by Kris Schnee
Dominic reached for the dagger at his belt. It was tricky to hold without losing some control over his darts, but worthwhile against armor and poison.
Someone called out behind him. Julia! Her blanket got hurled out of her cell to flop on the stone floor. Dominic seized the pile in his magic to fling it at the man with the poisoned blade. The cloth netted him and slammed him down.
Dominic still had most of his darts floating nearby. The wounded man still on his feet had a spell going, too, trying to disrupt Dominic's hold.
The jail's outer door opened and light spilled in. "Kick that cube my way, will you?" said Dominic to the escaping prisoner.
"Not the face!" the assassin said, wincing in advance of another splinter attack. Dominic wrestled magically for his own darts and tried to reach out for the ones he'd lost in the entry room. The cube didn't get kicked, but two guards burst in with spears. "Prince, we're with you!"
"Good!" Just then, the man in the blanket squirmed free and tried to slash at Dominic. He hopped away just in time. The magic-user snatched one of Dominic's own darts with his hands and threw it by magic, gashing Dominic's right arm.
The guards stabbed the standing assassin from behind, dropping him. Dominic seized control of his darts again and tried to pin and trip the other man. Dominic called out, "Avoid that blade!" He used his own dagger for a clumsy parry that made him drop his weapon. Another slash came close.
Just in time, Dominic tripped him with the sheets. The man fell with a grunt. Behind him the guards swept closer, feinting at him. Dominic had a little more room to fall back, but only wooden weaponry. He called out, "Drop it now or take your last breath!"
The blade came flying at him instead. Dominic threw all his darts into its path as a shield and hopped backward. His spell met the metal and parried, snapping two darts in a burst of green-gold sparks. The knife clattered down.
Dominic reacted by putting his focus into the tangled blankets to seize the man's neck and strangle him. The assassin gasped out a curse and tried to break free, but Dominic grimly held on. His guards stood back, glancing down at the enemy and back up at him for orders.
"Yes, kill him already!" They stabbed down, and the man lay still and dead at last. Dominic stepped back, breathing hard, and turned to see Julia behind him. He wasn't surprised. "Thank you."
"These two weren't on the mercy list," she said, looking at the bodies.
"They should've tried to kill me yesterday." Dominic shook himself, checked for wounds, and thanked his guards. "You came just in time."
Outside, a griffin's rasping voice said, "Caught Another."
Dominic went to see the escaped prisoner standing terrified in the talon-grip of... probably Sir Fleche. Dominic said to the frightened man, "Sorry." To him and everyone else he added, "Let's go. I owe you a round of drinks."
19. Battle At the Shore
Some of Arend's troops, Dominic's army recruited. The rest, he sent home to their fields rather than have them strain the city's resources. "I'm above my station in war," he mused to Jakob. "Would you like a wing to command, so that I'm not relying completely on the old structure of Citizens over their property?" He looked out the window of a Hall of Law office, near the Seaflower fountain.
Jakob's wolf nodded at the same time as him. Odd. Jakob said, "I've been speaking with the Dukes. They most want to sweep south along the western coast and use you for their shield. But Baccata isn't going to wait -- I mean, the Holy State..." Jakob scratched his ears. "What should people call your little empire?"
Dominic shrugged. "It's too early to say."
"No, no, Dom! The people need flags and banners and inspiring music. Even an army needs them to coordinate."
He thought back to village festivals and how the three castes had sung and played instruments together. The number three figured in the shamanists' beliefs as well. He couldn't call the land a "kingdom" without a king. "You know, the westerners have an empty throne like the one at Temple Island. My old friend Jasper thinks ours... the Holy State's... is a distraction to keep people in awe of the rulers. The Mithraians' seems to be a placeholder, a symbol that keeps them from appointing any mortal as a god-king."
"Do you really mean to recognize their 'King'?"
Dominic shrugged. "We already have in religious terms. Our exact political relationship is something we'll need to work out, but maybe we can stay independent while being friendly. For a name... the Unbound Realm?"
