On our fifteenth day in our temporary encampment, Captain Walkers paid us a visit. While we were waiting for Lieutenant Bracton to arrive he engaged me in conversation.
“Shouldn’t he be here by now?”
“I would have thought so sir, he must have run into somebody on his way and decided to investigate. I can’t imagine he’ll be much later.”
We didn’t have to wait long for his arrival
“I think that’s him now sir.”
“So what do you think I should do
“That will be all sergeant, Terry, what kept you?”
“We ran across some goat herders on their way to the market at Fostat.”
After being dismissed by the captain I went to have a quick word with Corporal Bennet whose upcoming patrol the captain and lieutenant would soon be riding along with.
Once I finished with that the lieutenant approached me for a quick word.
“Anything I should know about, anything happened since I was last here?”
“Nothing of note just the usual traffic.”
“So Sergeant what were you and the Captain talking about when I arrived?”
“Nothing of any real consequence, mainly Bertha sir.”
“Bertha!”
“His horse, it is getting on in years don’t you know and it’ll soon be time to find a replacement.”
“Carry on sergeant.”
Soon after they went on patrol we received a message from the Manor House informing us that Albert had taken a turn for the worst and wasn’t expected to last much longer. I sent Private Blanche to try and catch up with the patrol and they returned shortly thereafter. The captain didn’t wait around for long, returning to the Manor House almost as soon as he arrived back. The lieutenant stayed around however to make sure we were ready for what might come.
“It should take them both a day or so to hear the news and verify it then at least another day to organise their individual responses but it’s also possible one or more of them could make a move sooner.
So be on alert at all times and keep up your patrols. As soon as you spot any movement from the direction of Thanet even if they aren’t heading here directly you are to send a message to me. You are not to engage with them without my authorisation unless it cannot be prevented that is. In that case, try and delay them as long as you can until reinforcements arrive. If the encampment is in danger of being breached you are to withdraw as best you can but hopefully, it won’t come to that.
The two Manors border each other elsewhere after all and hopefully, they won’t want to cause any damage to their possible cash cow. But if one of them looks about to emerge victorious the other might try and make a mess of things.”
“Don’t worry sir we’ll be ready for whatever they throw at us though I imagine if they make a move it won’t be anywhere near here. It would make more sense for them to hit somewhere else along the border.”
“Maybe but don’t forget that what makes sense to us might not make sense to them. I hear they’ve hired mercenaries of their own. I can’t say I know much about any of our competitors but the captain doesn’t seem to think much of those they’ve hired.”
“Who did they hire?”
“Sir Rudolf Messenger-Darnley hired The Bloody Brothers apparently and his cousin Cecil went with The Insta-Slayers. Where do they come up with these names, ours is bad enough, makes no sense that I can see.”
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“I asked the Captain once, he didn’t know either, his uncle was apparently the one who came up with it. Now I haven’t heard anything good about either of those companies but they at least seem to be considered professionals. A bit ruthless and loot happy at times but well lead, for the most part.”
After the lieutenant left I had Corporal Bennet restart his patrol and they returned without incident and so did all the other ones that day. While Albert still lived there was no sign of him getting any better, he hadn’t regained consciousness and by all accounts, he wasn’t likely to. The next day was quiet too though news of Albert’s condition had. It wasn’t until two days later that it all kicked off, though not anywhere near our encampment. The forces of the two cousins clashed on their mutual border around midday. It was a minor clash, a skirmish really that left no dead and only minor wounds. It would not be the last and it wasn’t until three days later that the main engagement of the conflict took place.
It was a inconclusive affair as such things go or it would have been if not for a quirk of fate. The two cousins who were treating the whole affair as a bit of a lark had with their families in tow and a small number of personal guards decided to view the battle in person. From a distance of course but when the two sides were retreating from the battle they both had come upon their employer’s opposite number and captured them.
How might such a situation be resolved was what we all wondered when hearing of what happened. A straightforward prisoner exchange would seem the best answer to that conundrum but they were both captured by mercenaries under contract to the other which complicated things. Most mercenary contracts allocated them a certain percentage of the ransom generated from anyone that they took prisoner other than their fellow mercenaries, for whom they got the full amount. They also had a say in the amount asked for those they captured and could to some degree and without penalty reject lowball ransom offers.
To arrange a resolution to the situation would thus require the help of a third party. A relative perhaps or some other mutually agreed upon individual. The cousin's only relatives were an old man on his deathbed and a seven-year-old girl, neither at all suitable nor strictly speaking neutral.
That left a third party but they both needed to agree upon the individual in question and in this case that took time. The mercenaries strictly speaking had no say in this but in practice well let’s just say it’s best to not antagonise them.
Two days after their capture a message arrived ordering me to report to Captain Walker ASAP so I temporarily turned over command of my squad to Corporal Bennet and headed to the encampment of first Platoon and the Company Headquarters.
“Sergeant Ryder reporting as ordered sir.”
“How are you settling into your new position Sergeant.”
“They're a fine bunch of people sir and know what they're doing.”
“Good”
“Now you are no doubt aware of what happened two days ago?”
“Yes sir.”
“They’ve finally settled on the arbiter of the fine mess they’ve gotten themselves into and all that remains before the negotiations can start is for the nominated individual to agree to participate.”
“Right oh sir, and what’s that got to do with me.”
“Well, Sergeant are you up for it?”
‘Sir you can’t mean, they’d never ask for me, not personally, there no reason they would ever have heard of me no is there.”
“You are correct in that assumption they in fact settled on the newest sergeant in our company, ie you.”
“Surely they’d never take me seriously.”
“Well they're currently up shit creek without a paddle and they know it. I’m not saying it’s going to be easy and if it wasn’t for the oath they’ll have to agree to at the start they might use your low status to renege on it later. And if you manage to pull it off they’ll remember your name and others will hear of it as well. Don’t worry while other than a small guard detail you'll be alone with them during the actual negotiations we’ll provide you with help and advice before, during and after.”
“I don’t know what to think of it but I’m willing to give it a shot.”
Mission: Ransom Agreement Generated
Thankfully the negotiations weren’t going to start straightaway so I had time to learn as much as I could about how to go about them, the protocols involved, possible ways to settle the thing and how I might go about reaching them. Plus as much as could be learnt about the parties involved, Albert’s entourage was helpful when it came to the cousins. Information on the captains of the two companies was harder to find, Walker only having a vague knowledge of them and no one in our company having served under them.
By the time they were about to start my head had been filled with all sorts of information, not all of which was likely to prove helpful and the captain had helped me come up with various strategies for how best to deal with the negotiations.
Quicker than I would have liked it was time to begin, the actual negotiations were being held in a large tent that had been put up overlooking the site of the battle that had made it all necessary.
The only things in the tent were a table, five chairs and some stationery. I sat at the head of the table waiting for the other four participants of the negotiations to arrive with a single guard standing behind me. First to arrive were the two cousins who entered the tent at the same time from opposite ends and sat on opposite sides of the table in the two chairs closest to me. Then came the two Mercenary Captains, Olaf Leen of The Bloody Brothers and The Insta-Slayers Frederick Endriga.