Leaves of Revolution (22 page)

“YOU’VE NEVER BEEN TO Valderwood, have you?” Tobias asked. “Not in all the times you visited me.”

“No.” Nathaniel rubbed at a spot on the horn of his saddle. “I would have liked to – I’m always interested in new places, but you always talked me out of revealing you had strange visitors. I wonder how they’ll receive me now.” After everything Tobias had told them about the village, he had to admit he was nervous about going – unsure what to expect. Contrary to Quinn’s wishes, they hadn’t even brought along a guard; Tobias didn’t want to make the villagers defensive.

“It’s perhaps not as bad there as I led Her Majesty to believe at first. Most of the people there are kind and trustworthy. They wish to be left alone more than anything. Only a few take a hard line in enforcing that.”

“So why didn’t you tell her the truth?”

“For some of the same reasons you have trouble being honest with her about certain things, Nathaniel. She showed up here with almost nothing in the way of an army, when she needs one badly. I wasn’t sure how she’d react to the idea of fifty armed and trained men only half an hour away. She could have caused a lot of trouble if she’d demanded their help immediately. If she handles it right, though, I think at least some of them could be an asset to her.”

Nathaniel tipped his head sideways at his uncle. “You underestimate her.”

“Yes. At first I did. I realize now I could have given her more credit.”

“So why didn’t you tell her the truth before we left today?”

Tobias scoffed. “You of all people should understand how much more difficult it is to change your story in the middle than just tell it straight the first time.”

“Indeed.” He rubbed at the back of his neck. “At this point I feel like everything I ever tell her is a contradiction to what she believed. I never meant to lie to her – only to keep her safe.”

“I know. And it’s that much harder when you’re not entirely sure which part is the truth, and which part is just something you were wrong about anyway.” Tobias’ voice had taken on a tone thick with an underlying meaning that made Nathaniel follow his gaze. What he saw made his palms sweat and he wondered if Tobias hadn’t told Quinn the full truth the first time.

They had nearly reached Valderwood – or what Nathaniel assumed was the village, anyway. The stone wall surrounding it was too high to make out even the rooftops of whatever buildings were inside.

He couldn’t tell whether the heavy iron gate was all the way closed or just mostly – the view was too obstructed by the armed men on horseback in front of it.

“Do you always get this kind of warm reception when you come here?”

Tobias didn’t answer, but it didn’t matter – there wouldn’t have been time for a conversation. Two of the men were already riding toward them.

Nathaniel could hear Tobias’ breath coming in too-fast gulps, but the older man looked composed as the two soldiers came right up to them.

His heart pounded, and his hand hovered halfway to his sword as he fought between the competing urges to both be prepared to defend himself and to not appear as a threat.

“Hello Tobias,” said the first man who reached them.

“It’s good to see you, Joel. How’s your leg?”

Nathaniel couldn’t stop himself from looking down to see what Tobias was talking about, but if there was anything to see it was hidden by the man’s long pants and boots, and he didn’t give up any information, either.

“Who’s your companion?” Joel asked. “We were expecting you to come alone.”

Tobias coughed. “I’d have thought you’d be happy to see me with some company – now nobody will have to make the trek out to check up on me for a while.”

“We might feel that way, Tobias, if Queen Quinn hadn’t gone and gotten herself involved in a war that’s brought troops into the area. Makes it a strange time for you to show up with an unannounced stranger – especially one with a sword.”

Nathaniel’s fist closed tightly around the reins as he forced himself not to clutch at his sword instead. The horse snorted, warning him to be careful of his grip.

“Perhaps you’d like to tell us why you have a guest at such a time,” a second man said. “And what you might know about the armies nearby.”

Tobias looked at Nathaniel, and it was clear from the deep creases in his forehead that whatever he’d expected in coming here, this wasn’t it. He didn’t have an answer ready for these men. “Victor…”

Nathaniel cleared his throat, interrupting Tobias. “How close have the troops gotten to your village?”

The man called Joel scowled. “Too close. They haven’t found us, we don’t think. And we don’t plan on allowing that to change.”

Though the statement was obviously a threat, Nathaniel was bolstered by the fact he’d gotten an answer at all – and that all of the men’s swords were still sheathed. For a long moment, he pondered how to respond. He wasn’t sure what kind of information was most likely to get him killed, but in the end he decided that this time the truth was safer than a lie. Hopefully.

“Her Majesty would also prefer to keep any fighting far from your village.”

Now all of the men found the hilts of their swords.

“Are you with Queen Quinn’s army?” Joel demanded.

