Arrows of Revolution (Kingmakers Book 3)

by Honor Raconteur

  Pondering that question for a moment, she finally responded, “Odd. It be fun at times, but there be moments I want to shoot these young lordlings. They be so full of it.”

  “Trust me, I know.”

  “I canna ken why people want to live here,” she continued, letting her eyes fall closed. Being able to talk about this aloud was actually helping her settle her emotions. Not that she was willing to go to bed yet, but still, it felt nice. “They do no’ say what they actually mean, they smile when they’d rather curse, and they stab each other in the back without blinking an eye. It be the worst sort of battlefield, where lies and whispers do more damage than an arrow can.”

  “Now you understand why Edvard hated Court politics here so much.”

  “Aye, I ken it all too well. And why he do no’ tolerate it in Estole.”

  “He’s developed a fondness for plain speech. It’s served him well. People will tell him outright when something is wrong, instead of making up pretty lies like they do with Zelman.” Turning his head a little, he asked against her skin, “Can you continue?”

  She snuggled in a little harder. “Aye. Just let me rest here a little.”

  “Anytime,” he assured her, warm affection flooding through their bond and into her. “Anytime you need it, I’ll always be here.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  It was a perfectly awful day.

  The blame lay only partially on the weather. It was not truly cold enough to snow, and so it was an icy drizzle instead, more or less steady ever since the predawn hours. The wind came in fits and bursts, just enough to throw up a man’s cover so the rain could penetrate and hit skin. No one wanted to be outside any time at all. But they did not have much chance of hiding indoors.

  An army had come knocking at their door.

  Actually, the Iyshian army had arrived late, very late, yesterday. As soon as Broden and Ashlynn had gotten word that the army was closing in around Dahl, they traveled over to see for themselves what they would do and to be on hand if the barrier needed reinforcing.

  The Iyshian army shot a few arrows along the perimeter of the wall, just to get a feel for how good their shield was, and then stopped so they could make camp. Broden had the feeling that the commander over there wanted to test how long it would take to conquer Estole—if it was a matter of hours, he’d have bulled ahead. But since it was obviously going to take at least a few days, he preferred to make camp first. Truly, it was the sensible approach. No commander worth his salt would think Estole would be an easy win, not after the last two battles.

  Broden stood in the shelter of the guardhouse and watched the Iyshian army in the bleak morning light. They appeared to be not in the mood to stand about in this miserable weather and were quite gung-ho about breaking through the wall. Seeing no discernible progress did not seem to discourage them, instead encouraging them to try harder.

  He stole a glance at the woman standing next to him. Ashlynn had been uncharacteristically quiet most of this morning. It was never a good sign when the lass was still and thoughtful like this. It meant that like as not, something had gone badly awry.

  He was a little scared to ask what.

  Ashlynn had one of her magical eyespecs up on her right eye, gaze trained out of the small square window for another minute more before asking, “Broden. While you were playing deputy sheriff, did anyone report to you about the evacuation of Dahl’s southern edge?”

  “Aye, lass, that they did.” Broden had handled so many logistics and numbers over the past dozen days in Ashlynn’s shoes that it took him a moment to remember what the last report had been. He frowned when he recalled it. “If I ken right, Seth said there be still people down there, and it be a fashrie trying to fetch them out. That be day afore yesterday. He did no’ report to me if he got them all out or no’.”

  “I’m seeing something I shouldn’t.” Ashlynn lowered the glass slowly and replaced it in a breast pocket. “I’m seeing prisoners in the far back, although it’s too far away for me to make out details. There shouldn’t be prisoners in the army at this point.”

  Broden’s ominous feeling from before tripled. “Best we speak with Seth.”

  “Yes, I definitely want this confirmed.” Ashlynn’s tone indicated that it had better not be what the situation looked like.

  For Seth’s sake, Broden sent a prayer heavenward that the lad really had managed to get everyone out. Ashlynn would skin his hide otherwise.

