The High King: A Tale of Alus (52 page)

By midday the commander of all these armies had readied a much smaller force of riders, to take ahead of the main army. They did not want to alarm Hala to an invading force. There was potential that word would arrive ahead of them and if things were not already taken care of by Alyanna and her people, no amount of aid coming from the other countries would help before Merrick could potentially route his forces. The trick was to take Hala with little to no fighting. Once under their control, Merrick would have nowhere to run and no support for his armies. Then it would be up to him to take away the last of the High King’s power.

With two hundred men at his back, the giant led the way at a mile eating pace. He hoped to arrive in two days. The remainder of his army would follow but so many men could hardly meet their pace. Getting ten thousand horses just for his soldiers, let alone the many that would be needed for the supplies they would need, was an impossible task. If they could be successful in arranging enough carts and animals for those, Gerid would be happy.

Alyanna had Baitrum come to her room. Serra, blond hair tied in a tail, with a blue scarf made of a similarly colored silk blouse and skirt, sat with her calf high doeskin boots on and ready to go. The queen had changed into more appropriate clothing as well following the death of Krulir. Things needed to be done and they needed a woman who looked and acted like a queen, not a woman resisting her husband by lack of dress. The crimson dress of silk with golden lace across the chest and sleeves felt like a thick coat had been dumped atop her shoulders after the months of light scarves or nothing aside from jewelry, but she did look every bit the queen.

Her cousin and Captain of the Queen’s Guards stood in his light armor glancing at the maps upon Alyanna’s desk. The lay outs of the city and keep along with the generalized numbers of troops scheduled throughout were their source of interest. Different colors for different loyalties dotted the maps.

Baitrum had worked on Captain Relken, the leader of Hala’s soldiery to get the troops’ schedule. Supposedly for security as he was ranking leader of the keep’s forces with the queen now in charge. The captain had been unsure of the shift in power. He was often in touch with Krulir about the basics and was not used to Baitrum taking a much closer interest in his forces and their duties. It had not taken long for the man to at least grudgingly give in to Baitrum, however.

Few knew that the queen was so opposed to Merrick. That she had her strange tendencies and that she was not happy about certain things, people could see, but even so, Alyanna was queen and they had seen even Krulir following her at times. If the queen wanted something enough, they knew that they had to give in, at least until Merrick sent word otherwise.

The interest Baitrum showed in the troop posts and schedules, though of a sensitive nature to an enemy, were still nothing a commander or even a co-commander would not have access to as they were forced into this situation of change. The new chief of their forces made a couple suggestions, which made sense as well. Varying their schedules a bit and the postings was common enough in the city. Stagnating those led to carelessness often as not. Being too comfortable in one’s place as a soldier could make them sloppy.

“We have loyal soldiers in these places,” the captain stated pointing to the blue tabs. “These are most likely loyal to Merrick,” he added gesturing to the red. “The green are where we’ve been able to establish the rebels. When they come, we should be in a good place to take them all by surprise.

“I’ve seen to it that many of the keep’s guards not loyal to us have been reassigned outside in the city for the time. If they arrive at the proper time, then no one will question those moves as temporary shifts. More than a week or so, and Relken as well some others will begin to question. I doubt I can answer in a way to keep them from seeing the obvious. We need the keep secured against them.”

Serra spoke up, “Gerid will be here. I know it. Just be ready to assist him.”
Sparing a smile of reassurance for the girl, Alyanna added, “We must assume as much, though even without his forces, we can probably maintain the keep if we have to fight Relken. With our other men in the city already, we can probably take the whole thing without any extra help anyway.”
Baitrum nodded, “We have the keep. There may be certain lords and their men that we’d have to contend with but I think we have enough to secure it even against them.”
“Just another day or so and we shall find out,” the queen spoke quietly. Hope lit her eyes and a confidence Baitrum hadn’t seen in his cousin for a long time. They just had to wait and see now.

