Devan Chronicles Series: Books 1-3

by Mark E. Cooper

  “How are the new men coming along? I meant to ask you earlier but I forgot when Mathius told me about his brilliant idea.”

  “What idea? You still haven’t told me yet!”

  Mathius began to explain.

  “Oh no you don’t!” Julia said interrupting him. “The least you can do is feed the poor man before picking his brains!”

  They laughed as they entered the dining hall.

  Jessica was already seated and waiting for them. “I hope you’ll still be laughing when I tell Janna that you let her lamb roast go cold!”

  Julia apologised and the others did the same. Janna was the head cook and took her role to feed the masses seriously. If she heard her lamb special was ruined there would be hell to pay. Julia sat next to Mathius opposite Keverin. Pia quickly set an extra plate in front of Mathius followed by a wineglass. She curtsied to Keverin and left. Keverin quickly carved the roast while Jessica poured wine for each of them. Mathius sat wide-eyed watching his lord and lady serving him.

  “I do believe we have shocked young Mathius,” Julia said trying not to laugh.

  “Young!” Mathius squeaked in outrage. “I’m older than you are. And I’m not shocked, just… surprised that’s all.”

  Julia laughed along with Jessica at the outrage on his face. “I know. I’m only teasing you.”

  Julia ate her dinner and left the conversation until the end. Mathius explained his idea to Keverin who was intensely interested, and said he would find Mathius a mirror to experiment with.

  Julia sipped her wine. “You didn’t tell me how the new men are coming along. Are they as bad as you feared they would be?”

  Keverin frowned in thought and swallowed his mouthful. “Not as bad as I feared certainly, but not as good as I had hoped either. They all have armour now, and swords are not a problem. The Hasians left plenty of good steel behind. The problem is that many of the men come from towns and villages near Devarr. None have ever used a sword.”

  “I bet that didn’t please Brian.”

  “No it didn’t. As their captain he’ll have to train them until they can be trusted not to cut off their own…”

  “That will do thank you,” Jessica said hastily. “I think we all know what you fear they will cut off!”

  “I was only going to say fingers!” Kev said laughing.

  Julia laughed at Jessica’s sigh of exasperation. This was how a family should be. Mathius was closer than a brother, and Jessica was like her mother, but Keverin was… he was simply the most important thing in her life.

  “Let’s get married tomorrow, Kev.”

  Mathius choked on his wine. Keverin looked taken aback, but Jessica was grinning fit to swallow her plate.

  Julia stuck her lower lip out, pouting for all it was worth. “You do still want to marry me don’t you?” she said in a small voice trying not to laugh.

  “Of course!” Keverin said jumping up and heading for the door. “I’ll get Gideon right now!”

  “Whoa! I was only joking!” Julia said laughing. “I want all our friends here with us. Purcell, and Gylaren, and Lysara, and….”

  Keverin walked back and sat down to listen to her list for the wedding invitations. “Maybe we should invite all the lords,” he mumbled quietly, but Julia heard him all right.

  “You might be right! Do you think they would come?” Julia said. Jessica was watching her intently. She knew what her future daughter-in-law was up to all right.

  “I was jesting, but you’re not are you?” Keverin said finishing his wine then reaching to re-fill her glass as well as his.

  “No. But seriously Kev, I would marry you right now, but I think inviting the lords would be a good idea. I told you about my premonition while under the Tancred.”

  “It’s called divining,” Mathius said.

  “Thanks. I divined Malcor destroyed, and Athione deserted but for…” Julia broke off remembering the broken old man Keverin had become in that dark future. She concentrated on him as he was now to dispel the vision.

  “Are you all right? You’re trembling!” Mathius said in concern.

  “I’m fine. It’s just the memory of what I saw… anyway, I saw Deva conquered by the Hasians, but the common people were happy and prosperous. If we don’t start helping our own people soon, they won’t help defend Deva against the Hasians, and the future I saw will happen. I will fight to prevent it, but in the future I saw…” she broke off to whisper, “I was defeated.”

