Lydria smiled warmly in acknowledgement and breathed in relief that Krieger understood her hesitancy and was working on her behalf. As she was ready to thank the old spy, he spoke again, this time leaning in even closer. “And don’t mention Captain Branch either.” Krieger paused before saying more, judging the questioning expression on the woman’s face. “Has Branch not spoken to you of his lineage?” Lydria shook her head and told Krieger of Branch and Weaver’s intention of going to the king after returning to Steven’s Folly.
“I see. Thank you for telling me this, Lydria. We need to trust each other, because if we don’t, we will end up fighting amongst ourselves instead of paying attention to the threat Wynter poses. The politicians will attack each other like vultures if we don’t stick together. Politicians are good at one thing Lydria, they are good at looking no further than their next meal.”
“Are you not a politician, Krieger?”
“No. I am a spy and an assassin who plays at politician because the hours, the food, and the expectation of seeing the morning are all much, much better. Good night.” Lydria watched the man walk away from the rooms allocated to them and back to Wae Ilsit’s home. She knew he would not sleep for some time.
The next morning four horses and a bobcat were heading south through a patch of thick forest, quietly at first and their mood and tongues lightening as the sun filtered through the nearly bare canopy of trees. Wae Relin stayed behind in Eifynar for a time, to discuss his people in the west for scriveners who would record his account. Then he would head back to his camp to prepare to go home, or to go north.
“A leash? Are you serious – he actually said a leash?”
After more than an hour of this Lydria was still somewhat amused by Kimi’s ability to be affronted for so long. “You know, you don’t have to, you can stay in the forest outside of town, but it’s a very large town with lots of people – people who aren’t used to seeing bobcats and who would send arrows in your direction if they thought you were after their livestock.”
“Well, I hate to admit it, but they’d probably be right. Still, would you subject yourself to wearing a leash?”
“Kimi, we will make it very loose, so you can get out if you need to. But I can carry you if you’d like and so long as you were still, you would hardly notice, I don’t think.”
“Fine. But I agree to this only because you have such terrible senses and I think the idea of going into this town and castle is madness. You’ll probably need me before we’re out of that place.”
With his moaning complete, the cat wandered away from the horses and into the forest. Lydria occasionally would look through his eyes for practice and to see what lie ahead. They had found that the more they shared their senses, the less unpleasant it was for each of them, despite Lydria’s inadequate sight and poor hearing.
“Will we head straight to the castle or stop for the evening and arrive in daylight?” Lydria asked Krieger, who was slowing his pace to ride next to her. Krieger moved back and forth along the small line of horses all day, spending time with Haustis, Haidrea, and Lydria, learning more about them and giving them some insight into himself as well. If nothing else, Krieger was a resourceful and well-traveled man who knew people across Wesolk and into several other neighboring kingdoms as well.
Before he could respond, Lydria asked a question that had been on her mind since meeting the spy. “How did you know Wynter?”
“Yes, I thought we’d come to that.” He looked off into the distance as if he were searching back through time and a way to answer the question.
Krieger took a deep breath before beginning. It was the same look she’d seen on her father’s face as he told a soldier’s wife that she was now a widow. It was filled with distaste and remorse underlined with duty and understanding it was the right thing to do.
“Wynter enters my story many years ago when I was a spy. He was a young man with few prospects apart from petty theft, prison, and most likely a noose. I took him in out of pity. I had been in the places he was heading. Being so young, he didn’t question morality, only whether something was necessary to achieve a desired end. He was one of the finest bowmen I’ve ever known. For a time, when his apprenticeship with me ended and he could take up work as a spy in his own right, he decided to follow me into the next turn of my life – the dark world of a king’s assassin. But that world is a small place, and those who live there are best left alone, so we went our separate ways; but always I would watch and listen for signs of his passage.
