The King of Anavrea (Book Two of the Theodoric Saga) (19 page)

“Make it so,” Ireic ordered.

The young man saluted and fell back.

“I take it you were not expecting this,” Aarint
commented as soon as the young man was out of hearing range.

“It was that obvious?” Ireic asked.

Aarint smiled. “It is in the Kurios’ hands, and
it appears that He wishes you to win with the people at your
side.”

“I hope that is so.” His thoughts returned to
his wife and her fate.

“He will take care of her also. Leave her in His
hands, Ireic. I left her there years ago and He gave her back to
me. I have seen her as I never thought I would, happily married and
loved. It took five years, but I was able to see her again. She
loves Him and trusts Him. Do the same.”

Ireic grimaced at Aarint’s uncanny ability to
know when he was thinking on Lirth, but he understood. After four
days of wrestling, he still wasn’t ready to let go.

Kurios, creator of heaven and earth, other
kings before me have sought You as they marched into battle. I
don’t recall anyone seeking Your protection for his wife, but I ask
that now. Place your protective hedge about Lirth. Keep her from
harm, if possible. Bring her back to me safe and whole. I love her,
Kurios.
Ireic’s heart tightened unexpectedly as he realized
that he had not told her since the previous night.
Please show
her know that I love her.

“There it is,” Aarint announced, pointing
between his horse’s ears at the gates of Ana City that stood tall
and majestic. “It looks like the gates are open, but they might not
stay open for long.”

Ireic signaled for the drummer to double the
speed and the bugle signaled the call to arms. The steady tread of
hundreds of feet in unison grew more syncopated and demanding. The
familiar rush of fear and anticipation flowed through his veins.
Reaching for his shield, he closed his eyes once more. “Thy will be
done, Kurios.”

“Amen,” Aarint assented, sword in hand and
shield raised.

It had taken Ireic four days to reach this point
of reluctant submission, but the Kurios brought him the last span.
As Ireic looked within his heart, he found the desire for the
Kurios’ will to be done, whatever it may be. “Shall not the King of
all the earth do right?” he asked and drew his sword. “My life is
in Your hands, Kurios. Do with it as You desire.”

Taking comfort in the assurance that he knew
where he would be should this be his last battle, Ireic signaled
the bugler. The man drew a deep breath and then sounded the charge.
The gates still stood open as the company broke into a gallop.
Ireic prayed they stayed that way until they all made it
through.

~~~~~~

Lirth woke to pain, a throbbing fist at the back
of her skull that flexed and contracted with her heart beat.

“When she wakes, say nothing,” a familiar voice
whispered. “If you say nothing she will not know that you are here.
Then when I give the signal...”

“But what about him?” a new voice inquired. It
was high and slightly nasal.

“Not a word. As far as she knows, he is dead.” A
slight scuffling sound was followed by a muffled groan. “See, he
can’t make enough noise to bother with that gag.”

“When will she wake?” the nasal voice asked.

Someone crossed the room and slapped her cheek.
“Ah, I think now is a good time for sleeping beauty to wake.”

Without warning, a pail of icy water cascaded
over her head. She brought her head up and gasped for air as her
body reacted to the abrupt temperature change. That was when she
discovered that her head was the only thing that was free. Hands,
arms, feet, and legs were all bound to something that felt like a
metal lattice. Cold water dripped down her face, trickling down her
neck and between her shoulder blades, crying for her to wipe it
away.
Father, please give me strength,
she prayed.

“Good morning.” Her old assailant’s voice rasped
next her ear. “It is time to begin. Let us see what can be found in
that little skull of yours, Brat.” He stepped back. “Where shall we
begin?” He stepped back again. “Ah, yes, military secrets. It seems
so boring to begin there, but it is necessary considering your
husband’s plans.”

Something struck close to her head, shaking the
lattice and her helpless body.

“How many?” he demanded from across the room.
“How many troops answer to your husband’s orders?”

Lirth kept her mouth closed. The lattice
vibrated again as something struck it with a deafening clang. She
couldn’t help wincing as the other man struck again, this time
hitting her defenseless arm. Fire shot up into her shoulder.
Closing her eyes, she drew within herself and began to pray. Within
the Kurios’ shelter, she would cling to Him and by His strength,
survive.

“Speak,” her old enemy yelled suddenly in her
ear. Instinctively, Lirth turned away from the sound, but a fist
drove her head back against the metal. Blood flooded her mouth with
its bitter taste and her upper lip grew cold.

Kurios, I need your strength.

