Nature Abhors a Vacuum

  Chapter Seven

  Two guards standing just inside the doors scrutinised them carefully as Aiden and the two girls went past. A long hallway lined with paintings and plush chairs led to a pair of finely gilded double-doors, open to reveal a large room beyond. Judging by the colourful language coming from within, the mayor probably wasn't aware he could be overheard.

  There were several people in the hallway awaiting their time to speak with the head of the town, some of them ranking members of the town guard who appeared to be unshaven and tired. Among them, much to Aiden’s surprise was Colt, sitting in one of the chairs, right next to the doorway. Feeling self-conscious, Aiden quickly led his two companions past other waiting people before they could protest.

  The big ranger was slumped in his comfortable chair, still looking hung-over from last night's ‘entertainment’. He glanced up briefly as Aiden stopped in front of him, and then continued looking down at the floor, shielding his eyes with the raised hood on his cloak.

  “You tryin' to cut line?” he said, voice grating. Aiden was sure he didn't intend to sound mean and dangerous, the words were simply coming out that way.

  “That depends on what you're doing here,” he replied. “Truth be told, I was expecting you to be asleep right now.”

  “I got sleep last night,” Colt corrected him.

  “On the floor of the common room?”

  “You'd be surprised how comfortable a pile of fat drunks can be. And to answer your question, I'm here to speak with His Mayorship, probably same as you're doing.”

  “Looking like that?” Nellise asked, amused and shocked at the same time.

  “I'm a ranger, we're expected to be covered in muck.”

  “I was referring to your bruised and bloodied face actually.”

  “I figure it'll help back up my claim that it's getting rough out there,” Colt said with a shrug. “Assuming he doesn't faint at the sight of blood, of course.”

  “Well, we're coming in with you then. We're with him,” Aiden added for the benefit of a scowling farmer sitting next in line from the ranger. There were no spare seats for them, so they stood in the middle of the hallway and awaited their turn.

  “Bugger this,” Colt eventually grunted and stepped into the mayor's office. Shrugging, Aiden followed along cautiously, wondering how long it would take for the guards to be called. An officious little man was standing close to the door and quickly moved to block their entrance.

  “You must wait your turn, sir!” he complained. “The mayor is a terribly busy man, and it would be unseemly of you to barge in. I demand you withdraw at once.” Colt didn't reply, instead focusing his attention on the pair of gentlemen behind the little man. One of them was large, balding, and dressed in a gold-embroidered blue longcoat, with a large upstanding collar, who appeared to be talking to an old farmer.

  “I'm sorry sir,” the official apologised to the mayor. “They just barged in, I couldn't stop them. Shall I call the guards?” The mayor gave them all an irritated look.

  “No, I enjoy hoards of unwashed peasantry tramping through my office. The four of you had better offer up a good reason for this intrusion.”

  “My apologies to you sir, and you, Your Honour,” Nellise spoke just as Colt was opening his mouth. “This is an important matter regarding security on the highway to the south.” The mayor looked at her for a few moments, and then nodded to his associate.

  “You may speak, madam, if only to give me a brief respite from these damnable common folks.” The small official bowed and quickly ushered the surprised old farmer out of the chamber.

  “Mister Colt and er... party, Mayor Buchanan will see you now,” the official declared lamely. He struck Aiden as the sort of person who took his unremarkable job very seriously.

  “'Mister Colt?'” Nellise remarked quietly. “I thought 'Colt' was your first name.”

  “What kind of a first name is 'Colt'?”

  “That's what I said to myself when I first met you,” she responded lightly.

  “I do apologise if I am interrupting but will you kindly get to the point,” the mayor almost shouted.

  “A small matter, Your Honour,” Aiden began, his tone carefully deferential. “Mayor Olaf of Bracksford requests additional soldiers for his garrison. There is an imminent threat of akoran raiders moving up from the south, and he feels they do not have the -”

  “No, he cannot have any troops,” Buchanan interrupted impatiently. Then he leaned over and shouted down the corridor. “Neither can any of you! I can spare no further men-at-arms for outlying villages, so you parasites can scuttle back to where you came from!” A collective groan went up from more than half of the assembled men and women, as they tiredly rose from their seats and shuffled out of the door. Nellise wasn't impressed.

