“My apologies my lord, but he swore that these were your orders and not to wake any of you due to the long journey ahead. Shall I prepare the others to trail him to the city and stop-“
“No. No, he would be well in the city before we arrived. If we enter, these companions will be arrested and we could only ruin his chances of success, and those are miniscule at best already.” Cristoff chuckled and looked to the mountain behind him.
“I am sorry sire. He is your cousin, we could send riders ahead if you wish.” the sergeant hung his head low, feeling incompetent for believing the knight of Harlaheim.
“There is no apology needed. Let us prepare the remaining men, the mountain is our dutied road this day. We have only half a day left, and I wish to reach the summit before nightfall. Make ready the men and our foreign allies.” the noble lord knew that it was out of his hands, and that even if Savanno succeeded, he would lead the kings men to his city. If he were not at his keep, there would be much to implicate him, and much questioning. Cristoff smiled, feeling glad his family was far away from all of it, safe in Caberra.
Saberrak the gray stepped out of his tent, stretching his arms and chest wide, greataxe in hand. The minotaur went to see what it was this lord was looking at over the valley they had traversed late in the dark before camp. The human man, graying hair and small crown adorned, turned and gave a slight bow to the minotaur. Saberrak was confused, for no one bowed to him, ever. “Why do you bow to me, human? You are the lord of somewhere, not me.”
“I give respect to honor and bravery, Saberrak the gray. You and your friends have been through much, and it seems you have prevailed despite great odds and risk. I admire that, I always have.” Cristoff patted the minotaur on the shoulder, a bit higher than he was used to however. “Being human has nothing to do with honor or bravery.”
“You let Savanno leave to Harlaheim, didn’t you?” the minotaur looked at the lord, trying to see if he was an honest man.
“No, I did not. Though, presented with what he wished to do, I most likely would have. I know what it is to love, to lose and want it back. I do not have any reference in my life as to what he is feeling now. My prayers go with him.” his face stern now, thinking of the thousands that moved around the city, and what would happen if Savanno were spotted.
“Will you be going to get your army and assist him for this woman?” Saberrak snorted, expecting more human folly of love and stupidity.
“No. By the time we assembled my men in Saint Erinsburg and headed to the capital, it would be all over, one way or the other. I have my mission, and that is to get you and your scroll safely to the mountain. I hope to see my cousin and the queen alive, but that is in Gods hands now.”
“Hrrmmpph.” the minotaur walked away to get the others, surprised once again at human’s reliance on their Gods, rash actions pertaining to women, and issues of family and loyalty. This one, Cristoff, he thought he could trust..
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The metal clank of heavy footsteps in plate armor echoed in the small corridors of L’Herrim dungeon. Torches flickered, men moaned and argued from their cells, and the royal guard of the castle opened the doors for their king. Richmond was escorted by six of his own men to the upper dungeon, which was more of a holding area, not as filthy as the lower cells meant for those that would not see the light of day for many years, if ever. They marched up the stone stairs to the northern tower of the prison wing, Richmond doing his best to look wracked with defeat and overcome with depression.
The guard leading the procession set his halberd aside, removed his metal gauntlet, and reached for the keys once more to open the thick iron barred oak door the queen’s prison chamber. The wood moaned low as it opened, revealing a dark room, small and lit only by a barred window high above the reach of anyone. Rosana lay on the bed staring back at the king from a curled sitting position with her knees pulled close to her chin. The blankets were insufficient for the moist chill in the room, and besides a chamber pot and a chair, the bed was all there was to the cell.
“Fetch more blankets for the queen please.” Richmond gave the order, but heard no movements from the guards.
“My king, we are under order of your seneschal to-“
“I am aware of it! A simple kindness should not require an order of authority, now get the queen more blankets man!” his anger shone bright in his eyes and quick from his lips. The king stood still in the door until he heard them whisper and then the steps leaving from one guard to do as he had asked.
