But Kerrass tugged on the reins of his horse and that jolt did something to me then. My spear was out of its sheath, the two halves of the weapon were slottied together and I was off my horse and looking around for enemies. I don’t remember the process of moving from one state to the other. I just seemed to blink and there I was.

I hadn’t been travelling ready like that. My spear was in it’s pouch next to me on the grounds that there were Knights and guards around me so that I would have plenty of time to get my spear out. And it seemed almost like an insult to those fine men and women. That I was suggesting that they wouldn’t be good enough so that I, a scholar and a guest of their hospitality, might need to arm himself in order to protect himself. It felt a little bit rude, as though I would be calling their competence into question.

But there I was, the trained habit of being ready for a fight whenever Kerrass reacted in such a way.

Ariadne dismounted as well and put her hand on my shoulder. “Freddie?” She prompted. “Deep breaths now.”

I was sweating and shaking, breathing far too heavily.

The head of the column had ridden back. Guillaume and Syanna carefully ignored the state I was in.

“What’s…?” Syanna began.

Kerrass waved her into silence. Drew his sword and stepped beyond the circle of light. He visibly and audibly sniffed the air before bending over and examining the ground. “This way,” he called.

“What?..” Syanna said again but Guillaume quietened her.

“I did some work with Lord Geralt in the early days of his living at Corvo Bianco.” He told the Knight Commander. “Sometimes Witchers see, smell or hear things that the rest of us miss and it is always, always best to just let them get on with it and follow from a distance.”

Syanna nodded. “Gregoire, command the column.” She said. “Guillaume?”

Ariadne shook my shoulder. “Come on Freddie. I need to stay near Kerrass anyway. And keep breathing deep.”

Kerrass led us over the land and peered into a small ditch for a long moment before turning and gesturing to us to move up.

“There,” he pointed at a black shape. You could see it from where it was breaking the flow of the stream that was running across the stones and the dirt at the bottom of the ravine.

Guillaume sighed and passed me his torch before jumping down the low bank and into the stream.

Yes, he did that in his full armour with his sword drawn. These Knights of Toussaint are a breed apart.

I passed the torch back and made to help Ariadne down who gave me a look as she simply jumped herself. I shrugged and climbed down after.

“It’s Thierry.” Guillaume said as Syanna joined him. “Shot I think.”

“Shot. Kerrass confirmed. “Bodkin arrows so they could get through his armour.” He pointed at the holes.

“I know it’s not.” I said, “but bandits?”

“No.” Guillaume bent next to the young soldier’s body. “But that is what they will say and that is what we are meant to think. His money pouch and sword are taken. But they have also taken his messenger pouch. He was one of the messengers assigned to the Headquarters.”

Syanna’s face was bleak. “Damien must have commandeered him. The real message would have been in his head anyway. Ass of leather, head of Gold.”

“Also,” Guillaume said. “There are no bandits in these woods. We have spent a good amount of time making sure that these fields are clear of…”

“There are more tracks.” Kerrass called from the bank. “He was thrown into the ditch after they were done with him.”

Syanna nodded. His horse is, even now, probably on it’s way too Headquarters.”

“Poor kid.” Guillaume sounded like he was on the edge of tears. “Useless with a sword but he was desperate to serve. You could give him the grumpiest, most stubborn horse or mule and it would dance for him.”

“Bring him back.” Syanna said. “We won’t leave him here in a ditch. He will be buried as a Knight.”

Guillaume picked up the young man easily and cradled him as you would a child, lifting him out of the ditch before climbing out.

“Do you know where the attackers went?” Syanna wondered of Kerrass as we moved back to the column.

“They were waiting near the road.” Kerrass said. “I think he tried to ride on while he bled out so they came after him to clear up their mess. Then they will have returned to their post I think. I could know more if it was daylight and…”

“If we had time.” Syanna finished. “They were waiting for him.”

“They were.” Kerrass confirmed.

There were some groans from a few of the guards and Knights that were waiting for us back at the road when they saw Guillaume’s burden. The body was draped over one of the horses and we rode on.

“Are you alright Freddie.” Ariadne checked with me.

“No.” I said, fighting down the last of the shakes and the juddering breaths that I was taking. “I shouldn’t have come.”

“You would have fretted at the palace.” Ariadne said. You would have made a mess of yourself waiting behind. Here, you can see what is happening and take it into account. I would not have let you come if I thought you were a danger to either yourself or to us.”

That was not as reassuring as she might have thought it was, or she had meant it to be.

We rode on but there was no way for me to get back into my former travelling state approaching the dream state that I had had before. My head was fizzing and I found that if I didn’t concentrate on it, my breathing was trying to climb back up to the rapid state that it had been on before. It was a constant effort to keep my breathing calm.

I had not put my spear away. Instead, I cradled it in my arms. It was almost certainly making things inconvenient for the troop as a whole. But no-one complained. Make of that what you will.

The ground started to rise a little as the road started to incorporate a series of bends in the road as we moved around small hills and mounds that formed the foothills of the mountains that surround Toussaint on every side and create the pocket of weather that is so beneficial to the growing of the vines. The road became less well travelled and less well maintained. The column slowed down to a walk so that the horses could find better footing so as not to break their legs by accidentally stepping in a pot hole or a wagon rut.

You want to know another sign of a realm or a lord that cares about his lands and his people. Examine the quality of the roads. Even in the poorest realm that I’ve ever been to, if the Lord or Lady cares, then there is some effort to repair the state of the roads in order to make the lives of the people passing through easier. Whether that’s the addition of stones to the road, the filling in of the ruts and and the holes or whatever. Proper roads means that wagons of goods can make their ways easier. That herds are easier to… well… herd and that trade is easier to move.

Badly maintained roads are the sign of people that don’t care so long as the money continues to make its way through. They don’t care about the ease of travellers or their farms and villagers.

The care for roads is not a thing that anyone is ever going to sing songs about. It’s not something that anyone is ever going to get romantic about. Nor is anyone going to win any awards, be given more estates or win plaudits at court. No fair maiden will be seduced by the presence of a smooth road nor will a male suitor be excited by the prospect of a daughter of a man who knows how to fill a pothole. But you see these benefits in how happy travelling merchants are to visit the area, whether farmers and villagers get a grimace on their face whenever they have to move from one town to the other. Or when a nobleman’s servants make a face when they have to transport the lady “to town”.

It’s the difference between visiting a friend in the next village being a thing that can be done in an offhand afternoon because you have nothing to do, versus having to plan the excursion like some kind of wilderness expedition days, or weeks in advance.

And these roads were not great. Not that I needed another reason to despise Sir Raoul, but there it was and I used it to keep myself going forwards.

I felt like there was a moment of crisis coming. I had no idea what it was but I felt as though I was climbing a great hill. That there was an obstacle that I was desperately working myself towards being able to get up and climb over. I had no idea what this hill was, or what the obstacle was going to be. It was as though I was building something up in my head, some kind of barrier, a wall that needed to be knocked down and that after that, everything would become easier again.

I could feel it ahead of me, looming over me like some kind of great darkness or a weight that was piling high on top of my shoulders. A net that was tying me up and tying me round, threatening to drag me to the ground.

