A Flight of Marewings

by Kristen S. Walker

  32

  Galenos VII

  Galenos crumpled up the letter from the Council of Kyratia and threw it on the floor. “They aren’t giving us much information. All it says is that we’re being summoned back to the city immediately.”

  Varranor, exhausted from the forced march of the main force to the border, looked up from where he lay on the couch and groaned. “Do you mean that we have to go all the way back?”

  He nodded and covered his face with his hands. He itched to stand up and pace, which always helped him think, but his legs and back were sore from all of the extended flying he had done. “Yes. We’ll take it slow, but we need to find out what they want. I doubt that they’re going to give us a medal for defending the city.”

  His brother let his head fall back onto the cushions. “Just what I needed. What are we going to do with all of the troops that I just marched out here? Do we take them back with us?”

  Galenos looked down at his tactical map. “Good question. We don’t have room to keep all of them here in the fort. But I don’t like to leave us vulnerable if the enemy plans to attack again. I think that we should take no more than half back with us, and distribute the rest among our forts along the borders. Let’s fill every fortification we have to capacity.”

  “Wonderful. I’ll let you figure out the details of who goes where.”

  He turned to look at his brother and chuckled. “Are you finding that leadership of the company is a bigger challenge than you expected?”

  Varranor sat up with a start. “I managed things just fine while you were gone.”

  Galenos shook his head. “Except for the part where we were nearly invaded by a neighboring city.”

  “That’s only because they found out you were gone. If I had gotten to the border before you, I would have shown them what a mistake they’d made.” He folded his arms, in the picture of a perfect pout. He had been sulking ever since he arrived and learned that Galenos had already turned the Blue Suns away.

  “I know. It’s my fault for leaving in the first place.”

  Varranor pulled himself up off of the couch with a grunt and came over to put his hand on Galenos’s shoulder. “You can’t keep thinking of it like that. You didn’t make anyone attack us.”

  Galenos stared down at the table with dry eyes. Next to the strategy map, on top of the stack of his reports, he had the list of all his soldiers killed in action by the Blue Suns earlier that month. He knew that he should be grateful the number was so small, but each name stared back at him like an accusation. “I’m trying for peace, but it seems that every action I take only leads us closer to war. Now I’m afraid of what the Council will do next.”

  “I guess we’ll find out when we get there.”

  Galenos stood before the Council in his travel-stained military uniform, with Varranor at his side. They had not been allowed to go their house and change: city guards met them at the gates and ordered them to appear before the Council immediately. The rest of the soldiers were forced to wait outside.

  He looked at the assembled Councilors. In place of Thais, the exiled traitor, was a middle-aged man who he didn’t recognize. He, like most of the Councilors, wore a bored expression. Diokles looked nervous—a bad sign. Eutychon looked rather smug—a worse sign.

  He made a bow. “I apologize for my informal appearance. I came as quickly as I could.”

  Pelagia, her face as unreadable as always, folded her hands. “Thank you for coming, Warlord and Commander. We need to speak with you about a very serious matter.”

  Galenos resisted the urge to hold his breath. “What matter is that? Your letter was short on details.”

  Pelagia nodded and raised her right hand.

  A group of guards entered the room. The commander of the guards himself, a man who was under Galenos’s secret payroll, approached the warlord. Several guards surrounded Varranor, others blocked the doors, and some stepped up behind the Council members.

  Galenos watched them warily, but he made no move. “I need an explanation for this. Now.”

  Pelagia smiled. “Of course. Galenos Mrokin, you are charged with treachery against the Republic of Kyratia. You and your fellow conspirators are hereby ordered to surrender all of your property within Kyratia’s borders to the Council. The courts have already ruled in your absence and the sentence is exile. You and everyone within your employ are given one week to leave, or you will be arrested and may face execution for your crimes.”

  The guards made no move to touch him, but Galenos felt their presence around him nonetheless. He stood very still, knowing that a single movement could mean vicious retaliation.

  He said, in a very low voice, “If I may ask, what are the charges brought against me?”

  Eutychon got to his feet and held up a stack of papers. “You have been using the Votsis estate to fund a political campaign against this Council.” He pointed to a door, where more guards entered, escorting Myron Leventis in chains. “You illegally kept these lands in trust for one of your mercenary soldiers and used the estate as a cover to funnel money from your supporters into bribes and treachery.”

  Myron hung his head, trying to hide his face, but even from across the room, Galenos could see bruises and other marks on him. There was dried blood on the front of his shirt.

  Galenos gave Pelagia a cold glare. “Your evidence for these allegations was beaten out of an old man?”

  Pelagia didn’t react. “You are not permitted to contest the charges. The courts have found you guilty and sentenced you accordingly. If you do not leave peacefully, we will be forced to arrest you.”

  She stood up out of her chair. “The following people have also been charged with these crimes as part of the conspiracy.”

  She named Diokles and the four other Councilors who had supported the secret alliance, as well as the major families who had given them money. As she spoke, guards moved behind each of them and forced them to stand.

