Revelyn: 1st Chronicles - When the last arrow falls by Chris Ward

was struck by the change in the population. Usually the Lowlanders were friendly enough if they did not know you were from the Upthrust, and even then it was only the rudest who would say anything to your face. But on this trip Rema found it hard to get into conversation with anyone who had no need to. Windows in villages were shut and almost everyone seemed to avoid contact with each other. Fear hung in the air. There was evidence of fire and burnt buildings in almost every hamlet, and the farms looked tired and unproductive. On such rich plains Rema thought it all most unusual. And he had noticed more soldiers and mounted guards all riding black horses with much yelling and general intimidation. He himself was struck by an oafish guard who took some exception to the way Rema had looked at him. He still ached from the boot to his ribs and a gloved fist to the jaw.
    In an inn on the road just north of Ramos he had fallen into conversation with an intelligent man who claimed to be on the run, having been accused unjustly of theft and other crimes. He had said that there was trouble brewing for all but would not give more details. He was nervous and left quickly pulling a hood low over his face.
    Rema had found Serenna after two days in Ramos . Her directions were not clear and the city had changed so much since he had last visited many years before; his search for his troublesome cousin was full of a growing anxiety. There was something greatly wrong in Ramos which sat on the mighty Luminos River. The King had by decree co-joined his title with this mighty river by way of boosting his importance. Lord Petros Luminos, it was a name feared by all.  The king had tried to change the name of the city to Petros, but such was the outcry and the drop in trade that in a fury he had to leave it by its known name and instead by decree, changed the name of a port town on the eastern coast to Petros. Not a few had died in the uprising that this had caused. But he had prevailed, and the name was now Petros on pain of death.
    The Luminos River was almost three leagues wide where Ramos sat on its northern bank and the water traffic was constant and confused. The city lay almost a hundred leagues from the sea but the river was navigable all the way to Ramos, and well beyond . It was unusual in that the prevailing winds allowed the biggest of sailing ships, carefully managed to sail right up to the city and the current was always strong enough to take them back again once their business was completed.
     
    Rema had been beaten and robbed twice within a day of arriving in Ramos ; he was not seriously injured and he only lost a small amount of money, being able to escape on both occasions by a combination of wit and swift running through narrow alleys. By the time he found Serenna, having slept rough one night under a bridge with a group of drunken sailors who had no ship that would take them, he wondered why anyone would ever want to live in such a lawless place.
    Serenna lived in a sombre but rich looking timber and stone house not far from the wharves. She opened the door to his knock, and was overwhelmed to see him. He remembered her first words.
    ‘Oh Rema, you’ve come, I knew you would, come in, quickly,’ she was crying immediately but he noticed that she took a moment to look quickly up and down the narrow street to see if anyone had noticed her visitor. It seemed not, but she was wrong. Rema had been spotted; in fact he now realised that he had walked right into a trap.
    They had talked awkwardly at first. Rema was cool and unsure of his temperamental friend, whilst she was keenly aware that she had acted unwisely in leaving her community so hastily, and was unsure how to repair the hurt.
    Rema was introduced later that evening to her husband Jycob whom he thought a strange character, almost soft and too polite; he’d had a vision of a huge hulking brute of a man, but this was not the case. However, later that evening he overheard a