Healer (Brotherhood of the Throne Book 2)

by Jane Glatt

  “Is that right, Master Arlott?” Minchen drawled.

  “That was our plan.” Kane concentrated on keeping his voice even and calm while he contacted Brenna through his sword. If Minchen decided he didn’t want to part with Brenna’s cooking he wouldn’t hesitate to indenture her - Kane could see that in his eyes. And Brenna would never allow it, not even for a moment.

  “Although in my experience plans change,” Kane continued.

  “Very wise of you.” Minchen turned his attention back to Leila. “Mistress Colley, I will be dining here every night for the foreseeable future. I trust you understand my desire for variety. Perhaps tomorrow we can have something other than stew? Yes?” Leila’s shoulders drooped but she nodded. “And Mistress Colley, you will let me know if your cook decides to leave. I’ll need to make other arrangements for my meals.” He looked back to Kane.

  Kane nodded and stood silently until Minchen and the rest of the councilmen left. He sent a quick message to Brenna through his sword and he and Yowan followed Leila into the kitchen.

  “I’m ruined.” Leila sat down on a chair and crossed her arms. “I can feed the councilmen, who won’t pay a penny even as they drive the rest of my trade away, or I can not feed ‘em and they’ll like as not send Da to the mines and Ma and me to cook and clean somewheres.” She looked over at Brenna, Kane and Yowan. “And I knows ye ain’t about to stay here longer’n ye have to. I wouldn’t if it were me.”

  Kane felt Brenna’s eyes on him and he shrugged. There was not much they could do for the woman.

  “I’m sorry Leila,” Kane said. “I think your only choice is to leave. You’ll end up indentured or worse if you stay here.”

  Leila lifted pained eyes to him. “But where would I go?” she asked. “My whole life has been spent here. I don’t know nothin’ other than inn keeping.”

  “We know someone who might welcome the help,” Kane said. “Warrick Chennel of the Red Anchor. I think he’d take you on but you’d need to get to Smithin, in Aruntun.”

  “Aruntun, that’s full of witches.” As soon as she said it Leila looked over at Brenna. Then she smiled. “But it might be a good thing, that.”

  Brenna stepped past Kane, tweaking his sword to let him know that she was now outside. As he closed the door he looked right past her, out into the dark night. Invisible, she trotted down the dark streets, careful not to step in any puddles or loosen any stones. Soon, she stood before the gate, panting in the thin cold air. Only two guards were on the gate - from where she hid in the shadows she could hear them muttering to each other about the cold.

  Two hours later she wished she’d worn more clothing herself. Habit had forced her into her thief’s clothes despite her plan to remain invisible the whole evening. The thin black shirt and breeches weren’t much help warding off the chill. Shifting from foot to foot to keep warm, Brenna watched the guards change at midnight. .

  For the next two hours the new guards did nothing more than pace back and forth and complain. Brenna backed away from the gate and headed to the shadow of the wall. She would have preferred to watch and wait for a few more days but they had no choice. From what Kane and Leila said there was a very good chance the councilman would try to indenture her in order to secure a good cook for himself.

  She trotted back to the inn and gently eased the door open. Yowan looked up from his seat by the fire and she thought she caught a wink as she closed the door and headed slowly up the stairs. Once inside their room she finally dropped her invisibility spell. Kane, chest bare, was propped up in the bed.

  “Everything fine?” he asked.

  “Fine,” she peeled off her shirt and breeches. “Completely predictable. The guards changed at midnight and they never left the other one alone. Took turns relieving themselves against the wall.” She made a face. “The place must smell like a privy in the summer.” She climbed under the covers with him and laughed when he yelped. “I’m freezing.” She snuggled into his warmth.

  “You are freezing, get away from me,” he said. “And watch where you put that ice block you call a foot.”

  “I thought you’d want to help warm me up?” Brenna asked.

  Kane leaned in to kiss her. “How’s that?” he asked, his voice husky.

  “That helps,” she said. “It really does. Now what about my feet?”

