Redemption (6 page)

"Did he show up here and try to gain entrance to the palace?" asked King Garrick.

"Indeed he did," nodded King Gregory, "and he was refused entry as you requested, but I do not like to be rude to my neighbors. Can you explain what is going on?"

The Borundan king sat quietly for a long moment before answering. "My cousin does not agree that I am old enough to marry," he stated. "It has nothing to do with Princess Belinda in particular, he just thinks that I should wait a few years before marrying. As you know, he can be rather persuasive. I did not want him to get here ahead of me and attempt to dissuade you from this marriage."

"Ah," King Gregory nodded, not quite convinced that he was hearing the truth. "So the ban of entry for Prince Zinan should be lifted now that you are here?"

"No," King Garrick responded too quickly. "Leave the ban in place until after the wedding."

"But why?" frowned King Gregory. "I do not understand. Surely, the prince will be attending the ceremony?"

"Excuse me," King Garrick said as he rose suddenly. "I do not want to be a poor visitor, but I have developed a throbbing headache. Perhaps we can continue this conversation tomorrow?"

"Of course," sighed King Gregory.

King Garrick strode out of the room, and his six bodyguards quickly formed a cordon around him.

"Something is not right here," frowned King Gregory. "We have never had a visitor who needs six guards around him constantly."

"Don't forget the fifty men in the barracks outside the palace," interjected the queen. "The Borundan king is traveling very much like a man afraid for his life."

"And Prince Zinan appears to be the threat," nodded the king, "but why hide that from us? Had we known about the threat to King Garrick's life, we could have arrested the Borundan prince instead of turning him away at the gates. It makes no sense."

"Perhaps I should go talk to him?" offered Princess Belinda. "Maybe I can get him to open up."

"No," the queen replied quickly. "Let the Borundans deal with their own problems. King Garrick is safe within our walls, and tomorrow you will be the queen of Borunda. Whatever claim Prince Zinan might have on the Borundan throne will end tomorrow. You should go get some sleep. You will have a busy day tomorrow."

Princess Belinda nodded politely and rose from her chair. She hurried out of the room and up the stairs. She reached the top of the stairs just in time to see the six bodyguards usher King Garrick into his chambers. She frowned and turned towards her own room.

* * *

The corridors of the royal palace in Vineland were dark and deserted, the torches having been extinguished hours earlier. A small group of men moved stealthily through the palace and halted outside the door leading to the suite occupied by King Garrick of Borunda. When the men were ready to attack, the leader kicked the door open. The men swiftly filed into the room as the Borundan soldiers scrambled out of bed to respond to the threat. The heavy snaps of crossbows echoed loudly in the chambers, and screams of pain and fear rang out loudly. In seconds it was over, and seven Borundans lay dead in the suite.

"Reload and take up the positions assigned to you," ordered the leader as he walked to the window and dropped a copper coin to the ground below.

The men moved quickly out of the room and into the dark corridors. Several bells rang in the lowest levels of the palace as those who had heard the screams summoned servants. No one dared to venture into the dark corridors to investigate for themselves.

Down on the ground level of the palace, Belon heard the distant screams. If he had not been listening for them, he might not have realized what he had heard. When he heard the coin drop to the ground, he smiled in satisfaction. The officer ran towards the barracks where the Borundan soldiers were housed. He banged loudly on the door, and the door opened promptly.

"What is it?" groused a Borundan officer.

"Your king is under attack in his chambers," Belon said excitedly. "I think he is being attacked by his own men."

The Borundan officer shouted to the rest of the men in the barracks and soldiers leaped out of bed and grabbed their swords. The Borundan soldiers raced out of the barracks in various stages of undress and stormed the main entrance to the palace. Remarkably, there were no Vinelander sentries to bar the entrance. The man who had answered the door was the last soldier to leave the barracks. Instead of racing after his fellow countrymen, he halted outside the barracks and confronted Belon.

"Why aren't your people protecting King Garrick?" he asked.

"We dare not enter the chambers of King Garrick," replied Belon. "Such an action could cause a war."

"You fool!" snarled the Borundan officer. "The death of King Garrick will surely cause a war. Have you not thought of that?"

"Not if the king is killed by Borundans," retorted Belon. "My men will safeguard the royal family of Vineland. That is our job. You should go do yours. King Garrick is your responsibility."

Belon turned and hurried off. The Borundan officer returned to the barracks and quickly finished dressing. His gut was screaming to him that something was wrong about the whole situation, but he could not figure out what it was. He knew that the men assigned as the king's personal bodyguards were unlikely to attack King Garrick, but he had to admit that anything was possible in the murky arena of politics.

