The ginger-headed nurse from before caught his sleeve and half-mouthed, half-whispered to him, “Will they surrender?”
Wolf shook his head no. “But that’s not why I said that,” he informed her quietly.
Her head drew back in confusion. “Then why?”
“Because I want them focused on fleeing, not fighting.”
Multiple feet clattered on the stairs, and within seconds, the men that were trying to break free were gone. Wolf blew out a breath of relief. So far, the plan was working. Satisfied it was safe enough here, he went into Karen Highsmith’s room and joined her at the window. “What do you see?”
“This side and the front have a wall of men around it,” she answered promptly. “But I don’t see anyone at the back.”
“Good.” She shouldn’t be able to. But Wolf knew good and well there were men hiding back there, waiting to ambush anyone foolish enough to run that direction. He stuck his head out and craned it around, trying to get a better feel for what was going on.
Glass shattered below, then the sound of a door being wrenched open and slamming against the wall. He couldn’t see it from this angle, but he could hear men pouring out of the back of the inn and running. Wolf shook his head in pity for the fools.
“They’ll escape through there,” Karen fretted.
“They won’t,” he assured her. “It doesn’t look like it, but the back is a primed ambush.”
She blinked at him. “How in the world do you know?”
“The two men that are in command down there are from my guild. I know how they think.”
Her confusion cleared and her mouth formed a silent O of understanding.
In the next moment, his words proved almost prophetic. Cries of alarm and the clashing of metal came from the back, almost as quickly followed by pleas of surrender. Satisfied things were under control, Wolf drew his head back into the room.
“Hey, Wolf!” Rune’s voice called from below.
Oh? Had kiō come in to join the party? Sticking his head back out, he spotted the boy just below his window and responded, “What?”
“Ya’ll good up there?”
“We’re fine,” Wolf assured him.
“Get down here quick,” Rune directed, a lopsided grin on his face. “Siobhan’s fit to be tied, she’s so worried.”
“I have a barrier to undo, then I’ll be down. But tell her I’m fine. They never made it through up here.”
“Will do.” With a casual salute, Rune turned and headed back toward the front.
He let out a sigh that was half-relief, half-exhaustion. Mercy, this day had been a decade long already. Hopefully, this was the last trouble he’d see for a while. A man had to eat and sleep at some point.
Calling out thanks to his watchers, he went to put the furniture back in its proper place.
It was a tired but elated crowd that gathered in the inns that evening. The main room of the tavern was filled to capacity like usual, but the din of noise was absent tonight. Most people were too tired to talk. They were almost too tired to eat. They sat around and had muted conversations with each other, the loudest sounds being spoons hitting the bottom of bowls. But through the tiredness came a quiet sense of peace that no one had felt in days. They weren’t under threat of an imminent attack anymore. Men were still set up in rotation to guard the walls, just in case the army decided to return and take another run at them, but no one actually thought they would.
The battle had been won.
Siobhan sprawled out in a chair, her head on the back, eyes staring blankly at the ceiling, while her arms draped listlessly over the sides. Wolf watched her in concern. He’d rarely seen her like this, as if she didn’t have a spare drop of energy to her name. Even when she was tired, his Siobhan was always willing to move, and talk, and tease people. Seeing her awake but quiet was strange.
He dropped into the chair next to her, wood creaking a bit in protest at his weight. Using his good hand, he stroked the hair away from her face in a gentle rhythm. She let her eyes fall closed and gave a hum of approval. “Good?”
“Don’t stop,” she requested softly, nearly purring in contentment.
Still keeping his hand in motion, he turned to Denney and Sylvie, both of whom could be mirrors of Siobhan in that moment, although Sylvie was draped over the table with her arms pillowing her head. “Was the clinic that bad?”
“It was one emergency after the next,” Sylvie groaned at the table. “And poor Conli is still stuck there.”
“The worst of it was passed by the time we left,” Denney corrected. “All he has to do is keep an eye on a few patients. If he hadn’t insisted on taking care of the enemy wounded too, we wouldn’t have been as stressed trying to take them all.”
