Page 13 of Traitor Son

Drawing her to the supply wagon, Remin stuffed the cloaks into the narrow space at the front, just enough room for a small girl, and folded the hoods over to make a rough pillow. “The furs should keep you warm enough. No, don’t climb,” he added, plucking her off the wagon wheel and depositing her in the wagon before either of them could think about it too much. “If you get cold, tell me. We don’t have time for you to get sick.”

She nodded without looking at him, and he frowned. What was wrong with her?

“I won’t be angry if you get cold,” he said sternly. “I will be angry if you don’t tell me. Understood?”

“Yes, yes.” Her knees drew up defensively and he thrust his own cloak at her, annoyed without understanding why.

“Go to sleep,” he ordered, and beckoned to nearby Darri to guard her. Sir Darrigault of Ghis had eyes like a cat in the dark, and the good sense to be blind to anything his duke didn’t want him to see.

He was much more at ease among his men. Taking his usual seat by the fire, Remin held out his cup for wine, nicely warmed to counter the night chill. Seven of his friends had survived the war, and they were now his closest counsellors: Miche, Auber, Bram, Tounot, Edemir, Huber, and Justenin. All of them were now properly titled, and some of them had been nobly born, but among themselves there was no need for courtesies.

They all remembered the same faces, missing from the circle around the fire.

“We have a wager,” said Bram of Lisle, the firelight flickering over his narrow face. “Do you think that was the Emperor’s orders at Aldeburke, or His Lordship’s own idea?”

“It could be both.” Remin grunted. “I sent two messages to Aldeburke. The guards at the gates of the estate saw three messengers.”

“The Emperor has been in a generous mood,” Edemir remarked, gesturing with a sheaf of papers, their seals dangling. The son of a count, he was the most educated of Remin’s men and handled the duke’s correspondence, official and otherwise. “To celebrate the victory over Valleth and in earnest prayer for lasting peace,” he read from one paper, “the Emperor extends his mercy to his most unfortunate subjects…anyone who has committed minor offenses, excepting capital crimes…it seems he has decided to empty the prisons in advance of your announcement, Rem.”

“The Brede will be well fed,” Remin replied grimly. “No one with the brand of a criminal will be allowed across the bridges. I thought he would do something like this.”

On the first day of spring, messengers from the Duke of Andelin would spread the word that for at least the first year, the Andelin Valley was openby invitation only.He would need that long to build the infrastructure to support them, roads and granaries and storehouses, to begin an orderly process so he would not become the Duke of Shanty Town.

Then he would open the floodgates. His lands were vast and almost empty of people, and he needed farmers. Miners. Chandlers and weavers, hunters, fishermen, people to sow and reap and spin. He wanted quarries in the mountains and fields of wheat as far as the eye could see on the Talfel Plateau. Remin could picture it as clearly as if the towns had already been built, and the long miles of road rolling to the horizon. It would be the work of many lifetimes.

But in spite of his orders, new people had already been arriving even in the depths of winter, and it would only accelerate once the weather was warmer. The Emperor’s edict would salt criminals among the flood of people, yet another poisonous gift to endanger the innocent and plague Remin’s lands for years to come.

It also made the Emperor look benevolent and rid him of prisoners that were expensive to feed and house. As far as Bastin Agnephus was concerned, it was a win all the way around.

“We’ll have to leave a few more men on the bridges unless we want a repeat of the charge of Gresein,” observed Juste.

“I’ve already sent warning,” said Edemir, before Remin could order him to do so. The stars blessed a competent man. “And advised Their Lordships of Norgrede, Firkane, and Leinbruke that we will not be admitting criminals. I asked them in your name to keep a patrol on the south side of the Brede River, but…”

“People will attempt the crossing,” Bram of Lisle said grimly. It was ironic that only a few years ago, he would have been one of the criminals they were trying to keep out. When one of the Emperor’s freed prisoners mounted a suicidal charge onto an enemy-held bridge, then Remin would reconsider his position.

He couldn’t blame them for trying. Many of the people coming to Andelin were fleeing all manner of hardship, but he could hardly fling open the bridges and let them throw his lands into chaos, never mind the dangers of the Andelin devils. So they would try the Brede, and he would send regular patrols to clear away the corpses to keep them from fouling the water.

“I’ll draft additional orders tonight,” he said. “You can forward them on, Miche, I’m sending you ahead to Celderline tomorrow. You too, Huber. Make sure the Prior’s still in residence and pay some men to spread the word that the Duke of Andelin is getting married.”

It still felt strange to say it, as if he were talking about someone else who was a duke, and someone else’s wedding.

“Give me money,” drawled Miche, sprawled out by the fire with his long limbs in everyone’s way. He was never shy about asking.

“No more than ten sovereigns.”

“Should I spread word that the duke is getting married in a barn?”

“How much do you think you need to bribe a few drunkards?” Remin retorted. “Pay the Prior and buy two rings. Plain silver.”

“My older brother got married twelve years ago,” said Auber. “I know it was twelve years ago because my sister-in-law complains about her silver ring every year on the same date. Not one diamond to grace it, not one star for her hand.”

“Weren’t we camped on the Talfel most of last year?” Tounot asked.

“I got letters. She mentioned it in the letters,” Auber said, a little grimly.

Remin looked from one man to the other. There seemed to be an important message here.

“You’re suggesting I buy diamond rings,” he said slowly.

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