Do you have any other ideas for fics after this one?
Yes, I do. I'll start working on it after this fic is finished. It will involve Numair, that I can say for certain. But more importantly it'll revolve around a …for a lack of better word, demon.
What happened to Lauryn between the time when the current story starts and when she awoke to villagers pulling glass off her face?
Well, she was invited to stay with one of the village families, but found it hard to continue living the life of a poor villager after what had happened. Villagers are usually closely knit within their families, she couldn't help but feel like the pitied outsider. She drifted, from one family to another, from one village to another, until she arrived in Corus. Corus was a refreshing change from everything she was used to, and after she met and befriended a young thief named Nathan, she decided to stay for certain. And from there, she honed her desire for revenge.
22. To Gather An Army
Nobles' Bane: Chapter 20
There was a brisk knock on the door, and both she and Kenric started.
They pulled apart, but her hand lingered on his reluctantly.
"Yes?" Kenric called out cautiously.
"I want to speak to my sister," came the flat reply.
"Travis?" She went to the door and motioned him in. "Where's Nathan?"
He shrugged carelessly. Travis' gaze suddenly sharpened, studying her quietly before turning narrowed eyes onto Kenric. "I hope I haven't interrupted anything too important." Sarcasm dripped from his words.
Kenric just returned Travis' hard look. "I'll leave you two to speak," Kenric finally said. She was glad he had not tried to respond to Travis' obvious suspicion.
The moment Kenric left the room, Travis turned to look at her. "Lauryn, make sure you think before you do anything foolish," he scolded her.
Her mouth dropped open, and she itched to release an acerbic reply. "Ah, the drawbacks to having a brother," she said instead. "I've nearly forgotten. Good thing you're here to remind me."
He was not amused. "Lauryn," he started again.
She reached up and kissed him on the cheek. "I'll be careful; don't worry," she appeased.
He sighed, but didn't voice any more objections.
"Now, what did you want to speak to me about?"
He met her gray gaze squarely. "We have all agreed that assembling an army was our best chance, correct?"
She nodded grudgingly. "Aye."
His blue eyes looked dead serious. "Lauryn, promise me you won't try what you did before. Don't run off to the castle by yourself again."
"Travis--"
"Promise."
She sighed. "I promise."
He nodded. "Good. Now, go get ready for departure. Nathan is already prepared, and Kenric is preparing now."
She frowned. "What about you?"
"I'm not going."
She growled. "I'm going to find Nathan and smack him until he--"
"Nathan wasn't the one who decided. It was me."
She gave him a flat look. "Explain."
He gave her a grim smile. "You don't need me."
"What? How absurd, of course I do!"
"No, you don't," Travis continued as if she hadn't spoken. He continued to speak before she could protest again. "You will need Nathan. He's a true commoner."
"You're saying that the rest of us are fake commoners?"
"Kenric and I aren't commoners at all. And you. You are technically a commoner, but you're also Nobles' Bane. A legend. A hero." He covered her mouth with his hand when she started to protest. "You're not exactly the easiest person to relate to."
She blinked.
He smiled at her look of surprise. "And that is why you need Nathan."
"But Nathan knows how to fight--"
"Any fool with a stick can fight. But it doesn't make them Nobles' Bane."
She made a face.
"You need Nathan. But he won't accompany you if I go. So I won't. Not to mention what chaos would ensue if I am recognized as Lord Provost while at the same time trying to campaign for you."
She shook her head. "We can just keep you out of sight; make sure none of the villagers see you. Just let me talk to Nathan. I'm sure I could convince him otherwise."
"No. Don't antagonize him more than he already is."
"But I want you there."
He gave her a sharp, almost angry look. "Then, you're more foolish than I had first assumed."
She quirked an eyebrow and looked at him.
"Nathan is suspicious of me; I understand and respect him for that. He shouldn't trust me, and, if I were in his position, I would have probably kicked me out of the house by now."
"But you're my brother."
"Don't be naïve," Travis said tenderly. "I'm the Lord Provost. I served the Crown and, indirectly, General Aleyn."
She gave him an amused look. "You don't want me to trust you?"
