by Peter Kenson
“I’m pleased you’re back but damn the Belsi,” Jeren said, slamming his hand down on the table. “Why won’t they leave her alone?”
“I don’t think the Belsi have as much control over Ystradis as they would like. They are afraid that Rachel will provide a focus for the Ystrad resistance fighters who are already making a nuisance of themselves. But, and it’s a very big but, it was not the Belsi who attacked Rachel’s ship this time.”
Both Jeren and Falaise looked at him in surprise. “Then who was it?” Jeren demanded.
“Well, as I said, one of the ships was a pirate ship. Nothing particularly unusual there. There are quite a number of them around. Mercenaries available for hire and in between contracts, preying on defenceless merchantmen on the various shipping routes. When they get too numerous, the Imperial Navy sends out a task force to hunt them down but they always spring back up again.
“However, out towards the edge of the galaxy, in the region that’s known as the Rim, there is a large volume of space that is not controlled or even policed by the empire. It calls itself the Federation of Vostov and is a loose alliance of planets who only seem to have one thing in common; a callous disregard for the property rights of anybody except themselves. It was a Vostovian frigate that attacked the Cleopatra.”
“But why?”
“That we don’t know. It could be an unfortunate coincidence but I don’t believe in coincidences. It’s more likely that the Belsi didn’t want to be seen to make another attack on Rachel themselves, so soon after the failed attack on your palace here. So they called in a favour. What is worrying is that nobody knew there was any contact between the Belsi and Vostov, or knows what the relationship is between them.”
“So what happens now?”
“In the short term, nothing. At least, not on the surface. The Admiralty sent two frigates to support the Cleopatra. One of them is escorting the captured frigate and the pirate back to the nearest Star Base. The other is escorting the Arctic Fox on to Rebus. There will be no further trouble for a while but there will be a lot of work going on in the background to find out exactly how Vostov are involved.”
“Well damn the Belsi anyway,” Jeren exclaimed. “And Vostov. I just feel so helpless stuck here while Rachel is in danger. I should be with her.”
“And do what, Jeren?” David asked quietly. “Waving your sword at a Vostovian frigate is not going to protect her. She has her own people with her now.”
“Who were heavily beaten by the Belsi, last time they fought.”
“But who are learning to resist and who do have access to far more powerful weapons than your sword. Besides, you have problems of your own here, which you must deal with before your position on the throne is secure.”
“You mean the widow Deribe?”
“She’s one of them, yes. It’s full winter outside the valley now. There’s snow on the ground and no trade caravans will move until the spring. But when the caravans come again, you have to be able to protect them; from Deribe or from anyone else. Marmoros used to be one of the great trade centres of the world and it can be again. But the caravans will not come if they do not feel safe.”
“We need more men.”
“They are coming in. You remember when we started the march towards Marmoros, Falaise sent out a call to all the young Lyenar who were away serving as soldiers or caravan guards. Well the ones who were close enough, joined us on the march but the others are still straggling in. Feynor says that one or two are arriving at the gates every few days now.”
“I know. He told me that too. He’s a good man. I’m glad you recommended him as Commander in your absence.”
“Yes he is and all the other captains respect him. You should make the appointment permanent. It’s your army now not mine.”
Jeren looked dismayed. “I was hoping you would resume your position as my military commander.”
“I cannot, Jeren. I am not here officially or even legally and, if I’m discovered here, I may have to make a hasty exit. I can still advise you but the army needs continuity of command.”
Jeren hesitated for a second and then nodded slowly. “Very well then. I’ll speak to him. But first, there’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while; partly to stop myself thinking about Rachel but it’s a matter on which I’d like some advice from you both.”
David and Falaise sat quietly waiting for him to continue.
“The town of High Falls has always lived under the protection of Marmoros. It is a key market town, sitting at the intersection of the two great trade routes; East/West from Marmoros down into Keldis and North/South from Aryx down to Yarford. That makes it strategically important to all the passing caravans and, therefore, also to Marmoros.
“However, it is almost completely undefended. If Deribe gathers enough men together, she may decide to move in there instead of spending the winter in the woods and then we would be forced to recapture the place. We took the town by subterfuge the first time but we also showed that it could be defended by only a handful of men when Kraxis attacked. I think we ought to station a troop of soldiers there to defend the town and keep it under our control.”
“I’m pleased to see that you are still capable of thinking with your head rather than your loins, my son,” Falaise commented. “High Falls is essential to the prosperity of Marmoros. Before the great betrayal, all of the families had houses in High Falls that they maintained throughout the season in order to trade with those caravans that did not want to make the three day journey into Marmoros itself. So I agree that the town should have a garrison but do we have enough troops to spare?”
“No not yet,” David replied. “But there may be a way to kill two birds with one stone. You have a number of very powerful lords under your banner now. Men who are accustomed to wielding power; some of them since before you were born. You need to reorganise your council, Jeren. You need to harness the talents of these natural leaders but above all else, you need to keep them occupied. If they’re not busy working for you, they will use their free time to develop their own schemes.”
