“Yes, such a letter went to my superior. He was disinclined to accept any position here—more because of age than anything else—but encouraged me to go.”
As much as Broden hated to question a gift horse in the mouth, they still had to do an entrance interview of some sort to make sure the man wasn’t an Iyshian spy. “Why did ye come, if ye do no’ mind my asking.”
“Even the Orders are ruled by the Bindings, my son.” Graff’s lips twisted into a sardonic expression as he said this. “My ability to rise in the ranks of my Order are limited because of my own birth and my lack of the right connections. I could never be more than an assistant to someone else throughout my life. The lack of a promotion grated on me some, but it was the inability to make the changes I thought should be done that was the hardest to bear.”
That made perfect sense to Broden, who had once lived in a situation that also prevented him from ever changing.
Ashlynn picked up the thread smoothly, having done this more than a few hundred times. “And so you leapt to the decision to come here? It must have weighed on you heavily.”
“It was not such a challenge, my child.” Graff lifted his shoulders into a shrug. “I had little to lose or leave behind. Also, I was touched by the letter that your king sent out. He was quite eloquent in his plea for help. I felt that he was a good man and I wanted to try serving a king that I actually liked for once.”
That struck a chord within Ashlynn. She out and out grinned at the man. “It’s a novel concept, isn’t it? So far I quite like it. When did you get the letter?”
“Almost precisely three weeks ago. I had several things to attend to and finish before I could leave, hence my delay in arriving here.” Bracing himself, a half-wince already on his face, Graff asked, “How long has it been since a priest attended to Estole?”
“Two and a half months,” Ashlynn responded sourly.
“Oh dear,” Graff said, concerned. “Has there been no one to attend to them all this time?”
“There be a list,” Broden assured him. “And a proper chapel.”
“Although the chapel will undoubtedly need cleaning,” Ashlynn put in. “But Priest Graff, I promise you that you will have help. I will draft them myself so that you have hands available for any work that needs to be done. The people here have been complaining about the lack of a priest and are going to be overjoyed to see you.”
“I am very sorry I did not arrive sooner than this. I had no idea that the state of things would be this severe. But I will do all I can,” Graff promised. Taking one of her hands in his, he said earnestly, “Sheriff, go and find me help to clean the chapel. I understand that I have a procedure to follow to become a citizen here.”
Marissa nodded confirmation.
“But after that is finished, I will go directly there and start working. Do you think it possible to have the chapel ready by tomorrow?”
“If not, it’ll be close enough to at least do simple ceremonies in,” Ashlynn assured him. “Marissa, expedite the process for our new priest. I’ll notify Edvard and get the ball rolling on my end.”
“Certainly. Priest Graff, if you could come this way?”
Ashlynn lost no time in leaving the guard house and heading straight into the city. “Broden, I’ll notify Edvard. But I think it’ll be more time efficient if you go find us some volunteers.”
“I know just where to find them,” he assured her, already grinning. “I be thinking that cleaning the chapel be a fitting punishment for some of our miscreants.”
“You do read my mind sometimes.” Grinning at him, she shot him a wink before splitting off and heading for the castle.
It took the space of an hour to inform everyone. They all met this news with open relief and celebration. Edvard actually dropped everything and went to the chapel to meet the man himself, welcoming him like one would a long lost uncle. The priest looked overwhelmed by this whirlwind of greetings and Broden felt a pang of pity for the man. His head was likely swimming with names.
As it happened, the voluntold were not the only ones that cleaned the chapel. Word spread like wildfire through the city and so many people showed up to clean—most of them housewives—that it was like a swarm of locusts had descended on the place. There wasn’t enough elbow room for them to clean more than a tile on the floor without bumping into each other, but each person was determined to clean some part and get the chapel ready for use that much sooner. Broden wisely kept out of the way and in the doorway. His sole task was to make sure his criminal crew did not try to run off, and that was all he did. Interfering with a woman on a mission was foolhardy in the extreme and he would hope that, after nearly forty years in the world, he knew better than to try.
