A soft knock sounded at the door and a young man entered. He was of slight build with light brown shoulder length hair, about the fairest hair she had ever seen on a Denicorizen. His black trousers were faded and patched and he wore a gray work shirt with the sleeves slightly too short. But his eyes were bright and intelligent and his stride purposeful.
“Commander Dirk,” he said urgently. Then he saw Andie and stopped abruptly, his eyes jumping from her to his commander in alarm.
“Mistress Sirra, this is Bret Ka, my second-in-command. Bret, Sirra Bruche.” Bret’s eyes widened in surprise and he nodded to her in greeting. Obviously he had heard her name before. Then he turned back to Commander Dirk.
“It has happened finally. Kruunde has closed the city. He has declared himself king over the Blue Plains District. Nobody is allowed past the city walls without signed papers from his personal steward or his military council. In addition to that, any ships caught taking off or landing in any part of this district will be shot down. Only the Citizens are allowed to leave—he doesn’t want a war with the Armada—but they will have to register with Kruunde himself before they can do so. He means to cut us off from any outside support and crush us.” Andie listened to this dismaying news with a terrible sinking feeling in her stomach. Jaory must know she was here. He had made it impossible for her to get out of the city. Sure, as a Citizen she could leave—if she went to Jaory personally. Of course, if she did that then she would probably never be seen again.
Commander Dirk was silently pondering the news also. He drew in a deep breath. Then he let it out in a huff, his eyes gleaming. “Well, he has cut off his own support. Without the ships, trade is going to halt and people are going to go hungry. It may be the final thing we need to drive the people to overcoming their fears and fighting against him. And by declaring himself king he has made enemies of his former allies in Roma.” Bret shook his head mournfully.
“I’m afraid he will use it as an opportunity to stamp us out, and then try to build his strength to take control of all Corizen. I’m sure it is his eventual plan. His first step will be a propaganda campaign to tell his new ‘subjects’ that the Resistance is to blame for their sufferings, and that he is trying to restore peace and prosperity by eliminating the problem. Then, he will start sweeps of the city and throw any people with ‘rebellious’ tendencies into prison. And then the public executions will start.”
This was a terribly bleak view and Andie could see that the commander didn’t believe it could happen. However, Andie had no illusions about Jaory’s ruthlessness. He would have no scruples about grinding his own people into the dust if it served his ultimate purpose.
“This is going to effectively cut us off from Morek-Li,” mused Commander Dirk. “I suspect we will be on our own for awhile.”
“Well, when Mistress Sirra leaves, she can at least act as a courier for us. Take a few messages back to Morek-Li,” suggested Bret hopefully. “Kruunde would never suspect a Citizen woman.”
Andie laughed ruefully. “If it were anyone but me that would work. As it is . . .” she shrugged helplessly. Bret frowned in her direction. Obviously he was questioning her devotion to the cause. Where was her Bruche spirit? She laughed again, bitterly this time.
“Haven’t you heard the rumors about the magnificent reward for catching Jaory Kruunde’s runaway Citizen slave?” Commander Dirk asked Bret, his eyebrows raised.
Bret whistled lowly. “So you’re the one who miraculously escaped from his estate. Well, that does change things.”
Andie nodded, her eyes on the floor. “It looks like I’m stuck here indefinitely.” She swallowed, trying to get rid of the lump in her throat. The awful truth had sunk in. There was no way for her to get back to Roma. In a moment she would lose all her self-control. When would she ever see her daughter again? Or Randa? Or even Casey?
Still, what would Laeren want her to do? She valiantly tried to pull herself together. “Well, Commander,” Andie began resolutely, looking back up with dry eyes, “Since I’m going to be staying for awhile, what can I do to help?”
19. Under Siege
Bret was right about Jaory. The propaganda began at once. Posters showing a slightly smiling Jaory with cold, dark eyes papered the dingy walls of factories and homes alike. Speeches were made from the corners of busy intersections denouncing the evils of the rebellion and extolling the virtues of King Jaory. Also, the soldiers could be seen doling out food and supplies (although in pretty meager portions) to those who came to the rallies that were held in support of the new supposed king. The few Citizen traders that had resided in Kruundin City fled as soon as they could register with Jaory. Not long after that the inspections started. First, only those people denounced by their neighbors at the rallies had their homes searched. However, the random inspections began soon enough (in the name of protecting the people, of course). People took to posting the flyers of Jaory in their houses and talking loudly of their loyalty to the king, eyeing their neighbors askance. Inevitably the Resistance’s organization suffered in Kruundin City. Some of their strongest supporters were now too afraid to act, and they could hardly recruit new members without putting themselves in jeopardy. Andie felt she had never known such a bleak time. Commander Dirk placed her in hiding with a family of trusted Resistance members that lived not far from his command center. She was hardly any more at liberty to walk the streets than she had been in her first year on Corizen. Since the Citizens who could leave had already vanished from the city, Andie was now just as conspicuous as she had been then and likely to draw the attention of Jaory’s soldiers. So she spent her days in the room on the second floor of the house of the family who sheltered her.
