The Line of Illeniel

Chapter 28

The Crown Tower was dimly lit when we arrived. Although the tower was used for housing criminals it had originally been one of the defensive towers that were periodically spaced along the city wall. As the city had grown a new curtain wall had been built to enclose the outer regions and wall near the tower had been taken down, to allow more traffic between the inner and outer city. The tower itself was a squat ugly structure, built from the same rose granite as the majority of the capital. It rose over sixty feet high and possessed six floors above the ground level.

From what Rose had told me I knew the first floor was primarily administrative area. The guards that worked in the tower were kept in the main barracks, so at night there would be only a skeleton crew. That suited me just fine.

The outer door was unguarded. Apparently keeping people out was not considered a high priority. I had to assume there would be guards within the doors though. Penny spoke first, “How are we going to do it this time?”

“We’ll just knock and ask nicely,” I replied. Under other circumstances that might have been a joke. Not tonight though… I walked straight toward the door and began rapping heavily upon it.

A small window opened in the door, “Who’s out there?”

I focused my mind and I could feel two men on the other side of the door. “Shibal,” I said softly and I felt them falling to the floor within. Examining the door I quickly realized it didn’t have a lock… it was barred from the inside. I tried a spell to lift the bar but had little success. Someone had had the bright idea to secure the bar itself with a chain and padlock inside the door.

I considered trying to unlock the padlock from the outside but even if I did the chain would still have to be removed. Given a few minutes I could probably do it… but I didn’t think I had that much time. “Let’s step back a bit,” I told Penny.

“Oh jeez…,” she complained, “I knew this would happen. If you rouse the entire place you’re not going to be able to put them all to sleep.”

“I might… but I have an alternative,” I replied. I spoke quietly and added a few cosmetic enhancements to the shields around Penny and myself. Soft light flared and blue flames wreathed our bodies.

“Oh this is subtle,” Penny remarked looking at her hand as the flames ran up her arm.

“I’m not going for subtle, I’m going for ‘scared shitless’.”

“This should do it then. I nearly peed myself when you set me on fire just now, next time warn a girl,” she said.

“Here we go,” I replied. Raising my staff I pointed it at the tower door. I was pretty sure I could manage without it but the enchantments on it would focus my energies more effectively. I thought I might need my strength later. “Borok Ingak!” I said forcefully and released the power I held within. An invisible ram struck the door, shattering it with a sharp cracking sound. The force was so great it continued inward and I felt more than saw a wall collapse beyond the doorway.

Penny had tensed and was about to run for the doorway but I put my hand on her arm, “Wait.”

Almost a minute passed before three men came out. I thought two of them might be the ones I had already put to sleep. One of them was bleeding badly, probably from the inward explosion of the door. They immediately took note of the two flame-robed people in the street.

“Holy hell!” one of them shouted, stumbling back toward the doorway. I put him to sleep before he could go further.

“Stop!” I commanded, walking toward the remaining two men. Having seen their companion collapse they both stood still. I could sense them trembling as we walked nearer. “Who is in charge here?”

One of the men looked as if he were about to faint but the other retained enough presence of mind to speak, “C..c..c..aptain Gerold sir!”

“Go fetch him for me…,” I told him. He hesitated for only a moment before I shouted, “Now!” That was more than enough; he took off at a run. I glanced over at Penny, “Move around the tower, they may have another exit. We can’t afford to have anyone running loose.”

She looked at me with worry. I could tell she was afraid something might happen to me if I were left alone. Finally she made up her mind. “Alright… don’t do anything stupid,” she said, and then she sprinted off into the dark near the base of the right side of the tower.

A minute later three men emerged from the shattered doorway; one of them looked significantly less sloppy than the other two. All three approached cautiously. “May I ask what business you have with me… sir?” I had to give their captain credit, even scared and facing a man covered in flames he managed to keep his voice calm.

“Do you have the keys to the cells within the tower?” I tried to sound menacing but I’m not sure if it helped. The flames were more than enough already.

“They’re in my desk,” he answered nervously. I could see his right cheek beginning to twitch.

“Go get them and release everyone taken from Duke Lancaster’s home,” I told him.

“Begging your pardon, I’m not sure I know all of them.”

“Ask them… open any cell that contains some of them. I want them out here in five minutes, otherwise… Well you won’t like ‘otherwise’, so let’s just make sure I don’t have to go there,” I ground the words out with as much authority I could muster.

