“I should
send someone to watch her,” the king murmured, his eyes also glued to the door of
his hut.
Loyie
nodded and turned from the door, already moving on to the next topic she wanted
to discuss with the king. “Dravin of the Kreesh would do well to watch her. His
sister will be more than open to housing Cece for a few nights.”
Xvenaad
finally tore his eyes away from the door to give Loyie a startled look. “Dravin?
Why him, of all people?”
Smiling,
Loyie took a few steps toward the king and placed a hand lightly on his arm. “Dravin
is liked by his men, and he has the largest group. If he accepts her, many
others will.”
The king
nodded his agreement and stepped around Loyie to stick his head out the door.
She heard him mutter a few words before stepping back inside his hut. She knew
it would not take long before the king stepped right where she needed him to be
and bring up the topic she could not dredge up herself. Being tied to prophecy
created unusual circumstances, though very few ever knew just how much Loyie
had to dance around pretenses with the prophecies, and none of them were still
alive.
“I cannot
afford to have a rebellion in my own camp,” Xvenaad said, his tone full of
warning. Loyie knew the king would not want to drop the topic of Cece so
lightly, despite all that had happened that day.
Loyie only
nodded, slowly making her way toward the tattered map of the land. She could
see the troops had made no major advancements since she last checked, though
felt no surprise. They had lost many today in a battle Loyie had warned was
futile, but she knew as if it had been already written in stone that Commander
Eerle would take his battle axmen against her warnings to try and ambush the Grignogn
supply wagons. Eerle had always been brash, though no one but Loyie had known
that it would lead to his and many other men’s demise.
Losing had
been a major blow to the other soldiers in the camp, which made for a dangerous
situation for Cece to step into. Men were always suspicious of what they could
not explain away, and even more suspicious when it tied to a dangerous prophecy.
Finally,
Loyie spoke softly, though not taking her eyes off the battered map, “As long
as Prince Bramaad chooses not to spread more unneeded rumors, you will not have
dissent amongst your camp.”
“I don’t
suppose you can tell by prophecy whether or not my fool son will ever become
less of a fool?” Xvenaad asked dryly. Loyie glanced up from the map, finally
seeing a bit of the man’s old humor before his face fell once more.
“I’m
afraid not, Xvenaad, but there are steps that need to be made so he will not
detest Cece so.”
The king
frowned and moved closer to the map where Loyie now pointed. He was a rather
large man, used to looming over people. Loyie supposed he used it to his
advantage to intimidate people, though she had never viewed the man as more
than a mere man wanting to keep his people together. Though I have had to deal with enough kings to last me another ten
prophecies! Her small frame also made her more than used to people looming
over her, but it had been several hundred years since she had actually felt
intimidated by anyone because of their mere size.
“What
steps are you thinking, Watcher?” the king asked suspiciously, eyeing the
placement of where Loyie was pointing.
Loyie
tapped the map with a finger. It was on the main kingdom, Seyew itself, the
land they were all fighting to regain. “How many eyes do we have in the city?”
She was almost there, casually guiding the king to the proper topic she needed
him to be on.
Xvenaad
frowned at the map, as if it would give him the answers he needed. “What does
that have to do with our new guest and my son?”
Sighing
impatiently, Loyie tapped the map more pointedly. Some days were harder not to
interfere than others. “Answer the question, king.”
Not taking
any offence to Loyie’s lack of respect for his title, Xvenaad finally looked
away from the map. “They have all gone silent. It’s hard to tell whether they
grew too fearful to leave the city or if they were found and killed.”
Loyie
nodded, knowing full well the answers to the questions she asked. “So we need
someone to go in and give us an update, yes?”
The king
eyed her suspiciously. “Are you suggesting sending in that girl and my son into
the city to find out what is happening?”
Loyie only
shrugged and spread her hands innocently. At least Xvenaad had always been
quick to draw sharp conclusions, unlike his son. “If that is your wish, my
king. Though it may solve some problems of trust between the two and enable us
to retrieve more refugees. I believe it to be an interesting solution.”
“Are you
mad?” the king burst out, his self-restraint clearly gone. “Bramaad is the
prince of Seyew! If the Grignogn’s don’t recognize him the moment he walks into
those city gates, someone else might recognize him and betray him to a
Grignogn! We cannot be sure how loyal any are that are left in the city. We don’t
even know if this Cece girl can do anything beyond lose her temper!”
Loyie
raised an eyebrow and waited for the king’s tirade to die down to mere
sputters. She would bring the king to see her way, but she had not expected him
to throw a tantrum as if he were a young man again. Sometimes Loyie wondered
how Xvenaad seemed to be blind to the fact that his son was acting the same as
he had when he was a foolish young man.
“Bramaad spent
little time out in the city where the peasants
could see him, if you recall. If he is seen in the city and is recognized, then
he is even more of a fool than we could believe for wandering too close to the
manor houses of the inner city. As for the girl, did you not notice how you
wished to listen to her whenever she spoke?”
Coolly,
Loyie crossed her arms and watched the king mull over what she had said. His
expression hardened as he finally nodded.
“This
still doesn’t make the plan any less foolish. This Cece girl will not do
anything she doesn’t want to. That is plain to see,” Xvenaad said, though he
sounded more as if he were trying to convince himself than anyone else.
Loyie
smiled. “Any woman will see sense, no matter how crazy the idea is, as long as
it gives her something she wants in return.”
The king
sighed heavily and drew a chair up to the battered map before taking a seat. “Alright,
Watcher, guide me to what I need to know.”
Nearly
bursting with relief, Loyie directed the king’s attention to the map once more.
It certainly was going to be a long night.
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