I knew that I would break through it. I knew that. But at the same time… I dreaded that moment where I would have to force myself to break through that ordeal. I dreaded it. I was scared of it and I didn’t know what form that was going to take or how I was going to manage it.

The column shifted from the road, some orders had been passed that I either didn’t hear or that I was too far into my own head to properly take into account. We were ordered off the road and into a small group of trees. Word was passed down that we should dismount, rest the horses and drink some water from the bags that had been tied to everyone’s saddle bags.

I had no idea that they were there. Come to that, I had no memory of putting my armour on either, or taking my spear with me. I wondered if I had gotten prepared like that to go to the duel earlier in the day and had just never taken it off. The day had begun to blur together for me and I could no longer think which way life was going to go.

The water from the saddlebags was very cold.

I was in the process of trying to untangle my own brain when I realised that Kerrass swas softly calling my name.

“Freddie?” He prompted. “Freddie, Syanna’s asking for us.”

He led me to the middle of the group of trees where there was a small, growing conference. Guillaume was there along with Gregoire and Syanna. They were talking to another Knight that I recognised as being one of the patrol leaders and instructors at the Headquarters when we went there. He was the older gentleman who had been watching the roads to make sure that the new recruits didn’t get lost or utterly muck something up.

Like before, he was dressed in old, well maintained but dirty armour which I guessed he used in order to keep hidden. He seemed properly professional otherwise. His face was lined with age and with care. Where last time I had seen him he had seemed full of life and humour. This time he seemed… drawn somehow. Older than he had been before.

He also seemed to be angry.

“As it turns out.” Guillaume told me as we walked up. “We’re late.”

“Very late.” The older man said. “Where have you been? I sent the messenger hours ago. Even if you were delayed several hours then you should have been here during daylight.” He was angry and trying to keep his voice down at the same time. It’s an interesting trick and one that takes a certain amount of practice.

“Your messenger was killed.” Kerrass said bluntly. I looked for Syanna and she was pacing back and forth a little way off, hands clasped behind her back. There was a nervousness to the movement, as though she was frantically keeping herself from doing anything stupid. The type of nervous movement where you are desperately trying to burn off energy before you explode.

“We found him in a ditch a little way back.” Kerrass went on. “Shot out of the saddle.”

The older man nodded, winced and shook his head. “Poor lad. Deserved better than that.”

“They always do.” Kerrass agreed.

“So they were waiting for him.” Syanna snapped. “Much though I want us all to talk this to death. I am worried. Where is Damien? How long have you been here? What is happening?”

The older man scratched the stubble on his chin. “It’s been a long day.” He said. “The Captain… (Freddie: He pronounced it Cap’n), came in all of a lather and demanded that we all but empty the Headquarters.There were not a lot of us in reserve, fifty or so but we followed him here.”

“How long did it take to marshall?” Guillaume glanced at Syanna who had gone back to pacing. Guillaume seemed to have taken on the role of being in charge for a moment and asking the questions.

“Couple of hours.” The older man said. “Getting everyone armoured up, equipped and so on. Getting the horses ready and…”

“Not unexpected.” GUillaume reassured the man. “There have been worse numbers. So you set out.”

“We did. One of the lads that came with us was recruited out of Leblanc lands and he led us here.”

“Where’s here?” Syanna snapped.

“A small patch of woodland.” The older man said, “One of those places where the locals keep their pigs and hunt for truffles. From here the Captain sent out scouts to have a look at the area and see what could be seen.”

“And what did you find.”

“Not a great deal, seemed pretty simple really. According to the local lad, the locals tolerate Sir Raoul and his management of the area because he mostly leaves them alone to get one with things. As long as the lands keep turning out the money for him to be able to go to the tournaments, maintain his town house and so on, then Raoul is a happy man. It all falls apart when he comes home, which is not often. But that meant that we were not worried about the villagers coming to his aid.”

He spat.

“The central manor house is separate from all the industry.” He sneered at that, “But it’s not a small building. It’s old and has that look that it’s been built up over the years rather than just having a new building built and knocking the old one down. Especially given that Sir Pisspot himself doesn’t spend a great deal of time here. It’s walled round of course…”

“Of course.” Guillaume agreed.

As I may have written before, the history of Toussaint is that the countryside was carved out from the holdings of the local bandit Kings and warlords. The oldest bloodlines in Toussaint can trace their lineage back to this point so what you often find is that the really old buildings. Especially those buildings further from Beauclair, are also built like small fortresses. Some of the buildings that you go into were once, undoubtedly, barracks and stables are huge, even for noble houses. Thus to store all the mounts that the Knights and their forces would need in order to work at taming the countryside. In practice, what that means is that these manor houses became almost like mini towns. As the barracks and the huge, impractical stables become converted into civil buildings, guest houses, inns and whatever else while the nobility retreat back to the residence.

“And when we got here, the gate was open.”

Guillaume nodded further. “So the manor is walled off from the outside. Lets work our way inwards. What’s the surrounding area like?”

“Flat.” The older Knight said. “A few roads and some open fields that apparently see use during market times in the spring and the summer, that house some sheep and the like.”

“What kind of cover would that give us.”

“Next to nothing.”

“How far away is the treeline?”

“Close enough that we can watch them and move to intercept but too far to cover any kind of approach.”

Guillaume nodded, pulling at his lower lip.

“Alright,” he considered. “How big is the wall?”

“In different places, between twenty to thirty feet tall, apparently, some of it has sunk over time and is in need of repair. The step at the top is six feet wide.”

“How do you get onto the wall?” Gregoire asked.

“From the gatehouses.” The older man was a little bemused by Gregoire’s presence. Obviously, he hadn't heard about what had been happening recently.

“And how many gates are there?” Gregoire wondered.

“Three. Two main ones let the road through that lead to the main courtyard in front of the manor house. And there is another entrance round the back which leads out to the herb and fruit gardens as well as the path that leads down to the stream which is used by the servants for laundry day.”

Guillaume was nodding as he listened to all of this.

“Right.” He said. “So you got here. What happened?”

“We used this area as a staging area first. We left the horses and things as well as setting up a road block in order to arrest Sir Raoul if he came up by the road. From there, groups went round the tree line to keep an eye on the different entrances and exits in order to block everyone in and to keep anyone from escaping. We had no idea how many people were in there when we arrived or what kind of armed resistance we would get. The plan was that at the signal, which was going to be a horn blast, the teams that we had watching the gate would advance and close those gates off to prevent escape. Then the Captain would advance with the main force, ride into the manor complex and start the search and the investigation.

“h place wasn’t deserted or overly busy. The Captain’s team went in, all quick and determined like and the last thing we saw of them was that the gate shut behind them. There were some sounds of combat that the rest of us could hear but it soon went quiet.”

“What happened then?” Syanna seemed to have calmed a bit and reentered the conversation.

“Not much. When it became clear that the Captain wasn’t going to come back out, I approached and demanded what was going on. A man that I don’t know came to the wall and told me that Sir Raoul Leblanc does not recognise the authority of thieves and bandits. As a result, he refused to answer any questions, that my presence on Leblanc lands was a crime and that I should leave immediately.

“I sent two messengers, one straight away and the other later on. Beyond that, I have maintained a siege stance. We do not have enough men to attack as archers and crossbowmen have been seen walking along the top of the walls and we would be picked apart before we got there. We don’t have ladders or any other kind of siege equipment so I closed off the exits and then waited for help to arrive.”

