Broker - CH 19 -

Alex had barely gotten ten steps beyond the pavillion before his people fell in around him. Carla on his right, Max on his left, David one step beyond that.

“We’re to hold the left flank,” Alex said immediately.

Everyone around him seemed to take that without a concern. Internally, Alex imagined they were annoyed, and worried though.

They’d undoubtedly be going up against the best the enemy had.

“Max, David, spread some money around and see if we can’t dig up where the duke wants to hold this battle,” Alex said once they were out of earshot of anyone else.

“Two, if you catch someone sneaking around my tent, bash their head in first, ask questions after. David, Max, that’s up to you to let your people know not to come around in a sneaky way. To come obvious and direct so they don’t get their skull bashed in.

“I’m going to tell your partner the same thing,” Alex said, deliberately not naming Three. “In fact, triple the guard on our supplies. Give the men an extra ration of ale later on to keep them happy.”

“You suspect trouble?” Max asked.

“Not really. But I wouldn’t discount it. I’d rather pay the men extra beer later than lament my losses,” Alex said with a shrug.

“Once we figure out where the battle will start I want to know the entire layout of the battlefield. Terrain, elevation, every detail, anything that stands out. I’m sure duke Gaelis is well aware of the fact that we’re here and probably even where we’ll fight at. So whoever you send, be sure they’re on guard.”

“Elevation?” Max asked dubiously.

“Yeah. Elevation. Hills, depressions, sunken roads, anything that would change the height,” Alex said.

Memories of long forgotten games flittered through his mind.

My dad always beat me so bad. Let’s hope I remember enough to not make a complete ass out of myself.

Wish I had paid more attention to those war documentaries he watched, too.

“Gonna reward me if I kill one?” Carla asked.

“Definitely. You brain one and I’ll pay you a weeks salary. Catch one alive and I’ll give you a months.”

Carla grunted at that, her blood-lust now palpable.

Leave it to the bandit to get worked up to kill someone for pay.

“Anything else you all need?” Alex asked

“No, sire.”

“No, sir.”

“No, master.”

“Great. I’m going to turn in for the night. You all get to your jobs and be ready to roll out as soon as we get an idea of where this battle is taking place. I have a plan.”

Max and David fell away from him as soon as they made it into their camp.

Carla stayed at his side.

Smiling to himself, he remembered what he was in for tonight.

“Stop smirking,” Carla grumbled.

“I can’t help it. Tonight just got so much better.”

“Fucking bitch isn’t even here yet and I’m taking one for her,” Carla muttered.

“In the mouth no less,” Alex added in helpfully.

“I hate you, Master.”

“Don’t forget you said you’d swallow.”

“Kill you, Master.”

***

Max smoothed the map out with his hands delicately.

It had a weathered look as if someone had stuffed it into a saddlebag.

Small markers were penned throughout the whole thing. There were a number of different levels of penmanship as well. As if it had passed hands.

One spot looked even as if it had been done at a full gallop.

“Did they have problems?” Alex asked.

“Some. You weren’t wrong about duke Gaelis being aware. The country side is swarming with scouts. We didn’t lose anyone, but it was a close thing.

“Made confirming the location easy though,” David said pointing to the left side of the map. “It’s a fairly flat plane here. As far as we’re aware, duke Tanulf plans on taking this position.”

Max indicated the spot on the map for David since he was a little out of reach from his side of the table.

“On our side is some rocky terrain and an small gulley. An old road a bit closer to where the battle will probably be, but that’s it.

“As far as we can figure, Tanulf plans to hold the center right there in the middle of that flat as a board plane.

“For all the vainglorious reasoning I’m sure he has,” David said with a sneer in his voice.

“Not our problem. What’s out on the left flank? Anything we can use to our advantage?”

Max scratched at his chin as if considering the question.

David huffed and then indicated a section of the map that had a series of numbers and what looked like a pen had been stabbed into it.

“This seems like it’s a rocky hill. Not too high, but certainly not at the same level as everywhere around. The problem is it curves backward instead of falling out in a straight line,” David said.

