Trials of a Champion

by Thomas O'Gorman

  Winn’s mind went black and when he regained consciousness he yelled out for Jaunty. Jaunty wasn’t in the cell.

  Did I really kill Jaunty or was that a trick? I don’t remember seeing him since we were in Jabari City. Was he even here for me to kill? I hope beyond hopes he is still alive. I feel like I didn’t pledge myself to evil, but I remember it clearly. Are these my friends here? No, I wouldn’t be locked up if they were. I am of Aviel, I remember that. Surely, I didn’t have sex with that Vestuan. It felt real, as real as sex with Sarah. I wouldn’t cheat on Sarah, would I?

  Chapter 7: There are Orders and There Are Orders

  July 5, 850 A.A.

  Landis couldn’t sleep. He hadn’t slept for a month, in fact. The war in Skal, his missing son-in-law, the waiting game he was playing with the Menegar, all were bothering him. The King looked at the clockwork by his bed and saw that it was two hours before dawn. Landis got up and dressed. He walked through the vast palace and went up on the walls. He walked the walls speaking to his guards to uplift them. He reached a spot that overlooked most of the city and he watched the sunrise bring Alexandra out of the darkness. He was proud of his capital city, and he considered it the greatest city in the world. He hoped with all his heart that it wouldn’t be touched by this war. He knew that was unlikely, but he was going to do everything he could to stop the Menegars for good outside the city walls.

  Landis grew hungry and he headed down off the walls toward the palace and the breakfast room. He was sure the staff was ready to serve him; they were always up and ready to go at dawn. As he made his way to the breakfast room, his mind drifted and he thought about Winn. He wondered if Winn was still alive. He knew that Winn was hard to kill, but when someone disappears at sea, it almost always means that they are dead. Landis wished Winn was there in the worst way. A thought that he never would have had a year ago. The people needed a hero that they could have faith in. A proven winner that they believed could defeat the Menegar horde. None fit that description better than Winn Vaux. He also had a more personal reason to want Winn back. Sarah acted like she was OK, and she still said she thought, no, believed that Winn was alive. Landis could tell she was suffering, very distressed, and deeply concerned that Winn was gone. She lost weight since he disappeared and was so skinny that she looked unhealthy. He was worried about his daughter.

  He reached the breakfast room and Sarah was there eating. That is a good sign.

  “Darling, what are you doing up so early, and what is that you are wearing?” Landis asked.

  “Good morning papa. I had an early workout with Master Chen this morning. I just finished up and thought I would eat some breakfast before I bathed and changed. I have a busy schedule today. I am taking a late morning ride with Countess Tibbit and there is a luncheon to support the orphanage. In the afternoon there is a tea at the Predian embassy to honor Winn’s efforts to save Predias, then this evening Sir Robin Chavis is performing at Prince Alrond Hall.”

  “Yes, dear one, you do have a busy day. Send my regards to the Predian ambassador. I was invited to the tea, but I can’t go. More troop inspections.”

  An under butler entered the breakfast room carrying a silver tray with a note on it. He bowed to the King and the Princess.

  “Your Majesty, there has been a messenger pigeon from Azure. It is marked most urgent.”

  “Thank you,” said Landis. “I will read it at once.”

  The under butler handed the message to Landis. It was sealed in an envelope and Landis ripped it open. Someone had written the message out large enough so he could read it. It said:

  Your Majesty,

  The remains of AMS Invader have been found. Menegar corpses were on board. No sign of Lord Vaux or Captain Chen. It is feared they have been captured by Menegar forces. I left Azure at first light and will arrive late tomorrow to fill you in on the details.

  Fleet Admiral Nonce

  Landis hung his head. A simple drowning or death in a fight at sea was a much better fate than being captured by the Menegar. That race was known for their cruelty and for the brutal way they treated prisoners. Winn may be alive for now, but I am sure he wishes he was dead.

  “Godsdammit!” Landis yelled. He threw his glass of orange juice across the room. It hit a large painting of his great grandparents on the south wall and shattered into a thousand pieces, cutting the painting in the process.

