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Back to the previous chapter: Falls
First Draft
The sky was already turning blue. Some of the upper stories of taller buildings were already bathed in the brilliant light of the sun, but the smaller buildings and the streets were still in shadow. The bustle of a city waking was already gaining momentum as the last vestiges of night were chased from the sky above.
Breanna walked into the dining room of Kasey's house. She was confused -- Adria was not in her room, and Adria's packs were gone. Breanna had searched the house, thinking the younger noblewoman had moved things downstairs in preparation for leaving, but Adria's gear was nowhere to be found. Breanna had considered running out behind the house to the stables to see if Adria was there, but Breanna had not bundled up yet, and her riding dress was too light to wear by itself in this weather.
The servants had not yet set the table, but there was a sheet of paper on it. Breanna leaned closer to look at it when she recognized Adria's flowing script. The noble picked up the paper and read the note.
Meet you in Armagh. Gone on honeymoon. Don't worry, I won't kill him.
Adria
(Rishala - pawn to eighth rank)
What?!? Breanna thought to herself. I knew I shouldn't have agreed to let her come home so soon! Adria had convinced Breanna to let her return to Kasey's house last night, even though the staff of the Church's hospital wanted to keep her over night. Adria had resorted to everything short of whining about boredom before Breanna finally gave up and agreed to sign release papers. Adria was still weak, and ravenously hungry, but she was in better spirits than Breanna could ever remember. By the time the two women had reached Kasey's house, the evening meal was over. Still, there were enough leftovers that Adria was able to sit down to a meal that rivaled that of either of the knights. That she did not make herself sick eating that much still surprised Breanna.
Now Adria had left with Bilbus for her belated honeymoon.
"Kuso!" Breanna shouted, as angry with herself as she was with Adria.
Eric entered the dining room. "What's the matter, Bree?" he asked before he took a seat.
Breanna thrust the paper at Eric. The explorer quickly looked at the note. "They'll be fine," he said as he gave the paper back to her.
"But, but," Breanna protested. "She's still weak, and she needs someone to watch over her for a few days to make sure she's okay!"
"Bilbus will watch her," Eric said.
The rest of the party arrived in the dining room. Breanna passed the note around to each of them, trying to drum support to go chase Bilbus and Adria and prevent them from leaving on their own. No one agreed to go with her, so she settled into a chair next to Eric for breakfast.
After the warm meal, the party rode down to the docks on the River Llwelyn. Some distance up the coast from the main docks was the barge that Eric had hired to carry the party up the river.
Eric paid the owner of the barge, and, after the party helped load their horses, the barge started up the river, drawn by teams of oxen on the shore.
Bilbus and Adria spent the day riding along the Via Avillonia towards Armagh. Bilbus had insisted on stopping to get a tent and some warm sleeping furs, and Adria stopped by a jewelry shop to purchase back the necklace Bilbus had given her long ago that she had to pawn to pay the Company of Unusual Headgear.
The ride out of Londoun was easy going, and the two spent time talking, trying to understand their relationship. They spent some time in silence, watching a barge being pulled up river by oxen. It was far enough away that the passengers could not see the two riders very well, but Bilbus used his spy glass to identify his companions on the barge.
Late in the afternoon, as the sun was disappearing in a cluster of trees to the west, Bilbus and Adria rode past a small cluster of inns. He and his fellow travelers had never bothered staying at any of the inns in the past during their trips between Londoun and Armagh, and Bilbus really did not want to stop this evening, either. If he and Adria kept their pace up, they would be able to get to Armagh the same day the barge arrived. Besides, Bilbus had plenty of furs to keep the interior of the tent warm.
It was late that night, long after the small fire Adria had lit had burned out, that Bilbus awoke suddenly. Adria's breathing was shallow and quiet, and he could feel the bedding they were sharing heave slowly as she breathed. Bilbus slowly opened his eyes, only to realize that it was too dark to see anything in the tent.
The touch of cold steel to his throat was enough to cause him to gasp. He stopped himself from sitting upright when he realized that the steel was a sharp blade.
The person holding the blade knew he was awake. The voice was familiar as it spoke quietly. "Good, Bilbus. Don't sit up too quickly. I would hate to kill you too soon." The breath reminded Bilbus of milk two days soured.
"Hello, Neurth," Bilbus said, keeping his voice low as well. "Nice hat." Bilbus could not see the hat, but he knew Neurth and the rest of the Company of Unusual Headgear had to be wearing hats.
"Huh? Oh, ha-ha, Bilbus." Neurth snorted to himself. "Our latest employer insisted that we don't wear hats on our current contract. We had to revise our charter for her."
"Oh, I am so sorry," Bilbus replied, as unconvincingly as he could. "Are your friends out there?" The quiet crunch of snow outside the tent answered the question before Neurth could. "What do you want, Neurth? I'm trying to sleep, here."
"Actually, Bilbus, I'm here to talk to your wife. We have unfinished business with her. Wake her up, carefully, so we can talk."
Bilbus had heard Adria's breathing change slightly. She was already awake, but Neurth did not realize it. Bilbus tapped Adria's midsection with one hand while he called her name softly. After several tries, Adria responded.
"What?" she said, sounding irritated.
"Adria, dear, we have a visitor who would like to talk to you. You remember Neurth?"
Adria sniffed loudly. "I thought I recognized that smell." Neurth growled. "What do you want?" Adria asked.
"Step outside, m'Lady," Neurth said. "We need to talk."
Neurth backed slowly away from the tent. Adria got out of the fur bedding, immediately irritated that she was unarmed. The daggers she usually slept with had gotten in the way earlier in the evening when she and Bilbus had gotten amorous, and she had fallen asleep without putting them back in place. She pulled her boots on and stepped out into the cold, immediately regretting not wearing anything heavier than a light wool shift.
In the starlight outside, she could barely make out Neurth's figure in front of her ten paces. Movement to her left marked two other figures, and the soft crunching over her right shoulder marked where the fourth member of the Company of Unusual Headgear stood. Adria folded her arms under her breasts, trying to hold in what heat she could in the frigid air.
"What's the matter? Afraid I would muddle Sassy's mind again?" Silence answered her. "Okay, Neurth. What do you want?" The irritation helped warm her, but not enough.
"You know what we want. You hired us to go to Portsdale. We did. And we waited, and waited, and waited. You never showed up."
"I told you we would be along later."
"Well, we waited for you, and we want paid. We've decided that you were not serious about hiring us, so we have come for Bilbus. We'll take him to your father and collect our salaries."
"Good luck," Adria said. "My father is dead."
"Sure he is..."
Adria interrupted Neurth. "I killed him myself in an honor duel when I was in Portsdale just two weeks ago. Your contract with him is void."
Adria heard the rustling of paper ahead of her. She felt more than saw Neurth walk up to her. He was holding something pale in an arm held towards her. "Your husband is still a wanted man. Two gold Crowns if he is delivered to the Dales Council."
Adria took the notice and tore it apart, dropping the scraps of paper as she did. "The price on his head was voided, as well. Baron del Bartholo is now allied with the del Cartach family."
"We waited in the warehouse for you..."
"Why didn't you keep waiting?" Adria snapped.
"Well, we... Some of Lord del Quintin's staff found us in the warehouse. Lord del Quintin was angry, and we could not tell him that we worked for you, so we went back to Londoun."
"Incompetent fools," Adria muttered loudly. The cold was really starting to bother her, and her arms were getting numb.
"So we set up surveillance to find your husband, and we did this morning."
A thought occurred to Adria. "You were waiting in his old apartment?"
One of the Company groaned. Adria grinned to herself. "I can not believe I paid you as highly as I did. Your Company of Unusual Headgear is easily the most incompetent lot I have ever seen. I do not understand how my father could have ever hired you in the first place!"
Neurth started to interrupt, but Adria talked right over him. "You have taken my money, then ignored my orders to wait for me -- and you were stupid enough to get caught by my father, who was afraid to even leave his own home. Now you have the audacity to interrupt my sleep to kidnap my husband to take back to my dead father so you can collect a reward on a voided bounty!" The Company was shifting uncomfortably, judging from the creaks of the snow ahead of her, to one side, and behind her. Adria lowered her voice menacingly. "I will allow you to keep the coins I have paid you, even though you have failed to complete the obligations of our contract, but only if you leave immediately and never bother me again. Do you think you understand that condition?"