The Suze family was very hospitable, and Andie felt welcome even though her presence put the whole family at risk. The father was a cobbler and he ran his shop downstairs. The family living quarters were on the second floor. Madam Suze was a kind, quiet lady about ten years older than Andie. Her face was already deeply lined, although her hair was still glossy black without any hint of gray. She moved briskly and energetically in running the household, and she often helped her husband with his work. The couple had two sons of about thirteen and fourteen years old named Daeren and Nord. Both were full of life and sometimes unruly. But Andie liked being around both of them, and they went out of their way to tell her what was going on in the city. Before the new king had closed the borders of the province, both boys had been apprenticed and used to spend most of their days away from home under the tutelage of their masters. Now, with Jaory’s siege in place, both had been sent home to live with their parents. They spent the better part of the day outside, hunting down food for the family (and Andie) and dredging up any information that they could.
“You know what I would do if I could get to Jaory?” Daeren asked her one day, his tone boastful. Andie shook her head in response, wondering what new revenge Daeren had devised against the tyrant. “I would tie him to a post in the public square and set trained fire crabs at him.” He viciously punched the air. His empty stomach rumbled, and Daeren had a further flash of inspiration. “Then I would leave him to watch while we all ate a huge feast right in front of him. I wouldn’t share a crumb, not even if he begged and promised to make me lord of the whole Blue Plains.”
Nord, who had also been listening to his younger brother’s latest invention, spoke up. “I bet he’d hate that. The coward won’t even come out where we can see him,” Nord complained bitterly. “I think he’s afraid of us all.”
It was true; Jaory was wise enough to never show himself in public. If he had, the Resistance would have found some way to get at him. As it was, they didn’t have a chance. Although his speeches were broadcasted, and his posters were slathered everywhere, he had yet to make a live appearance.
The days drew into weeks, and the weeks passed into months. The only farmlands that supported the city lay to the south, and early in the siege Jaory ha
d sent soldiers to collect the harvests from the farmers, completely refusing to allow them to sell their produce in the city. People were starting to run through the food stockpiles they had made when the city closure was announced. Every day, more and more people openly supported Jaory just because they knew he controlled the food supply. All of Bret’s worst predictions seemed to come true.
There was little Andie could do to help the local command. Once in awhile Commander Dirk would send a note to her with news of the progressing war outside the Blue Plains District, so she wasn’t completely cut off from the rest of the world. If only this everlasting siege would end so she could get back to Roma! Day after day dragged by as she hid in the Suze family quarters and watched the miserable streets below.
One such drab afternoon Andie slumped at the window just behind the curtain, watching the few pedestrians who had dared to venture out. Suddenly she spotted Nord headed for the house at full speed, his brother running not far behind him. They had been out on the streets today, trying to trade some of their father’s shoes for some kind of meat to go with their scant dinner. However, it looked as if they had found more than that in their time in the square today.
Andie expectantly turned to the door, hoping that the boys would come bursting through with their news. Instead, it was their father who flung open the door a couple minutes later. His face was red, and he was gasping for breath after having sprinted up the stairs. “The King has fallen,” he exclaimed breathlessly. “The Resistance is controllin’ Roma! They’ve declared all Corizen free!”
“The King is fallen,” Andie repeated in shock.
“The boys heard it in the square. Everyone is talkin’ bout it, even in the open.”
“But we are not free yet. Not while Jaory controls this land,” Andie reminded him with a heavy sigh. Only one king had been defeated. The way things looked it could be years before she saw Tiran and Randa again. Her homesickness flared.
“No, but this’ll change things here in Urok. I’m sure of it!” he enthused.
♦
Master Suze was right. The news of the new government had spread quickly through the land, and suddenly the Resistance had growing support. If Roma could be free, so could Kruundin City! The people clamored for the change. Jaory brought all his forces into the city, and the district country around returned to semi-normalcy. Although Jaory had great communications abilities, he couldn’t cover everywhere at once, and ships began to land and take off from the outer areas of the district. Commander Dirk took advantage of that, and through a careful network of couriers the local Resistance once again had contact with the Morek-Li in Roma. He hoped that shortly they would be able to bring Jaory’s troops to open battle. Andie hungrily awaited a letter from Randa through the courier, desperate for reassurance that Tiran was safe.
The news came to her one evening as she was about ready to climb into her bed. Madam Suze brought the letter to her, a single candle lighting her steps into the room. “It is from Roma,” she told Andie quietly. She only glanced at Andie for a second, and then she silently left the room. Andie carefully positioned the candleholder next to her bed and ripped open the letter impatiently. This had to be the long-coveted letter from Randa, telling her that Tiran was safe.
The letter was from Jerrapo.
The beginning told of her adventures in the palace storming and her face-to-face confrontation with the brother who had condemned her. Then Andie found the news she had hoped to see:
My dearest Sirra, I have just received word that your daughter escaped without harm from all of the fighting we have faced. She is staying with the Citizen who is our contact with the Armada. I have been told that she is safe there.
So Tiran was safe! And staying with Casey! Tears of relief slipped almost unheeded down Andie’s cheeks.
