Arrows Of Change (Book 1)

by Honor Raconteur

  Ashlynn shook her head, mouth curled up in disgust. “We can’t use any part of the old Bindings on this, Edvard. The Iyshian kings apparently didn’t want anyone even speaking out against them. The Bindings state that any man speaking against their king or any person in a governmental capacity is automatically sentenced to losing his tongue.”

  Riana winced. “That be a bit harsh.”

  “More than a bit,” Edvard agreed with an equally disgusted grimace. “You’re right, we can’t pattern our laws after that.”

  “I do like their definition of what a ‘riot’ is, though,” Ashlynn tacked on, eyes skimming the text in front of her. “It labels it as ‘any gathering of three or more people in which protests are made in violent form, either in destruction of property or in harm to people.’ Ash, you’re righting up terms and definitions for the laws as well as simply writing the laws themselves, right? I would use this. I don’t think anyone can phrase it better.”

  “I agree.” Ash pointed a finger at the book. “Mark that page and set the book in that stack on the table. I’ll copy it down later. But for now, how do you want me to write the law?”

  Edvard steepled his fingers in front of his face in what Broden had come to know as his thinking pose. “I want it clear that no one is exempt from this,” he finally said, his words coming out slowly as he thought it through aloud. “Man, woman, or child, it doesn’t matter.”

  “That’s good.” Ash pulled a fresh sheet toward him and started writing. “Let’s make that clear from the start. What else?”

  “I don’t want them involved in riots at all, in any form. I don’t want them to incite them, or participate in them.”

  “Or promote them,” Ashlynn added, still rifling through law books on the shelf. “That’s something one of the older versions of the Bindings mentioned, and I think it’s a good thing to add.”

  “Noted.” Ash wrote that down with a quick scratch scratch of pencil on paper. “We know the punishment, but how long should they serve it? Seven days?”

  Edvard shook his head. “No. Too short. I want them to hate the very idea. Fourteen days, at minimum.”

  Riana’s brows twisted up in an expression of doubt, making it obvious that she felt even that to be a little light of a sentence. “What if a man does it more than once?”

  “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. I don’t think anyone will, as Ash will work them to death when he has them.” Edvard smiled at his blood-brother with an expression a hungry wolf might make. “Right?”

  Ash’s expression was a perfect mirror for his king’s. “Right. If someone is stupid enough to do it again, we’ll come up with an addendum for the law. But I think this will do for now. Here, how does this read? ‘If any man, woman, or child is found to incite, promote, or participate in a riot, then that person shall serve fourteen days on the Estole border in either building the border wall or in serving as a guardsman at the checkpoints.’ Does that work?”

  Broden turned it over in his head, but saw nothing to change. “I think so, lad. Edvard?”

  “I see no problems with it,” Edvard concurred. Turning, he beamed at Ashlynn, then Broden. “I really have missed you two. I feel like we can get a handle on things now instead of scrambling about like a chicken with a missing head.”

  Ashlynn chuckled, the sound bordering on giggling. “Love you too, Edvard. Now, on to more serious matters, what about the wall?”

  “I’ll design that tonight, let you all see it tomorrow and make changes then,” Ash volunteered. “It shouldn’t be too difficult. The more important question is, what do you want me to make this of? We don’t have anywhere near enough lumber.”

  “No, lad, for this ye need something more sturdy,” Broden objected. The idea of a wooden wall, susceptible to fire, made a chill go straight up his spine.

  “Stone,” Edvard said firmly. “I want it out of stone. I admit, finding a place to quarry that much stone will be something of a challenge.”

  “Brick, maybe?” Ashlynn offered, chewing on the edge of her thumb thoughtfully. “Although that takes a while to set.”

  “Stone,” Ash repeated, concurring with Edvard. “I can get a lot of stone quarried from Senn, and then have them ship it across the lake to us. It’ll cost us a pretty penny, though.”

