Chapter 2 – Settling In
It turned out to be a long day. When Kel finally reached headquarters it was already dark. Thankfully, she knew Peachblossom was well cared for by Tobe, and his friends, the other orphaned children who lived with the officers and made themselves useful in hundreds of small ways, had taken charge of her belongings, returning them to her rooms without needing any instruction. Despite having arrived in the middle of the afternoon, a two week absence from New Hope had caused an accumulation of issues requiring her attention. Fanche, the town's headwoman, now took care of most disputes and was a firm and fair village matriarch, but some conflicts, including those that were between the soldiers who defended the town, demanded the involvement of the Lady Knight. In addition to those, there were damages to be reviewed and repairs to be approved, stores to distribute and secured, and all the while, dozens of people stopping her as she went about her business to hear news of their progress in the war or gossip from the wedding.
On entering the building, Kel headed for the ground floor office that housed their meetings. She collapsed into a chair at the large table that filled the room with a grateful sigh. Neal glanced at her tired face and pushed a cup of tea towards her. She eyed it suspiciously before reaching for the cup. As camp healer, anything Neal gave her to drink tended to be both awful and effective. She wondered what on earth he was dosing her for this time.
"Don't look at it like that," Neal smirked, "It won't poison you. Just drink." Kel lifted the steaming mug to her lips and took a sip. To her surprise and pleasure it contained not medicine, but a perfectly brewed cup of Yamani style tea.
"Since when do you know how to brew green tea?" she asked him amazed. It was her favourite; however, most of the others refused to even try the strong herbal brew, preferring western style tea filled with milk and sugar to sweeten the flavour. They didn't know what they were missing.
"Yuki showed me," he admitted as that lady entered the office. Despite having no military rank Yuki made it clear that in all things not specifically pertaining to the current war, she would have her place among the camp's leaders. "I take it that you approve?" he asked dryly, raising one eyebrow at her as he did so.
"Absolutely," Kel agreed, "but have you told Yuki what you said about it the first time I made you taste it?" She smiled sweetly, enjoying the joke with Yuki, whose eyes twinkled as she took a seat between Kel and her betrothed. She was well aware of Neal's behaviour and attitude towards unfamiliar foods, particularly anything that wasn't sweet.
Knowing it was useless to lie; Neal settled for a muttered comment about people changing their minds and applied himself to the stack of infirmary reports from his absence. While it had not been terribly busy, it was useful for him to know of any recent illness or healings, should someone require his attention again soon. He tried to keep abreast of things. Kel and Yuki settled into a pleasant conversation about Kel's plans for the town during the coming cold season and made arrangements to meet in the morning as they had at Mastiff, for glaive practice. It was the best time of day for such exercise, before the townspeople bespoke Kel for one reason or another, or Neal awoke enough to begin seeking Yuki's company. Yuki was a morning person even though Neal was not, which Kel thought would certainly make for an interesting marriage.
Sir Merric, in charge of camp security and one of Kel and Neal's year mates, soon entered the office with four of his sergeants in tow. The men stopped short when they saw Neal's lady in the room. They bowed and welcomed her pleasantly, trying to disguise their confusion about her presence. While they had seen the Lady Yukimi arrive with the party from Mastiff, they had not expected to see her in the counsel room. Once everyone was settled Kel handed around official reports and personal correspondence to several of the men. She informed them of Lady Yukimi's temporary residence with them, in, she emphasised, her own room beside Kel's. Neal and Yuki had missed each other too much to not use the recent wedding as a reunion, but their own wedding was not able to take place just yet. Nealan was the eldest surviving son and heir to the duchy of Queenscove and as such, his marriage was one of significance. His family resided largely at court due to his father's position as court healer, and they understandably wanted to be present to bless the union. However, Neal was in service to the crown for the duration of the war, keeping him in the north indefinitely , and he would not risk his mother and sister's in a war zone. He had not wished to risk Yuki either, but she would not be told to stay away. Yuki also deserved the chance to have some family in attendance, although it was understood that few would travel the distance from the Isles even for this important occasion. So they waited still. Kel, as friend to both of them, refused to allow Yuki's reputation to come into question even for one minute. She knew that as a noble woman, it was important that Yuki continue to follow protocol, despite the distance between her and protective relatives. She would make sure that her friends did not become the subject of idle gossip; at least, not in her camp.
Once that matter was cleared up and personal letters had been read, Kel shared what news had returned with them from Mastiff. It was not as good as they had hoped. Though he had lost control over the killing devices some months earlier, King Maggur was far from conceding defeat. The approaching winter months meant that it was likely they would see a break from the fighting, but the looked for peace had not yet been reached.