However, we have not been so fortunate otherwise. I wish that the burden of this news fell tosomeone else, but I must take courage. Sirra, in the final storming of the palace and amid the attack on our own headquarters, many of our dear friends were killed. Miranda was among them.
Andie reread the sentence, at first not sure she understood. Randa? It couldn’t be. There had to be a mistake. She drew a ragged breath as her eyes flew down the paper.
Sirra, I know how dreadful this news is to you. Yet she died courageously in service to the cause she put before anything else in her life. I know that it is small consolation for those of us who must go on living without her. However, I honor her sacrifice.
Andie finished the rest of Jerrapo’s letter in a fog, her hands shaking so badly she could barely make out the words of Jerrapo’s elegant script. Yet one more sacrifice she had been asked to make. First her husband and then Randa, the closest thing she had to a mother here on Corizen. Oh, please don’t make me give up my daughter as well. I can’t lose everything! she cried silently, crushing Jerrapo’s letter to her chest. The night was long and lonely, and right through the darkest hours of the night Andie lay awake, her chest aching as she tried to face the future without Randa.
The next few weeks passed in a blur while she grieved the loss of her friend. The only thing that allowed Andie to face each new day was the anticipation of an end to the siege so that she could see her daughter and Casey again. She focused her hopes on the quick defeat of Jaory. It was the one desperate thought that kept her going when the grief threatened to overwhelm her.
♦
Andie needed every ounce of hope that she could muster over the next month. Food supplies were exhausted; in the Suze household they had only one sack of wheat and several bags of salt that Master Suze had procured somewhere. Every day Madam Suze would grind a small amount and the family would eat a single meal of salted wheat mush. Their portion sizes were barely enough to fill the stomach of a small child, let alone satisfy two ravenous teenage boys. Andie and Madam Suze stinted themselves as much as possible and gave the extra to Nord and Daeren. It left Andie’s stomach constantly cramping with hunger pains. Her dreams were filled with visions of all the wonderful things that she had eaten over the years. Especially violent were her cravings for something sweet. Her mind was constantly filled with ice cream and chicken salad and fruit! What she would have given for an apple!
With the only display of mercy Andie had ever seen from him, Jaory allowed the city’s water supply to continue. Judging by his willingness to starve his subjects to death it was a small concession. However, to continue the water service to the house, each member of the household had to present themselves to take an oath of allegiance to Jaory at the square beside his mammoth fortress. Then the family was allotted five gallons of water per member of the household per day.
The Suzes, recognizing that they couldn’t live without water, presented themselves at the square to take the oath. Master Suze was racked with agony over the decision. All his life he had been a scrupulously honest man, and taking an oath he had no intention of honoring seemed like vile blasphemy to him. His wife had gently reasoned with him until he agreed that an oath under such duress was hardly a sin, but still,Master Suze’s eyes were never the same after that bleak morning. There was a touch of bitterness that never quite left them.
After the oath day, everyone in the house carefully measured all the water they used. The soldiers had the authority to do random “water checks,” and using too much water was considered a serious offense. Jaory assured the city through another broadcasted speech that this was to ensure that in this time of distress only loyal subjects were using the water supply that he was so generously providing. Andie thought for sure that the hatred of the people would surge into violence at last but it didn’t. Everyone was hungry, terrified, and dispirited.
♦
One bleak morning Nord brought home the dreadful news that Commander Dirk had fallen victim to the water law. He had refused to present himself to take the oath, instead sneaking buckets of water from the river that cut through the middle
of the city. His whole family had been taken into custody by the soldiers. Andie could hardly sleep. What would happen to him? What about his wife and children? What if he was questioned and told everything he knew about the Resistance in the town? What if he told them about the Suze family and how they were sheltering one of Jaory’s most sought-after fugitives?
Andie waited tense and fearful through the next week for the intense pounding on the door below that would signal the arrival of soldiers. Yet it never came. Instead, after the whole Suze household had suffered through six days of terrible apprehension they heard the even worse news that Commander Dirk and his wife were to be executed at noon the following day, along with six others for water violations. Their children were seized as property of the crown, their Negocio caste nullified. Andie listened to Madam Suze repeat Jaory’s verdict with a sick heart. What more could Jaory do to hurt them all? When would it all end?
The morning of the execution she rose from her bed and sank to her knees at the window sill. Surely there had to be some way to stop this! Andie stared sightlessly at the empty street and let the tears drip freely. This could be the death blow to all their hopes to end the siege. Fear had stripped so many people of even the desire to fight back against Jaory’s tyranny. Even within the Resistance some of the locals were beginning to advocate giving in, hoping that Jaory would then ease the pressure on everyone else. Even if the rest of Corizen kept itself safe from Jaory’s power grasp though, Kruundin City would remain an island of misery forever, ground under the heavy boot of Jaory Kruunde and whoever came after him. As for Andie herself, either she would finally succumb to starvation or eventually Jaory would flush her out of hiding. Either way, she could see nothing but a painful, lingering death in her future.
The Legend of Sirra Bruche (Roran Curse Book 1) Page 26