Weight of the Crown

by A. C. Cobble

  Weight of the Crown

  Benjamin Ashwood Book 6

  AC Cobble

  WEIGHT OF THE CROWN TEXT COPYRIGHT © 2018

  AC COBBLE ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  ISBN: 9781947683112

  ASIN: B07H9HWX3B

  Cobble Publishing LLC

  Sugar Land, TX

  Contents

  1. Logistics and Supply

  2. The Road

  3. Pass and Provisions

  4. Whitehall

  5. To Catch One, Be One

  6. Aftermath

  7. Fabrizo

  8. Storm the Palace

  9. Going Home

  10. Behind the Walls

  11. Dark of Night

  12. A Snake in the Grass

  13. Eleven Thousand Men

  14. Blood in the Streets

  15. Standoff

  16. Weight of the Crown

  17. Hero

  18. Reviews, Acknowledgements, and Newsletter

  For my dad.

  Ben’s story is about fighting for what is right, no matter the odds. So was Steve’s. I did not realize that, how similar Ben and my father were, until the last few chapters of this book. When I was writing the chapter “Standoff”, the final battle, I lost my father to cancer. He fought it until the last days of his life, refusing to give up, no matter what the odds were. That was the pattern of his life. He fought for what he believed in, and nothing anyone said would dissuade him from his purpose.

  There is honor in that.

  Sometimes during his life, I appreciated it. Sometimes during his life, I did not. When I was writing the chapter “Hero”, in the weeks after my father’s death, he was at the top of my mind. If you did not know him, I hope you know something about him after reading those words. If you did know him, I hope you will recognize him on those pages.

  The first chapter of Benjamin Ashwood was also called “Hero”.

  My father was not at the top of my mind when I wrote that first chapter, but I wonder now, was it about him as well? Was it always about him? Where did I get this concept of a hero, a man willing to fight, no matter the odds, if not from my father? I think, after having time to look back on his legacy and what it meant for me, and seeing the words that I first wrote 5 years ago, that in many ways, Ben has always been my father. When it was time to fight for what they believed was right, they did. My father did until breath left his body. Win or lose, there is honor in that.

  For my dad, the hero.

  1

  Logistics and Supply

  Ben glanced up from the stacks of loose paper in front of him and watched Amelie as she shuffled through her own thick sheaf of parchment.

  Quill in hand and lost in her thoughts, she jotted down some notes on one sheet and then flipped through the stack, looking for a different document. They were closeted in a tiny room in one of Kirksbane’s inns, trying to figure out the logistics of getting their men north, where they could deal with the swarms of demons that had escaped them. Supply of food and water, weapons and armor, payment for the men… Fighting the creatures steel-to-claw was easy compared to the challenges of leadership.

  Ben smiled as Amelie rubbed a hand across her face, smearing a blob of dark ink on her forehead. After knocking on the table to get her attention, he mimicked wiping his forehead off. She cursed, licked a finger, and scrubbed at her face until he nodded that she’d gotten it.

  Sitting back with a heavy sigh, she complained, “Normally, a lord has land and people. He can levy taxes on production within the realm or sell the services of his people to merchants or other highborn. If that doesn’t work, a lord can sell bonds on future tax revenue or borrow coin using physical property as collateral. In extreme cases, highborn can sell their land and assets outright. No lord wants to do it, but plenty have sold off part of their holding or even their ancestor’s silver candlesticks and tapestries. That’s desperate, of course, and my tutors would had blanched at the thought, but the point is there are usually options. With people, land, and a proper keep, there are always options to raise coin. Ben, we don’t have any of those. I’m running out of ideas here!”

  Ben frowned. A thousand men and women had joined them, and while he’d made no promise to pay them, they certainly wanted to eat. Food cost coin, and they didn’t have any. To make use of the recruits, he needed to provide for them.

  Most of the newest arrivals had shown up with only a satchel of goods they’d brought from home. They had no weapons, no armor, and no gear suitable for marching through the woods and hunting swarms of demons. They needed proper kits and weapons, but most of all, they had to eat.

  “We can cut some of them loose,” suggested Amelie. “The blademasters, mages, and Adrick Morgan’s guardians can handle the demon swarms without the others. In fact, if anything, these untrained farmers are just as likely to get in the way and cause confusion as anything else. We might be better off without them.”

  Ben shook his head. “And then what? After the remaining demons are dealt with, we still have the Sanctuary, the Alliance, and the Coalition to address. I don’t plan to start a war with them, but…”

  “I know,” muttered Amelie, pushing her hair back behind her ears and making a fresh smear of ink at her temples. “Without allies, we’re in the same place we were a few months ago. With allies, we can’t afford to move where we are needed!”

  “The mayor…” offered Ben.

  Amelie grimaced. “The mayor is an option. It’s not a good one, though.”

  “If it’s the only option, it’s a good option,” suggested Ben.

  Amelie stood and began pacing around the small room. “He wants for you to name him a lord, to elevate his family to highborn. That’s not something you do lightly, Ben.”

  He shrugged.

