A War of Stones: Book One of the Traveler Knight

by Howard Norfolk

  “The real problem now is the second Amash army led by Kustan Kalla, who is moving it down over the southern passes into the Vara, taking everything north and west of Tiger Bay as he goes. He has ten companies of Isur cavalry with him, out ahead every day, burning the land, acting crazy, but leaving the castles and well guarded walls alone. Only the dark knows what he’s trying to do. There is an rmy at Troli now, and it’s not ours, so you’ll need to send your dispatches to Tig Morten through the royal palace until you hear differently. Rydol is getting an army ready to go up into the hills, or across the Gure if needed, and meet whichever Kalla comes north toward it first.

  “Those highlands would be a hard place to fight in,” Wayland considered. “There are rocks like castles standing out in open bogs, and young, dense forests where the trees pack together like wheat stalks. And there is also the constant rain which will turn to constant snow now, if they have not already.”

  “Naturally it is hard,” Rhus said. “But it works better for our defense or perhaps for theirs if they decide to sit still. I’m sure Wenslig can hold them until reinforcements from Alonze move east through Grotoy, those being the Tourade, and the king’s cavalry and foot, as well as Golok archers hired up from the march.”

  Wayland considered all this. The talk of great armies and movements had stirred his blood again, so soon after his last adventure. It was now harder to wait to see what his new orders were, like he had a bad itch. He grimaced, and he thought he saw Rhus slyly smile back at him with one corner of his mouth, enjoying his unease.

  They reached Krolo a few hours later, just before mid day. As they came in through the town gate, a call went up to the keep that a royal messenger had arrived. Wayland’s men fell around the gate court and got a bucket of beer, and they passed it about as they waited. In this time everyone of note spilled out of the keep’s tunnel and came down through the town to arrive at the gate, to see what the Grand Prince had to say.

  Rhus had just realized that Lady Tazah was a woman when she took off her helm, and he was now being both shocked and entertained by the novelty of it at the same time. Wayland passed her the bucket, which she took up and drank a measure off of, her long blonde hair spilling out over the back of her polished armor. Rhus made a sour face and an annoyed clicking noise at that, the spell broken, and he and walked across to the well with his knight.

  Lord Sirlaw was now standing there, waiting with his castellan, his guard, his wife, and his eldest son. The Countess of Rydol was also there with the Bezet girl, who she had apparently taken on now as a servant. Johnas Tygus stood in a jacket of Grotoy’s livery, quartered with that of his Varrek mother’s house. The magician Leofind had also hung on, perhaps waiting to see if another commission would come his way and of course to also ride out the rewards of their success.

  They all went down on a knee when Rhus had Sir Woolfrick draw forth his official sword of office: the gilded symbol that the royal messengers carried to show their authority to others. Only Rhus and Sir Woolfrick were left standing now in the court. The herald unrolled his message, and began to speak.

  “The Grand Prince of Kavvar, his majesty of Gece and the Varrek Steppe, and the Isles of Heride orders that the Lady Sunnil of Berize go to her holding and remain there until otherwise directed.” Rhus moved the parchment he had unsealed in his hands, and got ready to continue on reading farther down the page. There were a few gasps, and Johnas Tygus looked very angry.

  “Dirty thing,” one of the local guards said, under his breath.

  “That the Traveler Knight, Wayland of the Isles will conduct her there and see that she is well lodged and does not leave her estate,” Rhus said. “That the Lady Tazah of Krolo travels to Grotoy, and takes up residence there in the court, and is given two wremmars of silver with which to purchase what she needs.”

  “That the Grand Prince is delighted in the return of his nobles, citizens, and serfs from the goblins, and will compensate both the Traveler Knights and the various lords of the West Lands for their expenses, when provided with such claims. That Sir Otel of Kitzy be recognized, that Lord Halgrim of Kassal be recognized. That the Grand Prince thanks the knights of the Legion of Pendwise for their bravery and help.” He folded up the document and put it away.

