Arrows of Promise (Kingmakers Book 2) (24 page)

“And it mostly was,” Edvard soothed. “We didn’t lose any
people. The bandits did retreat. We just have some parts to rebuild. I consider
that a win.” When he got evil twin-glares, he hastily backtracked. “Of sorts.”

“We’re going to have to deal with those bandits.” Ash pinned
his blood-brother in place with his eyes. “Something that will have a permanent
effect. I can barely find the time to build everything we need, and now you’re
asking me to rebuild?”

“We’ll discuss exactly what to do later,” Ashlynn promised
him. “I have an idea or three I want to pass by Broden and Riana before we sit
down to plan. For now, Master, understand that the settlement is a little
hectic.”

“I do that. In fact, from today on, I’ll put the ward up
around the place, if you’re that short on wizards.” Gerrard had a no-nonsense
set to his jaw that said even without permission, he would be putting a ward
up.

“We’d greatly appreciate it, sir,” Edvard said respectfully.
“Any help you give us will be welcome.”  

“Then I’ll do that tonight. King Edvard.” Gerrard took a
breath, phrasing the words in his head before giving them voice. “What is your
plan for Iysh? You know they are likely to send an army against you?”

“I know.” Edvard sounded tired admitting to this. “Right
now, I’m looking for as much information as I can. If we can somehow come to an
agreement with Iysh before they send an army to our doorstep, all the better.
If not, I still need information so I can make a plan to deal with them.”

“I still have contacts in court, although not many. I can
send word to them?”

“Please do. Not many are willing to contact me at the moment
and it’s difficult to pull off, now that we’re in a trade embargo with Iysh.
Any information you give us will help.”

“I will make some inquiries,” Gerrard promised.

“Very good.” Slapping both knees, Edvard gave the whole room
an encouraging smile. “Well. We can’t afford to sit here much longer, there’s
too much to do. Back to work, everyone. Ash, Riana, stay here long enough for
me to fill you in on what was done during your absence.”

Put to work the same hour they came back home? Riana
couldn’t say she was too surprised by that.

“No matter what you say, I’m taking an hour or so to play
with Gwen before I dive into things again,” Ash warned him.

“Of course. She’d never forgive me otherwise.”

Riana didn’t believe for one minute that had been Edvard’s
plan. He was just going with the flow to keep Ash happy enough to work like a
slave. Come to think of it, Gwen might be Ash’s motivation in working so hard,
but it wasn’t for her. So why did she do it? For Ash?

Riana gave him a look out of the corner of her eye and
thought it might not be a good time to answer that question. Not even to
herself. Not yet.

Early morning was Broden’s favorite time of the day. He had
learned over the past months here that if he did not carve out time for himself
then no one would give it to him. So he got up early, right before the sun did,
and took himself down to the training grounds so that he could spend a little
time each day keeping his skills sharp.

Ashlynn had figured out what he was doing roughly about the
time that Ash and Riana left Estole. She had asked him about it and he had
responded: “A man’s talents be no’ rust-proof. They need consistent polishing
to keep their shine.”

She had apparently taken this to heart as after that morning
she had always met him there. Sometimes she created mirages for them to battle
against, other times it was just the two of them working on the basics of their
crafts, but either way they spent an hour together training. Sometimes they
spoke but not often. Most of the time they didn’t need words.

 This morning especially they were very in sync with each
other. Ashlynn had put up her illusionary enemies for them to fight against.
Broden was not quite sure how this spell worked. They looked like nothing more
than shadows, half-solid, half-sheer, but they moved and fought like they were
real soldiers. If he hit them with a steel arrow, they disappeared in a puff of
smoke. Likewise, if Ashlynn hit them with one of her long knives, they puffed
out.

The pair moved in and around each other, Broden skipping in
and out of her protective shield like a bird skimming over water, taking no
notice of it most of the time. They still had three opponents up when he heard
someone else enter the training yard, but aside from tracking the person’s
general position he paid no attention to them. Only when the last ‘enemy’
disappeared did he turn to look.

It was not one of the guards as he had expected, but instead
Gerrard. The man was apparently a morning person as he was wide awake, fully
dressed, and watching them with an unreadable expression on his face. Ashlynn
took notice of him at the same time and said easily, “Morning, Master.”

“Good morning,” he returned. Gesturing with a finger between
the two of them, he asked, “You do this every morning?”

“It’s a recent routine we developed,” she answered, wiping
sweat away from her forehead. “I enjoy it. I think it’s the only peaceful time
we have to ourselves all day.”

