“Alright. Let me explain some details you might not have heard of.” She said, “While it is a common knowledge, there are over two hundred warlords governing cities across the empire, outsiders might not know they are divided in three parties supporting three of Vidantia’s largest aristocratic families. Obviously they can never rival the imperial family, but that does not prevent them from battling for centuries to increase their influence in the Assembly of warlords.”
“That’s inner politics. It has nothing to do with our cause.” Lana shrugged.
“Yes and no. Both – mine and your tasks are to destabilize processes in the empire in order to weaken it from the inside. I know we have our limitations, but this time there is an opportunity we might want to exploit. Let me explain.” Perla Doubis said, “Two of the most influential warlords, both members of the Warlord council are about to meet before the Assembly's spring session. One is Saida Baltis, Varena’s warlord and the other – Jana Levin, Krakes’s warlord. Representing two of the three families they intend to come to an agreement in order to break the status quo in the assembly. I don’t know the details, but from what it looks like the empire will experience a serious shift in power and not only in politics – it’ll leave a lasting effect on the economy as well.”
Seeing the displeasure written all over the faces of the seven guests, she rushed to explain, “Don’t you understand? Not only this event will allow us to drive a wedge between the three parties – we can use it to seriously weaken the position of at least one of them …”
“… by forcing the two potential allies to focus on actively battling the third party we will shift everyone’s attention on the power struggle within the empire, at the same time using their own resources to weaken the empire’s economics.” Lana said, “The idea is not half bad. But how can we persuade everyone that the Southern queen had nothing to do with it?”
“This is where we can use their own imagination against them.” The old woman grinned.
For the next days everyone except Leo was busy with preparations while the only thing the boy did was cook all day long. Perla Doubis finally learned why Lana kept him around and soon made sure she didn’t skip a single meal.
Two days later the seven ladies departed, but Leo was left in Varena as a personal cook for the old woman. She did feel there was something strange about him, but as long as she didn’t try to exploit him with additional tasks, he was obedient and the food was delicious thus the young male-slave was temporarily accepted into her household despite the ridiculous amount of meat he consumed daily.
Leo didn’t know what the plan of the commando squad was and at this point he wasn’t sure he even cared. Lana, on the other hand, cared a lot.
“For the unlikely scenario this is a trap, we’ll completely revise the strategy.” When they left Varena, she gathered the rest around her and said, “I might be paranoid, but I feel there are only six people in the world whom I can truly trust. Well, maybe our cook as well, but this time he’s out.”
“You don’t want us to assassinate the two warlords?” Una asked.
Out of the seven she and Tia were supposed to complete the most difficult and interesting task and she was quite hyped about it, thus it was hard to hide the disappointment in her voice.
“Hahaha! No!” Lana laughed, “I’d love to kill all of them and we’ll start with these two, but we’ll go about it a bit differently to what old Perla suggested. Even though technically only two people are required for the assassination, I think this time it’s pivotal for us to stick together.”
“What about the diversion?” Ruta asked.
“I thought about it and came to conclusion that there is only one person capable of properly doing it.” Lana nodded and seriously looked at her younger sibling, “Anna, it’s finally time for you to shine. I want you to go directly south-west and hit the first target exactly two days from now. You’re the fastest one out of all of us and you’ll cover almost double the distance if you go alone.”
“… but …” Anna wanted to argue, but Lana interrupted her.
“You’ll continue from where we left and for the next two months take on targets westwards. Don’t try anything fancy – just regular escorts and assassinations like we did before. I’m fully confident in your abilities. The six of us will catch up to you near Alytus – you already know the spot. It’s incredibly important to make it look like our squad went by the old route. Meanwhile we’ll do few more hits around the capital and join you afterwards.”
“What … what about Leo?” Anna asked and immediately blushed seeing the six grinning faces.
“You’ll have to do without your male-slave for a bit.” Lana said, suppressing an involuntary laugh, “We’ll leave him with Perla for a while and grab him along when we depart towards Alytus.”
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After a while Anna reluctantly rushed away and the six women one more time went over their plan. Everyone present knew Lana was not trying to put Anna out of harm’s way. In fact, her mission now became much more dangerous than they initially planned, but everyone had to agree Lana’s idea was correct. It was highly possible for the next task they will need the full strength of their group, but Anna was more than capable of creating diversions alone while making it seem they were carried out by a small squad.
Even though the meeting of the two warlords was supposed to be a secret, the spot they picked was as open as it gets. Apparently they were not too concerned about the safety issues and the fact that it was held on the top of a large treeless hill with no one around to overhear them pointed at the sensitive matter of their discussion.
