The Eighth Warden Bk. 03 Ch. 11-12

"Like what I did with the drake and the blackberry bush, but with more vines, and the wizard wasn't strong enough to break free. Meritia bound his mouth with roots to keep him from casting any spells. If she'd let him go, he'd have tried to kill her again, so she let the plants keep him."

Corec just stared at her.

"Can you do that?" Treya asked the elven woman.

"No, Meritia's always been better than me with plants. Maybe I could do it in the Terril Forest. It's easier with the..." Shavala hesitated. "It's easier there. That would only stop a wizard, though. You'd need to do something else for other mages."

Corec said, "The knights say the best option is to surprise them before they can cast a spell, but it's dangerous if you don't know what they can do. Maybe Ellerie will have some ideas."

Treya shivered. Her mystic training hadn't covered how to fight against magic. "So we need to learn about the mages with him?"

"Yes. I wonder if Rusol bonded the demon that's been creating the red-eyes for him. Does the warden bond work on demons?"

"It could be a demonborn," Treya suggested. "Bishop Lastal said that demonborn sometimes inherit the same abilities that demons have." He'd said the same thing about godborn.

"True," Corec said. "I'll ask Razai the next time she's feeling talkative. Rusol must have other bondmates, too, and he's got to be a mage himself. How has he managed to hide it for so long? Magic is illegal in Telfort. After we get back to Aravor, maybe I should sneak over the border and see what I can find out."

"That seems more dangerous than waiting for them to come to us," Treya pointed out. Corec wasn't any good at sneaking around.

"Yes, but if I manage to learn what they can do, it'd be worth it."

"Something about all of this feels wrong," Treya said with a sigh. "Maybe we should avoid the other wardens entirely. Yelena spies on everyone, Prince Rusol is trying to kill us, and from what you said, the First sounds like he's gone mad. What are the rest of them like? Do you really want to be one of them them?"

"We can decide for ourselves what we want to do. The wardens don't have any sort of real purpose, or at least they don't have a shared purpose. The First is crazy, but he claims he protects his people. Maybe he does. Yelena...after she suggested starting a civil war to get rid of Rusol, I don't know what to think about her. Still, people come to her for advice and for help. I don't think she's necessarily a bad person."

Treya nodded. "What about us?" She and Corec, together with Katrin and Shavala, had talked several times about what they planned to do in the future, but they'd carefully skirted around discussing what being a warden actually meant.

"For me, I'd be happy to just live my life, and to help a few people along the way," he said. "Maybe someday, I'll take on a more official position, like Yelena, but not right now. What about you?"

"Shana says I need to figure out my own purpose. I like what we've talked about before. A place where people can find me if they need healing. But I don't want to forget that I'm a mystic first."

Corec said, "Then let's stick with the plan, but whatever we decide to do, I need to deal with Rusol first—unless we go so far away that he won't bother to follow us. Maybe that's in Cordaea."

"Stay?" Shavala asked. "I can't stay in Cordaea. I have to return to Terrillia someday. I thought you were considering towns near the forest."

"We are. I was just thinking out loud. Should we wait and see if Rusol gives up, or should we return as soon as we're done helping Ellerie? I guess we need to return if we're ever going to figure out what to do about him."

Treya said, "Maybe Yelena will figure it out before we get back."

"Oh, bloody hell," Corec said. "She doesn't know he's a warden. I'm going to go ask Captain Valen if he can take a letter back to her for me on his return trip. I hope she hasn't done anything to draw attention to herself."

Treya nodded. She'd have to update the letter she was writing to Mother Ola as well. Corec left to find the captain, but Treya couldn't stop thinking about the conversation. Her talk with Priest Telkin about the different divine blessings had been enlightening, but since then, she'd spent all of her time practicing her mystic abilities. If Rusol was a mage, and had other mages backing him, being a mystic wouldn't be enough.

"Shavala," she said, "after the pirates, are you too tired to make a flame? A little one, like you use for lighting the campfire?"

Shavala raised a finger and a tiny flame sprang from it. "Why?"

Treya closed her eyes and tried to construct one of the protection spells Telkin had described. In her mind, she felt something shift into place around her. It was weak and wavering, but it was there.

