Sacrifice

by Christopher Mitchell

  Lola threw the reins to Dyam, and pulled the covering from her longbow. She sat still, taking care to string the bow and check it over.

  ‘They’re getting closer!’ Dean cried from the back of the wagon, where he was attempting to light the storm lamp.

  Laodoc raised his head. Dozens of Rahain soldiers were splashing and running through the marsh they had just traversed. Some at the front were swinging their crossbows down, and loading them as they ran.

  One fell, an arrow through his left eye socket.

  Laodoc glanced over. Lola was on one knee, her longbow at an angle as she crouched. She notched a second arrow, aimed, and loosed.

  ‘Dean,’ Dyam yelled, ‘how’s it going with that lamp?’

  ‘It’s lit,’ he cried.

  ‘Good lad. We’re almost there.’

  A crossbow bolt ricocheted off the iron rim of a rear wheel, causing them all to flinch.

  ‘More of them will be in range soon,’ Dyam yelled. ‘Keep yer heads down.’

  There was a whoosh, and a cloud passed overhead. Laodoc looked up, and saw a dozen Rahain fall, arrows through their bodies. There was another whoosh, and more fell. The ranks of Rahain turned and began running back towards the road, leaving a score dead on the marsh.

  The wagons pulled into the narrow valley, the oxen hauling them up onto drier ground. On either side tall cliffs shut out most of the light.

  ‘You all right back there?’ Bedig cried out from the lead wagon.

  ‘We’re fine,’ Dyam yelled. ‘Did ye see who…?’

  Her voice tailed off as the wagons were surrounded by a group emerging from the shadows of the cliffs. All were Kellach Brigdomin, and all were aiming their longbows at the wagon’s occupants.

  ‘What the fuck are ye doing?’ a man cried at them. ‘Are ye trying to lead those lizard bastards right to us?’

  ‘Thanks for saving our arses,’ Bridget said. ‘We didn’t know you were here. We were trying to avoid the Rahain ourselves.’

  ‘Fucking amateurs,’ the man said. ‘Crossing Northern Kell with two fucking wagons? We’re taking them, by the way. And yer oxen.’

  ‘Boss,’ cried another warrior. ‘Look over here, one of them’s a fucking lizard.’

  The man strode round to the rear wagon, his face reddening.

  ‘Ya fucking treacherous bastards,’ he shouted. ‘Ye’ve got a lizard with ye.’

  He drew his sword.

  Agang jumped down from the lead wagon, and several longbows were trained on him. He raised his hands.

  ‘This Rahain is a friend.’

  ‘And who, or what, the fuck are you?’ the man said.

  ‘He’s Sanang,’ Bridget said. ‘They’re both friends. We’re on the same side.’

  ‘I’ll never be on the same side as those lizard fucks, just look what they did to our folk, our land.’ He shook his head. ‘Ye don’t get it, ye’re not Kell.’

  Bridget gazed at the warriors. ‘Are you all Kell?’

  ‘Fucking right we are,’ the man said. ‘While everyone else has fucked off, we’re still here, fighting. Fuck those arseholes down in Domm, they’ve forgotten all about us. ’

  ‘No one has forgotten,’ Bridget said.

  ‘But they aren’t lifting a fucking finger to help us, are they? Not unless you lot are our fucking reinforcements.’

  The warriors laughed.

  ‘No,’ the man went on, ‘this is your unlucky day. We’re taking the wagons and oxen, and killing the lizard. The rest of you can go free, as long as you don’t make any trouble.’

  ‘You’re not touching my friend,’ Agang said.

  The man shrugged. ‘You can stand and watch, or you can die. Your choice.’

  He reached up and grabbed Laodoc’s cloak. Dyam punched him in the face, and he stepped back, blood pouring from his nose.

  ‘That fucking hurt, ya cow,’ he said, then hauled Laodoc off the wagon. The old man fell, hitting the hard ground, and the man pointed his sword at him.

  Laodoc raised his eyes at Agang and shook his head.

  ‘Wait,’ cried a woman’s voice, and a hooded figure stepped through the ring of warriors.

  The man lowered his sword, watching as the woman approached.

  ‘What is it?’ he said.

  The woman knelt before Laodoc’s shaking body.

  ‘Laodoc?’ she said, and pulled back her hood.

