'There,' Jennesta said, her singular eyes popping open. She sounded almost amiable.
For a moment, nothing occurred. Then the sergeant let out a groan. He lifted his hands and pressed the palms to his forehead. One of the bodyguards jerked the chain binding his wrists, pulling the man's hands back down. The prisoner moaned, gutturally, and his eyes rolled. He swayed as though about to fall. The groaning became constant and higher pitched.
The area of his temples and up into his hairline rapidly took on a purplish discoloration, as though bruised. His skull visibly swelled, and in the deathly silence a crackling could be heard as the expansion began to split his scalp. Writhing in agony, the sergeant screamed. Just once.
Like an overripe melon dropped from a castle battlement, his head exploded. The discharge scattered blood-matted chunks of hairy flesh, skull fragments and portions of brain. Headless, the stump gushing torrid crimson, his corpse took a faltering step before crashing to the floor. It lay twitching, its life essence pumping out into a spreading, sticky pool.
Many in the front row had their ashen faces and smart dress uniforms splattered by the eruption. An objectionable reek hung in the air.
One of the zombie bodyguards, noticing dully that blood and brain matter covered his bare forearm, started to lick it off with noisy relish.
'Note this well!' Jennesta intoned sternly. 'As this man confessed his guilt I chose to deal with him mercifully. Any others who transgress will not be treated with such lenience.' She touched a hand lightly to her brow. 'The effort has tired me. Go. All of you. Except you, Hacher. You stay.'
The spectators began to file out, several dabbing themselves with handkerchiefs. Some hurried, looking as though they sought the nearest privy.
Hacher was wiping the gore from his own face when Jennesta approached, her brace of undead hobbling a few steps behind.
'I trust the import of what you've just seen was not lost on you, General,' she said.
He glanced at the sergeant's corpse. Blood was dripping from the edge of the dais. 'Hardly.'
'Good. Then I expect to see change, profound change, in the governance of this colony. Otherwise your administration is going to become acquainted with my less compassionate side. Is that clear?'
'Yes, Envoy. Perfectly.'
'I know orcs. And I know the only thing they respect is force. If they raise a seditious hand, cut it off. If they slaughter a single trooper, send ten orcs to the charnel house. If they dare to rise up, grind their bones to dust. Leave them in no doubt who's master. Any less and you imperil our plans for this dependency.'
'Which are?'
'Exploiting the land's riches. And in particular, the most valuable resource of all.'
'I fear you may be disappointed in that regard. The few deposits of gold and silver we've found are hardly — '
'What I have in mind is worth more than mere gold.'
'I don't follow.'
'The greatest asset Acurial has to offer isn't to be found under the ground but walking upon it.'
'You mean… the natives themselves?'
'Precisely. The orcs have the potential to be the greatest fighting force this world has ever seen.'
'But these creatures are meek. Or at least most of them are. The ones who've taken up arms against us are the exception.'
'As I said, I know their true natures. I know what they're capable of. All of them.'
'Even if they do have an inborn aggression, and it could be brought out, why would they fight for us?'
Jennesta indicated her zombie retinue. 'They'd have no choice. Subject to my will, their obedience would be beyond question. Imagine it. A slave army, incomparably ferocious and totally subservient.'
'And this has the backing of Peczan?'
'As far as you're concerned, Hacher, I am Peczan. So why don't you leave the thinking to me and concentrate on instilling some terror in the population?'
Another meeting was taking place in the capital, not far from the fortress, in one of the resistance's many boltholes.
Making a rare excursion from her current hiding place, and having been brought under heavy guard by an elaborate route, Primary Sylandya was present. She sat at the centre of the small gathering, a goblet of brandy and water to hand.
'You pulled off a great feat yesterday,' she said, toasting her offspring and Coilla. 'The Vixens acquitted themselves well on their first outing.'
'It's time the females got their chance,' Coilla replied.
'As I say, the raid was a triumph. The tithes you brought back have swelled our coffers, and I was especially pleased that you recovered those looted treasures.'
'Saving trinkets ain't going to win this fight,' Haskeer stated.
'Don't undervalue that act as a symbol,' Sylandya told him. 'It shows the citizenry that their heritage means something.'
'And that there are orcs who stand against our oppressors,' Brelan added.
Sylandya nodded. 'We need to deliver more blows like yesterday's. Who knows? Perhaps if the occupation here is seen to be failing, Peczan's enemies in the east and south will be emboldened.'
'The eastern and southern lands are a long way off, Mother,' Brelan reminded her, 'and they're human realms too. Barbarous tribes, most of them. There's little hope of our enemy's enemy doing anything that might aid our cause.'
'I think that's right,' Stryke agreed. 'You can't rely on help from outside.'
'Shouldn't that be we?' Sylandya said. 'Or do you northern orcs see yourselves as apart from this struggle?'
'We see it as a fight for all orcs,' Stryke returned sternly. 'It's why we're here.'
'Can we get back to the issue at hand?' Chillder asked. 'Grilan-Zeat's due in not much more than a week and — '
' If it comes,' Haskeer said.
'We have to believe it will,' Chillder said. 'It's a thin hope, but it's all we've got. The question is, what more can we do to hasten an uprising?'
'Take out Jennesta,' Coilla replied. 'That'd strike one hell of a blow.'
'It'd also bring down some heavy reprisals.'
'Isn't that what we want? A kick that wakes up the populace and rallies them?'
'We've talked over the assassination idea,' Brelan explained, 'and we're agreed it should go ahead.'
Coilla smiled. 'Good.'
'But not right away.'
'Why wait?' Haskeer grumbled. 'Kill her now, I say.'
'Our contacts inside the fortress need time to prepare and make us a map of the place. Meantime we carry on harrying the humans. We've got a particular mission in mind that should rock them.'
'What is it?' Stryke asked.
'Don't worry, we'll keep you posted. But right now we need to get Mother out of here. She's too rich a prize for the authorities; we have to keep her out of their reach.'
'A new hiding place?' Coilla said.
'Yes. But I'm not saying where. What you don't know they can't get out of you.'
Brelan and Chillder left, accompanying Sylandya. The couple of other resistance members present went with them.
No sooner had they gone than Spurral and Dallog turned up. Shortly after, Pepperdyne arrived, still sweating from a training session. He had Standeven in tow.
'News,' Stryke announced. 'They've agreed to us targeting Jennesta.'
Pepperdyne was scooping a ladle of water from a barrel. 'Really?' He gulped the drink.
'You don't seem too excited about it.'
'Just cautious. It's bound to be a dangerous mission, isn't it?'
