Blackstone (Book 2) (22 page)

Seeing that he had a good point, she acquiesced with a nod
of the head. Besides, she had questions of her own that she wanted answers to.
She might as well take advantage of the situation.

Still leaning forward in that menacing posture, Darrens
pressed forward. “How many men are left?”

Both enemy commanders huffed in disbelief and refused to
even look at him.

“Three thousand?” Darrens continued, studying every nuance
in their expressions. “Two thousand? Ah, closer to two thousand.”

Yes, judging from the way they had flinched at that number,
Darrens was likely right.

“So what was the ultimate goal here, eh?” Darrens leaned
back so that he was standing more upright, a finger circling idly toward the
sky. “I assume you came all this distance with an objective in mind.”

Still that stubborn silence. Siobhan wet her lips and tried
a different approach. “Orin’s economy has suffered greatly from the trade
agreement that was formed.”

Both men finally looked at her with angry expressions,
nearly vibrating in their seats under the force of their rage. It made Fei
tense as he picked up on their murderous intent, even though they were both
bound.

Seeing that she was getting a reaction, she tried goading
them further. “I was in Orin not long ago. I saw for myself how bad things were
just trying to scrape up enough money to build the bridge with. With the
economy crashed, how bad did things get?”

“Like you care,” the man to her right spat out, hissing like
a wet cat.

“She does, actually,” Darrens refuted. “You won’t believe
how many times she came to me and pleaded for some alternative to the trade
agreement. She was afraid of what would happen to Orin if nothing was done. I’m
sorry now I didn’t listen to her.”

“Then it’s a shame you’re so powerless,” the same man
sneered at her. She started to think of him as Mouthy, because he was the only
one willing to talk. “People are starving, and all you can say is ‘how bad did
things get’ to me?”

Siobhan and Darrens shared a speaking look. So, things had
gotten that bad? She’d been afraid that was the case, but to have it confirmed
made her sick to her stomach.

“Looting cities in Robarge would ease suffering in Orin, I
grant you that.” Darrens picked up the threat smoothly, following Siobhan’s
lead. “But it would be a temporary fix. Did you think that doing this would
solve all of your problems?”

Mouthy huffed and looked away, a deliberately bored
expression on his face.

“Or was the goal to gain control of the Grey Bridges through
Converse, making a trade monopoly of your own?” Darrens asked as if thinking
out loud, not expecting an answer at all.

“Heh.” Mouthy’s lip lifted in an arrogant curl.

“No, that doesn’t make sense, not in the long run,” Fei
disagreed. The wheels were turning in his mind as he thought aloud. “I bet
taking this bridge was simply for leverage. Their real goal is to complete
their own bridge.”

Mouthy jerked upright, mouth opening to let some sort of
comment fly, only to bite his lip at the last second and subside.

Siobhan’s mouth formed in a silent ‘oh’ as the pieces
started to fall together. Yes, Orin was in bad shape, but their goal was still
to finish their own bridge? Really? It was sound strategy, certainly, but it
wouldn’t pay off for another fifty years! Didn’t they have a more immediate
goal to rectify the situation?

Both men were now being very careful to keep their feelings
shut off so that nothing showed on their faces. Siobhan found it impossible to
read them. Whatever in she had before was gone now. Chewing on her bottom lip,
she tried to think of another question that might get a rise from them. “By
attacking us like this, you’ve succeeded in gaining the world’s attention. We
don’t want to fight with you, or risk sparking another war like this one. Would
your leaders be open to negotiations?”

“He does not listen to anyone—” Mouthy snapped, only to be
abruptly shut up when his companion slammed his shoulder into him, nearly
knocking him over.

He? Siobhan’s interest perked. This was the first sign that
they actually knew who their new guildmaster was. “The new guildmaster is a
man?”

Mouthy, ashamed at his outburst, stared steadfastly at the
ground. His companion was staring at him hard enough to leave holes in the
man’s head. The silent pressure was enough that even Siobhan felt unnerved by
it. She sensed instinctively that they wouldn’t get another word out of either
man. Not without some serious pressure of the not-nice variety, at least.

