Council of War

by Richard S. Tuttle

  Fakir Aziz saw the Knight of Alcea approaching. He quickly ended his conversation with the other man and turned to meet Garth.

  "Garth Shado," smiled the historian. "I did not expect to see you up here. I thought you were heading south?"

  "And I thought you were traveling with my men," scowled Garth. "Why is it that they are imprisoned, and you are walking around free?"

  "Perhaps I did not draw attention to myself," shrugged the tutor.

  Kalina and Edmond joined Garth in facing the old man.

  "Is it true that you are from Alcea?" Fakir asked softly.

  "What?" Garth replied.

  "The rumor is all over the city," Fakir explained. "People have never heard of Alcea before, but everyone is talking about it. Karl and the others are scheduled to be executed tomorrow on the king's orders."

  "For what reason?" asked Kalina.

  "I heard that Karl Gree refused to speak to the king unless it was in private," answered the philosopher. "Baron Ohmson was forced by the king to state what Karl refused to. I do not think the baron wanted to say anything, but he is a subject of King Persimon. He had no choice."

  "Where and when will this execution take place?" asked Garth as his body stiffened.

  "At sunrise," answered Fakir. "It will be in the courtyard in front of the castle, but I would advise a softer approach than what I think you have in mind. Seek out Baron Ohmson. I think he might be of some help."

  "Who are you?" asked Kalina. "And how do you know so much?"

  "I hear things." The old man smiled at Kalina as he turned to walk away. Almost as an afterthought as he walked into a shop, he turned and said to Kalina, "Beware of Sven."

  Chapter 23

  Ambassador

  Garth Shado stood in his room at the Courtyard Shadows staring down at the courtyard where the executions would take place. He listened to the conversation that Edmond and Kalina were having in the room behind him, but his mind was focused on the logistics of a rescue.

  "Do you have any idea who Sven is?" asked Kalina.

  "The only person I can think of," mused Edmond, "is Norman Sven, but he is the Royal Sorcerer. The old man's words make no sense in that regard unless he thinks that Sven has the ear of the king on this matter. I really don't see how Fakir would know. He is not a Zaroccan."

  "Can we trust Baron Ohmson enough to reveal ourselves?" asked Kalina.

  "That would be risky," Edmond shook his head. "I think the baron is an honest man, but I can't imagine him putting himself between the king and your men. No baron in Zarocca would purposely rile the king."

  Garth opened his breast pocket and awakened Bitsy. The fairy leaped to his shoulder, eager to serve.

  "Go out and tell Tedi and Natia to come into the city," instructed Garth. "They may tell the guards at the gates that they are supposed to meet Edmond Mercado at the Courtyard Shadows. Tell them to get a room when they arrive here and then come to this room."

  "I am on my way for reinforcements," saluted the fairy.

  The fairy darted out the window, and Edmond and Kalina looked questioningly at Garth.

  "You are preparing to battle the whole city?" Kalina asked softly.

  "If it comes to that," Garth replied seriously, "then that is what we will do. I will not stand by and watch our people executed."

  "These people have mages," Kalina reminded him.

  "So do we, Kalina," Garth replied, "and I am ready to match your skill against all of their magicians."

  "While I appreciate your confidence in me," sighed Kalina, "I cannot perform miracles. We do not even know how many mages they have. Why not try the soft approach first?"

  "I intend to," Garth said as he turned around to face Kalina, "but I will not place all my bets on that approach."

  "I do not mean to intrude," frowned Edmond, "and I know that I have underestimated your abilities in the past, but what I am hearing sounds a little crazy. We are not talking about a group of bandits here. Traginak is fortified for war. There are enough soldiers in this city to crush a decent sized army. You cannot really believe that the five of us can fight them all?"

  "The four of us," Garth retorted. "This is not your fight, Edmond. It might be better if you slipped out of the city before dawn."

  "No," Edmond said with determination. "I will not run from a fight if that is what this must come to, but suicide is not a fitting way to mourn for your friends. Talking is the only way that you will free them."

