Steel and Shadow: An Epic Fantasy (5 page)

             
“Commander, the garrison troops from Kybera have arrived,”  he said even as he joined him.

             
“How many?”

             
“Not quite as many as we first thought.  At least, not yet.  I placed their numbers at just shy of five hundred men.“

             
“Enough to be annoying, but little else.”

             
“Aye.  Their plans seem to hinge on pinning us in the duchy’s walls, and keeping us contained until they can get enough men to aid them in putting paid to us.  That, however, is not the news I found most intriguing.”

             
“Oh,” Jengus asked, sitting up to stretch as he started to get up.  “What did you find,” he asked, as he found his feet. 

             
“The king had advance warning of some kind, and moved his family.  They are not in Trinidad any longer, as we thought.  Fearing our very stratagem, it seemed, the royal family was moved to Kanlys Square.”

             
“Which is not ten miles north of us,” Jengus murmured.

             
“Just so,” he nodded.  “’Tis why the other men delayed in coming to aid the others for so long.  They wished to pause, and ensure the provincial capital was reinforced in case of attack there.”

             
Jengus didn’t bother to ask if the young man was certain of his information.  Koa was not the sort to fall for false leads, or inaccurate intelligence.  “So, then, what mischief did you plot to delay them?”

             
“I cut all their cinches nearly through, and weakened all their reins,” he said with the faintest of smirks. 
             
“I also put a temporary blinding haze over the commander’s eyes.”

             
“Clever.  All right.  Let’s rouse the men, and ride right for the city.  With a little luck, we’ll get the royals out ere they know we’re there, and be halfway back to the duchy ere dawn catches us.”

             
Koa looked around as he nodded, and asked, “The lass?”

             
“The duke sent her to a room to rest, assuring me he would see her treated properly until we were ready to depart.”

             
Koa only nodded.  “We should leave at once.  I suggest we leave Captain Tode here to command our reserves.”

             
“I assume you have a reason?”

             
“Someone let the Galdynians know we were coming.  He’s our newest officer, and the newest man to join the legion in general.  He’s also K’Zir, who have been ever ambiguous about the war from the start.”

             
“Aye, they are the sort to favor profit more than caring over battle lines.  Still, you do raise a point.  We’ve had a few close calls of late since Tode did join us.”

             
“I suggest we leave Sgt. Winters behind, too.  To watch for….secret messengers.”

             
“A good notion.  He’d be the one man I could trust with our backs without fearing he might bolt, or do something foolish.”

             
“Aye.  I’ll be ready to leave as soon as I see the lass.”

             
“Oh,” Jengus asked with a knowing smile.

             
“I told her I’d be back.  I’d let her know that I am, and will return for her again so she does wake, and fears seeing me still gone.”

             
“You care for the lass,” Jengus asked.

             
Koa’s eyes were cool and impassive as usual as he simply stated, “There is something about her.  Something that feels…..familiar.”

             
“You think she is….like you?”

             
“Like me?  Nay.  But there is something about her.  I’d like to know what.  Besides, as I said, she is Valdoran, and taken unlawfully by rogues exploiting the war.”

             
“And we both know how you love to discomfit the slavers and guilders at the best of times,” he remarked.

             
“I just do not like anyone that thinks they can steal another’s life without being accountable.  I still think the Ranulf Accords were just an excuse to steal more without having to explain where they find their ‘stock,’” he said curtly, referring to new laws that the guilds had pushed through that made the adage ’once branded, ever a slave,’ virtually law.  It also kept a slave from running from one land to another, as it allowed the guild to cross borders to hunt fugitives even if the border were technically hostile to the host kingdom.

             
Valdor, however, was one of the few lands that did not sign the accords.   Which was one of the real reasons the guilders had combined to join the Galdynian king in starting another war to try to enforce their own will on the other land, thinking they would take them by surprise, and beat them this time.

             
They should have known better. 

             
Valdor was a race of warriors, and were ever alert.

             
“I’ll go find Captain Roberts, and Lt. Caleb.  And advise Samuel of his assignments,” he added, calling Sgt. Winters by name.  “You go see the lass, and join us when you may.”

             
“I shouldn’t be long,” he nodded, and left without pause, not needing a guide since he could sense the lass easily enough after having been in her presence.

             
Koa walked into the room without knocking, and found her dozing in a huge, soft bed curled up in a tiny ball.  It was telling that she would recoil from all the luxury around her, as if fearing even it might hurt her.

             
“Lia,” he murmured, gently touching her cheek after watching her sleep a moment more.

             
Her eyes opened instantly, and he simply nodded.  “I am back, lass.  Regrettably, we must ride out again on a mission, but we’ll be back soon enough.  When I return next, we shall be leaving this land.”

             
“Truly,” she asked, sitting up, and smiling at him.  “I am truly going to be free?”

             
He sat on the bed beside her, and smiled for the first time in earnest.

             
“Lass, you are free.  Let me remind you do you not know it, Valdorans are warriors born, and would spend their last breath fighting to keep that freedom.  Just like your sister.  You, however, were but a child.  You did not know yourself at the time.  Now you are grown.  You are aware,” he said, and gently pressed a hand to her cheek.  “And you are stronger than you know.  For the time being, I lend you my strength.  Stay strong, and safe, and when I return, we shall take you back where you belong.”

