Fallen Ward (Deepwoods Saga Book 3)

by Honor Raconteur

  Siobhan stood at Alexander’s other side, also leaning over the edge, which put Wolf on edge. There was a chance of an archer deciding to take a shot up here, after all. Wolf hovered at her side, ready to yank her back at the first sight of a bow being drawn.

  “I can’t keep track of the people down there at all,” she complained. “They’re packed in too tight and they keep shifting. Alex, I think instead of trying to pick someone out of that crowd, you have a better chance of calling down and seeing if someone responds to you.”

  Would that work? Alexander was only a kid, Rune didn’t think he had the lung capacity to shout down an angry horde of men. But, well, maybe hoisting him up into view would do half the work. “Alex, I’ll boost you up higher, so they have a better chance of seeing you.”

  Alexander nodded confirmation, expression determined, and he sucked in a deep breath. Then he released it all at once, like a deflated jellyfish. “Wait, what do I say?”

  Good question. Rune shared a glance with Siobhan and Wolf before offering, “Your name?”

  “Just that should be enough,” Siobhan agreed. “The right person will recognize your name, after all.”

  “Right.” Alexander shifted in Rune’s grip again, getting himself ready, and sucked in another deep breath.

  Rune took that as his cue and hefted Alexander up so that he sat on Rune’s left shoulder. As soon as he was semi-settled, the little guildmaster yelled in a surprisingly loud voice, “I AM ALEXANDER ALFRED BERTRAND JONQUILL!”

  From below, there was a startled silence, and then several men burst out laughing. People started talking back and forth, and Rune strained his hearing hard, trying to catch as much as he could.

  “—Who is that kid—”

  “—Did we kill off most of their men, last time or—”

  “—Maybe a bet?”

  “—Why would anyone—”

  Rune put Alexander back down on the ground, shaking his head as he did so. “I didn’t hear anyone that recognized him.”

  Siobhan growled, as irate as a wet cat. “Your hearing is sharper than anyone’s in the guild. If you didn’t hear it, it can’t be heard. Alright, Alex, I think you’re too far from whoever is in charge of this army. I bet the commanders are in the back.”

  They generally were. But the way she said that made the fine hairs on Rune’s neck stand up straight. “Wait, Siobhan, what are you suggesting?”

  “I’m not suggesting anything,” she denied. “The man we need to reach is likely in the back of that mess, somewhere, and out of earshot. I have no idea how to reach him.”

  Alexander spun sharply about and grabbed Rune’s arm with both hands. “You can take me to him.”

  Rune stared down at that earnest, desperate face in open mouthed surprise.

  The kid barreled forward, openly pleading. “You were an assassin, you have skills like no one else I’ve ever met or heard of. You managed to get past all of my guards, into my compound, into my bedroom, and then sneak me out of my own city without anyone being the wiser. You can do this too.”

  He met those clear blue eyes without flinching. “You think that sneaking you through that mob down there will be just as easy as getting into your compound?”

  Siobhan had this frantic look on her face that suggested she knew what he was really thinking. She was shaking her head back and forth, her arms crossed like an X in front of her chest.

  But Rune deliberately avoided looking at her because the challenge of the idea had already taken root in his mind. Sneak a boy past an entire army and into the back ranks? Now, there was a challenge that did not come very often.

  “Rune!” Siobhan half-snarled in vexation. “Denney will have your hide if you survive this.”

  Putting on a casual façade, he gave her a devil-may-care grin. “I have ways of getting her to forgive me.”

  “I bet you do,” Wolf drawled. “Just don’t get killed. I don’t have those ways.”

  “Wolf, if you used the same tactics I do to get on Denney’s good side, I would have a problem with that.”

  Wolf openly chuckled. “As you should.”

  It was only then that Fei decided to join in on the conversation. “It is our best option, Siobhan-ajie.”

  She shook a finger at him. “You don’t fool me. I see that light in your eyes. You think it sounds fun too and want to go along.”

