Arrows of Promise (Kingmakers Book 2) (10 page)

They still had no sign of the bandits returning, so it was
safe enough today, but Riana hoped they kept their wits about them as they went
off. She had crops to worry about. Reminded of the fields that still needed to
be planted, she brought them over to a crop of wild potatoes that she had found
the night before. It was within throwing distance of the last street, and all
she had to do was take ten steps away from the game trail to show them exactly
what they were looking for. “Now, as ye be hunting, keep an eye out for these.”
Kneeling, she lifted one of the stalks with a gentle hand. The dark green, wide
leaves were easily discernable in the brush. It didn’t look like any other
frond or plant in this forest, which was why it had been so easy for her to
spot. “These be potatoes.”

Carhart and Roskin both looked clueless but Weston and Orba
perked up with interest.

“Come again?” Roskin asked, puzzled.

“Potatoes,” Weston repeated, already kneeling next to her
and working at the soil. “They’re a vegetable, and a good one. You can add it
into soups, bake it, fry it, or even eat it raw. It’s good for filling a man’s
stomach. I didn’t know they grow up here.”

“No surprise,” Riana observed as much to herself as anyone
else, “as no one here knows a thing about them. Now, these be the ticket to
feeding people in the early spring, if we can find enough to plant. So keep a
sharp eye out for ’em. Dig ’em up careful-like and bring back what ye can
find.”

Weston and Orba seemed content with a look, but then, they
were familiar with the plant already. Carhart and Roskin both broke off a part
of the stalk to take with them so that they had something to compare it to.

Satisfied that part of her job was done, she pushed her way
up to her feet and turned back toward the forest. “Now. Follow me and I will
show ye what places seem the best for game.”

Broden had a thief’s arm bent behind his back, face smashed up
against an unyielding wall, when heard Tant excitedly calling, “BRODEN!
SHERIFF!”

“Mite busy here, Tant!” Broden called back, not looking away
from the thief in his grasp. This was a wily one. He had already spent three
hours chasing the man down and he was
not
going to repeat that helter-skelter
experience, thank ye very much.

Ashlynn was the one that had her hands free, although they
were currently pressed up against her heart as she struggled to catch her
breath. “What is it, Tant?”

Tant skidded to a stop, face flushed from his mad sprinting.
“I have good news and why aren’t you responding to your caller, Sheriff?”

“Didn’t hear it,” she replied.

Broden snorted. The callers were not that loud to begin
with, and if you were chasing after a criminal, the noise of the chase would
cover the caller completely. The twins had been tinkering with the callers for
weeks now and had figured out how to extend their reach, but not how to
increase the volume. Hopefully they hit a breakthrough soon.

“Good news?” Ashlynn prompted.

“A priest has arrived.”

Broden’s and Ashlynn’s head snapped up and they demanded in
unison, “What?!”

“A priest arrived, not ten minutes ago, at North Gate. He
said he’s here to be the priest for Estole if we need one.”

There was no ‘if’ about it. Broden turned his head enough to
command, “Tant, come take this fool and do something about him.”

Tant immediately laid hands on the man even as he asked,
“Crime?”

“Theft. We be reporting the details later, but for now, lock
him up.”

“Understood, sir. Come on, you.” With a firm grip on him,
Tant marched the thief away.

Ashlynn was already striding for North Gate as fast as she
could, considering she was still winded and had a stitch in her side. “Why
would we suddenly get a priest now?”

“Mayhap one developed a conscience?” Broden offered, keeping
pace with her easily. What with all of the chasing after criminals they’d done
in the past several months, Ashlynn’s stamina had improved, but he was able to
boast that his was still better. He took pride in that, considering he was
almost twice her age. “Edvard always said if we could find a priest that
revered their god more than their king, we would have one for Estole.”

“And we all agreed, but we’ve been searching for months
without any luck and suddenly one arrives on our doorstep? I’m dying to hear
the story on this one.”

Broden had to agree.

They were not far from North Gate so it took them barely ten
minutes to get there. When they arrived, Marissa Allen was standing off to the
side speaking to a man in the pure grey-blue robes of the Goddess Regina,
mother of healing, crafting, and motherhood. Broden blew out a secret breath
upon seeing that color. If there was any god’s blessings that he felt Estole
needed most, it was Regina’s. Either that or Macha, the god of sovereignty and
war.