Broden also felt she was less inclined to beat up the first
criminal she found after working out any frustrations she felt pre-work day. He
was a wise man. He did not bring that up.

Gerrard gestured to the knives in her hands. “Since when do
you fight with weapons?”

“Ah, these? Broden has been teaching me. They’re very much a
last resort, for a time when I’m completely out of magic, which I hope never
comes. But I enjoy training with them. I think my reflexes have improved
because of it.”

“They have at that,” Broden agreed. He had seen for himself
that her reaction times had improved.

Ashlynn beamed at him. “High praise, coming from you.
Anyway, Master, you’re out here very early. You were looking for us?”

“When I asked, the kitchen staff said you were likely out
here.” Gerrard shifted his focus to Broden. “On the trip here, Riana started
teaching my students archery and strategy. Several of them showed aptitude for
it. I’d like for the lessons to continue but it’s a bit much to ask her to take
all twenty of them on by herself. She said you would likely help if I asked.”

Personally, Broden found it foolish in the extreme to have
half-trained wizards with no combat skills in a country that was facing
imminent attack. With no compunction whatsoever he agreed, “Aye, I will. These
lessons have a time and place to them?”

“Whenever we can get the two of you to agree. I’ll make sure
my students are there.”

“Then let me confer with me daughter and we can talk about
this again tonight.”

“Sounds fair,” Gerrard allowed. “Ashlynn, I want to make
sure my students have a thorough understanding of the laws here in Estole. Can
you meet with them after breakfast and explain everything to us?”

“That is a very good thought.”  Stowing both knives away in
the sheaths on her belt, she clapped Broden on the shoulder as she walked past
him. “I’ll clean up and meet you at breakfast.”

“Aye.” Broden did not so much as budge. He knew good and
well that Gerrard had not come out here at this bird’s hour of the morning to
ask favors of the two of them. This kind of thing was talked about during
breakfast, not an hour before it. No, the man had heard that he and Ashlynn
were routinely alone out here in the mornings and had come to see for himself
what they were up to.

Gerrard’s mouth curved up in a simulacrum of a smile. “How
did you know I wanted to talk to you one-on-one?”

“Instinct,” Broden drawled.

This tickled the man’s humor enough to get a more genuine
smile from him for a second. “I’m asking this as Ashlynn’s master. What are you
to her?”

“I do believe she told ye that the first time we met. We be
partners.”

“Partners.” Gerrard repeated the word as if he were not sure
what it meant. “You know, I asked Ash and Riana the same question. And that was
their answer. But it’s as plain as the nose on my face that they think of each
other as something more. You do realize that they’re falling for each other?”

Broden resisted the urge to roll his eyes to the heavens.
But it was a real challenge. “I do have eyes, man. Two of them. They both work
rather well.”

“And you can tell me that you and Ashlynn aren’t the same?”

The archer’s eyes nearly crossed at that mental image and he
could not help it—he laughed. “Ah, no.” Seeing that Gerrard really was worried
about this, he said gently, “Think, man. The lass be the same age as me own
daughter. It be a father she needs, no’ an old man as a lover.”

“Father.” Gerrard parroted this without comprehension and
then stepped back, looking away, the wheels turning in his mind. The next time
he repeated the word, it was like a revelation. “Father. Yes. That’s it. That’s
the way you two interact. I knew it was more than partnership between the pair
of you but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.”

Broden shrugged, not surprised by this. Ashlynn had never
had a father in her life that she could remember. Even she would not know what
to do with one if it suddenly appeared. Gerrard had never seen her act like
this before as she had never had a father-figure until Broden showed up.
Sometimes she was a little awkward, sometimes she was as natural around him as
a duck on water, sometimes she was the wizard and he her protector, sometimes
she was a little girl that just needed a shoulder for a minute. Ashlynn had
many faces and he had come to know some of them very well. The one consistent
thing between them was that he had her back. Always.

“Father and partner mixed in one.” The tension ran out of
Gerrard’s shoulders. “Well. I’m glad. You’re right, that’s exactly what Ashlynn
needs, although she’ll tell you quite differently if you ever ask her. She
always treated me as her master and friend, nothing more, as if she stubbornly
had to prove she didn’t need a father.”

“Aye, the lass be independent that way.” But both men knew
that it did not matter how old a woman got or how strong she might be. Everyone
needed that one person she could go to when things were well and truly wrong.

“You should be used to independent women as your Riana is
the same way.”

Broden grinned outright. “The two be similar that way.”
Feeling like he had a better sense of the man now, he put his bow over his
shoulder and gestured for Gerrard to follow him back to the castle proper.
Gerrard took the invitation in stride and fell into step with him. “Now, these
students of yers. They be how old?”

