Page 67 of Keeper of the Word

“I’ve no doubt,” Tolvar said, ignoring the glares that morphed onto the faces of Greenwood’s men.

Walkingthrough Greenwood’s camp back to the Askella camp felt like a parade. The news of Tolvar accosting Greenwood’s son had unfurled faster than a sail in a strong wind.

Tolvar was accustomed to being gawked at, loathe it though he may. He wasn’t quite so familiar with disgusted glares thrown his way, although, in the past four years, he certainly was not impervious to them.

What would Sir Bernwald say?

When Tolvar and Gus arrived at their camp, he was glad to be halted like any outsider trying to enter, although his men went redas they realized they’d detained their earl. Their embarrassment gave Tolvar hope that the news had yet to breach his camp.

“Where is Sir Bernwald?” Tolvar asked, waving off their apologies.

“Meeting with the scouts who’ve just returned, m’lord.”

Tolvar nodded and found Bernwald sitting at a makeshift table fashioned from a slab of wood across two barrels. At first, his lips upturned, wondering what Greenwood and Turas would say. War wasn’t a time for luxury. Tolvar pictured the contrasting camps, flaunting opulence. They were both immersed in this.

And he supposed that after today, insulting both earls, he better find a way out of this. Tolvar searched for a sign from Sir Bernwald that the news of Greenwood’s son had reached his ears, but he gave none. He was intent in his conversation, so Tolvar stood behind one of the scouts and listened.

“We tracked the Jora River to the problem point, sir, and you were right. The issue is coming from across the Anscom border, but the problem appears not to be man-made. ’Tis?—”

“What problem with the river?” Tolvar interrupted.

Sir Bernwald glanced up from the place on the map the scout had his index finger on. “The Jora River’s current began to slow yesterday afternoon. This morning, there was a noticeable difference, and it has not improved all day. But the slow of the spring runoff shouldn’t be making the river levelthislow. Like during the time of the Prodigal Moon.”

Tolvar lifted an eyebrow.And that certainly wouldn’t happen overnight.

“What have you found?” Tolvar asked the scout.

“’Tis difficult to explain, m’lord, but surrounding the problem point in the river appears to be sunken earth.”

“Sunken earth?”

“Aye. And trailing away from that location resembles a crack in the earth.”

Tolvar heard Elanna’s voice: “I have Seen…cracks.” But they were hundreds of leagues from Asalle.

“Show me.”

When Tolvar, Sir Bernwald, and the scouts arrived at the place, a small clearing in the trees covered with mossy undergrowth, they found a group of Anscom soldiers crouched, examining the spot. Immediately, the soldiers went on guard, standing and drawing their swords.

Tolvar held up a hand and kept his sword at his side. “Peace. We come in peace. We are here for the same reason as you.”

Anscom’s men shared a few glances and words in low tones before nodding and sheathing their weapons.

Tolvar crouched and ran his hand over the ground. As described, there was a two-arm’s length circular divot in the earth at the river’s edge. While a sinkhole in the earth may have spilled the water off course and flooded this area in other circumstances, a crack in the ground that stretched from pinky to thumb was at the divot’s center, and river water drained into it. The crack then stretched from here to a few dozen feet away, growing smaller as it led away.

Tolvar peered up at Anscom’s men. “How did you discover this? This shouldn’t be affecting your water supply.”

“There is a second phenomenon similar to this closer to camp, m’lord,” one spoke. “This is nearly identical to the other.”

Odd that Turas had not mentioned it. Especially after babbling about the North Forest.

“Mayhap it flooded earlier this spring, and it made the ground soft,” someone suggested.

A few nodded.

Tolvar was unaware if his border guard navigated here. There was no Askella village in the direct vicinity. He gave Bernwald a questioning look.

Bernwald shook his head. “I received no word of flooding this spring, m’lord, but I will follow up with my Lessio guard. Can your lord speak to flooding?” he asked the Anscom guard.