“That’s good news,” Gormer said, falling instantly back into deceit. This was a lie that could save his life. His, or Astrid’s. It was the old lying. Gormer didn’t feel good about that, but it was necessary. He found it difficult to hide the true parts of himself now.
“Things will go back to normal, then,” Gormer continued. “Then, we can all start making money again.”
The man smiled and placed his index finger along the left side of his nose. He gave a grin with three gold teeth and cackled. “My business is better with the Movers in charge,” the man said.
“I’ll bet it is,” Gormer said, with a grin of his own. He pounded the man on the back. To maintain the illusion, he thought, I’ll bet it is, you pig fucking goat cock. “When this is over,” Gormer said, “you and I will make a deal.” I slit your throat, and you die.
He jumped back down off the wagon and stood waiting until Pleth caught up. His mind reeled the whole time. Could this be true? It would explain why Lungu showed up at the keep. How did he get his hands on Astrid?
“What?” Pleth said as Gormer climbed back up beside him.
“Astrid was in that wagon,” Gormer said. “Lungu captured her.”
Pleth almost drove the cart off the road. “Watch it!” Gormer shouted, taking the reins.
“Did you read her?” Pleth blurted out, worry lacing his voice.
“No, dammit!” Gormer spat. “Stop asking me that.” Then, he added in a soft voice. “I should have felt her. We have a connection. She must be bad off.”
“Well, At least we know the loyalists think we’re on their side.”
“It’s gonna be hard to play both sides,” Gormer said. “People will want loyalist blood now. That means us.”
“Nothing new,” Pleth said.
“Listen to you,” Gormer said, acidly.
“What,” Pleth said. “I’m an old hand now.”
That time, Gormer knew he was smiling under the ice-encrusted scarf.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Astrid’s Ride
The first set of ropes didn’t hold her. Astrid managed to get a few solid minutes of meditation while she laid in the back of the cart with her wrists and ankles bound. With a burst of energy from the Well, she snapped the ropes at her legs first.
She should have saved more energy.
She couldn’t free her arms in time, but still managed to wound one guard enough to make him useless. She kicked the other guard out of the wagon. Running low on energy, she couldn’t snap the wrist ropes. She ended up fumbling with a dropped sword.
When Lungu appeared in the back of the wagon, she was completely spent. She made a token swipe at him before he pinned her to the wagon floor with a touchless hold that threatened to squeeze all the air from her chest.
“Damn,” Astrid said. “Thought I had it that time. How about you untie my hands, and we’ll try again?”
His laugh surprised her so much that she nearly disliked herself for a moment. The sound was almost pleasant. Or maybe it was the physical pain, lack of food, and the sting of defeat. Astrid had no idea how she was getting out of this. But if she were a betting woman, she’d lay a ton of gold on Vinnie and her friends.
The final indignity of the long ride to Lungu Fortress came when the Protector ended up hog-tying her with her own silksteel rope weapon.
“Remarkable craftsmanship,” Lungu observed as he tied the final knot. He propped her head up on a pillow and wedged her under the bench that ran the wagon’s length.
“Thanks,” Astrid quipped. “My friends made the weapon for me. Also, thanks for the pillow.”
Lungu smiled, then pulled out a wine skin. When he held it to her mouth, she was surprised to find it contained water. Close in, he was almost handsome, if she imagined him just a little bit sober.
“I was expecting wine,” Astrid said. “By the look of your condition.”
Lungu laughed again as he sat down on the bench opposite her. “I’m afraid you’ve driven me to drink, my dear,” Lungu said. Astrid didn’t bother to hide her surprise. “I can admit that, now that you are defeated.”
“Oh,” Astrid replied with a genuine smile. “You imagine I’m defeated? That’s funny.”
Lungu pulled from the water skin himself. He shook his head. “I’ve never seen, much less met, a woman like you before.”
“Well,” Astrid replied. “I am one of a kind.”
“That you are. Such a shame. We could have made such beautiful children.”
