A Brother's Price

refuge.
    It figured.
    Ren laughed aloud as it occurred to her how typical the event was of Odelia’s life. “Odelia always had the luck of a cat. A countryside full of sheep-witted farmers, and she finds a veritable fortress to land in.”
    “I see you’ve stopped worrying about her.”
    “Currently she seems safer than me. That is, if these farmers weren’t part of stealing the cannons.”
    “Doubt it,” Raven said after considering it for a while. “Locals might have run the barge aground—sandbars change overnight—but they wouldn’t have left it there for us to find. The barge was left because it couldn’t be moved. What with the draft horses in the barn and twenty little sisters, this family could have pulled the barge free. Whoever is riding herd on those cannons, they’re scrambling right now.”
    “The attack on Odelia was a distraction.”
    “Most certainly,” Raven said. “A handful split off to keep us busy so the rest could deal with the cannons and small arms.”
    Ren cursed softly; they had been so close to catching the thieves. “Damn Odelia. Why’d she have to go off alone?”
    “She wouldn’t be Odelia if she had a lick of common sense.”
    “Riders!” came a call from a sentry. They turned and watched the troop of Queens Justice ride up. The leader was a graying, trim woman with a crooked nose. She blinked in surprise at the royal presence, then flashed a snaggletoothed grin at the princess and her captain.
    “Lieutenant Bounder, at your service, Highness. Heria Whistler came to fetch us, saying that a soldier had been left to drown in their creek. One of yours, I take it?”
    “My sister Princess Odelia.”
    Bounder blanched. “Mothers above, is she all right?”
    “She’s in there.” Ren waved toward the imposing farmhouse. “They wouldn’t let us in until you arrived.”
    Bounder laughed. “Sounds like them, making royalty stew like a neighboring farmer. Glad to see you had sense to wait for us. You have to cat-foot around the Whistlers.”
    “They’re trouble?” Raven asked.
    “Oh, not trouble, just dangerous to corner,” Bounder said. “At the local fairs, the Whistlers don’t start the trouble, but they always end it. No nonsense, just pow. and lay the other girls out flat. You’d think the farmers around here would learn, but every year it seems one of them has to be taught what it’s like to cross someone trained to fight.”
    “I didn’t know farmers were so quarrelsome.” Raven murmured.
    “It’s all on account of the men,” Bounder said.
    “Pardon?” Ren was sure she misheard. Men fighting?
    “The Whistlers’ menfolk.” Bounder grinned and clucked her tongue suggestively. “The Whistlers trot them out at social events and women fall over themselves to get near them. But the Whistlers don’t share them out, and sooner or later someone won’t take no as an answer.”
    Raven glanced uphill, eyes narrowed in speculation. “Their mothers are away and they’ve got men to protect.”
    Bounder nodded. “Like I said. I’m glad you waited.”
     
    With Queens Justice on hand, the rifles were put up, the windows unshuttered, the doors unlocked, and the visitors invited in to check on the sleeping princess.
    Inside, the house had the same military stamp: clean, neat, uncluttered, and orderly. The smell of roasting goose filled the house. There were only four teenage sisters; the rest were tiny, giggling girls that ducked shyly out of rooms and behind cover whenever looked at directly. Over the mantel, though, was an impressive array of medals. Death for Country. Queens Medal of Honor. Queen Elder Cross of Victory. Queens Order of Knights!
    Raven had paused with Ren to look at the medals, and aahed at the Order of Knights. “ Those Whistlers.”
    “You know of them?”
    “Aye. Famous, infamous Whistlers,” Raven murmured quietly, then glanced at a doorway, sending a giggling host of girls into hiding. The sister called Corelle reappeared to lead them upstairs. “I’ll explain later.”
    Ren sat on the edge of the bed. suddenly frightened for her sister over again. Odelia lay so still and pale on the farmer’s narrow bed, oblivious to Ren’s presence. When a hand on Odelia’s shoulder failed to wake her, fear and despair mounted in Ren’s chest. “Odelia?”
    Odelia sighed deeply. “Rats.”
    “Rats?” Ren blinked in surprise and relief.
    “I’ve been playing sick for hours hoping they’ll let him come back.” Odelia opened