by Jane Merkley
Altarn noticed a cot set up piled with blankets. She turned back to a cheerful Kyree. “Are you able to accompany me back right now?”
“Let me inform my husband and collect my babe. I will return shortly.” She skipped out of the tent.
Bidding Jasper farewell, Altarn stepped out of the tent after her. She stepped back into the thick mud, almost losing her slipper completely in it. As she worked to free it, her other foot sunk deeper. Losing the struggle, she slipped out of both slippers and freed them from the mud and held them in her hands, obvious of the stares from her fellow Blindvarns that walked about her. Most of them wore boots that were muddy up to their knees. It had rained a little since during her stay in Greatmar, but not nearly enough to warrant this much mud. Pine boughs or straw scattered about would do well to keep people out of the mud.
Kyree returned with a bag and a baby strapped to her chest.
“I am very glad your baby made the trip from Blindvar okay.”
“Most children did. The terrain wasn’t hard and Luthsinia is full of springs so we always had water. If we all stayed dry and out of the heat it lessened casualties.”
“Why all the mud? There’s been maybe one rain since I’ve been here.”
Altarn watched Kyree’s eyes go to the sky in thought. The last rain was five days ago. Altarn had only “arrived” yesterday.
Altarn winched at the discrepancy but if Kyree thought it unusual, she didn’t show it. Maybe Altarn had made it to Ruidenthall in time to see it rain before she was found by the hunters.
“The camp has expanded so much that we had to set up over some small patches of marshland. The only trouble it causes us so far is the mud. Some places are deeper than others.”
“I will see if I can fix that.”
Altarn strapped the chainmail sack containing her weapon and armor to her horse and walked it back toward the castle so as to keep pace with Kyree.
“How do you all afford clothing and the like? I can’t imagine you all had time to grab your purses when you were invaded.”
“Some people did.” Kyree made a small hop to hoist her baby into a better position. “The Ruids here are really understanding. If you can’t pay, they just have you work for them. If you need a knife, they make you gather wood for their furnace. If you need clothes, they have you work at the dye pots. They actually prefer the labor over money for us, because the work output you give them saves them money to pay someone else to do it. But I’m certain they would give you what you needed for free, being Blindvar’s Lady.”
“I don’t intend to ask for favors,” Altarn said more darkly than she meant. “Byrone is already spending massive amounts of resources to house us all in his state. I would not ask for a copper more.”
Altarn’s bare feet were cold and thick with mud when they finally came onto the paved street into the city itself. The sun was setting and an obvious chill was quickly settling in the open valley but they made it to the castle just as the last of the light and warmth winked out.
Altarn passed her horse to the stable hand and Kyree followed her into the castle. Her feet started to warm a little once Altarn touched on carpet. She only felt bad about leaving dark footprints on Byrone’s carpet because his servants would have to clean it up.
She entered her room… and stopped abruptly when she remembered the chain still on the floor. She turned around in a furious hurry to stall Kyree but she had already come fully into the room behind her and was looking around at what the room had to offer. Her smile fell as she saw the chain. “Altarn, why is there a chain in here?”
Altarn started to mumble about for something to say that might make sense without the need for her to prod further but she was caught off guard, and what really was a good reason for a chain and a cuff to be in a room anyway?
Altarn looked away from Kyree so she would not have to see the dawn of realization on her face. Altarn’s brief fumble about the rain storm five days ago was apparently enough for Kyree’s quick mind to go straight to the obvious. There was a good reason why Kyree did so well in law school.
Kyree gasped. Altarn dropped her weapon sack by the window along with her mud balls for slippers and relocated herself into the bathing chamber as if nothing were out of the ordinary. Behind her, she heard Kyree deposit her own bag on the floor and follow after her.
She stood in the door way of the bathing chamber while Altarn rang the bell and waited for water to start flowing out of the pipe into the tub.
“He imprisoned you!”
“You should go back to law school,” Altarn said, her back to her, sitting on the edge of the tub with her muddy feet dangling under the pipe as water began to trickle out. “You did so well there. Better than me, even.”
Kyree moved around to face Altarn. Fury rolled off her in waves that made Altarn scared for Byrone.
“How long have you been here?”
Altarn sighed. There really was no use lying. Except…
“Byrone threatened to hang me publicly if I told anyone. I don’t know him well enough to know if he makes good on those kinds of threats, but I wouldn’t be surprised, considering what he did is wrong in so many ways. So if I tell you, then you must swear to not tell anyone. Not even Jasper.”
Kyree began to protest but stopped under a sharp look from Altarn. “I know you two share everything about me,” Altarn said. “But this you cannot tell, because Jasper might do something rash, thinking that it is in defense of me, and it might just push Byrone to a point where he will act out violently because he’s been caught.”
“How violent? In what way?”
“Like I said, I don’t know. But for now it is safer to keep this between us because we don’t know what he will do if everyone knows. He might chase us out of Ruidenthall. I wasn’t even going to tell you but I forgot about that stupid chain. It’s become a piece of furniture to me.”
