A Message To Calamden Keep

He only hoped that the attack of last night was not a prelude of things to come, because if that were so then they would need all the help they could get. At the very least he wanted the White Hand to come. He knew how to fight brigands and fell creatures, but sorcery was beyond his military ken.

In the meantime, he had shored up his defenses and reordered his troops. The taste of gall was still in his mouth from finding his cherished Keep under attack without him at its battlements. But as he surveyed the damage he discovered to his surprise how little there was. His walls had not been breached, the invaders had instead used ladders and grapples to climb over. And the number of his dead and of the enemy as well was unusually light. But even so, the sad souls now afflicted with waking nightmares were overflowing the House of the Physician and if something were not done to aid them they would be as useful as dead men.

But at least the noblewoman and her red guard had gone. That was one less worry for him. The people of the Keep had gotten it in their heads that the attack was their fault. And he was not sure at all that they weren't right. Certainly, if it had not been for Denom he would have returned to Batlan much sooner, perhaps in time to have stopped the invaders from scaling his walls. The two of them were hiding something, that was for sure, but as the smoke of battle curled into the sky and the stench of dead men filled the air, Kayne had only wanted them to go away. The Commander of Calamden would have to keep an eye on them now.

Before they left though, the Lady Rowena had had the temerity to complain that he could not give her an escort, but what more escort did she need than her man-at-arms. Denom had proven his mettle in the battle, hacking away at the enemy warriors and Kayne could not afford to excuse any more men from the battlements. And anyways, it was daylight now. Certainly the sun would offer more protection than an extra sword or two. And so he had bid her adieu with fair words of courtly mean. For even though Kayne's rider would send word to the court at Caemlyn, it certainly could not hurt to remind the Duke's daughter that she had passed through a gave danger unscathed because of the men of Tumbar's Road. Or that he had allowed her to pass through at all, considering the terrible circumstances and Rowena's suspicious behavior.

Kayne's messenger reached the last Keep long before Fred and the others saw her gates. And soon after that, two fresh riders galloped from Calamden and headed down Tumbar's Road. When they reached the foothills of the Shreken one sped northward to Caemlyn and the other went westward to the capitol of Gelda.

But before the sun fell, Fred, Rowena, Pall and the Chanticleer too finally reached the last Keep of Tumbar's Road. Pall rode at the head of his wagon and the Chanticleer at the head of Mokad's. Mokad himself would be buried with the dead at Batlan. Timon's body of course had not been found. The merchant had not spoken much on the journey, his heart was dark and troubled for he had seen too much death for a simple fish trader. He longed to be with his wife Helen, safe in his home, far from this place. The Chanticleer spent most of the time staring at the Road ahead of them, although he never kept Rowena or Denom out of his keen sight. As for Fred's sister, the shock of the battle had set her on edge, and though she was indeed a brave young lass, she had felt terribly afraid last night. And the fear followed her still. But most of all, her thoughts were filled with the terror of the green flame and the message from Rham and Rhom. Were the two connected? Was she somehow connected? Fred on the other hand had no such doubts. The White Lady had indeed followed him and the queen of clubs augured her presence and her doom. But what could he do about it? More than ever now he needed to be with his father. At the very least, Duke Dred was the one man Fred could share all of this with. And perhaps his father could even help him.

1. entering the Last Keep

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