"Ye... Yes," Neurth stammered uncomfortably.
"What are you doing standing there, then?" Adria asked, her voice rising in anger.
Adria heard all four members of the thieving company move quickly towards some unseen horses. They quickly departed, the dull thumps of the horses' feet quickly fading in the tranquil night.
Adria dived into the tent, quickly pulling her boots off and wiggling into the thick furs of the sleeping mat. Bilbus was laughing loudly.
"What?" she asked, annoyed.
"You handled them well enough. I don't think I've seen any of them move that fast before."
"Gods, I'm cold," Adria muttered through clattering teeth.
Bilbus leaned close to her, feeling the chill of her shift. "I can think of a way to get you warm again..."
Adria snorted. "Aren't you the one who was whining about being cold and tired and miserable the entire time we were putting this tent up?"
"I'm not cold, now," he replied.
Adria couldn't see the smirk on his face, but she heard it in his voice. She reached towards him, wrapping her arms around him and touching the middle of his back with her freezing hands. Bilbus yelped and jumped away.
"Okay, maybe I am cold." He leaned closer to her again, cautiously. "But we would warm up quickly..."
The barge had continued through the night, changing teams of oxen every couple of hours. It arrived in Armagh late in the afternoon the day after leaving Londoun.
Eric and Breanna had watched the town approach with mixed feelings. Both were happy to be home once more, but Breanna was fretting over her father's reaction to her deciding for herself who she would marry. Eric was outwardly far calmer than his fiancee, but he still wore a worried frown as he spotted his home town.
"There are tents north of town," he observed.
As the barge got closer, Eric noticed that many of the tents had been there for a week or more. Signs of housekeeping were visible throughout the haphazard tent city on the outskirts of Armagh.
Eric had the barge master put to shore. He and his fellow travelers disembarked. Eric led his horse through the camp, looking at the people. Most of them looked exhausted and cold, and many huddled around large fires burning in pits. From the style of the clothing and the accent of the speakers, Eric decided the people were Londounites.
Near the middle of the tent city was a larger tent that had the Ithell crest on it. The flaps were open, and through them Eric saw bags of grain and other essentials for distribution. Concerned, he continued through the tent city.
Sturm had stopped to talk with some refugees at one of the fires. The Sun Knight was very blunt with his question. "What are you doing here?"
One of the refugees answered. "We had to get out of Londoun. Orcs are marching on the city, and it is going to be burned to the ground!"
"When was this?" Sturm asked.
The person looked at one of the other men standing by the fire, then looked back at Sturm. "Two weeks, now. They were marching from Camelough. They fought off the Sun Knights and the Church Knights, and they are going to destroy Londoun. We had to leave."
"It takes four days to walk to Londoun from Camelough. If the orcs were marching on the city when you left, they should have been through here last week."
One of the other refugees countered, "The knights are fighting them! They can't just walk to Londoun!"
"I see. The knights who the orcs defeated are fighting them so it takes two weeks for them to reach Londoun... See this?" he pointed at the Sun Knight's emblazon on the chest of his armor. "If there were really orcs marching on Londoun, do you think I would be here?"
The refugee shrunk back from the looming Sun Knight. Sturm snorted and walked away from the fire. He joined his comrades on the south end of the camp, just on the edge of the town proper. A patrol of half a dozen city watch passed the party, heading towards the tents.
Breanna was trying to excuse herself from the rest of the party. "Well," she said, "I guess I should go home..."
Eric shook his head. "Don't be silly. You'll stay with us tonight, and go home in the morning."
"But..." she started to protest, trying to find a reason why she could not go to the Ithell manor. She finally shrugged and rode with the party to the Ithell manor house.
At the house, servants quickly took care of the horses as the party went inside. The sun was just setting behind the house, putting the entrance in deep shadows. Within the atrium, as party members peeled outer layers of warm traveling furs, servants arrived with warm spiced cider. Eric removed his riding boots, placing them next to the entrance. A servant took the boots away as another brought furry slippers to the young lord.
Eric thanked the servant and slipped his feet into the slippers with a sigh. He excused himself from his friends and went to his father's offices.
Janus Ithell sat at a table in the office, with ledgers and loose sheets of paper scattered about. He looked haggard and tired.
"Hello, father," Eric said as he sipped from the steaming mug of cider. "How well are the books balancing?"
Janus set down a stylus and looked up at his son, a wan smile on his face. "They were doing well a month ago. Now, with the refugees..."
"I saw them when I arrived. Sturm says they were fleeing an orc army."
"That's what they've said. Most of the wealthier ones have moved into the inns, but there is no room for the rest. Those tents are going to be very cold in the next four weeks." His eyes refocused on his son. "Are there orcs marching for Londoun?"
Eric shook his head. "There were orcs in Camelough. They fled when we approached the city with a few hundred knights. Londoun is in less danger than we are." Eric pulled a chair over to the table, sat down, and started looking at the ledgers. "How much of a shortage is there?"
"Well," Janus answered slowly. "No one will starve, if we ration what we have. I am in negotiations with the governor of Londoun to buy back some of the grain we sold them after the harvest."
"Are they willing to sell?"
"Yes, but they want more than they paid for the grain. I can afford it, but it is going to be difficult. Some unsavory types moved into town with the refugees."
"Oh?" Eric asked, surprised.
Janus nodded. "We have had a few break-ins here, and some muggings at night. I heard rumors that the crime guilds in Londoun had started openly fighting, and I think some of them decided to leave town instead of having to watch themselves. I had to cancel my highway patrols already, and I've hired some additional watchmen." Janus shrugged. "I don't know."
"Father, I might be able to do something to help with the crime family."
"Oh?"
"When Bilbus catches up with us, I'll see what we can do." Eric paused, uncertain how to address his father next. "Father... I, I would like to talk to you about something else. The reason I came up here to talk to you in private."
"What is the matter, son?"
"Well, father, I would like to propose a merger... What I mean is, the Ceiturin family has lots of cattle, and we are traders, and... Bree, Lady Breanna Ceiturin, the family has lots of land." This isn't working. "Father, I want your permission to marry Lady Breanna Ceiturin."
Janus looked his son for a minute. "This is not a business proposition, is it." He was not asking.
Eric shook his head. "No. I have been traveling with her for a few months now, and we realized that we were right for each other. I just wanted your blessing."
Janus looked relieved. "I had worried about who would be an appropriate match, both for the family and for you. I think the Ceiturin family is a good one to ally with. I can not object. Does Lord Ceiturin know?"
"Well, no," Eric admitted. "Bree is not sure how best to tell him."
"Why don't we invite Lord Ceiturin for dinner tomorrow night. We can propose it to him then."
Eric nodded. "Good. I'll have a servant prepare the invitation."
Eric left his father to his books and found his friends already sitting down for dinner in the informal dining room. They had arrived late enough in the day that the servants had not prepared a large, formal meal, so the servants were quickly preparing some additional courses.
Bilbus and Adria reached Armagh late that evening. They rode along the Via Avillonia north of town, looking at the tents scattered haphazardly in the fields. Various fires still burned, casting flickering orange light throughout the tent city.
Bilbus looked at the tents as they rode. "Is there some sort of festival?"
Adria shrugged. She was too tired to talk, and the chill was seeping through the leather of her armored jacket.
The two reached the Ithell house a while later. One of the gate guards took the horses back to the stables while Bilbus pounded on the front door. After a pause, Sturm opened the door. He took one look at the two tired riders and said, "We're not taking any." He shut the door.
Bilbus growled to himself and pounded on the door again. Eric opened it and stepped aside. Bilbus and Adria walked into the warm house. Bilbus peeled his riding gloves off and discarded them on the ground as he rushed across the atrium to a raging fireplace. He sighed contentedly as he thawed.
Bilbus turned around and looked at Eric, who had just closed the front door. "So, Eric. Are you married yet?"
Eric half-smiled. "Actually, we will take care of that tomorrow." He turned towards the stairwell up to the sleeping rooms. "I can have hot baths drawn for you."
Both Bilbus and Adria shouted, "Yes!"
