Chapter 19: Kicking Down the Door
On the seventh day after Water City began to rise, someone came to kick down the door.
Not Astrid. Not Silver Spring. A tribe from farther north. The Ice Wolf Clan. A hundred and fifty riders on tall horses, halted at the city gate. The one in front was a man half a head taller than Leon. A bone blade longer than a man rested on his shoulder. His name was Ulric.
Hagen stepped out from behind his salt stall, his face shifting. "Ulric. What's he doing here?"
Violet stood at the gate, watching the man. "You know him?"
"Biggest tribe in the North. He doesn't do business. He takes."
Ulric jumped off his horse. His bone blade slammed into the ground, spraying gravel. His eyes swept over Water City's walls. Stone piled on stone. Crooked. Unfinished. Then over the grain stall, the salt stall, the pelt stall at the gate. Finally his gaze landed on Violet.
"You're the woman who gives away water?"
"I am."
"Water City. Yours?"
"Mine."
Ulric smiled. Yellow teeth showed. "The best water in the North is in your hands. The best salt in the North is in your hands. The best pelts in the North are in your hands. The best iron in the North is in your hands."
He took a step forward.
"One woman alone can't swallow that much."
Leon's hand went to his blade. Gray Bone emerged from behind the wall, shovel in hand. Darryl's long blade left its sheath. Hagen stood behind his stall, fists clenched. Eve stood behind her pelt stall, fingers hooked on her bowstring.
Violet didn't move. "What do you want?"
"Your water. Your salt. Your pelts. Your iron. Half of everything. Give me half."
"Give you half. On what grounds?"
"On these grounds." Ulric pulled the bone blade from the earth and laid it back across his shoulder. Rust on the edge gleamed red in the sunlight, like dried blood.
"Your Water City has less than a hundred people. I have a hundred and fifty warriors. You give half, I leave. You don't give—"
He drove the blade into the ground. It sank half a foot deep.
"I take."
Gray Bone stepped forward. Leon blocked him.
Violet looked at Ulric. "You want half. Fine."
Everyone froze. Hagen's mouth fell open. Eve's fingers slipped off the bowstring. Gray Bone's shovel hung in midair.
"But I have conditions." Violet said.
Ulric's eyes narrowed. "What conditions?"
"Your tribe helps me guard the city."
"Guard the city?"
"Water City's goods, half to you. Water City's enemies, half to you. Whoever comes to take, you help me stop them."
Ulric stared at her. "You want me to be your man?"
"I want you to be my partner."
"Partner?"
"You help me guard the city. I give you grain, water, salt. Your tribe won't need to take anymore. You won't need to fight anymore. Your people won't die anymore."
Ulric fell silent. His hand rested on his blade hilt, fingers tapping one by one.
"You're lying to me."
"I lie to you, your blade is in your hand. You can cut me down anytime."
"You're not afraid I'll cut you down?"
"I am." Violet said. "But that doesn't stop me from doing business."
Ulric stared at her. A long time. Then he smiled. Not the cold smile from before. A real smile.
"You're interesting."
"I've been told."
"By who?"
"Many people."
Ulric pulled his bone blade from the ground and sheathed it across his back. He walked to the grain stall, picked up a bag, and weighed it in his hand. "So this is your grain?"
"Astrid's grain. Half the market price."
"And your water?"
Violet pointed toward the wells at the city's heart. Four wells. Water rising from the earth, gleaming in the sunlight.
Ulric walked over and looked down into the well. He scooped up a handful and drank. Water spilled from the corner of his mouth and dripped down his chin onto the stone.
"Sweet." He said.
He drank again. Then he plunged his whole arm into the well and let the cold soak through his sleeve.
"Your city. I'll guard it." He stood and shook the water from his hand. "Where do my hundred and fifty live?"
"East side of the city. Build your own houses."
"What do we eat?"
"The granary has food. Take what you need."
"How much can we take?"
"Enough to eat. No more."
Ulric stared at her. "Aren't you afraid I'll take too much?"
"You take too much, others have less. Others have less, your business shrinks. Your business shrinks, your grain shrinks."
Ulric looked at her. A long time. Then he turned and walked away, leading his people toward the east side of the city.
Gray Bone walked up beside Violet. "You're insane. He's a raider."
"He's the chieftain of the largest tribe in the North. He has a hundred and fifty warriors. He guards my city, Astrid won't dare turn on me. He guards my city, no one from the south dares come."
"He'll rob you too."
"He won't rob me now. Because he's realized robbing pays less than partnering."
Gray Bone stared at her. "How did you know he would agree?"
"Because when he drank that water, his hands were shaking. He was thirsty. His tribe is thirsty. They've been raiding for ten years and only got thirstier. He doesn't want to raid anymore. He just needed someone to tell him. He doesn't have to."
---
Night. By the fire.
Leon sat across from Violet, watching her draw maps. The full map of the North now included the Ice Wolf Clan's territory.
"You even mapped his land?"
"Doing business means knowing everyone's territory."
"Aren't you afraid he'll go back on his word tomorrow?"
"If he goes back on his word tomorrow, his tribe has no water. If he goes back the day after, his tribe has no grain. He can't afford to go back."
