“Can I answer that?” Linnea interrupted. “Because I think ignoring them is more than a little dangerous.”
“More dangerous than making them mad?”
“Yes, actually. At least if you go out and make an enemy, you know you have one. Haven’t you learned by now that what you don’t know is more dangerous than what you do?”
Quinn sighed. “By that argument, I’m more dangerous to Valderwood if they don’t know about me.”
“Is that what you want to be?” Tobias asked. “Dangerous to your people? You’re building an army close to their village. With any luck, we’ll be able to grow this army considerably before we try to take on the castle. Do you want the people of Valderwood to discover a massive army by accident?”
“Of course not. What I really want is for them not to be wary and fearful of me. I want them to trust me.”
“It’s far from my concern, but that sounds like a far better plan than conducting a war in their kingdom without telling them.”
“That’s not a plan, Tobias. It’s wishful thinking. I can’t just tell them to trust me and call it good.”
“Of course not. You can’t tell anyone to trust you. Trust isn’t something communicated with words.”
“Then how do I get them to trust me?”
Tobias leaned forward, rubbing at his chin as he contemplated her. “When you first arrived here, Your Majesty, you had no reason to trust me – in fact, with the information you had at hand, and the danger you were in, you were justified in being very suspicious of me. After all, you didn’t know me, and you’d been lied to about me, even by someone you did trust.”
“Keep talking, Tobias, and I might be calling for one of my guards.”
He chuckled. “Exactly. If you had to rely on my words you wouldn’t be in the same room with me without a guard between us. Why is your guard in the hallway?”
That was easy. “Because we’ve been here for over a week and you haven’t done anything except provide help and support and share food and supplies you can’t possibly afford to be sharing with us.”
“To be fair, your guards have done their share of hunting and cultivating in the winter garden. And the barn they finished restoring yesterday will be a tremendous boon to me in the coming cycle.”
“Even all those things together wouldn’t add up to what you’ve contributed to us, Tobias.”
“Perhaps. But when you add in the other currency used to pay me, I would argue that I’m still in your debt.”
“And what currency is that?”
“Your trust.”
She smiled. “You’re right. You have earned that.” As much of it as she was willing to give anyone right now, anyway. “So what do I have to offer the people of Valderwood without expecting anything in return?”
“I can’t promise anything will work with some of them, Your Majesty – but several families in the village are experiencing the same fever illness we’ve been dealing with here.”
“All right,” she sighed. “Before you leave, why don’t you talk to Nathaniel about going along?”
“That opens up the risk of people in the village realizing he’s not missing, and that you might not be far away.”
“I know. I can’t ask for trust without giving up something real in return. I think Nathaniel is in the barn.”
Once Tobias was gone, Linnea looked at her. “He could have just asked to take Nathaniel in the first place.”
Quinn nodded. “Is it terrible if I just choose to not even think about why he didn’t right now?”
“Only if thinking about it would help you make a better decision about it sometime in the next fifteen minutes.”
“Does fifteen cycles count?”
Linnea snorted. “Okay, my turn to hold the baby for a bit.”
* * *
Not five minutes after Tobias left, Marcus entered the room holding a folded piece of paper. He didn’t speak as he handed it to Quinn, but Linnea didn’t like the hard set of his shoulders or the too-heavy sound of his footfalls.
“What’s wrong?” Linnea asked before she even got the note open, but Quinn ignored her, reading the note more than once before she finally looked up at Marcus.
“Who sent this?”
“I’m not certain. It’s not signed, and I believe that was intentional.”
“Well, it’s not addressed either, but it’s definitely for me.”
“Yes.”
“Do you have a guess as to who might have sent it? What bird brought it?”
“It was one of Tobias’ birds we’ve been using to send messages to Eirentheos.”
Linnea knew better, but the sudden ice in her chest at the mention of Eirentheos made her not care. A second later she was across the room, snatching the note from Quinn’s hands.
What she saw when she scanned it didn’t help, though, instead the burning cold raced outward from her center, down her arms and legs. “I know who wrote this. What I don’t know is what he’s doing in Philotheum.”
“Engaging in some kind of battle,” Quinn said, standing and walking over to one of her maps. Her voice shook. “It’s not your father – that’s not his writing.”
“No, it isn’t. It’s my brother’s. It’s from Maxwell.”
“What is he doing here?”
Linnea’s mouth fell open – she had no idea, but Quinn was speaking to Marcus.
“I don’t know. Let’s find this location.” Marcus followed her to the map, tracing his finger down the blue line of a river until it intersected with another one. “Here.”
“I’m still bad with scale here,” Quinn said. “How long would it take to travel there from here?”
“Probably under two hours, depending on the terrain. I don’t know this area well, and there aren’t many roads. The mountains in this area isolate it well, but still – they’re close.”
“Mountains?” Quinn sounded confused.
Linnea frowned. “You know, the big hills out there. Lots of trees. What did you think they were?”
