Brian's Adventures Ch. 16

I knew that we were riding off not only to strengthen the siege of Kincaid but also to crush the Rebels once and for all. There was so much to see to before we left and I didn't want to forget any important detail that might cost anyone their lives. Even though I awoke before dawn it was mid morning before we finally got underway.

I was feeling less than rested due to the amorous activates of the night before but I tried to but my best face forward. I rode high in the saddle at the head of the column of Guards and Healers and I was the most nervous one there I'll bet. I knew full well that we headed into battle and before the end of it, not everyone would be walking away from Kincaid. Despite my best efforts I knew that people would die and that was a fact that I couldn't change. I only hoped however that I had done everything that I could to keep the casualties to a minimum, on both sides.

It was a pleasant day as we made our way to Kincaid and on any other occasion I would have enjoyed the leisurely ride. However, the fact that we were riding into trouble dimmed my spirits somewhat. The knowledge that I would see Yeoline again did little to ease my spirits, though I was looking forward to seeing her again. As we neared Kincaid I could see that some things had changed and some things had remained the same.

The mountain still looked as grand as ever, standing proudly, ever watchful over the whole scene. Kincaid itself looked as it always had, tall, solid and at the moment, uninviting with Rebels at the walls. The fields that surrounded Kincaid still needed care and attention, and a few more weeds had crept in amongst the crops. The biggest change however was around the outskirts of Kincaid, where the Guards held their vigil, keeping the siege in tact.

Around the outside of the road that surrounded Kincaid, the Guards had dug in hastily made fortifications. Barely tall enough so that you could crouch behind and at least fifty feet long at a stretch. While there was no roof on them, they would at least provide some protection against the arrows coming from Kincaid.

As I approached the command tent I could once again see that our approach had not gone unnoticed. A small crowd had gathered watching our approach with intrigue and excitement. I gathered that we were the most exiting thing to happen in days and took some small measure of comfort in that.

"Good morning Captain." Yeoline said with a bright smile on her face that she tried to keep her manner respectful and not amorously affectionate.

"Good morning Lieutenant how have things been here?" I asked as I glanced around at the whole scene taking in everything at once.

"Quiet thankfully, we've thrown up some fortifications around the road but have seen no change from the Rebels inside." Yeoline replied with a little more subdued tone but it was clear that she was pleased to see me on a personal level.

"I see that. Good work Lieutenant." I said with a nod and a slight smile that only Yeoline picked up on. "Disburse these Guards evenly around Kincaid and have the healers set-up a healing station at the each road leading up to Kincaid." I said loudly enough that everyone could hear.

"Yes Captain." Yeoline said with a nod and turned to another guard that stood near her. "You heard him, see to it." She said with an authoritative tone that I almost didn't recognize coming from the once timid Yeoline.

"Yes Lieutenant." The guard responded and with that she began shouting and barking at the guards that I had brought with me and the column started to move out.

As the Guards and Healers began to move this way and that, I could see a flurry of activity take place. The supplies we brought with us was stored with the rest of the supplies that was already at Kincaid. I could see that everyone was happy to be here and in a way it was an odd kind of homecoming. The guards that we brought with us were the guards that we had brought away from Kincaid not long prior. Now they were back at Kincaid and happy to see that they would see the siege through to the end. I dismounted and along with Chezeleste followed Yeoline into the Command tent.

"I've missed you dear." Yeoline said as she embraced me while kissing hard on the lips.

"And I've missed you my dear." I said with a smile as I held her tight even after the kiss was over.

It was a nice, tender moment and I enjoyed holding Yeoline once more and I was relieved to see that she was alright. For a brief moment all I saw was Yeoline and all was well, however I also saw the perplexed look that Chezeleste had on her face. It was at that moment that I realized how odd it must have looked holding my lieutenant in so intimate an embrace. I turned and smiled at Chezeleste for a moment and she gave me a bit of a flustered look.

"Don't mind me Captain. It's not may place to judge such things." Chezeleste said with a nervous smirk and shrug of the shoulders looking generally uncomfortable about the situation.

"Is there something wrong with giving an adequate greeting to the woman I plan to marry?" I asked with a smirk as I held Yeoline in my arms and both of us smiled at Chezeleste proudly.

"Oh that explains it!" Chezeleste said with a relieved look and sigh. "For a moment there I was wondering if you greeted all of your Lieutenants like that." Chezeleste chuckled and paused. "I doubt my husband would understand so familiar a greeting." She finished and broke into a full laugh that Yeoline and I joined in on.

