The Last Great Service

Reiner opened his eyes. There was still thick smoke rising around him, so he could not have been unconscious for long. Groaning like an old man, he sat up and looked around. There was no sign of Oskar or the shrine, except for an area of scorched earth. Franka was sitting up on her hands and knees beside him. Giano groaned as he pulled a splinter the length of a dagger from one arm. Pavel was sitting with his head between his knees and holding his face.

An irregular knocking sound was heard behind them. Hals limped forward with the crutch and had a shirtsleeve tied around his head.

"So we're alive." He commented. "Who would have thought it, eh?"

"Everyone, except Oskar." Franka said.

"Yes." Hals nodded. "I must admit, he was braver than we thought."

The thunder of a catapult impact made them look up. Herlmann's artillery crews were once again bringing the catapults to bear, firing into the battlefield. Reiner and the others staggered to their feet and limped to the edge of the ridge where, to their great relief, they discovered that the gunners were again firing at the Norsemen's troops.

"That's it, lads!" cried Hals, waving the crutch. "Throw some pepper on their spit!"

The same thing was happening all over the battlefield. Although the fighting was in confusion it was difficult to see what was going on, at least it was evident that Ulburt's troops, finally free from the evil influence of the banner, were coming to their senses and joining their brothers in Herlmann's army in the attack against the Norsemen, whom they were driving back toward the castle. Where once there had been tight clusters of frightened men fighting anyone who came near them, now the clear, sharp blasts of trumpets and drum rolls gathered the soldiers of both armies into coherent units that attacked the common enemy with renewed fury. The death cloth of shadows was rising from the field along with the dissipating smoke. The sun was shining brightly on the polished helmets and breastplates of the imperial knights and the rows of spearheads of the infantry. The Norsemen, who seconds before had had the advantage, were now outnumbered and fell back in confusion. All over the battlefield, companies of barbarians were scattering and fleeing before the reorganized ranks of the kingdom's army.

Franka, Pavel and Hals burst into cheers. Giano grunted with satisfaction.

"We've done our job, now we'll get paid, right?

Reiner nodded.

"Yes, I suppose so. We've done the hard work. We've killed Erich, Ulburt and..." He interrupted himself and then turned back, cursing. "The witch! Where is she? We've forgotten the damned witch who has been the cause of all this."

The others also turned to look for Roselyn. She was no longer where Oskar had left her lying. They looked down the hillside. She was nowhere to be seen.

"Damn woman." Reiner said. "She's as slippery as a spy. Find her."

But though they combed the knoll until they reached the smoky forest of the base, Roselyn was nowhere to be found.

"She's disappeared again," Pavel said when they all reconvened on the ridge crest of the knoll.

Hals sputtered. "I would have liked to see her burn at the stake."

Franka nodded. "Better her than poor Oskar."

"Maybe she'll use some spell to go back to her witch's lair." Giano said by way of a joke.

They went back to watching the battlefield. While they were searching, the fighting had come to an end. The Empire's soldiers were still finishing off some of the enemy, but most of the Norsemen had retreated from the field, climbing the hills overlooking Nordheim to return to their lairs. A large force of soldiers from the kingdom was moving up the road leading to the castle gates without meeting much resistance.

Reiner averted his eyes from the scene with a grunt of exhaustion, and was looking for a place to sit down and tend to his wounds when he saw movement at the base of the hill. Knights were advancing towards them in step, supported by a company of soldiers armed with swords. It was Herlmann.

Reiner sighed.

"Here comes his lordship. It's time to stand up to fate."

He tried to shake off the soot and dust from his jerkin and improve the state of his equipment as much as possible. The others imitated him, but it was a pointless thing to do. They all looked as if they had been dragged backwards through a briar patch.

Surrounded by the generals, Herlmann stopped his horse in front of his brother's body. He gave the corpse a long, sad look. Reiner swallowed, nervously, and made the military salute.

"My lord, I can explain. What I told you before has happened. The banner, which you have to have seen, gave Ulburt ...

Herlmann raised a hand.

"There is no need to explain, you black-hearted men. It is obvious what has happened here. You have disobeyed me in escaping confinement and killed my noble brother." He turned to look at the company captain. "Captain Longrin, bring a stretcher for my brother's body and take him to his quarters in Nordheim when they have been prepared. Be sure to drape him with the banner of our house so that all will know that a hero has died today. Then arrest these men and see that their wounds are dressed. I do not want them to die before I have the pleasure of hanging them. When they are presentable, have them brought into my presence. I wish to interrogate them personally. He turned the horse. "Now, let us make haste. I want to see what those animals have done to my home."

The soldiers advanced toward Reiner and the others, who were gaping in surprise. They had expected indignant questions or a discussion of whether they had done right or wrong, but this dry prosecution had left them stunned.

