Circle of Reign (52 page)

He sat upon his warhorse, though he had never been in battle, nor had any of his men that he knew of; he prayed that would continue at least for today. Master Gernald and a half dozen other hold guards flanked him. The expected protests had come and gone from his master of the hold guard about him being on the front lines with the army, but Hoyt acted as if he had not even heard them. Looking around, he took in the sight of fifty thousand soldiers, cavalry, and siege weapons of all create. Each was arranged into units of various sizes, categorized by swords, axes, spears, and archers. Less than five hundred paces away he spied the three hooded men in their dark robes near the front with Lord Marshal Garreth. Gernald came forward on his horse.

“All is set, Lord Hoyt.”

He nodded to Master Gernald and waited. Calder did not like the course of action he was about to take, but he could not turn the currents now. He saw Lord Marshal Wenthil saunter over to Garreth and knew the time had come. In a flash, the three hooded men turned and tackled Garreth and pinned him to the ground. The man screamed as three short blades pierced his torso. The action was so sudden that it took several moments before anyone else could react.

Wenthil shouted a command and the Southern forces separated themselves from the East’s and surrounded them with haste, easily outnumbering them. The Eastern forces were too surprised to know exactly what was happening. Some officers of the Eastern Army shouted orders to their men, but it was too late. The Southern
Army trained arrows, leveled spears and swords, and raised axes in an extremely hostile posture toward Eastern soldiers.

“Throw down your arms!” Lord Hoyt commanded. “Do not make an end of yourselves foolishly! Throw down your arms and you will be spared, I swear it!”

A score of Eastern soldiers attacked the closest Southern men to them but were easily dispatched. Their fellow Eastern soldiers did not follow their lead.

“Hold! Blasted Night, hold!” Hoyt shouted. “Will you choose to die this day? To waste your life in an effort you cannot prevail in? A cause that is not your own?”

After several tense moments, the clang and clatter of steel and wood was heard as twenty thousand swords, spears, shields, axes and bows fell to the earth. The Eastern soldiers were stripped down to their under tunics, their hands and ankles bound.

Wenhthil had argued to execute them once the Eastern forces were subdued, it being a time of war and the logistics of handling so many prisoners an untenable burden, but Lord Hoyt forbade it.

“Master Gernald, is your plan ready to be carried out?” Hoyt asked.

“Yes, my Lord.”

Commands were shouted and the prisoner force of twenty thousand was broken in forty groups of five hundred. Ten Southern soldiers took up positions around each prisoner group.

“We will need the wood-dwellers to agree to march them deep into the Schadar,” Gernald said. “At least a full day’s march. They shouldn’t need more than five per group, at most.”

Hoyt pondered. “Do you think those who accept this assignment will make it back in time to regroup?”

“With their speed,” Gernald said, “I believe they will be able to catch back up with us just before we make it to Calyn.”

“It will have to do.”

Hopefully that was enough to convince them
. Hoyt knew the Arlethians had to be watching from across the river. They would never make it in time to assist Therrium but they would still go
to Calyn to help where they could—assuming the Arlethians now trusted him. And, assuming they had not harmed his daughter.

If they dared to bring harm to her
…

“My Lord, look!” Gernald said. From the wood-dweller forest across the Roniah, a large force emerged from behind the tree line into the waning light of day. Wood-dwellers, swathed in mud. At their head, a rider beamed triumphant, her blonde hair in a shawl of bright orange, red, and gold. Lord Hoyt’s heart swelled.

THIRTY-SEVEN

Prime Lord Banner Therrium

Day 29 of 1
^st
Dimming 412 A.U.

“HOW ARE YOUR WOUNDS, MASTER ALRIKK?”
Prime Lord Therrium asked.

Alrikk had been promoted to master of the hold guard after Aiden’s departure by default, but it was not an appointment made reluctantly by Lord Therrium. Alrikk had witnessed the battle and also felt the assault on the forest itself while on overseer duty and connected to the forest. Though mentally affected by this event more than the actual battle, his insights were invaluable.

“The healers believe in a matter of days I should recover full range of motion in my right arm,” he replied. “They say I will always have a slight limp in my walk, but that it shouldn’t hinder me from any of my duties. My Lord is kind to ask.”

They were at the northernmost of the three battlefronts. While small skirmishes had broken out, a major confrontation had not yet developed. All around them, the sounds of fifteen thousand soldiers in preparation were heard.

“And the deeper wounds?” Lord Therrium pressed.

Alrikk struggled to find words to adequately answer his Lord. Therrium knew of his nightmares, how Alrikk would awaken with
a cry, drenched in sweat. The healers had kept Therrium well informed.

“I am present, my Lord. I seem to have little residual effects left,” Alrikk lied. Lord Therrium did not force him any farther.

“I am pleased to know it,” Therrium said. “And, I am more pleased you are here and still with us. I would like you to join the group in charge of oversight tonight. It will be your first time in this assignment since the attack. A fortified hold needs only one or two overseers, but here, deep in the forest without fortifications and the enemy at our very door, many are required. I trust your sensitivity, Master Alrikk. Find a bough of a suitable height and I’m certain you will be out of harm’s way.”

“My Lord wishes me out of the way, away from battle?” Alrikk replied with a hint of shame in his voice.

“No, no lad, you misunderstand. You can likely sense what others cannot due to your experience. I
need
you on overseer duty.”

