Chapter 17
The Mercenary Kingdom
Kosadzor, Near the Adom-Ostivar Border
Their journey through the northern half of Adom took on a dramatically different character than their journey through the southern half. Instead of seeking out hospitality from town to town as a mismatched group of foreign travellers, they remained with the caravan of Stepan and his allies. As a party of nothing but men would be taken for marauders, there were quite a few women and children in the group. And rather than impose on the local clans, the caravan would camp on the outskirts of the towns along the way. In the event that the locals would enter the camp, Toma and his party were dressed as Adomites to blend in better. So long as nobody tried talking to them, it all worked fairly well.
Toma hadn't quite broken his leg in the fight from before, but the bone was cracked according to Marius and it hurt to walk, so he was put in the cart with Dru, Goldie and women and children who weren't fit to walk or ride on horseback (or muleback, as horses didn't seem to be the main beast of burden here in Adom). If there wasn't the risk of making his injury worse, he might have considered it an indignity to sit in a cart while everyone else was walking, but the last thing he wanted was to be a full-fledged burden on the others, so he put up with the situation.
Molly wasn't taking it as well, though. She was recovering from a light concussion from that knockout blow she received. She probably only needed a few days, Toma thought, but Marius insisted she take it easy until they got to the border, leaving her to sulk in the cart. The bruising to her face had mostly gone down, so she would probably be fine once they had to part ways with the caravan. Toma wondered if his leg would be well enough by then, as they would be coming up on the border soon.
Because of the long history of conflict with Ostivar, well before Zadok ever got involved, there was about a fifty-kilometer swath of no man's land along the border, so this was one of the last towns they would see. Anyone who lived any further out did so at their own risk. You wouldn't find much besides the dens of outlaws and a few small border forts.
The caravan set up camp in a pentacle formation, both for defensive purposes and because the pentacle was considered auspicious among the Adomites. At each point of the pentacle's inner pentagon there was a campfire. Meals were meager, but at least they were warm. While they were eating, Stepan was speaking with Marius. Dru, who was sitting next to Toma, interpreted as she was wont to do.
"Mr. Arkadian says that tomorrow morning we'll reach the border. The caravan can't get too close because of the patrols, but they'll come to our aid if something happens before we get too far. They're giving us about a week's worth of supplies. We'll have to fend for ourselves after that.
"We take what we can get, right?"
Dru nodded.
"Mr. Arkadian and his allied clans have been quite generous to us. Of course, they aren't doing all this simply out of the goodness of their hearts. They want a piece of the action, as they say. When they learned about the reward and that we were heading northward, they were able to figure out that we were seeking out Ostivar's aid against Zadok. They want us to represent their interests."
"Their interests?"
"They are but one group of partisans here in Adom seeking to overthrow Zadok. If it would mean driving out Zadok, they would gladly set aside the ancient rivalry with Ostivar. If the Ostivaris intend to attack Zadok here in Adom, Stepan and his allies want to coordinate strategy."
"What's to stop Ostivar from just taking over?" Toma asked. "They've got tributaries just like Zadok and Aurea, right?"
"There is a risk, yes," Dru admitted, "but Stepan's group at least feels that anyone would be better than Zadok."
"Can't say as I can blame them."
Toma didn't like thinking about politics and he liked talking about politics even less. All he had to do was help get Dru to where she was going, but by this point he was largely irrelevant. He wasn't as savvy as Marius or Duran or as strong as Shaya. He wasn't a professional soldier like Schwartz and Molly and he didn't have rank like Goldie or Crescenza. It was one thing when he was the only one Dru and Goldie had, but by now, what good was he? He was just tagging along because he had nowhere else to go.
"Toma? Toma, what is it?"
Dru's voice called him away from his thoughts.
"Huh? What?"
"You were being quiet, Toma," Dru said. "And for a moment there you were making a bit of a scary face."
"Oh, ah, it's nothing," Toma said. "Just got lost there for a minute, I guess."