Ashlynn slowed down to a more sedate walk, partially to
avoid looking like she had hurried over here. It gave Broden a few moments to
study the priest openly without being caught staring. Looks-wise, there was not
much to him. Hawkish nose, thinning hair, small frame, he looked more like a
money exchanger than a priest.

Marissa spotted them and waved a hand before speaking to the
priest. Broden was just close enough to catch part of her words. “—Sheriff of
Estole and her partner, Broden Ravenscroft. We have to report to them when
anyone comes in, you see.”

“In these troubled times, daughter, I quite understand.” The
priest turned and gave them a slight bow and genteel smile. “Greetings and
blessings upon you.”

Ashlynn extended a hand, which he took in a gentle grip. “I
greet you. I’m Ashlynn Fallbright, Sheriff of Estole.”

“My name is Anthony Graff, and I am a priest of Regina. May
harmony find you, Sheriff.”

 Broden also extended a hand, which the man reciprocated
with a firmer grip. “Broden Ravenscroft, yon lass’s partner.”

Graff’s smile lifted the corners of his eyes into crinkles.
“A wizard-partner is a rare thing to have. You are blessed indeed, Sheriff.”

“On days like today I especially am thankful,” she told him.

Broden, knowing she was referring to that three-hour chase,
grinned at her. Of course Marissa and Graff had no idea what she meant so gave
her slightly confused smiles.

“Well, Priest Graff, I am very surprised to see you here.”
Ashlynn offered him a chance to go into the guard house, which he took, and
followed her into seats next to a cold brazier. “We’ve been sending out letters
and requests for a priest for a month without any response whatsoever.”

“Yes, such a letter went to my superior. He was disinclined
to accept any position here—more because of age than anything else—but
encouraged me to go.”

As much as Broden hated to question a gift horse in the
mouth, they still had to do an entrance interview of some sort to make sure the
man wasn’t an Iyshian spy. “Why did ye come, if ye do no’ mind my asking.”

“Even the Orders are ruled by the Bindings, my son.” Graff’s
lips twisted into a sardonic expression as he said this. “My ability to rise in
the ranks of my Order are limited because of my own birth and my lack of the
right connections. I could never be more than an assistant to someone else
throughout my life. The lack of a promotion grated on me some, but it was the
inability to make the changes I thought should be done that was the hardest to
bear.”

That made perfect sense to Broden, who had once lived in a
situation that also prevented him from ever changing.

Ashlynn picked up the thread smoothly, having done this more
than a few hundred times. “And so you leapt to the decision to come here? It must
have weighed on you heavily.”

“It was not such a challenge, my child.” Graff lifted his
shoulders into a shrug. “I had little to lose or leave behind. Also, I was
touched by the letter that your king sent out. He was quite eloquent in his
plea for help. I felt that he was a good man and I wanted to try serving a king
that I actually
liked
for once.”

That struck a chord within Ashlynn. She out and out grinned
at the man. “It’s a novel concept, isn’t it? So far I quite like it. When did
you get the letter?”

“Almost precisely three weeks ago. I had several things to
attend to and finish before I could leave, hence my delay in arriving here.”
Bracing himself, a half-wince already on his face, Graff asked, “How long has
it been since a priest attended to Estole?”

“Two and a half months,” Ashlynn responded sourly.

“Oh dear,” Graff said, concerned. “Has there been no one to
attend to them all this time?”

“There be a list,” Broden assured him. “And a proper
chapel.”

“Although the chapel will undoubtedly need cleaning,”
Ashlynn put in. “But Priest Graff, I promise you that you will have help. I
will draft them myself so that you have hands available for any work that needs
to be done. The people here have been complaining about the lack of a priest
and are going to be overjoyed to see you.”

“I am very sorry I did not arrive sooner than this. I had no
idea that the state of things would be this severe. But I will do all I can,”
Graff promised. Taking one of her hands in his, he said earnestly, “Sheriff, go
and find me help to clean the chapel. I understand that I have a procedure to
follow to become a citizen here.”

Marissa nodded confirmation.

“But after that is finished, I will go directly there and
start working. Do you think it possible to have the chapel ready by tomorrow?”

