by Randi Darren
“Anything… anything else, my lord?” Max asked, sounding very unsure of himself.
“If the enemy soldiers surrender, take them into custody unharmed. Make a show of it. If they don’t fear surrendering, more of them will be willing to do so.
“But other than that… no. I’ll have more once we get into position, I suppose. Dismissed unless you have any other questions.”
Max and David looked to each other and then left, leaving the map on Alex’s table.
Sighing after the men had left, Alex crossed his arms in front of himself and leaned up against the table. Looking to Carla, he shrugged.
“Whatever. So, your bodyguard hire finally arriving today?” he asked.
“Yes. She’s waiting outside. She brought someone else as well. If I’m lucky, you’ll hire both,” Carla said.
“Alright. Before I invite them in, anything I should know? Or any concerns with the plan?”
“Huh? Why are you asking me?”
“Because you have a brain inside that muscled head of yours, don’t you?”
“Ass. No, nothing about your stupid plan. As to the women… I dunno. I think one is hirable, the one I met. Don’t know the other one.”
“Ok, and what’s your expectation of them for me? Am I supposed to lock them into a privacy oath like you? Would they even accept one? If they wouldn’t, this’ll be a short interview.”
Carla chuckled darkly at that.
“Oh, the one I want will swear. I bet the other one will too, if they’re from the same background.”
That means they’re already in trouble, and I’m the only way out.
“Murderers, bandits, or thugs?” Alex asked.
“Uh… all of that?”
“Fine, go get ’em.”
Carla gave him a weird look, then left the tent.
Alex made himself comfortable and sat next to his desk. Making sure to put some furniture between himself and the newcomers.
“Three?” Alex asked to no one.
“Here, Master,” came the disembodied response.
“Good,” Alex said, feeling better. “Just in case, don’t wait for permission on my part to do whatever you feel is best.”
“Yes, Master.”
Falling silent, Alex idly toyed with the edge of the map as he waited.
Carla stepped in through the tent flap and moved over to stand beside Alex without a word. Her mace had been unslung and she held it loosely in her hand.
So even she isn’t completely comfortable. She seems to be favoring her mace rather than her blade lately.
Two women walked in.
One was a wiry thing that looked like she’d been built out of muscle and nerves. She wasn’t flat in the chest department, but she’d definitely be in the “handful is enough” category.
Her head was shaved into a short, black mohawk. She wore light leather armor with two short swords belted at her hips, a buckler slung over the pommel of one.
Sharp blue eyes cut through him as she marched up, a cruel smirk pulling at the side of her mouth.
Alex put her somewhere between Carla and Valeria on the attractiveness scale, then looked to the second woman.
She was already slumping forward, the shadow that was Valeria pressed up to her side and dragging her down to the floor.
The woman with the mohawk looked to the woman who had come in with her and the shadow, then shrugged and turned her face back to Carla.
“Guess she didn’t make the cut,” said the woman in a drawl. “Not my problem. I got paid as a reference.”
Valeria grunted and slammed a very thin blade home from above into the woman’s temple. And most certainly into her brain.
Gasping and panting, Valeria crawled off the twitching corpse and shook herself out.
“Already had a blade in hand,” Valeria said. Kicking at the woman’s hand, the weapon in question clattered to the ground.
Reaching down, Valeria tried to pull her blade out of the woman’s skull. “She was going to dive at you, I bet.”
Valeria yanked on the hilt and couldn’t get it free.
Sighing, she put her boot to the brain-dead body’s jaw and pulled on the handle for all she was worth.
With a splut, the blade came free. A spattering of blood came pumping out of the head wound and Valeria crashed to the floor.
She bounced twice and skidded an entire foot across the ground.
“Could ya throw a towel or something over her head? She’s going to pump out till she cools,” Carla said.
Mohawk looked at the body, then ripped the tunic off the woman’s torso with a monstrous jerk of her muscled shoulders.
In doing so, she managed to expose the dead woman’s chest to everyone looking.
With a negligent flick of her hand, Mohawk dumped the tunic over the bare-chested woman’s head.
“Better?” she asked.
“It’ll do. Whole place is going to reek of blood now,” Alex complained.
Mohawk shrugged.
“You the guy paying?” she asked.
“That I am. Your name?” Alex asked, looking to her again.
“Nannie,” she said.
“Nannie?” Alex asked, making sure he heard her.
“Yup. Why?”
“Nothing, just making sure. Did Two tell you about my need for secrecy?” Alex asked.
“Kinda. She said she couldn’t talk about it, and if I wanted to sign on, I wouldn’t be able to talk about it either. Which made sense, if you look at it from a certain way,” she said.
“Great. I’ll make it simple. Swear on Leah’s name to protect my secrecy, to not betray me in any way, and that you’ll act in good faith for me.
“For both your soul and life. After that, we can begin,” Alex said, spreading his hands in front of himself.
“Kay. I swear all that junk on my soul and life. We gonna talk about pay now?” Nannie asked.
Valeria got to her feet and slunk away towards the back of the room.
“Good work, Three. Figure out how I can repay you later,” Alex said as she passed.