  "And I am willing to try that path," stated Garth, "but I believe in being prepared for the worst. Do you know where to find Baron Ohmson?"

  "I suspect he would be in the castle," replied Edmond, "but I doubt that I could get in there as a merchant."

  "Can you get a message to him?" asked Garth.

  "I am sure a message would be delivered," nodded Edmond, "but what can you say to him in a message that might be read by others? You cannot say that you are Alcean."

  "I think I can," smiled Garth as he moved to the desk and started writing a note. "The question is whether he will come out of the castle or not."

  Garth folded the note and sealed it. He handed it to Edmond, and the Tyronian left the room to deliver it.

  "What did you say in the note?" asked Kalina.

  "I asked him to come to the Courtyard Shadows," answered Garth. "I told him it was a matter of life or death."

  "And you expect him to come?" balked Kalina. "I don't think so."

  "I signed it with the number twelve," grinned Garth. "It will mean nothing to anyone who intercepts it, but I am willing to wager that the baron will understand its significance."

  "Twelve?" asked Kalina.

  "He has already met eleven Alceans," explained Garth. "If he is anywhere near the type of man that we need him to be, those eleven men should be weighing heavily on his mind today."

  "And if they aren't weighing on his mind?" asked Kalina.

  "Then he would not have helped us anyway."

  Garth rose and walked back to the window. He stared at the courtyard analyzing all of the vantage points and trying to determine where the soldiers would be placed to secure the area. He frowned at the complexity of the situation, but the enormity of the problem did not deter him. A knock on the door forced the issue from his mind, and he turned towards the door as Edmond entered.

  "I was told that the message would be delivered promptly," stated Edmond. "If he does come, he will not come alone."

  "I figured as much," nodded Garth. "I do not blame him. Do you know what he looks like?"

  "I have seen him before," nodded the Tyronian.

  "Then let's go downstairs and wait for him," suggested Garth. "I need to see things from the street level anyway."

  As Garth moved towards the door, Kalina rose to go with him. Garth shook his head and signaled for Kalina to stay behind.

  "If it is safe, I will bring him to the room," Garth stated. "If he takes things poorly, it is better if I am alone. Edmond will keep watch from a distance so someone will know what happened. Lock the door behind me."

  Kalina nodded and the two men left the room. Garth led the way down the stairs and out into the courtyard. They walked the perimeter of the courtyard as Garth gazed upward at the roofs of the buildings surrounding the plaza.

  "Do you think they will have archers up there?" Garth whispered.

  "I doubt it," replied Edmond. "The Zaroccans rely on their horses far too much to waste men on the roofs. You do realize that they will seal the city as soon as the alarms start?"

  "And you realize that unicorns can fly," grinned Garth. "I will not make light of the odds of a successful rescue, but it is not an impossible mission. There is a lot of talent in our little group. I have no doubt that we can create a great deal of chaos before the ropes snap on my men. The real problem is that I cannot guarantee that we will all survive. In fact, I know that some of us will die, but I cannot let them hang."

  "I understand," said Edmond. "Let us hope that the baron will be amenable
to helping us."

  "Even if he is," frowned Garth, "he is not the king. The odds on negotiations working are almost as long as the odds of a successful rescue. The odds are not good."

  "Here he comes," Edmond said. "He has a dozen men with him."

  "Move away from me and watch," ordered Garth. "If they take me prisoner, get Kalina, Tedi, and Natia to free me."

  Garth turned abruptly and put distance between him and Edmond. He headed straight for the door to the Courtyard Shadows and entered the building only seconds before the baron. The baron and his men filed into the common room and looked around in confusion. Garth, who had entered just before them, turned around and smiled thinly.

  "I am the one who sent the message, Baron Ohmson."

  The baron glanced at Garth and then his eyes scanned the other patrons of the common room.

  "I have a room upstairs if you are agreeable," offered Garth.

  "Are you Alcean?" asked the baron.

  "I am," Garth answered.

