The Guardians

Chapter 41

"What part of 'no' does that bastard not understand?" Kalmin sighed. "I'm not joining him or his bloody army. Get the hell out of the Keep before I do something I regret."

The messenger didn't budge. "Is that your final answer?" he asked smugly.

"It was my final answer three years ago."

The arrogant man crossed his arms. "Does your pride mean that much to you that you are willing to sign the death warrants of yourself and all of your men?"

"Arlan should have thought about that before he started picking off my Paladins."

It wasn't quite a lie. Arlan's men had been harassing the Paladins. One had been so brutally beaten that he'd died days later. He'd lost count of the number of men that had returned battered and bloody after Arlan's men had attacked them in an attempt to badger Kalmin into joining him. But the real reason he refused to join the bastard was Lyra. Dead or alive, he'd allowed her recruitment into the Guardians of Veloce and they had been all but wiped out in a single battle. Joining Arlan would be the same as desecrating her final resting place. The woman had saved his life and he repaid her by sending her to her death. He wasn't going to let her sacrifice be in vain.

The messenger shrugged. "Your funeral." He turned and started to walk away. At the door, he stopped. "You'd best make peace with the Great Mother, First Knight. Your life will be forfeit when Arlan himself comes to take care of you traitors."

Kalmin felt the magic he'd been suppressing for years start to come to the surface. "Get. Out!"

The door shut just as a nearby vase crashed into it. They'd been trying to keep the peace in the area since the Guardians' demise. He sat down behind his desk and massaged his temples. He knew just killed every Paladin under his command, not just himself. He took a deep breath to calm his temper before calling to one of the Knights outside.

"Yes, Sir?"

"Double the guard. Have one of the Lieutenants check our supplies. When the last patrol returns we are locking down the Keep. And tell Major Gemini I wish to see him."

"Right away, Sir."

Talish was perhaps one of the few Paladins who still hadn't removed the black mourning band from his arm. He refused to forget his best friend and the woman he loved. His only regret had been to never tell her and she had died on some battlefield among strangers and people she barely knew. He was angry that Kalmin had thrown her to the Guardians. Angry that the Guardians had joined forces with Sari. Angry that Sari was a fool. And most of all, angry at Arlan for massacring the Guardians. He took his anger out on Arlen's men when they attacked them. He'd killed many of them with no regrets. He was now sporting several scars from those skirmishes. Arlan had been harassing Kalmin with missives to join his forces and he was glad that the First Knight had refused every one of them, even when his men were dying for it. None of the Paladins wanted to be on Arlan's side. In Lyra's memory, Talish had begun to use his magic more. She'd never been ashamed of her gifts and he followed her example. He was nowhere near as powerful as she and he didn't care.

A Knight approached him. "The First Knight wishes to see you."

Talish nodded. The Knight led him to Kalmin's office. He was sitting behind his desk, his head in his hands.

"You wished to see me, Sir."

Kalmin looked up and he could see how much the stress of the past four years had been wearing him down. He looked much older than he really was. The lines on the outer corners of his eyes seemed more pronounced. His hair was now mostly grey. It was his eyes that drew concern. They were weary and looked as if he were ready for his eternal rest.

"I have reason to believe that Arlan has declared war on us."

"He declared war on us three years ago when he started attacking the men."

"That he did, Colonel."

Talish gave him a concerned look. "Colonel?"

Kalmin sighed and leaned back. "I believe Arlan has tired of my refusals and I believe that he will come here and try to force us to join him. Talish, I fear I've killed you all. I fear we will share the same fate as the Guardians."

Talish frowned. He'd heard the reports of Arlan having captured many of the Guardians and Sari's men and trying to torture Sari's battle plans out of them. Three, almost four years ago, he'd begun hanging Sari's men one by one. Then a majority of the Guardians escaped and the remaining men were hanged. He'd heard he'd allowed one of the men to struggle like a fish on a hook, despite the crowd begging Arlan to show him mercy. It had taken the poor soul fifteen minutes to die. It was not an end that Talish envisioned for himself or the others.

"What do you intend to do?"

"I intend to fight to the death. And that is where you come in. I'm promoting you because I trust you to lead after I'm dead."

"What?"

Kalmin was serious. He was going to die fighting Arlan rather than join with him. "The Paladins must continue. If we are besieged, I want you to take a handful of men and escape through the sewers. There's a group that's been disrupting Arlan's supply lines. Find them if you can. If not, then do what you can to oppose him. Do this for me." He paused and looked the newly promoted Colonel in the eye. "Do it for Lyra."

Talish was surprised that he would request something in Lyra's name. And he would do it for Lyra.

"For Lyra."