Well of Tears (Empath Book 3) (11 page)

“The
banners don’t want to gather for you, Sammah. They don’t trust
you.” Obrenn couldn’t hide his sneer from Sammah. It didn’t matter
what the lord thought. He still had to follow Sammah’s word,
because the baron acted on behalf of their king.

“They’re not gathering for me; this is at the
order of King Vance.”

“You say that, but no one has seen the king
for weeks. We know that he is not well, that his life was at risk,
but it’s been long enough now for any man to recover. If you can
speak to him, why can’t anyone else?”

“That’s not up to me, that’s up to Vance. Are
you questioning the word of our king?”

Obrenn folded his arms defensively.
“
No, we
’re questioning your right to
speak on his behalf. How do we know Vance is even alive? You won’t
let us see him, yet we are the ones in this room subject to his
rule. You’re just a baron from Sha’sek, Sammah, why should we
believe any single word that you’re saying?”

“You’re starting to sound like Shiver—leave
and join the ranks of Sevenspells if that’s the way you feel.”

“
We don
’t follow
Shiver,” Erran cut in. “He tried to murder our king. Understand us,
Sammah, when you’re the only one talking, we’re having a hard time
believing everything you have to say. All we want to do is see our
king with our own eyes. That’s not too much to ask, and you need to
make it happen, Sammah. If we cannot reassure our men that they are
gathering for Vance, then they will not gather at all. Without the
men we have no defence, and everything is lost. Is the king really
so bad that we can’t even see in his rooms? We won’t tax him by
asking questions—we just need to see him.”

“Seeing won’t be enough for you. You’ll open
your mouths and ask puerile questions which will tire him quickly.
Do you want to make him worse? I promised you nothing in terms of
Vance. All I have been doing is protecting his best interests, and
that includes passing on his wishes to men like you. You have
promised your king men, and yet there are none here. Why should
we
be ceding to
your
wishes, when you’re the only
ones here not keeping your promises?”

Obrenn and Erran sat on either side of the
lonely large table in Vance’s suites. They sat in the centre, near
each other—trying to seek strength from each other for facing him
down, Sammah supposed. It wasn’t working; neither of them would
even meet his eyes. They had come with talk of rebellion, treating
him as if they were his equal. It might be true—Sammah had heard
for himself that none of the bannermen would pledge to Everfell
until they saw Vance again—there was even talk of the remaining men
defecting to Shiver’s side. Sammah couldn’t let that happen. He
knew that Obrenn and Erran saw Shiver as a dangerous man, a traitor
in their midst and a usurper to the throne. Sammah had to use that
doubt and fear against them to stand a chance of keeping these men
on side.

The baron stood from the table pacing, his
face a mask but his body tense. He was starting to wish Neyv was
here, but at this time of night the girl would be sound asleep.
Could he stall and get her here in good enough time to... No he was
on his own right now. He’d negotiated his way past these men
without Neyv before, and he had to trust that he could do it again,
though his guile was likely not enough to see him through this
time. He’d have to placate the lords, and hope his last
conversation with Neyv and Vance would hold.

“Fine. You wish to see Vance, then so be it.
I will not be held responsible, though, for any lapse in the king’s
health at the strain you’re about to put him under. Is that
clear?”

“Immeasurably," Obrenn replied. “You know, I
think you should be glad that you here to make demands at all.
Shouldn’t you be swinging at the end of a noose?”

“And if you’ll forgive me for saying, my
lord, I’m not the one who has tried to kill our king. We are all
here because of Shiver’s actions. Put your long-standing hatred for
me aside, Obrenn. This is nothing to do with me. Haven’t I shown
this by the fact that Sha’sek aren’t attacking us?"

“Perhaps, though it would be even better if
they were to show support of Vance. If they did, we might even see
some sort of peace in our lifetime, instead of this suspended
armistice we’ve been living with for the last fifteen years.”

“I think it’s absurd to discuss peace when
one of your own lords is plotting war against us. I implore you
again, let’s not forget what is at stake here. I’m doing my best to
protect this kingdom, and I suggest you start doing the same.”

