“What is it? What’s wrong?” she asked. Her voice was small. Frightened.
“Pirates,” he said.
And from seemingly nowhere at all, he drew a sword.
Chapter Four
A SEAT AT THE TABLE
Alison
Hearing the commotion caused by Gwenla’s suggestion of sabotage as the answer to the town’s impending doom, the others gathered around her to learn of her ideas.
“Here’s what we know,” said Gwenla. “The largest group of nobility that has ever visited Wilderise is coming. Most of them have never been to this country, let alone this region.”
Alison noted the use of “country,” which was in and of itself a controversial stance. King Derkomai’s ancestors conquered Wilderise several hundred years earlier and ruled as monarchs over both Loegria and Wilderise. But Wilderise had retained its own identity, and Alison had found that many of its people had more flexible views of the monarchy than those in Loegria’s capital were able to express.
And the more Alison learned of the king beyond the reach of his propaganda and restrictions on speech, the more she sympathized with their position.
“It will be up to us to show them what we’re made of,” Gwenla continued. “I plan to be down in Fossholm when they first arrive to meet whomever I can and to learn of the schedule of events. Then we can form a strategy.”
“What kind of strategy?” asked Lady Sibba. The relationship between the old dwarf and the elvish scholar was strained, but they had a kind of mutual respect and understanding. At least they did most of the time. “How are we meant to halt the modernization of Wilderise by getting to know a group of nobles? And truthfully, why would we even want to?”
“I can speak to that,” said Alison. “I come from the most modern city in Loegria, a city defined by its industry. And I’ll be the first to admit there are truly some advantages to modern living. ‘Lectrics, plumbing, transit from place to place. But there are also costs, measured in lives and land. If they construct a dam near Fossholm, our town will be flooded. Herot’s Hollow will no longer exist.”
“But won’t we be compensated?” asked Lady Sibba.
“Do you trust Derkomai to pay you fairly for the schoolhouse?” Weyland asked her in response. “And what about those who rent from our Lord? Do you think he’s likely to find them other living arrangements?”
Lady Sibba opened her mouth to argue, but sensing Weyland’s mood, she closed it again.
“I’m with Weyland,” said Keir. “I don’t want to see this town underwater, regardless of what coin changes hands. But Gwenla, what would you have us do? Let’s say we find out what they’re planning. How can any of us possibly stop it?”
“You might have a seat at the table,” said Gwenla. “If you could talk to your father—”
Alison shot Gwenla a warning look, and she changed her tack before Keir could respond. “Or if we could find a way to convince the right people that this land should be preserved, maybe it could make a difference. Or—and this I’ll admit is a stretch, but I think we should consider all options available to us—we could consider asking the spriggan and the other creatures of the forest and the land to help.”
“To help or to hurt? You saw the spriggan when we raised the standing stones. He could be dangerous,” said Lady Sibba.
“Not to hurt,” said Gwenla. “Obviously not. But if he were to scare them a little, well, would it be such a bad thing to do?”
Their debate continued, but Keir pulled Alison to the side to speak with her privately.
“You know what she’s going to ask you,” he said. “You don’t have to do it. I could try to talk to my father. Not to convince him, that’s definitely not an option, but if I showed him some interest in getting involved in court life, in learning to manage the estate…”
“You don’t need to do that. I don’t want you to spend a moment longer with that man than necessary.” Alison had learned much of Keir’s father from his stories and their one brief interaction the first time he brought a dwarven industrialist into town, and her opinion of him was lower than even Keir’s. In fact, Alison’s chief concern with any activity involving the new arrivals to Fossholm was getting through a meeting with her (possible) future father-in-law without punching him in the face.
“It’s not something I can avoid forever, Alison.”
There was a part of Alison that was proud of Keir for suggesting this course at all. He could barely speak of his father when they first met. “I know that,” she said. “And it’s good of you to try to find a way to help the town, even at a terrible cost. For me, it will be no cost at all to visit the spriggan. And there’s another group I can call upon that will have strong opinions on anything that will impact the local waters.”
Alison returned to a tense scene between her friends, who all were the type to be very strongly convicted of their opinions, but who also cared for each other deeply and did not want to cause harm. “Gwenla, I’m happy to speak to the spriggan again on behalf of the town. But there’s another friend I made when traveling here a few months ago who may be able to offer evenmore to our current mission. Have you met the korrigans that gather near the falls of Fossholm?”
“You mean the drowners? I heard they brought one before the king himself. I didn’t think they’d made it out of there alive.”
Recalling the inflammatory rhetoric Nolwynn had used regarding the king, Alison wasn’t entirely sure how shehadmade it out of there. “It was that very korrigan that I met, although she would take great offense to being called a ‘drowner.’ Her name is Nolwynn, and she is both lovely and fierce, and her people are responsible for no drownings as far as I know. I can imagine no greater ally, considering her people will be directly impacted by whatever happens to our waters.”
“That’s truly terrific news! Lady Sibba here has also had a wonderful notion of using the poetry book you and Weyland are making to educate the nobles about the region and drum up support among the more reasonable in the bunch.” Gwenla nodded to Lady Sibba, who seemed pleased to be given some credit.
