Rayne answered with fireballs of her own, killing more of the back ranks. Some of the fireballs were hitting Rayne's staff, recharging it. Her next attack was an impressive lightning strike which hit in multiple places.
She seemed to have found her sweet spot and continued with the lightning strikes. We moved forward, killing as we went, and soon we stood in a street full of dead enemies.
“Princes Rayne?” an officer asked approaching, glancing at me.
“Captain... Manger, isn't it?”
He bowed, “it is, princess.”
“It's Queen Rayne now,” I said it loud enough for everyone to hear, jumping into the deep end with both feet.
He looked at me startled, then back at Rayne. She nodded, “I'm afraid it true. King Joseph, my father has fallen in battle along with the rest of the royal family. I alone survived with the help of my Royal Mage,” she said, looking to me and showing him the Royal Signet ring.
His shoulders sagged a bit. Regaining his composure, he turned and shouted, “The King is dead, long live the Queen!”
“Long live the Queen!” the men echoed, and all took a knee.
“My brave, beloved soldiers there will be time for that later. We have an enemy to defeat first.” All of them leapt to their feet cheering. “My good Captain Manger, take me to General Clave if he lives, or whoever commands the Rockspire Army.”
“Sergeant!” The captain shouted.
“Sir?”
“Form up, we're escorting the Queen to the fort.”
“Yes, sir. Form on the Queen!” the sergeant shouted. “Flankers out! Scouts out!” The Queen's Own guard was formed in that moment. They had seen her fight through to get to them and her guard would fight anyone before being removed from their new role.
They accepted Rayne's word that I was the Royal Mage. I stayed by her side with the Shadows keeping watch as we moved through the streets toward Fort Rockspire.
Chapter 29
We were taken to the south side of the city where General Clave had his temporary headquarters. With everything that was happening he took the news of King Joseph's death in stride. He also accepted that Queen Rayne now ruled Rockspire. There were already hundreds of refugees headed south away from the fighting.
The general and his staff listened to my story on who was behind the coupe. He was looking at a map of Rockspire as I spoke, nodding. When I finished, he studied the map for a few more minutes, then spoke.
“We estimate the invasion force at 25,000 men, mostly mercs. They hold a quarter of the city. Our 5,000-man army has been fighting them street by street. But to be honest, we can only delay them in taking the whole city — not stop them. We must evacuate the city or sue for peace.”
Rayne looked at him like he had lost his mind. “Evacuate to where?” He said nothing, just stared at the map. She studied him for a moment, “You don't want to evacuate, you want me to turn the capital over to them.”
I could see he was starting to sweat. I moved, placing myself between Rayne and the general. “You're working for the bankers,” I said.
“Take them!” the general shouted as his 10 staff officers drew their swords.
“More treachery!” I thought. I pushed the general into Shadow and called my Mage Sword forth. Rayne was already attacking with lightning, as I took their Shadow Forms. Hearing the fighting, the Queen's Own rushed into the ten and the fight was over almost before it started.
“Where is that pig?” Rayne asked looking around.
“I got him,” I answered. “Get those bodies out of here. Find the next ranking officer and have him report to her majesty.”
“Yes, Lord Mage,” one answered, and they started dragging the bodies out of the tent.
“I'll be right back,” I told Rayne. She nodded. I stepped into Shadow well away from the general. He had his sword drawn and was turning to and fro looking for attackers.
I called my staff and struck him on the side of the head, dropping him to his knees. Putting my staff away, I disarmed and searched him. That done I stepped him out of Shadow and sat him in a chair. There were now six Queen's Guards inside the tent with Rayne.
Rayne stood at the end of the table staring at him. “Why?” She finally asked. He said nothing.
I looked down at him. “I know what you're thinking. You're thinking the girl doesn't have it in her to make you talk. I, on the other hand, am a different sort.” I caused Shadow Claws to form on my fingers and slashed across his chest leaving four gaping claw wounds behind.
He screamed, grabbing his chest, falling to the floor. I grabbed him by his hair and, using Shadow Strength, picked him up one-handed and threw him back into the chair.
“Now, where were we?” Rayne asked menacingly. He said nothing.
I slashed a clawed finger down the side of his face. He grunted biting through his lip. “Next time I'll take an eye,” I told him.
He looked at me, blood dripping from his chin. “Gold,” he said nodding. “For the gold.”
“You put Blood Banker's gold before your own people?” Rayne asked.
He shrugged, “in my defense, it was a lot of gold.”
He shouldn't have said that. Rayne's eyes went hard, and a bolt of lightning blew a hole the size of a dinner plate through the general’s chest. He lived just long enough to know that 'the girl' had killed him.
“Colonel Raymond is her to see you, Your Highness,” one of her guards said.
She nodded, “bring him in.” Col. Raymond entered, then stopped to stare at the general's body with the still smoking hole in his chest. “The general sold us out to the Blood Bankers,” Rayne answered the colonel's unasked question.
Regaining his composure, he bowed. “How may I serve my Queen?”
“I need to know the true state of the army and the fighting in the city,” Rayne said.
“We number less than 3,000. We have slowed their advance, but they outnumber us three to one, and more are landing by barge as we speak.”
