Reciprocity : Volume 1 of The Fledgegate Cycle

by Zachary Smith

  Glem glanced at Alyra who was nodding as her friend spoke. “It was a long night. I’m going to get some sleep, and then we will work on the fit. You can both stay down here and talk, so you don’t bother me.”

  “I’m going to head back to my house and get some rest as well. I don’t think I am going to get much over the next few days,” Jorick said, gazing into the distance.

  “When you are done eating, just take a room here. There is no need to waste time going halfway across the city to your own house when we have empty rooms. Take the one at the top of the stairs with the moon on it. I’ll get the bath going and set out your spare clothes. And you know Eiriean will be mad if you get mud on her clean bed, so bear that in mind,” Oarf said.

  “Rues, Alyra, go get your equipment. Let’s get everything fitted and we’ll have to make sure you can move in it.”

  The girls left and ran up the stairs.

  “What, armor? Really? For the pair of them?” Jorick asked.

  “Well, let us hope they don’t need it, but we will be traveling in some rough places for a while, I’m afraid.”

  “Grandpa, this is heavy,” Alyra complained as she dropped everything on the table next to them.

  “Just wait till you have been wearing it for a few days,” Rues laughed at her friend as she piled hers on the table as well. “You will either get used to it or die of exhaustion.”

  “Ok. Gambeson first,” Glem told them, his tone serious. “That's the heavy padded shirt, Alyra. Rues, you know what everything is from your father, right? You’ve been instructed?”

  “Most of it, yes. He was a blacksmith for a small village though we actually didn’t see a lot of armor.”

  “Once you have that on, we will get the mail shirts on and make sure they settle correctly.” He looked over both girls as they struggled into their thick and hot gambesons.

  “Stop, Rues! Stop right there. You didn’t untie the laces at the throat, so you won’t get into it like that. You’ll kill yourself before you even begin.” He laughed loudly and she joined in.

  “Well, how was I to know?”

  Alyra’s laugh was muffled as she struggled into her own padded shirt. “Mine fits fine, see?” she boasted. “And you thought I was going to be the one who couldn’t figure it out. At least I’m not trying to put my head through a hole that's too small. You always have had a big head, Rues,” she teased. “Like, it’s enormous. It’s like a…” She spread her arms very wide. “It’s like a watermelon!” Everyone laughed raucously.

  “Come on now, don’t be so rude,” chuckled Glem.

  “Even if it’s true?” asked Alyra, a glint in her eye. Rues smacked her on the arm playfully.

  Rues now had herself all sorted out and had donned her padded jacket too. She pulled on her mail shirt over her gambeson, and shook out her arms, making a show of it.

  “At least I’m strong enough to carry mine, see?”

  “Once they’re on, jump up and down and swing your arms to settle the mail, like you were doing, Rues…” said Glem. “But carry on a while and it will free everything up and make it fit better to your form. It is a little restricting at first, but you will adjust as you get used to it. You’ll get stronger from wearing it inside a few days and it will feel easier already, you’ll see.”

  “A few days?” squealed both girls, as if they couldn’t tolerate the weight that long. “A few days! I’ll die in this thing!”

  They each grinned, plainly enjoying the newness of it all and the lavish attention. The others at the table laughed at them as they awkwardly jumped around, getting used to the weight of the mail. “I’m hot already, and haven’t been in it five minutes yet,” Alyra complained, adding a short cloak to cover the mail.

  She stood with her hands on her hips.

  “How do I look?”

  Rues looked her over.

  “Not bad at all. Though of course, you don’t look half as good as I do. Put the rest of your gear on and then see.”

  The girls put on their bracers, lacing them snuggly along the side. They helped each other to fasten the laces tight.

  “Why don’t they lace up the bottom instead of the side?” Alyra asked. “Can’t really do them up easily on your own.”

  “Laced this way, if you shoot a bow, the string doesn’t catch the laces,” Jorick told them as he stood to help Rues buckle her new crossed harness designed to hold her hammer in easy reach.

  Glem and Jorick looked them both over as Alyra snapped her sword onto its catch. “Better. Much better. Take the arms off but leave the armor to get used to it. Ok, everyone clear on what you are doing?” Glem asked.

  “We don’t want to go without you, Grandpa.”

  “I know. And I don’t want you to have to either,” Glem said as he wrapped an arm around each of the girls, pulling them into a hug. “You two stay with Oarf and Eiriean and try and stay out of the fighting. You should be well clear of the city before it starts. I will either find you on the road or in the capital, so don’t you worry—find you I will. I shouldn’t be more than a few days to a week at most behind you.”

  Squeezing them tightly again, he added, “I have to get some rest before it starts, you know that don’t you? It isn’t that I don’t want to spend every minute with you both…”

  They nodded slowly, solemn and silent for a change.

  Things were beginning to feel serious now.

  “Make sure your saddle bags are packed,” he started up again, “and don’t take more than you can comfortably carry. I don’t know when we’ll be able to get horses…”

  Glem stepped away from Rues and Alyra and stood back.

