Chane slumped into a chair and lit a cigarette. ‘I don’t know why I bother.’
‘Look, Chane,’ Agang said, ‘I feel sorry for that poor girl as well, but maybe she shouldn’t have been out on her own at that hour…’
The Holdings woman narrowed her eyes and glared at him.
Agang fell silent. He glanced at Hodang, who shrugged.
A guard poked his head through the tent flap.
‘Your Majesty,’ he said, ‘the executions are about to begin.’
‘Excellent,’ Agang said. ‘We shall be out shortly.’
The guard bowed, and withdrew his head from the tent.
‘Are we all ready?’ Agang said.
‘I think I’ll stay here if that’s all right,’ Chane said.
‘You need to develop a stronger stomach,’ he said, ‘but as you wish.’
Hodang opened the tent flap, and Agang strode out. A row of black-uniformed soldiers saluted him, and a horn blared out a high note. On the training fields outside town, the army of Sanang was mustered, arranged in regimental order before him.
With Hodang at his shoulder, Agang walked by the ranks of warriors, nodding and feigning interest. At the head of the line a large group of prisoners, naked and beaten, were surrounded by more soldiers. To the right lay a pile of timber beams.
A captain of the guard was waiting for him. He bowed.
‘Greetings, your Majesty.’
‘Greetings,’ Agang said, gazing at the prisoners. ‘You may begin.’
The captain saluted, then turned to address the captives.
‘You have all been found guilty of treason,’ he called out, ‘and of conspiring against the crown of Sanang. Furthermore, you are guilty of blasphemy, by your idolatrous worship of the accursed firewitch. For your crimes, you will now be crucified.’
He raised an arm, and soldiers moved into the group of prisoners, while others prepared the first wooden beams. Fifty post holes had been dug in a row by the side of the road, deep enough to hold the upright beams. Some of the prisoners started weeping, while others looked dazed, as if they didn’t realise what was happening to them. The first dozen were strapped with leather bands to smaller crossbeams, and then hoisted into the air. A team of soldiers attached them to the uprights, and finished the job by taking hammers to the prisoners’ ankles.
A smell of excrement and urine rose, and the screams began.
Agang took a step back to observe the line of crosses, and Mandalecht joined him.
‘Your Majesty.’
‘Commander.’
‘We’re all set. Shall I give the order to depart?’
‘Please do.’
Mandalecht nodded to an officer, and three short blasts came from a horn. Agang walked to the end of the line of executions, where a raised platform had been built with a throne on top. Agang sat, while Hodang stood at his shoulder. The regiments all turned and saluted their king, and, to the sound of drums and horns, started to march past him down the road, towards the River Tritos.
Six full regiments of veterans from the Rahain war were interspersed with four new units, made up of fresh soldiers formed from ex-slave volunteers. Agang knew that many in the army had misgivings about serving alongside the freed slaves, but B’Dang’s rebellion had demanded an immediate response.
‘The finest army Sanang has ever seen, your Majesty,’ Hodang whispered in his ear. ‘They will return triumphant, with the head of B’Dang D’Bang the traitor on a stick, and the corpse of the vile firewitch, that we may mock it.’
‘Indeed,’ Agang said, gazing down the long lines of armour and uniforms. The last of the prisoners had now been raised, and their cries of agony permeated the morning air.
‘That nest of traitors,’ Hodang spat, following the king’s gaze. ‘Did they think that they could build a secret shrine to the firewitch, and not be punished for their disloyalty? Disgusting creatures.’
‘Do you think there’s more of them?’ Agang said, his eyes fixed on the bodies writhing on the beams.
‘If there are, your Majesty, we shall root them out, and hang them up for all to see.’
‘You didn’t do a very good job rooting these ones out,’ Agang muttered. ‘If the Holdings preachers hadn’t told us there were firewitch worshippers in Broadwater, they’d still be practising their sordid rituals.’
‘I assure you, your Majesty,’ Hodang said, ‘we will not require their assistance next time.’
Agang’s attention went back to the passing ranks of soldiers. In front of him marched one of his newer companies, their leather armour still shiny, and their swords un-blooded. They saluted as they went by; their faces alight with the pride of serving their king as free men.
