Chapter 28: Struggle

Jack was on a ship.

That much he was certain. Having spent most of his life on some seaworthy vessel or another, he could always identify the subtle way a craft shifted to know when they were not on land. It was a large vessel too, as the shift wasn’t as noticeable as it would have been on a smaller boat.

The current destination was unknown but he knew the ultimate destination would be the dark land of Swabia. Jack took a deep breath at that thought. He twitched his arms, finding the slack of the cuffs too confining to allow for anything beyond basic movement.

They’d been sailing for about three days now based on his judgment but time was largely meaningless in this tight prison. He was so far into the bowels of the ship that there was no sunlight nor any port windows to the outside. All he had was a dim red light near the door, enough for him to see but not enough to get any semblance of a bearing on time or whereabouts.

Mostly, he slept. There wasn’t much else to do. There was an initial surge of adrenaline when Adalbert captured him. He had hope of an escape when he was still in Daban before they reached Swabian lines. At one point, Jack even surprised him and popped the Swabian in the jaw. He’d nearly overpowered him until the whore that Adalbert lived with stuck a steak knife in Jack’s back.

The pain had been excruciating. Jack lost a lot of blood before they had him bandaged up, and then he had to watch while Adalbert smacked the whore around for almost killing him.

“I need him alive, you stupid twat!” roared Adalbert with another heavy backhand.

After that, Jack was out. With the pain from his back, it was easier just to surrender to the darkness.

When he awoke, he found himself in a small cell guarded by Swabian soldiers. Based upon the sights and smells, he was on the other side of Swabian lines on the outskirts of the city. He didn’t last long in that prison. On his first opportunity, Jack assaulted the lone guard in another escape attempt but quickly found himself surrounded by other soldiers. They took turns beating him with the butt of their rifles until he couldn’t offer any further opposition.

After that, Jack didn’t have the strength to continue to resist.

The next time he awoke, they were already outside the city. He was being carried by two men to be placed into a small boat. Adalbert was next to him, looking down at Jack’s battered body with seething contempt. Jack had no recollection of getting out to sea. The waves crashed so hard against that tiny boat that every time it rocked, the pain made him want to pass out.

The next thing he noted was being in the small red light room.

Jack made a tentative movement to rub at the open gash on his calf. The shackles prevented most movements, but he was still able to rub at the damaged places on his body. Of course, most of the wounds had turned black and blue over the course of three days but several of them were still open. His back still ached from the knife but it was bandaged up and he couldn’t reach it with his hands, even when the area around it became itchy.

In short, he felt like a caged animal.

He was even fed once a day—a watery type of gruel that wouldn’t ordinarily be fed to dogs. It tasted like heaven to Jack, not having had a proper meal in nearly a week. It always went too fast, but it wasn’t a question of getting seconds.

He knew the answer to that question would be another swift blow from the business end of a rifle.

There wasn’t much to do in his tiny prison beyond sleep and think. When he was awake, he mostly thought about those he knew.

Kat and Abigail.

Vera and Greg.

Luke and Kim.

Jocelyn and her family.

He thought of Aedan and Picardy. He thought about his entire anti-Swabian alliance. He thought about the unborn child in Kat’s belly. He hoped all of them were well and weren’t worrying about him too much but he knew that wouldn’t be the case.

He could only imagine how frightened Kat and Abigail were. He just hoped they had some idea of what happened to him. If they thought he’d just vanished into thin air, they’d drive themselves mad with trying to figure out where he went.

On the other hand, they might find some closure if they knew the Swabians really did have him. And take the time to formulate a response.

In any event, Jack didn’t dwell on any thoughts about Java. He thought if word got back to Bancroft about his capture, the fleet admiral might actually be giddy with excitement. Certainly the emperor wouldn’t sweat it too much either.

The only ones that would care were those here with him in the West.

There was little comfort in that thought but at least those memories of his friends, family, and women kept him from going insane in that cramped room. When he found his mind running too rampant, he closed his eyes and tried to sleep.

At least his dreams couldn’t harm him.

