Private Tales You can run...

[Rayth Keirn]

It was time to roll the dice. If he rolled the dice there was every chance it would be his death. He could have kept them in hand and walked away. Eislyn would have remained in her tower and he would never see her again. Faced with that possibility he had to throw them down.

"I am Prince Rayth Tassard, third in line to the throne," he boldly announced.

The men beside the king rocked back, immediately racing to provide advice.

"A Tassard? When his father has men on the field outside? Hang him from the walls where his older brother can see them my king," crowed the first advisor.

"Fool!" spat the other. "If his older brother is on the field that would only make them fight harder. Announce he is hostage and will only be released if his brother refrains from fighting. Then annul the marriage as it was without your blessing. A third son is not fit for Eislyn. Perhaps a first son? It would undermine the Duke's power. "

 

[Eislyn Gray]

She tensed but didn't risk looking at Rayth. She remained with her eyes locked on her father's. It was strange to hear him admit it aloud. A last name she wasn't sure that he'd ever told her about. Swashbuckler, adventurer - a prince. She knew it cost him to admit it. To say it. And not just because of the suggestions the advisors made but because he'd been running from it for so long. Had never wanted that life.

And for her, he was saying it.

She slipped a hand into her father's. His well dwarfed her own. "Father," a tight squeeze. "Please. Perhaps we can negotiate with them. Show them our alliance instead of war. An alliance of marriage. Rayth is-"

"Take her to her rooms," her father cut her off, eyes locked onto Rayth's like a dragon finding an intruder in its nest. "Watch him and don't let him leave. And if you try anything, boy, you'll be executed." Two guards stepped forward from the wall and, prepared to drag Eislyn away on orders of the king.

Eislyn's grip tightened on her father's hand. "It will kill me," she said lowly and quietly. "If you do anything to hurt him. To keep us apart. It will kill me. You will have already lost me, father. I will be gone like Hannah. Like mother." Her lip wobbled as she looked up to her king. Her father.

That made the giant of a king pause.

Real pain flickered across verdant eyes as he looked at his daughter. "Everyone out," he rumbled. "Except for these two."

"But sir-," the sniveling advisor cut in. The one who'd wanted to hang Rayth.

"OUT!" The king bellowed, not bringing his hand away from Eislyn's.

When they had gone and it was just three of them left in the chambers, he looked between the two of them.

"Explain what you would have me do," he ground out. "Because if your family will not yield and starts an attack against this fortress I cannot promise you your life. And certainly not theirs."

 

[Rayth Keirn]

Rayth did not know why the King sent everyone away. If he was worried of scandal then it was too late. Looking at the man, Rayth decided that he was the kind of man that would hold no counsel when it came to his daughter.

"I want the chance to try and talk my father's men down. Tell them about the marriage and..."

"Your father does not know you are married?"

"No but..."

"So neither of your fathers has approved of this union and yet you think it would hold weight regarding alliances in war boy?"

Rayth's plan was suddenly mist that he could not reach for. No wonder Eislyn had travelled so very far away.

 

[Eislyn Gray]

"But we are married now. Even disapproval cannot change that. We did not get married in anticipation of a war among our two kingdoms." She took a breath and took a step back toward Rayth's side.

"Rayth is the only card we have to play against the Duke. If it was not for him, father, we wouldn't have a card to play at all. And don't even think about bringing up an arranged marriage between myself and the Duke. That would not have happened."

A stiffening of her shoulders along with a calm fold of her hands in front of her.

"Call for the duke's men and Rayth's father to meet on neutral ground for a council. Tell them Rayth is here and will be at the meeting along with myself. The alternative father, is war and a siege if you do not do this."

The king's eyes were calculating. He was still giving Rayth a look like he would happily flay him alive.

 

[Rayth Keirn]

"I am going to think on this overnight. You are going to spend the night as a prisoner," he finally told Rayth. "I will do you the favour of allowing you a room in the tower and not clamping you in irons and sending you to the dungeons.

