The Saga of Nowy Poland
Book 4:
The Wizards of Nowy Warsaw

By Invid Fan
(c)2014

Chapter 4

	Liuz whittled as men chopped.
	The sound of metal biting into wood filled the air. So, too, grunts, curses, mixed with yelled commands and subdued conversation. Liuz watched, conscious once more of his immaturity. Burly soldiers with bare chests and arms swung large axes into large trees. More distant, the earthen ditch and berm which was to hold all that was left of the Polish people began to take shape. All around him, men worked hard to prepare for the arrival of their countrymen.
	Liuz and his sister whittled.
	He looked at the pile of stakes beside them. It was stupid. There was no way enough could be made, at least not just by them, to surround the entire encampment. Nor did he think they'd add all that much protection. It was busy work.
	"NOW can we build that stake making machine?" Kasia asked. Liuz chuckled as he glanced at her. She sat cross-legged on the grass, dress bunched up a bit but not exposing her indecently. Not that she was old enough to have anything worth covering.
	"Too much work," he said. "I am regretting not saving the ones from before."
	"There was no place to put them," she grumbled, knife moving swiftly. "I asked."
	"Nothing to do but keep at it."
	Having said that, Liuz glanced towards the river. It was wide. Far wider than the Warta. Slow moving, though. They'd have that advantage at least when trying to bridge it. His eyes moved to a group of men sitting on logs in a circle. Tymon was among them, his almost bald head shining in the sunlight. Using a long, pointed stick, he drew something in the dirt. Another man picked up some sticks which seemed to have been lashed together, rotating it in his hands.
	He returned his attention to the job at hand. It did no good wishing he was over there. They knew what they were doing, he didn't.
	Still...

****

	Kasia watched another pair of wagons come through the newly installed gate.
	Exactly how all this was organized eluded her. They had arrived only two hours after breaking camp, leaving open the question of why they hadn't just pushed on and come here last night. Then, more soldiers and wagons had been arriving with no real pattern. You'd hear some shouts, and boom, more armed men to dig and cut trees. She suspected this would be the last one for the day. The sun was getting low, the cooking fires coming up. Others on the road would be making camp.
	Raising her arms, she stretched her fingers. They hurt. Her hands weren't blistering, Thank Mary, but only because the last couple days had toughened them. The feel of Dad's hands came to her, his large fingers both rough yet worn smooth. She felt her left hand. Not the same.
	"I think I'm done for the day." Her brother dropped his knife to the ground, tossing one last stake into the pile. Kasia had considered herself finished for the last ten minutes. She was a hard worker, but there were limits. Especially with something as stupid as this. Were pointed wooden sticks really enough to stop a hulking soldier? Well, maybe if you're an evil Elf. Wooden slivers might be their greatest enemy. Perhaps one reason the stone walls of Nowy Kiev hadn't stopped them.
	"If we have to do this again tomorrow," she said, groaning, "I'm going to just swim across that river. It's stupid."
	"I know." Liuz let himself fall back onto the grass. She did the same, straightening her legs. A moment later, she raised herself a bit to arrange her dress. Too many men around to be showing things that should be hidden.
	"Jesus above," a voice said behind them, "how many stakes did you make?"
	"All of them," Kasia groaned. She rolled away from Liuz onto her stomach, looking up. Tymon was looking down on them, expression seemingly impressed. He shook his head.
	"I didn't think we gave you that much wood!"
	"We got more," Liuz said, sitting up. He rotated his shoulders. "Is it enough?"
	"For you two, more than enough."
	"Good," Kasia said. She, too, maneuvered herself into a sitting position, hands keeping her dress appropriately placed. "I'm ready to eat, then sleep."
	"Aren't we all," Tymon chuckled. "Come on."
	They stood and followed. Kasia noticed the looks they got were half friendly, half confused. The latter were probably newcomers, not yet familiar with the two kids. Well, that wasn't her problem. She did note where they were in the camp, vowing to stay away from them if possible. Roda's words about the dangers of all these men still resonated with her. She may not be a woman, but she WAS the only female.
	The group Tymon led them to was mostly soldiers. Armor discarded, most wore just stained shirts and pants. On seeing her approach, the few who had been topless quickly covered themselves. Kasia immediately felt more comfortable.
	"Men," Tymon said, "This is Liuz and his sister Kasia. They'll be helping with the bridge tomorrow."
	There were murmured greetings. Liuz plopped himself on an empty log, Kasia taking the space beside him. Her brother accepted two mugs from one of the soldiers, looking up at Tymon.
	"The bridge starts tomorrow?"
	Tymon nodded as Kasia took her drink from Liuz.
	"We have enough workers to work on the wall, trees, and bridge at once, and enough logs to start. We have two days to get this finished before the column and the King get here."
	The King. The King would be using something she had helped build. Not even knowing anything about their new sovereign, she felt a shiver go through her. Liuz leaned forward, mug cupped between his knees.
	"What will we be doing?"
	Tymon pulled a piece of wood from a pouch on his belt. He handed it to her brother.
	"This. Bigger, naturally." Kasia leaned over. It was half a log, two notches cut out of the rounded side at either end. "It's the deck of the bridge. We're just cutting the logs in half and putting them on top, with notches to hold them in place. We'll need enough for the entire length. You'll be measuring where to put the notches. They have to be uniform."
	"Are you notching the bottom piece to match?" Liuz asked, rotating the wood in his hand. Tymon shook his head.
	"No time. We're burning the bridge as soon as we're across, so we can't waste effort making things perfect. We're just cutting one long notch in the support beams, letting the pressure of the planks on either side hold them in place."
	Kasia nodded. That made sense. Taking the model plank from her brother, she ran her hands over it.
	"We can do this."