Standing, she told Darrens, “I have all the answers I need.”
Not all the ones she wanted, but the ones she truly needed, yes. “If it’s
alright, I’ll go back. Conli was overrun with patients back there.”

“Draft help if you need it,” he ordered.

If she could think of someone that wasn’t already doing
three things, Siobhan would have done that already. Instead of answering, she
gave him a smile and a half-bow of excusal before leaving, Fei trailing in her
wake. When they were far enough of earshot, she asked, “Fei? What did you
think?”

“I think the situation is not quite what we assumed it to
be.” Fei sounded brooding and somewhat bewildered. “Their reactions make me
think we’re missing something.”

Yes, she’d felt the same. “But what?”

“Only time will tell.” He splayed his hands in an open
shrug. “And I think we have enough problems on our hands that demand our
immediate attention.”

True enough.

Wolf had no intentions of asking for help from anyone in the
clinic over such a minor scrape, but the burn he had gotten earlier was
starting to sting and irritate him. All he wanted was to snitch a bit of salve
to make it feel better, was all.

The moment he stepped through the front door of the
inn/clinic, he knew that he was making the right call. The place was filled
with cots from corner to corner, with walking wounded sitting on the stairs or
helping other injured people. There were moans of pain from every direction,
voices murmuring in low conversations, and then the louder voices of Conli and
his helpers as they called out instructions to each other. Wolf estimated there
were a good three hundred people in this main room alone, and he knew that the
rooms upstairs had to be chock full of people as well.

Surely not all of them were their own? Had someone made the
decision to treat the enemy wounded as well?

Looking about, he saw two tables crammed together along the
far wall, filled to nigh overflowing with bandages and some very familiar
looking jars. Conli’s work, no doubt. He made a beeline for it, carefully
stepping in between the cots so as to not trip over anyone. It would be bad to
knock into an injured person, true enough, but Wolf was large enough that just
landing on someone could cause serious harm. He’d solved many a fight by
sitting on his opponent.

Finally making it, he congratulated himself for keeping his
balance. The table was a hot spot for people, and he saw Denney, Sylvie, and
Conli rush to it, grab something and dart away again as they went from one
patient to another. None of them seemed to notice him, so preoccupied were they
in their work. Fine with that, he started picking up bottles at random, reading
the labels. Conli was good at labeling his jars. It not only said the name, but
what it could treat and how to apply it. (The man operated under the assumption
that if he ever fell ill, someone else would have to treat him, so he tried to
prepare accordingly.) He saw a lot of jars for cuts, and infections, but
nothing for burns.

Conli came to the table, grabbed a bandage, then stopped
dead. Head cocked, he turned with a quizzical look on his face. “Wolf. What are
you doing over here?”

And here he thought the man too busy to notice him. “Ah,
well…” he trailed off, rubbing at his jaw.

The movement drew attention to the burn mark along his
temple and Conli’s forehead drew into a frown. “That looks nasty. How did that
happen?”

“A bunch of idiots struck on the bright idea of using fire
cudgels to fight with. One of them got lucky.”

Conli pointed to a stool at the end of the table. “Sit, let
me take a look at it.”

“You’ve got other patients,” Wolf objected, hand held up in
protest.

“Nothing serious. We treated the worst cases first. The only
ones left are the ones that have injuries about as serious as yours. I have a
minute, so sit.”

Conli looked dead on his feet, to the point of swaying where
he stood. Wolf realized in that moment that their doctor wouldn’t rest until
the patients were seen to. The quickest way to make that happen was to
cooperate and not stand there arguing. So he sat where directed and turned his
face so that Conli could get a clear look.

With his fingertips on Wolf’s chin, he directed him to tilt
the head a little more as he bent and peered at it. “Hmm, yes, I see a few
wooden splinters stuck in there.”

Wolf made a sour face. “Do you really?” No wonder the thing
hurt so much.

“One or two. Let me get some tweezers, get those out and
clean it up properly. You weren’t planning on coming in here and just finding
some salve to put on it, were you?”

