Stoc (A New Druids Series Book 3)

by Donald D. Allan

  The chirurgeon stopped talking and looked up at the other chirurgeon. "What happened? What did you do?"

  The other just shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.

  The man in the cot, stirred. "I'm fine. The pain just disappeared. Such a relief. I feel so exhausted. I'm parched. Is there any water?"

  I glanced over to Joshua while I spoke. "I stopped the pain." Joshua nodded and moved over to the water jug and filled a goblet. He brought it over to the injured man and lifted his head up to let him drink from the cup. The man gulped at the water and then let his head drop back to the cot.

  "Thank you. I needed that."

  The head chirurgeon who had watched all this was growing angrier by the second. He stood up and pointed at me. "That's enough! You will no longer be permitted to interfere here. Leave at once, or I will summon the guards!"

  I ignored him. I'd had enough of him. I beckoned my healers forward, and they lined up in front of me. "Right folks. Here's the test. Tell me, who needs help first. Talk me through it."

  Heather spoke up first. "The woman in the corner is first. Her appendix is about to burst. It's septic. Without immediate help she will die."

  Chris nodded in agreement. "Yes, and second is the ginger boy sitting there. He has a bad sliver deep in his right foot. It's badly infected and turned to blood poisoning. It's spreading up his calf."

  They all nodded. Joshua spoke next. "Then this poor fellow with the broken femur. The others in the tent simply have sprains, cuts and torn muscles."

  Nadine and I smiled. "Correct. See to it, please."

  My healers moved out into the tent. Heather and Chris went to the woman in the corner. The chirurgeons stood gawking not sure what was happening and watched my healers move to the cots. Joshua knelt in front of the red-haired boy sitting with his eyes wide open listening and watching to everything going on. So were the rest of them.

  "Blood poisoning? How'd you even know that? How'd you know I had a sliver?"

  Joshua hushed the man and lifted his pant leg. Black veins coursed up his lower leg.

  "By the Word!" said the man in fright. "Help me!"

  The head chirurgeon moved forward and thrust his face in front of mine. His face was all screwed up with dislike and venom. "That's it. I'm getting the guards." He pointed a finger at the other chirurgeon and flicked it toward the tent opening. He smiled and rushed out of the tent calling loudly for guards. "Now you've had it. You should have listened. No one interferes with guild work."

  I pushed past the man and knelt beside the broken leg. Nadine sat on the cot by the man's head and looked down at his alarmed face.

  "Easy," she soothed. "We're going to fix your leg and you'll soon be walking out of here. You won't feel a thing."

  "What? That's crazy!" shouted the head chirurgeon. "Leave that man alone!"

  "Wh-what are you going to do?" asked the man on the cot. "What are you... oh!"

  I relaxed the muscles in the man's thigh, strengthen myself, and pulled the leg out straight. The exposed bone disappeared back inside the thigh and I concentrated on lining the bone up perfectly. Once in place I rejoiced when I felt Nadine join me and together we knitted the bone back together, fused the torn flesh and muscles, and removed the contamination. We pulled power from the land and let it flow through us. Time passed until finally, it was done, and I opened my eyes to find evening had fallen. Lanterns lit up the tent and shadows cast against the red canvass.

  Nadine and I blinked and looked around. Steve, Franky and the Baron were sitting at a table and eating their supper. My healers were gone and so were their patients. All the wounded were gone, and I smiled. They were healed, and the draoi had shown their power. I looked around the tent and spotted the two chirurgeons standing together by the entrance whispering together and glancing over at us.

  "Ah, Freamhaigh," said the Baron. "Come join us at the table. Your man Dempster has prepared the most amazing meal at my request. We've only just started eating. No sense letting it get cold, eh? Come, come!"

  The man on the cot stirred and woke up. Nadine had put him to sleep soon after we started. Now he was awake, and he reached out to his leg and wiggled his foot. "Wh-what? How is this possible?" He looked from Nadine to me. "What did you do?"

  "We healed your broken leg. It was a compound fracture but a good clean break. Your veins and arteries were all missed. We fixed the break and closed your thigh up. Good as new. You can get up and go if you like."

