Placing a soldier piece on the vast map of Ravenscourt had always brought a tinge of excitement to Ethelston. He recalled the days as a child, when his father, Edric, would allow him to organise the positions of the city guard as part of his teachings.
The moment he picked up the wooden city guard, he would revel in the smoothness of the carpentry. The piece, almost as big as his hand, used to dwarf it as a child and its weight was challenging for any youth of six winters.
Leaning over the vast map, Ethelston carefully placed a piece in the upper market, smiling as he did. Another part of the Black Knife Syndicate puzzle had been removed and replaced with his own.
Jarendrud's plan to locate members of the Syndicate by protecting members of the city guard had worked wonders. With the assistance of Aryya and her mercenaries, the Syndicate numbers had been whittled down, and some parts of their organisation had been crippled. The piece placed on the map had signified another victory throughout the city.
Ethelston stood upright and smiled, studying the pieces and where they were located on the map. Identifying patterns that could detail more about the Syndicate's dealings. "We finally have them on the back foot."
Jarendrud edged himself closer to the table. His eyes narrowed, his forehead furrowed, for him, the rooting out of the biggest crime syndicate in the city had only just begun. "My Lord, I fear we celebrate too early. While we have caused our enemy to step back and pause, I believe that is all they are doing. We have given them a serious beating recently; it would be foolish for them to continue working as they had done before."
A chuckle echoed from across the room. The dark-skinned Aryya sat casually next to the window looking out towards the Castle gardens. "Your friend is cautious two swords, " her heavily accented voice boomed across the room.
Ethelston looked towards his mercenary compatriot. A woman he had fought and bled beside, who he feared and respected in equal measure, and then he looked towards his spymaster. A man who had never been directly involved in combat, but his knowledge was vast and beyond anyone who he had met before.
Wisdom rarely fought in battles but still often won them.
"Aye, cautious he is, but we should listen to him nonetheless," Ethelston replied.
The grunt from Aryya echoed across the room, but she regarded Ethelston as profoundly as he did her.
"Attacks on the city guard have almost dissipated, but the mercenaries show of blood will only anger them further," commented Jarendrud.
Aryya's face turned quickly to anger, "and what do you have to say of my mercenaries?"
"They are reckless and stupid!" Jarendrud spat loudly, with a little more passion than he intended. "To execute the Syndicate's men as they had done to the city guard drives them to anger, and the people unnecessarily to fear."
Aryya stood to her feet, the scowl on her face caused even Ethelston to be on edge. "If you have some issue with my men, then out with it!"
Jarendrud subconsciously took a step back and raised his hands in surrender, "I have no problem with your men, just their methods. While I can't complain about their results, I have to think about what is good for Ravenscourt. We're trying to restore order, not create more chaos."
The comments seemed to drive Aryya more feral as she took a more aggressive step forward, "Little man happy for Desert Viper's help, then complains because we're too efficient!"
Ethelston quickly intervened, stepping in between Aryya and her prey. "Jarendrud means well. Without your help, we would not have crippled the Syndicate so severely. Please my dear, can we not discuss this peacefully?"
Her darkened eyes appear to soften at Ethelston's deep voice, despite focusing on Jarendrud, Aryya's stance relaxed.
"I apologise if I caused offence, my lady." Jarendrud apologised.
The chuckle from Aryya was unnerving as she swang around and returned to her original seat, "Hah! I am no lady, little one. I am the Desert Viper."
Knowing the powder keg had temporarily diffused, Ethelston returned to the task at hand, "How many of the Syndicate have we either killed or detained?"
Just as Jarendrud was to speak, the creaking doors to the room flew open. Arminell rushed in with a look of concern on his face.
"Milord, sorry to disturb, but a large angry mob have just descended on the keep and wish to speak with you. I have my men standing guard; however, I'm worried things may escalate." Arminell explained.
As the chorus of discontent flooded through the door, Ethelston stood upright with Jarendrud instinctively moving beside him. If there was one-time Ethelston wished Jarendrud was wrong, he wanted it to be now.
Walking out of the war room and towards the crowd, the chorus crescendoed louder. The shouting of anger and fear was almost at boiling point and only kept in check by a mere few concerned guards.
The mercenaries had been effective, but brutal in execution. Some families had loved one's body parts displayed throughout the city as a warning, unaware of their ties to the Black Knife Syndicate. The Syndicate felt it necessary to express their dissatisfaction by targeting the ordinary folk, attacking them without provocation or mercy.
With each shout and clamour, the pang of fear felt heavy in the courtyard.
Ethelston took position on a scaffold behind the thin line of guards struggling to keep the people at bay. As he raised his arms to silence the crowd, the cries crescendoed louder.
He recalled times when he had been in similar situations. Remembering when he was a guard, knowing that one wrong move could cause a bloody and regretful battle in the streets with unarmed people. He remembered when, at times, he was in the crowd, where his anger was overflowing, and he wanted the local liege's blood. Now, for the first time, he was that liege, the one in control.
Control was vital; he needed to gain it quickly before things boiled over.
"SHIELD WALL!" he shouted, instantly encouraging the guards to scurry into two lines in front of him, their shields locked together to make an impenetrable wall.
"LOWER HALBERDS" Ethelston shouted once more, causing the soldiers to reset their halberds casually against their shields and the ground.
The flurry of activity seemed to cause pause among the mob. The show of strength, but restraint, seemed to make them second guess their next action; as a result, the shouting had died down to a murmur giving Ethelston the time he needed to resolve the situation.
