Ashes And Spirit (Book 3) (47 page)

“How do you weave such fine fabric?”

The vendor smiled as she shot a haughty glance at the nearby stalls. “It isn’t a fabric. It’s wool.”

“Wool?” Maleena lifted the shawl, rubbed a corner of it on her cheek, and looked at the woman. “I’ve never felt wool that was so soft.”

“My wool doesn’t come from sheep. It comes from fluffy white goats. That’s why it’s so soft.”

“How do you achieve the violet color?”

“I beg pardon, Di’shan, but I can’t tell you that. It’s a family secret and my grandfather would have my hide if I told even a Dragon Rider.” The woman wrung her hands, her brows knotted in worry.

“Don’t look so upset,” Maleena said and gave the woman a reassuring smile. “If it’s a secret then it’s none of my business.” Relief swept the woman’s face. “Do tell me though; can this color only be achieved with wool?”

“Oh no, it can be applied to anything with varying degrees of success or shade.”

Maleena settled it around her shoulders. The deep V in the back hung past her bottom and both sides wrapped nicely around her. It looked ridiculous with her flying clothes, but with a dress it would look lovely. And it was so warm. Not normally a good thing this time of year, but at that moment it was wonderful.

She reached for her purse “How much?” After paying the amount, Maleena nodded to her. “May the Fates favor your day.”

“Thank you, Di’shan.” The woman curtsied as Maleena held the shawl securely around her shoulders with one hand, while she finished the pie and made her way through the rest of City Center. The houses grew larger and more lavish the farther she went until she reached the south wall of the city where the castle walls rose up strong and tall, flanked by the high-ranking houses.

The gate stood open and though well guarded, none stopped her or questioned her entrance. Though the north side was adjacent to the city, the other three sides were bordered by nothing more than the plains. The wide courtyard extended around all four sides of the castle keep, which rested inside another wall. Within that, the inner courtyard opened up. The scars on its stone wall from Ranit’s fire were still visible though the one guard tower had been rebuilt.

Four Galdrilene Defenders stood with four of the castle guards at the entrance to the massive keep. The Defenders nodded to her while the others simply watched. Maleena paused in front of a Defender. “Would you mind showing me to Kalila?”

“Of course not.” He turned on his heel and started into the dim interior. “Right this way.”

Right this way turned out to be two long hallways, a flight of stairs, and another hall. Voices raised in argument drifted down the stone corridor as they approached a set of tall, polished wooden doors. The Defender hesitated as if unsure whether to knock and interrupt the heated discussion in the chamber beyond.

Maleena waved him away. “I will take it from here. Feel free to return to your post.”

With a nod, the soldier left.

She stood for a moment, feeling the emotions in the room on the other side of the door. This close, with their voices raised, the argument filtered through the door with ease and Maleena’s temper began to rise as a man carried on that Markene should turn “all of that displaced rabble” out and be done with it. Another shouted that Markene had enough of its own problems.

Maleena shoved the door open and swept into the massive chamber. A collection of men gathered around a long oval table. Most were seated though several were standing. The chair at one end was empty. The chair at the other end was occupied by Kalila, or would have been if the queen were sitting. Instead, she stood glaring at the men. Behind her, Kellinar stood with his arms crossed over his chest and a murderous look on his face.

“Another Dragon Rider here to tell us what we should do?” A thin man with balding hair said with a sneer.

“What you should do?” Maleena gave him a dismissive look and continued to the vacant end of the table. When she reached it she remained standing, her fingertips braced against the smooth surface of the wood. She flicked her eyes to each man’s face, looking directly at them. “I have no intention of telling you what you
should
do. I plan to tell you what you
will
do.”

A chorus of angry shouts went up as more men stood. The raised emotions started an ache in her head that she ignored. Maleena looked calmly back and her voice remained conversational even though she boiled inside. “If you insist on behaving like children and speaking out of turn, I will be forced to treat you like children and silence you.”

Mouths snapped shut as her words sank in and a cloud of worry at what she might do rolled off them. She let the silence fill the room before speaking again. “You will turn no one out. Galdrilene will reach out to Boromar and Kanther to see if they can take the refugees from Calladar and Shadereen. However, any able-bodied soldier and anyone who wants to take up a weapon, no matter their skill, will remain.”

When a few men grumbled, she paused and sent a dark look before continuing. “The time frame for moving anyone will be set by Galdrilene and the nations they are moving to. You will have no say in that, and you will welcome with open arms any that remain and everyone who is here until the move is completed. Is that understood?”

“We are running out of everything!”

“We don’t want a bunch of outsiders messing everything up!”

“We don’t need any of the trouble they bring with them!”

Maleena raised her voice above the shouting. “Quiet!” When the noise subsided she said, “Three nations lost everything they had. Possessions, homes, food, and family. I saw babies burned in the street, men and women cut down on the swords of Kojen and by the spells of dark mages. I watched a volcano torn from its sleep to unleash its fury on entire villages. Taragen is nothing more than a burned-out city buried in ash with more of its population entombed within than I care to think about.

“And you dare sit here on your pudgy backsides in the comfort of your unscathed city with servants waiting on your every need and talk about turning these people out? As the head of Galdrilene, I can tell you now that will not happen.”

