by Nathan Long
Only Karel brightened at the sight of him. ‘Captain, you’re here! The others thought you might have betrayed us.’
Reiner shot a look at Hals and Pavel. ‘The others will think anything of me, it seems.’ There was little room left to sit. Much of the floor was studded with heavy iron bolts from which the chains had rusted long ago. No one seemed inclined to make room for him. He sighed, then crossed deliberately to Franka and sat down beside her. No one spoke. ‘It wasn’t I who betrayed us,’ he said at last. ‘It was Abel. He named us assassins.’
‘Hey?’ said Giano. ‘For why?’
Gert snorted. ‘So he can get us out of the way and claim the credit of killing Gutzmann for himself. Always thought that boy was a mite too smart.’
‘Aye,’ said Reiner, pointedly. ‘There’s a fellow who truly cares only for his own skin.’
There was an uncomfortable silence after that. In the darkness, Reiner could see Pavel nudging Hals. Hals shoved back, angry, but after a moment he sighed.
‘All right, all right.’ He looked up at Reiner, his mouth pulled down into a bulldog frown. ‘Captain, I’ll ask ye plain what we all been wondering. What went on in the room in the brothel before the ratmen attacked?’
Reiner shook his head. ‘We are locked in a cell, with our true purpose exposed and the noose getting nearer by the second, and this is what concerns you?’
‘I no care,’ said Giano. ‘Is they who is caring. Love is love, hey?’
‘That weren’t an answer,’ said Gert.
‘Then I’ll give you one,’ Reiner snapped. ‘What happened in that room is no business of yours. Now, have any of you any ideas for escaping this pit?’
‘But it is our business! How are we to follow ye when ye keep secrets from us?’ asked Pavel. ‘How can we trust ye when y’ve lied?’
Reiner snorted. ‘Don’t be ridiculous. We’re all of us liars. We’ve every one of us secrets. You and Hals still haven’t told what really happened with your captain, to name an instance.’
‘We have, though,’ said Hals.
‘And t’ain’t the same anyway,’ Pavel said, shaking his head. ‘The secrets we keep don’t make us unfit to lead.’
‘Nor does mine.’
‘Captain,’ said Karel, pleadingly. ‘Just deny it plainly and have an end to it.’
Pavel sneered. ‘Being a lover of men may not matter in Altdorf gambling houses, but t’ain’t right in the army, where we all live, er, cheek by jowl, so to speak…’
‘Captain ain’t an invert, curse you!’ cried Dag. ‘And I’ll kill the man who says so!’
‘Then y’ll be killing all of us, I think,’ said Gert.
Reiner sighed. ‘And that’s what it comes down to, isn’t it? It’s not the secrets. It’s not the lies. Well, let me set your minds at ease. Dag is right. I am not a lover of men.’
‘You see!’ cried Dag. ‘You see.’
‘Though if I was,’ continued Reiner, ‘I wouldn’t be the first or the last to lead men…’
He stopped when he saw Hals’s and Pavel’s faces. They were almost comically downcast.
‘What now?’
‘We hoped at least that ye wouldn’t lie,’ said Pavel.
Hals clenched his fists. ‘Captain, I saw ye!’
‘What you saw wasn’t what you thought it was,’ said Reiner. ‘You were mistaken.’
‘Then what was it?’ asked Pavel.
Reiner’s eyes slid to Franka, then away. ‘I cannot say.’
‘T’ain’t good enough,’ said Hals.
‘Pikeman,’ said Karel, angry. ‘You have no right to harass a superior officer this way. Captain…’
Reiner waved a hand at Karel. ‘Forget it, lad, forget it.’ He sighed and looked back to Hals. ‘And if I were to say I am, would you trust me again? Would you follow me?’
There was a long pause. Everybody looked at the floor.
At last Reiner chuckled. ‘You see, I was right. The lies and secrets don’t matter. It’s only who I bunk with that concerns you. Something that matters not the slightest…’
‘So you admit it?’ said Hals.
‘No, I do not,’ said Reiner scornfully. ‘You put words in my mouth.’
Gert sneered. ‘Better than what you put in your mouth, captain.’
