‘That was rude, you know,’ he muttered.
‘Aye?’ said Kelsey. ‘Well, I don’t trust you.’ She glanced around the room. ‘I don’t trust any of you.’ She sat. ‘I’ll tell you what would be really rude though; turning down a free meal. That, I’d never do.’
She picked up a spoon and began slurping down soup from a bowl as the others stared in silence. The sergeant stifled a laugh and sat down next to Bryda at the new places the servers had set up, while the Sanang hedgewitch Acorn sat to the left of Kelsey, her expression unreadable.
‘Her Majesty,’ said Nyane, ‘has seen fit to appoint me as the new governor of this town. My only objective is to see that it doesn’t fall to the enemy. I should only be here a few thirds, and will do everything I can in that time to prepare the defences and ready the garrison. We have enough supplies to make it through the winter, so it all should really be very simple.’ She glanced across the table at Kelsey. ‘You are not responsible for the actions of your brother, as Acorn is not responsible for Thorn.’
‘Then what are we doing here,’ said Kelsey, looking up from the soup, ‘apart from stating the obvious? We’re no threat to you. Every marine and cavalry-trooper that wanted to disobey orders has gone; we’re the ones that stayed behind.’
‘I called you here so that we can come to an understanding. I wish you to know that I intend no harm to you, and in return I want you to give no support to the whispers and rumours that are swirling around this town.’
‘What whispers?’
‘Well, that your brother’s actions are to be admired, for example.’
‘Hmm, right,’ said Kelsey, ‘and I suppose you’d be delighted if I told you what his aims are, or the date of his return, or indeed, what he plans to do upon his return? And likewise for Acorn, I’m sure you want to know all about Thorn?’
‘I wasn’t intending to ask those questions.’
‘Good, because I don’t have answers for any of them. Do you think I enjoyed watching my idiot brother get talked into leaving Rainsby? But don’t get your hopes up; like I said, I trust you about as much as I trusted the previous governor.’
‘What about you, Acorn?’ said Nyane.
The hedgewitch turned to her. ‘What about me?’
‘I understand your mother was taken into custody by the Rahain? You can trust me on this – I know exactly how that feels.’
‘And what is the empire doing to secure her release?’
‘Nothing. There’s nothing we can do, except win this war and bring peace back to the Star Continent. There’s no use in trying to negotiate with the Rahain government; believe me, we’ve tried.’
‘I told you,’ said Kelsey to the hedgewitch. ‘They’re not interested in finding your mother.’
‘You’re talking crap,’ said Ravi. ‘I was a captive in Rahain for a year, and they rescued me.’
Kelsey narrowed her eyes at the Rakanese man. She turned to Nyane. ‘Is this the best you could rustle up to bring with you? Frankly, I’m less than impressed.’ She nodded at Tabor. ‘A boy from the Holdings? Let me guess; he’s a junior vision mage? Pyre’s tits, if he’s all we’ve got the Empress is really scraping the bottom of the barrel.’ She turned back to Ravi. ‘A Rakanese guy? When I first saw him I had a wild hope that he was a flow mage, you know, someone able to blow folk’s heads off.’
‘How do you know I’m not?’ he said.
She snorted. ‘Aye, right.’ She turned to face Belinda and stared at her for a moment. ‘But who is this?’
‘I’m Belinda.’
Kelsey stared again, then blinked, her eyes widening. ‘Ah.’
‘What are you doing?’ said Nyane. ‘Do you have vision powers like your brother and sister?’
‘No.’
‘I know who Belinda is,’ said Acorn. ‘She was on the boat with us when we sailed here from Plateau City. Thorn spent an awful lot of time with her. A man called Calder was there too, teaching her how to fight.’
‘Wait,’ said Kelsey, ‘you told me you were on the same boat as Karalyn.’
‘Yes, she and Belinda shared a cabin. I don’t think your sister approved of Belinda’s friendship with Thorn.’
Nyane turned to Belinda, an eyebrow raised. ‘Friendship? Why is this the first time I’m hearing about this? You spent time with Thorn?’
Belinda shrugged. ‘It was only for a few days. I didn’t think it was important enough to mention.’
