A Favor

As Conall walked away he was replaying everything in his mind. “He couldn't really have done all this right?” he asked himself in a low voice as he had reached the courtyard of the castle. Looking around he saw that the castle had become very peaceful after all that had happened in the past day. Only a few guards were visible on tops of the wall. From what he had heard most of the vanguard got put on guard duty within the city to stop the possibility of riots. He laughed to himself and thanked the gods above he wasn't around that bastard of a prince when he gave the order. ‘Little shite thinks he owns us.’ He thoughtato himself. Looking to the main entrance he could see a few guards had been left to ensure no one left or entered the castle grounds.

“Stop right there.” one of the men called out. “No one is allowed to enter or leave the castle under order of th..”

“Of the king. Yes i'm quite aware of the orders at the moment but as you can see i'm in a hurry and don't have time for your games lad.” Conall said cutting off the young man who clearly was new to the job. “I can see your not used to this whole thing considering your shaken in your boots like a damned child so I wont hold it against you.” he paused for a second to let the young lad regain his composer seeing the towering figure before him. “I'm a member of the Vanguard and his majestys personal guard which means i report directly to him. I do think if I am permitted to go as i please. Unless of course you feel the need to challenge me, boy.” he finished leaning closer to the poor boy emphasise the difference in size between the two.

“Well i mean i uh um” the boy began to stammer clearly not sure what to do.”

“Quite torturing the boy Conall he isn't even old enough to have been with a women.” an older voice began to laugh from the other side of the gate. “You know your always aloud through these gates. Now get on before I knock that smirk off your face.”

“I was just breaking him in for you old man.” he said as he hit the young boy in the shoulder somewhat softly. “I'd like to see you try old man, but i'm afraid i might end your career as a guard.” he finished as he left the castle grounds entering into the city.

The city before him was oddly empty of citizens and seemed almost deserted. About the only people he even saw in the streets were other vanguard members that seemed to be patrolling around the street. Oddly enough however he could see any of the officers around the streets. “Lazy bastards must be sitting in a tavern getting drunk off there asses.” he said to himself hating how most people of power became complacent and lazy with themselves. “Although i could go for a few drinks after today.” this time speaking out loud as he continued to look for the backers house Eleanor had told him about. After a short walk he found what he could partially be the bakers house.

Making his way to the front door of the small house he knocked on it hoping that they were in their own home on this night. After a few moments of waiting Conall knocked once again this time speaking. “Hello. Can you please open the door?” after he finished his statement he could the curtains to the side of the house move just slightly before moving back to their place or origin. “Listen i know you're in there. I'm not here to harm you or your family. If I was i would have kicked in the door without knocking so please open the door.” after yet another moment Conall could feel himself getting slightly irritated by the lack of answering going on at the door. “I could still kick..” Conall was surprising cut off by the door slowly begin opened as a small roundish man appeared in the doorway.

“Please sir i don't have much but whatever you want i'll give it to you. Please we didn't do anything.” The baker said through a shaky voice trying to avoid eye contact with Conall. Conall put his hand over his face in slight annoyance. “Are you daft lad. I just said i'm not here to hurt you. I'm here to give you this.” he finished raising up the bag for emphasis. “Now may i please come in for a moment?” the man was clearly shocked by this as he quickly moved out of the way to allow Conall into the home. Conall nodded his head in a thanks to the man as he had entered into the small home. After he had entered the house he turned to the man holding out the bag of medicine. “I believe these are for your wife.” The man held a gleam in his eye as he quickly took the bag and rushed off the bed room where Conall presumeed his wife was.

After the man left Conall felt a small tug at his pant leg. Turning quickly he saw a small girl no older than three at most grabbing at his pants. Conall almost laughed at this which caused the little one to look up at him with a started eyed expression. Conall waved his hand slightly at the little girl making her jump slightly before falling down to her butt as she to waved her arms in response. “I see you have met my brave little girl meila.” As he was talking the Baker grabbed his daughter picking her up as he turned to Conall. “I am grateful of what you have done for me and my family. If there is anything i can do just let me know.” Conall put up his hand defensively “there is no need for that. Just be thankful the Princess told me about this place and gave me the medicine.” Conall stopped just after the sentenced ended mentally scolding himself for slipping up as bad as he had just done. He was only awakened from his small trance when he felt his hair being pulled by the small child in her father's arms who was laughing at the discovery of pulling hair, cleary not scared of the giant that was currently in her house. Having to lean his head closer to relieve the pain he gently grabbed the child's hand making her let go of his braided hair allowing him to move freely again.

“My apologies again sir.” the man said with a small bow. “Do thank the princess for me. She is a kind hearted one she is. Shell make a great queen one day i'm sure.” Conall froze in place at the mans statement. He could tell it wasn't meant the way it sounded but considering the current time the inquisition wouldn't care, they had killed for far less in far more peaceful times. Looking at the man with a serious face he said “I wouldn't say things like that anymore lad. Trust me on this.” after that he left the man and his family with a scared look on his face at the realization at what he had accidently just done. Closing the door behind him Conall began his walk back to the castle walls thinking deeply on all that was happening around him and what it would mean for him.

“Don't get caught on the wrong side of this.” He heard once again as if Eleanor was right next to him as he entered in through the gates.

---

"Well I think she deserves to pay you men back for your service!”

Cheers erupted in the hall as the words reverberated out of the King's mouth. Officers, some still in plate having been pulled off patrol, but most in their everyday clothes of fabric and leathers, laughed and toasted mugs of ale and other spirits at another successful operation, and even moreso at the reward to look forward to. Arvel, however, was tucked quietly into a corner of the hall, disconnected from any one group of men, simply using a load-bearing post to support himself.

He'd gotten a few good hours of sleep, but had been stirred by a visit from the King himself. A rare enough sight, something he was sure not to miss. But with the content, somehow he wished he'd stayed in his bed. He grimaced internally, glancing about the boisterous crowd of soldiers and men-at-arms which now carried on with glee as the King made his departure. Was this the reality of it? The Princess hungry for power, willing to go at length to order the death of her own father?

It wasn't his place to reason why, he rationalized, but yet he had something gnawing away at him internally. Was this punishment really befitting? Was it the place of a disgraced Royal to be used and abused by this, a rabble? His rabble, fair enough, but a rabble nonetheless, men which had no care or regard for the young Princess. He whiffed the mug of ale clutched in his hand, sickened at its odor, or maybe something else. Perhaps he was not drunk enough.. No, he needed air. Downing the remainder of the mug's contents, he placed the empty vessel on a nearby table, turning for the door which led to the city streets.

As he reached the exit, he was stopped. A young squire looked up at him with a youthful and bright face. “Cap’n, sir, there’s a man n’ his retinue claiming to be the Duke of Yhore’s at the south gate. Sarn’t Humphreys wishes advice.” The squire talked in a thick rural accent, but by some miracle Arvel made out the words.

”Mrh. Tell Humphreys to deny entry until first light, I want them escorted through the city by the Household Mounted, a squadron of them.”

The squire nodded in acknowledgement, scurrying off and out of the path of the Captain.

---

Arvel walked the castle grounds solemnly, deep in thought as he gazed at the faint lamplight illuminating the courtyards. He avoided each sentry whenever possible, regarding each sharp salute with a tired and half-hearted response, attempting to conceal the bags grouped under his eyes. Soon enough he cleared the thick groupings of sentries.

Arvel continued to walk, feeling at the clothing he wore. It was his normal garb, albeit some slight changes to reflect the season. He wore at base a pair of cotton trousers blackish-brown in color, and a crimson tunic-shirt embroidered with detailings of linen. Thrown over was a cloak of black-dyed silk and satin, albeit without a hood. Strapped upon his hip was his longsword, freshly cleaned of the peasant’s blood, a paired dagger of similar make lashed to his belt on the opposing hip. He stopped suddenly, taking a deep breath.

Fenros kept to the shadows, slowing down as much as he dared when he came close to some guards. He was weak from the torture still, and despite his desire to kill anyone who stood in his way to protect El and he knew stealth was probably better at this point.

So far he had come a crossed one guard he had to knock out. Taking his shield and strapping it tightly to his right forearm. While his hand couldn’t grip it, it was still lashed on there pretty good.

A little more confident now he knew he had to cut a crossed some open ground to make it to where the princess was being held. However when he rounded the corner he came face to face with Arvel. He knew of him In passing and mission plannings. But he wasn’t particularly friends with him.

For some reason he tried to talk his way out of this. “Sir Arvel, let me pass, the Princess is in grave danger I need to protect her.” He said with a voice filled with determination. He gripped his sword tightly and raised it slightly.

Arvel’s eyes narrowed as a figure’s silhouette cut the darkness, and a voice broke through. Fenros the Undaunted. “You-” His gloved hand snapped in an instant to his dagger’s grip, tightening around it audibly. He did not draw, not yet.

“Explain yourself, traitor.” He spoke quietly, albeit not sparing the venom in his voice. For one reason or another, he wasn’t giving up Fenros instantly. Good will, perhaps, or something else entirely.

Fenros sighed, what he was going to fight him with a dagger? He shook his head, it didn’t matter. “I am not a traitor, the king is mad and now the princess honor and life is in peril. There’s no time to explain more let me through and you won’t be harmed.“ he said quickly taking a step towards him.

Arvel paused for a second, eyeing Fenros up and down in the moonlight. He opened his mouth to speak, no words being produced at first, before grunting, defeated. “The King intends to let every man in the barracks have his way with her. Get her, take her far away.” He thrust a pointer finger past his person, ushering Fenros on. “Do not stay in this city, else I will hunt you mercilessly. Go!” He whisper-yelled his final reply, stepping aside as he gripped his dagger all the more tightly.

He hesitated, while grateful he would let him pass, he didn’t like how he ended with him hunting them. “Arvel, you let me pass and that proves you know what the king is doing is wrong. After all the princess has done for our men, you will not join me and fight?” He started to move past him, turning as he did as he waited a reply.

Arvel grimaced, releasing the grip of his dagger finally. “I have my own duties.” He trailed solemnly. “Now fulfill yours, Sir Fenros. Go, before the sentries come upon us!” He quietly urged. It was now his life and career on the line as well. In Arvel’s eyes was unmistakable, pure fear, and perhaps some hope.

His eyes narrowed at his answer. A lady, his princess’s honor was at stake, he knew it was wrong and here he stood too afraid for his own life. He remembered why he never liked the man. Despite being a knight, he acted like a mere coward. He growled “You may have other duties, but a knight's honor is above that, to protect the innocent…” he stopped himself with an irritated growl. He took his advice and turned and left him there.

He had no time to try and convince him to do the right thing.

Archer’s name was Remi, but everyone kept calling him ‘the new guy’. Ferrel told him that it will take some time to determine whether they should even bother remembering his name – he added one of his crooked smiles at the end of that sentence, but his eyes remained ice cold. Remi had already noticed that the bandit loved when people were afraid of him. When Ferrel’s companion recruited Remi and other men for the job, promising them huge prize, he always spoke about his master in whispers, constantly looking over his shoulder, describing terrifying tales of tortured women and butchered newborns. While most of these stories probably weren’t true, it took one look into that man’s eyes to make you believe he was capable of all that and even worse.

After they left the road, they moved through the woods for a few hours, changing directions and leaving fake tracks. Remi didn’t know who was the kid they ambushed, but they apparently expected someone very skilled to go after them. They seemed to know what they were doing, so he just followed them around, keeping his mouth shut in (probably justified) fear that they would change their mind about not killing him if he said something stupid. He did notice that even though they advertised a lot of money for every member of the ambush team, they took just a few small pouches with a few coins in them, their main target was the mysterious document. It made Remi wonder whether this was Ferrel’s plan from start – to use the new recruits as a cannon-fodder, getting rid of them when they stopped being useful. For some reason they decided Remi still could be useful and he was determined to do whatever it takes to keep it that way.

There was a lot of smaller hills in the area and Remi was soon out of breath. When they suddenly stopped, he was glad for a break, leaning against the closest tree. That’s why he didn’t notice at first that the others have surrounded him, Ferrel standing right in front of Remi, giving him an indecipherable look. “So, here we are,” he said quietly. Shivers run down Remi’s spine. But why would they bring him here just to kill him now? “Here is the thing. I have big plans and need more people. But I can’t stand idiots and the world seems to be filled with them lately. Lucky for you, you don’t seem like an idiot. I might be wrong, of course,” he scratched his head and looked at Marve and Isri, who shrugged. “But you are a quiet man and I can appreciate that, so I will give you a chance. But you should know,” he stepped closer, his face now only inches away from Remi’s, “that if you even think about betraying me, well you’ll beg me to kill you fast,” he hissed.

Remi gulped and nodded. He looked into Ferrel’s eyes and had no doubt he was telling the truth. But it wasn’t like he had a choice. These guys apparently had no problem with leaving a pile of corpses behind and he certainly didn’t want his to be added to it. There was also the fact that they knew how to make money and get away with it. Overall, he would definitely be better off on their side. “I’m with you, boss,” he said because it seemed like he was expected to provide some reaction.

Ferrel watched him for a few more moments which felt like an eternity and then grinned. “Great, then let’s show you your new home!” He put one arm around Remi’s shoulders and led him towards the top of the hill. Remi felt someone slap his butt lightly and turned his head to see Isri who was giggling quietly.

The small valley looked almost beautiful, hidden safely away between the hills covered with dense forest. Most of the trees inside were chopped down and there were now several small fields with various crops. There was a simple house at the opposite side of the valley, and a few fences that held some chicken. The group crossed a narrow stream jumping over rocks and headed towards the house.