Silence greeted that.

Syanna went to open her mouth but Guillaume beat her to it.

“No-one could have done otherwise.” He said.

For a moment, it looked as though Syanna wanted to argue that, but then she visibly forced herself to calm.

“He’s right. I’m not angry with you,” she told the older man. “But I would dearly like someone to be angry at.” She was shaking now… “Prophets… Stupid man, why did he have to…?”

“It was his job.” Guillaume told her. “And Damien would not have asked anyone else to do something he would not have done himself.”

“I’m missing something here.” Gregoire was confused and I couldn’t help but agree with him.

“I thought everyone knew.” Syanna chuckled bitterly, her shaking hand rising to her forehead.

“Only in the Knights.” Guillaume told her before turning to Gregoire. “The worst kept secret in the Knights of Saint Francesca is that the Knight Commander here has set her sights on the Captain.”

“Oh.” Gregoire said before clapping his hand to his forehead. “Oh. I thought that was just a joke to wind him up.”

“It is.” Guillaume said. “But sometimes, the truest words are spoken in jest.”

Gregoire grunted at that before frowning. “But… doesn’t he hate you? The loss of his men during the Knight of the Long fangs.”

“He did.” Guillaume said as Syanna returned to her pacing. “But for all of us that were there… that’s not a dig at you my friend, I know that you left town after your defeat at the tournament and were elsewhere. But for those of us more aware of the inner workings. The night of the Long Fangs was a clusterfuck. Everyone was right and everyone was wrong. Damien and his men were caught between two terrible women and a vampire who had been treated badly. The only person that comes out of that night who didn’t make a horrific mistake that cost lives, was Lord Geralt. Syanna should have realised how the vampire was going to react, but when she realised her mistake, she wanted to go and calm the Vampire. The Duchess should have listened to her sister and allowed that, a choice that Damien agreed with, but the Duchess was too overjoyed at finally being reunited with her sister that she wouldn’t allow that danger to befall her.”

“Even though Geralt had proven that I was a traitor and was planning her death.” Syanna said from the sidelines “And Detlaff’s mistake was falling in love with me. Even though I have it on good authority that multiple people told him, correctly, that I was nothing but trouble. We all made mistakes and it cost lives.”

Gregoire nodded before smiling at the other Knight a little slyly. “What was your mistake?”

Guillaume smiled a little ruefully. “The same mistake as Damien’s actually. And the Duchess for that matter. I was arrogant and thought that the Vampires that were attacking Beauclair were just simple monsters. I was lucky, Damien was not so lucky and lost men because of it.”

He sighed.

“Those of us that have seen the two of them working together have hoped that their understanding of each other would grow. And more recently, it looks like the pair of them were getting closer.” Guillaume shook his head. “What do you want us to do, Knight Commander?”

“I ummm….” She shook her head. “I think... “ She shook her head. “I am not thinking clearly. What do we all think?”

“Raoul is many things.” Gregoire spoke up. “But he is not foolish. He would not simply kill the Guard Captain. The retribution of the Duchess would then be certain. I would think that Damien and his men are captive.”

“Would Damien surrender?” I wondered.

“He might.” Guillaume mused, going back to pulling at his lower lip, a gesture that made him seem much younger than his years. “If it meant the guaranteed survival of his men. Raoul was waiting for us and Damien went into a trap. I do have to admit that what I would have done in his place is to try and break out. Neutralise as many as I can, tie Damien and his men up in the courtyard and then just break out with as many men as I could. I wonder why he hasn’t.” He turned to the older Knight. “How many people does Raoul have?”

“It’s impossible to say for certain.” Came the answer. “Enough to make an assault a costly thing. The walls are well lit, there are fires set in the fields. I don’t think they’re great quality, Mercenaries and militia men and the like,”

“So I would have broken out if it were me.” Guillaume said. “He knows, that we know that he is guilty. So why does he stay put?”

“He is waiting.” I said.

“What for?” Guillaume’s retort was an obvious one.

“The same thing that the other captives are waiting for.” Kerrass agreed. “Whatever that is. We need to get this solved, and quickly. Raoul has taken hostages.”

Guillaume shrugged. “A man doesn’t take hostages without wanting something in return.” He turned to Syanna. “So let's go and ask him what he wants.”

Syanna nodded shakily.

“Freddie, will you come with me?” Guillaume asked. “As a Northerner, a neutral presence would add weight.”

“A hated Northerner.” I countered. “And I am far from neutral.”

“Maybe not, but your status as a foreigner lends you certain… Gravitas.”

“Gravitas?” I felt my eyebrows climbing towards the top of my head.

“He can’t just shoot you out of the saddle when you ride up.” Guillaume told me. “If he did, then he would know that, for a start, The Empress would be more than a little peeved, which kind of prevents anyone from murdering you. So as a witness to his… his villainy. You kind of make for a good witness.”

“Surely he wouldn’t just shoot a herald or a messenger?”

“He might.” Gregoire added. “He set people to shoot them down before when they tried to get out and warn us all that things were going wrong.”

“Also, he has already taken lawful civil authorities captive in that he has already captured Damien and the rest in order to keep them locked up.” Guillaume added with a grin.

These men of Toussaint are a breed apart. He was actively looking forward to some of my discomfort. He was enjoying the crisis and the possibility that there might be some violence to take part in.

I sighed, and not for the first time, I allowed the fatigue and the tiredness to wash over me for just a moment. I let myself feel the pull that was tugging my eyelids closed and to properly take in the fact that my mind was wrapped in a blanket of drowsiness.

“And when he tells us to fuck off?” I wondered, forcing my eyes open.

“Then, even in doing that, he tells us something about what we are dealing with.” Syanna sounded hopeful. “I will admit it here, in front of you all but you should know that if you tell Damien that I said this before we are properly married then I will deny it and call you all liars and scoundrels. But if he hurts the man that I love then I’m…” Her humour tailed off as her hand came up to cover her mouth for a moment before lifting to her brow. “I’m not sure I can do this.” She whispered quietly. Ariadne was there and placed her hand on the Knight Commander’s shoulder.

Guillaume watched Syanna carefully for a moment before nodding. “Come on then Freddie, grab a torch and let’s go.”

You know how you start walking. You know how it just seems to automatically start when you have to move yourself from one place to the next. You know how it seems so effortless and automatic?

I had to concentrate to remember how to get moving. It was easier after that, but for the there and then of the matter…

I mounted up and took the offered torch from one of the other guards and Guillaume led me out into the gloom. He did not have a torch.

“No torch for you?” I wondered.

“No.” He said. “I might need my hands free for killing people.” He grinned.

“That is not encouraging.”

We rode back to the road and continued along it. We came through and around the group of hills until we came to a natural kind of bowl between all the hills. They all seemed to come together to form a small hill in the middle. Not very large at all. The kind of rise that you can only see that it’s there when you are looking at it from the outside. A horse would not need any kind of aid to climb to the top and a man would not get out of breath if he had to run up it.

At the top was the expected, formerly militarised, Manor house and attacked buildings. There was a surface level… attempt to keep the place, at least roughly militarised. There was a distance between the Manor walls and the other buildings so that you couldn’t climb up the other buildings to get into the greater complex. There was also room so that archers and things would have a clean line of fire.

