hours of
training with weapons. Riana knew that she fought with a staff and was itching
to spar with the woman, but they simply didn’t have the time at the moment.
Loraine had hair nearly as dark but with extremely fair skin and a short,
petite build. Strangely enough, for a woman of her size, she was also the one
with the best lungpower and could shout down a whole room full of rowdy
students. The two women were radically different from her but Riana still felt
that at their cores, they were the same, and it was because of that she liked
them instantly.

Because Gerrard had done so much preparation beforehand, it
was more a matter of loading everything into carts than actually packing.
Within a day they had the academy empty and loaded, including twenty students, two
teachers, and the master himself. Riana felt like crowing. They had been sent
out to find a few wizards and were coming back with twenty-three.

Edvard was right. Sending Ash out was a good choice. The man
always came back with more than he was sent to find.

Riana climbed on her horse and rode out that morning with a
sense of giddy anticipation for their reaction when they reached Estole.
Everyone there would be certainly surprised and ecstatic. She also had a prayer
in her heart that they wouldn’t run into trouble trying to get everyone there.
Wizarding students they might be, but they were still young and she didn’t want
them to have to fight just yet.

Maree, on top of one of the wagons, braced a foot against
the sideboard and leaned over to speak to her more easily. “Riana. Tell me more
about this king of yours. Ash mentioned him to us while we were still studying
together but I never got much in the way of details.”

Student days? Ah, right, Maree and Ash and Ashlynn had all
been students at the same time. “Edvard be a fine man. A just one. He be like
Ash and takes too much upon himself and does no’ ask for help as he should. We
want to strangle him sometimes because of it. But he be a fine leader and one I
be glad to help.”

“Is that so.” Maree had a contemplative look on her face.
“We heard wildly conflicting reports on why he rebelled against Iysh. Master
said it was likely not the reason we were told, as Iysh has a habit of altering
the truth to suit their purposes. Do you know?”

“Oh aye, I know.” Riana launched into the story of how
Estole came to be its own country. It didn’t escape her notice that during this
telling, everyone that was within earshot came in closer, trying to hear her
better.

When the story came to an end, Maree and Loraine exchanged
knowing glances. “To protect family. Now that figures,” Loraine stated,
satisfied to have her curiosity quelled. “Especially with Gwen between them, of
course Ash and Ashlynn would be so supportive of the venture.”

“They might have re-thought it, if they’d had a notion of
what they be getting themselves into,” Riana said cheerfully.

Loraine laughed. “Yes, I’m sure Ash has wondered many times
just how he got caught up in all of this. But I’m curious as well to how Ash
met you.”

“Ah, that. It be a simple story. He came up to Cloud’s Rest,
looking for the right timber to build a protective wall around Estole. Me da
and me contracted out to watch his back from bandits as he worked. As the day
went on, bandits attacked, we fought back, and Ash discovered that the two of
us could stand within his magic.”

Loraine and Maree shared twin looks of surprise. “Both of
you?” they said in near unison.

“Aye. Feels good to us.” Although Gerrard’s magic, which had
been responsible for the ward around the academy, had not felt comfortable at
all. She could probably put up with it if she had to but she wouldn’t by choice
enter into his shields. “Ash badgered us into coming back with him—” not that
it had taken much “—and so we did. Me da be Ashlynn’s partner.”

Maree got a contemplative look on her face, eyes darting
between Riana and Ash, who was riding ahead with Gerrard. “I would think the
two girls would pair up, as would the men?”

Riana knew very well what she was thinking. And the
possibility was certainly there. At least, Riana felt it was there on her side,
and was fervently hoping that Ash felt the same. But an open road was not a
place to share such tentative hopes and secrets so she responded instead, “Be a
matter more of convenience. At least to start. Ashlynn be Sheriff of Estole,
see, and me da’s the sort of man that can intimidate by standing there
breathing. He helps with her work in a way I can no’.”

“Ahhh,” Loraine said in a tone of understanding. “I hadn’t
considered that, but two women going around wouldn’t have quite the
intimidation factor that the job would need. It’s stupid, but people don’t look
at a pretty woman and think, ‘This person can probably cause me a world of hurt
if I step out of line’ even if they know that one of them is a fully trained wizard.
Or an archer, in your case.”

Said archer shrugged because she couldn’t disagree.

“I heard this morning in passing Ash saying something to
Master about putting the academy across the channel?” Loraine trailed off in a
questioning tone.

“There be no room for it in Estole proper,” Riana explained.
“But we be expanding over the channel, making a settlement, so that people have
room to breathe. In time, I think it will be more an extension of the city.” It
already had the makings of that and the streets and buildings were barely in.

Maree looked worried by this, her teeth chewing uncertainly
on her bottom lip. “But isn’t The Land Northward Iyshian territory?”

“They had three hundred something years to do something with
it and did no’,” Riana said cheerfully. “It be ours now.”

There were several giggles behind her as some of the
students, listening in, found her rebellious attitude funny. She glanced back
and found five of them sitting on top of the boxes, their ears bent her
direction. Riana had not yet managed to put names to all the faces but she knew
two: Sarah and Violet.

Seeing they had caught her attention, Sarah was brave enough
to ask, “Will there be much fighting? Master said Iysh was probably going to
march an army against Estole.”

Riana looked at Sarah and saw a pretty little brunette that
couldn’t be more than fifteen. Those dark eyes, looking at her so innocently,
made her wonder what her life would have been like if she had grown up in some
other place but Cloud’s Rest. Riana didn’t remember a time when she could
indulge in the innocence of childhood. Yet there was a part of her that felt
she should preserve it. A bitter aftertaste filled her mouth as she said, “Aye,
lass. Odds are they will.”

It was Violet that shifted more upright, leaning against the
shoulder of her friend, brown eyes fierce with determination. “Then you’ll
teach us how to fight?”

This request took her by surprise and she looked to Maree and
Loraine for an explanation. In an undertone, Loraine explained, “They’re not
allowed to use magic in combat until their control is completely down. These
two came in later than usual so they’re not quite up to speed yet.”

Her imagination supplied what it would be like to put
half-trained wizards out in the field who only had semi-control of their
powers. Riana winced at the image. “Aye, I be teaching anyone that wishes to
know. Me da will do the same.”

The students gave little bounces and squeals of delight.
Riana watched the reaction with a half-smile on her face, remembering that same
sort of excitement when her da had finally deemed her old enough to be able to
use a bow. Come to think of it, her training them first might be for the better
benefit of all later. Most of fighting was about timing. Knowing when to
move, how to move, and keeping your enemy always within your reach but staying
out of his. If she could teach them that with archery then it would be so much
the better when they began to wield magic instead.

Maree caught her attention and mouthed, ‘Start now.’

Riana nodded to her, nothing more than a subtle dip of the
head to indicate she’d heard her, and pulled her horse in a little closer to
the back side of the wagon so she could talk with them directly instead of
having to twist. “Up for a first lesson?”

At least some of their words carried to the wagon ahead and
behind as students off-loaded from both with almost reckless speed before
coming directly to the wagon. None of the wagons moved very fast, a man at a
walk could keep up just fine, so it didn’t take much effort for them to catch
hold of a side and clamber up on top.

“Wait, wait,” Maree protested, “not all of you can ride!
Think of my poor mules. The older ones, get off and walk alongside.”

There was some grumbling, but children shifted about and
six off-loaded so that only eight were riding along on top. Riana shifted as
well, putting a little more distance between her and the cart so that she only
had an audience in one direction and she wouldn’t have to look back and forth.
“Right, then. Here be the first rule of combat: if ye stand still, ye lose.
Move. Be always on the move. Unless ye be ambushing someone, ye have to move.
The tides of a fight change and shift and if ye stand still in one spot for
long, ye will get caught in a bad situation.”

A hand uncertainly went up.

“Aye, lad. What’s yer name?”

“Jayla.” His skin was very dark, like Maree’s, wiry hair cut
so short it was nearly bald. “Um, what do you mean when you say tides?”

Riana had to take a second to think. How to explain this?
“There be a cadence to everything in life. Like a dance or a song, it all have
a rhythm to it. Ye ken?” When she got a nod from everyone in the group, she
tried to use that as her example. “A fight be like that. People move in waves,
they come and go depending what be happening. There be lulls in a battle when a
man has to retreat, take a breath, grab more arrows. There be a time when he
has fought too long and has to go back afore he be caught out in the open with
no energy. It be hard to explain without actually being in a battle firsthand.”

From ahead, Gerrard turned to call over his shoulder, “We’ll
stage mock battles when we get to Estole to help train them!”

Riana’s eyebrows arched. How could he possibly have heard
her? He was a good twenty feet ahead. “Does the man having the hearing of a
bat?” When all of the children laughed, she flushed. Oops. Had she said that
out loud? Clearing her throat, Riana tried to recover and keep going. “As me da
explained it, a good fighter be fast and efficient. He will be vigilant to his
surroundings, be able to read the energy around him, know how to energize the
situation, and know the limits of things. If ye can get a grasp on that, then
ye have better odds of making it through without falling.”

They were attentive, strictly so, which didn’t surprise
Riana one bit. Their very lives depended on what she was teaching them. They
gave her good questions, proving they were thinking things through, and
although she gave them only the basics of strategy to ponder, they were quick
on the uptake.

It was perhaps inevitable that eventually the lesson would
come to a semi-close and then the topic would shift entirely to what it was
like being a partner with a wizard. Riana was first indulgent (it was only
natural they were curious) and then increasingly amused as they tried to get
her to explain exactly what it felt like to stand in a wizard’s magic.

Then, of course, they were curious as to how she would fare
with their magic. Riana tied her horse to the back of the cart and let them
cast shields up around her to see how she would react. Surprisingly, a third of
them were fine. She didn’t quite enjoy it like she did Ash or Ashlynn’s magic,
but it wasn’t intolerable in any way. The rest varied in degrees of unpleasant
to almost painful.

They made camp that evening well off the road with more
magical wards up than Riana could keep track of. The squiggles of the wards
overlapping each other were so thick that it looked like someone had painted a
canvas over the stars. As the children sorted out who would sleep where, and
the adults went about actually making camp, Riana went out a ways and hunted
down four rabbits. They’d brought food with them, of course, but it was
difficult to bring enough food to feed that many people and she wanted to
offset their supplies as much as she could.

Gerrard met her at the edge of the ward, standing in
silhouette with the fire at his back. “Riana. I was just about to try my hand
at hunting but it seems you beat me to it.”

“Ye can help me clean them, if ye like,” she suggested
hopefully. Cleaning game was not her favorite thing to do.

“Certainly, I’ll give you a hand.” Gerrard reached out and
took two from her before leading the way to a small brook that babbled nearby.
They stopped short of the brook, taking off the fur with small hunting knives
before Riana came in closer and washed the meat itself.

She was almost through with one rabbit when Gerrard spoke in
a low tone. “Thank you. For today. You’re teaching them something that I
can’t.”

Sinking back on her heels, she turned to really look at him.
His carefree attitude in coming to Estole…was it a mask? Or perhaps he truly
felt that way when he was only thinking of himself. It did not apply when he
thought of the innocents he was bringing along with him.

It was a sticky situation. Granted, Estole was a dangerous
place to be at the moment. But if he did not come, if he did not bring them,
then a good majority of his students would have no real future. He couldn’t
take care of them forever. As their master, he had to find a brighter place for
them to stand.

“The experience of being partners with a wizard, that’s
something I never had. I didn’t find someone like Ash and Ashlynn did. So I
couldn’t teach them much about that. What you were saying today was invaluable
to them. Letting them see firsthand how well you dealt with some magic, but not
others, that was important too. So much of what I tell them is only words until
they experience it firsthand.” Gerrard finally looked up from the work in his
hands. “I hope these lessons will continue even after we reach Estole.”

Riana gave him a soft smile. “They will.”

Chapter Twenty

“A bridge?” Ashlynn repeated, not following.

“A bridge,” Edvard confirmed, waving her toward the table
before stabbing downwards onto the map laying on the surface. “In mild winters,
the channel ices up a little around the edges, but it’s still passable. But
during harsh winters, it ices over so badly that we won’t be able to cross it
at all. That means during the winter months, our settlement will be cut off
from us, and I don’t like that idea one bit. I think we need to build a bridge
to span the distance.”

Broden was of a mind to agree. The man made sense, although
it would be quite the feat to span that distance. “No’ the sort of work that
can be done by year’s end.”

“No, even with magic, this will take two or three years to
complete,” Edvard agreed. “But we need to start it sooner rather than later.
According to the farmers, they predict it will be a mild winter, so we should
be alright this year. But next? The one after? The faster we have this bridge
up, the better we’ll be.”

Ashlynn held up both hands in a staying gesture. “Hold on.
You keep saying ‘bridge’ but where are we supposed to put this thing? The most
direct route would be off of Portal Road but that will directly cut into the
docks. We can’t afford to block them, that’s our main source of trade.”

“Agreed, it’s a bad location.” Edvard straightened and
beamed at her. “So, let’s go location hunting, shall we?”

Broden could tell by Ashlynn’s expression that she was
actively trying to stay patient. “Edvard. Be there a reason for wanting to do
this right now? It can no’ wait for Ash’s return?”

“The city is expanding every possible direction,” Edvard
explained. “If we don’t mark out a place and reserve it now for the bridge,
we’re going to end up tearing it down later. I’d rather not do that.”

Alright, it made sense. Broden peeked at Ashlynn from the
corner of his eyes and found her nodding. Grudgingly so, but a nod regardless.

Resigned, Ashlynn asked, “I suppose you want to do this
right now?”

Edvard beamed at her. “You’re not busy.”

“Commanding it does not make it so. Your Majesty.”

“For at least an hour, you’re not busy,” he rephrased,
already gathering up his map and ready to stride out the door.

“Yes, yes.” Rolling her eyes, she followed along behind as
Edvard nearly skipped out the door.

This eager attitude to go out and start a project was a
little out of character for Edvard. As Broden trailed along, he studied the
man. Usually Edvard disliked having to do anything else because it meant
straining already tight resources to pull it off. So why…? Leaning in closer,
he murmured to Ashlynn, “Man be chipper about this.”

She inclined her head toward him to whisper back, “We made
him stay in for three days and do paperwork. I think he went a little
stir-crazy.”

Ah. Now he got it. Any excuse to leave the office would do,
eh?

Going with Edvard anywhere in the city was not a quick trip.
He stopped and spoke to anyone that called out. Sometimes it was in an official
capacity, other times it was just to chat for a moment. Broden did not know how
other kings acted, not when face to face with their own people, but Edvard invested
in every individual. He wanted to know how they were, was concerned for the
wellbeing, and the people sensed his honest interest and responded in kind.

It neared noon by the time they reached the docks. Edvard
stood with arms akimbo and looked around. “Obviously this immediate area is a
no-go. But these are the newer sections of the docks. The original ones are
reported to be too rickety for use because of their age. I think we might be
able to tear them down and use the site for a bridge.”

“Are you sure we can afford to?” Ashlynn lifted a hand to
cover her eyes from the harsh sun. “The way we’re expanding, I think we might
need every inch of dock space that we can get.”

“I came down to talk to the dockmaster about that very
question.” Edvard looked around and frowned when he did not immediately find
the man he was looking for. “He was supposed to meet me here. Did he get tied
up somewhere?”

Likely so.

From behind, a timid voice called out, “Your Majesty?”

Edvard turned with an automatic smile on his face. “Yes?”

A young girl of fourteen stood with her hands clasped
tightly together in front of her stomach. She wore a shoddy dress of dark blue,
clean but a size too large for her, brown hair in a single plait over her
shoulder. “Sire. Word is that if I’m under fifteen, I can’t be hired. Is that
true?”

“Most of the work the government hires out for is taxing for
even an adult to do,” Edvard explained. His forehead gathered as he took in her
strained expression. “But I do make allowances, depending on the circumstances
and what skills people have. Are you an orphan?”

She shook her head rapidly. “My father broke both legs on
the way here, sire. I’m the oldest. Someone has to work until he’s well again.”

“Ahhh, I see.”

Ashlynn caught her brother’s eye, gesturing that she would
go off looking for the dockmaster while he dealt with the girl’s situation.
Edvard gave them a slight nod and a wave to go on.

They both knew without asking that Edvard would hear the
girl’s whole story and then find someone that would be willing to hire her.
Never mind that it was a prefect’s job to do such a thing. Because she had
approached Edvard, it would be the king who would fix it.

“Man has a soft spot for women, he does.”

Ashlynn chuckled softly. “It was because of his soft spot
for women that this country was formed. I have no complaints. Besides, I rather
like Edvard’s approach to ruling. Hmm, now how to find Dockmaster Hatcher?”
Spying a sailor working to unload, she flagged the man down.

He dropped what he was doing and came to her in a scurry of
a walk, jerking the cap off his head as he moved and ducking into a bow.
“Wizard Ashlynn. What can I do for ya?”

“We’re looking for the dockmaster,” she explained. “Have you
seen him?”

The sailor scratched at his thinning hair, head turning this
way and that. “He was here a few minutes ago.” Turning back to his companions,
he called out, “Hey! Anyone seen Hatcher?”

There were shakes of the head. “Wizard, I can get up in the
crow’s nest and take a gander, see if I can spot him for ya?”

“Please do,” Ashlynn requested.

The sailor was like a monkey, he climbed the rigging so
fast, and gained the crow’s nest in a bare minute flat. Hand up to shield his
eyes, he peered about. Even from this distance, Broden could see a frown appear
on the man’s face as he leaned further out, staring hard toward the road.

What was he looking at? It wasn’t anywhere around the docks.
Broden turned to stare in the same direction and didn’t see anything unusual.
He did hear something, though, a lot of excited voices crowding into the same
place toward the far side of the road. “What be that about?”

“I don’t know.” Ashlynn was staring hard in the same
direction although with this thick crowd, seeing anything was nigh impossible.
Pointing toward it, she raised her voice and called to her spy, “What’s going
on over there?”

The sailor yelled back, “Some fool on the roof over there
just threw a bag of money on the street!”

Bag of money? For a split second, Broden didn’t understand
at all. Then he realized that there was only one of two reasons why someone
would do such a thing, and one of those reasons wasn’t good. “Lass!”

She was not waiting for him to see the obvious and had
already spun back around, eyes frantically searching the roofline. “I see him.
Go to Edvard now.”

Broden took off in mad sprint for the last place he had seen
his king. Maybe it was just some generous fool throwing money at people, but
with the low amount of currency, the odds were against it. More likely this was
an assassin and he was using a bag of coin as a diversion to thin the crowd out
enough to get a good shot at the king. As he ran, he bellowed, “EDVARD! ASSASIN
ON THE ROOF!”

Ashlynn was running just as hard for the possible assassin,
magic building up around her as she moved.

Both of them were too late.

From the roof, a quick burst of magic shot out, so small and
fast that even though Broden was looking for it, he barely caught sight of it.
There was a cry of alarm from up ahead. It felt like something hard punched him
right in the gut. Had it hit?

People were scattering in every direction, looking for
cover, making it harder for him to find Edvard in the madness. He had to shove
some aside.

A man whose face he recognized, although he could not
remember the name, waved both hands over his head. “Master Broden!”

Broden weaved his way to him, demanding as he came, “The
king?”

“Here.” The man ducked behind a stack of barrels.

Stepping sideways, Broden followed suit and found Edvard
sitting upright with his back pressed against the brick wall, a handkerchief in
his hands as he pressed against the open wound of another man’s side. The king
looked a little shaken, and there was blood all over his hands, but he was
steady enough to look up at Broden and command, “I need a physician. Apothecarist.
Someone.”

Broden clasped a hand on the man who had called out to him
and ordered, “Get some help over here.”

Spinning around, the man took off, and Broden sank onto his
haunches to try and help as he could. “What happened?”

“I can’t tell you. I had sent the girl off with instructions
to find her prefect, and was about to look for the two of you, when I heard you
yelling. I didn’t even have time to figure out which roof when this
man—” he looked down at the docksman under his hands “—tackled me and forced me
back in here. I would have been shot in the back if not for him.”

Broden had thought the man passed out from the wound but he
opened his eyes, voice strained as he spoke. “You’re welcome, Majesty.”

“You fool.” There was no heat in Edvard’s words, just remorse.
“The king is to protect his people. Not the other way around.”

“No kingdom without you,” the man denied, his eyes falling
shut. “We all know that. There’s not a man or woman in this country that won’t
die defending you.”

The consequence of being a good king was that the people
loved him. Even to this extent. Broden was touched by the man’s loyalty and
quick-thinking. “Ye work these docks, do ye no’?”

“Yes, master.”

“When ye get on yer feet again, come to me. I can train ye
to be a guardsman.” It would be better pay than his current position. “Ye just
proved ye have the reflexes for it.”

That made the docksman smile. “I’ll be there. Don’t think
I’ll not.”

“And I’ll take care of your family until you’re well again,
don’t worry about that either,” Edvard tacked on. “Broden, go find that
surgeon.”

“I will get the lass.” The docksman was losing far too much
blood, a surgeon would not be able to save him at this point. “She be a better
option.” So saying, he got to his feet and went to the nearest caller, standing
on the corner. Putting his hand against it, he called clearly, “Lass.”

“Broden. I lost him. The man’s slicker than an oiled
weasel.”

He was not too surprised. The man had the skills to get past
Troi and all of the magical wards protecting Estole after all. “Get back here,
then. A man was hit protecting Edvard and he does no’ look like he will make it
without yer help.”

“Where are you?”

“Corner of Port Road and Seaside Docks.”

“Coming. I’m not far away.”

Broden went back to the barrels but remained standing,
giving Ashlynn a way to see where to go. She was good to her word, back in
moments, and lost no time in following his pointing finger toward the barrels.
Ducking down, she took in the wounded man with a wince, magic flaring out
around her hands.

“Good thing you called me,” she told the listening men. “A
surgeon would not help with a magical wound like this. What’s your name, sir?”

“Jacobs, Miss Wizard.”

“Jacobs, I won’t lie. This will feel painful and tingly but
remain as still as you can.” At his nod, she spoke the spell with crisp
precision, hands lowering as she worked until she touched bare skin, shifting
Edvard’s out of the way to do so.

The king retreated and watched as his lifesaver was healed.
The wound completely closed, cauterized with magic. As Ashlynn finished, a
balding man with a large black bag puffed his way toward them, sweat pouring
off his temples.

“There’s an injured man here?”

Broden ushered him to Ashlynn’s side. She immediately made
use of the man’s medical knowledge and supplies as they cleaned and bandaged
the wound properly. Jacobs remained awake throughout and while still pale,
seemed able to breathe a little easier.

With people’s ready help, they got Jacobs out from behind
the barrels and the surgeon tagged along as he was carted home. Edvard sat
hunched over on his heels, bloody hands dangling between his knees, expression
haggard. “Ashlynn, the assassin?”

“Got away,” she admitted sourly. “You’re not hurt?”

“A few bruises from where I was knocked down. But I won’t
complain. Jacobs took the hit for me. I swore to him that I would see his
family taken care of while he’s recuperating, so help me do that. Also, Broden
wants to train him as a guardsman, which he was interested to do.”

“He’s older than our usual recruit,” Ashlynn said with
splayed hands, “but after what he just did, I think we can let that slide. I’d
be happy to have him.”

“Good, good.” Blowing out a breath, the king looked at the
opposite rooftop, where the assassin had lurked. “How did he get past Troi?”

“I’d have to investigate, but I don’t think he came through
any of the gates. I’d bet he took advantage of the weak defenses here at the
docks. We had to pull from the guard here to deal with a riot earlier. I’m
wondering now if the riot wasn’t also the assassin’s doing. Edvard, this isn’t
the first assassination attempt this week. It’s just the first that’s gotten
far enough to actually put your life in danger. Will you stop pouting now and
accept the fact that you need a bodyguard?”

“I wasn’t pouting!” Edvard objected, gaining his feet.

“We’ll argue that point later,” Ashlynn mocked, as only a
sister could. “Bodyguard?”

After what had just happened, Edvard could hardly argue that
he didn’t need one. He didn’t even try. Shrugging, he resigned himself to the
inevitable. “Fine. Bodyguard it is. Find how he got in and plug the hole in our
defenses.”

Ashlynn’s lips curled up in a feral smile. “Oh trust me.
They won’t be able to pull this trick again. Broden, we’re coming up with a
backup plan for riots. Robbing our defenses is no longer an option. Edvard,
until I have a bodyguard for you, you can’t leave the castle grounds without at
least two guardsmen, understood?”

“You do remember that I’m your king, right? That I’m
supposed to give the orders?”

Ashlynn gave him a basilisk stare. “Understood?”

Resigned, the King of Estole sighed. “Yes, ma’am.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Riana watched that night as everyone set up camp and it
became obvious to her that people were still learning how to set up camp even
three days out. The students especially seemed to need almost constant
direction from the adults. That said, they did work well together, and in very
short order the camp was set up and dinner was being cooked over an open fire.
The thing that confused her the most, though, was the multiple layers of wards
set up around the area. Putting a ward up around the campsite was just good
sense. She had no trouble with that. But every adult wizard in the camp, as
well as a few older students, set up a ward to layer over the other wards.
Riana lost track after the eighth ward was put up.

Sidling up next to Ash, she asked in a low tone, “Be there
something I do no’ know about?”

He gave her a blank look. “I’m sorry?”

She jerked her chin to indicate the wards above their heads.
“Those.”

Taking her meaning, he intoned, “Ahh. Those. They are a
safety precaution.”

Not for one minute did Riana believe it was just that and
the look she bent on him said as much.

Lowering his voice even further, Ash whispered to her, “The
truth is Master doesn’t believe that this trip will end peacefully. People keep
a very close eye on his academy at all times. He is absolutely certain that our
departure was taken note of and reported.”

Riana winced as she cottoned on. “Will it be a pursuit or an
ambush, do ye think?”

“Either. The one thing that Iysh cannot afford is for Estole
to have a whole new batch of wizards even if the majority of them are not
completely trained.”

She pivoted in a small circle, taking in every person there
but especially the students. The thought that they could suddenly be attacked
on the road left her feeling cold inside. “Tomorrow, I will run them through
what to do if we be attacked. Be they capable of putting up personal shields?”

Ash thought on that for a moment before shrugging and
nodding. “They all learn that within the first two years of their training so
they should be able to. What are you thinking? Have them grouped together on
the carts and shielding the whole cart if we are attacked?”

“Be there a better plan?” she countered. “Ye know more of
what they be capable of than I.”

“If Master hasn’t changed his training methods in the past
ten years then I believe that is the best they can do. I would rather not risk
them in open combat anyway. Not until we can decently train them in it.” Seeing
how worried she was, Ash put an arm around her shoulder and gave her a squeeze
of encouragement. “Don’t worry, I will talk with everyone tonight and put them
in the best groups possible so that the strongest shielders are spread out. We both
will drill them in the morning so that they are certain of what to do if we are
attacked.”

That did make her feel a little bit better but Riana was
still sending up every prayer she could think of for the safety of the
students. She might have only known them for three days but she had grown quite
fond of several of them and would hate to lose them now.

With a last squeeze, Ash let go of her and went to find his
master. Riana went to the campfire to make sure that dinner wasn’t burning and
stayed there until everyone had a full plate in hand.

Gerrard stood with his plate and ate well enough but in-between
bites he would point a fork at various people. “Just because we’re on the road
doesn’t mean the lessons stop. I’m putting you in study groups tonight and
tomorrow we’re going to learn how to combine our shields over an area instead
of just around your own body. The area will be the cart. Also, Miss Riana has
pointed out that if we’re attacked by bandits, we’ll have a hard time fending
them off. So she’s going to run you through drills in the morning so that you
know exactly where to go and what to do.”

There were some excited bounces from the students, and
Violet, sitting nearby, asked her, “Will you teach us archery tomorrow too?”

Riana glanced at Gerrard and saw him give her a small nod of
encouragement. “The back of a wagon be a hard place for a beginner. I will
teach ye the basics tonight. Tomorrow ye practice magic on the road.”

Getting her way now was of course preferable over waiting
for the morning. Violet grinned like a possum that knew where all the shinies were
kept.

Thais threw up a hand as far as she could, as if reaching
into the heavens itself. “Me too!”

“Aye,” Riana agreed, heart lifting at seeing their
eagerness. “Ye as well.”

“Wait, before the whole camp tries to get in on this,” Ash
quickly stepped in, “we only have one bow. Riana, how many do you think you can
teach at once?”

She seriously thought on this. While training with the
guard, she had taught four or five at once, but they all had their own weapons.
Still, she could demonstrate and have four watch on, then have them each try
their hand at it. That would work, wouldn’t it? “Four.”

“Then four it is. Violet, Thais…someone else talked to you
this morning about lessons, didn’t they?”

“Sarah.”

“Then tonight, start with those three and…hm. Jay?”

Jay grinned. “Please, sir.”

“Jay,” Ash confirmed to her. “I’ll divide up the rest into
groups and set up a schedule for them. By the time we hit Estole, you should
have gone through each group twice. They’ll at least know the basics by the
time we get home.”

He might be right on that. It was taking them longer to get
back because the carts were so much slower. Riana chaffed at the pace but there
wasn’t a thing they could do about it. Even if they ditched everything that had
been packed, their speed wouldn’t increase by much because they didn’t have
enough horses to mount all of the students and teachers, so they’d still have
to use the carts. There simply wasn’t a faster method available, curse the
luck.

All Riana could do was work with what she had. So she
gathered up her four students, scratched out a quick target on a tree that did not
stand near the camp, and went through the basics of archery.

After spending the whole day on the road just ambling along,
no one was particularly tired, and Riana took advantage of that. The lesson
lasted well over an hour and by the time she was done, they had the hang of it.
They could reliably put an arrow into the tree. Perhaps not on target, but at
least into the tree. Real life hardly ever gave a motionless target but it
would take considerable practice before they could hit a moving target.

As she taught archery, Ash, Gerrard, Maree, and Loraine
worked with the students and put them into groups. Those that had never
combined shields before were taught the spell and given practice at it so that
they could readily fall in with the drills tomorrow.

Riana went to bed that night satisfied that even though they
may not be completely prepared for the worst, they at least wouldn’t be caught
off guard.

Ash spent the next day either helping Riana drill the
students or telling them what battle really consisted of. The older ones
listened with sobriety, taking his words of caution to heart. Riana didn’t
think they quite sunk in with the younger ones. At twelve or thirteen the idea
of a wizard striding into battle to save a new kingdom was the height of
romantic fancy. They weren’t really in the mood to hear anything that went
contrary to their imaginations.

They went several rounds throughout the day of getting into
their groups, putting up a defensive shield around the carts, and bracing for
an attack. The first three tries were rough in the extreme with people tripping
over everyone and everything and stragglers being left behind. By lunch, they’d
gotten the hang of it. By dinner, it was almost a smooth transition. Even as
Riana praised them for the progress, she prayed that they would never need to
actually use it.

Day five on the road dawned a smidge cooler than it had the
previous day. Riana was heartily grateful for it because it was miserable
traveling in such beastly hot weather.

Jay sat on the very edge of the cart, leaning forward, arms
bracing himself so he wouldn’t fall off the edge. “Miss Riana, Ash said that
you know how to track.”

“I do,” she confirmed. It bemused her, how the children
called her. Ash was always just Ash, as if he were just an older brother. But
she was always ‘miss.’ Was it a matter of them not having completely warmed up
to her yet? Surely it couldn’t be a matter of familiarity as she was Ash’s
partner; it should be understood that she was as much a part of this group as
they.

“Can you teach us that too? Ash said it’s saved him a couple
of times as you found him when he was lost once, and you can always find game,
and sometimes you use it to track down bandits.”

Now when had Ash found the privacy to brag on her without
her knowing about it? She shot a look ahead, where her wizard was riding along
next to Maree. “Did he now.”

“Master said it was a good skill to have,” Sarah chipped in.

So it wasn’t just Ash in on this, eh? “Well, it be that,
certainly.” Not seeing the harm in it, she pointed to the ground. “Some tracks
be obvious, like a horse’s hooves in dirt. The deeper the print, the more
weight the horse carried. The shallower, smaller slice of hoof ye see, it means
the faster the horse be going. Ken?”

“Ken,” at least four voices answered.

Amused, she continued, “Now, common sense applies here.
Packed dirt like this will no’ leave much of a trail behind. Stone leaves
naught at all. It be soft soil that ye check first, like that yonder—” she
lifted a hand to point toward the trees lining the side of the road. From ahead
there was a flash of something in between the trees and she knew in an instant
what it was—metal gleaming in the sun. Instinct had her shouting out, “SHIELDS
UP!”

