“How many does that make now?” Enri asked as soon as she entered the tent. Her black dragon skin leather armor moved with her body when she ducked beneath the low entryway, and her companions were quick to answer.
“Your husband just got back from E-Pespel this morning, My Queen.” Ninya answered, giving a half bow and covering her heart with her hand. “So between that and the mining city of E-Rorce to the north? We now have three cities, forty towns, and three hundred villages of various sizes going as far west as a hundred and thirty miles from Re-Lobell. We’re ready to move on to E-Libera, and from there?” Ninya traced her hand along the map as Queen Enri approached and looked over it, “It’s a week long march to the capital.”
“They won’t be waiting for you to take E-Libera.” The Goblin strategist pointed out, his staff tapped the dirt beneath their feet, “They’ve had weeks, and we’ve faced nothing but skirmishes. They’ll fight for that city to keep from fighting at the capital itself.”
Enri brushed her long golden hair back over her shoulder, “I think you’re right. I’m not that good at these things… yet. But I can’t picture the King just letting us take another city. We’re going to fight another pitched battle soon.”
“Very soon.” Nfirea said when he entered the tent, Enri’s serious face went bright with youthful happiness and she rushed into his embrace. The former shyness and newness of their affection was burned away and in its place was a conflagration of open passion between the pair. The warmth and heat of his body was little impeded by the magic armor either of them wore, but that was nothing in the face of the fiery kiss that they shared, or the tightness of their embrace.
“Welcome back.” Enri said breathlessly when the kiss broke.
“Thank you, dear.” Nfirea grinned almost as sheepishly as he would have before everything went to hell. But his face quickly became serious, “The Wolf Riders have reported the Re-Estize King is on the way here. He has an army of fifty thousand at his back.”
“Fifty thousand… that’s a lot.” Enri’s mind was dizzy at the mere concept of so many people.
“I’m sure it would have been more, but when we started hanging nobles, they decided to take this seriously and move faster, even if it meant giving up numbers.” Ninya pointed out, “It sounds worse than it is. A scythe is outnumbered by stalks of wheat, but what does it have to worry about?”
“Can we take E-Libera before they get there?” Enri asked, and the table was silent.
“I don’t think so.” Ninya finally acknowledged, “We could take it, probably even easily, but I don’t like arguing with stone walls, especially with an army on the way. I say we lead them away from the city, act like we’re bypassing it to get to the capital.” She traced her finger from E-Rorce, over the plains away from the roads. “They can’t let us besiege it, so of course they’ll get in the way, which is just fine. As long as E-Libera isn’t there to reinforce them, everything will be fine.”
“Good, how soon can we go?” Enri asked, resting her hands on the table and staring more down at the map than at her companions.
“My soldiers are worn out, humans had to do most of the fighting at E-Pespel, so I’d give them a day of rest.” Nfirea suggested, “If we can manage it, and I think we can as long as we send a small force ahead to prepare camp for us.”
“Sounds good, let’s do that then.” Enri replied and slapped the table with the flat of her hand.
Ramposa rocked slightly side to side atop his horse, his eyes steady ahead, while at his side, rode Gazef Stronoff. “My King, you’ve barely said anything this whole time.” Gazef said, the King’s dark, thousand yard stare, set the Head Warrior on edge.
Everything about his Majesty was in a stark contrast to the scene. Overhead, birds flew without a care, beasts fled at the sound of the army’s approach, but the sun was warm and the air comfortable, the weather was in every way, perfect for a walk, a ride, a hunt. Most of their recent days on the road had been like that.
But the King’s mood had always been the same, he said little to anyone, and would not even hold, let alone take counsel. “What should I say, old friend?” Ramposa III finally asked without looking over.
“Majesty? I- I don’t know.” Gazef said with a difficult swallow.
“Should I say that I miss my boys? That I think nightly of the warmth of their bodies, that I wonder what was done with them in death? Were they buried, or torn apart by beasts? Should I ask ‘how did it come to this?’ and beg the four for an answer? Or should I ask what kind of king I was to let my Kingdom come to this sorry state?”
“Majesty, you did the best any man could do!” Gazef quietly exclaimed, his wide set eyes open as much as they could be while he looked at the King he admired.
“It wasn’t enough Gazef, and you know it. The Theocracy tried to have you killed and nearly succeeded, my own nobility cooperated, and yet until the peasants started hanging nobles, nothing was done about it. I tried to raise my sons to value their Kingdom, and I failed the one who should have succeeded me. My youngest daughter, I protected from marriage that might have helped my country… I put her first, and I was wrong for it.” The King’s rambling words were low and thick as blood with their bitterness.
