Exploitable Weaknesses by Brian Keller (red queen free ebook txt) 📗

interested in the gold. In fact, no one even looked at the coins lying in the dust. Loryn leaned forward, “I think I speak for all of us when I ask… what do you need us to do?” The others nodded their assent. Cooper smiled, “We need to refine the plans and make preparations. The rest of you already know, but I'll explain again for Rukle's benefit. Our plan has several overlapping stages, which all culminate with a jailbreak of epic proportions.” Rukle seemed to choke for a moment but recovered his composure. He managed to gasp, “Well, you have my attention.”

Cooper knelt down and gathered some of the coins. “First thing tomorrow morning, we have some basic errands to run.” He held out a stack of five coins to Gaff, “Take one of the others with you. We’ll need provisions. Nothing fancy. Bread, meat, cheese, water, maybe some wine. Some herbs and spices and preserved vegetables to make stew.” Gaff gestured towards Spen, who acknowledged, “Yep.” Cooper turned to Rukle, “You already know what you need to do.” Rukle replied with a single nod. Cooper turned to Loryn, “You know Dailen, right?” Loryn nodded and Cooper continued, “Rukle will tell you where he is. Go find him and bring him back here. Tell him that I’ve requested his presence, and I’ll come retrieve him myself if need be.” He turned to face the remaining two journeymen, “Naro and Balat, guard the camp tomorrow. If anyone comes here that you don’t recognize, put an arrow into them.” Loryn asked, “What about you?” Cooper smiled, “Second only to Rukle’s task, I’ve kept the hardest part for myself. I’ve got to go and inform Birt that he’s being promoted.”

Chapter 5

Cooper had rolled up in his furs and blanket and fallen asleep quickly. Although the ground was an unforgiving bed, his sleeping mat absorbed the worst of it. He was awakened well before dawn. Loryn shook him awake, “Cooper. Wake up. It’s your turn.” He poked his head out from under his fur hood, “My turn? My turn for what?” Loryn stood above him, “Rukle said ‘with a fire this big, someone may come investigate’ so we’re taking two hour shifts on watch. We left yours til last.” Cooper wasn’t pleased with being awakened for a shift on watch but he was grateful for two things: getting the last shift, and the warmth of the fire. He doubted anyone would see any glow of the fire that might escape beyond the walls; and for any that might, it would be unlikely that their curiosity would exceed their fear of the Ruins.

He occupied himself by visualizing his upcoming conversation with Birt. He felt confident that Birt would be happy to hear of plans to rebuild, but wouldn’t likely be willing to accept the job that Cooper needed him to do. By the time that the eastern sky had started to turn grey, Cooper thought he had his script figured out. It was time to wake the rest of them. He would insist that everyone stretch and practice for at least an hour before eating. He needed them to become conditioned to fighting at any hour. Fighting when first awakened seemed like a good place to start. Responses to this ideas were mixed, but at least Loryn took to it with enthusiasm.

While eating some of their diminishing bread and meat Cooper spoke to Loryn, “When you talk to Dailen, just get him to follow you back here. Don’t give him directions.” Loryn was chewing a mouthful of food but her raised eyebrow told him that she wanted more clarification. Cooper explained, “If you come right out and say that we’re camped out in the Ruins, it might affect his eagerness to join us. And we need him.” Loryn swallowed and replied, “We all know how to work metal.” Cooper shrugged, “Yes, and when you figure in the nails and fittings we’ll need for the construction ahead, we’ll all certainly catch our fair share of sparks, but everyone else here will have other work to do. Besides, we need someone dedicated to constructing the forge and doing the weapon crafting. With any luck, he’ll also step up and oversee much of the construction efforts… but let’s not hit him with all of that right up front, eh?” Loryn scoffed, “You don’t think I know that?”

Cooper spent the next couple hours inspecting several of the nearby structures. The walls that were still standing were built to last. He didn’t know enough about construction and masonry to guess what it would take to restore the buildings to functional form. Furthermore, he wasn’t even sure who he should approach about it. Stone masons and carpenters often worked hand in hand, but as he understood it, they seldom worked as partners. He would need to ask around, but he’d need to identify projects outside the Ruins as a way to assess who to hire for the real rebuild work. Finding work for carpenters would be easy. A few repairs and improvements on several of the Houses would always be welcomed. Identifying stone work projects would be a different matter.

He looked skyward to try and estimate the height of the sun. The overcast sky made it difficult to be accurate but he knew it was mid-morning and that was close enough. Most everyone with jobs were well into their day. The only patrons in the bars and inns at this hour were the ones truly dedicated to maintaining their inebriated state. Now might be the best time to drop in on Birt.

Cooper went back to the camp site. Rukle, Loryn, Gaff and Spen had already left to work on the tasks he’d assigned. He pulled his wolf skin coat out of his pack for added protection against the wind, clipped his sword and scabbard to his belt, and gave Naro and Balat a brief wave as he left.

As he