Chapter 12

Once the group reached the central pavilion where Rigilo and his nobles controlled their forces, Darras was introduced to Baron Montan, the keeper of the King’s purse.

“You have ninety-five trained warhorses and assorted armour?” the man asked, looking very surprised.

“To be handed over at the original rate before the war,” Darras added.

“Astonishing!”

“The King is my friend,” Darras added. “My goddess also favours his cause.”

“I see,” Montan nodded. “And the gold is to be given to this woman and these men?”

“Yes, Baron Montan, a reward for their aid.”

“Lord Jonvel is to be equipped from these spoils of war,” Rigilo added. “He’ll be joining the effort to take Torgel.”

“Of course, sire.”

“My party can arrange to seize the town gates,” Amina offered.

“Interesting, we will speak of this later,” Rigilo replied, looking thoughtful.

Montan counted out the coins for the horses and armour and handed it over to Amina, who divided it equally amongst the thieves. The group then joined Rigilo in another section of the pavilion, where Darras greeted Earl Miront, who was looking over a table with a large map pinned to it.

“Ah, the man bearing good news,” Miront chuckled.

“Simplifying things,” Darras replied with a smile. “Lot of fighting for you to do yet.”

“Aye, that’s the truth, though we’re now moving to the offensive,” Miront agreed.

“And the King’s Council?”

“Have been caught out by our raids on their armies and patrols. Their numerical advantage melts away with the use of our mounted archers.”

“I’m trying to keep our casualties low by using our advantage wisely,” Rigilo added.

“Ah, hence the quick dash to secure Torgel?” Darras inquired.

“Yes, Mirrs has left it unshielded, thinking Treen would secure it and threaten our rear,” Rigilo replied. “Plus, with Lady Amina’s help to seize the gates and let my men in unopposed, we should be able to press west then to isolate Cranagh and link up with Coolos.”

“Ambitious but eminently doable,” Darras agreed.

“Yes, Alvastros and Sinoris hold strong,” Rigilo replied. “Torgel secures the east, and the Barons of the north mostly sympathise with our cause.”

“Coolos is still well supplied?”

“They still hold the open road north to the Forest Kingdom,” Rigilo nodded. “I also have reports that Iversirion landed on the Isle of Suren and forcibly removed Cranagh’s forces.”

“So, they are forced to use the northern King’s Highway?” Darras asked, wondering how King Leandomus would explain sending troops to the island.”

“Yes, past Saltion Forest and the various patriot groups hidden within it who constantly ambush and raid their supply lines.”

“The price they pay for setting that monster Starak upon the ordinary folk,” Darras nodded.

“Aye, though I’m told you had a hand in his demise?”

“That I did,” Darras replied, then told the tale to Rigilo and Miront.

The King’s Council met in the luxurious hall set aside for their deliberations, though the mood, for once, was not as confident as it usually was. Their surprise offensive had turned out to be anything but, nor had it brought success on the field anywhere.

“The one good thing is that we have isolated Coolos from Rigilo’s forces,” Duke Cranagh stated, trying and failing to sound confident and assured.

“Yet your forces failed to invest it fully,” Chancellor dal Verris pointed out.

“Unlike our southern forces who have Alvastros and Sinoris cooped up,” Duke Trasgel added, rubbing salt into the wound.

“Do you?” Count Amberlis inquired. “All you appear to have done is lay siege to the castles whilst reports tell us of their forces still being in the field.”

“They will collapse once we take the strongholds,” Trasgel stated airily.

“You’d better be right; as it is, they are the ones tying down our forces, not the other way around.”

“Overall, despite a few setbacks, we remain in control,” Bansis, the Duke of Tolner, stated in an attempt to calm various nerves amongst the more timid of the Council.

“They continually disrupt trade routes and have sealed the northern route to the Forest Kingdom,” Bastos Creln, the (reputedly) most prosperous merchant in the kingdom, stated. “Nor do we appear to be able to stop their trade or supplies.”

“I despatched a troop of knights to do that north of Miront, as well as keeping Torgel sealed off,” Mirrs replied.

“The loss of Starak admitted put a kink in my plans to do similar north of Coolos, though orders have gone out to land another regiment from the Isle of Suren to the border of the Forest Kingdom and seal it off,” Cranagh added.

At this point, one of the King’s Messengers politely requested entry and handed dal Verris a series of despatches before saluting and leaving.

“It appears you may have to reconsider your attempts to seal the north, Cranagh,” dal Verris stated dryly. “The Forrest Kingdom have expelled your men from the Isle of Suren.”