  It was not as simple as them leaving and finding Seth, of course. Moving about in the city never was. Even here in Dahl, that was not the case. Broden noted that even though Ashlynn had done nothing but work on the wall for nigh on two weeks, she still stopped at every marker and gave it a thorough once-over, making sure that the army’s attacks on the other side were not slowly wearing down the magical construct. Every time that she gave a satisfied nod and moved on, Broden breathed a little easier.

  Before this, Broden had only been in Dahl a handful of times. It did not have the same cluttered, nearly claustrophobic feel that Estole did. Until this past week, anyway. With all of the refugees from the southern end now in the city proper, there were tents on top of tents, and even in this drizzling rain there was still many a cookfire sputtering as the women tried to cook. Ashlynn weaved in and out of them, chastising anyone for being too close to the wall but not harshly, as she realized that no one in their right mind got close to the enemy unless there was no other choice. Even the ones that were too close still had more than a stone’s throw of space in between. It would hopefully be enough.

  A loud, shattering sound, like a boulder splintering, rent through the air. Broden’s heart skipped right of his chest and he jumped and spun like a cat, hand automatically reaching for bow and a fistful of arrows. Ashlynn paused with him and drawled, “Settle, partner. It’s just the catapults.”

  “Just, ye say,” he spluttered, trying to put his heart back in his chest. “That be a horrendous sound, lass!”

  “I know it. But after two battles, you get used to it.” She gave him a heartless smile and walked on as if there was not a thing to worry about.

  Perhaps for her there was not. For all of their efforts, even the catapults could not seem to make a dent in the wall. Broden kept a weather eye on the other side as he walked and saw three more boulders hit, shatter, and spray over the Iyshian soldiers. In that sense, the catapult was doing more harm than good for the Iyshian side.

  They finally tracked Seth down in the impromptu guardhouse/sherriff’s office that was, oddly enough, in the center of the tents. The poor lad looked like he had gotten nothing more than a snatch of sleep the night before (like Broden) and was running off of hot tea this morning. He snapped to attention when Ashlynn entered. “Sheriff. Broden. Emergency?”

  And what a state they were in, if that was the first question out of the poor boy’s mouth. “We hope no’, lad. The question stands as such: did ye get everyone out of the area and properly moved up here? Yer last report to me said there still be some left behind.”

  Seth’s wince was answer enough but he dutifully reported, “We were unfortunately not able to get everyone out.”

  Ashlynn gave Seth a look that would make a lesser man quake in his boots and call pitifully for his mother. “Why are there still people there?”

  Seth had worked under the sheriff long enough to not quake or call for his mother, but he did look ready to bolt out the door at the first opportunity. “Um. About that. We tried?”

  Deciding he had better intervene before Ashlynn started giving off magical sparks, Broden asked, “What went wrong, lad?”

  The young guardsman looked pitifully thankful for Broden’s patient query. “Sir, we evacuated everyone willing to go, but we had a surprising number that refused to leave. Mostly elderly folks that don’t travel well, or were worried about leaving their houses behind, that kind of thing. Had a few rebellious ones, too, that just escaped us completely. We did our best to reason with them, but it finally got t
o the point where we’d have to resort to physical violence to get them out. After my last report to you, it came down to a matter of hours before Iysh was on top of us. Captain Bragdon chose to cut our losses and focus on getting everyone we could.”

  It was the only sensible approach and Broden did not blame the man for it. But the mental picture this conjured up made him wince. Old folks and rebellious souls that did not have the sense to leave when help was offered? And now they were stuck in a prisoner of war camp until someone came along and rescued them.

  With a weather eye on Ashlynn, Seth offered tentatively, “Sorry?”

  Ashlynn let out a long stream of air, visibly calming as she did so. Or at least, she went from inherent destruction down to smoldering anger. “I don’t blame my people, Seth. You did the best you could. I do blame the idiots that I’m going to have to rescue, however. They just made my life more difficult.”

