by Alex Avrio
“This has turned out magnificently,” Lady Emilia said. She put her hand on Jaeger’s and smiled at him. Regina knew this meant trouble: Lady Emilia was young; Jaeger was looking for a way out of mercenary life. Regina shot a glance at Jaeger. Back straight, his expression straighter, he made her instantly feel bad for thinking the worst of him.
“Kapitan, tell us a Merchant Blades story,” Emilia said cheerfully.
There was a gleam of mischief in Adel’s eyes. “Why don’t you tell us how you met Captain Fitzwaters,” she said. Regina leaned slightly forward, looking forward to hearing that one.
17 YOU AGAIN
BRIGGS was worried. With the captains packed up in the carriage, the rearguard was two people down. He considered Charlie’s warning that the Black Fox’s men were about. He wondered if they had scouted the area and decided that it was too big a risk. Or this was a faction split from the gang and now doing business for themselves. There was even the remote chance that they had all gone straight. Briggs knew all of these scenarios were unlikely. Regina and Jaeger’s team was alert, eyes flicking towards any movement, while the Hussars seemed lethargic and slow. Even Major Morgenstern, usually on top of his game and his soldiers, seemed sluggish.
As the convoy slowed and came to a gradual stop, Briggs made a sign for them to be ready for action. He nudged his horse to the convoy’s front, to find a large overturned cart blocking most of the road. Sacks had fallen, potatoes spilling across the road. Two distressed peasants, having unharnessed the horses, were trying to push the cart back onto its wheels. Meyer was angrily shouting to Morgenstern, but Morgenstern gave no orders, merely waving his kapitans and lieutenants forward to deal with the situation. Briggs looked at the spilt cargo. Small scrawny, rotten tubers. No farmer would buy or sell such produce. Briggs tensed and signaled to the team.
Two groups of riders suddenly hurtled out of the forest, one on either side. One targeted the Hussars, the other went for the carriages. The Hussars’ reaction was slow, taking delayed aim with their muskets, and yet not one raider fell from their first repelling volley. They can't all have missed, Briggs thought. The first group hurtled into the column of Hussars, sabers drawn, quickly cutting down two Eressian horsemen at the front. Realizing they were fighting for their lives, the Hussars seemed to wake up. Briggs was leading the Blades in cutting off any bandits heading for the carriage, but a small group had broken through.
The first man reached the carriage and yanked the door open triumphantly. His face turned to surprise, then to blood. Regina, within, shot him at point-blank range.
Regina kicked the next man in the chest. As he fell backwards, she jumped out and unsheathed her sword. Jaeger emerged from the other side of the carriage: shooting down two men, engaging a third in a swordfight. Schaefer soon untangled herself from the quivering noblewomen but at first could only look around in disbelief. Dodging a sword-thrust, she recovered quickly and met the assailant's second slash with her own hastily drawn steel.
Regina skewered a second robber, but saw more emerging from the trees. From the corner of her eye she saw the servants abandoning their carriage, which had been largely ignored, and fleeing into the forest. Then she spotted Charlie break away and head her way. Regina waved her arm wildly, gesturing for Charlie to run to the forest. As she did, two more men came for her. Regina’s sword-work was lightning, opening a wide gash in the side of the first. He fell to the ground. The second slowed and faced her, sword raised. To her left, Schaefer fended one off single-handed, while Jaeger struggled to keep an ever-increasing number of bandits away from the carriage. They only needed to hold out until the Hussars regrouped to protect the carriage. Surely, this many well-trained Hussars wouldn't take long.
Charlie noticed that no one had stayed inside the carriage with the women as a last line of defense. She darted and ducked, avoiding pockets of fighting, and half jumped, half slithered into the princess's carriage. The women were lying as close to the floor as their corsets and big dresses allowed them. Corsets so strongly wired they could stop bullets, Charlie thought.
“Don’t worry. It’ll be finished soon – we’ll be on our way,” she whispered reassuringly. “Keep your heads down and keep quiet.”
