Chapter Twenty-Five #4
True to his word, Bav had amassed large amounts of food, clothes, blankets, and other basic supplies that he thought the exiles might need.
“Are we still calling them exiles?” Pel’s brother asked.
“Hopefully not,” Tor agreed. “Var has said that he’s willing to work with them to be part of the United Realms again. If they prefer, we might be able to go with a sort of independent realm with a trade agreement or something like that. We’re going to talk about it and see what they want.”
Bav clapped him on the arm. “Always a good place to start.”
All Pel had ever wanted to do was help his people flourish. It might not be quite the people he’d originally imagined, but it felt like this was really his chance to achieve that.
And he trusted that Bav and Lara would take care of the Tondians.
Tor was still riding his borrowed horse; Varex had already promised to send Monster to Tond, and then they’d get him over the border. (There weren’t exactly established trade routes yet, but that was going to change.)
They set out with all the supplies—and a whole group of guards who’d agreed that they would pack their swords away when they passed over the mountain so that it would be obvious that they weren’t there to fight.
Bav had asked only for guards who would be willing to make such a concession.
There’d been more than Pel had expected, and he wondered now how much of the hatred of the exiles had been fueled by his father’s dislike.
Many of them had been Tondians twenty-five years ago, after all. Yes, the situation was complicated now by years of raiding. Those grievances needed to be addressed. Some Tondians probably did view the exiles as cowards or traitors, the same way Pel’s father had.
But hopefully many would see them simply as people, as good and flawed as any other. Maybe there would be those like Cavun who clearly knew some exiles and didn’t really care what side of the mountain they lived on.
Fighting was expensive and destructive. There were so many better options.
It took three days to get across the realm and through the mountains with the laden wagons.
And there was still a lot of rain.
“We’re going to need a whole set of clothes just for the wet weather,” Pel pointed out.
“We’ll keep the weavers of the Realms happy,” Tor suggested.
Pel laughed.
“And I should have asked how to send the exiles messages,” Tor reflected ruefully. “They just kept appearing before. I’ve still got a lot to figure out.”
“We’ve got a lot to figure out,” Pel corrected with a smile. “And it will all come with time. Which we now have.”
Tor grinned at him. “There is that. All right, bring on the challenges.”
They both laughed when Beluna appeared shortly before Tama, Pel’s mother, and several more of the exiles.
Clearly, they had excellent scouts.
They looked… wary but not overly alarmed. Tama and Pel’s mother looked very relieved to see them.
Beluna looked like she was getting closer to believing the exiles were allies and not threats.
“We’ve brought supplies,” Tor told them. “We couldn’t bring them all on our own, so Bavex’s guards are assisting. They’ve all pledged not to attack unless attacked themselves.”
Pel’s mother stared at them for a long moment, and then she nodded. “That’s very thoughtful. We’ll show you where to go.”
Because there was, of course, actually a path. The exiles had been sneaking things over the mountain for years, after all.
Pel hadn’t been sure of quite what to expect, but his first view out onto the exiles’ land was… greener than he expected.
The clouds were still stormy, but it wasn’t actually raining.
“The worst of the rain had already stopped in the flood-prone areas by the time we got back,” Tama told them as they picked their way down the mountain.
“And the driest areas are now getting regular rainfall. Two big storms blew out to sea instead of making landfall. It’s already better than it’s been in several years.
The skeptics aren’t convinced, but the rest of us are hopeful. ”
“I’m glad to hear it,” Tor said, smiling at them.
“But we’ve got some solutions even if the weather doesn’t improve.
I’ll want to speak more about it with everyone, but the High King has agreed to support us, and so have all the other realms. These supplies are from Bavex, and he has promised more until we can get on our feet—even if there are those who don’t want to pledge their Fealty to me or anyone else.
We can talk about rejoining the United Realms, or maybe just a trade agreement, or something in between. Everyone’s ready to make this better.”
Pel’s mother and Tama just stared at him for a moment, as though they couldn’t actually understand what he was saying, and then dawning smiles grew on their faces.
“That sounds wonderful,” Pel’s mother said.
It really did.
“Would you like a tour?” Tama asked.
“We want to see everything,” Tor agreed with a broad grin.
He held out his hand, and Pel twined their fingers together.
Pel knew this was the start of something wonderful. For all of them.