Enlightened Empire

During their march through the hills, Felian had acted with all the care he could muster, but of course it had been pointless. Even though he had warned them, even though he knew that the merchants had been raising an army, even though he understood that their conquest would require more effort than a simple stroll through the countryside, none of the other knights had listened to him, ever. Asserting his position as leader would bring with it its own set of problems, so he had grit his teeth and hoped for the best. Thus, he had been forced to follow along with the other knights as they stormed up the hill towards the Fastgrade salt mine.

Back when they had first heard rumors that the seer of the Lords had found a miraculous high-quality deposit within the cheap salt mines of Duke Herak, Felian hadn't believed a word. Why would he? He knew quite well of the 'great seer's' past and could see that the merchant wasn't the man he pretended to be. No matter what he was, the heathen sure as death had no direct connection to the Great Lords in the sky. However, the rumors had persisted and soon been confirmed by people in the surrounding cities, telling tales of new, precious salt which the Fastgrade merchants sold at ludicrously low prices.

Although Felian himself still remained cautious, the other knights around the Saline Hills had begun to set their sights upon the new Fastgrade mine. With haste, before any greater powers could step in and stake their claim, they had made their way through the surrounding towns for supplies and reinforcements before they marched into the hills. Felian could find the price for their hast and greed all around himself.

The great Bornish knights kneeled on the stone floor, battered and beaten, as blood seeped through gaps in their armors. As an ultimate humiliation, their swords, signs of their noble pride, had been taken from them long ago. Even worse, some were still entangled in the fishing nets and ropes which had caused them so much trouble and embarrassment during their storm. A look over Felian's shoulder revealed the bodies of two of their fellow knights, lying in dried puddles of their own blood as their bodies began to cool. Meanwhile, the levies they had raised from the surrounding villages had long fled over the horizon. Unlike the heavily armored knights, the commoners hadn't even made it this far.

Once again Felian looked back towards his front, towards the men who were to blame for the greatest shame of his military career. Self-satisfied, the captain of the mercenary troop leaned against one of their cannons. Although the tiny musket shots from the soldiers around him hadn't been able to penetrate the heavy iron plates of the Bornish knights, the use of actual cannon fire against infantry had been a shock to Felian. He didn't even want to imagine how much money each cannon shot cost the merchant owner of the mercenary dogs, but considering the wealth the seer had supposedly amassed over the past few years, they really should have expected some resistance. Still, the amount and quality of Fastgrade's troops was frightening.

Looking around, he estimated at least one full cohort, five hundred men who had stopped them, while the total number of men under Fastgrade should easily be double the ones here. All of them were equipped with chain armor and either halberds, pikes, or muskets. Although their weapons had been incapable of killing a knight, their nets and long pole arms still slowed down their knights' charge, while the muskets had made short work of their levies and routed the skittish peasants without much trouble. No matter how unwilling Felain was to admit it, the knights of Borna had been destroyed by a merchant's private army, both in terms of wealth and in terms of tactics.

"I hope you understand what you're doing here, knave," the knight barked towards the man at the head of the group.

"You say anything?" the victorious captain answered. Tall, blonde, straight posture. If he shaved the scraggly beard he might have almost looked like an aristocrat. Without further evidence, Felian decided to consider the mercenary captain as such. It would make the defeat much more bearable for his own pride.

"You understand, knave, that you have just attacked the brave knights of Borna, on a mission to subjugate enemies of the state. This attack would make you complicit in their heinous acts and just as culpable for their crimes. From the cowardly fishing nets it seems you enjoy rope quite a bit. I hope for you that you'll enjoy its feel around your neck as well."

As desperate as Felian was, he tried to strongarm the soldiers around him, though it was no more than a desperate bluff. He had hoped for one of many reactions: Anger, confusion, curiosity. Anything beyond the deafening silence they had been subjected to for hours, anything he could use to his advantage. However, the warrior before him wouldn't budge an inch. He just spat on the ground before he spoke in a dismissive tone.