"We do not even know if Rayth's father is on the field. His forces are supporting the Duke."

Rayth sighed and lowered his gaze. It wasn't good news, but it was not bad news. If the king had a change of heart overnight he could end up dangling from the walls by dawn.

The King turned his eyes slowly to his own daughter, waiting to see if she would summon any protest.

 

[Eislyn Gray]

Eislyn held her father's gaze. She didn't dare reach out to Rayth even though her fingers twitched to do so. Didn't dare look at her beloved.

"Thank you father," she finally managed, letting her hands smooth down her dress.

Either way, they would face war soon. War or peace. And this entire time she felt the iron of the city wear on her. Stifling. Her magic wanted out. Needed a release. But she didn't dare bring that up with her father. Not yet.

Though, she was certain he'd heard reports from his spies.

One thing at a time.

The king turned to the door where he knew his advisors and guards were listening. "COME IN," his voice boomed. "Escort them back to their rooms while I prepare for council."

 

[Rayth Keirn]

Rayth decided that right now it was better to not say anything at all. It wasn't progress, but it also wasn't a call for the executioner.

He allowed the foot knights to lead them both away. Out of the door and out of sight of her father. He knew they would soon be taken on different paths. He knew every word they shared would be sent back to her father.

For her reaction, the group must have told her that he was dead. He could see no reason for them to do that. It broke his heart to see the pain it had caused her. How could he make up for that with just words.

"I'm sorry it took me so long to catch up to you."

 

[Eislyn Gray]

Head turned, drinking the sight of him in. Alive. Breathing.

Heart twisted slightly at his injuries.

Even as there was a tug at her arm to keep walking. He was sorry? He was sorry?! A slight shake of her head at him. She still felt like she might lose him. That she'd find out all this was a dream. That she'd wake up and he'd truly be gone. Still dead.

She swallowed, a pained look crossing her face.

"Just, stay alive," she managed in a strangled whisper. She didn't think she could survive it again. She wouldn't survive it again. She held his gaze as long as she could until they opened a door that wasn't too far away from her own and would shove him inside. She was taken a few steps further down the hall and put back into her room.

 

[Rayth Keirn]

"That was the next part of the plan!" he called after her.

Without the king in sight, the guards actually didn't man handle him roughly. Perhaps they had heard enough to decide that if the wind changed, they did not want to be on the wrong side of a Prince married into the family.

Rayth stepped into the room and went right for the bed. At least it was a bed and not a cold, damp floor. The guard stepped inside the room and closed the door behind him. He remained standing in the doorway. He was not in chains, but he was going to be under watch.

He looked to the wall, knowing that Eislyn was barely separated from him. He hadn't prepared himself to see that pain on his face. Rayth could think of no reason to tell her that he had died. It was a cruel thing. The ones who had done it probably far behind his reach forever.

---

The morning was eerily quiet. There were no war horns. The attacking force was still bedding down and preparing to build their first position for the siege weaponry. It was likely days before the first stone would even be thrown. Rayth looked up from the bed to see a different guard.

"Morning."

No reply.

 

[Eislyn Gray]

Eislyn, like all the nights she'd been separated from Rayth, had only slept a few hours. She'd gotten used to sharing a bed. Sharing that comforting warmth of someone beside her. And after finding out he was both dead and alive in one day, she'd barely been able to settle down at all.

After some negotiations with her own guard, she was coming into Rayth's room and shooing his guard away. A healer trailed in Eislyn's wake holding fresh bandages and herbs and medicines. The next best thing when her own power was being stifled by these cursed iron walls.

A second person followed the princess in. A servant boy with a mop of unruly, curly hair, carrying a tray with some biscuits and tea. Breakfast.

"Good morning," she said quietly to Rayth. Barely able to keep herself in check from launching across the room and into her arms. And in that moment, she looked very much like the princess she was supposed to be. Washed. Hair brushed. A new dress. Back straight.

"This is Tessa, the best healer of our kingdom. I've brought her to look at your injuries and see if she can do anything. And this is breakfast."

