“Oh, don’t go quiet now,” I snapped. “Talk.”
“Do you remember a few days ago, Nicco said to you that there are more of you than you let on?”
I nodded. “Truthfully, I don’t know what he meant by that.”
Baxley bobbed his head once. “I get that. Your capital is way down south in your kingdom. Tell me, have you ever ventured to Glassfyr?”
“No.”
“The city is large. Very few people struggle to put food on the table. Your king’s army is sizable.”
We had an army? I felt foolish for thinking it. Of course, we’d have an army. Every kingdom would need one to defend itself. The lands of Cinderia and Darysia were always squabbling.
Hotter lands meant hotter tempers, in my opinion. In Crystallese, we had cool tempers. I thought of my own temper. Mostly cool tempers.
“I think it is unlikely your king has traveled far into his own kingdom,” Baxley continued. “The king of Darysia likes to knowthings. He wanted to know your kingdom’s population. Here we are.”
I stopped walking. “What? That’s… What?”
Baxley nodded. Not slowing as I hurried to catch up with him. I was panting when I did.
“I don’t understand.”
“It’s called census work,” he told me. “There are soldiers counting settlements, assessing population numbers. Checking in trade routes, confirming the gemstone output from the mines.”
“Mines?” I asked stupidly.
This time, he was the one to look at me in confusion.
“Crystallese is renowned for its diamonds. Where else do you think your kingdom’s wealth comes from?” He gestured to the frozen land. “It sure as shit isn’t ice.”
I felt even more out of my depth. “Baxley?” My voice was low. “I don’t know what a diamond is.”
This time, he stopped walking. “You don’t…” He looked me over. “You know of the mines to the southwest of your kingdom?”
I shook my head. “I’ve never been. I’m not needed in fairer climates.”
He still looked confused, but he resumed walking. “Diamonds are found underground. They’re like… stones. But the kind formed under extreme cold and pressure deep in the ground. They are as clear as ice. Well, the ones from Crystallese are. Your kingdom produces the kind of stone that Darysia and Florlunia and Cinderia all have appetites for.”
“Oh, you mean the ice rocks?”
“Is that what you call them?” he asked curiously.
“I don’t know. I think so. I’m… they are worth money?”
He chuckled. “A lot of money.”
“And you, Captain Marson, and his men are looking for these… stones?”
Baxley nodded. “Kind of. The crown wanted to know what was actually up here and whether the reports it had been receiving were accurate. That's what Marson was told, and why his men were sent,” Baxley said, when he'd finished.
I looked at him. He was still watching the trail ahead, his expression giving nothing.
“You don’t believe it?”
“Don’t I?”
“You said, ‘that's what Marson was told.’” I kept my voice even. “Not that's why we're here.”
