chapter twenty

Enge jogged over to his captain, "How much does she know?"
"Not much, she wasn't really interested in where we come from; more what we can do for her."
"Selfish twit."
"Now now Enge, no need to get self-righteous."
"We're fighting for the heir to a throne; not a noble with power and riches, just some girl who will eventually have power and riches. Forgive me for saying so captain, but risking our lives for some total stranger you find attractive is insane."
"Not quite a stranger. The guild has a file on her, apparently someone has an intrest in the Anatolian palace. I know her favorite type of flowers, where she shops, and what she does in her spare time; among many other things."
"Reading someone's file isn't the same as knowing them."
Daniel walked silently for a while, Enge jogging beside him to keep up.
"We have seen her before."
"Really? I'd think I'd notice someone like her; there'd be an announcement and bodyguard and all that high-to-do crap."
"Unless she didn't want to be noticed. And there was a bodyguard, imperial guard actually."
Enge stared at him blankly; It always bothered him when his captain beat around the bush like this.
"I'm not following you, have we kidnapped her in the past?"
"Instead of undressing her mentally like you usually do; picture her in a yellow dress with a shopping basket."
"That was uncalled for."
"Yes, but it didn't hurt."
Enge tried to picture Kiera in yellow. It was awful, a woman of her complextion and demenor in yellow; clearly yellow just wasn't her...
"The girl from the market?"
"Exactly. Now what are the odds that we have a discussion about how attractive a paticular woman is the day of an invasion, and then because of the invasion she becomes our employer? If you ask me, this is kora."
"You can be a real romantic sometimes. Fine, if you have your heart set on this girl I'll play along."
"Glad to hear you'll be cooperating. This would have been a lot harder without you."

Enge laughed, and the two continued walking with the convoy.
"There's one other thing."
"Yes Enge?"
"The girl, Tressa."
"I wouldn't worry. Witches like her love a good fairy tale romance."
"Wasn't worried about that."
"What were you worried about?"
"She's got your father's hair."
"It's not an unpopular hair color, probably make a dye for it."
"And his ears."
"I think you may be reading into this a bit much."
"And his hands."
"Good, then she'll be useful in a fight. Good to know your compatriots have a reasonable amount of manual dexterity."
"And I haven't seen it closely enough, but that necklace of her's looks awfully familiar."
"Describe it."
"Silver chain, wolf's head design with two saphires for eyes, gold inlay for details."
Daniel stopped suddenly; Enge had to turn around to face him.
"He said he'd lost that one."
"Would it surprise you that he had secrets, even from you?"
"No, it would surprise me that he got over Mom so quickly."
"Right, that was about eleven years ago now wasn't it?"
"Nearly twelve. They haven't spoken since. He never explained why. If that little devil is what drove my parents apart..."
"I always thought it was his getting her transfered that was the issue."

Daniel started walking again, slower now.
"If it helps, Your father probably didn't do anything. Sure he's a rogueish and exciting man, but he loved your mother. He wouldn't do anything of the sort without a good reason."
"I wish he were here."
"So do I, he'd have this whole Ga-Vok situation sorted out before you could say 'Drinkin and wenchin'."
"Not helping."
"Sorry sir, 'drinkin and entreating the ladies' then."
"Well, if the poor lass is my father's...child; then we should probably become aquainted."
"That's the spirit captain."

chapter nineteen

"So these are your men?"
"Handpicked and meticulously trained."
"They don't look it; no armor, inconsistent weapons, no apparent command structure. How do you manage to do anything."

Daniel's men were loading the trucks. Kiera was actually quite impressed, there were nearly a thousand men. It was the largest force she'd ever seen.

