13 Day War (44 page)

“It is the boots,” announced Alex. “Have the guards bring Prince Oscar here.”

Tanya nodded as she gently lowered the Sword of Heavens to the floor. She walked towards the door before releasing her hold on it. The door burst open, and the queen stared at twenty Red Swords with their swords drawn.

“Summon Prince Oscar immediately,” demanded the queen, “and admit no one else.”

The guards peered past the queen and saw the king sitting on the edge of the desk. One of them ran off to get the prince, but the others stood unmoving, waiting for the king’s personal dismissal.

“Close the door,” commanded the king with a dismissive wave, “and send the others back to their posts.”

The guards sheathed their swords and hesitated only briefly before complying with the king’s orders. Tanya turned away from the door and walked to Balamor. She took one of the boots from the gaunt mage and examined it closely.

“Are we sure it is the boots?” she asked with hesitancy.

Alex pulled his sword and handed it to the king. He then took the boots from Balamor and Tanya and moved to a chair to remove his own boots.

“Do what you must to restrain me,” Alex said to his daughter. “I want to feel this effect for myself.”

Alex pulled the king’s boots on. At first he felt no different than before. He was ready to dismiss his hunch when he suddenly felt a tightening of his jaw. His hands clenched into fists and his whole body began to stiffen. He quickly tore the boots off.

“You are sweating,” remarked the king.

“I cannot imagine a pair of boots so hideous,” Alex responded as he wiped his brow.

“Interesting,” remarked Balamor. “Yet you were able to easily remove them?”

Alex shook his head. “I had to exert great will to remove them. It is as if they knew that I understood their threat.”

Prince Oscar entered the room and hesitated upon entry. He glanced around the room wondering what great urgency required his immediate presence. Prince Midge sat perched on his shoulder.

“Put these boots on,” Alex said as he handed the king’s boots to the prince.

Prince Oscar looked confused, but he trusted the people in the room. Without question he sat and removed his boots. He pulled the king’s boots on and then stood.

“Am I to take the king’s place now?” he asked humorously. “I do not think that I will fool anyone.”

No one responded to the prince’s quip. Within moments, the prince’s face turned dark and he fidgeted nervously.

“Just what game are we playing here?” he snapped. “I have much to do without wasting time on parlor tricks.”

“Take the boots off then,” Alex said with a smile. “Perhaps your help is not needed.”

Prince Oscar sat down and pulled the boots off. He reached for his own boots, but Alex’s voice stayed his hand.

“Put the king’s boots back on.”

Prince Oscar nodded dutifully and put the king’s boots back on. Alex waited for the darkness to reclaim the prince before speaking.

“Those boots are tainted,” announced Alex. “They are what is causing the king’s irritability. Take them off.”

Prince Oscar’s eyes opened wide in fear. “And you made me put them on?” he scowled. “What treachery is this?”

“Take them off, Oscar,” commanded the king.

The prince made no move to remove the boots. Instead he glared at everyone in the room. King Arik slid down off the desk and walked around the prince. When Oscar turned to follow the king’s progress, Alex grabbed Oscar from behind and lifted him off the ground. King Arik grabbed one boot and Balamor grabbed the other. Together they pulled the boots off of the prince. When Alex released Oscar, the prince shook his head as if just awakening from a dream.

“Why didn’t you remove the boots?” asked Queen Tanya.

“I couldn’t,” frowned Prince Oscar. “What evil are they?”

“A very good question,” remarked Balamor. “Where did they come from?”

“A very popular shoemaker,” answered the prince. “He is relatively new to the city, but he already sells more boots than all of the other shoemakers combined. His prices are inexpensive and his work is outstanding. He also does excellent repairs and he does them quickly. Your boots can be dropped off at night and picked up the following morning. Everyone is going to him now.”

“He must have a lot of helpers to handle such a thriving business,” remarked the king.

“He works alone,” frowned Prince Oscar. “I can’t imagine when he sleeps.”

Alex and Tanya glanced at one another.

“Demonkin never sleep,” hissed Alex.

“I think we may have found the last Claw of Alutar,” agreed the queen. “The question now is what his plan might be.”