             
She stared at him with overly bright eyes, and put her own hand over his.

             
“None have ever been so kind as you, Koa Darke.  I shall pray you stay safe.”

             
“Just rest, lass,” he told her, guiding her back to the pillows, noting the duke had apparently allowed her to be bathed, and dressed like a lady in his absence.  Her red curls were slightly lighter in color when clean, and she looked more than lovely.

             
“How long will you be gone,” she asked as she settled back in the pillows and let him adjust the covers around her.

             
“As long as it takes.  Though if all goes well, we should be back sometime in the morn.”

             
“I shall miss you.  I know ’tis likely odd, but….I feel we already share a bond,” she whispered.

             
“I believe you, Lia.  But know this, I believe you are stronger than you realize.  The duke is wise enough, I think, to watch you in my stead until my return.  But know this, you are strong in your own right.  Forget your collar, lass, and embrace that strength.  Remember your pride.  Remember your true self, and I know you shall be fine.”

             
She smiled, and shook her head.  “I shall be fine when I see you return, and the last of Galdyn behind us,” she said firmly.

             
He gave a soft chuckle now.  “See?  Even your words declare your own pride, for I hear steel in them,” he smiled.

             
“Steel,” she murmured.  “I wish I were as strong as steel,” she told him with a sleepy smile.  “I would never let anyone harm me, or you, ever again.”

             
He smile again as he rose.  “Lass, ’tis not a weapon born of man that has ever been able to harm me,” he reminded her.

             
“Aye, but…..I think we both know you do not always need a weapon to strike the deepest blows.”

             
“You are wise,” he told her quietly as he turned to leave.  “Now heed my wisdom, and rest while you may, lass.  As I said, I shall be back soon enough.”

             
She nodded, and settled back into the heavy quilts.  “Koa.”

             
“Aye, lass,” he asked from the door.

             
“Know that you will be missed.  And looked for.  I……”

             
“We’ve time enough to talk later, lass,” he told her, and left the room, closing it firmly behind him.

             
A few moments later, he was mounting his own horse as not one man joked about ‘his lass,’ and Jengus remarked, “Lead the way, lad.”

             
Behind them, Captain Thaddeus Tode watched them depart with a grim expression.  The brown-haired mercenary from K’Zir had accepted his orders without comment, and was told to be ready to ride at any moment in case the mission to Malloric was thwarted.  Jengus decided that if the man was a spy, it wouldn’t be smart to let him know their true objective.  So he let him think they were riding thirty miles northeast to that powerful earl’s home to claim hostages that might bring a rich ransom, and help unsettle the region.  It was close enough to the truth that he had little trouble convincing him.

             
Nor did he miss the look of relief on Tode’s face when he heard that Koa was going out as scout rather than staying behind.
             

             
A few hours later, they rode up to the edge of the forest where a sloping valley floor gave way to the high walls of the provincial capitol on the very border of Kanlys and Galdyn.  The location of the city was the king’s way of letting the locals know just who ruled their land in spite of the governor that held sway over them in the king’s name.

             
That the governor was a virtual tyrant in his own right hardly aided George Hastings’ reputation among his subjects, but such was life in their world.

             
“All right.  Captain Roberts,” he turned to him.  “Take your lads, and ride no more than an hour due west, set fires, and burn down anything you find.  Be it farmstead, guild hall, or shack.  Lt. Barques, you remain here, and await the delivery of the royals.  I‘ll lead the rest of our lads due north, dam the river, and leave them wondering what is happening.  We rendezvous back at Clarke’s as soon as possible, so don’t dally, and don’t take chances.  When you have done what ’tis to be done, ride hard for the duchy.”

             
“Is that wise….?”

             
“That goes for you, too, Koa.  Like as not, ere you get all the royal whelps out, we’ll likely already be on our way back.  You have your orders.  Gentleman, let’s not dally.  We don’t want the sun, or the Galdynians to catch us.”

             
“Aye, commander,” the two officers saluted, and turned to carry out their orders, the younger officer simply setting watch, and ensuring they were hidden from casual discovery.  Koa eyed the commander, nodded, and then turned to the lieutenant.

             
“I need four men, and have their horses’ hooves padded.  We’ll ride to the south gate, and I’ll deliver the royals there once I find them.”

             
“Best, then, we move our selves to the south road,” Barques nodded as the men split, following their superiors to wherever they were to go. 

             
“Aye,” Koa agreed.  “Also, have archers watch the walls, too, and ready to lay a gauntlet down for any that might try to follow if we are spotted.”

             
The officer knew Koa didn’t include himself because he could literally become invisible it seemed if he didn’t wish to be seen.  His mastery over his growing powers since the day he had been found was beyond astonishing.  Even were he found, his martial skills were such that even without his preternatural abilities, few men could face him anyway.

             
With all those powers, not a man alive could face him.  Not and live.

             
“While your men get into place,” Koa told the lieutenant, “I’ll go in, and seek out the royals.  With luck, I’ll find them by the time you are in place, and ready.  I should need naught more than two trips to get them all.”