by Wade Adrian
Cecil stared at his hands for a few moments before nodding. “I think I’m good with that.”
Murray shrugged. “What have I got to lose?” He tossed the bottle of wine over his shoulder. It bounced off the wall. The skeleton narrowed his eyes at the bottle settling on the floor. “Much like that, this whole immortality thing has been a disappointment.”
Cecil pointed at Kenley. “Seems like your last gig is done. Start looking into destroying the crown, or just how far out we’ll need to drop it in the ocean, or whatever. But I’d keep it quiet unless you think any of the other scholars would agree. Let us know if you find something.”
Kenley shook his head. “Finding like minded fellows would be… difficult. It means a dull future. They hope for great stories to record. Personally I’d be fine with a bit of dullness if it means humanity survives. Really, if we all die, who will read our history?”
“Makes sense to me.” He shrugged.
Murray nodded. “I can’t even read your crazy moon speak. Why don’t you write in proper Araline?”
The scholar tilted his head a skosh. “A good point. I hadn’t considered that even if someone does remain, they might not be fluent. So much lost.” He shook his head. “I will seek a means to destroy the crown, though it’s clearly treason.”
Cecil shrugged. “I can order you to do it.”
“Technically I don’t work for you. I’m just a guest.”
Murray snapped his fingers. “Got it. I kill you, then we raise you, then he orders you to do it.”
Kenley blinked a few times. “I don’t believe I require further motivation.”
The skeleton chuckled. “I’m good at this. Shame my reign was so short.”
“Oh, yes. I’m sure it would have been… interesting.”
Lord Egerton as he swept his hands, sending excavators to search the area indicated by Kenley’s reports. And a few other places, too. Aldora had talked him into that as she watched from her place beside him on the balcony. More was better, after all. Maybe they’d find something more powerful than the blade of Savril. Or just other things, the beginnings of a pile of artifacts. But even if they found nothing it would be harder for Redding and his people to ignore several dig sites than one.
She had considered the point in the meeting, but she’d kept it to herself until she was alone with Egerton. A good idea delivered to him made him look better for taking the action, where giving it to the meeting would have made her look better and she didn’t require elevation. In truth, neither did he, but she had yet to meet a man, alive or dead, that didn’t have an ego to inflate.
Caution was required, of course. Press too hard and one might become suspicious. It took a careful hand. “These trinkets we seek… they mean nothing beside the crown?”
“How could they?” The skeleton didn’t turn to look at her, his attention locked on the field. “Without it none of them would even be here. Fodder for a rummage sale, the lot.”
“The crown’s power is truly great.” She nodded a bit. “Yet it seems… crude somehow. It forces you to obey, does it not?”
The skeleton shrugged one shoulder. “I would anyway. I had loyal servants, and all that is done betters the Dark Lord, which in turn betters the next. It is a cycle, and I profited on my turn.”
He was broken to its will, much as she had thought. And yet… “But you don’t think very highly of Muireach.”
“Ugh. No. Who would? The bumbling fool.”
“But if he’d had time, he would have been the first lord you served.”
“Perish the thought.”
A small smile crept onto her face. It was an opening, if a small one. A crack in the shield. “I like to think you would have known better, even if the crown compelled you. After all, is what the Dark Lord thinks is best truly better than what you, with years of experience, know is best?”
His red eyes shifted a few times before returning to the field. “I can’t say. We’re fortunate that it doesn’t matter. Cecil, for all his quirks, has done nothing to call our loyalty into question.”
“Oh, indeed not.” She nodded.
With that the seed was planted. It would stew in his head, grow and cause him to question. Unerring loyalty would be a pesky thing when the time came.
If only it would be so easy to nudge Murray. He was, as Egerton so expertly described him, a bumbling fool. And loyal to another bumbling fool, to boot.
