by Garry Spoor
“We have to inform… somebody,” Kile replied. Although, she had no idea who to inform. Colonel Barshed was the highest person up the line she could think of, although she never met him. She did, however, meet the King, but it was very brief and she was breaking into his home at the time.
“It’s not that easy,” Jax said. “You are overlooking one minor problem.”
“What’s that?” she asked.
“Technically, we’re on opposing sides.”
She had to admit, that was one minor detail she overlooked. Moran was a Callor outpost and therefore she just led the men from one enemy to another.
“You can’t be serious. You can’t side with Lord Rimes on this,” she pleaded.
“It is true, most of us do not agree with Lord Rimes. Lord Bollen still has supporters, even out here.”
“Who’s Lord Bollen?” Kile asked.
“Lord Gunther Bollen is married to Lord Fardane Rimes’ youngest sister, Keana, which makes him, Lord Byron Rimes’ Uncle.” Jax replied.
“This is getting too confusing,” she said, rubbing her head. “How do you remember all these names?”
“Let us just say, Lord Bollen supports the crown, and there are people in Callor who support Lord Bollen.”
“So, why don’t they just overthrow Lord Rimes?”
“If it was only that easy,” Jax laughed. “As many people there are who support Lord Bollen, there are those who support Lord Rimes, including men in this outpost.”
“It’s never simple,” Kile said, falling back on her pillow. “So now what? I guess that makes us your prisoners.”
“That depends,” Jax replied, but before he could say anything more, they heard a loud crash just outside the door. At first, Kile thought Grim had gotten impatient and somehow managed to climb the stairs to her room, but the noise was followed by the sound of ringing steel, and she knew, a fight just broke out in the corridor. Jax was moving toward the door when it suddenly flew open. Sandson, along with one of the outpost soldiers, came tumbling through, followed closely by Tullner, who had to jump over them to get into the room. His sword was already unsheathed.
“Commander, are you okay?” he asked.
“What is going on?” Kile shouted.
“Callor has declared war on the crown. Word is, valrik forces are marching on Moran as we speak. We have to get you out of here.”
“Stand down, soldier,” Jax ordered.
Tullner turned on the Captain, but two more guards pushed their way through the door. Since Jax refused to draw his weapon, Tullner turned his attention to the current threat. Leaping forward, he struck at one of the new arrivals. The guard barely managed to get his blade up to deflect the young man’s attack.
“Stand down,” Jax ordered again, but it seemed neither side was paying any attention to him.
Sandson had finally regained his footing, wrestling the sword away from the guard he had been grappling with. He quickly joined Tullner in the middle of the floor as the second guard moved in.
The clashing of steel, the shouting, the barking dogs, the smell of blood, it was all becoming too much for her.
“Enough!” Kile shouted, or actually, it was more like a growl.
The room suddenly went silent as both sides stared at her. The men didn’t so much as lower their weapons as they raised them in defense while slowly backing away. She could smell their fear and it was intoxicating.
-Kile?-
It was Vesper’s voice which broke through, and the vision he showed her was not one she would soon forget. She saw herself, crouching naked at the end of the bed, her untamed red hair, the bruises and the scars, and her eyes. That was what she had never seen before. Her eyes were those of a wild animal. How was it even possible? Was this what she looked like when she lost it, when she went feral? Was this what they were afraid of?
Only the gentle sound of the rain on the roof below the window, disturbed the silence.
-Kile?-
Vesper called again.
Quickly grabbing the blanket from the bed, she pulled it around her and turned away from the men. She did not want to see the fear on their faces.
“Sandson, Tullner, lay down your weapons,” she ordered.
“But… Kile?”
“Now.”
Swords clattered on the hard wooden floor, but she wouldn’t turn around. Did they think she betrayed them, after everything they had gone through?
“Place them with the others, for now,” Jax said.
She was grateful to hear his voice was sympathetic.
The door to the room closed, and she knew she was alone with the Captain once again.
“You won’t… harm them… will you?” she asked.
“Of course not,” Jax replied. “Please, you’re not supposed to be out of bed. The last thing I need is Sumsor on my case.”
-Kile okay?-
Vesper asked again.
“No, not really,” She replied.
“Sorry?”
“What? I was… never mind. I’m the one who should be sorry, sorry about… everything.”
“You have nothing to apologize for. Your men did what they were trained to do, I would expect no less.”
She laughed, but it was a nervous laugh. “They’re not my men,” she replied.
“That’s not what they say. You are their commanding officer.”
“I’m nobody’s commanding officer. I can’t even control myself at time, what makes you think that I can command men.”
“I think you handled yourself rather well,” Jax replied.
The door opened again. This time Kile did turn around as a young, dark haired, man entered. He was soaking wet, dripping water as he stood in the doorway, looking rather nervous.
“Sir.”
“What is it Raf?” Jax asked. Kile couldn’t hear what the young soldier had to say, only the Captain's reply.
“I thought as much. They should be fine now, but put them back in their pens until further notice.”
