“If it comes,” corrected Garth. The Simian stood with his arms folded, eyeing Fionn with a narrowed gaze. “We have no reason to believe the horde will ever come this far north.”
“Yet you never objected to arranging this plan,” said Nicole. “There must be some fear in that barely beating heart of yours.”
Garth snorted and leaned forward toward the map, placing both hands flat on the table. “So, dividing our forces in three should be enough?”
“Yes,” said Ruairí, the only other Human present, bar Fionn and Aislinn. As always, he stood separate from the Simians. The pendant around Ruairí’s neck marked him as one of the Sons of Seletoth, but why someone as staunchly atheistic as the Silverback would associate with someone from that cult, Fionn never knew.
“My men will take up arms at the Dust Gate,” continued Ruairí. “Our numbers alone will be enough to hold up against a force of any size. Nicole will take seven of the Reapers to the Salt Gate.” The Human threw Garth a quick glance. “I assume you’ll be accompanying her there?”
Reapers? thought Fionn, watching as Garth nodded silently. What in Meadhbh’s name is a Reaper?
“That leaves the Gold Gate,” said the Silverback. “The remaining Reapers will accompany the bulk of the Triad’s army there. The geography of the Northern Reach will filter any forces to any one of these three sites, and we must be able to shift accordingly. Our mounted scouts will keep up constant surveillance over the outskirts of the city, giving us room to adjust.”
Satisfied, the Silverback looked to Fionn for the first time. “Fionn, will you be willing to join the Triad’s soldiers at the Gold Gate?”
Fionn almost stepped back in response to the question. Me? Fighting the dead? On the front line?
You have nothing to worry about, whispered Sir Bearach. You duelled a Firemaster and lived to tell the tale. A handful of corpses is nothing for you to fear.
But I’m no Battlemage. I’ve never learned to fight before.
True, said Sir Bearach. But you may very well be the last mage in Alabach. What a shame it would be for the most powerful man in Penance to not be able to help us!
“I…” Fionn stammered aloud. The most powerful man in Penance? “I’ll do it. I’ll fight when the time comes.”
“If,” corrected Garth again, one hand pressed against the map. “The horde is still ravaging the capital, last we heard.”
“Thank you, Fionn,” said the Silverback, making it clear he was ignoring Garth’s interjection. “If we survive this, the kingdom will thank you.”
“I’ll fight, too,” said Aislinn, stepping forward. She raised her chin, revealing cuts and scars across the bottom of her jaw. She seemed to open her shoulders even wider, amplifying the presence her massive frame already granted her. Her voice boomed with pride. “I have faced the horde before, and I will not baulk when the time comes again.”
The Silverback raised a single eyebrow. “My lady,” he said, bowing ever so slightly. “We have not yet been introduced.”
“My name is Aislinn Carríga,” she said. “And I have been trained by the best swordsmen of Rosca Umhír. I escaped and fought the dead myself when Keep Carríga was overwhelmed. Although I am a stranger to this city, I will gladly give my life to help defend its citizens against this enemy.”
“Its citizens shall live to thank you,” said the Silverback. Across the table, Garth stared with an open mouth and wide eyes, as if he had never seen a woman before.
He’s never seen one quite like Ash, that’s for sure, said Sir Bearach.
“I ask but one thing in return,” said Aislinn, bowing her head before the Silverback. “My brother, Cathal Carríga, was once a ruler of this city, yet today he lies wasting away slowly to an illness he shall never recover from. All I ask is to give him the gift of mercy. A man as strong as my brother does not deserve to waste away into nothingness, without dignity.”
The Silverback did not respond straight away, but Fionn knew that beneath that strong brow and that stoic stare, the Simian was deep in thought, quickly and rationally considering the implications of this request.
“I will speak to the healers,” he said. “It is not up to them to deliver death where there is life, but as Cathal’s next of kin, they may make an exception for you.”
“Thank you,” said Aislinn. “House Carríga will not forget this.”
House Carríga is dead, moaned Sir Bearach at the back of Fionn’s mind. How does she not realise this?
I’m sure she does, replied Fionn. Perhaps it gives her courage to believe the house still stands. Perhaps her name is all she has left to fight for.
The doors to the meeting room burst open, and two Humans entered. The first strode in with his head held high. Middle-aged, the man wore a broad chest-plate, yet it shimmered like one that had never seen battle. Insignias decorated his breast, but Fionn could not decipher their meaning.
City Guard of Cruachan, Sir Bearach noted. This one is a captain.
But what of the other? replied Fionn.
The second man did not walk with the same strength as the first. In tattered clothes that may have once been considered finery, he limped across the room, dragging his feet behind him. Dreary, bloodshot eyes stared blankly from a chubby unshaven face, pale with sickly skin. Whereas some men appeared ill when lacking sleep, this one looked like he had never known rest his entire life.
Kneel! roared Sir Bearach in the back of Fionn’s skull. Kneel, fool!
Me? asked Fionn, glancing around the room. Indeed, everyone else had sunk to their knees when these two men entered the room. Fionn glanced at the armoured man once more.
But you said he was only a captain of—
Not him! barked sir Bearach. The other! He’s your king!
Fionn fell to his knees without another thought, but as soon as he did, the dishevelled stranger made an upward motion, and everyone else in the room returned to their feet.
“Your Grace,” said the Silverback. “You honour us with your presence. I hope you find the Triad is accommodating to your needs.”
“Yes,” muttered King Diarmuid, though the sound was barely audible through his dried, cracked lips.
“And Captain Tuathil,” continued the Silverback. “I take it you are content with the state of our forces.”
The armoured man nodded. “Content is as far as I’ll go. They are ill-prepared for combat, but they do not fear the horde. Courage is a rare thing in this new world.”
“Then we must set to our preparations at once,” said the Silverback. “Garth, take your squad to Salt Gate and start running through the usual drills. Nicole, if you could be so kind as to accompany our king to—”