Kelsey chuckled, then shook her head. ‘So why isn’t my sister here too?’
‘That brings me to something else I must tell you,’ Nyane said.
‘Aye, what?’
‘I’m afraid that Karalyn, your mother and Corthie are missing.’
Nyane almost smiled as for once the Holdfast girl was silent.
‘They were on your family estate,’ she went on, ‘when they were attacked.’
Kelsey’s face froze, her eyes wide. ‘By who?’
‘We got a description from one of the household servants. It was identical to that given by yourself and Keir when you were attacked.’
‘The woman who killed my father?’
‘Her name is Asher, we believe. She entered the family home, and made straight for your mother. The servants scattered, and when they returned, everyone was gone. There was no sign of the attacker or your family, including Keir’s infant son and her mother.’
Kelsey frowned for a moment. ‘That doesn’t mean anything. Karalyn can vanish from sight, and make those around her disappear as well. They’ll have gone into hiding.’
‘That too is our hope.’
‘Are you searching for them?’
‘Of course, but it’s unlikely we’ll find them unless Karalyn wants to be found.’
‘But my mother can’t just walk out of her job.’
‘Indeed,’ said Nyane. ‘While we all hope they are safe, their disappearance has left the Holdings leaderless. A caretaker government has been installed, but the royalists are stirring up trouble, and calling for an early election. The longer Daphne Holdfast remains away from her post, the more likely their victory.’
‘Shit,’ muttered Kelsey. ‘The Empress is in all kinds of trouble. First Keir and Thorn gallop off together into the sunset, and now Karalyn and my mother have gone to ground? Bridget’s running out of mages and allies. In fact,’ she smirked, ‘we sitting here probably represent one of her most loyal cabals.’
‘We’re not a cabal,’ said Ravi, ‘whatever that is, and even if we were, you’re not part of it. You’re just a rude girl.’
‘Rude?’ she said. ‘Aye, fine. But I’ll be sixteen in spring, and I know more about the defences, garrison and politics of Rainsby that anyone else in this shithole of a town. And, believe it or not, our interests are aligned. Do you think I want to see Rainsby fall? I live here, for fucksake.’
Ravi’s frown faded away and he started to laugh. He turned to Nyane. ‘Are you going to give her a telling-off for swearing too?’
Nyane said nothing for a moment. She gazed at the young half-Holdings, half-Kellach girl. She was brusque, but Nyane could see she was masking a sharp intelligence.
‘I’m planning to commence my inspection of Rainsby tomorrow,’ she said, ‘and I would value your contribution.’
Kelsey stared at the others round the table, then sighed. ‘Alright, I’ll help you. It doesn’t mean I trust you yet, but I don’t want you making a mess of things like the last guy.’
Nyane smiled. ‘Thank you.’
Acorn gave a small cough. ‘Could we go back a bit please?’
‘Yes?’ said Nyane.
The hedgewitch frowned. ‘Keir has a son?’
Chapter 16
The Far End of the World
Severton, Domm – 30th Day, Last Third Autumn 525
Lennox raked the fire of burning rubbish with a long, charred pole, his clothes stinking of smoke. Carrie emptied another basket of refuse onto the frozen ground, next to the burning patch.
‘Spr
ead it out properly,’ called the overseer as Lennox, Leisha and Cain worked their rakes. ‘I want the toilet pit to be in a straight line.’
‘Aye, boss,’ said Carrie.
‘Arsehole,’ muttered Cain as the overseer strode away.
Lennox glanced up over the scarf covering his lower face. All around them, folk were labouring in the great field on the western edge of town, preparing it for the Winter’s Day festivities. Large pavilions were being erected, wagons were delivering stacks of tables and chairs, and carpenters were building a low wooden platform where musicians were to perform later. The field was shaped like a triangle, with roads forming two sides to the west, while ahead of them ran the Severton Burn, a fast-flowing river; and the town itself began on the far bank, its houses and buildings made of yellow sandstone. Across the road to their left rose an enormous building; its bulk dominating the town. Although it was situated by the river on the western edge of Severton, the distillery and brewing complex was the heart of the settlement as well as the source of the town’s wealth. Wagons carrying whisky left every third, bound for the homes of the rich in Plateau City and beyond.
