A Gift Freely Given (The Tahaerin Chronicles Book 1)

by J. Ellen Ross

  Once everyone understood the changes being made, they mobilized. Soldiers climbed out of the carriage and a step for Leisha to mount with appeared. Zaraki handed the reins of the horses to a servant and moved to help her. She drew a shaky but determined breath. “I’m not going to be carried out there to meet my enemy.”

  “Foot in the stirrup, my lady,” Zaraki said. As nervous as she sounded, she would not appreciate him trying to reassure her.

  She stepped up and swung her other leg wide over the horse. Several servants rushed forward to settle her skirts. In front, there was no choice but to bunch them up around the pommel, but in the back, they spread the blue velvet over the horse’s wide haunches. She took the reins and Zaraki admitted to himself she looked bold and fearless this way, seated on a warhorse bearing her colors and seal. But he still watched as he went to mount his own horse, trying to work how he could get to her and grab the reins if needed. The other riders moved their horses into formation while the soldiers on foot formed up behind the animals.

  In high spirits and ready for a fight with her uncle, Leisha flashed Zaraki a grin. “Don’t worry. What’s the worst that can happen? I’ve read lots of books about riding horses.” To prove her point, she nudged Pelo into a trot and he moved forward. Seeing this, Andelko ordered the gates open and the party rode through, Leisha at its head.

  Pelo tossed his head but otherwise moved like a gentleman. Riding astride felt far more comfortable than when she rode with a wretched sidesaddle. By the time she clumsily reined him to a stop, she thought perhaps riding could be enjoyable, under other circumstances. On Pelo’s back, surrounded by her guard, she felt powerful and brave.

  They stopped a good distance from Staval and waited. Seeing she would not come further, he ground his teeth and ordered his men forward. Two years ago, he faced a frightened girl. Now he saw a defiant young woman, far too secure in her position. He would change that today.

  “Uncle,” Leisha said in way of greeting when they were close enough. “Your visit here looks like the prelude to an invasion. Do you mean to start a war with me?”

  Staval chuckled. “No, niece. That’s not why I’m here. Your new taxes on wool hit my lands and those of many of my allies hard.”

  “Yes,” Leisha drawled. “And it protects the interests of wool-producing areas in the west. It’s as if being my ally can sometimes be beneficial.”

  “Lift the taxes,” he demanded. “Or I’ll blockade your city. I’ll cut off all supplies coming in by land. I won’t attack you, I won’t invade Lida, people may leave if they wish. In fact, you may flee if you wish. But I will make it so nothing can get in.”

  Zaraki saw Leisha stiffen in her saddle. They had never considered a blockade of the city, and this plan could work. If he attacked Lida outright, Leisha’s allies would be required to come to her defense. This way, he forced another standoff. Everyone would wait and see what the two sides did. He realized, though, Staval must have the backing of enough nobles to make winning a war against Leisha likely. Worse, Zaraki knew the more immediate and alarming threat lay with the people of Lida. How long would it be before they revolted? If that happened, Staval would never have to raise a finger.

  “If you don’t remove the tax, well,” he shrugged. “My men will have to stay. If supplies can’t reach the city, then that’s a shame.”

  Leisha stared at him, seething with anger at being outmaneuvered. “So you’ll try to starve me? That’s certainly treason, Staval.”

  He shrugged again, seeming unconcerned. “Then attack me. You’ll be the one to start a civil war, Leisha. Half of your best military leaders are allied with me. For all the books you read, I doubt you’re prepared to run a military campaign yourself.”

  “I’m willing to wait and see how far this will go.” Leisha heard the false bravado in her voice this time. In truth, her unease rose with each breath. She had not anticipated this move and worried her reach exceeded her grasp. Attacking Staval would start a war without a doubt, and it would be a war she would lose. How long could the city feed itself under siege? The specter of her father, weak, broken and pitiful, loomed over her.

  Looking victorious, Staval said, “Tomorrow, I’m going to move my men close to the city. They’ll stop anyone trying to enter Lida. Enjoy your dinner tonight, Leisha.” He turned his horse, and with his entourage headed back to his camp.