Sammah waved the lords to their feet, “Now
please, I don’t expect you to hold to your word that you’re not
going to harass the King. But please try and keep any complicated
questions to a minimum. You don’t believe me, but you will soon.
The man is still very weak, and we mustn’t overwork him. This is
all I’ve been trying to do; the best the for King Vance and
Everfell. Hopefully after you’ve seen him, you will finally believe
me.”

* * *

“I didn’t believe you.” Obrenn’s voice was
low and heavy with fear. “I can’t believe he is still so gravely
ill. What did Shiver do to him?”

“It’s not what Shiver did to him that we
should focus on now, it’s the revenge we’re going to get, for
Vance.” Obrenn replied. “Shiver calls himself the king now. He
never hid his desire for the throne, nor his displeasure at the
vote when Vance was given the title. Here it is: the result of that
man’s resentment and treachery. Sammah has been right all
along—Shiver has to be stopped. We’ve seen the king for ourselves
now, we can take this back to our men. The gathering can start.
Sammah, I’m sorry that we ever doubted you.”

“My lords both, I can understand your
misgivings. Hopefully now you can understand my hesitancy to bring
you here. You both know that Shiver will not be reasoned with. We
need your men, and we need to defend Everfell. You have to bring
them here—we can’t defend on three different fronts. It’s most
likely that Shiver will strike straight for Everfell, so we need to
be prepared to last out a siege.”

“I’ll get messages sent out
straightaway.”

“I will, too. How quickly do we need this to
happen?”

“I say we get as many men here as quickly as
we possibly can. We don’t know when Shiver will move his troops,
and we need to be ready and waiting here for him. The more men we
have the more we can fortify, taking advantage of all the ground we
have.”

“You think the men from three cities can hide
in Everfell and withstand a siege of any length?”

“We have a chance. We have enough natural
water, and the grain stores are significant. If we are sensible
about rationing, we should be able to see through long enough that
Shiver becomes disheartened in the assault."

“I’m not sure if you remember Shiver during
the wars, but he is not the kind of man who is easily dissuaded
from a fight.”

“He’s never laid siege to a city before;
Shiver’s fights were in open ground. I don’t think he has the
temerity to lay siege this castle for any length of time and hold
out."

“He doesn’t need to; he just needs to hold
out longer than us.”

“All the more reason for us to be organised
my lords. Send out your crows, I will beseech my brother once
again."

“Can he send us reinforcements?”

“I’m not going to ask him to fortify us, I’m
going to ask for supplies. We need healers. Torran won’t be enough
on his own.”

* * *

Sammah didn’t send a crow to his brother. As
soon as the lords had sent their own messages, he called for Neyv.
She was still rubbing sleep out of her eyes when she got to his
rooms.

“Is something wrong, father?”

“I need your opinion, my dear, and I’m sorry
it can’t wait until the morning. It’s very urgent you see. It’s
about the king.”

“Does he not understand you anymore?"

“It’s not that, my dear. It’s about how you
feel after we have our conversations. You know when I explained to
the king the situation here? How do you feel afterwards?”

“I always feel… tired. My eyes are always
itchy, and I feel like I need a good sleep. I don’t feel right for
a few days afterwards. Why?”

“How do you think you’d be, if there were
more than two people in the room? How are you for example when we
speak to the lords?”

“Worse than the king. Sometimes a few days
before I feel good again. If you want me to be honest, I’m always
frightened when you want me to be there when you are speaking to a
group."

“Does it hurt?”

“It doesn’t hurt, but it’s so…so
draining.”

“And how do you think it would feel, if I had
to speak to at least ten people that didn’
t
understand me?
”

Neyv paled. Even in her tired state, her
entire body tensed up at the implications of those words. “I’m not
sure I could cope with that many, father."

“Would you let me try?”

“Why?”

Questions. This is how it had started with
Quinn. Sammah didn’t like it when he was questioned, though in all
fairness, Neyv did deserve an answer to these questions.

