The High King: A Tale of Alus

by Wigboldy, Donald

  Terris retreated from the crest and waved the two men in his escort to follow. Staying low even when he had reached the valley floor, Terris moved as stealthily as he could. He didn't bother to check the other two. Both were woodsmen and Climon had served as a sniper for Caldor years ago in another war. Both knew how to move quietly and unobtrusively. To be seen or not, while still drawing no attention to one's self, could be difficult especially in times like these.

  They arrived at the far hill about the time he had specified. Watching for traces of the enemy, Terris let Climon lead the way around the base of the hill. They drew no weapons, though even now Terris could see no one. A sniper's arrow would be his only reward for drawing his sword, he knew however.

  "Halt!" a voice ordered from the darkness above them. "Identify yourselves as friend or foe."

  Terris smirked and replied, "It depends on who you are, sir. You have us at the disadvantage. Please identify yourselves first."

  "Yeomen for King Greggor. Now identify yourselves or feel an arrow through your cloaked chest."

  The former king pushed back his hood hoping the man had not lied. "I am with the resistance out of Marshalla."

  A flutter of movement from above him signaled the appearance of an archer in black. He motioned to Terris saying, "Produce the talisman that will identify you as a rebel."

  Forehead crumpling in confusion, he replied, "What are you talking about? We don't have a special talisman, medallion or even a birthmark, man. The king would have the resistance slain in days if we did."

  The archer smiled and raised his hand. Terris feared a flight of arrows would end their mission when he lowered his hand, but a rustle of movement from the trees around them proved his fears wrong as a half dozen archers came into the little clearing. The spokesman grinned, "Of course, you don't, but do you think that Marshalla's spies would know that?" The other men chuckled around him. The archer continued, "You would be surprised how many of his spies fall for that one. Either that or they chicken out entirely and look for somewhere else to try.

  "Some have the balls to try and bluff us. I've seen loaves of bread, tattoos, scars, and even more tries over the past month. You're the first to arrive that we didn't know that got that one right."

  He nodded, "It pays to know that the resistance has no tell-tale signs then. Being a rebel gives me that knowledge as you have guessed."

  The yeoman nodded and gestured for them to follow. A rustle in the trees above him alerted Terris to the fact that these half dozen were not the only ones still watching him. He had to admit that these men seemed prepared for treachery, even after passing their tests. The archer had begun to speak again, "I am Iylin, sergeant in the Maris armies. Who are you my rebel friend that I might speak with you more appropriately?"

  "Terris. These are Climon and Lucas," he made sure to say no more than that. The man had asked for only names anyway.

  Iylin noticed his reply for the minimal answer it was, but asked conversationally, "Terris, like the former king of the Cadmenes?"

  "Spelled the same, but they say that Merrick had him disappear," Terris replied cryptically. The former king would hardly give away that he was one in the same. Even if the man had been his people's closest ally, the rebel would have been loath to reveal himself and this man was still unknown to him.

  "A good answer," the sergeant stated simply. The man's eyes strayed to the others often as they walked through the quickly darkening light. The sounds of night birds were already making themselves known. No night animals were likely to be heard with the battle having been so near. "Why have you come to our land, Terris?" he stressed the name slightly though the former king couldn’t identify exactly why.

  "I come with news that may help your king and the desire to set up relations that may help both our peoples in their struggle against Merrick's oppression."

  The man stopped and gave him a questioning look. "Our peoples? We are Marisian. We allied with the armies of Sileoth and harbor thousands of their refugees. These are nations of people, but aren't your people the same as King Merrick's people?"

  Terris frowned at the accusation. He knew that it was meant to bait him. If his lands were in identical peril, he may have said the same as well, but Terris knew better. "Don't confuse the people living under his heel with being Merrick's people, Iylin. Every day more groups of resistance fighters try to find ways to help those being oppressed by the demon king. If it weren't for the gargoyles, dragons and those soldiers believing in his conquest, I think that the populations of all he has conquered would have risen up against him long ago. Unfortunately, many men look up to their king as leading them on an almost holy crusade to unite the world under one man. Peace and prosperity are one of his promises to the people."

  "Did you fall into one of those traps, Lord Terris?" the man asked with a smirk.

  He looked at the man calmly, "I never said I was a lord. I am not after all. Are you just a sergeant, sergeant?"

  The archer smiled and answered equally evasive, "As much as you are just a rebel, Terris."

  They said no more as the men moved steadily deeper behind Maris's army lines.

  Simon paced inside of Catiya's room impatiently. He hadn't believed what his younger brother had been drawn into this time. More incredible had been that, once he was made Allisand's protector, his brother had promptly left her alone with her ill father. Gerid had requested that Simon come along with him to the farm to discuss matters more thoroughly.

  Request was the polite term. Virtually ordered was more correct. `They had important things to discuss' Gerid had said. The first part of the evening he had seen almost nothing of his younger brother. The first hour had been spent at a family dinner, but Gerid and Catiya had excused themselves before it had truly begun and had their meals sent to the woman's suite.

