by Jackson Lear
Loken’s eyes were a thousand miles away. “Sort of.”
“That’s what’s happening on the roof right now. They’re scaring individual members and enchanting them with a ghost from their past, someone who should make them feel guilty. They’ll pick out the more sympathetic of the vanguard, let their minds wander, and tomorrow it will start again. When that happens, someone from here is going to start apologizing. And from there it’s going to be a slippery slope to the first act of betrayal. Once they start it’s easier to keep going than to double back and make amends.”
“How do we stop it from happening?”
“We break out. Right now. Grab Alysia, grab the crew, and make a run for the ship. Enough people have been up to the roof by now. They’ve seen the layout of the castle and know how to get anyone who’s left inside. From there we find a way to the shore, jump on a boat, and get the hell out of here.”
Saskia and Lindum scrambled away from the door. “They’re coming. The bear, cubs, Leif, and Odalis.”
The door thumped. Swung open. The bear strode inside, his chest puffed out, his six-foot ax swinging loosely in his grip. He picked out three members of the vanguard along the left hand side of the wall and ushered them towards the door.
Loken stepped forward, his hand dropping past his waist as he expected his sword to still be there. “What’s going on?”
The bear spun, snapping his ax towards Loken’s face.
“You can’t take them without telling me what you’re going to do with them,” said Loken, stepping forward again.
The mages all around us flexed their hands, readying a set of spells that would obliterate the bear where he stood.
The bear grunted a command. Odalis was pushed inside, his arms laden with wooden bowls and spoons. Leif followed, also struggling to hold onto the bowls and spoons in his hands.
The bear swung his ax at the three members of the vanguard, signaling for them to exit. The vanguard glanced back to Loken for the order. The bear snapped, striking the wall with the back of his ax and barking, “NOW!” in his native tongue. The threesome jumped, cowered. The first shuffled outside. The rest followed.
Wulf flexed his fingers. “Sir?”
“Easy.”
The bear returned to the courtyard. The two cubs stepped inside, carrying a large iron pot between them, the contents sloshing from side to side. My stomach churned at the smell. They set it down beside the fire pit and held a ladle out to Adalyn, who had the fortune of being the closest. The next lot of cubs carefully lowered our packs against the wall. No weapons and no magic pouches, but at least we had most of our things back. The cubs left. The door was closed after them.
People settled. Loken went to his troops. “How are you?”
A round of ‘fine’ and a quick debrief of their time on the roof.
Odalis wandered over, fighting off a shiver. “They said we can have some food.”
Adalyn peered into the iron pot. Scooped out some of the cold sludge. Lifted the contents to her nose. Had to swallow some of her own sick as a result. “What is it?”
“Soup,” said Odalis, in something of a relieved attitude.
Well, thank the gods we didn’t have to drink our own piss to stay alive.
Adalyn turned away. “I’ve had soup before, but this …”
“Sea snails. You’ve never tried them?”
Adalyn’s eyes were practically watering with an emphatic ‘no’.
“I mean, they’re better fried than boiled. Boiled, they kinda mush out. They’re big bastards as well, like a foot long. Good on an open fire but they do tend to shrivel when you do that.”
Half of the soldiers – likely the ones from Gerera like Odalis – collected bowls and waited for the soup to heat up. The rest of us regretted ever setting foot in the north.
I sidled up to Loken and Leif. “I didn’t see you two up on the roof.”
“They took Odalis and me away first, sir.” One of Loken’s eyes narrowed at Leif using ‘sir’ to address me. Leif didn’t seem to notice. “They tossed us around on the roof and were about to push us off, then the big hefty guy took us away and locked us in separate rooms.”
“You were on your own?”
“Yes sir. For maybe half an hour.”
“Any sign of the vampire?”
“He was there on the roof. Then he came down with us. He didn’t come into my room and I don’t know what he was doing.”
“Which room were you locked in?”
“The top floor. Four doors away from the stairs to the roof.”
Loken clapped Leif gently on the back. “Thank you, Leif. Go get some food.”
Leif nodded and slipped away.
“What do you think?” Loken asked me.
“I assume you heard my conversation with Elizandria?”
“I did.”
“Then I think we should leave before they separate us some more. What are your orders from General Kasera?”
Loken eyed me carefully. I was half expecting him to say, ‘To kill you before we return to Syuss,’ but it never came. “He said, ‘Alysia needs this to go well.’ He was clear that this was a private operation, not military. Get in. Do the job. Get out.”
“But the job has gone to shit, hasn’t it?”
“Not until Miss Kasera says so.” Loken excused himself to encourage everyone to eat some soup, regardless of how it tasted. I wanted to return to Kel’s picture and Día’s letter but I didn’t dare. Most of the mages could read and some would help me out but I didn’t want to tempt fate with Desdola looking in, not until I was safely out of Brilskeep and on my way to safety.
Annoyingly, Alysia had been right. I wasn’t given much of a choice in training Lavarta’s cohort to fight vampires but I did have the option of at least visiting Kasera’s villa before I headed up north. Somehow the idea of freezing my balls off all night while running through drills and exercises in the snow with soldiers I had wanted to avoid my whole life was a more satisfying prospect than making small talk with two fourteen year olds who apparently hadn’t stopped talking about me for a year.
