by A. C. Cobble
His friends frowned at him, waiting for him to explain his thoughts.
“What if we offered them a chance to speak, to tell us what they want?”
“I just tried to kill them both,” reminded Earnest John. “I’m not sure they will want to talk to you.”
Ben was shaking his head slowly.
“Ben, John is right,” insisted Rhys. “We just drew them into an ambush. Saala and Jason are intelligent men. They’ll have eyes wide open for another attempt. It’s not going to work.”
“What if it wasn’t an ambush?” asked Ben.
Rhys blinked at him. “Wait, you really want to talk to them?”
“If they ever would have listened to us,” argued Amelie, “we lost the chance. If they come to meet you, Ben, it will be to kill you.”
Ben nodded.
“I don’t get it,” admitted Amelie, crossing her arms across her chest.
“Jason and Saala are better swordsmen than me,” said Ben, “and they know it.”
“I get it even less now,” mentioned Rhys.
“Seeing the two of them in front of me, the three armies in the same square, battling each other… It made me realize anything could happen in that situation. It’s chaos, and the superior force isn’t always going to win.”
“You’re planning to get both of them to meet you at the same time?” questioned Adrick.
“And then get them to face each other,” finished Lloyd. “You hang back and exploit the opportunity?”
Ben nodded grimly.
“Even if they kill each other,” said Prem, “where does that leave us?”
“Lord Jason was declared king in Irrefort,” replied Ben. “What would happen if he were to die?”
“Lady Selene would inherit,” said Rhys, glancing at Amelie.
“Saala has no heir in Whitehall,” stated Lloyd.
Ben nodded. “Last time the king died in Whitehall, the highest-ranking general took over.”
“Brinn!” exclaimed Rhys, punching a fist into his open palm.
“Exactly.”
“Selene and Brinn,” mumbled Rhys under his breath. He turned to Amelie, “Do you think you could convince her to leave and go home?”
Amelie was frowning, staring at the stones beneath her feet. “She betrayed my father, but she said it was for Issen and for me.”
“And now you’re the Lady of Issen,” said Ben. “She’d at least be open to negotiation, wouldn’t she?”
“I don’t think she’d press the attack,” said Amelie quietly. “This is her city, after all. She grew up here and ruled here. She has friends behind these walls. I view her actions as a betrayal, but I think in her heart she thought she was doing the right thing and protecting Issen. I don’t know if she’d be willing to abdicate the power she’s gained, but I do know she’d be easier to talk to than Lord Jason. We’d have a chance.”
“And Brinn isn’t any more interested in pursuing this war than we are,” stated Ben. “There are the highborn in Whitehall he’d have to deal with, but perhaps we could help.”
“This is crazy,” said Rhys. “Ben, are you really suggesting you meet Jason and Saala alone?”
“They’ll sniff out a trap. You said it yourself,” reminded Ben.
“Ben,” said Amelie, stepping closer to him. “They’re both better swordsmen than you are. The odds of this working are… They’re not good, Ben.”
“I know, Amelie, I know. The odds aren’t good, but I think they’re better than zero. What else can we do?”
Ben made a sweeping gesture at the scene below them. Fires flickered across the city, roving bands of soldiers marched through the streets. Two massive armies were marching closer just past the horizon, and when they arrived, the devastation to Issen would be complete.
“You could be sacrificing yourself, Ben,” said Amelie. “Maybe Adrick should go instead?”
“I’m willing,” said the former guardian, cracking his knuckles. “It’s too bad I wasn’t able to get to either one of them during the fight in the square, but I’ll take another chance.”
Ben shook his head. “They won’t meet with Adrick. What would they have to gain?”
“What do they have to gain meeting with you?” wondered Adrick.
“They know me,” responded Ben. “I’ve crossed swords with both of them before. They’ll be confident they can beat me, and I have something they want.”
“What?”
“Amelie,” said Ben. “They know I am closer to Amelie than anyone.”
The group fell silent.
