Chapter 27

We got busy right away. The first thing I did was to post a guard on the road closest to Lufkin. I didn't want any unexpected surprises. From there a sentry could see for miles along the winding roads and so long as they remained alert he could alert us long before trouble reached us. With that taken care of I turned my attention to our primary concern; the wagons that we'd captured. I quickly organized a work party to get rid of everything that we didn't need. That included a ton of personal baggage that the refugees had been hauling, some extra bedding and pillows, and some wealth in the form of oversized items like vases. While my party worked at clearing the wagons and making them usable by us, I had the slaves that had not fled with their former mistresses put to work tending to the dead. I had them strip every body that had any of their weapons. I wanted them for my people, knowing that we'd need to make use of them eventually. When they were done that task, I had them clear the roadway of the dead by shoving the bodies over the slope into the valley below. Then I had them load the weapons onto a wagon. I had no desire whatsoever to leave a single weapon behind. While that happened, I sent Kola and Caitlin back up the road to fetch our horses. It took us time but eventually the work got done.

We rejoined our group by midday. They had actually advanced down the road while we'd been away using the three horses that we'd left behind to pull the wagons. To my surprise I found Nimue up and about. I smiled broadly when I saw her. In response my little elf looked away.

"Nimue," I said hurrying over to her, followed closely by Kola and Caitlin, "how are you my love?"

Nimue looked away awkwardly in response to that and to us reaching out and touching her. It looked like she wanted to flee. Seeing this I sighed and then pulled her to me.

"Nimue," I whispered softly, "it's all right. Everything is fine."

"No," Nimue moaned in protest, struggling to free herself from my embrace as she cried out.

"Yes, it is," I told her again, refusing to release her.

"No, it is not," Nimue shouted, pounding me on the chest with her tiny hands, still fighting my embrace. "It is not all right Charles. It will never be all right!"

"Nimue," Kola cried out in an attempt to comfort her sister-wife, "Charles will find your sister. He has promised to do it and he will never give up on that quest. We will all help search for her. Trust us."

"No," Nimue shouted again, shaking her head and sobbing, "we will never find her again. The bastards will never give her back."

"Yes they will Nimue," I told my little elf, "They will have no choice in the matter eventually. When the year is up and I have won they will no longer have any power over this world and we will rescue Dindraine then if we have not already done so. Trust me Nimue I will make them regret what they did to you and your sister. You and I will find her and if any get in our way, the two of us will make them pay dearly for it."

"No Charles!" Nimue continued to protest between sobs of anguish. As Nimue did she collapsed into my arms. As she did her resistance began to fade away. In between sniffles and sobs she went on in a hollow voice. "It won't happen. We failed and they've won and I will never see my sister again."

"No my little elf," I said softly, leaning down and kissing the top of her head, "they have not won and we will see your sister again and she will be alive."

At that point there was nothing else that I could do for my mate but hold her. I did for a few more minutes. Then I left Kola, Caitlin, and Felicity to manage Nimue while I turned my attentions back to what needed to be done for the remainder of our party. I was thankful that Rory and Zahra had stepped in and taken charge of things while I had gone to Nimue. They'd turned our newly captured wagons about and they'd started settling people into them or upon the horses that we'd led back with us. In no time everyone was either on a horse or in a wagon. More importantly, most of the men with us now had a real weapon, whether a spear or a knife or a sword and everyone had been given food and water. Once they'd eaten, we headed out.

We arrived outside the walls of Lufkin well past dark. The city was indeed on fire. The blazes could be seen for miles in every direction as could the lines of refugees streaming away from it. The women and children and the slaves that I'd released earlier that morning were still on the road and when we drove past them some begged to be taken with us. I refused to take allow it and coldly I told everyone in our party to ignore them. I'd given them a chance earlier that day and they'd refused it. Of course some ignored my words, especially when they were offered what little wealth that the refugees had managed to spirit away that morning. I didn't learn of it until later and by then it was too late. As for the others that we encountered on the way, it took only the brandishing of a sword and a show of force to send them scattering to the wilds. Most were already frantic with fear and they wanted nothing to do with men wielding weapons so freely. That was fine with me. I had already too many people to care for and I didn't want anymore.

We camped outside the city walls that night and once again we posted sentries. I didn't want any problems, either from the refugees fleeing the city or the liberated slaves who were sacking and burning it. It proved to be another long night. Thankfully no one pushed us too hard when they came snooping around. It took only an arrow or a spear or even a threat of violence to send the inquisitive packing. At dawn we got ready to move again.

