Take the body and give me the rest (25 page)

Seth knew this
was the man to help him without a doubt.

‘You know Lord
Renton of Black Rock Keep?’ Seth said.

Dagosh actually
spat on his own table. ‘That creature is where I get most of my
runaway slaves from. He has strange habits, that one. Many people
get sold there and never come back, ever. Dark rumours and dark
deeds from that place.’

‘We came to
Black Rock with his sister, the Duchess Elizebetha. She intended to
take back her seat and rein again.’

‘Let me guess:
his arse stayed stuck in the chair.’

‘They marched
us out the door and shut it behind us. He has about equal men loyal
to him as she has to her, so I don’t think he’ll kill her yet, but
we need to get back there soon and in force,’ said Seth.

‘So you want to
take this well-trained but still very small army of one hundred and
fifty men against a keep guarded with moats, towers, battlements
with hot oil and a standing force of at least double ours?’

‘I don’t need
them to take the Keep; I need them to hold it,’ Seth said.

‘What? I don’t
understand,’ said Dagosh.

‘Getting the
Lord Renton out is going to be the easy part. Someone else is
coming to aid him and I have a feeling he’s coming in numbers,’
Seth said.

Dagosh laughed.
‘I think you’re in over your head, young sir.’

Seth knew what
he felt inside, and for the first time he wasn’t unsure, or
worried. He knew he could do this. He’d been waiting to do this. He
was a leader of men and soon he’d have the men to lead and the
purpose he was searching for.

‘Listen, at the
Battle of Deep Water, my army was outnumbered three to one and we
were victorious. This is nothing new to me.’ He said feeling the
pride the General felt in that incredible victory that was the
capstone of his career.

Dagosh looked
stunned. ‘Deep Water was thirty years ago in Cravosi. Were you even
born yet?’ he cried.

Seth gave him a
few moments to calm himself and, ignoring his outburst, simply
said, ‘Do we have a deal?’

Dagosh just
smiled at him. ‘You’re crazy, but I’m with you. But joint command
not sole, they won’t follow an outsider alone no matter your
reputation or the task.’

That sealed the
deal. He could feel Dagosh was itching to command from the field
again. They shook hands and raised a glass.

‘Well, let’s go
see these troops and convince them dying for you is a really,
really good idea,’ Dagosh said, standing up from the table.

The sun was
setting and lamps helped to light the way from the house to the
courtyard. Large lanterns stood in the sand on the large courtyard,
and Seth got his first glimpse of the troop he was leading out
tomorrow at sunrise.

The main body
of men were dressed as the four at the market. They carried the
weapons of men of the line everywhere. A large silver shield on one
arm, long pike with a flat blade at the top. They were separated
into five groups of twenty and seemed to have one man at the far
left with a splash of red on his clothing showing he was the
Captain. Seth was again surprised they were following set ranks and
command structure. The faces of the soldiers were all different.
Many were dark skinned, some light, even a few tall Northerners,
but all from different places. They still looked uniform and united
though. They all had a look of reserve and determination.

Next to them on
the left were two groups of ten archers. These were all Pellosina
women. Seth had never seen women serving in any force at all, but
the Pellosi had turned archery into an art form so why not women,
Seth would have to ask Dagosh about them, as most were young and
quite attractive as well. They stood with bows down in the ready
position. Lastly to the far right were four groups of the
dark-skinned men with wild hair. They had necklaces of bone and
more paint on them than clothes. Dagosh had said they were
horsemen, but they stood on the ground in the space.

Dagosh went to
stand in front of them on a small wooden platform that was built
there. Seth stood next to him and looked from face to face, person
to person. They did look like soldiers.

‘This man here
is Sir Seth. You may have heard of him recently, due to some
adventures on Master Rosen’s caravan from the capital.’

A murmur went
through the assembled troop. It seemed they had; soldiers always
knew everything.

‘He is
intending to hire us for the season at very good price, which of
course will be shared by the rules of three.’ Another very positive
murmur. ‘But first we need to show we can do a little more than
just look good in armour. First troop step up!’ he shouted.

