Meanwhile, the farm continued to operate. The animals got our undivided attention and were soaking it up. Many of the draoi had converted over to eating only vegetables, nuts and dairy. The killing of our animals for meat was appalling when you had draoi powers. Others, like me, took a different approach and accepted that life gave life. We also kept our powers clear when we slaughtered our animals. It was galling, but a part of life.
Edward spent a lot of time wandering around and talking to the draoi. He asked for demonstrations of their power and wrote everything down in detail. He was focused on healing for the most part. He showed the draoi healers his notes, and they went over them together. The draoi corrected his theories and hypothesis and Edward was thrilled. The last trip to Jergen had brought back a full box of blank journals for him to fill. He said he was going to write the definitive textbook he was naming the Belkin Principals and Practices for Medicine.
Erstwhile, he learned how the farm worked and helped out wherever he felt needed. The crew and farm hands all knew he was the heir to the throne, but they didn’t much care. Edward was Edward, and he was a likeable enough fellow. For Edward, he worked alongside the people he would one day rule, and he was the better man for it. Nadine watched him from the side lines and I could sense her amusement and hope for the Realm. When Edward was king, the draoi would be free to help the land. We would be able to go where we were needed most. Already my draoi were spreading from village to town. They introduced themselves, healed those who wanted it, and started to build the trust we would need.
A confrontation was still coming. President Healy and Erebus still held the north and their intent was clear. The battle at the Crossroads was only the beginning. The Turgany Army would face another battle, but our numbers were few. Steve confided in me one day that he doubted we would be victorious. Despite his fears, Steve's crew spent a great deal of time training or heading to Jergen to help train the Turgany Army. My draoi participated and helped with the training. We discovered we had an aptitude for seeing flaws in the motion of people. We could provide advice for correcting technique that soon had Steve’s crew in top physical shape and in fine fighting prowess. Steve and Franky were overjoyed. Their archers, with corrected eyesight and strengthened arms, could pull farther and hit more accurately than ever before. Accuracy challenges were a common event, and the targets placed beyond normal ranges.
We had just finished a light lunch in the main farmhouse when our draoi sentry called across our bond that riders were approaching from the west. Steve and Franky, who had joined us for the meal, grimaced.
Steve spoke around a mouthful of bread. “That’ll be the Baron.”
Franky shook her head. “Doubtful. When he left the last time he made it pretty clear he was done with us.”
Meanwhile our sentry updated the news, and I relayed it. “Two riders. With messages from the Baron. Nothing more. My sentry says we’ve seen them before here at the farm.”
Steve looked relieved. “Good. I’ll have a couple of my crew ride out to escort them in.”
When Nadine looked surprised, he chuckled. “They’re bored silly, Nadine. They’ll be fighting over each other for the honour.”
Franky rose. “I’ll pick out a couple. Stay here where it’s warm.” She leaned over and gave Steve a quick kiss before heading out the side door that opened up into the new dining hall.
The two riders rode up with four of Steve’s crew. By the look of it, they had been chatting along the way. Cheeks were rosy with the cold and our horses were pleased to be out running if only for a little while. The Baron’s men dismounted and handed the reins of their horses to the crew. The crew promised to see to their animals and bring their packs round to the barracks. They led the horses away to the stable.
The two men came over to Steve, Nadine, Franky and I. They moved oddly, like they were a little drunk. One of them saluted Steve, and he returned it.
“Well met, sir. Good to see you again.”
“John, isn’t it?” asked Steve, looking him up and down.
“Yes, sir. Good of you to remember. This here is Dugald. You might not remember him. He kept his head down most of the time. He’s made corporal finally.”
Steve forced a smile. “Well met, John and Dugald. You’ve messages?”
John nodded and reached into his tunic and pulled out a missive and handed it to Steve. Steve inspected the seal and then broke it. He read a little and then looked up confused.
“This surely could have waited? It doesn’t say much. Just some training concerns. Why send you two?”
Just then the front door opened, and Edward sauntered out with a journal in his hand to stand on the front porch. He looked out over the farm and waved to us.
I felt the change in the two men immediately. Their auras flashed red for an instant before calming. Nadine had noticed it too and was examining the men. After a moment, they calmed, and we shook our heads at each other. Edward went back inside out of the cold and the Baron’s men turned to respond to Steve.
“Sir, yes sir. It was more a chance to get out and about, you understand? Winter already seems too long in the teeth, eh?”
Steve agreed and then let the men go. They sauntered off toward the barracks. John and Dugald looked back once at us before turning the corner and going out of sight.
Steve turned to me. “Well?”
“That was, strange,” I said at last. “They were certainly interested in Edward. They have taken something. Some herb or something. It calms them. I can't sense much else.”
“I noticed that too, even without draoi powers. Franky?”
“I agree, that was strange. They're drugged with something. I’ll set a watch on those two. We won’t let them out of our sight. I’ll talk to our escorts. See if they can add anything.”
Franky walked off in the direction of the stables. Steve watched her leave for a moment and murmured something under his breath I didn’t hear.
