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Chapter 15 - Noble Lady of Caelin
"Damnit, where is Eubans? He should have returned hour ago! Ephidel! Explain yourself!" Marquess Darin of Laus glared around for his henchman, his overshot jaw and heavy forehead giving him the appearance of a grumpy old Silverback gorilla.
"Here, lord Darin. What is it you wish?" The black-cloaked man appeared from the shadows of the trees. His voice was almost as greasy as his hair, but Darin supposed he had his uses.
"Where are my mercenaries? We can't attack until they return." Darin demanded. "If you've sent them off somewhere without telling me again, I may have to rethink the bounds of our agreement!"
"Have no fears, my lord. Eubans himself decided to send a unit of his men to unseat the Pheraean pretender. He himself has just entered the camp with the rest of his forces. 'ware the Wyvern rider, my lord. His heart is too soft for this work. It would be better to send him on another mission during this assault. Your first targets must be the ruling Marquess and his grand-daughter."
"Very well. Carry the message to the troops, we will strike at dawn.
"So, that's the story..." Lyn grimaced. "We're lucky you got here first." She sighed, and looked between Rei and her grandfather. "We can't defend the castle, grandfather. Even with Rei's reinforcements, from what she and her companions have said, Darin's forces are too strong."
"We also cannot allow them to just walk in and take over. Caelin has suffered too much to allow that warmongering young fool to undo all our hard work in healing the land and people." Hausen frowned. "Miss Rei, you are a tactician. What is your suggested course of action?"
"I..." She paused, thoughtfully. "I can't see a way to win this battle outright. We have only two chances. Either we lay in for a siege until lord Eliwood and lord Hector come to our aid, or..." She paused, the other idea not sitting well with her. "We give them the castle and wage a guerrilla war against them, wearing them down until our forces are strong enough. That would cost more lives, because we couldn't simply abandon the castle, we'd have to make them think they'd defeated us. If they have siege engines, though - and just because Matthew didn't find any signs of them doesn't mean they don't have them, or even war mages - then we won't be able to hold out for long. Castle Caelin is barely defensible these days." Rei sighed, wishing she could give them better news. All three of them knew that the only way they'd survive was by abandoning the castle at the cost of the lives of the knights.
"You must go, then, Lyndis." Hausen stood up and walked, stiffly, to the curtained window. Lifting aside the heavy drape, he looked out into the darkness of the Lycian night. "Take your unit, and any others who will go with you. Armsmaster Raven will stay here to guard the castle and its lord."
"You can't stay here, grandfather!" Lyn protested. "You'll be killed for sure!"
"He has to, lady Lyn..." Rei murmured. "Otherwise the ruse won't take."
"Quite right." Hausen nodded, still looking into the darkness. "Besides, even if I were well enough to travel, I'm worth more to them alive and controllable than dead. They won't kill me, Lyndis. Darin is too cowardly for that."
"But grandfather..." Lyn started, and Rei was taken aback by how... whiny she sounded.
"You're too good to me, child. Miss Rei, you won't let anything happen to my granddaughter, will you?" Finally, the old marquess turned to look at them.
"I will die before her, my lord." Rei swore, bowing. In any other circumstances, the stunned, slightly panicked look on her face would have made Lyn giggle as Hausen suddenly embraced her.
"You're too precious yourself for such oaths, and I know that you're not a warrior. Look after this one, Lyndis." It was the Sacaean's turn for a hug, though she bore it more gracefully than the Kanhi girl. "Now, go, gather your Legion and prepare. I want you out of the castle by daybreak."
"Lord Raymond, please, wait!" The high voice was almost out of the bounds of acceptability for a male, and if Priscilla Cornwell hadn't recognised it with the certainty of someone who has seen two horse-carts careening towards each other with no chance of stopping, she would have been hard pressed to reconcile it with the man... boy, really, she had known. Picking up her skirts, she broke into a run to chase the sound. Coming around the corner, however, she stopped and stared.
"L... lord Lucius..." She whispered, then saw past the blonde man to the dour redhead he had cornered. "And... Raymond..."
Raven glared at his companion in irritation. He had work to do, and the monk had chosen thatexact moment to tell him that there was someone he needed to meet, refusing to listen to any reason or argument even as the mercenary Armsmaster has strode through the lower halls. The sound of running feet made him refocus past his childhood companion's angelic face to see another visage he had never thought to witness again. She was older, yes, but still young enough to still have that same innocence of face and bearing.
"Priscilla..?" He blinked. "What in the scouring is going on here?" He grumbled, then looked back at Lucius. "If this is your idea of a joke..." He trailed off, threateningly.
"It's no joke, lord Raymond. As I told you, you needed to meet this person before the battle tomorrow." Lucius half-turned so that he could see them both. "Lady Priscilla, it has been so long. I only wish our meeting could be under more favourable circumstances."
"I... I share that wish..." The troubadour mumbled, clearly still struggling with the situation that confronted her. "Lord brother, are you not happy to see me..?" She took one step forward, then another, hesitantly.
"Priscilla. Go home. This is no place for you. Take Lucius with you, if you will." Raven said, curtly, and turned to stride off into the darkness of the armouries, leaving those who would follow him into hell to watch him go, speechless.
"I'm sorry." Rei sighed as she watched Lyn pack. "I really didn't want it to be this way..."
"He will be alright, won't he? He wasn't just saying that to make it easier for me to go?" Lyn's voice was carefully controlled, but her friend couldn't tell if it was tears or anger that made it so.
