Arrows Of Change (Book 1) (24 page)

“We’d be faster that way,” he pointed out.

“Oh, certainly. We’d get home in seven days, maybe six if we
truly pushed it.” She hummed again, eyes narrowed as she thought it through. “I
think…I think it’s our only option at this point. But let me talk it over with
the others. Some of them might choose to go with us.”

True, it’s not like all five would be needed to guard the
girls on the way home. They could like as not take two with them.

Ashlynn rose to one knee, only to pause and lift her face
again to the sun for a long moment. “Ash said that they just got another
complication. The priests in Estole were officially excommunicated this
morning.”

Broden’s eyes nearly fell out of his head. “They were
WHAT?!”

“Unless they left Estole immediately,” she added grimly.
“Well. Our former king is certainly not pulling his punches or showing any
mercy, is he? Although how he thinks he has the authority to control the gods
is beyond me.”

The man had used a servant of god to do his dirty business,
so that part didn’t surprise Broden one bit. “Lass, I think we best get home
quickly. Afore the whole kingdom falls crashing down around our ears.”

Pushing herself up to her feet, she assured him with icy
calm, “I agree. Let’s speak with the others and see who wants to go where. But
when we land, we leave immediately for Estole.”

It took nearly an hour to make arrangements when they
reached Lakepoint to set people on their way.

Lakepoint had to be the strangest place that Broden had ever
seen. It was not a land-built city at all, but was instead made entirely of
stone and wood, suspended over the mouth of the river. There were ‘ports’
as
people called them, water gates where people came in and out, and it looked
nothing more like roads except on the water. The smell of fish and such was
strong here, almost overpowering, and Broden found himself holding his breath
more than once to avoid inhaling the worst of it.

Konrath found them a riverboat that was going up to The
Grove and they promptly boarded it. Only Konrath chose to go with them, and
they entrusted Edvard’s sisters to the others, who would be taking the slightly
longer sea-bound route. Ashlynn did pause long enough to buy everyone passage
on a sailing ship that was headed toward Estole. (Broden did not think she
would rest easy until she was at assured they had a good way home.) But as soon
as the tickets were bought and handed over, she hugged them goodbye and boarded
the riverboat.

Broden had never heard tale of or seen the like of this
boat. It was not unique—he saw several others—but it was strange to his eyes.
It had sails, like the schooner he just left, but also paddles on either side.
It was flat and wide, wide enough for four carriages to sit side by side, and a
good twenty feet in length. It seemed an impossible thing to steer, but it must
be possible, as no one seemed to question it could go up the river.

Well, down the river be more accurate. The lake apparently
fed the river, as the land had a distinctly downward slope to it. Broden had at
first questioned the wisdom of boarding this thing—would not simply riding be
faster? But in all truth, even though the boat was slightly slower than a
trotting horse, it made up for it in several ways. For one, it never got tired
or needed rest. The horses could only go for so many hours before fatigue set
in. Also, the riverboat captains were so comfortable with the river that they
often ran at night, if the moon was bright enough. With them traveling nonstop
day and night, they would be turning a seven-day trip into four.

Riding on the boat was odd but quickly became comfortable.
The news from Estole was anything but comforting. Most of the priests of the
different gods had left, afraid of being excommunicated, which put the people
into a tizzy. The harassment of the borders was becoming bad enough that no one
wanted to leave the city at all, which just made the riots worse. The whole
thing gave Broden a headache, but it worried him too. After all, it was Ash and
Riana that were in the thick of things right now, and he knew his little girl.
She would not be idly standing by while people were getting hurt.

Ashlynn openly fretted, often pacing the length of the boat,
which only exhausted her and did no good. She remained in constant
communication with her brother, for all the good that did her.

Frankly, it was a relief when they finally landed at The
Grove.

The Grove was not well named, to his mind. It was a huge
expanse of forest, mostly a logging town that supplied timber to all areas of
the country. It was also a stopping place for travelers, as it was a midpoint
no matter which direction you were going. They found all the supplies they
needed in order to make the last leg of the journey on the main street of the
town. Once the necessities were bought, they loaded up and rode hard, taking
advantage of the five hours of daylight they had left.

