by R. C. Rutter
“Right you are” replied Eric. “Still, we should find him. He has proven his value, well, of some value.”
There was a commotion from the edge of the woods as Samuel appeared. He was followed by Shabb. There were two small bodies on the back of Shabb. Their hands and feet were tied with vines and rags were stuffed into their mouths.
Samuel was grinning. “Had to use my socks in their mouths, could not find anything else that would work.” He laughed. “Of course, I didn’t look too hard either, too bad for them. Always meant to wash those socks but never seemed to get around to it.”
* * *
Chapter 16
The sound was almost a whisper “Antonio.” After a few seconds it came again “Antonio.”
Antonio looked at the King. “Sounds like Rafael. Good thing too. I am starved.” They both stood and walked towards the hallway.
Antonio immediately knew something was wrong. Rafael was holding a tray with food on it, a lot of food. There was no way Rafael could have sneaked out with that much food without being seen. Antonio started backing up. He pushed the King backwards with his left hand while with his right hand; he unsheathed and pulled his sword.
The blast was quick. The tray of food went tumbling as Rafael crumpled to the floor and Antonio was knocked back against the wall. He tried standing up straight but could not move. He moved his eyes to the left to see the King. The King’s body was on the floor motionless. Rage poured through Antonio and he struggled to push himself away from the wall. He lifted his sword and began staggering towards the demons. There were at least ten of them. Antonio took one step and was hit with another blast. Determined, he took another step before the searing pain engulfed his body, his scream filling the hallway. Antonio fell to his knees and looked at the King. “Forgive me” he tried to say as his body fell forward.
One of the demons walked forward and looked at the bodies. “Pick up these bodies and take them to the dungeon. Put the King in solitary and make sure cannot wave his hands nor move his arms. In fact, seal his mouth shut so he cannot talk. Take the soldiers to the rack room. Do NOT harm them. They will be interrogated, and then they will die.”
As if on command, all of the demons turned and walked down the hallway at once. The servants picked up the bodies and followed them.
The demon in front looked perplexed and yelled “Wait!” The servants froze in place wondering what was wrong. “Unfortunately, you cannot be trusted. It is obvious that the King still has loyalty here. Lest you think you can survive this, I shall give you a demonstration.”
The demon lifted his arm and clenched his fist. The servant closest to him let out a scream that was quickly silenced. His body stiffened and froze in place. The demon walked over and gently pushed the frozen servant. The body fell over, falling to the floor and it shattered into small pieces.
The rest of the servants stood there stunned and silent.
The demon smirked. “Well, I was feeling a bit generous. He’s dead but at least there was not much pain. This should be very clear to you now. If you tell anyone what happened here or the location of the King or guards, your fate will be much worse.”
The servants lowered their heads afraid to make eye contact.
“You have your orders. NOW GO!”
The servants picked up the bodies and left. The demons stood there for a few minutes until the servants were out of the hallway.
“We must kill the King soon. The situation is becoming precarious. The closer the daughter comes, the more he regains his strength. Brothers, we have come too far and worked too hard to give up now. The wolves have either been killed or have betrayed us. Cedrick can’t be trusted. Cerberus has been compromised. The servants can’t be trusted. The assassins have failed so far. We only have the service of the army because they are afraid of us. If they ever found out that we slaughtered the soldiers that attacked Evandale, they would revolt. If they knew the King had strength, or that he had escaped, they would revolt against us. He gives them hope. How can you fight hope?”
The demon near the door spoke first. “We cannot kill him yet. Yes, the King is failing and together we might be able to overpower him but it would leave us too weak. And he has not fully bonded with the daughter yet. Kill the King, kill the daughter. That is two kills. If they bond, killing one kills the other but it makes them stronger. What shall it be? The risk is too great. If the army sensed any weakness from us, we would not survive the day. Once the killing begins, we would only get weaker until there were none of us left.”
“Send out more assassins. Make a deal with Brogain from the north, his assistance for his price.”
“But, he would ask so much. We could end up with nothing.”
“If we don’t kill the King, we end up with nothing. If we kill the King, we might very well end up with nothing. We need some more strength to get through this. Who else can we call upon?” He hesitated, looking at the figures all around him. “No one I am afraid. We have to compromise.”
“NO, I FORBID IT!” The reply was forceful. “It takes a unanimous decision. You have your answer. We did not work this hard nor this long to give the kingdom away. We must find another way.”
“There is another option.” He was met by strained silence. “All of you know what I am speaking of. Are we in agreement?”
Reluctantly, each demon shook his head in acknowledgement.