Ahh. Well, that was Conli for you. The man had more compassion than sense some days. Even after what had happened, with about four dozen men trying to fight their way out, he still went back in to help the ones left. Wolf hadn’t let him stay in there alone, of course, and even now there was a regular watch going around the clock to make sure that no other trouble was started.
“Why are you even asking that?” Siobhan muttered, cracking her eyes open just enough to stare at him from the corners. “Didn’t you see for yourself when the enemy soldiers tried to break out of there?”
“I was a little busy barricading the stairs,” he defended himself mildly. “You heard about that, did you?”
“The news was all over the place. Tran told me the full story afterwards.” She went back to being a boneless noodle in the chair. “I’m glad you were quick on the uptake. Otherwise it would have been a massacre in there.”
Yes, it quite likely would have. Wolf was now glad that he had gotten that burn. Otherwise, he might not have Conli or Sylvie and Denney here at the table with him now.
The way that Rune’s face went tight, head snapping to Denney, suggested he had just realized this. Wolf would have a quiet word with him later about making sure that the next time they had a clinic like this, one of them would stay and guard whoever was in there. The girls alone warranted protection, granted, but Conli could be completely oblivious to the outside world if the man was performing surgery on someone. He was just as defenseless in his own way.
After making a mental note, Wolf scanned the table again. Still, out of the three women, Siobhan looked the worst. Why was that? “Siobhan, did something else happen?”
“Hmm? Oh. Yes, Darrens called me out and had me sit with him as he interrogated two of the army commanders.”
Wolf blinked. He hadn’t been aware the army had official commanders. “What?”
“Believe it or not, there were two men—at least two men—that were actually giving orders.” Siobhan made an aborted movement, as if she felt she should rise and properly face them while telling all of this, but at the last second was too selfish to do so. Instead, she let Wolf continue to stroke her hair as she spoke. “They are lieutenants or ranked officers of some sort in Fallen Ward.”
His hand fell still as a hush descended over the whole table.
“Fallen Ward,” Rune repeated in a strangely calm voice. “Ya sure of that?”
“Yes.” Siobhan let out a long, resigned sigh. “It’s why Darrens called me over. We’re the only guild that has been in contact with Fallen Ward in the past several months. He was using me to verify what they were saying.”
“What did they say?” Beirly pressed. “Exactly.”
“In essence, Fallen Ward really did organize this army and sent it to Robarge. They were under orders to attack every city that they came to and pillage it. Whatever they gained would be used to pay for completion of the bridge.”
Markl rubbed at his eyes with finger and thumb. “So this wasn’t something the people pulled together out of desperation, to avoid starving, but an army to gather the funds to promote the completion of that bridge? The one that will still take another fifty years to complete?”
“That’s madness,” Sylvie objected, fin
ally raising her head so she could properly join in on this conversation. “The full wealth of Channel Pass, Stott, Goldschmidt, and Converse combined won’t pay for that bridge! It might pay for another third being built, if they’re conservative with their funds, but that’s it. So what were they planning on doing? Go out on a raiding party and destroy a few cities every five years to pay for the next section of the bridge?”
Wolf knew that she was only half-serious, but he was afraid that was exactly what they would do. And why not? They may not have taken Converse, but they’d succeeded with three other cities. If something succeeds the first time, why not do it again?
“Madness,” Fei breathed, face pale.
“But they might do just that,” Markl said grimly. “Unless we can somehow convince them it’s a bad idea.”
Siobhan grabbed Wolf’s hand, squeezing it in silent thanks, and levered herself up into a proper seated position. “Darrens thinks that if we can reclaim Goldschmidt and take everything they’ve looted from them, that will be enough to stop Fallen Ward from trying this again. After all, if it doesn’t work, they’ll have wasted the money they used to start this campaign to begin with.”
“He’s right,” Tran said slowly. “And we need to retake Goldschmidt anyway.”
