Treachery in Tarnstead

by Robyn Wideman

  “You are a coward,” Duke Bristol yelled.”

  Very calmly Captain Vatkin leaned forward. “Would you care to repeat that?”

  Duke Bristol took a step back. “Well. You just admitted to being afraid of a boy. What else would you call that?”

  “Intelligent,” Captain Vatkin answered. “A man without fear doesn’t live long in my experience. Fear isn’t a bad thing. It is a warning against danger. It is our body’s way of telling us something bad is out there. It is how you respond to fear that matters. And if you don’t fear Nathan Stoneblood and Elderwood there is something wrong with you. Have you forgotten what happened to Duke Evollan and his men? Or what happened in Pailtar? Right now, Elderwood is not your enemy, but you are trying very hard to make one out of it. If I did manage to kill Nathan Stoneblood you would have a war on your hands, not for rule over Tarnstead, but for the survival of Raumont. And I doubt you could win it.”

  “Damn it, Vatkin. If the eastern cities form their own kingdom we need Salma.”

  “Yes, and Count Mavane is still loyal to the king. I know what he said at dinner. However, the king has a long history of screwing up. If you just step back and let it happen he will do so again.”

  “You are sure?”

  “I think King Parth has a council of idiots just like yours, and if his advise him the same way that yours advise you, then the king thinks Nathan Stoneblood is a threat and should be removed.”

  “You think the king will kill Nathan Stonebloood? That would solve the problem of Elderwood retaliating.”

  “I think the king will try. And that is all that matters. If the attempt succeeds or fails, the result is the same. Elderwood becomes his enemy and Count Mavane becomes our ally.”

  Duke Bristol nodded his head. “So, if I kill Nathan Stoneblood, Elderwood and Count Mavane become my enemies. But if the king does, they become my allies. What in the seven hells were my council thinking? I should have their heads removed.”

  “Or you should stop taking military advice from men who are good at running businesses not battles. Just the same as you shouldn’t ask me what is a fair tax rate on grain. Your council has its uses, Raumont is a well-run city and will be a well-run kingdom, but that doesn’t mean they know the first thing about war or maintaining allies.”

  “Point taken. So, how do you want to proceed?”

  “Elderwood is having a lunar festival in a few weeks. Councilor Greaves and I will attend.”

  “Councilor Greaves?”

  “Yes. Of all your councilors I find him the most useful. He talks too much and thinks too highly of himself, but he’s intelligent and doesn’t hold the same prejudices that others in Raumont do. I think it is high time he learned just how serious the threat of Elderwood is, and he can help undo some of the damage your council has done this week.”

  “Damage? What damage?” asked the duke nervously.

  “Salma is important for trade. You recognize that but fail to see that Elderwood is the biggest trading community in Solotine now. Every businessman in Raumont with half a brain spent the festival talking to their ambassador to Venecia or with Lady Alton. Only your council ignored them. Sure, they were polite at dinner, but what a wasted opportunity. We spent years building up trade with Balta, but now that they are right next door we ignore them. Seems foolish to me.”

  “Damn it, Vatkin! Why are you just bringing this up now?”

  “Because last week I was in Progoh, I can’t be everywhere at once. Just be thankful I made it back in time to meet with them before your councilors. Don’t worry, Elderwood isn’t going anywhere. There will be plenty of time to talk trade.”

  “And what about the king?”

  “Now we wait.” Captain Vatkin knew the duke didn’t like hearing this but it was true. Events in Tarnstead were moving fast and all it would take is one more ludicrous tax hike to spur the eastern cities into action. And even the ever-loyal Count Mavane would eventually see the king for the tyrant he’d become. “Now we wait.”

  …

  Count Mavane joined Nathan and Lady Avera in a small garden in the palace courtyard. The count had picked the meeting spot, but Nathan was glad. Every time he visited a new garden he was given inspiration for how he wanted the courtyard to look in his own home. Raumont’s gardens were simple in comparison to some, but elegant. The flowers weren’t a focal point of the gardens, instead they accentuated the mason work. Stone benches and wide stone paths that led to the stone pavilion in the middle of the garden that featured the same tear-shaped roof as the palace.

  Nathan was admiring the pavilion when Count Mavane joined them.

