All she could hope for was for the troops to move on to the border when the weather cleared.
~~~^~~~
Kattegat
When they got a report back that the main road and border were secure, the leadership met to discuss it and their next move.
“I really thought others would join us,” Stephan murmured.
“They are cautious. And this has just happened; it takes time for the news to spread,” Dominus Fenton said. “Look at me, I couldn't even return to my holdings!” he looked disgusted. “Damn weather!”
“Don't curse the weather or you'll bring the gods wrath down upon us,” Olaf said mildly.
The dominus gave him a look and then looked away.
“So, we have a little help from Siegfried's holdings, and a few of the minor lords near, but no one else?” Percival stated. “What of their patriotism?”
“Our men enjoy the hospitality of Berg and Hansen among others. It is a small start,” Olaf rumbled.
Domina Rasmussen snorted at the report from Berg. "She'll do what's right for her. She knows that if we 'forced her hand' then if the Imperials come that excuse will give her some threadbare cover. The same for Hansen."
"So, you think they will? They won't just write it all off?" Stephan asked.
The domina looked at him pityingly. "Yes, but not now. No one marches in the snow. Ver is the time of war." She nodded to Percival and the drott. "Which gives our warriors time to prepare."
"Aye. If we can trade our sovereignty back for their princess and junior dominus, then we will do that. Enough blood has been shed," the drott said heavily.
"Not enough. Not nearly enough," Percival said instantly.
The drott turned to him. "Be careful what you wish for since the next blood might be very well your own and your kin. We are all playing with fire here."
"Then why side with us at all?" Stephan asked, lip curled.
"Because … I have my reasons," the drott snarled stiffly and then stormed off.
"His heart isn't in it," Percival observed.
"But he does it anyway. The men follow him for that. For the moment, that is enough," the domina stated.
"When do we see those who are loyal elevated?" Stephan asked eagerly.
The dominus and domina looked at each other. They each shrugged in turn and then turned back to Stephan. "In time. For the moment we must make sure of our grip on power and the land."
Stephan grimaced but then nodded.
“That means preserving the devices and people who can run them!” the domina said, staring at him. “You need to get your people under control in the capital. We need those things!”
Stephan's jaw worked but he nodded again. He wouldn't admit it out loud but he knew the mob was getting out of hand. It was easy to give in to the bloodlust.
Chapter 33
Olaf continued to work on what little he could to defend the kingdom. The snows had closed the road south, but he managed to get several units to the signal forts anyway. Recruiting in the capital was hit or miss; the promised soldiers from the dominus lands had not become available. He had his doubts if they'd ever be but pressed on nonetheless.
He took a page from Domina Rasmussen and the late knight Peterson and had his people cause rock falls and avalanches at choke points to hide that the road and kingdom had changed hands. Further up he detailed men to work on defenses at additional choke points, digging out some more of the signal towers and provisioning them for a squad to stay for the winter.
He also set a troop of men to find the remaining Imperials and lay an ambush for them at a farm at least twenty miles ahead of their last-known point of contact. He wasn't sure if it would do any good but it might.
~~~^~~~
Near the Border
Casius Bellus managed to work the private roads and side roads to wend his way further south. Sometimes he had to go west or east in order to avoid the patrols.
When his branack died from exposure, he stole another farm branack, but it too died in the bitter cold less than a day later. He stole another but had to let branack go; she was too winded to continue. He hoped the mare survived but doubted it.
The one good point about it was that he was unsure if the animal would lead the enemy away or not. He hoped so.
He was low on supplies. The money was dead weight in his belt; he dared not stop and try to buy something with it for fear of giving himself away.
When he saw a patrol, he hid. It turned out to be a group of hunters. He followed them back to their camp. He wanted to join them, but they spoke ill of the Imperium so he backed warily away.
He skirted the forest, staying clear of areas that looked like game trails. Game trails meant predators stalking them. The last thing he wanted was to run into a basilisk; he envisioned they would be terribly hungry with the cold winter upon them. He'd heard enough stories to beware.
He finally stumbled into a bit of luck when he found a village. He hid in the community's barn. Tucked away and finally warm for a short spell in the hayloft, he slept himself out for a long time.
When the storm cleared near dawn, he saddled a mare and trotted her out into the fresh snow and headed south once more.
~~~^~~~
When his beast gave her all and fell, Casius managed to recover from the fall. When the beast had breathed her last, he took out his knife and cut what soft meat he could from her. He bundled it in a rag with his other things and then continue on foot.
