The Lord of Defense answered, “She had been staying at the royal palace and some reports speculate that she was going back to Arigold to reclaim her castle. Our people in Sevring reported seeing her leave but no one seems to know how to follow a woman, it should seem. Some say Queen Leimur took a real liking to her and supplied her with a small army to reclaim Arigold.”
I don’t know how the Queen took such a liking to her. If only mother knew she was widely regarded as a bitchy Princess. How could she make peace with our sworn enemy? She saw how those pigs butchered our citizens in the border wars. They maimed our brothers and sisters of Burkeville and she reconciles and sleeps in our enemy’s palace. She left Telly for dead and couldn’t care less about me but she was certain to rescue the boys. My father was too much of an influence over her. She makes my blood boil. I truly cannot believe I came from her.
About one quarter of their contingent had crossed the bridge that intersected the Deerfield River. They came to a stop as the narrow passage backed up the brigade. She thought of what to say if Lord Nanbert offered her the hospitality of his castle for a night. Oh no, we are already behind time. We couldn’t possibly put you out like that. Sorry, but we have a throne to capture to make sure you have that lofty appointment.
She looked out the window and could only see green grass. Elisa still couldn’t figure out if Lady Victoriah was setting her up. After what had happened growing up and at the King’s Castle, Elisa had become defensive and expected that everyone would try to use her again. She couldn’t peer through her veil and the lady’s to see a crack in her armor. I won’t let you use me. I’ve tasted salty tears for far too long. It’s time to taste victory no matter the cost.
About one-half of her party had made its way across. Elisa heard a thundering stampede and the earth began to quake. She thought it was Lord Nanbert’s men coming to greet her, but they were screaming wildly. Her heart sank when sounds of unforgiving steel on steel echoed in her ears. Next came the primal screams of men either dying or being severely injured.
“That crapulous son of a bitch has ambushed us,” Lady Victoriah announced and pulled out two short daggers with leather sheaths that were stashed under a pillow.
She handed one to Elisa and clutched the other in her right hand.
Lord Deerheart proclaimed confidently, “I’ll go put a stop to this.”
He jumped out of the coach and Elisa quickly shut and locked the door behind the Lord of Defense as Lady Victoriah boarded up the open window. She received a sudden jolt when a spray of blood stained the thin canvas door. Lord Deerheart’s dead body crashed into the coach, slid down to the ground and lay still.
A bloody sword blade cut through the curtain of an open window and a voice said, “Come out peacefully and we won’t kill you. Stay inside and you can play dodge the incoming sword. Not a fun game, but it’s your choice, ladies.”
Lady Victoriah looked at Elisa and said, “Hide the dagger. They won’t kill us, I hope. We carry too much value.”
The lady opened the door and the two women slowly emerged from the coach into a scene of utter chaos. Elisa could hear the sounds of fighting from all directions in the near distance. The ladies were immediately surrounded by seven men wearing boiled leather and ring mail jackets with green sleeveless surcoats emblazoned with the Nanbert perched cardinal. Their drawn swords deterred Elisa from trying anything with the dagger in her waistline.
Out of nowhere, Sir Petyr the Powerful caught one man from behind and took his head clean off. The man’s gambeson wasn’t properly secured and Petyr seized the opening. The Cloverfoot soldiers moved to surround Petyr but the giant’s enormous sword was making looping strikes around his whole body to provide a natural shield. Petyr kept pirouetting to keep his opponents at bay.
Elisa didn’t understand this fighting. All the songs and stories talked about how two honorable men fought a one-on-one battle. The winner would then face another man but six on one was hardly chivalrous. Two men simultaneously rushed Petyr, but her hulking guard defended it gracefully. He crouched to avoid a blade to the head and attacked with a long cross stroke that sliced the knees of three men standing too close. The soldiers of Cloverfoot had a gap in protection around their knees because they thought it slowed a man down on the march. The battle raged on around her as the three remaining men tried to fell Petyr. A short soldier rushed at her guard and he used the back of his sword hand with lightning-strike quickness to knock off the opponent’s battle helm. Petyr used his left hand to draw a long dagger and thrust it into his dazed enemy’s chin. Petyr drove the blade in and left the knife to step back and defend himself. Petyr the Powerful was now tiring and the two men seized in on him and attacked with reckless abandon.