  “How was dinner?” Lady Avera asked.

  “Troublesome,” Count Mavane said. “The Duke was pushing for open revolt. He made his case for making himself king.”

  “And how did that go over?” Lady Avera asked.

  “About as well as you might expect. Lord Kimberley was polite about it, but he made his feelings on the subject well known. They aren’t happy with King Parth, but if they revolt it won’t be to simply replace one western king with another.”

  “And did the duke bring up Elderwood?” Lady Avera asked.

  “His council did, but he basically ignored them. I was somewhat surprised that he didn’t push me harder on the subject.”

  “There seems to be some discord among his councilors. Captain Vatkin met with me yesterday. And had some interesting things to say. It seems the duke expected that I wouldn’t live to see the end of the meeting,” Nathan said.

  “What? That is insane. And why was Captain Vatkin meeting with you? He isn’t a member of the council.”

  “We didn’t know that. When we arrived in Raumont, he introduced himself as a member of the council. I was surprised, as none of our briefings mentioned him. Later we found out he was the duke’s military advisor. But either way, the duke and Captain Vatkin don’t share the same opinion on Elderwood. Captain Vatkin warned me that the council wanted us dead, and that the duke approved orders for Captain Vatkin to kill me if he didn’t like my response. It seems Salma is on the duke’s mind more than he admitted to you.”

  Count Mavane shook his head. “I’ve heard rumors and stories about Captain Vatkin, but he normally keeps to the shadows. I’ve never heard of him meeting with anyone like that. But it is for the best. If he’d simply tried to kill you things would be a mess right now.”

  “I think things are rather messy, Tarnstead is ruled by a madman, and the next most powerful leader thinks killing Nathan is a good idea. I don’t see how things could get worse,” Lady Avera said.

  “They could’ve served the chicken for supper, that would’ve been dreadful. I hope you had a chance to eat the steak while you were here. It might be the only good thing to come from this visit.”

  “It was delicious. I’m going to have to talk to one of the farms in Elderwood about it,” Nathan said.

  Lady Avera shook her head. “War and assassination, and the two of you talk about beef?”

  “You had the chicken, didn’t you?” Count Mavane asked.

  Lady Avera sighed. “Yes, I had the chicken. It was awful. But I’m not staying another night to make up for it. I’ll have Verin buy a slab of beef to take back to Elderwood. My point is, we have a serious problem here.”

  “I agree,” Count Mavane said. “However, there is little that can be done about it now. Duke Bristol’s plan to replace King Parth failed. He can’t get the other city leaders to back him. For now, everything stays the same. You return to Elderwood, and I to Salma.”

  “What do we do about Captain Vatkin?” Lady Avera asked.

  “Nothing. You’ve already invited the duke to the lunar festival. Let’s just wait and see who he sends, or if he comes himself. I doubt the duke will come, especially since the king has also been invited, but who knows. Either way, the lunar festival is the next gathering where you can meet with the various lords. We just need to be prepared for any scenario. The winds of change are coming to
Tarnstead, now we need to wait to see which way they are blowing,” Count Mavane said.

  Nathan nodded. Change was coming. For Elderwood, there’d been a constant state of change from the moment Lord Zellox first started attacking them through his proxies in Morthon. Even now, they were still adapting to their new surroundings and this change facing the people of Tarnstead would impact them. Already he knew parts of Raumont’s leadership felt he was a threat and wanted him dead. Would the king be a more reasonable partner or would Nathan and Elderwood receive the same suspicion and threats from the existing rulers of Tarnstead? Count Mavane was right though, all they could do was wait and see what happened. Salma had Nathan’s support, but the rest of Tarnstead was a disaster waiting to happen.

  15

  Nathan smiled as they approached the outer gates of the canyon. It wasn’t a pretty view by any means. The huge stone walls were more utilitarian than aesthetically pleasing, and certainly couldn’t compare to the beauty of the view of Raumont, but the walls signified home.

  The guard commander met them at the gates. “Welcome home, Prince Stoneblood, Lady Avera, Sir Verin.”

  “Damn it, Marcus. If you keep calling me Sir Verin I’m going to have you whipped.”