"My men know what's expected of them, and what's allowed. The officers are out there, a lack of distinguishing marks keeps them from being specially targeted. And as for equipment, they're mercenaries not soldiers. What they have is what they can provide themselves. And since custom made equipment isn't cheap; you can't blame them for picking the weapons that work best for them."
"That sounds rehearsed."
Daniel laughed, "True, It's always good to have answers when clients have questions."
"This is just another job to you, isn't it?"
"Not quite, this job has considerably higher stakes than most. Which reminds me, we haven't agreed on payment yet."
"This is service to your Emperor; the gratitude of the empire will be reward enough."
"I'm not working for so intangible a prize; what's your next offer?"
"I'm sure the Emperor will grant you a commendation."
"I'm not interested in what the Emperor has to offer. Have you ever actually met him?"
"Well, not exactly. But I have attended several state dinners and his representatives speak very highly of his majesty."
"His majesty has recently reached the venerable age of eight. I'm no more interested in garnering his good graces than I am in working for free. What can you offer me from her highness, the princess of Anatolia?"
"Knighthood for yourself, with land and heredity; A pension for your men."
"My men will be glad to hear that, few of them had any hopes of retiring."
"Then you accept?"
"I'd like to make a counter offer actually. I have land and no need of a title. Perhaps you could think of something a little more enticing for a wealthy bachelor."

Great, he was coming on to her. This trip was already looking to be a long one.
"No, that's my best offer. And if you try anything, anything at all, and I'll give you nothing."
"Hear me out. All I'm asking here is one date, dinner a movie, whatever you feel like. I'd pay, just give me a chance before completly disqualifying me. If you don't like it I won't call again."
"I'll think about it, but until then keep it to yourself. Last thing I need to worry about is fending off the advances of my mercenary captain."
"Deal."

Enge walked up behind Kiera, "Captain, everything's loaded up. Will you be riding or walking?"
"I'll walk, but feel free to take a ride yourself."
"Yes sir."
Enge started walking off, then stopped and turned around.
"There's one other thing, we found a little girl trying to join the group. She..."
"Tressa, she's with me."
"Then you were aware that an eleven year-old was trying to follow a band of," Enge glanced at Daniel, "Mercenaries. Into battle most likely, but certainly into danger."
"She's my apprentence. Where I go, she goes."
"If the lady says the kid comes, the kid comes. There's a pension in it for everyone if we win."
"So you negotiated a fee already?"

Daniel didn't reply.
"I'm going to go load up, tell Tressa to come ride with me."
"Yes Ma'am. Right this way."

chapter eighteen

"Point, the lady."

Kiera lowered her practice sword from Enge's throat.
"How many times do I have to beat your friend here before you belive it isn't just a fluke?"
She'd gone all out on the first round, and after more than could be counted she was exhausted. It had been early evening when they'd started and the sun was setting already.
"You stop when Enge can't fight anymore, or when you can't fight anymore. If you use magic then you're disqualified."
"Tournament rules? You really think a tournament is any indication of real combat?"

She had to admit, they weren't far off. While she'd never been competitive with her martial training, it was an element of the ascendancy tradition. The council had informed her that in such a civil competition against non-magic users, a mage was expected to refrain from using their powers. In all honesty, she didn't know any spells that could be used to give her an edge that didn't either kill outright or take time to prepare. She'd mostly learned combat magic as a backup self defense measure, she never intended to lead troops in battle.

"Captain, this is humiliating. Can we just stop now?"
"Are you conceding? Point Kiera."

Enge put the knives down, "Yes, I can only bear losing so many times a day, eventually I have to admit it."
Kiera sighed in relief. "Then you'll follow me when I go?"
"Milady, I'd follow you anywhere. But I'd gladly serve you now."
So the taskmaster had a heart in their somewhere.
"Have your men ready in three days. I should be ready by then."
"As you wish, princess."
"You mentioned a room yesterday; I'd like to see it now."
"Of course, right this way."

Act2; chapter seventeen

Dame Allistari hadn't been kidding when she said Count Marche threw a good party. Apparently it was traditional to hold a feast in celebration of victory, and he hadn't held back.