Perhaps they'd be able to communicate somehow. Even indirectly about a plan. Or something to do about the upcoming war.

 

[Rayth Keirn]

It was one of the most surreal scenes in his life. Sleep hadn't come easily. His wounds were still healing and the pain seemed most acute in the evenings.

To see Eislyn like this in her own castle with her servants was strange. It was like seeing that first version of her he had been shown all over again. He smiled to himself for how quickly that had changed with a stileto thrown into the night.

"Good morning," he replied quietly. Rayth sat upright at the edge of his bed. He could have done with a great healer a fee days ago, instead of being patched up by a band of mercenaries. They knew they trade well enough and that included patching up wounds, but it wasn't the same as someone dedicated to the art.

"Any word?" He asked very vaguely. She could answer with any news she felt she could get away with dispensing. If anything had even come to light.

 

[Eislyn Gray]

"The other side," Rayth's father and the duke. "Has refused to meet for negotiations. They will likely attack tonight. Maybe at dawn."

That was the sobering news.

The news those in the room with them already knew.

And she was out of ideas. Unless her father shared that he had Rayth in his custody. Which it looked like he hadn't done yet. Eislyn came and sat on the edge of the bed with him even as Tessa fussed over him, checking wounds and bone sets. Her fingers slipped into his own.

"Usually in negotiations there's something the other side wants and I can't figure out what that is here. This fortress is well protected and does offer a good position before the spine but...," voice trailed off. There were better locations. More prosperous ones. She had a feeling all the duke wanted was revenge and there was no negotiating against that.

 

[Rayth Keirn]

"I could go out and try and reason with my family," he replied. His fingers tightened their grip on her hand.

It was not long since they had been together, but it felt like a life time ago. All of the circumstances had suddenly changed. All of their plans had been burned to the ground.

As he turned her hand over, looking down at the back of her hand he reminded himself that he had started to lose hope. That he had started to think he would never catch a glimpse of Eislyn in his life again. She was the adventure of his life now, not the high seas.

"I doubt your father would let me. I don't know why they're aiding the Duke, but I can't imagine it's for a reason so strong they can't be convinced to turn away. Like you said, probably need something to offer."

He looked back up at her, wishing that they could be afforded just a little time on their own.

 

[Eislyn Gray]

She looked at him. Really looked at him as he offered to go to his father, if he was even on the battlefield outside. There was a spark of fear and something stronger in the wild greens of her eyes. "No," her tone left nothing to be argued with. "And if you insist, I will go with you."

She was not going to be separated from him again, no matter the cost.

She imagined her father recognized that too. The resolve in his daughter's eyes. "My father has requested another audience with us tonight. Perhaps he'll have a plan."

And request was laughable. She and Rayth were going to see him whether they wanted to or not. She squeezed his fingers one last time, bringing his hand up to her mouth as she brushed her lips across the back of it.

"Rest," she forced herself to say. Voice strangled. "Try to before then." Then she stood to leave, the ache spreading in her chest.

 

[Rayth Keirn]

"Don't..." he started to say.

Rayth couldn't bring himself to say go. Instead he swallowed and gave a firm nod. Just says apart and he had missed her terribly. It ached just to see the back of her once more. In this place she was the only light he had. It was a strange fortress, alien to him. He was an outsider and not a welcome one.

If he took her beyond the walls he was putting her in grave danger. There was no way that he could guarantee that they would meet his family first. The bulk of the invasion force did not belong to his family.

"I will try," he promised.

---

It was Rayth's older brother Edrith who was leading his family's force. He stood with older relatives in the duke's tent. The group were around a table covered in a full map of the fortress city. Painted wooden markers showed the positions of the units in formation, even if most were resting as the pickets were set now.

"Those walls are intimidating," Edrith said. "An attack with ladders will get nowhere."

"They have a route out the other side of the mountains for supplies. So we cannot starve them out easily," added one of his cavalry officers. "Magic doesn't work right here. You said you had a plan?"

