Rise of the Citadel (The Search for the Brights Book 2) (4 page)

When Bowie’s men
finally marched into camp the sun was rising and the front of the army was
beginning to pack up for another day’s march. It had been that way for the last
few days, sleeping during the day and catching up at night. They were the new
recruits, so they got to march in all of the horse manure, mud, and ruts left
by the others.

  Pushing
through the more senior soldiers was harder to do than he had thought. They had
no respect for his rank as he was still new to the army. He figured that most
of the soldiers only saw the black hat and paid no attention to the shield pin
on his shoulder marking him as armor bearer. It should have told everyone he
was dangerous or useful, or at least to respect him. His black hat, he
supposed, spoke louder than the small pin.

The whole reason
he needed to talk to the wind wizard circling the camp was that he had no idea
how to use his wind magic. He had trained a very small amount with an earth
ring Kilen let him use while traveling, but that was nothing like using the
wind. He kept it in a small pocket he had sewed into his wrist guard where the
tiny magic imbued bead would touch his skin. He needed to talk to the wizard so
he could at least learn to teach himself how to use it.

  He pushed
through the army that now gaped upward at the wizard floating around with wind
catching his large robe. Bowie saw him go out of sight as he lowered himself
into a ring of armored soldiers. A gust of wind from behind and from in front
sent chaos into the army’s ranks. A loud crash of men in armor hitting the
ground was followed by a loud commotion of men trying to regain their comrades
to keep up with the wizard. Bowie followed the commotion as best he could and
when it stopped he found himself near one of the King’s tents. Alexander had
already disappeared inside. He decided he would wait outside for the wizard to
exit.

  Bowie took a
seat on an unoccupied stump near the tent. He saw a large man sharpening a
sword nearby and recognized Chit from his home town of Humbridge. Chit had been
chosen as the King’s Champion, for reasons Bowie could only speculate. His only
thought was that another man from his hometown, his friend Kilen, was being
trained as a weapon bearer. Kilen and Chit did not get along, but then Chit
didn’t get along with anyone from Humbridge. Bowie thought that perhaps the
King wanted to see Kilen’s sword taken from him, and that Chit would be the
perfect opponent to face the much smaller Kilen.

  Chit now
stayed near the King at all times, he was like a dog feeding on his master’s
scraps. He served no purpose other than to punish and intimidate. He now sat
outside the entrance to the King’s tents polishing a gleaming long sword with
twin animal heads facing out from its hilt. Chits arms were covered with scars
now from whatever he had had to face since being called to be the King’s
Champion. His eyes seemed to have lost whatever desire for drink and women that
they had before. Before, Bowie and his friends would avoid Chit just because he
would bully them, now Bowie avoided him because he was afraid of what the so
called “Champion” might do.

  Bowie had not
slept yet, as his men were the very last troop to arrive into the camp that was
established the night before. As the trails became more narrow the farther they
had gone from Deuterium, it took longer to catch up to the camp. His men were,
no doubt, getting their tents set up, or at least finding a place to lay down
before they started marching again. Veteran soldiers had woken some of the
Black Hats to test their aim, but his soldiers were laughed at because there
weren't enough bows to go around. Bowie’s trained archers couldn't even fight
because the veterans took all the equipment for themselves. At least, Bowie
thought, they wouldn’t be used in battle if they didn't have anything to fight
with.

  Bowie saw his
second in command, John Curtin, come through the crowd and approach him.
“Sergeant Crescent, I found you and you ran off. Captain Lorusk summoned you to
the King’s tent.”

The large man,
still catching his breath, took a second to look around and saw Bowie was
sitting right beside the King’s tent. “Ah I see you already got word.”

  “Well, I came
here for other reasons, but thanks for letting me know, John. Now I have a
reason to go inside.”

John tipped his
hat and turned to walk back to the new recruits they commanded. Bowie raised
himself off of the stump and started for the tent’s flap and out came Wizard
Alexander. Before Bowie could even say the Wizard’s name he had risen past the
top of the King’s tent and into the air. Captain Lorusk jumped out of the tent
after him, but missed the wizard’s robes by a hand’s length. The Captain stood,
glaring as the wizard rose out of sight. When he looked down his anger was
automatically transferred to Bowie. He grabbed Bowie’s shoulder and pulled him
inside the tent.

