Summer of Crows

by Hans Cummings

  Aveline rose to her feet. “Possibly. Let’s check the dining room and kitchen.”

  Crossing the foyer, they proceeded to the other side of the house. A glance revealed an uneaten meal in the kitchen. Otherwise, there was no sign of a disturbance.

  Valon examined the food. “Koloman’s you think?”

  “Probably Alik’s. Koloman wouldn’t take his meals in the kitchen. That old man did everything for him.” Aveline inspected the embers in the hearth; the fire there had not been stoked as recently as the one in the study. Valon opened the door to the larder occupying the space under the stairs. Satisfied there was nothing amiss with the potatoes and dried meat, he shut the door.

  “Damn shame. Alik was a curmudgeon to be sure, but he didn’t deserve that.” Valon then entered the dining room, crossing the hall to open the curtains.

  After checking in with Lazlo, Aveline led Valon to the second floor. Stairs creaking with each step, she noticed splits in the wood beneath the runners. At the top of the stairs, a hallway ran the width of the house. The knight-captain went left while the lieutenant checked the bathing room.

  Aveline opened the door before her. Inside, Alik’s bedroom served as a model of fastidiousness. Not a knickknack, accessory, or piece of furniture was out of place or dusty. Aveline supposed the old man viewed his bedroom as the one thing he could control while serving an impulsive narcissist like Koloman. Unlike in the rest of the house, Alik’s opened curtains allowed sunlight to fill the room.

  “Koloman’s bedchamber must be the other one.” Valon crouched to peer under the bed.

  “Does this place have a root cellar?” Aveline retreated to the hallway.

  “I think so, but the only entrance is outside, around back.”

  Upon proceeding across the hall, she opened Koloman’s door. In spite of the darkness, she noticed discarded clothes strewn about. The wardrobe doors hung open, its contents scattered. They poked through the clothes on the floor and in the wardrobe.

  “No Koloman, and no sign of who killed Alik.” Aveline dropped to the floor to peer under the bed.

  “Are we assuming Koloman did not kill his manservant?” Valon threw open the curtains, ushering daylight into the room.

  “I’m not assuming that, but it’s possible whatever happened at Danica’s Den and Alik’s death are not connected.” Aveline gestured for him to follow her downstairs.

  Lazlo poked his head into the foyer. “There’s some folk here who say they saw Koloman come and go earlier.”

  “What folk? Where?” Stepping outside, Aveline peered toward the front gate, using her hand to shield her eyes from the glare of the sun. Several people waited on the other side of the locked gate, likely Koloman’s neighbors.

  “Just there.” Lazlo pointed toward the street. “Anton’s been keeping them out.”

  “Valon, take Lazlo and check the root cellar, just in case. I’ll go talk to these people.”

  After saluting, the two men jogged toward the back of the house while Aveline approached the gate. “Open up. Let me out.”

  Anton pulled the gate open just enough for Aveline to join the crowd outside. Everyone spoke at once until Aveline shushed them.

  “One at a time. What did you see?” Aveline addressed an older couple.

  The woman pulled her shawl closed around her shoulders. “I thought he was naked at first, but after a good look, he wasn’t. He had a wild look in his eyes.”

  “Mmm.” Her husband nodded, chewing on the end of his pipe.

  “He ran into the house. Since he left the gate open, I walked up to the porch.” The old woman thrust her nose upward. “Out of concern, of course. I heard shouting, screaming, and breaking glass. That’s when I came back out. I didn’t want no part of anything going on in there.”

  “Mmm.” The old man pointed the stem of his pipe at Koloman’s house. “Always been a high-strung sort.”

  “At least he had the sense to put clothes on before he ran out again.” A younger man wearing a black velvet doublet leaned against the stone wall.

  “Which way did he go?” Aveline hoped they agreed on that detail.

  After glancing about for a moment, the three pointed toward the east.

  “I don’t suppose any of you followed him?” Aveline gazed in the direction they indicated. The road led toward some large estates in Old Town, ending at the outskirts where there was nothing to stop Koloman from escaping into the wilderness.

  “None of our business what the Lord Mayor gets up to.” The old woman sniffed. Her husband and the younger man grunted their agreement.

