“I…I need food…water…and rest,” she said just above a whisper.
“Of course,” Kerr answered, hardly able to come to grips with her presence. He pulled a wad of jerked beef from his saddle and gave it to her. She snatched it greedily away and stuffed it in her mouth like someone starving. After a moment he handed her his water skin. She drank deeply before taking more jerked beef.
“You escaped,” Kerr said with awe.
N’dori nodded.
“But how…you were surrounded by hundreds of Knights?”
N’dori smiled, suddenly very sleepy. Her eyes closed briefly then she forced them open. “I killed…many.”
“Many?”
“Thirty, forty…maybe more,” she answered and her head dropped down again. “I will not be able to ride alone.”
Kerr nodded and then with apparent ease he reached over and pulled her from her horse. She was surprised by his strength and he was surprised at just how small she was for being so deadly. He maneuvered her into a sitting position in front of him and slipped one arm around her, holding her in place.
“Sleep,” the Captain said as he signaled his men to ride again. They moved down the road at a much slower pace now. N’dori was thankful for the support and for the man’s warmth against her back and she was only vaguely aware that the young Captain was cupping her right breast with his supporting hand before she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
ǂ
Captain Gaston finally pulled his mount to a stop near the top of a rise almost three miles to the northeast of the battle. The Knights were no longer pursuing the cluster of Massi cavalry in his immediate area and the sound of the distant battle was lost in the trees.
Gaston glanced around at those near him, feeling disheartened and beaten. The Knights somehow managed to surprise him once more and this time with disastrous results. The cavalry was gone…destroyed. He performed a quick count and could see maybe two hundred men and horses on the ridge around him, though he could hear others apparently climbing to the south. He hoped they were friendly but to be sure he quickly sent out a rider to check on them. He would be a fool to be caught off guard again.
“Do you think any others escaped?” The young Sergeant Hawser asked and waited patiently as the Captain continued to scan the area without bothering to answer. Finally, Gaston glanced at Olney, who’d grown very large but still owned a baby face with skin that looked as soft as any girl’s.
Gaston shrugged. “There’s no way of knowing, but if any were so fortunate they would head back to the southeast and try to regroup…the northwest is unknown.” The Captain raised his hand as another group of perhaps fifty Massi came into view climbing the north slope of the hillside.
“You did well today Sergeant,” Gaston added, knowing that he would in all likelihood be dead if it wasn’t for the young man. In the midst of the chaos, Olney shot two Knights with his bow…one took an arrow in the mid-section and he hit the other through the neck just below the jaw; both Knights were attempting to skewer Gaston while he was fighting off a third. Olney had organized a group of perhaps seventy-five men just up the hill and off the road and they used their bows to cover the retreat of many others. If the Sergeant and his group had just fled, hundreds more Massi would have been killed.
Olney just nodded, taking the compliment in stride. Gaston was immediately struck by how much the young man had grown in the past few years, and though he was still young, Olney was now a man in every respect.
“Your father would be proud,” the Captain added, but again Olney remained quiet. “Now go and scout our way out of this place. We need to find a safe way back and around to Claymont…with whomever we have left.” Gaston’s heart fell as he said the words and he did not look forward to reporting back to General Bock. But Lonogan had to be warned and soon. The plan was to bring the army out of Manse and lure the Temple Knights into a pitched battle, once engaged the Massi cavalry would swoop down, trapping and surprising the enemy. Gaston was now sure that any such attempt would be folly. The Knights were too good and deserved their reputation completely. They were a fearsome opponent who would without a doubt destroy any army of infantry they faced. The Massi had lost and it would be best to hold up behind the walls of Manse and try to wait out the Knights, any other action was now unthinkable.
Gaston watched as Hawser rode away, angling to the southwest. Ten minutes later a scout returned leading approximately one hundred and fifty men, some riding double, but Gaston was somewhat relieved that so many seemed to have survived the attack…perhaps others had as well.
