Chapter 1 #2
Even the young boy who ran toward Robin, waving a wooden sword, had berry stains on his face. Although, as he got closer, Robin realized the stains may not have been part of his disguise at all.
“Are they gone?” the boy asked, recklessly brandishing his sword in near proximity to Ulli. “Did you leave any for me to fight?” He sounded disappointed.
Reaching down, Robin wrapped her hands around the boy’s, gripping the hilt of his toy sword along with him.
“We tricked them good this time,” she said, gently directing the boy’s flailing attacks away from Ulli, whose arms were so full of bread he had no way to protect his knees from a stray blow.
“But let me show you some special attacks to use if they come back.”
“Yes!” The boy’s face lit up, and he tried to swing the sword harder under Robin’s grip.
Ulli followed the reeve into the bakery up ahead.
“Slow down,” Robin said, staying with the boy. “First, you have to prepare your blow.” She guided the boy’s elbow back, angling the sword at his side. “Then you swing.”
The boy’s next swing nearly hit the woman who was approaching them.
Robin guided the boy’s movement with her hands and gently released him off to the side as she stood to greet the woman.
“Thank you, Lady Robin,” the woman said. “At this point, I would rather face the Return of the Majis than feed and house another group of Chendas soldiers.”
“Just Robin,” Robin replied. “I am hardly a lady anymore.” Grinning, she pointed to her own pox-stained face.
“And you,” the woman said, grabbing the boy’s wrist, “will not be fighting any soldiers with that toy for several seasons yet.”
“But Robin said I could!” the boy protested.
Robin held up her hands in a gesture of surrender to the boy’s mother. “Sorry,” she mouthed.
The woman shook her head, clearly too relieved to actually be upset at the person who had saved their town. “No,” the woman said to her son as she led him down the street. “If the soldiers come back, we will play the sick game again that Lady Robin taught us.”
Robin turned toward the bakery, but Ulli appeared at the doorway before she could enter, having divested himself of the loaves of bread.
“Thank you again, Robin,” the reeve said, appearing behind Ulli.
“Remember to keep spreading the story,” Robin said. “What Gareth’s men lack in cleverness, they make up for in number. Hopefully they will avoid this hamlet for some time.”
Alrud nodded his understanding and lifted a hand to wave as Robin and Ulli left the village.
“Visit Tenio before we return home?” Ulli asked from behind her, using as few words as possible.
Robin nodded, leading them down the forest path to a small farm on the far outskirts of the village.
At the farm, a young woman leaned over a garden bed in front of a small cottage. She stood when she saw the two strangers approach.
“Amalia,” the woman called, her voice tense and her eyes glued on Robin. “Take your little brother inside.”
A small girl bounced out from a row of vegetables, tugging an even smaller boy behind her. “Yes, Mama.”
Robin lifted a friendly hand in greeting as they got closer. “Lind!” she called.
The farm woman raised her hand to block the setting sun from her eyes. “Oh, Robin! Is that you?”
Robin looked down at her less than savory attire. “I am sorry, I did not mean to scare you. It is just Ulli and I.”
Lind stepped forward to greet them. “I see you have been afflicted with a case of the pox?” She smiled at her own jest. “Nele came by this morning to warn us.”
“It worked. The soldiers believed us and traveled around Berwell. You have not seen them here, have you?” Robin asked, looking around the small farmstead.
“No,” Lind confirmed. “Not a sight.” She sounded relieved, but Robin could see the tense outline of her too-thin shoulders beneath her worn dress.
“I do not have the coin yet, Robin,” Lind said, her words coming out in a rush as her shoulders rose higher and drew in toward her neck.
“I know it is already late, but the last group of soldiers that came through took the chickens, and the children need all the vegetables we can spare so there have not been enough to sell at the market and—”
“No. No, no!” Robin repeated the word louder and louder until the other woman stopped talking. “I am not here to collect for the loan. We just wanted to know that you are well and the soldiers did not try to spread out amongst the farmers. You can take as long as you need.”
Ulli stood at her side, towering over them with his arms crossed.
While she was speaking, Robin reached out and poked him sharply in the side. He was not helping her to make her point.
He uncrossed his arms, rubbing at the spot where she had poked him.
“We have already talked about this,” Robin said, never breaking her flow of words. “Everyone is struggling right now. Take care of yourself and the children. We will help you rebuild the chicken flock for next greenreign, and you will have eggs to sell again.”
It took the entirety of Robin’s reassuring speech for Lind to drop her tense shoulders back to a relaxed position.
“Thank you, Robin,” she whispered.
“I know you will repay me when you can.” Robin looked around the garden. “How did the vegetables survive the extended frosts?” she asked, changing the subject. “And how is Tenio’s health?”
“The fever returns after rain,” Lind said. “Fortunately it is no pox, but he cannot seem to cough the sickness from his lungs. The tonic you brought last time did help.”
“I will try to get some more,” Robin said. “But it is a long walk back to Lockwood, so I will leave you now. Tell everyone you see to spread the story of the pox. And if any soldiers do show up, just have Tenio come out coughing.”
Lind smiled at that. “Thank you, Robin.”
Bidding the woman goodbye, Robin let Ulli lead their tired feet on the path toward home.
“A successful day,” Robin said, leaning into the feeling of pride.
This had been one of her more brilliant ideas, and she was pleased that the Chendas soldiers had fallen for it so well.
Gareth himself was a formidable enemy, but he invested no time, education, or training in his foot soldiers. For that, Robin was thankful.
Ulli, ahead of her, merely grunted.
“We should send word to as many villages along their route as possible,” Robin said, thinking through her next plans out loud. “The more real this appears, the better it will work.”
Ulli continued on in silence.
“Nele should have returned from the capital today?” Robin asked. “She and Lane can ride west tomorrow, unless she learned anything of note.”
