The Boon of Alon

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Obviously, I have a late start to oiling, so I'm subsequently late to the archive after. I'm a little shocked that it's Gred teaching us today, but I try not to show it—after all, only Chama and I know he's supposedly going to turn traitor. Well, us and Iamon. He's already started talking about today's topic when I take a seat, though he gives me a nod.

"Thing is, the people who live on the land get a say, too," he says. "That's why we end up on so many land disputes. Gets complicated. Probably also why Corren's still stuck in the Brookvalt since we first talked about that, what, a month ago?"

At least this is familiar territory. I haven't missed much.

"So we've got somethin' of an exodus, and the local lord's tryin' to sue them into staying put," Gred continues. "It's rare for that to be the right move, but it's a classic intimidation tactic even when they don't follow through with it, so you'll see 'em tryin' it all the time."

I lean over to Rev. "Where are we talking about?" I whisper.

"Where else? Pangessa," she whispers back. Great, my bully of a homeland again. I wonder if this is a result of the rebellion—or civil war, I guess. It's sure widespread enough.

Gred gets up from the table, the cue for all of us to get up, too. "Let's go get a map so we can find the villages we're talkin' about, yeah?"

We get a map of Pangessa and unroll it on a table so we can all crowd around and look. Gred taps the northernmost part of the country, a small piece of land just northeast of the Brookvalt that hooks around Messay Lake but doesn't quite encircle it. There are a few small villages along the lakeside, and Northstrand among them. I look up; Suthi watches Gred's finger brush over her hometown with a face like stone.

"So where do we start?" he asks.

I give it a moment, watching Suthi's face stay utterly expressionless, then ask, "You said exodus—where are they going?"

"Okay. Gimme your thought process," says Gred.

"Oh, uh." I look back down at the map. "I might be missing some context, but...I guess I'm wondering if they're escaping something, or...joining something?" I know of one person from Northstrand who joined the rebels. But then, that area is nearly surrounded by the Orene Republic. With the lake nearly cutting them off from the rest of Pangessa, I could see the people there feeling more kinship with the Republic, and simply moving there without actually joining the rebellion.

"Mm-hm. And how would you see the difference?"

I have to think about that for a moment. "I think...if they were escaping, they'd scatter. Maybe head for the nearest city, or stay close and try to rebuild nearby...but if they're mostly all going to the same place, I guess, I'd be asking what's in that place."

"Good," Gred grunts. "'Course, it's hard to track that kind of movement—easier to tell they're leaving than to where. In this case, though, we do know there's a lot of folks crossin' the border into the Republic. And, here's an interestin' fact—it's mostly children and elders, mothers with suckling babies, people missin' a limb or eye or what-have-you..."

"Everyone you wouldn't recruit to a militia," another recruit offers.

"Exactly," says Gred.

"So who's doing the recruiting?" Jeddin asks. "The rebels?"

"Could be. They haven't told us so, but they don't tell us much anyway."

"They could be getting conscripted," Suthi says. Her voice is low and her eyes stay fixed on the map; I wonder if this is personal for her. I don't feel much connection to my hometown, but she might.