  “Papa whatever is the matter with you?” A taken aback Sarah asked.

  Landis sighed then took a deep breath.

  “It is your right to know, and soon it will be in the newssheets anyway. I hate to be the one to tell you this, Sarah. They found Winn’s ship. It had dead Menegars on it. There was no sign of Winn or Jaunty. It looks like he has been captured by the Menegars.”

  Sarah gasped. She was stunned. She never imagined that Winn might have been captured, especially not by the vile Menegars. She sat still for a minute and regained her composure.

  “Papa that means he may still be alive. We must form a rescue party and free him from captivity.”

  “Sarah those are my thoughts too, but it is not as simple as snapping my fingers and sending a party out. While we have declared war on Menegar for invading Skal, we are not officially at war yet. That little distinction changes my powers. Officially I can’t send an armored party to a nation that we are not at war with. The dukes would have to vote to approve it.”

  “Papa you sent Winn to LaVore. Surly this is much more important.”

  “Yes, I sent Winn to LaVore without the approval of the dukes. They nearly revolted when they found out. The northern dukes threatened to secede from the kingdom if I did it again. In this time of war, I can’t afford to start a civil conflict that would further divide our troops.”

  “Then we must persuade the dukes to allow it. When can you call them together?”

  “We happen to be meeting with them in two days. That will be time enough for Fleet Admiral Nonce and General Coy to prepare their remarks and a plan.”

  Two days had passed, and the dukes were assembled in Victoria Hall. They were all seated around a large table, with the northern dukes seated on the right and the southern dukes seated on the left. King Landis, Queen Octavia, and Princess Sarah were in attendance but were not allowed to participate in the debate. Fleet Admiral Nonce had just given his presentation on how they found the AMS Invader washed up on a small island that was near Seneca, a Menegar held island. He had also gone over a plan, along with General of the Army Coy, detailing a rescue attempt for Winn and Jaunty. The dukes started debating the plan.

  “I for one think it is a waste of good men and possibly a good ship to go after my brother, who most likely is dead already,” the Duke of Barristan, Keyland Vaux said.

  “I for once agree with Barristan,” the King’s brother, Regen Carrington, Duke of Avalon said. “Landis this is a fool’s errand. You are so desperate for a hero you are going to throw lives away for nothing.”

  “You both have bad blood with Lord Vaux,” Duke Sendon said. “It seems to me your grudges are clouding your judgement.”

  “I agree with Sendon. If there is a chance Lord Vaux is alive, we must attempt a rescue,” Duke Tuxley said.

  “Poppycock,” Duke Redicon said. “The boy is a goner. I like the lad myself, but you don’t throw pearls to swine.”

  “Lord Vaux is not a swine Redicon,” Duke Mannix said. “He is a hero of our nation and deserves to be saved.”

  “Not at the cost of ten other lives,” Keyland said. “No man is worth ten lives.”

  “Is our King not worth ten lives? Duke Fairchase asked. “I would say he is worth thousands, and the whole nation will protect him in the coming war. What is the champion of our nation worth? I say thousands of lives, lives he has saved already. He will save thousands more if we rescue him.”

  “Enough of this drivel,” Duke Wedhull said. “I am sure everyone around this table has made up his mind. Avalon please call for a vote.”

  “I he
reby propose that we take a vote on the King’s request to send a rescue party to Menegar to attempt to recover Lord Winnford Vaux and Jaunty Chen.”

  “Yea,” all the dukes at the table said.

  “State your vote. Avalon votes nay.”

  “Barristan votes nay.”

  “Chisolm votes yea.”

  “Clairsea votes nay.”

  “Davisham votes nay.”

  “Hexton votes yea.”

  “Mannix votes yea.”

  “Boniton votes nay.”

  “Sendon votes yea.”

  “Redicon votes nay.”

  “Tuxley votes yea.”

  “Wedhull votes nay.”

  “Fairchase votes yea.”