Everyone could hear the change in her tone. This was not a
drill, she had seen something that scared her, and so there were no questions.
Everyone scrambled into position and the shields were up bare seconds after she
gave the order.

Riana dug her heels into the sides of her horse, propelling
him forward, even as Ash wheeled his around to race back to her.

“Ahead, left, in the trees,” she said quickly.

Ash swore, sawed his horse back around, and snapped up a
shield that would cover them both.

Their attackers realized when they stopped that their ambush
had been foiled. They came pouring out of the trees in waves of twos and
threes, coming in fast and quiet. There were no orders, no shouts, just the
grim determination of men coming to do a dirty deed. Riana stood in her
stirrups, already loosening the top of her quiver, and pulled out four arrows
by feel alone. Standing as she was, she could use her longbow without problem
and she aimed at her first target without thinking much about it. Aim, fire,
aim, fire, aim, fire. In quick succession, she had four men down and was
reaching for more arrows even as she maneuvered her horse to stand at Ash’s
side.

Gerrard was not a man to go into a fight quietly. He
bellowed at the top of his lungs even as he attacked, the spells coming out so
quick and fierce that it sounded like gibberish. Maree and Loraine were just as
quick to attack.

Riana didn’t stay in that spot, but turned, making sure that
nothing was sneaking up behind them while they dealt with this frontal attack.
As her head came around, she saw from the corner of her eye that there were some
men that had headed for the tail end and some of the older students were trying
to fend them off. At least one attacker was a wizard, as the spells being cast
against him bounced right off without doing any damage.

Swearing, Riana shouted to Ash, “The rear!”

Ash’s head snapped around, taking in her warning, then he plunged
for them.

In the melee, she had lost count of how many men came
pouring out of the trees. All Riana knew was that there were too many. She’d
take down one, another three would pop up. Worse, the students had to fight off
some men that had gotten through the teacher’s line of defense.

Her wizard realized it at the same moment and pointed to
them. She nodded, silently reassuring him she had seen them and would take care
of it.

Riana kneed her horse around, protecting his back even as
she put herself into a position where she had a clear line of sight for the
whole left side of the carts. Taking a breath to steady herself, she grabbed
four arrows, nocked, drew, and aimed for the one nearest to her.

The men attacking the carts were focused on the students,
trying to get through the shields, and were not paying very good attention to
their backs. They were easy pickings. Riana systematically took out one after
the other. As she did so, she kept an ear open to what was going on behind her.
If someone came at their sides, she and Ash would both be in trouble and if
they went down, the whole party wouldn’t survive.

After six down, one man finally noticed what she was doing,
and ducked around the cart to avoid her. It only did him partial good as she
could still see the better part of a foot and leg. Taking aim there, she shot
him dead in his calf, making sure he couldn’t get easily back on his feet
again. But the next had taken advantage of those few seconds she’d needed to do
such careful aiming, and he was retreating back to the front.

The front actually was a bad idea on his part. Gerrard was
in full voice up there. Riana didn’t for one second believe the man needed any
of her help. She turned back around and looked for Ash.

He was exactly where she thought him to be, and as she
watched, he felled the last man. There was a trace of sweat on his forehead and
a feral light in his eyes that told her his adrenaline was running high. She
shared a fierce smile with him. All of those drills and instructions had paid
off. Not one cart’s shield had fallen and they hadn’t lost a single student.

Hopefully the teachers had fared as well.

Standing in her stirrups again, she bellowed, “Who’s
injured?!”

“Cart four is fine!”

“Cart three is too!”

“Sarah banged her head in cart two but otherwise we’re
fine!”

Riana didn’t think a banged head was much of an injury so
she ignored that one.

“Loraine is hurt up here in cart one!” It was Jay that had
said this and he did not sound happy.

Alright, that she would check on.

Ash was completely in sync with her as they moved to the
front of the line. Riana kept an eye out in all directions just in case the
ambush wasn’t completely over. She didn’t think there was anyone left but it
never hurt to be cautious.

When they reached Loraine, she was sitting up in the cart
but had a pinched expression on her face and she was listing a little to the
side. Maree had braced Loraine’s back against her chest, propping her up, and
the look in her eyes suggested that if there was anyone still alive, she’d
murder them for hurting her friend. Riana and Ash both dismounted and handed
reins off to nearby students, ready to have their hands free it if were needed.

Gerrard knelt awkwardly half-on, half-off the cart with a
hand against Loraine’s ribs. “Feels like you cracked about three of them.”

Loraine hissed in a breath and gritted out through her
teeth, “You’re telling me?”

“Healing spell will only help so much with this. We’ll need
to wrap them and there will be no strenuous activity for you until we reach
Estole.”

Riana heard that for what it was: no fighting, no driving,
nothing at all that required strength or reach. Otherwise it wouldn’t be
cracked ribs they’d be dealing with. She looked up at Jay, sizing him with her
eyes. Big, strapping boy that he was he stood almost a half-head taller than
Loraine and was likely capable of carrying the woman around bodily if asked.
“Jay.”

He straightened and looked right at her. “Yes’um.”

“Ye need to be Loraine’s right arm ‘til we reach Estole. Ye
watch out for her.”

Jay nodded seriously before bending down to say near
Loraine’s ear, “I’ll be right here whenever you need me.”

Loraine reached up and patted his hand. “Bless you, Jay.
Thank you. Was I the only one injured?”

“Sarah bumped her head,” Riana reported. “But naught else.”

Gerrard finished his spell work and stepped back. “Wrap it
snuggly. Yes, we came through that fight well, considering the numbers against
us. Did anyone get a headcount?”

From the back of the cart, Violet answered, “Fifty-eight.”

Of course someone had counted. Then again, aside from
watching the enemy duke it out with their teachers, the teenagers hadn’t had
anything better to do. Their sole task was to keep their shields up and not get
injured.

“Who be we fighting against? It did no’ look like bandits to
me.”

“Iysh soldiers,” Ash responded, staring at a nearby body
with a dark frown. “At least two wizards mixed in, too. They’re not in uniform,
so I’m betting this is a bit of dirty work they don’t want bandied about.
Fighting a rebel from Estole is one thing, after all, but the massacre of
children? That’s another kettle of fish entirely.”

Riana didn’t like the sound of that at all. Gerrard didn’t
either as he glanced up and commented, “We’ll likely be attacked again, more
than once, trying to get to Estole. Let’s set lookouts and rotations for the
carts being shielded, just in case we get ambushed again.”

That was the sensible course of action. After working with
people the night before, Riana had a grasp of their abilities, and started planning
it out in her head.

Sarah came to them with a hand protectively held over her
forehead. Gerrard moved to intercept her and gently lowered the hand to get a
look. An egg of blues and greens was forming and it did look rather nasty.
“Shh,” Gerrard murmured to her, hand already glowing as he prepared a spell.
“Hold still. How did this happen, anyway?”

Grimacing, Sarah related, “One of those men was trying to
climb into the cart. I think he was a wizard or a wizard was helping him
because he was making cracks in our shield. It scared me and I scrambled back,
trying to stay out of his reach, but then Miss Riana noticed him and she shot
him before he could get through.” Sarah gave the archer a look that spoke of
pure adoration.

Avis leaned out and asked Sarah in a loud whisper, “Did you
see her move? It was amazing. She always seemed to know exactly where the enemy
would be.”

Sara nodded avidly until remembering that was a bad idea.
Even with a grimace on her face, she still said enthusiastically, “And she only
said one thing to Ash. They were in perfect sync with each other. It was like a
duet. Or a dance.”

“I think she took down as many as Ash did, too.”

That caught Jay’s attention and he leaned back to get within
line of sight of both girls. “Really? Were you keeping count?”

Stepping close to her back, Ash leaned against her and
whispered against her ear, “It looks like you’ve acquired ducklings. When did
that happen?”

“No idea,” she murmured back, bemused at this growing hero
worship. She watched the conversation play out, more of the students climbing
down and joining in, the skirmish being re-hashed as each put in their own
observations. She expected Gerrard to put a stop to it but the man let it roll
and she realized after a moment that this was good experience for them. They
were learning how to observe the flows and rhythm of battle, and talking about
it like this gave each of them a missing piece. Once she grasped that, Riana
was willing to let them all have a few minutes.

Ash wrapped an arm around her waist and let his forehead
rest against her shoulder. “That scared about five years off me. But if they
send this amount of men against us, or less, I think we can handle it.”

“It do no’ matter if they send us more,” Riana declared to
him quietly, “we still can manage.”

He let go of her enough to half-turn to the side, getting a
look at her face. There was a soft smile on his that spoke of pride. Through
their connection, she could feel it, burning bright and hard.

“I now understand how you acquired your ducklings.”

She pointed a finger toward her nose and objected, “Mayhap I
do no’ ken. What did I do?”

“Be you.” Ash darted in long enough to plant a swift, chaste
kiss on her forehead before letting go and striding toward his horse. “Alright,
alright, everyone load back up! We can’t sit here any longer!”

Riana was left spluttering and blushing in his wake. Well,
that was a fine thing to do, kiss a woman and walk off.

Gerrard pointed a finger at Ash’s back. “I take it he isn’t
normally that demonstrative.”

“Judging from that expression on her face, definitely not,”
Maree drawled.

Stuck between several sets of curious eyes, Riana felt her
blush grow hot. Growling, still torn between being happy and miffed, she
stalked after Ash.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Broden frowned at the closed study door. Edvard very rarely
shut that door as more often than not he had a flood of informants and
officials tripping in and out. Not quite sure what to make of this, he
tentatively knocked on it.

From inside, a grumpy voice called, “You’re only allowed to
enter if you have good news!”

Ah. One of those days. Broden now understood. “As it
happens, I have two?”

“In that case, come in!” Edvard sounded slightly more
optimistic but still tired.

Ashlynn muttered to him, “Well, someone’s in a fine mood.”

Apparently. Pushing the door open, they stepped in and found
Edvard flat on his back, stretched out over one of his lounge chairs, a cloth
over his eyes. Ashlynn, having all the sympathy of a sister, came over and
poked him in the foot. “Are you dead?”

“Dying, yes, thank you for your concern.” Edvard did no more
than twitch and remain stubbornly in that position. “Now, good news?”

“We distributed the first batch of the new currency into the
public today. It was very well received and people are readily handing over
their old Iyshian coins for the new set. I’ve got a list of what each coin is
worth posted in every part of the town and they’re using that as a reference
but so far the result is very positive.”

Edvard’s mouth curved up. “Good. Phew, that’s a relief. How
long until we have enough currency?”

“I think we’ll forever be playing catch-up, but Troi informs
me that by the time spring hits, the shortages will be over at least.”

“Good enough.” A quick furrow passed over Edvard’s brow. “It
seems that quite a few of my problems end in spring for some reason.”

Not all of them. Broden personally thought an army marching
for their border to be a problem.

“Troi did ask the question, what do we do with the Iyshian
coin we collect?” Ashlynn gave him two seconds to think about that question
before continuing, “I think we should melt them down and re-use the metal.”

That would be a good way to offset having to mine
everything. Short-term especially it would help speed the process along as the
metal would not need to be refined.

Edvard opened his mouth, paused, closed it again. Finally,
he sat up, removing the cloth and tossing it on a nearby table. “No. While it
would help us now I think it will hurt us in the long run.”

Not following, Broden asked slowly, “How?”

Resting elbows on knees, Edvard did not look at either of
them, instead staring directly at the map he had hanging on the opposite wall.
“This standoff that we have with Iysh can’t last forever. Simple economics
prevent it. A good majority of Iyshian income is from trade. I never got an
exact figure on this when I was still visiting court, but I understand their
export/import revenue is substantial. Cutting off Estole, and now Dahl, has
hurt them considerably. We both produced several products that were popular in
Trenena and Overa. They can’t afford to keep up this embargo indefinitely.”

Some of this went over Broden’s head—he knew little of the
finances of kings—but he got the gist of it. “Be that why Iysh be pushing so
hard to retake us?”

“And Dahl, yes. They really can’t afford to have this drag
on much longer. They either must re-conquer us or establish trade with us. One
of the two. I think it’s that more than anything else, although of course Zelman
isn’t happy about me rebelling. Pride would motivate the man as much as
anything else. But fielding one army after another and sending them at us isn’t
cheap either, and if he does that enough, he drives Iysh into a financial
corner. His advisors and lords will step in and stop him eventually.”

“Makes sense,” Ashlynn allowed.

“So, to answer your initial question,” Edvard looked up at
his blood-sister, “don’t melt down the coins. Collect them and store them for
now. We might need them sooner rather than later for currency exchange.”

“Also,” Ashlynn continued her report, “our new guardsmen
are catching onto the ropes quickly. I split them up; some of our seasoned
guardsmen going over to the settlement, some of the greenhorns staying here in
Estole, so that we had enough experience in both places. They all spend at
least a part of the week training with each other as well. They won’t do too
badly in a fight, if an army comes knocking on our door again.”

“It won’t be enough, I don’t think.” Edvard did not sound
defeated, just calculating. “They’ll have learned from the previous two
attempts to reclaim us and they’ll send a lot more men and wizards this time.
If Ash doesn’t come back with at least a few wizards, we’ll really have to
invest in putting up some sound defenses around Estole. I’ll dip into my
personal treasury to pay for it. Otherwise they’ll mow right over us.”

“Ross and Tierone have been putting their heads together to
design some, and we’re ready to build them, once we have Ash back.” Ashlynn
hesitated a good two seconds before asking tentatively, “Have we heard from our
spies in Iysh?”

“Yesterday evening, actually. Still no sign that an army is
being put together.” Edvard splayed his hands. “I don’t know what is delaying
them. Our spies don’t have enough status in court to hear what’s going on
behind closed doors. Whatever it is, I’m grateful for it. We need all of the
time they’ll give us to prepare.”

Broden watched this young man, half his own age, sit there
and think of their future. What he was saying might be five years or ten down
the line, and yet still he thought of the future. The archer felt a flash of
pride. His new king was indeed a man worth serving.

Oblivious to how Broden felt, Edvard prompted, “You said two
pieces of good news. What’s the other?”

“We had a wizard waltz in this morning all on her own.”

Edvard jerked up to his feet. “Really?!”

“Kirsty Kilpatrick,” Ashlynn supplied, looking just as
happy. “I met her a few times, while we were still students. She trained under
Master Philip Poole. Master never did like the man but we sometimes would get
together and do competitions. Anyway, I always liked Kirsty. I was very
surprised to hear she had come in this morning.”

“Where is she now?”

“Troi is speaking with her. I think he’s worried she’s an
Iyshian spy.”

Granted, it was Troi’s job to ferret out the potential spies
from the refugees that came in. In his shoes, Broden would certainly be asking
the lass a lot of questions as a wizard could do considerable damage if turned
loose in Estole.

“I’m rather curious what prompted her to come in myself,”
Ashlynn admitted. “Kirsty is from a good family, she had a fiancé lined up to
marry when she came of age, and I know she had good connections. Really, the Bindings
might be a little restrictive on her, but she shouldn’t have had any real cause
to split off and join us like this.”

“But she did,” Edvard said in a contemplative tone.

“She did. I really want to know why.”

Edvard, with a bounce in his stride, headed for the door.
“Let’s go ask.”

The king was acting like someone had handed him a new toy.
Amused at this sudden burst of energy, Broden followed along and tried not to
chuckle.

Troi had brought the new wizard only as far as the first
guardroom inside Main Gate and no further. It was a precaution on his part, but
it meant that the three of them had to wade through the town’s traffic to get
there, which took time. Seeing Edvard, Ashlynn, and Broden together always
caught people’s attention and they would often approach with some question in
mind.

In between these questions, Edvard relayed to them, “I had
lunch with Priest Graff. It’s been the first time we could actually sit and
talk to each other for more than five minutes before one of us was yanked away.
The man’s completely overwhelmed, no surprise there, but he did say that he
knew of two other priests that would likely come if invited.”

They both perked up at this. “If that’s so, why hasn’t he
asked already?” Ashlynn queried.

“I gather that he was uncertain whether or not we wanted
more people. We have been complaining a great deal about the volume of refugees
we get on a daily basis. But I assured him that the priests would be very
welcome. In fact, I wrote up a letter for both men and handed them over. An
official invitation, as it were.”

“Relieved I be at this news,” Broden admitted. “One priest
for a country of this size be no’ enough. The man’s being fought over like a
small tuna in a pride of cats.”

Edvard choked, then laughed. “An apt metaphor. Graff looked
a little frayed around the edges at lunch. It’s why I was so prompt in writing
out the letters and giving them to him. He said he had a way of getting letters
out without them being stopped, which makes sense, as the church never seems to
have any problem with communications, even across borders. Anyway, if these two
men accept the invitation, our shortage for priests might end very soon.”

Broden prayed that would be the case. The one had been a
blessing but three would be just about right.

It took the better part of an hour but they finally arrived at
the guardhouse, and Edvard exchanged salutes with the guards on duty before
stepping inside.

The guardroom was built with function in mind, so it was
sparse indeed on decorations. A stove in one corner, several comfortable
chairs, a table for eating at, and little else was in the room. Ensconced in
two of the chairs were Troi and a woman that Broden had never seen before but
assumed was Kirsty Kilpatrick.

She was a thin woman, of average build, dark brunette hair
tied simply back at the nape of her neck, and creamy skin. Not remarkably
pretty, not plain, she had a nice face to her and good humor radiated with
every expression and gesture. “—remarkably stupid, if you ask me,” she was
saying as they entered. On seeing them, she stopped dead and popped up to her
feet. “Ashlynn Fallbright! It’s been ages since I saw you last.”

Ashlynn strode forward with hands outstretched and exchanged
a quick hug with her. “It truly has. I think it’s been at least five years. You
look well.”

“You look tired,” Kirsty responded bluntly. “But you’re
still in one piece which is surprising considering everything that’s happened.
Edvard—ah, that is, His Majesty here, I know.”

Edvard exchanged dry smiles with her. “By reputation at
least. I greet you, Wizard Kilpatrick.”

“Harmony find you, Your Majesty. But who’s this handsome man
here?”

Handsome? Since when?

Ashlynn put a hand on Broden’s back. “This is Broden
Ravenscroft, my partner.”

Kirsty stuck out a hand, which he took, and beamed up at
him. “Pleasure, Master Broden. Truly. It’s so rare that we find partners that
it’s always good news when we meet one. If she found one, it gives me hope I
can do the same.”

“Harmony find ye, Wizard Kilpatrick,” he returned and tried
not to flush with all of these compliments being heaped on top of his head.

“Here, sit,” Ashlynn directed everyone, taking the chair
nearest to her. “Kirsty, tell me how you came to the decision to defect to
Estole.”

As they sat, Broden caught Troi’s eye and gave a speaking
look about the girl. Troi shook his head, a minute movement that still spoke
volumes. So, he didn’t think she was a spy. Now this really did become a
curious case.

Kirsty put an elbow on one knee and leaned comfortably
forward as if this was nothing more than a gossiping session between friends.
“Well, you know how I was engaged to Bart Huntington?”

“Certainly, you said so before. It was an arrangement from
childhood, you said.”

“Exactly. I didn’t mind it much as when we were children we
got along rather well. And as teenagers that hadn’t changed. But when he hit
eighteen he suddenly went on this binge of partying. My parents said he was
just ‘sowing wild oats’ and ‘don’t mind it, darling.’ Well, I did mind it. Here
I had to obey all the rules and he didn’t? But I bit my tongue and thought it
was a phase and he’d get over himself eventually.” Kirsty rolled his eyes.
“Well, he didn’t. I learned three months ago that not only was he flirting with
every courtesan that tripped past him but he also had an established mistress
in his own apartment, thank you very much. When I confronted my parents about
it, they responded with, ‘Don’t worry, darling, he’ll settle down. Young men
just have urges.’ Well, guess what? I have urges too. Most of them involve
removing certain equipment so he can’t cheat on me anymore.”

Broden and Edvard both choked.

“For some reason it never crossed Bart’s mind that I could
do that.”

Really? It should have. When Broden had been around Ashlynn barely
more than a week he had known better than to cross her.

His face must have said as much because Kirsty pointed a
finger at all three men even as she said to Ashlynn, “See? They’re smart. They
know better than to upset a wizard.”

“I’ve trained them well,” Ashlynn assured her serenely. “So
what happened after that?”

“Well, after that, I took a good look at how my life was
going. I looked at my mother, who still has a cheating husband even after his
youth has passed. She’s learned not to care what her husband does because I
think it’ll break her heart otherwise. I looked at my sisters, who will
probably be stuck with husbands of the same low moral character. And then I
looked at that stupid fiancé of mine and thought do I really want to be stuck
with this louse for the rest of my married life? And when I realized that the
Bindings and the society at court would force me into being with Bart, I nearly
threw up. At that point, I was done with Iysh. The only place to go if you’re
mad at Iysh these days is Estole. So here I am.”

Broden did not know how the rest of the room felt but he
certainly thought the lass had a sound reason for leaving.

“We’re delighted to have you,” Ashlynn told her frankly.
“There’s a lot of work to be done here and not enough hands to go around.”

“I’ll be dedicated and work hard here, but, King Edvard? You
have to make me a promise first.”

Edvard got his ‘king face’ on and faced her directly. “Ask,
lady.”

“You will never, ever, try to pick out a husband for me.”

He blinked, then smiled. “I would not ever be that foolish.”

Kirsty beamed at him. “I like you already. Well, if we’re
all agreed to me joining Estole, where do I start?”

“There are a few legal procedures to registering you as a
full citizen of Estole,” Troi started before catching onto the general feeling
of the room. “Ah, I suppose we can do those later.”

“Do them now, get them out of the way,” Ashlynn directed.
“But do them fast, I want her out of here within an hour. After that…Kirsty.”

“Yes?”

“How are you at building things?”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Riana had never been so glad to see a place in all her life.

Word had spread before they even reached Main Gate and by
the time they passed through the outer wall, a welcoming party was standing
there waiting for them. Broden came directly to her and gave her a warm bear
hug. “Daughter.”

She relaxed into the embrace with a sigh.

“Rough trip, I take it.”

“Ye have no idea,” she groaned into his shoulder. “We got
attacked four times.”

He stepped back and looked at her. “Did ye lose anyone?”

“Thank the heavens, no. We did no’.”

“Then it be a good trip.” Patting her gently on the shoulder
he stepped half-around and extended a hand to Ash. “Lad, I see ye made it back
in one piece.”

“It was a near thing.” Ash clasped the hand firmly before
letting go.

Edvard clapped Ash on the shoulder, looking over the people
following behind. “Welcome home, Ash.”

“Good to be home,” the wizard returned. Turning to the man
standing behind him, Ash introduced, “This is Gerrard Seaton, my magical
instructor. Master, this is Edvard Knolton, King of Estole.”

Edvard beamed at him as he stepped forward, offering a hand
which Gerrard took in a warrior’s clasp. “Well met, sir.”

“Well met, King of Estole,” Gerrard returned in kind. “I
have only one question for you before I properly enter your territory. Ash
tells me you’re offering citizenship rights to all that enter. Any exceptions
to that?”

“Iyshian spies,” Edvard responded promptly, without missing
a beat.

Gerrard grinned at him. “Good answer. In that case, King of
Estole, the Seaton Academy would like to move here and build its new location
on your land. In return for a place to build, I will train up a new generation
of wizards for you. Do we have a deal?”

“We do.”

Riana blinked at this quick exchange. She hadn’t expected
the men to hash that out right here on the doorstep. Then again, maybe she
shouldn’t have been surprised as Gerrard was not one to stand still on matters
for long.

With that settled, Gerrard flung his arms out wide and
Ashlynn stepped into them like it was the most natural thing in the world.
“Ahhh,” the man sighed with considerable pleasure, “here’s my Ashlynn. I’ve
missed you.”

“You old scoundrel,” Ashlynn greeted happily. “How have you
been?”

“Well, child, well. But restless. Not enough going on to
keep my interest. I’m also deeply disappointed in you. You should have invited
me before rebelling against Iysh. All of that excitement and I missed it
completely.”

“Plenty of that coming our direction, I assure you,” Edvard
drawled.

Gerrard chuckled, the sound reminiscent of a wolf that had
just caught scent of prey. “Good, good. Now, I see another archer here that
carries himself like Riana. Who are you, sir?”

“Broden Ravenscroft,” her father introduced himself with a
polite inclination of the head. “I be Ashlynn’s partner.”

“Ho? So this is the father that you mentioned to me, Riana.
Harmony find you, Master Broden.”

“And ye, sir.”

From behind, still on the carts, Maree called out, “Can we
pause on the pleasantries and get all of these children in somewhere? We’re
deathly sick of being on these carts.”

“We certainly can,” Edvard promised. “Ash did call ahead and
warn us so we’ve had a room in the castle prepared. It’ll be a temporary thing
but you’ll have a safe and warm place to sleep tonight at least.”

There was a general sigh of relief as no one had had that
for the past two and a half weeks.

Turning, Edvard motion for Amber. “Please show them the way.
Master Gerrard, if you can trust my people to settle everyone in? Good, then
please come with me. I’ve got separate quarters set up for you and there’s much
that we need to discuss.”

Riana took advantage as everyone went about settling into
the castle to duck into her rooms, wash up, and change into clothes that did
not smell of horse. Feeling better about life, she left and went into Edvard’s
study, as she was told that everyone would convene there. Upon entering, she
found Ash had already rejoined the group, and Ashlynn, Edvard, and her father
were comfortably seated. Ash patted the seat next to his and she sank into it
with a sigh of relief. Ah, a cushy thing that did not move. Glorious.

“Master Gerrard?” she asked him as she sat.

“Double checking that everyone is fine before coming up
here. Edvard has them set up in the ballroom, as that’s the only place big
enough to hold all of them, and they’re treating it like some huge slumber
party. I think they’re fine, but Master isn’t the type to take someone’s word
on that.”

Edvard cleared his throat. “Yes, well, he wasn’t quite what
I was expecting. But then your description of him is radically different from
Ashlynn’s, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. He strikes me as a very good
man.”

“He is,” Ashlynn confirmed.

A twinkle appeared in Edvard’s eyes as he continued, “So,
Ash. Once again I’ve sent you out to get something and you came back with far
more than I asked for. I’m seeing a trend develop.”

“The man had every intention of coming before I even set
foot inside the country,” Ash protested.

His words fell on deaf ears. Edvard spoke to the rest of the
room. “I vote that from now on Ash is in charge of any seek-and-find missions.
All in favor?”

Ashlynn and Broden promptly raised their hands. Edvard
joined them with a smirk on his face. “Majority wins on this. Motion carried.”

Riana and Ash gave squawks of protest.

“No, no. No wiggling out of it.” Edvard shook a finger at
them, that thrice-cursed grin still on his face. “I see good results. And when
you deliver twenty-three wizards into my hands, you can’t call it anything but
a good result.”

Ash leveled a basilisk stare at him. “Why do I put up with you
again?”

“Gwen,” Edvard answered, smile not wavering in the
slightest.

“If she wasn’t so cute, you wouldn’t be able to manipulate
me like this,” Ash half-growled.

“Oh I know it. I bank on her cuteness.”

There was a casual rap at the door. Gerrard drawled, “This
sounds like a serious conversation. Should I come back later?”

Ashlynn, laughing, waved him in. “Come sit here.”

Riana watched the man promptly sit next to Ashlynn with a
doting smile on his face. She certainly understood why Ash was convinced
Gerrard didn’t really like him. He certainly treated both twins differently.
But Riana had noticed that Gerrard just had a soft spot for women in general
and tended to be more rough-and-ready with the boys. It wasn’t anything against
Ash.

“Master Gerrard,” Edvard went back to being his kingly self
and met the man’s eyes squarely, “welcome to Estole. I’ve already started your
process of being admitted as a citizen of this country—you and everyone that
came along with you—but of course Troi will need to speak to you directly to
get some of the particulars.”

“Of course,” Gerrard agreed readily. “I’ll speak to him
after this, providing someone shows me where to go.”

“I will,” Ashlynn assured him. “But those are formalities.
Let’s get down to the important things. There’s no room in Estole for you to
rebuild the academy, so it’ll have to be the settlement.”

Ash cleared his throat. “We discussed as much coming here.
Edvard, I have a site in mind, and it’s somewhat off the main street but still
close to what will be the center of town.”

“I don’t care where you put it,” Edvard confessed frankly,
“as long as I know how to quickly reach people during emergencies.”

“In that case we’ll leave you out of the decision making
process.” Ash ignored Edvard’s spluttering and said to Gerrard, “The main site
I mentioned will be the best choice but there’s a great deal of land over
there. You can choose almost any location you wish. It’s just going to be a lot
of work because most of it hasn’t been cleared yet.”

Gerrard gave a dismissive huff. “I have twenty students and
two teachers who are motivated to get their new academy built before the snows
hit. I’m not worried about it. But what am I to do for building supplies? King
Edvard, do I buy them from the government?”

“The government has none to offer,” Edvard answered
cheerfully. “We’re using it up as fast as we can get our hands on it. Anything
that you can mine or log in the settlement lands is yours. Use it as you see
fit. I just ask that you not waste anything. If there’s leftovers from your
building, then give it to someone else that can use it.”

The master wizard liked this answer. “Noted, sire.”

“Also, I realize you want to get the academy up as quickly
as possible, but be aware that we are ridiculously short on manpower. If you
can spare anyone, even if it’s just one, to help us with other projects I’d be
very grateful.”

“He knows it’s just the two of us working on things here,”
Ash assured Edvard.

“Three now,” Ashlynn corrected.

“Three?” Ash blinked at her. “Where did the third person
come from?”

“Kirsty Kilpatrick waltzed in here about five days ago and
joined Estole.”

“Kirsty Kilpatrick…” Ash repeated, staring up at the ceiling
as he tried to recall.

“Remember when we got together with Master Poole’s students
for those competitions?” Ashlynn waited for a nod before continuing to jog her
brother’s memory. “There was a skinny little brunette that I made friends
with.”

“Ah, yes, her. She came to join? But I thought she was from
a good family.”

“She is. But she had a rotten fiancé. So she came here
instead.”

“Philip Poole.” Gerrard’s tone suggested he had bitten into
a rotten lemon. “Now there’s a person you don’t want to be involved with. I was
required by Iysh to give all of you practical experience working with other wizards,
otherwise I never would have dealt with the man.”

“I know you didn’t like him?” Ashlynn trailed off
encouragingly.

“Not a likeable man.” Gerrard crossed his arms over his
chest, still frowning. “Manipulative, scheming, back-stabbing, boot-licker. And
that’s the kindest description I can use for him. He was always trying to get
into someone’s good graces and he didn’t particularly care what methods he had
to use to do it. Sometimes, as a Wizard of Iysh, they asked you to do some
dirty work. I left court because I wouldn’t play into their games. Poole
voluntarily took on whatever tasks I refused to do.” Shaking his head, he
looked at the room in concern. “And you say one of his students is now here?”

“Kirsty is nothing like the man,” Ashlynn assured him. “In
fact, she left Iysh because they were trying to force her down that same path
and she balked at the idea.”

“That does give me some peace of mind.” Gerrard’s expression
said he still had reservations about her.

Ashlynn, apparently realizing that nothing else she said
would make much of a dent, let it lie. “Anyway, Ash, I had her pick up two of
the projects you were working on. She’s continued to put in some of the streets
and buildings over in the settlement, and she’s helping the miners when they
need it. For someone who was born with a silver spoon in her mouth, she’s
certainly not afraid to work.”

Riana was relieved to hear it. Just one wizard to split the
workload with would make all the difference in the world.

“And the warehouses? The storage rooms for food?” Ash asked
her.

“Some of them built. But we’ve had a…setback.”

Her brother gave her a leery look. “I’m not going to like
this, am I?”

“We sure didn’t.” Ashlynn rubbed at her temples, not looking
up as she related, “Two nights ago, the settlement was attacked.”

Riana felt her stomach drop out. “They came back?!”

“Aye,” Broden growled.

“Ah?” Gerrard waited for Ashlynn to face him before
continuing, “What am I missing?”