  "Are there more of you?"

  "A few," nodded Garth, "but only my wife is in the room upstairs. The rest are not yet in Traginak."

  The baron hesitated only a moment before nodding. "Lead the way."

  Garth turned and led the Zaroccans up the stairs and to the door to his room. As Garth's hand rose to knock on the door, one of the soldiers grabbed his arm.

  "We will check the room before you alert anyone that the baron is here," the soldier whispered.

  Garth nodded and handed the key to the soldier. "I told her to lock the door behind me."

  The soldier raised an eyebrow, but he took the key. He slid it slowly into the lock and eased the door open. Kalina was standing by the window watching the doorway. The soldier moved quickly into the room and immediately searched the bedroom that was connected to the sitting room. Finding no one else in the suite, he gave a signal to the soldiers in the corridor. Everyone flowed into the room, and the last guard closed the door. The soldiers lined both walls as Garth made his way to the couch. Kalina joined him, and the baron sat in the chair across from the couch.

  "Why are you here?" asked the baron.

  "To free my men," Garth said bluntly. "I am hoping to enlist your help in doing that."

  "I truly would like to see your men released," sighed the baron, "but it is out of my hands. I tried my best to make the king see reason, but he gets harder to deal with every day."

  "Why is that?" asked Kalina.

  The baron blinked and looked at Kalina as if he had not noticed her before. He shrugged and looked back at Garth.

  "She has a valid question," stated Garth. "People don't change suddenly without a reason. Could someone be manipulating him?"

  "He has just become old and bitter," the baron said dismissively. "The point is, your men will be executed in the morning, and there is nothing that either of us can do about it. My advice to you is to leave the city before then. While I will not mention that I know of another Alcean, others might look closely at any stranger in the city."

  "That is something that I cannot do," replied Garth. "I will be leaving with my men."

  Baron Ohmson sighed and shook his head. "While I admire the spirit of you Alceans, I was hoping that you wouldn't join your fellow countrymen in their demise. It was Karl's spirit that got him in trouble in the first place. He absolutely refused to speak to the king unless the court was cleared of other people. He insulted the king."

  "That is his crime?" balked Garth. "He insulted the king so he and the others must be hanged?"

  "It is more than that," the baron said defensively. "They entered Zarocca through the Forest of Death. That alone is sufficient for a death sentence. I was not as stubborn as the king. When Karl demanded to speak to me alone, I granted his request, but I am not the king. King Persimon warned Karl what a failure to speak would mean."

  "Karl was trying to avoid mentioning Alcea," Kalina pointed out. "The Federation knows that we are in Zara somewhere. They are searching for us with tens of thousands of soldiers. We cannot afford to announce exactly where we are."

  "This is Zarocca," retorted the baron. "The Federation has no reach up here. It is not like we would send a message to Despair announcing your presence."

  "I wish that were true," sighed Garth. "The Federation has planned these wars for years. We found in Alcea that the Federation had inserted spies into very high places. In one of our provinces, they had one of their men as the head of intelligence. It took years to manipulate things to get someone that high up. Do not think for a minute that they are not doing the same thing in Zarocca."

  "Inconceivable," the baron shook his head.

  "That is what they thought in Karamin," interjected Kalina. "And Vinafor."

  "You seem to know an awful lot about Zara for strangers in this land," stated the baron.

  "We were in Karamin the day after the king died," explained Garth. "And we got out of Vinafor just before it was turned over to the Federation."

  "The queen died there, too," nodded the baron.

  "Queen Romani is not dead," declared Garth. "In fact, we were hoping that there might be shelter for her in Zarocca."

  The baron stared at Garth with his mouth hanging open. He shook his head, as if to clear it. "What do you have to do with the queen of Vinafor?"

  "She is an ally," Garth smiled thinly. "One would expect all of the enemies of the Federation to band together. That is what makes this episode so unreal. There is no reason for Zarocca to execute Alceans. Not only have we not harmed you, but we should be working together."

