Nicholas Raven and the Wizards' Web (The Complete Epic Fantasy)
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“What were your intentions?”
“To defeat the men of the Northern Isles and drive them out, of course,” Arch said. “Well, that was our wish anyway, though most of us recognized from the start that that was an unrealistic aim. Eventually we settled upon ways to disrupt their steady line of rafts going up the Lorren River. We had to try something, though our successes were few and far between.”
“Still, it was very brave of you to try,” Hannah said.
Arch shrugged. “I don’t know if brave is the right word. In the end, we had more meetings with each other than actual clashes with the Islanders. Limited manpower and fear of reprisals had dampened our original enthusiasm. Nothing much happened last year involving our group as the men from the Isles built their rafts with wood from our forests. They stayed away from any population centers, occupying points along the many miles of empty space between villages.” Arch leaned forward with a gleam in his eyes. “However, we have had some successes in recent months and are on the verge of making a name for ourselves despite the possible repercussions.”
“How do you plan to do that?” Nicholas asked, recalling the many conversations he and Leo had with Tolapari as they planned for their journey to Wolf Lake. Arch reminded him of the wizard in some ways as he enthusiastically commented on the political intrigue and economic implications of the current situation.
“I’d love to share that information with you, Nicholas, but I may have said more than I should have at the moment.” Arch noted a look of disappointment on his face. “Yet that doesn’t mean you won’t be privy to our plans, but just not tonight.”
“Oh, tell the boy what plot you’re cooking up and don’t make such a big production out of it,” Hannah said as she downed another gulp of wine.
Arch grinned at his sister. “And I won’t tell you either, Hannah, for the same reason. I’m not at liberty to disclose all the details yet. This isn’t just any operation, after all. Others are involved, too. I have taken an oath of secrecy.”
“That I understand,” Nicholas replied. “But when can you tell me? As much as I appreciate your hospitality and enjoy these surroundings, I can’t remain in Illingboc indefinitely. I must get aboard a ship to the Isles.”
Arch wrinkled his brow, seemingly at odds with his unspoken plans and Nicholas’ desire to find Ivy. He paused for a long moment before coming to a decision.
“I’m meeting with someone tomorrow to discuss our next step,” he said. “If you want, you can sit in on our talk, Nicholas. Maybe you might wish to join us after all the trouble those two Islanders caused you and your friends. And then again, maybe you won’t,” he added, both his tone and expression inscrutable.
“If it’ll help get me any closer to Ivy, I’ll be happy to, Arch.”
“I can’t promise you that,” he hastily replied, raising a hand in mild protest. “Let’s be clear on that point. You may not like hearing what we have to discuss.”
“Now you have me intrigued,” he replied as the fire slowly died down and the corner of the room darkened.
“Me, too,” Hannah said before addressing Nicholas. “And I’m sorry about getting your hopes up when I suggested that I could get you aboard one of the ships. I guess I was assuming certain things about my brother’s plan to deal with the Island threat.”
“I guess we’ll both be surprised,” he said as he downed the last of his wine. “In the meantime, Arch, I’ll take you and your wife up on that offer of a bed and a good night’s sleep,” he added with a yawn. “My accommodations lately have been floorboards, barn floors and hard soil since I left the Citadel. I haven’t slept in a real bed since I was a guest in Morrenwood.” Nicholas scratched his head as he stretched, already on the verge of a deep slumber. “I hope I haven’t forgotten how.”
CHAPTER 59
A Seaside Chat
Nicholas slept late the following morning. When he opened his eyes and felt his head sunk deep in a soft pillow and his body collapsed upon a feather mattress, he smiled, unable to remember when he last enjoyed an uninterrupted night of restful slumber. He heard voices in the rooms below and inhaled the tantalizing scent of bacon and eggs that finally nudged him out of bed. After he washed and dressed, he joined Hannah, Arch and Natalie for a leisurely breakfast in the dining room. Brilliant sunshine peeked through gauzy white curtains and reflected off the burnished wood floor.
“Natalie insisted that we postpone breakfast until midmorning to give you a chance to rest,” Arch said as he munched on an herb biscuit with hot cinnamon tea.
“Thanks, but you didn’t have to change your schedule to accommodate me,” Nicholas replied. “I’m used to waking up in the early morning, though I did enjoy the extra sleep.”
“So did I,” Hannah admitted, “which is why I suggested a late breakfast to Natalie before I retired last night.”
“And as Eva is back this morning cooking in the kitchen, I had no objections,” Natalie said with a chuckle.
“I’m glad everyone is in fine spirits,” Arch said, indicating for Nicholas to dig into his meal. “Natalie, if you and Hannah would like to stroll through town, I’ll drive down the coast a few miles with Nicholas. We’ll only be gone a short while.” He looked at his guest. “There’s something I need to show you.”
“Sure,” he replied as he helped himself to more bacon off a fine white platter. “Where are we going, Arch?”
A cool breeze pushed billowy, white clouds eastward across the sun-splashed sea later that morning when Nicholas and Arch left Illingboc. A pair of chestnut-brown horses pulled them in an open cart along a hard, dirt road parallel to the coastline, the water a short distance to their left and acres of low grass and scattered farmland to their right. The village of Reese, the next community in their direction, lay twenty miles ahead. But Arch only needed to travel three miles down the coast to show Nicholas what he wanted.