"Curses!" snarled Merric banging his fist onto the table. While the red headed knight was a keen fighter, he wanted to head back to Corus himself. There were several eligible young ladies he had wished to make better acquaintance with, and every month the crown kept him in military service increased the likelihood they would become engaged to some other young man. "Why can't he just admit that he's lost? It's not as though his machines are going to come back and save his sorry behind. And there's nothing on heaven or earth worse than those evil monsters."
Three of the sergeants made the sign against evil on their chests and one muttered a prayer under his breath. They had all faced the killing machines created by Blayce before. No one wanted to see them return to the battle and the idea of anything worse was unthinkable.
"Hush." Neal snapped. "It is ill advised to speak of such things. The wrong god might be listening and take it as a challenge." Merric looked slightly sheepish as he nodded an apology and rapped his knuckles on the table in front of him to chase away the ill luck.
"It's certainly true that the killing machines are gone, but he still has an army of desperate men. " Kel had more reason than most knights to feel confident in their victory following the collapse of the monstrous creatures powered by the dead. She had, after all, been instrumental in their destruction. However, Lord Raoul and Lord Wyldon had taught her to take nothing for granted, so she was reserved in her predictions of an upcoming success.
"Army," Merric flapped his had derisively, "Rabble more like; barely trained barbarians. I don't think they've got more than a handful of trained warriors among them." His opinion was common, Kel had discovered during her time at Mastiff. Most of the young knights felt the same. It was only the seasoned warhorses like Raoul and the Lioness who stayed quiet, knowing that until the treaty was signed there was no guarantee that tensions would not worsen once more.
"Nevertheless," interjected Master Terrec, their head scribe, "it is not worth becoming complacent. We are not so safe here that we can pretend the war is over due to one victory, however significant it may have been." He was a quiet man who seldom spoke during these meeting unless it was necessary, but every word was considered and carried the wisdom of his age. Kel wondered not for the first time whether this man objected to being subordinate to three green knights, only half his age. He met her eyes with understanding. Terrec knew that she did not share her peers' flippant attitude. "I'm sure we have nothing to worry about. The Lady Knight is ever vigilant."
Kel nodded an acknowledgment to the man. Despite her rank as a noble it was comforting to know that she had earned her place as a commander within this town and the respect of men and women like the head scribe were her measure of that achievement.
"I wonder what he hopes to achieve by continuing," Yuki mused quietly. It seemed that she was unable to keep her nose out off military matters in spite of her promise to the contrary. Kel looked at her, noticing the tiny hints that showed her concern over the matter regardless of the smooth expression on her face.
"I can assure you, it'll be nothin' good m'lady," Sergeant Jacut informed her. "If King Maggur is involved you can be certain it's not for our benefit. Worst yet, he knows more of real war than most of those Scanran bandits. He'll have something big brewing if he means to keep fighting."
Yngvar, another of the sergeants, nodded his agreement. "Aye, lady. His ideas always seem to be bad news for Tortall. If he believes he can continue this conflict, then he has an ace up his sleeve yet."
Kel remain quiet. She had heard nothing from the Chamber of the Ordeal about what Maggur was up to this time and she fervently hoped that this meant her duty to its resident deity was over. Last time it had claimed her as its champion, she had been forced to break her oaths to the crown and follow the trail of her people and their kidnappers halfway through Scanra until she found and destroyed the death mage. It seemed to have lost interest in her since, as the dreams that had plagued her in the lead up to that journey and which ceased months before and had yet to resume. Still, if Daine the wildmage was right, gods generally laid claim to their chosen for life. Kel hoped that whatever the chamber was, it was not going to try to control her life. She simply could not assimilate the image of herself with those who were god-touched.
"Whatever else there is to consider, things will be quieter for a while at least," Neal pointed out logically. "Maggur can no more fight during the winter than we can. It'll be too cold up here for much action for a few months at least." It was true. The countryside would freeze so absolutely with winter approaching that neither side would be able to press for an advantage for some time.
"And we will not waste that time," Kel promised. "We have willing enough fighters here and now that there is time we can give them better training. Whatever Maggur has coming for us we will be as prepared as we can."
There was little else they could really say on the matter so they concluded their meeting and bid each other a good night as they left to pursue their own interests for the remainder of the evening. Kel looked to an early night. She was more exhausted than she would have believed possible as a result of a break from her regular duties. Even though she had enjoyed the celebration she preferred in general to have more active employment. Mounting the stairs to her room, Kel pushed all thoughts of the gods from her mind. If the Chamber had chosen her to act again, she would know soon enough.
Until then, she would sleep peacefully.