It was on the day of the fourth feeding when he received a visitor. Even in the faint red light, Jack could see the look of triumph and satisfaction on Adalbert’s face as he stepped into the room. He noted Jack’s reclined position on the floor and carefully stepped around his body to the lone chair that occupied the far wall.

Jack had thoughts about putting that chair to his use but the chains prevented him from getting off the floor.

“You smell,” said Adalbert as soon as he sat down. “Like piss and shit.”

“Nice to see you too,” retorted Jack, even though he knew the Swabian had a point. Bathroom breaks weren’t part of the regimen. The smell had ceased to bother him after a day or two anyway.

Adalbert wrinkled his nose like it bothered him. Despite his conditions, Jack considered it a small victory.

“I guess they’ll expect to see you looking like an animal,” said Adalbert with a small sigh a moment later. “So it won’t surprise them when you come out covered in your own shit.”

“And who exactly is them?” asked Jack. “Avila and the rest of his thugs?”

“A bit of advice for you,” said Adalbert. “You’ll show the proper respect for the emperor’s title or I’ll send my men back in here to teach you some manners.”

“The only proper respect he deserves is a bullet to the back of the skull,” quipped Jack.

Adalbert stood up quickly and closed the distance between them. He cranked his foot back and kicked it forward, hitting Jack in the sensitive rib cage on his left side. Jack wasn’t sure what was more painful—the kick to the torso or his entire body smacking against the solid floor. Either way, the room spun around as he tried to get his bearings.

“Do you require a further demonstration?” asked Adalbert with a vicious tone as his foot cranked back again.

Jack shook his head while he sputtered. He managed to get one of his hands to his mouth, and he wiped away what he thought was saliva.

It turned out to be blood on closer inspection.

“I must say that your spirit impresses me, Jack,” said Adalbert as he returned to his seat. “You know, most prisoners come to accept their fate. They realize they can’t escape so there’s no point in continuing to resist. Most of them become as docile as puppies toward the end.” Adalbert sneered. “You on the other hand lead me to believe that you’re still going to be pulling this shit even as you’re led to the gallows.”

“Is that my fate then?” asked Jack. “Why wait? Why not just shoot me here and dump my body in the ocean? Surely that would be the more economical route than taking me back to Swabia.”

Adalbert chuckled. “You may be right about that, but this isn’t about just killing you, Jack. This is about humiliation. This is payback for all the harm you’ve done to the Swabian cause in the last year. You’re quite known around Swabia, did you know that? Even the old emperor, that fool Aurelius, knew who you were. Of course, he thought you were just a temporary distraction but my cousin knows what kind of troublemaker you really are.”

Jack gulped. He wondered if they really knew about his heritage. For the entire time he’d been captured, most of them referred to him only as the name “foreigner.” Did they truly know of his Galician heritage?

Would it change anything if they did?

“Of course, I quickly found out your measure when we were still back in Andalucia,” continued Adalbert. “Funny, it seems like such a long time ago now that I was in that desert hellhole.”

“If I remember correctly, you had to run away with your tail between your legs,” said Jack.

Adalbert actually laughed. “Yes, that is right. And that fool Berimund lost his life for our failure there. I have to give it to you though. Uniting the clans like you did, no one could’ve seen that coming. I had to force myself to realize what we were dealing with after you crushed that Swabian regiment toward the end.”

“Too bad you weren’t with them,” said Jack simply. “I could have saved myself a lot of trouble.”

Adalbert chuckled again. “You don’t know how pissed the emperor was to find out about the collapse of the Andalucian operation. You cost him a significant amount of gold although I’m sure that’s just one of many reasons he intends to kill you. The bigger piece was Picardy.”

“Why Picardy?” asked Jack. “Seems like your men are doing a bang-up job of it right now without me. Just a little more pushing, and you’ll take all of Daban. How do I factor into those plans?”

“I’m not stupid, Jack,” retorted Adalbert. “So don’t treat me like I am. I know it was you that liberated the city the first time around back in the fall. And I know that if you were given enough time, you would surely do it again. I even imagine there’s some grand plan right now to liberate the city, and you can’t tell me that plan didn’t originate with you.”

To that charge, Jack remained silent. After all, Adalbert was largely correct. He wouldn’t give him the benefit of the doubt though.

