The Bastard grinned like a devil. ‘Yes, Duchess, I’ll have my men ready in less than two hours,’ he said the words, and left the tent. She turned to her loyal guard, whose name she’d forgotten again, this being the younger one.
‘Where’s that one, Goldie? He’s of no use now, and I’m in the mood to kill something from the North,’ she said.
‘I’m sorry, Duchess, it seems he’s escaped,’ the man said with real fear in his voice.
‘What do you mean he’s escaped? How is that possible? What about his guards?’ She demanded.
‘Well, he had two guards on the tent, and they both had their throats cut from ear to ear, very neat. Looks like he brought some men of his own, and they know their business.’
She screamed in frustration and then calmed herself only slowly before speaking. ‘It matters not, we’ll see him in the Keep in a few hours if he gets that far. Ready the men for full attack as soon as possible and tell them all their liege is dead, and we’re going to bring back his killers.’
Josette had managed to wipe most of the blood from her face, but the stench of death clung to her like a grave digger, and her leather tunic and pants were stained for life. The dark brown leather was now the off brown of old blood and not tanned animal hide. She could feel her red hair crusting into dirty locks. She crouched once again in the middle of a sea of hostile people. She knew an army getting ready for full battle when she saw one, people ran this way and that screaming orders and getting men and horses ready, and loading with supplies. It was over: they had provoked the beast a little too much and now they were dispensing with games and going with force. She smiled to herself, thinking that at least she’d taken the Duke out and finished Seth’s work. In a way, she’d finished her obligation in killing his foe for him, but she’d keep it up until she had saved him.
‘Get out of there, girl, and drop the bow.’ a gruff voice from behind her said. She froze and thought about going to her weapon, but she could sense at least four of them, so her hand inched out for her bow which lay on the ground next to her, moving it so it didn’t point up.
I’ll be happy to kill you, but the captain won’t,’ he said.
She said a little ‘fuck’ to herself and stood up slowly. She turned around and looked at the men. They were mercenaries and not Twin Plains guards, but she’d seen their combined forces running around, and knew it was all together now. They had red sashes on their arms and one smiled evilly at her; she thought she remembered his ugly face, but wasn’t sure: maybe a client in the pleasure house, she shuddered.
‘Is her hair red? Or is that just blood?’ One asked, pointing his drawn bow at her.
‘Oh it’s red, and she’s the one the boss wants, so we’re in luck boys,’ the ugly one said.
He gestured with the bow and she started walking with three behind and one in front, walking slowly backwards, checking his footfalls every few seconds. One had a sword in her back and two further back, with bows. They were certainly doing it right.
‘Don’t worry, sweetling, it’s not very far,’ a voice sounded, and put a canvas bag over her head. They led her through the entire mercenary camp like that. She could hear rough voices, laughing and joking, snippets of plans, and weapons being brought up and readied. They were stopped briefly and questioned, but a few jokes and laughs later and they were past.
‘That was close.’ One said.
‘Shut up,’ said the other. ‘He’ll be very happy with this, and we don’t want one of these horny fucks to take our prize.’ Josette was scared now. She’d lived through a lot, but never like this. Being marched at sword point to what she guessed would be the King Bastard himself. She felt tough, but she couldn’t kill all of these all by herself with no weapons. She heard the sound of being walked through one final camp of men who were noticeable only by the fact that they talked in hushed tones and weren’t joking or laughing. She was brought into the tent and gently set down.
The ugly one spoke. ‘Captain, we’ve found her for you.’
The man took off her hood and she saw the smug face of Goldie, sitting in the tent and surrounded by a group of men dressed as Bastards.
‘Hello, little sister,’ he said, and smiled at her, his teeth flashing in the firelight.
‘Skinner, let the poor girl up and gave her some wine; she’s fucking scared to death,’ he said with a laugh. She was hoisted to her feet and Goldie walked up to her and handed her a wine goblet. He chinked it with hers. ‘Welcome, my girl, to the Black Rock Keep forward line,’ he said, and the men laughed with him.
