“They thought they’d cleared all this area out,” one of the guards said, and then Alec sliced his sword across both throats, leaving the rebels dead as he entered the palace.
Ryder decided they should go look in the Duke’s quarters, where he thought many rebels might be sleeping.
At the top of the stairs, were four guards watching as the two armsmen reached the private floor of the Duke. “We need more help searching the Guard quarters,” Alec said as he approached the group. “We have some trouble, but we don’t know where they are exactly, and we’ve lost more men. Where can I rouse some of the sleepers to work?”
“Check the third door. About twelve fellows are in there,” one rebel told him, jerking his thumb behind him.
“Thanks,” Ryder said and walked past the four towards the sleeping room.
Alec quietly opened the door and the two Guards slipped into the room. Three men were awake in one corner, playing cards by lamplight, while the rest appeared to be asleep on the furniture and the floors. Alec stopped and surveyed the room, trying to decide what the best way would be to handle the situation.
“You need something?” one of the card players asked in a flat tone.
Ryder walked towards the men.
“Could you turn the lamp down so I can sleep?” Alec asked as he followed.
They looked at the two with unfriendly eyes. Alec stepped even closer, then whipped his sword out, knocked the lamp out and killed the three instantly. He and Ryder stood in the silence listening for an alarm. They heard nothing. No one had awoken.
“That is frightening. I’ve never seen anything like your abilities,” Ryder whispered. “Now we need to put all scruples aside and make sure these rebels don’t fight against the Duke anymore.”
Remembering the knife he had seen on the belt of one of the rebels, Alec sheathed his sword and his scruples, then grabbed the knife, and began working his way silently around the room, cutting throats efficiently as he heard breathing. When he met Ryder in the middle of the room the deed was done. The Colonel opened the door and called to the four guards down the hall, “Hey, there’s a problem here with some of these guys. Could a couple of you help me persuade them to do their share?”
The guards looked at him and grumbled, then one of them pushed two others towards the deadly room. They glared back at their companion for a second, then walked towards Ryder, who re-entered the room and waited for them.
“What’s the prob..” one started to ask as he got two steps inside the room, but Alec cut his throat while Ryder stabbed the second rebel with his sword. They waited inside for several seconds for the other two rebels to get nervous.
“Is everything alright in there?” Alec heard one ask.
Stepping out into the hallway, Alec walked towards the last two guards, shaking his head in disgust, then looking up at them as he and Ryder closed the gap. Once within a couple of paces, Alec whipped out his sword with ingenaire energies engaged and rushed the last two too quickly for them to react.
“I’ve heard about warrior ingenairii,” Ryder said, “and I believed they were good, but I never expected to see anything like that. You didn’t tell me what you were capable of; think what the Duke will say when he learns!
“We could accomplish a great deal in the next few hours. These rebels won’t be sleeping tonight with all the ruckus we raise, and tomorrow they’ll be slow, tired, scared, demoralized, and fewer in numbers when we attack.”
Realizing that they needed to move on, the two officers in the rebel-held palace walked down the hallway. Every two or three doorways they looked in the rooms to see if any other rebels were to be found. Only one had sleeping rebels, and those four quickly died in their sleep as well.
Ryder started going to windows, checking to see how many rebels were walking the island perimeter. He saw only a dozen or so around the visible locations. He realized that the rebels did not know one another well enough to know who among them didn’t belong, and that he could continue his subterfuges for hours to come perhaps. Suddenly another strategy struck him. He instructed Alec to follow him, and they backtracked to where they could pull on clothes from dead rebels, then carried their Guard garb under their arms while they returned to the main hall.
As they came upon four rebels guarding the foot of the staircase he stopped. “There are Guardsmen among us killing our people in the palace. Don’t let anyone enter unless they tell you the password is ‘Kings crown,’” Ryder told them.