“When we first started the settlement, we had trouble with
bandits coming in from Cloud’s Rest,” Ashlynn explained. “Two of the gangs
joined up together to attack the second time, but we drove them off, and after
that we didn’t see any sign of them wanting to try again. But apparently they
were just waiting us out. The minute that we stopped putting the ward up every
night, they attacked. We lost a great many supplies, some of the buildings were
damaged, but thankfully the people were able to either get out of the way or
fight them off. My guardsmen were quick to respond.”

“Why did you stop putting up the ward?” Ash wasn’t quite
accusatory, but his tone expressed his unhappiness.

“It had been a month,” Ashlynn retorted, a grimace on her
face. “We couldn’t risk driving Kirsty into exhaustion like you had done.
Either she was building, or she was putting up a ward every night, she couldn’t
do both. I had guardsmen over there; I thought it would be fine as long as a
guard was in place.”

“And it mostly was,” Edvard soothed. “We didn’t lose any
people. The bandits did retreat. We just have some parts to rebuild. I consider
that a win.” When he got evil twin-glares, he hastily backtracked. “Of sorts.”

“We’re going to have to deal with those bandits.” Ash pinned
his blood-brother in place with his eyes. “Something that will have a permanent
effect. I can barely find the time to build everything we need, and now you’re
asking me to rebuild?”

“We’ll discuss exactly what to do later,” Ashlynn promised
him. “I have an idea or three I want to pass by Broden and Riana before we sit
down to plan. For now, Master, understand that the settlement is a little
hectic.”

“I do that. In fact, from today on, I’ll put the ward up
around the place, if you’re that short on wizards.” Gerrard had a no-nonsense
set to his jaw that said even without permission, he would be putting a ward
up.

“We’d greatly appreciate it, sir,” Edvard said respectfully.
“Any help you give us will be welcome.”

“Then I’ll do that tonight. King Edvard.” Gerrard took a
breath, phrasing the words in his head before giving them voice. “What is your
plan for Iysh? You know they are likely to send an army against you?”

“I know.” Edvard sounded tired admitting to this. “Right
now, I’m looking for as much information as I can. If we can somehow come to an
agreement with Iysh before they send an army to our doorstep, all the better.
If not, I still need information so I can make a plan to deal with them.”

“I still have contacts in court, although not many. I can
send word to them?”

“Please do. Not many are willing to contact me at the moment
and it’s difficult to pull off, now that we’re in a trade embargo with Iysh.
Any information you give us will help.”

“I will make some inquiries,” Gerrard promised.

“Very good.” Slapping both knees, Edvard gave the whole room
an encouraging smile. “Well. We can’t afford to sit here much longer, there’s
too much to do. Back to work, everyone. Ash, Riana, stay here long enough for
me to fill you in on what was done during your absence.”

Put to work the same hour they came back home? Riana
couldn’t say she was too surprised by that.

“No matter what you say, I’m taking an hour or so to play
with Gwen before I dive into things again,” Ash warned him.

“Of course. She’d never forgive me otherwise.”

Riana didn’t believe for one minute that had been Edvard’s
plan. He was just going with the flow to keep Ash happy enough to work like a
slave. Come to think of it, Gwen might be Ash’s motivation in working so hard,
but it wasn’t for her. So why did she do it? For Ash?

Riana gave him a look out of the corner of her eye and
thought it might not be a good time to answer that question. Not even to
herself. Not yet.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Early morning was Broden’s favorite time of the day. He had
learned over the past months here that if he did not carve out time for himself
then no one would give it to him. So he got up early, right before the sun did,
and took himself down to the training grounds so that he could spend a little
time each day keeping his skills sharp.

Ashlynn had figured out what he was doing roughly about the
time that Ash and Riana left Estole. She had asked him about it and he had
responded: “A man’s talents be no’ rust-proof. They need consistent polishing
to keep their shine.”

She had apparently taken this to heart as after that morning
she had always met him there. Sometimes she created mirages for them to battle
against, other times it was just the two of them working on the basics of their
crafts, but either way they spent an hour together training. Sometimes they
spoke but not often. Most of the time they didn’t need words.

This morning especially they were very in sync with each
other. Ashlynn had put up her illusionary enemies for them to fight against.
Broden was not quite sure how this spell worked. They looked like nothing more
than shadows, half-solid, half-sheer, but they moved and fought like they were
real soldiers. If he hit them with a steel arrow, they disappeared in a puff of
smoke. Likewise, if Ashlynn hit them with one of her long knives, they puffed
out.

The pair moved in and around each other, Broden skipping in
and out of her protective shield like a bird skimming over water, taking no
notice of it most of the time. They still had three opponents up when he heard
someone else enter the training yard, but aside from tracking the person’s
general position he paid no attention to them. Only when the last ‘enemy’
disappeared did he turn to look.

It was not one of the guards as he had expected, but instead
Gerrard. The man was apparently a morning person as he was wide awake, fully
dressed, and watching them with an unreadable expression on his face. Ashlynn
took notice of him at the same time and said easily, “Morning, Master.”

“Good morning,” he returned. Gesturing with a finger between
the two of them, he asked, “You do this every morning?”

“It’s a recent routine we developed,” she answered, wiping
sweat away from her forehead. “I enjoy it. I think it’s the only peaceful time
we have to ourselves all day.”

Broden also felt she was less inclined to beat up the first
criminal she found after working out any frustrations she felt pre-work day. He
was a wise man. He did not bring that up.

Gerrard gestured to the knives in her hands. “Since when do
you fight with weapons?”

“Ah, these? Broden has been teaching me. They’re very much a
last resort, for a time when I’m completely out of magic, which I hope never
comes. But I enjoy training with them. I think my reflexes have improved
because of it.”

“They have at that,” Broden agreed. He had seen for himself
that her reaction times had improved.

Ashlynn beamed at him. “High praise, coming from you.
Anyway, Master, you’re out here very early. You were looking for us?”

“When I asked, the kitchen staff said you were likely out
here.” Gerrard shifted his focus to Broden. “On the trip here, Riana started
teaching my students archery and strategy. Several of them showed aptitude for
it. I’d like for the lessons to continue but it’s a bit much to ask her to take
all twenty of them on by herself. She said you would likely help if I asked.”

Personally, Broden found it foolish in the extreme to have
half-trained wizards with no combat skills in a country that was facing
imminent attack. With no compunction whatsoever he agreed, “Aye, I will. These
lessons have a time and place to them?”

“Whenever we can get the two of you to agree. I’ll make sure
my students are there.”

“Then let me confer with me daughter and we can talk about
this again tonight.”

“Sounds fair,” Gerrard allowed. “Ashlynn, I want to make
sure my students have a thorough understanding of the laws here in Estole. Can
you meet with them after breakfast and explain everything to us?”

“That is a very good thought.”  Stowing both knives away in
the sheaths on her belt, she clapped Broden on the shoulder as she walked past
him. “I’ll clean up and meet you at breakfast.”

“Aye.” Broden did not so much as budge. He knew good and
well that Gerrard had not come out here at this bird’s hour of the morning to
ask favors of the two of them. This kind of thing was talked about during
breakfast, not an hour before it. No, the man had heard that he and Ashlynn
were routinely alone out here in the mornings and had come to see for himself
what they were up to.

Gerrard’s mouth curved up in a simulacrum of a smile. “How
did you know I wanted to talk to you one-on-one?”

“Instinct,” Broden drawled.

This tickled the man’s humor enough to get a more genuine
smile from him for a second. “I’m asking this as Ashlynn’s master. What are you
to her?”

“I do believe she told ye that the first time we met. We be
partners.”

“Partners.” Gerrard repeated the word as if he were not sure
what it meant. “You know, I asked Ash and Riana the same question. And that was
their answer. But it’s as plain as the nose on my face that they think of each
other as something more. You do realize that they’re falling for each other?”

Broden resisted the urge to roll his eyes to the heavens.
But it was a real challenge. “I do have eyes, man. Two of them. They both work
rather well.”

“And you can tell me that you and Ashlynn aren’t the same?”

The archer’s eyes nearly crossed at that mental image and he
could not help it—he laughed. “Ah, no.” Seeing that Gerrard really was worried
about this, he said gently, “Think, man. The lass be the same age as me own
daughter. It be a father she needs, no’ an old man as a lover.”

“Father.” Gerrard parroted this without comprehension and
then stepped back, looking away, the wheels turning in his mind. The next time
he repeated the word, it was like a revelation. “Father. Yes. That’s it. That’s
the way you two interact. I knew it was more than partnership between the pair
of you but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.”

Broden shrugged, not surprised by this. Ashlynn had never
had a father in her life that she could remember. Even she would not know what
to do with one if it suddenly appeared. Gerrard had never seen her act like
this before as she had never had a father-figure until Broden showed up.
Sometimes she was a little awkward, sometimes she was as natural around him as
a duck on water, sometimes she was the wizard and he her protector, sometimes
she was a little girl that just needed a shoulder for a minute. Ashlynn had
many faces and he had come to know some of them very well. The one consistent
thing between them was that he had her back. Always.

“Father and partner mixed in one.” The tension ran out of
Gerrard’s shoulders. “Well. I’m glad. You’re right, that’s exactly what Ashlynn
needs, although she’ll tell you quite differently if you ever ask her. She
always treated me as her master and friend, nothing more, as if she stubbornly
had to prove she didn’t need a father.”

“Aye, the lass be independent that way.” But both men knew
that it did not matter how old a woman got or how strong she might be. Everyone
needed that one person she could go to when things were well and truly wrong.

“You should be used to independent women as your Riana is
the same way.”

Broden grinned outright. “The two be similar that way.”
Feeling like he had a better sense of the man now, he put his bow over his
shoulder and gestured for Gerrard to follow him back to the castle proper.
Gerrard took the invitation in stride and fell into step with him. “Now, these
students of yers. They be how old?”

“The youngest is twelve, the oldest is twenty-one.”

“Pardon a man’s curiosity but do their parents know where
they be?”

“Ah, that? From the ones of age, I didn’t do anything more
than send a letter of notification. For the rest, I went and talked to their
parents personally and explained what I was going to do. They all agreed Estole
was a better place than Iysh for a young wizard to train in. I expected a fight
on my hands but not one argued with me.” Gerrard lifted a shoulder in a shrug.
“Then again, I don’t have a single student that currently has good connections
or is from a high level in Iysh society. That could be why.”

There be no ‘could be’ about it. “I see.”

“Riana was teaching them all equally, but how old do they
need to be?”

Broden snorted. “Me daughter was knee high and playing with
arrows. Twelve be plenty old enough. Now, I do no’ want them on the front lines
of battle, but if it becomes that desperate, I do want them to know where to
stand and how to fight so they can at least survive.”

Gerrard nodded firmly and in that moment the two men were
exactly in accord with the other. “Precisely so. I know you and Riana will be
very busy. We all will. But do you think you can train them every day?”

“Their safety be depending on it. I can find the space of an
hour.” Broden especially did not want battle-green wizards being turned out in
the next few years. That was folly in the extreme. Even if he lost an hour’s
sleep because of this on a daily basis, the sacrifice was worth it. “Now, ye
said me Riana was teaching them. How much did she cover?”

They walked with each other inside, relaying information
back and forth, planning, and secretly hoping that what they would teach in the
upcoming months would never be used.

Ashlynn gathered them all into the small sitting room in the
twins’ suite. It was not just both partners but Edvard as well, an informal
council formed up of the original people who had established Estole. Broden had
a notion that Ashlynn had done this on purpose instead of calling for a full
council to talk about the problem as she wanted to discuss ideas freely before
settling on a course of action.

He also had a notion that what she wanted would be something
that most of the provosts would not agree with.

She had them all seated, with herself standing in front of
the fireplace, before she clapped her hands in satisfaction. “It wasn’t easy
getting you all here.”

“We do have duties in completely different parts of the
country,” her twin observed drolly.

“Hush, you. Now. I am personally tired of defending against
attacks. The army from Iysh is bad enough, but the bandits have proven to be
equally destructive in some ways. They’re also even more unpredictable. At
least with Iysh, we have spies to alert us if they’re moving. With the bandits,
we have no clue until they’re right on top of us.”

Broden grimaced. That was unfortunately the full truth as it
stood. “So what do ye want to do, lass?”

“Hunt them down and eliminate them.” There was a fierce
light in her eyes.

Ash and Edvard jerked upright and spluttered in synchronized
protest, “Ashlynn!”

“You have a better option?” she inquired mock-sweetly, eyes
wide and innocent like a maiden. “Aside from running all of the wizards of
Estole into the ground by erecting numerous wards every night? Because now it’s
not just the settlement we have to protect, but all of the mines as well.”

“We have more wizards,” Edvard offered weakly.

The Sheriff of Estole was having none of it. “Most of them
are busy building things. Or rebuilding things. Or teaching the upcoming
generation of students the finer points of magic. You want to take turns
exhausting them? That’s a fine plan. Let’s have them all tired and wrung out
when the Iyshian army strikes.”

Edvard turned to Ash for support and found none. “She does
have a good point,” Ash admitted. “We really want to be near the top of our
forms, not barely squeaking by, if Iysh ever decides to move.”

“But hunt them down?” Edvard objected, appealing to both
twins. “We don’t have the manpower for that!”

“It will no’ take many to pull this off.” Broden eyed his
partner speculatively. He could not read her emotions through their bond like
Ash and Riana could but he did not need to in this case to have an idea of what
the lass was thinking. “A small, elite team could do more damage than an army
up there. That be what ye’re thinking, be it no’.”

“Precisely.” She beamed at him. “Edvard. I just need three
weeks and a few people. With Broden’s knowledge of the area, I can strike fast
and hard at the right places, and I can make it very costly for the bandits
that hit us. So costly they never want to do it again.”

“Who are you thinking to take with you?” Edvard hedged, not
agreeing one way or another.

“Me, Broden, Kirsty—”

“Wait, why Kirsty?” Ash interrupted.

“After all of that work she’s done on the settlement,
building things in your place, she is livid. It took Bragdon and Broden
both holding her back; otherwise she would have marched up there herself and
taken the bandit gangs on. Believe me, she wants in on this.” Ashlynn paused to
consider their reactions before adding, “And Master.”

“The man just arrived!” Edvard shook his head in denial.
“No, surely not him.”

“No, he’ll want to go,” Ash endorsed, lips kicked up on one
side. “He’ll consider this ‘fun’ and if you leave him out of it, he’ll pout for
weeks. Besides, he’s not going to rest easy until this problem is eliminated.
The bandits are striking too close to home for him. He won’t want his students
over there until this is settled.”

Ashlynn gave him a regal nod. “Precisely.”

Riana turned to Ash and said softly, “We should go too.”

Ash met her eyes and for several moments the two of them
spoke without words, conveying what they were thinking, ‘hearing’ what the
other person felt. Broden watched them and felt his heart constrict a little.
There had been a time, when Fianna was alive, that he had had such a bond with
another person that words were not necessary. Seeing his daughter find that
connection with someone else made him happy but also a little sad. It was a
bittersweet thing.

The room stayed quiet, waiting for what they would say. It
was Ash that spoke, eyes level with hers. “I’ll punch every person that insults
you, man, woman, or child.”

Her hand slid into his, fingers lacing. “That be fine,” she
whispered, winking.

Tightening his grip around her hand, Ash looked up at their
audience and announced, “We’ll go too. I’m also mad about the destruction
they’ve done and Riana’s knowledge of the area will be just as vital, I think.
It’s also an opportune moment. Edvard, you do realize that we’re close enough
to incorporate Cloud’s Rest into our own boundaries? That given enough time,
the settlement will likely grow enough to meld into their borders?”

“I had considered it,” Edvard admitted, eyeing the pair of
them. “But that’s another couple years down the line so I wasn’t going to worry
about it just yet. You think I should?”

“The bandits be a bane to everyone up there,” Riana
explained. “If ye want to get on the village’s good side, establish a
relationship, now be the time to do it. Get rid of the bandits. It be a sign of
good faith.”

“We need to establish trade with someone, have another
source of food coming in,” Ash picked up the idea and kept rolling with it.
“Cloud’s Rest will be a good source for that. It can’t hurt to try.”

Ashlynn cocked her head. “But no one has mentioned that
before? I mean, we’ve been having food shortages for months, why not approach
them before this?”

“No bargaining power,” Broden explained. “Cloud’s Rest be
needing a mighty large reason to go against Iysh. Getting rid of the bandits be
the right leverage for us. Which is why, King, I vote we go as well.”

Edvard groaned and refused to look at any of them, eyes on
the ceiling. “Why do I feel like I’m being ganged up on?”

Because he was. Broden was not about to say it aloud though.

“And your arguments make too much sense.” He glanced around
suspiciously. “If I didn’t know better, I would think you had planned all of
this out beforehand.”

“We didn’t,” Ashlynn denied. But the whole room knew they
did not need to. The twins knew how the other thought, their partners were used
to reading each other, and the four of them combined could read the others well
enough that they did not have to have this out before laying it all out in
front of Edvard.

“Just three weeks?” Edvard asked, suspicious. “You really
think you can pull off everything you need to in that time?”

“With four wizards and two archers that are experts on the
area?” Ashlynn responded, already sporting a victorious smile. She knew she had
won. “If I can’t pull this off in three weeks, there’s something wrong with the
world.”

“Even if you don’t do everything you planned, you have to
come back home when your time is up,” Edvard commanded, pointing a stern finger
at her. “I can’t spare you for longer than that.”

“I know,” she soothed. “We’ll be good and come back after
three weeks.”

“If Ash hadn’t come back with so many wizards, I wouldn’t be
able to let you go at all.” Edvard went back to staring at the ceiling. He
seemed to find it safer, or perhaps easier, than meeting anyone’s eyes. “Let me
check with my spies tonight. If Iysh is still dragging their feet, you can go.
If not, you’re staying. I’m not being caught shorthanded with an army on my
doorstep.”

Ashlynn maneuvered over to his side and patted him on the
head. “You’re a good brother.”

“I feel sorry for the bandits, I really do,” he muttered,
ignoring being patted on the head like a faithful dog. “They have no idea what
they’ve done by irritating you. Are you really that sure that Gerrard will go?”

“Absolutely positive.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

“How’s this?” Ash looked to his master for an opinion.

They’d come out this afternoon after Ashlynn had done a
lecture to all of the new citizens about the laws here. There were many
questions, some thoughtful, some silly, but at the end every person seemed
quite pleased about these less stringent laws. With that sorted, Gerrard had
given them specific instructions to learn the city and learn it well. He’d
broken them up in groups with a shopping list for supplies and, armed with some
of the new currency, they happily went off. As long as it didn’t involve
traveling on a cart, they would likely have done anything cheerfully.

Gerrard stood on the docks and did a slow revolution,
looking around him with judicious eyes. “How long have you been building this
place?”

“Hmm, almost three months?” Riana offered. “If ye include
clearing the land.”

“Which I do,” Ash muttered under his breath.

“This is a great deal of work to be done in just three
months.”

Truly. Riana had fresh eyes to it now that she had left and
come back again. Some things of course had been done in their absence. One of
the food storage buildings had been built, for instance. There were three new
streets that she could see coming in. Of course Edvard had explained to them
the day before everything that had been done, but that was different than
seeing it with their own eyes.

It no longer looked like a ‘settlement.’ It had all the
earmarks of a proper town now. Which meant they really did need to come up with
a proper name to go along with it. Riana would bring it up later but for now
she enjoyed the progress. They had a new smithy, three operating mines, a
completed marketplace with all of the essential stores, and almost three dozen
houses that were finished. More businesses were in the process of being built,
which included a mercantile, clothier, and apothecary.

She was also heartsick seeing what destruction had been left
in the bandits’ wake. The inn had serious fire damage in one corner of the
building and even now people were tearing out the burned boards, preparing to
redo it. The bakery had been hit by fire as well and its roof was severely
charred. Some of the houses, which had nothing more than a framework up, were
down to charred rubble, and it would require clearing away before any
rebuilding could be done. Riana had heard that the bandits had used fire to
distract people so they could make off with the supplies. Seeing it with her
own eyes was infinitely worse. Heading for Cloud’s Rest and hunting down
bandits sounded better every moment.

“This place does have more room to expand,” Gerrard finally
stated, tone satisfied. “And I believe that by the end of next year we’ll have
everything we need here and won’t have to go into Estole proper very often.
Alright. I agree to building the academy here. Which site did you have in
mind?”

“Ah, it’s actually straight along this road. It extends far
past the houses, so you can choose a lot on either side. If you want to be on
the main street?”

“I’d prefer it, certainly.”

Riana knew that Edvard certainly would. If he had to send a
messenger to the academy, then a direct route would be best.

They followed Ash to the site that he had in mind but
Gerrard was shaking his head before they had even come within full view of it.
“Something flatter than this, Ash. The land curves a little too much for my
liking.”

“Flatter? Hmm.” Ash turned to Riana.

She nodded and waved them forward. “I think I know a good
place. This way.”

“Riana, how is it that you know the place up here better
than Ash?”

“Ah, that? While he be putting in docks and buildings, I be
wandering about acting as provost. And hunting. So I have a better sense of the
lay of the land.” She took them off the roads entirely and to the east although
not far. Then she stopped and gestured. “This section goes back a ways. Aside
from the land right next to the channel, it be as flat as can be. Everything
else be naught but hills and ridges.”

Gerrard took several steps forward, eyes taking in the area.
It wasn’t completely flat, no lot was, but it was nothing more than wrinkles in
the ground. This place wasn’t cleared yet, either, so the trees were still
thick as thieves and as wide as the day was long. The wizard master spread a
hand, palm facing earth, and invoked a spell. Then he waited for several
seconds before a slow smile spread over his face. “There’s fresh water under
this area. A rather large river, actually.”

True, he would need a well, wouldn’t he?

“As you can see, the land isn’t cleared, and there isn’t a
connecting road, but if you like the place?” Ash waited for a confirming nod
before continuing, “Then I’ll build you a connecting road.”

Gerrard waved him down. “We can handle that. And clearing
the place. We’ll use the trees here for lumber. I’ll make up the plans today of
what we’ll build and have Maree and Loraine start on it tomorrow. Do I need to
submit the plans to anyone?”

“Me, actually. I’m the acting provost of the area until
Edvard can find someone to appoint. Do you have an idea of how much land you
want?”

“Now that is an excellent question.” Gerrard stepped back
and really studied the area. “Hold on. Let me pace this out.” He started
walking with a stiff, measured stride, counting to himself as he went. The man
stopped barely within shouting distance and gave an exaggerated motion toward
his feet, pointing at the ground. “HERE!”

Ash waved a hand of acknowledgement. “Riana, let’s mark his
ground with arrows. The place is growing so fast I don’t want a territory
dispute cropping up because we didn’t mark the place.”

“Good thought,” she allowed. Pulling her bow off her
shoulder, she grabbed two arrows from the quiver and nocked it.

“You know where he stopped?”

“Aye.”

Ash whispered a word and put the tip of his finger against
the shaft of the arrow for a brief moment. “Shoot.”

Riana hesitated a brief second to make sure that Gerrard had
moved far enough away from that spot before arcing the bow up high and firing.
It landed exactly where Gerrard had been standing. The master heard the whizz
of the arrow in the air and the thunk of it landing and whirled around,
surprised. Seeing what it was, he bellowed, “WARN A MAN!”

Riana laughed. “I WILL NO’ HIT YE!”

There was probably a lot cursing from her response, but from
here, she couldn’t hear it. Just as well.

Gerrard paced out a large rectangular lot, waving and pointing
when he wanted a spot marked, which Riana and Ash obliged via their arrow
markers. When the last arrow was solidly planted in the soil, Ash spoke a
string of words and the arrows lit up like bright lanterns. Then ribbons of
light shot out, connecting each arrow to another. The master returned to them,
surveying the area, and nodded in satisfaction. “Plenty of room. Good. I’ve
never been this far northeast before, so I ask, when do you usually get the
first snowfall?”

“Right before or after the All-Winter Festival, generally.
It’s been so mild for this season I think it’ll likely be after. So, you have
roughly three months?”

“The finishing touches be too much to ask, but I’ll have the
building’s frame and some of the main rooms finished by then.” Gerrard jerked a
thumb back toward the road. “Give me your specifications for the road and
sewage systems so I know how to build this section and tie in.”

“I will.” Ash turned and led them back. “Master, are you
sure about coming with us to Cloud’s Rest? You barely got in a day ago.”

“I can’t rest easy knowing this place will be attacked,”
Gerrard denied with a flick of the hand. “Besides, are you trying to cut me out
of the fun? Again?”

Ash held up his hands in defense, grinning. “Perish the
thought. I just thought maybe Ashlynn had charmed you into going.”

“Ha! Couldn’t keep me out of this one. Just give me enough
time to set everyone in motion before we leave. I want them working and not
sitting about on their hands.”

“We have our own preparations to do before we can go, so no
worries there.”

“Edvard mentioned something about wanting to build a bridge
over the channel?”

“There’s no plans for that yet.” Ash had a resigned
expression. “He’s marked out the spots where the bridge will start and end, but
we don’t have a design for it yet. It’s not an immediate project anyway, so
don’t worry about it just now. Then, if you don’t have any other questions?”

“Not a one,” Gerrard denied. “Go.”

Riana knew it had to be bad if Edvard called them over to
his study. Most of their communications were done by the callers so that they
didn’t have to shuffle back and forth from the settlement. But sometimes, he
insisted on a face-to-face meeting, and that always spelled trouble.

This time, Edvard had called for Gerrard as well, and Riana
wasn’t quite sure why. It could be in part because he wanted to start including
the man in these meetings just because of his magical prowess. It could be that
he hoped to make Gerrard more than a wizard master who had an academy on his
land. No one had confided in her Edvard’s goals, so she only had her own
suspicions and observations to go by.

They entered Edvard’s study and found that Ashlynn and her
father were already there, as well as Troi, Tierone, and Kirsty. Kirsty had
been sitting next to Ashlynn, but at their entrance, she immediately stood and
went to greet them. “I believe this is the first time we’ve seen each other in
at least a decade, Master Gerrard. I’m Kirsty Kilpatrick.”

Gerrard accepted the hand she offered him with a firm enough
grip. The doubt was in his expression. “Wizard Kilpatrick. I heard you were
here.”

“The only place to go when you’re fed up with Iysh is
Estole.” She grinned at him as she said it. “Although if I’d had any notion of
how much work I was signing up for, I might have had second thoughts.”

Ashlynn laughed. “I warned you.”

“You did not,” Kirsty argued back good-naturedly. “All you
did was ask me how good I was at building things. Not the same at all!”

“That question, the minute you arrived, was your hint,”
Ashlynn retorted, still grinning. “Not my fault you’re slow on the uptake.”

Kirsty waggled an outraged finger at her. “With friends like
you, who needs enemies?”

Edvard cleared his throat. “Girls. Take it outside if you
want to continue. I actually did call you here for a serious reason.”

Riana sank into her usual seat on the two-seater couch, Ash
claiming the spot next to her. “Edvard, when ye call us in like this, it never
speaks of good things. What be wrong this time?”

“Food.” Edvard nearly growled the word. “It’s become the
bane of my existence. The solutions we thought up to fix the problem are going
to be too slow, I’m afraid. We simply have too much populace and not enough
harvested crops. We’ve run through most of the food storage trying to support
everyone, and now we can’t even buy more because of trade being cut off. At the
end of this week, I will have to increase the food rations.”

Riana had experienced lean winters before but she had never
once really gone hungry. Her hunting skills and her da’s were enough to ensure that.
But she’d known the lack of anything but meat and taproots in a stew pot and it
wasn’t something she cared to experience again. “The fields we have planted?”

“Can’t be harvested soon enough,” Troi explained. The man
must have been dead on his feet because for once he was actually sitting in his
king’s presence. In these impromptu meetings, Troi almost always chose to
stand. “What you suggested, Miss Riana, was excellent to get us through the
winter. But right now we’re not even sure we can make it through the fall. This
population growth was more intense than we planned on and even though it’s
tapered off severely in the past month, we still have more people than we do
planted land.”

Ashlynn lifted a hand to draw attention to herself even as
she asked, “What we can hunt from the settlement lands and fish from the
channel isn’t enough to make up the difference?”

“Have to be careful there,” Broden warned. “Hunt too much,
there no’ be enough to give birth to the next generation, and ye can hunt an
area dry. Same can be true of fishing, I expect.”

Troi inclined his head toward the archer. “Exactly so.”

Edvard splayed his hands. “I need options. Quick options so
that my people aren’t starving in front of my eyes.”

Gerrard shifted in his seat and cleared his throat. “Plants
can be enhanced so they grow faster.”

The whole room snapped around to face him. Edvard leaned
forward, riveted to the man. “Can they now,” he breathed. “How fast?”

“Depends on the normal growing season for the plant. Some
mature quickly anyway.” Gerrard thought for a moment before he rattled off the
list. “Carrots and radishes have to be planted every few weeks to keep a
continuous harvest. Others, like snap beans, squashes, and tomatoes produce a
constant harvest if you’re quick to pick them.”

It was Troi that asked what everyone was wondering. “Excuse
me, sir, but how do you know…?”

“Born and raised on a farm,” Gerrard explained with a
reminiscent smile. “Went back every fall as an adult to help with the harvesting,
too. My father always said it was worth every penny getting me trained as I
could do the harvesting in a week. It saved him a pretty penny in labor. I know
all of this by heart. King Edvard, one of the other things I learned how to do
for my parents’ sake was how to create magical greenhouses. Now, they’ll take
time to build, but we can have them for all of the other plants that don’t like
cold, and we can turn out a ready crop every three or four weeks throughout the
year.”

“Start that immediately,” Edvard ordered. “Troi, can you
find me skilled carpenters and masons to help with this?”

“We have a few contract workers that are finished with other
projects, but not many,” Troi warned.

“Divert all the ones you can, then. This takes priority.”

Kirsty cleared her throat. “Master Gerrard, what spells are
you using to speed the growing process along?”

Gerrard spoke the spell names, which of course only made
sense to the wizards in the room, but Riana saw them all blink in surprise as
if these weren’t spells actually designed for crop enhancement.

“Really?” Kirsty’s head canted to the side as she considered
this. “Huh. I think I see how it would work.”

“I never would have thought to use those spells,” Ashlynn
admitted. “They’re made for other things entirely.”

“I taught you to think outside of the box,” Gerrard chided.

“I think outside the red box,” Ashlynn said, indignant.
“This is a green box.”

Gerrard snorted, tried to stay stern for a full second, then
chuckled. “Well, I grant you, I didn’t teach any of my students about plants.
This is outside of your expertise. In retrospect, that was an oversight on my
part. I’ll put it into the curriculum.”

“Master Gerrard,” Troi asked respectfully, “can you tell me
how basic these spells are? Is this something that the majority of your
students can do?”

“There are three spells,” Gerrard explained to a very
attentive Troi and Edvard. “And yes, they are not at all advanced. I would say
a little over half of my students can do these with ease. Why do you ask? You
want to use them to create more greenhouses?”

“I’m clearing land as quickly as I can,” Kirsty inputted,
“but it takes more than cleared land to make a greenhouse. Even with those
spells.”

Troi shook his head, disagreeing, “That’s not what I had in
mind. I would certainly like to see large greenhouses in the settlement, but my
immediate concern is for the people here. These spells, can they be used for
something small? Can they be self-sustaining?”

“No spell is that, but it can be easily tied into a source
of power. Sunlight is a basic one. And yes, they can be as large or small as we
tell them to be.” Gerrard cocked an eyebrow. “What do you have in mind?”

Troi spoke to the room in general as no one seemed to be
catching onto his idea. “I thought perhaps it might be possible to do box
gardens throughout the city. Most of the houses don’t have land to their name,
but they should be able to do at least one box, perhaps two or three. With
these greenhouse spells on them, the families can harvest a crop at least once
a week, and it will augment their food supply.”

“Brilliant!” Edvard crowed. “And entirely feasible. Someone
kiss him so I don’t have to.”

Troi actually flushed at his praise. “Please, sire, you
flatter me too much.”

“I’ve been banging my head against the desk for weeks
regarding this problem and you just thought of a solution. You and Master
Gerrard. Actually, someone kiss both men so I don’t have to.”

“We’ll kiss them if we can pull this off,” Ashlynn said,
which relieved Troi, as he looked ready to bolt the second one of the women
stood up. “We’re still talking a lot of lumber to build the boxes with, and
seeds and dirt.”

“We still have plenty of seeds,” Troi informed her. “We
always buy more than what we need in case a crop fails. I believe there is extra
lumber to be had because of Wizard Kilpatrick’s efforts in clearing land.”