‘What, you’re on my side?’ She asked, still stunned. She didn’t know what to make of this man. She’d only seen him in the city recruiting and giving her directions at dagger point, Grimm said to trust him but she still wasn’t sure she could. She wasn’t sure what to begin to make of this latest action on his part.
Goldie sighed loudly. ‘Look, little sister, I’m on your fucking side, alright? I knew the Bastards would betray us so I played along, and I let you live even though I knew you were hiding under that wagon. Oh, I see by your face that that might just fucking convince you, and now I’ve walked you right through the middle of the enemy camp which you could never have crossed alone, and I am going to give you want you’ve wanted all along.’
She was stunned by his revelation that he’d known she was there. He’d talked to no one since, and surely could only know because he was telling the truth. She desperately wanted to believe him and that she wasn’t really in a tent full of ten hostile men and no weapons.
‘What have I wanted all along?’ She asked.
‘Another shot at the King Bastard, of course.’
He was right.
Chapter 40
Elizebetha stood on the battlements of her beloved Black Rock Keep and looked out at the sea of fires that surrounded it. The handheld torches of a thousand soldiers filled the field in front of it and looked almost beautiful winking back at her in the moonlight. They were furious, and from that alone she knew that Josette had succeeded, at least in part. The Duke was gone from the world like smoke from a fire just to drift away. She still felt the woman out there but the First Brother of the Guild was gone, and he had no chance to pass his dark knowledge on to someone else: the chain had been broken.
She allowed herself a small smile of victory which was quickly eaten up again by hopelessness. She had thought communing with her father would help her, and it had, but she understood the man too well now. He had allowed his own order of the Gatherers to fade away like a memory. They had stopped collecting and gathering, stopped recruiting, and hidden away from the realm at the farthest end of it. He had seen the power and good intentions eat people up inside, seen them fall one by one to the temptation.
The temptation was strong in her own heart as well, and it was a monster she had always battled. She had forced Seth to destroy the girl Seraphina because she wanted her powers, and she had led all these people back to the Keep just so she could keep the coin and use its power. She cast her mind back to one night when she had stood on the decks of “the Opulent” and looked into the cold dark waters. She’d held the coin in her hand and thought of just letting it slip away into the waves. How many lives would have been spared if she had? But no, she’d wanted the power of it, so who could she truly blame for the rivers of blood that had flowed since.
Dagosh stood next to her silently. She’d barely spoken to the man, instead allowing Grimm to run her defence, but he’d been gone all night and she hadn’t seen him.
‘Dark thoughts, Duchess,’ he said.
She looked over at the mercenary captain’s face in the lowlight cast by the torches below, and saw he also wore a deep frown, deeper than the normal deep frown.
‘Contemplating different paths and different outcomes.’ She said.
He gave a soft humourless laugh. ‘Me as well; what seemed a great adventure with Seth leading now seems terrifying with him gone.’ He said.
She had communed wit
h the Wolvern only once more, and been told by it that Seth was needed where he was and that he would come when he could. She knew that time travelled faster there, and just hoped that there was a chance he could return before it became a slaughter. Yet still, as inspiring as he was to the men, there was no way to change the odds of this battle. Three to one, was three to one, no matter who the leader.
‘Do you wish you hadn’t gotten involved?’ She asked him.
He looked at her and then across the battlements at his troops. ‘Most of these have never had a family or anything to fight and believe in. I wouldn’t have taken that from them, but I wish we had at least some chance of victory, and now we won’t get to spend all that coin Goldie gave us!’ He said, laughing.
‘What gold he gave you? I thought Seth paid you at the beginning, and Goldie’s money was for those turncoats the Bastards,’ she said.
Dagosh started laughing aloud. ‘Maybe we’re not done yet; when I met them, the boys had gold coins painted as copper. They may have done the reverse trick to the Bastards, because before Goldie left he gave me a chest of 400 gold to hold for him.’
