Part 17 (1/2)
He stumbled forward, tripping over a body he discovered was Grigor Orneo, the first mate of the Orlando. The mate's belly was slashed open, his guts spilling out on the black sand like a fresh string of sausages. Blinded by the smoke, and by tears of terror and desperation, Eryk moved through the battle, jostled aside by the combatants, pushed and shoved as he made his way toward the only familiar face in the crowd.
”Prince Kirs.h.!.+”
Kirshov was in the thick of the fighting near the sh.o.r.e, and was battling his way forward, cutting through his foes with devastating effectiveness. The Guardsmen beside him were no less efficient as theycut a swathe through what was left of the Baenlander resistance.
”Prince Kirs.h.!.+” Eryk yelled. He tripped again and hauled himself up, his mission to reach Kirsh the only thing he cared about.
Hearing his name called, Kirsh looked around, but did not notice Eryk in the melee. The prince turned his attention back to another sailor from the Orlando, deflecting the man's blow almost instinctively before slas.h.i.+ng him across his bare chest on the return swing.
”Prince Kirs.h.!.+” Eryk sobbed, thinking he would never reach him. Kirshov Latanya had become a beacon of hope for Eryk, the only thing he was certain of in a world suddenly gone mad. In his mind, Kirsh was his salvation; his only chance of deliverance from this nightmare.
”Prince Kirs.h.!.+” he cried desperately, as another Baenlander fell. The body landed on top of him, hurling him to the ground. The dead man's staring eyes looked out from a shocked and lifeless face. It belonged to Holen Baker, the boy who always won at stingball.
”Eryk?”
He looked up to find Kirshov Latanya, blood splattered and panting heavily, standing over him.
”G.o.ddess, boy! What are you doing here?”
Eryk burst into tears. Kirsh dragged Holen Baker's body off him and pulled Eryk to his feet.
”Can I thurrender now, Printh Kirsh? Pleath...” he begged.
”I think you'd better, Eryk,” Kirsh agreed with a hint of a smile. ”Are you hurt?”
”I don't think so.”
Kirsh glanced back toward the longboats. ”Go and wait for me by the boats.”
Eryk nodded willingly and moved to obey, but he found his way blocked. While Kirsh had been talking to him, a few of the remaining Baenlanders had been able to work their way between Kirsh and his Dhevynian Guardsmen.
Eryk's fleeting moment of relief withered as he looked around. More than a dozen Baenlanders surrounded them, with only one thing on their minds: the murder of Kirshov Latanya and anybody foolish enough to be standing by his side.
Chapter 24.
Kirsh realized the danger even sooner than Eryk. He glanced back over his shoulder, but in his surprise at finding Eryk in the midst of this carnage, he had lost touch with the rest of his men.
It was a stupid and fatal mistake.
The Baenlanders hesitated once they had him surrounded, perhaps a little stunned by the importance of their quarry. Behind him, Alexin and the rest of the Guardsmen were busy with their own battles, and the rest of the Senetians were fighting with Sergey farther along the beach. There was another wave of longboats heading for the sh.o.r.e, but they had orders to make for the village, and were headed away from where Kirsh stood, trapped and surrounded.
It took him only a few seconds to take all of this in. He turned and faced the pirates defiantly.
”Who's going to try to take me on first, then?” he yelled, brandis.h.i.+ng his sword. It was a gamble, butKirsh knew there was no way he would survive a concerted attack. His only chance lay in challenging these men to single combat. He could take them one at a time. Of that, he was certain.
”Think we're idiots, do you, Latanya?” one of the men replied. He was a small man in his midforties, but much better dressed than Kirsh expected of a pirate. ”There's no chance for honor here, your highness. Still, we're not unreasonable men. You've got about five seconds to say a prayer to your imaginary G.o.ddess before we send you to meet her. Actually, we'll be sending you off to find out she doesn't exist, now that I think about it. There's a happy thought.”
”Cap'n Falstov...” Eryk begged, wiping away his tears as he stepped forward. ”Please don't hurt him...”
The pirate looked at Eryk for a moment and shook his head. ”You're as bad as that treacherous b.a.s.t.a.r.d who brought you here,” he spat. ”You've chosen who you stand with, boy. Now you can die with your Senetian friend.”
”Leave the boy out of this,” Kirsh warned.
”If he's big enough to hold a sword, he's big enough to wield it,” the pirate replied, ”Take 'em, lads.
And don't leave any pieces bigger than my fist.”
They charged all at once. Kirsh's only defense was to swing his sword in a wide arc, hoping his swiftly moving blade would be enough to discourage them from coming any closer. Eryk hampered his ability to move, waving his sword around wildly. But his unpredictability made him dangerous and the sailors gave him a wide berth. Kirsh beat back one attacker only to find him replaced by another, then another. He stepped back and crashed into Eryk, both of them tumbling to the ground. As he fell, he noticed the Queen's Guard were closer. He cried out, hoping to catch their attention.
Alexin looked up at the cry, took in the situation with a glance... and hesitated.
It was the last thing Kirsh saw before the pirates closed in on him. He stabbed at them wildly, but there were too many of them and Eryk lay beneath him squirming and screaming.
He saw the blade that would end his life coming for him as if the world had suddenly slowed down.
Every little detail burned into his brain: the blood-splattered sword, the rotten-toothed grin of the man who wielded it, the hate-filled faces looming over him, even the position of the second sun, which burned bright and uncaring in a sky almost too blue to be real...
And then the man collapsed on top of him with a dagger protruding from his throat, and the screams of bloodthirsty triumph turned to screams of despair, as Alexin and the Guardsmen cut their way through to him and Kirsh realized he wasn't going to die today after all.
Eventually, they wore down the pirates by the sheer weight of numbers. As each s.h.i.+p in Kirsh's fleet disgorged its fighting men, the pirates were beaten back a little more. The battle was all over within an hour. Corpses littered the beach. Those left living were stripped of their weapons and placed under guard near the remains of the burning village.
”There's barely a woman or child among them,” Sergey pointed out, as Kirsh inspected the prisoners. ”The village was empty.”
”Where have they gone?”
Sergey shrugged. ”More to the point would be when, your highness. If they left before we reached the Bandera Straits, they could be anywhere on Ranadon by now.”
”You agree with Dirk, then?” Kirsh asked with a scowl. ”You think they were tipped off by someone in Senet?””It wouldn't be the first time we've had to weed out Dhevynian sympathizers in Senet, your highness. A vocal minority at home believe Senet shouldn't involve itself in the affairs of other nations.
The rebels often find fertile ground for their propaganda among them.”
”I want them found, Sergey, and dealt with.”
Sergey nodded and then added, a little hesitantly, ”There is another possibility you may not have considered, your highness.”
”What's that?”
”You have fifty-odd Queen's Guardsmen who knew about this. Perhaps one of them betrayed us?”
”Are you speculating on the possibility or accusing someone, Sergey?”
The captain glanced over to where Alexin and his men were guarding the prisoners. ”Your guard captain is Reithan Seranov's cousin, your highness. And you know what they say about blood being thicker than water...”
”He's one of Alenor's most trusted captains,” Kirshov pointed out, shaking his head. ”Besides, I served with him for two years in the guard. I think I'd know if he was a rebel sympathizer.” Kirsh did not add there was a time when that's exactly what he had thought. But any lingering suspicions he might have had about the captain's loyalty were banished when Alexin came to his rescue. If he was in league with the Baenlanders, he could have rid Dhevyn of her regent and struck a body blow to Senet, simply by not lifting a finger to aid him.