~~~~~~

When Ireic and his men reached the south gate,
the great doors were barely open. Yorn’s men struggled to widen the
gap. The soldiers in the gatehouse fought to close them. Aarint
signaled some of the men behind to aide Yorn’s men. They charged
and overwhelmed the gatehouse defenders. By the time Ireic, Aarint
and the remaining company passed beneath, the gate was in crown
control once more.

The city streets reached off in four directions
from the main court beyond the gate. Ireic chose the main
thoroughfare, wide enough for twenty to march abreast. He led the
soldiers on toward the palace in the northeastern corner of the
city.

They met the first resistance at the turn onto
the royal approach. A hastily constructed barricade of farm carts,
an overturned vegetable stand, and empty flour barrels from the
local baking house blocked the turn. Sheltering behind them, dozens
of men wielded crude arms constructed of household items. Ireic’s
chest constricted. Only weeks before, Ireic had rode in a carriage
over these very cobblestones as Anavrea’s rightful king. Apparently
some of the common people shared the former councilors’ views of
his inability to rule well.

Aarint began giving orders and within moments,
their men were preparing to assault the obstacle. Ireic flinched
when the bugler sounded the charge. The civilians fell beneath the
blades and hooves of the first assault. Ireic’s heart ached as he
rode past the casualties. More wives and mothers would wait in vain
for their men to return to them this night.

Farther along the avenue they were greeted with
some cheers as they passed. Bittersweet, considering the opposition
they had just overtaken.

Ireic didn’t glance behind at the ranks, but
reports of civilians joining kept arriving. When the main
thoroughfare opened into the great courtyard before the palace’s
southern gates, Aarint signaled a halt. The columns of mounted
soldiers stopped but more men on foot kept coming, swarming around
them and flanking the original army on both sides, tripling its
size. Ireic’s army had gone from outnumbered to massive. Taking the
castle now was a given, once they breached the gates. However, then
the army might have to control the mob and figure out how to
discourage plundering. Ireic tensed as the possible negative
possibilities unfolded in his head.

Cheering off to the east and west signaled the
arrival of those contingents. A few moments later, the deep
throated call of a hunting horn announced Trahern’s arrival at the
northern perimeter. Still the palace’s front gates remained silent
and closed. They seemed to defy Ireic, taunting him.

“Sire!” The voice echoed among the clatter of
hooves on cobbles. A man on a dark stallion approached from the
east. He pulled up sharply and saluted. “Lord Yorn wishes to inform
you that all the council members and their families are barricaded
within the palace walls. They had fifteen hundred troops at last
count.”

“You mean their wives and children are with
them?” This seemed foolish unless they were planning on using them
as hostages. Or they might be trying to ensure that their family
members couldn’t be used against them. Ireic’s stomach clenched.
That meant innocent bystanders to be sorted through and negotiated
around when they finally breached the wall.

“They closed the palace gates as soon as they
got word that you were coming.”

“Does Yorn have a way into the Palace grounds?”
Ireic asked. They hadn’t built siege equipment because Ireic was
sure he could get the gates open, but not without letting someone
in on the secrets of the defenses. It would be better if Yorn had
someone inside.

“He said that you would know how to get the
gates open, sire.” The man lowered his head apologetically.

Ireic frowned. “I do,” he admitted. “Aarint,
choose out four men of slender build that are not afraid of
heights, preferably with mountain climbing experience.”