  Feeling almost like a complete stranger, though the two families were soon to be united by marriage of the couple, Simon had sat quietly speaking to Finneas and Karma on one side of the table while the rest of the family and guests ignored him or gave brief stares. The news of Gerid's knighting had been shared. Carter seemed pleased that his daughter's future husband was becoming much more than he had ever hoped after the first declaration of their love.

  Catching snatches of the conversations swirling around the huge table, the discussion of how this affected everyone seemed to be foremost on everyone's mind. Simon saw the hypocrisy in their words. When he was a slave, he had been less than nothing. When his brother rose out of slavery to become commander of the fleet, he still wasn't good enough for Carter's daughter, but the man couldn't refuse his youngest. Gerid was powerful and rich enough to bear the mark of the family name now, Simon guessed.

  Now Gerid was a knight and admiral. Questions of whether Sama should marry him as a forced marriage was brought up. He held his tongue knowing that love was Gerid's foremost concern. Trying to make an alliance with the family through the eldest sister was out of the question.

  Simon had excused himself from the table at the earliest possible time trying to not look too rude. Arriving at Catiya's quarters, he had been let into their

  discussions of how to handle the new situation. Gerid nearly threw him into complete shock when he discussed some of his decisions.

  "Simon, will you do me a favor?" The elder sibling nodded slowly, "You know that I am here to help you, Gerid. It's what brothers do."

  The younger man returned the gesture and stated, "Good. I need you to arrange a shipment to go to Marshalla or somewhere else near to our homeland."

  "Why?"

  "I was hoping to send you or someone else to spy out what is going on in the land. I have heard rumors that Merrick has conquered Cadmene and Sileoth. He seems bent on taking the whole continent or at least the southern peninsula. If there are pockets of resistance or kings that we can offer to unite with there, we can do more damage without taxing our resources too far. At least, that is my goal."

  "What about Princess Allisand?"
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  "The princess? I need to work out some details with Carter and Karma yet, but I plan to bring some of his best men into the castle to act as extra security. Maybe Karma himself can come and act as her personal bodyguard, while I'm gone."

  "What? Where are you going? Don't you have to stay and help the royal family?"

  Gerid shrugged, "I have muscle and a large fleet. I can give her some protection, but having Karma there is probably as good as anything else that I can do. Magic isn't something that I can stop or even track down. I'll hire a wizard and talk to those the king already has in the castle. On my travels, I'll see if I can find more help, but we both know that this threat came from Kloste or one of its allies."

  "Gerid," he began to argue, "You have a duty to the king and princess."

  "And one thing that I have been ordered to do is to try and put an end to the pirates, brother. I can't be everywhere at once, so I have to do what I believe will help the kingdom and my own goals best."

  They had argued for hours. Catiya had stayed almost completely out of it. She wanted him to stay, of course. Gerid's son was growing quickly and his father was missing everything. The toddler considered the giant a stranger. Catiya was his mother and that was all he knew. She wanted him to be there for both of them, but the woman knew who she was marrying and all that went with him.

  His brother had been caught up in a unique destiny, Simon thought to himself. Everyone believed that the gods themselves must have intervened to have put him into such a life. Gerid conquered cities, built armadas, fought champions and rose ever higher in rank among a people that were not even his own. The fact that he was undying and perhaps immortal took the argument beyond basic human luck.

  The evening had ended and the knight had decided matters. Karma would serve the princess and Carter would provide any men that he needed. Both would gain favor with the royal family so Carter would be pleased with the idea and never question him. He was a knight and admiral now anyway. How could the man refuse?

  Simon would have protested his part in all this more, if he hadn't already been planning a trip to the north anyway. The elder brother would go himself and leave Leoltus in charge of the merchant's office. The former slave master had been removed from Carter's employ months ago and worked with Simon. The man was trustworthy to a fault and knew how to generate money almost as well as Simon now.

  The fleet would break up under Gerid's subcommanders while he sailed a smaller merchant vessel towards the pirate islands. Any conquests they made would only serve to strengthen them for a proposed attack on Merrick. That was not set, of course. Gerid wouldn't push things that far until he knew better about Rhearden's fate.

  With all that settled, Simon found himself in the smaller room in Catiya's suite. Pacing and muttering that things had gotten too far out of his control, the man wore himself out enough to finally lay down on the single sized bed. With his head still churning with the day’s events, Simon slept.

  Chapter 34- Planned Maneuvers

  A dozen men dressed in brown and red followed Gerid back to the capitol city the next day. Catiya rode along with little Simon in a black carriage drawn by a pair of graceful, black-haired mares. His fiancée had insisted that she go with her betrothed. He had promised to spend time with her and his son and Gerid didn't even fight her wishes. Spending extra time with her, before he was forced to leave once again, was fine with him.

  So it was the castle guards were surprised by the new knight's entourage when he returned. They simply had a squad of grooms and stable boys take care of the horses and carriage. A warning that Gerid was to be allowed free run of the castle had already been issued. He was expected. That the admiral was the king's protector, or at least his daughter's, was not necessarily as well known. The fragile hold of the monarchy was not to be discussed. Even if Colona died, Gerid figured that they would say nothing of the magical way that he had suffered.