Kiera wasn't interested in the festivities. She was happy to have won of course, but she couldn't help but think of the people who weren't safely tucked up in mountain fortresses like this. She watched the horizon nervously; from the upper tower she could see into the next county. There were campfires in the farthest hills. Tonight they were safe, but she wondered how long that would last.

"Not much for festivities I see."
A man had come up the stairs to the tower. He wasn't armored, but he did carry a long, curved sword.
"If you're tired I could arrange with the servants for a room."
"You aren't a guard,what's your buisness here?"
"My apologies, we haven't been properly introduced. I'm Captain Daniel Stone."
"Ah, so your the bodyguard."
Daniel paused, "Well, you could say the count owes me one or two if that's what you meant."
"Is it true what they say about your having dropped out of the guard training program?"
He laughed, "I recieved training from a member of the guard. I could have been a member, but the guards and I don't see eye to eye on a few critical issues."
He turned and looked out across the fields.
"What are your plans now? Your people are safe here, we have food and supplies. Castle Marche could hold out gainst a siege for years."

She had planned to discuss it first with Dame Allistari and Count Marche, but she knew what had to be done.
"We may be safe here, but the rest of the planet isn't. I'm going to go town to town and train them to fight back. I can't sleep soundly knowing that they aren't safe."
"I should warn you, I make a point of not allowing myself to be commanded by anyone who can't beat me in a fight."
"What?"
"Well, It's very simple. Enge, come in here."
A second man came in with a wooden sparring sword and a pair of shorter wooden knives.
"I trained Enge personally, he is my equal with the naked blade."
Enge tossed her the sword.
"Beat him, and my men and I will serve you."

Kiera readied her weapon.
"And if I don't?"
"Would my being there change your plans? It sounded like you were set on going before I'd offered my services."

He was an odd one, but she needed all the help she could get.

chapter sixteen

Commander Arkha withdrew his Katar from the messenger's corpse.
"Failure is not acceptable! The Alpha demands your best."
He returned to his couch, wiping the blood from his weapon.
"Send word to all the commanders. The one who takes Castle Marche shall be rewarded beyond his wildest dreams."
"Yes commander, I shall do it at once."
His herald left hastily.

One of his councilors stepped forward.
"My lord, shoudln't we be preparing the world's defenses in case the empire counter-attacks?"
Arkha snarled, "Do you doubt the strength of our warriors?"
The counselor lowered his tale submissivly.
"No lord, the Alpha's warriors are mighty and swift." He glanced nervously at the other councilors. "We simply worry that your," he paused as he considered his words carefully, "well, preoccupation with the wealth of this Nieldic count seems to be opposed to His designs for this world."
Arkha drew himself to his full height, "Do you question The Alpha's wisdom in placing me in command of this world?"
The councilor stepped back, "Of course not, Surely we have failed to comprhend the workings of his great plan. Thank you for enlightening us, we will not question you again."
The councilors quickly filed out of the room.

They smelled of fear. A true warrior would never have given up his suspicion so readily. He'd have to kill them too. If they were snooping he couldn't afford to have them report his activities to the Alpha, and if not; then they weren't smart enough to be decent councilors anyways.
He might not bother replacing them, he had enough to worry about as it was. The councilors were right, he did need to ready the planet's defenses. There hadn't been any real response by the empire yet. Several diplomats had attempted to negotiate a return of the planets. It had been quite funny to watch the fools with their briefcases and papers try to talk the Alpha into undoing his life's work.

And then there was Callin. He wasn't always certain what to make of her. She was the most attractive female he'd ever met, and she wasn't even Ga-Vok. Any time he tryed to think about it logicaly it boggled his mind. For all intensive purposes there was nothing attractive about her, save perhaps her voice, and yet when he was near her he could find nothing else to think of. He'd had several seers test his mental defenses to make sure it wasn't magic, and they had found them as strong as ever. Perhaps this was some strange charm or scent she used, yet none of his guards seemed to notice. It was killing him to have her so close and yet unreachable. He dared not take her by force, any woman who could fight that well would not allow someone to humiliate them so.
And he could not help but remember Traonih's disembodied screams. They haunted him as much as Callin's beauty. When he slept the seer's image waited with dark omens. When he walked the halls, the voice followed him spitting curses from across the void. He dared not consult the seers for fear that the events of Traonih's death would come to light. She might have a remedy; but he feared it was her power that caused it.
Arkha prayed that if he offered her that which she desired it would all go away, and set back to drafting strategies for the planet's defense.