“The Empire was going to take my Kingdom sooner or later. Even you couldn’t have prevented that.” King Ramposa III put a hand on Gazef’s shoulder, “But I know you would have tried and for that I am grateful. But now I have one more task for you, will you carry it out tonight after we make camp?”
“Sire,” Gazef replied, and seeing the blurry eyes beneath the gold crowned helmet, he gave a humble, “yes… of course.”
“Good.” The King replied, and Gazef listened in disbelief to what his King had to say, but having given his word, he could think of nothing else to do but wait to do the unthinkable.
Three more days of marching carried the Army of Carne southwest of E-Libera before scouts rushed word that the Re-Estize Army had been spotted. With that the army settled into the camp their advanced riders prepared beforehand.
That night, Nfirea was on top of Enri, each thrust of desire filling her body and driving spasms of pleasure throughout, she slid her thighs up against his side and wrapped her legs around him. Her arms reached out, to pull him into her embrace. “Yes… yes… yes!” Enri whispered into his ears when he was closer. She undulated her hips against his manhood and began to rake her nails over his skin. The powerful praise of their followers, to the King and Queen of the Wolves of Carne was an aphrodisiac in and of itself. Success, power, and pleasure blended to become fuel for the fires of their shared desires, and the natural peak they both sought to become as one flesh in bliss was close.
Then the flap of their tent was pushed open and Ninya entered, “My Queen! My King!” She shouted and immediately blushed and looked away.
“What is it?!” Enri shouted as her eyes flew open to see the sudden visitor. Nfirea turned to look over his shoulder to find the blushing Ninya looking away and closing her eyes.
“Forgive my interruption but… a visitor… an urgent one, someone you know. He has information for you.” Ninya hissed out urgently, her eyes were bulging as soon as they opened, and though Enri and Nfirea traded mutual looks of regret, they could only sigh in exasperation.
“Give us a moment to get dressed, and bring the guest in.” Enri snapped, and Ninya bade a hasty retreat.
A moment later a hooded man escorted by two redcap goblins ducked under the entry to the tent and then drew himself up to a towering height. Even though he was cloaked and hooded, both Nfirea nd Enri realized that he was a virtual mountain of muscle that even if they stood up, they would still have to look up to.
He threw back his hood, and bowed his head. “Good to see you… people of Carne.” Gazef Stronoff said, and pointing casually to the chair at the opposite end of the table he asked, “May I sit?”
“Gazef Stronoff… of all the people I expected it to be… you weren’t it.” Enri said with more warmth than she herself thought to feel. “I haven’t seen you since you tried to protect my village. Are you… maybe having second thoughts about that decision now?”
Gazef put his elbows on the table and folded his hands up to rest his chin on them. “I’d be lying if I said I never wondered if we wouldn’t have been better off if you’d been killed. Certainly this rebellion wouldn’t have happened, but… if I could go back and do it again, I would make the same choice.”
“That’s a fair answer.” Nfirea added, “But the real question is… are you here to surrender?”
“No.” Gazef replied with resolve, “I’m here with information, an offer of exchange.”
“Exchange?” Enri asked, “What is it that you’re offering, and what is it that you want?”
“My King wants the bodies of his sons returned for proper burial. We heard about what Prince Barbro did, and it grieves my King’s heart… but the boy was still his son. He asks for both Barbro’s and Zanac’s bodies to be given over.
“Well… we can give you Barbro’s body, what’s left of it, or at least tell you where it is buried. But we had nothing to do with killing Prince Zanac, he must have died before reaching us.” Enri denied part of the request with a shrug. “What else?”
“The second is that this battle be the end of our conflict... The King offers you independence, and all the land from Carne Village, to E-Pespel to the south of us, and E-Libera to the northeast of us, including E-Rantel, will be yours.” Gazef said, and both Enri and Nfirea’s eyes opened wide as saucers.
“Why fight at all then?” Nfirea asked, “We would take that offer now and go home.”
“Because we want something else from you, something tomorrow’s fight would accomplish that even the King can’t do on his own.” Gazef said, and both Enri and Nfirea leaned forward with great interest.
‘About one fourth of the Kingdom just dropped into our laps, what could he want for that?’ Enri wondered, and Gazef took out a piece of paper, which he laid out on the table.
When he was done, Enri asked him point blank, “Do you swear on your honor as protector of the Kingdom, as the Royal Head Warrior, on the courage you showed at Carne… that this is not a trick or a trap?”
“I swear it,” Gazef said with a deep, long look into the eyes of the one he’d heard of as ‘The Wolf Queen,’ “on all those things and anything else you can think of.”
Enri and Nfirea reflexively folded their hands together, fingers interlocked, uncertain still, each silently asking the other what to believe. Finally, Enri squeezed Nfirea’s hand.
Gazef waited in silence, and Nfirea spoke, “We have a bargain then. We’ll see you on the field.”
