Fall of a Kingdom

by Michael Greenfield

  Dorrin nodded in the distracted manner that the harbour master had long become accustomed to meaning that the noble he faced was already thinking upon other things.

  “Can I offer you the meagre use of my hut for shelter whilst you await a reply?”

  “That would be satisfactory.” Cal and Dorrin both stared at Tamala as she answered. Before they could say another word she breezed by them and into the door the harbour master had quickly opened.

  Dorrin started to move after her when Cal grabbed his arm. “I’ll wait out here for Farsighter.” Dorrin nodded his agreement, though he knew that Cal was more worried about whether anyone had followed them to the dock than whether Farsighter would be able to find them.

  Dorrin ducked through the doorway whilst Cal moved to the far corner of the small hut, where he could take advantage of the shadow provided by the town lights to seek cover for his vigil.

  Farsighter had returned to the inn first, in order to pick up Collett. As he stepped inside from the street he noted instantly that the man that Cal had spotted was still stood at the bar, just the other side of the commander. Either he was stupid, or he didn’t care that the people he was tracking had raced from the bar minutes before.

  Farsighter didn’t think that the man was stupid, far from it, but why was he content to wait? He stepped across to Collett.

  “Found them. At the Royal already involved in a dice game.”

  Collett laughed. “So I suppose they expect us to join them rather than the other way round?”

  “That’s about the right of it captain.”

  “I suppose we must then.” He placed his beer pot heavily on the bar, giving every indication that he had been drinking for quite some time as he stood, none to steadily, and moved to follow the woodsman.

  Once outside he continued to stagger slightly until they rounded the corner of the street that led to the Royal Inn. His change of demeanour was instantaneous. He went from an obvious drunk to a man with a quiet determination to reach somewhere and no time or patience to brook interference. They both knew that on an evening like this there would be several pairs of eyes who would have seen the transformation. Thieves liked this time of night to start searching out potential targets.

  They also both knew that most thieves in a town like this would be more likely to attack several people in a group who looked nervous than they were to try anything on a pair of men who looked as if they knew how to handle themselves. It reminded Farsighter of something that his father had once told him, ‘never look like a victim, it’ll save a lot of trouble’.

  They reappeared at the camp they had set within a few minutes and immediately the Rangers that had remained behind instead of heading into town came to their guard. For the commander to be back already either it was a pretty dull town or something was wrong.

  “We’re moving.” Collett’s two simple words were all the Rangers needed to spur them to action. Tents were rapidly pulled down and rolled into tight bundles, the commander hadn’t said that they were moving immediately so they assumed that they had time to keep the tents. Whilst that was being seen to Collett grabbed two of them and sent them into the town to find the others with the order to meet at the dock but not to gather in too large a group. ‘Try and maintain some pretence at secrecy’ was also added.

  It only took five minutes for them to break camp and double up the packs they carried, as obviously those that weren’t there could not carry their own. They were just about to return through the town when a gruff voice from the darkness interrupted their preparations.

  “Leaving already.” Farsighter, Collett and the rest whirled as a man at the sound.

  “Vorston, you’ve been a good friend, but that’s an awfully unfortunate way to get yourself killed.” Farsighter grinned as he spoke.

  “Fun though.

  I take it that you found the town to not be to your liking, or some of the residents perhaps?”

  “Quick to the point as usual.” The Rangers had lowered their guard and begun to move in the direction of the narrow streets, Collett leading them to the dockside. Farsighter stepped toward the dwarf. “Cal spotted you’re friend from that little skirmish you had back a ways.”

  “A Koldari friend.”

  “Koldari? I’ve never heard of it.”

  Vorston smiled apologetically. “Forgive me, I would be very surprised if you had heard of them. What little I know comes from the Lore handed down amongst the wisest of my kind over the generations.

  Suffice it to say that the Mythraan aren’t the worst of your problems.

  Have you considered a bit of subterfuge at this point?”

  “Sorry?”

  “It strikes me that your enemy know you travel as a group, including the Rangers, so why not send some of the Rangers with my caravan and see if you can draw some of the pursuit away from the real travellers.”

  The former Ranger thought about it, and the more he thought, the more he liked the simplicity of the idea. A short whistle brought the others to a halt before they had stepped too far, and the commander jogging over to the two of them.

  “Commander, pick six of the Rangers to accompany the dwarven caravan.” Collett raised an eyebrow but said nothing further as he pointed individually to half of the soldiers stood waiting.

  “Escort the dwarves back to Bor’a. Once you arrive report to Duke Bor’a exactly what has happened and that we are currently pressing east in order to try and get ahead of Her Majesty’s party.”

  The men nodded their understanding, even if they thought that the best chance of success was for them to stick together as they were. Who could understand how an officer’s mind worked anyway? As soon as they departed toward the caravan Farsighter nodded his thanks to Collett and then waited for them to move off again before continuing.

  “Then why are these ‘Koldari’ following us? If they are as powerful as you believe, what consequence a party of a few humans? More to the point, what is it that you know that you’re not telling me?”

  “I’ll tell you on the ship.”

