V
The Walls of Kier Fortress
That day, as with every other day, the sun beat down relentless upon the blood-soaked earth. At dawn, the Royal Army had resumed their assault on Kier Fortress. Colonel Spencer Dolstoy of the Helios Knights looked down on the attackers and yawned widely.
“How many times have they attacked at dawn now?”
“This will be the seventeenth, ser.”
“They’re so tenacious I’ve circled back around from scorn to admiration. Who knew the Royal Army were such early risers?” Spencer’s voice dripped with sarcasm, tears of mirth in his eyes. His close advisor Major Nile’s face twisted in a half smile.
“I can’t think of better comedy than watching them break their swords on the walls of the fortress they built.”
“Nile, I could not agree more.” Spencer laughed aloud, then in the corner of his eye, he spotted a few Crimson Knights fitting arrows to their bowstrings. “Speed that up!” he bellowed. “Do you think this is a game?”
One of the soldiers in crimson armor stopped shooting, looking openly disgruntled. The others all followed suit.
“I didn’t hear an order to stop shooting!” Spencer continued.
“Colonel Spencer, I’ll ask you to stop there. Defense of this section of the wall falls to the Crimson Knights.” This unwanted interruption came from Colonel Raza of the Crimson Knights. He was an old man, far past his prime, barely able to walk without his cane. Spencer couldn’t for the life of him understand why Rosenmarie continued to employ such a useless old man.
“Well, well, well. If it isn’t Colonel Raza,” he exclaimed. “It must have been an arduous journey, climbing the walls as a man of your years. I’m sure it’ll be beyond me when I’m your age.”
Despite his sneering tone, the other man’s face didn’t twitch. “You will cease these arbitrary insults to the Crimson Knights.”
“Arbitrary?”
“Oh, were they not? They certainly looked that way to me.”
“As if you know what anything looks like when you can barely keep your eyes open. Best leave off the jokes, old man, you’ll only embarrass us all.”
Raza peered at Spencer for a moment, then said, “With that face like a troll in a storybook, you’re doing that just fine yourself.”
“So eager to give up what little life you’ve got left?”
“Sounds like a grand old time. But that’s enough.”
“Excuse me?” Spencer spun around, bristling with irritation, only to find himself looking into the frowning face of Chief of Staff Major General Oscar Remnand.
“General Oscar!” spluttered Spencer; then, seeing Raza give a smart salute, he scrambled to do the same. Oscar, who had come up onto the walls to check on the state of the battle, had not in his wildest dreams been expecting to be met with such a shameful display at this early hour. After the decision was made to weather the siege, the brunt of the defenses had fallen to the Helios Knights, who knew Kier Fortress well. Oscar had entrusted Spencer, one of the more hot-blooded among them, with command of the walls, but looking at the Helios Knights, who made no effort to conceal their dissatisfaction, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he had chosen the wrong man. Spencer had an unfortunate tendency to treat the Crimson Knights like his enemies.
Spencer insisted loudly that he had only been trying to put some life into the Crimson Knights’ pathetic performance. Oscar fixed him with a glare.
“Are you a colonel or not?” he said. “Set aside whatever petty grievances you have with the Crimson Knights and get on with the battle at hand.”
“S-Ser, you don’t think I bear some sort of grudge against the Crimson Knights, do you? As I just said, they were so slow, I just had to say something to spur them on. This is all a huge misunderstanding.”
“Yet Colonel Raza seems to think differently.”
Off to one side behind Spencer, Raza shook his head in disgust. Spencer looked back at him furiously, clicking his tongue in frustration.
“Forgive me, ser, but Colonel Raza is extremely elderly.”
“Meaning what, exactly?”
“It seems to me that his powers of command are severely wanting.”
“So he isn’t worthy of my notice. Is that right, Colonel?”
“As much as it pains me to say it in front of him...”
“Very well. You’ll repeat what you’ve told me to General Rosenmarie, then.”
“B-But...” At the mention of Rosenmarie’s name, Spencer’s composure visibly failed.
“General Rosenmarie will be here soon to observe the state of the battle. You have my leave, so by all means share with her that you think the Crimson Knights are pathetic, and their commander, Colonel Raza, too old and doddering to carry out his duties.”
