“Oh, he’s smitten,” Zek said, nodding his head sagely. “He went to visit her each seventh day after services. What will Valessa think?”
“You know that Valessa and I broke things off before we were sent to Thistleton, Zek,” Dain said, shooting his comrade a halfhearted glare.
“And did she receive you?” Bental asked with a smile, clearly not finished with questioning him about Melinia yet.
“We had a pleasant time,” Dain said. He tried to keep the grin from his face, but it crept up all the same and he ducked his head.
“An impressive feat,” Bental said. “I’ve heard a dozen lordlings haven’t been able rouse her interest.”
“I’m sure it is nothing,” Dain said. “She wanted to know more about the Highlands.”
“You may be married off to her before we get back,” Zek said. “I’m sure your father and the Emperor are planning the wedding now.”
Kag bellowed out a laugh. “Poor Dain Gladstone, Hero of Thistleton, the Great General, Conqueror of the Walls, settled down before he’s even tasted true freedom. Sounds like a waste of a good time to me. She’ll have you tamed quick.”
“Melinia isn’t like that,” Dain said. “Besides, if anyone is married by the time we get back it’ll be you, Mighty Kag, Chainbreaker. I saw Aleesa eyeing a bolt of white fabric the other day.”
Kag reddened. This time, Bental and Zek turned their laughter and slaps on the shoulder on him instead.
Dain shifted his attention to the countryside around them. He’d never been to this part of the Empire before. There were scattered farms with squat, sturdy silos and an occasional flock of grazing sheep or goats. As they rode, boys would often burst from the farmhouses and watch them pass by. Sometimes they’d offer his party solemn little salutes or excited waves.
He knew the Forest of Anur waited ahead. For two thousand years it had been accepted as the boundary between elven and Karelian lands. In all that time there had been peace—friendship, even—with the elves. Hungry to grow their rule, the Emperors had pushed into every other land, but the grey elves were left strictly alone until, in his greed, Chalmer had ended the peace, pushing the elves until they pushed back. And now Dain and Bental and thousands of other soldiers were needed to end what had begun with a single ambitious fool’s avarice.
No, that was wrong, Dain thought, Father is right and I have to face it. If Chalmer alone wanted this war it would not have happened. The man was but a symptom of the greater problems within the Order and its ties to the Empire.
“What do you think we’ll find?” Dain asked.
“I’ve no idea,” Bental replied with a shake of his head. “The last I heard, Chalmer had pushed them back into the Anur. After the failure of his early strike and the loss of so many brothers, I can’t believe he still holds command.”
Dain remembered the long black ribbon the Sovereign now wore. The first time he’d seen it there were over a thousand names embroidered there. Now that number had almost doubled. He also remembered the Emperor’s tale.
“When will the Sovereign approach the Emperor?” Dain asked.
“Once your father arrives in the capital. He needs Harren’s support.”
“How do you think he’ll take it?” Dain said, eyeing the message tube Bental carried.
“Not well. Creator only knows how long he’s been planning this.”
For ten days they rode ever eastward, and the land turned more green and lush around them. They passed the burned-out husks of farms and the broken Watchtower of the East. Its ramparts had fallen and the towers had melted into a sagging, colorless slag. Like a child’s abandoned marbles, its stones lay scattered in the green field. Dain looked at the destruction and couldn’t imagine the terror the defenders must have felt. Emperor Krane, Pelion’s father and Melinia’s great-grandfather, had built the tower, and the elves had destroyed it during their first great charge.
Within sight of the Anur, they finally found the tattered remnants of Chalmer’s Paladins and the Emperor’s army.
The camp—if one could call it that—was in a depression in the fields leading up to the forest. Despite the lateness of the day, men lounged around their cookfires, and it seemed each was nursing a wound of some kind. They looked gaunt, haggard, and bags hung beneath every downturned eye. To Dain they looked less like an army and more like the battered survivors of some great natural disaster. Doing a quick estimate, he thought there might be a thousand of them still fit for battle.
