The Invasion of the Tearling

“Why?”


“We found his clothing, Lady, and his boots, a few days later, at the bottom of a ravine. They was all torn up and stained with blood.”

Arliss snorted quietly, a sound of disbelief.

“Three other men disappeared also, Lady, before we learned to tighten up our camp at night and work only in groups. We never found a trace of them.”

Kelsea turned the sapphire over in her hand. Arliss couldn’t know it, but this wasn’t the first such story she’d heard lately. Now that there was no shipment, the Census people stationed in every village were anxious to prove that they were still relevant, and information of all sorts poured in to Mace from every corner of the kingdom, including the tiny villages at the base of the Fairwitch. There had been three complaints of missing children in the foothills, as well as several men and women disappeared on the fells. No one had seen anything. Whatever the predator was, it came in the night and then simply vanished with its prey.

“Kibb, return this, please.” Kelsea handed him the stone and leaned back against the throne, thinking. “Lazarus, there have always been disappearances in the Fairwitch, yes?”

“Plenty of them, Lady. It’s a dangerous place, particularly for children. Scores of young ones disappeared before Tear families simply stopped settling in the mountains. The Mort more or less avoid their portion of the Fairwitch as well.”

“Majesty?” Father Tyler spoke up tentatively, raising his hand in the air, and Kelsea bit back a grin.

“Yes?”

“The old Holy Father believed the Fairwitch to be cursed.”

Mace rolled his eyes, but Father Tyler plowed on. “I don’t believe in curses, but I will tell you: in the late first century, the Arvath sent missionaries up into the Fairwitch, looking for those who’d drifted up there after the Crossing and settled in the mountains. None of the missionaries ever returned. This isn’t merely rumor; the report is part of the Arvath records.”

“Hasn’t anyone ever found any bodies?” Kelsea asked.

“Not to my knowledge. This is the first I’ve heard of any remains at all, blood or clothing.”

This made Kelsea even more uneasy. If people had disappeared, where were the bones? She turned back to the miners. “Bennett, do you plan to return to the Fairwitch?”

“We haven’t decided yet, Majesty. The sapphire is good quality, but the risk …”

Arliss tapped Kelsea’s shoulder and leaned forward to murmur in her ear. “The Cadarese value sapphire highly, Majesty. This stuff would be a good investment.”

Kelsea nodded, turning to the miners. “Your choice is your own. But should you go back, I’ll buy your haul at …”

She looked to Arliss.

“Fifty pounds per kilo.”

“Sixty pounds per kilo. I’ll also pay extra for any information on what stalks up there.”

“How much extra?”

“It depends on the quality of the information, doesn’t it?”

“Give us a moment, Majesty.”

Bennett led his crew to the far side of the room, where they gathered into a huddle. The old miner, on the outskirts, prepared to spit on the floor and was forestalled only when Wellmer grabbed his shoulder and gave him a forbidding shake of the head.

“Sixty pounds per kilo?” Arliss moaned in an undertone. “You’ll make no money that way.”

“I know you, Arliss. Your markup is ruthless.”

“The right price is whatever the market will bear, Queenie. The ruler of a poor kingdom should remember that.”

“Just do your job and make sure the taxes come in on time, old man.”

“Old man! You’ve never had a better tax collector. Ten thousand pounds this month alone.”

“Majesty!” Bennett stood at the foot of the dais. “It’s a fair deal. We’ll leave next Friday.”

“Good,” Kelsea replied. “Arliss, give them each five pounds’ bonus in advance.”

“Five pounds each, Queenie!”

“Goodwill, Arliss.”

“Much appreciated, Majesty,” said Bennett. The rest of the miners grunted agreement, crowding around Arliss with hungry expressions. Arliss pulled out his little book and bag of coins, grumbling the entire time, but Kelsea considered the money well spent. The Tearling didn’t have enough metal in the ground to support more than a handful of mining crews. If miners disappeared from the Tear, the kingdom would be forced to get the bulk of its metal from Mortmesne … which meant there would be no metal at all.

A loud yawn came from Kelsea’s left: Pen. He was very tired; his eyes had a dark, hollow look about them, and he seemed to have lost weight.

“Pen, are you ill?”

“No, Lady.”