Arrows Of Change (Book 1) (3 page)

“I think I follow.”

“Now, there are multiple shields that wizards can use to
protect themselves, but we can’t use them all at the same time. So if I’m
fighting another wizard, or at risk of being hit by a magical backlash, then I
must use a power shield. But doing that leaves me vulnerable to ordinary,
weapon-based attacks. Someone could skewer me with a sword, and I wouldn’t be
able to shield against it.”

She blinked. “That be…”

“Dangerous?” he finished for her with a wry smile. More of a
grimace, really. “I’m well aware. Most wizards don’t care for leaving ourselves
so vulnerable, so we partner with someone who’s a good fighter. A soldier,
warrior, etc. Someone that we can trust to watch our backs as we work.”

“Makes sense,” she allowed. “So, where be the problem?”

“Not many people can tolerate being within a wizard’s shield.
The reactions vary, but I’ve seen everything from people screaming in pain to
simply flinching away from it. Finding someone that can be within the shield
who’s also competent at fighting is,” he let out a long sigh, “difficult.”

“That be a kind way of stating things,” her da said with a
pensive frown. “I would say the odds of that be slim.”

“Very. So, when we do find someone,” his eyes went back to
her with that fervent light, “you can imagine our delight and greed. And then
there’s
you
. Someone who doesn’t just tolerate it, but don’t even seem
to notice it!”

She hadn’t, actually.

Grabbing up both of her hands, he pleaded, “Please.
Please
be my partner.”

Riana froze, unable to look away from those penetrating
eyes. He was sincere in his desire to be partners with her, which was a
sensation that she wasn’t accustomed to. To have someone actively want
her
was a foreign feeling. It lit her blood like quicksilver, making her flush and
stutter, unsure of how to respond.

“Hey, now!” her da protested. “We did no’ agree to that.”

“I can’t leave her be,” Fallbright returned, those hypnotic blue
eyes never breaking contact with hers. “I’ve spent the past
decade
trying to find a partner. And here your daughter is with all the skills I need,
and on top of all that, she’s an easy woman to get along with. She’s a godsend!
I do not exaggerate.”

Her? A wizard’s partner? It’d never been an aspiration of
hers to tie herself to just one person, but then, she’d never thought of it as
an option before, either. To top it off, it wasn’t just anyone asking her—a
king’s wizard himself was literally begging.

Her da hadn’t raised her to be a fool. Before deciding, she
needed to ask some questions. So she swallowed hard and somehow found her
tongue long enough to request, “Raise yer shield for me again.”

He blinked, head slanting slightly. “Why?”

“I did no’ truly see it afore,” she admitted. “But it might
have just been because I focused on the bandits. I want to feel it properly.”

“Oh.” Fallbright nodded, silently agreeing that was a good
point. Releasing one of her hands, he traced a symbol into the air. A perfect
circle of light surrounded them in the next moment, looking like sparkling
fairy dust hovering about them.

She turned her head this way and that, taking it all in. How
pretty. Her lips parted in delight.

“It really doesn’t bother you,” Fallbright said softly, eyes
glued to her face.

“It feels nice, actually,” she responded absently. “Like
standing in a sunny spot on a cool day.” Tearing her eyes away from it, she
beckoned to her da. “Da, try it.”

With a wary look on his face, Broden gingerly stuck one hand
inside. Then he blinked. “She be right. This does no’ feel odd at all.”

The wizard’s eyes snapped to the older man. “How does it
feel to you?”

“Rather like sunlight on a cool day,” her da agreed in
bemusement. “This bothers people, ye say?”

“Yes.” Those clear blue eyes shot wide. “
Both
of you
are potential partners. Ye gods!” His free hand reached out and snagged her da’s
arm. “Broden. Please. Both of you are too valuable to the magical community to
do just this one job and return to your home. Won’t you at least consider
staying?”

Broden’s eyes met hers and she knew exactly what her da was
thinking. What they had left behind—and more importantly, what they hadn’t. It
was why they’d offered to escort the wizard to begin with.

Searching their expressions, Fallbright pressed forward, “As
partners of wizards, you’d be granted automatic citizenship rights, a monthly
stipend, and considerable esteem by everyone. Wizards themselves would pay a
small ransom just to have you, I promise. Especially in Estole. We’re so short
on wizards right now, so short on manpower, that the king is very welcoming to
anyone willing to work to protect the new country. He’s outlawed most of the
usual Bindings as well.”

Riana’s eyes went huge. He’d outlawed the
Bindings
? Holy
heavens, that was cause enough right there to go along.