"Good enough. And a flag?"
Dominic laughed. "Are you taking notes?"
"I do want to get someone working on one."
"How about a sun design, and something with the number three?"
"That works." Jakob searched for quill and paper, then looked slightly up at Dominic, suddenly more serious. "We're getting closer to fixing things. To setting my home island free. That's why I want to drive south along the river, and take the coast. Let Temple Island see how it feels to be choked off and hungry!" He shook his head. "Unjust, I know. But we need to end the Holy State."
"What about the Nether? I don't want to see the library burned or the people killed, if we can help it."
"Most of the people care more about the Throne By the Sea, and the coral pillars. Pointless miracles, instead of things that make anyone's life easier."
Dominic looked toward the Seaflower's grand fountain again. "I think it's human nature to care about the spectacular things. The Mithraists treat being able to glow as half a pass to sainthood. Let's make our own miracles to impress the people we're trying to help."
* * *
One of the smaller miracles involved the silly otter that had been following him around as a pet. There was time to think about that again, now. The troops needed a while to reorganize and prepare to move out.
He brought the creature with him while he watched Bound training with new crossbows, and learning tactics alongside some western observers. "What are you to me?" he asked the animal beside him. "Applying to be my Bound property? You're free to run off; river's right over there." They'd taken over a house by the south gate.
The otter just tilted its head. Dominic looked more closely with his magic. The mystery of its own apparent magic use was something he hadn't resolved yet either. Sir Marion had said there'd been possible signs of it with some of their dolphins, but nothing proven. That'd be something: an army of animal mages alongside the human troops!
Except, thought Dominic with a sigh, many of his human troops and... well, subjects, seemed to have less self-respect and independent spirit than the awakened wolves. He told himself he was being horribly unfair; after all, Julia had come around. But there was a fork in the road ahead. Two visions: every Bound a Citizen over himself, or a nation where there were still Bound and masters of Bound?
He needed to consult with the Mithraist priests again. In the meantime, Dominic reached out to his candidate familiar. "Is this what you want?" he asked it, trying to show it the spell-pattern he had in mind. "I'll do what I can for you, but it won't be an equal relationship or one you can even completely understand." His own motive was to understand the unique abilities of this creature, and to answer the challenge posed by Sir Marion. How could he presume to rule over other people if he didn't first accept responsibility for both his own soul and then a slowly growing circle of friends and willing assistants?
Dominic felt no objection and saw only curiosity in the bold animal's eyes. "Well then; let's discover things together." He moved his hands and mind to cast the spell that was called pragmatically Bind Familiar, or Chaining the Beast among Baccatans, or to the Mithraists, Vassal's Dawn.
Sparks crackled on his fingertips and dripped down onto the otter. Dominic grew dizzy and leaned against the wall. When his blurred vision recovered it seemed as though he were looking from two places at once, vaguely aware of a second, lower perspective. A sleek and muscled presence brushed against his thoughts. Dominic reached out to pet it but then realized he hadn't done so with any physical motion. He sense
d a desire to go out and play.
He grinned. "There's some hard work ahead, but I'll be glad to have you along."
* * *
As planned, many of the Mithraists (including vengeful young Perrin) left to sweep south or southwest, back to the coast south of St. Wylan. They'd take control of that whole stretch of shore for further naval operations. That left Dominic with the bulk of his and (formerly) Arend's Seaflower troops organizing to fight for him. A small contingent would head east, and make it clear in many villages that all taxes and military obligations were owed to the new lord of Seaflower.
Dominic had soldiers who'd signed on for a variety of reasons. Some came out of dull, plodding loyalty to whatever strong man claimed them. Some knew only the life of war and hardly seemed to care who it was against, so long as they were fed -- especially if given better weapons and a greater chance of living to their next birthday. The rest were the ones who made Dominic feel that he was a liberator, and not just a conqueror.