The moment they got closer the door opened and a huge figure appeared, running towards them. Remi almost reached for the bow, but seeing the others relaxed and unalerted made him stop. The gargantuan man jumped to Ferrel, lifting him in a tight hug, yelling “bru’dah!”. Remi tried very hard not to stare at the fearsome bandit, who was not only hugging the giant back, but also laughing honestly, the frightening look disappeared from his eyes.

Remi had no idea what was going on, but figured it probably will be some kind of test for him and he was determined not to fuck it up. He put on what he thought was a neutral face, waiting quietly for the giant to stop crushing Ferrel’s ribs. Finally Ferrel was on the ground again, the man now turned his attention to Marve and Isri. The bandit gave Remi one his soul-piercing looks, the cold threat back in his eyes as he studied his face. “This is my brother,” he said eventually, evidently satisfied with what he saw. “We call him Bo.”

The big man turned to them. “BO!” he yelled and pointed to himself. “Bru’dah fe’el,” he patted Ferrel on the back, nearly knocking him down.

Remi nodded and smiled at Bo. “Nice to meet you.”

Bo’s brows furrowed as he thought for a moment before his face brightened again. “Eet u,” he grabbed Remi’s hand, shaking it vigorously.

“All right, that’s enough, big man, he needs his hands to fight,” Ferrel slightly pushed Bo away. “Go help Isri unpack.” When the giant hopped away excitedly, Ferrel turned back to Remi. “So, what do you think?”

Remi gulped, this was what he was afraid of. What was he supposed to answer? He had no idea what this man wanted to hear, so he went with something neutral. “Didn’t know you had a brother.”

Ferrel smirked. “I knew you weren’t an idiot. He’s been like this since he was born. Beat up some kids once when he saw them torture a kitten. Killed two guards who came to stop him. We have lived here since that.”

The house was not big enough for all of them and it was a warm night, so the bandits camped outside, each in their own small tent. Remi was exhausted so he went to sleep right after dinner, a big bowl of vegetable stew. He woke up suddenly, feeling his blanket move and reached for a dagger he kept under the pillow, but was too slow. He froze on a feeling of cold sharp steel pressed against his throat. Another hand pulled his sheet away completely and started to untie the strings on his pants. “Umm..,” he started, but shut up as he felt the knife pushed harder.

“Sssh,” someone hissed on top of him and giggled. That crazy woman. Remi honestly didn’t know if she wasn’t even scarier than Ferrel himself. With him one could at least guess what he does next. But this woman was absolutely unpredictable. And deadly.

She pulled his pants down and grabbed his penis. Remi didn’t think that under these circumstances it was even possible to get it up, but it became hard almost immediately as she touched him. Without removing the blade from his neck, she moved and lowered herself on him with a satisfied moan. Remi bit his lip, knowing that Ferrel was in the next tent and having no idea what would he think about this. But as she started moving faster and faster, he couldn’t hold back a few groans, surprised that he was even able to enjoy it. She on the other hand didn’t bother keeping quiet, her inarticulate moans must have been heard all over the valley. Remi closed his eyes and prayed that Ferrel was a heavy sleeper and that he doesn’t barge into the tent threatening to cut Remi’s dick off for fucking with his girl.

His prayers went unheard. “For fuck’s sake, Isri, either stop fucking the new guy or at least shut your bloody mouth before I stuff something into it!” Ferrel yelled from the next tent.

Isri just laughed. “You are welcome to join in, boss.”

Remi’s eyes widened in horror. Fortunately, Ferrel just mumbled some profanities but didn’t get up. It felt almost like forever before she finished, finally pulling the knife away from his neck, leaning closer to him to lick a few drops of blood that were running on his skin. She left without saying anything, just sending him an air kiss. He heard some quiet growling and complains from Marve’s tent as she crawled into it, but no more sex-related sounds, so she was probably just looking for a place to sleep. Remi just lied there, his penis still painfully hard, and tried to remember if he had ever heard of a weirder group of people.


The sound of fighting resonated through the entire city. Olmea muttered a curse, re-checking that the windows were shut tight and covered by thick blinds. The door was locked and barricaded by a large wardrobe. She kept them opened for as long as she could, because her husband was still outside, but when the angry mob marched through their street, shouting and yelling profanities about the king and the royal family, she knew that she couldn’t wait any longer. At first she was worried about him, but as the afternoon turned into night, fear was replaced by anger. He was going to get in trouble, she was sure of it. As if it hadn’t been enough she had to be worried sick for her son, who was definitely out on a night like this, her dumbass husband had to go play on a rebellion with his drunk friends from the inn.

The things they were saying… Shivers run down her back when she thought about it. How fucking stupid were they? The inquisition had been arresting people for much less and none of them were seen again, safe for the few who had been publicly executed. She walked nervously across the room, lit only by one candle, and climbed the stairs to check on the children. They were crawled up all in one bed, wide awake, but unusually quiet, scared of the noises from the outside. Olmea smiled at them, but couldn’t find any comforting words, leaning over to hug them instead.

Their street was quiet now, the protesters moved closer to the castle. Suddenly there was a knock on the door, Olmea almost jumped up at the sound. One of the children started sobbing. “Just be quiet here,” she whispered, “I will go deal with it.”

She went back downstairs to the room her husband used as a workshop. He was a shoemaker and there weren’t many tools there that could be used as a weapon, so she at least grabbed one small hammer and a long sharp knife. Someone knocked again and she moved closer to the front door, as quiet as she could.

Another desperate banging on the door. “Mom! It’s me, let me in!”

She would recognize that voice anywhere. Quickly pushing the wardrobe aside, she unlocked the door and opened it just to let her son inside, shutting it behind him again. She hugged him desperately, glad that he was not harmed. Only after that had she noticed a horrible smell that was coming from him. “Janril, what happened?”

As he talked, she brought him some water to wash himself a little, but it didn’t help much with the terrible stench. A cold hand however gripped her heart when he reluctantly told her what had he done. She had always been against him joining the city watch, believing that they had the best chance of living in peace if they just keep their heads down, never mixing into anything political. But he was so excited about it and at the time it seemed like a safe job.

“I can’t go back,” he whispered quietly, his eyes filled with tears that he had been trying to hide.

She nodded. None of them needed a reminder of what would happen to a deserter. And this was her son, her oldest boy. She would rather strangle all the guards in town and walked to the gallows herself rather than seeing him there. “We will fix this,” she smiled and stroked his hair. “We can send you to my cousin in Yhore in secret, you will be safe there before all here is forgotten. We just need to wait a few days before the city calms down.” Janril sobbed quietly and curled up next to her, putting his head on her lap.

The brief moment of peace was interrupted by a loud banging on the door. “Open the door Olmea, it’s me!”

She growled some curses but got up to unlock the door. “Shut up, you idiot,” she greeted her husband and pulled him inside, frowning when she smelled the ale from his breath. “Where were you Petyr? The kids are scared to death and you are somewhere out there getting arrested?!”

He just waved his hand, ignoring her. “What’s the smell?” he sniffed around before noticing Janril in the corner. “Hmm. So you came crawling back now that your beloved monster is dead?”

Janril frowned at his father but didn’t say a word.

“ENOUGH!” Olmea yelled at him, pulling on his elbow forcing him to face her. “I told you to shut the fuck up! I wouldn’t give a damn if it were just you who gets in trouble, hell I’d tie the noose myself, but you are putting our CHILDREN in danger as well,” she yelled right into his face.

“But you don’t understand! You saw the king getting shot! There is talk of a rebellion in the streets. Finally we can be free, we can get rid of the tyranny. The blood king is gone! We can go out and celebrate!”

All the fear and anger she had felt just came out and she slapped him as hard as she possibly could. He blinked at her, surprised, blood running from his broken lip. “I haven’t seen anything.” It was true that they were in the street watching the king and the princess return, but when someone yelled warning about assasin, chaos ensued. Still, Olmea was pretty sure she saw the king rode off on a horse. “And even if that was the truth, what do you think will change?” she hissed angrily. “He has a son and a daughter. There is the Vanguard, the city watch. THE INQUISITION! You think they will just let people riot in the streets? By morning, half of those dumbfucks outside is going to be dead and the other half arrested waiting for execution.

Tomorrow we can go out to the main square, to watch your friends getting hanged. But tonight, you are going to sit on your ass AT HOME or I swear I’m gonna shove this knife into your heart and throw your body into the river, do you understand?”

Petyr stood there speechless, considering her words. “But… if we don’t unite, we will never…”

She slapped him again, right into the swollen red mark from the previous hit. “The only thing you will be uniting with tonight will be my fist and that is if you don’t shut up right now. There will be no revolution, and even if there was, it would be just another people ruling over us and nothing would change. So get your head out of your ass and stop with these fantasies. You have a family to provide for.”


She was never going to feel clean again. No matter how much she scrubbed her body, trying to wash everything away, she could still smell his stench from her hair, feel his hands on her skin, the sticky sperm running down her thighs. She wanted to cry, but all she could feel was shame and anger. Not on that man, but on herself for letting this happen. Her father wasn’t even dead for a day and she had already dishonored his memory. What would he think about her?

The washcloth landed in the bucket of now cold water as she threw it away with frustration. She had used part of the money to rent a tiny room in a tavern on the other side of the town where people didn’t recognize her. Even though the food they gave her must have been delicious, given how quickly other guests were gorging on it, but to her it tasted like mud. She sat there quietly, listening to the excited chatter of normal people, alone and desperate. When she couldn’t take it anymore, she ran to her room, locking the door and cowering in the corner wrapped in a blanket.

She needed a plan, knowing she had to figure out how she would live from now. She needed more money, a job, some more stable and cheaper place to live. “But why?” she mumbled to herself. She had already proved to herself that she would do anything to survive, but what was the point? Her father was dead, all future plans shattered to pieces, what was left to live for?

The laughter from the staircase interrupted her thoughts. The people were excited, rushing out into the street. Karina remembered that they talked about the king returning to the city, that they can’t miss a chance of seeing his entourage parade to the castle, maybe be even lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the king or princess Eleanor themselves. Anger rose within her. He probably doesn’t even know her father existed, let alone that he had been executed in his name. She jumped up, deciding she wanted to at least see this man who ruined her life. And maybe scream the truth into his face. They would kill her, sure, but maybe it would be worth to have that moment of satisfaction. Maybe other people would stop and think for a moment when they would hear the truth.

The streets were filled with people but Karina managed to sneak her way to the front of the crowd, tightly wrapped in a new cape she had bought to cover her face. There weren’t many city guards around, with this amount of people they must have been stretched thin along the route and Karina hoped it would stay that way. First glance on king’s convoy convinced her otherwise. While the princess rode close to the people, greeting them and handing out small coins, the king had several knights around him and Karina realized she would never get close to him before being dragged away and suffering the same fate as her poor father.

She watched the look on the king’s face, barely keeping a calm demeanor as fury raged inside her. He wouldn’t even look at the people most of the time, and when he did, it was with disgust. Her eyes hypnotized his back as he rode by, she desperately wished to watch him suffer and die. And for a moment, it might have seemed that her wishes shaped the reality as she heard someone yell warning about an assassin and watched a crossbow bolt fly right towards the monster’s heart. Excited scream died on her lips when one of the guards fell from his horse coughing out blood and the king sprinted off unharmed.

People started yelling and running in all directions. Karina barely dodged someone’s elbow and pushed her way out of the open. She leaned against the wall and over the heads of the crowd watched the king’s horse disappear at the street corner. People were freaking out, half of them convinced that the king was dead or injured, loudly debating about what was going to happen to the kingdom now.

Karina watched in surprise as some started to celebrate, yelling insults about the king and his family. It warmed her heart to see that she wasn’t alone after all, that there were other people whose lives were destroyed by the king’s rule. People started to tell stories similar to hers about close ones being taken away under pretended reasons, families shattered, loved ones tortured and executed.

The city guards made feeble attempts to disperse the forming crowd, but there weren’t nearly enough of them to have any real chance. Some of the more aggressive people started exchanging insults with the guards, trying to provoke a conflict. Part of the crowd moved towards the central square and Karina went with them, terrified but excited. She knew this could not end well, that the king would send the Vanguard to deal with any insurgence in the city, but it was so refreshing to feel free for once.

The crowd stopped in front of the House of Questions. The Inquisition headquarters was a massive two-store stone building overlooking the square. People went silent, just staring on the hated place, the tension growing. Karina didn’t see who threw the first stone, it seemed to have flown right from the middle of the crowd, followed by the sound of glass shattering. As if that was a signal, dozens of stones and other objects were thrown at the building.

“Down with it!” “Break the door!” “MY SON! They took MY SON!”

The strongest men came forward and started to kick and push against the front door. A cart in the square was smashed to pieces, the sturdiest parts used as a battering ram. Few guards emerged from the side alleys, but were forced to retreat under a rain of stones. The door was thick and held for a long time before finally being burst open. The crowd poured inside the building, improvised weapons in most hands.

“Kill the monsters!” Karina’s voice joined with the others. Someone smashed a chair and she quickly grabbed a piece of wood. She felt so strong especially now with a weapon in her hand.

One of the doors opened and a confused elder man stood there confused, squinting at the crowd. “Wh…,” he didn’t even have a chance to finish the word. Karina recognized him, it was the clerk that told her that her father had been executed and then had her thrown out into the street. Furious howl escaped her lips as she jumped on the man, knocking him down and hitting him over and over again with her improvised mace until his bloodied skull had a shape of crumpled paper ball and he stopped screaming.

