Come Taste the Steel, Part 2

"I'm a miller's daughter in a town called Hovern, do you know it?"

"I think I do. Just south of Eastheim, right?"

"Yes. My father arranged a marriage for me to the son of a wheat merchant in Eastheim. He hoped to get a better price from the boy's father. I, unfortunately, was in love with the son of a farmer who often came to our mill with his wheat - Yarl. I did not like the merchant's son. He was a donkey. But my father did not heed my wishes."

"As is so often the case with fathers." Reiner said with a grimace at the thought of his less than understanding father.

"The merchant's son and I were to be married last spring, and I thought I could endure it if I managed to sneak away to see Yarl from time to time, but then the advance of the empire happened and Yarl was called upon to draw the bow in defense of the kingdom." He chuckled bitterly. "The merchant's son got a dispensation because he and his father supplied wheat to the army. I suddenly realized that I would be left alone with that pitiful braggart as long as Yarl was fighting far away from me and that..., and that Yarl might not return."

"That has been the fate of women since the beginning of time." commented Reiner.

"Let the dark gods take away the 'fate of women' are the members of Crimson Tear weaker than other groups of S-rank adventurers just because they are girls? If they broke the chains of the supposed 'fate of women' I can too." Franka declared. "On the eve of my wedding, I couldn't take it anymore. I cut my hair, stole my father's bow and fled to Gossheim, where Duke Maximilian von Eastlander's army was gathering to march east. I enlisted as Yarl's younger brother, Franz, and adopted his surname. They were..." She turns red. "They were the best six months of my life. We were together, we shared the tent. We had all the happiness I dreamed marriage would bring."

Now it was Reiner's turns red.

"But how did you pass for a soldier? How did you learn to use the bow? The customs of soldiers? A life of embroidery and dresses?

Franka laughed. "You think I am a noblewoman? I was a miller's daughter, and my father was not rich. My mother had no sons. I milled, carried sacks of grain, haggled and joked with farmers and wheelwrights."

"But the bow?"

Franka smiled.

"Yarl taught me. He was my playmate since childhood. We ran through the fields. We hunted squirrels on his father's farm. We played prince and princess. I wanted to do everything he did, so I learned to handle the bow at his side. When he vouched for me in Duke Maximilian's camp, no one gave me a second glance."

"And how did you come to kill the guy who...?"

Franka dropped her head forward.

"Yarl died during the offensive. I suppose I could have run away then. Many did. But the thought of going back to the merchant's son, to his big house with the big bed and the cowering servants..." He shuddered. "I couldn't face that. And the army had grown to like me. Yarl and I had made good friends there. We were a band of brothers..."

"And a sister." Reiner interjected.

"A band of brothers." Franka continued without paying any attention to him. "United against a great enemy. I felt I had a purpose in life. And, with Yarl gone, I needed something to make me want to keep my life." She shook her head. "I was stupid. I thought I could keep my secret but, of course, my captain assigned me a new tent mate and it wasn't long before that dog surprised me and...well, you know the rest."

They walked in silence for a moment.

"You are a singular woman," Reiner said at last.

Franka snorted. "Yes, that's an appropriate word." She stopped and turned suddenly listening intently. "Do you hear...?"

Reiner did the same and heard it too. What he had thought was a faint echo of the Norse marching was getting louder.

"Damn." He growled. "Have we overtaken them? Or is this a second host following the first? Are we trapped again?"

They ran to catch up with the others.

"There are soldiers coming up behind us." Reiner announced. "Are you sure the war host continues to be ahead?"

"Don't you hear them singing, captain?" asked Hals.

Reiner listened. The monotonous two-tone chanting was clearly audible.

"Then who is behind us?"

"I'll go back, captain." Franka said.

"No." Reiner replied. "I forbid you. You are not..."

"Captain!" she hastened to interrupt him. "I am recovered from Gustaf's attack. There is no need to treat me with kid gloves."

"No." Reiner acknowledged as he cursed her inwardly. The stupid girl was deliberately trying to force him to put her in harm's way. "But you have lost more blood than any of us. You are still weak. Giano will fall back to scout. We will continue to move forward at marching pace and leave you signals every time we take a detour."

Franka stuck out her lower lip. Giano sighed.

"You're lucky I have fast feet.

He hurried back down the tunnel as Reiner and the rest continued onward. Franka kept her eyes fixed before her as they marched on, and did not say a word. Reiner sighed.