Broden got that twinkle in his eyes that she knew well. “Be
part of building a new kingdom, eh? Well, I admit, that be an offer a man does
no’ get every day. This new king—ye know him?”

“Very well,” Fallbright admitted, excitement growing. “We’re
blood brothers.”

“Good man?”

“The best. Well, he has a bad habit of teasing people, but
other than that….”

To her da, that’d be a point in the man’s favor. “What say
ye, daughter?”

“We came looking for work. I say this fits the bill.”
Frowning, she added, “I just do no’ ken how this will work exactly. Will both
of us partner with ye? Or should we split up somehow?”

“I’m really hoping that one of you will partner with my
sister,” he said optimistically. “She’s my twin, actually. We share the
position of Court Wizard.”

Twin wizards? Their poor parents. The apprenticeship fees
must’ve beggared them. “Da?”

Broden frowned, thinking hard. “This partnership thing, it
works best if one person be dedicated to one wizard?”

“Yes. We form magical ties to them, you see, so that they’re
automatically under magical protection.”

“Well, we do no’ know yer sister.” Riana knew without asking
how her da would feel about this. “So let us do this: we go meet her first,
give us all a few weeks of working with each other, and figure out who mixes
well. Then we will decide.”

“Fair enough.” Fallbright lit up into a smile bright enough
to shame the sun. “But shouldn’t you be asking me questions on salary and
such?”

“We will sort that out as well in due time,” Broden rumbled.
“Let us meet yer sister first. If we can no’ work with the woman, there be no
reason to argue about such things now.”

“Excellent point.” Fallbright rubbed his hands together, for
all the world like a beggar that had just been handed a purse full of gold.
“I’ll finish this up in the next hour, and then, let’s go directly to Estole.”

Broden had been right—the wizard did have a way to get all
those trees down from Cloud’s Rest. In fact, all he did was cast a few spells, crook
his little finger, and the logs trailed after him like well-trained dogs.

He sent his daughter ahead, having her take point, while he
guarded their rear. Spaced out as they were, they did not talk much, nor should
they have. This was the worst area for mountain bandits, and a wise man kept
his eyes peeled and his ears trained on his surroundings if he wanted to get
out of here with throat and purse attached.

The road had seen better days, and after the recent heavy
rainfall, most of it was washed out and muddy. They all had to watch where they
put their feet. The wizard managed to get the logs around each twisty bend of
the road—an impressive feat in and of itself, even though the man had gone
through the trouble of shearing off the tree limbs before trying to move the
trunks. If wizardry ever failed him as a career, he’d make a fortune as a logger.

They finally left the cool mountain forests and came down to
Jacob’s Ladder, the rocky section of the river that divided The Land Northward
from Iysh. Or what used to be Iysh’s border before Estole was established as a
kingdom. Right now, no one knew exactly how much territory the Estolian king
planned to claim.

Broden still did not know what to make of Fallbright’s
offer. Oh, he had no doubt the man had meant what he’d said. His open delight
and the urgent way he’d tried to convince them to come to Estole said he’d
spoken truth. But Broden did not for one second believe that was all there was
to it, and for good reason: his daughter was a pretty woman.

Now, this was not a father’s prejudice speaking. (Much.)
Riana took strongly after her mother in looks, and Fianna had been a stunning
woman. So stunning, in fact, that he’d fallen for her twenty years ago at first
sight. With that thick red hair, fair skin, and those clear green eyes, their
daughter turned men’s heads all the time without trying to. Ashtian Fallbright,
civilized and worldly man that he was, had not proven to be an exception. He
had that same admiring look in his eye whenever he looked at Riana. So, while
Fallbright likely was sincere in his desire to have her as a partner, he had no
doubt entertained the idea of having her as something more as well.

It was the
more
that Broden struggled with.

Mayhap it’d be best if he maneuvered Riana into choosing the
sister instead.

Fallbright slumped against the nearest stack of logs, hands
braced against his knees, and breathed hard for several minutes. Broden’s eyes
narrowed as he observed the man. The road had been steep coming down, aye, but
not
that
bad. What had winded the man so? “Ye alright, Wizard?”

“Ash, please,” Fallbright requested, looking up with a
smile. “We’ll be working with each other, after all.”

Oh? With their status difference, Broden had never
considered calling the man by name, much less by nickname. Fallbright had all
the looks and mannerisms of the nobly born, but his direct approach in dealing
with them did not speak of arrogance. Well, mayhap he could learn to like the
man after all.

“Ash, then.”

Ash dipped his head in silent thanks. “To answer, using
magic to do the work is not unlike using your own muscles. Oh, the magic makes it
far faster and easier, certainly, but it still takes a physical toll.”