“Not so talkative now, are you?” continued Adalbert. “It’s no matter. Getting a break from your mouth was needed. I don’t need your confirmation of what I already know but your silence is damning enough.”

“If that’s the case, then why don’t you just leave me down here,” suggested Jack. “I can remain covered in shit and we’ll both be happier.”

“It’s tempting, Jack. It really is,” said Adalbert after thinking it through for a moment. “It’s even more tempting to think about beating you to a bloody pulp for all that you’ve made me go through in the last year. But, like my cousin, I’d like to enjoy a little more of your humiliation before the end. It will make your death ... sweeter. More enjoyable for everyone.”

Before Jack could respond, Adalbert continued on with his previous thoughts. “Back to Picardy, I have to say that I’m impressed you figured out where the plague was coming from. That bitch, Magda, ran a tight operation but it was only a matter of time before the source of it all came out. I knew it was a bad operation from the get-go. You wouldn’t believe how I had to beg for my life when that one failed and I had to answer to my cousin.”

“Did he beat you?” asked Jack callously. “Whatever it was, I hope it was painful.”

Adalbert smiled. “That’s when he gave me this current task. The task to find you, capture you, and bring you to him. I must say that you made it hard on me, Jack. When you left Picardy, I thought there was a small chance you might not come back. At my lowest point, I’d already accepted my own fate, thinking you were gone forever. But then word came to me of foreign ships on the horizon, and I knew then that you had returned.”

“There’s no way I’d let Picardy fall without joining the fight,” said Jack. “Such reckless aggression had to be answered with the only thing that you Swabians understand—force.”

Adalbert snapped his fingers. “And there it is. The source of your only weakness. Pride. Your pride wouldn’t allow your so-called allies to fall. I knew once we pressed in hard on the Picards and cornered them in their capital, you’d come running back to save the day again. In that, I was totally right.”

“You’ll excuse me if I don’t rush to congratulate you,” said Jack.

“All the congratulations I need is right in front of me,” retorted Adalbert. “As will be my reward when we get back to Swabia. I’m thinking of starting my own harem with all the gold that’s going to be bestowed upon me. Maybe we can talk about that. I understand you like a little variety to your women.”

Jack could only snarl as he tried to get up. The chains prevented him from going anywhere.

“I see I’ve struck a small nerve,” said Adalbert with a laugh. “I can see why you like the brunette. She’s quite the looker, I would say. Great ass too, although I’m sure that you know that. Smooth, long legs. How is she in the sack, Jack? She’s not a dead fish, is she?”

Jack’s nostrils flared in anger.

“And then there’s the Galician bitch. Oh, that blonde hair is beautiful, I’ll give them that. In fact, I think that’s the source of what makes them all so insufferable,” said Adalbert. “As a nationality, they think they’re above reproach. Always looking down their noses at everyone else, especially someone just as strong as all my fellow countrymen.”

“I doubt that,” quipped Jack. “From what I’ve heard, there’s been four major wars against Swabia and they’ve lost every one.”

“History has a way of changing things, Jack,” said Adalbert. “The conditions for this next war are prime. The Galicians are actually friendly, thanks to their regent. The Apulians are weak. The Picards are close to oblivion. Who else will stand in our way?”

“As long as I’m alive, I will,” said Jack firmly.

Adalbert grinned. “I’m afraid you don’t have much time left on that. I’ll give you a month tops before you’re dead. You’ll suffer the same fate as the old emperor—a very public death in Dagobern in front of the whole city. Everyone of any importance will watch as the life drains from your face.”

Jack felt a chill go up his back at that statement. He kept his eyes trained on Adalbert. If only he had some small opening, some way to sneak out of these bonds, he could kill the man without anyone being able to stop him. Even with his wounds, his righteous anger would ensure Adalbert’s swift death.

“I bet you’d love to kill me, wouldn’t you?” taunted Adalbert softly. “I bet you’d love to get those hands around my neck for all that you’ve suffered.”

Jack nodded. “One day, I will. Mark my words, I will kill you. It might not be today, but before this conflict is over, I’ll do it.”