I was reminded of the Headquarters of the Knights when I went there. This was in worse repair, not as well maintained. That’s the very word. It looked as though all the decisions about defending the place had been made many years ago so that all the more recent occupants of the building needed to do was to maintain what was already there. There was a worn in and worn out perspective here. There was a little bit of cover that was all but incidental. It was things like there being a wheelbarrow that had been left out. A wagon. Maybe if someone was able to convince that ox to stay where it was.

It left me feeling that a single man, being careful and stealthy, would be able to make it to the walls without being too badly hindered. But a man in full armour would find it all but impossible. Which is how the people of Toussaint think after all.

“Assaulting this is going to be tricky.” Guillaume commented as we rode up the road towards the manor.

“I notice that you say “is going to be tricky” rather than “would be tricky”. You already think we’re going to attack this place?”

“I do.” GUillaume said.

“Why?”

“Because if we don’t, I dunno Freddie. There is something in my gut that tells me that if we don’t do this now, then the bastard is going to get away with it.”

I found that I agreed with him.

The feeling about the area was that it was a place of resting on its heels, depending on past glories. They weren’t moving forwards or coming up with new ideas and innovations. Instead, they were just maintaining. They were treading water rather than choosing a direction and swimming.

And there were absolutely no villagers around at all. That was trying to tell me something although I couldn’t think of what it was.

We got to the gate and it was shut. There was light coming from the top of the walls, so there were definitely people there although I couldn’t see them. Some of the money that hadn’t been spent on other parts of the manor had been spent here. The door was made of solid, seasoned wood, bound in iron from the look of it. There were no glimmers of torchlight that came from the edges or the bottom of the gate. The wall was in good repair, none of the splintered or crumbling stonework that is the sign of bad maintenance. This was kept clean and it was well maintained despite sinking in a couple of places. To my mind, this was the kind of maintenance that anyone could do but one day soon, if not on a day that had already passed, a proper mason would need to be brought in.

There was a large, flat, open area directly in front of the gate where the ground had been frozen hard. The light rain and the damp was getting into it a little but it was more a question of whether or not that new water would, itself, freeze over time.

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I found myself wondering what the ground would be like to fight on.

“Sir Raoul LeBlanc.” Guillaume called. “Come forth and treat with us.”

“Who calls?” A voice came that I didn’t recognise.

“I am Sir Guillaume de Launfal. Knight of Saint Francesca. Knight of Toussaint and I am charged with the keeping of law in Toussaint.”

“We will send for him.” Said the voice. I rather thought that I had been in Toussaint a little too long for the voice felt rude, uncultured and there was a dark accent to it. “Although I warn you that it is unlikely that Sir Raoul will come. He does not recognise your authority on his lands. Who is that with you?”

“He might not recognise it.” Guillaume said. “But the Duchess of Toussaint does and she rules here whether Sir Raoul likes it or not. If he refuses then the Duchess will consider him to be in open rebellion against her and will act accordingly. My companion is Lord Frederick von Coulthard of Redania.”

“I have heard of him.” The voice said. “The Vampire whore’s fool.”

I laughed. There is only so many things that you can do in the face of such things.

“Tell me Lord Frederick.” The man was angry at the laughter. I mentally dismissed him as being an idiot. If you are going to get angry about the fact that someone laughed at you insulting them, then you have no business insulting anyone in the first place. “How does it feel to bend your knee to the thing that killed hundreds. To bow before a monster and a demon that will steal your soul and everything that you care about.”

“I wouldn’t know.” I told him. “I have only knelt to Ariadne once and that was because I could not put the ring on her finger standing. Otherwise, she would not permit me to kneel, she demands that I stand up and be proud. And I am proud for that matter. But to address your point. How would it feel to bow to a beautiful woman?” I pretended to consider the matter. “It would feel really good actually. Considerably better than having to pay for a woman to let you anywhere near her.”

It was a cheap insult and not one I am particularly proud of. All I can say is that I was not having a good day.

“Or are you talking about someone else?” I wondered. “Are you talking about the Empress I wonder? Again, it was remarkably easy all things considered. And I would rather kneel to her than to the breaker of laws that you are trying to protect. Tell me, how does it feel to lick the boots of those that claim to be your betters? Are you not able to find any boots of people that are worth licking perhaps? Again, it’s not really my thing but I would rather lick the feet of beautiful women than…”

“That’s enough.” Sir Raoul called from the top of the wall. “You are not at your best Lord Frederick.” he called down in a companionable tone.

“What can I say?” I shouted up. “It’s been a long day.”

“Yes I can imagine.” The two of us spoke as though we were old friends. “There is also the factor that your opponent in these matters is not the best opponent that you might face for such entertainments. But then again, I do not choose the Captain of my militia for his witty repartee.”

“Just the quality of his bootlicking?” I wondered. “The proper texture of the tongue and the like.”

Someone shouted in anger, but Raoul laughed. ‘Ah Freddie.” He shouted. “I really do regret that we could not have met each other in better circumstances. I really feel that the two of us could have been friends you know. We share a sense of humour. Maybe if I had been born a Northern Lord or if you had been born in Toussaint. Maybe we could have been friends.”

“Believe me.” I said, bowing from the saddle. “I have nightmares about such a possibility.” I did my best to smile.

He laughed again, even Sir Guillaume chuckled.

“You see Lord Frederick?” Sir Raoul wondered. “You see what you are capable of when you have a proper opponent to face. Speaking of facing opponents, we have not had the news yet. Did your Witcher beat Alain? I have some money riding on the outcome.”

“Kerrass was declared the victor.” I said with no small amount of relish. There was more than one voice rising in shock and horror at that but Raoul’s voice lifted in victorious laughter.

“I knew it.” He yelled. “Oh, thank him for me would you? if you get the chance of course.”

Notice the if.

“I will.” I said, not bothering to hide my surprise. “You bet on Kerrass?”

“Yes. I rather thought that Alain didn’t have the heart to carry it through against the Witcher. There are many things that make a good duellist and Alain certainly has most of them, I cannot deny that. But one of the things that he is lacking is heart to push through. He relies on his speed and his strength and his skill, which will carry him through against most opponents. But against someone with the skill of the Witcher? He would need something more. He would need heart. And that he doesn have. Your Witcher hated him, and rightly so if you ask me. I rather thought that hatred would carry the day. I am glad to hear that it did. I stand to earn quite a bit of money off the back of that.”

“I will tell Kerrass. His wounds were severe and he will need to recover. Can he expect a share of the winnings?”

Raoul laughed again. He seemed to be enjoying the stand off.

“I think not.” He said. “I need the money you see. I might pay for his healing if the final total turns out to be considerable. But now to business.”

His voice became harsh and unpleasant.

“Sir Guillaume. Your presence before my door is harsh and unwelcome. You will remove yourself sir or you will suffer the consequences.”

“I am here on behalf of the Duchess of Toussaint.” Sir Guillaume said. “You are under arrest for taking part in the “Jack conspiracy” against the throne which also includes conspiracy to commit murder and various other crimes too horrible to name. You will open your gate immediately to place yourself into our custody. Your property will then be searched. You will also release those Knights and soldiers that you have taken into imprisonment immediately, having returned to them any belongings that have been taken. If one hair on any of their heads has been harmed, then the penalties will be harsh.”

