Their fears echoed to the ceiling and probably out into the street. The mayor stood up to try to settle people. Tahlen put a hand to Zelli’s shoulder as if ready to drag him from the room. But the people weren’t angry with Zelli or Grandmother, not really. They were afraid. Everyone was afraid, even Zelli. That was why he was there.
“If you would….” Zelli tried, but wasn’t nearly loud enough to be heard. “I really think…” He put his hands flat on the table and got to his feet, debating whether or not standing on the table would cost him his dignity and if he had dignity to lose.
“To attack this valley is to anger the fae!” Zelli shouted. It was probably the mention of the fae that made some shut up. Zelli took a breath. “Though the Tialttyrin are not what we once were, few other noble families are after over a decade of this fighting. Some might still eventually turn our way, but anyone wise will think on what it might cost them to come here.”
Some of the rest of the anxious crowd fell silent, exchanging looks with one another or glancing from Zelli to the mayor or to Tahlen.
“Are the other Tialttyrin as… fae as you are?” The question, which did come from a child but from an adult in a simple dress and apron, made Zelli raise his eyebrows.
“No,” he finally answered, after realizing the place had quieted even more to hear his response. “But that is also why none of us will seek the throne. People fear us and that would not make us good rulers, would it? So at least you don’t have to worry about that.”
Some Tialttyrin around the capital might want to influence the current ruler, but if the fae wanted someone of fae blood in the palace, they had only to act, and they did not.
“Since you’ve brought up these concerns… the warring has been going on now for fifteen years. For most of my life and the lives of your children. We don’t know how it will end, or when.” Or if. “But even here in our valley, we are affected by the chaos in the capital and elsewhere. And now there are strangers.”
Zelli glanced at Bree. “Maybe many of them are fleeing the capital and avoid the roads because they feel it safer. They might pass through the valley without disturbing anyone.” He considered Tahlen without turning toward him. “They might also be desperate and they might cause harm if you resist them or get in their way. We can’t ignore that possibility.”
Zelli paused. “Grandmother worries because it’s people that matter. So, she would remind you that if it’s regular people out there, travelers who are scared like you, you ought to feed them and take them in. If you can’t afford it, to send them on to us. And… and I will remind you that if it’s anyone with harsher intentions, you are welcome to shelter within our walls. Some other families have chosen to forget their responsibilities, but we have not.”
He and Nya had been setting aside more on top of the usual preparations for winter, out of concern for the harder future that might lie ahead.
Zelli bit his lip in frustration. “I don’t know what the other noble families will do, if anything, in our valley. They have lost their sense. But this place and the people in it are beloved of the fae and my family.” Some of his family. “Even if it was only Tahlen and myself, we would seek to protect you.”
He did look over then. Tahlen did not seem startled, but their eyes met and Zelli struggled to look away again.
Zelli turned back to everyone else, noticed the mayor once again at the bar, pouring drinks as if to calm people, and Bree, watching Zelli with open interest.
He slowly sat down and observed the crowd, now talking amongst themselves and darting him looks, and then his notes on what he needed to mention to Grandmother, the empty plate of biscuits.
“My plan was to go as far as one more waystation,” he said for Tahlen to hear. “I don’t have enough money of my own to visit another village. I only wanted our presence felt.”
“You want to go farther,” Tahlen responded flatly, not asking.
“No,” Zelli denied. “Yes, but not like this. Yes, because it’s necessary. I want to know what—who—they are seeing and if it’s a threat. Right now, I don’t have enough to tell Grandmother and no way to plan.”
“I doubt a large force bent on bloodshed would hide in farmers’ fields.” Tahlen’s voice was hoarser than usual. Zelli didn’t prod him about it.
“But why are they coming across the mountains?” Zelli asked instead. “And, from the look of Bree, not by the usual caravan paths. They’re hiding.”
“Someone is chasing them?” Tahlen’s surprise was audible. “Why would anyone waste their resources pursuing anyone all the way to this valley, risking the attention of the Rossick, the Tialttyrin,andthe fae?”
Zelli looked up. “The other families are breaking their oaths and disregarding tradition. They make even less sense to me than my family members who ignore Grandmother. I can’t guess why they do anything or what they will do next.”
Tahlen’s jaw had a tic again, although Zelli didn’t think Tahlen’s anger was directed at him. “Your habit of thinking ahead is often not a comfort, Zelli.”
Zelli shrugged his shoulders sadly. “I know.” He hesitated, then looked up again. “Tahlen…”
“Someone is trying to get your attention,” Tahlen said brusquely, and turned from Zelli and whatever question Zelli might have asked.
Too many people wanted to talk with Zelli outside of the more formal proceedings, which was how some preferred to do business. It meant he could not sneak away for dinner or give Tahlen a rest. Tahlen had been on duty for far longer than any one guard should have been and that was without considering how upset he must be.
Even the most steadfast of guards would normally have sat down or had a meal at some point. But Tahlen had not, not even when Zelli had been served some steamed dumplings and soup and repeatedly asked if Tahlen would like some of his own.
Zelli had finally ordered food for him anyway, suspicious and unhappy when Tahlen had eaten it standing up and out of reach of a private conversation.
After sharing a drink of warmth with Mayor Sar to conclude the official side of things, Zelli had moved to a different table, as the other tables had been brought back into the inn by then. He left Tahlen to follow or not follow, and sipped wine and tea and more wine while various people told him things about their children, or strangers in the valley, or stories they’d heard from the last of the merchants they’d seen.
He didn’t know how late it was, but he was exhausted, so despite his interest in the tale of two neighbors who had bound themselves together in marriage and later become a nuisance to everyone including The Tialttyrin, a tale currently being told to him by one of those neighbors, he also wanted to retire and to force Tahlen to rest, if not speak.