“If not, it’ll be close enough to at least do simple
ceremonies in,” Ashlynn assured him. “Marissa, expedite the process for our new
priest. I’ll notify Edvard and get the ball rolling on my end.”

“Certainly. Priest Graff, if you could come this way?”

Ashlynn lost no time in leaving the guard house and heading
straight into the city. “Broden, I’ll notify Edvard. But I think it’ll be more
time efficient if you go find us some volunteers.”

“I know just where to find them,” he assured her, already
grinning. “I be thinking that cleaning the chapel be a fitting punishment for
some of our miscreants.”

“You do read my mind sometimes.” Grinning at him, she shot
him a wink before splitting off and heading for the castle.

It took the space of an hour to inform everyone. They all
met this news with open relief and celebration. Edvard actually dropped
everything and went to the chapel to meet the man himself, welcoming him like
one would a long lost uncle. The priest looked overwhelmed by this whirlwind of
greetings and Broden felt a pang of pity for the man. His head was likely
swimming with names.

As it happened, the voluntold were not the only ones that
cleaned the chapel. Word spread like wildfire through the city and so many
people showed up to clean—most of them housewives—that it was like a swarm of
locusts had descended on the place. There wasn’t enough elbow room for them to
clean more than a tile on the floor without bumping into each other, but each
person was determined to clean some part and get the chapel ready for use that
much sooner. Broden wisely kept out of the way and in the doorway. His sole
task was to make sure his criminal crew did not try to run off, and that was
all he did. Interfering with a woman on a mission was foolhardy in the extreme
and he would hope that, after nearly forty years in the world, he knew better
than to try.

By ten o’clock that night, the chapel was gleaming from
ceiling to floor, not a speck of dust to be found in the place. More, the
priest was stocked with food in the larder, enough to last him a month, and the
women had made sure he had clean linens to sleep on, and fire for the hearth.
The man looked touched by this care for his wellbeing and was very vocal in
expressing thanks to all of them.

Broden sent his criminals back to their cells and returned
to his own room in the castle. He gained the hallway connecting his room with
the twins’ and heard Ashlynn’s voice faintly as she reported to Ash what had
happened that day. So the settlement now knew too that they had a priest? Good.

Glad to have at least
one
thing going right this
week, Broden went to bed and hoped that tomorrow life might get a little
easier.

Over the course of the week, Riana grew more and more
concerned about Ash. He slept less, ate little, and worked himself more than
anyone else did. It got to the point where he would only eat if she brought him
something and forced him to sit down. He slept perhaps four hours a night, barely
enough to exist on. He’d become this hollow-eyed man that blearily stumbled
around the settlement from one project to another.

A sleep-deprived wizard working magic frankly scared the
light right out of her. But she couldn’t seem to get him to settle down and
pace himself. He argued with her that everything had to be done
now
,
that he had no time to sit and rest. She had no good argument because he was
right, it was all needed. The
now
part was a different story, they were
just now approaching fall, he had time to work. But she had a feeling he was
trying to get more of the settlement in before they were attacked again, by
either Iysh or bandits. Having to maintain a ward up every night for the past
three weeks to defend against possible sneak attacks was not helping matters at
all.

This morning, she caught him before he rolled out of his
bedroll, shoving a bowl of porridge and a thick, honey tea into his hands.
“Eat.”

Almost gratefully, he consumed the hot food, letting it warm
him up. The air was cooler in the mornings than during the day. Not cold, by
any means, but the difference was noticeable when they were used to working out
in a blazing hot sun. “I need to get the other two mines properly started today.”

He looked as if he had lost a stone of weight. Along their
magical connection, he didn’t ‘feel’ himself either. Ash usually gave off a
brilliant wash of light so that he burned brightly in the back of her mind. But
today it was a muted glow, barely discernable to her. She had to be paying
attention to even notice it. All of this boded ill to her mind. “It can no’
wait a day? Ash, ye be staggering for want of sleep.”

Shaking his head, he drained the tea and pushed both cup and
bowl into her hands. “No, I need to go. This is the last major project I have
to do and then I can take it a little easier come tomorrow. The marketplace is
in, the butchery was finished yesterday, the fields cleared. All I have left is
building the food storage buildings and we’ll be set.”

‘Just’ build three huge buildings. Aye, that was ‘easier’
alright.

Two miners appeared at the edge of their camp and gave her
respectful nods of hello.