by S. W. Gunn
Viga approached Daell as he sat on the ground thinking.
“Daell are you well?”
“Yes Viga. I was just thinking.”
Viga sat on the padded bag that was provided for him.
“What were you thinking of?”
Daell flushed a little bit before answering, “My wife, I miss her greatly.”
Viga chuckled as he said, “Iam not surprised that your mind wanders to my sister. It always has.”
Daell scratched his ear and bashfully stated, “I cannot help myself, I love her dearly.”
“I know Daell.”
“Did you know that she is with child?”
Viga looked shocked by the news.
“What!” He said loudly.
Daell signaled with his hand for Viga to lower his voice.
“Yes,” Daell said, “She is with child, we found out before we were assaulted on the leid to Heimili.”
Viga’s face beamed happily before saying, “That is wonderful news.”
“Yes it is.”
“There is only one problem friend.” Viga calmed stated.
“Which is?”
“An heir will cut your reign as King pretty short.”
Daell laughed. He had known that their first child was going to break tradition and it was going to be a boy, which meant his reign would not be as short as Via thought that it would be.
“Viga I would not complain for that, however I am afraid that it is not the case here.”
Viga looked confused so he asked, “Do you know that the first child of every Queen has always been the heir?”
“Indeed, however my child will be a boy.”
Viga shook his head and firmly said, “No Daell, the first born is always a girl, the next Princess and future Queen. It had been this way for every Queen.”
With a laugh Daell replied, “I guess Astir and I have again made history. I have sensed the child within my wife and I tell you, my child is a boy.”
Viga shook his head again and commented, “I guess we should always expect something different from you Daell.”
An evil thought crossed Daell’s mind, along with a matching grin before he wickedly stated, “I guess this means that once my son is born, I will just have to keep trying in order to provide the Queen with an heir?”
Viga laughed vigorously.
He continued laughing for a while longer before finally saying, “I guess so.”
Anderskoti finally arrived as they prepared to settle for the evening. He sat down on his bag, which was resting on the opposite side of Viga and beside Daell.
He looked curiously at them before asking, “What is so funny your Highness?”
“Anderskoti please just call me Daell when we are alone alright?”
He nodded in response.
“But to answer your question, I had revealed to Viga that my wife was with child and he made several jokes at my expense.”
Anderskoti seemed pleased by the news.
“Congratulations,” He said, “All of Heima will undoubtedly rejoice at the news of the birth of an heir.”
Daell chuckled again.
Viga spoke up, “Sorry Anderskoti, I am afraid that Heima is going to be disappointed.”
“What do you mean Prince Vigamadir?” He asked.
“Viga,” Viga replied, “Call me Viga, but to answer your question, our King has apparently decided to break tradition and the Queen will be bringing Heima a Prince as her firstborn.”
Anderskoti shook his head and said, “But the Queen always has the heir first.”
Viga laughed and said, “Apparently our King has decided to break more traditions.”
They sat quietly for a moment before Anderskoti spoke again, “Well either way Daell, I wish you congratulations. I still do not understand what the mirth was about.”
Viga laughed again before jabbing Daell’s side and stating, “Just spend a night in a room next to the Queen and King and you will discover the cause of our mirth.”
It took Anderskoti another moment, but he began laughing and then slapped Daell’s left shoulder.
“Fair enough.” He finally said.
“Just do not tell the Queen that our child will be a boy.” Daell said to them, which they both nodded in response.
After a little more casual conversation they all climbed within the padded bags and lay down to sleep for the evening. Tomorrow they would begin the siege of Hellir.
* * * * *
Daell awoke to someone nudging into the side of bag that he was sleeping within. Even with the thick material that composed of the bag, and the heavy padding within it, Daell was still a little cold. He poked his head the top of the bag.
Mist formed from his mouth as he spoke, “I am awake.”
He was truck with shock as he pulled himself out of his bag and looked around him. The sky was thick with some type of mist. It was something that he had never seen anything like before.
Daell asked, “Viga is everything well?”
Viga looked confused by his question.
“Why is the sky thick? I can barely see past you.”
Viga laughed before replying, “Do you mean the boka? It is normal in Hellir, especially during this time of the harvest.”
Daell had never heard of such a thing. He had seen mist rising from the ocean while he was in Bygod, but never cover the whole sky and obstruct his view throughout.
“Boka.” Daell said slowly, the word was new to him.
“Indeed, although I suppose a man who had spent most of his life in a desert, it would be something new. I only know of it from my earlier life when my father took me on trips to Hellir, before I moved to Araedi.”
“Ahhh. Well what is our plan now?”
Anderkoti’s voice spoke through the boka, “We sent some scouts earlier and they had some unusual findings Daell.”
Daell turned to look at him; he was barely visible.
“What did they find?” Daell asked.
“The people of Hellir have built a wall and have some sort of devices attached to them. They seem to be able to launch projectiles. We are outside of their range, however if we move closer as a group they might fire them on us.”
