The Terror of Thorn: Child of War: Book 2 (2 page)

              Xander led the men to the area where he used to spar with the palace guard an area he wouldn’t admit he was happy to see. There were some Palace Guardsmen there, but they paid them no attention and kept doing whatever it was they were doing. Xander could tell the Thornian men were excited to spar, they seemed to keep one hand on their sword belt even though it was empty. Xander gave who he thought was their leader a wooden sword and took up another one. Xander had fought and killed many Thornians before and wanted to take his rage out on any of them he could find, with sparring being a way he could successfully do it without angering anyone.

              “A sparring session huh” Xander could hear Rolle’s deep but unmistakable voice. “No one spars on my field without going through me first. I have been waiting to test my skill against you again Xander” Rolle said in his normal carefree voice.

              “Go spar someone else Guard Captain, you have many men under your command” Xander said as he started twirling his practice sword.

              “So that’s how it still is huh Xander? What if I just stand in the middle of the ring until someone beats me” Rolle said as he stopped his joking and stood in the middle of the circle Xander was getting ready to use.

              “Gentlemen” Xander said speaking to the Thornians. “The Captain of the Guard has volunteered to show you the Rangelian style of dueling as well as any other places of note” Xander said as he left the area leaving Rolle alone with his Guardsmen and the Thornians. Xander went back towards the throne room and decided to test something he had been working on, a listening device. Xander returned to his room and pulled out some parchment.

              Xander loved the rush he had gotten from enchanting but rarely had time to do it just for fun. If Aubrey knew Xander had a hobby, he was sure she would dive right into it with him and buy all kinds of things for him. If Aubrey wanted to be this all powerful princess Xander was going to let her, just without the true side of him along for the ride. Xander scribbled down the symbols for ‘hear’ and poured his ether into it. He had tried earlier but found out his material he used was wrong, stone was too heavy. Xander quickly made a twin to the paper he made and left towards the throne room where he could hear chairs moving, a sure sign the meeting was over. Xander figured it couldn’t be too hard to just stick his paper on Aubrey somewhere the next time she had a private meeting.                                                                                                                        

CHAPTER 4

JANUS

              King Janus looked around his war room and noticed some empty chairs, some prominent nobles were missing, not that it was unexpected. His power play with the merchant Javik had proved disastrous when he threatened to take away his land if his daughter did not agree to marry him. Javik was the wealthiest man by far in the kingdom with his wealth surpassing even that of the monarchy. Janus could still see Javik’s face as he got up and waltzed out of the throne room, Janus should have dealt with him right there but he underestimated Javik completely.

              Javik had been smart enough to keep his money in hard gold and probably foresaw the day they would run afoul of each other. While Janus had lustily taxed all of citizens he could, Javik spent time employing and feeding the poor. He had a sizable force behind him when Janus had his soldiers try to retrieve him from his home and they were much more well-armed than thought possible. The traitors killed as many of Janus’s men as they could before fortifying their position, starting a civil war. He smiled as he thought of the men helping Javik, Javik’s allies were not liked by Janus because they resented the way he came into power.

              Erik the Red had expanded the Kingdom by conquering all of the small surrounding nations up until the border of Frahse. Janus had no idea while the common people loved him so much as he took many men to war with him. At the height of his power, along with his magically crafted weapons, Erik took on the powerful Queen to the north. The Rangelians proved to be too powerful a foe although the Enchanter dealt more damage than he took, it was a war he would lose. Janus sent a secret message to the Queen saying he would give her access to Erik’s position so she could finish him, if she promised not to invade. The queen accepted his offer but had additional terms stating that she wanted a certain amount of food every year as well as land up the pass. Janus agreed and Erik was slaughtered, but all was not well.

              Janus, then the Duke of Douo sieged power after Erik’s death and ended the war but questions lingered on how the Rangelians knew who to attack and how they even got his location. Erik never adorned himself like other leaders and unless you knew him personally, he could pass for any other soldier. Many spoke out against Janus’s rule and thought Erik’s sister Vlada should have been regent until she passed in childbirth. The  whispers Janus then heard was many thought Vlada and Javik’s daughter Samantha should rule. Janus crushed all who openly defied him but still there were whispers. Then an idea struck, one that could have changed things permanently.

              Although he had ruled for nearly twenty years, people still saw him as a pretender, the fact he was childless, unmarried, and almost 50 did nothing to change perceptions about him. If he could marry Javik’s daughter, now that she was of age, no one would question his rule ever. The problem was, he had nothing he could offer her or her fool of a father.

Javik was a sickly man who didn’t have long in this world anyhow, but his reach was extensive. As the biggest lumber and steel merchant in the nation, many men owed him a debt as evident by the Duke of Jeli not being present at this gathering. Janus mused these thoughts over as Henry, Earl of Glou snapped him out of it.

              “Your Majesty, it has been confirmed Javik’s daughter Samantha has left his estate and no one is sure where Javik has her” Henry said awaiting the King’s normally sour reply.

              “What are you paid for then Glou? If you cannot keep tabs on a simple girl! Surely someone at the table has knowledge about where she is” Janus demanded as he stood up and started pacing, a sure sign he was getting ready to punish someone at the table.

              “Your majesty I did hear one rumor as the day broke but I thought it to fantastic to share, even now I am not sure” said a man Janus had never seen standing against a wall.

              “Who is this person addressing me with such familiarity” Janus demanded.

              “Forgive him your majesty, he is a baronet in my employ, pay him know attention” spoke the Duke of Bodders, whose land stretched up until the border of Rangel.

              “I’ll decide who to forgive Bodders, now what information do you have” Janus said as he stood in front of the Baronet.

