by Dan Decker
Once the men had arranged themselves as instructed, the Colonel called together the other men and started to give orders detailing plans to take the next gate. While that was going on, Adar took his men and disappeared. Nelion followed after before they disappeared from view.
Chapter 24
As Adar and his men ran through the hallway that connected the southern tower with the central tower, he wondered how long it had taken Helam to capture the other gates.
Given that Helam had come with so few men, he would have kept as many of them together as possible until the final tower gate was captured in case he needed to take a gate by force. It was only after he’d done that that he would have been able to proceed to the Rarbon Portal.
At least that’s what Adar would have done.
Helam may also have delegated the task to other men and gone straight to the Rarbon Portal, where the true challenge lay. The Redd Guard weren’t going to be so easily fooled by Helam’s poison dusted bread. The thought made Adar increase his speed. As he did so, he wondered if he’d been wrong about Helam’s intentions. It was just as possible that Helam might have taken advantage of tonight’s ball to capture some of the powerful politicians that would be in attendance.
Adar rolled the thought around and decided that even though he didn’t think that was likely, it would still be wise to look into the ball as they passed to make sure that nothing was amiss.
Music echoed through the hallway as they approached the central tower, indicating that Adar’s assumption had been correct. Helam hadn’t intended to take advantage of Rarbon’s powerful and elite while they were drunk. At least not yet. No, he had other far more reaching plans. As the evening had progressed, it had become clear that Helam had been working towards this goal for some time. Between the words that Elaire and Helam had exchanged and what Adar had heard himself, Helam had been thorough with his planning.
Adar had smelled the powder that had knocked out the Palace Guard but hadn’t been able to recognize it. Whatever it was, Helam had probably spent a lot of time finding and refining it. The bread had smelled fresh and Helam must have stopped somewhere on the way here. He had probably long ago decided on a bakery, with an alternate in mind as well. That led to another matter that Adar couldn’t stop thinking about.
The question that had never bothered him until tonight. Could the attack on him all those years ago have been a setup to get him to reveal one of the hidden entrances? Had Helam seized the opportunity of losing in the tournament to beat Adar senseless, hoping that Adar would choose to use a hidden entrance? What other reason could Helam have had for waiting until Adar was near the palace before closing in?
Before Adar had become drunk, he remembered seeing Helam’s face in the crowd of the tavern. At one point, Adar had even thought of going over to gloat but had been distracted by something else and never made it over. Helam had just sat there, watching Adar and counting every drink.
If Adar’s theory was correct, Helam had been making this plan for five years. Had Elaire’s actions tonight pushed him over the edge or did he honestly believe Elaire’s claim that the Hunwei were close?
Semal believed that the window for their arrival wouldn’t open for several more years, possibly longer. The ancient records he had to work with didn’t provide much certainty.
What could Elaire know that Semal didn’t? She wasn’t a scholar. Did the Kopal have access to information that others didn’t know about?
The lively music disturbed him from the questions rattling around in his mind. He thought he recognized the tune of The Scarred Man but just as he started to pay attention the song ended and another took its place that he didn’t know.
Adar snorted when he thought of the scar on his chest. Scarred Man indeed.
The aroma of baking pies and roasting pork wafted from an open door as they passed the kitchen. It would have normally made his mouth water, but even the thought of biting into a cherry-apple pie made him want to spit to clear his palate of the imagined taste. Any food from Abel’s table would have his taint, no matter how good the cook.
As they approached the ballroom, Adar recognized the booming laughter of Councilman Kaer Loweel. The laugh wasn’t as slurred as it could have been, considering that he’d been drinking all night, but that wasn’t a surprise. The man held his liquor until he had drunk enough to drown other normal men. Only then did he start to show signs of inebriation.
The man was heavy enough that he could barely walk from his carriage to the Rarbon Council chambers on his own. It would have been a chore for him to come this far but Kaer never missed a chance to attend one of these things. He was probably lounging at a table surrounded by the remains of more than his share of plates and empty cups.
It grated on Adar that somebody like Kaer would be deciding the challenges he would have to pass to become Ghar. He’d heard that Kaer was becoming more open about taking his bribes and had even joked around about it in public. Adar didn’t have trouble believing the story. It was bad enough that the man was corrupt but to have him flaunt it would only encourage others to do the same. People had little enough faith in the council as it was.
Adar realized he was grinding his teeth and stopped.
Even though it had been many years since he had bothered to attend one of his father’s extravagant parties, the familiar sounds and smells coming from the ballroom filled him with melancholy. His mother had loved the parties and usually could have been found in a corner with a group of people. It was partially for her that he’d considered attending this evening but he was glad for the distraction, as dire as it was, because he was already losing faith in the ruling people of the city. He didn’t need any more reminders.
Most of the council were pompous people that thought they knew how to govern. They believed that because they had money and power they could get away with the garish lifestyles they set up for themselves. He would have been hard pressed to find another group of politicians so out of touch with the people and the realities of daily life.
