Queen (Brotherhood of the Throne) (6 page)

Brenna squeezed Kane’s
hand and abruptly stood up.

“Well, I’m for bed.” She
turned to him and winked. “Come along Kane. I’ll need to contact Yowan tomorrow
night so I want to make sure I get my rest tonight.”

Kane took her hand and she
pulled him to his feet. After some quick good nights they made their way up to
their room.

She closed the door and
walked over to stand in front of him.

“You’re not really tired,
are you?” he drawled.  

“Not really.” Brenna’s
smile slowly widened and his breath caught when she reached over and unbuckled
his knife belt. “I just thought it might be nice to leave them alone for a
bit.”

“Hmm, you did?” Kane
nuzzled her neck and pulled her to him.

“Yes. I also thought it
wouldn’t hurt them to imagine exactly what we’re doing right now.”

Her voice was breathy and
he could feel her heart beating against his chest.

“And what exactly is it
we’re doing?” he asked.

“I was sure you were a man
of imagination.”

“Oh I am,” he said as he
unlaced her shirt and started to pull it over her head.

Brenna followed Neemah as
she trudged through the cramped streets of Silverdale. She’d talk to Ewart
about this, she thought as she looked around at the rough shacks and lean-tos
huddled up against the buildings. It looked like every available space was
occupied, and mostly by women and children.

“Is it always this
crowded?” she asked Neemah. They edged around a cart that was being used as
shelter - three small children huddled underneath it.

“No, this is new,” Neemah
said. “It’s poor here but most folk have been able to find a roof afore this.”

Brenna frowned. The crowds
were worse the closer they got to the poorest district.

“Excuse me.” Brenna
stopped beside a tired-looking woman who held a baby. “Can you tell me where
you came from?”

The woman turned frightened
eyes to Brenna but she relaxed when she looked her over.

“I’m from Comack, near the
ferry,” she said. “Though there’s lots here from closer to Kingsreach. Ain’t
safe there ‘cause of the edict. My man, like most, has gone to join the
militia.”

“How long have you been
here?” Brenna asked, noting the dirty pot of water sitting beside the woman on
the street.

“Four days. I can’t leave
‘cause then how would my man find me?”

Brenna reached into her
purse and pulled out a crown. She handed it to the woman, who looked at her in
surprise.

“Here. I’ll give you this
if you promise you’ll buy food that can be shared with some of the others near
you.”

The woman nodded and
clutched the coin tightly in her hand.

“I’ll make sure that
everyone gets something to eat by the end of the day. Everyone,” Brenna said
solemnly, “I promise.”

She and Neemah continued down
the alley but at the end of it Brenna turned to look back - the woman was talking
to a few of her neighbours, holding out the coin, gesturing for more people to
join her.

They traveled a few more
streets before Neemah ducked through a small door set into a white painted
wall. There was no sign that Brenna could see but the minute she walked into
the darkened shop she knew they were in the right place. The scents of lavender,
cinnamon, rose hips and pepper assaulted her nose and she sneezed.

“Who’s there?” asked a
whispery voice. “Make yourself plain to me.”

“It’s me, Neemah Linney, Mother
Lyran,” Neemah said, stepping into the center of the room. “And I’ve brought a
friend.” Neemah gestured to her and Brenna stepped up beside her.

“Neemah, bless you girl, I
thought you’d walked away from your calling forever.”

From the shadows, an old
woman took two steps towards them. Brenna, her eyes adjusting to the gloom of
the shop, saw the old woman’s nose point in their direction and twitch.

 “Been doing well for
yerself, Neemah. Neither one of you smell like ye’ve been living around here.
Light a lamp girl, you know where it is.”

Neemah moved to the
counter and soon a small lamp illuminated the shop. Rows of bottles lined
wooden shelves and bunches of dried herbs hung from low rafters. Brenna looked more
closely at the old woman, nodding to herself at the white film that covered the
woman’s eyes. Mother Lyran had no need of the light herself - she’d been blind
for many years.

Brenna stood still as the
old woman reached a papery hand out to her.

“I feel like I should know
you, lass. What’s your name?”

“Brenna Trewen, Mistress
Lyran.”

“Call me mother. I’ve been
no man’s mistress for more years than you’ve been alive.” Mother Lyran
chuckled. “Trewen is it,” Mother Lyran asked sharply. “Are you a healer?”

Brenna nodded but then she
realized the old woman couldn’t see her. “Yes. Taught by my mother, who was
taught by her mother,” she said.

“Trewen. Well, that brings
to mind an old story, one told about the Duchess of Aruntun’s family.”

Mother Lyran’s eyes
settled on Brenna and she had the uncomfortable feeling that blind or not, the
old woman saw much more than most folk.

“You heard of that tale
Mistress Trewen?”

“Yes, I have.” Brenna was
reminded of her teacher Mistress Utley and her ability to draw the truth out of
her, despite what she wanted to say.

“I thought so.” Mother
Lyran turned to Neemah. “Tell me Neemah, does your friend have two different
colored eyes?”

“Yes Mother, one green and
one brown, though she hides them somehow.”

“One green and one brown.”
Mother Lyran turned back to Brenna, her wide smile showing her yellowed and
cracked teeth. “That’s a good strong pairing, strong enough for the True One I
expect. I’m glad you’ve come, I’ve been waiting a long time.”

Stunned, Brenna watched as
Mother Lyran turned and calmly shuffled to the back of the shop. The last thing
she’d expected to find in Silverdale was a woman who knew the legend of the
True One, a story told only in the Duchess of Aruntun’s family.

“How do you know that
tale?” she asked.

“I know many tales,”
Mother Lyran replied. “I dreamed about the True One but I knew it to be a real
dream. You are the heart of Soule, young Brenna Trewen, and it’s good that you
have come. The people have need of you.”