“Plot against me, you mean. But what has this to do with High Falls?”
“You could appoint one of them to be the Warden of High Falls; to rule the town on your behalf, collect the taxes from the merchants and caravans and use a proportion of those taxes to raise and equip a local defence force for the town. The soldiers there would be primarily a garrison to defend the walls but could be called upon by yourself in times of need.”
“That would be a very powerful appointment,” Jeren said cautiously. “Almost independent from Marmoros and with its own force of soldiers.”
“Not that independent because most of the inhabitants, at least during the trading season, will be merchant families from Marmoros. It wouldn’t be too hard to keep a discrete eye on things.”
“So who should I appoint? Lord Grekan would appear to be the obvious choice. He already has a substantial force of his own men.”
David smiled. “We have a saying where I come from, Jeren. ‘Keep your friends close and your enemies closer’. I agree that you need to find Lord Grekan a substantial post; one that will keep him very busy. Possibly as your Lord Chancellor, perhaps. But the Warden of High Falls needs to be someone you can trust implicitly.”
“What about Lord Meriden?” Falaise suggested. “That would keep his faction happy. And High Falls is on the border with Keldis where his group of families lived in exile for years. He will undoubtedly still have many contacts there which could be useful.”
“That would work,” Jeren said as David nodded his agreement. “But how do we split the taxes between High Falls and Marmoros?”
“I suggest you allow your mother to handle those negotiations,” David laughed. “I still have the scars from the last time I tried to negotiate with her.”
“If you bear any scars, David,” Falaise retorted with a smile, “I’m sure they were entirely merited. Now, what
about the council? I think Lord Grekan would be an excellent choice for Chancellor. It is a post of sufficient importance to at least partially satisfy his ambitions and it would certainly keep him occupied. But who will lead the council?”
“Well, correct me if I’m wrong, but you were the leader of the council in your role of Queen Regent. As Jeren has made no changes to the composition of the council since the coronation, I believe that technically, that means you are still the leader despite no longer being Regent. Furthermore, if you agree and, unless Jeren has someone else in mind, I would recommend that you continue to be so.”
“Mother?”
“Well, I don’t know. My appointment to that position caused quite a bit of bother at the time.”
“Yes it did,” David agreed. “But that was a while ago and I’m not hearing any murmurings of discontent at the moment. You have more than proved your value to the king’s council.”
“Then I accept. I shall speak to Lord Meriden and you, Jeren, should talk directly to Lord Grekan. The lesser appointments can be sorted out once those two are agreed.”
“There is one other matter which I think you should both consider,” David said. “When we first arrived in Marmoros, you set up a court to arbitrate on any property disputes, both inside the city and in the valley. The initial flurry of disputes is now largely settled and it is time to start thinking about the future.”
“What do you mean?”
“Your noble lords are busy carving out estates for themselves in the valley; taking more land than they traditionally owned and more importantly taking more land than they can possibly work. That land is just going to lie fallow. But if Marmoros prospers again, and I believe that it will, more people are going to want to come here and set themselves up in business. Are you going to welcome those people who come and, if so, where are they going to live and work?”
Jeren sat deep in thought for a minute. “You’re right. Marmoros belongs to the Lyenar but we have always welcomed outsiders who want to come here and work with us. However, houses in the city are scarce and I’m unwilling to build more houses on good farming land in the valley.”
“I don’t think that will be necessary, providing you start planning now. True the city is constrained by its walls and by the river but there are areas around the slave quarters that are little more than slums. If you appoint somebody to take charge of city planning, those areas could be redeveloped into good residential or business districts. Pipe their own water supply in and the city could easily hold three or four times the numbers you have now.”
“But what about ownership? Selling off a large part of the city would not be a popular move.”
“Then don’t sell it. Pass a decree that all land in the city belongs to the city, or to the king, the two are interchangeable in this regard. Everybody then pays rent on the property they occupy. That will cause some unhappiness amongst the noble lords but if you set the ‘rent’ to be slightly less than the amount of property tax they would otherwise have to pay, I think they will come round.
“You can then do the same for the agricultural land in the valley. And pass a second decree that no man is allowed to take more land than he can physically work. That will allow you to reclaim any land that lies fallow for more than a season and redistribute it.”
“That is a good scheme, Jeren,” Falaise said. “You should certainly consider it. But the council won’t like it.”
“If you make support of your land reform proposals a condition of their appointments, then you will have the Lords Grekan and Meriden behind you,” David suggested. “If those two lead, the others will follow. And you can always appease the council slightly, by giving them a free vote on some of the lesser appointments. Subject to your veto, of course.”
“All right,” Jeren said, standing up. “I will go to find Feynor and then arrange a meeting with Grekan. But I’m still worried about High Falls. It may take Meriden a little while to organise a defence force and get them down there. Until he does so, I think we should base one of our patrols in the town. They can still scout for signs of Deribe’s force from there but the town will be secure overnight.”
David grimaced. “It will weaken our strength in the city and around the palace but I will make the arrangements.”
