At first, Gorfeld’s prediction seemed to be entirely wrong.
It was true that the city was awash with rumors about what Matt had done. Evidence of their King’s newfound power did plenty to restore their spirits, though there were plenty that apparently thought he could have been using that power to their advantage more. Those who knew magic were more impressed than those who didn’t; the people of Redspire had always been ruled by masters of some sort of power, after all.
There was also a sudden burst of messengers, all headed for the four corners of the Kingdom. Matt noted that the ones headed for Ashpeak and Summerhall seemed to be moving faster than the others; he wondered what spin the people behind those messengers would put on events. Hopefully, it would be one that would favor the Kingdom as a whole, rather than encouraging them to continue squabbling.
After that, however, it seemed as if things grew unsettlingly calm. Construction on both the museum and the sewers progressed at a steady pace; the people of Redspire did their best to recover from the unexpected earthquake that had disrupted their lives. Aside from occasional scuffles that the Guard broke up, there weren’t any more riots or upheavals among the freeholders.
News filtered back into Redspire from around the rest of the Kingdom. Grufen reported that all was well in Winterfast. The Frost Elves were honoring the terms of their surrender, and the Magistrate was encountering little resistance to their investigation. An Assembly had been held among the newly created freeholders, and a new Voice had been selected, a fact that the remaining nobles of the Elves were learning to work around.
A messenger from the Small Heights reported the Hill Guard was on the march. In fact, Lord Nuramesh had committed not four, but six banners of the warriors to Morteth’s command. They would march within the week, apparently, and reach Ashpeak a little over a week after that. It would be well ahead of the schedule that he’d set with the Margrave, a fact that gave him no small amount of peace of mind. All he had to do now was get his own forces moving on the way south from Shadowfen, and the trap for Teblas would be complete.
In the meantime, all he had to do was continue to watch over everything and practice his magic. His daily visits to the debris piles allowed him to refine his control of the Spells the Gnomes had given him, allowing him to direct the energy of the magic more closely. He slowly learned how to shatter rock across a wider area, instead of turning a smaller amount to dust. The tunnels he created could be narrower and longer, or wider and shorter; he even started to learn how to make them twist and curve, though Parufeth still didn’t trust him enough to let him help out with the digs for the sewers.
Still, it was enough progress that Matt started wondering if he was ready to start working on his next Source. Tanya had retreated to her room, and was apparently stubbornly working away on the mantras, a fact that mildly amused him. Perhaps she had a competitive streak of her own. Either way, she didn’t manage to create any further catastrophes for him while she was isolated, so he was happy enough with the situation.
It was on the fifth day that his brief period of peace came to an end.
He had just finished going over the reports on the information he had from the Sortenmoors, where the fighting had ground to a halt for a while. Apparently, recent snows had made moving around the area difficult, and Teblas had withdrawn to a kind of winter camp. Matt didn’t think that news of Morteth’s impending invasion had reached the rebel yet, otherwise Teblas would have already been moving across the Grim Hollows to rescue his homeland. All the same, Matt sent a few orders to have more scouts posted to watch the Orc’s camp. If they started to move east, Matt would need to move a bit earlier than expected as well.
Just as he started to go over the mantras for the element of Air, he heard a knock at his door. “Come in!”
Gorfeld stepped through the door, nodding to the lifeguards that were flanking the entrance. His steward had a scrap of parchment in his hand as usual, though his expression was far grimmer now than it had been in days. “Sire, we have news from Lady Einreth.”
Matt perked up. Einreth was the deceased Lord Braden’s sister, who had inherited the leadership of the Red Moon Orcs. She had demanded justice for her brother’s murder, and Matt had placed her in command of the half-shattered forces her brother had been leading, which were now stationed at Shadowfen. The city was the capital of the Blackleaf Goblins, and he’d half-suspected that Lady Suluth would try to assassinate Einreth the same way she’d been trying to kill him, if only to give her a chance to lead the Goblins into rebellion.
