The Pen and the Sword #2 Destiny's Crucible by Thorensen Olan

Author:Thorensen, Olan [Olan, Thorensen,]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-07-20T14:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18: Dornfeld

They rode into Dornfeld at last light. Kerosene lanterns and torches lit a square where awaited a cluster of men, two of whom clasped forearms with Culich.

“Cadoc Gwillamer’s the tall one,” mumbled Carnigan, “hetman of the Gwillamer Clan. The shorter, round one is Duwid Sarnin, the Dornfeld boyerman.”

The three men talked, then went into a building. A rough-hewed man led the rest of the Keelan party to an inn to be served a meal and be directed to prepared baths and rooms to rest sore bones and bottoms.

Yozef woke the next morning to the smell of brisk ocean air through an open window in the room he shared with Carnigan. They’d also shared a bed, with Yozef relegated to one edge. He’d woken several times to stop from rolling off, as Carnigan shifted his mass during dreams.

A knock on the door was accompanied by an announcement that a meal awaited, and the meeting would start in one hour. Yozef threw back the bedcovers and dressed quickly.

Dornfeld sat astride the Keelan-Gwillamer border and was an oddity: a joint town of the two provinces and only possible because of long-standing good relations between the two clans. The town had a single mayor, Duwid Sarnin, a Keelander, and also the district boyerman, whose wife was from Gwillamer.

After a quick meal, Yozef walked the quarter mile to an overlook where a waterfall plunged directly into the surf. North of the waterfall, sticking into the sea, was a shelf of land whose southern edge provided a protected harbor for fishing boats. He looked west and wasn’t sure but thought he could just see the hills of Preddi Province across the gulf.

So close, and so ominous.

He walked back and arrived just as the meeting began. The two delegations met in a room overlooking the bridge connecting the two halves of Dornfeld. The span loomed a hundred feet across a deep ravine, with the river cascading two hundred feet below. Yozef envisioned that once the river had descended quickly from the nearby mountains and eroded the upper strata of harder rock, it had worn through the underlying softer layers and kept eating down to its present depth.

There were eleven men in the room. Although most of the men knew one another, quick introductions were made. Cadoc Gwillamer led the Gwillamer delegation, accompanied by his eldest son, Cirwyn; what may have been a younger son or another male relative (Yozef missed the name); two rough-looking men Yozef interpreted as military types; and two other men introduced as advisors. For Keelan, it was Culich, Vortig Luwis, Duwid Sarnin, the local magistrate, and Yozef. Carnigan waited outside, by preference.

Yozef looked around the room and wondered why he was here. From the curious looks, the Gwillamese wondered the same.

“Hetman Gwillamer and I shared information and agree we believe the Narthani may be about to launch a move into this region,” Culich said. “Since the Dillagon Pass is the immediate route into Keelan Province, I’ve ordered the garrison in the pass reinforced with another fifty men.

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