by Jane Glatt
“We do not have enough food to feed the whole city, High Bishop,” Thorold continued. “I made that clear in our last conversation. I need to be able to feed my army once I begin building one.”
“But there must be time to replenish the stores,” Valden said. “Surely we can get food shipped from Fallad, or maybe Aruntun.”
Thorold sat back in his chair. His gaze flicked from the High Bishop to Beldyn, who seemed to be paying more attention to this conversation than usual.
“And what do you think, your Highness?” he asked his son.
Beldyn glanced down at the table before he raised his eyes to him.
“I think Fallad has so many refugees running from the witch haters that it’s unlikely they could spare any food for Kingsreach,” Beldyn said. “No matter how much coin we offer them. And I rather doubt that Duchess Avery is feeling very helpful after the poor treatment shown her and her captain.”
Thorold narrowed his eyes. So Beldyn was not as unaware and unconcerned as he pretended to be.
“King Mannel, though he might wish to help,” Beldyn continued. “Would not be able to ship very much during the winter.” Beldyn turned his eyes to him. “Besides, he wants trade with us in order to secure food for his own people. Have I got that right, Father?”
“Yes, yes, you have that exactly correct,” Thorold said. He’d need to think about Beldyn’s response later and decide what it meant. Was the boy simply learning his lessons on governing or was there something more to it? The power of the crown was his, not his son’s - he had to be sure the boy knew that.
“You see, High Bishop,” Beldyn finished. “There is no more food to be had. I would suggest that we encourage every one who can leave Kingsreach before winter sets in to do so. It will be a terrible place to be once the food stores are gone.”
“No.” Thorold slapped a hand down on the wooden table. “High Bishop, you will stop feeding everyone except for your priests but you will not say anything to the people about the shortage of food.”
“But I’ve given my word,” Valden said. “I cannot turn my back on the One-God and his followers down. I cannot.”
“Then you’ll starve with them before midwinter,” Thorold said. “As will the rest of the city.”
The stayed where they’d camped well into mid-morning while Brenna and Dasid discussed how to proceed. She asked Gaskain twice for information before they were all satisfied. Then she contacted Kane.
“How many men are you taking with you?” Kane asked.
Dasid, Brenna and some of the guards would take a wagon and head to the coast, pretending to escort the original shipment of prisoners as slaves to Langemore. They would not stop in Godswall - they could not chance any of the men being captured and taken to the mines and it was possible that someone would recognize Brenna.
Madelay had said that because Brenna had once had altitude sickness she would probably be plagued with it all her life. She had to minimize her use of magic in the mountains - she’d almost died last time.
“About ten, more if some of the men from Thieves Quarter volunteer.” Brenna hadn’t asked them yet but there were a few she thought might want to come. Pater for one. It would be taxing physically, but as a Brother he’d probably want to participate.
“Ten,” Kane said. “Is that enough?”
“It’s the most we can spare. The rest of the men are needed to take the prisoners and Kingsreach folk to Fallad. Gaskain’s already sent more troops but we’d rather he stayed on the other side of the border. That means we need enough men to get everyone safely to Fallad.”
“I need two promises from you,” Kane said. “One, you’ll contact me, with Dasid, every night unless we’ve decided otherwise and two that you won’t hesitate to draw strength from anyone in the Brotherhood you can reach if you need to.”
“I can’t just take strength from people without their agreement, I can’t.” She still felt uncomfortable about drawing energy from Gaskain. He’d agreed to it, even urged her to do it, but somehow it still didn’t feel right.
“Only if you absolutely need to.”
“All right,” she agreed finally. “But I don’t like it. I’ll do my best to ask first but if I need to, I’ll simply reach out and take it.”
“Good,” Kane said. “Then I agree to this plan. Now, let me tell you how successful Eryl has been in getting the people of Thieves Quarter to convert.”
eleven
Kane woke suddenly, his arm tense and reaching for his sword. The room was dark still - it couldn’t be more than two hours since he’d talked to Brenna. He listened intently and heard a creak in the hallway and then a slight scuff at his door. He could see a sliver of slightly less darkness as the door inched open. Carefully he stretched his hand out and clamped down on his sword pommel.
