She leaned in conspiratorially “I think you’re honourable men, and that I can trust you. Right?” Angelika did not put much stake in codes of honour, but perhaps they did.
“We are free soldiers of Stirland,” Madelung proclaimed. “It goes without saying that we’re men of honour.”
“I’ve lost an item which is precious to me,” Angelika said. “I won’t lie to you. It’s a valuable item. A ruby ring. You haven’t noticed any of your brothers-in-arms behaving strangely, have you? As if they might be keeping an expensive secret?”
“I can’t believe any Gerolsbrucher would descend to thievery,” said Madelung.
The creases on Mattes’ face deepened; it might have been an attempt at a smile. “I’ve seen more than him, so I believe anything about my fellow man. But I’ve seen nothing suspicious. I’ll tell you if I do.”
“Let’s keep this between ourselves,” she said, assuming that the entire camp would know by dawn. “If any of you help me find it, I’ll see that a fair reward reaches your family.”
Mattes chewed on this for a moment. “We’re happy to help, reward or no. Aren’t we, boys?” He waited for the others to indicate their vague assent. “Though I’m sure none of us would turn up our noses at a modest sweetener, would we?”
Pinkert and Saar agreed more vigorously.
Mattes went on: “But what we need from you, Fraulein Fleischer—”
“Angelika.”
“What we need from you is in the here and now. Maybe the lieutenant will do us fine, like Madelung says.”
“I’m sure he will,” said Angelika.
“I’m not,” replied Mattes. “I been a Gerolsbrucher longer than anyone, except for the sergeant. I seen commanders come and go. The good, the great, and then the ones that couldn’t find their elbows in the middle of their arms. There’s an air the good ones give off. Like you’ll be safe if only you do exactly as (hey say. This one, this Rassau, he don’t give off that air.”
“He’ll figure it out.”
“Oh, I’m hoping so. I’m not one to be spreading discontent and rumours. They can kill a company faster than any foe. But the lieutenant don’t know these mountains, nor this kind of mission. And, like I said, he listens to you.”
“What do I, a mere woman, understand of war?”
Mattes snorted. “That’s a good one. Angelika. You have the air. Like you know the lay of a place like this. I don’t know what magic you got to work to do it, but you’ve got to be the one to keep us safe.”
“This is a wilderness infested with bloodthirsty savages. No one is safe.”
“You get my meaning. I heard you talk, back in that halfling town. We all did. You’re a truthful woman. Isn’t that so?”
He had her there. “Much to my detriment.”
“Then you answer me this, honestly. Can the lieutenant find his elbow?”
“He’s a skilled fighter.”
“That’s not what we’re asking.”
“Like you say, rumours and discontent can be deadly.”
“You agree to stuff some sense into him. Teach him to lead, like you’re teaching us to lay these stakes. And the four of us, we’ll do our part. If that ring of yours is here, anywhere in this campsite, no matter who has it, we’ll see to it you get it back. Do we have us a deal?”
Angelika stood. “Yes. You have a deal.”
When they’d finished with the stakes, they tramped over to a narrow crevasse, a few yards across and five or six feet deep. They gathered up logs and branches. After placing more stakes down in the bottom of the fissure, they laid the old foliage across the crevasse. Then they covered it with dirt and rocks. Anyone larger than a rabbit treading onto the camouflaged branches would crash down into the crevasse and onto the stakes.
Angelika watched Mattes and his fellows finish up. She realised that she’d gone and done it again. Promised to protect people. On her honesty, no less.
Jonas observed Angelika and the soldiers come down from the mound. They were many yards away, too far to hear what they were saying. Something in their body language triggered his sense of caution. Misgivings resurfaced. Perhaps it was unwise to let Angelika deal directly with the men. Beforehand, he’d worried that she’d offend them, that they would hate her, and demand her expulsion from the company. Now that he saw her with the men, saw the easy way she walked, saw their eyes shining at her, a new threat reared its head.
They would like her better than him.