Kirsty nodded confirmation. “We don’t need all of it for
building with, you know. Some of it is too short for building purposes. But
it’ll be long enough for box gardens, at least some of it will be.”

“This doesn’t have to be glamorous,” Edvard ordered firmly.
“It has to be functional. Master Gerrard, I will gather up as many
laborers as I can to augment your construction of the academy. I understand how
important it is that you have it built before winter hits. But I need your
students to start in on this project immediately.”

“I’ll show them how it’s done today and teach them the
spells,” Gerrard promised. “My teachers will likely take about two days and
supervise them to make sure that they put it in right. Once they’re confident
they have the hang of things, then they’ll be turned loose on the city.”

“Not quite ‘loose,’” Ashlynn objected. “I do have some
spotty areas that a young wizard-in-training should not be running around in
alone. But I’ll work up a schedule so that my guardsmen can patrol in any areas
they’re working. Coordinate with me on this so that I know where they’re going
to be and we have help on hand if they need it.”

“I will.”

Edvard went to his desk, pulling out a report, and scanning
through it. Then he grabbed a quill and scratched out something, muttering to
himself, before pulling back and comparing it to the report. “Troi. Take a
look. Is this enough to augment our food or do we need to think of something
else?”

Troi left his chair to stand at Edvard’s side and study what
his king had written out. “I believe…it should suffice, sire. We’ll still need
to ration food until we can get the spring planting in and harvest, but it
won’t be nearly as severe as what we once assumed. The individual greenhouses
will help tremendously. I think we’ll manage.”

“I’ll make sure the academy has its own greenhouses,”
Gerrard promised. “We’ll be self-sufficient, no need to worry about feeding us.
During the winter, we’ll pour our energies into building more public greenhouses
so that we don’t have to be completely dependent on the spring crops to feed
people with.”

Edvard actually had tears shining in his eyes as he looked
up. “Thank you,” he said huskily. He had to clear his throat to continue. “We
are indeed blessed you came, Master Gerrard.”

Gerrard took the thanks in the spirit it was meant and bowed
from his seat. “I’ll do what I can. Always.”

“Thank you,” Edvard repeated. “Can you manage to organize
all of this before you leave? I know you were planning to go the day after
tomorrow.”

“We might have to push our departure back a day,” Ashlynn
ventured, looking around at her group as she said this. When she got rueful
nods of agreement, she continued, “but it shouldn’t take more than a day. Then
we can safely go.”

Turning to Kirsty, Gerrard requested, “Show me where this
usable lumber is. And Troi, start digging out seedlings. By tomorrow, my
students will know the spells and will be ready to work.”

“Not that fast, we need to tell everyone in Estole what the
plan is,” Ashlynn objected.

Her master gave her a smile. “Then you best get busy.”

Ashlynn grumbled, glared, but was out of her seat in a
thrice and heading for the door.

Riana choked on a laugh. Some relationships changed over
time, but that of master and student apparently didn’t.

“Edvard,” Ash asked, “what do you want me and Riana to do?
Greenhouses or continue with the food storage warehouses?”

“Bridge?” Edvard responded hopefully.

“You don’t even have plans for that yet,” Ash responded in
exasperation.

“I do too!  Three of them. You can pick which one to build.”

“And why do I have to pick?”

“Because you’re the one who is going to build it?” Edvard
offered artlessly.

Ash shook his head and put his foot down. “Bridge later.”

“Oh, fine. I suppose we don’t really have the funds for it
yet anyway. Your task is just as important and I think we have enough help
where the greenhouses are concerned. Go on as you were. But if you find
anything that will help with their project, or have any wood left over, please
set it aside and notify them.”

Ash ducked his head in a nod. “In that case, we’ll go back
to work.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

The morning that they left for Cloud’s Rest was much cooler
than any day they had had in months. Broden knew that they were finally
properly entering fall although the air was not cold enough to actually turn
the leaves yet. It was just an escape from that almost unbearable heat.

There had been quite the debate, before leaving, on which
route to take. As the crow flew, it would take them two days to reach Cloud’s
Rest, although there were no roads or paths to guide them. They would be
relying on Broden and Riana’s knowledge of the area and sense of direction to
get them there. But if they went by road, it would take three days, and they
could travel by horseback that much easier.

In the end, it had been a simple observation on Edvard’s
part that had decided the matter. “Shouldn’t we explore the option of building
a highway that connects Cloud’s Rest and Estole?” he had asked as if the topic
was common sense. “If we really want to establish trade relations with them,
then we’ll need a proper highway connecting us that doesn’t go through Iyshian
territory.”

It was a valid point, so the party now had a double purpose
in traveling there, to act as a forward scout to see how difficult it would be
to build a highway there. Broden was not a builder, had no mindset for it, so
he left it up to the wizards to think about as they walked steadily northwest.

The land dipped and rolled in gentle waves, the trees thick,
underbrush heavy, none of which was unusual for a virgin forest. There was bird
song and chittering of animals aplenty that sounded pleasant on a man’s ear.
Broden had not been in a forest properly since coming to Estole, and he
realized in a flash that he had missed the serenity of it. His heart felt
soothed just walking through it.

Ashlynn lengthened her stride to walk beside him. She was
quiet, introspective, and he caught a flash of some emotion along their bond,
there and gone again before he could put a label to it.

In a quiet voice, she finally stated, “Your partner is a
selfish one. She keeps you busy in a place that confuses you. You’re far more
comfortable here.”

A gentle soul, this one, in spite of her violent ways. He
grinned and patted her on the back of the head. “The madness will no’ last
forever, lass. When things settle, I can come and go here as I like.”

She turned unfathomable eyes on him, expression closed. “You
truly don’t regret it? Coming here? I know there’s been times when you’ve been
beyond angry and frustrated.”

“Lass, life be frustration. It just how it be. In
Estole, I have a safe place to lay my head, good food, and people that be
friendly and welcoming. That be all that a man really wants in life.” Pausing,
he studied her and realized that she was truly worried about this. Now, what
had gotten this notion into her head? Had someone said something to her? “Well,
if it be a complaint ye be looking for, I do have one.”

Ashlynn visibly braced herself. “What is it?”

“It be a hardship on a man when his partner be pretty.”

She rolled her eyes. “Broden, be serious.”

“I be!” he responded, doing his best to put a serious face
on. “Lass, do ye no’ realize how much of my time be eaten up beating off the
men? Do a man a favor, will ye? Try to be a little uglier on a day-to-day
basis. It will save me considerable effort.”

Broden was teasing, yes, but Ashlynn saw through that and
realized he was sincere. While he missed being able to just freely go around
the forest, he did not miss it enough to trade it for the place he had carved
for himself in Estole. He would not go back to it. Her tension relaxed and her
expression softened. “As long as you don’t regret it.”

He patted her head again because he knew she liked those
gentle, reassuring touches. Content again, she gave him a quick smile and then
bounced back to ask her brother a question. As she went, he watched her and
caught Gerrard’s eye in the process. The wizard master had a question on his
face but Broden shook his head slightly, indicating nothing was wrong. And
nothing was. The only constancy that Ashlynn had in her life when it came to
relationships was her siblings and Gerrard. Everyone else had been transitory.
It was only theory on his part, but he suspected that it was because of that
she sometimes worried he would be the same: only temporary. It scared her even
though she knew he could not easily leave, not with them magically connected
like this. So she would come to him and voice some comment, although most of
the time they were not that direct. He would give her the reassurance she
needed and then she would go on her way again, confidence restored.

From what Riana said, Ash did something similar, although not
with words. If he felt insecure for whatever reason, he would reach out and
hold onto her. Broden might not have raised his daughter in the best
environment, but the one thing that was always rock sure for her was the love
and support of her parents. What had the twins’ mother been doing, that even as
adults they were plagued with these insecurities?

Gerrard was not satisfied by that shake of the head and
caught up enough so he could whisper, “What was that about?”

Broden gave him a level look, although he had to crane his
neck up a little to do it. The other man was taller. “She be fine.”

“Ashlynn does not, in my experience, look insecure about
anything. So what was that about?”

Oh? Had Gerrard never seen Ashlynn show a weaker side? Now
that was interesting. “She gets a notion, now and again, that mayhap I regret
coming to Estole. There be no truth in it, but I reassure it when it comes, and
she be fine afterwards.”

“Ahhh, those moments.” Gerrard said this with perfect
understanding. “She had those with me, when she first came to the academy. Of
course, she was only a little girl then, I thought she’d grown out of them
completely.”

“With ye, aye.” Curious, Broden could not help but ask, “How
long did it take afore she grew confident with ye?”

“About a year, if I recall correctly.” Gerrard frowned at
the ground, struggling to remember. “Ash took a little longer. Has Riana been
experiencing the same things with him?”

“Aye, from time to time.”

“Odd, I thought a magical bond between all of you would have
stopped that from happening.”

Broden shook his head. He was not surprised in the
slightest. “Wounds to the heart do no’ heal that fast.”

“Or easily,” Gerrard sighed. “Really, considering how rocky
their childhood was, it’s amazing how well they turned out.”

The words were sincere enough, but why did he feel… “Ye take
credit for that.”

“Of course,” Gerrard responded, all innocent-like. “Who else
can take the credit?”

Broden snorted. The man had enough confidence for three
people. Maybe it did rub off on them. “Now that we have the time, I have a
question for ye. Some of yer students be in their twenties but ye be teaching
them basic things, I noticed.”

“That’s not a question, but I understand what you’re driving
at. Yes, some of my students are far older than the others and still beginners.
Iysh has a great many rules about learning magic, and unfortunately most
wizarding schools cost an arm and a leg. When I stumble across someone with the
talent, but not the money or social position for it, I snap them up and work
out a deal with their parents so I can teach them. Frankly, having untrained
wizards running about is stupid. They’re bound to cause accidents, for one, but
it’s a waste of potential too.” Lowering his voice, he confided, “Technically,
Ash and Ashlynn should not have been taught. The reason why they went to my
school, aside from the fact that we have an excellent reputation, is that I
would take them. Most of the other academies wouldn’t because of their
origins.”

Broden considered for a moment what the world would have
been like if those two had not been taught. Estole would never have been a
country, he and Riana would still be up in the mountains fighting with bandits
and eking out an existence in Cloud’s Rest. It would have been a much darker
place. He shuddered, throwing off the mental image. “I do no’ care to think of
what the world would be like if that had happened.”

“Scares the light right out of me,” Gerrard admitted. “And
you didn’t see them as children. They were already figuring things out and
making magical sparks happen. Worse, they were doing it in tandem. It
would have been magical mayhem unleashed if I hadn’t accepted them. The duke
was adamant about me taking them immediately and I understood why after I saw
them.” Frankly, he added, “I think he also liked the idea of having two wizards
all to himself that he didn’t have to jump through hoops to get.”

That was as likely as the other, from what Broden knew of
the man.

They walked in silence for a while. Broden could hear a
lively discussion going on behind him about building a highway. Riana was
describing what they would come across, the lake and the river, and the shallow
fords that a bridge could be built over. The three wizards were conferring with
each other about gradients and how much effort it would take to clear a path,
building materials they would need, and so forth. Broden only followed about
half of it. The way they spoke, excited and focused, said to him that they
thought it would be an easy task, which was encouraging.

“Broden.” Gerrard formed his words carefully before voicing
them. “Neither you nor Riana seem very…enthused about going home. Ashlynn made
a comment before to me that suggests you weren’t well treated there. What are
we walking into?”

True, in the time they had known the man, no one had really
told him the Ravenscroft family history. And considering where they were going,
it was best to fill him in. “I will tell ye, but best we tell Kirsty too.”
Turning his head, he called her. “Kirsty! Come a moment, I need to speak with
ye.”

The wizard cocked her head, questioning, but went into a
lope long enough to catch up on his right side. “What is it?”

“Has me daughter explained what Cloud’s Rest be like?”

“She focused on telling us more about the bandits. She
didn’t say much about the village itself. Why?”

Right then. Broden filled them in on everything he thought
was pertinent although he spared them the nitty gritty details. It took the
better part of an hour before he stopped.

Kirsty’s mouth hung open in indignation and surprise.
“They’re really like that? That’s insane! How is everything your family’s
fault?”

“Scapegoats, that’s what you were.” Gerrard shook his head
in sympathy. “Now I understand why you’re not keen on going back. Does Ashlynn
know all of this?”

“Bare bones of it, aye.”

“You realize, that if we walk into that village and they
start treating you like they were, my former students are going to lose their
tempers completely. They absolutely adore both of you and they’re not going to
take any insult to you well.”

Broden managed a smile although it felt more like a grimace.
“Gerrard, I trust ye to stop them before they level the place.”

“Me?” Gerrard objected in a near squawk. “How about you stop
them?”

“I don’t think you should stop them at all,” Kirsty
declared, her own temper rising. “I think they deserve what’s coming to them.”

Surprised by this ferocity, he cocked an eyebrow at Kirsty.
Now, when had he developed such close ties to the lass that she would feel so?

Seeing his reaction, Kirsty softened enough to explain.
“Broden, you have been an unfailing friend and, well, almost a mentor since I
came into Estole. Whenever something happened, you were right there to help me
through it. I know you only did it because you needed my help and I am Ashlynn’s
friend, but it was still very kind of you. Riana has been just as kind ever
since I met her. Is it strange I feel defensive?”

He had felt before that he liked the lass, but hearing her
declaration firmed his opinion. “No, lass. No’ at all. I rather feel the same.”
She blushed and did not seem to quite know how to respond to it. So, more teasingly,
he added, “But try to rein it in, eh? It be hard enough to stop Ashlynn when
she gets a mad on.”

“I heard that!” Ashlynn called from behind him. “And I’ll have
you know I only use violence as an appropriate response!”

Ash doubled over in a belly laugh. Gerrard chuckled openly
too. Broden had to bite his lips to keep from joining them.

“You three will pay for laughing,” she warned direly,
shaking a fist.

Broden turned enough to walk backwards a few steps,
objecting, “I be no’ laughing.”

She glared back, jaw set. “I can feel your amusement
clearly, don’t give me that innocent, wide-eyed look of yours.”

There were drawbacks to magical bonds, apparently. It could
get a man in trouble.

“Really!” Ashlynn grumbled to herself. “You’d think I was a
rampaging monster, the way they carry on.”

“No,” Ash denied around laughs, “you’re scarier.”

For that, his sister punched him in the arm.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Ash leaned up against the same tree that Broden was
currently sitting in and whispered up to him, “Broden. Confess.”

Broden spared him a glance, but nothing more than that. He
was using his vantage to count how many bandits were currently in the Grey
Wolves’ camp. From what he could see, it was about half of their usual number,
which should mean they had everyone home today. After all, they had lost half
in Estole when they had attacked the settlement. “Confess what, lad?”

“The reason why you said we should take out the bandits
first was because you’re hoping that after we deal with them, Ashlynn will be
too tired to want to fight the village afterwards.”

Well, that was part of it. Wait. “Correct me if I be wrong,
lad, but ye be the one adamant about talking to them first. If talks go well,
yer sister will no’ have anyone to fight with.”

“You know as well as I do that talking to them probably
won’t do any good,” Ash responded, torn between resignation and determination.

Broden blinked. That was a very different stance than what
Ash had taken last night around the campfire. He dared to shift his position so
he could look down at Ash’s face. “If ye feel that way, then why be we planning
to talk to them?”

“Because that’s how law works,” Ash said simply. “In order for
it to be a law, then you have to give someone notice, give them the chance to
avoid becoming a criminal. It’s only after you’ve notified them, and they
disregard it, that you can punish them. If we don’t notify them, if we don’t
say something to them first, then we become the lawless ones.”

To others, this argument might sound ridiculous, but Broden
understood what made Ash say all of this. Cloud’s Rest didn’t really have laws.
One might argue that there were certain moral codes that should be observed no
matter what land or culture a man found himself in, but still, there were
‘common sense’ things in every land that did not carry over to another. Ash
knew that these mountains had not seen a true ruling hand in generations. There
were no laws in place here that anyone enforced. It was his sense of justice,
of right and wrong, that forced him to at least give the bandits here formal
notice before attacking.

Broden respected it even if he did not fully agree with it.
So he grunted an acknowledgement even as he went back to viewing the camp.
“From what I see here, there be about forty in the camp.”

Riana was in a different tree altogether, on the opposite
side, also getting a headcount.  It had been months since he used this signal,
and it felt a little rusty and familiar at the same time as he lifted his hands
to his mouth and gave a shrill whistle that sounded like birdsong.

What came back was the same whistle, only in four short
bursts before trailing off, mimicking a cardinal’s cry.

“You’re a scary good imitator,” Gerrard complimented him. “I
thought that actually was a bird for a moment.”

“It be a lifelong practice.” Broden hopped out of the tree
and reported, “Riana says there be forty or so. What say ye? Front gates?”

“Might as well.”

Bandit camps up here did not really have much of a formal
structure. In fact, they all rather looked alike, probably because they only
had limited supplies to use for building. The buildings were roughly
constructed, canvas being used to cover any gaps, and the ‘fence’ was nothing
more than branches nailed to trees to form a rough sort of oval shape. There
were few defensible locations up here that had access to running water, which
was partially why the bandits latched onto certain territories and did not let
go of them. The other part, of course, was that it would be impossible to
survive a winter in makeshift camps. They might make it alright in Estole but
not up here. The snow got deep indeed in Cloud’s Rest.

Broden had indeed counseled that they deal with the bandits
first but not for the reason that Ash said. The bandits were their priority and
Broden wanted them gone before they had the chance to leave and hit the
settlement again. Also, dealing with the villagers would be difficult enough
without the problem of the bandits hanging over their heads. Ash had readily
agreed but for entirely different reasons. Or so he suspected. The man had
spent most of the trip up here either asking questions or thinking.

Whatever Ash had planned out for Cloud’s Rest would have to wait.
They had bandits to deal with first.

Broden caught sight of a head of blond hair marching for the
front gate (if you could describe such a helter-skelter collection of logs as
such) and swore. “The lass be heading in.”

Ash and Gerrard both joined him for a brief second before
dropping any pretense of lurking in the trees and scrambling down the short
hill after her. Broden was quick to do likewise, although he stopped long
enough to make sure he knew where Riana was. She had, thankfully, chosen to follow
after Ashlynn, and of course Kirsty was right on her heels. He would rather
have them all within sight instead of out here alone, vulnerable to being
ambushed from behind.

They caught up ten feet from the gate. The two men standing
guard were staring at the women like they were sure someone was playing tricks
on them.

Ashlynn stopped dead, crossing her arms over her chest, and
glared at them impatiently. “Who is your leader? Bring him out so I can talk
with him.”

Leaning in, Ash whispered fiercely to her, “You were
supposed to wait!”

“On what?” she hissed back from the side of her mouth.
“There’s only forty of them. If four wizards and two archers can’t handle this,
we shouldn’t have come to begin with.”

The man on the right, looking rather shabby if robust,
turned his head enough to holler, “Hey boss!”

“What?” a sour voice called back.

“We got a woman out here who wants to talk with ye!”

There was a muted, “Huh?” of disbelief and then someone
lumbered out of his seat and toward the gate.

Broden recognized the man instantly, having crossed paths
with him multiple times before, but did not know his name. There was a flash of
recognition in a pair of brown eyes as the bandit boss looked them over, but he
focused on Riana, being someone that he knew and had chances of intimidating.
“Be it ye that called me out?”

Ashlynn took a step forward, chin lifted. “I called
you out. My name is Ashlynn Fallbright. I’m a wizard from Estole. Your gang
recently attacked us.”

“Estole, eh.” The boss’s eyes narrowed, jaw working. “Aye,
we did. Come to repay the favor?”

Trying to stall the inevitable, Ash cut in. “They paid for
their mistake with their lives. We’re here to negotiate with you. We have
terms. You negotiate with us, we leave each other alone in peace, and there
won’t be any problem.”

The boss threw his head back and roared with laughter.
Broden had more or less predicted this reaction and started stealthily reaching
for arrows. In about twenty seconds, he would need them.

Still laughing, the boss lifted a horn that was hanging off
his belt and blew on it. That signaled every man within range and they came
pouring out of the camp like rats escaping a sinking ship.

Ashlynn let out a whoop. “Let’s take down some bandits!”

Broden put his back to her right side, close enough to
protect, out enough to give them both the elbow room they needed. The others
formed up a rough circle, all keeping their backs to each other, so that they
had a defensive ring to fight from. Really, even a strategic novice knew better
than to fight like this. It was sheer power on their side that kept them from
being overwhelmed.

The fight was dirty, confusing, but at no point were they in
danger of being overwhelmed. Ash and Ashlynn, battle hardened as they were, had
spells flying out that took multiple enemies down at once. Gerrard and Kirsty
were not quite as comfortable with it, still reaching for spells instead of
being able to rattle them off, but they more than held their own. In the space
of fifteen minutes, every bandit was down and all that remained was a silence
like a graveyard, peppered with their hard breathing.

Broden had known, intellectually, what the fighting prowess
of a wizard was. He had heard that it was Ash and Ashlynn that had kept Estole
from being conquered by Iysh. But seeing it with his own eyes was a different
matter entirely. The Grey Wolves had been a thorn in his backside ever since he
was a toddler. To see them suddenly gone like this, so quickly, felt surreal.

“Ash.” Riana’s voice sounded almost jarring. “Ye fought
better here than in Estole.”

“I didn’t have to worry about damaging anything or
accidentally hitting an ally here,” he observed calmly. “Hmm. That didn’t go
well.”

“It went swimmingly,” his twin denied, satisfied. “I do so
enjoy it when justice is served. Broden, you mentioned last night that we
should take something with us so we can prove it to the villagers later we did
this. What should we take?”

Broden pointed with his chin to the glaringly bright sign
that hung near the front gate. “That.”

Gerrard strode over and yanked it off, taking the nail with
the board. “Is that it?”

“That’s it.” Ashlynn rubbed her hands together. “Alright,
where’s the next one?”

“Closest one be The Black Seals, I think.” Broden turned in
that direction automatically. “More to the east and ye have Crimson Tides.”

“Black Seals it is.” Ashlynn gestured for him to lead on.

Broden did but with a sort of resignation. Ash would insist
on trying to talk to them, again, and it would end up in a massacre, again.
These were hardened criminals, even if they did agree to talk or even made
promises, they were not to be trusted. Ashlynn and Gerrard understood that. It
was Ash, gentle soul that he was, that could not seem to accept it.

The Black Seals camp was identical in all ways except that
someone had tried to actually paint the buildings at some point in time. The
paint was in different hues and now peeling, so it actually made the place look
worse. The guards on the gate did not wait for someone to speak but started
blowing frantically on a horn. Bandits poured out from every possible crevice
and nook, although it took a moment for the boss to arrive. This time it was a
woman, who was neither plain nor beautiful. She might have been pretty once,
before time had taken its toll on her, and the harsh life she led stripped her
of any good humor. Now she had the stare of a basilisk and it raked over the
group without any show of mercy. “Some fine victims have wandered in.”

Ash cleared his throat. “We’re from Estole. We’d like to
speak—”

The boss jerked a thumb across her neck in a cutthroat
gesture. “Kill ‘em.”

Broden shook his head, not surprised. Ash certainly was,
that the woman would not even hear him out, but the Black Seals had always been
the more ruthless and merciless of the gangs. They killed first and then forgot
to send flowers later.

Once again, they were swarmed, and once again they formed a
defensive ring with their backs to each other and fought ferociously to keep
from being overwhelmed. This time the fight was a little tougher as they had
more opponents to deal with. Broden did not know quite how much time had passed,
but it was not more than a half hour before the last body hit the ground.
Again, not a soul aside from themselves were left standing. He had a suspicion
that a few of the smarter ones had run for it, though. He had caught glimpses
of something fleeing east but who and how many were anyone’s guess.

Gerrard, without prompting, went and yanked off the sign
from near the front gate. He tucked it under his arm with the other one. Sweat
dewed his skin but he did not seem tired, just a little winded from the
exertion. “How many gangs are up here again?”

“Five,” Riana supplied. “Three, now.”

“Three more? If they’re all this easy, it should be fine.
Lead the way.”

Riana did so although she took a slightly different trail in
than Broden would have chosen, one that brought them to the edge of the camp
and did not dump them into plain view of the gates. She paused on the outskirts
of the tree line and looked to Ash, a question on her face.

It was his twin who asked, tone sardonic, “Ash, want to try
talking to them again?”

Her twin blew out a resigned breath. “No, just go.”

Crimson Tide was as easy to fight with as the Grey Wolves
had been. It was over in minutes and their sign was added to the collection
under Gerrard’s arm. Broden led them to the Jade Devils’ camp next. They had
purposely hit the three largest gangs first and in comparison, the Jade Devils
did not even put up much of a fight. The same was true of The Horns. It all
happened so quickly that within the course of six hours, the five gangs that
had been a threat to Cloud’s Rest—a threat that had lasted longer than living
memory—were abruptly destroyed.

Broden reeled from the shock of it. Even though he had been
there for each fight, seeing the camps leveled with his own eyes, it was still
unreal to him. It felt like he was in a dream.

“That was really it?” Kirsty asked as they made their way
toward the village. “I mean, I feel like I’ve been gearing up for a fight and
then missed it somehow.”

“Ye no’ be the only one.” Riana shook her head slowly, over
and over, as if she could not believe it all either. “I never thought it would
take so little time to deal with them all. They have been a plague to Cloud’s
Rest for years and now? In the space of a day they be gone.”

“I be just as shocked, daughter.” Pleasantly so, though. “Wizards
be scary beasts when angered.”

All four wizards grinned at him, pleased with the
compliment.

“You were equally scary,” Ashlynn informed him. “I swear
your hands were a blur.”

“They must have been,” he drawled. “I have an empty quiver.”

Ashlynn actually had a bounce in her stride as they walked
along the twisting trail. “So. Bandits are all gone. Ash, you insisted on being
the spokesperson for the village, but do you know what you’re going to say?”

“More or less.”

“You are going to warn them to be nice to Broden and Riana?”
Ashlynn’s expression became fierce and tight all over again. “Because fighting
most of the day hasn’t cooled my temper any. If they are insulted, I won’t sit
still.”

Ash lifted a hand to stall her. “I’ll warn them,” he
promised. “From everything that the two of you have told me, though, and based
on my own experience here last time, I don’t think this conversation is going
to go smoothly. In fact, I expect our whole visit here to be rocky. Dealing
with the bandits might well be the easiest part of this whole trip.”

Broden groaned even as the village walls came within sight. “I
would lay odds ye be right on that, lad. Anyone want to bet?”

“No takers,” Ashlynn denied. She was already tensing up in
anticipation of how poorly it would go. Still, she threw her shoulders back and
marched ahead. “Let’s get this over with as quickly as possible and then go
home.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

“Ravenscroft. I thought we’d seen the last of ye.” To
Riana’s ears, Ombudsman Eden sounded ever so slightly relieved that he was
wrong. But then, with both Ravenscrofts gone, there wouldn’t be anyone handy to
deal with the bandits. Eden couldn’t kick a life-long habit however and this
relief was fleeting. “What be ye doing back?” he demanded.

Ash cut in before Broden could say a word, stepping in front
of him like a living shield. There was a smile on his face that didn’t reach
his eyes. “Do you remember me, Ombudsman? I came up here early this spring to
cut down trees.”

“Aye, I remember ye fine, Wizard. Ye need more lumber?” Eden
asked, but he was looking at the rest of the group and obviously wondering what
was going on.

“No. I came up here for entirely different reasons. I would
like to discuss those reasons with you and the rest of your village.”

Eden dipped his head slowly in agreement. “We will hear ye
out, Wizard.”

Ash’s smile became set, like it was carved into a mask.
“Before we get to business, I need to address something else first. Ombudsman,
when I left, I took Broden and Riana with me. They became wizard-partners in
Estole, Riana to me, Broden to my sister there.”

“Wizard-partners?” Eden repeated as if the words themselves
were foreign, as well they might be. Riana had needed Ash to explain it to her
as she had never heard of it before he came.

“I can explain in further depth, if you need me to, but what
you must understand in this moment is that the two of them are very precious to
us. They are as vital to Estole as we are and are well known and respected in
my country.” Here the smile died entirely. “If anyone here offers insult to
them, we will not take it kindly or with any tolerance.”

This confused Eden more, not less. The villagers, looking
on, started murmuring to each other in loud whispers and their tones said they
were just as confused and a little incredulous that anyone would think to stand
up for the archers. Riana hadn’t expected anything different. This attitude of
theirs had been passed down from generation to generation. It wouldn’t
disappear just because Ash said so. It would take something far more impactful
than that.

But she was also aware that Ash and Ashlynn both were ready
to thump the first person that offered them an insult. It was why she watched
the pair so carefully. She was ready to catch them before they could lunge at
someone.

Ash cleared his throat, evening out his expression. “I’ve
come here as a messenger from the King of Estole. He wishes to establish trade
relations with you. Will you hear me?”

“Now hold on,” Eden objected, “even up here, we heard what
be going on. Estole rebelled against Iysh. Ye think ye can offer us trade?”

“Iysh has sent two armies against us and failed. Iysh hasn’t
had anything to do with you in living memory. Why do you care what Iysh wants?”
Ash parried neatly.

Riana eyed him sideways. True, she had given an opinion of
how the village would react to the offer, but that response of his was too
smooth. He must have been rehearsing this in his head on the walk up here.

Eden fumbled, rocked back on his heels, and stared at Ash
hard. He wasn’t the brightest of men so it took him more than a moment to think
of how to respond. “Why offer it to us?”

“Two reasons. First, we need more food. We’ve had so many
people come to Estole that we’re having trouble feeding them all. This mountain
has rich soil and people that know how to farm it. You’re a resource we need.”

The village nodded almost as a whole in agreement. They were
satisfied with that answer as it made sense to them.

“Second,” Ash continued, “the bandits that were here in
Cloud’s Rest have taken advantage of the relative isolation of this place for
too long. They thought they could use it to their advantage and they attacked
us more than once. We feel that if we have an open relationship with you, you
can tell us when other bandits try to move into this area, and we can prevent
them from building up in force again.”

“Were here?” Eden repeated, eyes narrowing. “Ye talk as if
they were no’ here now.”

“They aren’t.” Ash gave him a merciless baring of the teeth.
“We wiped them out today.”

Eden choked, spluttered, and threw up his hands in agitation
and disbelief. “There be five gangs of them in this area alone!”

“Not anymore. They dared to attack our country three
different times. We got tired of it and came up to deal with it personally.”

Riana wondered if Ash realized what a formidable picture he
presented just then. The bandits were the monster under the bed for Cloud’s Rest.
It was the reason why no one wanted to step outside alone, the reason why the
Ravenscroft family had been tolerated, not to mention why no one braved the
road to Senn without a full escort. To casually say that a group of six people
went in and decimated all five gangs was like declaring they could
destroy darkness itself.

Gerrard had been quiet up until this point but when the
dumbfounded silence stretched to an uncomfortable length, he stepped forward
and spread casually onto the ground the rough signs that each bandit gang had
posted to mark their territory. They made a very loud clattering sound as they
hit the packed dirt. It shocked a few people enough that they jumped.

The physical proof in front of their eyes convinced them
when nothing else could have.

It took two clearings of his throat, but Eden finally
regained his voice enough to croak, “All gone? Ye sure?”

“Dead certain.” Ash didn’t smile, which made the macabre pun
more nerve-racking. “Well? Knowing that you have nothing more to fear from
these five gangs, are you more inclined to talk to us now?”

Eden straightened his shirt and vest, drew up his shoulders,
and tried to look more confident. The effort didn’t quite work as intended. “I
can hear ye out. Wife! Bring out some chairs! This way, Wizard.”

They all followed along, of course, wanting to hear how this
would pan out and be able to jump in if they needed to. Eden led them directly
to the bakery, the only place in town that had two outside tables, and gestured
them into the chairs. The wizards found places readily enough but there weren’t
enough chairs for everyone to sit.

Riana was sure that it was reflex on Ascha’s part. Eden’s
wife was the more intolerant out of the villagers and was always the first to
chase them away. It wouldn’t occur to her to bring them out chairs as well,
even a crude stool. Broden saw the problem immediately and tried to circumvent
it by going into the bakery himself to find a pair of chairs.

Ascha met him in the door and shook an outraged finger at
him. “There be no call for the likes of ye to come in here. Ye can stand.”

