“You look worse than I feel.” Wolfric stepped out from behind a bookcase. He was dressed in a fur-lined robe of the finest blue velvet. “You have news?”
“A great deal, Majesty. Would it be alright if we sat and talked?”
“Of course and please, it’s just us here. I get enough of Your Majesty this and Your Majesty that from the servants and nobles. I need at least one person I can talk to like a normal human being.”
Otto slumped into an overstuffed leather chair and offered a silent prayer that he could stay awake long enough to deliver his report.
“We killed the Straken spy running the bandit groups in Shenk Barony,” Otto began. “Father’s hunting down the strays, and grain shipments should be safe to resume in a few days.”
“That is wonderful news. Everyone’s crying about how we’re all going to starve this winter.” Wolfric rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed. “I really don’t know how Father put up with them. Everyone has a complaint or, worse, a suggestion. Forgive me, continue please.”
“Hans and his men are heading south to find the next group. I’ll join them in a few days when they arrive. The wizards are shaping up, at least according to my former teacher who I’ve put in charge of their training. I’ll observe them myself tomorrow. With any luck we’ll have twenty or so to send north by the end of the week.”
Wolfric nodded and leaned back in his chair, seeming to finally relax a fraction. “They might not have much to do. According to the last report I got, after some initial resistance, the army hasn’t fought so much as a skirmish. By the way, your brother saved General Varchi from an assassin so not executing him turned out to be a good thing.”
Father wouldn’t have agreed but wasting a soldier as skilled as Axel was stupid. The war was going to be a long one and they’d need everyone they could get before it was over.
“That’s a relief.” Otto said.
“Captain Kelten hasn’t seen fit to trouble me again about Father’s assassination, but he’s still investigating.” Wolfric sighed. “Like a dog with a bone that one is.”
“I still say we should arrange an accident for him. The man’s more trouble than he’s worth.”
“No, there’ll be too many questions if Kelten dies while investigating a suspicious death. We’ll just have to be patient. He’ll hit a dead end soon enough and that will be that.”
Otto dearly hoped his friend was right. Even though he had his doubts, he was too exhausted to argue about it now. If there was a problem, they’d deal with it when they had to. Otto was finding he had a knack for solving problems.
Chapter 24
Axel crouched in the forest across from the fort that he used to call home. Even though noon had just passed, the air was chilly. Their window for war, especially as they went further north, was closing. He figured a month at most before they had to hunker down until spring.
All around the fort, blackened spots dotted the ground where Otto’s lightning had scorched the earth. It would be a wonder if anything ever grew there again. He shivered and not because of the cold. Otto had always been a joke to him and Stephan, a runt to push around. Axel pitied anyone that tried to push him around now. They were liable to end up fried.
He put his younger brother out of his mind and focused on his job. The Northern Army had been marching steadily for a week and would catch up to his scouts in a day or two. Every day Axel expected to encounter enemy forces and every day he was surprised to find their path undefended.
Now they were back to where it all began, at least for Axel and his men. The fort was the closest thing he had to a home after leaving Shenk Barony and fleeing had been a bitter decision.
Unavoidable, but still, bitter.
“I don’t see any movement,” Cobb said.
Axel had dispatched his troops to check the other forts and right now it was just him, Cobb, and a single squad spying on their old home. Prudence said they should wait for General Varchi and the rest before approaching the fort, but everything he’d seen argued that they were alone out here.
Hell with it.
Axel stood. “Let’s go take a peek.”
He looked at Cobb, but his second didn’t argue. That probably should have worried him. Instead the small group stepped out into the killing field.
No archers stood up on the battlements. Infantry didn’t pour out of the open gate. The clearing stayed as quiet as it was before they broke cover.
Encouraged and confused, Axel led the way across the field. His hand never strayed more than an inch from the hilt of his sword. Not that they had any hope of defeating even a small garrison, but if he ran into the enemy, Axel planned to take as many of them with him as possible.
The yard was empty and the keep door open. Axel pointed at two of his men then made a circling gesture around the keep.
They nodded and hurried off to check the rear of the building.
Axel led the rest inside. The dining hall was empty, the kitchen stripped of food, and the armory sacked. The enemy had definitely been here, but what he couldn’t figure was why they didn’t either occupy the fort or burn it down. The upstairs was much the same. The Straken soldiers hadn’t even bothered with Braddock’s military books, though they did drink his emergency stash of whiskey. Pity, Axel could have used a drink just then.
“What now?” Cobb asked when they finished checking the last room.
“Now we wait for the other squads to report and the main body of the army to catch up. If the rest of the forts are empty, we should have a smooth path to the border. Once we cross into Straken, all bets are off.”
“You think they’ll just let us cross the border without a fight?” Cobb asked.
“Looks that way. Remember, it’s not a few hundred scouts they have to stop this time, it’s three legions of the finest soldiers on the continent. I don’t know Straken’s full strength, but I doubt they sent fifteen thousand men into Garenland. I’d guess half that at most. It would have been plenty if the army hadn’t mobilized, but now…”
Cobb knew as well as Axel that the Northern Army would roll over any lesser force and Uther had to know it as well. The Straken king must have been counting on old King Von Garen being unwilling to fight it out. Having Wolfric in charge changed everything.
