Idiot's Graveyard part 1

Note: This story first appeared in the free ebook anthology Hall of Heroes. It is too long to post the entire piece on GoodReads, so I am submitting it in two parts.

A gorgeous summer day was coming to an end as Dana Illwind and Sorcerer Lord Jayden led a small merchant caravan. They’d protected three wagons for eleven days, a task Dana had been certain would have been boring. After all, they were far from hostile borders and nowhere near wilderness areas that could harbor threats. To her surprise (and no one else’s), they’d had to earn their pay guarding the wagons.

“I still don’t get what they were thinking,” Dana said. She was a woman of fifteen, wearing a simple dress, fur hat, backpack and leather boots that came up to her knees. Dana had a knife and was giving serious thought to getting a better weapon. She had brown hair and brown eyes, and was pretty enough that men working the caravan had been a bit too friendly for her liking during the trip. She’d told two of them to stop and drawn her knife on a third.

“Bandits aren’t known for clear thinking,” Jayden told her. Jayden was a walking contradiction. He wore expertly tailored black and silver clothes and had long blond hair that was perpetually messy. Jayden carried no weapons, but as the world’s only living Sorcerer Lord was dangerous even empty-handed. He was handsome, confident, skilled and a wanted man for constantly harassing the royal family and their supporters. Smart men avoided him, which should have made their guard duty as dull as dry toast.

Dana counted off fingers, saying, “They recognized you. They knew about the manticore you killed singlehanded. You gave them a fair warning. And somehow they still thought attacking was a good idea.”

“They were likely desperate, stupid, drunk, or some delightful combination of the three,” Jayden replied.

The caravan’s owner winced from where he sat on the lead wagon. “And now they’re not anything.”

“You’ll find the road safer with their passing, as will your fellow merchants,” Jayden replied. The fight with the bandits had been brief, one sided and exceedingly messy. Dana had been repulsed by the consequences of the battle, but she couldn’t disagree with Jayden. Those men would have gone on to hurt others if he hadn’t stopped them.

That was the problem with being around Jayden. Dana liked him, in a sisterly sort of way, but he dealt harshly with foes. She’d decided to join Jayden on his journeys partly in gratitude after he’d risked his life for her town, but also to limit how much damage he might do.

And he’d done a lot of damage. Jayden had been the end to many threats in the three months they’d traveled together. Bandits preying on travelers, wolves and bears preying on livestock, and monsters that preyed on everything, he’d faced them and won. But Jayden had an intense hatred of the king and queen, one Dana didn’t fully understand and he wouldn’t explain. It had taken all her efforts to keep him focused on defeating dangers to the common man rather than going after the royal family like a starving dog after a bone. So far she’d guided him down the right path, but it was a constant effort.

The caravan owner stood up and pointed at a dim light in the distance. “That’s the town of Jumil. I’m afraid it doesn’t have much to offer. The inn is cold and cramped. Their blacksmith specializes in mediocre work. Salt is an exotic seasoning. And the residents, well, they try hard.”

“Yet you wish to go there,” Jayden remarked.

“They pay well for spices and produce good furs,” the owner replied. “I’ll make a fair profit here even with your ten percent share of the cargo.”

“Why don’t other merchants come here if it’s so nice?” Dana asked him.

“They used to, but the roads have been a nightmare ever since the civil war.”

Shocked, Dana said, “That was twenty years ago!”

“I wouldn’t lie to you,” the man replied. He tipped his hat to Jayden and said, “No offense, but you’re not the first to clear this road. It’s been done many times by many men, but monsters and bandits keep cropping up, drawn in by the chance to rob farmhouses and travelers.”

Jayden yawned as he walked. “Keeping the roads safe is supposed to be a job for knights. It’s a shame they’re too busy getting ready for war to care what happens to their own people.”

The caravan owner chuckled without mirth. “As far as they’re concerned, we’re as far beneath them as livestock.”

The town of Jumil was if anything less impressive than the caravan owner’s description. The houses looked sturdy enough and properly maintained, but there were no decorations, no boardwalks to keep people from walking in the mud, and pigs wandered the streets rooting through garbage thrown out windows.

If the town wasn’t pleasant, the residents were another matter. A cheer rose up when the caravan approached, and men ran out to greet them. Most of them were shopkeepers and homeowners eager to buy a share of the cargo, while some men came hoping to sell what goods they had. Still more people came to see the newcomers. It took Dana a moment to realize that a caravan’s arrival was a spectacle for them rather than an ordinary occurrence.

“You’re the first strangers here in a week,” a town guard told them. He studied Jayden’s odd clothing with some concern.

“And we are indeed strange,” Jayden replied. “Nevertheless, we come bearing only the best of intentions.”

The guard frowned. “You, ah, you’re the Sorcerer Lord, aren’t you? There are wanted posters for you in every town with more than fifty souls.”

“Is that going to be a problem?” Jayden asked. He looked relaxed, even bored.

