Arrows Of Change (Book 1) (10 page)

“What do you mean you’re taking off with her for the day?”
Ash objected.

Ashlynn fixed him with a speaking look. “Brother dearest,
did you forget that we are supposed to change up partners now and again to
figure out who works best with whom?”

He opened his mouth to protest, only, no sound emerged.
Finally he managed, “But Edvard told Broden to go with you!”

“And we’ve done that for a week now,” Ashlynn responded
impatiently. “But Ash, you and Riana have been going out of the city on a
regular basis to either build on the wall or build houses. She really doesn’t
know this place yet. I think she needs to spend a few days with me so that she
can at least learn the layout of her new home, don’t you?”

Broden sat in front of the fireplace inspecting his arrows,
acting for all the world as if he wasn’t paying attention to this argument.
Without looking at them, he drawled, “Lass has a point, Ash. Besides, me Riana be
a fierce archer. I do no’ think they will run into trouble they can no’
handle.”

“That’s not the problem,” Ash argued, although from the way
his shoulders slumped, he knew that he’d already lost. “Two beautiful women out
by themselves invites trouble.”

“We be well equipped to handle it,” Riana soothed. His
concern was touching, but she was in more danger wandering about Cloud’s Rest
than here. “It be fine, Ash. Besides, me da has a thing for building. He will
be happy enough following ye about for a day or two.”

Throwing up his hands, Ash gave up and stalked out. “Fine.
Broden, I need to speak with Edvard for a few minutes, and then we can leave.”

“Fine, fine.”

Riana honestly felt thrilled about Ashlynn’s declared
invitation. Not that she minded working with Ash—actually, she quite enjoyed
it—but the city felt uncomfortable to her. She was like a blind woman walking
about on the streets. Riana had no notion where they went, what they connected
to, or what could be found on them. Ash and Ashlynn had taken them on a quick
tour, to be sure, but none of that had really stuck in her head. She would need
at least a few days of wandering about before it was familiar enough to remember.

It was with a light heart filled with anticipation that she
followed Ashlynn out of the castle and into the city proper. As they walked,
Ashlynn matched her pace with Riana’s and asked, “Do you remember how Ash
explained the city’s layout?”

Somewhat. “He said that all the streets connect one way or
t’other to the castle grounds.”

“Exactly so. All of the gate roads connect to the castle as
well, although it’s not always a direct connection. But still, if you get
turned around, the easiest thing to do is to find a gate and get your bearings
from them.” Ashlynn pointed ahead toward the gate that was on the far end of
the road. “Do you see that giant M? That stands for Main Gate.”

Riana had known that the large letters carved into the top
of the gate pillars had to stand for something, but until now, she hadn’t
realized it would be for the name. “How many gates be there?”

“Officially? Four. There’s two more that aren’t really
gates, because they connect to the channel, and they’re more port roads than anything
else. But we have East Gate, Trader’s Gate, Main Gate, and North Gate. North
Gate, by the way, does not point north, but instead is more of a southeastern
direction. It’s just the only gate that connects to the northern highway, hence
the name.”

Aye, and was that not a good way to confuse a person. Riana
looked around her and tried to imprint everything into her mind. Right now she
had shops of different sorts on both sides of the streets, with narrow houses
crammed in between. It looked depressingly like every other section of the city
that she had seen thus far.

They came to another road and stopped on the sidewalk,
watching wagons and people crossing every which way. Ashlynn pointed ahead. “If
you keep going straight, you of course can leave the city. Now, if you go
right, you’ll reach North Gate and the Main Square. If you go left, you go to
Trader’s Gate and the Main Market.”

Main Market, at least, she knew. Ash had taken her there
several times for building supplies.

“Now, for shopping,” Ashlynn waggled her eyebrows in a
mischievous manner, “Main Square is the best place to start. At least for
womanly things. I don’t know why, but all the best seamstresses and clothiers
prefer that part of the city. I need new boots—mine are becoming ragged with
all of this running around that I’m doing—and I wouldn’t mind another shirt,
come to think of it. Anything you want?”