Four days they rode hard, rising early and pushing until the
evening sunset. It wore out both man and beast, but none of them had the least
desire to stop. They had to get there—Broden did not want to even consider what
would happen if they could not get there fast enough to help reverse this
dangerous trend.

Finally, late on the fourth day, Estole came into sight.

It should have been a relief, to see their destination, but
the look of it made his heart sink into his stomach. When Broden had first seen
Estole, there had been construction and tents all over the place as people
focused on building new lives here. Now there was smoke coming up from
different sections of the city, turning the sky grey, and some of the buildings
he had seen built were lying in ruins, looking like haunted houses. The sight
of it made him sick to his stomach.

Ashlynn dug her heels into her tired mount’s flanks and
called back over her shoulder, “FIRES FIRST!”

Broden grimly urged his steed to follow her, knowing that
she was right. If the fires were not checked, they would lose the whole city.

As they passed through the front gates, people recognized
them and called out welcomes. Some of the guards called out directions, too,
telling them where the worst fires were. Konrath peeled off at the gates, no
doubt so that he could find better use of his hands than blindly following
them. Ashlynn waved in acknowledgement to those who told her where to go, and
changed directions, going as fast as she could in the crowded streets. After
following Ashlynn around so much, Broden knew the city better now, and he more
or less recognized where she was headed.

Tavern Row.

It was the one section of the city that had all of the
taverns and hostels, and usually where trouble broke out first. Broden blamed
the amount of alcohol that flowed there. Men in poor moods with too much ale in
their bellies never made good decisions. Setting fire to a city that no one
could readily escape from was a stellar example of that.

They made another turn, and the heat of the fire hit him
like an open furnace. The smell of things burning choked up his throat and set
his eyes to watering. Swearing, he quickly grabbed a kerchief from his pocket
and wet it down with what little was left in his water pouch before tying it
around his mouth and nose. He’d been around enough forest fires to know that a
man could choke to death on smoke, if he inhaled enough of it.

The kerchief helped some, but he could still smell smoke
strongly, so he could only hope that whatever magic Ashlynn did to put this
fire out worked quickly.

His wizard stopped abruptly in the street, her horse’s
hooves skittering a bit on the cobblestone road, and stood in her stirrups.
Raising both hands, she called something out in that magical tongue of hers,
and the air around them glowed as if she had set another fire blazing.

Then, all at once, the fires went out. She said another
spell, and a strong wind blew through the streets, chasing all of the smoke
away so that Broden could finally see what was in front of him.

It was not a pretty sight.

Every building on the street looked scorched at the very
least, black climbing up the walls and licking the rooftops. The street was
filthy with smoke and ash, and the people even more so, looking like charwomen.
Some of the buildings had gaping holes in them where the fire had eaten away at
the walls, but most of them seemed not truly damaged. At least, from here it
seemed that way. Broden prayed it was so.

Ashlynn looked about her, eyes peeled, then nodded in
satisfaction. “It’s out.” Lifting the amulet from her neck, she asked, “Can
anyone tell me if there’s another fire in the city?”

Broden was close enough to hear the reply, “
Ashlynn, are
you back already?!”

“I am, brother-dear. We’ll hug each other later. Are there
anymore fires?”

“
Did you get the one on Tavern Row?”

“Yes. It’s out.”

“Thank all the gods. There were two set, and I had to
choose between that one and the one near the lumber yard.”

Ashlynn blanched. “A fire broke out at the lumber yard?”

Broden understood her reaction all too well. If there was
any part of the city that should NOT have fire anywhere near it, it was there.
Way too much kindling set about in neat piles, just like an oversized bonfire
ready to be lit.

“Please, please tell me not a lot of damage was done.”

“
We lost about three logs that I’d lumbered in Cloud’s
Rest, but the lumber yard itself is intact and no one got hurt. I count that as
a win. What about you? How much damage is there?”

“Not much,” she answered, eyes roving the area as she spoke.
“Some scorched walls, maybe a hole or two here and there, but the place is more
or less intact. It won’t take much to fix.”

