by Andrew Wood
Kaden finally satisfied, put away his sword, "and why are you here? To check our progress or aid us?" he asked. "Relax gents I am not here to check up on you. I am here to forewarn you that Lord Willem will soon be ready to bring his forces. The North Besemians have been defeated, and now I've come to make sure the city is ready." Jared felt a tad of excitement at the thought his task may almost be complete.
The man introduced himself as Hector. He told them of the battle that had recently taken place, and how the bold move had seen the army of the south rout those of the north. He was there to ensure Jared and Kaden would have sufficient numbers in place to hold a gatehouse long enough, to allow the troops entrance. The three of them were to now start concentrating on planning for the cities liberation.
The process of removing the guards could continue, so long as it did not cause suspicion. Hector told them of a series of signs to look out for, to let them know when the army would arrive. This would mean one of them would have to attempt to climb atop the walls. They were to look for a sign one week after the night of the next full moon. When they saw that, the attack would take place two days after that. That was still some weeks off, though the three would have plenty of groundwork to do in the mean time.
After the assassin threat in New Easton, security was still tight, though the royals were starting to accept its necessity. General Skalton stood atop the battlements of the bridge gatehouse looking out at the group of riders in view. Some mile or so off in the distance his group of soldiers sent out to hunt the Orlacs were returning.
The first impressions were good, and he tried to give a quick head count as to the number returning. He had sent them out to hunt beasts that were far larger and stronger than any man was. It appeared they had had a certain amount of success, the front riders proudly flying the banners of Corlan, as they approached the bridge. The gates were opened and the General walked down to greet them.
The front rider saluted, "Welcome back, I'll let you all get back to the keep and freshen up. Two hour's and I want a report," the General said. The man replied, "Yes sir. We have some very interesting news sir." That got Thomas thinking, but let the men ride by, as he continued his head count. He noticed two or three now wore some form of bandaging, and he thought they were five or six lighter in number.
Up in his office Thomas Skalton waited impatiently, and sat at his desk twiddling his thumbs. The young lad Levin was much more composed and had now been given his own, smaller desk in the same office. It was positioned at a right angle to that of the General's, and though not as grand in size was of the same style. Levin had been very surprised, when the previous morning, he had reported for duty to find he had been given his own place to sit at.
General Skalton had told him, he was now a well-valued and important member of the team. He had proven repeatedly his ingenuity and commitment to their cause were second to none. Therefore, he had asked the King if it was all right to borrow one of the desks put aside, to be used in one of the other offices to be given to Levin. Apparently, the king had thought it a splendid idea, and in addition had gifted him a rather stylish writing set to use.
Levin was there to make notes, or just write anything he thought maybe important. Therefore, like the General he was waiting for the officer of the soldiers to come and give his report on the trip north of the river. A knock came, and the officer in question entered, saluting to the General and giving Levin a nod and a smile. He was asked to take a seat, and Levin stood to fetch a tray of drinks from the sideboard along the one wall. Placing the tray down and pouring the two men a glass of red wine, he hovered for a third, looking expectantly at the General. "Go on then Levin, though don't tell Jak I been letting you drink," he smiled.
Pouring his own glass, he then returned to sit behind his own desk. The room was bright, with the sun shining in through the windows behind the Generals desk. The officer took a sip of his drink, "Well firstly Sir, I report no dead. Though we do have six injured, none terribly so, just a few bruises and claw cuts." Levin dipped his pen in the inkpot and started writing down the numbers involved, cussing quietly as a blob of ink ruined his page. The General questioned the number, saying he only counted forty-eight troops back in.
The officer smiled, "Ah! That is where my interesting news comes in. On our travels we went quite a way north and came upon a town. I have left six men at Sefton to help them defend should they get attacked again." The General nearly dropped his glass, "You are kidding me, there are still people surviving out there, despite everything that had gone on." The officer nodded, "oh they have not had it easy Sir, but yes they survive. I have told them we shall try and send a few troops and supplies to help."
Levin continued scribbling his notes, at least that was, until the General told him to stop, "Would you please go and see if the King is free, I am sure he will want to hear of this." Levin placed down his pen, and nodded, "yes Sir," he said and headed for the door. He turned left down the corridor and up the staircase to the top floor. The guards outside the room would tell him where the king resided, and as he presumed he was in his own office.
Noticing it was Levin the guard nodded, and allowed him to knock the door. After being allowed entry, he saw the King sitting as usual behind his desk rummaging through a whole load of papers. He looked up, "Oh! Hi Levin, what can I do for you." The youngster looked at the King, "I am willing to help you with that lot sire if it helps. If the pile gets any bigger you'll not be able to see who's at the door." Caldar chuckled, "I might take you up on that, but that is not why you come is it?"
Levin shook his head, "No Sire, sorry. General Skalton has asked me to see if you have time to come and listen to the report of the officer, of the men who went north of the river." Caldar stood," yes, sure. Gives me break from this lot. I thought it would be easier delegating it all. I spend just as long seeing if each piece actually requires me to deal with it, as if I had dealt with it myself." The King led the way out of the door, and the guards positioned themselves, one in front and one behind.
