Arrows Of Change (Book 1) (4 page)

Ash blinked several times, visibly forcing himself to switch
mental tracks and stay on task. “Oh, yes, quite. Well, let’s borrow one of the
logs and use it as a bridge to get over the river, and then we’ll make our way
down the road as far as we can.”

Broden nodded in agreement, as it was a sensible enough
plan, and they did just that. With the work they’d done and the time they’d
spent getting down to the river, they did not have much daylight left. In fact,
they only managed to get the logs across and another two miles down the highway
before the sun threatened to set on them.

Displaying good road ethics, Ash set all his logs off the
road entirely before they went about setting up a camp. Well, as much as they
could. There was not much traffic in this area of the world, so the trees and
underbrush stayed thick and undisturbed. Ash had to use a bit of magic just to
clear a broad enough area for them to sleep in.

As they had scant provisions on them for supper, Broden
disappeared into the forest for a spell and hunted down some rabbits. When he
came back, he found that Riana had gotten a fire started and gathered up some
wild herbs and onions, already placed in a boiling pot of water. Her eyes
caught sight of him as he stepped into the firelight, and she beamed. “Rabbit?”

He handed her three of them to clean and cook. “I reckon it
will make a decent stew.”

“I have a loaf of bread in my pack,” Ash volunteered. “It
should be fresh enough, as I bought it yesterday.”

Oh, bread too? A good meal in the making, this one was.
Broden smiled as he sank down onto his haunches and helped Riana with the
rabbits. “Ash.”

“Yes?”

“I be a-thinking that we still be in the bandit territory,
and we should no’ be taking our ease here without someone standing watch.”

“If that’s your worry, I can put up a ward.”

Riana looked up, brows drawn together in confusion. “A what
now?”

“A ward,” Ash repeated, fishing out the loaf of bread from
his pack. “It’s a magical shield that can tie itself to an area. It won’t let
anyone in or out of a place until I dismantle it. Once it’s up, we’ll have to
stay within it until morning, but it’ll keep everyone else out as well.”

That sounded perfect to Broden. He preferred being able to
sleep peacefully as opposed to with one eye open. “That be fine, then.”

Riana dumped the last of the rabbit into the pot and put the
lid on. “There. Let it stew a mite. Ash, as we wait, tell us the story of how yer
new kingdom came to be.”

Ash blinked. “Haven’t you already heard?”

“Only bits and pieces,” she denied.

“Ah. As you wish, then.” Settling in across the fire, he
crossed his legs comfortably. “Now, let’s see, where to begin?”

“The beginning would be a fine place,” Riana suggested, seeing
that he truly was at a loss for where to start. “We do no’ even know who Edvard
Knolton be.”

“Oh. Truly?” Ash seemed flabbergasted by this. “He’s from
one of the oldest families in Iysh. Very well, from the beginning, then. Since
Iysh was formed, the Knoltons have had close ties with the royal family. They’ve
been appointed as the ruling family of Estole since the very founding of Iysh,
actually. Edvard is the sixteenth heir and Duke of Estole, the only surviving
member of his family—legally, that is. He has several half-siblings because of
his father’s promiscuous ways. Actually, it was because of his siblings that he
wanted to break away from Iysh entirely.”

Her da frowned in confusion. “What be this, now?”

“Edvard has four sisters, you see,” Ash sought to explain.
“When his father passed on, he tried to legalize them so that he could protect
them and provide proper dowries. But the church and the court blocked his every
effort. It made him truly question the Bindings for the first time. It enraged
him as well, that he was prevented from doing the good and proper thing. I
helped him research, even helped him petition, but after several months of
fruitless effort, he gave up. That’s when he came up with the idea of breaking
off from Iysh completely.”

Riana’s eyes crossed. “Lovenanty, be that no’ a bit
extreme?”

“Very,” Ash responded dryly. “I felt so too, at first. Then
he started pointing out all the flaws in the government, the corruption, and
how many people were suffering under Iysh’s rule. He was very persuasive about
it. He had Ashlynn convinced before I even knew what was happening. I must
admit that Iysh’s rule is very…fractured at the moment.”

“Rebellions do that,” Broden noted laconically.

“Granted, but it was fractured before that,” Ash refuted.
“The old king is ailing, and he won’t pick one of his sons to succeed him, so
there’s a power struggle among the family. The rest of the officials are taking
advantage of their preoccupation and using it ruthlessly to their own ends.
That’s what made it so easy for us to break away from them. They can’t even
agree on how to subdue us.”

“How do ye break away from a kingdom?” Riana asked,
fascinated by this thought. She hadn’t questioned it before, but really, how
would one do that? Just write a simple declaration?

Ash shook his head in exasperation. “I was all for writing a
declaration of intent and sending it to Kremser Palace. But Edvard has a taste for
the dramatics, and that wasn’t enough for him. Instead, he had Ashlynn and me
guard him as we strode right into the throne room. He was wearing armor, of all
things, as if prepared to go to war on the spot. He declared right to the
king’s face that he’d had enough of this foolishness and the king had two
choices: he could overturn the Bindings and replace them with something more
moral and sensible, or Edvard would take Estole and break away from Iysh’s rule
completely.”