Broden’s eyes roved over the six dozen logs stacked neatly
along the riverbank, each of them large enough to build three good-sized
cottages apiece. “A toll, be it.”

Chuckling, Ash pushed himself to his feet. “Everything
requires energy, Broden. Even magic. Now, before we leave altogether, I have to
ask you both some questions. I don’t want to presume anything and be proven
wrong later.”

Broden had found it strange the man had not asked more about
them, so this sudden curiosity was not unexpected. He gestured with a wave of
the hand for the man to ask, even as Riana came to stand at his side.

“Is there nothing that you want to reclaim from Cloud’s Rest
before we go all the way into Estole? We’re barely an hour’s walk from there
now, and it’ll be easier to grab it now than to try and get it later.”

Broden rubbed at his jaw, feeling stubble scrape his hand,
and wondered how to respond to that. A straight
no
, while truth, would
sound odd.

“Da…” Riana said uneasily in a low tone. “We should tell
him.”

Blowing out a long breath, he thought about it, watching Ash
as the man studied them with curious eyes. Well, his daughter spoke true; it
would not be fair to the man to not tell him why they wanted to leave. But at
the same time, he’d hoped for a clean start when they’d left Cloud’s Rest.

When they did not speak, Ash prompted patiently, “Tell me
what?”

No, Riana be right. Best to clear the air now rather than to
be all the way in Estole, in a strange land, and have the past come back to
haunt them. If Ash had a problem with their family history, they needed to know
afore traveling anywhere with the man. “Ash, we have nothing to reclaim.”

Ash blinked at them, confused. “You do hail from Cloud’s Rest,
do you not?”

“We do,” Riana assured him, tone heavy. “Ye see, the
clansmen of Cloud’s Rest do no’ like our family.”

“They never have,” Broden added, picking up the explanation.
“But there be reason for that. Do ye know why Cloud’s Rest exists?”

Rubbing at the back of his head, Ash admitted slowly, “I
remember studying about it at one point. It’s been years, though, so my
memory’s murky. Something to do with a religious edict banishing a group of
archers from the old Empire to the far north?”

“That be the basics of it, aye.” Deciding he’d better start
from the beginning, Broden cleared his throat and began, “When the Empire still
existed, there be a group of archers handpicked by the emperor himself to guard
the palace. Oh, they be a skilled set of men, and cocky because of it. No one
could best them. They could no’ even best each other. One day, the most
arrogant of them decided that since he’d defeated every mortal man, he’d
challenge the gods themselves. So he picked up his finest bow and arrow and raised
it high to the sky afore firing it. The arrow never came back down.”

Ash snapped his fingers. “I remember now! After that, the
Empire experienced nothing but lightning storms for weeks, which set
practically everything on fire. The emperor was beside himself trying to
rebuild the kingdom.”

“The priests and priestesses of the gods knew that something
had happened to anger the heavens so, and went to investigate, finally ending
up with the archer who had fired the arrow—Namsin. Namsin admitted he be the one
that challenged the gods, and because of that, he and the men who served him be
banished to the far north and commanded to never set foot inside the Empire
again.”

“Namsin,” Riana said softly, “be me many-times great
grandfather.”

Ash’s eyes flew wide. “Grandfather
?!
”

Broden’s mouth flattened into a grim line. “When he and his
men finally reached Cloud’s Rest, there be nothing except wild game and timber.
They struggled to build a place to live, and every day the men grew to hate
Namsin more and more, for it be his foolishness that led to their banishment.
The resentment grew so, that it passed down from one generation to the next so
that none of Namsin’s descendants could know peace.”

“Out of everyone in Cloud’s Rest, we be the only ones that
still use archery,” Riana added with a shrug. “The rest view it as an evil
practice and will no’ touch a bow.”

Ash rubbed at an eyebrow. “I understand. So, you offered to
escort me down because you were looking for a way to escape Cloud’s Rest and
the prejudice surrounding you. Is that it?”

Broden nodded, his heart in his throat. If Ash refused to
take them further than this, then…well, he did not know if they’d fare well
waiting for the caravan to come again. That was their only other hope of
getting out of Cloud’s Rest.

But Ash did something completely unexpected. Instead of
eyeing them sideways or sending them home, he reached out with both hands and
clapped them each on one shoulder. “Now I know I was right to invite you to
Estole. You
need
to come with me, not just for my and my sister’s sake.”

What? “I do no’ ken.”

Ash beamed at him. “Estole, you see, was founded because my
king was tired of people blaming the sins of the father on the children. I told
you he broke the Bindings, didn’t I? In fact, it was the first thing he did.”

