It was good food, too; she actually remembered he didn’t like pickled flavors nearly as much as Saleria did, for the seasonings were sweet and spicy rather than sweet and sour. Just thinking about the absent Keeper made Aradin wish the Convocation were over, so that she could take everyone to task for imprisoning him. He didn’t have much time to mope, however. Nannan had more than delivering dinner on her mind, and she gave a piece of it to everyone within hearing range.
Today, that included four guards, Aradin, herself, and an older man who had drunk himself into disorderly conduct and had been hauled here to sleep it off, before working it off with some sort of compulsory service in the morning. Picking garbage off the streets, from the sound of it.
“Well. That fool, Deacon Shanno, seems to think he can handle the wildest beasts of the Grove, but let me tell you, he was in very sorry straits when he came in through the gate earlier! Torn and scratched and bleeding and covered in leaves and stains. Let me tell you, he looked like he’d been in a fight with a cross between a blackberry bush and a cat, and come out the lesser for it.” She shook her head. “I have no idea what all that boy thinks he can manage, but the Grove is not one of them—if there weren’t stout wardings etched into the very stones of the Keeper’s house, why, I’d be afraid for my life, and I’ve been telling everyone exactly so, all afternoon long!”
Wait, why would she . . . ? Ohhh, clever girl, Aradin thought to himself. He merely nodded and used the spoon she had brought to dig into the first dish, vegetables and greens that had been cooked, chilled, then drizzled in honey and mustard for flavor. The stout stone walls of the city prison kept out most of the day’s heat, but it was still warm down here, and the chilled dish tasted good.
Teral picked up on his meaning. (Clever, indeed. She’s also probably spreading word that Shanno cannot manage the Grove, along with word of the Convocation and the Keeper’s presence at it, and our presence here, and how we’re meant to tend the Grove at Saleria’s expressed wishes. If we let the Grove mutations crawl over the walls . . . they’ll wreak havoc in the city, and throw all sympathy for Shanno’s self-professed declarations of competency right out the nearest window.)
(If we let the mutations crawl over the wall, the town will be in danger,) Aradin reminded his Guide, frowning. Out loud, he pitched his voice just loud enough to carry to the guards outside the cell without seeming too obvious about it. “What about the wards on the Grove wall? Is he tending to those? Has he been pruning back the more volatile plants?”
Nannan snorted. “I doubt it. More like they have been trying to prune him. Aradin—as a Hortimancer—how much danger is Groveham in?”
“With Keeper Saleria gone off to represent Katan at the Convocation of Gods and Man, and myself as the only other person authorized, powerful enough, and knowledgeable about what the Grove mutations can do . . .” He dropped his already low voice into a grim bass warning. “It will not be good, Nannan. And though I am here in Groveham, as you can see they have locked me up. I am helpless to stop the coming wave of unmanaged, untamed mutations.”
“Wait a moment . . . how can you talk? I thought we slapped a silencing spell on you!” one of the guards exclaimed. He pushed to his feet and stalked over to Aradin’s cell, glaring at the Witch through the bars.
“Obviously, the will of the Gods allows me to speak,” Aradin retorted dryly. He returned to addressing the housekeeper, knowing the other guards were listening. “The Grove is nothing to mess with. I don’t know what this young deacon thinks he can do to control and contain it, when he hasn’t even spent a single hour following Keeper Saleria around, never mind the month-plus it took me to train under her—and I, a mage-priest of twice his experience.”
From the way Nannan was now smiling at him, her back thankfully to the guards, he had chosen right to play along. Though “play” wasn’t the right word for it, since Aradin meant every word.
“Now, do not make his mistake. Do not go into the Grove yourself, and if you see anything untoward around the house, either run for the guard so they can fetch me to deal with it, or lock yourself inside, behind the many wards laid on that place,” he cautioned her.
“At least I have a safe haven from the beast-bushes,” Nannan told him. “What about the rest of the city?”
“If you know any mages, even those with only a little bit of power, have them go from house to house warding all the doors and windows. That won’t stop the beast-bushes from roaming the streets, but it should give the people a safe place to hide. I’d fix the problem more directly, but all I can do is extend my apologies for anyone who comes to harm over this mess,” Aradin sighed, shrugging expressively. “I have been cast into prison simply because a certain, foolish young man envies my position and covets what he thinks are its privileges, without comprehending its many duties, responsibilities, and pains in the posterior. Deacon Shanno’s presumption and arrogance will cause this city to suffer. Not anything I would do . . . since what I was doing was everything needed to keep this city safe.”