“Last I heard they’d had no contact with the Straken army and were making good time toward the border. They should be crossed over by the time you join them.”
“That’s good. Surprising, but good. Before I leave, with your permission, I’d like to place a marking rune somewhere secure in the palace. Should there be an emergency and you need to contact me you can strike it with a hammer or hilt and I’ll sense it.”
“By all means. In fact, I know the perfect place.”
Otto stood. “Excellent. I’ll pop in tomorrow and take care of it before I leave. Good night, my friend.”
They shook hands and Otto withdrew. Much as he wanted food and sleep, first he needed to talk to Annamaria. She was another distraction he didn’t need. The only reason he let her live was that her death would throw both Edwyn and Wolfric off and he needed both of them focused.
Maybe it was time to reconsider.
Chapter 31
Otto left his mithril sword behind when he went to talk to Annamaria. Not that he really feared he’d lose control and cut her head off, but why take chances? His suite was halfway across the mansion from hers, so Otto had time to decide how he was going to go about convincing her not to cause trouble. She had a few vulnerabilities, but the child would be his strongest argument.
It wasn’t that late, but the house was quiet all the same. The only sound was his footsteps on the hardwood floors. He could have been alone in the world and sometimes he wished he was. The quest for greater magical knowledge would be far easier if he didn’t have all these other considerations holding him back. How had the Arcane Lords even learned anything new when they had whole empires to rule? Maybe everyone was so scared of them that they didn’t dare bring any problems to their attention. Must have been nice.
Mimi stood in the hall in front of Annamaria’s room. The maid was dressed in her black and white uniform as she paced silently back and forth in front of the door, her stockinged feet making not a sound.
She spotted Otto and hurried to meet him, bobbing a curtsy before saying, “She had a stressful day, Lord Shenk. Perhaps you could come back later?”
“Did you deliver the letter, or did she send someone else?”
Mimi looked away, answering his question without words. “I knew it was a bad idea, but she insisted. What could I do?”
“You could have smiled and nodded then held on to the letter until I returned. She’d never know the difference.”
“I couldn’t do that. Lady Fran…I mean Lady Shenk trusts me to do as she says.” She looked back with pleading eyes. “If she can’t depend on me, who can she depend on?”
“There’s that charming loyalty again. If only my wife was as loyal as her maid. I could dismiss you just to hurt her, perhaps provide a maid more obedient to my needs. But I suppose even Annamaria deserves someone like you. Now go away. If I find you listening outside the door, it will be the last thing you do in this house.”
“Yes, Lord Shenk.” She fled like a mouse before a cat.
Otto dismissed Mimi from his thoughts and pushed the door open. The room looked just as he remembered from those dreamy days when he’d shared it with her. It was all red silk and lace and feminine appeal. How wonderful he’d thought she was. When in reality he was stupid and blind to her true intentions. He really should thank her for the lesson. Annamaria had been kind enough to really teach him something he should have known all along: that no one can be trusted.
Annamaria turned slowly over on the bed, her smile turning to a scowl when she saw it was him in her doorway. She was still beautiful; he couldn’t deny it. The thin silk nightgown she wore clung to her curves in a way that once would have set his heart racing. The modest swell of her stomach did little to diminish her beauty.
Looking at her, he felt nothing but disgust. He could have loved her if she’d given him half a chance. Oh, well. No sense dwelling on what might have been.
Otto secured the door with a thread of ether then wove a dome of silence around the room. Whatever happened here, would stay here.
“Get out!” Annamaria shouted.
Otto ignored her, crossed the room, and sat in a chair beside the bed. “We need to talk.”
“I have nothing to say to you.”
“That’s fine. All you have to do is listen. I had a visit with Captain Kelten today. The man seems to think I know something about your darling Lothair beyond the fact that he was an assassin and traitor to the kingdom. I’ve convinced him otherwise. Whatever you hoped to accomplish with your letter was a failure. Should you attempt such a foolish stunt again there will be consequences.”
Her laugh was bitter and devoid of humor. “You’ve already taken the man I love. What more can you do to me?”
Otto cocked his head. “I didn’t say the consequences would be for you.”
Her hand went to her stomach.
“Good, I see you understand. Lothair’s bastard has no standing beyond what I grant. Your actions are enough to get the marriage annulled and I could demand compensation from your father for the dishonor. Of course, the knowledge that his daughter is a whore who bedded a traitor might well be enough to kill him on the spot. Assuming he survives, the damage to the Franken name would destroy your family’s business. You could live your life as an outcast in some distant city, I suppose.”
“Damn you.” She said it so softly he barely heard. “Why are you still trying to ruin my life?”
Otto nearly laughed. “Since the moment we met, you’ve been trying to make your problems my fault. Need I remind you; our wedding wasn’t my idea. I was perfectly content to have nothing whatsoever to do with you. Since our marriage, you’ve cheated on me, conceived a child with another man, tried to convince me that it was mine, and now you tried to sic the captain of the palace guard on me. What, other than having the misfortune to be born into the Shenk family, have I ever done to you to deserve this hate?”