  “Once we have them back perhaps we can charge a stupidity tax?” Broden offered, completely deadpan.

  Instead of laughing, Ashlynn contemplated him thoughtfully. “A stupidity tax.”

  That did not have the effect he had hoped for. Seeing that she was actually taking him seriously, Broden rapidly backpedaled. “Wait, lass, I be jesting!”

  “I know.”

  That was not an agreement. Broden tried again. “Edvard will no’ pass such a thing.”

  “Oh, he might,” Ashlynn stated with a knowing nod. “Think about it. It will take manpower, hazard pay, and additional housing in order to rescue these idiots. All of which costs money and time that we don’t have. What do you think he’ll do if I give him an expense report of this operation and then propose he tax our rescued prisoners for the mission?”

  Broden ran that hypothetical through his head and then groaned. “He’d put a stamp of approval on it and pass it back afore the ink could dry.”

  Ashlynn gave him a beatific smile. “My thought exactly. Hence why I’ll do it. Seth, make sure that everyone tracks every single expense, no matter how trivial, and submit it to me.”

  Now Seth was smiling. “Absolutely, Sheriff.”

  There were times when Broden regretted that his mouth often said things before his brain could think it through. This might be one of those times. Although he had to admit that the stubborn people that they were going to rescue should be penalized in some way for not being smart enough to move the first time. He was also of the opinion that being a prisoner of war was penalty enough, though. Now that his suggestion was out, no way would Ashlynn drop it, and the way that Seth had that gleam in his eye said that as soon as the guardsman had left the tent, he was going to spread this idea far and wide.

  Sometimes, Broden really should just bite his tongue.

  Heaving a resigned sign, the archer asked, “So? How we do go about this bit of chicanery?”

  “Slash and grab is out of the question,” Ashlynn stated after giving it a moment’s thought. “We have too many elderly to transport. Seth, what was the exact number?”

  “Seventy-six, Sheriff.”

  “Far too many,” Ashlynn grumbled, borrowing Edvard’s habit of staring thoughtfully up at the ceiling. The way her head rested on the back of the chair would give Broden a crick in the neck, but she seemed to find it comfortable enough, as she didn’t move. “We’d need wagons to pull them all out of there. And wagons are slow.”

  Terribly so. A man could walk alongside and keep up easily with a wagon. Mounting everyone on horseback was not an option, however. To begin with, they did not have that many horses to spare. Just coming up with enough wagons was going to be taxing.

  “I’m not sure how we’re going to pull this off,” Ashlynn finally admitted, turning her eyes away from the ceiling, “but I do know that the wagons are a necessity. Seth, rustle me up some wagons. Broden, we need to go speak with Master.”

  “Gerrard?” Broden did not think this was one of those habitual things, of a student asking the master just because they didn’t know the answer off-hand. “Why?”

  “Master’s got a long and involved history of breaking into places he had no cause to be in,” Ashlynn explained with a wicked smile. “He used to regale us with the stories on long, cold winter nights. If anyone can figure out how to sneak into an enemy’s camp, break people out, and sneak back again, it will be him. So, let’s go talk to the expert.”

  Gerrard took in Ashlynn’s explanation of the problem with a pained expression. They had caught him in the guardhouse, in a makeshift office for the wizards to use while monitoring the barrier. It must be about time for a shift change, as Broden knew that Lorcan and Kirsty were on the barrier now. Gerrard displayed every indication of intending to only grab something before leaving again. Ashlynn’s timing in catching her master had been impeccable. Broden had a feeling that she was only this good at it because of years of practice.

  No one sat, or tried to get comfortable, as the conditions were not such that it would allow anyone to take it easy. They stayed standing even as Gerrard pondered the question. He did not let them stew for long. “Only one thing to do. Bait and lure.”

  Proving she was not just his student in magic, Ashlynn caught on quickly. “Create a fake ‘weakness’ in the border wall, lure the army away from the prisoner of war camp, and then use that opening to rescue them? Will it really be that easy?”