  "Are you sure about this, Gerid?" Karma asked quietly as they entered the castle doors. "She asked for you as protector, not me. Will the princess agree to your leaving so soon?"

  Gerid shrugged, "I can serve her best by finding help for her father and leaving you to guard her while I do so. What can she say?" The real power that he had over the royal house was just dawning on both men when they were met by one of the many aides to the royal family.

  "Sir Gerid, the princess is awaiting your arrival." Looking at all the men in the colors of the Holtein house following behind, he added, "I don't think that she planned on so many to be with you, sir."

  Gerid nodded. "Have another page show my guards to my new suite. They'll bring my luggage and other things that I need. They'll stay there until I get a chance to get them places to stay."

  The steward called over another young man to escort his guards away. When Karma and Catiya remained by his side, the man gave him half a glare, but led them into the castle halls.

  Their final destination was a new place that he had not been to yet. A set of doors, with the royal crest set in gold upon the stained oak, was opened after a quick knock on its surface by their guide. Another man dressed the same as the first opened the doors and gestured them inside with a bow. The first man disappeared without a word.

  Princess Allisand, dressed in a dark blue dress with her long, dark hair flowing freely down her back and shoulders, came over from where she had been sitting with her ladies to greet him. She looked a little surprised to see Catiya and Karma, but asked only for an announcement.

  "This is my future brother-in-law, Karma Holtein. He is here with some of his men to act as your personal guard and to see if he can find your father's attacker. This woman is his sister and my lovely fiancée, Catiya Holtein. The little boy, who looks a lot like me, is my son Simon."

  The princess smiled politely and nodded to each as they bowed or curtsied. With his son's name announced, she added, "Named after your brother?"

  "I named him when I feared that I would never see my brother again. With his return, it gets a little confusing sometimes."

  Allisand nodded and gestured for them to follow her towards the fireplace where the chairs were arranged. It was too warm for a fire, but it remained a charming centerpiece for the room. The maidens all rose and left as they approached the chairs.

  After taking their seats, the princess asked, "What do we do now, Gerid?"

  "I have arranged what I could to help protect you and your father, your highness, but really all we can do is wait and hope that we find a cure for your father's illness. As I said, I have brought Karma here as your personal guard, if you'll accept him. A dozen more of his best men are in my suite right now. We can get uniforms for them like those of the rest of the castle guards, so that no one will notice the change overmuch."

  "Your face betrays that you may have bad news for me, Gerid," the woman stated gravely. "I would like to know what it is."

  "I am sending my brother on a personal mission to the north and I have to set sail to finish the charge of your father that he gave to me while he was still well. I will be gone, but I will also try to keep my eyes and ears open for another wizard that may be able to give me an answer to what has happened to the king."

  The princess' green eyes darkened even more than they had been when he arrived. The stress of the past weeks was eating away at the beautiful, young woman. She looked to be almost ten year older than her eighteen years or maybe even more. "You are leaving me," she sighed. "I had hoped for more from my protector. You said you would help less than a full day ago."

  "I know," he answered and stood with a feeling of nervous tension. Starting to pace, he stopped as Catiya touched his leg and gestured back to the chair. "I hate to leave you, but I leave you in excellent hands. He has been trained to be of more help than I in a castle. Karma is the likely successor to both the Holtein mercenaries and his family's holdings. He was groomed to be both warrior and scholar. I was told that his father was nearly knighted. The son of an almost knight will serve you well, I think.<
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  "Besides, as protector and an admiral, I have to see to the threat of the pirates."

  "Threat?" Allisand questioned angrily. "They harass shipping, but they hardly threaten our lands. This mission of yours will not save my father. I think that you do this for other reasons. Are you to fail me so soon, knight?"

  Gerid's eyes narrowed angrily in return. "Your highness, I told you that I can do nothing but try and keep you from the same fate as your father. Karma can do that for you. If need be, he can summon hundreds of soldiers to your defense from the mercenaries alone. His uncle and father are wealthy and well respected. Your armies would follow them, if you asked them to do so.

  "I am just a warrior, Allisand," the woman raised an eyebrow at the use of the familiar. "I can do more for you by sending my ships to various countries to search for a wizard's help than I can do for you here. You are right that the pirates are not a direct threat to this land, but your warships and merchants need the use of the water to keep your country strong."

  He paused to let her think upon that a moment before continuing, "There are many reasons that I need to try and find the pirates. First, we still do not have the proper powders to use their cannon at full power, which makes their ships more deadly than ours in a battle. Second, they must have wizards to produce such devices and they may have a cure for the king. Who knows, they might have cast the spell on him as well. Third, I have a distant hope that I might convince them to join me as allies. With their strength and our assistance we could offer them wealth and even lands in Kloste once we have defeated them. If we conquered Kloste, we would probably find the cure for your father, don't you think?"