The men around him looked shaken but no one showed any sign of panic, a few asked for directions and he sent another small squad of men back toward the battle to check on the movements of the Knights. He would be very cautious. How the Knights found and surprised them was still unknown and the possibility that they had their own captured Traveler flitted about in the back of his mind.
He set up a wide perimeter and assigned men to guard the easy approaches to the ridge line. They did so without any sign of a lack of confidence with his leadership, a fact that left him slightly gratified.
An hour later Sergeant Olney Hawser returned with the Speaker Sarbeth and another fifty-seven Massi horseman in tow.
“There’s a trail to the west that leads down out of the hills and into flat farmland,” Olney reported. “It will be easy to circle back around south to the road from there. Once we’re out of the trees visibility is good. The Knights will not be able to surprise us again.”
Gaston nodded and gave orders for the group to beginning preparations to move out. He wanted to be out of the hills and in the lowlands before dark.
“Any sign of na Gall?” He asked Sarbeth, who was dirty and ragged from the ordeal. She shook her head. “I’ve not seen or heard from her or Monde since the…the battle,” she stammered, clearly confused. “They should not have been able to surprise us like that…they may have a Traveler of their own.”
Gaston smiled. “My worries exactly…but nothing we should dwell on, after all we had a Traveler and look what good it did us.”
“Should I try to contact General Bock?” The young Speaker asked, but Gaston shook his head.
“When we are out of the hills,” he answered and noticed that the Speaker edged her horse closer to the Hawser boy. Olney seemed not to notice.
The column got under way within ten minutes but had not gone far before three men rode quickly up from the rear. Captain Gaston turned and pulled out of formation, nodding for Sergeant Hawser and Sarbeth to do likewise. The approaching men were part of the scouting party he had dispatched to eye the Temple Knights and Gaston was hungry for news.
“The Knights have moved off,” said the first scout to reach Gaston. He was covered in scratches and slick with sweat from his hard ride through the thickly forested hills.
“What direction?” Olney asked before Gaston had the chance.
“Back off to the southwest toward Claymont,” the scout answered, pulling his canteen from his saddlebags and taking a quick drink.
“Toff and Scraylan moved off to track them,” another scout informed Gaston.
“Any survivors?” Sarbeth asked in a quiet voice and at first neither man answered. Instead they glared at her as if the entire episode was her fault and then one of them shook his head.
“They’re all dead…hundreds of them,” the man said solemnly, but then smiled. “But we saw just as many dead Knights. They surprised us…but paid a high price for their victory.”
Gaston frowned, watching as the column of men he was leading slowly rode past. “Are you sure?” He asked, thinking that the man must be mistaken, probably deluded, his mind attempting to cast the best light on a very bad situation, but then one of the others spoke up.
“There were many Knights down…maybe not so many as Massi…but many,” the man added. He was older, bearded and had a steady look in his eyes that revealed little pleasure in the facts he was reporting.
“Let’s get out of these damned woods,” he finally said and they joined in with the line of horses heading to the east.
ǂ
Captain Hothgaard did not have a clear picture of the outcome of the battle against the Massi cavalry until they moved out of the hills early in the afternoon. They were positioned just to the north of the town of Claymont.
“Two thousand!” He yelled, though he was attempting to keep his voice down. “We lost two thousand men during a surprise attack against an enemy half our size,” he continued, not truly wanting an answer.
“Yes, but we killed far more. They are no longer strong enough to be of any concern. We would have utterly destroyed them if a Tarina had not appeared in their rear,” Captain Tramm said trying to explain. “Travelers were involved. The Tarina appeared out of nowhere and held the road while the Massi cowards escaped to the south.”
Hothgaard remained silent, thinking. ‘We should leave this land…the locals want it too badly. There were not enough Knights to hold it and Prince Gwaynn was learning the ways of war quickly. If the High King continued to push the issue he might just create an enemy of extreme power, someone to tear apart the very fabric of their society.’