“Until last year when the first ships from the Northern Isles arrived, the villages scattered up and down the Crescent pretty much ignored the outside world,” Arch explained as they moved down the coastline. Distant waves lapped against the sandy shore. “And I don’t say that in a smug way. It’s just that most folks living around here enjoy life without worrying about the predicaments plaguing other parts of Laparia. We have enough of our own troubles, especially with the rough winters and occasional bad growing seasons. But we’ve endured for generations, and as our population and small industry slowly develop, life will get steadily easier. But right now–”
“–you weren’t expecting the Islanders,” Nicholas said.
“Exactly.” Arch focused his steely, brown eyes on the road ahead as the wind tousled his hair. “That forced the leaders and businessmen in our communities to rethink how we operate and endure as a group. Forced us to consider how to defend ourselves from threats other than the usual, minor types that crop up from time to time.” He offered a faraway smile as they moved steadily down the road. “I suppose we were a bit naïve to think that the outside world would never find us, or to at least imagine we would be ready when it finally did. But here we are.”
“Still, you’ve recognized that something needs to be done,” Nicholas said. “That’s a start.”
“A few of us have, but many up and down the coast hope the Islanders will simply disappear from our shores after they finish their dealings with Kargoth. Many don’t want to consider the possible alternative–a very unpleasant one.”
“That the Islanders will stay?”
Arch nodded, explaining how some members of the respective communities had gathered to discuss their common problem and what to do about it. “As I said yesterday, we didn’t accomplish much last year. We discussed raising some type of combined army among the villages even though we didn’t yet have the population base to face a real military threat. But it was a minor first step.”
“You’d be surprised how a few good leaders can shape a group of untrained men into proper soldiers,” Nicholas said. “While in Morrenwo
od, I trained for a few days with some of King Justin’s finest in preparation for my journey to Wolf Lake and learned quite a bit. I admit there’s much more that I don’t know and probably never will, but strong, dedicated men like you can accomplish great things.”
“I’m not a military leader, Nicholas, nor pretend to be.”
“But you bring other types of leadership to assist those who can run a proper military, Arch. That includes raising finances, recruiting the right people for the job and having the passion to see it through,” he said encouragingly. He told Arch all he had learned about the results of the war council. “When good men and women get together to fight a just cause, much can be accomplished with few resources. I’ve seen it up close.”
“Your words comfort me, Nicholas. Yet having sufficient men, swords and ships on your side is a good thing, too!” he added with a laugh. “Your King Justin should seriously consider developing a naval fleet to patrol his shoreline after this latest incursion from the Isles. You said yesterday that the Islanders are in Montavia, too. They are coming at us from two points on this shoreline–and it is a long shoreline.”
“The King may think along those lines one day,” Nicholas speculated. “But right now he has his hands full with part of his army heading to Montavia and the other part to the war between Rhiál and Maranac.” He recalled that King Justin’s troops were to have left for battle much sooner than those going to Montavia. “They may be engaged with Drogin’s men as we speak,” he said, his complexion paling with the somber realization. “Or it may all be over by now, one way or the other. I’ve been on the road for so long that I’m forgetting other people’s lives are moving as swiftly as mine.” He gazed at the water, feeling as separated from his friends as he was from Ivy. “I wish I knew what was happening to them.”
“Your friends are probably thinking the same about you,” Arch kindly replied. “But for now you must each tend to your separate tasks.” He gently pulled at the reins to slow the horses. “This is far enough.” He guided the wagon off the road into a small field with a few straggly trees sprouting up here and there. A small stream nearby wound its way to the Trillium Sea now about thirty yards away.
Arch unhitched his team to let them graze and drink while he and Nicholas wandered to the seashore as the gentle waves lapped upon its sandy surface. Nicholas inhaled the salty air and couldn’t help but recall Ivy’s face with every breath. He glanced at Arch and shrugged, silently questioning why he had brought him all this way when they could have gazed across the water in Illingboc. Arch immediately understood.
“I could have brought you to the shoreline at home, Nicholas, but then you wouldn’t have been able to see that,” he said, pointing across the water.
Nicholas placed a hand above his eyes to shield them from the glare of the sun which peeked out among the parade of swiftly moving clouds. “What am I looking at?” he asked. “I don’t see anything except–” Suddenly he noticed a vague patch of color a few miles out upon the sea that nearly blended in with the water and the constant barrage of shadows passing over its surface. “What is that?”
“That’s Karg Island,” Arch said. “A long and wide piece of land with a few trees and rocks, but not much else. And if you look closely to the right you’ll–”
“Is that a ship?” Nicholas vaguely detected an object bobbing upon the surface near the island.
“Precisely. It sailed here from the Northern Isles. According to my sources, it’s the last ship to visit us before winter sets in.”
“Your sources?” Nicholas asked. “Who are they? And how would they know anything about the comings and goings of ships from the Isles?”
“Because,” Arch said as he ground the tip of his boot into the wet sand, “my sources are from the Isles.”
