Thane nodded. “The thing of it is—this continent is now at war. And the refrain sung across it is that all countries will side against Tintar. And I don’t blame them. The Tintarian cavalry and army marched weeks around Nyossa and then traveled by night, I would guess, to creep up on the center of trade, commerce, and learning.”
“They burned all those universities, didn’t they?” I asked. I was ignorant, never having traveled any farther than the next settlement over or as deep into the woods as I dared. But Tessa and my husband Avery had waxed on about the public universities and the craftsmen guilds, full of masters of trade and skill. We knew more about the surrounding mining territories that were considered a part of the city-state, but even they were unknown to me.
I was torn. What gave me pause was that I had always seen Tintar as a magical, superior place, the home country of my chosen gods. They were pagan and even revered womanhood to an extent. Sheridan was long bought by Perpatane, with a Saint Rodwin church installed in its town square before I had ever been born. As a girl, learning that the forest I played in was part of another country, a country that did not want to condemn me, I had always held Tintar in high regard. I could not get it right in my mind that they were also warmongers.
“I thought—I thought Tintar was a coastal country of fishing and nature worship,” I protested, knowing I sounded foolish.
Thane shook his head. “They have the biggest cavalry andinfantry aside from Perpatane, and they are the only country with a navy. The king of Tintar is mad, but a military wonder. They have driven the Helmsmen back up into the mountains, farther than they have ever been. He is ruthless.”
“The Shark King,” added Tessa. “They say he is as tall as a rearing horse. They say he swims with sharks and that it is he who attacks them.”
Is it true?asked Fox.
“What I am trying to say,” Thane continued before I could open my mouth, “is that Sheridan and settlements like it are of importance to Perpatane now. They are offering gold to all landowners in exchange for their property. My father and Starling will make an announcement soon.”
“Where do they expect people to go?” I exclaimed.
“To Perpatane,” he said after a pause.
6
NOW: PILGRIMAGE
Tessa and I both swore. Fox began to blink and shake her head.
Thane held up a hand. “They are paying—some people in gold—and they also are providing a large wagon per household. There will be a caravan both of our settlement and of Carver’s leaving from here in two moon’s time. They are hiring my whole outfit to help carry supplies. There’ll be an increase in Perpatanian troops to help escort citizens to Skow.”
“What is Skow?” I asked. “Their capital?”
“No, King Pollux resides in Apollon. Skow is their second biggest city. They have that watchtower just inside the city—a tall thing, I hear. They are offering it as sanctuary to border settlements until the war is over.”
“The City of the Tower.”
Like the fortuneteller’s card?asked Fox.
Tessa snickered. “Yes, girl. And they hate that they are painted in such a pagan thing as the deck of fortunetellers’.”
“The City of the Tower,” I mused. “And so Sheridan will be entirely occupied by troops. They’ll use this place as a stronghold, afastness. Even your father’s castle keep and all his sharecropper farms? He agrees to be replaced by a garrison?”
Thane had the grace to look chagrined. “I think my father and my brother have been offered an estate in Perpatane and share in a gold mine. I don’t think they intend to return here.”
“Your father abandons the settlement that bears his name? The lands settled by his forefathers?” I scoffed. “I knew the priest had his hooks in, but not that far. What about you?”
He shrugged. “I’m a bastard. I own no land, only my wagons and horses. I think they know they can pay me a grand wage for this transport business and I’ll take it. But most importantly, Adelaide lives in Skow.”
Tessa closed her eyes tightly, likely thinking of her stepdaughter’s marriage to a Perpatanian soldier and quick exodus to the cold, strict country of the west.
None of us had wanted her to marry him. But she had just lost her mother—we a sister, a lover, a friend. We protested such a hasty match and move, but it was useless. Thane and Rowena had already indulged Adelaide, and when Tessa came to Sheridan she fell into the habit too. My niece would not listen to a word that went against her own wants.
And her father missed and worried for her.
Thane continued. “My men will want to earn a fair bit before they have to hunker down for a war. I do not know that I can continue myself. We may find work transporting goods for the Perpatanian army. We may not.”
“What do you advise?” Tessa asked him, respect in her voice.
I had always been surprised at their relationship. My sister had taken one look at the big woman from Eccleston and fallen in love. Her husband had let Tessa move into his house and thanked her for being a protective presence as his work caused him to be gone so much. Then he and Rowena had dissolved their marriage in spirit, and the three of them had carried on as a sort of patchwork family, all parenting Adelaide.
“Sell,” he said, eyes on me. “They may try and cheat you. You’re the last woman to own property in these parts. But they should give you something and a wagon. And you’ll have to sign a list.”