  King Atmos was
leaning on white knuckled fists on top of a paper-covered desk, “Captain, fetch
me some BLOODY PIGEONS!!” He stood looking at the tent flap as it stopped
moving from the Captain disappearing through it, and then finally noticed
Bowie. “Who are you?”

  “I am Sergeant
Cresent, my lord,” Bowie replied, bowing.

  “Oh right, the
fletcher-made-sergeant out of my new recruits. I should have known from the
black hat. I have a few tasks for you, Sargeant. This is Ria Smith Earth
Wizard,” he said, gesturing over his shoulder without looking.

  A Middle aged
woman wearing an all brown dress with her hair in a bun stepped forward. She
didn’t look like any wizard that Bowie had seen before. She wore common clothes
and stood with hands behind her back. She wore no adornments nor indication
that she was a wizard. She came and stood beside Bowie as the King continued to
talk.

  “I am
assigning her to-” the King was cut off as Ria cleared her throat. “-Right,
right, I have requested that Ria join your Black Hats so that she may aid in
the creation of arrows and supplies for my archers. She has skills that will
help you in preparing my army for this battle. Also, I have gathered in
supplies from towns we’ve passed to aid in this construction. here will be some
fletchers joining your troop to help teach these Black Hats to make the
supplies. Do you understand what you are supposed to do Sergeant?”

  “My Lord, I
thought we agreed that I joined this army as a soldier and not as a fletcher.”

  The King
smiled at Bowie, “As a soldier in this army, I am giving you an order to make
arrows using those Black Hats you are in charge of. Let me remind you that you
joined this army and now we are in a time of war. It would not be wise for you
to leave the army as a deserter during such time, as it is a crime punishable
by death. As I see it, you have two choices: follow orders, or face the
hangman's noose.”

  Bowie bowed
his head as Ria sighed showing her disgust in Bowie. “My lord, I will carry out
your orders, but I will need lots of feathers and supplies. I will need to have
my men hunt almost constantly in order to find the things I need.”

  “So have your
men hunt, I have no problem with this request,” Atmos finally sat down in his
chair and started to relax, as Bowie was no longer resisting.

  “Sire, our
camp frightens the animals. We would hunt for probably a league, and there is
no way we will find the animals unless we hunt in front of the column. Even if
we do, we still need to be able to carry the supplies and work while moving
from camp to camp. None of my men have the horses for that, nor do I the carts
to hold supplies, the horses to pull them, or the weapons to hunt with.”

  The King
became visibly irritated again, he scratched his growing goatee. “I will supply
you ten horses, and three carts. I suggest you use them wisely. The rest of
your Black Hats will have to walk. Take them to the front of the formation now
and get ahead. I’ll have your horses and carts brought up. Look for scouts to
show you the new camp sites as we move down the road. Dismissed, Sergeant.”

Bowie bowed and
Ria followed his lead as he exited the tent. The King started to issue orders
to others as he was leaving.

  The female
wizard walked at Bowie’s side through the crowd as best she could, “Sergeant
Crescent, I think in the future you ought to remember what your mother taught
you; to obey your elders. This simple instruction would gain you a better
response from his majesty, the King.”   

  “I will try
and keep that in mind. Now tell me, what is it you can do for me in making
arrows? He said you had a skill that I could use.”

  “Sergeant, I
am skilled in growing plants. I have no talent for the more violent nature of
magic, but I am able to produce good results with plants.”

  “How in the
flamin’ hell is that supposed to help me?” Bowie blurted out.

  “You may talk
to your friends like that, young man, but not to me. You
will
watch your
tongue near me!”

  “I’ll talk
which ever way I like,” Bowie said. Before the last word could leave his mouth,
he tripped over a root and fell on his face. Ria clicked her tongue as the root
sank back into the ground.

