The Dark Lord Cecil

by Wade Adrian

  Having coins was a nice perk, sure… but he had no idea what Cecil had to put up with. Skeletons. Soldiers. Crazy people. Nobles. Crazy nobles. Crazy skeleton nobles. “Do we have an accord?”

  The farmer nodded. “We do.”

  “Any neighbors you think I should extend the offer to, friends of yours that might need some help too?”

  “Aye.” He nodded.

  The wagon rolled away with its common bumpy gait. The farmer was still staring at the coins in his hands. The rest of his family wasn’t up on what had transpired, but a few of the kids in the fields waved anyway. Bonnie waved back, smiling all the while. She had a bag of fresh vegetables.

  Kenley shook his head. “Ten of those bags wouldn’t be worth that silver coin, let alone the gold one.”

  “Guess that depends on what’s in them.”

  “You know what I mean.”

  Cecil nodded. “I do. But what I mean is that what’s in that bag, and what will be in the next few, is your supper. You get hungry, you probably wont question it so much. Or at least not so loudly.”

  “It could buy more.”

  “If we had time to shop around, sure. Or if we had a means to get goods transported to us without issue.” He shook his head. “I helped run wagons to market for years. Even a handful of farmers with a nearly empty cart have to look out for bandits. Now multiply that by Gomer’s people no doubt watching anything we do. You think they’ll let a wagon train make it to the tower?”

  Kenley pondered that. “Okay, but how is this getting around that?”

  “We set up drops. Out of the way places we’ve already scouted out. Each farm gives what it can spare, not enough to get their lord suspicious, and places it in a given location. They get a silver coin to keep them coming back when they have more. Each of those drops is watched by our… ahem… people. They drop off a coin and bring in whatever was left. There’s no wagon train to stop, just normal road traffic for the farmers and a few sneaky skeletons trying to stay out of view because they stand out, but also because they might be stopped if someone saw what they were doing.”

  Kenley blinked a few times. “Huh. That’s not a bad plan.”

  “Right? It was this ball of stuff from Murray and You and Bonnie that made it pop into my head. Kind of surprised myself. But I guess we should wait to judge it until after it works or fails.” Cecil shrugged. “Besides, I was serious about it being a chance to help out.”

  The scholar tilted his head slightly. The next farm was close enough that work there was slowing down as they looked at the suspicious wagon. “You know, you’re not seeming to take to this whole ‘Dark Lord’ thing very seriously.”

  “Well I am delighted to disappoint you.”

  19

  The tower was really starting to shape up. There where lights in many of the windows as the wagon rolled back up the hill well after dusk.

  The sun going away had put an end to their trip. No farmer worked in the dark and Cecil didn’t think he’d get a lot of friendly discourse if he interrupted someone’s supper, money in hand or not.

  Besides, they were kind of low on funds now. Most of the bag had been silver, so he’d given out several to the last few farms instead of gold. What they weren’t short on was food. They had ten sacks in the back of the wagon from ten farms that had agreed to his request. They each had a different drop spot, with another six he could have given out if they had made better time.

  Kenley was scribbling in his notebook. He had been for hours now, though he had assured Cecil that it was nothing bad. Which is exactly what he would have said either way.

  Cecil held out his hand. “Can I borrow that for a second?”

  “Hmm?” Kenley glanced up, then down at the chunk of charcoal in his hand. “Oh, of course.”

  Cecil scratched a few marks on the map he had kept in his pocket. It was a crude but functional depiction of the area around the tower and the drop spots. He didn’t add anything, he just circled ten of the designated spots. Each was part of the citadel that had been uncovered but was an empty ruin with no real strategic value. Egerton was only concerned with defending the tower so far, things beyond were unearthed, searched, and then mostly ignored.

  The map had come from Murray. Apparently he had been something of a student of cartography in his day. He’d handed the map over before they left like it was something simple anyone could do. Cecil had a lot of questions for him after the discussion that morning, but the day’s work had come first.

