Farindian Summer (Stavin DragonBlessed Book 4)

by Loren K. Jones

  Stavin looked at King Kalin and received a nod of permission, so he stood to speak. “Lord Zel’Corvis, trade with Farindia, and indeed, with Kavadia, is limited due to the taxes on goods coming into Evandia. Why trade with Evandia when there is no tax going from Farindia to Kavadia, or the other way around?”

  “That’s a ridiculous comparison,” Lord Zel’Corvis all but snarled.

  “Is it?” Stavin asked as his head tilted to the side. “I see it as simple economics. If I had a choice of losing five percent of the value of my goods by bringing them here, or retaining that value by going to Kavadia, I’d go to Kavadia.”

  “And risk being robbed,” Lord Zel’Corvis said with a satisfied smile.

  Stavin tilted his head to the side again and spoke in a patient tone. “Lord Zel’Corvis, I’ve been attacked far more often here in Evandia than in Kavadia.”

  “Ridiculous,” the Minister of the Interior sniffed.

  “Fact,” Stavin replied, looking Lord Zel’Jessel in the eye. “I earned my first star here. I know what it’s like out on the roads. Once you’re away from the towns and cities, you’re pretty much on your own. We, meaning my employer and the rest of the teams I’ve been on, have been attacked in cities as well.”

  “Just in small villages,” Lord Zel’Jessel said with a shrug. “No place that boasts a sheriff or magistrate.”

  “Barren’s Bridge boasts several of both, Lord Zel’Jessel, as does Twin Bridges.”

  “Twin Bridges?” King Kalin asked softly. “When were you attacked here?”

  “The day after I was made a Friend of Evandia, Your Majesty.”

  “Why wasn’t I told?” the king growled as he glared around the table at his Ministers.

  “I didn’t know enough to come tell you, Your Majesty. The City Guardsmen we encountered were quite anxious to see us on our way after the incident.”

  The king glared at Minister of the Interior Zel’Jessel as he asked, “What happened, Stavin?”

  Stavin gave the king and council a quick rundown of the incident, including Madam Elain’s part. “She was very upset that her guests were attacked. It’s my understanding that the surviving attackers were found and dealt with.”

  “Madam Elain’s methods of dealing with those who cross her are a bit harsh, Stavin,” the king commented, “but she is thorough.” He looked at Stavin and almost seemed amused.

  Stavin bowed. “Indeed she is, Your Majesty. The incident in Barren’s Bridge was worse.” Stavin continued, telling the council of the ambush in the caravansary.

  Lord General Zel’Rantal sat forward and stared at Stavin. “I have heard stories about your sojourns in our kingdom, Prince Stavin, but how many of those attacks can you attribute to common bandits, and how much was the draw of your golden armor?”

  Stavin bowed his head slightly. “You have a point, General, but the draw of my armor is the same in Kavadia and Farindia. I haven’t been attacked nearly as often there as here. And most of the attacks were aimed at our employers, not me specifically.”

  “How much of your time has been spent there?” Minister of Roads Zel’Cerran asked.

  Stavin shrugged. “Not as much as here.”

  “Yet you say Evandia is more dangerous?”

  “Yes.” That simple, one-word answer silenced the council.

  “Stavin,” King Kalin said in a soft tone, “how can you say that?”

  Stavin turned and bowed to the king. “Perhaps Evandia is simply more dangerous for me, Your Majesty, but the fact remains that most of the men I’ve faced have been here. A large portion of them were here in the palace.”

  The king heaved a deep sigh. “An unfortunate fact, but true. Very well. Georan, that’s something you’ll need to look at. Lord Zel’Ginsel, as Minister of Justice, you and your subordinates also need to address this issue. Our internal security is, after all, the jurisdiction of your sheriffs and magistrates. Now, back to the subject, if you will. The annexation of Farindia.”

  Stavin was still standing, so he began. “We of Kel’Kavin proposed annexing southern Farindia because right now it is a wild area, unregulated and uncontrolled except for the Farindian Traders’ Guild and a few Chosen houses. The Farindian royal house is dead except for individuals such as my friend Karvik Kel’Carin who, through a trick of fate, carries nearly fifty-percent royal blood. I carry somewhat less. None of us carry enough to be acceptable to the people of Farindia as a king.” He grimaced bitterly and shook his head for a moment. “Right after the rebellion we could have, but the commander decided to isolate Kel’Kavin and wait.”