"Good," Eric said. "I can give you about twenty minutes, but we need to talk about some things after that."
Eric led them up to the first room at the top of the stairs. There were two baths in the room, and servants were already pouring hot water from large pitchers. After the baths were filled, Eric shut Bilbus and Adria into the room and went back downstairs.
Breanna had returned to the Ithell manor at last. She left shortly after she had dropped off her travel pack and disappeared into town. She looked tired, but her eyes were alight with excitement.
"Hi, Bree. What have you been doing?"
"Hi, Eric," she grinned. "I went to visit Master Shipley. The poor man. He has been so busy with all the refugees. Many of them have been getting sick with the cold. I was helping him, and I think I'll go back tomorrow to help him some more."
"Good," Eric said, returning her smile. "Bilbus and Adria are here."
"Really? Where?"
Eric pointed back towards the stairs. "They're in the bath right now. They were both cold, so I thought a warm bath would help."
Breanna nodded absently. "I think I need to eat. I just realized that I haven't had anything since we got here."
Eric followed Breanna into the kitchen. While she rummaged through the pantry for something to eat, Eric had a servant prepare some sandwiches.
Eric put most of the sandwiches on a tray. He gave the remainder to Breanna, then carried the tray up to the bath room. He knocked on the door and waited for a moment. From inside, Bilbus shouted, "Go away!"
Eric opened the door and walked in. Bilbus and Adria were in the same tub, which Eric had expected. Adria looked annoyed, and she sunk into the water until her shoulders were covered. Bilbus scowled at Eric for a moment, then noticed the platter. Eric heard the mountebank's stomach growl.
Eric pushed a seat over to the bath and sat on it, pointedly not looking at Adria too closely. He held the platter out partially over the bathwater so both bathers could reach the sandwiches.
"You couldn't wait?" Bilbus asked as he stuffed one of the sandwiches into his mouth.
"I said twenty minutes," Eric replied nonchalantly.
"And then you come in here bearing food," Bilbus said as he grabbed another of the sandwiches.
"I need you to do something for me," Eric said.
"Teach you what to do with Breanna?" Bilbus asked flippantly. He winked at Adria.
"What? No!" Eric stammered. "I need to have you find out where the criminals are in town. A crime family fled Londoun, and they've set up shop in town. We've had muggings and burglaries. My father had to pull back some patrols and hire extra watchmen."
"Oh, is that all?" Bilbus said.
"You want more?"
"No. I just wanted to make sure that's all you want me to do. Can it wait?"
"The sooner you find them, the sooner we can get rid of them."
"Fine, fine." Bilbus stuffed the sandwich into his mouth. "We'll get to it after the bath." He pointedly looked at Eric. "Do you mind?"
Eric stood and walked towards the door.
"Hold it!" Bilbus said. "Leave the platter here."
Eric sighed and walked back to the tub. He set the platter on the chair, then left.
After Eric closed the door, Adria giggled.
"What's so funny?" Bilbus asked as he thought of several things himself.
"They have a crime problem in Armagh. It was probably one drunk getting mugged, and they think it's a crime wave."
Bilbus sighed. "Yeah, I know. Well, are you ready to get dressed?"
Adria splashed water at Bilbus. "You first."
Bilbus swept his arm in the water, sending a wave at Adria.
Bilbus and Adria walked along one of Armagh's roads. Bilbus walked briskly, as if he had a destination in mind.
"What are we looking for?" Adria asked.
Bilbus stopped and faced her. "We are looking for obvious signs of a guild moving into town. I want to go by all the inns and see which one they've taken over."
Adria looked at him for a moment. "And how do we know the guild has taken over an inn?"
Bilbus turned and started walking once more. "Easy. We see which one is being guarded by thugs in dark leather armor."
"Of course!" Adria said mockingly. She threw her hands upwards. "We just look for people dressed just like we are."
As if in response, a troop of city watch rounded the corner of a building ahead of them. The man in the lead of the watch looked at Bilbus and Adria, and promptly blocked their passage.
"So," he said gruffly. "Where are you two going, all dressed up like that?"
Bilbus took a step forward and put his fists on his hips. Adria groaned quietly as he said, "My good watchman, we are traveling minstrels from Eiresud!" He emphasized the natural southern accent he had as he spoke. "The lass here dances, and I sing!"
The man glanced at Adria. "It is an odd time of year for visitors from Eiresud, is it not?"
Bilbus kept up his act. "Aye, and it is, good man! We stopped in Arabel Cinlu and had some performances there, and the next thing we knew, the snows were falling on Yeti Pass. And while we were in Arabel Cinlu, look at what I bought!" He pointed at Adria.
The blonde woman scowled at Bilbus. "Ha, ha. Not funny."
Bilbus looked at Adria. "The outfit, Adria." Bilbus looked back at the watchmen. "Allow me to demonstrate." The mountebank started singing Eiresudian bar songs. After a few minutes, he switched to some upbeat Church songs.
When he finished the songs, the watchmen nodded approvingly. "Very well, singer. Welcome to Armagh."
Bilbus flourished and bowed to the watchmen until they had walked past he and Adria. He looked at his feet and kneeled. When he stood again, he held his palm out to Adria. "Not bad! Four bronze Commons!"
"Great, choirboy. Come on. Let's find your guild friends."
The two wandered the streets of Armagh for over two hours, passing all of the taverns, inns, and public houses at least twice. Bilbus groaned as he looked at the front of a nearby inn. "Gods, it's cold out. It's late. We've been walking around in freezing weather, in the dark, after riding all day. I haven't had much sleep, thanks to the Company's visit last night..."
"Well," Adria said. "We can go into the inns. There are big fires in there."
Bilbus walked into the inn and took a seat on one of the stools at the bar. Adria sat next to him and ordered a mug of hot cider. Bilbus looked around the common room to see if anyone was paying attention to the two. He then started signing to Adria, using thieves' sign in exaggerated movements. This town is pathetic. Did you see those guards? We could get rich here. I have heard there is no Guild, too.
Again Bilbus glanced around, ostensibly to make sure no one was watching. No one was. After some additional disparaging remarks, Bilbus decided that no one of interest was in the inn. He and Adria left.
Several doors down was a public house. Bilbus and Adria repeated the same act, ordering drinks while Bilbus signed disparaging remarks. Again, no one paid them attention.
Outside the pub, Adria spotted someone hiding in the alleyway across the street. She started to sneak towards the alleyway until she recognized the armor. "Sturm?"
The Sun Knight stepped out of the dark alley.
"What are you doing?" Adria asked.
"I was trying to learn your sign language."
"It's a lot easier to learn if you have someone to translate it."
Bilbus interrupted. "This is all fine, but I am cold and I do not want to be out here all night. There's another inn over there. Come on. I am tired of playing this game."
Bilbus led the other two into the inn. However, instead of going to the bar to order a drink, Bilbus stopped and scowled at the patrons of the inn. "All right," he yelled. "I am from Londoun, the Hogain Family. Some people tell me that one of the crime cartels decided to sneak out of Londoun before they could pay back some debt that they owe my family! I want to know where they are!"
The room was quiet. Bilbus slowly turned around to look at each and every person in the common room. He heard a noise near the entrance and snapped his head to look towards it. One of the patrons was trying to sneak out.
"There we go," Bilbus muttered to himself. He started walking towards the patron, who spotted him and ran. "Get him, Sturm!" Bilbus shouted as they ran for the door.
Sturm caught the man easily right outside the door. Sturm even managed to keep from spilling a mug of ale a serving woman had brought him.
Bilbus scowled at the man. "Bring him into the alley," he ordered Sturm.
Sturm growled. "Great. I'm with you for a few minutes, and I already stole something." He held a mug up.
Bilbus chuckled. "I have an idea how to get our new friend here to talk. Are you going to be finished with that ale soon?"
Sturm finished the drink and gave the mug to Bilbus.
"Okay, you," Bilbus said to their prisoner. "Strip." Bilbus walked around to the front of the inn. There was a watering trough for horses in front of it that was mostly iced over. Bilbus punched the ice with the mug until it cracked, then dipped the mug into the frigid water.
