The Warrior Elf (70 page)

Kevin shook his head. “We’d never trust him, or anything he said. What would be the point?”

Chris shrugged. “I don’t know, but we might find a use for him one day. At any rate, you don’t have to worry about protecting him or any of his family.”

“True. He’s on his own with Rolan.” Kevin finished his coffee. “I’m going to run through my routine. It’s still a little early to drop Nikki off. Mind keeping her a little bit longer?”

Chris shook his head. “We’ll be in my room when you get back. Knock gently though. We may be asleep.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Shortly after lunch Kevin went upstairs to change from the green tunic everyone at the castle wore to one of his old ones. The men he was going to see knew who he was, but if anyone else happened to be around, he didn’t want them wondering what the Master Sorcerer of Terah was doing in a small settlement in Nandelia.

After he changed clothes, he thought about what he wanted to say. No matter how many different ways he looked at it, it all boiled down to if you decide to go, you’ll be stuck there for six or seven years. He figured if he talked for any length of time he’d end up repeating himself so his best bet was to keep it short and open it up to questions.

The air shimmered as King Merdin and Dani arrived.

“Ready to go?” King Merdin asked as he looked up at Kevin. His gaze traveled down to Kevin’s old scuffed up boots. “Not your usual look.”

“If there are any extra people around I’d rather they not figure out who I am.”

“I think you’ve got that taken care of. I’m not sure I’d have recognized you if I’d seen you somewhere else. Where’s your pendant?”

“Inside my tunic.”

“As large as that shirt is you could hide an army under it. Wonder what the guy who used to wear it looked like.”

Kevin laughed. “It belonged to a ten-year-old boy.” When King Merdin frowned, Kevin added, “One of Blalick’s children.”

“Blalick the giant?”

Kevin nodded.

King Merdin put his hand on one of Kevin’s legs as Dani put his paw on the other.

When Kevin turned the key they went to the settlement in Nandelia. Several children were playing in the clearing between the river and the houses, but none of the adults were in sight.

Kevin quietly asked, “Everyone make it all right?”

“We’re fine,”
Dani said.

As Kevin started across the clearing, one of the boys jumped up and ran inside the nearest house. A few moments later, Cpt. Garen walked out. “Myron, I was hoping you’d come by today.”

Kevin shook the captain’s hand. “I’d like to talk to you and your men if you have time.”

Cpt. Garen nodded. “Come with me. We’ll use the dining room table. Would you care for something to drink while we’re waiting for the men to get here? Maybe some coffee or tea? I’m afraid I can’t offer you scog. We don’t have any and there’s not a tavern for ten miles.”

Kevin smiled. “Coffee would be nice. Thank you.”

While Cpt. Garen got Kevin a cup of coffee, one of the men left to round up the other men while the women herded the children outside. Fifteen minutes later only the men remained, and all of them were seated around the table waiting to hear what Kevin had to say.

“I’ve talked to several people, some who were at the castle in Trendon when Tsareth was alive, and some who were there after he died.”

“He was murdered,” one of the men mumbled.

“There’s no way to prove it,” Kevin said quietly. “Anyway, from all reports, you’re honorable men and competent guards. I’ve discussed your offer with Landis and her foster family, and they agree she’ll need protection while she’s training as well as afterwards, so she’d like to accept your offer.”

Smiles broke out around the table and the men started talking amongst themselves. Kevin gave them a few moments and then said, “However, there are some conditions, serious conditions, things you need to think about and discuss with your families.”

When Kevin had everyone’s attention, he continued. “It’s my responsibility to see to it Landis has a safe place in which to learn how to control and use her magic. She’s in such a place now, but she can’t stay there indefinitely. I’ve found another place where she’ll be safe and she can stay there until she’s completely trained, but that’s not a fast process. It could take anywhere from four to ten years.”

Most of the men nodded like this wasn’t news to them.

