Two Heirs (The Marmoros Trilogy Book 1) (35 page)

When the horsemen caught sight of the tail of the column still outside the walls, they raised a terrifying shout and threw their horses into a full gallop. Packed together across the width of the highroad, they made a target that Bern and his archers could not miss and the first rank of horsemen went down while they were still fifty paces away. The subsequent ranks of horsemen were forced to either jump the fallen horses or divert off the road into the undergrowth, which inevitably slowed them down.

The horsemen were less packed together now and although the archers took down a few more, a wave of horses crashed into Jorgen’s spear wall. The men had braced the butt ends of the spears into the ground to better withstand the impact but many of the spears broke and men went down beneath the weight of the onrushing horses. Many of the horses and riders went down as well and the air was filled with the screams of the injured and dying.

Bern and the archers ran for the gates and scrambled up the internal stairs to the top of the walls as David and Feynor led the counterattack. The fighting was fierce and finely balanced until a shout went up behind them and a phalanx of
pikemen
charged through the gateway with Captain Walbend at its centre. At the sight of this new formation, the remaining horsemen broke off the fight and headed back to the safety of the trees with Feynor’s men in hot pursuit. David found Jaks standing by the gates with the trumpet in his hand and signalled him to sound the ceasefire.

The last wagons forced their way inside the bulging city walls as Feynor’s men broke off the pursuit and came trotting back. They gathered up the casualties, both theirs and the enemies and followed the wagons inside, slamming the gates shut behind them. It had been the worst engagement so far with four spearmen dead and a host of other injuries.

The enemy had suffered heavy casualties as well. From the top of the walls, David could count six dead horses and at least eight men down on the road leading to the gates. Four more of the horsemen had been injured and left behind when their comrades withdrew. They had been brought inside and were being treated along with the other casualties. The remainder of Duke Henry’s horsemen had now regrouped at the edge of the trees but showed no inclination to approach the walls again. Under cover of the archers on the walls, David ordered the postern gate to be opened and small groups of men dashed out to recover weapons and the bodies of Jorgen’s men.

David spotted Captain Walbend on the walls and went over to thank him for his intervention.

“I don’t think they’ll be back tonight, Captain. They’re not strong enough to attack the gates and if they know that reinforcements are arriving in the morning, then they’ll wait until then before trying anything. So I’m going to leave you in charge of the gates while I deal with my own people.”

“Of course. What about the wagons?”

“I want to get all the Lyenar out of the city and into Keldis tonight; wagons, herds, everything. We will see to the personal protection of the High Warden overnight and we will be here in the
morning to see what develops. If they give up the chase and withdraw, then we will follow the wagons into Keldis and be gone. If not, then we will lend you whatever support we can.”

***

Next morning, the dawn did not so much race across the sky as limp into existence, with the sun well hidden behind a bank of dark clouds that threatened rain before the end of the day. Duke Henry’s men had set up camp, just inside the shelter of the woods and continued to watch the gates from there but showed no sign of any further action. There had been no incidents during the night and both David and Walbend had rotated the watches so that all of their men were fresh for the morning.

David had sent all of the officers on a recruiting drive throughout the city the previous evening, in an attempt to replace some of their losses. Jorgen had taken some of his red cloaks with him and had a particularly successful evening. Between them all, David had taken the oaths of twenty seven new recruits to the company this morning including one of the wounded horsemen. The other three he handed over to Walbend to be released after the company left.

The previous afternoon, Jeren and Baltur had
persuaded
the High Warden that the other dukes should be informed of the threat posed by Duke Henry. Messages were sent to both Duke Theron of Keldis and Duke Charles of Westron, advising them of the situation and requesting at least a token show of support. This morning they insisted that Maxten came with them to the Paelis gate to see the situation for himself.

“They don’t look much of a threat,” he remarked to David.

“They’re not. Horses can’t climb walls. They’re waiting for the reinforcements from Stadenbridge and then we’ll see what they’re going to do.”

“Uh, how many reinforcements?” Maxten asked a little more nervously.

“Scouts have reported eighty foot with officers and supply wagons. Due here sometime this morning.”

“What happens if they attack? I mean, I know we’ll have to fight them but won’t Duke Henry be upset if we kill his men?”

“We already have,” David replied casually. “Killed eight of them yesterday and captured four more. They came out last night to reclaim the bodies and move the carcasses of the horses off the actual roadway. I’m afraid that die has already been cast.”

“Oh, I see. So if all we’re doing now is waiting around, I think I had better go back to the palace. There must be some urgent matters awaiting my attention by now.”

“No, I think it would be better if you remained here with us this morning. You’ll be quite safe up here on the walls and I’m sure your administrators can deal with all the routine matters.”

There was a shout from one of the lookouts then as a couple of horsemen rode into the enemy camp. Ten minutes later the first of the foot soldiers started to appear, followed by the wagons and then a
rearguard.

“I thought your men reported four supply wagons, David remarked to Ash. “I can count five out there.”

“Maybe they met up with another troop from Paelis,” Ash started to reply, then called over to the lookout. “Can you make out that other wagon?”

“It’s different to the others, sir. Looks more like one of the Lyenar wagons to me.”

“Shit,” David said. “How did that happen? We didn’t leave anybody behind, did we?”

“No my lord. Everybody was counted in through the gates last night. We checked them in here and then again at the Keldis gate. That must be an independent family they picked up somewhere. Maybe taking a short cut across country.”

“Shit,” David said again. “Izzy, find Lord Jeren and get him up here.”

