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The Law of War Online - Level 1
Chapter 23: Fayyim Tallhart

Chapter 23: Fayyim Tallhart

Fayyim awoke from white space in a small room, her back to a wooden bench, a single candle lighting the walls and door from a table on the other side of the room. She had been unconscious and unable to re-enter the world for at least two hours. Her trauma was deemed bad enough by the game engine to make her wait that long.

Standing from the bench, she looked herself over. Her wounds were healed, but her armour and clothing were missing. She wore a long white tunic and her hair was loose, with no sign of her red ribbon. Fayyim walked to the door and opened it inward, outside were guards going about their duties in the main yard of Fort Tumblestone, under the firelight of torches and a dark blue, starry sky. The gates were closed and barred, the yard was clean of debris from the siege, and the bodies of the dead were long gone.

Exiting the room, which was pretty much a shed on one edge of the yard, Fayyim called to a guard standing close by. 'You!' She pointed, a Soldier in blue approached. 'Tell me what has happened since the siege.'

The Soldier was all smiles. 'Commander Tallhart, we won the battle. You won the battle!' He bowed. 'We had to place you to rest inside this shack because the main building was heavily damaged and deemed unsafe, I'm very sorry.'

'That's fine.' She walked further into the yard. 'Where are the Red Front? Captain Hawthorn? Where is the castle's Commander, Griff?'

'Commander Griff is questioning the witch in the cells. I don't know where your Captain is, but the Red Front are camped outside the gates.'

'Thank you.' Fayyim walked away. 'Consider your guard duty over.' The man bowed as she left him. Fayyim knew where Griff would be, across to the rear of the fort, underground at the cells. She made her way past men on duty, past the large fallen stones that littered the compound and found a set of wide steps leading into the underground. Two guards, Swordsmen, stood at the entrance. Fayyim was well known, she was allowed to enter unhindered.

Fiery torches lit the way through dug out passageways, past intersecting corridors and barred doors. Fayyim was soon deep within the jail, at the open cell door of Princess Ashara. Griff was sitting on a chair with the gruff Bronze John at his side. A dark skinned beauty, clothed in red and gold, was chained off her feet against the rear wall of the cell. Her ebony skin was highlighted with golden tones from the torchlight, and her otherwise dark eyes appeared as pools of fire. Fayyim was almost awestruck. She's beautiful, but that smile...

Princess Ashara's soft features were undermined by a nasty grin that curled up one side of her face. 'She finally shows herself.'

Griff and John turned to see Fayyim standing in the doorway. Griff stood and bowed. 'Commander! Welcome to the interrogation.'

'Thank you.' Fayyim bowed in return. 'I won't stay long.' She stepped into the room. 'I just wanted to see the woman who drove us from the Sands.'

Ashara laughed. 'That win seems so less magnificent now that our invasion has been stopped.'

'That's the first truthful thing she's said all night.' John admitted. 'We're not getting anything from her.'

'You don't need information from her.' Fayyim stepped up to the other woman and looked her up and down.

'Why is that?' Asked Griff.

'All we need is for her to remain off the battlefield. Amaratsu will struggle to mount an affective offensive without Princess Ashara on the front lines.'

'What?' Ashara lost her smile. 'What do you mean?'

Fayyim turned away and took Griff by the shoulder. 'Keep her chained up, feed her little, we don't want her to restore her mana.'

'Fayyim?' Griff knew that this was wrong.

Ashara spoke out of character. 'You have to kill me, you can't keep me prisoner, it's against the rules!'

'No.' Said Fayyim. 'It's not. These cells were designed for a reason, and that is to be utilised. I won't bend to some lousy player etiquette. I'm going to win this war.'

Griff laughed. 'Do I follow the order of a lesser Commander?'

Fayyim glared at him. 'Only if you want to win.'

'Aye.' Griff said, smiling.

'And soon enough, Griff, John, you'll both be lesser Commanders to me. Do not doubt it.' Fayyim left on that, marching down the corridors and then up and out to the fort's central yard. She made her way to the eastern gates, intent on seeing her Red Front, when she spied one of her men standing and talking to some local Soldier. 'Benny!' She called out, and the man responded at once, sprinting to her side.

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'Commander, you're OK!' He said with a smile.

'Of course.' She patted him on the shoulder. 'Where is Captain Hawthorn?'

'Last I saw he was waiting in your tent outside the gates.'

'If my tent was erected, why was I kept inside the castle?'

Benny shrugged. 'I have no idea Commander.'