Historical note

Though they could not have known it at the time; this was the first true battle involving an organized Nieldic force since 'The Second Battle of Stonehold' in which the Junlaerd defeated the last of the princes of Stone.

It is of intrest to the noticeably superstitious Nieldic historians that the sword used by Kiera to kill the seer Narle had also been present at the battle of stonehold.
It was being used by a courtier who fell in the defense of the Stonehold. The sword was of exceptional quality, and was taken from the field by one of the Junlaerd's retainers to replace a lesser sword that had been destroyes in the battle. The sword had been well cared for by the retainer's daughter before her eventual sacrifice to the Junlaerd. The sword was then passed on to a rather homely sister who hid the sword in an attic to spite her sister's memory. The sword would eventaully be discovered some nine hundred years later by the room's new occupant, a young advisor to the emperor. This advisor went on to have the sword refurbished and used it to create an image of traditionality and service to his emperor that would ultimately land him the rank of lord. Having obtained the highest possible position within the empire he put the sword aside and eventually gifted it to his daughter in a ceremony making her his heir.

The fact that the sword could be used in combat never occured to Lathorian, but Kiera wove a few enchantments into it and used it quite advantageously.



The battle of Marcheton also marked the first true battle of the Ga-Vok wars. Though a rather minor engagement; It would be considered the first step to a larger war. Historians debate exactly what Kiera said, but generally agree that she could have said anything and her men would have gladly ripped apart the Ga-Vok forces.

What they do not debate is the fate or nature of the experienced Ga-Vok warriors. Nearly a hundred warriors escaped the battle before the death of Narle; though their were no official reports. These warriors were punished by the Alpha on returning to Decidua. They were sent into exile with their whole clan, never to return to Decidua. They would however, continue to serve the Ga-Vok confederacy as warriors; where specificlly ordered. However, their lack of reliability or motivation would see them repeatedly abused by their commanders. What they traded favor with their commanders for, was unmatched prowess in battle. To his day the 'Howling Axe' clan is revered across the universe for their skill in battle, and many consider them to be the Ga-Vok equivalent to the imperial guards of the Daniellandish empire.
Needless to say, you'll see them again.

chapter fifteen, or 'The Battle of Marcheton'

Kiera ordered her men to form ranks on a ridge overlooking the Ga-Vok encampment. It wasn't at a perfect angle, but the incline was steep enough that most of the enemy warriors would grow tired attempting to charge their position. The archers would not have that problem.
"Don't fret princess; I'll handle the archers."
Dame Allistari strode off toward the right flank, furthest from the enemy forces.

Kiera moved to a hillock on the left flank. Magic; it made you all-powerfull, until you ran into another magic-user. That's why there was a siege at all, wan't it? Well, She had the furry little pup outnumbered. With Dame Allistari dedicated to combat wards, a considerable reserve of energy amassed from months of raiding, and what she hoped to be superior combat skill; Kiera prepared to open the battle with a confident spirit.

She drew upon the energies she'd stored in the blood-stone vials. She could think of but one way to properly start a battle of this sort; with a bang!
She cast a flurry of bolts at the nearest Ga-Vok camp; killing several and causing the rest to flee in a panic. No commander, no Nieldic cmmander anyways, would ignore the presence of a mage at his flank. And the search for the offending mage would make him aware of her troops,to which he would doubtless respond in force.