“The reason this matters to you is once you join her, you can’t leave until she does. You’ll be there for the duration. The only way to get there is by key. There are no towns, no stores, no taverns, nothing except what you choose to build.” Kevin paused and looked slowly around the table. “This isn’t and shouldn’t be a quick or easy decision. Some of you have children. If your family goes, your children won’t have any friends except the ones in this little group. They’ll grow up while you’re there and come back as much older children, teens, or even adults. Some of you have teenagers now. They’ll need to think about apprenticeships soon, and there won’t be anyone there who can teach them any skills that you yourselves don’t possess. You’ll be it. You need to consider how moving there will affect them.”

Kevin paused. “Please believe me when I say if you go you won’t be able to come back until she’s ready to come with you. You can’t change your mind once you’re there. If you go, you’re staying. Period. I’ll completely understand if some or all of you decide it’s too big a commitment. Landis will, too. No one will hold it against you and no one will come after you to make sure you don’t talk. If you don’t go, you won’t know where she is, so there’s nothing you can say that will endanger her. But at the same time, if you do talk about it, word could get back to Rolan, and I can’t guarantee how he’ll feel about your offering to protect the sister he’s vowed to kill. And if he comes looking for you, you’ll be on your own. I won’t be involved.”

As the men looked at each other, Kevin decided he’d said enough. “There’s not really anything else I can tell you, but I imagine some of you have questions. I may not be able to answer all of them but I’ll answer what I can.”

Tyler cleared his throat and said, “If this place is as isolated as you say it is, how will we be able to take care of ourselves? I mean will the soil grow food? Are there any animals we can hunt? Are there any trees we can cut down to make houses? What kind of place is it? Most of the places where people can live already have people living there.”

Kevin nodded. “The area is isolated, but only because it’s next to impossible to reach. It’s warm, about like it is here. There are woods, and the ground is fertile, but I haven’t seen any signs of large animals. As far as feeding your families is concerned, I’ll be out there at least once a week with fresh supplies as long as you’re living there. As to housing, there are trees, but there are also caves. I would suggest the caves as they are a better shelter in all kinds of weather. I’ve lived in a cave before and it was one of my favorite places. Warm in winter, cool in summer, and you don’t have to deal with your roof leaking when it rains.”

“I’ve got two teenage girls,” Raker said. “They’ll insist on having their own room if we go. Are the caves one big common room?”

Kevin shook his head. “I haven’t been through all of them, but I have checked out a dozen or so. All of the ones I went in had several rooms, some more than others of course, but I didn’t find any that were just one room.”

Raker nodded.

“What about cooking?” Giamen asked. “Can we cook in the caves? Or would we need to build shelters outside for cooking?”

“You can cook in the caves, but you’ll need to find a room with a natural chimney and set it up as your kitchen.”

“What about furniture? We won’t have a sawmill. How are we supposed to make chairs and tables? We can sleep on pallets if we need to, but we’ll need to have some furniture,” Jano said.

Sean looked at him and shook his head. “Think about it. We had a couple of tables and several chairs at the camp, and we didn’t get any lumber from anywhere. We can make do.”

Jano shook his head. “What we had at the camp was fine for us, but I can tell you now it won’t be fine with our wives.”

Synead nodded. “My wife will only put up with so much. Not having any tables or chairs would be enough to make her say no.”

“I can’t promise you’ll have everything you want,” Kevin said, “but I can say you’ll have what you need, and yes, tables, chairs, lamps, and beds are needs. If you decide to go, you can take anything from here you want to. And if there’s something else you need later, all you have to do is let me know. Some of you have young children who are sleeping in small beds right now. They’ll outgrow those. When that happens, let me know and I’ll bring you another one.”

“You’re sure about that?” Charo asked. “You won’t change your mind after we get there?”

Kevin shook his head. “If you go, you’re making a commitment to stay until she’s trained. In return, I’m making a commitment to see to it you have what you need while you’re there.”

Charo frowned. “So it comes down to our trusting you to do what you say.”

“Same as I’m trusting you to protect my apprentice.”

Cpt. Garen spoke up. “Unless we can trust each other, this needs to end now. Any of you who have a problem trusting Myron or the rest of us needs to pull out. No hard feelings. This is a big decision. No one’s going to force anyone to go.”

Kevin nodded. “And you need to be sure your wives are behind this, too. Don’t try to push them into it. If your wife wants out, pull out. Put your family first. Now, any more questions?”