Brenna shivered as the old
woman spoke and she felt a vision begin. It was brief, no more than a quick
flash, but enough to once more see Thieves Quarter engulfed in flames. She
shivered again as the vision receded.

“But you know this
already,” Mother Lyran said. “I will aid you in any way I can. Come, I have
much to show you.”

Brenna walked slowly as
she and Neemah made their way back to Duke Ewart’s house. It seemed that Mother
Lyran had truly been waiting a long time. The woman had amassed an
extraordinary amount of healing supplies along with soft cloths for bandages
and compresses. When she’d shown them her collection of mortars and pestles,
Brenna had almost wept. She could outfit over three dozen healers with such
supplies. Mother Lyran had also offered to help teach healers and even now she
was contacting those who had some skills. For the first time since she’d
started thinking about training healers, Brenna had hope that it could be done
before they went to war.

“Thank you for taking me
to see Mother Lyran, Neemah,” Brenna said as they crossed the square to Ewart’s
house. “She will be incredibly valuable.”

“She’s old and blind and
don’t go out much anymore, but Mother Lyran, she still sees more than most.”

“Yes she does,” Brenna said
as they entered the house. The old woman also seemed to know more than most.

Brenna left Neemah to deal
with the various herbs they’d acquired from Mother Lyran while she set off in
search of the men.

“There are over two
thousand men already in town signed up and ready to be trained,” Kane said to
Ewart and Dasid. They were in Ewart’s study, discussing the practicalities of
training the recruits. “The men from the training facility should be here any
day now.”

“They’ll be here before
the coronation?” Ewart asked.

Kane nodded. Beldyn would
be crowned in four days. Kane’s sword tingled and looked up as Brenna came into
the room.

“Ewart, what food supplies
do you have for the militia?” she asked, joining them at the desk.

“I believe we have more
than enough for the existing force and the men we’ll be training,” Ewart said.

“And their families?”

Ewart looked up at her in
surprise. “I wasn’t told that they’d brought families but of course they have.
Kane?”

Kane shook his head. “The
men are all camped just outside town.” He turned to Brenna. “I take it the
families are in town?”

“Yes,” Brenna replied.
“Neemah took me to visit a healer in the poorest part of Silverdale and the
alleys and streets are filled with women and children. I talked to one woman who
said her man had gone to join the militia - she’d been there on the street for
four days.  Some of them looked like they’d been there longer.”

Kane sucked in a breath
and met Brenna’s worried gaze.

“We’ll need to get food
and fresh water to them as soon as we can,” Dasid said and stood up. “And we
need to dig privies. I’ll get Gaskain to organize some men. We have to get this
under control as fast as we can.”

“Thank you Dasid,” Brenna
said. “You’ll need to record the names of the women as well. They’ll be afraid
to move in case their men can’t find them again. I suspect many of them
desperately need their pay. And Ewart.” Brenna turned to the duke. “I’ll need
somewhere where I can house the ill, a place we can turn into an infirmary. I
was hoping we wouldn’t need this right away but if families have been out on
the streets for days, or weeks even, there’s no telling what we’ll find.”

“I’ll have the men look
for anyone who might be ill,” Dasid said grimly. “I saw a wasting sickness run
through the camp followers of bandits once. The children were hardest hit.”

“I should have a few
trained healers here soon - I’ll bring them to you,” Brenna said. “They’ll be able
to determine who has to be cared for right away.”

“I’ll find a house or
school,” Ewart said. “I’ll talk to the guilds. If there’s nowhere else we’ll
use the church of the One-God. It’s almost empty and it’s very close.”

Both Ewart and Dasid left to
start their tasks. Kane reached for Brenna and pulled her to him. “They’ll get
it all arranged,” he said. “What else do you need?”

Brenna sighed. “A place to
house my healers. Some can stay with the ill in an infirmary but they’ll need
to be able to get away from that. I know that Ewart has some empty servant’s
quarters but I don’t want them to feel they’re not appreciated.”

“I doubt that will happen,”
Kane said. “They’ll be given a room in Duke Ewart’s own house and they’ll take
their meals with the rest of us. Here,” he guided her over to a chair. “You
rest while I make you some tea. I have a feeling that this is the only time
you’ll be off your feet for the rest of the day.”

Kane re-filled Brenna’s
mug and she sighed and tucked her feet up under her.

“When you go to find Dasid
I’m going to talk to some Brothers,” Kane said. “Even when the men from the
training facility get here it will be some time before they’ll be organized
enough to start training the recruits. I thought we might keep them busy doing
something else, something that would help us with the overcrowding in town and
get them used to working together. It’s actually a good first step in their
training.”

“Doing what?”

“If the Brotherhood can
find some lumber I think the new recruits would put their backs into building
homes for their families, don’t you?”

“That is a wonderful idea,”
Brenna said. “Will it really help their training?”

“Yes,” Kane replied. “They’ll
learn to work together as a unit and follow orders. It will also allow us to
see who the natural leaders are.” Kane paused. “And they’ll know that that taking
care of their families is important to the militia.”

“In case some of them
die,” Brenna said and Kane nodded. Some of these men would not survive - that
was the nature of war. She hated thinking about it but she had to be ready when
it happened. And it
would
happen.

A few hours later Kane
walked into a warehouse down by the river. The Brothers he’d met with had taken
him to see Master Gwylym, a carpenter. An old man, Gwylym had outlived both his
wife and his son. Now he worked alone in his shop – but he never sold or even
showed any of the things he made to anyone. Gwylym had been excited by Kane’s
visit however, and he was being given the rare privilege of seeing the inside
of his shop.