As he did, the
shielded pike men of the first group stepped forward as one. Seth
could hear the Captain to the left of the men shouting directions
to them. They marched forward four steps in lock step, dropped knee
and formed a solid shield wall. Seth heard the words, ‘And lunge,’
and all twenty spears slid out at once and back behind the wall.
‘And lunge.’ They came out again and again in perfect time. They
then locked down the wall and waited, a wall of steel, just spear
points protruding, like an armoured animal.

Dagosh shouted,
‘Archers, try them out!’

Seth almost
cried out as the archers in two groups suddenly turned towards the
shield wall. Two things happened in quick time. One, the men of the
shield wall stood up as one, following their shouted commands, and
all turned to face the archers and locked down again. Two, the
archers dropped in formation of one line crouched on knee and the
other standing to its side. They fired two quick volleys into the
shield wall, most of the arrows flying off harmlessly, one or two
finding their way through.

Dagosh then
shouted something in the desert language like, ‘kill!’ The horsemen
completely broke rank and, drawing curved blades, ran at the
exposed backs of the line of pikemen. Before they could start to
swing wildly, the second line of pikemen had marched in sidestep
and locked down without pikes out, blocked them in. They swung
their swords wildly at the shields, causing them to clang and ring.
They were screaming and shouting, but Seth heard some laugher,
too.

With a few more
words shouted from Dagosh, all the troops returned to their
positions. Seth was surprised to see no one lying in a pool of
blood from the arrow fire.

‘We use blunt
arrows and blunt swords in our training but not in sparring. I like
to get them to practise holding formation under heavy attack. You
will know it’s about holding fast no matter what.’

Seth was more
than impressed. Blunt arrows or not, they would still draw blood
and hurt like hell, and those horsemen would still dislocate a
shoulder from those heavy blows to a badly held shield.

‘Thoughts?’
asked Dagosh.

‘Frightening
but effective,’ said Seth laughing.

Dagosh held his
hand up to the assembled troop and spoke very loudly to them all,
his voice carrying across the clear night. ‘We will now receive a
verdict from Sir Seth as to if he will take on our troop to the
last man, or decide against it.’ He whispered to Seth, ‘Give them
the thumbs up or down like in the fighting pits.’

Seth was glad
he’d seen the fighting pits as Dirst and Stephan. He looked out at
the assembled force and, giving the moment some drama, put his hand
out and turned his thumb upwards. A loud cheer broke out from the
soldiers, spears clinging against shield. Doubtless, they wanted
some action as opposed to standing around training only.

‘Now, I will
ask Sir Seth to talk to us of our new mission, and I will ask each
of you to agree to follow this man in joint command, you all know
me well, I wouldn’t be following this man myself if I didn’t
believe in him, his friends and the mission he is pursuing.’

Seth stepped up
to Dagosh’s place and let them look at him. Doubtless, he looked
very young, but strong and a man to lead. He spoke with a strong
confident voice as though he’d done it hundreds of times
before—indeed, he had, though with a different body.

‘I have friend,
a dear friend you might know by the title Elizebetha, Duchess of
Black Rock. I, with my men, brought her back home to Black Rock to
help her regain her seat there.’ Some of them clapped at this. ‘I
have an enemy. I have a deadly enemy in the form of her brother
Lord Renton.’ He could hear hissing and some name calling. He liked
a vocal soldier. ‘He intends to kill her and intends to hold the
seat of Black Rock for himself.’

‘We’re not
going to let him. Tomorrow I’ll be marching with my men and
hopefully with the Cold Death at my back and we’re going to Black
Rock to cast him out.’ They were banging spear on shields and
shouting now. ‘Then we will hold the Keep for the Duchess and the
world will know of our greatness!’

Dagosh stepped
up again. ‘If you agree to this commission, let me know in the
usual way.’

A hundred a
fifty voices started to shouted over and over again into the
darkness, the voices of men and women of many different nations:
‘Cold Death! Cold Death! Cold Death!’