Morgenstern fought on horseback, the world dimming at the edges. He’d fought under extreme tiredness and foul weather before, but here he was fighting wounded, like at the battle of Alux. A musket shot: a sting; wetness spreading down his arm, though he could still move it. Flesh wound pain brings everything to sharp focus: the tactics of attack; the number of opponents; their formation; the position of troops; his objective. He had to protect the princess. Bursting into life, he felt the fog in his mind lift.
“Encircle the carriage and protect it! At all costs!” he shouted.
The man in the black mask realized the brief window of opportunity was closing. Getting into the carriage would soon be impossible. He disengaged from his own swordfight and leaped onto the driver’s seat of the carriage, bending to grab the reins. There, he met Jaeger’s fist, jolting him backwards. Quickly regaining balance, he had a flash of recognition.
“You, again?” he shouted.
“Yes, Fox, me again,” Jaeger said, sword ready to impale.
But before Jaeger could move, there was a flash, and a loud crack. The Black Fox's pistol had shot him in the stomach. A bloodstain was spreading rapidly. The Black Fox kicked Jaeger off the carriage.
Regina felt a terrible pain in her midriff and knew Jaeger was hurt. Clenching her teeth, she leaned into the carriage and grabbed the princess. She wasn’t sure if by hair or sleeve but Regina yanked her out and threw the princess to the ground just as the carriage lurched forward.
18 ANOTHER FINE MESS
SOME of the bandits covered the retreat of their comrades, and then vanished as suddenly as they’d appeared. Meyer was bleeding from a gash on his forehead. He swore when he realized that the carriage was gone. Lieutenant Schaefer rushed to where Princess Rosamynd had fallen.
“Adel, are you alright?” she asked.
“They’ve got the others,” she sobbed.
“Don’t worry,” Schaefer said, checking her for wounds. “I’ll get them back. Go with Colonel Meyer to the Winter Palace and wait for us there.” Schaefer took the princess by the hand and found two Hussars to escort her to Meyer. Then First Lieutenant Schaefer jumped on a horse and shouted for her men to follow her. About a third of the squadron galloped after her as she raced after the carriage. Morgenstern dug his heels into the side of his horse.
“Blades, with me,” he shouted.
Regina heard little of this. The sound of galloping horses faded and the sound of men shouting orders grew louder. A particular voice spoke to her, a boy’s voice, repeating her name. It was telling her to wake up, over and over again. Regina wished it would shut up and let her sleep. She was in peace in a deep place. But the voice was insistent.
After a while Regina realized it was Thomas, shaking her and shouting. She decided she couldn’t pretend not to have heard him any more. It was difficult: like swimming upwards from the bottom of a deep lake, to slowly see the surface. She did it, and opened her eyes. Thomas was on his knees, holding her hand, shaking her shoulder. He was gripping a small ball of multicolored threads, smudged with mud and blood.
“Thomas,” she said, as if she hadn’t seen him for a long time. Thomas looked overjoyed, albeit mixed with fear.
“What?” Regina asked.
“Your eyes: for a moment, they were amber.”
“Don’t be silly, Thomas,” Regina said. She tried to get up and was rewarded with a sharp pain in the stomach. She checked herself for injury: there were none, except to her pride. Then she remembered Jaeger. She jumped up, ignoring the pain.
“Where’s Max?” she asked sharply. Thomas shook his head, tears in his eyes.
“No,” Regina said in disbelief. It couldn’t be. Thomas pointed to where the soldiers had lain the dead. There were five or six bodies lined up, o
ne of them too small to be an adult. The one on the far end wore a blue mercenary coat. Regina ran and knelt. A large purple stain covered the front of the coat, around the hole where the bullet had entered. Regina wouldn't believe it, even though she knew these kinds of wounds were usually fatal. She put her fingers on his neck, looking for a pulse. She kept them there, feeling for anything, however faint. Then she put his head on her knees and stroked his hair softly.
“Oh, Maxi,” she whispered gently. How could this be? She thought. The curse. They shared each other’s pain and emotions. If one died, surely so would the other? While the scene around was like a disturbed hornets’ nest, Regina remained with Jaeger in a tiny isle of calm.