  “That was rather cruel don't you think? Those people came here expecting help from you, sir.”

  Buchanan straightened his expensive coat and stood tall. “You may think of me as you wish madam, but my first duty is to this town and the people within her walls. Better that a few suffer, so the greater number remain safe. Olaf will have to make do with what he has. If he feels the quantity of his garrison is inadequate, he can easily draft local civilians into the militia to bolster his defences. Now, there is nothing further I can do for you, so if you are quite finished...” He gestured expansively toward the exit.

  Aiden looked to Nellise for anything she might want to add, but she responded with an exasperated shrug.

  “No, I think we're done here,” Aiden said evenly, turning and walking out the doors. The others followed closely behind, remaining silent until they were some distance from the mayoral building.

  “Arrogant ass,” Colt spat. “No band of outlaws or akoran raiders is going to attack a town the size of Culdeny. He could easily have sent a dozen men south.”

  “Perhaps, perhaps not,” Nellise countered. “He is the one responsible if anything goes wrong, so if he sent reinforcements elsewhere and Culdeny did come under attack, the mayor is the one who will be blamed.”

  “The same holds true if he doesn't send soldiers to help Bracksford and they do come under attack,” Aiden added. “The poor bastard probably doesn't know what to do, no matter what happens, he's going to get blamed.”

  “That would probably explain his disposition,” Nellise mused. “Tell me Sayana, you are of the akoran people are you not? Would they really attack an entire town?” The wild girl didn't answer right away, but Aiden couldn't tell if she was thinking or merely uncomfortable with the question.

  “I can't really answer that accurately,” she replied eventually. “But I can tell you there are many cruel men amongst the population who would eagerly start a war in the name of glory and plunder. So yes, I believe they are a grave threat.”

  “Wonderful,” Aiden grumbled. “As if we didn't have enough to deal with at the moment.

  “Damn this sun is bright, not used to such clear skies,” Colt muttered, pulling his hood up to cover his eyes.

  “I think it's probably more the hangover, than the sun,” Nellise chided. “I should check in at the church and inform them of recent developments.”

  “Fair enough,” Aiden said. “I have something else I want to talk to you all about as soon as we get back to the inn. I have a job that needs doing and I'd really like your help, if you're willing.”

  “What is it?” Sayana asked curiously.

  “It's a long story, I'll tell you about it over lunch.” So they made their way along the cobblestone streets, passing merchants hawking their wares and the local citizenry going about their daily affairs. The rare sunny day brightened their spirits as they breathed in the tang of sea air. It was still quite cold, in spite of the cloud-free sky, but it was nevertheless a welcome respite from the unrelenting rain in the south. Without warning, Pacian materialised from the crowd just to Aiden's right, giving him quite a start.

  “Give me a little notice before you just appear out of
thin air like that would you?”

  “Where's the fun in that?” Pacian answered with a wink. He’d cleaned himself up a after rising - his hair had been trimmed and brushed, his skin was completely clean, and he'd even shaved his scraggly beard down to a stylish, if sparse, goatee. Even his camouflaged leather armour had been cleaned and polished.

  “What's with the neatness? You look like you're going to ask the Princess of Fairloch out for dinner.” Pacian's eyes gleamed, and his eyes darted around to make sure the others in their group weren't listening. As far as Aiden could tell, they hadn't even noticed his reappearance, since the two of them were walking at the back of the group.

  “I think Nel has a thing for me,” Pacian confided. “She suggested I clean myself up, so I wanted to make an impression.” Aiden concealed a grin, unsure who was playing whom at the moment.

  “Just try and be subtle, you know?” he advised. “Don't just come right out with it.”

  “I know how to ply the ladies Aiden, trust me, I'll be so subtle she won't even know what's happening.” Aiden gave him a wry look as the impulsive young man strode forward to show off his appearance to the ladies. Aiden couldn't hear from where he was, though Nellise did seem both surprised and appreciative of his efforts.

  Presently, they arrived at the church of Culdeny, a squat, stone-walled structure. Above the doors was the symbol of a sword, point down, with a halo around the hilt - the symbol of the Church of Aielund. Beautifully crafted, stain-glass windows added colour to the almost universally grey stone of the surrounding buildings, and a small group of people were leaving, just as Aiden and the others stepped through the tall, bounded wood doors.