“My dear Protector,” Astrid replied. “You sure do have a gift for flattering yourself.” Her stomach turned at the thought.
He laughed hard, doubling over. When he sat up, he slapped his knee. “I will be truly sorry now, to snap that strong, proud neck of yours.”
“You plan to hang me, then?” Astrid inquired. “How dramatic.”
They locked eyes for a long while. “It’s my fault,” Lungu said. Astrid waited for the follow up. It didn’t come for a long while. “Things have been the same for so long, I didn’t recognize something so truly unique when it came along. We both squandered the opportunity. Now you must pay for it.”
“Opportunity for what?” Astrid asked.
“You could have been my finest Lieutenant,” Lungu said with a heavy sigh. “Better than my own flesh and blood.”
“Protector Lungu,” Astrid replied. “I would never have joined you. Not in a million years. Not for all the gold in any land. I am here to tell you that I oppose everything you stand for. Also, I’m going to kill you.”
Lungu just smiled back. “And what do you believe I stand for?” he asked.
“As far as I can tell, you stand for yourself and your own power at all costs,” Astrid replied.
Lungu grew serious. His face lost all its emotion. “The leaders of these lands were all born from pain. Unimaginable suffering ruled this region for decades after the New Ancients pissed the world away. My family, and families like mine, were the only light in the darkness. We’ve earned the right to be who and what we are. We’ve paid for it with blood, and in return, we take blood as payment.”
Lungu spoke the words as if they came from somewhere else. Astrid sighed.
“I’m not sure I can blame you now,” Astrid replied, truly sad. “But I will have to kill you anyway. Someone, somewhere sold you a load of bullshit, and you ate it like breakfast food.”
“I find your confidence arousing,” Lungu said, his humor returned.
Astrid shook it off and remained serious. She had a point to make, even though she knew it would be lost on him. “I respect the service of those who came before you. But somehow, you got the wrong message. You don’t serve because of what you get out of it. You serve because you were born to do it. You serve because you must.”
“Don’t pretend to be noble,” Lungu sneered.
“I am not pretending,” Astrid replied, heat rising to her cheeks. Anger swelled her muscles and brought energy from the Well. Her eyes turned black, but her body still couldn’t channel enough energy to break free. “The only nobility I have comes from those I serve. If I am lucky, they grant me that by following me. I owe them everything. They owe me nothing but to thrive.”
She recited her code then, finding in that moment the parts of it that took strongest root in her soul. “Respect all weakness and always defend the weak. Honor the place where you plant your feet and where you lay your head. Always honor and serve those who serve under you.”
Lungu gave a twisted grin and exchanged his water skin for a jug of wine. He took three massive gulps and replied, “Well, you now lay your head in my wagon, you are the weak and those who serve under you are about to die by my hand when I am done with you. Your code means nothing.”
She was grateful to see the rage in his face when she smiled at him with her confidence restored. She wasn’t exactly sure how, but she knew with all her heart that she would defeat him.
Keep 52: Vinnie’s Orders
The victorious mood died
quickly and started to rot the instant word started spreading through the keep that Astrid had been captured. Vinnie had done his best to keep everyone distracted with a series of practical, well-conceived orders. Everyone present worked their asses off to bring the keep into defensive order. But they were too efficient. Their work was done and now they had time to think. They had time to talk.
“We need to tell them something,” Moxy said, using one of her needle-sharp finger claws to pick some raw meat from between her teeth. She had just finished devouring a crow she had taken with a flying leap.
“Enjoying your crow snack?” Tarkon asked, staring at the pile of black feathers at her feet.
Moxy belched in reply and let the finger claw retract back into her index finger. “Nothing like fresh crow,” she said. “Great energy. Helps me think.”
“We tell them to wait,” Vinnie said. “I’ve run out of busy work for them to do.”
“I’ve been on both sides of sieges before,” Tarkon said. “Idle time kills defenders and attackers alike.”
“We’re not under siege,” Vinnie replied.