"Look, friend. The situation is pretty simple, but since you seem slow, I'll tell you again. I'm not here to talk politics or bargain or anything else. I'm paid to hold you here until the boss shows up, and that's exactly what I intend to do. I'll let it go this once, since you're being all civil about it, but if you don't shut up, I'll have to give you the same treatment as the noisy fellows over there."

With a motion of his head, the tall man hinted at the three knights who had insisted on their rights and honor before, until they had been gagged, bound and thrown one on top of the other. Although Felian wanted to avoid the same undignified fate, he would still make an attempt to seek out some chink in his opponent's armor. If hard tactics wouldn't work, he would try a different approach.

"It seems like you have understood our intrusion as a declaration of war, good sir. In fact, our group simply chased bandits who had been hounding our territories for months. We have every reason to believe that the men have hidden themselves within these hills. I am sure this is a misunderstanding we could clear up between ourselves."

As he continued to talk in a softer and softer tone, attempting to hit a note the mercenary would respond to, he did indeed get a reaction, though it was not the one he had wanted. Without a word, the captain himself removed a rag from the cannon, dirtied with soot from the artillery fire. However, Felian would never have to taste the soot. To his good fortune, a sudden guest prevented the knight to share in the fate of his comrades.

"I wonder what kind of bandits those were that you would have to mobilize twenty knights and over a thousand peasant levies to face them."

Once again Felian looked behind his back, this time towards the chubby man with the shoulder-length black hair who waltzed up the same path they had suffered so much on. No wonder his travel would be easier, as he was the master of these parts: The so-called great seer, merchant master Corcopaca Fastgrade.

"Since we could not know the exact size of the bandit camp, we had no choice but to be careful," Felian defended his obvious lie.

"Okay, let's cut the bullshit," Corco answered as he moved through the defeated knights without any sign of fear. It was the first time Felian had seen the infamous seer of the Lords, but the impression he got was neither that of a charlatan nor that of a merchant. Instead, the man carried all the natural grace of true nobility. "For you to bring such an army, how many bandits were you expecting? Those outlaws would have to count in the thousands. Now, how realistic is it that they would be hiding here? Where are all those guys gonna get food in this place? All the hills are full of salt, that's literally the entire reason any of us is here. Look around you, it looks like the fucking post-apocalypse. Where will the bandits get the food to support their operation? Or are you suggesting that I'm secretly supporting them?"

Felian followed the new arrival with his eyes until the man had reached right next to his mercenary captain and turned to once again face his prisoners.

"Who knows?" the knight replied in defiance. "Your commoner men have killed two knights, unprovoked. This sort of action is a grave violation of Arcavian laws. You best rescind this arrogance in the face of nobility or you will risk another war."

Rather than get angry at the threat, the young merchant only smiled as he stepped closer and closer to his prisoner, until the two stood eye to eye. An invisible pressure began to envelope Felian as Corcopaca began to speak.

"Anything else?" he asked, with that eerie smile stuck on his face. "Oh, were you done? Good, better not embarrass yourself any further. I mean, were you actually implying that I'm the one risking a war? Your people attacked sovereign territory of the free city of Etra. You had no reason, no orders and no permits. All you brought along with you were an army and a flimsy excuse. You won't find any bandits here and you know it as well as me.

"You might not be aware of this, but the Fastgrade merchants are famed in Etra for their meticulous bookkeeping. You can check all of our records, down to the last grain of wheat, and you won't find even a hint that we support any local bandits. Which means you just committed an attack on a sovereign territory, an act of war, with no justification. In direct violation of the earlier treaty, no less. However, unlike you I don't think there will be war. I doubt Borna will be willing to risk another one against an enemy they only just lost to. In which case: I wonder what they will do to avoid the fight? You think they will stand up for their own? Or will they maybe, just maybe, give up some worthless pawns to pacify the free cities?"