The Borundan officer moved calmly towards the entrance to the palace. He saw no need to rush upstairs when fifty men were already on their way to a suite that could not hold half of them. He was more concerned that a lone assassin might try to escape during the confusion, so he stood silently just outside the doors of the palace. Suddenly, he heard shouts and screams coming from inside the palace. Clashes of metal upon metal rang out, and shouts of an ambush were clearly heard. The officer cautiously slid the door open and listened.

The heavy song of crossbows filled the air and screams immediately followed. Loud cursing and swords clashing came from every direction, and it became obvious that the Borundans and Vinelanders were fighting inside the palace. While the battle made no sense, the officer knew that to enter the palace was to die. As he thought about escaping, he suddenly noticed that not a single Vinelander was visible on sentry duty.

The officer thought about opening the gates and fleeing into the city, but he knew that he needed a horse to escape Laborg. Without one, he would be easy prey for the Vinelanders. The officer raced along the front of the palace and turned the corner towards the stables. Halfway along the building in front of him, a body plummeted to the ground from one of the upper stories. He drew his sword and approached cautiously. He heard the man gasping for breath and then heard him call weakly for help. He recognized the man's voice. It was one of his soldiers. The officer sheathed his sword and knelt by the man's side.

"What happened in there?" the officer asked.

"It was an ambush," gasped the soldier. "The king was already dead. They killed him with a crossbow. I tried to escape out the window, but I should have realized the height. Wasn't thinking."

The officer could do nothing to help his man. He rose and raced for the stables to secure a horse. Borunda had to be informed of the treachery before the prince arrived for the wedding, and that meant that someone had to survive the ambush. The officer raced around the corner of the palace and slid to a halt in front of the stables. Belon stood waiting for him with two Vinelander soldiers bearing crossbows.

"Going somewhere?" asked Belon.

"You treacherous dog," snarled the Borundan officer. "Do you really think you will get away with this?"

"I already have," smiled Belon as he signaled his men.

Both crossbows fired, and the quarrels slammed into the officer's body. The Borundan grimaced, but he did not cry out as his body tumbled to the ground.

"I want a count of bodies immediately," ordered Belon. "If we do not have fifty-seven dead Borundans, I want to know about it before I explain to King Gregory what happened tonight."

"Some of it will be hard to explain," commented one of the soldiers.

"I don't think so," smiled Belon. "Just make sure that the quarrel is removed from Garrick's body and a few sword slices are evident on his body. Cut off a limb or do something to make it obvious that he was attacked by a sword. The rest will be easy to explain."

Tabansi was asleep in his small room over the tavern when a loud knocking awoke him. He grumbled loudly as he crawled out of bed and shuffled to the door. He cracked the door slightly and a short wiry man barged in.

"It's happened," the small man said excitedly. "Just like you predicted."

"King Garrick is dead?" asked Tabansi.

"He must be," nodded the wiry man. "The whole palace is awake with torches burning in every room. The soldiers are carrying bodies out of the palace and heaping them in a pile. Almost all of them are Borundans."

"You saw this with your own eyes?" questioned Tabansi.

"I did," the man nodded. "There must be forty or fifty bodies at least."

"And one of them is King Garrick?"

"That I can't say. You don't expect me to go up and ask them, do you?"

"No," shrugged Tabansi as he handed the man two silver coins. "You did good. I need someone with a horse to deliver a message for me."

"My cousin has a horse," offered the wiry man. "Does he get paid?"

"I will pay him well," nodded Tabansi. "Send him to me right away."

Tabansi watched the informer leave and then walked to the window and gazed up the hill at the palace. A smile began to spread across his lips as he realized that he would soon be an important man in the new Borundan city of Laborg. He quickly wrote a note informing General Wikner of the events at the palace and waited for the rider to come and pick it up.

* * *

Belon halted outside the king's chambers. He calmed himself from the adrenalin rush associated with the destruction of the Borundan contingent. As he straightened his uniform, he wondered what would happen next. He had fulfilled his portion of the agreement with the Borundan spy, but he realized that he was only a small part of the political intrigue being played out. Belon inhaled deeply and opened the door to the king's chambers. King Gregory sat in a chair in his chambers while the queen stood behind him. Belon bowed respectfully and closed the door.

"Just what is going on out there, Belon?" asked the king, "and why won't your men let me out of my quarters?"

"You are being kept safe, my king," responded Belon. "Princess Belinda is also being protected. As for what is going on, King Garrick was not satisfied with just your daughter. He decided he would take Vineland as well."

"What?" scowled the king. "That is preposterous. Are you telling me that on the eve of his marriage he sought to kill the royal family and take over the throne?"

"That is exactly what he planned," nodded Belon, "and he almost got away with it. If I had not been suspicious about the large escort he brought with him, he might have succeeded."

"I was concerned about the number of personal bodyguards he had," nodded the queen.

