Sovereign Stone (40 page)

Alexander nodded, then looked up at Jack. “Well done, Master Colton.”

Jack bowed with a respectful flourish although his face was a mixture of sadness and smoldering anger.

“It would seem that there are those in Kai’Gorn who are unhappy with the magistrate and his, apparently late, brother. I must say, Alexander, you’ve given me quite a lot to work with. Even as we speak, the story of how you slew General Cain while chained to a chair is burning through the citizenry of Kai’Gorn like a plague.” The bard winked with a mischievous smile. “By tomorrow, every soul within a day’s ride will have heard it. In these parts, General Cain was feared and hated.”

“Who helped you get us out?” Alexander asked.

Jack shrugged. “My bards, of course, and a few of their acquaintances. We are everywhere, you know,” he said with mock arrogance.

Alexander started to chuckle but stopped abruptly with a wince. “Tell them I said thank you.”

Lucky chased everyone out so he could feed Alexander and give him another draught of healing potion. It wasn’t long before he drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

He woke the next morning to find Isabel asleep at the little table. Chloe was pacing in front of her, looking worried. When she noticed Alexander open his eyes, she flew over to him and kissed him on the cheek.

“Are you better?”

He took a deep breath. His chest was still tight but he could breathe without the stabbing pain. He nodded, “I think so.”

“Good,” Chloe said, “we have more trouble.” She stopped and frowned at him. “I must say, My Love, danger seems to follow you.”

“I can’t argue with that,” Alexander said, sitting up. He was glad to see his dragon-steel shirt on the chair next to his bed along with his ring. He was just putting his tunic on over his armor when Isabel woke and looked up at him with bleary eyes. She smiled brightly.

He went to her and hugged her gently. “Are you all right?” he asked, looking closely at the fading wounds on her neck and wrists left by the collar and shackles.

She nodded. “Lucky took good care of me. Are you hungry?”

He nodded, suddenly feeling famished. They emerged from the room and everyone turned to look at them. His friends were in a long underground barracks that looked like the kind of place where low-ranking soldiers lived. There were no windows and only a single door that was barred twice with heavy oak planks. Lanterns hanging from stout ceiling beams cast shadows across the room.

Besides his friends, there were another ten men. According to Jack, they were men who made their living transporting goods in and out of Kai’Gorn under the cover of night to avoid the oppressive tariffs levied by the magistrate.

The largest of them stood and nodded deferentially to Alexander. “I’m Captain Finley Raisa, at your service.”

Alexander extended his hand and the big man took it firmly but with care. “Thank you for helping us. Master Colton has good friends.”

Captain Raisa shrugged. “Jack’s silver tongue has kept me out of trouble a time or two, but in truth, I would have helped you all on my own the moment I learned you killed General Cain. The man was a monster.”

Alexander didn’t bother to protest. He knew that people would believe what they wanted to believe and in this case it served his purpose.

Lucky motioned Alexander and Isabel over to a pair of open seats at the long table and served them breakfast. Alexander ate every bite of the well-seasoned mixture of potatoes and sausage without a word. When he finished, he took a deep breath and sat back in his chair, testing his ribs. They felt much better. Lucky’s magic always amazed him. He knew from past experience that broken ribs took a long, painful time to heal on their own.

“Chloe mentioned trouble. What’s our situation?”

Anatoly leaned forward. “The city’s locked down and soldiers are searching house to house. There’s nearly a legion of Andalian Lancers patrolling the area surrounding Kai’Gorn with more arriving by ship every day. Cain has your sword. And he’s planning to execute a handful of Captain Raisa’s men this afternoon in the city square. They were captured helping us escape.”

“How many men do you have that can fight, Captain?” Alexander asked the smuggler.

“I can round up thirty or so, but there are more who would be willing to fight if they believed it would end the suffering we’ve endured at the hand of Cain and his brother.”

“How many soldiers does Cain have and how many Lancers are inside the city?” Alexander asked.

