"This had better work," she said. My jaws tightened.
"It will, once he's dead we'll take the gold and be gone. Just like we've always planned. This place is about to be overrun with Hinterlanders, anyway. Their Army from one direction, and their navy here at the Port."
I concentrated on the Lamps. *Out.* The room dropped into darkness; I stepped out of the wall.
I hit David's elbow driving his knife through Annette throat. Before he could react, I cut his throat. I let him fall to the floor.
*Light.* They were still alive, bleeding out. "You deserve each other. Sir Gordon was luckier than he knew." I watched them as they bled out eyes full of disbelief.
I dropped all the way down into earth. I made a vault and moved everything from the house vault into the new vault. I got all the papers, ledgers, and books from the office and put them in the new vault. I'd go through it all later.
I came back up through the floor. I looked over the scene. I left the blood on myself and walked out of the house. I rode to the Provost's office, to report the crime. I caused quite the stir, walking in covered in blood. They rousted the Magistrate and the Provost.
I relayed how the Criminal Guild tried to rob us. A fight broke out and I was lucky to be alive. Of course, they took my word for it, I'm a Baron after all. The Provost figured the Guild was behind it all. They were... In a way.
They removed the bodies from my house. After everyone had left, I looked through Sir Gordon clothes. We were close in size. I would throw these bloody clothes away. I could have let the earth clean them, but too many people had seen them covered in blood.
I slept the rest of the night in the earth and let her restore my strength and calm my mind.
Chapter twelve
I rose early and well rested. I dressed in my new clothes all my personal equipment was clean and polished. I went openly around now. I walked to the Inn where I met Captain Chard. I had breakfast and tea while I waited for him.
I thought over the events of the last few days, indeed the last few months. I had changed a lot in a short amount of time. I would not mind if things would slow down though, I could use some boring time right now.
Hinterland, it seemed, would not allow that respite. I needed to send as many troops to Black Stag Keep as possible. And I needed to deliver a letter to the King. I wonder if the comment that David made about the Hinterland Navy was truth, or speculation. Oh well, let's kill one snake at a time.
I noticed Captain Chard when he came in and I waved him over. "May I offer breakfast, Captain?"
"Yes, thank you, sir." He ordered and was brought tea while he awaited his meal.
"What numbers can you field?" I asked.
"Eighty-five," he said handing me a contract. I looked over it, it was a standard contract like I had with Master Sargent Miller. They would buy their own supplies which was fine by me. I just had to pay the bottom-line cost.
"You will be ready to move in two days?"
"Yes."
"Agreed then." I signed the contract. I took a wallet of bills from my pouch and gave it to him. He opened it and thumbed through the bills.
He nodded, "Done."
He signed and gave me my copy.
"I'll meet you outside the town in two days."
"We'll be ready."
I paid for our breakfast and left. Outside I turned down the alley, once out of sight dropped down into the earth. I had a letter to deliver.
I fast-travelled to the Royal Castle and up inside the walls of the King's office. He was sitting at his desk reading through papers. I slid through the walls to the Spymaster's office he was also reading papers and writing notes.
I went back to the Kings office; he was gone. I stepped out of the wall and placed the letter on his desk. I stepped back into the wall and waited. I needed to make sure he, and no one else, got it.
The King returned from his quarters, probably the privy. He sat down, saw the letter and jumped back up drawing his dagger. Quick for an old guy. Looking around the room reassuring himself he was alone, he sat back down.
He broke the seal on the letter and read it. He sat back tapping the letter in his hand. He read the letter again.
Nodding his head, "Guards."
The door to his office opened. "Yes, Sire?"
"Go get the Spymaster and bring him to me."
"Yes, Sire."
Things were about to get interesting. The guards escorted the Spymaster into the Kings office.
"What is it, Sire?"
"How long?"
"How long what, Sire?"
"How long have you been working for my enemies? Your assassination attempts on Prince Kade have failed. Sir Gordon in Port West Gate has been caught, confessed, and executed. Messages intercepted, so how long, and for what?"
The Spymaster said nothing for a moment. "How long?" He shrugged his shoulders, "a while. For what? For riches, and power of course."
The King shook his head. "you won't be able to spend any of it. Take him to the dungeon."
The guards didn't move. The Spymaster chuckled. "Did you think I would not have planned for this if it were to happen? You're getting old and sloppy."
I moved around the wall and got behind them and drew my knife.
"You're making my task more difficult; you were supposed to die peacefully in your sleep. Now I must think of something else. Oh well, the King is dead, Long Live the King."
The guards drew their daggers. The king drew his.
I sprang from the wall, stabbing the Spymaster in his kidney and slicing up. He passed out from the pain and hit the floor. The closest guard turned toward me, I slipped my blade under his ribs and into his heart as I was pushing him into the other guard. They both fell with me on top of them. I stabbed the last one through the eye killing him instantly. I rolled off and was on my feet. The King had not moved.
He stared at me waiting to see what I would do.