By ten o’clock that night, the chapel was gleaming from ceiling to floor, not a speck of dust to be found in the place. More, the priest was stocked with food in the larder, enough to last him a month, and the women had made sure he had clean linens to sleep on, and fire for the hearth. The man looked touched by this care for his wellbeing and was very vocal in expressing thanks to all of them.
Broden sent his criminals back to their cells and returned to his own room in the castle. He gained the hallway connecting his room with the twins’ and heard Ashlynn’s voice faintly as she reported to Ash what had happened that day. So the settlement now knew too that they had a priest? Good.
Glad to have at least one thing going right this week, Broden went to bed and hoped that tomorrow life might get a little easier.
Over the course of the week, Riana grew more and more concerned about Ash. He slept less, ate little, and worked himself more than anyone else did. It got to the point where he would only eat if she brought him something and forced him to sit down. He slept perhaps four hours a night, barely enough to exist on. He’d become this hollow-eyed man that blearily stumbled around the settlement from one project to another.
A sleep-deprived wizard working magic frankly scared the light right out of her. But she couldn’t seem to get him to settle down and pace himself. He argued with her that everything had to be done now, that he had no time to sit and rest. She had no good argument because he was right, it was all needed. The now part was a different story, they were just now approaching fall, he had time to work. But she had a feeling he was trying to get more of the settlement in before they were attacked again, by either Iysh or bandits. Having to maintain a ward up every night for the past three weeks to defend against possible sneak attacks was not helping matters at all.
This morning, she caught him before he rolled out of his bedroll, shoving a bowl of porridge and a thick, honey tea into his hands. “Eat.”
Almost gratefully, he consumed the hot food, letting it warm him up. The air was cooler in the mornings than during the day. Not cold, by any means, but the difference was noticeable when they were used to working out in a blazing hot sun. “I need to get the other two mines properly started today.”
He looked as if he had lost a stone of weight. Along their magical connection, he didn’t ‘feel’ himself either. Ash usually gave off a brilliant wash of light so that he burned brightly in the back of her mind. But today it was a muted glow, barely discernable to her. She had to be paying attention to even notice it. All of this boded ill to her mind. “It can no’ wait a day? Ash, ye be staggering for want of sleep.”
Shaking his head, he drained the tea and pushed both cup and bowl into her hands. “No, I need to go. This is the last major project I have to do and then I can take it a little easier come tomorrow. The marketplace is in, the butchery was finished yesterday, the fields cleared. All I have left is building the food storage buildings and we’ll be set.”
‘Just’ build three huge buildings. Aye, that was ‘easier’ alright.
Two miners appeared at the edge of their camp and gave her respectful nods of hello.
“A top of the morning to ye, McKay, Liam.” These two men had come in the day before yesterday and she had gained an instant good impression of t
hem. They were solid, salt of the earth people, who were respectful and enjoyed working. While waiting on Ash to get to the mines, they had pitched in and helped people build their houses the past two days. “Have ye had breakfast?”
“We have, Miss Riana, thank you.” McKay scratched at his beard before fanning his face with a palm. “Already warming up this morning. Ash, we marked the places we think it best to dig, as you asked.”
“Ropes, shovels, buckets, and pulleys are already standing by as well,” Liam pitched in. “I have word from my brother that more are coming over and I expect them in the next hour or two. After you get the main shafts in, we can take it from there.”
Oh? So Ash wasn’t expected to do the bulk of the mining himself? Well, that was a blessed relief.
Ash put both hands to his knees and pushed himself to his feet slowly, like an eighty-year-old man creaking upwards. “That sounds fine. Thank you, gentlemen. Let’s get to it, then.” As if just realizing, he turned to Riana. “What are you doing today?”
“Hunting potatoes. I have more hunters coming over today as well that need to be shown which areas be theirs.”
“Ah. Good hunting, then.” With a brief smile, there and gone, he turned and went off with the men.