Wolf wisely decided not to answer that question.

Growling, Conli rolled his eyes. “You really were? Wolf, my
own guildsmen always take precedence over the enemy! You know that.”

“I didn’t think it was serious,” Wolf defended himself.

“If that gets infected, it will be
very
serious and
possibly life threatening. As it is, if I don’t treat it right, you’ll get a
nasty scar there. And don’t look at me like that, I realize you don’t care
about scars, but Siobhan does, and I don’t want to have a dozen conversations
with her later about why I didn’t treat you properly from the get-go.”

Alright, well, put it like that and the man made a good
point. Siobhan did care about things like that and she was worse than a dog
with a bone when she got a mad-on about something.

Even with him being slow and careful, Conli couldn’t really
afford to be gentle, and the digging about in charred skin was very painful.
Wolf gritted his teeth and bore through the pain.

As he worked, Conli asked, “So is everyone alright? I
haven’t seen anyone but you coming in for treatment.”

“We’re all fine,” Wolf assured him. “I took the brunt of it
out there because I was the only shield wielder. I was the only one that could
take on the fire cudgels.”

“Ah, I see. Well, I’m glad of that. Denney was anxious most
of the day, worrying about Rune getting too deep into things.”

Wolf almost shook his head in denial before he remembered
that was a bad move at the moment. “No, the boy did fine. The training Hyun Woo
gave him worked. I’ve never seen him have such good control.”

“Well, praise mercy for that.” Satisfied he had the splinters
out, Conli set the tweezers aside and reached for a bottle and clean cloth.
“This will sting.”

“Conli,” Wolf responded patiently and with an edge of
sarcasm, “everything you have stings. Or it tastes bad.”

“That’s how you know medicine is effective,” Conli responded
smoothly.

“Heh.” Amused in spite of himself, he let the man do his
work. “Where’s Siobhan? I thought she was in here as well. Tran said she was.”

“Ah, she was, but Fei came and fetched her earlier. I’m not
sure why. I barely noticed her going.”

Considering Wolf, who was only slightly smaller than a
mountain, had managed to walk into the place and rooted around the table for
several minutes without being spotted, he was amazed that Conli had noticed
anything at all.

In spite of the warning, whatever Conli was using did indeed
sting, like salt on an open wound. He hissed in a breath between clenched
teeth.

“Sorry, sorry,” Conli absently apologized, focused on what
he was doing.

“Keep working, man, I know it’s necessary.” To distract
himself, he asked, “I don’t recognize anyone in here, hardly. Are these enemy
wounded?”

“They are. Our own men are all upstairs in proper beds or in
the other clinic.”

“There’s two?”

“One right next door. It’s also filled to the brim.”

Now that was a scary thought. “Also with enemy wounded?”

Conli hesitated strongly before saying simply, “No. Only
this clinic treated the enemy.”

That pause said a great deal. In other words, the other
physician had refused to treat any of the enemy and left the burden on Conli.
No wonder the man was still in here treating people even though it was getting
very late.

“There.” Satisfied, Conli reached for a jar hiding well in
the back of the table, hidden completely by other bottles. “I have a burn salve
in here somewhere…” muttering to himself, he shifted things from side to side.

While Conli searched, Wolf looked idly about the room. Well,
even though the enemy army had marched on them with such ferocious bloodlust,
it was all worn out now. They were model patients, all lying quietly on their
cots and cooperating nicely with the people trying to help them. It didn’t look
like any trouble would…start…what was that? It wasn’t anything overt, not
something that a normal man would pay attention to, but after being Hyun Woo’s
student for nigh on three weeks now, Wolf had learned to notice those little
things. He left the stool, standing to his full height in an effort to see to
the far corner of the room.

Three men loitered near the back door, their hands hidden
from his view. Their heads were bent so they could talk quietly amongst themselves,
almost secretively. Then, as he watched, two others joined the group and one
left, going to the opposite corner, near the front door. He’d have thought
nothing of it except the way they moved made it clear they were trying to be
sneaky.

And they had no reason to be acting sneaky.

“Conli.”