“I thought we had 5,000 men in our army?” she asked.
“The king cut 2,000 soldiers from our rolls, or so the general told us,” he said, glancing at the general's body.
“This keeps getting better and better,” I thought.
“We cannot hold the city, then?”
“No, my Queen,” the colonel answered, shaking his head.
I looked at the map considering options, which were few, I made my decision. “Queen Rayne, if I may suggest?” She nodded. “Colonel, we need to do a tactical withdrawal from the city. Keep the enemy engaged while losing as few men as possible. Have your supply trains, as well as what units you deem necessary, move south. Once you break contact, we’ll move the queen and the army south to River Gorge Fort.”
“I was not aware we had of fort in the south,” the colonel said. Rayne was staring at me.
“It's new,” I said pointing to its location on the map. “We built it to guard our southern border, and it's occupied by a battalion. I doubt the enemy will follow us out of the city, but if they do, they won’t get past the Gorge Fort.” They were looking at the map, and the colonel was nodding. “Once the queen is safe, we’ll deal with this treachery,” I finished.
We looked at Rayne, saying nothing. She was the one that needed to make the decision. Finally nodding, she said “I agree with the plan. Colonel, take charge of my army. We move south... but we'll be back.
He bowed, “Yes, my queen.” He left the tent and started shouting orders.
Rayne was staring at me, saying nothing. I had seen my mother use this tactic on my father. I waited.
“Leave us,” Rayne said to her guard. When we were alone, “We built a fort to guard our southern border?” She asked.
“Well, technically, I built it. And technically, it's across the border in my lands,” I answered.
“Your lands?”
I nodded, “Technically.” I had my story ready for the questions I knew were coming. “My lands join your lands in the river go
rge. I built the fort to protect my lands from your father. We are building a canal and lock system to make the river navigable down to flat lake.
“Once your father found out about my project, I knew he would try to take it. So, I built the fort on our border to protect us and hired a battalion of mercs to man it.”
“And what gives you the right to claim those lands?”
“The same right as the first kings had. If you are strong enough to hold it, it's yours.”
She stepped over to me, laying her hand on my arm, “And you are?”
“King Rider Mason Stonemeld,” I said bowing.” And the Kingdom of Stonemeld is at your service. We have a common enemy: the Blood Bankers are responsible for killing my family, too.”
She thought a moment, “do you have an army, King Rider?”
“Yes, a whole battalion,” I answered smiling.
She returned my smile, “then the Kingdom of Rockspire accepts the Kingdom of Stonemeld’s offer of help with gratitude.”
“Then I would suggest you make ready to move south with your army. I'm going back into the city to cause more havoc among the enemy and help your army break contact. I'll be back as soon as I can,” I said.
She squeezed my arm, “be careful, there are few I trust, and fewer friends. I can't afford to lose you.”
“Yes, M'lady,” I said bowing, then stepped into Shadow.
“You have got to teach me to do that,” she said after me.
* * *
I Shadow Flowed back into the city. I knew the biggest threat came from the Blood army's Battlemages. It was now near dusk, so I went hunting. I knew that with full darkness most of the fighting would stop and the armies would hold in place. They would rest and help the wounded, then start again in the morning.
Mages usually stayed to themselves, I knew, since they looked down on mundane, and they in turn, were uneasy around them. When I found some, I stabbed them in the back of the neck and pulled them into Shadow. Once in Shadow, I searched them and took everything of value, monetary or magical.
I took my time since I didn't want to get overconfident and make a mistake that might get me killed. When I was through searching the bodies, I left them out of Shadow to be found. Hopefully, that would spread fear through their army.
The mages that I found in a group I shot with my Mage Bow and Mage Arrows, usually from a rooftop Shadow. That caused them to scatter away from fire light, which allowed me to continue killing mages until I couldn't find any more.
At that point I was at the northernmost edge of their army, it was well after midnight, and I was tired. I was about to set up camp and get some sleep when I saw a circle of strange looking wagons. Moving toward them, I could see they had six wheels and were pulled by six horses.
I frowned, “What could weigh so much that...” I started laughing. “They wouldn't be that stupid,” I said to myself. I went into the first wagon … “yes, they would,” I said laughing. The wagons were full of Blood Gold.
I knew that it had red minerals added to it. But since I was a Stone Mage, I could draw it all out and make a block of it. I put the gold in my Shadow and left the red block on the floor of the wagon, then did the same to the rest of the wagons. I'm sure the horses would thank me. This invasion was going to be awfully expensive for the Blood Bankers.
I left the wagons and went to a nearby fire. The wagons hadn't been very well guarded. “Who would be crazy enough to steal from the Blood Bankers?” I said to myself laughing. I put on the guise of a blood merc's uniform and stepped out of Shadow, then stepped to the fire and poured a cup of coffee and sat down.
“Well, this has been a wasted trip,” I said to no one in particular. The men around the fire looked at me. I thumbed over my shoulder, “those wagons are empty.” They all looked toward the wagons.
“They're just for show. They're hoping the Rockspire treasury will be enough to pay us off for the month. But my mate, see, he's with them what took the palace. He told me there ain’t no Rockspire treasury.