  The interior walls of the church were raw stone. Torches placed in sconces along the walls provided more light, giving the nave the ambience of perpetual twilight. It was far more elaborate than the small chapel Aiden had seen in his home town, but still lacked the feeling of grandeur he associated with a place of worship.

  An older woman with bright grey eyes and small stature caught her attention, and Nellise excused herself from the group. The two priestesses walked off through a doorway at the rear of the nave, and Aiden sat back on one of the pews. Colt slumped down beside him and pulled his hood low over his eyes, appearing to doze off, while Pacian casually walked around the church examining the architecture.

  It was perhaps ten minutes later that Sayana, gazing out of a window, noticed something unusual.

  “Is that supposed to be happening?” she remarked, standing on the tips of her toes to see properly. Curious, Aiden wandered over to the window and noticed what she was referring to. There was a large cemetery to the left that ran all the way to the wall of the town, roughly fifty yards away. The ground directly between the church and the wall consisted mostly of tall grass, but appeared as if it had been deeply gouged somehow, and even as he looked the soil fell away in clumps, vanishing into the increasingly large hole beneath.

  “That can’t be right,” Aiden muttered in disbelief as he saw the distant wall shudder and tilt as the ground beneath it gave way. The progress of the subsidence had been slow and steady, until it suddenly gave way altogether and a cloud of soil shot upwards through the rift. A dull rumble could be felt through the floor, a true indication of the scale of the collapse.

  “The bloody ground is collapsing?” Pacian said incredulously. Aiden had no answer for him, having never before seen the like. He found it all quite fascinating until he saw somebody’s hand poking up through the large scar that ran along the ground.

  “There’s someone in there,” Aiden breathed and immediately ran for the door. He rushed around the corner of the church itself and didn’t stop until he was at the lip of the rift, where he skidded to a halt. Scanning around carefully, he finally located the hand that emerged macabrely from the earth, and satisfied that the collapse had finished, carefully made his way down the side of the exposed earth towards it.

  By the time he was within reach of the hand, his companions had caught up with him and looked on in consternation. As Aiden grasped it, he noticed fresh blood running down one side of the arm. He grasped it and pulled, expecting to help the poor soul who had fallen in the collapse, but instead found himself holding only a severed arm.

  “I think it’s too late for that one,” Pacian said darkly.

  “It might be a freshly buried body from the cemetery,” Colt suggested. Aiden dropped the arm in revulsion.

  “No, it can’t be,” he responded after a moment’s thought. “The hand was warm, and the blood was still fresh.” He looked back up at the others as the answer came to him. “I think he was already underground.”

  “One way to find out,” Colt muttered, sliding down the incline to land next to Aiden. Using his hands, he began to dig away at the loose soil, attempting to uncover what lay beneath. Aiden and the others joined in, until a vast amount of dirt was being shovelled away.

  The digging stopped when they ran into a freshly-cut beam of wood, a pick-axe, and yet another body amongst the rubble. By now, a small crowd of locals had gathered above them, peering curiously down at the odd scene.

  “Is this a collapsed mine?” Aiden asked aloud, unsure what to make of the odd discovery.

  “In the middle of a town? Not likely,” Colt snorted. “I can think of only one reason they’d be here. They’re called sappers, men trained to undermine the walls of a town in order to bring them down, or bypass them completely. I’ve no idea what they’re doing here, but I’d wager a gold sovereign that’s what these poor bastards are.”

  “Who would want to break into Culdeny like this,” Aiden mused quietly, while Pacian took a more personal approach. Half-buried in soil, he scoured the bodies, searching their pockets and meagre possessions for any sign of who or what they were. After a minute or so, he retrieved a folded sheaf of paper from one of the bodies and pocketed it, along with a few minor coins.

  “Hey, you lot down there,” called a guardsman from above. “Get away from that, it’s a bloody crime scene, don’t you know!”

  “Sorry sir, we were trying to help,” Aiden called back, signalling to the others that their time here was done. Climbing out of the hole proved to be more challenging than entering it, but with some help from above the four of them were soon standing upon solid ground once more.