“Yes?”

“Get Denney and Sylvie and go out the side door. Now.”

Alarmed, Conli’s head snapped around. “What?”

“
Now
, man. Move!”

For years Conli had obeyed Wolf’s orders, acting under his
direction as he sought to keep them all safe. From the bewildered expression on
his face, Wolf knew that Conli didn’t understand the command at all, but it was
sheer force of habit that propelled him into motion. Calling the two girls to
him, he made for the side door.

Wolf did not believe for one moment that staying in here was
a good option. Even if these men were unarmed, he was severely outnumbered.
Instead, he headed straight for the stairs, knowing that he had bare minutes to
make a barricade up there to protect his own from being attacked. As he went,
he scooped up two other women that had been helping Conli, forcing them up the
stairs ahead of him. They were protesting, of course, asking questions, but he
ignored that and kept forcing them upwards.

Reaching the top, he grabbed the first piece of furniture he
could find—a trunk that had seen better days—grabbed it, and shoved it in front
of the stairs.

“
What
is going on?” one of the women, a ginger
redhead, demanded irately. She looked a second away from kicking Wolf back down
the stairs.

“Your patients down there are about a minute away from
starting a fight and breaking out of here,” Wolf answered, quickly ducking into
the next room and stealing another trunk. Something larger would work better,
but the only things larger were the beds, and they were all occupied.

“Mercy!” she exclaimed, clutching both hands to her stomach
in fear. “Are you sure?”

“Very. Find me something bigger and heavier than this. We
have to barricade the stairs.”

Both women moved with alacrity, doing just that.

Wolf’s luck wasn’t strong enough to be able to build the
barricade before someone downstairs noticed what he was doing. A shout went out
down below and then several men rushed upwards, holding makeshift weapons of
iron skillets and butcher knives in their hands. He did not underestimate them
because of what they were holding. Those butcher knives could do lethal damage
in the right hands and the iron skillets could break bones as easily as a
cudgel could.

Two things worked to his advantage: one, the stairs limited
their angle of approach severely. They could only come at him two at a time,
and he could handle that all day. Two, the barricade was half up at this point,
and they couldn’t properly reach him over it unless he met them half way. Which
he didn’t intend to do.

Ignoring the enemy and their frustrated challenges, he kept
building the barrier until he was satisfied it would hold, at least for several
more minutes. Then he went to the nearest window that faced out the front and
opened it. Looking out down below, he saw a man he recognized and called,
“Taslim!”

Taslim stopped dead in his tracks, fuzzy hair covering one
eye, and looked around.

“Up here, man!”

“Up?” Taslim repeated, craning his neck around. He finally
spotted Wolf leaning out of the window and waved. “Wolfinsky! Whatcha need?”

“Tran, Rune, or Fei.
Now
.” Wolf didn’t know if anyone
below might be listening, but he didn’t want to give them too much information
of what they were planning or spook them into making stupid mistakes. “And keep
everyone out of this inn.”

Taslim stared hard at him, catching on to Wolf’s intent even
though he hadn’t spelled everything out clearly. Nodding understanding, he spun
on his heels and took off in a sprint.

Thanking all mercy the man had realized the importance of
the situation, Wolf stayed in place and trusted on his ears to keep track of
the situation near the stairs.

The man lying in bed next to him cleared his throat and
asked hesitantly, “Something going on?”

Wolf spared him a glance. Broken leg, head wrapped in a
bandage, but the man seemed alright other than that. “Enemy patients downstairs
figured they’d start round two.”

The man swore aloud and reached for the blanket.

“Stay still, man. You’re not in fighting condition. I sent
someone for help.”

“But if they get up here—!” the man protested, still
struggling to get out of the bed.

“I barricaded the top of the stairs.”

He stopped struggling. “Oh. Well that will hold them off for
a while.” Glancing about, he muttered, “Where’d they put my sword?”

The man might need that weapon if someone didn’t get here
soon. Wolf was hearing ominous cracking noises from the top of the stairs.
Someone was making headway in getting through his barrier. He might have to go
and shore it up soon.