  Fei was the epitome of innocence. “It would be safer if I accompanied them.”

  Siobhan threw both hands into the air. “I give up. Go, go!”

  “Wait, Siobhan,” Markl objected, “You aren’t really going to let them go, are you?”

  “If you see a way to stop them, by all means.”

  Rune shot the man a grin. Markl realized in one glance that any argument he might put forward would be totally useless. He turned to Fei, mouth open, only to close it again when he realized that arguing on that front was just as futile. Instead, he groaned to no one in particular, “It’s just as well the Tran is not here. Even with his bad knee, he would insist on going along.” He thought about it for a moment before regarding Wolf. “Actually, I’m surprised you’re not insisting on going along, Wolf.”

  “I’m in charge of the city’s defense,” Wolf responded easily.

  Markl’s reaction was classic. He clearly didn’t buy this for a moment. “And Siobhan would kill you if you went.”

  “And that,” Wolf agreed in the same tone.

  Rune choked back a laugh. Even Fei smiled. Wolf still took risks, and got into fights, and did all the crazy things he did before he and Siobhan got together, but Rune had noticed that he now chose which dangers he faced. Perhaps Wolf had realized what Rune had. Being a good man to a woman meant that sometimes he had to choose his battles.

  Siobhan pursed her lips, head cocked. “Rune, Fei, do you even have an idea of how to pull this off?”

  “A notion or two,” Rune assured her. Really, there were only a few methods they could use. The real trick would be to get out of the city without drawing the attention of the army below. He and Fei didn’t need to talk this through as they had worked with each other long enough that they could read what the other intended. Rune needed to only ask two questions. “North gate or south?”

  “North,” Fei responded promptly. “Tran-ren’s over south gate, if we go out there, he’ll join us.”

  Good point. “Bait or carry?”

  “Bait,” Fei responded promptly.

  Alexander was still holding onto Rune’s hand, his head bouncing back and forth between the two men, trying to follow and failing. “What?”

  Bending slightly, Fei explained patiently, “We’ll sneak out the north gate, out of sight of the army, and come around that way. The light’s failing, so if we do this right, we can come up behind them without them realizing we’re there. Rune-xian will carry you.”

  “I can walk, though?” Alexander objected.

  “We’ll be running,” Rune corrected. “You won’t be able to keep up.”

  “Even I can’t keep up when they run, Alexander,” Siobhan interjected.

  Rune was a little amused at this. Siobhan was always quick to put in a word and soothe a male ego before it could get bruised. Even with someone as young as this. Well, it was likely how she managed to keep five very dominant fighters from killing each other.

  Alexander was mollified by these words, at least.

  Fei popped his head over the wall for a few seconds before pulling back and commenting to Rune, “We shouldn’t need a ladder.”

  “You think?”

  Alexander’s eyes went round. “B-but that’s a fifteen foot drop!”

  “At least,” Markl agreed faintly. “You sure about that?”

  Fei and Rune gave identical shrugs of indifference. Rune had jumped taller heights than this before, he didn’t see what the problem would be. Granted, previous times, he’d been jumping into water, or something else that would break his landing, but this still wasn’t something to worry over. The on
ly problem would be how to deal with Alexander. Rune would have to hit the ground rolling to avoid breaking a bone, and that would be hard to do with the kid in his arms. “Him?”

  “Just toss him to me before you jump,” Fei answered, as if that were the most obvious answer.

  “Ah, right.” That made sense. “Let’s go, then.”

  Alexander gulped loudly. “What if I don’t want to be thrown off a fifteen foot wall and trust someone else to catch me?”

  Rune patted the top of his head in mock sympathy. “Hold your breath. Heard it helps.”

  A horrendous crash came at the gate. Wolf looked down and that maniac grin he always wore during a fight spread over his face. “They’ve got something like a battering ram this time. You three best hurry, we’re running out of time.” Turning his head, he bellowed to his men, “OIL AT THE READY!”

