Fergus was pacing back and forth in one of the Cloaked Knights hideouts. The sun was just beginning to come up over the massive Azuren Lake so it must have been around 5am. One of the cloaked knights discovered this cave when he was a little boy, and suggested that the Cloaked Knights take advantage of its secret location. The cave was large, and had unexpectedly high ceilings. Fergus looked over at his two younger daughters sleeping in the corner and unconsciously shook his head.
“You have to tell them Fergus, they are going to be furious with you for keeping secrets for so long, but they have a right to know,” said his second in command Myles.
Myles was from Celeste’s clan and him and Fergus had been friends for almost 30 years now. He had different opinions than Fergus and could see situations in different lights; he was one of his best advisors.
Fergus shook his head, “I promised her I wouldn’t. She told me it would put them in a great danger.”
“And you have done a good job keeping that promise for the past 10 years, but your little girls aren’t little girls anymore, did you see them against the orcs? Fergus, they were amazing. Even Blanca killed her share. You and Mabel should be very proud, but it is time.”
Avery had been half asleep, half listening to the conversation and mumbled, “Time for what?”
Fergus turned his back towards them, and looked out once more on the horizon. He took a deep breath, “Aye, it is time, wake Blanca up.”
Fergus felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He had been carrying this secret for almost 10 years; from the people he loved the most.
Blanca refused to look at him and was remaining silent. But Avery was furious. Actually, furious was an understatement.
“HOW DARE YOU?” her voice echoed in the cave. “How dare both of you?”
The Cloaked Knights were polishing their swords, and one was bandaging others up. They were watching Avery from the corner of their eyes. There was no privacy in the cave, so they could only ‘pretend’ not to listen.
“You and Aunt Mabel started the Cloak Knights because you thought her death was preordained! You have been on the front line for years now, both of you, and you didn’t think to tell us?”
Fergus walked over to her with his arms open. “I know… I know, we didn’t want to scare you girls. Or put you in any risk.” He tried to hug her.
Avery’s little fists were balled up, she pounded them into her father’s barrel chest. Red faced and tears flowing she came out with what she really wanted to say, “you two are all we have left...you can’t keep secrets from us.”
“Shhh Shhh,” he hugged her tight and began patting her hair.
“You guys have every right to be furious with me. But I promised your mother I would never put you in any danger. Auntie Mabel and I didn’t think you guys were ready yet, but I see I was wrong.”
Blanca, finally looked at him, “But I don’t understand why. Why would they have targeted mother? Who could have wanted her dead?”
Myles, who the girls called Uncle, offered Blanca his hand. “It is not so simple my dear. You both know your mother was a very talented bard. She could spin stories that would change the route of politics. She never deliberately lied about history, but by moulding the truth, she affected thousands of lives, maybe even nations.”
Avery interrupted, “With her songs? I don’t believe it”.
“You don’t have to believe me Avery, but it is the truth. The Elderwoman realized it when Celeste was very young, she had hoped your mother would have become an ambassador for Linlia. It took her many years to hone her talent, but Celeste knew that power lied within words,” he paused wondering if he should tell them more.
Fergus knew where this was leading, “Your mother didn’t create the Cloaked Knights, but her death spurred the creation of them. We have orders in quite a few of the neighbouring nations.”
Avery let out a loud sigh and sat back down next to Blanca. Blanca squeezed her hand. “So, what do we do now? I’m worried about Sylvie.”
It was Fergus’s turn to sigh, “This is exactly why I didn’t want you girls involved. They won’t hurt her though; they know I’d kill them.”
Myles simply nodded. “We should all be getting back though. They might be looking for who is missing.”
The men that had been sitting all stood up. They would use their secret passage back into the city to avoid the city wall.
Avery rubbed her face hard, “Ok, but what about the orcs? What is our plan?”
“I have been thinking about that all morning. The size is worrisome. A few stragglers we are used to. An army hoard would be expected. But 50 orcs, well organized, and looking for something is troublesome,” answered Fergus.
“If the Legionnaires haven’t already done so, should we warn the King?” one of the men asked.