It took longer than five minutes but I pretended not to notice. I wasn’t really keen on ‘otherwise’ either. In fact I didn’t have a plan for it. Soon men were emerging from the building, forming a large crowd. One of them shrieked when Penny appeared from the left side of the tower and ran by the milling throng. I had to suppress a smile.

“Someone started to climb down from the top back there,” she informed me.

“Did you hurt him?” I asked.

“No he took one look at me below and changed his mind,” she replied.

I couldn’t blame him. At a guess it had been the guard captain looking for an alternative to violating his orders. I addressed the crowd, “I’m here to reclaim those wrongfully taken from the Lancaster residence yesterday. Is there anyone here that wasn’t hired by Rose Hightower?” Since there were more than three hundred people standing in front of me I figured it was a good guess that some of them were just along for the ride. Unsurprisingly none of them volunteered to return to their cells.

I turned to Penny, “If you don’t mind, take the good captain and his men inside and lock them in one of the cells.” She nodded and began herding them back toward the tower. “Be good and she won’t have to hurt you!” I called as they went reluctantly back inside. Inwardly I was nervous, if they turned on her once they got inside things could get ugly. I could only hope their fear was as great as it appeared.

It turned out I needn’t have worried. Penny returned a few minutes later without having had any trouble. I extinguished the flames shrouding us; it seemed to be making our new recruits nervous. “Those of you who are ready to work come with me. I have a job for you. I can’t promise it will be safe, but those who follow me will be far from the king’s reach within a few hours. Those of you who don’t wish to come are free to leave, but you’re on your own if the watchmen find you.”

People began drifting away silently. Mostly those that Rose hadn’t hired and I sincerely hoped I wasn’t releasing a large number of violent criminals upon the city. I simply didn’t have the time to try and be more specific. Of those that remained a voice rang out, “Exactly who are we working for?”

The person speaking was careful to do it from the back. I’m sure whoever it was worried that I might be a lunatic. “My name is Mordecai Illeniel, the Count di’Cameron. The king and I have had a few differences regarding how things should be handled. The end result being that many of you were locked up for nothing more than agreeing to take a job. If you stick with me I will do my best by you. I can’t promise it won’t be dangerous though.” I lit the end of my staff to make it easier for them to see me in the gloom.

“What exactly does ‘dangerous’ mean?” It was a different voice but still it came from the back. Given the situation I couldn’t blame them.

“I’m planning to recover my possessions from the King’s warehouses in the next hour. I plan to be away from the capital in less time than that afterwards. Any more questions? Because I’m really short of time,” I answered. I could see lights going on in some of the nearby houses. My antics had not gone unnoticed.

A short man standing in the front spoke up, “Do we have to fight?”

“Not today, not if I can help it, in a few months possibly. You’ll have plenty of time to change your minds before then if you so choose,” I replied hastily. “Now we really have to be moving. Those of you who wish to come… follow. I will hold no grudge against those that don’t.” I turned and began striding purposefully down the street. For a moment I had a horrible urge to look back, certain they would be dispersing in every available direction. Magesight comes in handy sometimes… I could feel the majority of them following us.

I spoke to Penny without turning my head, “Looks like most of them are still with us.”

She smiled slyly in the dim light, “Most of them I think. We need to move faster Mort. That scene outside the tower had to have drawn attention. Even if none of the guards from Hightower’s have reported, someone must surely be taking news to the watch.”

Her words echoed my own fears. If the city guard was roused in full force things would not go well. A conflict in the streets would be a loss for all concerned. The men I would be fighting here were citizens of Lothion; any casualties would only weaken us… and further alienate us from the king. I paused to address the people behind us, “We’re going to move faster now… follow my light and try not to fall behind.” I increased the light coming from my staff to highlight my words.

We began jogging down the streets of Albamarl. It was a surreal experience; my staff cast strange shadows around us, creating odd shapes between the buildings as we passed. The sound of over a hundred feet running behind me was exhilarating in a way that I had not expected and Dorian’s words came to mind… he was right, this was true power. Except you barely have any control here, these men are strangers, I added mentally.

Two startled watchmen on patrol appeared suddenly from the dark. Their faces were lit with shock and surprise as they saw the huge crowd of people running toward them. I put them to sleep without slowing and hoped they wouldn’t be trampled by the men behind me.

Fifteen minutes later we had reached the duke’s house. The gate was open and the instinct of those following me was to enter. I held my staff high, “Stop! We wait here for a moment.”

Joe had been waiting for us and as I spoke the wagons began rolling out into the street. Rose sat beside him in the lead wagon, a crossbow in her lap. “Are the lanterns ready?” I asked him.

