02.54 Althafen
“Halt!” I bellowed.
The column slowed down, then came to a stop.
Thick, dark smoke rising from the walled city was visible against the afternoon sky, even when it was almost an hour away.
“Sir Moore!”
He was beside my horse almost instantly.
“Send some fast riders to summon Sir Hagen’s force. Give them spare horses if they need, but they must reach Hagen as soon as possible.”
He nodded sharply, calling for his subordinates.
“Sir Grimric?”
“My lord?”
“I want to make sure nobody can slink out of the city while we deal with… whatever is happening there. How many men will that take?”
“For a city of more than two thousand souls… a hundred will suffice, if they are on the walls.”
“Leaving us with only a hundred and fifty soldiers. Enough to quell unrest or handle an ambush?”
“The Royal troops are a cut above the provincial soldiers, my lord,” he said with pride. “The banners of the Crown and your own should multiply the effect.”
“Alright. Do it.”
He nodded and left to issue orders.
As I was talking with the officers, a covered wagon that was coming toward us slowed down, then stopped. The owner seemed to be deciding if turning around would be a good idea.
My guards and I rode ahead before he could make up his mind.
The man in his early forties, sitting on the bench, froze. A fairly successful merchant, seeing how he had horses instead of oxen, and clothes made of quality wool.
“How do you fare, my good man?”
“Well, my lord,” he answered haltingly.
“Are you coming from Althafen?”
He looked behind me, at the military column, the banners of the crown and the houses of county fluttering, then nodded.
“What is happening there?”
“I think… fighting has broken out among the nobles.”
Shit.
I had asked Hagen and Thurvald to hide themselves half a day away from the city, so we would reach it before it was alerted of their presence.
Someone must have discovered their presence and escaped to alert the nobles.
We had failed.
We really need wireless comms. Or at least an optical telegraph network.
“How long has this been going on?” I pointed to the rising columns of smoke.
“Just began. I took off the moment I got a hint. Before they could close the gates.”
The merchant was doing his best to hide his nervousness, but his sweat glands and slightly trembling hands betrayed him.
“Check his wagon,” I ordered.
His face went from alarm to panic to resignation in a matter of seconds.
Noah, Benno and Helad dismounted, went behind the wagon and began searching.
My eyes widened as my ears caught the sharp hiss of steel leaving a sheath.
Benno, who had been standing back with his crossbow ready, shot immediately.
A cry of pain, then silence, except for the cocking lever.
“Move, and the next one will go through your chest,” his voice was sharp, his crossbow ready again.
Noah and Helad came back dragging a stocky man struggling, his eyes searching for a way to break free, despite the bolt sticking from his thigh.
“Who might you be?” I asked.
He remained silent, eyebrows knitted in a perpetual glower.
Exhaling, I ordered him dragged back to our convoy.
I tapped at the windows of Eirica’s carriage. “My lady, would you come out?”
She did so, gingerly. Visibly gathering her courage.
Her eyes widened when they found our captive.
“I don’t need to ask whether you might know who this man is?”
“No, my lord,” her voice was full of disgust. Eyes even more so.
“Allow me to present Sir Morwald. My late husband’s right hand man.”
“Just as bad as the other one we have in our custody?”
“Worse.”
“Will we find enough proof of his crimes to convict him?”
“Easily. Discretion is a foreign concept to him.”
I turned to the men. “Pack him somewhere.”
As our column approached the city, the air became thick with the smell of burning wood and the bitter taste of ash. The fires were still raging.
Let’s hope it’s not them burning the evidence of their crimes.
Riders and foot-soldiers began peeling off in pairs to cut off roads. The rest of us kept going, stopping just out of bowshot from the main gate of the city walls.
“Open the gates!” I bellowed.
The guards atop the towers kept staring at the procession, pale with fear.
“Are you deaf or what? Can you not see the banners? Open the bloody gates!”
“The—the gate is stuck, milord!”
“Then unstuck it before I send a hundred soldiers to climb the walls.”
They finally moved.
After a minute, there was the heavy thud of the gates being disbarred. They groaned as they swung outward, slow as a snail.
Grimric politely asked me to stay behind while his men, decked in shiny plate, marched in to secure the gate.
Then the rest of the column poured in, foot soldiers in the colors of the Crown, houses Nobart and Nordhaven forming a corridor for my retinue.
