Siege

By W.A. Straub, Jr.

City of Toure, Iradar, the year 2820 by the Aridisian Calendar

In 2816, the kingdom of Iradar was fractured by the outbreak of civil war. Two opposing Dukes; Reginald Fortrerre of Toure and Josse of Sanche, vied for the throne. In the five years that followed, one-by-one, the rebellious Dukes fell to the power of the Rendor crown. Historians labeled the seven leaders of the rebellion the Treacherous Seven, and history records the struggle as the Succession Wars.

Richard was roused from sleep by rough hands. His ears were greeted by the harsh sound of many men speaking loudly, and the clanging of metal as hauberks, gauntlets, and helmets were removed from weary bodies and thrown to the stone floor.

Since the arrival of the royal army at Toure, such sounds had become commonplace. The fact that he had not awoken until someone shook him should have spoken volumes to Richard about the state of his life in the past 6 months since the siege began, but the thought had long since occurred to him and vanished. He was far beyond the musings of the events that dictated his life, and had moved on to a mechanical drudgery- a seemingly unending string of similar days.

He rose quickly. The air was cool in the keep these days, and he shivered involuntarily. Orders to conserve wood had all but eliminated fires in the many hearths of the keep, so each morning had dawned a bit cooler with the approach of winter. He pulled on the beaten and tarnished chain mail shirt that he wore each day. He wore no tunic over it with the symbol of his lord. It had been ripped to shreds over the last several months during one of the enemy’s attempts to take the city walls by force. He took up his short sword, still sheathed from the previous day’s duty, and made no notice of the worn wooden haft or the plain, tattered leather scabbard that held it as he buckled it about his waist.

Richard did not say a word to any of the other men in the barracks room, and instead trudged past the rows of prone figures and groups of men who had just returned from duty without acknowledging their existence.

He had only finished relieving himself at the latrine by the main courtyard when a bell from the highest tower sounded a single note, calling the next shift of men to duty on the city walls. He hurried past the kitchens on his way to the walls and grabbed a hard biscuit from the larders. Times of siege meant that foodstuffs were scarce. Richard had, for the past two months, decided that the scarcity of food was the worst part of living under siege. The desperate battles on the walls, the uncertainty, the separation from his wife and sons- they were secondary. They were simply a way of life. But the food- oh for one bite of meat!

In the courtyard by the main gate of the keep, Richard met several other members of his company. Daniel Smith, James Cooper, and Harold Black were all gathered, waiting for him as they did each day.

Daniel, a tall, thin man with a bloody scar across his angular face and an old bandage stained with blood about his forehead, smiled when he caught sight of Richard. The sudden change to his expression did little to improve his looks.

"Richard!" he cried cheerfully, "We thought you might still be napping! Harry was about to check the bunks!"

Richard smiled a pale, shallow smile. Daniel had an unflinching optimism about him. Even in the worst of times, he always smiled. Richard knew he was trying the make a small joke, but his heart simply felt no joy at the jest. The smile felt foreign to him.

"Well?" asked Harry, "Move your feet, man, or we’ll be late. I won’t be pulling double duty because you made us late to the walls again!"

Richard picked up his pace, and hurried to where the men stood at the far gate. A group of nearly twenty men had gathered, all awaiting the opening of the gate so they could report to duty at various points in the city. The group got smaller each week. At the start of the siege, fifty men each morning had stood there laughing and talking as if all the royal soldiers in the world could never overcome the city’s defenders. Now, there were just these few, and all save Daniel and Harry were silent.

A single bell tolled from inside the gatehouse, telling the men who manned the gate to raise the massive iron latticework to allow the day’s shift to depart. It slowly rose foot by foot until it was high enough for the men to walk under comfortably. The troop marched through in no particular order. All semblance of military discipline had long since disappeared. So long as they reported to their proper stations, and performed their duties well when they were there, no captains oversaw their daily routine.

Outside the keep, the city was beginning its daily routine as well. The few civilians who had not fled north at the word of the royal army’s approach tried to eke out an existence in the nearly deserted streets. Most houses were boarded up. The tradesmen who could benefit the defenders- fletchers, woodworkers, masons, and smiths- had been required to stay. In fact, many had been conscripted by the Duke’s men and had been ‘stationed’ in the keep "for their protection." In reality, Richard and all the men of the city knew that they were kept there so they did not try to flee.

