Jerrol moved. He wanted to be away before the lordling got on the road. He needed to be in a prime position to observe this man’s response when he reached the carnage his greed had caused.
Jerrol made his return journey safely. The guards were not interested in guarding, which was interesting. Aaron didn’t garner respect from his men, or they wouldn’t be so shoddy in performing their duties. He collected the horse from the roadside, but it was done in; it was favouring its foreleg. Probably a strain and the lack of care had helped it to stiffen up.
Leading it away from Deepwater, he considered the best way to get ahead of Aaron. He could steal a horse and leave this one in payment, though maybe it wasn’t quite fair on the recipient and it would leave an unexplained horse in the town.
He was surreptitiously watching a local hostelry when Aaron and his men swept past. They paid no attention to the other travellers on the road, forcing them to move out of their way, leaving chaos and anger in their wake.
This was to Jerrol’s benefit as horses reared in panic and shed handlers, running in all directions. Jerrol snared a sleek bay mare, leaving his poor nag milling about in bewilderment, adding to the chaos. He swung himself up and followed in Aaron’s wake. He would ask Jason to return it to the hostelry later.
Transport problem solved, Jerrol returned to the conversation he had overheard. Not only planned but funded by another Lord Holder. It was worse than he had thought; there was a coordinated plan to sow dissent and destruction. They were starting small in some areas, but the changes they were causing in other regions was breathtaking: two major holds fallen, Guardians removed. Vespiri would be overrun from within, and the King was not taking any steps to stop it.
But worst of all was the decimation of the Watches: Greenswatch and Deepwater, both without Guardians. The Land would suffer. The people would suffer. Everyone would suffer in the end. How could they be so blind? Once lost the Guardianships couldn’t be replaced as far as he knew. Losing a Guardianship had been unheard of, until now.
He stilled the faint flutter of panic and the vagrant thought that this was beyond him, and resolutely focused on the road. Slowly he overtook the group in front, passing unseen and unnoticed by the arrogant men travelling ahead of him.
Chapter 19
Stoneford Keep, Stoneford Watch
Birlerion swept into the courtyard with Hannah, yelling at the guards to form up and follow him. Hannah tumbled down from Zin’talia shouting for Tyrone, as Lord Jason strode into the middle of the confusion calling for order.
“Bandits on the road. The Captain is holding them off, need your men,” Birlerion rattled off as he handed Alyssa down to Tyrone, who appeared beside him. “Hannah can tell you more.”
He pulled his reins so sharply his horse almost rear-ended in his attempt to pirouette out of the courtyard. A few sharp orders from Jason and he was followed by the unit on guard, galloping down the road in pursuit of him.
Tyrone didn’t hesitate but strode back into his infirmary, trailed by Hannah and thereafter by Jason after he had instructed a hovering lad to take care of Zin’talia, who was pulling towards the road. Off duty, men had already taken up the recently vacated posts.
Hannah explained Alyssa’s injuries to Tyrone, which didn’t take long at all, and Tyrone, after depositing the girl on a cot in the backroom, shooed her out. “Leave her with me. I’ll call you if anything changes.”
Jason arrived to hear his words and herded a reluctant Hannah out of the infirmary. “Yes, yes, come with me. We’ll wait for them to return in my study, and you can explain what is going on to me,” he said soothingly. “She’ll be quite safe with Tyrone.”
He managed to get Hannah seated in his study and called for tea. He sat beside her and took her hand. “Now, tell me what happened.”
The tea arrived as Hannah started to worry about leaving Jerrol on his own to face the bandits.
“Best you be commiserating with those bandits, they had no chance,” he said, handing her a welcome cup of tea.
“They were shooting at us,” she exclaimed.
“Yes, but none hit you, did they?” Jason soothed. “You know perfectly well your boy is one of the best Rangers ever turned out by the academy, and he had the training of the scholars as well: a potent mix. No bandit is ever going to get the better of him.”
Hannah sighed, sipping her tea. “He always seems to be where the trouble is happening.”
“Probably because he knows how to deal with it.” Jason reached out to squeeze her arm in reassurance. “He always finds trouble; even as a child he was always in the midst of it.”
“Is it true? Jason,” Hannah said, placing her cup on the table, “is Lord Hugh really dead?”
“Jerrol wouldn’t lie, you know that. He brought the Greenswatch standard back with him. That’s proof enough for me. I sent Bryce over there to assess what happened and to bring the bodies back. He has a good eye. He’ll find out. Let’s hope Lady Alyssa comes around soon; it would help to know what she saw.”
“Why are they taking so long?”
“I imagine they have gone after Jerrol. They would have been back if they were just rounding up your attackers.”
“How can you be so calm?” She clasped her hands in her lap.
“Experience,” he chuckled, “and you should know better.” He pointed his finger
