Haven Keep (Book 1) (40 page)

This was not good.   Flenn knew the Halfen would plan some treachery, but this was even bolder than anything he imagined.    Baiden’s small party was not prepared to fight twenty-one armored calvary men.  There was no telling what Jeret would have his men do.  Jeret had always been a friend to Baiden, and the Celtens held no love for the Halfen, but in the face of such overwhelming odds there were no guarantees.

Flenn did a mental calculation of their fighting strength.   Baiden, Berkler, and himself were the only fighting men of the Kailfen clan.  There were three servants, Dax, Ronnie, and Scott, who would fight if they needed to, but they had no weapons other than their cooking knives.  If he was calculating  strength, Flenn couldn’t really count them.  Oded and Tostig possessed the look of fighters.  Flenn was sure they would be a strong asset.  Hopefully the Celtens would stand along side Baiden.  They should.  Flenn could think of no reason why they would not. There were five of them.  Jeret, his three councilors, Thane, Omar, and Loeg, then there was Dethan.  Two to one odds.  Not good.

Baiden shouted to his wife.  “Alensa, you and Anora take cover in the trees.  Do not come out no matter what.”

“Why?  What is it?”  Alensa did not sound concerned.

“No time to argue, just do it.”  Baiden was not used to being argued with.  Maybe it was different with his wife.  

Alensa finally nodded and disappeared with Anora into the brush.  Flenn hoped they stayed there.  The Halfen were not known for treating women kindly.

The Halfen would be here in moments.  Flenn watched the tree line and gripped his sword, wishing once again he hadn’t removed the saddle from his horse.  He hoped this didn’t come to bloodshed, but he knew it most likely would.  The Halfen had already made one attempt on Baiden’s life and now this.  Twenty-one men.  The same number used in the execution of a royal warrant.  It had to be coincidence.  Either way, this could likely be the last day for many of these men, himself included.  Whatever happened, Flenn must protect Baiden.

The riders came into view through the trees and continued on until stopping at the edge of camp.  Flenn could see the Halfen were not happy Baiden knew they were coming and was ready for them.  The leader, a man Flenn did not recognize, looked around the half erected camp as if
assessing the situation, then rode a few paces forward, eyes glancing over Oded and Tostig, then finally settling on Baiden.

The man drew his sword and tried to reign his horse in.  It danced back and forth, seeming to sense the tension in the air and the nervousness of his master.  Flenn could see that nervousness reflected in all the men behind the leader.  The Halfen were not known for their bravery.  A knife in the dark was more their style.
They probably had hoped to catch Baiden’s party alone,
Flenn thought.  They most likely were not pleased to see the Celtens here.  Oded and Tostig must not be a welcome sight either.  It was still ten against twenty-one, unless you counted the servants, which Flenn again decided against.  Not odds Flenn thought of as favorable.

The man finally spoke.  He made a show of speaking only to Baiden, but spoke as if giving a proclamation.  His voice lacked the confidence his superior numbers should have given him.  “Baiden, son of Baiden, I arrest you in the name of the north.”

Baiden laughed out loud.  “What gives you the right to speak for the north?  You are nothing but a traitor, and the follower of a traitor.  I will see the lot of you hanged and Ky’s head on a pike.”

“So much for smooth talking,” Flenn muttered under his breath.

Tostig laughed and gave Flenn an amused look.  Flenn did not realize he’d spoken loud enough for anyone to hear.

Rage filled the Halfen man’s eyes and ran across his face.  Some of the men behind him drew their swords.  Flenn was glad none of them had lances.  He did not believe the Halfen were smart enough to think of arming themselves that way.  They probably thought a show of force was enough to make Baiden just surrender to the gallows without a fight.

“You are the traitor,” the man shouted. “I ...”

Baiden interrupted him.  “How so?  You send men to try and assassinate me and you call me the traitor.  Now you make a mockery of serving an arrest warrant you have no right to issue.”

Baiden was losing patience.  Flenn half expected him to charge the Halfen by himself.

“You have sworn allegiance to me,” Baiden continued, “not the other way around.  You fools may leave now.  If you value your lives I suggest you do.”

“You are the fool for speaking to us in such a way.”  The man’s anger was evident.  “We are loyal to the north, not to you.  You would have us serve the south.  The Halfen grow strong in the north while you grow weak.  The north will be united behind Ky and the Halfen after you are stripped of your title,” the man screamed.  “And your head!”