"Try to touch me with it," she said.

"What? Why?"

"Because if we're going to fight mages, we need to be able to protect ourselves from their magic."

"But what if I burn you?" Shavala asked.

"Then I'll heal myself."

#

Corec walked hand-in-hand with Katrin through the streets of Nysa, taking in the unfamiliar sights and sounds. They'd arrived the evening before, and he'd gotten sick again briefly at the sudden transition back to a surface that didn't constantly sway and roll. He'd been fine by morning, though, so the two of them had decided to take the time to explore before the group got together to plan.

Nysa wasn't quite as big as Tyrsall, but Marco had claimed there were six hundred thousand people in the city, making it larger than Telfort. Bobo had been right, too—very few people spoke trade tongue or Eastern, and nobody spoke Western. The street vendors called out to the crowd in languages Corec had never heard before.

Few people were carrying weapons out on the streets. Laborers scurried past, eyeing Corec's sword fearfully, but even the wealthy gave him plenty of space. The only people who didn't seem concerned were other armed men. It wasn't clear why everyone was so frightened; both Valen and Marco had said that Nysa was as peaceful as Tyrsall.

Most buildings were constructed of yellow stone bricks, fitted together so tightly that no mortar was necessary. The bricks came in a variety of sizes, but were too regular in shape to be naturally occurring. Smaller buildings, such as homes, were often completely round, with high-sloped roofs that curved inward before coming up to an open point in the center, which appeared to be used as a chimney. Larger rectangular buildings often had rounded protuberances at each corner following the same style.

A gray haze hung over the city, keeping the temperature chilly. It was raining out, but the rain was so light that it felt more like mist or fog.

After they'd been walking for an hour, Corec and Katrin came to a stop in front of a pen.

"I guess we've found where to buy the horses," Katrin said.

"I think these are for eating," Corec replied. There were butchers' tools hanging in the window of a small shack off to the side of the yard.

She wrinkled her nose in distaste. "They eat horses here?"

"The hillfolk back home do, too. And others."

"Yuck. Can we buy riding horses here?" She peered down the street, where more animal pens could be seen.

"Maybe, but I don't think we have enough time to look right now. We need to be getting back. Do you remember which way the Senshall building is?"

"That way to start with," Katrin said, pointing at the street they'd just come down. "After that...umm, somewhere toward the ocean?"

Corec laughed. "I forgot we wouldn't be able to ask directions. Maybe I remember enough Stoneborn to ask one of the dwarves."

While dwarves weren't an uncommon sight in Tyrsall, they made up at least a third of the people Corec had encountered in Nysa so far. Strangely, there hadn't been any elves or seaborn at all outside the docks.

He managed to say, "Where is Senshall?" in Stoneborn to a dwarven merchant. The woman tried to give him directions, but when it became obvious he couldn't understand her, she simply pointed. He smiled and nodded his thanks.

After a few wrong turns, they made it back to the harbor. From there, they remembered the way to the Senshall offices. As they walked, Corec glanced west across the ocean. Summer would arrive before the group returned to Tyrsall, which meant that he and Katrin would soon have known each other for a year. He'd never have believed that back when he'd first chased after her for the bounty.

"We should get married," he said suddenly. "Not here, but when we get back to Aravor."

Katrin burst out laughing. "That's how you ask me to marry you?"

Laughter wasn't the response he'd expected. "What's wrong?"

"I love you, Corec, but I swear, you've got to be the least romantic man I've ever met. Treya's got a book of love stories that Renny Senshall gave her before we left. It's good. You should read it and get some ideas."

"Uhh, I'll think about it, but are you going to answer?"

"Of course I'll marry you," she said, still laughing. Then she hesitated. "Not right away, though. Let's get settled first. What do you think of Shavala?"

"What?" Corec was confused by the sudden change in topic. "She's a good friend. Why?"

"Is that all?"

"What do you mean?"

"I know you find her attractive. She thinks the same of you."

Corec shrugged. Neither of them had made a secret of that, but he wasn't sure it was wise to admit it out loud. They'd been careful not to do anything that would hurt Katrin's feelings. Shavala just liked to tease him, knowing he couldn't react.

