The King of the West

by Pedro Urvi

  “It’s been abandoned,” said Gerd.

  “Like every village and farm, we’ve passed on the way,” Leenbiren pointed out.

  “There’ll be ambushes waiting for us in there,” said Ingrid.

  “Almost certainly,” Lasgol agreed. He was staring down at the city in search of any sign of life, but without finding any.

  Leenbiren pointed to the south. “I don’t think we need to go in.”

  A gigantic column of soldiers was arriving at the city.

  “Thoran’s armies,” said Ingrid.

  “That’s right,” the veteran confirmed. “I’ll go and tell the Duke. Secure the last stretch.” He left at a gallop.

  Suddenly Lasgol saw something that looked very familiar. “Look,” he said, and pointed to a fir tree by the side of the road.

  “Isn’t that…” Gerd began.

  “Milton,” Ingrid said.

  Chapter 35

  Perched on a branch, watching them, was Milton. Lasgol dismounted and reached out his arm to the beautiful bird, which flew to him with a shriek of recognition.

  “How are you, Milton?” he asked him affectionately as he stroked his plumage.

  Gerd too petted him. Milton hooted. Knowing the bird’s grumpy nature, Gerd took it as a compliment.

  “Funny. He’s come back very soon.”

  “Come back?” Lasgol repeated.

  “I sent him to Egil so he could keep me informed.”

  “Then he must have come back with important news.”

  “I agree,” Ingrid said. She went up to Milton, and he clicked his beak at her. “What a character you are,” she scolded him, ignoring his clicking. “Let’s see that leg.” She unfolded the message he carried tied to his right leg.

  “What does it say?” Gerd asked. He was looking fearful in case it was bad news.

  “I can’t read it. It’s in the language of the Frozen Continent.”

  Lasgol smiled. “Egil and his safety measures.”

  Ingrid passed him the note. “Here, you’re the only one who can read it.”

  Lasgol activated his Ring of the Frozen Tongues and began to read aloud: Dear friends and comrades. A most difficult time in our lives has arrived, which is going to require all our courage, honor and determination.

  “That’s not a good start,” Gerd said, shaking his head.

  “Don’t be too hasty,” Ingrid said. “It might not be bad news.”

  Gerd gave a skeptical grunt.

  Lasgol went on reading: The final chapter in the conflict between East and West has now begun inexorably. There’s no way to hold back what must come and will forever mark both our persons and our futures. Our decisions and actions from now on will have a significant and definitive impact on our lives and on the future of Norghana.

  I consider you the best friends anyone could ever imagine and wish for. I have been deeply fortunate to have you all in my life, and I will always be grateful for your sincere and generous friendship until the day I die. That’s why I’m not going to ask for your help at this crucial moment. Each one of you will have to decide what his or her honor, heart and soul dictate that they must do. I won’t judge you, I could never do that. Whatever happens, whichever side you support, whoever wins this horrible war, I’ll always be your friend. Like you, I never wanted to see myself involved in this situation. If I could, I’d stay aside from this barbarity of brothers fighting against brothers. Unfortunately, and because my own brother has asked me for help, I can’t do that. I must get involved and help him. Because of this I’m giving you this warning: be very careful, and never be trustful. Things will not be what they seem, and at every corner there will be an unpleasant surprise. I’m sorry, but I must help my brother, even though I consider all of you too as my family.

  May water, fire and rock, not be the cause of suffering and pain for you.

  A big hug, and my unconditional love to all five of you.

  Your friend, who loves you,

  Egil Olafstone.

  “Profound words,” Ingrid said as Lasgol finished reading the letter. Her gaze was distant.

  “He’s not asking us to join him,” Lasgol said, moved by his friend’s words. “That does him credit.”

  Ingrid nodded. “He might have asked us to help him out of friendship… and yet he hasn’t. It’s a very honorable gesture. I feel very lucky to be his friend.”

  “Me too,” Gerd said with his eyes moist.

  “The end of the letter makes me wonder,” Ingrid said.

  “What d’you think it means?” Gerd asked.