King Gregory raised his hand to silence the queen. He gazed at Belon with disbelief. "Tell me exactly what happened, Belon."

"I posted men at key positions around the palace last night," explained Belon. "It was just a precaution based on a feeling that something didn't add up with the Borundans. About an hour ago, the Borundans crept out of their barracks and entered the palace. They split up and began to make their way upstairs. When the first group was surprised by my men, the fighting began. Fortunately, I had the foresight to make sure all of the corridors were darkened. That left our men knowing the palace well and the intruders at a loss. That alone saved the lives of many of our men."

"We can get to the self-congratulations later," sighed the king. "Tell me about King Garrick."

"It appears that two divergent plots were in play by the Borundans," explained Belon. "King Garrick had brought a great deal of men with him to aid in overthrowing the royal family of Vineland, but it appears that a small contingent of those men was working for someone else in the Borundan government. The six Borundan guards assigned to watch over King Garrick turned on him and killed him in his chambers. I think it was supposed to look as if King Garrick died while overthrowing you."

"Mercy!" exclaimed the queen. "Borunda will not look favorably upon this."

"You have a Talent for understatement," the king shook his head. "There will most likely be war over this. How are we to talk our way out of it?"

"Perhaps we can blame it on an internal power struggle?" suggested Belon. "It is obvious that bad blood existed between King Garrick and the Borundan prince. Suppose the prince paid to have the king assassinated?"

"That might work," the king shook his head, "if the person we were explaining this to was not Prince Zinan, but he is the most likely Borundan to arrive here in search of King Garrick. You must also realize that he will inherit the crown?"

"True," nodded Belon. "Perhaps we should send a runner to Dulga and speak with General Wikner before the prince arrives for the wedding. It is the Borundan army that we must worry about. If they are convinced that the prince sought to steal the throne, they most likely will not follow him into battle."

"Don't wager your gold on that," replied King Gregory. "General Wikner will do whatever the crown tells him to do, and that crown will soon pass to Prince Zinan."

"What if Prince Zinan were to meet a similar fate when he arrived?" posed Belon. "Who would rule Borunda?"

"A good question," mused King Gregory. "There is no other blood relative. You may just have found the answer to our problem. I assume that there would be a three-way fight for the crown. General Wikner, General Ortega, and Naveena would all seek the crown. It is doubtful that the three of them would join together to lash out at us, and none of them could afford to turn their backs on the other two."

"Then we must carry on as if nothing has happened," smiled Belon. "We will merely wait for the Borundan prince to show up for the wedding."

"I am loathe to do something so despicable," frowned King Gregory, "but none of the Borundans will believe the truth, and I refuse to subject my people to a bloody war through no fault of their own. Wait until the Borundan prince is inside the palace before you seize him."

"What if he does not show for the wedding?" asked the queen. "You turned him away at the gates once already. He might have just returned to Tarent."

"He will have to show up sooner or later," reasoned the king. "I don't quite swallow the explanation that King Garrick gave for not wanting Prince Zinan to arrive here before him. There is some bad blood between those cousins. While I do not know what the nature of it is, Prince Zinan will definitely show up here. We shall do nothing but wait. Belon, I want the Borundan uniforms mended and washed. Burn the bodies, and distribute the Borundan uniforms to men of like stature. There may be a need to portray Borundan soldiers to lure the prince into the palace."

"I will see to it, my king," bowed Belon.

"And remove the guards from my doorway," the king commanded.

"Allow me some more time to verify that all of the Borundans have been accounted for," pleaded Belon. "I promise that they will be removed within the hour, but I will take no chance of a lone assassin remaining unaccounted for."

* * *

A horn blared from the ramparts of the royal palace in Laborg. Soldiers raced to defensive positions, and King Gregory hurried up the stairs to see what had caused the alarm. Belon followed the king and together they gazed down on the river and the massive army approaching along the Dulga-Laborg Road.

"How is this possible?" the king asked with alarm. "Garrick's body has not even cooled yet, and already the Borundan army is drawing to our gates? They would have to have left Dulga days ago."

"You are correct," Belon agreed calmly. "Perhaps that is why King Garrick's men killed him. His death was meant as an excuse to invade Vineland."

"Seal all of the city's gates," the king shouted to the officers who had gathered around, "and destroy the bridge immediately. Belon, I want riders sent north to rally all of our troops to the city."

"I already sent riders early this morning," replied Belon.

"You knew this was going to happen?" asked the king. "I thought we were expecting Prince Zinan to show up for the wedding?"

"I saw no reason not to prepare for the worst," shrugged Belon. "Fear not, King Gregory. We will stall the Borundans at the river and demand to speak to Prince Zinan. There is still a chance that this can all end peacefully."

"Perhaps," the king mused anxiously, "but I fail to see how. The Borundans have used treachery to bring their armies a great distance from their homeland. They will not willingly withdraw without some compensation."