Riana’s skin tingled as Ashlynn’s magic roared to life. It
came off her in visible waves, bright enough to hurt a person’s eyes.

“What did you just say to him?” she demanded in a flat voice,
magic sparking in arcs.

Ascha squeaked like a mouse and backpedaled straight into
the doorframe, eyes wide as saucers. “I-I—”

“What. Did. You. Just. Say.” Ashlynn descended in her
direction like a fury.

Broden swore under his breath and grabbed her around the
waist, dragging his partner back. “Easy, lass, easy.”

“I will not stand for any insult against you,” she
snarled, trying to get free of his grip without actually hurting him. “Let go!”

“Lass, breathe,” he urged her patiently, grip like iron.
“Habits can no’ change in a day. Hearts take longer than that.”

“Habit or not, Ash just warned everyone to not insult
you. Obviously I have to engrave that on her skin to get it through her head.”
Ashlynn squirmed even harder, to no avail. “Let go.”

Broden grabbed her by the side of her face and forced her
head to turn toward his. “Ashlynn.”

Hearing her name, so rarely used out of his mouth, stopped
her dead. Her eyes locked with his, lips parted.

“Ashlynn,” he repeated, this time gently. “Ye scared the
light out of her already. Call it even and let it go.”

She stared at him a moment more, as if wanting to be
stubborn about it, but her magic was already fading around her, a visible sign
that she was regaining her lost temper. Finally, she pursed her lips in a pout.
“It’s really unfair when you do that. You know that, right?”

“Aye, lass, I know.” He grinned down at her and let go so
that she could find her own center again.

Not willing to let it completely side, Ashlynn pointed a
stern finger at the woman. “We were not jesting earlier. Your behavior toward
my archers has been abominable and there was not one good reason for it. It
stops now. You don’t have to agree with what I’m saying but you will be
courteous.”

No one dared to ask what the consequence would be if this
demand wasn’t met.

It was Crobin, standing off on the sidelines, that fetched
two more chairs and silently placed them nearby. Riana thanked him quietly and
dragged them a little closer, making sure that one of them was near Ashlynn so
her father could sit on her. She sat next to Ash for the same reason. He hadn’t
reacted physically when Ascha spoke, but the spike of anger through their bond
had been strong enough to light a bonfire with. Ashlynn had simply beaten him
to it, that was all.

Riana sat slowly, her eyes scanning the village as she did
so. It was then that she realized how wise it had been of Ash to have them take
care of the gangs first. Because of that, the village was willing to hear them
out in spite of the demands they were giving. If not for that, then they would
have made no headway.

Ash cleared his throat. “Ombudsman, we realize that you are
rather cut off from the world up here. You only have one road leading up here
and it is…patchy in places. I remember it well. We are offering to build a
highway that directly connects you to Estole’s settlement. It will give you
direct access to the channel, giving you more trade opportunities, and a clear
route that is guaranteed to be protected by us all year round.”

They had the ombudsman’s full attention now. He leaned in a
little closer, eyes locked on Ash. “Even winter?”

“Even then, although granted you probably won’t be getting
nearly as much traffic. You will also have access to the wizards that live in
Estole and be able to request things of them.” Ash added in a deliberately
casual manner, “We have a wizarding school that is being built even as we
speak. In a few years, we will have over twenty wizards available for hire.”

Riana had told Ash to offer those two things first. It was the
isolation, the inability to call quickly for help that drove everyone in this
village half-crazy. Especially during the winters.

Eden was inclined to agree just on those two conditions
alone—she could see it in his face—but of course he had other opinions to
factor in. His eyes darted to several faces before asking, “Ye said ye wanted
to trade for food. How much food?”

“As much as you’re willing to trade,” Ash countered
immediately. “We have no strict requirements. In return, we offer a variety of
trade goods: glass, textiles, medicines, and wizarding services of course if
you choose to barter.”

This really was an excellent deal, better than the village
had ever been offered. Ash had deliberately couched it in the best possible
light.

“Ye offer more than a fair trade agreement,” Eden finally
stated. “But as ombudsman, I must discuss this with everyone first. It might
take a while.”

“We brought our own equipment so we can set up a camp,” Ash
assured him. “We didn’t expect an immediate answer. Show us a clear space where
we can stay for a while and we’ll let you talk this out without interrupting.
Of course, if you have questions or need clarification on things, you’re
welcome to come speak with me.”

“There be a space behind the town hall.”

Ash looked to Riana for an opinion. “It be a fine spot,” she
stated, “with a well nearby. It has enough space for us all.”

“Then we’ll be there.” Ash stood, gave a courteous half-bow
toward his host, and gestured for Riana to lead on.

She did so, aware that everyone in the village was looking
at them. It made her skin crawl unpleasantly. Staying in the village like this
was unavoidable, they needed to be nearby until they had a verdict, but she’d
rather stay in a bandit’s camp than here.

Ash reached for her hand, tangling fingers together, as he
whispered against her temple, “It’ll be fine. Just stay close to me.”

There was many a shocked whisper because of his actions but
it made Riana smile. Sometimes, like now, old habits tried to ambush her and
make her into that unwelcome misfit that used to be from Cloud’s Rest. But
whenever it happened, Ash would reach out to her as he did now and remind her
that she was now from Estole and was a councilwoman, no less. She had nothing
to fear from these people. They no longer had the power to overshadow her.

This was one habit she needed to break.

They retrieved their stowed gear first, then trooped back
into the village and the spot that they’d been assigned. Everyone pitched their
own tents without needing much in the way of help. Riana was of a mind to take
advantage of being near the village and buying something hot for dinner instead
of cooking over a fire. In the village, there were really only two places to
get food: baker and butcher. If she put in an order to both now, they’d have
time to cook it, and by the time the camp was completely set up they could just
fetch it back and eat it at their leisure.

To Kirsty, she said, “We can order some food made up for us
here.”

Kirsty straightened back up from where she had been arguing
with the tent pole. “Oh? That sounds like a fine plan. Do you need me to go
along?”

“No’ yet,” Riana denied, waving her back to what she was
doing. “We need to order it first. If Ash comes looking for me, tell him I will
be back in a moment.”

“Sure thing.”

Riana took in a breath, searching for courage, because the
last time she’d walked alone in this village it hadn’t exactly gone well. But
it was time to face these people again, as the new version of her, and it
wasn’t the time to show weakness. Besides, both buildings were barely a stone’s
throw away from the camp, it could hardly be described as dangerous.

Chin up, shoulders back, she marched for the bakery first.
The tables were still out, but most of the chairs were already back in, and it
was Eden’s youngest daughter that was behind the counter. She looked up with
wary, dark eyes as Riana walked in. “What?”

The tone was just short of being rude. Riana bit back the
urge to snap back and kept her tone level with effort. “I need to order some
food for dinner, enough to feed everyone with me. What do ye have baking?”

This late in the evening, there wouldn’t be much, just
whatever people had pre-ordered that morning for dinner. Still, Eden normally
baked some things extra at night so he could sell them to early morning
customers. Riana knew this and dared the girl with her eyes to say that nothing
was available.

Mouth tightening in a mutinous line, the girl nevertheless
rattled off, “Spinach rolls, wheat loafs, and three cheese bread.”

“I will take the spinach rolls and three cheese bread.
Enough to feed six.”

“Spinach rolls be still baking,” she was carefully not
looking at her customer, “so come back in ten minutes.”

“I will.” Riana turned on her heel and walked out again
before blowing out a breath. Alright, that had gone better than expected. Now
for the butcher.

Mrs. Crobin had turned her husband’s career into a side
business for herself nearly two decades ago, or so her father had once said.
She made up soups and meat pies for people on request and always had some
chicken or turkey legs baked up for anyone that just wanted something on the
go. Riana figured that if she got some of those legs, a soup, and a few pies,
she’d have enough diversity and food to satisfy everyone. Whether or not Mrs. Crobin
would be in there and not at the Hall, discussing things with everyone, was the
only question.

As she walked through the village, she found that it was
mostly the men that were missing. Half of the women were still going about
their business. Did they not care? No, likely that wasn’t it. They just had
their own things to do and were content with whatever their husbands decided,
most likely. Riana shook her head in amazement. Didn’t they value their own
opinions?

Stepping into the butcher shop, she was a little surprised
to see Mrs. Crobin standing behind the counter. Here was a woman that she
half-expected to see in that meeting. Well, maybe the thought of losing
business worried her more than any future possibility.

Mrs. Crobin took one look at her and an expression like a
thunderstorm swept over her face. “What ye be doing in my shop, girl?”

“Ordering food.” The Crobins had always been the harshest to
her, verbally at least, so it took nerve to just stand there. “How many legs,
meat pies, and soup do ye have ready to go?”

The butcher’s wife opened her mouth, face red in anger,
ready to let her tongue fly furious and hot. Then she paused and looked over
Riana’s shoulder as if fearing that someone would step inside and flatten her
with magic if she dared to utter a curt word. With great difficulty, she
swallowed what she was going to say. Voice hoarse with strain, she managed, “I
have two meat pies, four chicken legs, four turkey. No soup.”

“I will take what ye have, then.”

She stammered out a price, which Riana paid without
argument, as just being able to stand here and order food without getting a
tongue lashing was worth the extra money. Face tight, Mrs. Crobin tied up all
the food in clean napkins before thrusting them in Riana’s arms. Without another
word to the woman, she turned and left, only breathing freely once she was in
the open air again. That had gone easier than expected.

She went all of four steps when she nearly bumped into
Gerrard, who had a small keg of something tucked under his arm.

“Ah, Riana. Is that hot food I smell?”

“It be that.” She looked at the keg and ventured, “Cider?”

Patting it on the side, Gerrard beamed. “Freshly pressed.
That doesn’t look like enough food to feed all of us.”

“I ordered more, it just needs to be fetched. Can ye take
this back?”

“Certainly.” Gerrard leaned in close enough to whisper, “Is
it safe for you to walk around like this? No one’s bothering you?”

“Barely cordial,” Riana admitted, flashing him a smile. “But
Ashlynn scared them all into line, it looks like. I be fine. Bakery be right
there, so I be right behind ye.”

“In that case, I’ll take it.” Gerrard took the bundle with
his free hand and turned to the camp without a glance backwards. It was like he
was silently telling her that he trusted her judgment and wouldn’t coddle her.

Well, this was the man that had basically raised
Ashlynn. He knew how to teach confidence. With his silent trust, she felt a
little bolstered and headed for the bakery with more poise than before.

She was halfway across when her luck abruptly ran out.
Crobin burst out of the Hall, red in the face, movements jerky and wild. His
eyes landed on her and he let out a roar, “RIANA RAVENSCROFT!”

Whirling, Riana had her bow in hand before she realized who
was calling. Then she deliberately made herself stop. She would not, could not,
shoot this man until he did something to warrant it. Anger alone didn’t justify
it, no matter how bad he was scaring her. “What, Crobin.”

Hands shaking, he stomped her direction. “Do no’ take that
tone with me, girl! This be all yer doing. Ye come in here after ye seduce that
wizard and now we have to bow down to yer will and do as ye ask all for—” his
voice pitched higher to mimic Eden “—‘the benefit of the village as a whole.’
Well, I will no’ stand for it, ye hear me?! I do no’ care what ye think or
say—”

Between one heartbeat and the next, Ash was in between them,
as unmoving as a mountain. He grabbed Crobin’s wrist in a vice-like grip,
making the man gasp in pain, then twisted enough to throw the butcher
off-balance before throwing him back. Crobin stumbled three steps, caught his
balance, and cradled his wrist against his chest.

Anyone within line of sight of them froze and turned to
watch the spectacle.

In the abrupt silence, Ash’s voice sounded unnaturally loud.
“Kings seek her counsel. Her words and thoughts have shaped an entire
government. She is now a Councilwoman of Estole. You, sir, would be wise to
curb your tongue and respect her.”

Crobin was mad enough to recklessly spit out, “Or what?”

Ash braced his feet shoulder-width apart, arms crossed over
his chest, and looked down on the man like a bug that had somehow wandered in.
“Are you forgetting just how skilled she is with that bow? Push her far enough
and she’ll retaliate. And when she’s done with you, if there’s anything left, I’ll
take care of you.”

“Smitten,” Crobin breathed, becoming outraged all over
again. “Ye be completely smitten with her. We be negotiating with a love-struck
fool!”

Ash cocked an eyebrow at him.

Riana’s head snapped around when not a word of denial passed
her partner’s lips. Was he truly admitting to it, right in this moment, or was
he just refusing to rise to Crobin’s bait? His emotions were such a chaotic
whirl that she couldn’t tell.

Eden burst out of the Hall, spied the three of them, and
sprinted for Crobin. He caught the man around the neck and pushed him into a
bow. “Sir, he apologizes—”

“I do no such thing!” Crobin hissed at him, struggling to
rise.

“Shut up, ye idjut,” Eden hissed back. “Sir. We be inclined
to accept yer proposal on the whole, there just be some details to work out
atween us tonight. Can we give ye a formal answer in the morning?”

“Of course,” Ash assured him. Pointing at Crobin, he
suggested (ordered?), “Take that back with you. Before I have to do something
permanent to him.”

“Aye, of course.” Keeping his grip on Crobin’s neck, Eden
dragged him back into the hall and ignored the man’s squawking as he did so.

Ash turned to her, still with that mild expression on his
face that didn’t match his emotions at all. “Didn’t I tell you to stick close?”

Frustrated, she flung a finger to indicate the bakery. “I be
in sight of the camp and all I wanted be some rolls for dinner.”

“Riana.” The way he said her name was like an endearment and
he lost that rigid smile that sent shivers up her spine. “I said that to you
for their sakes, not yours. If they do something to you, I really will
lose my temper, and then Ashlynn will lose hers, and before you know it half of
this village will be rubble. Do us all a favor? Stick close.”

She wanted to laugh, a little hysterically, because he was
being perfectly serious. Oh dear. The damage she could unleash…. It was hard to
rein in the impulse to sic Ash on her former villagers, but she managed and
instead took his hand so he couldn’t go off on the impulse. “Then, come with me
for dinner rolls?”

His grip tightened on her hand. “Of course.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Edvard met them at the castle steps, looking hopeful, Gwen
standing at his side. The little girl was bouncing on her toes, antsy and
impatient. The moment they came into sight, she darted down the stairs and
climbed Ash like a tree. Ash, used to this, gave her an accommodating hand up
so that she settled comfortably on his hip.

“Where’s my welcome home kiss?” Ash asked her, mock-pouting.

Gwen gave him a peck on the cheek and beamed at him.
“Souvenirs?”

“Not much in the way of that, where we went,” Ash
apologized.

From behind, his twin cleared her throat in a meaningful way
before stepping around. From her satchel, hanging at her side, she withdrew a
glass jar that had a ribbon tied around the top. “Honeysuckle jam, a specialty
of Cloud’s Rest.”

With the food rations that they’d been experiencing
recently, any sort of treat was a rare event. Gwen’s eyes lit up and she lunged
for the jar, which nearly dislodged her from Ash’s arms. He had to struggle to
keep her upright. “Is it sweet?” Gwen asked eagerly.

“Light and sweet and just perfect on biscuits,” Ashlynn
assured her.

Ash gave his sister an incredulous look. “How did you find
this?”

“I’m an expert at shopping. Surely you know that by now.”

Edvard gave up on them coming to him and met them halfway,
taking in the jar with keen interest. “That looks tasty.”

Riana had eaten it often enough growing up, although it was
usually she and her da making it. “It be that. It be a regular trade good they
sell to Senn.” Usually by this time of the year, the jars were all sold off,
though. It was a surprise to her that any had been left. Where had
Ashlynn found it?

“If you’re carting back souvenirs, then the trip was
successful?” Edvard’s expression was a mirror for Gwen’s hopeful, happy smile.

“It was,” Ashlynn confirmed. “We’ll give you the particulars
after we have a chance to clean up, but the gist of it is this: they agree to
open trade, they’ll share information with us immediately if any other bandits
or problems start to develop in their area, and they’re willing to barter
wizardry help for food. I have a list of food that they have readily available
to ship.”

“We also took the time to carve out a rough highway between
here and there on the way back,” Gerrard added casually, making it sound as if
he had made up a pot of tea. “We’ll need to finish that before winter.”

Edvard’s brows shot up. “You already carved out a path for
the highway? All the way here?”

“We did have four wizards working on it,” Kirsty reminded
him.

“True,” Edvard acknowledged. “Bandits?”

“No more,” Kirsty assured him with relish. “Nor will likely
to be again for a good while, I think.”

“Excellent,” the king purred. “I was heartily sick of
hearing damage reports done to my people.”

“We were just as tired of being attacked,” Kirsty drawled,
which made him grin. “Sire, I’m bushed. Do you need me to do anything today?”

“Work on greenhouses in the settlement,” Edvard responded
promptly. “But take a little time to rest and eat something. I don’t want to
risk anyone else collapsing.”

With a short bow, she dismissed herself and headed for home.
Riana knew that she had an apartment somewhere in the city although she didn’t
know precisely where. Hopefully for Kirsty, it was nearby. Walking that whole
distance there and back, fighting bandits in between, and then working on a
highway for four days on the way home had taken a toll on the woman. Kirsty was
from a more pampered life. She simply wasn’t used to this kind of heavy work
day in and day out. The fact that she kept up with them without complaint was
amazing.

Knowing well how their brother operated, Ash asked dryly,
“And do we have the time to rest and eat something before going back to work?”

“Not entirely,” Edvard denied, palms spread in an apologetic
manner. “But it’s not physical work. I wasn’t sure if you’d be back today
otherwise I might have scheduled this for tomorrow. We have another council
meeting after lunch to discuss Iysh. I’ll need you all attend, of course.”

“That doesn’t leave us much time.” Ashlynn headed for her
suite, the rest of them keeping pace. “Edvard, I don’t see a bodyguard nearby.
Why is that?”

He gave her an innocent look. “Because I’m on castle
grounds?”

Ashlynn didn’t buy that for one second. “Edvard. I told you
to find a bodyguard while I was gone. I gave you several candidates.”

“I tried them out. They didn’t work.”

Growling, she muttered something darkly under her breath.
“Fine. I’ll go looking again. But stop being so picky.”

“I have to live with this man in my shadow day in and day
out, I reserve the right to be picky!”

“We reserve the right to keep you alive, too. Maybe you
should make breathing a priority?”

Edvard had no good response to that, so harrumphed and
looked away.

Ash charitably changed topics and pumped Edvard for more
information. “This the second or third council meeting?”

“Second. First attempt got cancelled because of a minor emergency.
We didn’t make any progress in the first meeting, though. We just don’t have
enough information to go by. But we need to start making guesses and
contingency plans; otherwise, we’ll be caught with our pa—” Edvard cut himself
off, glanced down at the innocent eyes of his six-year old sister and
rephrased, “—caught in a bad situation. Ash, I’ll have you report the progress
on Cloud’s Rest before we get into discussing Iysh. We can use some good news.”

“Certainly.” Still carting Gwen, Ash and Ashlynn went
directly up the stairs and to their suite.

Riana made to follow when Edvard caught her by the arm, and
Broden, and stopped them dead. With a weather eye over his shoulder, he asked
in a low tone, “How was it?”

It didn’t take telepathy to understand what he was asking.
“No’ as bad as usual.”

“Ash warned them from the very beginning to no’ insult us,”
Broden explained. “It curtailed some of their tongues. Ashlynn lost her temper
twice but no damage done.”

Edvard half-winced. “I was wondering how it would go after
you left. I know Cloud’s Rest didn’t treat you well, and my blood-siblings
don’t tolerate that behavior toward their nearest and dearest. At all. I’m glad
you were able to sit on them long enough to hammer out a trade agreement,
though.”

So was Riana. She was also extremely glad she wouldn’t have
to go back that direction any time soon.

Edvard dropped his hands. “As long as you’re fine and the
village came through intact, I’m satisfied. Go clean up. I’ll have something
prepared for lunch and set up in the dining room for you.”

“Thank ye.” Broden patted him on the shoulder and headed up
to his own room.

Riana followed after him and wondered if she took one of
those potions the twins made for headaches now, would it keep her head from
wanting to split open during the meeting?

Edvard knocked his knuckles against the top of the table in
a commanding rap. “War council, convene!”

Every provost was there, all sitting in their rightful
places around the council table. Edvard had invited Gerrard to sit in with them
as well, considering how important the man would be for the foreseeable future,
and he took the only empty chair left. Tierone sat with Edvard at the head of
the table. Broden was next to Ashlynn and prayed that someone here had a
brilliant solution to this mess. He certainly did not see one.

“Before we begin, Ash has a report of how trade negotiations
went in Cloud’s Rest.”

Ash stood, cleared his throat, then pitched his voice so
that everyone could easily hear him. “First of all, the bandit gangs in the
area are all gone. We destroyed them completely. What few managed to escape
headed straight for the coast and I don’t believe they’ll be willing to return
to the mountains. We have nothing else to fear from that quarter.”

There was a general sigh of relief.

“Now, about our relations with Cloud’s Rest: they have
agreed to open trade. We’ve promised to build a highway and give them access to
our trained wizards in return for food and any other goods they are willing to
trade. The highway has been already started. It just needs to be properly set
with brick and mortar before winter hits.”

“That is amazing progress,” Troi praised with a rare smile
on his face. “I think I can speak for everyone when I say that we are very
pleased to have good relations with our northern neighbors, at least. But Ash,
I must ask, was the village as a whole in agreement with this? All things
considered—” his eyes darted to Riana and Broden “—I find that a little hard to
believe.”

Ash did not try to smooth it over or dodge the question. He
shook his head and stated plainly, “No. They were not all in agreement.
However, the majority was. And the majority gave the minority a choice: either
go along with it or leave the village.”

Ross let out a low whistle. “That’s harsh.”

“It be harsh country,” Broden remarked, tone sad. “They can
no’ afford to be divided. We won their respect when we took away their biggest
threat, the bandits, but ye can no’ change a man’s heart in a day. Most were
willing to form a partnership with us. It be best to leave it at that.”

The provost accepted this with a slow nod. “Let’s leave it
there, then. Are they willing to trade immediately?”

“They are,” Ash confirmed. “I have a list of food they can
give us now, which will help supplement our stores, and I’ve promised them
certain help in return for it. We have two weeks to pull our side together and
return.”

“That should be enough time,” Edvard commented, calculating
things out on his fingers. “Bragdon, I believe you told me that some of our
contracted workers that had been focused on the coins are now done?”

“That’s correct, sire.”

“Can we have them start on the highway?”

“I’m not sure if they have the expertise we need.” Bragdon
frowned and glanced toward Troi. “Let me confer and make a list of people
available. Considering the distance we have to cover, it would be best to start
on that soon.”

“Very soon,” Ash advised. “The path for it is carved out,
you won’t have to clear any land, but it’s still a good two days walk to get
there. And a bridge needs to be built as well.”

“We’ll work out a list of necessary manpower and provisions
and present it to you tomorrow, sire,” Troi promised.

“Do so. Any other questions in that regard? No? Then let’s
talk about options.”

“We have options?” Ranun pitched his voice so that everyone
could easily hear him. “We’ve discussed this before. We don’t even have an
army. What options?”

“It’s because we don’t have an army that we’re sitting here
trying to think of them,” Edvard corrected. Broden recognized that tone he was
using. If he was already forcing himself to be patient, this meeting would not
go well. “Now, the last two times that Iysh sent an army marching against us,
they didn’t take us very seriously. They treated the first battle like a fluke
win on our part and the second time they didn’t deviate from their plans, just
sent a slightly bigger force. If not for the fact that it was winter, they
might have stayed longer and tried a battle of attrition. Thanks to Ash and
Ashlynn, we survived, but we lost a lot of guardsmen in the process. We’ve
since replaced them with some of the refugees, training them, but we still
don’t have anything approaching an army.”

“Train more,” Towan suggested. “Or…wait, can we outfit them
if we do?”

“We don’t have the equipment,” Captain Bragdon denied. “And
we don’t have the funds to buy that equipment either. Fielding an army is
simply impossible even if we pool every resource we have.”

“We also don’t really have enough time,” Amber added in. “It
takes a solid six months to get a soldier trained. I mean, trained enough to
where he has a fighting chance. It’s difficult to do that in the dead of winter
and we’re only two months away from that.”

Broden was very afraid she was right. Most of the table felt
the same way.

“So, no army,” Edvard continued, although the way his mouth
puckered, it was like he had bit into something sour by saying the words. “I
need options. Thoughts?”

“We don’t need an army,” Haney denied. “The last two battles
we won because of our wizards. Now we have more than Ash and Ashlynn, we
have…how many again? Twenty-five or so all told? I don’t think we have anything
to fear from Iysh with that many.”

Every wizard in the room gave a cry of protest.

Ashlynn stood up so quickly the chair nearly toppled back.
“Now wait just one minute, Haney. You really expect us to do all the fighting?
Are you crazy? Bandits are one thing, but Iysh has surely learned from the
previous battles; they’re not going to just send regular soldiers against us
again. Cernunnos’s hand, but that was obvious after the last series of ambushes
we had to face! They’re sending wizards after us even in sneak attacks. Of
course they’ll do it during war as well.”

A dark rumble came from Gerrard. “Besides, man, most of
those twenty-five you’re counting on are under the age of sixteen. You want to
send children to war for you?”

Haney flushed. “Apologies, Wizard Seaton. I was not aware of
their youth. It was reported to us that twenty-three wizards had come into
Estole recently but we were given no details.”

Gerrard humped. “Someone should have included the details.
Most of the ones that came with me are students. You have only six fully
trained wizards in Estole. And we certainly cannot fight a whole army by
ourselves.”

Haney lifted both hands up in surrender. “I gather your
point.”

“We’ll fight if we need to,” Ash stated in a quiet tone that
carried to every corner of the room, “but what we need to think of are ways to
avoid open conflict. The odds are stacked against us if we fight.”

“Assassinate the royal family?” Troi suggested. “I know it’s
a risky move, but it would work.”

Tierone was shaking his head even before the words were
completely out of Troi’s mouth. “The royal palace is far too heavily fortified.
We’d find it impossible to get through all of those defenses. Aside from being
a suicide mission for whomever we sent, I’m not sure how viable that option is
in the long run. It would certainly buy us time but Iysh’s corruption cannot be
cured simply by removing the royal family. It spreads throughout the
government. If we take them down, some minister or far-flung relation will be
put on the throne, and we’ll be back at square one all over again.”

“You wouldn’t make it through,” Gerrard denied. “I set up
some of the magical protections myself. Saying it’s ‘heavily fortified’ is an
understatement.”

“But the treasury isn’t as fortified,” Edvard inputted
hopefully.

Broden gave him a weary look. Had he still not given up on
this idea?

“No, Edvard,” Ashlynn said firmly. “The treasury is still
very fortified and it will take a miracle for us to break into it. Never mind
trying to take anything out of it.”

“What’s this?” Tierone asked his brother.

“I want to bankrupt them,” Edvard explained earnestly, glad
to have an interested listener after being told for weeks that it was
impossible. “They can’t operate if they don’t have enough money to do so. We
can always use the extra funds as well to boost our own fortifications.”

In unison Ash and Ashlynn told him sternly, “No.”

Edvard was in ‘king mode,’ so he did not pout at them.
Openly. But it was a near thing.

Tierone glanced between the three and wisely did not comment
aside from, “I think it would be very risky and tricky to try that. Let’s keep
it as a last resort. What other options can we think of?”

“Actually…” Ross frowned down at the table as he thought it
aloud, “if we’re thinking of bankrupting Iysh—which isn’t a bad idea at all,
Edvard—then maybe we can go about it a different way? Say, raid the more
fertile farmland and raze it to the ground, give them food shortages and the
like to deal with.”

Several voices raised in agreement with this plan but it was
Edvard’s turn to shake his head before the thought was completely aired. “No.
No, Ross, while I like the end result I don’t like the method. It will affect
the common people more than the government. It goes against everything that
Estole stands for. We’ll have to find a different way.”

Ross put an elbow against the table’s surface and leaned
forward, stance almost aggressive. “This is no time for moral dilemmas, King
Edvard.” The emphasis he put on the title was a silent urge to remind Edvard of
all of the responsibilities he bore. “Your country and your own people are at
stake. If those people are still in Iysh it’s because they want to be.”

“Or they can’t afford to move,” Ash corrected. “We can’t
lump everyone into black and white for our sake, Ross.”

Ross ignored him. “Regardless, your own people are your
priority. If razing fields is the way to protect them, then that’s what we
should do.”

“Then I become no better than Zelman.” Edvard met him
squarely, eyes not flinching. “I excuse any atrocities with the need for
expedience. No, Ross. I will not.”

Frustrated, Ross flung himself back in his chair and refused
to look at anyone.

Edvard took in a breath, finding his center again and looked
around the table. “Other options?”

“We don’t have other options,” Zorich denied. The expression
on his face and the way he sat so tensely in the chair spoke of mounting
frustration. “Our resources are limited, our experts even more so. The only
viable options we have are the ones that have already been spoken. From those,
I think we have to choose the best one and find a way to make it work.”

“Make it work?” Amber repeated incredulously. “Everything
said here is going to be nearly impossible to pull off. You speak of raiding
fields in Iysh so easily but do you know how difficult that’s going to be? Any
party we send out is going to be in enemy territory without supplies or any
lines of retreat. They’re going to be out there, alone, doing a dirty deed.
Iysh will track them down eventually and then we’ll have to send out another
party, and another, and how long do you really think we can keep that up?”

“Not one suggestion spoken today is actually viable.” Her brother
backed her up with a no-nonsense tone that dared someone to argue with him. “We
need to think of something else.”

“There is nothing else,” Ross flared, his temper finally
snapping. “Zorich is right, we don’t have the resources to front some noble method
that will keep Iysh from our doorstep. We need to fight dirty just to survive,
and sacrifice people, because there’s no other way.”

“There is,” Troi argued even as both Bragdons said, “There
must be!”

“Well, then by all means, say it!” Zorich challenged,
slapping at the table before pointing a stern finger at all of them. “Because I
don’t see you offering any solutions, just tearing at ours!”

Broden sighed as they disintegrated into fighting. This was
not at all what the point of the council was, but at the same time he was not
too surprised at the outcome. None of them had any experience with a war
council before after all. No one knew what to do so frustrations were running
high and tempers were climbing with every word exchanged.

The arguments were in pockets, with two or three shouting at
each other, or sometimes leaning over the table to pound on it and shake angry
fingers. The volume in the room grew to an almost ear-piercing level as people
tried to make themselves heard over everyone else. It agitated Broden. After
becoming the Sherriff of Estole’s partner he was used to riots and scenes like
this and he knew that there was a certain inevitable ending to arguments like
these.

They always ended in violence.

Broden was torn between trying to get his wizard and
daughter clear of the mess before it got to the point of punches being thrown
or trying to settle people down himself. How, he was not sure, as he was fairly
certain Edvard would frown on him shooting people.

Actually, judging by that look on his face, mayhap not.
Edvard looked tempted to grab up Riana’s bow—it was within snatching
distance—and shoot a few people himself.

Ashlynn kicked her chair back, nearly flinging it against
the wall, and jerked up to her feet. Broden automatically moved with her, one
wary eye on his wizard. Uh-oh. He recognized that expression. Mayhem was about
to descend. The question was, what she planned to do.

With a flick of the fingers, her mouth started moving in a
spell. He recognized it almost instantly as it was a favorite of hers to use
when the crowd became out of control. Broden dove for the only place that was
safe to be—her back. Then he put a hand over his head and braced himself for
impact.

A deluge of water abruptly poured from the ceiling as
Ashlynn unleashed a storm indoors, drenching every occupant in the room except
herself and her archer. The only other person that managed to escape this
drenching was Gerrard, who apparently had caught her movements and had quickly
thrown up a shield around himself. Ash and Riana were not as lucky, being
entangled in an argument that faced the other direction, and they were as
soaked as everyone else.

There was dead silence except for coughing and wet, squishy
sounds as people tried to wipe water from their eyes. Ashlynn, satisfied,
turned the spell back off and glared at the lot of them. “Are we children? Do
we need to communicate at the top of our voices? You are supposed to be the
best and brightest of Estole. Act like it.”

Despite the fact that Tierone was just as drenched as
everyone else, he chuckled. “Well. I certainly feel put in my place. Thank you,
sister dearest.”

She smirked at him. “My pleasure. Shall I do it again?”

“I don’t think we’re in any danger of duels breaking out, so
no.”

