A brief moment of vindication, then a cold, clammy sickness in his stomach.
It didn’t feel right.
Not how he imagined it would be.
Wynne sighed in the dungeon space everyone shared, and her presence left.
The deed was well and truly done.
Ryker was left alone with the corpses of two people who had wronged him.
And all the feelings that they left with him without an outlet.
There was also a brief moment of reflection, infinitesimal in length, where he wondered if he had wronged Lauren in this action.
He felt hollow.
Chapter 23- Banditry -
Ryker hadn’t slept well last night. In fact, he’d been downright haunted by nightmares.
Nightmares of Gavin and Nikki’s last moments as they tried to close the gap between themselves a week ago.
To share their dying moments. To—
Ryker gave himself a firm shake and slapped his hands to his face.
Staring out at the paperwork that’d been laid in front of him, he felt overwhelmed and wrung out.
It was an endless sea of paper and documents that he needed to put his name to as the Count of Dungeon.
Attempting to pick up the quill one more time, he immediately set it back down.
“Fuck. What the fuck,” Ryker muttered, scrubbing at his eyes and cheeks with his hands.
“Are you alright?” came a soft voice from behind him.
Glancing over his shoulder, he found himself staring up into Diane’s face. She laid a hand on his shoulder and rubbed it tenderly.
She gave him a small smile and then nodded towards the door. “Take a break. Come talk with me. You said you had news about our recent adventure as well,” she said.
“Yeah… might as well. I’m about as useful as a bucket with a hole in it right now,” Ryker said.
Pushing out from the desk, Ryker stood up and stretched his back out.
Diane had been unbelievably patient with him. She hadn’t pushed for information from him. Demanded answers, or even asked about it.
Other than to confirm he’d taken care of the problem, that is.
He’d told her this morning there’d been news and he’d give her the rundown later when she wasn’t busy.
Claire looked up from her desk as he crossed in front of her, her eyes lingering on him for a second, before finally returning back to work.
Diane led him quickly to the private study she worked out of. A small table off to one side was laden with what looked like an untouched midday meal. Various fruits, dried meats, and cheeses were laid out on platters.
I’m starting to feel like everyone is trying to feed me constantly.
With a gesture of her hand, Diane sat down in the chair opposite the one she’d indicated. “Please, don’t wait on me to eat, or explain. I’m starving and this is the first break I’ve had all day,” she said, immediately setting into the food. “Not going to say a… a damn word if I don’t have to.”
“Goodness, she even said damn,” Ryker said, flopping down unceremoniously in a chair.
“I can curse,” said Diane, glaring at him as she rapidly filled her plate.
“Damn isn’t a curse. Never heard you curse, so I don’t believe it,” he said, grinning at her. “Anyways. Yeah, some news.”
Ryker picked some things from the platter and put them on his plate.
“The would-be killers who we caught. My understanding is that they were not hired by Lauren, but by someone from your own little civil war party.”
Diane frowned at that, her blushing cheeks full as she chewed methodically.
“The dungeon definitely got as much information out of them as they could. Or at least that’s what I was told. By and large, this was an internal power play. If I had to guess, by eliminating you and me, they could somehow put themselves as next in line for power. Got any cousins, brothers, or sisters who’d prefer to see your head on a pike, wife?”
“Who doesn’t?” Diane asked, shaking her head. “No, that isn’t terribly surprising. Besides, Lauren doesn’t seem like the type to have me killed.”
“She doesn’t seem like the type to order anyone killed. Her older sister though… she was a different creature,” Ryker said, thinking back.
“Yes. Lauren is…” Diane paused, her face screwing up in a strange look. “Lauren is a good queen.”
“Just not your mom?” Ryker prompted.
“I don’t really have a choice in that. Remember? We talked about this, husband. Moving along. Did you get anything else from them?”
“Not that I was told. Did you tell your mother about this whole thing?” he asked.
He already knew she had since Charlotte’s team had intercepted the letter.
Now, will she tell me the truth about it? And will she mention the fact that she left out everything about me and the dungeon?
“Yes. I told her everything.” Diane nodded her head, and paused midway. “Well, I didn’t tell her about you and the dungeon.”
“I’m surprised. I honestly figured you would. Why didn’t you?” Ryker asked. He was genuinely curious.
By and large, she was treating him very well and seemed to include him in things most other women in her position wouldn’t.
“Ah… I suppose that does sound strange, doesn’t it. I—” She paused, as if she were considering her words. “I was genuinely afraid for a moment that mother would react poorly to the news. If she knew you were more or less in control of the dungeon, I can’t guarantee that she wouldn’t try to simply eliminate you outright. I’d prefer she didn’t widow me. We’re new to this but… I feel like we’re not just married for the sake of it, so far.”
“Huh. I certainly wouldn’t want that either. Mostly because I’d be fucking dead,” Ryker said.
Diane gave him a half smile and a shrug. “Mother can be a sh—shit sometimes.”
Ryker raised his eyebrows at that, grinning at her. “You really can curse. Maybe I’ll get you to say a few other things. I’m sure we could think up a few other choice words for you to try out.”
