S. Turney - Interregnum

Before Kiva could reply the young Lion Rider piped up “There’s no Empire any more so does it matter who he is?”

Tythias motioned to Jorun and the big barbarian slapped the young man round the side of the head with a hand the size of a dinner plate. The outspoken mercenary collapsed to the floor, his eyes rolling up into his head as he fell.

Tythias laughed again. “Does it matter? Does it matter ?”

Kiva smiled. “See the kind of shit life throws at me Tythias?”

Again Jorun tugged on Tythias’ sleeve and made a hollow questioning sound. Tythias turned to him and nodded. “We all used to take the oath, of course I took it. And it still damn well applies now, yes.” He fell silent as he glanced back at Kiva. “Of course it might not apply to you.”

Kiva growled and the other captain shook his head. “Never mind. We can’t take this bounty; we’ll have to head west again around the coast. Can’t have Velutio find out we’ve let his prize escape or he’ll have the next bounty out on us .” He stepped close to Kiva and his voice dropped to a whisper. “Be very careful now Kiva. We’ll get out of here, but you’re walking into a world full of trouble. There must be fifteen or twenty mercenary units between here and the city looking for you at the moment, and then there’s plenty of ordinary folk who’ll drop you in it for Velutio. He’s offering too much for you to rely on friends.”

Kiva shook his head. “There’s one place I know I’m safe. Just need to get there.”

Tythias looked at him silently for a long moment and then nodded once. “I’m going home for the time being, so if you run into too much trouble you know where to find us.” Kiva nodded. ‘Home’ to the Lion Riders meant the old Imperial fortress of Vengen in the North West; Tythias truly was getting out of the way. The scarred captain turned and then stopped as a thought crossed him. “You’re heading to Serfium I presume?” Without waiting for an answer, he shook his head. “Fair enough, but don’t go through Carmana. I presume that’s the way you’re heading, but Janus and his Spear Company are waiting there in the hopes you’ll pass by. Find another way around.”

Kiva nodded. “I’ll do that.” As the two clasped arms and smiled, Tythias lowered his voice and said “what are you going to do with him?”

Kiva shrugged. “I really don’t know yet. Maybe take him back home.”

Another nod and the two captains separated. Kiva raised one eyebrow as Tythias drew his sword and walked across the path towards his horse. Halfway across the cracked dirt track, he paused and thrust the blade down between the shoulder blades of the unconscious young mercenary from his unit. He turned briefly as he wiped the blade and noted the quizzical look on his opposite’s face.

“He didn’t understand the oath. I won’t have men of no morals in the Lion Riders. See you on the other side, General Caerdin.” Grinning, he climbed onto his horse and called to the rest of his men, who also began to move. Jorun, the big barbarian with the wrecked throat paused, staring at Athas and the boy. Tythias frowned. “Come on you big ape.”

Jorun looked back over his shoulder momentarily and then grinned at the big black sergeant. He stepped forward and held his hand out. With a smile of genuine surprise, Athas took the hand and shook it, releasing as the big man stepped away. As Jorun backed up next to his huge cart horse he stopped, looking at Quintillian and bowed deeply before straightening and climbing on to the horse. Tythias looked across at Kiva and smiled. “You northerners are all far too bloody sentimental you know that?”

With that the Lion Riders cantered off into the scrubland and were gone in minutes. Athas motioned to the unit to prepare to move out, just as Thalo and Scauvus returned from the bushes. Kiva stretched his back and called out for the unit’s attention. “We’re changing route again. Tythias is right: Carmana’s too dangerous. There’s a village about three miles from here and we’re going to make for it and stay at the small inn there. There’ll be no carousing though, cos I want everyone asleep long before sunset. We’re going to leave again at midnight and travel in the dark from now on. It’ll be two or three days from there to Serfium and I’m damn determined to make it there without running into any of Velutio’s dogs. Now move out!”

And with that the Grey Company began to move once more, with Marco and Quintillian heading out to the front as scouts. Athas walked alongside Kiva for a while in silence until he suddenly turned to the captain.

“You really don’t know what to do about him do you?”

Kiva sighed. “Do we have to have this conversation again?”

The big sergeant grunted. “You’ve got to decide before we get to Serfium. You know you won’t cast him adrift to fate there.”

“For fuck’s sake Athas,” Kiva rounded on him, “what do you want me to do? Adopt him? Crown him? You know as well as I do that there’s no way we can face off against the big lords. It doesn’t matter how noble a cause you follow if your enemy has a hundred times your number. Now give your jaw a rest and forget about it.”

Without a word, Athas glared at his captain and then dropped back to play rearguard once more. Kiva’s sigh of relief came too soon as Mercurias glanced over his shoulder and then slowed his pace, dropping back to walk alongside the captain. Kiva frowned at him.

“What is this, some kind of nagging relay?”

Mercurias prodded Kiva in the shoulder and pointed out to the grass at one side of the path. “Get out of line. We’ll catch up with them in a minute.”

Kiva looked for a moment as though he’d argue, but in the end shrugged and stepped aside onto the springy turf. As Athas went past frowning at him and the column slowly trooped on along the road, Mercurias stood face to face with the captain and pointed his finger at him, inches from Kiva’s nose.

“You listen here Kiva Caerdin. I’m a little bit older that you and a hell of a lot more sensible. Athas is absolutely right: you need to make some decisions before we reach Serfium. Your men are slipping away from you, you know?”

Kiva raised one eyebrow as he folded his arms and the medic went on. “Quintillian is the most important thing any of us has seen in more than twenty years and he’s got the touch. The sentimental and the optimistic are already forming their own ideas and making their own decisions about him. If you can’t control the situation, you’re going to lose men at Serfium and I won’t allow that.”

“ You won’t allow that?” interrupted Kiva.

“No. They’re my unit and my friends as well as yours. You’re a good commander. Hell, you’re one of the best, but the time’s come to stop being bitter and pessimistic and actually strive for something. Tell me honestly, do you still have even the faintest intention of sending him off in a boat at Serfium?”

Kiva glared at the grizzled medic for a while and eventually shook his head. “Mercurias, I don’t want to see the lad sent back to his island. Hell if we did that he’d be dead in a week, as soon as Velutio found out he was back. On the other hand, Velutio wants me dead, so I’m a liability to him. Where can we take him? He might have been better going with Tythias up to Vengen. At least he’d be safely out of the way there.”

Mercurias nodded. “At least now you’re thinking. So you don’t want to send him back to the island, but you don’t want to travel with him. You’re ruling things out… keep going.”

Kiva glanced across in annoyance, but the medic was absolutely right, and so was Athas. He’d apologise to the sergeant later. “I know what the men want to do. I heard Brendan the other night when he’d had a few too many battering on about a war and a new Empire and so on, but that’s just not feasible.” He held up his hands in supplication. “There’ll be a new Empire soon enough, but it’ll be Velutio’s, and then the rest of us’ll have to find places of exile. Velutio’s the only one with enough of a power base. Every war we fight makes the other lords weaker, while he just keeps getting stronger. Every month another lord swears fealty to him and it’s almost got to the point now where he’s more powerful than all the others put together. It doesn’t matter how good our cause is, we’ve no hope of going up against someone like him and time’s almost up.”