  He gasped. ‘Kallie?’

  After being blindfolded and made to sit in the back of the wagons, they were led by the warriors through the mountains for an hour. They were then taken deep within a network of caves, to a warm hall where a large fire was burning.

  They pulled their blindfolds off.

  Bridget’s eyes darted across the crowd of warriors in the room looking at them, until she saw Kallie, then rushed forwards and embraced her .

  The leader of the warriors shook his head as the two women wept and hugged each other. ‘Ye know her too, eh?’

  ‘This is Bridget,’ Kallie said. ‘We were slaves together for a long time. And that man,’ she said, pointing at Laodoc, ‘was our master.’

  ‘More reason to kill him, then,’ the man said.

  Kallie shook her head. ‘No. He was kind to us.’ She turned to the warriors. ‘Two of this group are old friends. I ask you all to accept them as guests, and do them no harm while they are here.’

  ‘You vouch for them all, eh?’ the man said. ‘Even that one?’ He pointed at Agang.

  ‘Bridget?’ Kallie said.

  ‘This is Agang Garo,’ she said, ‘from the forest nation of Sanang. I will vouch for him.’

  Kallie turned to the man and nodded.

  ‘Alright,’ he said. ‘On your head be it if they get up to no good. Put them in the northern caves.’

  ‘Thank you,’ Kallie said. She turned to the group. ‘Follow me.’

  She led them through a series of tunnels, past a sparkling waterfall and down a steep flight of stairs into a small cavern, with alcoves in the walls. She lit a lamp.

  ‘You can sleep here,’ she said. ‘There’s a hearth in the corner. You hungry?’

  ‘All our food’s in the wagons,’ Bridget said.

  ‘I’ll bring you some. Get yourselves settled.’

  Kallie disappeared up the steps.

  When she was out of sight Dyam nudged Bridget.

  ‘Can we trust her?’

  Bridget nodded. ‘We parted badly, but we went through a lot together before that.’

  ‘She saved my life,’ Laodoc said. ‘That man was going to kill me.’ He glanced at Dyam. ‘My thanks for punching him, miss.’

  Dyam shrugged. ‘Any time.’

  Bedig built a fire from a stack of wood by the hearth, and they warmed themselves. Kallie returned down the steps, followed by three other women, all carrying baskets. They laid them down onto a table in the cavern, then the other women departed back up the steps.

  Kallie smiled at them, and Laodoc remembered how beautiful she was.

  ‘Let’s eat,’ she said.

  They sat round the table, filling their stomachs with meat, cheese and bread. Ale and whisky had also been provided, and the group relaxed as the drinks began to flow.

  Bridget introduced everyone to Kallie.

  ‘And this is Bedig,’ she said, ‘my um, boyfriend.’

  ‘Nice to meet you, Kallie,’ he said. ‘Heard a lot about you.’

  Kallie smiled and glanced at Bridget. ‘I suppose I should ask you what happened to Killop. We met a couple of Kell a few thirds ago, they said that he was the chief of a clan in Rahain.’

  Bridget shook her head. ‘He was, but he chose to leave with Daphne.’

  Kallie looked away.

  ‘So,’ Bridget said, ‘where’s wee Lacey?’

  ‘No idea,’ Kallie said. ‘Lost touch with her ages ago.’

  ‘What did you do?’

  ‘We walked as far as the Rahain border with the Plateau, then fell in with a group of bandits living in the hil
ls.’

  ‘You were a bandit?’ Bedig laughed.

  ‘We didn’t intend to stay, but after a while it was hard to leave. The group didn’t want us to go, we had to slip away in the night and run like fuck for days. When we eventually crossed into Kell, we met a group of refugees heading for Domm. Lacey joined them.’

  ‘But you didn’t?’ Laodoc said.

  ‘I couldn’t,’ she said. ‘When I saw Kell, my heart broke all over again, and I knew I had to fight. I joined this group about a year ago, and have been fighting alongside them ever since.’

  ‘I understand,’ Laodoc said, ‘but you must see that if the coal supply from Kell ceases, then you risk bringing the wrath of the empire down on you, and those living safely in Domm. The Emperor is a dangerous man.’

  ‘Who?’ Kallie said.

  Laodoc glanced at Agang.