As they went down the stairs, Caldar asked, "So anything important is it?" Levin shrugged he was not certain how big a deal finding people alive in some place called Sefton was, but told him anyway. The king then appeared to walk much faster, and Levin with the shorter strides struggled to keep pace.
Once all back inside General Skalton's office, and after the formalities and greetings done, Levin poured the king a drink, and gave up his own chair so the man could sit. Levin was quite happy enough standing while they spoke. Apparently, the town of Sefton had been one of the suggestions for the refugees from Hamalin and Forwich to move too. It had only been discounted because its only water supply was a nearby lake.
The people there had taken in many other refugees from the surrounding area, certain eventually someone would come to their aid. The town was walled and had been easily defensible from a Darekian raiding party, who had tried to attack. In the end, the raiders had given up and moved on to somewhere else. They had not seen any other raiders since then. A pack of Orlacs had caught and killed a few folk when they had gone to fetch water, but fortunately the gates had been shut and no further casualties had been taken.
A couple of Orlacs had shown interest in the town but could not get up the steep tall walls. They did not appear to hang around long, apparently content to go and find something else to try to eat. The officer told them, not only did he leave six men there to help in case they did come across more Orlacs; he also gave them all his spare supplies.
The king looked over to his General, "get some wagons loaded please Thomas and do you think we can spare a hundred men to help hold the town?" Levin watched as the old soldier nodded, "Yes Sire. I will get on to it immediately. Do we know of any others?" he asked looking back at the soldier. "Not that I am aware of Sir. They did tell me they had taken in many people from the local farming communities. Luckily, for them, their stores were still well stocked, before all this kicked off. However, they are now running low; I sp
ared what I could give them, with the promise of more."
There were apparently over seven hundred people holding out in Sefton, against all odds they had merely shut up their gates and hidden themselves away. The King added weapons to the list of items to take, to arm the people if needed. It appeared there was already good leadership in the town, and hence did not send anyone to start taking control of the place.
The town folk, who had been starved of any news for months could barely believe all the stories they were told. The king and Queen were gone, Hamalin destroyed, Caldar the new king and most amazingly the young Prince Luken was a great powerful magician.
The General did not hang around and after dismissing his officer, quickly made his way out of his office to carry out the King's requests. That meant Caldar and Levin were left alone on the General's office. "Did you like your desk Levin?" he asked the youngster. "I did sire. It came as quite a pleasant surprise, Thank you." Levin had been thinking of a way to help the king with that enormous mountain of paperwork he had on his desk.
The King stood, and Levin spoke before he had chance to leave. "Sire, I have been wondering. I am quite willing to sort through all your papers before they get to you. That way you will only see those that are needed to be dealt with directly by you. The rest I can sort out, Military stuff to the General's desk, city items to Lord Galliss and treasury to Lord Darak." Caldar stopped and listened, he was genuinely grateful for any help regarding paperwork.
He pondered for a moment. This young man, had already taken on so much, and had already earned his respect. "Levin I am not sure I would want to burden you further. You already assist the General. Remember you are still fourteen, but if you really want to, and you think you can handle it." Levin nodded, "It is no problem Sire. I can help the general in the morning, and then if you can direct people to putting all the papers onto my desk instead of yours, I will sort it out." Caldar shrugged, "Very well, as long as you know what you are letting yourself in for. However if it gets too much for you, I do not want to see you struggle. Promise me you will tell me if it gets too much?" Levin agreed, "Of course sire." Caldar patted him on the shoulder, "Pity there is not more people in the world, like you Levin, I'll see to it you get paid a fair wage for doing all this work."
In Casham Lord Willem was sat reading the figures on the paper held in his hand. Sat in his makeshift office, he placed the note on the tabletop. Leaning back in his chair, he stared at the picture on the wall above the fireplace. It was a landscape picture, he presumed of the local area. He looked back down at the paper. The numbers read, One hundred and eighty six dead, one hundred and thirty three injured nine of whom were serious. The battle against the north had certainly come at a great cost.
They had spent a best part of the time since the battle burying the dead, not just their own but those that opposed them. They may have been the enemy, but they were still fellow compatriots. They had just been poor souls that had been misguided and controlled by some evil force.
Now he had to try to put this behind him, and continue to plan and prepare for the next step. He hoped the taking of Bashek would go smoothly, and the loss of men could be kept to a minimum. He had sent another man to make contact to his undercover operatives to let them know he was coming. He put his trust in those few men to do what was necessary and with help from the people in the city, to take and hold a gate. If they could, he could get his forces inside and over run the Darekians within. The alternative was not an option. He was not prepared for a long drawn out siege. He did not have any of the necessary equipment and it was far too late in the year to start thinking about it.
He would now leave a number of men here, to keep a solid defensive line. Should things go wrong in attempting to retake Bashek they would need a place to retreat to. The soldiers of Corlan based in Berston and Casham, still numbered nearly three hundred and should suffice to keep the two towns safe. He had sent word back to the King in New Easton to let him know of his intentions.
