He twisted in the saddle and gave me a sideways glance. “You’ve changed, Breeze. I noticed it as soon as I heard you speak. You don’t sound like a shy little girl anymore.”
“I guess I’m not,” I said. “I’m not really sure what happened. I was just trying to get things done. I found myself getting more forceful out of frustration. I found myself talking to nobles and generals as if they were children.”
“Sounds about right,” he murmured.
“What do you mean?”
“One thing I’ve learned over the years is that authority has to be taken just as much as its earned. People who get ahead in this world don’t just wait around for somebody to promote them. Sure, they might work hard, but for the most part they pretty much just take what they want.”
“That doesn’t sound like a good thing.” I was thinking of Prince Sheldon and his ambitions.
“Often it’s not,” he said. “But sometimes it can be a very good thing. Take General Corsan, for example. Do you know where he came from? He was a farm boy in South Bronwyr. He wanted more than a life of feeding chickens and milking cows, so he joined the army.
“He grabbed every opportunity that came along; even when he was afraid he might not be up to it. Usually, he managed to pull it off. Now he’s one of the most powerful men in the kingdom, and he’s right where he should be.”
“How do you know so much about him?” Tinker shrugged.
“I came from South Bronwyr, too. We went to the same school for a few years. Then he took off and became a living legend. Meanwhile I finished school and grew up to be a crazy old hermit.”
I laughed. “You’re not crazy, Tinker. When was the last time you saw him?”
“About five years ago, shortly after I invented my black powder charges. I sold a few charges to Baron Par’Tishan so his servants could clear out some old tree stumps. He spread the word, and pretty soon the general showed up asking for a demonstration.
“I showed him how they worked and he placed a standing order. He wanted the recipe, of course, but I wouldn’t give it to him. A man’s got to see to his own fortune, you know.” He gave me a wry smile and I laughed aloud.
“Tinker, just how much does the army pay you?”
“Well, lets just say I live in my little valley because I find palaces to be pretentious.” We both laughed until my stomach started to hurt and I had to force myself to take deep, slow breaths.
I spoke to the trees a little as we descended the mountain, and they confirmed what I had suspected, that Cinder had brought me to them. She had dragged me into an irrigation ditch, and then pulled me out of danger with my body floating gently in the water. Not only had the fresh water helped to cleanse my wound, but it saved me from additional injuries I might have sustained by being dragged across the rough ground. It also kept me safely out of the Kanters’ view.
Upon reaching the woods, the trees had recognized me and carried me from limb to limb across the many miles to the refugee camp. I thanked them for saving my life. The trees, as always, were quiet and gracious.
We passed a small graveyard at the base of the mountain. Actually, it wasn’t so much a graveyard as a mass grave. It was in a shady grove, overlooking a small pond. It seemed a nice enough final resting place for the people who otherwise would have been food for the Kanters.
It was a sad testament to what the Kanters had done, and I felt hatred welling up inside of me. I knew the suffering that they had caused, the pain of children who no longer had parents. It served to remind me of the importance of my mission.
I was anxious as we left the shelter of the trees, but Tinker assured me that all the Kanters had moved on. “They didn’t stay to defend the defeated provinces,” he explained. “I guess they assumed that there weren’t enough humans left to threaten them.”
“That doesn’t seem very smart,” I said.
“It’s not. There’s a good chance the angry farmers who escaped their initial attack will rally, and attack the Kanters from behind. If that happens, the Kanters will be trapped between the angry mobs and the army. Personally I’d rather face the army.” We both laughed at that.
It took about an hour to get to the crash site. We found the wreckage of my plane easily enough. I looked out across the plain, knowing that the Kanters were out there somewhere. Suddenly something was bothering me.
“Tinker, everyone seems to think the Kanters are mindless barbarians. Judging from how they live and fight, it seems like it’s probably true.”
“You’ll get no argument from me.”
“So how did they get smart enough to build cannons and riverboats and catapults? How did they figure out that they could put an army together with archers and footmen, or that they could disguise themselves by traveling at night and painting their swords?”
Tinker shot me a look. “What are you saying, Breeze?”
“I don’t know. It just seems like… like maybe they had some help.”
Tinker surveyed the damaged machines around us, and paused to scratch the stubble on his chin. “Now that you mention it, it does seem awfully sophisticated for that bunch.”
“What if they had help?” I mused. “I mean, you already said you didn’t think the Tal’mar were helping them, but what if somebody else did? Maybe someone who wanted to overthrow the king?”
Tinker’s eyebrows narrowed and he spoke to me in calculated words. “I don’t follow the intrigues of court and state, but I’m sure there are any number of people who would like to place themselves on the throne, if that’s what you’re getting at. I can think of a very small number of people with the resources to do that. Be very careful about what you say, and who you say it to, Breeze. This line of reasoning borders on treasonous, and the penalty for treason is death.”
“I understand.” I wanted to push the subject, but Tinker was clearly uncomfortable with it. Even out there, with scarcely a living thing around us, he was afraid someone might overhear our conversation. It gave me a chill.