“Can the plague also be tied to the boots?” asked the king. “If they are, why didn’t I get sick?”

“I believe the boots are tied to the plague,” answered the queen. “Now I understand what is going on in the infirmary. When patients are brought in, we immediately remove their boots when we put them abed. That is why they steadily regain their health, and it is also why I see the same patients over and over again. When we release them from the infirmary, they put their boots back on.”

“And the sickness returns.” Balamor nodded in agreement. “I suspect that the plague is a secondary effect of the boots. One probably has to wear them for some time before developing the sickness. How long did the king wear these boots?”

“Only for a couple of hours,” answered King Arik as he glanced at Prince Midge and Alex. “I am thankful that I have friends who care enough about me to risk my wrath.”

“I am willing to wager that the demonkin seeks to have the king address the citizens,” stated Alex. “That would explain the queasy feeling in my stomach every time the king speaks about going out in public.”

“He could strike down the king without exposing himself,” nodded Tanya. “That would allow him to still strike at the rest of us.”

“I concur,” stated Alex. “At least we now understand the nature of the threat. There is still time to issue new boots to the soldiers of the army and get them on the road towards Miram. The Rangers and the Red Swords desperately need their help.”

“No, Alex,” Prince Oscar said softly, a queer expression on his face. “That is exactly what we must not do. The boots must be replaced without causing a public disturbance. If the men find out that the boots are tainted, they will not be able to remove them. Worse, we will alert the demonkin that we are on to him.”

“You propose to do nothing?” balked Alex. “If it is the demonkin you are worried about, I will go to his shop and slay him.”

“You cannot, my friend,” replied the prince.

“But I can,” Alex said stubbornly. “My sword was blessed by the Mage. It is quite capable of killing a demonkin, Claw of Alutar or otherwise.”

“That may be so,” retorted Prince Oscar, “but you are one of the Mage’s heroes. You are on the demonkin’s list. He will kill you on sight, and your sword will never reach its objective. Let’s not rush into anything here. This is a game that must be played carefully. It is a challenge of deceit and cunning, and that is something that comes naturally to me.”

Colonel Rotti opened his eyes and stared up at the canvas roof above him. It took him a moment to get his bearings, but the unicorn flight from the previous night had been an unforgettable experience. He pulled his boots on and rose to his feet. Out of habit, he grabbed his sword sheath and pulled it on before exiting the tent. The sun was just rising above the horizon, and the colonel wiped the sleep from his eyes. It had been dark when they had arrived, and his first sight of the enemy camp caused his eyes to widen in curiosity. The Lanoirian camp was far larger than the one by the Chi River. In fact, it was almost as large as a Federation camp, but that was not what intrigued the colonel. Massive vats sat at the edge of the camp at varying heights above the ground. A series of bamboo pipes connected the vats to one another, and the pipe out of the lowest and largest vat disappeared over the edge of the cliff. Standing alongside that vat were General Somma, Bin-lu, and Rut-ki. The colonel strode towards them to find out what was going to happen.

Bin-lu smiled and turned towards the colonel when he saw him approaching. “Good morning, Colonel Rotti.”

The Federation colonel’s eyebrows rose at the friendly greeting, but he smiled and nodded in return. “We meet again, Bin-lu, although this time you are not a young fisherman with your blushing bride. I understand that you are a Knight of Alcea.”

“Rut-ki truly is my bride,” smiled Bin-lu, “and she is also a Knight of Alcea. As for being a poor fisherman from the city of Barouk, the story is true, although I always thought that I was ill-suited to fishing. Are you trying to point out the disingenuousness of our last meeting, Colonel?”

The emphasis of Bin-lu’s words were centered on the rank of the Federation officer, and Rotti actually blushed with embarrassment. He and Colonel Kerk had portrayed themselves as Cordonians on their spying mission the previous fall.

“Fair point, Bin-lu,” conceded the colonel. “What are all of these vats for?”

“I will let General Somma explain it to you,” Bin-lu replied. “I need to check on the progress of Team Elmor.”