  “He’s warning us that he’s planned things that will put us in serious danger,” Lasgol said.

  Ingrid frowned. “But he doesn’t specify what.”

  “We’ve already lived through a few,” said Lasgol. “The guerrilla warfare, our supplies being destroyed, our advance being delayed with traps…”

  “I’m afraid this is only the beginning,” said Gerd.

  Ingrid nodded. “Egil has prepared some much worse things, and that’s why he’s warning us.”

  “We’ll have to be very careful,” said Lasgol. He sensed something ominous to come.

  Duke Oslevan’s troops joined King Thoran’s armies outside Trondehan. The city, one of the most important in the West of Norghana, was found to be completely deserted. King Thoran and his court nobles accommodated themselves inside the city. The Invincibles of the Ice took charge of their protection, in addition to the Royal Guard and the Royal Rangers. The Armies of Thunder and Snow camped outside, one to the north and the other to the south of the city. To the west, the mercenaries set up their tents. To the south, the other Dukes and Counts of the East settled as they arrived with their forces.

  Duke Oslevan hurried into the city to report to his lord, King Thoran. Judging by how fast he was walking under the weight of his armor, it was clear that he feared His Majesty’s wrath. Ingrid, Lasgol, Gerd and Leenbiren set up camp with the rest of the Duke’s men to the south of the city and watched the remaining lesser nobles arriving and setting up camp alongside them. The Rangers, as was their habit, stayed a little apart from the soldiers and the militias belonging to the noblemen.

  At nightfall hundreds of campfires surrounded the city, and the thousands of soldiers sat around them to eat their rations and sing odes of heroic acts and of gods out of Norghanian mythology. Lasgol knew that they were really singing because they were nervous about what was approaching. So were they themselves, particularly after Egil’s message. Lasgol could feel in his stomach that things were going to turn ugly very soon. Gerd was saying nothing about it, but Lasgol could read the fear in his friendly eyes. Ingrid, for her part, stayed firm and resolved, as ever. Nothing seemed to affect her.

  They had just come back from their shift on watch duty and sat down to eat. Lasgol waited until Leenbiren had gone to talk with his fellow-veterans before he spoke to Ingrid about something that was troubling him.

  “Ingrid…”

  She passed him a bowl of hot meat stew. “Yes?”

  “I want to ask you something.”

  “From your expression, I gather it’s rather serious.”

  “Yeah, and I don’t know how to put it.”

  “You want to know whose side I’m on.”

  Lasgol’s jaw dropped. “You know me too well.”

  “You’re easy to read, just like him.” She jabbed her finger at Gerd, who was sitting beside Lasgol and had already started on his second helping. The giant shrugged and went on eating, although he was listening closely to the conversation.

  “So where do you stand, then?”

  Ingrid considered her answer. “I’m a Norghanian, from the East, a Specialist Ranger, I serve the King and the realm.”

  “You’re with the East…” Lasgol said, sounding discouraged.

  “I haven’t said that exactly. I’m neither with the East nor the West.”

  “But you’re from the East,” Gerd pointed out.

  “Yes, but before a
nything else I’m Norghanian. I love my kingdom and I’ll protect it.”

  “We’re in the East,” Lasgol said. “With Thoran…”

  “We’re where circumstances have placed us.”

  “We could change those circumstances,” Lasgol said, hinting that they might go to the other side.

  “We could, it’s true, but that wouldn’t be very intelligent. First, because it would mean treason, and they’d hunt for us to hang us. Secondly, because we’d be going over to the losing side, where we’d probably end up dead anyway.”

  “You don’t think the West can win?”

  “Have you seen Thoran’s army?”

  “Yeah… it’s a pretty big one.”

  “I’ve spent the day analyzing it. He has two thousand five hundred Invincibles of the Ice, four thousand soldiers of the Thunder Army, and another four thousand of the Snow Army. The militias of the nobles have another five thousand men. And Count Volgren and Duke Orten are yet to arrive, the Count with two thousand five hundred men, the King’s brother with another three thousand from the Blizzard Army. And the foreign mercenaries make up another four thousand.”

