14.
Pyrrho
found himself in another small room.
Except this one was not in the hospitable confines of a favourite
drinking establishment. Nor did it have
a convenient grate to the sewers, or an
unlocked door as means of exit. No, this was a cell, somewhere deep inside the administrative
headquarters of Fortunestone's head of state,
Congressman Virius.
The
cell consisted of a perimeter of thick iron pillars, each a handsbredth wide, firmly embedded in the floor and ceiling forming
a square around him. This construction
was itself in a stone walled room with a wooden door the only entry or
exit. Light, what meagre amount there was, filtered through a small viewing window
towards the top of the door.
Pyrrho
sat amid the scratchy sacking that had served as his bedding on the hard floor
these three days past. Or was it four
days? The passage of time was hard to calculate, other than by the periodic visits of a guard
- mute to Pyrrho's enquiries - with scraps of food and a small cup of
water.
While
not exactly seeking out experiences of incarceration, this was far from an unknown predicament for
a man of Pyrrho’s pursuits. He wasn't
relaxed, but nor was he agitatedly pacing, or screaming his innocence. That he was still alive was a plus
point; the elaborate nature of the trap
spoke of his value as a prisoner, as did the style and location of his
cell, well away from the cramped gaol
down the hill in the peasant's quarter.
What actual value he had remained to be seen. Would it be enough to
bargain or threaten with, or instead enough to warrant a special kind of
torture?
Torture.
The thought made him reflect for a moment or two. It wasn’t uncommon at time of
war, in fact it was often demanded for instances of espionage and Pyrrho had
sometimes run afoul of this. However, Pyrrho’s experiences went back before
then. To his childhood. But now was not the time for reminiscences, footsteps
were approaching, echoing around the confines of his small room. Pyrrho stood,
attempted to adopt a pose of aloof indifference, couldn’t quite get it, so went
for brooding nonchalance instead.
The
door opened, three figures walked in and all pretences were forgotten, Pyrrho’s
mouth dropped open.
“Amazing
the size of the rats in the city sewers these days” the first figure remarked.
She looked different without makeup and in the uniform of the palace guard, but
the woman from the floor of the drunks dungeon was still recognisable. However,
she wasn’t the reason for Pyrrho’s surprise. That was the second figure.
“M-Marcia?”
Pyrrho stammered
“Ah
yes, I forgot you knew my chief of intelligence” it was the third figure that
spoke, an elderly man, slightly humpbacked, bald aside from a thin crop that
encircled the crown of his head. Ornate robes spilled from his shoulders,
finishing a few centimetres from the ground to show off his extremely rare and
vastly expensive leather shoes. “She has excelled herself once again, don’t you
think?” a grey eyebrow arched in Pyrrho’s direction.
“Greetings,
Congressman” Pyrrho bowed ornately, buying himself a little time to regain
composure, a tactic he’d once seen Aesara adopt to some effect.
Congressman
Virius smiled to himself and continued “I had insisted on closing all ways into
and out of the town. But the ever inventive Marcia said we should keep one
route open, see what we snare. And my, what a catch this is” he rubbed his
hands together “working for the insurrection I presume? Sowing dissent amid the
walls of my fine city?” he was beginning to get agitated, came close to the
bars, eyes wide.
If
Pyrrho was of a mind he could have leapt forward and snapped the Congressman’s
neck in an instant. Part of his brain was screaming for such a course of
action, but as was normally the case, the more pragmatic part won out. He did,
however, take a step forward, not to strike at Virius, but to test his retinue.
The woman in the guard’s uniform reacted quickly, putting herself between
Virius and the bars with a snarl at Pyrrho.
Marcia
stayed still in the background, but was smiling. That unnerved Pyrrho further
and he backed away.
“Congressman,
may I suggest that you leave the messy business of the interrogation to me?”
Marcia’s spoken voice was quiet, but the tone carried like an icy dagger
through hot flesh. It was certainly enough to halt the Congressman’s rising
anger.
“Y…yes,
you are right, dealing with such, such sewer detritus is below my calling” he
stepped away from the cage, towards the doors. “But mark my words, I want
answers and I want them soon” and with a swish of robes he had turned and was
striding away, guard in toe.
“We
all desire answers my liege” Marcia remained, as some unseen jailer outside
slammed and bolted the door shut. She stared at Pyrrho, thin smile still
evident, but said nothing more.
“Chief
of intelligence?” Pyrrho felt compounded to break the silence. “I always said
you’d do well”. Marcia did not look like responding, so he continued, “But for
Virius? Really?” Still nothing from Marcia, Pyrrho pressed on “Were you behind
the downfall of his brother? Florus was far from perfect, but he was not cruel”
“You
know about cruelty” the statement hung in the air between them. It was not said
with malice, more the aloof indifference that Pyrrho had so failed to manage at
the start of this meeting. Marcia tilted her head slightly, appraisingly.
