Brian's Adventures Ch. 14

Chapter Fourteen: Trouble in Greatfoot

Those next few days were not ones that that I particularly liked, for it was non-stop riding with not much time for anything else. Now I like to ride a horse as much as the next fellow, but everyday we got up early and rode till long after sundown. Like the first few days of the ride, we ate on the move and stopped only briefly to let the horses rest. Everything was go, go, go, push, push, push, onward to Greatfoot.

We wanted to get to Greatfoot before anyone lost their lives needlessly. Our plan, like before was to advise the local Commander of the situation and who they really were fighting against. Once that was done we would work with them to find a better and less bloody solution to the problem of The Rebels. Our greatest hope was in the capture of The Mistress. For once she was captured we hoped that the loss of their key controlling figure would make them lost and unable to function. At the very least we hoped that it would distract and disorient them long enough for us to capture them without a single loss of life.

When we finally arrived at Greatfoot I remember feeling an immense sense of relief as I saw that town nestled at the foot of the grand Mount Augustus. The mountain looked tall, grand and quite a spectacular sight to see as it towered over the town and landscape.

The town itself was designed like the other towns that we had passed through. The whole town was under lockdown as they called it, and was in its most defensive stance. All of the gates were closed, both the inner and outer ring of gates were locked tight. The bridges that closed the gap from one of the outer buildings roofs to another were deployed. Guards were posted on every second building rooftop or so to watch for danger. In short what should have looked like a pretty little town at the base of a beautiful mountain looked anything but. It looked like a foreboding fortress that could repel a sizable force and I was glad that we rode to it as friends.

As we rode closer and closer to the fortress that was the town of Greatfoot we were noticed by more than a few Guards standing watch. They watched us intently and motioned us to stop a few paces away from one of the gates. They looked us over from atop their rooftop lookout posts and waved a friendly greeting. One Guard in particular was in a joyous mood to see us.

"Where are you mangy looking, sorry excuse for Guards think you're going?" The nearest Guard said with a broad smile and a hearty laugh.

"We may look a little road weary but that is only because we have ridden hard for over a week to come here and save your pathetic asses!" Cheriphala, the leader of our troop of Guards said as she laughed in return and the rooftop guard joined in the laughter.

"If you're here to save us then we are in more dire straights then I thought!" The rooftop Guard laughed even louder than before. "Come now!" She shouted over her shoulder presumably to someone who was out of sight. "Let them in before they fall down." The Guard finished saying to the hidden person and turned back to us. "Make your way to the town centre, your mounts will be taken care of and the Captain will review you." The Guard said to us in passing before returning to her vigil against intruders.

"Did I hear her right?" I whispered to Jealile beside me. "Did she just say that the Captain is here?" I asked with a little more panic in my voice.

"I heard her as well. This is not good news." Jealile whispered in reply with equal distress in her voice.

"You lot, keep your heads down, and stick to the back of the formation when we're inspected." Cheriphala said quickly and quietly as she turned back only briefly and indicated the Band of Misfits.

The gates then opened up and finally we were allowed in and rode slowly through the double sets of gates. Straight on we rode to the centre of town and looked over the pleasant looking town, quaint buildings and lovely people as we rode. The mood of the town was a mixture of tension and subdued resentment for their town being overrun by uninvited Guards. A rare few unpleasant looks were glared in our direction as we passed them by but for the most part the townsfolk welcomed us.

Eventually we found our way to the centre of town and to a modest grassy patch of ground we found there. We could see that a large building on the other side of the grassy clearing was where the activity was. We rode over and dismounted near the tall building that I guessed was the town hall. Some Guards took our horses and led them away after we had removed our gear from our mounts. We were told by one of those Guards that the Captain would inspect us shortly.

"Trouble in Greatfoot" Jealile said as she looked at the flags that flew high above the watchtower. "That's what the flags say." Jealile said as she pointed to the Watchtower that stood high above our heads and rose out of the large building that we stood in front of.

