Darkstone - An Evil Reborn (Book 4) (33 page)

A few fought amongst themselves when armed, reminding Lotto of the rogue army and then he let the Red Kingdom soldiers band together as they continued to take over the castle itself. When they reached the kitchens, Lotto roused the cooks and had them begin to cook food for liberating soldiers.

The fighting ebbed and flowed as they found pockets of defenders. An explosion threw them all to their feet as two battle mages walked into the kitchen.

“Throw down your weapons!” They produced smoke around them. Lotto saw that as the illusion it was. He rose and used the little power that had regenerated to push them through the doorway and into the wall of the corridor behind them. The smoke cleared to show the senseless bodies.

Lotto spied kitchen twine. “Gag them and bind their hands and feet, tightly.” He took his troops and continued on. “Get those pots boiling,” he said to the bleary eyed cooks. He raised his sword and cried, “For Sallia!” They all smiled and quickly went to work after repeating his words.

~

The enemy thickened as Anchor’s group reached his old tower. The widened corridor became a battlefield, slippery with blood. Histron could only board so many men in the castle so with every man down, his force weakened. He directed Anter and Shiro up the wide circular stairway that bumped out in its own arc that often had reminded Unca of a second tower glued to his own. On they climbed. Soldiers began to trickle out of the rooms at the various levels, but most must have already descended. Fighting became close and Anchor had already suffered nicks and bruises from the conflict. He stood in front of the doors to his chambers.

“Wards?”

Shiro nodded and went to work. “These are Bessethian in nature. You can go in.”

Anchor tried the knob, but he shrugged as his effort failed. It looked like Anter’s bulk and strength would come in handy again. The big man ran at the door and it crashed into splinters.

A woman screamed from behind Unca’s sitting room. His paraphernalia had been removed and more ornate furniture had replaced it. Anchor’s head swiveled from side to side looking for soldiers. He glanced out of a window to see torches illuminating the fighting on the walkways along the walls. Chika and the other Ropponis were dodging arrows from below them, but seemed to be making progress. Good, now to end all of this.

Anchor stepped into his old bedroom. He didn’t recognize it. A huge bed filled the room. Histron stood on the bed with a sword in his hand, but he wore a nightshirt… perhaps hastily put on as the screaming woman still busied herself wrapping a sheet around her unclothed body.

“Surrender Duke. We have nearly secured the castle.”

“Nearly,” Histron said, brandishing his sword.

“The Dakkoran sorcerers are dead. I have Ropponi reducing the rest of your defenses. It’s over, Garell.”

“How dare you call me by my first name!” Histron said.

“I am Anchor,” he wouldn’t give him the courtesy of answering his question directly, “the Marshal of the Alliance. I declare the days of the usurper are over.”

The duke slapped his sword at Anchor, who hit it so sharply, that Histron’s blade flew out of his hand. “Not particularly adept with a sword as I remember,” Anchor said.

“Who are you?” Histron said.

“I am who I said. This is Anter, a relative of the Duke of Ashof. Here is my best friend, Shiro of Koriaki, leader of the Red Rose.”

“The Ropponi traitors,” Histron said, given Shiro a nasty look.

Shiro just shrugged and folded his arms looking to Anchor to do all the talking.

