Arrows Of Change (Book 1) (27 page)

“Oh, I robbed them of all the air around their head. They
literally had nothing to breathe.” He huffed out a breath. “That was trickier
to do than I thought, as I was having to do it with four people at once. Their
amulets wouldn’t let me harm them directly, so I had to figure out a sideways
approach.”

He’d robbed them of their
air
? Riana’s eyes went
round in her face. “Ye can do that?”

Ash spread his hands in a shrug. “Yes. I usually use it to
put out fires. It’s just air manipulation, really. But the question now is,
what do we do? I can’t just leave bodies lying about in my building site.”

No, that would stink the place up. “Bury them?”

“I guess we’ll have to.” Blowing out a sigh, he swung a leg
over the saddlehorn and dropped heavily to the ground. “This was not
on
my to-do list today.”

“Ye have a spell to use to dig a grave?” Riana asked him,
hoping the answer was yes. Neither of them had packed shovels.

Ash waved this concern away with a flick of the fingers, his
free hand already working a spell into the air. It took him bare minutes to dig
a dozen graves, lift the bodies up as if they were nothing more than logs, and
put them all into it. With a sweep of the hand and another spoken word, the
earth moved back to cover the bodies, leaving twelve neat mounds in the
grassland. Finished, he asked rhetorically, “What do we do about the horses?”

“Take them back to the city, trade or sell them,” Riana
answered promptly. “They be war booty, to me mind.”

“Huh.” Ash scratched at his cheek thoughtfully. “I suppose
they are, at that. For now, I suppose we can just hobble them and keep them in
the area. We’re not far from the channel, so it won’t take us long to get some
rocks and come back. They won’t be able to venture far in that amount of time.”

Riana was less optimistic about this plan, but they had no
other option except rounding them up now and heading back to the city.
Shrugging, she dismounted and went about hobbling the horses’ front legs.  

Ash joined her, and in a short amount of time, they had the
horses more or less situated. As he climbed back into the saddle, she heard him
mutter to himself, “I hope Ashlynn and Broden are having a better morning than
we are.”

“The next person I catch trying to set fire to this city, I
personally will set ablaze!” Ashlynn snarled between clenched teeth. She leaned
into the man’s face, nearly vibrating with the desire to carry out her threat.
“Do you understand me? I don’t care what your reason is, I don’t care how
justified you think it might be, if you set one thing on fire that isn’t in a
furnace or fire pit, you will be the next thing burning. Am. I. Clear.”

The man bobbed a nervous nod, too terrified to speak, and
Broden didn’t blame him. He’d seen the lass have glowing hands as she worked
her magic, but never before had he seen her magic explode out so that she shone
from head to toe. At that moment, she looked to be on fire herself, shining bright
enough to be a second sun. Even Mark, who was holding the man’s arms, looked
ready to bolt.

Not satisfied, Ashlynn took a half step back and shouted at
the watching crowd, “And that goes for the rest of you as well! DO NOT SET FIRE
TO MY CITY! If you do, I’ll burn you next, and I don’t care if that’s illegal
or not!”

Judging from the white expressions on their faces, there was
not a single person who doubted she would do just that.

Broden was afraid that she was so irate she would go past
just threatening and do it. He put his hands on her arms and stroked up and
down, gently, comforting. “Steady, lass. Steady. They ken just fine.”

She took in a breath and let it out, sounding like a tea
kettle going off.

With a jerk of the head, he urged Mark to take the man off,
which he did with alacrity. In fact, it was hard to judge who was urging the
other to move faster, the criminal or the guard. The crowd just as quickly
skittered away, not wanting to be anywhere near an angry wizard.

He did not blame the lass for her ire, not a bit. In the day
they’d been home, they’d put out two fires, and from the reports they had
gotten from the other guardsmen, the frequency was increasing. Broden had no
doubt that when they interrogated the man, he would confess to be either a
supporter of Iysh or an agent of it.

What worried him was that under the anger he saw hurt.
Concerned, he put an arm around her shoulders and snugged her in against his
chest. “Here, now, lass. Ye be on the brink of tears.”

She opened her mouth as if to automatically deny this, but
one look at his face stopped the words before they came. Instead she stared up
at him, eyes shining too brightly, for a long moment. “Broden.”

“Aye, lass,” he encouraged gently.

“Why would they burn their own city?” she whispered, truly
bewildered.

