Excellent point. Broden did nothing but keep up until she gained Ash’s wall, then ascended it to the very top, giving her the best vantage point possible.
Pulling out a pair of magical glasses from her coat pocket, she put them on, enhancing her vision so that she could see far out in all directions. For several minutes, Ashlynn panned the full area, taking it all in. Regarding the wall in progress with satisfaction, she said, “It might have gone faster if we hadn’t left, but it’s not bad progress.”
Considering the considerable length of magical markers in place for their barrier-wall, all of which happened in the four days that Broden had been gone, he was hard-pressed to think of this as not-bad progress. It was exceptional progress no matter how a man looked at it. Most of the Dahl-Estolian border was up, with only a stretch in the middle left to be bridged. Edvard and Tierone had already ordered the evacuation of southern Dahl to start, and even as he watched, there were people randomly streaming in. Some of them came in under their own power, others had members of the guard helping them along, but they came.
Broden dared to ask the question that was known to invite bad luck, cautiously hoping that he would not be drawing in fortune’s attention as he uttered the words: “Be we ahead of schedule, then?”
“Not sure of that,” Ashlynn denied thoughtfully, turning to watch some of the people pass her. “But I think we’re more or less on schedule. Which, all things considered, is a minor miracle.”
Actually it was more like a miracle of epic proportions to his mind, considering their lack of manpower and their overwhelming number of tasks to do. Without a firm deadline to meet, mind. It was enough to drive a man to drink.
A family trundled past, loaded up in a cart, the young man leading a team of mules with what looked to be wife, children, elderly parents and perhaps a sibling or two all piled on top. The grandmother was giving young Seth an earful as the guardsman walked alongside. “I ain’t seen any sign of an army yet. Why do we have to go? What about my house? My chickens? Someone has to feed everything and keep up with it or the dogs will get into it, I know they will; why I lost more chickens this past year because of those two scurvy dogs that live next door—”
Seth gave them a pained smile, more of a grimace, and a salute to them both as he passed by. Broden gave him a little wave of the fingers and silently wished him the best. Not everyone had the sense to move or be thankful for the help in moving, he knew, but to be actively ranted at the entire trip up had to strain a man’s nerves to the breaking point.
It was just as well that Ashlynn was NOT in charge of the evacuations. She would have already hexed half of them.
As it was, she stared at the family, the grandmother in particular, with a frown on her face. “Evacuation still going on?”
“Apparently so.”
She gave a nod, not of agreement but of confirmation that whatever internal decision she had made was a good one. “Now I want to talk to Edvard.”
Edvard looked up at them with open relief as they strode into his study. “You made remarkable time! I know you said you would arrive this evening, but how did you do it?”
“The pirates gave us a ride,” Ashlynn stated, as if that was the most obvious thing in the world.
Tierone and Edvard gave each other speaking looks and then turned to stare at their sister with open exasperation. “You made friends with them, didn’t you?” Tierone half-accused.
Oh, was she known for doing things like this? Excellent. That meant he was not responsible for any part of it.
“Of course I did, they’re a good resource. And they’re fun to play with, as long as you don’t trust them.” She gave a double snap of the fingers. “Now, focus. Catch me up to date, what’s happening?”
“Strange things, that’s what’s happening.” Edvard waved them forward and into a chair, looking perplexed instead of stressed, which Broden took as a good sign. “I initially assumed that the message we received warning us of the army’s deployment was from Zigzag.”
“And it no’ be from him?” Broden inquired, taking the chair with supreme gratitude. It was the first time he had been able to just sit without having both eyes trained for trouble in four days.
“No, it isn’t,” Tierone confirmed. Picking up a plate of sliced fruit, he offered it to Broden, who immediately took it. It was the first food he’d seen in almost eleven hours, and breakfast was a distant memory. Ashlynn immediately put her fingers in as well, snagging several slices of pear. “Actually, we have no idea who the message is from.”