'Fine.' Fayyim waved the man off. 'Enjoy your night.' The man bowed as she made her way to her tent. A guard opened a small entry door on the gate and allowed Fayyim through. Outside were camp fires and white tents scattered across the once bloody battlefield. Closest to the fort was the largest tent, Fayyim's red and white sleeping quarters. She greeted the guards outside, who bowed enthusiastically, and entered through the curtained entrance. Inside was a makeshift bed, a central table and candles all around. Fayyim's spare armour and sword were hanging from a rack close to the bed.

Hawthorn sat at the table, his face was angry. Standing in front of him was a man that Fayyim had never seen before. Blond haired and tall, a scar over his right eye. When Hawthorn saw Fayyim enter, his face turned to one of worry. 'Commander.' He greeted.

Fayyim walked around the table and gestured for the Captain to stand. 'What's going on here?'

'A word in your ear, Commander?' Fayyim nodded and Hawthorn whispered to her. 'This man is facing a disciplinary, Griff is going to come down hard on him, I just wanted to hear his side of the story.'

'And what story is that?' Fayyim whispered back while looking at the other man from the corner of her eye.

'He's the one who ordered the gates be opened to attack the enemy siege forces. He's the one that allowed the enemy through. He's the one-'

'Who put our strategy at risk!' Fayyim said loudly. 'Let me hear this.'

Hawthorn rubbed his head. 'This is why I kept you away, I knew you'd react this way.'

'You keep me away from nothing!' Fayyim turned on Hawthorn, he saw her anger swell. 'I am your commanding officer, you do not make decisions for me, I make them for you!'

Hawthorn dropped to one knee and bowed. 'Yes Commander!'

The Red Front leader turned to the Soldier standing in her tent. 'Explain yourself.'

The man looked hardly bothered, he showed no sign of worry or concern over Fayyim's reaction. 'I took a risk. The enemy was going to break in no matter what, so I ordered the guards at the gate to meet them.'

'And you failed.'

'I guess.'

'You guess?' Fayyim was incredulous. He doesn't care at all! 'Captain, why did you want to question this man?'

Hawthorn looked up from the ground. 'I thought that if he showed some potential, if his plan to open the gates and attack was justified, and otherwise a good plan despite the odds, he may have been a good addition to the Red Front. He may have been our kind of man.' The scarred man was surprised by that. Hawthorn continued. 'However, Commander, I heard conflicting stories about him. A hero, a coward, disloyal, well meaning. I wanted to screen him before offering the suggestion to you.'

'And your conclusion?' Fayyim knew the answer.

'He's an insubordinate fool.'

Fayyim walked to the man and pulled her arm back, with as much force as she could muster she struck him in the nose with a fist. He stumbled and clutched his face.

'You...' He mumbled. 'You h-'

'Hit you, I know.' Fayyim walked to the other side of her table and sat down. 'I feel much better for it.' She straightened out the wrinkles in her lap and brushed the hair off her shoulders. 'Captain, have this man escorted back to the fort. Have him detained in the cells until a more suitable station has been found for him.' The man said nothing, Fayyim continued. 'I want him gone from Shoulderside. Tell Commander Griff to find some dark hole for him to spend his days. Dragon's eye or Slug Island. Some dismal place.'

'You can't-' The man started.

'I can. And have.' Fayyim ended his complaint while waving Hawthorn out. The Captain bowed and led the man away. Fayyim was left to sit and think to herself, though all she wanted to do was rest.

Hawthorn's disappointed me, but I do understand. Fayyim closed her eyes and listened to the sounds around her. All about the camp were cheers and laughter and songs. Her men celebrated their win over the eastern forces. Their cries echoed “Tallhart, Tallhart, Tallhart!” I suppose I should join them.

Fayyim stood from the table and donned a tunic in the Red Front colours. She left her armour alone, but fastened a belt and rapier to her waist. As she did so, she thought about Hawthorn's decision to try and recruit. She thought about Princess Ashara's power, her ability to go toe to toe with any number of warriors, mostly all by herself. Elite players were rare, but their impact on a battle was great. Fayyim was one such elite, the high level Accessor, but she required other players to mimic and gain power. She considered the Red Front's need for a recruit with a much more active power. The Red Front required another powerful player in their ranks.

'Guard!' Fayyim called out while tying her hair with a red ribbon. One of the men from outside her tent entered. 'Inform Shanks that I require his services. Tell him to bring parchment and ink to the camp fire.' We can work while we drink.

The man bowed and left, Fayyim followed. She would celebrate with her band. They had earned it.