Healer (Brotherhood of the Throne Book 2) (2 page)

The Brotherhood had built its training facility in Fallad, as far from Kingsreach and Comack as possible while still being on the main trade route. They were about fifteen days march from Silverdale town but a man with a sturdy horse could travel it in less than five days, whatever the weather, as Kane had just proven.

Sergeant Murdoch, his Weapons Master when he was Captain of the Kingsguard, had accomplished a lot since he’d arrived late last summer. Kane had been told that Brothers from all over the north of Fallad had arrived to help put the school together. Woodcutters and carpenters from the Western Forest had descended on the spot bringing with them logs already cut and dressed as well as cabinets and furniture. Once the buildings were up, farmers and merchants had arrived to fill the storerooms with food and fuel for the winter and supply the lamps and bedding the one hundred recruits required. When Dasid had arrived with books
borrowed
from the libraries in both the Collegium and Silverdale, they had been ready for the recruits.

The first batch of recruits, mostly from Kingsreach, had arrived in late October. They’d spent four months undergoing extensive training before being sent home to make way for the current, recently arrived group. 

Kane opened the wooden door that led to the offices and classrooms. He stamped the snow from his boots, closed the door on the chill air and turned down a hallway. The last door was open and he entered the room, shrugged off his cloak, pulled his gloves off and stuffed them into his belt.

“Well, Murdoch.” Kane hung his cloak on a hook next to four others and stepped over to warm his hands by the hearth. “You’ve made a lot of progress in a few short months. The new recruits are from the north, are they?” Kane looked up and met the eyes of the sergeant, a wiry soldier with close-cropped gray hair and a straight back despite over forty years in the Kingsguard.

Sergeant Murdoch nodded. “Aye. All from the Western Forest. A good batch of archers, too. We sent the first lot from Kingsreach home telling them we was done for the winter, just in case any of them fall in with Westley Stobert and his men.”

“Good,” Kane said. “We need to do everything we can do to keep our actual strength and readiness from Thorold. Are the rest in there already?” Kane motioned to the closed door that backed off the room and the older man nodded. “I guess we should get to it, then.”

When the rough-hewn door opened, all three men sitting around the table looked up.

“Dasid,” Kane said. “It’s good to see you again.”

Dasid stood and Kane gripped his outstretched hand. He hadn’t seen him since he and Brenna had left Kingsreach six months ago, and he’d rarely seen his former second in command out of uniform.

“You’ve grown your hair,” Kane said as he stepped back to look. Dasid’s once bristling hair now covered his head in thick salt and pepper curls.

“It seems to be a good disguise.” Dasid ran a hand through his hair. “I’d kept it short for so long no one suspected I had such curls.”

“Including him, I’m afraid.” Came dryly from the other side of Dasid. “And Dasid won’t say it, but I’ve a feeling his hair is greatly admired by some of the ladies in Fallad.”

Kane hid a smile as Dasid’s face reddened slightly. “Ewart,” he turned to face his boyhood friend. “I’m very glad you could make it.”

“Yes, well, I’ll not let it be said the Falladian Dukes completely let their people down, although it seems so in the last few years.”

“You’re here now, and that’s what matters.” Kane clasped Ewart’s hand and turned to the last man in the room.

“Guild Master Brunger, well met.” Kane nodded to the merchant. “I apologize for being late but I wanted to take a quick look around the school.” Kane expected the meeting to run late and he needed to leave early the next morning. Unless he wanted to view the barracks while it was full of sleeping recruits, this had been his only chance to look.

“Shall we start?” Kane asked.

He sat at the table and the others resumed their seats. Sergeant Murdoch took the chair nearest the door.

Kane looked around the room. He could still smell the new lumber the rough, wooden walls were constructed from and although the table was finely crafted, the chairs were simple and bark still clung to the legs of some of them. Maps of Soule were spread out on the table before them. Three former Kingsguardsmen, a merchant and a duke not quite a full year into his reign - this was now the council of the Brotherhood of the Throne. And though he hadn’t been part of the council before, Kane was their leader. Not for the first time, he wished his Uncle Feiren was here. And not for the first time, his heart ached at what Brenna had been forced to do when she ended the suffering Feiren had been enduring at the hands of Duke Thorold and High Bishop Valden.

