The Vacant Throne: The Legend Of Kairu Vol 3 (35 page)

“
Not the greatest
news, but better than before,” King Markus said, heading back to
the table. “Ambassador of a general, not the empress. The empress
will not support us?”

“
That’s a whole mess
of eggs we don’t want to get into right now,” I said.

“
Eggs are delicious,”
Donkor said.

“
I’ll agree to that,”
Cathy added.

“
Indeed,” King Markus
said. “So the plan is still on then. We charge in, draw the fire,
pull back and Nesqa will be waiting for the assist.” He crossed his
arms and rubbed his chin. “It will work. Anything my Court wants to
add?”

“
Don’t do anything
stupid,” Cathy said. “We don’t need to go on another quest to find
a new king.”

“
Seconded,” Lord Kyle
said.

King Markus laughed. “I’ll keep that in
mind.”

“
Were you able to
track down the last member of the Court?” Cathy asked. “I’m sure
she would have something to add too?”

King Markus shook his head. “Elizabeth
isn’t a fighter. She is watching the land and helping to rebuild
the economy. Don’t worry. She gave me the ‘don’t do anything
stupid’ speech too.”

“
It’s a good
speech... my Liege,” Cathy said, shooting me a look. “One I’ve
perfected over multiple tellings.”

“
Yeah, yeah, yeah,” I
said. “Let’s get to the planning. Have your scouts found a good
spot for us to hide so we can sneak up the mountain?”

“
That they have,”
King Markus said, looking for it on the map. We approached the
table as he found it. “You’ll be right up against the mountain. The
formations of the rock offer excellent hiding spots and tend to be
overlooked by air patrols. There’s no guarantee they won’t see you
as you climb the mountain though.”

“
That’s why we’re
bringing a team,” Cathy said. “We’ll handle it.”

“
It’s not going to be
easy to find people willing to volunteer for this mission,” Lord
Kent said.

Donkor cleared his throat and flashed
me a smile and a thumb up.

“
There’s one,” Cathy
said.

“
I’m still hesitant
about you going up there, my Lady,” Lord Kent said. “You have
Davalin’s troops to command.”

“
I’ll transfer
command over to Lord Cook,” Cathy said. “Aside from Kairu, nobody
knows how to get to Scert’chak. If the group gets separated or
Kairu doesn’t make it, we need someone who can still get there and
stop Desroche.”

“
Yes, but I’m not
partial to all or nothing plans,” Lord Kent said. “If you both die
up there, we’re back to square one. If Kairu fails then we can at
least regroup and try again with you at a later date.”

“
There won’t be a
later date,” I said. “For good or bad, this is Balendar’s last
stand. Failure here means you are forced to give up ground inch by
inch as Desroche marches across the continent. The plan is
desperate, the plan is foolish, but it is the best way to occupy
the enemy army long enough for us to break Desroche’s hold on the
Evenawks. The war ends the second that happens. It has to be all or
nothing.”

Lord Kent sighed. “My
Liege. You get final say.”

King Markus thought carefully. “Kairu
and Lady Middleton are a force to be reckoned with on the
battlefield. There is no one else I would trust to make it up that
mountain. If the Ambassador is as strong as he looks and they can
get a good team together then I don’t see why we shouldn’t do it.
Our resources are too thin for a long war. We have to end this
before it starts. I’d rather know we died trying than fall back and
watch Desroche walk up the Stairway of Kings while the world burned
behind him.”

“
Time to get a team
together then,” Cathy said.

“
Leave early in the
morning to get in position,” King Markus said, handing us a quickly
drawn map. “We attack at dawn.”

“
Will that be enough
time for the Nesqians?” I asked Donkor.

“
General Kobo has
scouts watching the camp,” Donkor said. “He’ll be ready for
anything.”

“
Good,” King Markus
said. “See you all after the battle.”

“
Good luck, my
Liege,” I said.

He shook his head. “If anyone needs
luck, it’s you.”

