Servants and Followers (The Legends of Arria, Volume 2) (54 page)

“
Fence, that’s an
order, and a good soldier obeys orders.” Hastin said, turning back
to him. “If something happens here, then I
…
if everything turns out all
right here,” Hastin corrected himself to avoid scaring Fence and
Rajar, “then I want you two to know that I am going to talk with my
father, and request that a new head of the militia is elected,
someone who will train 12-year-olds like
you,
Fence.” Hastin smiled.
“You got that, Fence? Rajar?”

“
Right, Hastin,”
Fence said, nodding as Hastin departed into the crowd.

“
Good luck, Hastin!”
Rajar called out to him before Fence pulled him back into the
alleyway. “Let me go, Fence.” Rajar muttered.

Hastin
began to circulate
through the crowd, suggesting that women and
children should perhaps evacuate the area, heading towards the
alleyways off to the sides,
or down the side road,
if anything
bad should happen
here
.
A few considered following his suggestions, and did
so.
Hastin turned his head, wondering
where Sisila and Jawen were.

“
What is going on
here?” The oldest man in uniform said, facing the crowd of
townspeople.

“
We are having a
mayoral election soon, and this is a debate,” Lapo said. “Could you
kindly speak to us about your business and then depart?” His wife
Mawen stood up and squeezed Lapos’s shoulder, murmuring softly to
him as their two youngest children clutched Mawen’s legs. Talia and
Jawen stared up at the stage, noticing their parents’ familiar
unity, and wished that they could be up with them.

“
Very well then,” The
oldest man in uniform said before pulling out a piece of paper. “I
have a warrant here from my Lord Fobata, Duke of Coe Aela, to
search for and arrest some fugitives who have escaped my lord’s
justice. They are a trio of youths, two boys and a girl
approximately 16 or 17 years of age, with a falcon accompanying
them who claims to be a royal messenger bird.”

“
Royal messenger
bird?” Some people exclaimed, confused by the fact that a falcon
was
able to claim
anything.
A
few people screamed from the direction of the side road heading for
the river neighborhoods and factories, as they were forced back by
seven more soldiers blocking that direction.

“
Something is wrong
here,” Iibala muttered to Sisila, shaking her head. “I can feel it.
I don’t like this at all.”

“
I get a funny
feeling, too,” Sisila said, looking down.

“
Maybe we should get
out of here.” Talia hissed to her sister.

“
No, not yet,” Jawen
said, pushing forward. “I need to speak with them, before it is too
late!” She said, glaring at Sisila and Iibala. However, it already
was.

“
That’s right, a
royal messenger bird,” The oldest man in uniform said before
continuing, “They are Basha, a young man with brown hair, and
Oaka
…
”

“
Get them!” Geda
cried, interrupting the soldier reading out the arrest warrant, as
other people milled about in confusion, mumbling over the familiar
names.
“
Arrest the soldiers!
”
He insisted.
Habala remained in her seat for a moment, stunned
by what she was hearing, but hopeful as well
. H
er sons were alive,
or at least they had been for long enough to make it to Coe Aela,
even if
…
what had they done to deserve an arrest warrant?

“
It can’t be true, it
just can’t be true,” Jawen said, stunned by the revelation. Basha
was alive? Was this possible? She had thought that
very few people
could survive the trip outside of Coe Baba,
especially Basha and
Oaka
, but now here she
was
, hearing these impossible
words.

“
Jawen!
I’m getting out of here,
come with me!” Talia cried, pulling on
her older sister
. Jawen
followed after Talia for now, though she strained her neck back to
keep her eyes on Sisila and Iibala. They knew something, and she
was bound and determined to find out what exactly, though maybe
later on after the soldiers had left.

Iibala
laughed.
At last, something exciting was
happening here that was unexpected, and it was all because of Basha
and Oaka, she assumed
;
mostly Basha. Plus, it appeared that Jawen and
her younger sister Talia were leaving, which was an added bonus for
her when they had been close enough to eavesdrop
before
. She
wouldn’t have to worry about them right now. “I’m getting into the
action!” Iibala told Sisila, leaving her alon
e as she joined
some
people in the crowd
turning
and
advancing
toward the soldiers
on horseback, a significant mass of
them in fact, most of them family and friends of Geda and Habala,
as well as a few frequent patrons of The Smiling Stallion
inn.

“
Iibala! Wait!”
Sisila cried, but her voice was droned out by others. Sisila lifted
her head, hoping to spot Iibala in the crowd whipped up into a
frenzy,
but
f
inally, she decided to take the
plunge,
and go
after Iibala.

“
What is the meaning
of this?” The oldest soldier cried as his fellow soldiers
slowly
withdrew their swords
,
ready
to defend themselves
if necessary,
as
they were slowly
confronted by townspeople
.

Habala slowly lifted her head and stared at the
swords held by the guards from Coe Aela, bare blades against the
defenseless, unarmed civilians of Coe Baba she recognized as her
friends and family members. “No.” She whispered, clenching her
fists.

“
Geda, what are you doing?” Lapo
hissed at the innkeeper, frowning as he glanced back and forth
between the innkeeper and the two confrontations. “Are you trying
to get us all killed here? These soldiers are trained
professionals, in service of the Duke of Coe Aela. They probably
have some authority here and…”

“
Authority? This is our town, our
home, our land, not the Duke’s of Coe Aela.” Geda said, staring at
Lapo, as his mind raced to come up with a logical excuse for his
own actions, which were mostly based on primal, impulsive anger and
fear. How had things gotten so out of control? “And what rights
have they? It is my boys that they are talking about arresting,”
Geda muttered before he shouted at the soldiers, “I want to know
why you want to arrest them, Basha and Oaka! What have they done to
deserve it?”