  “Did you see anyone else come or go?”

  After confirming no one saw anyone except Koloman, Aveline dismissed the crowd. Valon trotted up the path.

  “There’s nothing suspicious in the root cellar.”

  “Fine.” Aveline secured her mace on her belt. “Take care of everything here. I’m going after Koloman.”

  “Do you want anyone to go with you?” Valon gestured for Lazlo to come forward.

  Aveline shook her head. “I can handle him, and I’m only going to the outskirts. Maybe someone else saw him.”

  Leaving Valon to take care of Alik’s body and secure Koloman’s estate, she followed the lane out of town.

  * * *

  Tasha rubbed her temples. The back-and-forth bickering between Maxim and the dryad grew knots in her shoulders and caused a throbbing in her head. Letting them argue, she tried to think of a way that would allow them to coexist peacefully.

  “Maxim”—Tasha turned her gaze upon the knight—“what if you repaired the interior of the barracks and the roof around the tree? In Maritropa, there’s an inn with a tree growing through the hearth room and up through the roof. Everyone considers it good luck.”

  “Then they are very stupid. There’d be nothing keeping the rain out with a tree poking through the top of the building.”

  “Then build a wall to block off the interior of the barracks from the tree. You can do that.”

  Gwilvanwen sneered. “My home isn’t occupying that much space in your nasty rock-and-mud building.”

  “We’d lose several bunks, at least.”

  Tasha crossed her arms. “How many people do you have staffing this garrison right now?”

  “There will be more…”

  “But how many right now? And how many will the princess send?”

  “Well, one.” Maxim clenched his jaw. “I imagine they’ll expect me to recruit a new garrison from locals, but they may send one or two other knights.”

  “Then between the beds in the keep and the barracks, you can surely spare the space. I suggest you simply recruit fewer people to accommodate losing a couple of bunks. And you”—Tasha turned toward Gwilvanwen—“if he makes this accommodation to you, what can you give the garrison in return? Will you watch the land for them?”

  Flicking her hair, Gwilvanwen fluttered her light green eyes at Maxim. “I suppose I could do that, even though I am letting them share my home.”

  “I thought your home was the tree?” Maxim gestured toward the towering chestnut. “What use have you for the keep? And the forge, the stables, and the kitchens?”

  “It would all be mine, in time.” The dryad averted her eyes.

  “But for now, I’m not hearing any reason why you can’t share this space. Surely you can find a way to live with the land, Maxim, rather than tearing everything down.”

  “Perhaps.” Grunting, he stepped over to the chestnut tree and peered into the building through the crumbled wall. He turned to the dryad. “Can you keep your roots from further destroying the floor if we wall off the rest of the barracks from the space you’ve already claimed?”

  Gwilvanwen raised an eyebrow. “Perhaps.”

  “As long as she has no objection to us using wood from elsewhere for certain repairs, perhaps we could come to an agreement.”

  Tasha raised her hand to silence the dryad’s objections. “Bring the wood from what is available fr
om Curton. She has too close a connection to any of the trees around here.”

  “What? Even those over yonder?” He pointed to a mixed grove of maples and pines in the distance.”

  “They are my friends.” Gwilvanwen leapt to her feet and charged Maxim, stopping with a finger in his face. “You cannot have them.”

  “What are we to do for warmth in the winter?” Maxim, sidestepping the dryad, addressed Tasha. “We cannot burn rocks.”

  “Sleep as I do.” Leaning against her tree, Gwilvanwen fluffed her hair.

  “Deadfall only, Maxim.” Tasha clasped her hands behind her back. “Any hedge wizard should be able to help you with lighting and extending the supply so what you forage is sufficient. The right hedge wizard may even be able to use magic to warm your stoves.”

  “As a general rule”—Maxim crossed his arms—“Knights of the Order of the Shield of Etrunia do not employ sorcery.”

  “Times change. You can be a pioneer in helping a garrison live with the land instead of despoiling it.” Tasha shrugged. “Or we’re back to you abandoning this keep for good and the Earth Mother reclaiming it.”

  “You cannot expect me to abandon my duties.”