"Ungrateful bastard." Hals snarled at Herlmann's back as he walked away. "You don't know when someone has done you a favor, do you? Well I hope you catch syphilis and it falls out of you in pieces." He spat. "I wish I had to do it all over again from the beginning. I'd decide on hanging and save myself the trouble."

Captain Longrin slapped Hals with a chainmail-covered hand and threw him to the ground.

"That's enough, gallows meat." He gestured to his men. "Tie them up, lads. They can still put up a fight."

The soldiers bound their wrists and marched them down the slope.

"Damn all the nobles." Reiner said bitterly. "I'll never trust another."

"That, that," said Franka.

♦ ♦ ♦

But Herlmann kept his word, at least on one point. Reiner and his companions received the best of care. They had ointments applied to their wounds and bandaged, their fractures reduced and plastered. They were fed, cleaned and dressed in simple but well-tailored clothes, and then left in an empty dormitory tent to wait until Herlmann decided to summon them, this time under much closer surveillance than before.

Pavel, Hals and Giano took the opportunity to lie on the beds and close their eyes for a while, but Franka sat in a corner where she curled up and stared at nothing. The members of the group had been separated inside the hospital tent to heal their various wounds, and suddenly Reiner realized that perhaps Franka's masquerade had been discovered.

He sat down next to her.

"Eh..., your... manhood has survived?" he asked in a whisper. She shook her head.

"I fought them off, but they gave me a bath."

Reiner sighed. A strangled sob escaped from the young woman, and she nestled her head against Reiner's shoulder.

"I don't want to go back!"

He wrapped an arm around her.

"Shhhhhh. Come on, shhhhhhhh. You're going to wake the others." He let out a bitter chuckle between his teeth. "And don't worry, you're not coming back. They'll hang you along with the rest of us."

She struggled to smile.

"Yes, that's a comfort."

Another hour passed, as the setting sun tinted the tent walls a deep orange color, a captain of the guard pulled aside the flap at the entrance.

"Out, scum."

They stood up, groaning from the pain of their wounds, and followed him outside. A double line of soldiers flanked them as they made their way through the camp and arrived at last, again, at Herlmann's magnificent tent. The captain held the tarpaulin aside and they entered one at a time.

The interior was dark and only a few candles illuminated the rich fabrics and dark woods of Herlmann's furniture. The duke was seated in a chair covered with furs. In the shadows behind him sat three other men, all dressed in fine clothes and fur cloaks. To Reiner's surprise, there were no guards present, and he saw five camp chairs placed before Herlmann, waiting for them.

Companions hesitated at the entrance.

"Forgive me for not welcoming you into my home." Herlmann said. "But the savages have made it an uninhabitable place. There is much to clean up. Please sit down."

They sat down and looked around suspiciously, fearful that this was a trap.

"Gollenz!" called the duke. "Wine for our guests."

Out of the shadows came a servant with wine glasses on a silver tray. The companions accepted them with as much distrust as the chairs. Perhaps Herlmann intended to watch them die in agonizing death throes from drinking poisoned wine. Or perhaps he wanted to drug them to make them talk.

When the servant had withdrawn, Herlmann leaned forward and coughed, apparently embarrassed.

"Eh... I want to apologize to you for the deception I acted out before. It was true that there was no need for explanations, for when that ungodly banner appeared on the top of the hillock I knew that you had spoken the truth and that my brother intended to murder me."

"But, then..." said Reiner. Herlmann raised a hand.

"I and the Kingdom have contracted with all of you a debt of gratitude that we can never repay. You, more than any other of my army, have won the battle, and the destruction of the banner has prevented its influence from spreading further. You have saved the kingdom from a long civil war."

"So..." said Reiner. Herlmann coughed again.

"Unfortunately, in these troubled times, where the Norsemen invade our northern borders, the Empire of Kaleth maintains its hostilities, the cost involved in the annual war against the Empire has not yet been taken stock of, and the criminal organization Hydra spreads in the underworld like a poison corrupting the foundations of the Kingdom; the morale of the citizens is low. It would not do for them to believe that their overlords were so weak that they could be corrupted as Ulburt was. They must not learn of his treachery or the hostility between us. That would undermine their faith in the nobility at the very time when they need it most to be strong, for the kingdom is in a difficult situation."

An icy grip of dread girded Reiner's heart. Something bad was going to happen.

"Therefore," Herlmann continued. "though it pains me to do so, you will be charged with the crimes of Ulburt."

"What!" bellowed Hals.

"The people need a villain, someone on whom to vent their hatred. A scapegoat who can be dispensed with so that life can return to normal."

"And that's us." Reiner said in a deadpan voice.

Herlmann nodded his head. "It will be your greatest service to the kingdom."