Her guard had little trouble fending off the dual offensive until he slipped on something and went down to one knee. He tried to jump back to his feet but his opponents were relentless. One of the men hit Petyr on the earhole with the flat of a sword blade. He stumbled to his feet, only to fall again, never to get up. The bloodied men were breathing heavily as they turned their attention back to the ladies.
Why didn’t we run? But where would we go? Elisa’s scattered thoughts and erratic heartbeat caused her to sweat on this brisk autumn day. The Cloverfoot men pushed the ladies near the edge of the coach.
A particularly ugly man with missing teeth licked his lips and said, “Guess who’s going to King Jon? And guess who’s gonna be a lord soon? We gonna be wealfy for the rest of our days I should think.”
The other man said, “You thought your giant could save you, but you was wrong.”
Elisa corrected the man, “It’s we’re wrong not was. It’s proper speaking.”
The ugly man started to laugh and said, “I don’t fink you is in any type a standing to correct us right now. Pretty soon your whole army will be dead. So unless you want us to only take your pretty littl’ head back to the Capitol, keep that mouf shut.”
Elisa stared at the man and said, “I will never.”
A wide green blade sliced through mail, boiled leather and bone, emerging from the chest of the ugly man.
A-Brehan
His body screamed at him. Give up. Stop now. Kneel or you will die. Brehan ignored the excruciating pain and struggled to pull Dragon-Bite out of the dead man. He gave up and grabbed the fallen opponent’s sword before the other man could seize a chance. The bigger sword proved to be even heavier than his, and Brehan struggled to fight off the attack of the last remaining Cloverfoot soldier. Love allowed him to hold onto life. He thought this heroic act might change Elisa’s heart and make her love him again, and if he died trying, then so be it. He fought valiantly with every last bit of courage he could muster but knew it would all be in vain. Despite the long battle his opponent had already endured, Brehan’s pre-existing injuries were going to lead to his death. A loud thumping noise caused his enemy to drop his sword and go down to his knees. Brehan looked around to see a couple hundred oncoming members of Elisa’s cavalry. Brehan started to see bright lights and streaks of different colors while his body felt like it was on fire. He collapsed and twitched for a few moments before lying still.
Elisa
Elisa screamed for someone to get a count or apothecary to help Brehan. Elisa’s soldiers tried to get her and the lady into the coach until she realized something and stopped the men. “Has anyone seen my sister? Oh Gods, where is Telly?”
Elisa started to cry until a huge knight came up on horseback with her sister and the queen dried her tears and hugged Telly. Elisa commanded her men to help get Brehan into the coach. As Elisa entered the coach with Telly, she peeked back and saw that hundreds of men had formed a wall around their queen.
Her heart raced out of control as she waited. Brehan was barely breathing and she hated herself for being the cause of his hideous looks and almost getting him killed again. Another hour went by and Elisa periodically looked outside the cabin to make sure her guard was still at full force. The close sounds of
dying cries became more muffled with passing time. She waited another hour and her guard still stood strong as the sounds of war switched to those of victorious, but angry and injured warriors.
The door swung open and a stunned Elisa realized she had forgotten to lock it. Sir Anderley stood outside and asked, “Has anyone heard from father?”
Lady Victoriah had a nervous look in her eyes as she answered, “No, not yet.”
Anderley ran off but Elisa had seen that the knight’s face was clean courtesy of his battle helm, but from the neck down, he wore a collage of other men’s blood. The golden apple on his surcoat looked like it was drunk on a deep burgundy wine. The black bear looked evil with red eyes.
Elisa and Lady Victoriah got out of the coach and surveyed the scene. Luckily, they had managed to remain just far enough away from the heavy fracas to avoid catastrophe.
The lady said, “Sir Willam, Sir Denton, Sir Larwell and Sir Ean will stay to protect the queen. The rest of you go find Darryg and Lord Ichibod. Do not return without them.”
This was an emotional cry for help that went against the cold lady’s normal behavior and she was nearly in tears by the end of her plea. Elisa could see the panic clearly through both veils but other thoughts crossed her mind.
