by Scott Kaelen
“The village is in turmoil,” Laulani said softly, passing a mug to Caneli. “Some are convinced that the outlanders never posed a threat to us. They are considering packing up and journeying north.”
“I feared this would happen,” Adri said, accepting a mug from Linisa.
“Others are saying that they can’t stand to live here,” Laulani continued, “knowing, as we now do, that we’re not alone. They are considering heading to the city and requesting to settle there.”
Adri closed her eyes in defeat. “Why would they do that?”
“They are in the minority,” Laulani said, glancing to Caneli. “But some have sick children, or failing parents, or they themselves suffer from one ailment or another. It’s the same fever that once gripped Minnow’s Beck, only much worse.” She paused to blow on her tea. “Eri and Wayland will be seen as martyrs, there is no avoiding that. Some of the villagers admire them for coming home to… to die…”
“While others question why they did not choose to remain,” Linisa added, her expression turning hard. “And then there are those who are calling them ghouls. Ghouls!”
Adri gasped. “There is indeed a rift forming, and it was I who caused it. How can I heal it?”
“You did what you thought was best, Adri,” Linisa said. “Now you must use the knowledge you have since gained, and once again do what you think to be right. There is not one easy answer, but whatever you choose, my sister and I are with you.”
Laulani nodded in agreement.
“But can I stop those who want to head north from doing so? They could pose as great a danger to the village as any outlander who knew of this place. If they want to go, I can’t force them to stay under penalty of the Founding Laws; there are no laws against leaving.”
“And few ever have,” Caneli said. “None in our lifetime.” Drawing a deep breath, she added, “The fundaments of the Founding Laws are strict. Perhaps it is time to loosen them. You alone have that power.”
“Hm.” Adri looked long at the physician. “It is not something I could decide quickly, nor is there time to dwell upon it for too long.” To Linisa, she said, “What of the families of the fallen?”
“Only Tan had any family. Lingrey lived alone in his cabin on Blachord’s farm. Demelza, too, lived alone in old Ina’s shack. And as for Shade…” She spat upon the grass. “I’d have that murderous whore’s head alongside the others on the oak, if it were up to me.”
In her heart, Adri agreed with the sentiment. Eriqwyn had told them how Shade had plunged a dagger into her back. Caneli had inspected the wound, as well as the second one mere inches from the first, and they were both fatal injuries. It was dark business, and Eriqwyn should by all rights be dead. Soon, she would be, but Adri refused to accept that Eriqwyn had already passed on once and was now nothing more than a ghoul. Not Eri, she thought. Not my sister. She will die as the First Warder. “Have you spoken to Tan’s family?”
Linisa nodded. “His sister is worried sick with not knowing if he lives or is dead. Their father…”
“Yes?”
“He left their house several hours ago. According to his daughter, he brooded in silence the whole day, then after a visit from Onwin, he upped and left without saying a word.”
Adri frowned. “Onwin? What is he up to? What else did Tan’s sister say?”
Linisa shook her head. “That is all I know.”
“Would you like me to speak with her?” Laulani offered.
“Yes, please do.” Adri placed a hand on the taller twin’s shoulder. “And hurry, Lani. I fear we are in the eye of the storm, and I would not put it past that hunter to be stirring up a hornet’s nest of trouble.”
Laulani passed her mug to her sister and hurried off across the manor’s garden.
Watching her go, Adri said, “If some of the villagers are determined to relocate to Lachyla, then perhaps I should allow it. Our cousins, however distant and goddess-cursed, have dwelt within that place the whole time, secreted behind the battlements, while we ever presumed the city to be swarming with ghouls as much as the graveyard. And now those ghouls have allegedly all been disposed of.” She shook her head. “How, after all of this, can I justifiably punish any who choose to enter?”
“We’re entering an era of change,” Caneli said, pausing to finish her tea. “I don’t envy your position, but there are questions of morality at play here, and the villagers will need your guidance. Laws are necessary, but so is leniency. My advice, as a humble physician, is don’t fight to keep them all; like any children, some will want to fly the nest, and that is not a right that we can earn – it is the right of freedom. Any who stay cannot consider themselves prisoners.”