“Kane, are you awake?” came a whisper from the hallway. “I don’t have much time but I need to talk to you. It’s me, Beldyn.”
“Beldyn,” Kane replied. “What are you doing here?” He released his sword and unclenched his fist to search the table for a flint and lamp. “Get in here before you wake up Eryl and his lads.” The door opened wider and then closed before he was able to strike a light. Adjusting the flame he looked up at Beldyn and his jaw dropped.
“Beldyn, you look terrible. What happened?”
“I’ve made a mistake,” Beldyn said. He pulled a chair closer to the bed.
Kane swung his legs out from under the covers, found a shirt and pulled it on.
Beldyn sat slumped beside him. There were dark circles under his eyes and lines of sadness and defeat etched his face, making him look far older than his seventeen years.
“What kind of mistake?” Kane asked. “If you need to leave Kingsreach I could arrange that right now.” It would be difficult and lives could be lost but Beldyn, alive and opposing his father, would be worth the risks.
“No, I don’t need to leave, at least not yet.” Beldyn smiled wanly. “But I’m grateful for the offer.” He hunched even lower in the chair and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “I let my father see that I’m not as oblivious as I pretended to be.”
“Has he threatened you?” Kane asked.
“No more than usual.” Beldyn sent him a wry smile. “But he has added extra guards to watch me. And his annoying clerk Fridrick has been assigned to me day and night. It took me two days to get a chance to slip away. If my news wasn’t so important I might not have dared to come even now.”
“And what news?”
“I need to talk to Brenna, to tell her. She’ll believe me. She lived in his house and knows what he’s capable of,” Beldyn said. He jumped to his feet. The chair scraped on the wooden floor and Beldyn froze. “I’m sorry - I just don’t know what to do about this.”
“It’s all right, Beldyn, we can contact Brenna right now. I spoke to her only a few hours ago.” He pulled his sword out of its scabbard. “Don’t worry,” he said as Beldyn flinched away from the blade. “You remember. I need it to contact her.” He laid the blade on the bed and reached placed one hand on it gently.
Beldyn nodded and carefully moved the chair closer to the bed. He sat and tentatively reached a hand out to Kane’s sword.
As soon as Beldyn’s hand touched the weapon, Kane called Brenna. It took a few moments but eventually she answered.
“Kane,” Brenna said. She opened her eyes and squinted against the light from the fire. “Did you forget something?”
“There’s someone else to talk to you,” Kane said. “I hope you aren’t too tired.”
“Brenna?” came a familiar voice.
“Beldyn, are you all right?” Worried, she sat up in her bedroll, her knife clutched against her side. What was Beldyn doing with Kane?
Wils looked over at her from the far side of the fire, his sword half drawn. She shook her head and he relaxed.
“I have bad news,” Beldyn said.
Brenna sighed. “We need to meet over some good news soon, Beldyn
,” she said. “And maybe some stolen pastries, like when we were younger.”
“I’d like that.” Beldyn’s melancholy came through strongly.
“You have bad news?”
“Yes,” he replied. “It’s about my father’s plans to raise an army.”
“We thought he’d be doing that long before now.” Brenna nodded. “Kane, would he still have time to get them trained?”
“If he has them recruited by midwinter, yes,” Kane said.
“That’s when my Father plans to do it,” Beldyn said. “By midwinter he will starve himself an army.”
“What!” Brenna said aloud, startling Wils. She shook her head at him and concentrated on the old steel. “How can he do that? Kane, would it work?”
“Unfortunately, yes,” Kane said. “Since most merchants stopped coming to Kingsreach, Thorold has almost complete control over the food stores in the city.”
“Because he was taxing the merchants heavily and sometimes confiscating their goods,” Brenna said.