She flipped through the notes. These objects might not have much use to Cecil, but she didn’t have a crown that made blindly loyal skeleton warriors. She’d need some sort of edge, and all of these had been brought to this place for the same purpose: to kill a Dark Lord. Some of them must still be useful.
She wasn’t ready, but he was getting too clever for his own good. Unfortunately Gomer was too old fashioned and Redding too self centered to be so easily coerced as Cecil was, or she would have left by now. Time, it seemed, was no longer on her side. They would make their plays against Cecil, and with her help, he would triumph. But by their work he would be weakened, and that would be the time to strike.
She smiled as she looked out over the field, skeletons toiling away. It would make a lovely garden when all of this was over. She could definitely see this being her palace… with some work.
“Cecil is so busy of late, what with the encroaching forces. Do you think you could bring me any news of the other objects found before you trouble him? I wouldn’t want to waste his time or growing frustration with useless information. We’ll ponder together if what they find will help the effort, or be worth his time.”
Egerton nodded. “No promises. Most of it is best suited to doing exactly what it is doing, sitting in a hole.”
Kenley’s notes disagreed, and he wasn’t compelled to prop Cecil up like Egerton was. Power was waiting for the taking, what kind of fool would just leave it there?
25
A gentle nudge brought Cecil out of the darkness. He groaned and burrowed his head back into his arms. The nudging persisted.
He sighed and sat up, still seated at the table. Sleep had become quite the rare commodity. It didn’t appear when he wanted it, but now it was sneaking up on him. Rude.
Bonnie waved. “Hi, sorry, but the food is hot now.”
He nodded and blinked bleary eyes. “No, you’re right. I don’t want your efforts going to waste.”
She smiled and set a plate in front of him. Steaming chicken, rice and vegetables on the side. “Afraid we’re out of tea. Strange, I know, but we didn’t exactly pack a lot of it in the wagon.”
“Fools that we were. Thank you.” He inclined his head.
Murray was back to stacking salt shakers. “Want me to raid a village for some? Could be a fun distraction from all this dour war camp nonsense. Something else to draw some eyeballs.”
“I mean, if you’re bored.” Cecil shrugged. “Just don’t hurt anybody.”
“Pfft. No need. People see skeletons they run the other way screaming.”
Bonnie tapped a finger against her chin. “If you’re going shopping, I could use some butter. Oh, and eggs.”
Cecil stuffed his mouth with hot food. Bonnie knew her trade. His supper almost made up for everything going to hell in a hand basket around him. “I dunno. This seems a bit different. What if Redding tries to stop you?”
Bonnie frowned. “The man would steal butter and eggs? I’ve only heard a few bits of talk, but he sounds like a hooligan.”
Murray nodded. “Oh, he is. I wouldn’t put it past him to keep anything from making it in here. But I’ve got my ways. I’m quite sneaky, boss.”
Cecil nodded. “Fine with me, but be back by dawn. Going opinion seems to be that’s when Gomer will be back, and then it’s a staring contest between the camps.”
“Fun times. Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
“Oh, and send some guys out to check the drops we set up. It’s early, but there might be something.”
Murray stood up from the table, knocking
his chair over in the process. “You shall go down in history as Cecil, the ever optimistic Dark Lord.”
“Well… if have to be something, I guess I’ll be that.”
The skeleton started for the door. “I’m off. I’ll take a few guys with me. You won’t miss them. Try not to die before I get back.”
“I’ll make it my top priority. Well, right behind a good nights sleep.”
Bonnie followed Murray out, a vexed look on her face. “Everything is ready but I’m not sure where to find Lady Aldora. I’ll send someone to let the scholars know, though. Let me know if you need anything. Maybe they’ll run across her.” She waved and was gone.
The room seemed larger as people kept leaving. Cecil rested his chin on his crossed arms as he leaned back over the table.
“I have money, servants, and good food. I have a house so big I’ll probably never see all the rooms, and yet… I want to go home.” He laid his head on his arms. “I wonder what the rug rats are up to. The farm is probably falling apart without me.”