Wolf groaned as the realization hit. “Roles will be reversed next battle. They’ll have the walls to defend with, we’ll be the ones attacking.”
Tran, Rune, Fei, and Markl shared the groan as they realized what he meant.
Grae tsked them, a half smile on his face. “But they don’t know strategy. You do. Doesn’t that give you the edge?”
“Let’s hope it’s enough of one.” Tran rubbed at his forehead. “We’ll definitely need to sit down with Hyun Woo and Ryu Jin Ho to come up with a good plan before leaving.”
“I’m not even sure how much help we’ll get in retaking the city,” Markl ventured, calculations whirling in his head. “Everyone willingly pitched in to defend Converse, as we couldn’t afford to let them have control of the bridges. But how many will march into battle again to help give us back our home?”
“Quite a few, I would think, if you can promise to rout the army completely from Robargean soil so that they can return to their homes,” Sylvie suggested wryly. “Make it a fair trade and you’ll always get a bargain.”
Fei inclined his head toward her. “Sylvie-jae has a good point.”
“We’ll let her handle negotiations, then.” Markl grinned at her. “Siobhan, you seem to know what Darrens has in mind. What do we do now?”
“Now? Fortify Converse so it can better withstand the next attack, gather up our strength, and then we march for Goldschmidt.” A dangerous gleam ignited in her eyes. “By month’s end, he wants us back home.”
That soon? Wolf opened his mouth to object, thought about it, and closed it again. Well, maybe it was doable after all. Assuming they could pull together enough men to form an army of their own. It would take a sizeable one to tackle Goldschmidt’s walls.
“And what about the men we’ve captured?” Grae asked. The expression on his face suggested he’d only just realized they were a problem.
“Hyun Woo suggested that we use them as laborers,” Markl answered with a slight shrug. “Have them do the repairs on the cities they’ve damaged. I think it a valid plan—after all, most of these men were masons in Orin working on the bridge. They have the skills to build.”
Wolf gave a sour grunt. “Like as not that they’re better builders then they are fighters. Either way, giving them a project like that will keep them out of trouble for a few years.”
Beirly nodded agreement. “It’ll take that long to rebuild everything. I don’t see how it’s a bad plan.”
“It certainly frees up most of our people so that they can focus on defending the city,” Fei noted in approval.
“And keeps them safely occupied so they’re not planning to attack us again,” Denney said thoughtfully. “I like it.”
“Either way, it’s something for tomorrow.” Siobhan pushed herself to her feet, hands braced on the table’s surface to give her balance. She was so tired she was actually swaying. “I’m going to bed. Good night, everyone.”
ӜӜӜ
Wolf got up at the crack of dawn to take his watch on the walls. He yawned broadly several times as he got dressed and snagged a loaf of bread from the kitchen on his way out. It was hard, getting himself into motion this morning. But then, he’d been subsisting on four hours of sleep for several days and doing either hard labor or fighting. That could take a toll on a man.
He greeted people as he passed them in the street, mostly the men that had been standing third watch, and took to the stairs on the south side walls. Once there, he had to shield his eyes from the dawn sun with a hand. From here, he could see for a good mile in every direction and there wasn’t a trace of movement out on either land or sea. It was a perfectly peaceful morning and he was glad of it.
Having learned his lesson from the previous day, he didn’t just walk back and forth while looking around, but actually bent to see the ground below the wall too. Gradually, he woke up as his blood started moving.
“Wolfinsky-gui.”
Wolf’s head snapped around at this hail. “Hyun Woo-zhi.” Remembering Saoleord manners at the last moment, he ducked into a bow. “Good morning.”
Hyun Woo returned the bow, the gesture not at all awkward even though he was still walking up the stairs. He looked unfairly awake, every hair in place, although his clothes looked somewhat rough. No one had really had a chance to do much laundry in the past four days, and Hyun Woo hadn’t brought much in the way of luggage with him. No doubt when Siobhan saw him, she’d fix it. Wolf knew her well. Things like that bothered her for some reason. Hyun Woo had a steaming mug of something in each hand and when he reached Wolf, he extended one in silent invitation.