I couldn’t see Raoul. But I could certainly hear him when he started to laugh after a long moment. “Is that all?” He asked incredulously before letting his laughter ring out into the echoing darkness. It wasn’t long before his men and followers started to join him in the hilarity. Which he allowed to go on and on and on.

“Are you done?” Guillaume shouted up at the walls. “Come on Raoul, you are not a stupid man. You know which way the wind is blowing and you know which way this is going to end up. Open the gates, let your hostages go and we will find you a nice monastery somewhere to go and retire to.”

“Is that it?” Raoul demanded, the edge of hilarity in his voice. “Is that your enticement? Is that your bribe to try and get me to do what you want me to do? An out of the way monastery. You are right Sir Guillaume. I am not stupid and I know exactly that, even if I wanted to go to some monastery to live out the rest of my life in… I dunno… contemplation, prayer and frantic masturbation. You and I both know that it wouldn’t stay that way for long with me as an inmate. How long before the monks are mixing with the nuns? How long before the local women start to become pregnant and how long before I escape and come back to wealth and fame.

“No Guillaume, I think that you are many things but I do not think that you can promise me that. I think that I will be placed under arrest, imprisoned and then that you will find something, even if it is planted there by one of the agents that undoubtedly works for you that you have placed in my household. I think you will find something that will have me condemned. If I open my gates now and allow you access, how long before I am dead? Even if it is an accident in the cells.”

Guillaume didn’t react to that. He didn’t even seem particularly unhappy about it.

“Are you suggesting that we would plant something in your holdings? He wondered of the wall. As I say, we couldn’t see where Raoul was and as such, there was no way of guessing who we were shouting at.

“Of course I am suggesting that.” Raoul answered. “Because there is nothing here to suggest that I have had anything to do with these most recent killings. I am innocent.”

“We have witnesses.” Guillaume started to sound bored.

“Bribed.” Raoul answered promptly. “Desperate. Determined to take petty revenge on their betters. There are any number of grudges that would be revenged by my peers. Even if your accusations are above board, there are plenty of underhanded people that would go out of their way to see to it that I would fall. Tortured men will tell the questioner what they think they want to hear. Prisoners will say anything on the record if they think it will get them a lighter sentence. And anyone that is left… Well. I am a Knight of Toussaint. What petty accusations are they making. Would you honestly take the word of some foreigner over me? Some peasant or… worse… some merchant?”

“We have evidence.” Guillaume shouted up before turning to me. “He likes the sound of his own voice doesn’t he?” Guillaume muttered quietly.

“This is his moment.” I muttered back. “He is showing off, carving out his place in history. He is not convincing us, he is convincing himself and the other people watching.”

“Forged.” Raoul shouted down. “Fabricated. Anyone can write anything down, or make anything or do anything that will make for “evidence.” I am a Knight of the Realm of Toussaint. I was anointed by the sacred piss and stood my vigil by the holy shit pit. I said my oaths and I made my donations.

“Just out of curiosity though.” Raoul called down. “Just so I know, what happens if I say no. What happens if I refuse to do any of these things. What happens if I tell you where to get off and that I refuse to acknowledge your prestige over me. What happens then?”

Guillaume grinned savagely. “Then we will destroy you.”

“Oh?” Raoul laughed again, joined by the other men on the wall. “Whenever you are ready Sir Guillaume. When you are making your plans you should know that I am aware of the five man teams that are watching my other gates. I have experienced crossbowmen and archers watching all the approaches. You would need to advance over open ground to get to me and given that you have only just got here, you do not have the time to build ladders and my gates are more than capable of standing up to a ram.”

Again, Guillaume said nothing.

“And further to that.” Raoul went on, warming to his subject. “I also know that you have maybe thirty men with you. And although you, undoubtedly, have some formidable warriors with you, I outnumber you over two to one.”

He laughed.

“Couple that with the fact that you have to know that the moment, the very instant that we see an attack forming up outside our gates, is also the moment that I start having my people slit the throats of some of the bandits that I have in my custody.”

“Bandits? You are talking about the guard Captain of Beauclair and his men.”

“They entered my lands without permission and undertook military action without my say so.” Raoul answered promptly. Not for the first time while I was in Toussaint, I got the feeling that I was watching a piece of street theatre that was being put on for my benefit. That the words had been rehearsed and arranged in advance. It certainly seemed that no sooner had Guillaume said something than Raoul had the answer ready and waiting.

“I take it you have demands for the release of those people?” Guillaume asked.

“Come on Guillaume,” Raoul sneered. It is a special type of man that can put a sneer into a tone of voice. It is the same tone of voice that says things like “Don’t you know who I am?” and “You people,”.

“Well what do you want Raoul?” Guillaume demanded. “You can’t stay in your manor house forever. You can’t hold those people indefinitely. What do you want?”

“I want an apology.” Raoul said. “I want the Knight Commander herself to kneel before my gates and beg for my forgiveness before she resigns her office in disgrace. I want it read out in open court that the Knights of Saint Francesca have pursued a vendetta against the old elements of the Knights Errant in order to prove themselves better than we were. I want you all to admit that this Jack killer should have been caught days ago, that you knew who he was but protected him so that you could sweep your political enemies off the board. And when all of that is done, or certain guarantees are made so that I can believe that it is going to happen, then I might release my captives.”

“It is my turn to rebuke you Raoul.” Guillaume shouted. “We both know that there is more than one Jack figure. And that you are in the middle of the conspiracy?”

“Do we?” Raoul answered. “I can account for my whereabouts every evening that Jack attacked someone, so how can I be part of this conspiracy of yours. I cannot speak for everyone on my estates or my lands and if there is someone here that was part of such a thing, then I demand the power to be able to chase them down myself. But for me, I had nothing to do with it. There will be further proof the next time Jack kills. If you think you have us all, then where is Jack. And when he comes forth again, how will you pin it on us? If you have caught us all then Jack should be defeated should he not?”

He laughed.

“Let me tell you what is going to happen. You are not going to attack me. You do not have the authority to order such an action on your own behalf. I suppose that you could mount a single handed attack if you wanted to but beyond that, it will take more men and more equipment to reach me in here than you have. You must take my demands back to the Knight Commander and then, being weak, softhearted and selfish that she is. She will want to delay. It is well known that she loves the guard Captain because her tastes are well known to be crude and common. She will not risk his life. So there will be negotiation, there will be delays and as you go, more and more men of Toussaint will start to question as to what happens if it is them that the throne starts to victimise and whether or not the Knight Commander has what it takes to do the job she does.”

“I will take your demands away.” Guillaume said.

“You have until dawn to give me some timescales.”

“Or what?” Guillaume demanded. “You kill a hostage?”

“You said that.” Raoul really has an expressive voice. Now I could hear him grin. “Not me. Fuck off Guillaume.”

Guillaume turned his horse away and I went to follow.

“Farewell Lord Frederick.” Raoul shouted after us. “I look forward to seeing you again soon.”

We were riding down the track carefully when I could no longer stand the silence.

“What happens now?” I wondered.

