Diannah remembered:
###
The margrave of Pereger waded hip-deep in muddy water, surrounded by Tonoman mercenaries, dredging muck from the new canal’s bottom to form a narrow spit of land to either side. All along this stretch of shore, the progress could be seen in a pattern of narrow canals, alternating with these thin islands. County Pereger had been mostly swampland since the damming of the river, so it had been with no little irony that Duke Setigera had bestowed it on the man responsible. But the mountain-bred Tonomans knew how to turn many types of terrain into arable land.
“My Leige,” chided the Bard, M’Coen, from the shore, “what would the Court say?”
“Nothing they haven’t said already, I’m sure,” Laeryn laughed. “And they won’t be able to say anything 'til winter, anyway. By then we’ll have the first harvest in and another on the way, protected from frost by the mist off the water. If anything, they’ll be in a huff that they didn’t think to borrow from Tonoman expertise themselves.”
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it,” M’Coen tutted. “Engaging in menial labor alongside commoners; they will not approve. Do you know you have mud in your hair? And drying algae?”
But to Diannah’s mind, it was not that he, himself, disapproved. Rather, he just wanted to see how Da would respond.
“Am I wrong in my recollection that King Daphed spent nearly a decade on campaign in Mydicea? If the General, himself, engaged in menial labor alongside commoners on a regular basis, I can’t imagine Daphed Cervides would have felt it was beneath him. And mud will wash away.”
“True enough,” the Bard conceded. “But what if you’re injured?”
“What do you do if someone is injured?” Da asked the Tonoman laboring beside him.
“Take him to the nearest healer,” the man replied without looking up from his efforts.
“There you have it,” Da told the Bard, clearly enjoying himself.
“The nearest healer is Caidrin Alzarin,” reminded M’Coen.
Da paused.
He straightened, gazing to the southwest, but not as if seeing anything before him. After a moment’s puzzling, Diannah had realized that, due to a twist to the river, Mirze-March Manse lay to the southwest of their location rather than to the east.
“Yes,” said Da. “So it is.” And he returned to his labors looking thoughtful.
###
Caidrin Alzarin might be the Cumberan king's neice, but she was a peaceful neighbor and had sent warning of the impending invasion. More important, she was a gifted healer and J'Lian trusted her.
It was the choice Da would have made for himself. The risks were great, but put no other at hazard but Diannah and her Da. It would mean captivity, and possibly worse. But when the choice was her freedom or the life of her father, Diannah didn’t have to think hard.
The black danced in place as she pondered. When Diannah tightened the grip of her thighs, he moved forward. She guided the big stud to the left to go down from the ridgeline, so to pass the town on its eastern end. A furlong of sheep-clipped grass circled the town outside the wall, and farther north lay orchards that offered little more concealment. Diannah chose the shortest distance despite its lack of cover, circling the town below the looming crown of three-story ramparts, east toward the river…and enemy territory. Nothing landed on them, and no cry revealed they’d been discovered.
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Havoc's Daughters
ФэнтезиThe legendary mercenary once caused the Cumberan invaders so much trouble they dubbed him ‘Havoc’. But twenty years have passed. Peace has transformed the mercenary into a respected Roenish lord who fights most of his battles in Court. Now th...