Nele was her cypher, a small, unassuming woman only a few seasons younger than Robin.
A few years prior, she had almost succeeded in an attempt to pickpocket Ulli.
Instead of turning her in, Ulli had seen her potential and recruited her to River’s Talon.
She had the uncanny ability to move through a space without being perceived, and she had quickly become a key source of intelligence for Robin—as well as a close friend.
“Do you know if Nele returned?” Robin asked again.
Ulli shrugged his shoulders.
Robin took her next few steps at a quicker pace, bringing her side by side with the older man who had been one of the first members of her small band.
He was quiet and loyal, and Robin knew that he had been on the run from the law.
But it had been many years since she had held the law in high regard.
“What is it?” she asked. “You are being too quiet. Even for you.”
“We need the coin, Robin,” Ulli said.
“What coin?” Robin said, looking up at him. “There was no coin there to be taken even if we had demanded it.”
“The whole point of this venture is to get the gold back so that we can lend it out again,” Ulli said.
“The whole point of this venture is to help the struggling people of Iseldis survive another season of erratic storms because their own king has not taken notice of their plight,” Robin replied.
Ulli did not reply, and they continued their walk in silence.
It was well after dark when the manor house came into view. Two soft lanterns hung over a low gate in front of the house, illuminating a fenced garden. To the left side of the house, another lantern hung from the front stables. The scene was small, unassuming, and peaceful. It was home.
Robin was looking forward to washing the final remnants of sticky debris from her face and falling into bed for a night of well-earned sleep.
With a wordless nod, Ulli left her at the gate, walking around the house to his own lodgings in the clearing behind the manor.
Robin made her way through the garden to the front door of the manor. She lifted the door a little as she opened it, knowing just how to avoid the rusted creak of the hinges. At this hour, the many inhabitants of the manor would all be sleeping, and she had no desire to disturb them.
Or be disturbed by them. She was exhausted from walking all day, and her bed was only a few short steps away.
She stepped inside the dark interior, silently closing the door behind her.
“Lady Robin,” a curt voice called from the main hall.
“Ilida,” Robin said. “You are still awake at this hour?” Robin slipped her feet out of her muddy boots as her dreams of immediately crawling into bed were dashed.
Ilida sat at the dying embers of a fire in the main hall.
Wrapped in a large cloak that she was using like a blanket, the young woman looked ominous as the glowing coals lit her from behind.
She balanced a ledger over her knee, but Robin was sure it was not light enough to read a single number on the page.
Robin stepped toward her, glad at least for the minimal warmth of the fire even if this was a conversation she had been hoping to avoid.
“Did you collect the coin from Lind?” Ilida asked, ignoring Robin’s earlier question.
“No,” Robin replied, sitting on a stool near the fire. “Of course not.”
“Robin,” Ilida said, her tired voice beyond exasperated.
“We cannot go on like this. The Rodes girl is sick again, and we are out of tonic. The two new Majis you brought in are still sleeping in the cellar because there is no more room in the village. At least the cellar is empty because we are out of food. We need the coin, Robin.”
“I know,” Robin said, exasperation lacing her own voice.
“I know. And more Chendas soldiers come through Iseldis every day, bleeding the villagers dry. The people are terrified of the Majis’ Return.
We have not yet heard if Sol was successful on his venture.
And King Frederich does not appear to be doing anything about any of this.
” Aware that every room in the house around her was filled with sleeping inhabitants, Robin kept her voice low.
“So, no. I am not going to demand gold from a destitute farmer whose husband is ill and who just lost her flock of chickens to greedy soldiers. What do you want from me?”
Ilida sighed, a long, sharp exhale of breath. The stewardess was barely older than Robin herself, and her face was lined with worry. “It is my responsibility to manage your house, and I cannot carry out that responsibility when your house is growing at an alarming rate.”
“Ilida,” Robin said, softening her voice.
“You are a good steward, and I am sorry that I ask so much from you. I know you will figure it out and do the best you can. But I cannot, and will not, take coin from someone who literally does not have it to give. We still have plenty of room in here.” Robin gestured to the room around her.
“Fine, I will turn the main hall into a bedroom. The next stray you bring, though, is getting your bed.” Ilida stood. “The Rodes girl needs that tonic. And we have no coin.”
Robin stood as well, holding back a hiss of pain at the soreness in her muscles. “I have a plan.”
“You have a plan?” Ilida asked. Her voice was tired, but Robin could still hear a hint of intrigue. She and Ilida had grown up in Lockwood together, as Ilida’s father was the old steward. This would not be the first time—nor the last—that Robin pitched her an elaborate plan.
“We take up raiding again,” Robin whispered.
“You cannot go to Chendas right now,” Ilida said. “What if something happens here in Iseldis?”
“We raid here,” Robin said. She shrugged, hoping to communicate a carelessness that she did not feel. Before they had created the loan system, Robin had spent many seasons secretly culling coin from the rich of Chendas and redistributing it amongst those who needed it most.
But, she had never done quite the same in Iseldis. The kingdom had been struggling with massive storms from the sea for several seasons. Storms that had devastated several cycles of crops, hurting the rich and poor of the kingdom alike.
And while Robin was no fan of King Frederich, she at least moderately respected the nobles of Iseldis who did their best—however bumbling—to help their kingdom.
Very few knew that the storms themselves had been fabricated by King Gareth of Chendas, who manipulated the weather patterns with chaos magic.
Robin had felt no remorse in taking from the corrupt nobles of Chendas.
But Ilida was right. Jelell Rodes needed that tonic to survive, and there were enough nobles in Iseldis who could spare a few coins.
“You should not have told me that.” Ilida sighed. “I hate the idea of stealing from our own.”
“It is time for our own to support their own,” Robin said.