“Enough of this foolishness,” Baiden waved his hand in the air like he was swatting at a gnat.  “You wish to take me.  I will fight you to the death, in the way of the men of old.  In the way of the Dragon Lords.  If you wish to honor the north, you will honor that.”

“The Dragon Lords are your myth, not ours.  The Halfen will rule the north with strength you do not have.  The might of our armies are marching forth now.  Our numbers are greater than the rest of the north combined.   We will crush Azmark, and those clans who have not yet united with us will see the light shortly.”  The man’s eyes blazed with anger and hatred.  “The united clans could not stand against our might.  Even if those who remain neutral follow you, that still only leaves you with four clans to fight us.  Only fools will continue to follow you.  If they do, it will be to their deaths.”

“If your cause is just, fight me now.  If you defeat me it will all be ended.  You will have no need to convince the other clans.  There are witnesses enough here to testify it was done in the old tradition.”

“I am afraid that is impossible.  We have been given the sacred duty of arresting you and bringing you to trial.  There is nothing that can break our oath and our duty.”

Baiden roared with laughter.  “The oath of a Halfen is not worth pig dung.”

Flenn was not sure what Baiden was trying to do.  If he wanted to avoid a fight he had long since lost that battle.  Now he seemed to be picking one.

The man was now so angry he was spitting as he screamed at Baiden.  “I arrest you for the murder of Cray, Lord of the Halfen, his lady wife Jezereel, the murders of Dennen, Drake, Vlennen, Greggor and the attempted murder of Jubben, councillor to Ky, Lord of the Halfen.”

Baiden again laughed at the man.  “Murders?”

Another of the Halfen rode forward.  He was a dirty looking man with reddish gold hair.  Everything about him was unkept except his armor.  “Do you deny killing my brothers?”

“By your filthy look I’d say you must be Druden.”  Baiden’s voice held nothing but contempt for the man. “I assume you are speaking of those sons of goats Drake and Dennen.”  Baiden sniffed his disdain.  “Of course I killed those traitorous swine.  They attacked me in my own home after being invited as guests.  Their deaths were justice, not murder. Your brothers deserved worse than what they got.  Something I intend to remedy when I kill you.  The devils of the Rift can take you and your whole family.”

Flenn began easing his sword out.  He could see no way out of a conflict now.  He hoped Oded and Tostig were as formidable as they appeared.

Druden looked ready to charge.   Maybe that was what Baiden was hoping for.  Get them to charge separately instead of all at once.  The leader, whoever he was, restrained Druden with an outstretched arm.  “The charges have not all been spoken.”

Oded had enough of keeping silent.  “If you were literate you could read the charges instead of just speak them.  Get this over with so I can start killing you wastes of skin.”

Druden couldn’t hold his temper any longer.  He spurred his horse and charged.  Flenn could see his sword was too high.  He swung it wildy above his head.  It appeared Druden meant to take off Oded’s head on his way to Baiden.  What Druden didn’t count on was Tostig moving his horse slightly forward and loosing an arrow.  The shaft struck Druden in his armpit, sending him crashing to the ground, his horse continued running.  Druden lay motionless where he fell, his body contorted in an unnatural position.  Flenn hadn’t even seen Tostig nock an arrow.  When Flenn turned to look at him, Tostig already had another arrow nocked, his bow drawn back to his ear, ready to fire at his next target.

“You will answer for that too.”  The man did not seem as confident now.  Not that he had before.  “Jeret we have no quarrel with you.  You have not been charged, and will not be if you allow us to finish our sacred trust.”

“I have heard no evidence of these crimes,” Jeret said.  “There has been no trial.”

“There will be when we take Baiden into custody.”

“He is Lord of Azmark.  He must be tried before the chiefs of all the clans.  You can wait until we arrive at Stone Abbey tomorrow.   You can have your trial then. 
If
we decide there is to be one.”

“I cannot let the criminal go free,” the man screamed.  “The quorum has been formed and sent on its task.  We have sworn our oaths and will accomplish our errand or die.”  The man turned again to Baiden and pointed his sword at him. “You have betrayed the north.   You have brought a foreign army onto our lands to subject us to your will.   How, Jeret, can you follow this man?  The evidence is obvious.  The leader of that army stands before you.  Baiden hides the heir to the throne of Evenfelle, to set up as a puppet king and carve out an empire for himself.  By his own mouth he has admitted to the charges of murder we bring against him.  Those murders were done to hide his other purposes.”

