Ardel
The sound of combat woke him instantly. Ardel slipped out of bed and grabbed his broadsword from the scabbard by his bed. Quietly, he moved to the door of the barracks. Opening the door, smoke billowed in and he coughed violently before rolling through and to the side of the open door. It was lucky he did as a score of crossbow bolts ripped through the space he was standing in moments before. The screams of his squad tore through the air as he lay on the ground trying to catch his breath. Painfully, he pulled himself around the corner of the barracks and looked back the way he came. Crossbowmen stood in a semi-circle in front of the barracks and a bonfire had been lit with green branches to create smoke. When the door opened, the smoke was pulled in and that signaled the attackers to fire. Now they were just firing as fast as they could. Ardel saw one of his fellow soldiers crawl out of the door and look right at him. Ardel motioned at him to stay down and crawl towards him.
A voice bellowed out “Find him! Find the baron!”. Ardel couldn’t imagine who would be attacking his lord’s keep but the crossbowmen were still firing into the barracks.
“What should we do?” stammered the other soldier.
“We wait.” said Ardel. “We wait until they aren’t paying attention and then we kill them all.”
The other soldier looked at Ardel with fear. The crossbowmen had finished shooting into the barracks and one of them, with several stars on his helmet, picked up a burning branch and tossed it through the barracks door. One by one, the other crossbowmen did the same.
Ardel and his fellow soldier, a young man named Harael, backed away from the burning barracks and started towards the main keep. Ardel knew for a fact that the baron wasn’t in residence. He had taken his some of the troops on a tour of the barony. However, the baron’s family was still in residence and he didn’t want to think about what would happen to the baron’s daughters if the baron wasn’t found.
“Harael, we need to get in to the keep and stop them.” said Ardel. “Come on.”
Harael shook his head and followed as Ardel quickly picked his way between buildings until they were at the kitchen entrance to the keep. Together they slipped into the kitchen and made their way towards the baron’s suite. There was no sign that the invaders had gotten into the keep until they reached the doors to the suite. There, three soldiers in chainmail were pounding on the doors demanding to be let in. Ardel and Harael, without armor, snuck up on them and killed them before they knew what was happening. Ardel tapped on the door and said, “Those soldiers are dead. This is Ardel and Harael. We’re baronial soldiers. Please let us in.” The door opened a tiny bit and the baroness looked out from behind a loaded crossbow. “How do we know you’re not with them?” Ardel turned his sword around and offered it to her. “Take it and look at the three dead men on the floor. If you aren’t convinced, kill me.” She grabbed the sword, looked quickly at the dead soldiers, and opened the door further. “Get in.”
Ardel and Harael slipped in and the baroness closed and locked the door again. “Now, you two nice strong young men will move the dresser and the bed so they block the door”, she said as she gestured with the crossbow. “Now.” Both Ardel and Harael quickly moved and positioned the dresser and the bed so they blocked the door.
“Good. That will hold Baron Jh’taren’s men for a while, but we need to hide. Chaia, open the secret door there.” She pointed at the spot that had been blocked by the bed. “Let’s go. Everyone now.” Baroness Relerin handed the sword back to Ardel and motioned for him and Harael to lead the way into the secret passage. Her three daughters, Chaia, Laenaera, and Shararen followed along with the nurse carrying baby Ellaia. Finally, the Baroness brought up the rear and closed the secret door, sealing the passage behind them.
They made their way down through the passage which finally made a sharp turn and stopped at another blank wall. While the daughters and nurse waited, the Baroness unlocked the secret door and then backed up around the corner. “You two need to check to see if anyone is out there. I doubt it, but if you made so much as a sound, I will kill you.” Ardel and Harael inched their way to the door and then gently opened it. The door swung open without a sound and they were looking out at the fields over a mile from the keep. A small hut was less than a dozen yards from the spot in the hillside where the door opened. The group sprinted to the hut and hid inside.
Several hours later morning came and with it, the horrid realization of what happened. Ardel and Harael slipped out of the hut and, carefully picking their way across the fields, made their way back to the keep. The keep itself was still standing, but the armory, barracks, and stables were in shambles. Everywhere they looked they saw dead soldiers. There were all too few Jh’taren soldiers and all too many Relerin soldiers. Miraculously, they found half a dozen survivors under the rubble of the armory. After digging them out, they realized that of all of them, Ardel had been around the longest, almost two months. They all looked at him expectantly.
“Well Ardel, what are we going to do?” asked Harael.
