Turning, Ash beckoned with a wave of his hand. “McKay. Can you deal with these three? Lock them up somewhere overnight until we can get them to my sister in the morning.”
“No worries there, sir, we’ll handle it.”
“Thank you. I’m going to put up a ward around the main camp and the docks tonight so that we can at least sleep without another attack looming over our heads. Liam? Spread word that once the ward is up, absolutely no one can get through until I take it down again. So if someone has business outside of these two areas, they have about a half hour to take care of it.”
“I’ll see to it,” Liam assured him. “Sir, all respect, but I don’t think you and Miss Riana should be tramping around the camp alone. Can I send some men with you?”
Ash was ready to object, she was certain of it, so Riana quickly cut in. “That be a fine notion, Liam, thank ye. Four or five should do the trick. Have the rest spread out as watchmen until the ward be up.”
Liam trotted off, calling to people as he went. Ash took advantage of the preoccupation to murmur to her, “I think we’d be safe enough.”
Shaking her head, Riana responded just as quietly, “Half of ‘em went into the woods, Ash. Now, if any a man has an idea of revenge in his head, this be the opportune moment to strike. Catch ye on yer blind side as ye be working, that be bandit tactics.”
He rocked back on his heels, considering this for a moment, and hummed. “You do have a point. Guard it is. I guess, after that, I get to call Ashlynn and wake her up.”
Who would in turn wake up Edvard. Who would in turn demand that a guard be sent over immediately, if not sooner. “It can no’ wait for morning?”
“You want to explain to her why we delayed eight hours in reporting a bandit infestation in the settlement, be my guest.”
Riana thought of Ashlynn’s probable response and winced. “Never mind.”
“Wise of you,” Ash approved with a grin.
Chapter Three
“Bandits just attacked the settlement.” Edvard repeated the words as if he were trying to do some sort of complicated equation with them, only nothing was adding up.
Ashlynn apparently was aware that her blood-brother did not wake up well or quickly. They had dragged Edvard out into the small sitting room next to his bedroom, hoping that not reporting this while the king was still in bed might help him wake up easier. It had not yet noticeably helped. She was patient as she repeated, “Ash just contacted me to report it. No one on our side was injured, as most fled the minute they were discovered. But Riana tells me they were from a rather large bandit gang in Cloud’s Rest.”
“The Grey Wolves,” Broden supplied darkly. He had not taken that bit of news well at all. Half the reason they had moved to Estole was to get away from the bandits altogether, and now here they were again. It was a tangled, twisted fate between them, and Broden did not care for it one bit.
Edvard sat on this information for a full minute before asking, “Why?”
Unfortunately, Broden knew the answer all too well. “Not much in the way of targets up in Cloud’s Rest. Mostly, the bandits steal from each other, as there be naught much else to steal from. But the settlement, now, it can be reached in two days if ye travel fast and hard. It be close enough to tempt ‘em. And a rich prize, lightly guarded, to boot.” It was, in fact, the perfect target for bandits. Broden kicked himself for not realizing it sooner, but really, who would expect them to be willing to travel those two days? Bandits were notoriously lazy, it was why they were thieves in the first place.
“So you’re saying, not only will this gang try again, but the others will likely turn their hand to it too? At least once, to see if the effort is worth the profit?” Edvard did not wait for his confirmation before slumping into his chair. “Don’t we have enough problems?”
Broden certainly thought so. “Ash be setting up a ward around the camp as we speak.”
“That’s something, at least, they can rest tonight. But the ward can’t be a permanent thing. Right?” He looked to Ashlynn for the answer.
“Right,” she agreed. “There would have to be a permanent structure for the ward to stay up constantly and the camp doesn’t have anything like that. So Ash will have to set up a ward every night and take it down every morning; otherwise no one can leave and no work can get done.”
“A wall?” Edvard offered, only to stop and correct himself, “No, that limits how much the settlement can grow. It was the mistake we made here in Estole; I don’t dare repeat it. Temporary wards it is. Ashlynn, how many men can you afford to send over to the settlement?”
“Not a one. But I’ll find a few people to at least be lookouts. Really, Ash and Riana are the deadliest fighters over there. As long as they can be alerted, then no bandit is going to have much of a chance against them. I’ll set some lookouts, check in with Ash consistently, and hope the bandits realize quickly that we might be a rich prize, but we’re too costly to take on.”
Broden would not bet on that last part. Desperate men did alarmingly stupid things on a regular basis, and the bandits he had fought against were known for their glaring lack of common sense. It might take weeks and more than a dozen failed attempts before they even paused to reconsider their decision. “Lass, we best step up the training for yer new guardsmen.”
“Looks like we’ll need them sooner rather than later,” she admitted. “Edvard, I’m just reporting tonight, as I think Ash has things well in hand over there, but we do need to talk about this at length tomorrow and see if we can’t come up with a counter plan.”
Edvard bobbed his head in a tired motion. “Noted. Go back to bed, both of you. Wait, were any of the bandits still alive?”
“Three, Ash said.”
“Send them over here. I want them interrogated before we execute them. More information is vital at this point.”