More guards came, but only to escort the caravan inside town limits. The first guard made no effort to alert them, instead saying, “If you cause no trouble then there will be no trouble. No bounty is worth dying for.”

That cheered Jayden for all the wrong reasons. “Pray tell, what’s my head worth?”

“The price on you goes up by the month. The latest bounty is five hundred silver pieces.”

“Five hundred?” Jayden looked at Dana. “It’s offensive. A cow fetches twenty silver pieces. A plow horse is worth fifty. I’ve bedeviled the crown for five years, robbing them, humiliating them, yet I’m worth only ten plow horses. Clearly I have to improve my performance.”

“Helping caravans and towns in need might bring the price down,” Dana countered. Jayden’s smile showed how little that mattered to him. “Settle up with the merchant and I’ll see about getting us a place to sleep tonight.”

“Agreed.”

Dana spotted the town’s inn and slipped through the growing crowd to reach it. She had to work fast. Jayden got bored easily, and when that happened his thoughts turned to harassing the king. She had hours at most to find something, anything, for him to do that would bring in cash and possibly magic.

The caravan’s owner had summed up Jumil’s inn quite well. It was clear they got little business with their few rooms, and would be totally unprepared if more than twenty visitors came to their town. There were a few men drinking at a table, so the inn wasn’t totally deserted. The innkeeper watched the caravan through an open window while a boy swept the floor.

“Hi there,” Dana said cheerfully. “My friends and I need rooms for the night.”

The innkeeper pointed at Jayden, still outside and happily talking with excited children. He did love attracting attention. Sounding more curious than worried, the innkeeper asked, “You’re with him?”

“Yes.”

“Listen, we don’t want trouble.”

“You already have it. We were attacked by bandits on our way here.”

One of the men drinking set down his mug. “It happened again?”

“It happened for the last time,” Dana corrected him. That cheered the men if not the innkeeper. “It was a paying job, and one that helped your town. We don’t have another job lined up after this one, though, so I thought you might be able to help. My friend is interested in old ruins, the older the better, but he’s open to other opportunities. Are there threats nearby? Monsters, bandits, problems you’d like to go away and never come back?”

The innkeeper’s brow furrowed. “There’s an old stone tower north of here. We don’t go near it, what with the howling at night.”

A man at the table waved for Dana to join him. “We know places you could earn some coins and do us a good turn. Innkeeper, get the lady a drink and put it on my tab.”

The next hour proved better than Dana had hoped for. The innkeeper provided directions to the tower and a history of the place going back three generations. More potential jobs came from the other guests. They had a litany of complaints, including thieves, highwaymen, walking skeletons and a wyvern responsible for eating cattle. They also knew of a nearby mayor fond of confiscating cargo from passing merchants. It was a good list that would keep Jayden busy and profitable.

Speaking of Jayden, the Sorcerer Lord was noticeable by his absence. Dana looked outside in the growing darkness and saw Jayden chatting with the guards. It was odd to see them so friendly with a wanted man, but she’d seen that people in isolated towns like Jumil took a relaxed view of the law. They worried about their families and neighbors. Anything happening outside their little world was beyond their control and of little interest.

Dana had been the same not long ago. Her father was mayor of a small town, and she knew firsthand how hard people worked just to put food on the table. If some injustice or disaster fell on people a hundred miles away, there was little they could offer besides their sympathy. And if a stranger came with a dubious past, men were willing to overlook it provided he behaved and had something to offer.

Jayden had a lot to offer. He’d learned the magic of the long dead Sorcerer Lords, and in a kingdom with few wizards that made him a rare and precious commodity. He could handle big threats, like when he and Dana destroyed the Walking Graveyard a month ago. If a man was desperate, had some gold saved up, didn’t mind property damage and had no connection to the royal family, he could hire Jayden. That might be what was happening outside.

It was so dark that stars twinkled in the night sky when Jayden finally entered the inn. The caravan owner and his men came next, laughing and with coins to spare. Their wagons were already loaded with furs and safely stored in an empty barn. The innkeeper cheered at the increase in business and readied rooms for his guests.

Dana and Jayden shared a table near the back of the inn’s common room. Smiling, Dana told him, “I found places we could go next, all within five days walking distance.”

Jayden smiled back. “Two hours in town and you’re already sharing girlish secrets with the ladies?”

“I spoke with men in the inn.” She frowned and added, “I don’t get along with other women. They’re always so catty, like my being there is a threat.”

“I imagine it has to do with having husbands with wandering eyes. You are efficient as always, Dana, but there’s a matter I have to attend to first.”

Worried, Dana asked, “What kind of matter?”

“We’ll discuss it on the road tomorrow. For now, eat, drink and enjoy what little this town has to offer.”

* * * * *

The next morning brought a sparklingly bright day. Jumil’s people were still giddy from having the road open to traffic and trade, and the innkeeper brought a simple but filling breakfast. They were still eating when an older and visibly drunken man staggered into the inn.