  Nearly fifty people were milling around nearby, talking amongst themselves as several members of the local guard regiment kept them at bay. The guard who had ordered them out of the hole asked a series of questions regarding their involvement, but after a few minutes allowed them to leave. During the questioning, Aiden noticed that Pace didn’t mention the note he’d found.

  “What was he going to do with it, file it away or something?” Pacian protested when asked about this. “Bugger that - I want to know what was so important that sapper took it to his grave.” He led them to the doorway of the church and, making sure they weren’t being watched, produced the note and carefully unfolded it. There was more dirt than words on the page, which consisted of little more than a sentence or two. But the lettering was crisp and Aiden guessed that whoever wrote it was likely an educated person.

  “What does it say?” Sayana asked.

  “'Find a way into Culdeny. I don't care how you do it, but my forces must have access by the end of the month,'” Aiden read aloud as he peered over Pacian’s shoulder. “Signed, 'R.B.'”

  “Thought so,” Colt grunted in triumph. “Someone with the initials ‘R.B.’ ordered those men to dig their way in, for what, I can’t say. But that’s practically an act of war.” As they pondered the importance of the document Pacian had recovered, Nellise and the matronly priestess appeared at the entrance.

  “What on earth just happened?” Nel exclaimed. Aiden let her know what they’d discovered, and then showed her the note.

  “You should take this to the Sergeant of the Guard immediately,” she advised breathlessly. “I don't know what threats are facing the town, but thank God you discover
ed this when you did.”

  “I agree,” Aiden assured her. “Are you finished with your affairs?”

  “We were just about to discuss that when I noticed the commotion outside,” Nellise answered. “I was wondering if you still required my services here, Archioness. I am ready to return to the church and resume my former duties, if you so desire.”

  “I had planned for you to do just that prior to the discovery of that tunnel, Nellise,” the Archioness explained with a smooth voice, “But from what you’ve described, you have been an invaluable aid to your companions, and I believe you should remain with them a while longer. While they talk with the guard sergeant, however, I would ask that you aid me with a few minor tasks for a couple of hours.”

  “Certainly, Mother,” Nellise replied, then turned to Aiden. “I'll catch up with the rest of you at the inn this evening.” Aiden gave her a polite bow as the two ladies of the cloth disappeared inside once more.

  “We should get right on this,” Colt advised. “There's no guarantee all of the sappers were killed in the collapse. All it would take is for one of those bastards to get away and tell whoever that 'R.B.' person is what happened and we might never find out who was behind it.”

  It wasn't difficult locating the guardhouse – even hung-over and injured, Colt was able to point them in the right direction. The building near the front gate was basically a small fort inside the town. Heavy stone walls two storeys high gave it a bulky, squat appearance that would have been more intimidating if the rail on the top floor wasn't being used to air out ladies' undergarments.

  “Interesting decoration,” Pacian quipped. “Maybe there's a brothel upstairs?”

  “What's a brothel?” Sayana asked, puzzled. Aiden and Pacian exchanged a hesitant glance.

  “You tell her,” they both said at once. Colt laughed, the first time Aiden could recall hearing it.

  “I'll tell you some other time,” Aiden said to Sayana, who glared at Colt, probably assuming she was once again the butt of some joke. Aiden opened the heavy wooden door before him and stepped inside.

  Before him was a small room that seemed to be an office, with stairs against the far wall and a doorway on the left, presumably leading to the rest of the barracks. A woman sat at a desk, busily writing on documents with a quill, her dark hair tied back in a plait and her head bent over her task.

  Aiden walked forward and stood in front of the desk, making sure his boots made enough noise on the wooden floor to attract her attention. She had swarthy skin, large, brown eyes, and wore a guard’s uniform.

  “Is there something I can do for you?” she asked, looking up to see who had entered.

  “I was wondering if I could speak with whoever is in charge here,” Aiden replied.

  “Concerning?”

  “An important matter of town security,” Aiden added, somewhat impatiently.

  “I'm afraid the captain is two hundred miles away fighting for his country,” she explained delicately. “But you can tell me your problem and I'll let him know when he gets back.” Aiden blinked, caught off guard by the unexpected answer and feeling stupid as a result.

  “I'm sorry, I guess I should have known he'd be away fighting in the war.”

  “We can't all be brilliant,” she replied tiredly. “I'm Sergeant Ariel, temporarily in command of the Kingdom Guard of Culdeny.”