"Does someone need a hug?" Yeoline said with a mock-pout mixed with a broad grin.

"I'm fine!" Chezeleste replied with a bit of an uptight manner. "Don't worry about me." She finished defensively as she raised her hands to fend off any advance either of us made.

"Well, how have things been here?" I asked Yeoline to change the subject.

"Quiet, we sit here and stare at each other. They haven't tried to break out and we haven't tried to take the Quad." Yeoline said plainly and then continued. "It's strange, they don't even seem worried that we have them completely surrounded, I can't figure it!" She finished with an odd scratch of her head.

"Well, all that will change today." I said firmly. "Lets see if we can't finish this here and now." I said with a proud and slightly devilish grin.

"What do you have in mind Captain?" Chezeleste asked curiously cautiously.

"I'm gonna call Felleona out and demand her surrender." I said in a nonchalant tone. "One way or another, it ends today! I'm not going to wait around until she is ready to do whatever it is that she has planned!" I finished with a determined glare.

"Can I watch?" Chezeleste said with a bright yet devilish grin of her own.

"It wouldn't be fun without you." I said with a smirk in reply as I slapped her on the shoulder.

I didn't wait for anything as I proudly left the tent and walked down the road that lead up to Kincaid. I walked halfway down the road and stopped looking up at the walls of the seemingly imposing fortress. The puzzled looks on the faces of the Disciples that looked at me from the walls was priceless. I took a moment to look over all the faces and did not recognize Felleona's among them, not that one could from the hoods they wore.

"ALRIGHT YOU TRAITOROUS BITCH!" I shouted as loud as I could. "GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE NOW AND STOP HIDING BEHIND THESE WALLS!" I shouted and waited for a response that never came. "OR ARE YOU TOO COWARDLY TO FACE ME?" I shouted my question and fell silent, listening and waiting for a reaction, any kind of reaction.

This time I saw some movement at the walls and wondered if I was about to get a shower of arrows for my troubles. I decided to stand my ground and see what happened next. For a few tense moments I watched as a number of hooded faces peered down at me from high above those walls. I had almost lost my patience when a particular hooded face caught my attention as it stared at me with hollow eyes. I looked up and stared back at the still figure for a moment before it disappeared behind the walls once more. Not long after that did the great door that I stood before opened up and out walked two figures. They did not pause as the door closed behind them, instead they walked in a calm yet quick pace toward me.

One was dressed a typical Disciple but had a sword at her side that was partially obscured by her billowing cloak. The other one I knew simply from a glance at the size of her that she must be Felleona. Her attire was an odd mix of old and new, a blending of her lives as it were. While she wore the typical attire of a Disciple, she still wore her special armour from when she was Captain of the Guards. She still had the half hooded cloak overtop of it but the sparkling, shiny decorative metal armour underneath could not be mistaken. As she neared me, I could see in her eyes that she was a little miffed and just a hint of fear was in the air.

"Alright, you've got my attention, what the hell do you want?" The large, hooded figure said with a voice that was unmistakably Felleona's

"I want to end this of course." I replied firmly, trying to keep the disdain and anger out of my voice as I looked Felleona in the eye.

"Fine, so leave then." Felleona said dismissively as she pointed to the road behind me, leading to Greatfoot.

"You know very well that I can't leave until Kincaid is back under control." I said firmly, yet a hint of anger snuck into my voice. "Unlike you however, I actually plan to do my job." I said with a snarl of disdain as I looked into the face of the woman who had been my lover back in Teroncia.

"Thought you'd play at being Captain did you?" Felleona laughed as she looked at me while shaking her head. "It takes more than a fancy piece of armour to truly make you Captain boy!" Felleona said as she leaned in, trying to intimidate me yet failing to do so.

"I assure you my dear Felleona that I am The Captain of the Guards of Tania and that I earned that place by orchestrating the capture of your beloved Mistress!" I said with a proud smirk as I leaned back in toward her and our armour almost touched as I looked up at her with a steely glare.

"Lies!" Shouted Felleona without moving from her spot of staring down at me.

"Prisoner in Greenglen." I said calmly and paused for a moment as I watched a sparkle of understanding flicker in Felleona's eyes. "You know the meaning of that message as well as I." I said calmly before continuing. "That's the real reason you betrayed your position and your people when you did!" I finished with a snarl and at this Felleona blinked and turned away from me slowly.