“My wife is going to ask about a chapel. We’ve got three children and she won’t agree to be too far away from a sister,” Giamen said.

Kevin paused. “There won’t be a Sister of Healing there all the time, although there is one who can come on a regular basis to check everyone out. But there will be someone there who’s been trained in a chapel and knows how to prepare and use herbs. Some of you may remember him. From what I understand he worked in the chapel in Trendon for several years while Tsareth was the sorcerer. His name is Taelor.”

Cpt. Garen raised his eyebrows. “How do you know Taelor?”

“I’m surprised the other assassins didn’t mention him,” Kevin said. “He escaped shortly after you left. He’s been with Landis for a couple of years now.”

“So he’s the slave Rolan told them to find. Wonder why they didn’t mention his name,” Cpt. Garen said.

“If Rolan’s offering a bounty for him, they’d want to keep it for themselves,” Petar said.

“You’re probably right. They didn’t ask us to help them find Landis either,” Cpt. Garen said. Then he looked at Kevin. “Taelor was good at the chapel. He could do everything the sisters could except use his hands to heal. If he’s along, we’ll be fine.”

Kevin waited to see if anyone else had any questions. When no one did, he took out his key. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll leave you for now. Discuss this amongst yourselves, with your families, as a group, however you wish. I’ll check back with you next Thursday to see if you have any more questions.”

“Wait a minute,” Cpt. Garen said. “I have a question. How long do we have to make a decision and get packed?”

“I’d like to take the men out around the twentieth and let them explore the area and decide what you’ll need. After you get things more or less set up, I’ll bring the women and children. But keep this in mind, once you’re there, you’re staying. There’s no looking around and changing your minds, not for you, not for your wives, not for your children. Be sure before you go.”

Cpt. Garen nodded and stood up. “Thank you, Myron. We’ll see you next week.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Friday morning when Fenway walked into the kitchen, Ainsley was covered in flour from head to toe. She was standing in front of a big mixing bowl kneading something that looked more like mashed potatoes than dough, and there was more flour on the table and floor than could possibly be in the bowl.

Fenway walked over to the stove and used a spoon to stir whatever was cooking in the big pot, but when he spooned some up, it looked more like dishwater than food. He shook off the spoon and set it back down next to the stove. Then he picked up the coffee pot from the back of the stove and poured himself a cup. It looked like muddy water. He took a sip and turned his back towards his daughter to hide his grimace.

“You don’t have to drink it,” Ainsley said. “It’s horrible.”

Fenway turned towards her and smiled. “Well, it’s not as thick or burnt as yesterday’s.”

Ainsley laughed. “Still not fit for drinking. Pour it out and get some scog.”

Fenway wrinkled his nose. Smoke was coming from somewhere. “Is something burning?”

Ainsley yelled, grabbed a thick towel, and headed for the oven. As she opened the door, smoke poured out into the room. She reached in and pulled out a loaf of burnt bread. When she tossed it on the table, it hit with a solid thunk. “Well, that was the bread for today’s lunch.”

Fenway walked towards the table and looked at the lopsided black lump. “Maybe if we cut off the burnt edges...”

Ainsley handed him a knife. “Be my guest.”

Fenway tried for several minutes to cut the bread, but he couldn’t make more than a dent in the loaf. “Maybe I need another knife, a sharper one.” He looked around the kitchen and settled on a big meat cleaver. When he whacked the loaf of bread, it broke into two pieces, both hard as rocks. Fenway stared at the two chunks. “I think I broke it.”

Ainsley shook her head.

“What are you making there, in that bowl?” Fenway asked as he tossed the blackened loaf in the garbage barrel.

“Tonight’s dinner bread.”

“Might need to keep a closer eye on it.”

Ainsley looked at her father and sighed. “This isn’t going to work and we both know it. I need to be outside, taking care of the customers, and someone who can actually cook needs to be in here.” She tossed the towel she’d used to get the bread out of the oven on the counter near the stove. “I’ve been trying to do this for two weeks and I have yet to make one thing that’s edible. I can’t even make coffee!”

Fenway put his arm around his daughter’s shoulders. “It takes time to learn how to cook. I’m sure you’ll get there.”