“I’ll see to it,” she promised. Standing, she led the way out the door and closed it gently behind her before whispering to Broden, “You don’t think they’ll stop easily, do you?”
“No, lass.” Broden stared sightlessly down the hallway, remembering a time that he thought he would be able to forget and never think of again. “No, I do no’. We be seeing more of them. Mark me on that.”
Things went apace over the next few days. They did have some injuries, as men grew tired and made careless mistakes, but Ash was always called for, and in between some old-fashioned poultices and his magic, people were able to heal up well enough.
Ashlynn had found three men, all of them fresh out of training, to help stand as watchmen while everyone else worked. Riana took them under her wing and showed them the best trees to hide in so that they had an excellent vantage point but were out of sight themselves. Her time with bandits had shown her that they didn’t look up nearly as often as they should, and she didn’t want one of these young guardsmen on the ground where they could be surrounded, and be easily hurt. Better to stay up. She gave each of them a hunting horn as well, the horns having their own distinct sound, so that they could tell her instantly if trouble was coming and which direction she needed to head towards.
Her father came over the morning after the attack and worked out a plan with the settlement of where to go if there was an attack and who should be fighting where. With the horns in place, they ran a drill in the middle of the day, once a day, to keep things fresh in their heads and to make sure that everyone knew instantly what the horns meant.
They went four days without seeing even a bandit’s shadow. Riana did not think that they were safe yet just because of those four days of quiet. Actually, she expected the trouble to start any day now. The bandits had four days to go back to Cloud’s Rest, report in, and then have them travel toward the settlement. If they were making good time, that was. Really, it took most people three days to make that trip, but a determined group could do it in two.
She guarded Ash with strict attention as he went about that night putting the ward up. He was halfway around the cam
p before he stopped dead and studied her. “Is there a reason why you’re so on edge tonight?”
“Trouble most likely will strike tonight or on the morrow,” she said frankly.
The mage light floating above their heads was bright enough that she could see his face clearly. But she couldn’t read the expression there. “The bandits before knew you?”
It was the first time he had asked that question. Riana had hoped he wouldn’t. Sighing, she admitted, “Aye. If our old village had trouble, they called on me and Da to fix it. Or fight it. We crossed paths with every gang up there more than once.”
“Explain to me exactly how many gangs are up there and why they’re up there. I mean, there’s not much in those mountains aside from a few villages.”
“They started out as pirates,” she recounted as they went to the next spot, continuing to put the ward up. “They had spots along the Western Sea coast that they’d winter in. Edge of Cloud’s Rest be one of them. Then one of them, I forget who, lost their ship in a storm and it stranded the whole lot of them. So they just stayed in their winter hideout and turned to banditry.”
“That makes sense. I suppose they didn’t have any other options. And the other gangs?”
“Mind, this all took place about thirty or so years ago. The original gang had infighting—no surprise there—and it split and grew into other gangs. They could no’ live in Iysh proper at the time. Twenty years ago, Iysh be much harsher with banditry, and more organized in taking care of thieves. The only place to live be Cloud’s Rest. So they lived there, and took forays into Iysh—mostly around Senn—and survived somehow doing that.” Even as she recounted this history, Riana was surprised herself at how much she knew about them. But perhaps it shouldn’t surprise her. She’d grown up fighting this enemy her entire life, and her father had been fighting them most of his, so was it a wonder that they had learned about the gangs through sheer association? “Now, the territories up there are so established that they do no’ dare leave them for any real space of time for fear the others will take over.”
“Even though Iysh is now safer for bandits to live in? Huh. Very interesting. I suppose if you’ve lived in a place for thirty-something years, you would get attached to it. Your father mentioned to me while he was here that they mostly like to steal from each other when they don’t have other targets handy.”
“Aye.” Riana made a face. “Now, we be the other target.”
“And so you’re jittery because you have a very good idea of what’s coming next.”
She nodded morosely. “Ash, when I said afore that belike the settlement will grow to meet Cloud’s Rest, I did no’ mean the bandits too.”
He paused and put an arm around her shoulders, giving her a comforting squeeze. “I know, I know. We’ll figure out a solution to this madness. Ashlynn and Broden have both promised me that they’re thinking of a strategy on how to deal with this. We’re to focus on defense and keep building the settlement in the meantime. We can’t afford any delays in building. It’ll hit us badly this winter if we don’t have the settlement up and running by then.”
While she knew all of that, it didn’t really comfort her much. At least with the ward up, they could sleep at night, as no bandit stood a chance of finding a way past it. But that just meant they would be more desperate during the day to attack. It merely delayed the inevitable. Perhaps it even made it worse.
Ash might have to work on building the settlement, but she certainly didn’t. “I be thinking I will take a watch as well during the day, help our guardsmen.”
“Your talents are better used there,” Ash agreed. “Do what you need to. And if you really feel like we should expect trouble from tomorrow on, stop the drills. I don’t want the bandits figuring out our patterns and finding holes in them to exploit.”
That was a scary notion. “I will. Ye think people know ‘em well enough now?”
“I think so. The drill today went so smoothly it was near perfect.”