  He seemed at a sudden loss for how to end things. His arms flapped around as if he felt hopeless, seeing his girls go off in a different direction, unable to take them to safety himself. Eventually, he found the words to speak again.

  “I am going to have to sleep for an hour now. Oarf, can you be sure to wake me if I’m not down in two?”

  “Two? You need more than that,” Oarf replied. “It would be folly to have so little rest.”

  “That will have to do for now. I have to finish seeing to the preparations for the city,” Glem said.

  “Hmm, two hours then if I haven’t seen you,” Oarf agreed.

  Chapter 17

  Dressed like guards, Hazk’s men were able to move through the city with ease. There were enough guards that the people in the city didn’t know all of them, so seeing a group moving briskly along the streets didn't raise suspicion.

  “The East Gate is just ahead a couple blocks. The guard change takes place there in fifteen minutes precisely. Your group was added to the roster, so there shouldn’t be any questions when you arrive, but if there are, I am sure you can deal with them quietly,” the guide said as he led them to a stop in the back streets of the city.

  “You know your assignments,” Hazk said. “I expect there will not be any mistakes from you this time, right?”

  “No sir, no mistakes. We will take and hold the gate, sir.”

  “Good. Go now.” Hazk turned to the guide. “Is the other position prepared?”

  “Yes, it is. I will take you to it. We will need to stick to the side streets since it is near the market and south road, just like you requested it should be.”

  Half of the remaining men left, moving in step with military precision. Their uniforms were a perfect match for the guards’; their only tell was that they were crisper than the guards’, and their uniforms neater, sharper looking.

  The safehouse at which Hazk and his men arrived was only one street off of the Gatestreet Market.

  Looking out the window, he could see the people going about their business through a break between buildings.

  “Trin should be in place by now. If things go as planned, there should not be another guard change on that gate in time for it to matter. Is everything else ready?” Hazk asked one of the men.

  “Yes, sir. Our contact in the city says that everything is
set up and ready. Unless something unexpected creeps up on us, we are as prepared as we can be.”

  “Good. Make sure everyone is rested and fed. We move out in a few hours.”

  ✽✽✽

  Waking with a start, Glem found his sword already in hand and Oarf standing in the doorway to his room.

  “Sorry to wake you before time, but the Master at Arms is here for you,” Oarf said, glancing quickly at Glem’s blade.

  “What does Garen want?” Glem asked, slipping the sword into its scabbard and tugging on his boots.

  “He wouldn’t tell me. He just said that you were needed and that it was very important, and to hurry. I told him to wait and that I would wake you.” Oarf replied. “He was anxious.”

  “Harumph. Let’s go see what he wants then,” Glem replied. “Can you bring me another plate of something to eat? If I can't sleep, I need to get energy from somewhere at least.”

  Glem strode into the dining room of the inn, and spotted Garen sitting at the table near the fire. “Garen, what’s happened?” he asked without preamble.

  “The city knows the battle is coming now, and the people are getting scared and volatile. Our distribution plan for the guard is a mess because we have had to spread some of them through the city to try and deal with opportunists who plainly think they can advantage themselves. They have been breaking up fights all over the city.”

  “Has Lorne spoken to them yet?” Glem asked.

  “No, he is struggling to keep the guard on the walls with the chaos,” Garen replied.

  “I’ll go out and start doing sweeps of the city and the guard posts. Have Lorne pass the word around that anyone caught fighting will be held in the barracks until the battle is concluded. Send Jorick to do guard post checks, working sunwise around the city, and I will go the other way and meet him in the middle. Oarf,” he then said loudly, “Would you please ask Eiriean to wrap that food so I can take it with me? Garen, make sure that the people know that we are outmatched and don’t have time to deal with their petty squabbles. Go on. I will start all the checks as soon as my food is ready.”

  ✽✽✽

  The first several guards posts that Glem checked were in order. His ambiguous position had clearly been addressed by one of the soldiers higher up, or enough of them had seen his training session with Lorne that they didn’t want to get on his bad side. He looked each position over unobtrusively when he showed up to each location before engaging with the guards onsite. Most of them were chatting with one another while they watched over their assigned areas either outside the wall or within the city. At one post, the guards spotted him well before he arrived, nearly falling over themselves to be at attention when he turned up.

  “At ease. You are at the corner of the city and looking to both the south and east. Have you seen anything moving or odd along the tree line? This is an area I would expect them to post up scouts in preparation for the army's arrival.”

  “No, sir. The lieutenant told us almost the same thing before we came on duty, sir. So, we’ve been watching closely,” replied the sergeant.

  “Thank you, is there anything you have to report?”

  “No, sir. Right now, everything is quiet.”

  “Carry on then. Dismissed,” Glem said.

  He continued on to finish his checks.

  Glem carefully watched the people in the streets as did the guards, looking for any indicator of the arrival of a foreign army. He worked his way through the city along the wall, and past the gates that had been barred. The huge beam set into the locks on the East Gate was reassuring with its massive presence.

  He arrived at the barracks and training grounds for the guard. Aside from the men at the entrance, very few people were visible when he entered. Glem spotted Garen across the grounds, reading reports as he walked. “Garen!” he shouted.

