Wren (The Romany Epistles) (11 page)

“A regular–” Warwick swore colorfully. His wife tugged on
his arm with a reproachful glare.

“Though I don’t agree with my brother’s choice of words,”
Lord Eryant shot Warwick a look, “I completely concur with the sentiment. You
will find no friends of that enforcer here, Wren.”

“He poaches our game,” Warwick explained.

“His men frequently harass my patrols.” Iscarus frowned.

Annalyse put a hand through her husband’s arm. “They also
come into the border villages and homesteads to assault our women.”

“As I said,” Lord Eryant concluded, “he is a terrible
neighbor.”

“That is not actually what you said, Philo,” Iscarus
interjected.

“This is hardly the time,” Warwick told Iscarus.

I saw that this could easily get off course so I
interrupted. “Kat and I are requesting help for Tourth as he makes a claim on
his title. It sounds as though helping him would be in your best interest.”

Lord Eyrant studied me for a moment. “Is this request from
Tourth himself?”

Kat answered him before I could, pulling his attention to
her. “He refuses to ask for help, but we desperately need it. The enforcer has
been demanding labor from the people. Five days out of every seven they are
required to work on constructing his castle on the opposite end of the valley
from us.”

Lord Eyrant nodded. “I know of it.”

Kat continued to explain. “Because of these restrictions,
many of the households in the valley are going to starve this winter. There
have not been enough men or women to work the fields. The crops have not been
harvested or were never planted. We have tried to help where we can, but there
is too much need.”

“And you? How do you stand for supplies?”

Kat glanced my way. “We will be well. But, it is not just an
issue of food,” Kat said, ignoring Warwick’s comment. “Now the enforcer is
instituting press gangs to pick up any male they encounter and put them to
work. Tourth, Arthus, Dardon, and Svhen are all in danger of discovery. And
should they be discovered, the enforcer would have no reason to not murder
them.”

“He has killed before?” I asked.

Kat nodded as my gut tightened. “He killed my parents. He
was seen descending the stairs from their solar with a bloody knife.” Her hands
were clenched so that the knuckles showed white against her skin. Suddenly she
turned to me. “Please don’t tell Tourth, Wren. If he knew….” Her voice trailed
off.

I knew what would happen should Tourth find out. Beneath the
calm exterior and the precisely logical decisions raged an anger needing
confrontation and resolution. Its existence kept all of his friends at bay. Despite
their apparent willingness to badger Tourth over his plans, his fellow warriors
were not willing to press to the point of breaching that fury. Yet someone
must. If it remained as it was, buried deep beneath the surface, burning low
and hot, it would consume him. I fully intended to chip away at that anger, but
I wasn’t foolhardy enough to tell him this tragic news and confront it head on.

“I won’t tell him until he is ready to hear it,” I assured
her.

“But–” She opened her mouth to try to explain further, but
Iscarus interrupted her.

“I think we have reason enough to help them, don’t you
Philo?”

Kat and I both looked to Lord Eryant, his sharp gaze
flickered over all our faces, lingering for a moment on Kat’s tear-stained
countenance. “Aye, Iscarus, I do think we have reason.” He turned to his
brothers. “Where are Hiller and the troops at the moment?”

“The eastern border,” Iscarus replied.

Annalyse stepped forward, collecting Kat’s hand from the
folds of her skirt. “Come. Let us leave them to their planning. We should see
to your accommodations and organize the supplies they will need.”

Lorena stepped to Kat’s other side as they walked away.
“Please tell me more about Warwick as a boy. Unlike Philo, he is very reluctant
to talk about those times.”

“If you tell her anything about you know what,” Warwick
called after them, “I’ll–”

“Ignore him,” Lorena told Kat loud enough for her husband to
hear. “He is all bluster and no bite.”

Kat replied, but her voice was lost to the distance.

“Warwick, please focus on the task at hand,” Iscarus
prodded. “It isn’t like anything Kat would say would change Lorena’s opinion of
you.”

