Take the body and give me the rest (31 page)

‘Who’s the
women with him’ Grimm said.

‘That Grimm
would be his lady wife, I’m quite eager to meet her actually’

They passed a
stoat rope around the battlements and with most of his armour left
behind Seth lowered himself over the edge and went hand over hand
down the wall, kicking off the rough stones as he did. At the
bottom he heard Grimm yell out ‘now what with a laugh’. Seth jumped
boldly into the black water of the moat and swam across. On the
other side he climbed out, with no grace or dignity at all, well at
least the gate was still blocked.

The boy was
speechless with a near open mouth as Seth took the reins of the
second horse and without waiting for him, kicked the animal lightly
and started to ride up the field towards the man who stood there
waiting for him. As the horse thundered towards him, Seth had to
fight the urge to try finish this now, once and for all, but now he
was in their arrow range.

The man and
women both stood next to their horses chatting casually as Seth
pulled up his horse, dismounted it and walked over to them. Over
the ridge and within running distance stood the man’s army, a
bristling shield wall with spear points and groups of archers
kneeling and standing, all with arrows knocked, pointed at him.

Seth turned
from them and looked at the man. He was tall, handsome, with short
black hair. He looked the eternal age of all of these people, and
he smiled warmly at Seth. She was incredible. Long blonde hair,
sharp features and full lips, she had an animal gleam to her eyes
and looked every inch a killer.

‘Hello Seth’
The man said ‘ My name is Luthor, Duke of Twin Plains and this is
my lady wife Deirdra the Duchess’ Seth was surprised they were
being so formal given the battlefield setting but played along. He
shook the man’s hand and kissed her on both of her offered cheeks,
he half expected her to bite his neck.

She must have
noticed his reaction and actually laughed ‘oh don’t worry Sir Seth,
I’ve feed recently your quite safe’

To his eyes she
looked like a very normal woman and he could clearly see now he’d
met them both that she was in charge, the duke was just the
battlefield commander.

‘Feed recently?
Those few hundred tribes people not enough for you’ he said
sweetly.

‘Oh no, they
only lasted a few weeks and now it’s daily, it’s all so much work,
isn’t it dear’ She said turning to her husband.

‘It really is
Seth and that’s why we are here. Do you know what we want?’ the
Duke asked

‘Of course,’
said Seth. ‘You want me to tell me why I should betray Elizebetha,
give you the coin and join the Guild that’s been trying to kill me
this many months’

The man
laughed. ‘I will tell you and you’ll agree with it. The reason I
didn’t want to talk to you the very moment I arrived was I wanted
to see what kind of a man you are. First you fire those machines
short so we grow confident and come close, then you douse the men
with oil and fire into them while they sleep and eat, burning and
dying.’ He was laughing as he spoke. ‘It was some fine work, I will
tell you, very good indeed. I’m sure weak old Elizebetha was very
upset with you for it.

‘Now I’ll tell
you something, Seth: I knew about your trick.’ He quickly opened
his palm, flashing the other half of the silver coin. ‘I just
wanted to see if you really had the stomach to fire into those
sleeping men, and you sure did.’

‘You let your
men die just to test me out?’ Seth asked.

The lady
laughed at Seth’s words as the Duke continued.

‘Am I a bloody
fool, Seth? Let you kill my own men? That wouldn’t make any sense
even if I do outnumber you three to one. All you saw was campfires,
some shields and banners. The townspeople you evicted were more
than happy to help themselves to the fire and food I offered.’

Seth felt sick.
He’d killed those innocent people and laughed about it.

The lady put
her hand on his and spoke in her soft lilting voice ‘You’re a
killer, Seth, just like us. So here is what we’ll offer to you:
everything. Once we have the other side of this coin, no one will
be able to stop us. I’ll be called back properly; you can call back
anyone you want, maybe that Pellosina you were so fond of? Be nice
to see her again, wouldn’t it?

Then we’ll take
this land one city at a time. Soldiers who die we’ll bring back the
next day, and you know what else we can call. Do you think armies
will want to fight us when we can call up the very legions of
Wolvern against them?’ she said with deadly passion.