“Bullshit,” Tarkon said. “Just because you don’t see any forces out there doesn’t mean we are not under siege. We might have the keep, but there are three others within ten miles and they are all hostile. We are surrounded.”
“We can move in the snow,” Vinnie said. “And they can’t”
“That was true,” Tarkon said. “But all the traffic on the Toll Road has cleared it half way back to Lungu Fortress. And Raluca trained her people to operate in cold weather. Maybe Lungu has, too.”
“I agree with Tarkon,” Moxy said. “But we don’t just need to tell them something, we need to tell them we have a plan.”
“I don’t have one of those,” Vinnie said.
Tarkon took a deep breath. “It’s my turn to prop you up, just like you propped me up on the wall when I was…” Tarkon cleared his throat and grimaced. “Upset and scared.” Vinnie could tell the admission pained him physically. “We do have a plan. We rescue Astrid.”
“That’s not a plan,” Vinnie replied. “That’s an intention.”
“Same thing in this situation,” Tarkon replied.
Vinnie nodded his head, then took a deep breath for energy. “Call them,” he said. “Tell everyone who isn’t on duty to assemble in the courtyard.”
Moxy and Tarkon took off in different directions to round up the sergeants and commanders and anyone who was in charge of anyone else. They assembled quickly.
Vinnie wasn’t sure how well he hid his uncertainty. His voice boomed out over the crowd.
“We all knew our fight was just beginning,” Vinnie shouted. “Now, that fight has changed. Astrid is still with us. We just have to hang on. We have a plan. Even now, we have people heading to the Fortress Wards—”
One of the woods people elbowed his way through the crowd. “Don’t feed us your flowery language,” he shouted. “Astrid is definitely not with us. She’s gone. Lungu took her. She fought for us and you want us to just sit here? I say we go get her now! We need to march!”
The crowd lifted raised fists and shouted. It was quickly becoming a mob. Vinnie watched for a moment. Tarkon shook his head and took a step forward. Trembling ground stopped him in his tracks.
Vinnie’s eyes had turned to molten rock again. His voice echoed as if it came from between two mountains.
“Enough!” he shouted. The crowd fell silent. “Nobody gets to tell me what we need to do but Astrid herself! She is the one who left me in charge. ‘You know what to do,’ she said, just before she was taken away. Well, she was right. I do know what to do! My job is to make sure this keep remains ours so that we can go and get her!
“If we lose this place, we lose Astrid. So, you’re gonna keep doing what I tell you to do, because I am telling you right now, that I will not lose Astrid. We will get her back! I’ll give my orders to your group leaders in one hour.”
The crowd broke its shocked silence, then returned to shouting. Only this time, they repeated Vinnie’s words back. “We will free Astrid!” they cried.
Vinnie turned and marched away, head held high as Tarkon and Moxy flanked him.
“How are we going to do what you just said?” Tarkon asked.
“I have no fucking clue,” Vinnie replied. “But we need to think up something fast.”
Vinnie spotted George closing in on them. He had broken away from the crowd and made a beeline right for them. He didn’t look happy.
“What bullshit is this?” he asked. “You don’t have a damn plan at all, do you?”
Vinnie shook his head. “How did you know?”
“Because you do what I do when I have nothing else: you make a show of strength and say something nobody can disagree with.”
Vinnie harrumphed. “I didn’t even realize I was doing that,” he said.
“Congratulations, science man. You’re a natural bullshitter. Now, what do we do?”
“I am open to suggestions,” Vinnie replied.
“Here comes the other one,” Moxy said, nodding in the direction of Woody, who also looked upset.
“He’s bullshitting, right?” Woody asked, keeping eye contact with George, but nodding towards Vinnie.
“Does everyone fucking know?” Vinnie said in a rare moment of exasperation.
“You notice the woods people weren’t cheering much,” Woody replied.
“Now that you mention it, I did notice that,” Tarkon said, pinching his chin.
