Chapter Six #3
She sighed. “And yet each year since then, the situation has deteriorated. Everything has grown more extreme. Rain has been torrential, or drought has set in. Some rivers have dried up; others have uncontrollably flooded their banks. Animals have grown scarce. Insects have proliferated. Crops have failed. Bit by bit, year by year, it’s become harder and harder to survive, to the point that raiding has become the only way we’ve been able to eke out an existence. ”
“But what could that possibly have to do with me?” Tor wanted to know.
For a long moment, Pel’s mother stared at Tor, like she was assessing him for something. And finally, she spoke.
“The theory—not so popular because no one wants it to be true—is that while people might be able to live without Fealty, the land can’t.
In essence, the land has been getting sicker day by day, and so have the people living on it.
We experience more illness than I’ve seen in any other realm.
Tama and our other healers are constantly busy with ailments I rarely saw in other realms.”
Pel and Tor exchanged glances, and Pel asked, “Didn’t you say that the Alossan healers weren’t nearly as busy as ours was?”
Slowly, Tor nodded his head, although he pointed out, “But you have a king.”
“Not a king like yours,” Pel noted. “Not a king who cares deeply about his people the way that King Varex does. Plus, the High King rules over all of the United Realms. That might help. We both know how my father feels about the people.”
They were there to serve him.
Tor’s expression was contemplative now. “We always say that rulers protect their people. We thank the goddess for good lives and safe births… I just always took that protection to be literal. I mean ‘in a war’ literal, not day-to-day.”
“Poor rulers have always misused that protection,” Pel’s mother said. “Used the Fealty for their own ends instead of for the good of the people. It’s why we chose exile.”
Bav suddenly reappeared at the entrance to the cave.
Pel startled, but Cavun hadn’t even budged, so he must have seen him coming.
Tama appeared a few steps behind even as Bav stalked back to the fire looking like a drowned rat but with a glower on his face that confirmed it had not gone well.
Rather than retaking his seat next to their mother, Bav crowded Tor’s free side.
Tama, also looking distinctly water-logged and with an exceptionally neutral expression on her face, sat as close to Pel’s mother as she could, leaving a very visible gap between her and Bav.
“What did I miss?” Bav asked, voice biting. “Have we been told how we can suddenly be of use?”
Oh, dear. Whatever Tama had tried to accomplish going after him had clearly not succeeded. At all.
“It turns out that it’s me who can help,” Tor told him mildly. “But I haven’t heard how yet.”
Pel explained, “We’re discussing the possibility that it’s the Fealty that protects land as well as people.”
Pel and Tor caught Bav up on the theory.
He looked… contemplative rather than angry, and Pel was glad to see his focus shifting. Pel was sure the emotions were still there, but this was way bigger than they were.
“I never thought about it like that, but it makes a certain amount of sense,” Bav admitted slowly, pointing in the direction of the other side of the mountain. “I don’t think clouds are actually meant to behave like that. I always wondered why they rarely came down from the mountains.”
It did seem indicative that the weather had gotten exponentially worse on only one side of the mountain. Not that it was perfect on their side, but it didn’t sound as dire as it was on the exile’s side—nor as good as it was in Alossa, where the High King ruled fairly and well.
“Let’s say that you’re right,” Tor proposed. “What does that have to do with me?”
Pel’s mother didn’t immediately answer Tor’s question.
“I knew from bitter experience that Forex would never listen to us or treat us fairly. The situation was already precarious, and the violent raid was like a match to tinder. We tried to send our most vulnerable to safety. Not everyone agreed with the decision, but the majority decided it was better to risk what would happen in Filon with Nostex’s offer of amnesty than stay and slowly die out.
Instead, we were attacked and nearly slaughtered before the mountain fell down on top of us.
It’s almost enough to make you think that we’re being judged, isn’t it? ”
Pel grimaced. It was a very unpleasant series of events, that was for sure.
She looked at Tor. “And then there was you. You saved Tondian and exile alike, even when it nearly killed you. You saved everyone, even when it would have been easier to let us die. You intervened again after the landslide, even once the danger to you was over, even when you were challenged and could have backed down. You chose to protect a group of people that mean nothing to you.”
“You’re still people,” Tor said, frowning fiercely. “It was the right thing to do. I’d do it again.”
“We believe you,” Pel’s mother said, leaning towards Tor, expression intent. “And that’s why we’re here.”
A sudden look of understanding flashed over Tor’s face, his whole body going rigid.
His voice wasn’t quite steady. “That’s actual treason, you know.”