***
Deribe’s attack when it came two nights later, was not on the town of High Falls. David awoke from a deep sleep to the sound of the tocsin being rung. Hastily throwing on a shirt, he flung open the door to the sleeping chamber to find Jaks and Izzy struggling into wakefulness.
“Izzy, find out what all the fuss is about and quickly,” he ordered. “Get back here fast.
“Jaks, get my mail shirt and put some armour on yourself.”
Back in the chamber, Mo was peering out anxiously from beneath the sleeping furs.
“You’d better get some clothes on too,” he said struggling into breeches and boots. “I want you to find Lady Falaise and stay with her. I’ll send Izzy with you as soon as he gets back.”
Jaks rushed in with the mail shirt and stopped in confusion at the sight of Mo half naked.
“Save your embarrassment for later,” David told him, taking the shirt and pulling it over his head. “And where’s Izzy?”
“Here milord. Feynor says the guards heard noises in the tunnels behind the store rooms. He’s on his way there now with the main company while Jorgen is posting the remaining redcloaks around the principal apartments in the palace.”
“Well done. Now I want you to take Mo to Lady Falaise’s apartment and stay there with her. There should be a couple of redcloaks on the door but make sure you keep the ladies safe.
“Jaks, you come with me. We have to find the king.”
Finding Jeren was easier than expected as they ran into him around the next corner, heading in their direction. Baltur was only a pace behind with Seb and Carl, the giant axe man arriving seconds later.
“Right, let’s get down there,” Jeren exclaimed when David had relayed the information from Izzy.
“No wait,” David ordered. “Feynor has more than enough men down there already. Probably too many for close quarter fighting. But they must have known they couldn’t break into the store rooms without attracting attention.”
“You suspect a diversion?” Carl asked.
David glanced at the big man, standing there with his battle axe nestling comfortably in the crook of his arm. He nodded his appreciation of the veteran’s grasp of the situation.
“I do. They’ll have noted that the patrol we sent down to High Falls has not returned. If they can draw the rest of our strength down into the store rooms, then a small team of assassins could move freely through the upper corridors of the palace.”
“Assassins,” Jeren gasped. “Mother…”
“Possible but probably not. She’s not such a high value target now since the coronation. You are, but you’re with us. I agree that we should check on her though. Carl, take Seb and Jaks. Make sure that the redcloaks outside Lady Falaise’s quarters are on the alert and there’s no trouble there. Jeren, you and Baltur come with me.”
David set off down the corridor at a flat run.
“Where are we going?” Jeren asked as he tried to keep pace.
“It occurs to me that there is one very high value target in the palace who I’m afraid we’ve been very lax in protecting,” David replied, skidding round a corner and bouncing off the far wall in his haste. Ahead of them they could hear shouting now and a piercing scream rising above the rest. Round the next corner and a shaft of light spilled out into the corridor through an open doorway.
Plunging into the chamber, David found Yolanthe crouched in a fighting stance with a long bladed knife held out in front of her and a maidservant cowering behind. There was a body on the floor with a spreading bloodstain on his chest and a very surprised look on his face. The other six men were spaced out in a semicircle facing Yolanthe. All had drawn swords but were
obviously reluctant to attack. They whirled round as David and Jeren rushed at them.
Four of them tried to block the attack while the other two continued to threaten Yolanthe. Jeren thumbed the stud on his sword hilt and the blade glittered blue as he, literally, disarmed one of his opponents. David deflected one of his attacker’s swords and ducked low under the other to drag the blade of his katana across the man’s midriff. The man’s sword fell to the floor as he clutched both hands across his stomach and sank slowly to his knees.
With snarls of rage, the other two turned their attention from Yolanthe as Baltur, who had been lagging a few steps behind, came charging in. One man went down beneath the blue fire of Jeren’s blade and then it was three against three. The brigands were natural fighters who had grown up and trained with Kraxis but, in this contest, they were hopelessly outmatched. One of them slipped in a pool of blood and went down as David’s katana sliced his throat open. Another pitched forward suddenly with the hilt of Yolanthe’s knife protruding from his shoulder blades. Seeing this the last man dropped his sword and fell to his knees, begging for a mercy that Jeren, furious at the invasion of his palace, was in no mood to grant. He died on his knees.
“Thank you, my lords,” Yolanthe whispered.
David leaped over a fallen body to catch her as she staggered and appeared about to faint. “I’m so sorry, Yolanthe. I should have known they’d come for you. We’ll take you to Lady Falaise while we get this place cleaned up.”
“I rather think you had better take me to Marta, my lord,” she replied with a weak smile. “I think my waters have just broken.”
Chapter 10 – Galgos/Sorinto/Ystradis
The news of the attack on the Cleopatra had repercussions around the galaxy, both inside and outside the Empire. The Ystrad council in exile on Sorinto went into emergency session and talked themselves hoarse without agreeing any meaningful way forward. The Vostovian High Command was furious about the loss of their brand new frigate and even more furious about the loss of their leading edge technology. The Imperial Navy was equally furious about the loss of one of their corvettes but their anger was outweighed by the capture of the new frigate and the technology it contained.