Adalbert began to shake his head. “If only there were any teeth to your threat. But alas, there aren’t. The specter of death hangs over you now. How does it feel? It was my old friend for many months since you started to make my life hell. I’m only too happy to return the favor.”

“It doesn’t have to be that way though,” said Jack, changing to another tactic. “Why do you fight so hard for someone who would kill you just for the price of failure?”

The smile left Adalbert’s face as he contemplated that. “My cousin is the emperor, that’s why.”

Jack managed a snort. “An emperor who held your life in his hands and almost snuffed it out twice in the last year. Some emperor. It’s made even worse by the fact that you’re related by blood. Why would you work for someone like that? What’s in it for you?”

Adalbert raised his chin. “I wouldn’t expect someone like you to understand.”

Jack shrugged. “What I understand is that you’re talented enough to make this happen.” He jiggled his cuffs. “You’ve captured me. You have a brain in there somewhere but your talents are being used by the wrong people. Why work for someone when they could so easily kill you for a simple mistake? Why not work for us? I can make sure someone like you is well compensated for your talents if you were to aid our cause.”

Adalbert shook his head. “You know nothing about Swabia, Jack. Truly nothing. Don’t you know what happens to traitors in Swabia?”

“I haven’t had the pleasure of listening to that answer yet,” said Jack dryly.

“Traitors are the worst form of scum in the Swabian Empire,” said Adalbert. “They’re not even in the same category as beggars. Beggars are like kings compared to them. When a man betrays the might of Swabia, he does his best to leave the country immediately. Swift death will follow all those who linger. But just because he makes it outside the borders doesn’t mean he’s safe. The emperor will follow him.”

Adalbert got up from his chair and began to pace around the room. “No matter where someone may run, the might of Swabia will be behind them. There are death squads—sinister men with unlimited resources that will track you down no matter where you hide. They will capture you but they won’t kill you. Oh, no, they will make sure you’re still alive before you go back to Swabia. You’re better off to keep poison with you. Even a painful death from most toxins is preferable to what awaits you back in Swabia.”

Adalbert shuddered. “The last one I saw was when I was a boy. When the emperor was just my cousin Regaulfus. Someone rebelled against Aurelius and failed so he was brought back to Dagobern. All the lordships were required to come to the capital city and witness the execution. It was a gruesome affair. Do you want to know how they kill them?”

Jack didn’t answer. He stared back at Adalbert without a further word.

Adalbert didn’t care. He continued anyway. “The first thing they do is set upon you with the clubs. It isn’t to kill you, no. It’s to break your bones. They don’t stop until your legs and arms are broken, dangling appendages. From there, they break out the knives. You lose your ears, your nose, your tongue, and your manhood. One swift cut with the knife removes them all. The last thing to go are your eyes. By that time, many men die because their hearts just can’t take it anymore.”

Adalbert took another deep sigh. “The one that I witnessed was still alive at that point. Instead of waiting for him to die, his body is tethered to the back of a horse-drawn cart. He’s dragged along for miles on the back of the cart in extreme agony. Only then, if he’s still alive, is he quartered.”

“Quartered?” asked Jack. “You still practice such barbaric practices?”

Adalbert nodded. “Oh, yes. Only the worst for traitors. No one survives quartering. The pieces of your body are then dumped in the ocean or burned, whatever is easier. Such is the fate of all traitors.”

Adalbert turned to lock eyes on Jack. “And that is why I remain loyal to Swabia. You’ll be hard-pressed to find any Swabian who would betray their country. The price isn’t worth the disloyalty.”

“With such barbaric practices, no wonder the rest of the world hates you,” said Jack. “You can’t find a single person in the West who has a kind word for Swabia. And now I see exactly why.”

Adalbert shook his head. “There’s no room for the weak in Swabia. Our society has been set up this way to make us strong. To preserve the strength in our bloodline. For those reasons, we abide by our time-honored customs. We retain our aggressive and martial spirit because to lose it would invite calamity. The Galicians used to be strong at one time. They lost their kings and with them, went the spirit out of all of them. They used to be formidable adversaries but now? They wouldn’t dream of standing in our way. There’s no strength left in them.”