Cathy, Donkor and I left the others in
the tent to prepare for the main battle. Finding volunteers for a
suicide mission was going to be tough but if there is one thing you
can always count on, it’s that there are always crazy people ready
for an adventure.”

“
Where should we
start looking?” I asked.

“
Davalin’s area of
the camp,” Cathy said. “I should let them know they need to follow
Malkia’s orders.”

“
Think they’ll take
it well?” I asked.

Cathy laughed. “Doubt it.”

We picked a direction
and started walking. We were hoping to find a sign of how the camps
were broken up, but it was too easy to get lost in the chaotic
nature of the camp. I stopped and approached a volunteer soldier
when I noticed his familiar face.

“
Finally left the
farm for some adventure?” I asked.

Aaron smiled. “It
took shooting down an Evenawk scout, a girl showing up on my
doorstep saying she’s in love with me and a king walking down the
street looking for some volunteers, but I can take a
hint.”

“
Hey, you found
them,” Natalie’s voice said from somewhere in the crowd. She
emerged and crashed into Aaron. “I heard you were back. Figured
we’d have to find you before you found
trouble.”

“
Too late,” I
said.

I introduced them to
Donkor and told them about our suicide mission. Aaron listened with
a look of fear on his face, but Natalie had that look that
suggested she was about to say something crazy.

“
We’re in,” she
said.

Chapter
31

“
What do you mean,
‘we’re in’?” Aaron asked, turning to Nat.

“
Oh, come on,” she
replied. “You know Andy needs as much help as he can get because
he’s a door knob.”

“
Standing right
here,” I said while Donkor chuckled.

“
What good could we
do on the ground with our bows?” Natalie continued. “We’re better
off following Andy up the mountain. We can take care of the sky
archers. Biggie and the Lady of Destruction can take care of the
ground troops.”

Aaron sighed and shook his head at me.
“Some days it is a mistake knowing you. When are we leaving?”

“
Early morning,” I
answered.

“
Hear that, I’m the
‘Lady of Destruction’,” Cathy said happily.

“
Don’t let it go to
your head,” I replied.

“
Too late,” Cathy
responded.

“
We’ll be ready,”
Natalie said. “Don’t leave without us.”

“
Tell me it is not
just us five,” Aaron said, regretting agreeing to this
mess.

“
We were heading off
to find Davalin’s camp when I stopped to ask you for directions,” I
said. “We’re recruiting troops there.”

Aaron nodded. “Good. They’re just a bit
more north of here. Past the mess of an area they’re calling the
kitchen tent. The Lady’s troops should recognise her and help you
from there.”

“
Thanks, kids,” I
said. “Where are you staying so we can find you?”

Aaron pointed at a dirty looking tent
behind him. “The volunteer camp.”

“
Don’t worry,”
Natalie said. “We’ll find you first.”

“
See you then,” I
said.

We headed in the
direction Aaron pointed and heard the two of them bickering behind
us. I couldn’t help but laugh and shake my head. They were
definitely back together, but for how long, I couldn’t guess. They
were the type of couple you think wouldn’t last but stay together
forever. Chaos was their happiness.

Aaron’s assessment of the kitchen tent
was accurate as well. Troops hurrying back and forth, volunteer
kitchen workers serving as fast as they could, spilt food littering
the grass where butter fingered soldiers bumped into one
another.

“
I can get us through
this,” Donkor said.

“
Lead the way,” I
said.

Donkor’s face twisted in a scowl and he
stomped through the area with us in tow. Either the soldiers moved
out of way or were bumped aside by Donkor’s size. Nobody dared to
say anything to the pissed-off looking, giant Nesqian with a large
sword.

We had cleared our way through when a
Davalin guard recognised Cathy and approached us. “My Lady,” he
said, nervous to be speaking with her directly. “It’s good to see
you alive and well again.”

“
Thank you,” Cathy
said. “Could you help us get to the Davalin camp?”

“
Of course, my Lady,”
the soldier said. “Captain Harvey will wish to speak to
you.”