Next was Echtang’s regiment, one thousand hardened warriors, grim in black. Echtang led the salutes as they marched past the throne, and there was just the hint of a smirk on his lips as he raised his hand.
Agang frowned.
‘Little bastard,’ he spat. He glanced at Hodang. ‘Are we making a mistake?’
‘Your hand was forced, your Majesty,’ Hodang whispered. ‘The alternative would have caused dissension and disruption within the army, not to mention publicly humiliating the second in line to the throne. You chose the least bad path.’
‘That’s not very comforting.’
‘Mandalecht will keep an eye on him, your Majesty.’
Agang’s anger simmered. He wished he had placed a spy within Echtang’s regiment. He was sure the boy was laughing at him behind his back, joking with his officer friends about how he had made a fool out of the king.
As the last of the regiments passed, Agang hoped his grim expression would be seen by the soldiers as expressing a steely determination, rather than the urge to rip his nephew’s head off.
A battalion of household guards by the town gates cheered as the final row of soldiers bound for the south departed down the road, and Agang stood. Escorted by guards, he stepped down off the platform, and walked along the road towards the open gates, the line of executions on his left.
‘What’s next for today?’ he asked Hodang, who was walking a pace behind him.
‘Well, your Majesty…’
There was a great cry from one of the prisoners. Agang turned to look, and saw that a large crow had planted its talons onto the scalp of a man. The prisoner was flailing his head, but the crow persisted, darting down with its beak to jab at the man’s eyes. As Agang turned away, he locked gazes for a second with a crucified woman.
‘You!’ she cried, her voice hoarse. The leather straps binding her arms to the crossbeam were tight enough to break her skin. Her legs were hanging limp, the ankles a mass of blood and jutting bone.
‘Agang, you traitor!’ the woman screamed. ‘You sold Sanang so you could wear a crown. Keira is coming for you! She will burn you, she will burn you all…’
Her voice cut off as a soldier thrust his sword tip through her throat. Her head lolled, blood dripping down her body.
‘Fanatics,’ Hodang said, shaking his head.
Chane was waiting for them by the gates, wrinkling her nose, and keeping her gaze away from the line of dying prisoners.
Agang nodded to her.
‘As you were saying, Hodang. Today’s agenda?’
‘Ah yes, your Majesty,’ his chief minister said. ‘Father Pieper has begged attendance with you. He is waiting in the council chambers for us.’
‘Really? What does he want?’
‘I don’t know, your Majesty,’ said Hodang, as they walked along the busy main street of Broadwater. ‘He came to see me this morning, wanting an audience. I told him he would have to wait until the army had departed. He didn’t seem very pleased by my response.’
‘You’ve not seen much of him recently,’ Chane said. ‘He probably misses you.’
‘I’ve been too busy to listen to his sermonising,’ Agang said. ‘There’s only a certain amount I can take of his sycophancy before it becomes grating.’
&n
bsp; Chane and Hodang shared a long glance.
Agang frowned. ‘Sometimes I think you two are made for each other.’
‘Some of the missionaries suffered an even worse fate, your Majesty,’ Pieper said, his face in the shadows of the council room. ‘Their skin was flayed from their still-breathing bodies, then cut into small portions and distributed among the savage warriors that serve the firewitch. Then, and only then your Majesty, were their broken bodies thrown onto the pyre, to burn with the others, their cries of merciful release reaching the ears of the Creator, whose heart is now as thunder, his will deadly set against the witch and her wicked minions.’
‘How many?’ Agang said.
Pieper raised an eyebrow. ‘Your Majesty?’
‘How many missionaries were killed?’
‘Twenty-three, your Majesty,’ he said. ‘One was set free, to tell us the plight of the others. She now abides in the infirmary, recovering from her ordeal.’
‘And what were they doing south of the River Tritos?’ Hodang said. ‘That region is not currently safe to freely travel.’
‘Alas,’ the priest said, ‘the Creator sees no boundaries, and the word of his glory must be spread wherever there are people to hear it. Moreover, the One True Path greatly honour those who are martyred for the faith. The chapter here are already singing the names of the fallen. The first martyrs of the forest.’