“I think you’ll be surprised at what’s still left in them,” warned Jack. “Before this is all over, they just might surprise you.”

Adalbert started to chuckle again. “I think not, Jack. You were a worthy adversary. This Javan Empire that I hear about sounds like a formidable opponent. Too bad there’s all this ocean between us or I wouldn’t mind exploring more of that.”

“You wouldn’t last a week against the full might of Java,” said Jack. “You’ve seen what I’ve done to your men with just a few ships and a handful of marines. Imagine what the entire empire could bring down on you. You would have nowhere left to run.”

“Ah, but you’ve only dealt with a tiny portion of Swabian strength,” said Adalbert. “You overestimate your homeland’s importance. So do all that fight against Swabia. You people love to hate us, but that hate is only borne out of fear. Fear of being conquered.”

“I can assure you there’s no fear here,” said Jack with firm glare.

“No, no, there isn’t,” said Adalbert softly as he regarded him. “You haven’t seen true fear yet. But you’ll find out shortly. Where we’re going, you’ll see all about fear. And maybe then, you’ll realize that it’s pointless to continue to resist.”

“That’s not something I’m going to be able to do,” said Jack simply. “Sorry to disappoint you.”

Adalbert sneered. “Wait until we get to our first destination. Then you’ll see. We should be there tomorrow. And then I think you’re going to see how hopeless your position really is.”

“First destination?” asked Jack with a confused tone. “I thought we were going to Swabia.”

“We are, Jack. But first, we’re going to make a supply stop in Naxos. You’ve heard of Naxos, haven’t you, Jack?”

Of course he’d heard of Naxos. Their plight had been told to him a year ago by Heron, and then in bits and pieces by Kat ever since. Naxos was a small island right on the doorstep of Swabia. It straddled the trading routes between Apulia and Picardy, and for that reason, the Nax had been a lucrative stop for traders in the years before the war with Swabia.

Their wealth was what led to them being conquered. The island was fully subjugated by the Swabians just over two years ago, the majority of the people having been used for slave labor in Swabia ever since. From all reports, Naxos was a bleak place without a future. The only power they knew was what came on the hard side of a Swabian boot.

“We’ll be in Naxos for only a day or two,” said Adalbert as he stood up and approached the door. “It’ll be good for you, Jack. Perhaps then you’ll see it’s futile to keep fighting Swabian power. You’ll see what broken people truly look like.”

When Jack didn’t come back after his check on the front lines, it was Kat who was the first to get worried. She’d been alone in the palace for most of the morning while Abigail caught up on some work on the Destiny, but she certainly noticed when Jack wasn’t back by the usual time they had breakfast. Figuring that something had come up, she ate alone, getting some much needed nourishment into her growing figure.

It was midmorning when she knew something was definitely wrong. Short of a battle, there was no reason why Jack wouldn’t have checked in by now. She grabbed the radio that he’d given her at one time and called out on the frequency he used when on land.

Nobody answered.

Feeling panicked, Kat reached out to Abigail and waited for the other woman to come back ashore.

“How long has it been?” asked Abigail once she reentered their shared room.

“He left at dawn and it’s nearly noon,” explained Kat. “He’s not answering the radio. Something isn’t right, Abigail. I can just feel it.”

The two women rushed to find Greg, who was already eating a meager lunch in his quarters. From there, the search was on. Greg alerted every officer in the marine force and had them check in on whether they’d seen Jack that morning. None of them reported seeing him, an especially worrying sentiment for the three of them.

Aedan was alerted next, as was the leadership of the Carinthian force, General Barca. Orders were given to check the entire city for the missing admiral. By the time the sun set over the capital city, no one could find Jack or figure out what had happened to him.

“He has to be here somewhere,” consoled Aedan to both Abigail and Kat nearly an hour before midnight. “We’ll keep looking. He can’t just disappear and he wouldn’t leave his ships willingly.”

“That’s what I fear,” said Abigail as she wiped a tear from her eye. “Something had to happen. He wouldn’t do something like this, especially not without checking in.”

Kat nodded firmly to that statement. She’d seen better days as well, her hair more disheveled than usual. “I agree, he wouldn’t have just left without telling anyone or taking a ship. It has to be the Swabians. We know how close their lines are. What are the chances that they got to him when he was doing his check-ins?”