* * *
The captain rode his horse up to the front of the line. “Why have we stopped?” he asked the soldiers as he moved forward through the ranks. No one knew. It was only when he was about fifty feet away that he saw the wrecked wagon.
“You there, why are you allowing a broken wagon to stop us? Move it out of the way, quickly now. No time to waste.”
The soldiers did not move.
“WELL? Did you not hear my order?” he barked at them.
“He’s dead, Sir. Thought a brief moment of silence would be appropriate.”
“Very well then. Respect for the dead is due, then move on.”
The captain pulled on the reins to turn his horse. “It gets worse, Sir. From what we can tell, it is sabotage. His death was no accident. The ropes were cut. Don’t know who would want to kill him, thought he was liked by everyone.”
The captain stopped, got off his horse, walked to and bent over the lifeless body. Pulling off the helmet he said “I don’t recognize him. This is not the same soldier who harnessed this wagon. Where is the other soldier?”
No one knew. A few remembered seeing him but did not know his name or assigned platoon.
The captain stood up. “Everyone check your wagons. A saboteur is loose and determined to impede our progress. We shall not fail in our quest. Check them quickly. There is no time to waste. We must join the army. There is strength in numbers.”
“You!” the captain said, pointing to the soldier nearest him. “Take a fresh horse, ride to the castle and inform them of what happened here. Tell them the saboteur is in the castle.”
The captain took in a long breath and let it out slowly. “Mount up. Move out!”
“But what about the burial? We can’t leave him like this!”
The captain froze for a second then pulled out his sword and aimed it at the soldier’s throat. “Leave him be. The dead can bury their dead. We have pressing matters to attend to.”
The soldier started to open his mouth but thought better of it.
The wagon was pushed to the side of the road and their quick march resumed.
* * *
Cerberus opened his eyes and was looking up at the trees. He saw something move out of the corner of his eye and as fast as he could, he shut his eyes tight. She was still there, hovering over him. He was hoping it was just a dream. The pain shot through his body again and he had no choice but to open his eyes again. She was on her knees and leaning over him. Her face was just inches from his, her hair brushing up against him. It felt so soft; he wished he could touch it. Her perfume filled his nostrils, it
was so enticing. He was lost in the moment until he felt her anger.
“WELL? Who opened the door?”
Cerberus’ voice was faint. “I don’t know Mistress.”
“Who has the power? You spent a lot of time with them. You must have seen something!”
“Mistress, as much as I want to tell you, I know nothing.”
“Don’t antagonize me! You were there. You saw! You know! You will tell me!”
“Mistress, Mistress, I know not, did not see.”
The pain shot through his body again, this time more intense. He screamed until he could scream no more. The pain stopped but his chest was heaving under the strain.
“And still no answer. You are incredibly stupid or incredibly loyal to your friends. I can’t tell which it is but it is you who are suffering in pain. Would your friends do this for you? They would have turned on you by now.”
Cerberus strained to talk. “No Mistress. They are not my friends. They only tolerate me. No loyalty from me. I would tell you if I knew. You are the one who gave me power. You are the one who gave me a place to live. I owe you more than my gratitude. I beg you, no more pain!”
The Queen relaxed a little and stood up.
“I don’t know what you ask. Please. No more pain. Please!”
“Well, Cerberus, this is your lucky day. I might actually believe you.” The Queen stood looking at him with her hands on her hips. “Very well then, I choose to believe you but mark my words. Any deviation from my plan and you are going to wish you had died here and now. Your pain will be much worse. Understood?”
“Oh yes, thank you Mistress. Thank you. Thank you. You will never regret this. I will serve you well.” The creature had risen to his knees and crawled over to the Queen. He was groveling at her feet.
“Oh, stop it! You disgust me.”
Cerberus backed off and still on his knees, looked up at her face.
The Queen squinted her eyes and gazed intently before speaking. “Listen very carefully, here is my plan….”
* * *
Darkness was coming on fast and it was getting difficult to see the road. The colonel could see the scout returning from his lead point. The scout’s job was to travel ahead of the army and make sure the road was safe.
Something was wrong. The scout was staggering on the road and having trouble staying on his feet.
The colonel lifted up his arm signaling the army to stop. Five thousand soldiers obeyed his command. He watched the scout closely “What is this? Abandoning his post? If he is drunk, I swear I will kill him myself.”
The scout was close enough now to speak. “Sir” said the scout as he saluted, barely raising his arm for a proper salute. “Danger lies ahead.”
The colonel smiled and looked at the soldiers around him. “Tell me” he said smugly, “just who would have the audacity to attack the Royal Army?”
