Fear and Bitter Thorns (The Tahaerin Chronicles Book 3) Read online

  Get a good look at the queen and her bodyguards, he had told his hired men that night in the tavern.

  They had been confused, then. He remembered the youngest asking, Just look at them?

  Now, Dobromir strained forward, excited to see it, the instant the swop-swords topped the hill and the royal party reacted. They came over the rise, still concealed by the tall, sea grass. And to his delight, the Tahaerins jerked to a halt.

  From his vantage point, he could make out the king and queen. He saw their bodyguards form a tight knot around them as the red-haired Ostravan, his sister, moved to cover their retreat. He watched the royals’ withdrawal through the gate, saw the king grab for the reins of his wife’s horse and turn the animal. It confirmed the rumor Leisha did not ride well. But they raced away in a knot of galloping horses, out of harm’s way in a few short heartbeats.

  It did not interest his as much as who remained. The Tahaerin soldiers had surged forward to confront his little gang. And at the rear, rode the recently resurrected Prince Andelko.

  Dobromir cocked his head, watching as the prince held his ground, pointing and shouting at the guard, directing them as they encircled the band of hired men. Andelko had been a soldier all his adult life, and now it seemed he had a hard time relinquishing the role.

  Ducking back off the wall, Dobromir swung himself onto the top rung of the wooden ladder down off the tower. His shift was up and his replacement did not need to see him peering over the battlements at the royals. He had seen all he needed to today.

  That night, Dobromir put pen to paper. As we suspected, the hawk and horse are difficult prey. However, the hart is less so. I suggest hunting him instead.

  In the morning, his note would begin its journey to the Embriel court at Arnost.

  Sarika

  On the walls of her castle, Sarika smiled as she stood on tiptoes and peeked out through a crenel. Winter had passed, and she felt a trace of warmth in the spring breeze curling through her city. Or, what remained of the city that once stood here. A year ago, foreign invaders burned half of Otokar to its foundations along with six hundred of its residents. Now only a handful of people called it home.

  But Sarika loved it. She loved the empty streets and vacant squares, loved the workmen with their crane and winches, laboring each day to rebuilt what the war had destroyed. But most of all, she loved the dreams she had of a city filled with people once more. She wanted shops open, holidays celebrated in the streets. She imagined Otokar becoming a refuge for the freed mind readers left behind from the war.

  On the road leading from the main square, a man on horseback rode towards the castle gates. Two armored men followed, all wearing swords and bright yellow sashes. She smiled seeing Irion and his captains coming off duty. With so few soldiers posted here, he spent most of his days in town, mediating disputes and helping keep the peace. He would need time to tie up loose ends before dinner, so she remained on the wall, enjoying the quiet time.

  Peace was a rare diamond right now for Sarika. For three or, had it been four months already? Either way, a number of months had passed since she came to this town with its abandoned castle and torched buildings. Before then, she had been a young woman from an isolated mountain village in Streza, far to the east.

  Now, she was more. Much more.

  Leisha Tahaerin had rewarded people who served her well during the war with the Deojrin. Several noble families perished in the conflict and so she founded new houses with members drawn from her allies and friends. She made Sarika Lady of Otokar and elevated one of her Ostravan spies, Eamon, to be Lord of Adrojan, even though both had been born common.

  While she could read and write and knew some of her people’s history, Sarika’s education in no way rivalled that of a noble’s. She had no training in court etiquette or any of the gentle pursuits filling most Tahaerin nobles’ time, such as hawking or coursing with dogs. Rather than Eamon’s skills in organization, Sarika knew people listened when she spoke.

  Adrojan needed someone to put it back in order.

  Otokar needed someone to rebuild everything and to entice people to return.

  She turned and headed off the wall, smiling as she saw Irion returning to the barracks to meet with his men. Running her fingers over the stone of her castle, she still felt the chill of winter in them. It made her remember the evening in Lida when Leisha and Zaraki handed out the letters with the gifts they had chosen for their friends and allies. When she read hers, she sat in shock, fumbling over words as she became a Tahaerin noblewoman.