“So, you offer an alliance with me against their opponent in exchange for… what?”
“In exchange for an opportunity to end the violence,” said Ben. “Until the rest of Saala’s men arrive, their armies are evenly matched. We have men, mages, and the walls of Issen. With us on their side, it’d be an insurmountable advantage. Our proposal is that we tip the advantage to one side and force the other to surrender.”
“Will they believe that?” questioned Adrick.
“They might. They’ve both met me, and I think they will believe I am trying to stop the war. It’s true, after all. It wouldn’t be the craziest idea they’ve heard from me. Besides, even if they do not believe in the plan, they might take the opportunity to cut me down. One on one, they could do it rather easily.”
“It might work,” admitted Lloyd.
“You think Jason would accept the Alliance’s surrender?” asked Amelie.
“I know he would,” agreed Lloyd. “The war itself isn’t his goal. The war is merely a means to an end. He has no qualms about ending lives, but he’s not an unnecessarily cruel man. He’s pursuing this fight because he wants to win, and like in a duel, if the other side concedes, you’ve won.”
“And he’ll believe Ben’s tale?” asked Amelie.
“If the right person convinces him it is true,” claimed Lloyd.
“The right person?” said Ben. “I was thinking we could capture a Coalition soldier or two and send them with the message.”
“He’ll need someone more trustworthy than that.”
“Who?” asked Ben. “Who would he believe?”
“Me.”
Amelie gasped, and Ben shook his head.
“You said he hates you,” argued Rhys. “You’d be putting yourself right into his hands.”
Lloyd nodded grimly.
“I was there when he saw you. He looked like he wanted to kill you,” said Ben. “Lloyd, you cannot do this.”
“He’s not a cruel man, and I earned the hate he has for me.”
Ben frowned at the blademaster, waiting for him to explain.
“Years ago, before I fled Irrefort…” Lloyd trailed off. “The past is the past. These days, I am more of an inconvenient thorn in my brother’s side. I am certain he does not want me running around joining armies that oppose him, but he knew I was in Venmoor. It wasn’t worth the journey to confront me there. I’ve no doubt he would kill me, given the opportunity, but not in a blind rage. He might kill me if I go to him, but he will want to hear what I have to say first. Believe me, I’m not eager to do this, but I think it’s the only thing that will convince him we are earnest.”
Ben frowned, his mind racing, trying to come up with another way to convince Jason.
“Ben,” said Lloyd firmly, “I’ve known him longer than anyone. If we proceed with your plan, this is the best way to get Jason there. Maybe the only way.”
“How do we convince Saala, then?” worried Adrick.
Ben opened his mouth, but Rhys interrupted him.
“Me,” stated the rogue.
“Rhys!” exclaimed Ben.
“Just like with Lord Jason, we have to show the man we’re serious. We have to send someone he knows. It can’t be you, and it can’t be Amelie. That leaves me.”
“Rhys,” said Amelie. “The risk—”
“Saala has no personal animosity toward me,” reminded the rogue. “We traveled together for months an
d got on well. We’re opposed now, but he’ll receive me as a messenger. Probably after stripping me naked and searching me, but he has no reason to harm me before listening to what I have to say. Now, if you fail…”
“If this fails,” said Ben, “we’re all in trouble.”
15
Standoff
Throughout the day, the mages worked to steal heat from the fires that were burning in the city below. They couldn’t safely call rain from the skies, but pulling the heat from an individual blaze would snuff it out. The problem was that there were hundreds of fires, and they didn’t have hundreds of mages. It was exhausting to channel so much energy.
While the mages worked, Ben, Lloyd, and Rhys all rested fitfully in an empty guard barracks near the wall. They’d fought all night, and they had dangerous days ahead of them. Besides, as Amelie had succinctly pointed out, there was nothing they could do during the calm of the day.
In various parts of the city, they could see the Alliance and Coalition men gathered, but it appeared both sides had decided to wait for the rest of their armies before engaging in another major conflict.