Riana watched him go with worry tightening her mouth. Come tomorrow, no matter what, she was forcing him to rest. Even if she had to sit on him. He was so exhausted, he wouldn’t be able to put up much of a fight. And she had a feeling that if he just sat still for more than ten seconds, he’d pass out.
They truly needed more magicians. She was going to drive this point home with Edvard the next time she talked to the man.
Still worried, but not knowing what else to do, she went to her own work.
The new hunters arrived, so she set about showing them the virgin areas to set traps and ambushes. So far, they were bringing in a good amount of game per day. There were three dedicated butchers who took it all and preserved it, prepping it for storage. It took only an hour to show them the ropes and then she went back to potato hunting.
Riana had a system in place between her and the younger children. She’d put the plants she found into coarse sacks. The children would come to the dump sites she’d marked and take them to the fields before planting them as she’d taught. They were promised five coppers for every sack they planted, which, for a child, was good money. Riana had thought of this system in part to save her back from having to haul all of this back and forth, but also to give a little extra income to the families moving in here. What with the shortage of coins, what she actually gave them was a voucher. The children were using what they earned to buy things from Estole—blankets, food, building materials, and the like. She had eight of them under her charge and she had to admit she was becoming fond of the scamps. They were such cheerful, hardworking youngsters. It was hard not to like them.
At noon, she stopped and ate the bread and cheese she’d packed. Fortified, she grabbed the two sacks she had and hauled them to the drop off point. She found Helmi already waiting there, her hair done up in a braid around her head, wearing her brother’s pants. As usual. At eleven, the girl was as tall as any boy her age, just as strong, and had the view point that anything a boy could do, she could do. Riana had yet to see her fail at anything. So far, Helmi was in the lead for the most earned.
“Helmi, here be two.”
The girl reached out and took both sacks from her. It was a bit of a strain for her to handle both at once, but she tossed one over her shoulder, the other she tucked under her arm, and gave Riana a game smile. “I’ll get them planted quick. Miss Riana, these potato things, you sure they good for eatin’?”
“Eh, they be that. Fine eating. When they be big enough to harvest, I will show ye how to cook ’em.”
Helmi looked a little doubtful still, but it earned her good money now to plant them, so she wasn’t arguing this too much. “Momma told me to tell you that we have eight rows planted.”
“Lovenanty!” Riana exclaimed in true surprise. “I have no’ gathered that much.”
“No,” Helmi agreed with a gap-toothed grin. “But the hunters bring us some to plant, and now that we know what you’re looking for, we’re finding them on our own. You owe us lots of money, Miss Riana.”
“Cernunnos smile on ye, lass, but ye be an enterprising sort.” Riana was astounded at how quickly they had leapt into the work and weren’t depending on her every direction. “Eight rows, ye say? Well, now, if that be the truth, then—” She stopped dead when she realized that the faint presence of Ash in the back of her head had gone abruptly out.
Helmi asked in worry, “Miss Riana? You look like someone just smacked you in the back of the head.”
Grabbing the girl’s arm, she commanded urgently, “Get me two strong men and send them to the mines. Then tell the next boat that comes to wait.”
Alarmed, the girl demanded, “What happened?”
“Ash be down. I can barely feel him. Fast and snell, girl, move!” Turning on a heel, she took off in a dead run, or as fast as she could move in this virgin forest. Behind her, she heard Helmi drop the sacks of potatoes and run the opposite direction, toward the settlement.
Riana’s blood thrummed in her ears, her heart screaming in panic. She and Ash hadn’t quite gotten to the level where they could tell where the other was at all times—they could just feel strong emotions—and she cursed the fact that she couldn’t find him through their connection. She’d known that he was going to put mines in today, but hadn’t thought to ask him which mines. There were three possible locations, some of them far flung from the settlement, and she didn’t know which one to try first.