“See for yerself,” Joe answered pointing behind him. On each wagon were two lanterns, one sitting beside the driver and another unlit in the bed of the wagon. We would need them in a few minutes.

“Follow the wagons! We’re only a few minutes from our goal,” I shouted to the crowd. The wagons began moving as the crowd walked alongside them. Penelope slipped her hand into mine as we walked. “Are you alright?” I asked her.

“Nervous,” she replied with tight lips.

“There’s no way left but forward,” I told her.

Her free hand was gripping and releasing the hilt of her sword repeatedly. “I know,” she said.

Mentally I hoped things would go smoothly. If a confrontation occurred and got out of control Penny might hurt a lot of people. I worried how that might affect her, but there was little I could do about it.

We entered the warehouse district without trouble. The streets here were wide, to better accommodate wagons, and the buildings were large. The royal warehouses were enclosed by a stone wall, separating them from the rest of this part of the city. Our wagons rolled to a stop as we reached the wide iron gate that gave access to them. Naturally it was closed and locked. Looking through its bars I could see four large buildings looming in the darkness… our goal.

“What are you people doing here?” a voice called from inside the gate.

“Step back from the gate, it’s about to open,” I told the voice, and then repeated myself to the people behind me.

“You’d best clear off! They’ll arrest the lot of you if you try to steal from the king!” Whoever was inside sounded scared. I probably would be too if I were a night watchman facing an unknown mob. I didn’t bother to answer this time. I released the power I had been holding, channeling it along the length of my staff. The gates rang like a bell as they were ripped apart by the force of my magic, slamming them inward. One flew back to strike the inside of the wall while the other was torn completely free.

The men behind me cheered and the wagons began rolling in. “If you find any watchmen inside let them go. We’re not here to fight!” I called out to the men. At this point I anticipated that whatever few guards were within would be in more danger than my own men. Hopefully they would have the good sense to run or hide.

Rose had gotten down from her wagon and stood beside us now. “You sure that’s wise? They’ll bring the town guard.”

“They’ll need a large force to stop us, and that will take time to muster. We should be gone before they can effectively counter us. Chasing down the watchmen would be dangerous and waste time. Very likely some of them would be killed in the confusion. I don’t want that on my head,” I answered. In the dim light I could see a man’s form on the ground and I knew it had to be the man who had been at the gate.

I hastily moved to examine him and I drew a sharp breath. The man lying there looked to be in his late sixties at the youngest. His head was only attached to his body by a bloody bit of flesh and bone, the gate had nearly severed his neck. My only consolation was that he had probably not had time to feel it. A wave of guilt and self-loathing washed over me. I had killed someone’s grandfather. Through no fault of his own the man before me was dead. How many people would mourn him tomorrow?

Rose stepped up beside me, “We should put him in the wagon.”

“Why?” I asked once I had gotten control of myself.

“If they find his body it will only worsen your situation,” she replied calmly.

Penny stared at her, “How can you be so cold?”

If the remark bothered her Rose didn’t show it, “We’re at war. Anything that distracts from Mordecai’s efforts to stop Gododdin will lessen our chances of victory. Something like this could undermine whatever good-will Mordecai has among the people of Albamarl.”

Something broke inside me, “I am not at war with these people, and I won’t take this man’s body to hide my crime. How would his family feel? Never knowing what happened to him? They couldn’t even grieve properly, not knowing if he was alive or dead.” I bent down to examine his uniform. The cloth was old and thread-worn, the result of many years of wearing and washing. His name had been stitched across the left side, ‘Jonathan Tucker’ it read. I was sure I would never forget it. It was one more crime I could never atone for.

While I brooded over the fallen watchman the wagons had continued rolling in. Joe had brought a large crowbar and they soon had the doors to the buildings open. Men were moving quickly back and forth, loading the wagons with everything that could be moved. Large wooden crates and sacks of grain were stacked high upon the wagon-beds.

Even with as many men as we had loading it took nearly half an hour to fill the wagons. I couldn’t tell for certain what we had taken. There was surely a lot of grain and dry goods. A casual inspection with my extra-senses told me that most of it was food of one sort or another. Many of the crates held weapons and armor, or possibly tools. I didn’t take the time to be sure; we loaded everything that would fit.

I counted thirty-nine wagons as they left, heading back toward Lancaster’s house. Once the last one went by Penny and I ran to reach the head of the line. I wanted to be there in case we met anyone on our return trip. We were almost to the duke’s house when our luck ran out.