“They did what?” Cranagh snarled.

“They kicked you out. The Isle is supposed to be neutral territory, or had you forgotten that?”

“By invading it?” Cranagh responded with breath-taking hypocrisy.

“Indeed so,” sneered dal Verris.

“Do, we cannot starve Coolos out ... as yet?” Bansis queried.

“Not before we defeat them in the field,” dal Verris confirmed. “The issue is that they have refused to meet us in pitched battles so far.”

“Cowards,” Cranagh muttered.

“I don’t think it’s cowardice,” Amberlis countered. “It’s a deliberate strategy of using their lighter, swifter forces to have us chasing them all over the kingdom.”

“And their knights?” the merchant Manlis inquired.

“Unknown,” dal Verris sighed. “Rigilo or the traitors have not used them in great numbers so far.”

“Nor do we have any indications of what he intends to do with them either,” Bansis admitted.

“I believe we need to concentrate on taking Alvastros out of the picture,” Mirrs suggested. “Topple one, and the rest will follow.”

“It will ease the pressure on my forces dealing with Miront, to be sure,” Mirrs agreed. “Can we do it, however?”

“Alvastros is a tough nut to crack,” dal Verris stated thoughtfully. “That said, we have it surrounded and isolated from aid now.”

“And if Miront or Ordetas march to relieve it?” Cranagh asked.

“Then we have the pitched battle we want,” dal Verris replied.

There had been a slight delay in readying the forces to attack and seize Torgel. This had arisen from Lord Jonvel having to sort from different types of armour to find something that fitted comfortably. Fortunately, Erren, via Darras, stepped in, and the matter was resolved far more quickly than it usually would have.

The party of one hundred knights and a hundred mounted archers led by Rigilo then set off in a rapid canter to reach Torgel before nightfall and get Amina’s team into the town before dark. This also had to be done whilst avoiding detection from the forces of Mirrs and the Royal Regiment. Rigilo had considered this and set the main body of his army southwest in what outwardly looked like an attempt to seize the bridge over the river Rachtele and threaten the capital.

Torgel was reached without incident, Rigilo’s scouts enabling the knights to avoid the sparse patrols and find cover, even as Amina’s group slipped unnoticed into the town. Four hours later, a lookout spotted a waved lamp at the eastern gate, and the knights, along with Darras, made a swift dash to seize the gate.

“All the forces of Mirrs have been withdrawn,” Amina informed Rigilo.

“Looks like we can expect Treen soon,” Darras opined.

“Yes, though the town is no longer undefended and no doubt the local militia will be able to help,” Rigilo agreed.

“I know where their captain lives,” Jonvel added. “I’ll bring him to you.”

“Thank you, Lord Jonvel,” Rigilo nodded.

“There were no casualties with the gate guards, though I doubt they are best pleased about our treatment of them,” Amina informed Rigilo.

“My thanks, Lady Amina,” Rigilo replied. Darras, who rode with the acclaimed King, realised what a risk Rigilo was taking. Yet he also saw the advantage of the manoeuvre. By distracting Mirrs, a competent commander of the King’s Council, Rigilo stood to secure the east. Then, be able to apply pressure to relieve Alvastros.

“What say you, Darras?” Rigilo asked.

“Sometimes a risk must be taken to gain great fortune,” Darras replied, realising he’d never been with a winning army.

“Let us hope Lady Amina and her companions succeed,” Rigilo nodded. “I’d hate to think we have placed our necks in a noose.”

“You do realise she thinks calling her a lady is hilarious?” a smiling Darras queried.

“Hah! Yes, but whether she thinks it hilarious or not, she has a nobility of spirit, I aver it!”

“That is your right, King Rigolo, and no other’s.”

“I know, ridiculous as the concept is,” Rigilo replied wryly.

“Erren agrees,” Darras chuckled, making Rigilo laugh out loud.

“I suspect Callani and Erren would agree on much of life’s irony,” Rigilo nodded.

“They would; one day, they will meet,” Darras replied.

“Really?”

“Rigilo, my friend, should you hold Torgel, invite Callani to meet you here, and I will introduce you to the goddess,” Darras stated.

‘The forces of Treen are two days away, a thousand men in total, ’ Erren informed Darras, who passed it onto Rigilo.

“That gives us time,” Rigilo commented as he pondered his options. “My forces can hold against that many, and Miront will send aid.”

“The gateway building has a scrying stone, as does the temple,” Darras informed Rigilo.

“Aye, looks like we caught them out,” Rigilo nodded.