  Rune snagged Alexander around the waist, hoisting him onto his back, and took off on Fei’s heels. Alexander latched onto his shoulders with an iron grip that was almost painful, it was so tight.

  “Rune, is it too late to change my mind?” Alexander sounded beyond nervous.

  “Yup.”

  To himself, Alexander muttered, “This is possibly the worst decision I’ve ever made.”

  The kid was likely right. Rune was charitable enough to not agree with him out loud.

  They made it all the way to the north end of the city before someone finally stopped them. Ryu Jin Ho stepped into their path before Fei could do more than get one boot over the edge. “Wait, wait, Man Fei Lei-xian, what are you doing?”

  Fei inclined his head to Alexander. “Taking him to the army commander.”

  It took three full seconds before that made sense to Ryu Jin Ho. When it did, he rubbed at his forehead as if he had suddenly developed a headache. “What did your guildmaster say about this plan?”

  “That we’re crazy,” Rune answered cheerfully. “Then she said to go.”

  Ryu Jin Ho looked the three of them over with a calculating eye before offering, “I have a ladder…?”

  “We’re fine,” Fei assured him.

  “I like ladders,” Alexander piped up on Rune’s back. “Ladders are good.”

  “At least one of you wants one,” Ryu Jin Ho observed laconically.

  “It’s more fun to throw him,” Rune explained seriously.

  Alexander squawked indignantly and struggled, uselessly, to get out of Rune’s grip.

  Fei had both boots over the side of the wall, ready to jump, but paused to add, “He volunteered for this. Objections are overruled.”

  “Well put,” Rune complimented his partner in crime.

  “Thank you, Rune-xian. Shall we go?” Fei didn’t wait for an answer, just lightly leapt to the ground.

  Rune swung his package off his back and around to his stomach area, holding the squirming boy without any effort.

  “I reaaaaally want a ladder,” Alexander pleaded.

  “Too much hassle,” Rune denied. “Fei, ready?”

  “Throw him.”

  Rune got a more secure hold on Alexander’s waist before eyeing the distance and taking aim to Fei’s waiting arms. “Catch.”

  Alexander made a garbled “HIIIIIIIII” sound in the back of his throat as he was mercilessly tossed off the wall. Fei caught him handily, though, in a princess lift before setting the boy on his feet. Rune made sure he was properly caught before putting his own boots over the side of the wall.

  Shaking his head, Ryu Jin Ho requested, “Try not to give the boy a heart attack before the night is out?”

  “Ryu Jin Ho-zhi, you’re taking all of the fun out of this.”

  “You’ll survive. Good luck.”

  With a half-bow of thanks, Rune pushed off the wall.

  The army was so focused on getting through the eastern gate that they didn’t notice three people hopping off the wall on the north side. Once there, Rune noticed that the shoreline dipped just enough to provide some cover, if one was hunched low enough. It would drop their speed in half, but it increased their chances of getting to the back unseen. It was a unanimous vote to use that way instead, at least as far as they could. They’d eventually have to come out of the beachy area and back onto solid ground, but they could cover most of the distance towards the rear of the army, and that was what mattered.

  Three thousand men all packed onto one road took up quite a stretch of distance. It took a solid half-hour of jogging in that hunched way before they saw the end in sight. No wonder there had been no reaction from the leaders in the rear when Alexander had stood on top of the wall—they couldn’t have possibly seen or heard him from there.

  Alexander ran part of the way on his own legs, as he wanted, but he soon tired. He didn’t have the stamina to run for an hour straight. Rune ended up carrying him after a while, and running stooped over with a child on his back was not comfortable. He might be hobbling around like an old man tomorrow. Unless he could convince Denney to give him a good back rub.

  Odds were good on that.

  The thought made him smile. Rune was distracted enough by the stray thought that he almost missed it when Fei raised a hand, signaling him to stop, and had to skid in order to avoid plowing right into him.

  “What?” Rune breathed, not even daring a whisper, despite the fact that there was a good span in between them and the army.