The others have headed downstairs into the dungeons, she could hear the sounds of fighting from there. Her thirst for blood wasn’t sated yet, so she rushed to help them, only to find bodies of several young acolytes on the ground before the cells. “Find the keys!” someone shouted. “Get them out!”

Karina stared in horror on the people behind the bars, the empty looks in their faces making them all look like barely living corpses. She screamed out, lunging forward when one of those corpses turned his head towards her and she recognized him. “DAD!” She stuck her hands through the bars but then hesitated, afraid to touch him.

His whole body was covered in cuts and burns, most of his fingers and one ear missing, a black burnt hole where his left eye once was, his limbs broken and twisted into strange angles. “Rin…,” he whispered, what remained of his hand reaching for her. “Did they…”

“No, dad. Everything is fine, we are going to get you out. We will go home and you are gonna be just fine,” she blabbered. “What… who… who did this to you?”

“I… they… The woman asked me questions. I… didn’t know what to tell her…,” his voice was becoming weaker and weaker. “But now… I can die in peace…”

“NO! No, dad, it will be fine. Who has the damn keys?!” she yelled into the hallway.

“We never found it,” one man shook his head, staring at the scene with anger in his eyes.

“B-but…,” she started but a sharp scream from upstairs interrupted her.

“THE VANGUARD!” The people rushed to the stairs. Karina turned to her father and grabbed the bars, shaking them in a desperate attempt to open the cell.

“Karina. Listen to me. You have to go… escape… survive. I can’t… protect you anymore. Go. Live. Please,” he whispered and turned away from her.

She screamed out and refused to move until a strong hand landed on her shoulder. “He is right!” a man snapped at her. “There is nothing you can do for him now. We need to go.”

Sierra watched in shock as Fenros took off back towards the castle. “Oh you have got to be fucking kidding me!” She growled out as she got ready to take off after him. It was then that Verrick jumped down from the rope and told her to stay with Annabelle and that he’d be back with Fenros and Eleanor soon. Sierra watched as her mentor took off and ran the same direction Fenros went, her mind thinking of the ways she could beat the two up when they got back.

Grumbling, Sierra hoisted herself up the rope and dropped down the rope to the ground on the other side of the wall. She looked to where Annabelle was before walking into the woods, within a few minutes she came back out her quiver and bow on her back under the cloak and a bag in hand as she approached the woman. Pulling down her hood, Sierra revealed her face to the woman for the first time. Half her red hair pulled back into a braid and her stormy blue eyes focused as they observed Annabelle’s wounds from the Inquisitor.

“Looks like you really took a beating. With the mouth ya have on ya, it ain’t that surprising.” She chuckled to herself as she knelt down on the ground and opened the bag she had with her. She poked around in it pulling out a few things before looking back up at the woman. “Well sit your arse down. I can’t help ya if you’re standing and doing nothing.”

Annabelle did as she was told, sitting down and letting Sierra do her work. She had caused enough trouble with her reckless actions. Now she needed to stay clear of trouble, as much as she could. Sighing, Annabelle looked at the direction of the city. ”Sebastian always said that I talk too much, or talk when it’s not appropriate. I sure hope he has prepared for the eventuality that I revealed who I am. He was always the smartest of us.” She then turned her eyes on Sierra and chuckled. ”Who would have thought that I ended up being saved by the Woodsmen. It is like the seers say, no one knows how the Fate will truly spin.”

Kneeling in front of Annabelle, Sierra got to work applying the medicine from her bag on the wounds and bandaging them. She half listened to the woman speak, half focused her full attention on what she was doing. “Was Sebastian your lover? Or one of them? You did say us so probably one of them? Were you in one of those cult groups?” Sierra chuckled to herself, knowing full well the woman in front of her did not seem the type to be in a cult or a polyamorous relationship. She didn’t care though, she held slight hope that she was just for the interesting tale to fill the silent night. “Oh and it is technically the rebellion who saved you. The woodsmen put ye away. Though how the two correlate I will leave that to your imagination.”

Annabelle’s eyes went wide of Sierra’s words ”Lovers? Never! I mean, sure, once in a lifetime you think of...” Annabelle slapped her face after realizing what she just said. ”Sebastian is my older brother. It was he who taught me how to fight, and who helped me protect Isobel, my younger sister. I wonder how he has taken the fact that I’ve been living as an outlaw, and he must pretend that I am disowned by the entire clan.” Annabelle sighed again, the dear memories from the Tyler manor filling his thoughts. ”And now they are in danger again, all because of my big mouth. I just hope that I still get a chance to go and save them, and Granny Viola, before the Vanguard or Inquisition get them. Then there are uncle Cid and aunt Oriana. They took me in when I wanted to try my luck in Akarath as a child, and again when I was looking for a place to hide. Now they too are probably in danger.”

She then turned back to Sierra, ”Still, I am relieved to know there are others like me. I thought I was alone, though in retrospect I should have known I wasn’t. Out of curiosity, how many are there in the Rebellion?”

“You wanted to bang your brother?!” Sierra broke into a fit of laughter after the woman let that slip. Well of course it wasn’t exactly what Annabelle said but Sierra had a dirty mind at times and she wasn’t good with being a people person. Being offensive and saying rude or dumb things like this were normal for her.

After calming from her fit of laughter she stood up and dusted her pants off. “Oh that’s too good… that is too good…” she muttered to herself. She listened after that ot Annabelle as she was asked how many were in the rebellion. Sierra simply shrugged after being asked that question. “I don’t know. We haven’t been given much information beyond location of where they are and what we needed to do while here. You weren’t apart of the original plan but someone with the balls to try and assassinate the king by themselves is automatically worth something to the rebellion. So count yourself lucky. You have balls so the rebellion wants you.”

Annabelle felt terrible embarrassment. ”No” Absolutely not! I never thought it that way!” The outlaw sighed, ”And I probably just dig myself deeper with this conversation… Well, you wouldn’t be laughing if you met him. I think half of Yeruse’s girls have wanted to marry him at one point.” Annabelle shook her head before continuing. ”But enough about that. I can understand the secrecy. Kept me quite safe before the whole getting captured. And I’m not sure if I’m brave or mad, when it came to killing the King. I didn’t feel fear or hesitation or anything, when I pulled the trigger. He was no divine figure or anything that would bring awe to my mind. He was just a man who deserved to die. I will do that again, if I need to. But you don’t need to worry about me causing trouble, or, as long as my family is safe, at least. I have caused enough trouble already by working on my own, so I will do what I’m told, within certain limits. I’m not sure about Fenros, though, and I don’t blame him. It’s because of me that he’s out there.”

“Fenros is probably much happier now that he and his love crush will be free of judging eyes. I mean anyone could see the two have been in love with each other for years now but of course neither has acted on it although the princess probably was blind to her own feelings now that I think of it…” Sierra thought out loud before disappearing into the forest for a second and reappearing with four horses in tow. She quickly got the four ready for riding before returning over to where Annabelle was. “Though he may not right now, he will be thankful for ya later. Now him and the princess can finally admit their feelings for one another and do all that romantic stuff and such. I mean, he is a beefcake so it sucks that he will be off the market but he’s been off market for quite some time since he only had eyes for the princess. It is too bad. Probably would have been one hell of a lay.”

Holding her hand out to Annabelle, Sierra awaited the girl to take her hand so she could help the woman up. “As you can hear. We don’t have much time until the others are back. Hopefully you can ride a horse… if not you will be stuck riding with either Verrick or I and trust me you don’t want to ride with Verrick. Honestly I’m not the best to ride with either since we are gonna be mid-escape and I need to be able to shoot the bastards before they shoot us. So really, you are riding on your own whether ya like it or not.” The whole time she was talking, a commotion on the other side of the wall could be heard. It was distant at first, but it was drawing closer as time passed. Soon the others would be there and they’d be on their way, away from the castle.

”Don’t you worry about that” Annabelle answered, grabbing Sierra’s hand, rising with the lift. ”I grew up among animals. Maybe not as much as another friend of mine, but I know, how to ride .” It was then that she also noticed the sounds. ”Looks like we’ll be in a hurry.” Annabelle said and climbed to the horse she assumed was meant for her.

After helping Annabelle up, Sierra nodded in response to what she said. She was quick to mount her own horse and there the two sat awaiting Verrick, Fenros, and Eleanor.



---

The walk was confusing and where she was left was even more so. Eleanor had been taken all the way to the barracks of the Vanguard and then left in the General’s room by the two guards. She stood in the room, confused for a few moments until two handmaidens came in and told her they were there to help her undress all the while apologizing every few seconds it would seem as they did so. When they had finished undressing her and fixed her hair up a bit, they informed her that someone would be in to retrieve her to take her to where the men were waiting. The maids then left taking the clothing with them and leaving Eleanor naked and alone in the General’s room, pieces of the puzzle now coming together and frightening her greatly at what they were suggesting.

Eleanor hugged herself as she sat on the bed in the General’s room, she had figured out what this situation was insinuating and she was trying to keep herself from panicking. She knew the king was insane but to do something like this? Eleanor wouldn’t have expected it before but now… now she knew better. A part of her wanted to cry and beg for forgiveness but she also didn’t want to humiliate herself. Not when she still had people watching her, looking to her. A third part of her was just numb, this part was growing. Taking over and leaving her without feeling as the reality of everything began to take over. She didn’t know what part of her would win when the moment came, but for now she did hold slight hope she was wrong in her thoughts. Only time would tell.



When Feneros reached the barracks, he could hear the shouting of the men inside, praising the king and his generosity. The doors to the main hall were wide open, to allow the fresh cool air to come in. With all eyes on the king as he continued speak, on how they deserved this and it will help them defeat the brewing rebellion with this act. He walked in casually, hanging to the walls. With all their attention on the king, it was easy to blend in with the men.

It made him sick as he walked by, seeing how many of the vanguard were so eager to defile the woman who they swore to protect just minutes ago. He quickly made his exit down one of the halls, which lead to the General’s quarters. He glanced around the corner to see a single guard outside the room. He was about to move in and knock the guard out when the door opened, causing him to pull back around the corner more till he could just barely see what was happening.

Two handmaidens walked out of the general’s room. He recognized them as the princess’s personal handmaiden’s, and noticed that they were carrying clothes as they exited the room. His heart sunk for a moment, thinking that she was in that room with another man at the moment. Luckily the handmaiden decided to go another way, and not towards him.

Once they rounded the corner, he moved quickly over to the lone guard. Before the guard could yell, he raised his shield and jammed the edge of it into his throat, crushing his windpipe in the process. The man grunted in pain and grabbed his own throat trying to breath when Fenros followed up with bashing his temple with the pommel of his blade. The man crumpled in place, luckily the noise from the hall made it impossible for anyone to hear what happened.

He slid his sword back into his sheath and bit his lip as he reached down and pulled the man out of the way. Screaming internally as he was forced to use both hands, as much as he could to drag the man into another room. He dropped him onto the ground ungracefully as he pressed his right hand to his chest, as if it would help with the pain. His mouth wide as if he was going to yell, but nothing came from his lips. He did reach up with his left hand to gingerly hold his hand as it began to shake uncontrollably from the pain.

It seemed unnecessary, but if those handmaidens came back this way, he didn’t want them to scream at seeing the guard on the ground. He grunted again as he pushed the pain away and unsheathed his sword once again. Taking a breath, he moved towards the door and shoved it open moving quickly into the room and closing the door behind him. He was prepared for a fight, “Are you alright El-” He stopped suddenly found himself looking at Eleanor sitting naked on a bed.

As the door opened, Eleanor didn’t move not until she saw who had opened and then closed it. She found herself staring straight at Fenros, the man she loved, the man she thought was dead. Eleanor stood up and stepped closer to him, taking a deep breath as she looked over him. He was real, living, breathing, right in front of her. Her mouth hung slightly a jar as she stared at him, she couldn’t believe it but now thinking back on it, it wasn’t surprising that the king had lied.

As she stared, a chill ran over her body and she came back to reality. Quickly scrambling she ripped the blanket off the general’s bed, wrapping it around herself as she faced her back to Fenros blushing a bright red at the realization that he had just seen her naked.

Fenros felt a weight drop off his shoulders realizing no one else was in the room, looking to El, he felt his face grow red as she moved towards him. He was glad she was safe and not harmed...physically that is. Almost in unison he was pulled back to reality, He was staring at the princess naked! As she pulled away and wrapped the generals blanket around her he looked away and placed his sword against the wall. “I..Er...are you alright El? Did anyone touch or harm you?He asked, as he used his left hand to pull his cloak off, and offered it behind him towards her so she could have it to cover up.

Eleanor turned and looked at him as he spoke, she gently took the cloak from him as he offered it to her. Letting the blanket drop, she quickly put the cloak on and wrapped it around herself. “N-no no one touched or hurt me. I’m fine. I should be the one asking you that.” Eleanor walked over to him as the red in her face faded and turned him to face her, she looked over him at his injuries until she noticed his hand that was shaking. “May I?”[/b][/color] She asked looking up at him, not quite ready to address the elephant in the room.

He shook his head at her, not believing she should be the one to ask that. When she turned him to face her he took a deep breath, as if doing so would somehow show that he was fine, despite the black and blue bruises all over his body, and face. The burn marks on his chest, and the quivering of his hand. ”It’s… nothing to worry about right now El, I’m fine. We need to get you out of here…” He said softly trying to move to the generals wardrobe.

