Chapter 11

"Damn" hissed the captain. "Close and bar the door! We'll have to hold here and hope we have help on the way."

The doors were shut, the bolts shot true and chairs wedged under the handles to provide extra support just as a great many fists and pommels began hammering on them. The bodyguards began forming up in ranks facing the door which had begun to show signs of weakening under the furious onslaught.

"Your Grace, release me. I can help," Antal said holding up his shackled wrists.

"You can use a sword, smuggler?" the Herceg asked lightly as he motioned for the captain to unlock the cuffs. The captain frowned but didn't dispute the silent order.

"Not a sword, no," Antal grinned as he strode over to a brace of halberds fastened to the wall as decoration. Yanking on one, the bands fastening it to the wall popped off and the captain grunted. "But this will do just fine. Captain, may I borrow your sword for a moment?" The captain silently handed it to Antal who placed the bladed end on a table and swiftly swung down on the shaft just below the head. The sword chopped through the hard wood leaving him with a wooden rod two fingers thick and slightly longer than he was tall. Handing the sword back to the bemused guard captain he began twirling his miniature boat pole around getting its feel. "Yes, this will do just fine."

"I might suggest, Captain," he continued, "that you and your men stand on either side of me while I stay directly in front of the door. That will keep them from spreading out once they get into the room."

"They'll just run right over you!" the captain exclaimed.

"I don't think so," Antal grinned. The captain shrugged and fanned his men out to either side of Antal while he stood directly behind and next to the Herceg. The door was solid and heavy and easily withstood the pounding; unfortunately the hinges holding it couldn't and soon one broke loose from the frame and almost immediately the others failed. The door crashed down but because of the chairs didn't lay flat. Instead it flipped up into sort of a ramp entering the room. It wasn't enough to hold the attackers back but it slowed them down and prevented more than five or six from entering at one time.

As the first ones launched themselves over the ramp, Antal found himself seriously engaged with a number of heavily armed men doing their best to stick him like a pincushion. The fighting was artless as he parried a thrust here and slammed the pole against the side of a helmet here and jabbing the end into a breastplate there. Every once in a while he would note the flick of a slim blade striking out from around his back; sometimes catching an attacker in the eye, sometimes in the throat. Now and then the blade lashed out only to be deflected by Anton's wooden rod as he swung it but more often than not the strike was quick, precise and extremely deadly.

To Antal it seemed as if the fight had gone on forever as he concentrated on the soldiers in front of him except when he heard the sound of the Herceg's voice from just over his shoulder.

"Ah, Malaceck, I see you! You've lost, you know. Nothing will save your neck now, even if you do reach me!"

"You insolent puppy!" Malaceck screamed. "You will die and the only thing the Emperor will know is that you were attacked by bandits and tragically lost!"

"First you have to get me," the Herceg taunted. "I hope for your sake you brought more men; we appear to be using these up rather quickly!" That boast wasn't actually true. While Antal and the Herceg's men were holding their own and had done considerable damage to Malaceck's troops, the fact was they had taken a number of casualties of their own, were still outnumbered, and were tiring quickly.

Although the din of battle in the room was intense, it wasn't long after the verbal sparring match that another sound could be heard, this time coming from the open doorway. The sounds of shouting men and the clank of metal on metal resonated into the room from the hallway as if directed through a funnel.

"I believe our help has arrived," the Herceg shouted joyously to his captain. He wasn't the only one to arrive at that conclusion as Malaceck, frothing at the mouth while screaming at his men, darted looks back over his shoulder, eyes wide in terror. Finally he seemed to lose all reason and jumped up onto the door before charging towards the Herceg still tucked in behind the nearly exhausted Antal.

Antal was still engaged with two of Malaceck's men when the minister pushed between them trying desperately to reach the young ruler. As the two soldiers stumbled apart Antal almost instinctively jabbed one end of his pole into the minister's middle causing him to double over while bringing the other end around to slam into the side of his unguarded head. Minister Malaceck's eyes rolled up in his head and he fell limply to the floor in front of the gasping, sweat-covered smuggler.

"Hold!" the Herceg shouted. "Your master is down! Drop your weapons! If you continue, you will all die; if you continue you may yet live!"

It didn't happen instantly but soon the sound of fighting lessened in the room and then stopped as Malaceck's men disengaged and then started backing away. That didn't last long however as the pounding of boots in the hallway could be heard only moments before a whole troop of bloody and fiery-eyed soldiers wearing regulation army uniforms and armor rushed into the room overwhelming the few remaining Malaceck troopers.

