Aakuta: the Dark Mage (30 page)

The three Torak soldiers walked softly up the stairs and entered the lord’s suite. They passed through his sitting room and into his sleeping chamber. The lord’s wife awoke when they entered. She sat up with a look of horror on her face, but she did not scream. She reached over and woke up Lord Grentle.

“Who are you?” Lord Grentle asked with a sigh.

“I am Cortain Talli of the Torak clan,” answered the cortain. “I have come to seize your estate in the name of Lord Marak.”

“Does this have to do with the guest troops that we have been housing?” asked Lord Grentle.

“It does,” nodded Talli. “Those troops have been destroying Lord Marak’s caravans.”

“I had a bad feeling about them,” sighed the Nordon lord. “Will you spare my wife? Surely, she can cause no harm to you or this Lord Marak?”

“I have instructions to avoid harming anyone,” smiled Cortain Talli. “If it can be avoided that is. I think you will find that Lord Marak does not believe in punishing the innocent.”

The cortain made a quick signal with his fingers and the two soldiers that had accompanied him immediately left the room.

“Where are they going?” asked the lord.

“To awaken Marshal GeHert,” answered Talli. “Lord Grentle, this whole process will be easier if you are willing to cooperate.”

“What is it you wish me to do?” asked Lord Grentle.

“Swear Vows of Service to Lord Marak,” answered Cortain Talli. “Lord Marak also demands that each person on the estate swear Vows of Service to him.”

“May I rise?” asked Lord Grentle.

Talli nodded and the lord rose and padded to his window. He gazed out upon the dozens of Torak soldiers below. He nodded as he saw that the barracks had been barricaded.

“I have little choice in this matter, Cortain,” said Lord Grentle. “You have apparently overrun this small estate with surprising ease. I will swear the vows that you request of me and order my people to do the same, but I will offer you some advice before I do.”

“Very well,” nodded Cortain Talli as the marshal was ushered into the room. “What is your advice?”

“You obviously know that this is a Nordon estate,” Lord Grentle stated. “I am sure you are also aware that Lord Patel is a member of the Lords’ Council.”

“I am aware of both of those facts,” agreed Cortain Talli.

“Cut off with the speeches, Lord Grentle,” growled Marshal GeHert. “The point is, Cortain, that you are sealing your own casket. The Nordon clan will descend upon you like an eagle swooping down on an ant. You will be lucky to see the shadow of the army that crushes you. Why don’t you just mount up your men and ride over the mountains into Fakara, because there will be no place in Khadora for you to hide.”

“Is that what you were going to say, Lord Grentle?” Cortain Talli asked as he tried to keep a smile off his lips.

“More or less,” shrugged the Nordon lord. “I would have chosen different words, but I am sure that Marshal GeHert got his point across. The Torak clan is performing an act of war against the Nordon clan. There is little time for the Torak clan to run and hide before Lord Patel’s armies arrive.”

“We will discuss this some more after you have issued your vows,” smiled Cortain Talli. “Perhaps over the morning meal?”

* * *

Botal was guiding the Torak squad through the night. Their route appeared to be a confusing tangle of turns on lesser trails, some not more than an animal track, and never included a main road. Katzu knew Khadora fairly well, but even he became disoriented. He was sure that they were still somewhere in the Imperial Valley, but beyond that he was not sure.

About an hour before dawn, Botal suddenly halted on the narrow trail. He held up his hand to bring the column to a stop, and then waved Lord Marak forward. Katzu followed Lord Marak to the head of the column.

“Are they ours?” asked Lord Marak.

“They are,” nodded Botal. “I wanted to halt the column to make sure that our men did not overreact.”

“Good thinking,” nodded Lord Marak as his hand rose and his fingers moved in a signaling fashion. “Lead on, Squad Leader.”

“What was that all about?” Katzu asked softly as the column moved forward.

“In a moment,” Lord Marak whispered back. “Silence for now.”

Several hundred paces farther along the trail, a Torak soldier had placed himself in the middle of the path. As Botal led the column forward, the Torak soldier pointed towards the forest on the southern side of the trail. Botal nodded and turned to the right. There was no discernible trail through the forest, but Botal picked out the easiest path through the trees. Several minutes later, the column entered a large clearing. Over a hundred Torak soldiers were camped around the clearing. Botal smiled and ordered a halt to the column.