“So, it kinda hooks, like this?” Alex asked, picking up the quill and carefully drawing in what it looked like the scouts were trying to do.

Max watched silently, and David nodded his head.

“That’s about right, sire.”

“Alright, so, let’s get some men up there and start working the position. Preferably under cover of night and without making it obvious.”

“Sir… you want us to… dig in?” Max asked.

“Yep. Dig in. Move those rocks if you can to provide a wall or put them lower on the hill as way to break up their formations. I’d love it if we could get a small wall put up as well. Just enough to give us a foot or two over our opponents.”

“Sir, if we keep the line, we’ll end up moving down the hill,” Max interjected.

“Why the fuck would we hold the line? Put us in a hook, curling with the hill,” Alex said, indicating the very same hook he’d just drawn. “It’s not as if they won’t try to flank us and roll us up anyways. Right?”

David frowned at that, crossing his arms in front of himself in a defensive way.

“You’re not wrong but… it isn’t very…”

“Very what, fair? Sportsmanlike? Pah. This is war. I plan to kill as many of them as I can and get as few of us killed as possible. Make sure we get a platform at the very least put up for the archers to fire downhill on,” Alex said, tapping the center of the area.

“What do you want us to do if someone tells us to move?” Max asked.

“Ignore them. Or kill the messenger, I don’t care. Don’t move though,” Alex said with a shrug of his shoulders. Both men stared at him as if he’d grown a second head.

“This’ll be the spot that we hold our ground and have them break upon us. They’ll be expecting to roll right through us. We know their tactics in that case. Let’s use it to our advantage.”

Carla grunted at that.

“Good. That makes it easy. What else? You said you had a plan. This… is good but, not like you to stop there,” she said.

“Am I that obvious?” Alex asked, grinning at her.

She didn’t respond, instead she just glared at him.

Still hasn’t forgiven me for making sure she swallowed.

“I want to purchase two score of horses. I assume we have at least forty men who can ride?” Alex asked, looking to David.

“Easily.”

“Good. I want forty men to be trained up as mounted infantry. They’re going to have a different job during this first battle.

“The enemy isn’t going to expect anything from us. Other than to die miserably. Even with our emplacements, they’ll think they can waltz over us.

“I want those mounted-infantry to move out the day before and to go very far afield. To the point that no screening force or picket would find them,” Alex said, and gestured to the far left side of the map.

“And?” David asked, unable to wait for Alex to continue it seemed.

“When the battle is fully joined, I want those forty to ransack the enemy headquarters and camp. I want them to take all the coin they can, to burn everything they can’t, and to capture any nobility or generals they can.

“I’ll pay twenty gold a head for a nobleman or noblewoman, and thirty for a general. Any coinage they find and bring back, they can keep twenty percent of it shared amongst themselves. Any uniforms they could steal would be great as well,” Alex said making a vague gesture at where the enemy would probably set up camp.

“You want to attack… their general directly?” Max asked.

“Uh huh. And whatever backers they have over there. And when you get them back here, make sure it’s in secret if possible. Prisoners aren’t shared with a liege lord, as there is always the case for a ransom, but I’d rather not tip our hand if we don’t have to.”

“This is… very unconventional,” David said softly.

“I’m no patriot. I’m not even a general. I’m no son of a duke. I’m a damn count dragged into a war I had nothing to do with.

“If it means we’ll catch them off guard, then I’ll do it. And if you bring me a number of prisoners and money, all the better.

“Oh, and I really do mean torch everything you can’t take. If you can find their food stores, set it aflame.

“Standing fortifications are a monument to the stupidity of mankind. Any defense can be overrun given time and manpower. We’ll use that to our advantage. They’ll pile everything up in one spot.”

“Anything… anything else, my lord?” Max asked, sounding very unsure of himself.

“If the enemy soldiers surrender, take them into custody unharmed. Make a show of it. If they don’t fear surrendering, more of them will be willing to do so.