Ardel looked at the seven other soldiers. “There are two things you can do. One is run away. Far away. And hope that the baron never finds you. Two is to gather what weapons you can and put on what armor you can use and follow me.” With that, he stormed back to the armory and dug through it until he found a crossbow, a score of bolts, a short sword, and three daggers. The only salvageable armor has a light chain shirt. The others also found a similar array of weapons and armor.
“Now what? We’re going to storm Jh’taren?” asked one of the other soldiers.
“No. We’re going to ambush these bastards and kill them first. Then we’re going to storm Jh’taren.” said Ardel as he headed out of the keep.
The others looked at each other for a moment before they too followed him.
—-
The eight soldiers slipped through the trees quietly. It had taken them five days to catch up to the Jh’taren forces, but finally they had found them in the center of a large clearing. The Jh’taren encampment was settling in for the night, secure in the thought that they were alone. Harael had found the lone sentry relieving himself behind a tree and quietly killed him. Now the others were quietly sneaking into the Jh’taren tents and slitting the throats of the sleeping soldiers. Ardel had found the tent of the officer that had commanded the crossbowmen and knocked him unconscious before gagged and binding him for later. Before long the only tent that hadn’t been touched was the commander’s tent. All the other Jh’taren soldiers were dead. Ardel gave the signal and each of his soldiers grabbed flaming branches and walked around lighting the tents on fire. Finally Ardel stood before the commander’s tent and loaded his crossbow before tossing his flaming branch into the tent. Within seconds, the commander burst out of the tent calling for his men to wake up. His eyes lit upon the flaming tents in the encampment and terror filled them.
Ardel aimed the crossbow at the commander’s throat and said “For Relerin!” before pulling the trigger. Simultaneously, the other seven soldiers fired their crossbows and the Jh’taren commander was transfixed by eight crossbow bolts. He fell over dead without a sound.
Ardel then walked back to the spot outside of the camp where he had dropped the crossbow officer and removed the gag before splashing his face with water. The officer sputtered and woke up. “What do you want? Who are you?” he demanded. Ardel knelt next to him. “I am Ardel, a Relerin soldier. I want you to see what we have wrought on your comrades. And then, you will tell me everything you know.” With that, Ardel lifted the officer by the arm and dragged him back to see the Jh’taren encampment engulfed and the commander dead on the ground.
Ardel dropped him to the ground so he leaned against the dead commander and then loaded his crossbow.
“Now you will tell me everything you know about the attack on Baron Relerin’s keep.” Ardel said in a stone-cold voice.
Twenty minutes later the eight Relerin soldiers moved on and nothing moved in the Jh’taren camp. They also grabbed more crossbow bolts, knives, and Ardel found some chainmail that fit him.
—-
Five nights later, the eight soldiers were looking out from the forest upon the fields and keep of Baron Jh’taren. All of them were exhausted and disheveled from ten days of rapid travel through the woods. By horse and carriage, the distance could be covered in eight days. By foot along the roads, it could be covered in twelve. Running through the woods allowed them to cut corners near crossroads and shave off two days of travel, but it wasn’t easy. They were all in Jh’taren armor, so from a distance they appeared to be Jh’taren, but they didn’t want to test it out by getting too close. But now they had no choice. They had to get into the keep, quietly.
Harael signaled to Ardel and took off through the shadows. Harael’s skills at sneaking around had come in handy as he had been able to steal some food in each village they passed so that they didn’t starve and now he was going to exercise those skills by figuring out where and how to get into the keep. The seven other soldiers settled down to wait, keeping an eye on their surroundings. Several hours later, Harael slipped back and explained the layout of the keep, the watch rotation, and the best route in. The sun just started to peek over the hills so all eight decided to get some rest during the day.
As the sun set that night, the eight men spread out and slipped through the lengthening shadows towards the refuse pit at the side of the keep. From there they worked their way up the refuse chute and into the back of the kitchen. Sneaking through the pantry, they got out of the kitchen without anyone the wiser and then split up. Four of the soldiers were to sneak out the front door and start multiple fires around the courtyard to create confusion. They were to stay out of sight and not engage any soldiers directly. The rest of the soldiers, including Ardel and Harael, were going to find the Baron and kill him. It sounded easy, but they all knew it was going to be extremely difficult.