“Let’s begin,” Dasid said, bringing Kane’s attention back to the meeting. “Murdoch, your report please.”

The sergeant nodded and cleared his throat. “We’ve plenty of provisions to take us well into the spring, and I’ve been talking to the archery instructor and he thinks we can get the recruits out hunting soon. It would help with our supplies and give them moving targets. This batch of recruits seems to be coming along faster than the first. It’s likely a combination of us instructors knowing what we’re doing and the lads and lasses being forest and farm raised. They’re used to hard work and being outside in all weather.”

“Any problems training the boys and girls together?” Kane asked. Stobert had betrayed Brenna in part because she was a woman - if others in the Brotherhood held similar views, they needed to root them out.

“Naw, not anything I’d call a problem.” Murdoch scratched his chin. “You get some of them coupling up and all, but most ways they keep themselves out of trouble. There’s the odd fight of course,” he said. “But boys soon stop fighting over girls when they realize the girl can take care of herself.”

“And how many girls are there here?” Kane asked.

“This lot has twenty. And the best archer is a girl from up near the Langemore border. She said her eyesight was so good ‘cause of all the needlework she does.” Murdoch chuckled. “Never saw so many boys pick up a needle so fast in all my life. We’re going to have enough uniforms for the next two years once they’re finished.”

“Anything else Sergeant?” Dasid asked. Murdoch shook he head. “Good, thank you.” Dasid made some notes and looked up at Kane. “Would you like to report next?”

He nodded. “I was able to contact a few Brothers in Aruntun, all in Smithin, down by the Southern Sea. There aren’t many left and they didn’t seem very interested when I told them that the prophecy was being fulfilled - until I told them Brenna was a Seer.”

“And that’s important to them?” Ewart asked.

“Extremely,” Kane said. “There have been visions over the years that have touched on the Brotherhood but they’ve never been very clear or consistent. The Brothers in Aruntun claim that’s what caused most of their members to simply drift away. If the Seers can’t make sense of it, how can they believe?”

“But why do they care that the heir is a Seer?” Dasid asked.

“According to them,” Kane said. “Seers rarely have visions about each other and when they do, they aren’t very clear. So the heir being a Seer explains why there haven’t been any visions for so many years.”

“Now the Brothers there are interested in helping,” Dasid said.

“Yes,” Kane agreed.

“But there’s so few of them it may not matter anyway,” Dasid said.

“Oh, I don’t know.” Marcus Brunger leaned back in his chair, a thoughtful look on his face. “If any are traders or sailors they’ll have ties into Comack, most likely just across the border in Hurly. And we know we’ve more Brothers there. Many have moved south from Dryannon since Thorold became duke.”

“You’re right.” Dasid nodded to the merchant. “And between them we may have enough to keep both towns out of the hands of Thorold. One of our Brothers in Hurly owns the largest fleet in Soule. Merchant ships, mostly, but they could be used to patrol the coast. If anyone is willing to put into Dryannon they may be able to find out what Thorold is doing in Comack.”

“One of the Aruntians is a captain of a merchant ship. I already put him into contact with Brothers in Hurly. We parted ways there.” Kane shoved a hand inside his shirt and pulled out a small leather case. He lifted the flap and pulled out a folded piece of paper.  “Here’s the list of contacts.” He handed the paper to Dasid.

“What other news of the south?” Dasid asked.

“Hurly was quiet when I was there. Or rather, when Master Arlott was there.” Kane said. “I was able to meet with the Brotherhood. They have little news of Kingsreach but Thorold continues to squeeze them for taxes and labor. The mines in the Godswall are producing more ore than ever and a new vein of gold has been found. Rumor has it that Thorold has been trading heavily with Langemore, probably capitalizing on being the father of the heir to the throne.”

“The King of Langemore has a daughter of an age to be pledged.” Ewart said. “No doubt they’re hoping to make a political alliance as well as a financial one. He was after me a few years ago even though the girl wasn’t more than thirteen.”