“Men are going to come and attack Everfell
and we will be outnumbered. I need our men to understand that they
are brave, that they can stand against this threat. I don’t think
that they can be convinced of that without your help.”

“Do they believe it even a little bit?”

“Does that make a difference to you?”

“Yes. The headaches are never as bad when you
don’t have to convince people so much. I do wish people weren’t so
stupid all the time. I think that would be better for both of
us.”

Sammah smiled, “You have no idea how truthful
that is my daughter. If they do believe that they are capable of
this, but they just need a little nudge. Would you do this? For
me?”

“You know I would do anything for you,
father, whether they were convinced or not.”

“You’re so special to me, Neyv. Never forget
that. I couldn’t be doing this without you.”

Neyv smiled, a joyful grin stretching from
ear to ear.

“Go back to bed, you need your rest. You been
working very hard recently. I’ll make sure you get a big present at
the end of it.”

Neyv padded away. Sammah hadn’t lied; she
would get a massive gift from Sammah when this was all over and
done with. Neyv wouldn’t be expecting a dagger in her heart.

Eden couldn’t
believe he had been locked in his own rooms. Rowan had delighted in
ordering him to be thrown in, and though Eden had tried to leave
twice, both times his passage had been blocked by reluctant but
stoically obedient guards.

“I’m sorry, Eden,” they’d said, familiar with
him from his time as guard captain, “It’s the king’s orders.”

He was a prisoner in his own home, and Eden
didn’t know what to think. He was petrified for Quinn, left alone
at his father’s questionable mercy. The king had no kind
disposition towards those from Sha’sek. Eden tried to stop his
imagination from running away with itself, but couldn’t stop
picturing Quinn either being throttled by Shiver’s hand, or taking
his dagger to her heart. Eden knew that his father was capable of
such atrocities, and he could only hope and pray that his father
really did need Quinn’s help. If Shiver found out that for some
reason Quinn couldn’t help him, then Eden needn’t fear for her
life—she’d be doomed anyway.

As the sun had dropped below the horizon, he
considered trying to get a few hours rest. He’d lain down in his
bed, though when he closed his eyes tiredness hadn’t come. He was
too frustrated, his mind reeling too fast with the possibilities of
what was going on around him.

The way he had been treated by Rowan
supported the fact that he was out of his father’s favours, and it
was entirely possible that Quinn’s life depended on Eden’s good
grace. Eden needed to start behaving to keep her alive, but the
problem was he didn’t know what his father wanted from him. When a
knock come on his door, even though Eden threw himself out of the
bed, the door was open before it could reach it. His father walked
in, and Eden backed towards the other side of the room. Shiver
looked utterly furious.

“I didn’t think your girl would be
useless.”

Eden’s jaw worked. “Useless? What you
mean?”

“She can do nothing! Sammah is an apath and
she tells me her power doesn’t work on him! You must have known
this.”

Eden tried to get his mind at pace with the
conversation. “What do you need her to do?”

“She’s meant force her father into
submission. If she can’t use that ability of hers,
especially
if she can’t use against Sammah, then what use is
she?”

Eden hesitated. “Is she still alive?”

“For now. I’m not sure if I want to keep
alive one of those scum, especially if they’re of no use to
me.”

“But I’m sure she did."

“She did what?”

“When we beat Sammah, back in Everfell. I’m
certain it was mentioned, that she was able to touch him with her
ability. It hurt her, but she did it."

“Are you sure?” Shiver’s sharp gaze hit Eden.
Eden knew then that he had to be sure, otherwise Quinn would die.
“Yes. She wasn’t strong, and she couldn’t do much, but she could
feel him. If she can just test herself, then I’m sure she’ll be
able to do what you need to do.”

“How did she get better?”

“She seems to be getting stronger the older
she gets. I know that’s what they keep on saying. I don’t know if
it’s like swordcraft though? The only way she can get the better is
by practising.”

“I’m not letting someone like her wield her
strange magic in my home.”

“But it’s okay to send her to do in Everfell?
And a bit hypocritical don’t you think father?”