  Farsighter stood silent for a moment. “If you wish to travel with us…” He looked about to make sure that none of the Rangers were within earshot. “Vorston, everyone knows that dwarves fear open water above all that is natural or unnatural in the world. If you are willing to travel by ship because of something to do with us, then you are beginning to truly frighten me.”

  “I’m beginning to truly frighten myself friend Farsighter. Come, enough of this idle banter, you have friends waiting.”

  Farsighter decided that he would get no information out of the dwarf for the present. “In that case friend dwarf, let’s go and discover how wise your decision to travel by ship was.”

  Vorston gave him a sour look before picking up a pack from the ground behind him that Farsighter had not noticed before and nodding his head. The pair quickly disappeared toward the light of the town’s streets.

  The Hurricane

  The figure that Cal had noticed secluded in the far shadows had failed to reappear for nearly twenty minutes but the fleeting glances he had caught during those first moments after he had taken up his vigil continued to play on his mind. He had the cold feeling that whoever it was had been stalking them, just as he and Farsighter had done to countless prey in the woods around Fallon’s Glen. The feeling refused to leave him despite the time that had passed.

  Inside the hut he could hear the muted conversation of Dorrin and Tamala, though not well enough to actually make out what words were spoken. They sounded calm enough.

  Movement by the exit from a small alley that led out to the docks from the rear of the main bank of shops leading back into the town set him on edge instantly before he recognised one of the Rangers that they had been travelling with. In less than sixty seconds he saw another five of them appear, followed by Collett.

  He quickly checked the area again before stepping into the lighted area around the hut and waving them across.

  “Where�
��s Farsighter?”

  “He’ll be here in a moment with Vorston.”

  “Vorston?”

  “Don’t worry,” Collett smiled, “we had an idea whilst you were gone.”

  Cal looked blankly at the guardsman but said nothing. True to Collett’s word, within moments the badly mismatched shadows of Farsighter and Vorston appeared out of the same alley.

  “Where’s Dorrin?” Farsighter wasted no time with pleasantries.

  “In the hut with Tamala,” he nodded a greeting to the dwarf who responded in kind, “we’re waiting for some captain that he knows who’s apparently in harbour.”

  “Good, we’ll need to move fast.”

  Collett had already motioned for the men to spread out and Cal was surprised to discover that when he turned back to where they had been he couldn’t see any of them. He didn’t fail to notice the slight grin on Farsighter’s lips.

  “You embarrassed them when you managed to sneak up on the camp, you’ll not catch them napping again.”

  Cal felt a slight smile touch his own lips. “I suppose I probably wasn’t the most popular person in camp after that.”

  Farsighter slapped the youngster playfully across the shoulder. “Let’s see what Dorrin has in store for us.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “If you look around the anchorage you’ll see there are no large traders in port.” Cal looked, but in all honesty he couldn’t tell the difference between the types of ship he could see so it made little difference. “Most of the others are shallow draft shore huggers, whilst perhaps three are deep water vessels little better than the ore carriers you’ll see coming from Leefs’elm.

  There’s my guess as to the ship he has chosen.” Almost as he spoke the words Cal saw the harbour longboat appear from behind the ship that Farsighter had pointed. In the dark that spread across the water it was difficult to make out any detail as to the ship’s purpose, but she didn’t look that big compared to the three ‘ore carriers’.

  Without any further comment Farsighter stepped through the door of the hut forcing Cal to follow.

  In the hut they found Dorrin and Collett stood, whilst Tamala occupied the only chair in the room. A small fire burned in the far corner with a kettle pot hung just to the side of the flames. By the wall to the right of the fire stood a table where assorted crockery and a pair of cups sat in dirty piles about it’s top. There were no other furnishings in the room. The walls were covered in a slimy combination of soot and salt and Cal resolved to ensure that he didn’t touch them if he could help it.

  “What can you tell us about this Esbet that you apparently know?”

  Dorrin looked at Farsighter quizzically. “What do you mean?”

  “I saw his ship, quite small for a far coasts trader.”

  The smile that greeted his statement did not overly settle Farsighter’s feelings. “Don’t worry, all you need to know is that Esbet can be trusted fully. In fact, he’s probably more trustworthy than half of this party, myself included.”

  The room lapsed into silence as they pondered Dorrin’s answer, a silence that continued until a discreet knock at the door announced the arrival of the captain from his ship.

  Cal had expected a bullish figure to stalk in as befitted the stories he had heard of sea captains, broad across the shoulders with scars on his face testifying to years of beating off pirates in an effort to get his goods to port. He was surprised to see a small, hawkish figure appear through of the doorway.

  Several inches shorter than six feet, with mousy blonde hair and a set of narrow, brown eyes, his severely pointed nose indeed gave his face the appearance of some form of raptor. His grin made it obvious that he was well used to such reaction at his appearance.

  “You yelled Master Dorrin?”

  Dorrin was on his feet and across the small room to hug the diminutive figure before anyone else could say a word. “It’s good to see you brother.”