♦ ♦ ♦

After another quarter of an hour had passed they began to approach the column of the host. The various sounds began to differentiate themselves from each other. The creaking and grinding of cannon wheels, the monotonous chanting of soldiers, the irregular clatter of hundreds of marching feet. They entered a larger but also perfectly cylindrical tunnel, with many side tunnels, and at last found the tracks of the big gun carriage, so heavy that it had cracked the greenish glaze of the floor and turned it to resinous dust. Reiner used the dagger to scrape into the wall an arrow to indicate to Giano the direction they had taken.

"Caution now, fellows." He said. "They're only a few bends away." He cast a glance at Franka. "Uh... I'll lead the way. Give me a thirty step head start."

Franka sniffled through her nose as he crept away. They continued to advance in this manner until at last Reiner saw the rear of the column before him: horned silhouettes shuffling in the distance against the yellow glow of the torches. He stopped and held up a hand for the others to see, at once frightened and relieved. It was like following a bear through the forest to find a stream. He didn't want to lose the bear, but making his presence known was suicide. The others caught up with him.

"If we go forward at this pace." He said. "we should keep them right at..."

The sound of running feet interrupted him. The men turned with weapons at the ready. Giano emerged from the darkness, panting and wild-eyed.

"Green skins!" he said between gasps. "Half a mile back. They almost see me."

"Quiet!" whispered Reiner as he pointed tunnel ahead. "The barbarians are right there."

"Them coming fast." He continued in a quieter voice. "Raiders. maybe a small hunting party?"

"To hunt us?" asked Reiner.

"Does it matter?" wanted to know Franka.

"Trapped again," growled Hals.

"We're not trapped yet." Said Reiner. "We have more tunnels here to maneuver. If we can..."

A thundering voice called them to a halt.

Reiner gave a jump. He and the rest turned toward the column of enemy soldiers in time to see shadows in the shape of Norsemen emerging from a side tunnel fifty paces away from them. In the dull green light it was hard to tell, but they seemed to be staring at them.

"Well, now we're really trapped." Reiner growled. "Back off, and if they start walking towards us, run."

The group backed down the corridor as more barbarians emerged from the side tunnel. The who lives was heard again.

"What's the point, Captain?" asked Hals. "We can't outrun them, battered as we are. It would be better to die with glory."

"I'd rather live without glory." Reiner replied. "If it's all the same to you. Come on, speed up. I have a plan."

Hals mumbled something Reiner didn't quite understand about 'too many damn plans', but limped bravely with the rest of the group retreating swiftly down the corridor.

Getting no answer to who lives, the barbarians advanced cautiously as they drew axes that flashed green in the strange glow from the walls. One of them advanced at a trot toward the main force. It seemed to Reiner that the axemen were more circumspect than their reputation suggested, and he wondered if they, too, knew that there were orcs in the area.

He cursed himself for not having expected the barbarians to have scouts patrolling the path they would follow. It was something a real captain would have known instinctively.

The men had just reached the side tunnel they had originally entered when a lone barbarian poked his head out of the entrance to another tunnel just behind them. He laughed and shouted something in a tone of contempt at the detachment. Reiner didn't understand the words, but the meaning was clear: 'They're just men.'

An answering laugh echoed from the detachment of axemen, and Reiner heard them advancing at a trot.

"Run!" shouted Reiner as he gestured them toward the side tunnel. Oskar, Franka and Ulf broke into a run followed by Giano, who had not yet caught his breath after his reconnaissance expedition. Pavel and Hals trailed behind, the latter limping on his crutch and wincing with every step. It was clear to Reiner that Hals would soon fall behind, and that Pavel would not abandon him.

"Ulf! Load up with Hals! Pavel, help Ulf keep his balance!"

"No, sir!" Hals protested. "No man will carry with me."

"I'll carry him." Pavel said. "We will not straggle."

"Damn your pride, both of you." Reiner shooed at them. "I won't let you die for that. Ulf!"

The engineer stepped back, hefted Hals onto his back, and they continued running as Pavel grabbed Ulf by one of his bruised arms to guide him.

Reiner heard the axemen enter the tunnel behind them. They were already closing the distance.

"Shout, boys!" he bellowed. "Scream as loud as you can!"

"Huh?" shouted Giano, confused. "You want them to find us?"

"Not just them!" Replied Reiner, who then raised his voice to a piercing shriek. "Hey, greenies, fresh meat here, come and get us!"

"Ah." Franka said, smiling in spite of herself. "I get it." She too raised her voice. "Eooooo! Pig snouts! Where are you, come taste the steel!"