Tierone stared him down for several painfully long seconds, the silence stretching between them so tight that it nearly hummed. Then he let out a soft, “Heh” before relaxing a hair. “I now understand why Ashlynn likes you. You’re just as blunt as she is. Well, Master Broden, I tell you honestly that at first I didn’t understand why Edvard was so bent on separating from Iysh. It seemed foolhardy to me. But over the past few months, I’ve slowly seen what he did, and I feel that I now understand why he made the decision he has.”
Ashlynn licked her lips, eyes wide with hope. “Then, will you join us? Tierone.”
His eyes shifted to her, expression unreadable. “It’s bad enough Zelman has kidnapped my family without saying a word to me. I realize that they’re Edvard’s sisters, but they’re mine too. He should have at least sent me an apology, or offered to let me hold them captive, instead of sending them to Lorand. But if he’s willing to do this to me, then what is he capable of doing to his citizens without conscience? No. I think my time of loyalty to him is at an end. I will join you, Ashlynn.”
Beaming, she threw her arms around his waist and hugged him tight. “I’m so glad.”
He patted her on the head indulgently, expression soft as he looked down at her. “I know. Edvard will be delighted when I tell him. But let’s keep this between ourselves for now. There are games afoot that I want to know about and unravel before they hurt not only Estole, but Dahl as well. I will declare my rebellion at a later time. Right now, let us focus on getting our sisters back. What is your plan?”
Ashlynn outlined it in quick, broad strokes before finishing with, “We can’t plan more than this without detailed information, which we don’t have at the moment.”
Tierone nodded thoughtfully. “Yes, I see the problem. Alright, I’ll let you go for now, but keep me posted on your progress. If the situation doesn’t turn out as you expect it to, I’ll send down men to help you break them free.”
“Should I contact Lorcan?”
“Yes, do so. I would have brought him with me, only he was on the other side of Dahl and out of contact when I was told you were riding through my lands.” Tierone looked about ruefully. “I was too impulsive, it seems. Now I’m out here in the middle of nowhere with no mage light to get home by, or any equipment to sleep here tonight.”
“I can attach a mage light to the top of your heads,” Ashlynn offered. “It’ll only last about three hours, though.”
“It’s two getting home, so that should suffice. Thank you. I’d rather not stay out here, not when there’s so much to be done.” With a last pat on her head, Tierone turned to Broden and said mildly, “When the opportunity presents itself, we will speak further, Master Broden.” His tone promised that the opportunity would present itself, and soon.
Broden inclined his head, partially in agreement, partially in farewell. Edvard and Tierone might not look kin, but their protective instincts where family was concerned was apparently one trait they shared. This man did not like that an unknown man was partnered with his blood-sister. Broden fully anticipated an interrogation at some point in the near future.
Ashlynn fixed the glowing mage lights onto the top of everyone’s head, as well as the horses’ before Tierone’s group mounted again and headed off. Fortunately, at a slower pace than what they came in on.
As they left, Amber leaned in and asked in a low tone, “Broden, do you normally greet people with an arrow in their face?
Broden blinked at her, all innocence. “Aye, lass. Problem?”
This tickled her funny bone, as Amber’s face split into a slow grin. “I now understand why you and Ashlynn get along so well.”
“Does the same thing, does she?”
“The magical version of it, yes. Ha! If that’s the way you two think, I feel almost sorry for the criminals in Estole.” Amused at the thought, she went to the fire and fetched a mug of tea.
Broden personally didn’t see an issue with being well prepared to meet unexpected guests. As long as he did not shoot anyone he should not, where was the problem?
Chapter Eighteen
The next day of riding was just as brutal as Broden feared it would be. Ashlynn had them all up before the birds were even properly awake, her fear for her sisters pushing her hard. No one argued or complained, just winced as abused muscles protested.