It did help that they weren’t asking for anything complicated. Riana nodded, content with this. “Then get this ward up so we can go to bed. We need to be bright eyed and bushy tailed tomorrow.”
Ash grinned. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Miss Riana,” Thorne greeted respectfully, scooting a little over on his branch to make room for her. Riana climbed up smoothly, sinking down into a crouch, as the branch was easily wide enough to support the two of them.
“Thorne,” she returned the greeting. He was as ginger headed as she herself was, although with far more freckles, and a turned-up nose that made him look like he was fifteen instead of nineteen. Ashlynn had told her he was one of the more observant of the new batch of guardsmen, and because he often accompanied his father while hunting, he knew how to read the forest. So far that had been proven true as he saw things the other two watchmen did not. “What do ye see this morning?”
“Not good things.” Thorne waved her in closer before pointing steadily outside of the camp. “See that narrow wisp of smoke?”
Her eyes narrowed. “I do. No one out that direction?”
“Hunters staying near the shoreline,” he informed her, not taking his eyes off that trail of smoke. “No one’s going past me these days, and good thing, too. That’s a cooking fire unless I miss my guess. It showed up this morning. I wasn’t on duty last night, but I’d bet a month’s pay that our bandits arrived last night.”
Riana cursed solidly under her breath. “I will no’ take that bet, Thorne.”
He spared her a quick grin. “That’s because you’re a wise woman, ma’am.”
She stared hard in that direction and detected traces of movement. The bandits were trying hard to keep their presence to a minimum, but she had twenty years of experience keeping an eye for them and knew what to look for. “It looks like quite a group is out there.”
“Yes ma’am, it sure does.” Thorne didn’t sound happy as he said this. “They haven’t come any closer than this, which is why I didn’t report it sooner, as I knew you were coming to check in with me first thing this morning. But I don’t give it good odds of them staying in place for much longer. What do you want me to do?”
“Stay put,” she ordered. “I will call for reinforcements. Ye sound that horn if they make even a step in this direction. But lad, mind me: do no’ engage. These be ruthless men and they will no’ hesitate to overwhelm ye and slit yer throat.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She studied his face but he seemed to mean it. Satisfied, she slithered back to a lower branch and hopped out of the tree before striding straight for where she had seen Ash last. He had been making noises this morning about getting the inn’s kitchen finished, so that’s where she headed.
Fortunately, he was exactly where he said he’d be, under the sink and helping to install the pipes. All she could see at this angle was his legs. “Ash.”
He contorted around so that he could see her, although he stayed down on the ground. “Uh-oh. I know that look. What’s wrong?”
“The bandits be here.”
Ash scrambled to his feet so fast that he brained himself against the bottom of the sink. Hissing, he held a protective hand to his forehead even as he demanded, “Are they attacking?”
“No’ as of yet.” Riana grabbed a washcloth off the counter and wet it. “Take yer hand away, let me look.”
“It just smarts, it’s fine, what do you mean they’re not attacking yet?”
“No’ as yet. Thorne spotted their cooking fire off in the woods and it looks like quite a number has gathered here. But they be no’ moving yet.” Getting a good grip on his hand, she yanked it down and saw that he was right, it was just lightly bruising. She put the cloth to it anyway to cool it down. She needed him to have a clear head later. “Call yer sister. We will need every hand she can spare today.”
“You think they’ll attack today?” Ash lifted the caller to his mouth and spoke clearly, “Ashlynn.”
“Belike today or tomorr
ow.”
“Ash?”
“Sister dearest, we have bandits camping out in the woods.”
Ashlynn swore, the language vile enough to make a sailor blush. “How much time do I have to get help to you?”
“We don’t know,” Ash said sourly. “They’re not making a move so far. Riana says there’s quite the gathering out there, though. We don’t have the manpower here to fight them off.”
“I’ll get you every person I can spare and then some. Just hang tight.”
Ash dropped the necklace, grabbed Riana’s hand, and headed straight for the door. “I want to see this for myself. Should we gather people in? No, of course we should, we can’t protect everyone spread out like this.”
Riana gently disengaged the hand he had on her and said, “Ye check in with Thorne if ye must, but I need to have words with the other two. Mayhap they be seeing something as well.”
“What?” Ash looked and felt panicked to her along their bond. “No, you’re not going anywhere without me. I’ll go too. We’ll spread the word as we go. I’d rather not tip the bandits off that we know they’re there just yet by using the horns.”
“Good thought, that one.” Riana was all for keeping the status as it was as long as they could. Tipping it either direction would lead to a disaster until they had more fighters in place. “Then, come along. Quiet-like.”
Chapter Four
Broden and Ashlynn were not even out of the boat yet when they demanded of Ash, “Still in the woods?”
“Still in the woods,” Ash assured them, extending a hand and helping his sister up onto the docks. “I have no idea what they’re waiting for, but the fact that they’re still waiting is making me nervous. Riana is now hovering up in the tree and she refuses to move. I don’t think she’s getting down until they either make a move or I put a ward up.”
Arrows of Promise (Kingmakers Book 2) Page 3