“Like I said to Paul, one step at a time,” Koradan said. “And the next thing we need to do is go and talk to the vreki. It’s their lives we’d be risking, and I’m not making that kind of decision without giving them – and the rest of my men – a chance to weigh in on the discussion.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
“Gods, aren’t we finished with this yet?” someone complained loudly, as the entire village gathered in the main square. “It’s nearly dinnertime. Don’t we get a break yet?”
“So just fuck Markon and his broken leg?” someone else replied sharply. “You need to have your dinner, so screw everyone else?”
“If I could have your attention, please?” Peter called, his voice surprisingly loud as he stood on the small, raised platform at one end of the square. After Markon, he was one of the most respected people in the village, and so he had been chosen to lead this evening’s discussion, hastily called together after the last of the planning for their outrageous plan had been completed. “I know everyone is tired, and rightly so. So firstly, I’d like to offer my sincere thanks to everyone in Varismont for your hard work and the long hours it’s taken to free twenty of our dear miners from what could have been a terrible fate. I regret that I was not able to help much myself, in a physical capacity, at least. But your bravery and dedication have restored many of the families here and ensured the future of the village as a whole. You are all to be commended.” He raised his hands in a round of applause, and the village joined in, despite their exhaustion and what was probably a deep desire to be at home in bed.
Watching on from the sidelines, Koradan could see why Lynette and Best had both pushed Peter to take on this role. Peter was respectful, diplomatic, humble and yet he maintained a no-nonsense attitude that few could argue with. Everyone had been called out for this meeting, even Fen, with a broken foot, and Vernon, with his broken arm. The only person absent was Markon, and Sue, who was keeping watch over him while Hetti attended the meeting.
“But unfortunately, the consequences of the earthquake and the mine collapse are not yet entirely resolved,” Peter went on. “Markon is badly injured. But before I continue, I’d like to take a moment to thank Lynette for her tireless work in providing nursing services to this village. We would truly be lost without her.” Another round of applause followed.
“But even Lynette has acknowledged that she is not a doctor, and that her commendable skills have limitations. Markon has been a pillar of this community for many years, and we’d like to take every feasible action to ensure he’s able to continue living a useful and meaningful life. The best way to do that would be to transport him to the hospital in Minia so that doctors can set his leg and provide appropriate treatment so that the bones heal straight. And the quickest way to do that, as well as the option with the greatest chance of success, would be for us to secure him to one of the vreki so that he can be flown there.”
A number of gasps went up around the gathered crowd. It was an outlandish idea, an entirely new concept, and one that several of the residents might well find terrifying.
“But for a salas and a vreki to travel to Minia,” Peter went on, “with the city on the very doorstep of the Gate of Chalandros, it would present a number of serious threats to their safety. And such a task would fall well outside the original agreement we made with the salases regarding their assistance to this village. Nonetheless, Koradan has agreed to go, along with Ashd, and Bel, Sigmore’s vreki.”
A surprisingly brief discussion with both Markon and Hetti had sealed the deal, not half an hour ago. Markon had agreed almost immediately to try riding on a vreki, while Hetti had expressed her gratitude to the salases for considering such a daring and lavish plan.
The conversation with the vreki, on the other hand, had been significantly longer. Koradan had explained the situation to them at length, emphasising the fact that they were all free to choose whether they wanted to go or not. Ashd had replied with a statement that was startlingly clear. He’d said,Ashd, Koradan, and then impressed an image upon Koradan that was simply two strands of a cord wrapped around each other.
Bel’s response had not been a surprise. The youngest vreki in the group was a daredevil, and she’d positively revelled in the idea of revisiting the city where the warriors lived, with the express intention of deceiving them about a vreki’s true nature.
“Your vreki is crazy,” Koradan had told Sigmore, who merely laughed.
“No more than yours,” he said, with a grin.