“As my network of allies grew, the results of his work would turn up as footnotes in messages sent to me. His range was vast, far beyond Wesolk, and beyond bordering kingdoms as well. He traveled lightly and quickly and with no more thought to family or hearth than for the lives he took.
“But, after a few years, word of his work came less often, and it was more difficult to find news of Wynter. I was concerned and went searching for him. The man I found was a miserable thing. He had finally discovered some sort of morality. It was an earnest morality, not the type of casual flirtation with the concepts of good and evil found at the bottom of a wine bottle. This new awareness caused a real conflict within him.
“As it turns out, he had fallen in love. As all men do who fall in love, he started to question many things connected to life and death. We spoke for a long time about the future. He was getting older, and my beard was already growing in patchy, and my eyesight not so good for sighting anything at long range. He told me then that he was done. He would marry and settle somewhere and no longer live in the shadows. His only remorse lay in not having made the decision sooner in life. He felt he was behind and he needed to make up for lost time; to settle down properly and have a family, and that’s what he did. He moved to Thrushton, married his love, had children, took up a trade as a bowyer and never looked back.”
Lydria stared at Krieger for a moment and after a few seconds, he returned her gaze.
“You are aware Wynter had a family?”
“We were unsure.” Lydria told Krieger of the boy they had found in the water and how they guessed he may have been connected to Wynter.
“Well, let me provide for you what you are missing.” Lydria was aware that all through his talk with her, Krieger’s voice had opened to include Haidrea and Haustis. His story, it would seem, was something he believed was important and wanted everyone to know.
“When the forest was destroyed, and the sky rained ash, I came north to see what had happened. When I arrived, I found a new helmet set upon a grave overlooking a remarkable catastrophe. Eventually, my travels took to me to Lem, the ferryman, who told me many stories of his own, which I won’t go into here for it would take another two days to hear all the old man’s ramblings. But he told me of a boy who had been pulled from the lake and the connection he believed the boy had with Thrushton and Wynter. After such a time where I believed it safe, I went to the island and found Wynter’s wife and daughter. The houses on the island were untouched and the loss of life total. Wynter’s family lay where they had fallen. There was an arrow through the woman’s chest, but the signs of plague upon her were unmistakable. When I returned to shore, I continued inland, following leads and whispers. A family many miles from the shore had met a nasty end - their house had been burned around them, but I don’t believe it was fire that killed them.
“Wynter’s skill is such that with a bow, some arrows, a good vantage point, and a little time to plan, he represents a very real danger. With the power I’m told he has, he is quite possibly the biggest threat any kingdom has ever faced.”
Lydria felt suddenly cold as she considered what someone like Wynter could do with the power she wielded. “I have seen the madness in his eyes, Krieger, and I know some of what he is capable of. I agree with you – he is a threat, not just to the kingdom, but to everyone in Wesolk and all of Eigrae.”
The party continued riding, each considering a world where Wynter was king, and before the sun fell behind the trees, Lydr
ia smelled wood smoke, and called out to Kimi.
“There is a cabin up ahead. No one is there, but there is a fire and there is fresh food hanging from a tree.”
Lydria slowed her mount and relayed the information. Krieger, smiled and pushed ahead. “Let us rest this evening, my friends. There is a house ahead where we can eat and prepare ourselves, for soon we visit a king.”
TWENTY-SEVEN
Krieger’s safe-house was remarkably comfortable. The stone fireplace was large enough to cook on and provide heat for the entire building. There were soft furnishings and comfortable sleeping quarters and as Kimi had pointed out, there was an abundance of food on hand.
It took Lydria’s eyes a moment to adjust to the firelight, but when they did she was aware not only of the warmth and homeliness of the cabin, but of the weapons everywhere she looked. Her father had been over-protective and made sure she knew how to handle a variety of weapons, and he had placed small knives and other implements at strategic points throughout the house, so regardless of where she was, a weapon was rarely more than arms reach away. So it was with Krieger’s safe house. From short daggers to polearms, almost every type of weapon Lydria had ever seen had its place on the walls or shelves of the cabin. Some weapons were hung as decoration, but all were well maintained and serviceable to anyone familiar with their use.