We assembled in a formation four abreast and five rows deep and awaited the Capitan to review us. As we stood there, with our Band of Misfits mixed in amongst the back two rows, I hoped that Felleona would not be there. I hoped that she would not be the Captain that they were talking about; I hoped instead that someone, anyone else would walk out before us. I didn't like the thought of having to deceive her and liked the idea thinking of her as an enemy even less.

Facts were facts and my fears became a cold hard reality when Felleona walked out from inside the large building that we were assembled in front of. I swallowed hard as I looked at her in the new light of knowing what I knew, that she wore the mark of a betrayer. She should be anywhere but here, someone else should be leading the Guards into battle if she were truly innocent. However when Tania is faced with the greatest threat it has faced in years the place for the Captain of the Guards is in the thick of it. She stood a few steps from the bottom of the stairs and looked us over with a keen eye without saying anything for a moment.

"Where are you from?" Felleona said as she still looked us over, trying to find out who was in charge.

"Greenglen Captain." Cheriphala said respectfully while looking Felleona over with a shrewd eye. "Is this all Woravia could spare?" Felleona said a little disappointed by our numbers.

"We are half her numbers Captain, any more and the town would have been left at risk." Cheriphala replied as her eyes glanced over Felleona's armour all polished up and glistening in the day's dying sun.

"Fine, fine, we wouldn't want two problems on our hands." Felleona said dismissively as she glanced over us once more. "You may know that you are here because of the troubles in one of the nearby Quads." Felleona said a little louder, addressing the whole group of us now. "However, what you don't know is how we are preparing to quell those troubles." Felleona said as her eyes rested on me for a moment, her face held a reminiscent look for a fleeting, frightening moment. Thankfully she shook her head dismissively and went on with her briefing. "We are running drills to sharpen your skills as well we are organizing everyone into new units. With all of the assortment of Guards coming from all over, it is important we can work as one when the fighting starts." Felleona said as she looked us over with a disapproving smirk.

"Yes Captain." Cheriphala replied with a nod.

"For tonight, rest and cleanup, you look like hell." Felleona shook her head and turned to walk back into the building. "Get them squared away in barracks, fed and cleaned up." Felleona said as she passed by another Guard who then walked towards us.

"Okay you scruffy looking lot, follow me." The older gruff looking Guard said as she approached the bottom of the stairs.

We walked towards the outer ring of buildings and toward one side that we had not entered from. Again the townspeople that we passed were mostly a friendly lot but not as jovial and happy as they could be. As we approached the outer buildings the people we passed were more often then not, other Guards. It seemed that the townsfolk stuck to the centre of town and left the outskirts of town to the Guards. Whether this was intended or not was a different story but that's how it was in Greatfoot at that time.

"You lot, take those three barracks there." Our escorting Guard said as she pointed to three of the outer buildings. "The Inn is the main mess as well as the Officer's Quarters so stay clear of the upper floors. For tonight and tonight only, don't worry about setting watch, get a good night's rest, you've earned it." She said as she paused for a moment to look Rialtige and I over with a puzzled look. "When you are all settled, make your way to Inn for a good meal once you look respectable." She said and then walked away a few paces. "If that's possible." She added with a parting laugh.

"You lot take the centre building and the rest of us will take the other two. Get cleaned up and we'll meet back here and get a meal together." Cheriphala said in our direction and wearily walked toward one of the other buildings we had been assigned.

We all split up, got settled, cleaned up and changed into better clothes and before long were seated at the Inn enjoying a fine meal. I have never tasted a better meal in my life then that meal after that long ride. I mean, imagine if you had ate only bread and water for over a week and then finally had a real meal! Even if it was half burned and half undercooked it would have tasted like a meal fit for a King! The Inn was too crowded for the discussion we all really wanted to have, namely about the Captain's presence. Once the meal was over and a few mugs of ale were consumed we all quietly made our way back to our barracks.

I for one, felt better and more relaxed after washing up, getting changed, and having a fine meal and some ale to wash it down. As we crowded into the bottom floor of our barracks we all found someplace to rest our bones. I opened up the discussion that we had wanted to have since we arrived in Greatfoot almost two hours before.

