An Adept's Duty: The Scepter of Maris: Book Two

by James R Barnes

  "Sire, will we be sending troops to aid them?" Lady Helen Renfroe spoke once the King had paused.

  A legitimate question, and one that Barclay and Roderick had known would come up. Luckily, everyone in the room knew that Xavier Soloman did not like Glendon soldiers in his Kingdom. A discussion that came up in the past, and they could use that to their advantage now.

  "At this time, we will merely be sending a warning. If King Soloman requests aid... then we will revisit it, but in the interim we will prepare to meet the threat in the event that it reaches our borders. Barclay's aides will be contacting you with instructions. I expect you all to cooperate fully."

  Roderick looked around at the men and women, meeting the eyes of each fully before moving to the next. He seemed to find what he was looking for, since he moved the focus of the meeting on to some more mundane topics. Barclay sat through the rest of the counsel session only listening with half an ear, while mentally organizing the various tasks he needed to complete. After Roderick ended the meeting with instructions on when the next one would take place, he turned to Barclay and requested that he remain behind.

  #

  When Lord Borden closed the door behind himself, leaving Barclay alone with his King, the silence settled into place and Barclay waited. Roderick had walked over to the window and was staring out into the courtyard below. The dark clouds, heavy with the promise of rain, had blotted out the early afternoon sun to such a degree that candle sconces had been lit around the room even before the council session had begun. The King had still not turned back to him even as he spoke.

  "Do you think that Atwood is a traitor?"

  The question was not surprising, but it was disturbing. Labeling anyone as such was not to be taken lightly, but the more he saw and heard of the southern Lord, the harder it was to deny. Today's meeting, especially, seemed to lend credence to that supposition. The man almost appeared to be desperate. As if his life depended on the outcome of the session. The only problem with the logic was that if Atwood was selling his soul to Xavier, then he should be encouraging them to go to war. Then, he should lobby for them to seek aid from Rennick. It was still too early to have the complete picture, but they would certainly keep an eye on the man.

  As he had thought his answer through, Roderick had turned back to him and was waiting patiently for a response. Barclay could see fat drops of rain begin to strike the glass behind his friend as he drew in a breath to speak.

  "As much as I hate to throw that word around, it is looking more and more likely. At this time we have no proof... however, I am having a close eye kept on his activities. If he slips up, we will catch him. Even if he is not working with Rennick, his greed and arrogance might compel him to treasonous acts." Barclay shrugged. "He is being watched... along with some others. At this point, I am not taking any chances."

  "That was never in doubt, my friend... Very well, I will leave you to it. I have plenty to keep me busy. You and Elena will have dinner with us tonight?"

  That last was phrased as a question, but Barclay knew it was just short of an order. Fortunately, it was one that would be a pleasure to follow. He nodded his acceptance and stood.

  "By your leave?"

  Roderick rolled his eyes and waved him off. They headed for opposite exits and went their separate ways. Barclay made his way to the offices assigned to him one floor below, narrowly avoiding two young boys running through the halls. Passing on polite greetings to any others he crossed paths with on his way, he waved his two aides into the room with him when he arrived. Captain Eric Stewart pulled the door shut after allowing First Lieutenant Erin Borden to precede him into the room. Both of them were hand-picked and groomed by Barclay himself. Two fine, promising officers that would go far. Stewart was like James Bridgewater, a commoner that had fought his way up through the ranks with skill and determination. Borden, whose young looks were offset by intense blue eyes and blond hair in a severe bun, was the third daughter of Lord Borden and had chosen to serve in the military instead of being married off to some lesser noble. She was one of the smartest people he had ever met, and every bit as determined as her counterpart. Unlike a lot of nobles placed into service, she did not treat her rank as an entitlement, but rather worked twice as hard to prove that she deserved it.

  The three of them moved to the right to stand around the maps already laying out. The waist-high table in front of them was laden with various maps, marking tools and writing implements. Its surface was five feet across and the space was dominated by a generalized map of Glendon that was separated into grids. Each grid had a corresponding second map that was much more detailed stuffed into holes on a compartmented shelf hanging on the right-hand wall that matched the map's grid. Barclay began to study the current troop deployment as represented by painted stones. As of now, only blue for Glendon's military and the royal purple of House Marten decorated the table top. He tasked Stewart with assessing the strengths of the noble houses, and working the numbers to see how many soldiers each one could afford to send. Borden was directed to pull the maps for the northeast; they needed to study the likely point of ingress for the invading force. Any possible advantages they could exploit would be studied from every angle.

  Other shelves lined the walls of the corner that the table was in, and the section with the maps of Rennick kept drawing his eye. Forcing himself to concentrate on his current task, he began reading over the notes Borden and Stewart had set aside for him. Mostly deployment and logistics information.