Dag shot to his feet, fists balled. ‘Y’filthy dog. Y’ll die for that!’ He leapt at Gert, swinging blindly. Gert lurched aside, absorbing most of the punches with his bulk, then grabbed the archer’s legs and pulled him down. They rolled about on the floor in a chaos of flailing arms and legs. Everyone but Reiner and Jergen shouted at them and tried to pull them apart.
Franka jumped up, furious. ‘Stop it, you fools! Stop it! You’re all mad! Captain Hetzau isn’t a lover of men!’ she cried. ‘And I should know better than any of you!’
Reiner’s heart banged against his ribs. ‘Frank—Franz! Don’t be a fool!’ He tried to pull her back down.
She wrenched her arm away. ‘The reason I was wearing woman’s clothes, and the reason Captain Reiner was kissing me…’
‘Franka! Stop!’ ‘…is because I am a woman!’
Reiner groaned. The secret was out. Franka would be a soldier no more. Manfred would send her away from him. The other Blackhearts would shun her.
The other Blackhearts hadn’t heard her. They were too busy trying to separate Gert and Dag. She grabbed Pavel and shook him by the shirt-front.
‘Listen to me, curse you! I’m a woman!’
‘Hey?’ Hals blinked. ‘What d’ye say, lad?’
‘I’m not a lad,’ Franka screamed. ‘Are you deaf?’
The others were turning now. Even Dag and Gert were slowing their punches.
‘Not a lad?’ said Pavel, confused.
‘No,’ said Franka, struggling for patience. ‘I am a woman. I disguised myself as a boy so I could fight for the Empire.’
The men stared at her. Dag and Gert gaped at her from the floor.
‘Is true?’ asked Giano.
‘Of course it ain’t,’ said Hals. He shook his head sadly. ‘Lad. I know why y’do this. Ye wish to protect the captain, and ‘tis a noble thought. But it won’t wash. We’ve seen y’fight. Lasses don’t fight.’
‘I do,’ said Franka. ‘Come, have you never wondered why I’ve never bathed with you? Why I always tented alone? Why I said I’d kill any man who touched me?’
‘Y’might have been afraid of, er, temptation,’ said Pavel.
Franka laughed. ‘Do you think yourself so irresistible, pike-man?’
‘Why don’t y’ask her to show ye proof,’ said Gert.
Dag laughed. ‘Aye. Aye, give us a show.’
‘No!’ cried Reiner. ‘I forbid it. Get away, you filthy jackals!’
Franka shrugged. ‘I think I must, captain. There seems no other way to convince them. But not to all of you, curse you!’ she shouted, catching their looks.
She turned from one to the other, then at last came to a decision. ‘Hals, stand in the corner.’
She pointed to the far end of the cell. Hals looked embarrassed. The others chuckled.
‘Come on, come on,’ said Franka. ‘Let’s be done with it.’
With dragging feet, Hals trudged to the corner and faced out. Franka stood in front of him and began unlacing her jerkin.
The company waited in silence. Dag’s eyes gleamed. Reiner wanted to kill them all for forcing Franka to this indignity. How dare they not take her at her word? Then he recalled that she had had to do the same for him in order to convince him.
Hals shifted uncomfortably as Franka opened her jerkin and began undoing her buttons. He didn’t seem to know where to look. At last Franka pulled aside her shirt and tugged down the bandages with which she bound her chest. ‘There,’ she said, glaring. ‘Do you still say I lie?’
Reiner and the others couldn’t see Franka’s nakedness, but the look on Hals’s face told them all they needed to know. Reiner laughed in spite of himself. The veteran pikeman was gaping
like a gaffed trout. He looked like the cuckolded husband from an innyard farce.
‘Yer… yer a lass!’ he said, blinking.
Franka pulled up her bandages and closed her shirt. ‘Aye,’ she said dryly. ‘So now you’ve no reason to distrust the captain, yes?’
‘But this is no better!’ cried Pavel, stepping forward. ‘We, we’ve cursed in front of you. Told barracks stories in front of you.’
‘We’ve pissed in front of you, for Sigmar’s sake!’ roared Hals, outraged. ‘Y’ve seen us naked.’
‘Not to worry,’ said Franka. ‘I took no pleasure in it.’
Gert laughed. ‘The lass has wit, at least.’
Karel turned to Reiner, very stiff. ‘Captain, you have known this girl’s secret for some time?’
‘Since the caves of the Middle Mountains,’ said Reiner.
‘And you have allowed her to fight, to put herself in danger?’