Heavens, Helmi wouldn’t know which one either! Snarling to herself, she promised that she would make sure things became more clearly marked later, so they wouldn’t be in this situation in future emergencies. But for now, she had to just try the nearest one to her and hope that was it. If not, she’d go to the next.
Stumbling into the first location, she saw equipment stacked up and ready to go, but no people or overturned earth. Cursing aloud, she whirled and headed southwest, going for the second place. Even as she ran, she searched for Ash’s presence over and over. She could still feel him, but it was reed thin, and it made her feel as if his life were teetering on the edge of a cliff.
She knew she was headed to the right place even before it became visible. It was the smell of overturned earth and smoke that told her people were close. She rounded a large tree trunk and skidded to a halt in the manmade clearing. For a split second, she took in the situation.
Three men were lying on the ground, each of them with a cold cloth on his head. Only one, McKay, was still standing, and he was tending to the three of them. Ash was one of them, looking unnaturally still. At her entrance, McKay looked up, and reading the panic on her face well enough, hastily assured her, “He’s fine, Miss Riana. Just fine. We hit a bad pocket of air while tunneling through and it made these three pass out. But they’ll be back on their feet in a few minutes. Just need some clean air in their lungs, is all.”
As if to prove his point, Liam groaned and lifted a hand to his head.
“See? Just a few more minutes and the rest will wake up as well.” McKay knelt next to Liam and put a hand on his shoulder. “Deep breaths, man.”
Was it really just that? Not convinced, she knelt down next to Ash and put a hand against his cheek. He felt cold, and fine tremors vibrated under her hand. He was shivering hard. This wasn’t a matter of hitting a bad pocket of air and needing to get his wind back. This was something else entirely. What, she wasn’t quite sure, but it was no doubt weeks of not sleeping or eating enough catching up with him.
Braun, the third man, stirred and sat up, wincing as he did so. “That was a bad pocket of air. We mark that?”
“Marked,” McKay assured him. “I’ll get it vented so we can work down there a few days from now.”
“Ye will be doing so without Ash,” she informed them fir
mly. “McKay, help me. We need to get him to the mainland.”
McKay opened his mouth, ready to protest, then took a second look at Ash. “He should be waking up by now…” he trailed off uncertainly before kneeling at Ash’s side and putting an ear to his lungs. Frowning, he sat back up. “His lungs sound clear. Why isn’t he waking up?”
“Oh, I can think of many a reason,” she growled unhappily. “McKay, help me. He needs to get to Estole.”
“Right,” the man agreed, catching on to her urgency. “You two fine here? Good, good. I think we’re done for the day, so go on home until we know we can work here again. Miss Riana, if you can get his feet, I’ll take the torso.”
Between the two of them, they got Ash off the ground and headed for the settlement docks. Halfway there, two men from the settlement came running up, Helmi’s father being one of them. They took over, slinging Ash between them, which Riana was thankful for as she didn’t have the strength to cart the man the whole distance. She walked alongside most of the way, then when they were close enough, ran ahead to the docks.
Helmi, bless her, had a hand on the ferryman’s sleeve and was holding on to him with determination. The ferryman—Mark? Marcus?—stood there with an aggravated expression on his face and was saying to the child, “I can’t stand here all day, I have a schedule to keep. Whatever emergency this is, can’t it hold for an hour so I can return and get the next shipment over—ah, Miss Riana, what is this about?”
“Ash has fallen.”
For a split second, it didn’t connect with him, and then the ferryman’s eyes bugged out of his head. “Wizard Fallbright has fallen?!”
“I need to get him to Estole. NOW.”
Fortunately for the man’s future health, he saw her point immediately, and leapt back into his boat and started clearing space. Riana followed him in, helping, and by the time they had a clear spot to lay Ash in, the other two men labored up, huffing and puffing. Under her direction, Ash was settled into the bottom of the boat. She crawled in next to him, his head in her lap, and she threw her cloak over him, as his shaking had gotten worse.
Arrows of Promise (Kingmakers Book 2) Page 9