  Lamplight flickered across the polished council table. Duke Thorold leaned back in his chair. King Mattias was not present - the man could only manage a few hours out of his bed these days and even less time out of his own apartments. That suited Thorold since it allowed him to exercise the powers of his dual roles - senior advisor and father of the heir. Beldyn sat across from him.

  At the moment nothing about Beldyn’s appearance looked even slightly royal - not the bored expression on his face, not the drab and rumpled clothing, not the way he slumped down in his chair. That suited Thorold as well. As king, Beldyn would be nothing more than a figure head – he might as well get used to being powerless.

  “High Bishop, I trust you are treating the Duchess of Aruntun gently?” High Bishop Valden, who sat to his left, wore a smug, self-satisfied smile.

  “Ah, well, the One-God follows his own timing.”

  “Valden, I warned you about spilling her blood too soon.” How dare the High Bishop disobey his orders? He needed the Duchess unharmed if he was to have any chance of convincing Duke Ewart to stay neutral.

  “Yes, yes. The duchess is fine. I have only questioned her lightly,” Valden said and Thorold sat back in his chair. “But her captain, Neal Ravershaw, has proved most uncooperative,” Valden continued.

  Thorold’s anger rose again. “I was very specific about not harming them,” he said softly.

  “About the duchess, yes you were very specific,” Valden agreed. “But do not worry. They have been separated since I began questioning them. The duchess and her captain haven’t had any communication with anyone since their refusal to accept the edict.” Valden smiled widely. “This is required in order to help them to commune with the One-God and accept Him into their lives.”

  He’d have to find a way of explaining Captain Ravershaw’s absence to Duke Ewart. He’d tell him Ravershaw had returned to Aruntun to let the duchess’ family know about the charges. And just where was the Duke of Fallad? He’d sent Ewart a message telling him that his presence in Kingsreach was urgently required. Surely there had been enough time for him to send a reply? He wouldn’t willfully ignore a message from him would he?

  “High Bishop,” Thorold said. “You must follow my directions. Our success depends on it.”

  High Bishop Valden bowed his head. “Our fate is in the hands of the One-God, as always.”

  Thorold’s lips tightened and he balled his hands into fists on the tabletop. He looked way from the High Bishop and directly into the gaze of his son. Beldyn’s glance slid off him but not before his eyes flicked down to his clenched fists.

  A sense of unease woke Brenna but she couldn’t identify the source or remember any dreams or visions she may have had during the night. She tried to concentrate, tried to See, but nothing came to her. She stretched across the empty bed, feeling the depression in the mattress Kane had left when he’d risen earlier for his watch. She smiled when she heard the soft snoring from the other bed. She peered over at Yowan. He’d need all the rest he could get, they all did. The gods only knew when they’d get to sleep next, let alone sleep in a bed. It would be cold nights on the hard ground for a while.

  Silently, Brenna dressed and pulled out her map of Soule. She looked at the route they’d planned - through a pass and over the Godswall into Fallad. Again she concentrated on Seeing and this time she caught glimpses of blue skies and sunny days - no clouds, no sense of trouble ahead. Her finger traced a path along the map before she rolled it up and put it back in her pack. Muttering under her breath, she spelled her pack invisible, slung it over her shoulder and headed down to the kitchen.

  Brenna’s unease turned into apprehens
ion when she entered the tavern and saw Ma and Ox Colley conferring by the bar. By the time she walked into the kitchen to find Polly busy at her baking, she felt dread. She grabbed a mug of tea and a slice of bread but even spread with fresh sweet butter the bread tasted like dust in her mouth.

  “Polly, do you know how to make journey bread?” Brenna stepped over to the baker.

  “Sure Jemma, it’s easy enough,” Polly said, her hands deep in her dough, kneading.

  “We don’t need quite so much soft bread tonight, do you think?” Brenna felt some of her dread ease slightly. “Leila said she expected her trade was ruined and we’ve not had one person in here this morning looking for bread and cheese, have we?”

  “No lass, we’ve not.” Polly stopped and looked at Brenna. “What do ye have in mind?”

  “I think something very bad might happen today,” Brenna said. She met the other woman’s gaze. “And I think it would be best if we had travel rations ready to go.”