  “You may all rise,” Sir Woolfrick called out, and he sheathed the royal sword. As soon as Johnas Tygus stood up he spoke out.

  “My aunt did not marry Rydol to have her child robbed of its title.”

  “You should take that up with your cousin, your grace,” Rhus replied.

  “I shall,” Johnas Tygus snapped back.

  “I will wait several hours for your returns, and then I will leave back for Kavvar,” Rhus said to them all, and then he walked over to Lord Sirlaw to talk more quietly, to probably request refreshment and a meal.

  Wayland wondered if he should now put a guard on Sunnil, but figured that she was not going to run away right now and cause them trouble. When Erich Fork Beard of Grotoy learned of this he would be furious, and eventually then something would happen. Wayland took his horse back to the stable and realized his daring rescue of the countess had just been discounted, and turned into a much smaller thing.

  “Imagine that. Gained a lord and a knighthood, but lost a countess,” Samur said from behind him, where he stood next to a stable hand.

  “No. Somewhere now there is a new count,” Horwit corrected him, as he went by with his own tack.

  Wayland unsaddled his horse and then led it out into the small yard behind. He knew who the new count was. Wenslig had won his battle after all.

  The Grand Prince had just given Wayland another stick, and a new task. It seemed easy at first, better than he could have hoped for, until of course, he went greatly against the Lady Sunnil and Grotoy. Then they would oppose him openly with their vast resources, and he would fall.

  Then he would just report like the spy he was to Rhus, or to someone else with the Grand Prince’s ear. That would not happen for awhile probably, as the Lady Sunnil was currently out of sorts after this great blow, and Johnas Tygus would have to consult with his father in detail to undertake some kind of response.

  In the morning a few days later Wayland was on the south side of the keep up in his office, in Krolo’s arcade between the two towers, having resumed writing reports. He was completing a commentary for Captain Tig Morten, who had turned up at Rydol for a brief stop before going with Wenslig up into the southern highlands to fight.

  He was detailing now the rescue of the people from Warukz and the witch’s cave, in a comprehensive report that he hoped would result in no more queries over the affair. He had also gone into detail now about the state of affairs in the fairy realm of Lake Aven, from what Ludt and Edou had told him of it, listing the battles and troop that had fought. As he was finishing a paragraph, Lady Sunnil walked in and sat down on a stool by one of the small glass windows along the opposite wall.

  “My lady, I’m glad you came to visit me,” he said to her, standing up from his desk and giving her a slight bow. “Can I help you with anything?”

  “I’m just getting accustomed to having you around,” she said back. She was wearing a dark house robe for warmth. Underneath was a plain servant’s overcoat, paired with a long white skirt. From around her neck hung a long silver chain she had brought back from the Dimm, and on her fingers were several gold rings, that she had stated she had hid by tying up in her hair.

  She pulled an apple out of the housecoat and a little knife, and began to peel and pair it down. He returned to his writing, going on for most of a page. As he finished it and moved it aside, she got up and moved around the arcade, walking back and forth, looking out each of the windows in the walls in turn, except the small, high one right beside his desk.

  “I was wondering,” he said to her, “since I am now writing a report to the Grand Prince’s court. Would you like me to include a statement of your health, and of how you feel?” She thought for a moment, and frowned. It was mistake bec
ause she had immediately gone to thinking about her demotion, which he had precipitously avoided until now.

  “I am vexed,” she replied, and then she turned and walked down the arcade to look out from a different window. After a few moments she took out another apple and this one she just bit into, and noisily chewed on. Then she added, “I suppose that if I was Lady Tazah, and cut off the heads of goblins every day, I would still be the Countess of Rydol.” It was a very complex thing to say, but clearly she was searching to see if he would be sympathetic to her.

  “There’s no one like the Lady Tazah but her,” Wayland replied. “Are you asking how she would have fared, if put into your situation? Then I can only say that even the greatest armies are sometimes beaten, through no fault of their own. You are the Lady of Berize now, and the town of Zinsy and you are to stay there or disobey the ruler of Gece.”