She readied her sword, she would have to defend herself until their mage revealed himself.
Or herself, Kiera thought, although I don't think I've ever seen a she-wolf among them. I bet they have as hard a time telling the difference between us as we do them. Not that it matters, I plan to kill the cursed whelp either way, and I rather suspect they feel the same way.
She brushed her thoughts aside as she saw them assembling at the base of the ridge. They must have been overestimating her numbers, there were at least four, no six hundred of them. It was a risk that was taken when you arranged your men in a double line. If you spaced thickly the enemy might not know how deep your ranks were.

She raised her sword, bracing herself.
"Remember men, just like we practiced."
They were as nervous as she was, most more. And rightly so, for all she knew this was the first time a Nieldic military force had stood against anyone in a real battle for over a thousand years. And she knew that most of the swords carried by her men had been forged in those days, including her own; and most of the armor and crossbows too. She knew they'd work; they'd used them before. But never against so many, or against a mage backed force.

"Ready!"
Her men pumped their crossbows, those in the first row droped to their knees. The Ga-Vok didn't stop to listen, or flinch at the sight an enemy ready for battle. Many of the younger, bolder warriors began to rush the hill; the rest followed them blindly.
"Aim!"
Two hundred crossbows were leveled against the enemy, months of training coming to fruition. The strongest, most endurant enemies began surging ahead of their bretheren, as gravity began to defeat them.
"Fire!"
She leveled her sword, and two hundred darts flew out from the ridge. She watched with satisfaction as the most eager, driven warriors toppled backwards, pierced by her men's fire.

"Ready!"
The enemies moral was not broken, they continued to drag themselves upwards. They were weakened by months of siege and overconfident from scores of unfought victories. They had only hunted the weak and defenseless; they had never seen an enemy who would stand against them, save the one they had cornered within the fortress.
"Aim!"
Her men did not need the orders, theirs was a lust for blood and for vengance. They had lost families, homes, everything to these ungrateful wretches. Yet they obeyed; for they were soldiers, and their commander desired that they have order. And she would give them victory, or she would die beside them.
"Fire!"
Another volley of sharp steel darts bit into the enemy ranks, this time joined by a red bolt. Both bore death upon them, and this time the enemy faltered. They were no more fools than the Nielda, a mage could devour ordinary warriors like them.

They had seen it, the older Ga-Vok fled along the base of the ridge. Heading not to their camp as the younger ones did in fear, but to the fields. They had seen magic before, in the wars before the Nielda came. Where two seers met in battle, no man was safe. Better to flee and return to their own war torn homes than to die for a dream of living in the land of the fire-bloods. Their seer was not his predecessor, had Traonih been in command their would have been no siege of the fortress, and they would be facing this new foe from within it's safe, spell-warded walls. But Narle was not Traonih, he was to young to have seen war. That fool was no more powerful than his fleas.

Kiera watched as her enemies fled in every direction, then a bolt of lightning flew from the base of the ridge. She threw herself to the ground to avoid it, then looked for her rival on the fields. There!
She grabbed her sword and charged him with the warcry of her noble forfathers.
"Atlai!" She cried, "Attack men, drive them from the field! Let us teach these mangy pups who rules the empire."
Her men put aside their crossbows and drawing swords joined in her charge. They were not many, but the enemy was weak of heart. Many of them fled on sight, tails between their legs. Others cowered, petrified at the thought of death. Only a few stood ready, and they were to few to break the charge.

The seer flung bolts of lightning in an attempt to stop Kiera, but she dodged, absorbed, and deflected them as she came. As she reached him he brought his staff across to block her blow; But her feint left him unguarded.
As quickly as it had beagun, the battle was over. What Ga-Vok remained were still fighting across the fields and streets. But their fate had been decided.

Soon the embattled defenders rushed out and joined the fray. By the sixth hour of daylight, no Ga-Vok lived within the County Marche. And the Nieldic dead numbered only thirty-eight. It had been a good day, and Kiera knew it would be but the first of many.