“Commander Shenk!” one of the soldiers called from outside, panic in his voice.
Axel and Cobb shared a look. He knew it had been going too smoothly.
They ran outside and found a trembling rookie whose name Axel couldn’t recall waiting outside. He was one of the two that had gone to search the rear of the keep. That he was alone wasn’t a good sign.
“Where’s your partner?” Axel asked.
“Dead, sir. The man in black came out of nowhere and cut his throat. Next thing I knew he had his sword at my throat and I couldn’t move.”
“If he had you,” Cobb said. “Why are you still breathing?”
“Because he said he wanted me to give the commander a message. He said you cost him his kill and you were going to pay for it. Unless you want all your men to die in your place, you have to face him in single combat, a duel.”
“Who did you piss off this time?” Cobb asked.
Axel could only think of one person. “It’s got to be the assassin that tried to kill General Varchi. He’s the only person I’ve saved. But who ever heard of an assassin challenging someone to a duel? That’s the kind of thing a knight might do, but an assassin would just put an arrow in me and be done with it. When does he want to fight me?”
“In fifteen minutes at the main gate. He said if you refuse, he’ll hunt down every scout you send and bring you their heads.”
“You’re not actually considering fighting the madman, are you?” Cobb asked.
“Of course I am. No more of my people will die in my place. Once we get started, take the men up to the battlements and break out your bows. Win or lose, the son of a bitch doesn’t walk away from here. Clear?”
Cobb nodded. �
�Good luck, Lord Shenk.”
Axel drew his sword and walked toward the gate.
Chapter 25
Just outside the gate Axel found himself face to face with a young man, who couldn’t have been more than a year or two older than Otto, dressed in all-black leather armor. He held a pair of curved shortswords that were the signature of the Straken rangers. His brown hair was cropped close to his skull.
“I expected someone older,” Axel said.
“You’re not the first to say that,” the assassin said. “I had the general dead to rights. Thanks to your interference I was ordered back to Marduke. I may even face a rebuke from the king.”
“You were ordered back yet here you are, many miles from the Straken capital.”
“Yes, I couldn’t return with nothing to show for my efforts. Even if I can’t kill the old man, your head will be a small consolation.”
Axel raised his sword to high guard. “If you had a bow and I didn’t know you were coming, I might be worried, but one on one, in a fair fight, I like my chances.”
“I have heard that before as well.” The assassin crouched and lunged toward Axel.
Axel stepped back and slashed down, turning aside a blow aimed for his chest.
Steel clashed as Axel used every trick Graves had taught him to avoid getting his guts spilled. The assassin might be young, but he was well trained. The curved blades moved so fast they looked more like flashes of light than swords.
The initial rush left Axel panting but uninjured. He’d fought plenty of rangers over the years, but never one this good. It was no surprise that he’d been sent to kill General Varchi.
He managed two deep breaths before the assassin came barreling in again.
Axel spun away from a double low thrust and countered with a heavy overhead chop.
The assassin leapt and rolled away.
With his opponent finally on the defensive, Axel pressed ahead, trying to use his heavier blade to overpower his opponent.
Try though he might, the assassin was every bit as good on defense as he was on offense. The twin blade twirled and spun, turning aside Axel’s every cut and thrust.
Come on, Cobb. His second had to be nearly in position.
No sooner had he thought it than a crash sounded from inside the fort.
The assassin did a back flip and spun to face him. “It seems your men found the battlement I weakened. I will not be interfered with again.”
So much for plan A. Axel just wished he had a plan B.
His opponent wasn’t going to give him time to come up with one.
The man in black charged again, even stronger this time.
Axel turned aside one blade, but the second screeched across his mail coat. It didn’t penetrate, but the weight of the blow staggered Axel back.
He caught himself and lashed out with a two-handed slash.
The heavy blow sent the assassin reeling.
Axel kept going.
Defense wasn’t going to save him now.
He either overwhelmed his opponent or he died.
And Axel didn’t plan to die.
Two-handed blow after heavy two-handed blow rained down on the assassin, forcing him back.
One of his curved blades shattered and went flying.
Axel’s shoulders screamed for a rest. He ignored the discomfort and pushed on. It was now or never.
He thrust at the assassin’s chest.
And missed.
The younger man twisted out of the way, flexing his spine in a way spines weren’t meant to bend.
Axel stumbled and fell to his knees. The instant he hit he dove and rolled.
When he came to his feet, the assassin was there, already inside his guard.
The curved blade arced up toward his neck.
There was nothing Axel could do, not at this range.
A fraction of a second before the blade would have struck home, the assassin shuddered and collapsed. An arrow stuck out of his back.
Axel followed it back to the source and found Colten at the edge of the woods, a bow in his hand. He let out a long sigh. That had been far too close.