Adri smiled mirthlessly. “What have we come to, ladies? Is this what Minnow’s Beck is supposed to be? Our ancestors left the city in the search for survival, but perhaps they got lost along the way.” With a shaking breath, she turned on her heel to face the manor. “I must return to my sister.”
As she entered Eriqwyn’s sleeping quarters, Wayland stirred and looked across. The pain she saw in his eyes was a pain not of the body but of the soul. You poor, brave man, she thought. I am sorry I sent you. I’m sorry I sent Eri. I’m sorry I sent Demelza… The emotion rose and she clasped a hand to her mouth, her chest clenching with repressed sobs as her eyes welled with tears.
“Lady.” Caneli’s hand was on Adri’s shoulder, and the physician reached to take her mug from her trembling hand.
Adri drew a deep breath to compose herself, then another. “I am fine. Please.”
As Caneli withdrew to approach the bed, Eriqwyn’s eyes fluttered open. Adri ran to her side and took her hand.
Eriqwyn gave her a weak smile. “I failed.”
“No,” Adri said, a tremor in her voice. “You did not fail. I think, perhaps, you succeeded.”
“It was I who wanted to deal with the outlanders, Adri. In that, I failed. And it was my actions that led to the deaths of Lingrey, Tan, Demelza…”
“You can’t blame yourself,” Wayland said. “Nor Onwin, though it was he who disturbed the ghouls in the first place.” He let out a rattling sigh. “The blame goes to all of us – we of Minnow’s Beck, the outlanders, the cityfolk… even the goddess herself, I think.”
Eriqwyn coughed. “Thank you, my friend.”
Wayland’s gaze lingered on her face, but he said no more.
“The village,” Eriqwyn said to Adri.
“It will be fine,” Adri lied. “You just rest.”
“Sister, nothing will be fine any more. They will swarm from the north, and—”
“Then let them come. We will welcome them not with arrows and blades, but with lodgings, hot meals, and trade negotiations.”
Linisa forced a smile as she looked down at Eriqwyn. “But any who do seek to hurt us will swiftly find my knife lodged in their innards.”
“The Beck needs more Warders,” Eriqwyn murmured, her voice becoming sluggish.
“It also needs a new First Warder,” Adri said, the words feeling surreal as they left her mouth. “Linisa, you don’t have to accept the role. I cannot force it upon you.”
Linisa’s eyes misted with tears. “It would be my honour, Lady.”
“Congratulations,” Eriqwyn said, and Linisa took her hand. “I stand… relieved.”
Adri’s mind was a torrent of emotions as her eyes fixed on Eriqwyn. She held her sister’s gaze for a long moment, until Eriqwyn drew a rattling breath.
“Don’t tell Mother,” she said, her voice scarcely a whisper. “She couldn’t take it. Let her stay in her dream-world. Perhaps she is happy there. Perhaps… it is a perfect place… where you and I are still little girls.”
Adri nodded. She glanced through the window at the purple sky brightening to a dark red, and at that moment the tip of Banael winked into existence. She smiled. “Look, Eri, the sun is here. It is a new day.” There was no answer. “Eri?” She turned to her sister, but although the first rays of sunlight shone in E
riqwyn’s eyes, the life had left them.
Adri stared, unable to breathe, unable to speak, or feel. She watched as Linisa stooped to kiss Eriqwyn on the mouth. She watched, frozen, as Wayland gently touched Eriqwyn’s cheek.
“Goodbye, Queenie,” he whispered. “I must go soon, too.”
And then it all rose up from the pit of her soul. She thrust herself at her sister’s body, pressed her face onto Eriqwyn’s chest and hugged her tighter than she’d ever hugged her before. Sobs wracked her frame but she clung on.
Don’t leave me, Eri. I need you…
She was only distantly aware of footfalls running up the garden path and the door swinging open, someone entering and gasping for breath. Voices – first hushed, then raised.
“How many?”
“At least a dozen. Perhaps twice that number.”