Oscar could have sworn he heard the rush of blood as Spencer’s face turned pale. He leaned forward so that their noses almost touched, then narrowed his eyes.
“If you ever do this again, I will relieve you of your command before you can blink. Now get back to your post.”
“Yes, ser!” Spencer gave a lackluster salute, then hurried away.
In truth, situations like the one that had just played out were not uncommon, and the Helios and Crimson Knights had heretofore looked upon each other as rivals. Gladden and Rosenmarie had seen the friendly rivalry as motivational and generally left them to it.
Now, however, they were in the midst of a battle. Oscar was appalled that a man with the rank of colonel could have displayed such poor judgment.
“I shouldn’t have interfered,” he said to Colonel Raza.
“I’m truly sorry you had to witness such a shameful display, ser,” Raza replied. He bent forward laboriously in an apologetic bow. It was lucky it was Raza, whose genial temperament was well-known, that Spencer had decided to have a go at, or things could easily have gotten out of hand. With one of the more hot-headed of the Crimson Knights’ commanders, it might even have led to outright violence.
“Something wrong?” Rosenmarie, like the avatar of the Crimson Knights in her red cloak, arrived with a retinue of her personal guard into the uneasiness that hung over the fortress walls like the afterglow of a sunset. There was no point in lying now, so Oscar decided to be plain.
“There was a minor upset, but it has been resolved.”
“What sort of an upset?” Rosenmarie’s eyes went from one face to another. When she reached Spencer, he let out a strangled yelp and she stopped. “Hah. Him, was it? So even you choose the wrong man sometimes, Oscar.”
“Given how long the battle has already drawn out, I thought it wise to keep our best pieces in reserve.”
“Fair enough, then,” Rosenmarie said, snorting. The next moment, there was an earsplitting crash as a section of the wall exploded.
“Lady Rosenmarie!”
“Calm yourself. This is nothing.” Rosenmarie, who had quickly raised her cloak to cover herself, brushed off the fragments of stone that clung to her.
“You’re not injured?”
“I’m fine,” she replied, then called out, “Raza, are you all right?”
Oscar looked and saw blood trickling from the old commander’s temple. But Raza only laughed, apparently unconcerned.
“This is no more than a scratch, my lady.”
“That’s the old man I know. Still, I don’t want to take any chances. Get a bandage on that, at least.”
“I much appreciate your concern, my lady.” Without needing to be asked, one of Rosenmarie’s guards accompanied Raza down off the walls.
Oscar looked over the rubble, then out at the Royal Army’s catapults.
“You know, this has been bothering me since the battle began,” he said. “When did the Royal Army manage to improve their catapults? They shouldn’t have had the technology, let alone the time to develop a new model...”
Even the imperial army had only recently succeeded in making their own improvements. The fact was that developing new technology was extraordinarily expensive, and the Royal Army’s coffers could hardly be so well filled. It all left Oscar scratching his head.
For some reason, Rosenmarie snickered. “They didn’t,” she said. “The reason their catapults are so powerful is thanks to the imperial technology they appropriated.”
“Imperial technology? But that’s not possible.” Research into new technologies was carried out in the imperial capital, within the walls of Listelein Palace itself. Every researcher there had passed the imperial army’s stringent screening, so even if a royal agent had succeeded in infiltrating their ranks, they would have been caught immediately. Stealing their technology was impossible, as Rosenmarie knew well.
“It is this time. I mean, they plundered that prototype catapult in the battle with the Seventh Legion. From what I’ve seen, they’ve trimmed some weight, but they haven’t improved the firepower.”
“They plundered a prototype?!” Oscar spluttered. “This is the first I’ve heard of it!” Oscar couldn’t believe his ears. This was not news he could take lying down.
“That goes without saying. Far as I recall, I didn’t tell you.” Rosenmarie sounded as though it didn’t concern her at all.
“You didn’t... If an engineer heard you say that, they’d have a stroke.” Oscar was naturally indignant, but just as he suspected, Rosenmarie didn’t care. On the contrary, she let out a sneering laugh.
“It all gets leaked sooner or later. All the more so when it comes to weapons.”