“Yes. It must have been part of his plan to allow him to control all the food in Kingsreach,” Kane said. “He’ll be able to feed any man who joins his army. A powerful incentive if the only other option is starvation.”
“But now the church has been feeding those who convert to the One-God,” Beldyn said. “The High Bishop issued a proclamation offering to feed those who convert, but he did this much sooner than my father had directed. Now the food will not last until midwinter unless the church stops feeding people immediately.”
“Which the High Bishop will have a difficult time doing,” Kane said.
“Yes,” Beldyn said. “He feels strongly that he’s doing the One-God’s work.”
“They should be worrying about rioting,” Brenna said. “Kane, can you get Eryl’s help?”
“Yes,” Kane said. “Eryl and I made sure plenty of people took advantage of the High Bishop’s generous offer, I’m sure I can count on him to keep everyone calm.”
“You helped cause this?” Beldyn’s voice held a tone of respect. “You sent people to the church for food?”
“It wasn’t that difficult,” Kane replied. “Especially in Thieves Quarter. In fact, to not take advantage would be against their natures. Besides, now that the church believes they’ve converted they’ll be safe from the witch haters and won’t be rounded up and shipped to the mines.”
“If I’d been there, I would have been first in line.” Brenna laughed. “Or maybe second after Eryl.”
“Exactly. It’s good that we found out about food shortages now.” Kane’s tone was serious. “Midwinter would be too late. If Thorold plans to feed his army that means many people will go hungry.”
“Women and children, mostly, and the elderly and the ill.” Brenna’s heart constricted. “The very people I spend most of my time helping as a healer. Thank you for the warning Beldyn, we’ll do everything we can to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
“I needed to help,” Beldyn said. “Usually I try not to think about it but there are times when I simply cannot bear to be my father’s son.”
“You can’t let yourself be defined by your kin,” Brenna said. “All you can do is try to do the right thing. And if it means correcting some of the wrongs others do, so much the better.” Brenna paused. “I’ll contact Ewart and Avery and see if they can ship some food. But none of it can end up in Thorold’s or the High Bishop’s hands. Kane, ask Marcus to determine how to get it into Kingsreach and where it can be stored. And see if Eryl can convince more people to leave the city. We need them out now.”
It was almost dawn by the time Brenna settled back down in her bedroll, but sleep didn’t come immediately. She was worried about Beldyn being able to slip back to his rooms. He’d told her that he had an arrangement with a brothel - he’d go in the front door and leave through a small back window that let him onto the roof. The prostitute who had the room was more than happy to take his money and sleep until he came back, no questions asked. Brenna hoped that the men following Beldyn didn’t bother to talk to the prostitute - she’d be just as happy to take their money and tell them that Beldyn didn’t stay with her.
Brenna rolled onto her side and tried to will herself to sleep. Eventually she gave up and stared into the dying fire and waited for dawn. Once the sun was up she would contact Duke Ewart and Duchess Avery and ask them to help ship food to Kingsreach. The city would not starve, not if she could help it.
Even before Dasid had the wagon ready to go, Brenna was already exhausted. Between having almost no sleep the night before and using so much energy to contact people across Soule, she could barely keep her eyes open. She’d left all the arrangements and selection of men and volunteers to Dasid and had curled up in a small meadow, soaking up the weak mountain sun.
“Will you be all right, Brenna?” She opened her eyes to find Neemah settling down beside her, her skirts folded around her legs.
“Just need some sleep is all,” Brenna said. “I got precious little last night. Is Dasid almost ready?”
“Another hour, he said.” Neemah said and Brenna sat up.
“I’m sorry to be taking him away from you.” In the past few days Neemah and Dasid seemed to have come to an agreement. Brenna wasn’t sure of the details but Ronan had been bouncing around camp with a huge grin and both adults involved had been directing not-so-secret smiles at each other.