The Bindings were what controlled class and structure and
law in Iysh. To completely overturn them was, well, nigh unthinkable. But a man
that could do that would not be one to hold their family history against them.
Or at least, that was what Broden hoped. Ash’s reaction made him think so.

“Then,” Riana’s eyes lifted in hope, “ye do no’ care about me
ancestors? At all?”

“I care about
you
,” Ash told her firmly, his hand
tightening on her shoulder. “I care about what you do, what you think, what you
feel. Edvard—that’s my king—will feel the same way, I promise you. If prejudice
and hatred is all you face in Cloud’s Rest, then don’t stay there. Come with
me. I
insist
you come with me.”

There it was again. Broden could see it clearly in Ash’s eyes,
hear it in the man’s tone. He was already half-besotted with Riana. Whether he
realized it yet or not, well, time would tell about that. Broden sent a prayer
to any god listening that he’d not be forced to break the man’s arms at some
point in the future.

Riana beamed up at him. “Truly? Then, Da, let us go.”

If his daughter had any chance of having a good, happy
future, then it would not be in Cloud’s Rest. He hoped for all their sakes it
would happen in Estole, but he would not set his heart on that just yet either.
“Aye, daughter, we will go. Ash, be that the only question ye had for us?”

“You actually answered the majority of them while telling me
your family history,” Ash admitted. He had to tear his eyes away from Riana,
and when Broden gave a pointed look at the hand lingering on his daughter’s
shoulder, he flushed and jerked that away as well. “Ahem. You, ah, don’t have
anything else you want to take with you?”

Riana put a hand to the bag slung over her shoulder. “This be
all we have. Anything we left unguarded would always be destroyed by someone.”

Ash’s blue eyes grew dark with anger. “Is that right. Their
hatred of you is that intense?”

Worse, some days. It depended on how freely the mead flowed
that night. He and Riana were good scapegoats for everyone’s troubles. Broden
would have left the place years ago if they’d had any currency or knowledge of
the roads. It was sheer ignorance that had kept them tied to Cloud’s Rest.

“It’s settled,” Ash informed them firmly. “You’re not
staying there. You’re staying in Estole from now on. Now, I only have one other
question I need answered. Do you mind if I put marks on you?”

He and Riana shared a blank look before they parroted in
unison, “Marks?”

“You won’t feel or see them,” Ash explained, “but they’re a
way for me to keep track of you. The marks are temporary, but I like to put
them on people that I’m traveling with. They tell me your location, making it
easy to find you if we’re separated, but they also give me a general sense of
your wellbeing. If, for instance, one of us fell into this river and got swept
away, I would not only be able to find you quickly, but I’d know if you were
injured.”

While this sounded like a good idea, Broden was not sure
what to think of something he had no knowledge of. Half-suspicious, he asked,
“How long do these last?”

“However long I set them for. We’re only about three days
away from Estole and the main hall, so I’ll set them for four. Just in case we
get delayed.”

Riana gave their surroundings an uneasy sweep with her eyes.
“I think they be a good notion.”

Broden also gave the forest around them a long look, and
then another at the rushing river next to them. Aye, mayhap those marks were a
good notion at that. “Alright then, Ash.”

“You agree? Excellent. Then, if the two of you will stand
perfectly still. This will only take a moment.”

Broden had no real experience with magic before, and when
they’d been in the mountains earlier, he’d been too far away to get a good
look. So he took advantage this time and watched Ash closely. For all the good
that did him.

Ash traced a finger through the air as if he were writing on
paper with an ink-dipped finger. A finger dipped in glowing ink, at that. He drew
a symbol with quick precision, as if he’d drawn it a million times before. Then
with a spoken word that did not sound like anything Broden had ever heard
before, he pressed the mark into Broden’s forehead.

It felt…warm. Like warm water, alive and moving, as it
flowed over his skin. As foreign as it felt, Broden decided that it was somehow
refreshing as well.

Ash gave him a wink. “I thought it wise to put it on you
first.”

Broden grunted, mouth quirked in amusement. Wise of the man.
He preferred to test things out on his own skin before exposing Riana. He’d not
have taken it kindly if Ash had put this magic doodling on his daughter first.

Riana stood perfectly still as Ash performed the magic again
and pressed it into her forehead. When it was done, she blinked, looking
disappointed. “That be all?”

Ash looked mildly surprised. “You thought it’d be
different?”

Her shoulders slumped. “I hoped it’d feel like standing in yer
shield did. That felt nice.”

The wizard looked at her as if the sun had just risen for him
alone. “You really are destined to be a partner.”

Broden cleared his throat before Ash could get his mind set
on anything. “Aye, well, let us be off.”