She didn’t seem to have an answer and at this point he wouldn’t have really cared if she did.
“You understand now what’s at stake. If you do anything to make my life even a fraction more difficult, I swear before all the angels in Heaven and all the demons in Hell that I will destroy you and the brat you value so highly. Do you understand?”
She stayed silent.
“Look at me!”
Annamaria turned her head a fraction so he could see the despair in her eyes.
“Do. You. Understand?”
“I do. Now leave me alone.”
“With pleasure.”
Otto marched out, dissolving his spells as he went. With any luck he’d never have to speak to her again. And if he did, heaven help her.
Chapter 32
Axel and his men had searched every border town and found them all equally devoid of life. The retreating Straken forces had killed everything between them and the border. The unnecessary murder left Axel in such a rage he could hardly think as they rode back to camp. Fortunately, by the time they reached the first pickets, his temper had cooled enough that he was able to make his report to General Varchi in a professional manner.
Now he stood, hands clasped behind his back, while his commander considered the information with his eyes closed and a smoking pipe clamped between his teeth. He seemed so calm, sitting on his wobbly folding camp chair that Axel wanted to grab him and shake him with both hands while screaming that the people he’d sworn to protect, people he’d promised to return and rescue, had been cut down like cattle in a slaughterhouse.
Not that doing so would accomplish anything besides making Axel feel a tiny bit better. He understood deep down that the general had to make decisions without letting his emotions get the better of him, but that didn’t mean he had to like it.
At last, the general opened his eyes and focused on Axel. “I know you want revenge, but our orders are to avoid any unnecessary casualties. King Wolfric intends to rule the kingdom and slaughtering the people will not make that any easier. You understand?”
“I don’t like it any better than you,” General Varchi said as if reading his mind. “But killing innocent people won’t bring our citizens back to life. The enemy army is bound to make a stand eventually. When they do, we’ll make them pay for what they’ve done.”
“I understand, sir. What are our orders?”
“I want you to take your scouts, along with the First Legion, across the border. Secure as many towns as you can and prepare a location for us to set up and begin our conquest. Should you face resistance, take prisoners and show restraint.”
“What will the Second and Third Legions be doing?” Axel asked.
“Waiting. I had word yesterday that your brother as well as a number of his new recruits will be arriving within a few days. I want to get the wizards integrated into our forces before we advance. Your job is to prepare the way for our arrival.”
“Understood, sir. We’ll have a place all set up when you arrive.” Axel saluted and backed out of the tent.
So, Otto and his wizards were on the way. Axel wasn’t entirely sure how having wizards in the army was going to work out, but having seen the power of his brother’s magic, he had high hopes for their results. He was less enamored with being ordered to show restraint and take prisoners. He understood the king’s point of view, but someone needed to pay for what they’d done to those villagers.
It was a short walk to the scouts’ campsite. He found Cobb pacing when he arrived, a deep scowl creasing the sergeant’s bearded face.
Axel barely got within shouting distance before Cobb demanded, “What did he say?”
“No revenge. We are advancing with the First Legion to secure a foothold for the invasion. Our orders are to go easy on the locals. It seems the king doesn’t want to anger his future subjects.”
Cobb barked a laugh. “Any of his future subjects in Straken would be happy to plunge a dagger into his heart and no amount of going easy will change that. They hate us over there and the feeling is mutual. The best thing we could do would be to slaughter them all and let Garenlanders resettle the land.”
“Maybe, but we have our orders. Get the men up and ready, we go in an hour.”
Cobb marched off grumbling to himself, not bothering with a salute. Axel kept his mouth shut and let him go. After what they’d seen he and all the men deserved better than the general had given them.
Just past midday, Axel and his scouts led the First Legion into the nearest Straken village. It was as silent and empty as the villages on the Garenland side had been. The log cabins, piles of cut and split firewood leaning against their rear walls, could have been picked up and placed there from the opposite side of the border.
Considering how similar the people were, it was a wonder the two countries hated each other so much. On the other hand, perhaps each side recognized in the other what was most wrong with themselves.
“Fan out by squads and search door-to-door,” Axel said. “It looks like they evacuated everyone, but we don’t want to run into a trap.”
As the squads broke off and began their search, Cobb moved up beside him and said, “I can’t believe the general gave you overall command of the advance unit. I can’t think that went over well with the leader of the First Legion.”
“I don’t believe anyone asked him what he thought,” Axel said. “This job is closer to scouting than it is fighting a war. So I suppose it makes a certain amount of sense for me to be in charge. Not that I intend to rub the colonel’s nose in it or anything. We all have a job to do and I assume we can be professional in getting it done.”
Their discussion was cut off by a shout and the clash of steel on steel. Axel drew his sword and ran toward the sound of battle. He arrived to find an infantryman dead and four villagers armed with axes lying on the ground, two wounded and two dead.
“What happened?” Axel asked.