  "Why would Queen Romani take Alceans into her confidence?" asked the baron.

  "Because we rescued her from the Royal Palace in Waxhaw," answered Garth. "General Daramoor and her advisor, Faldor, were planning to assassinate her. The only thing that delayed them was that they both were planning to seize the same throne, and they had no intention of sharing it with the other."

  "This is preposterous," retorted the baron. "I cannot believe all the tall tales you Alceans have told."

  "Do you mean the sinking of the Federation Fleet?" asked Kalina. "Or were you speaking of the destruction of the Giza shipyards?"

  The baron looked from Kalina to Garth and back to Kalina again. He shook his head in disbelief.

  "How many of you are there in Zara?" he finally asked.

  "You are going to hang most of us in the morning," replied Garth. "For being enemies of the Federation, you are doing more to help them than you can ever know."

  "I find no fault in your statement," sighed the baron. "I had not even heard about the destruction of the shipyards, but I am inclined to believe you. Karl told me about the fleet. I will admit that I was dubious, but there is no way that you could have communicated with him since his capture. How did you do it?"

  "Flamorweed resin," answered Kalina. "We had a stolen Federation ship, and we sailed it around their fleet. We poured the contents of over a hundred barrels of the resin into the sea. When it was ignited, the entire fleet burned and sunk."

  "Along with the Remora," nodded Garth. "That was our way back home to Alcea."

  "I am in awe of your group," declared the baron. "Tell me what I can do to help, and I will."

  "Get us in to see the king," requested Garth. "I must try to reason with him before morning."

  "He will not be open to reason," the baron shook his head. "As I said before, he is growing old and bitter. Once he makes up his mind, nothing can change it. At times I think he is working at odds with the rest of us. It has gotten to the point that I do not share many things with him. I wish I had not shared my knowledge of Alcea, but the possibility of a new ally got the better of me."

  "You know why Karl refused to speak," said Kalina. "Is it not obvious by now that he was wise in doing so? Alcea was only spoken of in front of the court, yet word of it is now all over this city. How could the Federation not hear of it?"

  "What does it matter now?" replied the baron. "They will not come to Zarocca t
o claim the bodies."

  "At last count," stated Garth, "the Federation had over fifty thousand soldiers searching for us. In the very least, it has kept those men from preparing for war."

  "Good point," agreed the baron.

  "How about helping us manage an escape from the dungeon?" asked Garth. "If you can help get my men free, I will take them far away from Zarocca."

  "We do not have access to the cells," the baron shook his head. "We were not even permitted to put them in the cells. We had to turn them over to the king's men. I am afraid that your cause is hopeless."

  "Then I advise you to leave the city before dawn," scowled Garth. "I will not watch my men be executed."

  "You can't be serious?" gasped the baron. "Do you have any idea how many soldiers are in this city?"

  "There will be a lot fewer this time tomorrow," stated Garth.

  The baron stared at Garth in disbelief. "Just who are you that you think you can make such an outrageous threat?"

  "I am Garth Shado," declared Garth. "I am a Knight of Alcea, and I do not abandon my men."

  "I have no idea what that means," replied the baron, "but I suppose the Knights of Alcea must be some special group from your country."

  "There are thirteen Knights of Alcea," Kalina said as she watched Garth clench his fists. “They are the best that Alcea has to offer."

  "That must be quite an honor," the baron said respectfully. "Maybe there is a way out of this. Can I assume that you are willing to offer your life in an attempt to save your men?"

  Garth's eyes widened with hope. "I am."

  The baron sat silently for several minutes staring at the floor while Garth waited impatiently for him to continue.

  "There is a law," the baron eventually said, "that allows a champion to challenge the king for a condemned man's life. Of course, you would not actually fight the king. King Persimon will appoint a champion to stand in for him. It is a fight to the death, so dwell upon it before you eagerly accept this proposition."

  "I accept," Garth said immediately.

  "There are eleven men scheduled to hang in the morning," stated the baron. "Which one will you save?"