I know you want Lord Ichibod to be rescued because your devious plans against me won’t work with him gone. I can read you like a storybook written for children.
Elisa put her hand on Lady Victoriah’s shoulder and said gently, “I’m sure he’s fine. He is a tremendous warrior.”
The lady said in a softened voice, “Was.”
Elisa replied, “Excuse me?”
“He was a great warrior. Was. He is an old man now. Look around this outfit, you won’t find a great deal of older men. They die before they grow old if they spend too much time in situations like this. You won’t see too many older than him in the fighting ranks. I don’t know what he was thinking, trying to lead the attack. And my Darryg, where is my sweet, innocent Darryg?” Lady Victoriah uttered emotionally and Elisa saw large drops stream down her cheeks, escape the secrecy of the veil and cascade down onto her breasts.
Ironically, before Elisa’s training with Victoriah, she would have taken great sympathy on the lady. She seemed heartfelt in her sorrow but Elisa didn’t know what to believe. Elisa took pleasure in the misery of her mentor. It felt strange to enjoy someone else’s pain and suffering, but Elisa needed a way to get rid of Lord Ichibod before he got rid of her. Depending on the final casualty count, this could turn out to be a positive ambush by Lord Nanbert.
Those thoughts were dashed as the Ellsworth men rode up together. Anderley vaulted down off his mount and went to help his father.
Lord Ichibod had a painful look on his face but he brushed him away. “Get off me, I am a man and I can do this myself.”
“Let me help you, father,” Anderley said in a tone and manner that commanded respect.
The former King’s Guard member was always soft spoken and Elisa had only heard him raise his voice on a few occasions. Lord Ichibod slowly swung his leg over the saddle and stood in the other stirrup for a moment. Sir Anderley took his father’s hand and helped the older man down. Darryg had a crazed look in his eyes and had to be told three times to get down off his horse. Lady Victoriah disposed of the veil and ran over to hug and kiss her son before moving on to her husband. For the first time, the lady didn’t seem to care who saw her in a weakened state. Elisa stayed as cold as a glacier. Her tears had now turned to ice and winter hadn’t even arrived yet. She hugged the Ellsworths and showed the proper concern for them, but she also knew that at least one of them was plotting her death. Lord Ichibod winced in pain and Darryg looked like he had seen a ghost. Elisa noticed he hadn’t blinked since arriving back at the coach.
Ichibod talked with disdain in his voice, “Stupid cunt thinks he can ambush our family. Where has honor gone in this kingdom? I am going to find that porknell and skin him alive.”
Sir Anderley grabbed his golden battle helm and said, “Father, I will go find this traitor.” Anderley jumped on his destrier and rode away.
They just let him go without any type of concern for his well-being. Oh poor Darryg, poor Ichibod, oh you can go muck the stables, Anderley. They treat him as if he’s not even part of the family. I’ll bet I can turn him against his parents. He was willing to kill King Ali-Stanley for me. Lady Victoriah even said her son would do anything for a fair face. I’m starting to pick up on this game, so look out Lord Ichibod and Lady Victoriah.
Two guards helped Lord Ichibod get into the coach, followed by Elisa, Telly and Lady Victoriah. The lady had to yell to Darryg to get inside with one of the guards pushing him toward the coach.
“What is HE doing here?” Lord Ichibod asked, referring to Brehan.
Elisa shot him a mean look and said, “HE saved your wife and your queen’s lives, so you owe him a lot. We would both surely be dead or captured if he hadn’t valiantly defended us after Sir Petyr met an unfortunate end.”
The extended coach provided barely enough room to sit comfortably with Lord Ichibod and Brehan laid out but it was the only place Elisa felt safe right now. She feared Lord Nanbert might have more tricks to pull and being surrounded by hundreds of her warriors made her feel slightly better.
“What in the seven hells happened?” Lady Victoriah asked.
Darryg remained silent, steadily shaking his head as he stared at the wall.