"Their army sits on Odessian land," an officer pointed out. "Can we not send a rider to King Rihad and ask for his help? With the bridge destroyed and an Odessian army threatening their flank, the Borundans would surely flee."

"The Odessians would already be aware of the movements of the Borundan army," King Gregory shook his head. "The fact is, King Rihad is not very happy with me at the moment. He pleaded with me not to sell weapons to the Borundans, but I never imagined those weapons would be used against my own people. No, the Odessians will not come to our aid. They will be fortifying the Natura-Laborg Road in case the greedy Borundans decide that Vineland is not enough plunder for themselves."

King Gregory watched as the many gates of the city of Laborg were closed and barred. He followed the progress of the engineers as they rode towards the bridge to dismantle it.

"What is going on down there?" frowned the king as he pointed to the bridge joining Vineland with Odessia.

A large horde of civilians had massed in front of the bridge and the engineers could not get through the crowd.

"Borundan cavalry is charging!" shouted one of the soldiers on the wall.

"More treachery," spat an officer as he gazed at the bridge. "The people are not letting the engineers get to the bridge. Unless we get soldiers down there immediately, the Borundans will be across before the engineers can destroy the bridge."

"Get soldiers down there and kill that mob!" shouted the king.

"It is no use," said Belon. "The city gates are sealed. By the time we unseal them and get our troops down to the river, the Borundans will already be across the bridge."

"He's right," sighed an officer. "Fortunately, we can yield the bridge and still defeat the Borundans. The palace is obviously their goal, and they have no siege engines that I can see. They will have to climb through this city to reach us and each step of the way will bring death to thousands of their men. There are, after all, six successive walls that they must breach before they reach this palace. Each one of those walls will prove to be unassailable as our archers rain death upon their troops from above. The best they can do is lay siege to the city, and that will bring time for our northern troops to assemble and encircle the Borundans. Even though their numbers be greater than ours, we shall prevail in the end."

As the Borundan cavalry galloped closer to the bridge, the engineers turned and fled. As the vanguard of the Borundans crossed the bridge, the mob dispersed. There were no cheers of welcome, nor shouts of victory, only the simple act of dispersal.

"They were paid to block the bridge," commented an officer. "That mob was not made up of Borundan sympathizers, merely paid traitors."

"Despicable," snarled King Gregory as he watched the Borundans secure the bridge. "Selling out your country for a few gold coins is the act of man without a conscience. I want them rounded up when this business with the Borundans is over. I will make an example of them to make sure this never happens again."

Belon's eye twitched, and he turned away from the king as if looking to see if his men were all in place. He had not anticipated events turning out as they had. For the first time in his life, Belon wondered if things might not have gotten away from him.

"That is General Wikner and Prince Zinan riding in the vanguard," announced an officer.

* * *

"Amazing," frowned General Wikner as he started to cross the bridge over the Vine River. "I would have expected them to destroy the bridge as their first act of defense."

"They tried to," remarked an officer alongside the general. "The group we sent on ahead reported that a group of citizens prevented the engineers from destroying the bridge."

"Why?" puzzled the general. "Are we riding into a trap?"

"No," smiled Prince Zinan. "I would suppose there are many citizens in Laborg who would welcome Borundan rule over Vineland."

"Why?" asked the general. "King Gregory has never been a harsh ruler from all that I have heard."

"Borunda is destined to rule the Land of the Nine Kingdoms," the dark prince declared. "There are people in all of the lands that would welcome such a unifying proposition. Petty nationalistic pride will become a thing of the past. Obviously some Vinelanders already see that."

The general shook his head in disbelief, but he was not about to argue with the Crown Prince, especially since King Garrick was dead.

"I want the army to halt on the Laborg side of the river," commanded the general. "There will be no attack until all of the men are on Vineland soil. We will need to build siege machines to get through the many walls of Laborg."

"There is no time for that," objected the dark prince. "We must strike before the Vinelanders get a chance to organize."

"With all respect, my prince," General Wikner shook his head, "we cannot climb to the royal palace without passing through each of the walls, and each wall has only one gate. The Vinelanders will concentrate their defenses on any force we send against one of those gates. If we attack without siege machines, we will have no army left to take back to Borunda."

"The bulk of their defense will be at the first wall which protects the marketplace," retorted Prince Zinan. "Those defenders will not retreat to the second wall until it appears that the first gate will fall to us. If we can get fast riders through that gate to the marketplace, we will have cut off the bulk of their defenders."

"Agreed," nodded the general, "but first we have to get that gate open, and that is not an easy task without siege engines. We will lose thousands of men trying to destroy that first gate, and it will probably take days to accomplish. In the same amount of time, we can build the siege engines that we need and not lose the men."