  “Apologies, Lord Verin.” The commander turned to Nathan. “Prince Stoneblood, I’m to inform you that Lady Rose is entertaining your guests at the castle.”

  “Thank you, Commander.” Nathan paused for a second. “What guests?”

  “I believe they are a trade delegation from the west. I wasn’t on duty when they arrived.”

  “Thank you, Commander.”

  A trade delegation from the west? That was not something Nathan had expected to hear. Was Camille here? Or had one of the other villages in the west decided to come to Elderwood.

  As they rode past the gates and into the canyon, Nathan turned to Verin. “You’d have the Commander whipped?” The comment had almost gone forgotten at the mention of a trade delegation, but Nathan couldn’t forget such an out of character comment from his uncle.

  Verin chuckled. “Commander Bravis. He was one of Balta’s gate commanders. It is a running joke between us. When I was a ranger, he would still call me Lord Verin despite my protests. Most of the soldiers simply called me Verin. They respected the fact I was a ranger. Commander Bravis has never called me just Verin. Even in the heat of battle. This isn’t the first, or the last, time I threatened to have him whipped.”

  Nathan smiled. That sounded more like the man he knew. Respected by his fellow soldier and treated with the respect due to a lord, yet never demanding it.

  “Are we expecting a delegation from the west?” asked Sharon. “Pretty bad timing for us to be in Raumont when they arrived.”

  “I think it is good, that one has arrived so quickly after Nathan’s trip west. You must’ve made a good impression,” Lady Avera said.

  “Or they saw the way he eats and figured they would make a fortune trading here. I hope you told them you are our resident man-child,” Verin said.

  Shaking his head, Nathan replied. “I don’t eat that much.”

  Sharon coughed, and Avera looked away with a small smile.

  “OK. Maybe I eat a little more than the average Baltan. But I’m a growing boy,” Nathan said in protest.

  “It’s OK, dear,” Avera said. “You aren’t a boy anymore. You are a young man. A large man, and you need all that food to keep those muscles you build while working in your blacksmith shop. My brother is just jealous of your broad shoulders.”

  Verin laughed. “I wouldn’t know what to do with all that muscle.”

  “Rose is entertaining your guests,” Sharon said. “But doesn’t Rose have Lord Ridgeback?”

  Nathan nodded. “Yes. That is my concern as well. If it is Camille, then it won’t be a problem, but if it is visitors from another village, or one of the larger towns …”

  “Rowan is there,” Avera said. “however, perhaps a little haste might not be a bad idea. It would not be good for relations with our neighbors if one of the delegates was eaten by a wolf.” She nudged her horse in the side, encouraging it to a quick canter.

  Letting his mount match the pace of Avera’s, Nathan wasn’t worried about Lord Ridgeback eating anyone. He could sense the wolf’s moods, and the entire time they’d been gone there had been nothing out of the ordinary. Of course, it was possible that eating an unruly visitor was completely ordinary in Lord Ridgeback’s mind, but Nathan doubted that. The wolf understood what Nathan wanted from him, to protect Rose, but not be seen as a threat to anyone who lived in Elderwood.

  Arriving at the castle, they dismounted and headed inside. At the front entrance they found Ruphus.

  “Lady Avera. Nathan. It’s good to have you home.”

  “Thank you, Ruphus,” Avera said as she looked around. “You wouldn’t happen to know where Rose is would you?”

  “I believe they are in the study on the second floor. Shall I announce your arrival?”

  “No need. But if you could take our horses to the stables that would be much appreciated.”

  “Of course, Lady Avera. I’ll make sure the horses are watered and given a good combing. Give those lazy stable hands something to do.”

  As Ruphus rushed off to tend to the horses, Avera and Nathan headed upstairs.

  Opening the door to the study they found Rose and Rowan sitting at the table with Camille and an older woman with a striking resemblance to Camille. Without doubt the woman was Camille’s mother. On the far side of the room Lord Ridgeback was curled up in front of the fireplace. His huge frame blocked off the fire from view, but Nathan could hear it crackling in the background.

  “Nathan, Aunt Avera. What are you doing here?” Rose asked as they entered the room.

  “We live here, my dear” Avera said as Rose rushed up and gave her a hug.

  “I know that, but I didn’t expect you back so soon.”