“Lord Gunter Bental and Paladin Dain Gladstone, here to see Lord Chalmer with fresh orders from the Sovereign,” Bental announced when they approached.
“You may pass,” the guard said with a tired half-wave. “He’s somewhere in there.”
Dain leaned toward Bental and whispered, “All told, the Emperor sent ten thousand men east. Is this all that’s left?”
“We’ll find out soon enough. Eyes front,” Bental answered.
In the center of the wounded stood a command tent similar to the one Bental had used at Thistleton. In contrast to Bental’s, this one was soiled with brown and black smudges, and the Order’s banner, tattered and ragged, hung lifeless above the canvas. A dozen Paladins stood guard. None of these were wounded; eyes alert, each held their weapons bared.
Dain recognized one, Ottis, from his own recruiting year. He nodded to Bental and then spurred Boon ahead a bit, dismounting in front of Ottis.
“Good to see you, Ottis,” Dain said.
“No weapons allowed inside, Chalmer’s orders,” Ottis answered, his eyes dull and lifeless. He gave no indication that he recognized either Dain or any of the others.
“We’re all brothers here. No need for us to leave our weapons,” Bental said.
“No weapons,” Ottis repeated between gritted teeth. The eyes were still blank, but his face turned down into an angry grimace. “There have been two attempts on our lord’s life.”
Bental was getting ready to speak again when another Paladin Dain recognized emerged from the tent.
“What is all this?” Rollo said.
“Lord Bental to see Lord Chalmer. We’ve orders from the Sovereign,” Bental repeated. He rattled the wax-sealed messenger tube.
“I told them to leave their weapons here,” Ottis said. The simmering anger in his expression hadn’t subsided.
“And I said that we are all brothers here. No need for concern,” Bental said, his eyebrows raised along with his hands.
“Let them in. There’s no threat. There isn’t a man here worth one of us in the sword,” Rollo said with a taunting smile. “Come in, do come in. More meat for the grinder.”
Dain bit back a response, then followed Rollo inside. The very first man he saw was Chalmer. He wore the same infuriating smile as he had the last time Dain had seen him.
“At last, reinforcements from the North, here to save us,” Chalmer said. “Perhaps the great heroes of Thistleton can show us all the errors of our wicked ways.”
“I’ve orders from the Sovereign,” Bental said. He waved the message tube. “I would show them to you in private.”
Chalmer shook his head. “No. No, I don’t believe in secrets between me and my men. Read them to me here.”
“They concern you directly, of course,” Bental said.
“If you are implying I will be embarrassed by the contents, rest assured that won’t be the case,” Chalmer said. “Go ahead. Read them aloud.”
“Very well,” Bental said. With a small knife he broke the tube’s heavy wax seal, clearing his throat.
“Lord Chalmer, you are to relinquish your forces into the command of Lord Bental at once. Furthermore, you are ordered to return to Karelton for a formal inquiry into your conduct during these past months. Word has reached me of several improprieties. Signed, Sovereign of the Creat
or and his Holy Light.”
Chalmer threw back his head, laughing. Several of his men joined in.
Dain put his hand on his sword hilt. He didn’t understand what was happening, but if anyone moved he planned on cutting first Rollo and then Chalmer down. Kag, Zek, and the rest of his men all did the same.
“Marvelous,” Chalmer finally said, tears streaming down the sides of his face. “You see, friends, it is as I told you. All has happened precisely as I have foreseen.”
He pointed a finger at Bental.
“You think to embarrass me? I will teach you the meaning of the word.” He held out a hand and Rollo placed a second message tube in it. “From the Emperor himself.” Chalmer unrolled the scroll. He read aloud. “As of this moment, all forces deployed in the east are at the disposal of my trusted servant, Lord Chalmer. Furthermore, Lord Chalmer is commanded to remain in the east until such a time as the grey elves are defeated and their lands claimed, or of his own choosing.”
