Winterfinding (6 page)

Declan nodded, “Yeah is.”

“
Kees is gonna want to
know what you’re about then. No quick send off today,
son.”

Arcite shoved Goshen to stand next to
Declan, “This one fell off his horse when he saw me.”

Reeves laughed but Arcite never seemed to
lighten, “He’s hardly a fool. Bounced right up again and into a
hard stance. If I hadn’t a bolt aimed at his head, chances are I’d
have lost mine.”

“
A proper soldier then,
eh?” Reeves looked hard at Goshen who stared right back with an
obvious contempt.

“
No,” Goshen said flatly,
“I’m a bit better than common fodder.”

There was a moment of tension then Reeves
gave a wide, toothy smile, “Certainly showed us dinna ya?” He
turned away to help Arcite tend to the horses.

“
Don’t press them,” Declan
whispered out the corner of his mouth, “these are Spires’s
men.”

Goshen turned his head sharply in surprise,
“Why are they here?”

“
Part of an army making
its way overland to Essia.”

“
By the Light.” Goshen
mumbled.

“
Yes, exactly, seems
they’re looking for your Cathedral’s blessing for this
gambit.”

“
It makes no sense,
though; Cathedral wouldn’t bother to sanction the Spires after all
this time.” Goshen muttered.

Kees road over and barked at Goshen, “And
who are you?”

“
A Cathedral
paladin.”

“
Funny.” Kees rolled his
eyes, and then looked at Declan, “Your friend thinks he’s rather
droll.”

“
Oh, he certainly is not
that in the least.” Declan shook his head, “But he doesn’t
lie.”

“
Are you two imbeciles or
simply rogues longing to be hurt?” Kees snapped.

“
I’d rather think
neither.” Declan shrugged.

Goshen cut in, “I am Caleb Ambrose of the
Eder Chapel, The Cathedral of Amaranthine Light’s paladin.” He
turned slightly, “I’ve my chapel’s seal brand on my hip, if you
need proof.”

Kees grimaced flushing with anger, he looked
about to leap down from his horse and check. Goshen never broke his
gaze with Kees.

His look softened into one of bafflement. “A
paladin?” Kees asked more to himself than to them. “If you were on
your way to join with the legion, then why were you hiding out in
the woods?”

Before Goshen could reply, Declan broke in,
“We’d already encountered some bandits out in the wild, sire. I was
able to track down two of our horses. Got them back, though
striped.” He nodded towards the drays, “Thought you all might be
them with the rest of our gear.”

Kees looked skeptical. Goshen didn’t miss a
beat, “The Eder Chapel sent me to act as an observer in the
legion.” He gestured to Declan, “My squire here and two nursing
alms round out my company.”

“
Where are these
alms?”

“
Just beyond,” Goshen
nodded in a vague direction, “We were hoping to get back as many of
our provisions as possible before we entered the legion’s
encampment.” There was quiet as Kees mulled over their
story.

“
Reeves,” Kees called out
and the soldier appeared, “You can untie these men, they’ll be
riding with us.” Reeves moved to unbind Declan, “No, this one
first. He’s a Cathedral crusader.”

“
Thank you…” Goshen turned
to allow Reeves to untie him.

“
Leftenant Teran Kees, my
men and I are charged with acquiring supplies from the surrounding
countryside for as long as the legion is camped in the
region.”

“
Thank you, leftenant
Kees.” Goshen looked after Reeves as he unbound Declan, “We’ll need
our arms returned.”

“
Aye, and the horses.”
Declan added.

Kees began to turn his stead away, “You
shall as soon as you lead us to your camp, which you’ll do once
we’re finished here.”

Reeves slapped Declan on the upper arm and
bowed slightly to Goshen, then went back to the group near the
oxcart. Rubbing his wrists, Declan moved closer to Goshen then
cuffed him with the back of his hand.

“
What were you thinking?”
He growled.

“
Watch it with that,”
Goshen pointed a figure in Declan’s face, “They all think you’re my
squire.”

Declan gnashed his teeth, “Now we’re gonna
lead them right to Kira and Fery and then all be herded into this
army’s camp. None of this sounds good.”