Broden stopped chewing and asked around a mouth full of fruit, “Wha?”
“My reaction precisely,” Edvard acknowledged sourly. “Who would warn someone of an enemy’s approach and not take credit for it? Apparently Troi sat on this message for a full two days, trying to verify it, before he finally mentioned it to me. It was another agent of his that gave us the confirmation yesterday, hence my call to you, Ashlynn.”
“Curiouser and curiouser.” Ashlynn chewed, then reached for more fruit. “Alright, we have a spy vigilante. Has he told us anything else?”
“That’s all so far.” Shaking his head, Edvard put the matter aside. “We’ll have to figure this out later. Right now, we have a more pressing matter. Have you checked on the status of the barrier?”
“I have before coming here. It looks like good progress. Will we finish in time?”
“Ash is whining about you deserting him,” Tierone answered with a hint of dryness in his tone.
In other words, likely not.
Ashlynn caught the inflection as well and rolled her eyes. “There’s been a hiccup of some sort, I take it.”
“Slight emergency involving damage to the docks took some of the wizards away. We’ll finish on time, technically, but he wants to stress-test the wall to make sure it will do as intended instead of blindly trusting it to work. Also, we deemed it unwise for Hendrix to gallivant around the country without at least some way to contact us. So someone was diverted to make him several callers and a magical shield or three as protection.”
It was a good thought, that. If Hendrix fell, so did their plans for ending this war without it turning into an all-out war. Even if it meant sacrificing some of their magic manpower now, it was likely worth it in the end.
Ashlynn seemed to feel the same way as she gave an approving hum. “Then is Hendrix gone already?”
“Left as soon as he could. He has the lengthier campaign, after all, with all of the traveling he has to do through Iysh.”
There was truth. Poor lad and the lot with him were sure to be saddle-sore in the extreme after all of this.
Broden turned his thoughts back to the wall. He did not know much of magic, but testing something that was basically a prototype before having it protect a country sounded like a fine idea to him. “So the lass be needed to finish the wall?”
“Exactly.” Edvard pointed a finger at him. “Which makes you default sheriff until she’s free to resume her duties.”
His eyes nearly crossed. “Me again?!”
“You’re her partner. You get to take up her slack.” Edvard’s manner brooked no nonsense. “Actually, I think we should just make you a deputy sheriff and be done with it.”
Ashlynn laughed in open delight. “I love this idea!”
Giving her a weary look, Broden tried not to groan. Of course she did.
“Consider it officially done. Deputy Sherriff, you should know that we’re running short on supplies,” Tierone continued as if Broden had no say in the matter. (Which he did not.) “It’s not a true emergency at this moment but we’re having to ration people.”
They had been on and off rations so many times that Broden was not even fazed by this news anymore. “Any solutions?”
Tierone glanced uncertainly at Edvard. “I think we should approach Windcross.”
Windcross was much closer, as they sat on the mouth of the channel, and it would literally be a few hours trip up and down for them. Becau
se of their location they were a major trade hub, if not a large one, as they were more or less on a mini peninsula of sorts. Broden saw sense in the suggestion immediately but for some reason Edvard frowned.
“We have no trade agreements with them and there’s precious little that we have to offer,” Edvard argued. Only, he himself didn’t seem completely convinced. “You think you can do something?”
“You might not have much of a relationship, but I do. I want to at least try.”
Edvard gave a provisional nod. “It can’t hurt. I think that’s about all the news I have to share. Ashlynn, Broden, you best get back to it.”
“Not until I have a proper meal,” Ashlynn riposted, firmly putting her foot down. “We’ve been run pillar to post, and while the pirates might be a fun lot, they’re not very good cooks.”
There was truth.
Somewhere around late evening, well after the sun had gone down, Broden dared to think it might be safe for him to get some sleep. He had managed on very little over the past four days and being horizontal sounded like a dream to him. In fact, when he got to the point that he was fantasizing about taking his boots off, he knew he had been on his feet too long. Turning things over to the night watch, he trudged back to his room in the castle.
