by N. C. Reed
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PARNO’S DESTINY
The Black Sheep of Soulan: Book 2
by N.C. REED
Published by Creative Texts Publishers
PO Box 50
Barto, PA 19504
www.creativetexts.com
Copyright 2016 by N.C. REED
All rights reserved
Cover photos used by license.
Cover design credit: Daniel Edwards
This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission of the publisher, except as provided by United States of America copyright law.
The following is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual names, persons, businesses, and incidents is strictly coincidental. Locations are used only in the general sense and do not represent the real place in actuality.
ISBN: 978-0692679685
PARNO’S
DESTINY
N.C. Reed
CHAPTER ONE
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“I don’t understand why you don’t want me with you! You may need me!”
Parno McLeod, youngest son of Tammon McLeod, King of Soulan, and newly appointed Lord Marshal of the Army, rubbed the space between his eyes as he tried to reason with Doctor Stephanie Corsin-Freeman.
“I have explained this before,” he said patiently. “It isn’t that I don’t want you with me. In fact, your absence may very well be the death of some of my own men. But I need you here, training new field surgeons, much more. The few lives you might save in the West may well pale in comparison with the lives your trainees save in the years ahead.”
“Years?” Freeman was taken aback by that. “But. . .but I thought. . .I mean you completely destroyed the enemy at the Gap, Parno! How much longer can the war last, with that done?”
“Stephanie, we destroyed only a small part of the Army that the Nor have arrayed against us. That field army was a bold dash, at best. An attempt to end the war early by conquering the heartland of the Kingdom. There are two much larger armies attacking us in the West. And so far, they are prevailing. Slowly, yes, but they advance each day.”
“The Nor Emperor has put too much into this effort to quit. He has devoted years to this one task; to enslave us, or destroy us. He will not stop until he has done that, or we have completely defeated him. There can be no peace between our peoples, so long as their Imperial line remains intact.”
“All the more reason I should be with you, then!” Freeman rallied. “You need me. If something were to happen to you, then we might all suffer the consequences.”
“You know that’s not true,” Parno replied, uncomfortable with the importance she placed on him. “There are many fine generals who can command at least as ably as I can. Certainly some can command better, in fact.”
“But you are the one who has produced a victory,” Freeman snapped back. “None of them have.”
Parno nodded in silent acknowledgment of that fact. His victory at the Gap, Pyrrhic though it was, had been a clear victory. But he knew that the war in the west would be different. Bloodier.
Much bloodier.
In the western lands he would have no natural barriers on which to base his defense. Wide open territory favored an aggressive attacker, with no cities to defend. He could move about at will, and not worry about what his enemy did.
“You aren’t going,” Parno said finally. “Period. You were at the Gap. Wasn’t that enough combat for a lifetime?” It was for me, he didn’t add.
Freeman sighed heavily, almost in defeat. She knew Parno was right. That didn’t mean she had to like it.
“Very well, Parno McLeod,” she said at last. “But if anything happens to you, if you die, I’ll. . . .” she trailed off, as if she had suddenly revealed more than she had meant to.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” he said seriously. In truth, he wished she were able to go. He would miss her, more than he wanted to admit. Despite their having gotten off to a rocky start, the two had settled into a fairly comfortable relationship. One that had grown considerably in the last few months.
“You had better,” was all Freeman could muster.
“I appreciate the work you’re doing,” Parno offered an olive branch. “My men appreciate it too. If not for you, many of them would be lying at the Gap, instead of recovering in the hospital.”
*****
Parno McLeod looked at the assembled men before him. Where once there would have been an entire regiment of his now famed Black Sheep, there was barely a battalion remaining. Their losses at The Gap had been less than the other units involved, but they had been grievous none the less. After the hasty reorganization of the remaining forces, there were two battalions of men assembled before him.
The remaining Black Sheep would accompany him to the front where 2nd Corps was locked in combat with a large enemy force in the western part of the Kenty and Tinsee provinces. Just two days prior Parno’s father, King Tammon of Soulan, had appointed Parno Lord Marshall of the Army of Soulan, commander of all military forces in the kingdom. A post once held by his brother, Therron.
But Therron would soon be relieved, by the Inspector General no less, for gross insubordination. He would be stripped of not only his duties and title, but also of his place as Heir Secondary to the throne of Soulan. Parno hoped that everything would be done by the time he reached the front.
The other battalion was an ad hoc formation consisting of the survivors of the other units involved at the battle of The Gap. Led by Colonel Bret Chad, these men would delve into the Kent province, hoping to retrieve their families from underneath the Norland forces now occupying most of their province. It was a dangerous mission, but one that Parno had promised them they could undertake as soon as possible. He owed them nothing less after their heroic efforts to prevent the large Norland army from invading the heartland of the Soulan Kingdom through the lightly guarded Gap. With that done, they would return their families to Cove Canton, and remain as a guard for the families and facilities there, while training, and refitting, as a battalion in Parno’s own regiment.
