The High King: A Tale of Alus

by Wigboldy, Donald

  Now Terris shook his head worriedly with no fear of repercussions, and the gesture was shared by several of the other men as well. "No hope of any reinforcements on this side?"

  Falack shook his head angrily. "Merrick has the combined strength of five countries from which to draw men for his armies. We have a fair sized land, but not the number of people to do more. If only Kardor had agreed to help us when we had asked last fall, then maybe we could hope to do more. The fools believe that if Merrick defeats us he won't continue on to Kardor, I guess."

  Terris patted the man on the shoulder saying, "No need to waste breath and hope on what we cannot have, my friend. I know that both kings sit at Oapril with the remaining two legions for what little worth they would actually be in the face of the main army's defeat here, but that is not going to change now. We'll have to make do. At least we have a chance if some of my plans bear fruit. A strong showing here could stop him and maybe even drive his men back for a time."

  "Maybe? Always you say this," Helton muttered. "Why do you listen to this former king, Falack? He lost his battles and now he looks to destroy us as well. He served Merrick for a time. How can we hope to trust this traitor?"

  Before Falack opened his mouth, Terris replied. His voice was quiet and steady. The force of his words caused the general to step back, "I do not deny that I served as a general for Merrick, but I did not serve him entirely willingly, did I? I saved those that I could from his killing sprees until finally he tried killing me. Now my daughter is left to him and my son rules a defeated kingdom.

  "His evil perpetuates itself as men of ambition come to serve the so called High King of the North. His sorcerers bring more of the demon spawn he calls gargoyles and their allies the dragons. I had no weapon capable of stopping him, Helton. What was I to do? Sacrifice all my people in a losing battle?

  "Your king had the same decision to make when Merrick rolled over your armies. He ran to Maris in the hopes of uniting there with allies to stop Merrick. He ran from Sileoth knowing that Merrick should not harm the people. The conqueror wants heads of rulers and their lands. He cares nothing about the people except that they serve him. And people, you may have noticed, follow whichever ruler takes the reins as long as he does not seek to kill or harm them.

  "I had no allies to turn to, Helton. My allies were crushed before I even had a chance to help them. Cardor was lost in a blink and its ruler shortly after his surrender. I couldn't turn to your king, could I? No, because even now I face the same hatred your people have shown mine since before I ever took the throne. Gideon wanted my land for whatever reasons he did, as his forebears had previously, but I never asked for the animosity. I just fought it.

  "Ask yourself what you would have done in my place. I had the hammer bearing down and the anvil below. What could have I done?"

  The general stood silent and stilled. After a moment he moved towards Terris and offered a hand. "Allies then. I do apologize for I had ever looked upon you as the enemy as you say."

  "Perhaps with a little more of that cooperation we just might have a chance today," Falack added and placed his hand over the others. "Now my allies let's see if all is as ready as we can make it."

  Merrick smiled for the first time in days. The five thousand horsemen had finally arrived. If that couldn't sway things, then the report of the partially successful attack on the mages should. He knew that a few of the gargoyles had died. Some of the great beasts seemed fearful of the losses, but that mattered little to the selfstyled High King. So what if they could slay some of the gargoyles, they could do little to the dragons. The beasts would prevent any real losses as they stomped through the enemy lines.

  They were beaten, even if they didn't already know it. His spies had confirmed that most of the enemy appeared half defeated already. The wolf's grin took its place briefly before the man could rein in his joyfulness. This would be the day that the enemy's main forces fell before him. They had drawn matters out too long already with their annoying golem magic. Now he wouldn't have enough time to break the kings at Oapril and still have enough time to defeat Kardor.

  "High King Merrick." The addressee turned to see his general, Bragus, kneeling obediently before him. "Yes," he replied, "what is it, Bragus?"

  "You wanted to be alerted when the lines were drawn. You said that you wanted to be the one to give the order to crush the enemy."

  "Yes, I did. Thank you. Now rise and let's see how my army looks today. They should look magnificent on this day of proposed victory. Don't you agree?"

  "Of course, your majesty, you are always correct, I have noted."

  The High King waved off the obvious attempt at a compliment. "Yes, yes, now let me see. The scene should be glorious from my viewing hill." He topped the nearby rise to look down on the two armies facing off in the valley below. The dragons and gargoyles stood out from the mass of his human armies. The masses themselves were impressive, but with the daunting winged giants and the awe inspiring lizards interspersed here and there... There just weren't words for the sight.

  He looked west to the lines of Sileoth and Maris. Little more than a dozen golems stood amongst the enemy ranks. Rather than towering might, Merrick looked at them, so few in number, and considered how pathetic they looked before his legions.

  Nodding his satisfaction, he motioned for his horn player to sound the charge. They would fall today, he decided. They were too few and too weak to face his troops.

  The horn blared loudly in the early morning air. The gargoyles and dragons surged forward first but quickly the human masses formed like an arrow pointed straight at the heart of the enemy forces.

  Flags raised among the enemy signaling their forces. That was different from the norm, but not the first time it had been done. The last time Merrick had seen them use it, had been a victory for he and his army, the conqueror thought merrily. A good sign for this battle, he was sure.