  Keverin reached for Julia’s hand in concern. He squeezed gently. “You never told me. What else did you see? Please trust me.”

  Julia didn’t want to tell him, but by asking her to trust him he had forced her into a corner. Without trust, there could be no love. “I saw you,” she said in a quiet voice. “You were old and blind with only one hand.”

  There was complete silence. Julia looked up and saw horror on Jessica’s face. Mathius looked worried, but Keverin was smiling. Smiling! What was there to smile about?

  “Is that all?” Keverin breathed much comforted.

  “What do you mean is that all? Isn’t it enough?”

  “You said I was old. That means I have thirty or more years to live at least. A lot of people would be pleased to have that long with someone they love.”

  Oh God, that was why.

  “You don’t understand,” Julia said in a small voice, almost a whisper. “In the future that I saw I was defeated and killed years before. That means it could be tomorrow for all we know.”

  Kev’s face changed at that. “That won’t happen. I’ll be dead before you, that I swear.”

  “I as well,” Mathius said.

  “Thank you both, but some battles I must fight for myself,” Julia said catching Keverin’s eyes with hers and holding them. “You understand?”

  Keverin seemed ready to argue, but he reconsidered when he remembered the battles she had already fought. The supposed attack by brigands in Dirlston was only one of many incidents. As it turned out, they hadn’t been brigands. They were assassins sent to kill her by the Emperor of Tanjung. She was grateful for Keverin’s concern, but pleased he recognised the truth of her words.

  “You know divining the future is never accurate, Julia,” Mathius said. “What you saw in the dream was only one of many possibilities. I might divine myself falling down the tower steps tomorrow, but now I know about it, I don’t leave my room or I use another route, and therefore the dream becomes false. The very act of divining the future changes it. It cannot be avoided, which is one reason—the most important one—why mages leave divining to clan shamen.”

  “Do shamen have better luck?”

  “Not that I know of, but when they divine they are looking for different things. The possibilities are more limited for a clan that must follow the herd to survive. Knowing for instance they will be attacked tomorrow will not make them change direction, because they cannot. In that event they would be forewarned and have their warriors ready, but the attack would still take place.”

  “I wonder,” Julia thought aloud. “I wonder what a shaman would say about—”

  Thump!

  Keverin rose and went to see who was at the door. He spoke for a few moments then turned to look at Julia. “Couriers have arrived from Malcor and Devarr both. The King is dead. I’m afraid we will have to put off the wedding again.”

  “May the God watch over and comfort him at journey’s end,” Jessica said quietly.

  “Who will be King now?” Julia said looking from Jessica to Keverin and back.

  Keverin shrugged not knowing the answer. “The lords will be met in the palace at Devarr to decide that. Jihan is already on his way and will arrive here in a few days. We can use the time to arrange matters here before leaving.”

  Julia’s thoughts were racing. This might be just what Deva needed to get back on its feet. She had to make sure Gylaren was crowned King somehow. Then perhaps rebuilding could begin. She smiled as an idea sprang to mind. That Jihan was on his way
was providential. Under the circumstances she was sure he would bring them with him. He wouldn’t let her down.

  The next few days were frantic ones of preparation for the journey. They had only recently arrived back from Morton and no one had expected to leave on another journey so soon. Elise had to dig deeply into Athione’s stores and was heard to complain about the level of her grain reserves. Warhorses ate a lot and the journey to Devarr was long. It took precious days to round up enough wagons for all their supplies. Keverin cursed his decision to let Dergan keep his wagons, but there was no changing the decision now.

  Jihan and Ahnao arrived before Keverin was ready to move. Jessica and Julia entertained them and Jihan’s captain while Keverin and Marcus hurried to finalise their preparations. Marcus didn’t like being left behind, but someone had to guard Athione. Brian was chosen to lead the men accompanying them to Devarr. Marcus took the newly minted captain aside for a long and private chat before seeing them all off at the gate some days after Jihan’s arrival.