I watched Steve for a moment and he left without saying goodbye and headed into the house.
“Something’s not quite right,” I said.
Nadine shook her head. “Nope.”
I looked around the farm for a moment. Everyone was inside where it was warm. The access road sentries were pulling power to stay warm and I could feel the bonds to the other draoi, making their way to the villages and towns, their pulses strong and healthy. As always, I reached for Katherine and Dog and found nothing. I glanced toward the farm gravesite and sighed.
“Everything else seems in order,” I said and pulled Nadine into an embrace and bent to kiss her.
She played hard to get and struggled to keep her lips clear of mine. She broke my gloom, and I laughed and darted in and caught her mouth on mine. We kissed and then parted.
“Gross,” she complained, wiping her nose. “Your nose is cold and wet.” She moved to get out of my embrace, but I held her tight stopping her.
“Hmm. I’ve nothing better to do right now. Want to go inside and lie down?”
“Will Arbor! What kind of lady do you take me for?”
“You’re my old lady,” I said and tried to kiss her again.
Nadine twisted and managed to pull away. “Old lady? Young man, you have no manners!”
“I’ll teach you manners!” I growled.
Nadine squealed and ran off toward the house, looking back at me with glee splashed across her face. Her red hair flashed in the sunlight and her eyes shone bright with mischief.
She took her time letting me catch her.
I woke up with a light in my eyes and blinked. I looked over to our bedroom windows and saw the drapes had been left pulled back. Through the window I watched as the cold moon pulled free of the clouds. The Nollaig cold moon was full and large in the winter air and I imagined the fields of snow glinting brightly under its glare. I judged the time to be at least an hour after midnight and closed my eyes to return to sleep.
I heard a shuffle on the steps leading up to my floor and lo
oked out with my senses and froze under the covers. It was the two men the Baron had sent with the missive. They were slowly and quietly climbing the stairs. Their auras were bright red and streaked with black. I could sense their fear and their determination, breaking through the herbs they had taken. I woke Nadine with a thought and she stayed still in the bed.
There were many options to us. As draoi we have almost unlimited power against life in general although we can do no harm. Or at least we couldn't directly harm them. I could twist an ankle and let one break his neck as he fell down the stairs. Or, I could continue to observe and be certain of their purpose, and then immobilise them.
Nadine and I tracked the two men. John led the way up the stairs, Dugald close behind him. They stepped on the stairs where they joined the side, and not in the middle. They reached the landing, a mere ten feet from where Nadine and I lay and drew daggers from sheaths inside their tunics. I heard a horse blow air outside, and the men froze in place and listened.
I sensed they had already gotten their horses ready for their escape. The horses were tied to the porch railing outside the front door with oat bags to keep them quiet. The horse that had made the noise, settled and returned to her oats. I scanned the house quickly and found Steve and Franky huddled together downstairs in their room. Dempster was asleep sitting up in his bed. Anne and her baby were fast asleep and well. I located Edward and found him peacefully dreaming just down the hall from us.
The two men were being extraordinarily cautious. They moved with a slowness and sureness of foot that made me sure they had done this before. These men had been burglars or had some similar occupation before joining the Baron at his country estate and enlisting. They stopped and listened for a spell.
I was wondering what they were waiting for when I heard Edward, down the end of the hallway, snort and start snoring. The men started moving toward his room at once. They carefully lifted one foot and then the other. Each time placing the foot down and slowly leaning their weight down. If the floor board threatened to make a noise, they would move the foot and start again. It was mesmerising to watch.
After a time, they reached Edward’s door. One man placed a hand high on the door on the corner. The other knelt down and placed a hand on the lower corner. With his other hand he gripped the doorknob and slowly turned it. With their hand they guided the door open, and I understood what they were doing. They didn’t want the door to squeak against the door jamb. These men had definitely done this before.
Nadine grabbed my hand under the covers and squeezed. She was waiting for me to decide what to do. I wanted to be sure and so we watched. To our vision the walls and floors had all but disappeared. We could see the two men, Edward lying in his bed, and Steve and Franky downstairs. Nothing was hidden from our sight. The auras of the two men pulsed with red and black and to Nadine and I they shone like beacon fires. They crept into the room and brandished their knives. Nadine squeezed my hand harder, urging me to do something. One moved to the head of the bed and the other moved beside him.
When it happened, it happened quickly. They acted as one. The one at Edward’s head placed his hand over his mouth and nose and then reached out with the knife. I could see by his movements that he was going to slash the throat wide open. The other man was driving his knife up towards the bottom of the ribcage where it would pierce the heart.
I froze both men. Nadine used her power to wake Steve and Franky. We rose out of bed and reached for our night robes, draped over the bed posts, when Edward made his first squawk of fright. Nadine silenced him and calmed him. Edward stumbled backward out of his room and into the corridor looking back to his room. He saw me, glanced back to his room and then it dawned on him what was happening.
“Relax, Edward. I have this. Steve and Franky will be here in a moment. Go downstairs and put on some water for tea. You’re safe. No one else is around. Just these two.”