“Yes, well,” Neemah stammered and Brenna smiled to see a blush on her friend’s cheek. “It’s not like we’re promised or such.” Neemah turned to look at her. “But if you can bring him back safe, I’d appreciate it.”
“Does he know you’ve asked me to look out for him for you?” Brenna asked.
“No.” Neemah smiled. “But I’ve asked him to bring you back safe too so you’ll be looking out for each other. I’ve been told that you suffer from altitude sickness and although I don’t have any libo nuts myself, I know something else that will work a touch. I had it from Mother Lyran two years ago when a man from the mountains was brought into the Swan. Come, I’ll show you.”
Brenna stood and stretched before trailing after Neemah. When she rounded a clump of pines, she stopped. They were almost ready to leave, she thought. Eight men dressed in the clothing of the captured wagon guards milled around a single wagon, harnessing the horses and tying the tarp down tight. She caught sight of a familiar figure and waved.
“Well lass, looks like yer just in time,” Pater said as he walked her way. “Dasid says we’re almost ready to head out.”
“And you’ll be all right coming with us?”
“Pah, I may not be able to walk over these mountains but I can drive a wagon.” Pater shook his head. “Between you and Neemah a man’s like to die of kindness.”
“We don’t want anything to happen to you,” Brenna said.
“I know lass. I’ve got my mountain lungs the past few days, so Neemah says. I haven’t felt short of breath at all. Now, I need to get back to my team. And there’s Neemah, looking for you.” Pater gestured to her left. “Dasid and I thought you could sit with me on the wagon with me. Conserve your strength and all.”
Brenna turned to find Neemah, her arms crossed, standing beside one of the other two wagons. These wagons were piled high with supplies. When Neemah saw her heading her way she pulled a bag from the back of the wagon.
“Here.” Neemah handed her a small cloth bag. “I’ve mixed some things together. You’ll need to take a tea twice a day starting now.”
Brenna sniffed at the bag. “Sweet Anu, what have you put in here?”
“Just a little clove and dried garlic, plus some cinnamon.”
“And I’m to drink this tea twice a day?” Brenna asked, making a face.
“I know it’s a bit pungent,” Neemah said. “But it will help with altitude sickness.”
Brenna took the bag from Neemah. “Thank you.” She hugged the other woman. “You take care. You’re not out of Comack yet.”
“I know,�
�� Neemah stepped out of her embrace. “And we got all those children to keep quiet.”
Brenna stuffed the bag of tea into her pack and searched for Pater. She quickly climbed up on the seat beside him and watched Neemah head back to her own wagon. She’d be walking the whole way to Silverdale, Brenna thought, no doubt letting the former prisoners ride as much as possible.
Then they were on their way with Dasid - dressed as a wagon guard - leading on horseback. There were eight men, all Brothers, dressed in the uniforms of the captured wagon guards, the same as Dasid. Eight former male prisoners, including Pater had also volunteered – six men and two women. Pater had told her that most of the volunteers were looking for kin who had disappeared. They hoped to find them in Langemore and bring them home. Brenna didn’t need to be told that they feared their kin were in Godswall. There’d be no chance to save those people during this trip.
Pater was driving the wagon – the other volunteers remained dressed as prisoners.
Neemah left with Wils and the rest of the militia. They were taking the other two wagons, along with the wagon guards and former prisoners – men, women and children – back down to Fallad. The party Gaskain had sent would meet them at the border. Brenna had sent Blaze back with Wils. She’d be boarding a ship for Langemore as soon as they reached the coast and she didn’t know when or how she’d be returning. She wanted Blaze safe at home.
Dasid guessed they had four days of travel until they hit the mountain pass - from there it would be another three days to the coast. They’d skirt Blackwall and bypass the town. And try to stay away from Duke Thorold’s troops, or course.
Brenna huddled into her coat as a cold wind blew in from the west.
“Are ye all right there lass?” Pater asked her from the seat beside her. It was their second day of travel and despite Neemah’s horrible tasting tea, she was short of breath.