The Hammer And The Sword - Jason M. Green (ebook reader with highlighter TXT) 📗

was an expression somewhere between gratitude and fear. Her eyes travelled downward towards Vareb’s body, and she spat on the corpse while a rope was being tied around her wrists.
Once she was restrained, Captain Kaellin fixed her dress and said, "Your husband is dead. I am truly very sorry, but he was already slowly dying from his wounds.” He turned his head so he didn’t have to face her, and said in a quiet voice, “I had no real choice in this matter. You must believe me on that." Turning to the guards, he hesitated briefly before giving the command, "Find the child if you can."
“Where should we start looking?” asked one of the guards.
Captain Kaellin glanced over at a pile of straw that showed signs of disturbance. “You two look over that way, and I’ll look over in this corner,” he replied, as he headed towards the pile of straw. He found the child easily, but he pretended to search for a few minutes. Then he pulled out his sword and stabbed into the pile a few times.
“What’s going on?” asked one of the guards, as he heard the captain‘s sword slicing through the straw.
“I am completing Anstrom’s orders,” he replied, as he wiped off his sword.
“What orders, captain?” asked the other guard.
“He wished their child destroyed,” Captain Kaellin replied simply. He returned his sword to its sheath, and walked towards their prisoner, who now had an expression of horror and disgust on her face.
Before anything else could be said, a giant of a man with bulging cords of muscle entered through the open door carrying something in his right hand. He declared loudly in a deep, rumbling voice, "You’re not welcome in this village. Return to your castle and never show yourselves here again."
Captain Kaellin looked at the man. "Who might you be to give orders to the captain of the king's guards?"
The man leaned against the massive double-edged axe he had been carrying when he entered, and replied, "I’m Harwin Vahrin, and this is my barn you‘re trespassing in."
Making a guess that the man could effectively wield the massive weapon with one hand, Captain Kaellin slowly said, "I am Captain Baldaur Kaellin of King Mallif's Royal Guard, and I apologize for any trouble we may have caused you, but we were sent
to retrieve this woman. However, given the mess that was made before my arrival in this
village, I'll see to it that you are compensated for any damage we may have accidentally caused during our search.” He paused to see if Harwin would say anything, but the large man simply stared at him. “We will now take this prisoner and leave your village peacefully." At a nod of agreement from Harwin, Captain Kaellin immediately led his men out of the village. The guards carried Vareb‘s body, and he led their silent prisoner.
After Kaellin and his guards were gone, Harwin Vahrin heard a rustling in the straw and lifted his axe to his shoulder with one hand. He cautiously followed the noise, and found a small child surrounded by enough straw to hide it. Shocked at the sight, he leaned his axe against the edge of his forge, and with surprising gentleness for a person his size, he picked the child up and took it into his house.
Upon entering his home he called for his wife and told her, "Essie, I just found a child in the barn. I think this is what those guards were looking for."
Harwin's wife looked at the child. "We can't keep it. We should take it to the
castle as soon as morning comes."
"If someone has to send hounds to retrieve a child, it is safer with us."
Harwin looked his wife in the eyes and said, "We have wanted a child, and this may be our only chance to have one of our own. You must admit that it's better off with us than it would be if we gave it to those guards."
His wife looked the child over and slowly nodded. "There is truth to what you say, and he doesn't look like he has seen more than two winters—if even that many."
"Then that matter is settled,” Harwin said, ending the discussion.

