Dark Healer (An Empire Falls Book 1)

by Harry Leighton

  *****

  The Governor walked out to take his chair and was surprised by the number of empty seats. It looked like half of the councillors had been delayed.

  “Vance,” he whispered to his backup, “have they been delayed?”

  “In a manner of speaking, sir. Mostly inside the walls of their homes where they have been holing up.”

  “Ah. That many?”

  “They’ll be delayed until the streets are clear, then they’ll parade through them and pretend they helped sort this business out. Which they will have done, by keeping out of your way.”

  “Quite, Vance, quite, I will have to use that.”

  “I thought you might, sir.”

  “Still, disappointing. I expected more people to believe we were solving this. After all, it’s been a few days, we’re still here.”

  “Let me frame it for you, sir, there aren’t enough councillors coming for a vote of no confidence to stand.”

  “Oh I like that. Er, they could do that at a speech?”

  “There is precedence.”

  “Oh. It’s a good thing you’re on my side.”

  The Governor sat, tapped his fingers on the arm a few times, then looked round. They were not in the council chamber, they were in a square which had been cleared of debris, surrounded by guards and made ready for the speech. But if the councillors who were supposed to be sat around him were lacking, so were the wealthy and influential who were supposed to be in his audience.

  “Okay everyone, I feel we might as well start. Welcome to you all.” He smiled, and the room looked back at him as if he’d just announced a 95% income tax. Deciding standing would be just the ticket he did so. “As you all know, it has been a few days since these riots started.” Well, it calmed Vance didn’t it? “A few days, and we are still here.” They’re not nodding like Vance did. Hmm. “I can report to you that the riot has stalled.”

  “But not stopped!” heckled one woman.

  “That is an ongoing task, but for two days the rebels have gained no ground. We have called in auxiliaries from across the map, and we have erected a wall that they cannot pass. They cannot pass.”

  “Neither can we!”

  “Stopping them advancing is a necessary part of stopping them entirely. I have sent requests to neighbouring governors, and they will be sending us some detachments to help.”

  “Detachments!”

  “Which is all we need. I assure you, we only need a few extra bodies…” Bad choice of words, stick to the script. “Reinforcements. Would I stay in the city if there was really any danger to us?”

  He smiled, as the audience looked at each other. They really seemed to be thinking. He didn’t know they were wondering whether the man was actually stupid enough to.

  “I think that’s enough, sir,” Vance whispered.

  “Thank you all for listening. We held this meeting here, out in the open, out from our walls, to show the truth of what I’ve been saying. We are safe.”

  Having finished and stepped away, he turned to his staff. “We can get back okay right? I don’t like being out here.”

  “I believe you are the best protected person in the city. Aside from your nephew.”

  The Governor scowled. “How many councillors do we need for a vote of no confidence in him?”

  “It’s normal to leave the power-crazed idiot with the armed guard there until you have your own.”

  *****

  “Do you know what it is?” the woman asked Karina.

  After turning the jug around in her hands, looking at the glazing, the shape of the neck, the curve of the body, she nodded. “It’s a devotional wine jug. Over a thousand years old. Predates the empire.”

  “The price is good then?”

  “The price is excellent.”

  “I’ll make the arrangements…”

  “No.”

  “No?” The confusion was across her face and in her voice.

  “A perfect jug of that age? This hasn’t come out of the ground. This is taken from somewhere. A temple, or a museum.”

  “We deal in stolen goods…”

  “We find out where they’re stolen from first. Go back to the seller and see what they have to say. And keep an eye, look for what I’ve taught you.”

  “See if they’re lying.”

  “Indeed.”

  Karina heard someone running up the stairs and reached her right hand to her left, where a blade was concealed up the sleeve for defence, tensing her body ready to move, but she relaxed when the runner stopped at the door and knocked. This was unlikely to be a polite assassin, so it was a member of her staff with something urgent to report.

  “Come in.”

  “Ah, good morning.”

  “You look like you’ve been riding all night?”

  “Yes, I spent everything I had on moving from horse to horse.”

  “Right, sit down, I’ll pour you a goblet. Tell me what’s urgent.” She was keeping calm, although she knew the region this man had been in, and she knew what he might be telling her.

  “If you’re wondering if he’s dead, no, not yet.”

  Ah, was it that obvious? “Why not yet?”

  “The entire region Jonas is in, well, it’s started rebelling.”

  “Against the empire?” That would be unfortunate for them.

  “No, not really. Against the governor and his egotistic nephew, who’s managed to turn the guard into public enemy number one.”

  “Okay, define rebellion.” Always better to get some context before you started pondering.

  “Farmers, craftspeople, urban and rural, and the churches, they’re joining in. The city is a battleground.”

  Karina nodded along. “How long ago?”

  “Er, let me run it through … first riot was a week ago. Tension building before that.”

  “And what caused it?”

  “Guard action gone wrong.”

  “Guard action… A city is divided over a guard action? What imbecile do they have in charge there? Wait, a crime. Do you know if Jonas is involved in this?”

  “No, no suggestion he was there or has led either side. Just that’s he’s been in the area, hunting a bounty.”