A pigeon with two painted stripes, a sign of a Legionnaire, flew frantically into the cave. She had a terrible time finding them and hated flying at dawn. Didn’t the stupid Legionnaires know that there are owls all over Azuren. She had been flying towards Fergus Fineries, hoping for a treat from the red-haired person, but instead had been redirected by some bats to this cave. The message was written in very fine handwriting, “Sylvie is safe for now but in the dungeons. I believe you wanted to bring a new shipment of weapons for the Legion? That would be a great time to do an exchange. Yours- A”.
“Alaric,” smiled Fergus, “what a fine Capitan he has turned into. I don’t know what we are going to do about that Colonel though.”
Avery was inspecting the parchment and petting the distraught pigeon. She looked around the room, the men were getting ready to ride out and she started laughing hysterically. “So you also know Alaric, you and Auntie Mabel run the Cloaked Knights, our mothers murder had been arranged by someone, we maybe fought orc mercenaries last night, Sylvie was captured by the Legionnaires…Do you know how ridiculous this all sounds, what will you tell us next? That the Mother of Gods Dragons have come back?”
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There was dead silence. The Cloaked Knights looked back and forth at one another.
“Mercenaries…. Hmmmm, you could be on to something,” Myles stroked his beard.
“Uncle, is that all you took away from this?
“It cannot be,” Blanca said.
Fergus rubbed his hand on the back of his neck, “they have been some sightings, but nothing officially confirmed yet by the nations.”
Myles’ eyebrows furrowed, “by the time the royals confirm anything it will be too late.”
Fergus could feel a headache coming on, he could only shrug his shoulders and nod.
Avery opened her mouth to talk, but for once found no words.
“But why are the orcs attacking, Azuren? What does the King say about all of this?” Blanca was thinking out loud, “they are too many missing pieces”.
One of the Cloaked Knights stepped towards them, “That, lady Blanca, is what we are trying to figure out. The Legionnaires are currently a problem though. Are they scared we are gaining more power?”
“I wonder, first Celeste, now ten years to the date they are back looking for ‘something’ maybe it has to do with you three girls,” said Myles.
Fergus, shoved him and roared, “No one is looking for my girls. They have nothing to do with this.”
Once more the cave was completely silent. A few of the men look like they regretted not leaving earlier. Myles was digging in the dirt with his boot, his hands clenched in fists.
Avery stood up, back to her confident self, “We cannot stand here waiting for answers or better yet truths to fall on our lap. What is the plan?”
No one answered. Fergus looked at his daughter; “We have scouts and informants throughout the city and Sweet Meadow. Mainly Elves, but also Elf-hu, humans, and a few dwarves. We are slowly building our numbers in a few of the other nations, Hallr is already well established. And of course, we have someone strong in the forest, someone you know very well. She forewarned us of the first two attacks.”
Auntie Mabel, that sneaky lady thought Avery smiling. “Very well. Then if I may suggest…”
She started to walk in a slow circle addressing and making eye contact with all of the knights as she continued, “… we are going to need many men and women. Not just their arms for fighting, but their knowledge of the cities, their knowledge of the different lands, and maybe they know potential allies we have not thought about. How many Elves do we have? Step forward please. Good, you four, will start indiscreetly spreading the word to our cause, start in Old Market, I believe there we will gain the most support. No direct names mentioned do you understand? But I want the people to start questioning Colonel Rojel. After last night, I think they made their stance quite clear about how they feel about the Cloaked Knights. The old Elves need to hear about our mother. They loved her. And if there is anything a revolution needs,” she made a dramatic pause and smiled, “because you do realize we are revolting, are dedicated followers. Nothing is a stronger dedication than love.”
The cave was still silent. The men were spellbound, waiting for her to continue.
She is enchanting. Fergus felt proud, she is just like her mother.
“Do we have any lords in the group?”
Two men stepped forward, one adding, “But here, Lady Avery, we are all equals. We do not want to be known as Lords.”
Avery smiled sweetly, nodded, and patted his shoulder. “You are kind and correct. Here we are all equals. But out there he is an elf, and you are a lord, and I am an Elf-hu. We need you because you are a lord. Do you understand?”
He looked at her, straightened his back, and answered, “ja, verstehe ich!”
She smiled bigger and responded back in Germanish, “You understood even better than I thought. Speaking in Germanish, showing your nobility, will help us gain allies we otherwise would not be able to access. Also, if anyone knows someone from the Bibliothek that would be very valuable. I want to us to learn as much about the Mother of the God’s dragons as possible.”