The Duke looked at the both down the length of his hooked nose. "Magic does not work properly over the iron beneath the city. But beyond the walls..."

He pushed a small red unit closer to the thick black lines marking out the city limits on the map.

"Have your forces ready for a first sortie at night."

 

[Eislyn Gray]

The torches were flickering up their glowing light along the walls of the fortress. The air among the people it protected was as taught as a whip. Every able bodied man was along the walls, weapons gripped tightly in their hands. Soldiers looking out into the night.

Eislyn's father was dressed in armor. His war councilroom full of his most trusted advisors and captains. He pushed at his beard, hand dragging down his face.

"It'll be tonight," he rasped. Eyes hardening to granite. "Prepare the troops. Prepare the weapon beneath the city."

A seasoned Captain shifted nervously. "But sire. That hasn't been used in a millenia."

The king turned his green eyes to the Captain and without saying a word, relayed his point. The captain gulped and saluted, then disappeared from the room. "You are dismissed." The king said and turned, stalking up toward the rooms where his daughter and Rayth were.

The door to Rayth's room would open suddenly, Rayth's guards moving fluidly out of the way and bowing their heads in respect as the giant of the man loomed in the doorway.

"It's time you and I spoke," the king said bluntly. The door drew closed behind them as he dismissed the guards around them until it was only himself and the vagabond. The one who had won his daughter's heart.

"I imagine you know the power that lies within my daughter?"

 

[Rayth Keirn]

The ghost of Eislyn's past loomed over him. Flesh and blood and iron. A towering man of order who had frozen the chaos in her life. The magic and the joy and the freedom gone too.

He didn't know what the King wanted. At this point Rayth felt he had very little left to lose. He looked towards the door behind the king, picture Eislyn's last departure.

He had everything to gain.

"Of course I do. She can use it when she isn't here. Saved me, saved herself with it," Rayth replied. His wounds looked slightly less angry, having been given some treatment. They were not wounds that would heal quickly.

 

[Eislyn Gray]

The King rubbed at his beard, his sharp gaze shifting beyond Rayth's shoulder to the window. As if he could see the numbers massing beyond the thick panes of glass. "A witch visited this castle long ago. Before Eislyn was born. Before her sister."

And for a moment, the king's mask slipped. Real pain and grief flickered in his eyes.

"There was a prophecy foretold of Eislyn's magic and those that would seek it out to bind it and use it for themselves. I did what I could to protect her." His face hardened again. There was more to the prophecy. To what the witch said. But he didn't have time to go into the details.

"As soon as she left this fortress, her power was like a beacon, a ripple thrown across still waters. What was done can't be undone." He wasn't sure if the duke was after that or something else.

"I'm telling you all this so you know. Know what you're getting into with her." There might be others who would come seek her. Be drawn to her power. "I will not think less of you if you choose to leave."

It was clear the king was weighing the man who had clearly stolen his daughter's heart.

 

[Rayth Keirn]

"Was this the plan?" Rayth asked, failing to keep every drop of venom from his tone.

"Give me a reason to be on your way so you can avoid having to get rid of me again?"

Rayth took a breath, studying the man stood over him. That wasn't quite it. Rayth could see that he was being watched very carefully.

"I sailed on the paragon for most of my life. You can't stop someone living their life because of something a witch said that might be dangerous.

"What happened with her sister?"

A dangerous question to ask, but Rayth was beyond being cowed by her father.

 

[Eislyn Gray]

"The plan was that she remain safe," the king boomed, his loud voice reverberating in the space of the guestroom. A large hand clenched at his side. Perhaps itching to get his fingers around Rayth's neck and squeeze.

"Hannah," she king took a breath as if it hurt to breath the air itself.

That was a long story. One he didn't have the energy to go into. One that Eislyn would find out the truth to, one day. By not sharing it, the king was protecting her, in a way.

The king said nothing more on that, just gave Rayth one more look, satisfied at his earlier answer. At the man's response. He'd more than expected the whelp to run. Take the out. His fingers unclenched and he dipped them into the folds of his coat, taking out a rolled-up parchment.