It was a problem his father had told him about. Often, in a company, there would be one fellow who was not an officer, but who was charismatic and held in good esteem by his mates. If the commander was weak, they would look to this shadow leader for their cues. Before following an order, they’d check what he thought best. Under fire, they would waver, between their officer, and this other fellow. That arrangement brought hesitation, discord, and disaster. Dual lines of authority, his father had told him, were not to be tolerated. If you got assigned to a unit, and it had a shadow commander, you had to break him, the quicker the better.
But he could not break Angelika, because he needed her counsel.
It was surely a conundrum. He wanted a Kurg to come crashing from the low reeds, so he could strike him dead with his sword.
He paced and thought. There had to be some way to deepen his hold on the woman. Bind her tight to him.
He searched for Franziskus, finding him, as usual, among the halflings.
“Franziskus,” he said. “We must talk.”
Franziskus leapt up, returning a bag of nuts to Filch’s hand.
The two well-born Stirlanders walked together along the rocky stream.
“You’ve weighed my offer?”
“I have.”
“If you’re to be an officer again, Franziskus, you must be prepared to make decisions quickly and irrevocably.” His eyes followed Angelika, as she stood talking to Mattes and one of the stragglers, a portly fellow Jonas remembered only for his bulging, fishy eyes. He wondered what they were saying to each other. Mattes seemed to be looking at Jonas’ tent.
Did Angelika suspect? Was she sending Mattes to search his things? He’d never trusted Mattes. He’d been with the company too long, longer by far than Jonas. He had that attitude of seniority about him as if the time he’d put in gave him the right to judge his betters. The man was too sour to be a shadow commander, but as fomenter of trouble, he bore close watching. And that other one, Herr Protruding Eye. Something not altogether square about him, either.
“Surely you do not seek the fealty of a man who would offer it on an impetuous whim,” Franziskus was saying.
Pretending his attention had never wandered, Jonas latched his arm to Franziskus’ shoulder and subjected it to a manly shaking. “I do want your loyalty, Franziskus. Do I have it?”
“If I was entirely free to give it, I would.”
“You’ve spoken with your mistress?”
“Another expression you shouldn’t use with her. Yes. She wants me to do it.”
“Then do it. Say yes.” He lowered his voice. “There’s a reason for urgency, Franziskus. The men are anxious. I cannot go personally among them and hear what they’re saying about me—about the mission. Emil, he is too much the cipher to be of any help. His allegiance is to the company, not to me. I need a right hand, Franziskus. That is what a second-in-command is for.”
“Glauer can’t do that?”
“He’s as useless as a spigot on a ladder. I’d sack him but the men need no more shocks right now. Anyhow it’s better for you if I put you in charge of the Chelborgers. When we get back to Stirland, you could wind up in permanent command of a reconstituted unit. You do wish for that, don’t you, Franziskus?”
“I—”
“This is no time for irresolution. I’m offering you salvation. Will you take it or not?” Jonas wiped his brow with the sleeve of his officer’s coat. Over his shoulder, he could see that a couple of the stragglers, and that vexingly ubiquitous halfling, Filch, w
ere pretending not to watch them, from several feet down (he riverbank.
Jonas marched off toward a line of hunched and sickly trees. “I fear that I am not instilling the correct impression in the men. Your indisposition to fully commit afflicts me with unease. That is fatal in a leader, Franziskus.”
“Jonas, you’re letting the strangeness of the mountains affect you. My first time in such parts, it was the same. We’re men of the valley lands. It takes a flat green pasture to put our minds at rest. This place, its implacable peaks, its hostility—it would disturb anyone.”
“This is why I need you, Franziskus. At first I thought it was Angelika, but now, I see it is you who understands. And possesses the sense of responsibility I require. Must I ask you yet a third time?”
“You’re skipping breaths. The air is thinner here. Take the time to fill your lungs with air, and immediately, you’ll feel better. I was the same way, at first. You can’t let the men see you like this.”
“No, I can’t.”