The man had stripped to his small clothes. He was shivering, and he already looked pale. Bilbus scowled threateningly at the prisoner, then gave the mug to Adria. "Okay. Me and Stormy Fist and ... Blondie have some questions. If I don't like your answer, Blondie pours water on you. If you give me trouble, you find out why the big guy is called 'Stormy Fist'. Understand?"
The man nodded.
"Good. Let's make this as pleasant as possible. Where is the crime family?"
"I ... I don't know!"
Bilbus jutted a fist towards the prisoner, his thumb pointed towards the ground. Adria dumped the mug of ice water on the man's back, then quickly trotted out of the alley to refill it.
"Let's try this question again. Where are they? In an inn? In the tents?"
"I told you, I don't know!"
Adria dumped the water on the snitch again. She paused when she heard the rattle of maille armor in the street. "Psst!" she hissed.
"I know, I know," Bilbus replied. "Okay, you. Get out of here!"
The man grabbed his clothes and stumbled out towards the front entrance of the inn.
Moments after the snitch ran around the corner of the inn, the town watch ran into the alleyway. Six large men in maille armor stood at the end of the alleyway, looking at the three people wearing leather armor.
Bilbus pointed down the alley. "They went that way!"
The guards looked at him uncertainly until the now-dressed snitch poked his head between two of them and pointed at Bilbus and his two cohorts. "That's them!"
Bilbus shouted as the six guards charged. He rushed down the alley, shouting, "Run away! Back to the manor!"
Sturm and Adria followed the mountebank down the alleyway as the six watchmen charged after them, their maille armor ringing and rattling in spite of the furs they wore over the armor.
Bilbus led his two leather-clad friends through the backstreets of Armagh, dodging past watchmen who leaped from side streets to grab at one of them. After an exhausting six minute sprint, he ran past the guards standing at the Ithell manor's gates.
As Adria and Sturm quickly darted into the compound, one of the guards looked at them bemusedly. "Good night, huh?"
The rattle of the city watchmen running up the hill towards the Ithell's gate was getting louder. Adria stopped and pointed at Sturm and Bilbus. "They started it!" She noticed to her left that Rishala was making a snowman in front of the house.
Bilbus was pounding incessantly on the front door of the house. When a servant opened it at long last, the winded mountebank gasped, "Fetch Lord Ithell!" He quickly corrected himself, "Young Lord Ithell! Tell him Lord del Cartach needs his assistance in front of the house!" Bilbus put a hand on the doorframe to support himself as he gasped. The servant disappeared into the house.
Eric was in one of the family's studies, reading an ancient Chinsungese book. He wore his furry slippers and a Karasimian silk robe. He was reclining in a plush chair, idly paging through the old book and looking at various treatises on techniques of warfare. When the servant entered, Eric lowered the book.
The servant bowed. "M'Lord, your guest, the Lord del Cartach, urgently requests an audience with you."
Eric rolled his eyes. He closed the book and set it on a nearby table. "See him in."
"M'Lord, I apologize. The Lord del Cartach requests your presence in front of the house." Shouts drifted down the hallway.
"Very well," Eric sighed. He followed the servant to the front door, which had been thrown open. Bilbus was yelling at several town's watch men who were several paces away, weapons half-drawn.
Eric stepped onto the stone step in front of the door. He saw Rishala working on a large snowman to his right in the yard, with Adria and Sturm very studiously making smaller snowmen. Adria was giggling about something as she placed one of the small snowmen in front of Rishala's larger one.
The watchmen -- who had been shouting -- became quiet when they saw Eric. Eric looked at Bilbus, who was still flush from the run, then looked at the watchmen. "What is going on here?"
"M'Lord," one of the watchmen said as he bowed. "Our apologies for disturbing your evening. We were pursuing these miscreants who assaulted a noble outside an inn. We believe them to be members of the crime family who have been disturbing the town."
"Nonsense. These people are my guests. I asked them to find the criminals." Eric turned to Bilbus. "Assaulted, Bilbus?"
"Well," Bilbus grinned sheepishly, but Eric was unimpressed. "We thought that guy was going to snitch on us. I was trying to flush out the criminals, and he started to sneak out of the inn, so I thought he was going to the family." Eric's expression had not changed. "How was I supposed to know he was a local?"
Rishala stopped working on his snowman. "Idiot," he muttered loudly, then threw a snowball at Bilbus. It hit him squarely in the ear. The mountebank turned to scowl at Rishala.
Eric glared at Rishala, then spoke to the watchmen. "I will take care of them, good men. I thank you for your vigilance, but these people are not the ones we need to find."
The watchmen exchanged glances, then left. As soon as they were out of earshot, Eric turned to Bilbus. "What were you thinking?"
"What?!?" Bilbus answered defensively. "You told me to go find a crime syndicate. I was trying to find it."
"Maybe you weren't the right person to ask."
"How was I supposed to know he was a local? I was asking about criminals and he started to sneak out of the inn!"
Eric just turned around and went back into his parents' house. Rishala finished his snow man at about the same time, and he followed the Azirian into the warm house. Bilbus looked at his two compatriots, who had completed a veritable army of miniature snowmen around Rishala's giant, and shrugged. They went inside to warm up and thaw out.
The following morning, after the party finished a late breakfast, Sturm stopped Eric as the two were leaving.
"Where do I find a courier service in Armagh?" the Sun Knight asked.
Eric thought for a moment, then gave the knight directions. "Why?" he asked afterwards.
"I am sending a note to Sir Richard Atenburg to tell him that I will be at the Sunkeep within the week." The Sun Knight continued into the atrium of the house.
After Sturm left, Eric went back to his father's day office. Since the door was open, he walked in. Bilbus was sitting at Janus's desk, talking with the older Lord Ithell.
Eric stopped in the doorway. "Sorry, father. I did not realize you were busy."
Bilbus waved his friend in. "Not a worry, Eric. I was just asking your dad for some advisors to run my properties until I can get back to Portsdale and settle down."
Eric entered the office and took the last available chair.
Janus looked at some notes he had written as Bilbus had been talking. "You want the advisors to support the Baron del Bartholo. And the advisors should supervise rebuilding the del Cartach household so it can be used as a school?"
Bilbus nodded.
Eric asked the new noble, "A school? Not an orph..."
Bilbus cut the explorer off. "Yes."
"Was there anything else, Lord del Cartach?" Janus asked.
"Well, no. I think that is enough for now, Janus. Thanks again." Bilbus left the office.
Janus put his notes to one side. "He is an odd fellow."
Eric nodded. "He is. He means well."
"You're not here to talk about Bilbus right now, though."
"Well, father, I thought you should know what is going on in the world. We are recently returned from Clemendeev." Eric updated his father on the fall of the dwarven kingdom. He told Janus about the duel Adria fought with her father. Then, he went back to earlier events -- the scouting expedition to Camelough and some of Bilbus's discoveries while he had traveled with orcs. At the end of Eric's recounting, Janus let out a long, slow breath.
"It does look grim, doesn't it, son?"
Eric nodded in agreement. "Yes, it does. We hope that we can learn something in the Academy of Hellenas or the Library of al-Rhayidh. We are sure that the odd scraps of prose we have found are parts of the Shroeganus Balsil, and the Academy has scholars who have studied that prophecy. Perhaps we will be able to learn enough to stop what is happening."
Janus thought for a few moments, staring blankly at his desk. "I hope you can." He looked at his son again. "I have some business I need to attend to. We can talk later."
Eric nodded and took his leave.
It was late that afternoon when the party assembled in the atrium to receive Lord Ceiturin and his son. Sturm had Eric aside, and was talking to him about the rumors he had heard in town. Sturm overheard some people discussing rumors that there was a new leader of the Sun Knights. When Sturm had questioned them further, none of them knew any details.
Adria was keeping the nervous Breanna busy with small talk. Breanna had been practically bubbling over with excitement after having spent the last two afternoons helping her old mentor, Master Shipley, the apothecary of Armagh. "After the last few months, everything I was doing with him seemed so easy. Some of the refugees have taken ill, living in tents, and there were colds and a couple cases of flu. I think I surprised old Master Shipley. I couldn't begin to tell him about all of the things I've learned, and what I've seen, and what I've done..."
