“From this window, it drops over two thousand feet.”
Saxthor and Tournak stood stunned.
“Anyone following along the mountains can clearly see this pass is the only hope of getting through. Come, let me show you the tunnel and pass below.”
The duke led his guests back down the corridor to a staircase well within the interior. They descended two levels to the grand audience hall, where the duke had received Saxthor. There, they went behind the throne to a circular staircase and down one level. The duke led them along a corridor past dungeons on either side to the end of the hallway. There was a gallery with stacks of rocks and pots of oil for throwing down on attackers through thin slits. They could shoot arrows or throw spears at the attackers, as well. No enemy could shoot arrows or make siege machinery that could reach so high.
“How does one get through the pass?” Saxthor asked.
“From this level, we have two massive iron booms. We can swing them out and raise or lower one or both platforms using multiple pulleys from the next chamber. Should attackers gain control of the platforms, we can seal off the iron doors from within, rendering the platforms useless. We’ll go there now,” the duke said, leading his guests back down the hallway, then up a level, and threw the room’s iron door.
“This is the control room. You can see the massive pulleys above us. We can use the platforms to move troops and supplies to the plain below for an offensive sortie.” The duke patted the oak beams of the pulley structure like pets.
Saxthor studied the ingenious mechanics. “No wonder no army has ever overrun this pass.”
“Nothing for the enemy to climb on,” Tournak said.
“I’ve a large garrison defending the pass, though it isn’t necessary.”
“It’s impregnable short of treachery,” Saxthor said. “I have to ask, though: how are occasional orcs getting over the mountains?”
“We are not sure,” the duke replied, feeling his smile deflate. “Our guards did indeed find the two dead orcs Hendrel spoke of. The orcs dare not show their faces in the city, but some are getting through. They’ve been slipping into Hador for about two months now.”
“I’ve run across them, several cohorts I’m aware of,” Saxthor said so as not to be overheard. “The Dark Lord is sending them to infiltrate southern defenses, no doubt to rise up behind our lines once a war starts. I hope you’ll be able to discover where they’re slipping through soon. I feared treachery, within even these walls, since I’ve seen their numbers and extent of penetration. Duke Jedrac, I’m not suggesting you’re failing in your responsibility to hold the eastern gate against Dreaddrac.”
“Certainly not!”
“I think you’re safe for now. The Dark Lord doesn’t want to reveal his strength yet. It might alarm the southern states, causing them to arm and form alliances before he’s ready to strike. However, I don’t think it'll be long before he’s prepared to march south. If he’s infiltrated this citadel, your life will be forfeit the moment he’s ready to move.”
“Not a pleasant thought,” Jedrac said.
“Dreaddrac will want to secure this pass first. If he’s placed someone here, waiting, the traitor will try to kill you and throw the city defenses into turmoil. You must recheck your garrison and household for potential assassins.”
This heightened Jedrac’s fears. “Recent reports have confirmed there is increased activity on Dreaddrac’s plain, and yes, more have slipped through.”
The control room door opened, and a servant brought in refreshments.
“Hold there,” Saxthor ordered. The servant had already turned to leave. Saxthor poured a goblet of ale, handing it to the man. The servant looked at the duke, who nodded. The man drank from the goblet, bowed, and left the room.
“It would be prudent to have your food and drink tasted,” Tournak said.
“You can’t be serious-- poisoning,” Jedrac said, astonished. “It would be the easiest way to remove me at a critical time. A lot seems to be changing.”
“Changing fast,” Saxthor said.
Jedrac called the captain.
The captain, who had followed them through the tour and stayed far back out of hearing range, came forward.
“Take the prince to the secret passage in the base of the mountain. He should be aware of it. As usual, you’re to let no one else know you’re going there or that it exists.”
The duke turned to Saxthor. “You must excuse us; we have to attend to a matter of considerable importance. The captain will continue your tour. I’ll join you later in the dining hall.”