Jeret did not look pleased.  “Baiden what do you have to say to this.  I cannot pretend any longer that I do not recognize Oded and his son Tostig.  What of the heir of Evenfelle?”

“The Halfen twist the facts into lies,” Baiden explained.  “I have done no murder, I only defended myself and my family.”

“And the heir of Evenfelle?” Jeret asked calmly.

Oded interrupted, “We know his general whereabouts.  All you need to know is that he is safe.”

Von!  It had to be.  Why would Baiden keep such a thing a secret.  Could it be true?  Would the rest of Azmark react the same way the Halfen have?    How could Baiden unite the north now?

“Maybe he is not so safe as you think,” the Halfen leader hissed.

Baiden was no longer laughing.  “I swore a solemn oath to the emperor and to the empire, to keep it safe.  To hold in the north the secret to defeating the Horde.  I have kept that oath.  I have kept safe what was entrusted to me and will do as I swore, to give my life in protection of the realm and he to whom it rightly belongs.  You have sworn to be faithful to me.  That oath you have broken.  As I have invoked the ancient ways of the Dragon Lords this day, so I pronounce upon you their punishment for sedition.”

That pronouncement sent a silent wave of shock through the Halfen men. Death to them and their entire families.  Flenn had not heard of that punishment being carried out for over three hundred winters.  In all that time no one had earned it.  Maybe the Halfen had.

Jeret sat straight in his saddle, ready to do battle.  “Baiden I have known you for years.  You have always been an honest man.  You always honor your word.  I do too.  You may only be considered first among equals, but you are still Lord of Azmark.  To me Azmark is not dead.  I stand at your side.”

The Halfen man screamed, “So be it.”  He let fall his sword and the Halfen charged.  The two men behind him went down with arrow strikes and were trampled by the horses that followed.  That must have been Oded’s and Tostig’s doing.  Flenn braced himself for the wave of steel and horse that was about to crash down upon them.  He positioned himself next to Baiden and Jeret.  Oded and Tostig did not wait.  They charged forward to meet the attack, cutting a path through the Halfen.  Flenn decided to follow their lead.  He spurred his horse on, galloping to meet the Halfen.

The Halfen did not expect a counter charge.  Flenn caught the first man unexpected.  Flenn’s blow unhorsed him.  The second came up on Flenn’s right.  He blocked Flenn’s down stroke with his shield and tried to counter strike, but Flenn was already thundering by.  Flenn ducked to avoid another sword aimed at his head from the left.  The blade whirled by, finger widths from his scalp.  Maybe charging in wasn’t the best idea, but just like that he was through to the other side. 

Flenn heard the violent crash of steel on steel and knew the Halfen had reached Baiden.  Flenn searched around for Oded and Tostig.  The two were already turned around and attacking the flanks of the Halfen.  Every one of their sword strokes put a man to the earth.  The Halfen did not expect an attack from behind and Oded and Tostig took full advantage.  Flenn could see these two men were no strangers to battle.  He tried his best to mimic them and turned on the Halfen to attack from behind.  He did not care if it didn’t seem honorable.  He was in survival mode.  He took two more down before another noticed the danger from behind.  The man turned his horse to face Flenn.  Sword clashed against sword. Again and again.  This man was good.  Maybe too good.  It was all he could do to fend off the blows the Halfen man sent his way.  Sooner or later one of those attacks would get through.  He needed to do something.  Find an opening.  He kicked his horse.  It lunged forward, slamming into the Halfen man’s leg.  The man bent over slightly in pain.  It was just enough of an opening.  Flenn drove his sword home and almost fell from his horse at the strain of impact, then spun, wrenching his sword free. 

Flenn turned to see the battle was over.  Only Tostig, Oded and he remained on horseback.  Berkler was standing on the ground, leaning on his sword.  He looked unharmed, just a little winded.  Dethan was kneeling next to his father.  Blood covered Jeret’s face. 
Where was Baiden?

“Baiden!”  Flenn heard a female voice scream.  It was Alensa.  She ran from her hiding place in the trees.  Anora was at her heels.

“Daddy!  No daddy, please.”

No, it couldn’t be.  Baiden had to be alright.  He had to be.