Two Kingdoms 31: Bodies

[DoctorM]

TWO KINGDOMS 31: BODIES

This is the twenty-ninth part of an AU construction about a Gwynedd where the duel at Kelson Haldane's coronation went very differently indeed. We are now almost three years into the Gwynedd Wars-- Charissa's new kingdom at Valoret against the Haldanes in the south and the kingdom of Torenth in the east. This episode follows a few weeks after "Transit". As always, I do appreciate comments and thoughts.

****

Duke Nigel braces himself in the opening and looks out north from the bell tower. He reaches a hand back and motions to his staff. One of his aides pulls the duke's far-glass from its velvet bag and passes it up to the duke. Nigel extends the stages and puts the glass to his eye.

"There it is," he says. "You can just see it from here." There's a dark smudge on the horizon. That's Rhemuth out to the north. He turns to his staff. "We're almost home."

There's a ripple in the crowd of Carthmoor men there on the bell tower steps and the Bremagni envoy pushes past. He's a rush of bright colours in a forest of chainmail and leather. The envoy sweeps off his cap and bows to Duke Nigel.

"Your Grace— allow me to congratulate you on your victory!  Haldane arms have triumphed, messire. Your army will be in Rhemuth city in no time."

Nigel nods back. "My thanks, Maitre, but it's not quite that simple. We still have to get across the Molling River to get to Rhemuth. And the Shadow Queen's people could make a fight of it when we get there. This could come to a siege yet."

The envoy isn't to be denied. "Your Grace, from everything I hear, the Witch Queen's army has fled north. The rumor is that Rhemuth is barely under her control. The Witch Queen herself has fled to Tolan. You'll have Rhemuth— and Valoret —back in no time. A month or two at the most!"

Behind the envoy, the Carthmoor captains are rolling their eyes. Duke Nigel shrugs. "You're a fine diplomat, Maitre, and I'm told you're one of your king's best jurists. But as a soldier— as a soldier, I have to face facts. This fight today... Well, they didn't try very hard to hold Desse. The Shadow Queen's men are gone, but we haven't caught their field forces yet.  We're still looking for them.  And the Shadow Queen hasn't run away. She'll be back in Valoret soon. There's still one more big push north to Rhemuth to face.  A month or two, Maitre? That depends. It would be less if Bremagne declared openly for my nephew and sent soldiers instead of just subsidizing hired Llannedders. I might mention that."

The Haldane duke holds up a hand to silence the envoy. He looks past the man at his captains. "There's still fighting to be done. We'll get to Rhemuth soon enough. And we are grateful for Bremagni help. But this isn't over. Not  yet."

****

The Shadow Queen is looking at her State Inquisitor. "How did you find him?"

Aurelian slides a red leather pouch across the heavy table. "My people Darcek and Richter found him. It started out as a simple interview. The man was at one of the taverns in the south of the city. Claimed to be a merchant up from Cardosa. Arrived alone, no servants. He paid for a room, kept to himself. He paid for his lodging and his meals in silver— Gwynedd silver. But there were two Logreine coins in what he used. We're looking for anything southern, especially anything out of Logreine. The tavern-keepers are getting paid to watch for that. Darcek and Richter came to ask a few questions about where he got the coins. They found the body. Take a look at the pouch. It's under the flap."

Charissa holds it up. Dark red leather, an unlaced flap. She looks at the flap and lifts it. On the underside of the flap there's a small picture of an eye scratched into the leather. The Shadow Queen draws a breath. She looks up at Aurelian. "How did he die?"

"There was a single stab wound in his side. Stiletto wound, I'd say. Between the ribs, straight to the heart. But his eyes were leaking blood, too. He was mind-burnt. Somebody Deryni made very sure he was dead and that we couldn't recover any memories."

"No visitors?"

"Not that anybody saw. And whoever it was went through the room— no papers,  no warding cubes, nothing Deryni. No tags sewn in the clothes. Whoever killed him went through the linings of all his clothes, too.  If anything was in the pouch, they took it. They just didn't look at the back of the flap. That's all they missed, though."

"So the hand-and-eye people followed us here to Tolan. And this one was alone?"

"Alone. But the tavern-keeper remembered him carrying a small casket up to his room. We found saddle-bags with clothes, but no little casket. That's gone."

Charissa pushes the pouch back. She looks at Aurelian and at Christian next to him. "A courier. He had papers or money. I'd guess money."

"I agree," Christian says. He's next to Aurelian across the table. "Bribes for informants or operating funds for agents. The hand-and-eye people being here— that's no surprise. A royal visit to Tolan and Marluk country, that was no secret. No surprise if they were here to cultivate sources or keep watch on you. The question comes down to who killed him. If we know who, that'll tell us why."

Charissa tilts her head and considers. "Not the Haldanes. They'll have their own people trying to pry into things here.  And why would they steal money from the hand-and-eye courier? We don't even have evidence that the hand-and-eye people are in direct touch with the Haldanes."