Another man stepped forward, his face blushing as red as Avery’s hair, “I can be of assistance with the Bibliothek, I am the Master Scribe. I am assuming it is safe to tell you, it is also our secret entrance into the city.”
The Azuren library was massive. Almost as big as the Hallr university library. It stood on a little hill and was between the old and new market. One of the first kings who had liked books and parchments more than his actual living breathing subjects had spent decades designing it.
“Elaborate please…”
The scribe cleared his throat, “underneath the library we have escape tunnels. They were built in case Azuren was attacked. The King Stein believed that our power laid within our knowledge, and no one has the right to take that away. We have one route to the docks. And the longer route leads to Sweet Meadow. That is the route we have been utilizing.” The third tunnel the scribe had not told anyone about.
“This is…incredible. And so very useful, I am surprised the Legionnaires haven’t tried to claim it.”
“I don’t believe they know about it, Lady Avery. The information has been passed down from Master Scribe to Master Scribe. Even the city architects seem to have forgotten that it exists.” He smiled thinking about the ancient blueprint he had found and hidden under his floor boards.
Compared to earlier, Avery felt very good, like she was made for this, she stood tall, and said, “Let’s see. That leaves the rest of us. You…,” she pointed to the biggest man of the order, “will accompany my sister. She will spend the next few days at my Aunts. As you all witnessed from the last battle, Blanca has some very useful talents.”
Everyone smiled at Blanca; she stood proud, but was looking down from the flattery. She couldn’t wait to get back to mastering new poisons.
Avery looked at the remaining men and pointed to two of them, “You two will accompany my father and rescue Sylvie and Larkin. If someone has time or, Father, while you are on the way towards the castle, look for Cato… Sylvie will be devastated if anything happened to him.”
She paused, “There is the issue of Larkin’s family. We made a promise to help him, and I plan to uphold that promise. Do whatever it takes to free them.”
Fergus nodded, “Aye, I could not have said it better. The rest of you, we need to start planning a second base and building stock and wares. If no one objects, I would suggest storing items at my sister’s hut for the time being.”
They began to collectively walk outside.
“That leaves you Uncle Myles,” Avery walked over and linked arms with him, a typical elven gesture. “You would honour me if you would join me on a special mission. We are going to look for an ally that no one else has yet considered approaching…. The Giants. I need a day or two to prepare and then we can take off.”
A few men’s jaws dropped. “But…. but Lady Avery….”
“No buts, they are amazing beings. I know they seem little rough sometimes but that is just because they are misunderstood. Did you know they love black tea with freshly squeezed lemons? And that you can get out of almost any dangerous situation by simply switching the topic to philosophy?”
Auntie Mabel is always a step ahead of everyone else, I swear she does everything with a hidden agenda.
“They have never been allowed to free-willingly chose a side. They have always been forced to fight in battles that weren’t theirs. That is not right and that is not what the Cloaked Knights are about. Thanks to the elven rally, I think I know exactly the first giant to speak with.”
Myles, like Fergus, also felt very proud. Here was this little girl transformed into a natural born leader. How he wished Celeste could have seen this now, but perhaps she had deep down already seen it. “Aye, Avery is correct. This is an excellent idea, and I would be proud to join you.” His eyes were already twinkling at the idea of an adventure.
Fergus, stepped in, “All right men, we have the orders, are we ready?”
“AYE,” shouted the knights in uniform.
As the men began to file out of the cave, Blanca whispered to Avery, “I don’t understand who we are fighting against? The Legionnaires, the King, or the orcs?”
Avery threw her head back and laughed, looking just like Aunt Mabel. “Isn’t it clear? We are fighting against injustice. The Cloaked Knights stand for valour.”
“Isn’t that exactly what the Legionnaires claim they stand for?” mumbled Blanca.
Avery decided to let that slide.
Fergus walked over to his daughters and kissed each one of them. “She would be so proud of you both, I am so proud of you both.”
That made the girls smile again, and Avery added, “By the way Papa, you know Sylvie is going to kill you when she finds out.”
“Aye,” winced Fergus. She was the one he been dreading telling the truth to the most.