“He has a couple thousand men in his royal guard within the city. The rest of the Kai’Gorn army is barracked outside the city walls. Cain has always been paranoid. As for the Lancers, I’d estimate three to four hundred within the city. They’re slow and clumsy on foot; they depend on those giant horse-like things for their real strength.”

“How fast is your ship?” Alexander asked.

Captain Raisa smiled proudly. “Faster than anything Kai’Gorn or Andalia has on the water.”

“Can you get us to it? And would you be willing to take us to Southport?”

Captain Raisa rubbed his chin in thought as if he was doing some calculations in his mind. Alexander smiled. The man’s colors were basically good, but he was clearly loyal to his ship and his crew.

“You will be well compensated for your efforts,” Alexander offered.

Captain Raisa smiled and nodded, then looked over at Jack. “You said he was a smart one.” He turned back to Alexander. “I can get you to Southport if you like, but I need to help my crewmen first.”

It was Alexander’s turn to smile. “Good man. Here’s the plan. We’ll assault the magistrate and his troops just before the planned execution. At the same time, some of your men will set the docks on fire along with an Andalian ship or two if they can. Lucky will tell you what he needs to make fire pots.”

He turned to Isabel, “Do you have a whistler arrow?”

She nodded, “Of course.”

“Good, that’ll be our signal. Is Slyder nearby?”

“He’s on the roof.”

“Take a good hard look at the town square. I want to put you and Abigail up on a high point so you can fire down into the crowd. We’ll also need to know our exits and where enemy reinforcements will come from.”

Alexander spent the next hour laying out his plan. It was more than a simple rescue. He wanted to take this opportunity to cause as much damage to the Kai’Gorn docks as possible to slow the influx of Andalian Lancers.

He also wanted to kill Cain.

Captain Raisa assured him that without the Cain brothers, Kai’Gorn would fall into disarray as factions whose animosity had long been held in check by their tyranny went to war with one another.

Alexander was relieved to hear that Commander P’Tal was still a few days away. He didn’t need the battle mage to contend with right now.

They made preparations all morning. Captain Raisa procured a sword for Alexander; it wasn’t fancy, but the blade was sturdy and sharp. It would do. Lucky used lamp oil to make fire pots and handed out three of his shatter vials. He warned the three men charged with delivering them about the power of the liquid fire they contained. Alexander gave them very specific instructions to target two of the Andalian troop-transport ships and then the center of the dock. Once the initial fires were set, the rest of the men would add fuel to the fire with jars of lamp oil.

As they made their way to the town square, Isabel reported that at least a hundred of the royal guard were present but none of the Lancers were there. Alexander told Captain Raisa to have twenty of his men mix in with the crowd and to send the rest to the docks, armed with fire.

Isabel, Abigail, and Lucky went to a rooftop on the corner nearest their exit route, while Alexander and Anatoly, wearing long heavy cloaks to conceal their weapons, made their way into the crowd with Captain Raisa. Jack was already concealed at the edge of the square, waiting for his opportunity to free the prisoners.

A raised wooden platform stood along one wall of the square. On one end was a table covered by a white cloth that draped to the floor and was embroidered with the crest of Kai’Gorn. Behind the table was an ornately carved oak chair. On the other side of the platform was a round of wood a good three feet in diameter and nearly as tall.

A big man with a greasy black ponytail and a week’s worth of stubble sat on the round of wood, sharpening a broad-bladed axe. He wore a tunic with the crest of Kai’Gorn. Twenty soldiers armed with crossbows stood along the wall behind the platform and another dozen with short spears stood in front of it. All around the town square in clumps of five or six stood the rest of the royal guard assigned to provide security for the executions.

The square was filled to overflowing with people who came to watch the spectacle. The magistrate demanded a good turnout for his executions or he would punish the city by rationing food and water. In that way, he ensured that many of his subjects were present to witness his version of justice. More importantly, enough heard accounts of the executions and lived in fear of his wrath.