Grimm felt such anger, she was weak, weak, weak. The reason he’d always hated nobles was expressed perfectly in the person that was Elizebetha. She was kindhearted, friendly, and stupid. She ran around the world like a victim of everything, and yet she held the power to sway this battle in a heartbeat. How would the Duke’s army fare in the face of the Wolvern? There wasn’t a Pellosi man or women out there that wouldn’t shit their pants, drop their shiny new pike, and run back home at the sight. But no, she’d let him and his kind die instead, because it was wrong.
He knew she was out on the battlements looking sad and lost, and that Dagosh would keep her company for a while. That old soldier could talk for hours when he got going, so he knew he had time. It was time for him to do something. He knew Goldie was out there putting his neck on the line to save them, even though they all thought him a traitor, now it was his turn to do something as well. He stood in her study in the lowlight and walked quietly to her desk. It was strewn with writing, quills, and half dried out inkpots.
Pulling his dagger, he pushed into the gap between her desk and the top drawer. There was a lock, but it was weak and meant to deter household staff stealing, not a determined hand like his. With some force and too much noise, the drawer came open with a burst of splinters. Inside, there was the pouch filled with the summoning stones. He took the soft leather pouch and felt the weight of it in his hand; she really should be carrying it with her.
He closed the drawer and did his best to pick up the wooden bits; she’d know it was gone, but everyone had access to this room. Grimm crept out of the study, and once he was out he walked casually out of the Keep. He strode with purpose around the back of the Keep, nodding to a guard who stood watch.
‘I’ll take over for a while,’ he said.
The man just nodded and left. In the back courtyard there was still a pile of burned bodies which was little more than ash and charred bone now. Grimm walked past the pile and into the small vineyard that was behind it. In the dark of the overgrown bushes and vines, he reached into a bush and pulled out the bodies. They’d been well hidden by him in the days before, and he hoped they weren’t too old, but if he was to finish this battle right, he wanted to go down swinging like Seth would. He took the hand of the first black sash soldier from the Dark Guard and pulled it out of the vines and bushes that covered it.
He placed all five of them, one by one and with as much respect as he could, on the ground, and taking the pouch out, he poured the contents into his hand. In the moonlight he could see the pieces. He’d seen her do this twice and thought he knew the placement; if not he’d be done, but oh well. She’d know he did it anyway, as she always said summoning didn’t happen here without her knowing, but he’d have a few minutes. He placed them down in the order he thought was right and said his own words of protection. She had said something about the earth and fire, but he didn’t feel that was right for him.
‘By the strength of my arm, land, and people, by our blood and by my honour, defend this circle,’ he said in Northern. He had no idea if it would work, but it felt right to him. Now was the time, he had thought a lot about what he should do now. He’d been planning this for days. At first he thought he could summon Seth back, but she had warned him that the Wolvern said not to; Seth was needed, and to take him for an hour was to steal a day from him, and it was a day he needed right now. He’d call the Wolvern instead and use these five to make himself the leader he needed to be. He’d picked them out as the only black sash men in the group of bodies he’d been forced to burn, and he knew that of any, they were more than normal men already, and if anyone knew the mind of the Duke and secrets of the Guild, it was them.
He sat down on his heels in front of the circle and thought about it; once he’d done this, it was past the point of no return, and he was still deeply unsure of what he should do, but knew above all that he needed to do something. Part of him wished he’d managed to do this when he still had all those bodies to give: it was hideous but needed. He’d asked Elizebetha to teach him her ways, but she’d said no; when he’d asked why, she’d said it was because he’d burn the world down to protect his friends.
He stood up and started to sing Elizebetha’s song of longing. He knew he would do what he had to.