“What was that about?” she asked.
“Nothing to concern yourself with,” he said, “Now, get back to bed.”
“Are we your prisoners?” she asked.
“That was what I was getting to,” he replied, “Now, come on, you need your rest.”
Reluctantly, she returned to the bed, pulling the sheets tighter around her. Jax poured her a glass of water before returning to his own seat. He waited until she finished before he continued.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
“I wish people… and animals, would stop asking me that,” she replied.
“It’s just that…”
“Please, don’t. Just… just go on with what you were saying.”
“Very well,” he said, taking the empty glass from her and setting it on the table. “The problem is, as I see it, Vadokk.”
Kile turned to look at him. “Who, or what is a Vadokk?” she asked.
“Vadokk is the valrik commanding the Uhyre forces in Denal. I have no doubt he knows you are here. As you have already heard, he is on his way to the outpost to take custody of you and your men.”
“I see,” Kile replied.
“I can stall only until I receive word from Callor of what to do, which, I am sure, a message is already on its way.”
“So you already sent word to Callor of our arrival.”
“Not I. As I told you before, there are men, even here, who are loyal to Lord Rimes. Not many, I assure you, and I can name each and every one of them. Unfortunately, once I receive those orders, for better or for worse, I have to obey them, if it is within my power. You see, I still have family in Callor and if I openly disobey any direct order from Lord Rimes or one of his representatives, I will be placing them in danger.”
“I understand. I wouldn’t want you to risk your family. I only ask one favor.”
“And what is that?” he asked, a look of confusion crossed his face.
“The valrik wouldn’t know one vir fr
om another,” she replied. “You could hide the men among your guards. Then, all you would have to do is turn me over. It may not be much, but it may satisfy them.”
Jax paused, for a moment, before he let out a short laugh.
“You would risk your life for these men who you claim are not yours?” he asked.
“Somehow, these days, I don’t know what my life is worth anymore. It may be enough.”
“I must admit, I did not even come close to that idea. Marcus said you were alright, a bit stubborn, but alright.”
Kile laughed. “Coming from him, that's not really high praise.”
“I suppose not. But I can assure you I have no intentions of handing anyone over to the Uhyre.”
“But, you just said you had to obey Callor, for better or worse. I don’t think it can get any worse.”
“I said, I had to obey, if it was in my power.” Jax replied with a grin.
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t you see? It’s simple, the answer to both of our problems. You and your men must take control of the outpost.”
Kile slowly looked up at him.
“And I thought I was losing my mind,” she replied.
“It makes perfect sense,” he said.
“So, me and my dozen or so able body men, take control of this outpost away from your… how many did you say you had here?”
“Just a battalion,” he said with a shrug. “There is a little over nine hundred men, plus the support and a few refugees.”
“I think the odds are stacked in your favor.”
“Possibly, but I think you greatly underestimate yourself. Even without your men, I think you could easily seize control of this outpost.”
“What, claim I’m a wili and scare them all into submission?” she asked.
“Not quite, although I would be interested to see if that would work,” he laughed. “No, actually I was thinking of… well… your other army.”
“I’m afraid I’m a little scarce on military might at the moment,” she replied.
“Allow me to explain the makeup of the Callor military.” He said, rising from his chair. “The Callor province is mostly a mountainous region, so we don’t have much of a cavalry. Even at this outpost, we could only horse about a fifth of our forces, but what we do have, and what we have found to be very effective in this region, are dogs. There are just over three hundred dogs in this outpost alone.”
“I don’t see how that helps me,” she said.
“Don’t you? I don’t know why, or how, but I’m pretty sure you have a connection with animals, which I will never understand. I remember the first time you were here, and you spoke to those two hounds, which were supposed to be guarding you. You somehow convinced two highly trained dogs to act like misbehaving puppies to create enough confusing so you could escape. These dogs are not trained to listen to just anyone, and yet they did exactly what you wanted them to do. I don’t pretend to understand it, I know I never will, I’m just an old soldier, but I know what I saw.
“Just a moment ago, when you… how did you put it… when you lost it, every dog on this outpost became… aggressive, some even turned on their handlers.”
Kile quickly sat up. “That was never my intention,” she said defensively.
“I understand that. But regardless of how it happened, it happened. Corporal Raf just informed me, three men were sent to the halls for dog bites,” Jax replied. He held up his hand before she could apologize again. “I know you didn’t want it to happen. I fear that if you did, the outcome would be much different.”
“But I don’t want to fight you or your men to prove a point,” she replied.
“And you won’t have to. I’m willing to turn the outpost over to you.”
“But you can’t make that decision by yourself. What of your men?”
“I spoke with my commanding officers not long after I received your letter. We all knew something like this was going to happen, eventually. The valrik were going to march into Callor, whether we wanted them to or not. We had a choice to make. We could either, turn a blind eye and let them pass into the lands of our families, or, we could try and stop them here. If we tried to stop them, then our actions alone would put our families in jeopardy. What we had, is a no win situation.”
