Rise of the Citadel (The Search for the Brights Book 2) (11 page)

  “No, and you
are still not allowed to follow me.”

  John
interrupted, “The man will probably start hunting Bowie down the minute the
king enters town and he finds out the truth.”

  Bowie adjusted
his hat.

“That’s the
truth. Although, I don’t have much of a choice if we are to make two hundred
fifty thousand arrows before the battle starts.”

They followed
Bowie as he started down the worn dirt path that led into town from the camp.

  “Do we really
need that many arrows?” John asked, seemingly confused by the number.

  Bowie replied,
“I think that we will by the time we fill each quiver of ten thousand men. We
will also have to make strings and possibly some bows as well. I have only a
little experience producing bows. I’m sure the quality of my bow is not going
to be good enough.”

  “I have made a
few. I can be of help. However, making the bows won't be easy while on the
move,” Auburn said, trying to keep pace with the two men.

  Bowie looked
back at the girl, who was trying to keep her dress out of the dirt. “I’ll
settle for just the arrows at the moment, but thank you.”

The outskirts of
town came into view. Bowie could see a lot of commotion outside the gates.
Carts had been aligned,each covered with canvas tarps. The large businessman
was barking orders at all of the workers. Bowie could make out the two large
men watching each person to guarantee that nothing was removed from the carts
loaded with merchandise.

“You wished to
see me, sir?” Bowie asked.

  “Indeed I did.
I must apologize for earlier. I mistook you for a lordling and thought I could
make some money for the townspeople here.”

The man had
sweat on his forehead and was wringing his hands while he talked. Bowie knew he
was desperate to make a sale now.

  Bowie smiled
and said,“I won’t say it hasn’t happened before. I am just a businessman like
yourself, so I must tell you I will not be needing some of the items in your
shop. I would prefer to buy from the individual shop owners.”

  “Well, I buy
from them and resell it to make sure they have a constant money flow. The
individual workers don’t have anything to sell. If you want to buy to support
them, you will have to buy the items from me.”

  “What
guarantee can you make me that they will receive the money they need to avoid
being enlisted into the army?”

  The man let
out a small chuckle. “If they all are enlisted, it would ruin my business
because I would have no one to stock my shelves.”

  Bowie nodded
in acceptance. “How much are the bows now?”

  “Let’s just
say the bows are a gift. Shall we discuss the prices of other items?”

  He replied
without missing a beat, “Let’s just discuss what I need.”

The man nodded
his head.

Bowie proceeded,
“I need glue, string, tar, candles, paper, boots, clothes, knives, and food
provisions.”

“I already had
the things you would need separated.” Ramos turned to Auburn and said, “I
placed the purple dress you were looking at in with the other clothes. Consider
it a thank you gift for making me aware of what is coming.”

Auburn curtsied,
and the man smiled in return.

Bowie cleared his
throat. “Well, I won’t be needing this much. I don’t have the room to carry
this many supplies. Unless you have some horses and carts to sell as well.”

“We might have a
few for sale. Perhaps we could work something out.”
            Bowie smiled and said, “I hope so, for the sake of this town.”

The business man
nodded and seemed to understand this wasn’t an actual hope, but instead was a
threat.

“I will see what
I can do. Sergeant Crescent, is it?”

“Yes, it is.
I’ll take these three carts with the horses and be back in the morning for the
rest of the supplies,” Bowie said while climbing into a cart’s seat.

“We haven’t
discussed price yet, Sergeant.”

Bowie flipped
the merchant ten gold pieces.

“You had better
make due with what you get, sir.”

Bowie tipped his
hat and motioned Auburn and John to take the other two carts. As he pulled away
he felt as though his heart was going to jump out of his chest. This was the
easiest negotiation he had ever experienced. He wondered if he would be killed
in the night when the merchant realized he’d been had. He at least needed to do
his best at accommodating the scouts to keep them from tipping off the
merchant.