Alexander, Anatoly, and Captain Raisa carefully made their way toward the platform. The crowd was talking mostly about Alexander. He listened to the gossip about his apparent slaughter of General Cain and the magic he was reputed to wield. It never ceased to amaze him how otherwise reasonable people could shape tidbits of truth into the most outlandish tales.

He supposed that Jack had helped them form their ideas about the event, but still the stories he caught bits and pieces of were almost enough to make him laugh out loud. He suspected that the events about to unfold would also be blown completely out of proportion, especially if Jack had anything to say about it. Hopefully, Alexander’s visit to Kai’Gorn would break the people’s will to fight.

“We are in position, My Love,” Chloe said in his mind. She was with Isabel, Abigail, and Lucky. He didn’t want her in the midst of a crowd, especially when he planned to turn the crowd into a riot.

“We’re ready,” Alexander said to Anatoly and Captain Raisa. Almost on cue, Magistrate Cain came into the town square flanked by a dozen royal guards armed with short spears. Following behind him were five men in shackles and collars, chained together in a row. Alexander was relieved to see that their feet weren’t chained. That would make it easier to get them out once the fighting started.

The magistrate took his place behind the table while the dejected-looking and clearly frightened prisoners were brought up onto the platform to stand in front of the crowd. Alexander smiled grimly when he saw the Thinblade strapped to Cain’s waist. He took a mental image of the positions of the enemy soldiers. Without the crowd to provide cover, this would be a suicide mission, but with the chaos that would ensue once the fighting began, Alexander was confident they would be successful.

Cain held up his hand for silence, and the murmuring of the crowd slowly died out.

“These five men are traitors! They have betrayed Kai’Gorn and the rightful Sovereign of the Seven Isles, Prince Phane Reishi.” Cain spoke in an angry tone, spitting his words at the crowd.

“They helped the pretender escape after he murdered my brother, the protector of Kai’Gorn, with his dark magic. For their crimes, they will die.” With that, Cain sat down to watch the executions. He waved for the three guards on the platform to begin.

Alexander waited until one of the guards unlocked the collar of the first prisoner. The moment he heard the lock click open, he thought to Chloe, “Now.” A moment later the shriek of a whistler arrow streaked into the sky. The crowd turned in stunned wonder at the interruption. Soldiers looked around for a threat. The magistrate stood and his face went crimson.

A moment later, things started happening very quickly. The executioner pitched backward off the raised platform with an arrow from Abigail’s bow sticking out of his chest. Alexander threw a knife and buried it in the throat of the nearest guard, then swiftly drew his sword and charged the platform.

Anatoly whipped his cloak off his shoulders and brought his axe to bear on a guard standing in front of the platform. The young Kai’Gorn soldier was caught completely off guard by the sudden attack and barely had time to raise his spear to defend against the heavy downward stroke of the axe. The spear shattered and the soldier fell, with the axe blade buried from his right shoulder to the middle of his chest.

Commotion broke out all around as Captain Raisa’s men started attacking the soldiers stationed at the periphery of the crowd. A whoosh of fire from the port drew everyone’s attention as the sails of an Andalian troop ship quickly caught fire and sent a plume of black smoke into the air.

Alexander leapt onto the platform and pulled the first of the prisoners past him and into the waiting arms of Captain Raisa, then in one fluid motion brought his sword up and into the gut of the first guard. He looked the man in the eye for a brief moment before kicking him off his blade and into the line of the crossbowmen behind the platform.

Time seemed to slow down. Through his all around sight he saw everything unfolding around him. A crossbowman got off a clean shot that tore through his tunic but stopped cold when it hit his armor. Abigail and Isabel sent arrow after arrow down into the line of crossbowmen behind the platform. One by one they fell.

The crowd was deteriorating into the chaos of a riot as Captain Raisa’s men moved through the citizenry to strike at the soldiers and then retreat. The soldiers responded by attacking indiscriminately, which enraged the people and turned them against the greatly outnumbered soldiers.