Arrows of Revolution (Kingmakers Book 3)

by Honor Raconteur

  The price for food in the market was astronomical and it would have become insane if Edvard had not put a cap on it. Ashlynn took it upon herself to go through the market at least twice a day and she kept an eagle eye on the prices. Anyone that tried to jack it up a little got a harsh scolding from her and was forced to sell things at a discount for the rest of the day. After that first day, the merchants had learned their lesson, and they did not try any other shenanigans.

  It did not stop Ashlynn from keeping an eye on matters though. She stalked through the marketplace with the caller held up to her mouth, held so that Broden could hear as well. “No, they seem to be behaving after that first day. I’m just making sure they understand that the matter hasn’t changed.”

  “Good, that’s probably wise,” Edvard responded.

  Tierone spoke up, “Do you really not have the time to come here? Meetings over caller are a little awkward.”

  “We have an army pounding at our gates and you’re still asking me that question?” his sister retorted tartly.

  “To be precise, they’re not pounding anymore.”

  Truly, after the first few days, the army’s morale had more or less plummeted. Broden thought it might have something to do with Gerrard raising their hopes with his flickers in the wall only to dash them by making the wall even more impregnable than before. They had moved further up toward Estole, randomly attacking it, only to fail every time. They were obviously testing for a weakness but had not found one yet. Since yesterday afternoon the army had fallen into this waiting mode where they kept an eye on the wall but did not try to bust through it.

  Broden could not really blame them. A man could only try something so many times before the lack of results would get to him. Smarter thing for them to do would be to wait it out. Eventually, either their magic would fail or hunger would force them out. It was the basics of siege warfare.

  “It’s a technicality and you know it. Now, where do we stand on supplies?”

  There was a happy note in Tierone’s voice as he answered, “Windcross has agreed to trade as of last night. The message came in too late for me to tell anyone. They’ve given me a list of things that they wanted, but they agreed to send food immediately. Considering that they are so close I expect an initial shipment this afternoon.”

  Broden stared at the caller in Ashlynn’s hands with complete surprise. “Already? Lad, be that a bit too soon? Surely they be needing a few days to gather things up and actually load it on a ship.”

  “They’ve been doing that while we were negotiating,” Tierone answered dryly. “Really, they wanted to take advantage of our situation and expand their markets; it was the price we were arguing about. While we were finagling, they were loading four ships with foodstuffs. Two for Estole, two for Dahl.”

  Broden let out a breath of relief. Two ships’ worth of food would be a very welcome sight indeed. They were down to one full meal a day and a snack in the morning to tide the belly over. And a man could only survive on short rations for so long.

  “While I’m happy to hear this,” and Ashlynn truly did have a smile on her face, “I’m also a little worried. When word of this breaks, do we expect food riots?”

  “It’s not a thought I had before but you make a good point. People are feeling rather desperate right now.” Edvard hummed in a noncommittal noise of contemplation. “Prepare for the worst. Tierone, what time are we expecting the ships?”

  “Late afternoon is what they told me.”

  “Then, Ashlynn, I want you on the docks with guards set up. If anyone asks, tell them we’re getting in a shipment of supplies and it will be available at normal market prices by morning.”

  Broden thought that was a good way to arrange things, but was also aware that a great many people were displaced right now with no source of income. If they did not give some means to those people to earn the food, then they would be inviting trouble.

  “Edvard, we have many a refugee that do no’ have much money to his name. Can we hire these people to help on the docks in off-loading and delivery? With them, it can be payment in kind.”

  There was a pregnant pause. “And this is why I bless Ash for bringing you to us, Broden. You always see the angle that I somehow miss. Yes, do exactly that. From your tone, you already have people in mind?”

  Broden felt unsure what to do with this unexpected praise, and had to clear his throat before answering. “I do.”

  “Then you contact them and arrange things. Tierone, how much food did you order?”

  “Enough to feed everyone three full meals for about two days.”

  That was a ridiculous amount of food. Broden did not underestimate the sheer volume of groceries it took to feed this many people. Just how large were these ships?

  “Then, Broden, for anyone that works for you, they can carry off two days’ worth of food for one person.”

  Broden wanted to protest, but that actually was about fair, payment-wise. “If I can find other tasks for them to do, the same payment can apply? Most of these men have more than one mouth to feed after all.”

  “Of course. Be creative,” Edvard encouraged, tone upbeat. “I want my people fed, I just can’t afford to do it for free. Find things that need doing, something that will take the pressure off of us.”

  “I can think of something right now,” Ashlynn piped up. “I’ll hire a dozen housewives and a few children to monitor market prices for me. They’ll report to Miss Hadley. That will buy me a few hours a day.”

  “Do it,” Edvard encouraged. “If there’s anything you can delegate, by all means, do so. You only needed to give the initial threat and follow through with a punishment—the merchants know you’re serious now. As long as you have information coming in to ensure that they aren’t playing while your back is turned, it’s fine.”