“She’d be a good age for Beldyn,” Kane said. “The Brothers in Hurly hadn’t heard about Stobert and as I traveled north from Brother to Brother, none had until I was within a two day ride from Kingsreach. It seems that Thorold has not given Stobert free rein in his land after all.”

“Which must madden him to no end,” Ewart said. The Duke of Fallad was not happy that one of his minor nobles had aligned with Thorold.

“There is one more disturbing thing I found while I was in Comack,” Kane continued. “The Church of the One-God has acquired a lot of power – much more than I’ve noticed before.”

“In what way?” asked Ewart.

“The Brothers I spoke to said that those who openly worship the old gods are treated poorly by followers of the One-God. Tavern keepers who have always happily served any with coin are now refusing to serve those who follow the old gods. In some cases they either won’t buy their goods or offer very poor prices,” Kane said. “The further north I went the more hardships I saw amongst the families of the Brotherhood.” He’d taken to leaving coin with each family he came across, hoping it would be enough to carry them through the winter.

“For years the members of the church of the One-God have looked down on those who follow the old gods,” Brunger said quietly. “Even in Kingsreach there are those who feel the followers of the old gods are witches and troublemakers, but for a merchant to refuse trade? That’s a strong stance for a man to take. I don’t like it.”

“Nor do I,” Kane agreed. “Up until now the law has always ignored a man’s faith.” Kane ran a hand through his hair. “I think Thorold is not only allowing the High Bishop to stir up hatred for followers of the old gods, I think he’s encouraging it. Stobert wasn’t high enough up in the Brotherhood to know much very about the members but he does know we all follow the old gods.”

“Of course. Hurt all followers of the old gods and you’ll hurt the Brotherhood.” Ewart shook his head slowly. “I believe in the One-God but I am first and foremost the Duke of Fallad. I could never deliberately allow anyone to mistreat my people. I’ll be looking at how the church is operating within my duchy as soon as I get back to Silverdale. That type of hatred will not be allowed.”

Kane had little more to tell. He’d spent a few weeks in Kingsreach with Eryl, but Brunger would have more recent news and of course Ewart had better contacts in Silverdale. Kane’s report finished, they took a break and he stood and stretched. He’d been traveling so much in the past few months he was no longer used to sitting in a chair for such long periods of time.

Hot tea and a cold supper of bread, cheese and meat were brought in when they were ready to begin again.

“Guild Master, what news do you have?” Dasid asked.

Guild Master Brunger sipped his tea and stared down at his plate. “The Kingsguard Brotherhood is in grave danger.” He lifted his head and looked directly at Kane. “Stobert identified some Brothers to Thorold. Thankfully Stobert didn’t know the council, or else I wouldn’t have been free to travel. And Thorold’s man Barton was named Captain of the Kingsguard just over two months ago. He’s been ferreting out Brothers within the Guard ever since. Most have fled, but a few have been imprisoned, or worse, given over to the High Bishop.”

“Like my uncle.” Kane shook his head slowly. “If they’re lucky they won’t last long.” He remembered Brenna’s stricken face when she’d felt his uncle through old steel. “Who has he caught?”

“Hollier and Connell had been given over to Valden before I left,” Brunger said.

“And the Guard left are loyal to Barton while he does this?” Kane wanted to weep. Men who had proudly worn the uniform of the Guard were being corrupted by Duke Thorold and High Bishop Valden. He met Dasid’s eyes and saw that he wasn’t the only one grieving.

“Barton has his own men in positions of power and all those charged have been linked to Feiren, who was condemned by the king himself as a traitor.” The Guild Master paused for another sip of tea. “We need to keep Brothers in place so we know what’s going on inside the Guard but we also need a place to send those who must escape.”

“Can we bring them here?” Kane looked at Sergeant Murdoch and Duke Ewart.

“It would be a tight fit, but we can make the room,” Murdoch said. “I’d expect somewhere ‘round one hundred Guard. Once the thaw comes we can have them build another barracks. We’ll run short of rations, especially for the horses, but with the duke’s help and our Brothers here in the north, we can make it work.”