For a moment, Keisha drew an absolute blank as to who “Darian Firkin” was, but only for a moment. She blinked in surprise; the young boy who had been Wizard Justyn’s apprentice had been gone for at least four years, and she honestly hadn’t expected him ever to return, no matter what he’d promised. Why should he? He’d been adopted by Hawkbrothers, he’d gone out to see the world, what could possibly tempt him to come back here except that old promise? “Back where? Here? Is he going to set up in Errold’s Grove?”
And for one, panicked, admittedly selfish instant, she thought, Ami going to have to give the cottage back? Oh, Havens, no. That can’t be the reason Mum is so pleased!
“No, no, not here, not the village,” Sidonie corrected, waving a chunk of bread vaguely at the window. “He’s going to have a place outside the village, he’s going to have a lot of those Hawkbrothers there, and of course they wouldn’t feel comfortable living right in the village. But he will be within easy fetching distance of Errold’s Grove. If we need his skills, we’ll be able to get him.”
Thank goodness. . . . My refuge is still mine, was Keisha’s relieved thought.
“Most people wouldn’t feel comfortable with those bloody great birds about, staring at their hens,” Ayver pointed out with a laugh. “So it’s just as well he isn’t planning on moving back into Errold’s Grove. Don’t forget, he’s got one of those huge birds himself, so even if his friends didn’t want to stay here, if he did, that bird would be here, too. Poor hens and ducks would likely never lay again for sheer nerves.”
“Where, outside the village?” one of the boys wanted to know. “How far from here?” They glanced at each other, and Keisha thought she knew the notions dancing in their heads. Hawkbrothers - there were all sorts of things the Hawkbrothers knew or could do, and anyone who got friendly with them stood a good chance of picking up some interesting information and skills. If this place they were settling was close by, a fellow had a chance of slipping over there now and again without being missed from his work.
Sidonie shrugged. “Mandy had no idea - just somewhere outside the village, but on this side of the river. Far enough away that it won’t bother us, near enough that he’ll be able to work magic for us when we need it.” Her eyes widened, and she smiled broadly. “Think of that! We’ll have a real mage again! The Hawkbrothers will be mages, too, of course, but they’ll have their own concerns to deal with; Darian will be our mage.”
“A Weather-Watcher,” Ayver said in satisfaction. “Damn, it’ll be good to know when there’s a monster storm on the way! Be even better if he’s gotten to be a Weather-Worker. We won’t have to fret about a lot of things, I reckon.”
Sidonie sighed happily. “I’ll feel safer, that’s for certain sure. Oh - and Mandy says he’s going to have at least one gryphon with him, to come live at this place he’s building! Think of that!”
A gryphon? Keisha felt her own eyes widening. For as long as she could remember, she had wanted to see a real gryphon, and now it appeared she was not only going to see one, she’d probably get to see one on a weekly basis! If this gryphon was going to patrol for danger from the sky, his flights would have to take him over the village at least that often.
Those were all the facts that Sidonie had gotten; the rest was all speculation, and Keisha could do that on her own. While the others chattered, she ate the rest of her meal without tasting it, and after helping with the dishes, went out looking for more solid information.
She didn’t have to go far; she simply followed her ears, A gaggle of folk had gathered in the village square just in front of the inn, and the murmur of their voices drew her to the gathering. The lantern over the inn door was lit, and underneath it, on the wall where anyone could read it, was an announcement with Lord Breon’s seal at the top.
So this has come from Kelmskeep! That makes it official. How wonderful! Whatever Lord Breon has sent over will be solid truth, and no guessing.
Keisha couldn’t get anywhere near the posted message herself, but that hardly mattered, since the priest, Father Benjan, was reading it out loud for the benefit of those whose reading skill was limited to the ability to keep an inventory. He’d evidently gone through it at least once already, for some of those who had gathered here were going off to their own houses, while newcomers pressed closer. Keisha had arrived just in time to hear it all from the beginning.
“This is all under Lord Breon’s seal, see, there it is on the top, and it came over by messenger just this afternoon,” he was saying as Keisha got within earshot. His voice was a little hoarse now, from all the repeating. “What it says, with all the fancy language pared off, is that Mage Darian Firkin and some of the Hawkbrothers from Clan k’Vala are fulfilling the promise they made back when Darian left with them. They’re coming to settle outside the village, about halfway between us and Kelmskeep. They’re planning to stay permanently, and there’s going to be more mages than just young Darian living at this settlement, but they’ll probably all be Hawkbrothers except him. There’s going to be one gryphon at first, maybe more later on. There’s no date for when they’ll be settling in, just that it’ll happen by Harvest. What they’re doing is building a kind of Hawkbrother village, they call it a ‘Vale,’ and it’s going to be a place where people besides Hawkbrothers are welcome. They plan to keep an eye on all of us as part of their treaty with Valdemar, and the gryphon is going to be here to give us warning of anything nasty coming from a distance. This is going to be what Lord Breon calls a ‘formal presence inside Valdemar.’ What he means is that these people will be Hawkbrother envoys here, and that’s going to give us a lot more attention from the Queen.”
“Well, that’ll be grand!” the blacksmith called out. “You think maybe they’ll be giving us our Guards back?”
“There’s nothing about that here, but then Lord Breon wouldn’t know what they’ve decided in Haven,” Father Benjan replied. “At a guess, I’d say it’s likelier than not. Attention from the Crown is probably going to mean at least that much. Who knows? Maybe they’ll give us our own regional Herald in permanent residence. Maybe some mercenary guards because of the added trade.”
There were little murmurs of relief all through the crowd, and no need to guess why. Those who had been here for the barbarian invasion - which was universally called “The Great War,” for it had certainly seemed like a war to this isolated place - had never quite gotten over it. Folk coming in from the Pelagirs were always closely questioned for any signs that the barbarians might be coming back, as were traders and travelers out of the north. No one quite had the courage to question the Hawkbrothers, but it was generally assumed after their initial intervention they would certainly give warning to Errold’s Grove, if warning were warranted. Still, having someone here to give that sort of warning sooner would allow everyone to sleep easier at night.
Keisha walked back through the soft, warm dusk to her cottage, half listening to the crickets singing and trying to think out all the possible things this could mean to Errold’s Grove - and by extension, herself.