As he reached the right hallway, he saw light coming out from underneath the doorway from Riana’s room. Was she still up, then? As he neared her door, he could hear her speaking, in a proper dialect like a high lady would use. Still practicing, eh? The thought made him smile even as it made him nervous.
Knocking lightly on her door, he heard an, “Enter!” and did so. “Daughter, ye sounded like a proper lady.”
Riana made a face at him. “I still make a fashrie of it from time to time.” Pausing, she asked uncertainly, “Fashrie isn’t a word I should be using, is it?”
“Belike no’,” he concurred, sitting on the edge of her bed. Ahh, sitting was a blissful thing. His fatigue steadily creeped up on him, ready to pounce any second, but he wanted to steal a few minutes to speak with Riana. It felt like ages since he had managed a father-daughter talk with her. “Be ye ready to go, then?”
“Not at all,” Riana denied, but she laughed as she said it. “Bria’s been helping me with my speech, Kirsty meets up with me whenever we can to discuss court etiquette and the like. Still, there’s so much to learn, and most of it isn’t second-nature to me no matter how I practice. Troi keeps reminding me that being from Senn, my cover-identity shouldn’t know everything about court etiquette, so not to worry over it, but…” she trailed off uncertainly.
“Ye will be fine,” he assured her and meant every word. “Whenever we go somewhere new, ye always be the first to adapt to the place. Here, for instance.”
Riana paused, sitting on the bed next to him, really thinking about it. “I suppose so. I’ll be taught more on the trip to Kremser as well. I suppose I shouldn’t be borrowing trouble.”
“The worst mistake a man can make,” Broden counseled, “be this: to be so afraid of making a mistake that he sets himself up for one.”
Putting a hand over her heart, she vowed, “I’ll remember.”
In a lighter vein, the father teased, “Belike Ash be doing just such in regards to the two of ye.”
“Oh, that be why he be dragging his feet, now?” she retorted, reverting back to her own tongue. “I been wondering what be the holdup.”
“Well, that and war taking up the man’s spare time,” Broden added.
“I gave him as much time as me patience has allowed.” Riana’s eyes narrowed, a dangerous gleam in them. “A woman can only be so patient. I be thinking I should take steps soon.”
It was odd, but there were moments like now that Riana strongly reminded him of her mother. That steel determination must be hereditary along with that expression, as Riana could be the spitting image of her mother in that moment. It made Broden smile wistfully. “Ye do that, daughter.”
“Oh? Have I yer blessing, then?”
Repeating what he had said to Ashlynn, he drawled, “I knew from the first moment Ash set eyes on ye this would come about eventually. I have two eyes, Riana. Both work quite well.”
She threw both arms around his neck and hugged him. Broden hugged her back and smiled into her hair. “Love ye, Riana. Ye stay safe out there and no matter how tempting it be, do no’ stomp the little lordlings flat.”
Giggling, she responded, “Love ye too, Da.”
No promise about the lordlings, eh? Ah well.
Chapter Nine
It was strange how perception worked. When Riana had first seen Senn, all those many months ago, it had seemed unbelievably large to her. Cloud’s Rest could fit inside Senn’s city walls ten times over without strain. She hadn’t entered the city properly then, simply skirted around it for Estole, but doing that had told her well enough how big the place was.
Now that she had actually lived in Estole, and seen its amazing growth, Senn didn’t look nearly as impressive in comparison. In fact, it couldn’t really compare to Estole now, being half the size and without nearly as much activity in it. It was, in a way, impressive in a completely different way. As they rode through the main street, Riana leaned her head a little out of the carriage to take in the street better. “It’s so organized and quiet here,” she marveled.
Ash, sitting next to her, chuckled. “The first time you saw the place, you were saying how noisy and crowded it looked.”