  Amelie watched his movement and pursed her lips. “I know you don’t understand, but other noble families will not look kindly on an action like that. Lord Vonn in Venmoor will be even less enthusiastic. If I had to guess, I think he might view it as an act of war.”

  “We’re not trying to take his territory!” argued Ben.

  “The mayor is offering to support us from Kirksbane’s coffers. The Mayor of Kirksbane is Vonn’s vassal. That is Vonn’s coin, Ben. It is stealing from him.”

  “He sent his men with us, the rangers,” protested Ben.

  “His men who are now our men,” retorted Amelie. “Those who lived through the battle, at least. I doubt at the time he thought they’d stay with us. Ben, taking his men, taking his gold… we can hardly expect him to sit calmly in Venmoor while we do it. We’ll be lucky if he doesn’t gather every able body he can and march against us.”

  Ben grimaced. She had a point.

  A sharp knock on the door interrupted them. Ben opened it to find one of the rangers standing on the other side, breathing hard.

  “What is it?”

  “Lord Ben, one of the training expeditions found something. You should come see it.”

  Three bells and several leagues south of Kirksbane, Ben stood on the edge of a wide swath of destruction.

  “They were to head half a day south and then cut west into the forest, sir,” said Commander Rish, Commander Rakkash’s replacement. “The sergeant came right back after they found this. Figured it was more important to report it than to continue on the training mission. We’ll have another opportunity to get the greenhorns some field experience. This…”

  Ben nodded. “The sergeant made the right choice, Commander.”

  Lady Towaal delicately stepped onto the charred stretch of road and picked her way to the middle of what appeared to have been a considerable explosion. The charred area spanned fifty paces, and a large crater formed its center. All around, black ash an
d scattered debris spoke of a violent blast.

  “There are no wards or other traps that I can sense,” advised Towaal.

  Ben walked forward and peered down into the wide crater. All he could see was flame-scorched dirt, two or three paces deep.

  “Bodies over here,” called Rhys.

  Ben made his way around the crater and joined Rhys at the south end of the blast area where he eyed the six black lumps Rhys was standing over. He assumed the rogue was right, that they were bodies, but nothing resembling a person survived.

  “A magical attack, without doubt,” murmured Rhys. His hand slipped to his belt and he unfastened one of his ubiquitous flasks. He took a swig and handed it to Ben.

  Instinctively, Ben turned it up and gulped a mouthful of the harsh liquor. “If it wasn’t one of our mages…”

  “The Sanctuary,” declared Towaal. She’d moved to stand beside them. “Who else could it be?”

  “Is anyone missing?” Ben asked Commander Rish.

  The ranger shrugged. “No one that I’m aware of. Everyone around town is accounted for. The training patrols are operating in squads of twenty or thirty, so if one of them had been attacked and six killed, we would have heard from the survivors by now.”

  “If it wasn’t our people who were attacked…” Ben trailed off, frowning.

  “Why would the Sanctuary attack a party that wasn’t ours?” wondered Rhys.

  Ben glanced at Amelie. She had ignored the corpses and was walking around outside of the blast area, looking for clues. Better there than within the charred circle. Nothing identifiable was left there.

  “It could have been someone coming to join us,” speculated Ben.

  Rhys didn’t respond. Instead, he dropped to his haunches and poked at the bodies with the tip of one of his long knives. It was clear he didn’t agree. Ben didn’t agree either, but he couldn’t come up with another logical explanation.

  “Here!” cried Amelie.

  They moved to her side and found her squatting beside a stick that had been pushed into the turf. It was stripped of bark and its length was covered in small runes that someone had gouged into the wood.

  Towaal turned to Rhys. “Look on the other side of the blast and see if you can find a twin to this stick.”

  “A trap?” asked Ben.

  “It looks like it,” replied Towaal. “Remember the ward we found on the way to Northport, the one that created an invisible field across the trail? I believe this is similar, except instead of tripping a warning—”

  “It tripped an explosion,” finished Ben.

  Towaal nodded grimly.

  “The Sanctuary would have no reason to set a trap like that, would they?” asked Amelie. “Surely, they don’t expect us to come back south and confront the Veil in the City.”

  Towaal bent closer to the stick and then glanced back over her shoulder at the crater. “Whoever those bodies are, they were likely headed north. See, the blast area is just beyond this stick, and they are south of it, like they crossed a threshold and triggered the trap. They were blown back the direction they had been coming.”

  “Sanctuary mages may have been coming north,” said Ben slowly.

  “The Sanctuary wouldn’t set a trap for their own mages,” retorted Amelie. “Perhaps it was delegates from Venmoor or somewhere else and they didn’t want us to hear the message?”

  “This trap was likely attuned to those with talent,” responded Towaal. “We’ve had patrols passing through here for days, and there have been merchants up from Venmoor.”

  “I don’t understand,” admitted Ben. “If the trap was set for those with talent, who set it and why?”

  “Avril,” stated Amelie flatly. “The Sanctuary is the only place that would have six talented individuals traveling together. Lady Avril is the only one who would set a trap to kill them.”

  Towaal stood, her hands on her hips, glaring at the stick protruding from the turf. “It makes sense. If that woman wanted to head off mages from the Sanctuary, this was the perfect place to do it.”