“But other than that… no. I’ll have more once we get into position I suppose. Dismissed unless you have any other questions.”

Max and David looked to each other, then left, leaving the map on Alex’s table.

Sighing after the men had left, Alex crossed his arms in front of himself, and leaned up against the table. Looking to Carla he shrugged.

“Whatever. So, your bodyguard hire finally arriving today?” he asked.

“Yes. She’s waiting outside. She brought someone else as well. If I’m lucky you’ll hire both,” Carla said.

“Alright. Before I invite them in, anything I should know? Or any concerns with the plan?”

“Huh? Why are you asking me?”

“Because you have a brain inside that muscled head of yours, don’t you?”

“Ass. No, nothing about your stupid plan. As to the women… I dunno. I think one is hirable, the one I met. Don’t know the other one.”

“Ok, and what’s your expectation of them for me? Am I supposed to lock them into a privacy oath like you? Would they even accept one? If they wouldn’t, this’ll be a short interview.”

Carla chuckled darkly at that.

“Oh, the one I want will swear. I bet the other one will too if they’re from the same background.”

That means they’re already in trouble, and I’m the only way out.

“Murderers, bandits, or thugs?” Alex asked.

“Uh… all of that?”

“Fine, go get’em.”

Carla gave him a weird look then left the tent.

Alex made himself comfortable and got seated next to his desk. Making sure to put some furniture between himself and the newcomers.

“Three?” Alex asked to no one.

“Here, Master,” came the disembodied response.

“Good,” Alex said, feeling better. “Don’t wait for permission on my part.”

“Yes, Master.”

Falling silent, Alex idly toyed with the edge of the map as he waited.

Carla stepped in through the tent flap and moved over to stand beside Alex without a word. Her mace was unslung and held loosely in her hand.

So even she isn’t completely comfortable.

Two women walked in.

One was a wiry thing, that looked like she’d been built out of muscle and nerves. She wasn’t flat in the chest department, but she’d definitely be the “handful is enough” category.

Her head was shaved into a short black mohawk. She was dressed in light leather armor and had two short swords belted at her hips, a buckler slung over the pommel of one.

Sharp blue eyes cut through him as she marched up to him, a cruel smirk pulling at the side of her mouth.

Alex put her somewhere between Carla and Valeria on his attractiveness scale and then looked to the second woman.

Who was already slumping forward, the shadow that was Valeria pressed up to her side and dragging her down to the floor.

The woman with the mohawk looked to the woman who had come in with her and the shadow, then shrugged and turned her face back to Carla.

“Guess she didn’t make the cut,” said the woman in a drawl. “Not my problem. I got paid as a reference.”

Valeria grunted and slammed a very thin blade home down from above into the woman’s temple. And most certainly into her brain.

Gasping and panting, Valeria crawled off the twitching corpse and shook herself out.

“Already had a blade in hand,” Valeria said. Reaching down she tried to pull her blade out of the woman’s skull. “She was going to dive at you I bet.”

In the end she had to put her boot to the brain dead body’s jaw and yank on the handle.

With a splut the blade came free. A pattering of blood came pumping out of the head-wound and Valeria crashed to the floor.

Bouncing on her bottom and skidding a foot.

“Could ya throw a towel or something over her head? She’s going to pump out till she cools,” Carla said.

Mohawk looked at the body then ripped the tunic off the woman’s torso with a monstrous yank.

In the doing she managed to expose the dead woman’s chest to everyone looking.

With a negligent flick of her hand, Mohawk dumped it over the bare chested woman’s head.

“Better?” she asked.

“It’ll do. Whole place is going to reek of blood now,” Alex complained.

Mohawk shrugged.

“You the guy paying?” she asked.

“That I am. Your name?” Alex asked, looking to her again.

“Nannie,” she said.

“Nannie?” Alex asked, making sure he heard her.

“Yup. Why?”

“Nothing, just making sure. Did Two tell you about my need for secrecy?” Alex asked.