The Orc’s reports had not shown any sign of sedition in the city, however. If anything, the Goblins of Shadowfen had been falling all over themselves to provide proof of their loyalty. Einreth had been suspicious of their sincerity, and Matt not blamed her for it. She hadn’t caught any of Suluth’s agents, but Einreth had rebuilt the banners under her command, and was probably the best source of troops for his impending march south.
He didn’t like the hint that his steward’s expression was giving him, though. “What is it? Did Suluth try something?”
“No, sire.” Gorfeld shrugged. “At least, not directly. Apparently, the Lady Einreth has been challenged for the leadership of her Clan. She has to return to Heartlight in order to respond to her opponent, and has requested that you come to Shadowfen to assume direct command of the armies there.”
The trap was so obvious that Matt almost laughed. Instead, he sighed and placed a hand over his eyes. “Do we know if the challenge is genuine?”
“Yes, sire.” Gorfeld held up the parchment. “Lady Einreth sent a copy of the statement in her letter. It appears that a Lord Tolreth has decided that her actions are unworthy of the Clan’s leader, and has demanded that she face him in a duel.”
Matt grunted. “I’m assuming that she can’t refuse?”
The expression on Gorfeld’s face grew slightly horrified. “No, sire. In fact, if she does not respond immediately, then the leadership of the Clan will pass to Lord Tolreth and Lady Einreth will be expelled from the Clan entirely. She likely won’t even wait for your response before she sets out for Heartlight.”
A tidy little snare set especially for him. If Matt had to place a bet, he would guess that Lady Suluth was already waiting for him on the road to Shadowfen. Even if she wasn’t, there almost had to be assassins waiting in Heartlight for Einreth and in Shadowfen itself for him. He didn’t know if Suluth would actually try to seize Shadowfen without killing one or both of her targets; the troops in Shadowfen still had plenty of Red Moon Orcs with them, and they wouldn’t follow a traitor that had killed their previous leader.
At least, they wouldn’t do that unless there was a new leader of the Red Moons telling them to do so.
Matt thought over the various possibilities, and then nodded. “All right. We’ll need to move fast. Send a message to the garrison. I want Captain Karve to get three banners of Spears and two of Footmen ready to move. I also want Captain Snolt to prepare his banner and both banners of Shadow Hunters ready to move. The rest of the garrison also needs to mobilize, but they don’t need to move for a few more days.”
Gorfeld nodded, his eyes worried. “Yes, sire.”
“Send a message to Grufen as well. Have him send the Irregular banners back to Redspire. We’ll need them to watch the city while most of the Crown Guard is headed south.” Matt grimaced. “I probably should have asked for them sooner, but I thought I had at least a few days more time.”
“So you’ll be going to Shadowfen now, sire?” Gorfeld’s voice carried the same concern as his eyes.
“No.” Matt smiled at Gorfeld’s sudden confusion. “Karve is going to Shadowfen, with orders to take command of the troops there when he arrives. I’m taking the Wargs and heading to Heartlight. Send a messenger in that direction as well. I want to claim the right to supervise the duel, the way I did in Ashpeak.”
Gorfeld stared at him, his eyes wide. “That will mean the duel cannot take place before you arrive.”
“Yeah. It’ll also mean that whatever tricks Suluth and this Lord Tolreth are trying to pull, they’ll have to do it with me watching them.” Matt grinned. “It’ll also give Karve some more opportunities to show his diplomatic skills. Plus, if Suluth is waiting for me on the road…”
“She’ll end up charging into five banners of Crown Guard, all of whom are waiting for her.” There was a sudden satisfaction in Gorfeld’s expression. The steward had always seemed to dislike the former leader of the Blackleafs, and he’d taken special offense at her attempt on Matt’s life. “I imagine that will be quite a surprise, my liege.”
