Darkness has Fallen (Elf World Saga Book 2) Page 2

  “Are you ready for my report my Lord,” she whispered. “I am attired as you command and ready to serve you anyway you desire.” She glanced over to his double sleeping pallet… She was a girl of serious appetites afterall.

  Myst waved her to continue, and for the next few minutes she told him of the rumors and conversations she had with the army commanders at the senior officer’s brothel. Internal security and counter intelligence was also one of Myst less pleasant duties, and people say the strangest things after spending time with a whore, truly he knew, there was not a more fruitful place to gather intelligence. She had already helped him see to the execution of a Quartermaster Major who was selling army supplies on the black market, as well as robbing and extorting the refugees, but who could not keep his mouth shut and bragged to the wrong whore, his. She also provided all the latest gossips and rumors within the officer corps that gave Myst an insight to morale and the true undercurrents within the camp.

  She finished her report yet continued to stare at Myst as a cat might stare at a bowl of milk. A hungry cat… “Are you still satisfied with our arrangement Alia?”

  She laughed a soft pretty, yet at the same time rueful laugh, completely calculated and practiced as everything about her was, but still pretty to hear. “I belong to you and you keep me alive. That is very… satisfactory to me. You know, I have even been helping out at the regular soldier’s brothels, they are so overworked, and I want to provide you with as--- complete a picture of the state of the army as possible.”

  He really needed to find some more whores for the camps brothels, in the last group of refugees that had made it to the army camp, of the ten females only two agreed to work the brothel and one the camp kitchen… the rest and the two elder males all were given food and sent into Kush to wait for evacuation. If it wasn't for Kush they would be in real trouble, most of the supplies the army was living on, as well as the horses, were coming from them, and only at a small profit for the Keshians and not the usual gouging one would expect from Star Elves. Which, to Myst mind, showed how desperate they were, as the Keshian army was fighting a hard fought war far to the south and we were all that protected them from an Orc invasion. Even half of the prostitutes we had were Keshians come to help, and make a little extra coin, they were Star Elves, so you had to expect a touch of mercenary greed.

  As she stood patiently waiting, enjoying his stare, and effortlessly almost seemingly without conscious thought, presenting him with the best view of her assets, Myst gave her a sardonic smile, “Natalia Marigny serve me during this conflict and I will see the investigation clears you of your husband’s death and you can return to your father’s estate without serious repercussions, that is my promise.” She could prove invaluable, particularly if the army’s stalemate dragged out for months and moral wavered.

  She smiled seductively at him, “a most fair and rewarding deal my Lord, and sleeping in your tent is soooo much more comfortable than any place else I found recently,” she told him as she slowly turned away from him, paused so he again could enjoy the view, and sank gracefully to her knees and stretched forward placing her face to the floor in apparent utter submission, and calculated to assuredly awaken his ‘sleeping dragon’ as the Keshians put it… She sighed to herself, “sometimes a girl has to take the bull by the horns, and get things done!”

  Much later that evening Alia was laying in Myst bed, she had her leg out of the covers, hanging down, she could just brush the carpet with her big toe. Aimlessly she gently kicked her foot back and forth thinking to herself; “I can’t believe I’m still alive, between the Orcs and my husband's relatives…” She also couldn't figure out why it had happened, “My mother always said the thing in my pants might get me killed..., it sometimes had a it had mind of its own, but why did my husband became enraged when he found me in bed with that pirate, maybe because Verga was a Half-Orc?”

  Alia tugged and twisted at her right nipple lost in thought, early mornings was her time for deep thinking, “Sure we Sun Elves have complex relationships, and males can, but in reality very seldom do, have up to four wives, as well as many mistresses as they want or can juggle, but traditionally females don’t take male lovers, well not openly, she certainly had that was true… Sure it was fine if your husband takes you to a Bacchanalia or such..., or as the Baron was won’t to do, to share you with his friends and business associates, and she had certainly helped him seal many a deal with her body…” She was perplexed, “So why did seeing Torman Verga in my bed have him throw a dagger at Verga. The blade had stuck in the headboard and Verga jump out of the window running for his life. Her husband the Baron then charged her yelling incoherently and she had panicked and pulled the dagger free of the headboard and stuck into him, and then stuck it in another dozen or so times…”

  She really was never fond of the Baron, her father had arranged the marriage when she had gotten into some legal difficulty back at home, her father had hushed things up and got her married to a noble at the other end of the Empire.