“Right,” he said matter-of-factly. I was glad Nadine was calming him. “Tea. Good idea.”
Edward started down the stairs as Steve and Franky started up. They moved to the side to let him pass and looked up at us.
“Come on,” I said. “They’re in here. John and Dugald. They just tried to assassinate Edward.”
“What?” exclaimed Steve and bolted up the stairs and rushed past me.
Franky took her time and paused by Nadine. “Men can be a little thick sometimes.”
Nadine smiled. “Not all of them, dear.”
Franky rolled her eyes at me and brushed past me. Nadine and I followed. We found Steve trying to pry the knives out of the hands of the would-be assassins. When he saw me he spoke. “Will, if you would?”
I relaxed the hands and Steve quickly pried them open and took the knives. “The sheaths are in their tunics.”
Steve nodded and quickly found them and removed them. He sheathed the blades and tucked them into the waistband at the back of his trousers. I noticed then that Franky and Steve had dressed first. Nadine hadn’t told them anything other than to come upstairs.
Franky and Steve searched the two men and found nothing else. “Okay, Will,” said Franky. “You can let them go.”
I had been monitoring the two men the entire time. Their hearts were beating at a furious rate. Fear radiated from them and their auras were changing to a sickly yellow. The drug they were on was no longer helping them. When Steve had taken their blades, they had both thought themselves dead in that moment. I found myself surprised when I didn’t care what they felt or feared. They had invaded my home and tried to kill one of my friends. I was furious. Nadine even more so, but she was following my lead.
“In a moment,” I said and moved to the other side of the bed and looked over at the two men. “I am the Freamhaigh, leader of the draoi. You have entered my home and attempted to kill someone under my protection. I care little for what happens to you from this point on. But I will get answers before whatever happens next happens. I am going to remove the paralysis you are under. You will lose your balance unless you stop fighting it. If you do fall over I want you to stand up quietly and not move. If you try to run, I will stop you again. First, I am going to release your heads so you can talk. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” came a weak reply from both men at the same time.
I released the men, and they swayed onto the bed and pushed themselves up by their arms. They stood and did not move.
“Very good. Steve, please bring them over to the barn. We’ll talk with them there.”
“Yes, Freamhaigh,” replied Steve, and I saw him look at me strangely. I couldn't recall the last time he used my title and looked back at him with a raised eyebrow.
Steve and Franky escorted the two men out of the house and over to the barn. Nadine and I went downstairs and found Edward placing the kettle on the stove. He had just re-lit the stove, and the heat was starting to warm the kitchen.
"It will be awhile," he said. “The stove was cold." He reached into the pantry and pulled out a jar of honey and placed it on the table. We watched him fuss about for a bit. He seemed glad to have something to do with his hands and we let him. In time he ran out of things to do and so he fussed with the stove.
“Sit, Edward,” ordered Nadine.
Edward rose and went where Nadine was pointing. He sat at the table and looked about.
Nadine sat across from him and reached out with her hands. Edward stared at them for a moment and then took them in his own. “You did wonderful, Edward. You were never in any danger. Will and I tracked them when they entered the house. We watched them all the way into your room.”
“They grabbed me. It was very close. Too close,” he whispered. I could hear the hint of panic in his voice.
I went over to the kettle and touched the metal with my hand. It would take a while to come to a boil. “I had to be sure.”
“Sure of what?”
“Sure they meant to kill you,” I said. “I stopped them just before they could commit the deed. Nadine is righ
t. You were never in any danger. You see that, don’t you?”
Edward looked a little angry now, and that was good.
“They might have only wanted to take you with them. Hold you hostage. That would have been different.”
“Different, how?”
“Different for them. Different for Baron Windthrop.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Baron Windthrop sent those men to kill you. How we respond to that is now different from if he had just tried to take you.”
Edward looked to Nadine for help.
Nadine chuckled, and the sound was not pleasant. “Baron Windthrop will be held accountable for this. He tried to assassinate the heir to the throne of Belkin. That’s high treason. We might have forgiven him for merely taking you. But killing you? That’s different.”
Eleven
Rigby Farm, December 901 A.C.
THE AROMA OF fresh cut herbs filled the small room and brought me back to my days in Jaipers. My need to go back to my herbs had been overwhelming and Nadine had surprised me by claiming a back room for me in the main farmhouse. No one could enter save at my allowance. I felt a little selfish about it, but I needed the space to get away from everything and clear my thoughts and welcomed it. The only way I found to separate myself from the day-to-day issues was to go back to making my unguents and working with the herbs. I tuned out the other draoi and withdrew my senses until it was only me in my herbal room.
The truth was being Freamhaigh was taxing. I was in constant communion with the other draoi. I answered questions, suggested methods, calmed those quick to anger, and sent a constant sense of well-being across the bond. It was continuous. I envied Nadine. She only spoke to Gaea and now that Gaea was no longer speaking she had turned her attention to the daily running of the farm. Anne avoided Nadine like a sickness and could be seen peeking around corners looking for her before she entered a room.
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