“This fear is natural, but you can master it, Jonas. Just breathe.”
“Yes.”
Jonas calmed himself. “I am sorry.”
“Don’t be.” Franziskus thought he heard something. Edging slowly, so Jonas would not detect his alarm, he saw a yellowed, weedy bush rattling in the wind.
“It is humiliating to you, to see me panic in such a base and childish manner.”
“I did the same, Jonas, I did the same. I hid my fear, from Angelika, who seemed so cold and masterful. I felt ashamed, but I should not have. Only a madman comes here and feels no fright.”
“How can you want to join with me now?”
“I will,” Franziskus blurted. “I will help you, I swear it. Too much hangs on this. We must defeat the Kurgan. You will recover from this moment. I promise you.”
Jonas dashed behind a tree and doubled over, sure he was about to throw up his meagre morning meal. Nothing came. Eventually he straightened.
Franziskus, to his credit, kept his distance, and leaned against a tree trunk as if they were engaged merely in casual conversation. “I can’t count the number of times I nearly did that, my first few months in the mountains,” he said.
Jonas examined a tremulous hand. “You must teach me to conceal these awful shakes.”
“It is mostly a matter of practice.”
“I’ve no time for that. I must lead these men now.” He moved closer to Franziskus. “At least now I have a confessor. That will help. You have a helping instinct, Franziskus. There is no trait more admirable.”
Though intended as a compliment, the comment set Franziskus’ nose to twitching. Would he always be the helper? Perhaps it was time to become the primary actor in his own life.
“Have I offended you, Franziskus?”
“No, no. What would make you say that?”
Jonas fixed his gaze up to the ribbon of rock covering the south-eastern horizon. “And Angelika. You can tell me honestly. How does she regard me?”
Franziskus found this new mood difficult to read. “She wants her ring back.”
“Yes, yes, that I know. But aside from the ring. How does she see me?”
Franziskus felt suddenly cold.
Jonas saw him draw back. “Don’t misunderstand me, Franziskus. It’s clear you feel… like a brother to her. A protective brother. If she has said anything to you in confidence, I would never…”
“She would not speak to me of such matters.”
The bush was wavering again. The actions of winds were sometimes hard to discern, but it seemed to Franziskus that the dry fronds shook more heavily in one spot than in any other, and that they did so against the general direction of the breeze.
“Again I am ashamed,” Jonas announced.
Franziskus moved toward the bush. “How so?”
“Suddenly I see that your feelings for her are not those of a brother.”
“We needn’t speak of this.”
“No, no, my friend, it goes without saying that you have the earlier claim on her. I shall remove myself from all contention.”
“You’re not in contention.” Franziskus braced himself, as if ready to give Jonas a good shove. He swallowed his anger and lowered his voice. “Jonas. She thinks you have her ring. Do you?”
“No,” said Jonas. “By no means. How can you think that of me?”
“You were concerned for the men, and their safety. So you took the ring when the two of you were… together, and you concocted the story of the Kurgan chieftain picking up the ring. To secure her services. For the greater good.”
“This is how the both of you see me?”
“If you did it, it was for a noble reason. I’ll not blame you.”
“You think me a thief. A common pilferer.”
“I’ll do as I’ve said, and serve you as loyally as I’ve served Angelika. If you give her the ring back and let her go on her way.”
“I don’t have it, Franziskus.”
“It means her entire life. Her freedom.”
“I’ve said I don’t have it. How can you persist in accusing me?”
“I’m merely asking you if you have it.”
“I do not, I swear it.”
“Then I will believe you, Jonas. Because you are a worthy man, more so than I, and would never seek to win a man’s fidelity by dishonest means.”
“I would never do that. I am not capable of such baseness.”
“Then the issue is closed.”
“Tell Angelika. Tell her I did not do it.”
“Do not set yourself on winning her admiration, Jonas. I’ve saved her life on several occasions and, depending on her mood, rate only grudging tolerance.”
“I think you’re wrong on that point, Franziskus.”
“Truly?”