  Men clashed. Horses screamed and kicked. Golems slew many before being hacked apart by mightier foes. Gargoyles found knots of men that could slay them. Spearmen mixed with swords found in threes and fours in hacking and slashing combinations that caused lesser gargoyle warriors to leave openings. Those fell while some of the others formed into gargoyle trios to counteract the smaller creatures' attacks.

  Thus countered by strength and numbers, the men were forced to give ground.

  Archers from both sides struck their targets. Maris's men found their arrows all but useless when a group of dragons formed on either flank and tore into the men with tooth and claw. A golem was caught there and the dragons crushed it as well.

  Merrick wasn't sure when he realized that a large group was missing from his army. He couldn't figure out who could be missing at first and then he realized that most of the Cadmene knights had disappeared.

  The High King would have been more angry if the battle wasn't going so well otherwise. Sileans and Marisians both died and fell back in a losing battle. Many began to run only to be brought down by arrow, sword or otherworldly killers.

  Mages on both sides tried their spells. The High King's men were more numerous and healthy, however, while those of Maris fought hurt and tired. Arrows and magic killed more of his enemies and Merrick grinned the wolfish grin once more.

  Less than half the morning had passed before his enemies were forced from the field. Many soldiers surrendered to his men. They had had enough. More ran and of those many died a coward's death as arrows and swords found their backs.

  Soon the field was left to his men. The day was won and the enemy lay broken, bleeding and dying. It was a good day as he saw it.

  Terris rode atop one of the fallen knights' horse. His former soldiers looked to him and the losses that Maris and Sileoth had suffered and wondered at what they had just done.

  No longer on the winning side and soon to be hunted by Merrick, many of the men looked ready to throw themselves on the conqueror's mercy, though they all knew that he had none.

  "Don't fret, men,
I won't lead you wrong again. King Merrick can be beaten. He was brought to a standstill once and he can be fully defeated, I know it. An army run by such a man can come to no other end than defeat." Terris's words sounded thin even to him, but many of the men turned to him with renewed hope in their eyes.

  He did tend to believe his words. A man like Merrick ruled people by fear and such had been the case throughout history of just such men losing to their own corruption. Terris just prayed that he would still be alive when that happened, because history also had men that ruled and passed on their dynasties to their children also.

  That thought brought anger to the former king. He could not bear the thought of one of that man's children being related to his own. Terris prayed, not for the first time, that Alyanna would be spared the agonies of raising that man's child. Being barren forever would be less painful he was certain.

  Terris wondered how his children were doing. Their lives had been far from what he had hoped to give them. Peace had always been the former king's desire, whether peace with Sileoth or this newest enemy. The man just wanted to be able to rest and leave the world knowing that Relnar and Alyanna could enjoy peace.

  Her face came to him as did that of his wife, Xadria. Maybe he could send both women notes through the resistance. How the former king wished that he could see them both again.

  Sighing quietly, Terris led his knights in secret towards the west and Oapril.

  Chapter 43- Exposed Truths

  Krulir had watched the queen closely ever since the woman had shown up naked at his door and taken his serving girl. It wasn't because of the lost girl, though he had not appreciated the move against him, of course. No, it was more that such a show of defiance could only be one of two things: true defiance or lunacy. He chose to believe the former of one of Terris's brood. The woman seemed entirely too willful and determined to undermine the respect given Marshalla's High King.

  The vizier had lost his spies within the woman's ladies in waiting. Now he was forced to use other means. The guards had been his first choice, but the men could tell him little, especially when the queen had made her cousin captain of her guards.

  The lesser guards were never able to catch what secrets the queen kept or what plots may have been hatched. So Krulir watched, listened and otherwise just waited for Alyanna to foul up completely. The woman skated on thin enough ice with Merrick as it was, so the vizier felt safe to believe that she would make a fatal misstep soon enough.

  Alyanna's return from the lake had been noted. His spies told of her charity to the peasants, but that in itself would not bury her. The vizier himself gave alms because he knew that a little giving kept the people happy enough. A revolt would only serve Merrick's enemies after all, if the king had to bring the armies back just to put down a rebellion.

  The woman's strange smile that day had caused the vizier to wonder most of all when she had returned. It was not the smile of one who had pulled a trick or scheme that had gone well. He could not put a finger on the emotion entirely, but he could have sworn that it was love. Such a thing should be impossible, since his spies told him that she was never alone enough to have found someone.

  Alyanna had only slipped out of sight once and that with some merchant ambassador. Such as he could not interest the beauty could he? After all, the man left to return south shortly after his meeting with the queen.

  Krulir was annoyed that she had been able to send someone like that away. An ambassador from Taltan could have proved a boon to Merrick's bid for rule, but there would come a time when an alliance could be made again. Such was the nature of politics that a neutral party would mean little either way in the king's bid for conquest.

  With that in mind, the vizier set to waiting for the mistake that would doom the woman. One of Terris's spawn so near the true throne of power made him uneasy. If it came down to it, Krulir would have the woman killed before she could ever rule, but it was not his place to remove her before his king asked.