  Leisha turned Pelo as soon as Staval and his men had moved far enough away for comfort. Once inside the walls, she gathered her skirts and dismounted without a step or assistance. Not wanting to wait any longer, she started barking commands, ordering everyone back to the castle and calling for town leaders to meet with her in the afternoon. Symon took notes as she rattled off a list of things to be done.

  As the party returned to Branik, servants scurried to inventory stocks of food. Stores held a good amount of cheese, salted meats, and dried fruits and vegetables. The head cook ordered all of the fresh fruits put in the ovens to dry and all remaining vegetables were to be pickled immediately. Herdsmen drove the live animals in the fields outside of town into the courtyard, and men set to building temporary pens. Sending home some of the household staff lessened the burden on the castle larder. According to the head chef, it bought them maybe three to four extra days.

  “How much time do we have before we’re eating floor sweepings?” Leisha asked the head cook.

  “Maybe a month and a half? Two months, Your Majesty?” The poor woman trembled as she spoke, unused to talking to Leisha directly. She generally left the running of the castle to Symon.

  That night and the next, Leisha entertained any ideas Symon, Andelko or Zaraki put forth. When they retired for the evening, she sat up; creeping feelings of doubt and uncertainty found their way into her thoughts. Had she been outmaneuvered? Alone at night, her confidence failed her.

  She could not flee. It would be no different than abdicating. She could not fight because Staval would win. Her choices then would be a forced marriage or suicide. If she did not come up with a solution soon, the citizenry of Lida would do Staval’s dirty work for him.

  Andelko assured her the city remained quiet. Subdued, for sure, but with no hints of revolt yet. The city leaders said they sided with her, but Leisha knew it would only last as long as people’s bellies were full. As soon as that changed, the tide would turn in Staval’s favor.

  In the middle of the third night, unable to sleep and exhausted, Leisha paced around her bedroom. Thoughts of her impotent and powerless father swirled around her. How she could ever tolerate being driven to her knees next to one of Staval’s sons, feeling him paw over her body and force himself on her? She swallowed, wondering if she could escape and who might extend their hospitality to her.

  Hospitality. The word set her mind to racing and she saw a path to victory open before her. She wove the strands of a plan together. If it worked, it would save her and her crown. She sent a maid to find Symon and Zaraki.

  A knock on the door sounded, but she already knew it was Zaraki. The sound of his boots was so familiar now.

  Come in. He no longer jumped when she did that.

  The door opened and her golden-haired spy stepped through and bowed. She noticed he had not shaved in a while. Symon entered behind him, also looking scruffy and tired. “Your Highness, you asked to see us?”

  Leisha saw Zaraki dressed in his riding leathers. He knew this late-night call meant he would be heading out soon. “I have a solution to our problem.” She licked her lips, a nervous habit she hated. “First, I won’t have the people of Lida going hungry because of politics. We’ll tell Staval he can pull his men into the city. They can take up posts at the gates to Branik to prevent any food from being brought in. I still can’t leave or attack him. Lida will be able to feed itself and we won’t have to live with the specter of revolt hanging over us.”

  Both men looked doubtful and unhappy but kept any arguments to themselves. To be fair, the difference was minimal, but it meant ceding a great deal
of property to Staval before they got started. If he attacked, he would not have to fight through the city to reach the castle.

  She stood and paced a few times behind her desk, hands clasped in front of her. Tense, she looked at both men, searching either for any signs of doubt or disloyalty. Her enemies would certainly consider her plan treasonous. If either man betrayed her, all was lost.

  “If Staval agrees, Zaraki, I need you to go over the mountains as fast as you can. Go to Trillinae and offer them peace.” Now she pointed to the map unrolled on her desk. “There’s a road through the mountains. It runs south Trillinae and to Noster, the capital. The road isn’t maintained well, but I believe it will get you there.”

  “Trillinae, Majesty?” As far as Zaraki knew, Tahaerin had no dealings with the odd, little kingdom to the south. Made up of a spit of land jutting into the sea and a collection of tiny islands, Trillinae sat isolated and largely ignored by the other, larger kingdoms.