“Calling it an army at this point would be generous.” It wasn’t entirely a lie. Quinn was in desperate need of more men if she was to have any chance against the army King Ivan had surely provided for Tolliver.

His response only agitated the men more.

“You still haven’t told us how you know so much about the queen’s army.” The second man had his sword partway out.

“Yes, well, that’s because I haven’t introduced myself properly. I am Nathaniel Rose.”

“
Prince
Nathaniel Rose?” The sword came all the way out.

“Yes, Victor,” Tobias said, his voice calm. “Prince Nathaniel – the fourth-born
healer
. I brought him here to help.”

“Help what? Help occupy our town with soldiers? Force us to participate in a fight that isn’t ours?”

Victor was angry. Nathaniel didn’t think there was anything he might say that would allay his fear and suspicion. But Joel’s initial reaction to Nathaniel’s identity was different – for just a moment he’d regarded him with curiosity rather than anger. And one of the younger guards behind the two obvious leaders had an even stronger response. His eyes were unable to hide a flicker of hope.

When he answered, he directed his response to Joel, but also glanced carefully toward the hopeful young man, including him in the conversation as much as he could. “I speak with authority when I tell you that Queen Quinn has no intention of interfering with your village. Tobias and I have brought no soldiers with us to visit you today. If you sweep the area, you’ll find none of her army waiting to attack you. The only thing we have brought is medicine to help with your fever outbreak – medicine the troops themselves could use, but that the queen has chosen to share instead.”

“Why would she do that?” Dark suspicion colored Joel’s voice, but his knuckles were no longer white on the hilt of his sword.

“Because you are her people, and she is able to.”

“What if we don’t
want
to be ‘her people’?” Victor spat. “We’ve done well enough on our own under Hector’s reign.”

“She doesn’t intend to force you to accept her help. Or my help, as the case is today. But you and I both know that Hector wasn’t even aware that Valderwood exists. And even if he had, Hector wouldn’t likely have found it worthwhile to risk stirring dissent in an area with so little to offer him.”

If he’d been out here alone with Victor, the man would have planted the sword in his chest by now. But the other men were listening. Only one more was holding a knife and sweeping his gaze over the surrounding woods.

“I know Tolliver. I don’t expect him to be nearly as tolerant of those unwilling to declare allegiance to him. There are already stories coming in of entire villages destroyed except for those willing to join Tolliver’s army.”

Victor’s eyes were so narrow at this point that Nathaniel wondered if he could even see. “How many of those villages were harboring the queen when they were attacked?”

“None of them. The queen is safe and slowly amassing an army, and today she is offering whatever assistance you need, even while she can ill afford to do so.”

“In exchange for what?”

“If she were here in front of you now, she would ask for nothing in return, Victor. As her ambassador and prince, though, I might be bold enough to ask for your soldiers here to not move against her or her army.”

There was a long, weighted silence as Victor didn’t respond at all. Finally, Joel sighed. “Can you really help us with the fever illness?”

“Yes. I’ll need to see the people who are sick first before I know how much I can do and what promises I can make, but I’m here to do what I can. And I can also take a look at whatever is going on with your leg.”

“Come on then.”

“WE SHOULD BE GETTING close,” Dorian said, bringing his horse to a stop as he reached to pull a map out of his saddle bag.

“How do you think we should do this?” Zander asked. “We don’t know what we’re going to find when we get there. I don’t know if it’s a good idea to burst into the middle of the situation with twenty soldiers.” He looked around at the men behind them.

Dorian nodded.

“Can I see that map?” He wasn’t certain he’d be able to make sense of it, but he wanted to understand more about the world he was living in now. Over the last couple of weeks his map skills, at least, had improved considerably.

Dorian handed over the map without hesitation, although at the moment he did, something came zooming toward them from the sky.

For a second, the motion startled Zander too much to understand what it was. One hand flew up to protect his face while his other fist clenched around Ember’s reins to keep him from spooking, but the horse didn’t react at all. When he finally focused on the flying object, he understood why.

It was a large, charcoal gray seeker – he thought it might be the same bird he’d noticed in the barn the day of his incident in the barn with Raeyan. It rested on the ground for a minute, its shiny black eyes shifting back and forth between Dorian and Zander. Dorian held out his arm to invite the creature on, but when the bird stretched its wings to fly up, it landed carefully on Ember’s neck. Though the bird was enormous, Ember remained calm and still.

Zander had never been this close to one of the birds. He stretched his hand tentatively toward it, more than a little nervous about its razor-sharp beak at as he reached for the little metal cylinder attached to its leg.