  The column moved slowly along the highroad. Two thousand guardsmen mounted on warhorses took a long time to pass. The baggage train was huge by itself. Banners flying in the stiff breeze proclaimed half the men from fortress Athione, and the other half from fortress Malcor. The armour each man wore was identical in appearance except for sigils on the right of each man’s chest. Like the banners, Malcorans wore crossed war hammers over a black keep. The men from Athione sported crossed and gauntleted fists on solid green circle. Here and there, a captain could be seen wearing colourful sashes proclaiming their rank, while the sergeants proclaimed theirs with three gold chevrons below the sigils on their chest. The column was cheerful, and the colourful banners and cloaks lent a carnival air.

  At the front of the column, lords Keverin and Jihan rode next to their ladies. Lady Julia and Lady Ahnao were laughing while the two men looked at one another uncomprehending over their heads. Jessica watched her son, and smiled to see his eyes returning constantly to Julia to make certain she was near. Mathius sat silently next to Jessica brooding about leaving his friend in the kitchens. Bishop Gideon rode his horse on Jessica’s other side enjoying the ride. It was a rare pleasure for a man who hadn’t left the vicinity of Athione’s walls for ten straight years.

  “Sorry, Kev, I’ve been ignoring you,” Julia said.

  “Not at all. I was saying that we’re leaving my lands now.”

  Julia looked around but couldn’t see any obvious difference. Keverin noticed her confusion and drew her eyes to a stone they had just past.

  “The boundary stone. There’s one on each of the roads so travellers will know who holds the land.”

  The stone had Keverin’s banner chiselled into it and the distance to the fortress below. “Eighteen leagues already?” Julia said in surprise.

  “Yes, by road,” Keverin said. “It’s more like twelve cross country.”

  That was still a lot of land. A league was roughly three miles. Thirty-six miles of land beholding to Keverin, and that was just in this direction.

  “Just out of curiosity, how much land do you control?”

  “Roughly five hundred square leagues.”

  Jihan disagreed. “Closer to six I’d say.”

  Julia didn’t care. Either one was a lot of land. A great many people could live on that amount. She had visited East Town many times, but she hadn’t seen the other towns and villages beholding to Athione, except the new town of Morton. How many people were loyal to Athione?

  A lot!

  “What is the plant with the blue flower just there?” Julia said and pointed to a field full of them.

  “Flax. We use it to make linen,” Jessica said.

  “And oil,” Keverin put in. “See those ball shapes?”

  She nodded. The plants had spear shaped leaves at the top of the plant, and blue flowers with five petals on stems at the end of the branches. The balls looked to be seedpods.

  Keverin explained. “Inside the balls are seeds we press flax oil from. The leftover seed is good for animal feed, but we grow it mainly for making linen.”

  There was so much to learn here. Back in England, Julia had bought things and used them without needing or wanting to know where it all came from, but here life was slower and things were more interesting. Up ahead Julia noted they were approaching a broken down shack with a large corral beside it. The building had obviously been abandoned many years previously.

  “What’s that?”

  “A way station—or it was once. You will see a lot of them on the way to Devarr.”

  “A way station?”

  “A good idea that like so many other things has been allowed to fail,” Kev said with a sigh. “Pergann’s great, great grandfather used them as a way for the King’s messengers to cross the kingdom quickly at need. Fresh horses and supplies were kept at each station so that a messenger could ride without stopping. They belong to the crown, but they’re all like this now.”

  Julia craned her neck as they left the way station behind. The foundations and chimney were still solid, but the walls were fallen on two sides as was the roof. The open door creaked in the slight breeze. It looked sad and abandoned. If she concentrated she could almost imagine the corral full of restive horses and see a messenger pounding in from the capital. He would jump down with his message case and quickly remount a fresh beast and gallop out again on his way to Athione—to Kevlarin’s father perhaps.

