“Are we in danger?” Lady Ghishka said. “Are we going to have to fight them?”
“No, of course not. Our men are trained to fight, and hers are not. This is merely a nuisance. Lady Greve knows she cannot succeed in conventional warfare. Well, she cannot succeed in this either, but she is not willing to admit defeat until I force her to. My men are meeting them as we speak.” This was now a game of divide and conquer—a game of chess until he had the queen. The dungeons would fill until then as they picked them off one by one.
“Will someone simply just kill that cow?” Fiedra said, betraying her inner dislike and jealousy. This rattled her.
Roisen raised his eyebrows, seemingly unimpressed. “But until we have, it is better that we stay in a clearly defended part of the citadel. Lady Greve wishes to find us spread out and vulnerable, and we will not give her the chance.”
In truth, he didn’t think Ashra wanted anything to do with the courtiers. No one wanted anything to do with the courtiers, it seemed, he thought with a grim smile. This was simply changing the battlefield between her army and his, because she knew she was weak. It would be to her detriment because she couldn’t use her superior numbers in a confined space. Saying that, there was an endless capacity for flanking, and she was going to use it.
Due to size, the citadel was indefensible. His strategy needed to be to pick off her men bit by bit. It would take time, which was her true intention.
“So we just sit and wait for them to come and attack us in our sleep?” a woman asked. Were there more people in here now than a moment ago? It appeared people were streaming in.
“Now, all in more remote parts of the citadel need to move themselves closer. A defended perimeter will be set up.”
“How did this happen?” Churing asked.
“It happened now because Lady Greve didn’t think of it sooner.” Roisen looked around at them. “This is no different than before. It is simply the location of the battle that has changed.”
“In our very apartments.”
“She is depending on your panic,” Roisen reminded them. “It’s the reason she has shifted the fight into the citadel. She wants you to be uncomfortable; she wants you to fear. Her intention has been to weaken us all along.”
“To weaken you,” Churing accused.
“Do you think you would fare better without me? You’re more than welcome to take her on.” There was silence amongst the group, and Roisen swore, because this was exactly what she wanted, the courtiers were playing right into her hand. “We either give up the citadel, spread apart and run back to our estates, defending them separately against an enemy that is organized and committed, or we fight together.”
One of his commanders barged into the room. “We are engaging,” he said.
“Now, you will all have to excuse me. I need to deal with this incursion. We want it dealt with as quickly as possible, don’t we?”
Chapter 26
THEY SET UP A PERIMETER for defense in a part of the citadel that Ashra didn’t know too well. She knew some of the arteries of the massive construct, but the first thing her and Bryce did was survey the map one of their spies had stolen. Basically, they were on the other side of the citadel from Lorcan.
It was still unclear why Raufasger had built some of these areas. It was as if he couldn’t stop building, as if simple bulk was what he wanted. The few private apartments in this area were quickly cleared, anyone they found told to leave with urgency.
Most of the people with her had never been in the citadel and couldn’t believe the sumptuousness and riches inside.
For now, they claimed a specific building to be their headquarters and they had chosen well because it only had a few points of entry that they could guard well, but not so few that Lorcan could block them in. One company was still lost somewhere—either captured or wandering around aimlessly.
Darkness had fallen outside and Ashra threw open the glass doors to a balcony facing one of the inner courtyards, the endless and confused structures of the citadel before her.
“It doesn’t look any less imposing from the inside,” Bryce said, appearing behind her.
“It’s not. I think that was the purpose of it. No one feels comfortable here. You are perpetually lost and under attack. Raufasger really was a master of psychological manipulation.”
“So how do we fight in here, or are we simply going to chase each other around?”
“I think at this point, we set our line and hold it. We don’t want to take on more than we can defend right now. Our advantage from surprise is spent getting us in here.”
“It’s taken him long to react.”
“I don’t think they ever considered warfare in here. There has never been warfare in the citadel. Well, not of this kind.” It couldn’t be said there wasn’t bloodshed in the citadel, because quite a few people had left this place carried home on the back of a cart. “Come morning, Lorcan will move on us. He has no choice but to. We should rest until he does.”
Ashra returned inside to the map laid out on a large mahogany table. “Due to the structure of this place, and if we block off this entrance here,” she said, pointing to a place on the map where an entrance was to the south side of the area, we only have to defend two sides. This courtyard here is probably where most of the fighting will be. We should funnel Lorcan’s forces through here and then meet them here.”
Bryce put his elbows down and leaned closer. “What’s over here?”
“There’s a large hall. Perhaps as we move forward, we can move our operations there. But as we move forward, we need to watch our back. There is always the possibility that he can come around behind us if we’re not careful. We don’t want him to squeeze us from both front and back. That would be disastrous.”
Exhaustion was starting to sap her energy away. She’s chosen a nearby bedroom to be hers for the night. It had been a long day and it was time to rest. She felt sorry for the ones standing guard, but Lorcan really could strike at any time. For this reason, none of the men were allowed to celebrate breaching the citadel. Everyone had to be ready to fight at a moment’s notice.