“Do not pretend to have care for my comfort, bastard! I see through your act where others may not.” Rosana glared at him, wishing she had a knife to throw at his throat. Her crown lay on the floor, she thought of it, but decided it would not kill him so she remained on the bed.
“My queen, do not judge me so harshly, for you are not the only one-“
“Burn in hell Richmond! I care not of anything that happens to you, save that I get to see it when they kill you too.” her tears ran down her face, wishing she had the energy to strangle the young noble here in her cell.
“Florin has taken power, I have been restrained to my quarters Rosana.” he moved to the bed, despite her inching to the far opposite corner as if he were the devil himself.
“You gave the order for her to search my room, and signed the order for my execution! You were still in power then you evil son of a bitch!” she felt her belly, wishing Savanno was here with a blade through her kings chest.
“That is before I knew of the child that you carry. I know it is not mine, it could not be. You have been far from what I would expect of a queen, Rosana. However, I cannot kill a woman bearing a child, one that is heir to the throne at least.” he tried to calm her torrent of hostility with reassurance as best he could.
“So am I to be executed then?”
“No, I will stay the order with the bishop and plead with Florin. Trust me, I want my kingdom out of the hands of the seneschal and the church. With Savanno fleeing, the siege on Kalzarius, and Florin assuming power over me; I need allies that I do not possess to reverse what has happened.” Richmond did his best act to seem pathetic and frustrated.
“And what of Savanno? Is he to be executed?” Rosana did not believe that this young Harlian noble was capable of any compassion, but at this vulnerable state she would listen to anything.
“If we can regain the thrones and power, Rosana, what would you have a king do?” he forced some tears, false and empty, but water trickled from his eyes nonetheless.
“Let us leave together, say we’ve run off to sanctuary of another kingdom, say we were killed, I do not care how you spin it.” she sobbed, wanting to see her secret husband once again and for this to have all been a bad dream.
“You will have to sign papers stating the child is illegitimate.” he sighed, as if the weight of this was killing him.
“I will sign anything you wish Richmond, as long as I leave your kingdom with Savanno safely, never to return.” her hopes began to rise, feeling like this might not be the end after all.
“All we need now is someone to rescue us from this power that Florin holds. Savanno lives, for I know that he killed Sir Bernardus. If the stay of execution was kept private, will he come for you?” Richmond was curious to see how deep the feelings went in this affair of hers. He admired her dark hair, long wavy and curled in places, and her rich brown eyes that were puffy and swollen from crying. It was hard for him not to smile at her anguish.
“Of course he will, he is my husband.” she lowered her head and began to sob again, the pain of all this far too much for her.
“Husband? How, when?” the king was shocked, to say the least. He had not any notion of an illegal marriage between the two, just that what Florin had proven to him of an affair.
“We were married in Caberra two years before your father and my father talked. My father would never let me marry anything besides wealthy nobility, but I loved Savanno, and he loved me. We were wed in
secret there, and then you happened. It was not my intent or wish, and please do not lie to me and say that your heart is broken. I know you despise me as much as I do you, Richmond.” she stared at him, feeling free and relieved of the truth, finally.
Richmond thought long and hard, furrowing his brow in silence. He looked at his wife, who he now realized belonged to another man, and sighed with an obvious false smile. “Well, that answers a lot of things for me then.”
“So what do we do now?”
“I will speak to the bishop without Florin’s knowledge, and get him to hold the execution. Take this,” he slipped her a small key with a crown head, “and when he comes, get me out of my chambers. I will retake the throne, pardon you and Savanno, and have Florin’s head. Once that is done, you and he will leave here, never to return. You have my word.” Richmond reached his hand to touch her cheek.
Rosana withdrew, turning her face to the side. “I would prefer it in writing, your highness.”
“I will have papers drawn then, my queen. You assist me, and you will be free of this place forever. I sincerely hope your husband can reach us. For if he does not free us both, seneschal Florin will not stop until we are dead and she has all the power in the kingdom.” Richmond stood, nodded at Rosana, and walked out the door to be escorted to his royal chambers. He stopped, taking the blankets from the guard, and tossed them on the bed.
