16. Imbalance of Power.
By the time the sun touched the horizon, Eikeru Manybattles was secretly glad, she didn't kill Ubel in the morning – the white ferret was the one to handle the delicate task of welcoming the corsair guests, bargaining with them and delivering to them latest news in a way, that did not invoke an image of dangerous weakness. And the guests today were not of the sort to easily overlook a weakness: the old and wily Captain Saltwhisker of Sharkmaw and the infamous master of the mighty three-masted Sea Princess, Captain Enjo Greencloak. Together, they had close to two hundred corsairs under their command – and though Eikeru still had twice that many beasts in or around the Seacrag Castle, she knew that with most of its best fighters gone or bedridden, and its spirits in the dumps, the dead King's army could be in much trouble even with numbers on its side.
But Ubel did his last job well, and now the danger was in the past, judging by what Eikeru could observe in the seedy little town that formed down below around the bay over the last couple dozens of seasons. Celebration of the successful return from the sea was clearly underway – Eikeru could see lights in the windows of every tavern, groups of rejoicing seavermin in the street, even hear fragments of bawdy corsair songs, when wind blew in the castle's direction. As a former corsair herself, she knew the old freebooter ways: now the crews were not simply rewarding themselves for many moons of back-breaking labor, deprivation and danger in the sea. Doing whatever they wanted – which meant feasting, drinking, gambling and indulging in all sorts of debauchery – once a safe harbor was reached and plunder divided, was their sacred right affirming that they weren't mere slaves of their shipmasters. No captain would be able to command and mobilize them now, not for the next couple of days, unless they were to find themselves betrayed and under attack. And that wasn't in Eikeru's plans. She had other betrayals to do.
For the time being, Kopek and his new "friends" took residence in the small guardhouse next to the main gate, likely to set himself apart from common vermin soldiers in the barracks. That made watching them all the easier. Like any beast with considerable power and status in a vermin horde, Eikeru Manybattles had a number of wannabe cohorts and simple lickspittles trying to curry favor with her. Not really the sort to rely upon in something important and risky, but passably useful for simpler tasks, like watching who visited the guardhouse and eavesdropping. The fellow who was now reporting his findings, Yozash, a fellow rat, certainly did well in those tasks, better than Eikeru even expected. If he was telling truth, of course.
"…wither me tail, I tell ye again, I heard it for sure!" Yozash fidgeted nervously, rubbing his bony palms, as he murmured. "They're going to slay Ubel, an' the younger prince this very night!"
Suddenly, Eikeru's paw shot forward, grabbing the smaller rat by the neck, and dragging him to her:
"I don't think ye're straight with me, runt!" she hissed, looking down on him, their heads so close, that Eikeru's breath made Yozash's whiskers shiver. "I sense deceit! What they promised to ye? Answer, or I'll throw you from this wall and see if ye're better at flyin', than at lyin'!"
"N-no! I swear, I swear on me heart, I – I told the truth!" Yosash croaked, struggling for breath. "V-Vulpuz take me if I lied!"
Eikeru's nostrils widened, as he drew in air. She could smell the little sneak's terror, quite literally, as he was sweating now. But he still insisted on his words – so, barring acting skills unimaginable in one of the lowest-ranking beasts in the horde's pecking order, he was telling the truth.
Eikeru shoved the smaller rat away contemptuously. "If all is as ye say, ye'll get all the rewards ye can ask – fine weapons, precious jewelry, good wine, yer own slave. All know I'm nothing if not generous to my soldiers. But if ye lied to me, ye'll indeed wish for Vulpuz to take ye, and welcome death as yer sweetheart, before I'm through with ye!"
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Ubel Fireeyes and Marda and were in the great chamber, where King Kunas used to hold counsels and feasts, when Eikeru walked in. To some dismay on Eikeru's part they weren't all alone. The same weasel female that Eikeru saw with Ubel several times lately was here, and she looked pretty tough for a hordebeast, a straight sword on her hip, instead of a more typical cutlass. Then again, had the wench been a distinguished fighter, Eikeru would have remembered her name. The white ferret was in the middle of lecturing the pine marten on something, but stopped and turned to the door even before it creaked, opening.
"It is you, Eikeru. To what do I owe this visit? Some urgent news?"
"Ye can say so." Eikeru smiled as disarmingly as was possible with her scarred muzzle and vicious front teeth, moving closer. Marda backed away a little bit. Ubel remained in place, impassive, his paws behind his back.
"See, a beast that owes me whispered me a couple of things today. Kopek and his cronies don't want ye to see the next dawn. And ye, and yer babe too," she looked at Marda.
The pine marten gasped in fright, the weasel moved closer to Ubel, her paw on the sword hilt, but the ferret still remained calm:
"Knowing you, I presume that you already have a plan and an angle to work."
"Oh, ye flatter me, I'm just a simple beast." Eikeru put on an act of injured innocence. "Just, who wants to serve under a nitwit like Kopek? And those foxes that now put thoughts in his head – upstarts like 'em always envy old, honest campaigners like me. And well, if I'll be the first among the new captains, don't ye think this is a fair place for the most experienced beast here, the one who saved the true heir of Kunas, and yer hide too? So, how about I find a couple of reliable mates, and we turn tables on them, after they get here?"
Ubel slowly nodded:
"And then Eikeru, you and your "mates" will turn on me, so that of all beasts who hold power in our army only you will remain standing by the morning?"
Eikeru just stood there, jaws agape. The ferret somehow managed to guess her exact thoughts – was it indeed magic?
The sorcerer couldn't help but chuckle. "Had you forgot that I, Ubel, can see the unseen, unearth the hidden? You already wanted to kill me this morning, correct?"
