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KAYDEN CHEWED. JUST what he had in his mouth, Barin wasn’t sure, but the king kept an eye on the man, daring him to spit in the royal throne room. Neal stood to the side of the prisoner, his hand on the hilt of his sword, and the guards held the prisoner’s arms, though not tightly. Barin wanted Kayden to feel at liberty to speak his mind. He needn’t worry. Kayden spoke enough malice for all of Kolada to be appeased.
“Your baron is a liar. He hides out in his castle and refuses to hear grievances. His soldiers laugh when we ask for help.”
“And just what sort of help are you asking for?” Barin asked, his hands folded behind his back, standing on the dais, well away from any spittle that might fly his way.
“Theft. Thieves run rampant in the city, and one of the worst offenders is Sylvester’s page—the boy named Hadley. You can’t stop him, or you’ll get arrested. Who knows what the rascal does with the goods he takes. Worse are the other robbers, the ones who steal children.”
“There are robbers who steal children? Are you telling me a fairy tale?”
“Every day another child goes missing. They take walks or play in the streets and never come back home. The ones who do return, who’ve been gone for days, won’t say where they’ve been, and they act like angry goats to their folks after that. There’s been unexplained killings too.”
Barin frowned and searched the man’s eyes, his own blood beginning to boil. If this were true, than Koladans had a right to protest. What citizen in his right mind would let these things happen to his family or his neighbors’ families?
“Then I shall send troops to uphold the law there. We’ll find the thieves and bring them to justice.”
“I doubt that will help. Sylvester would have your soldiers run out of the village. The baron has his own army, and that army didn’t do a thing to help your commander this last time, did it?” Kayden shot a glance at Commander Neal.
Barin stepped back. The man had so little respect for his overseer he refused to call the baron by his title. Barin paced behind his throne.
“You’re saying Lord Sylvester would disregard my men-at-arms?”
“He disregards everyone except his close friends. He hates you, King Barin. You call us insurrectionists, but that’s what he is. Making it look like the Crown is the enemy to our village. Passing the blame for everything that goes wrong in Kolada onto you. Well maybe you are the cause because you allow him the power to oppress us.”
Barin scratched his chin and glanced at Neal. These words had an insolent ring to them, but they also resonated truth. Barin had been questioning Kolada’s role in the empire for some time. Even his father had been suspicious of the northern territories and their rise to power. King Tobias had mandated that no baron build an army. Constabularies to uphold local law, yes, but not armies. Barin suspected he should disregard Kayden’s personal offenses toward him and listen to the rebel instead. What he’d told Barin so far is concerning.
“And so, your people rebelled.”
“And we’ll do so again. Even if you behead me for being an insurgent, someone will pick up the sword against your baron. Then maybe they’ll come for you. You want peace, you had better work it out with Sylvester, and fast.”
“Those words prevent me from freeing you.”
The wad of spittle Kayden had been working on landed at the foot of Baron’s throne. The guards grabbed the rebel tightly. Neal stepped forward with his sword, but Barin held up his hand.
“No,” the king said to the guards. “Leave him be.”
Who wouldn’t be so angry? Kayden had walked a great distance over the plains in chains, was held in a cold damp prison with little to eat, and now wavered on the edge of life balanced by a king's decision whether or not he should be hanged. Kayden's eyes showed fear, and yet the man had courage talking to him as he did. The people of Kolada had a grievance, which was for certain. No one could, nor should, sit by while their children are being abducted.
“If I’m to go to Lord Sylvester to settle this dispute, or even to remove him, I need to do so without the threat of my soldiers being attacked by you and your men. If your little group of renegades want to return home to your families, you need to agree to that. I cannot fight the Potamian people over an impediment Lord Sylvester created.”
“I can’t tell you what the people of Kolada will do.”
“What will you do?”
Barin held the man’s eyes with his own, searching for some connection, for some thread of trust. Kayden had proved himself a man of influence. He could persuade the Koladan peasants to lay down their arms. Unfortunately, he only stared with eyes squinted, jaw set, and made no promises.
“Take him back to his cell. Let him talk it over with his friends,” Barin told the guards.
He watched them leave, pondering his choices. Barin was not heedless to growing hostilities in his kingdom. Nor was he oblivious to the cause of the poor. He felt for the common people. That was a trait his father taught him.
But his father had lost touch with the commoners during his lengthy illness, had grown weak, and the lords of his council grew strong against him. Barin inherited hostilities that had been brewing for many years, and now he must squelch the anger, and provide balance and peace in his kingdom. Peace without war had been his aspiration, but he questioned the reality of such a notion.