“Hopefully it will be enough of one to finally put a stop to her schemes.” He doubted it. The Shadow Hunters with her should be more than agile enough to avoid his foot soldiers, and she’d probably figure out that he hadn’t been fooled quickly enough to try to adjust her plans. Matt just hoped that he’d be able to continue to counter them until he was able to arrange a trap for her in turn.
Tanya found him later that day, as he was talking with the grooms in charge of Nelson.
The warbuck had apparently been shaken by the earthquake a few days earlier, but was recovering nicely. His chief groom, an Orc named Withar, hadn’t fared quite as well. Matt winced whenever he looked at the man’s sling, but Withar appeared to not hold the injury against him. “I’ve had worse, sire. Don’t trouble yourself over it.”
Matt was still looking over Nelson, checking for signs that the massive animal had been injured, when he heard Tanya clear her throat outside the stall. He looked over to find her glaring at him as if he’d just insulted her parents somehow. “Tanya. Something I can help you with?”
She practically snarled at him. “You’re leaving. Again.”
“Yep. Something I have to do sometimes.” He gave her a wry smile. “Though I didn’t know you would miss me so much while I was gone.”
“I wouldn’t.” Tanya took a step forward, only for Nelson to shake his massive antlers at her. She stopped in place, her eyes widening. Then they narrowed again with renewed fury. “You told the Council that you needed to supervise any proposals before I could present them.”
“I suggested it, yes.” Matt was still grinning as he turned back to Nelson and started soothing the beast back to calm. Nelson was excitable sometimes; an angry human woman was probably not something the warbuck encountered on the regular.
“Who gives you the right to tell me who I can and can’t speak to?” Her fists clenched like she wanted to take a swing at him, but she kept her distance. Matt was starting to get the idea that he should always try to talk to her with Nelson present.
“I’m the King. It kind of comes with the territory.” Matt gave her a level look. “Care to share what the Maiden of Art was going to propose while I was gone? It certainly wouldn’t have involved spending a literal fortune on something, using your connection to me as leverage, right?”
Tanya glared back at him, still fuming. He chuckled to himself and went back to brushing Nelson, momentarily secure in his invulnerability.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
He’d very nearly forgotten that she was there until she spoke up again. This time, the anger was buried deep. “So, where are you going, anyway?”
Matt glanced at her. Her expression was still a little frustrated, but she seemed like she had reined her temper in at least a bit. “A place called Heartlight. It’s the capital of the Red Moon Orcs. They’re a pretty important part of the Kingdom, and there’s some trouble going on with them. I need to make sure they are okay before I march south.”
“How long are you planning on being gone this time? You said a week or so last time, but it was longer.”
He gave her another glance, wondering if she was trying to see how much time she’d have to work around the restriction for the Council. She wasn’t going to have much success; he’d had a very pointed conversation with the Voices as well about blindly following ideas that seemed to come from the throne. It was a good lesson to learn early; Tanya wasn’t the only one that might try to use his name for a project that didn’t have his actual support. If she tried something, he’d hopefully be able to count on Girtun and Wokneth to block it.
“I’ll be gone for a while longer this time. Probably three or four weeks.” It would take at least a few days to handle Suluth’s plots, and by then, he’d need to get his army into the Grim Hollows. Hopefully Teblas wouldn’t spend the rest of the winter sitting in the Sortenmoors, but if he did, Matt had other options to put an end to the rebellion.
“That’s a pretty long time. Who knows how much magic I’ll know by then?” She smiled. “I finished my Winter foundation the other day. I’m betting I’m done with the Mind part in not much longer.”
Matt grunted sourly. “Good for you. I’m happy you are keeping busy.” At least, he was happy she wasn’t causing any more trouble for him.
“Still, it’s hard to keep focusing on things when all I do is sit inside.” Her voice turned contemplative. “Maybe I should take a trip to another spot. Might do me some good to travel a little.”
He froze. It took a lot of effort not to growl his next words. “You are not coming with us to Heartlight.”