  Rhys returned, and Ben jumped when he saw a rune-carved stick in the rogue’s hands.

  “What?” asked Rhys. “It’s already been set off. No sense in leaving it there.”

  Towaal held out a hand and he gave it to her. Sighing, she collected the other and looked around suspiciously. They were on the river road between Kirksbane and Venmoor. It was broad and flat. Braced by the river on one side and sparse forest on the other, there was nowhere nearby to hide, but Ben couldn’t shake the feeling they were being watched.

  “If Lady Avril is nearby, setting lethal traps on the roads, what should we do about it?” asked Amelie.

  Ben scratched his head and looked to Towaal. The mage held the two sticks in her hands and then quickly brought them down on a raised knee, snapping the wood in two.

  “If Lady Avril is around, I’m not sure there is much we can do except alert the others and watch our backs,” responded the mage. “That woman has been hiding in the shadows for centuries. She’s escaped detection by the most powerful woman in Alcott. I don’t think we will find her. When the time comes, she will find us.”

  The two mages couldn’t be more different, thought Ben. He was studying the giant Earnest John and the diminutive Elle. One, with his huge crossbow and wild shock of black hair. The other, swallowed in brown wool robes, only her tiny face peeking out. Together, they seemed to have taken charge of Jasper’s mages after he had passed. None of the others objected when they gave orders, at least.

  To Ben’s surprise, the two mages in front of him had never given an objection to anything he asked of them. When he had inquired them why they were still following him after Jasper’s death, they had merely shrugged and said it was what the man would have wanted.

  “Lady Avril,” murmured Earnest John, running a hand along his spiked-up hair. “I thought she was dead.”

  “Everyone did,” replied Ben, “until we saw her on the South Continent. She was hiding in Shamiil.”

  The big mage turned to Elle. “Can you find her?”

  The girl shook her head. “I can try, but I don’t think so. She’s been hiding from the Sanctuary for centuries. Lady Coatney must have known her daggers missed the mark. If she couldn’t find Avril, I don’t think I will be able to.”

  “You’re better at questing than any of the Sanctuary mages,” mentioned John.

  Shrugging, Elle responded, “Maybe, but they have the motivation.”

  “Do you have any suggestions other than keeping an eye out and watching our backs?” asked Ben. “I don’t have a lot of experience dealing with a mage of her talent.”

  John shrugged. “You could ask those former Sanctuary mages. They would know Avril’s intentions and capabilities better than we do.”

  “They said to watch my back,” replied Ben dryly.

  Earnest John held out his open palms, clearly unable to offer better advice.

  “We can ask Adrick,” said Amelie.

  Ben nodded. “He’ll be back in two or three days. Once he returns, we can have a meeting with the captains and figure out what our next move is. One thing is sure, we can’t let the army sit here and grow hungry. Before long, they’ll start to trickle away.”

  “They won’t leave you,” assured Earnest John.

  “You’re sure?” asked Ben with a small smile. He had found that despite his frightening appearance and devastating crossbow, the big mage was a kind, gentle soul.

  Earnest John nodded. “They joined you because you battled the demons. Some because they felt you were the only one standing against the darkness. Some because they saw a chance at glory, a few because they had nowhere else to turn. None of them joined you thinking they’d get rich. The true sell-swords are already marching under Whitehall’s banner to pillage Issen. Your people will be behind you, Ben, even if they don’t get paid.”

  Ben coughed and flushed. “You heard about that?”

  “Everyone’s heard about that,�
� admitted John.

  “Three months,” said Elle.

  Ben frowned at her.

  “You have three months to prove yourself, and then the army will start to dissipate,” explained the tiny girl. “The true believers will remain with you, but these farmers and apprentices who have been arriving the last few weeks will suddenly remember they have responsibilities at home. You have to show them something in that time, Ben. Show them you’re worthy of their loyalty, or show them a piece of your grander vision. John is right, it’s not pay they want, but they do want something. What’s in it for them? Show the men that, Ben, and this army will follow you anywhere.”

  “We still have to feed them and arm them,” said Amelie. “No matter how dedicated they are, without food and weapons, they can’t go into battle.”

  Elle smiled. “You’ll figure it out.”

  “We will?” asked Amelie.

  The girl nodded. “I am sure of it.”

  Ben grunted and stood. “I’m glad you have faith, because we don’t, but there’s nothing to do except move on.”

  “The way forward is clear,” agreed Elle. “The path is obvious.”

  Turning to leave, Ben pondered what the strange girl had said. The way forward wasn’t clear. The complexity of the logistics, the difficulties managing a large force of men, the uncertainty about where to send them, the threats looming from Avril and the others… No, the solutions weren’t obvious at all to Ben.

  He and Amelie left the inn and Ben led them through the busy streets of Kirksbane. Back when he’d been on those streets before, things had been clear, hadn’t they? He’d been accompanying Amelie and Meghan to the Sanctuary where they would become initiates. He’d been planning to… Well, he’d been planning to do something. That was certain. Times had been simpler, then.