Previously. Iana's story continues. . .
#34
Preparing
Ten
days was not much time. Everyday felt shorter than the next, yet it
seemed like those ten days stretched on forever. If not for Olwen we
would not have been ready. He was remarkable. No wonder the castle
hadn't completely collapsed, what with Mother's firm meticulous
control and Olwen capable of filling any role and finishing any task
no matter how impossible. He juggled more than a juggler. At dawn he took a patrol as Captain of the Guard, later in the morning he stepped in as father's valet, and before lunch worked as a secretary and scribe for my mother. He organized the account books, took on the postmaster's duties, and sometimes even worked the stables, or visited the Guilds. He barely even slept as far as I could tell and ate so little, no more than a pocket of bread and meat while running off to the next task. I quite literally couldn't keep up, but I did my fair share.
In
order to defend ourselves we needed more than just the two old
winterguards. We needed our summerguards. That was up to Father.
While Mother had her hands full managing all the day to day duties
around the castle, and keeping my Aunties busy, I finally bullied
Father out of his study and sent him out to gather the men of the
summerguard.
"Are
you sure he should be going out there alone?" Olwen looked
concerned.
"He's
taking both the winterguards, so he won't be completely alone."
I reminded Olwen. "And its not as if the castle is completely
defenseless now. You're still here. You are Captain of the Guard?"
I smiled at him sweetly, which seemed to fluster him. "Besides,
a bit of wandering might just revive Father's spirit. Remember he's
going west toward our border with Rothen and Farrowan, no where near
the Forest. There's no one else we could send to muster the
summerguard. If Winding does fall, their next target may be Rothen
and Farrowan. All the more reason to warn our neighbors, and ask them
to be our allies."
"Winding
won't fall. We won't let it."
I
nodded.
In
truth, we couldn't be so confident. We knew so little of our enemies.
Only that they were not human, and came from the Forest. Olwen
surmised that the golden man Father had encountered might be one of
the masters, the so called Kings of the Forest. I shuddered to think
of myself or Joli belonging to one of them.
Our
best defense, Olwen and I decided was to separate ourselves from the
Forest as much we could. Luckily Winding borders the Trade River, and
the great flow keeps the Fire Woods from expanding into our lands.
I'd heard that further south of Winding the forest had leaped the
riverbanks, and grew so much larger that every year mapmakers redrew the boundaries, and the Gray Road traced a new
route around the edge of the forest.
However,
there was still one place inside the castle that tied us to the
forest. We had to destroy it.
to be continued . . .
No comments:
Post a Comment