Bowie stopped to
look back at Ramos. He instantly felt regret for the way he had talked to the
man. His father had always taught him to treat other men with respect,
especially if you were doing business.

When the small
caravan returned back to the camp Bowie waved over Tyler, who was surprised to
find carts full of supplies.

“Take this cart
and inventory it as well as the two that are on their way. There should be some
paper in one that you can use to take inventory. As soon as that is done,
Auburn will get her fletchers together and start constructing as many arrows as
she can before we get on the road.” He nodded as Auburn and John approached.

“John, will you
and Auburn come to my tent please?”

They both nodded
as they followed him in his hurried pace.

Once inside
Bowie offered his chair to John, and Auburn made herself at home sitting on the
pallet that made up his bed. Bowie paced in the small tent nervously.

“John you have
been a great help in the past. I have great need of you now. I need you to
organize the hunting parties, meals, the night guards, and one other thing
required for an army. I will require two of our archers each day to come to me
for lessons in making arrows. Tomorrow I will only need one, as I will be
instructing Auburn.”

“I will do what
I can, Sergeant.” John stood to go but Bowie held up his hand and gestured to
have him sit back down.

“I need you to
run this army so I can be as efficient as I can with the king’s orders.”

He nodded in
response.

“Auburn, I will
need your fletchers working together to make the best arrows they can. Once I
give you some instructions perhaps, you can improve the quality of the ones you
make. I want to have at least one thousand arrows for the king before we leave
this camp. We need to be out of here in two days before the rest of the army
starts showing up. I will see that supplies are being maintained. I want to
have any parts of the arrow that cannot be made on the road done and put into
carts. I want the arrow assembly to continue while we are traveling. Fletchers
will get the carts and our soldiers will carry as many arrow supplies as they
can, along with the horses. I only want to stop when we run out of supplies and
need to drop more off for the king.”

“I don’t think
the soldiers will be doing much except for being pack mules for my fletchers.
If that happens, there will be some trouble on the road. You may not mind
working for a woman but some of your men might,” she said.

Bowie said,
“John and I will deal with the men. I hope to put every man on horseback or in
a cart by the time we reach the battlefield. If not, I want each man rotating
between walking and riding.”

“How will we get
the arrow shafts? It takes time to find those and if we are traveling, we may
be passing valuable areas to find them.”

Bowie almost
snapped at Auburn, “I told you, I would deal with the supplies. You focus on
keeping your men making arrows.”

Auburn looked
down, obviously hurt by his small outburst. He normally didn’t snap at anyone,
and felt strange that he had done it. It was too late to take the words back so
he continued on.

“Each day I will
teach two archers to make Crescent arrows. These arrows and any Auburn makes
will be given only to a Black Hat. I don’t want any Crescent arrows being given
to the king until all of our quivers are full.”

They both nodded
their heads at this.

“Auburn, go
ahead and get your fletchers and get those carts divided up and start any
construction you can before the light fails. I will have some arrow shafts made
for morning. John, get the rest of the supplies organized and have them packed
for the next few days. If any of the troops need boots or clothes, divide them
as you see fit. Get men ready to hunt tomorrow and make sure no one stays up too
late. Including yourself, John. You have pushed yourself hard the last couple
of days. Make
sure
you get some rest.”

He felt strange
ordering the others around. He had always done the jobs himself and often took
orders from his father. Telling others what to do felt out of his character.
They left in as hurried a pace as they had come, each with their own job.

Bowie made his
way to Ria’s wagon. When he arrived he noticed a small light in the window. She
was awake. He was glad he didn’t need to disrupt her sleep. He knocked gently
on the door and removed his hat.

“Wizard Ria, it
is me, Bowie.”

She opened the
door looking considerably more rested than she had earlier. The small wagon was
filled with small plants, each of which was now full with berries. She motioned
him inside and he followed, trying to squeeze past all of the branches without
disturbing any.

“Master
Crescent, How is the apple tree working out?” She moved about her wagon
collecting berries in a small bowl.