Ardel was halfway to the where they thought the Baron’s quarters were when shouts went up that there was a fire in the stable. They hid for several minutes as soldiers rushed around to put it out before moving on. Some more shouts from the kitchen as well as from the courtyard that the fire was spreading, let Ardel know that there were plenty of distractions. He looked around the corner and saw the doors to the Baron’s quarters. There were three large, mean-looking guards with greatswords and crossbows standing there. Only one of the crossbows was loaded. Ardel looked at the three soldiers with him and motioned where the guards were. All four of them drew small throwing weapons and then simultaneously stepped around the corner and threw. One of the guards went down immediately with a dagger in the eye and one in the throat. The guard with the loaded crossbow took a knife in the leg but he managed to raise his weapon and shoot. The other guard was completely unscathed and quickly cocked and loaded his crossbow. Ardel and his men drew their broadswords and charged the forty feet towards the door. Another crossbow bolt whizzed past Ardel and he heard a meaty thunk as it hit someone behind him, but as he raised his sword and red haze descended over his eyes.
As the haze cleared, Ardel looked around him, breathless. He was the only one standing in an opulent bedroom. Baron Jh’taren lay sprawled across the bed, attempting to shield his wife. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to prevent the greatsword from pinning him and his wife to bed. Two young boys lay on the floor in crumpled heaps, their throats crushed. Three girls, almost young women, lay slashed and bloody in various parts of the room.
He looked down at himself and saw he was drenched in blood. Panic flooded over him as he looked around. Harael lay just outside the doors to the suite, a crossbow bolt through the eye. The other two soldiers he had brought with him were slumped against the walls of the corridor, dead. Ardel quickly moved to the window and looked out. Fires still raged in the refuse pit and the courtyard. It looked like the barracks was fully engulfed along with the stables. There was very little movement, however, which didn’t bode well. Ardel stripped off his blood soaked armor and picked up his broadsword before quickly heading away from the carnage. He saw no living creature on the way to the front doors of the keep and, as he slipped out, he discovered why. There, in a part of the courtyard he hadn’t seen from the baron’s suite, were most of the remaining Jh’taren soldiers, having cornered the other four soldiers Ardel had brought. All four were severely wounded, but remained standing. Without another thought, Ardel silently charged the group, succumbing to the haze of combat again.
As the haze receded again, Ardel looked around and saw three of his soldiers still standing, awestruck. Not a single Jh’taren soldier remained alive. Ardel dropped to his knees and retched all over the courtyard stones. His three soldiers cautiously approached him and, when he didn’t attack, carefully helped him to his feet. Together, the four made their way out of the keep.
—-
Two ten-days later, Ardel stumbled to the gate of the Relerin keep and collapsed, fever-ridden and alone. Guards quickly picked him up and carried him to the keep’s chirurgeon.
—-
Another ten days passed before he was conscious of his surroundings and he woke to find Baron Relerin standing at his bedside with the Baroness. “Young man, I don’t know where you’ve been but my wife tells me you helped her and my children escape harm when Jh’taren attacked. I have a small army now, unfortunately still wet behind the ears thanks to Jh’taren, but we are going to sack that bastard’s keep and raze it to the ground.”
Ardel had struggled to sit up, but at this statement he chuckled and fell back against the pillows. “My lord, pardon my amusement, but right now a sack of newborn puppies could sack the bastard’s keep, if it hasn’t burned to the ground already.” He then explained what he could remember of the events since the Jh’taren attack, leaving out both the slaughter of the baron’s family and the haze that descended over him when he flew into combat.
The baron and baroness looked at him in shock as he described the ambush of the camp and five on many battle that left the keep without any soldiers. At the end, the baron simply grunted. “Well, you’ve saved me a lot of time and men then, Ardel. You stay here and recover. I will take my new army and go claim my new barony. Elliel, make sure he recovers. My garrison commander must be fully recovered by the time I return.”
The baroness smiled and nodded. “Of course, Calael, he deserves the rest.” The baron nodded and left, shouting orders for his soldiers to start moving out towards Jh’taren.