“Come off of that bed. We will bind you and let Princess Sallia determine your fate.”

~~~

Chapter Thirty-Four

Besseth

~

C
hika startled Sallia who had fallen asleep
in the rough wooden chair in her room. “It is time to regain your throne, Princess,” Chika said softly.

Sallia rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. “Anchor won?”

“No, your highness,” Chika said with laughter in her eyes, “you have won, with the help of the Alliance. Anchor made it happen and we all did our part.”

“Well, let me splash a little water on my face and take me to Foxhome.” Elation filled Sallia, but her feelings of triumph mixed with trepidation. She didn’t really know how to rule. Her hand clasped the Bloodstone. She did have the right to rule and now she would try to stop further bloodshed. She put a cloak around her and let Chika teleport her back to her home.

Chika had put them in the throne room.

“All hail Princess Sallia of the Red Kingdom!” a man cried. The men in the room cheered as Chika led Sallia up to the throne.

“I sit here as the only heir to King Billeas and won’t be queen until the Red Kingdom proclaims me so.” Sallia sat and put her hand on the arms of her father’s throne. It felt so good to her. “I return the Bloodstone to Foxhome!”  She took the pouch off of the stone and lifted it for all to see. Cheers again erupted from those standing around the room. She had returned home, however alien it seemed at the moment.

Anchor arrived with Duke Histron, now properly clothed, but bound. “Bow to your ruler.”

Histron merely sneered.

Sallia noticed the anger on Anchor’s face as he pushed Histron unceremoniously to the floor.

“We have secured the castle and walls. The soldiers inside have surrendered or been rendered harmless. You now need to go to the main gate and declare the war over,” Anchor said.

Sallia heard the rough emotion in his voice. It shook her out of the shock she had felt the moment Chika placed her in the throne room. Could this nightmare finally be over?

“Rise, Histron. You are duke no longer. What have you to say?”

“My only regret is that I didn’t cross blades with Unca. Here he gave me the castle and then he spirited you away.”

Sallia’s heart nearly stopped. “How did Unca ‘give’ you the castle?”

“The fool, I tricked him into giving me a secret way in.” The duke laughed.

“Is this true?” Sallia turned to Anchor. She felt the blood leave her face. How could he?

Anchor stepped forward and knelt. “I tried to tell you many times, but couldn’t. Histron wanted to clean the passageways as part of a birthday present to your father. You know what they are like. I gave him the plans to a few of them. I didn’t know he would take my trust and destroy it.”

“You betrayed my parents!” Sallia’s mind became confused and hurt. How could Unca keep such a terrible secret from her? “Tie Anchor up. I will decide his fate when I can think more clearly.”

“No!” Sallia heard cries of refusal from the soldiers that lined her throne room.

Anchor stood and raised his hands. “I am responsible. I will accept whatever punishment Princess Sallia has in store. I will take it willingly.”

Sallia rose from the throne. “Dawn approaches. Let us go to the gate.” She wanted to run from the throne room. How could Unca betray her and have the nerve to keep his vile secret from her for all of this time?

“We must go,” Lotto said.

She lifted her chin. “These are my people, for the most part, and they must see me as their queen.” She looked back at Anchor, standing in the middle of the throne room, both arms hanging down. Confusion muddled her mind. She couldn’t let the revelation delay the end of the war. Chika led her out of the room. Lotto walked at her side as they made their way to the gate.

“We will guard you from any arrows or thrown weapons. Anchor has orchestrated this. You might not want to follow his suggestion, but he wished you to call on the soldiers and the people of Foxhome to pledge their fealty to you. If they do, and he thought they’d be enthusiastic about it, he requests that you ask them to quickly ride out to Histron’s forces that ring the city and implore the soldiers to lay down their weapons since Histron has been captured and the castle taken.”

Sallia nodded. She didn’t know what to think about Anchor or Unca at the moment, but through her confusion she saw the wisdom in his advice.

As she reached the top of the parapet above the gates, the sun began to peek out from the horizon. Her subjects crowded into the large square in front of the gates. She backed away. Fear made her legs weak and took away her breath, but she shook off the feeling and took a deep breath.

Sallia noticed the rising sun and began to speak. Shiro had managed to amplify her shaking voice. “I am Princess Sallia and I won’t take long. The alliance has taken the castle. I hold the Bloodstone in my hand.” She fumbled with the chain and drew the jewel out from her blouse. The sun’s golden light made it shine above the still dark square. Most of those in the square cheered. She had to wait a few moments and raise her arms to stop the noise. “I don’t want vengeance. I don’t want more of our people to die today. Go out to the armies that surround this city. Tell them that I order the soldiers and the commanders to lay down their arms. Fighting for Histron, I call him ‘Duke’ no longer, is a lost cause. He has been taken and is now my prisoner. Quickly, I will talk to you again an hour before the sun sets. Go!”

The crowd cheered and she saw them running out of the square at the edges. Soon only a few groups stood talking. Sallia left the ramparts.

“Where can I rest?” she said. Looking at soldiers clean up the castle.

“The dining hall,” Lotto said. “I think we all need something to eat.”

Sallia nodded and let them lead her back into the castle.

~

Anchor sat, now bound, at a bench in the dining hall. Sallia walked in, looking haggard and confused. He had too many warring memories in his own head and he imagined that Sallia had more. Where were her parents’ bodies? How extensive were Histron’s depredations on her childhood home? He didn’t deserve her attention. At least his blunder had finally come out. He no longer had to worry about a whisper or an anonymous note showing up about Unca’s act. Histron couldn’t wait to let the princess know of his role in his capturing the castle, gloating as he said it. At this point, however, Anchor felt that Histron had done him a favor.