Grey stone walls of the capitol city rose up from the cliff walls that made it all but unassailable from the east. The black rock of the keep, often called Grimnal Keep, rose even higher behind the grey stone of the city. Built on the highest piece of land, the city of Hala was essentially a fortress built upon a hill that was itself atop the steep jagged cliffs.

Whether the city could be taken from without was often a matter of discussion for both the nobles of Marshalla as well as their enemies. In more than three centuries, there was no record of anyone even trying. With stout walls and protected by the steep cliffs around a third of the city, the originator of the keep and its surroundings had built the castle to be as invincible as it could be from just natural features of the land.

Sunlight shone brightly this morning. The black stone standing out starkly against a near perfect blue sky. Looking impressive, the defenders of Hala stood at their posts along the walls or at the gates and as the morning neared its midpoint a force of horsemen appeared. Banners flowing from dozens of lances in the forefront troops shown of blue and white. The men themselves and those behind them sported the blue and white as well as markings of yellow. Roughly two hundred men of Cadmene then.

The gates had been sent word two days before that they could expect company. Sent down from the queen herself through her captain, they were supposed to be troops sent from her former homeland to assist in the battles in Maris. Hala was merely the first stop for the men on their long way to the front.

Captain Relken was notified of the approaching troops. Gathering twenty extra men, the man went with his greeting force towards the south gate. Whether the captain should have felt a need to be on his guard despite the forewarning of the horsemen from Cadmene, could be questioned by others, but to his mind they were a friendly force and, even had they not been, the troops inside the city numbered five times their number and they had the walls. Anyone insane enough to try and force their way inside would find themselves trapped inside walls that could be defended from outer walls to the keep. Even two hundred men would be walking into a trap that they could hardly hope to survive. Sure there might be civilian casualties, but that could not be helped.

Glancing to the guards of the south tower and the walls to either side, Relken noted with a nod the men’s preparedness in action. Everywhere could be seen the helmeted head of a soldier. Spears in some hands stood even taller than they. Bowmen could be made out easily even if their crossbow allies were harder to make out from below.

At the open gate, the city captain watched as the horsemen slowed slightly in their approach as they rode up with less threatening speed. They slowed to a stop as they reached the gates. A giant of a man road through the banners and bowed from his mount’s back. “Reinforcements from Cadmene,” the white haired giant stated.

Relken was surprised to note that the face under the white hair appeared quite young. A man barely into his twenties, if he had to guess. “Papers,” he asked holding out his hand.

A scroll was pulled from its leather holder. No rain or dirt would affect the paper in there. The captain checked the paper and nodded in satisfaction. A draft letter and pass for the troops to move through Marshalla was all they would need to gain passage.

“Would you have your men lead us to the barracks, captain?” the giant asked with a nod as he took the papers back and absently slid them back inside the tube. “I have need of the keep myself. I must report in to the officials, if I am understanding my orders.”

The captain barely batted an eyelash. Singling out his sergeant he had the man and a half dozen more lead the nearly two hundred men northward towards the city garrison barracks. The giant watched as the men passed by through the gate. When the company had all passed through save the four men flanking him, he looked at the captain and asked, “Has the castle seen any other troops nearby? Has the battle gone well do you know?”

Relken replied, “You’re the first in a month even for small bands when the high king returned home for a break. As far as we know, the war goes well. Getting anxious already are you?”

“No,” he replied. “Just curious as to your readiness. If an enemy should arrive can the city hold an army out?”

With a snort of derision, the captain answered, “Of course, we can. Half our number could hold off quite a large army I should think. The walls are near impregnable and having to just guard the three sides, since we have the cliffs at our back, makes it much simpler.”