We needed to be really careful now that we were intending to enter the city. I had no idea where Tobias and his men were or where the original leaders of the rebellion might be. For all I knew they could all be dead and what I was seeing was the anarchy and chaos that had risen up in the vacuum left behind by Prince Andreas when he had fled the city. I needed information and I needed it quickly. It was time to leave.

We lucked in once again shortly after rousing our camp and seeing to it that everyone got fed. A party of men came out of the city to parley with us. One of the men in the group turned out to be a crewman from the Windrunner. He was one of the archers and he'd been sent by Tobias to watch the road coming from the capital and to keep an eye out for us. The man cheered happily when he saw who we were and told the party with him that I was his leader. That little revelation made things go a lot smoother for us than I had been expecting.

I soon learned that the slave rebellion had taken the city by surprise, with the end results very obvious before my eyes. More importantly the slaves were now in control of the entire city and they were actually busy trying to put out the fires. They were also trying to bring order to the chaos. The one area still reasonably intact was the harbour. This I could thank Tobias for. The man had captured the last vessel belonging to Alexander of Lufkin the same day that we'd entered the sewers of the capital and once he had control of it, he had used it as a base of operations. With the assistance of slaves that he and his men had rescued from various galleys that had been in harbour when the rebellion struck, Tobias had created a security force that had held the harbour against any of the city residents who had tried to flee through it. I quickly learned that there were a dozen captured vessels sitting at anchor or tied up at the port waiting for my arrival. That put a smile on my face and the faces of everyone with us. We'd be getting off this island after all.

It still took some effort to get everyone down to the harbour and the ships that were waiting there. There were bodies in the street to get around, buildings that had collapsed, bands of looters to persuade that we were too tough for them to take on, and a hell of a lot more trouble. Some of the rebels wanted to talk to me, including the original group that had come from Alexander's villa. They wanted to know what had happened in the capital. When I told them that I'd killed the king, they went wild with glee and they wanted to throw me a party. I just shook my head no and declined. I told them I needed to get my people to the harbour and out of here. That took a little of the excitement out of their mood. They were shocked that I was leaving them. They wanted me to stay and to take charge of things now that the king and Prince Andreas were dead. I just continued to tell them no. As I told them, I had other missions to complete and staying in one place wasn't a very good idea. My words still didn't convince them to leave me and my party alone and in the end, I was forced to just brush them aside with the warning that if they interfered with me, it would be their lives at risk not mine.

Tobias was thrilled to see us and we were certainly happy to see him. He showed me the dozen vessels under his control and quickly informed me that they'd all been provisioned and made ready for sailing. All of them had crews made up of freed slaves who were waiting impatiently to put out to sea. He assured me though that there would still be plenty of room on each of them for the people with me. It would be a tight fit for sure, but so long as the waters about here stayed calm, we would be able to get away without leaving anyone behind. My only regret in this was our horses. Tobias had found no craft amongst the various ships in the harbour that was large enough to carry our mounts. As well, I was forced to accept that given the number of people we now were responsible for I had to think about them and not the horses. I knew deep down that even if we could get the horses back aboard the Windrunner, we shouldn't. The space that they took up was needed for our human passengers.

I ordered our tack to be gathered and stored and the horses to be set free. I watched with regret as the big grey galloped off into the ruins of the city. Then I sighed and got back to the business at hand. I ordered the menagerie and my party onto the White Dove.

That was the craft that had belonged to Alexander of Lufkin. I also put the princess on the boat with us. I still hadn't decided what to do with her, but I was certain that she was safer with me than with anyone else. I left Josh to sort out all the ex-slaves and to get them onto the other vessels. While he did that I made certain that any booty or drink that we had picked up from the palace or along the way was stored aboard the White Dove. These people would need the stuff to start anew somewhere else, but until we were away, I didn't want anyone fighting over it or in the case of drink, getting drunk.

Luckily we made it to sea without any further incidents. I had worried the whole time that we'd been in harbour that somebody would come along and try to either join us or prevent us from leaving. Tobias and his makeshift force had stood watch while all the ex-slaves had clambered on board the ships, but nothing had happened to need them to react. As Tobias told me later, by then anyone wanting to flee had done so and anyone left was either looting the houses of the rich or trying to put out the fires that he and others had started.

We sailed east and I sighed happily once we were beyond the breakwater and headed down the coast. We had a good wind at our back and the day was still young. I smiled even more broadly when I spotted the Windrunner on the horizon. The moment I did, I had Tobias raise our prearranged signal to the top of the masthead to let the quartermaster of the Windrunner know that we were who we were and not Minoans that he needed to avoid. By nightfall we were all anchored along a broad stretch of sandy beach and Tagus was back upon his ship.