Hodang coughed. ‘Contractually,’ he said, ‘the Realm of Sanang cannot be held liable for these deaths. Our agreement with the Emperor specifically excluded any guarantee that we would be able to protect every missionary who decided to wander off into the forest.’
‘Have you no sympathy, Chief Minister?’ Pieper said. ‘I am simply relaying information to the royal court, not trying for legal advantage.’
Hodang scowled. ‘Apologies.’
‘I have a further message, your Majesty,’ Pieper said to Agang, ‘from the Lord Vicar. The empire is recruiting a new army, an imperial force made up of, and open to, every one of the peoples that inhabit this world. The first units are being formed out of old Holdings cavalry companies, along with Kellach Brigdomin volunteers. In Rahain, new divisions formed of ex-slaves are being enrolled, and in Arakhanah City the call has gone out for recruits. Emperor Guilliam would like to know what contribution to the imperial army the King of Sanang will make.’
‘We shall need to consider this,’ Agang said, catching a look from Hodang. ‘If we offered soldiers, would they be transferred to the Plateau? Whose command would they be under?’
‘The Emperor hopes that, one day, there will be only one army in the world,’ Pieper said. ‘A grand force capable of keeping the peace on the entire continent.’
‘With him in charge, I suppose?’
‘He is the blessed Holder of the World,’ Pieper said, ‘chosen by the Creator. But as I said, this is a long-term aim of his Imperial Majesty. The Lord Vicar also asked me to enquire if the Realm of Sanang needs any material assistance with the quashing of the revolt in the south.’
‘He can send troops?’ said Hodang. ‘I thought the bulk of the alliance forces were still tied up fighting rebels in Rahain.’
‘The process of withdrawing from Rahain has begun,’ Pieper said. ‘Policing is gradually being taken over by the new ex-slave divisions I mentioned before. The empire can re-route these returning alliance forces to come to your aid, if you deem it necessary and appropriate.’
‘You mean alliance soldiers entering Sanang?’ Agang said.
‘Only if you request it, your Majesty.’
‘Things would have to be desperate indeed if it came to that,’ Agang said. ‘Thank the Lord Vicar for the offer, but I’m confident that Mandalecht will be able to deal with B’Dang’s firewitch.’
‘As you wish, your Majesty,’ Pieper said. ‘Now, about our request for mages…’
The door swung open and a soldier wearing scout’s insignia entered.
‘Your Majesty,’ he bowed. ‘Apologies for intruding, but I bear urgent news.’
Agang glanced at Pieper. ‘We shall discuss mages at another time, priest.’
Pieper hid a frown, and bowed low.
Agang nodded to the scout.
The man came forward and prostrated himself in front of the throne.
‘Speak,’ Agang commanded, as the scout trembled.
‘Oakenvale has fallen your Majesty,’ he said. ‘Lord Badranga and his entire family are dead. The firewitch razed his homestead to the ground, and B’Dang D’Bang’s rebel army is on its way to the River Tritos.’
Agang said nothing, horror drying his mouth.
‘How can that be?’ Hodang said. ‘Lord Badranga had over four thousand warriors defending Oakenvale.’
‘I was not there to witness what occurred, Chief Minister,’ the scout said. ‘I was stationed at Juniper Fort when survivors of the massacre arrived, and have run all the way to bring you this news.’
‘Do you wish to reconsider, your Majesty?’ Pieper said with smug eyes. ‘The Lord Vicar’s offer of alliance reinforcements still stands.’
‘Thank you, no,’ Agang said. ‘We have the utmost confidence that Commander Mandalecht shall prevail over these treacherous criminals. They will pay the ultimate price for this foul act.’
He glared down at the scout. ‘Fetch Prince Gadang from the Great Hall.’
‘At once, your Majesty,’ the scout said, scrambling to his feet and sprinting for the door.
Agang stood, and walked across the council chamber to a large map of the Realm of Sanang that hung across one wall, one of Chane’s most beautiful works. He gazed up at it, following the line of the mighty Tritos, from the Black Mountains in the east, all the way to the great ocean in the west.