I could see a change in her demeanour, it was almost as if I had mortally wounded her and she was staggering from the pain. She turned her back on me for a moment as she digested the news and my words. I thought at that moment that perhaps she didn't quite know what I thought she knew when she departed. Perhaps it was more of a hunch that she went on, or it could have been simply a coincidence. But for whatever reason, the news of the capture of The Mistress seemed to hit her and hit her hard at that moment.

"I wondered what that meant." Felleona said with a shaken voice with her back still to me. "I hoped that it did not mean what I feared it did." She said as she turned to face me now a few steps away from me.

"With any luck she should be dead by now." I said with a calm voice, trying not to sound too pleased.

I got an angry glare from Felleona whose eyes seemed wet with pain and sorrow as well at that moment. Part of me felt for her, for even then I didn't like to see her in such pain. In truth I was only trying to get her to see that it was pointless to continue to serve a now dead Mistress. I could tell that she was torn by the news but I doubted I would win her over so easily, yet I had to try.

"It's over, give it up." I said calmly as I put my hand on her shoulder. "Think of your troops. Do they deserve to die for nothing?" I said with a consolatory tone. "Surrender and you will all be treated fairly, I promise you." I said as I looked her in the eye with an almost pleading look of concern for someone who I hoped could still be a friend.

"No." Felleona said with a determined look as she looked back into my eyes. "My Mistress is alive, I know it." Felleona said with a look that pierced through me as life and steel returned to her bones. "I will not forsake my Mistress!" Felleona finished with a growl as she stood taller and firmer.

"But you'll turn your back on your people sure enough!" Chezeleste huffed with disgust, as she spoke for the first time since we met Felleona on that road.

"I betrayed nobody but a council of men who have kept the women of Tania under their heal for generations!" Felleona snarled back. "I am here to liberate the women of Tania from the yoke of a group of men who do nothing but serve themselves!" Felleona finished with a calmer but no less determined tone of voice.

"Go stuff yourself!" I shot back with a disgusted chuckle. "The Mistress you serve wants to control everyone and everything and is quite clearly insane!" I shouted back with the same determined voice she had used. "As are you for following her! Clearly she has you under her sway and you are not in your right mind, as are those who follow you!" I finished with a saddened yet firm tone as I searched her face for understanding but found none.

"Why can't you see that I only want what is best for Tania!" Felleona said with genuine passion in her voice and I could see that she firmly believed every word she said.

"How is making everyone a slave to that woman, the best thing for Tania!" I asked with an incredulous snort wearing a look to match.

"You're a man, you can't understand." Felleona said with a voice that dripped with disdain and disgust as she looked down her nose at me.

"Answer me then!" Chezeleste interjected with equal disgust. "The Council may not be perfect, I'll grant you that, but I'm a slave to nobody, I can think and do what I want. That's a darn sight better than being a mindless, snivelling slave to an insane woman!" Chezeleste finished with a louder tone to punch her point home.

"Letting a man boss you around just because he is a man is insane!" Felleona growled with an aggravated tone as she stepped closer to Chezeleste to continue. "We women vastly outnumber the men on Tania yet the men are in charge, can you give me a good reason why?" Felleona said in a calmer tone and a raised eyebrow as she waited for Chezeleste's response.

"It has always been this way. We can trace the lineage of all the Council members back to the original Council and Director Lochel is a direct descendant of Augustus Teroncia himself!" Chezeleste said with pride and conviction. "The Council may make mistakes but they do their best for Tania. If you have a better way to run things, I'd like to hear it!" Chezeleste finished with a queer look toward Felleona.

"The Mistress only wants to. . ." Felleona started to speak but was cut off by Chezeleste.

"Shut up about that damn fool woman!" Chezeleste snapped stopping Felleona in mid sentence.

"This is pointless!" I said with growling disgust. "Will you or will you not Surrender?" I asked with a commanding tone as I stand up straight and tall.

"I will not forsake my Mistress." Felleona said with equal determination as she stood tall and glared back at me.

"Fine." I replied firmly. "You have until dawn to change your mind." I finished with a stern look, hoping to look as menacing as I could.

"And you have until Dusk to leave!" Felleona said calmly as she turned and walked back toward Kincaid.

"Madwoman!" Chezeleste huffed as we both turned to walk back toward our lines. "I never thought I would see the day when she lost her marbles like that!" Chezeleste finished while shaking her head.

"Well, by Dawn it will all be over, hopefully she will come around before then." I said in a conciliatory tone as we continued to walk.

"Yes but it's not Dawn that worries me." Chezeleste said in a troubled tone. "It's Dusk." She finished and looked me square in the eyes and from one look we knew that we shared the same fear.