Rose shrugged. “How am I supposed to know. I’m just a kid.”
Nathan’s brow furrowed as he examined Rose as she attempted to look innocent. “I think you’re done playing that card. You were wise beyond your age before you were able to talk to Ava. Now, you are going to just be trouble I know it.”
“Just a kid,” Rose repeated, batting her eyes in a comical fashion.
Nathan laughed. As much as Rose’s announcement had been a shock, he couldn’t be mad at her. She was the little sister he’d never had. “How long have you and Ava been conspiring against me anyways?”
“Conspiring? Aren’t you just the cynic. I’ll have you know we haven’t been conspiring. Ava actually has a hard time connecting with you. Your earth affinity is so strong that it makes connecting to spirit magic hard. It’s only been the last couple weeks she’s been able to watch you. It frustrates her how hard she has to try to even do that.”
Nathan thought back. If the connection was growing stronger it was likely from the coming lunar event. Hanna had said the moons had a strong effect on spirit magic and during the double eclipse the connection between the two worlds would be at its strongest. Perhaps he’d get a chance to talk to Ava the way Rose did. He was dreaming of her more often now, and the dreams had been getting progressively more lifelike. He could only hope it happened. Her missive for him to move on aside, he really missed her and wanted to see her once more.
“Nathan, can you make me a saddle?” asked Rose.
He eyed her suspiciously. “Depends on what you need it for.”
“To ride Lord Ridgeback of course. I bet he’s way more fun to ride than a horse.”
Nathan looked at Lord Ridgeback, but the beast was still asleep. “I’m not sure that’s a great idea.”
“You think bareback is the way to go?” Rose asked. “I suppose his fur is as good as any bridle.”
Nathan couldn’t tell if Rose was serious or pulling his leg. Either way, he felt like he was in trouble.
…
Over the next few days, a pattern started to emerge. Nathan would spend half the day with Lord Ridgeback then as soon as Rose was done with her schoolwork she would come and accost her pet wolf. And while Lord Ridgeback was friendly with Nathan, they were more like equals. With Rose, Lord Ridgeback was like an old dog with a child. Rose could pull his ear, jump on his back, teach him to shake a paw.
One day Nathan walked in on Rose jumping on top of a table. “Rose. Is there a particular reason you are on top of the table?”
“Of course. I’m training Lord Ridgeback. Not everyone has a mindlink connection. I have to show him what I want.” Rose patted the table and the wolf leapt onto it. The table creaked under the strain of their weight but held.
Nathan sighed. “How about not jumping on tables. Lord Ridgeback is a heavy fellow and if he jumps on the wrong table it might not survive.”
“You mean like when that fat noble from Venecia came to visit? You should’ve seen him, Lord Ridgeback. He was as big as a house, but really nimble on his feet. At least he was nimble until about his sixth mug of ale. Then he got a little stumbly bumbly and tripped, landing on a table. The table busted all to hell and the fat noble fell through the table to the ground. But you know what was really impressive. That fat noble never even spilled a drop of his ale. Shattered that table, smacked the ground like a side of beef, but not a drop spilled.”
Nathan rubbed his temples. That night had been a little over the top. A group of Venecia’s leading businessmen and some visiting nobles had made the journey to Elderwood. The castle hadn’t been built yet, so they were hosting the visiting nobles at the Cat’s Meow, Elderwood’s largest tavern. It had been a wonderful night of drinking, dancing, and socializing, and even Duke Kubric’s fall through the table hadn’t dampened the mood. “Duke Kubric wasn’t from Venecia, he was from Mykoznia. And you were there for that? That happened pretty late in the night.”
“Aunt Avera sent me home shortly after that. She said young ladies shouldn’t witness such things. But she was smiling and having a good time.”
“I don’t think Aunt Avera was worried about what you saw as much of as she was worried about what you might see if you stayed later. And yes, young ladies shouldn’t be in a pub that late at night. The adults forget themselves when they are that far into their cups.”
Rose pointed to the ground then turned her hand, so it was flat and palm facing down.
Lord Ridgeback jumped down from the table, gracefully landing on the floor. He then stretched out, so his belly was touching the floor.