Riana looked down at herself. Her boots were so ragged that she
could almost see through some spots, so she could definitely use a new pair.
Her clothes were in better shape, as they were given to her by the very capable
and formidable housekeeper. But she hadn’t a dress to her name, and when Edvard
called them to the table for dinner, well, she felt more than a little awkward.

Most of her life, Riana had learned to not ask for things,
as they simply couldn’t be given to her. She survived on basic necessities and
didn’t complain. But now, finally, she was earning money steadily, and didn’t
need to worry about a roof over her head, or where the next meal would come
from. It was sheer habit that kept her from readily responding to Ashlynn’s
question. “I think…new boots.”

“That all?” Ashlynn probed, a lopsided smile on her face,
and a knowing look in her eye. “That expression on your face says otherwise.”

“Maybe a dress?” she added wistfully. “I noticed all the
other women at Edvard’s table wear dresses.”

“Oh, a dress or four is a fine idea. After all, a woman
needs a dress when she’s courting a man.”

Riana’s eyes crossed. “I no’ be courting anyone!”

“Yet,” Ashlynn corrected sagely. “But Riana, you’re a
beautiful woman. If some man doesn’t notice that and snatch you up soon, I’ll
be very surprised. Trust me, you’ll want a few dresses on hand just in case. If
nothing else, it’ll help you blend in better with high society. When you
officially partner with either Ash or me, you’ll be in high society the rest of
your life.”

Good point. Although… “Be that…safe?”

“Safe?” Ashlynn stopped dead in her tracks and regarded
Riana with bewilderment. “How is it dangerous?”

“Dressing up to catch a man’s attention does no’ mean ye
catch the right man’s attention.” Remembering a certain incident not too long
ago, Riana gripped the bow tightly.

“Riana.” Ashlynn gripped her shoulders and faced her head
on, eyes intense but voice gentle. “Did a man touch you when he shouldn’t
have?”

Riana’s lip lifted in a snarl. “He tried.”

“Oh? Details, I want details!”

Just remembering it made her sight go red. “A bit drunk, he
be. It be late at night, too. Da went ahead of me to fetch some bread, so I
think the blighter thought me fair game as I be alone. He jumped me from the
doorway, but I threw him off quick-like with a solid boot to his mid-section
that had him gasping for breath. Although he be so drunk that it had no’ kept
him down for long.”

“And what happened to him?”

“He found it a wee mite hard to come after me again with his
hand nailed to a tree.”

“Good girl.” Ashlynn relaxed her grip although she didn’t
step back. “Does Broden know about this?”

Riana shook her head. “No. I did no’ tell him. After all, I
handled it just fine. But I think he guessed.”

“Well, he’s a good father, so he likely noticed something.”
Ashlynn ran a hand over her mouth, looking disturbed. “No wonder he was so
desperate to get you out of there, though, if that was starting to happen.”

“Aye.”

“I promise you, you won’t be in the same danger here. It’s
an unstable city at the moment, but with all of us working to make it safe as
we have, I don’t think it’s dangerous. Well, not dangerous enough to keep a
woman from being a woman. Buy a dress, Riana. Buy four. You can do that without
worrying in Estole.”

Reassured, Riana ducked her head and smiled. “Aye.”

Ashlynn’s eyes roved over her from head to toe. “Although a
few dresses are the least of what you’ll need. A few hair combs, some slips,
court shoes, stockings, purses, at least one good fan—heavens, I really should
have taken you shopping earlier! Shame on Ash for blocking me as he did.”

“Ash blocked ye?” Riana repeated blankly. Why on earth would
he?

“He’s been selfishly hogging you.” Ashlynn gave a pretty
pout, looking more amused than peeved. “I’ll smack him for it later. Honestly,
men have no idea how much effort a woman puts into looking beautiful. Didn’t it
occur to him that there were things you needed?”

Probably not. Riana hadn’t thought of them either, but in
all fairness, the idea of shopping in general was a foreign concept. She found
herself quickly getting into the spirit of things, though. “Do ye think that
while we shop, we can keep an eye out for things that suit me da?”

“Oh, certainly,” Ashlynn agreed, bobbing her head. “I
generally shop for Ash and Edvard while I’m out. I don’t trust them to shop for
themselves. They pick up the closest thing that fits and don’t worry too much
if it suits them or not. It’s better if I shop for them. Besides,” Ashlynn
rubbed her hands together in open anticipation, “I enjoy it. Now, let’s get
started.”

