by Curtis, Greg
All around her as she waited to be called to stand before the assembly there were people. Far more than there should be in a town this size. Most of them she guessed weren't from Brunna Nye. Some of them looked like refugees. Many were soldiers, town guards and custodians both. All she assumed were waiting to be given instructions. That was to be expected she supposed. Even when the Great Assembly had already been in in session for five long days.
While normally Nyma would spend some time with the other custodians, even though none of them were from her own watch in Ilendigo, she had no time for that this day. For the moment she was both a witness – and so expected to keep herself apart from others until after she had given her evidence – and out of place. She wasn't just a long way from home in terms of leagues, but in terms of everything she knew. None of what she was seeing all around her was normal. None of it was right.
And then there was the fact that she would soon be standing before the Great Assembly. It was Nyma's first time before it, and she was nervous. Even though she knew exactly what she had to say and that her task was only to give the facts. She wouldn't be asked asked to give opinion. Other more learned people could do that. Other more learned people like the rest of the Great Assembly. She was merely a custodian.
Not that the members of the Great Assembly were nobles or lords.
The humans wouldn't understand that Nyma knew. Just as she found it difficult to understand that there were such people as kings and lords in the world. People who were born to positions of power and responsibility instead of promoted to them because of ability and worth.
But then much of the human realms made little sense to her. The people made sense – the ones she dealt with – not the nobles and lords. They were like everyone else. Harl made sense, especially since he gave his work away. He understood a cause greater than himself. He understood that he was only a part of a community, even if he sometimes seemed to talk too fondly about wealth and having a successful business. The life he had had and the life he dreamed of returning to.
But the court and the nobles and the wealthy, they made no sense at all. Why would someone want all that wealth? To live in these grand mansions and castles? To have people serving them as though they were invalids who could not care for themselves? It was wrong.
And then there were their endless gods. Why so many gods? Surely everyone knew there were but three? A family above as below. Just as it should be.
The laws though were what truly bothered her. How was it that a man could be born to create laws for others? Or that any should think such laws just? The laws were for all and so should be created by all. But the humans didn't seem to understand that. Such a simple understanding, yet it was completely beyond them. Clearly humans were a simple people. Some days she wondered how they had achieved even as much as they had. With so many failings it was a wonder that they'd achieved anything at all.
She knew that they wouldn't understand the Great Assembly or that it could be held in a simple town hall that could have been in any of their towns. The humans would have built some massive edifice – a castle maybe, to hold their court. But not her people. That was madness. After all the Great Assembly had to move to where it was needed. Currently it was meeting in the town hall of Brunna Nye, a town happily not that far from her own home town of Ilendigo. When this was over it would be only half a day's ride home.
The humans wouldn't understand the members of the assembly either; the idea that thirty souls could simply be chosen from among the other assemblies that ran every town and village in the realm. While these people were learned, recognised for their skills and their character, they weren't nobles. They were artisans, farmers, soldiers, fathers and mothers, artists. Not one of them had any title. None of them owned any great wealth. They weren't even dressed in finery. They were of the people they served. And that was how it should be.
But what the humans would truly never understand was that Nyma knew none of the members who made up the Great Assembly. Not just because they weren't famous lords and ladies. But because they weren't even permanent members. Those on the assembly were chosen to attend by their people, but only for a short time. For one to three years generally. And after their time was finished they would return to their normal lives. To be asked to sit on the Assembly was considered not an honour but a duty. A hardship borne because it had to be. And no one could be asked to give up the rest of his life simply for duty. Not when there were others who could take up that duty in time.
Humans though would want to do so. They seemed to spend their entire lives trying to achieve things. To gain wealth and status. To obtain a title if they could. For them the thought that someone could reach a position of authority and then simply put it aside to return to his old life was beyond their understanding.
Still, as the wise ones said it was best not to dwell on criticism. Neither of others nor yourself. And that was especially true when she was standing there waiting to give her evidence.
Nyma didn't have to wait long. That was one of the other differences between the Great Assembly and human courts. There was no ceremony or formalities to go through. She would be called forth once the previous speaker had finished and his evidence had been discussed. She wasn't even asked to swear an oath of truthfulness. That was assumed. Instead, when she stood in the middle of the hall before the thirty she was simply asked to speak. So she spoke.
She began with her sister's words of course, and the thoughts of the war masters she travelled with. Words that were already weeks behind the time. A pigeon would have been faster. But a pigeon could only carry so much information and a note could not be judged in the same way a person could. You could not know if the words on a note were fact or guesses. And you could not ask what else a note knew. But both of those things were asked of her.