The further he went the more he staggered though; the wind tended to knock him down more often than not as the time went on. He tried to take shelter in some of the log cabins for that purpose along the road. Once he was nearly caught by a patrol so he avoided them after that. He made lean-tos out of brush when he was too tired to trudge further.
He slept fitfully, usually fearful that if he slept too deeply the cold would claim him and he'd never wake up. That fear helped him move onward.
He knew he was getting closer when he dug out a great mile marker and noted the distance to the border. That spurred him on to greater efforts. He ran out of food on the seventh day but kept trudging on.
Somehow, he stumbled across the border just ahead of a coming storm. His figure was picked up by a bored and cold border patrol soldier with his binoculars. Swearing at the stupid fool, Alvus went out to get him.
The curses ended in confusion as he found the young half-frozen lad in Imperial Livery. Cassius saw his cloak and uniform and grabbed Alvus's cloak, gasping out his report.
Alvus tucked his shoulder under him and kept reassuring him as he half carried, half dragged the lad as fast as possible to the fort.
~~~^~~~
The warmth of the fort interior snapped Casius awake. His face and limbs were numb, but someone had pulled his cloak open and had started to undress him as the man who had saved him repeated his chattered report to the legatus in charge.
They bundled blankets on him, but he weakly recovered enough to give his chattered report a second time. Warm stew and tea were fed to him, and he felt intense pain as his skin felt like thousands of pins and needles were stabbing into it.
He managed to gasp out a few answers and then fumbled to get the report from Legatus Tycho out. He fumbled with it; his fingers dead. The gasps from the men around him told him the sight of the black fingers were not a good sign.
Despite that he got the report out and into the hands of the legatus and then passed out.
The medicus came and took charge of him, treating him for hypothermia and frostbite. He had severe frostbite on his hands, feet, and nose. “I may have to amputate,” he warned.
“Do what you can,” the legatus said with compassion in his voice as he turned away. He scanned the scroll once more; face darkening before he took the stairs to the radio tower two at a time.
~~~^~~~
Imperial Capital
The legatus managed to get the report to the capital just as the storm hit and temporarily shut him down. Other stat
ions overheard the report though. Duke Emory and others had their people monitoring the radio channels. They immediately began to call the capital repeatedly with demands for answers.
Deidra was stunned by the report. She initially had a knee jerk reaction to reject it as untrue. Her husband had a different reaction.
Eugene instantly ordered a weather report and then ordered aircraft out. When Duke Emory demanded answers again, he asked the duke for support.
“All you need.”
“All right, I'm sending aircraft your way now. The storm on the border is headed west into the mountains above you. If it clears, get that aircraft to the pass fort and then on to the border. We need to know what the situation is. We'll stage each aircraft through you and the fort at the border to scout for us.”
“You don't think you can get there in this snow, do you?”
“If we can't walk, we'll fly over it,” Eugene replied.
“Huh,” the dominus replied. “You Terrans and your wonders.”
“Yup,” Eugene replied.
“Send for our leaders and the Flying Legion,” Deidra ordered.
~~~^~~~
Duluth
What the legatus coined the resistance continued to struggle to survive. Agnes ran the day-to-day operations of keeping everyone fed, warm, and clean while the legatus tried to forge what little military power they had left into something that could continue to fight. Her work was as hard as his; she had to stretch their meager rations while scavenging for more. They ate sometimes once a day.
The good news was that many of them had the Terran inspired winter wear as well as stout wool cloaks. They also had some spare clothes and plenty of blankets.
Tycho had a tougher job. Half of his job was morale which was what Agnes was partially handling to the best of his ability. But he knew that they had to either get across the border or hit back. The likelihood of their surviving to get across the border was remote so he discarded it for the moment.
He eventually took a page from his Terran training. His men were already dressed in tan and brown; he had them dress in white and brown as camouflage. He dredged up what the Terrans had said about fighting in winter. That and something called a Guerrilla war.
It meant killing the men and women who were sent out to find him. But they had to do it smart, hitting small groups and getting away cleanly. Preferably without any casualties on his side and while also stripping the enemy dead.
As much as he'd like to find a place to hold up, he knew they couldn't stay in one position overlong. That meant they'd had to move again. He blew in his hands to warm them and then tucked them under his armpits.
They had to avoid the occupied ranches, and the small signal forts had fallen to the enemy. He had no idea if he could trust any of the local lords. He had no intention of doing so.
That made the temptation to take cover in old structures pretty powerful, especially with the number of civilians at his back.
He knelt on a piece of wood, looking at an old farm, with his binoculars. He noted a trickle of smoke coming from the chimney.