  “I bow to his good judgment in this decision,” he continued. “Wenslig can lead the army of Rydol in the war, and you cannot. There is a great deal going on that I do not understand, and I am only a small man: a foreigner looking in on the court of another great country. I’ve seen five men sit down around a table in Tolwind and fight over a hide of land until only two of them were left to walk away, and they were still arguing. One royal command, however cruel it seems, is preferable to that.”

  “You are too harsh,” she said.

  “These appear to be harsh times. I have fought a duel to save you, and get you back on your throne, so there is general disappointment all around. You have jumped out of the Dimm only to come back and see another terrible thing happen. Perhaps a safe hearth is the best we can hope for right now? For all the lordly talk I hear, there is concern, even fear as they speak them. After the way Kraxika went down, I think Gece is worried that they may lose this war. I will write to the Duchy and to Tolwind of course, and express those sentiments to my relatives and others. It can only help your cause. Perhaps if enough alarm is made, the other rulers will send help.”

  She made no reply to him and stood there as he finished and quietly ate the rest of her apple. He completed his message in that time and set the ones he had done earlier with it to dry before sealing. He looked down through a window at the duty bell in the courtyard to check the hour mark.

  “We have great stained glass windows in the palace at Rydol,” she commented.

  “I saw them briefly,” he replied, “before your uncle threw me out of the city. They were quite beautiful. I wanted to see more of Rydol, but I did not get the chance.” He changed the uselessness of the conversation to something important. “I have never been to Berize either. Where is it located, and what is it like?”

  “It’s in a valley, north of Rydol and a little east of Zinsy, near a stream that flows into the Gure River. It’s on the road to Sarsving Castle, and consists of an old manor house, a chapel, both surrounded by a wall. There are six villages nearby, and three great fields.”

  “That will be close to the front,” he said, considering. If an army laid siege to Sarsving Castle, they might camp on those three great fields. But that was all several days north of Rydol, and it would be a real calamity if that happened.

  There were Izur irregular cavalry, the vassals of one of the major Sund warlords burning and killing in front of the southern advance, and it was a nasty business. He didn’t need to tell her about those, and how far they might get. He turned back to the dispatches and put them into envelopes that he quickly made, then sealed them with wax and wrote the identity of the sender and receiver on them. He waited for the new work to dry, and stood up and looked over at the girl again.

  She appeared healthier and had more weight on her than when he had seen at her at Braus Cote, and the tan she had assumed while living on the Dimm was already fading from constant washing and scrubbing. She was wiry, and had a provocative curl to her lips, but her beauty was something a man had to look for, as it was not hot and obvious on her like the angelic Lady Tazah. He suddenly thought about the other dark haired girl they had rescued, the one named Brigha.

  “Will you take your maid with you?” he asked her.

  “I think so,” she said. “I’ll need at least one friend in that big old house.”

  “It would be wise to take on a few extra men as guards,” he said to her. “You will be surprised at who will accept a little money, food and lodging in garrison when all the other men are going off to war, to both fight and freeze in this case.”

  “I’ll decide on that later,” she said. He frowned. It would be better if she did it now, perhaps with Johnas Tygus’ help. Waiting until later might put her in the position of having to take on anyone she found at Berize, and those would be people she did not know and could not really trust, or perhaps people that she did. If her old servants started leaving Rydol, that might look like she was trying to undermine Wenslig’s rule, and they would be easily manipulated. He thought that perhaps he was thinking too much on the wrong side of things.

  “I would recommend Edou for one,” he offered her. “He’s tested in battle, and his leg is getting better now from proper care.” He turned back around and collected up the dispatches from where he had set them out.

  “He’s certainly earned my gratitude,” she said, stressing her words, as a comparison between them perhaps. “I will have his leg reset properly, and his wife and children sent for from Alonze.” Well they had agreed on at least one thing here, but it was like trying to chip away at a stone with his bare hands.