There was so much to do, but Ashra knew she would start making mistakes if she didn’t rest. Saying goodbye to Bryce, she walked down the darkly lit corridor to her bedroom, a dark room with red velvet furnishing and bedding. It wasn’t clear who the room belonged to, but someone had lived here at some point. Could have been quite some time ago. Some families had deserted the citadel due to disfavor, or even murder.
The bed was cold when Ashra climbed in, almost wishing she could be in the comfort of her own apartments. That was probably a place where she would never sleep again. There was no going back at this point. Life could not go back to normal. Too much water had flowed under the bridge.
She couldn’t afford to fail. They had to push ahead with this, even if a resolution was hard to see. They would now test each other’s mettle in guerrilla warfare and see who was the strongest. Lorcan’s position was weakened simply by them being there and would continue to be the longer they held. Ashra didn’t intend on simply holding; they were going to advance. The Naufren would eventually be brought to the negotiating table. Maybe that was the best outcome. From there they could negotiate an acceptable future for her people.
The next few days would be hard. Lorcan would come with everything he had.
*
Lorcan didn’t even wait until dawn. The attack came early, but they were ready. Most of the troops were sleeping right on the line of defense so it didn’t take long to respond. From her operations room, Ashra could see the fighting in the courtyard she had determined as a main meeting place. It seemed the plan worked because more and more of Lorcan’s troops were streaming in, being met by a good portion of hers. Her army outnumbered and that courtyard was where she could deploy that advantage.
Today they held, tomorrow they would advance, perhaps by fifty yards in all directions. As they did, their circle of defense needed to grow large
r and larger, which was a weakness. Perhaps she needed to plan for a breach in the line. Or maybe… she needed to use those breaches to take some prisoners. Fake a breach and swallow some men. A chuckle escaped her. Breaching her lines was going to become something the enemy feared. Swallowed up to never return.
They needed to go down into the bowls and explore the dungeons, needing a place to put prisoners. Something else she needed was to find out which side the pages were really on. The Naufren ignored the servants that slipped in and out apartments without second thought. Problem was that they stayed away from the areas of conflict. Still, it wasn’t hard to sneak into Lorcan’s side, provided one found a way over there. Lorcan would have the arterial routes guarded. But that could wait until she had a purpose for them.
“Halstad,” she called and the man came inside. “I need the dungeons surveyed for keeping prisoners. Have someone do it as soon as possible and report back. And find Bryce. I need to speak to him.”
Due to the change in warfare, there was no longer any clear visibility on how things fared. Runners had to report on progress from the different points of engagement. Lorcan had chosen a few, and left others. He wasn’t attacking each possible entryway into her area, which was a tactic he would probably shift later. Right now, he was testing her strength before deciding on a tactic. She could almost see him sitting in his apartments, plotting to defeat her.
“Hey,” Bryce said, appearing at the door. He’d been fighting, had that energy that came from the intense rush. “What do you need?”
“I thought we could capture soldiers by allowing them to breach the lines. I’m having the dungeons prepared.”
“Alright,” he said. “We’ll start nabbing people.”
“This is a good place,” she said, drawing him over to the map. “We let them breach here and then contain them here.”
Bryce nodded. He wanted to get back into the battle. “I’ll sort it,” he said and ran off, eager for the fight.
Between them, they had developed roles. Her job was to determine the strategy. His job was to execute any changes, while Higgins and the two others that had taken on similar roles were confined to hold specific areas of engagement.
Sitting down and staring at the map, she wondered what tactics Lorcan would use on her. What tactics would she use if she were faced with this situation?
Runner returned intermittently and gave updates. As expected, the courtyard was the main clashing point, but the corridor on the fifth level, which led between two distinct buildings was also a heavily fought over area. The confined space served Lorcan’s better-trained fighters there, but it was slow progress. They were holding the line as she’d hoped.
Halstad returned. “There are dungeons that will serve.”
“Bryce is going to start taking men. We need a means of transporting them.”
“We found chains.”
“Make use of them.”
As the man left, Ashra started wondering at the person she had become, someone who could so lightly order people put in chains and imprisoned. It was necessary; she knew that, but it was still inconceivable to see this as her. In a way, she as becoming more like Roisen the more she fought him. It wasn’t something that pleased her, but it wasn’t the time to be squeamish. She had to become what she wished to stop. There would be a price to pay at the end.
Chapter 27
THE EXQUISITELY LAID out supper was marred by the skittishness of the courtiers. The topic on everyone’s lips was Lady Greve and her advance into the castle. But she wasn’t advancing; she was barely holding on. The damage was however done with her establishment into the castle. For some reason, these idiots had through the citadel was impenetrable. That had never been the case, but they blamed him.
Fiedra performed her chosen role as hostess, trying to make the evening enjoyable. Some enjoyed it more than others, especially as they saw these latest developments as weakness. Especially Brieton, who seemed to be a focus point for a particular element—those who felt there really should be someone who stepped into Wierstoke’s still cooling shoes.