“She thought they were big hills.” William’s voice made Linnea turn around; she hadn’t heard him come into the room. “Mountains are a little bigger where she’s from.” He smiled, taking Samuel from Linnea’s arms before going to stand next to Quinn. “We’re in the mountains here, though, love, at least the Philothean version of them.”
“I’ll take your word for it,” she said, pressing her fingers to her forehead as she handed the note to William.
The smile he’d been wearing faded into something dark and bleak as his eyes scanned Max’s words. “Well, that explains the relative lack of communication from Eirentheos the last couple of days.”
“Explains it how? Why wouldn’t Stephen have told me Max was coming? Why is Max here?”
“Those two questions are undoubtedly related,” Marcus said. “Stephen would have wanted to make sure no information about Maxwell’s location was compromised until he reached safety.”
“So he wouldn’t tell me?”
“Remember that he doesn’t know exactly who’s with us here. All he knows is that this whole situation started because there were untrustworthy people around you – and around him. Our messages to him haven’t been overly informative, either, in case someone in the castle who can’t be trusted reads one. You haven’t even told him exactly where we are, although he must have guessed. From this note, I don’t think Maxwell knows how to get any closer than where he is.”
“So we need to send a brigade to find him,” Quinn said.
“That’s dangerous. They could be followed, either on the way there, or on the way back,” Marcus said. “I don’t know what the situation is, exactly, but it sounds as though Max and whoever he’s with may have run into some of Tolliver’s troops.”
“Yes, it’s dangerous,” Quinn agreed. “I suppose that’s why they call it war. Can you please find me several men who are trustworthy and willing to go?”
~ Twenty-Four ~
Valderwood
>
“YOU’VE NEVER BEEN TO Valderwood, have you?” Tobias asked. “Not in all the times you visited me.”
“No.” Nathaniel rubbed at a spot on the horn of his saddle. “I would have liked to – I’m always interested in new places, but you always talked me out of revealing you had strange visitors. I wonder how they’ll receive me now.” After everything Tobias had told them about the village, he had to admit he was nervous about going – unsure what to expect. Contrary to Quinn’s wishes, they hadn’t even brought along a guard; Tobias didn’t want to make the villagers defensive.
“It’s perhaps not as bad there as I led Her Majesty to believe at first. Most of the people there are kind and trustworthy. They wish to be left alone more than anything. Only a few take a hard line in enforcing that.”
“So why didn’t you tell her the truth?”
“For some of the same reasons you have trouble being honest with her about certain things, Nathaniel. She showed up here with almost nothing in the way of an army, when she needs one badly. I wasn’t sure how she’d react to the idea of fifty armed and trained men only half an hour away. She could have caused a lot of trouble if she’d demanded their help immediately. If she handles it right, though, I think at least some of them could be an asset to her.”
Nathaniel tipped his head sideways at his uncle. “You underestimate her.”
“Yes. At first I did. I realize now I could have given her more credit.”
“So why didn’t you tell her the truth before we left today?”
Tobias scoffed. “You of all people should understand how much more difficult it is to change your story in the middle than just tell it straight the first time.”
“Indeed.” He rubbed at the back of his neck. “At this point I feel like everything I ever tell her is a contradiction to what she believed. I never meant to lie to her – only to keep her safe.”
“I know. And it’s that much harder when you’re not entirely sure which part is the truth, and which part is just something you were wrong about anyway.” Tobias’ voice had taken on a tone thick with an underlying meaning that made Nathaniel follow his gaze. What he saw made his palms sweat and he wondered if Tobias hadn’t told Quinn the full truth the first time.
They had nearly reached Valderwood – or what Nathaniel assumed was the village, anyway. The stone wall surrounding it was too high to make out even the rooftops of whatever buildings were inside.
He couldn’t tell whether the heavy iron gate was all the way closed or just mostly – the view was too obstructed by the armed men on horseback in front of it.
“Do you always get this kind of warm reception when you come here?”
Tobias didn’t answer, but it didn’t matter – there wouldn’t have been time for a conversation. Two of the men were already riding toward them.
Nathaniel could hear Tobias’ breath coming in too-fast gulps, but the older man looked composed as the two soldiers came right up to them.
His heart pounded, and his hand hovered halfway to his sword as he fought between the competing urges to both be prepared to defend himself and to not appear as a threat.
“Hello Tobias,” said the first man who reached them.
“It’s good to see you, Joel. How’s your leg?”
Nathaniel couldn’t stop himself from looking down to see what Tobias was talking about, but if there was anything to see it was hidden by the man’s long pants and boots, and he didn’t give up any information, either.
“Who’s your companion?” Joel asked. “We were expecting you to come alone.”
Tobias coughed. “I’d have thought you’d be happy to see me with some company – now nobody will have to make the trek out to check up on me for a while.”
“We might feel that way, Tobias, if Queen Quinn hadn’t gone and gotten herself involved in a war that’s brought troops into the area. Makes it a strange time for you to show up with an unannounced stranger – especially one with a sword.”
Nathaniel’s fist closed tightly around the reins as he forced himself not to clutch at his sword instead. The horse snorted, warning him to be careful of his grip.