Saskia and Lindum both held a hand up quickly, bringing the whole room to silence. Both shifted in the same direction, tracking the same target. Saskia jolted back. Lindum did not. With a flash of a signal Lindum retracted his listening wire and both stuffed their enchanted items into their sleeves.
We waited. Whatever was supposed to come our way passed without incident. Saskia and Lindum looked to each other, concerned. Both removed their enchanted eavesdroppers and fished them back through the gap in the door.
“What was it?” whispered Loken.
“The vampire,” said Saskia. “He left the castle with someone by his side. They were both wearing packs, riding leathers, and weapons.”
“Did they say anything?”
Lindum answered. “The human said, ‘I’ll ready the others.’”
“How big were their packs?”
“Light, but their stores might be located elsewhere on the castle grounds.”
Loken trod across the room with Lindum, stopping beside Helga. “Anything?”
She held up a hand, calling for silence. We waited for an eternity as Helga slumped with a, ‘I can’t hear anything’ before perking up again with a, ‘wait …’
She held the listening piece out to Lindum, giving them a chance to share the news. Both shifted at the same time, straining to listen in from several hundred yards away.
“Four of them rode off,” said Helga.
“There was a new name,” said Lindum. “Another lord, this one of Everstil, I think. That’s their destination.”
“The vampire was in charge.”
“And he was riding with three humans.”
“Which direction did they go?” asked Loken.
“They went through the west gate.”
Loken glanced over to me. Grimaced at the massacre which could be in our immediate future. I got some energy back into my arms and legs a
nd worked through a kink that had been forming in my neck.
Odalis was the first to notice. “Sir?”
All eyes turned to the ceiling. One of the larger murder holes slid open. Either we were about to all die or that was Elizandria’s signal for me to end Alysia’s chances for a peaceful resolution.
Chapter Twelve
Everyone retreated to the edges of the room while staring up at the open murder hole.
“Infantry and cavalry cover the door,” whispered Loken. “Saskia? I need you to look up there.”
Saskia sent Loken a bewildered look, one of ‘are you out of your mind?’ Loken waved her over anyway. Grumbling, Saskia tread forward, threading her spying wire upwards as she moved into position. With one end raised to her eye she started to pivot, moving in a circle to get a full view of what was going on. She jolted to a stop, something catching her attention.
“It’s the blue-eyed woman.”
I walked over. So did Loken. He held his hand out to Saskia. She gave him the spying wire. He took a look. Soured immediately. Turned to me. “I can’t let you leave.”
“My orders are different to yours.”
“I was the one who gave you your orders.”
I turned to Haraj and Diomiro – two of the closest guys. “I need a boost.”
“Wait,” snapped Loken. “You are here to support Miss Kasera. She has not authorized this. If she’s not here then your orders come from me and I do not authorize this.”
“I told you about the coming massacre.”
“Told to you by a mercenary queen who is no doubt trying to lead you into a trap that will get us all killed.”
“Possibly. Do you find it strange that of all the people Alysia requested to see it was me and not you? Or me and not Zara?”
He knotted his eyes together. “You have no proof that you actually saw her.”
“General Kasera sent you to guarantee that everything went right. He sent me in case everything went wrong. Didn’t he?”
Silence followed. Tempers flared. A battle raged within each and every soldier as an outsider was getting away with bossing their lieutenant around – an outsider who had barely any contact with the general they served.
I held my hand out to Saskia’s spying wire. “May I borrow that?”
Saskia’s attention darted to Loken. He remained fixed upon me, seething, wishing he had a sword, manacles, or enough grog in my gut to make me pass out so that I was no longer a burden to his sense of duty.
I pried the spying wire from Saskia’s hand. She didn’t resist. I returned to Haraj and Diomiro. “I need a boost. You on his shoulders, me on top.”
They too looked to Loken. He remained silent, one eye twitching at the insolence being flaunted in his face.
Haraj squatted down. Diomiro shimmied onto Haraj’s shoulders. Haraj raised himself up. Now came the part where I was likely to fall and crack my skull open on the hard stone floor. With more effort spent than I cared to admit I used two more members of the infantry to climb up Haraj’s and then Diomiro’s backs, perched with my feet balancing on Diomiro’s shoulders with his hands clenched around my ankles. I was more afraid of the uneven wobbling from this than being thrown off the castle’s edge. At least up there I had time to cast a spell to soften my blow.
My finger tips brushed the rim of the murder hole. “I need another couple of inches.”
Diomiro lengthened is spine. Haraj did the same. Then things shook me wildly off balance as Haraj attempted to lift us all up onto his tiptoes.
I swung. Grabbed on right when Haraj lost his balance. He stumbled back. Diomiro lost his grip of me as Haraj dropped himself down. A couple of the archers managed to break Diomiro’s fall but I was left up there, one hand on the left side of the murder hole, my other on the right hand side, dangling freely.
“Help.”
Haraj and Diomiro got back into position. This time Diomiro was able to push my feet up, giving me enough height for me to climb onto the roof of our dungeon. I stared back at the gaggle of soldiers trapped behind. “Be prepared for a quick exit. No half measures. Get to Alysia first, then to the ship.”