Someone knocked on the door. A servant quickly opened the door, holding it wide. The servant announced, "Lord Adair Ceiturin of Armagh and Lord Jamie Ceiturin of Armagh."
Breanna's father stepped into the atrium, followed by his son. Breanna quickly shut up, and her hands jittered with nerves.
Janus stepped forward to greet Breanna's father. "Adair! Good to see you again. And you brought Jamie. I trust everything goes well at the Ceiturin household?" He turned to gesture sweepingly at the party. "I believe you have met my son's companions, some time ago. Jamie has not."
Jamie stepped forward, scowling at Bilbus. Bilbus gulped loudly as he recognized the man he, Sturm, and Adria had questioned the previous night.
Jamie growled, "We've met." He pointed at Bilbus, Sturm, and Adria in turn. "Father, those are the people who attacked me last night outside the inn."
Adair Ceiturin scowled in turn at Bilbus. "Is this how you treat fellow nobles in Portsdale?"
Bilbus paused for only a moment. "Well, yes." Actually, nobles get far worse treatment, he did not add.
Breanna leaned close to Bilbus. "That was you guys? When I ran into him today, he said some people tortured him with ice water." She giggled, too loudly. Jamie glared at Breanna.
"What?" Bilbus said defensively as he spread his arms. He shrugged and replied quietly to Breanna, "We thought he was part of a criminal family."
Janus and Meko Ithell herded everyone from the atrium to the formal dining hall. Adair and Jamie Ceiturin's pillow-seats had small name tags on them, and Bilbus noticed, as he sat next to Jamie, that the two Ceiturin lords had traditional flatware next to their plates instead of the wooden sticks that the rest of the guests had.
"How did they rate forks and spoons?" he protested aloud.
Janus answered, "They requested Kelltic flatware."
Bilbus sighed and drew his dagger to stab at food.
Sturm watched the mountebank spear some strips of steak on his adamantine dagger, then growled, "If you try flipping meat like you did before..." The Sun Knight had no intention of wearing a strip of meat that had been flipped badly.
Bilbus grinned as he looked at Sturm. "It's not your turn..."
As the mountebank cooked some meat in one of the heated metal bowls on the table, he watched Rishala using the chopsticks. The Caledonian was handling the sticks as well as any of the Ithells did, separating meat, picking up rice, and stirring seasoning while exchanging smalltalk with the lords Ceiturin.
"Rishala, have you been practicing?" Bilbus asked.
When Rishala looked at him, puzzled, Bilbus pointed with his dagger at Rishala's sticks. Rishala looked surprised when he looked at his own hand. He reached for a piece of fish on his plate and promptly fumbled the sticks. As the story teller picked up his sticks, he scowled. "Thanks a lot, Bilbus."
At the end of the table, Kasey had resorted to the technique he had used the last time -- using the individual chopsticks to stab pieces, instead of trying to coordinate them.
After a few moments of tense silence, Rishala pulled a silver flask out of the furry carrying pouch in his lap. He opened it and took a sip, then offered the flask to Jamie, who was across the table from the Caledonian. "Here, lad. This'll warm ye up after Bilbus's charms last night."
Jamie took the flask and sniffed experimentally at it. He took a small sip, and his eyes widened like platters. He picked up his tea cup and quickly drank the tea, then poured some of the Caledonian whiskey into the cup. Jamie handed the flask back across the table and sipped again from the cup.
Bilbus watched Jamie for a moment, then excused himself from the table. He returned a minute later carrying a bottle of wine. Eric scowled at Bilbus.
"What? Your dad doesn't collect this wine." Bilbus said to his Azirian friend. To Jamie, Bilbus said, "Try this wine. The taste is different, but it'll make you feel better."
Bilbus opened the bottle, took a draw from it, and gave it to Jamie. Jamie took a sip and coughed. "That is bitter wine!" He looked at the label on the bottle. "Scowling Knight Vineyards? I've never heard of it."
Bilbus smiled. "It's a small vineyard, but the wine is worth it. It may be bitter, but I can guarantee you won't feel a hangover the following morning."
Jamie's eyebrows raised. He took another drink from the bottle. "Really? Why not?"
Sturm answered, "Willow bark."
Jamie looked at the Sun Knight, then looked at the label again. The similarity between Sturm and the knight on the label was striking. "This guy looks like you," Jamie observed.
"It is my vineyard," the Sun Knight replied.
Jamie nodded appreciatively and drank again from the bottle.
After a few more minutes of smalltalk, Adair cleared his throat. "Janus, I was wondering. Why the dinner on such short notice? Is there an occasion I have not heard of?"
Janus looked at his son. "Eric?"
Eric set down his chopsticks and looked at Adair. "Yes, well. Lord Ceiturin, you are a wealthy lord of this town. Your cattle herds have prospered, and you have done well keeping Armagh and her neighbors fed."
Adair nodded, confused by the compliments.
"As you know, the Ithell family has made its wealth and reputation with trade. We have one of the few trade connections with Karasimi in the northern Kelltic lands. The gods have seen it fit for us to prosper, as well. And, well, I think it would be worthy for our families to consider an alliance. After all, individually, our families have done well. Imagine the possibilities if we allied."
Adair considered it for a moment. "Yes, we would be powerful."
Eric continued, "Lord Adair Ceiturin, I would suggest that we should cement the alliance with a wedding, to symbolize the unity of our two families." He paused for a moment, hoping that he did not look as nervous as he felt. "Since I am the only child of my father, it would appear that, for our families to ally by marriage, I would need to marry your daughter, Breanna."
Adair's eyes flashed with excitement for the briefest moment as he realized that the young Lord Ithell had just proposed one of the most advantageous unions Adair could have hoped to see. He quickly covered his excitement, settling his face back to a neutral expression and taking a couple of slow breaths before he replied. "Lord Ithell, Eric and Janus, this is truly a wondrous offer. I must say that I can not think of a reason to refuse this wedding." He lifted a crystal goblet of plum wine. "To the union of the Houses Ceiturin and Ithell!"
Jamie had been sitting quietly through Eric's speech. He leaned close to Bilbus and said, "He wants to marry my sister? Poor sod, he has no idea what he's getting into..."
Bilbus chuckled quietly to himself. "He knows. Those two have been worse than love-starved songbirds for the last several months. The rest of us almost threw them both into the river on the trip from Londoun." Well, if Adria and I had been on the barge, we would have.
Breanna dropped her chopsticks -- she had been unable to keep them under control that evening, for some reason. Maybe because I'm as nervous as a holiday goose? She set her napkin on the table and stood up. "I'm sorry. Please excuse me."
After Breanna left the room, Adria excused herself as well and followed the younger noblewoman out of the manor. Breanna stopped near the army of miniature snowmen that Adria and Sturm had created the previous night, her arms crossed tight in an effort to stave the chill wind.
"Breanna?" Adria asked tentatively.
"I ... I can't believe father said yes," Breanna replied while she stared at a small formation of small snowmen who all carried large sticks and had frowning faces.
Adria walked over to the healer. She grinned as she looked at the formation of "Snow Knights" she had assembled the previous night, then looked at Breanna. "Why are you surprised?"
Breanna snorted to herself. "My father never says yes without a fight."
Adria studied Breanna's face. The Lady Ceiturin was pale, and her hands were shaking. Adria doubted that the cold alone explained Breanna's shaking. "Congratulations, Bree."
Breanna looked at Adria, puzzled.
"You're getting married," Adria said. "To Eric, even."
Breanna scooped some snow and packed it into a ball. She threw it into the darkness.
"Aren't you happy?" Adria asked, concerned.
"Yes!" Breanna turned to face Adria. "No!" She shrugged, and her shoulders slumped. "I don't know, Adria. I love Eric more than anyone. I don't want to hate him."
"Hate him? Why would you hate him?"
Breanna looked at the snow at her feet. She lowered her voice. "Look what happened to you and Bilbus. You got married, and you hate each other."
Adria laughed. "I don't hate Bilbus, silly. Besides, you love Eric. You're not going to hate him." She scooped some snow and tossed it at Breanna's feet. "Besides, Eric is much better than Bilbus. Look at their table manners... Bilbus has worse table manners than the Javik." Breanna laughed as she remembered the party's encounter with the northern barbarians. "Do you really need me to list all of Eric's virtues? I would think that you would have noticed them yourself, by now."