Leon looked at her. "When did you start planning this move?"
"Since the day Hagen first came asking for water. I knew there were others farther north. Farther than Hagen. Farther than Eve. Farther than everyone. They would get thirsty too."
"You've been waiting for them to come."
"I wasn't waiting. I knew they would come."
In the distance came the sound of stone striking stone. Ulric's people were building houses. A hundred and fifty people. Overnight, the east side of the city filled with rows of stone houses. Crooked. Uneven. But standing there.
Gray Bone walked over and sat by the fire. He looked toward the east side of the city.
"Will he behave?"
"No."
"Then why keep him?"
"He doesn't need to behave. He needs to know. Following me earns more than raiding me."
Gray Bone said nothing. He stood and walked away. After a few steps, he stopped.
"The east wall. Should we raise it higher?"
"Raise it higher."
"How high?"
"High enough that he knows. He can't climb over."
Gray Bone nodded and left.
---
Late night. Everyone was asleep.
Violet sat by the fire. The map lay spread before her. Her finger traced a circle around the Ice Wolf Clan's territory. The largest tribe in the North. The most land. The most people. The thirstiest.
Leon walked out of his tent and sat beside her. "Still not asleep?"
"Thinking."
"About what?"
"How to make sure Ulric doesn't go back on his word."
"Do you have a way?"
"Yes. Let his people get used to our water. Used to our grain. Used to our houses. In three months, if he tries to go back, his own people won't let him."
Leon stared at her. "You're feeding his soldiers."
"I'm feeding my soldiers."
Footsteps approached from the east side of the city. Ulric walked up and stood by the fire. He looked at Violet, then at the circle drawn around his territory on the map.
"You drew my land."
"I drew it."
"What for?"
"Business. Your land has ore. Copper ore. You've never mined it because you didn't know what it was."
Ulric's pupils tightened. "Copper ore?"
"South of your hunting grounds. That patch of red stone. That's not stone. That's copper ore. Dig it out. Smelt it into copper tools. Sell them to the south. Earns more than raiding."
Ulric crouched down and studied the point on the map. "How do you know this?"
"Read it in a book."
"What book?"
"A very thick book. You can't read. No point telling you."
The corner of Ulric's mouth twitched. "You're laughing at me."
"I'm teaching you."
She pulled a piece of hide from her coat and placed it before him. A single character was written on it. Copper.
"This is 'copper.' Once you learn it, whenever you see this character, you'll know it means your ore."
Ulric looked at the character. He picked up the charcoal and copied it onto the hide. Crooked. Uneven. But recognizable.
"Correct." Violet said.
Ulric wrote it again. Better this time.
"You learn faster than Gray Bone."
"Gray Bone is too stupid."
From the east side of the city, Gray Bone's voice carried over. "I heard that."
Ulric laughed. He stood and tucked the hide into his coat.
"Your city. I'll guard it. Your characters. I'll learn them. Your ore. I'll mine it. But what you promised me—"
"Grain. Water. Salt. Iron. Half."
"Half." Ulric looked at her. "You won't cheat me?"
"I won't cheat you."
"You cheat me, I'll cut you down."
"You cut me down, no one draws the ore locations for you."
Ulric stared at her. Then he turned and walked away. After a few steps, he stopped.
"Cecilia. Your city. What's its name?"
"Water City."
"A good name."
He walked into the dark.
Leon sat by the fire, watching Ulric's figure vanish. "You even calculated him into your plan."
"I calculated everyone."
"Including me?"
Violet turned her head and looked at Leon. The firelight danced in his amber slit pupils.
"You're not in my ledger."
"Then where am I?"
"You're on the city walls. You're beside the wells. You're at the granary gate. You're—" She paused. "You're in front of everyone."
Leon stared at her. A long time.
Then he reached out and pulled the coat tighter around her shoulders. His fingers brushed her neck, very light.
"Your hands are cold." He said.
"They're fine."
"Whenever you say fine, you're cold."
He didn't pull his hand back. His fingers rested on her neck, on the scar left by the Thorn Wolf's claw. The scab had fallen away. The new skin was pink.
"Does it still hurt?"
"It doesn't hurt anymore."
"How many more scars do you have?"
"I haven't counted."
"I'll count them for you."
Violet's heartbeat skipped once. Leon's fingers moved from her neck and took her hand. He pushed up her sleeve, revealing three scars on her forearm. Thorn marks, faded to white lines.
"Three."
He pulled her sleeve back down. Didn't continue.
"The rest. I'll count another time."
He stood and walked into his tent.
Violet sat by the fire, looking down at her hand. The three scars on her forearm. White lines, catching the firelight. Her hand no longer shook.
In the distance came the sound of stone striking stone from the east side of the city. Ulric's people were raising walls. Stone by stone, rising from the earth. Water City's walls, the eastern section now taller.
She pulled her coat tighter. Leon's coat. Warm.
---
End of Chapter Nineteen
Ulric came with a blade and left with a copper mine. The North's greatest raider became Water City's walls. Violet gave him grain and water. He gave her a hundred and fifty warriors. But partnership is more complicated than raiding. In the next chapter, the holes in the ledger will need filling.