  “What if there is someone in the north who carries more royal blood?” Minister of Waterways Zel’Nassal asked. “Are we willing to risk a war to gain such marginal territory?”

  “The north is Andaria’s problem. King Jallat liked the idea of gaining that much territory.” Stavin paused to smile. “He really liked the idea. It has just been the threat of war with Evandia that has stopped him from taking it before.”

  “But he gets the best part,” Minister of Finance Zel’Cordas said.

  “True,” Stavin agreed, “as far as he knows.” He smiled slyly, then reached down beside his chair and retrieved a rolled map. “This is a copy of a map from the Kavinston Archive. While southern Farindia has no significant gold or silver deposits, it does have iron, copper, and tin. In the case of copper, it is a substantial deposit.”

  “May I?” Minister of Mines Zel’Justel asked. When Stavin rolled the map over to him, he studied it carefully and hummed in concentration. “How accurate is this map?” he asked without looking up.

  “It is a copy of a royal map from before the rebellion.”

  “How accurate is the copy, though?”

  Stavin smiled slightly. “I copied it. I left out some things, like three towns I know are no longer in existence, but the resources are there.”

  “Another source of copper and tin would be beneficial. Iron as well.” He looked at the king and tilted his head to the side. “If nothing else, it would deny the resources to our enemies.”

  Minister of Foreign Affairs Zel’Ordan asked, “What about the population? What do you think they are going to say about this?”

  Stavin shrugged. “Most of them are not going to be happy. They think of themselves as Farindians, and their land as Farindia. Most still insist on calling it the Kingdom of Farindia, even though there hasn’t been a king in over two hundred years. What they don’t know enough to miss is the order a strong central government can bring. Bandits flourish because there is no army to hunt them down. Justice is a thing of the moment, and is often simply the strong over the weak. There are no Kingdom Sheriffs. There are no Magistrates.” He shrugged one shoulder. “Except for seven families near the Kavadian border, there are no Chosen houses in this portion of Farindia at all.”

  “It may as well be Kavadia,” Adept Fel’Banan announced.

  “Indeed,” Stavin replied. “Kavadia is a good example, though the worst of the mess is north, in the heartland of Old Farindia.” His handsome young features twisted into a bitter grimace. “Let Andaria deal with them. It’ll keep King Jallat and his lords busy for a long time to come.”

  King Kalin chuckled. “Very well. Does anyone else have any serious arguments against the annexation?” He paused for a moment, but no one spoke. “So be it. By Royal Decree, so long as Jallat agrees, we will annex Farindia along the borders proposed by Prince Stavin last year. We’ll send an envoy to Andaria tomorrow.”

  Stavin sat and looked around. The king had listened to his Council, but it was fairly obvious that he’d made up his mind to go ahead with the annexation no matter what they said.

  The day wore on, and Stavin sat silent through most of it. He found the council to be a bunch of narrow-minded old men, each concerned with his own area of responsibility and let the Gods Below take the rest. By the end of the day he considered them to be a bunch of tightly blinkered asses.

  When the king dismissed the Council, S
tavin joined Kalin and Marina as they left through the royal entrance. As soon as the door closed, he sighed. “You have to put up with that every day?”

  “Nine of ten,” Marina replied. “Why?”

  “I hope the tapestries aren’t expensive,” Stavin muttered.

  “Why?” Kalin asked as he looked around at Stavin.

  “Because I’m likely to get blood all over them if those men continue to treat me like a child.”

  Kalin laughed loudly at that statement. He shook a finger at Stavin as he said, “No killing my ministers, Stavin. Not that I haven’t had occasion to agree with you a time or two in the past. Most of them are good at what they do. They just don’t see beyond it.”

  “Like how roads and waterways affect agriculture as well as trade?” Stavin asked.

  “Quite. You’ll get used to the give and take soon.” Kalin smiled and patted Stavin’s shoulder. “It’s like bargaining, but you’re trading in people’s lives and livelihoods. Always remember that decisions made in that room can have far-reaching consequences.”