Perhaps he should have thought this matter out more
clearly before he ordered the arrest of these soldiers, but he
couldn’t abide the idea of changing his mind now, especially as he
thought that his actions might be justifiable, and he didn’t want
to shame the memory of his boys by cordially welcoming their
potential captors to their hometown. Besides, though his actions in
the last few moments might be reprehensible, he couldn’t change
them now, especially since the soldiers had already gotten a taste
of his malice. Though he might try to apologize and take back his
words to the soldiers, they would not forgive him, and they would
not forget his ill treatment of them. It was better to continue, as
it were, until he had a better idea of what to do.

“
That’s
right,” Habala whispered, slowly standing up. “That’s right.” She
said
, slowly inhaling. She
had to do this.

The
other part of the crowd moved away, towards the alleyways as Hastin
had suggested, with Talia and Jawen now caught up in the retreating
swarm.
“Jawen!” Hastin cried, spotting
her, accompanied by her younger sister, in the distance.

“
Hastin?” Jawen said,
looking up as the young man headed her way.

“
Jawen, am I glad to
see you!” Hastin cried, reaching his former girlfriend. “Have you
seen my sister?” He asked.

“
She was back in that
direction,” Jawen pointed behind her, before she was forced to push
on, with Talia’s insistence, towards the alleyway near the post
office. Hastin managed to move forward, away from Jawen and towards
Sisila’s direction.

“
They
are
…
they were
disturbing the peace at
Coe Aela,” The oldest man in uniform said
to Geda
, nervously
withdrawing his own sword as several people tried to grab his
horse, which threatened to bolt. “They disturbed my master Lord
Fobata! They deserve to be arrested!
” The soldier frowned. “And if you are harboring
them…
”

“
That’s not a good
enough excuse.” Geda said. “We want to know more.”

“
Let us go, or you
will regret your actions!” The soldier cried, flailing his sword
at
the
unarmed civilians
again
. “We will be forced to
fight!”

Geda hesitated as he heard the words of the oldest
soldier, probably the one in command, especially as the soldier’s
sword gleamed in his hand, and he did not seem unsteady in wielding
it right above the heads of the townspeople trying to hold onto his
horse so that he would not run away. The townspeople were also
holding onto the horses of nine other soldiers, with five more they
were trying to wrangle and hold down, but all of these soldiers
were also armed and prepared to fight back. Geda wondered again if
this was such a good idea, standing up to the soldiers from Coe
Aela, especially when so many lives would be at risk.

“
No!”
Habala cried, hurling a ball of fire at the
soldiers
, one of whom was
ignited. His horse reared and the burning man was flung off onto
the ground. He rolled slightly, which extinguished some of the
flames, but then he stopped moving and continued to smolder. The
townspeople surrounding him and the others ran,
screaming.

The
soldiers and the townspeople all stared up in horror at Habala,
standing above them on the platform beside her husband. “Leave them
alone! Leave my fellow townspeople alone!” She cried. “You do not
deserve to be here!
This is
not your town, this is not your home! Coe Baba is for good, kind,
deserving people, who are trying their hardest to make a living for
themselves! You are just here to spread trouble and cause mischief,
threatening my sons! They are not here, in case you want to know,
but they should be! Now leave, before I burn you all!” Habala
cried.

The soldiers hesitated, a few of them considering
her advice, when something terrible happened.

A few
minutes ago,
Fence and Rajar had been
listening and watching the escalation of chaos, not quite
understanding everything that was going on here, but they feared
that there might indeed be a fight soon, the kind that Hastin had
warned them about. “Let’s get out of here, Rajar,” Fence said,
turning away from the town square. “Head to the river and the
forest,” He muttered to himself, walking off towards the end of the
alleyway.

“
What about mother
and father and Jawen and
wait for me,
Fence!” Rajar cried, following after his older brother.

Fence had emerged
from the alleyway, and started to cross the open stretch of land
towards the Danueve River, and Mila Forest beyond, when suddenly he
stopped, peering towards the shadows moving beneath the
trees
. He thought he saw
something moving under there.

Urie, a guard from Coe Aela, squatted in the
underbrush just outside the outskirts of Coe Baba, searching for
any signs of movement from the town’s direction that might suggest
that one of the fugitives they were searching for was trying to
escape and avoid capture by the other guards. The ground felt wet
beneath his shoes, the leaves slippery and muddy as he trod upon
them. An arrow was notched to his bowstring, but currently his bow
was lowered to the ground, along with about half a dozen others
beside him.

Urie was nervous and tired of waiting, especially
since he did not really know what was going on out here. A few
years ago, he had been recruited from the servants’ quarter, and
had joined the guards because it was an opportunity for advancement
that was better by far than what he might have received in the
servant class. Urie had been given a sword, some armor, the Coe
Aela uniform and this bow along with a collection of arrows. He had
been trained in some basic maneuvers, mostly when it came to
marching and patrolling, but at least he had gotten in some
practice at hitting a target, so that he could stand in good stead,
and hopefully defend himself if he ever got into a fight.

Urie slept in the barracks, ate with the other
guards, and never once did he glance in the direction of the
servants that served them. He was a guard now, and he was glad of
that. For the most part, Urie did whatever his commanding officers
told him to do, and he hardly ever complained about his duties,
although he did partake in some salty, brash conversation with his
fellow privates whenever the officers weren’t listening, just to be
a part of the company he had joined.