The woman rolled her eyes as she gripped his arm above the injured hand. She gently placed her other hand on his injured one, barely touching it as she closed her eyes. With a few words whispered under her breath her hand glowed and magic flowed from her body into his hand, healing the break and bringing it to a point where though it had some minor bruising still, it was useable and no longer broken or shaking. Once she was done, Eleanor released her grip on him and smiled up at him. “There you go. Not perfect but better than before, just in case we run into any trouble on our way out.”

Fenros stopped as soon as she grabbed his arm. He should have known better than to know she would have let him go without healing him. He looked back as she began to whisper the words to her spell. He winced and bit his lip as the bones popped back into place and mended themselves. Feeling an instant flow of relief once it was done. He looked to her as she smiled up at him. Which only caused him to smile and feel even more warm.

“Thank you El.” he said softly, as he started to untightened the shield on his right forearm. Sliding it off he tossed it onto the bed for the moment. He turned to the wardrobe again and opened it, quickly finding a large tunic. He placed it in her hands, “Uh- here you go, put this on,” He said with red on his cheeks. He would have given her his tunic, but it was torn down the center.

He looked back to see his personal sword set inside the wardrobe. The general deciding to take his family's heirloom for himself. He quickly grabbed it and buckled the belt to his waist while the princess put the tunic on. He also grabbed another tunic after taking off his ruined one, quickly pulling it on. He was hoping he could walk out of here without drawing too much attention. He doubted it would work, but it was worth a try.

He then pulled his sword from his sheath and asked, “Are you ready?” He asked her without looking in her direction. Not wanting to look till she was ‘decent’.

“Of course.” Eleanor replied as she watched him open the general’s wardrobe. She took the tunic from him as it was handed to her, giving him a quick thanks as she turned her back to him. She quickly removed the cloak, slipped the tunic on and put the cloak back on. Once she was ready she turned to him at the same time he asked if she was ready. “I’m ready, you can turn around.” Eleanor informed him as she watched him. There was so much she wanted to say and tell him but now was not the time with the threat looming so close to them. She’d have to wait until they escaped.

He turned around when she said he could. Giving her a confident smile. He reached out and took her hand in his. “Alright, lets go.”he said softly as he turned towards the door.



He started to guide her to the door. Memories of the time he guided her through his castle’s servants corridors, came to mind...the only other time he had held her hand like this. But he quickly pushed it to the side as he opened the door awkwardly with his sword in his hand. After glancing into the hall he guided her out and towards the only exit to the barracks. Through the main hall. “Stay close and walk casually…” he said, almost to himself as they grew closer to the room full of armed men.

He gripped her hand tighter as they moved along the edge of the wall, while trying to look like they were not sneaking. Fenros tried to keep his head down within reason. His heart beating faster and faster as they grew closer to the exit. He felt his breath caught up in his chest as he felt even trying to breath would betray them. When they were about halfway to their exit, one of the guards looked at him and recognized him. “FENROS!” He yelled out loud. Surprised at seeing the recently named traitor standing right behind him. This caused all those closest to them to turn around to see what was happening.

Eleanor moved closer to Fenros as everyone began to turn to look to them. She had hoped they’d make it out without incident but, of course, they didn’t. She feared what would happen to them if they couldn’t make it out of here. Especially now knowing Fenros was still alive and seeing the king at the other end of the room. She had no doubts that she’d be made to watch him die for the king’s enjoyment.

Fenros pulled El behind him and tried to shield her with his own body, as if that would be enough for them not to notice. His sword was in his hand as he was prepared to fight every single one of them.

The king was getting ready to call for the princess to be brought into the room when suddenly one of the men shouted a name he didn’t expect nor want to hear. His blood boiled in rage as he looked to the back of the room and he saw Fenros along with a cloaked figure he could only assume was Eleanor. “Men! The traitors are trying to get away without punishment! Whoever brings me Fenros alive will get the princess first along with more land and a new title. Now go! CAPTURE THE TRAITORS!”

“You still listen to this mad king?” Fenros yelled out right after the king. Lifting his sword more, aiming it at the men closest to him. [b][color=0054a6] “How can you all follow a man, who is so paranoid, he believed his own daughter tried to kill him. When you all know Eleanor wouldn’t harm anyone, who has been kind to every one of you! It makes no sense!”/color][/b]

”Are you so afraid for your lives that you are willing to throw away your honor so you can live a few more days serving a madman like him!? Or will you stand up and fight? The room grew silent as he spoke, no one wanted to face Fenros first, doing so would be certain death. They all have seen him fight, they knew his strength. But that’s not all that stopped them from rushining in. Not all the men felt comfortable with what the king offered them, each of them knowing something was wrong, and even if she was a traitor, she didn’t deserve this.

The men shifted a bit, glancing to one another. Looking back to Fenros as he stood, seemingly unafraid of their numbers. ”If you truly are loyal to that madman, come at me, I swear I will kill every last one of you before you lay a finger on my princess.

Seeing Fenros willing to take on the entire room of Vangaurd shook some of the men, realizing deep down why they wanted to become knights of the kingdom. To defend something greater than themselves...to protect someone who deserved their loyalty. In an instant men moved forward Fenros braced himself to fight them all, but was honestly shocked when they got close, they turned their backs to them and raised their weapons in defense of their princess and her guard.

About twenty or so men had turned against their king to protect their princess. As the rest stood in shock, the princess’s guards quickly pushed towards the door, Their sudden aggressiveness had given them the advantage and cut through the vanguard. One of the officers quickly yelled to Fenros. ”Quickly! GO!”

Fenros didn’t need any more convincing, Feeling a surge of hope and pride in the display of honor before him. Most of the guards were the ones who were often the ones who guarded the princess before today. He quickly moved through the small opening the men had given them. He heard the king screaming for them to kill them all, and cursing those who dared betray him.

They managed to slip through, the princess’s guards quickly blocking exit, forming a line to hold back the men. Fenros didn’t want to leave them, but they were putting their lives on the line for the chance that their princess would get away safely.

Seeing the men begin to move towards them caused Eleanor to move even closer to Fenros, but when they turned to face the king, her heart swelled with hope and pride. Watching them as they formed an escape for them and told Fenros and her to quickly leave left her wishing to bring all of them with her. They were willing to risk their own lives for her and Fenros to escape. Eleanor knew the best she could do for them was to go, to escape, but it didn’t mean her heart didn’t hurt for the men whose lives would ultimately be lost tonight for them betraying the king and protecting them. She could only hope that some of them could run and survive.

Grabbing Fenros’ hand, knowing it would be hard for him to leave them behind too, she began to run. Going right through the exit and pulling him with her. If they didn’t escape, the mens’ efforts would be in vain and she couldn’t let that happen. So Eleanor ran, holding Fenros’ hand tightly.

Fenros ran along with her, trying to use every moment the men gave them for their escape. He lead her through the training grounds towards the back end of the castle, where he had left Sierra. They quickly were cut off by three men who were on patrol, who had heard the fighting in the barracks. They drew their weapons and charged at them. Fenros moved forward to perry two of the mens weapons when suddenly an arrow hissed and slammed into one of the men's back. Causing the other two to stop confused. Another arrow hissed again, pierced his shoulder causing him to spin from the force of it and fall to the ground.

Fenros only smiled as the third man ran, not wanting to be the third target. Taking El’s hand they began to run again. Every few moments they would hear a hiss of an arrow and a man scream in pain. If they were to look to the wall to the left they could see a small shadow of a man running alongside them near the base of the wall, firing arrows as he ran.

Soon they would make it to the spot where that same man had thrown down a rope earlier for their escape. Fenros sheathed his sword after making sure no one was close enough and grabbed the rope. He then said quickly. “Hold on tight.” Moving El’s arm up and over his shoulder so she would wrap her arms around his neck. Once he felt both her arms around his shoulders, he started to climb the wall quickly. Quite thankful she healed his hand earlier. This would have been near impossible to do. When he reached the top he looked down and saw the man with the bow climbing up the rope behind him. Who angrily said in a gruff voice. “Don’t stop you idiot. Keep moving!”

Fenros quickly looked over the other side of the wall, seeing the rope and Sierra and annabelle at the bottom. He waited another moment for El to prepare herself before swinging over the ledge and quickly moving down the rope, He could hear bolts and arrows clattering against the stone up top as he descended, sliding down the rope despite the burns it would leave behind, making space for bowman to do the same.

Once on the ground he bent down slightly to allow El to slide off his back as he looked up to the bowman who slid all the way down, his gloves protecting his hands as he did. Grunting as his boots hit the grass below. The group then moved towards the horses which Sierra and Annabelle were waiting on. Two horses without riders were visible, one which the bowman jumped on, and the other Fenros helped El onto in a side saddle position… as much as she hated it. Before jumping onto the horse and wrapping his arms around her once again.

Eleanor was glad to finally be done running, her feet hurt from not having shoes and stepping on quite a few sharp rocks and sticks and such. She also was glad to know that for now, they were safe. Together and safe. Just as she had did earlier the day before, Eleanor leaned against Fenros, resting her head on his chest. She noticed her head press against something small and metal and leaned away for a moment. She looked to his chest and noticed on a small chain was the ring she had gotten him so many years ago that hadn’t fit him. Eleanor thought he’d throw it away, but he kept it.

Her hand came up and gently touched the ring, lifting it up so she could look at it. Eleanor then looked up at Fenros a faint smile on her lips. “You kept it…” She stated softly, her eyes meeting his.

Fenros looked down at her as she looked at the ring she gifted him so long ago. He smiled at her. ”Of course I kept it.” He said with a soft voice. A weird look on his face as if it was an odd thing she didn’t think he would. ” It’s from you.” he added as if it was explanation enough. He wanted to say so much more. Explain his true feelings. But he could hear men on top of the wall now, as the others snapped their reins. All he could do to try and convey those feelings was to wrap his left arm around her waist and pull her closer to him. Holding her as he quickly followed suit and followed the rest of the group away from the castle wall, and into the forest.

---

---

The cadaver stared up at Aaron, his eyes bulging, his face twisted into a pain grimace of a man fighting against the inevitable. An arrow shaft stuck up from his throat like a ship’s mast, blood, still warm pooled around him, spreading outward in ever slowing flows. Aaron reached down and drew his longsword before stepping over the body and entering the dungeons depths, the heavy door already flung wide by whoever had penetrated it before. Cautiously, with all the stealth and alertness of a hunter he crept into the darkness, willing his eyes to pierce the shadowy recesses and reveal those who might still be hiding within. Someone, a smart someone had snuffed out all the lanterns making the dungeon near pitch black and treacherous. As Aaron approached the farthest wall his foot struck a prone figure who groaned at the impact. The prince froze, his sword angled down to prod the man.

“Who be this, man of the king or foe?” Aaron demanded, finding the man’s throat with his sword’s edge. “Speak true lest I slay you outright.”

The man groaned and coughed shifting slightly as he tried to push himself to his knees. “Guard... Uggh, prison guard."

Aaron withdrew sheathing his blade and helping the larger man to his unsteady feet. Using the prince to walk the man managed to exit the dungeon and make it out into the dimly lit hall before sinking to the ground, clutching his head and moaning. He had sat down in the other guardsman’s blood but he did not seem to care, even as Aaron shied away from him, the prince’s fine clothes now stained with muck and grease.

“What happened here?” Aaron demanded, trying in vain to wipe some of the guard’s residue from his hands.

The guard looked worse for wear. The half of him that had been laying down was covered in the filth most associated with dungeons, while his forehead bore twin lumps of significant size, and oozing blood. His nose was shattered, and most of his teeth were gone. Whoever had smashed him against the bars, as that was what clearly had happened, and been a person of immense strength. From all the reports Aaron had heard, the assassin these men were supposed to be guarding had been female, and an injured female at that. Aaron glanced again at the slain guard laying at the door. Whoever had shot that arrow must have been a proper brute of a person.

“The prisoner, when she escaped did she have help? Did you see who it was?” Aaron demanded of the delirious guard. Only certain people were allowed access to the castle, and their names were written in a ledger by the Vanguard at the gates. Even his own coming and going would be reported, although he was never stopped and asked of his identity.

Furrowing his brow, the guard winced, raising a hand to his tender head. “Escaped... The prisoners...”

“Prisoners?” Aaron breathed. “There were more than one?” The guardsman managed a small nod. “Who?”

“Th... Lady Tyler....”

“And? Who was it damn you, who else escaped!”

“Sir.... Fenros,” the man began chuckling and pointed at his head before slumping over, either dead or unconscious Aaron could not be sure. In that moment of shock, anger, and confusion Aaron could only think of one thing.

Eleanor!

As if all the demons of the underworld were in pursuit Aaron sprinted up the many staircases flying past servants, guards, and courtiers alike in his mad dash, smashing over passersby's and not even uttering warnings to clear his way, his drawn sword still clutched in his hand. He reached Eleanor’s room, and finding no guards stationed outside as he had expected burst into it, finding the chamber undeniably empty.

“Sire!” A young Vanguard officer sprinted into the room behind him, panting and puffing, he had clearly been in pursuit of the prince for some time, perhaps having seen Aaron on his mad dash and giving chase. “Lord Commander there has been an escape, and there are killers within the keep!”

“Where is Eleanor?” Aaron shouted over the officer’s hasty report. “Where is my sister!”

“She, uh-”

“Never mind you fool, Sir Fenros is alive and in the castle!” Aaron, shouted. “And my sister is not in her quarters under guard as my father ordered. And there are traitors as well, they could be anyone.”

“Yes sire, I was trying to say so.”

“You were?”