"Thank-you Charles from the bottom of my heart," Tagus hissed sincerely through a toothy grin. "I thought I would never see this vessel again. It is good to be home."

We were both standing on the main deck of his vessel when he said this to me. We had transferred across to the Windrunner in the small rowboat and it was clear to me that my friend meant every word of it. I patted him on the shoulder, both to reassure him and to show him that I understood what he was feeling.

"Well," I told him in a low voice, "it was my pleasure my friend and I'd do it again if I had to do it. However I must tell you that I think in future we will keep a guard on you at all times, just in case another thieving Minoan wants you for their trophy. At least with a bodyguard, they'll have a tougher time of it."

"Humph," Tagus grunted in response, "you may be right about that my friend. They did take me too easily. I also think that I need to learn a little of the fighting style you and Zahra teach your people. It might come in handy in future."

I agreed with him and told him that we'd see to it. That night we all ate and camped on the beach. Most people just sat and relaxed and did nothing, although I did insist that we post sentries again. We were miles from Lufkin but anything was possible. I left that for Tobias to manage and instead went and found my bedroll and the old bison skin that had been Kola's when we'd first met. I also found my party several bars of soap. My people stank and we knew it as did many with us how avoided contact with us unless it was absolutely necessary. Knowing this I shed my clothing and set the example for the rest. I went for a dive into the sea to get myself wet and then I stood in the surf and washed both my body and my clothes. In seconds I was joined by the rest of our group and several of the individuals who'd fled the palace through the sewers. They also needed a bath and most weren't shy about stripping down and doing it in public. I got to look at a lot of new tits and ass in the process and I know that a lot of women spent their time ogling me, including Freya the little gnome. I saw her face when she saw me standing in the water displaying my full glory for all to see and it was clearly filled with disbelief at what I had to offer. I just chuckled at that for a second or two and then turned my focus back to getting clean. There was no way I was going near that little woman and I knew it.

That night I slept snuggled between my four mates, with Nimue sleeping in my arms. She was medicated at that point. Felicity had grabbed her medical bag the moment the Windrunner and the White Dove had come along side each other. With it she'd seen to Nimue and a lot of other people before finishing for the day.

We sailed on the morning tide in a convoy three ships abreast and with the Windrunner leading the way. With my party and the menagerie aboard the Windrunner and Tobias and his men back aboard as well, it allowed the people on the other vessels to spread out a bit. The boats were still crowded but we weren't in any danger of capsizing so long as the weather stayed calm. It meant however that we would be anchoring every night, if only so that people had a place to stretch out for a little bit and gain a little privacy. It was something I was certain everyone would be craving before long. With that knowledge in hand, Tagus charted us a course eastward with the intention turning north near the southern tip of Minos and then sailing back up between the myriad of islands dotting the eastern Aegean and the coast of Anatolia. With luck we'd be in Izmir in a week's time.

Luck wasn't completely with us. As we made for open water, the lookout aboard the Windrunner spotted a pair of masts on the horizon. Without saying a word I walked over to where my kit was lying beside the cabin of the Windrunner and found my spy glass once again. Moments later I was in the bow of the Windrunner with Tagus beside me having a look at what we were up against. To my surprise, I saw two biremes bearing down on us. They were coming from the east and sailing against the prevailing wind. Their oars were out and beating the water driving the ships towards us. I didn't know where they'd come from, but the hairs on the back of my neck rose up and instinctively I knew that the vessels were Minoan warships. I just shook my head in disgust knowing that it was going to be a long day once more.

"We need to close on them and quickly," I shouted to Tagus once he had taken a look at the two craft. "We need to stop them before they can ram any of the other boats."

"But how can we do that my friend?" Tagus asked me in his own tongue.

"With these," I said placing my hand on the ballistae that stood beside us in the bow of the Windrunner, "and with luck."

Tagus ran back to his quartermaster and helmsman and started hissing orders. Quickly the sails were made tight to take in as much wind as possible and our course was set in the direction of the oncoming warships. Whoever they were we were now committed. While Tagus took care of getting us there, I took care of readying us for battle.

"Rory," I shouted to my friend as I hurried over to him, "I want you to pick yourself a loader and get to the bow. We'll be going into battle soon and I want you ready for it. While you're at it pick two of your better trainees and get them to the stern. I want both ballistae prepared for action."

"No," a voice cried out from nearby, "I'll do it."

It was Nimue and she was clambering off of the deck where she'd been sitting by the poop deck. She was looking at me with determination in her eye and a face that told me she was serious. Everyone looked at her as she spoke.