As they walked down the broad avenue leading from the keep to the city walls, they passed bands of men here and there who were trudging toward the keep from their duties in the city. None appeared bloody this morning. That was a good sign. That mean the enemy without the walls had not tried to take the gate that night. The low-hanging clouds overhead spoke of rain, or perhaps snow if the temperature dropped. That made the prospects of an attack during the day slim as well.

Harry, a tall man with broad shoulders and a heavy black beard that covered his chest, strode ahead of them all. He was an overly loud man, prone to speaking far too often, and usually grim of outlook. But he was a stalwart friend, one who had more times than not saved their company from rout on the walls. James Cooper, or Jimmy, as they called him, rarely spoke at all- even before the siege. But this morning, he and Harry chatted openly.

Richard was about to ask what the topic of conversation was when form the keep behind them, they heard the sounding of another bell.

"They’re early!" Richard exclaimed. "It’s only been a few minutes since the morning bell."

Harry looked annoyed. "They’ll be trying to reprimand us for being late again, and I’ll have none of it!" he growled. "Next thing you know, boys, they’ll be telling us we have to jog from-"

He was cut off when the bell rang out again from the keep. This was most unusual. The men around them all stopped in their tracks, looking over their shoulders to the keep now about a mile behind, but clearly visible atop the hill at the center of the city.

"What’s this bell?" asked Jimmy to no one in particular.

"Old Rory’s probably drunk again, ringing away at that old bell like it’s a Sunday service!" joked Daniel. That one drew a few chuckles. Even Richard almost cracked a true smile.

They were about to turn and continue when the sound of bells ringing wildly echoed from the direction of the main gate. In a few moments, the bells of the keep rang out as well.

"The gate!" shouted Daniel, now without the customary smirk.

The men ran, in earnest now. The alarm bells meant only one thing, attack. Heads began poking out of windows lining the street. Here and there, men rushed out of the buildings with knives, clubs, and hammers- anything that could be used as a weapon.

Richard felt his heart pounding as he pushed himself. Jimmy, as usual, outran the mal land disappeared around a bend in the road ahead. Just past the bend, the road ran straight and true to the main gate, with no buildings obstructing the view. Just as he approached the bend, the bells at the gate stopped altogether. The keep’s alarm bells continued to ring out frantically, calling all the city’s defenders to their posts. That was bad.

He rounded the main bend with ten or more of the men around him. Without a word, they all stopped suddenly. Jimmy stood not fifteen feet ahead, his drawn short at his side. A mile away, black, billowing smoke obscured the main gate from their vision. Men fought on the street itself not a quarter mile away. The gate had been breached. How the enemy could overcome their defenses so quickly when sis months of siege and random attacks had never been able to do so baffled Richard. He felt his jaw drop, and his heart fall.

"Oes help us all!" he whispered out loud.

Ahead, the forms of men in royal livery with drawn weapons could be easily seen gushing from the black smoke. First ten, then twenty, then a horde of hundreds, all screaming at the top of their lungs as they cut down the few defenders who tried to stand their ground in the streets. Several city defenders fled past them, running wildly with fear in their eyes. "The gate is breached! The gate is breached!" was their cry.

Richard stood for a moment also, unclear as to what he should do. He gripped the hilt of his sword so tightly he felt his fingers would bleed, but he had not drawn it yet. Jimmy, ten paces ahead, was backing away from the approaching mass of attackers. Richard felt the men around him slowly back away also. He could feel his own feet take him backwards and away from the attacking horde as if they acted on their own. He felt his throat tighten as the realization that the city was falling before his eyes finally hit his brain.

Even Harry was turning away from the rout before them. The small band of men in the street could never stop the hundreds that approached. Richard glanced over his shoulder to see that most had already turned and disappeared back around the bend in the road toward the main keep. His eyes met Daniel’s, and were greeted by a look of abject fear.

"Run. Now!" he heard Harry say under his breath. Without another word, they all turned and ran.

He sped around the corner as fast as his legs would take him. He could hear the screams of the attackers behind him. He didn’t know when the men at the keep would close the gates when there were still defenders in the city, but he knew he had to hurry. He ran for another half mile before he felt his legs begin to tire. He hadn’t noticed, but his breath was becoming very labored. The fear overrode such sensations, however.