“If there is anything here that suits you, please take it as a gift and use it well,” Krieger said, as he watched the women take in their surroundings. There was a smile playing at his mouth, Lydria thought, as if he were showing off a new baby or an especially fine horse. “It’s likely we will need sturdy weapons in the days ahead, but here you are safe. Please make yourselves comfortable and I will cook.”
When Krieger opened the door he stopped, frozen in his tracks and whispered, “Lydria, I believe your friend would like to come in.”
Standing opposite Krieger, his mouth clamped around a large rabbit, Kimi stood and looked directly at Krieger and made no move to flee. “Krieger, meet Kimi, my very hungry friend.” Krieger stepped aside, and Kimi moved casually forward, never breaking eye contact until he was safely over the threshold, where he made his way toward the fire and began to eat.
“Well, at least one of us is fed. I will see to the rest of us then.” Krieger was smiling widely with both his mouth and eyes as he turned from the door and made his way to a hanging deer carcass nearby.
Krieger soon had meat sizzling on a spit and he turned aside to pull out a pipe and offer it to all. Haustis took a long pull from the thick and elegantly carved pipe and exclaimed her approval when she finally exhaled. “That weed is wonderful, Krieger. Where did you come by it?”
“That, my dear Haustis, is what happens when you have connections in far-away lands. A former employer of mine sends me a tub every fall without fail. I can’t hope to smoke half of it and you’re welcome to take as much as you’d like. As to its particular blend, I cannot say, and I dare not ask. Some secrets are best kept, I think.”
Krieger accepted the pipe back from Haustis and produced another from the same small chest that held his weed which he filled and offered back to her as her own.
From her experiences with the Eifen, Lydria knew the long draw Krieger took on his pipe was the first act of preparation, calming his throat with smoke before beginning a story. When he finished, he held the bowl of the pipe in his left hand and gently cradled the stem which was easily a foot long and slightly curved, between the first two fingers of his right hand, slowly releasing the smoke from his mouth in short, crisp rings.
“I find myself in the uncomfortable position of breaking with tradition,” Krieger said. “I know it is customary to provide a story with a meal, but I find myself instead wanting to ask a question. A question that has been on my mind for many days.” He looked carefully at each woman before settling his gaze on Lydria. “Is Wynter’s power real?”
Lydria expected the question and having watched the recent exchange of pipes between Krieger and Haustis, she realized how she could show the potential for power possessed by Wynter. Looking at the pipe in Krieger’s arms, Lydria squeezed her palms together and thought carefully of how the hollow stem of the pipe opened into the bottom of the bowl and how the outside of each instrument could be crafted and carved by those who had taken the time to learn the art. Slowly, she pulled her palms apart, revealing as she did a blue light that stretched from palm to palm, curling up her right hand as if pinching something with her index finger and thumb and then the light dissipated, leaving in its wake a clean, white bone pipe with a bowl finely etched in black with a prowling bobcat. She handed the pipe to Krieger who was unable to put his thoughts into words, and who wasn’t aware that if he had spoken, Lydria would have been unable to hear him.
Kimi, I can’t hear anything!
“Relax, Lydria, I can still hear, and I can relay what is said. Better yet, why don’t you borrow my ears for a time? The practice will be good, and you may gain some insight through the experience.”
While Krieger gathered his thoughts for his next question, Lydria quickly moved her thoughts to Kimi and a wall of sound came back, causing her to flinch slightly, drawing quick glances from Haustis and Haidrea. The two women began to speak, commenting on the craftsmanship of the pipe and drawing Krieger’s attention away from Lydria.
Every word spoken came to Lydria as if it were spoken inches from her face and sounds she had never been aware of entered her consciousness as if they were nearby. It was all she could do not to constantly turn her head to try to pinpoint the new noises.