"It's not the Torenthi, either," Christian says. "You read the hand-and-eye book. The Hand of Camber people wouldn't have anything to do with Wencit or Rhydon."

"No, they wouldn't. And Wencit is a practical man. If the hand-and-eye people are plotting to have me brought down, that just makes Wencit's life easier. This is all...internal."

The Queen looks over at Aurelian. "It's Coram. It'll be Coram. It has to be. He's falling out with the hand-and-eye people. I told you and Christian— Coram can't help himself. He doesn't want allies, he wants to be in charge of bringing me down. He wants to be in charge of the Council. He wants to be the arbiter of all things Deryni. God's red right hand."

Her State Inquisitor nods. "Christian and I were thinking that it'd be Coram and his followers. It's like the cities in the South, or like the emirates. People who think they're always in the right, they don't do well with allies. They end up turning on each other. Christian and I used to make a living out of that."

Charissa  grins at him.  She slides the pouch back to Aurelian. "Get your people on it. Use any Tolan staff you need. Start looking for anybody asking about a missing merchant from Cardosa. We have another month or so here and then we're over to Marluk and Kulnan country. Who's been talking to the hand-and-eye people? How many of their agents are in Tolan— and Valoret?"

"More bodies," Christian says. "That's what we'll be seeing. From the hand-and-eye lot and from Coram's people, too. They're going to fight each other over who gets to kill you. They'll fight for pride of place. We'll just need to follow the bodies."

*****

Duke Nigel is scanning the northern horizon in his far-glass. One more push, he thinks. Over the river and up to the walls of Rhemuth. He can feel it, though, every time he looks out at the city there at the edge of his sight.

He remembers coronation night in Rhemuth—  being in the fields south of the city trying to re-group the survivors of the slaughter at the cathedral while the northern sky was lit with flames. Every time he puts the far-glass to his eye he half-expects to see that again.

"Messenger, Your Grace—"

Nigel turns and sees one of his commanders pushing his way onto the bell tower platform. The duke snaps the far-glass shut. "My lord Aberdaron— what's the news?"

The man nods. "Your Grace. A couple of things— one bad, one good, one you can decide about."

"Let's have the bad first."

Aberdaron shrugs in his hauberk. "The Llannedd men are restive. They say they're the ones who took the town, and they deserve loot. They say they haven't been allowed rewards all the way up from Nyford."

Duke Nigel looks over the crowd and glares at the Bremagni envoy. "Seems like our unavowed allies didn't pay them enough. This is Gwynedd country. This is Kelson's town again. I'm not having that rabble set loose in Desse. But..." He looks out at Desse in late afternoon sunlight. "I don't want them loot-hungry when we get to Rhemuth. Get some lists made— locals who supported the Shadow Queen. Those people are traitors. Go through their houses, go through their shops. Feed that to the Llannedders.  Don't let them into the wineshops. Jerk the leash a little. Hang anyone you need to."

The Bremagni envoy is trying to fade back into the crowd away from the ducal gaze, and Nigel has to shake his head at that. He points at Aberdaron with the spyglass. "What's the good news?"

Aberdaron grins. "Horsemen in from the southeast, my lord. The Duke of Corwyn's compliments by messenger. Eighty men-at-arms and three hundred  foot— spearmen and archers. Not a gift we were expecting."

Nigel smiles back. "Good for Alaric. As much trouble as he's had at home, it's a handsome gift.  Send their captains up when they get here. Food and wine for them. And what's the third thing?"

"It's our Danoc friend. Lord Nault. He's dead."

Nigel looks hard at him.  "How? Where? Who did it?"

Aberdaron shakes his head. "Nobody's saying who did it. He was found in one of the river warehouses. Probably there looking for loot. No sign of anyone else. They were serious about it, whoever did it. He had a couple of dozen knife wounds in him."

"Where are his people? Who's in charge of them now?"

"They're starting to panic, my lord. They're talking about going home."

Nigel looks over his officers. "Let them go. If the Danoc troops want to run off, just tell them to go home and bloody well stay there. We don't need hill country bandits like Nault and his kind, anyway. We'd have outlawed him in any case after Rhemuth falls. I'd have seen to that.  Ask around about who killed him, but don't press the matter. Some border country cattle-thief tries to climb up where he doesn't belong and gets a cattle-lifter's death. I won't waste time trying to say it's a bad thing."

****

There's a red glow in the crystal and the mirror behind it. Christian closes his eyes and lets the image of a point of light form in his head. There's a coded phrase for the contact, and he mouths the words in R'Kassan. The red point of light resolves into Graff's face. Christian can feel himself whispering inside his own head. "Where are you?"

There's a hiss like sea wind through salt grass, and he can hear Graff's voice. "Northeast of Desse. Almost on the Mollling. We're all clear, but Duke Nigel is in Desse."

"What are your people doing?"

"We're doing tache d'huile. Breaking up into squadrons and staying on the move. We're light horse and they're not. The Marlukers are doing it, too. They won't catch us."