Broden would admit, if asked, that his eyes could not see into the distance as well as his daughter’s. That was not to say that his vision was poor. She just had good eyes, was all. He kept his eyes peeled and on the terrain around them as they rode, half out of habit, half out of fear that Iyshian soldiers might well lie in wait for them. Ashlynn had taken them onto the highway, away from the foothills, but they were still within a stone’s throw. It was an easy enough place to hide a platoon of soldiers without much trouble.
They went most of the morning without seeing a hint of trouble. The day warmed up considerably, and the traffic on the highway picked up as well. Caravans of trade goods, outriders, and couriers all passed them with friendly waves and hellos. They had just left Dahl, and Iyshian territory, so that friendliness might disappear soon.
Rounding a large curve in the highway, they saw nothing ahead of them except clear highway. Broden was considering lunch, and a good place to stop and take a short break, when he caught something strange out of the corner of his eye. It was sheer instinct that had him yelling out, “Ashlynn! RIGHT!”
Within a split second, several things all happened at once. His mage shields, courtesy of his wizard partner, snapped up around him with an audible hum, like a flight of hummingbirds. He barely registered it when something hard impacted against the shields with a crack, and splintered, pieces flying off in every direction. Broden didn’t think it was an arrow or anything like that, but some sort of magical attack.
He did not question it or try to figure it out. He slung his bow off his back, grabbed an arrow, and kneed the horse about so that he could have a clear shot at the ambushers already making their way to them.
Ashlynn swore even as she fired off a spell. “CIRCLE ABOUT!”
Broden saw sense in the order even as she gave it. On this relatively flat space of highway, they had nothing to use for cover, and people could easily get to them from behind. But if they formed a circle, watching each other’s backs, they had a better chance of living through this. He directed his horse with knees and heel to come in closer to Ashlynn’s side, with Seth on his right.
They were barely in formation when the ambushers impacted with them, charging at full speed, swords waving. Broden stood in his stirrups and fired off two arrows in quick succession, picking riders out of their saddles. With the way they swarmed about the group, he couldn’t get a firm grasp on their numbers. But he did not need to. His job was to protect everyone’s backs and to make sure that no weapon got anywhere near Ashlynn.
She had enough trouble as it was.
There was one wizard in the group, a too-thin man that looked like a raven perched on his horse. He remained safely back from the fighting, sitting calmly as he fired off one attack spell after another, all aimed to weaken Ashlynn’s shields. She was grimly fending off each attack and firing her own when she had breath to do so. Broden spared her a glance in between shooting the soldiers trying to get to her. From the sweat dewing her forehead and the frantic speed that she worked her magic, this was a tough opponent.
Broden was very afraid she would not be able to defeat him.
He killed two more soldiers that got within clear range of his bow, thoughts racing even as he fired. After spending three weeks around wizards, he had a little more knowledge of how magic worked. Ashlynn had said once that magic was not infinite—that it depended on the strength of the caster. If the caster was weak, or tired enough, then the magic would falter. Right now, it was a question of stamina, he judged. How long could Ashlynn fight afore sheer fatigue drained her of magic?
There was a small break, nothing more than five seconds where most of the
opponents he could get a clear line on where already fighting someone else. Broden saw in those five seconds that neither wizard was paying any attention to the other fighters—Ashlynn because she trusted that Broden would protect her from conventional weapons. The Iyshian wizard, because none of their group could get anywhere near him.
It might wound the lass’s pride a mite, but he could not just sit there and let her be hurt, even if it was another wizard she fought against.
Broden flipped an arrow in his hand with seamless efficiency and took aim, fletching to ear, and fired—straight at the Iyshian wizard’s chest.
Despite everything that Broden had been told about a wizard’s weapon shields and magic shields not being compatible, and a wizard not being able to defend himself against both at once, he still really didn’t expect his own arrow to go through the man’s shields. Well, maybe he only half expected it. If nothing else, he reasoned that the arrow might prove a good distraction for Ashlynn to take advantage of.