  Unless, of course, the High King no longer served his purpose either. But no, he could not do that now. Krulir was getting too old to care for being king and he had no children of his own to extend his rule. Merrick was as close to a child that the vizier had or even wanted.

  Shaking his head, Krulir sought different thoughts. He was hunting a traitor, not trying to become one himself.

  "You just wait, my lovely, little queen. When you make your mistake, I will make you pay long and hard. You’ll pray for death, but I will not give it to you, my plaything. You just wait and see."

  "What did you speak about with my brother, my queen?"

  Alyanna shook her head. Looking out the window at the pleasant morning scenes of a city not thinking of war had caused her to daydream. Turning to look at Serra, she questioned, "I'm sorry? What did you ask, Serra?"

  The younger woman sat cross-legged on the bed in her usual lack of clothing. The single piece of silk used to partially conceal her thighs did little to keep one warm, but the weather was still reasonably nice so the stone of the castle was more tolerable than some days. Alyanna wore one of her blue, silk robes, though it was not tied.

  "I asked what you talked to Simon about?" the girl asked trying not to sound annoyed. Friends or not, Alyanna was still queen.

  "Ah," was the first contemplative answer. The woman touched her lips in both memory as well as an attempt to cover a smile. After a moment, she continued, "He talked of how your brother Gerid wishes to come back with an army to fight Merrick. I guess that he has become quite an amazing warrior since escaping Marshalla.

  "Simon said that your brother just became an official admiral for Rhearden as well as personal knight protector of the king himself. I have never heard of such a title being given to a commoner, but I admit that I do not know the exact politics of Taltan. I was about to study them when Merrick and I found ourselves wed." The woman grimaced at her own reminder of the man she had come to loathe. "I don't think that he can truly raise that big of an army let alone ship them here, but I give him blessing for at least wanting to try."

  "You think that Merrick can't be beaten?"

  "I just doubt that any man will be his downfall aside from Merrick himself. How can I think otherwise? True generals and kings fall before Merrick and his demons. How can anyone seriously hope to bring enough power to bear from across an ocean when Merrick governs the lands?"

  Serra's nose crinkled in thought before she said, "I am no warrior or tactician either, but there is a lot of land for Merrick to try and keep under his thumb. Can't a fleet of ships land where he is not and set out from there?"

  "Food." "Huh?"

  "How will your brother keep supply lines open long enough to keep his armies moving against Merrick should he ever get here? Again I say that Merrick controls the land, not just its people. Your brother can not grow crops and hope to have his men fed while still fighting the armies here.

  "Meanwhile the gargoyles and dragons and all the rest of the human soldiers get their food from those already beaten. They just have to fight while the king's people keep him supplied. So now do you understand just what your brother faces?"

  Serra frowned. "Then why do you bother resisting him, Alyanna? If he cannot be beaten by anyone other than himself while the gargoyles remain loyal enough to him, then why fight him? Those refugees that killed those wizards and soldiers said that they would not fight their warlord. Kar'esh rules his people. They escaped a dying planet, but they still serve their word of honor.

  "Where else can our hope come from? I think that perhaps my brothers can find a way to hurt Merrick. Or at least I still have hope that they can. If anyone could come through what has happened to our family, it would be those two."

  Alyanna sat beside the girl and gave her a hug. "I hope that you are right even though I fear it is

  impossible."

  The door opened and Baitrum called inside, "Is it all right to come in, your majesty?"

  "Of course, captain, there is little rea
son that you should ever be unable to come in."

  The door was shut tightly again and Baitrum grinned, "I guess finding you indecent would be almost unheard of seeing as you walk the city naked as you do. Morning, Serra," he added to the pretty blond beside his cousin. Alyanna smiled the same smile she had since meeting Simon, but the captain had a feeling this look was for him. There was nothing going on between him and the girl, but the queen always seemed to think so. Though the sight of the girl's beautiful form still tended to cause his heart to beat a little faster every time he was in her presence.

  Swallowing his emotions, Baitrum looked back to his cousin's face. The man hoped that he was not blushing. Alyanna's smile seemed to widen, though, if he measured it, the lieutenant would probably find that it had not. "Oh, I intercepted a message that will go out to the entire city by this evening. Merrick defeated Maris and Sileoth. The message said all the golem wizards are dead and the armies are routed or slain."

  Both women looked saddened.

  "I'm sorry that it isn't good news, my ladies," the man apologized.

  "You cannot help was has already happened," the queen sighed and looked at Serra with a look that told her that all was as she had said.

  Serra rose angrily to her feet. "I was right," she declared. "You are giving up! I never thought that you could give up so easily. My brother would never love someone who could give up so easily!"

  Shock showed plainly on the queen's face. A pair of gasps hissed in the quiet room at the girl's words. "How could you say such a thing? I have never said anything about your brother, nor have I said that I give up. As my friend, I would have thought you knew me better.

  "I love your brother as much as you love say... Baitrum," Alyanna wished she could take back the words immediately. She had no knowledge that they cared for each other aside from a few blushes and lingering looks. All her women received stares of longing from men and Baitrum was handsome enough for women to take an interest in as well. "I'm sorry. I did not mean to say such a thing about the two of you."