              “I was told a group of females disguised as men delivered our monthly tribute to the Rangelian outpost. One of them was discovered not even two steps from the soldiers of the outpost and demanded asylum along with others and wished to speak to the Queen.”

              “And the person who told you this did nothing?” Janus fumed.

              “They did not want to invoke the wrath of, that is to say Your Majesty they didn’t want to run afoul of, something rumored to be a protector of that post” the baronet spoke careful not to mention Erik’s name.

              Janus knew exactly what he was talking about, just thinking of the rumor made his body temperature lower a couple of degrees. After Ingland talked him into a simultaneous attack on Rangel, it was said Erik the Red’s ghost in armor stained pink by the blood of his victims, decimated everyone at the outpost Bodders troops had captured. It was then said he traveled until he found the first border post of Thorn and slaughtered everyone he could get his hands on. Of course it was said he cowardly attacked the men while they were resting but the survivors were clear, they saw his face and it was Erik the Red, right down to his magical blade. Still, the thoughts of a ghost were of no matter; Janus had a war to win.

              “Whoever this man is send him back to the border, at least one of you knows how to do your job. How goes it with Frahse” Janus asked, aware his neighbor was prepping for war since they knew his kingdom was in turmoil.

              “Nothing but border skirmishes your Majesty” Kevon the Duke of Best spoke. “The Frahch obviously have superior numbers to mine but they are still feeling out our tactics. We have killed them 4 to 1 in the beginning but now they have elves as allies. We are still doing more damage around 2 to 1 but if they ever sent their force over in full I would overwhelmed. I think I could give you a week at best before the retreat had to be sounded, but if I had more men..”

              “You will have your men Best, as soon as Javik is brought to the executioners ax. The fact Frahse has not come over only means two things” Janus spoke surprised he did not piece it together sooner. “Either Javik has Frahse doing his dirty work for him, keeping the majority of our troops busy until he could put his daughter on the throne or Frahse is waiting for us to commit our troops to fight Javik so they can take over. Either way, we need to end this now, what say you Brendan?” Janus spoke to his high adviser.

              “Your majesty, I think the girl seeks the aid of the Queen of Rangel, promising her more of our land and a bigger stipend of our food. Javik is holding out, hoping his daughter is successful with her mission. Frahse is just in the right place at the right time, the fact they have not come over after losing so many men means that it was probably peasants and/or criminals who were dying on the front line” Brendan spoke.

              Janus looked around this room and felt sick, he would possibly have to fight a war on two, possibly three fronts. While he did not doubt Best, Best was not a native Thornian, his father was the King of a small conquered land Janus did not think important enough to even recall. What he needed was stability in his Kingdom, something he rarely saw even after twenty years of rule.

              “Our problem lies not with Frahse; we will take half of your men Best, you will need to make the others work double shifts. Dress up your women and old people in uniform if you have to. Bodders you will keep your men in a state of emergency, dig deep trenches and start digging tunnels to give your men a way to escape. You will most likely not hold off the Rangelians, especially if their damn witches show up. Keep fast horses ready to move at a moment’s notice along with a raven bound for here. If they come across the border I want to know the strength the Rangelians bring. The rest of you your orders are simple, whoever you see speak out against my rule is to be executed along with a family member. People may still gripe but it will be done behind closed doors. Also start drafting men over 14 summers for war. We cannot afford a volunteer army when Rangel is forcing every male over 16 to fight, you are dismissed. Brendan stay behind” Janus said as he walked out of the war room towards his private sitting room.

              “Your Majesty you wanted to see me” Brendan said to Janus’s back. Unlike the rest of his subjects, Brendan did not fear the King. It was Brendan who advised Janus on courting, rather than demanding Javik’s daughter. He knew the king trusted his advice, or he would have been replaced long ago by a yes man.

              “Brendan, I need to win over the people from Javik, can it be done?” Janus said in his usual straight forward manner when something was bothering him.

              “Your Majesty, Javik is too well rooted with the people to turn the poor against him. I advise capturing him and making a deal with the daughter, her hand for her father’s life. I am sure his allies will be a problem but they do not share Javik’s fame. I would not kill them, but I would force them into Rangel to reap the fruits of their labor. They would be treated as any other male there even more harshly so if it is known they had participated in the War. Cut ties with Ingland though, they have offered to help us but it is known they covet our land.”

              “Brendan send word to keep his family alive as well as that of his allies. Can we beat Rangel in a war on our homeland?” Janus asked but was scared for the answer.

              “While the Rangelians are larger than we are by the size of their soldiers, they are nowhere near as good. Men who are forced into service never fare as well as those who volunteer. They do have numbers on us though. Man on man our regulars would defeat their regulars. Their regulars without a doubt would beat any conscripts in a battle. Nevertheless it would be a long, costly war fighting Rangel in our homeland, but I think the defections they would suffer would eventually give us victory. Remember men are in the minority down there, who wouldn’t want to escape forced servitude for a chance to make their own way. I would promise asylum to anyone that defects. During the War a quarter of our army was from defections. Many of the men from that time are still your subjects, but then you already knew that.” Brendan said as he poured the King some tea.

              “What are the chances they would send their full force of witches along with the regular soldiers?” Janus said as he sipped his tea, thankful Brendan knew him so well.

              “Due to the battle with Ingland, I doubt they would send more than was necessary to fight us, even if we are weak. I expect some witches to come through, and if they do join the fight that could go bad for us. General McWilliams may have more insight but I believe if that happens then all maybe lost unless we get Ingland to launch an attack and make peace with Frahse. They have never faced Rangel but if it were rumored all their men would be enslaved, I think we would get more than a few volunteers Frahch volunteers to help fight them off.”