  “The festival was over and there wasn’t any reason to dawdle in Raumont, so we headed home. It seems that it was a good plan. If I’d known we were going to have guests we would’ve been back even sooner.”

  “Oh. Forgive my manners, Aunt Avera. May I present to you Lady Ediva Vos, and her daughter, Camille Vos.”

  “Ladies, it is a pleasure to meet you,” Avera answered as she kept one arm around Rose. “I hope Rose and Rowan have been good company in our stead.”

  “The best,” Ediva Vos said as she rose to greet them. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lady Avera. And this must be the young Prince Stoneblood I’ve heard so much about.”

  Nathan gave Camille and her mother a formal bow. “A pleasure, Lady Vos.”

  “You will have to forgive our intrusion. When Camille came to me and told me of Nathan’s visit to Layton I decided not to wait until the lunar festival to come and see Elderwood for myself.”

  “It’s no intrusion at all,” Avera answered. “We are glad to have you. How are you finding your visit thus far?”

  “Excellent. Young Rose and Rowan have been most gracious hosts. They’ve given us exceptional hospitality and Elderwood itself has been a delight. I never thought I’d see the day when I saw such a beautiful magical display such as your water fountain in Solotine. Even the smaller magical touches around the city are a pleasure to see.”

  “Yes. It is a welcome development. We are lucky to now call Elderwood our home.”

  “It was sad to hear what happened in Balta. I hope that something similar doesn’t happen in Solotine. Actually, that is why I’ve come to Elderwood,” Lady Vos said.

  Nathan glanced over at Camille. He wanted to say hello to her, but it was apparent the conversation was going to be dominated by her mother and Avera. Which suited Nathan just fine. Aunt Avera had far more experience in how to deal with visiting diplomats and while Camille was his friend, the presence of her mother seemed to signify something more than a friendly visit. Nathan suspected he was about to find out.

  “It would be tragic if Lord Zellox was to
continue his quest for land and power into Solotine,” Aunt Avera said.

  “Agreed. I also think it is fair to say that Lord Zellox doesn’t share Solotine’s reluctance to use magic. And if he decides to attack Solotine he’s sure to bring mages.”

  “Part of the reason we’ve been developing a magic school. The school won’t help in the short run, but it’s a start.”

  “An excellent start, and my reason for being here. I’m told you are looking to expand your roster of magic teachers. I’d like to offer my services. Rowan was kind enough to introduce me to Demarion Black and he explained the principles and way that you are teaching magic here and it is something I feel is long overdue.”

  Avera turned to Rowan. “Where is Demarion now? I would think he’d be here.”

  Rowan laughed. “He’s at the school. He’s planning a whole new wing for Lady Vos. He’ll be quite put out if you don’t accept Lady Vos’s offer. I also believe there is much we can learn from our friends to the west.”

  “As can I from you,” Lady Vos said. “No one person can claim to be all knowing when it comes to magic. Even the Circle of Three Sisters, one of the oldest orders of mage known to man is always searching for knowledge about magic, old and new. Already I’ve learned much from Rowan and Rose.”

  Avera looked down at Rose giving her a warm smile. “You’ve been teaching our guests?”

  Rose nodded. “Just little things, like what herbs we use for medicines here and how they differ from Balta and Western Solotine.”

  “A delightful young lady is Rose. A very keen student. A strong knowledge of herbology for someone her age,” Lady Vos said.

  Nathan looked at Rose. He wondered how much of her knowledge of herbology was her own and if she was getting help from a certain spirit. It wasn’t that Rose didn’t have a certain degree of knowledge, he’d taught her much of what his mother had taught him, but it wasn’t until they arrived in Balta that Ava really immersed herself in the study of herbology. Although, Ava’s teacher was now at the mages school, so it was possible that Rose had a strong knowledge of her own. The next time he spoke to her he would have to ask if that was the case. Nathan couldn’t think of a better herbology tutor for Rose than her sister’s spirit, and the idea that it might be happening warmed his heart. As much as it ached with her loss, the fact that Ava could still be there for Rose was a special gift, one he could never properly thank Hanna for. He only wished he could share in the connection to the spirit world like Rose and Hanna were able to do.