Aedan shook his head softly. “I’d have a hard time believing that. They’d have to get past our lines to do that. And it would have to be several of them to not only have a chance of taking Jack by surprise, disarming him, and getting him back without Jack making a ruckus. To me, that seems like an unlikely outcome.”

“It’s the only thing that makes sense right now,” pressed Kat.

Aedan nodded reluctantly. “Listen, I’ll have my men keep searching as best they can throughout the night. I know that Greg has promised the same with your marines. He’s out there, and we’ll find him. But for now, let’s get some rest, at least as much as we can.”

Abigail gave him an incredulous look. “Do you really think I’m going to be able to sleep right now?”

Aedan took a deep breath. “As much as you can. It’s been a long day and we’re all exhausted. Let’s try to get some rest and we’ll restart again tomorrow.”

It took a little more convincing from the king before Abigail and Kat were able to give it a chance. They pulled together in the bed they shared with Jack. There was so much extra space without him, so they moved together closely while Abigail rested her head against Kat’s shoulder.

“Where is he, Kat?” she asked, her voice in a low whisper once the light had been put out.

Kat closed her eyes and held the other woman tighter. “We’ll find him. We have to.”

Despite her own words, Kat wasn’t sure just how much she believed them.

“You found him once, right?” offered Abigail. “Even if the Swabians have him, we can find him again.”

Kat shuddered at the thought of the Swabians having him. She knew what they did to prisoners of war. Especially an important one like Jack. If they truly had him, he wouldn’t be alive for long.

“We’ll find him,” repeated Kat. “If it’s the last thing I do, we’ll find him.”

She felt the bed rock gently as Abigail cried beside her. A few tears of her own slipped down Kat’s cheek before she wiped them away. The bed didn’t rock for long. Abigail’s sheer exhaustion from a physical and mental perspective meant she carried off to sleep moments later. Kat wished she could be so lucky. She laid there awake for the better part of an hour before sleep took her.

The entire time, she rested her hand on the small bump in her lower stomach. Right now, it was the only physical connection she had to Jack. Their child grew just underneath, and she was determined that this child would know his father. She’d come all this way, searched all these years, and put her life on the line too many times.

It just couldn’t end like this. She couldn’t lose Jack after all they’d been through.

She wouldn’t let that happen.

Unfortunately for them, the search yielded no results the next day despite a more thorough search. Aedan even gave permission for his men to start searching entire blocks of houses within the part of the city they still controlled. By sundown, the entire city had been searched.

No one resembling Jack had been found.

The search continued onward from there, but never with as much heart on the Picard or Carinthian side. They knew he wasn’t in the city, and that could only mean one thing—the Swabians had him.

Neither Kat nor Abigail was as quick to give up hope but their options were becoming more limited by the day. It was only on the fourth day of the search that some meager results were found.

Jack’s radio that he usually kept clipped to his belt was found down a dark alley. It had been smashed, most likely against a wall, and laid in several pieces on the street.

For Kat, it was all the confirmation she needed. She paled at hearing the news, knowing exactly what it meant.

On the evening of that fourth day, a small council had gathered to discuss what to do about Jack. Kat and Abigail were there, as were Greg and Dustin from the marines. Vera was there, her eyes just as red as the other women’s. She’d been an integral part of the search as well, not wanting to lose her brother just a couple weeks after he’d returned to Picardy.

From the Picard side, Aedan and Neil were there as well to discuss their options. They were now briefing the rest of the group on their results.

“I’ve had every regiment check in this evening,” explained Neil. “Of course, quite a few of them knew who Jack was so they didn’t need much of a description. The only problem there is they’ve already searched the city two days ago. When our hands came up empty with that, many of them are of the opinion he’s no longer inside the city, an opinion that I now share.”

“And if he’s not, that means he’s probably on the other side. With the Swabians,” whispered Vera.

Neil nodded. “Unfortunately, our forces are rather limited right now with what we can send outside our lines. With Daban being the only Picard soil that we control, it becomes problematic to think about sending our scouts to the countryside.”