“Hey, eyes sharp, movement.”
Tim sat up with a groan. “Blegh. What now?”
Ani pointed. “Skeletons leaving. Looks like…” she scowled. “Murray. Him and his stupid hat.”
He rolled his eyes. “We have standing orders to observe and report. No vendettas tonight.”
“Tch.” Ani scowled from their hilltop lookout. “They can’t really think slowly walking backwards between bits of cover is going to confuse us, or hide that they are leaving.”
“I guess, at a glance?” Tim shrugged.
“You’re an idiot and so is that… thing. Oh, look, now they’re making a run for it.”
“Oh? Looks like they’re headed for those lights. A little town? Why?”
“Recruitment drive?” Ani made a slashing motion with a finger in front of her throat.
Tim shook his head. “Plenty of bones lying around here. Seems pointless to make their public image worse than it already is by simply existing.”
“You assume these people give a damn what anyone thinks.”
“If they didn’t, why wouldn’t they have overrun the countryside by now? Not like it would give them much grief. Knock one down, it gets back up. Anyone they kill would get up, too. At least in theory. So far just bones.”
Ani stared at the slowly shrinking skeletons in the distance. “What about those boxes Redding drug up?”
“They’ve got a purpose because he’s got a plan. I doubt he would approve of us messing with that plan. Those things cost a small fortune. I heard him threatening to cut off the fat little scholar’s fingers if they didn’t work.”
“As if the purpose of them could be anything other than containing those things. Preventing them from reforming.”
Tim rolled his eyes. “He doesn’t have that many boxes. There’s thousands of them out there.”
“Yes, but I don’t think that’s the reason. He talked with that red eyed one. Egerton. Maybe he only wants to lock up the generals. If so, we’d be doing him a favor by getting one ahead of time.”
“Hmm.” Tim tilted his head. “Still sounds like trouble.”
“Aww.” Ani smiled sweetly. It was visibly false in every way. “Where’s your sense of adventure?”
“Must have left it at the top of that tower.” He crossed his arms.
She rolled her eyes. “I thought you were all about finding out as much as you could before reporting in. Or was that just yesterday?”
“This is different. That was a massive unknown. This is a handful of them wandering around. We can’t be the only ones that have spotted them. Our people aren’t that incompetent.”
Ani climbed to her feet. “I’m going to follow them.”
“Ani…”
She started down the rocky hill.
Tim sighed. “Hold on, I’m coming. Can’t let you sit in a cell by your lonesome. Or get executed for treason by your lonesome. One of those is bound to happen.”
“And they say chivalry is dead.”
Murray tugged his hat down a bit. It was dark out, but his eyes weren’t exactly built for stealth. Two red points in the distance were suspicious no matter who you were. Fortunately his band of burly bone piles hiding in the dark didn’t have that problem. “Alright, here’s the plan… we walk up slow. I want you guys to hold your arms out in front of you. Maybe limp a little. I don’t know, whatever you feel like doing. Have fun with it. Just don’t hit anybody, and try not to break anything. We’re going for a child’s storybook level of violence here.”
One of the skeletons raised its hand.
“No, Jeff, not Grimm’s. You know better. You cut off anyone’s feet and I’m going to be pissed.”
The skeleton’s arm dropped.
“Alright, on three… three.”
The skeletons waited.
“Oh come on. Fine. Yeesh. One, two… three.”
They all stood up and started towards the light. Murray followed at the rear. He was the only one with a hat and a baldric, so he kind of hurt the image of mindless skeleton mob. Though the red eyes might have played in his favor on the evil scale.
It wasn’t long at all before the screams started and people were bolting away. Really, they didn’t need to hurt anybody. People were hurting themselves in their haste. He saw stubbed toes, banged up shins, people tripping over things up to and including their own feet. One guy ran headlong into a low doorway. He didn’t get far. Just took a nap, all splayed out.