  Stavin heaved a deep sigh as he replied, “Yes, sir.” And I thought being a prince would be easy. Nothing is ever as easy as it looks when someone else is doing it. At least in the Archive I understood the purpose behind what I was doing. Now I feel like a greenling again.

  Chapter 12

  THE FIRST ATTACK AGAINST KEL’KAVIN CAME thirteen days after the lords had been turned away. The Elders had ordered that the gates be kept closed, and it was well they had. Three hundred men charged out of the forest, intent on overthrowing the gate guards and continuing on into Kavinston.

  The man on watch that night rang the bell for aid, then went to defend the walls as well as he could. The other three gate guards joined him moments later, and the first attackers to reach the top of the walls were slaughtered, falling to knock their companions from their ladders.

  Men swarmed up the walls, but the alarm had been answered sooner than expected. The Elders had ordered that at least one man from each family be ready to aid the guards every night, and thirty-seven men, each armed and armored, spurred their horses to the gate. Far sooner than the attacking force had expected, the reinforcements were on the walls.

  The attackers cheered in triumph as one of the gates opened. They thought it was their men. The cheer died as mounted warriors rode out and began slaughtering them. Warmaster Kel’Horval led the second wave of warriors just moments later. Fully one hundred of Kavinston’s veterans rode out to finish the slaughter of the men the lords had sent.

  Chief Elder Kel’Kaffrey walked through the scattered bodies at first light. “How many, Charvil?”

  “Two hundred and seventy-six of them. We lost six men. Jarral Kel’Destril, Kistan Kel’Torvas, Mikas Kel’Lanval, Warrden Kel’Davin, Landas Kel’Bartan, and Barandik Kel’Aniston.”

  “Barandik? I’d hate to be the one who tells Stavin. Are there any survivors from the attackers?”

  “A few. Most of those who could still walk fled south, but we have some prisoners.” Charvil led the way to where several men were lain out separately from the rest.

  Mikal looked at them and shook his head. “Who is your lord?” he asked.

  “Lord Zel’Hestel will avenge us,” one man hissed. “You’ll all die for this.”

  “I think not,” Mikal relied, then drew his sword and stabbed the man through the heart. Turning to Charvil, he nodded. “Dispose of them, then get a burial detail organized.” With that he turned and walked away.

  The next morning a patrol of fifty veterans rode out on the road toward Trade Town. They carried a detailed account of the two incidents for King Kalin. There was also the personal message for Stavin about his brother.

  *

  Stavin returned to his suite to find Dahvin and Glora holding the twins. “Hello, Stavin,” Glora said as she looked up from Sahren’s face. “Your daughters are beautiful.”

  “They look like their mother,” Stavin replied as he accepted a drink from one of the maids.

  Dahvin chuckled. “Girls usually do, lucky for them. How was council?”

  “What a bunch of—” He stopped himself from saying what he was thinking. Minister of Agriculture Zel’Bordal was Glora’s father. He needn’t have bothered.

  Lady Glora made a rude sound, but she did it softly so as not to wake the baby. “Father calls them morons with tunnel-vision.”

  “More polite than what I think, but close enough. I don’t know how the king deals with them, though I have seen the aftermath of a few sessions.” Stavin smiled crookedly. “He breaks a lot of furniture.”

  “He isn’t the only one,” Glora said with a sigh. “Mother purchased an Esvat dummy for my father to take his frustrations out on.”

  “Esvat?” Shari asked as she tilted her head to the side.

  “It’s a hand-to-hand fighting technique from Cornardia,” Glora explained. “It involves a lot of kicking as well. The dummy is a man-shaped wooden frame padded with sack cloth.” She smiled at Shari’s thoughtful expression. “Esvat includes some weapons, but is mostly designed to use bare hands.”

  “Does your father practice it, Lady Glora?” Sorandis asked.

  “No, but my brother does. And please stop calling me lady. You’re going to be feeding my baby soon.”

  Sora smiled and bowed her head. “As you wish. I’ll bet Barvil would be interested in seeing a demonstration.”

  “So would I,” Stavin said as he finally sat down. Karlin was in his lap in an instant. “Well, Karli, what have you been doing all day?”

