by Jackson Lear
“How about you start with a handshake?”
“That would be nice.” We plodded along. “Wait, what do you mean Desdola’s getting there?”
“I mean she won’t do the killing herself but she hasn’t hesitated in sending vampire after vampire to kill us.”
We walked on. Jarmella slowly working through whatever was going on inside her head. “Wait, you’re coming with us, right?”
“To Ice Bridge, yeah.”
She stopped. Gripped my forearm. “And what happens after that? Are you going to dump us on a ship like you did with Miss Kasera Lavarta?”
Adalyn stopped beside us. “What’s going on?”
“Tell me,” said Jarmella.
So I did. “This ends with Desdola.”
Jarmella’s face dropped, awash with betrayal. “You can’t.”
“I’m going to.”
“No, you might be good but you won’t survive that alone.”
Odalis stopped as well. “What’s going on?”
Adalyn mumbled beside us. “Raike’s going on to Brilskeep without us.”
“And it’s suicide,” said Jarmella.
“I’ll go with him,” said Odalis.
“Me too,” said Elgrid. Where the hell he appeared from I have no idea.
“No,” I said. “Everyone here is still under Loken’s charge – unless he’s dead. I’m not.”
Several members of the vanguard stopped, searched Jarmella, waiting to see if she was going to arrest me, release me on my own, or command everyone to head into battle alongside me. “I can’t risk our lives to help you do this. It’ll be a slaughter.”
“I know. I will help you get to Ice Bridge but after that I’m going to have to find my own way back.”
“After everything we’ve just been through?”
“She’s a loose end.”
Jarmella pulled back, releasing my arm. “Is that really more important to you than all of us put together?”
All around me the hanging bodies of Día started to grin, goading me into going after her. “More than you know.”
Chapter Forty-Six
Leif returned with a hare. Small pickings for an hour of hunting. Even smaller since he wasn’t the only hunter. Some of the northerners stoked a fire while the rest of us remained too wired to be of any real use. Half of Agnarr’s people tore off some leaves. Munched them. The vanguard followed suit, hoping that it would fill their stomachs. Most of them shivered, unable to deal with the cold and hunger and lack of sleep all at once. Bellies rumbled. Humors died.
A minute ago most of the vanguard were still awake. Now they all had their eyes closed, leaning back to back or against a tree. No one was on guard. They had all let their attention slip. Most of the northerners were done as well. Only the fourteen year old Ithka and two guys stoking the fire seemed to be alive with energy.
The fire cracked, jolting Gaynun back to reality. He eased his grip on his sword and stared across the exhausted faces surrounding him. A couple more shook themselves awake, trying to not fall asleep while so close to the bottom of the mountain.
Jarmella helped me with Saskia’s stretcher. Set her down at the head of the crowd. “This way?”
The vampire snarled at us.
Menrihk held the seeing rod up to one eye. “I have no idea what she keeps pointing at but it’s definitely not towards Ice Bridge. It’s nothing but snow-covered mountain and trees.”
“She’s leading us into a trap,” said Jarmella.
Behind us Otario thumped Magnus in the arm.
“Hey!”
“Hey yourself.”
“Cut it out,” said Adalyn.
“He called me an asshole,” said Otario.
“No, I said you were acting like one.”
“Same fucking thing!”
Jarmella turned around. “Otario? Magnus? Pipe down.”
“Tell him that!”
“I’m telling you both.”
“I didn’t do anything!”
“Magnus! For fuck’s sake we’re not in the barracks anymore. Keep your voice down.”
Otario and Magnus seethed in silence, giving themselves a solid ten seconds before Magnus slapped Otario in the arm. “There. We’re even.”
“Magnus! What the fuck are you doing?”
“You said to keep your voice down!”
Jarmella stormed over, shaking visibly for everyone to see. “I’m cutting your rations. Both of you.”
“What?”
“I didn’t do anything!” said Otario.
“No? The both of you goaded each other into this. You two get zero rations until sundown. If anyone gives these two any food they too will face the same consequences.”
Silence settled among the troops as everyone glared at everyone else. Jarmella returned to the front of the pack. Saskia chuckled to herself from under her gag. “… erik … all alone because of you.”
Jarmella’s eyes glazed over.
“All alone …”
Until she snapped, slapping Saskia hard across the face before shrieking back in fright. Saskia had been ready for it, tried to bite Jarmella but missed. Jarmella froze, realizing just how close she came to making a stupid mistake, then turned, thumped into the trees, and disappeared from sight.
Torunn looked my way. “There’s more than just vampires out here.”
“Vanguard? Who’s next in line?”
They turned nervously to each other. “Odalis, sir.”
“Odalis? You’re in charge until we get back.”
“Okay,” he muttered. “Everyone on Saskia. Archers on watch.”
“Hey!”
“Well if you hadn’t have punched each other then we could’ve been a little fairer about this, but no. Archers on watch. Everyone else gets five minutes.”
I went to make sure Jarmella wasn’t about to do anything stupid. Found her squatting behind a tree. “You okay?”
