Amber chuckled, eyes crinkling up at the corners. “I saw you roll out of it at one point. You really couldn’t stay in that thing, could you?”
He grumbled a few choice words before remembering he had nothing but women in front of him, and then he watched his tongue.
“I’m glad to have a chance to speak with you,” Cat said. Her voice was the soothing type to listen to, as pleasant to hear as birdsong. “I saw you several times last night and I must say, your archery skills are impressive. I’ve never seen a man that had such true aim.”
“Ah, lass, ye will set this old man to blushing if ye carry on so.”
“He says that,” Amber observed to no one in particular, “but look at that grin. Don’t let it go to your head, Broden. After all, Riana is as good as you are.”
“Aye, chip off the old block, she be.” His grin widened.
“Riana?” Bria asked in confusion.
“Me daughter,” he explained.
“Oh! You have a daughter?” Bria leaned further across the table, eyes focused on him. “Ashlynn mentioned to us last night that Ash also has a partner now. By any chance, is it your daughter that partnered with him?”
“Aye.” He snuck in a quick bite after he answered. Sitting at a table full of curious women and eating was something of a challenge.
“You almost speak like a Terenian, but not quite.” Darisa cocked her head in confusion. “Are you from here?”
Mouth full, he could only shake his head. Amber took pity on him and answered in his stead. “No, he and Riana are from Cloud’s Rest. Ash discovered them when he went up there to get more lumber.” She glanced at him, but he encouraged her with a wave of the hand to continue the story. Amber knew it well enough to recount, and it gave him a chance to eat.
She had a rapt audience. When she finished, Bria actually clapped her hands together, like a delighted child. “I’m so glad! We were all worried about Ashlynn and Ash running around as they did. I mean, if they would at least work together it wouldn’t be as dangerous for them, but they always seemed to choose to work on separate projects that took them to opposite sides of the city. With you and Riana, we can rest a little easier.”
“But how did the pairings work out as they did?” Cat frowned at the ceiling, finger going back and forth in the air as she worked things out in her head. “I mean, wouldn’t it make more sense for you to pair with Ash and your daughter with Ashlynn?”
Amber bit her lip, trying to hide her laughter, but failed miserably at it. Broden gave her a glare that did nothing but encourage her. “Lass. It be no’ that funny.”
“No, it is,” Amber insisted. “At least, to us it is.”
“We’re missing something,” Darisa stated certainly, eyes shining with anticipation. “What? His daughter has a crush on Ash?”
“Oh, the crush is mutual,” Amber assured her gleefully. “Don’t glower so, Broden. It’s not that bad.”
Easy for her to say. It was not her little girl flirting with the man.
All of the women seemed to find this vastly entertaining, and they leaned over the table, staring at him with open delight.
Darisa pressed the point. “Really? Ash has a crush on a girl? I don’t think I’ve seen him like anyone since he was ten.”
“He was in pretty strict training when he started his apprenticeship,” Cat pointed out to her. “Still, I’m glad to see that he isn’t as obsessed with magic as we feared. Broden, what’s your daughter like? Aside from being an amazing archer, that is.”
Broden could not help but boast a mite. “Too pretty by half, like her mother. Hair the color of sunset, clear green eyes, fair skin. She has a good heart, that one.”
“We’d think you were boasting except that she has to be that pretty and amazing to catch Ash’s attention.” Cat sat back in her chair, and for a moment, her fatigue and pain faded away. “So, she partnered with Ash, even though you knew they liked each other?”
“Lass, there no’ be much in life a father will deny his little girl if she wants it.” Which was true enough, as it went. “Besides, Ash and I had a talk. He knows to behave himself.”
“Or he won’t wake up one morning,” Amber finished knowingly. “Yes, we know how you fathers think alright. But I’ve never figured out why you so readily partnered with Ashlynn.”
“Oh, lass reminds me strongly of me Riana,” he answered easily. “Charming and strong and quick to jump into danger. Watching her, I could no’ leave her be. Nigh on gave me a heart attack thinking what she be getting into without someone to properly guard her back.”
Amber gestured toward him in a grand manner and said to the other women, “And that, ladies, is why Edvard trusted both Broden and Riana with his wizard-siblings. He quickly figured out that neither of them would let their partners go into danger alone.”
Bria’s eyes became sad. “I wish now that I was a wizard too. If I had been, maybe I would never have been kidnapped like that.”
There might be truth in that, but Broden did not want her thinking that she was worth less than Ashlynn. These three women were good ones, kind ones, and did not deserve what had happened to him. So he gentled his tone as he assured her, “Lass, ye need no’ fear it happening again. I swear that to ye. Why, Edvard had no notion that the Iyshian king would do the likes of this. But now that he knows, he be making every precaution to make sure that no person in his family will face danger again.”
“We know, Broden.” Bria’s smile flickered back to life. “Was Edvard very upset when he heard what had happened to us?”
“Upset does no’ cover it.” Remembering, Broden grimaced. “I have never in me born days seen a man that angry. If the Iyshian king had been within reach of him, Edvard would have strangled him with his bare hands.”