“The youngest is twelve, the oldest is twenty-one.”

“Pardon a man’s curiosity but do their parents know where
they be?”

“Ah, that? From the ones of age, I didn’t do anything more
than send a letter of notification. For the rest, I went and talked to their
parents personally and explained what I was going to do. They all agreed Estole
was a better place than Iysh for a young wizard to train in. I expected a fight
on my hands but not one argued with me.” Gerrard lifted a shoulder in a shrug.
“Then again, I don’t have a single student that currently has good connections
or is from a high level in Iysh society. That could be why.”

There be no ‘could be’ about it. “I see.”

“Riana was teaching them all equally, but how old do they
need to be?”

Broden snorted. “Me daughter was knee high and playing with
arrows. Twelve be plenty old enough. Now, I do no’ want them on the front lines
of battle, but if it becomes that desperate, I do want them to know where to
stand and how to fight so they can at least survive.”

Gerrard nodded firmly and in that moment the two men were
exactly in accord with the other. “Precisely so. I know you and Riana will be
very busy. We all will. But do you think you can train them every day?”

“Their safety be depending on it. I can find the space of an
hour.” Broden especially did not want battle-green wizards being turned out in
the next few years. That was folly in the extreme. Even if he lost an hour’s
sleep because of this on a daily basis, the sacrifice was worth it. “Now, ye
said me Riana was teaching them. How much did she cover?”

They walked with each other inside, relaying information
back and forth, planning, and secretly hoping that what they would teach in the
upcoming months would never be used.

Ashlynn gathered them all into the small sitting room in the
twins’ suite. It was not just both partners but Edvard as well, an informal
council formed up of the original people who had established Estole. Broden had
a notion that Ashlynn had done this on purpose instead of calling for a full
council to talk about the problem as she wanted to discuss ideas freely before
settling on a course of action.

He also had a notion that what she wanted would be something
that most of the provosts would not agree with.

She had them all seated, with herself standing in front of
the fireplace, before she clapped her hands in satisfaction. “It wasn’t easy
getting you all here.”

“We do have duties in completely different parts of the
country,” her twin observed drolly.

“Hush, you. Now. I am personally tired of defending against
attacks. The army from Iysh is bad enough, but the bandits have proven to be
equally destructive in some ways. They’re also even more unpredictable. At
least with Iysh, we have spies to alert us if they’re moving. With the bandits,
we have no clue until they’re right on top of us.”

Broden grimaced. That was unfortunately the full truth as it
stood. “So what do ye want to do, lass?”

“Hunt them down and eliminate them.” There was a fierce
light in her eyes.

Ash and Edvard jerked upright and spluttered in synchronized
protest, “Ashlynn!”

“You have a better option?” she inquired mock-sweetly, eyes
wide and innocent like a maiden. “Aside from running all of the wizards of
Estole into the ground by erecting numerous wards every night? Because now it’s
not just the settlement we have to protect, but all of the mines as well.”

“We have more wizards,” Edvard offered weakly.

The Sheriff of Estole was having none of it. “Most of them
are busy building things. Or rebuilding things. Or teaching the upcoming
generation of students the finer points of magic. You want to take turns
exhausting them? That’s a fine plan. Let’s have them all tired and wrung out
when the Iyshian army strikes.”

Edvard turned to Ash for support and found none. “She does
have a good point,” Ash admitted. “We really want to be near the top of our
forms, not barely squeaking by, if Iysh ever decides to move.”

“But hunt them down?” Edvard objected, appealing to both
twins. “We don’t have the manpower for that!”

“It will no’ take many to pull this off.” Broden eyed his
partner speculatively. He could not read her emotions through their bond like
Ash and Riana could but he did not need to in this case to have an idea of what
the lass was thinking. “A small, elite team could do more damage than an army
up there. That be what ye’re thinking, be it no’.”

“Precisely.” She beamed at him. “Edvard. I just need three
weeks and a few people. With Broden’s knowledge of the area, I can strike fast
and hard at the right places, and I can make it very costly for the bandits
that hit us. So costly they never want to do it again.”

“Who are you thinking to take with you?” Edvard hedged, not
agreeing one way or another.

“Me, Broden, Kirsty—”

“Wait, why Kirsty?” Ash interrupted.

“After all of that work she’s done on the settlement,
building things in your place, she is
livid
. It took Bragdon and Broden
both holding her back; otherwise she would have marched up there herself and
taken the bandit gangs on. Believe me, she wants in on this.” Ashlynn paused to
consider their reactions before adding, “And Master.”