A map.

"If we get breached, follow this route. It will get you two safely beyond the Fortress walls and should bypass most of the armies outside. Do not let her return here. No matter what."

Even if they weren't breached. It wouldn't be safe back here. Not for a long time, until those seeking her forgot her.

 

[Rayth Keirn]

Rayth looked down at the parchment. The shock was evident on his face. This was a proud and stubborn man, but for his failings he did care for his daughter's safety. He had to, or else he would never have come up with a fallback plan like this.

He had one person on his side within the city. Rayth didn't want to reveal that just yet. He would check the route to see if he went near the Inn where he was staying.

"Thank you," he said. "Can you spare a sword? Any armour?"

It was a blunt question. There wasn't time for dancing around now. Just because there was a route it didn't mean it was completely safe.

 

[Eislyn Gray]

The King only looked down at Rayth.

"I have a feeling you'll find what you need." And he did. This man survived injuries he hadn't been intended to walk away from all to find his daughter again. That was a separate matter he had to deal with. He could very well figure out how to get some weapons. If it came to that.

"The guards at your and my daughter's doors, they're to protect you two. Not to watch you." He turned, clearly done even if Rayth wasn't. The man paused at the door and without looking over his shoulder said, "If you ever hurt my daughter, I'll find you and kill you. Come back from the grave if I have to."

And with a yank of the chamber door, the king was gone, his bootsteps echoing down the hall.

 

[Rayth Keirn]

It was over as suddenly as it had started. Rayth was left with a map and far too many questions. He didn't want guards, he wanted steel in his own hand.

He stood decisively and went to the door.

"I'm going to see..."

"You are to stay here," the guard firmly interrupted.

"Then when can I leave to..."

"When I say," the guard replied.

Rayth grimaced. They were going to escape the city, but only when some order had been given or condition met.



There was a snap, a creak and the first catupult to be constructed let fly. The ammunition was small, a rock the size of a man's head. It landed just short of the walls. Soon the bombardment would begin in earnest.

They knew it would have taken weeks for their artillery to breach the walls, but they had another plan for that.

 

[Eislyn Gray]

Her father stopped by some time ago. He'd taken her stiff form into his arms for the longest hug she'd ever gotten from the soldier-leader. And he's said the three words to her he didn't usually say.

Before she could ask him more questions he was gone.

The guards weren't budging from her doorway either. Ignoring them, she began packing a bag. She even changed into riding leathers, boots, and a suitable tunic. If the guards were surprised at seeing their princess in something other than a fine gown or dress, they didn't show it.

She was pacing restlessly in front of the large window-doorway that lead to a small balcony when the first ball of flames rocked over the wall of their iron fortress with a loud BOOOOOOOM below. Even the solidly built castle had a tremble.

"What's...," and then there were another and another followed by screaming below.

 

[Rayth Keirn]

The frequency of rocks falling upon the outskirts of the city continued. It was psychological, rather than effective. The walls were thick and would take plenty of bombardment to bring down.

It would days days or weeks to punch a hole large enough for the Force to attempt a breach. It was the effect upon the people they wanted. They needed to know the siege had begun. Everything needed to appear to be unfolding as it would normally, because the Duke had brought mages for a specific task.

All Rayth could do was sit and listen to the assault. They were too deep inside the city to be threatened by the catapults. He would get no rest, no sleep. He winced with every impact.

Rayth thought he was a brave man, but he had never been in a siege before. This entire city had felt oppressive before they had been sealed in by an army. He could see why Eislyn had left.


As darkness fell the bombardment slowed. The attacking troops kept their distance. It was several small bands that moved closer to the walls. They might have been taken as scouts if spotted moving in the shadows.

The earth trembled. The ditches beyond the walls slowly rose in several place. First to rise to the level of the ground before it and then slowly up towards the top of the walls. Ramps of earth that would have taken weeks to shovel into place.

"Can I see her?" he asked the guard sharply. "I don't see what harm it would do."