Hals pounded the arm of the chair and stood up.

"You twisted worm! You admit that we have saved your skin and the kingdom's, and yet you will send us to the gallows? I begin to wonder if we are fighting on the right side!"

Herlmann raised a hand again. "I'm not finished." He waited until Hals dropped back into the chair. "I have said it will be your greatest service to the kingdom, but it will not be your last. You will be hanged in a grand public spectacle that will take place in Nordheim in a week's time."

Franka tried to stifle a sob but could not.

"At least," continued Herlmann. "the crowd will think it's you. In reality, it will be some scum of the garrison: deserters, saboteurs and so on."

A spark of hope ignited inside Reiner's chest.

"So you intend to release us after all?"

"You will be released when the time comes. But first you will have the honor of rendering another service to the kingdom."

The spark of hope was extinguished and the sense of ill omen began to invade him again.

"How?"

Herlmann gave him a faint smile.

"The more I think about what you have accomplished today and to what lengths you have gone to achieve it, the more I am convinced that we can take advantage of you." He leaned forward again. "The Kingdom needs black hearts like yours, men capable of doing things that would be unacceptable to the average soldier, men who are undaunted by rank or power, who think for themselves and keep their wits about them in desperate situations." He took a sip of wine. "Battles are not the only means by which the Kingdom retains its strength. There are less honorable things that must be done to keep our homeland safe. Things that no loyal knight would allow himself to undertake and no adventurer would accept. Actions that, to perform them, only knaves, villains, and men without honor could have stomachs strong enough."

"Manipulator of flowery verbiage!" growled Hals. "All your good manners are only to ask us to do your dirty work for you!"

"Precisely!" Herlmann retorted. "After your doubles are executed, you will become invisible. No one but me and the men before you will know that you are still alive. You will become zeros to the left, able to intervene in any situation and become whomever we wish. The perfect spies."

"What if your perfect spies decide they don't want to do your dirty work for you?" asked Reiner. "What if they decide to throw off the yoke? These marks are just a death sentence within the Kingdom."

"Yes." Interjected Giano, who folded his arms. "I am my own boss, no one controls my destiny."

"Neither do we?" asked Herlmann. "My brother had the right idea in marking you, though his methods were crude." He gestured to the man standing behind him on his left, a white-bearded old man attired in the black robes of a scholar. "Mr. Handfort is a respected master alchemist and wizard specializing in the school of transmutation. He has developed a poison that can be activated from afar whenever he chooses. While the healers were tending to your wounds, they rubbed this poison into your cuts." He held up a hand as Reiner and his friends began to stand up and protest.

"Calm down, please. The solution is absolutely harmless until the magician reads aloud a particular incantation. Only then will you die in horrible agony." He smiled as sweetly as if he were wishing them a happy and prosperous new year. "And he will only read the incantation if you do not appear before me at the end of the mission I am about to give you."

"Pig." Reiner said. "You are worse than your brother. At least he offered us a reward if we concluded the mission. At least there would be an end to our slavery."

"My brother never intended to live up to his words, as you well know." Herlmann said. "And he used you for his own interest, whereas now you will be working for the good of the Kingdom."

"He said that, too." Pavel interjected.

"You will be well rewarded." Herlmann continued. "When duty does not call you, you will live well indeed within the walls of my castle. And when this time of crisis is over and the terror has at last been defeated, you will be released from your service and given riches sufficient to build you a completely new life. Moreover, as you will all have 'died,' all your crimes will have died with you." He gave Franka a meaningful look. "Your secrets will be buried in your past and you can live as you wish, as new men."

Reiner and his companions stared at Herlmann with transfixed eyes as he leaned back against the backrest and rested his hands in his lap.

"Good." He said. "What do you have to say, will you accept my offer, will you help the Kingdom in this time of need?"

"I will say what I said to your brother." Reiner replied, mockingly. "We have no choice, do we?"

"No." Herlmann replied. "You don't."

♦ ♦ ♦

A while later, as they drove toward Nordheim Castle in a carriage whose windows covered heavy curtains, Reiner and his companions looked at each other gloomily.

"That guy told us a ton of shit." Giano commented.

"Yeah." Pavel nodded. "When the terror is vanquished, he says. As long as the Kingdom has existed, and there's always been one terror or another knocking on its doors to destroy it."

"We're in this forever, you bet." Hals interjected.

"Isn't there anything we can do?" asked Franka. Reiner shook his head.

"Not unless we can find a means to cleanse our body of the wizard's poison. But until then..."

"Until then," finished Pavel. "They've got us well caught."

"Yes." Hals growled. "He set a bear trap directly in the balls."

Reiner burst out laughing and could not stop. Maybe his life would have turned into an endless nightmare, but at least the company was good.