Chapter 13

The door had barely closed behind Thomas before Torun, Shepherd, and Alek all began talking over each other. All three stopped simultaneously, looked at each other, and were embarrassed by their lack of self-control—a fine way for three of the King’s most trusted men to act. Thomas could understand, though, because a lot had happened over the last week.

Cullen leaned toward the others, placing his hands on the table in front of him, and took the lead.

“We found the serving girl.”

“Finally! Now we can get some answers,” Torun said.

You could see the relief just roll off his shoulders.

“She was dead. It looks like she might have been killed the same day that Queen Mary died,” Cullen shared.

Thomas had told Cullen he thought that was the case when he wasn’t able to locate her. Otherwise, he should have been able to use his magic to track her.

Everyone absorbed the disappointment and sadness at hearing the news. The girl in question had joined the castle about the same time Thomas had come to the Royal Guard. She’d always had a smile to brighten everyone’s day.

“Did you figure out who made the poison?” Torun asked to move the meeting along.

“An apothecary’s assistant from town has gone missing. I assume he’s dead as well,” Cullen shared.

“Obviously, someone is tying up loose ends. Do you know where Prince Fabian is?” Torun asked.

“He didn’t go home? Did he do this?” Thomas asked, surprised and angry all at once.

Thomas had assumed the prince had returned to Virden after Catherine had rebuffed him. For Fabian to still be close by would have an ominous overtone. If the prince had anything to do with this, the relationship between Abingdon and Virden would rapidly deteriorate. It would probably mean war.

“I’ve had people watching Fabian. He has had some interesting visitors, but we haven’t tied them to what happened to the King and Queen. If we do, God help us,” Cullen said to echo Thomas’s thoughts.

Torun absorbed that news before pressing on.

“Any idea where Princess Catherine is?”

The King had ordered Thomas to hide her. She was critical to his succession plans and would be an easy target to thwart them. The first night, Thomas had taken her to his home where Jemma was staying. It swiftly became evident that this was not the brightest idea when Cullen showed up at their front door in the morning.

Cullen had convinced Catherine of the need to keep out of sight for now. He suggested that they hide the princess in plain sight, so she’d become Jemma’s cook’s assistant. Dressed as a commoner and with her hair in a scarf, Catherine had been able to pull it off. Most everyone ignored servants, as they tended to blend into the background.

Of course, his Rangers had to be brought into the plan. When they learned of the seriousness of keeping her safe, they’d all actively hidden Catherine’s identity. The rest of the Town and Royal Guard had been in a frenzy looking for her. King Edward played his part by insisting that Torun personally report to him his progress in finding the wayward princess on a daily basis.

Thomas felt terrible for Torun, but for some reason, Cullen and the King didn’t want the Royal Guard to know where she was hiding. Thomas had developed a stern but sympathetic countenance whenever this question was asked of him. Cullen glanced up and allowed exasperation to cross his face for a heartbeat before schooling his own expression.

Then King Edward swept in from his upstairs chamber to save the two of them from having to lie.

“I need a quick word with Thomas and Cullen,” King Edward announced to dismiss everyone else.

When the room was cleared, the King gave Thomas a miserable look.

“How is Princess Catherine?”

“She was sad not to be able to attend Queen Mary’s funeral. Catherine wants you to know that she will do whatever you need of her,” Thomas said.

“For now, we will keep her in hiding. Cullen hasn’t been able to figure out who is behind the attack. Until we can determine who the villain is, I need to know she is safe. Not only because she is key to the Manito and Abingdon alliance, but I’ve also grown to care for her,” King Edward admitted.

“It has to be Prince Fabian and, by extension, Virden, doesn’t it?” Thomas asked.

“I would agree it looks that way, but we have no real proof. It could also be someone devious enough to frame him. It would fan the fires of discontent between our kingdoms. If we act rashly, we could play right into the plans of the real person behind the attack,” Cullen said.

Court intrigue gave Thomas a headache. The games within games held no interest for him. If he were in charge, Prince Fabian would be in front of him, answering questions. Thomas had half a mind to confront him directly, now that he knew the prince was just outside of town.

“Let me solve this for you,” Thomas suggested.

King Edward smiled for the first time since Queen Mary died.

“He reminds me of me at that age,” King Edward told Cullen and then turned to Thomas. “One of the hardest things I had to learn once I became King was patience. I can’t afford not to get this right, no matter how much I want to track the wayward prince down and toss him into a cell.”

“If we find it is Virden behind this, then the person we want to make a rash move is King Hector. And when we are ready, I promise you will get your chance,” Cullen told Thomas.

“For now, continue to hide the princess and train the Royal Rangers. Torun is impressed with how they are coming along. I might want to see a demonstration of their skills soon,” King Edward said.

“You are always welcome to come and see us train, my Lord King,” Thomas said.

Cullen and the King had more to discuss in private, so Thomas took his leave.

Late morning was Thomas’s favorite time to train. Each day, as the sun cast its yellow glow and the heat drove away the gray mist of the dawn, he liked to do something physical. Crossing swords with Alek was the perfect activity.