“Perhaps you’d like to tell us why you have a guest at such a time,” a second man said. “And what you might know about the armies nearby.”
Tobias looked at Nathaniel, and it was clear from the deep creases in his forehead that whatever he’d expected in coming here, this wasn’t it. He didn’t have an answer ready for these men. “Victor…”
Nathaniel cleared his throat, interrupting Tobias. “How close have the troops gotten to your village?”
The man called Joel scowled. “Too close. They haven’t found us, we don’t think. And we don’t plan on allowing that to change.”
Though the statement was obviously a threat, Nathaniel was bolstered by the fact he’d gotten an answer at all – and that all of the men’s swords were still sheathed. For a long moment, he pondered how to respond. He wasn’t sure what kind of information was most likely to get him killed, but in the end he decided that this time the truth was safer than a lie. Hopefully.
“Her Majesty would also prefer to keep any fighting far from your village.”
Now all of the men found the hilts of their swords.
“Are you with Queen Quinn’s army?” Joel demanded.
“Calling it an army at this point would be generous.” It wasn’t entirely a lie. Quinn was in desperate need of more men if she was to have any chance against the army King Ivan had surely provided for Tolliver.
His response only agitated the men more.
“You still haven’t told us how you know so much about the queen’s army.” The second man had his sword partway out.
“Yes, well, that’s because I haven’t introduced myself properly. I am Nathaniel Rose.”
“Prince Nathaniel Rose?” The sword came all the way out.
“Yes, Victor,” Tobias said, his voice calm. “Prince Nathaniel – the fourth-born healer. I brought him here to help.”
“Help what? Help occupy our town with soldiers? Force us to participate in a fight that isn’t ours?”
Victor was angry. Nathaniel didn’t think there was anything he might say that would allay his fear and suspicion. But Joel’s initial reaction to Nathaniel’s identity was different – for just a moment he’d regarded him with curiosity rather than anger. And one of the younger guards behind the two obvious leaders had an even stronger response. His eyes were unable to hide a flicker of hope.
When he answered, he directed his response to Joel, but also glanced carefully toward the hopeful young man, including him in the conversation as much as he could. “I speak with authority when I tell you that Queen Quinn has no intention of interfering with your village. Tobias and I have brought no soldiers with us to visit you today. If you sweep the area, you’ll find none of her army waiting to attack you. The only thing we have brought is medicine to help with your fever outbreak – medicine the troops themselves could use, but that the queen has chosen to share instead.”
“Why would she do that?” Dark suspicion colored Joel’s voice, but his knuckles were no longer white on the hilt of his sword.
“Because you are her people, and she is able to.”
“What if we don’t want to be ‘her people’?” Victor spat. “We’ve done well enough on our own under Hector’s reign.”
“She doesn’t intend to force you to accept her help. Or my help, as the case is today. But you and I both know that Hector wasn’t even aware that Valderwood exists. And even if he had, Hector wouldn’t likely have found it worthwhile to risk stirring dissent in an area with so little to offer him.”
If he’d been out here alone with Victor, the man would have planted the sword in his chest by now. But the other men were listening. Only one more was holding a knife and sweeping his gaze over the surrounding woods.
“I know Tolliver. I don’t expect him to be nearly as tolerant of those unwilling to declare allegiance to him. There are a
lready stories coming in of entire villages destroyed except for those willing to join Tolliver’s army.”
Victor’s eyes were so narrow at this point that Nathaniel wondered if he could even see. “How many of those villages were harboring the queen when they were attacked?”
“None of them. The queen is safe and slowly amassing an army, and today she is offering whatever assistance you need, even while she can ill afford to do so.”
“In exchange for what?”
“If she were here in front of you now, she would ask for nothing in return, Victor. As her ambassador and prince, though, I might be bold enough to ask for your soldiers here to not move against her or her army.”
There was a long, weighted silence as Victor didn’t respond at all. Finally, Joel sighed. “Can you really help us with the fever illness?”
“Yes. I’ll need to see the people who are sick first before I know how much I can do and what promises I can make, but I’m here to do what I can. And I can also take a look at whatever is going on with your leg.”
“Come on then.”
~ Twenty-Five ~
Bird
“WE SHOULD BE GETTING close,” Dorian said, bringing his horse to a stop as he reached to pull a map out of his saddle bag.
“How do you think we should do this?” Zander asked. “We don’t know what we’re going to find when we get there. I don’t know if it’s a good idea to burst into the middle of the situation with twenty soldiers.” He looked around at the men behind them.
Dorian nodded.
“Can I see that map?” He wasn’t certain he’d be able to make sense of it, but he wanted to understand more about the world he was living in now. Over the last couple of weeks his map skills, at least, had improved considerably.
Dorian handed over the map without hesitation, although at the moment he did, something came zooming toward them from the sky.
For a second, the motion startled Zander too much to understand what it was. One hand flew up to protect his face while his other fist clenched around Ember’s reins to keep him from spooking, but the horse didn’t react at all. When he finally focused on the flying object, he understood why.
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