The scout stood as best as he could with a blank face looking at the colonel, “Our enemies?” he said in a cracked voice. He then fell forward on his face with an arrow sticking out of his back.
The front of the column was thrown into chaos. The smell of fear erupted and gathered momentum as it traveled through the soldiers. Now the horses panicked, sensing the fear and threw their riders off as they bolted down the road.
The soldiers scrambled to their feet, drawing their swords and grabbing their shields.
“First Platoon, form a defensive perimeter” came the command from the colonel. “The rest of you prepare for battle. Pass the word, there will be NO FIRES! No sense making us an easy target.”
First Platoon scattered around the edge of the army looking for anything suspicious. They knew it would be a long night for them. It was just as well. With their adrenaline high, it would be impossible to settle down and sleep. The tense soldiers froze at every little sound from the woods with their eyes flickering about. They knew it must be a massive army just waiting to attack but they could not see a thing. They were quite confident that no one but a massive military force would take on the Royal Army.
How wrong they were.
* * *
The figure was dressed in all black. He was slinking between the trees, almost invisible and making no sound. It was like he was a ghost, that is, if a ghost ever carried a bow and arrows.
The mysterious figure made the sound of a cricket as he approached the small clump of trees. He stopped and waited. The sound of a frog came back to him within seconds. He knew then it was safe to approach.
“Well, the brave wanderer returns heroically. What news have you?” asked Arthur.
“It seems the whole Royal Army is upon us” said Edward as he removed the bow and arrows.
“Really? And you kept out of sight, correct? I mean, we are safe here, are we not?”
“Oh sure, the night is peaceful. We should get some rest.”
“How many were there? Did they know you were there?”
“Five thousand? Ten thousand? Hard to count. I think it is safe to assume they know something is up. Yes, I saw them but they did not see me.
“Well then, how do they know you were there?”
“I think it was when they pulled the arrow out of their dead scout.”
Arthur gasped and Edward quickly put his hand over Arthur’s mouth.
“Shhhh, no sense taking any chance of them finding us.”
Edward took away his hand and Arthur forcibly whispered “No chance? Did you? Did you? Did you ever think the arrow might be a clue that somebody WAS HERE?”
“Of course, but, that is not the problem. They have no idea where the arrow came from. I found some fur on the way so I put that on the arrow instead of feathers. That should fuel their imagination. Their scout was way ahead of the main force. They can only speculate about what is out here. And they dare not light fires as it will make them easier targets.”
Arthur relaxed. “Excellent, cold food and no warmth to sleep by makes for cranky soldiers. I doubt they will be in the best fighting form tomorrow or shall we say the day after?”
Edward laughed. “Brilliant aren’t I? Almost as good as your idea to leave the village and chase after Gweneviere. Sometimes I just amaze myself.”
“Wow, that’s a load of bull for sure. You know full well it was either this or three months in jail for flooding the marketplace.”
“Oh yeah, well, just a slight detail.” Edward paused. “Hardly worth mentioning and what about you? You could have stayed behind.”
“And leave you to wander on your own? Yeah, right. Like that’s a good idea. Somebody had to come along to make sure you stayed out of trouble.” Arthur punched Edward in the arm. “Beside, Gweneviere’s Uncle deeded me my own farm if I went with you. Said it would have been cheaper on him if they could have proven I was with you when it flooded. Luckily for me I didn’t get caught.”
“Well, it was pretty funny, all those vegetables floating away, and those chickens going crazy.” Edward had a big smile on his face.
Arthur sighed. “Well, what shall we do now?”
Edward glanced over at the old beat-up brown knapsack they had been carrying since they left the village. “Gweneviere’s Uncle said not to open the knapsack until we knew we needed it. I think we need it. Don’t you agree?”
Arthur contemplated their next move. “I agree. We need something more than a bow and arrow.”
Edward pulled the knapsack open and reached in. The first thing he pulled out was a piece of paper.
Arthur snatched it and began reading.
“A few against many, those are often the rules,
To torment them, takes but a few fools,
You must attack everything they hold dear,
Into their hearts you must strike fear.
You will find hidden inside this knapsack,
Exactly what you need for the journey and back,
Use it wisely, and use it you must,
Till the soldiers leave nothing but dust.”
“Wow, never thought I wo
uld hear that!” said Edward
“What, that we are going to torment the soldiers?”
“No, that he called us ‘fools’ you moron.”
“Well, we are fools. Who else would cause the trouble we have? But he must think we are capable to doing something better. Why else would he have sent us?”
“You know, now that I think about it, I am sure I calculated the strength of the wall and the weight of the water perfectly. That market did flood too easily.”
“Oh no, say it isn’t so……”