Benjamin Ashwood (40 page)

The
festival grounds turned out to be a wide open flat grassy area and it was
packed full of milling men adjusting packs and checking weapons.  There were
about one hundred of them and they were all decked out in Reinhold’s livery. 
Most wore light chain mail and had swords strapped to their sides.  A few
carried spears and bows as well and one massive brutish looking man leaned
against a wicked battle axe that was taller than Ben.

“Stay
away from him,” advised Henrick.  “That’s Gra.  Reinhold got him from some
southern island and they haven’t really tamed him yet.  He carries that damn
axe everywhere and is always looking for excuses to use it.  After the first
week he joined, Reinhold banned him from The City and keeps him up here.  There
were some incidents.  When things get hot, he’s just as likely to take your or
my head off as Gulli’s.”

The
rest of the men seemed friendly enough though and Henrick turned out to be a
squad leader.  Ben surmised he’d been with Reinhold for many years and was now
trusted with more than keeping trespassers off the property.

“You’ll
march with my squad and if it gets hairy you stay behind us,” explained
Henrick.  “I know you think you know how to use that blade but leave this to us. 
I expect Gulli’s thugs will throw down their weapons as soon as they see us,
but you never know.”

“Of
course,” answered Ben.  “I have no problem watching from the back.”

“Good.”

Shortly,
Reinhold appeared out of the estate and they started to march.  With a glance, Ben
saw how Reinhold wanted this to end.  The Lord was decked out just like his men
in chainmail and had an elegant looking long sword strapped to his back. 
Whether he really knew how to use it or not, Ben didn’t ask.  His grim face
told all that needed to be known.

Ben
wasn’t comfortable with how this expedition was going but he didn’t think there
was anything he could do to stop it.  In The City, Reinhold was a polished
urbane merchant banker.  Now, he looked every bit the bloodthirsty warlord.  Ben
hoped Gulli’s men did throw down their weapons quickly because Reinhold was
going to take any excuse to slaughter all of them.

They
had gotten a report that Gulli was holed up in a town called Arrath and one day
into the march they got confirmation from a second rider Reinhold sent
immediately after hearing the first report.  Gulli only had a dozen of his
thugs with him and his household staff.  The rest of his men were assumed to
have quit and run for the hills when they realized who they’d pissed off.

The
rider rested with the group then started scouting ahead on his horse.  Reinhold
rode at the head of the column but the rest of them walked.

Arrath
was another two days travel.  The plan was to move into the woods surrounding
it and gather further intelligence on where exactly Gulli was.  With one
hundred heavily armed and trained men, they could easily overrun the entire
town if need be, but no one thought that would be necessary.  The town people
of Arrath would be happy to give up Gulli in exchange for Reinhold’s good will
and gold.

The
first night on the road Ben huddled around a small camp fire with the men in
Henrick’s squad.  They had the confidence of men who were with one hundred of
their peers but there was still a little nervous excitement in the group.

“The
pay is good but you don’t see much action with Reinhold,” explained one of the
younger men.  “I spend most of my time patrolling the border of the estate. 
Been doing it a year and haven’t seen anyone trying to come in yet.  Unless you
count deer and birds,” he snorted.

“Working
in town isn’t any better.  You spend all day in the lobby of the Lord’s tower
or following him around to meetings which is even worse,” chided another of the
men.

“Yeah,
but at least there’s something to do at night!  Go out, meet some friendly
ladies and show em a good time.  There’s only so long you can spend watching
Gra practice with that damn axe before you start to lose your mind.”

“Well,
at least this will be a little excitement.  Who knows, maybe they’ll try to put
up a fight.”

The
morning of the third day the squad leaders strode around the camp kicking awake
the late sleepers and shouting for everyone to get ready.  They stopped early
the previous night and were two bells outside of Arrath.  Far enough that word
of their approach wouldn’t be known in the town yet.  “Look alive boys, this is
real action, we’re not hiding the mistresses from each other today!”

Henrick
gestured to Ben and the young guard who’d been speaking the other night, “you
two stay back.  At least a hundred paces.  Soan, make sure Ben doesn’t engage.”

“What!”
exclaimed the young guard with a scowl on his face.  “I’m supposed to be at the
front with the rest of the squad.”  Ben had never seen a heavily armed and
armored man pouting before.  It wasn’t very becoming.

“You’re
supposed to do what I say,” growled Henrick.  “How about this, you keep Ben out
of it and you get City duty for a month when we get back.”

Mollified,
the young guard looked at Ben and shrugged.  “Sorry, guess we walked up here
for nothing.”

Ben
knew where Henrick’s orders were coming from but he didn’t know what he could
do to change them.  Ben had been the voice of reason before.  He’d argued to
keep Red alive and he’d hesitated about some of Reinhold’s methods of
interrogation when they were still looking for Gulli.  He suspected Reinhold
wasn’t interested in hearing a voice of reason today.

Fair
enough he thought.  Gulli’s men had tried to injure or kill Ben and Renfro.  If
they were too stupid to see how outnumbered they were today, they’d pay the
price.  He hoped they threw down but this situation was out of Ben’s control.

His
thought was confirmed when Reinhold made his rounds to encourage the men.

Reinhold
laid a hand on Ben’s shoulder, “after today Ben, you will become a wealthy
man.  The ale trade in The City is going to be wide open and we’re positioned
to take advantage.  Whether it’s with a quill and ink or a sword and spear,
there is nothing like beating an opponent and relishing your success.  I’ll
teach you this.  Tonight, we drink the finest wine and ale Arrath has to offer
and we discuss our partnership.  You’re a little soft, but I like you.  I see a
young me in you and we’re going to do great things together.”