"Well, try not to get lost when we head out tomorrow. We need to stay sharp. I'll be counting on you, Toma."
Dru rested her hand on his, gave it a little squeeze and smiled. Even with all these new members far more capable than he was, she still seemed to rely on him. He couldn't imagine why. Maybe she was just making a show of it so he wouldn't wallow in his own sense of worthlessness. Whatever the case may have been, what little he could do, he'd do it for her. Surely that'd be enough to keep him going.
* * *
It had been two days since they parted ways with Stepan's caravan. With Molly scouting ahead, they were able to avoid the border patrols and cross into Ostivar without incident. So far at least, Ostivar was much like Adom, being a rather harsh environment with little water or vegetation. Tough living makes for tough people. Toma could've sworn that was something people would say. It certainly would make sense for the fabled Mercenary Kingdom.
Ostivar wasn't blessed with Nature's bounty. It didn't have fields of grain, vineyards, or pasture lands teeming with herds of livestock. It didn't have any mineral wealth either, save for some bitumen pits. What it did have was a bunch of mean old cusses who didn't seem to be afraid of much of anything, and if you could pay their price, there was nothing they wouldn't do.
The Ostivaris' reputation got them a lot of business. There was always a war going on somewhere and people who would pay just about any price to win. It didn't matter how dirty you wanted to fight. If there were lines Ostivari mercenaries wouldn't cross, no one seemed to know what they were. Just the mention of Ostivaris entering the fray could drive people to the negotiating table.
Speaking of negotiations, it still wasn't clear what Dru meant to do. She had no way of proving her identity and they had nothing of value to trade. At least in a country of mercenaries, you could start a conversation with a little silver and gold, but for what she meant to do, it was going to take a lot more than they could ever hope to scrounge up.
This wasn't the first time Toma had thought about how ill-conceived this plan was, but as they were getting closer to their destination, it was becoming more and more prominent in his mind. Things had a funny way of working out with Dru, but they tended to come at a cost. The only question was how much it was going to cost them this time.
As if on cue, Marius chuckled to himself.
"Ah, son of a bitch..."
"Mr. Marius?" Dru asked.
"This is what I get for underestimating these little bastards..."
"Mr. Marius, what is it?"
Marius held up his hands and began to slowly unshoulder his rifle, careful to hold it only by the shoulder strap.
"I want you all to listen to me very carefully," he said in a calm, level voice. "I want you to slowly put your weapons on the ground and get down on your knees with your hands up. Don't move, don't speak. We clear?"
Shaya said something, prompting Marius to give her a blunt reply and Dru adding her voice, probably trying to dissuade her from doing anything stupid. Grudgingly, she did as she was told, while everyone else was busy complying with Marius' instructions. It would seem that they'd been spotted and depending on what they did, this could very well be the end of their journey.
"Wood's on up ahead," Schwartz said. "If she thinks some'un's gunnin' for 'er..."
Marius sighed.
"And here's where I do something stupid. Remember, people, don't move."
Marius broke into a sudden sprint that was met with several gunshots in his direction. None of them seemed to hit him, though. Zigzagging enough to make himself a difficult target, he made his way to Molly, who was crouched down and lining up a shot when he tackled her to the ground. It was hard to see from the distance, but it looked like he pulled out a rope from his coat and hog-tied her, then kept her pinned down with his knee as he raised his hands again.
It was a wonder he wasn't shot then and there. It was a wonder the lot of them weren't shot then and there, but the Ostivaris had other plans. As the Ostivaris came forward, it was clear that they weren't ordinary border guards. They didn't seem to be soldiers at all just by looking at them, but they were too well-coordinated to be untrained civilians. They wore the skins of wolves, bears and rock panthers. Probably if you just got a passing glance of one of them in the bush, you'd mistake them for those animals. They moved in groups of four and while three of those groups hemmed in the main party, another went out to fetch Marius and Molly. Poor Molly had to suffer the indignity (and likely discomfort) of being carried over while still hog-tied.