“Shit! What?” She rose quickly, tucking her elbows in around her bare waist. I turned around. She resumed relieving herself. “Great. Right into my trousers …”
I heard her rummage around for some leaves.
“You could’ve announced yourself,” said Jarmella.
“Yeah, I’ve been told I’m quite light-footed.”
“No kidding. Scared me half to death.” She rose. Buckled up. Wiped her hands on the rough bark.
“Marking your territory?”
“Very funny. What are you doing here?”
“Checking up on you.”
She spread her arms out wide. “Well, here I am.”
“Good. Shall we head back to the rest of the troops?”
She sunk low in her stance. “Would you have come to check on Otario or Magnus if either of them had gone off to pee?”
“You’re the first to storm off alone.”
She held one hand against a tree, steadying her balance.
“You okay?”
“Dizzy.” She squatted back down to stop herself from falling over. By the time I helped her up her eyes had turned into a splotchy red, complete with an exhausted slow-blink. “I just want to sleep.”
“Me too.”
She propped her back against the trunk. “How do you do it? I mean, you were going to get a guide and climb a mountain with just the two of you, not stopping or resting. You were going to do it in two days after being stabbed in the heart – and I know you were pretty much healed straight away, but even so – was that just grandstanding or did you honestly believe you could do it?”
“At the time I believed I could do it.”
“And not only that but ambush a hundred riders to rescue Loken?”
“I wasn’t going to attack the riders by myself. I was going to see if Loken was still alive and still human, follow them to wherever they took him, and play it by ear from there.”
“So you really believe you could’ve done it?”
“Yeah.”
“Based on what, the size of your balls?”
She didn’t have the strength to even smile. “Thanks. You’re lying, but thanks.”
“It’s true. You landed ass-backwards into command and you rose to the challenge.”
“Really? I’m surprised no one told you. I’ve commanded before. It didn’t go well.”
“In the field?”
“Yeah. An eight man squad. It went so badly no one’s trusted me with that many people again in four years.”
“What happened?”
“They made fun of me and I couldn’t control them.”
“But now’s your moment. You’ve done well.”
She rested her head back against the tree. Closed her eyes. “We practiced for ages for this.”
“Yeah, it’s different staying up for three days straight in a training exercise compared to three days straight in enemy territory when they’re actively hunting you. But you’ve kept it together for this long without a mutiny.”
She rolled her eyes at me.
“I wasn’t being mutinous. Don’t beat yourself up for being human. That doesn’t do anyone any good.”
Jarmella dropped her chin to her chest, her attention drifting away and oblivious to everything around her. “We’re surrounded by enemies, starving and freezing to death, watching the people around us die slowly and horribly … how do you keep going without completely losing your shit?”
“You know that everything around us is temporary, right? Soon we won’t be cold. Soon we won’t be hungry. Soon we will be able to close our eyes and rest uninterrupted. With any luck it’ll be because we’re back at Commander Lavarta’s fort in front of a roaring fire, a boar on a spit, and a bed awaiting us.”
She fell into the quietest murmur I’d heard yet. “I think you should take over.”
“Nice try, but no. I’m not a soldier.”
“Neither are we. Not right now, at least. We’re not in uniform, we’re not authorized to do this, we are absent without leave from Erast and if caught we have no legal justification for anything we do up here. This is the clearest case of a phoenix operation I’ve ever seen. We’re de-facto mercenaries with an actual mercenary lieutenant who can guide us. You may not have given any of us explicit orders but we’ve been following your command for days. You’re our lieutenant. I’m your sergeant. I got everyone this far, but …” She trailed off, her eyes falling shut again.
I nudged her. She jolted awake. “We all have a better chance of surviving up here if we stick to the jobs we’re good at.”
“You’ve never led before?”
“I have, but the captain has to always stay behind and send the right person out to do the job. I don’t know your tactics and training as well as you lot. You need an insider. You can do this.” She gave me a feeble smile and didn’t believe a single word I said.
“You just don’t want to, is that it?”
My feet were killing me. My eyeballs stung with a blistering headache. My whole body was slick with nausea. Yet the idea of going home now disappointed me more than being stranded up here until the snow thawed. “How many officers are in Kasera’s army?”
Confusion rained over her. “I don’t know. There are four cohorts, each with a commander and six lieutenants plus the two hundred-strong vanguard itself which has its own … well, had its own lieutenant. Might still if we hurry. Why?”
“Do they each have the ear of the general?”
“Probably.”
“What would happen if I tell any of them to go fuck themselves?”
“Nothing good.”
“Exactly. They no doubt pride themselves on being officers in one of the finest armies in the world and see mercenaries as cold blooded killers, thugs, thieves, rapists, drunks, and degenerates. These officers have spent years earning their place in the world and the new guy with a reputation for stab first ask questions later comes in with no military training, no army experience, no consideration for their rules of engagement, and no respect for Ispar at all. He’s never taken the vows. He’s proven himself to be disloyal and reckless and the only reason he agreed to join the Kaseras was because he was broke. Do you know what happens to people who come in at the middle without paying their dues? Nothing good. In all likelihood I’m going to need to be taught some manners. Let’s spend five years out in gods know where not as an advisor but as a new recruit. Let’s give me a spear and a shield and threaten me with a beheading if I ever choose to leave or whip me if I tell a sixteen year old lieutenant that his plan won’t work because I’ve done this a dozen times before and he hasn’t.”