“Impressive,” Nathan said.
“Yes. Lord Ridgeback is smart. Smarter than any silly old dog. Isn’t that right, Lord Ridgeback?”
Nathan watched as the giant wolf wagged his tail and bared his teeth in what looked almost like a human smile, just with a massive mouthful of huge razor-sharp teeth. Even when he was being friendly, Lord Ridgeback was intimidating. “Rose. As you know, Aunt Avera, Verin, and I are leaving for Raumont tomorrow. You think you can handle Lord Ridgeback for a few days?”
“Don’t be silly. Lord Ridgeback and I will be fine. I’ll stay close to the castle and avoid going into the city. Don’t worry. Nothing is going to happen to Lord Ridgeback while you are gone. I’m not a baby I can take care of myself. And so can Lord Ridgeback.”
“I know,” Nathan said. “I just worry.”
“You shouldn’t. I know you think about Ava being kidnapped, but if someone strange tries to take me I know what to do.” Rose then made a strange gesture with her hand. Before Nathan could even react, Lord Ridgeback was off the ground, jumping between Nathan and Rose. His teeth were bared and his hackles up. His growl filled the room like a pair of beating drums.
“Good boy. Heel,” Rose said.
Lord Ridgeback sat himself down in front of Rose and wagged his tail while watching Nathan.
Nathan gulped. Rose was right. There was nothing to worry about. If anyone were foolish enough to try to abduct her with her new protector around they were in for a world of hurt. “OK. Please don’t use that command unless you are really sure you need to. A person could die of a heart failure from seeing Lord Ridgeback growling and baring his teeth.”
“I promise.”
“Good, but I’m going to have Rowan stay at the castle while we are away. Aunt Avera and I will both sleep better knowing someone else is here to watch over you, even though it would now appear to be overkill. Lord Ridgeback certainly is capable on his own.”
Rose shrugged. “That’s fine with me. Rowan is nice.”
Nathan walked away to go find Aunt Avera. She’d told him Rose and Lord Ridgeback would be fine on their own. He hadn’t been so sure and wanted one last talk with them before leaving to make sure things would be fine. Once again Aunt Avera had known exactly what she was talking about. Now he owed her an apology. But he was going to get Rowan to stay at the castle anyways. Who knew what sort of mischief Rose would get into if she was totally unsupervised.
14
The city was impressive. Wide streets, a bustling merchants row, and impressive carpentry caught his eye, but the jewel of Raumont was its palace. Situated on top of a low rising hill, it overlooked the entire city and could be seen for miles and miles away. A series of towers with spiraled tops connected to one main tower that rose above all. The spiraled architecture, which reminded him of a teardrop, was like nothing Nathan had seen before. He wondered if it had been influenced by some other culture than those normally found in Solotine.
“Well, I certainly didn’t expect this,” Sharon said as she rode up beside Nathan. “I heard Raumont was a pretty city, but no one said how truly beautiful it is. Has no one from Elderwood been to Raumont before?”
“Our ambassador to Tarnstead is the only official visitor. However, his reports are often lacking when it comes to details. He is exceptional at reading people but when it came to describing Raumont he wrote weird looking buildings, but excellent local food and wine. I
did know Raumont was different from the rest of Tarnstead, many traders would talk about it when they visited Elderwood. I guess I was too young to understand what they were talking about.”
Sharon shook her head. “That Aldwin fellow? I hope his reports on people are more detailed than his description of the city.”
“Thankfully, they are.” Nathan and the rest of the royal council had received very detailed reports from their new ambassador to Tarnstead. While his attempts to describe the city of Raumont may have been woefully inadequate, his reports on the people of the city were extensive and filled with details. And from those reports they had a solid idea of the situation in Raumont. Duke Bristol was not a supporter of the king and wanted to replace him as king of Tarnstead.
A man rode up to meet the caravan of riders. “Welcome to Raumont. I’m Councilor Matt Vatkin.”
“Greetings, Councilor Vatkin. I’m Prince Stoneblood. It is an honor to be invited to Raumont. It’s truly a magnificent city. I’ve never seen such architecture. May I introduce Sir Verin Alton and Lady Avera Alton.”