“Hmm? Oh,” Guillaume sighed and scratched his forehead. “The truth, Freddie? I’m a little bit out of my depth here. Not two years ago, hells, not even a year ago. I would probably now be dead. I would have called Raoul out for the black hearted liar that he is. I would have hurled all kinds of insults and demanded that he fight me one on one for the safety of those men. I would have called him an honourless dog…”

“Which he is.” I commented.

“... and I would have questioned his manhood and I would not have stopped until I ran out of breath. And if he did not come out to face me, then I would have dismounted from my horse and I would have taken my broadsword to the wooden gates that had been barred in the sure knowledge that my steel and righteous anger would not be turned aside.”

“He would have shot you.” I said after I got my breath back from just how angry Guillaume was.

“Yes he would have,” Guillaume seemed to deflate. “I do not know what to think, Freddie. I do not know what I am afraid of. I do not know whether it’s the fact that I was blind and now I can see clearly. That possibility is bad enough, but the other possibility is that there was once a world like that which I imagine. Where he would have come out to face me in honourable one-on-one combat. That we would be riding away with Damien and the rest and that we would have found proof that Raoul was part of the Jack conspiracy. Was it ever like that Freddie?”

“I don’t know.”

“Come on Freddie I mean…”

“No I really don’t know. I think that there were times like that in different places in the world. I know that Temeria used to have a chivalric tradition for some time. I think you would recognise the Skelligan honour a lot more than either you, or they, would like to admit.”

He grunted at that. “Back when I was a Knight Errant, charging around the countryside looking for wrongs to right and monsters to slay. Turning down propositions from maidens, and gentlemen too to be fair, I would hear about Knights that had been sent to go and deal with this place and that place. Men who were sent to clear out bandit nests and the like. Good men, proud men. And quite often we would hear the story about how they rode up to the bandit camp and challenged the Bandit leader. There would be stories about the huge Bandit and his armour draped in human skin and about the epic battle that took place between the two. All of this before the Knight would be slain by the brute. The brute that would often look like Sir Gregoire if I think back to the descriptions that I heard.”

I waited for him to get to the point.

“Things like this.” He went on after a moment. “Make me think that we were too harsh on those men. We used to tell each other that we would have defeated the black guard. That we would have triumphed more easily. That they just weren’t powerful or skilled enough to make it happen. But the truth is that there was no duel. There was no battle. The Knight might have killed a few bandits before being dragged from his horse, or having his horse shot out from under him, and being pushed into the mud until he drowned.”

“Even the mightiest man may be felled by a single arrow shot from the dark.” I quoted. “And sooner or later, to the conniving man, it will occur that all men must sleep, and all men must eat. And if you want a man killed, there are far more efficient ways of doing it than using a sword.”

Guillaume grunted unhappily at that.

“Raoul would never fight me.” He said. “He knows that I would win and he will not want to risk it. We need anonymity in the Knights for that to work. We need people to be unaware of who we are and what we are capable of. So that we can fight and others can not know who we are. So they cannot plan for our presence.”

I had nothing to say for that. Something was scratching in the back of my mind. An idea that I didn’t want to look at. I had a sinking feeling that it wasn’t a very good idea and that I would hate it when I realised what it was.

My headache was getting worse.

We came back to our little copse of trees and Kerrass came to take my reins and help me from the saddle. I was astonished and mortified to discover that I needed it.

“Deep breaths Freddie.” He told me and I did as I was told until my legs stopped shaking from the exertion of keeping me upright.

Guillaume came for me and Kerrass led us both to where Syanna and the others were waiting. It was a little up a hill where a narrow, rock strewn path led us to the summit that was crowned with loose stones and a smattering of winter bare trees. I shivered as it reminded me of another hill that I had taken refuge on in Northern Redania.

I mean, this is the frustrating thing about it. The two hills were nothing alike. The one in Northern Redania where we had fought off the hounds of Lord Cavill had been a small rise in the middle of the valley. We had been doing that in the late spring dampness of the mountains. There the trees formed a pattern, here they were just… there. Too high for anyone to bother to go and chop them down for firewood.

But it was dark and I found myself looking for the mist that would be hiding the enemies that I was sure were going to come for me. I shook my head and rubbed at my eyes until the spectres of the past retreated far enough to see the other differences. Including the fact that we were not actually near the summit of the hill. We were just below the ridge line so that we could peek over the top of the line and see the Manor house of Sir Raoul Leblanc.

It was a good vantage point and I would later learn that it was one of those watch places that you can find around the countryside. A place for guards to watch the approaches for invading enemies or for shepherds to watch as many sheep as possible.

There was even a small stack of firewood and a flat area that had been burnt clear with a small circle of stones to show where we were supposed to build a fire. Someone had done that already and was heating a small cauldron of tea that was then being passed around. A sheepskin was arranged to keep the light from the manor house.

One of the constants of soldier life, apparently, is that there is always enough supplies for the soldier to have a mug of something hot and herbal.

Ariadne brought me a cup. When I took a sip it was more heavily honeyed than I would normally prefer it but there was a bitter aftertaste and rasp in the back of my throat that suggested to me that there were more herbs than just tea in the depths of my cup. I looked up at Ariadne and raised my eyebrows in question.

She nodded. “I will catch you.” She told me.

I maintained long eye contact with her as I took as large a swallow as my throat could handle given the heat that was in the liquid.

“Well.” Syanna demanded. “What did he say?”

Guillaume took a deep breath and pulled himself to attention before shrugging. “He said no.”

Syanna’s hand came up to her mouth as her eyes widened and began to shine in the small firelight.

“You were gone a long time for him to just say no.” Gregoire commented, not quite perceptive enough, not quite knowing us all enough to be able to read what was happening.

Syanna turned away and fled into the gloom. Ariadne looked at me and I nodded, cradling my tea in my hand as Ariadne slunk into the darkness to go and support the distraught Knight Commander.

I could feel the false and herbal energy of the tea shooting through my limbs with a warm, rushing kind of sensation.

“He said…” Guillaume accepted a cup from the old Knight before ladling himself a mug full. “He said that if he sees us mounting an attack, or marshalling an attack, he will start killing hostages.” He took a sip from his steaming cup, grimaced, spat and then took another swallow. It was not lost on me that he hadn’t put any honey in the drink.

Gregoire nodded.

“I mean,” Guillaume went on. “There was some other stuff as well. Some small insults and petty bickering. I agree with the assessment that there is something else going on here that I do not know or do not understand. But the long and short of it is that he said no. There are hostages in the Manor. If we go in in force then the hostages start dying.”

“He gave us until dawn to answer his demands.” I said.

“What were the demands?” Gregoire wondered.

“Does it matter?” Kerrass wondered. “He’s playing for time.”

A gloomy silence sank over our little council of war.

“So what’s he waiting for?” Gregoire asked. “That’s the key here isn’t it. What’s he waiting for? There is no way he gets away with this. No way that anyone is going to let him go, or is going to forget that he denied the Knights access to his person or his manor at the point of a swerve. What could possibly happen that could prevent him from a sudden stop at the end of a rope.”

“Technically, he will be beheaded.” Guillaume replied. “He is still a noble.”