Colonel Rotti watched as the young Lanoirian leaped onto the back of beautiful unicorn which immediately took to the air. He shook his head in wonder as he watched the magnificent creature fly away. He chuckled inwardly at the stark contrast between Bin-lu and the unicorn and the young fisherman and the nag of a horse he had met in the fall.

“It is odd to hear Bin-lu speak so casually about checking on Team Elmor,” commented General Somma. “We Zarans thought we were being so clever with our secrecy, but you Alceans knew about this invasion even before the Federation generals did. Someday I would like to hear the whole story about how this all came to pass.”

“May our futures allow that to happen,” Rut-ki said softly. “If you will excuse me, I have some tasks that require my attention. I will return when I can.”

Rut-ki walked away, leaving the two Federation officers alone on the edge of the cliff. Colonel Rotti walked right up to the edge and peered at the road far below. It was a thin ribbon of hard-packed clay wedged between the sea and the bottom of the cliff, and it extended northwest as far as the eye could see.

“Impressive, isn’t it?” asked the general. “The Lanoirians call this place Hun-lo Heights, and it is where Generals Ruppert and Hanold will be met by their betters.”

“Their betters?” echoed the colonel. “What do you mean? What is going to happen?”

“The vats contain highly-flammable oil,” explained General Somma. “The pipe will carry that oil down to the road and spread it out upon its surface. Once ignited, the entire road will become a blazing inferno.”

“An inferno?” gasped the colonel. “I thought these Alceans were trying to save the lives of the Federation soldiers, not roast them. I will not be a party to such a massacre.”

General Somma frowned at his subordinate. “You still have not learned to trust these people, Rotti. Everything they say and do is in earnest. That is very much unlike anything we Zarans are used to, but I expected more from you. If you were an Alcean colonel, and the Federation had captured you, what condition would you be in right now?”

“Dead,” Colonel Rotti answered without hesitation. “Or held captive awaiting torture,” he added after a moment of thought. “I understand that I am lucky to be alive, General, but I would rather be dead than to watch a senseless slaughter. I thought we were here to aid in a surrender.”

“We are, Rotti,” the general said soothingly. “We are. Look at the waterline alongside the road. If you look closely you will see that a shelf runs alongside the road. According to Bin-lu, the road used to be twice as wide, but the outer half sunk over time. The soldiers will be able to flee the flames by jumping into the sea, but they will have nowhere to go. It is shallow enough that the men will not drown, but it is also narrow enough that they will have no room to maneuver. Lanoirian soldiers will block both ends of the road, and they will be demanding a surrender. It will be up to Generals Ruppert and Hanold to decide the fate of their men, and that is where you and I come in. Our task is to get them to choose life over death.”

“There will be twenty-thousand men on that road,” frowned the colonel. “Can’t they just wait until the flames die out?”

General Somma shook his head. “The vats are large enough to keep the oil flowing for days, but the Alceans will not let that much time go by before attacking on their own.”

“So there is a time limit to their benevolence?” scowled the colonel.

General Somma sighed deeply and shook his head. “I do not know how you can be so stubborn in the face of so much evidence. The Alceans are doing everything they can to save OUR people, and you continue to find faults with their methods. They are risking the lives of their own people by even giving Ruppert and Hanold a single day to decide. I would not be so generous if I were in their position.”

Colonel Rotti frowned in confusion.

“This is day nine of the invasion,” General Somma continued as if explaining something to a child. “That means that Ongchi is another four days march from here, and that is where this Lanoirian army must go next. Have you forgotten that Generals Kolling and Gertz are closing in on Ongchi from the east? The Alceans have not forgotten. The Lanoirians do not have the massive armies that we Zarans have. These soldiers around you will be the very same men pitted against Team Barouk.”

The colonel gasped in understanding. He was so used to dozens of Federation armies that he had forgotten that the Alceans had few troops. The sense of urgency suddenly became all too clear.

“Is there no trap set for Team Barouk?”

“Only delaying tactics,” answered General Somma. “They hope to slow Kolling’s armies down enough to give time for the Lanoirian soldiers to gather. The five-thousand men that met us along the Chi River will be the first to arrive. Their task will be to buy time for the men here to get to Ongchi. It is a risky proposition at best.”

“So the Federation might win after all?” asked Rotti.