****

	"How the hell do we do this?"
	Liuz chuckled at his sister's question. It was a good one. There obviously was a slow way to mark the half logs now being piled beside the siblings. What had to be discovered was if there was an easier method.
	"We can't measure from each side," he said, starting by stating the obvious. Father had taught him that: Start with the obvious, and see if anyone disagrees. If they do, you can save a lot of time and effort by discovering that before you've done anything. "The logs aren't all even. It's the distance between the two notches that has to be constant."
	"Hmm." Kasia dropped down onto one knee. The log before them had been flipped over, flat side against the ground. She placed her hand about six inches from the end. "So, if we mark it here..." Using his marking tool, Liuz scored the log. Kasia measured the width needed, Liuz again marking where needed. The two paused.
	"Make a template?" he suggested. Kasia nodded.
	"One the size of the notch." Grabbing the measuring string, she had him hold the end flush with the mark while she stretched it out along the log. The planks were to be at least twelve feet long. He saw her frown once the string was taut.
	"Problem?"
	"Yeah. Lots of extra room on this end. We need to center things more."
	"How?"
	"A twelve foot long template?"
	Their eyes met, Liuz seeing Kasia realizing the brilliance of her idea even as he did. He stood, smiling.
	"Let's do it!"

****

	The half hour spent building and perfecting their marking guide was more than made up for by the speed they were able to plow through the planks. Liuz held the long branch in place, while Kasia adjusted its position and made the marks. By mid-day, they moved on to helping chisel out the notches, although given their lack of strength it was mostly make-work as they waited for more logs to be split.
	Taking a break, Kasia took in the entire building process. Felled trees were turned into logs of various standard sizes. The logs were pulled to where they were needed, notched, positioned, and lashed. Where all the rope had come from, she had no idea. Someone had been thinking ahead. One raft was already in the water, its crew poling it across the river. Several small boats, canoes really, helped keep it from drifting downstream.
	"What are they doing?" she asked. A man near her spoke.
	"They're extending the bridge out from both banks to meet in the middle. Plus, the soldiers will stay over there to fortify that side."
	Huh. She wouldn't have thought of that. Her attention was caught by another raft entering the water, this one with three horses on it, men holding tight to their reins. She'd hate to have that job.
	"Kasia."
	Liuz's voice brought her back to the job at hand. More planks were now piled near them. Time to measure.

****

	"I need a bath."
	Liuz looked at his sister, eyebrow raised. There was no disagreeing with her statement. Her skin was as smudged with dirt as her dress was stained. He saw wood chips in her hair, his own probably similarly tangled. Still, one did not state the obvious to a girl.
	"You're still pretty."
	She stuck her tongue out at him, the men around them laughing. They seemed to be sitting closer to the kids than the night before, whether to include them in their group or for some other reason he wasn't sure. The man on Kasia's right seemed to be a little too close, his sister pressing against Liuz as if to create more space. He subtly shifted over to give her more room.
	The stew that night was thick, with hunks of beef. He had seen at least one cow slaughtered, possibly too injured to continue the trip. Whatever the cause, he wished the same fate on a few more animals before the next day's meal. He liked meat.
	"You two are good workers," a soldier across from him said, speaking across the small fire of wood scraps. "I wish my kids put in that much effort."
	Liuz resisted the temptation to ask about them. Such topics were not good, with families everywhere divided. The black curly-haired Estek laughed, stroking his beard.
	"Hell, I wish my wife worked that hard!"
	This got a laugh out of all the adults, women obviously a rich source of humor. He just smiled.
	"Are we going to be able to finish tomorrow?" Kasia asked. Her dirty face now had a ring of stew around her mouth.
	"Definitely," Tymon answered. "Hell, we may even have it done by noon."