  ‘An emperor rules the world,’ Agang said, ‘and he wields power beyond mortal imagining. He will destroy everything unless he’s stopped.’

  Kallie raised an eyebrow. ‘I don’t care about what goes on in the outside world. I’m only interested in clearing Kell of Rahain soldiers.’

  ‘But there are thousands of them in Kell,’ Laodoc said. ‘How many are in your armed company?’

  ‘Fifty,’ she said, ‘but it doesn’t matter. We’re only keeping the flame alive until Keira returns to leads us.’

  ‘What?’ Bridget said.

  ‘The fire goddess,’ Kallie said. ‘She will return. You remember the other part of Kalayne’s prophecy, don’t you? That I would be reborn when the fire goddess returns? And when she does get back, how do you think she’ll react when she sees the state Kell’s in? She’ll go mental.’

  The room fell silent.

  Kallie gazed at them. ‘What is it?’

  ‘Miss,’ Laodoc said, ‘Keira is already in Domm. She passed through Kell on her way there some time ago.’

  Kallie’s mouth fell open. ‘You’ve seen her?’

  ‘I travelled with her,’ Agang said, ‘all the way from the Plateau. We tried to persuade her to come with us, to carry on the fight, but she refused.’

  Kallie shook her head. ‘But what’s she doing in Domm?’

  Bridget frowned. ‘Getting drunk, mostly.’

  Chapter 12

  Hitting Home

  H oldings City, Holdings Republic – 13 th Day, First Third Autumn 507

  Daphne rose before dawn. She made no sound as she put on her uniform, kissed Karalyn and Killop and left their room. Chane was sitting waiting for her in the reception chamber, drinking coffee and smoking a cigarette.

  ‘Morning,’ she said.

  ‘Hi, Chane. I didn’t think you were getting back from the River Holdings until tomorrow.’

  Chane downed her coffee and stood. ‘I rode through the night.’ She gestured to the heap of boxes and luggage sitting on the floor. ‘You going somewhere?’

  ‘Killop’s taking Karalyn back to Hold Fast today,’ Daphne said, lighting a cigarette. ‘We’re making sure she’s somewhere safe before the Emperor gets here.’

  Chane nodded. ‘I thought you’d be taking the morning off, then.’

  ‘I just need to get a couple of hours of work done before they wake up.’

  They walked to the front door of the apartment, and descended the stairs to Holders Square. The sun was rising over the eastern horizon, and the clear sky promised another warm day. Across the square, companies of Holdings cavalry were out training, and the air was filled with the clatter of hooves on cobblestones.

  ‘How’d it go?’ Daphne said as they walked towards the palace.

  ‘All right,’ Chane said. ‘The preparations are as advanced as we could hope for. All the roads to the Plateau have been blocked, and the majority of the bridges over the Lesser River have been dismantled. I met Weir, by the way.’

  ‘Yeah? How’s he doing?’

  ‘Fine,’ Chane said. ‘He’s a good leader. His teams have been working all hours, collecting weapons, drilling recruits, holding practice evacuations. Most of them are too old, or too young, but they’re keen, I’ll give them that.’

  ‘Do they understand the role they have to play when the Emperor invades?’

  Chane nodded. ‘They do, but they don’t like it. Asking them to destroy their homes and farms as they pull back will hurt, but they’ll do it.’

  ‘Forcing the Emperor to lead his army onto the plains is our only chance,’ Daphne said.

  ‘Are we going to have enough cavalry, though?’

  ‘We’ve bought every horse left in the realm.’

  Chane smiled. ‘The republic, you mean?’

  ‘Yes, the republic,’ Daphne laughed. ‘I’m still not used to calling it that. Especially as we have a queen back in the palace.’

  ‘Yeah, but she’s not the same as the old queen.’

  ‘No,’ Daphne sighed. ‘She’s not.’

  ‘We didn’t realise how lucky we were, back then.’

  ‘That reminds me,’ Daphne said, stopping. ‘Don’t repeat a word of this to anyone, not that it would make any difference now, but while you were away the Prophet told me everything he knew about the plot against the old queen.’

  ‘So she was poisoned?’ Chane said. ‘I fucking knew it. Did that old bastard order it? ’

  ‘He completely denies it,’ Daphne said. ‘He admitted that he approved the plan to frame me for the collapse of the front in Sanang, but says he knew nothing of the attempt to assassinate the queen until after it had occurred.’