The bird tipped its head sideways so far it nearly went upside down, and if Zander hadn’t known better, he would have sworn it sighed. Then, while his hand was still several inches away, the animal picked up its leg and set it down right in the middle of his palm.

“All right,” he said, chuckling and reaching for the lid to the container.

The bird looked up at him – not making eye contact, but staring at the top of his head. Now he knew it was the bird from the barn.

“I’m sorry! Give me a chance to learn here, would you?”

When he finally had the folded piece of paper in his hand, he held it out to Dorian.

The older guard shook his head. “I would say the bird knew who she was aiming for, Sir Zander.”

He wasn’t sure he agreed, but he unfolded the note anyway.

The situation is mostly contained. Instruct your troops to come in together
and finish securing the area. Search for any stragglers. We’ll need transport
for prisoners and our wounded if possible. Please
respond with ETA for your troops.

The note ended with numbers and letters he couldn’t decode, though he knew they were coordinates – yet another thing he needed to learn. “I think this message may have been intended for Her Majesty,” he told Dorian, handing it over.

The bird pecked at his hand.

“Hey!”

Dorian chuckled. “She’s offended that you’d doubt her intentions – and she’d like a treat.”

“Really?” Zander said as he dug around inside his saddle bag until he found a sandwich. He ripped off the corner so he could offer her the bread and the meat. “You take a message to the wrong person, and you
still
expect a tip?”

Stopping in the middle of a bite, the bird looked right at him and bobbed her head once.

“Did she just nod at me?”

“Yes. I think she likes you.”

“Guess I won’t complain about that. So what do we do with this?” He gestured toward the note.

“It sounds like we take all of our men into the scene. We should be running into them just over that next hill there.” Dorian pointed. “I think Prince Maxwell sent this bird within the last half hour – probably even sooner – and she spotted us on her way to the queen.”

The bird chirped.

“Okay then,” Zander said. He reached into his bag again and pulled out another piece of meat for the bird. When he held it out, she blinked at him, took a small hop toward him and rubbed her head right against the underside of his hand. A little thrill of surprise raced up his arm at her touch, making him smile. Then she yanked the meat from between his fingers.

He cleared his throat, concentrating on the bird in front of him. “Do you think we should send this note to Her Majesty, along with our own note about our plans?”

“Yes. You can go ahead and write it as soon as we decide exactly how to go about this.”

“We?” He’d been expecting Dorian to give him orders, not to include him in the process.

“What do you think is the best process for securing the area, in case there are any stragglers?” Dorian didn’t even seem to notice the doubt in his voice.

Zander’s hands suddenly felt unsteady, like he might lose his grip on Ember’s reins. The bird took another step toward him, the ends of her folded wings resting right against the inside of his leg. He took a deep breath. “If we’re dealing with an army under Tolliver’s control, we should be worrying about any kind of second wave in the trees,” he said. “I think we should send some men wide around the perimeter to search – and then I think we need to get in and out quickly in case anyone managed to communicate to reinforcements anywhere.”

Dorian nodded. “I think that’s a good plan. The prisoners and wounded?”

“We assess the situation when we get there, and then do what we can with what we have at the site, and we hope to hear back from Qu – from Her Majesty with further instructions.”

“All right.” Dorian already had a pencil and paper in his hand.

“Not that I have any idea what I’m talking about, you know. I’m making this up as I go along.”

Dorian shrugged with one shoulder as he wrote; a slight grin lifting the corner of his mouth. “So are the rest of us, if you hadn’t noticed.”

“I think you might be a bit more qualified than I am.”

“Well, I might ask you to refrain from swinging your sword anywhere near me when we get in there, Sir Zander, and I’m rather grateful you’re riding a horse that knows how to control
you
, but when it comes to the rest of it, I’m honored to be doing this beside you.”

Warmth pooled in his chest, and for a minute he couldn’t look at Dorian. This time the ridiculous bird climbed all the way onto his leg and made a soft warbling sound deep in her throat.

“Just don’t get killed in there, okay?” Dorian said, before making a clicking sound that called the bird over to him so he could put the rolled-up notes in her carrier.

“Don’t you, either.”

“I’ll do my best not to, Sir Zander.”

Dorian’s map skills were thankfully much stronger than Zander’s. After a short ride to the top of the next hill, Zander could see the smoke and movement between the trees down in the valley below them. He didn’t like how easy it was to see from here, actually, and he and Dorian stopped earlier than they’d planned to send ten of the men in a wide loop around the whole gully.