“But that’s...”
“Anyway, forget that,” she cut him off. “Summon our key officers with all haste. I’m holding a war council in half an hour.” Before Oscar had time to ask what was so urgent, she swept away. He could only stare, bemused, as the crossed swords emblazoned on her crimson cloak receded.
Just then, there was a great rumbling as another section of the wall shattered. Screams erupted along with shouts of rage, and rising above them all, Spencer’s bellowed commands to strike back. Oscar was struck by a sudden thought.
She’s not going to have us take the field now, is she? But no, there was no chance of that. Shaking his head, he set off at a run down the stairs to deliver Rosenmarie’s order.
Exactly thirty minutes later, as the key officers of the Crimson and Helios Knights jostled to get to their seats, Rosenmarie, who arrived last, threw herself into her chair. “What do you think of this battle, then?” she called out.
Posed with such a vague question, the officers all looked stumped. She watched them silently, until Oscar reluctantly opened his mouth.
“Does something in how they’re fighting strike you as odd, my lady?”
“I’m the one asking the questions here. But forget it. As you’re all well aware, this battle’s been going on for a full month now, yet the Royal Army haven’t gotten anywhere near our walls. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you, but Kier Fortress has three walls. At this rate, we could be here half a year without losing the fortress. Those soldiers aren’t training dummies—they need food, and a lot of it, if they’re feeding that many. No doubt Mekia’s supplying them, but even that can only go so far. So what’s going on here?”
“In other words, my lady, you think it’s suspicious that the Royal Army still haven’t been able to take any of the walls?”
“Exactly.” No sooner had she said it than muttering filled the council room. At once, one among their number slammed his hands down on the long table, then sprang to his feet. It was Major General Cinra of the Helios Knights. He was a skilled fighter, from what she had heard from Oscar, and had a decent head on his shoulders.
“Is it any wonder the Royal Army haven’t breached the walls?” he said. “Defending them are no common soldiers but the mighty warriors of the Crimson and Helios Knights. It pains me to hear such words from your lips, Lady Rosenmarie.” As Cinra finished, there was a thump that Rosenmarie felt echo in the pit of her stomach. The room shook slightly as a trickle of dust came down from the ceiling. All the other eyes in the room simultaneously went up, but Rosenmarie paid it no mind.
“Let me ask you a question then, Major General Cinra. What do you make of the fact that, despite those black banners they’ve made a point of flying, we’ve seen no sign of the Death God herself?”
“I admit it is unsettling to have seen nothing of that accursed girl. But Lady Rosenmarie, this is a siege, not an open battle. Even the Death God can’t fly.”
When she had dueled with Olivia, Rosenmarie had witnessed the unnatural height to which the girl could leap. I wouldn’t put it past Olivia, she thought. She meant it seriously, but bringing it up here would only lead to unnecessary confusion, so she left it at that.
“So you think their attacks are being thwarted by the might of Kier Fortress?”
Cinra nodded firmly. “They don’t call it the Impregnable Fortress for nothing, my lady. After the hell we went through to capture it, we in the Helios Knights understand how formidable a task it is, and as its former masters, I’m sure the Royal Army know it better than they’d like. Not only that, but this time, we are the defenders. It’s no wonder that even the Death God is being held in check.”
“And do you all agree with Major General Cinra?” Rosenmarie asked, looking around the room. The majority were nodding, some with more conviction than others. They all took pride in their place among the elite knight orders, as well they might. But that pride now blinded them to the real meaning behind Rosenmarie’s words—in fact, they weren’t even looking for it. Despite how time and time again, the Death God had used tactics they had never even dreamed of to snatch victory from their clutches, they still fell prey to her schemes.
Guyel was so cautious, I bet he’d have reached these conclusions long ago, Rosenmarie thought. Some nerve he had, going and dying where I couldn’t do anything about it!
Privately sneering at her own absurdity, Rosenmarie faced her assembled officers. In a clear voice, she explained that the signs of the Death God’s presence had been staged.
“The dreaded Death God Olivia isn’t here? That simply cannot be. Retaking Kier Fortress would breathe fresh life back into the Royal Army. It makes no sense for them to not field Death God Olivia in the battle—nothing poses a greater threat to the imperial army!”