  Once the weight of the gift settled, however, Sarika had spent a week protesting she could not do it. She could not remake herself into a noble. A peasant from the mountains in Streza has no business attempting such a thing, she had said.

  As queen, Leisha had little concept of someone denying her. Sarika remembered how her friend had laughed merrily and pushed her into a carriage headed to Otokar. Behind it came wagon after wagon of the things she would need to rule her new holding. Crates full of fine gowns – ones Leisha no longer needed or wanted - a small fortune in gems and jewels, an ironbound chest with glittering golden tira coins.

  Then came the coaches filled with skilled, educated men and women. Bookkeepers because Sarika had no idea how to do anything more than rudimentary figures. A few cooks, maids, stable hands, a castellan chosen by Symon. As Otokar grew, more would follow if she could not find them, Leisha promised.

  Behind them marched a small contingent of soldiers for Irion to oversee.

  Now, walking down the nearly empty halls to her rooms, Sarika remembered the first month and the despair she felt. It had almost overwhelmed her. She knew no one but Irion. The retainers Leisha sent did not respect her and tried to overstep her at every turn.

  But then, it all changed. The servants learned she would not be bullied, and she found the confidence to lead them. Now, they all worked together to resurrect Otokar and return the ancient city to its former glory.

  Servants brought trays of food and drink to Sarika’s rooms, and she thanked them. More than she needed to, but she still struggled to strike a balance between the commoner she had grown up as, and the noblewoman she had become. The day she left Lida for Otokar, Zaraki had taken her aside to pass on the advice Leisha had given him once. Be yourself. Don’t try to fit yourself into the mold of Tahaerin noble. Most of them are assholes. Taking his word to heart, she remained friendly and open to those who served here.

  Irion’s head appeared around the door. “Is it time to eat? I’m starving.”

  Sarika laughed and waved him in. “Yes. It’s just arrived and it’s still hot.”

  “Excellent,” he said and collapsed into the chair next to her. “I haven’t eaten all day. It’s just one damn thing after another around here.”

  “Anything serious?”

  Grabbing a loaf of bread, Irion used the knife from his belt to cut a long trench. He pulled it out and then started pouring beef stew into the bowl left behind. “No, just more of the same. People picking fights with the Cursed, mostly. Thefts.”

  “Any new arrivals?”

  “A family from Ola and two from Lejin appeared at the gates this afternoon, but two others left, I heard.” He spoke around a mouthful of food and speared carrots from the tray in the middle of the table.

  Sarika sighed and pushed her food around on the plate. At this rate, she would never have a sustainable population in Otokar. She could not blame people for shunning the place. During the war, the Deojrin had herded the townspeople into buildings around the main square. Soldiers set fires and killed anyone trying to escape the inferno. While workers had removed the burned out structures, the scars still remained.

  But now, rebuilding fell to her. Leisha had given her the city and made her a noblewoman because she had found a way to defeat the Deojrin, to push back their invasion. And because of an offhand suggestion made over dinner one night.

  Sarika’s idea had seemed simple enough at first. Nearly three hundr
ed mind readers had been freed over the course of the war. After their masters had been defeated, Tahaerin was left with scores of confused, lost souls. People who longed for freedom from their enslavement, but who had no idea how to be free. They needed places to live, and Otokar needed people. Sarika remembered what a simple thing she and Leisha imagined this would be to settle them here and rebuild the burned out city.

  But now, the fatal flaw stared her in the face. The newly freed mind readers had few skills beyond plucking the thoughts of others from the air. The Deojrin kept them as pets – dangerous animals held on short leashes. As slaves, they learned only what their masters allowed. And it appeared shop keeping, horse shoeing, and other useful trades were not amongst those skills. They could all read and write, but little else.

  Worse, most had few ideas how to live free. They all struggled to some degree or another. Without their masters’ oversight, they quarreled and bickered. Confused, angry and frustrated, they tried to make sense of their lives and to come to terms with the loss of the rigid structure the Deojrin had imposed on them.