“Any word from Speaker Nadler?” Hothgaard asked, not wanting to think about the possibility that a Tarina of Noble Island truly joined the fight against them. He turned to look at his second in command, who had yet to answer.
Tramm blanched. He was hoping to avoid the subject of Speakers all together, but now that it was out in the open he trudged ahead. “We received word that the Massi infantry was moving out of Manse and toward Claymont, but since then nothing,” he replied. “And we lost Speaker Worlund; a group of Massi fled his way. He took an arrow in the back.”
Hothgaard cursed. “Send out riders to the north and west. We need to find Nadler. I want to speak to the High King.”
“And what of the Massi army?”
“Infantry?” Hothgaard asked with disdain. He now had great respect for Massi cavalry, but no army composed of just infantry could stand against the Knights in a full blown charge. No, as long as the Massi cavalry was contained their army posed no real threat. Infantry could not move as quickly, as hard, or as long. Against cavalry they were all but helpless. They could not engage enemy cavalry at will nor could they disengage from a fight with cavalry, therefore they could not control the battlefield. In war, infantry alone was as vulnerable as a new born babe.
“They’re infantry does not concern me. If we can manage to eliminate the Massi cavalry then the infantry will be at our mercy; we can destroy them at will.”
Tramm frowned. “Yes, but only if they leave the safety of their walls…which they foolishly have. If Prince Gwaynn is with them; if he is captured or killed, then I think the Massi threat will quickly evaporate.”
Captain Hothgaard looked at his fellow commander as if he’d just been slapped across the face. His expression would have been comical had not the situation been so critical.
‘Of course! I’m a fool!’ Hothgaard thought, driving a fist into the top of his thigh. He’d been so focused on wiping out the enemy army he’d completely neglected to recognize the fact that everything hinged on the presence of their leader…the last of the Massi. Kill the young Prince and surely the heart would go out of the enemy.
“Perhaps you should now be leading the Knights,” Hothgaard admitted with a sour grin, as only one confident in their own abilities could.
Tramm smiled. “Perhaps,” he agreed. “Shall I send out men to scout the Massi army?”
Hothgaard nodded. “Yes and send a detachment of a five hundred men back to the top of that high ridge,” he said pointing out the area he wanted covered. “I don’t want what’s left of the Massi cavalry surprising us from the rear.”
“And if we catch the Massi infantry in the open?” Tramm asked.
“Then we attack at once…before the sun sets,” Hothgaard replied, hoping they could be so lucky.
XVIII
“My apologies M’lady, I cannot reach Captain Hothgaard,” Speaker Gan said trying to avert his eyes as the young queen pulled Prince Aiden to her breast. The boy was now old enough so that he reached out and gripped her soft flesh in his hands and thrust his eager mouth forward to cover the dark tipped, hardened nipple. Gan found himself a bit envious of the young Prince, who was now suckling with obvious pleasure. He glanced up and found the Queen’s eyes on his and he blushed despite his age.
“I can locate Speaker Nadler,” Gan blurted quickly to cover his embarrassment, “but for some reason he refuses to answer…nothing of Speaker Worlund, he is no longer near Manse,”
The beautiful and diminutive queen showed no sign of irritation from the Speaker’s lustful attentions. On the contrary she seemed somewhat pleased by his apparent desire, though her small smile quickly turned to a pout as she listened.
“But I need to speak with Captain Hothgaard,” the Queen repeated, as if her very desires could control reality. With each passing day it grew more certain that Caiman was truly dead. And with the passing of Prince Nigel and his sister, it was clear that Aiden was now heir to the throne, but Audra needed to be sure where the High Captain’s loyalties resided.
“I’m afraid that is not possible at the moment, but I will continue my attempts to contact Nadler or Worlund,” he said, carefully keeping his eyes from the queen’s bust.
“Then get me Tar Nacht,” she finally said and Gan went pale.
“M’lady, you must not trust Sinis,” Gan answered, abruptly.