“Yes, my lord. I fought them, they were covering for Sir Allaway’s escape.” He showed Aaron his bloodied sword and hands, a clear testament to a fierce battle only moments ago. “He made good on it too, fleeing over the wall and into the forest with the princess and several others. Some good climbers tried to follow but they had horses prepared, they outran them easily.”

“Why would my father lie?” Aaron muttered, leaning against the wall to take a few deep breaths.

“My lord?”

“Never mind me, I presume you are preparing a party to pursue?”

“Yes m’lord, but they must saddle and prepare the horses, and take the longer route through the city to the nearest gate. The small sally doors we have cannot fit the horses. Even so we are preparing thirty men at this very moment, they shall be departing soon enough to give chase.” The officer trailed off, he dared not speak aloud his trepidation at their chances of success. The forest had been allowed to grow over in recent years, and although nobles often hunted under its spreading branches a small party could easily lose themselves inside, to all but a few trackers.

Aaron smiled, they were wandering straight into his territory. “Run down and have the pursuit postponed.” Aaron ordered, no longer shouting and having the wherewithal to sheath his sword and stand like a proper prince, not some huffing and puffing fool forced to lean against a doorframe to catch his breath. “Have my best horse saddled and supplied for a ten day’s ride. And the thirty other men as well. Send for the hound keeper and order him bring out King and Sniffer and the Lady Spotted.” Aaron thought for a moment before coming to a decision. “And the Old Grey. While you are at it send for Sir Arvel, tell him to saddle up and await me, I need a man I can trust.”

“But Lord Commander, are you not concerned they will ride at full speed to put as much ground between them and the capitol as possible?”

“I’m counting on it, now go, and hurry before my thirty leave. And make sure I have good young men accompanying me. Ones with experience but who could handle several weeks in the saddle. Now if you would excuse me, I must change.”

Following the escape, the men of the vanguard who turned on the king met different fates. Many lost their lives fighting to allow the princess and Fenros to escape. The few who didn’t attempted their own escape. Most were captured, their lives to meet a similar fate of the others after facing the inquisitor. The rare few who escaped were quick to all pack up what they owned and grab their families before taking off to find a new life elsewhere, in hiding.

The rumors that spread the next day were all over the board. Some speaking of the princess, Fenros, and the other vanguard all as traitors who attempted to kill the king and prince and other vanguard. Others of their deaths for no reason. The smaller rumors being the actual truth of the princess and Fenros escaping death at the hand of the king. The biggest rumor being that of the rebellion being closer than it ever has.

The king was furious. His son set off for his own search party but the king commanded more search parties of his own. Striking down on the town not only searching for the princess and her bodyguard but the traitor vanguard men that did escape. He also ordered that all those in charge of the kingdom’s cities be brought in immediately. He needed to know they were all loyal and get them looking for the traitors as well. Messengers were sent out before the sun was even up. He also ordered the inquisitor to torture and get any information from the six vanguard traitors they had gotten alive, some injured but alive. He also sent a messenger to a group he relied on. One that was probably just as livid at the events as he.

As far as the group that escaped. They knew they’d be tracked and the way they traveled made it next to impossible for anyone or thing to track them. The woodsmen, being the masters of stealth and living their lives in the woods, were also quite adept at covering their tracks. Having even a few tricks to throw the dogs off their scent.. The group didn’t stop til midday of the day in a small village near a river.

Eva’s dreams were filled with random images full of blood, fire and violence and after waking up she didn’t feel rested at all. The fact that her entire body was still sore, all muscles protesting against the tremendous amount of work they had to do to get up from bed. Taking a few steps across the room felt like a heroic achievement. She was halfway through a bowl of a truly disgusting oatmeal someone had thoughtfully prepared for her when someone knocked at the door.

“Come in,” she was hoping to see Garret, but apparently this new day was not going to go easy on her. It was Sikaro, her other assistant, one she disliked simply because he never seemed to shut up for more than two minutes.

“Inquisitor Gallard,” he entered and bowed his head. “I was hoping you would be awake. I have urgent messages from Superior Jennal.”

Eva closed her eyes for a moment, considering the option to just go to bed and sleep till the next day, since today already seemed like it was going to be hell. “Where is Garret?”

“Well he is still in the city, helping out in the House of Questions. Oh right, you probably haven’t heard yet, there had been huge riots in the entire city for most of the night and House of Questions was attacked, many acolytes and clerks were killed, even one inquisitor is dead, and one seriously harmed. The Vanguard and the city watch restored order and arrested many people, most of the Royal inquisition had been recalled to deal with the prisoners. I mean, you should have seen the horrible mess there, everything broken and destroyed, bodies everywhere, how do those people even dare to lay hands on…”

She stopped listening to his blabbering, trying to figure out what the hell was happening. A few days ago, everything seemed just in order, and now there are riots in the streets, assassins and traitors amongst the people close to the king, members of the Inquisition, city watch and Vanguard being attacked and killed. Could this even be a random coincidence or is this all incited by the rebellious group? She really needed to talk to the Tyler woman and also to Fenros again.

“But that is not what I came here to tell you,” Sikaro barely had time to breathe in between his fast-paced sentences. “There have been certain problems inside the castle during the night and…,” he hesitated, knowing very well what happens to the messengers carrying bad news, “I am afraid that the prisoners and princess Eleanor have escaped.”

“WHAT?!” she yelled out and then just stared at him in disbelief as he told her about everything that has happened during the night. She wanted to scold him for not waking her up earlier, but then again, what good would that do? She could hardly take up a sword and prevent Fenros from escaping, or (ha-ha, so funny idea) jump on a horse and chase them through the woods. “So, they had help?”

“Yes, and it seemed well prepared and organized. One person took out the guards in the dungeons and helped them out through a system of tunnels no one knew about. And when Fenros came to rescue the princess, a considerable number of the Vanguard members stood on their side, staying behind to cover their escape. Several of them were captured alive. There was also a mysterious extremely skilled archer who killed or injured many of the guards as he helped Fenros and Eleanor escape over backyard wall.”

Eva just shook her head. “The Vanguard? Is there no one left loyal in the entire fucking kingdom?” She frowned upon the mention of a skilled archer, there was only one person that always jumped into her mind when those words were spoken, but that were just her personal feelings for the man, there was no reason to assume it was him. Or could it be? The Woodsmen, as mysterious and secretive they were, have always been loyal to the kingdom and it seemed unlikely they would have a sudden change of heart. Plus, the ‘exceptional’ archery could have just been an excuse used by the guards to cover up their incompetence.

---

The bodies had been taken away, but blood splatters on the grass still marked positions. “Where were they shooting from?” she asked the sergeant that was accompanying her. They were followed by a group of guards who had survived the previous night and now tried their best not to look frightened, no doubt thinking about the punishment they will be given for their failures. Sikaro wandered around, hands in his pockets, seemingly uninterested, but Eva knew that he is noticing every detail of the scene. At least his mouth was shut for now, a small blessing, but you have to take what you are given.

“From up there,” one of the guards pointed to the tip of the wall. “But there was only one, my lady.”

Eva frowned. Only one archer did this in such a short time? She had to correct her previous thought, this truly was a display of an exceptional archery. It didn’t prove anything, but who else than the Woodsmen would have such skills? “And then they just climbed that wall and disappeared?”

“We think they had a rope prepared and used it to climb up,” sergeant answered quietly, sensing her growing anger.

“You don’t know that,” one of the guards opposed.

Second one quickly joined in. “Yea, I didn’t see any rope either.”

“That’s coz you were hiding behind that haystack, desperate to save your ass,” sergeant tried to put an end to the debate quickly, but Eva had already had enough.

“So,” she turned to the first guard, “it is your expert opinion that there was no rope used? I think we will have to make an experiment to confirm that. As I recall, miss Tyler had an arrow wound on her shoulder, right?” There was a look of confusion on man’s face. She didn’t give him any time to react as she pressed a hidden button on her cane. A long sharp blade slid out from the bottom and Eva quickly stabbed the man’s shoulder, watching the confusion turn into disbelief and pain. The others stayed quiet and motionless, smart enough not to draw any attention to themselves. “And also,” she turned to the other guard who spoke before, “sir Allaway had badly broken wrist.” She nodded at Sikaro, who leaped towards the guard, grabbing his hand and twisting it until a series of cracks could be heard. The man screamed in pain and looked around in horror, realizing no one is going to help him.

The sergeant’s lips were sealed so tight they were almost invisible, but he mustered up some courage and moved towards her. “My lady,” he started in a quiet calm voice, “these men…” The look in her eyes made him stop mid-sentence.

“These poor excuses for men you have here,” she hissed and pointed to the rest of the guards, who now looked like they would be happier if the land opened and swallowed them, “let the traitors escape, some of them didn’t even try to stop them. This incompetence will not be tolerated and certainly will not go unpunished, do you understand me?” The field was quiet now, even the injured men have stopped screaming and just sobbed quietly, hoping she would forget they existed. But Eva wasn’t done with them just yet. “I believe we still have the mystery of the rope to solve,” she turned back to them. “So, now that we have established similar conditions, we can begin the experiment. You two have three minutes to get over that wall. If you fail to do so, I think it is safe to assume that the prisoners had a rope. Sergeant, if either of them is still on this side of the wall when the time is up, kill them.”

The men stared at her in horror for a moment, searching for signs of a joke or mercy in her eyes, but not finding any. Desperate, they ran towards the wall and started a series of attempts to scale it.

Sikaro watched them, clearly amused. “Does it really matter if they had a rope or not?” he whispered into her ear.

Eva frowned. “Of course, it doesn’t. But these idiots need to learn that there is a price to pay for incompetence and even higher one for stupid attempts to cover it.”

The men had no chance of getting over the wall, even when they started cooperating, the injuries simply didn’t allow them to pull themselves on the top of the wall. Panting and sobbing they stood on the ground, having nowhere to escape, as the sergeant moved closer to them, reluctantly pulling out his sword. He looked back at her, hoping she might have changed her mind, that maybe this was enough of a lesson for those two, but she just nodded. The men started begging, dropping down to their knees, but their pleads were interrupted by gargled sounds as the blood burst from their cut throats.

“The rest of these men should be punished as well, sergeant. I will leave the means of the punishment to your consideration, but next time one of these dimwits fucks something up, you will be held personally responsible,” she said loud enough for everyone to hear and turned away, walking slowly back towards the dungeons, heavily leaning against her cane.

“Now what?”

“Now we have some more traitors to question.”

Conall Cassidy

.


The light of the rising sun could barely be seen peering through Conalls window as he sat on his knees in the middle of his personal room. Just in front of him laid his axe resting waiting for its master to pick it up once again. With his eyes closed he began to speak out loud unmoving. “All father, guid my seances for the battles to come, lead my mind to the destination you hold, give me strength to bring honor to both you and to our clan. Father, Guid my axe and make my strikes true.” he took a moment pausing from his prayer not sure how he should continue or if he truly wanted to ask the question he had in side of him. “Mother,...” he began before being cut off by a knocking sound at his door. Taking a moment to let his anger be subsided before answering the door, he called back “it is open.” remaining unmoving with his eyes closed he heard the door open as a pair of feet entered his room from behind him.

“My apologies for disturbing you sir but the men are ready to leave and wait your orders.” the guard said in a shaky voice clearly scaax of being the one who had to summon Conall.

Reaching for his axe Conall brought it close to his face with its head mostly covering his face. Rising to his feet he raised the axe over his head placing it on his back. Turning around he finally opened his eyes as he took in a deep breath exhaling slowly before beginning to walk towards the door. “Then we best not keep them waiting.” he said as he had already stepped outside his door with the young guard running to catch up to him.

“Your horse is already prepared sir, and the ten men you requested be summoned to accompany you are awaiting your command.” the boy said again with a more confident voice.

“Good. Good. I want to leave as soon as possible to ensure we get there before word gets out.” he was happy that he was put in charge of this mission but felt he could be doing more if he was sent to track down Fenros and lady Eleanor. At the very least you could cause pain to that gutless traitor. Entering the courtyard he saw the men he requested for sitting on their horses all battle ready. Seeing him approach the men all gave an affirmative nod as Conall saddled his horse before leading the men out of the city with only one destination in mind, The Tyler Estate.

---

---

Morning light hadn't even breached breached the horizon when Prince Aaron’s party set off. Unlike the hasty arousal of knights that had been intended to give pursuit, this revamped force of thirty-three men contained only single knight, Sir Arvel, and were prepared to the desires of the prince, looking for all intents and purposes like a hunting team out to snare a boar. These were tough sergeants at arms, lancers and outriders, men who were used to hard living, and most importantly men Aaron trusted. No longer were they garbed in gleaming heavy armor, at most they wore mail hauberks covered by green and mottled brown wool surcoats with leather half helms strapped to their skulls. In their hands they hefted not long war lances but short jousting spears with blunted ends like long quarterstaffs. At their hips hung not swords but banded maces and their quivers were filled with blunt arrows. Aaron had ordered all his men to carry non lethal weaponry, only Sir Arvel, the houndmaster Broc, and Aaron himself carried proper swords. His exact orders were to take the rogue knight and his sister alive, along with any men or women who accompanied them. While he had been gathering information about the escape Aaron had been informed of the skill archers slaying Vanguard left and right with feathered shaft. The product of their labors were strewn about the castle for all to see so Aaron had no reason to doubt such a claim. The concerning question was whether these cloaked and dangerous individuals were merely skilled unimportant mercenaries, or something else. Besides himself there were only a few people in the kingdom he knew of who could shoot a bow and arrow with such lethality, and they vastly surpassed Aaron’s own skills. The Woodsmen. And if they were who he pursued, well the thought left a foul taste in his mouth.