Once everyone was reunited, the apparent leader among the Ostivaris started talking. Unsurprisingly, Marius was able to converse with them and Dru interpreted for Toma's benefit, keeping her voice low so as not to draw too much attention to herself.
"They're accusing us of being spies for Zadok. Because we're dressed like Adomites even though we're not from Adom, because we were able slip through the border past the patrols, and because we can speak Ostivari."
One of the Ostivaris barked something at her, but when she replied to him, Marius angrily snapped at her. This annoyed Toma and he was about to give Marius a piece of his mind when Dru whispered, "Toma, don't. Mr. Marius is trying to establish himself as our leader. Just stay quiet and let him handle this."
If it was all part of an act, Toma could bear it better, but he still didn't like it. All he could do was stand there while Marius talked with the Ostivaris, only without the benefit of Dru's interpretation.
After a while, Marius turned to the others and said, "Well, folks, I've got good news and bad news."
"They're gonna kill us firs' an' then rape, skin an' eat us?" Duran asked.
"Not quite," Marius replied. "The bad news is that I wasn't able to convince these gentlemen that we're not spies. The good news is that Queen Bulah wants all captured spies brought to her, so we've got our ticket to Havilah."
"As prisoners," Crescenza noted.
"I'm sure you weren't exptectin' us to travel like royalty."
Crescenza sighed.
"There's no helping it now that it's happened, but I hope these 'gentlemen' don't get any funny ideas along the way. It'll get ugly."
"Let's hope none of you get any funny ideas either," Marius said. "We're all gonna behave ourselves an' do as we're told. It may not be a comfortable trip or a pleasant one, but we all get where we're goin' alive an' once we're brought before the Queen, the girl here can try workin' her magic. We clear?"
There were some mutters of assent. Marius made a point to say something extra to Shaya. All he got was a grunt out of her.
Marius then said, "Now, they're gonna tie us up an' frisk us. Just stay calm and follow instructions. Watch."
One of the Ostivaris whistled and his horse came trotting up to him. He took out a coil of rope and went to Marius. He gave some curt orders, which Marius then interpreted for the others.
"When they come to you, slowly put your arms down and cross your wrists, right over left. Right palm up, left palm down."
Marius then did so and once the Ostivari tied his wrists, he ran the rope around Marius' waist, then moved on to Duran. While the one Ostivari was busy tying up Duran, another stepped in to frisk Marius. He wasn't being gentle about it either. Marius continued to interpret even as he was being manhandled.
"Keep your legs shoulder-width apart when you're bein' frisked. Don't move, don't struggle, don't try fightin' him whenever he goes to take whatever he's takin'. Ladies, he's probably gonna offend you. Gents, you'll probably be offended too. Oof."
He seemed to have timed that perfectly as the Ostivari was feeling up his groin. Toma remembered one of his pirate stories where the pirate captain kept a little pocket pistol stowed in his britches. He said it was because other men didn't like to feel around down there when searching you. The Ostivaris apparently were wise to that trick, though.
Toma was second to last, so he had to watch the Ostivari go all the way down the line. He was no gentler with the women than he was with the men, though he seemed to get a little more enjoyment out of it. Crescenza and Molly bore it in silence with heroic resolve. Shaya growled at the man but otherwise behaved. However, when Dru's turn came up next, the Ostivari let his professionalism, such as it was, lapse.
Dru was still and quiet at first, but as he kept at it, she started asking him to stop, or at least that was what Toma guessed she was saying. He didn't stop, though, and that was when everything went to shit.
Shaya snapped her ropes like it was twine, whipped around, grabbed the Ostivari by the head and gave it a sharp twist. She then wrapped herself around Dru to shield her as the Ostivaris opened fire. Toma tackled Goldie to get him on the ground before he ended up with a few extra holes in him.
Now that it had started, there was no stopping it. Shaya spared only enough time to snap the rope again so Dru wouldn't be attached to her, then threw her to the ground before she went after the four Ostivaris on their left. She snatched the rifle out of the hands of one of them and used it as a club to beat him down, not that her bare hands weren't more than enough for the task.