  Edvard frowned at that. “Figure up the costs. The wall is necessary, but I’m going to have to figure out how to pay for it without bankrupting us. We might have to make our own bricks after all, just to save on costs. Wait. How do you even make bricks?”

  Seeing that no one knew, Broden sighed and responded, “Ye make a batter of clay and straw, then mold it into shape. After that, ye let it set in the sun for several days, turning it over once so both sides be dry. When it be set, put it in a kiln and bake it several days to get all the air out. It takes about nine days to make, all in all.”

  “Nine days?” Edvard frowned and muttered to himself, calculating at high speeds. “I think it would take longer than that to get stone from Senn. How many bricks can you make at once?”

  Broden blinked at him. “Depends on the hands ye have to form them, and how many kilns ye have. Hundreds or thousands, if ye have the right set up.”

  “Thousands?” Edvard repeated, intrigued. “Ash, how many bricks would you need to build the wall?”

  “Millions, likely.”

  “Oh.” Losing his enthusiasm, Edvard complained, “But I like bricks! They’re not expensive for me to buy!”

  “Use river stone,” Riana suggested. “If Ash can go up and haul away huge logs, I can no’ see why he can no’ harvest river stones and bring ‘em back to use.”

  Edvard snapped his fingers. “Genius. Riana, I love how your mind works. Is there enough river stone from Cloud’s Rest to do the job?”

  “Lad, there be no need to go traipsing all the way over there,” Broden objected. “Ye got a sea channel and a lake nearby, do ye no’? Go there first!”

  Ashlynn inclined her head toward him. “He’s right, Edvard. Let’s use the materials we can find close at hand first, and then go out further only when we have to.”

  “Point taken.” Edvard steepled his hands in front of his face again before asking, “Ash, is there anything you can do to stop the raids while you go hunting for stone?”

  “No, not without affecting the people.” Ash spread his hands helplessly.

  “Then I’ll ask for Tierone to lend me some guards while we build the wall.” Knocking his knuckles against the table’s surface, he motioned to Ashlynn. “Help me send him a message.”

  Ashlynn glanced out the window. “Best be quick about it. I’m losing daylight.”

  “Then quickly get over here,” Edvard teased, waggling his eyebrows at her.

  Rolling her eyes, she did as bid.

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Ash and Riana left early in the morning, but not empty handed. Ash had a very large stack of lumber trailing in their wake, which got odd looks from the people on the road. He had some trouble navigating it out of the new northwest gate, but he managed to squeeze it through.

  The lumber puzzled Riana for a moment until she remembered that the new wall would have checkpoints built at certain intervals and that there would need to be guard houses and barracks to house the soldiers on duty there. Of course they would need the lumber to build them with.

  Since they were going some distance out, more than could be considered a day trip, they both mounted horses in order to move. Riana didn’t have a lot of experience with the beasts—they’d had little cause to have them in Cloud’s Rest—so was glad that the stable master had given her a placid gelding. She sat semi-confidently in the saddle as they headed straight for the channel to harvest rocks from the shoreline.

  It was a clear, warm morning, although the wind was just strong enough to make it feel cool at times. Riana lifted her face to the sun and smiled. Estole was home now, and she was fine with that, but being bound by walls all the time felt odd to her. She was
more comfortable outside of them like she was now.

  “Let’s drop the lumber off first,” Ash suggested. “It’s not much of a detour for us, and it’ll let me carry more stones on the way back.”

  “Fine, fine.” She looked about her, but could not tell where Estole’s lands ended. “How do ye know where we be exactly?”

  He flashed her a smile. “I know this land like the back of my hand. I grew up here, after all. Just like you know Cloud’s Rest.”

  Well, when he put it that way…she flipped a hand, conceding the point. Something strange, like a cold feeling, tingled at the base of her spine. But it felt strangely alien. What was that sensation?

  “Riana…” Ash’s voice fell to the point that she could barely hear him. “Do you…regret, coming here?”