“I would guess that even if there were enemies inside the city, the keep would be equally strong?”
“If an enemy could get that far, the Grimnal would certainly take its toll on them,” the man admitted gleefully. “If we maintain the outer walls and the keep, the enemy will have a hell of a time in Hala.”
As his voice ended, the sounds of metal clanking could be heard in the distance. Some came from the direction the Cadmenes had gone, but much came from the west as well.
The giant asked one last question. “What if you found that you didn’t have the keep and half the wall was betrayed? Can you fight and hold against your own forces?”
Realization of things going wrong and the threat being leveled in front of him, the captain drew his sword as well as the men around him. The troops he had brought with him fanned out facing the five men. “What have you done?” Relken snarled. The cries and crashing of steel on steel seemed to be spreading across the walls and city.
“What should have been done long ago. I am helping take the city from Merrick. It’s time for his madness to end. Now, if you choose to fight, I must warn you that you will not survive. You are in quite a bad place now. As surrounded as you are and with few you can trust to help you, you may just want to drop your blades before it becomes bloody, captain.”
“Never! I will not lose this city!” he snarled, but suddenly the captain noted the giant’s eyes looking over his shoulder. Relken glanced to see the gate guards all standing there with weapons drawn as well. Twenty five to five. Even if the giant’s strength gave him an edge that many blades arrayed against him meant certain death for he and the four men.
“You’ve already lost it,” Gerid stated and gestured at the gate guards.
Looking again, Relken noticed that they were not set to help him. Swords were held to the throats of more than half his men. “What?” he started incredulously.
Another thing suddenly encroached upon his consciousness. Silence. The city had gone almost completely silent. Confusion crossed his brow and his eyes met the giant’s as he gazed up at the mounted man.
“The queen has turned the tables on her husband,” Gerid stated. “You can surrender or die trying to fight a battle already lost. The rebels and those loyal to the queen have held the keep for days. The walls are already taken it sounds like. The surprise was complete. Even you didn’t realize Baitrum moved his men into place.
“Lay down your sword and I’ll even let you live.”
Thoughts of fighting flitted across Relken’s eyes, his men looked less confident in the idea, but the captain quickly realized that he had lost when Gerid had begun chatting with him. He had merely been giving his men time to get far enough from the walls to take out their guards. Their presence had set forth the betrayers from within and now Relken knew the giant was right. The castle was lost if the queen had finally defied the king.
The clanks of swords being dropped by the captain and his men signified the end of resistance in Hala.

The wearing of black ribbons on their forces had served well. The men of Rhearden had quickly hunted those at the garrison and captured the men. Met by soldiers in the brown of Marshalla’s army, the only tell tale sign was the black ribbon tied around the left arm. Few had asked about the strange bands, but their answers had been they wore black for the death of the vizier. A few of those men had adopted the bands themselves, but the queen’s men knew who they were and quickly captured those that had followed their lead.

The bands of loyalists and rebels had moved swiftly and flawlessly with the arrival of Gerid and his men. Their arrival had set the plans into motion and the fruition came about in minutes. Baitrum had spread the men of both factions in such a way that those loyal to the queen took those of Merrick’s nearly bloodlessly.

The giant had led his four men, including Finneas who had to be at his side as usual, to the black stone and iron bars at the base of the Grimnal. Word of his arrival spurred the opening of the gates quickly and a man in black and gold armor came out to greet him with a small honor guard of similarly dressed soldiers.

Bowing slightly towards the giant, Baitrum greeted Gerid cordially, “Greetings, Sir Gerid, I am Baitrum, Captain of the Queens Guards, we have been expecting you.”

Inclining his head for a bow despite his honorific of a knight, the commander replied, “I could tell. Things went off very smoothly, captain. I couldn’t ask for a warmer welcome.”

Smiling, the soldier replied, “It went smoother than I could have hoped. Even those not loyal to us, may not necessarily be overly loyal to Merrick. Your family isn’t the only ones he has harmed over the years and even his army has many men that would like to see him removed for a better king.

“There are those that loved him for trying to unite the kingdoms, but many of those have become disillusioned. Our people die. Their people die. For what? Few really benefit from the wars and the fact that the king has brought dragons and gargoyles to our world to fight for him doesn’t exactly endear him either.”