She nodded her head but didn’t respond.
“I get a number?” Nannie asked, not giving him a chance to respond to her first question.
“Do you want a number?” Alex asked.
“Dunno. Probably not.”
Alex blinked at that and then moved on.
“Pay would be five gold a year.”
“Seven.”
“Six, and I’ll pay off whatever the bounty is on your ass,” Alex said, leaning to one side of his chair and resting his chin in his hand.
“Huh. How long is the job?”
“Permanent. I’d essentially employ you till you die of old age or on duty.”
“And I get to kill people? Like this one?” Nannie said, pointing at the still-bleeding body.
“In the line of duty, yes. For pleasure, no.”
Nannie ran her tongue over her teeth and looked to one side.
“Kay. I can do that,” she said, looking back to him. “Bounty is kinda high. You sure you can pay it?”
“How high are we talking?”
“Three hundred gold,” Nannie said indifferently.
“Oh. That’s not too bad, really. Two’s was higher.
“You’re to work for me as a bodyguard. Job duties are simple. Keep me alive, keep yourself alive, and that’s about it. Basically make sure no harm befalls me. From you, or others.
“You’ll get two days off a week when Two is working, and you’ll have two days where you work alone while she has days off,” Alex explained. “Any questions?”
“Nah. Seems simple. I get a guard kit like her?” Nannie said, pointing at Carla.
“Sure, if you can scrounge one up. I didn’t give Two those,” Alex said evenly.
“Now that we’ve agreed on the terms of the job, I think it’s time we talked about more interesting things,” Alex said with a smile at her.
“I ain’t sleeping with you,�
�� Nannie said, her face immediately turning towards distaste.
“No, but for three hundred gold, you won’t be sleeping with anyone else either. I’ll have you celibate. To the point that you’re not even holding another man or woman’s hand. Or even yourself, for that matter. Clean and pure as undriven snow going forward. Unless I give you permission, that is.
“But I digress and get ahead of myself. As someone in my employ, I’m going to have deals to offer you from time to time,” Alex said, starting into his spiel. “It’s rather simple. I offer you something and ask a price. You can say no, and no harm will befall you in any shape, way, or form.
“Nor will any previous deal be impacted, or any future deals.”
“Uhh… so… you could… offer me fifty gold to split me in half on your bed and I could say yes or no?” Nannie asked, her brow furrowing.
“Yep.”
“And you wouldn’t be mad if I told you to fuck yourself?”
“Nope.”
“Huh. Ok.”
“And that’s my price for paying your bounty. You becoming a nun, so to speak.”
“Fine. I can do that. The guards have been getting too close to me lately. Wasn’t going to be able to run much longer. At least in the city.
“Would have turned into a ground-pounder in a jail cell with as many sweaty meat sacks they could get in a day, then hanged after they finished playing with me,” Nannie said with distaste.
“I would hope not. I’ve gone on a crusade to flush those types out of Brit.”
“Wasn’t talking about Brit.”
Alex was thankful for that. He really had gone a bit wild on his own guards.
“So, do we have a deal?”
“Sure, yeah. Swear it on my soul and life or whatever on my oath. So, when do we eat? Kinda hungry. Craving steak if you got it,” Nannie said.
“I’ll have my maid feed you this time for free; your meals otherwise will be up to you,” Alex said with a smile.
He already knew what the next deal for Nannie was going to be.
Then she stooped down next to the dead woman and started going through her pockets.
“Already shit herself. Ugh,” Nannie said.
Alex mentally sighed. They weren’t going to get any information off a dead person. And he doubted she’d have anything on herself that would identify her or who she worked for.
“Not even a single coin,” Nannie grumbled and punched the dead woman’s side. “Bum.”
Chapter 20
Alex looked out at the plane beneath his defenses. Valeria stood next to him. Carla, Nannie, and Riley stood nearby, looking out across the same view. They were just out of earshot, he figured.
As soon as he’d been able, Alex had volunteered his people as a screening force and raced towards his desired location. So he could secure this exact spot.
The people he’d sent ahead had done an admirable job of erecting exactly what he’d asked for.
To the point that Max and David had suggested awarding them all extra portions of ale.
Ale was apparently almost as fiercely prized as coin, while at war. Who was Alex to judge?
Tanulf had arrived the night previous and settled into the position he’d wanted. For all intents and purposes, it seemed as if today would be the first touch of combat.
With any luck, the last as well.
There’d been a minor situation with the count on Alex’s right flank being perturbed at the lack of space for him to get into formation.
As a result of which Alex had happily pulled his conscripts in as a second line and let the man have that lower section of the hill.
“Master?” Valeria asked.
“Sorry, Three. Lost myself there. I wanted to talk to you a while back, you’ll remember,” Alex said, turning to face the woman.
“Yes.”
“I hadn’t forgotten, just hadn’t had the time. Now seems oddly appropriate.”
Valeria didn’t respond. She was wearing a form-fitting dress and seemed partially ill at ease. As if unused to being on the front line of battle, playing to her role of camp-woman.