Amber nodded vigorously in support of this. “We saw him the next day, after he’d gotten the letter, and he wasn’t any calmer then. In fact, he stayed mad for several days until he sent us to rescue you.”
Hopefully that anger had died down some now. Ashlynn had taken a moment here and there to send a magical message to her brother, keeping them posted on events. She could not do it often—something about needing strong sunlight and wind to have enough magic to send a message that far out.
Strong sunlight and wind…hmm. She might have all she needed up top what with them being in the middle of the lake like this. “Amber, might the lass be up on top sending messages back and forth to her brother?”
“Hmm?” Amber blinked as she switched topics. “Oh, yes, that’s exactly what she’s doing. She said the conditions are perfect for it right now.”
“In that case,” he stood and gathered his bowls, “I should join her. There be some questions I want answered. Lassies, be there anything ye needing or help yer wanting?”
“No,” Bria answered for all of them, voice gentle. “Thank you, Broden. Right now, we’re simply healing and recovering our strength. If that changes, we’ll certainly ask you.”
“Well enough, then.” He bade them a silent goodbye before returning his dishes to the cook, offered a word of thanks, then went up the short ladder to the top deck. He had to pause a moment when he reached the top as his eyes adjusted to the strong sunlight of the morning. The air felt damp up here, the scent of the water strong, but the wind felt good along his skin.
He found Ashlynn in the very front of the ship, well out of everyone’s way, her face to the sun and her hands spread out as if skimming the top of the wind. Not wanting to interrupt, he did not say a word to her, simply settled nearby with his back against the railing.
She must have heard him come, though, as a moment later she opened her eyes and turned to look at him. “Broden. We’ve got trouble in Estole.”
“A good morning to ye too, lass,” he drawled. “I slept fine, yerself?”
Ashlynn rolled her eyes. “This is no time for pleasantries. Riots are breaking out in Estole on a near daily basis.”
His attention abruptly sharpened. “Riot
s?”
“Some of it is caused by Iyshian spies that are set to stir up trouble. If they can cause enough of it, it will break the kingdom Edvard is trying to build.” Her face drew together in a dark frown. “At least, that’s what I’m assuming their plan is. Right now, we’re so fragile, it wouldn’t take much. But some of the riots are from our own citizens and it’s because of the housing shortage.”
It was his turn to frown. “I thought Ash stayed behind to build houses.”
“He hasn’t been able to focus on it. At the same time the riots started, Iyshian soldiers started raiding our borders. Between dealing with the raids, and dealing with the riots, Edvard’s guards and Ash are stretched too thin. He just doesn’t have time to build the houses too. It’s being left up to the carpenters instead, and while they’re good at their jobs, they aren’t nearly as fast.”
He rubbed at his forehead, feeling a headache coming on. “In other words, we need to be there. Now.”
“Yes. Ash simply can’t handle the work load—no one can, it’s asking a person to be in three places at once—and Edvard can only do so much with the people he has.” Ashlynn wrung her hands together in a rare gesture of helplessness. “I was afraid of this. I mean, I had to come. The party would never have survived that wizard who attacked us. But I was afraid if I did come, the Iyshian king would take advantage and do everything to destroy Estole while I was gone.”
In a kingdom as small as Estole, every person was vital. Broden had seen that for himself. Especially a person like Ashlynn, who could do the work of twenty people. If she was missing, then it made it hard, if not impossible, to make up for her absence. Oh, that Iyshian king be a crafty old codger, alright. By kidnapping the girls, he won no matter what Edvard decided to do. If Edvard had frozen, not daring to do anything for fear of his sisters, he won. If he sent a rescue party with one of the wizards, the king won, too.
Rubbing his palm over his face, he asked her grimly, “How bad, Ashlynn?”
“Bad.” She sounded old and tired as she answered. “Two buildings destroyed right down the framework, almost, with several near-fatal injuries. This all in the past three days, mind you. If we don’t get back soon, the guard is simply going to be overrun with problems and the whole structure we put into place before leaving will simply collapse. But I don’t know what to do. We can’t go much faster than this—my sisters aren’t in any condition for it. They were captive for nearly a month with little to eat or drink and in those horrible chains. They simply don’t have the physical strength to go tearing across the countryside at high speeds.”
“Aye. I saw them this morning and saw that with me own eyes.” He let his head thunk back against the wood and stared blindly up at the sky. “Ye said afore that going by sea all the way to Estole be the safest path. How safe?”
“Very. The Iyshian king has no control over the sea. I mean, they could still be attacked by pirates or run across a mother storm, but it’s safer than going across land.” Her mouth hung open for a moment, closed, then she hummed thoughtfully. “You’re not thinking about splitting away from them, are you? Sending them by ship home and us going across Trenena by ourselves?”
“We’d be faster that way,” he pointed out.
“Oh, certainly. We’d get home in seven days, maybe six if we truly pushed it.” She hummed again, eyes narrowed as she thought it through. “I think…I think it’s our only option at this point. But let me talk it over with the others. Some of them might choose to go with us.”
True, it’s not like all five would be needed to guard the girls on the way home. They could like as not take two with them.