  The man then noticed his Baron sitting nearby. "Sir, my apologies, I didn't see you there. What's happening, sir?"

  The Baron continued chewing for a moment and looked pensive. "You've been healed, my boy. You are among the first to be openly healed by the druids of the land. Now out you go. Go tell your mates. Let them know what the druids can do. The others from in here are already speaking the tale of the miracles. Have fun."

  The man hesitated to see if his Baron was making a mockery of him. When the Baron continued eating in silence, he tentatively swung his legs out from the cot. I could see he waited to feel the pain return and when it didn't he grew bolder and struggled to get to his feet. He wobbled a moment and then found his balance. Feeling more confident he took a step forward with his previously injured leg and then another. "Haha! This is amazing!" he cried out. "Thank you!"

  He laughed again and then shook my hand and Nadine's. He moved to leave and then stopped by the chirurgeons. "Why couldn't you do that? I lay for hours in excruciating pain." He shook his head and then disappeared into the night without waiting for a reply. The chirurgeons glared at me as if this was somehow my fault.

  "Come and sit you two," ordered the Baron.

  Nadine and I shared a look and then sat at the table and found two plates of food laid out for us. Pork chops and apple sauce. I smiled to myself and remembered this very meal in the Woven Bail Inn in Jaipers. It was my favourite. Thick cut pork chops with fresh-made apple sauce. I found myself sucking back my own spit in anticipation. I dug in and within minutes found myself staring at an empty plate. I met the eyes of Franky and she mouthed the word wow to me.

  I felt Nadine's look and glanced over to her.

  "Pig," she said and went back to cutting her pork chop into small pieces on her plate. Most of her meal remained. I wanted it. "Nope," she said. "Mine."

  I sat back and burped into my hand. The Baron smiled at me and took a sip of his wine.

  "So, Freamhaigh. You've made quite an impression in here with your healers. It's all the word of the camp. The man whose leg you healed will milk drinks out of his tale for weeks, no doubt."

  I nodded, not sure how to respond. I looked to the chirurgeons and wondered how they felt about it. Probably not good and I was sure I had made enemies of their guild.

  "Ah, I see you looking to my chirurgeons. In my experience, there are many ways to make an impression. For the longest lasting impression make sure to embarrass someone publicly. Equally you can heap praise on someone—again publicly. Everything in between has varying degrees of effect. So, what do you think you managed here, eh?"

  The Baron looked a little smug to me and I felt my anger rise. "Well, Baron. First you would need to ask yourself whether you actually care about what the other person thought. Second, you would need to ask yourself what you were trying to achieve and why you take the path you chose. For example, let's say you enter a tent and find injured people. One of which has an injury that looks bad and another who's injury is direr but ignored. Then let's suppose you confront those who are tasked to treating those injuries. You are polite but insistent.

  "Then you get treated like a criminal. Belittled. How would you respond? Now, before you answer me, you must understand that behind all this lay your duty to do what is right. You have no option but to treat those who require treatment. Yet you are blocked. What say you then, Lord Windthrop? Do you tuck your tail between your legs and leave or do you ignore the insufferable sons of bitseaches and correct the problem and damn them to whatever he
ll awaits them?

  "So, you can sit there smug in your seat, eating the fine foods of my good friend, and attempt to have me second guess my decision. You can sit there for all eternity for all I care. Your opinion matters naught. I am the Freamhaigh of the Tree. My duty is clear. So think long and hard how you next approach me or question my intentions. The next lecture from you on my business will see me walking away from the likes of you."

  I rose and Nadine rose with me.

  "Steve, Franky, have a good evening."

  Nadine and I walked to the tent opening. We stopped at the chirurgeons and I glared at them. "Never come between my people and those who require medical care. I will not be so kind the next time."

  The head chirurgeon shot me a look of such hatred it honestly surprised me. His aura flickered black and grey. This was a man capable of many harms in the world.

  I looked back to the table to see Steve holding the Baron down in his seat. He was red-faced and angry. I didn't care. "This man here? This chirurgeon? He should never be permitted to treat people. There is something wrong with him. He seeks to administer pain, not treat it."