Grimm sang the strange Pellosi words and felt them role strangely over his tongue. After going through the song time and time again, he knew nothing was happening. He couldn’t understand it. His instincts told him what to do and he followed them. He began to sing songs from home. The ones of the lost soldiers and the cold return, songs of the beauty of his land. Slowly, as he focused on what he wanted to bring through, it started to happen. More and more loudly, he sang, sweat pouring from his brow and the air finally started to thicken and deepen, he knew he didn’t have long. Elizebetha had surely started feeling the stirs of power. He saw a shape moving behind the thick dark cloud and shouted the words.
‘Take their bodies and give me the rest!’
The creature that came leaping through to take them wasn’t the Wolvern. He leapt back in shock as the feral looking women with long black hair and razor teeth pounced through and onto the bodies of the fallen. Before he could look at her fully, he felt the first wave of memories hit him. She had ripped into one’s chest with razor claws growing from her long hands and had it between her teeth. Days old, but the power still hit him. He felt the heat in his body and he collapsed to the ground as all the memories and strength washed over him in wave after wave. They were much more than just men. Each one had been a Dark Guard for a long time. He saw summoning, battles, and slaughter. He saw them being rewarded with victims for fifty year terms of service. He knew he’d be so much better than he’d been before, and at all weapons. He stood with strength and energy glowing through his body, and looked at the now humanish woman finishing her meal.
She stood up fully and wiped the blood from her mouth with the sleeve of her fine bedclothes. She was dressed in a thin silky robe and was beautiful. She was a Pellosina, beautiful brown skin, curves, and deep brown eyes. Grimm looked at her and the ground, and he saw now with the full knowledge of the Guild members: his protection circle was wrong and worthless.
‘You’re not the Wolvern’ he said, drawing his sword.
‘No, I’m not,’ she said simply.
She held her hand out and it went right through where the circle of power should be, and she smiled. Stepping back within the circle, she looked at him and smiled again.
‘I’m Minsetta; lovely to meet you finally, Grimm.’
Chapter 41
Josette sat in the tent with Goldie and his rough cast of hired men, and now she recognised the rat-faced man who Goldie kept referring to as Skinner.
‘So he’s in there now, boss, with the rest of them, so it’s time,’ Skinner said.
‘Time for what?’ She asked.
‘
Look, the Bastards are less like a mercenary troop and more like a tribal council. They have many leaders of different groups and they use the ‘King Bastard’ as their spokesman and money collector. My boys have been very busy finding out the loyalties.’
‘Or lack of,’ one man spoke up, and they all laughed.
‘Bloody right, Svenson, ‘lack of’, and it seems our pretty boy is only leader because he was noble born and has connections with people like the Duke. They have no love for him, and soon will have a lot less. We need to get into that command tent so I can work my magic, and you’re my way inside,’ he said.
She just nodded and let him go on.
‘So boys, who have we got, and what are there bones to pick,’ he said.
One of the men spoke up; he was a young desert man, dark black skin and skinny as a rake. ‘There are over two hundred of my ilk, their leader is Dekarian or Quest, and he hates the Duke personally and says he’s responsible for some kind of massacre of our people. He’d be happy to actually fight the Duke’s men, especially the black sashes; he spits when they walk past,’ the man said in a slow quiet voice.
She was impressed with Goldie, and this odd group of men who looked worthless; they actually made up most of the ethnic groups to be found in Pellosi and the Bastards, and it was easy for them to get in close to them and find out the fireside stories. Goldie spoke a word of thanks back to him in the desert tongue, another surprise.
Another spoke up, and it was the man Skinner. ‘You’ve got a few groups of Pellosis, but one is run by a man called ‘Cards’. I’ve met him before in Pellota and he’s all money and loot: he’ll not fight the Duke directly, but him and his few hundred will fuck off back home for gold. The other two Pellosi groups who make up to six hundred are run by Farirkar are in; they hate the current King Bastard and Farirkar will bring them over to fight if he can take the crown.’
Take the Darkness...: Epic Fantasy Series (Dark Gods & Tainted Souls Book 2) Page 18