  “Then the maid came in, saw me standing there naked covered in the Barons blood, she screamed and ran for help. I grabbed some clothes, my jewels and some coin, stuffed it in a leather satchel and bolted for the hidden passage bending the wall tapestry.”

  She stared up at the tent ceiling, “I had tried for the Keshing border city of Noglus, but by the time I had got there the Orcs had destroyed the city and the great fortress that guarded the pass. Half of the mountain had come down brocking the pass, the magic used must have been awesomely powerful... So weeks later, starving, scratched up, and after sneaking through the foothills north of the mountains I had made it to the army, I tried to blend in with the other refugees but Myst had a wanted poster of me sitting before him during my interview, and that innocently pleasant smile on his face as he watched me lie my ass off.”

  “I was sure I would hang, but gladly Colonel Myst had other ideas…. Thank the Consort for that! I gave him details of the Baron’s shadier dealings, maybe he could do something with that information.” Alia continued running her toe across the carpet, it felt good, and she was obviously not sleeping anytime soon… She looked over at Myst, he was handsome, and powerful, and rich! He would have made a much better choice of husband…. But he was also cunning and deadly, way too smart to be easily manipulated..., so maybe not the best husband for her, she would play him straight and trust he would take care of her, that would be the best option with him she felt, if he thought she was being false with him… She had little doubt of his reaction.

  “He would wake in another hour and want to play, he always wanted to play in the mornings, not that she minded I’m always ready for that, only did the army have to get everyone up so early? And with trumpets for fuck sake!”

  She rolled over and propped her head up in her hand looking at him sleep, “Oh well, I will simply nap once he is up until noonish, then get a snack at the brothel for another eight or nine hour of ‘intel gathering’ tehehhehe...” She rolled on top of him and snuggled up against Myst, nibbled at his ear, she’d wake him up now to get a head start on the morning.

  ~

  Moss Blackforge sat at the large camp table reading reports, anything of interest he put in a box for Myst to read, or he would occasionally get up and change the large wall map showing troop locations and updated intelligence. Moss had been in the army until a few months ago when Lord Pedar Sunstar ordered him to resign and act as bodyguard for his son Myst, something he had done much of his life, but now that a major war had started the Lord Pedar decided to take further precautions. Not only the enemy wanted Myst dead, and they had tried assassinating him just a few months ago at Sunstar Castle in Mentonferrat, but there were also powerful Sun Elves those who would be happy to see House Sunstar die out.

  Moss stood up and stretched to turn the dwarf lantern to a higher brightness, it must be late afternoon he though, not that any sunlight made it into the tent. Moss was large for a Dwarf, he claimed five foot two, and as no on
e had the guts to challenge him on this…, but he figured it was close… Bald with a short dark red military beard, he was 190 pounds of hard mussel and short temper, and fiercely loyal to House Sunstar. The intelligence tent was now well bathed in light; good Dwarven craftsmen make the best magical lanterns he thought happily as he settled back down in his chair. A flagon of ale sitting nearby had mysteriously emptied in the last few minutes; he would need to get a refill if he was to keep up this taxing reading or reports…

  Ser Ious sat on the other side from Moss, his flagon of ale also appeared empty, Ser Ious had a dwarfs thirst for beer, and to Moss that that alone was a good recommendation. Ser Ious was reading through another stack of reports, doing the same procedure as Moss, somehow he seemed to be going through his stack considerably faster than Moss was... Ser Ious background was not in intelligence, he was a Knight-Justicar, or had been until the war started, riding the province of Drakar meeting out Justice. Myst had thought he would prove more useful with the Intelligence and Security Service than with the Military Provost rounding up drunks and petty thieves. Moss had to agree, Ser Ious took to the work like a dwarf to water. He also was friends with Myst and Moss had noticed he had a personal loyalty the House Sunstar, but did not know why. Something Ser Wills also shared, and something he had observed in other Sun Elves before, the only thing in common was they all seem to come from the southlands.