“Kinda. She said she couldn’t talk about it, and if I wanted to sign on, I wouldn’t be able to talk about it either. Which made sense if you look at it from a certain way,” she said.

“Great, I’ll make it simple. Swear on Leah’s name to protect my secrecy, to not betray me in any way, and that you’ll act in good faith.

“For both your soul and life, after that, we can begin,” Alex said, spreading his hands in front of himself.

“Kay. I swear all that junk on my soul and life. We gonna talk about pay now?” Nannie asked.

Valeria got to her feet and slunk away towards the back of the room.

“Good work, Three. Figure out your reward,” Alex said as she passed.

She nodded her head, but didn’t respond.

“I get a number?” Nannie asked, not giving him a chance to respond to her first question.

“Do you want a number?” Alex asked

“Dunno. Probably not.”

Alex blinked at that and then moved on in his thinking.

“Pay would be five gold a year.”

“Seven.”

“Six, and I’ll pay off whatever your bounty is on your ass,” Alex said, leaning to one side of his chair and resting his chin in his hand.

“Huh. How long is the job?”

“Permanently. I’d essentially employ you till you die of old age, or die on duty.”

“And I get to kill people? Like this one?” Nannie said, pointing at the still bleeding body.

“In the line of duty, yes. For pleasure, no.”

Nannie ran her tongue over her teeth and looked to one side.

“Kay. I can do that,” she said, looking back to him. “Bounty is kinda high. You sure you can pay it?”

“How high are we talking?”

“Three hundred gold,” Nannie said indifferently.

“Oh. That’s not too bad. You’re to work for me as a body guard. Job duties are simple. Keep me alive, keep yourself alive, and that’s about it. Basically make sure no harm befalls me. From you, or others.

“You’ll get two days off a week when Two is working, and you’ll have two days where you work alone while she has days off,” Alex explained. “Any questions?”

“Nah. Seems simple. I get a guard kit like her?” Nannie said, pointing at Carla.

“Sure, if you can scrounge one up. I didn’t give Two those,” Alex said evenly.

“Now that we’ve agreed on the terms of the job, I think it’s time we talked about more interesting things,” Alex said with a smile at her.

“I ain’t sleeping with you,” Nannie said, wrinkling her nose.

“No, but for three hundred gold, you won’t be sleeping with anyone else either. I’ll have you celibate. To the point that you’re not even holding another man or woman’s hand. Or even yourself for that matter. Clean and pure as undriven snow going forward.

“But I digress and get ahead of myself. As someone in my employ I’m going to have deals to offer you from time to time,” Alex said, starting into his spiel. “It’s rather simple. I offer you something, and ask a price. You can say no, and no harm will befall you in any shape, way, or form.

“Nor will any previous deal be impacted, or future deals.”

“Uhh… so… you could… offer me fifty gold to split me in half on your bed and I could say yes or no?” Nannie asked, her brow furrowing.

“Yep.”

“And you wouldn’t be mad if I told you to fuck yourself?”

“Nope.”

“Huh. Ok.”

“And that’s my price for paying your bounty. You becoming a nun, so to speak.”

“Fine. I can do that. The guards were getting too close anyways. Wasn’t going to be able to run much longer. Would have turned into a ground pounder in a jail cell with some sweaty meat sack and then hung after they finished in me,” Nannie said with distaste.

“I would hope not. I’ve gone on a crusade to flush those types out of Brit.”

“Wasn’t talking about Brit.”

Alex was thankful for that. He really had gone a bit wild on his own guards.

“So, do we have a deal?”

“Sure, yeah. Swear it on my soul and life or whatever on my oath. So, when do we eat? Kinda hungry. Craving steak if you got it,” Nannie said.

“I’ll have my maid feed you this time for free,” Alex said with a smile.

He already knew what the next deal for Nannie was going to be.

Then she stooped down next to the dead woman and started going through her pockets.

“Already shit herself. Ugh,” Nannie said.

Alex mentally sighed. They weren’t going to get any information off a dead person. And he doubted she’d have anything on herself that would identify her or who she worked for.