"That may be best." He tried to give her an indifferent shrug, but she spotted the look of uncertainty that flashed behind his blue eyes. He really did want her to be less trusting of him, even if it hurt himself in the doing, emotionally or otherwise.
She finally nodded. "All right. All right."
"Come on. I'll help you saddle your horse."
She smiled widely. A stranger saddle Bile? "You can try."
~*~*~*~
"So. I prick myself with the point to make it work," Kenric stared down at the pin he held in his hand. "Anything I should know in particular before I do so?"
The gold broke skin, and Travis grimaced.
Emotions rolled over her like a storm. Suspicion. An overly bearing desire to be cautious. The need to protect his sister. Pride over the discovery that she was the member of Nobles' Bane. Relief that she had actually decided to trust him after all.
She clapped her hands over her head. "Shield, Travis. Shield!"
The great touch on her mind shuddered, causing her to stumble. But then he regained control and put up a tentative wall between their minds.
He looked at her with concern. She could feel it emanating inside of her. She quickly sent back a feeling of reassurance.
Travis looked at her with surprise when he received her reassurance. Then he nodded; he was starting to understand the power in the pins.
"You took a great risk, offering one of these to me," he said quietly.
She could have spoken to him mind to mind, but she didn't want to overwhelm him.
"I didn't. It wasn't a great risk at all."
Lauryn shook her head as she remembered her and her brother's last conversation that afternoon before they had left. He had been relieved and, at the same time, frightened about the way she had trusted him.
"Keep up a shield around your mental mind as you do it," she said aloud to Kenric. "Otherwise, your thoughts will enter everyone else's mind like a herd of giants." She paused before adding, "Everyone else who has a pin, I mean. The experience can be quite painful, you know," she finished lamely.
Kenric looked at her. "Who has the last pin?"
"Last pin?" she echoed.
"You have one, and I'm holding one. But there must be another; three pins total, one for each member of Nobles' Bane."
She grimaced. She had hoped that Kenric wouldn't be observant enough at the moment to ask. "My brother has the last one."
He stared at her, and for a moment she thought that he would give her the pin back.
But then he nodded. "Great. Now I know the other person to whom I'll have to apologize if I don't shield very well."
And with that, he pressed the pin's point against his fingertip.
She tensed, waiting for the onslaught of foreign thoughts, but there wasn't one. She breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at Kenric. Wonderfully done, she thought to him.
His eyes widened. "Axe magicked these?" The awe was obvious in his voice. "They're… amazing."
She shrugged. "I know."
"Lauryn! Stop dawdling! We have one measly month to assemble an army, and you're lagging behind!"
Bile snapped at the air crossly as Nathan scolded her. She felt herself grimace, but knew that Nathan was right to yell at her.
The planned execution for Axe and Danel had been announced: it would take place in a month. She had to get to them before that. Somehow.
"There. Do you see it?" Nathan questioned. "Our first village."
She did see it. And, for that matter, the village saw them. Several forms had gathered and stood in the middle of the road that led to their village, staring at the three figures approaching on horseback.
Kenric gave her a side-long glance. "Ready?" he asked as Nathan moved ahead.
She reached up and patted the black scarf that obscured her face a bit uncertainly. Her other hand lingered on her green sash.
"Sure," she finally nodded, sounding and feeling the exact opposite. "You?"
"I'd feel a lot more comfortable if I stayed behind. What if they recognize me--"
"They won't," she said firmly. "People in the capital didn't even recognize you."
He grimaced, but nodded.
They approached slowly, cautiously. Nathan led while she and Kenric rode abreast. As they got closer and closer, the villagers only had eyes for her.
"Nobles' Bane?" one of the men asked her with a wavering voice.
"Yes, I…" She glanced at Kenric uncertainly.
Kenric's clear voice cut across the silence. "Well met, gentleman," he said, nodding. "I hope that my companions and I haven't arrived at an untimely moment."
The villagers blinked and turned their stares on him.
Nathan suddenly let out a loud, pleasant chuckle. "Excuse Kenric's formality," he said with a light shrug. He gave an exaggerated roll of his eyes and shook his head. "He's just spent too much time around them nobles. Can't blame him, really. All that stuffy, arrogant talk can really get to one's head."
One of the villagers laughed.