“You wanna bet. Five crowns says that even now, some clerk somewhere is destroying his writ and removing him from the records.” The old Knight said. “It would be a good final insult if they stretched his neck. And I can think of few people that I would rather see that happen to.”

“He thinks…” I began before clearing my throat. The tea was unusually bitter now that I was getting far enough down that the liquid was getting cooler. “He thinks that popular opinion will turn in his favour. He is hiding behind old laws and old traditions in order to justify his actions. He thinks that this is going to tie everything up in the Toussaint judicial system until either the political wind shifts or something else happens.”

I finished the tea and poured myself another cup. I was utterly unsurprised to find that this cup was considerably less bitter than the last one.

“Like many of the people that disapprove of the new order in Toussaint, he has forgotten that these changes were ordered by the Empress of Toussaint. That if these orders are denied then the Imperial army might just turn up. That this is one of those areas that the Duchess is powerless in. The world is changing and men like Raoul are the last of a dying breed of men who are fighting against the fact that… soon, they will be extinct.”

“All that is very interesting, Freddie.” Kerrass was laughing at me. “And all of it is true, but there is something else here. He knows that he can’t stay in there forever. He has to know that. I mean, even if there are supplies in there, how long can he last? It’s not a big place and he has quite a few men with him. All of which will need feeding.”

“And paying.” Guillaume said. “Some of those men, at least, are mercenaries and I know that some mercenaries are honest men who are just doing a job. But those men struck me as the slightly more sinister versions of the breed. And such men are only happy to stay in place so long as the money keeps rolling in.”

“And the women.” Gregoire muttered darkly. “Money, food, wine and women. That is my experience of that type of mercenaries that are little more than bandits.”

“There is a reason why mercenaries are generally not used to sieges.” Guillaume said. “Even the most hard, honest mercenary starts to wonder why he is fighting if the money dries up. Holding the siege? Yes. A mercenary can do that. But being besieged?”

“If we had to attack? How would we do?” Kerrass asked. I was heartened by the way that he spoke. I noticed the “we” in what he said and how he would group himself up in with the rest of it.

“There’s a lot of unknowns there.” Guillaume said. “There are a good few of them and there is little to no cover between here and the wall so it would also depend on how good and how accurate the bows and crossbows are that they have. We have horses which means that we have speed, but that will only count for so much when it comes down to it.”

There was some general shifting of weight.

“We don’t have ladders or rams or any kind of siege equipment so we would have to get there and climb over the walls.” The Old Knight said. I’m really sorry that I’ve forgotten his name but my notes are elsewhere as I write this chapter up and I’m afraid that I just can’t remember. “There are places that we could climb over but it would be tough.”

“Can we use some magic?” Gregoire said. “We have a Sorceress and a Witcher,”

“Not as useful as you might think.” Kerrass told him. “And there is nothing there that would prevent the defenders from murdering hostages by the dozen while we still struggled to get through the gates. It would be better, and far more efficient to have strong men with big axes to take down the gates. And that is if Lady Ariadne is willing to use her skills in such a way. Large scale magic is not as discriminatory as we might think.”

“As to the quality of men?” Guillaume was sucking at his lips. “Pound for pound I think we are better than they are. We are better armed and armoured and I would expect that we are better trained. In a stand-up fight then I would expect that we could take on two to one odds if not more. We will lose people though. Some of our folks haven’t faced a man in anger. Some others of them are guards rather than soldiers. It will be bloody. In my mind, we need to find another way to do this rather than attacking. The loss of life, hostages as well as our side, will be significant.”

There was some more gloomy nodding.

“Will he duel one of us for it?” Gregoire asked without much hope.

Guillaume shook his head. “Freddie and I talked about that as we came back. He’s being stupid, but not that stupid. He knows something we don’t, otherwise he would have fled already I think.”

I nodded at that. “He is certainly the type of man that would flee when he knew the game was up. He will have investments abroad and will go and live in exile in comfort somewhere where money will go further than it does in Toussaint.”

Gregoire was appalled. “Exile?” He shuddered, as did the older Knight.

“Better than death.” Guillaume said. “It would be hard because I love Toussaint, but if it came to a choice between my wife’s life and leaving Toussaint? There are some things that it would be worth. And Raoul hates everything. I do not think he would even hesitate if it came down to it. He is not like you or I Gregoire. He doesn’t love Toussaint like we do.”

“He hates it.” I commented to some more nodding.

“But he won’t duel us.” Guillaume said again. He might… He might be able to take us with a lance and on horseback…”

“He is certainly getting to the point where he is better than me on a regular basis.” Gregoire admitted.

“... But with a sword?.. And on foot?... He knows that either you or I could take him. And he is better than any of the other Knights that are here. And even if he lost, would he abide by the results? The man is part of a conspiracy to bring down the throne or reduce the Duchess’ power and part of that effort was done by raping and murdering women. He would not fight us. We need another plan.”

“Can we sneak in?” Kerrass wondered.

“It would be difficult.” I told him. “The ground is open between any cover and the wall and the gates are shut. The interior is well lit and the watchers are alert and ready for it.”

Kerrass grunted.

“It could be done.” I said, If there was a misty night, or if there was a distraction or something.” The scratching at the back of my head was getting louder. “But we would need more time to prepare.

“Time.” Gregoire said. “Then time is the answer. How do we get more time?”

“We negotiate.” Guillaume spat. “We play into his hands for now and we answer his demands. We prolong things and wait for him to slip up. We wait and make sure that we can neutralise whatever plan it is that he is cooking up and then we move on from there.”

“There will be no negotiation.”

Syanna had come back and she was terrifying.

There is a moment that I remember from back when Francesca had gone missing. It is one of those moments that sticks out in my memory. I wrote about it at the time but it was one of those moments that sticks out the most. It was not a moment of violence or a moment of the magic that was in the air, it was actually quite a simple moment.

I remember it clearly, standing in the Empress’ study in the palace as she read through the final reports on the search for my sister and there came a moment where the Empress set the piece of paper aside and put her head in her hands for a long moment. Then she looked up and seemed to shake herself and move on.

I remember it so clearly and even at the time, even through my own grief, anger and despair at everything that had happened and was still happening, I remember realising that what I had just seen was a person giving someone up for dead.

It was a terrible moment. One of those moments that I look back on with great sadness. Seeing someone give up a friend for dead. I have seen similar moments on the faces of families when Kerrass and I are forced to return to the contract giver and inform them that there is no longer any hope and that the person that went missing is now dead. But that is never quite as bad because then there is a thing that can be blamed. A monster that can be pointed at and destroyed.

A body to bury.

But in that moment, when the Empress gave my sister up for dead, there was no body to bury, no monster to blame and no certainty as to what was happening.

This was worse.

I missed the moment that it occurred. I missed the moment of decision but I had no doubt as to what I was looking at when I saw Syanna that night as she came out of the darkness, Ariadne standing nearby.

She had given up the captives for dead.

How she had done that, I will never know. I don’t think I could have done it. I don’t think that I could do it now. If someone I loved, if Ariadne was taken, then I would do everything in my power to get her out of whatever situation that she was in and be damned to the consequences of anything, or anyone else. But that is also the reason that I am not the commander of some kind of Knightly order or general in some kind of army. I am grateful that I don’t have to make these kinds of decisions. Because I am not sure that I could.