  The startled man looked up from his papers.

  “Glem, glad to see you here. You made good time with your checks,” he said, as Glem crossed the training grounds to him.

  “I talked to the Captain when I got back, and he put out an announcement to the effect that anyone caught fighting would be held in the barracks until after the siege. That should at least cut down on the problems,” commented Garen.

  “Good. Have you seen Jorick yet?” asked Glem.

  “No, he headed out to do checks on the other side a few minutes after I met with you earlier. Unless there is a problem, he should be here soon. There is one additional post on his circuit than on yours,” Garen replied.

  “Lorne in the map room?” Glem inquired.

  “Yes, I don’t know when the last time he left was. I think he has been there since you and Jorick got back,” answered Garen.

  “Thank you. Finish up whatever you are working on and join us. If you see Jorick, send him in as well,” said Glem.

  Garen nodded; he would do just that.

  The door to the offices stood open with the sun streaming into the interior. The clerk at his desk with his always impressive pile of paperwork didn’t look up as Glem entered.

  “The trays are over there. Take them and bring back more. We have additional people coming, and they are likely to be here a while.”

  Glem cleared his throat, and the clerk looked up.

  “Sorry, sir, he’s in the back. I thought you were the runner.”

  “Head down and all that, I can understand. I will head back to the map room. Thank you for making sure we get fed.”

  “You’re welcome, sir. Garen just left, but I was told to expect you and Jorick.”

  “Slight change. I saw Garen just now in the courtyard and asked him to join us. Jorick will be along shortly, I think.”

  “Yes, sir. I will send him in when he arrives.”

  Glem walked back through the hall to the map room, to find his old student worrying over the potential location of the army and the distribution of the guard.

  “Has it changed since we discussed things last night? Is there any new information on when we expect them to attack?” Glem asked.

  “No. No changes yet. I am just worried about how underpowered we are in comparison to the army you reported. I’m afraid that no matter what we do, we will get swept away. Garen said you and Jorick were doing a check on the guards. How did that go? Was there any improvement after I had the announcements made about fighting?” Lorne answered.

  “All the posts I checked, the guard seemed to be alert and watching,” said Glem. “The city is boiling some, but I didn’t see anyone getting out of line on my way in. The tension is to be expected, though.”

  “Good, that is an improvement. I know there were several fights broken up before the announcements,” answered Lorne.

  The clerk knocked on the open map room door.

  “Sirs. Sorry to bother you, but the runner is back with more food. Would you like me to have it set up for you somewhere?”

  “Just put it on the table along the wall,” Lorne replied as he turned back to his map.

  “I asked Garen to join us, and Jorick shouldn’t be far behind me. Take a break for a few minutes, and eat something while we wait. If anything happens, we will know as soon as the messenger arrives,” Glem replied.

  The runner and clerk had now left.

  Both men settled back into chairs while they ate, waiting on the others to arrive.

  Jorick showed up, tossing his cloak and sword onto one of the free chairs and starting to help himself to food. “Are we waiting on Garen, or should we get started?” he asked.

  “Garen will be along when he’s finished up. Did you find anything doing the checks on the guard posts?” Glem asked.

  “Everyone is agitated, but watchful. No signs of the army yet, though,” Jorick replied.

  “I made the announcements about fighting earlier in the day. Hopefully, that will help quell some problems and allow the guards to do their jobs,” Garen said as he came into the room.

  Glem stepped over to the map table where the silver coins still
lay on it as markers.

  “Jorick, do you want to tell Lorne about the plan for the West Gate? We need to get that clear and started. Soon as we can.”

  “Captain, we talked about using the houses that the merchants built up against that west wall to block the gate.”

  “How would the houses block the gate?” Lorne asked.

  “Well, we would sorta get a couple guys from the engineers to collapse them behind it. We thought that if we put thirty or so tons of rubble at this side, it would be really hard to open. Couldn’t push it in and couldn’t break in the lock.”

  “That's a very good idea. If the gate won't open, we can redistribute some of the guards there to more vulnerable areas. It is going to piss off the merchants, but this gives them a chance to live long enough to get pissed off. Do it,” Lorne ordered.

  Glem picked up a small stone off the floor and set it on the West Gate on the map.

  “That deals with one. Now let's figure out the others.”

  Lorne looked over the map and at the distance estimates to the enemy army and the various soft spots in the town.

  “Each of the guard posts is ten men right now. Since the fighting in town is stopping, we will be able to double that and still have a reserve force in the market that we can move around as needed. The market provides a central staging area for the town and quick access to each of the main gates.”

  Glem mentally counted the locations as he looked at the map. “We will need to make sure that if there is a breach somewhere, we can get the men there as quickly as possible. I suggest that we put a good-sized contingent at each gate and a smaller force in the center of town, ready and available to reinforce them. It means that the reinforcement will be smaller, but we will have a better chance of holding at the gate or wall until they arrive.”

  “We should also take some of the guards and have them act as roving patrols inside the city. Seeing them will give the civilians confidence and maybe keep people from doing anything stupid when they think they can get away with it,” Jorick added.