  “I thank you for your research, but I doubt Jonas could be around that without being involved in some capacity. The question is what, who, etc. I had a feeling he’d get involved in something one day. He’ll probably end up restoring the governor or arresting the governor. One of the two. Get back and find out what he’s doing.”

  *****

  “This is hopeless,” Alia said from her horse. “It’s been days, we’ve not found Marlen and we still can’t get back into the city.”

  “It’s still on fire,” Zedek said.

  “We’ll find him,” Jonas reassured her.

  “What’s that noise?” Zedek said.

  Daeholf and Trimas looked at each other. “Can’t be,” Trimas said.

  “What?” Zedek said.

  “I’ve got a bad feeling,” Daeholf said. “Let’s ride to the top of the hill.” He angled his horse and started riding, Trimas with him.

  “What’s going on?” Alia said as the others fell in behind.

  “I’m not certain,” Jonas said, “but based on those two’s reactions, it can’t be good.”

  Daeholf and Trimas dismounted before the top of the hill and tied their horses. The others followed suit and they all walked to the summit.

  They looked at the scene before them. A full imperial legion on the march.

  “Fuck,” Daeholf said.

  Part 4

  “Shit,” said Trimas, unable to take his eyes away.

  “That’s a full imperial legion,” Zedek said unnecessarily, stepping up to his side.

  “Veklaf,” Daeholf said.

  Zedek looked at him sharply then considered it for a moment. “Appropriate,” he said.

  “What does this mean for us?” Alia said.

  “Trouble,” Jonas said.


  “Just a bit,” Trimas said.

  “I get that,” Alia said. “But what do we do?”

  “We back away from the top of the hill so we don’t get seen and no one tries to conscript us,” Trimas said.

  Daeholf stepped back slightly and squatted, eyes still on the legion. The others followed suit.

  “Who called them in?” Alia said.

  “Governor?” Zedek said.

  “We’ve seen the letters,” Alia said, “it looked like he was appealing to other governors first at least.”

  “Calling in a legion is a bit, ah, extreme,” Trimas said.

  “I don’t think he did,” Jonas said. “Like Alia said, we’ve seen the letters.”

  “Which means they came of their own accord?” Zedek said.

  “That would make it worse,” Daeholf said.

  “How?” Jonas said.

  “They’d be acting without local authority. Which means either the Emperor is involved or they’ve gone rogue.”

  “Let’s not go that far,” Trimas said. “This isn’t even a full rebellion.”

  “Yet,” Alia put in.

  “Yet,” Trimas conceded. “But since that is the case there it’s highly unlikely the Emperor is involved.”

  “Rogue then?” Jonas said.

  “Very doubtful,” Daeholf said. “And trust me, you really hope not.”

  “Details?” Alia said.

  “Last time a legion went rogue the empire ended up in civil war,” Jonas said.

  “Oh,” Alia said.

  “It was put down by the emperor at the time but it was bloody,” Jonas finished.

  “You know your history,” Trimas said.

  “I read,” Jonas said.

  Zedek looked at him curiously.

  “I don’t spend all my time chasing and fighting people,” Jonas said.

  “So someone probably called them in,” Alia said.

  “Probably,” Daeholf said.

  “So who?” Alia said.

  “Some official with ambitions on governorship would be my guess,” Trimas said.

  “That would still make them unofficial though,” Alia said.

  “Ish,” Daeholf said.

  “Ish?” Alia said.

  “There is precedent,” Trimas said. “Climbing the power ladder can get a bit murky at times.”

  “Setting all that aside, it’s going to make life trickier for us tracking Marlen,” Jonas said.

  “Yeah,” Trimas said.

  “You boys are going to need to avoid any imperial contact I guess,” Alia said.

  “Staying out of their way would be in our interests, yes, though not just for the reasons you’re thinking,” Daeholf said.

  “Conscription?” Jonas said.

  “Depending on how bad things get, it’s a possibility,” Trimas said.

  “How bad can it get?” Zedek said.

  “The region smells ripe for rebellion to me,” Daeholf said.

  “I think you’re right,” Trimas said, “which means the Legion arriving will push things one of two ways.”

  “Which are?” Zedek said.

  “A purge then a show of loyalty, or outright rebellion,” Trimas said.

  “You think the people will really still rise up with a full legion in their midst?” Jonas said.

  “It might be the final push that tips them over the edge,” Daeholf said.

  “Do the people stand a chance if they do rise up?” Alia said.

  Daeholf and Trimas looked at each other.

  “Frankly, no,” Trimas said. Daeholf nodded.

  “Again, there is precedent,” Jonas said.

  “True,” Trimas said. “But they’d have to dig out some remarkable people and the legion would need to act stupidly.”

  “That’s what I meant,” Jonas said.

  “Speaking of, do we know which legion this is?” Alia said.

  “Too far to tell,” Daeholf said, looking.

  “Do we know which are in the region?” Zedek said.

  “There shouldn’t be any really,” Trimas said.

  “That surprises me,” Jonas said. “Usually one out protecting the eastern frontier.”

  “Was pulled out a while ago to fight in the south,” Daeholf said.

  “We did hear of one recently though,” Jonas said.