“But if I seize control of the outpost…” Kile replied.
“…then we can stop the valrik here. Or at least try to slow them down,” Jax finished for her.
“But what of your men, you said some are still loyal to Lord Rimes.”
“Leave that to me,” Jax said, as he stood at the foot of her bed. “So, what’s it going to be? The valrik forces are on their way, and by my estimate, they may reach us as early as tomorrow morning. So, what is your decision?”
“I don’t have much of a choice, do I?” Kile replied, pulling the blanket tighter around her. It suddenly felt a lot colder in the room. “I suppose Perha Squad just seized the outpost.”
“Then you should probably get some rest, tomorrow it’s going to get worse. I’ll inform your men of your decision,” Jax said. He closed the door behind him, leaving Kile alone again, or almost alone.
- What happened?-
Vesper asked, climbing into her lap.
“You know… I have no idea.”
***~~~***
12
The rain was still beating on the roof, outside the window, when Kile woke up. It was going to be another wet day. Climbing out of bed, she pulled the blankets around her and surveyed the room for the first time. It looked different in the light, but that could be due to the fact she could actually see it. The window shutters remained open all night and now looked out on a gray sky. A long table rested against the wall off to one side, upon it was a bowl of warm water and a wash cloth. Clothing was draped over a chair along with a woolen cloak and a pair of boots. Even her weapons were carefully laid out for her.
“What do you think, Vesper, should we get up?”
The yarrow yawned, looking up at her from the pillow he commandeered in the night. He blinked a few times, before closing his eyes and going back to sleep.
“My sentiments exactly,” She said, pulling the blanket tighter around her and shuffling across the floor to the table. She found, not only the washcloth, but a small mirror and brush, so she tamed her wild hair, the best she could. She used the warm water to wash her face and wished for a long hot bath. It was going to be some time before she was aloud those little bits of luxury.
Picking through the clothing, she was grateful to see, they didn’t go out of their way. No pink dresses or frilly blouses, this was standard issue, right down to the military underclothes. Getting dressed, took a bit of time, her arm wasn’t being very cooperative. It was still sore, although not nearly as bad as it was last night, but it still made it difficult to perform even the simplest tasks. Getting her shirt on was difficult enough, pulling on her boots was nearly impossible. She tried using the hand mirror to get an idea of what the uniformed looked like once it was on, but she couldn’t see very much. She just hoped it didn’t look as bad as what she could see.
“So, how do I look?” she asked Vesper
-We find food now?-
The yarrow replied, standing on the end of the bed. He didn’t seem to care what costume she wore, as long as he was getting fed.
“Yeah, we’re going to look for food.” She told him. She held out her hand so he could climb up onto her shoulder.
Opening the door to her room, she stepped out into the hall, only to find Tullner sleeping on a chair beside her door.
“You wouldn’t be on guard duty, would you?” she asked him.
The young man jumped to his feet, knocking over his chair as he stammered an apology. She had to laugh.
“What are you doing out here anyway?” she asked him.
“I wanted to make sure you were okay, ma’am,” Tullner replied.
Kile shook her head. “I’m not a ma’am, okay. I’m just… me,” she said.<
br />
“I understand, ma’am, but you are my commanding officer.”
“As I told Captain Jax, I’m no one’s commanding officer.”
“With Sergeant Wargner gone, you’re the highest ranking officer and therefore commander of Perha Squad.”
She knew arguing with him, about rules and regulations, wasn’t going to be very productive, and arguing on an empty stomach never got anyone anywhere.
“If you say so,” She said, with a dismissive wave of her hand and walked away. Tullner kept pace, one step behind her. “So, as your commanding officer, what do I do now, Corporal?” she asked.
“Actually, ma’am, I’m a private.” Tullner replied.
She stopped and looked at him. “Since when?” she asked.
“Since right before Sergeant Wargner went off to Coopervill. If you remember, he demoted me and had me detained for insubordination.”
“Oh yeah, that’s right,” she replied, as continuing walking. “Well, I don’t think you have to worry about that anymore.”
“That would rely on you, ma’am.”
“Me, why me?”
“You are the commanding officer,” Tullner replied.
Kile shrugged. “Do you want to be detained for insubordination?” she asked.
“No, not really.”
“There, that’s settled. Now, where do we find food?”
“Right this way, ma’am”
“What about your rank, can I make you a Corporal again?” she asked.
“The commanding officer does have the right to bestow battlefield promotions.”
“That’s a yes?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Okay, fine, you’re a Corporal, no wait a minute… make that a Sergeant.”
“But, ma’am, you can’t…”
“I can do anything, I’m the commanding officer, you told me that yourself,” she said with a grin.
“The rank is only temporary and has to be evaluated by the high command before it can become permanent,” Tullner explained.
“Tullner… Sergeant, we probably won’t be alive long enough to worry about that.” She replied, pulling the hood of her cloak up over her head and stepping out into the rain.