Chapter 135 - Parley at the Gate

  The rider with the white flag slowed as he approached, reining in his horse with practiced ease. His armor shone as brightly as the others, but up close, I could see the scratches and dents—he’d clearly seen some action. Then again, hadn’t we all?

  His face was weathered, eyes sharp and appraising beneath the brim of his helmet. He stopped a few paces from my lead Abominations and raised a hand.

  “I am Captain Rennick,” he called out. “You’ve entered the bounds of the KingsHaven Domain. What is your purpose here?”

  KingsHaven, huh? They’d certainly gone full ‘Game of Thrones’ in a short time. I guess I couldn’t blame them. If we were living in a fantasy movie, we might as well use fantasy movie names for shit. I wondered if that meant they had named someone an actual king, though. I wasn’t sure how that would go over with folks who’d been used to living in a republic before everything went to hell.

  I guided Sue forward a few steps, keeping their movements smooth and as unthreatening as a huge dinosaur skeleton could be. Sue loomed over the man, skeletal head cocked slightly to the side, smoke curling faintly from boney nostrils. Not subtle, but a good reminder that I wasn’t helpless.

  “I’m Selena,” I replied. “I come from the Domain to your north. I’d like to meet with your leaders. We’re looking to establish peaceful relations, possibly more.”

  Rennick’s gaze flicked to the Abominations, then to Farnsworth and his riders flanking me. I could see the gears turning in his head as he took stock of our fighting force. “You brought a lot of muscle for a diplomatic visit.”

  I shrugged. “Can you blame me? The world isn’t exactly brimming with hospitality these days. Traveling without a strong fighting force isn’t a good survival trait.”

  That earned a faint smile. “Fair. Still, we’re cautious about large, armed forces approaching our gates unannounced.”

  “Well, we’re not unannounced anymore,” I said. “I’d have reached out in some other way, but I didn’t have your boss’s phone number.”

  Not that we had phones anymore, but I’m sure he got the idea. He studied me a long moment, then gave a curt nod.

  “Wait here, please.”

  He turned and rode back to his group, conferring with another rider—an older man with a silver-streaked beard and the bearing of someone used to command. They spoke for a minute or two, then the older man nodded once, and Rennick rode back up to us.

  “You may enter the city as a guest,” Rennick said, his tone a little warmer than it had been before. “But not with your full force. We’ll allow you and an honor guard of no more than four others. Your undead will remain outside the gates. So will the rest of your troops.”

  I considered that. It wasn’t unexpected—but it did mean I’d be stepping into a fortified Domain with only a handful of allies and no real backup. That said, if they wanted to mess with us, they could do it regardless. Kara said they had at least five hundred fighters, which meant they had more than sufficient troops to wipe out the small force I’d brought along.

  We weren’t actually a threat to them at all. They just wanted to minimize the damage we could do before they crushed us, if it came to blows. I gave him my most diplomatic smile. “I accept. Just give us a minute to organize.”

  Rennick inclined his head, then turned his horse again, riding back toward the gate to prepare for our arrival.

  Once he was out of earshot, I turned to Farnsworth. “I want to leave the bulk of our force here. No matter how many people we bring, they can outfight us. If this goes sideways, it’ll be easier to escape with fewer people, and risking less of us makes more sense, too. I have to go. I’d like you along as well, but we’ll leave the other men here.”

  He gave a brisk nod, already moving to organize the men. I raised my voice so the rest could hear me clearly. “Camp here for the night. Stay put; if we’re not back by morning, assume something bad has happened and head home for reinforcements, okay? Sue and the Abominations stay here and guard you all overnight.”

  Sue let out a low, guttural rumble as I rode into the center of the hilltop, and ordered the dino to remain there on guard unless attacked. The Abominations shambled into a loose defensive ring. They weren’t bright, but they followed orders to the letter, and they’d keep the fighters we were leaving behind safe from any midnight attackers.

  Farnsworth turned to a younger man with a lean build and sharp eyes. “Gregory, you’ve got command until I return. Keep the men sharp, keep your distance, and if something feels wrong, you pull back. Get our people home.”

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  “Yes, sir.” Gregory straightened in his saddle.

  Farnsworth swung easily onto his mount, adjusting the sword at his hip. He looked ready for anything, the old soldier slipping back into command mode as if he’d never left it.

  With everything set, I rose smoothly into the air, the wind catching the edges of my coat as I climbed. The sun was still rising, casting long morning shadows across the field, and the city walls gleamed faintly ahead, massive and solid.

  Farnsworth urged his horse into motion beside me, and together, we left the hilltop behind. I couldn’t help but glance back once. Sue stood sentinel at the center of the camp, the undead arranged in a silent circle around her like stone statues waiting to come alive. Within the perimeter, the half dozen men we’d left there worked at setting up a basic camp. I hoped they would all be okay.