I bowed, "Sire, pardon the interruption. You probably didn't need the help, but I needed the practice."
He chuckled, "Yes, well. He sheathed his dagger. Is he still alive?" He asked pointing with his chin.
I checked, "he is, for the moment." I cleaned my blade and put it away.
"You stepped through that wall. I haven't heard of that in a long, long time."
"Yes well, let's keep that between us, shall we?"
"For saving my life, I never saw a thing. You work for Prince Kade, the one he calls ghost. You deliver messages."
"Among other things."
"I can only imagine. He said shaking his head. Is he is well?"
"He is."
"He says he is at Black Stag Keep, raising an army to meet the Hinterland forces."
"We are."
"The last time I heard of that place it was almost a ruin."
"We've made some improvements," I said smiling.
"Sir Edwin?"
"Dead I'm afraid, killed when the Assassins' Guild attacked his house trying to kill Prince Kade."
He nodded, "I thought so when I heard no more from him."
"The Guild houses?"
"They killed a friend and tried to kill another. I returned the favor."
He nodded, "Yes, a very good friend."
"John?" The Queen stepped through the door. Sucking in a breath when she saw me, bodies and blood. She drew her dagger.
"Hold, he's one of ours, well Kade's Ghost, actually."
I bowed, "My Queen."
She bowed her head, "Sir Ghost." I smiled.
"Sire, if you and the Queen could be seen elsewhere, I'll take care of this and bring you what information I can."
He nodded, "come my lady let's go for a walk in your garden." They left. I concentrated and the two dead bodies sank into the floor including all their blood. I took hold of the dying Spymaster and we sank into the earth.
The four of us went down under the castle. I concentrated on the Spymaster still holding him. *Teach me and show me all.* It was like when I did this to the Alchemi
st. Only more so, there was a lot of information being given to me. I almost passed out. It took me a few hours of resting in the earth to recover from the strain.
He had four other spies working in the castle. Three men and a woman. I found them and when they were alone; I pulled them under and left them.
I went through the walls of the Spymaster's office. I got his Ledger from his hidden cache. I could now read and write his code. He'd been a busy sod. Embezzlement, blackmail, assassinations, criminal guild, seems everyone was paying him. I smiled more for my vaults. He had an estate here in the capital, where he kept his money. I'd have to visit it, there would be more information there.
✽✽✽
I found his walled estate easily enough. There were the normal servants here. I came up through the wall of his office, swelling the wood to jam the door in place. I took all the papers he had there, then went down to the vault.
It seemed all the paperwork here was about blackmail, embezzlement, and such. The who, what, where, why, and how, was all documented. I shrugged my shoulders, not my job to worry with it. I’d let the King figure it out; I got curious. "On second thought I'll keep these." I would also keep all the gold, jewels, gems, currencies, and anything else of value, and he was a very rich man, or used to be… I also kept the accounting books. A thief's got to make a living. I moved out into the earth and opened a vault. I opened the backpack and moved the contents of the Spymaster's vault into the backpack. Once finished I closed everything back up and filled my vault.
I took all the other papers, ledgers, and books back to the Spymasters office. I left everything there. That was someone else's job now. I had other things to do.
I went through to the Kings office. He was there looking out the window. The Queen was in the other room. I stepped out of the wall, "Sire." He turned to me. I bowed.
"What have you found out?"
"He had four other spies here in the castle. I have removed them all. As far as he said, and that I have been able to find, that is the end of his group. I've put all his papers in his office. Most are in code I can't read. You should be safe now."
"You are returning to Prince Kade?"
"Yes Sire, I have pressing matters to attend to."
He went to his desk, "Take this to him." He handed me a letter.
"And this one from me," the Queen said stepping through the doorway. I bowed taking her letter.
"Yes, my Queen."
"Take care of my son Sir Ghost."
"We take care of each other, my Queen," I said and stepped through the wall.
She looked at the King. He was smiling. "We saw nothing."
She shook her head, "Nothing."
✽✽✽
I fast-travelled back to Port West Gate. I slept that night in the earth letting her restore my strength.
I went to the Inn for breakfast, then walked the streets of the Port. Most everyone seemed prosperous, and there was a lot of activity at the market. I was pleased to see the stalls well stocked. Being a Port town, I would expect that. There was also plenty of farm produce being sold along with imported items.
Word was getting around that I was the new Baron, many were greeting me by name. I stopped and talked to a few farmers. They seemed pleased that I didn't want any free produce or taxes.
I found the cattle drovers on the outskirts of the market.
"Good morning."
"Good morning M'lord." The four men answered.
"I'm looking to buy one hundred cattle; do you have that many ready this year?"
"Between the four of us we might M'lord or close to it."
"I'll want them delivered to Black Stag Keep. Make me a price including the delivery of them there. I'll be paying in gold. Half now, the rest upon delivery."
"It would be a week before we can get them there." I nodded.
We agreed on a price and I paid them. They left straight away with their cattle. I left it at that to see which one figured out I might need to hire a drover to manage my cattle.
