The Union

Erik delayed his answer. He put a sharp look towards the walls of Bivon.

"Sixty-five" He uttered in a sudden "I"ve been counting over and over for an hour now. There are sixty-five hostages. Thirty-two are women, twenty-eight are children. The rest are the old"

"And they will all die if you attack"

Erik ground his molars together "Henry is dead if the words of that knight is to be believed"

"And do you believe in his words?"

"I am not a fool Princess. If they managed to kill Henry, the First Spear in full armor and with a weapon, then half of them are already dead"

"Your words bare hope in the form of an exaggerated jest. But the question remains. What do we do now?"

Erik wetted his lips and finished with a sigh "If my Castonians attack and the hostages die, we will be blamed for it. King Timothy"s hope of mending the relations between Castonia and Tulosa will crumble. If my Castonians retreat, we will look weak as if we abandoned the citizens. The same thing will happen. If we stay here and do nothing, we will run out of food"

"So checkmate?"

"No. There is a way" Erik said "But you won"t like it"

"Let"s do it" Princess Emily said, her voice void of hesitation.

"I just said you won"t like it. We can"t save the sixty-five hostages and it will make you look bad"

"I don"t care" Came her cold unfaltered answer "The city and my citizens are at the mercy of a madman. A madman occupies the city and calls himself Grand Master. Let my reputation be ruined just drag that madman out!"

Erik permitted a silence. He looked at the city. "Alright. Prepare for a march tonight"

********

Henry bit hard on the wood. Sweat formed on his face, forming channels in the s.m.u.t. His face was red, his hands clenched tight.

His leg was bound tight on the table. Five men held him down while an old bearded person extracted the arrowhead. Only forward would a barbed arrow move- and forward it did. The bearded man pushed the arrowhead deeper and caught the thing on another side of his thigh.

Henry prayed while biting on the wood. He prayed that his leg veins wouldn"t be punctured. One look at the old bearded man"s shaky hands and he lost confidence that he would live.

The arrowhead was extracted, metal falling to the wooden table. Blood oozed. The old man wrapped a piece of clothing around his leg.

"Will he live?" Asked Captain Rain

"The First Spear dying of a thigh wound? Can you name a more anticlimatic death?" Jested the old man. He jerked the clothing into a full bandage. Henry grunted. The wood he was biting fell from his mouth. His saliva trickled down.

"Can he fight?" Asked Captain Rain, wiping royal guard armor smeared with blood.

"In a month he will recover. He"s lucky the mail stopped most of the bolt"s punch"

Captain Rain looked at Henry. "You really are the Omniscient"s pet. You were lucky that we found you"

"Yes" Henry said, his breaths short "That was close. Thank you for holding the knights back for me. By the way Captain Rain, why are you still inside the city? King Brice has fled I heard"

"Aye he fled" Captain Rain"s voice was heavy "He"s no King that man. A King doesn"t flee just like that. The crown on his head reduced the size of his b.a.l.l.s. Some of my men remained to do what the King refused to"

"So you abandoned him? You are the Captain of the Tulosan royal guards"

Captain Rain produced a defeated smile. "I have heard that the Captain King Timothy"s royal guard is a big person. As tall as a tree and as powerful as thunder they describe him"

"Abraham? Well yeah. He is indeed a head taller than most men and his arms are as thick as my legs"

"I envy him" Captain Rain said "Abraham is his name huh? It must be good to serve and protect a monarch you believe in. His strength is for a great man, not wasted- never wasted. There you have it Henry. I did abandon King Brice. I quit. Me and my men quit"

Henry looked around. They were a spent force, no more than thirty. More stood guard outside but he estimated their number to less than a hundred.

"Are you sure the King"s cowardice is your reason?"

Captain Rain shook his head. He looked at the other royal guards inside the room. "Leave me and Henry alone"

The royal guards gave a stiff salute and exited the room. Captain Rain looked at him.