Chalmer thrust the document at Bental. “All forces in the east includes you, Bental, and your men. And of his own choosing overrides the Sovereign’s commands. Rest assured, the Emperor’s officers all have a copy of this same decree, and that is his valid signature. You see, I know you too well. I know your jealous hearts. You ride in on the moment of victory to snatch up the glory for yourselves. Fortunately, the Emperor proves a man of great foresight and vision in giving me this.”
“It’s valid,” Bental said. He held the unfurled document out to read. “That is Pelion’s signature.”
“You can’t be serious,” Dain said. Signatures can be forged, he thought to himself, but he dared not say it aloud. “We can’t follow this madman.”
“Madman?” Chalmer said. “Choose your words carefully, little Gladstone. Treason is a serious offense.”
“So, Chalmer, what do we do now?” Bental asked, not a hint of defiance in his voice, just exhaustion and disappointment.
“We strike the elves and end this war.” Chalmer grinned a lunatic’s toothy smile.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
“Are we really going through with this?” Zek asked.
“Yes,” Dain replied, and even as he said it his stomach heaved.
“Really?” Zek pressed.
“We have our orders. I don’t like them any more than you do, but they are our orders.”
“I didn’t join the Paladins to become a kidnapper,” Zek said, brows drawn together in a dark line.
Each year, on the fall solstice, elven law compelled their King to climb Esandril, their holy mountain, in a daylong ritual of cleansing. He was to go alone, without swords, without armor, completely unarmed. Fortunately for the Paladins, the holy mountain was but a short ride into the Anur. Unfortunately, an elven army formed a ring of steel around the mountain’s base, and they were not unarmed.
But that wasn’t Dain’s target. Bental and Chalmer were responsible for the elven army; they’d lead them on a merry chase and then circle back to meet the others in the village. Dain’s target was down in the village at Esandril’s base. The queen and their children would be there.
Situated among the low, rolling foothills around the holy mountain, the village wasn’t large. There were fewer than twenty buildings, but most were sizable structures two or three stories tall, with white stucco walls and grey slate roofs. A thin creek flowed from the mountain, gurgling down through the village into an interlocked series of seven deep pools and then on into the Anur.
At the crest of a small hill, Dain, Kag, and Zek waited.
“Even I’m not comfortable stealing someone’s wife and kids,” Kag said. “When did we start harming women and children?”
At Thistleton, Dain thought, swallowing back bile at the memory. He shifted his eyes to the left to the shadowy grove of oaks where Rollo and his band of Paladins hid.
“If either of you have any suggestions, I’d love to hear them,” Dain said.
“Not particularly,” Zek said.
Kag only shrugged.
“Stay close to me. If I figure a way out of this, just back my play,” Dain said. What they were about to do lacked all semblance of honor. The screams and cries of Thistleton’s innocents haunted him, and he had no desire to fuel his nightmares with more civilian blood. Still, there was nothing he could do. There were guards scattered in the village, but even if he warned them, they couldn’t stand up to Rollo’s men.
Rollo whistled, and his men moved toward the village. As planned, Dain and his men advanced up to the edge of the buildings. Their orders were to cover Rollo’s escape and back him up if necessary.
Rollo’s group kept to the shadows and away from windows and open spaces as they crept closer to the tiny village’s hall. Intelligence gathering by the scouts had suggested that the queen and her children should be inside.
Dain almost wished someone would spot them and summon the guards, but Rollo’s men were well trained. Only after killing the four guards outside did the alarm go up, and by then Rollo had disappeared into the hall.
Grey elves started to pour from the buildings around the hall. They carried swords or spears and shouted at one another in their clipped native tongue. Heedless of their own safety, they threw themselves into battle. In moments, a third of Rollo’s men were down, but each took three or four elves with them, and the rising tide started to wane.
Then Dain saw a large group of elves in full armor burst from a squat building to the left. They formed up into a battle line and started for the hall.
“Let’s move,” Dain said.