  Galenos stared around him at the shambles of his alliance. All hope of a peaceful coup had disappeared. What’s more, he no longer had a fighting force inside the city: Varranor had pulled the last of his troops out to defend the borders, and the city guard was clearly no longer loyal to his payroll. The Council had knocked him down in a single blow.

  Once all of the exiled people were gathered before the Council table, Pelagia sat back down and looked at him. “Do you have any final words before you are escorted out of the city?”

  Galenos lifted his chin. “I was the only thing that stood between Kyratia and total ruin. Now you are left defenseless. Pray that your god can intervene in time to save you, because nothing less than a miracle will keep you from your own destruction.”

  “Be careful, Warlord,” Pelagia said with a sly smile. “I will not overlook your threats like I did once before.”

  He clenched his teeth together and said nothing more.

  The guards still didn’t touch him or his brother as they marched them to the city gates. Some of the Councilors wept and pleaded to save their families, but after the first guard drew his sword, there were no more protests. Myron’s chains were struck outside of the Council building, and they were all permitted to walk freely.

  Outside in the city streets, the common people lined their way, jeering and booing the traitors. They had no rotten food to throw, so they slung mud and rocks instead. Galenos and Varranor’s leather uniforms protected them from the onslaught, except for their faces, but the other exiles didn’t fare so well. More than one suffered bruises and cuts on their walk of shame.

  This is the thanks for saving them all, he thought as he walked. These were the people that he had tried to save. And now they were all truly doomed.

  When they reached their army outside the walls, Galenos wasn’t surprised to find that many of his spies in the city were also waiting for him. The soldiers had already learned from them what had happened, and when they saw their Warlord approaching, they raised their weapons against the guards.


  Galenos raised his hands to stop them and shook his head. “We’re leaving in peace,” he called across the ranks. “Let no one raise a hand against the city.”

  The soldiers looked unhappy, but every one of them lowered their weapons obediently and stood awaiting his orders. The guards didn’t stay to see if they would keep their promise, and as soon as the last of the exiles were onto the bridge, they went back inside and closed the gate behind them.

  The other exiles looked at each other and then at Galenos. “What are we going to do now?” one old aristocrat complained. “We have nothing left. We’ll be paupers anywhere else we go, and no one will accept us from Kyratia!”

  Galenos shook his head. “I’m sorry. We gambled, and we lost. Now we have to find a way to deal with it. But I can only take care of soldiers. You and your families will have to find somewhere safe to stay for the time-being. Friends, business partners, whoever you know in other cities—band together and help each other out for now.”

  Diokles nodded. “We can organize something so no one is left out in the cold.” He looked back at the gates. “They actually told me that they are going to let us—the civilians—back into the city so we can gather our families and belongings, and I am sure I can charter ships to take us wherever we need to go. This whole thing was mainly for show.”

  One of the other Councilors, an older woman, looked at Galenos. “You do have a plan to fix this, right? We are not going to be permanently exiled from our homeland?”

  “Of course.” The Warlord looked around at the powerful people who had chosen to support him. “This is not over. We have lost our opportunity for a peaceful resolution, perhaps, but there are other methods.”

  Varranor grinned. “They broke the contract early, and they didn’t pay us. Doesn’t that mean that we can legally attack them without waiting the two years?”

  Galenos shot his brother a quelling look. “Don’t jump to any conclusions yet. I have to assess the situation before I make any decisions.” He turned to Diokles. “I just want to reassure you that I will continue to do everything in my power to correct this temporary setback. Thank you for all of the support that you have given me until now.”

  Diokles smiled, but the Councilor beside him shuddered and wrapped her arms around her middle. “Maybe it is better if we get our families out of the city for now. I do not want to be here for the war.”

  Galenos spent some time reassuring and talking to the other exiles, listening to the concerns of each one. He did not make any promises about what his plans were or what the outcome would be. Many of the landowners were frightened that their estates would be destroyed by an invasion, so he did say that he would be as careful as possible with any troop movements. Eventually they calmed down, and as promised, they were allowed to go back into the city by another gate. The guards watched to make sure that not a single mercenary soldier or spy was permitted back inside the city walls.

  At last, he turned and gave the orders to march to Fort Ropytos. Galenos and the other riders walked at some distance away from the rest of the infantry soldiers, leading their marewings on the ground: they were all tired from their journey to the city.

  Varranor stuck to his side impatiently and demanded to know more about his brother’s plans. “They only have the city guards to defend them right now, with no hope of hiring another mercenary company on such short notice, let alone getting them here in time. Why don’t we just turn around and attack them with the forces we have here? I bet they’d surrender before sundown.”

  Galenos shook his head. “We don’t know for sure that they haven’t already contracted another force and have them prepared to sail into the bay the moment that we go on the offensive. We don’t know any of their plans now, and we have no hope of learning more. All of our spies and allies were just kicked out of the city.”

  Varranor groaned aloud. “We don’t have a single spy or even a servant left in the city? How can that be?”