Queen Audra glared at him. “You forget yourself Speaker,” she said with a calm, cool voice, but there was no mistaking the danger in her words or manner.
Gan bowed. “M’lady…I only thought to warn you of the assassins. They attacked and killed many of my colleagues…”
“On the King’s orders,” she interrupted. “Noble is against me…I have no choice but to continue to align the King’s Island with the High Tar of Sinis. He is not a threat; he would not dare risk the wrath of the Temple Knights.”
Gan nodded and wondered silently if what she believed was in fact, the truth. Sinis was growing bold, as anyone could see, but he yielded to her will and began to move through the motions of Speaking.
“Then I will have Sinis momentarily,” Gan said somewhat reluctantly. “But if I could hazard one more piece of advice…” he added and received a blistering look for his trouble, but he was committed now so continued. “Be wary of mentioning the fact that the King is missing, with the bulk of the Temple Knights in Massi, Nacht may be tempted to move against you.”
Audra frowned. “And if he did, what would happen to him and Sinis when the Knights returned.”
“Just be wary,” Gan pleaded. “There is no guarantee the Knights will return fast enough to save any of us.”
The Queen considered this, decided the advice was prudent and nodded. She watched as the Speaker worked and minutes later he was talking to a Speaker on Sinis who quickly summoned the High Tar.
“M’lady,” Nacht said softly facing the bubble of haze that hung in the center of the room.
‘The rumors must be true then, the High King is dead.’ The High Tar’s stomach did a quick lurch at the possibility. The entire kingdom was now ripe for the taking. “How can I assist you?”
“The Cassinni have betrayed us,” Audra said, the High Tar’s helpful demeanor making her feel more confident. “They’ll have to pay.”
Nacht smiled. The rumors were indeed true.
“It can be arranged,” he answered quickly though he wondered just who he would send. They’d already lost Lacombe and he had Giodart, Rhinehold, Badawi, Sened and de Croix in Massi with King Weldon Palmerrio, and now that de Baard was with the enemy, his list of Tars was growing thin. Of course there were still over two dozen available Executioners, though many were otherwise occupied. He currently had three in the conquered lands of the Toranado, two in
Palmerrio, one with King Donnis Rhondono and two in Deutzani, plus another half dozen securing Sinis’ hold on the Isle of Light.
The Cassinni would not allow Executioners on their lands, but there were always ways to get around such obstacles.
“Please arrange it...Caiman will be ever so appreciative,” the Queen answered and Speaker Gan could not help but smile.
Nacht frowned. Could the rumors be incorrect? It was possible. He would have to be patient. If the High King was indeed dead then there was no hurry and it would do little good to take the King’s Island with Temple Knights still intact and loyal to the royal family…if the Massi could weaken the Knights enough…and if Noble continued its neutrality…then, well then, anything was possible.
“And who is your mark?” Nacht asked with the same anticipation he always felt before he was to call the Black Horseman down on some unsuspecting fool.
“Why the King…King Marc Cassinni,” Audra answered and fancied that she heard the High Tar let out a small gasp of surprise.
“King…King Marc?” Nacht asked, elated. If the royal family was implicated in the death of another royal…the Inland Sea would indeed fall into chaos…and Sinis would rise to the top.
“Yes.”
“As you wish M’lady,” though he had no intention of sending an assassin until the rumors could be confirmed one way or another. If Mastoc was indeed dead, the land would fall into chaos without the death of King Marc…if Mastoc was dead, Nacht would move on the King’s Island. No, he would not kill the young queen and her pups…but he would control her…and as Weapons Master to the Queen, he would control the Inland Sea.
Once the connection was broken Queen Audra smiled at Gan, pulled the now sleeping Aiden from her breast and gently placed him in his bassinet. She turned back to the Speaker and slowly pulled the top of her gown over her breasts.
“Please contact the Cassinni,” she said with a demure smile. “We must warn them of an imminent assassination plot against their King.
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