  “That’s twenty-five thousand men…”

  “How many do you think the West has?”

  “I’ve no idea.”

  “They won’t even have a third of that. Eight thousand, ten with luck if they’ve managed to get help from outside, which I doubt.”

  “It’s a complicated situation for them,” said Gerd.

  “It’s an impossible one,” Ingrid corrected him.

  “They have Egil,” Lasgol pointed out. “With him on their side, nothing’s impossible.”

  “I’m not saying that Egil won’t be an incredible help for them, but I don’t think he can change the outcome. Thoran will come out victorious. The numbers are on his side.”

  “And he has Ice Magi,” Gerd said.

  “One point more in my favor,” said Ingrid.

  “Then do you choose the winning side?” Lasgol asked.

  “I choose the side I was assigned to,”

  “And suppose Egil needs our help?”

  “In that case I’ll help him.”

  Lasgol was not expecting Ingrid to say this. “You’ll help him?”

  “Egil’s my friend. He can always count on my help.”

  “And if that forces you to act against your duty, against the East?”

  “Let’s hope it doesn’t.”

  “And if it does, what’ll you do?”

  Ingrid was silent for a moment. Her face showed none of her usual determination. She hesitated, which was strange in her. Very strange.

  “I’ll follow my heart at the moment. That’s all I can say.”

  “It’s enough for me,” Lasgol said, and smiled. He trusted that Ingrid would do the right thing when the moment came. Unfortunately, he had the feeling that the moment would inescapably arrive. And this troubled him.

  Gerd helped himself to a third bowl of stew. There was not much meat left and a lot of thick broth. He grumbled under his breath.

  “Are you planning on finishing the whole pot?” Ingrid asked him.

  “There’s only the dregs left. It’s not my fault I’m so big and need more food than you lot.”

  “Yeah, you’re twice our size, but you eat three times as much. I don’t get it.”

  Gerd shrugged. “I burn a lot of it off?” he ventured, and went on eating.

  Ingrid and Lasgol laughed. They finished their dinner with idle chit-chat. Nothing about wars or sides. Then they went to sleep in one of the Rangers’ tents.

  Dawn brought the arrival of the forces belonging to Count Volgren, the most powerful of the Eastern nobles. The Rangers were sent to patrol the surroundings of the city again, but found nothing. Lasgol was sure they were being watched, but from a safe distance. When the Rangers were sent further west, the watchers presumably melted away. This gave the impression that the forces of the West were avoiding confrontation and only attacked when it favored their own interests.

  For two more days they waited for the arrival of Duke Orten’s forces. It was rumored that the King was not at all happy about his brother’s delay. Lasgol and Gerd were chatting with other Rangers about the situation and what was on the horizon when someone put their hands over Gerd’s eyes from behind.

  “Who am I?” asked a little voice.

  Gerd recognized it at once. “Nilsa!”

  “Exactly!” she said with a loud giggle, and let the giant see. He spun around.

  “What are you doing here? How wonderful!” Immediately he lifted Nilsa off the ground and began to spin, laughing as he did so. She laughed with him.

  Leenbiren was on his way back with their orders. “A friend of yours?” he asked.

  “Yes, from the Camp. From our team.”

  Leenbiren nodded. “It’s our turn for patrol duty, so when you finish saying hello I’ll be waiting.”

  “We’re leaving? Duke Orten hasn’t arrived yet.”

  “The King’s tired of waiting for his brother. He’s given the order to move on. The Duke will have to catch up with us later on.”

  “I see,” Lasgol said. The decision did not seem a very intelligent one to him, but instead over-hasty.

  “Tell your friend that she can join us if she hasn’t been assigned to any group yet.”

  “Thanks, I will.”

  “Don’t thank me. If she’s half as good as you lot, today’s my lucky day.”

  Lasgol smiled. “She’s very good.”

  Leenbiren smiled in satisfaction and went to get his things ready.

  “You’re huge!” Nilsa said when Gerd put her back down.

  “And you’re even prettier!”

  “Am I really?” she replied, with a coquettish look.