The more I thought about it, the more certain I was that someone had put the Kanters up to it. It just made sense. They were too primitive to have the technology that they were using, and I couldn’t imagine what would have motivated them. They didn’t seem to be the nation-conquering type.
Unfortunately, even making the accusation was enough to get me killed. In fact, being a half-breed Tal’mar had almost been enough to get me killed. I didn’t want to think of what tortures might lie in store for a genuine Tal’mar traitor.
I forced the problem to the back of my mind. For now I had more immediate problems. Like getting the gearboxes, controls, and cables out of my old plane. Tinker and I set to work on gathering what we could and discarding those parts that were damaged beyond repair. The gearboxes were intact, but one of the springs had been destroyed by the cannonball. Tinker used leather thongs to compress the remaining springs and then he tied them to the saddle.
I also found my old sword among the wreckage. I never had used that thing. I unsheathed it and held it for a moment, remembering the day I’d found it up in the rafters of Tinker’s barn, buried in a box of old weapons. It was a good memory. A simpler time.
“You still have that thing?” Tinker said.
I smiled. I shoved the blade home and tucked it under my belt. I didn’t care if I wouldn’t ever use it; I wanted it with me. I wanted to keep that memory.
I turned back to the work. Within an hour, we were back on our way.
Chapter 41
Tinker spent the entire night modifying the plane. I helped him throughout the evening, until I finally became so exhausted that I fell asleep on a stool in the barn with my head resting on the table. Tinker must have taken pity on me, because I woke the next morning in the windmill, curled up on that dusty old bench.
The rest had done me good. I could feel the changes in my body; that I had healed considerably since my accident. In fact, I was quite ready to go on another mission.
I wandered back to the ba
rn, and found Tinker there, still working. He had been up all night.
“It looks great!” I said. The barn doors were thrown wide to make room to remove the plane, and the morning sun splashed across the fresh paint.
“As you can see I’ve given it the same paint scheme as the last. I’m not sure if it ever helped or not, considering that you were shot down…”
“It helps,” I assured him. “That never would have happened if I hadn’t been flying so low. How did you manage to fit two seats in there?” I didn’t notice it until I got up close. Tinker had cut open the top of the fuselage, just like before, only now there were two seats. They looked a little out of place on the smaller plane, and I was a bit worried about whether it could actually carry the extra weight.
“The opening is slightly larger,” he said. “And unfortunately, the seats are smaller. But I figured you’d need to carry passengers while you were getting your pilots around. At least until you have your new planes.”
“I suppose I will.” I hadn’t even thought about that. Once again, Tinker did what he did best.
He went to the rear of the fuselage and opened the stow compartment. “If you look here, you’ll see that I’ve modified the spring assembly slightly. I’ve replaced one with a slightly heavier version.”
“What will that do?”
He shot me an exhausted smile. “That remains to be seen. The concept however, is to allow you longer flights. If my theory is correct, you’ll be able to double your distance by dropping into the highest gear once you reach altitude.”
“That’s fantastic!”
“Yes, well That’s the good news. It seemed prudent, considering what lies between us and the Borderlands. I didn’t want you making any unnecessary landings. The bad news is that you will fly slower. The overall flight will probably take about twenty-five percent longer.”
I listened carefully as he spoke, and I began to circle the plane. “How much weight can it carry?”
“That remains to be seen. You may be able to carry more than before because you have a smaller, lighter fuselage. On the other hand, the wingspan of this plane is smaller.”
“All right, we’d better not push it too much. This is going to take a few trips…”
And it did. I started by flying a stack of three gearboxes and a set of springs up to the airbase at Relian Keep. While I was there, I apologized to General Corsan for not having his maps. After I explained the situation, he was more than understanding. It helped that I had a firm grasp of geography, and I was able to point out the Kanters’ most recent locations.
“How fast are they moving?” he said.
“Faster, now that they’ve got the cannons repaired. But I still don’t think they’ll cover twenty miles a day.”
“Excellent. If you’re right, we’ll beat them to Anora, and they’ll have a bit of a surprise waiting for them. When will your planes be ready?”
“By the end of the week. But not if I sit here all day chatting.” The general laughed and shooed me off.
On the return trip I took a small collection of Tinker’s tools and two more springs, the last of them. The third and most interesting trip was when I brought Tinker himself. It was the next morning. He protested at first, trying to say that the smiths should be able to finish the work without him.
“Not a chance,” I said. “All they know how to make is horseshoes. Besides, I’ll also need your help for the assembly process. The Tal’mar are making the fuselages but they won’t touch the steel.”
He wandered into the barn mumbling something to himself, and returned with his heavy leather jacket, a flight cap, and a pair of goggles. It was then, as I saw him eyeing the plane uncomfortably, that I realized he had developed a phobia.
It must have happened when he first crashed the glider and broke his leg. When that happened, I think it reminded Tinker of his mortality, or made him conscious of it. I remembered how I had insisted on flying after the crash. I wondered now if that had been a mistake. Perhaps if Tinker had gotten right back in the air, this new fear wouldn’t have developed. I felt sad and partly responsible for the look of dread he wore.