Adrick remained awake, claiming he did not need rest, and when Ben woke, he offered a quick report.
“Both the Alliance and the Coalition are still in the city, but they’ve retreated to opposite quarters. Elle says their armies are drawing closer, and both will be in sight of the city by midday tomorrow. Our assumption is that when they arrive, the conflict will be engaged fully. They’ll have no reason to hold back then.”
“The groups they used to conduct the sneak attack are nervous about what we’re capable of,” speculated Ben. “Whatever magic users they have are like children compared to Elle, Earnest John, and yourself. They witnessed that strength last night with John’s crossbow bolts and whoever stopped the arrows from falling on us. They can see it now when our mages extinguish the fires from afar.”
They made their way into a mess line that had been set up at the base of the wall so defenders could come and get a quick meal. Roasted legs of turkey, boiled beans, bread rolls, and water. Ben yearned for an ale, but he supposed that would set a bad example for the men. They shouldn’t be intoxicated if they had to leap into battle, even if he wanted to be.
“Perhaps,” agreed Adrick. “That will only delay matters for so long, though. Our mages are near their limits, and the power they are displaying is minimal. At some point, one of those armies will guess that we’ve expended most of the will we’re capable of marshalling.”
“Elle and John still have strength, don’t they?”
Adrick shrugged. “The girl has been healing the wounded since we returned. I do not know how much more she is capable of. John looks strong, but he’s reluctant to use his power on men. If he spotted Jason or Saala, he’d make an exception, but he has not struck at any of the troops we’ve been watching.”
“And Amelie?” inquired Ben.
“She’s working to put out the fires. This is her city, after all,” said Adrick, tearing a big bite out of his turkey leg. After he was done chewing, he added, “Even if our mages had strength and the willingness to use it in battle, there is little they can do to affect the main armies. Exerting your will becomes progressively more difficult the further away the energy is. Two bells walk is a large distance to overcome and effectively act. They’d lose precision. I doubt they’d have the skill to target an individual or small group in those armies.”
“So anything they did would be wild, unfocused.”
Adrick nodded. “Indiscriminate. The type of wholesale destruction we’re trying to avoid.”
Ben scooped a pile of beans into his mouth and ate without tasting them. Finally, he said, “It’s on us, then.”
“It’s on you,” replied Adrick.
“You’ll watch Amelie for me?” asked Ben.
Adrick nodded. “For all of my life I’ve had a purpose. One I believed in above all other concerns. We meant to protect the world from power that could be used for evil, but now, I see it does not take great power to conduct great evil. Evil is in the world, and by hiding in our forest, we only allowed it to flourish. We need to change that.”
“I think most of the people out there are good people,” said Ben, setting his plate between his feet. “They’re following orders or doing what they honestly believe is right. Even the leaders are not necessarily evil. They believe in what they are doing. At least, both Jason and the Veil told me as much. I’ve realized it’s not the individual men and women who are the problem. It’s the system we have governing this world. It steers people into conflict, into darkness.”
Adrick frowned. “You have a lot of wisdom for someone who is a small fraction of my age.”
Ben grinned. “I’ve seen a lot in a short time.”
“So, wise one, what do you do when a system of governance is perpetuating evil?”
“You break it.”
“You are sure about this?” asked Amelie.
“No,” admitted Ben. “I can’t think of a better idea, though.”
“You’ve said that before.”
Ben shrugged. “It’s been true before.”
“This is risky, Ben,” said Amelie, glancing between the crenellations in the battlement and looking straight down. “There are so many things that could go wrong. If Lloyd or Rhys doesn’t make it through, if Jason or Saala doesn’t listen, if they listen to the messengers but have no intention of listening to you… And when you do meet, Ben, how do you know you can defeat them? They’re amongst the best swordsmen in the world. While you’re getting better and better, you cannot count on your skill to win the day.”
“I’m not, Amelie,” assured Ben. “I have a plan.”
“Really?” asked Amelie, skepticism and curiosity warring on her face. “Tell me what it is.”