Broden leaned forward, spellbound, eyes huge in his face.
“He said that to the king himself? Glory. That must have been a sight.”

“What did the king say?” Riana pressed, just as enthralled,
trying to imagine in her mind’s eye how it’d all played out.

“Not much, at first. He was too busy choking, so astounded
anyone would say something like that to him that he couldn’t catch his breath.
Then he started bellowing, outraged and unwilling to listen to anything Edvard
had to say. He started shouting for someone to throw us all in prison.” Ash
rubbed his hands together in a slow, circular motion, eyes lost in memory. “We
had a fine time escaping from the palace, let me tell you.”

She bet they had!

“That wasn’t the end of it, of course, not by half,” Ash
continued ruefully. “We returned to Estole easily enough, but we barely had two
weeks before an army came knocking on our doors. The whole estate was behind
Edvard, as they’d had enough of Iysh’s rule as well, but we weren’t very large in
number. Not in comparison to a whole country, at least. Edvard assembled people
as he could, arranging the ranks to meet the army, but the bulk of his defense
rested on my and Ashlynn’s shoulders.”

So the rumors had been right. The main reason that Estole
was free really
was
because of the wizards.

Ash lifted one hand and stared at it for a long moment. “The
spells that I use for everyday tasks, I discovered, work just as well for
fighting. I can cut down trees and men with equal ease.”

Seeing what he’d done to trees, well, that idea made her a
trifle squeamish.

Shaking his head, he came back to the present. “The first
army sent wasn’t particularly large. We fought them off without any true danger,
and they were routed within a day. King Zelman sent a much larger army the
second time. We were better prepared after that first battle, with armaments
and caltrops and the like set up around the estate. Still, it was a miserable
three days of pure fighting before we forced them into a retreat. Zelman hasn’t
dared to send another army after us. He’s so low on troops now that he barely
has enough to maintain the rest of his kingdom.”

Riana slapped a hand against her leg. “So I be right! Zelman
did no’ try again because he be short on troops.”

Ash blinked at her. “Is that what you thought? Then, yes,
you’re quite correct. Our spies reported that to us. At any rate, after the
last battle, we did nothing but bury the dead and reinforce our defenses, just
in case we have to fight again. Part of the lumber that I’m bringing with me
will be used to build a defensive wall around the estate.”

Oh? That explained why he needed so much of it, then. Riana
imagined it’d take a lot of wood to build a wall around a mansion.

“A part of me now believes that declaring independence to a
king and fighting off two armies is the
easy
part of building a
kingdom,” Ash bemoaned, not at all joking. “Don’t mistake me, throwing off the Bindings
was a wonderful thing to do, but Edvard didn’t have anything to replace them
with. He got so caught up in the enthusiasm of the idea that he failed to plan
very far ahead. We’re now being swarmed with immigrants from the other estates
and countries, all of them hoping for new and better lives, but without any
true rules to govern them with. Trying to apply the old
rules in any
form makes them rebel against us. They’ve had enough of those laws, even if
they were good ones. So we’ve had to throw out the old system completely and
come up with something new, something that people will accept. We’re scrambling
now to create laws and put together a team of people to enforce them.”

That wasn’t well thought out. Wouldn’t it have been better
to make the new laws and have a guard in place afore declaring independence?
Well, belike they hadn’t expected a flood of people to come in.

“I imagine,” Broden said slowly, “that it be no’ just good
folks coming in. Ruffians of all sorts would like a place where there be no Bindings.”

“And that’s a problem as well,” Ash acknowledged with a wave
of the hand at him. “Crime is rapidly increasing. When I left, my sister and
Edvard had their heads together, pouring over the history books for any hint of
the old laws. I expect by the time we reach Estole that they will have at least
a rough set of laws to present people with. But you see now why I’m so
desperate to keep you. Good people with fighting skills will be dearly welcome
in Estole.”

After that story, Riana had no doubt of it.

Broden rubbed at the stubble along his jaw, studying Ash
through narrowed eyes. “So, Edvard Knolton be behind this whole thing, eh?
Anyone else know about this?”

“I imagine anyone who’s heard the story would. Edvard wasn’t
shy about explaining his motivations.”

“Be that right.” Broden nodded to himself, as if having had something
confirmed. “Now I ken. Daughter, best brace yerself and keep a wary eye about ye.
It be about to get hairy.”

Hairy? Why would it…oh.
Oh
. She smacked herself on
the forehead, feeling like an idiot for not connecting things quicker.

Ash’s eyes darted between the two of them, brows drawn
together in confusion. “I feel like I’ve missed something.”

“Ye said the Iyshian king sent two armies that failed.”
Broden shrugged, palm splayed. “If I be him, I would no’ send a third. I would
send assassins.”