  She spun on him. “I will not abandon mine.” Upon her cloak warming, Tasha approached him. “I can guarantee you swift reprisal if any harm comes to Gwilvanwen.”

  “The crown will—”

  “Will what?” Tasha’s cloak spread behind her like a great pair of black wings.

  Gwilvanwen came up behind Maxim, stroking his ear with a twig-like finger. “It’s two against one. Three, if you count the Earth Mother.”

  The knight lowered his head. “The crown will respect Gaia. Of course. We… I will learn how to accommodate your”—he glanced over his shoulder at Gwilvanwen—“her needs, and I will respect the land. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

  Ducking away from the dryad and the Crow Queen, Maxim headed out of the bailey toward the makeshift camp on the hill.

  Once he was out of earshot, Gwilvanwen giggled. “If you’d put the fear of the Earth Mother in him at the beginning, we would have wasted so much less time. It doesn’t matter to me, of course, but you humans live for such a frightfully short time.”

  Sighing, Tasha slumped, letting go of the tension in her shoulders. “I hoped he would see reason. Strong-arming someone like that can lead to unintended consequences.”

  Upon circling the Crow Queen, the dryad wrapped her arms around her from behind. She rested her hand on Tasha’s shoulder. “He desires me. I will have him eating my nuts within days.”

  Tasha disentangled herself from the dryad’s embrace. “You are not to take him or his men for your tree. If you harm any of them, I will not be able to stop them coming with axes and fire.”

  Laughing, Gwilvanwen waved her hand in dismissal. “I won’t promise not to seek comfort, but you have my word I will not harm anyone as long as they don’t hurt my tree or my friends.”

  “Then I will leave the two of you to get acquainted. When he returns, tell him I’ve gone home to Curton.”

  “Yes, eventually, I will.” Winking, Gwilvanwen sank into her tree until no evidence of the dryad remained. Tasha hoped whatever peace they built here today lasted. Snapping her cloak closed around her, she thought of her hut.

  Chapter 53

  Aveline reached the edge of town without having seen any sign of Koloman. A few people she encountered on the way mentioned they saw him flee into the wilderness. Leaning against the wall of an old abandoned estate, she stared into the forest.

  What’s out there? Hills. Trees. The river is the other way. Old mines.

  Frowning, she turned toward town. A tracker like Brana probably could follow his trail. Koloman’s exposure to the wilderness, as far as Aveline knew, remained limited to snubbing foresters and mudders as he passed them on his brief forays to the market. She suspected she could follow his trail, but she didn’t fancy going into the untamed forest alone and unprepared.

  By the time she made her way through town and returned to the citadel, the sun hung low in the afternoon sky. After a brief conference with Valon and some of the other constables, she ordered Valon to send Brana and Jolan to pick up the Lord Mayor’s trail and return with him unharmed, if possible.

  “I’m surprised you’re not heading the search party yourself.” In the doorway, Valon faced Aveline.

  “I’m no good in the forest. I’d just get in the way. Brana and Jolan will move faster without me. Besides, I’m going to have to put Alik’s affairs in order and talk to the magistrate about Koloman. He may be Lord Mayor, but even he will have to stand trial for murder.”

  Valon chuckled. “As I said, I’m surprised you’re not going with them.” He pulled the door shut when he left. Aveline plucked a cured sausage from the larder, eating it while she walked home. She purchased a few hand pies from a vendor in the market, as well.

  Aveline found Tasha sitting on her front porch, talking to some of the neighborhood children.

  Rising, she gestured to the knight-captain. “Story time is over, children. I have important business with Lady Aveline.”

  The children said their goodbyes to the Crow Queen. Upon unlocking her door, Aveline let Tasha in. “I didn’t expect to see you tonight. I guess I’m just not used to how quickly you can travel to places like Dawnwatch now. How’s Maxim’s ghost?”

  Tasha lowered herself into the armchair. “Maxim’s ghost is a dryad, and they’ve agreed to share Dawnwatch. The dryad gets to keep her tree, and Maxim will work around it. I think they’ll learn to like each other in time, as long as Maxim keeps his head out of his arse.”