  “Yes, they have the misfortune of sharing a border with us. My family has picked fight after fight with them and we’ve refused all overtures of peace. Apparently they offended someone in my line and no one will forgive.”

  Pointing to another spot on the map, right near the border between the two kingdoms, she said, “Here. We’ve quarreled over the Vrata valley for a hundred years. It’s useless to me, given the distance. Offer to sell them back Vrata for food and peace. Tell them to come by sea as quickly as possible and bring men enough to defend themselves. I’ll send my seal with you.”

  Symon nodded, smiling at this girl with the sharp mind. “If we keep it secret and if we keep the castle fed until the ships arrive, Staval will have no response but to withdraw.” Her uncle could not attack her guests. It would violate ancient customs of hospitality, and all the nobles would be obliged to defend her and her visitors.

  Leisha looked at her two closest advisors and saw approval there. For once, she felt like a queen, standing with men older and more experienced, detailing a plan to save them all. “Trillinae can buy the valley back from me for food, so no one can accuse me of whoring myself out to our enemy for free. It becomes a business transaction, nothing more.

  “But Zaraki,” she said. “If Staval catches you and forces you to tell him what I’m planning, I’ll be undone. He’ll turn all my allies against me and hang me for treason.” Everyone understood how her uncle could twist this to his advantage. Without a doubt, her enemies would view asking a long-time enemy to intervene in an internal squabble as treachery.

  “I understand, Your Majesty. I’ll always keep your secrets.” He smiled, delighted with her brilliant plan. Then a shadow crossed over his face, sobering his expression. “I can be in Trillinae in a little over a week if the weather holds. As always, Jan and Eli will watch you. You should be safe.” He did not tell her both men had orders to take her out of the castle and into hiding if necessary. Against her wishes, if required. If she ever read it in his thoughts, she kept it to herself.

  Her dark eyes settled on him and stared for a long moment. “Be safe, Zaraki. Once more, my life is in your hands.”

  In that moment, his heart ached for her, knowing she did not trust anyone else to take this offer to Trillinae. But looking at her now, Zaraki remembered how young and vulnerable she was. Only eighteen and so lovely standing framed in the light from a few candles and torches, she should not have to fear for her life.

  The next day, Andelko sent riders to deliver the offer to her uncle. Leisha couched it in terms of granting mercy to her beautiful city so no harm would come to it. Staval agreed because when he won, he did not want to take a starving, burned-out husk of a town.

  They both agreed his men would be permitted inside the walls, but they could not harass the citizens or interfere in the governing of Lida. They would take up posts outside Branik and would not cross under the portcullis, only prevent any supplies from entering. As before, Staval made it clear anyone wanting to leave, including Leisha, should feel welcome to do so and that no one would harry them.

  As soon as the messenger arrived with news that Staval’s men were on the move, Zaraki grabbed his leather pack from his rooms and locked the door behind him. He took the stairs two at a time. Staval’s men would certainly be watching as he left. There was no point in being subtle, and he might catch them napping and gain a few hours on any pursuers. Hurrying to the stables, he called for the lovely chestnut Auleron mare Leisha had given him. Bred for endurance, she had a ground-eating stride. A stable boy brought her saddled and he pulled himself up onto her back.

  He saw Leisha watching from the windows in her apartments as Suma clattered across the cobbles in the yard.

  ***

  The trip over the mountains proved uneventful except for the one man following him up from Lida. Zaraki noticed him as he rode east and south from the city. He did not bother to hide his tracks or veer off the road. He waited for Staval’s man to stop and inspect the spot he had tied Suma. Then, he stepped out from behind a rock outcropping and slit the man’s throat without warning. No, Cezar did not raise an assassin, but for Leisha, he would kill and kill again.

  Zaraki arrived in Trillinae almost two weeks after leaving Lida. Rain delayed him a good while along the way, and he cursed the weather as he and Suma plodded down muddy roads, both soaked and cold.