Thus equipped and mentally prepared for the undertaking they set off, making haste through the near deserted streets until they reached the gates. Barred against entry and exit as they were it took a moment for the night shift to confirm the Prince’s identity and relay his orders up to the gatehouse where the slow process of twisting the locking wheel began. Content to wait and take his time Aaron sat back in the saddle of his chestnut gelding, the beast was short and wooly and old. And yet as sure footed as a horse could ever be, and although slow on the sprint could maintain a steady pace for hours. Releasing a sigh Aaron scratched at his stubble beard, a sign he hadn’t been caring for himself properly lately. Raising his left arm Aaron stretched and flexed his fingers, twisting his limb this way and that. It seemed well enough, though still sore. He had removed the bandages earlier against the advice of the healers, trusting himself to be gentle on it for at least a few more days.

Aaron’s bored, wandering gaze soon fell on Sir Arvel, riding astride him. Once again the question of Eleanor flickered in his mind and Aaron broached the subject, wondering if he would get straighter answers from this man than all the others he had asked. “Sir Arvel, perhaps you could enlighten me. Every other man seems conveniently uncertain, or to have forgotten the events just prior to Allaway’s untimely escape as to give me a straight answer. You see, there seems to be a consensus from the higher ups in the Vanguard that Eleanor was not in fact snatched from her chambers, but fled with Sir Fenros from the barracks hall. That is indeed where most of the corpses can be found from the fighting. A strange coincidence considering no one can recall just why she was there, alone and unguarded, when I am certain I heard my lord father assign Sir Connall no less to her security. And, should she have been released from her chambers by traitors, it makes no sense to me why they would immediately take my sister to the Vanguard’s barracks, the jaws of the beast if you will. It's all rather confusing to be quite honest, and I have high hopes that you are better informed upon that particular situation than I?”

Arvel gripped his reins loosely, panning his gaze to Aaron. Biting his lip slightly, he spoke softly but surely. “Lord, I fear it may be more complicated and- Controversial, than your expectation. That being said, do you still desire the truth?”

“I would expect nothing less from you.” Aaron intoned, eyeing the knight with a mixture of curiosity and suspicion. “I specifically requested you at my side because I saw a man I could trust, not a man like those my father promotes. Yes-men, who tell him what he wants to hear. Whether complicated or difficult you will find me worthy, and all the better for having the certitude of it. Try me sir knight, and test my resolve in handling the truth.”

Exhaling sharply, Arvel formulated his thoughts. “I’m sure you’re aware of the accusations against the Princess Royal, yes?” Arvel nodded. “Given that, His Majesty the King found it a fitting punishment to- Excuse the bluntness or any perceived vulgarity, throw her to the dogs, perse. Gave the Vanguards free reign in the middle of the barracks hall. I-” Arvel paused, clearing his throat, obviously uncomfortable at the topic.

“I left, needed some air, didn’t see what happened beyond that.”

Aaron hissed, long and low his hand clenched tight around the hilt of his sword as he fumed over this answer. At long last he released the sword casting a furious glance over his shoulder back towards the castle. “My father has much to answer for…” He murmured every word containing a level of venom rarely heard from him. “Are you certain of this? These accusations, though not beyond my father admittedly, would be unforgivable should they be proven false? They cast into doubt this very venture, I am of half a mind to let them escape, Eleanor would be safer in Fenros’ care...”

“I am certain. Yet, none of these riders we venture with would say anything the same, I’m sure.” Arvel sighed, glancing around, before leaning in towards Aaron, speaking lowly. “And, if this is the way you feel, Lord, it should be noted I have to agree. The truth is, I saw Fenros that night. He challenged me to step aside or die. Neither could I betray the King nor win against Sir Allaway, those are true.” Arvel paused again.

“So I stepped aside.”

“I am grateful you did so.” Aaron said with sincerity. “The world would be all the lesser without you. And by doing so you may have saved Eleanor from a fate worse than death.” Frowning the young prince stared into nothing for a while, contemplating his options, and the many unanswered questions that remained. “Unfortunately, there rides with the knight Allaway and the princess, men and women of extreme importance, including the would-be-assassin Tyler. All people whom I would very much like to question personally.” Lowering his voice he leaned in as well, mimicking Sir Arvel. “Should the opportunity arise to allow my sister and Fenros to flee, well, see to it they are not brought back home in chains. As of now I must ask you of something a prince should never ask of his knights. I ask you to lie, to keep our exploits secret from the king and anyone who might be loyal to him. Of these.” Aaron cast a hand back at the men assembled behind them. “I trust only Broc absolutely. You have seen first hand how my father treats those he presumes betrayed him. Loose lips could cost us much. Even I could be at risk, and I would not lose you. Can I entrust you with the delicacy of this situation Sir Arvel?”

“You can, Lord. It will be done, should the Goddess strike me down.” Arvel affirmed, offering a gloved hand to Aaron in solidarity.

“I will hold you to that Sir Knight.” Aaron accepted Arvel’s proffered hand shaking it with a warrior’s grip. “Ah, and behold our journey awaits.”

The massive gates creaked at last into place, and a thin line of guardsmen intermixed with watch officers had assembled as something of a Royal escort to send off the prince and his men. They stood in rank and file at attention, their gear having been hastily shined and their weapons sharpened. Lanterns cast small circles of light in the predawn shade of the walls. Crisp air persperated as they breathed vanishing in short order. Without hesitation Aaron flicked his hand and the thirty-three, in unison whipped their reins and spurred their horses forward passing through the honor guard and out onto the main road leading west out of the city.

By the time they reached the escape point of Fenros and his cohorts the sun was rising, casting brilliant beams of light across the rugged land. Several sweaty and tired looking men were waiting for them, those few who had attempted to climb the wall and pursue on foot. Aaron waved them away, before slipping from his saddle and dropping to the ground, summoning Broc the houndmaster and his four dogs. The hounds were all older beasts with graying muzzles, but they had noses sharper than a sword and a record of success that Aaron knew firsthand. Earlier Aaron had been able to locate some of the personal effects secured from Annabelle Tyler during her brief imprisonment and kept in the dungeons. Briefly Aaron held the item under each of the hounds’ muzzles. They cast about, twisting and turning their heads, first smelling the ground and then the air but at long last they all sat down whining.

“Bad trail?” Broc grunted, eyeing the dogs disapprovingly.

“Maybe, but we can try another.” Aaron muttered, not liking his secondary solution. Throwing aside the crossbow, claimed to have belonged to Tyler, Aaron stalked over to his horse pulling open his saddle bag. From there he produced a slipper, a small thing but well worn. This he held to each of the hounds in turn and this time they found the scent.

Straining on the leashes the hounds slobbered and howled eager to give chase. “Mount up!” Aaron shouted, ignoring the fact that he was the only one on his feet.

Conalls team came to a stop at the crest of a hill overlooking the small town where he was supposed to find the traitors family. From what he was given there was supposed to be a little sister, and an older brother who served as a guard that was needed to be taken alive everyone else was free game as long as it meant that the targets were taken in. Looking at each side of him seeing all the soldiers ready for what was to come next he began to speak. “You all know the mission and who we are after. When we get into the town I want every citizen brought out into the main street for a message. None of them are allowed to leave until I allow. Is that understood?” he asked in a demanding voice leaving no room for negotiation. With an affirmative sound from his men, Conall began to ride down towards the town in a slow gallop.

As he and his men entered the town the people stopped what they were doing looking at one of the most feared men of the Vanguard. They tried their best to remain calm but it was easy to tell they were on edge from having the Vanguard in their small town. “Good afternoon everyone. I would request that everyone that lives in this town or is currently here be brought to the town center for me.” he finished just before he got off his horse and walking forward. With a wave of his hand, the other members of the vanguard began to fan out across the town following the instructions that had been given to them. “I would also like to see the town elder or whoever has authority here,” he called out in a loud voice awiting for all the people to gather.

Fearing the vanguard and hearing stories of what the barbarian has done in the past, they complied to the request. Gathering all they could find, they brought them to the village center. Mothers and fathers clutched their children to make sure they didn’t do anything and also to in some way protect them.

The leader of the village came up, an older man who had a large bend in his spine, causing him to hobble forward in a bent position. He had a missing arm from his years of service.

“What is it that the vanguard wants with our humble village?” He said gruffly. Trying to stand as tall as he could.

Conall couldn't help but allow a small chuckle escape his lips as he saw the old man try his best to appear taller in the face of the mountain that was Conall. Seeing the mans missing arm Conall could nodded his head slightly saying “I appreciate the debt you have paid for this kingdom.” after saying this Conall turned his attention to the people that had gathered here before him. “I don't want to take much time here I will be swift and I will only ask this one time. Where are the Tylers?” Finishing this he looked over across the people who had formed a small half circle around him who began to look around at each other with scared expressions on their faces.

The man was stoneface at Conall as he tried to thank him for his service. He was giving fake pleasantries. He knew, he already knew why they were here. He only confirmed it asking for the Tyler’s.

“ so it was Annabelle behind the attempted assassination?” He sighed clearly irritated. “That has nothing to do with her older brother and CERTAINLY not that child sister.”

He cleared his throat. “Every month they come looking for her. Damn girl causes more problems for this village than the sheriff does. She’s not here, she hasn’t been here for years. So please, as a former vanguard, I ask you. leave her family be, they have nothing to do with this or with her. They are good people.”

No one else spoke up, clearly allowing the leader of the village talk. As he always has done.

Conall let out a sigh as his demeanor change seemingly becoming darker and more imposing if that was ever possible. “My question isn't whether or not her family were innocent in all of this. My question was Where are they?” He took a moment looking at the people. “Because you all know already about your former friends choice of actions then you all know the severity of the situation.” turning back to the man who had been a former member of the Vanguard finishing. “And as a former Vanguard, I will allow it to slide. Now, this is the last time. Where are they!” he finished in a loud voice full prepared for what was to come next if they didn't answer him.

The man narrowed his eyes at the barbarian. He wasn’t about to hand over a little girl to these men. The vanguard has changed a lot over the years, and rumors already reached the surrounding Towns of what happened in the capital. What happened to the princess... or what was planned. Surely from the very vanguards that fled after turning against the king, spreading the word as they found safe places to hide.

What’s to stop these ruffians from doing that very thing to an innocent girl, just because she’s related to the would-be assassin.

The townsfolk were silent, many having the very same thoughts of protecting the girl. But there was an air of uneasiness. While they wanted to protect her, they had their own children to think of as well.

Seconds pass and nothing was said. Seconds turned into a minute, surely Conall will be getting angry, but they debated in their own heads if they should give her and her brother up.

Suddenly though a loud bang of a heavy door slamming against a wall to the left of Conall. He would see it was the local tavern. A man in a horribly dirty brown cloak stumbled out of the Tavern. A recurve bow and quiver of arrows slung over his shoulder.

Clearly drunk, he turned around and yelled. Slurring his words. “I don’t wanna drink here anywhos! The place smells terrible!” He managed to stand in place, swaying as he did. He paused and sniffed himself. “Oh wait that’s Me...” he chuckled to himself as turned back around, impressively on one foot before almost falling off the slight rise of the deck. But he managed to stay up. Taking a good look at the vanguard in front of him.

They couldn’t get a good look at his face, as his cowl was covering almost all of it, what they did see was his skin covered in dirt. As he had been traveling for a long time with no bath.

“VANGUARD!” He yelled as he gave a mocking salute they gave each other.
He chuckled a bit more and began to walk away from the entire group. He put his hand up to his mouth like he was whispering. But said all too loudly. “Watch out, hide your wife. Hide your kids....”
He turned away a still a bit wobbly as he did. Then added mostly to himself. “They’re raping everybody...” he said with a laugh.

As the man turned to walk away a strong hand grabbed him throwing him back towards the center where Conall stood. As soon as the man had been thrown in his direction the man had all the wind knocked out of him from a massive gut punch by Conall sending the drunkard to his knees. Grabbing the hood Conall throw it off ready to beat the man to a pulp as an example. “Who are you?” he said with an angry voice

The man was suddenly pulled and thrown into the center of town. Letting out a small ‘ack’ as he did. He didn’t have any time to say anything before that ability was knocked from him. He coughed a few times, allowing his hood to be thrown off as he rested on all fours trying to catch his breath.

They would see the man as filthy his tanned skin covered in the dust of the road. He smelt of sweat and... quite honestly horse shit. Some of the men and even the townsfolk nearby would start covering their nose. He had dirty blonde hair and a shadow of a beard. He looked to be in his early to mid-twenties.

He coughed again. “Oi, what’s the problem!” He said with a slur. “I don’t live in town, so there’s no reason for me to be here.”

He groaned and pushed himself up so he was just on his knees. “I’m nobody. Pleased to meet ya.” He said with a crooked grin.

Conall let out a growl at the man who was clearly off his ass drunk. This whole situation was beginning to get him pissed off. Setting his sights on the old man he reached for the ax on his back pulling it out of its place. Inspecting the well-kept weapon he held a devilish smile on his face that could have frozen over hell. “Since nobody here seems to think I'm serious I'm going to need to demonstrate.” pointing to a random villager in the crowd he motioned for the man to step forward. The man, either being defiant or too scared to move, remained still until the vanguard knight who was next to Conall grabbed the man roughly throwing him towards the center. Putting a strong hand on the man's shoulder Conall forced the man to his knees. “Your choice old man. Either you give me what I want or I start with him and slowly work my way through your whole town.” The people that had gathered held the look of pure terror at what they were witnessing. Some were frozen in place paralyzed with fear of what would happen should they even move a muscle. Those who weren't frozen turned around to possibly try and flee only to see the Vanguard ad surrounded them with weapons drawn ready to stop them should any get the inclination to run. “Make your choice old man!” He yelled out once more driving his point home.