"How is she?"

"She is fine. She"s currently under the care of the Marquis of Castonia. Does she know?"

"No. I saved her from the pain of knowing" The Captain sat by the bed "Thank you for keeping my little secret Henry"

"Well you made me promise on knife point" Henry chuckled "But don"t worry I keep my promises. So what do you plan to do now?"

"We will keep causing trouble for that madman Balian. Tonight we will attack and cause chaos in the barracks. A shame you can"t go with us in your state"

"Be careful Captain. Balian is a tricky opponent"

The Captain nodded. "I know. But my lads and I are prepared"

**********

Henry was sitting outside the house that served as the royal guards" hideout. The night was already deep. The moon, brightly showing in the dark sky, was beautiful. Henry looked up, feasting his eyes upon the beauty of the moon. He looked down again. He cannot enjoy the moon with an anxious heart.

Captain Rain should have returned already. The royal guards have left just before sundown. They should have finished the deed by now. Or if the fighting lasted longer than expected, the city would have been roused. But it was silent- as silent as a peaceful night in the plains. The silence was loud, jarring and screaming to his face. The silence tugged his imagination into sorrowful possibilities. The silence was harsh, unyielding, unending. Silence was bane.

Henry shifted the sword on his lap to the side. He pulled his leg into a better position. He made a grimace as the surging pain from his thigh erupted.

Henry then heard clanking sounds. It was the clanking of armor. The wearers were running. He forgot the pain, jolted into a stand and eyed the darkness in front. From the darkness emerged the royal guards. They were b.l.o.o.d.y, some with injuries worse than him. Their weapons were broken. Theirs shields were tattered. Helms with crack and armors riddled with bolts, the royal guards manifested defeat.

They made their way into the house. A few fell just before reaching the door- panting, some screaming in pain. They were fewer.

"What happened?"

"Ambush" said a royal guard. His arm had a bolt sticking out of it. His breastplate was splattered with blood, crest of the royal family bathed in grit.

"And the Captain?"

The royal guard looked up to him. For a moment Henry saw quivering eyes and sorrow. The royal guard looked down.

"Captured"

Henry clenched his hands, gripping the leather gloves hard. He couldn"t imagine what horrors will befall Catain Rain in the hands of Balian.

Just then the blaring of horns was heard. Low was its sound but eerie was its message. Henry and the royal guards looked at the direction of the horn.

"An attack" said one of the royal guards "The Castonians are attacking"

Henry"s comprehension went beyond just knowing that Erik was attacking. Frantically he looked around.

"The hostages on the wall! Let"s go"

He grabbed his sword and limped towards the direction of the wall. He looked back. Disappointment hit him when he saw that the royal guards didn"t follow.

"Those of you who can still fight, come with me"

"But we don"t have a leader First Spear"

"Oh but you do" Henry said. He repeated, a second time and more of a whisper to addressed to himself, "You do"

**********

A few thousand men wore gambesons with mail on top. With left hands holding wooden kite shields and right having the spears, they looked like Tulosans. The banners they fly were also that of Tulos the sigil of the royal family presented to the front for all to see.

But Erik knew they were not Tulosans. Hidden beneath the lowly mail coifs and gambesons were men of Castoni disciplined and trained. Their enemies might expect poorly trained peasants levied from the neighboring fiefs. But these men were the opposite of poorly trained. Like all Castonians, steel was in their blood and strength was their word.

Erik looked at the hostages on the wall. He felt rue that they will have die. He cannot save them. Erik just warmed himself in the fact that it was Princess Emily who decided to go through with this. He merely suggested.

"You don"t need to give a command. You just have to stand there and act" Erik said to the Princess. With the flag of Tulosa in hand and armor covering her body, she was prepared.

"I know"

"Then shall we begin?"

She was silent for a while. She then nodded.

Erik raised his arm. He felt the cold night wind brush against the tip of his fingers.

"Advance!"