  It kept him busy for a little while, but he eventually pulled out a map of northern Rennick and agonized over the fact that it was all he could do. That his daughter was a capable, competent woman was not in doubt. However, his pride in her achievements and abilities did not change the fact that she was his little girl, and he was going to worry. Some solace was gained by knowing that she had good people watching her back, but it would never be enough. The fact that her brother was starting to get that gleam in his eye when he heard talk about the coming fighting was just adding to his unrest. Unfortunately, both of his children took after him in the regard that they had adventurous spirits, and while he would rest easier if they had their mother's calm, level-headed nature, he would not try to force them to be who they were not.

  All he could do is prepare them to the best of his ability, and make sure he did everything in his power to minimize their risk. That meant doing everything in his power to ensure that the coming war would turn in their favor. With those thoughts running through his head he bent back over the table and went to work.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Invasion

  Several angry faces stared back at Dane over the fire after he had finished speaking. The report that was crumpled up in his right hand contained the details of what he had just outlined to the men and women that were his Commanders. They had no legitimate organization. There were no rank insignias yet, and no uniforms. In the near future they would have to see about some way to sort out the officers from the rest, since they were receiving new recruits every other day, but for now they would work with what they had.

  "That can't be right. It can't be," Shae Benner stated. She spared a quick glance at her husband sitting next to her, as if looking for support, and then looked back at Dane. "That bastard on the throne may be an evil tyrant, but even he wouldn't..." She shook her head in pure disbelief and could not finish.

  "I didn't want to believe it either, and I didn't after the first report. This is the third. We had two separate squads send back the same thing, and Aiden sent Cody's squad for verification. There are Orcs in Rennick... and not one of the King's soldiers within a league of them." Dane gave them a moment to take that in before continuing. "Even worse, one of Cody's men got close enough to hear some soldiers talking about it. They know the Orcs are there."

  "By the Creator! What..."

  Dane held his hand up to stop Shae's husband Kaden from continuing and to calm down the others. The six people with him at the fire were hi
s Commanders, but they had also become almost as close as friends. At the least they were people he now trusted, and he decided that he would keep nothing from them. Even though they generally structured their rebellion like the military so there would be some order, the major decisions were made together by the people in front of him. He was the military leader, and they let him take command for any instance that might require fighting, but they were basically the ruling council of the ragged group of rebels.

  "We have some people in Parna, at the castle, who'll try to find out anything they can. In the meantime, we need a plan of action. Are we fighting on two fronts, or do we focus on one over the other? Either way, we'll have to keep a close watch on both forces."

  "Can we even afford to fight both? We're not exactly in high cotton now, are we? We got scraped together armor, pitch forks and farm boys. Not many of this sorry lot would even be accepted in the Rennick Guard, and none of us would be allowed to shine the boots of Vettor's First Company... 'cept you and Aiden. We need to do more than win; we need to survive."

  Dane cringed at the mention of his old Commander. As much as he wished it was not so, Edgar Hall was right. Not a one of their current fighters would even be close to the level of his former Company. Vettor's First Company was not even an official name, it was just what the men had started calling the Company that their Commander always went to for the toughest jobs. The name caught on and eventually even the civilians had taken up the rally cry. How he wished his old boss were here now. Sergeant Sonder or the two Lieutenants would have been just as welcome. Dane had not lied when he told his former companions that he trusted them when they said their current mission was more critical, but that did not mean he had to like it.

  Fortunately, he knew that much of his former Company were scattered throughout Rennick, disbanded when Commander Vettor and the rest of them had been named traitor. Xavier may have thought that only condemning Vettor, Sonder, Faber, and Tarrint would have earned him some goodwill from the remainder of the Company, but if so, he was an idiot. An idiot that did not know what it really meant to go through what Vettor's First had gone through together. They would have followed their Commander through the Underworld if he had asked them. Dane knew he still would today. So Dane had sent out several squads to scout the enemy, but they also were ordered to try and spread the word about the resistance. Dane hoped that word would reach those men he once fought with, along with any other soldiers that left the Tyrant's service.

  "I say we keep a eye out for the beasts and carry on the fight for our home. Until they start headin' south, there ain't much we can do," said Luke Coker. Luke was a bear of a man, a well-respected blacksmith, and the worst swordsman Dane had ever seen. How a man that made them for a living could not properly swing one, he would never understand.

  "Agreed," replied Edgar with Shae and Kaden nodding along.

  Dane looked at the last two sitting at the campfire. Trent Faber, a second cousin to Malina, gave a terse nod, but kept silent. Ezekiel Molder, or Zeke for short, studied the fire for a moment before making eye contact with Dane. The former innkeeper had been affected just as much as anyone by the edicts lain down upon the people of Rennick. The town of Oakwood, where Zeke and his wife ran an inn, had not been put to the torch like Paradise, but it was just as bad as far as Zeke had been concerned. Dane had been at the inn a little over two months ago when Zeke told Meric and the others that there was not a soul in the village that did not hate Xavier. He said it more than once while Dane was there, and it did not seem like Meric was hearing it for the first time. Two of Dane's scouts had been keeping watch over a squad of the King's soldiers when they overheard a commoner speaking about secret meetings at the inn in his village, rebels receiving supplies and other villagers hiding people from patrols. The rebel scouts decided to follow the rat, and he lead them all the way back to Oakwood. Zeke was devastated.