Ben shook his head. “Where’s the fun in that?”
Skepticism began to win, and Ben averted his eyes, certain she could see in them his own doubt. He didn’t have a plan. He didn’t have anything other than desperate hope.
The armies were in the field, only separated by a day of marching. The next day, they’d see each other, and the war would be unstoppable. The opportunity to avoid incredible loss of life would be gone. If they didn’t act, hundreds of thousands would die. Who knew how many children would go hungry because their father fell in Issen. Who knew how many fields would go fallow, leaving villages to starve. Historians would try to assess the damage, as they always did, but they were merely making up numbers on a page. Whether they said it was worse than the Blood Bay War, worse than the dark times, was irrelevant. It would be the worst catastrophe anyone in Ben’s lifetime had ever faced. Generations after would feel the impact.
With a plan or without one, he couldn’t stand by and watch it happen. He had to act.
“You’ll be careful?” asked Amelie. She put her hand on his cheek and turned his head to face her. “You won’t sacrifice yourself doing something stupid?”
“As my lady instructs,” said Ben, proffering a quick bow.
Amelie’s gentle hand pulled him up and gave him a small slap on the cheek. She then curled her fingers in his hair and jerked him close, bringing his mouth to hers. They kissed, and Ben lost himself in her lips, in her embrace, until the cranking of chains underneath his feet jolted him out of the dream.
The gate was opening a crack, and Rhys and Lloyd would be slipping out, going to find the leaders of the opposing armies to try and negotiate a parley. If all went well, at dawn, Ben would meet the Kings of the Alliance and the Coalition. He would try to end the war.
Ben and Amelie, shoulder to shoulder, leaned over and peered down the wall of the castle. Two squads of men emerged, and behind them came two figures. The squads stopped a dozen paces from the gate, and the two figures shook hands and then departed in opposite directions.
“You’re sure we shouldn’t have sent men with them?” asked Amelie. “If this works, we have plenty of soldiers to man the walls. If i
t doesn’t, a few more squads won’t make a difference.”
“They didn’t want company,” reminded Ben. He watched until both Rhys and Lloyd disappeared down streets and vanished into the city. “Besides, Rhys knows more about sneaking out of places than the rest of us combined.”
Amelie laughed, and the momentary glimmer of joy brought a smile to Ben’s face. There had been too little of that in the last several weeks.
“If you mean to get to the palace before dawn, you’ll need to leave here three, maybe four bells earlier,” advised Amelie.
“I thought you said it was only a bell and a half walk?” questioned Ben.
“A bell and a half on a nice day surrounded by my father’s guards,” explained Amelie. “The summer palace is an easy walk, but we never had to dodge between scouts from two opposing armies. They’ll have patrols in the city below, even in the dark of night.”
“Right,” muttered Ben, eyeing the streets he’d have to move through to make it out of town. At night, under the cloud of soot that still hung in the air from the fires, it would be pitch black. Helpful for sneaking, not as helpful for figuring out which way to go.
“You’ll need to wake at midnight,” continued Amelie.
“Uh huh,” said Ben, still looking over the city.
“You should probably get to bed early,” suggested Amelie, wrapping an arm around his waist.
“Of course,” mumbled Ben, lost in thought. “I was going to meet with Adrick first. We can discuss options to defend the castle depending on the outcome of the—”
“Ben,” said Amelie. “Do you want to go to bed with me right now or not?”
Ben crept out of the towering gates of the castle. They rose four times his height, and the iron-banded wood was ten times his width. In the quiet of the night, the rumble of chains opening the portals would be audible for a dozen blocks. Briefly, he regretted the decision to flood the tunnel they’d originally entered through, but the risk had been too great. Better to slip out the gate in the middle of the night than wake up to an army of Coalition soldiers storming into the east gardens, but since he was using the gate, any Alliance or Coalition soldiers nearby would be very curious as to who was entering or exiting the castle shortly after midnight.