With no warning, he felt a hand grab the collar of his shirt. His shirt was jerked roughly backwards and his feet flew out form beneath him. He landed on the cobblestone street with a thud, looking up at Daniel’s scarred face. At first, he thought of jumping to his feet and defending himself.

"Dammit, man!" Daniel was saying. "Did your ears take leave of your head!"

Richard looked confused for a moment.

"We’ve been trying to call out to you for the last mile! The keep’s already closed, you fool! We need to get off the streets!" Daniel said. "Now get up!"

He half-pulled Richard to his feet. Without thinking, Richard followed him into a narrow alley off the main street. It was scarcely wide enough for one man to squeeze through, but about twenty paces from the road, it widened suddenly so that it was easily wide enough for a man to run had it not been littered with broken wooden crates and refuse. Daniel leaped over a pile of broken wood, and Richard followed. He landed, and again felt Daniel’s hand grab him roughly by the mail shirt and pull him to the ground.

Looking back through a gap in the pile of wooden refuse, Richard saw several figures rush past the narrow alley. It did not take long to recognize the pale blue and gold colors of the royal army as they went past. One man stopped, peering into the alley, trying to pierce the shadows. Richard held his breath, and heard Daniel do the same next to him.

After a moment, the man thought better of squeezing through the narrow alley and turned away, moving out of their sight. Richard let out a breath, and relaxed a bit.

"Whew!" whispered Daniel. "I thought I wouldn’t catch you in time! Have you lost your senses? You know the gatesmen wouldn’t keep the gate open with half the royal army not a half mile behind you!"

"I- I hadn’t thought about it, but you’re right." Richard said. "I’m glad you caught up with me. Where are Harry and Jimmy?"

"They ducked off the main road a half-mile back," said Daniel, "I had planned on joining them, but we couldn’t get your attention. I think they are safe- unless the soldiers are checking all the alleys as they go. In that case, we may not be safe here."

"Where should we go?" asked Richard. "We can’t hide in the city forever at this point, and if the gate has fallen, it won’t be easy to get out."

"Harry says he knows of a way out of the city that might be safe, but we have to get to the South Quarter first." Daniel said. "He said to meet him at the butcher shop by Red Creek before tomorrow morning. Do you know where that is?"

"He means old Gunther’s shop. That place has been closed for years," Richard answered. "I know where it is, but how do we get there from here? We can’t go anywhere until nightfall."

"I can get us to the South Quarter by the back alleys," said Daniel. "If you can get us to the butcher shop from there, we should be able to make it before morning. If we’re careful, we might be able to avoid the royal troops altogether."

Richard nodded. Daniel took a quick look back down the alley from which they came. There were still masses of royal troops rushing past the opening, but none seemed interested in checking it. Daniel rose quickly, staying crouched as much as possible behind the piles of refuse, and crept further down the alley.

They were still not far from the main road of the city, so there was a good number of royal soldiers nearby, hunting through various buildings that lined the street for plunder. They were forced to stop often and hide in small crevices between buildings, behind barrels, refuse, and boxes as well. By midday, they had made a good deal of progress. Both had discarded their helmets and armor. If they were found, there would be little hope of convincing the royal soldiers they were civilians if they were wearing armor. Neither was confident enough to drop their swords, however.

As misfortune would have it, it was just after midday when the rains began falling. They had taken refuge from the firs downpour under the overhang of a burnt-out building that smelled of soot when Richard heard the voices approaching.

Richard could not make out any words, but there could be no mistaking the voices- they spoke a foreign language that Richard had learned was Mittish, a common tongue among the mercenaries of the royal armies. He had heard it atop the city walls many times in the past six months.

Daniel had heard it too, and both men loosened their swords in their sheaths. The voices drew closer form around the corner of the building. Two men came around the corner into the alley. Both wore the royal colors of House Rendor. One bore a small barrel over his shoulder- no doubt bounty from the cellar of some house he had plundered. He and his comrade likely planned to share the contents in an alley where their fellows could not observe them.

When the two caught sight of Daniel and Richard, they stopped dead in their tracks. The two pairs of men eyed each other in stunned silence for a moment before Richard finally came to his senses and pulled his sword free of its scabbard and leapt at the lead soldier in one motion.