‘That’s where I want to work,’ he said.
‘Aye?’ said Leisha. ‘Well for now you’ll just have to put up with raking garbage like the rest of us.’
Cain prodded the smouldering ground. ‘It’s softening up.’
‘It’ll need a while yet,’ said Lennox. ‘The earth’s as hard as granite.’
Lennox took a step back. The fire now stretched for twenty yards in a line by the edge of the field. Behind them lay a heap of tools – pick-axes, mattocks and shovels, while ahead were neatly stacked piles of cut timber. As soon as the pit had been dug, carpenters would move in to put up a rudimentary toilet block.
‘This is the life, eh?’ said Cain, grinning. ‘Digging a shithole for a living.’
‘And when we get home tonight,’ said Leisha, ‘we get to live in one too.’
‘Our room isn’t that bad,’ said Carrie.
‘No? It’s damp, it’s freezing and there’s rats.’
‘We’ll get somewhere better soon,’ said Lennox. ‘The town’s just busy because of the festival. After that, the prices should come down and we’ll be able to afford a bigger place. To be honest, we’ve done better than I thought we would in Severton. I wasn’t sure if we’d get any work at all, but no one seems to care about our accents.’
‘They’re just desperate for labour,’ said Leisha. ‘I’ve already been offered decent work in the peatlands, and a guy told me they’re always after folk in the forests and quarries.’
‘Me too,’ said Lennox, ‘and we’ve only been here three days. Aye, this was the right place to come.’
Cain pointed to their left. ‘The fire’s going out over there.’
Lennox glanced around to check no one was watching, then moved his fingers, connecting to the flames. He urged them back into the unburnt patches of refuse, encouraging the fire to take hold.
‘Nice one,’ said Cain. ‘A noble use of your powers; Pyre would be proud.’
The four of them watched the pavilions being set up as the ground slowly warmed.
‘Looks like half the town will be coming,’ said Carrie.
‘Aye,’ said Lennox, ‘and all the farmers and their families from miles around. I heard the whole thing’s free. The town pays the bills.’
‘Must cost them a fortune.’
‘I’m sure they can afford it,’ said Leisha. ‘Every legal bottle of whisky in the world is made here. Remember drinking that stuff that Sable had? Imagine the journey it must have taken, to get from here to down our throats in Stretton Sands. Every barrel that leaves brings in gold; paying for a wee party once a year is the least they can do.’
‘Wait,’ said Cain, ‘does that mean we don’t have to pay tonight? We get to eat and drink for free?’
‘Aye,’ said Lennox, ‘but remember we’re working tomorrow.’
‘And miss the biggest fucking party ever?’ said Cain. ‘It’s supposed to go on all night, then right through to tomorrow night without stopping. Just think of all that food, and ale, and whisky… and drunk women…’
‘We’re getting paid treble for it, though,’ said Carrie. ‘I don’t want to, either, but we need the money.’
Cain spat on the ground. ‘What a ball-ache.’
Lennox roughed up the earth with his boot, then turned and picked up a mattock.
‘Come on,’ he said, ‘time to dig.’
It was approaching noon when they completed the trench. Evening drew in quickly on the last day before winter, and the workers covering the field had accelerated their efforts in an attempt to finish before the sun set. Lennox and the others had done exactly what they had been asked, the trench running according to the precise dimensions requested. The soil had been heaped up in a long, even line behind the trench, ready to be back-filled once the party was over. Lennox wondered if they would get the job.
The overseer came to take a look.
‘Finished already?’ he said, nodding as he examined their work. ‘Good job. Unfortunately you’ve completed it before the carpenters are ready to start building.’
‘We know how to build,’ said Lennox.
‘Do ye now?’
‘Enough to knock up a shithouse.’
The overseer rubbed his forehead. ‘I don’t know. It’d save me a lot of time, but the carpenters I’ve got know what they’re doing.’
‘So do we.’
‘Alright, ye can get started on the far end. I’ll be back in half an hour to see how yer doing. Don’t fuck it up.’