The man spoke
again ‘You can rule the North for me, Seth. You can be the king of
them all. Or if it’s too cold and you like it here, be the king of
Pelloss; it will be our realm; the whole thing will fall under us.
You can be the second brother.’

‘Why me?’ Seth
said.

‘We need that
coin so that I can come back properly and stop all this bloody
madness.’ She said

‘What madness?
Killing people every day so you can live’ Seth said

She laughed ‘oh
the killing is fine, it’s finding two people every day, buying
slaves, it’s all very, very expensive and time consuming. I’ve got
better things to do with my day.’

Seth was
shocked, this was all so they could enjoy more leisure time.

The Duke spoke
again ‘You’re outnumbered three to one. My men are ready for a
protracted siege and slowly but surely we’ll kill every single one
of your men. We’ll send people over your wall at night; you’ll
volley us with arrows. We’ll attack; you’ll repulse. We’ll build
rock throwers and throw flaming stones over the walls; we’ll get
your moat filled and then it’ll really start. After a few weeks of
tired hell and fire getting thrown into your town, all you friends
will be dead. I’ll come over the wall, I’ll kill Elizebetha, I’ll
take her memories and the coin, and I’ll kill you for making it all
such very hard work.’

Seth looked at
the man and he knew with every single part of him that he spoke the
truth. This is exactly as it would pass. Right now more lives than
he could fathom were in his hands. If he stayed and fought on,
Grimm, Goldie, Flint, Stone, Elizebetha, Dagosh and so many more
would die by his side, fighting for something they didn’t even
understand.

Not only that,
these soldiers were far from normal men. A few hundred of them at
least were takers and would be far stronger and crueller than a
normal solider. He himself would only grow worse and worse if he
fought on. Already he was a killer. He laughed at the thought of
ending people’s lives and this man would turn his actions to
failure at every pass.

‘Do you need
Elizebetha’s life or just the coin?’ Seth said.

The man’s smile
changed to one of victory. ‘I only need the coin; she can keep her
life and her blessed little Keep,’ he said.

‘I know you
speak the truth. You both want this thing and if we try keep it
from you, we’ll grind all of these people into bloody dust doing
it. It’s not worth all the slaughter and horror, but I don’t want
to join you. I’ll steal the coin, I’ll bring it here today and then
I’ll take my four Northern friends and we’ll make our way back
home. I’ve come so far from what I was. I don’t want to rule
people, fight battles with a smile every time I kill someone. It’s
not who I want to be,’ Seth said.

The woman
smiled at him and her teeth held a hint of the dead sharpness
‘Good. We would have just killed you sooner or later anyway; I
already have a partner. Go back to the North, with all of your
stolen gold and forget all this. We’ll see you soon.’

Chapter 35

Elizebetha
joined Seth by the fire as he warmed cold hands above the flames.
She looked so sad and grieved lately, and he hadn’t even told her
about the townspeople. He didn’t think he would; that could just be
another thing he felt like a monster for. He handed her a goblet of
mulled wine and sipped on his own as he sat looking into the
flames.

‘Thanks for
coming,’ he said as she sat down on the cushion chair next to
him.

‘They tell me
you met them and that she waved when you left,’ she said, sipping
at the drink.

Seth snorted in
laugher. ‘They are very strange but very dangerous, both of them,
but I have a feeling she’s the boss and he’s the weapon’ Seth
said.

‘So she wants
you to join with them,’ Elizebetha said.

‘Of course. She
thinks I’m a killer, a monster; she says we are very similar. I’ve
come so very far from where I started and I know it. I can’t blame
this on all those inside of me. Time and time again I had to fight
to live, but other times I sought out enemies, I took everyone I
could. I started to love the blood, the power, the kill,’ he
said.

‘It happens,
Seth. But at least you see it now and you can stop it,’ she
said.

‘Listen. If we
don’t give them this coin, everyone in this place will die. Every
single person out there will die. His troops are not normal men
either, they will destroy this place and all who stand against them
and feed them to their black dogs’ he said.