  Sarah was on the edge of her seat. The nays had seven votes, and the yeas had six. There was one vote left, Poswell. He had been quiet during the debate and had not made any facial expressions to show he was leaning one way or the other. A tie was all that was needed to give the King permission to send a rescue party. Sarah prayed hard as Poswell took his time to vote. Finally, he spoke.

  “Poswell votes nay.”

  Sarah let out a small groan and Landis reacted like he was punched in the gut.

  “This is just a delay gentleman,” Landis bellowed. “As soon as the Menegar attack, a search party is going out. I am very disappointed in your votes today, especially with my own brother and Lord Vaux’s brother not supporting me. This is a low point in my relationship with you nay voters. There will be repercussions. Sarah, Octavia, Coy, Nonce, come with me. We are finished here.” Landis and his cohort stormed out of the room. The dukes were quiet.

  Landis led his small group to the war room. He was furious, and he wanted to break something.

  “Sarah, please excuse us. Since the search party for Winn is not an option, I must plan for this war with the leaders of my army and navy knowing we must fight without Winn. We have many plans to form. I know you are disappointed in the outcome, but there was only a slight chance a rescue team could have found Winn and brought him home.”

  “I am sure you are right papa. I am deeply disappointed in the cowardly dukes, but I have faith Winn will escape the Menegar’s clutches without the rescue team. I will see you at dinner.” Sarah walked briskly down the hall, toward her chambers. Landis ached for her.

  The King entered the war room and Nonce and Coy followed. They found a servant dusting the tables and Landis shooed her out. When the door was shut and they were in private, Landis turned to Coy and Nonce.

  “The dukes have spoken. There will be no rescue mission. If I hear of a rescue mission, I will relieve you of your duties. If you try to go behind my back and form a rescue team, I will throw you in the brig. If a rescue team is launched, I will hang you both. If a rescue team is launched and gets killed, I will kill your families along with you. Do you understand my orders, and will you follow them?”

  “Yes, Your Majesty,” Coy and Nonce said.

  “Good because I would hate for you to pick this one time out of your whole careers to disobey my orders. I would absolutely hate it to no end, and I would come down on you so hard you would wish the Menegars would capture you.”

  “Yes, Your Majesty,” they replied.

  “Orders are always to be obeyed. Even stupid ones. Always obey my every order to the letter. Never improvise, never use your own judgement. Your job is to execute, my job is to give orders. If I say march your army off a cliff, Coy you better damn well do it. Nonce if I say sail your ships onto the rocks, then I better see some wrecked ships and drowning men. Orders are to be followed, even if they are to the detriment of the kingdom. Haven’t I always said that?”

  “Sire, you always say to use our judgement and experience to do the right thing for Aviel,” Coy said.

  “Shut up Coy! You must be an idiot, you aren’t listening. Follow every order no matter how asinine the order is. I command that it be so, just like I always do! Do you understand?”

  “Sire I believe we do understand,” Nonce said.

  “Good, because I demand obedience in this matter. I am in no mood to discuss plans now. Get out of my sight.”

  Coy and Nonce hurried out of the room.

  “Coy we need to discuss some things,” Nonce said. “Shall we go to your office?”

  “How about we get a beer at the Fifty-Five first? It should be nice and quiet this time a day.”

  “That sounds like a wonderful idea.”

  They walked over to the Fifty-Five, and just as Coy had hoped, it was deserted. Costi Gem greeted them. They ordered two beers and sat at a table in the back of the room.

  “Did you hear what I heard?” Nonce asked.

  “The King wants us to ‘not’ send a search party,” said Coy

  “Then we shall not, not send one, do you agree?” Nonce asked.

  “I’ve developed a deep personal interest in Winn. He might just take my job one day. So yes, I agree whole heartedly.”

  “I have a small merchant ship in the fleet that is never used,” Nonce said. “It would be perfect. I have an excellent sailor in mind to captain the ship as well. The crew will have to be carefully selected. How big of a landing force do you want to use?”

  “The perfect size would be seven,” Coy said. “I know exactly who I am going to task to lead it. I will let that person round out the team. How long will it take you to get ready to launch?”