Briggs came to a halt next to the carriage. It was abandoned. Some Hussars had dismounted, looking around for evidence of what had happened to the ladies. Summers had dismounted and joined them.
“I think they put the passengers on horses and headed into the woods,” Summers said. Eleven and Jackson held their muskets ready. Briggs nodded. He rode close to Major Morgenstern and Lieutenant Schaefer, who were in the middle of a heated argument.
“When this is over, I swear upon my honor, I will have you shot,” Morgenstern shouted. She laughed.
“My dear Valerian, when this is over, the Emperor will have us all shot.”
Morgenstern turned to Briggs. “What are you waiting for?” he shouted. “After them into the forest!”
Jaeger felt a drop of liquid fall on his face. He opened his eyes. Regina was leaning over him, staring wide-eyed, her eyes moist.
“What happened?” he asked. He winced as he got up, bringing his hand to his stomach and looking shocked at the blood on his fingers. Regina was looking at him with an expression he'd never seen on her face before, as if she’d never seen him before.
“Regina, what happened?” he asked again. “Are you crying?”
Regina’s face regained its usual expression. She hastily wiped the corners of her eyes.
“Don’t flatter yourself, you twerp. I’m in pain. You’re not dead, then? Why?”
“Nice to see you too,” Jaeger said, sitting up. He unbuttoned his coat and waistcoat and opened his shirt. There was still fresh blood on his skin. Regina poured water from her flask on her handkerchief and wiped the blood away. Underneath, a scab was already forming, that would in turn become a scar. They both stared at it. Then Jaeger took the handkerchief, cleaned himself up as best he could, tucked the shirt in and buttoned up.
“I thought you were dead,” Regina said.
“So did I,” he confessed.
“You should be,” Regina announced. Jaeger took out his hip flask and drank deeply.
“By all rights, yes. Don’t know why I’m not,” he said. Regina fished out her timepiece compass from her waistcoat and made a quick calculation.
“Still full moon,” she said. She hesitated for a few moments. “We’ve seen this before. When the Abidari we killed didn’t stay dead.”
Jaeger’s face darkened.
“When you came to– for a moment your eyes were amber,” Regina went on.
There was a yelp from behind them. Thomas was staring at Jaeger open-mouthed. He ran over and gave him a big hug.
“I’m very popular today,” he said.
“You are, sir,” Thomas said. “Colonel Meyer wants to speak to you.”
Meyer was as pale as death when they walked up to him. Regina’s heart was still fluttering like a caged bird. She just couldn’t go through losing one more man she cared for. The bandage around Meyer’s head was bright red. The princess was next to him. If I were in his shoes I wouldn’t leave her out of my sight either, Regina thought.
“I thought you were killed,” Meyer said to Jaeger.
“The bullet bounced off a button, flesh wound.” Jaeger gave a nonchalant smile.
“My Lady, are both of you alright?” Regina asked the princess. The princess looked at Regina, a mix of surprise and relief in her blue eyes. Her hand went to her belly.
“Yes, thank you,” she said.
“No time,” Meyer interrupted. “I need both of you to join the hunt to find the other two ladies.”
“Yes, sir, of course,” Jaeger said. “We at least have the princess.”
The princess covered her face with her hand for a moment. Then she looked at the two mercenaries.
“I’m not the princess,” she said.
The bottom of Regina's stomach dropped. Their contract was to protect the princess, on pain of death.
“This is the Baroness Orsy,” Meyer said breathlessly. He was so white now that Regina could see the blue veins under the skin on his face.
“You knew this?” Jaeger shouted.
“I was told before the convoy was about to leave. A game, they said. The ladies were having some harmless fun. When I thought something wasn't right, I brought you two in.”
“Much obliged,” Regina said. “It might have helped if you'd told us that!”
Meyer shot her a look, with no energy spare to rebuke her. Instead, he focused on Jaeger.