I could almost feel the anxiety emanating off him as we towed the plane down to the field, and guilt welled up inside of me. “It’s okay to be afraid,” I said as we drove out onto the field. He shot me a nervous glance.
What do you mean?”
“I mean that I know how you feel.”
He set his jaw and mumbled, “I’ll be fine. Let’s just get this over with.”
The seats were considerably smaller than the comfy one in my old plane, but they were still better than sitting on the floor. I hopped in the front and grabbed the controls, and then waited patiently as Tinker lumbered into the back. I felt him tense up as I increased the throttle and we went bouncing across the field. Then I heard him moan as the plane lifted off the ground. I tried not to laugh.
I headed northwest, building up the altitude I needed to pass over the mountains. I’d found that it was worth the extra turbulence flying in this direction, because it cut my flight time by more than a third. So despite the fact that this plane was slower than the last, I was actually making the trip more quickly. That made it possible to check up on the Kanters and see how they were progressing, but I wasn’t eager to get too close to them.
Tinker wasn’t happy about the turbulence, though. The first time we started to drop, I feared he might just jump out of the plane. Then we bounced back up and he groaned like a sick child. A bit later, when we passed over the mountains, the icy cold wind took his mind off his fear.
“Is it always like this?” he said. I glanced back at him and saw ice crystals forming on his beard stubble.
“It’s a lot colder over the mountains,” I yelled. “But it’s a lot faster.”
“Keep going then.”
Chapter 42
Tinker was amazed when he saw the landing strip that General Corsan had built. “They really did want the plane, didn’t they?”
“You have no idea.”
We touched down on the smooth runway and parked in front of the hangar. I had gotten to know several soldiers in the process of transporting parts back and forth, and I brought Tinker into the hangar and made a few introductions. While we were talking, General Corsan showed up. He offered Tinker a handshake.
“It’s been a long time,” he said grimly. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“Me too,” said Tinker. “Sorry that last shipment was late. I was a little distracted.”
The general laughed. “I suppose you were.” He put a hand on my shoulder. “Now that we all know about Breeze, I think we understand. When you’re ready, the smiths are on the west side of the building. Just a word of warning though, you’ve got your work cut out for you… Breeze, I need a word with you in private.”
Tinker wandered off to find the blacksmiths, and I followed the general back to the keep. As we entered his planning room, he gestured for me to sit. He dropped into his own chair and shot me an indecipherable glare.
“What’s the matter?” I said. He’d been unusually quiet, and I had an apprehensive feeling growing inside of me.
He reached into a drawer and produced an envelope. “Do you know what this is?” he said.
I accepted the envelope and pulled out a pile of papers. They were covered in some strange foreign script. “I can’t read it,” I said. “What language is that?”
“It’s Kantrayan.”
My heart stammered as I stared at the awkward scrawls. “Are you sure?”
“Without a doubt.”
“What does it mean?”
He grinned mirthfully. “The Kanters don’t write. Their language is crude, barbaric. Their alphabet consists of thirteen letters, which makes it easy to scratch their lunatic ravings onto cave walls. But to my knowledge, the Kanters never developed the ability to make paper and pens.”
As I examined the paper, it occurred to me that the writing looked quite flowing, not at al
l the way I would expect a Kanter to write. The letters may have been correct, but they weren’t crude. They were written by a hand accustomed to the use of pen and paper. “Then who wrote this?”
“That’s the other problem. One of my men found that letter among Prince Sheldon’s personal things.”
I met the general’s stare with a confounded look. “You’ve been spying on him?”
“I didn’t get this far in life without knowing my enemies. I knew the prince was up to something from the way he’d been behaving the last few months. His behavior was getting more paranoid and erratic by the day. And his frequent trips… Until now, I had assumed he was preparing a legal case against me. I thought he was going to have me removed from command. I didn’t think he might be involved in something like this.”
“Treason, you mean?” I said. “I did.”
The general raised an eyebrow. “Really?”
“Yes. Yesterday, when I spoke to Analyn she said the reason he was posted at Relian Keep was because he was a danger to Prince Talanar. He has ambitions for the throne. Of course, I’d already seen the way he acted, and I didn’t trust him.
“Then I thought about the way the Kanters have been behaving. The way they had built riverboats and catapults… it seemed beyond their ability. Almost like they had help.”
“Agreed. What else?”
I pursed my lips. I’d had another thought, but I hadn’t had much time to consider it. “The Kanters went straight towards Anora and the Borderlands. They’ve gone right through the countryside. They haven’t even left guards behind. They’re completely exposed from the rear. It’s like they’re working towards a goal, something specific.”
“I thought as much myself. I believe Sheldon’s plan is to cripple my army here and then move towards the capital. So here’s what it comes down to: I need two things from you. First, deliver a letter to the king. In it, I explain everything. Second, I need evidence. I need you to go south, into the Badlands, and find proof.”
The Tinkerer's Daughter Page 17