Ash’s mouth fell open, stunned, then he groaned. “Storm and
winds! Why didn’t I think of that?!”

“I would no’ send ‘em after just the new king, either,”
Broden continued with a pointed look at the wizard.

“A wise man would take out the wizards that helped him
defeat those two armies,” Riana stated the obvious conclusion out loud. “Ash, I
think it be a blessing that ye found us when ye did. Da be right, it be about
to get hairy.”

Ash grimaced. “Well, that part I’d sort of reckoned and
braced myself for. But…why would this be the first thing you think of?”

“Oh, the bandits up here be no’ strays. They be in gangs or
clans of their own most of the time. We get wars up here all the time atwixt
them. If they rush into a fight against each other and it does no’ work out,
the next thing they do be send assassins.” Broden scowled. “We learned
quick-like to keep an eye on the lot of them so as to know when to be on the other
side of the mountain when they got it in their heads to fight over territory.”

“Ahhh, makes sense. So, in essence, you’ve seen fights of
dominance between kings before, just on a smaller scale.”

“Much smaller,” Broden agreed, eyes twinkling.

Riana’s mind was already skipping ahead, thinking from every
angle. “Ash, did ye make any secret about coming out here for lumber?”

“Ah…no? Quite a few people knew where I was going.”

“I think ye’d best put that ward up,” she advised grimly.
Her skin felt like something was crawling along it even as she spoke the words.
The air was getting colder, the light failing as night settled in, which
limited her vision even further in these crowded woods. A whole platoon of
soldiers could hide in the brush, and she wouldn’t have a notion they were
there. Never mind how well an assassin could make out.

Ash’s eyes darted around, making the same consideration she’d
just made, and took her point. “I’ll do that. When I’m done, I’ll put a
temporary hold on both of you so that you have some magical protection.”

She blinked. “Be there assassin-wizards, then?”

“More than I care to think about, yes. They’re always in the
employ of some important, powerful person with a good cause in their pocket,
but that doesn’t make a difference if you’re their target.”

Good point.

Ash put a hand on his knee, preparing to rise, before
pausing and saying, “If anyone wants a privy break, take it now. You won’t be
able to leave the ward later.”

Taking that as a prudent suggestion, Riana did just that,
leaving the ring of firelight behind for a few moments. By the time she made it
back, Ash had made several preparations already. Her da was already seated,
dishing himself up some of the stew and dipping his bread into it with a smile
of relish.

Ash glanced her direction, making sure she was close enough,
then he turned back to the tree he had a hand against. He drew something
complicated into the air, spoke a word in that strange singsong language, and
the sigil he’d drawn embedded itself into the trunk of the tree. It stayed in
the bark, glowing mutely, like a ring of controlled fire. When it was there, it
connected to several other trees, and a dome of glowing firelight weaved its
way around their camp and above their heads. Riana’s eyes tracked its progress
even as she smiled. It was a thing of beauty, this ward of his. It wasn’t solid
like she’d assumed it would be. Instead, ever-moving lines curled and about
like they were living things.

Sidling up beside her, he cautioned, “Unlike my shield, this
won’t
feel good if you touch it, so don’t try that.”

“I ken,” she promised him, not looking away. “Be magic
always so pretty?”

“No,” he denied in amusement. “But most of the time, it is.
At least, I think it is.”

“It be pretty enough,” Broden acknowledged slowly. “But what
can get through it?”

“Air,” Ash answered dryly.

Riana blinked up at him, astounded. “No’ even rain?”

“I prefer not to be rained on when I’m sleeping outside, so
mine are waterproof.” He shrugged, as if what he’d just said wasn’t anything
remarkable.

Riana found it very remarkable. Despite the fact that she
could see right through it, this thing was as solid as a house? Lovenanty! Was
there any limit to what magic could do?

Oh, right, there was. Which was why Ash so desperately
wanted them. She’d almost forgotten that for a moment.

Tearing her eyes away, Riana forced herself to sit down and
drag her bowl out of her pack, eating dinner while it was still hot. Cold
rabbit stew wasn’t her favorite thing to eat.

For a few moments, that’s all everyone did—eat dinner and
enjoy not being on their feet for a while. She saw her da take several peeks at
Ash, as if wanting to ask something, but not sure of either the timing or the
wording. Since the beginning, her da had been a little cautious around Ash. She
understood why—they knew little about him—but her gut said that Ash could be
trusted. Da must’ve thought the same, as he’d agreed to go to Estole with him.

“These temporary magical protections of yers,” Broden
finally asked, “what do they protect us from?”

“Unfortunately, not much,” Ash responded with a helpless
shrug. “If you were true partners with me, I could bind you to my magic, and my
own shield would activate around you at the barest hint of danger. But because
these are temporary, I’m having to give you your own shield, independent of
mine, and that limits what I can do. After all, you’re not a magician—you have
no magic to feed into these shields to keep them active. So there’s only so
much it can do. It’ll protect you from any fire-based spell, at least.”