They barely went a few paces afore Ashlynn added, “Actually,
we should talk about something else while we’re out.”

Oh? “And that be?”

“Well, we put you and Broden into our rooms as a sort of
stop-gap measure. It was never meant to be a permanent solution. Actually, we
can have your own suite of rooms set up. It’ll take a little doing, as the only
other sets of rooms in our hallway have been used for storage the past ten
years, but it’s doable. What do you think? Do you want rooms of your own?”

A whole
suite
of rooms for her own? The idea was
boggling to her. Most of her life—until she came to Estole—she’d either spent
the night out in the woods or in the treehouse that she and her father shared.
And it wasn’t more than three rooms in total. They’d always shared a room, as
there simply wasn’t the space to have separate bedrooms.

Not sure how to respond to this, she stared blindly ahead
for several long moments before offering, “Never in me life have I had a room
of me own.”

“Truly?” Ashlynn asked in astonishment.

“Aye. It be why I did no’ think much of it when we be put
into yer rooms. I think it be strange to sleep alone…” she trailed off,
realizing that even though she said that, a part of her wanted to see what it
was like, to have a space that was completely her own.

“Riana,” Ashlynn’s voice was shaking in amusement, “that
expression on your face tells me that you want a room of your own, though. If
nothing else, than for the novelty of the experience. Shall I have a word with
Miss Hailey and have her start clearing out that room?”

“There be no rush to it,” Riana hastily assured her. “I do
no’ mind being where I am. But, well, aye. I suppose I would like to try it.”

“Then I’ll ask her to work on it.”

As they walked toward Main Square, Ashlynn pointed things
out to her, like the best places to grab a quick snack, or cut through alleys
that were good shortcuts. If a guardsman passed them, she stopped them and
introduced Riana. In the space between one street and the next, Riana met at
least fifteen people, and her head spun with names and faces. It was all a bit
much to take in, but she found herself smiling in the sheer joy of it.

The amulet around Ashlynn’s neck came alive with a panicked
voice, “
Sheriff? Sherriff!”

Ashlynn stopped dead in her tracks and picked up the
necklace, demanding tersely, “I hear you, what is it?”

“
We’ve got a riot on our hands. It’s quickly gotten out
of our control. They’re starting to set the posting board on fire.”

“Where?”

“
Main Square.”

Ashlynn swore and took off so quickly her boots squeaked.
“What started it?”

“We’re not sure. Someone was reading the martial laws out
loud—I think it was for the people that can’t read—and then all of a sudden,
there was a lot of shouting in that direction. By the time I could muscle my
way over there, it was already getting out of hand. Now it’s bad enough that
they’re not only destroying things, they’re hurting each other.”

Riana’s stomach filled with a sick sensation even as she
easily kept pace with Ashlynn.

“Put a defensive ring around the area, keep it from
spreading,” Ashlynn ordered in clipped tones. “Ring the bell and call for
reinforcements. Can anyone put that fire out?”

“
We can’t get close enough to it.”

Riana swore aloud. They could
not
afford having a
fire spread through the city.

Ducking around a wagon, Ashlynn lost her speed temporarily,
but picked it up again as they crossed the street. People recognized the
Sheriff of Estole and got out of her way as fast as possible. As they ran,
Riana saw that guards were gathering ahead of them, keeping people at bay. Were
they already at Main Square?

Ashlynn skidded to a halt at the ring of guardsmen long
enough to glance back at Riana and say, “Shoot, but don’t kill, and guard my
back.”

“Got it.” Riana yanked the tie on her belt quiver and loosed
the arrows, grabbing three and twirling them into her hand, ready to fire at
will.

“The first thing I’ve got to deal with is that fire,”
Ashlynn said to herself. “Tant!”

A short, stocky young man that seemed to be of an age with them
turned about, dark eyes looking a little panicked. “Yes, Sherriff?”

“Give me a boost.” Ashlynn cupped her hands together in
illustration. “I can’t see enough over this crowd to tell what’s burning. I’ve
got to put it out first, before it takes down the whole city.”