He was tempted to peek his head into the ballroom, curious to see if his father had heeded the message that he’d sent. Chances were that Abel had shrugged it off. If he had ignored Adar’s warning, there wasn’t much more that Adar could do about it.
After a few steps, Adar stopped and sighed, remembering the promise he’d made to his mother the final time he’d spoken to her. She’d somehow seemed to know their conversation was an opportunity that wouldn’t come again. If only Adar would have known as well.
When she asked for his promise never to hurt Abel, he’d been taken aback. Both Abel and Adar had taken pains to keep their escalating tension from spilling into her bedroom, but she’d known anyway. She’d relaxed after the oath and given him a smile. It was the last one he’d ever seen from her lips.
Adar had often wondered if she’d made Abel give the same promise. While there were times that Adar was convinced his father had laid out traps that could have killed him, there had always seemed to be a way out. That was just like his father, justifying an attempt on Adar’s life because he hadn’t bothered to make the plan foolproof.
If Helam had sent Tymy after Adar, he would also have sent somebody to assassinate Abel.
Adar couldn’t let that happen, even without a promise to his mother. After a moment of hesitation, Adar pointed to one of his men. He didn’t know the man’s name.
“You. Get in there and find the Rahar. Tell him that the threat on his life has escalated and that Helam has invaded the palace. He needs to send guards to relieve my men. If he’s too drunk, make sure you get to his guards and order them on my authority to take him to safety.”
As the man disappeared into the ballroom, Adar noticed several of his men peering in with interest. They’d probably heard rumors of the famed bashes and would have liked to join the throng.
Adar growled. “Hurry up.” He began running again, at a faster speed than he had before. For all he knew, Helam had already gained access to
the Portal.
Helam’s work had been made too easy by the idiot guards that the Rarbon Council hired to protect the palace. None of them had stopped to wonder why Helam had showed up with armed men bearing bread.
That should have been enough to make them ask more questions, but instead they’d eaten and fallen to the floor, allowing Helam to sneak in right under the noses of Abel and the other partygoers.
A few moments later, Adar found the stairwell leading to the lower levels and paused. He held his finger up to his lips and waited until he’d made sure all of his men had seen it before heading down the stairs.
Chapter 25
Helam rubbed the side of his head and suppressed a yawn as he slowed to a halt. He was on the landing of the last flight of stairs that would lead down to the floor with the Portal. It wasn’t large enough for all of his men, so the majority stopped on the staircase behind him.
The plan had gone better than he hoped but that was about to change. In the past, whenever he had considered taking the portal by force, he’d planned to have more than two hundred men at his back, not twenty-seven.
His best men against the ten Redd Guard on duty should be more than enough, but he suspected that their headquarters was nearby, perhaps even on the same floor. That made him nervous, but he had already come this far, he might as well go the full distance.
The layout of the floor where the Rarbon Portal was located was different from every other floor in the catacombs under the Palace. The others were open and spacious, with many rooms and hallways. The one with the Portal had a small entry area with two large metal doors for the Portal and one less pretentious door that was unguarded. Whatever lay behind the smaller door was a mystery that Helam had been unable to crack.
Once he’d secured the room, he intended to place ten men on the door with orders to kill anybody that came out of it, just in case that was where the Redd Guard base was located.
Helam had given a lot of thought over the years to how he would overcome the Redd Guard but had never been able to develop a satisfying plan other than the use of overwhelming force. If he killed one, he’d be forced to kill them all. Not just those on duty, but the whole of the order.
Their membership could be twenty; it could be two hundred. This was why he had a thousand more men on the way. Those unproven men wouldn’t fight the Redd Guard, but they might be enough to bluff the Redd Guard into standing down. He hoped that it wouldn’t come to that, but it wouldn’t hurt to have the option.
He was also hesitant to kill the Redd Guard because the people of Rarbon had a feeling of reverence for them that approached what they had for their gods. Some even believed that the Redd Guard were children of the gods.
The Redd Guard was closer to a religious cult than a military organization. There had been so little written about them, that Helam had been lucky to learn that they'd been organized right after the Severing. He knew nothing more than that. He’d tried to learn why they’d been established but that secret was lost to anyone that wasn’t part of their order. Even their method of funding had remained a mystery. The people he’d sought out on the Rarbon Council knew next to nothing about that as well. As long as the Rarbon Portal had been shut, the Redd Guard had been there to guard it. That was all anybody knew.
Several of the men on the staircase behind him had begun a hushed conversation and Helam silenced them with a glance. Both Paele and Nik should have known better. Paele was a squat fellow but almost impossible to knock off his feet. Nik was taller than Paele but still shorter than Helam and had a face that most people trusted. That was why he was carrying the basket of poisoned bread. Paele looked away in shame but Nik nodded his head.