“To what end?”
“According to Onwin’s father, to attain vengeance for what the outlanders have done to”—in the pause that followed, Adri realised that the speaker was Laulani—“to the brave souls who fought to protect Minnow’s Beck, and who died trying.”
“Damn!” Linisa hissed. “How long since they left?”
“Shortly after nightfall. Lini, they are half a day’s march away now, and, knowing Onwin, he will be pushing them with intent.”
Adri lifted her face from Eriqwyn’s chest to see Caneli crouched beside her. “There is a choice to be made, Lady,” the physician said softly.
She wiped a corner of the bedsheet across her face, composing herself as well as she could. “They will not be followed,” she said. “Only Tan’s father has the right of retribution, and even that is unproven. As to the rest, they knew the laws at the time of their leaving; the same laws will apply should they return. Let it be known that any others who decide to walk away, for whatever reason, may not readily be welcomed back.” She pushed herself from her sister’s body and fixed her eyes on Eriqwyn’s serene, unchanging expression. After a moment, she turned to address Caneli and Linisa. “We, not I, will amend the laws. Linisa, choose a representative from the hunters to replace Onwin. He has forfeit his position. The council will meet tomorrow at noon. You have until then to decide.”
“Understood.”
A shout drifted in through the open door. Exchanging glances with the others, Adri stepped to the window and peered out across the long shadows of first light. At the far side of the village green, a number of individuals were stood outside of the guard station. The hunter on watch had his bow raised and pointed at someone out of sight beyond the sprawling Founding Oak. “What in the blessed heath is it now?” she hissed, wiping a sleeve across her eyes as she moved to the door.
“Be careful, Lady,” Linisa said.
“I will be safe with you at my side.” Adri strode through the door and onto the garden, Linisa and Caneli at her sides. Reaching the green, she fixed her eyes on the edge of the ancient tree until two figures came into view, and a moment later, two more. Pausing, she turned a worried look on Linisa. “The ones behind are knights.”
“It would seem so.”
She continued towards the guardhouse and came to a stop half a dozen paces from the front two strangers. Both men were unarmed. “I am Adriana, Lady of Albarandes Manor and Minnow’s Beck. I presume, from your eyes, you are residents of the city.”
“Indeed we are,” the man on the right said. His voice was rich, his nose strong, the wavy hair and close-shorn beard as dark as the black traces around his eyes. “Although we are accompanied by knights, it is only as a precaution. On that, you have my – our – word. Your hunters can rest easy.”
Adri motioned for the hunters to lower their weapons. They did so, albeit reluctantly.
The dark-haired man inclined his head. “Please allow us to extend our sympathies for your recent loss. It has been a… trying time.”
Adri bristled, but calmed herself. “You arrive only minutes after my sister leaves this world, but I take it that is not the reason for your presence here today.”
“It is not,” the man on the left said. “Ah, but where are our manners?” He cast the fronts of his longcoat aside and hooked his thumbs behind his belt, casting a mildly amused glance at one hunter who had begun to reattach an arrow to his bow.
With a shake of his head, the man’s gaze roved around the gathered individuals. “It’s been quite a while since I stood here,” he said, then approached the Founding Oak and stamped a foot on the ground beneath it. His features hardened as he added, “In this exact spot, as it happens.” He turned to Adri. “You, Lady, won’t recognise me. But were your great-grandfather still alive, he most certainly would.” He pointed up to the boughs of the tree. “You see, the heads of my friends adorn your precious oak. I believe I may not have been mentioned in your great-grandfather’s ledgers – something of an embarrassment, perhaps – but I am the fourth of the original outlanders from 120 years ago. My name is Sabrian, and I am the one that got away. I would say it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, but, as you can imagine, relations between our peoples will take some working out. The gentleman over there is Cleve.” He motioned to the dark-haired man, who bowed his head in greeting.