“I’m sure you would love that,” Diane said, giving him an arch look.
“I would. I could think of a number of things I’d love to hear you say.”
“She practiced. Said word over and over,” Tar thought at him.
Looking around quickly he found Tar squatting in a corner of the room. He’d grown in the last week, and his vocabulary and speech had definitely been picking up speed as of late.
“Tar says you were practicing,” Ryker said, looking back to her.
Diane’s cheeks flushed and she somehow managed to not turn around and look at the familiar.
“She also said other words,” Tar continued.
“And that apparently you said—”
“I did no such thing, and that’s the end of that. Now, how about we change the subject and move along?” Diane said, her fingers tight on the arms of her chair.
Snickering, Ryker shook his head and let her move the conversation.
“It seems there’s been good news from the front. Though I’m mildly annoyed that I got the information in the way that I did. Who sends messages through a walking wounded regiment?” Diane complained.
Ryker blinked. He’d need to check in with Wynne later. They probably didn’t check to see if there was a messenger coming in in that fashion.
“Lauren’s army was badly caught out the other day. Her screen missed an entire battalion of troops that were able to flank her directly. Her losses weren’t too significant, but more than enough to offset some setbacks we had recently,” Diane said, looking quite perturbed with the information. “I’ll be honest, I’m surprised. When we had that battalion move through here, I was sure some spy was going to report it back to her. It seems mother’s counterintelligence network was much better than I thought it was.”
Shit.
“Regardless, it’s a blow for Lauren and a win for mother. Hopefully that brings us vi
ctory that much sooner. Mother was quite pleased. Apparently Lauren even had one of her commanders captured in the exchange,” Diane said, smiling at him.
Shit, shit.
Ryker’s mind went straight to the obvious answer.
It wasn’t that Veronica’s counterintelligence had proved to be superior, it was that he’d wiped out Lauren’s operatives himself.
And caused her what sounded like a fairly serious loss.
“Wynne?” Ryker asked
“I’m here,” came the immediate response.
“I want to plan an attack on Veronica’s support column. Immediately.”
“I… see. Alright. I’ll start working on it now.”
***
Ryker watched through his senses as a team of Fairy Avatars sped along towards the west. They weren’t in their normal avatars, but in one-offs built specifically for this action. The entire thing was being led by a Fairy he hadn’t met yet, and didn’t even know the name of. Wynne had chosen her and promised her one of the cores if the assault was successful.
As if sensing his presence, the short Dwarf woman looked over her shoulder to where he was following along.
“Hoy? The bossman is watching?” she muttered loudly as she clomped along.
To say she was anything other than “plodding” would have been a lie. The rest of her group were made up of various races that could fall into a banditry type of lifestyle.
The goal here was to make it seem as if the support column heading up to the warfront was simply victim of a bandit company in case there was a survivor.
“I guess so. I mean, yeah, I’m watching. Why?” Ryker responded directly to the Dwarf.
“Shit fuck, he heard me,” she said, looking ahead, her battle axe swinging to and fro on her shoulder.
“Uh… yeah? You’re kind of loud.”
“Well, stop listening then, you spooky fucking floating fart. Work to do.”
“Right… sure,” Ryker said, and then eased back a bit.
He wasn’t about to question Wynne on her pick, and he didn’t give a crap how she talked to him, if she got the job done.
If she didn’t, he’d give her an appropriate job.
Like being the steward over the sewers and making sure to take care of the blockages.
Watching, Ryker assumed they’d stop at some point to figure out what to do.
He’d use that chance to give see what their plan was.
Except they didn’t stop.
In fact, they charged straight into the support column and started attacking anyone that came close enough.
Ryker floated above the carnage, watching with a more than a little apprehension.
“She’ll succeed, and it’ll be a bloodbath,” Wynne said, her presence floating beside him.
“And we want a bloodbath?”
“The first time, yes. No survivors if possible. It’ll make it harder for them to figure out what it was, let alone respond. Next time I might send Tris or Charlotte. For now, Sierra will do well.”
“Sierra, is it? Alright,” Ryker said, and then looked back to the mad melee going on down below.
Several soldiers from Veronica’s army were trying to corner Sierra. One managed to skewer her with a spear, though she returned the favor by whipping her axe around into him. It exploded through his arm, and crashed into the man next to him.
Grunting, Sierra ripped the spear out of her and charged the last man, hurling the shattered weapon tip at him as she went.
Ferocious little monster.
Ryker kept pace with her as her group systematically butchered the entire convoy. From teamster to soldier to whore.
None were left alive.
And a good portion of the Avatars had died as well. Their bodies vanishing.
Including Sierra.
“Alright. So… she did succeed. I’d say give her the dueling wing for her core. I’m sure she’d appreciate officiating in those,” Ryker offered.
“Mayhap. We shall see. The deed is done. I will admit I was surprised when you said you wanted to start attacking the columns directly.”