“Guard, I wish to have the bishop come to my room for confession, now.” Richmond walked with his royal entourage as a captive in his own castle, a captive still with much to do and more schemes to spin.
Johnas II:I
Castle Valhera, Valhirst, Chazzrynn
“And of course you will have all the necessary men in place, Lady Katrina? I do not want my gold to go to the bottom of your vaults and receive poor planning.” Johnas raised his nose in the air and cast the mercenary lord a sarcastic glance with his squinted green eyes. Though of no relation, Johnas noticed how his noble nose and blonde hair nearly matched that of his guest, Katrina of Willborne. Her long straight yellow-gold hair was intermingled with gray, just as his. Her regal garb was far more masculine and militant with chainmail and greaves, however.
Katrina had been sick of this throne room for an hour now and wanted nothing more than to leave. Watching and listening to this pompous criminal play the part of regal prince was enough to drive her to plunge her longsword into his sternum. “Yes Prince Johnas, the men are in place to watch all the border roads to the north of your kingdom, well your uncle’s kingdom that is.” she bowed with a smirk.
“So, the Marsh Road, Willborne Tradeway, Baily, Heumar, and Larkenport?” the prince listed all of the roads and towns he had thought of. Johnas was not certain that the fugitives would escape Harlaheim, but if they did he wanted to be ready.
“Even the Garalan River routes, your highness. The free cities of Willborne are well watched Johnas, as long as the coin is flowing. Nothing will pass through the north without me knowing of it.” Katrina of Willborne would have much rather met below the city, in the comfort of the criminals she could see, rather than be in a throne room where she did not know who was an actual guard or an assassin. She and Johnas had this game going for decades now. She took his gold to allow him free passage and trade for his criminal organization while she watched the roads and trade routes for his enemies. When the White Spider agents crept into her cities, she would kill a few and let him come to her. After a few examples, Katrina’s prices would raise, she would remind him to keep his scum out of her lands, and then they would corroborate on new plans at deceiving Harlaheim, Chazzrynn, Shanador, or Caberra. His ways were that of assassination and skullduggery, and hers were the old traditions of militant warfare and mercenary code. Both worked well together when they were not planning the demise of one another.
“I had asked for some information regarding on Balric D’Vrelle and an agent of mine he has taken hostage, any word?” Johnas knew that she would not have responded and shown herself in Castle Valhera without anything to barter with, but he much enjoyed testing her. Her Knights of Willborne, as she called them, were nothing more than armed mercenaries and deadly veteran dragoons with rules to follow and coin to keep them loyal. Had they not been so utterly efficient, the patriarch of the White Spider would have had her floating in the Carisian Sea for the prices she charged.
“Yes, plenty of word there. My men in the confidence of the Chazzrynn army have located your former captain of the guard and his lover, Vanessa Blackflame. Three thousand more, Johnas.” one of her bodyguards stepped forward with an empty chest. Katrina felt it a small price since she had lost two spies in the process of gaining the information. One was found out in Harlaheim by a White Spider agent of Johnas Valhera by the name of Alec. The other was killed by this Balric fugitive in Loucas just last week.
Johnas nodded to one of his many servants, and the bodyguard followed him to back room to fill the chest. “Agreed. And what have you found out my lady?”
“The man and woman you seek are in Loucas, and the capital of your kingdom is difficult to infiltrate indeed. He is under close watch by the king. Her wounds are healing with help from the priests. He has not divulged any information that we are yet aware of, but not for lack of the king trying; he does suspect you have something to do with the whole ordeal.” the lady mercenary held back a bit, waiting to see if he sensed there was more to tell. She walked back and forth on his red velvet carpet in front of the throne, smiling as would any woman who had something a man wanted.