  “Aiden Wainwright and associates. We just recovered a document from a group of deceased men digging their way under your walls.” Ariel gave him a sharp look, perhaps not believing him.

  “One of my men just told me about the collapse, but I hadn’t heard anything about evidence turning up. Tell me everything, right now,” she ordered. Aiden proceeded to do so, ably supported by Pacian and the occasional remark from Colt as they filled in details he overlooked. When they were done, Ariel slumped back down in her chair.

  “And the document?”

  Aiden handed her the note he had taken from what he assumed was their leader. The sergeant took the offered paper and read it several times, possibly trying to glean more information from the brief message than was actually there.

  Now that he had a better look at her, Aiden could see she was very fit, and clearly not a secretary or desk sergeant as he had briefly thought earlier. This woman was trained to fight, which wasn't exactly common these days. Much like the rest of the country, the town was obviously hard-pressed to find enough people to fill important posts during this time of war. He also noticed a wedding band on one of her fingers.

  “I wonder who this 'R.B.' is,” she mused.

  “We've been thinking the same thing ourselves,” Pacian remarked, surreptitiously examining the sergeant with an expert eye. “What's your take on it, sarge?”

  “Well, someone wants a tunnel large enough for 'forces' to move through, and that suggests an army. The only force in the region with anywhere near the numbers required to take a town of this size are the Steel Tigers, a mercenary company.”

  “There's a company of mercs near Culdeny?” Colt asked ominously. “What idiot hired 'em?”

  “Probably one of the local merchants,” Ariel suggested, “they've been concerned about bandit raids on their caravans along the mountains between here and Fairloch. I guess they didn't care about the road south though. I wonder if 'R.B.' could be Ronald Bartlett.”

  “Who's that?” Aiden inquired.

  “A nobleman who operates the North Shore Trading Company out of Culdeny, along with a few other wealthy individuals,” she explained. “They have a lot of financial backing, and could probably afford a mercenary company.”

  “Sounds like you should pay him a visit and ask him a few pointed questions,” Pacian suggested. Ariel shook her head and shifted in her chair.

  “Easier said than done I'm afraid, he's quite elusive. Doesn't mingle with the commoners a lot, as you'd expect. He frequents a local bar called the Gentlemen's club, a very exclusive gathering of movers and shakers.”

  “Ok, so you do know where to find him,” Colt said impatiently. “Go do your job.”

  “I would very much like to do that, but they don't tolerate women in their gentlemen's club,” she replied evenly. “In fact, only ten people in town are wealthy and powerful enough to qualify for entry.”

  “How can they refuse entry to a commander of the guard?” Aiden asked in disbelief.

  “It's not so much that they'd refuse entry,” Ariel explained, “it's that they would refuse co-operation, because I'm a woman and also merely a temporary commander. And they’ve enough power and influence to remove me from office, if it came to it. I’m sorry to say this, but there's not much I can do with the evidence you've given me. This is only a hunch we're going on here, and it’s going to take more than a scrawled note to figure out who's behind the attack.”

  “Do you think the mayor would be rich and powerful enough to be a member of this club you mentioned?” Aiden asked thoughtfully.

  “Without a doubt,” Ariel concurred. “What are you thinking?”

  “I'm thinking that if he understands the gravity of the situation, we're going to be the newest members of the Gentlemen's Club, even if only for a few hours.”

  “If you manage to get some information of merit, bring it to me, and I'll figure out the best way to make use of it. In the meantime, I’m going to investigate this collapsed tunnel you found and see if we can find out more.”

  “I think I'll sit this one out,” Sayana said quietly. “I should go and eat anyway.”

  “No, I want you with us,” Aiden disagreed. “I have an idea.”

  “You want me along too?” Colt asked. “You probably know I'm not going to be any good talkin' with nobles.” Aiden considered this for a moment.

  “I guess it wouldn't hurt to have you looming in the background,” he finally decided. “Just don't say anything.”

  “I can loom with the best of them,” Colt grunted.

  “Alright, let's go pay the mayor another visit,” Aiden
said. “We'll get in touch with you later, sergeant, and thanks for your help.”

  “That's what I'm here for,” Ariel replied, before returning to her work.