  Moss belched after taken a strong pull at his refilled flagon of ale, “I hear the Archduke Moran Darrs has fled Surin City, and it’s now under the sole command of Lord Pedar Sunstar. And that the Emperor grated Lord Pedar the title of Imperial Viceroy…” Moss committed to Ser Ious.

  “That would be good news if true,” Ious looked up from the dispatch he was reading, “Darrs is a incompetent and corrupt political toddy, that’s the reason he was named Arch Duke in the first place, that the Emperor finally had to put someone competent in charge is not surprising given the size of this disaster.” Ious seemed to be staring at Myst’s war shield hanging off one of the tent post. “How good is your source on this Moss”?

  “Five out of five,” the dwarf replied, pretending to not be closely watching Ser Ious’s reactions. “For five generations my family has served House Sunstar, so I consider this fantastic news laddie.”

  Ser Ious looked at him and only nodded in response.

  Captain General Ral Cordan, a somewhat shorter than average red haired Sun Elf walked into the tent and waved to them to stay seated as they both had hurriedly began to stand.

  “Where’s your boss? Are you not his shadow Moss Blackforge?”

  “Well Captain General, he would be showering and as I can trust him not to injure himself on the soap… Besides Ser Wills Cadous is with him…”

  “Ah yes then, but don’t count on that keeping him safe, he seems determined to fall off things,” the General laughed as he wandered over and checked over the wall map. “Have you heard the news?”

  Moss grinned he loved get one up on senior officers, “about Lord Pedar.”

  “Humm,” Captain General Ral Cordan paused, “Does he know?”

  “Not yet I be thinking General, but he will be glad of the news.”

  “Yes, I think we are all. Well keep your seats, I’m off,” with that he hurried out the tent flap.

  Ser Ious, was again looking at Moss quizzically.

  Moss leaned back in his chair, careful not to tumble backward; the chair was not the sturdiest…

  “Well, you see lad, the Captain General’s niece.., have you heard the story? No, then pour me some more ale and let me tell you. It all happened about a year ago, the lass got herself kidnapped and Myst and I rescued her from the clutches of a horde of Ogres, Shadow Elves and Orcs… You sure you, haven’t heard this… Oh, well needless to say the lovely Kayla Morningstar, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary from our glorious Empire, to the Court of Great Kush, was so grateful to us for her liberation she fell for our boy Myst and now is engaged to be his first wife…”

  Moss happily regaled him with the story in full, as dwarves, and Moss in particularly love to tell a good story to appreciative audiences. When he had finished Ser Ious again poured each of them another ale, the third since the story had began.

  “And our glorious Emperor still hasn’t restored the Sunstar title, even after all that,” Ser Ious spat out disgustedly.

  Moss, cocked his head, now that is a subject the Sunstar’s never talked about. Moss had only heard rumors, if his father or grandfather knew they kept it to themselves. “Now to get Ser Ious to talk?”

  “Well, if anyone deserved it…”

  “Deserved it and more,” Ser Ious responded with acid in his tone, “But the Sundragon Emperor's hold long grudges, it was Myst’s great-great grandfather Guillermo the crazy…,” he shrugged, sitting back in his camp chair looking into his ale, “well Emperor Sebastian the third, found an excuse to strip the Sunstar’s of the title of Count of Mentoferrat. Guillermo Sunstar, was also the Emperor’s first cousin, and foolishly and publicly seduced away Sebastian III’s favorite paramour, a humiliation that had the Emperor looking for revenge. But the real reason we Andalisesse believe is the Sundragon’s wish to keep the Sunstar’s in their place, as their line has as much right to the ancient throne of Andalis as do the Sundragon’s.”

  “Wasn’t Andalis was the last of the Sun Elf kingdoms that the Sundragon’s acquired to form the Empire”?