Nyma told them what she could of the war and of the unexpected turns that had been taken during it. And then when she was finished telling them of that she told them of the attack she had seen. And of what the dying wizard had told her. That at least seemed to raise a few eyebrows among the Assembly. Though naturally they would not tell her what they found so interesting. It was not the Assembly's way to discuss such things with those who gave evidence.
But one thing she did notice. When she mentioned the name Terellion members of the Assembly abruptly started to become more interested, sharing glances among one another as they sat there. They obviously knew the name. That surprised her a little. She had heard it before of course. As she'd travelled throughout the five kingdoms it had come up. He was one of the Circle wizards. But most of her people would not have paid any interest in human affairs. So why would they know his name?
One other thing did occur to her – but not until after she had finished giving her evidence and been dismissed to wait for a decision. It was the lack of surprise. For some reason they weren't taken aback in the slightest to hear that the false temple was suddenly at war with itself. Which she guessed must mean that they'd heard similar stories from others.
After she was dismissed the rest of her day was spent waiting. Waiting for a decision to be made and for any orders she might be given. There were other witnesses still to be heard and deliberations to be made. She wasn't even certain if a decision would be reached this day. Although the Great Assembly had already been in session for five days, and though it was almost unheard of, she guessed that it could become six easily enough.
It was a long wait. The morning dragged through until lunch, and the lunch until afternoon. And during that time she could do nothing but wait and wonder where she would be going next. When she could return to her sister and then to her lover. It was nearly evening when Assemblyman Jarris came out on to the steps to address the people. When finally she and the other people were called back into the hall. Or actually just to its front where they were addressed from the steps. There were simply too many people for them to fit inside it.
“Good people.”
Assemblyman Jarris stood
before them, the chosen spokesman for the Great Assembly. He stood straight and firm as he should having been entrusted with the duty. But he also looked distressed, as no assemblyman should ever look.
“Over the past five days we have been meeting. Listening to the reports of the war, and trying to determine the wisest course of action. What towns we need to protect. Which towns we need to evacuate. Where and when and how we should attack. Where we should defend.”
“It has been a terrible task, especially when we have known at every turn that the lives of our people have been in jeopardy.”
“For the most part we have chosen the path of least conflict, choosing to retreat from the smaller towns and villages to save lives, and attacking the enemy only when the numbers and conditions were in our favour.”
“But today we must choose a different path. Today we choose war!”
There was a stir among the people when he said that. Glances of disbelief and even disagreement sent his way. It was a very shocking thing for a dryad to say. But it was still something Nyma had known was coming – sooner or later. You couldn't just keep retreating forever, and harrying the enemy with the occasional strike. Eventually you had to hit back hard. You had to use everything you had. And you had to punish your enemy so they would learn never to do such a thing again. That time had finally come, and much as she hated the thought of war and killing, she agreed with it. After seeing what had happened in the five kingdoms after these false priests had come, she very much agreed with it.
“Recently there have been reports of a break in the enemy's ranks. The wizards and the soldiers have broken away from the dark priests and the creatures and headed back to the Kingdom of the Lion. The enemy has been weakened by this. And now we have three new reports of these two forces, fighting with one another. They have begun destroying themselves, and we must and we should take advantage of that.”
Three reports? Nyma hadn't known that. But it made sense. After all, what were the chances that the attack she had come across should be the only one? The humans had a goddess – Tyche the Blind, Mistress of Fortune. She would have had to have been working very hard to have brought that coincidence about.
“First we will remove these invaders from our realm completely. And then we will advance into the Enteria Regency.”
That drew a collective gasp from the audience. He was talking about invading another realm, and that was something the dryads had never done. It was also not something they would ever have wanted to do. Even Nyma was caught by surprise. But again she knew it was the right thing to do. They had been attacked most grievously. Their towns had been destroyed. Many of their people were dead. And the enemy they now knew to be an army of demon bonded thralls as well as a usurper of their faith. They needed to be fought. They needed to be brought down. They needed to be killed. Demons and their thralls could not be allowed to live in the world.
Of course she realised as she stood there listening to the assemblyman, this meant she wasn't going back to the Rainbow Mountains for a while. Her time there had been permitted as part of her duties while she was acting as an envoy to her sister. And before that while she had been acting as a scout. Now that war had been declared, that would end. Every soldier, every guard and every custodian would be expected to stand and fight for their people. It was just the way it was. To add to that, soon the Enteria Regency was going to be a battleground. Crossing it would become much harder.
She sighed quietly. Though it was what had to be, Harl was not going to be happy.