“Since they arrived, the salases have lived among us peacefully,” Peter said to the village, “and they have repeatedly risked their lives and gone above and beyond the call of duty to free our men. And this latest task they’ve agreed to is yet another demonstration that, despite being regarded by many of us as ‘demons’, they have more courage and integrity that many humans do. And so Koradan has requested that in exchange for their further assistance to Markon, the part of the original agreement that called for them to leave Varismont and never return be struck from the deal. The salases would like to settle here and to become permanent members of this village.
“I’d like to make it clear that Markon’s treatment isnotdependant on your answer,” Peter said. “Koradan and his team have agreed to help, regardless of your decision here today. But I believe, in light of their efforts, that their request is entirely reasonable, and that our families and our village as a whole would be far poorer if not for their compassion and willingness to lend a hand to our people.”
This part of the arrangement was fraught with difficulties, and Koradan held his breath as he waited for an answer. If the village refused to accept them, they would still have to figure out how to get two dragons and a demon into a major city without getting any of them killed. And it would bode poorly for the salases’ future chances at forging a peaceful life in the human world. But loyalty could not be forced. Either this village would accept them willingly, or not at all.
“I’m totally okay with them staying,” Hazel spoke up first. “I’d like them to stay. This is the most exciting thing that’s happened around here in years. Bring it on.”
“I’d have them stay as well,” Mitch called, his voice echoed by a dozen more miners, all of whom were grateful to be alive and well, instead of dying a painful death still buried in the ground. “Me and the rest of the miners weren’t around when the original agreement was made, and I understand the caution of the people who made it. But the last three days have proven the worth of the salases’ words. I say they can stay.”
“I’d like to call a vote,” Peter said, “so that everyone can have their fair and equal say. And I’d like to do it anonymously, so that no one feels pressured into making a decision against their conscience. But before we get to that bit, does anyone have any questions? Either for me, or for the salases?”
“I have a question.” Koradan wasn’t surprised to see Ann waving her hand in the air. She had been one of the most outspoken opponents to their presence, all the way along. “Just one question, and if they can give it a reasonable answer, I’ll put aside my doubts and accept them as one of us.”
“And what is your question?” Peter asked.
Ann looked directly at Koradan. “Why did you leave Chalandros to enter the human world? And by extension, why can’t you just go back there once your vreki is healed?”
It was an entirely reasonable question. But the thing that struck Koradan the most was that she’d called them ‘vreki’ rather than ‘dragons’ – the first time she’d ever done so.
“Our world is dying,” Koradan replied. “Our sun is heating up and slowly killing all of our plant life. It’s drying up our rivers and our oceans. Fertile plains have been turned into deserts. And after decades of effort, our most learned scholars have finally abandoned any hope of finding a solution to the dying sun. If we go back to Chalandros, we will starve to death within a year.”
There was a weighty silence that followed his pronouncement. “Thank you,” Ann said. “That answers the question.”
“Anyone else?” Peter asked. Surprisingly, the gathered crowd was silent. “Fair enough. I’ve brought a good supply of squares of parchment and some charcoal sticks. You can each take one and write on it either ‘Stay’, or ‘Go’. And if you’re unable to write, simply draw a tick for ‘stay’ or a cross for ‘go’. That is all that’s required of you.”
The villagers lined up, each taking their turn, then placing the folded square of parchment into a bucket Peter had brought along. With slightly under a hundred adults in the village, it took them less than ten minutes for everyone to have their say.
Peter, Best and Lynette divided up the parchment squares and began sorting them, while Koradan and his team waited nervously to the side. What they had agreed amongst themselves, though they hadn’t said it to the villagers, was that even one single negative vote would be enough to make them leave. If they were to stay here, they would all need to procure obsidian gems and disguise themselves as humans, likely for the rest of their lives. The gems could hopefully be bought during the trip to Minia. A city of that size was almost certain to have a witch in it, regardless of its proximity to the gate. But if even one of the villagers objected to their presence, they could easily betray them to outsiders, and then the whole charade was worthless.