“It will take some getting used to,” Kimi assured her. “Your ears, like your eyes, are not suited to taking in all the clues the world presents. It amazes me how your type has done so well given its basic deficiencies. Focus on the voices of your friends.”
“But what are all these other sounds? They seem so close like they are all around me.”
“They are.” If bobcats could smile, Kimi most certainly was. “What you hear is the noise of the animals your kind is ignorant of. There are snakes below this building, squirrels and chipmunks outside, birds of course, and several smaller insects and creatures you’d probably rather not think about. We can discuss all this another time, but for now, you need to concentrate on the people in front of you.”
It was easy to focus on her friends, but it was difficult to not wince at the volume. They all seemed to be yelling, and Lydria nodded to Haustis and looked at Krieger who held the new pipe in one hand, raised his eyebrows to Lydria while holding a pinch of weed in the other. Lydria nodded eagerly and Krieger filled the pipe and handed it toward her.
“No, friend Krieger, you must be first, as the gift was made for you.” Both the offer and the refusal were traditional amongst the Eifen when a gift of importance was bestowed. Krieger smiled like a child presented with a toy and when he lit the weed and pulled his cheeks together he nearly coughed out loud.
“It pulls so easily, it is effortless.” Krieger lifted the pipe again and pulled more gently, filling his mouth with smoke and again releasing it in tight circles. He looked up to Lydria when he finished, his face serious once again. “How can it be?”
Together with input from the others, Lydria told Krieger all she knew. It was a gamble, as Kimi’s voice reminded her often, but Lydria explained to the bobcat that Krieger did not feel untrustworthy. “I have bent my mind toward his truthfulness, and while I’m not sure whether or not magic can help with judging the intent of people, he feels as a friend would feel. I don’t know how to explain it better.”
As Haidrea explained how Lydria had healed Kimi, Lydria presented to each their dinner cut and served on wooden plates, without ever moving. Through it all, Krieger did no more than give slight facial clues as to his surprise when presented with a new feat of magic. When both dinner and the stories were finished, he broke his silence.
“Practice all you can, and let no discomfort stop you. I will send word to Bayside that we are delayed,
and we will stay here for a time. But we cannot over-delay our audience with the king.” Krieger slowed his speech and lowered his tone, though to Lydria he still might as well have been yelling directly at her. “What you have shown me is incredible. I am at the same time envious of you and sorry for you. Your gift can cure many ills, but at every corner I see the potential for its ill use. No one else in Wesolk must know what you can do, and that includes the king. When the time comes, you will tell your story of Wynter. Others will fill in what they know of his abilities. If you are known to have this power, it will be beyond me to save you from the machinations of ambitious men.”
“Krieger, I am grateful, but what of this?” Lydria reached up and touched her blue collar. It was not natural and could not be explained away by chance. That both she and Wynter could be the only two who bore such a mark surely would connect them in the minds of people for their abilities as well as their looks.
“It is an easy thing to hide, with a scarf and hood.” Haidrea reached for a bag and pulled from it a delicately woven strip of cloth. “It is a gift from home and it would not be unseemly in these colder times for you to wear it for warmth. Do as Kimi does and cover your mark with fur.”
With the matter taken care of, Krieger turned his attention back to his new pipe and then Lydria. “The things I have seen these last few minutes fill me with wonder and make all the weapons in this room dull with age, but still, I wonder, are they the extent of your power?”
The question started a lengthy discussion on the possibilities magic presented. It was late in the evening when Krieger and his guests turned to their beds, eyes newly opened and wide to the potential ruin that stood before them.
TWENTY-EIGHT
Throughout the winter and into the spring Wynter continued building his community. Whereas in fall his kingdom consisted of little more than a series of huts near the bay, the town was now broad and wide, encircling the bay to the west and passing by the front gates of the castle to the east.
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