baths he shook his head. “What a waste” he added as he removed the islander’s robe from the body and sheathed the captain’s knife once more.
Brendan watched, bemused, as the commander dropped the body of his captain into the passageway just inside the door and then re-emerged, rubbing his hands in distaste. He walked towards Brendan and held out his hand expectantly. The mercenary just stared blankly at him.
“The club?” suggested Sabian.
Still steeped in confusion, Brendan passed the branch over to the commander, not entirely sure why he was trusting this man. Sabian nodded slightly and then turned and walked over toward the bath house. Raising the branch to shoulder height and drawing it back in a wide arc, he swung it with great force, emitting a grunt of effort. The branch connected with several newly placed replacement blocks just below the keystone. The mortar here was new and solid, but that binding the surrounding stones was old and crumbled and the arch emitted a warning groan. Brendan grinned as he realised what the commander was doing.
He stepped forward smiling and held out his hand. “Y’may be clever, but a job like this’n needs brute force.”
The commander frowned for a moment and then returned the branch to Brendan. The mercenary dropped the point of the branch to the floor and spat in his palms, rubbing his hands together. Picking up the club once more, he pulled it back and swung it with all his might.
The arch stones gave way instantly under the severe blow and the outer few yards of the entrance corridor collapsed in a crash and a cloud of dust. Brendan leapt back out of the tunnel as stones bounced among the falling masonry, almost bowling over the commander in his haste to get away. The three stood in silence for several minutes watching as the cloud of dust slowly dissipated, leaving a scene of absolute chaos. The only sign of the captain was an arm projecting out from beneath the rubble.
Brendan grinned at Sabian. “See. Brute force an’ ignorance!”
The commander nodded with a gentle sigh. “Let’s move fast. There’ll be people here soon to investigate the noise.”
The three of them walked quickly away from the bath house toward the grassy slope away to the west between the walls and the sea. Here the trees and scrub were more tightly packed and a few trails created by the islanders in hunting for game or searching for plants were the only means of access. Sarios led them along one such track which ended abruptly at a cliff, the palace wall rising some thirty feet behind them and a drop of forty more to the sea in front. Brendan grinned and located a mound of turf to sit on. He watched Sabian and Sarios find seats of their own and then stretched his legs with a satisfied groan.
“Think you’ve just dropped yerself in the shit, Commander” he noted.
Sabian frowned. Sometimes the mercenary’s colloquial accent made him a trifle hard to follow, but this time his meaning was clear enough. “I rather think that was you,” the commander replied, “but I’ll sort it out. None of these men support me anyway and the loss of captain Flautus doesn’t wound me too closely. I just wish you’d waited until I wasn’t here.” He folded his arms and regarded the shaven-headed mercenary. “Thank you anyway though. I suppose we’re better off than if he’d gone screaming back with what he’d heard. Did
“Nah” Brendan replied taking off a boot and shaking gravel and muck from it. “I’s far too far away fer that. Still I’d like t’know why yer bothering so much about these people an’ why y’didn’t just drop me in it t’get out of this?”
Sabian nodded. “You think me imprudent for allowing your presence to go undetected. You think perhaps I should report it to my Lord in return for wealth and privilege?”
Brendan shrugged and leaned back smiling. “Why not?”
Sabian stared at the mercenary. Why did he, a senior officer in the most powerful army of the modern world and an upholder of the law, feel the need to justify his actions to an outlaw mercenary?
Across the island, Darius found Kiva sitting at the desk. Were it not for the bandages it would be hard to tell that that the general was wounded at all. Certainly his demeanour was all business.
“What is it?”
Darius strode over to the desk, his sheathed sword swinging at his side.
“I’ve been listening closely to one of the new sergeants” he said, beginning to unbuckle his sword belt. “They’re not a friendly lot. They’re going to settle in tonight and sort their barracks out, but tomorrow everything’s going to change.”
“In what way” the general enquired, placing his stylus back on the desk and looking up at the tall youth.
Darius placed his sword and belt on the desk and stepped back. “They want to do a complete contraband check on the whole island. Anything they think prisoners shouldn’t have they’re going to confiscate.”
“So you’ll need to hide a lot of stuff” the general nodded to himself.
Darius leaned over the desk, his face close to Kiva’s. “I think you missed the point. A complete check of the whole island will turn up more than they bargained for” he said pointedly, gesturing at the general.
“Hmmm.” Kiva tapped his lip for a moment. “We’re going to have to do something soon then. They won’t start anything until Sabian and his other men are already on their way back to the city. I think we need to move before they do and as soon as Sabian’s left, whatever the commander’s timings are.”
Darius nodded. “Shall I ask everyone to come here for a meeting?”
Kiva shook his head. “Too dangerous. Get everyone down to the orchard near the graveyard as soon as it gets dark. That’s a long way away from the guard quarters in the Peacock Palace. Tell everyone to wear robes and move as unobtrusively as possible. Get all the off-landers and Sarios. Sabian too if you can get to him.”
The young man nodded again.
“We’re leaving tomorrow aren’t we?”
Kiva tested his weight on his stick. “There’s no other choice.”
Chapter XXII
Darius’ heart sat heavy in his chest as he watched the boat bucking in the foam, moving slowly away from the dock and back toward Velutio. Sabian stood at the stern rail in his full regalia, impressive and powerful, with the men of his veteran units standing behind him in formation on the deck. Sergeant Cialo stood to one side, a hand on the rail and close to his commander; his face was bleak and unhappy. He’d become quite close to a number of the folk on the island and had as good as made a home there in the short time of his assignment. He was not happy to be leaving, and had confided as much to Darius during their last conversation not long after dawn this morning. He didn’t trust Velutio’s guard and, although he’d been informed of the plans for the island, was still sceptical about the decisions his commander had made.
With a quick glance over his shoulder, Darius could see Velutio’s guard lined up in their ranks of black and white, with a frowning sergeant standing to one side. He knew what was coming. The sergeant was only waiting for Sabian to be out of earshot before he launched into everyone. The lad turned again to face the departing boat. If Sabian was taking the army out on campaign for months and everything was about to come to a head here on the island, it was very possibly the last time Darius would ever see either him or the grizzled Cialo and the degree to which that made him unhappy was a touch disturbing. He’d never really had family, at least for his thinking life, but the commander, the sergeant and their men had become as close to him in the last few weeks as anyone on the island had ever been. He sighed as the boat gradually moved further away until the commander was a red smudge in the general brown and grey of the boat. Only a moment later, a voice behind them all called out in a rasping, deep tone.
“I am Sergeant Caris of the army of Velutio and from this moment on I am taking command of the island of Isera. I intend to enforce the standard rules of prison control, along with a number of other strictures that will apply due to the nature of the prison and its occupants. There will be no more of this open control and free access that was permitted under ‘sergeant’ Cialo.”
With a crack, the sergeant brought down the cane he was holding against the metal greave on his leg, then lifted it and pointed at the group near the dock.
“There will be a complete search of the island as soon as my men have organised the watches and duties.