“So what is our plan of action to get past this issue? I do not think charging directly into the line of these weapons would be a wise choice.”
“Indeed, I think we should take advantage of the thick boka and strike at one point. If we can somehow take down a portion of their wall we could penetrate into the city and bring warfare to them.” Anderskoti told him.
Daell thought on it for a moment. Anderskoti’s plan seemed solid but he was very concerned about the loss of life.
He decided to question the plan, “Anderskoti I am concerned. I feel that we could end up killing many more people than we need to, if we follow that plan.”
“I understand, but if we do not force through the wall with our advantage due to the boka, we will have to make a frontal assault and it would take many of our warrior’s lives before we even got to the wall.”
Viga interceded, “Unless we can find a way for them to surrender without a fight.”
Anderskoti laughed. It then struck Daell. He would force them to surrender.
“I shall force them to surrender without the loss of a single one of our warriors.” Daell announced.
Anderskoti almost gagged as he was taking a sip of water when Daell made his announcement. Viga did not respond at all.
After a moment of coughing, Anderskoti recovered and asked, “And how will you do that?”
Daell responded to his question with a grim smile, “I will take down their walls underneath them. Heima responds to my will, she will bring down their walls for us. It might be more than enough to force them to surrender without losing any of our men.”
Viga interjected by asking, “What of the men on the wall?”
Daell sighed. He wished he could avoid it, but clearly he had no choice but to take the lives of the men wh
o directly opposed his wife.
Daell grimly said, “I have no choice Viga, these men have betrayed my wife for some unknown reason. With a sword in hand, my own wife boldly ran through a man who tried to capture her. If she can take a life in defense of the crown, then I must do so too.”
Anderskoti nodded his head before asking, “Very well Daell, should we head to the main gate then? We can pull down the wall under the cover of this boka. It would make for easy access if they choose not to surrender.”
Daell thought for a moment before shaking his head and stating, “We need them to see the walls come down clearly. How long does this boka last? We need the skies clear enough for the whole city to hear, and see the effect of my call to Heima.”
Anderskoti grinned evilly as he commented, “Daell you are a lot more cunning than I ever suspected. To watch their walls crumble by the waving of a hand from their King will bring fear to the entire populace and the city leaders to their knees. Before the mid-turn meal the boka should be gone.”
Daell had to admit that the idea was a mixture of what Anderskoti had said about the wall, and the brutal effectiveness of his wife’s actions in Bygod. He had desperately hoped it would work because he knew that he could take down the walls, but then the issue would be getting the people of Hellir to surrender. The least amount of life lost as possible was his secondary goal.
They sat quietly for some time. Daell noticed that the thick mists that Viga called boka had slowly began to dissipate as time went on. They ate the morning meal in silence and continued to wait. Eventually the dissipation of the boka had gotten to a point where he could see Hellir in the distance, along with the walls that were indeed new. Straining to look on the walls, he could not tell how many Vatune were there.
Standing up, he announced, “Alright, I will simply walk up to the front gate and bring down the walls.”
Anderskoti and Viga rose with him.
Viga spoke first, “No Daell, I shall walk with you. If they fire on you, I wish to be ready to defend you.”
Anderskoti then boldly proclaimed, “I too shall walk with you, our King must be guarded.”
Daell was touched by their words so he said with a nod, “Very well then, all three of us shall all go.”
Anderskoti reached down to his bag and pulled out a sounding horn.
“What is that for?” Daell asked him.
“It is our back up plan, in case they do not capitulate immediately. Once you take the walls down, we shall await their response. If it is not to your liking, I will blow on my horn to call forth the entire war host into battle. If you take down a large enough section, they would be defenseless to our attack. No ten Vatune could match a single pair of our warriors when crossing blades. Our six hundred men will overwhelm the city in less than a turn. Daell I know you want to avoid loss of life, but this is what we Aldarnari train for as soon as we are old enough to raise a blade.”
Daell nodded. He had to admit that it was a wise back up plan.
Viga grabbed Daell’s arm suddenly and asked, “What happens if they do surrender?”
Daell was confused be the question so he asked, “What do you mean?”
“I know you do not want to take lives unnecessarily, but we will need to make an example of some of the leadership here. If we do not, we will be setting an example of weakness instead of the example of strength we need to set.”
Daell frowned, he had not thought of it. His wife had made an example of the assassin, and of those who attacked the palace. Not only did she personally slay the man who led them, but she had her warriors execute the survivors of the enemy force. This was not a decision Daell wanted to make, but he knew that he would have to.
He looked into Viga’s eyes and answered, “Viga this is not a command I wish to make. If I must, then I will follow my wife’s example. The leaders who were involved in this betrayal will be executed, by my hand if necessary.”
Viga nodded solemnly before saying, “You will not need to execute anyone. We have plenty of men who will follow your command.”
“Gildura.” Anderskoti commented.
Daell looked at him curiously.