  “Play,” Karlin replied.

  “Who did you play with?”

  “Nora.”

  “Noral. You have to put the ‘L’ at the end, Karlin. So, what did you and Noral do today?”

  Shari and Sora giggled. “They played hide from the maids,” Sora continued as she chuckled.

  Stavin looked at the maids and smiled. They both wore expressions of long-suffering patience. “You’ll get used to them.”

  Shari chuckled again. “I finally had to sic Sallin on them to get them to behave. They know her too well to disobey when she speaks softly.”

  Stavin grinned at Sallin and said, “Don’t we all? Shari, we have the evening meal with the court tonight, so we’ve got to dress up a bit. Sora, will you keep the kids here? I don’t know how Karlin is going to react to the full court.”

  “Of course, Stavin,” Sora replied.

  “Shari is a bit taller than I am,” Lady Glora said as she looked Shari over, “but some of my dresses should fit her perfectly.”

  Shari looked toward her voice and said, “Lady Glora, you don’t have to—”

  “Oh, please, Shari. You’re one of us now. Besides, it’s going to be a long time before I’m skinny enough to wear them again. If I ever am.” She shook her head slowly. “Mom never did manage to lose all of her baby-weight.”

  “That’s still very generous of you,” Shari insisted.

  “Perhaps. But you’re married to Stavin, so you’re one of our circle now. We take care of our own.”

  “Circle?” Shari asked.

  “Marina’s Minions,” Dahvin said in a spectral tone, then ruined it by laughing. “It’s a fact of palace life that we tend to form alliances that back certain factions in the kingdom. Stave was added to the King’s Faction when he killed Lord Zel’Candan. We, the younger generation, are officially recognized as backing Marina. Uncle Kal has his own circle of backers.”

  “Like my father, and yours,” Glora said as she squeezed his hand.

  “Yes.”

  Stavin chuckled. “I brought my wardrobe from last time, but we’re going to have to have more clothes made for all of us. Especially the kids. And Sora as well.”

  “Me?” Sorandis asked as she stared at Stavin.

  “You. You’re my sister, Shari’s best friend, and you’ll be wet-nursing Glora’s baby. You’re going to have to dress up as much as we do. Aric gets off easier.” He grinned at his brother-in-
law. “He can just wear Royal Guard’s Dress and be done with it.”

  “We’ll have to have him fitted,” Dahvin said as he looked Aric over. “And establish his proper rank. Command Sergeant doesn’t exactly translate. It’ll be up to the general and Warmaster what it’ll be.”

  Aric bowed his head deeply. “Sora and I have been discussing making the move to Twin Bridges permanent. This should do it.”

  “You have?” Stavin asked as he walked over to look up into Aric’s face. “You didn’t say anything.”

  “It’s only been the last two days, Stave,” Aric explained. “Sora wants to stay and help Shari, and the Royal Guard pays better than caravan guard.”

  “I’ll bet we’re not the only ones who are going to want to stay, Stavi,” Sora added. “Ten of the veterans are bachelors or widowers. I’ll bet they stay as well.”

  Stavin was nodding. “Kalin invited anyone who wanted to join to come down. It’ll be nice having you around.” He smiled at both of them, then Dahvin. “Looks like you’ve got some new recruits.”

  “Looks more like new instructors to me,” Dahvin replied, looking at Aric.

  Chapter 13

  STAVIN AND SHARI HAD BEEN IN the palace for three days before they were invited to Marina’s suite for a private meal. That was surprising because all of them had been eating with the court, but the maid Marina sent wouldn’t say why. It was obvious, however, that she knew what was behind the invitation. No one grinned like that without a good reason.

  Stavin and Shari arrived with the children at the appointed time and found Marina in her sitting room, but she was not alone. A young man sat in a chair near her, and several of her old matrons were there as well. Marina smiled and said, “Stavi, Shari, I’d like you to meet Mark.”

  Captain Markal Zel’Tahran stood and went to one knee, “I am honored to meet you, Prince Stavin and Princess Sharindis.”

  Stavin laughed. “You’ll have to get used to calling us Stavin and Shari, Mark.”

  Markal smiled. “I shall, Prince Stavin, but not on a first meeting. And certainly not without permission.”