The games of the court continued, particularly now that Ashra had so effectively undermined him. It was something he refused to let show—hence he sat here with these idiots when he really wanted to be away from here. It was definitely not the time to appear flustered, but he did resent having to be here, having to deal with them.
Others spoke of concessions to the Solmnites as if he wouldn’t be able to deal with them. It wouldn’t do to tell them that their strength was limited. It was all smoke and mirrors here, the truth was always twisted to suit whatever purposes they wanted. Roisen knew that game—he’d invented that game, and now it was being played on him.
It was far from a position he couldn’t recover from, but he needed to deal with this swiftly. Placing the last morsel of his dinner in his mouth, he chewed then took a sip of wine from a finely cut crystal glass.
“It’s such a shame we seem to have developed a vermin problem,” Marsha Hassop said with a tinkling little laugh. She enjoyed her own humor. Ashra’s status as one of them had thoroughly been revoked. But Ashra was the mother of his child, so this war was basically a family affair. Roisen chuckled and Marsha Hassop obviously believed it was her little comment about vermin he was responding to, all while his regard for Ashra was higher than any of the people here.
But it was Ashra that challenged him and it was her he had to deal with. Lukas Brieton was developing ambitions to eventually become a challenger, but Roisen would deal with that well before it ever became a problem. Right now, though, he wasn’t important.
Leaning back in his chair, Roisen surveyed the gathered party. He wanted to leave but he couldn’t, and he was angry that his hand was forced for something as trivial and banal as what these people thought. No, he wasn’t playing that game. “Excuse me,” he said calmly. “I have some small matters to attend to.”
“Lord Lorcan, we’re not losing your company, are we?” Fiedra said.
Yes, because I am wondering if I’m better off with you all dead, he forced himself not to say, instead smiling. “I should tend to the requirements on my time.”
All eyes were on him as he walked out of the hall. Had Raufasger hated them this much? Perhaps he should enjoy toying with them like his predecessor had, but he would much rather spend his time devising Ashra’s defeat. It was a desire that sat heavily in his gut, drawing all of his attention.
His apartments didn’t face the part of the citadel where she was lodged. He didn’t know exactly where, but he had a rough idea. The fighting had stopped for the night, the men taking their rest and preparing for the next day. Tomorrow they would take ground.
Stopping in front of her apartments, he saw only darkness underneath her door. An urge to break the door down stole over him. He could, but it would achieve nothing. She wasn’t there. Her place here had been forfeit. That was an issue he couldn’t quite bring himself to decide: what to do with her when he had her. He knew the courtiers would demand her execution.
Why did she insist on placing him in this awkward situation? She never stopped, never compromised. Everyone had to compromise. Then again, what had he compromised? Perhaps they were too alike. She would think the statement completely absurd, but the truth was that as much as she hated and rejected the notion, they were alike. She was so strong, but he was stronger.
Continuing to his apartments, he walked past the guards into his private space. It hadn’t been so private lately—tomorrow he would order the establishment of proper staterooms.
Instead of calling for assistance, Roisen took off his own boots and let them fall to the floor. He didn’t bother lighting more candles either—enjoying the moonlight.
Opening the doors, he stepped out on the frozen balcony and let the wind try to buffet him. There were no lights shining through from her campsite now. She and her men were in the castle, but in a way, she seemed further away because he couldn’t see her now.
She ha
d made her strike and it was a good one. Now it was time to retaliate, and he would make it a very good one.
Taking a deep breath, he let the chill try to attack him, steal into his skin and bones. He would not be defeated—not by the cold, not by the courtiers, not by his wife. For a moment, he wondered if he should publicly announce her as his wife—a most troublesome wife. She had accepted him into her bed; she had carried his child, but she refused to accept the role that went with that. Anger stole through him, but he rooted it out and quelled it.
It was time to recognize that too much of this was personal and he needed to separate out the two. Too many chances had been given to someone who defies the crown. As much as he wanted to toy with her, he was doing so at the expense of being a liege. It was time to be a liege.
Now it was time to recognize an enemy and subdue them, irrespective of his personal feeling for one of them. He was now the crown and needed to act on behalf of the crown.
A last deep breath and he returned inside. The warmth stung him for a moment and he enjoyed it before sitting down at his desk and grabbing a sheet of parchment.
To all, he wrote.
I must act when the unity of our land is disrupted by forces bent on discord over peaceful coexistence. A truce has been offered and rejected, which belies the true nature of this unreasonable rebellion. It was time for the consequences to be known. It was time to act and to do so harshly.
Therefore I must respond decisively. From this point on, anyone who defies the will of the crown will forfeit the protection of the crown. They will forfeit their place in society, any future they or their families have. Their lands will be confiscated and any structure belonging to them burnt to the ground.
If the Solmnite men were leaving their families to fight in the citadel, he would strike back in the places they’d left behind. More specifically, he would strike at Ashra’s very heart—her estate and her family.
Dark Court: The Final Hour Page 13