“As my Lord commands, of course, but I don’t feel any more experienced than the others. I am actually quite young compared to many here.”

Therrium sensed Alrikk felt intimidated or inadequate, perhaps both.

“Any can sense and feel as I can. In fact,” he continued somewhat sheepishly, “I haven’t spoken with the forest since that night.”

Therrium was contemplative, running through scenarios in his mind, only half hearing his master of the hold guard. “Do you think you could discern it with more warning if you felt it again?”

Alrikk went pale. “You believe…that the enemy could use the same Influence again?”

“It is inevitable, Master Alrikk. I would use it if I were in the enemy’s position. This Influence is something we cannot defend against. General Roan and I have discussed it at length, and rumors have spread through the army from those who witnessed it at my hold. But we can do nothing to prepare for it other than to try and sense it with as much warning as possible.”

Alrikk tried to collect himself amid the realization of what they might face, and the toll it would take on him mentally if he again endured a similar assault against the forest while connected to it. He remembered how the trees screamed in terror and agony. The trees
screamed
in his mind, a sound not audible to the ear but loud enough to fracture a sentient being’s core. It was a horrific, indelible sound. Supernatural and sickening. The scar inside Alrikk was seared by that scream, carving a chasm that filled with nightmares until they overflowed and threatened to drown his sanity.

With great effort he said, “You are my Lord. I will do whatever you require of me without question.”

“You don’t remember Lord Kerr, do you?” Therrium asked, changing the subject.

“I was barely a youth beyond the age of innocence when he and his daughter died. Fourteen, I think. I actually saw him once in Calyn with his son, but that was long ago. I do remember quite well when Lady Moira and her boy were killed, though. Aiden revered Lord Kerr as a father. Actually, I think most of the other guards thought Aiden was his son or nephew, the way he carried on about him.”

“No, neither. Aiden’s father did not deserve the title of
father
, but let’s leave that to another time. The reason I asked about Lord Kerr is because of something I learned from him. Well, I learned many things from him, as did all who spent any time around him. You learned more from what he
did
than what he said, understand?”

Alrikk did not answer, but continued to listen.

“When there was a stomach that growled, he filled it with his own meat and drink. When someone was burdened, he lifted the weight and carried it. When people were full of sadness, he walked with them until their spirits were elevated. When justice needed to be exercised, he delegated that duty to no one. And, when someone needed to be defended, he always placed himself in front. Do you understand now?”

“I—I…” Alrikk stuttered. “I’m not sure, my Lord.”

“I am not Thannuel Kerr. I could never hope to be the man he was, but perhaps today we can both learn from his example. You have great fear in you. You are damaged inside, though your physical wounds will heal. You fear to carry out your duty.”

“My Lord, I only wish to—”

“Be still, lad,” Therrium said calmly. “I do not accuse you of any cowardice or running from your duty. I have asked you to take on an assignment that is grievous to be borne by you, for the benefit of your people, to be sure. But, I understand, at least a little, what I am asking.

“I know what Thannuel Kerr would do if he were you. He would stand against the fear and do his duty. But, more importantly, I know what he would do if he were
me
. He would climb to the overseer perch
with
you. And so, Alrikk, let us do today exactly what the greatest leader in both our lifetimes would have done. You, your duty despite the fear. Me, to stand by you and not ask you to face it alone.”

On the way to the overseer perch, Lord Therrium and Alrikk passed General Roan as he disseminated battlefield deployments amongst his officers.

“General,” Therrium said. “Are we ready?”

Roan turned to face Therrium and bowed. “Yes, Prime Lord. The men are almost fully deployed or soon will be.”

“You are efficient as ever, General. Arlethia is lucky to have you.” Before Roan could answer, Therrium came in closer so only the two of them could hear. “What are our chances? Give it to me cold, General.”

“High Lord Marshal Tulley leads the enemy at this front. Brendar and Garreth at the middle and southern fronts respectively. Here, there are eighty thousand against us, more than five times our numbers. I have twenty five thousand at the middle front
and ten thousand in the south. I do not know the enemy numbers there, however.”

“Yes, General. But what are our
chances
?”

Roan hesitated and Therrium thought he could see the answer in his eyes.

“I believe,” Roan said, “we have no choice and so the odds do not matter.”

“You have been in worse odds, if I remember correctly.”

Roan looked away. “Perhaps, Prime Lord. But then I had…” Roan didn’t finish, obviously regretting what he started to say.

“Then you had Lord Kerr by your side. Is that what you meant to say?” Therrium wore a sad smile.

“I apologize, Prime Lord. I meant to speak no disrespect or to cast doubt.”

“No General, of course not. I wish he were here, too.”

“I sometimes wonder if he knew,” Roan said.

“Knew? Knew what?” Roan was obviously deliberating on whether to say more. “Antious, what is it, my friend?”

Roan sighed and looked as if he were about to confess a long-held secret. “Sometime before he was killed, Lord Kerr asked me to come see him. His message was strange, cryptic. It was as if he had something to tell me, but he never got the chance. Somehow, I feel responsible in some way. It’s a hard feeling to describe, Prime Lord.”

“I know you were friends. Inseparable, actually, when you were young. Hear me now, Antious, nothing that has happened can, in any way, be laid at your feet. But, I’ve distracted you long enough. Carry on, General.”