  He, for one, was happy Ashlynn had thought of this idea. There was no one more sensitive to prices than a housewife who had a household budget to manage. Broden could think of several women that would be good at it, too. Ashlynn likely planned to use the children as runners, sending the information back and forth quickly, so the women were not run ragged trying to do it. It spread the work out and gave more than one family means to bring food in. All in all, a good system.

  “Is there anything else?” Ashlynn prompted.

  “Not that I know of. Keep me updated on the progress at the docks.”

  “I will.” Ashlynn ended the call and stopped dead on the side of the street, thinking hard. For several seconds she stared blindly ahead before speaking. “A dozen women likely won’t be enough for this task. Miss Hadley will need help when the information is given to her, to make sure that all the numbers are staying consistent. I better get two dozen together, some to work at the castle, some to be here in the market.”

  She was likely right. The only reason that enabled Ashlynn to manage it alone before this was that she just scared the merchants into line, not that she was able to track all of the prices at every shop. “Then we best gather people up quick-like.”

  “Divide and conquer,” Ashlynn stated decisively. “You get the men together, I’ll get the women, and we’ll meet at the docks in the afternoon.”

  With a nod, Broden agreed and took himself off. The first place to go would be the Dahl refugee camp, on the outskirts of Estole proper. He did not know many people there, just a handful, but a handful was all he needed to start with. If they wanted to move food quickly off the ships and into merchant hands by morning, then they would need quite a number of people. Broden had done so many things similar to this that he could work out the logistics in his head even as he walked into the camp.

  He knew who he needed to speak with first and went past a good two dozen tents before finding the right one. “Ho, Master Larek!”

  Larek was a blacksmith, a stropping man that looked like he ate five dozen eggs for breakfast and wrestled bears for the fun of it. His smile, though, made him look a decade younger than his fifty years. They had me
t in the aftermath of that crazy rescue mission, as Larek had been the one to sort people out and get them settled. Broden looked forward to the day that war was not hovering over their heads like a dark cloud, as he wanted to take Larek fishing. The man struck him as someone that would make a good friend. “Ho, Master Broden! What brings you here?”

  Broden gestured him to step in closer and said in a confidential tone, “We have ships bringing in food.”

  This cemented the other man’s attention and he too lowered his voice. “That’s very welcome news. How can we get some over here?”

  “King Edvard has mandated that the food be available in the morning at normal market prices. So people can buy it, aye, but he’s also given permission for me to hire people to move the food to the marketplace. We’ll pay in kind, two days’ worth of food for anyone that works.”

  Larek unconsciously licked his lips. He had a wife and three children himself to feed, and that amount of food would be very welcome. “How many can you hire?”

  “I have two ships, laden to the gills. I need people to off-load and other people to deliver it to all the shops. I be thinking I need at least thirty men for that. I’d like to hire another two dozen men to act as guards for the docks, to prevent riots.” Repeating himself, Broden emphasized, “Every man that works gets two days’ worth of food, no matter the task. Who can ye recommend to me?”

  “I know most of the people you need,” Larek promised. “How soon?”

  “Now, man. The ships come in later this afternoon.”

  Larek swore softly, staring up at the morning sun. “Then we only have about six hours to pull everyone together and organize this.”

  “Aye, about that,” Broden agreed. “Why do ye think I came to ye for help? Let’s be about it.”

  Larek immediately spun on his heel, encouraging as he started off, “Keep up with me, I need you to vouch for things.” Spotting someone, he bellowed, “HENRY!”

  “What!” Henry yelled back.

  “Come here, I have work for you!”

  The other man obeyed with alacrity and Broden noticed that at least three other men immediately ducked out of the tent, anxious to see if they could somehow be included in this.

  Gathering up people to work, that would not be the issue. Finding enough work to go around, that…that would take some creativity on his part. Broden silently prayed his brain would be up to it.

  Broden felt a little more than frayed by the time he made it to the docks. He had fifty-six people all set to work, some as guards, some as dockmen, others as deliverymen. Without Larek, he truly would have been lost, as the man settled arguments before they could even form. Even then, they had to turn some men down, as they just did not have the work to go around. They did not want people working on top of each other—that would be completely counter-productive. Broden had to settle on a rotation system, where the next time he needed workers, he’d take the ones he had to refuse. It was not what he wanted to do, but sometimes common sense just had to win out.

  Now he stood with anxiously waiting men deployed in every direction, with Ashlynn standing next to him. She looked as harried as he felt. Giving her a tired grin, he asked, “Did ye get swarmed by people too, lass?”

  “Don’t ask,” she grouched back. “I’m going to have nightmares as it is.”

  Chuckling, he stared out toward the channel. Time seemed to pass slowly until he finally spotted ships on the horizon. His brow wrinkled in confusion. Granted, his eyes might not be as good as they once were, but even still there seemed to be more shapes than expected. Blinking, he lifted a hand to shield his eyes from the sun and stared harder. “Lass. I be counting four ships.”

  Ashlynn stopped doing her calculations of how much food to set aside and turned to stare in the same direction. “You’re right. There’s four. What’s that about?”

  He did not know. “Call Tierone.”

  Ashlynn was already doing so. “Tierone. Tierone!”

  “Ashlynn I’m in the middle of something, can this wait?”