  Her head snapped around and she stared at him in astonishment. Was it him that the feeling was coming from? “Regret? Why?”

  “I know that Cloud’s Rest is a dangerous place to live, but I doubt that you had riots or fires being set all the time, so it has to be safer than Estole is right now. Your father wanted to come here to have a better place for the two of you to live, and I feel like Estole is actually worse in some ways. I’m afraid that you’ve come to feel like you got the rawer end of the bargain.”

  Ahhh, well, she could see how he would think that. Ashlynn was right, her brother had a very gentle soul to worry about Riana so. Shaking her head, she sought to reassure him. “Ash, I grant ye it be dangerous now, but that will change. Cloud’s Rest never will. They be set in their ways, and there be no man there that will take charge of the place and lead them as Edvard does here. I do no’ worry about it. I be used to danger, so while it saddens me to see it, it does no’ scare me.” Somewhat reluctantly she added, “And even if it never gets better, I still prefer Estole over Cloud’s Rest.”

  His eyes roved over her face, studying her expression for a long moment. “Because here you aren’t outcast.”

  She simply nodded, throat tight enough that she felt she couldn’t manage words. Having never known acceptance by anyone but her da, she had no idea what it was like to be admired and respected by people until she came here. But now she could walk through the streets without people shunning her, or trying to run her back out of town. Here, she spoke and people listened. Here, she was wanted, and her heart was addicted to the feeling. She’d fight the rest of her life to keep it.

  Ash reached out and grasped her hand briefly, comforting. He shook his head, brows drawn up in a perplexed manner. “I still don’t understand that prejudice of theirs. I mean, you’re beautiful, and sweet, and amazing at archery. Your father is a good man and just as incredible with a bow. Who wouldn’t want you there? I would think, with the way that mountain is overrun with criminals, that they’d want to depend on your skills rather than try to chase you away. Prejudices are ridiculously stupid.”

  “Aye,” she agreed curtly. Just remembering how she was treated in her hometown made her angry now that she had something to compare it to. Shaking it off, she returned the grip briefly and let go, then went to a different subject. “Now that we be on the border like this, do ye expect raiding parties to come at us?”

  “I certainly do.” Ash ran a hand roughshod through his hair and looked tired for a moment. “Which means you’ll actually be earning your pay this time. Last wall I built, you didn’t have anything to shoot at. This time, I think you’ll have plenty of targets.”

  “Well, at least I will no’ be bored,” she responded with a tight smile. Not that she preferred shooting people over standing about and looking decorative, but the men that came hunting for them would meet their end. There was no doubt in her when it came to fighting. She would not allow anyone to harm Ash.

  The wizard grimaced. “Things will likely be a little safer when Tierone’s men show up. I’m glad he agreed to send them.”

  “Yes, speaking of that,” she cocked her head in question, “I do no’ know the man, so I be curious on this score. He says he be willing to join in the rebellion, but will he give control to Edvard? Or no’?”

  “I’m not actually sure what he’s planning.” Ash frowned as if he hadn’t thought of this before. “Tierone isn’t one to seek for power, but he’s not the type to give it up either once he’s got it. I think he’ll maintain his lands, but will simply rebel as we did against Iysh.”

  “So, another new country, eh?” Well, that made sense to her.

  “I imagine that he and Edvard will help each other out regularly, like he’s doing now, though. They always have, so I don’t expect the pattern to change just because their titles do.” Ash seemed caught by some vision in his mind’s eye, and he grinned evilly. “But can you imagine the look on Zelman’s face when he realizes that not one duke but two have rebelled and cut themselves off from him in the same year? Oh, I’d give good money to see his expression when he hears the news.”

  She snapped her fingers. “I near forgot. You met Zelman once.”