Kyree removed her boots and sat on the edge of the tub opposite, placing her feet in the water that was filling at its bottom, watching the water turn brown from the mud. “How long were you chained?”
“Seven days.”
“That monster!”
“Shush! At least it was in this room and not in the dungeon. They brought me meals three times a day. I had everything I needed except freedom.”
“But he imprisoned you!”
“He released me, Kyree. It’s okay.”
“It’s not okay! How can you be okay with him doing that?”
“I’m not okay with him having done it, but I have to be okay now because he is taking care of my people because I can’t. He’s providing an army to supplement ours to get Blindvar back. I hid the key to the cuff in this room in case he changes his mind, but I think he has moved passed that.”
Kyree was livid and it didn’t look as if she’d get over it so easily. She rubbed her arms furiously, causing her baby to grumble inside its wrap at her chest. “That bastard. Did you find out if he really was trying to steal Blindvar?”
Altarn paused, because she was not sure if it was wise to keep all the secrets inside her. “He really was. Still is, too.”
Kyree’s anger was trying to fight itself out but she was containing it as best she could. Otherwise she might end up burning Byrone’s house down. “You have to tell your court!”
“Byrone will deny it.” She shared a stare of dismay with her. “And my court is not willing to believe my word over his yet. That is all I have. My word. And remember what I said about being publicly hanged?”
“I know. I’m just so… there aren’t words to what I feel!”
“We need to get this war over with and then work things out from there. One nightmare at a time.”
Kyree moldered silently, splashing her feet in the water like she was a little girl again. It took a lot of effort for her to move passed the subject, but she did. “How did he find you in Luthsinia?”
Here, Altarn thought quickly. Her story must match with whatever Jasper had told her he saw.
> “Byrone was using the name Torren. He had also gone to Athenya to ask for Luthsinia’s aid in the coming war, and we met there. Jasper told you we were all detained? By that point, we had both discovered who the other was and when we escaped, Byrone was so angry that I uncovered his intentions to steal Blindvar that he kidnapped me.” There were holes all over in her hastily thrown together lie, but she was not willing to tell Kyree exactly how she met Byrone and the pleasantries they had shared during their travel together. She may never be willing to tell her.
But Kyree accepted the lie because Altarn had never lied to her before.
“He finally realized he needed me to lead the Blindvarn army so he let me go. At least he has some honor.”
“You have a twisted sense of what honor means. Maybe that is why you can’t find a man good enough for you.”
And Altarn smiled because only Kyree could say such a thing and get away with it.
Stained Hands
Altarn went early to the shops to catch them in moods where they would be most generous before they were bogged down with other people to ruin their day.
She went first to the clothier because that would take the longest to make and she needed it in six days.
She entered the shop to be greeted by a middle-aged, cheerful man. Like all Ruids, he wore a sleeveless shirt to display the tattoo. He appeared to be in his thirties, but his bare arms showed he was still fit enough for hard labor, maybe had even been a soldier not too long ago.
“Good morning, Blindvar.”
“Morning, Ruidenthall. I have need of clothes. I hear you will accept hard labor for payment. If this is wrong, then I am sorry for my misinformation.”
“You are right. In fact, I have a batch of dyed clothes that I would love some help in finishing.” He pulled parchment and chalk out. “What clothing items will you be needing?”
Altarn ended up drawing him a picture of what she had in mind, to which he smiled. It was always fun to discover new patterns.
“And a cloak,” she finished. “A thick wool one for the winter.”
“I can have it ready in six days, just fine. Now, as for your payment…”
The clothier provided her with sackcloth pants and a sleeveless shirt just as itchy and she marched out with him behind the shop to the dye pots barefoot. Six other Blindvarns were already hard at work to earn their own clothes and she was directed to a wagon that was filled with wooden crates loaded with brightly colored clothing.
“Since this is your first day,” the clothier instructed, “I’ll have you start simple and drive this wagon to the river to rinse the clothes. Rinse them all until the water runs absolutely clear. And then bring them back.” He handed her a pair of rubber gloves that went up to her elbows. “Can you drive a wagon?”
She nodded and he left her side, moving about to inspect the other workers at his disposal. To have half as many workers as he did would cost him more than what he was making everyday to pay them. Aside from having plenty of help to fill his orders for the Blindvarns, he still had plenty more help to fill his other orders as well. His grin couldn’t have been any bigger.
Altarn rumbled in the wagon down to the river and parked it at a spot she thought the horse would be happy to munch on grass for a while. A rock pathway reached out into the river a short ways. Altarn hipped a crate of red dyed clothing and stepped across the stone pathway to about the middle, then sat and turned so the water rushed away from her.
It was harder work than she thought and she had to take several breaks to rest her noncompliant back and neck. It was deep into the afternoon when she finally rolled back, having managed to still stain her hands despite the gloves.
The clothier smiled as she looked at her red hands in dismay and handed her a pumice stone. “And generous amounts of soap.”
She changed back into her ill fitting green dress and trudged as quickly as her weary body would let her to the cobbler, hoping she’d make it before he closed.