"People of Ravenscourt, listen to me. This period of transition has been a challenging one for us all, and I hear your anger and your fear as we try to resolve this Syndicate threat."
"They killed my father." someone shouted out.
"They killed my son, and my husband" another cried.
"They harass everyone continuously." the cries echoed as more and more furious people put forward their complaints.
Ethelston could see the situation was starting, once more, to spiral out of control and it was when a stone hurtled towards him that he knew he needed to take action quickly.
"ARCHERS TO THE WALLS!" he shouted, with a hint of anger from the close encounter with the stone.
As archers appeared around the courtyard with bows in hand, the people started to get more and more anxious.
Ethelston's show of strength had caused the situation not to escalate further, but this problem needed to be addressed calmly.
Jumping off the scaffold, he took position to the side of the shield wall, as he took a step forward an arm placed itself around his midriff, causing him to take pause.
"My Lord, you can't be serious?" Jarendrud cautioned.
"Jarendrud, I trust you with matters of state and secrets. Now you must trust me of matters such as these. This is not my first angry mob. Though I admit, I'm normally standing on the other side." Ethelston replied with his arrogant grin gradually appearing.
Releasing his arm, Jarendrud watched as Ethelston took his position between the shield wall and the angry mob, he then watched as the anger dissipated because of Ethelston's apparent lack of fear.
"Who is to blame for allowing the syndicate to gain roots in this city? My uncle, yes, yet each of you allowed and watched it happen. They are like a weed which has wormed its way throughout the city, and now I must pull out that weed and unfortunately there will be damage as a result."
As Ethelston spoke, the people listened, his chastising of them appeared to make them focus away from him and in on themselves.
Walking along the line of the mob, he watched all the faces of the people who stood there as a show of anger. Some young, some old, men and women, all of different heights and weights, an exhibition of diversity, but solidarity.
"I ask you; no, I beg you, people of Ravenscourt, to continue supporting me as you have done since I came here many moons ago. For what I do, painful as it may be, is for you all." Ethelston cried out.
Looking at the faces of the people, he could tell the was still a considerable amount of discontent, but the anger had dwindled. As murmurs among the people droned on and those around them quickly silenced any outspoken words against their liege.
Every ounce of his body wanted to burst into a smile, but doing so would have been counterintuitive. He had only delayed the outbursts, not subdued it, and now he had inadvertently pledged to his people without saying the words. The time for quelling the Black Knife Syndicate's influence had to be now, or the people would once again turn against him.
"ARCHERS STAND DOWN, HALBADIERS FORM LINE" he ordered causing the rustle of leather and clanging of metal to echo throughout the courtyard.
With the city guard forming a line, their shields covering their chest, their weapons pointing to the sky, the hostilities appeared to be over. As those with weapons stood down to those without, the large gathering started to disperse. The civil unrest was over, for now.
Jarendrud, once again, took his position beside Ethelston and was instantly flanked by the tall, intimidating frame of Aryya. At the same time, it was evident that he was relieved by the outcome; the lines of frustration that dented his forehead expressed another emotion.
"My Lord, you must not risk your life like that," Jarendrud complained.
Ethelston returned a confused look "Why? Aryya and I have been through far more unpredictable situations than."
Despite noticing the nodding of the head behind him, Jarendrud refused to back down. "You are the Duke of Ravenscourt; you cannot risk your life as you did as a mercenary. You have no heir, as a result, should something happen to you, the next in line is the very person you overthrew and placed in jail. Everything you worked for would be undone."
At that moment, Ethelston felt a chill through his body, a feeling of vulnerability like he had never felt before. The thought of his uncle back in power gave him cause for concern. He simply could not fail in what he was trying to achieve.
He turned to Jarendrud with a face of determination "Your comments are appreciated, old friend, but I have and always will lead from the front. I can not expect my subjects to do anything that I would not be willing to do myself. I will risk everything to achieve what I need to."
As Ethelston took his leave, Aryya stood between Jarendrud and the departing Manticore Hunter. "My men are the best money can buy, " her heavily accented voice explained "while your coin is good, I'm here to follow Ethelston. He is a born leader who cares for his people more than he cares for renown and his own life. While our contract continues, I'll happily serve, and if necessary, die for him, because that is what he has almost done on several occasions for me."
Jarendrud's stern face did not flinch despite her hulking frame dwarfing his "My loyalty is to Ravenscourt. His father was a great leader, his uncle a delinquent and a tyrant. I refuse for his uncle to regain the title of Duke. You protect Ethelston with everything you have because I promise you that if you fail, I'll ensure that you never gain a contract in Isovine or any other human realm again."
Aryya laughed and placed her arm around Jarendrud, "You have balls, little man, I like that. You have my word that the Desert Vipers have his back, " she watched as the man of their subject continued walking away "even after our contract is terminated."
Just as the dark-skinned mercenary was to walk away, the bells throughout the city started to ring ferociously, stopping Ethelston instantly in his tracks.
As he turned, a young boy sprinted up to Jarendrud, struggling to gain breath. In between breathes he wheezed "The Syndicate... An army... Killing and burning!"
Overhearing the conversation, Ethelston briskly walked over to the exchange, "Where?" he asked.
"Lower town... And docks!" the boy struggled to say.
Instantly, Ethelston leant over towards Aryya and whispered something in her ear. As they parted, she thumped her chest; span round and promptly walked away with giant strides.
Turning towards Jarendrud, Ethelston smiled and stroked his beard enthusiastically. "Today it ends, my friend, " Ethelston commented, "ready the city guard, for today we break the back of the Syndicate."