“Are you ready?” Dorian asked him once the guards had left.

“No.”

“Good. Let’s go.”

For all of his preparation to be shocked and terrified, actually riding into the clearing felt far too mundane. The only thing that surprised him was the sheer number of guards in purple waiting there. Though Max’s note had indicated fatalities and injuries, there was no immediate indication of any of that. In fact, the first thing he saw was guards gathered around two campfires, cooking something that smelled a lot better than the sandwiches tucked in his saddlebags.

Max saw them coming long before they made it to the site, and he was ready when they arrived, standing next to a fully uniformed guard Zander recognized from Eirentheos, but didn’t know well, Davis Jones.

“That was faster than we expected you,” Max said as Dorian and Zander dismounted.

“Your last message came to us before continuing on to Queen Quinn,” Dorian said. “What happened here?”

“We arrived early this morning,” Max said. “We were intending to stop here and wait while I sent communication to Quinn about our arrival and to ask her where would be the best place to concentrate our efforts. Before I got a message to her, though, we were attacked by a small patrol. We thought we were isolated here, but they must have seen the smoke from our cook fires.”

“How many men?” Dorian asked.

“They had twenty.”

“And now?”

“Three are still alive. We’re holding them for now. As far as we can tell, none escaped. We’ve swept the area several times for more men, and we haven’t found any so far, but there’s no way to be sure; it’s too wooded here.”

“Who was leading them?”

“A castle guard.” Davis’ voice was filled with bitter contempt. “He’s alive if you’d like to speak with him.”

A large part of Zander hoped desperately that the responsibility of speaking to that guard wouldn’t fall on him, but a small – and vicious – part of him hoped that it would.

“What information are you hoping to get out of him?” he asked Max.

Max gave him a sideways look. “Are you asking why we didn’t just kill him?”

“Yes.” Zander wondered if he should feel remorse for that, but right now he couldn’t feel anything except anger that a guard Quinn had trusted – probably one
Ben
had trusted – was helping Tolliver.

Max’s eyes slid between Zander and Dorian, and then out toward the other guards who’d come with them.

Zander felt his own eyes narrow. “There’s nobody higher-ranking than me and Dorian here,
Prince
Maxwell. You can keep hold of whatever it is until we get all the way back to Quinn, or you can tell us what’s going on so we can actually secure this area.”

“All right,
Sir
Zander. I didn’t kill the baseborn myself because I’m hoping he’ll be persuaded to tell me how he found us – and how many are backing him up.”

“What makes you think it wasn’t just your fires, and that they’re not alone?”

Max looked down. “This wasn’t our first incident since entering Philotheum.” Taking his arm out of his cloak, he pulled back the sleeve of his sweater, revealing a nasty cut that was still red and raw, but too scabbed over to have happened today. “The border was better guarded than we anticipated.”

Zander whistled. “Tolliver has already managed to secure the borders?”

“Not quite. These were regular border guards, still stationed there under Quinn’s rule. Several of them were – are – even Friends of Philip. They’d heard rumors of the coup, but hadn’t received new orders. So they just continued patrolling the area around their station. Only some of them were apparently awaiting new orders from someone other than Quinn.”

“How many casualties there?”

“Eight. And we acquired eight more soldiers for our side there. As far as I can determine, nobody got away from that battle, they all either died or came with us. And it’s a long ride from here.”

“But you think someone might have followed you?”

“I don’t know. I’m almost certain someone sent the soldiers who attacked us today. But we can’t get anything out of these men, not even under threat of death.”

“It’s pretty stupid to send twenty men into battle against – what? A hundred? More?”

“One fifty-eight, counting those who joined us yesterday. And, yes, that bothers me, too. It means there could be a strong second wave, but we can’t find any evidence of one. We searched for hours before even sending the message to Quinn.”

“Then I say we get out of here as quickly as possible.”

Max nodded. “And where are we going?”

Zander considered the question. They couldn’t risk traveling with this large a group all the way back to Tobias’, especially if there were more troops ready to follow them. He wasn’t sure how much longer they could keep Quinn’s location secret, but it was still a bad idea to lead someone right to her.

“We have a base camp established about an hour away from the queen,” Dorian said. “The captains there are well prepared to defend, and they’re in desperate need of supplies.”

Zander looked around at the trees again. “This patrol that attacked you – what direction did they come from?”

“Same direction as you.” Davis nodded over Zander’s shoulder.

Suddenly, he felt ice-cold and a little sick to his stomach. “What can we do to help you and your troops prepare to travel?”