  Bonnie was busy sorting. She had taken everything out of the bags and was grouping things into their own bags, where possible. Certainly something she could have done once they made it back, but it kept her busy. Cecil was driving and he still thought the drive was dull.

  Skeletons were not hard to come by. He gave each group a nod. “Evening.”

  Some stared. Some moved to follow. A few saluted, no doubt disciplined people in life. Or fishing for promotions.

  Egerton was waiting outside the doors on the balcony they were still calling the front of the place. He signaled for hands to unload the wagon without a word.

  Cecil hopped down and handed the reigns over to a waiting skeleton. “Mission accomplished.”

  Egerton nodded a few times. “Excellent. Which farms are ours? I shall send detachments to protect them.”

  “No need. We worked out something else.”

  “I… see?”

  “We have several farms providing us food quietly. Saves you having to protect them, and means anyone trying to come after us doesn’t know who to hit to hurt us.”

  Egerton rolled his eyes. “I suppose…”

  “If it makes you feel better, put together your detachment, and then post lookouts. If any of the nearby farms get raided, send your men to help.”

  “What if said farm isn’t one of ours?”

  Cecil snapped his fingers. “Shucks. Didn’t think of that. Oh well, too late, orders stand. You know how it is.” He patted Egerton on the shoulder as he walked on by.

  He could hear Egerton sigh behind him.

  It made Cecil feel all warm and fuzzy. If he couldn’t get away, he was at least going to do something useful while he had the chance.

  Bonnie followed Cecil in. “Thanks for the day trip. It was fun, though I think I need to get back to work. Lunch was probably abysmally boring without me to guide them.”

  Cecil nodded. “Thanks for coming. You were a big help.”

  She smiled. “Hardly. All I did was ask for different stuff.”

  “I wouldn’t have thought of that.” He shrugged. “We’d be coming back with ten sacks of potatoes or radishes.”

  She laughed. “I could have still made that work. Well, maybe not with radishes.”

  Kenley shuddered. “Hate radishes.” He tucked his notebook away. “Am I released?”

  Cecil shrugged. “Released? I guess. Thanks for the assist.”

  The scholar shook his head as he wandered past Bonnie. He grumbled a bit as he disappeared into the twisting hallways. Apparently he knew this place better than Cecil did. Not that that was much of an accomplishment.

  She frowned at his back. “What’s up with him?”

  “I don’t understand all of it, just that we’re maybe shooting holes in his future career prospects, while we also set them on fire.”

  “What, working for the Dark Lord isn’t his grand plan?”

  “Is it yours?”

  She shrugged. “It was a big promotion for me. And I get to stretch my skill set. Hopefully all of it is edible.”

  “I share that hope.”

  She started walking and waved back at him. “Well, you keep food coming and I’ll keep cooking it. Deal? At least until a king hires me away.”

  “Deal. Though I won’t promise it isn’t all going to be radishes.”

  “I’ll end up as skinny as everyone else around here if it is.” Her voice faded as she rounded the corner.

  What was she talking about? She was already abou
t as skinny as everyone else and… oh.

  Skeletons. Right.

  Ha.

  Egerton’s feet clacked on the stone floor. “The kitchens should be stocked for days.”

  “Great.” Cecil nodded. “Problem solved, then?”

  “Indeed.”

  Cecil tried to stifle a yawn, but it escaped anyway. “Anything else happen, or can the next problem wait until tomorrow?”

  “It seems the general has placed eyes on our activity. We’ve noticed several. They don’t seem to be hiding, or they are terrible at it.”

  “Well that was awfully nice of him.”

  “Nice, my lord?”

  “Yes.” He nodded as he started walking down the hallway. There where stairs somewhere. He’d find the kitchens, eat something, then find his chambers. By the time he got there he’d be tired enough to sleep if the tower was falling down. And on fire. “If they’re looking for trouble from us, they’re also looking for trouble around us.”

  “I… suppose?”

  Cecil stopped and patted Egerton on the shoulder. “You worry too much.”

  “That is categorically impossible, my lord.”