While she was fighting them, the four at the rear were reloading. Toma looked to the body of the frisker and saw the hunting knife in his belt. He crawled over to the body and drew the knife. As the Ostivaris were closing in on Shaya, he was able to trip one and once the Ostivari was on the ground, Toma drove the knife into his chest.
When one of the Ostivari's comrades saw this, he delivered a buttstroke to Toma's face and that was the last thing he remembered.
* * *
For his last memory being his face almost smashed in with a rifle butt, Toma didn't expect the lingering pain to be offset by this feeling of softness, like his head was resting on a pillow. He opened his eyes and image of Dru started to come into focus.
"Oh, Toma, you're awake."
It was then that he realized that he had his head in her lap—on her lap. Embarrassed, he sprang up but immediately felt so dizzy he almost passed out again.
"Toma! You shouldn't get up so fast! You still need to rest."
Holding his head and trying to stay steady, he told her, "I'm fine. It's nothing."
"A blow like that could've killed you," Dru said. "I was so worried."
"How long have I been out?"
"About an hour."
"What happened?" Toma asked as he started looking around.
He saw five remaining Ostivaris carrying loads of rock and dirt in their pelts to cover the shallow graves of their dead comrades, all under the watchful eyes and ready rifles of Duran, Schwartz, Molly and Crescenza.
"We won," Dru said, "sort of. Mr. Marius planned for us to be taken to Havilah under escort as prisoners, but when Shaya started fighting with our captors, it was kill or be killed. She would have killed them all if Mr. Marius didn't get her to stop. He wants to try salvaging the plan, which will depend on how cooperative our 'friends' here are willing to be."
"This kinda work is a whole helluva lot easier when I'm the only one who can muck it up," Marius said as he walked up to them. "How're you feelin', boy?"
"I'll be fine," Toma said.
"I appreciate what you did for the young prince. I know you two don't exactly see eye to eye."
"We need him," Toma replied, looking over to where Goldie was sulking a short ways off. "And besides, there's a big difference between not liking a person and wanting him dead."
"Could've opened up some possibilities for you," Marius said, eyeing him and Dru, "but I guess you got your reward for it, so all's well that ends well, am I right?"
He laughed as he walked off, leaving both Toma and Dru more than a little flustered. The two of them looked at each other but were at a loss to come up with something to clear the awkward atmosphere. Shaya knelt down and said something in Adomite, then gave Toma a hearty pat on the back and laughed.
Before Toma could ask, Dru said, "She said you can use her lap for a pillow next time if you like."
"Uh, thanks..."
The less said on the subject, the better. The less thought on the subject, better still.
"Do you want to rest some more?" Dru asked, smoothing out her skirt.
Tempting as the offer was, Toma thought better of it. Goldie was probably jealous enough as it was.
"Thanks, but no. I'm fine, like I said."
"If you say so, Toma."
She actually sounded a little disappointed. No, he couldn't entertain thoughts like that, even if they were true. Especially if they were true.
Once the Ostivaris were done burying their dead, Marius spoke with them some more. The fact that he didn't kill them indicated that they reached some sort of agreement. For the benefit of the rest of the group, Marius told them, "Congratulations. These gentlemen would rather escort us to Havilah than join their friends. We'll be pretending to be their prisoners so things'll go smoother, but out trip won't be quite as unpleasant now that they're in on the act. Get your stuff together an' let's get ready to move out. I'd like us to cover some more ground before sunset."
Toma touched the bridge of his nose. He thought it might be broken. Not that there was anything he could do for it. Being filled with optimism as he was, he couldn't imagine things going any better for them once they reached Havilah. Only when they got there, not even one of Shaya's rampages would be enough to save them. This was shaping up more and more to be a really bad idea, but who could stop Dru once she had her mind set on something? All Toma could do was stick by her to the end, for whatever good that would do.