Breanna laughed, then shivered. "I wonder if there is any plum wine left?"
"I'm sure there is." Adria stopped to watch her breath fogging as she exhaled. "Come on. I am going to catch a death of a cold if I keep going outside without a wrap or coat." Adria put a hand on Breanna's shoulder and gently nudged her towards the door. The two went back into the warm house.
In the dining room, Bilbus looked across the table at Eric. "Considering we have a long trip south, when are you going to hold the wedding?" Bilbus did not want to elaborate any further on the reasons they were traveling with the Ceiturin family nearby. "Are you going to have a small wedding now, then a big one later for everyone?"
Before Eric could answer, Meko did for him. "No. We will have one wedding, a proper one, on Beltane."
Eric furrowed his brow for a moment. "That is five months from now. There is not enough time for your family to get here."
Meko nodded. "Yes. Five months is not enough time for a proper wedding to be ready, so it will be Beltane of next year."
"Beltane of twenty-forty-six?" Bilbus asked.
Meko nodded. "That is enough time for my family to come here, and for me to get the wedding ready."
"Well," Bilbus said. "Congratulations, Eric. You have a year and a half to change your mind." He smirked as he put his napkin on his plate and excused himself from the dinner table.
The following morning was colder. The sun shined brilliantly down on the white snow, creating a painfully bright glare to the east. The few clouds drifted high, looking like wispy waves far above. No new snow had fallen, but the two or three inches that had fallen earlier in the week were still there.
While the rest of the party ate a breakfast of hot ground oats, Eric rode into town to visit a local glassblower. The rest of the party finished their breakfast and rode into town to meet the explorer.
He came out of the glassblower's shop with an open wooden box. He held the box up to Sturm, who was still astride his warhorse. "Take a set of these. I got some smoked glass lenses to cover our eyes so we won't be blinded by the snow during the ride."
Sturm took one of the sets. It was made of a pair of dark, round lenses held by wire that rested on the nose. Additional hinged metal arms were folded across the lenses. Sturm unfolded them and slid the lenses on over his eyes. The arms rested on the tops of his ears, supporting the assembly. The Sun Knight grunted satisfaction as he looked around.
Eric continued to distribute the smoked glasses to his companions. Bilbus refused -- "I already have a pair" -- but the rest soon were wearing glasses similar to Sturm's.
Eric returned the box to the shop, then climbed onto his horse. He led off down the road, nodding once or twice to townspeople who recognized him. He pulled the fur overcoat a little tighter around him as he turned his horse south down the Via Avillonia towards Merthyr and Llwelyn. He twisted in his saddle to check the tent he had secured on his mount's back behind him, then turned forward to look at the road ahead. The snow had melted off of most of it, but some patches of ice were still visible in the stretches of road that were in shadow.
After a few minutes of riding, Eric called out, "Bilbus? You said something about being in Arabel Cinlu before. What's the town like? I've heard you can buy anything."
Bilbus was a little surprised. Eric hasn't been to Arabel Cinlu? I thought he said he was an explorer. "Uhh, yeah. You can buy anything. And I do mean anything. Arabel Cinlu is a major market town." He chuckled to himself. "The time I was there, I don't really remember everything all that well. I was still in pretty lousy shape after the Guild in Brallian poisoned me."
Bilbus looked around for a moment, looking at some trees several dozen paces away, then continued his narrative. "There is a main road through Arabel Cinlu. This Via we're riding actually goes all the way to Brallian on the Brythomar coast, through Arabel Cinlu. We'll have to go over the Yeti Pass to reach the town. That might be tough. The road crews don't usually keep the pass clear.
"The city is in a mountain valley, with the Via through the middle of it. There are a lot of inns and caravanserai along the main road, and markets and other shops off of the main road. There are some markets that you don't want to go into alone after dark." He laughed again. "There are some you want to avoid during the day, too."
Breanna moaned in distress.
Bilbus looked at her. "Hey, don't worry. All you need to do is get an exit pass when you get to town." He looked at Sturm. "Do you still have yours? You've been through town before." Sturm nodded. "See? But still stay away from the bad markets."
Eric looked at Sturm and Bilbus. "What are 'exit passes'?"
Bilbus unfolded a sheet of parchment and held it out towards Eric. As the Azirian scanned through the writing on the paper, Bilbus explained. "The 'exit pass' allows you to leave town if something bad happens while you're there. Arabel Cinlu is a free city -- it does not belong to Eiresud, and it does not belong to the Kingdom of the Five Crowns. One of the laws in Arabel Cinlu is that you may not leave town if you owe money to anyone else in town. When you stop at a checkpoint on either end of the town, the city watch check to see if you owe money. If you don't, no problem. If you do, you have to work off your debt."
Eric nodded. "Ahhh. And, of course, it takes a long time to make any progress on the debt."
"Exactly," Bilbus said. "So, if you are completely broke, with not even a bronze coin to your name, but you still hold an exit pass, you can leave. The exit pass will entitle you to board one of the Arabel Cinlu coaches and get dropped off either back in the kingdom or in Eiresud. You would be surprised at how many people don't bother with those passes when they reach the city." He paused for a moment. "You would also be surprised at just how good of shape the roads around that city are in. That city has a large public works department."
Eric digested Bilbus's story. "Perhaps we should all get exit passes when we get there."
"Oh," Bilbus added. "If you see any shops or businesses with red lanterns outside, tell me! For that matter, you might just want to avoid going into any shop that has lanterns outside of it."
The party rode on in silence for a few minutes.
The ride to Llwelyn was uneventful. The first night was cold and miserable, spent in a hollow on the north face of a hill as winds picked up. The weather was mercifully warmer for the rest of the ride -- still cold at nights, but not as punishingly so -- but the party was still ecstatic to reach Merthyr late in the morning on the third day of the trip. A hot midday meal cheered all of them, and the riders were in better spirits for the remainder of that day.
After one last night of unpleasant cold, the party spotted the city of Llwelyn about mid-morning. The city was easy to see at a distance -- it was a sprawling city far larger than Armagh, and easily could have rivaled Londoun for sheer size. The rivers Llwelyn and Chuthaim flowed together at the city of Llwelyn. At the point of the land between the two rivers was an enormous castle complex, visible for miles. Behind the castle was the city of Llwelyn proper, and large towns crowded the other shores of both rivers. Even at a distance, the riders could see the majestic, arching bridge of the Via Avillonia that crossed over the River Chuthaim. The haze of thousands of fires hung over the entire city and its surrounding area.
As they got close to the outlying village on the near side of the River Chuthaim, Bilbus looked at the enormous castle across the river, right at the confluence of the rivers. It had tall curtain walls that gave it a commanding view of the rivers, and there were docks on the outer walls. The spit of land that held the castle had been cut from the rest of the town some time in the past, and it now had a moat that cut between the Chuthaim and Llwelyn rivers. Enormous banners with the insignia of the Knights of the Sun flew from all the largest towers of the castle complex.
"So, Sturm," Bilbus began. "Have you ever been to that castle?"
Sturm looked over at it. "I was raised there."
Bilbus chuckled disbelievingly. "Sure, Sturm."
Sturm scowled at the mountebank. "Sir Richard Atenburg, head of the training hall, raised me. I spent my childhood in that castle, learning to be a Knight of the Sun."
Bilbus stopped laughing. "Oh. Well, then."
The party rode through the town and across the large, arching bridge over the Chuthaim. The rise was gentle enough that wagons could cross it, but the center of the bridge was still high over the river flowing below. A lot of traffic used this bridge -- far more than the other, more modern bridges spanning the Chuthaim that the travelers could see to the south.
Sturm led the party through the city proper. After a few turns, they found themselves on a wide avenue that led straight to the gatehouses of the Sunkeep.
"I would advise you to take rooms. We might be here over night," Sturm said. "There is an inn close to the main gatehouse that you may use."
The party reached the inn -- the Sun's Shadow Inn -- minutes later. Most of the party dismounted to get their horses stabled, but Sturm and Eric remained mounted.
Sturm rode towards the Sunkeep, whose looming walls were only a hundred paces away. Eric rode next to the Sun Knight, looking at the gatehouse on the near side of the moat.
