The Valmyrri women return home from Fulcairn Keep, distraught. Etiene and Anuvyn decide to investigate rumours in town. A few shared rounds with returned soldiers reveal that the war is not over, and Baron Calder may or may not summon them back to the field. They also uncover that Lady Catriona Fulcairn is widely feared and considered a witch, and that the ransomed nobles are being held by a family of Vanilen called the Copperbornes.
News reaches the manor house that bandits are ravaging the refugee camp on their land. The Valmyrris gird for battle, taking with them the two elderly huntresses, battle-hardened since the fight at the old fort, a refugee who offers his services as swordsman, and Colin, the boy from the camp. They arrive to chaos-- refugees slain, tents burning, and bandits running amok. Furious, Tieghan and her party attack. They manage to cut down a half dozen of them, then Tieghan shouts for the refugees to take courage and defend their families. A hail of rocks flies from the refugees, the morale of the remaining bandits crumbles, and they flee. The Valmyrris make what attempts they can to treat the injured, but little can be done.
Three more refugee families arrive, begging the Valmyrris for shelter. Tieghan, determined not to turn anyone away, asks Etiene and Anuvyn to move into one room so they can take on more refugees. But Astrid, their servant, offers them her life savings in order to try their luck in the lands to the south.
Finally, Baron Calder summons them back to Fulcairn Keep, along with the Morgenstanes and the Haemings. They are asked for an account of the ongoings in the realm. Torel Morgenstane omits news of the slavers. When called upon, Tieghan tells Baron Calder honestly of the troubles with the refugees, the bandits, and finally the slavers they tracked to Three Corners. Catriona paces the room in the meantime, exchanges a glance with Calder, then Calder reproaches everyone except the Valmyrris for withholding the complete truth from him. He sends everyone from the room and addresses the Valmyrris, giving them grim tidings: Hedrien, Tieghan's middle son, made an error that cost the Black Hounds the lives of fifty men, and Ruormid, Etiene's husband and a Wraith (the forerunners of the Ghosts), deserted. He then tells them to keep the tribute of gold, and that the tribute this year is to be paid in food-- an amount impossible to acquire through hunting and foraging. He confirms that the Copperbornes have Hedrien, and the ransom for him and twenty Valmyrri men is a thousand gold pieces. Finally he states he doesn't care what happens to the refugees, as his priority is the survival of the Wilders.
They ride back home, despondent. Tieghan attempts to cheer everyone up, but it's a thin veneer-- in the night, she sneaks out of the manor house and rides back to Fulcairn Keep, intending to offer herself as an indentured soldier in the Black Hounds, in exchange for the rest of Hedrien's ransom money. The following morning on the way to the Keep, however, she comes upon Dietric causing a row with the castle guards. They argue, Tieghan asserting her actions are in the name of saving the family, Dietric answering the family will fall apart without her. She finally relents when he says they love her and want her with them. They return to the manor house, to an emotional scene with Etiene, Anuvyn, the baby, and the servants.
They attempt to come up with a new plan, but it proves no less desperate than Tieghan's. They decide to offer to annex the Valmyrri lands to the highest bidder, use the money to ransom Hedrien and the rest to journey with any refugees who wish to join, to Dietric's family's lands in Islien, as landless commoners.
That night, Tieghan asks Dietric to marry her, as her status as noble had previously prevented it.
The next evening, Catriona Fulcairn mysteriously appears at the manor house. She paces the house, seemingly searching for something; she scatters a strange red powder in the air, which coalesces and takes a moth-like form as it lands on Moerel, Etiene's infant son. She leaves shortly thereafter, leaving the Valmyrris even more unsettled.
No comments:
Post a Comment