There was some sort of heated discussion going on in the enemy camp with much arm waving and fingers pointed towards the city walls. Then something white was produced and tied to the end of a spear and a procession formed up. In the lead was a single rider carrying the spear with the white flag. Behind him were what appeared to be two mounted officers, then the Lyenar wagon surrounded by a troop of twenty foot soldiers. As they approached, David could see two more soldiers on the driving seat of the wagon, sandwiching a man and a woman. The man still had the reins in his hands and was clearly being forced to drive the wagon while the woman was holding a small girl tight in her arms.

The white flag stopped about twenty paces short of the gates and the two officers rode up alongside him.

“We want to speak to the High Warden,” one of them called out.

“He can hear you,” Walbend replied. “What do you want?”

“We are in pursuit of a large group of thieves and murderers. They have stolen the duke’s tax money, kidnapped his loyal tax collector and killed a number of his soldiers. We demand that the High Warden expels these fugitives from the city immediately so that they can face justice.”

“They are no longer in the city. They attacked the gates here and forced them open. Then they rode straight through the city and out into Keldis.”

“Then we demand passage through the city ourselves so that we may pursue them.”

“The High Warden regrets that he cannot allow that. Under the terms of the High King’s charter, troops of foreign soldiers are not allowed to enter the city bearing arms.”

“And yet you allowed the fugitives through.”

“No we did not. As I said, they attacked and forced the gates. They entered the city without the High Warden’s permission.”

“Duke Henry is not going to be pleased with your response. I will ask you one last time to open the gates and let us through. I promise that no harm will come to your city or your citizens if you do so. But if you do not, you will most certainly incur the duke’s wrath.”

“And if we allow you passage into Keldis, we will most certainly incur the wrath of Duke Theron. The High Warden regrets the situation but he cannot abandon his policy of strict neutrality. You may not enter.”

The High Warden was currently regretting the situation by curling himself into the smallest ball he could manage, below the level of the parapet.

“All right, let’s stop this farce right now,” the other officer spoke for the first time. “There are many more men on the walls there, than the High Warden has in his pitiful little defence force. The fugitives we seek were being accompanied by a small group of mercenaries and outlaws. I suspect that they are standing beside you at this very minute, attempting to stiffen the High Warden’s spine. Let me talk to the leader of these mercenaries.”

“I can hear you,” David called down. “What do you want?”

“Your head would make a good start,” the officer replied. “You have caused the Duke some considerable inconvenience.”

“I regret the inconvenience but I’m afraid I have grown rather attached to my head and I would prefer to keep it that way.”

“Okay, let us say that I accept this pathetic little story about attacking the gates, then the defence of the city is obviously so weak that there is little to prevent me from doing the same and forcing an entrance. However, there would inevitably be casualties on both sides and the duke is always mindful of the welfare of his men. I propose that we settle this issue by single combat; your champion against mine. If you win, we will release the hostages here and return to Paelis.”

“And if I lose?”

“Under those circumstances, I believe the High Warden might wish to re-evaluate his relationship with Duke Henry and consider the advantages that the friendship and patronage of such a powerful man, might bring to this city.”

“And if I decline your offer?”

The officer shrugged. “Then we will kill the hostages. Right here and now.”

David ducked back from the embrasure as the officers crowded round him.

“Let me fight him, my lord,” Feynor offered.

“No my friend, not you. Marta would never forgive me.”

“Then let me, milord,” Jorgen said. “I have no ties.”

“No, no. Back off, all of you. There’s something going on here that I haven’t got a hold on yet.”

“Well, what are we going to do, milord? We can’t allow those hostages to be killed.”

“I quite agree there. Let’s see how far he’s prepared to go.”

David leant back over the edge and called down again. “Okay, I’m willing to accept the challenge but under one condition.”

“And what might that be?”

“Champions are two a penny and can always be replaced but senior commanders are something else. Let’s settle this between the two of us. You and me.”

“I was hoping you’d say that,” the officer said with a grin, swinging himself down from his horse and starting to unfasten his riding cloak.

“Well that’s certainly upped the stakes,” David said as his officers stared at him in horror. “I can still smell something here but I don’t know what it is. Bern, I want your archers all along the wall here in case of treachery. Captain, can I borrow some of your
pikemen to defend the gates behind me?”

“I will lead them myself.”

“The rest of you stay inside the walls. If anything happens to me and I don’t make it back, take Lord Jeren and get the hell out of here.”

He waved aside the remaining protests and climbed down the stairs to the gate. Captain Walbend assembled a full squad of
pikemen
and led the way through the postern. Outside, the junior officer and the white flag had taken the spare horse and pulled back alongside the wagon while the squad of foot soldiers had moved forward and now formed a semicircle around their commander.

Walbend signalled his pikemen
to form a corresponding semicircle and David stepped through their ranks into the fighting ring. He drew the katana and raised it in front of his face in salute.

“Lord Held, military commander of the Lyenar.”

The officer drew his own sword and returned the salute.

“Lord Courtney, commander of Duke Henry’s personal guard.”

Civilities over, both men dropped into a fighting stance and began to circle each other, probing for any weakness. Courtney’s sword was a wicked looking blade, slightly longer than the katana but David had the extra height and reach to cancel out that advantage. They touched blades a few times as each tried a tentative attack that was easily repulsed.

The first serious attack came from David with a flurry of lightning fast blows that forced the other man back almost to his circle of men. Then Courtney launched a counter attack that forced David into a hurried defence before launching a fresh attack of his own. The to and fro went on for several minutes with neither man gaining any significant advantage. Then David noticed the other man change his grip slightly and a faint blue glow outlined the length of the blade.

David leaped back a full pace as a fresh memory burst open in his mind. A power sword;
totally illegal in this civilisation but utterly devastating against normal weapons and armour. He did
not have time to think how he knew all that before Courtney began a fresh attack. This time David was at a serious disadvantage as he could no longer use the katana to block the full weight of a blow. A power sword could probably slice straight through even the superbly tempered steel of the katana.