“Seems Rockspire needed to borrow gold, too. I ain’t risking life and limb for no early pay-off … I came for plunder, didn't I?”
I didn't need to say any more, I just sat there drinking my coffee, knowing the soldier's rumor mill would do the rest. No pay, no army. No army, no invasion.
When I finished my coffee, I left the fire, stepped into Shadow, threw down my sleeping mat, and lay down to sleep.
* * *
I rose early and Shadow Flowed back to where I had left Rayne. There were already a lot of supply wagons, both military and civilian, heading south. There were also a lot of people taking the hint and heading south with them. I stayed in Shadow and went into her tent. She was eating breakfast and reading reports.
My Shadows told me the only others around were her guards so I stepped out of Shadow at the coffee service beside her table. I poured myself a cup, not looking at her, so I wouldn’t see her jump at my appearing.
She rose and came to my side with her cup, which I refilled, “I'm going to have to tie a bell around your neck,” she said, taking a sip. I smiled and took a swallow of mine.
“Did you have a busy night?” she asked.
“I took care of the battlemage problem your army was having.” Her eyebrows rose. “They won't be bothering anyone... ever...” I said.
“I see, well that should help us quite a bit. Their mages outnumbered ours four to one, or so I'm told.” She returned to her seat. “We leave at midmorning, myself and my escort. Will you be joining me?... Us I mean?”
I nodded, “I have a few more things to take care of, but I should join you by nightfall.” I bowed and left.
I found Colonel Raymond at his headquarters tent. I was already a known figure and was shown in to see the colonel.
“What can I do for you, Lord Mage?”
“Tell me about our supplies, where are the problems?”
“I have loaded every wagon available; they are staged south of the city, we move out at noon. The problem is we will only have enough supplies to last three months.”
“That's all the siege supplies Rockspire has?”
“No, that’s all the wagons we have to carry the supplies.”
“Oh.”
“How many supplies are there at the Gorge Fort?”
“Enough to last a battalion for a year.” He nodded.
“Where are the Rockspire siege supplies stored?” I asked.
“In the warehouse district, the military has certain warehouses set aside for their use,” He answered.
“I've put gold and cannons in Shadow, why not siege supplies?” I thought. “I'll see what I can do to help,” I said. He nodded and I left his tent. Outside I stepped into Shadow, and Shadow Flowed to the warehouse district.
When I arrived, I found the guards had been killed and looters, more specifically thieves’ guild wagons, were being loaded with supplies.
I took their Shadow Form and killed all of them. “You were found guilty of looting and condemned to death,” I said and left them lying where they fell. I went into the supply warehouse and saw it was full of supplies of all kinds.
I put a bright mage light behind me casting a Shadow in the whole warehouse. My shadow took everything inside itself. I put the light out and moved to the next warehouse. It took me most of the day, but I emptied every supply warehouse in the warehouse district. “That should hold us for a while,” I thought.
I went back to the first warehouse where the two wagons were sitting loaded with supplies. I tied a lead rope from the second horse team to the rear of the first wagon, mounted the first wagon and drove out of the warehouse district and heading south. There was a wounded soldier walking along the south road, so I stopped for him.
“Can you drive a wagon team?”
He looked at my clothes, and answered, “I can, sir.”
“Good, climb up and take these wagons to the army's supply train, these are part of the army's supplies.”
I
jumped down and he headed south to join the other supply wagons. As soon as he was on his way, I stepped into Shadow and headed south to find Rayne.
Chapter 30
It was an amazing thing to see, this flood of humanity moving south away from the city. It had been a week since we left the capital, and the flood had changed into more of a mass migration. We began getting word that many of Rockspire’s lords with estates out of the city had made deals with the bankers to keep their lands, titles, and riches. Not that they would have added a lot to the Queen's army — Rockspire had been at peace so long the nobles kept few fighting men on retainer.
Rayne, with her guard, had made it a habit to walk among her people in the evenings, offering reassurance and hope. I usually walked with her to keep her company and found I enjoyed talking to her.
But the food the people had brought with them was running out, and despair was on the fringes waiting to pounce.
Her people were getting used to seeing her among them, sharing their hardship. When she first started, they would bow, but say little. Now they were bowing and calling out a greeting. The children, especially the little girls, would gather around her as she walked. Rayne would speak to them as if they were her little sisters, and her popularity was growing.
“How long before we reach the Gorge Fort?” she asked one day.
“A few more days,” I answered.
“And then what?” I could see the weight of her crown was wearing on her.
“Once you are safe, we can get the people settled. That's when your job really starts. They'll be looking to you to give them a purpose, something they can do rather than sit and worry,” I answered.
She nodded, “I never in my wildest dreams imagined this. I was the third daughter, and at best would have been married off to some minor king or rich merchant. I spent a sheltered life with my books, protected from the world.
“My mother and sisters would knit, sew, and gossip. I hated it then... now I miss it. Don't get me wrong, we were all trained to rule, but I had only just started my training. We would sit in on meetings and be asked how we would solve problems the kingdom was facing.
Stonecutter's Shadow: A young mage's fight through a fantasy kingdom full of treachery Page 27