  Ser Ious who had been pacing, suddenly sat down at the table again, “Yes. It was the last free kingdom prior to the forming of the Empire. It was the time of the Great Killing, the most destructive war since the Cataclysm, and first the Royal Houses of Savoue and then of Everaux found themselves without male heirs, only daughters; and with the powerful High Kingdom pushing union by marriage. Andalis held out for two more generations of the dark war but eventually Aearon Starfall Last King of Andalis found himself with dead sons and two living daughters. He betrothed the eldest Elsberath to Sebastian Sundragon, and the second Míriel to Udor Sunstar the Grand Marshal of Andalis.”

  Sadly Ious continued, “And with King Aearon so past independent Andalis. The Sundragon’s crowned themselves Emperor of all the Sun Elves, and while they had left both the former kingdoms of Savoue and Everaux whole, they broke Andalis into the three southern provinces. They could not even leave us that…”

  Moss thought, “I should have plied Ser Ious with ale before now!” “That’s remarkable Ser Ious, but if the Sunstar’s married the second daughter…?

  Ser Ious suddenly realized he may have said too much out loud, you never knew who was listening. But he finished anyway, in his soul he was an Andalisesse to the core, “What the hell, the Sunstar’s have a total of three Andalis Princesses in their family lineage, and one was an eldest child but her younger brother inherited the crown. So the blood tie is stronger, and the Sunstar’s are an old Andalisesse House not foreign like the Sundragon’s… So they keep a close eye on the Sunstars, for if rebellion ever happened they would be the natural leaders the people would turn to.”

  Moss and Ser Ious sat quietly after that, determinedly finishing off the rest of the keg of ale. “Well that’s a headsman’s ax waiting to fall,” Moss thought gloomily.

  Into the tent walked a new and strange elf to Ser Ious, he was well dressed for an army camp with amber and burnt gold cap sleeved doublet over russet silk pants and high black boots, but the strange thing to Ious was he was obviously a Southern Continent Wild Elf with his coffee colored skin and black hair, and there was damn few of them running around the Eastern Continent where they sat, well at least not in a Keshian Slave-hold.

  The Eastern Continent Wild Elves tended to be more tanish of shin with brownish hair and dressed in desert robes, and this elves silk outfit would probably cost a month's salary for Ious, but the reaction from Moss was of an old friend.

  “Yar , it’s Kiron Varis by the Gods it's good to see you elf! But what in the seven hells has gotten you to this arse end
of nowhere? Myst!” Moss bellowed, “Come see what just arrived.”

  Myst came out of his room with Ser Wills following behind him, saw Kiron and clasp forearms with him. “This has to be my father's doing…”

  Kiron laughed at Myst good guess, “Yes, Lord Pedar thought Moss needed help looking after you…”

  “Hey now,” Moss interrupted, “is that a slam on my abilities or on Myst gift of getting into trouble…?”

  “Most likely both,” Kiron teased, “But here I am, dragged away from my beautiful wife and a castle that makes the best wine in Drakar, to play in the dirt with Orcs… How could I say no to an offer like that?”

  “With my father, few says no to him I’ve found… Ious, Wills, this is if you haven't guessed, is Kiron Varis, the dashing fashion plate you see before you is a friend from castle Sunstar, and one of the best trackers so Wills you will have some help.”

  Wills stepped forward and clasp Kiron’s right forearm, “welcome indeed, these lot are better at wine drinking than scouting!”

  Kiron looked over at Myst and teased, “You would think sixy years as a boarder ranger would have produced better results...”

  Everyone got a good laugh at Myst expense, Myst laughing hardest of all.

  A few bottles of wine latter and the group was sitting around the tent listening to Kiron tell the tale of his meeting Myst, while consuming a fair quantity of bread and cheese along with the hearty Drakarian Red wine Kiron had brought with him.

  “So there I was,” Kiron animatedly told the story, the others held in wrapped attention, “wondering how the hell I was going to get off the Southern Continent and back to civilization… My people not being known for making anything more seaworthy than an outrigger canoe and one doesn't ask the Shadow Elves for anything, unless becoming a sacrifice to their demon goddess is your goal.”