Dagosh leaned
over to Seth with a smile ‘that means yes’

Chapter 28

Seth sat inside
of the yellow painted building of the Happy Merchant, but the sign
was very misleading, as Rosen sat heavily at his table, a mix of
shock and fright on his face.

‘One hundred
and fifty men, Seth? This isn’t for guarding caravans. And how did
you pay for them all? It must have cost a king’s ransom,’ he
said.

Goldie, who was
sitting nearby, laughed. ‘More like a duke’s ransom!’

Rosen narrowed
his eyes. ‘Has this got something to do with Black Rock and you
becoming a knight and everything?’

‘Look, Rosen it
doesn’t matter. All that matters is were off on a short training
march and I need to buy around thirty horses from you and a few
wagons for supplies and the like.’

Rosen looked
sullen. ‘How much?’

They had pooled
all the money he’d paid them for the trip, what they hadn’t spent.
‘I have twenty gold coins.’

‘You know
that’s not nearly enough to buy thirty horses and five wagons, with
supplies included as well, if I’m not mistaken.’ Seth hated that he
lived a country where horses cost vastly more than men.

‘You’re not;
we’ll need supplies for the horses as well’

‘Will your
“training march” be in the direction of Black Rock?’ Rosen
asked.

‘Yes,’ said
Seth.

‘And what will
you do when you get there?’

‘We’ll turn
around and come back,’ Seth said.

‘Okay, I’ll rent you the horses, wagons and sell you the
supplies, but I’m coming as well. I trust you, Seth, but I can’t
have someone stealing those animals. I need
them for my return trip
,’ he
said.

Seth reached
out and shook his pudgy hand. ‘Of course. It will be a pleasure to
have you along.’

Dagosh had
ridden that morning to the hall of the city watch and let them know
in a friendly way that he would be marching with one hundred and
fifty soldiers through the city. True, they could have gone around
the city, but Seth didn’t intend to lose half a day making a large
loop around it just to make the city guard feel better.

Seth rode at
the head next to Dagosh, Rosen and his men behind him. Each one had
been given custody of a group of men, with Rosen insisting he get
the horsemen so he knew his animals would be well treated. Not that
he knew anything of fighting from horseback. Seth was surprised to
see him actually riding on a single horse. The poor thing was
struggling under his weight and they hadn’t left the city yet.

The troop
marched silently through the city. They stopped trade and made
everyone hold their breath in anticipation. The sight of one
hundred and fifty well-armed and trained, former slave, mercenaries
all marching through a city that had built its wealth on slavery
was a good reason for concern. Seth knew the General had led larger
and less well-behaved levies and was happy with the soldiers. They
marched along with a look of pride on most faces, with the
occasional one sneering at a trader or spitting at a slaver if they
passed one. Still, they were focused.

The armour of
the men glittered and shone in the sunlight and reflected on the
spear tips. Seth consulted with different city guards as they
marked the group’s slow progress through the city. It was a thin
deception of a training march. Most people in the city thought they
were seeing the men who would soon be laying siege to any passing
caravan or wagon train.

As the troop
marched its way out through the large city gates and started up the
road towards Black Rock, the city drew a collective breath, put
daggers away and started to dig up the gold they had buried in
their yards.

That night as
the troops of the Cold Death set up their first roadside camp, set
guards and built some simple pickets and trenches. Lord Renton
stormed into the banquet room of the Keep where his sister sat
eating a quiet repast at the large table. She looked at up his red
and furious face as he paced over to her.

‘Interesting
news I have here, sister,’ he said, waving a tiny rolled-up letter,
the type ravens carry. ‘That Northern bastard you knighted is now
marching back here at the head of an ex-slave army of two hundred
men!’

She burst out
laughing, a surge of hopefulness filling her. ‘How do you know
that?’ she asked.

Lord Renton
slapped her face hard with his open palm, bringing tears into her
eyes. It was like a youth slapping his grandmother. She was
shocked.

‘Forget how I
know that. The fact is he’s coming here. But you’ll be dead, dead,
dead by the time he does!’ he said, screaming in her face.