Lord Ichibod spoke gruffly as he cleared his throat, “That rat waited until we had about half our men across the bridge before he struck like a coward. He hit us from the front and back on both sides of that shit-stained bridge. We lost many a precious sword and staff due to these dirty tricks. The Prograggers weren’t quite ready for something like this, although they did serve their purpose and the elephants helped chase the Nanbert men away for good. We probably lost over a thousand Prograggers and many knights and valuable soldiers were killed or badly injured. That ugly son of a bitch hit us hard, that’s all that is certain right now.”
He didn’t show any visible injuries or blood stains from battle but wore a face of pain. Elisa assumed his gout must have been acting up.
“Are you alright, Darryg?” Elisa asked.
He stared at her with a distant look in his eyes, “I saw…I saw things. I never wanted to see those things. I saw men being butchered much like a stag or goat. We’re all just full of hidden blood. Cut us open and watch us die.”
His blank stare made him look even scarier than his normal grim appearance. This man is supposed to be a king? Not my king. Sir Anderley is a much greater man than Darryg, despite his softness toward pretty women. Lord Ichibod knows he can control Darryg. I’m starting to figure out your entire plan, my good lord.
“You’re a brave man,” Elisa said in a soothing tone.
She pushed his hair to the side and wiped away some tears with her fingers to encourage him to stop crying and be a man. She liked Darryg but could see he would only be used as a pawn even if he sported the crown of the kingdom on his head. Elisa was slightly confused. Flayed bodies permanently lined Moonlight Road, which was the only way in and out of Lightview. How could the lord and lady keep their son away from that? After seeing impaled bodies moaning, how could it be so shocking for him to see men being killed in battle?
Everyone fell asleep on top of each other except Elisa. The awful sounds from the afternoon kept replaying in her head. The agonizing screams of the men haunted her. She carefully moved Darryg’s hand so she didn’t wake him, and got out of the coach. There were about thirty guards that all bowed to the queen.
She walked away from the coach and two guards followed closely. In Elisa’s eyes, the night sky sang a song of sorrow with a melancholy moon and somber stars to cap a horrendous day. Open pit fires and braziers illuminated a picture of pain and loss. The healers tried to treat all the injured, but their good intentions greatly outweighed their skills. Even the trained apothecaries and medicine m
en weren’t ready for this carnage. This deep into the night Elisa expected that all the wounded would have long been taken care of, but the makeshift treatment area still had men shrieking in pain while the overmatched apothecaries tried to ease the suffering.
Elisa focused on a man whose arm had been removed just below the elbow. The apothecary tied a tight band above the wound and held the injured man’s arm steady. Another soldier pulled a sword from the fire with the blade glowing like a dragon’s molten eyes. He touched the burnt blade to the stump of the injured man’s elbow.
The wounded man jumped back and knocked the skinny apothecary to the ground. Another soldier handed the man a goat skin of mulled spirits. His good arm shook so violently that he ended up spilling most of the stiff booze down his chin and onto his blood-soaked surcoat of a golden apple hanging from a tree. The Ellsworths used their own standard but anyone with a visible golden apple depicted in any manner fell under his protection. Unfortunately, Lord Ichibod hadn’t been able to protect this man from losing his arm.
Elisa started to feel sick as she watched the crude medical techniques and teeth-clenching amputations. Her icy heart started to warm. She had an epiphany. I caused this. These men were fighting for their queen. It used to only be a phrase, but now I see the reality. Have I turned into a monster?
She hurried back to the coach and jumped inside. She couldn’t sleep and when the sun rose several hours later, one sentence rang over and over in her head. Elisa remembered when Telly had told her that she overheard a soldier saying, “We’ll be the ones getting a sword blade shoved in our ass while the queen polishes her crown.”
When she got back out of the coach, the scent of decaying bodies hit her nose.
The sunlit scene was even more heartbreaking. Some of the bodies from the mass carnage had been thrown into piles that were taller than she was. Soldiers dug graves for the men without association. All residents of Lightview who died honorably would have their bodies returned to their families. Elisa knew this would set the effort back even more. Officers sorted through bodies trying to identify the fallen. As Elisa walked among the scenes of misery, she experienced even more heartache. She knew men had died for kings and queens on a regular basis for thousands of years, but she had never been the reason for any of those. Amongst parts of men and bodies alive just yesterday, she decided to leave.
Six Heads One Crown (The Pearl of Wisdom Saga Book 3) Page 18