Pouting, she wrinkled her nose at him. “Spoilsport.”

“This meeting is adjourned for today,” Edvard plucked at his
clothing, “so we can change into something dry.” This last bit he said while
aiming a dirty look at Ashlynn.

She lifted her chin to a lofty angle, ignoring him and
everyone else in the room, not a trace of apology on her lips.

“We’ll reconvene in a few days from now,” Edvard continued,
still looking at his sister sourly. “In the meantime, please do some research
and ponder this question. We want better ideas at the next meeting. Dismissed!”

Chapter Thirty

Someone cleared their throat at the door to the dining room.
They had been trying to enjoy a late lunch, as it had been one of those days
where things seemed to enjoy going wrong all once, but Broden wasn’t surprised
that people had tracked them down to the castle this quickly. Resigned, he
looked up and around to find Marissa Allen standing there with a very uncertain
look to her face. “Marissa.”

“Broden, Sheriff, um…” a sense of distaste wrinkled the
woman’s nose up even as she relayed, “Gwydion Argent is here.”

Who? The name did not ring any bells with Broden. It
apparently did with Ashlynn, however, as she let out a wordless growl of
absolute disgust. “Him? Why is he here?”

“To speak with the king.” Marissa’s tone said this was not
her idea, she was not happy about it either, and please do not shoot the
messenger.

Acting as if it truly pained her, Ashlynn put her feet under
her and stood. “Where did you stash him?”

“The front parlor, Sheriff. I wasn’t sure what else to do
with him. He refused to stay put in the guardhouse.”

Ashlynn rolled her eyes, obviously praying for patience. “He
probably felt it beneath him. The front parlor works just fine. Go back to
work, Marissa, we’ll handle this.”

Odd, why did the mental picture of a shallow grave dug in
the dead of night spring to mind? “You really do no’ like this man.”

“Not like? That has to be the worst understatement I’ve
heard all year.” Ashlynn grabbed a roll and slice of ham before stalking for
the door. She munched on both and explained in between bites, “Gwydion Argent
is a minor baron in Iysh, not landed, although the way that family carries
themselves so pompously around would make you think they’re kissing cousins to
Zelman himself. His grandfather was a knight that did some noble deed and was
given a title because of it. They’re quite proud of it. It’s a pity that his
descendants don’t have the sense to come in out of the rain.”

The more she said, the less sense it all made. “Why would a
man like him be in Estole?”

“That is a very good question,” she admitted darkly before
tearing savagely into her roll. “I don’t have an answer. Their very existence
hangs on their connection with the royal family. I don’t think they’d survive
without that support. So why endanger that by coming here?”

“A spy, perhaps?” It was the only explanation that Broden
could think of.

“He’d be the worst spy in history to send here. Edvard hates
him. He won’t get any information by coming, not more than your average spy can
glean just by walking through our streets.” She shook her head, mind turning
over the problem at different angles. “No, this makes less and less sense.”

They arrived at Edvard’s study. As the door was wide open,
Ashlynn simply stepped through and called out a greeting, “Edvard. Drop
everything. You won’t believe who’s here.”

Edvard apparently was also having a late lunch as he had a
plate off to one side of his desk, a roll in his mouth, a report in his free
hand. At her entrance, he pulled the roll back out and asked, “Who?”

“Gwydion Argent.”

The response was instantaneous. “Who?!” Edvard repeated
incredulously, face wrinkling up with distaste.

“Gwydion Argent,” Ashlynn repeated forthrightly although she
had a sour pucker to her mouth.

“Here. In my castle.”

“Front parlor, to be exact,” Broden supplied. This reaction
on the siblings’ part was interesting. They really did not like this man.

“Take him back out and shoot him,” Edvard requested. He did
not sound like he was jesting.

“Oh, may I?” Ashlynn drawled, bouncing on her toes like a
giddy girl. “Please? You won’t have to get me anything for All-Winter.”

“Be serious, the two of ye,” Broden commanded, for once
feeling his true age. Normally he felt like an older brother because the two
were so level-headed, but today he really did feel like their father. “At least
hear the man out. I want to hear why he be here.”

“I’m rather curious on that point as well,” Ashlynn
admitted. “But if he’s too annoying, can we still shoot him?”

“Nothing prevents us from doing that,” Edvard promised her.
He actually sounded eager, as if it was a foregone conclusion that this man
would be annoying and they would get the perfect excuse to shoot him anyway.
Stealing one more bite from his plate, he led them out of the study, a skip in
his stride.

Edvard did not even try to hide his evil glee as he stepped
into the front parlor. “Argent.”

A man with lank dark hair turned around, facing them. He was
not homely or handsome but somewhere in between, as if he could be charming if
not for the pompous tilt of his chin and the puffed out chest. He was in
assumedly the latest fashion, somewhat the worse for traveling dust clinging to
him, and looked as if he would like nothing more than a lie-down. Still, he
greeted them with a courteous bow.

“Knolton. Fallbright. And I do not believe I have the
pleasure of becoming acquainted with this gentleman.”

“Broden Ravenscroft, my partner,” Ashlynn supplied. “Argent.
Why are you here?”

“It is an…indelicate situation I find myself in. After much
consideration, I deemed that you were the only person who could offer me aid.”

Broden recognized the look on Edvard’s face. He was about to
cut the man off in mid-stride. To prevent that, he hastily said, “Sit, man.
Tell us yer tale.”

Argent considered him from head to toe in a lengthy study.
“I beg your pardon, but from where do you hail?”

“Cloud’s Rest.”

“Cloud’s Rest. Oh my.” Argent gave a delicate shudder even
as he took a seat.

Broden frowned. He was beginning to understand why they
disliked this man so intensely. Ashlynn had not liked his response at all and
looked ready to start digging that shallow grave right then and there. Broden
pulled her into the seat next to his before she could go looking for a shovel.

Edvard plopped into a chair facing Argent like a child that
was told by his parents to sit still and be quiet. “Cut to the chase, Argent.”

“I have come to the decision that you should lead a complete
rebellion against Iysh.” Argent fluffed out the lace on his cuffs, focusing
there instead of meeting anyone’s eyes. “I wish for you to become the new king
of Iysh.”

If someone had dropped a pin on a cushion, it would have
been heard, the silence was that intense and absolute. Broden’s eyebrows
climbed into his hairline. The siblings nearly fell out of their chairs and
speech seemed to be beyond them.

A wry, humorless smile flitted over Argent’s face. “It’s
quite the thing for me to say that, isn’t it?”

Edvard’s childish behavior fell away and he fell into his
natural state, that of a man that could calculate and weigh and think ten years
ahead. He steepled his hands in front of his nose, hiding most of his face,
eyes an unreadable mask. “Yes. It is quite the thing. You jeopardize your whole
life by me taking power. What’s in it for you?”

“My whole life.” Argent aged ten years in that moment and
looked much wiser than the dandy he was dressed as. “Perhaps I should go back
to the beginning and explain what has brought me to this point?”

“Please,” Ashlynn choked out.

“Very well,” he acquiesced. Taking a breath, he formed his
words before speaking. “As you are both aware, my position at court is one
based upon my grandfather’s deeds in his youth and the recognition he gained
from it. We have always done our best to live up to the standards at court and to
not serve as an embarrassment to anyone. We’ve made good political marriages,
founded connections, and overall done well enough for ourselves. Or so I
thought until two months ago. It was at that time that Zelman instituted a new
law into the Bindings.”

All three of them sat up. This was something they hadn’t
heard about from their spies yet, and it was a rare event indeed to happen. The
last time the Bindings had been changed was well over two decades ago.

“The law states, and I paraphrase this, that the children of
a second or third marriage will be recognized as legitimate offspring of a
family but are not allowed to inherit. They are to be treated as one would a
branch family or a cousin and cannot receive anything of title or property from
their parents unless there are no other surviving siblings.”

That seemed a very, very strange thing for Zelman to insert
into the Bindings. Why would he limit family inheritance that way?

“Prince Hendrix,” Edvard breathed in realization. “He’s
deliberately doing this to make sure that Prince Hendrix cannot inherit the
throne. He’s taking him out of the running entirely.”

Ashlynn swore aloud. “That’s it. That must be it. Why else
would he do this?”

“That was the conclusion that the court reached as well,”
Argent concurred. “We’ve always known that there was no love lost between the
king and his youngest child. Prince Hendrix has been more or less banished from
court for the past several years, sent off on one task or another, never to be
seen for more than a month at a time. But this…we never anticipated the king
would do this. We aren’t even sure why he bothered to maneuver things in this
way as there’s very little support for Prince Hendrix in the court. It is
Prince Maddox that everyone expects to win.”

That was who everyone in Estole figured would win as well.
Broden felt it, in this moment, that what Zelman had done was a game changer.
How, he wasn’t quite sure, but this new law of the Bindings might very well be
the foothold that Edvard was waiting for.

Edvard leaned forward, eyes intense. “Argent. Correct me if
I’m wrong but I seem to recall that you are the child of a second marriage.”

Broden hissed in a breath.

“You have a good memory,” Argent praised with a bitter
smile. “Indeed I am. My father has a daughter from his first marriage but we
are many years apart and I cannot say that we are close. She has no concern for
me or the state that this new law has put me in. The way that Zelman changed
the Bindings means that even though she is a daughter she has more of a right
of inheritance than I do. I can carry the name of Argent with me but nothing
else.”

Which was what drove the man all the way here, into the
enemy camp. Broden felt the missing pieces click together and huffed out a
breath of amazement.

“Edvard, I implore you, make use of Zelman’s
miscalculation.” Argent looked desperate, as well he should. “It’s not just me
that has been landed in this intolerable situation. He’s alienated many other
young lords and ladies that are now without a viable future. You are from a
very old house, a well-respected one, and if you reached out a hand to them now
you would undoubtedly gain much in the way of support. The way that you
overturned the Bindings entirely was a revelation to us. We now see exactly why
you would do so. Please, use this chance. I offer you my services, of course.”

Broden sank back against the chair, rubbing at his chin and
studying Argent. If this was a trap, it was baited with magnificent honey. On
the other hand, would they ever have this kind of opportunity handed to them
again? It would be risky in the extreme and yet Broden was highly inclined to
take the chance anyway.

Edvard was still doing his impersonation of a statue and not
giving away his own thoughts or feelings on the matter. At least not yet.
“Argent, you gave me vital information that I did not know about. For that you
have my thanks. May I ask why this isn’t public knowledge?”

“I don’t think it really affects anyone outside of the
court. At least, not much. It’s the higher nobility that has so many
regulations and laws regarding inheritance after all.”

Broden thought it would still have some effect but it could
be that the majority of Iysh could not understand the legal language enough to
realize what the new law meant.

Edvard dipped his head in acknowledgement but not
necessarily agreement. “I see. You have given me much to think about. I wish to
confer with my council before deciding what to do. Until then, you are welcome
to remain as my guest until I can give you an answer.”

There were unshed tears in Argent’s eyes. “I find more
kindness presented to me among my enemies than among my friends. My thanks,
King of Estole. I will accept your invitation.”

“Excellent. Remain here for a moment more. I’ll have
refreshments sent to you while a room is prepared.” Edvard stood and the room
stood with him. “You are naturally invited to dinner. I will see you there.”

Words seemed to be lost to Argent and he gave a bow but said
nothing else.

They left the room and closed the door behind them before
Ashlynn let out a taut breath. “Wow. I did not see that coming.”

“Nor did I,” Edvard admitted, “although we should have
expected that Zelman would do something to prevent Hendrix from becoming
king. Even if it is a remote possibility he would do everything in his power to
stop it.”

“This is too extreme, though,” Ashlynn objected. “He’s
alienated a good portion of his court doing this.”

“Yes,” Edvard agreed, briskly rubbing his hands together.
“Yes, he did. Let’s take advantage and strike while the iron is hot. Ashlynn,
run down Miss Haley for me and ask her to take care of Argent. Call for Ash,
Riana, and Gerrard too. I’ll call for an emergency meeting from the council.”

“I will,” she promised. Spinning on a heel, she went toward
the back of the castle, where Miss Haley was undoubtedly in the kitchen and
overseeing the preparations of dinner.

Broden could still feel the remnants of shock reverberating
in Ashlynn’s skull. He felt them himself. This was an insane move on Zelman’s
part. How much did he detest his youngest son to do something this stupid?
“Still of the mind to shoot the man, lass?”

“I think Zelman did it for me. He’s a much more humble man
now than before. Being disinherited in one stroke like that has been good for
him.” She stopped at the corner and said to him softly, “Broden. I have this
feeling that what Zelman did is going to give us exactly the advantage we
need.”

“Aye, lass,” he agreed with a feral smile. “I have the same
feeling.”

Chapter Thirty-One

Edvard’s invitations to the two priests were enough to
convince them, and Troi sent word late in the evening that they had arrived and
were shown directly to the temple. It was too late for any social call so they
all waited until the next morning before going out to meet their newest members
of Estole.

Riana and Ash had to row over from the settlement but they
timed it well and everyone met up at the doors.

During the course of his duties, Broden had passed by the
temple more times than he could count. The building was made of light grey
granite, soaring up four stories, each level slightly smaller than the one
below it, to where it almost formed a spire at the top. The doors were a light
oak, thrown open now in spite of the cold, with burning braziers on either side
that promised warmth. As they walked inside, Broden noticed there were new mats
on the floors, arrayed in a half-circle around each deity’s statue. All of the
statues shone with a recent polish and had candles burning on either side of
them, illuminating them fully. Dead ahead was the altar, barring entry to the
back of the temple, where the consecration and ordinance rooms were.

In front of the altar stood Graff, who was bestowing a
blessing on a sickly and fussing child. The mother looked beside herself but
thankful. With the blessing bestowed, the mother gave Graff a heartfelt thanks
and turned. She spied the group waiting nearby, specifically Ashlynn, and made
a beeline for her. “Sheriff.”

“Mistress Kate,” Ashlynn greeted back although her eyes were
fixated on the child straddling his mother’s hip. “What’s wrong with young
Parker, here?”

“It’s those refuse heaps near our bakery, that’s what’s
wrong,” Kate responded, mouth in a flat line. “The stench can fell a man, it’s
so horrid, and it’s hard on his lungs. He keeps getting one infection after
another. I can’t keep him well.”

Ashlynn’s eyes fell closed in a fatalistic manner. “Again?
They’re full again?”

“Oh, over the brim and out into the street, as usual.
Sheriff, please, do something,” the mother pleaded. “It’s not just Parker it’s
affecting, but our business as well. The smell of bread baking is half of what
sells our wares.”

The smell of garbage would completely deter customers as
well. Broden did see her point.

“I’ll handle it immediately after I’m done here,” Ashlynn
promised. “And Broden will gladly shoot the next person we catch improperly
dumping their garbage.”

Broden grinned at Kate. “I would at that. Lass, if ye do me
the favor of taking names? Surely ye see who be doing this.”

“We all know the offenders,” Kate assured him darkly. “If I
give you a list, can you do something?”

“We can,” Ashlynn assured her. “In fact, we’d be glad to.
I’ve given people enough warnings and I’ve been far too patient about this.
We’ll do something to punish them starting today.”

Satisfied, Kate bobbed them both a curtsey. “Then I’ll have
that list ready for you by the time you get to our bakery. Thank you.”

“See to your son first,” Ashlynn encouraged her. “This might
take a little while.”

“Thank you,” Kate repeated with a smile, then hitched her
son up on her hip a little more and headed for the door.

Edvard held out a hand. “Priest Graff. How are you?”

“Very glad reinforcements have arrived,” Graff responded
with a tired grin. “There are some very interesting problems in this country.”

The group gave a heartfelt groan.

“But then, you know that already,” Graff continued,
chuckling, “as I’m speaking to the problem solvers. May I help you with
something?”

“We actually came to meet the new priests,” Edvard
responded, looking about. There were a few people around but no one else in the
robes of a priest. “I don’t see them?”

“No, they’re not here,” Graff confirmed. “I’m afraid they
hit the ground running. We’ve had some problems this morning and they’re
already out in the city helping the people.”

“Ahh.” Edvard looked only slightly disappointed by this.
“Well, I am sorry I missed them, but I’m glad they’re so dedicated that they’re
already helping my people. Tell them that if possible, they can come and have
dinner at the castle. All of you should come, I should say.”

Graff gave a nod of consent. “We will be pleased to. If we
can find a free evening, that is; it’s been a challenge just to find time to
eat these days.”

Broden grimaced. That was the truth.

“One thing, sire.” Graff openly hesitated before asking, “I
now have enough manpower to do a coronation ceremony, if you’d like?”

Coronation ceremony? Broden blinked. True, Edvard had not
had a proper one, he had just declared himself king and had been done with it.
But doing a proper one would strengthen his stance in the eyes of the other
countries. Not Iysh, certainly, but it might help with everyone else.

Edvard looked wistful. “That would be nice.”

Ashlynn raised a finger. “I believe that three deities at
least have to be represented in order to do a ceremony for a government
official. That’s the same for kings? I see. So our new priests are of different
sects. Which ones?”

“Lugh and Macha,” Graff supplied.

Lugh, the god of light and death and Macha, the god of
battle and sovereignty. Actually, if Broden had to pick just two sects to be
represented in Estole, those were the two that he would favor. Right now, it
was the blessings of those two gods that they needed the most.

“Oh, that’s good,” Ash declared. “That’s exactly what we
need. I’m glad you thought to invite them, Priest Graff.”

“I’m very glad they heeded the call,” Graff replied. “Well,
King Edvard, I will sit down with the other two and figure out exactly what
needs to be done. We might need to do a little research as none of us have done
a coronation ceremony before. It was just a thought that occurred to me when I
knew that the two of them were coming.”

“It was a good one,” Edvard acknowledged. “And by all means,
take your time. There’s no rush on this.”

“Still, I don’t think we need to go very elaborate?” Ashlynn
looked at everyone as she said this, gauging their reactions. “For one thing,
we don’t have the time for elaborate ceremonies. For another, aside from the
immediate family and the provosts, there’s not many that need to attend.”

“A good point,” Edvard nodded to her. “Priest Graff, make
sure that you take that into account while planning things out and doing your
research. Also, the next two weeks are completely packed, but if you schedule
for after that, I promise you I will make the time.”

“Duly noted, sire.”

“Well.” Edvard clapped his hands together. “Not much more we
can do here. Back to work, everyone. Priest Graff, my invitation to dinner
stands, so just come when you’re available.”

“I will, sire. Thank you.”

Broden and Ashlynn went to take care of certain idiots that
did not know how to properly throw things away, so they were late for the
second war council session that Edvard had called for. They slipped quietly
into the room in the middle of Edvard saying, “—not entirely sold that this
idea will work either. But I think that if we recruit the people that are
dissatisfied with Zelman, then we will strengthen our stance and weaken his.
That in and of itself is worth exploring.”

“I can’t disagree there,” Zorich admitted grudgingly. The
man looked frankly torn about this plan.

Broden slipped into a seat between Ashlynn and Riana and
leaned over enough to whisper to his daughter, “What be we talking about?”

“Edvard wants to invite some of the young lords and ladies
that be cut off by Zelman’s new Binding here and see if he can no’ win them
over,” she whispered back. “He thinks that with enough of them, it may weaken
Zelman enough that he can no’ afford to field an army.”

Ross was ignoring the whispering from the other side of the
table and saying, “If I remember correctly, Zelman has to have a certain
majority on his side to legally be able to send out an army.”

Tierone supplied, “He must either have a fifty percent vote
of affirmation from his lords, or a thirty percent affirmation from the lords
and the complete backing of his cabinet. One of the two.”

“So if we really can win enough families over…” Towan sat
back, staring up at the ceiling, eyes narrowed as he thought it through. “Do
you think that the new Binding has upset enough of them to give us a foothold?”

“It did it enough to send one of my worst childhood rivals
straight into my arms,” Edvard pointed out dryly. “I think that’s a pretty good
indication. I don’t think we’ll have an automatic fifty percent of them fall on
our side, no. But I do believe that some political maneuvering might buy us
some time, if nothing else.”

“That’s worst case scenario,” Captain Bragdon observed.
“Best case scenario, Zelman does something else equally stupid to try to stop
us and gives us even more leverage to work with.”

Edvard beamed at him. “Exactly.”

“I think,” Ash drawled, “the only reason why we’re hesitant
to go with this plan is because of its source.”

The whole room grimaced and not one person denied it.
Gwydion Argent was a well-known dandy whose sole purpose in life was to be
better dressed than his peers. That he had come up with a good, sound plan had
them all properly befuddled.

“He’s right,” Haney admitted ruefully, glancing at Ash. “To
make matters worse, we’ll have to trust Argent to be our middleman. We
certainly can’t contact anyone directly without tipping our hand to Zelman.
Argent can.”

Ashlynn groaned next to him. Broden tilted his head toward
her. “Lass,” he said in an undertone, “would the others at court take this man
seriously enough to go with the offer?”

“Maybe,” she responded slowly, and there was not much
confidence behind the word. “But if he can just convince one or two, then we’ll
have three middlemen talking to people, and it’ll spread like a wave from
there. The vital part of the plan will be him succeeding with just a few.”

Seeing how most people regarded Argent, that might take a
miracle. Broden made a note to send a fervent prayer to the gods about this
later.

“Alright.” Edvard gave his council an expression of
satisfaction. “I think that this plan is the best we’ve come up with so far, so
let’s act on it. I’ll discuss the particulars with Argent myself. Now, while
we’re all here, I have some other news to announce. I spoke with Priest Graff
this morning and he informs me that we have two new priests, one of the Order
of Macha, the other of the Order of Lugh.”

There were some happy sounds at this, and the King of Estole
shared their smiles. “Yes, I’m quite pleased as well. At least one of our
problems is now solved as I think three priests can handle the workload of a
small country. Now, because we have a priest from three different gods, Priest
Graff tells me he has enough people to perform a coronation ceremony.”

Everyone perked up. Even Tierone looked intrigued by this
idea. “It would improve your standing with the other countries, to have an open
blessing by the gods. Can we do this soon?”

“We have a lot to do in the next few weeks but I think we
can do it very soon. Also, if possible, I’d like to have a few noblemen from
Iysh here to witness it. A living witness is always more powerful than
hearsay.”

“Truly.” Tierone started ticking things off on his fingers,
mouthing something that was not audible to the rest of the table. “Hmm, it’s
true, we do have a lot scheduled for the next two weeks. But after that, I
think there’s a day or two that’s clear.”

“One of those days needs to be blocked out and kept free so
we can do the ceremony.”

“The third day of that week?” Troi offered. “I believe no
one has serious commitments that day.”

Broden blinked at the man, awed that he could keep
everyone’s schedules in his head like that. Even if he was the Master of Spies,
did his brain not get tired of remembering all of that?

Edvard looked around the table, confirming this, but no one
corrected Troi’s statement, so he rubbed his hands in a happy gesture of
anticipation. “Third day it is. Troi, notify Priest Graff if you will. We’ll
make the necessary arrangements on our end. Now, while we’re convened, anything
else to discuss?”

Amber raised a hand. “I do have something to run past you,
sire, but it doesn’t need to concern everyone.”

“Noted, we’ll talk after this. Anything that does require
all of our input? No? Then session dismissed.” Edvard knocked his knuckles
against the table’s surface before pointing at Ashlynn and waving her over.

Ashlynn, curious, went to him. “Yes?”

“I leave it to you to make sure all the girls are properly
dressed.”

She lit up. “Are you officially telling me to go shopping?”

“I’m also officially telling you to not bankrupt me,” he
warned her, although there was a twinkle in his eye that belied the words. “Our
economy has recovered but not that much. So be frugal.”

“You’re such a kingly brother,” she cooed, throwing her arms
around his neck and hugging him.

Edvard indulged her, wrapping an arm around her waist in
return. “Yes, yes, you’re totally spoiled. Go have fun with the girls, now. Oh,
and I include Riana in that.”

Riana was close enough to hear this and protested, “I have
two dresses already!”

Both siblings ignored her. “Of course she’s included,”
Ashlynn agreed. “That was never in question. Don’t you worry, I’ll have
everyone properly outfitted in time for the ceremony. But if we’re talking six
dressed, I’ll need to get the dressmakers started today.”

“Then take a few hours off and attend to that. Broden can
cover for you.”

Broden knew an order when he heard one. “Me pleasure, sire,”
he drawled.

Edvard grinned at him. “See? You’re all set. Go have fun.”

Ashlynn snagged a still protesting Riana and practically
skipped out of the room. Broden watched her go with a sort of paternal
indulgence. Why did the lass enjoy shopping so much? It was beyond him.

“Broden, as it happens, I have a few troublemakers over at
the settlement that I could use an official hand with,” Ash stated. “Care to
row back over with me?”

“Certainly, lad.” Shopping was not his cup of tea at all,
but he’d gladly go and shoot people. Or at least scare them in line. He
followed Ash out of the room without a single pang of envy.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Riana pointed an outraged finger and said firmly, “No.”

Holding up the sparkling blue fabric higher, Ashlynn coaxed
in her sweetest tone, “Now, Riana, this is beautiful fabric—”

“It be itchy and restrictive and no.” Riana had learned from
her last shopping trip that Ashlynn had a taste for the finer things and often
bought things just because they were pretty, never mind if they were practical
or not. So if she didn’t say no, and mean it, the other woman would talk her
into the most ridiculous purchases.

Catriona sidled up next to Ashlynn, looking the fabric over
with a critical eye. “It’s true she would look wonderful in blue. But Ashlynn,
her true color is going to be green, especially with those eyes of hers.”

Ashlynn acted as if she had been struck by a lightning bolt.
“That…oh, that’s a very good point, Cat. Green it is.” Thrusting the blue
material into the arms of a seamstress, she immediately went back to the fabric
bolts, hunting for green.

Casting Riana a wink, Cat mouthed, ‘We need to stick
together.’

Riana felt like hugging her. As long as there wasn’t
anything shiny or stiff in green back in those bolts, she should have just
dodged the problem altogether. At least where fabric was concerned. The same,
alas, could not be said for the dress itself.

Before they had even entered the store, Ashlynn had declared
that no one was to come in armed to the coronation ceremony. There would be no
point, it being held in the temple, and there wasn’t any need to run around
armed in Estole proper anyway unless they were on duty. (Riana privately
disagreed on that last point but Ashlynn was technically armed all of the time
so she probably had a different perspective on matters.) Apparently the ‘appropriate’
style for the women involved stiff sleeves, lots of layers of petticoats, and
even more lace. Riana had taken one look at the design and felt like running
for the mountains.

Gwen, Bria, and Darisa were clearly in their element as they
went through the shop and pointed things out to each other. They already had a
stack waiting on the table of materials they wanted used.

In that moment, it struck Riana what the real difference
between them and her was. She had never known peace. They had grown up in it.
To them, this chaos and upheaval was simply a crisis to get through. Once they
had won the day, they would go back to the peace they had known growing up.
They trusted in that in a way that she could not comprehend. Shopping
and putting on pretty things seemed rather pointless to Riana and she couldn’t
invest any of her heart into it. To them, it was as natural as breathing,
indulging in such fancies.

For Ashlynn, going to a ceremony unarmed might be the
natural and correct thing to do. Riana couldn’t imagine going without any
weapons at all, even for the space of a few hours inside of a temple. She might
go through withdrawals if she tried, in fact. Arguing the point with Ashlynn
would get her nowhere so she’d have to be sneaky about this.

With new eyes, Riana looked around the shop. There was a
variety of hairpins stacked along the tables or laid out, depending on if they
were larger and more ornate. Bolts of lace and fabric were all along the back
walls. Examples of shoes lined up along the display case, right behind the
fans. Some of these were flimsy and useless but with the right mindset, a few
could be turned into weapons. If Riana played along with Ashlynn and joined in
on the shopping, the other woman wouldn’t suspect a thing.

Smiling to herself, she went to the hairpins first and
looked them over. Most were made of metal, some carved of wood, and were long
sticks with something pretty and delicate on the end of them. Ashlynn was
looking for something green, so she needed to pick up something that would
either match or coordinate well. A slender pair of matching hair sticks caught
her eye. They had weaving vines of bronze and green glass leaves weaving around
the end of the sticks. Pretty enough for a ceremony, certainly, and sharp
enough to be considered weapons if Riana needed them to be. She picked those up
and headed for Ashlynn. “I like these,” she said to the woman before popping up
next to her, holding them out. “Something to match this.”

“That’s the spirit,” Ashlynn crowed, bouncing on her toes.
“Alright, give me one, and you go find a fan and shoes to match.”

Taking one hair stick with her, she went off as directed.
The fans were mostly slender wood, nothing that could be used effectively in a
fight, but there was one that had a metal base with fabric over the top. The
metal was what caught her attention because folded up, it would be strong
enough to ward off a blow or strike a man in a tender spot. The design wasn’t
the best, but she took it anyway and asked the seamstress hovering nearby, “Be
it possible to change the design on this?”

The seamstress, a matron that had been in business in Estole
for at least two decades, took only a glance at the fan in her hands before
assuring her, “Certainly, Miss Riana. What would you like to have?”

“Something that would match this,” she explained, holding
out the hair stick.

“Ah, something green? That’s certainly possible. We have two
weeks until the king’s coronation, which should be plenty of time. Miss
Ashlynn, did you find anything that would match?”

“Three, but one of them isn’t suitable material. Riana, this
one,” Ashlynn held up a velvety looking material that had a subtle shimmer to
it when it moved, “or this one?” The other looked more like suede and was a
deep hue of green.

“Not the velvet,” the seamstress disagreed, moving forward
and taking it out of Ashlynn’s hands. “Not the right shade for her coloring.
But that suede is very nice and would look striking with her height.”

Riana was inclined to like it just because it wasn’t bright
and shimmery. “I like that one?” she ventured hopefully.

“This one it is.” Ashlynn looked relieved that she was able
to find something they both could agree to. “Now, as for the design…”

Knowing that she wouldn’t be able to influence them much,
Riana still tagged along toward the drawing table and watched as the women went
back and forth about the design of the bodice, sleeves, skirt, pieces she
didn’t recognize the terms of. She did manage to get them to incorporate
pockets on both sides of the skirt, and to shorten the sleeves enough so that
they wouldn’t be restrictive around the shoulders or elbows. But that was as
much leeway as they would give her.

It was enough. She grinned as she retreated and let the
other girls move forward and design their dresses. When she got the dress,
she’d put a slit in both pockets—that way she could strap daggers to her
thighs. No one would be able to tell with that many layers on. Between the
daggers, hairpins, and fan, she should be armed enough to handle danger if it did
pop up.

Hopefully it didn’t, though. Riana wished that more
fervently than anyone else, that there would not be trouble on that day. Edvard
and his family deserved to have one nice thing pan out smoothly for
them.

“If Edvard’s plans work out, do you think we’ll have nice
young barons and earls coming to visit?” Catriona asked wistfully. “There’s no
one to flirt with here.”

Darisa looked a little panicked at this topic, and cast a
desperate look at Bria, who smoothly responded, “Even if there were, I’m not
sure how much attention you could get from them. Between Ash, Tierone, Edvard,
and Broden, it’s a miracle if men approach us to ask for the time.”

Riana blinked. “Me da too?”

“He’s just as protective of us,” Bria explained in a tone of
complaint, although she smiled as she said that, which meant she actually liked
it.

Cat held up a piece of antique lace even as she continued to
Riana, “The whole city is scared of him, so he’s got it down to this look
that says ‘Go away while your bones aren’t broken.’ It would be funny if it
weren’t so maddening. This lace for the sleeves?”

“Too white for that deep wine color. Try something cream
instead,” Ashlynn suggested. “Girls, are you really telling me that you didn’t
have any beaus from home? I know that Bria was a little separated from society
but the rest of you weren’t.”

“I had plenty of men chasing but none of them caught my
attention.” Darisa shrugged in resignation. “Mostly toadies that thought even
an illegitimate daughter of a duke was a step up.”

Riana silently applauded this answer as it neatly avoided
who she was courting now.

“Same,” Cat admitted although she looked more aggravated
than resigned. “Actually, it’s Bria that had the best luck out of us.”

Bria blushed and focused very, very hard on the two fans in
her hands. “This one or this one?”

“Neither,” Ashlynn responded, sidling up and putting an arm
around her shoulders. “Bria, dearest sister, are you holding out on us?”

