The Invasion of the Tearling

I have no solutions, Kelsea thought, curling up into a ball. And if I can think of nothing, then I’m no better than she was.

THE MINERS WERE a rough lot. They had obviously bathed before coming to the Keep, but nevertheless dirt seemed to have grimed its way into their skins, giving them a swarthy appearance. They were independent miners, and this in itself was something of a rarity; most of the miners in the Tearling belonged to guilds, for combination was the only way they could compete against the Mort. One of the miners was a woman, tall and blonde, though she was as grimy as the rest, and wore a beaten green hat that looked as though it had been through a hurricane. Kelsea, who hadn’t known that mining crews accepted women, watched her with interest, but the woman returned her gaze with hostility.

“Majesty, we’re just out of the Fairwitch,” announced Bennett, the foreman. “We’ve been mining in the foothills for nearly a month.”

Kelsea nodded, wishing that she hadn’t worn such a thick wool dress. Summer had come, warm and somnolent, but someone had lit a fire anyway. She hated holding audience these days, for it seemed designed to take her attention away from more pressing problems: the Mort and the refugees. The first wave of border villagers would already be making their way across the Almont, but they were only a fraction of what was coming. Five hundred thousand extra people, at least … where would New London put them all?

“We were originally a crew of fifteen, Majesty,” Bennett continued, and Kelsea tried to keep her attention on him, stifling a yawn.

“Where are the rest?”

“Gone, Lady, in the night. We kept a pretty close camp, even at first, but … well, you know, a man has to take a piss sometimes. Men would leave the camp in the night, and sometimes they just didn’t come back.”

“And why have you come to tell me this?”

Bennett began to reply, but the female miner, who had the air of a second-in-command, grabbed his arm, muttering frantically into his ear. The exchange quickly became a protracted argument, punctuated by grunts and hissing. Kelsea was content to watch. Father Tyler stood closer to the miners than the rest of them; he could probably hear what was being said. She had begun to allow the priest to attend her audiences on occasion, and he had already provided several valuable insights. He enjoyed the audiences, said it was like watching history in action. He also knew how to keep his mouth shut, so much so that he had reportedly incurred the wrath of the new Holy Father, who didn’t feel that Father Tyler was providing him with enough information. Kelsea didn’t understand what held Father Tyler’s tongue, but attendance here seemed like a fair reward.

“Majesty.” Bennett finally broke free, though his companion glared at him as he spoke. “We found something in the Fairwitch.”

“Yes?”

Bennett nudged the woman, who gave him a disgusted look but pulled a small black pouch from the pocket of her cloak. Kelsea’s guard tightened automatically, doubling up in a line in front of Pen. Something winked blue as Bennett held it up in the torchlight.

“What is that?”

“Sapphire, Majesty, unless I miss my guess. We found a good-size vein.”

Now Kelsea understood the argument. “I assure you, your find is your own. We may try to buy it from you at a fair price, but on my word, there will be no seizure.”

The words had the desired effect; all of the miners seemed to relax at once. Even Bennett’s second-in-command calmed down, her brow smoothing as she doffed her green hat.

“May we inspect your find?”

Bennett looked back to his miners, who gave grudging nods. He moved forward a few feet and held the jewel out to Kibb, who took it and brought it to Kelsea.

She held up one of her own sapphires to inspect them side by side. Bennett’s jewel was rough, chipped directly from the vein, and had seen no polishing, but it was also enormous, almost the size of Kelsea’s palm, and there was no mistaking the quality of the stone. She waited a moment, struck by a ridiculous hope that the new sapphires would react to her jewels, wake them up somehow. But nothing happened.

“Lazarus?”

“Looks the same stone to me. But what of it?”

“You say you found a lot of this stuff, Bennett?”

“Yes, Majesty. We had to dig deep for the vein in the foothills, but I would guess it’s shallower up in the Fairwitch proper. We just didn’t dare go up there after … after Tober.”

“What happened to Tober?”

“Gone, Majesty.”

“He deserted?”

“To where?” an old miner in the back asked scornfully. “We had all the supplies.”

“Well, what do you think happened then?”

“I don’t rightly know. But we heard noises out there in the night sometimes, like some big animal.”

“Only some of us heard it, Lady,” Bennett cut in, glaring at the old miner. “Out in the woods and away up in the higher Fairwitch. It was a big thing, but it moved too stealthy to be an ordinary animal. It took Tober, we’re sure of it.”