The first formal words of support had arrived from Torrin in the north, along with a contingent of troops from there. That group's arrangement was different from a typical Holy State unit. More like Dominic's attempt to trust Bound with better weapons and magic, and to have the Citizens ride out more aggressively in the western style instead of hiding behind the spearmen. There were even a few dozen adventurous youths from the northern tribes, who Dominic had to warn to behave themselves. He wasn't sure it was a wise idea to have them on parade around Baccatans that he wanted to accept him as a native ruler. The outlanders wandered around Seaflower at first, getting into pointless brawls, until Dominic corralled them and made them get ready to move out. He still worried that their presence would turn whole villages against him.
It was Julia who hit on the obvious solution: have them wear more typical clothes of the State, every man dressed like an unbranded Citizen. "Maybe they'll even become civilized in the process."
"Thank you. I'll be back, and we'll have a better life for all our people."
"Don't let all this fighting be for nothing," she told him, and gave him a kiss.
* * *
The most enthusiastic share of his army was mostly the young. A lot of Bound who'd heard talk of freedom for the first time in their lives, and a few golden-hearted Citizens setting an example by refusing to wear finer armor than the Bound. Some of them even got their branding scars healed.
To equip people, Dominic had tried to arrange as much production as possible on short notice. Armor, crossbows, bows for those with practice, darts for those who could wield them. Citizen-style clothing. Trinkets and tools that he remembered envying when he had an owner. He was trying not just to have the most effective army he could, ditching tactical assumptions that were based on the caste system, but to make sure the soldiers' lives were actually better than before.
How to pay for all this preparation, though? He'd never before had to arrange all the affairs of an army for himself! He gained new respect for Barger, the old Quartermaster back on Temple Island. He wondered how the man was doing, and what was for dinner tonight in the raucous, studious world of the Nether.
He'd resorted to starting a system of bounties and contracts much like the Boundless One's management. It was a set of rules that people understood and respected. It was also understood that there were penalties for defying the ruler. When guards came to him with a sullen Citizen who'd tried to sabotage a ration supply, calling his deeds "true patriotism", Dominic killed him in private. The Prince did the criminal the courtesy of looking him in the eye, and making it quick.
The nightmares that followed weren't over quickly. They were, at least, balanced against dreams of the sun.
* * *
Dominic's troops were ready to march to the southeast from Seaflower, along the river toward the coast.
Sir Marion said, "They have the sun in their eyes." He had come along with Dominic and Jakob for a final troop inspection.
Dominic nodded. Marion wasn't talking about the cloudy sky; the men looked eager and excited. Dominic said, "Is it loyalty, or justice, to lead people into battle knowing some won't return?"
"You're going too. You're willing to tie your fate to theirs, for the sake of your own country."
Dominic spoke quietly so that none but Marion would hear. "Some of the men aren't so enthusiastic. And some of the men of your country seem more interested in conquest than in having a peaceful era together. And then there are the holdouts and criminals... I had to kill a man two days ago."
Marion said, "All serve in their own way. In our positions of power we can shave off the worst abuses and set an example, but there will still be deeds we're not proud of. You don't revel in killing, do you?"
"No."
"Good. That's not valor, anyway. We fight when it's worth doing."
Dominic caught glimpses of the world from his new familiar's perspective, staring into a forest of human legs. He smiled. "That idea of service is why you're willing to put the animals you train into harm's way, isn't it? Setting an example and letting them come along, to build a world that they might not even understand."
"If there are any hearts in the world willing to fight for virtue, I want to find and empower them." Marion glanced off to one side. "My spells will do more to improve the world in the long run than any battle we fight. Find the good minds, wake them up, and assail evil from a thousand directions at once."
Dominic nodded and silently called his familiar to his side. "Let's march."
* * *
Prince Dominic and his army rode out to tear bleeding gashes in his former country. His army of uncertain men had foreign soldiers, foreign wolves, an orchestra of new crossbows, and dozens of new-minted peasant mages. A Mithraist with a vicious duck familiar reported clear land ahead.