Lord Eyrant’s face brightened with amusement. “Ah, but you
are forgetting about that time–”

“Okay, how many men do you think we should send?” Warwick
asked loudly overriding his brother’s voice as he turned back to us. Lord
Eyrant and Iscarus shared a smile when their brother wasn’t paying attention
and the discussion began in earnest.

~~~~~

Svhen’s cooking lay heavy in my belly. With Arthus on the
road to the capital, not to return for two weeks, Svhen took over the cooking.
Although I had only been eating mashed turnips and ground lygra, I counted the
hours to Wren’s return. Anything was better than a turnip boiled until it fell
apart and then mashed beyond recognition. I liked to be able to identify the
vegetable on my plate before I tasted it. At least the lygra meat had been well
cooked and seasoned, though a bit burnt. Dardon sidetracked Svhen with knife
target practice. Wren taught them a trick and they were determined to master it
before her return.

I shifted my position, glancing hopefully down at the road
winding past our gate. The stone beneath me cooled from the heat of the day.
The warmth seeped away into the coming night. The eerie shade of the light
right after sunset, but before complete night, always played tricks with my
sight. With my gaze I traced the track to where it disappeared beneath a grove
of trees.

Wren was due back today, and I watched the road since first
light. Not an intentional action. It was strange actually. Whenever I paused to
think, I found my eyes and thoughts wandering in her direction. I occasionally
struggled to focus on my tasks.

“Any sight of her?” Dardon asked. He capered up the crumbling
stairs and joined me on my perch on the wall directly over the gate.

I shook my head. “She could have been delayed.”

He nodded. We sat in silence for a while. “If she doesn’t
show, I am cooking tomorrow night.”

I shot him a glance before smiling slightly. “What would you
make instead, practically raw carrots and red mutton?” Dardon’s usual fare was
barely cooked.

“I can’t stand seeing food being tortured the way Svhen does
it.”

“And not cooking it properly isn’t torture to your captive
consumers?”

“Why don’t you take a turn?”

A movement in the trees near where the road emerged from the
copse caught my eye. “I thought you wanted to live. Did you see that?”

“What?” Dardon leaned forward and squinted into the night.

Darkness had fallen completely now. Hardly any starlight
emanated from the partially cloudy sky and the moon hid behind a particularly
thick cloud. Something moved again. It was too far to hear anything, but
something was definitely emerging from the trees and it was larger than a
single woman on a horse.

“The enforcer?” Dardon asked.

I peered. “No, they are moving too openly.”

“Should I warn Svhen?”

“Yes, but don’t do anything until you know who it is.
Someone might be with Wren.”

“Who would possibly travel with Wren unless….” The thought
must have occurred to him at the same time it blossomed in my own mind. “She
wouldn’t betray us,” he protested.

“Unless she had no choice.”

“No.” Dardon’s voice was hard with conviction. “No, Tourth,
she would never betray us even if it meant her life.”

I wanted to believe the same, but I couldn’t. I ignored the
gut feeling that concurred with Dardon, and reached for my sword hilt. “Go warn
Svhen.”

Dardon disappeared into the night, creeping silently down
the stairs in the direction of the kitchen. I stalked off in the other
direction. I wasn’t about to let someone enter unchallenged. I took the longer
route, stopping at the stable to gather my bow and quiver from the stable wall,
before reaching the ruined gate. One of the doors was propped closed, blocking
half the entrance. The other, however, was long gone, sacrificed to kindling
last winter because it had been beyond repair. I swore to myself that I would
start building the replacement tomorrow if we survived that long.

I took up position in the gap, spreading my feet solidly
into an archer’s stance. After whipping an arrow from the quiver, I slipped it
into place as the sounds of horses approached. Svhen, sword in hand, arrived at
my side a moment later. Voices came out of the darkness, but I couldn’t hear
what they were saying.

Almighty, Father, protect us.
My brief petition was
all I could manage before the first horse came into the light.

“Who goes there?” Dardon demanded from somewhere above us.
He must have taken a position on the wall above the gate.

“Hiller and Iscarus Pendraco request lodging for the night.”

“Who?” Dardon demanded.

A cold fury rose in my chest. That meddling woman. I half
wanted to command she present herself so that I could strangle her.