Even though he knew it was futile, Helam motioned to Nik and pointed downstairs. Nik held the basket away from his chest—as if touching the dust would somehow have an effect on him—and swallowed in hesitation but didn’t move. Helam grabbed Nik by the arm and pushed him forward a step. That earned an angry look from Nik but he continued down the stairs.
Helam held his breath when Nik reached the final stair and walked out onto the floor. It looked as though he was about to look back over his shoulder but he disappeared from view without doing so.
As the seconds ticked by, Helam strained his ears to hear but was unable to make out anything other than the distant sounds of music coming from the party, though, he wasn’t certain that he hadn’t just imagined that.
Perspiration dripped down his forehead and he could feel his heart beating in his chest. If one of the Redd Guard took a bite, that would be one less he'd have to overcome. That would mean another of his men that lived, maybe two. It would be better if Nik managed to convince several to partake.
Nik hadn't been gone for longer than a minute before Helam heard a muffled scream and the sound of a basket falling to the floor that was followed by a louder thump.
He waited, hoping that it hadn't been what he thought. The last thing that he needed was one of his men turning up with a slit neck. As the minutes passed and the soldier didn't return, he sighed.
He had no choice but to take the Portal by blood, something that he was loath to do. He shouldn't have left so many of his men guarding the gates. He hated going into the unknown but was certain of one thing. It was going to be a bloodbath.
Helam motioned his men forward, suppressing a sigh of resignation at their shuffling footsteps. His men had noticed his uncertainty.
He gave them a glare that he hoped would dispel the questions they were dealing with. After several long moments of looking at them each in turn, he walked down the stairs first, as with a purpose, trusting that they would follow.
As he went he tried to force the unanswered questions about the Redd Guard to the side but found he was unable to think about anything else.
It bothered him that he'd never been able to recruit a spy from among the ranks of the Redd Guard. He had been able to recruit spies in all the armies and even Abel’s closest confidant received Helam’s gold. When the third man Helam had sent after the Redd Guard had turned up with a slit neck. He'd given up on that approach but not on solving the problem. The last man had been one of his best and his orders had been to befriend one of the Redd Guard. That had been a hard way to learn that the Redd Guard didn’t want or need friends.
Helam knew nothing about how they fought or even how skilled they were. He'd never even heard one speak or been able to ascertain how they got their recruits.
On several occasions, when Helam had been lucky enough to run into one outside the Palace, he had had them followed from a distance but his men had been found dead yet again.
Helam reached the final stair and stepped into the room. Nik’s body was gone along with his basket but there was a slick of blood on the floor. This caused Helam to pause for the briefest moment. Cursing under his breath, he stepped forward to allow the rest of his men to enter behind him.
The ten men of the Redd Guard stared while his soldiers filed in. As one, all their faces were devoid of any emotion. Helam scanned the guards, trying to determine which one might be the equivalent of a captain, but they wore no insignia and their uniforms were the same.
One of the Redd Guard stepped forward and Helam wondered if he was about to hear one speak for the first time. The guard was shorter than the others but Helam had a hard time determining his age. The man could have been fourteen or forty. His red leather armor covered him past the neck and his helmet hid much of his face. Instead of opening his mouth, the man unsheathed a short sword from where it hung on his back and charged.
On instinct, Helam withdrew his own and ran to meet the challenge.
Bleeding Melyah! He thought as he ran. Fools and swords, but I’m committed now. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d acted in such a rash manner. It had been foolish for him to accept the challenge. He could hear his men removing their own swords and from his peripheral vision, he could see others from the Redd Guard charging as well. All of it happened in less than a few s
econds.
Helam focused on the short man attacking him. He didn’t have time for anything else.
Their blades met with a clang. The sound of the metal striking was still fresh in the air as the Redd Guard brought back his sword and swung again. Helam was hard pressed to meet the attack but barely did. The little man was quick.
Apprehension filled Helam, his foe moved with the grace of a young man and the strength of somebody with many hours of training.
Helam should have stepped to the back when the man charged, that’s what he’d been in the habit of doing the last couple of years. Swinging a sword was a young man’s game. He’d just become so caught up in the moment that he’d allowed his training to kick in.
At least his men had joined the battle as well. If that hadn’t happened, he would have been in trouble.
Helam met the next several attacks as he became concerned about the state of the battle. The short Redd Guard was keeping him busy enough that he didn’t catch more than a glimpse here and there.
Paele was on the floor, a dazed look on his bloody face. A Redd Guard lay face down on top of him with a dagger in his back. Another Redd Guard was on his knees, his hands to his side as he took a deep breath.
Clang. Helam had almost been too slow. If he would had been a heartbeat slower, he’d have lost a hand. Cursing, he pulled back, hoping to gain a chance to catch a breath but the Redd Guard followed him, relentless with his attack.
Helam brought up his sword in time to block another blow and wished that he hadn’t sent Tymy and Hanri off to fulfill other assignments. Either one would have been able to cut down this Redd Guard. His heart raced and it was becoming difficult to breathe. Before too much longer, he would start to slow and then it would just be a matter of time.