"My friends, we have an unforeseen problem on our hands." I said as I looked at the faces of everyone there, and everyone nodded their agreement. "The Captain is here and is in charge. We can't quite charge her with treason when she has done nothing wrong yet. Her presence here disturbs me though." I said with my voice full of regret and sighed heavily.

"What can we do about it? She's here and she's in charge?" Cheriphala asked with equal regret and distress in her voice. "She's the Captain for Godsake! She is the highest-ranking Guard reporting only to The Council itself!"

"What about the local Commander? Where is she? Perhaps we can speak to her about all of this?" Jealile said as she looked the group over, gauging their reaction.

"Doubt it." Cheriphala said with a wincing look and a shake of her head. "I saw her on the steps today and she seemed to be fond of the Captain. I can't be certain but I don't think we should do anything until we can be certain where her loyalties lie." Cheriphala finished with a sorrowful look.

"We must not give ourselves away until The Mistress is captured." Treabilla said with absolute certainty. "If we talk to someone and things go badly, or if someone recognizes us then we could mess up our one chance to capture The Mistress." Treabilla said with a grave look as she thought of letting The Mistress slip by her. "No, I say we sit tight and wait for word that The Mistress has been captured before we make our move here!" Treabilla said and again wore a look that affirmed her strong feelings on this issue.

"Agreed, but there is nothing saying we can't find out what we can through innocent talk." I said to everyone in the group. "Nothing specific mind you, just find out exactly what is going on here? Find out as much as we can about the Commander and the activities of The Captain in the meantime. We will wait for word from Greenglen before we make any move but we must know what we've gotten ourselves into!" I said and looked over the whole group of twenty of us and sighed with frustration. "Agreed?" I asked while still looking at the group, everyone nodded their agreement in turn.

"How are we going to know when The Mistress is captured?" Shelea asked curiously and a little perplexed. "It took us more than a week to ride here? Won't it take that long for news to arrive? I mean it has already been a week? How do we know that she hasn't been captured already?" Shelea said raising a good point.

"You forget that Woravia will send word by the flags, that will reach all over Tania. We are to watch for the message 'Prisoner in Greenglen'. That will be her signal that The Mistress has been captured and we can reveal ourselves." Cheriphala said plainly as she reminded Shelea and the rest of us of that minor point that even I had forgotten about. "She will also dispatch a rider to speed word here informing the Commander here about her success."

"That makes sense." Shelea said sounding satisfied in the knowledge that we would know within moments of The Mistresses capture.

Perhaps now I should let tell you a bit more about those flags and watchtowers that I have touched on a few times before now. Each watchtower can see at least two other watchtowers from where they stand. When one watchtower sees flags flying above another watchtower, they fly the same flags on their flagpole. If they have a message they wish to send, they fly that message on top of the other flag message. Every watchtower does likewise and so messages can pass quickly back and forth throughout Tania.

You might be asking exactly how you send a message by flags? Well each message has three components to them. The first is the verb/noun part, like 'trouble,' 'prisoner', 'invaders' and so forth. The second part is the bridge part, like 'in' 'around', 'to', 'near' and a few other words of the like. The third part is the location part, like; 'Greenglen', 'Greatfoot', 'Kincaid', 'Teroncia' and so forth, each town and Quad has its own flag.

Each flag is a long triangle, almost a pennant in style and by the colour and other designs on it you tell what flag it is. There is a system to the way the flags are designed, that helps to lessen the task of remembering all those flags. All you really need to do is understand the system and you can read the flags with ease and not remembering everything. I won't bore you with the details of the system but sufficed to say there is a method to the madness of those flags. No words are used, that way you can tell what the message is but your enemy can't; doesn't help in the case of rebels though.

The discussion was ended there and we all went to sleep and slept soundly until morning. Over the next few days we carried on as best we could, trying to look like Guards. Jealile, Yeoline and the others were a great help to the rest of us in the Band of Misfits. I'm sure we would have been found out soon after the drill started without their help, showing us what to do slyly. It was good for me to get some practice on how to handle myself with a few different weapons. At least now I would be more dangerous to my enemy than myself when I wielded a weapon, after all, isn't that the point?

