CHAPTER EIGHT - EMPLOYMENT
Julian was speechless. How was he supposed to react to that?
Raedrick, as usual, was quick on his feet. “Why don’t you start with telling us who this Farzal person is.”
Mayor Brimly looked disappointed as he sat back in his chair, but the Constable’s eyes were understanding. In point of fact, Julian could swear the doubt he had seen in the man’s eyes faded when Raedrick asked the question. What, did he think they were a couple of rank amateurs, who would take a job without knowing what it entailed? Apparently, he had. Or at least he had feared they were. Julian wasn’t sure which was worse.
“A month and a half ago,” Malory said, “a merchant caravan pulled into town with one carriage burned and two men dead. They told of being attacked by robbers in Holbart’s Pass. A few days later, a delivery man working for one of the craftsmen in town discovered one of the outlying farmsteads had been burned down. Since then, the attacks have come more frequently, and against larger targets. Last week, they hit a farm not far from here, down by the Eastflow. A calling card at the scene claimed Glimmer Vale in Farzal’s name and said that unless we paid a regular tribute, things would get worse. Then four days ago, a merchant caravan was completely destroyed on its way through Holbart’s pass. There were only two survivors: a lady who managed to escape the battle and a caravan guard who we found barely clinging to life.”
Malory’s eyebrow rose. “And yesterday you were attacked. This is the first time we’ve seen activity from them on that side of the Vale, and it proves they are becoming more comfortable with their position. It’s also the first time anyone has managed to defeat them to date.”
Mayor Brimly spoke again. “Lydelton lives and dies by the traffic coming through the passes. Our population has dwindled in recent years as merchant traffic has shifted south. If these bandits are allowed to continue unchecked, before long no one will make the transit at all and we will lose everything we have. Wemustput a stop to these attacks. And we need your help to do so.”
“Why don’t you just pay the tribute?" Julian asked.
Mayor Brimly looked shocked. “Give in to these thugs?”
“It’s better than being burned out.”
He shook his head vigorously. “No! Even if we had the funds they demanded, it’s a question of honor!”
“But the fact is we don’t have the money,” Constable Malory interjected. “Even a large city would be hard pressed to come up with the sum they demanded on a monthly basis, and we are far from being a large city.”
“Have you tried negotiating with them?”
Malory snorted. “With whom? The man you brought in is the first of Farzal’s band anyone has seen and lived to tell of it.”
“Then you don’t really know what you’re dealing with,” Raedrick said. “For all you know, it could have only been those six fellows lurking in the pass this whole time. Six men with bows can do a lot of damage in the right place.”
The Constable again shook his head. “No, the survivors of the last merchant caravan described an attacking force of at least thirty to forty men.”
“So you see why we must have your help?” Mayor Brimly’s voice trembled slightly.
“No,” Julian replied, “I don’t see that. You don’t really know what you’re up against yet. If you want my advice, I’d say you should give that man we brought in a counter-offer, one you can afford to pay, and have him deliver it to Farzal. Unless he’s a total fool, he’ll take it, and you can avoid a major confrontation.” He looked from the Constable to the Mayor and back. “Or do you think you can win a pitched battle against them?”
The Constable shook his head. “It’s just me and Fendig here in town. In the summer months, I sometimes hire some of the tougher lads from the nearby farms or off the fishing boats to help keep order while the caravans are in town. That’s all we’ve ever needed until now.”
“Then you’re in no position to not pay. I -”
“We’ll do it,” Raedrick said, to Julian’s chagrin but not to his complete surprise.
“I’m not sure…” he began, but Raedrick cut him off.
“We’ll do it.” Raedrick gave him a firm, no-nonsense look as he repeated the words.
Julian met Raedrick’s stare for a moment. He knew that expression. Raedrick always wore it on the way into battle.
“Will you give us a minute, gentlemen?" Julian asked, not looking at the Constable and the Mayor. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw them nod and leave the table. He gave them a minute to walk out of earshot, then he spoke again.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“These people need our help, Julian.”
Julian rolled his eyes. “No, they need help from a company of soldiers, not…” He looked around quickly. No one was close enough to hear. All the same, he leaned closer and spoke in a whisper. “Not from two guys on the run. We need to be putting as many miles behind us as we can. We can’t afford to get caught up in this sort of thing.”
Raedrick’s eyes flashed with anger. Julian raised a placating hand and continued quickly.
“Look, I get it. You’ve got nice memories of this place from when you were a kid. But it’s not our problem. And even if it was, the two of us can’t make a difference here. Not against forty men.”
“We can and you know it. We just took out six of them without much trouble.”
Julian snorted. “I’m out of action for a week or two thanks to that little meeting, in case you forgot,” he said, pointing at his thigh. “Yet another reason we can’t and shouldn’t do this.”
“Rubbish,” Raedrick replied. “You heal quickly. And it’s not like we’re going to charge off to fight them all at once, right this minute. It’ll take time to get intel and prepare before we can expect any action.”
Julian opened his mouth to reply, but Raedrick spoke over him.
“I’m going to help. You can leave if you want, I suppose. But do you really think you’ll make it out of the Vale?”
“What are you talking about?”
“They’re ambushing people traveling through the passes, remember? I doubt they’ll just let you go.”
Raedrick’s words hit like a ton of bricks. Julian had to admit that hit upon a point he had not considered. He took it as a given that the two of them could just move along. But if Raedrick was right, they were stuck here.
Son of a bitch.
“Hadn’t thought of that, had you?" Raedrick asked. He didn’t have to sound so satisfied about it.
Julian shook his head.
“The way I see it, if we can’t leave, we’re now part of this community. So yes, thisisour problem. And I’m going to help solve it. This is the sort of thing IthoughtI’d be doing in the Army, but never did. Didn’t you?”
Julian looked away from his friend. As his gaze panned around the taproom, he noted the tension, and the hope, in the Mayor’s face. The suppressed fear in the bartender’s. The determination, tinged with hopelessness, in the Constable’s. Yes, this was exactly the sort of thing the Army claimed to do, and was supposed to do. Defending those who could not defend themselves.
Damn it all.
“Ok, I’m in. Hope we don’t live to regret this.”
Raedrick chuckled. “Don’t worry. If it goes wrong, we won’t live to do anything at all.”
That was not very comforting.
Glimmer Vale is the first book of the Glimmer Vale Chronicles, an ongoing heroic fantasy series set in a world of valor and magic. It will be published here, one chapter per week, on Tuesday.
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