toward his chambers only to be stopped by
one of the queen’s pages. Thad held up his hand, silencing the
young girl before she could speak. “Let me guess—the queen is
demanding my presence. Might as well get this over with. Where is
she?”
“She is in her study,” the page
replied, a thin smirk spreading across her face. Thad never liked
it when the pages seemed happy. It usually meant that the queen was
in a very precarious mood.
“You called,” Thad called as he lightly
knocked on the door to the queen’s study.
“Come in, Thad,” Maria answered, her
voice stern and cold.
“Why in the nine hells did you barge
into my meeting today? Lady Talia was in an uproar over it. Do you
have any idea how much of a pain one angry noble can make for us
right now?”
“My apologies. I just didn’t have time
to wait. Eloen said that she could pass word on to a group of
mercenaries called the Katanga. I needed to know what we could
afford,” Thad explained pacifyingly.
“The Katanga,” Maria said, her lips
pursed into a thin white line. “Why didn’t you say so earlier? I
would empty the vaults to hire the Katanga.”
“Both you and Eloen seem to think
highly of these mercenaries. Just who are they?” Thad asked, his
interest piqued.
“They are by far the best fighting
force known in all of Kurt. Any king or queen who has had them on
their side during a battle has never lost. The odd thing is they
don’t just fight for gold. There are plenty of stories where one
kingdom offered them great ricks and another offered them only a
paltry sum in comparison, but they chose the smaller
amount.”
“Why didn’t you try to hire them
earlier?” Thad asked, confused.
Maria sat back in her chair and gave a
heavy sigh. “It’s not that easy, Thad. You don’t just hire the
Katanga as if you were simply chartering a boat. They’re hard to
find, and even if you do find one, most the time, they will seldom
hear out your request. From most of the stories I have heard, it is
normally the Katanga themselves who come offering their aid along
with a price.”
“Hopefully, they will side with us and
not decide to join Rane,” Thad said, his expression
worried.
“If the Katanga decides to join Rane’s
forces, we might as well start digging our graves,” Maria replied
without a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
CHAPTER VII
The next few days were filled with
tedium as Thad spent most of his time inside the confines of the
tower, working on the magical spades. As mundane as the items
seemed, they were a big part of his plans for the war.
The day before the final spade was
finished, the first heavy snows started to fall around the capital.
Thad wished they had held off for a few days more, but there was
little he could do to control nature.
With the spades finished and on their
way to the eastern fort, Thad had plenty of things to catch up on.
Thad had asked the queen for a more permanent name, but she assured
him that the best names were not chosen but earned.
With the first snow also came the
feeling of time running out and the gathering of the war council.
The council was not large and only consisted of those that both
Thad and Maria trusted. Thad looked around at the mixed group.
Duchess Alysia, whose niece was now queen of Abla, was one of the
few nobles Thad trusted and was in charge of troop supply.
Meredith, a scholar from the royal school who had taken up an
almost obsessive study of magic since she had heard of Thad, was in
charge of magical assistance, though her task was mostly procuring
items that the mages needed for their craft. Kain, the elfin
captain, was to be in charge of the naval fleet made up of a mix of
elfin and Farlan ships. Ferula, an elfin maiden who Reeve had sent,
was in charge of the elfin forces. General Foreman, who had been
moved from Southpass Fort, was to take charge of the combined
Farlan forces. Lastly, there was Horus, who was in charge of the
battle mages.
“How many troops do we
one of the queen’s pages. Thad held up his hand, silencing the
young girl before she could speak. “Let me guess—the queen is
demanding my presence. Might as well get this over with. Where is
she?”
“She is in her study,” the page
replied, a thin smirk spreading across her face. Thad never liked
it when the pages seemed happy. It usually meant that the queen was
in a very precarious mood.
“You called,” Thad called as he lightly
knocked on the door to the queen’s study.
“Come in, Thad,” Maria answered, her
voice stern and cold.
“Why in the nine hells did you barge
into my meeting today? Lady Talia was in an uproar over it. Do you
have any idea how much of a pain one angry noble can make for us
right now?”
“My apologies. I just didn’t have time
to wait. Eloen said that she could pass word on to a group of
mercenaries called the Katanga. I needed to know what we could
afford,” Thad explained pacifyingly.
“The Katanga,” Maria said, her lips
pursed into a thin white line. “Why didn’t you say so earlier? I
would empty the vaults to hire the Katanga.”
“Both you and Eloen seem to think
highly of these mercenaries. Just who are they?” Thad asked, his
interest piqued.
“They are by far the best fighting
force known in all of Kurt. Any king or queen who has had them on
their side during a battle has never lost. The odd thing is they
don’t just fight for gold. There are plenty of stories where one
kingdom offered them great ricks and another offered them only a
paltry sum in comparison, but they chose the smaller
amount.”
“Why didn’t you try to hire them
earlier?” Thad asked, confused.
Maria sat back in her chair and gave a
heavy sigh. “It’s not that easy, Thad. You don’t just hire the
Katanga as if you were simply chartering a boat. They’re hard to
find, and even if you do find one, most the time, they will seldom
hear out your request. From most of the stories I have heard, it is
normally the Katanga themselves who come offering their aid along
with a price.”
“Hopefully, they will side with us and
not decide to join Rane,” Thad said, his expression
worried.
“If the Katanga decides to join Rane’s
forces, we might as well start digging our graves,” Maria replied
without a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
CHAPTER VII
The next few days were filled with
tedium as Thad spent most of his time inside the confines of the
tower, working on the magical spades. As mundane as the items
seemed, they were a big part of his plans for the war.
The day before the final spade was
finished, the first heavy snows started to fall around the capital.
Thad wished they had held off for a few days more, but there was
little he could do to control nature.
With the spades finished and on their
way to the eastern fort, Thad had plenty of things to catch up on.
Thad had asked the queen for a more permanent name, but she assured
him that the best names were not chosen but earned.
With the first snow also came the
feeling of time running out and the gathering of the war council.
The council was not large and only consisted of those that both
Thad and Maria trusted. Thad looked around at the mixed group.
Duchess Alysia, whose niece was now queen of Abla, was one of the
few nobles Thad trusted and was in charge of troop supply.
Meredith, a scholar from the royal school who had taken up an
almost obsessive study of magic since she had heard of Thad, was in
charge of magical assistance, though her task was mostly procuring
items that the mages needed for their craft. Kain, the elfin
captain, was to be in charge of the naval fleet made up of a mix of
elfin and Farlan ships. Ferula, an elfin maiden who Reeve had sent,
was in charge of the elfin forces. General Foreman, who had been
moved from Southpass Fort, was to take charge of the combined
Farlan forces. Lastly, there was Horus, who was in charge of the
battle mages.
“How many troops do we
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