  He was trying, the poor man. But Cecil was in too good of a mood. He’d managed to do something good today. All of the craziness was waiting just over the horizon, true, but he’d proved that with a little bit of ingenuity and elbow grease, they could make something positive come out of all of this.

  Cecil’s chambers were dark when he finally made it up all the stairs. Egerton must be busy downstairs. He was more or less the one actually running the place. And why not? He had years of dark lord experience. He was doing a bang up job.

  He stifled another yawn with the last of the loaf of bread he had grabbed on his way by the kitchens. Bonnie had been hard at work by the time he’d happened by. She was organizing their haul and planning spaces for the next shipments. She ran a tight ship, not unlike Egerton. Cecil didn’t have any reservations about her. It had been an impulsive choice on his part as well as hers, but it had worked out.

  He hadn’t seen Murray or Lady Aldora. Probably planning a more formal dinner, but he just hadn’t had the energy. Not with knowing the climb that was ahead. He had been dragging his feet for three flights of stairs before he reached the top.

  “Should build a slide. And rig up some pulleys or something. Worked in the hay loft.”

  He didn’t even know where to begin looking for lights. And it didn’t matter. He sat down on the bed and kicked his boots off.

  A tiny voice in the back of his mind told him this was his chance. He could sneak out now and no one would be the wiser…

  Well, except for the armies of insomniac skeletons surrounding the place. He had the sneaking suspicion they would snitch to Egerton if he tried to run. And while they might be intimidating as all heck to people on the outside, walls worked both ways. He was just as stuck in here as they were outside.

  Well, at least he was safe.

  He almost jumped out of his skin when he noticed a dark silhouette in the doorway. He let out a sigh of relief when he noticed the traces of moonlight showing blond hair and bits of a red scarf.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t stay for supper. Been a heck of a day.” Cecil wiggled out of his coat. “I promise we’ll do a fancy breakfast or something. We’ve got plenty of food for a few days now, and more should be coming.”

  “Shh.” Lady Aldora had moved closer without a sound. She was standing just beside the bed, a hand held out with a finger touching his lips, the other held up doing the same gesture on her own.

  It was hard to make out much in the dark. He couldn’t see enough of her face to tell if she was angry. Given past experience, she probably was.

  This was… certainly a new way of showing it, though.

  He thought he caught a glimpse of a small smile as she shoved him back onto the bed.

  His knees felt too weak to move as she climbed on top of him.

  “Um, Lady Aldora, this is hardly appropriate…”

  “Shh.” She leaned closer, a finger pressed against his lips.

  She felt so warm next to him. Her weight wasn’t uncomfortable on top of him, but he wasn’t sure he could have moved her if he had wanted to.

  He could feel her cheek brush against his. Warm and soft. Her breath played over his ear. “Shh. Now listen closely…”

  There was something cold against his neck.

  It was difficult to make out in the dark, but a moment later her weight was gone entirely. She let out a short yelp.

  Moonlight flooded into the room as a curtain flapped violently, thrown about and drug out into the night, flapping in the breeze.

  A high pitched scream followed.

  The outline of a skeleton stood beside the open window.

  Cecil blinked a few times. He hadn’t had a second to think, let alone act. He bolted to his feet. “What…” He crossed to the open window. Red eyes were waiting in the dark.

  “You’re welcome, boss.”

  Cecil leaned out. He couldn’t see anything below… “You just… why would… Lady Aldora…”

  “Is downstairs.” Murray crossed his arms. “I don’t know who that was, but given the knife I saw, I figured it was best to not get too chatty. Didn’t want to give her a chance to grab you.”

  “Knife.” Cecil’s hand landed on his neck. It came away slick. A line of blood, black in the moonlight. “That… wasn’t Lady Aldora?”

  Murray scoffed. “No. It wasn’t.”

  Cecil looked back out the window. It was ten stories if it was one. More. No one could have survived that. “I didn’t hear a thud…”

  “It’s pretty far down, boss.” Murray shrugged. “And you thought she was Aldora? Oh, that’s right, I forget you can’t see very well in the dark.” Murray nodded. “Sucks to be mortal.”