Ashlynn rose to one knee, only to pause and lift her face again to the sun for a long moment. “Ash said that they just got another complication. The priests in Estole were officially excommunicated this morning.”
Broden’s eyes nearly fell out of his head. “They were WHAT?!”
“Unless they left Estole immediately,” she added grimly. “Well. Our former king is certainly not pulling his punches or showing any mercy, is he? Although how he thinks he has the authority to control the gods is beyond me.”
The man had used a servant of god to do his dirty business, so that part didn’t surprise Broden one bit. “Lass, I think we best get home quickly. Afore the whole kingdom falls crashing down around our ears.”
Pushing herself up to her feet, she assured him with icy calm, “I agree. Let’s speak with the others and see who wants to go where. But when we land, we leave immediately for Estole.”
Chapter Twenty-five
It took nearly an hour to make arrangements when they reached Lakepoint to set people on their way.
Lakepoint had to be the strangest place that Broden had ever seen. It was not a land-built city at all, but was instead made entirely of stone and wood, suspended over the mouth of the river. There were ‘ports’ as people called them, water gates where people came in and out, and it looked nothing more like roads except on the water. The smell of fish and such was strong here, almost overpowering, and Broden found himself holding his breath more than once to avoid inhaling the worst of it.
Konrath found them a riverboat that was going up to The Grove and they promptly boarded it. Only Konrath chose to go with them, and they entrusted Edvard’s sisters to the others, who would be taking the slightly longer sea-bound route. Ashlynn did pause long enough to buy everyone passage on a sailing ship that was headed toward Estole. (Broden did not think she would rest easy until she was at assured they had a good way home.) But as soon as the tickets were bought and handed over, she hugged them goodbye and boarded the riverboat.
Broden had never heard tale of or seen the like of this boat. It was not unique—he saw several others—but it was strange to his eyes. It had sails, like the schooner he just left, but also paddles on either side. It was flat and wide, wide enough for four carriages to sit side by side, and a good twenty feet in length. It seemed an impossible thing to steer, but it must be possible, as no one seemed to question it could go up the river.
Well, down the river be more accurate. The lake apparently fed the river, as the land had a distinctly downward slope to it. Broden had at first questioned the wisdom of boarding this thing—would not simply riding be faster? But in all truth, even though the boat was slightly slower than a trotting horse, it made up for it in several ways. For one, it never got tired or needed rest. The horses could only go for so many hours before fatigue set in. Also, the riverboat captains were so comfortable with the river that they often ran at night, if the moon was bright enough. With them traveling nonstop day and night, they would be turning a seven-day trip into four.
Riding on the boat was odd but quickly became comfortable. The news from Estole was anything but comforting. Most of the priests of the different gods had left, afraid of being excommunicated, which put the people into a tizzy. The harassment of the borders was becoming bad enough that no one wanted to leave the city at all, which just made the riots worse. The whole thing gave Broden a headache, but it worried him too. After all, it was Ash and Riana that were in the thick of things right now, and he knew his little girl. She would not be idly standing by while people were getting hurt.
Ashlynn openly fretted, often pacing the length of the boat, which only exhausted her and did no good. She remained in constant communication with her brother, for all the good that did her.
Frankly, it was a relief when they finally landed at The Grove.
The Grove was not well named, to his mind. It was a huge expanse of forest, mostly a logging town that supplied timber to all areas of the country. It was also a stopping place for travelers, as it was a midpoint no matter which direction you were going. They found all the supplies they needed in order to make the last leg of the journey on the main street of the town. Once the necessities were bought, they loaded up and rode hard, taking advantage of the five hours of daylight they had left.
Four days they rode hard, rising early and pushing until th
e evening sunset. It wore out both man and beast, but none of them had the least desire to stop. They had to get there—Broden did not want to even consider what would happen if they could not get there fast enough to help reverse this dangerous trend.
Finally, late on the fourth day, Estole came into sight.
It should have been a relief, to see their destination, but the look of it made his heart sink into his stomach. When Broden had first seen Estole, there had been construction and tents all over the place as people focused on building new lives here. Now there was smoke coming up from different sections of the city, turning the sky grey, and some of the buildings he had seen built were lying in ruins, looking like haunted houses. The sight of it made him sick to his stomach.
Ashlynn dug her heels into her tired mount’s flanks and called back over her shoulder, “FIRES FIRST!”
Broden grimly urged his steed to follow her, knowing that she was right. If the fires were not checked, they would lose the whole city.
As they passed through the front gates, people recognized them and called out welcomes. Some of the guards called out directions, too, telling them where the worst fires were. Konrath peeled off at the gates, no doubt so that he could find better use of his hands than blindly following them. Ashlynn waved in acknowledgement to those who told her where to go, and changed directions, going as fast as she could in the crowded streets. After following Ashlynn around so much, Broden knew the city better now, and he more or less recognized where she was headed.
Tavern Row.
It was the one section of the city that had all of the taverns and hostels, and usually where trouble broke out first. Broden blamed the amount of alcohol that flowed there. Men in poor moods with too much ale in their bellies never made good decisions. Setting fire to a city that no one could readily escape from was a stellar example of that.
Arrows Of Change (Book 1) Page 22