*
“Lead on, Captain,” Saxthor said. He finished his drink and, with Tournak, left to see the secret passage.
“If you’ll come this way, Your Highness,” the captain said, leading the prince and Tournak back into the heart of the fortress. When they were past the dungeons, and nearly at the spiral staircase that led up to the reception hall, there was a hidden door off to the right in the dark behind the staircase arch.
“Now that’s well hidden, you’d have to know it was there to find it,” Saxthor said. Tournak nodded agreement.
The captain, with hand on sword, looked around to be sure no one followed. Pulling a hidden key from a neck chain under his tunic, he unlocked and opened the door. The hinges didn’t squeak. After relocking the door behind them, the captain led the two men down a narrow spiral staircase that seemed endless. It went down to the level of the Dreaddrac Plain. At the bottom, there was another small room leading to a corridor that passed horizontally through the rock. It ended in a secret doorway that came out on the plain under an outcrop, hiding it completely from above.
“What’s this for?” Saxthor asked.
“This is to make raids out, and behind the enemy should Hador be attacked,” the captain said. His chest puffed up. “It took a year to excavate.”
“If it’s discovered, can the tower see it?”
“No, the guards can’t see it. Only after completing it did we realize that. However, it’s not likely anyone could locate the door. Even if discovered, only someone inside can open it.”
“I see.”
The captain laughed but kept his hand on his sword. “Only very healthy soldiers can climb back up to the Hadorhof’s lowest level. Any attack from here would have to be single-file. So you see, there’s no real threat.”
Saxthor looked closely at the door’s seal and the floor in front of it. Tournak nudged the sandy floor with his boot. “How often does anyone monitor the door and corridors?”
“We don’t come here,” the captain said as he checked the door lock. “This is just for counterattack sorties. Come, it’s a very long hike back up those stairs. We’ll have to stop and rest to make it.”
“This must wear out a pair of boots just making one trip up and down, Captain,” Saxthor said. He laughed, “It’s a good thing the duke issued you your boots.”
“The stone is rough on boots for sure, Your Highness,” the captain said as they started back up the corridor to the staircase.
They returned along the corridor by torchlight and then back up the small spiral staircase to the hidden doorway behind the stairwell on the dungeon level.
Saxthor and Tournak went to eat with the garrison so that Saxthor could observe the Hadorhof’s workforce. Then the captain took the two guests on a tour of the battlements. Ending the tour, he took them back to their apartment to refresh themselves and rest before dinner with the duke.
For dinner, the duke had arranged another feast in his guests’ honor. It was a state occasion, and Jedrac had invited the Hadorian state’s nobility. The duke was delighted to show off the Neuyokkasinian prince.
I suspect the duke hopes Neuyokkasin will acknowledge his claim to the dukedom as a legitimate and separate principality one day, Saxthor thought. That can’t happen. It would bring war between Neuyokkasin and Graushdem.
The duke and Saxthor genuinely liked each other and respected each other’s strengths an
d leadership abilities. It was a very pleasant night.
As the dinner was breaking up, Saxthor asked if he might speak with the duke privately. The duke, lightheaded from the wine, put his arm around the prince’s shoulder and led him toward his private audience chamber.
“Oh, could you have the captain escort Tournak back to our rooms?” Saxthor asked. “I think he’s had too much wine, and he might get lost.”
“Captain, escort Lord Tournak back to his quarters. We wouldn’t want him lost,” the duke said. “Then you may go for the night. Any news of your family yet?”
“Not yet, Your Grace,” the captain said as he led Tournak from the dining hall.
When they were gone, the prince and the duke talked.
“Your grace, do you issue boots to the garrison?”
“Yes, boots are standard issue here,” the duke said. He poked his thumbs under his armpits puffing up his chest. “For many of our soldiers, these are the first real footwear they’ve had. Hador is rocky, even the floors, and not all the rock is polished. The boots don’t hold up long, regrettably.” He smiled. “So, what did you want to see me about?”