****

	Kasia watched, horrified, as the bridge segment floated down the river.
	"Damn it all! Secure those lines!" She did not hear panic in the shouted commands, for all she was panicking on the shore. There was a calmness, as if such disasters were a daily occurrence. Which, for a military officer, was probably the case. The head Engineer was strolling down the western half of the bridge, calmly giving orders. The men who had abandoned the now lost segment were being fished out of the water. One was swimming to shore. She recognized the balding head of Tymon. Without thinking, Kasia ran to the river's edge.
	"Tymon!"
	Soldiers passed by her, entering the water. Meeting Tymon in the waist deep current, they half dragged, half carried him to shore. She knelt down as they gently let him down onto the ground.
	"I'm fine," he coughed, waving away assistance. Her hand, he took, smiling as he squeezed it. "Really, I'm OK." He began to sit up, Kasia helping. "Stupid ropes."
	"What happened?" Borys asked. He grimaced.
	"Rope snapped, and I couldn't hold onto my line." He looked at his hands. Kasia saw red marks running across his palm. "Not too bad of a burn. Everyone get back to shore?"
	"Think so." Borys turned towards the bridge. "LOSE ANYONE?"
	"IF YOU HAVE TYMON, THEN NO."
	"Good." Tymon stood, Kasia's arm going around his waist. He smiled at her, untangling himself from her arm. "I'm fine, Kasia. Don't worry."
	"I'm not worried." Whirling, she ran back towards her brother.