In those clear blue eyes, he saw what the true problem was.
Ashlynn had been under tremendous stress for well over a year now trying to
create a country from scratch. She’d fought in two battles, and then spent the
rest of her days from morning till sunset running about dealing with criminals.
She had worked herself to the bone building this place, all so that it would be
safe for her family—all families—to live in. The responsibility for doing so
did not rest solely on her shoulders, but still, the weight she bore was
enormous. She had been under too much strain too long.

And now there were people here who were deliberately trying
to destroy everything that she had worked so hard to build. The cruelty of it
broke her heart. It was not that she could not understand it, but that her mind
refused to.

He hugged her a little harder even as he tried to answer.
“Some men can no’ respect anything, me dear. Especially when it be given
freely, they can put no value on it, and so think nothing of trampling it. Some
of these men be agents of Iysh, and be simply following orders. But the rest be
nothing but knaves and scoundrels. It be best if ye do no’ understand how they
think.”

Nodding, she sniffed a few times, but the tears did not fall.
Instead, she seemed to gather strength from Broden’s patience. With a few deep
breaths, she regained her center and straightened. He let his arm fall away but
kept a close eye on her face, waiting until he was satisfied that she was truly
ready to face the world again.

She seemed to be, at least. Assured, he took a half-step
back and asked, “What next?”

“Well, no one else has called me with an emergency while we
were gone, so I think we should go to East Gate. I haven’t been over in that
direction since well before we left, and that worries me.”

“Fine, fine.”

The rest of the day happened without mishap. Well, serious
mishap. Broden’s sense of danger had changed remarkably since coming to Estole.
It used to be that he considered murder, kidnapping, and theft to be bad. Now
if it did not reach a riot level, he did not panic about it too much.

They all had a quiet dinner in their suite of rooms before
he and Riana split from their wizards and went to Edvard’s study.

Riana knocked on the door and Edvard called, “Enter!”

Stepping inside, they found Edvard nearly buried in papers,
maps, and books. Not an inch of space could be seen on either his table or
desk. The king’s usually immaculately combed hair was standing straight up,
reminding Broden of an irate rooster. To see this normally collected man at his
wit’s end alarmed him. “Edvard? What be the matter with ye?”

“There’s a long list,” Edvard groused. “But in short, I’m
trying to set up the structure of the government before Tierone gets here.”

Riana asked the obvious question. “Why?”

“He wants to co-rule with me.”

Broden blinked, dumbfounded. “I thought…”

“What?” Edvard asked, momentarily relaxing into a dry smile.
“That he would simply rebel like I did, but keep the power and position of
leader in his own lands? Yes, I thought he would do that as well. We both
thought wrong. I just received a message from him this morning that he doesn’t
want to try this by himself, and he feels that if we combine our countries,
we’ll have a better chance fighting Iysh off.”

Well, in terms of manpower, he likely was right. But still…
“Two kings?” Broden objected, mind spinning. “How will ye manage that?”

“Excellent question,” Edvard growled. “I wish I had a simple
answer to give. That outline for a government that we discussed before will no
longer quite work. I’m having to modify it, but doing that is taking
considerable planning on my part. And I’m not even sure that Tierone will agree
to it.”

“Edvard, I think it best ye wait until Tierone gets here,”
Riana counseled, eyes taking in the ridiculous amount of research their king
had already done. “This sort of thing be best to figure out together, when the
two of ye be in the same room.”

“I agree,” Broden put in.

“I want to at least have an idea to present to him with when
he gets here,” Edvard maintained stubbornly. “But, yes, you’re right, I
shouldn’t go into exhaustive detail just yet. Especially when there’s other
problems to be solved. Now.” He stopped, staring at the two of them blankly. “I
know I called you here after dinner for a reason…what was it?”

Broden let out a sigh. It be official. The man had
overextended himself. “Ye had a notion of sending us into the city and working
with yer spies.”

Edvard snapped his fingers in recognition. “Yes, that was
it! Thank you. I won’t need you to do much today, no more than two hours or so
I think. I have spoken with my main intelligence officer and he’s expecting to
meet you.”

“Edvard,” Riana said patiently. “What do ye want us to do
exactly
?”

“Don’t readily admit who you are,” Edvard instructed. “Right
now, there’s a very mixed opinion about you two. You showed up out of nowhere,
and yet have a hand in making the laws of this new land. Worse, you’re from a
sketchy place—Cloud’s Rest. Some people are convinced you’re con-artists here
to take advantage of a naïve king. Others think you’re just conniving and have
managed to worm your way into the wizards’ trust. Some, of course, have met you
while you went about helping to build and protect the city, so they know those
rumors are false. Still, others have no idea who you are because they have just
arrived. To the people that recognize you, they’ll believe any rumor you start,
because you’re in a position to know. To the people that don’t know you,
they’ll tell you things readily because they won’t believe you’re in a powerful
position.”