  The capital city of Noster lay on the road from Tahaerin and on the same sea as Lida. Tall, thin spires rose from the castle at its center. Where Branik sat massive and imposing, brooding over Lida, the lines of Ylsin castle swooped and wheeled like birds over the surf. Here the residents painted houses and buildings in bright colors. From the road, Zaraki could see ships as they entered the huge port that would dwarf Lida’s. Moving food by ship would be infinitely easier than by land.

  He slept in a good inn and went the next morning to the castle. When he flashed Leisha’s seal and mentioned the reason for his unscheduled visit, chaos ensued. No Tahaerin emissary had stepped foot in Trillinae in recent memory, and correspondences from the other kingdom mostly consisted of threats.

  Soldiers detained him before showing him to a formal sitting room where a very apologetic court official waited.

  ***

  With no sign of ships or Zaraki, Leisha constantly worried he was dead on the road or in a cell somewhere. Staval could have captured him and tortured him. Perhaps the Trillinae king simply laughed and threw him in his dungeon as a spy or a madman. She knew better than to expect a letter, and so she worried.

  A month passed and then most of another. Supplies dwindled. The head cook reported daily on the state of their food stores and Symon informed her of instances of food theft and desertion. A few people fled over the month, but Branik still functioned well. They would be out of dried fruit soon, but the pickled vegetables, dried meat, and grain stores remained sufficient. Butchers would kill the last of the live animals this week.

  Two months after Zaraki left, Leisha and Jan stood in the kitchens deep in discussion with the cooks when Eli approached her. “Your Highness, there are ships on the horizon.”

  Ships. Multiple ships. They could be from Trillinae or they could be reinforcements for Staval if he now planned an attack. Either way, her uncle would be coming to find her soon. She forced her racing heart to still. “I’ll go to the Observatory.”

  Since Zaraki’s departure, she had only been alone in her bedroom and when she bathed. Eli and Jan served as her constant shadows and bodyguards. They took their responsibilities seriously, and she found them excellent substitutes for her spymaster. Even so, she found herself hoping to see Zaraki coming up from the harbor today.

  Together, she led the two men up a flight of stairs and into the courtyard. All around people gathered together, talking about the ships, hope foremost in their thoughts. It pained her to think how her decisions had caused so much anxiety. More than once during the blockade, she wondered if Wysia would think she was a good queen.

  After a short, brisk walk they reached the tower and L
eisha gathered her skirts. “Could anyone see what colors they were flying?” she asked over her shoulder.

  “None, Your Grace,” Eli offered.

  As they began their climb, she drew a deep breath to center herself. Soon enough they would know who the ships belonged to. So much depended on this, and already she knew she would not give herself over to her uncle to marry off.

  After a long climb, they reached the top of the stairs and she pushed the door open. The young man on duty gaped at her, stammered a formal greeting, and attempted to bow. He hit his head on the mounted telescope and tried to recover. Jan stepped in to help.

  “Steady, boy. The queen just wants to see the ships for herself.”

  “Yes, yes, my lady. Of course,” his head bobbed and he set about repositioning the spyglass for her. “Look here, Your Grace, and you can see them. They aren’t approaching fast, but they’ve pulled their flags. Could be anyone.”

  She looked through the eyepiece and saw three ships. Would three ships bring enough men for an invasion? “I’ll wait here for a bit to see if we can identify who owns them.” Shading her eyes, she looked over the city and over the water. The ships sailed closer to the harbor but then appeared to stop well out into the bay. Again, a cautious approach told her nothing, and Leisha wanted to scream in frustration.

  When the boy next peeked through the eyepiece of his spyglass, she had her answer. “Highness, they’re raising signal flags,” the boy said, sounding anxious. “They are from Trillinae?”

  Whirling to face Eli and Jan, her face flushed, eyes shining, all her worry and anxiety fell away. “Gentlemen, my uncle will be here soon. We should be ready for him.” Leisha did not try to keep the triumph out of her voice. More than one ship almost certainly meant food, and it meant Zaraki had saved her. Sweeping past her bodyguards, she retraced her path down the steps.