But to his surprise, the arrow went right through the protective shield around the Iyshian wizard as if it wasn’t even there. With a meaty thunk, it hit right in the chest. The man did not even have time to grunt, or gasp, or say a word. He just toppled over sideways, dead before he hit the ground.
Ashlynn paused with a spell half-formed on her lips and looked at Broden in shock.
Shrugging, he admitted sheepishly, “I did no’ think that would work.”
For a second, she just stared at him with wide eyes. Then her chest jerked with a silent laugh before she lost it entirely and laughed aloud.
A laughing woman is an odd sight on any battlefield, even one as small as this one. The other fighters took notice of her, some of them slowing or disengaging completely, the Iyshian soldiers retreating several feet, trying to figure out what was going on. One of them took notice of their fallen wizard, and then panic spread. They did not like the idea of fighting a wizard all on their own.
Ashlynn realized she had a chance to end the skirmish semi-peacefully, and stood in her stirrups, voice booming out at an unnaturally loud level, “Take up your dead and retreat! I will not pursue you.”
One man, the most senior soldier, called back, “Do we have your word on that, Ashlynn Fallbright?”
“Aye!” she said with a smirk, borrowing one of Broden’s words.
Without further argument, they signaled agreement and went about picking up their fallen. Ashlynn gestured for her group to gather in closer and follow her.
Broden kept an eye on the enemy as they retreated, of course, not wanting anyone to pull a cheap trick. He also scanned his comrades as they rode, and saw a few minor hurts here and there, but they were all intact.
Tant pulled up beside him and asked in wonderment, “I saw an arrow sticking out of the wizard’s chest. Did you do that?”
“Aye,” Broden replied deadpanned. “Wizards can no’ shield against weapons and magic at the same time, ye see. I took advantage of the man’s preoccupation with our lass here and shot him.”
The lad let out a low whistle. “Clever. I must remember that.”
“You say that with such confidence now,” Ashlynn remarked in amusement. “But you weren’t actually sure that arrow would go through his shields, were you?”
Broden just chuckled, not admitting anything.
Tant looked at him suspiciously. “Either way, it obviously will. But that wizard tells us that we were right about ambushes being set up on this highway. A normal patrol wouldn’t have a wizard in it normally. So what do we do now?”
“Stop for a few minutes while I heal the wounds,” Ashlynn responded promptly. “Then I put temporary shields on everyone so that a wizard can’t easily pick you off, although those won’t last more than the day. Other than that, all we can do is keep a sharp look out as we go. This is the only road that leads to where we want to go. Going cross-country will be too rough for us, and only cause delays.”
She like as not was right.
Reminded, Ashlynn turned and looked at him, brow quirked. “How did you know they were there?”
Broden had to think about it before he could answer. “Flash of light. Reflection, mayhap, off someone’s sword.”
Tant blinked. “That’s it? That could have been anything.”
“I survived many an ambush by being a paranoid old man,” Broden informed him drolly. “I listen to me instincts. A flash of light coming from near the foothills be queer—no man has business being over there unless he be up to no good.”
“A valid point,” Ashlynn agreed. “From now on, we treat anything seen from the foothills as a possible threat until it’s proven otherwise. Broden, we ask that you be your usual paranoid self the entire trip.”
He winked at her. “Done.”
It was not the last ambush they came upon as they rode. Broden tallied four ambushes, although Ashlynn claimed one of them didn’t count because the attempt at hiding was so half-hearted that only a blind man could not see them coming. Regardless, they were all a little worse for wear by the time that they came to Lorand. If not for Ashlynn’s healing magic, they might have lost one or two before the city ever came into view. A man cannot expect to be ambushed multiple times during the course of two weeks and not lose a party member.