Tanya grinned, as if pleased that she finally got the reaction she’d wanted. “And why not? It sounds like a wonderful place.”
“It’s the capital of a bunch of Orcs that choose their leaders with duels to the death. There’s probably half a dozen assassins waiting for us when we get there.” Matt forced himself to draw in a calming breath. “It isn’t safe for you to come with us. Maybe another time.”
“Oh please. If there is anything dangerous, they’ll be after you, not me, right?” Tanya shrugged casually. “I’m just some chick you’re supposedly banging on the side. What would they have to gain by killing me?”
He glared at her. “And if they decide to kidnap you and hold you hostage instead?”
Tanya raised an eyebrow. “Are you saying you wouldn’t come to the rescue?”
The fact that he would have to do exactly that was almost as irritating as her assuming he would. It wasn’t even about how he felt; a King who let someone from his household get taken and maybe killed didn’t exactly tend to have a lot of respect. “The point is, if you stay here, I wouldn’t have to worry about it at all. Which means it would be safer for everyone.”
“Why, because they wouldn’t come after me here, while you and most of your little guards are gone?” She pointed at him. “They are just as likely to take me here as there, and if I’m close to you, at least you could maybe help me. Otherwise, I’ll just have to sit around in some dungeon somewhere waiting for you to even hear that I was taken.”
“You’re assuming that I wouldn’t just leave you there anyway.” Matt heard Withar snort and glanced at the Orc. The groom was trying to hide his grin, but he wasn’t nearly as successful as he needed to be. He looked back at Tanya, who was trying to decide who she wanted to glare at more. “Look, can you even ride a mount? We aren’t exactly going to be walking there.”
She looked a bit baffled for a moment, and then folded her arms. “I can learn. You aren’t leaving right now, anyway.”
Matt gave her a considering look. Something told him that if he told her no, she’d find some way to make him regret it. She might even try to leave the city on her own, which might put the guards in the awkward position of having to lock her up. Not the best look for someone who was trying to avoid the reputation of being a power hungry tyrant. Especially since she nominally had the same rights as any freeholder, which included the ability to go where she wanted.
“Fine. If you can manage to learn to ride before we leave, then you can come. Otherwise, you stay here.” He held up a hand as she started to protest. “We’ll have to move fast, and we can’t afford to hang around waiting for you. Unless you’d rather ride with me on Nelson here?”
Tanya looked at the warbuck, obviously not enamored with that idea. Then her jaw clenched. “Fine.” She stalked off, looking into the other stalls for the stable. Matt watched her for a moment and tried not to laugh when she jumped after a Warg barked at her for bothering it. He heard Withar snort again and looked back at the groom.
The Orc was shaking his head. “Your…guest is certainly interesting, sire.”
Matt sighed. “I suppose you’re right, Withar.” He looked back to Tanya, who was now keeping a healthy distance between her and each of the stalls she peeked into. “What do you think her odds are?”
Withar coughed politely into his hand. “Your pardon, sire, but I don’t know if I would wager either way. My sister has a somewhat…similar temperament. It isn’t often that she gives up on something.”
“Then let’s hope someone gives mercy to whatever poor thing she decides to ride.” Matt tried to ignore Withar’s snort of laughter and went back to brushing Nelson. At least the warbuck didn’t seem to have any particular opinions on the Maiden. Everyone else seemed far too amused by the situation. He couldn’t wait until the mages finally figured out a way to send her home.
It took two days for his soldiers to get ready to leave.
Matt didn’t see much of Tanya during that time, a fact that he put down as a reward for his good deeds. Instead of worrying about her, he continued to practice his magic, and wrote instructions for Parufeth and Gorfeld to follow in his absence. The sewage systems were already taking shape, but they’d probably require at least three more weeks of work to finish, if everything went perfectly. In case things did go that well, he wanted his workers to get ready for the next stage of his projects.