Murray stepped over the guy as he wandered into the building. Just someone’s house. He poked around for a minute but the bloody psychopath didn’t have any tea. The nerve of some people.
Back outside the little village was a ghost town. Well, skeleton town. They wandered in and out of every building. So far one guy had found a box of tea, but it was nearly empty.
“Ugh. Gotta be an inn or something. More food. Back in my day, there was a city here. Grand Vistoni, right on this spot. They had an inn you can’t even imagine. Place had fifty rooms if it had five. Made of beautiful hard woods oiled by hand and…” Murray stopped when one of the skeletons held a hand over his mouth and pointed at a building up the street. “Right, that looks like an inn.”
Everyone was a critic.
Really, the only one that seemed to give a damn what he said half the time was the scholar. But talking to him always felt weird, like he was going to ask about how trade routes stretched across the south regions or some dumb obscure thing like that. Who cares? Rice had shown up, people had eaten it. End of caring.
The inn was as empty as the rest of the town, aside from a few drunks passed out on the bar. The skeletons ignored them. “Tea, eggs, butter. And I guess normal food stuff if you find it. Bread, rice, olives, whatever you can carry, but the things we were sent after first. I don’t want to get yelled at for getting the wrong stuff. They won’t yell at you, because they think you can’t talk Jeff, you liar.”
One of the skeletons held up a little barrel.
“Steve, that’s beer. You don’t need that.”
The skeleton’s shoulders slumped.
“Oh come on, you can’t even drink it.”
The skeleton held it up again.
“Fine, whatever. As long as you carry back stuff we are actually after, I don’t care what else you take.”
“Hmph.” A female voice caught Murray’s ear. He turned to see a woman in a red coat and brown pants standing in the doorway. “Somehow I didn’t figure you for thieves.”
Murray tilted his head. “Well that’s harsh. This your place?”
“It will be ours eventually.” She let the door go as she stepped into the room and drew a short sword from her hip.
A man slipped in just before the door snapped shut. He was panting heavily and dressed in the same outfit. “Told you… to… slow down…”
Murry crossed his arms. “Oh, uniforms. Fun. Guess you’re not going to run screaming. At least…” he cracked his knuckles, “not until I make
you.”
The woman shifted his stance, lifting the sword in front of her. “Bring it, slim.”
Murray stared at her with his red eyes, standing as tall as he could and holding his splayed hands out like talons… before he slumped and sighed. “You’re not going to run? Damn, that was my A-game.” He turned to see his fellows standing around. “Hey, get back to work. This isn’t any of your business.”
He barely stepped aside in time. The woman’s boots clunked on the floor as she charged, giving him plenty of time to adjust.
The sword bit into the back of a chair.
Murray shook his head as he slapped the weapon out of her hands. “Knock it off. I have strict orders not to leave a trail of bodies.”
“Well too bad for you I don’t!” She threw a punch.
It was almost pathetic. Clearly she was a sword kind of gal. Murray ducked to the side and slapped her forearm. “Quit it.”
She threw a few more useless punches as Murray backed away.
“Kill you!” She screamed.
“Already dead. This is getting embarrassing for us both.” He cast a few casual glances to see his men still poking around. At least someone was getting something accomplished.
“Rip out your eyes!”
“Yeah, good luck with that.”
It was a strange sensation when his jaw came loose. The woman’s face lit up with jubilation at her victory.
Murray called on all the willpower he had left as he pushed his jaw back into place. “Lady, you are trying my patience.”
“What’s wrong?” She shifted her stance back and forth. “No windows to throw me out of?”
My blinked. “That was you? Wow. You look better in the dark.”
She scowled and roared as she charged ahead, fists flying.
Murry didn’t bother to block most of them. If she weighed a hundred and a quarter soaking wet he would be surprised. She didn’t put her weight into the blows. “Okay, that sounded harsher than I meant. Different, I meant you looked different in the dark.”