  “Certainly, if done well. The trick is to not make the bait too obvious. Make it a flicker, intermittent, so that it makes it look like we’re running out of power to keep that thing going. They’ll hover around the area that seems weakest, ready to pounce.” A reminiscent smile took over Gerrard’s face. “I did this once as a younger man, about your age actually, and it worked beautifully. The Iyshian army is not yet primed for this, however. Only a day in, they’re not very frustrated. We need to wait a few days until they are over eager to take advantage of any sign of weakness. But Ashlynn, take heed—this tactic will only work once and it’s not going to give you a very wide window to work in. You need to use all speed and have a backup plan in case they catch you before you can get back to safety.”

  “That much I knew. We have so many elderly though that we’ll have to use wagons to transport them all here.”

  That was not the answer Gerrard wanted to hear. He frowned at her, mouth going into a flat line. “Don’t do all wagons, then. Prioritize the wagons for the ones that really need it, get everyone else on horseback, and send them back into Dahl as soon as they can move. Waiting to have everyone mounted will be the death of you. Save who you can, abandon the ones you can’t.”

  Harsh advice, but Broden knew that it was sound. These people had already dug their own grave by refusing to leave when it was safe to do so. They could only afford to sacrifice so much in order to get them back without jeopardizing everyone. Estole and Dahl combined had precious little in terms of a fighting force. They could not allow casualties.

  The tight expression on Ashlynn’s face said she did not like this answer but understood it. “I’ll do what I can to avoid that extreme. But warning taken, Master. Broden, let’s go over the deployment of this again, see if we can do a hybrid of horses and wagons. Master, can I count on you to do the bait?”

  “I’ll handle it,” he promised her. “When do you want it done?”

  “You said we have to give this a little time. How much time?”

  “Two or three days at least.”

  “Then you might as well start your flickers two nights from now. It’ll seem more natural if done over the space of a day with the worst happening on the third night.”

  Gerrard’s brows rose in surprise. “You want to pull together a rescue mission in two days?!”

  “No choice,” she denied with a grim shake of the head. “I don’t have time. There’s too many other problems heading my direction that will demand manpower. If I’m going to rescue anyone, it has to be soon or I simply won’t have the people to pull this off later.”

  Broden could not disagree with her there. �
�We will make it work, man, do no’ fret so.”

  He really wanted to argue this, but Gerrard knew as well as he that Ashlynn did not dramatize anything. If she said it was that dire, it was, and he needed to act accordingly. “I’ll go straight to the wall and start strategizing with everyone else, teaching them what needs to be done. It won’t happen regularly, I can’t promise that, but I’ll make it frequent enough to make them shift away from the prisoners.”

  “That’s all I can ask, Master. Thank you.” Ashlynn, in a rare affectionate moment, darted in to give him a quick, hard hug. Then she grinned and darted out of the office.

  Gerrard looked completely surprised by this hug attack but smiled as she bounced away.

  Knowing that the lass was unpredictable in the best of times, Broden did not question the hug, knowing that it was likely a mix of relief and a need for reassurance. Instead he silently followed her out.

  By the time that Broden caught up with her at the bottom of the stairs, Ashlynn’s mood had switched again to being somber and pensive. She lengthened her stride so that Broden had to stretch his legs just to keep up with her, and even then he was a half-step behind. The lass could move when she was of a mind to.

  Not sure if he should ask, but needing to know, Broden forced the question out: “Lass, if they do no’ take the bait, then what?”

  “Then it goes to the worst case scenario,” she said softly, the words barely audible.

  Having a sinking feeling what she meant, he said more than asked, “We leave them there.”

  The dark glance she gave him was answer enough.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Gerrard was good to his word and started putting ‘flickers’ in the wall. It was nothing more than a patchiness, visible to the naked eye, so that it appeared that the power hiccupped for a moment. Never more than three seconds at a time, long enough to notice, but too short of a time for anyone to properly react to it.