“You can’t be serious,” Zek said. “I say we let Rollo and his men die down there.”
“Believe me I would, but if that happens he’ll slaughter every innocent he can lay his hands on before they get to him.”
Dain led Zek and Kag across the street and into an alleyway. At the alley’s end he stopped and knelt in the building’s shadow, and Zek and Kag did the same. The group of armored elves was just ahead of them. They had eyes only for Rollo’s men. It would be a perfect ambush. Dain’s reasoning warred with itself. If they ended the war today, thousands of his fellow soldiers and Paladins would be saved, but likely tens of thousands of elves would be killed or displaced. Who knew what Chalmer would demand if he captured the queen and her children?
“What are we going to do?” Zek asked again, sounding tense.
“Follow me. When they start fighting we’ll slip past them and get inside,” Dain said. “Don’t engage until I give the order, and try not to kill anyone.”
Dain waited until the elves and Rollo’s men collided in a crash of steel. Then he raced for the hall.
Several of the Paladins broke into grins as he charged, Ottis among them. No doubt they expected Dain’s group to hit the elves from behind. Their smiles faded and they cursed his name as Dain led his friends around the fighting and leapt toward a low window.
The stained glass shattered in a spray of color under the impact of his armor. Dain rolled, his footing slipping and landing him in a soft pile of rags. He started to pull himself upright when Kag leapt inside, smashing into him.
“Oh merciful Creator,” Zek said in a small voice as he joined them inside.
Dain threw Kag off and started to stand. He placed a hand on the pile of rags for support. They felt wet and sticky, and there was something warm wrapped inside of them. He stood with a start, realizing that the pile of rags was a dead elven woman. Then he got his first clear look at the room.
Blood was splattered over every surface. A few candles were scattered across the floor. One had set the curtains ablaze. There were five other women lying dead, each like the one he’d landed on. He could tell at a glance that a sword identical to the one he carried had killed them. Rollo. He almost tossed his own blade away.
“By the Light,”
Kag said.
“We’ve got to stop him,” Dain said.
From above, the sound of swords rang out, followed by screaming and crying. Dain searched frantically for the stairs, spying them at last through a nearby doorway. They followed a trail of crimson into a large room at the top of the stairs. There, Rollo, an armored elf, and a woman clutching a pair of crying infants stood.
The armored elf was wounded; he leaned heavy against his sword and blood trickled between the segments in his armor. Rollo was smiling. From where he stood he could see both Dain and his wounded opponent.
“Come to watch me win victory for the Empire?” Rollo said.
“No,” Dain said. “I’ve come to kill you.”
Sword first, Dain charged. His weapon met Rollo’s and was parried aside almost casually. Rollo countered with a quick slash that Dain ducked beneath, and Dain followed up with a solid hit to Rollo’s right leg.
“I knew you were a traitor,” Rollo spat. His eyes strayed to Kag and Zek. “Take him, you laggards!”
Dain used the distraction to his advantage. He jabbed his sword into the joint between Rollo’s arm and shoulder. When he withdrew it there was an inch of blood on its tip. Then he heard fighting behind him. He risked a quick glance over his shoulder and saw Zek and Kag holding the stairwell against a group of Rollo’s men.
“Seems it’s to be a fair fight this time,” Dain said.
Rollo sprang on the attack then, bellowing like a boar. Dain flashed a glance at the queen and her children, who had pulled away from the fighting and hidden themselves against a heavy-looking cabinet in a far corner. Rolo’s sword moved like a whirlwind and Dain struggled to deflect it. He managed a weak counter, and Rollo stopped to catch his breath just out of range. Dain saw a telltale glow at Rollo’s hands as his opponent drew on the Light.
Drawing on the Light himself, Dain shoved the power into the blade. Both glowing weapons collided in a shower of sparks. Rollo, bigger by at least twenty pounds, leaned in, trying to drive Dain’s sword aside.
Paladin's Fall: Kingdom's Forge Book 2 Page 38