  “I can’t believe my eyes! Nilsa! What are you doing here?” cried another feminine voice.

  Nilsa turned and saw Ingrid. She ran to her friend and hugged her tightly. They held the embrace for a long moment, overjoyed to see one another again.

  “I’ve been looking forward so much to seeing you!” Nilsa said.

  Ingrid put her hands on her cheeks and looked her up and down. “And me to see you.”

  “You’re just the same as ever,” Nilsa said

  Ingrid smiled. “You’re a little bit more grown-up.”

  “Thanks!” Nilsa said and spun around so that Ingrid could have a better look at her.

  “What are you doing here?” Ingrid asked.

  “Yeah,” Gerd said, “how come you’re here? I thought you’d be in the capital.”

  “Gondabar sent me with messages for our people and for Gatik. He told me that once I was here I had to follow the First Ranger’s orders. I delivered all my messages and asked Gatik what my duties were to be, thinking he’d keep me as a messenger.”

  Ingrid arched an eyebrow. “And he didn’t?”

  “Something strange happened. Gatik gave me a funny look… at first he didn’t even notice me, but then I think he recognized me.”

  “Recognized you?” Ingrid repeated.

  “Yes, I thought it was from serving Gondabar in the city, but it wasn’t that, it was because of what happened with the Shifter. It was strange. He said: ‘You were with the ones who found out the Shifter’, with something odd in his voice and expression, as if he was displeased. I said yes. Then his expression turned even more hostile. He told me to report to the Rangers at the perimeter because he didn’t need me.”

  Ingrid crossed her arms. “Oh… wow…”

  “Yeah. It hurt me a bit, I’m an excellent messenger. Gondabar appreciates me. I don’t know why Gatik doesn’t.”

  “It might be because we bring trouble with us,” Lasgol said. “He must remember us.”

  Nilsa shrugged. “Afterwards I reconsidered and realized that I could join you, and I started madly looking for you.” She smiled happily.

  “That’s Gatik’s loss,” Gerd said, laughing.

  “You bet,” said Ingr
id. “I can’t believe we’re together again.” She gave her another affectionate hug.

  “Me neither!”

  Seeing the two in one another’s arms, Gerd could not hold back and hugged them both with one of his huge arms. Lasgol watched them with a huge smile from ear to ear, then joined them. The other Rangers stared at them as if they were mad, or worse. Shows of affection in the north were not widespread, and among the Rangers even less so. They did not care. They were delighted to be together again.

  “The only one missing is Viggo,” Nilsa said.

  “Shh,” Ingrid warned her. “Don’t even mention him. He’s quite capable of appearing out of the blue.”

  Gerd laughed.

  “He was with the King’s brother,” Lasgol whispered.

  “Then he still hasn’t arrived,” Ingrid said. “Thank goodness.”

  They broke up the group hug, and Nilsa began to ask Ingrid and Gerd a thousand questions. As soon as they had given her one answer, she had a new one ready.

  Leenbiren came back, now fully equipped. “We’re moving, group. Get ready.”

  They set off northwest. Everybody knew that their final destination was the capital of the West, Estocos, where Arnold Olafstone – the King of the West, as his subjects now called him – was waiting for them. Leenbiren informed them that they would be in charge of keeping watch and tracking on the left flank. The news eased Lasgol’s mind to some extent; at least they would not be in the lead, where there was the most danger. Then he reconsidered this. Knowing Egil, he would almost certainly attack their flanks, so that they were in danger once again. He mentioned this to his comrades when Leenbiren was not listening.

  “Don’t keep thinking about what’s going to happen,” Ingrid said. “Let’s obey our orders, and whatever has to come will come. We’ll face it together and come out of it, the way we always do.”

  “If you spend all your time wondering what Arnold and Egil have got planned, you could go crazy,” Nilsa said. They had read to her Egil’s letter. “The possibilities are endless.”

  Lasgol knew that the girls were right, but he could not stop his mind trying to find ways out of all the scenarios he could think of. Some of them were impossibly intricate, and probably with no solution whatever.