“Marcia…”
Pyrrho moved forward to hold onto the iron bars, head resting between them.
“Save
your doe-eyed pleading for someone who is not so familiar with your
manipulation” she turned to pace in front of him. “Instead enlighten me as to
just why exactly you were crawling back into Fortunestone”
“I
hoped to find friends”
“Well
you failed at that task. What was your second objective?”
“You
are not the only one in search of answers”
“But
I am the only one that will be getting them today. What information were you
seeking? Fortunestone’s weaknesses? Guard rosters? Poisoning our wells maybe?”
Marcia briefly paused her slow placing to glance at Pyrrho.
“If
you believe that then you have spent too much time in that cretin Virius’
company”
“Two
minutes is too much time in his company. But we all make compromises to get
ahead. Some even turn to betrayal if it solicits and advantage”. The pacing
resumed. “So what are you doing here?”
“The
Drakhan, they have accessed some new, well old, technology. I seek to find out
why” Pyrrho decided that if he were to get anywhere with Marcia, it would be
through truth. She knew his little tricks too well for another course of action
to work.
“I
have heard many tall tales of what the Drakhan are now capable of”
“I
would say you don’t know half of it, but I learnt from a young age not to
underestimate you”
“You
also learnt that flattery curries little favour with me.”
“Indeed.
But I mean it. Given that I am unlikely to be among friends any time soon, how
about you fill me in on what you have learnt of the Drakhan ascendance?”
“Just
who is doing the questioning here?” Marcia looked amused, but her disposition
soon hardened. “Some waffle about a quest to track down some long dead magic
will not satisfy the Congressman. I need more. Tell me what you know of the
insurrection.”
“I
know that people keep saying that word and I’m not entirely sure what they are
talking about”
“You
have spent some days amongst the hordes at our walls, you and your band of
mercenaries. Who hired you?”
“No
one hired me”
“But
you have recently fought. Your man at arms bore fresh wounds”
“You
are remarkably well informed” a sinking feeling had emerged in Pyrrho’s
stomach. It is worse to look guilty than be guilty, from the point of view of
his future prospects in any case.
“You
are not the only one who roams the camp, looking for information, for plots and
intrigue” Marcia came to a halt in front of Pyrrho, whose head was not so much
resting against the bars as slumped against them. “I ask again whose cause you
are paid to fight for”.
“The
Steed was last, but I am unlikely to receive that final particular payment”
“The
Drakhan made him a difficult offer, it is true”
Pyrrho
was no longer surprised at how well informed Marcia was.
“Just
like they do us” she continued, then stopped. Pyrrho blinked, then looked up,
at her.
“They
call for your surrender? Are their forces near?” he asked urgently
“There
you go with the questioning again, you really don't understand the prisoner /
inquisitor relationship do you?”
Pyrrho
ignored the chiding “If they are near then you'd be best preparing than asking
me about phantom insurrections. Your walls are thick, but I am not sure if that
will be enough.”
“You
witnessed their move against the Steed?”
“Uh-huh,
watched as he sent an entire battalion to break the Drakhan line. Watched as
the Drakhan made them disappear”
“They
didn't disappear”
“Whole
bodies were there one second, bits of bodies were spread over the area the next
second. No other trace remained, I looked” Pyrrho bent his head down once more,
grisly images of his reconnaissance flashing across his mind.
“They
didn't disappear though. They were blown up”
“It's
dark technology at play either way”
“The
distinction is important. For weeks I had reports of Drakhan mining two
counties over. Talk of a new tin discovery. Naturally Virius was intrigued as
to a possibly lucrative new opportunity close at hand, so I investigated.”
“What
did you find out?”
Marcia
decided to humour the question this time “Not much. Certainly no tin ore. If
anything they were putting items back into the mine.”
“Items?”
“Barrels.
Of what I could discover not at the time, but black powder later analysis
revealed. An old Elder explosive”
“Where
did they get that from?”
“I
suspect you already know. You and your ferocious older sister. But what I
wanted to know is whether you were involved in its usage. If you intend to use
it against us”
“And
me sneaking into Fortunestone would look pretty bad on that front?” Pyrrho
grimaced; for once a mess not of his own doing threatened to be his undoing.
