His aunt frowned. “In the Glenwood? That’s unusual. Why wasn’t he on the road?”
“He said he was taking a shortcut, but his story didn’t make sense,” said Will.
“Come inside and tell us about it. Your uncle will want to hear this too,” she replied, before leading the way to the house.
Once inside, he greeted Eric and Sammy, and within minutes most of the family had gathered to hear his tale. He related what the stranger had told him word for word, and everyone frowned at the story.
His uncle spoke first. “That story doesn’t hold water. You said he told you to come ahead and let me know?”
Will nodded.
“We’ll see if he shows up. I have a feeling he just wanted to get rid of you,” said Johnathan Cartwright. “He’s probably planning to circle the village and keep going.”
“Why would he do that?” asked Eric.
“Because he’s most likely a scout for Darrow,” said Will’s uncle, his face serious. “We should send a messenger to Cerria to warn the king.”
“But we aren’t at war with Darrow,” said Will. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
His uncle nodded. “Not to you or me. War never really makes sense, but the Patriarch in Darrow is young. He wants to flex his muscle. And that’s before you consider that damned prophecy of theirs.”
Will didn’t really understand the religion of the Highest. He knew the people in Darrow believed in a singular god, and that their government was controlled by the Patriarch, but beyond that he was clueless. “What does their prophecy say?”
Johnathan Cartwright grunted. “You’d have to ask one of them. From what I know, it basically boils down to uniting all the lands beneath the banner of their lonely god. Every generation or two, a new ruler takes his place and figures he’s going to be the one to make it happen, and a lot of people have to bleed before they decide maybe the time of their prophecy isn’t at hand yet.”
Sammy looked anxious. “Are they going to come here?”
“I don’t know,” said Johnathan. “But if they are planning an overland campaign, this is the most direct route. Barrowden is between the two mountain passes they have to control to enter Terabinia. That’s why they’re sending scouts.”
The tension in Will was rising fast. “I need to warn Mom.”
“Relax,” said his uncle. “It’s good to prepare, but they won’t come this year. It’s too late in the season. Fall is almost here. They’re most likely scouting in preparation for the spring. Once the snows melt, they’ll come looking for trouble. They might even wait another year or two, it’s impossible to say. That’s for King Lognion to worry about.”
Doreen put a hand on her husband’s arm. “We need to figure out what to do before spring gets here.”
Her husband nodded in agreement. “Most of the villagers will flee into Glenwood when the time comes, but I’d like to be better prepared. We should plan a route through the forest into the hills. If we start now, we can build a shelter in the hills before winter gets here. We can winter there and then wait to see what happens in the spring before we come back.”
Will’s body was almost vibrating with anxiety as he thought about his mother. His aunt noticed and gave him a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, Will. You and your mother will come with us. We’re family, after all.”
A wave of relief passed over him at her words.
“I want to fight,” said Eric, suddenly. “I’m almost of age. Will and I could volunteer for the army.”
“Absolutely not!” declared Doreen.
“All the more reason for us to move quickly,” said Will’s uncle. “If the king thinks Darrow might invade in the spring, it won’t be long before the press gangs show up to collect every able-bodied man to increase the numbers of his soldiers.”
Eric’s younger brother, Dougie, the youngest of the Cartwright children at only ten years, piped up at last, “I want to fight too!”
“You’re too young,” said Eric immediately.
“That goes for you too,” added their mother, who then glanced at Will. “I hope you have more sense than my sons.”
Will didn’t know what to say. Being a soldier had never really seemed attractive to him. He wasn’t as heavily built as Eric, and meeting the scout had brought the danger of the situation home to him. The man had looked extremely capable. If all the soldiers in Darrow’s army were similar, Will would feel like a child on the battlefield. I can’t even beat an old man with a staff, he thought to himself. I’d be lost in an army of real soldiers.
“I need to tell Mom,” said Will.
Chapter 23
Will walked back to Arrogan’s house that evening full of nervous energy. His mother hadn’t reacted with quite the level of alarm he had expected, which worried him. Then again, it might have been that she felt the need to stay calm to avoid making him any more excitable. He had been pretty wound up when he told her.
“We’ll do as Johnathan says when the time comes,” she had said calmly. “If anything comes up before then, I’ll come find you at your grandfather’s.”
That had effectively been the end of the conversation, and Will couldn’t help but think his mother wasn’t taking it seriously enough. When he got back to his grandfather’s house, he hoped the old man would have some insight.
After urgently explaining what had happened, his grandfather was equally unimpressed. “Just bring Erisa here. She can stay with us. This place is safe enough.”
“What if the Patriarch’s army comes through here?” asked Will, aghast at his grandfather’s seeming aplomb.
“They’ll never find this house,” said Arrogan flatly. “And, even if they did, we always have my rabbit hole in the cellar. That’s assuming I don’t decide to do something nasty to them rather than hide.”
“But…”
Arrogan held up a hand to silence him. “How many years do you think I’ve been living here? Those fools in Darrow decide to wage their holy war every few decades, and I’m always still here after it all blows over. My only regret is that I didn’t put an end to their self-styled prophet before he ruined the common sense of the people living in Darrow.”
“You knew the Prophet of the Highest?” asked Will, once again surprised by his grandfather’s revelation.
His grandfather nodded. “I mentioned him before—my wayward student, Valmon. He always thought he was smarter than everyone else, and I suppose in the end he was, in a way. He certainly taught me a lesson.”
“I thought you said you killed him?”
“I did,” spat Arrogan. “That was the lesson. Kill a prophet, and suddenly he’s a martyr. If I’d left him alive, he might have lived long enough for them to figure out what a needle-dicked bug-fucker he was. Instead, killing him just poured oil on the fire.”
Will gaped. “Needle-dick—what?”
The old man winked at him. “Take notes. You’ll want to remember that one. It’s a keeper.”
He shook his head. Just when he thought his grandfather couldn’t get any weirder, the old man said something like that. “What about what my uncle said? Do you think they should hide in the hills?”