The four on duty accepted his authority to order them and let him proceed down the hallway. Together he and Alec turned a corner where two rebels stood in front of a doorway. As he walked by them, apparently ignoring them ,Alec suddenly whipped his sword across their throats, and kept on walking. Around a corner a group of eight came towards them nonchalantly; Ryder exchanged an indifferent greeting with them and passed, then Alec re-exerted his ingenaire powers and with Ryder attacked them from the back. In their exhaustion the mercenaries did not even realize they were under attack until six were already dead, and the other two got off only a shout before their blood was on the ground.
The Duke’s men went down the next staircase and found more rebels guarding it. Ryder repeated the need for a password, and left them standing while he and Alec walked outside to the wide balcony that viewed the river from this level. He had seen the sentries walking this level from above, and he sent Alec to find them individually stationed out of sight of one another, where Ryder silently killed them. He heaved their bodies into the river.
As the fourth sentry went into the river Alec heard loud shouts of confusion inside the palace. Apparently the bodies of their victims had been discovered. He knew the rebels would now be following Ryder’s script, losing sleep worrying about and guarding against forces within their own walls.
Alec followed Ryder around the south end of the island, above the ingenaire’s quarters, killing any rebels they found, and then towards the city side of the palace, where Ryder expected to let Natha’s fighters into the palace in just another two hours. He heard another ruckus inside the palace, whose cause he couldn’t guess, but he smiled, knowing it meant more confusion among the rebels.
Ryder directed Alec to approach the gates at the end of the bridge. “Have you had any problems here?” he asked, observing that only two men were at each gate. “There’s some of the Duke’s men still inside the palace causing trouble.”
“We’ve heard there’s a bunch of them in there, and they’re killing our fellows in their sleep. Half our forces are dead, I heard,” one of the gatekeepers said.
“I don’t think it’s as bad as that. You know how rumors are,” Alec consoled him. “Do you have back up to contact if they try to attack here?”
“All the fellows inside the palace doors,” the other gate watcher told him.
“You’ll be okay then,” Alec assured him, and left the gate shack to go to the other side of the gate.
He had a similar conversation at the other bridge gate, then returned to Ryder and reported what he heard.
“We won’t need to clear rebels away from the gate area until half an hour before Tarkas’s troops arrive,” Ryder decided. “The best place for us to stay is inside the palace with the other rebels backing up the bridge gates to keep an eye on things. Follow me in.”
Two minutes after Ryder went in, Alec walked to the palace doors and opened them, then walked in like he belonged there. “I’m here to help provide back up for the bridge gates,” he told the sentries at the door.
“Are they expecting an invasion?” one sentry asked sarcastically, “Or have you just found the safest duty to take with all the murder in the palace?”
“There’s no telling where is safe right now,” Alec said, and walked into the room off the hallway. He found more than a dozen men, including Colonel Ryder sitting and standing, inside the room. Alec went to a bench and sat beside a man sitting back against the wall.
“This isn’t turning out like they told us, i
s it mate?” Alec asked the man.
“It’s still going to be okay,” the man said.
“Our guys are getting killed all over the palace, and there’re squads of guys hunting us down,” Alec replied. “Elgin said just come here and take over the palace so he could be Duke, and we’d all get booty and women to spare.”
“You’re too young for women,” the man said. “Besides, I’ve got some gold already, so all I’ve got to do is sneak out if it gets hot. But I think that if Elgin can show the Duke’s body by mid-day, he’ll be all right. He’s killed Airmed already, hasn’t he?”
“You think the Duke’s still here?” Alec asked, shocked by the reported fratricide. He hadn’t realized Elgin was so blood thirsty as to kill his own brother. Then again, he thought with revulsion, he hadn’t realized he was himself so ruthless he’d slit men’s throats while they slept.
“Well, I don’t know. Elgin was acting like he had his dad trapped yesterday early, and now there’s no talk about anything but searching and guard duty, and I don’t cotton to either of those. I reckon you don’t either, eh? That’s why we’re here. That’s why we’re all here,” the man answered his question.