“We do not negotiate.” Syanna said. “If the state, or the Knights, start negotiating with anyone that is willing to hold hostages or use blackmail. Then we will never stop negotiating with hostage takers and blackmailers. That is a cycle that never ends. Bastards all over Toussaint will think that all they have to do to get away with treason, murder, rape and conspiracy is to take a bunch of hostages and then we will bend over backwards to accommodate them.”

She swallowed.

“There has to be a line and we have to draw it. We are drawing it here and there cannot be an exception. It will be much harder to do it down the line as people will say that we played favourites. And they would be right to say it.”

She looked as though she had aged twenty years. She looked as though she was on the verge of passing out. She was pale and sweating. Holding herself upright by determination and an iron will that came from a place that I cannot even comprehend. Her eyes were sunken and shadowed she looked… She looked like a ghost as her armour shone in the firelight.

There was the sound of something roaring in my ears.

“Madame Comtesse.” Syanna turned to Ariadne. “If I could prevail upon you to contact someone at Beauclair and tell them that I am ordering up reinforcements and that I want them tonight. Anyone that can be spared please. We still have some coming and we should set a watch for their arrival.”

Ariadne nodded.

One of the things that was freaking me out was that Syanna was so quiet. She seemed almost like a Golem only made out of flesh and blood.

“Guillaume?” Syanna turned back to the other Knights. “I want a plan of attack. At most we can expect another twenty or so fighters to come up tonight and I want us to attack as soon as they get here.”

Guillaume paled and nodded.

“Surely…” Gregoire was appalled. “Surely there must be another way.”

“What other way?’ Syanna asked calmly. “You tell me and I will do it. Tell me how we rescue those captives and….”

She swallowed and took a breath.

“Tell me how we do it. He won’t come out to fight us. I couldn’t take him as he is too strong for me. You and Guillaume could beat him but he won’t come out to fight you. I heard you both admit it yourself. We can’t use stealth to sneak in as there is no cover on the way up to the Manor house and so any force that would make a difference would see us coming. I have spoken with Araidne about the prospect of using magic to get the job done and she assures me that Magic will only take the matter so far forward. She can only transport one person into the courtyard at a time, such an action will not be subtle. She can’t turn a big enough force invisible and even if she did that, what is inside the compound?”

I looked over at Kerrass to see that he was looking at the floor. The magic light was dancing around his body still, he was still healing. I could see no injuries and he was moving as he would normally, but if there was still healing going on, then there were still injuries somewhere in the middle of all of that. He was not an answer. And still my headache was getting worse.

There was an itching at the back of my head still and I couldn’t figure out what it was. A thought was occurring, an idea but I couldn’t reach it. In the same way that it is sometimes hard to reach an itch at the back of your throat without gagging.

“We don’t know layout, terrain or deployment.” Syanna was still carrying on. “Ariadne could bring us out of whatever magically induced… spell that she has us under in order to get the job done only to find ourselves surrounded by swords. So what do we do Gregoire? What do we do to save their lives and make sure that this shit never happens again.”

She was just beginning to lose control of herself. Just beginning with it. A tremble in the hands, a wobble of the lips a rasp in the voice.

Gregoire stared at her, open mouthed and horrified.

“Tell me what to do.” Syanna begged. You could just about hear the hysteria on the edge of her voice. “Tell me how to save the life of the man that I love and I will do it. Give me a different idea. Please.”

Her lip wobbled, just a moment and then she closed her eyes and mastered herself. It was just a moment of weakness and she banished it with a will that was awe inspiring.

When her eyes opened, they were cold and hard again, steely and sure.

“We are going to attack because we cannot allow a delay. He has broken enough laws now that he hangs, no matter what the outcome. He is depending on us… on me… to be a bleeding heart, a weak willed person. He is expecting me to bow before his demands because he considers me weak. If we let him go, we are doomed.

“I am aware that I am condemning those other Knights and guards to death. Damien too.” Her voice did not crack when she said his name. “But this is the life that we lead. They know that and we know that. There might be an argument to negotiate further if they were common folk hostages but they are not. They are military men. And I know that as I lead this attack, Raoul is going to stand Damien out on the wall where I can see him and he’s going to slit his throat. And then he’s going to say that I killed him.

“And he will be right.”

“That’s not true.” Guillaume said. “You didn’t kill him….”

I noticed the past tense already.

“You didn’t kill him. Raoul did. And we will punish him for that murder.”

Syanna nodded. “Thank you, Guillaume. I know that my sister will agree with you, as will the other philosophers and things. But I must accept the blame for this. I am giving this order knowing that it might lead to the death of those men. That is sometimes the price of things. My punishment if you like.”

“Wait.” I said quietly. “I have an…”

“Colonely Duberton warned me that this would happen one day.” Syanna went on, not hearing me, but no-one heard me. “He told me that I would need to give an order that would end in the death of some of my people. I just… I didn’t know that it was going to happen so soon, or that it was going to involve the man that I…”

She swallowed.

“We can’t give up on them.” Gregoire pleaded. The huge Knight sounded heartbroken. “There has to be something.”

“What? He won’t fight us, we can’t use…”

“He’ll fight me.” I said, Louder than I thought it was going to be. “He’ll fight me.”

And just like that. My headache vanished as the thought in the back of my head, The itch that I couldn’t identify was finally given voice.

Guillaume and Gregoire were stunned. Kerrass turned to me and smiled. Ariadne was out of my sightline.

“Freddie.” Syanna tried. “I love you for offering, but you’re in no shape to…”

I shook my head, throwing off her argument.

“He’ll fight me. He won’t pass up that opportunity. But here. He has proven himself to be dishonourable right?”

“Right.” Guillaume agreed. “He has sunk pretty low.”

“So if I remember this rightly, that makes him an enemy of yours. An enemy of ours. Which, in turn, means that we can use any tactics we like against him right?”

Guillaume nodded. “I don’t…”

“Freddie has a plan.” Kerrass told him. “It will be a foolish plan. It will almost certainly risk his life and if might end up killing him. But damn me if it doesn’t often work.”

“We can’t…” Syanna tried. “I can’t… Freddie, you were all but swaying in the saddle. You can barely stand. You can’t take on a man like Raoul.”

“That’s not the point though.” I told her.

“What?” She almost looked as though she was in pain.

Hope can be painful when it comes so soon after despair.

“I want to hear the plan.” Guillaume said.

“So do I.” Gregoire agreed. “This man arranged for me to become engaged to the woman that I have loved for almost my entire adult life.” He grinned suddenly in a way that took years off him. “If he can manage that, this seems like a relatively easy task.

“Knight Commander.” Ariadne said. “You should listen to what Lord Frederick has to say.”

Ariadne was staring at me intently, her eyes shadowed with an emotion that I didn’t recognise.

“But you’ll be killed.” Syanna said, pleadingly.

I laughed. I don’t know where it came from. Kerrass claimed that it sounded like a Skelligan berzerker’s laugh. “In his wet dreams.” I told her. “But that’s not the point.”

Syanna looked at me for a long time.

“Tell me the plan.” She said.

(A/N: A little shorter chapter this time. But it was cut off here because otherwise, it would have been twice the length and I want to keep the content coming on a more regular basis. Sorrynotsorry about the cliffhanger.)