A burbling noise came from Lara’s basket. Amari leaned over, cooing at the restless babe.
Orval quirked his mouth, thinking of theEpic of Xysontucked under Lara’s little tush. They’d missed that, hadn’t they?
What else might they have missed?
Amari nudged his foot with hers and gave him a questioning look. She glanced down at his leg and back up. Orval grimaced and shrugged. It wasn’t bad yet, but it would make him pay later.
Her expression shifted to a lovely look of gentle concern. Orval’s heart lurched again at the danger he’d placed them in.
He pressed his lips tight as he hardened his resolve. This was Satia’s doing, not Xyrath’s. He knew Xyrath well enough from their fostering days. He’d always been obnoxious, even as a youth, filled with a sense of his own importance. A rotter, true enough, but a straightforward one. More likely to punch you in the face then stab you in the back.
But Satia was an unknown, something of a mystery. Satia was sly and cunning and about as trustworthy as…a wyvern. Why had she decided Orval was a threat? How in the name of all the elements could a poor scholar be dangerous?
A quote from theEpiccame to mind.Beware the learned ones, for not all warriors wield steel.
Orval spoke before his idea was fully formed. “We need a plan,” he said.
“Eh?” Roth looked at him.
“When going into enemy territory, you need knowledge of what lies ahead before you establish camp. Then you see to your warriors needs. ‘Shelter, water, fire, food’,” Orval recited.
“Where did you learn that? You never had a command, did you?” Roth asked, eyebrows jumping up in surprise.
“TheEpic of Xyson,” Orval said. “There’s also a chapter on proper privy placement,” he added dryly.
Roth snorted out a chuckle even as Yfin squinched up his nose.
“So, what do we know?” Orval repeated.
“Hmm,” Roth mused, rubbing his face with his left hand. “Well, the Barony of the Black Hills rebelled fairly early during Xykahn’s reign when the Lord High Baron died suddenly. Around the time that Xywellan was born, if I remember correctly.” Roth crossed his arms over his chest. “There were a series of High Lord Barons appointed to bring the region under control with military force. It didn’t go well.” Roth gave Orval a grim smile. “It was said that any assigned the post of Lord High Baron of the Black Hills was lost before he left the gates of the palace.”
Amari sucked in a breath, shaking her head. “All I know is something that Xywellan said once, in the battle camp. He and Kara were talking about the Black Hills.” Amari lifted a hand to smooth back her hair. “Xywellan said, ‘whatever you do, don’t mention it to Dell.’”
“What did Kara say to that?” Orval asked.
“Queen Kara just rolled her eyes and they both chuckled.”
“Xydell?” Orval asked.
Amari shrugged apologetically. “I didn’t pay too much attention, since I was tending to Dalan.”
“The people of the Black Hills have a reputation for being hard and stubborn. They are miners and stone workers, digging for black rock, gems, and marble. They have no love of Xy, Arion or Wyvern. Xywellan and Kara were going to take action to bring the Barony back under the control of the Crown, but the Blood conflict arose, and, well…” Roth shrugged.
“Their forces were stretched thin,” Rosalind offered. “They barely held their army together as it was; they couldn’t afford to send more warriors to the Black Hills, even if there was a potential for taxes and tithes from the mining charters.” She dropped her eyes at their astonished looks. “There is was very little gossip I don’t—didn’t—hear.”
Roth nodded. “There’s been no royal presence out here for at least five years. Rebels took the Keep, then the Blood besieged it and reclaimed it. When the Airion forces were pulled back, they left the Keep a ruin. Of no use to the rebels or any others.”
“So they may be taking us to a ruined Keep, dumping our ‘supplies,’ and turning tail to race back to the portal,” Orval said. “What can we do to about that?”
Yfin piped up, his mouth full of bread. “I can scout.”
“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Amari admonished.
That brought chuckles all around, but it also broke the logjam. Ideas spilled out as they talked and discussed and argued.
“Now,” Orval said after a time, “let’s flip it around. What if there are people in the Keep? What then?”
“Our goals are the same,” Roth said. “‘Shelter, water, fire, food.’” Until we know their intentions towards us.”