“What brings you, mayor?” the innkeeper asked.

Dana prepared for the worst. Jayden’s reputation meant there was no telling what sort of reception he’d receive, and the mayor might have come to arrest him. But the man brought no weapons or guards, and in his inebriated state he was a threat to no one but himself.

Steadying himself against a wall, the mayor took out a scroll and unrolled it. “This came last night by royal courier. It…you need to hear it.”

Reading aloud, the mayor announced, “By decree of His Majesty the King and his beloved wife the Queen, from this day forth there is a tax of one copper piece per person per day staying at an inn, hostel or hotel, to be collected and sent to the capital each month.”

“Mercy, you’ll bankrupt me!” the innkeeper protested.

Still reading from the scroll, the mayor said, “Furthermore, the owners and operators of these establishments must record the names and destinations of all customers, to be reported to the capital on a monthly basis and at the owners’ expense.”

The caravan owner and other guests at the inn edged away. If the king knew who you were and where to find you, he could tax you. Rates started at twenty percent and went up from there. The king could also take offense at where a man went and who he did business with, resulting in fines, arrest, imprisonment and possibly execution depending on royal whim.

“Hold on, now,” the caravan owner began.

He needn’t have worried. The mayor rolled up the scroll and said, “So for legal reasons none of you were ever here. Just, you need to know what’s going on, and that other mayors might obey this foolishness.” The man looked despondent as he left, muttering, “I used to like this job. I’m sure I did.”

“Every innkeeper in the kingdom just became an informant for the crown,” Dana said.

One of the men at the table grimaced. “This wouldn’t have happened before the king remarried. He’s not the same man he used to be before that wench and her clan got their hooks into him. The kingdom’s been a dark place since the old queen passed away and her son was exiled, and growing darker by the day.”

“Truer words were never spoken,” Jayden said. He smiled in genuine friendship rather than his usual sarcastic grin. “It pains me to leave such good company, but we’ve work to do. I bid you good day, gentlemen, and wish you luck.”

Dana followed him out onto the streets, where he headed north. “Jayden, you said you’d tell me what this was about when we got onto the road. Where are we going?”

“I accepted the job to help those merchants for a reason I didn’t share with you before. I’d heard of a company of infantrymen marching the same road we took to reach Jumil. I want to know where they’re going and why they were sent here. I spoke to the town guards last night. They confirmed the company’s arrival two months ago, and which road they departed on.”

“We’re going after an entire infantry company.” Dana put a hand over her face. “Jayden, you’re strong, but you can’t fight eighty men. It’s insane!” Nearby people turned and stared when she shouted. Lowering her voice, she said, “I like you. I respect you and know what you can do. I don’t love the king any more than you do, but one man taking on a kingdom is insane. You’re going to get killed.”

“Possibly. Dana, the king and queen are planning a war of conquest against neighboring lands. Why would they send away troops they’re going to need? Why send them to a part of the kingdom that’s more or less safe?”

“Less safe than more,” she told him. “There are monsters in the woods.”

“So many they need eighty men to defeat them?” They left the town limits while Jayden spoke. “I’m not an idiot, contrary to all appearances. The adventures and opportunities you’ve found for me all take me away from more civilized parts of the kingdom, places where I could strike at the king and queen. I don’t mind, as your leads have produced gold and two inscribed spells of the Sorcerer Lords that enhanced my strength. But my goal has not changed. I intend to either bring down the throne or hurt it badly enough to prevent it from visiting the horrors of war on other lands.”

“This isn’t a good idea.”

Jayden shrugged. “The alternatives are worse. You are, of course, not obliged to join me. I’m sure your parents would be glad if you returned home.”

“I’m trying to save your life!”

“I know.” Jayden was uncharacteristically polite. “I appreciate your concerns and the risks you’ve taken on my behalf. No one else has done the same, and I have helped many in the same way I did you and your town. It nearly cost you your life when we fought the Walking Graveyard.”

“That thing only ate my shoes,” Dana said. “I liked those shoes.”

“It could have taken your feet. You remained with me after that happened, and I’m grateful. Dana, if I’m right then something is dreadfully wrong and could get much worse. I’m not sure I can prevent it, but I must try.”

Dana hated this. She’d tried her best, but Jayden was dead set on taking on the army, a force far worse in character than it once was. The kingdom was short of manpower even since the civil war, so short that citizens were only obliged to join local militias rather than become soldiers. The king got around that by hiring mercenaries from other lands, brutal men whose loyalty depended on monthly pay.

“So where are we going?” she asked.

“The men went north to an unpopulated and isolated region.”

Dana stopped in her tracks. “Wait, north? There are ruins of a stone tower north of here. The innkeeper said nobody’s gone near there for decades because of weird noises.”

Jayden rolled his eyes. “I normally don’t hate being right.”