“Now I can answer your questions, Katzu,” smiled Lord Marak as he dismounted.

“These are all Torak soldiers,” frowned Katzu. “Two cortes at least. Where have they come from?”

“They have been stationed here for some time,” Lord Marak answered vaguely.

“And where exactly is here?” inquired the mediator. “Your path through the forest has me disoriented.”

“We were in no hurry,” explained Lord Marak. “Botal’s main objective was to get here before dawn without using any main roads. While the roads are not used much at night, it is along the roads that most people live. We did not want to be seen between here and Khadoratung.”

“That explains the path of our journey,” nodded Katzu, “but not our location.”

“Follow me,” grinned Lord Marak as he headed out of the clearing to the south. “Maintain silence.”

Katzu nodded and followed Lord Marak through the forest. A short ten-minute walk brought them to the edge of a small rise. Lord Marak crouched down and signaled for Katzu to do the same. Two Torak sentries watched them approach, but said nothing. As Lord Marak reached the edge of the rise, he dropped onto his stomach and patted the ground beside him to indicate that Katzu should do the same.

“Do you recognize it?” Lord Marak asked softly.

It took only a moment for Katzu to recognize the estate. The nearly full moon illuminated the distant mansion, and the mediator shook his head in disbelief.

“That is Lord Patel’s estate,” frowned Katzu. “Surely you are not planning to attack it with only these two cortes? That would be suicide, Lord Marak.”

“Perhaps,” shrugged Lord Marak, “but I do have the right under the law. The Nordon clan viciously attacked my caravans. You have witnessed that yourself.”

“You will have no argument from me on that,” agreed Katzu, “but being within the law does not shield your men from death, nor your clan from extinction. Lord Patel has a vastly superior army to yours, and the best of them reside here on his main estate. Do you have more armies coming down from Fardale?”

“Hopefully, I will only need these two cortes to accomplish my goals,” Lord Marak said with a hint of nervousness in his voice. “I have spent many days planning this, Katzu. That alone does not ensure success, but I think my odds are fair enough to proceed. Would you prefer that the Torak clan merely forget the heinous act perpetrated against us by Lord Patel?”

“I would prefer a solution that does not destroy the Torak clan,” Katzu shook his head. “While I cannot, and will not, play favorites between the clans, I cannot help noticing the change in the attitudes at the frontier. What was a hotbed of hatred not long ago is now a thriving area where everyone gets along well with their neighbors. I cannot help but think that you had a hand in that change somehow. Why throw it all away now?”

“The changes that were made around Fardale,” declared Lord Marak, “did not just happen. The hatreds that existed were snuffed out one by one. I will admit that luck may well have played a large part, but I have also used the aggressiveness of my neighbors to my own advantage.”

“I thought as much,” Katzu nodded. “I have always been curious about our first meeting. The Sorgan and Litari clans filed a grievance against Fardale, but you seemed to have solved the problem before I arrived. Just what exactly happened there?”

Lord Marak was silent for several minutes. He did not doubt the honesty or patriotism of the mediator of the Lords’ Council, but he wondered if he dared to expose how he had managed to solve his problems. While his methods were within the law, secrecy was paramount for the security of the Torak clan.

“I am willing to enlighten you,” offered Lord Marak, “but only if you vow not to repeat what I am about to say.”

“If you have acted outside the law,” frowned Katzu, “I cannot make such a vow. My first oath of loyalty is to Khadora, and I am sworn to uphold the law.”

“Make your vow, Katzu,” smiled Lord Marak. “While my story is far from the normal conquest of Khadora, my methods have been well researched by the finest legal scholars in Khadora.”

“These scholars already know about the agreements between you and the Sorgan and the Litari?” questioned Katzu.

“No,” Lord Marak shook his head. “They were presented with a hypothetical case. I used my contract with Lord Ridak as a basis for discussion, but the tenets of the law are the same.”

“I will make the vow you request, Lord Marak,” agreed Katzu, “but my conditions remain the same. My oath to Khadora will supercede my vows to you.”

“Fair enough,” declared Lord Marak. “I need for you to understand what is going to happen today with Lord Patel.”

Lord Marak and Katzu, a mediator for the Lords’ Council, waited for the dawn to arrive as they gazed over the main Nordon estate in the Imperial Valley.