  The once jovial innkeeper did not smile nearly as much as he used to. He and his wife had abandoned their inn, and joined the rebellion with all of the supplies they could gather. It was not a moment too soon; soldiers arrived within a week and took over Oakwood. Many of the villagers fled, with quite a few following the Molder's example. The ones that stayed made things as hard for the Guardsmen as they could, and everyone shunned the thatcher when it was revealed that he was the one taking the Tyrant's gold in exchange for betraying his neighbors. The Tyrant, a name they had decided to use in favor of King, had gained the town, but it was no longer of strategic value as far as the rebellion was concerned. Dane and his people avoided it like the plague. Dane believed that whoever made the decision to take the village was an idiot, since they could have watched from hiding until a rebel leader showed, but he would not toss a gift freely given.

  "We should send some men to keep watch on 'em. We need to know what they're doin', not just waitin' for 'em to come south. Accordin' to Meric and the others; they're headed to Glendon, but you can bet your ass they ain't gonna give up the Pass and go home peaceful-like when done. We focus on Xavier, but we have a plan ready for them animals," Zeke said with some real emotion. "We also need to send some men to do nothing more than warn people away. Those beasts will need supplies, and we all remember how they go about that."

  The man had lost some of the fat around his middle while living on the run and in the rebel camps, but he still looked out of place. Dane respected him though. He was the one that most often looked to the broader view. In some ways Zeke reminded him of Meric, always looking at the "big picture", as Meric called it. Dane did not remember him doing that before that fateful meeting with Dane's old Commander. Whatever the cause, Dane was grateful. That kind of thinking would help them survive. Rather than let the others discuss it, he quickly agreed with Zeke, and moved on. It was a good idea, and the handful of men that would be needed would not matter in the grand scheme of things.

  #

  In the end, they sent their scouting parties north and went on with their plan to chip away at the Tyrant's forces. At that meeting in Zeke's inn, Meric and Silas had talked long into the night about the best ways to bring this fight to the opposition. Dane had been listening. Supply raids, interrupting the Guard's own resupply wagons, intercepting messengers, and attacking squads of Guardsmen that were caught away from their larger Companies. They had even taken a small fort that was used as a resupply post. That had not really been a major win as far as the Tyrant's forces were concerned, but it had been big for the morale of the rebels.

  They had proven that they could win, that they could take from Xavier as he had taken from them. The bigger their army got, the bigger their targets. That was why they now found themselves in the woods outside Oakwood. They needed a somewhat more permanent base of operations. The village would not work for that, since it was out in the open, had no defensive walls, and its two access roads could be easily blockaded. However, the third road out of the town led to a large logging camp that would be ideal.

  The logging camp had once started as a small and temporary operation, but over time it had grown into a somewhat permanent set up. The area had an over-abundance of woods from which to farm their lumber, and the immediate countryside surrounding the camp had been cleared of trees allowing them to see anyone coming for quite some distance, the road to Oakwood was the only way into the camp, and it had its own spring-fed well for water. There were still miles of trees encompassing the bivouac that could be used as a natural defense, since it would be hard for anyone to travel through and would also offer places for the rebels to build defensive traps. Likewise the forests around the camp would provide plenty of places for hidden watchers to make sure they were not surprised. All in all, it would be almost perfect for their needs, and the only real negative was that it was located so far from anything else. It was also far enough north that they would have to keep an eye out for Orcs. That would be a constant worry, but they would just have to be prepared to move in a hurry. Since that would be part of their plan anyway, it was something the
y could deal with.

  For now, Oakwood would need to be taken first. A task that should be fairly easy, judging by the numbers, but Dane had long ago learned not to put his faith in the numbers. He had been part of several engagements in the war that they should have lost if you went simply by the numbers. He could hear Meric's voice in his head as he thought of one of the Commander's oft repeated phrases: Focus, preparation, and the ability to adapt were more important than the size of the enemy forces. Keeping these thoughts in the back of his mind, he turned his attention back to the small town.

  Dane counted twenty soldiers in various positions around the village. Some were lazily reclining in the mid-afternoon sun next to the general-goods store; a few looked to be playing a dice game out in front of the inn, and the rest moved in and out of that same building at random intervals. They appeared to have turned Zeke's former business into their base of operations. Dane was not looking forward to telling the man about this, but if all went well their occupation would not last past tonight. Hopefully that would be enough to soothe Zeke.

  After watching the Guardsmen for a while, Dane was beginning to feel much better about the plan to take back Oakwood. The Tyrant's men were not very disciplined soldiers, and appeared to have little to no organization. Something Dane had seen more and more of in the last few months. They did not have a proper watch set; several of the men were already drunk, and the few men that looked alert were all young, green recruits that had probably not seen much action. How far the Guard had fallen. As long as nothing crazy happened, they should be able to take the Tyrant's forces with minimal loss.