  “You should
watch where you walk, also.” She said calmly. “Oh Sergeant, you seem to have
fallen in some manure. If you didn't wear your fancy jacket out, you wouldn't
get it dirty. You really should save those for courting. Don’t worry though, a
little wine should get out the stain. You should have your serving man take a
look at it.”

  Bowie was sure
the root sank back into the ground, and realized she had done it on purpose. He
didn’t give her a comment in return.

  She continued
to follow him, brushing loose dirt from his sleeves, “As I was saying. I am
particularly talented in growing plants. I can grow branches in shapes, or
straight. I can help make tool handles, as I can grow them as thick or as thin
as needed. I think the King intended to have me grow arrow shafts.”

  Bowie finally
realized what she was talking about. If he wasn’t in such a bad mood, he
probably could have put it together himself. “I apologize. I think your talent
will come in handy. I’ll introduce you to my men, they call us the Black Hats,”
he said, tipping his.

  “Sergeant, I
also possess a wagon and two horses that you can load full of people if you
still do not have enough room. I will tell you to pick the best mannered, for
reasons you have already learned.”

  Bowie nodded
his head in response.“Thank you, Wizard Smith.”

  “Oh you are
very welcome. Please, call me Ria,” she said, smiling.

  He led her
through the throng, walking more carefully this time. When he arrived, his men
were busy erecting tents and getting blankets unloaded from packs. A couple of
fires were being built and stew leftover from others in camp was being hung
over fires. John Curtain came away from where he was building his and Bowie’s
tent.

  “Sergeant,
some fletchers have reported to me and are waiting near the back for orders.”
Bowie held up a hand to stop him from talking.

  “John, this is
Ria Smith, Earth Wizard. She has been assigned to us in our new task. Assemble
the men and get to the front of the line. Ria has a cart we need to put the
fletchers in. I will go now, and give tasks to those that arrive at the front.
Make sure you do not leave the rear until every last one of our fletchers and
Black Hats are on their way forward.”

  “Sergeant, the
men are exhausted, and we just got into camp. How are we going to lead this
army in the front?” John nearly shouted.

  Some of the
veterans that were near stopped, shocked at the notion of the new recruits
taking the front. Bowie took note, perhaps this would be a task to help gain
his men some respect.

  “Corporal
Curtain, the King said to move the Black Hats to the front. They have a skill
that no other has in this army, and the King intends to use it. Now go and get
them moving. That’s an order.”

  Ria turned to
Bowie, “Your men just arrived into the camp. It looks as though they are
unpacking their things.”

  “They are
packing them now, but yes, they were unpacking them when I left to see the
King. We marched through the night at the back of this formation and just now
arrived.”

  “I don’t have
much skill in it, but perhaps I could help your troops refresh a bit until they
get a proper night's sleep. How will I know which men are yours?”

  Bowie tapped
the top of his hat, “No others would dare wear one of these. Will you be able
to find your way to the front, Ria?”

  “Ha, follow
the long line of sluggish soldiers? I think I can manage.” She pointed behind
Bowie,” this one seems to belong to you.”

Bowie turned to
see a short girl with red hair falling past her shoulders, stomping in his
direction. He took a step out of the way but she still stopped in front of him,
placing her hands on her hips.

  “You must be
the guy called ‘Master Crescent.’ I’ve heard of the pretty outfits you wear,”
the red hair girl said. Ria clicked her tongue. “My name is Auburn and I'm one
of the fletchers assigned to your archers.”

Ria looked at
Bowie, then back at the girl. “Auburn, is it? Perhaps you should call Master
Crescent by his proper rank and ask permission to speak. While you're at it,
you should button your shirt up. It’s a bit too revealing.”

Bowie was confused
by the whole situation. This girl was already giving him an attitude and he
didn’t even know who she was. Ria was saying she was indecent, but her shirt
barely showed her collarbone; it was far from what he would consider indecent.
He found himself thinking about what he would consider indecent and then
noticed the two were now arguing. Bowie couldn’t understand what either woman
was saying, as their voices had become intertwined. He made the decision at
that moment to do what he could to keep the two separated as much as possible.