“Morning, milord,” Karls Willard, commander of Parno’s Black Sheep, spoke as he rode up beside Parno.
“Good morning, Karls,” Parno replied, broken from his reverie. “Are we ready?”
“That we are, milord,” Karls’ brother, Enri replied from beside him. Enri had been promoted from his position as Captain of the House Guard to Brigadier, and was now Parno’s top military adviser.
“Captain Parsons has made arrangements for a squad of his Scouts, under Lieutenant James, to accompany Chad’s men into Kent,” Karls nodded. “They can depart at any time as well.”
“Excellent,” Parno nodded. He looked around for a moment, as if seeking comment from someone else, then caught himself. Darvo Nidiad wasn’t there.
Not anymore, he thought sadly to himself. I saw to that, didn’t I?
Darvo Nidiad had been Parno’s retainer since the young prince had been out of diapers. Losing him at The Gap had struck Parno harder than anything else in his entire life had. But there was another presence now, as there had been then, to take up at least some of the enormous space left by the death of the wise old soldier.
&
nbsp; “I believe we are in readiness, Parno,” Cho Feng said softly. Feng had been a prisoner in the Jax Territorial Prison when Parno had started to recruit his new regiment, what seemed like so long ago. Impressed by the Oriental’s demeanor, Parno had taken him from the prison that very day. Feng had been a fountain of military knowledge, having served as a training officer in his own nation’s Imperial Army. His conditioning techniques and sword training had been invaluable to the men in Parno’s regiment. His wealth of strategic knowledge has been even more valuable to the young Prince, who found himself thrust into a life and death struggle to defend his homeland.
Feng’s presence did nothing to ease Nidiad’s absence, but it was a comfort to Parno, none the less. He had learned not only to trust, but to depend upon Feng.
“Very well,” Parno nodded, leaving his thoughts about his old friend behind. “Let’s get under way.” He spurred his horse over to where Colonel Chad sat, conferring with his new officers. The battalion he would lead was fragmented by the fact that the men under his command were from five different organizations. Organizations that had all but ceased to exist at the Gap.
“Bret,” Parno spoke easily as he reined in by Chad’s side.
“Milord,” Chad smiled. Chad had once had the same opinion of Parno as most people in Soulan. The Prince was likable enough, but little more than a womanizing, brawling playboy. That attitude had changed forever during the battle. Chad and his surviving troopers owed Parno their lives and more.
“Any problems?”
“None but the normal, milord,” Chad shrugged. “We’ll have our organization difficulties squared away on the trail. We’ll overnight at the Gap, then head on into Kent. My main concern is that some of the Nor army that hit us there will still be in the field. I don’t expect any organized resistance, but I do expect to encounter bands of soldiers acting as brigands and the like. We’ll avoid them where possible, until our mission is finished. After that, we’ll do what we can to run them to heel.”
“Do nothing to endanger your men, or your families,” Parno ordered. “We’ll repair whatever damage they can do. Once your men are refitted and retrained, you have my permission to take your unit back into Kent at your discretion and destroy any roaming bands you find.” Chad’s face split into a predatory grin at that.
“Aye, milord. It will be as you say.”
“Godspeed then, Colonel,” Parno extended his hand. Chad took it, nodding.
“Thank you, milord.”
“Karls,” Parno spoke as he reigned his horse around. “Let’s be about it then.”
“Column of fours Major Seymour,” the younger Willard ordered. The battalion snapped around at the order, and the troopers began filing out of Cove Canton, on their way west.
Toward the war.
*****
Stephanie Corsin watched them go, a single tear trailing down her cheek. She cared very deeply for Parno McLeod. She acknowledged that only when she was alone in her thoughts, but recognized the truth of it none-the-less. She had come here only because Roda Finn had promised her she would be teaching real world medicine to field surgeons who would undoubtedly save many lives on future battlefields. It had been a challenge she could not turn down.
She hadn’t thought much of Parno then. But seeing him in action, day after day, had slowly changed her opinion of him. Now, she truly didn’t know what she would do if something were to happen to him.
And Parno seemed intent on ignoring her. Well, not ignoring, but. . .he seemed singularly uninterested in pursuing any sort of relationship with her. She knew the war and his new responsibilities weighed heavily on him, but still.
Suddenly inspiration struck her. There was one person she knew who held great sway over the Prince. And that someone was close by.
She would visit the Duchess of Cumberland.
*****
“Milord, there’s little doubt we’re heading into a rare mess,” Enri Willard commented as he rode beside the Prince.
“Do you mean the steadily advancing enemy, or the fact that my brother has been relieved of his post?” Parno asked, just short of being sarcastic.
“Either. Both.”