  Cecil rubbed at his throat. He’d thought he was safe. Clearly he was not. “I think… I think I’ll sleep somewhere a bit more… crowded.”

  “Probably not a bad idea, boss. Seems like our good buddy Gomer might not be too thrilled with us after all.”

  Cecil grabbed a pillow from the pile. He stopped, his eyes on the bed.

  A dagger gleaned in the moonlight. Its edge had the tiniest trace of black blood on it. Cecil picked it up. “Another moment or two…”

  Murray took the knife from him. “Hey, no worries, boss. Don’t dwell on it. That way lies madness. I know, I’ve got a timeshare there. Let’s just head downstairs for now. We’ll make sure you’re somewhere under much stronger guard, and maybe without so many stairs.”

  “Yeah…” Cecil rubbed at his throat absently. His voice had a new and noticeable raspy quality to it. “Sounds good.”

  “Huh…” Tim rubbed at his chin. He was seated on an outcropping of crenelation on the side of the building. His other hand was covering Ani’s mouth. She was hyperventilating. Didn’t need noise giving away that she had survived and hadn’t fallen. Of course, if Tim hadn’t been waiting just outside the window, she’d be a pancake.

  She fought free of his grip, barely managing to keep her balance. They weren’t exactly on level ground. A low sound escaped clenched teeth as she seethed. “Oh that stupid skeleton…”

  Tim shook his head. “Forget it. Mission failure, sure, but we didn’t get caught and it sounded like they might blame this on Gomer. Works in our favor.”

  She glared at him. “Did you miss the part where that thing tried to kill me?”

  “Seemed fair to me. You were threatening his master.”

  “Threatening is not killing. Certainly not ejecting from the top of a building!”

  Tim laid his hand back over her mouth. “Professionalism, Ani.”

  She calmed down slowly, her eyes cutting back and forth. She sighed when he took his hand away. “Wasted opportunity. What do we do now?”

  “Well, first we find a way down. Second, we get the hell out of here. I think we have enough to report. I’m sure Redding will make some use
of what we’ve learned.”

  Ani glared at the window. “Going to kill that stupid skeleton.”

  Tim rolled his eyes. “Do you have any idea how stupid that sounded?”

  “Still going to.”

  “If it makes you feel better, we’ll push a few of them over on the way out or something.”

  20

  “An assassin? You’re sure?” Egerton was staring at Cecil and Murray wide eyed. They had ended up in the throne room, skeletons posted at every door, window, and stairwell on the floor. It was the same for the floor above and below. “It was years before anyone tried to assassinate me.”

  Murray nodded. “I’m sure. Personally gave her a flying lesson.”

  Lady Aldora tilted her head slightly. “Her?”

  The skeleton shrugged. “I’m an equal opportunity assassin assassinator. She snuck up on him by pretending to be you, by the way.”

  Lady Aldora frowned. “That is troubling. It means they know a great deal about us, down to how we look.”

  Egerton tapped a finger against his chin. “Clearly this was Gomer. He is the only one with the means, and he’s seen us face to face.”

  Lady Aldora shook her head. “Doubtful.”

  “Why? He has every reason.”

  “But he doesn’t have female soldiers.” She crossed her arms. “Greater Azul doesn’t allow women to serve in the armed forces. They are medics and run the camps, but never armed or trained to fight.”

  Egerton scoffed. “Such a rule would never have kept me from keeping assassins of all stripes.”

  “Yes, well, if you’ll forgive me Lord Egerton, you’re a little out of date. If one of ours stepped so far out of line he would lose the respect of his peers, which would almost certainly mean his career was over short of being made an ambassador to a very distant country.”

  Cecil was sitting on the ground behind his silly throne, the pillow he had brought beneath him. All of this was just happening way too fast. He didn’t know how to deal with it. For every positive there seemed to be a string of negatives. Not the least of which was the fact that his brush with death had forced him to realize death wasn’t the end for him. He’d be just like Murray and Egerton.