  He held up a single finger. “The mage is still there. What good he can do for us, or if he can contact us safely, remains to be seen.” He sighed. “I hope that while Diokles is arranging his affairs, he can learn a few things and pass them on to us before he sails off, but I dislike relying on a politician for our information.”

  “Ameyron?” Varranor shook his head. “He’s too caught up in his research to notice anything else. We may as well have no one.”

  Galenos raised a finger to his lips. His brother liked to run his mouth, and he didn’t want anyone knowing too much about his plans, even his own riders—he could never be sure who to trust. “We’ll talk about it more when we get to the fort, although it’s better if I don’t tell you anything.”

  The commander scowled and rubbed Skyfire’s shoulder for reassurance. The marewing whipped her head around and glared at him, her ears flat against her skull.

  Galenos couldn’t completely suppress his chuckle. “Even she gets tired of your moodiness sometimes. Stop looking for a fight at every chance. We’ll take our time to do this right so it’s simple and clean.”

  “We’re fighters. It’s what we do.”

  “Not today.” He sighed and rubbed his face. “Look, Nightshade is still recovering and I don’t want to push her on another big flight before the cloudfruit harvest. So I need to ask you for a small favor.”

  Varranor frowned. “What? Can’t you just send messengers out to tell the troops where to move next?”

  Galenos shook his head. “No. I mean, yes, I can send messengers for that.” He looked down at the road. “I need someone to tell Korinna that we lost her father’s lands.”

  “Why?” Varranor dropped the lead on Skyfire and leaned closer to his brother. “What has possessed you to finally start telling her the truth after lying for all these months?”

  He turned his face away. On the night when they had been together, he’d almost confessed that she could go back to her farm. Now he was glad that he hadn’t raised her hopes then, only to destroy them, but he was still afraid of seeing how she reacted to the news. “I need her to know that she doesn’t have any other options. Sergeant Navera told me that after the attack, she was thinking of quitting the company.”

  Varranor snorted. “Isn’t that what you wanted her to do all along? Give up on her dreams of being a rider and quit, so she would be the obedient little wife when you need her?”

  Nightshade, picking up on Galenos’s sour mood and annoyed that Varranor continued to edge closer to her, turned her head and bared her teeth at him.

  Varranor pulled back with a laugh. “You feel guilty about that now.”

  “No!” Galenos clenched his hands into fists. “I mean, she needs to know that she doesn’t have that option anymore, to go back to her farm. Besides, she’s come so close to trying. It’s only ten days until the harvest. Wouldn’t it be a shame for her to give up now?”

  “So you’re actually going to let her try?” Varranor’s amusement faded away in shock. He stared at his brother from the other side of the road. “You wouldn’t let her try the climb if you didn’t think that she could make it. You believe in her now.”

  “Korinna just has a certain stubbornness—”

  “You realize that you’re referring to her by name now.” His smile returned, even more taunting than before. “You always called her ‘the girl’ before. And there’s this little wistful air about you when you talk about her. Have you fallen for your bride-to-be?”

  Galenos coughed. Did he wear his heart on his sleeve? “That’s ridiculous. You only think that because you fall in love every other day.”

  “I fall in lust, dear brother, and that’s different.” He put a hand to his forehead and sighed. “It’s tragic, really, because if I tell her that you were lying and you’ve lost all of her inheritance, she’ll probably hate you. Not that you’ve given her any reason to like you before.”

  Galenos fixed Varranor with any icy glare. “As your commanding officer, I order you to stop talking about this at once.�
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  “Very well.” Varranor stopped Skyfire in the middle of the road and swung up onto her back. “I’ll go see her now, and make sure she knows that you used her inheritance as a gambling chip in a failed political coup. Do you want me to come back to Ropytos after, or do you want me to wait there and meet you for the harvest?”

  Galenos scowled and waved him off. “You may as well stay there. I don’t plan on launching any attacks before then.”

  Varranor saluted his farewell, then turned Skyfire off the road. She took off across the field at a gallop and launched herself into the air with a powerful sweep of her wings. Before long, they had flown out of sight.

  33

  Korinna X

  Korinna crouched in the top of the tree. Across from her, she could see another taller tree, just out of reach. The branches closest to her were all too thin to bear her weight, but she could see one lower down that looked promising, twice the width of her arm.

  Slowly, holding on to the trunk behind her for balance, she stood up and inched out along the branch she stood on as far as she dared. She checked the descent a final time, then locked her gaze on her target and jumped.

  For a heart-stopping moment, she was free falling through the air. Then her hands connected with the branch and she instinctively closed them. Her body continued to swing forward and the bark tore into the palm of her hands. Korinna let go and dropped onto the next branch below, bending her knees against the impact.

  Safe. She took a deep breath and looked down. On the ground, two of her fellow candidates clapped politely, but the others, holding the safety net to break her fall, just looked bored.

  Sergeant Navera nodded. “Good form, Votsis. Come back down. The commander needs to speak with you.”

  Korinna swung down out of the tree and brushed off her hands. Then she saw Commander Varranor waiting for her. She snapped to attention and saluted. “Sir!”