  Polly studied Brenna’s face for a few seconds, then nodded.

  “It won’t hurt, is what I’m thinkin’,” Polly agreed. “Easy enough to change this to a travellin’ bread. There’s plenty of cheese in the cold room as well as meat dried with berries. That should do fine.” Polly went back to her bread. “Even if none of us is travellin’ it won’t hurt to have extra food stored up.”

  Brenna was wrapping the last of the cheese in oiled cloths she’d found when Leila finally showed up. She looked tired when she put a large basket on the table.

  “That’s the only thing I could get.” Leila ran a hand through her hair. “I hope ye can do something with it, Jemma.”

  Brenna lifted the cloth that covered the basket to find a chicken, its neck rung and white feathers still intact. It was small but she thought she could make it stretch to feed four.

  “That will do fine, Leila. I’ll need to find some nuts to stuff it with as well as something for a pie.”

  Leila sighed. “I’m not sure what I can get fer ye. That cost me most of a week’s takin’s from the inn.”

  “I can find it myself. I’ll need to leave for the afternoon, though.” She should be able forage enough out in the mountains to finish the meal. “Leila, I asked Polly to help make travel rations. What we talked about yesterday, about you leaving? I think it has to be tonight. Do you remember the name we gave you?”

  “The Red Anchor and Warrick Chennel, I remember.” Leila’s shoulders slumped. “I can see we need to leave. The councilmen will never leave us alone now. Sooner or later they’ll send Da to the mines and Ma and me to look after someone else’s house or tavern.”

  Kane followed Brenna as she led them through the town gate and out into the mountains. If not for the worried look on her face, he could almost believe they were simply out for a walk on a fine spring day. She’d handed him the basket and hurried out the door, barely saying a word. Now she stepped off the road into the brush, leading them further away from any paths the townsfolk traveled.

  “Brenna, what is it?” He reached for her arm and swung her around, troubled by the worried look on her face.

  “I don’t know,” she whispered. “I can’t See anything but something is going to go terribly wrong tonight, I feel it.”

  He drew her close and felt her tremble. He’d never known her to be so uneasy before.

  “We’ll be ready then,” he said. “I’ll talk to Yowan. What about Leila?”

  “I’ve already convinced her to leave tonight - and we’ve been putting travel rations together, as much as we can.” Brenna leaned back to look at him. “I can See our trip through the mountains and the weather is clear, but I can’t See tonight.”

  “Don’t worry, we’ll handle it.” Kane hugged her again. “Yowan finds us the two most determined people he’s met. We’ll find a way.” He smiled when she looked at him and nodded. “Now what in the gods are we doing out here?”

  “We’re looking for nuts, berries, anything that I can use to stuff a chicken or make a pie with.” Brenna drew away from him and started scanning their surroundings. “It might take some time. I know what would be in season outside of Kingsreach and Dryannon, but not here in the mountains.” She stepped under a tree and studied the ground.

  “Excellent - I’ve found some mushrooms. Kane, bring that basket over and help me pick these.”

  Brenna calmly turned the chicken on the spit one final time. All her preparations were done – it was time for events unfold. Polly, Fern and Huw had all been sent home with travel rations and the advice that they should hide for a while. Now the only people in the Iron Demon besides Ma, Ox and Leila were Kane, Brenna and Yowan. Kane would be by the door to turn away any customers other than the councilmen but they didn’t expect anyone to come. Yowan had talked to a few men in town - word had spread and no one would willingly put themselves in the same room as the councilmen.

  Leila nervously paced the kitchen, her gaze landing on the chicken. “Is it done?”

  “Yes, it’s done. Don’t eat any.” Brenna looked at her. “There’s little enough as it is and we don’t know if they’ll bring more people.”

  “Oh, I hadn’t thought of that.” Leila sat down by the fire. “They won’t, will they?”

  “I doubt it but we can’t be sure. So don’t let anyone touch the chicken or the pies.” Brenna nodded to the two pies keeping warm by the hearth. She felt Kane signal her through his sword. “They’re here Leila. Go get them some ale.”