Shiro brought a tray of two bowls of porridge and a small plate stacked with bacon. “Eat,” he said. “You look worse than the Princess.”

Anchor didn’t agree, but then he always had a difficult time looking himself in the face. He smiled, faintly. A joke. Shadows of the old Unca walking to the gallows.

Sallia had eaten a few morsels and found him in the crowd. She rose and stood across from him.

“Why?” she said. He could see the tears begin to well in her eyes.

“A feckless response to Histron whom I thought to be loyal, Princess Sallia.” Could he ever call her Sally again? The loss of their relationship created an empty hole inside of him. “It was only the once. Your father put you into my care and I made few mistakes there and tried, miserably, to save you in Everwet.”

“A feckless act on my part,” Sallia said. “I could have stayed in Sally’s Corners, but I panicked.”

Anchor shook his head. “You did the right thing. They would have caught you sooner had you remained.”

Sallia waved the topic away. “Do you seek forgiveness?”

Forgiveness? Of such a horrible mistake? Anchor really didn’t know. “I will accept any decision you make,” he said and bowed his head.

Sallia nodded and moved on to Histron, who sat guarded by Ropponi at a small table in the back corner of the dining hall. He only had bread and water before him.

Anchor watched her talk to Histron. The man obviously had no respect for Sallia. That was clear to Anchor, even though he couldn’t hear a single word.

Lotto put a leg over the bench on the table and sat. “A few birds went out from the coop, flying eastward.”

“Towards Daryaku,” Anchor said. “He’ll know of his defeat in a few days.” He twisted his bonds. “We need... you need to meet him in Ayrtan.”

Lotto nodded. “I know.”

Anchor ate few pieces of bacon and shoved the plate towards Lotto who took a few.

“If you permit, I will send my Ropponi out to the armies and have them provide us with reports throughout the day,” Shiro said.

Anchor raised his bound wrists. “I’m no longer the Marshal.”

Lotto laughed. “You still lead the alliance until the hangman takes you away from us. I don’t pledge my allegiance to the Red Kingdom. Goleto is my king. Say the word and you’ll be free.”

“I agree with Lotto. Learsea’s army is yours to command. Sallia can’t cancel King Willom’s edict. The Five Duchies march for you, not for Princess Sallia,” Shiro said.

Anchor couldn’t ask for more loyal friends. He realized that of them all, he was Sallia’s only subject.

Lessa marched into the dining hall and went to Anchor. “What’s this I hear about trussing my leader up?” He spoke loudly, turning heads in the wall, including Sallia’s. “Let’s go, Anchor.”

“I am a subject of the Red Kingdom, first and foremost,” Anchor said. “I will go and do what my queen tells me.”

“She’s no queen, yet,” Lessa said. “Lotto blow out that wall there and let’s take this miserable excuse for the leader of the Alliance out of here. He’s only unwelcome in this highly ungrateful land.”

“Absolutely not!” Anchor said. “You all know what we need to do. I’ve already drawn up a few basic strategies. You take the armies east, over the seas to Ayrtan. King Willom’s been assembling a fleet for weeks now.”

“I respect your wishes, Anchor,” Shiro said. “You are a man of honor, to the end.” He closed his eyes and bowed his head.

To the end. Anchor lost his taste for breakfast. “Take me to the steps of the castle. I’d like to spend my remaining hours in the daylight.”

~

Hostilities ended early that day. Anchor’s strategy worked to perfection amidst the mass desertions afflicting Histron’s army. Pockets of fighting were quickly taken care of. Ropponi teleported the alliance leaders to Foxhome. Anchor sat on castle steps facing the West, surrounded by all but Sallia and Restella.

“You are too important to lose,” Mander Hart said. Duke Jellas nodded. “Shiro will teleport you once the noose goes around your neck.”

The talk of escape tired Anchor. These men, fine friends all, didn’t understand him. He had to pay for his mistake and no urging on their part would change his mind, so he let them prattle on. He would have a word with Shiro, before his hanging, to let him die. They didn’t understand that only his death would atone for his mistake if the princess wouldn’t forgive him.

They rose as Princess Sallia walked out of the castle, passing them on the steps. “It’s early, I know, but come with us, all of you,” she said. Histron walked behind her surrounded by guards. “You as well, Anchor.”

They followed her to the same parapet that Princess Sallia had spoken from in the morning. Anchor looked out at the people of Foxhome. There were even more citizens in the square. The war had ended for them and everyone else on Besseth, except for the Oringia and Histo, perhaps.

Sallia put out her hands to silence the crowd. Trumpets blared. When was the last time he’d heard them played at Foxhome? It seemed like decades ago.

It took some time before the crowds hushed.

“I’ve received word that the war is over. The soldiers are now the members of one army. Our nobles will follow, if they haven’t already. We have emerged victorious with the help of our friends and allies. I have thought all day about what to do with Histron and Unca, the Court Wizard. Both played their parts in the death of my parents. I have decided to let you decide their fate, for I cannot bring myself to condemn men to death before I am truly crowned queen.

“Let us talk of Histron, first. He consorted with the Emperor of Dakkor. He brought in foreign troops and sponsored the suborning of good nobles throughout Besseth. He tricked his way into the castle and slaughtered my father and mother. He caused the death of as-yet-uncounted men in the Red Kingdom. His administrative policy made a shambles of our laws. In the name of the Red Kingdom, he invaded sovereign nations. What should we do with him?”