He was still open and she stepped inside. His walls were lined with pre-made boots and slippers and she looked at them all briefly, wondering exactly what kind of work the cobbler had been making the Blindvarns do to pay for their footwear. Dying clothes were so easy it could be learned in two minutes. Making shoes was an entirely different matter. And now that she thought about it, she hadn’t seen many Blindvarns with new shoes and shoes weren’t even on the list that Kyree had told her had work for the people to do to pay for their merchandise.
The shop owner was actually a woman and she came out of the back room wearing a leather apron, her brown hair weaved back in a day-wearied braid.
“Good evening. You caught me just in time. I was just coming out to lock my doors. Have you found a pair that you like? Or would you like one custom made?”
Altarn hesitated, wondering how to appropriately ask what kind of labor she could use for Altarn to pay for boots. She felt remarkably foolish. The Lady of Blindvar who couldn’t even afford shoes at the moment. And there would be no I owe you’s either. She wondered briefly if the castle dress maker had some spare boots in store, but she quickly squashed that thought. She was done asking Byrone for anything.
The door opened behind her and she looked over her shoulder. Dread sludged through her and she looked away.
“Hullo, My Lord!” The cobbler curtsied. “To what honor do I deserve to have you in my shop?” As if he were a god among mortals.
“To buy boots,” Byrone said easily. “For the Lady of Blindvar.”
Altarn felt his eyes burning the back of her head, irritated that he would take notice of her boot dilemma and make it his business.
The cobbler gasped. “Lady… I did not know it was you!”
Altarn made a vague wave as if it were a minor observance. Byrone brushed passed her and handed the cobbler a handful of coins.
“The Lady left her house without any money. I’ve offered to pay for her boots.”
The cobbler gestured to the wall. “Please, my Lady. Have a look. I will be in the back room if you need anything more from me.” With a delicate curtsy, the cobbler disappeared.
Altarn shot Byrone a hard look. “I don’t need you following me about my business.” She tried to hide her red stained hands behind her back without looking obvious about it.
“And how exactly were you planning on paying for shoes? I hope you weren’t planning on stealing them.”
Altarn’s nostrils flared. “Of course I was planning on stealing them. I got into the State’s Head by robbing everyone blind in disguise and then turned around and gave them all the money back to look like the savior.”
His smile was strained as he caught her jab at him, and he had the decency to look away. “And I wasn’t following you,” he said, changing the subject. “I was returning from the hunt when I saw you enter this shop.”
To this, she had to agree. His sleeveless shirt was smudged with dirt and horse hair and looked like the day had been beating down on him.
“You could have asked the castle dressmaker for boots,” he continued. “We have some to spare.”
“My people have asked enough from you. I don’t intend to ask for a copper more.”
“But your decency would still leave you shoeless. You are welcome, by the way.” He started to walk toward the door but paused beside her. He leaned in close, smelling of horses and sweat. “And notice that I said boots, not slippers, princess.” And he left.
Altarn contained a shriek with effort, aware that the cobbler was just in the back room. With intense effort, she refrained ripping the boots from their shelf on the wall in her agitation as she tried them on, finding a pair that suited her. They were already paid for, so Altarn shouted a “thank you” to the back of the store and left.
She tucked the boots under her arm. Byrone had no problem forking out tents, food, and money for boots. To him, it was all worth it for what he was planning on getting in return.
The next day she set out to fix the atrocious mud problem
in the refugee camp.
There were many pine trees in the outlying forests and wooden poles were made daily to erect the tents, so she wondered what they did with the boughs? She asked Jasper and he showed her a withering pile of thick pine boughs outside the camp that were being saved to use as kindling for the many fires once they dried.
She called for volunteers and directed them to each take armfuls of the boughs. The small handful of volunteers that gathered did so, and hesitatingly followed her instructions to lay the boughs on top of the mud roads they had made between the lines of tents. As more pine boughs were laid, it made more sense to everyone and more volunteers came to assist in the task. They had just enough pine boughs to completely cover an entire road, and the people living in the tents closest came out to investigate the wonder as they walked above the mud instead of in it.
She left them with instructions that if enough traffic caused the boughs to be absorbed into the mud, to lay more on as they got it. Eventually the boughs would stop sinking.
Kyree caught up to her as she was heading back to the castle.
“Good idea!” Kyree complimented. Kyree had so many layers of clothing on that Altarn didn’t notice her baby until it mumbled inside of it all.
“Thanks. If I’ve done nothing right so far and won’t again, at least I’ll have this one good thing to herald me out of the State Head when my session is up.”
Kyree slapped her arm. Altarn shrugged.
They passed a small group of men milling about a tent they were working on raising. By the looks of it, they could use another hand.
Altarn changed directions and went to them. This particular stretch of tents was also very muddy. Altarn was covered in so much mud already that she could have been naked and no one would have noticed.
Without saying anything to any of them, Altarn grabbed the rope that would hoist one of the poles upright. As she looked closer, this tent was larger than the housing tents she had seen and the poles of such were taller.