Maybe there was not as much time as he thought.
CHAPTER FOUR
Tanner watched the approaching ship with fear and trepidation. Talking about what they were going to do when the ship arrived, and the reality of the impending action was not the same. The appearance of the ship turned a mental exercise into reality. The next day or two would determine the course of the rest of his life.
It might affect hundreds, if not thousands of others. In his heart, he understood that what they planned would not prevent war, but might delay it. If nothing else, his people and King Ember might have time to better prepare.
Carrion was still on the ground directing his red to deliver pieces of the packing crates and contents, helmets, and swords. If he found any other damaging evidence, the dragon would deliver it also, but the travel time would require Carrion’s attention most of the day. He would take a few breaks, but if left unattended a dragon went about its own agenda. Taking the time to locate pen and ink, and then penning a message would take an extra day they didn’t have.
The ship sailed closer to the entrance to the bay. It wallowed in the waves instead of breaking through as sleeker military ships near his home did. The hull more resembled a lumbering fishing boat than the few fast packets he’d seen in the seas to the south. It sailed around the end of the breakwater as it lowered the first of its sails. A few shouted orders drifted on the air.
It sailed directly to the dock. While sitting and watching the ship, a rabbit ducked in and out of a burrow right in front of him. Reaching for his bow and a single arrow, he waited until the rabbit disappeared down into the hole again. Then he quickly scooted closer and waited. He turned away because rabbits instinctively recognize predators have their eyes on the front of their heads, and when the rabbit peeked out again, he didn’t want to be looking at it as a predator. The rabbit would duck down again and maybe not come back up today.
The rabbit appeared again. Tanner fought with himself in not looking at it. The rabbit ducked back into the hole, then peeked out again. Rabbits depend on speed, stealth, and wariness to survive. If a man wants to hit one with an arrow, he must have patience. Tanner knew the routine. The ship was already busy loading and unloading when Tanner was close enough for a good shot. The rabbit was far less wary now that Tanner hadn’t made any quick moves or even glanced at it.
The arrow was drawn part of the way and pointed at the top of the burrow when the rabbit appeared again. Tanner sat only ten paces away as he slowly increased the pull. A flick of his eyes told him the arrow was aimed correctly, and he released. The arrow penetrated the chest of the rabbit and pinned it to the dirt.
The rabbit twisted and fought. Tanner used the butt of his knife to end its life. Besides the chance of it escaping into the burrow, allowing an animal to suffer is against the instincts of all hunters.
They had meat for another day, and the chicken eggs he’d stolen were in his pack. He went back to watching the ship as he cleaned the rabbit and built a small, smokeless fire. When Carrion woke, he would be hungry.
The rabbit was almost finished roasting when Carrion pulled himself to his knees. He glanced at the makeshift spit with the rabbit and nodded. The eggshells were pierced and placed beside the hot rock of the fire ring until cooked firm. It was the hard way. Boiling them in a pot would have been better, but they didn’t have a pot. Piercing and baking often burned one side, but couldn’t be helped.
Tanner said, “How’s the red?”
Carrion stood and stretched as he answered, “He’s already delivered the things to our family. They gathered the pieces we sent and understood they were from a foreign army. Before the red flew back here, a council meeting was already under way. They’ll know what to do.”
“That’s why you took longer than I expected.”
“I know. I wanted to make sure they understood the meaning of what we delivered. On the way back to the monastery the second time we also found something odd. King Ember has probably half of his entire army hidden, but it’s hard to hide that many troops from above. They’re in a wooded valley, down near the southern border.”
“That is odd. What’s that idiot King of ours up to now?” Tanner asked, his mind turning over the possibilities.
“All those weapons at the monastery and the army standing by so close by cannot be a coincidence.”
Tanner sliced a leg from the rabbit on the makeshift spit and offered it to Carrion. “Do you think the army knows about the hidden weapons?”
“There’s no way to tell. But the question is interesting. I hadn’t considered the idea that they might not know about them because the two are close together, less than a day’s march away.” Carrion blew on the rabbit until it was cold enough to bite into. He remained quiet the entire time, his eyes gazing out to sea. When no more meat remained on the bone, he still held it.
Finally, Carrion snapped back from his reverie. “If they don’t know about the weapons it signals something more serious. It would mean the weapons are in defiance of King Ember. But that brings up the most relevant question of all.”
“You’re going to make me ask what it is?” Tanner said when Carrion didn’t continue.
Carrion sliced off more of the rabbit and said, “No, but I was waiting for you to draw your own conclusions and see if they match mine.”
“Well, I don’t have any, but let me see. If the weapons are not for King Embers army, they must be for another. A large army, if all those crates contain weapons. The only place another army could come from to collect the weapons is Shrewsbury. Right? An army landing here? That’s what you’re thinking.”
“Why would King Ember have an army in hiding near here?” Carrion asked.
Tanner snapped his fingers. “To join up together!”
“Good guess, but before you hurt your fingers snapping them like that again, think it through. The army of King Ember has no enemies near here to fight. If he wanted to invade the Shetlands to the south, he could without help. The Shetlands could be taken with a few hundred troops. He has over two thousand down there.”
“Then who will they fight?”
“Perhaps each other?”
Tanner nodded, then said, “What if Ember is setting a trap?”
“Why allow a foreign army to land on your shores, hike to their storage locations of weapons, and then fight them? It would make more military sense to meet them while they’re unorganized and without weapons.”
“That would make better sense,” Carrion agreed. “We’re missing something.”
“Most consider King Ember, a dolt when it comes to military tactics, but he’s reasonably fair and just in ruling us, with all but the Dragon Clan. Another ruler could be far worse. But the question remains, why are his troops positioned near here?”
Carrion wiped his greasy fingers on his pants and reached for an egg. “Sea salt?” Then he carefully pinched a few grains and sprinkled it over the egg before continuing. “I think he intends to send those troops across the sea. They’ve packed light. No horses. No goats, sheep, or cows to feed them corralled in that forest. They intend to either travel on ships or fast and light.”
“That doesn’t make sense. If they’re going to sea on ships, why is there a supply of weapons at the monastery?”
A wicked smile flashed across Carrion’s face. “I think I know. Because he is about to be double-crossed by somebody. I imagine it will go down one of two ways. The first is that Ember’s men load onto ships and sail away. Another fleet then arrives, and foreign soldiers take over Princeton while King Ember’s is gone.”