The defences he had built were substantial, and he would leave four hundred of his own men to help man them. The rest of his soldiers were now busy preparing supplies and weapons for their push forward in a couple of days. Then they would slowly move north before turning eastwards to the capital.
Chapter 19.
With summer now nearing its end, the day's getting shorter and the temperature dropping a few degrees, the work to house everyone took on a new importance. Autumn months in Corlan were not usually cold, but the nights could get a little chilly. The wharf and dock area where now completely planked, all looking nice and new. The hole in the city wall had been knocked through, and a new gatehouse was in the process of being built. This was not to be as big as the main entrance, just to be wide enough for a wagon to pass through without problems.
Inside the walls, warehouses were being erected, for storage of goods when the river port became functional. A slight problem at the moment was the fact they did not actually own any barges. That was another thing being built, and the cities first citizen owned business had been set up and was now been operating for a few weeks, to carry out that vary task.
Beside the dock, a simple wooden building had been put up, and now was home to A.S. Mason Shipbuilders. He was a man who had travelled with the group all the way from Hamalin. Having run a similar business there, it made sense to do likewise here. Employing a small handful of workers, mainly trainees, the first barge was being built. The crown had ordered it and would pay for the vessel, and if all went well would probably need many more.
Since then a few other business owners and tradesmen had done similarly. Open to the people, as well as the market, there was now a bakery, a blacksmiths, a tailors and the furniture shop manned by Hunter and Edward. The crown still saw to it those that were homeless did not go without food. Those who were fortunate to have been allocated properties were required to start looking after themselves, though families with young children were given free milk.
Caldar had already placed a number of orders with Hunter and Edward's, furniture shop. Apart from something a little more luxurious for him to sit on, he wanted some wardrobes, or at least Vanessa told him he did, some book cases for Luken and a couple of very important items. He had asked them to manufacture some eloquent office furniture for a very special young man.
Although Levin currently had a desk sharing an office with General Skalton, Caldar had decided to go one better. Since the young man organising all the paper work for Caldar it had become so much better. Now he only saw the papers he needed to deal with, and the other items were dealt with by others. Jak had told him that in a few weeks it was Levin's fifteenth birthday, and so provided Hunter and Edward could keep their hands on the furniture making and off each other, they hoped to the items ready for then. Caldar had run the idea past Luken, and the two had agreed to giving Levin his own office, on the top floor next to Caldars. Not only that, but they would also allow him to have his own assistants, paid by the crown. It was clear the youngster had taken on so much work, and though he appeared to revel in it, they wanted to help him back, by lightening the load a little.
It was hoped by the time his birthday came round, the office and all the new furniture, especially made for him would all be ready. They all thought Levin an amazing individual. In the short time, they had known him; he had been a guard to the prince, an assistant to the General, developed a new weapon to help fight the Orlacs and even helped with the Murati Prince. He had also radically overhauled the paperwork situation for Caldar and hence had made himself indispensible.
In Bashek Jared, as the slightly younger, and hence judged more agile, of the South Besemian's operating in the city was given the task of finding a way to the top of the wall. Earlier he had joined Kaden and Victor in inconspicuously walking around the inside perimeter, attempting to make a note of which bits were guarded, and which not so.
Now it was darker he was to attempt to make a practice run. He needed to climb a section of wall that
looked out south and westwards. The only problem was that was exactly the same direction as the guards were probably keeping an eye on. The wall itself was accessed up stone steps paced at various intervals. The steps themselves were not problematic; it was once on top of the wall you had no cover.
In a few nights time, Jared would have to find a spot, where he could not only remain oblivious to see the signal, but he also had to be able to give them a signal back, to tell the incoming troops he had received it. If he managed to get away with that, they then had two days to make final preparations, for the impending attack.
He stood in the dark alley, looking up at a slowly pacing guard. He himself was covered in the shadows, and the long dark hooded cloak he had taken from a Darekian covered his face. He stood and counted, before the guard returned stepping the other way. On the night in question, his plan would be to take the place of this guard. For now, he just needed to dart up the steps to ensure the area he was looking out on was good enough from which to be seen.
Once the guard had passed once more, he quietly as possible dashed across to the base of the steps. Taking two at a time he peered his head up to check the coast was still clear. Looking left and right he then dashed up and ducked down behind the battlements. That bit was easy enough, and looking out and beyond the wall, he could see, absolutely nothing. The entire area, to whichever direction he was looking, he hoped it was southwestern, was complete darkness.
He did not have reason to ponder, so started his decent back down the stone steps, and back into his shadowy hiding spot. Just in time as well, as the guard up on the wall, paced across the exact spot he had been crouching twenty seconds earlier. On the night in question, he would have to kill that guard, and then become him. The only drawback with that was he needed to make it look like the guard was drunk and fell off the top. Otherwise, the Darekians would be suspicious and even worse slaughtering the city folk in revenge.