Lennox smiled as the overseer walked away.
‘What did you do that for?’ said Leisha. ‘Now we have to build the fucking shithouse.’
‘It’s freezing. I want to keep busy.’
‘You want to show off, you mean,’ said Carrie.
‘So? We’ve built entire fortresses in days, and camps each night when we marched through the mountains; and we have a hundred other skills. You can stick to digging ditches if you like, but I want to move up.’
He strode over to the nearest stack of planks. Next to them were bags of three-inch iron nails covered in a layer of frost.
‘Shit,’ said Cain, sighing. ‘He’s got a point; it is freezing.’
Lennox relaxed and let his long training take over; his actions becoming automatic as the four ex-soldiers got to work. They seldom spoke as they laboured, the understanding between them sharp and close after so many years together. A group of carpenters arrived as the sun was lowering in the west, turning the sky a dozen shades of red. The group glanced at the work Lennox and the others had done, then started on the other end of the long ditch. Without speaking, the four companions increased their speed, driven to work faster and better than the other group.
The overseer laughed as he watched the two sections meet. The last of the light was fading, and torches were being lit behind where he stood.
‘The ditch-diggers bested you, Dommek,’ he yelled to the leader of the carpenters. ‘I think you owe them a drink; if they hadn’t been here you’d be toiling into the night.’
The lead carpenter frowned, as the rest of his group looked half-relieved, half-annoyed. Their section barely stretched a quarter of the length of the finished building; a long, low shed, with a dozen openings to the trench inside.
Dommek approached Lennox and stuck out his hand. Lennox grasped it.
‘My thanks,’ the carpenter said. ‘What’s yer name?’
‘Lennox.’
‘What? A fucking Lach built this? We were beaten by a Lach?’
‘Two Lach, and two Kell.’
‘Pyre’s arsehole, I need a drink myself, now. Come on lad, let’s get an ale in before we wash up for the day.’
‘Aye, sounds good.’
Lennox glanced around, and blinked in surprise. For hours he had been so focussed that he hadn’t noticed the work going on in the rest of the large field.
The pavilions were open and ready, lit by dozens of torches strung up from poles. Lines of tables stretched between the pavilions, with more inside. Wagons by the roadside had been converted into mobile kitchens, and dozens of huge barrels were being stored nearby.
‘This place’ll be heaving in an hour,’ Dommek said as they walked over to one of the pavilions. Inside, other workers who had finished for the day were being served ale in tankards and bowls of hot broth. The carpenters, then Lennox and his companions, collected their portions and found room by the corner.
‘You new, aye?’ said Dommek.
‘Aye,’ said Lennox. ‘Been here a few days.’
He nodded. ‘And now for the big question – are ye working tomorrow?’
‘We are.’
‘Doing what?’
‘Don’t know yet.’
‘No offence, but finding skilled folk willing to work on Winter’s Day is harder than finding a Lach who washes his hands after having a shite.’
‘Or a Domm without a massive ego?’ said Lennox.
Dommek laughed. ‘Exactly. My maintenance crew is short this year, and you four look pretty handy. I could use you to make up the numbers if yer interested.’
‘What would we be doing?’
‘Fixing shit that broke. There’ll be thousands of drunk folk here, and believe me, they’ll break a lot of shit; tables, fences, the shithouse we just built, fuck, even an entire pavilion one year.’
‘Hours?’
‘Dawn to midnight.’
Lennox glanced at his friends.
‘Sounds alright,’ said Carrie.
‘At midnight we get off?’ said Cain. ‘We can get rat-arsed after that?’
‘Aye,’ said Dommek, ‘after midnight tomorrow, nobody cares if shit’s broken any more.’
‘Pay?’ said Lennox.
‘Hundred a head.’
‘Fuck aye,’ said Cain. ‘For that money I’m in.’
‘Biggest payday of the year,’ said Dommek. ‘The town’s footing the bill, of course.’
‘We’ll do it,’ said Lennox.
‘Excellent,’ Dommek said, grinning. He downed his ale. ‘North bridge at dawn, then.’
The Magelands Epic: Soulwitch Rises (Book 7) Page 24