The Chronicle of the Worthy Son

An Abrupt Exchange

Able had thought walking through the woods was difficult before he had tried it with a bag over his head and his hands bound behind his back. They'd left the bag loose enough that he could see a bit of his feet when he looked down his chest, so he could at least avoid most tripping hazards.

It was cold again today. Able had felt under-dressed at night and several times during the day as well, and if he was reading his brief glimpses of shadows right they were headed even further north. His time in the camp had acclimated him somewhat to the woods, so he could make some sense of time and direction so long as the sun was not cloaked in clouds.

The constant jangling of chains overwhelmed the usual birdsong and rustling leaves. It was the second day of walking in a line behind the prisoners while trying to not bother a Resistance member to steady him when he stumbled. This was his only task, so he recited to himself the names and stories he had been entrusted with during his stay at Brand Camp.

Sincere Burner lost his family and home in the war, found a new wife and home in Whitevale until his new employer could no longer afford to keep him on, and so he lost it all again. Kindness Lastlake came to Aimsby after her village to the west was burned to the ground only to be arrested for vagrancy after the war was over. She served her sentence, went to Neckthorpe looking for work, and was arrested again for vagrancy. Steadfast Buckler had been a carpenter in Kettlebrook when they conscripted him and his workshop for the purposes of the fort—or was that Righteous Highland? He's a carpenter too...

As he'd feared, the names and stories had started to run together in his mind. While unique in their own way, they all told the same sort of tale and all looked to end the same way. Even if he recalled them all, what value was there in honoring them in print? Was there more he could do?

Not right now with a bag over his head, of course, so memorization it was.

Journey Leftbough—referred to as "Stone"—called for a halt, so Able found a place to sit and rest. He realized as he collected his breath that the wind was picking up and the trees were louder. They could be at the field designated for the exchange, or near it. Raven Longfield had explained to him that the prisoners on each side would pass each other in the field. While there shouldn't be any trouble, the grass would be tall enough that he should be fine if he just ducked down in it until the skirmish was over. Able had neither her confidence nor indifference, but there was no use giving himself over to nerves, so he kept reciting in his mind.

A bucket of water was passed around for the prisoners, and another hour passed before they moved again. It seemed to Able that there were fewer footfalls over the next few hundred paces. After that, the shadows fell away, and the relieving warmth of sunlight spread across his back. Stone arranged the prisoners in a line, then walked down it removing their bags one by one.

Able was the first of these, and he blinked and looked around. As he suspected, only three Resistance members in full masks remained with him and the eight imprisoned enforcers. On the other side of the clearing from the huddled group appeared to be a dozen people in chains accompanied by another three in enforcer uniforms. After squinting awhile in the bright light, Able was pretty certain he recognized two of them as Sheriff Reeve and Senior Deputy Capstone.

Reeve held his arm aloft, which Stone then mirrored and said, "Okay, go ahead."

The line of enforcers were chained to each other, but they seemed to have that sorted out as they walked. Bound only with rope, Able followed along the path they stomped through the tall grass. He watched the Resistance members stagger by twenty paces or so away, gaunt and also chained one to another. Seeing them struggle to manage with their chains, Able supposed they had been carted over instead of walked...but he didn't see a cart.