Reinhold’s
glassy eyes spoke to the fine wine he’d already been enjoying that morning. 
The perfectly polished silver pommel of his sword peeking from above his
shoulder spoke to how little he was involved in real combat.  One thing
Reinhold said was true though, he didn’t care if it was quill and ink or sword
and spear.  He just truly enjoyed beating someone.  Today he was going to beat
Gulli and he was already celebrating.

Soon
after he spoke to Reinhold, Ben saw a rider come into camp.  Suddenly, shouts
went up for everyone to get their gear and get moving.

Henrick
jogged back from a meeting with the other squad leaders and explained, “we sent
a man into town last night and he spotted Gulli at the inn.  Our man says Gulli
is holed up there and seems to think no one will notice him.  We’ll be done
with this by lunch,” he finished with confidence.

The
troop started marching and Ben and the young guard dutifully fell back a
hundred paces.  Ben decided he was fine with that.  The men were psyching
themselves up for blood and whatever Gulli’s men did, their Lord was unlikely
to survive this day.  The certain and unnecessary bloodshed made Ben queasy. 
He, Renfro and Evan had been the victims of the attack but Reinhold had taken
to the cause like it had been him.  The situation had been escalated too far by
both sides to turn back now.  It never needed to come to this place.

“I
hear you brew an excellent ale,” began the young guard.  “Maybe when we get
back you can show me around to some good taverns.  These older guards just sit
around the barracks dicing all evening.  I want to go out and meet some women. 
You’ve got to be in these taverns all day, right?  You can show me which places
have the pretty girls?”

“Sure,
when we get back,” sighed Ben.

The
terrain around Arrath was heavily wooded.  The rolling hills near the river
turned into steep ridges and valleys.  The road to Arrath humped over the
ridges as it skirted the foot of a small mountain chain.  Arrath itself,
according to Henrick’s sketch in the dirt the night before, was located in a
narrow valley and it was a tin mining town.  Business couldn’t have been very
good thought Ben.  They hadn’t seen another traveler or a merchant in two
days.  All the better for their purposes though, they needed the element of surprise
to prevent Gulli from running out into the forest.

A
hundred paces back, they started losing sight of the troop as the road climbed
and dropped over the ridges.  Ben wasn’t worried, there was only one way to go
and no one was getting around all of Reinhold’s men. 

If
it wasn’t for the mission they were on, it would be a pleasant walk.  The early
fall weather was refreshing after summer in The City and the woods around them
were peaceful.

“Hurry
up,” pressed the young guard.  “We may not be able to engage but I want to
watch.”

They
crested a hill and saw the troop strung out on the road before them.  Reinhold
and the other rider, his scout, were in the lead and everyone else was marching
in rows of four.  The household guard was making a good show of looking like a
real army unit thought Ben.

Then
he paused.  He caught a glimpse of movement in trees below them on the ridge.  Ben
grabbed the young guard’s arm and pointed down.

“What?”
asked the guard.

A
dark grey clad man stepped out of the trees and flapped a bright red
handkerchief.

“Who
is that?” continued the guard.

“I
don’t…”

An
animal cry broke the quiet of the forest and Ben saw Reinhold’s horse buck
upwards sending the Lord tumbling over it’s back.

Instantly,
the forest became alive with swarms of grey clad figures bursting from the
undergrowth and charging into Reinhold’s men.  A volley of arrows arced over
their heads as they hit Reinhold’s line.

Ben
swept his blade from his scabbard and stepped forward but the young guard
pulled him back.  Without saying anything, they both saw the fight was over
before it started.

Reinhold’s
men were outnumbered, surprised and overwhelmed quickly.  But they didn’t all
go down without a fight.  Ben saw the axeman Gra step out of the line and meet
the charge head on.  Muscles bulging he cleaved through the first wave of the
grey clad men like they were blades of grass.  Within heartbeats though he was
surrounded and sprouting several arrows from his back.  He kept churning and
surged forward into the midst of his enemies to cut down several more.

“Oh
shit,” the young guard mumbled, “Lord Jason.”

A
pony tailed blonde man walked up to Gra and smoothly ducked under the spinning
axe then casually sliced the big man open from groin to neck.  Without pausing,
the newcomer plunged into the thick of the battle and Reinhold’s men perished
in his wake.

Ben
turned to the young guard but the man had broken into a full sprint back down
the road and away from the battle.

“Lord
Jason?” Ben asked himself aloud.  “The Coalition’s Lord Jason?”

He
looked back to the battle and quickly realized he needed to move too. 
Reinhold’s men in the span of a few breaths had been wiped out.  The grey clad
men were covering the road and ruthlessly dispatching any survivors.  Ben
jumped to the side of the road and sank down amongst the tall grasses there. 
He started wiggling closer to the forest but could still clearly see the road
below.

The
man who must be Lord Jason was dressed the same as the others but he stood out
like a wolf amongst a pack of lap dogs.  Even if Ben hadn’t seen how easily he
put down Gra, he would fear this man.  Lord Jason moved to the head of the
column and knelt beside a body before rising again holding a scabbarded sword
with a flashing silver pommel.  Reinhold didn’t even draw his weapon realized Ben.

Ben
slid on his stomach into the thick undergrowth just in time.  A handful of the
grey clad men appeared on the hill where he had been standing and one called
out, “look, someone dropped a sword.”

Ben
cursed himself until he realized he was still holding his own sword.  The damn
guard must have dropped it to run faster.

“Go
tell Lord Jason one got away,” called another voice.

Cringing
down amongst the low lying bushes and grasses, Ben was afraid to move.  The men
were close enough that they were sure to hear him pushing through the leaves
and branches.  He could only hope he was deep enough that they wouldn’t spot
him.

“Someone
got away?” asked a strong, even voice.

“We
think so sir,” answered the original speaker.  “We found a sword and belt in the
middle of the road.  They could have dropped it to run.”