****

	It was done.
	Liuz stood on shore, watching as a dozen soldiers in full armor marched across. He had never felt so... satisfied. Helping his father finish some project around the home had been one thing, but this, this... Liuz had built something important. Something that would help others. Help the King! It was the pride of doing the job of a man.
	And woman. Kasia slipped her arm around his waist.
	"Think it will fall apart?"
	"Not the decking." He looked down at her grinning face as Hussars rode by, slowing as they made their way up the ramp onto the bridge. "We did good. Dad would be proud."
	"I know." She gave him a hug.
	Shouts came from behind them. Turning in place, taking his sister with him, Liuz looked back towards the distant gate. Wagons were entering. Not just wagons, but people. People walking slowly, heads bowed. Liuz touched Kasia's head.
	"Column's here."
	She turned in his arms, following his gaze. It felt nice holding her. Kasia had not been one for hugs, and might not be in the future. For now, he enjoyed the change.
	"That's good timing."
	Finding a convenient spot, they sat and watched the influx of civilians. Someone important seemed to be directing them, sending wagons to various parts of the camp. Colored flags had been set up, designating gathering areas. People stood around, wondering what to do.
	"The military is different, isn't it," Kasia said. She immediately shrugged. "I mean, obviously, but... I like the order."
	"That's just knowing what you're doing. Tymon and his friends are like that, and they aren't military."
	"I like him." Liuz grinned down at his sister. Her voice was so serious.
	"Me too."
	"Maybe you can work for him."
	He shrugged.
	"He may not need us. I'm not even sure what he'll be doing after this."
	"After this..."
	He nodded at her unspoken words. What the world would be like after this was unknowable.
	"LIUZ!"
	His head jerked up. Three people were coming towards them, one walking strangely. He stood, Kasia rising beside him. Her arm stayed around him.
	"It's Roda!" She said, surprised. He blinked. Sure enough, it was the brown haired girl, still using the crutch. So, too, her mother and younger brother were beside him. He thought for a moment, hating his trouble with names. Urszuli. That was the short stocky woman's name. Urszuli. He mentally said it a few times as they approached. He still had no recollection of the boy's name.
	"Liuz!" Urszuli grabbed him, hugging tightly, largish breasts pressed into his chest. He saw Roda roll her eyes, her brother just ignoring them both. Rafal. That was his name. Rafal's attention was on the bridge, and the cleanup work still being done.
	"You made it," Liuz said, unsure if he should try and free himself or keep enduring the attack. As if sensing his discomfort, Urszuli stepped back, releasing him. Her face seemed to be red.
	"We didn't know if we'd ever see you again," she said. Liuz wasn't sure why they would care. They had only walked together for a couple days.
	"How's your ankle, Roda?" Kasia asked. Liuz looked down. It seemed to be wrapped up tightly, the girl holding her foot up off the ground. Roda shook her head.
	"I tried walking on it the other day and think I made it worse. A woman bandaged it up for me." She looked at Liuz. "The crutch still works. Thank you."
	"Anytime," he shrugged.
	"So!" Tymon's voice came from behind him, "Who is this?"
	The expression on Urszuli's face shifted so swiftly Liuz wasn't sure what he was seeing. He turned to follow her gaze. Tymon was walking up to them, damp shirt clinging to his muscled body. He held a wooden mallet in his right hand. Seemingly instantly, Urszuli was beside Liuz. He shrugged.
	"They're people we met on the road. This is Urszuli, and her two children Roda and Rafal."
	"And this is Tymon," Kasia added. Her voice seemed amused.
	"A pleasure to meet you," Urszuli said, curtsying as best she could in her disheveled outfit. Tymon seemed to spend a moment just looking at her. He bowed his head.
	"The pleasure is mine." He held out his hand. She raised her own, her slim fingers seeming to vanish in his light grip. "Will you be meeting with other family here?"
	"I an a widow," Urszuli said. Her tone was similar to that she had used when first telling Liuz that information. Unlike then, it seemed to mean something to Tymon.
	"I am sorry." He bowed his head slightly. "I, too, have been a year without my wife."
	"My condolences," she said, voice soft. "It is hard to be alone."
	"Agreed." He released her hand, almost reluctantly. "How do you know these two?"
	Liuz had already told him, and knew the man's memory was better than this. What did it matter?
	"We were unprepared for the journey," Urszuli said, placing her hand on Liuz's arm, "our home being near the western wall. These two children gave us water, made a crutch for Roda." So, now Liuz was a child to her. As willfully ignorant of these things as Liuz usually was, the looks the two were giving each other could not be ignored. He felt himself wanting to give one of Roda's eye rolls.
	"They are good people," Tymon agreed. After a moment's pause, he held out his arm. "There is still some warm drink over the fire." She placed her hand on his arm
	"That sounds wonderful."
	As the four preteens watched, the two adults wandered away.

****

	"At least Mother's going after men, now."
	Kasia glanced at Roda as the four sat on the bank of the Orlan. She wasn't sure how she felt about all this. First, she DID consider her brother a man, but knew what Roda meant so tried not to take offense. She was also relieved the woman wasn't looking at Liuz as husband material. On the OTHER hand, Kasia found herself feeling jealous. Tymon was... well, he belonged to her. She didn't want to marry him, no, but...
	"She actually slapped a wagon driver," Rafal said, sitting beside his sister. "That was a bad day. If Hussars hadn't been passing by..."
	"They moved us up to another wagon group," Roda said. "That helped." She lifted her bare foot out of the water, ankle wrap still dry.
	"We've been building," Liuz said, shrugging. "Sort of payment for getting to ride in a wagon."
	"Better than the payment that was asked of me," Roda muttered.
	Kasia was about to ask for details when she heard a commotion. All four heads turned towards the end of the bridge as two riders approached.
	They were as different as night and day. Literally. On a black horse rode a woman with brown skin. Brown. Skin of brown. Not tan, no. Skin as brown as the skin of Elves was green. She couldn't be Polish. Also, she wore armor, a sword belted to her side. Such a creature Kasia had never seen.
	The rider beside her... Kasia felt her breath catch in her throat. He was a young man, clothing plain but clean. Short black curly hair. He sat straight in the saddle, bearing one of...
	She saw two officers bow as the man dismounted.
	Oh, God. He was the King.
	She strained to hear as the two soldiers discussed the bridge with the King and the alien woman. The woman's arms were crossed over her chest, even as the King seemed calm, composed. After what seemed like an eternity, the two walked back into the camp, Royal Guards at their side.
	She had seen the King.

****

To be continued

****

Edited by Packrat

Tech advice by Ivan

****

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