The soldier started towards the camp
with Donkor and Cathy shot me a worried look. “There’s no Captain
Harvey in her memories,” she whispered.

“
Must be a new guy,”
I answered quietly. “Fake your way through it.”

We quickly caught up
and followed the soldier the remainder of the way to the camp.
Davalin’s section wasn’t very large compared to Thurlborn or
Riverside, but the troops seemed to be in better spirits; possibly
because the sight of their Lady had restored some of their
hope.

We saw Bill speaking with a few
guardsmen close to the largest tent. When he recognised us he sent
the men away and approached our escort.

“
Thank you, soldier,
I’ll take it from here,” he said. Our escort saluted and hurried
off and Bill turned towards Cathy. “It’s good to see you’re still
alive, my Lady.”

“
Likewise, Bill,”
Cathy said, shaking his hand.

“
It’s good to see you
too, Kairu,” Bill said to me.

“
You’re doing well,”
I said.

He laughed dryly. “I’m not so sure
about that.”

Donkor cleared his throat and I
chuckled. “Our big friend is Donkor, the Nesqian Ambassador.”

Donkor waved and smiled. Bill took a
second to absorb the big man’s presence before introducing himself.
He turned back to Cathy. “You’re here to talk to Captain Harvey and
lead the troops, right?”

“
Sort of,” Cathy
said. “We have a mission to perform.”

She explained the
details and Bill looked intrigued and listened attentively. When
she had finished, Bill nodded slowly. “Give me a moment to get some
volunteers together. There are some men and women around here who
want to see our brothers avenged for Scert’chak.”

“
I...can’t ask you to
do this,” Cathy said. “Not after what it was like last time up
there.”

“
You’re not asking
me, my Lady,” Bill said. “I’m volunteering. We lost our friends and
a part of ourselves up there. I feel I have to return, even if it
means my death. I need that closure.”

Bill’s passion made
Cathy go quiet. She thought to herself for a second before turning
to me. As much as we needed the help, I didn’t want to see Bill
throw his life away. But if it wasn’t him then it would be someone
else. If he wanted, or needed, to do this, then we should give him
the chance. I nodded my approval to Cathy.

“
Get those troops
together and be ready, we leave early in the morning,” Cathy
said.

Bill saluted and smiled. “Yes, my Lady.
Captain Harvey is just inside.”

“
Thank you.
Dismissed,” Cathy said.

Bill didn’t waste any time and hurried
off to find his soldiers. Cathy entered the tent first with me
close behind her. Donkor said he’d wait outside because he didn’t
want to limbo his way into another tent. I would have to remember
to ask him what the point between life and death had to do with
tents. It didn’t make sense to me.

Captain Harvey sat
behind a desk, looking through document orders when he looked up at
us. A good looking guy with blonde hair and blue eyes, he looked
more like an entertainer than a soldier, but as we drew closer his
disfigured nose became more visible. After multiple breakings, the
nose was beyond repair, but he seemed to not mind. For all I knew,
it could have been a battle trophy he wore with pride.

“
Lady Middleton,”
Captain Harvey said, rising to his feet. “It is so good to see you
alive.”

“
You must be Captain
Harvey,” Cathy said smoothly.

He smiled slightly.
“Yes. Our paths never crossed each other and probably wouldn’t have
if this war hadn’t happened. I was the night granary guard for ten
cycles. The need for leaders forced anyone deemed to have
‘experience’ to be thrust into the role.”

“
Well based on what
I’ve seen, you are doing a good job,” Cathy said.

“
Thank you, but I’ve
mainly been doing the paperwork,” he said. “Soldiers like Bill are
the reason we’re still on our feet. Anyway, now that you’re here,
we can benefit from some true leadership.”

“
Yeah, about that,”
Cathy said.

One explanation of
everything later and Captain Harvey’s face had started to show all
the sadness and stress from the past couple of weeks. He was
relieved to hear that Davalin’s troops would be added to Malkia’s
army and said that he would oversee it personally.