"Your Grace, you are safe?" shouted their rescuers' officer. The bodyguard the captain had sent out earlier was standing by his side.

"We are well," the Herceg assured him lightly pushing Antal aside as he stepped forward. He reached down and grabbed Minister Malaceck's hair and pulled up until he could see the face.

"Pity, he's still alive," the Herceg murmured. "It would have been so much easier if he had died in the fighting." He glanced up at Antal, "The Emperor has such a difficult time deciding when there are two sides of a story to listen to. Certainly we wouldn't want to cause his Imperial Majesty any undue stress, now would we?" Still holding onto his hair, the Herceg squatted, set down his rapier and pulled out his dagger. With no hesitation he calmly drew it across the minister's throat watching the blood pour out onto the other bodies littered under him. The Herceg held onto the hair watching with interest as the minister's bubbling gasps slowed and finally stopped.

"There. That makes things easier," the Herceg smiled and stood up letting the head flop back onto the floor. Ignoring the blood on his boots and the smell of piss and shit in the air, he looked at the oily residue from the minister's hair coating his hand and frowned saying, "Oh, that's disgusting." His hand moved as if to wipe the offending substance on his pants but changed his mind at the last second preferring not to soil his good trousers. The fact that they were already covered in flecks of blood and various visceral material seemed to have escaped his notice.

Still frowning he began to look around for something to wipe his hands with when he felt a slight tug on his sleeve. Glancing down he saw the smuggler's little redheaded slave holding up a piece of cloth that might have once been a napkin from the dining table set back against the wall. His eyes arched in surprise and he smiled.

"Ah, thank you, little one," he said taking the cloth and vigorously wiping away the glistening hair oil. "You're one of the smuggler's slaves, aren't you?" he continued with it being more of a statement than a question. Piroska nodded quickly and lowered her eyes. Reaching out the Herceg lifted her chin with two fingers and cocked his head as he studied her. "You are the one I threatened to have your head cut off first. I am not sorry I did that for it brought me what I needed, but I am sorry it frightened you. That was not my intention."

Glancing up he noticed the smuggler was sitting in a chair obviously exhausted while his women cooed and fussed over the numerous minor wounds he had accumulated during the battle. Placing his hand on Piroska's back he gently guided her over to the rest of their group.

"Well, Smuggler, I believe you have fulfilled your part of the bargain and have bought your pardon," the Herceg announced. "You didn't get us out of here but without you it would have been a close thing as to whether or not we would have survived until help arrived."

"I agree," the Herceg's captain interjected. He had stepped over to the Herceg's side while still watching the soldiers treating the wounded bodyguards, killing Malaceck's more severely wounded troops and starting the removal of the bodies. "I wouldn't say we couldn't have held, but it would have been a closer business than it already was. My thanks, Smuggler," he stuck his hand out for Antal to grasp.

"I suppose that's ex-smuggler now," Antal snorted taking the offered hand. "I'm assuming what with His Grace knowing about the extra duties that will be taken care of and trade will be getting back to the way it used to be sooner or later. I've got too many mouths to feed for smuggling to pay under those circumstances. I guess I'll have to find a real job soon."

"Indeed," the Herceg intoned with just a hint of a smile on his lips. "If you will remember, the pardon was for past crimes only. But I have a few ideas that may suit your abilities. I believe I have need of your unique skills and therefore decline to release you from service to the Empire. Go home now and rest but return tomorrow at mid-afternoon at which time I will instruct you on your new duties.

"Honestly, I would also like to hear more of your perspective on trade and how to restore it. But that is for tomorrow. Tonight and tomorrow morning we will begin putting our own house in order including ferreting out the depth and reach of the corruption Malaceck has been involved in."

"Do you think that is wise, Your Grace?" the captain asked as the Herceg turned to leave. "Letting him go home, that is. We may never see him again."

"He'll be back," the Herceg waved without turning around. "He has nothing to lose and everything to gain." He did stop then and glanced back over his shoulder looking pointedly at Antal. "I intend to be a demanding and stern employer but even more so I intend to be a fearsome enemy. Life in my service may be difficult and arduous but life opposing me will be short and painful."

"I understand completely, Your Grace," Antal nodded.

"Yes, I expect you do," the Herceg nodded and then turned striding away calmly dictating orders to a swarm of city government clerks and mid-level bureaucrats that had appeared as if by magic only moments after the battles ended. They simpered and groveled in his wake although he appeared to pay them no mind once his orders had been issued.