Then he remembered Cobb and the others. Axel waved Colten and his group over.
“You should be ten miles east by now,” Axel said as he led them toward the fort. “Not that I’m complaining.”
“We were making good time,” Colten said. “But about three miles out we cut a trail headed this way, reasonably fresh too. Just one set of prints and faint ones at that. I thought it might be the assassin and rushed back to warn you. If it turned out to be nothing, I figured a few hours more or less wouldn’t matter, but if it was important…”
“It was a good call. Now we need to dig Cobb and the others out.”
Just inside the gate, an eight-foot section of battlement had collapsed. Arms and legs jutted out here and there amid the broken timbers. A few muffled groans escaped the mess. At least everything visible was moving. Hopefully there was nothing more than bumps and bruises.
Everyone teamed up to toss timbers off the trapped soldiers. The first two had bloody but shallow gashes on their scalps. Number three could barely stand or focus, he must have knocked his head extra hard, but a few days’ rest should see him recovered.
When they finally found Cobb, he came up cursing and snarling. That more than anything assured Axel that he’d be fine.
Cobb finally stopped for a breath and Axel asked. “You okay?”
“Can’t believe I fell for such an amateur trap. The damn thing was creaking like a hundred-year-old man’s knees and I still led the guys across. How could I have been so stupid?”
“Forget about it, Cobb. Everyone survived and that’s what matters. Better yet the assassin’s dead so General Varchi won’t have to worry about taking a stray arrow.”
“You beat him?” Cobb asked.
“No, I lost, but Colten came back in time to pull my fat out of the fire. Speaking of which…” Axel turned to find Colten helping the last man out of the rubble. “Lieutenant, I think we’re good here if you want to get back on the trail.”
Colten saluted, rounded up his men, and took off. He was a good man. Soon enough he’d probably have Axel’s job. Though it would be a waste of his talent to have him out of the forest.
“What now?” Cobb asked. He seemed no worse for having half a ton of logs fall on him. Probably because his head was so hard.
“Now we get everyone to the barracks, button up the gate, and wait for General Varchi to arrive. I can safely say that I’ve had enough for today.”
“I’ll second that,” Cobb said.
No argument from Cobb for the second time that day. Maybe he’d hit his head harder than Axel thought.
Chapter 26
The signal indicating Hans and his squad had arrived in Grunewald reached Otto an hour after lunch and since he had no meeting scheduled for the afternoon he’d gone at once. Otto emerged from the ether in a small room surrounded by Hans and his squad. There was only a foot of space between him and the bed on one side and him and the wall on the other.
When he told Hans to find an open space to place the enchanted coin, he meant bigger than this. Still, he’d squeezed in without materializing in something solid and nothing else mattered.
He bent and picked up the coin. The rune still glowed strong and bright in his magical vision. Sending someone to run an errand then joining them when they arrived was far easier than wasting a week on the road. Speaking of which, the first batch of war wizards should be setting out tomorrow morning to join the Northern Army. Otto had selected three squad leaders and gifted them a mithril apprentice ring. They’d swelled so with pride he feared they might burst. If they knew the real reason he gave them the rings was to keep their power under control, they probably would have been less excited.
“Lord Shenk,” Hans said. “We did a little preliminary scouting before calling you. Grunewald is an interesting town.”
“The way you say that, Sergeant,
makes me think it’s not interesting in a good way.”
“That depends on your point of view. There’s no law here, not really. There’s no town watch, mayor, or other noble overseeing things, and everyone goes around armed. I haven’t seen any kids and the women aren’t exactly ladies.”
Otto scratched his chin. “How far are we from the Rolan border?”
“Maybe a day’s ride on a good horse,” Hans said.
The Rolan border wasn’t really marked. At some point the plains on the Garenland side turned into Rolan as you went south and west. There’d been a few squabbles over the border over the years, but not many. There really wasn’t much out here to make a fight worthwhile. The grazing was fair and there were wild horses that could be caught and tamed, but that was about it. Otto had learned next to nothing about this part of Garenland and now he was regretting his tutor’s lack of instruction. Hell, he didn’t even know which noble ruled this part of the kingdom.
“Did you pass any fortifications on your way south?” Otto asked.
“There was a walled town about thirty miles north,” Hans said. “But that’s all I remember. What are you thinking, my lord?”
“I’m thinking that focusing all our attention to the north has emboldened our other neighbors. I suspect Rolan has taken a bite out of our southern province, whether they’ve done so with the complicity of the local lord or not remains to be seen.”
“And the spy we’re hunting?”
“I assumed it would be someone from Straken, but now I’m wondering if our friend the tinker carried messages to other members of the conspiracy. So many questions and so few answers. Well, that’s why we’re here. The first matter of business is to figure out who runs this town. Because someone does, you can be sure of that.”
“How will we find them?” Hans asked.
Otto grinned. “Simple, we’ll ask. I assume this place has a common room?”
“Yes, though it wasn’t terribly busy when we arrived a few minutes ago.”
The Great Northern War (The Portal Wars Saga Book 2) Page 13