Judith (Queen's Birds of Prey Book 3)

breath.
“I do hate the height. I should have thought this through when I turned you into my warriors.” Her laughter, should there have been someone around to hear it, might have caused someone to think her insane. “Homeward, my love, and we shall eat well tonight.”
She took no one with her on her fights except the birds. That was why, she believed, her people were so loyal to her. She protected them, fed them better than herself, and made sure there was plenty for them to trade and share for things that she did not provide for them.
The soil was rich and would give forth a bounty like no other gardens. Flowers, too, that were woven into pretty things and traded. There was a smithy, as well as a doctor who doubled as a dentist. They had even acquired a gravedigger, who also doubled as a man who made markers.
There was a single merchant that came by. His wagon, filled when he arrived, would be near empty when he left. He would bring the latest news with him, and any posts that he had been asked to bring. He would also, for a small coin, take out posts for the next time he was in the keep of a relative or friend.
And today, there was such a missive. But it was for her, from someone that she’d hoped never to hear from again—the king of all the land, the only man she answered to, though it wasn’t with any kind of happiness on her part.
After the others were settled down, the food that had been brought put into storage, she sat down and wasn’t surprised that the falcon came to see her. The room that she was in, the throne room for lack of a better term, had no roof and six perches for the birds when they wished to see her. Otherwise, they sat upon the top of the castle turrets, watching for anything that might befall them.
“I am to wed. The king of the land, he has decided that my castle is the best there is, and he will marry me himself.” She asked about his castle. “He says that it will be his son’s, which he has none of as yet. His last five wives only gave him daughters, from what I have heard, and they did not last long afterwards.”
The falcon asked her what she would do. Dante knew what would happen to her should he come here. He would kill her. Being in her fortieth summer, she was much too old to bear any children now, and he would be better with a younger bride. One that could birth him the sons he wanted.
“He will kill me; we both know that. And you six will kill him or be killed. I worry so much for the people here too.” She thought of several plans and threw them out. It was in her head that if she were to die, she would do so on her own terms. “I will need a day to think on this. In the meantime, he says that he will be here in the new year. That will give us a month to provide for the people and make sure they are not harmed.”
~*~
Dante worked as hard as the rest of her people. With her hair up in a rag, she didn’t look any different than any of the men and women that toiled with her. There was much to be done in the little time they’d been allotted. Today they were drying all the beef and goat meat they had. It would last them for several months, and where she was sending them for safety, they’d need that extra time. Long enough for them to breed more of their cattle and goats so there would always be food for them to eat.
“What of the dried herbs that are left, my lady? There are already barrels of it packed away for the trip. Shall we put them in bags to go?” She shook her head. “There are no more barrels until the morn. What shall we do?”
“Leave them. There is extraordinarily little, correct?” The man said that there wasn’t enough for a good strong stew. “Good. They will think you all died off from lack of planning, and that will keep you safe for a longer time. Leave it for them so that when the keep and castle are in ruin, the king will understand why.”
Not that anyone was going to be coming to the castle to live, she thought. Things were in motion that would ensure everything here was gone well before the lands were walked upon again.
She looked to the sky when a dark shadow fell over her. Her hawk was making her way to the village Dante had set up. Long ago, Dante had purchased the lands far from where she was now and put them in the name of Mercy Dante. She knew so much about all their futures that it made her so sad to know she’d never be there to see it happen.
“My lady?” She looked at her man of arms, a man who had extraordinarily little work to do but was brave and true to her. “We have plenty of things to go on the next load if you have a desire to send it on. Do you still wish for some of the armed men to go with them this time? I’m to understand that we’re to fell trees for homes.”
“Yes, that would be good. How many men can you spare today?” He told her all that she had. “Then send them on. I know some of you are frightened to ride the birds, but you should have no fear. They would no more harm you than they would me.” He nodded and looked at her hawk. “I shall send you all on her. She is the most gentle of the six of them.”
The carrier had been fashioned a week ago. It had