“Moore, put someone reliable in charge of the gates and find out who tried to stall our progress. Sir Grimric, send two squads to assess the situation with the fires.”
Both of them nodded.
Our procession rode down the main thoroughfare, silent except for the clip-clop of hooves on stone.
Not a single soul in sight.
Not openly.
A few shutters opened slightly ajar. Curious, wary eyes peeked at us, then disappeared immediately.
Some sharp eyed men spied us from the cover of distant buildings before vanishing. Most likely the nobles’ private soldiers.
Stalls had been abandoned, cabbages and crushed apples strewn on the dirty streets.
Suddenly, a man bolted from an alley.
My guards’ crossbows were already pointed at him.
The man’s eyes widened in shock as he fell to his knees.
“I’m only looking for my son, my lord!”
“Then look elsewhere.”
We reached the castle, whose gates were closed.
Before I had said anything, the gates groaned, slowly swinging outwards.
I dismounted.
Reshma left her carriage, and came to stand next to me.
Eirica soon joined us, her face unreadable.
A nobleman stood in the courtyard, surrounded by functionaries and soldiers. Average build, with a long thin mustache and a widow’s peak.
Wolfram, a smart opportunist who ran the city watch. Eirica had predicted he would quickly align with the victor.
He bowed deep.
“My lord Count. Lady Mondgrove. My… lady.”
“Lady Reshma,” I added. “Personal aide to Her Majesty.”
“We are blessed by your presence in Althafen,” he said, his voice barely managing to hide his rising nervousness.
“What is all this?” I pointed to the columns of smoke.
“Ah, that. Someone came back with the news of a large force hidden near the Queen’s road,” he said, rubbing his hands together. “It frightened some of the nobles, and frightened people make poor decisions. I, however, kept the castle neutral.”
“Holed yourself up while the city was burning. You didn’t send someone to talk to the soldiers?”
“They had no banners!”
“Obviously. If they had been carrying royal banners, corrupt nobles would have burned all evidence of their wrongdoings before we had reached the city.”
Reshma put a hand on my shoulder. A polite way of telling me to piss off.
Eirica came to stand close to me, then turned to him.
“My lord, I have the support of our Count, the future Prince Consort. Will you aid me in stabilizing our barony? I am sure our liege would be willing to forgive your numerous ‘mistakes’ in exchange for your complete support.”
He froze, mouth open, shocked by her imperious tone, as did the rest of us.
Then he bowed deeply
Reshma whispered in my ear, “Still don’t want her?”
I suppressed a smile.
The poor woman had been under the thumb of a petty tyrant for years. I was happy she could finally be herself.
The servants, clerks and the guards spilled out everything they knew in their eagerness to survive, corroborating Wolfram’s testimony.
Seeing how the large force had not advanced or displayed any banners, the local nobles had rightfully surmised that Grunric did not command it and must have not only failed to capture Eirica and her child, but also to secure the regency of the barony.
That destroyed the tacit alliance they had held.
Years of polite jabs and veiled threats instantly turned into backstabbings. The sensible ones secured their residences, while the idiots used thugs to set fire to their opponents’ properties or kidnap their heirs.
All in the town of a few thousand.
Our lack of ability to communicate had ruined the operation.
I looked at Eirica. If we didn’t get rid of the corrupt nobles, life would become very difficult for her, especially without the powers of a regent.
Did I screw up again in my impatience?
While Reshma wrote a short speech about how the new Count had arrived to maintain peace, I took Eirica aside.
“My lord,” Grimric interjected. “The castle has been secured.”
“Good. How many local soldiers?”
“Two dozen.”
“Then we have plenty to spare. Prepare two squads of fifty soldiers to invite and accompany every noble to the castle.”
Inclining his head, he left to issue orders.
I turned to Eirica. “They might have already destroyed the proof of their crimes. By the way, that was… very assertive.”
Her face was a mask, but her lips quivered just a bit. “I will do whatever I have to secure my child’s future.”
Her eyes found mine.
“Would you make me regent, my lord?”
“No. You know the threat that position can pose more than anyone, but,” I raised a finger, “I can grant you the temporary powers of one until a council is formed. How does a month sound?”
“The barony is in shambles. My late husband was not… the best of administrators. It will take a lot more to stabilize it.”