  Fei jerked his chin toward the top of the slope. “Look.”

  Glad for a break, he straightened his spine enough to get his eyes over the slope’s edge. Oh? Well that changed their approach.

  It was Alexander that stated the obvious. “They’re breaking camp?”

  “They should have done that in the beginning,” Rune responded absently. His mind was already moving forward.

  “Why?”

  “Night attacks are dangerous,” Fei explained. He was shoulder to shoulder with Rune, observing just as intently. “There’s not enough light to see by, so you’re as much in danger from your own men as you are from enemy attacks. Only a fool fights at night.”

  “Or the very desperate,” Rune added. “I was surprised, earlier, when they hit the city gate with that battering ram. I thought they meant to try a night attack.”

  “Someone apparently thought better of it and ordered them to stand down for the night.”

  Which only made sense, really—it was the sign of a greenhorn to try anything else. It would add more distance for them to cover, because even the amateur Coravinian commanders realized that pitching camp right on the enemy’s doorstep was stupid. They’d backed up half a span in order to give themselves more room, and then spread out to either side of the road.

  Without looking at Fei, Rune suggested softly, “Wait?”

  “And then sneak in,” Fei agreed. “Only sensible way to do it.”

  Alexander caught on quickly enough. “You want to wait until they’re settled in for the night and then sneak in? Won’t that be more dangerous?”

  “Less,” Rune disagreed. “The sentries will be tired after that long march, they’ll be half asleep on their feet. Easy to get around them.”

  “That’s if they set sentries,” Fei corrected.

  Rune could not believe what he was hearing. “Who wouldn’t set sentries this close to the enemy?”

  “The same sort of idiot that tries battering a city gate late in the evening before he thinks better of it.”

  That…was a good point. But still, there were limits to stupidity, surely. “I bet you they will.”

  “Usual bet?”

  “Usual bet.”

  Fei stuck out a hand, which Rune took and shook, sealing the deal.

  Time oozed by. Rune did put Alexander down, as there was no sense in holding the kid if they weren’t moving. Alexander found a toehold so that he could climb up enough and see his army. It took longer than Rune wanted, but they were actually fairly efficient setting up the tents and getting the cook fires started. In the space of two hours, maybe three, the fires started going out a
gain as people doused them and headed for their bedrolls.

  From this distance, they couldn’t make out finer details, but there were still enough campfires to see silhouettes by. There were no man-shaped shadows making their way back and forth on patrol.

  Fei was quite smug about it. “I win.”

  Rune just growled. “How stupid can you be? They set up tons of guards around their own guild compound, but not here?”

  “The false security of safety in numbers.” Fei chuffed out a laugh, sounding breathy in the still night air. “Remember rule number five.”

  Alexander, of course, piped up. “What’s rule number five?”

  “Never complain when your enemy is making a mistake,” Rune recited promptly. “Alright, Fei, you win. I’ll pay up later. For now, let’s make our way to the back tents.”

  “That big red one?”

  “That has to be it, don’t you think?”

  “Odds are good,” Fei admitted. “Alexander-xian, do you have a red tent?”

  “I’m not sure,” Alexander admitted woefully. “I never got to go anywhere.”

  It was a cardinal rule that the guildmaster, if he traveled, always stayed in a red tent so that people could easily find him. If he was in an inn, a red banner was pinned to his door for the same reason. Fallen Ward’s commanders didn’t have Alexander now, but they’d brought the tent with the confidence that they would be bringing him back home, and they’d need it for the return trip. Using it now just made things easier on their enemy, though. Even if it was for convenience’s sake, they shouldn’t have put it up.

  Alexander heaved out a sigh that was more appropriate for an adult carrying the world on his shoulders than a child. “They’re making so many mistakes. It’s embarrassing me.”

  Not even trying to console him, Rune patted him on the back. “You should be embarrassed.”

  “Thanks for that, Rune.”

  “No problem. Get back on, it’s time to move.”

  Alexander heaved a resigned sigh.