  ‘And you believe him?’

  ‘Yes. I could feel his anger about it, even after so long has passed. He said Arnault was behind it.’

  ‘The Lord Vicar? Doesn’t surprise me in the slightest. It’s a pity the Prophet’s waited so long to tell the truth.’

  Daphne thought back to her time in prison. ‘Yeah.’

  They began walking again, strolling between the lines of drilling cavalry as they neared the front of the palace.

  ‘So it was Rijon, then?’ Chane said. ‘He put that vision of our fort into Agang’s head? The Prophet confirmed it?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘Did you know he did it a second time?’

  ‘When?’

  ‘Outside Plateau City,’ Chane said. ‘Agang told me that the Sanang war god had appeared to him, and told him to join Guilliam’s alliance, rather than attack.’

  Daphne laughed. ‘What?’ She shook her head. ‘I did wonder what had changed his mind, everyone assumed it was the king’s diplomacy that had converted him.’

  ‘Deep down, I think Agang was relieved,’ Chane said. ‘He never really wanted to attack the Plateau. He wanted to build schools and roads, and bring civilisation to his country. He only invaded because the other chiefs pressured him into it. And even then he wanted a limited campaign, just terrorise some farmers, steal a few herds of cattle, and get back to Sanang as quickly as possible.’

  ‘Do you miss him?’

  ‘Sometimes. He could be a right arsehole, but I’m sorry he’s dead.’

  ‘His body was never found, you know.’

  ‘I heard they were burning piles of headless Sanang bodies for days on end outside the walls of the imperial capital. If he was there, he’s nothing but a pile of ash.’

  Soldiers saluted them as they ascended the steps to the main entrance of the palace.

  They went into a large chamber near the entrance, where a dozen tired-looking staff were standing around a long table, which was covered in maps and papers. More maps were hung up on the walls, detailing the countryside and towns of the River Holdings.

  ‘Ma’am,’ they saluted as Daphne approached.

  ‘Good morning,’ she said. ‘I’ll only be here for a short while, so Captain Chane will be looking after you today. Are your daily reports ready?’

  The staff shuffled their papers and nodded.

  Daphne smiled. ‘Let’s get started.’

  ‘I’m going to miss you, Kara-bear,’ Daphne sa
id, holding her daughter close.

  ‘Mummy come too,’ the girl said.

  ‘I want to, but I can’t right now. Daddy’s going to be taking you back to the big house in Hold Fast, where you’ll get to see Papa, and play with Lydia and Teddy.’

  ‘I don’t want them, I want mummy.’

  Daphne crouched down and wiped the tears from her daughter’s face.

  ‘You can come and find me every night in your dreams,’ she said.

  Karalyn folded her arms and glowered. ‘No.’

  Killop picked her up. ‘She’ll be fine once we’re on the road.’

  Daphne stood, and embraced him. ‘I’m going to miss you as well.’

  ‘Me too,’ he said.

  Kylon coughed from the door leading to the stairs. ‘Wagon’s ready.’

  ‘All right,’ Killop nodded. ‘We’ll be down in a minute.’

  ‘Sure, boss,’ Kylon said, leaving them alone in the apartment .

  ‘Are we doing the right thing?’ Killop said. ‘I know we agreed this, but I’m starting to have doubts. What if the imperial army moves between Hold Fast and Holdings City and cuts us off from each other?’

  Daphne shook her head. ‘The Emperor will head straight for the city, right through the River Holdings, and attack from the south. Hold Fast is too far to the north to be in the line of attack. If our plan works, we’ll draw his army out to the west of the city, and destroy it on the plains.’

  ‘You sound very sure about how the Emperor will act.’

  ‘The Prophet has seen his thoughts,’ Daphne said. ‘The Emperor may be powerful, but he is rash and careless. He lost over half his army in Rakana in exchange for a handful of flow mages. His over-confidence is our greatest weapon against him.’

  ‘I wish I was fighting by your side.’

  ‘So do I, but if we can force a battle on the plains, it’ll be decided by cavalry. The Rahain army that the Emperor has assembled are all foot-soldiers. If we can get them to the plains, we can sweep them away.’

  He frowned.

  ‘I know you want to fight,’ she said, ‘but I need you to look after Karalyn.’