It was tempting to just move in before night fell and the temperatures really fell. Eudoxia had her hands full with trying to keep people alive. They'd already lost several to the cold and infection despite her best efforts.
Yet he resisted the temptation. Something didn't feel right. His eyes scanned the horizon and then went back to the ranch. He methodically scanned it, asking himself what was bothering him and making him hesitate. He could feel the impatience of the men and women around them. Safety and warmth were practically in touching distance.
He finally hit on what was bothering him, the tracks in the freshly laid snow. Some went to the barn and the home, but others went to a grove of nut trees nearby. Some of the trees had been covered by worn blankets to protect them.
“It's a trap,” he murmured. He could feel tension suddenly hit the men like a blow.
It took him another minute to find what he instinctively knew.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. There are guards hiding nearby—a small force in the grove of trees,” he murmured just as the wind began to pick up and howl.
"So, we go around?" Agnes demanded, teeth chattering.
"No."
"We just walk in?" she asked. “I'm all for getting warm but not dead.
He snorted. "No, we spring the trap."
"Ah? And how do we do that, oh wise and puissant leader?"
He paused to look at her. He couldn't tell if she was blushing; her cheeks were already red. She ducked her head. "Apologies," she muttered.
"Accepted. If sarcasm keeps you warm, so be it but beware the sharp tongue." He turned back to the old farmhouse and then to the tree line near. He spotted the glitter of metal. There had to be a force there, one inside, another to come up and pin them or run them to ground.
Most likely they swapped out every few hours so they too wouldn't freeze to death. That gave him an idea. It was time to turn the tables on the bastards.
"There are forces in the woods. I say we go make our acquaintances with them first as quietly as possible. Then go flush out those in the house."
"Ah. Fun."
~~~^~~~
The legatus watched as four of his best men crawled through the brush and snow behind the grove of trees. He heard the soft grunts and a single gurgle and then all was quiet save the wind and flapping of some of the blankets.
When Galius hand signed it was clear, he went to check. His people had done a good job, killing most of the soldiers quickly and quietly. Only one man had been left alive. He quietly ordered them to strip the dead of weapons and material. They didn't argue with him. Some even checked the boots for their size.
Once the bodies were stripped, he had them bury them in the snow. He then had the wounded man dressed in Imperial livery and gagged. His hands were bound at his waist. He was sent back to the home.
The man stared at him and then limped as quickly as he could away. He looked more terrified than cold as he hobbled to the door. He called out a muffled cry but was cut down by some trigger-happy soldier with a crossbow.
"Now what?" Agnes asked as she joined him. They watched as a group of soldiers came out to check the body.
"Now we flush them out," Tycho said. He took out a blank charge and a strange pipe contraption.
"What is that? Or dare I ask?"
"Something the Terrans cooked up and showed us. I didn't want to use it, but I think we can here," Tycho said as he loaded the thing in the end of his rifle and then the blank cartridge into the breach. He cocked the rifle and then sighted down it. He only had one left after this, so he had to make the shot count.
"You are serious? What will that do?"
"Light it and let's see," the legatus ordered.
Agnes swore but got out a flint and block and after a couple of strikes lit the torch. The soldiers had gotten to the body and kicked it contemptuously.
Tycho aimed it and fired into the snow-covered rushes on top of the house.
"Nice shot but it went out," Agnes observed dryly. “And they saw the shot,” she said, noting the soldiers near the body. They were looking around, trying to figure out where the shot came from.
"Actually, I think it went through the roof," the legatus said matter of factly as he pulled the hot brass out, pocketed it, and then loaded a live round. "Snipers use arrows and bolts only!" he called out as they heard a sudden crackle and swearing. Smoke began to pour out of the house.
The snipers took him for his word and took out the four enemy soldiers near the body as they turned to run. It took more than two shots per man to cut them down, but most likely they would be able to recover the arrows later.
Suddenly the door was flung open and men began to spill out. A child was with them; he was knocked down by a soldier in his haste to flee.
"Spare the kids and women if you can!" Tycho called out as he sighted down with his rifle. "I've got the leakers!" he said as bows
began to twang. One by one the fleeing soldiers were cut down.
Some attempted to escape out the small windows. Fire flared from within as air flowed in the suddenly open windows. Two soldiers managed to get out but were cut down. One barely got the window open before he was cut down.
One man came out without a weapon, coughing into his hand. He held up his sword and threw it away. A sniper tried to hit him anyway, but he saw the arrow coming and dodged it.
Hostage Rescue (Princess Rescue Inc Book 2) Page 45