“Yeah, well. I fucked up. Lauren got kicked in the teeth because I wasn’t willing to overlook my own revenge long enough for her to get information. I mean, I could have waited, right? I could have let them do their reports, and killed them just as they were about to rotate out,” Ryker said. “You told me. You warned me. I didn’t listen to you.”
“Indeed. They were on a limited intelligence gathering mission. They were there specifically to screen for incoming troop movements. But the deed is done, and regret will solve nothing. Let’s move along, my king,” Wynne said, her presence fluttering off back towards the dungeon.
“Yeah…” Ryker said to no one, floating above what amounted to a graveyard. A mound of blood, bodies, and broken equipment stretched out over the entire area.
Survivors were rapidly collecting anything and everything they could. Once everything was put together, they’d take it to the edge of the dungeon, and absorb it all.
“Move along.”
With a shake of a non-existent head, Ryker began to float back. He was moving much slower than the survivors, or the other essences.
Floating along the ground like a wraith, he made no move to increase his speed or simply cancel the spell.
Part of him enjoyed the slow trip back.
Another part of him was still wallowing in the unknown feelings that’d been dogging him.
There’d been no actual vindication. Not the type he’d been seeking.
In either the deaths of Gavin and Nikki or the supply column.
It all tasted like ashes.
Bitter ashes.
Moving through the edges of the city, he made the choice to pass through the manse he shared with everyone.
Maybe he could sneak around and spy on people.
That might be mildly amusing.
Feeling at once both wrong and funny, it spurred him on. It was a distraction, and he knew it, but he needed one.
Passing through the outer wall he entered the main “work room” as he’d begun calling it. Where he and Claire typically did most of their city business out of.
Except no one was there.
Searching room to room, Ryker found no one on the first floor.
Moving up to the second floor he finally found someone.
Two someones.
Adele and Claire sitting in a corner room by themselves.
They were sitting close together at a small table pressed into the corner.
If this isn’t clandestine I have no idea what it is.
“—do something,” Adele said, gesturing at Claire.
“Because it’ll serve no purpose. If we’re going to act, we need a clear opportunity, and there isn’t one,” Claire said, her arms folded across her chest.
“Of course there is. More to the point, why are we even fucking discussing this? It should be obvious what we do.”
“No, it isn’t obvious. And it’s a discussion because it’d impact both of us. We can’t act rashly.”
Ryker looked around the room to make sure it was just them. Then he stuck his head through the door and made sure no one was listening outside.
The conversation was clearly not something anyone else should hear.
Coming back into the room, he moved closer to the two women.
“You don’t think it’s obvious? How could you not? Our cousin is fighting for the kingdom and you’re sitting here playing good girl with Diane,” Adele hissed, pointing two fingers at her chest.
“Hmph. As if you know anything. I do what I must because it’s the only option we have available to us. To be concubines to Ryker and work for Diane is all we can do right now. Until Lauren can clear the field or a chance presents itself, that’s our role,” Claire said.
“No! That’s the very point I’m making. We could easily impact this and skew it in favor of Lauren without waiting. Why wouldn’t we? She’s our cousin!”
<
br /> “Because we’d be executed for it if it went sideways at all. Maybe even Ryker, too. Didn’t you listen to him? We’re nothing more then low value pieces. We exist as we do today only because he intervened. Because he didn’t want to see us dead. Chances are one of us would have been married to a simpleton out in the middle of nowhere and have no further prospects. The other killed.”
“Yes, I did hear him. And I agreed with him at the time and still do. But that doesn’t change the fact that we should be doing something.”
“Fool that you are then,” Claire said, lifting her chin up. “I read the dispatches, I’ve seen the numbers. I know what’s going where. There isn’t anything we can do right now. It’d just endanger us, and Ryker.”
Adele sighed and hung her head. “It’s like you don’t care. You just want to… want to play sex doll to Ryker and work for Diane.”
“On the contrary. Ryker has only laid with me twice. Once for the contract, another when Diane sent me to him. Both times I made it go as quickly as possible and exited afterward.”
No shit. Talk about duty bound. Was like humping a pillow.
“Huh?” Adele asked, lifting her head up. “You… as quickly as possible? Why?”
“Because… because… I don’t know. I don’t want to make it more. I want this to be done and over as quickly as possible,” Claire said, clearly unsure of herself.
“You really are a cold hearted monster at times. Did you even talk to him about it? See what he wanted?”
“What would be the point? Who’s to say he wouldn’t immediately go to Diane about it? Anyways,” Claire said, shaking her head. “This conversation was about Lauren, not about our married lives. I think we should keep our heads down and lay low. Wait for a chance.”
“But that’s the very reason we should act!” Adele growled out, her fingers clenching into her palms. “No. It’s not that you’re not listening, it’s that you don’t care. You just want to wait to see who’s winning, and throw in then.”
“I’m already a concubine with nothing, it could be worse. Acting now could make it infinitely worse, and death would only be the easiest option. No thank you,” Claire said, and then stood up. “I’d say it’d be best for you to keep this conversation to yourself. I’m not sure how far you can trust Ryker. You forget that he spends most of his nights with Diane. He was never truly loyal to our family, there is no guarantee that he is loyal now.”
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