“Where is he being kept? The Salganat Fortress?” Johnas knew that he already knew these things, but still wanted to make sure his information matched hers. He thought of the Harlian spy who he had cut wide with his kris blade and imprisoned. One disloyal member of his underworld guild and this swordsman spy from Harlaheim made off with his prized slavegirl. If it were not that he luckily ran into the king of Chazzrynn that day and been escorted onto a royal galleon, Balric would be enjoying the pleasures of torture nightly.
“Yes Prince Valhera, an impossible place to infiltrate from the outside. He has sent letters that our men intercepted, but not to whom you would think.” she smiled so hard it hurt her face, Katrina had him right where she wanted him. With four cities and an army of twenty thousand to feed, she needed all the coin she could get, and Johnas had plenty.
“He is a spy from Harlaheim, obviously sent to find his way into the White Spider there in his homeland by King Richmond the Second. Richmond wants to keep an eye on me because he is young and does not trust my dealings-“
“Wrong.”
“Wrong? It was written all over him when he arrived, we all had him pegged and we were right-“
“Wrong I said. You are losing your touch Johnas, trust me. He was not sent by the king of Harlaheim. Why would a king send one of his own countrymen to gain access to your operations in Harlaheim and then send him here? Too obvious.” Katrina loved to beat the mastermind of Valhirst at his own game of who knows the most. She swaggered with an air of confidence that no man could put asunder, tossing her blonde hair over her armored shoulder guards. Her green eyes flickered with joy and supremacy.
“Then who? Who would want to find me out? My uncle the king would have acted should he know anything solid, and Balric would have spilled his story by now.” Johnas was agitated now, confused, his mind racing. He stood up in his regal robes and paced the steps of the raised dais that held his throne.
“The church.”
“Why would the church of Alden want anything to do with me? It makes no sense.” the prince of Valhirst sat back down, hoping to be enlightened to her train of thought.
“The church cannot abide the failing rule and depravity that Richmond sets upon his people and kingdom. They have wanted his line to end for some time, as it has been too many kings of that family that have led Harlaheim away from church and decency for far too long.” Katrina paused.
“Common knowledge, nothing more.”
“A
nd, rumors exist that Richmond, last of that line, has close dealings with Florin, the lady knight of the court and seneschal. Titles she does not deserve, as you and I are aware; and we also know she is your lady in charge in Harlaheim, Johnas.” the lady of Willborne paced more, tapping her longsword pommel with her gloved hand.
Johnas thought deeply, still not understanding what this had to do with him. “And what of it? The church cannot hope to tie the failures of Harlaheim to me.”
“No, simply that Florin has power from the king, power over the kingdom, and that she is tied to you. If they can prove you are influencing the court of Harlaheim through unsavory means, they could see it as an act of political war. And since the church suspects Caberra of the same political deceptions, they are most interested in who is really ruining the kingdom besides the young king.”
“Caberra? How is it that they are involved in this? My agents have reported nothing of the sort.”
“The queen, Johnas. Rosana was a princess of Caberra. Married to a high ranking knight in the order of Saint Tarumin secretly, many years before she was given to Richmond by the king of Caberra. The church sees her as a threat, since they have found her record of marriage previous, and they have the shame of one of their most noble order involved should anyone ever find out. So if the cardinal can prove that you and Florin have part of the throne, the Caberran queen has her deceptions that could trace back to her homeland; the church could very well deem the rule of Richmond undermined and supplant him.” Katrina bowed to Johnas, smiling from ear to ear.
“Replace the king of Harlaheim? With who?” Johnas was still confused, though the logic and motive was believable.
“The Cardinal of course. He left for Acelinne in Shanador several weeks ago to make it official, however this Balric was supposed to arrive as well with his findings and absolute proof and testimony of your involvements. Once you were exposed, Florin exposed, and the queen exposed with this knight she carries the child of; The Aldane would send…”
The Exodus Sagas: Book II - Of Dragons And Crowns Page 13