The request for volunteers flowed through the
ranks quickly. Finally, seven men made their way to the front.
Ireic selected four. “They will each need a squad of eight men,
preferably men who know the grounds.”

While the larger batch of volunteers sorted
themselves out, Ireic dismounted and took the first four aside.
“Follow the wall east. Three outcroppings past the first corner,
you will find a place perfect for scaling the wall. Once you are on
the other side, go to the postern gates, there are four.” He
assigned them each a gate and gave them each detailed directions.
“Once you reach them, the unit assigned to you will be waiting. Let
them in and then attack the nearest gate house and open the gates.”
The men nodded their understanding and soundlessly left in the
direction of the wall. Ireic watched them until they melted into
the bushes that lined the base of the wall.

Returning to the newly formed squads, Ireic gave
them their instructions and sent them off. Then the waiting began.
The crowd around them grew restless. The enlisted men remained in
formation, a silent and disciplined example for the masses around
them. Ireic trusted the officers to have the men ready when the
gates opened and the real work began.

The former council members could be anywhere on
the grounds. Once found, there were also the families to deal with,
hysterical females and frightened, distraught children. Ireic
dreaded the coming events, especially the over ninety executions
demanded by law. If he was lenient, however, and set them free,
this could happen all over again in a few years and then they might
succeed. Somehow, he had to figure out how to render the men
useless without executing them all. He did not want to martyr the
fathers so that their sons would return for revenge once they grew
into manhood. Regardless of how wrong the councilmen’s actions
were, their wives and children still loved and needed them.

“We can separate into squads and search
systematically through the grounds from this gate on,” Aarint
suggested.

Ireic looked over to find his brother-in-law
pointing to a spot on a map. The man holding the map, a captain,
nodded. Ireic was just wondering where the two of them had found a
map when the sound of more than one galloping horse drew his
attention to the right.

“There is movement in the gate house,” someone
called.

The heavy groan of massive doors moving on iron
hinges drowned out any other comments. Aarint swiftly rolled up the
map as the area erupted into chaos. Ireic reluctantly turned his
attention to the opening gates.

Officers yelled instructions and the men formed
ranks. Before the doors were halfway open, the contingent moved
forward. Ireic, protectively cocooned in the center had no choice
but to move with them.

He scanned the right flank as best he could from
his position, but he could see no sign of the galloping riders.
Aarint rode with a few warriors off to his right. Surely he had
seen the riders also. Ireic feared it was someone with news of
Lirth. Feared and hoped.
Kurios, keep her,
he prayed.

“Enemy bearing down.” The cry came from the
tower as leaders of the charge passed through the gates.

As soon as the first men were through the gates,
they spread out to meet the approaching riders and protect the men
still passing through the opening. Ireic could spot Aarint out
among the right flank. In the brief glimpse he got of his
brother-in-law, he thought he spotted a familiar face nearby, but a
battle cry from the left drew his attention there.

A handful of the councilors’ older sons rushed
the left flank. In a matter of minutes the whole group had been
disarmed or incapacitated. Casual sword fighting lessons were no
match for men who survived by their skill.

A distant woman’s scream pierced the air. A
child wailed. Ireic scanned the crowd for the riders, but they had
been lost in the fray. His unit continued forward, making for the
main entrance into the palace.

Two middle-aged secretaries to the council
surrendered the gate with barely an attempt to defend it. After
that, the rest of the assault became a surreal dream of wandering
dark corridor after dark corridor and uncovering cowering women and
children. Every once in a while, they encountered a family unit,
huddled together as far as they could get from the bed chamber
door. Within a few hours the troops had located all but three of
the councilors. The army gathered them in the outer courtyard
before the main entrance. Shivering and exposed, they made a
pitiful sight in the torchlight despite their varying efforts to
appear noble and proud.

“I feel almost a bully,” Aarint commented from
Ireic’s side.

“Keep remembering what they have done.”

“Jumper on the tower!” Someone yelled.