When it came to her role as his doxy, she played it well. He admired her ability to get into character and stay there.
“You’ve been doing well as both actress and… I have no term for it, actually… thief-taker? Assassin’s assassin?” Alex asked, looking to Valeria for help.
Valeria shrugged her shoulders. “Doesn’t matter.”
“Well, you’ve been doing well. But I don’t think this role fits you. Nor do I think you particularly enjoy it. Is that fair?”
Valeria’s nose wrinkled, and her hands folded into one another in front of herself.
“Not entirely, no, Master. Fieldwork isn’t my forte. Never was, never will be,” she admitted.
“Then I have an offer. One tailored specifically for you. I want you to hire an apprentice for yourself. Someone you can train to take up your fieldwork. You’ll remain at my side, of course, but no longer working both roles.”
Valeria nodded her head at that, her eyes drifting to the side.
“It’d help. Make it easier. Though I think it would be better with three. One for going out, one for remaining in, and one in reserve,” Valeria said, her eyes flicking back up to him.
“Hm. Two more than I wanted, but… I suppose we could come to a price for those extra two. Especially since it would be problematic if you were to find yourself having to choose between me and your old master.
“Would you barter with me?” Alex said, grinning at her.
Blinking twice, Valeria finally nodded her head.
“I’ll have you hire three to train up exactly as you said. They’ll swear the same oaths of fealty and privacy you have. Their pay will be negotiable, and I’ll let you settle that with them since they’ll be reporting to you.
“Just make sure you keep their prices reasonable.
“As for you, what I want is rather simple. I want you in my bed one night a week.”
“That seems… not quite fair. You want me to train people, only to pay you with myself?” Valeria asked, her cheeks coloring faintly.
Alex grinned at her.
“I promise to make sure we first cater to your needs when you spend the night with me. In whatever way you see fit.
“Did I mention I found quite a rather nice riding crop? It was a little pricey, but I think it’ll have a good snap to it.
“I splurged and also got you a lovely little bite guard that looks like it’ll have a nice mouth feel.”
Valeria tilted her head to one side, watching him curiously.
“You… are a very strange person, Master,” she said finally. “Really whatever I want first?”
“Well, so long as it only involves you, me, and maybe another Numbered, then yes. Though I do reserve the right to refuse if it’s simply too much.
“For example, cutting off bits of you is outside my comfort zone, but I’d be alright laying a blade to your skin if that’s what you wanted.”
Valeria turned her head the other way, as if seeing him from a different perspective would tell her something else.
“Fine… I accept your deal as you stated it. Three to train, and… my preference… on activity before I get in your bed as your doxy. I do so swear.”
“Agreed, accepted, and sworn,” Alex said with a grin. “Now, how about yo—”
A distant horn interrupted him.
Looking over, Alex saw the enemy army stomping their way forward.
“There it is then,” Alex murmured.
Carla, Nannie, and Riley all came over to peer out. Then Carla grabbed him by one arm and dragged him off.
“Time to sit yourself down. You gave the strategy to be followed; let the professionals handle the battle,” Carla said.
“Yes, Master. Come to the tent with me. Relax,” Riley said charmingly, taking his arm in hers and wrapping herself around it.
“Fine, fine. Nannie, you stay with me. Two, Three, you
can consider this involuntary time off for an hour or two,” Alex said, letting Riley lead him off.
***
Alex had lasted all of five minutes sitting in his tent before going back out to watch from an elevated position of safety with the archers.
Though he couldn’t see much, he could see enough.
The enemy army did truly seem to be the elites on their side of the conflict.
From the brief glimpses he saw of them when they reached the summit, they appeared quite well armed and armored.
Right before they went tumbling down the hill from spear thrusts and sword strokes from his troops.
As far as Alex could tell, the enemy had badly underestimated his troops. They’d expected to just swarm up the hill and overrun them, as if they weren’t even there.
At some point Max had taken control of a troop of the heavy foot soldiers in reserve and rushed around the far side of the defensive hook.
It was a solid move, and Alex approved of it as he watched it happen. He’d even told Max to look for an opportunity like this to flank their far edge and begin rolling them up in front of the battle line.
The rumble and growl of fighting had long since been tuned out, and Alex heard it not at all.
“Master, is it going well?” Riley asked, her fingers hooked into his sleeve.
“As well as it could be, I suppose. Really doesn’t matter much to us anymore. We prepared a nearly unassailable position that just isn’t something they can take in a straight fight,” Alex said.
“They’d have to overwhelm our people, which… honestly won’t happen. Maybe if they were conscripts or undertrained, then sure.”
David nodded his head in agreement yet said nothing.
“This seems… not very worthwhile,” Riley said, her eyes turning down to the ground.
Such a tenderhearted thing.
“War usually is. It’s the worst-case scenario when politics fails,” Alex agreed.
“My lord, I’d like to switch some men out with the conscripts. It’d give them a chance to blood themselves, and give some of the men a break,” David said.
“That’s fine, and a good idea. Maybe some of those very same peasants might find soldiering the life for them,” Alex said with a smirk.