In the downtimes between drills and at mealtimes we talked up the other Guards and tried to find out what we could. Even on watch at night we chatted up the Guard one roof over and that seemed the best way to get information. After all you both are board and have little to do but talk and watch the darkness for trouble. Our second best time to find out information was after the evening meals, sharing a mug or two of ale with a strange group of fellow Guards. It's amazing what you can find out once the ale starts flowing after a good meal.

Mostly we confirmed what we already knew or suspected, thusfar. A few nuggets of information filled out the rest of the puzzle though, but we didn't like what it increasingly looked like. It seems that Felleona had left Teroncia a few days before my wedding, leaving Irillis to stay behind and deliver her message to me. Felleona then pressed on to Greatfoot and arrived shortly after the Emissary was killed and the last message dispatched to Woravia in Greenglen.

Felleona arrived with a sizable force from Teroncia, no less then one hundred and fifty guards! These she split up into three 'units' as she called them. These Guards were kept to one side of the town and trained on their own and mostly kept to themselves. As Felleona ran all the other Guards through these drills, a few Guards were selected to join that group of Guards and even bunked with them. The curious thing to the on looking Guards was that it was not necessarily the best Guards that were selected to join them over there. They could see no pattern to the selection process. The rest of the Guards were split up into equal 'units' and bunked in various other parts of the town.

We surmised as you may have already guessed that the Guards that Felleona brought with her were Disciple/Guards. The Guards that Felleona selected to join her other Guards were obviously other Disciple/Guards. When the call went out for reinforcements, all manner of Guards were sent to Greatfoot. A number of those Guards were Disciple/Guards that had somehow made their way into the ranks of the Guards. Somehow secretly they identified themselves to Felleona as Disciples and were then 'selected' to join the 'special units'.

These Disciple/Guards were the traitorous Guards that wore the cloak of true Guards but had really sworn allegiance to the Mistress. I despised them more than Disciples, for at least Disciples had chosen a side and could be identified as such. But these Disciple/Guards were a different lot, they pretended to be one thing but underneath they were another, an altogether despicable lot. It was not clear if The Mistress was controlling these Guards or if they chose to follow her by their own volition. Were they Disciples who joined The Guards or were they Guards who were somehow 'recruited' by The Mistress? Perhaps it was a mixture of both but either way did little to lessen their traitorous crimes.

As for the Commander, well, she was a hard one to read and we couldn't very well do much without knowing where she stood. For next to The Captain of the Guards, the local Commander had control of the situation. That meant that if we could prove to her that Felleona was in deed a traitor, then she could take control of the situation and the Guards at hand. That was what we were counting on, to convince the Commander of the truth of the situation before it was too late.

The most frightening thing was the rumour of an imminent attack that Felleona was planning to lead on Kincaid. It had been whispered that in a few days hence, she would lead an assault on the Kincaid Quad personally with her 'special units'. We knew that if she were truly a traitor, this would only serve to reinforce the Rebels with well-trained Guards! We knew this we had to stop most certainly but two things stood in our way, hindering our ability to do so.

The first was the fact that we still had not heard from Greenglen about The Mistress. Without her capture we could not reveal ourselves or even give hint that we knew the real truth about the situation. It would raise questions and focus too much attention on us and possibly prevent the one golden opportunity to capture the troublesome Mistress and put an end to her evil ways.

The second thing was the Commander herself; we still did not know one way or the other where she stood. We didn't know of she was a Disciple or if Felleona had her under her sway somehow. Felleona could be persuasive when she wanted to be and even force the issue if she needed to. With her expertise as a woman-pleaser Felleona could easily keep even the straightest of women emotionally off balance and coming back for more. On more than one occasion it was noted that the Commander looked 'fondly' upon Felleona. Worse yet were the whispers from the officers that the Commander had been seen entering Felleona's quarters late at night.