“And… good luck out there.” Enri said with a pitying downward look as the silent, broken hearted warrior rose and made his exit after throwing the hood over his head again and ducking out of the tent exit.
The peasant rebellion turned the generally quiet palace of Re-Estize into a virtual inn for the most powerful nobles and their families. The violence done by the Carnian rebels in hanging those nobles that fell into their hands, sent shockwaves of terror through those on estates throughout the kingdom. More than that, the rebels of Carne, with their stunning successes, inspired other rebellions among discontented peasants who finally saw a chance to better their lives. At any other time such minor insurrections would have been easily crushed and the perpetrators drawn and quartered, but 'fear' caused many a noble to flee to the well fortified capital at the mere whisper of angry peasants. The royal family put the greatest houses up in guest rooms scattered about the palace, and at royal expense, rented out every single room in the best inns to provide space for the lesser nobility. True to form, even with everything on the line, they didn't stop playing their games of politics.
Renner grew tired of them within a day, and left the daily operations in the hands of Marquis Raeven.
Which is why on this particular day, her room was tightly locked with only herself, Climb, and the members of Blue Rose settled in for a chat.
The Golden Princess Renner, true to her reputation for sympathy, bowed her head deeply to Lakyus. “If a bowing of my head is not enough for you… I’ll kneel.” Renner said and dabbed her tear ducts with a white handkerchief.
“No. Don’t do that.” Lakyus said, glancing at the door. “It isn’t your fault, you aren’t your brother, you didn’t know.”
‘No, I didn’t, and if I had, I’d have had that idiot killed a long time ago. Endangering relations with the guild is a tier of stupidity I didn’t know existed in this world!’ Renner swore and cursed her dead brother over and over again, but all of that was confined to her raging mind and did not touch her gentle face.
“How are you holding up… are you going to be okay? I know you and Prince Barbro didn’t get along, but weren’t you on good terms with Prince Zanac?” Lakyus asked, and reached out to touch the shaking hand of her friend.
“Yes, my other brother’s death is unfortunate, but it’s the natural result of the Kingdom’s policies. Kill an entire village over one noble, and you give another village a reason to rebel. We made sure they had nothing to lose and everything to gain. This was inevitable. My brother didn’t deserve to die… but people often get what they don’t deserve, do they?” Renner asked, taking a long breath before picking up her teacup for a sip.
“This isn’t a social call, is it, Princess Renner?” Evileye asked, straightening up in her chair.
“Evileye!” Lakyus hissed.
Renner tittered, “It’s fine, Lakyus, she’s not wrong. There’s a business reason for you to be here too. I’ll be honest, what my brother did was unforgivable. The guild refusing to defend my family’s supporters, I understand it. But it goes deeper than that, none of this could have happened without the corruption of the factions of the Re-Estize Kingdom.”
The lips of the members of Blue Rose tightened, there was no reason to argue with what she said, everyone knew it.
“Father’s final wish before leaving, was to end all that. So many pitiable girls, children, young men… so many ruined lives… my family can’t possibly make this right, and we not only let this happen, some of us were part of it.” Tears began to flow freely down Renner’s cheeks. “I need your help to do this, it’s not a normal job, not at all, but it’ll be the easiest one you’ve ever done.”
“Princess Renner,” Lakyus began, “the guild is apolitical.”
“Good, so is this.” Renner said, “Climb, bring me that sheaf of papers over on my end table, would you?”
Climb inclined his head and obeyed, he took them up and brought them over, and the radiant blue eyed Princess gestured for him to hand the papers to Lakyus.
The radiant adventurer took them in hand and began to skim through the words on there, as she did, flipping from one to the next, she felt her heart skip a beat.
“These are all arrest warrants?” Lakyus asked, laying the documents down.
“No. Only half, the rest are title revocations. All I’m asking is for your help in arresting everyone on that list.” Renner replied, “We’ll put them on public trial immediately, while father is away.”
“But…” Lakyus froze, but before she could unfreeze and speak, Evileye began to laugh.
“Yes! Absolutely yes!” The diminutive magic caster clapped her hands together in excitement.
“Shorty?!” Gagaran gasped.
“What? This has been a long time coming, and for the first time in who knows how long, they’re all together... we can end it all in one blow.” Evileye snapped the fingers of her right hand with a decisive motion.
Lakyus looked around at her sisters, “I won’t engage in assassination… but the arrest of dangerous suspects… well, they’re not nobles, so that should be a thin enough objection to satisfy the guild, especially given the recent events.”
“Thank you, Lakyus, Evileye, everyone. The Kingdom will be a very different place after tonight.” Princess Renner said with a contented little smile. “I can hardly wait.” She added, and took another sip of tea.