“You know about my situation with the Situ clan, and how I came to be Lord of Fardale,” Lord Marak began. “I had my hands full trying to resurrect a dying estate. There were things I could have done better, like getting to know my neighbors, but there was so much to be done and so little time. I am afraid that I neglected such things.”

“Such things are never done in Khadora anyway,” shrugged Katzu. “The art of negotiation has been dead in this country for many generations.”

“Perhaps,” shrugged Lord Marak, “but I believe in talking before fighting. In any event, Lord Quavry and Lord Burdine hatched a scheme to take Fardale away from the Situ clan. They saw in me a scapegoat that they could use to better their holdings. They filed a grievance with the Lords’ Council claiming that I had violated their borders.”

“Which is what brought things to my attention,” nodded Katzu. “That was a very foolish move on the part of a new lord. If you had your hands full in Fardale, why did you seek to expand?”

“I didn’t,” answered Lord Marak. “The grievances were false.”

“False?” echoed Katzu. “They would not dare to file a false grievance with the Lords’ Council. Did they think I would not notice such a thing?”

“Not exactly,” replied Lord Marak. “They filed the grievance and then Lord Quavry ordered his army to attack a Fardale field near my border with the Sorgan clan. It was an unused field that my freed slaves had requested to use experimentally. It was not guarded, and women and children tended it. The attack was to provoke me into attacking Watula Valley. Had I done so, you would have arrived as the Sorgan clan was destroying the remnants of my army.”

“I cannot believe your tale, Lord Marak,” Katzu shook his head. “While I can easily see Lord Quavry doing such a thing, his marshal, Yenga, would never attack women and children.”

“Yenga did refuse,” explained Lord Marak. “He was enslaved for his refusal. Lord Quavry’s cousin took over control of the army.”

“Very well,” Katzu said. “You indicate that you did not attack in retribution. How then did you solve your dilemma?”

“Actually, I did attack,” grinned Lord Marak. “My armies remained in Fardale, but I went at night and managed to gain access to Lord Quavry’s suite.”

“Alone?” gasped Katzu. “You went alone into the Sorgan mansion?”

“It was the only solution I could find that would avoid bloodshed,” answered Lord Marak. “If my armies did not attack him, Lord Quavry would have sent his forces to destroy Fardale. My only option was to force Lord Quavry to alter his plans.”

“That is bold, Lord Marak,” Katzu shook his head in wonder. “If you had been captured, Fardale would have been his without a fight.”

“Quite true,” agreed Lord Marak. “As it turned out, Watula Valley became mine without a fight. I liked that solution much better.”

“Wait,” frowned the mediator. “What do you mean by saying that Watula Valley became yours? The Sorgan clan still holds Watula Valley to this day. You are losing me.”

“Lord Quavry was in a terrible bind when I captured him,” smiled Lord Marak. “With a Lords’ Council mediator due to arrive, he was in no position to order an attack on Fardale. His false filing would become obvious. I should add that I gave him little choice in the matter. I demanded that he swear Vows of Service to me.”

“His other choices were death or enslavement,” nodded Katzu, “but a lord swearing allegiance to another lord? While that is not unheard of, it usually results in the dissolution of the clan. The Sorgan clan exists to this day.”

“Usually is the keyword,” grinned Lord Marak. “I did not want to destroy the Sorgan clan. The truth is, I wanted a happy and healthy neighbor for Fardale. I made demands of the Sorgan clan. Every person of the Sorgan clan had to personally swear Vows of Service to me. All slaves were set free, and a few other modifications as to how the estate was run, including showing respect for all people.”

“And Lord Quavry agreed to this?” asked Katzu.

“He did,” nodded Lord Marak. “He really had no choice. His life was forfeit, and his son and cousin had been killed. He had no family left to take his place. My demands were reasonable. In fact, the Sorgan clan is far better off today than they were at that time.”

“I agree,” smiled Katzu. “What about the Litari?”

“After I received the vows from the Sorgan,” continued Lord Marak, “Lord Quavry invited Lord Burdine to Watula Valley. Quavry and I presented our case to the lord of the Litari. Burdine also understood that he had no choice. Lord Quavry would be compelled to give evidence against him when you arrived. He quickly agreed to the same terms.”