‘Aye.’
‘And you still call yourself a gentleman?’ The boy was red in the face.
Reiner sighed. ‘First, lad, I have never called myself a gentleman. Second, you try stopping her. She won’t listen to me.’
‘But this won’t do,’ said Hals. ‘A lass can’t fight. It ain’t right. We’ve to tell Manfred. Send her back to her husband.’
Franka shuddered.
Reiner put his hand on her shoulder. ‘You can be sure Manfred already knows. His surgeons had their way with her as they did with us.’
Karel choked. ‘Count Manfred lets her fight?’
Reiner smiled. ‘After all this time you still find yourself shocked by your future father-in-law’s behaviour? To him Franka is only another criminal, whose imposture is another sword he holds over her head to force her to do his bidding.’
‘Well, damn Manfred and damn you,’ said Hals. ‘I won’t have it! Never let it be said that an Ostlandman stood by and let a lass fight while there was still life in his limbs!’
‘Hear hear!’ said Pavel. And Gert and Dag echoed him.
A sudden sob from Franka stopped them. They looked at her.
‘I knew it would be like this!’ she moaned. ‘I knew it!’ She balled her fists at her sides. ‘Is this one thing enough that you turn against me? Am I not your friend?’
‘We don’t turn against you, lass,’ said Pavel softly. ‘We want to keep you safe from harm.’
‘But it’s not what I want! I want to be with you! I want to be a soldier!’
‘But y’can’t be,’ said Hals. ‘Yer a lass now.’
‘As I always have been! All that has changed is that you know it.’
Hals shook his head. ‘And I can’t unknow it. I’m sorry, girl.’
Gert shrugged. ‘What matters it one way or t’other? Likely we die swinging before we’ve a chance to fight again anyway. Either Gutzmann hangs us for spies, or Shaeder feeds us to his furry friends.’
The others sighed, returned by this unwelcome reminder to the reality of their situation.
‘True enough,’ said Pavel. ‘But still, she shouldn’t be here, should she?’
‘Nor should any of us,’ said Reiner. He straightened up. ‘And if we turn our minds to getting free, we might be able to continue this fascinating debate later in more pleasant surroundings. Like the Griffin in Altdorf. What say you?’
After some sullen reluctance, the others agreed to try to think of some way out of their predicament, but the day had been long and filled with running and fighting and uncertainty, and once they had returned to their places against the walls and wrapped their arms around their knees, the talk quickly devolved into mumbles and grunts, until at last, one by one their heads nodded and dropped.
Just as he was drifting off, Reiner felt Franka slump against him. He put his arm around her and pulled her close. At least there is that, he thought. At least there is that.
THEY HAD NO idea how long they had slept or what time it was when they woke. Neither noise nor light penetrated this far underground, so they couldn’t tell if it was morning or afternoon or still the middle of the night, or what might be happening in the fort above. Frustrated, Reiner tried to puzzle it out from what he had learned the previous night, but it was so cold that he found it hard to concentrate. Would Gutzmann discover Shaeder’s treachery and come down to free them with profuse apologies and praise, or would a flood of ratmen pour down the stairs and tear them to bloody shreds? After a while his thoughts became a muddle and he could do no more than lean against Franka and stare at the opposite wall, numb with boredom and despair. The others were no better. They had tried at first to invent an escape plan, but all started, ‘Once we get out of this cell…’
Reiner had thought he might be able to accomplish something by engaging their guards in conversation. For if he could make friends with them he might trick them into relaxing their guard, but they must have been warned of his powers of persuasion. He could get nothing out of them but grunts and curses.
Sometime later he woke panting from a nightmare of pleading voices and twisted hands reaching from iron cages to tug at his clothes, to find that Franka was shaking him.
‘What’s the…’
She shushed him, pointing to her ear. There were voices outside the cell. He sat up and listened. Karel was crouched at the door.
‘But we’re not to be relieved until evening mess,’ said one of their guards.
‘You’re relieved now,’ said a new voice. ‘Commander Shaeder’s orders.’
The Blackhearts looked around at each other. ‘That’s us done then,’ whispered Hals. Reiner cursed. ‘How many are there?’
Karel rose up to peek through the window then dropped back down again. He held up four fingers. His eyes were wide. ‘Shaeder’s greatswords!’