Richard was not a professional soldier. He was a carpenter by trade, conscripted into the Duke’s army when the succession wars first broke out. His training had been minimal at best, but his experience on the city walls taught him never to hesitate. He stabbed at the man’s exposed throat with his short sword as the mercenary fumbled for his own sword. The mercenary’s companion stumbled backwards, dropping his booty to the ground. The barrel exploded in a fountain of wood and wine as the man fell to his backside on the cobblestones. Daniel was on him before he could get back to his feet. He managed only a muffled cry before he was permanently silenced. The first attacker lay twitching on the ground, the gaping wound in his shoulder just below the neck bled profusely.

Richard and Daniel stood for a moment, their hearts pounding with adrenaline and fear, and then, oblivious to the rain, they ran again.

Several hours later, just after nightfall, and with only two near discoveries, they reached a small ravine that ran through the city from the Merchants’ Quarter to the South Quarter. They were forced to cross a larger avenue to reach the ravine, and they found the darkness to be a blessing. There were few royal troops so far from the keep, and they managed to cross the road without incident.

The ravine proved to be about eight feet deep, with a small stream of water running at the bottom from the day’s rains, which had mercifully stopped an hour before. They paused to catch their breath at the bottom.

"That way," motioned Daniel. "That’s the South Quarter. Where is this butcher shop?"

"We’ll need to find the central market of the Quarter," said Richard. "I can find the butcher shop easily form there, even in the dark."

They made their way through the ravine toward the center of the South Quarter. Twice, they were forced to halt and lie low in the stream while royal soldiers passed on the roadway above. By some grace of the Creator, Oes, they were not discovered.

It took them most of the night to find the butcher shop. It sat along a shallow creek bed named "Red Creek" for the color the water flowed when the butcher drained his meats into it. The butcher shop itself was dark, its windows and doors boarded shut. It was in a shabby corner of the South Quarter, not a mile from the city walls. There were no royal soldiers about as far as the pair could tell.

The two men entered through a window that had been pried open by someone else- Harry, they hoped.

Inside, the room was pitch black. The two-story building stank of spoiled meat and mildewed thatch. Richard felt his way along the wall to a set of stairs that led up from the stone floor. He pulled Daniel after him in the darkness. At the top of the stairs, they found a closed door. Richard’s heart thumped loudly in his chest as he placed his hand upon it, his other still holding tight to Daniel’s sleeve behind him. He pushed firmly, and the door opened with an audible creak.

Inside, there was a tiny slit of light form a crack between the boarded shutters of a window, but the rest of the room was nothing but shadow. Richard shuffled across the floor to the window, hoping to open the shutters enough to allow a bit more light when he felt it.

Cold and sharp, the point of a blade was placed against his throat, pressing hard into his skin. He felt a trickle of blood drop down his neck and heard a raspy voice.

"Who are you looking for?" the voice whispered.

"H-H-Harry." He stammered, trying to swallow.

Suddenly, the blade was gone from his throat.

"Richard?" he heard the voice ask, and he recognized it at once.

"Jimmy!" He felt two arms wrap about his shoulders as his friend gave him a great bear hug. He could hear Daniel next to him breath a sigh of relief.

"Where is Harry?" he asked when Jimmy finally released him.

"We got separated," Jimmy said. "He told me there is a wooded area right inside the city walls about three blocks west from here. Trees grow right up next to the wall itself, and were still there as recently as last month. If they haven’t burned, he was planning on climbing a tree and jumping the wall."

"I know that place!" Richard exclaimed in a hoarse whisper. "It faces the East Ridges! The land is too narrow to encamp an army on that side, it is probably unwatched!"

"Of course!" Daniel whispered. "They already have the only route out of the east Ridges blocked by their encampments to the south. It would be impossible to move a whole troop of solders through there, but a few men might slip over the wall there and escape through the Mountains! There is no way they have enough troops to watch that side too!"

"Harry told us to meet him by the point of the wall nearest the old guard station. He said the trees were tallest there," Jimmy said. We’re to meet him just after nightfall tomorrow. He said he would round up a few others as he could find them and have them meet him there too."

"I know the station," said Richard smiling in the dark. "Leave it to Harry to play the hero."

The three men slept in silence until daybreak. Royal troops didn’t so much as pass by the old butcher’s shop. This quarter of the city had long been abandoned anyway. They fitfully passed the next day without only a few words between them. They slept in the upstairs room of the butcher shop when they could, or sat in the shadows quietly awaiting nightfall. When the day gave way to evening, and evening to darkness, they finally crept out of the butcher’s shop into the alleys. They didn’t meet the first royal soldier all the way to the wall, and their spirits began to rise. If the enemy had not posted many sentries by the East Ridges, they might escape quite easily into the hills.