“Compared to Estole, the place is quiet,” she shot back, without retreating. The air was crisp and cold against her face and after the hours of stuffy air inside the carriage, it felt very welcome.
“Oh, I grant you that, I just find it funny how your opinion has completely flip-flopped in the matter of months. We’ll make a city girl out of you yet, Riana.”
That part she doubted as she would always feel more at home in the mountains and the forests, but it was true the city didn’t bother her as it had before. Humans were highly adaptable creatures. Given enough time, it all seemed comfortable and familiar to her.
It was a little premature, her leaving Estole now, but they had no other choice in the matter. It was vital that Riana be out of the city before the army arrived. She would simply have to continue her education in the finer manners on the way and pray that she retained it all.
Riana only had a few days in Senn, long enough to meet “her family,” get to know them and a little about the city so casual remarks wouldn’t catch her off-guard. It didn’t leave her much time, which was the other reason why she had her head hanging out of the window. She needed to memorize every facet of this place that she could, while she could, and pray that it all stuck in her head.
The drive was a short one, taking them directly to a snug inn that lay only a short distance from the main gate. Ash took a moment to don his glamour mask, one that made him seem like a man with nondescript looks. They pulled out in front and Ash, proving that he could play the part of a gentleman well when necessary, stepped out first before giving her a hand down. Riana truly appreciated the gesture as she was not used to all of these voluminous skirts. She’d been in them near constantly for the past four days, striving to get accustomed to them, but how was a woman supposed to adapt to eight extra layers overnight? And heeled shoes for that matter? Maneuvering that bulk through a narrow carriage door was no mean feat.
With her feet on solid ground, she looked up at the charmingly decorated inn. Supposedly, Riana was to meet her new spy partner here, a Cyr Woelfel. She felt a little nervous at this meeting, butterflies jumping about, and she kept smoothing a hand over her stomach to try and settle herself.
Ash put his arm around her shoulders for a brief moment, leaning in to murmur against the top of her head, “No need to be nervous. If he steps out of line, I’ll hex him for you.”
The offer made her smile. “You are a dear, Ash.”
“Of course. It’s why you like me. Now, chin up and in we go.” Extending his arm, he waited until she put he
r hand in the crook of his elbow, then led them confidently inside.
A scarecrow thin man with a handlebar mustache and deep blue eyes met them near the door and gave a bow. “Welcome to Sparrow Hill. Would you like a room?”
“We’re here to meet someone,” Ash denied. “Is Lord Woelfel here?”
The professional smile of welcome sharpened into one of recognition. Riana knew, by that expression, that this man had an idea of who they really were and why they were here. It made her wonder—just how much of Senn would be in on this deception? “He is and waiting on you. I will show you the way.”
They followed him quietly out through a side door that led into a narrow hallway, continuing down it until they reached an airy room made mostly of windows. It was a sunny place, and with the modest fire going in the back corner, the space was borderline too warm. Seated at a small table near the windows was the only other occupant of the room, supposedly Lord Cyr Woelfel.
Riana studied the man openly. So this was the spy that was to be her partner for the upcoming weeks? He didn’t look like a spy at all, but a dandy. His black hair was artlessly combed back in a rakish style, blue eyes sparkled with humor, every line of his clothes perfectly pressed and without an errant piece of lint anywhere on him. He looked, in every respect, like the playboy he was rumored to be.
She was not about to believe her first impression. After everything Troi had told her, she knew better.
“You have visitors, Lord Woelfel,” the innkeeper announced with a deferential bow.
“Yes, so I see. My thanks, Venn.”
Dismissed, Venn quietly left and closed the door behind him.
Cyr Woelfel crossed to her and gave an elaborate bow even as he smoothly picked up her hand to place the barest hint of a kiss on her knuckles. “My lady. I am perfectly enchanted.”
Not missing a beat, she gave him a curtsey, snapping open her fan so as to cover the lower half of her face in a demure gesture. “My lord, I am flattered in return, to be greeted by so handsome a man.”
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