Behind me, two yards up, was Elizandria and Ilmar of Elridge. Both were standing near an open window. Elizandria held one finger across her lips to silence me, checked the guard situation at the front of the dungeon, and nudged Ilmar. Ilmar stuck his arm out, hand open, ready to catch me. He was six feet away. I was a twenty five foot fall off the dungeon if I missed. No time to second guess things now. I leaped – grabbed onto Ilmar’s non-broken wrist and slammed my feet into the side of the castle wall. He grimaced, regained his balanced, and hauled me inside. I landed, stumbling on top of him, and clapped him on his shoulder.
“Well done.”
“Fuck you.”
I looked to Elizandria. “Thanks.”
“Sorry for the delay. I couldn’t risk getting you out while the vampires were still here but we don’t have much time left.” It seemed as though her faith in me might have softened in the interim hours. “I need you to promise me something. Whatever goes down tonight, you leave my people alone.”
“I will attack anyone who attacks me.”
“Even so: leave my people alone. You know what Kaymor looks like, so focus on him and his ilk if you have to kill someone.”
“Kaymor was on the roof? Looks like a bear, commands the cubs, and wields a stupidly large ax?”
“That’s him. Can you find Miss Kasera Lavarta again?”
“Probably. Who’s the Lord of Everstil?”
Elizandria arched an eyebrow at me. “How do you know about him?”
“I sat down with him half an hour ago and had a heart-to-heart. Who is he and where is he?”
She shifted into a reluctant whisper. “One of Razoz’s underlings. He keeps watch over the ice bridge fifteen miles west of here.”
“Is there anything special about him?”
“I don’t know, but the bridge links two of the noble lands.”
“Two nobles who were here earlier?”
“Yes.”
“Are they still here now?”
She ran through her mental checklist. “No.”
“And each of these nobles have troops with them?”
Then, it clicked. “They have horses. Butchered horses mostly but the ones who still live …”
“Are faster and stronger than regular horses?”
“That’s what I’ve heard. The Lord of Everstil has been poisoning his prisoners for years, twisting them into blooded-slaves. He’s supposed to have been doing it to horses as well, using vampire blood to feed them. It makes them dependent on the vampires, a constant drug that makes the horses bigger and faster. Without it they go into … I don’t remember the word.”
“Withdrawal.”
She nodded. “Like a drinker without a drink. They become useless.”
“So Razoz is going to get his cavalry. Where are they going?”
“If I had to guess? They’ve probably been told to bring Agnarr’s head back to Draegor.”
“Right. Where are my friends being held?”
Elizandria strained her eyes. “You already know where Miss Kasera Lavarta is.”
“The rest of the troops you had up on the roof. They didn’t return to the dungeons with me. Where are they?”
“I don’t know.”
“Take a guess.”
“High up, near the roof.”
“Are they all together?”
“I don’t know.”
“What about our gear?”
She tried to map it out as best she could. “There’s a narrow corridor at the back of the great hall. The cubs – as you call them – took your swords and bows through there. I believe there is a curved staircase heading towards the cellar.”
I held my hand out to Ilmar. “Your dagger, please.”
His whole face contorted, revolted at the suggestion. “No.”
“Then how about your sword?”
; Elizandria dug a dagger and its sheath out from her boot. “Here. You need to hurry.”
“Do you have any keys to the rooms I’m about to break into?”
She pulled out a metallic rod and handle wrapped in some thick fabric. “This is the best I could do on such short notice.”
I half expected her to burst out laughing. She didn’t. “A chisel?”
“It’s sharp.”
“I can’t exactly hurry my way through a door with a chisel.”
“Then you better get lucky and find someone carrying a set of keys.”
I tucked the stupid thing into my jacket. “Is there anything else you can help me with? Number of guards? Directions? What to avoid? A guide, even.”
She thought it over for a minute, the burden drawing her features together. “The safest way out is east of here. Head along the coast. Ten miles from Brilskeep is a river. It’ll look narrow but at high tide it doubles in size. A few miles up the river is a village. They have a couple of small boats. You should be able to surprise them and sail back to Orkust.”
“Thank you.”
“Good luck.”
“Yeah. I look forward to seeing Ilmar of Elridge sit on the throne as the next King of Vasslehün.”
Ilmar sneered at me, nursed his bandaged wrist, and drifted into the corridor. Elizandria slinked away as well, checking both sides of the unlit castle, and disappeared into the darkness. I turned Elizandria’s dagger over in my hand. A blade six inches long, half an inch wide. Small guard. Not ideal against foes used to swinging axes.
I mentally placed Zara and a select few prisoners of the vanguard upstairs near the roof. Alysia halfway between me and them. Our gear downstairs in the cellar. The rest of the vanguard outside behind a barricaded door. The sailors we came with in another building entirely. And a noble massacre that wasn’t far away. Most of that information was dependent on Elizandria telling me the truth. Her assistance could easily be at Draegor’s behest, giving him enough of an excuse to slaughter all of us southerners for breaking into or out of his castle, depending on how he spun it.