“You must get the princess back. The Hussars are hot on the robbers’ heels. Catch up with them. Bring the ladies back safe, to me; no one else but me. I don’t care what you have to do to get her back. Trust no one: not Major Morgenstern, not Lieutenant Schaefer. Bring them back to the Winter Palace. A lot of people are going to get shot, I can promise you.”
Regina and Jaeger turned to leave.
“Wait,” the Baroness said.
They both turned back to face her.
“Emilia. She’s very important. Make sure she comes back unharmed.”
Jaeger took a step towards her. “Who is she?”
“Erm– She's a princess, too.”
“Crap,” Jaeger said.
19 DIRTY SECRETS
IT was straightforward for Regina and Jaeger to follow the mass of horse tracks and find the Hussars and the Blades. Their pursuit had been going well until the robbers split into groups and separated. When they caught up Morgenstern was organizing scout groups to check each direction.
“You don’t need to send scouts,” Jaeger said. “They’re heading to Korthi.”
“I thought you did us all a favor and died,” Morgenstern sneered.
“You would have liked that, wouldn’t you?” Jaeger replied.
“Not the time, or the place,” Regina said. “We should ride to Korthi.”
“I don’t appreciate being told what to do by mercenaries, woman,” Morgenstern snapped.
“And I don’t appreciate ugly, stupid sods keeping things from me on a mission, but that’s life,” Regina replied calmly. Morgenstern’s face turned red, his scar remained white.
“Will you control your slattern or do I have to silence her?” Morgenstern yelled at Jaeger.
“I’d love to see you try,” Jaeger said.
Regina suppressed the urge to brain Morgenstern with the butt of her musket.
“To think: when your Emperor is stringing up soldiers by the balls at crossroads, I’ll be there to watch,” Regina pointed out, “as you try to explain how you lost not one but two princesses.”
Morgenstern’s expression was its own reward.
“Oh, didn’t sweetcheeks here tell you?” Regina went on. It was Lieutenant Schaefer’s turn to lose her color.
“Not here,” Schaefer hissed. “Let’s talk somewhere more private.” She nudged her horse and headed to the edge of the clearing. The others followed and all dismounted.
“Your sister told us,” Regina said. Schaefer turned even paler than chalk.
“Sister?” Morgenstern repeated.
“Really, Valerian,” Jaeger asked, “didn’t you notice how much the princess and the lieutenant look alike?”
“Everyone down here is related: I thought they were cousins.”
“No,” Lieutenant Schaefer said. “We are related to Rosamynd. The woman who we said was Rosamynd is actually my sister, Adel. Adel Orsy is married to Baron Meinheart
Orsy.”
Morgenstern swore. “Then the Baroness is actually Princess Rosamynd?”
“Yes.”
Morgenstern rubbed his temples.
“And Lady Emilia?”
Schaefer hesitated.
“By all means,” Jaeger said, “take your time. No hurry.”
“She’s–” Schaefer bit her bottom lip. “She’s a princess too.”
“But Rosamynd doesn’t have a sister,” Morgenstern said slowly.
“There are other princesses in Eressia, Valerian. This one happens to be a Royal Princess.”
There was a stunned silence. Regina had thought Emilia might be Rosamynd’s younger sister. Jaeger was now as pale as Morgenstern.
“The Emperor’s sister?” Morgenstern was almost stammering. “You knew this and you let her come without telling me?”
“There are a lot of things I don’t tell you, Valerian,” Schaefer said. Morgenstern went red again, a vein throbbing on his temple.
“Clearly. And things you have told me. Which explains a lot.”
Schaefer shot him a warning glance. “Be careful what comes out of your mouth. People will have to hang,” she said.
“You– you–” Morgenstern’s hands were shaking. “You treacherous woman. How can you have taken advantage of our–”
“Of our what?” Schaefer demanded.
Morgenstern didn’t speak but Regina couldn’t resist.
“Don’t mind us. The walls in The Lodge– are wafer-thin,” she said.
Morgenstern’s face had gone so red now that Regina thought something might actually melt.