While Parufeth got all the plans he needed to keep him busy through the end of the season, Gorfeld received the instructions for the deployment of his troops. There were far too many pieces moving on the board at the moment; the Hill Guard had just started their march to Ashpeak, and unless he missed his guess, the Irregulars would already be in motion towards Redspire as well. Even the Frost Elves might be in motion, though he had lost track of where their timeline was now. He told Gorfeld to keep them moving no matter what; the Hill Guard was to join Morteth, the Irregulars were to head to Shadowfen, along with the Elves, if they made it.
In the absence of Karve and Snolt, Matt left Captain Creps in command of the garrison. The Imp had accepted the responsibility with a hint of bitterness, likely due to being left behind again. Matt emphasized they were to stay in Redspire and send the Irregulars to join the forces at Shadowfen, something that only seemed to make Creps even more sour. Perhaps he was jealous of the honor being paid to Karve lately; Matt only hoped the feeling would drive him to work harder rather than trying to sabotage his fellow captain.
With the city arranged well, Matt rode out to join the rest of the cavalry. At that point, he was confronted with a sight that he hadn’t expected to see.
Tanya was there, flanked by her two Goblin assistants. She was sitting proudly on top of a delicate-looking icestag, one that had to have been taken during the fights with the Frost Elves. The woman looked almost unbearably smug. Her attendants were riding small, almost immature-looking Wargs, though they looked far more uncomfortable than Tanya did.
Matt rode up to her on Nelson, which made her icestag shy a little. Tanya controlled the animal without much effort, smiling indulgently. He raised an eyebrow. “It seems like you learn fast.”
Her smile grew. “I might have had a few horse-riding lessons back home.” She reached forward and stroked the icestag’s neck. “These creatures might not act completely the same, but I was able to find a pretty decent partner for the road ahead.”
Then she gave him a considering look. “You know, you don’t ride too badly yourself. Did you have lessons too?”
“Not exactly. Growing up on a ranch meant I didn’t really need them.” Matt shrugged and tried not to feel too sour about the fact that she was apparently coming along. “Come on, then. We need to move.”
Tanya and her assistants moved in behind him, with his lifeguards crowding in around all of them. She was chuckling to herself, and when Matt glanced at her, she rolled her eyes. “Oh, come on. You’re a cowboy. A cowboy king. It’s funny.”
He shrugged again, uncomfortably this time. “So glad you’re amused.”
They soon caught up to where the banners were waiting, with Captain Snolt at their head. The Goblin seemed impatient to be gone; Karve and his banners had already marched out of the city, heading southwest. Snolt bowed in his saddle as Matt drew close. “It is good to see you again, sire. Are we ready to go?” He glanced at Tanya and the others, clearly skeptical about their ability to keep up. Both Goblin attendants straightened up and returned his stare, while Tanya simply ignored him and continued to chuckle at Matt’s back.
“I believe we are ready, Captain. Let’s go. Lady Einreth is waiting for us.” Matt tried to shake off the feeling that the trip would be a disaster, and led the way out of the city. They crossed the river via the grand bridge and then turned west. The road to Heartlight was long, but he hoped it would be clear of danger.
At least until they arrived, of course.
The mounted column made surprisingly good time.
Carts had tamped down the snow between Redspire and Heartlight, leaving them much easier to follow than the roads in the east had been. It also helped that the terrain to the west was mostly flat compared to the hills and mountains in the High Peaks. Matt actually relaxed a little as they made their way along the road. The reassurance of having three whole banners of armed troops with him contributed greatly to his peace of mind.
To his surprise and resentful gratitude, Tanya managed to keep up fairly well. The icestag seemed to handle the slush and snow with impressive grace, picking its way across the road with an enviable lack of difficulty. Nelson seemed unbothered by his comparative lack of delicacy; the warbuck simply forged ahead with brute strength, comfortable now among the crowds of Wargs surrounding them. Whenever one of the beasts took too much interest, Nelson simply shook his antlers in warning, and the overgrown wolf understandably turned its attention elsewhere.
