Jerdren stirred. Blorys gripped his wrist, and his brother subsided.
Eddis flashed the younger man a wry grin. “Not exactly. It was Jerdren’s idea to begin with. Since that’s so, he can tell you about it, if he’d rather.” But Jerdren, his color suddenly high, shook his head. Eddis explained. “It’s possible you’re looking for the same men we’re after.” She let the unspoken question hang.
“We’ll join you—if you’ll have us,” Willow said, his eyes moving from Eddis to Jerdren.
Mead merely nodded, but his dark eyes fixed on Jerdren’s.
“Don’t worry, Jerdren,” Willow added with a faint smile. “You look like a man who hasn’t dealt much with magicians of any sort, let alone one like Mead. But you have Eddis’ word for our use to your party. She can tell you I’m skilled enough with swords, knives, and longbow. Mead’s fast and deadly with a bow or his knives. We don’t know the lands hereabouts, but we’re both good in country like this—woods, hilly ground, and river-bottom. We’re both good at tracking and quieter at it than most men. We can see farther and better in the dark, and we’ve good cause to help you, because we want certain of those men dead as revenge for the pain they caused our family. I’m willing to go for nothing but the chance of vengeance—”
“Nonsense,” Eddis broke in firmly. “Share and share alike, Willow. In whatever plunder we recover, in the dangers, and in the castellan’s offer of funds for provisioning and weapons. Tell them, Jers.”
He grinned, as if pleased she’d used his nickname. “Elves as fighting companions—I admit Blor and I haven’t had that chance before, but we’ve heard plenty of tales. It’s equal shares for all who come with us,” he said.
The two elves looked at each other for a long, utterly still moment.
Mead broke it. “We’ll go, then.”
Eddis opened her eyes groggily. First light was pale in her window—not enough to have wakened her. A scratching on the door panel brought her fully alert.
“M’Baddah, what?” she asked as she scrambled to her feet and hauled the dark shirt over her head.
“It is no great rush, my Eddis,” his low voice came through the window slit “I merely came to keep Jerdren from pounding at your door to waken you. He is greatly excited and babbled something about a full company or more awaiting you both, outside the tavern.”
She scrubbed sleep from her eyes and felt for her trousers. “Outside—you mean, even the tavern isn’t open yet?”
“Not quite yet, my Eddis.”
“Tell Jerdren he’s a dead man for even thinking about beating on my door this early, and I’ll be there when I’m dressed and cleaned up. Not before!”
By the time she had replaited her hair and pulled on her boots, sunlight slanted through the little window and across the fountain square. A few merchants were beginning to set up for business. The tavern door was open, and the odor of freshly baked loaves and hot, fried meat carried her through the door, where it was almost as gloomy as it had been the night before.
Jerdren’s shout of welcome hit her from across the room. M’Baddah reached her at the same moment.
“I’ll kill him yet,” she mumbled and let her lieutenant escort her over to the now familiar corner. Jerdren, his brother, and Willow had the table to themselves at the moment. Half a dozen hard-looking armsmen sat together nearby.
Willow laughed quietly as Eddis settled on a stool. “Are early hours as good for you as ever, Eddis?”
“Rrrrr,” Eddis replied and gave Jerdren a gimlet-eyed glare. “Early,” she informed him flatly, “is essential on the road. Not here.”
“I agree,” Blorys said. He handed her a cup and a thick slice of pale, heavily seeded bread, shoved a pot of thick fruit spread her way, then sat back to quietly wait until shed had a little to eat and drink. When Jerdren leaned forward to say something, Blorys tapped the man’s shoulder and shook his head firmly.
Thank you, Blorys, Eddis thought grimly. Keep the man quiet, and he won’t wind up wearing the pot of fruit. She finally set her cup down and eyed Jerdren questioningly.
“What’s been done?”
“Without you?” he demanded sourly. “Nothing. You and I agreed—equals, remember? Those,” he gestured toward the table of men, “are Ferec’s contribution. I know a few of ’em, but none well.”
“Fine. Let’s start,” Eddis said and turned to catch the attention of the nearest man.
By midday, they had a solid core group of thirteen and another ten men in reserve. Those going would be themselves, the two elves, and six of Ferec’s men who knew the area well, who had tracked and ambushed stray men and creatures, including a burly older fellow who served as cook for hunting parties. A good part of the afternoon was spent questioning the Keep men and going over Jerdren’s maps with them. There were small stray bands of men to be found almost anywhere, Eddis learned, but most of them fled if confronted with a few swords. Now and again the guards encountered a regular clutch of armed men, but they also tended to evade a fight as well.
“Possibly under orders,” one of the men said.
There were plenty of rumors of other creatures, but while several of the men here had almost seen something neither human nor beast, close questioning by Eddis revealed few actual sightings.
“That’s good,” she said finally.
“What do you have against fighting creatures?” Jerdren wanted to know. “Take out a horde of goblins or even kobolds—they’re cowards unless they outnumber you, mind—and I wager these peopled be grateful indeed.”
She bit back a sigh. “Let’s deal with what we know first and with the actual threat to the Keep—armed men, a company of bandits attacking caravans, if you remember? Besides, it just might take more than a few hours together out there before we’re a proper band of fighters and not a collection of volunteers who don’t know a thing about each other’s fighting styles, skills, and drawbacks. I’d rather not take on a horde of kobolds or anything else when I don’t know who or what’s protecting my back.”
Jerdren gave her a sidelong look but said nothing more on the subject.
“You sure thirteen’s enough?” she asked finally.
“Remember what you just said about fighting styles, Eddis? The more of us there are, the more of a problem that becomes. Besides, a larger party would just be more visible, and that could make it a lot harder to sneak up on those bandits.”
“Remember, we have a backup list of men here. We can always send for reinforcements if we think we’ll need them,” Blorys reminded them both.
“Good point,” Eddis said and went over the list one more time. “Since you want a session or two of weapon practice before we go, I’m thinking we’d better have those men join the rest of us, before we go.”
The castellan, true to his word, sent out one of his aides that afternoon, and the man accompanied Eddis and Jerdren to the traders and then the provisioner’s, making arrangements for the party to have funds for the journey. Eddis bought new daggers, a clutch of arrows and several new bowstrings, a spare pack for food and enough plain provisions, travel bread, dried fruit and plain dried meat to fill it. She finished the day utterly exhausted and slept the entire night without dreaming.
Two more busy days followed. Jerdren watched as each of the Keep men demonstrated his sword, bow, or spear skills, and he ran them through some basic maneuvers often enough that Eddis felt comfortable she’d be part of an organized company if someone or something attacked them.
By midmorning the next day, she, Jerdren and M’Baddah had completed a tour of the walls of the inner bailey, looking for the best place to get their people down to level ground. M’Baddah had been right, though. The only practical places for a company to descend by rope were along the east wall, where the ledge was narrow and the rocky heights steep but not undercut. Still, Jerdren insisted on a full tour of the walls, so he could check all possible spots. Maybe he simply liked being on the walls, and she had to admit the view in all directions was spectacular.