  But skilled people abounded in the mountains Sarika came from. A century ago, her people had fled there in the face of a rising tide of violence and killings sweeping over the continent. For a hundred years, her ancestors lived and worked in clannish seclusion. They carved out lives for themselves in remote mountain valleys, hiding from those who feared and loathed people who could read their thoughts.

  Now, they could help the former Deojrin slaves adjust and teach them useful skills. If she could convince some to cast aside their aversion to the outside world and come to Otokar. “I’d like your opinion about something,” Sarika began, hesitant because Irion would not like this.

  “Of course,” he said, jolly as always. He always found the best in everything.

  “You remember my idea? To encourage my people to move here?”

  “I do. It’s a good one.”

  “Well, I’m thinking about going to Lida and asking if Leisha will let me go back. I want to show them it’s safe and tell them about all the opportunities here. Think if we could get thirty families to move here. People with actual skills, like butchers and shopkeepers and I don’t know, coopers.”

  Irion sobered. “It’s long journey. It would take some months. But you’ve made it before, and this time you’ll travel with guards.”

  “Can you stay here and keep order? I don’t know anyone else to trust to keep everyone from killing each other.” Despite his ebullient exterior, she knew Irion felt a great sense of responsibility for her city. Their city, really. He did as much as she did to maintain order and encourage Otokar to flourish again. She would not trust anyone else to keep the peace here.

  “Of course I can but if Leisha says yes, I’m going to miss you terribly.”

  “I know. I’ll miss you too. It’ll only be a few months. Three or four at the most.”

  Reaching out, Irion took her hand and drew her out of the chair. “I’ll have to do something to make sure you don’t forget me.” He tugged her into his lap, traced fingers across her collar bones.

  “This is inappropriate, Captain,” Sarika said.

  “Does the lady wish me to stop?” Irion teased and bent to kiss her shoulder. He had been enchanted with her wide eyes and dark skin from the moment she arrived at Cheylm Castle in the midst of the war last year. But when she saved his life at the battle at Dabrova, he had fallen hopelessly in love. Though Leisha offered him the position of Guard Captain at Branik, he asked to follow Sarika here instead.

  With all the upheaval of moving to Otokar, trying to rebuild this desolate, burned-out city, and Sarika becoming a noble, they had moved slowly. Now, both could admit where this was heading. Irion wanted to marry her, but it would have to wait a few months it seemed.

  The lady wishes no such thing, Sarika assured him, speaking into his mind and filling his thoughts with love and lust. Running her fingers through his short-cropped hair, she wondered how she would manage without him for three months?

  It took a few days for her castellan to organize the carriages, for Irion to choose the soldiers to act as an escort and for her maids to pack her things away. Sarika delayed one more day, to spend another night with her lover. Then in the morning, she left, promising to return as soon as possible.

  “I’ll see you in a few months. Be careful,” Irion implored, wishing he could go with her.

  A stubborn tear refused to be caged and she swiped at it. “Your men will take good care of me. I’ll be back in short order.” She stepped into the carriage and they were away.

  ***

  Because of the state of the roads in the south, it took two weeks for her carriage and escort to reach Lida. But then, the stately, old city appeared against the hills. And as they rolled through the southern gate, the changes here stunned Sarika after the months spent in Otokar. People had returned, breathing life into the streets and alleys. Shops and stalls stood open. Banners waved over the gates and walls at Branik. Leisha’s capital no longer looked gutted and war-torn. Scars remained but time had faded them.

  They passed under the portcullis, into the great courtyard of the castle. Then Sarika made her way through the halls., stopping to greet people she knew, happy to see familiar faces after months in Otokar. When she found Symon, she embraced the old man and felt a familiar presence wash over her. A huge smile crossed her face as she turned and curtsied. “Your Grace,” Sarika said.

  “You know better,” Leisha scolded, rushing to hug her friend. “No titles between us here.”