  “Please excuse me, my lady,” he said, showing her the letters he held. “I’ve got to give these to the post before he leaves.” He walked away toward the stair to send them out, and he thus left Lady Sunnil to wander the cold arcade alone.

  Five days later Lady Tazah and Johnas Tygus prepared to leave for Grotoy. She wore a split blue cotton dress, with a wrap of white silk around the collar, her hair braided back, and she had put on a girdle of black leather, with a heavy cloak of the same color. Leofind had decided to go with them, to seek a new patron within the bigger city to the north. They had eight archers with them, a maid, two footmen, and three of her West Lands kin, all armed with lances and swords.

  The road north to Gilsflor Pools was considered safe now because of the peace along the border with the Dimm, as the Yellow Duke had finally withdrawn his soldiers back north over into Alonze. It had also started raining or snowing every other day in the Priwak, which always forced the goblins and trolls to go to ground and winter.

  Wayland had found a use for the bits of gold he had picked up in trading with the goblins. Being superstitious of them, he had finally traded them all off for several pounds of silver coin. He had placed some of it into a small box that Edou had fashioned, and he now gave this as a present to Lady Tazah, as she stood with her escort by their horses and received some gifts.

  “Take this and buy yourself some jewels in the city, or some other comfort for court,” he told her. She hugged him for so long that her father made a sound in his throat, and Johnas Tygus narrowed his eyes and frowned. They mounted up and she shouted out her last farewell, waving at everyone, looking like a proper lady with not one weapon showing. The horses then rode out of Krolo, with a cart carrying their things and he footmen chasing behind. Wayland thought he heard both Lord Sirlaw and his wife sigh out, as the party climbed up the hills beyond the fields, and disappeared into the trees. One or two of the men at arms snickered as they moved off, out of the courtyard and on about their business.

  Wayland turned and looked over at the Lady Sunnil and Brigha, who were both still standing there, perhaps wishing they were also leaving Krolo today. There was a sort of sadness in them also, a longing, and it was the type of mixed emotion women had that Wayland never tried to comment on. Tazah had just ridden off with the heir of Grotoy, destined for that dazzling court, promising romance, fashion, and feminine adventure. He thought that perhaps a single good thing had now come out of the entire mess.

  “I feel tired,” he said, turning to l
ook over at Temmi. Temmi looked back at him with skepticism, and perhaps a root of disdain. He was a character for adventures and had not gotten his fill yet, perhaps because he had not gone with them to the Dimm.

  “We’ve been doing nothing for days but just sitting around,” Temmi said. “Now that Grotoy has left, and Lady Sunnil’s health is better, there is nothing keeping us here any longer. Delay further sir, and you will risk your reputation.”

  It had been raining off and on, with the weather getting cooler. The farmers were all predicting an early winter, which might just be for the better. Wayland knew it would be wise to get set up at Berize and bring in what they needed before more serious weather came in, and it began to snow which Gece was notorious for.

  “We need two or three more men to act as guards,” he told Temmi, as his flimsy reason. Temmi shrugged back.

  “We’ll pick them up on the road,” he replied. “Press them out from here and there, or from the stations we pass. That’s how it is done. Krolo probably won’t let anyone else go now, unless you want to start hiring the farmers’ sons, or Pawel’s men.”

  “That’s not a bad idea,” Wayland remarked. “Lord’s sergeant comes to your farm and asks, where’s your son for the levy? And you just reply, he’s already in garrison over at Berize, serving with the Traveler Knights. We might be able to get them to pay us.”

  “I wonder how many loyal servants to Count Wenslig there still are there,” Temmi said, referring to Berize. “They might cause problems, or they will just spy on her mercilessly.”

  “They have a name for this type of situation in the Lake Lands. It’s called the gilded cage. No matter how comfortable or free your rival feels, you conspire to have them watched and in your control. It’s always done by having the loyalty of the servants.”