‘That’s why I’m
heartbroken, Seth. We need to become monsters to defeat a bigger
monster. If they get the coin, it won’t be hundreds of people dead,
will it? Every city, every country, and every soul. Kings will
stand against him and fall, armies of nations will drown in blood,’
she said.

‘You say we
need to become monsters but it’s not you; it’s me, isn’t it. It’s
not you who will command the army of people you love to go out and
fight; it’s not you’ll who’ll see Grimm, Goldie, Flint and Stone
die fighting for you. It’s not you who will have dreams of the
people you’ve killed, your Wolvern has ripped to pieces while you
laughed. I’m the one becoming a monster and it stops today,’ Seth
said.

Elizebetha’s
eyes were starting to close. She looked at him with a moment of
realisation as the wine goblet slipped from her drugged hand and
crashed to the floor.

Thanks for that
one Yend, he thought. Quickly, Seth took the silver coin from where
it sat in her hand and walked out of the room.

Chapter 36

‘Start clearing
that gate!’ Seth shouted. The men with Goldie didn’t question why,
they just started loading large rocks into a wagon and clearing the
blocked gate and reattaching ropes and counter weights. Seth had
called his army together in the courtyard, and they stood looking
back at him. He remembered, just a few days ago, how jubilant they
had been in ousting Lord Renton and taking this place. Still, they
looked fierce and happy, but as he looked he could see that soon
they would be tired from putting out fires, dropping from the arrow
fire from above. And within a few weeks, not a single one of them
would be alive.

They stood in
rows, the pikemen with their shinning shields and flat spears in
the air, organised and bristling; the wild hair tribesmen, again
not on horses but ready with their curved blades; and the archers
of Stellos to the side, leather tunic and vambraces—his favourite,
the red head girl with a small smile for him.

‘
Army of the Cold Death, Black Rock defenders, I want to talk
to you. As you know, I have spoken with the Duke of Twin Waters. He
has decided to let this siege lift.’

They cheered
and couldn’t believe it. Some, he could tell, wanted more of a
fight.

‘
I will go now and talk final terms with him, but his army will
then be departing.’

‘
Did we scare them too much?’ shouted someone, and they all
laughed.

Seth laughed as
well. ‘You bet we did. They decided it wasn’t worth the trouble for
the ghost of Lord Renton. Now get about your duties.’ The troops
slowly filled out of the square, and Seth watched them all leaving.
A good many seemed disappointed they wouldn’t get to fight, at
least he was glad they wouldn’t have to die for him.

He stood by the
gate as the last few rocks were being cleared away and, calling in
his Captains, spoke. ‘After this, I’m leaving. Dagosh, you can have
command of your army back on the proviso that you stay here and
help the lady defend Black Rock for the term of our
engagement.’

Dagosh just
nodded.

‘
Boys,’ he said to Goldie, Grimm, Flint and Stone, ‘this has
been a lot bloodier than I expected, and now it’s time to get
ourselves free of it all. We’ll take this gold from Rosen and build
ourselves something new out there.’

‘
Sounds good to me, Seth,’ said Goldie. ‘Let’s buy his yellow
tavern.’

They all
laughed.

‘
Now, if something happens and I don’t come back, stick to the
plan. Dagosh, Keep is yours, and boys, the loot is
yours.’

‘
Boss, why is he giving up? We didn’t give them much of a
hiding at all,’ said Grimm.

‘
Don’t worry about it, Grimm; everyone south of us is too weak
for life. I’ll see you soon.’

The miners had
the gate cleared. Taking a hold of the large wooden wheel and
turning it, they slowly started to open the gate, until it
stretched across the dark water of the moat and to the other
side.

‘Someone bring
my horse as well!’ he shouted.

Seth stepped up
onto his white horse and, waving to the boys and Captains, spurred
it across the bridge and into the bloody and burned field. He felt
the coin in his hand and could feel the power of it pulsing through
his body. As he rode on toward the Dukes army, he saw the bodies
left and right of the townspeople he had forced out of their homes.
Shields and banners were placed near their fires and their bodies
were burnt or filled with the long wooded shafts from the siege
weapons. Seth felt the power of the coin running through him, and
he could see them all as they had been in life, the life he’d
helped take.