"What else?"

He can hear Graff's laughter. "Breaking every bridge we find. I've got people on the other bank of the Eirian, too. They're doing the same. We're buying the Rhemuth garrison time."

"The Queen's sending the Marlukers around Rhemuth to the east. We need to keep the river open as long as we can, and we can't let them get round the city. You keep moving— make them chase after you."

Graff laughs again. "We'll buy the Rhemuth garrison time to evacuate. By the way, there's news from Desse. Our friend Nault came to a bad end."

Christian feels himself frown. "What happened to him?"

"What I hear, somebody got close and started pumping with a blade. About thirty holes in him."

"Who's somebody? Did you have him killed?"

He can feel Graff's image shaking its head. "Not me. I thought maybe you and the Grey Death had it done. Or maybe Duke Nigel was behind it."

"Nigel would've done an arrest and some kind of trial. Nault dead in a taken town isn't Nigel's way of settling things. Keep listening— find out what happened."

"Could've been in-house. Maybe Nault's hangers-on and friends found somebody with more money to hand out— or maybe somebody just decided they could do better as bandit chief than Nault." Christian can feel Graff shrug. "What I hear from Nault's part of Danoc is that as soon as the news got back home, Nault's people turned on each other. The two sons split up, the castle retainers started grabbing what they could carry and took off. The neighbors came by to pillage."

"Sounds about right." He imagines looking sidelong at Graff. "What happened to the two pretty daughters— the redhead and the blonde?"

"Autumn and Winter? Well, they headed out quick as they could. I thought they might need rescuing. You know, from bad things. So I picked them up and I'm keeping them safe. They do seem grateful."

"Both of them. You have them both."

"Well, I couldn't just leave one out in the cold, could I?"

"Both of them. At your age."

"I'm fifty-something. I'm not dead."

"Those two will ride you to death."

"Dead in the saddle, that's a light-horse way to go."

Christian looks up into the red light. "While you can still walk, I want you breaking bridges. Every bridge south of Rhemuth. Once you're over the Molling, start sinking ferries, too. I want a wasteland between Rhemuth and the river. Tache d'huile tactics— don't stop moving, don't let the Haldanes catch you. Make them chase you. Make them chase squadrons, not an army."

"Where do you want me to go? Not to Rhemuth?"

"Good God, no. You're cavalry. Get around the city and regroup to the north. Valoret's the important place to protect.  We want the Haldanes slowed down on the way to Rhemuth. Once they get there, they'll stay for a while. Duke Nigel is thorough, and he'll want his nephew put back in Rhemuth Castle before they think about coming north. You just keep making sure they don't get to go to Ramos and Valoret. The Marlukers and Tolan troops will be anchoring you to the east-northeast. "

The red in his mind's eye shifts its tone. He imagines Graff tilting his head to look at him. "I still have intelligencers down south in Desse and Concaradine. Do you care about who killed Nault? You still looking for Southerners?"

Christian feels the crystal pulse under his fingers. "Find out if you can. Keep looking for Southerners. This is important— southern money, Logreine money, or anyone else who's looking for that."

"Bloody effing hell. This is all about the mystery kingdom, isn't it? You and your woman have some invisible enemy."

"Just keep looking. Keep the Haldanes slowed to a walk as best you can, but find out who's got Southern money and who's got people with knives out there.  They'll be Deryni. Be careful. You can follow the trail of dead if you have to."

[Jerusha]

"Bodies" - such a nice title.  And following the trail of bodies to knowledge.  A nice touch.   

So long as none of the bodies are Christian, the Shadow Queen, or Aurelian.  Especially Aurelian.

[DoctorM]

"Bodies" - such a nice title.  And following the trail of bodies to knowledge.  A nice touch.   

So long as none of the bodies are Christian, the Shadow Queen, or Aurelian.  Especially Aurelian.

I think Marc-Friedrich Aurelian is very much a survivor.

[revanne]

"Bodies" - such a nice title.  And following the trail of bodies to knowledge.  A nice touch. 

So long as none of the bodies are Christian, the Shadow Queen, or Aurelian.  Especially Aurelian.

Or Nigel.

[DoctorM]

"Bodies" - such a nice title.  And following the trail of bodies to knowledge.  A nice touch. 

So long as none of the bodies are Christian, the Shadow Queen, or Aurelian.  Especially Aurelian.

Or Nigel.

Oh, I've always liked Nigel.

[Laurna]

"The Game of the Shadow Thrones"  We are building all kinds of interesting groups vying for power. Especially if Coram and the hand and eye people are on opposing sides. and then we got opportunistic mercenaries who are finding their situations not so optimistic. LOL to that.

[DoctorM]

"The Game of the Shadow Thrones"  We are building all kinds of interesting groups vying for power. Especially if Coram and the hand and eye people are on opposing sides. and then we got opportunistic mercenaries who are finding their situations not so optimistic. LOL to that.

I love that "not so optimistic".