Lana, Ruta, Vida and Nina were positioned around the bottom of the slope becoming eyes and ears of the two girls hidden below the layer of topsoil. This was the only way for someone to hide around here and since the early morning they were buried half way up the hill, waiting for the two clueless warlords to arrive.
Perla’s initial idea was to hit the two targets upon their arrival or if they didn’t arrive at the same time – after the meeting. But upon further discussion the group decided they had higher chances of successful assassination if they attacked when the warlords and their guards felt the safest, especially given Una’s and Tia’s skill set.
Technically Perla’s initial plan would’ve worked – the two warlords and their entourages arrived at the same time. From the first glance one could tell the escort consisted of elites and against them in a direct confrontation Lana’s group didn’t stand a chance. This was also one of the reasons they never attacked warlords directly – as regional rulers empress always chose the strongest warriors who could easily take on a crowd of people by themselves. And to get to them one had to get through the guards first.
Luckily Una and Tia didn’t care for the melee prowess of anyone. After the first signal, four consecutive fox shrieks, they removed the layer of soil covering their faces while remaining in lying position. Twenty odd heartbeats later when their sight got adjusted to the brightness of the daylight a distant cuckoo began to count down the last moments of the two warlords lives.
At the count of eight both Una and Tia in a one swift motion got up on one knee, nocked arrows on their respective bows, drew them and then released the bowstrings at the same time. Everything happened in a blink of an eye and there was no way anyone below the Nascent soul stage could react to the attack, but there were no such people in Dreadlands.
Tia had it easier. Last night when they drew lots deciding on their targets she got Saida Baltis, Varena’s warlord – a fat middle aged lady that was easy to notice and hard to miss, literally. Una’s target, on the other hand, was Jana Levin, Krakes’s warlord – a tall and muscular woman who didn’t particularly stand out in the crowd of experts, but Lana also realized it and gave the command to attack when the two warlords were already in the middle of a heated discussion thus slightly simplifying Una’s task.
Even before the arrows found their targets the two attackers rushed down the hill and the escorting guards reacted only when the heads of the two warlords exploded like watermelons. Lying still for half a day did make Una’s and Tia’s bodies slightly numb, but they had a head start and the angrily roaring crowd of escorts reached the forest few breaths after the two assassins disappeared between the trees.
They would’ve been much faster if they dropped the heavy bows, but both refused to let go of their beloved weapons. In addition, the pursuers would’ve been slowed down significantly if the third archer of the squad, Nina, would shoot half a dozen or even more dead while they were running down the slope, but Lana decided against it.
After Justina turned, the imperial forces knew Lana’s group had three archers, therefore currently it was pivotal to hide their actual numbers. Also, in order to reduce the chance of getting caught and implicate the Southern queen’s forces, they didn’t meet up with the rest and continued the mad escape alone.
As expected, it took them the whole day and only after dusk Una and Tia managed to shake off the pursuers. They were dead tired, but both grinning widely – this had been the most exciting task until now. Not every day one has a chance to kill a warlord, but they assassinated two and in such a spectacular fashion at that. When they met up with the rest the next day, Nina’s annoyed expression implied the same, but she had to agree that her two teammates were more skilled compared to her and thus more suited for the task.
The squad didn’t celebrate in the wilderness though and returned to Varena two days later. Since the assassination didn’t take place in the city, there was no increased amount of guards at the gate or in the streets and the six marched inside disguised as regular hunters without raising any suspicions.
“My guess is that the empress will try to suppress the news and the death of the two warlords will remain only a rumor after the new ones are appointed.” Perla Doubis said after listening to Lana’s short report, “I must say, this went exceptionally well. What would you say if we increased the tension between the three factions even further?”
Once again they were gathered in Perla’s courtyard in Varena where Lana told the old spy how things went and after hearing her out Perla seemed to be all fired up even though her initial plan was changed. She also didn’t inquire where or why the seventh teem member has disappeared – she was here to support the Southern queen’s forces, not to give orders.
“One shouldn’t get too greedy.” Lana plainly stated.
Even though the operation was swift, it was largely based on luck and depended on the performance of two people. Everyone was fully aware the plan might’ve easily failed and intended to lay low until they met up with Anna two months later.
“I agree.” Perla Doubis seriously nodded, “But there is one thing that can be done without risking your necks.”
“Let’s hear it.” Lana said, “It’ll take some time for our dinner to get ready.”
On their way back they killed six stags and after few days of rest Leo finally had his hands full. The amount of meat he had to prepare for one feast was enough to supply a small village for half a month, but the six ladies intended to make up for all the meals they skipped during the past days.