"He wasn't just saying it, no. It's true," she confirmed. "He's no good to Darin dead. Besides, he's tough, your grandfather. It'd take more than Darin has to kill him." Her tone was encouraging, but she hoped that her own doubts wouldn't come through. "What about Sara? I haven't seen her since we arrived. Has she gone back to her mothers' estate?"
"No, she's still here. She refused to come away with us, though. She'll be with grandfather when they come..."
"There's something you're not telling me, isn't there?" Rei frowned slightly.
"You remember when we first arrived here, Sara was very fond of my grandfather? It hasn't abated since she returned from travelling with you. I'm just worried that she'll do something stupid to protect him." Lyn sighed. "I'm done. We should meet with the others in the stable. I think Hunt's missed you, you know."
"How are the horses, anyway? I wasn't sure how Hunt would hold up away from the plains."
"She foaled a few weeks ago. The foal shows signs of Lenoré's bloodline characteristics." Lyn grinned at the happier thought. "My father would throw a fit if he knew I was letting her breed with outclan stallions, but..."
"Heh. I'm going to trust you on that, I know nothing about horsebreeding." Rei chuckled. "How about you? Found anyone interesting?" Despite the lightness off her tone, Rei felt fear grip her heart at the potential replies.
"No... I've not been looking, to be honest. There's been so much to do." She shrugged, dismissing the subject. "Lets go."
The two women made their way to the stable where the others who were departing with them waited. Kent and Sain, Wil, Florina, Matthew, Guy, Erk and a somewhat shaken-looking Priscilla waited with them along with two other Caelin knights.
"My Lady." Kent saluted. "We are ready to depart. What is our mission?"
"Disruption and confusion. You know of Marquess Darin's army approaching us. The tactical situation is clear - the castle cannot stand against this attack. We are going to ground outside to harry their forces until lords Eliwood and Hector arrive with reinforcements." Rei spoke quickly. "Before you raise any objections, knight commander, you were chosen to lead this unit rather than the castle defence because of your experience with mobile combat. Armsmaster Raven has the castle defence."
"Do we know they plan to invade?" Sain asked, uncertainly. "Marquess Darin is a pompous mule, but he's never caused any problems before."
"His canton has been preparing for war. His intentions are clear." Matthew answered. "You remember that, until last year, Lord Lundgren made no move to secure his inheritance until Wiseman appeared in the castle. From my own activities, I have determined that around the time of Wiseman's disappearance, a man named Ephidel appeared in Darin's court, making appearances in Santaruz and Pherae as well. Ephidel is, as far as I could tell, identical to miss Rei's description of Wiseman."
"But I killed Wiseman." Lyn frowned. "There's no way someone could survive a wound like that."
"I know. It's a mystery, and I don't like it." The thief frowned. "Still, if we assume that Wiseman was the reason for Lundgren's change in policy, I think it's safe to say that this Ephidel is the cause of Darin's change also." Shrugging, he finished his theory and fell silent.
"That's a discussion for later, I think. Lets move out for now." Lyn interjected, and the knights saluted before as a group moving out. Travelling with Lyndis' Legion, even without Dorcas, Rath or the siblings, felt worryingly like coming home to Rei.
"I've sighted them up ahead, but it looks like the castle has fallen." Rebecca reported. She and Lowen had been scouting ahead of the main group. It was now the third day since Darin's defeat at Laus.
"Blast it, we're too late!" Hector swore, glaring at Eliwood. "If you'd only..."
"Time for recriminations when we can afford them. Rebecca, did you see any sign that Lord Hausen or his family had been captured?" The Pheraean barely glanced at either of them, staring instead in the direction of the castle.
"No, lord Eliwood, none." Rebecca replied, relieved. A strange intensity had come over the lord these past few days, unsettling in the least to those he paid any attention to. Even Marcus preferred not to meet his gaze when he was like this.
"Good, Darin's the type to leave heads on pikes. Gather the company, we'll take the castle back then search for Darin and Hausen." He turned away as Rebecca went to pass on the message, but stopped as Hector caught his eye.
"I don't know why you've become like this, but I don't like it. You're getting cold, Eliwood. Turning into..." Anything else Hector might have said was cut off as he glanced upwards and his eyes widened. Opening his arms, he caught the tiny woman who fell from the sky. "Well, hello, miss. I don't think we've..."
"Huey." Eliwood mumbled, making Hector blink then follow his gaze upwards. A moment later, the ninety-pound Pegasus knight in his arms was stood behind him as the heavy axeman held up his bracers protectively against an irate five hundred and eighty pound Pegasus attempted to batter his skull in.
"Huey, stop! It's okay, he caught me, they're friends!" Florina lunged for her mount's bridle and pulled his head around. "Huey! Listen to me. That's lord Eliwood's friend you're attacking." After a few moments, the Pegasus calmed down and stood quietly. "I-I'm sorry, sir, he's b-been on edge since we f-fell back." She said, turning to Hector and saluting nervously. "You're l-lord Hector? I'm F-F-Florina, of Lyndis' Legion. Lady Lyndis has me k-keeping an eye on things from the sky." Turning to Eliwood, she saluted again. "Lord Eliwood. R-Rei made it in time to warn us, but we c-couldn't hold the castle. We retreated, and we've been m-making guerrilla raids on their f-forces, but..."
"Thankyou." Eliwood smiled for the first time since Rei's defection. "If we can co-ordinate with Lyn's unit, taking back the castle should be much easier. Is lord Hausen with you?"
"N-no, he's still in the castle. He stayed behind to c-c-co-ordinate the defence with the Armsmaster." Florina stammered.
"That's frustrating. Alright, in the absence of specialist advice, here's what we're going to do..."