“Two, then.”
“Four.”
“If you promise there will be a council at the end of it.”
“I swear it.”
“I will be cross with you if it isn’t.”
Her face remained impassive.
Right. Still angry about the reveal.
Criers went out, proclaiming that peace had been restored, while squads of soldiers accompanying them went from district to district to find and “invite” the local nobles for a meeting.
The soldiers that had been sent to handle the fires came back, smelling of burnt wood.
“Limited to the nobles’ warehouses, my lord,” one squad leader said, kneeling. “Some thugs that were hanging around ran away upon seeing us. The locals were quick to help us in putting the fires out.”
“The city watch did nothing?”
He shook his head.
Within an hour, all five local nobles were at the castle gates.
They walked into the courtyard gingerly, glancing at the prison coach for a fraction of a second, where Grunric and his two lackeys were lying, bound and gagged for everyone to see.
By their looks, not everyone was there by choice. Their lips were curved in smiles, but their eyes betrayed their wariness. The eyes of the two older ones flickered with hidden anger. Old enough to have adult children, who would have participated in the Battle of the Bog, and died there.
The ghost of that battle was still haunting me.
Still, they all bowed with deference.
A bald man with hawkish face stepped forward. “My lord, we are ashamed to receive you with our city in such a terrible state. Allow us to congratulate you on your upcoming nuptials. We shall arrange a grand feast in your honor!”
“Can you really afford it, after all the damage?”
“Of course—”
“My lord, If I may,” Eirica interjected.
I inclined my head.
“Lord Eckmar. Your honeyed words will no longer have their effect. Neither I, nor our liege are moved by them like my late husband.”
His eyebrows came together in offense, but quickly composed his features.
The nobles seemed to finally register her as a player, not just a title holder.
The oldest of them, Wilmar, broke the silence.
“May we ask why Lord Grunric is caged?”
“He tried to kidnap your infant Baron. He also murdered a bastard son of the late Baron and forced himself on the mother afterwards.”
Three of them feigned shock. The other didn’t have the decency to do even that.
The one sporting a goatee, Ludwin, put on a simpering smile. “Those are serious allegations, my lord. Isn’t it hasty to condemn him based upon a frightened mother’s words?”
“I did not lock him up based just upon the Dowager’s words alone. I found concrete proof of his crimes. And as we speak, more is being collected.”
I had just finished speaking, when six soldiers arrived accompanying a woman.
She was dressed well, but her hair was frazzled, as if it hadn’t been taken care of in weeks. Sadness that visibly haunted her had hollowed out her once beautiful face.
She bowed low.
We continued the discussion in the castle’s meeting chamber.
“My lady, were you the late Baron’s mistress?” I asked gently.
“I was, my lord.”
“Did you have a child with him?”
“Yes. A son,” she choked, almost losing her balance.
“Where is the child now?” I asked, feeling like an asshole.
“Gone,” she said, tears rolling down her cheeks. “Lord Grunric killed him, by—”
Soldiers caught her before she could collapse to the ground.
“Take her to an empty chamber to rest.”
“Words of a commoner!” Ludwin spat.
I turned to him, showing my teeth. “You need not worry, my lord. No innocent man will be condemned in my presence based on words of one person.”
“Was she a well hidden paramour of your late husband?” I asked Eirica.
“No, my lord,” her voice was ice.
“So, many others can attest to the fact that he had a child with her?”
She nodded silently.
I looked to Moore. “Then we shall have those people’s testimonies. Nurses, servants, midwives and guards.”
Then to the knight of the Royal Guard. “Sir Grimric, please make sure no one leaves or enters the city without my permission. No one.”
The nobles visibly blanched.
Before they could protest me essentially detaining them, I continued.
“My lords, we have been traveling all day. Let us discuss Lord Grunric’s fate tomorrow.”
They relaxed visibly, turning to leave the meeting chamber.
The soldiers barring the door did not move.
The relief vanished.
“We just ordered the cooks to prepare a feast celebrating my betrothal to Her Majesty and restoration of peace in the county,” I said, smiling. “I was in Nebelhain a few days ago and the new Baron sent us off with sacks full of ingredients for their unique dishes.”
No one spoke.
“Why don’t you wait a while? It will be worth it, I promise.”
Everyone knew it wasn’t a request.
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