Chapter 12: Threats, we don't got to show you no stinking threats

Jasmine, James, Roy, Kathy and I climbed the stairs to the platform that had been erected in the middle of the square. Jasmine and James had coordinated the design to keep me safe. If the rat bastards wanted to attack me, they would have to do so out in the middle of the masses. We had used a fortified and covered walkway for us to get to the platform. There were solid side rails and risers to the stairs so no one could be under them to get to me easily.

Of course there were some likenesses of me that had been made and hung out for the people to see. These were hung next to where the ones of Samuel were hanging. Since we were a distance away, we had worked on a speech to have the criers read to them. I walked around for a while and waved; when the crowd cheered, I pulled my sword out and held it above my head.

Jasmine would tell me what to do based upon the words of the speech that was being cried out to them. I guess you could compare it to a rock concert or a political gathering. That done, we left to some additional cheers of “Hero John! Hero John!”

We had arranged to feed the masses that day as part of the celebration. That was the last part of the speech and more cheers were heard. The treasury took a hit but the people enjoyed it. On a world where there were really no free lunches, the masses were actually receiving one.

I never saw a threat, never felt uneasy, and was feeling about ten feet tall as the cheers boosted my ego. We ended the day with the Citadel well fed and more than a few who were over indulged. I sat around the table eating a late dinner when the twins came back with an older man. They introduced him as Rogard.

“Hello, Rogard, it is good to make your acquaintance.”

“Hello Hero John. I likewise am happy to finally meet you.”

“I am afraid that I don’t know your title or position.”

“I take it we are among friends?”

“We are indeed.”

“I am the current Master of the Sneaks.”

“Master of the Sneaks?” I asked.

“He is the sneakiest of all the sneaks. The one we go to for training,” Jane said.

“So you were the one commissioned by General Hero Samuel?”

“Not I, but the Masters before me were,” he replied. I had forgotten how time passed here at a different pace than on Earth. The line of Masters may well be centuries old.

“I assume you were successful in your endeavors.” I knew that I was letting the cat out of the bag with Calvin, Curly and J. A. at this point, but they needed to know.

“Yes sir, in all we eliminated fifty-seven threats to you,” Rogard replied.

“What do you mean you eliminated fifty-seven threats?” J.A. bellowed.

“It came to me in a dream that they would try and have the leaders inside the Citadel instead of out.”

“And you took it upon yourself to not tell us of this and more importantly do this without our knowledge.”

“This is Chaos, you know,” I said; it was a lame excuse, but it was the only real excuse I could come up with for now.

“So you didn’t trust us enough to tell us?” Curly said.

“Trust is earned, not freely given,” James said.

“He is right, and I would have likely done the same, if I was in his place,” Calvin said.

“That does not make it right,” J.A. grumbled.

“I prefer to sit upright; when I didn’t know who is a friend or foe, I took the course of action I deemed best. I make no excuse for it, and I only ask your understanding.”.

“It was no intentional slight,” Calvin said.

“That still does not make it any better. It is a taste left in the mouth,” J. A. said.

“Then rinse it away with some wine and enjoy the evening.”

They were angry; I likewise would have been angry if I had been in their shoes. However, I was alive, and the threats were gone.

We discussed what had happened with Rogard the rest of the evening. Most of those who were eliminated were the assassins that focused on me. They did not see the sneaks at all, or if they did, it was when it was too late for them. There had been six men who the sneaks believed to be the leaders, and since they were inside of the gates the rules of engagement were simple. They died for their treachery. Had they been outside, I would have taken them into custody and then killed them, so it didn’t matter in the end.

We talked about what had transpired for a while longer, and then called it an evening. I invited Rogard to spend the evening at the Citadel, and he agreed to do that. Tyler, Jane and Kathy took off together. I assumed to search the Citadel and maybe go out this evening to listen what the Generals would say between them.

The night was quiet, and I thought about our next step as I held Jasmine in bed with me. As I was lying there, something about the amulet struck me. If that was the key to being the Hero of the Citadel I literally held the lives of so many around my neck. I was the Hero of the Citadel now, and if I doubted that, I would be challenged. So in the morning, I would go to the bank and place the amulet in the vault. That being decided, I snuggled closer to Jasmine and slept soundly.

We woke, and Jasmine was in a feisty mood. She was with her Hero, but could not do what she wanted to do with her Hero. So we spent the early morning working on my fighting skills. Every day on Chaos, it was more difficult not to make love or celebrate my lust with her.

I had been thinking of Beth when I forgot to duck. She had not meant to hit me, but I would have quite a shiner later in the day. That brought an end to our ritual for now. I knew that I would get more than a fair share of teasing for it, but I deserved it for losing concentration.

We ate breakfast and I looked at Jane as we did. A simple shake of her head, and I knew that there was nothing to report. The Citadel was finally cleared of the rat bastards for now and my thoughts turned to determining how to take Jasmine and me back to Crossroads.

“When we go to the bank today, let’s see if we can use the portal to see if it was a time element that was missing.” I doubted that it was, and thought it was likely that the Damsel might still be the key. I just didn’t know that for sure, but not knowing a solution was grinding on me. I missed Beth and this time distortion was getting more difficult all the time.

So, we finished breakfast, and all of us went to the bank. Jasmine and I said goodbye to all of them, just in case we could go back, and went into the vault. I stuck my finger the receptacle it lit up. We put everything in the vault, assuming we would be going back to Crossroads, and closed it. I held onto Jasmine and nothing happened. So we reopened the vault, took out the weapons and money we would need, and got dressed, but I left the amulet and all the papers that Samuel had given me in the vault. I knew we would be going after the Damsel now, and didn’t want to take anything that was not replaceable with us.

I think our group was happy we weren’t able to go back to Crossroads. On one hand, I could understand that, but on the other it was difficult for Jasmine and me. The unknown was frightening even for me. Chaos offered no guarantees and the thought of staying for years, even if we rescued the Damsel left us more than a little uneasy. But, there was no way I would leave her in jeopardy, either. So the issue at hand now was how to rescue the Damsel in the southern mountains.

Over lunch, we discussed what was needed, first for the Citadel, and then for the lands we owned and protected. Since Calvin seemed to know about this Damsel when Curly didn’t, it was decided that Calvin would need to be included in our rescue party.

We would leave Roy, Curly and J.A. here to work out the details of running the Citadel holdings. Roy with his knowledge was in charge of all the domestic duties of the Citadel and its holdings. Curly and J.A. would deal with defense of all threats internal and external with the exception of the southern plains. My thoughts were, since we would be in the southern mountains, that there wouldn’t be much activity that needed our involvement.

We would head south; so if it was needed, we would look into any of issues affecting the southern plains along with rescuing the Damsel. We broke into groups to deal with our responsibilities. Roy, Curly and J.A. left to work on the details in the Chamberlain’s office while we left to go to the library and work on ours.

It took weeks to get the details sorted out. J.A. and Curly left together one morning. They needed to get back to their troops to work out the details of command and transfers out there. Since they had done this for so long, I was not worried about them knowing what needed to be done. Roy had added to his staff now and was dealing with the day to day issues that the Citadel presented.