Councilor Vatkin smiled. “Queen Avera and her brother are well known to me. Balta was an important trading partner to Raumont and we have the utmost respect for the Balta royal family. Balta may no longer be your home, but your legacy of leadership didn’t fall with the city.”
“You are too kind, Councilor Vatkin,” Lady Avera said.
“I couldn’t be kind enough. I’ve traveled all over the world and Balta was an example to everyone in how a kingdom should be run. I see Lady Sharon, your ambassador to Venecia has joined us as well. That is excellent, I would love to discuss the current situation in Venecia with you at some point if that is possible.”
Sharon gave Councilor Vatkin a polite bow. “That would be easily arranged.”
Nathan was surprised. Not only was Councilor Vatkin not in Aldwin’s reports, it was apparent that the councilor knew much about them. “Has Ambassador Aldwin not been helpful in that regard?”
Councilor Vatkin smiled. “I actually haven’t had the opportunity to meet with the ambassador. I know he’s already been here and was looking forward to speaking with him, but my schedule has been very hectic as of late. I just returned to the city myself and happened to be in the royal chambers when our scouts notified the duke that your caravan was arriving. I hope it isn’t inappropriate that I chose to come out and meet you myself. A more formal greeting party can be arranged.”
“Nonsense,” Lady Avera said. “We are delighted to have you greet us. We can save the pageantry for the festival.”
“Excellent. I also wanted to save you from having to deal with some of the other councilors, who are a little less worldly. I’m afraid you will find many are very traditional, if you understand my meaning.”
Lady Avera chuckled softly. “I’ve been dealing with traditional trade representatives for years if you are referring to those who are wary of magic users.”
Councilor Vatkin nodded his head. “Yes, I suppose you are very aware of how many in Solotine feel about magic. I wish I could say Raumont is a more enlightened city, but I’m afraid that would be misleading. I can assure you that you will find your visit to be cordial. The others will be polite but most likely a far less warm welcoming than I’m attempting to give. Although in your case they might make an exception. Their interest in trade may outweigh their superstitions.”
“I’m sure it will be an excellent festival. Duke Bristol and Councilor Greaves were both very cordial when we met with them in Salma,” Lady Avera said.
“Excellent. Then I have been worrying for nothing. Now, Nathan, you mentioned the architecture earlier. I would be delighted to give you a tour of the palace later. It is truly a magnificent building. It is built in the style similar to castles found in Southern Creyta. A few generations ago a former king of Raumont had trade connections in Creyta, and during one of the many wars between Creyta and Mykoznia that king sent troops to help his trade partner, even though Raumont had only recently been in a prolonged war itself. The king of Creyta was so grateful for the show of support that he sent a dozen of his best mason workers to Raumont. It took twenty years to build the palace, but I do believe it was worth the wait.”
“Twenty years?” Sharon asked. “That seems so long. I mean it is a magnificent palace, but why did it take that many years.”
Councilor Vatkin laughed. “A fair question. For one, we didn’t have magic stone masons like the Kingdom of Elderwood has been blessed with. And more importantly the king didn’t prioritize the building of the palace over rebuilding the city.”
“Too bad they didn’t have magic, it would’ve gone quicker,” Sharon said with a smile.
“Yes. It surely would’ve,” said Councilor Vatkin. “I see Councilor Greaves at the city gates. I’m afraid you will be officially greeted. I warn you the councilor tends to be long-winded, and can be slightly thin-skinned, so its best if you just let him give his speech instead of begging off.”
“I’m aware of the councilor’s love of his own voice, but we’ll gladly accept his welcome. We wouldn’t want to be ungracious guests, isn’t that correct, Nathan?” Lady Avera asked.
Nathan knew Avera well enough to not argue with her on this point. Despite his own dislike for pomp and ceremony, this trip wasn’t about him, and if he needed to listen to every politician in Raumont that is what he would do. From his experiences dealing with Venecia, Nathan knew how painful this could be, but in the long run, creating a friendship with Raumont was well worth any boredom he needed to endure. Besides, Sharon had already introduced him to her secret way of dealing with politicians. A good wine. “We’ll be delighted to hear the councilor’s greetings.”