  Nadine and I disappeared into the night. As we approached the house, she hugged me across the waist. "I'm so proud of you, hon."

  After thanking Dempster for the lovely meal and seeing to Anne and her baby, Nadine and I retired to our bed. It was the same bed the Rigby's had assigned to us so many months ago. Steve had asked me why we hadn't moved into the master bedroom and our answer had been simple: it wasn't our house. It was Katherine's.

  Thoughts of her had me following our thread to find her and Dog well to the north and travelling through a high road pass. She was heading to Salt Lake City. She had covered remarkable amount of ground in short time. I was proud of her. I could sense she was fine, healthy and fit. Then I saw that the bond between her and Dog shone bright white and it startled me.

  "Nadine, her bond is white with Dog," I said.

  "Yes," she replied softly. "It is."

  "What does that mean?"

  "They are in love."

  "Human and dog? But white is more than just love. It's so much stronger."

  "Yes, love, it is."

  "What do we do?"

  Nadine sighed and slipped naked under the covers of the bed. She was wearing me out, and I looked at her with a weary expression. She patted the space beside her. "Hurry up. I'm hungry and I didn't get to finish my supper before you went after the Baron."

  I paced the room and drew off my shirt and tossed it in the corner. "I'm worried about her. How can she love Dog like that?"

  "I asked Gaea about it. She said not to worry. She said all things on earth are her. I hate it when she says things like that. Hurts my brain. She has my sickle with her. I never told you."

  "Really? That's the symbol of your position, hon. Why'd you give it to her?"

  "Gaea told me to. I handed it to her and she took it without a word. Seemed to think it belonged to her and I was returning it."

  "Hmm. Well, I'm worried about her." I sat on the bed and pulled my pants off. The night air was still chill and so I ducked under the covers. No sooner had I got under than Nadine slid over and ran her hand down my chest and crept lower.

  "I'm proud of our healers today," I said and squirmed a little. "They did well."

  "Yes, they did. In my days the talent they used would make them stocs on the spot."

  "I was thinking the same thing. It was interesting, giving them a test like that. I think that all our craobhs should be tested for competency. Our students now all have it in spades. Honestly, I think they are all stocs already. The next group may not have the same strengths. We need to test them."

  "Well, we used to assign stocs to craobhs. The assigned stoc assessed them over a period and announced when they were ready. It was a good way and I think we should do that again. But I will admit this bunch is different. Like you. Highly skilled without an apprenticeship or master to guide them."

  Her hand had stopped, and I found I could focus. "We don't have stocs for that. We'll need to find another way."

  We grew silent in thought. Nadine stirred and slipped her arm over my chest and snuggled in tight against me. I loved the feel of her against me and I closed my eyes relishing it.

  "I don't trust the Baron," she said after a moment.

  "No kidding," I snorted. I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling. "He's an ass. Who does he think he is? Coming here to our school and throwing his weight around and making demands?"

  "He's the Baron. This is his land. That's who he thinks he is. He's been living his whole life bossing people around. He thinks his actions are the correct ones and doesn't question them. Take tonight for example. He saw you challenging his people and sided with them. He never questioned whether they were in the wrong or not. To him you were wrong—automatically. He ignored all the surrounding evidence. He sees what he wants to see. He's a fool."

  "So, what do we do about it?"

  "Honestly? Nothing. Let Steve worry about him. Time for him to step up and lay down the law on our dear Baron."

  "Why would the Baron listen to him?"

  "Because the Baron is attracted to Steve Comlin."

  "What! Whatever makes you think that?"

  Nadine laughed. "Trust a woman to know. Franky sees it."

  I mulled that over. "Okay, say it's true. How does that help us?"

  "Once Franky convinces Steve—and she will—and then she explains what he needs to do with that—and she will—Steve will start manipulating the good Baron over to seeing our way of things."

  "You sure?"

  Nadine rose and kissed me. "Baby, of course I'm sure. I'm the Cill Darae and I always get what I want. Like this..."

  I yelped and then the Baron was soon forgotten.