"The capital must have been stunned," Dominic said to Jakob and Rose and Marion riding beside him. "Dizzied by our blows, but still conscious."
Jakob said, "The Boundless One wouldn't have counted on losing so badly in the spring campaign that they'd lose the forward force, and Seaflower, and Torrin. Much less having those men come back with their weapons aimed in the other direction."
Sir Marion scoffed. "With a proper system of Dukes, you'd have more flexibility. Ability to react quickly without awaiting a master's wisdom. Vassals that aren't completely servile are the best sort."
For several days Dominic's force was able to march southeast and follow the Newmorning River, as pleasantly as a Servant's mission to pray for grateful villagers. Men needed to be fed, though, and there was only so much looted wealth to hand out as payment.
Dominic led one of the raiding parties himself. He felt obligated. He'd shown his once-masked face in a few of these river towns before. Today the Bound swarmed in from their fields to fetch their weapons and owners. A line of farmers with spears and shields materialized as though an artist had painted it onto the tall grass beyond the wheatfields.
Dominic called out, "We come seeking supplies! No one needs to be hurt." A roiling feeling like a coiled worm settled in his stomach; he had little doubt of what would happen. He murmured a prayer for justice. "Let any man who would help to liberate Baccata come out and join us as a friend!"
The line of Bound didn't waver. Of course; anyone who moved would take a spear in the back. He added, "Let a few of us go among you to pay with honest coin for food." That wouldn't work either, but to the extent it did it'd be a way to speak to individuals instead of a mass.
The voice of a Citizen astride a horse came from behind the ranks. "Part!" he said, and they split for him and reformed. The Citizen was a giant with bronzed skin and a crossbow that would look better placed on a heavy siege mount. When the man was closer he stared with contempt at Dominic's larger force and said, "We know of you, Dom the Traitor. Come forth and meet me, if you dare."
"To negotiate?"
The Citizen grinned and patted his crossbow, then a sword sheathed beside him. "I speak better with these. One on one,
if you'd like to converse that way. Or are you a coward?"
Dominic sized up the giant and looked to his officers, speaking quietly. "I'd be a fool, wouldn't I?"
Jakob nodded, but Rose said, "Back home we have ritual duels for Council positions. It's hard to argue for being chief of wizards or soldiers, or even farmers, if you can't respond to someone who claims they can read the Weave and other people better than you."
Dominic looked skeptical. "Sounds surprisingly militant. You don't have a lot of non-mages in your government, do you?"
"It's more of a sporting contest. Makes better sense than saying some people are born to rule."
Dominic shook his head, distracted. His soldiers craned their necks to watch him. "They'll see whether I'm willing to risk myself to spare them any deaths." He shouted his answer to the Citizen. "Do you intend to kill me in this little contest?"
"Absolutely."
"Very well. No one needs to die today, except one of us." Dominic nudged his familiar to hop down to the ground.
Rose said, "I said we have non-lethal duels. I'm not sure you can win this one."
"It's a duel, or killing a lot more people." Dominic began to ride slowly out in front of his army. He tried to sound confident, joking, "Besides, a man who relies on weapons hasn't studied enough."
Rose shook her head. "Humans."
Jakob hissed a warning. "That man's coat is made of springing leather. It's made to resist even iron bolts; your darts will bounce off."
Dominic's own equipment wasn't highly enchanted. He had his usual cloud of darts readied at either side, an oak shield better for use on foot than on horseback, a tough long leather coat with metal bands and a solar insignia, some splinter-cubes to detonate, and the coil of rope on his saddle that was meant for campground use. He studied the foe's less-armored arms and legs. The Citizen's aura in the Weave showed magical power, as any Citizen must have, but there was nothing impressive about it. Dominic thought, Hang him, knock him off the saddle? First there was the matter of defense.