The light increased as boot heels clopped closer to the door. Reiner slapped at his belt, but of course his sword wasn’t there. They had all been disarmed. ‘On your feet!’ he hissed. ‘Be ready.’ He wished he knew for what.
The Blackhearts pulled themselves up, stiff and groaning, trying to shake feeling into their numb limbs. Karel shifted away from the door. The key turned in the lock.
FOURTEEN
May Sigmar Speed You
REINER’S MIND RACED, trying to think of some way to overcome the greatswords. It was impossible. They were proven veterans. They had seen everything. They were ready for any trick, and they were armed to the teeth. What could he possibly do to throw them off their stride, to shock them?
The door was swinging open. He could see the four Hammer Bearers standing beyond it, swords out. The leader held a lantern at his side. They had the look of witchfinders on the hunt, seeing sin in everything.
His heart banged against his chest. He had it!
‘Franka!’
He grabbed the girl’s wrist and dragged her before the door just as the four greatswords stepped in, raising their swords.
‘Your time has come, villains,’ said the leader.
Reiner pulled Franka into his arms, crying, ‘Kiss me, beloved!’ Then put action to his words and mashed his lips against hers with all the passion he could muster.
The greatswords gaped, paralyzed with shock. The tip of the leader’s sword hit the stone floor with a clank. ‘What abomination is this? Inverted degenerates…’
As quick as an eel, Jergen darted forward and kicked the lantern from the leader’s hand, then ripped his sword from his slack fingers as the cell was plunged into darkness.
‘Rush ‘em!’ Reiner shouted.
He dived at the second man’s knees as Franka headbutted him in the chest. The fellow hit the floor. Around him, Reiner could hear, but not see, swords clanging as the others charged forward, screaming battle cries. Fists smacked into skin. Men grunted and yelped. There was a sharp gasp, and the unmistakable sound of steel chunking into flesh.
Reiner flailed for his greatsword’s sword arm, trying to catch it before the man could swing. He caught the sword instead and razored open the base of his thumb. Reiner wra
pped the blade in his arms and hugged it as the man tried to pull it away.
‘Sit on him!’
‘I am!’ came Franka’s voice.
Reiner fought the man’s hands and kneed for his groin as shouts and thumps and clanks came from all over the cell. There was a sickening crack nearby. His man convulsed. A second crack and all the strength went out of the fellow’s limbs. Another and he let go of his sword.
‘Franka! Enough.’
‘Oh.’
Reiner grabbed the Hammer’s sword and stood, but the sounds of the other conflicts were trailing off except for one last thrashing fight in the centre.
‘Is me you have!’ came Giano’s voice. ‘Get he…!’
Reiner groped around in the darkness and found the lantern. He righted it and fumbled in his belt pouch for flint and steel, but the flame had not gone out, only guttered, and now came to life again.
Reiner looked around. Giano was fighting a disarmed greatsword, and Dag was fighting Giano, trying to punch him in the kidneys. Around them the other Blackhearts were rising to their feet. Their opponents remained motionless.
‘Dag!’ Reiner called. ‘Leave off! Get the greatsword! I want to…’
Dag sprang up as he saw the greatsword was still alive. As the others stepped forward to help, he jumped on the man’s chest, snatched his dagger from its scabbard and plunged it into his eye up to the hilt. He laughed like a child with a pin-wheel as the man spasmed and jerked, then lay still.
‘Got him, captain,’ he said, looking up. ‘What’d ye want?’
Reiner balled his fists. He had never in his life come across a fellow who was in more need of killing. He forced himself to speak slowly. ‘I wanted… to speak… to him. To find out if Shaeder had put his plan into action yet.’
Dag looked at him blankly. ‘Oh. Well, too late for that now, hey?’ He giggled.
‘Aye,’ said Reiner. ‘Too late.’
The rest of the greatswords were dead as well. Gert had crushed the windpipe of one with his thumbs while Pavel and Hals held his arms and legs. Jergen had accounted for another, with the help of Karel, who had held the man by the ankles. The life poured out of his neck in a red flood. Franka sat on the chest of the last. The back of his head was a crimson crater, and hair and brains slicked one of the iron rings that stuck up out of the floor. Franka held clumps of the man’s beard and hair in her clenched fists. She shivered with revulsion when she saw what she had done, and flung the tufts away.