Cinra’s excited rantings cut through the renewed muttering, until the others were all taking up his words as their own. Only Oscar’s face showed a different sort of agitation.
“That’s exactly what the Royal Army have taken advantage of,” Rosenmarie said. Cinra was right. Retaking Kier Fortress was all the Royal Army needed to come back from the brink of ruin. That was why Rosenmarie had set aside her pride and decided to weather the siege. But a new lease on life would not undo the battering the Royal Army had taken. In order to turn the tables, it would make sense for them to go after a still greater prize—in other words, to fall upon the imperial capital and take Emperor Ramza. Once, such a goal would have been a mere castle in the air for the Royal Army, but they had since retaken all their stolen territories, with the exception of Kier Fortress. Though it was undoubtedly a massive gamble, in light of their present circumstances, it made a great deal of sense.
I’m finally losing my edge, Rosenmarie thought, then caught herself. No, I could never have seen through a plan like that. I have to give our foes credit, it was nicely done.
They had marched on Kier Fortress with Cornelius, the Invincible General; Paul, the God of the Battlefield; and Death God Olivia. Not only that, but the Winged Crusaders, who had done for the Stonian Army like they were children with wooden swords, had joined their ranks. Anyone facing such a formidable host would have assumed they meant to stop at nothing to retake the fortress. Rosenmarie was sure that Gladden would have thought so, if he were still alive, and even Felix couldn’t have seen through the ruse. If he had, he would have sent word.
“Just where is the Death God, then?” Cinra demanded. “Taking a nap before the big battle?”
“I assume she’s fighting the Azure Knights somewhere in the empire as we speak,” Rosenmarie replied. The room erupted in a feverish uproar.
“The Death God has invaded the empire?!”
“And you say she’s doing battle with the Azure Knights?!”
When one assumed that the Royal Army’s strategy was built around capturing the emperor, all their inexplicable behavior suddenly made sense. By sending their most renowned generals against Kier Fortress, they had given the imperial army no choice but to focus their attention here. Meanwhile, Olivia had led an army to assault the imperial capital. If Olsted was their true objective, that essentially confirmed that the siege on Kier Fortress was a mere diversion. The reason they had failed to make any dent in the defenses on the walls was because they didn’t need to. It also explained—even if Rosenmarie still had some questions—why there had been no sign of the mages, whom she was as wary of as she was Olivia. Far too late, Rosenmarie had come to this conclusion after coming up on the walls for the first time in half a month and seeing the Royal Army in action.
Laughter gurgled up from the pit of her stomach. The enemy had outwitted her entirely, and yet she couldn’t hold it in. She didn’t know why she was laughing, just that it all seemed hilarious.
While the others all stared at her in consternation, Oscar asked matter-of-factly, “What do we do now?” Of course her chief of staff was quick to recover.
“We are left with only two choices,” Rosenmarie replied.
“Yes, either we double down on our defense of the fortress, or we ride to the aid of the Azure Knights,” Oscar said at once, his eyes on the map on the table.
“Oscar is right, and the Royal Army will be working on that assumption too. Which is why,” she went on, “I mean to choose a third option.”
Knowing as they now did that the Royal Army never intended to take Kier Fortress, only an idiot would dig in their heels continuing to defend it. But in order to go to the aid of the Azure Knights they must needs evade the enemy in front of them. While not impossible, it would be a considerable inconvenience, and by the time they rushed to the Azure Knights the battle might be over already. It was even possible that Felix didn’t need their reinforcements in the first place. What Rosenmarie had learned when he taught her about Odh was that his own reserves of Odh were monstrously vast. Though she would have liked to kill Olivia with her own hands, she owed Felix a debt, and this seemed as good a place as any to pay him back. Thus she chose a third option.
“There’s another option, my lady?”
“Oh, yes. Without realizing it, we’ve been playing along with their little game for over a month now. Now it’s time for them to play our game. We’ll have them play ’til they’re dead on their feet.” A savage grin spread over Rosenmarie’s face. Not Oscar, nor any of the other officers present raised a single word of objection.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login