“We come as emissaries,” Cleve said, “not as antagonists. Of that, I assure you. My friend here merely has some pent-up frustrations over his skull narrowly missing joining those of his slaughtered companions. You, Adriana Albarandes, recently made a similar decision. It was the wrong one. When your sister brought you the stone, you knew whose family it belonged to. You knew that the last member of that family fled your village eighty years ago. You could, therefore, have surmised that those who came to claim it might in fact have been her forebears, or someone working for them. If you had made that assumption, you would have been correct. Instead, you decided to eliminate what you perceived as a threat to your existence.
“Now, when I say this, I mean no disrespect because I do understand that a small settlement like yours needs tight preservation, but those outlanders were not in the least bit interested in your village. They had no intention of ever visiting it, nor attacking it, nor as much as mentioning it when they returned home.” Cleve frowned and glanced to the manor house.
Adri followed his gaze to see Wayland walking unsteadily down the garden path as Laulani ran out to take his arm.
“It seems,” Sabrian said as he straightened the lapels of his longcoat, “that there are those in your community who still insist on eliminating the new outlanders. I would advise against that.” He looked across to the approaching pair. “Thank you for telling us, Wayland. We will rectify the issue.”
“I’ve never seen you before,” Wayland said, sounding as exhausted as he looked. “But somehow I’m not surprised at your words. You’re talking about Onwin.”
Sabrian nodded. “You are a good and honest man. Onwin is not.” He glanced around at the gathering. “Many of you here are fair and true folk, and yet, when something foreign enters your small diorama of existence, you turn into rabid animals baying for blood, convinced that you are still doing the rational and decent thing. It is time to let that go.”
Adri narrowed her eyes. “You haven’t yet stated your business.”
“Ah, no. Cleve, would you?”
Cleve stepped forwards. “In the name of peace, we offer a union, of sorts. Three centuries ago, our brothers and sisters, parents and children, fled from Lachyla, and many settled here. All who live in Minnow’s Beck are their descendants – our descendants. We believe it is time, perhaps, to reunite old families now that the cat is out of the bag, as it were. As you can see, we are able to leave the city, and, yes, we have been doing so the whole time – at night, mostly, to avoid your prying eyes. But now…” He shrugged. “We would be happy to allow you to visit our city, for your folk to meet their predecessors, and we in turn would enjoy visiting your village for limited periods of time. If you agree, there will have to be precautions which must be strictly adhered to for those among you who do not wish to fin
d themselves anchored to Lachyla – and to eternity – as we are.”
Adri stared at him for a long moment. “Your generous offer will be passed to all who live here,” she promised.
“That is good,” Cleve said. “Ah, and speaking of family…” He took a step towards Adri and motioned to the companions at her side. “If I may?” She nodded, and he advanced slowly to stop before Caneli. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Caneli Hauverydh.”
“I… I don’t understand.” The physician glanced to Adri.
Cleve’s smile broke into a grin. “I am Cleve Hauverydh. Your uncle, of sorts.” He thrust his hand out for her to take, and after a moment of hesitation, she did so. “It has been good to watch my family from afar,” he said. “I was proud to learn that you followed in your mother’s footsteps and became the village physician. The apple hasn’t fallen from the tree at all, merely drifted somewhat sideways.” He peered at Caneli’s eyes and the black dye that ran from her dried tears. “You know, that would be quite a way for our women to blend in unnoticed outside of the city. Perhaps also some of the men.”
Caneli stared at him, looked blankly at Adri, then stared at Cleve again.
He chuckled. “Don’t mind me. It will take time. But time”—he glanced to Adri—“despite the current turmoil in your village, is something we have in abundance. Do not worry, Lady, nor any of you, about the coming changes; they will not be as tough as you fear, and you are already making steps in the right direction.”
“I am glad to hear a vote of confidence, however small,” Adri said. After a pause, she threw caution to the wind and added, “I would value your counsel in the coming days.”
Cleve offered her his hand. When she took it, his grip was firm but gentle. His eyes fixed onto hers and he gave the briefest of nods – an understanding between equals. Silence gave way to distant mutters, and Adri knew that a small crowd of onlookers was forming around the edges of the green. Wayland coughed, and turned to see him release Laulani and nod his appreciation to her before taking a tentative step forwards.