“These four jumped us out of nowhere,” the sergeant in command of the squad said. “They took down Johan before we had a chance to react.”
“Tie up the survivors and bind their wounds. Once the village is secure, I’ll have some questions.”
The sergeant nodded and began barking orders.
“Those weren’t soldiers,” Cobb said.
“No, they weren’t. Probably some diehards that refused to evacuate. Straken knew we were coming and moved their people out of our path. It seems they were smart enough to know what we were likely to do after their actions in our villages.”
It took most of an hour, but the soldiers finally finished searching the village. They took eight more prisoners with no further losses on their side. Without the element of surprise, untrained villagers were no match for soldiers of the legion. When they were finished, it became clear that it wasn’t only the villagers that had been moved. All the food, grain, and anything else that might be of value to the invaders had been taken away as well. Foraging, it seemed, was going to be a problem.
“What now, my lord?” Cobb asked.
“Now we have a chat with our prisoners.”
The eight men they’d captured sat in a circle with their backs together and their arms bound behind them. As big and bearded as any soldier in the Straken army, the prisoners greeted them with hard looks and bared teeth. One glance at them told Axel he was going to have trouble extracting any information out of them. Still, it couldn’t hurt to ask.
“Where has your army fled?”
“You’ll get nothing from us, Garenland filth,” one of the prisoners said.
Cobb stepped past Axel and kicked the prisoner square in the face. He fell over, blood staining his beard. “When Lord Shenk asks you a question, you answer it.”
The prisoner sat up and spat a line of blood into the dirt. He glared at Cobb but remained silent.
Cobb drew back to hit him again, but Axel laid a restraining hand on his shoulder. “We’ll get nothing from them today. Let them rot for a while and we’ll try again later. Make sure they are kept under guard.”
The muscle in Cobb’s jaw bunched but he nodded and said, “Yes, my lord.”
Axel left Cobb to his work and went to find the legion commander. He hadn’t seen fit to join Axel in searching the village; no doubt he thought it beneath him. And given that he had seven thousand men under his command, it probably was. According to the rules, Axel wasn’t supposed to lead from the front either, but he found it easier to get a feel for the battle if he was a part of it. Besides, ordering men into battle from the safety of the rear didn’t suit him.
Now that they’d cleared the first village, Axel had a real sense of what they were dealing with when the king said they were conquering the country. How many times would they have to perform this same task? And how would they do it if the next village was full of women and children?
He didn’t know and wasn’t eager to find out.
Chapter 33
Otto never imagined he’d find himself back at Axel’s fort, but here he was. At least this time it wasn’t under siege. Though given the number of soldiers camped around it, you would have been forgiven for thinking otherwise.
The Northern Army, a large portion of it anyway, was camped out around the fort and apparently General Varchi had set up his headquarters inside. Otto knew how many men served in the army but seeing them spread out before him really drove it home.
The trip north had been a long, bumpy, miserable journey that he would have happily avoided. But considering how valuable the magical armor was, he didn’t dare let Hans and the men travel alone. Four days into the trip he was hoping someone would attack just so he could take his boredom out on them. As it was, they arrived safely without encountering another soul.
When they had moved to within a quarter mile of the camp, Otto reached out through the ether. He concentrated on the apprentice rings he’d given to the squad commanders that came ahead of him. It took only a moment to find their position about twenty yards from the fort o
n the southern side.
As the wagons clattered their way through the camp, the soldiers looked them over. No one tried to stop the wagons or even questioned them about their purpose. Otto assumed it was because they came from the south and were driving standard-issue army wagons. They probably thought he was bringing supplies. Which he was, after a fashion. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to point out to the general that his security was rather lax.
“Here is fine,” Otto said.
Hans reined in and brought the wagon to a halt. Wizards emerged from the half-dozen tents that made up their camp. Someone had found uniforms for them. That was smart. He hadn’t given it a thought, but naturally they’d want to blend in with the rest of the soldiers.
One of the squad leaders, a young woman in her early thirties that if he recalled correctly wielded ten threads. Her mithril ring flashed in the light as she saluted and said, “Welcome, Lord Shenk. We weren’t sure when you’d arrive. The general has been waiting for you to begin his advance.”
“It looks like some of the army has already advanced.”
“The First Legion is preparing the way. They don’t seem to expect much trouble until we move deeper into Straken.”
Otto suspected they were right. Straken was a rough, mountainous, forested country with only a few places suitable for large-scale battle. Otto didn’t know which one they’d choose, but in one of those spots they would surely be waiting for the Northern Army to arrive. Straken’s forces were going to get a real surprise when they saw what his wizards could do.
“Hans, get the men settled. I need to go speak with General Varchi.”
Otto climbed down from the wagon and turned toward the fort. He stuck to the paths between the rows of tents and soon reached the front gate. A squad of soldiers was on duty though they seemed more interested in chatting than security. Which wasn’t a surprise given that they were surrounded by an army of over ten thousand soldiers.
The Great Northern War (The Portal Wars Saga Book 2) Page 16