“I’d vouch for you.”
“Thank you but I don’t think you can overrule a commander’s instinct against hiring thugs. If I do the exact job the general wants me to then his officers will leave me alone. The more I step on their toes the more they band together and ruin my day.”
“Is that really why you’ve avoided going back to Erast?”
“I have a dozen reasons. All of them are valid.”
“So my offer of taking you around town and showing you how things have changed since you left the orphanage?”
“Appreciated, but probably won’t happen.”
We were interrupted by Menrihk bounding towards us. “Sirs! I think I found what Saskia was pointing us to! We have incoming enemies.”
Jarmella rose quickly. “Vampires?”
“No. I think it’s a northern army.”
She hurried over. “Where?”
“Down the side of the mountain about two miles away, coming right towards us.”
“Show me.”
Menrihk darted forward, finding a lip on the hill a hundred yards to the east, stopping at a fallen tree. He whipped the seeing rod up to his eye, took a moment to gather his bearings, then pointed forward. “There.”
Jarmella took the seeing rod. Needed a moment to find what Menrihk had seen. “Shit. They really are coming right for us.”
“I don’t think they know we’re here,” said Menrihk.
“That bitch sent us into a trap.” Jarmella looked back to the vanguard behind us “We’re going to have to run for it.”
“They’re going to find our tracks in the snow.”
Jarmella held the seeing rod out to me. “Unless you have a better idea?”
It was doubtful. I peered down the side of the mountain, through a thicket of trees and shrubs laced with snow and ice dripping onto the ground. I soon found four dozen warriors heaving their way up the mountain. All were armed with a mix of swords, axes, bows, and shields. Most were in mismatched clothing carrying a lot of heavy gear with them.
A patch of colored clothing crossed my line of sight. I re-angled the seeing rod to hone in whoever was out there. And for the first time since reaching this icy wasteland I broke into an uncontrolled laugh. Even had to wipe a tear from my eye.
“What the hell’s so funny?”
“Because it’s more than just a trap.” I handed the seeing rod back to Jarmella. “I know who betrayed us. And why.”
Chapter Forty-Seven
Jarmella held the seeing rod towards the narrow ridge dead ahead. “Elizandria?”
“Yeah. And look who’s with her.”
She had to move to the other side of the bushes but she finally got a good view of Agnarr climbing up the mountain. “Motherfucker.”
“Yeah. They’ve teamed up.”
Jarmella searched the rest of Elizandria’s mercenaries for any surprises. “They’re coming right for us.”
“Of course they are. It bypasses Draegor’s cavalry.”
“They’re going to overwhelm us. Forty raiders to our rear and fifty coming straight for us … If we run now the rest of Agnarr’s people will tell him just how clo
se we are and they’ll chase us down. Even if we pull everyone away they’ll find our tracks within an hour.”
“Yeah, but by then we’ll be far enough away from them. They’re going to want to keep going to Faersrock instead of doubling back to track us down.”
“One look at our tracks and they’ll know the only reason we veered off at a right angle is because we saw them.”
“We outnumber them.”
“No we don’t. Two thirds of our forces belong to that guy down there. She shook her head at the assholes coming our way. “You said you knew why they betrayed us.”
“Have a good look at everyone down there. What do you see?”
She lifted the seeing rod back to her eye. “Twenty … twenty five members of the crew we sailed in with. The same number of mercenaries, judging by the extra weapons. A couple of well dressed people – nobles, I’m guessing. Nice furs on them. Good leather, too. What am I missing?”
“There is an even mix of sailors and mercenaries. The sailors are carrying the bulk of packs and chests. The mercenaries are not, yet they’re all quite happy despite trudging up the side of a mountain. The only time mercenaries are that happy is when they’ve just been paid. The sailors are heaving. They’re not used to the mountain so something has gone wrong. I’d say they were hoping to sail out of here but Draegor’s fleet made that impossible. My best guess? Elizandria’s intervention in Brilskeep was actually part of a heist.”
Jarmella and Menrihk both blinked back at me. “That lot down there just robbed Draegor?”
“And we were the diversion.”
Jarmella stared back at me like I had finally lost my mind. “I’m glad you’re finding this so funny.”
“Oh come on, that’s the type of heist I’ve always wanted to be involved in and I was. I just wish I knew it at the time. You look lost.”
“Yeah.”
“We presented Agnarr with an opportunity – to overthrow Draegor with Ispar’s support. The problem was that these people really don’t like us. They like being mighty and independent. Even our offer was likely received as a slap in the face as it suggests that Agnarr is weak and needs our help if he wants to progress in life. Worst still, the offer comes from a Kasera. But he accepted. Why?”