The old guard station was boarded up as well. It was a small building surrounded by several tall pines, a few of which grew right up against the city wall. The South Quarter had been mostly abandoned in the Winter Fever outbreaks of the past 30 years. In many places, trees grew up through cracks in the paving stones of the streets, and here, they grew unchecked all along the city wall.

They waited over an hour for Harry before they began to feel nervous that perhaps he had been captured. Presently, a few stragglers from the city and its defenders began to arrive. They had all met Harry over the past day and he pointed them to possible escape from the now-occupied city. They all spoke highly of him, calling him a brave and strong man. Richard marveled that even though his own life was endangered, Harry still went about finding survivors of the city and pointing them to escape.

They brought news that was largely expected. The city had fallen- no one knew exactly how the royal armies had breached the gate so suddenly. The keep was now besieged, and most of the enemy soldiers had filtered into the city toward the keep itself.

Before long, there were twelve men crouching in the shadows of the city walls. Two more hours passed, and they began to give up hope of seeing Harry. Richard feared he had been captured. Even Daniel was whispering with Jimmy about leaving him behind and leaving the cit while there was still a chance.

At last, a shadow approached them from the streets. As it got closer, there could be no mistaking the huge form of their friend, Harry Black. Richard could tell he was limping, and when he finally reached the shelter of the trees, they could see he had been fighting, for his face was bruised beneath his heavy beard, and his left eye was nearly swollen shut.

"Harry!" Daniel exclaimed. "What the hell happened to you? Where have you been?"

Harry tried to force a smile, but it was obvious he was in some pain.

"Got into a scuffle with some of the bad guys this afternoon," he said with a smirk, "They got the worst of it, though, you can be sure. It will be a cool day in hell before any of those bastards take me alive!"

The men laughed quietly, relieved to see him alive.

"Now let’s get out of this city before these bastards burn it to the ground!" he said.

He motioned for them to climb. Daniel led the way, followed by Richard and the rest of the men. The climbing was difficult only because of the thickness of the branches. After a few moments, they were forced to unbuckle their swords and drop them to the ground to keep them from entangling on every branch. As one might expect, Harry waited until last, standing guard at the bottom with his sword drawn, guarding them until they were over the wall.

Finally, Daniel scrambled off the tree onto the top of the wall. It was only a few feet thick here, and roughly twenty feet high. A rope was passed up to them from the men in the trees- another gift from Harry- and they tied it around the trunk, tossing the other end over the wall. They listened, hearing no sound of sentries, and the men scrambled down onto the ground. Richard’s heart picked up when he reached the ground. He waited for each man to climb down the rope one-by-one. When all twelve men reached the ground, they saw Harry’s shadow at the top of the wall.

"Harry?" Called Daniel softly, "What are you waiting for? Climb Down!"

They could see Harry’s silhouette atop the wall gather himself as if he meant to climb down. But instead, he pulled the rope back up and gathered it in his arms.

"Sorry, boys," he said, his voice nearly choking on tears.

Richard didn’t quite know what was happening at first. Was Harry staying behind to get more people out of the city?

But then Harry stood atop the wall. "Here! Here!" he called out loudly, his voice choking.

From both sides, they heard the sound of voice- many voices. Men in blue and gold appeared from both sides, swords and pikes pointed at the dozen men from the city. One stepped forward and spoke in accented Aridisian. "Surrender, or die."

Looking back up at the wall, they saw Harry weeping openly.

"I said they’d never take me alive…" he began, "I lied. I’m sorry, so sorry!"

Richard felt his limbs go weak and his head spin. Harry? Betray them? Daniel and Jimmy were as shocked as he. They stood, mouths open in utter stunned silence.

"Get them shackled!" the commander of the royal troops ordered his men. "The traitor is free to leave. Take the others to the gallows! This is much easier when one of them rounds them up for us, is it not?" he joked to one of his men. "I told you a little pain would make him compliant!"

Richard was still too shocked to react, and made no protest when a royal soldier bound his wrists with rope. The few men of the city who still bore weapons tried to fight their way free, but it was hopeless against so many men. They were cut down rather quickly. As Richard and the remaining men were marched away, he could still hear Harry sitting atop the wall with his face in his hands crying softly to himself "I’m sorry, so sorry!"