As they reached the first campsite, Matt and the lifeguard set up his tent and their own. A handful of them helped Tanya with her tent. She seemed infuriated by the cold, but she still retreated into the shelter without any real complaints.
Matt settled in for the night without fanfare, either. He knew he didn’t want to arrive in the Red Moon capital bedraggled and exhausted; he needed to move without quite as much of a rush, and to be fresh when he confronted whatever plots were happening there. His focus on that future event was so narrow that he didn’t even bother practicing magic that night.
His attempt to sleep early came to an abrupt end when a frantic screech rose into the night air. Matt grabbed his mace and ran out into the winter night; pausing to grab armor might slow him down enough for assassins to reach his tent, and he needed to know what was happening before arming himself further. He stared in all directions, expecting to see banners of Shadow Hunters mid-charge with shortbows aimed at his camp.
Instead, he was hit by a faint wave of freezing wind, a chill far beyond what the natural winter air was capable of generating. Matt shivered involuntarily and jerked around to face the source of the cold.
He found it a heartbeat later. Tanya’s tent was coated in frost, as if it had rained and then frozen over the cloth. One of her Goblin attendants shoved aside the tent flap, which crackled with breaking ice, and staggered out into the snow, gasping and shaking. Matt ran towards her, but Captain Snolt reached her first. The captain bent down, asking her calm, urgent questions.
Matt ran past her, his eyes still on the tent. He grabbed the door and drew it back, peering in as it crackled and broke under his fingers.
The inside of the tent was just as coated with ice as the outside had been. In fact, it looked even worse, and the bedrolls for Tanya and her assistants were just as bad. Her second assistant was curled into the fetal position, shivering too hard to stand. Frost coated her eyebrows and her skin was far too pale.
Tanya didn’t look much better. Frost laced through her dark hair, and her eyes were squeezed shut. Apparently, she’d been dressed for bed already; she wore a silk nightgown of some kind instead of the dress she’d had on for their ride. The gown was now half-frozen as well; frost cracked and flaked away with each motion. There had been parchments in her hand, but the frozen sheets were now frozen to the floor. She had her arms folded around herself, and she was shivering in waves that seemed to shake her entire body. Her eyes still closed, she turned partway towards where he was standing, shocked at the sight. “M-m-matt? I-is th-that…?”
Matt pushed past the doorway. He ripped a bedroll from the floor and tried to wave it, scattering a flurry of ice flakes all across the tent. Then he threw it over the shivering attendant, tucking it in around her. As the attendant cracked a blurry eye to look at him, he nodded and then went to Tanya, who was starting to fall to her knees.
He caught her before her legs gave out, wrapping his arms around her. She felt cold, too cold. Her lips were blue. “When you complete the Source—”
“I kn-know!” Tanya sounded as angry with herself as she was with him. She shifted slightly, as if she was trying to smack him, but she gave up and rested her head on his shoulder. Ice cold water started to melt and soak his shirt. “S-still n-n-not…”
“Just shut up for a bit, okay? You need heat.” Matt glanced back at the attendant and found that some of the Goblins had reached her. They were already crowding around her in an attempt to warm her. He thought he saw Snolt bringing the other one closer to the campfire and hoped that the soldier knew enough about hypothermia to avoid warming her up too fast. “Besides, I’m not exactly interested. I mean, you were kinda frigid before, but now…!”
She started shaking again, and Matt felt a spike of concern. Then he realized that some of those shivers were chuckles. “H-hate y-you.”
He snorted. “Feeling’s mutual.”
“C-cowboy k-king.”
“Ice princess.”
This time she did manage to smack him in the shoulder, though it was still pretty weak. Matt took it as a good sign and relaxed a little. He saw some of the Riders bringing another bedroll, one not infused with ice, and he accepted it gladly. It was going to be a long night.