“What’s the problem with the captain’s family?” Saxthor asked.
“Probably nothing, but his wife and child went to visit her parents in eastern Hador and haven’t returned. They left more than two months ago, and he’s concerned.”
Saxthor nodded. “Why do you need a sally port? I thought you said the walls alone would bar any attempt to get over the mountains if the lifts below were pulled up and withdrawn.”
“The captain’s aide suggested it some years ago,” the duke said. “Brilliant man, I’d have made him captain if he had remained here. He returned to King Calamidese of Sengenwha a few months ago. Said he loved it here, but the king couldn’t live without him.” He squinted at Saxthor in the dim light. “Why do you ask?”
Saxthor walked around the room, his fingers pulling his chin while thinking. He looked at the duke; whose furrowed brow showed his concern for Saxthor’s delayed response.
“Let me suggest that you send your fastest courier to King Calamidese and ask, confidentially, if the captain’s former aide is in his employ,” Saxthor said. “He came here and immediately got work as the captain of the guard’s aide?”
“Well, luckily for him, the captain’s aide at the time slipped on the battlements a few weeks after the new man’s arrival, so when his qualifications fit, and the occasion arose, we promoted him. Good thing, too. The sally port gives us the opportunity of getting behind the enemy in case of attack.”
“Your Grace, I think there’s been a plot here. I think the aide never worked for the King of Sengenwha. I think he was a plant sent to you by the Dark Lord. Most likely, he got employment here due to his record, which you never checked out. The courier will be able to verify that.”
“Who knows if the references were checked out? He seemed the man for the job.”
“I think he established himself, then pushed the captain’s former aide off the battlements. The aide’s requirements were the qualifications he claimed to have,” Saxthor continued. He’d stopped pacing and faced the duke with his analysis. “The man knew he was best qualified to get that promotion. As the captain’s aide, he had the run of the fortress, did he not?”
The duke began pacing, staring at the floor, trying to remember things. “Yes, he did.”
“I expect in that position, he had easy and unobserved access throughout the castilyernov. He was the aide that suggested the sally port, am I correct?” Saxthor asked.
The duke sank into a chair. “Yes, he suggested the sally port. He wanted the captain to take credit for it, but the captain told me it was really his aide’s idea.” Jedrac looked up at Saxthor then slammed his fist on the chair’s arm. “The captain is the most loyal man in this dukedom.”
“So the aide oversaw the sally port’s construction and then disappeared?”
“Yes,” the duke said. “What’re you suggesting?”
“The sally port was completed about two months ago, about the time the orcs started slipping over the mountains?”
“Yes,” He paused. “You think they’re coming through the sally port?” He jumped up, alert now despite the wine at dinner. “That can’t be! Someone would have to open the door, and they’d have to get past the guards.”
“The captain’s wife left and hasn’t been heard from since about that same time?”
“What does that have to do with this?”
Saxthor was again pacing.
“Suppose the captain’s aide gets into a position of trust in the citadel, notes the defenses, and builds the sally port. Then he convinces the captain’s wife to go to see distant relatives. When she disappeared, he either lured or kidnapped her and holds her hostage. Threatened with losing his family, they force the captain to open the sally port and let orcs through the citadel at night. He has keys, posts the guards, and knows their schedules. He’s the one man who could sneak the orcs through unnoticed and unsuspected.”
The duke hunched over in the chair, wringing his hands.
“I want to think it can’t be, but the timing coincidences match up, I can see it. How could I have been so blind? I blame myself for all of this. Why did I allow myself to be talked into a sally port when the existing defenses were impregnable?” He stood up. “The Dark Lord knows every aspect of the Hadorhof fortifications now, doesn’t he?”
“Yes.”
The duke moved to a writing table and started writing out an order, then stopped, crumpled the paper, and tossed it into the fire.