…
Councilor Vatkin had been correct. The official greetings by the other councilors had been long and drawn out and enough to put a person to sleep, but as Aunt Avera had taught him, Nathan took the time to study the people in the audience.
One of the biggest things Nathan noted was who wasn’t there. The duke. His wife, Lady Ellan Bristol, was there and seemed genuinely interested in meeting them, but the duke himself wasn’t at the ceremony. However, later they were invited to dine with the royal court and the duke was at the head of the table. But at his sides were two of his councilors, creating space between the duke, his wife, and his guests. Nathan wasn’t sure if this arrangement was intentional to distance the duke from them, or just the usual seating plan for Raumont’s royal family.
“How’s your meal, Nathan?” asked Councilor Vatkin, who’d made a point of sitting beside Nathan, even going so far as to politely ask Councilor Greaves to find a new seat. The interaction between the two councilors was polite, yet icy. And with Councilor Greaves vacating his seat for Councilor Vatkin it indicated that in the hierarchy of underlings, Councilor Vatkin was near the top.
“Excellent, thank you. I especially enjoyed the roast yams. We haven’t had them since leaving Balta.”
Councilor Vatkin nodded. “Yes, I suppose many things had to be sacrificed. The lifestyle of a rich kingdom like Balta probably can’t be sustained during an exodus. Although most reports say that Elderwood is already thriving. A testament to your leadership.”
Shaking his head Nathan replied. “No, a testament to the will and drive of Elderwood’s citizens. They are the ones who truly make Elderwood what it is. We are blessed to have so many skilled laborers and tradesmen, farmers, and mages. All I’ve done is give them a safe place to rebuild their lives.”
“Such modesty. I highly doubt your contribution is so simple. But if you are done with your dinner, how about you and I go for a walk. I did promise to show you some of the palace architecture.”
Pushing his plate away from him, Nathan rose. “An excellent idea. A walk will prevent me from grabbing too many of those sweet berry custards.”
“A weakness of mine as well,” said Councilor Vatkin. “Those and the pumpkin pie. Thank the gods festivals don’t come to Raumont more than a few times a year
or you’d have to roll me out of here.”
From the look of Councilor Vatkin, Nathan doubted that his companion had ever held more than a few pounds of fat on his body. His face was lean and waist flat, certainly not the traits of someone with a sweets problem.
As they walked out of the main dining room into a long hallway, Nathan casually kept his right hand on his side, inches from the dagger on his belt. He didn’t suspect Councilor Vatkin of wanting to attack him, at least not at that moment, but there was definitely something about the man that made Nathan leery.
“Now that we are alone, we can finally have a frank conversation,” Councilor Vatkin said as he turned and looked at Nathan.
Nathan smiled. “You mean we weren’t earlier?”
“Polite conversation, possibly even honest at times, but hardly of any substance. We both know your visit to Raumont has little to do with festivals and exotic architecture.”
Nathan nodded, the councilor had a valid point. “This is true, but wouldn’t the duke be the one to have this conversation with, no offense meant.”
“None taken. Normal convention would suggest that you are correct. A prince like yourself should be talking to Duke Bristol, but I think it is best for both our kingdoms if you and I talked first. As you well know, Tarnstead is on the precipice of civil war. King Parth is not fit to lead and has proven over and again he doesn’t respect the cities that make up the kingdom.”
“I have no quarrels with King Parth. Elderwood has no intentions of involving itself with the politics of Tarnstead.” Nathan paused for a second, unsure how much he wanted to say to Councilor Vatkin. The man was obviously testing Nathan to see where he stood, and it was likely that Nathan’s answer would not sit well with Duke Bristol.
“And if Tarnstead does break into civil war? Will Elderwood stay out of the conflict?”
“As much as possible. However, Count Mavane and Salma are our friends and allies.”
“Yes. That is known. However, Salma is an intricate part of the kingdom, and for Elderwood to involve itself in Salma would be to take sides in a civil war. Is that something you are willing to risk? Wouldn’t it be better for Elderwood if you simply let things play out naturally? Keep your new kingdom clear of any conflict.”
Treachery in Tarnstead (Stoneblood Saga Book 5) Page 13