As Thomas got close to where the Rangers practiced, he heard the thunder of hooves and the distinct twang of horse bows. When he reached the edge of the field, he had to smile. Griffin was the creative one, and Alek many times went along with his madness.

Today, they’d broken their ranks into two lines. Alek had them advancing toward targets that were set at the height of ground troops. The line stayed in formation as they galloped toward the targets. Thomas could only imagine the terror of seeing a well-disciplined company of horse charge your shield wall.

When they were within fifteen yards, they fired their arrows in a volley. Thomas noted that nine of the ten arrows found their mark. The Rangers then peeled off and galloped away, still in formation. The novelty was that the next line of Rangers galloped through their retreating counterparts and made the same attack run.

By now, the first line had nocked another arrow, and they turned and charged again.

“Watch your spacing!” Alek barked as the lines passed through each other. “Find your target and ... LOOSE!”

Thomas watched them make run after run. When the chargers began to lag, they took a break. It gave him a chance to quiz Alek on their new tactic.

“How do you see this working?” Thomas asked.

“The tried-and-true defense against arrows is for footmen to use shields. But the traditional defense of footmen against cavalry is spears, with sword-wielding shieldmen in the front rank and spearmen just behind, making a hedgehog of spears against horses. Horse archers are a double threat, so if the back ranks set spears against cavalry, they can’t hold their shields overhead to make a tortoise against arrows.

“Griffin suggested that archers usually set up on the high ground and shoot in a volley from a long distance. It’s effective because of the sheer number of arrows. Some will get through. The use of horse archers makes this more likely. That’s especially so because the horsemen are able to shoot their arrows down toward the foot soldiers, sort of giving them a mobile high ground.

“Charging in on horseback confuses the infantry so that they don’t know whether to set up to receive arrows or set up to receive cavalry. Plus, if someone is injured or killed, the next charge happens before they can fill their gaps. It leaves us openings for a charge by infantry or heavy cavalry, that is, mounted knights. The constant accurate barrages will become more effective as time goes on,” Alek explained.

Thomas thought about when he would use this. His crystal warmed, and he realized that this would make an excellent delaying tactic. Troops were trained to stop and cover up in a shield wall when faced with arrows. If they were stopped, they weren’t gaining ground.

“Slow the attacks down. If we have them pinned in place, they aren’t going anywhere. A more deliberate approach will save our horses’ strength, which will allow us to make more attacks. Every time they deploy to face an attack, they have to get out of march order and into battle order. And then, before they can move, they have to reorganize into march order,” Thomas suggested.

Then his crystal gave Thomas another image.

“One thing we should prepare for is when our enemy becomes frustrated. After a while, they will decide they don’t want to sit back and just take the punishment. They will charge us,” Thomas predicted.

“Should we shoot from further back?” Alek threw out.

Thomas, Alek, and Griffin had become comfortable enough that this type of brainstorming was possible. Archers on horseback were new to them, and these tactical discussions were forming their battle plans.

“I don’t think so, but we need to come up with a counter. Maybe a controlled retreat where we make the foot soldiers run as we pick them off. Talk to Griffin and see what he thinks,” Thomas suggested.

“Are you staying?” Alek asked.

“No, I’m meeting with Ava at the smithy. She has some ideas for the lances.”

“I don’t see the point. We’re not going to charge a line with lightweight lances,” Alek said.

“You’re right. Lances aren’t heavy spears. The business end of the lance is small by comparison and is lightweight and leaf-shaped. They’re designed to either get stuck into their target or break on impact. They will be perfect for running down fleeing soldiers,” Thomas said.

While they might not kill a man, a lance would take the fight out of him.

“They can also be used for command and control. If we add a pennant to one of them, it will be easy to see above the fray. I’m sure that you and Griffin can think of ways to use that,” Thomas said.

“I’m afraid the lance will be hard to learn, and we are only now getting them to ride and shoot in formation.”

Thomas didn’t have an argument for that. To use a lance successfully, you need to have reasonably fine control over it. It required a lot of practice to use effectively. Thomas envisioned doing that first through practice yard games involving, progressively, stationary targets, balls, and small animals. This was all before moving on to pig-sticking, which was the final prelude to man-sticking.

“I think it will be worth the effort,” was Thomas’s weak response.

Alek nodded his tentative agreement. Thomas had no doubt that Alek would head to one of the inns and talk to some of his old buddies who were combat veterans and pick their brains. They would figure it out.

As Thomas was nearing the smithy, he saw two familiar faces walk in ahead of him. It was Leif and Ragnar, the mercenaries who had gone to Virden to help deal with the slavers.

Sadly, a familiar noise distracted him. There was shouting, then the crash of shattering crockery, followed by the sounds of general commotion and the patter of nearby footfalls. A woman screamed. Three boys darted around the corner and came to a stumbling stop when they saw Lord Wolf ... with his wolf.

An older woman stormed around the corner in hot pursuit.

“You three gits, get back here. You’re going to owe me some coins for the damage you did.”

Two young men joined the woman. They looked like her sons. Thomas saw they had the three miscreants in hand, so he continued into the smithy. Frost stayed to watch the door and possibly any more excitement that might occur.