Several of them shifted, uncomfortable with the light she cast them in. The same man that spoke when she walked in, scowled at her. “What right do you have to dictate what Markene will or will not do? We are a sovereign nation. Galdrilene isn’t supposed to wield its power like a club over the nations.”

Maleena smiled sweetly at him. “Times are different and if need be, I
will
wield it like a club and bludgeon you over the head with it until you stop this selfish foolishness.” She looked him straight in the eye. “And there is nothing in Dragon Law that forbids me from plucking you out of your bedchambers in the middle of the night and depositing you in all your night-gowned glory on the wrong side of the Blood River.”

“I…you can’t…” He sank slowly into his chair.

“Would you like to find out?” Most likely Nydara would council her against such an action, but he had no way of knowing that. “The people of those three nations have suffered enough. I will not permit more suffering because you are all a bunch of fat, greedy ticks.”

She waited and when no further argument came, she settled in the chair and looked at Kalila. “Now, I’m sure you have plans on how to ration your stores until an agreement can be reached with Boromar and Kanther.”

Kalila sighed and sent her a relieved look before taking her seat. “I do…if I had been able to get a word in edgewise.”

“I believe the Heads of the Houses are more agreeable to hearing your thoughts now.”

All eyes turned to Kalila except for Kellinar’s. He looked directly at Maleena, and she heard his thoughts loudly. It was a good thing she had arrived when she did. Although his thoughts were creative they were sadly not possible as a Guardian.

Kalila shuffled through several pieces of parchment before handing them down the table. “As you can see, I made cuts where needed in order to properly supply the people.”

The man who had first spoken gaped at the page in front of him. “Only three pounds of meat per week per Head House? Have you lost your mind?”

“Have you lost yours?” Kalila said with a flat look. “Are you going to protest the amount of meat you can have when giving you more would mean several families would go without any? If you find three pounds per week to be so distasteful to you, then I will see to it that you receive none. Your share will be divided up among those who will be grateful, in this time of unrest and uncertainty, to have any meat at all.”

Though still a little red in the face with anger, he finally cast his eyes downward and bowed his head to her. “Yes, my queen.”

Another man stood, his eyes on Kalila though he waved his hands toward Kellinar and Maleena. “These Dragon Riders, as well as you, have all of this magic. Can’t you do something useful with it like create food?”

Kalila gave him a flat look. “Magic doesn’t work that way. Yes, I’m sure the Earth Riders could force a crop to grow and produce in a short amount of time, but you reap what you sow. The ripples from what they did would spread everywhere.”

“What ripples? I don’t understand.”

Kalila flung her hand in the direction of the window where snowflakes drifted beyond the panes. “Are you blind? There is snow when there should still be the heat of late summer! What the Shadow Riders did in New Sharren has disrupted the weather everywhere. You can’t force the elements and expect no repercussions. Those are the ripples I’m talking about.”

Kalila glanced around the table, and when no one seemed inclined to say anything, she continued. “Now that we’ve established that we can move on. It is late summer and not yet the time of butchering or when hunting is the best. When fall comes,
if
it comes and we don’t skip straight to winter, there should be a greater supply of meat. Last fall I ordered more animals retained and bred in anticipation of this possibility. However, the Shadow Riders moved faster than I had time to build up the necessary resources.”

“Remember,” Maleena said, “in all likelihood, the number of refugees will go down as Boromar and Kanther step in.”

“If they step in,” one of the men mumbled under his breath.

“Since they had no trouble sending the bulk of their armies to help guard
your
borders, I doubt they will take issue helping with the overflow of refugees.” Maleena snorted. “Honestly, if not for Kalila taking the throne, with the way the rest of you behave, Markene would have likely fallen to the Shadow Riders. Few of you, save your queen, have the slightest concept of anything beyond yourselves.” She swept them with an icy gaze. “The leadership of a nation is supposed to put the needs of the people above their own. You have consistently shown an inability to do this.”

Maleena stood and gave a slight nod to Kalila. “I will take my leave from this discussion now. I believe it’s time I had a word with my dragon about the state of Markene’s leadership. Time for any who feel they can fill the positions now taken by the Heads of Houses to present themselves before the silvers for evaluation of their sincerity and ability.”

“You can’t do that!” The balding man stood, his face beet red.

“Yes, I can. Under Dragon Law, if you refuse to change, I will be required to.” She turned and crossed the chamber but paused at the door and looked back. “While you are contemplating change and squabbling over meat like a pack of wolves, let me remind you that Markene is now on the frontline of this war. The Guardians will be working to evacuate any in the mountain villages west of Calladar that wish to leave, however, even if they stayed, they have no armies, no defenses. Yari is a large city-nation, nothing more. The Traders have no armies or defenses either. Their small city guard will be wiped out within minutes if the Traders choose to remain where they are.

“Kanther and Haraban are to the south. They will likely be left alone until it’s all over. It’s Galdrilene the Shadow Riders want control of, and you are in their path.

“Trilene, Hanover, and Turindar are all against you. There are no nations standing between you and the armies of the Shadow Riders. The next nation to fall, if one does, is Markene. Perhaps you, who are the Heads of Houses in this nation, should be more worried about that than how much you will be able to stuff in your already oversized gullets.”

She turned her back on them and strode through the door into the hall.