“
What else could we do?”
Goshen asked. Declan just shook his head. “Besides, we need to find
out what the hell is going on with this army. And didn’t you say
your contract was with the Spires?”

“
What does that
matter?”

“
Maybe things have
changed. Maybe your employers…”

Declan waved him off, “I don’t need to hear
your speculation.”

“
Point is, we can find out
more in the midst of the Silvincians. Besides, we can fight our way
out of this one.”

“
Fight our way out of an
army camp?” Declan stared at Goshen as though he were mad. “And if
they find out who you really are? Or Kira? Or that we’re
responsible for killing a cadre of Silvincian marines?”

“
What do you want me to
say?” Goshen snapped.

“
Sorry,” Declan sighed,
“I’m just uneasy being this close to these people. I’ve done a lot
of…”

Goshen raised his hand to silence Declan as
Reeves approached them with their weapons in one hand and a rope
pulling their horses behind him.

“
Here you are,” Reeves
handed the horse rope to Declan, but kept the blades. He turned to
Goshen, “My apologies master Ambrose. You both’ll want to mount up,
we’re heading out directly.”

Declan nodded towards his weapons but Reeves
just shook his head. Kees trotted up, “Lead the way to your camp,
squire, so we can secure the alms.”

“
Certainly so, sire.”
Declan climbed on one of the drays and for once Goshen didn’t
embarrass himself doing the same.

“
Lead the way,” Goshen
commanded as he rode up next to Kees. Declan’s face got cloudy with
annoyance but he obeyed as he and Goshen lead Kees, Arcite, and a
new mounted Reeves towards the camp where Kira and Fery awaited
unsuspecting. The rest of the troop loaded themselves into the
oxcart and made their way along the rutted road in the opposite
direction.

“
Be there less than an
hour.” Goshen said.

“
Let’s try to be a bit
quicker about it.” Kees said assertively. “Be mindful, Arcite,
apparently there are thieves about.” Goshen and Declan exchanged a
quick anxious glance as Kees tone sounded more than a bit suspect.
They rode off in silence perpendicular to the rutted road and into
the far woods.

Spires Army

Matis was slouched over the map table. His
head listed to one side resting on his arm as his free hand played
absent-mindedly with the figurines littering the map. He was
flanked by his two lieutenants, who were exchanging weary glances
as their Grand General languished over the map.

“
So, as you can see sir,
we’ll need to continue to allow our forces to build for at least
another fortnight.” Evness spoke without emotion, he was an older
man and long experienced with the small military the Spires kept.
He had been little more than a boy, a toy soldier they called those
like himself, when the last war had happened. Not really even a
war, Carlisle’s Campaign was merely a series of skirmishes though
it had set the northern boundaries of Silvincia, Novosy, and
Cassubia. It had been ages since Evness had been in the forests
around Midhalm.

Matis flicked a soldier figurine across the
map, and then rolled his eyes, “I’ve waited long enough. Do we have
enough troops to do what must be done?”

“
Well, general, though we
have…” Vikram was roughly Matis’s age and had been part of the
general’s inner circle back in Ardavass.

“
Do we,” Matis growled,
“have enough?”

“
We have as many troops
here now as we have at The Blockade.” Evness broke in.

“
And that was enough to
choke Rikonen to death.” Matis said satisfied, “So we certainly
have enough troops to take Heveonen, especially once we get our
crusaders.”

Evness nodded but looked unconvinced,
“Perhaps but that assumes…”

“
That The Cathedral will
obey.” Matis smirked and whispered, “I’ll make sure it
obeys.”

Vikram walked around the table to pick up
the figurine Matis had flicked. He held it gingerly, and then
placed it firmly in front of the general’s still lounging face.
Matis shot a sharp look at him and raised himself up.

“
We can’t depend on those
men; we need to wait for the Novosar reinforcements that we know
for certain are coming.” Vikram was adamant.

“
River pirates, cheese
mongers, and sad fat sausage eaters.” Matis grumbled.