Sturm looked at the Azirian in silence.
"I'd like to go with you, Sturm." Eric said. "I want to see the Sunkeep."
Sturm said nothing until the two reached the gatehouse. A pair of young men -- pages, Sturm could tell -- guarded the open portcullis that led to the drawbridge. The two guards approached the riders. One held his hand up to tell the riders to stop, while the other held his spear horizontally, as if it blocked the way.
Sturm stopped. The page in the lead approached the side of Sturm's horse. "Sir Knight, well met! You have good timing. The new Lord High Commander is ready to address the Knights of the Sun." The page then circled around to Eric's horse. "Good day, m'Lord. What business have you with the Knights on this day?"
"I would like to see the Lord High Commander address his troops."
"Milord, I can not let you pass. The address is for the Knights' ears."
"You dare tell a Lord of the Kingdom that he may not pass?" Eric's voice became loud and threatening as he asked the question.
Unfazed, the page replied, "The Order of the Knights of the Sun is not of any kingdom. No king controls us."
Good point, Eric grudgingly admitted to himself. "Well, I am thinking of joining the Sun Knights."
"An admirable choice, milord. It still changes nothing. You may come back in a couple of hours, if you truly wish to join the Order."
Sturm dismounted his horse. He handed the reins to Eric. "Go ahead back to the inn. I will be back after the speech."
Eric nodded and led Sturm's horse back to the inn as the Sun Knight walked through the outer gatehouse of Sunkeep.
Sturm walked across the drawbridge towards the Sunkeep. The enormous castle had been his home for most of his life, ever since he had been left as an infant at the gatehouse. A note in the basket in which he had been placed asked the head trainer to raise Sturm as a Sun Knight. Sir Richard Atenburg had the infnat and raised him as best as he could.
Sir Atenburg was a harsh teacher. He rarely had kind words for the young boy, and he really did not know how to raise a child. Sturm's youth had been a never ending series of drills. Sturm had never felt particular affection for the castle, or Sir Atenburg, but it had been the closest thing in his life to a home and family.
Past the outer curtain walls of the Sunkeep was a large parade ground. It was used for weapons training as well as drill and ceremony. Hundreds of Sun Knights had assembled in the grounds, looking towards a single spacious balcony set in the far wall, above the gatehouse to the inner keep. A couple of men stood on the balcony, conferring with one another.
Sturm walked closer to the back ranks of the assembled knights. He recognized many of the knights, but none had ever really been more than casual acquaintances. Sturm stopped in the back ranks of the knights and looked at the balcony. One of the men had walked forward to the edge of it.
Sturm recognized the knight. Sir Brioc Guyther was one of the senior lieutenants and a strong supporter of the Inquisitor movement within the ranks of the Order of the Knights of the Sun. That he was announcing the new Lord High Commander suggested that the Inquisitor's movement had gained an air of legitimacy in the command structure.
Sir Guyther called out loudly, in his commanding voice, "All salute the Lord High Commander of the Knights of the Sun, Guardian of Camelough, Lord Sir Morys Vauhan!"
Sturm winced inwardly. Sir Vauhan was one of the founders of the Inquisitor movement that had dedicated itself to the eradication of Heka users. The zealotry of some members of the order had long been a point of contention between the various commanders of the order.
Sir Guyther stepped aside as Sir Vauhan stepped forward. Sir Vauhan was of average height, but had the powerful build and grizzled face of a veteran who had spent many a day in the field, pursuing orcs and sleeping under the stars. His face was meticulously clean-shaven, and his hair was cropped very short, looking more like week-old stubble than a normal head of hair. The new Lord High Commander was wearing a breastplate, but he did not wear a full set of armor for this formal address.
"For too long, the Dark One has distracted our Honorable Order with orc raids," Sir Vauhan began. His voice was strong, and Sturm was able to hear him easily over the quiet murmur of the crowd. "He has been permitted to infiltrate the good Kelltic people of Avillonia with a far greater danger -- foul wielders of Heka." A murmur moved through the crowd around Sturm. "No longer will the Sun Knights ignore these concubines and footmen of the Dark One."
Sturm looked around at the crowd as he tuned out Sir Vauhan's speech. A number of the Sun Knights looked concerned as they listened to the new Lord High Commander's vision of the order's mission. Others in the crowd looked openly jubilant, and a handful had a dangerous, predatory sneer.
The speech caught Sturm's attention once more. "Our very order has been infiltrated," Sir Vauhan announced. After an exclamation rippled through the ranks, the Lord High Commander explained: "We have discovered spies in our ranks, people reporting our operations to outsiders. Even our erstwhile allies, the Order of the Knights of Kells, have placed spies within the Sun Knights. I have had these spies arrested. We will educate those who can be saved, and the rest will be permanently removed from the Knights of the Sun." Sir Vauhan paused. "In order to keep future spies from our midst, I have created a new branch within our Order, the Enforcers. The Enforcers shall ensure that we no longer need to worry about dangers from within." Sir Vauhan gestured towards his lieutenant on the balcony. "Sir Guyther is wearing the new uniform of the Enforcers."
Sturm looked at the white tabard over Sir Guyther's armor. The golden sun still filled the center of it, but the 'I' of the Inquisitors insignia on the shoulder had been replaced by a Hellenic column -- it still looked like a stylized 'I' -- with an eye floating over it.
Sir Vauhan continued his speech. "Since it has been quiet on the Middle Ranges for weeks, I have ordered many of our troops to withdraw to the Sunkeep and other holds to reorganize. The orcs have severely bloodied themselves, and they are over extended. They have withdrawn to lick their wounds, and we will take this opportunity to get Enforcers in the field. The sooner we rid our ranks of spies, the sooner a stronger order can bring security to Avillonia."
Sir Vauhan stopped and looked over the assembled knights for a moment, then turned and walked back into his planning room. The knights started to disperse, with some of them heading through the inner gatehouse to the Sunkeep, and others heading towards the outer gatehouse. Sturm spotted a knight in the crowd that he recognized. After slipping past several other knights, Sturm caught up with the knight.
He wracked his memory for the knight's name. "Sir ... Stuyve," Sturm said in greeting. Sir Stuyve stopped and nodded a greeting to Sturm. "I am looking for Sir Atenburg, the head trainer."
Sir Stuyve looked around quickly, then lowered his voice when he answered Sturm. "Sir Atenburg disappeared last week. No one knows where he is, and no one wants to ask. There are rumors that he is being held in Hold Asam..."
Sturm nodded. Hold Asam was a small keep, little more than a mansion and stables surrounded by a low wall, that stood on a low hill several miles from the taller foothills of the Middle Ranges. Sir Stuyve glanced around quickly once more, then moved away into the crowd.
Sturm walked towards the inner keep of the castle. He walked briskly towards the senior officers' quarters, on the far side of the inner grounds, close to the dock gate. Inside the building, there were no knights present. The only traffic Sturm saw were the ever-present pages scurrying about on errands. There must be a senior staff meeting, Sturm decided.
A brass plaque on a door announced Sir Richard Atenburg's room. Sturm tried the door catch. The catch did not move. Sturm reached into a belt pouch and produced an old key, one that Sir Atenburg had given the young Sturm twenty years earlier. The key turned the lock readily, and the latch yielded when Sturm tried again. With a final glance down the hallway, Sturm stepped into Sir Atenburg's room and shut the door behind him.
The room was a total mess. The mattresses on both beds -- Sir Atenburg's and the one Sturm used when he was a boy -- had been cut open and the feather stuffing scattered about. The armoire that held Atenburg's off-duty clothing was open, and a pile of clothes had been discarded in a pile. The two large footlockers on the far wall had been emptied, and the lids and bottoms smashed on both in an effort to find concealed compartments. Sturm kneeled next to the armoire and felt underneath one corner of it for the catch to a hidden compartment. The catch had been broken off, but Sturm was still able to pull the catch. The compartment door popped out, just below the armoire's floorboard. The compartment was empty.
Sturm growled to himself, then shut the compartment. He spent several minutes digging through the discarded clothes in case something was overlooked. Satisfied that there was nothing of interest left in Sir Atenburg's room, Sturm let himself out and locked the door.