He continued speaking, “Daell you must personally execute the leader of Hellir. It will set an example that will shake the foundation of Heima. These men will then know that opposing our Queen is a death sentence that will be meted out by our highest leadership. It will send a message that will ensure that no man will ever dare challenge the Queen again. It might even shake Kunnadi to her senses.”
Daell was confused because he had heard that the leader of Hellir was an elderly woman named Deila. He said as much to them.
Viga interrupted, “No Daell, she is called the Head Administrator, but it is just a figurehead position. The real leadership of Hellir is the man who runs the Melstefna within the Rada. On his return home to Hellir, Gildura Slitasson was promoted to that position. He is the one who makes the decisions within Hellir.”
Daell said solemnly, “Very well, I will personally deal with the man. I hate to do such a thing, but sometimes we must do things we do not like in order to protect that which we love.”
Both men agreed with his words.
“Shall we head off then?” Viga asked.
“One moment.” Anderskoti said, before dashing off to where his command carriage was.
He returned after briefly talking with them. Daell knew that he was informing them of the plan. The three of them began the walk along the leid that headed to the gates of Hellir. As they walked down the leid they could see the walls much clearer. They were heavily manned and Daell saw movement on top of them increasing as they were spotted on the leid. They finally arrived to the outside of the wall near the gate that they were close enough to be heard by those standing on the gate.
“Halt right there.” A voice called out.
Daell and his friends stopped immediately.
The voice called out, “What brings two Aldarnari and their servant to our gate?”
Daell was shocked that even as the King of Heima, he was still not recognized. Was this man attempting to insult him or was he did he truly believe that he was just a servant?
Anderskoti spoke loudly with anger in his voice, “You fool this servant you see before you is the King of Heima.”
The response from Anderskoti’s words was immediate. The men on the gate all raised their bows.
A voice called out, “Surrender now and we will not slay you.”
Viga laughed. Daell decided it would be best to call the leadership of Hellir to the wall before he took action.
He announced loudly, “We will consider your request, but first bring forth those who lead your city.”
The voice called out again, “Very well… Do not move or we shall fire on you.”
Daell stood his ground and waited. The wait was a little longer than he wanted, but eventually he saw a face on the wall that he recognized. It was Gildura Slitasson.
He called out to Daell, “False King, you are as full of bravado now as you were when you stole my crown at the Kostir.”
Daell realized then, this whole thing was indeed about the Kostir. These men were so upset at their defeats that they struck out against their own Queen. He shook his head sadly at the thought of it. Anderskoti began laughing hard. Daell could see the tears beginning to form within his eyes.
He finally stopped laughing long enough to speak, “Fool. The only man who could possibly claim he lost out on the crown to our King was me. Both you and that idiot in Kunnadi were not going to defeat me in combat. You knew as much when you surrendered during the Bardagi. Yet here I stand, the man who was closest to victory, standing side by side with the man who defeated me. What does this say of you coward?”
Daell could see that Gildura was angered by Anderskoti’s words.
He yelled out, “Surrender now and we shall not slay you.”
Daell shook his head and called out, “Gildura I have come to make a better offer. If you surrende
r and Hellir rejoins Heima, we shall not bring these walls out from under you and then capture your city with our army, which stands a short distance away.”
“Foolish Jordling, how could you possibly even penetrate our walls. Your army will be battered by our weapons and never make it through the walls.”
Daell sighed. He had hoped that the man would see the foolishness of his position, but he did not. Daell took one step forward and slowly lowered himself to his knees. Heima responded immediately to his touch. Sparks of pure energy flowed between Heima and Daell.
“Fire on them!” Gildura screamed out.
Summoning a bubble of hardened earth, Daell had it cover him and his friends. He could hear the arrows smash against it.
“Just relax.” Daell told his friends.
Focusing his effort, he called on Heima to cause the earth beneath them to shake violently. The tremors continued for some time, increasing in power as they continued. Eventually Daell could feel the walls of the city begin to weaken. He could actually sense the men on the walls running to escape from atop of them. It made him quite relieved to see that they indeed ran as the walls shook, just as he had hoped they would. Now he would just wait until all of them had made it away from wall before bringing down the whole wall that surrounded the entire city.
As the power flowed through Daell, he began to tremble. This effort was the most that he had ever called for and it was physically tiring but he knew he had to push on. Finally he tilted his head backward while still on his knees and screamed out violently with a final call to bring them down. The walls of Hellir responded to his call and crumbled down. The bubble of earth around them dropped into a pile of dust that sprinkled on them. Anderskoti and Viga coughed roughly from the dust that had sprinkled on them. Daell rose to his feet. He simply willed the dust to return to the earth and his vision was cleared. What he saw impressed him, even though he had just done it.
The entire wall that once surrounded the city had been brought to the ground. It was nothing more than a thick pile of wide rubble. The gates of steel that were held up by the wall had fallen forward and served now as a bridge that would allow a person to simply cross over the rubble and into the city itself.