  “Four weeks. It will be so delicate that it will take time to bring the right team together.”

  “I agree, four weeks. No direct communication after this. Send your messages to General Gage, he can be trusted”

  “Send yours to Admiral Mayfair. He is in Azure with me. He is my right-hand man.”

  “Cheers Admiral, to a successful venture.”

  “Cheers General, may we not hang over this.”

  They both drank their beers and left the building. Costi Gem had heard every word they said. She was heartbroken when she heard the news about Winn. She secretly loved him in her lusty way. She was so excited that Winn might be alive, and they were going to attempt to rescue him. She decided that she would hold that secret near and dear to her heart. She wanted the mission to succeed. She wanted to tell Winn how she really felt one day.

  The next day Major Svae Norvesk received a summons from General of the Army Coy. She had no idea what he could possibly want with her. She thought she was in good standing with her temporary commander, and her troops were in great fighting shape. With some trepidation, she walked to the administration building and asked to see General Coy. After twenty minutes of waiting, she was shown into his office. She saluted the general.

  “Major Norvesk reporting sir,” Svae said.

  “Take a seat major.” Svae sat down. “It is an honor to meet you major, I understand you were Colonel Kide’s right hand woman, as it were. What was it like serving under him?”

  “Sir the honor is mine. Colonel Kide was the greatest leader imaginable sir. Not only is he lethal in personal combat, but he also is a tactical genius. He treats his troops well and puts them in a position to win, sir.”

  “You talk like he is still alive. Do you believe that is the case, major?”

  “Sir, I refuse to believe anything, or anyone can kill Colonel Kide.”

  General Coy smiled.

  “Neither do I major, neither do I. I suppose you have heard that no search and rescue party is being sent to find Colonel Kide.”

  “Sir, yes sir”

  “What do you think of that decision?”

  “Sir, it is a terrible decision to abandon this country’s greatest hero. I know 6,000 plus volunteers who would go today, me included.”

  “Major, you just brought up the reason I called you here. Well not the official reason. The official reason is that I want you to explain this to me.”

  He held up the thick bundle of parchment that was Winn’s battle plan for the Battle of Tolevo Rise.

  “Specifically, what I want to know is what the hell is
a swinging gate? We will get to that later though. The real reason I want to talk to you is to see what you are made of.”

  “Sir?”

  “You said there were 6,000 volunteers to go and find Winn. I only need seven, and I want you to lead the group.”

  “Sir, I don’t understand.”

  “Major, I didn’t tell you this, I never said this, and I will deny that I spoke to you about anything in here today except for those battle plans. That being said, I want to send a party into Menegar to find Winn, and the navy is willing to cooperate. I need a team of seven operatives who can pass themselves off as spice merchants. I need them to be able to move about in Menegar and pinpoint Winn’s location, and rescue him and Jaunty. I need one of the party to be able to speak LaVoran and Menegar. I want you to lead this party. You are the most highly qualified and highly motivated soldier I have for this mission. Will you do it?”

  “Yes sir,” Svae said immediately. “Thank you, sir, for selecting me to lead the party. I won’t let you down, sir.”

  “Major, you have four weeks to select your team. Please understand that this must be handled with absolute secrecy. If it gets out, you will likely be court marshalled. Only select people you trust implicitly. That you trust with your life.”

  “Sir, I already know who most of the team will be. All of them would die for Winn. All of them can be trusted and will take this secret to the grave.”

  “Good. You are officially on paid leave for three months as a reward for your service in Ariva and Predias. You are authorized to put your team on paid leave as well. When you select your team members, let me know by sending a message to General Gage. I will commit their names to memory and burn the message. May the Almighty bless you, your team, and your mission.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  “Now, about that swinging gate...”

  Svae left General Coy’s office an hour later. She was able to explain most of Winn’s tactics to the General, but some of them she still didn’t understand. She knew she wasn’t a great tactician. She was a great leader, and that is why she thought General Coy picked her to head the mission to find Winn. If he would have known they were second cousins, he probably would have had more reason to select her to lead the mission.