  “No, it can’t. We have four ships coming in, not two. Did you negotiate for more and forget to tell us? Did they get mixed up and all four are coming here instead of two going to Dahl’s docks?”

  There was a clack as Tierone put something heavy down. “No. Our two have already arrived. Four, are you sure?”

  “I’m very sure, I’m watching them with my own eyes. Did you try brokering a deal with anyone else?”

  “Well, I sent out queries to other places but I didn’t get a very good response. Windcross was willing to barter for lumber and ore as we gathered it at Ganforth. No one else wanted to do that; they were more interested in fine goods and money.”

  Broden had been wondering what Tierone used as a bartering chip. It did make sense—they had plenty of lumber and ore over there; all it would take was some work to get it out. “Lad, whether ye knew of these or no’, they be coming in. I need more men to deal with it all.”

  “Hire what you need,” Tierone encouraged. “I’ll tell Edvard.”

  Not having any time to waste, Broden immediately turned and hailed Larek. The man trotted over, pointing to the ships as he did so. “I thought you said two ships.”

  “Aye, man, that be what the kings be expecting. We have no notion where the other two be coming from, but I know we do no’ have the manpower to offload them with. We have permission to hire more men on. Fetch that other lot that wanted work, will ye?”

  “I’ll be right back with them,” he promised, and immediately set off to running.

  Broden felt nervous about this turn of events. He had no way of knowing that these ships were safe to board. Just on the off chance that they had been sent with nefarious intentions, he went and called for a few guardsmen so that they could do a quick inspection of the ships. If that turned out fine, only then would he set men to offload it.

  With the guards getting ready behind him, Broden turned back to the men at hand and set about restructuring them, as four ships was an entirely different matter than two. The way he had organized them would not work and he needed to clarify which ships they would focus on first. He just hoped that the timing would work such that they could figure out what cargo was on the other ships and what to do with it before his new recruits arrived.

  Chapter Eighteen

  The ships were not in any way booby trapped or carrying Iyshian soldiers. Broden felt frankly relieved because if they had been, Estole was ill-suited to deal with a sudden invasion by sea.

  Troi met them at the docks to investigate by the time all four ships had anchored in. Broden did no more than point people in the right direction and then stay in a central place, on top of a crate, so that he could see what was going on and be available for questions. Ashlynn sat at his feet, ready to take the ships manifests given to her and issue orders of what needed to go where.

  The Rose, Maria, Falcon, and Pirate’s Bane were all fine merchant ships, as wide as could be and stocked to the gills. Their captains came one by one to speak to them, every one of them looking like the sailors they were, finely outfitted for this winter cold. Broden went down on one knee so that he could be more eye level with them, offering a hand of greeting. “Broden Ravenscroft. May harmony find ye, Captain.”

  “Jemond Ridiger, Master Broden. Harmony find you.” Ridiger was of perfectly normal height, with a touch of iron grey hair at his temples that made him look like a dignified forty. “I’m to report to either King Edvard or his Voice.”

  Ashlynn popped up from her seat and offered a hand. “I’m Ashlynn Fallbright, Sherriff of Estole and Edvard’s Voice.”

  The captain looked suitably impressed by this and took her hand in a firm grip. “Harmony find you, Sherriff. This is my brother, Captain Julian Ridiger.”

  Julian looked like his brother except that he had blond hair instead of brown. He gave them a smile and shook hands with both of them. “Pleasure, pleasure. Where do we want to offload?”

  “We have people h
ere set to help you offload and they know where to take it all,” Ashlynn stated with a confidence that Broden did not entirely share. “Just direct them on the ships and they’ll take it from there.”

  “Fair enough, Sheriff. Our employer indicated that you might have goods to give us in return?”

  “We do, Captain, but they’re not ready to be shipped out just yet. We were caught a bit off guard by how quickly this shipment came in. If you could give us about five days? We’ll have plenty for you to transport back by that point.”

  “Understood. Even we were surprised by how quickly we were sent out.” Quillin gave them both a nod. “Then I’ll get back to the Maria.”

  “I would like to sit and speak with you for a while after this is sorted,” Jemond stated with a lilt in his voice to make it more a question.

  “Of course, Captain,” Broden encouraged. “Come and have dinner with us. Give yer men a bit of liberty tonight to go about the town and stay until the morning tide.”

  “I’d be pleased to. Thank you.” Jemond gave them both a brief, blinding smile, then returned to the ship to oversee the off-loading.

  “Good going,” Ashlynn praised in a low voice. “The more connections we have with merchants, the better.”

  “Aye, that be me thought as well.”

  Troi’s attention was trained on the last two captains that headed their direction, obvious by the caps on their head and the merchant crests on their coats. “The real question is, who are these two? I can tell in a glance they’re not from Windcross.”

  No indeed, as the man and woman approaching possessed the swarthy black skin and features of southern Overan.

  The woman was the taller of the two, looking stout and hearty, a professional smile on her face. “I’m Crescencia Versch, captain of Pirate’s Bane. This is my colleague, Skaff Auman of the Falcon. Who am I speaking with?”