º º º º º

Upon returning to the castle, the prisoner was presented to High Consul Anstrom, who immediately began to chastise Kaellin for not following his orders. He waved his arms in the air, and cursed in many different languages, but when he realised that his words had more effect on the prisoner than they did on Captain Kaellin, he ceased his yelling, and pushed away the long black hair that was now hanging over his face. He then focused his dark eyes on Captain Kaellin and told him to explain, making sure to switch back to speaking the common tongue, known as Alvspra, so that he could be certain the captain could understand him.
Kaellin cleared his throat before speaking. "I am aware of the fact that I didn't explicitly follow the orders you gave me, but there was really no reason to kill this woman. Especially, since she has already lost her husband and child this night."
“Your point is well made, captain.” Anstrom stroked his beard, as he looked at the bound woman. After nearly a minute, he grinned, and waved for Captain Kaellin to leave. "You may go now. I believe I have found a use for this prisoner,” he announced.
Hoping to catch Anstrom in his own treachery Kaellin said, "You know I cannot do that. A prisoner must be taken to the dungeon, and be locked inside a cell, as soon as they are returned to the castle, as the laws you have personally written state. It is my duty as captain of the guard to escort this particular prisoner to her cell personally, since I was the one responsible for her capture. To do anything less would be a dereliction of my duties."
Realising that he was being led towards a trap, Anstrom calmly answered, "I will see that she is put in the dungeon as soon as I have finished with her. Now go back to your chamber."
“As I have said, I cannot do that,” Kaellin replied adamantly.
Anstrom’s eyes narrowed, and he said, “I think that your family needs you more than this prisoner does right now.”
Kaellin glared at Anstrom, and he saw the corners of Anstrom’s lips curling into a fiendish grin. They glared at each other for close to a minute, and then Kaellin declared, “It shall be as you say, Consul Anstrom.” He walked over towards his prisoner.
Anstrom let his grin fade, and asked, "What of the archer that went with you? He never returned."
"I know not what became of him." Turning away from Anstrom, Kaellin untied the ropes binding Rose's wrists, as he spoke to her in a low voice. "I truly am sorry about Marlis, but I had to end his suffering. You must believe that I had little choice in this matter, Rose." He considered telling her that her son still lived, but he decided it would be best, for the time being, that she not know anything about the child in case Anstrom might try to pry answers out of her. Once the ropes were removed, he turned around and walked towards the door, but then he stopped in the doorway, and without turning around said, "I've promised a man in the village that he would be paid for any trouble we caused him while searching his barn." There was then the noise of something in the room breaking and a mirthless smile came to Captain Kaellin's face, as he walked out into the dim corridor.

Anstrom brushed away the shards of the bottle he had shattered, and placed manacles on the Rose's wrists. "You will come with me,” he said, as he blindfolded her and pulled her out of the room. He took her down the stairs, towards the hidden room he had entered earlier in the evening, and once inside, led her through the long dark tunnel.
When they emerged, they were within the vast forest surrounding the outskirts of the city. A few yards from where they came out sat a small stone building that was nearly hidden amongst the trees. They went to it, with Anstrom pulling on the manacles to keep the blindfolded woman moving in the direction he wished her to go.
Anstrom pushed the door of the building open, and men in long black robes turned around to look at him and the woman he was dragging behind him. Anstrom instructed one of the men to prepare her for the ceremony, and the robed man grabbed hold of the manacles and dragged her over to a stone table. He chained her to the table and began to chant, as Anstrom walked over with a bowl full of a thick red liquid.
Anstrom raised it above her head and said, "May this blood of the newly born ensure your soul safe passage to the home of the Old Gods." He poured the warm liquid across her body, as she began to scream, and all the robed men began to chant in an archaic language.
One of the robed men brought over a long dagger with a curved blade, and Anstrom took the dagger and raised it above the woman's body. "May this cold blade place you on your journey to the blazing inferno where the Dark Gods dwell," he said, as he prepared to plunge the ceremonial dagger into the woman‘s heart.
Anstrom joined in the chanting and brought the blade down towards the woman’s
chest, but before he had finished bringing the dagger down, the door was violently kicked open and someone yelled for him to stop. Recognising the voice, he sighed and handed the knife to one of the robed men, and then looked over at the person who had interrupted his ceremony. "You are not to be in this place, Prince Malifesh. These things are not for the eyes of one so young." Anstrom motioned for the robed men to remove the intruder and they surged forward to grab the young man by the arms.
Being of formidable strength and superior size despite his age, Prince Malifesh easily pulled loose from the grip of the robed men and pushed one out of his way, as he walked towards the stone table. "You will not sacrifice this woman to your pagan gods. My father may allow it because he knows not what it entails, but when I'm crowned I will make sure this practice does not continue. If I had my way, you would be executed for making sacrifices to gods the king doesn't worship."
Anstrom saw a chance to please the young man who would soon be king, and seized the opportunity. "I realise I should not be making sacrifices to the Old Gods. They have grown fat from earlier sacrifices while doing nothing for me." Now that he had
the young man’s attention, he decided to take things a bit further. "I decree that from this day forth none shall make sacrifices to the Old Gods or the Dark Gods. As high consul, I shall spread the word to make sure that none defy this decree."
Malifesh nodded slowly, as he tried to figure out if Anstrom was simply humouring him or not. "I will take you at your word on this matter." He unhooked the woman’s manacles and helped her up. "What is your name?"
"Roslynia," replied the woman with much fear in her voice.
"Roslynia, I'm going to find a place where you can wash this blood from your body." Malifesh cast a glance towards Anstrom. "You will keep your vow, or you will have me to deal with,” he