Katrin continued, "You should ask her about the elven custom of sharing. Tell her I said it's all right."

"What's all right?" He looked at her suspiciously.

"Trust me," she said innocently.

By the time they reached the Senshall building, their friends had gathered together in a room that didn't have enough chairs for everyone. Corec stood out of the way, while Katrin worked her way through the crowd so she could whisper something in Shavala's ear. She gave the surprised woman a mischievous grin.

Marco entered the room with a bearded man in rough brown clothing, who had a hand axe slung through a loop on the left side of his belt and a small pickaxe on the right side.

"Ellerie," Marco said, "this is Josip, who'll be our guide. He was Burton's first choice, and we were lucky to find him still in the city."

Ellerie nodded and greeted the man, then introduced everyone else. "We might as well get started," she said. She pointed to a large, stylized map painted on one of the walls, showing Senshall's caravan routes in Cordaea. "First, we'll be heading east to Lato, a town that sits on the border between Nysar and Bancyra. I understand there's a good road, and the company's got a way station there?"

Josip nodded. "We do. It's a nine-day leg if the weather's favorable, though the next run to Lato is seven days out if you plan to wait for it. If you want wagons of your own to carry supplies, Senshall can spare two that aren't in use right now."

Marco frowned.

"Wagons are slow," Corec said. "We'd planned to take a string of pack mules. I don't see any reason to travel with the caravans."

Boktar nodded. "We'd need twelve mules to haul two wagons anyway. If we take twelve mules without the wagons, and we're careful not to overload them, they can go as fast as the horses. We'll need to plan our route so we can resupply more often, but it'll be worth it."

"I agree," Marco said. "It'll be cheaper and faster, at the cost of a little convenience."

"Then you're looking at five days out," Josip said.

"We can overnight at the way station, but Senshall doesn't have a counting house there." Marco gave Ellerie a look. "I can't withdraw funds in Lato, and if I don't know where we're going next, I don't know if I'll be able to withdraw funds there, either."

"We don't know where we're going next," she said. "There are three likely options based on what we've learned so far. I'd like to talk to Josip about them, and Bobo's going to check the library here to see if he can find any clues. Would you accompany him to translate?"

Marco nodded. "There are three possible sites where we might find Tir Yadar?"

"No. We're looking for the beginning of the route, not the end. There are three likely locations to start at, but it's possible none of them will be the right one. If so, we'll need Josip's help to identify other choices. For now, just withdraw enough coin to get us started."

"It won't be cheap," Boktar warned the factor. "Thirteen horses, twelve mules. We brought our own camping gear, but we'll need as much food as we can carry without slowing us down."

Ellerie added, "If we end up in a place where we need money and you can't get to any, we can put in enough to get by. You can pay us back when we return to Senshall territory."

"I'd like to have a couple of crossbows on hand, just in case we need them," Corec said. "And Boktar and I need warhorses that aren't going to get spooked if we run into a fight."

"Warhorses are too expensive," Marco protested.

"You can sell them when we're done. You won't be out any money at all."

The man considered that, then nodded. "I'll withdraw sixty gold, with the expectation that getting outfitted won't cost more than forty to forty-five. The remainder will be used for expenses until we need to make another withdrawal."

"That should be enough," Boktar said, "unless prices here are wildly different than I'm used to. We'll need two or three days to get everything in order. Corec will be helping me purchase the horses and mules. Ellerie may ask some of the rest of you to help her get all the food—Leena and I worked up a full list while we were on the Peregrine. Oh, and Leena will need camping gear."

The cook wasn't in the room, but Ellerie nodded. "I'll take care of that, since she and I will be working together."

Boktar said, "Josip, Marco, if you need anything, be sure to let us know."

Ellerie and Boktar continued switching back and forth as they spoke, one of them taking charge, then standing to the side while the other seamlessly took over. It was the same way Corec and Ellerie had worked together in the Storm Heights. Had she simply substituted him for Boktar in her mind? Regardless of the reason, the two of them got along much better now than they had before, and Corec didn't mind someone else taking the lead for a while. It would give him time to watch how Boktar organized the expedition—those skills might come in handy in the future.
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The Eighth Warden Bk. 03 Ch. 11-12

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