I continued my tour and wound up down at the cove. I walked up to the fort overlooking the cove. There were two guards there, doing nothing.
They both bowed as I approached, "Baron."
I nodded looking over what there was of the fort. Mostly it was just a wall fronting the cove. "She's seen better days."
The older one chuckled, "that she has M'lord. I remember when they built her. She was supposed to be a full fort. They decided it cost too much, for a shallow Port."
I chuckled, "It's always about the money."
"So my wife says M'lord." We laughed.
"I will look around, carry on." They bowed.
I walked to the end of the wall. The smell of the ocean on the wind made me smile. I looked out across the cove and out to sea. If David was right, there was nothing to stop Hinterland from sailing right in and taking the town.
I sat down on the wall studying the shape of the cove.
I imagined how we could get the most out of our cove and make this a real Port. I would have to do this differently. There were too many people here about to just raise what I wanted. I had a thought and smiled. I concentrated and held the picture of what I wanted in my mind. I had my hand on the fort wall.
*Grow it.* The runes on my hand glowed. The ground started shaking and craggy cliffs rose from the water closing off most of the mouth of the cove. I left a narrow opening in front of the fort. I raised a reef on the ocean side of the crags stretching out one hundred feet.
I lowered the cove bottom on this side of the crags, making a deep-water port. On the cove side of the crags I made a twenty-foot-wide shelf just above the high tide water level. I extended the shelf all the way around the far side of the cove to beach. The ground continued to shake, and I raised the foot area up twenty feet above the water on solid rocks. I let the shaking slow then stop. Everyone in the area was yelling and pointing, some running.
"Baron," I heard the guard calling.
"I'm all right," I made my way to them. When I got to them, we stared at the crag wall that enclosed the cove. "I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it."
"I see it, and I'm still not sure I believe it," the young guard said.
"This will be a tale to tell your grandkids about." I said. "It looks like the whole town is coming down to see it."
"I reckon so, ain't nothing like this ever happened, they want to see it for themselves."
"I reckon so," I said smiling.
The Provost came riding up, "My Lord above." seeing me," Are you all right Baron?"
"Yes fine, thank you. Tell me Provost, are there any stone masons in West Gate?"
"There are M'lord."
"Good, would you be so kind as to send them to me? I think I have a job for them."
"Yes M'lord." he turned his horse and rode to complete his task.
Chapter thirteen
It didn't take long for the stonemasons to show up. They were on their way to the cove see what all the excitement was about anyway. I gave them some time to take in the new sight. I must admit, it's not something you see every day. "God works in mysterious way," one said.
I smiled, "Yes He does."
They turned to me bowing, "Baron."
"Quite the sight, isn't?"
"It is M'lord."
"I think we should capitalize on this event. I want to add to the fort, the pier, the quay. Well, the harbor as a whole. I took a paper and charcoal out of my pouch and drew a sketch of what I wanted done to the fort. I want this started right away.
I want you to survey the cove and come up with a plan to best use what has been given to us. With the looming Hinterland threat, we need to get the fort ready to protect our town. I will have cannons delivered shortly to install in the fort. Use timbers If you must to get us started but get us started. Also build a powder house for the black powder for the cannons." I took a large purse of gold out of my pouch and gave it to them.
"Yes M'lord," they bowed, and I went on to
other business.
"That's the best I can do for now."
✽✽✽
I rose early and had breakfast at the Inn. I mounted Mare and rode out to meet Captain Chard and his company outside of town. We started for Black Stag Keep as soon as I joined them.
Captain Chard followed the same procedure as Master Sargent Miller had. Scouts led the way, flankers out left and right, scouts following behind.
My mind was busy, trying to think if I had missed anything. A big question was, what was I going to do about the King and Queen's letters to Prince Kade. It may have something important in it. If I gave it to him, he will know something's not right.
Once one thing comes out, the avalanche would start. Of course, when he sees the King, I'm sure it will come out, anyway. I guess I'd better get my story ready. Not the truth, just a good story. "Everyone loves a good story." I smiled.
We could have made the trip in one day, but I saw no need to push. We arrived at the keep mid-afternoon the following day. I had Captain Chard set up his company area outside the Keep until we could get everything sorted.
They took my horse to the stables; Captain Drake was on the battlements. I went up; he was watching the company set up.
"All is well?"
"Well enough, but there have been some developments."
"How many men in the new company?"
"Eighty-odd. I've also bought one hundred cattle, they should be here in a week, or so."
He nodded," let's go inside and have some wine. You can regale me with tales of your adventures." He said smiling.
Over wine I gave him the clean version of being attacked and the Baronette being killed. I told him of the earthquake that almost blocked off the cove.
As he poured us another cup of wine, I took out the letters and laid them before him.
He looked at them frowning at me. I said nothing. I wanted to see what his questions were before I started answering them. He opened the King’s first and read. I sipped my wine and waited. He read the letter again.
"This letter is only a day old."
"Roughly."
He sat it down opened the one from the Queen and read. He read it twice as well.
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