They came around a bend in the road and Lorand appeared, nestled in between several foothills, a lake sparkling in the distance. From the way that people had spoken of it before, Broden expected a large city, but it was little bigger than Estole. It had stout walls surrounding an inner city, made of thick grey stone, with many an outlying street of homes and businesses branching out from it. The city looked old, established, not half-formed like Estole was. He remembered Ashlynn saying that because of the highway coming right by its door, and the Trilakes next to it, that Lorand was something of a trading hub. The traffic coming in and out of the city certainly made it look that way.
Broden had worried a little about entering the city, because no matter how you looked at them, they were a warring party. But with this much traffic made up of every nationality, they’d blend right in and not get a second glance. He let out a low breath of relief, and a worry he’d been carrying fell off.
Ashlynn gestured for him to ride a little closer to her, so he nudged his gelding over until they rode stirrup to stirrup. “Broden, our…friend in the city will be at the Gandering Goose. How much experience do you have on rescuing people?”
“Done it more times than I care to recall,” he admitted frankly. “It be a tricky business, timing-wise, but with this lot I think our chances be good. It depends on how much we know. But lass, I warn ye, afore today, I have never had cause to break into a fortified building. It be bandit hideouts, and caves, and the like that I know how to breach.”
She nodded, accepting this. “Still, I think you’re the most experienced man in the group. None of us have ever done anything like this before. Since that’s the case, you go with me when I talk to our friend. You’ll know better than me what questions to ask and what information we’re missing.”
Lass had a good point. He nodded in understanding.
It was a simple matter to ride through the streets and reach the inn. It lay on the outskirts of the city, not anywhere near that inner wall. Broden eyed it thoughtfully as they stopped in the main yard. Seemed a solid enough place. It was made of brick, one of the few buildings he’d seen of solid brick, with vines growing up along the walls. There were plenty of windows, letting in light and air, and through them he could hear much laughter and happy conversations. He liked the vibe of the place, and smiled slightly as he slung himself out of the saddle.
“Seth,” Ashlynn called.
Seth popped up beside her. “Yes?”
“Take mine and Broden’s horses. We’ve got someone to meet.”
“Sure thing.”
With an incline of her head, Ashlynn silently requested that Broden follow her inside. She went through the door, pausing a moment to let her eyes adjust from the b
right sunlight outside to the slightly dimmer interior. Broden did the same, although he scooted a little more to the right to avoid blocking the doorway. When he could see properly again, he was glad that the inside looked like he had imagined it would. Clean wooden floors polished to a shine, solid oak tables and chairs scattered throughout the room and filled with patrons, walls painted with murals of everyday life. A fine establishment, this was.
Ashlynn maneuvered her way around the tables and people, and straight to the bar at the far end of the room. She ignored the stout man tending to customers on one end, and instead went to the other side, where a leaner lad with a mop of curly dark hair stood wiping down the counter. He looked up as she sat in the stool, blinked at her, then recognition dawned on his face.
With a cautious look to either side, he leaned in and asked in a confidential tone, “A pretty lass ye be.”
“My thanks for the compliment. Ashlynn Fallbright.” She introduced herself before extending a hand to indicate Broden. “My partner, Broden Ravenscroft.”
The man bobbed his head at Broden in greeting, which the archer amicably returned. “Jeri. Nice to meet both of you. Was it rough, getting here?”
Ashlynn gave him an unamused look. “Does it look like I had a pleasant trip?”
Jeri eyed what he could see of them before his smile went lopsided. “Apparently not. Still, you all got here in one piece? Well, that’s a blessing all by itself, then.”
“Aye, lad, it be that.” Broden sat on one of the open barstools, wincing slightly as his sore posterior met with a hard, unyielding surface. Gods above and below, but the trip here be hard enough to age a man ten years. He did not want to think about what the return trip would be like.
Blinking at his accent, Jeri asked slowly, “I’m sorry, where are you from?”
“Cloud’s Rest,” Broden supplied.
“Ohhh. Now I know why you talk more like a Trenenian. The people in Cloud’s Rest were originally from here, right?”
Arrows Of Change (Book 1) Page 17