Wolf’s nose twitched as he recognized the scent. Mint tea. How in the world had the man managed to lay hands on that out here? Still, he gladly took it, as a warm drink on a cool morning like this was more than welcome. Remembering his manners, he tucked his iron hand against his side as he accepted the cup with the other. Wrapping his good hand around the mug, he took a long swallow and sighed in satisfaction. “My thanks.”
“Tell me, Wolfinsky-gui. This rumor that a guild from another city was behind the army. Is there truth to this?”
What, he hadn’t heard it straight from Darrens? As soon as the thought came, he mentally kicked himself. Of course, Hyun Woo had been on the other side of the city dealing with the cleanup. The man likely hadn’t even heard the rumor until this morning. “Yes. Siobhan was part of the interrogation last night. A guild called Fallen Ward is behind the army.”
Hyun Woo’s forehead drew together into a troubled frown. “Then this was not a rabble that we faced. It was the beginning of a war.”
He wished he could deny this but couldn’t. “Hyun Woo-zhi, we asked you to come so that we could defend ourselves if it came to that. You have done what we asked you to do—you stopped them in their tracks and gave us a chance against them. I must ask, will you stay with us longer?”
“I do not consider the job done,” Hyun Woo assured him gently. “Your home is still lost to you, is it not? I will not return until the cities that were conquered are properly returned to its citizens.”
Wolf let go of the breath he was holding and relaxed into a grateful smile. “To borrow one of Fei’s sayings, it does my heart good to hear that.”
“I imagine so.” Hyun Woo’s eyes crinkled up into crescents. “Besides, I am not through teaching you yet. Any of you.”
“I’d be sorry to see you go,” Wolf said truthfully. “I enjoy the learning.”
“A good student does.” Hyun Woo turned and looked out toward the land, where Goldschmidt lay far off in the distance. “When a fish swims up a waterfall, it becomes a dragon.”
After living with Fei for so many years, Wolf had learned how to translate many of the
idioms and sayings that he heard, but this one went straight over his head. “Master?”
Grinning, Hyun Woo rephrased, “When a man faces adversity such as this, he becomes stronger for it. You are now like the fish, swimming up a waterfall. If you can reach the top, you will possess all of the strength and knowledge of a dragon.” Glancing back at him, he assured his student, “Do not worry, Wolfinsky. I will not leave you until you have reached the top.”
Wolf noted the absence of honorifics with surprise. That was only done between family, very close friends, or…or between master and student. Beyond touched at the man’s offer, Wolf found himself at the brink of tears. He couldn’t manage a single word. Instead, he gave a deep bow, expressing what he felt in the only way he could manage in that moment.
Hyun Woo gave him a brief clasp of the shoulder, acknowledging him, and then encouraged him to straighten again. “For now, find another man to stand guard for you,” he instructed. “I need you to come with me.”
“Sure,” Wolf agreed instantly, then stopped to clear his tight throat and get his emotions under control enough to speak properly. “I can, but what are we doing?”
“You want to return home, do you not?”
“Of course.”
“Then,” a predatory smile crossed over Hyun Woo’s face, “we should start making plans on how to retake the city. Is there reason for delay?”
Wolf’s smile was equally feral. “Not one.”
Prologue
The first night outside of Channel Pass was a little rough. They’d spent the majority of their energy on gathering stones instead of making camp, and so only the barebones were in place. Denney had thoughtfully broken off an hour ahead of everyone else and went to prepare a thick stew—the easiest thing to make while camping out. She also wisely made more than enough for people to get seconds, or thirds, or (in Wolf’s and Tran’s cases) fifths.
After eating, Wolf propped himself up on his bedroll and seriously considered just falling asleep in that position. If he did, though, he’d wake up with a terrible crick in his neck in the morning. And he hadn’t sorted out who was taking which watch yet, either. So he really couldn’t afford to fall asleep right here.
Blackstone (Book 2) Page 22
