CHAPTER 886: HERDING CATS

On the face of it, what Carwyn needed to do was simple. There were three large mills on the far side of the River Belvin, along with half a dozen storehouses and just as many granaries, plus twenty or so shops and homes that had been built in the past few years.

Most of those homes belonged to the newcomers who had come to Raek Village because of the land that Carwyn promised them, and a few of those newcomers were reluctant to cede the far side of the river to an occupying demon army.

"I understand, yer lordship," Kraki, the Master Brewer, said as he stubbornly folded his arms across his considerable bulk. "Ye want ta’ clear us out ta’ make space fer tha demons ta’ camp. But yer lordship, a man still has a right ta’ defend ’is home. How can I jus’ roll over an’ let demons go rummaging in my cellars or drinkin’ up my best brews?"

"Master Kraki," Carwyn said, barely able to keep from pulling his hair out in frustration. "The Eldritch won’t touch your home, or your shop, or drink your ale. They just need to camp in the fields near the wall where the sheep and cattle graze. They won’t come within a hundred paces of your home!"

"Ye say that, yer lordship," the stubborn brewer argued. "But soldiers is soldiers, isn’t they? An’ demon soldiers is likely worse! Like as not, they’ll slaughter tha’ livestock ta’ sacrifice ’em ta’ their heathen gods an’ use my ale ta’ drink themselves drunk in their pagan rites!"

"No, they will not!" Carwyn insisted with a face that grew darker by the moment as his patience waned. He wanted to be with Olwyna right now, and he wanted his father to join them almost as badly, just to put his mother’s mind at ease, but he couldn’t accomplish either until he could clear out a space for the Eldritch to camp.

"But let’s say, just for a moment, let’s say they wanted to do what you said," the young knight said in a tone that revealed just how frayed his patience was. "I fought Barsali in full armor, with a warhorse under me, a lance, a flail, and a shield, and I’ve trained my whole life to fight the Eldritch and other armored knights. Just one fight and he nearly tore me limb from limb," Carwyn said as his tone grew menacing.

"Do you know what it sounds like when your arm is pulled out of its socket?" Carwyn asked as he leaned close to the barrel-shaped man and poked him in the chest. "Can you imagine what it would be like to have his tail wrapped around you, crushing you like a snake crushes a mouse until your eyes bulge out of your head and your blood pours from your ears?"

"If the Eldritch are really going to raid your home to get at your ale, do you really think you can put up a better fight than I did?" Carwyn asked as he stared at the brewer who had gone pale-faced with sweat beading on his brow. "Wouldn’t it be safer to wait things out as my guest in the manor? I’ll have soldiers at the bridges to keep our villagers and the Eldritch apart so you’ll be safe across the river," he suggested.

"But, but this is all I have!" Kraki protested. "Yer lordship, ye promised me a new life if I gave up workin’ fer me master in Lothian City an’ came out here ta’ teach my trade an’ now ye want to snatch away what I’ve built!"

"No, no, I don’t want to take anything away from you, Master Kraki," Carwyn said as calmly as he could. "I’ve been a guest in their home for weeks now. I know these men. They aren’t what you think they are. But how about this," he said as he tried another approach. "If you’ll come across the river, just until after the village gathering tonight, I’ll buy up all of your ale that’s ready to drink."

"I know that’s not everything!" Carwyn said when he saw a flicker of mercantile ambition in the heavyset man’s eyes. "I know your best brews need to age till spring at least, and if the Eldritch destroy them, then I promise to pay for whatever they damage. But this way, even if nothing happens, you still make out well, don’t you?"

It took another ten minutes of pleading, threatening and bargaining before the brewer finally agreed to pack up and head across the river, and Carwyn had to promise that he would exempt Master Kraki from tithes for five years if he had to rebuild his business because of this, but in the end, the portly merchant took a handful of silver from Carwyn and hurried across the bridge along with the other villages leaving Millside.

Master Kraki wasn’t alone in his protests, and things nearly became violent when seven of the men who tended to the mills and granaries refused to leave for fear that the village’s food supply would be poisoned by the ’demons’ who would be camped just a stone’s throw away from half a harvest’s worth of grain.

"I’ve been eating with these men for two days," Carwyn reassured them. "And with the rest of the Eldritch for nearly two weeks now. The last thing you need to worry about is that they’d poison your food," he said, though he winced slightly as he said it.

Carwyn had heard about Sir Ollie poisoning the food given to Lord Hugo and Sir Rain’s men, but he firmly reminded himself that Sir Ollie had done so to prevent violence instead of capturing their prisoners more forcefully. The end result would have been the same, but the method was selected as a kindness to the men they took prisoner.

"Captain Barsali is an honorable Champion among the Eldritch," Carwyn insisted. "He would be horribly offended at the notion that he couldn’t defeat an opponent without resorting to poisons in our food. Trust me," he said with a wry smile. "You have more to fear from me and my men if you don’t get moving across the river than you have to fear from him," he said in a tone that contained both humor and enough sternness that the millers eventually relented.

By the time the Carwyn had cleared out Millside and the Eldritch finally caravan trundled through the gates, the day was already growing darker, and the strange weather had grown even colder when the heavy blanket of gray clouds drifted south and east, revealing an icy blue sky just beginning to darken.

For a moment, Carwyn thought he would have an hour or so of peace to spend with his family before they met with the villagers, but that feeling fled as soon as he saw Loftur supporting his father as the old man gingerly dismounted from his horse. At the same time, Carwyn noticed Barsali was moving carefully and resting one hand on his father’s saddle as if to steady himself while they passed through the village gates.

"Father! What happened?" Carwyn asked as he pushed his way through the crowd to reach the men at the head of the caravan.