“
When I fought the
Novosar, they were hardly the sort to brush off. These will be good
troops.” Evness nodded at Vikram.

“
Why are these fools
taking so long to assemble, then?”

“
The Novosar don’t have a
standing army, they have vol…”

Matis waved Vikram off, “I know what they
are. I know they can’t afford to not send the soldiers we’ve
‘requested.’”

“
The sensible move is to
wait, general.” Evness felt the discussion was in danger of veering
off from the task.

“
Waiting will only allow
Heveonen to fortify itself. We need to advance,” Matis sat up and
drilled his finger into the map.

Both Evness and Vikram said nothing but
their faces betrayed their lack of enthusiasm. Seeing their
reaction, Matis stood up with such force that his chair fell back
on the ground and in a sweeping gesture cleared the map of all the
figurines. He took off one of his bracers and slapped it down
violently in the center of the map.

“
I will have my will
done.” Matis tried to sound assertive but it couldn’t help but come
across as brattish. He pointed at Vikram, “You will begin
mobilizing our forces, we are moving tomorrow morning. And you,
Evness, will stay here with your coterie and follow behind once the
rest of the Novosar arrive.”

Just then, a messenger entered the pavilion,
“Grand General Matis, the Kyrios demand a word.”

“
Oh, for fuckssake,” Matis
turned away throwing his hands up in the air. Vikram reached over
and righted the general’s chair, and almost immediately, Matis
flung himself down into it. He waved the messenger on.

“
Kyrio Tobin, Mikkel, and
Ewan.” The messenger said in a slightly louder voice as he pulled
the canvas back to allow the three lords to enter.

“
My lords,” Matis flipped
his wrist in an exaggerated manner welcoming the three.

Ewan was a short woman who insisted on
keeping her cloak tied closely around her and her hood up. Though
her face wasn’t obscured, Matis was rather certain he had never
seen her hair. Just her stern, pale and freckled face.

Mikkel was perhaps the fattest man Matis had
ever know. In Ardavass, he was routinely the butt of more than a
few jokes said openly by Matis’s circle. The man had no real power
and was content to lounge on his clan’s various pleasure barges in
the Spires’s sister city of Elixem.

Tobin, however, had been more than irksome.
He needled Matis nearly every day, reminding him of exactly the
scope of his charge from the Kyria. Though soft looking and
unassuming, Matis always got the impression that Tobin had an iron
core. The two had been at odds back at Ardavass and out here in the
field was no different. Almost certainly, Tobin was sending reports
to that duplicitous bounder Tamas.

Every time he saw Tobin, Matis felt his
blood begin to burn as he remembered how Tamas had shamed him into
taking charge of the Silvincian army. He was made Grand General of
all Silvincian Force, but the praise of those in their assemblage
that day had flowed to Tamas.

“
Thank you for seeing us,
Grand General.” Mikkel’s greasy lips spoke softly and ended in a
toadying smile.

“
You know I always welcome
those our fellow Kryios decided to have my army and constantly
second-guess my decisions.” Matis gave a creepy, all tooth
smile.

“
Today you have a reprieve
from that,” Mikkel said apologetically.

“
If, indeed, that was ever
the case.” Tobin spoke flatly, as he came forward.

“
Certainly feels that way.
I don’t know if any other Grand General has ever had to endure such
henpecking while in the field.” Matis adjusted his posture; he was
going to put Tobin in his place this morning.

Tobin approached the map. His gaze never
found Matias as he scanned the map and took note of the thrown
figurines, “I would defer to our historian, Kyrio Ewan, on that but
I doubt she would care to comment on your obvious discomfort.”

“
Be on with it, Tobin, my
seconds and I haven’t too much time to waste,” Tobin continued to
avoid looking at Matis and instead set an empty gaze on Evness and
then Vikram, “as we are mobilizing this day to begin our trek come
next morning.” With that bit of information, Tobin did finally look
Matis in the face. Matis returned a contemptuous grin, “So you will
need to be going soon to prepare yourself for travel.”

“
I am quite certain that
we hardly have all our Novosy allies rallied.” Mikkel broke
in.