“Better not write anything down. I’ll send a courier tonight to King Calamidese and see if this man ever existed there.” Duke Jedrac looked at Saxthor. “What made you suspect?”
“When the captain took us to the sally port, he said no one had used it, but there were no cobwebs in the hall or the stairwell. On the floor of the hallway and stairs were small bits of heavy grass, like that used in orc sandals. Both you and he said boots were standard issue, and all your soldiers wear boots. I think you’ll note heavier boot usage by the captain than the other soldiers. You can verify that with the supply officer.”
“I’ll have the captain publicly executed.”
The duke was turning red and heading for the chamber door. Saxthor grabbed his arm to stop him.
“No, don’t do that. First, the captain is doing this to save his wife and children. Besides, we don’t want the Dark Lord to know we’ve discovered his plan. Then he’d change it. Better we know what he’s doing,”
“No, we don’t want to give him another edge.”
“Send the courier to Sengenwhapolis secretly for verification that the aide was never in Sengenwha,” Saxthor said. “Then, you must get the captain’s family back if they’re still alive.”
“You’ve figured out all the rest. Do you have a plan for rescuing the wife and children?” the duke asked.
“Pick guards that you’re certain are loyal to you. Then tell the captain you’re going to be away from the palace for two nights. He’ll arrange for orcs to pass through the fortress. Station your personal guards at the exit to snatch and dispatch the orcs when they come through on the other side, so the captain thinks they succeeded. Keep quiet about it. Keep doing this for a while until you can get the verification from Sengenwha.”
“At least it’ll stop the flow of orcs through the Hadorhof.”
Saxthor nodded. “Then, when you know, confront the captain in the presence of your guards only. Keep it a secret. The captain will no doubt confess. He’ll be willing to help. Have him demand that he get back his family. Dreaddrac will comply. They think he's more afraid they’ll expose him for his treasonous activities now. Once the family’s safe, seal the sally port and let it be known in the city that the captain and his family deserted, and no one’s heard from them since.”
“That’s brilliant. That’ll salvage the defenses, but the Dark Lord still knows our fortification details,�
�� the duke said.
“Well, you can begin some quiet modifications. The captain won’t volunteer additional information to Dreaddrac. He hates Dreaddrac even more than you do, now. By the time you seal the sally port and spread the word the captain deserted, you’ll have changed the defenses. The Dark Lord won’t know if you've discovered his plans or if the captain actually deserted. That way, the captain won’t be exposed, either.”
The duke turned to shake Saxthor’s hand.
“You’ll never know how much I appreciate your discovering this, Prince Saxthor. You may have saved all Hador, even the whole peninsular.”
“It was fortunate I came along when I did. It’s good to help a friend and ally.”
Saxthor bowed; Jedrac returned it. They started for the door when Saxthor stopped the duke with his hand on his arm and faced him.
“Don’t harm the captain. He hates himself for what he’s had to do. He hates the Dark Lord more than any of us does. Forgive him and send him into the interior under a new name. Better yet, send him to Sengenwha to serve the king there. This will be a very loyal soldier in the battle if we pardon him now.”
“You’re right about that, as well,” the duke said. “The captain has been an excellent soldier and loyal until all this happened. We can’t blame him for trying to save his family, but he should’ve told us. There’s a dukedom at stake here.”
“What would you have done?” Saxthor asked. “If he had told you, could you have gotten his family back? Once it was known, they would’ve killed his wife and children.”
“Yes, we’ll send him to Sengenwha,” the duke said. He started for the door again.
“We must leave in the morning, Your Grace,” Saxthor said. “We have to go to Prertsten, and we’re late already.”
The duke stopped and turned back to Saxthor. He took Saxthor’s hand in both of his and shook it firmly.
“We understand. We thank you for your visit and your help. If ever we can be of service to you, you’ve but to let us know.” The duke took off his crest ring. “Take this ring. If ever you need us, send us this ring and let us know where and when.”
The N Arc of Empire- Complete Series Page 60