“I am beyond relieved to hear it. Now, when did you get
here?”

“Just now. Tell me that everyone’s safe?”

“
Nothing major had happened since I talked to you
yesterday. Well, not until the fires broke out. We’re all safe. Tell Broden
that Riana is just fine. I don’t want him hunting me down later.”

Broden’s lips twitched in a quick smile as he pulled the
kerchief off his face. Wise man to say that now.

Ashlynn glanced back, saw his expression, and winked at him
before assuring her brother, “He heard you. I’ll meet you back in our rooms,
alright? I need a hot meal and a change of clothes at the very least before we
sit down with Edvard. I think we need to have an emergency meeting and come up
with a strategy to deal with all of this. Otherwise we’ll be only reacting to
the Iyshian king’s attacks, and we can’t keep doing that and win.”

“I agree completely. I’ll meet you there.”

Riana watched as Ash dropped the amulet. In between the
shouting of the men looking for the source of the fire and the general confusion
as people tried to clear out the charred wood, she hadn’t caught more than one
word in five. But from what she could hear, and that expression of relief on
Ash’s face, it seemed the other wizard-pairing was back.

Coming up to him, she caught his arm and asked, “Da and
Ashlynn?”

“Back safe,” Ash assured her, the first genuine smile on his
face in days. “In fact, Ashlynn went straight to Tavern Row and dealt with the
fire there. She says there’s some damage, but we didn’t lose that section of
the city.”

Riana sent up a prayer of thanks to any god that might be
listening. This was the fourth fire they’d dealt with in the past three days,
and she counted it a straight up miracle that they hadn’t lost any part of the
city yet. But it wasn’t lack of trying on someone’s part, and she didn’t think
they would stop until they were either caught or they succeeded. “What now?”

“They want to meet us back at our rooms. Ashlynn claims she
needs a hot meal and a change of clothes, and then we really should have an
emergency meeting with Edvard.” Ash looked around, running a hand roughshod
over his hair, and for a moment he let her see his exhaustion and despair. “We
can’t keep this up for much longer.”

Truly. Ever since Ashlynn and Da had left, it had been one
disaster after another. They were spending every waking moment putting out
fires—literally, at times—only to have three more pop up while they weren’t
looking. Riana was so glad the other two were back already that she could weep.
“Come on, then.” Taking his hand, she started towing him back to the castle.

Ash allowed her to pull him along, hand returning the firm
grip she had on him. They’d been doing that often recently—holding hands. Riana
had started it because she was afraid of losing him in the madness of the chaotic
streets. Now, it was more for comfort than anything else. Their world might be
in danger of falling about their ears, but they could still depend on each
other.

By the time that they arrived at the rooms, Ashlynn and Da
were already there. Ashlynn was holed up in the bathing room, and they could
hear her humming over the sound of splashing water. Her da was sitting in a
chair near the fire, looking older than she’d ever seen him. He seemed to have
aged ten years while he was gone, but when he saw her, he lit up in a ready
smile that took the years away again.

“Daughter.” Putting his hands on the arms of the chair, he
pushed himself to his feet with a soft grunt and reached for her.

Smiling, she lunged into his embrace and hugged him hard,
smelling the smoke clinging to his clothes and the sweat of the road. “Da. Be
it a hard journey?”

“Aye, daughter, but a good one. It always be a good one when
ye do what ye set out for.” With a sigh, he eased back and looked at her. “It
seems to me ye had just as hard a road by staying here. Ye look tired; ye both
do.”

“It hasn’t been fun and games while you were gone, that’s
for sure.” Ash dropped heavily into a nearby chair. “I am so relieved you’re
back, I can’t tell you how much.”

Broden nodded to him, expression grim. “We came back as fast
as we could. We feared what would be if we did no’ get here in time.”

“We feared as well,” Riana admitted. It wasn’t that the
people here weren’t capable of handling emergencies—just not this many
emergencies all at once. The Sheriff of Estole had been especially missed. But
she felt it was not the time to say any of that to her da and instead smiled
and offered, “Glad ye be back.”