  The next day we gathered around the map table in the barn. The Baron refused to make eye contact with me and even had Steve place himself between us. Nadine and Franky stood to the right side of the table and we studied what we were looking at.

  The table had clusters of miniatures placed in the cities and towns. Little ships sat off the harbours at Munsten, Portsmouth and Jergen. I spotted the small garrison at Jaipers. The county of Turgany miniatures were coloured blue and the others, those of the Lord Protector, were red apart from some green ones in Munsten. I figured out those probably represented the Lord Protector's guard—a small army in its own right. What we were looking at were the positions of all the military units in Belkin in advance of a civil war. The south against the north. I felt sick, and I looked up to see the same disgust and fear I felt in Nadine's eyes. Franky looked bored, the Baron was clearly excited, and Steve stood quietly and kept his emotions withdrawn.

  "As you can see here," began the Baron. "We have placed all the units under my Command and those at the disposal of Healy on the map. The information is up-to-date. I have it under good authority that the Fleet Admiral of the Realm and some of his ships have already defected to our side. They are here in Portsmouth and Jergen. The rest of the navy is Healy's but this will be a land war and the navy does not concern us.

  "We have two main objectives, Jergen and Munsten. This is where the bulk of the units are located and represents the greatest strategic gains for whoever holds them. The cities are well-defended and can withstand a siege for far too long to be permitted. We own Jergen. It is my capital here in Turgany. But that does not mean we will hold it. To win this war, we must hold both the cities.

  "Unfortunately, we do not have the strength to hold both cities simultaneously. For this reason we will hold Jergen and close the south off from the north at the Crossroads. I will divide the realm and force the Lord Protector into parley. My goal is clear: return the land to a monarchy. Enough of this revolution nonsense. The realm has seen enough turmoil. But there will need to be changes. We need a king on the throne. But no longer will a king have absolute powers. A cabinet of representatives of the people will provide guidance and veto bad decisions. It wil
l be a time of prosperity. Peace will be allowed to return to the realm."

  Peace? I thought aghast. There has been peace. The Baron would start a war to bring terror and fear into the people in the name of peace. He frightened me. I didn't see the need for any violence at all.

  "Who will be king?" I asked.

  Steve and the Baron glanced at one another. The Baron answered me. "Me."

  "You? Who decides that?"

  "Will, Lord Windthrop is the only noble with blood lines to the old King. He is next in line. The succession is clear."

  "Is that what this is all about? Making him the King?" I glared at the Baron. "Why not just declare yourself king now and ask the Lord Protector to step aside?" I asked.

  "Because that won't work, Will," answered Steve for the Baron. "The Lord Protector would never willingly give up his power. He would respond with his armies and navy. He would kill Lord Windthrop and execute anyone involved, no matter how remotely. We've looked at many courses of action over the past months. Of all of them, this plan, the one that secures our position in the south and places Lord Windthrop on the throne, protects the people and produces the least risk, with the greatest chance for success, and the least loss of life.

  "There are other factors you should be aware of. One, Frederick Bairstow, is on our side already and he's in the castle and watching the Lord Protector. He has been corresponding with our good Baron here. It seems Healy has been embezzling heavily from the realm coffers for years. He wants to arrest Healy but fears the power and reach of Healy. The entire cabinet is under his thumb and he says the military of the realm is no longer truly under his direct Command. Two, his brother Brent, who we met here months ago, was the head of the Lord Protector's Guard and could have secured Munsten in a heartbeat and made this simple for us. No longer. The new head of the Guard has moved out those loyal to Brent. Munsten will not fall to us and the Lord Protector is now far too protected.

  "We need to show strength in the south and then make our demands from that position. The north could rally and attack the south but that would prove too costly. The Army of the Realm is not large enough to contain the south. This is a simple plan. We make use of our strengths and then get what we want. Healy doesn't have the forces to push us out and once we make it clear Lord Windthrop intends to take the throne, we hope to erode his base support. The south feeds the north. If necessary, we will force an embargo. Starve them out if need be. In time Healy will have to step aside. It is a good plan, Will."