The rest of the party was sitting in the common room of the Sun's Shadow Inn when the Lord High Commander's speech ended. A few minutes later, about a dozen Sun Knights entered the common room and ordered drinks. The knights had segregated themselves into two groups with a fair amount of space between them.
Adria and Rishala exchanged glances. Rishala shrugged his shoulders, and they continued to watch the two groups, neither of whom spoke to the other.
The two groups continued to order drinks, and their voices started getting louder. Adria felt the back of her neck tingle as she watched the groups. She could see a fight coming far too soon. The blonde grabbed Breanna's arm and stood up. "Come on," Adria said.
"Huh?" Breanna said, but she stood anyway.
Adria led Breanna towards the stairwell. She had just started up the stairs when someone in the common room threw a mug. The two groups of Sun Knights dived at one another. Breanna let out a yelp and ran past Adria up the stairs.
Rishala had just noticed the tension in the room when the first mug flew. He charged towards the stairs as well. At the foot of the stairs was a bar wench holding a tray with four foaming mugs. Rishala wrapped an arm around her waist and dragged her up the stairs with him. She managed to keep the tray balanced, and even avoided spilling too much of the ale in the mugs.
Bilbus and Eric stood up against the wall of the common room when one of the Sun Knights crashed into their table. Bilbus grabbed his mug of ale from the table just before it collapsed from the impact. Another knight dived across the room, missing the knight on the table but hitting Bilbus instead. Bilbus swung back at the knight, but Eric pulled him towards the door.
When Eric had Bilbus outside the common room, Bilbus looked around, bewildered. "What in the Nine Hells is going on in there?"
Calmly, Eric replied, "Something has happened with the Sun Knights. I think the new commander has done something that some of the knights dislike."
"Huh?" Bilbus said.
"Did you notice the knights were sitting in two groups?"
"Uh-huh." Bilbus nodded slowly.
"Those groups are now fighting. Did you notice that one group had Inquisitor marks on their tabards?"
Bilbus shook his head. He had somehow missed that detail.
"One group did. They're now fighting," Eric said. "I don't know which one the new commander made angry, though."
Bilbus looked around. "Where's Kasey?"
In response, Kasey shouted from inside the common room. The Church Knight was gleefully exchanging punches with Sun Knights -- it did not matter to Kasey who he was fighting. An Inquisitor appeared behind Kasey, but the Church Knight did not notice.
"Kasey!" Bilbus shouted through cupped hands. "Punch that Inquisitor behind you!"
Kasey did not hear the mountebank, but the Inquisitor did. The Inquisitor charged for the door. Bilbus set his mug of ale on the cobblestones next to his feet and doubled his hands into fists. The drunk Inquisitor started a wild punch at Bilbus, but Bilbus stepped close and planted his fist solidly on the Inquisitor's chin. The Inquisitor crumpled, unconscious.
A noise coming from the Sunkeep's gatehouse caught Bilbus and Eric's attentions. A group of a dozen knights rushed down the road towards the Sun's Shadow Inn. All of the knights wore a bright red armband. The knights rushed into the inn, and the fight quickly stopped. Kasey sneaked out of the inn, unnoticed, since he did not wear any Sun Knight markings.
As the Knights' Police dragged combatants from the inn and lined them up in formation, Sturm arrived. He stood next to Kasey and watched the police march the fighters back to the Sunkeep. Kasey was bubbling with excitement about the bar fight, which had been the most excitement that he had had for weeks.
Sturm snorted. "Idiots. They're going to have a bad night."
"Why?" Eric asked.
"The Knights' Police are members of the training cadre. Anyone caught in a barfight like this is going to be drilled until about Latins, so they'll get three hours of sleep before turn-out in the morning."
"Well, the fight's over. I think we can go back in," Eric said as he started for the door.
Kasey looked about, moping. "Maybe some more knights will come out later? That fight was fun..."
Inside the now messy common room, Sturm looked at the broken furniture. He snorted, then said, "We should go upstairs to one of our rooms to talk."
He led the other three up the stairs. As he passed Rishala's room, he heard a woman giggling from behind the door. He stopped and looked at the door, one eyebrow lifted.
Bilbus chuckled. "Rishala grabbed the bar maid and a platter of mugs. I think he's going to be busy for a while."
Sturm nodded to himself and continued down the hallway. He entered the next room.
Once the other three were in the room with him, he told them about Sir Vauhan's speech. Bilbus's expression noticeably darkened as Sturm told them about the new pro-Inquisitor policies of the Sun Knights. Eric shook his head slowly. Kasey looked perplexed, but he said nothing.
After describing the speech, Sturm added, "Sir Richard Atenburg is being held in Hold Asam, about a day and a half south of here."
"Who is he?" Eric asked.
Sturm looked at the Azirian. "He is the head of the training branch at Sunkeep." He paused for a moment. "He also raised me."
Eric nodded for a moment. "Why would the Sun Knights hold him?"
"Because he is against the Inquisitor movement. Since he is in charge of training all the knights, he has a lot of control over what is taught. Some other knights are missing, too. The people who could cause the most trouble for the new commander have been rounded up and sent to Hold Asam."
"Hmmm," Eric said as he thought. "We should free them. If they are that dangerous to this Sir Vauhan, they might be able to topple him."
"Exactly my thought," Sturm agreed. "If we free them, and they keep Hold Asam under their control, then they may be able to recruit enough resistance from the prisoners brought to them. Getting in may be a challenge."
"Why?"
"Hold Asam is small, but it is walled, and there are no avenues of approach that the guards can't see. We just have to figure out how to get in."
"Why don't we ask nicely?" Kasey offered.
Sturm ignored the Church Knight. He thought for a few moments, then said, "I have an idea. I will need to go back to the Sunkeep to get some equipment."
The Sun Knight left the other three in the room.
Sturm walked through the castle, heading towards the quartermaster's building. On the way, he spotted Sir Gittoes, the commander of Hold Londoun. Sturm quickly intercepted his commander.
"Sturm!" Sir Gittoes said in surprise.
"Sir Gittoes," Sturm replied in greeting. "What do you think of the new Lord High Commander?"
Sir Gittoes glanced around. He lowered his voice. "He was not my first choice. But, the other candidate -- do you remember Sir Alweth? -- was discredited the day before the elections."
"Discredited? How was he discredited?"
"It was reported that he was fornicating with some of the younger women pages... When some pages stepped forward to accuse him, he was stripped of knighthood and expelled. Sir Vauhan was the only candidate we could elect." Sir Gittoes glanced around again. "Sturm, you need to watch yourself around here. Everyone knows you were close to Atenburg. The Enforcers want to have a word or two with you."
Sturm nodded. "I will." He walked away from Sir Gittoes.
Sturm walked into the quartermaster's building. Several pages stood idly in the front of the building, waiting for orders. The aged master sergeant of supply sat at a desk, barely awake.
"Master Sergeant Finnbane!" Sturm called.
"Eh?" the old man said.
Sturm got closer to Master Sergeant Finnbane. "Hello! How are you?"
The man recognized the Sun Knight. "Oh, Sturm! I didn't see you come in... What do you need?"
"I need to restock. I've spent a lot of time on the road."
"Oh, oh, go on ahead. You still know your way around the warehouse?"
Sturm nodded and walked down an aisle of supplies, looking for several items he thought would help with the rescue of Sir Atenburg.
Sturm dropped the large canvas bag on the floor of the room in the inn. The rest of the party had gathered in it to go see what Sturm had brought. The Sun Knight opened the bag and emptied it, adding the dozen new arrows and a pair of daggers to his personal equipment.
He picked up one of the several tabards on the floor. "I have enough of these for all of us. I need Kasey to sew Inquisitor patches onto each of them."
Kasey picked up one of the tabards, then found the patches in the pile. "Okay! This shouldn't take long."
Sturm dropped the tabard and picked up a boot. "I also got appropriate boots for everyone. We should be able to get into Hold Asam disguised as Inquisitors."
The party picked out boots and started test fitting them. The sun was already below the horizon, and the light from a lantern helped the street lanterns outside to light the room.
Back to the previous chapter: Falls
Continue to the next chapter: Heretics
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Original Draft 21 December 2001
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