Alec lapsed into silence for a while, then moved across the room and struck up conversation with the man next to Ryder.
“You think the Duke got away?” he asked.
“I think so, and I think Elgin is getting desperate to prove otherwise,” the bearded man responded, as Ryder eavesdropped. “We all were told that a quick afternoon would deliver lots of booty and leave us in charge of the whole duchy. Instead, we’re sitting here waiting to be killed in our sleep with murderers roaming the palace.”
“That fellow over there is ready to sneak away,” Alec said, nodding his head towards the first person he’d talked to. “He says he’s got gold booty on him ready to make a break.”
The rebel looked at the man with interest. “I’ll cause a diversion if you want to take his gold from him,” Alec said. “But you have to split it with me.” Ryder’s eye contact indicated approval of the scheme.
The rebel looked at him and nodded. Alec told him to be patient and watch, then stood up and walked over to another corner, where two men were deep in conversation. Alec contrived to stumble and fall against them.
“Hey watch where you’re going!” a man with a beard said.
“Someone tripped me!” Alec said. “Keep your feet in, bud,” he said to a man sitting beside the others.
All eyes had moved to their corner, and Alec saw his erstwhile conspirator saunter over to the man who said he had gold, draw his dagger, and stab him, producing a scream.
Folks turned to look, and swords started to slip out of scabbards. Two men started to attack one another, while others started to edge towards the door. Ale drew his blade and moved to the door too, to prevent others from escaping. “Where are you going? Do you have gold too?” he loudly asked a man near the door.
That man’s neighbors looked at him greedily, and he swung his sword defensively, cutting one of them. So far Ryder and Alec had managed to watch five men get killed, lowering the number they had to dispatch, and other fights were still going on. Alec moved to place his back against the door, while Ryder killed two men casually, then tapped Alec and opened the door.
“Hey”, Ryder called to the sentries, “things are getting rowdy in here. Will you come settle these guys down?”
The two sentries looked at one another and walked towards the room, from which noises of fighting were coming. They walked in past Alec, looked around, and felt their neck bones sliced by Alec’s blade. Alec fought around the room, killing the last four men remaining, then stopped just inside the room full death.
“Nicely done, Alec,” Ryder told him. Alec appreciated the praise, but knew that his actions were simply the result of superior abilities. He considered how many decisions and actions Ryder had taken during the past several hours to successfully bring them to this point. The colonel was demonstrating the type of decisive leadership skills Alec knew he was not yet capable of. He didn’t know what to say to the officer to express the admiration he felt for all that Ryder had accomplished by out-thinking their opponents.
While Alec ruminated, Ryder turned and went out to the left gatehouse on the bridge. In the darkness he easily killed the two men trapped in the small box, who were unable to draw their swords in self defense. Alec observed what he did, and walked across the way to the other gatehouse and repeated the performance.
The time had arrived to signal for Tarkas’s men, if he had any gathered, to come across the bridge. Ryder sent Alec to give the signal. Despite searching several rooms, he could not find a lantern to drop. He ran back to the palace doors and inside, where he took down a torch from the walls and walked back outside waving the torch, then dropped it in the middle of the bridge as an obvious signal. He stood by the torch as it flared up.
Nothing happened. He saw no one coming across the bridge. In despair he backed over to one of the gatehouses to see the Colonel.
“Don’t worry yet, this timing is a tricky business,” Ryder told him. “Let’s be useful for the moment.” He directed Alec to help him drag the bodies from the gatehouses, and heaved them off the bridge into the river below. The two then took up a position there to wait to see what would happen, unable to believe that the chance to retake the Palace was going to slip away.
Alec sensed that his energy reserves were nearly tapped out. Holding on to the power was growing increasingly difficult as the toll of all the recent action piled up. “Colonel, I need to let you know that my ingenaire powers won’t last much longer. I’ve fought and done more tonight than I ever have before,” Alec spoke in the silent moments.