  They rode through that day and camped for the night. The road continued without a village or town for leagues, but even had there been one, two thousand guardsmen were too many to find room for. Julia slept alone, and envied Ahnao who was married to her lord. The lucky thing was happily enjoying his company right now.

  Julia growled in annoyance and turned over to sleep.

  The next morning dawned. As usual, Julia was awake before everyone else. She used the time to wash and dress. They had only been on the road a few days and already she missed her bathtub. She chuckled at the thought of her decadence and made do with cold water drawn from the stream.

  “Thank you, Alvin,” she said as he handed her the bucket.

  “My honour, Lady,” Alvin said inclining his head with respect before leaving.

  Julia closed the tent flap and dropped her cloak back to the ground. She was decently dressed. Her underskirt was like a dress—in England it would be. Still, Jessica had warned her once that people held different views in Deva and Julia took the warning to heart. She was always careful not to shock anyone too badly. She warmed the water with her magic and performed her ablutions before hefting the bucket and casting the soapy water outside. She dressed quickly in her grey riding dress. She had worn the blue yesterday; it was safely tucked away in her trunk for another day now. She pulled on her boots and stamped to settle her feet comfortably before throwing her cloak over her shoulders with a practised whirl of velvety material. She fastened the short chain at her throat with the brooch Kev had given her.

  Julia smiled. The brooch was one of a pair that he had commissioned. She wore one and he the other. The hexagonal bronze disk sported the crossed fists of Athione on the front. Kev had decided that bronze better suited them and Athione. Gold was too soft, he said, and one thing Athione wasn’t was soft. The bronze had come from the remains of the west gate—another reminder of strength, but this time it reminded her of the sorcerers who had shattered the gate and so many lives last year.

  On the back was a short inscription:

  Together always

  Kev was such a romantic.

  Julia stepped out of her tent to watch the sunrise, but the sun wasn’t quite ready to cooperate she found, so she wandered around the camp nodding or saying a word to the sentries to pass the time. Deva was relatively peaceful within its borders. Feuds between lords were few and rarely erupted into open violence, but that didn’t mean Keverin and Jihan were willing to take chances. Dirlston had taught them an appearance of safety was different from actually being safe. It was st
andard to set sentries through the night, and it had always had been so, but they didn’t expect trouble. Brigands would be foolish indeed to attack so many armed men. If the brigands knew what was good for them they would ride somewhere else in a hurry.

  “I hope you won’t miss Adara too much, Moriz,” Julia said stopping next to two shadowy forms. She had no trouble recognising them even in the dark. Moriz carried a monster of a sword, and Halbert was always by his side.

  “Teething. I ain’t going to miss teething much, Lady. Yells something awful she do,” Moriz said.

  Julia waited for it, and wasn’t disappointed.

  “Takes after her grand pappy I be thinking!” Halbert said with a laugh.

  “I’ll show you yelling!” Moriz spluttered.

  Julia laughed quietly. The two were always using insults and sarcasm to cover their affection for each other. Conversation lapsed into silence as they watched the show. The sun lanced through the thin clouds as it raised its face above the land. Reds and oranges painted the sky, and the birds began singing to herald a new day. Julia shielded her eyes as she stood with her friends watching the stars flee. In England, she would never have time to see the sunrise, not that she would have been awake in any case, but if she had been she knew she wouldn’t have taken the time. Since coming to Waipara, she had lived each day far more intensely. It was as if she had led her old life with blinkers on. Coming here had stripped them away showing her what she was missing.

  “I never want this to end,” she said prayerfully.

  “With the God’s blessing, we’ll all be here for many more years, Lady,” Moriz said, and Halbert grunted his agreement.

  Julia nodded and watched God’s display fade until the day was truly begun. Around the camp people were awakening and campfires were being stoked back to life. A small breakfast would be eaten before the tents were struck and they moved on toward Devarr.

  Keverin ducked out of his tent, but there was no sign yet of Jihan and Ahnao.

  “I’ll see you later,” Julia said to her friends and went to meet Keverin.