David Dalglish - Blood Of Gods

The others in the pavilion hastily nodded their agreement.

A cold wind blew, billowing the sides of the tent around them. Talon Blackwolfe shivered and looked at the soldiers standing on either side of him, as if seeking guidance from them. It was such a strange thing. To Rachida, these men appeared much too green to be officers, and Talon was in no way captain material. He was too young, too gruff; a foot soldier, not a leader.

“Captain,” she said, “what has been going on here?”

Blackwolfe gave her a queer look, glancing at his eight officers. “Were you not told already?”

“Would you prefer to waste my time with assumptions, or would you answer the question I asked?”

The man sighed, his shoulders slumping. “There were five thousand of us here, making life miserable for those spellcasting bastards in Drake. Casualties were low, supplies good. But then our first commander, Wallace Ball, was taken from his pavilion in the middle of the night. We looked, found some footprints leading to the river, but that was the last trace of him we’ve seen since. Not long after, Captain Joseph Marten took command and ordered us on the offensive.

“We were just meant to harass, you know. Those were Karak’s orders-just harass, not assault. So long as the people of Drake stayed up here instead of going south to help Ashhur, we were doing our job. But our new captain wanted blood, though truth be told I think he was just spooked and thought he’d vanish like Wallace did. So we crossed the river, like good little soldiers.”

Rachida had heard stories of the spellcasters of Drake, but had yet to witness their power. A part of her ached to have been here during the assault.

“How did you fare?” she asked.

To that, Talon laughed.

“We died, Commander Mori. That’s how we fared. Arrows, lightning, fire, shards of ice. . if it exists, and can kill you, they threw it at us. But we took the tower, just like Joseph said we would. Course, the only reason we took it was because the people fled back to their homes. After that they created a. . barricade of stone around the township, and we’ve kept it besieged ever since.”

There was defeat in his voice, and Rachida felt a morsel of pity for him.

“We brought our supplies with us from the Tinderlands camp when we crossed the Gihon,” he continued. “But it wasn’t enough for how long we’ve been here. There were less than a thousand citizens in that damned township, and after they sealed off their homes, they should have starved. But if they have, they’re hiding it damn well. Us, though? Captain Marten died in our last attempt on the township, as well as his left hand, Remmy, which meant a duty I wasn’t prepared for fell to my sword. Winter has driven the deer and elk into the mountains. We’ve lost more than half our original numbers, be it from sickness, arrow, or spellcaster magics, and Omar over there even caught a couple of the men roasting one of their dead brethren over a fire out of desperation.” One of the younger soldiers, obviously Omar, nodded grimly. Talon said, “We dealt with those men accordingly, but the seed had already been planted. No one expects to find victory here, yet if we abandon the siege and travel south, we will die by Karak’s hands for our cowardice.”

Rachida knew she should be pleased with how poorly things had fared for Karak’s men, but hearing the exhaustion and frustration in Talon’s voice as he told his tale kept such easy emotions away. Lion on their chest or not, they still suffered and endured terrible hardships, and for what? Fear of Karak’s retribution? When first entering the tent, she’d thought to kill them all, but now. .

“You say we weren’t expected,” said Rachida. “Why is that?”

Talon appeared unsure how to respond. “Well, shortly after Captain Marten died, I sent word to our god of our troubles, pleading for reinforcements and supplies. We received word back from Karak’s prophet three weeks ago.”

“What did this prophet say?”

The disgust on the man’s face was plain as the snow on the ground outside.

“That we are on our own now. That we disobeyed orders, and our current predicament is of our own making. The letter said we would receive no reinforcements, no supplies, though our mission hasn’t changed. We are to keep the spellcasters here in Drake, and abandoning that duty will be considered treason against our god.”

Rachida could plainly see the anger in the man’s eyes, anger that was echoed by the other eight advisors in the pavilion. That was good.

“So you have two options,” she said. “Remain here and perish, or flee and perish.”

“Exactly.”

“I can see now why you’re so relieved we are here.” She glanced over at Quester and the other sellsword captains. “Captain,” she said to Talon, “I wish to speak with you. . alone.”

The man raised an eyebrow. “Very well.”

Talon gestured for his young advisors to exit the pavilion, which they did without question. The sellsword captains, however, hesitated.

Quester leaned into her. “What are you up to, Rachida?”

“Trust me,” she told him. “Now get out.”

When they were finally alone, Rachida unlaced her cloak and removed it, exposing the Twins on her hips. She felt Talon’s eyes on her as she made her way across the pavilion, tossing the cloak on the captain’s desk. The man was visibly wary. She could use that.

“Tell me, Captain Blackwolfe,” she said, “what do you wish to come of your predicament?”

“I wish to fulfill the will of my god,” he told her, though his fidgeting and tone said otherwise.

“Do not lie to me, Captain,” she said, removing her belt and placing her swords on top of her cloak. She then moved back to the center of the space. “Tell me how you truly feel about this, how your men feel. We are here now to help you. You will receive no punishment for the truth.”

Talon leaned back in the chair, rubbing his temples. “You wish to know the truth?”

Rachida nodded.

“The men want. . they want this conflict over,” Talon said, nearly whispering the words. “Though a few of us have discovered the thrill of conflict, were born for it even, most of the men are cut from softer cloth. They had lives once. . farmers, merchants, pages, blacksmiths, potters, bakers, miners. They lived and died and loved and lost as free men. Yet they are free no longer. We are all starving and near death. We’ve suffered in a wasteland for so long, and for what? To be told by our god that we are to be abandoned, that our lives are worth nothing because we followed our leader’s instructions? How is that fair?”

“It isn’t,” said Rachida.

Talon seemed taken aback by the statement. “Thank you, Commander. So now you know of the men’s wishes. What would you have us do?”

“I said earlier that you had two options, both ending in death. What if I offered you a third?”

“I would kiss you on the mouth, if that option did not also end in death.”

Despite his obvious exhaustion, he smiled, and Rachida decided she liked him.

“I offer you an opportunity to live your lives as free men once more,” she said. “The chance for this siege to end and for you all to walk away, fully supplied for the task ahead. Your men could cross into the Tinderlands and return home, or flee to some remote corner of Paradise. Those who have developed a taste for conflict can join me and my men and wage war against the very god that abandoned you.”

At that, Talon started. In a single sharp motion he took a step back and grasped the handle of his sword, though he hesitated to pull it. His eyes flicked toward the table on which Rachida’s blades rested, then back to her. Rachida made no move to claim them.