  “Brother?” Cal hadn’t realised he had spoken aloud until he saw the others turn toward him. His face flushed red with embarrassment as grinned stupidly.

  “Apologies, may I introduce my brother Esbet, master of the Hurricane.” Dorrin stood aside so that the others could greet the newcomer, winking at Farsighter as he did so. Farsighter just shook his head in resigned acceptance that no matter what was happening, Dorrin would find some way to have a little fun.

  Convincing Esbet to take them to Mid’gra took considerably longer than Cal would have thought possible given that Dorrin and the captain were related, but at least the negotiations were held aboard the Hurricane. As soon as Dorrin had made it clear that they were after a speedy passage and that there was the possibility of someone in town interfering in that endeavour Esbet had hustled them out of the hut and onto the long boat. Cal had seen Farsighter quickly glance into some of the nearby shadows and motion for the watching Rangers to hold their position until the boat returned for them. He hadn’t seen the Rangers themselves, but assumed that was who Farsighter had signalled.

  The ship itself was a double masted schooner. Not large by comparison with the cargo ships that Farsighter had spoken of, but undoubtedly fast by the looks of her. Cal found himself a little nervous at the gentle rocking of the ship as it lay at rest in the harbour’s slight swell.

  They had been brought below whilst the captain had given orders for the long boat to return and pick up the rest of the group, almost smiling as Dorrin had pre-warned the sailors not to be surprised if the men they were picking up appeared to materialise from thin air.

  Twenty minutes later, whilst they were still going over the details of the charter, it was Dorrin who was smiling when the senior sailor from the shore party had returned ashen faced with a tale about suddenly finding himself surrounded by six heavily armed soldiers on the dock before he’d even realised they were approaching

  Cal found himself stood uneasily on the deck, staring at the dockside back lit by the light from the town. He heard a slight sound behind him and turned his head slightly to see Tamala approaching. He turned to face her fully and wrapped his arms around her as she stepped up to kiss him lightly.

  Pulling his head away he spoke softly. “We’ve not had much chance to talk today have we?”

  Tamala laughed. “You mean between dodging an unknown enemy and finding passage out of the kingdom.”

  Cal grinned stupidly. “Something like that.” He paused, savouring the peace of the still night air. “I thought that Esbet would have agreed more easily than that to transport his own brother.”

  Tamala laughed wholeheartedly this time. “Dear, dear Cal. You’re still the country boy in so many ways, we’re really going to have to hurry your education concerning matters of state.”

  Cal looked hurt as he heard the gently spoken words. “What do you mean?”

  “You remember that at Holdur Keep we told you that spies used the tunnel into the gatehouse.” Cal nodded. “Did you ever wonder how it was that I knew of the tunnel? I mean, Luda as eldest son was bound to know of it, but a young magic user, surely you thought that strange?”

  Cal smiled. “To be honest, I had other things on my mind at the time. Now that you mention it though I suppose I should have questioned it.” He pulled her tight against him. “So I’ve fallen for a vile and sneaky agent of the crown then?”

  Tamala pushed herself away, punching him playfully in the shoulder. “And just you remember it.”

  “You’ve still not explained Dorrin and his brother.”

  “Esbet works for the intelligence service as well, but if he’d just hauled up anchor and fled the harbour it would have looked suspicious. The delay was to give the impression that we had to haggle for the passage.”

  Cal cast his eyes heavenward. “Is there anyone I know that doesn’t work for someone else other than who they’ve told me?”

  “I’ll let you try and get that information out of me tonight.” The light was enough for Cal to catch the impish smile that played across Tamala’s
lips causing his own face to respond in kind.

  “There’s a challenge I can’t refuse.”

  Miri

  Myriana opened her eyes and took in her new surroundings. The cell was small and smelt terribly, but it appeared that it was above ground as it was relatively dry. She didn’t remember being placed in the straw cot that edged against the wall furthest from the solid wood door, but as she now lay upon said cot she must have been placed there by the Shaler escort that had accompanied her from the site of her abduction.

  Her clothes were torn and dirty, but that was the least of her worries at the moment. She looked toward the solid looking door opposite where she lay and stood to walk across to it. As she placed her weight on to her legs she felt them tense as pain shot through her joints but she gritted her teeth together and ignored it.

  Moving slowly to the small barred window in the door she tried to see down the corridor to where she could now hear the low voices of her guard. She could not speak the guttural language of the Shaler but they sounded relatively relaxed. She could hazard a rough guess as to where they were, but it would only be just that, a rough guess. Even so, she decided to amuse herself for a while trying to decide where they had brought her. Anything to relieve the tension and fatigue that she felt.

  She guessed that they had been moving in an almost constant north-easterly direction for the last few weeks. More northerly would have placed them in the mountains, but she had seen only distant vistas of the peaks that lay to the north of the kingdom during the brief glimpses she had gained throughout the journey.

  To the northeast of where they had ambushed her party stood the city of Miri, but if they were there then that could only mean that a large part of the northern kingdom had already fallen.

  She shook her head violently in denial. She would not believe that things could be that bad. Perhaps her little game to pass the time was not such a good idea as she had first thought.