The man was surprised when he didn’t get punched again. That usually was the case when he as being a smart ass like that. He looked to the random man who was picked from the crowd, as he threatened him the old man tried to step up and plead no. He couldn’t help himself.

“Are you sssserious?” He said standing shakily. “That’s all I get!? One question? I’m offended.” He pointed his finger at the man swaying forward and backward. “Should have known though.” He hiccuped. “The vanguard are all the sharpest spoons in the box.” A smug smile on his face. All the villagers were confused. And he nodded. “Yeah, Spoons what I meant. Spooons. You seriously think I’m nobody? What kinda name is that?! You truly are an idiot...”

“Enough of this!” Conall yelled fed up with all the insolence he was dealing with. Kicking the villager to his back he spun around grabbing the drunk lard by the front of his shirt. Throwing the man to the ground Conall let his ax hang in his hand while speaking. “Fine, you want to volunteer so bad. This is what happens to those who deem it necessary to cover for traitors like the Tyler’s!” He finished as he stomped his boot hard against the man's chest. Turning to the old man and pointing his ax “his blood is on your hands.” He looked back down to the drunk and asked one last time. “What was your name? So we can put it on your gravestone?”

The drunk grunted at the weight of the man's boot on his chest, coughing as some of the air was knocked out of his chest again. As the man pointed at the head of the village he took a few breaths, trying to gain it back again. When Conall asked his name for his gravestone, the air about the drunk suddenly changed. He then said, “Dis...” Very clearly before grinning. And saying again. “Dis….traction!” He gripped conall’s foot and sharply twisted, and with incredible for his size lifted the foot up at the same time.

This action would have caught Conall by surprise, while it would have tweaked his ankle, it wasn’t enough to sprain it badly. Just enough to cause him to fall over. To which the ‘drunk’ quickly rolled to one side to not be under the man as he fell. Pulling a dagger out as he rolled to his knee, then slid back over placing his steel against the man's neck.

“Honestly you vanguards are dumbasses.” He said very clearly and without a slur. He looked up as the men moved in. “EP EP EP,” He said as motioned to the Dagger to their leader's throat. “Ill slice his throat if you move a step closer.” He warned before looking back to Conall. “Aiming to kill innocent people to get information on two people who just happened to be related to an assassin?” He shook his head. Slapping him across the face as he pressed the tip of the blade to his neck a little harder.“You are a piece of shit.”

He sighed and looked around, “But I can say the distraction worked perfectly.” he said with a grin. “You see, my little act here has given the Tylers enough time to escape.” He whistled sharply, then looking to the leader of the village. “Also shame on you, for locking them up. Then trying to act like a good man trying to protect them. So when you hanyou them over yoa u wouldn’t seem like an arse.” He said with slight tilt in his head as he stared at the man. Who was so shocked he was lost for words.

Hoofbeats could be heard and those who saw it in time saw a riderless horse racing towards the center of the town. “Let's see if you can keep up.” He said with a grin, slapping him on the cheek twice more before running in the same direction the horse was, people, moving out of the way not to get trampled as he ducked under a few guards arms before vaulting over a few villagers who crouched out of fear instead of running. Then gracefully leaped up into a back of a wagon and jumped off the front of it onto the horse as it passed by.

As soon as the man had begun to chase after his horse Conall shot up full of anger and rage. “Stop him!” He yelled out to his men who were already moving to intersect the man. Grabbing his ax tighter Conall began to chase after the ranger himself also calling for his horse. Knocking through people who couldn't move fast enough out of the way Conall slowly drew closer to the Man who had now hoped on to his horse. Reaching down to his belt he grabbed a small hand ax as he began lining up the shot. With all his might Conall threw the ax aimed straight at the men back missing him only by a hair instead driving deep into the side of a wall. “Get back here you Bastard!” He yelled ripping the ax out of the wall as he continued running.

‘Dis’ felt the wind of the ax that flew by his head. He ducked even more even after the fact. His eyes wide, and a loud phew escaped his lips. As he kicked his horse's flanks again. He managed to race down a small street to the east gate. The walls around the village were only ten feet high, wooden mostly, but it had some stone walls. It also had two gates, the main gate that was on the north side of town and a smaller gate on the east for easier access to the fields for the peasants who worked it.

He had made a clean get away with a good lead on the vanguard...he smiled as he thought he might actually pull this mission off. That was...until he saw the gate was blocked by a wagon, left there when everyone was forced to the village center. He pulled back on the reigns and skidded to a stop on the rocky dirt path.

Of course, he picked the locked gate. He cursed and slipped his bow off his back. He could hear the group catching up behind him. He leaned down to his horse's ear and said, “Go find Will.” The horses ear twitching as it shook its head. ‘Dis’ quickly stood up on his horses back as it started to move once again. Once he was close enough to a roof of one of the buildings he jumped onto it and started to run on top of the thatched roofs, jumping between buildings as he did.

Conall watched as the man nimbly climbed onto the roofs of the building closest to him and began sprinting once again though this time being on the rooftops. Trying his best to keep an eye on his target Conall followed close by on the street slowly gaining on the man in terms of distance. Motioning with his hands several of the guards took alternate routes in an attempt to corner the fool before he could make it over the wall of the small village. “Get down here and fight like a man you coward!” Conall called out now being right below this ‘Dis’ person. “Maybe I'll spare these people if you do.”

To be honest, this probably not one of his best ideas, the village wasn’t big enough to get lost in the streets like a city. But at least he was lighter than all the vanguards with their armor. If any did manage to get a roof to cut him off, it's possible they would fall through...or he would shoot them. He heard the large man yell at him, he smiled as he tried to call him out. “Oh Aye, one against ten is truly manly!” He pulled a few arrows from his quiver, holding them in his left hand with his bow while nocking one to his bowstring. He Saw one of the vanguards managed to get up on the building he was aiming to jump on next. Sword drawn. He didn’t stop running as he jumped for it aways, pulling his bowstring back in mid-jump and firing. His arrow slamming into the vanguards shoulder and knocking him over at the same time.

‘Dis’ landed on the same building right after as he quickly changed directions to mess up the ones trying to head him off. “You weren't so keen fighting like a man before!” He yelled down at him, noticing him still following.

Conall managed to catch up to the man with relative ease waiting for the time when he would eventually have to drop to the street. After hearing the drunks remark Conall called back up. “Says the man using a coward's weapon.” Looking back at the street he was currently running through Conall had to drop his shoulder as he went slamming through a stack of boxes that had been left outside a small building for some reason. Doing little to slow him down Conall continued at the same pace showing no signs of fatigue.

“Says the man who was willing to kill a bunch of defenseless people.” He quickly shot back, realizing he was running out of roofs and the wall still was too far for him to jump onto. Quickly sliding down the building’s roof into the street on the opposite side of the building where Conall was, he found himself facing two men. Quickly shooting one before the other got too close, he dodged and used his bow to slap the second one in the face to disorient him enough to land a punch square on his jaw, dropping him like a sack of potatoes.

Seeing the man drop off the other side Conall couldn't help but grin. “I've got you now!” he yelled shifting all his to the right making a sharp turn aimed right at the building that was currently separating him from his target. Dropping his shoulder once again Conall let out a loud cry as he came slamming through the wall of the small house sliding to a stop just in front of ‘Dis’ as debris from the building went flying through the small alley. His eyes burning with anger Conall swung immediately at the man aiming to remove his head from his shoulders while yelling “Now you die!”

‘Dis's eyes went wide as the giant literally rammed through a wall of one of the buildings. “Holy He…” He started to say as he ducked and moved backwards, trying to get distance between them. “What the hell did your mother feed you?” he said as he nocked an arrow and tried to fire it instantly.

Conall watched as the man luckily ducked under his swing while moving back trying to keep his distance. ‘At least he has some brains about him’ he thought as he saw the man ready an arrow. Not able to move anywhere out of the way Conall felt the arrow dig into his shoulder as he let out a roar at the slight pain. Not letting it stop him Conall rushed the man knowing he had no chance if Conall could keep the distance close. Swingingly widely once again Conall narrowly missed as his ax found a home in the wall of another house in the alleyway. cursing to himself Conall placed a foot on the wall as he pushed off it freeing his ax once more.

‘Dis’ was shocked the man just kept coming. He moved closer to a building trying to draw him to one side and jumped backward as he barely managed to dodge the next wild attack that embedded into the wooden building. He felt his heart leap at the stroke of luck as he wasted no time rushing past the guy. Hearing the sounds of more men coming.

He sprinted towards the south wall, as he cleared the buildings, He noticed guards swarming on both sides, leaving him nowhere to go...besides running up the wall. With the grace of a cat, he used his momentum to run up the wall with two steps and grab the top of it. Pulling himself up and over, but not before looking back at Conall who was chasing again and giving him a mocking wave before falling back over the wall. Kicking his legs around to land on his feet, he then sprinted for the tree line. Because of the blocked east gate, and the north gate was so far away from this wall, he should have enough time to make it before they managed to get their horses and give chase.

Seeing the man leap off the wall Conall knew that he had no hope of catching him in the immediate future. He would just have to hope that his targets wouldn't be able to travel far with a little girl with them. Letting out a frustrated sound Conall slammed his ax against a nearby wall letting out the frustration of the man escaping. Turning around he saw the rest of his men catch up to his position awaiting their orders. Conall began to walk past them back towards the city center saying in a low terrifying voice that only the vanguard could hear. “They all pay for this.”

Finally making it back to the center he found that most of the people were still there tending to the people who had received minor injuries from the small chase that had just occurred. Seeing the barbarian return empty-handed did little to calm peoples worry. As he drew closer the town elder turned to face him and was just about to speak before being cut off by Conall grabbing him the front of the shirt slightly lifting him off the ground. “You think i would forget about you? You had the Tylers the whole time! And now because of your stupidity, they got away with that man.” Tossing the man side knocking him prone he continued pulling out his ax. “For your sake, you had better have something I can use.”

The old man let out a pained yell as he slammed into the ground. Gritting his teeth he slowly moved to his side so he could look up to the giant. Raising his one good arm he quickly said, “I don’t know what happened or how he found out where they were! I never have seen the man before in my life. I’m sorry! I swear I was going to hand them over to you.”

“Wrong answer,” Conall said coldly swinging his ax at the mans one good hand lobbing it off cleanly. Seeing the man squirm Conall placed his boot on the man's chest to stop him from moving too much. “Now I really don't have a lot of time left so I'll ask once more then move on to your legs. So again what is something I can use to find the tylers?” He said just as cold slightly leaning down towards that man.

The man yelled, “HOW SHOULD I KNOW! THEY WERE TAKEN! THEY DIDN'T HAVE ANY OTHER PLACE BUT THEIR HOME HERE!” He yelled as he shoved his new stump of a wrist against his stomach trying to lessen the pain and slow the blood somehow. He closed his mouth and tried to bite down another yell of pain. His eyes closed.

Pushing down a little harder with his boot Conall smiled unnervingly at the man whose eyes were now closed. “That is a good start but I'm going to need more than that.” Twisting his boot slightly Conall continued “Was there anyone else besides the sister and the brother?” as he finished Conall lifted the blade of his ax up to his as he inspected it subconsciously looking for problems in it.

“No!” He said through his teeth, his voice sounding weaker already. One of the young women suddenly spoke up. “THERE'S NO ONE! IT WAS JUST THEM! PLEASE GET OFF OF HIM! HE'S DYING!” She yelled as she tried to move closer. Tears in her eyes.

Taken slightly aback by the fact that someone finally spoke up in this town Conall took his boot of the man's chest. Turning around he saw a woman moving towards where he was standing. “And who are you miss?”

“I’m his granddaughter!” She said as she moved past him quickly falling to her knees and wrapping his wrist in her apron trying to stop the bleeding. He weakly telling her to stop. His face growing even paler now. She glared up at Conall. “WHY AREN'T YOU CHASING THE REAL CULPRIT INSTEAD OF TORTURING AN OLD MAN!” She yelled at him, her tears streaming from her eyes.

“Oh I assure I will, and I will find them,” he responded calmly as if everything was normal. “They will pay for their actions just as your grandfather here is now.” Placing his ax on his back once more Conall looked down the women who was trying desperately to keep her grandfather from bleeding out. Looking around at his men he motioned for them to prepare to leave as they all began to gather their horses and equipment. Turning back to the women she was still looking up at him with a face full of tears. Looking away from her for a moment he saw that the townspeople were still stuck in place watching the show infront of them. Whistling for his horse he waited for it to join him before he set off after the traitors family. “I do hope for all your sakes that I don't have to come back here miss.”

Saving the Tylers

Two figures in brown cloaks road into town through the North gate of the small village. The taller one looking to and asking one of the town guard. “I need to speak with the Sebastian and his little sister Isobel Tyler immediately. Have them come to your village leaders home right away. Their lives are in danger.“ He tossed a tiny bag of coin to the guard to help him go and do what he asked. The young lad nodding ran off to find his captain.

Sebastian was at the moment sending men to perform whatever duties they had for the day, when the young guardsman, Carl, arrived with the message.

“Captain!” He shouted.

“Aye?” Sebastian asked. He was a man of few words.

“Two figures in brown cloaks arrived to the town and told to bring you and Isobel to the leaders home. You are in danger!”