“Indeed,
it would look bad to a simpleton like Virius” Marcia raised an eyebrow “But to
me it proves your innocence”
Pyrrho's
head snapped back up “How so? I mean, er, good, as I am innocent”
Marcia
sniggered, then took a small piece of paper from the ornate belt that encircled
her ample figure. She unfolded it and held it up towards Pyrrho, albeit out of
hands reach. “The Drakhan don't need to test their black powder against our
walls. They don't need to commit their men to a siege. They don't need
insurrection. Even if they did, you would be a poor choice of leader. Plus they
hate you. No, all the Drakhan need to do is....” she paused, always one for the
dramatic moment “...wait”
Pyrrho
wasn't really one for the drama, instead he was squinting at the note.
Strangely spelt words, others unintelligible, littered with numbers and
symbols. “It’s that odd Previous hand that the Drakhan have begun using” he
said.
“It
is. Took our best code-breakers a week to untangle”
“And
it calls for your surrender?”
“To
start with we thought so, but it turns out that was not strictly correct”
Pyrrho
just frowned, so Marcia continued.
“They
merely wish us the enjoyment of our new guests”
“Guests?”
then Pyrrho realised, “the refugees”. The reason the Drakhan had been at pains
to herd the refugee caravans towards Fortunestone. Why lay a time consuming
siege when others will do it for you? Fortunestone can not support so many new
arrivals, and its ample guard would be preoccupied keeping them out rather than
taking to the battlefield against the Drakhan. Eventually supplies would
dwindle and the town would fall. “Oh my” Pyrrho said meekly as the puzzle fell
into place.
“Oh
my indeed. Unless we do something about it”
The
“we” part of that sentence caused Pyrrho's frown to deepen further “We as in
the people of Fortunestone, or is that a “we” that involves me?” he wondered
aloud
“Would
I be standing here telling you all this if it were the former?”
“What
do you propose then?”
“I
do not propose. I instruct” she waited a second for Pyrrho to nod his
acquiescence before continuing. “You see the reason the honourable Congressman
and I deigned to visit you this morning was not because of the note from the Drakhan,
rather it was another note. This one” she took out a second note from her belt,
more crumpled than the first, and passed it to Pyrrho. He unscrunched it as
best he could and began to read.
Dere
Fortunston
Relesse
our Pyhrro or feel ore raff
We
has your supplys and can smash your gates
Yours
a
misterius avenger
Pyrrho
dropped the note so as to massage his temples against a building headache.
“That idiot” he muttered
“A
familiar scrawl, is it?” Marcia was smiling again. It unnerved Pyrrho.
“What
has he done?”
“Yesterday
evening Virius sent a contingent of his guard to escort a supply convey into
Fortunestone. His troops were overwhelmed by a large crowd of refugees led by a
man of imposing stature. Although the guard were allowed to return to Fortunestone,
the supply convey was not.”
Pyrrho
couldn't help it. He laughed. It felt good. The tension building in his skull
ebbed away and the tight knot in his stomach relaxed. Marcia just stared at
him.
“Have
you quite finished?” she asked after a while, head again tilted to one side.
“My
man, Volk, is far from subtle, but he is effective. So when are you going to
release me?”
“Virius
favours releasing you off the top of the highest wall, intestines wrapped
around your throat”
Pyrrho
instinctively reached for his neck “But I hope you, er, advised him towards
another path of action?” he squirmed a little.
“It
was tempting to let him have his way. But perhaps not the best course of long
term action” she had started to pace the perimeter of the cell. “Instead we
will leave through a side gate and your Volk shall release the supplies”
“There
you go with the unclear use of 'we' again” pointed out Pyrrho, tracking the
pace of Marcia with his eyes.
“You,
myself, and some trusted aides”
“Where
are we going”
“You
already know the answer to that”
“Then
we need an army rather than some trusted aides”
“Such
brute force is not my style. It was never yours either. Has that changed in the
intervening years?”
Pyrrho
shook his head slowly “But I need to meet up with Aesara first” then another
thought struck him “And Volk will release half the supplies”
Marcia
stopped, turned towards him “If you start trying to call the shots I will
reconsider Virius' preferred course of action”
“Think
about it. Volk releases all the supplies just for me, the crowd will rip us
apart. We, as in all of us, need to sweeten the deal. Half the supplies and you
take in the most ill of the refugees into your hospitals. You can't break the
siege without compromise”
“A
good compromise leaves everyone equally unhappy” sniffed Marcia
“But
a good compromise is less likely to tear Fortunestone apart, as desired by the
Drakhan”
“Your
slogan is less catchy than mine. But it has merit. I will return later, Virius
will take some persuading” and this that she was gone, the door swinging open
at some unspoken command.
Pyrrho
turned and lent on the bars, breathing slightly erratic. He was leaving one
cell to head back to another. That of his early childhood.
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