Bria got this trapped look on her face, an expression that a
rabbit would have while surrounded by hungry wolves. Swallowing nervously, she
offered, “He’s the third son of an official, sort of, and I met him while he
was running an errand for his father?”

“Wonderful information, do continue,” Ashlynn encouraged,
completely riveted.

Throwing her hands up in the air, Bria countered, “Does it
matter right now? I disappeared from home completely because of Zelman and now
he doesn’t have the faintest idea of where I am. I can’t even write to let him
know because trade has been halted.”

“She does have a point,” Riana observed. Partially in pity
for the girl, partially because she wanted this conversation to stop before
they asked her about her own relationship with Ash, Riana got hold of Bria’s elbow
and drew her out. “I agree with Ashlynn, the fan does no’ suit what ye picked
out. Mayhap something with more blue in it?”

“More blue? Really? But it’s mostly a cream white and gold
dress. Then again, the blue would be a nice contrast…” Bria seemed grateful for
the change in topic and willingly went along with Riana’s lead, talking far
more than she normally did to keep the others from prying any further.

Riana wished her luck on that as it would only be temporary.
Tonight, when everyone started to retire, her sisters would likely corner her
again.

The next two weeks seemed to crawl by and yet at the same
time, Riana felt that if she blinked, half the day would pass. They didn’t do
anything extraordinary, simply worked on the same tasks day in and day out,
trying to get things finished before they lost the nice fall weather and the first
snow hit.

Really, the only thing remarkable was that a young baron and
baroness, Skadi and Ingrid Covington, heeded Edvard’s invitation and came to
talk. Edvard and Tierone spent many hours closeted with them talking, and even
Argent was invited to sit in several times. Ashlynn kept them abreast of the
progress the group made and it sounded promising. Both siblings had agreed to
stay the full two weeks to see Edvard’s coronation ceremony before leaving.

Aside from that, Riana did bring it up to Edvard that they
really had to come up with a name for their new settlement. Saying ‘the
settlement, the settlement’ all of the time was getting old and it was no
longer accurate. The place had grown to the size of a respectable town by now
and there were more people moving in every day. After all, if they stayed in
Estole, they were still on a very long waiting list to get a house. If they
moved to the settlement, it was a shorter list and they could help with their own
hands to further the matter along.

Edvard heard her out and agreed, “You’re right, we need to.
Over dinner, we’ll come up with a name for it, and when the coronation ceremony
is completed I’ll announce it officially.”

Pleased, she’d agreed, and privately started cataloguing a
list of names she thought would be a good fit.

It didn’t take one night’s discussion around dinner, but a
full week of them before they all agreed on a name: Ganforth. Edvard, being a
man that liked surprises, swore them all to secrecy. Which meant, of course,
that half the city knew by the next morning and were already using the name. As
long as Edvard didn’t learn about this, that was fine, and Riana wasn’t about
to be the one to tell him.

Tierone called them the night before the coronation to say
that he wouldn’t be able to make the ceremony after all. Most of his people
were down with some sort of nasty cold, and, while not deadly, it did seem to
lay everyone out for a good two weeks before they started to recover. He
himself wasn’t sick but most of his staff were, and rather than risk carrying
the disease over into Estole, he chose to close down the borders until it
passed.

Everyone was disappointed, of course, because this was meant
to be a dual ceremony with both Tierone and Edvard. But Tierone observed that
they could always do another one later, one for just him, and that way
celebrate twice. It appeased the youngest member of the family (Gwen was always
up for more parties) and so they made tentative plans for that.

The day of the coronation ceremony finally dawned, and they
all got up early—the girls so they had time to do something with their hair,
the men so they could actually use the mirror to shave without having to
compete with the girls. Edvard, as part of the preparation for the ceremony,
was not allowed to eat that morning and he left before noon to go and perform
the necessary cleansing rituals. Technically, they were supposed to wait an
hour before going over as well, but all of them were ready so they voted to go
ahead and see if they could help set up anything. The priests were admitted
novices when it came to ceremonies, after all. It wouldn’t hurt to double check
that everything was in place before Ingrid and Skadi Covington joined them.

When they arrived at the temple, it was immaculately clean,
with decorations ringing the door and interior. Ribbons were tied around the
columns in front, vases lined the stairs, overflowing with colorful bouquets.
Stepping inside, she saw that chairs had been added to the center of the room,
which was good as she understood the ceremony took a full hour to complete.
Ribbons draped along the ceiling here, too, vases found in different corners
with flowers. The altar had one long banner with the Estole coat of arms.  It
looked nice enough but it didn’t quite match with Ashlynn’s descriptions. Or
maybe things had been changed because the priests had not been able to lay
hands on everything they wanted to?

Deciding not to say anything, she sat where Ash indicated,
carefully keeping track of her skirt hem and making sure that it wasn’t getting
in anyone’s way. The dark green dress had turned out to be rather pretty. Odds
were she wouldn’t have many opportunities to wear it, but she’d like to keep it
as pristine as she could.

Aside from the dress, she had a few—other—things to keep
track of as well. She had to sit in a certain way to make sure that nothing
pinched or, worse, clanged. After all, she was supposed to be here completely
unarmed. It wouldn’t do to give the game away with a careless motion.

Riana was so preoccupied getting settled that she didn’t at
first notice Ash’s distraction until it became unease. Then her head came up.
“Ash?”

“Where are all of the priests?” Ash said slowly, eyes roving
about the front of the room. “Shouldn’t they have one of them escorting us in?”

As if his words had conjured the man, Priest Graff popped
out of the back hallway. He did a quick headcount, nodded in satisfaction, then
made for the front door with a quick stride. Closing it firmly, he flashed them
a quick smile and said, “Just a brief delay, everyone, bear with us.” As
quickly as he had appeared he disappeared back into the hallway and out of
sight.

Riana’s eyebrows climbed into her hairline. “Something has
gone wrong, I take it.”

“Certainly looks that way,” Ash agreed, the frown on his
face not faltering.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Broden stirred uneasily. There was this nagging sense of
wrongness about the place and while he could not put his finger on it, it was
there regardless.

Leaning against his shoulder, Ashlynn tilted her head up and
whispered, “I realize the clothes are more formal than what you’re used to
wearing, but stop fidgeting.”

“It no’ be that, lass,” he denied. Well, alright, it was
partially that but not the main reason. “There be a strange feeling to the air
I do no’ like. Does naught seem amiss to ye?”

She frowned then sat back and really looked around. “Now
that you say it, it seems strange that all three priests are back there. There
should be one up here preparing to officiate. And why aren’t the other lords
here attending? I know Argent went ahead of us but I thought the rest were
right behind us.”

That. That was what was bothering him. The room was too
empty. There should be more people than were seated here. All of the provosts
were in attendance, of course, but half the reason for the ceremony to happen
now was to have the lords and lady of Iysh as witnesses to it.

And where was Edvard? He had gone ahead of them in order to
perform some cleansing rite or another, but he was supposed to be ready by now.
Right?

Broden could thank his survival instincts for being alive
this long. He never doubted them. Sometimes his instincts were off, sometimes
he looked a mite foolish, but he would rather be wrong than to not act and bear
the consequences of it. So he said to Ashlynn, “I think it best I go check on
yon king. Ye—”

From the back of the temple there was an outraged and pained
yell. Broden recognized the voice instantly. Edvard’s. He was on his feet and
moving before the thought fully processed in his brain that this was a very
cleverly disguised assassination attempt and nothing more.

Everyone else was on their feet at the same time but Ash was
snapping out commands. “Everyone behind me and Riana! Ashlynn, Broden, go help
Edvard!”

No one had come in armed, in fact they had specifically been
told this was a sacred ceremony and to not bring weapons. Ashlynn and
Ash were of course always in touch with their magic, they were never without a
means to fight, but Riana was bare as a babe. He’d snuck one dagger in, under
his coat, and he reached for it while praying that it would be enough to fight
off assassins with.

“Da!”

He spun at the call and spotted two daggers in his
daughter’s hands. She gave a feinted toss, making sure that he was watching,
before throwing one in his direction in a controlled arc. He caught it handily
and was grateful even if it was a little on the small side. Now where had she
gotten these? He highly doubted assassins would have left them just lying about.
Shaking his head, he put the question aside for later, and ducked into the
hallway. Ashlynn had not paused to wait for him, but was running frantically
forward, trying to reach her brother.

Someone had beaten them there, though.

Argent was facing off Priest Graff, or as he should be
known, the fake priest that was actually an assassin. Broden had a split second
of chagrin for not realizing the man’s true nature. They had blindly trusted
Graff because of his clerical robes. Why had they done that? Desperation? It
seemed a poor excuse now.

The hallways were narrow and confined, but, in spite of
that, Gwydion Argent was putting up a whale of a fight. He had not followed
orders either because he had a long dagger in one hand and a candlestick in the
other. There was sweat pouring down his temples and a berserker grin on his
face. He must have either heard their approach or caught it out of the corner
of his eye as he shouted, “He’s in the room! Injured! GO!”

Ashlynn went, slipping past the fighting fake-priest and
Argent. Broden stopped in the doorway, guarding her and Edvard from anything
that might make it through, and watched Argent fight like a veteran soldier.
Had not someone said that he was the grandson of a famous knight? Fighting
prowess must run in the family.

There was a horrified gasp before Ashlynn said shakily,
“Edvard.”

“I’ll survive,” Edvard responded, but his voice sounded wan.
“A healing spell or three would be quite welcome.”

“Hush, I have to clean this out first.”

Broden did not dare take his eyes off the fight in front of
him but he did call back, “How bad be it?”

“They got me right in the shoulder before I realized what
was happening,” Edvard explained and then hissed. “Ashlynn, that stings
something awful.”

“Be still,” she responded, not in the least bit sympathetic.
“At this angle, they nearly got your neck.”

Argent let out a roar before springing forward, candlestick
being treated like a shield to knock his opponent’s short sword away, and then
his dagger darted forward with pinpoint accuracy. The assassin-priest went down
with a near silent gasp, crumpling to the floor like discarded clothes. Argent
breathed in deep, then looked around at Broden, a fierce smile on his face.
“The man was skilled.”

“He be that,” Broden agreed in grudging admiration. He was
not a master at swordplay, so he could not offer any criticisms, but he knew
two skilled fighters when he saw them in action. A part of him was rather glad
that it was Argent that had faced Graff as he was not sure the two daggers in his
hands would have been enough to defeat the assassin.

From the front of the temple there was a clamor of sound and
a great deal of yelling. Broden’s eyes darted in that direction even though
stone blocked his view.

“I’ll go,” Argent stated, already sprinting that direction.

Broden watched his back retreat and thought, The man be
growing on me.

Edvard gasped. “Ashlynn, dearest, not so tightly please.”

“I have to stop the bleeding. Spells can only do so much in
this situation.” She lifted the necklace at her neck and said urgently,
“Master. Master, answer me. Master!”

“I heard you the first two times, no need to yell. What?”

“Assassins are in the temple. We’re under attack. Where are
you?”

Gerrard swore loud and long. “The two boats we were going
to use this morning sprang leaks, so we had to stop and fix them. That delayed
me, and I’m just now reaching Estole’s docks. I’ll be there as quickly as I
can. Can you fend them off?”

“Most of us aren’t armed. Argent was, he protected Edvard,
but it’s basically me and Ash. Oh, and Riana and Broden snuck in a few daggers
somehow, so our partners are armed at least.”

“Sit tight. I’m bringing more of the guard with me.”

Ashlynn dropped the necklace and looked up at Broden. For
the first time since the day he had met her, he saw true fear in her face. “How
many men are we fighting against in here?”

“Do no’ know,” he admitted sourly. He was torn, truly torn,
in which direction to go. Stay here, protect her and the king? Go back to the
main room, help fight off the others? “They must have locked the doors, though.
Our guard outside can no’ get in.”

It was Edvard that decided the matter. “Ashlynn, put up one
of your wards around this room and leave me here. You and Broden are two of the
few that can fight. You have to get back out there, not babysit me.”

She did not like it but saw the wisdom in it. Pushing Broden
out of the doorway, she put up a ward so quickly that the words seemed to meld
into each other as she spoke them. Broden had heard her do this spell often
enough that he knew the words and was moving before the last syllable left her
lips.

They regained the main room and paused in the doorway long
enough to get a grasp of what was going on. Broden’s heart sank as he realized
that they weren’t dealing with normal assassins—there were two
wizard-assassins, both of them fighting with Ash. Ash had somehow managed to
get the noncombatants up between two of the altars and put a ward up so that
they could not be harmed. It left him, Riana, and Argent out and fighting.

Riana whizzed a small dagger at one wizard-assassin, forcing
the man to duck, which let Ash get a quick spell off, grazing the man’s head.
It forced a retreat and gave him the breathing room he needed to deal with the
other’s attack.

Ashlynn’s magic flared out like a bonfire cloaking her, and
she stalked forward, heading for the wizard that had retreated. Broden was at
her side, palming both daggers and wishing he had brought his bow.

Like a raging goddess of war, Ashlynn descended on the man
with spells flinging fast and furious, forcing him to put up shield after
shield or get fried. Broden danced around to the man’s blind side and flung a
dagger, but at the last second, he erected a shield that bounced the weapon
away. Broden’s mouth dropped open in surprise. He could do that?! As Ashlynn
had explained it, putting up a weapon’s shield and a magical shield at the same
time was impossible. So the assassin would have had to drop his magical shield,
raise a weapon’s shield long enough to block the attack, and then raise another
magical shield to deal with Ashlynn all within split seconds.

Well. The man was not a professional assassin for nothing.

But that meant that even if Broden timed this carefully he
might not be able to pierce through, and he only had one dagger left. If the
man came after him, he would be hard pressed to fight back. Bare-handed
wrestling did not seem the best choice with this particular opponent.

Riana noticed his situation and called, “Da! Catch!”

He turned with one hand reaching out, only half-surprised by
the dagger she tossed him. This one had a bit more size to it than the other
one, which he was grateful to see. Spinning back around, he stepped into
Ashlynn’s shield, letting it protect him from the magical attack the assassin
had unleashed.

Ashlynn was panting for breath, but the fire had not gone
out in her eyes, so she was not anywhere near to being done yet. She reached
behind her, found Broden’s ribs, and gave two hard taps before stepping forward
and unleashing a wind storm that threatened to bring the rafters down on their
heads.

He knew the signal. It was one they had developed in the
city, when they wanted to get the drop on a criminal. She would unleash two
attacks and then back off. It was his job to take advantage of the opening she
gave him and dart forward. He lifted up onto the balls of his feet and prepared
himself to launch forward.

Immediately after the wind storm was a burst of magical
power that felt like it sucked all of the air right out of the room. The wizard
gasped on his breath, unable to quite form the words he needed, and that was
when Broden moved. He darted ahead with no fear, no caution, slamming into the
other man with both daggers burying themselves into his chest.

The assassin was dead before he hit the ground, eyes rolled
into his head, not even a gasp of pain to signal his death.

Broden stepped back, breathing hard, and looked behind him.
“Ashlynn?”

“Good,” she assured him, also breathing hard, bracing her
hands on her knees as she struggled to catch her breath.

Turning, he looked at the rest of the room. Riana and Ash
had dealt with their assassin at practically the same time, apparently. Ash was
bending over a wounded Argent, who was nursing a bleeding leg and biting his
lower lip to keep from crying out at the pain. Riana noticed his gaze and
smirked at him. “Stupid of them, to assume we would all obey.”

“Apparently,” Broden drawled and inwardly busted with pride
that she was his little girl. There were days it was hard to contain it.

Gerrard burst through the main doors in that moment with at
least a dozen guards hot on his heels. He took in the scene with wide eyes and
demanded, “Is everyone alright?”

“A few injured,” Ashlynn answered, straightening. “Edvard
being one of them. Tant, split up into two teams, one sweeping the outside
grounds, one sweeping the inside. I think we got them all but I want to be
sure.”

Tant snapped out a salute before obeying orders.

“Master, come with me to heal Edvard,” Ashlynn directed,
already striding for the back room. “Unless Ash needs help?”

Ash waved his sister onward. “This is minor, he’ll be back
on his feet in two days.”

Broden decided to take a moment and satisfy his curiosity.
Nothing dangerous was left in this temple, he felt it, and there were enough
armed and trained people here to take care of it if he were wrong. “Daughter.”

She gave him an inquiring, ‘Aye?’ expression.

“Daggers?”

“I snuck in a few,” she admitted as if he did not already
know that.

“A few,” Ash snorted, hands still busy bandaging Argent’s
leg. “She handed you four, she handed Argent…two?”

“Two,” Argent confirmed, grimacing. “Not that tight,
Fallbright.”

“It has to be that tight to stop the bleeding. Anyway, and I
lost track of how many daggers she herself used. She was flinging them left,
right, and center like they were arrows and not knives.” Ash sat back on his
heels and regarded her with frank amazement. “Just where did you put
them all?”

Riana put a demure hand on her chest and looked away shyly.
“Oh. A lass has her ways.”

The family still sitting in Ash’s ward started laughing at
this.

“In other words,” Ash translated to Broden, “she’s never
going to tell me.”

“She might not,” Bria told him, still giggling, “but I was
watching her and I think I figured it out. It was quite clever. Ash, can you
let us out yet?”

“Not just yet. I want to make sure that we didn’t miss
anyone. Right now you’re very safe in that ward and I’d rather not take
chances.”

Gwen reached out to tug on Ash only to flinch when her hand
touched his magic. “I don’t like this. It’s icky.”

“Icky won’t stick,” Ash responded patiently.

“And I’m worried about Edvard,” Gwen added, her hands
flexing in the folds of her dress. She looked ready to cry in a split second.

“Your sister is taking care of him, nothing to worry about.”
Ash looked up and pointed with his chin. “See? Here they come.”

Edvard was walking a little unsteadily, face white from the
pain, but he was moving upright and under his own power, which Broden felt was
a blessing. Someone had helped him back into real clothes although they’d left
the jacket off. An impromptu sling had his injured shoulder propped up. Ashlynn
paced herself next to him, hovering without actually looking as if she were.

“You can let them out,” she informed her twin. “I’ve gotten
a report from both teams that there’s no one else around. We got all of them.”

Ash flung out a hand, like dismissing a fly, and the ward
came down. Gwen immediately went to her brother and hugged him around the
thighs, tilting her head up to stare at him in open worry. “Hurt bad?”

“Hurt a little,” Edvard responded. It was a bald faced lie
and every adult in the room knew it but was kind enough to not correct it and
worry the child any further. “Mostly it’s irritating. Ashlynn said I have to be
good and not use it for a week so I can’t hug you with more than my right hand,
alright?”

She nodded, still looking stressed, but took his hand
without a complaint.

Edvard looked around the room and winced. “So. How did we
fare?”

“You and Argent were the only ones injured, which I take as
a miracle.” Ash helped Argent to his feet and supported the man so that he did
not put his full weight on the injured leg. “Speaking of—Argent, how did you
know what was going on?”

“You forget, I was there when all three princes were welcomed
into court as official heirs of Iysh. I know what a coronation ceremony is
supposed to look like. Even if you were trying to keep things simple, there
were a few necessities that were just missing. I felt like it was an
oversight—I mean, these fake priests were novices after all—so I went back to
correct it. For one thing, there was supposed to be a witness from the nobility
that followed the process from beginning to end with Edvard. I was the highest
ranking member from Iysh; by duty I was supposed to be at his side.” Argent
winced and adjusted his grip on Ash’s shoulder. “I got there just as he was
attacking Edvard. Fortunate, that.”

“Truly,” Edvard agreed. “Also fortunate that they chose the
only non-magical assassin to deal with me. I suppose it was because the other
two would have to fight with Ash and Ashlynn. I had no idea what was going on
until I was attacked. I was too surprised and, ah...” he cast a glance down at
the innocent face of his six year old sister before continuing blandly,
“unarmed to put up much of a fight.”

Broden cleared his throat and fought a smile. Unarmed, was
it? The man was going through a cleansing ritual; he’d been in a thin white
robe and nothing else. Basically naked, in his opinion.

Tant came up and snapped out a bow to his king. “Sire. We’ve
swept the area three times and there aren’t any other dangers here. Allow us to
escort you to the castle and strengthen the guard. Just in case.”

“Permission granted,” Edvard agreed wearily. “Let’s retire
to the castle, everyone. Tant, I leave you to investigate and gather what
information you can. Report to me within an hour.”

“Yes, sire.”

Chapter Thirty-Four

It took closer to two hours before Tant arrived at Edvard’s
study to give a report. It was just as well, as it took that long for both
Edvard and Argent to be properly treated and to get into clean clothes. Neither
man would hear of doing something silly like getting rest and, instead,
were waiting patiently for the report.

Bria, Catriona, and Darisa insisted on hearing for
themselves what was happening so they waited in the study as well. They had
taken time to change into more practical clothes although no one had bothered
to change their hairstyles. In the interest of keeping Gwen out of Edvard’s
lap—she had a bad habit of accidentally leaning against the injured
shoulder—they had a board game on a table off to the side and were playing with
the child to keep her distracted.

Riana noted that everyone’s opinion of Argent had changed.
He was no longer the semi-tolerated flunky from Iysh. His bravery and skill in
protecting Edvard had spoken well of his mettle and now he had the respect of
the entire Knolton family. He seemed to realize this too because of how
differently he was treated, but it didn’t go to his head. Argent accepted their
attitude to him with a smile and many a word of thanks. Mayhap there was hope
for him yet.

Tant did not look at all pleased when he entered the study.
He gave a suitable bow to everyone in general, Edvard in particular, and
stated, “Reporting, sire.”

“Come in, Tant.” Edvard waved him in with his good hand,
careful to not move his injured shoulder. He still looked white from the pain,
lines around his mouth and eyes, but the spell that Gerrard had invoked on him
and the potions he’d been given were helping. He no longer winced every time he
breathed. “What were you able to discover?”

“Not much, sire,” Tant admitted sourly. “They hid their
tracks well. The two wizards that attacked came under the disguise as fellow
priests, as I’m sure everyone has guessed by now. Graff, we assume, came in
first because he was not magical and so wouldn’t raise any suspicions. I took a
look in their rooms and there was nothing in there to suggest they have ever
studied in any religion. Quite a few weapons were secreted here and there. I
think their plan was foiled by Lord Argent, here,” Tant gave him a respectful
nod, “as I found traps of various kinds throughout the back of the temple. They
planned to lure both of our wizards there and trap them, killing without a
fight.”

Riana went pale as this plan was so bluntly outlined. They’d
almost succeeded.

“I don’t think they planned on anyone disobeying their
direction of coming unarmed, either,” Tant continued. “There was a magical lock
on the door to prevent people from escaping or the guard outside from getting
in. It was set up like a slaughterhouse, sire.”

“Locked magically. Is that why no one else came in after
us?”

“That was partially it, sire,” Tant confirmed. “Lady Ingrid
came and found us when she couldn’t get in. She suspected something was very
wrong. Master Gerrard contacted us about the same time. It’s how we knew to
come. Sire, the guard feels like we have failed you in this.”

Edvard shook his head, disagreeing. “We all met Graff and
didn’t feel like anything was out of place. He was a very skilled assassin. We
will have to think of precautions from now on, however, to prevent this
disaster from repeating. Tant, please go back and oversee cleanup. Has Troi
been notified?”

“He’s already on his way here, sire.”

“Good, good. Dismissed, Tant, thank you.”

Tant bowed himself out. Riana regarded the room in general
and was dismayed by how deflated everyone was. They had been looking forward to
today for weeks and to have it turn out like this…well.

Ash cleared his throat. “If there’s one thing we have
learned from this, it’s to always take Riana with us into any ceremony. That
way, we always have a stash of weapons on hand.”

It broke the somber mood. A few people smiled, but Broden
outright chuckled. “True, that. Daughter, how many did ye secret in there?”

Not seeing anything wrong with confessing, she admitted
baldly, “About two dozen. If ye include the hair pins and the fan.” She hadn’t
ended up using either of them, though, as they were definitely a last resort.

“Two dozen.” Darisa rubbed at her lips, trying to erase a
smile. “Is that why were you sitting oh so carefully in that prim way?”

“I would have clanked otherwise,” Riana admitted cheerfully.

Edvard waved a hand between her and his sisters. “Teach them
some of your tricks of hiding weapons, please. Obviously going about unarmed is
suicidal, no matter where we’re going.”

She dipped her head, silently promising to do just that.

“After all of this, I think we need to make a bodyguard a
priority.” Ashlynn speared Edvard with a look. “I know that tradition demanded
you go into a cleansing ritual alone before the ceremony, but a bodyguard
outside of that door would have foiled the attempt. Guards outside the temple
obviously aren’t going to help if they can’t get in.”

Edvard put a protective hand near his injured shoulder. “I
can’t argue. But you have yet to recommend anyone I like, dearest sister.”

“How about Argent?” Darisa suggested with a graceful wave of
the hand. “He’s proven to have the skills.”

Argent seemed to realize she was teasing as he grinned and
shook his head. “While that would be an honor…no. I have other duties to see
to. Besides, wouldn’t that be a sight in my current state? Hopping around on
one good leg and fighting off assassins?”

“My dear Lord Argent, why do you think I suggested it?”
Darisa batted innocent eyes and smiled when the other man chuckled.

Troi gave a deferent knock at the door before stepping in.
“Sire. I believe Tant reported to you?”

“He did, just now. Anything more to add?”

“Not at this time, sire, but we are hoping to get more
information as we investigate.”

Edvard heaved out a sigh. “I certainly hope we can. Although
I think we all realize that this is long overdue on Iysh’s part. We expected
wizard-assassins months ago. I wonder what made them send some now?”

“They might have been waiting for an opening,” Bria
suggested. “Your letters were the perfect excuse for a priest to come in. And
we wouldn’t scrutinize a priest the way that we would any other person.”

“Truly, sire, we have caught assassins before this who were
trying to sneak in under some other guise,” Troi admitted. “These were just the
first ones that managed to slip in.”

“We’ll need some other safeguard to prevent this happening
again.” Catriona looked back and forth between Edvard and Troi. “Especially
since the academy has moved here. Didn’t you say before that you were attacked
several times on the trip here?”

“We were,” Ash acknowledged with a dark frown. “And you do
bring up a good point, Cat. Iysh really can’t afford to let any of those
students complete their training. It puts them in a very unfavorable position.”

Riana’s eyes flew up to his face and she had a terrible
feeling he was right. They’d been attacked so many times on the road, it didn’t
make sense that they would just stop once the students reached Estole.

“I’ll set up more wards, be more cautious with them, as we
can’t afford to lose any one of them.” Gerrard’s face was set in grim lines.
“But if you’re asking me what set them off, it was my academy moving here. They
had a hard battle against you when there was just two wizards. Now there’s over
twenty of us living here. Their only prayer of winning the next battle against
you is to start picking us off one by one.”

“Noted,” Troi stated with a smooth, iron voice.

Riana took note of that tone and the rigid posture the man
stood in. The Master of Spies was going to have a much more strict patrol on
his country’s borders now. He wasn’t about to let this repeat. She too started
making mental plans to guard Ash better. Clearly, the danger he’d warned her
about that first night she’d met him had finally come true.

“So…” it was Ashlynn that dared to ask the question they
were all wondering but didn’t want to voice, “…was he an actual priest? I mean,
the man’s been marrying people, baptizing them, christening them, and
everything else now for months. Is anything that he did valid?”

Edvard groaned and shifted, his shoulder paining him. “No.
Of course he wasn’t. Who heard of a priest becoming an assassin?”

“Doesn’t that mean that we absolutely have to find someone
that can come in and redo everything he did?” Ash asked hesitantly. “Now? I
mean, the baptisms are one thing, but he married people.”

“Troi.”

The Master of Spies snapped to attention. “Sire.”

“Send out a notification to all of Estole at once alerting
them to the problem. I’m calling for reinforcements. Tell them to rest assured
and that a legitimate priestess will be here by the end of the week.”

No one else understood what he meant by that, but the twins
certainly did. In unison they spluttered out a protest: “Edvard, there’s no way
she’ll come.”

“She’ll come,” he assured them confidently.

Riana leaned into Ash. “Who be we talking about?”

“There is a priestess by the name of Ellora that was like a
nursemaid and governess to all of us growing up,” Ash explained quickly. “She
was specifically assigned to serve the Knolton family but she took on all of us
as well. She’s more like an honored aunt than anything. But she went into
retirement right after Edvard’s eighteenth birthday, stating that we were all
grown, we’d be fine. Really, I didn’t blame her, she was in her sixties by that
point.”

“Edvard,” Ashlynn had that discouraging note in her voice
that suggested she didn’t like this idea, “I know we’re desperate, but Ellora’s
nearly seventy now. She hates traveling, for good reason, and she doesn’t have
the energy she once did. It’s why we haven’t called for her before this. I’m
not even sure if she’ll come if you call for her.”

“Oh, she’ll come. I know the magic phrase.”

The twins shared a look, both confused and suspicious.
“There’s a magic phrase,” Ash repeated, eyes narrowing.

“What?” Edvard grinned at him like a gambler with a winning
hand. “You thought you were the only ones who worked magic in this kingdom?
You’re about to be proven wrong.”

“Oh, this is going to be good.” Ashlynn threw her hands up
in the air. “Fine, write to her. Who knows, maybe your magic spell will work.”

“You leave that part to me,” the King of Estole stated with
utmost confidence. “Troi, go spread the word. I have a letter to write.”

The front door banged open and a voice, reedy but strong,
carried out. “EDVARD KNOLTON, WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THIS?!”

Broden’s eyebrows arched as both twins and Edvard choked on
their dinner. Every single one of them recognized the voice, that much was
clear. Broden, going off of a hunch, asked, “Priestess Ellora?”

“The same,” Bria answered, already out of her chair and
striding for the door. “Ellora, we’re in here.”

The retired priestess came into the room like a woman on a
mission. The picture painted for Broden had been of an aging woman, growing
frail in her older years, who would not have the energy to keep up with a young
kingdom. What entered was a robust woman that could make two of him, hair iron
grey and neatly caught up in a bun, with more fire in her eyes than some young
men. She did have a cane in her hand but it seemed more like a potential weapon
than a walking aid. Ellora used it to point at Edvard, who was smiling at her
entrance.

“You rascal. What does this letter to me mean?”

“Exactly what it says.” He came around the table to give her
a fierce, one-armed hug, one that went both ways, Broden noted.

Ashlynn slipped up behind her brother and hissed in
amazement, “Edvard, what did you write?”

“That the next generation of Estole was living in sin,” he
whispered back.

All of the siblings choked, the sound suspiciously bordering
on a laugh. Broden bit his bottom lip to hide a smile. He did not know the
woman at all, but it was clear from her reaction that Edvard knew exactly what
strings to pull to get her to move. The ‘magic phrase’ was indeed a valid
spell, apparently.

A round of hugs proceeded as each member of the Knolton
family greeted their former priestess/nursemaid with open delight and
affection. Even after she had greeted them all, the scowl did not leave the
priestess’s face as she demanded, “I want a proper explanation, young man.”

“Certainly,” Edvard promised, escorting her to a chair. “But
sit and eat. If you’re here at this hour you must have left very early this
morning and travelled all day.”

“I couldn’t sleep a wink thanks to that letter of yours.”
She grumbled but sat and filled up her plate without hesitation. They all
returned to their chairs, and there was many a happy smile to have Ellora
nearby once again.

“Ah, that. Well, it’s actually quite true, unfortunately.
You see, we had a fake priest come in a few months ago and was performing all
sorts of marriages and ceremonies without us realizing he was an imposter.”

Ellora looked up at him, eyes growing round as the
implications hit. “No! When did you find out?”

“Four days ago.” Edvard grimaced, the expression not just
for show. “The hard way, unfortunately. But now I have all of these young
couples who are living together thinking they’re married, children who aren’t
properly registered or blessed, baptisms that didn’t actually have the proper
authority…the list goes on. You see why I had to call for you.”

“Yes. Yes, I do.” Ellora took a determined bite out of her
eggs. “Miss Haley does as good of a job as always, I see. Edvard, I want a
complete list of what was done. I’ll straighten this mess out myself.”

“You’ll have all the help you need, I promise you that,” he
soothed. “Do you remember Troi? Good, he’s the one that’s got the list for you.
He’s been spreading the word since yesterday so you should have a line going
out the door by noon tomorrow. Request of him whatever you need and if it’s
possible to get, he’ll fetch it.”