"What can we do for you, sir?" the one who looked to be in charge stepped forward to speak. He raised a frosted brow and gave Lauryn a quizzical look.
"I'm sure you've heard the recent news," Nathan said, voice suddenly grave, "concerning two members of Nobles' Bane."
The old man nodded. "We've heard that they've been captured and to be executed before the end of the month. Doesn't explain why you're here, though."
The man most certainly got straight to the point.
Lauryn took a breath. "We are here because-- because--" Her voice was slightly muffled beneath her scarf. She felt strangely stifled and, as a result, she reached up with a hand to loosen the scarf about her face.
Whether it was an accident or purposely done (she was so tired of hiding, after all) she would never be entirely certain. But the moment she felt her scarf fall away from her face, she knew it was too late to try to put it back on.
Gasps rang out in front of her. She straightened in her saddle and met the surprised eyes head on.
"I need your help," she finally finished.
"So, the rumors are true," the old man said quietly, almost to himself. "The one who wears the green… is truly a woman."
"Aye," she said steadily.
"And, you say that you would like my help? With what can an old man like me help you with, lady?" he asked her dryly.
"I want my friends back."
"So you would force an old, bent man to face The General's wrath in order to save your companions?"
"That's not what Jade intended," Nathan broke in. "We know better than to let our elders fight in our war."
"So, what would you prefer?" the old man questioned, eyes narrowing visibly. "That we send our babes in our stead?"
A young villager stepped forward. "I am not a babe."
The old man turned a stern frown on the young man. He flinched, but did not step back.
"I see," the village head finally said. He was clearly unpleased.
"He would not be fighting alone," Kenric said. "There are others--"
"What others?" the old man scorned. "You three? Against The General and all his men?"
"I am willing to help," another young man stepped forward. The crowd of villagers was growing; other men and a few women had ventured over to hear. Lauryn thought that she saw a few others who might be willing to help, if only their village head would approve of it.
"No," the old man said flatly.
Nathan frowned. "Nobles' Bane has helped countless villagers in their time of need. Well, this time the role is reversed. Nobles' Bane needs your aid. Please--"
"Nobles' Bane is made up of capable fighters. All three members knew exactly what they were getting into, exactly what they were doing while helping commoners. I cannot say the same for the people of my village."
Nathan shook his head. "This isn't just an attempt to free Jade's friends. It's a battle. We go to face General Aleyn. If we succeed--"
"And if you do not?" the old man interrupted. "If you fail, we are all dead."
Even Nathan was driven to silence by the flatness in the man's argument.
But then, unexpectedly, Kenric spoke. "For several years now, Nobles' Bane has worked against the Crown and offered some comfort to all those who cannot claim noble-birth. I've seen them in action. And I've seen what happens even after they leave." Kenric's voice was soft, barely audible to those who stood at the edges of the gathered crowd. "I've seen the slaves cry from relief and happiness. I've seen parents who feverishly whispered words of thanks. I've seen children, who've before spent every day of their past lives struggling for a decent living with their poverty stricken parents, suddenly laughing as if they hadn't a care in the world."
Kenric's eyes were piercingly black. "The mere thought of Nobles' Bane brought hope. Because you had faith in them, in their ability to offer themselves in your time of need.
"Will you turn your back on them now? Is your faith so easily shaken?" Kenric's voice was filled with an almost tangible sadness.
"Perhaps," Nathan added quietly as an afterthought, "we commoners aren't too different from the nobles after all."
But the old man slowly shook his head. "The risk is too great."
"Grandfather." The first young man who had offered to help touched the old man's shoulder. "Please. We are not children to be shielded from every thorn on the path. This is our war too."
Finally, ever so slowly, the old man gave in.
And Lauryn was able to speak with the first nine of their recruits.
A.N.: No action this chapter (but it's a coming later, really). But we do have Kalasin appearing next chapter (she's arrived in Carthak). And in case you're wondering what Clarine and Travis are doing while the other three do this: Clarine is staying at home, content to be waiting for her husband's return. Travis has returned to wherever he goes during the day (his office/home/whatnot) to wait.
And my mailing list is still, and always, open. If you want me to email you when I update, just say so in a review/email and leave your email address.