Chapter Forty Nine
Her family home was exactly the same as it had always been, and that came as a relief after all she'd witnessed. In fact it made Nyma smile. But she'd known it would be all right. Reason had said as much when the town was the same and the fields were still covered with vines, though of course there were no grapes because of the season. If the enemy had been here the town would have been burnt to the ground, there would be blackened bodies everywhere, and the sky would have been filled with carrion crows. She would have been told if that had happened as well. So, long before she'd arrived she'd known it would be fine.
But there was a difference between knowing something was so and seeing it with her own eyes. A big difference. And seeing the home standing there proudly was a blessing from the Father and the Mother both.
It also appeared unharmed. The split log walls still retained the colour of the wood without a sign of charring. The slate roof tiles were even and straight. The glass in the windows was unbroken. And the gardens were untrampled. Her mother would have been very upset if they'd been harmed.
It was a good home. A well built one with plenty of room for a family of six, though of course these days only her parents lived there. The rest of her brothers and sisters had homes of their own. She was the youngest of the four, save of course for Erislee. Her little sister though would be welcome there. Even Erislee's mother would have been if she still lived. Father's mistake as Nyma's mother called it, had long been forgiven.
Nyma cantered up to the front yard and then dismounted, tying her horse to the railing before heading inside. It was the middle of the day and no one had known she was coming, so she knew that her father would be at work. But her mother would be inside doing the chores as she always did before she went out for the afternoon to help with the school. So it came as no surprise to walk in through the front door and find her on her hands and knees scrubbing the floor. It was little more of a surprise to feel tears trickling down her cheeks when she was holding her tight once again. But a welcome one.
Unfortunately it didn't come as much of a surprise either when her mother burst into tears. But then she knew as did everyone else, that war had come to their lands, and that Nyma was going to war. All the custodians were. Nyma was only there for an hour or so before she joined her fellow custodians at the lodge and they prepared to ride.
Her mother had never been happy with her choice of career. The family were vintners as she had told her again and again. They made wine. They didn't go out to fight. But she had accepted her decision eventually, something that was made easier by the fact that at that time they hadn't been at war. In fact war was all but unknown to them. Custodians mostly protected the people from a few brigands who wandered into their lands and wild beasts. It could sometimes be dangerous, but not often.
She'd been less happy when the five kingdoms had descended into chaos and Erislee had been taken. When Nyma had been out riding the five kingdoms searching for her. But in time she'd accepted that Nyma was capable at what she did. She could stay hidden and out of trouble even in lands that had turned violent.
But this – riding into war – was different. It was her mother's greatest nightmare. And Nyma felt terrible for having to cause her that pain. But there was nothing to be done. As she sat there at the table, a cup of hot saffron tea in her hand, and watched her mother's tears fall, she still knew it was out of her hands. She was a custodian. She had taken the oath and sworn to ride by her brothers and sisters no matter what. This was a part of that. But even if she had been given another choice she knew she would still have ridden. It was who she was.
Others could grow grapes and tend the fields. They could teach the children and care for the ill. She was a custodian. She fought for those who needed to be protected.
Harl understood that she thought. He respected it. Though he wasn't a custodian and his heart was never that of a soldier, he understood that some people had to stand and fight. It was that failure that had torn him apart. That he had not been able to stand. He had tried, she knew that. But in the end one man could not be an army. So he would understand this. He wouldn't be happy about it but he would understand it.
Thinking of Harl reminded her of another matter. The reason she'd known she had to come. And it was also the reason she was so nervous. Going to war was far less frightening than having to tell her mother this. Dying was far less frightening. Especially when all her older brothers and sisters were happily married and
raising families and all of them kept wondering when she'd do the same. And though they didn't actually say it, they disapproved of her choice to remain a custodian free from family ties.
“Mother.” Nyma had to wait for her mother's tears to dry and then repeat herself a few times before she could listen. But when she did she took a deep breath and told her mother the other news of her life.
“Harl and I have agreed property rights.”
Maybe she thought, once the crying started in earnest, she could have chosen a better time. But at least she hadn't yet told her the rest. That she might be with child. Then the tears would not stop.
Chapter Fifty
Harl sat on the rough bark of a fallen log he used as a bench in front of his house and brooded. He'd been sitting there for hours like that, doing nothing more than feeling sorry for himself. It wasn't something he normally did and he hated the fact that he was doing it now. Which was why he'd got up and brewed a small pot of tea for himself at one point. Anything to convince himself that he wasn't doing this. He wasn't the sort given to moping like a forlorn moon calf. Especially of late.