  “Twice, actually. All new wizards are introduced to him when they receive his official blessing to serve in Iysh. I didn’t like him the first time I met him, and my opinion didn’t improve the second time I saw him. He’s an enormously fat man with scraggly, wiry hair sticking out of his head,” Ash’s hands rose to illustrate, “and the most annoying voice you’ve ever heard. I feel sorry for any court official that has to be around him for hours at a time. Although I imagine that they’ve gotten used to it by now.”

  “He’s no’ a likeable man, then?” Somehow that didn’t surprise her much. “Makes sense now why people so readily switched to Edvard.”

  Ash canted his head in question. “How’s that?”

  “Oh, people prefer a well-looking man as king over an ugly one.” She nodded at her own wisdom. “It always be the case. A good-looking person is always listened to and respected over an ugly one. Have you no’ noticed that?”

  Ash’s eyes crossed. “I feel like I should disagree with you, but considering how many times I’ve seen a handsome person get by with something a plain person wouldn’t…ha! Great gods, you’re right! Now why didn’t I realize that sooner?” Chuckling to himself, he turned off the road and onto the grass. “Well, I guess we should send a prayer of thanks that Edvard is a handsome man, then, otherwise our rebellion might not have succeeded.”

  Riana smiled, enjoying the fact that she had gotten him to chuckle. It was a rare sight, these days, what with all of the pressure her poor wizard was under.

  Ash abruptly reined in, and with a wave of his hand, directed the floating lumber to come and rest on the grass. “There, that should be a good spot to leave it in. Should I put a ward around it?”

  “I would,” she urged. “The raiders may no’ want to cart it off, but if they guessed what it be for, they for sure will torch it.”

  “Oh.” Ash looked disturbed by this. “I hadn’t thought of that, but good point.” He twisted in his saddle to face the woodpile more directly and started weaving a spell into the air, a familiar symbol that she had seen him use several times before.

  Come to think of it, she had no notion how long these wards of his lasted. She opened her mouth to ask, only to pause as her ears caught the faintest sound of thundering hoof beats off in the distance. She stood in her stirrups and peered in the direction of the sound. The sun was at just the right angle to blind her so she lifted a hand to shield her face, narrowing her eyes in an effort to see better.

  Ash caught her movement and finished the spell quickly. “Ward’s set. You see something?”

  “Party of riders,” she answered slowly, straining her eyes. “Can no’ make out how many. I’d say a dozen or so. They be riding hard and fast, though.”

  “Coming our way?”

  “No, do no’ think they…” she trailed off as the riders abruptly changed directions. “Now they be. Ash, I do no’ like the look of this. Put yer shield up.”

  He promptly did so, the shield rising to cover both of them. Shielding his
own eyes, he stood in the stirrups and looked in the same direction she was. “I see them. You’re right, that doesn’t look good. I bet they’re a raiding party.”

  So, her gut instincts were right on that score, eh? Curses, she’d prefer they were wrong. “Ash, which shield ye have up?”

  “Weapons shield. Don’t worry, I’ve set it so you can shoot out of it.”

  That was exactly the question that she was going to ask next. Terrible thing to shoot an arrow only to have it reflected back at you. She unlaced the top of her quiver and pulled out four arrows. They were just out of range of her bow, but they’d be close enough in a moment, at the speed they were going. She nocked an arrow and sat still, waiting.

  The raiders, of course, had no idea who they were. To their eyes, they were simply a young couple on the border of Estole and, therefore, were fair game. The man in front of the pack called out in a thunderously loud voice, “Deny Edvard Knolton as your king and you will be spared!”

  Riana lifted her bow and fired.

  He ducked just in time, but the man behind him didn’t, and one rider went down.

  The riders had been coming toward the sun, which had apparently blinded them, because it was not until they were close enough to be hit did they realize there were two glowing spells up. Swearing viciously all around, they grabbed the round shields strapped to their backs and swung them around, gaining protection from Riana’s arrows. Well, some protection, at least. Their helmets protected their foreheads, but not their throats or arms. Hitting a man in those vulnerable spots while he was riding at full speed was tricky but not impossible. It just took the right timing.