“The tree is
wonderful. I had a scout grow it out a little to help it produce more fruit
without you having to work so hard,” Bowie said, placing his hat in his lap as
Ria held out the bowl of fruit to him. He took a couple and chewed some of the
most exquisite fruit he had ever tasted. “I have to say that this tastes
better.”

“Well, thank
you. It takes a lot of growing to get the flavor just right. How can I help you
this evening?”

“Wizard Ria, I
have been able to acquire a good amount of supplies. We are going to start
making arrows in the morning. I know you said you could help us with the arrow
shafts. Will you be able to make some for the fletchers by morning?”

She made a small
smile as she poured herself a cup of tea. She didn’t answer as she poured him
one as well. They took a couple sips of tea and Bowie watched as a vine from
one of the plants seemed to move of its own accord, away from a shelf. Ria
reached up and retrieved a small pouch from the cubby that was revealed.

“I can make some
now, if you would assist me and make me a promise,” she said.

“What is it I
will be promising?”

“You will be
promising not to reveal a wizard secret.”

“If it will help
you in assisting me and my men to survive, I will carry it to my deathbed,”
Bowie said.

She laughed at
his comment.

“In this pouch,
I have accumulated a number of imbuements. I made them all. I do not like the
kind of person the magic makes me into so I only keep enough to perform small
tasks. In the last few days I have carried one imbuement with me to help
restore my strength. If you will follow me out and do as I say, I think I can
give you what you need.”

Bowie left the
wagon and offered a hand to the wizard to help her out. She accepted and Bowie
put his hat back on as he walked beside her.

“When we are
away from the others, I will throw some seeds out and have them to grow into
the arrow shafts you need. I don’t want others to know that I possess this type
of power in my wagon.”

“I agree. There
is always one or another that is jealous of those in power.”

She reached out
to put a hand on his arm and he held it to let her steady herself. He was
taking a liking to the woman as a nephew would an aunt. She had a friendly
smile.

“When we get
there, I will need you to pour a couple imbuements at a time into my hand until
I become strong enough to grow what you need. Then I will let you take one to
assist getting me back to the wagon. Make sure I keep them in my hand when I
fall asleep, Master Crescent.”

“I will do my
best.”

She stopped to
look at him still holding out his arm.

“I trust you.
Please, do not let me down.”

He nodded and
looked back into eyes that showed a majestic wisdom. Soon, the two were far
enough away that they could hear no voices from the camp. She reached into a
pocket and pulled out a handful of seeds. She started picking out individual
seeds and tossing them into the surrounding grass. The process took a while and
Bowie patiently waited for her to finish.

When she did,
she wiped her hands clean and handed Bowie the pouch with imbuements. He pulled
the knot out of the string that closed it and looked inside. He saw a bag full
of metal beads much like the one he wore underneath his arm guard. Only these
displayed a small tree symbol. She had accumulated close to twenty. He could
build a city beyond his wildest imagination with what the bag contained. He
tried to wipe the astonishment from his face and carefully poured one or two at
a time into her frail looking hand. When it contained eight beads she told him
to stop.

“Now tell me,
what does the perfect arrow shaft look like?” she said as she closed her eyes
and listened attentively.

“The perfect
arrow shaft would be a bit longer than a tall man’s arm length. It would
contain no knots or places where branches grew. It would be straight and
slightly flexible.”

She lowered her
head and Bowie watched as small plants grew out of the ground wherever she had
thrown a seed. Each one grew to the size of a small bush with no leaves. A
small pod opened at the end of each branch dropping new seeds to the ground.
Where each new seed landed another plant grew.

The plants soon
surrounded him and the wizard, leaving only a small path to walk out of.
Hundreds upon hundreds of shafts grew before Bowie’s eyes. Each one was as
perfect as the one before it. He knew it would take days, maybe even weeks, to
find a handful of shafts of this quality and he had hundreds. The aging wizard
lifted her head and faced Bowie.