Baron’s men had confiscated his stores a couple of days ago. It was surprising
how many familiar faces there were in the group of desperate men and women.
Oskar and his sons, Hrodir, Gronir, even Vasha.
I blinked in surprise at Captain Rain’s… mistress? Head concubine? I
wasn’t even sure what to call the man’s arrangement.
“How did you end up here?” I asked her.
“No one who saw you fight the giant believes that you’re really dead,
lord wizard,” she answered. “Marcus sent me to try to find you, and make
peace.”
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I frowned at her. “Captain Rain isn’t exactly in my good books right
now.”
“Would you have him betray his employer, lord wizard? Could you
ever trust a man who was capable of such treachery? The company is under
contract with the Baron for another month, and so far he’s upheld his end of the
agreement.”
“But the contract ends if the Baron dies,” she added suggestively.
I raised an eyebrow. “Does it? Is Captain Rain offering to help with
that?”
She shook her head. “No treachery, lord wizard. But Baron Stein
doesn’t trust the company, so he’s assigned us to guard the granary down near
the waterfront instead of helping to man the keep. If things work out the way
Marcus expects, we’ll be well supplied and ready to accept a new contract.”
I paused to study her for a moment. She’d been an attractive woman
when she was younger, although age was beginning to wear on her now. Her
dress was simple but clean, she’d found time to put her hair up in a fairly
elaborate arrangement held together by hairpins, and her manner seemed
confident at first glance.
But her dress was the same one she’d worn the day of the giant attack.
The hem was short where she’d ripped off a length to try to bandage her man’s
wounds, and one sleeve had a hole in it just the size a goblin arrow would
make. She shivered slightly in the cold air of the cellar, and that was far
warmer than outside.
I remembered suddenly the way a life of backbreaking labor and
limited food prematurely ages people from the Third World. If she looked
thirty to my eyes, she couldn’t really be older than… what, twenty-five?
Maybe less.
“Why did Captain Rain send you, instead of one of his men?” I asked.
“He has to account for his men,” she answered. “But the Baron
wouldn’t think to wonder what a camp follower is up to. You didn’t seem the
kind to be insulted by speaking with a woman, and… well, even if you blame
the company for what happened I thought you probably wouldn’t take it out on
me.”
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I sighed. “You’re right about that. No, I understand the Captain’s
position. You realize I’m not sure we can hold the town at this point?”
She nodded. “Should we start collecting wagons, lord wizard?”
I considered that.
“No. Too much chance of drawing attention. Tell the Captain I advise
him to sit tight and gather supplies. Once the Baron is dealt with we can
negotiate a contract, and then take stock of the situation. If we do pull out we’ll
use magical transport, like how we got here.”
She heaved a sigh of relief, and only then did I realize how tense
she’d been.
“Thank you, milord! You have no idea how good it will be to have an
employer who knows what he’s about. The company won’t let you down.”
“It will be good to have some professional backup,” I told her. “Now
you’d better get back before it gets dark. I’m not sure what all is in the town
right now-”
“Ungols,” she interrupted. “Maybe the same pack we saw on the way
here. They took the river gate and ate their fill, then vanished. Markus thinks
they’re just lurking somewhere inside the walls, waiting until they get hungry
again.”
“Yeah, I was afraid of that. Do you have an escort?”
She nodded. “I hired a couple of laborers. They were planning to go
house to house selling pilfered supplies, and they’ve got cudgels.”
Something about the way she said that sounded odd. “You really think
a couple of townsmen with clubs can fight off an ungol?”
“I think,” she said wearily. “That they’re both loaded down with
goods to sell, and I can run much faster than they can.”
Okay then. Someone has a good instinct for zombie apocalypse rules.
“Fair enough. Good luck, then. I’ll see you in a few hours.”
She left, and I turned to the rest of the group.
“Oskar. You and the girls saved my ass out there. Thank you. If we
can’t hold the town, there’s a place for you and your family with my group.”
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He nodded gravely. “That’s good to hear, milord. This business with
the Baron doesn’t seem like to help with that, but it’s a fight he started.
Damned shame he couldn’t wait till the new wall was done.”
“It is,” I agreed. “I’m afraid the whole town’s going to pay the price. I
can’t let this go, but I don’t think his men will follow me once I finish it. I
suppose I could try to leave enough of them alive to hold the town, but they
haven’t been doing well with that so far.”
He shook his head. “Wouldn’t ask you to go that far, milord. Me and
mine, we’re with you. But I hope you’re not going to ask my little militia to go
up against the Baron’s men?”
“No, a pitched battle isn’t the way to go here. I doubt your men would
do well against soldiers even if they’re willing to try, and that would probably
get the girls killed. I’ll need to be more subtle than that. So, what do we
know?”
The men exchanged glances.
“Miss Cerise is being held at the temple,” Gronir said. “There’s a
bunch of men at arms guarding the place now, and at least a couple of knights. I
snuck down there to see if I could get her out, but they’ve got the place locked
up tight.”
“That’s not good,” I said grimly. “Holger must be trying to force her
to swear to this Riven Covenants thing. I hope she’s been holding out.”
“Covenants, milord?” Hroldir asked.
I sighed. It was time to come clean.
“Cerise is a witch,” I told him. “The scary kind that uses black magic
to steal power from sacrifices. She’s been sacrificing monsters for power and
using it to kill more monsters. The priest here has a way to enslave her with
magic, but he has to torture her into submitting to it.”
There was a stir at that, and some of Oskar’s men looked uncertain.
Old Hroldir frowned.
“That girl won’t break easy, but you’d best hurry.”
“Ah, milord?” Oskar said hesitantly. “Not to question your judgment,
but I’ve seen that girl fight. You do have some kinda leash on her, right? Not…
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torture, but something?”
“Oh, he bound them with sex magic,” Tina said brightly. “I’m so
jealous, I hope he does me an Beri soon.”
I facepalmed.
The sad thing was, the men seemed to buy it. A couple of them nodded
seriously, and I saw more than one speculative expression.
“Tina!” Beri hissed. “Don’t go blabbing when the menfolk are
talking.”
“Ahem. I’ll keep that in mind, Tina. Leaving aside the details, I’m
confident Cerise and Avilla are both loyal. But Cerise is a reckless girl, and
she’s risking her soul if she pushes her magic too far. So do come to me if you