  As their thoughts twined together, Sarika basked in the warmth and affection she felt. After a lifetime as the only mind reader in Tahaerin, Leisha still thrilled at this communion with another of her kind.

  Looping their arms together, the pair strolled down the hallway.

  How are you? How’s Irion? Leisha sent as they walked.

  We’re very well, Sarika replied, knowing her secret would be released now. At the mention of Irion, her thoughts danced and sang with her feelings for him. Just as Leisha’s did when she spoke of Zaraki.

  And Otokar? Your last few letters seemed terse.

  We’re struggling a bit, Sarika admitted. There’s always fights between the Cursed and the others. Nothing Irion can’t handle, but the biggest problem we have is a lack of skilled people. The Cursed are eager to learn, but Leisha, they know nothing.

  Sarika knew she sounded exasperated and regretted it. The Cursed deserved understanding and patience for all they had experienced and all they gave to defeat their former masters. “They’re like children, most of them,” she said aloud, hoping to mask some of her frustration. “They have no idea how to run a business or manage a home. Some haven’t ever used money before.”

  “Yes, we’ve seen quite a bit of that here, as well. Many are unsatisfied. They want to go out and experience freedom, but don’t know how to do it. It’s better than when they first returned with the army, but most of them knew nothing but military life. Even Avrid found it difficult to adjust.” Pushing open the door to her apartments, Leisha asked a servant for wine.

  Seeing the perfect opening, Sarika said, “I was thinking about that. The mountains, where Eamon and I’m are from. The people there are skilled at any number of different things. They have to be since most are too afraid to visit other towns. They’re weavers and shopkeepers, smiths and coopers. I want them to come down and rejoin the rest of the kingdoms.”

  “I’ve always thought it was a wonderful idea and I still do. I’m guessing the letters we wrote didn’t do much to encourage them to leave their homes, though.”

  Sarika shook her head. “No, I never heard back from anyone. I’m not surprised, but I had hoped a few might respond. They’re so hidebound. They huddle up there in those mountains, afraid to come down. Afraid the killings will start again. I was thinking maybe I could go to them and show them the world is safe again. Let them see for themselves what we’re trying to build in Otokar. Maybe if they sa
w me and one of the Cursed. Maybe Avrid?”

  “For good or bad, we haven’t seen Avrid in a few months. He said he wanted to go off by himself for a while. With his little badge he can visit any of my castles, so hopefully he’s all right.

  “But let’s discuss your idea with the others over lunch. They’ll be here soon enough.”

  ***

  Servants appeared at the door to Leisha’s receiving room carrying trays of bread, cheese, venison, and pitchers of watered wine. She wrinkled her nose at the offerings but said nothing. Since their return to Lida and the rough winter, few ships docked to bring exotic foods and their meals were often boring. It would change with time, but she tired of the repetition.

  With the arrival of the noontime meal, people filtered in. They each stopped to hug Sarika and welcome her back. Symon asked all sort of questions about Otokar and the men he had had selected to accompany her here. “Are there any that aren’t working out?”

  “No, no,” Sarika said, laughing and waving her hands. “They’re all fine. The first few weeks were difficult, but we’ve come to an understanding. Mostly they know to listen to me or I’ll sack them.”

  “Excellent,” the old man said as he found a seat at the long trestle table.

  “She has an interesting proposal for us and needs our help.” Leisha sketched out their earlier conversation. “How do we get Villem to agree to this?”

  Zaraki picked over the uninspiring offerings and filled half his plate, as disappointed as the others in the sparse meal. “The villages in the mountains aren’t exactly part of Streza. As I remember, they govern themselves, no lords, no obligations to the crown. But they also get no help from the kingdom. It’s based on some agreement reached when the mind readers fled there after the purges.” He shrugged.

  “In that case, I can’t see how Villem could object. You aren’t emptying the mountains of all their inhabitants. Just a few families. But we won’t know until you go and ask him. I’ll send a letter of introduction and explain it all. You can meet with him and make your case?”