  Leila scurried off, too flustered to wonder how Brenna knew the councilmen had arrived.

  Brenna took the chicken off the spit and placed it on the table. She carefully scooped out the mushroom and black bread stuffing and heaped it on a plate. With her knife, she started to carve the bird. The chicken slices were piled high by the time Leila returned.

  “Jus’ them four, same as before.” Brenna nodded and set out four plates while Leila grabbed a plate of bread and a pot of butter. “And they threatened to get ye fer themselves.” Brenna simply nodded again and sent the other woman out the door.

  By the time Leila had returned the plates were stacked high with chicken and dressing as well as small, wild onions she’d cooked in butter until golden and more of the thin potatoes, fried crisp. Leila left with the plates and Brenna settled in to wait.

  There was no more food and she figured the councilmen would want second helpings. She smiled grimly. Even the rhubarb pie wouldn’t be enough. Nothing would ever be enough for them.

  She reached for Kane through the old steel, projecting patience and calm. He hadn’t liked her plan much, fearing it put her in too much danger, but she’d convinced him eventually. Now she just had to wait.

  Soon Leila was back - the councilmen wanted more. Brenna cut each pie in half and sent her out with them. Leila came back again and told her they wanted to see her. Brenna nodded and rose, signaling Kane.

  The four men looked up from their pie as she entered the room. One, obviously their leader, dabbed his mouth and put down his spoon.

  “I’ve been told there is no more chicken,” he said sharply.

  “That’s right.” Brenna nodded. “You’ve eaten all of it. I hope it met with your approval?” She looked with satisfaction as Leila gathered the empty plates. The other three continued to eat their pie.

  “No it didn’t,” the councilman said. “We wanted more. That is not satisfactory.” His eyes narrowed as he looked her over.

  Brenna saw Kane edge his way closer as Ma Colley placed a full mug of ale on the table.

  “Here ye go, m’lord Minchen.” Ma grabbed an empty mug and headed back to the bar.

  Minchen took a swallow of ale before turning back to Brenna. “I said that it was not satisfactory. What are you going to do about it?”

  “What do you expect me to do?” Brenna shrugged. “There was only one chicken and you already ate it. You said it was good?”

  “It was excellent, which is why we want more you insolent woman.” Minchen looked at his comp
anions and smiled. “You should take care how you speak to me since you are now my indentured servant.”

  Brenna’s breath caught in her throat. Even though she’d expected this she couldn’t help reacting to the words. “I think not.” She smiled grimly and crossed her arms over her chest. “You were a little too trusting when choosing a cook. It was quite unwise.” She looked over the three other councilmen. Yes, she could see the first subtle signs that the poisons were starting to work.

  Minchen’s face paled. “Have you poisoned us? How dare you attack a councilman! We have allies who will now be your enemies.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ve done no permanent harm.” One of his companions slumped to one side before sliding off his chair and onto the floor. “And I already have enemies who are much more powerful than you and your friends.”

  In a few minutes all four men were unconscious. Yowan and Kane dragged them upstairs and tied them up in one of the rooms. Leila, her face immobile, stood watching while her parents cleaned up the tavern. Once the councilmen were restrained, Kane and Yowan headed to the stables to saddle the horses. Brenna and Leila entered the kitchen to pack their travel rations.

  Brenna left with Leila, Ma and Ox – she wanted to make sure they got through the gate and found the road. They would travel the caravan route to the sea and buy passage south to Aruntun.

  “Hopefully the councilmen will be so busy looking for us that they’ll not bother to follow you,” Brenna said. She stuffed some crowns into Leila’s hands and hugged her.

  “I’m sorry,” Leila said. “It were my fault. I could only get that one chicken.”

  “These men are bullies,” Brenna said to her. “They use what little power they have to intimidate and cheat hard-working folk like you and your family. What did you possibly do to deserve this?”

  “Nothing,” Leila said. She looked over to where her parents stood, miserably clinging to each other. “We did nothing and they ruined us anyway.” Leila squared her shoulders. “I hope to see you at the Red Anchor someday Jemma.”