“Where is Wren Romany?” I demanded, lowering my bow and
letting the string fall slack.

“Pardon?” The soldier, armed in full gear, looked down at me
in confusion.

“Where is Mistress Romany? I know she is with your party and
I demand that you tell me where she is.”

“Tourth?” Svhen’s questioning voice came from behind me, but
I ignored it.

“Fine.” I glared up at the new arrival. “See that you tell
her that I want to speak to her in the keep.”

The soldier recoiled at the force of my order, but he
saluted me. I turned on my heel, threw my bow at Svhen and stalked past him
into the courtyard.

“Are we to allow them shelter?” Svhen asked.

“What is going on down there?” Dardon’s voice demanded from
a distance. “Oh, I wouldn’t recommend you take another step until I know what
Tourth wants us to do with you.” He was clearly speaking to the soldier I just
left. I didn’t care. She did just what I told her I didn’t want done. I
expressly told her I was not asking for Lord Eyrant’s help. She ignored my
order. I was going to–

Svhen’s large hand on my upper arm brought me up short. “I
understand you are angry, but what are we to do with those men?” he asked.

“Let them in,” I growled. “And see that Wren finds me
immediately.”

I shook myself free of his grasp, strode across the
courtyard, and entered the ruined keep, slamming the door behind me. As soon as
it latched, I swung around and smashed my fist into the side of the nearest
crate. It fell over and something broke in its wake with a satisfying tinkle of
glass. My fist throbbed, but I wasn’t finished. Kicking the next closest thing,
a rolled up carpet, I swore at the empty space. Why couldn’t people just follow
my instructions and stop meddling. I shoved another crate over on its side and
perched on it to wait for Wren.

“He wants to see you immediately.” Svhen leaned on the stall
door. He looked worried, an expression stronger than any I had seen on his face
before. “He is really angry at you.”

I nodded. “I expected as much.” I slipped the tack from
Brone’s back and settled it in its place. I walked around Svhen to fetch the
brush.

“You knew he would be angry?”

I nodded. “I did something that he explicitly told me he
wasn’t going to do himself.” The rhythmic act of working the brush over Brone’s
coat was soothing. I missed this in the day and a half day I had spent in
Sedlyn Castle. Brone seemed to agree.

“Why did you do it then?”

“Someone had to.” I glanced at Svhen before turning my
attention to Brone’s hooves. “If I let him, he would fall on his sword and take
you all with him.”

“He wouldn’t deliberately harm us.”

I pinned him with a look over Brone’s glossy back. “What
about himself?” I came around to the gate and looked up at him. “I know he
fiercely protects Arthus, Dardon, and you, but does Tourth make an effort to
protect himself?”

Svhen’s light colored eyes held my gaze for a few moments
before he looked away.

“He wasn’t always like this,” I observed, “obsessive in
helping others without consideration for himself.”

Svhen shook his head. “That isn’t a completely bad thing.”

“No, it isn’t.” I stroked Brone’s silky nose. He lipped my
hand and snuffed my wrist before nosing my shoulder affectionately. I rubbed
the side of the horse’s neck and then turned back to Svhen. “I am not concerned
about the actions as much as I am concerned about the underlying mentality.”

He nodded. “Guilt.” We held each other’s gaze for a moment
before he stepped back, holding the stall door open for me. “He is in the
keep.”

“Thank you.” I moved past him, pausing after he closed the
stall behind me. “If I haven’t come out in an hour, come and fetch me.” If I
hadn’t gotten Tourth calmed down by then we would both need a breather. I
usually could calm anyone down, but Tourth was an unknown.

“Will do,” Svhen replied and then preceded me out into the
noisy courtyard.

The Pendraco brothers and their cohort of forty men were
working out the details of their accommodations with Dardon. At my suggestion,
they brought their full gear straight from their camp on the eastern border of
the Sedlyn lands. A heavy wagon came also. It was now parked in the center of
the courtyard and laden with provisions for forty-five men. Thankfully Dardon
took over the organizing of the men and their gear because Tourth was going to
be keeping me busy for a while.

I crossed the courtyard, dodging horses and weaving through
provisions to reach the door of the keep. The heavy oak, though beaten and
weathered, was still stout enough to require a good shove to get it open.
Without hesitating, I stepped over the sill and into the darkened space beyond.