—-
Ardel shook his head and blinked away the daydream. He couldn’t fathom why he had been overcome with the memory of those fateful events nearly two decades earlier. He looked around and watched his troopers go through their exercises and sparring matches. A flash of blue in one of the keep’s windows caught his eye and he glanced up in time to see young Ellaia, wave to him before dashing away. He smiled and turned back to watch his soldiers. A frown crossed his face as one soldier dodged the poorly aimed swing of his opponent, sidestepped, and slashed brutally across the back of his opponent’s knee. No matter that it was sparring staff, the young man’s knee visibly bent in an unnatural way and he went down, unconscious. The soldier spit upon the unconscious man and turned to walk away. Ardel was there in a flash, along with his second and the squad commander in charge of the soldier. The squad commander took the lead and backhanded the soldier to the ground. “What in the hell’s possessed you to do that, soldier?” he demanded. The soldier looked back with flames in his eyes. “That cheap bastard…” he started, but then Ardel’s second grabbed him by the jerkin and lifted him bodily from the ground. “You were not given permission to speak, soldier. That was a dragon-damned rhetorical question, you lackwit!” He then heaved the soldier away. The soldier landed in a heap and started to struggle back to his feet. His squad commander was quickly there, knocking him onto his stomach and pressing one foot into his back. Ardel’s second walked up calmly and pulled a scourge from his belt. “Soldier, quietly now, get to your hands and knees. No further.” The soldier complied, shaking with fear. The squad commander ripped off the soldier’s jerkin, exposing his back. The second reached back and started to bring the scourge forward, but Ardel reached in and stopped him. “No, Calatar. Not now.” Calatar nodded and stood back.
Ardel turned towards the soldier on the ground. “Soldier, stand up and face me.” He stood up and turned to face Ardel. “You may explain yourself now.” The soldier’s face blanched as he saw the fire in Ardel’s eyes. “Sir, there is no excuse. Cheven made some remarks about my girl. A few too many remarks. I couldn’t take it any more.” Ardel looked at the soldier impassively. “You broke a man for making remarks about your girl?” The soldier nodded. “You shattered his leg. Over words?” The soldier shook his head. “No sir, the remarks he made were about how he’s had her, sir. She even admitted as much yesterday.” Ardel nodded. “I see. ‘Your girl’ decided another man was more to her liking and now you had to get ‘revenge’ on him. I see. Well, simple assault is one thing. Premeditated assault is quite another. Calatar, he’s all yours. I expect a court martial in the morning.” The soldier’s face paled and his eyes widened as Calatar grasped his upper arm and dragged him away.
In the meantime, the chirurgeon had been looking at Cheven’s shattered leg. Ardel walked over and waited until the chirurgeon looked up. “Ardel, there’s not much I can do. The leg is too far shattered. The town cleric has been summoned, but I don’t know if he’s had the training necessary to deal with this type of injury. “ Ardel nodded. “Do your best. If you can splint it and stabilize the bones, the cleric may be able to do more than you think. Can you manage that?” The chirurgeon nodded and turned back to Cheven. Ardel headed back towards his office in the barracks. The duke would need to know about this.
—-
That evening, Ardel was just finishing up with cleaning his armor when a light knock sounded on his door. He walked over and opened the door, only the catch Ellaia in his arms as she threw herself into the room. “Girl, you need to stop sneaking around like this. You’re a young woman and shouldn’t be sneaking into an old man’s quarters at night,” Ardel growled softly. Ellaia laughed softly. “Even if that ‘old man’ is the one I want see?”
Ardel sighed as she leaned against him and hugged him tight. “Father knows, you know. I told him a long time ago that you were the only one I wanted.”
Ardel tensed. “I don’t think he quite believed you, Ellaia. I was there at the time, remember. You were five and it was your birthday. I think your exact words were, ‘Father, the only present I want is Ardel.’ He even laughed.” Ellaia pulled back and pouted at Ardel. “Well, then it’s his fault for not believing me. Besides, I’m sure knows anyway. I told mother you were my first. I’m sure she told him.” Ardel closed his eyes and groaned. “You told your mother…”
“Hush, Ardel,” she said, putting her finger on his lips. “There are better things to do than talk.” She let got of him and unlaced her dress as she walked to his bed. “Less talk, more action, my love.” Ardel sighed and followed her.
Later that night as they lay entwined under the covers, Ellaia whispered “Ardel, when are you going to ask to marry me?” Tears ran down Ardel’s face as he whispered back, “I would marry you in a heartbeat, Ellaia. I would marry you in a heartbeat, but you are nobility. I can’t just ask for your hand in marriage. Your father is going to arrange a marriage for you, and that would be the end of it.”
Ellaia squirmed and rolled over so she was facing him. “You know he’s going to arrange a marriage?” Ardel nodded. “How?” she demanded.
“I heard him discussing it when the envoy from Alrarahur was here. Baron Alrarahur has a son your age. It came up in the discussions about merging the two provinces.”
Anger crossed Ellaia’s face as Ardel told her what he knew. When he was done, she was sitting up with her fists clenched. “Why that no good, scheming old goat!” she muttered. “I have three older sisters, granted they are all married already, but still. He’s gaining three other baronies because of them. Not to mention that Chaia already has a son that’s been named heir to all of his lands. It’s just not fair!”