“As for myself, I’ll do what is necessary to recover her trust.”
Franziskus shrugged.
“More importantly, I am glad to have gained a valuable officer, Second Lieutenant—what is your last name, Franziskus?”
Franziskus’ attention turned back to the wavering bush. “Pardon?”
“Your last name. You’ve been unwilling to tender it. I can’t commission you without one.”
Franziskus drew his sabre and charged at the bush. A tattooed Kurgan bolted out from it. Franziskus ran at him, interposing his sword between his legs. The Kurgan toppled, landing face-first in the gravelly soil. Franziskus braced himself, holding until the intruder could stand and arm himself. Were their positions reversed, the barbarian would give him no quarter, but Franziskus was better than that, and still believed in a fair fight.
“Thank Sigmar,” shouted Jonas. He’d circled around the bush to rush at the fallen barbarian. The Kurgan leapt gracefully into a crouch and reached for his knife. Jonas kicked it gleefully from his hand. He launched a second kick at the marauder’s throat. The Kurgan fell to his knees, gasping.
“Surrender,” cried Franziskus, “and you’ll not be harmed!”
The Kurgan stared at him, uncomprehending. Of course, Franziskus thought—they do not speak our tongue.
Jonas’ sabre lacerated the barbarian’s face and neck. When the Kurgan dropped to cover them, Jonas slashed and speared his back. Franziskus stepped back, appalled, as Jonas struck the scout, continuing long after he’d gone limp. Finally Jonas stopped, his chest heaving, his face wild and proud. He knelt and grabbed the Kurg by the hair; he was dead all right.
“Aha,” Jonas exclaimed. “Where there’s a scout, there’s a force. No more running. No more fear. I have prayed to the gods for redemption. Now that chance is ours, Franziskus, for you and me both. Now is when we, the Gerolsbruch Swordsmen, hunt and slay our cruel foe.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“There’s Kurg about,” Jonas said, his soldiers gathered close around him. “Our job is simple—get them before they get us.”
Franziskus was heartened to see that the lieutenant had thrown off the waywardness he’d shown during their little t
alk, just a few minutes earlier. He’d reigned in his gestures and tamed his fearsome expression.
“No longer will we sit and be acted upon by others,” continued Jonas. “Now it is we who’ll act upon these mountains, and the scum who hide here.”
The soldiers inspected one another’s faces for the signs either of encouragement or disquiet. Franziskus saw a collective decision settle on them: they would be brave. They would again believe in their leader. A few, though, like Mattes, the drumsman, withheld their enthusiasm, until they could measure Angelika’s response.
“We’ll break into our earlier patrol squads,” said the lieutenant. “Even numbered squadrons will head to the hills, to seek out the foe. Each squad takes the hill he already mapped. Odd numbered squads stay here. Establish a perimeter. Keep in tight and brace for assault. They could pour down on us at any moment. There could be ten of them, or a hundred times ten.
“Maintain that patrol scheme until the sun says three o’clock. Then come back down and swap off with the other squads.
“This is not a stand-up war. There is no dishonour in attack by surprise, or a fight against inferior numbers. If the enemy outnumbers you, fall back without shame. Find a hiding spot, or retreat to camp. If Kurg boil down to overwhelm the camp, do what they would do—melt into the hills. Come back to kill them later, when they are unprepared. Pick them off one by one. Stay with your squad. Be prepared to act on your own. If we’re scattered, we’ll regroup later. Be stealthy. And fast, and clever. Obey your squadron leader as if he is Sigmar Himself. Do these things and you will win. You will slay them, my Gerolsbruchers, my Chelborgers. Now let us fly.”
The men jittered from the crowd, swarming around each other to find their squads. Men clapped each other on the shoulder. Their hands curled into eager, shaking fists.
Jonas took Franziskus by the arm and hunched to speak into his ear: “We’ll make the announcement afterwards. After the men have a few kills under their belts, and there’s a mood of celebration in the camp.”
03 - Liar's Peak Page 19