“You’ve fought more than anyone I’ve ever witnessed Alec,” Ryder told him putting a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t push your powers dangerously. Even without powers you’re a better swordsman that anyone else in the city. Besides, once our reinforcements arrive, there won’t be any need for you to bear so much of the burden.”
“Alec,” he heard a voice shout from across the bridge. He took a step towards the voice and waved. A man appeared out of the darkness from across the bridge, drew nearer, and much to Alec’s pleasure, proved to be Tarkas.
“Tarkas, do you have any men with you?” the colonel asked, as Alec reached out to grasp his companion’s hand.
“Oh, aye, we’ve got over one hundred men willing to fight for the Duke. Can you use them all?” Tarkas replied, with sincere concern that he might have too many warriors.
“I’ll use every last one of them all right. Bring them over, and send twenty to the right about fifty yards to establish a defensive position there, and send forty to the left to reach the Guard’s quarters and meet up with Mortis and the Guards there,” Ryder said.
“No wait, check that. Do you have a flag of the Duke, or preferably two or three of his flags?” the colonel asked.
“We do have one,” Tarkas replied.
“Then give it to the lads who are going to the left, and tell them to keep it in front until they are recognized by the Guard group. Then bring the flag back here so we can have it waving on the bridge this morning when the citizens wake up. It’ll do folks some good to think the palace is back in the Duke’s hands,” Ryder said.
“And thirty of your folks can take up position inside the palace along the main hall, but not too deep. We want to have folks inside the palace, and we want to seal off their escape from the palace except for diving into the river and swimming downstream,” the colonel continued.
“Any of your folks that are left should be sent down the river banks to kill anyone they see trying to swim away from the palace,” Alec suggested. “Put a few on each bank, and make sure they work in pairs.”
“I’ll get them moving!” Tarkas said, and he disappeared back into the gloom of the night. He returned long seconds later, and men followed him pell mell across the bridge. He stopped and acted as traffic cop, sending some men t
his way and some that way. Soon the positions were taken up and Alec heard some clash of steel on steel as Duke’s men collided with rebel forces. Alec watched as Ryder walked around all three positions to make sure his men were established properly, and brought back the Duke’s flag himself when the Guards in the courtyard understood who they were with.
“What do we do if they want to surrender?” a man came up to Ryder, Alec and Tarkas from the group on the left. Alec looked at Ryder.
“Do you have a place we can lock up prisoners securely without much oversight? A windowless basement in a warehouse, for instance?” he asked.
“Yes, we’ve got a place that’ll hold maybe twenty,” Tarkas replied.
“Okay, tell all potential prisoners they have to strip down to just pants, no weapons, and tell them you’ll only accept the first fifty,” Ryder told the guard. “Cram everyone you receive into that basement.”
“Colonel?” Alec said groggily. Suddenly a wave of exhaustion, underlain by a sense of impending trouble, overwhelmed him.
“Yes Alec?” Ryder answered, looking at him closely.
“I’ve got to get home and check on things. Tarkas’s father knows where my home is. I’ll be back after noon, or before if you send someone for me. You have this situation in hand, and I know I’m not needed at the moment.”
“Thank you for finding the men to save the Duchy,” Alec said.
There was a pause as Ryder seemed to weigh the situation. “Thank you for the great things you’ve done. Now go get some rest,” Ryder said and watched Alec walk off just as dawn began to lighten the sky.
Chapter 24 – Ryder Retakes the Palace
Alec walked across the bridge and the square and up the roads to get back to Bakers Street, growing groggier with each minute. He saw a light on in the upper room of his shop and tried to open the door. It was bolted shut. He walked around to the alley in the back of the house, and tried the door there, but it too was locked. He stood dumbly, trying to consider his options for getting into the shop. He chuckled for a moment as it occurred to him that he had had an easier time breaking into a guarded palace under siege than he had entering his own modest shop.
At the Seat of Power: Goldenfields and the Dominion Page 32