“I know,” Parno sighed. “But orders are orders. The King has decreed all this, Enri. And we have to stop the Nor advance. They are already too deeply into our territory. Every day they remain renders valuable crop land useless to us, and gives them time to establish themselves. Even if we drive them out right away, how many spies and saboteurs will they have left behind?”
“We’ll root them out, Parno,” Karls said grimly. Enri shot a warning glance at his brother, hearing him address the Lord Marshall so familiarly. Karls ignored him. He had earned his familiarity to Parno, and Parno encouraged it. Karls Willard was far more than the commander of Parno’s personal regiment. He was the brother that Parno had always wanted but never had.
“I know, Karls,” Parno nodded. “But what damage might they cause in the meantime? Meanwhile, there is a Nor army camped upon our land. One that outnumbers us greatly and is better trained than any we’ve ever faced. At the Gap, we had terrain on our side and Roda’s wizardry. On the plains, we’ll have neither. Not for a while, anyway.”
Roda Finn, the cackling genius whose hard work had enabled the small force to hold the Gap against such overwhelming odds, was even now on his way to Nasil with a ten-man escort and a King’s Writ to establish a larger, better equipped laboratory and factory with which to develop and produce his weaponry. If Soulan was to have any chance to win the war, they needed Finn’s weapons.
There was more they needed, too. The physical training given the men in Parno’s Black Sheep had proven its worth over and over during the four-day battle at The Gap. Their hellish training regimen had toughened the soldiers in Parno’s regiment to the point that even on the fourth day, as they stood back to back being over-run, they were a match for any two or three Nor attackers.
That was toughness Parno intended to pass on to the rest of the Soulan Army. Parno had never imagined he would find himself in a position of authority in his father’s government, let alone the Lord Marshall of the Army of Soulan. He had been the despised son for all his life and had expected that to remain the case. But in the space of week, that had all changed.
Parno intended to use his new authority over the Soulan Military to make the Army of Soulan the strongest, toughest and best equipped force on the continent if not the world. Never again so long as he could help it would his people suffer an invasion by the Nor. He would work to pass that ethic along to every soldier in the army, from the highest general to the rawest recruit.
First however, he had to ensure that there was a Soulan to defend. And at the moment that looked to be a daunting task. Soulan was under attack by forces that greatly outnumbered their own. To make matters worse, the Nor army was better trained and equipped than ever before.
And for the first time, the Nor had allied themselves with the Wild Tribes of the West. The Wildland folk were ferocious fighters, though they often lacked the discipline to fight as a cohesive unit. For generations parents had used the specter of the Wild Folk to frighten their children against bad behavior. Those threats were now a reality that no one wanted to think about.
So far, the Soulan Third Corps and its attached Militia units were holding the Nor on their own side of the Great River. Parno didn’t know how long that would last, but he had to hope that General Raines could continue holding because he needed to concentrate on the more immediate threat.
A huge Nor army, numbering somewhere around two hundred thousand, was steadily pushing the First and Second Army Corps south. Already the Nor were into the Tinsee Valley, and they gained ground nearly every day. It was all General Davies could do to slow the advancing Nor juggernaut. Pushing them back seemed impossible, for now.
And the King, Parno’s father, expected him to change that. The fact that for once he had Tammon McLeod’s confidence did nothing to bolster Parno’s own. Right now, he
didn’t see a way to make his father’s wishes into a reality.
*****
The Soulan Army Headquarters in the Field was a busy place, with couriers arriving and leaving almost constantly bearing dispatches, orders, and reports. The arrival of the Inspector General and his entourage was not unnoticed, but no one really thought much of it, either. Just another General.
But this was much more serious. The Inspector General’s face was set in a grim frown as he and his personal aides approached the Headquarters tent of 2nd Corps. Davies looked up as the Inspector General entered, and stood, saluting.
“General Brock,” Davies spoke. “We weren’t expecting you, sir.”
“I know,” Brock returned the salute. “There’s a reason for that. I have sealed orders for you from the King himself.” He handed over a simple leather folder, which Davies took with some trepidation. He opened the folder, removing a single document sealed with the King’s seal.
With trembling fingers, Davies opened the document. Was it his recall? He had lost the bridges at Lovil after all, and was currently losing ground almost daily against the Nor advance. Casualties had been very heavy as well.
He read the letter through, his face growing pale as the impact of the orders hit him. He looked up at Brock, who remained stone faced, then back to the letter, reading it again. Finally, with a long held breath rushing out, he sat heavily in his chair.
“I. . .I don’t. . . .” he trailed off, unable to find the words.
“I know,” Brock nodded. “I was the same way. But the evidence is. . .well, it’s true.”
“What do you need from me?” Davies asked.
“The Prince’s Own must be contained until this is over,” Brock said simply. “I realize that your forces are strained, but I can’t have them interfering. Understand?” Davies nodded.
“I have sufficient forces to. . .to ensure that they aren’t an issue,” he informed the Inspector. “I would never have imagined. . . .”