  “Yeah,” Alia said.

  “Should just have been passing through on their way to recruit and re-equip,” Trimas said.

  “We’re getting off track a bit,” Alia said. “Clearly there is one here and it would help if we knew who they were.”

  “Legion number would tell me a lot about who we’re dealing with,” Trimas said.

  “You know that much about the imperial armies?” Alia said.

  “I was a general,” Trimas said.

  “Since you don’t want to get too close, want me to go look?” Alia said. “I know my way around soldiers.”

  Trimas raised an eyebrow. Alia sighed.

  “Poor choice of words. I used to be a camp follower,” she said.

  “That’s not any better,” Daeholf said.

  “I washed clothes,” Alia said, slightly crossly.

  “And cooked badly,” Jonas said.

  “Perhaps you should go look yourselves then?” Alia said.

  “I think for now we’d all be better off staying out of the way until we know a little more,” Daeholf said.

  *****

  Garrow looked out over the surrounding terrain. The hill was a good vantage point and a useful strategic location for the camp. Though base might be a more accurate term as it was likely they may be here a while.

  “It’s a good location, sir.”

  Garrow looked around. One of his new captains, an ambitious young noble who had bought his commission. Breastplate polished to within an inch of its life and he’d gone in for the new style plumed helmet. Personally Garrow thought they looked daft. The man himself was nondescript, without the uniform it’d be difficult to tell he was an officer. Which was why Garrow was having trouble remembering his name…

  “Don’t ass-lick, I thought I’d made that clear Captain… er…”

  “Tate sir. Sorry sir.”

  “We’ll be here a while I think, pass the order, palisade and ditch.”

  “As you say sir. Tenth company to dig the ditch?”

  “We can’t have the new recruits do it every time Captain, they’ll consider deserting.”

  “I understand sir.”

  “Have Fourth company foot digging the ditches.”

  “Fourth company sir?”

  “After the mess they left at that village they deserve punishment duty. If we didn’t need the palisade up quickly, I’d have them doing that too. Training drills for the Ninth and Tenth companies, let’s see if the new recruits have learned anything.”

  “My boys will be ready sir.”

  Garrow eyed the captain up again. “Yes, they’re yours aren’t they?”

  “They’re good lads, sir, keen, ready to get at them.”

  “We’ll see Captain, we’ll see. Now hurry up and pass my orders.”

  “Sir.”

  “And have my retainers hurry up with my tent.”

  “Sir.”

  The captain disappeared at a fast march.

  “God save us from rich young idiots,” Garrow muttered.

  He looked in the direction of the city. The day was clear and he could just about see it from here. Close enough to keep an eye on things and threaten the city if it was lost but far enough away not to get drawn in if he didn’t want to. He turned and looked behind him. First Captain at least knew what he was doing and had got setting the camp up underway immediately. He watched young Captain Tate run over with his orders and smiled to himself. There was a good chance that the old campaigner wouldn’t listen to him which would be a useful learning experience for the young pup. There was a tree stump next to him and he sat on it as he watched the camp form. He probably should have had someone bring
him a chair but he’d rather his retainers spent their time getting his tent set up properly. He was tired of his horse so the tree would have to do. He watched as the soldiers set their tents out in neat orderly lines. Most people thought that he was a stickler for lines out of some sense of order. That wasn’t it at all though. Instead he wanted to be able to assemble the men as quickly as possible if there was trouble and having to dodge around random tents just slowed people down. Which was why he was hard about it and why up until recently the Third had been digging the ditches, punishment for making a mess of setting up two camps earlier.

  He watched as the legion standard was raised above the camp with pride. The 11th, his legion, were part battered and part green recruits but they had a glorious past and had recently seen some rather successful action in the south and had made something of a name of themselves. He wondered if the Emperor would listen to his proposal to award the legion the new honorific. He’d designed the image himself and was really quite proud of it. His mood was broken when he saw where his aides were erecting his tent.

  “That won’t do,” he said.

  “Something wrong sir?” one of his bodyguards said.

  “Go tell them to move my tent further from the latrines,” Garrow replied.

  The man scanned the area doubtfully.

  “We’re in the bounds of the camp, I can spare you for a minute.”

  “Are you sure sir?”

  “We can see for miles. Unless someone has managed to sneak a ballista under a bush and aim it in my direction then I think I’m safe. Send Captain Daron over too.”

  “Sir.”

  “And question my orders again and I’ll have you flogged.”

  “Sir.”

  The guard set off at a run. Too much reorganisation Garrow thought to himself. Many fewer men that he could rely on these days. Still, those of his veterans that had retired deserved their rest, they’d done enough for him. He mused on their achievements in the south whilst Captain Daron rode over.

  “That’s rather lazy Captain,” Garrow said. “We’re in camp.”

  “Leg still giving me a little trouble sir,” Daron said. Garrow looked at the old campaigner. One of his longest serving and most trusted captains. With the scar on his face and the grey invading his beard he had something of a grizzled look about him. If the man had more money he’d probably have made general by now but his family name wasn’t that good so he was stuck where he was. Rumours were he took his frustrations out on the whores and evidently one had taken exception to it and stabbed him in the leg.