As his speech went on, Corco's voice pitched ever lower, as his eyes turned into slits. Felian knew that what the merchant had implied was more than an empty threat. He understood enough of Borna's political climate to realize that the merchant's scenario was the most likely outcome. Everything would have been fine had they managed to occupy the mines. In that case it would have been easy to manufacture some fake evidence. However, the truth was that they had failed and thus become a liability. The powers of Borna would be more than willing to throw away a few knights if it let them avoid a pointless and expensive war.

In the face of not only his own imminent death, but the potential destruction of his entire family line, Felian finally dropped the fake bravado he had held on to. The knight still tried to regain his frantic thoughts when the sly merchant offered him a solution to his problem. With his hand on Felian's shoulder, the seer began to speak again.

"No worries though, I'm not interested in punishing small-fry like you. No, I understand that you only worked on instruction, right? You're not really to blame. So I'm willing to let you go. No punishment, no ransom, no nothing."

Although Felian could hear the hopeful murmurs of his companions all around, he knew that it wouldn't be this easy. "There are no free meals in this world. What do we pay?"

Satisfied, the merchant answered with a widening smile.

"Simple. All you have to do is tell the truth. I'll have you sign and seal a contract which will indicate exactly how all of you have been the unfortunate victims in an evil scheme. How all of you have been forced to attack my salt mines by the greedy and vengeful Duke Balit. That should be enough to prove your innocence and preserve your honors."

"What!?" When he heard the last part of Felian's tale, Duke Herak's voice exploded to envelope the kneeling knight. On any other occasion, a meeting with the two most powerful men of Borna would be considered an incredible honor for a simple knight such as himself. This time however, he would have preferred if they left the honor to someone else.

"How dare he slander me like this!" the Duke continued. "Me, plot the attack on the salt mine? I have done nothing of the sort!"

With a sigh, the king entered the conversation as well.

"And yet the man before is is your own knight."

"That's one man! The plan was hatched by the others, like that numskull Laster. They somehow didn't see the obvious trap and started their dilettantic plots all by themselves! I had no other choice! I had to get a man in there to control them and guarantee they wouldn't act like simpletons!"

"And yet they did," the king held against Herak's argument. "You have no one else to blame but yourself, brother."

"No, it's all that damn merchant's fault."

"Herak..." the king began in a calm voice, but was soon interrupted by the brash Duke.

"Once I catch them, I'll pay back my debt ten times-"

"Duke Herak of Balit!" At once, the king's outburst silenced the room. Unwilling, Duke Herak stared at his brother. "You will do no such thing. You have always been my best, most trusted advisor. How can you not see what damage this obsession has done to your estate; and to our kingdom? Did you know that our own nobles are calling you an oath breaker behind your back? Not only that, the Cahlians have sent envoys around the other southern kingdoms, to mobilize an alliance against the 'unscrupulous Bornish aggressors'. We cannot be isolated in the south, not after we have converted and given up all our contacts with the north."

At last, the duke was silenced. However, his tensed body told Felian that his lord was still far from convinced. Even so, the king was not done yet.

"I order you, not as your king, but as your elder brother: Stop in your mad pursuit of the merchant. Recall the bandits, recall the ships and give up all other trickery. Your status as general and admiral of Borna will be rescinded. You will not fulfill any office until further notice. For the moment, the best choice will be to lay still and wait out the storm. No need to worry, the merchant has been getting far richer than any man should be. As his wealth grows, so will the number of his enemies. All your revenge requires is patience. Wait for the pressure to mount, until we can swoop in and take his mountain of coins, unopposed."

Unwilling to continue the talks, the Duke only nodded his head, before he stood up and stormed towards the exit. As he passed his knight, Duke Herak mumbled under his breath. Though they were never intended for himself, Herak's subordinate still understood every word.

"That little bastard. Don't think I'm done with you yet."

At this point Felian decided: Maybe it was time to pack up his things and try his luck as a wandering knight. Whatever his future would hold up north, it couldn't be any worse than the one he foresaw in Borna.