Page 15 of Valdemar

“Rothas, you’ll eat with my people at the manor,” said Kordas. “Lythe, you will eat with the guards. I’ll be sending one of them at full dark to instruct you in your duties. Wear something sturdy.” He glanced outside the open door, where the light was fading. “I’ll leave you to settle as best you can. Restil can answer any questions you have.” He turned on his heel and left, Hakkon going with him.

When the door closed, Rothas—who really was too handsome for his own good, and probably had been the “king” of his little villages and not accustomed to being treated as he had been—let out a whuff of anger, and a brief wave of the emotion as well. “Is he always like that?” the Sunsinger demanded.

“He’s in charge of the welfare of thirteen thousand of his people,” Restil reminded the young fellow. “And you aren’t his people, you’re a couple of strangers he’s taken off the Hawkbrothers’ hands because we owe them so much.”

Rothas had been about to say something, but stopped, his mouth dropping open. “Thirteen thousand people?” he replied, incredulously. “There aren’t that many people in the whole world!”

Restil chuckled. “I assure you, there are a lot more than that. Where we came from, the Imperial Capital held something like thirty thousand people, all within a much smaller space than this Barony. And that was just one of a hundred or more cities of similar size, and fifty or sixty various-sized territories called principalities, dukedoms, counties, and baronies. The world is very much larger than you think.”

Rothas’s bright blue eyes went blank with shock. “How?” was all he managed to get out.

Restil didn’t even bother to answer that.

“And if that is true, why is he bothering with us?” Lythe asked, her voice trembling and low.

“Because he owes the Hawkbrothers, and the Hawkbrothers are committed to cleaning up magical messes. They can’t clean up yours, and they are hoping we can.” It was Restil’s turn to glance out the door. It would not be long before Rothas was insensible, and he should be in, or at least on, a bedroll by then. “There’s bedding upstairs. You just take care of tonight and let tomorrow take care of itself for now. You are safe. I’ll be here at false dawn to bring you both to breakfast, and answer more of your questions.”

Rothas’s shoulders sagged at the reminder of their current situation, and a wave of misery washed over Restil. “Thank you, Restil,” he managed, and it actually sounded as if he meant it. “I’m sure this is no pleasure for you.”

Restil laughed. “It’s better than shoveling horse shit,” he said. “And yes, I am the son of the man in charge of the welfare of thirteen thousand people, the Baron of this Barony, and I shovel horse shit. None of us are ‘above’ whatever job needs doing. It’s the only reason we’ve survived ten years here, and I’ll tell you all about that in the morning.”

And with that, he left them to ponder their situation. He hoped their thoughts would be fruitful.