  The closer we got to the walls, the more impressive they looked. The palisade was made from full-length trees, cut and sharpened into thick wooden stakes that had been stabbed vertically into the ground and lashed together with thick ropes. Each trunk had to be a foot thick, easy, and the top ends were cut to jagged points like a row of monstrous teeth.

  By itself, the wall didn’t look that impressive, but it was the scale of the thing that really hit me. The entire structure ran for hundreds of yards in either direction. This wasn’t some haphazard goblin fort or makeshift barricade. They’d built an incredible defensive position for themselves, and enclosed a massive amount of land.

  I rose a little higher, getting a better look from the air as we approached. Inside the palisade walls was a massive stretch of cleared land—dozens of acres at least. Most of it had once been a golf course, and it still bore marks of that, but now that land had been put to new use. Fields and gardens filled some parts, with rows of fast-growing crops already taking shape. Past those were roads and paths, neatly laid out, with long lines of buildings radiating outward from a central cluster that had to be the country club itself. And tucked behind that, heavily walled off by a set of tall stone walls, was a squat stone building with guard towers on each corner. That had to be the inner keep, and my guess was that would be where we’d find whomever was in charge.

  Down below, Farnsworth kept an easy pace, his horse walking steadily up the packed dirt road. The ground had been cleared and maintained all the way from the gate to the nearest hilltop. It gave them an incredible kill zone for archers or spell casters fighting from the walls. They’d have unobstructed views for as far as their weapons could reach. It was the same sort of clearing Carver had done, and I made a mental note that I needed to make sure we did the same.

  The cluster of mounted riders waited just outside the gate as we approached. Rennick was among them, along with the older man I’d seen earlier. That one was tall, clean-shaven except for a sharp mustache, and riding a big gray horse. His armor was identical to the others, but he had a different look about him. I’d been around enough military folks lately to recognize what I saw: his posture screamed old-school military.

  He nudged his horse forward as we drew near, and I glided down to the ground, shutting off my Flight.

  “Welcome to KingsHaven,” he said, voice steady and low. “I’m Major John Harding. I help run security operations here.”

  I gave him a nod. “Selena Serrano. I lead the Domain to your immediate north.”

  “Major,” Farnsworth said, with a nod. I saw his right arm twitch like he wanted to salute and smiled. Ever the soldier.

  Harding noticed it as well, and gave him a small return nod. “No salutes. We don’t stand on rank out here. Those days are done.”

  “Maybe so,” Farnsworth replied. “Respect is still worth showing, though, sir.”

  Harding nodded again, this time more forcefully. “Just so.”

  We fell into an easy pace behind Harding and Rennick as they led the way toward the gates. A couple of the other mounted guards peeled off to flank us, but it didn’t feel threatening, more like they were looking out for us. I took to the air again and flew alongside Harding.

  “So, we know next to nothing about you folks,” I said, hoping to glean a little early information. “Who’s actually in charge here?”

  “King Peter Eddings rules here,” Harding replied, without hesitation. “He organized things right after the Event hit. He got folks out of the city, brought them here, and kept them alive when it counted. Once a control stone appeared and he claimed it, he founded the Domain and started building the walls. He declared himself King not long after.”

  “King, hmm?” I said. “How’d that go over?”

  “Better than you might think,” Harding replied. “He saved the lives of most of the people living here.”

  “People listen to someone who saves their lives,” I said.

  Harding grunted. “That they do.”

  “Any idea how many people you’ve got inside these walls?”

  “Several thousand, at last count. Couldn’t tell you the exact number. We take in new refugees every day.”

  It was more than I expected, and the way he said it—matter-of-fact, without boasting—told me it was probably true. It was more population than any of us had, except maybe the Air Guard base. Last I’d heard they had a couple thousand people, and they might have more by then.

  “What about trade? Has King Eddings been looking for cooperation with other Domains?” I asked, fishing a little. Any intel I could get now might help us a lot, later on.

  Harding shot me a look. “Not my bailiwick. You’ll want to talk to His Majesty about that. But I’m sure he’ll be interested in hearing what you’ve got to say.”

  I nodded. “Fair enough.”

  The gates loomed ahead of us now. They were massive things made from thick timbers banded in iron. A pair of watchtowers watched the gate from either side, and guards lined the tops, bows in hand but not drawn. As we approached, a bell tolled from somewhere inside, and the heavy wooden doors swung inward.

  The walls weren’t pretty, but they were solid, massive, and built to last. Everything about the construction of this place sent the same clear message: we are not easy prey!

  As the gates creaked open and the road stretched forward into the wide streets of KingsHaven, I braced myself. It was time to meet the king.