Ardel reached over to pulled her close. “Calm down, Ellaia. There’s no use in getting upset about it now. Alrarahur may not accept the terms of the agreement, even with you in the bargain.” Ellaia glared at Ardel. “True. And these agreements take a long time to negotiate. I remember how long it took to get Shararen married.” Ellaia giggled. “She told me some of the ’special’ agreements that had to be made.” Ardel looked puzzled as Ellaia smiled at him. “One of them was that she had to agree to teach his bodyguards everything she knew.”
Ellaia leaned over and kissed Ardel again. “I’m sure my protector will ensure that it takes a long, long time before any agreement is made regarding my getting married.” She gently rolled him onto his back and climbed on top of him. “Right?” she asked as she started rocking against him. Ardel groaned softly as he pulled her down to him.
—-
Ellaia was gone again when Ardel woke in the morning. “Just like her” he muttered as he washed and got dressed. As he finished belting his sword scabbard on, there was a rapid knock on his. “Message for the commander from the Duke.” Ardel groaned as he reached over and opened the door. “What’s the message?”
“Sir, the Duke wishes you to attend him immediately. He didn’t say anything more.”
“Of course. I’m ready. Let’s go.” Ardel followed the runner back to the main part of the keep. The runner led him to the great hall where a herald announced him. “Good luck, sir” said the runner as Ardel marched down the hall to the throne.
His heart sank as his eyes took in the scene. The Duke was in full regalia, as was the Duchess. Two royal guards were behind each of them and there was a full squad of soldiers at the foot of the dais. Ardel reached the squad of soldiers and went down to one knee. “My liege. What is your bidding?”
“Ardel, how long have you served me?” asked the Duke.
“My lord, it will be twenty years this summer.”
“Twenty years. And have I wronged you in any way during those twenty years?”
“No my lord. You have never wronged me in all that time.”
“Then why, Ardel, why do you dishonor me, my wife, and my family?”
Ardel looked up sharply at that. The royal guards tensed and their hands fell to their swords. The soldiers similarly grasped their swords.
“My lord? I don’t understand. I have served you faithfully all this time. I could not dishonor you.”
“Oh really? I have come to find out some disturbing things about you Ardel.” He snapped his fingers and a side door opened. Two guards wrestled a bound woman into the hall. “You couldn’t dishonor me? What do you call it then when you befoul my youngest daughter? What do you call it when, honor-bound, I must inform a potential suitor that my youngest daughter is with child? YOUR child, Ardel.” The Duke was standing now. “Throw that whore to the ground. Right next to this honorless bastard.” The two soldiers pushed the woman down the steps of the dais. Ardel stood and caught her before she fell to the floor. He brushed the matted hair out of her face and saw that it was Ellaia. She had been badly beaten and one eye was swollen shut. Ardel looked up in anger at the Duke.
The Duke continued. “It is no matter though. I have only three daughters. Garrison Commander Calatar, please remove the filth from my hall. Make sure to bury them in an unmarked grave.” The Duchess looked at Ellaia with tears in her eyes. She then looked at Ardel and sorrow filled them. On the other hand, the Duke had nothing but hatred in his eyes.
The soldiers drew their swords. The royal guards drew their weapons and moved to be in front of the Duke and Duchess. Calatar looked at Ardel. “I’m sorry, Sir. I didn’t know. Please don’t make this hard.”
Ardel stood up and drew his sword. “Calatar, I won’t make this hard at all. But you will not lay a hand on Ellaia.” He quickly slashed the ropes that held Ellaia and pulled her up. “Don’t make me defend myself, Calatar.” Ardel and Ellaia backed up towards the entrance to the great hall.
“Sir, I’m sorry but you can’t leave.” Ellaia gasped. “Ardel, give me your knife.” Ardel loosened it from it’s scabbard and Ellaia pulled it out.
Calatar shook his head and lifted a hand. On the balcony around the great hall, three score archers stood up and aimed crossbows at the pair.
“No.” Ardel shook his head. “No, it’s not going to end like this. My lord, I served you for twenty years and love and honor your daughter. And this is how you are going to repay that? By cutting us down?” The Duchess started crying and ran from the dais. The Duke simply stared and Ardel before saying “Kill them now.”
As the first crossbow bolt zipped past Ardel, the red haze of combat fell over his eyes for the first time in twenty years. When the haze lifted, he was in the fields below the keep clutching Ellaia’s lifeless body in his arms. She had been pierced in no less than a dozen places by crossbow bolts. Crying, Ardel lifted her corpse and started running towards the forest.