Broden and Riana shared a look. “And you be needing us to do
what, exactly?”

“Meet Troi in the city. He’ll give you precise instructions
on what to do. Right now, know that I need both of you simply because of the
unique position that you’re in. You’re too new to be known by everyone, so can
be confided in, but also able to influence the people that do
recognize
you. It’s like deploying four people into the city instead of two.” Edvard
rubbed his hands together in open glee. “I do love economy. Anyway, meet Troi.
He’ll be on Tavern Row, the Morning Sun to be exact. Hair streaked with grey, brown
eyes, plump build, and he’ll wear a yellow scarf around his neck. Don’t worry
about finding him, though, he’ll find you.”

Fervently hoping that Edvard knew what he was doing sending
them out into the street, Broden nodded and said, “Aye. Then, off we go.”

The Morning Sun seemed to be the place to go in the
evenings. Riana stood on the street and stared at it for a second, amazed at
how packed the place was. Why, there were people sitting in windowsills, they
were that wanting for space! The building seemed solid enough, made of seastone
and rough wooden beams, standing a full three stories tall. It was surely her imagination
that made it look as if it bulged at the seams.

Broden took her by the hand and served as a trailblazer as
he rammed his way through the door. Riana just tried to stay as close to his
back as she could.

She had no idea how he managed it, but even with this
incredible crowd, her da managed to find a clear table. It was on the smaller
side, only able to seat three, and was in the far corner. But it gave them a
little room to breathe, so she wasn’t about to complain.

They were supposed to meet the master of spies
here?
Would he be able to find them in this madhouse?

At first she sat nervously, constantly on the lookout for a
man wearing a yellow scarf, but when several moments passed and no one even
walked in their direction, she slowly relaxed. Maybe the man was late. Or maybe
he was finding it hard to find them in this overly crowded place. Either way,
she might as well relax. This looked as if it would take a while.

Besides, this was a rare opportunity. She had her da alone
(more or less) and could ask him a question that she didn’t want their wizards
overhearing. In the din of overlapping conversations, a man could likely shout
a secret and not worry about it being overheard. She couldn’t imagine a more
perfect spot to talk to him. Riana stared at her da from the corner of her eye
for a long moment, debating on whether to ask or not. It was not really her
business, but at the same time, she was itching with curiosity.

“Aye, daughter?”

Oops, caught. With an internal shrug of resignation, she finally
just spit it out. “Have ye decided to be a father for Ashlynn, then?”

Broden choked on the mulled cider he was sipping, almost
spewing it out over the counter. “Wh-what?!”

Pounding him on the back, she gave him a second to regain
his air before repeating, “Have ye decided to be a father for Ashlynn?”

His eyes nearly crossed. “Daughter. What ye be saying?”

“No?” Canting her head to the side, she studied that
poleaxed expression. No, he truly had not a clue on what she was asking. “But
that be what she said earlier.”

Rubbing at the bridge of his nose, Broden requested with
strained patience. “From the beginning, dearheart.”

“Alright, then.” Sitting back, she started to explain more
thoroughly. “Ashlynn said that while in Lorand, she played the part of yer
daughter. She said that ever since, ye been acting more and more like a father
to her instead of a partner. She said it be very akin to how ye treat me.”

Broden looked set to argue this point, but nothing came out
of his mouth. Instead he froze, jaw hanging, before he shut it slowly,
realization dawning in his eyes.

“Ah, I thought so.” Riana nodded wisely. “Ye did no’ even
realize it, did ye.”

“She reminds me strongly of ye,” Broden responded carefully,
as if tasting each word before releasing it. “It be why we get along so well, I
think. But I never once thought of her as another daughter. I…do no’ think I
have, at least….”

Riana took a swig from her tankard before responding mildly,
“She be thinking otherwise.”

Rubbing at his chin, Broden thought about this for a long
moment. “It be no’ such a bad thing, I suppose. Do ye know that she and Ash
grew up without a father?”

“Aye, Ash told me the story.”

“I do no’ think the lass has ever had a man to depend upon
aside from her brothers. And even then, she protects them as much as they
protect her. Marissa said in Lorand that she be needing a father, and after the
time I have spent with the lass, I be inclined to agree.” Broden stared into
his mug, steadfastly refusing to look her in the eyes as he asked hesitantly,
“Does she mind it?”