Broden truly did feel sorry for Troi some days. It seemed
like all the man did was run around finding either information or resources for
everyone else. Did Edvard even remember that the man was a provost and had his
own section of the city to oversee?

“I’ll need a great deal of paper, an official to re-record
everything, and more holy oil than is likely stocked in that church.” Ellora
looked overwhelmed just thinking about what she would need to do. “Proper
ceremonies for all of them?”

“Legal ceremonies for all of them,” Edvard corrected.
“Quick, dirty, and efficient, those are the words for today.”

“That, I can manage. I think. Although I certainly can’t
manage all of it in one day, not if this has been carrying on for months. Did
the unveiling of this false priest have anything to do with your injuries?”

Edvard winced. “Yes. Everything to do with it.”

“We have ten minutes before I finish my dinner. Talk fast,”
she commanded.

Promptly, the King of Estole did just that.

Broden shared a glance with Riana and she mouthed to him, ‘I
like her.’ He grinned. He did too. She had spunk and Broden admired that
quality in people.

“Glad to hear those three are dealt with,” Ellora stated
when the story wound down. “You’re healing? Good. Now, who are these two people
at the table?”

Edvard smacked his forehead with an open palm. “Where are my
manners? I’m so used to you knowing everything that I forgot you haven’t met
them yet. Ellora, this is Broden Ravenscroft and his daughter, Riana. Riana is
Ash’s partner, Broden is Ashlynn’s.”

Ellora gave them a half-bow at the table. “I greet you,
Riana, Broden. I’ve often prayed that Ash and Ashlynn would each find a partner,
and I’m glad to see the pair of you.”

“My thanks, Priestess,” Broden responded politely.

She shushed him with a wave of the hand. “Ellora will do,
young man. Now, what are your skills? Swords?”

‘Young man’? Well, he was thirty years younger than she, so
in her eyes he must be. Broden’s smile became more genuine as he had not been
given such a nice compliment in a while. “We be archers, Ellora.”

“Archers. My. Good ones, if the twins took you as partners.”

“We’ve never seen their equal,” Ashlynn confirmed. “In fact,
in their minimal spare time, they train the guard and the students.”

Ellora gave her a blank expression. “What students?”

“Ah.” Ash put his fork aside and regarded her with a canted
head. “Ellora, what was the last thing you heard about events here in Estole?”

“You won against the second army that came against you earlier
this year,” she stated promptly. “What else have I missed?”

Edvard gave a laugh that was half groan. “A great deal.
Mercy, where to even begin?”

“I’ll catch her up,” Bria promised. “In fact, I’ll show her
about the city today so she knows where to go.”

The priestess regarded her with bemusement. “Child, I’ve
lived in this city longer than you’ve been alive. I think I know the way.”

“You don’t,” at least three people assured her in chorus.

“The city has changed a great deal in the past year,” Bria
explained. “Even we get lost sometimes. Trust me, you want me to guide you. As
we go, I’ll catch you up.”

“You might well need an extra pair of hands, too,” Edvard
tacked on.

“Well, I won’t argue, I’m out of touch with Estole after
all. Bria, are you done eating? Good. Let’s go, then.” Like a woman of forty,
the priestess was up and gone, the cane more carried than used.

Riana watching her go, couldn’t help but ask, “Why does she
carry the cane?”

“To whack people that aggravate her,” Edvard answered
promptly. “Well, that problem’s solved. On to the next one.”

Chapter Thirty-Five

Two weeks went by without any other turmoil occurring. Well,
no more than usual. Broden and Ashlynn dealt with the usual problems of
overflowing garbage, petty thefts, and discontent refugees, but other than that
it was relatively peaceful. Just as well, considering that they were still
dealing with the aftermath of the fake priests.

Ellora was a force to be reckoned with. She had declared she
would get the marriages done first, as that was the thing she was most worried
about, and she had them all redone in that first week. Broden was not quite
sure if the woman believed in sleep or not, the way she worked. And why had the
twins protested her coming in, again? She certainly did not act like a woman of
her age.

The weather had finally turned colder, enough to make people
reach for their coats, although it stayed mild enough to make it comfortable to
work out of doors. Broden did not know how these more southern climes fared for
winter but he judged they had maybe a mite more than a month before snow hit.
Ash was breaking his back trying to make sure the food warehouses were in place
quickly enough that they could be stocked. Riana assured them that they had
three fields of potatoes and two others of different winter vegetables that
should carry them through early spring. They now had three teams of hunters
that went through various parts of Ganforth and were bringing back a goodly
amount of game. Gerrard taught his students preservation spells and they took
shifts stocking away all of the food. The greenhouses—both in Ganforth and in
Estole—were built and already in use, the seeds planted and in a few cases,
sprouts already shooting up. In between all of their efforts, the trade from
Cloud’s Rest, and the small box gardens, the food shortage was diminishing.

Not for the first time, Broden thanked all heavens they had
Gerrard’s whole academy here. It might have been a treacherous journey to move
them to Estole, but they were certainly worth every second of trouble.

Ashlynn must have been thinking the same as they did their
usual patrol down the main streets, as she mentioned to him, “Master talked to
me a little this morning. He had extra building supplies that he wasn’t sure
what to do with, which I told him we could use for a few projects over here.
Anyway, he said that the structure of the academy was finished this morning.
They’re now starting on the interior.”

Broden let out a low whistle, impressed. “Man be ahead of
schedule.”

“By a few days,” she confirmed, obviously relieved. “I think
Ash has been sneaking over and helping out after dinner.”

“Overworking himself again, eh?”

Ashlynn rolled her eyes. “He’s a born martyr, I swear he is.
But I’m not worried about him overdoing it this time. For one thing, Riana is
watching him like a hawk. For another, he doesn’t dare while around Master. He
wouldn’t survive it if he collapsed again in front of those two.”

Truly. Riana alone would skin him.

“SHERIFF!”

Broden recognized that tone. It spoke of absolute panic. He
whirled around, one hand already reaching for his bow. Marissa sprinted up to
them, skidding to a halt, then had to bend over for several seconds and catch
her breath.

“Breathe, Marissa,” Ashlynn ordered, voice level. After being
sheriff for so many months, nothing really surprised her much anymore. “Deep
breaths. Good. Now, what is it?”

“Why aren’t you answering your caller?” the guard demanded.

Ashlynn lifted a hand to her throat, then fumbled, peering
down and shifting her collar back and forth. “Rats. The chain broke, I think. I
don’t have it on me.”

They had been scuffling with more than a few criminals this
morning. It could have been dropped anywhere. “Should I look for it?”

Ashlynn negated the need with a shake of the head. “It has a
locating spell on it, I can find it later. Now, Marissa, what has you so
flustered?”

“Prince Hendrix is at the gate.”

“Who?!”

Marissa still looked more than a little shocked but her
voice was steady as she repeated, “Prince Hendrix is at the gate. He’s
demanding to be let in.”

Broden felt it prudent to ask, “Be that with or without an
army?”

“Without. In fact, he only has two retainers with him. Other
than that he’s unaccompanied.”

He shared a speaking look with his partner. Ashlynn could not
make heads or tails of this and neither could Broden. Why would the third
prince of Iysh come to Estole, with only two people, and demand to be let in?
Was he here to offer some truce? It was the only logical explanation that
Broden could think of.

Either that or his father had sent him on a suicide mission.

Ashlynn wasted no time. She spun around so quickly that she
almost lost her balance, then sprinted toward the gates, Broden at her heels.
He did not doubt she could handle what was at the gate but curiosity alone
compelled him to keep up.

Some sort of word must have spread as there were more people
on the streets than usual, most of them gossiping, and it took considerable
effort to push past them and reach the gate. When they came even with the guard
house, an agitated young man spun about and made a beeline directly for them,
leaving a man and a woman in uniform scrambling to keep up with him. This,
then, was the third prince of Iysh.

Broden had a vague idea of what a prince should look like.
This man did not fit his mental image at all. Young, perhaps of an age to match
his Riana, light brown hair that looked slept on, tanned skin from many hours
outdoors, steel grey eyes that seemed to look right through a man. He looked
tired, agitated, worried, and some other emotion that Broden could not put his
finger on.

“Wizard Fallbright,” he greeted in a light tenor, giving her
a quick bow of courtesy and greeting. “Well met.”

“Prince Hendrix,” Ashlynn responded, returning the courtesy
of a bow but with more caution. “To what do we owe the honor of this visit?”

His lips kicked up in humor. “Honor. You have a dry sense of
humor, I see. This isn’t a visit but an urgent investigation. I’m looking for
someone.”

Broden blinked. He was what?

“Who?” Ashlynn queried, just as taken aback.

“Bria.”

The way he said her name, it was obvious to Broden in that
split second. The prince was thoroughly in love with her. Bria’s name was an
endearment and an entreaty all at once.

When he did not get an immediate response, Hendrix’s hands
shot out and grabbed Ashlynn by the upper arms, almost shaking her.
“Fallbright. Where is Bria?”

Ashlynn was still too surprised to get her mouth to work
properly, so Broden answered in her stead, “Safe, princeling. I brought her
here meself.” He reached out and gently retrieved Ashlynn from that frantic
grip. “Yer da had her locked up in an abbey well south of here, but we fetched
her back again, her and all the rest of Edvard’s sisters.”

Hendrix nearly swayed on his feet. “Thank all the gods. I
need to see her.”

Broden looked to Ashlynn and saw the wheels turning in her
mind. He was not quite sure what to make of this sudden development either, but
he saw the moment for what it was: an amazing opportunity.

Hendrix, becoming more agitated, shifted from foot to foot.
“Please.”

Ashlynn made a decision in a split second and ordered him,
“Follow me.”

Only too willing to do so, he went right at her heels.
Broden, more prudent, stayed close to Ashlynn’s side just in case they thought
to try some shenanigans. He did not think they would—in fact the odds of it
were extremely low—but he had not survived this long by leaving things up to
chance.

They had quite the crowd of onlookers as they walked swiftly
back to the castle. But the reputation of Sherriff Fallbright and her partner
was such that no one dared to interfere with them. Broden bent an evil eye on
anyone that got too foolishly close and it kept people in line.

On reaching the main castle gate, Ashlynn asked the young
guard there, “Do you know where Bria is?”

“Saw her heading for the back garden, Miss Ashlynn,” the
guard—Carrick?—responded promptly although his eyes took in her entourage with
a doubtful look. “Ah, who should I report is coming?”

“Prince Hendrix and his retainers,” Ashlynn answered in a
painfully neutral voice. “Go and inform Edvard for me, tell him to meet us in
his study.”

At the word ‘prince’ Carrick’s eyes shot wide. He seemed
only too happy to run off and find his king, and after a quick nod and salute,
he ran full out back into the city.

Ashlynn seemed to take a breath before striding forward.
Broden had been basically in this woman’s pocket for several months now and it
was obvious to him that she was deliberately keeping her chin up, a coat of
confidence wrapped around her shoulders. Inside, she was trembling, as she was
not sure if this was the right thing to do or not. He did not either but his
instincts said it was a risk they had to take to let the enemy into their
country like this.

They were halfway across the front courtyard when a feminine
voice called out in a squeal of delight, “HENDRIX!”

The prince snapped around, caught sight of Bria running to
him, and bolted in her direction. He had his arms outstretched before they were
even close to each other and caught her up in a firm grip, Bria’s feet not
touching the ground, and held her there for several moments without any sign of
letting her go again in the near future.

Ashlynn let out a low breath. “So it was the truth.”

“Aye.” Broden grinned from ear to ear, watching the two
lovers. “Aye, it be that. Why did the lass no’ say as much before?”

“That is a very good question.” The way Ashlynn said this,
it promised that she would ream her sister out later for omitting this bit of
news.

One of the two retainers stepped forward, clearing his
throat. “My name is Fitzpatrick. This is Avis.”

Broden took true note of them for the first time. They
looked as road-weary as the prince did, uniforms the worse for wear and dirt.
The black and navy blue was not a uniform color he recognized so it must be one
exclusive to Prince Hendrix. Fitzpatrick was a rather tall man, fair headed,
although that hair was going thin on top, dark brown eyes steady. His partner,
Avis, could have been Amber Bragdon’s cousin. She had the same tall, muscular
stature to her although her chin was more square, dark hair almost pitch black.
She too had that steady countenance to her as if she had seen odder things than
her prince hugging a king’s sister in enemy territory.

Broden, taking things in stride, held out a hand. “Broden
Ravenscroft. I be Ashlynn’s partner. I greet ye.”

He seemed to sigh a breath of relief before Fitzpatrick
accepted the hand in a firm grip. “Well met, Master Ravenscroft.”

Avis took Broden’s hand in almost as firm a grip, the callouses
speaking of swordplay. Broden had no doubt this woman was a formidable fighter.
“Well met, Broden Ravenscroft, and harmony find you.”

Ashlynn, taking his cue, greeted them properly as well
before jerking a head to the two lovebirds. “How long has that been going on?”

“Ah. That.” Fitzpatrick rubbed at the back of his neck,
looking at the pair ruefully. They were firmly stuck in each other’s arms,
although Bria’s feet were finally on the ground again, and they were conversing
quietly. Bria was likely explaining just what had happened to her and how she
came to be here. “Um. Officially, they started courting about nine months ago.”

“Before that, they’d known each other almost a year and a
half,” Avis inserted. “Miss Bria’s been very helpful ever since their first
introduction, helping to get things done and supplying us with what information
she knew. Hendrix became rather besotted with her quite quickly.”

“If we hadn’t had two other messes to untangle, he would
have stayed with her longer, and I think they would have started courting each
other sooner.” Fitzpatrick shrugged, the motion saying that it did not matter
much in the long run. “We normally stop by if we’re anywhere near Miss Bria’s
home, but this time when we did, her mother met us with this story of how she’d
been taken. She wouldn’t say another word beyond that.”

Broden knew why. Edvard had impressed it upon the woman to
not give up her daughter’s whereabouts to anyone. At the time, it had been
vital to keep that under wraps. Now, of course, every informant and spy knew
that Edvard had gathered up all of his siblings in Estole. Well, all except
Tierone of course.

Rubbing at a temple, Avis picked up the thread of the story
again. “Considering who Hendrix is, and who took off with Miss Bria, I can’t
say I blame her. But it still left us with no hint of where she might have
gone. We’ve been searching for her frantically about two months. Finally, we
found an informant who told us that he had heard all of Edvard Knolton’s family
was now in Estole. So we came directly here.”

Broden heard a pair of loud, fast footsteps charging into
the courtyard behind him. He turned to look and saw Edvard burst outside, eyes
wild. Upon seeing his sister in an ironclad clutch with another man, a dark
expression swept over his face. He stopped running, but headed straight for the
two with an angry stomp.

Ashlynn swore under her breath and dove towards him,
catching him by the elbow and dragging him to a halt. Broden was over ten feet
away and could not hear what she said but he had a good guess. To the two
retainers, who looked worried by this reaction, he explained, “Edvard be a mite
over protective where his sisters be concerned. And Bria has mentioned naught
of this to us.”

Fitzpatrick and Avis shared a startled look before asking in
tandem, “Why?”

“Now that be a good question we need an answer to.”

Whatever Ashlynn had said, it did not leave much of a dent,
as Edvard growled, “BRIAAAAAA.”

Bria jumped like a startled rabbit, took in her brother’s
expression, and pinned a winsome smile on her face. “Edvard, dear brother.”

“Don’t you ‘dear brother’ me, you…you…” he literally could
not think of an epithet strong enough.

Ashlynn stroked a hand down his arm in a soothing motion.
“Breathe, Edvard, breathe. And Bria, Prince Hendrix, I think we should take
this inside and talk about it. Calmly. Without yelling.”

Privately wishing her luck with that last part, Broden took
hold of the retainers and ushered them up to Edvard’s study, leaving Ashlynn to
gather up the rest. They got many a wild look from the staff as they passed
them. Broden kept them going at a good clip to prevent anyone from stopping the
party and asking questions and only breathed easily once they had gained
Edvard’s study.

Hendrix looked weary enough to just drop into a chair, but
he kept his feet, and his grip on Bria’s hand was strong enough that even a pry
bar would not separate the two. Edvard came to stand nearly toe-to-toe with
him, furious enough that one could practically see steam coming out of his
ears.

“Your Majesty.” Hendrix took a half step back to give him a
bow.

Broden blinked at hearing Edvard addressed this way. For all
that he was King of Estole, few actually called him that to his face.

The whole room saw Edvard close his eyes, take in a
cleansing breath, and let it out again. When he opened his eyes he was, on the
surface at least, calmer. “Your Highness. I am very, very curious as to how the
two of you came to be together. And why my sister didn’t mention a word of this
to me.”

Hendrix gave his beloved a speaking look that suggested he
was very curious about the same thing.

Bria bit her lip, eyes darting between the two men. “Edvard,
when Ashlynn and Broden found me, they said we had a problem with spies in
Estole, right? We weren’t even sure if it was safe to talk about things on the
trip back here. Hendrix’s position at court was already so unstable, I was
worried what would happen if our relationship got back to his father. And as
far as I know, the spy problem hasn’t really been solved.”

Edvard rubbed a pained hand against his forehead. “It’s been
solved, dearheart, for a good fortnight now. Mostly.”

“Well, no one told me that,” she declared, mouth pursed. “So
don’t be getting mad at me. I didn’t know it was safe to talk.”

“It’s just as well it has been solved,” Ashlynn muttered to
the room in general. “Otherwise having Prince Hendrix burst in through the
gates certainly would have made it back to his father’s ears, and then we’d be
in a fine pickle.”

Hendrix flushed and looked a little mortified for a few
seconds as he realized just what kind of an entrance he had made.

Edvard nailed the prince with his eyes. “You realize that
because of my sister’s status in Iysh, you’d never be allowed to marry her. So
why did the two of you start courting?”

Not flinching from that iron gaze, Hendrix smiled as he
responded, “She’s the princess of a foreign country. Why can’t I marry her?”

Broden snorted and then chuckled outright. He had a feeling
he was going to like Hendrix just fine.

The King of Estole tried to stay stern for five full seconds
before he gave up. Throwing his hands in the air, he demanded of his sister
plaintively, “Hang it all, Bri, what am I supposed to do about this?”

“Use it to your advantage,” she suggested in a ruthlessly
logical way.

“But he’s…” Edvard spluttered, pointing at Hendrix, “and
you’re…and it’s...it’s…arghhh.”

“I’m not much of a prince, but I’m still a prince of Iysh,”
Hendrix pointed out. Determination blazed from him so strongly it was almost
visible in the air itself. “Surely we can use that to our advantage.”

“Our advantage,” Edvard repeated in a very neutral tone.

“Our advantage,” Hendrix sustained. “We have two things in
common, Your Majesty. We don’t like Iysh and we love Bria. Surely those two
things unite us.”

The whole room held its breath as they waited for Edvard’s
response.

Broden knew that Edvard was buying every second he could to
think. But he also knew what the man was going to say before he said it.

Finally, the King of Estole gave a feral smile. “Yes. I
suppose it does.”

Everyone dared to breathe again.

“Ashlynn?”

“Yes, Edvard.”

“Call for some snacks and tea to be sent up. I think we have
much to discuss.”

Chapter Thirty-Six

Ashlynn caught Riana and Ash right in the middle of eating a
late lunch. When her report came in, Ash dropped everything immediately and
raced for the docks, demanding answers as he went. Ash was looking wild-eyed
about the whole situation but Riana wasn’t surprised. She’d had a feeling, ever
since Bria had dropped those hints on their shopping trip, that her beau was
someone very highly ranked in Iysh’s court.

Ash ran through Estole and burst into the castle with Riana
struggling to keep up with him. The other wizard had forgotten, for once, that
he could run faster than she could and wasn’t moderating his pace at all. By
the time that Riana had caught up, Ash was already in Edvard’s study.

Ash got hold of his sister and shook her shoulders,
growling, “Bri, you should have warned us!”

“I didn’t know it was safe to talk,” she fired back,
matching him glare for glare.

“You could have said something behind closed doors, it
wasn’t like spies were infesting the castle, and, Riana, why aren’t you
surprised by any of this?” He turned to his partner with a partially betrayed
look as if she should be feeling as outraged as he was.

Riana shrugged in a very blasé way, in part to rile him up,
because it was somewhat funny seeing him in this state. “Bria gave us a hint
earlier.”

The whole room froze while Bria blushed and refused to look
up from the floor.

Ashlynn snapped her fingers as the recollection came to her.
“The third son of an official at court.”

“Sort of,” Riana tacked on, grinning.

“Wait, when was this?” Ash looked at the three of them with
growing confusion.

“Ye were no’ there, it was while we be shopping for the
coronation,” Riana filled him in.

“Ahh.”

“Be no’ harsh on the lass,” Riana chided him gently. “She
did no’ have just herself to protect, but yon prince as well. With all that has
happened, can ye blame her for being extra cautious?”

Ash deflated like an empty sack. “No. I suppose I can’t. But
it does beg the question, does anyone else have a hidden beau somewhere
that I need to know about?”

The rest of the family adamantly shook their heads.

“Good.” Ash flopped into a chair and tried very hard not to
pout. He still felt a little hurt by his sister’s silence. Riana slipped into
the neighboring seat and slipped her hand into his. He didn’t look at her, but
returned the grip.

“Where be Prince Hendrix?” Riana asked the room in general.

“I gave him and his two retainers a suite here so they could
freshen up from the road,” Edvard replied. “Also, a chance for the two of you
to get here. You made it here faster than I expected. In fact, you might have
set a new record.”

“Some magic might have gone into that,” Riana admitted
cheerfully.

Edvard gave his brother a sardonic look. “I have no doubt.”

Prince Hendrix returned to the study with his retainers, all
three looking much more refreshed and ready for this impromptu meeting than
they had been thirty minutes ago. They had better manners than to fall upon the
waiting tea and snacks like ravenous wolves but Riana noted that it took them
bare minutes to clear the trays of anything resembling crumbs. They had pushed
themselves hard for those two months that they were looking for Bria. The way
their clothes hung on them, no longer fitting quite right, said they’d lost a
great deal of weight in a short amount of time.

Bria ignored the frowns of both of her brothers and had
Hendrix sit with her. He didn’t look quite comfortable snuggling with
her in front of witnesses (glaring witnesses at that) but he wasn’t willing to
relinquish Bria either. So he stayed staunchly in place and squirmed a little
instead.

Edvard finally had pity and turned away, requesting of
Ashlynn, “Call Tierone for me. I think he needs to be in this conversation.”

Ashlynn already had a tall caller in hand and the look she
shot him said plainly, Just what in mercy do you think it is I’m doing right
now?

Grinning, he held up a hand in silent apology.

“Tierone,” Ashlynn repeated patiently.

“Gah. Yes, I’m here, tell me it isn’t an emergency.”

“It’s not an emergency,” Ashlynn parroted obediently.

“Right. I take it by your tone it’s an emergency. So, what’s
happened this time? Has the castle burned down?”

“Not yet. Tierone, are you sitting down?”

“I always sit down when you call me these days. It’s a
safety precaution.”

“Good plan.”

Riana bit her lip and tried not to show any humor at this
exchange. Never having had a sibling of her own, she couldn’t be sure if this
give-and-take was common in families, but it was certainly a pattern for the
Knolton family.

Ashlynn paused, phrasing her words before stating, “Bria has
a beau.”

“Does Edvard and Ash know about this yet? Because they’re
likely to hunt the poor sap down.”

Hendrix choked and looked only slightly panicked by this.

“They found out a little while ago, and no, he’s not in any
danger. But it’s not that so much as who he is.” Taking a breath, she finally
blurted, “It’s Prince Hendrix.”

There was abrupt silence on the other end. Faintly, Tierone
requested, “Repeat that? I think your magic caller just hiccupped or
something.”

“Bria is being courted by Prince Hendrix. He, ah, is here
now.”

Out of all of the siblings, Tierone was the one that could
take surprises the best. Or at least, he reacted to a moment of crisis better
than most of them did. He stayed stuck on this for a full second before
offering, “Good afternoon, Your Highness.”

“Good afternoon, Lord Tierone,” Hendrix responded, pitching
his voice a little louder to carry.

“If you don’t mind my asking, just how long have you and
Bria been together?”

“Roughly nine months, my lord.”

“Bria,” Tierone’s voice had a note of dark promise in
it, “we’ll speak about this later. Alone. When there are no witnesses.”

“I said that no one told me it was safe to talk about
matters,” she retorted, almost petulant. “I didn’t know that Troi had gone on a
spy-hunt after the ceremony had happened and gotten them all out of Estole! How
was I supposed to know that Hendrix would find me this fast, anyway? I thought
I had time to tell people.”

“Nevertheless and notwithstanding, sister dearest, we
will have words on this subject. Now, Prince Hendrix, I must ask what your
intentions are by walking into the enemy encampment like this.”

“Enemy encampment? Odd, I thought I was here to speak to
allies.”

There was an audible perk in Tierone’s voice. “Oh?”

“We did discuss a little before calling you,” Edvard leaned
toward Ashlynn so Tierone could hear him better as he filled him in. “He’s
against Iysh, for Bria, and thereby Estole, and would like to join in with us. How
is still the question as we stopped and got you into this meeting at that
point.”

“Glad you did, I don’t want to miss this. Prince Hendrix,
does your decision to abandon Iysh have anything to do with the new Binding
that your father put into place?”

Hendrix snorted. “Please. I was basically disinherited years
ago when he sent me out of the court. He called it ‘experience building’ but it
was basically exile and we all knew it. This Binding of his just makes it clear
by law, it didn’t change anything.”

Riana didn’t hear a trace of bitterness or see any anger in
Hendrix’s face. Whatever he felt about his father’s attitude, he had come to
terms with it. It spoke well of him that he didn’t wallow in this parental
rejection but instead chose to overcome it and make his own path.

“The only worry I have at the moment is how Estole is going
to deal with my brothers. I don’t expect much out of Savir, he’s more inclined
to go along with our oldest brother than anything, but Maddox is likely to
bring an army to your doors. What I saw coming in doesn’t incline me to believe
that you have what it takes to stand against an army.”

Edvard grimaced. “We’re working on a plan to thwart him so
it doesn’t come to an open battle. Political maneuvering at its finest. I do
admit it would go much smoother if I had your help in that. Even a disinherited
prince will have more influence than I would.”

Hendrix tilted a hand back and forth in a seesaw motion.
“Depending on the parties we’re talking about, you might or might not be right.
King Edvard. What do you want from me? I will aid you in whatever ways I can.”

Sitting back, Edvard regarded him for several seconds
without trying to say a word. The room held its breath, waiting for him to
speak, feeling that the next thing he said would change things. This was not
Bria’s brother that Hendrix was asking the question of. A prince of Iysh had
formally asked the King of Estole what services he could render.

“I don’t think that’s the right question.”

“I don’t think so either,” Tierone agreed. “Rather,
the question should be, Prince Hendrix: What is your limit?”

Edvard nodded in support of this even as he asked, “How far
are you willing to go to make sure that Estole is safe?”

Hendrix didn’t rattle out a reply. He paused, thinking, his
free hand reaching over to grab Bria’s in a stronger grip. She was watching him
anxiously but not speaking, as if she knew that he had to answer this on his
own and without her input.

Raising his head, Hendrix looked straight at Edvard as he
replied, “I have no loyalty left to Iysh. I ask only two things of you. Don’t
hurt the people and don’t hurt my mother.”

Edvard stood and crossed the four feet separating them,
holding out a hand. Hendrix rose to meet him although he didn’t take the
proffered hand. “We’re going to incite a rebellion within Iysh so that it
doesn’t have the power to wage war against us. I want you to spearhead that
movement.”

A feral smile stretched slowly over Hendrix’s face as he
clasped Edvard’s hand in a strong grip. “I will.”

Bria squealed in delight and bounced once on the couch
before clamping a hand over her mouth. It made the rest of the room smile, even
Hendrix’s retainers.

Edvard squeezed the hand a little tighter as he said warmly,
“Welcome to Estole.”

Epilogue

All-Winter’s Festival was in full swing in Estole. The first
snows had come at the beginning of the week, as if simply waiting for the
festival before falling, and the people couldn’t be happier about it. The
streets were decorated with greenery and ribbons and (for once) not a trace of
garbage could be found anywhere along the gutters. No one was quite sure if it
was in fear of Ashlynn or in respect of the festival, but no one was looking
the gift horse in the mouth.

It had been a near thing, but they’d managed to get all of
the major projects done by the time that the snows came. The storehouses and
greenhouses were built and stocked with food, enough so that they would only
have mild food rations during the winter and early spring months. The highway
to Cloud’s Rest had been laid, with only the need for finishing touches come
spring. The mint was still turning out new coins, but in deference to the
festival, they were on half-days and only worked mornings. They still had
enough in circulation to where it wasn’t a problem and no one complained about
that, either.

Most everyone had houses up, although a few had some
unfinished rooms, and the new magical academy was finished (barring a few
practice rooms that the students carefully did not remind their master of). Some
people had worked well into the nights to pull everything off. Some claimed it
was a miracle, others that it was just hard work paying off, but Riana was of
the mind that it was probably a little of both. They had experienced an
incredibly rough year and the heavens might be trying to bless them a little to
compensate for that.

In honor of the celebration, Edvard had opened up the castle
so that they could hold the festival right there on the grounds. It had made
his staff want to pull out their hair on several occasions but the people loved
it and the grounds were packed almost to the point of insanity. The only clear
places were on the battlements and the ballroom, where the dancing was, and
even that room didn’t have much space to be had.

Riana gulped down cold cider and watched the dancers whizz
past her. She and Ash had arrived later because of the icy conditions of the
channel and it had been a fight getting inside. But now that she was here, she
could appreciate the heat of the room and the gaiety of the people and the
general happiness that was present in the air. Wanting to be nicely dressed for
the festival, she had worn her green gown from Edvard’s ceremony, as she didn’t
have anything else appropriate. It had seemed like a bad decision, almost like
wearing an ill omen, but now that she saw how everyone else was dressed, she
was glad she had. She would have looked very out of place here in anything
else.

The dance ended, everyone applauded the musicians, and
people walked off the dance floor to either find new dancing partners or
refreshments. Someone in the band strung out a note on the fiddle, cuing the dancers
up to the next song, and people rushed back onto the floor again.

From behind her, Ash slipped an arm around her waist and
snagged her glass, passing it off to someone nearby. “Dance with me,” he
whispered against her hair.

Alarm shot up her spine. She had never once danced in her
life! What was he thinking, dragging her out here? “Ash, I do no’ know the
steps!”

He relentlessly dragged her forward, a light of excitement
in his eyes. “You’ll be fine.”

She truly, highly doubted that but it was hard to say so to
that expression. He looked so happy to have the chance to dance with her.

A smile of encouragement on his face, he drew her right hand
up to rest on his shoulder, the other in the L of his hand. “Just follow my
lead.”

Didn’t she always?

About the Author

Honor Raconteur grew up all over the United States and to
this day is confused about where she’s actually from. She wrote her first book
at five years old and hasn’t looked back since. Her interests vary from
rescuing dogs, to studying languages, to arguing with her characters. On good
days, she wins the argument.

Since her debut in September 2011, Honor has released over a
dozen books, mostly of the fantasy genre. She writes full time from the comfort
of her home office, in her pajamas, while munching on chocolate. She has no
intention of stopping anytime soon and will probably continue until something comes
along to stop her.

Her website can be found here: http://www.honorraconteur.com,
or if you wish to speak directly with the author, visit her on Facebook.

Table of Contents

- Chapter One

- Chapter Two

- Chapter Three

- Chapter Four

- Chapter Five

- Chapter Six

- Chapter Seven

- Chapter Eight

- Chapter Nine

- Chapter Ten

- Chapter Eleven

- Chapter Twelve

- Chapter Thirteen

- Chapter Fourteen

- Chapter Fifteen

- Chapter Sixteen

- Chapter Seventeen

- Chapter Eighteen

- Chapter Nineteen

- Chapter Twenty

- Chapter Twenty-One

- Chapter Twenty-Two

- Chapter Twenty-Three

- Chapter Twenty-Four

- Chapter Twenty-Five

- Chapter Twenty-Six

- Chapter Twenty-Seven

- Chapter Twenty-Eight

- Chapter Twenty-Nine

- Chapter Thirty

- Chapter Thirty-One

- Chapter Thirty-Two

- Chapter Thirty-Three

- Chapter Thirty-Four

- Chapter Thirty-Five

- Chapter Thirty-Six

- Epilogue

- About the Author