Nicholas looked at him, for a moment slightly confused until the man’s words fully registered in his mind. His face went blank and he took a step backward. “You’re in contact with men from the Northern Isles? You’re in league with them?”
“Yes,” Arch replied matter-of-factly. “In contact with them, but not in league with them, at least not in the way you’re thinking. The people I’m talking with are on our side.”
“And how sure are you about that?”
“Quite sure. You see, a good number of the soldiers on those ships don’t support their nation’s alliance with Vellan nor have any desire to go to war,” he explained. “Yet the young men of the Isles are forced to serve a number of years in military service or face imprisonment–or worse. Most have no choice, or think they don’t.”
“I’ve heard similar stories at the Citadel,” he replied. “Several of King Justin’s men and other soldiers from Montavia training with them kept Leo and me entertained for hours with tales from abroad.” Nicholas gazed out across the water again, eyeing the ship with interest. “If that’s the last ship of the year from the Isles, when did it arrive? And more importantly, when is it returning?”
Arch understood the point of Nicholas’ question, sensing his desire to board that ship and sail back to the Isles to find Ivy. Yet he knew that the young man would not be very happy once he learned the fate his associates had in store for that vessel.
“The Bretic arrived about a week or so ago. That’s the name of the ship,” Arch said. “It will leave within a matter of days.”
“So all the soldiers that sailed over on that ship are now moving up the Lorren River to Kargoth?”
“Probably, or soon will be.” Arch signaled for Nicholas to walk with him along the shore. “They may be constructing the last rafts now to take them there. You see, I’ve been told–and have secretly observed the operation in part–that after a ship arrives here from the Isles, it anchors off Karg Island. Its captain meets with the administrator overseeing the process. The ship then sails south along the coast to an area between the villages of Great Bear and Pierce.”
“What’s there?” Nicholas asked.
“Nothing but empty space,” he replied. “There are miles of forest and shoreline between those two villages except for an occasional farmstead. No interference from the public. It’s the perfect location for the Island soldiers to make their camps, harvest our lumber and construct their rafts unimpeded. When the rafts are loaded with men, armaments and other supplies, they pole along the shoreline until the sea funnels them into the Lorren River which they follow to Kargoth. The ship, in the meantime, returns briefly to Karg Island before going back to the Northern Isles. Another vessel usually shows up a week or so later to repeat the process.”
“I don’t understand,” Nicholas said. “If the Bretic already unloaded its men and supplies, why is it still anchored off the island and not going home? You said it would leave in a matter of days.”
“I was told that the administrator on Karg Island will shortly sail back to the Isles on the Bretic once he finishes his work for the year,” Arch explained, quietly laughing to himself.
“What’s so funny?”
“I’m recalling a few stories I’ve been told about the man in charge,” he said. “Apparently he is a reluctant administrator at best, having been assigned to his dismal post as a punishment. He’s not a happy or stable individual from what I’ve heard.”
“Serves him right,” Nicholas said. “If he can ruin so many other people’s lives, it’s only fair that he endures some boredom and inconvenience in the process, though it’s far less misery than he probably deserves.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Arch replied somewhat distractedly, his pace slowing as he pointed ahead in the distance. “There’s somebody I want you to meet, Nicholas.”
“Who’s that?” he asked, looking up with a mix of curiosity and subdued suspicion. He noticed a figure on horseback about a half mile away on the road, growing larger as it slowly approached.
“A friend from the Isles,” Arch said. “This is the meeting I mentioned yesterday. My contact’s name is Arteen. He’ll be happy to answer any of your questions.”
A few minutes later, a tall man on a horse veered off the road and sauntered over. He wore a light brown coat with a hood cast over his head, dressed much like anyone else from the local villages. He greeted Arch with a nod as he removed his hood, allowing the light breeze to blow through his mop of dirty-blond hair. Though he was only a handful of years older than Nicholas, there was an air of maturity which hung about him that exceeded his age and was evident in the sharp focus of his light green eyes.
“You brought company,” Arteen said after climbing off his horse and shaking hands with Arch.
“This is Nicholas Raven. He’s friends with me and my sister.”
“Then that makes him a friend of mine, too.” Arteen offered his hand to Nicholas.
Nicholas almost hesitated before shaking it, deciding at the last instant to give Arteen the benefit of the doubt as to his loyalties.
“Pleased to meet you,” Nicholas said pleasantly enough, though in the back of his mind questions and suspicions still lingered. “Arch told me you’re from the Northern Isles and don’t agree with what your leaders are doing in these parts.”
Arteen smiled amiably. “You get right to the point, Nicholas. I like that sense of directness in an individual. And I suppose if you were being completely direct, you might add that you don’t trust me, at least not fully yet.”
“Your observation is an astute one,” he replied with a hint of good humor. “I’ll hold off judgment until you have your say, but at least you don’t look or act like the Islanders I’ve met in my travels recently, so that’s a point in your favor.”
“Thanks,” he replied, glancing at Arch. “So you’ve taken him into your confidence?”
“I trust Nicholas though I’ve only met him a short while ago,” he said. “And given his recent history with your people, he may wish to help us. My sister vouches for him, too.”