"Ye smug git!" Eikeru drew her saber in a flash. "Ye'll see, I'm not easy to snare!"
The weasel instantly interposed herself between Eikeru and Ubel, drawing her sword as well.
"Please stop, both of you, Sheska, Eikeru." This time Ubel raised his voice. "You seem to misunderstand me, Eikeru. Destroying you is far from my mind. I merely clarified the situation, so that we can truly come to an agreement."
"How so?" growled the black rat, still on guard against a surprise attack, and. in turn, looking for an opening to attack.
The white ferret sighed. "Neither of us can benefit from killing other, because neither of us can hope to hold the army together single-pawedly. Look into your own mind for a moment, Eikeru. You want to convince yourself otherwise, but you know that this is the truth. Otherwise, why are you here, plotting and deceiving, instead of rallying the soldiers to your side and decorating the castle wall with heads of my poor self, Kopek, and everybeast who stands between you and the throne? Alone we shall fall, but together, with my dread and your popularity, my gifts and your military acumen, we can accomplish even greater deeds than Kunas!"
"What, are ye talkin' about yer addle-brained plans again?" Eikeru snorted, not lowering her saber one hair, her eyes on the weasel in front of her.
"Addle-brained?" Ubel sighed again, and continued, calmly and deliberately. "Seeking new lands to conquer, is not only a smart thing to do for us, Eikeru. It is absolutely necessary, and I, Ubel, see that better than anybeast, because I was the one who managed our stores, while the king drank and his captains played war. Subtract our losses, add our corsair "guests" – and we will already have to starve our slaves in the coming winter. And then what? Too many soldiers to feed, and now even less slaves to work the fields. Whomever takes over the Seacrag Castle, will have to force half the army go back to farming and fishing next spring, or face the worst famine in living memory."
"Beasts in the ranks will sooner rebel." Now Eikeru relaxed a bit, but still held her weapon at the ready.
"Precisely. So, what may you and me possibly gain from killing each other, even if one of us somehow succeeds in taking over? The throne that is about to topple by itself? But join me, and a great destiny will await us, a kingdom next to which the whole of Ergaph is nothing but meager scraps!"
"Kunas believed ye, and yer talks about destiny and omens, look where it got him! How in Hellgates ye did't see that the castle is goin' to be stormed, right until we were just one hour of march too far away?"
Ubel lowered his head, and his voice got quieter and softer: "The inner eye that I, Ubel, have obtained with much toil and sacrifice sees much, Eikeru, but not all. That is the exact reason why I need help from beasts like you, beasts who can think for themselves and advise, nor merely follow orders."
The black rat looked at the sorcerer skeptically. She was almost certain that he is lying – not about having a prophetic gift, about what it really had shown him. Almost certain. Maybe going for broke right now was a less risky thing to do than trusting an untrustworthy beast? Eikeru was almost certain, that she can quickly kill some no-name soldier and then catch up with Ubel before he runs away. Almost certain.
But in the end caution won, and the point of Eikeru's saber slowly lowered, down, almost touching the floor.
"Okay. Ye talk sense. So, I'm with ye, what now?"
"Now," a shadow of a malicious grin touched Ubel's face, "now we were talking about the way of dealing with Kopek and his empty ambitions, before clarifying our respective positions, aren't we?"
Marda could not see Ubel's expression from her position, but words alone made her shudder involuntary, silently thanking fates and seasons, that Kopek proved himself to be a less convenient pawn, than her son.
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In the middle of the night, the Seacrag Castle was shaken awake by loud, insistent drumbeat and ear-grating bugle calls at the courtyard. Vermin soldiers rushed out of their barracks, many undressed, but all carrying weapons, expecting trouble. Even sentries on the walls, their drowsiness gone in an instant, joined them.
Between the central tower and the main gate, in the ring of light formed by burning torches, a dreadful sight awaited them – bodies of one pine marten and two foxes, covered in grisly wounds, stripped naked, thrown in the dirt. Behind them stood Ubel Fireeyes with Sheska the weasel, who sounded the bugle, and Eikeru Manybattles with several of her most trusted soldiers, who held the torches and beat the drum, and Marda, with her son, little Seien, riding her shoulders.
Just as the first ranks of the forming crowd fell silent for a moment, trying to understand, what just happened, Eikeru stepped forward:
"Hear me, my old mates! Ye all know, who I am! Ye all trusted me to lead ye lot in battles, so trust me now! This filthy murderer here," she waved her paw over the bodies, "waited not for his father's body to cool, before trying to slay his brother! And me as well! But I'm not so easy to kill, right, mates?!"
As Eikeru shook her fist in the air to underline her words, a few vermin at first, and then more and more let out cries of approval. When those started to die down, the rat captain continued:
"But who cares about Kopek! Have any of ye liked the lazy bastard? Hey! I don't near ye! Right, nobeast liked him! Do ye think Kunas passed his strength and luck to him? No! Else Kopek would be standing here over my body! Right?! Forget him, here," and she turned to point at Marda and Seien, "we have the true heir of Kunas!"
For a moment the crowd fell silent. Truth to be told, more than a few vermin liked their king's youngest son – he was adorable since he started to walk, and despite his tender age, he already demonstrated strength of body and character, using complete freedom within the castle and the town, resulting from his father's complete indifference, to become the ringleader among vermin kids. But the very idea of ruler, who couldn't yet hold a weapon!
"Worry not!" Eikeru shouted, feeling their doubt. "Didn't his father's luck passed to him? How else do ye think he lived, when the tower was stormed?! Eh? So I say: long live King Seien!"
For a moment, the rat captain feared that silence will meet her words. And then somebeast in the crowd responded, then another, and in seconds the whole throng was shouting, so loud, that the sound echoed between castle walls:
"Long live the King!"