Pieper appeared at his side.
‘It seems, your Majesty,’ he said, ‘that the southern half of your kingdom is in rebel hands.’
‘Not so,’ said Hodang, joining him. ‘The old Holdings fort where Lady Chane once served lies on the southern bank, and remains garrisoned by loyal warriors.’
‘We must send a warning to Drechtan in Beechwoods,’ Agang said. ‘My old homestead lies north of the only river crossing in that area. The road from Oakenvale leads directly to it.’
‘Mandalecht’s army will be at the bridge by Autumn’s Day, your Majesty.’ Hodang said.
Chane shook her head. ‘He’ll need to hurry. If B’Dang’s left Oakenvale, he’ll reach it first.’
‘Your Majesty,’ Hodang said, lines furrowing his forehead, ‘if the firewitch breaks into northern Sanang…’
‘We must not allow that,’ Agang said. ‘Have scouts catch up with the army. Instruct Mandalecht to send his fastest units ahead, to secure the bridge over the Tritos as quickly as possible. Or destroy it if necessary.’
‘I’ll see to it immediately, your Majesty.’ Hodang bowed and left the room, passing the prince as he entered. His nose was swollen, and there were purple bruises under his eyes.
‘Father Pieper,’ Agang said, ‘your audience is at an end.’
‘As you wish, your Majesty,’ he bowed, ‘although if I could humbly request that I remain at your side, in case my advice is needed?’
Agang shook his head. ‘You are forbidden to enter where we must go.’
‘Your Majesty?’
‘We have a duty to perform,’ he said. ‘The late Lord Badranga’s younger daughter lives in the Great Hall here in Broadwater. Her father left her for safe-keeping when he last visited, entrusting us with the guardianship of her honour. We must inform her of the sad news concerning her father.’
‘Am I not allowed to see her, your Majesty?’ Pieper said.
‘You are not. The female enclosure is no place for a foreign man to be.’ He glanced over to the others. ‘Gadang, Chane, you shall accompany us.’
Hodang appeared back at the door.
‘A scout has been sent to Mandalecht, your Majesty.’
‘Good. Let us go and inform Lady Oakenvale of her loss.�
��
The girl sat on a low couch, fully covered in a long robe, with only a slit for her eyes. An older woman sat on her left, frowning at the king and his companions. Female servants crossed the carpets of the plush reception room, serving mead.
Agang took a chair opposite the girl, while Chane and Hodang sat close by. Prince Gadang hung in the background, holding a fresh handkerchief to his nose.
‘Lady Oakenvale,’ Agang began.
The girl sat in silence.
‘Her ladyship does not speak to men, your Majesty,’ the older woman said, ‘except for her noble father and brothers.’
Agang nodded. ‘Lord Badranga was a traditional family man.’
‘Was, your Majesty?’ the older woman said.
‘Yes. I regret to inform her ladyship that her father and brothers are dead, slain by the firewitch as they defended their homestead. Her elder sister also perished in the flames.’
From behind the cloth covering her face the girl let out a sob. The older woman looked stricken. She reached out and took the girl’s hand.
‘We are sorry for your loss,’ Agang said. ‘Lord Badranga was a great friend and loyal ally. I swear to you that we shall avenge his murder. We shall lay the corpse of the firewitch before you, that you may spit on it.’
The girl said nothing.
‘You are now the Lady of Oakenvale,’ Agang said. ‘Please know that you remain welcome to stay here in the Great Hall of Broadwater, as our honoured guest.’
‘Guest, your Majesty?’ the older woman said.
‘She has a point, your Majesty,’ Hodang said. ‘I’m not sure “guest” is appropriate. With the deaths of all other heirs to Oakenvale, her ladyship now holds her father’s lands in lieu.’
‘In lieu of what?’ said Chane.
‘In lieu of her marriage,’ said Hodang, ‘when her husband will take over the lordship of the lands south of the Tritos.’
‘Marriage? Is she betrothed?’
Hodang shrugged. ‘Not yet.’
The Magelands Box Set Page 101