Sebastian thought for a moment and then dismissed Carl, leaving to get Isobel. The girl was taking care of the pigs when Sebastian arrived.

“Welcome back, Big Brother!” Isobel greeted when she saw Sebastian arrive, but got worried when he didn’t reply. “Big Brother, what’s wrong?”

“Trouble” He simply said. “Where is Gran?”

“Right here.” Said the voice of an old woman, Viola, coming from the chicken coop. “Is it today?”

“Aye.” Sebastian confirmed “Two brown cloaks came with a warning, told to take Isobel and go.”

“B-But what about Gran?” Isobel asked, looking at Viola.

“I won’t be coming with you two.” The woman said, sadness in her voice.

“I don’t want to leave you!” Isobel shouted, hugging her grandmother.

“I don’t want to leave you two either.” Viola replied, pushing Isobel away. “But you two need to move quickly. I would slow you down.”

Viola took a pendant from her neck and gave it to Isobel.

“Hold onto this, Isobel. I will come to take it back. Okay?”

“Okay…” Isobel said, holding the pendant in her fingers.

“I dismiss our staff and go to another direction,” Viola spoke to Sebastian, “It will give you time and distraction. Good luck, my wonderful Grandchildren.”

“Wait, I changed my mind!” Isobel shouted, but couldn’t do much as Sebastian grabbed her and pulled over his shoulder. Isobel tried to resist, but the 9-year-old girl couldn’t do much against Sebastian, who was a huge man. Soon enough Sebastian was back on his horse with crying Isobel with him, riding to the Leaders home. There he saw a group of guardsmen waiting outside.

“Hm?” He simply grunted.

“We came here to protect you two.” A sergeant, Donner, declared, “If those two are inquisitors or Vanguard, they won’t leave the house alive.”

“Thank you” Sebastian replied and got down from his horse, leaving Isobel to be watched over by the guards. “Only let her in if I say so.”

Donner nodded and took Isobel’s hand, while Sebastian entered the house

Upon entering the house of the leader of the village, Sebastian would immediately see two figures in brown cloaks, with recurve bows and quivers on their backs while one was of average height and build, the other was smaller. Like that of a teenager.

The leader who had a perminate bend in his back, and a missing arm from his years as a vanguard. looked over to Sebastian “There he is.” he mentioned to the taller man, who was looking at him already from under his cowl.

When he would get closer, the leader would say, “Sebastian. This man just informed me that you and Isobel are in danger. The Vanguard are on their way to bring you two back to the capital to be questioned by the inquisitors. Annabelle apparently attempted to assassinate the king and was captured.”

Sebastian was taken aback by what the leader was telling him.

“Fate help us all.” He whispered while massaging his forehead. “My little sister has always had trouble with thinking before doing, but to try and kill the king? I had hoped that all we’d had to do was to find safety among our friends if and when the inquisition decided to target Annabelle, but now I fear that Vanguard comb all of Tricaelia to find us.”

Sebastian sighed before turning to brown cloaks. “What do we need to do?”

The taller figure quietly said, “Do exactly as I say from now on and you and your youngest sister will survive. There is no safety within the kingdom for you or Isobel. The vanguard will destroy the entire village if they thought you were hiding somewhere here. So we are going to get you out of the kingdom.”

He looked to the old man and said, “I have a plan to save the village from the vanguard’s wrath….though It might require personal sacrifice on your end sir.” There was a sound of regret in his voice, but it was clear what he meant. “We don't have much time to go over the plan, the vanguard are nearly upon the village.”

The old man nodded “Whatever it takes if it saves the village.” He said with a firm conviction.

The hooded man nodded in approval. Looking to Sebastian. “You follow him.” he pointed to the young man next to him who was no older than twelve years old. “You listen to everything he says as if I said it. Got it?”

Sebastian nodded in confirmation. “Aye. Shall I call Isobel here now?”

“No.” the man said, “Go and get her, you don’t need to hear this part of the plan. Go the tavern to hide.” He then gave a nod to the boy who then said, “Come on then, we don't have much time.” Before quickly moving towards the door.

Sebastian nodded and went outside, where Isobel was waiting with the guards. “Come now” He urged her little sister, who decided not to resist this time. Together they rose to the back of their horse. “Do what the Leader and brown cloaks tell you” he said to the guards before leaving with Isobel. They stopped at the tavern and entered.

“Just remember to stay quiet and listen” Sebastian told Isobel, who nodded.

They didn't have to wait long, as the vanguard came a few minutes later gathering people into the center. The boy didn’t say anything during those minutes, his bow in his hand with an arrow nocked. He was waiting for the first man, who seemed to just suddenly appear in the room. He now smelt horrible, as if he rubbed horse shit over his pants. The part of his face that was once clean was now covered in dirt.

“Ugh...why did you do that.” The boy asked. As he put a hand up to his nose.

The man took a bottle and drank some of it, and poured a little bit on his cloak. “Because no one ever looks too closely to a smelly, dirty drunk. It's a way of staying hidden while being seen.”

The boy nodded, understanding...but its something he swore he probably never will do.

The man outside was yelling now, as the first one walked to the door, about to start his distraction. Looking back to the boy.”Remember, if I am not at the spot in a day, take them the rest of the way. “ He didn’t open the door till the boy nodded again.

While the taller man started his distraction, the boy then urged the others to follow. “Not a word.” He said to them. Putting his finger to his lips as he looked at the girl. He gave her an encouraging smile. She must have been terrified hearing what she heard from that giant of a man outside. Also the fact that she had to leave her home suddenly. “I won't let anything happen to you” Tried flashing a confident smile his master did every time there was a girl involved. That's what he was supposed to do right?

He lead them out the back and moving silently surprisingly silently, he moved from corner to corner, checking around it before moving on. He would lead them through the alleys towards the north wall. There he slipped his bow over his shoulder, slipping the arrow back into the quiver. He quickly climbed up and over the wall as easily as a squirrel climbed a tree.

After looking around making sure no guards were looking he motioned towards them to follow. Before jumping down on the other side.

Tyler siblings followed suit, with Sebastian giving a little help to Isobel. Once they were all on the other side, Sebastian tried to signal with his hand for the boy to lead on.

Eleanor and her party didn’t spend long at their stop. They only slept for a few hours before moving once again. However, they turned north, across the river and into a north easterly direction. Verrick how ever, stayed behind to cover their tracks while Sierra guided them to the rebellion. Keeping part of their tracks, if by chance they did find it (He doubted it though. As he made sure to constantly use the river to mask his trail, throwing pepper here and there to throw off the dogs. He made a false trail directly south, he turned West by Northwest for a half a day before turning north directly towards the capital. He need to make an appearance soon to throw the inquisitors off that he was the culprit.

Meanwhile…

While he made haste towards the capital, Sierra would lead the other three towards the mountains that served as the northern border for the kingdom. The ancient home of the dwarves. Once, hundreds of years ago, it was common to see dwarves in almost every city. Now they have become almost a myth, despite the ample evidence of their grand cities left empty.

A few days ride and they made it to the mountains, Sierra lead them to a hidden pass that was only two horses wide at points. Suddenly almost out of nowhere, there was a grand entrance. It was built into the mountainside. Two Dwarven guards could be seen in front of the doors, while more were on the wall in balconies that were carved from the very rock it jutted from, all but the two guards were armed with crossbows. The two carried large axes.

Meanwhile…

Back at the castle, Most of the nobles had arrived to discuss the recent turn of events of the days before. Along with the confirmation of a rebellion. One of those of Note who arrived was Duke Allaway. Fenros’s father. Despite not even knowing the real story of what happened to his son, he came to show his loyalty. Any wrong move would put his family at risk.

Rumors did expound more as two mysterious people came to the castle. While no one seemed to know who they were, they seemed comfortable enough to walk through the gates, and had a strange aura around them.

As the morning light crested the cities walls Nikolaus and his men were just finishing packing their camp. They had spent the night at the bottom of the wall waiting to be let in by the guards. Now that they had waited for hours the men were becoming bored with this. A few of them had gone into the woods to do some “exploring”. No doubt they were poaching rabbits and the such, something which Nikolaus disapproved of. The men knew this, but continued nonetheless, which could be considered one of the downsides of employing mercenaries. They followed orders to a point, but they in no way had the loyalty of the vanguard or even homegrown soldiers. These men were loyal to promises of land, and the purses filled with the coin that Nikolaus provided. This was the reason Nikolaus always had a few natives of Yhore in his guard details, just in case the mercenaries would not listen to commands...or worse. Nikolaus dreaded to think what that could do to everything he was working for. Shaking himself out of his thoughts he finished tightening the strap on his boots. With a loud groan, the Duke stood up and stretched his back, raising his arms as he did so.

“Does anyone know when the others will return? I would hate to leave them outside for a few days.” As Nikolaus said this one of his let out a soft chuckle from where he was standing.

“It is not like they will avoid causing trouble in the city. I can’t imagine this being much worse.” While the soldier said this in a joking manner Nikolaus knew that the man meant part of it. This man was obviously a native of the southern city, with his golden skin and dirty blonde hair, and his native soldiers have never quite gotten comfortable with the mercenaries. While Nikolaus’ father had employed them at times, it was the son who has fully integrated them into the city. He has even adapted some of the armor designs the company uses, including the black coloring.

“They are better men than you give them credit for Adonis.” As Nikolaus said these words he could begin to hear a voice shouting from the forest.

“LORD! LORD NIKOLAUS!” Turning to the voice Nikolaus could see one of the mercenaries sprinting out of the woods towards the camp. As he reached the camp he took a moment to gather his breath before speaking.

“Enemies in the forest. Halim has engaged them. Told me to report, and bring you.” Nikolaus sprinted to his horse and pulled his scabbard out of the saddle and waved to the native soldiers. “Two men come with me. The rest stay and guard the camp.” Turning to the crier he gestured to the trees. “Lead on then”

The small group of men ran into the tree line, following a small path that wound through the forest. After jogging for about fifteen minutes the sounds of fighting could be heard a distance away and they picked up their pace. As they entered a small clearing they could see a small skirmish taking place amongst a campsite. About five of his guards were engaging what appeared to be two mysterious warriors. Even though they were outnumbered the fight appeared to be extremely even. As they neared the fight Nikolaus and his men spread into a single line and drew their weapons. Nikolaus raised his sword and said in a mild tone “Name on three.”

Once they were within fifteen feet he shouted, “1..2..3..” Responding to the countdown his charging men all shouted “NIKOLAUS!” Charging into the fight the balance immediately began to tip in the Duke’s favor. As the fight stretched on Nikolaus begin to respect his opponents' skill. They were all obviously knights, which made him suspect their identity. Quickly ducking a swing from the side he kicked his foot out at the man who nearly took his head off. Falling over the man looked like he was done for, but managed to quickly roll back to his feet and deflect a killing blow. Striking out with his sword he pierced one of the guards causing the man to stumble out of the combat. Before the knight could finish him another guard crashed into him, causing the knight to stumble backward. Nikolaus quickly turned his attention to another foe and lunged at him. The knight sidestepped and quickly countered, giving the duke a cut along the leg. Spinning to face his opponent they began to trade strikes. While the knight was obviously better the Duke managed to stay alive on wits alone. As the fight continued on neither ground was gained on either side, and the fight appeared to have no end.

Suddenly a scream pierced through the fight causing the forest to go silent. Looking up to a small hill that overlooked the clearing they could see a man in black armor holding a knife to a young girl. Behind them, a small group of women and children followed close behind corralled by two more black armored figures. A heavily accented voice came from the man holding the girl. “Put down your weapons or I spill blood.” Even though there was a moment of hesitation the Knights dropped their weapons and held their hands up. Nikolaus’ men quickly picked up the weapons and forced the captives onto their knees.

Once they had been secured, Halim let the girl go and whispered something in her ear. As the little girl ran past Nikolaus he walked over to Halim giving him a solemn nod.

“The women and children ran away once they saw us, said something about not going back to the tyrant. The women thought we were sent by the king.”

Nikolaus nodded as he was filled in by his second-in-command, putting the pieces together. “They are Vanguard, the king's personal Army. They are the only knights this good in the kingdom.” As he spoke a spark seemed to light in his eyes. “The Vanguard is fractured… the rebellion is real.” Quickly sprinting back to the captured knights he knelt down to look the nearest one in the eyes.

“Why? Why did you decide to rebel? Tell me everything”

---

Nikolaus and his men had been staying at a tavern just outside the castle grounds that was overpriced to an extreme amount. He had paid for two rooms, one for him and one for his four guards. Laying on the bed in his room he thought back to the events in the forest. After hearing the man’s tale he had sent the rebel Vanguard along with Halim and most of his guard back to his ship off the coast to question them further. He had also sent the families along with Halim, knowing the knights would be co-operative if they were nearby.

Once he had entered the city he had gone to meet the steward of the keep who informed him of the king's call to rally his nobles. After being allowed to meet with certain officials he had been told to remain in the tavern until called upon. Hopefully, that time was coming soon as Nikolaus was beginning to become bored. With the captured Vanguard in his ship, he would have to quickly make his way back to Yhore once he was allowed to leave. Depending on what is said in the coming days by the king he might even send a few letters ahead to prepare for his arrival.

The first letter would be for the steward to prepare to raise the peasant levy if that became necessary. His steward would also have to issue orders to all the blacksmiths in the duchy to begin smithing armor and weapons, which would take a large portion out of the war chest. The second letter would go in a much different direction, across the sea to a mercenary company. In this letter, Nikolaus would call upon the captain to honor a contract previously agreed upon. With these letters, Nikolaus hoped he could weather the coming storm.