“We are all realists,” Woody replied. “I’ll give you some hints on how to proceed. Gormer and Pleth are our best hope in this. They have three good men with them—”
“The last thing we need is ‘good men,’” Vinnie interjected.
“Good bad men,” Woody replied with a toothy smile and sinister eyes. “These people know how to find out shit they shouldn’t know and get into places they have no business being.”
Vinnie checked his ancient pocket watch and squinted at the overcast sky. “They should be in the Fortress Wards by now.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Astrid at Lungu Fortress
She woke up sneezing on a bed of moldy straw. Slimy, cold, gray stone left residue on her cheek when she lifted it. The sliver of daylight that was bold enough to peek through the narrow opening of the metal window grate hurt her eyes.
No longer in her armor, she shivered in the cold. She remembered being dragged from the wagon and thrown down on the icy ground. Lungu stood over her and used his telekinetic grasp to squeeze her throat until she passed out. She thought he was killing her right then and there. But now, she woke up clad in rags.
“So, this is a dungeon,” she groaned.
Steel chains clanked as she struggled to a seated position. She couldn’t move far. A steel collar was around her neck, and her wrists and ankles were bound with steel cuffs. She tugged at the foot-long sections of heavy chain at her feet and hands. Even at full strength, there was no way she could break through that metal. Lungu knew what he was doing.
The screeching of metal-on-metal brought her to her feet. The cell door opened slowly, dry hinges complaining in shrill tones about their burden. Four, fully-armored troops burst into the room and flanked the door.
A few seconds later, Lungu entered the cell wearing fresh armor and his short, black cape.
“My, my,” Astrid said. “You do clean up nicely. If you weren’t such an evil asshole, you’d be my type.”
He gave her a humorless smile that gave Astrid pause. Well, shit, she thought. This doesn’t look so good.
“Restrain her,” Lungu said.
Astrid laughed out loud when the guards rushed her. She couldn’t break the chains, but even with a little sleep on cold stone, she could channel plenty of energy through the Well.
Astrid killed the first guard by snapping his neck with her wrist chains. She was sure she broke a jaw and at least one arm before Lungu called for his reserves. Astrid lost count at ten.
What seemed like a rain of hardwood clubs finally brought her to the ground. At least four men lay dead and bleeding around her.
With her arms and legs pinned to the floor by armored boots, Astrid couldn’t move. They wanted her face down for some reason. She cursed them mightily as she struggled and the Well energy left her.
Then, she saw the man enter the cell with a tray of surgical equipment.
“No!” Astrid shouted, not ashamed to be scared. “You sick fuck, I swear on the name of my mother that I will rip your fucking arms off if you cut me!”
He cut her expertly, right between her shoulder blades. The cut of the sharp knife felt cold at first, then her own seeping blood warmed her back. Even without seeing, she knew he’d cut her right down to the spine.
She screamed, and more soldiers rushed forward to hold her down.
“Don’t struggle,” Lungu said. “Not unless you want to be paralyzed for the last few days of your life.”
“What are you doing to me?” Astrid screamed. She couldn’t move.
“I’m… I’m so sorry,” the surgeon whispered in her ear as he worked. “He… made me. Threatened my family.”
“It’s a clamp,” Lungu said. “For your vertebrae. Something I thought up on our little trip together. We need you nice and compliant for your walk to the gallows. The constant pain of a metal clamp squeezing your thoracic spine together should do quite nicely.”
The device at her back clicked like a ratchet as the surgeon tightened it. She’d never felt pain like this. It was beyond anything she could imagine.
“The steel has a high iron content,” Lungu explained. “So, it will rust. That’s the burning you feel right now. Your blood is eating away at the metal. That’s by my design as well.”
Astrid managed to make her voice do something other than scream. “I’m going to kill you,” Astrid said. “You have my word. My promise. I pledge that to you, right here and now. You are a fucking dead man.”
“I really do admire you,” Lungu said, as the surgeon rose on trembling legs and scurried out of the room, tears in his eyes. “But you are a fool.”
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