  Aveline laughed. “Yes, well, miracles can happen, I suppose.” She cut one of the meat hand pies, then handed half to Tasha. “See? I was right sending you to deal with the problem. A guild mage couldn’t have dealt with a dryad like that, right? What exactly is a dryad anyway?”

  Tasha smiled as she chewed. “One of the fae. They make their homes in trees. They have a reputation for seducing people, dragging them into their trees to become nourishment for the roots. The average dryad doesn’t want that, though—not usually. They get lonely. They can’t venture far from their trees.”

  “No one talks much of the fae around here.” Aveline sat on a nearby stool, enjoying her meal with her friend.

  “I learned a lot during my brief visit to the Fae Realm. Also, in Muncifer’s library.”

  For a moment, Aveline considered asking Tasha to scry and find Koloman, but she decided against it since she had already sent out trackers. She didn’t want to become overly reliant on her friend’s new abilities and resources in order to do her job.

  “Anything exciting happen around town?” Tasha brushed crumbs off her chest.

  “Oh, where to begin?” Aveline related the story about Koloman, starting with the dead woman at Danica’s Den, Koloman’s flight, Alik’s death, and Koloman’s disappearance into the forest.

  Furrowing her brow, Tasha leaned forward. “He killed a woman at Danica’s Den and Alik?”

  Aveline held up her hands, shrugging. “Presumably. We must find him before we can ascertain what really happened. I have my best trackers out there looking for him.”

  “How did he kill the woman? You were vague on that.”

  “I don’t honestly know.” Aveline pondered how best to describe what she saw. “I don’t think it’s possible, but it looked like she liquefied and melted off her bones. It was… vile.”

  “Melted…” Tasha stared into the distance.

  Leaning forward, Aveline touched her friend’s leg. “What?”

  “The wizard at the chaos rift, his face looked like a melted candle. The thing in Koloman’s dreams melted away when I defeated it. Now this… there’s probably a dozen ways to describe each of those things. I don’t know. I have a feeling…”

  “Wait”—Aveline shook her finger at Tasha—“you think what happened at the mine and Koloman’s bad dreams and subsequent madness are all
related?”

  Tasha shrugged. “I don’t have proof, just a hunch. It could be. Or it could be coincidence.” She adjusted her cloak. “I’m going to see if I can figure it out.” She hugged Aveline. “I’ll let you know if I learn anything, and I’ll stay at the orchard just outside Mudders’ Gate for now. In case you need me.”

  Before Aveline said another word, Tasha returned to her hut with a snap of her cloak. Aveline sighed, glancing at the uneaten fruit pie on her table. “Well, it’s just you and me tonight.”

  * * *

  Once in her hut, Tasha scried for Koloman. Within minutes, she traced Aveline’s route in Old Town to the edge of Curton. From there, she found the two trackers searching for the Lord Mayor. They crept forward through the underbrush, following broken branches and trampled shrubs. Their quarry made no effort to conceal his path.

  She concentrated on finding Koloman. Her familiarity with him from being in his dreams made him easy to locate. Relentlessly, he drove forward, ignoring wounds caused by branches and brambles. While watching him flee, she witnessed trackers from the city watch overtake him, although she didn't know their names.

  The male tracker circled ahead, while the woman approached Koloman from behind.

  “Lord Mayor! Lady Aveline sent us to help you. You must come back to Curton with us.” Distracting him, the woman's pleas kept Koloman from noticing the man creeping up behind and, ultimately, tackling him.

  Thrashing, Koloman wailed, “I must go. You don’t understand! He’s coming! The melted man is coming!”

  After a brief struggle, Koloman collapsed. The two trackers fashioned a makeshift litter before beginning the arduous task of carrying him back to the city. Tasha used the relative calm of Koloman’s unconscious repose to focus on his mind.

  The visions she saw reminded Tasha of why she loathed speaking with Koloman in person. He dreamt of wine, women, and writhing, naked bodies. He fantasized of the powerful women he desired, but found out of reach, such as herself and Aveline.

  Frowning, Tasha broke the connection. His unconscious mind did not seem unusual, not for Koloman at any rate. She sent a messenger to Aveline letting her know the trackers found Koloman, were returning with him, and she planned to move her hut into the forest south of town.