The Executioner's Cane by Anne Brooke Read Free Book Online Page B

she did not have enough
stools for everyone. In her new role, no doubt she would be needing
more. She stored that fact away for acting on later.
    First it was evident more practical issues
needed to be attended to. She did not want to be cruel.
    “I have corn-broth and water to offer. Bread
and the remains of yesterday’s stew, although it will be cold.”
    “Please,” the Chair Maker spoke first, his
voice hoarse and spiky. As if he had either damaged it from overuse
or not spoken for a long time. “Your kindness is worth all the gods
and stars we know, Annyeke Hallsfoot, First Elder of
Gathandria.”
    Annyeke blinked at him. She had not expected
he would be the first one to acknowledge her presence, let alone
the role she carried. She had thought it would be the Mentor, the
ancient one. The honour should, by rights, have been his, but he
had ceded it to another. This puzzled her, but when she glanced at
him, his lined face gave nothing away. No doubt many, many things
would be different now. Still, she couldn’t help but mourn the loss
of the mind-circle’s power, which had once given her access to the
elders’ secret thoughts. Not to their reasoning though – that
discovery had been entirely hers. Well, hers and Talus’ of
course.
    She nodded her thanks for the Chair Maker’s
courtesy and busied herself ladling out the remains of the broth
and the stew for the hungry Gathandrians. They accepted it gladly
but in silence. She’d always thought the elders were a strange
grouping. She was sure if any of the remaining elders had been
women, they would not have acted in such a way. Still, she could
play this game also. So she waited until the food was gone and then
she spoke again.
    “There is much to be done,” she said, gazing
at her companions, one by one. “You will need to tell me about your
experience at the praying tree and on your journey back home. Our
people need to hear us speak as one. There have been too many lies
already. I did not set out to take on the role of First Elder when
these wars began, but I have done so because I care about our
survival and the survival of the lands under our care. And because
it is time for women to have a voice. Up to now, whilst there have
been women in the Council of Elders, none has been given the role
of First Elder. So, I must hear everything that has happened to
you, in the mind, and then the five of us will begin this great
task. Sadly, it is not one which will give us back the world we
knew. We cannot return there. No, our task is to create our world
anew and, this time, to make it truthful and good. There will be no
more tears or pain, as far as we can prevent either. Instead, we
will be honest about our plans, as a Council, and we will listen to
our people. This is my desire. I hope it can be our desire.”
    When Annyeke finished speaking, the four
elders gazed at each other and nodded. She heard their response in
the innermost depths of her mind.
    Yes. You are right. You are First Elder,
Annyeke Hallsfoot. So, let us tell you what we have found. Link
with us.
    She thought about their suggestion. The
mind-links between the elders were an ancient tradition. Part of
their privileges and their responsibilities, and their mystique. It
was the kind of link the Council had always kept hidden from their
fellow Gathandrians, whereas other links could be freely known
amongst the land if the parties to it were willing. This had been
where many things, in her view, had gone wrong. If the people of
this great city had known these same elders had planned all along
to let the mind-executioner go free, simply in order to bring the
Lost One, Simon Hartstongue, back to them and to usher in a new age
of peace as a result, would the actions taken have been very
different? Annyeke hoped so. She hoped the Gathandrian people had
enough compassion that if they had known what the elders were
planning, they would have prevented it. But, no, even this she
could not tell. No matter how