His Highness's Second Wife
His Highness’s Second Wife Chapter 41

“Gerrin, how far away are we from the Outpost?” Kassian asked, frowning as he looked around the quiet forest surrounding them from all sides. It had started raining so hard on the second day that it forced them to stop and seek shelter. So now they were half a day late, arriving shortly before midnight instead of midday.

“Ten minutes,” his second-in-command replied, eyes darting around just as warily.

“Shouldn’t we have seen patrols by now?”

“We should have.”

The two of them exchanged a long look and reached for their weapons at the same time. The others in their group followed suit, filling the silent night with the sound of metal ringing.

Kassian’s neck turned stiff from the tension, but his eyes continued to study the shadows for any movement or a deadly arrow that could end him on the spot. He should have waited at the inn.

They were already late, a few more hours shouldn’t have mattered that much. Yet his eagerness to finally get his hands on some information had him rushing into it without caring about the consequences.

“I see the walls!” one of his men in the front announced, pointing forward. Kassian followed the direction of his finger, and a few seconds later he saw it too. His b***d turned to ice as he stared at the wide-open gates of the compound. There were no guards on the twelve-foot-long walls and nothing moved in the two watchtowers.

“Watch your backs!” Kassian whispered, nudging his horse forward as he moved his sword in his right hand. “Gerrin, take the rear. Everybody, move into formation.”

He received no reply, but his soldiers took their places with quick, confident movements. The ones in the outside sheathed their weapons, grabbing the shields they carried on their backs instead.

Those in the middle fell in lines of three, keeping the archers in the center as they loaded arrows on their bows.

Kassian’s eyes slid over the wall, glancing through the gaping gate to the dark, empty yard.

There were no sounds of scared horses or distraught people coming from inside the Outpost, no cries or weapons clashing. Just silence.

He raised his sword a little higher, his other hand squeezing the reins. His eyes remained on the walls above them as they neared the gate and passed through it, but nobody showed up to greet them neither friend nor foe.

A few steps into the empty yard of the Outpost and Kassian knew where the guards had gone.

Bodies littered the inside of the walls, the stairs, and the ground – lying in their own b***d, most of them with arrows sticking from their bodies. It didn’t escape his notice that most of the arrows were buried into their backs, which meant that they had been either distracted or.. the attacker was one of their own.

Kassian sniffed the air, but didn’t pick up any smell of rot, just b***d and sweat. If the bodies hadn’t started to smell, that meant all of this happened not long ago.

“Should we go check for survivors?” one of his men asked, lowering his shield slightly.

“No. Don’t break form..” Before he could even finish, a familiar whooshing sound tickled his ears and the air around them shimmered. Kassian slashed with his sword, the blade catching the metal tip of the arrow just before it sank into the soldier next to him. The man raised his shield again, and so did everyone else, forming a thick wall of metal around the group as even more arrows rained upon them. Kassian let go of the, reins and pulled his shield from his back, raising it to complete the barrier.

For a minute or so, the sound of metal hitting metal and the insistent jabs into their shields were the only sounds to be heard. Kassian gritted his teeth, peeking through the small holes between the shields to count their enemy.

“Five in front of us!” he said loud enough for the rest of the group to hear.

“Seven here!” Gerrin’s voice came from the back. “Four-Leaf Clover Formation?”

“Yes.” Kassian sighed. “Seriously, you and your stupid names, I swear.”

“You heard him, boys!” Gerrin shouted, ignoring his comment. “Let’s get those bastards! Try not to kill them all, will ya?”

Kassian nodded to the men on his side and they moved to form the four-man formation they had practiced so much that it felt like second nature now. The formation allowed them to protect each other from archers on all four sides, and as long as they moved together and in unison, there shouldn’t have been any gaps to let in a stray arrow.

“On me!” Kassian shouted so they could hear him over the clanking of arrows on shields and the commands on the other units. The other three followed and they headed toward the wall where two of the archers stood, sending arrow after arrow after them. The formation held until they reached the stairs leading up. They were too narrow for the four of them to move together, so the moment Kassian and the man on his right stepped up, a gap formed between them. One of the archers on the opposite wall must have spotted the opportunity because his arrow disappeared between them in a blink of an eye. The grunt that came from behind Kassian suggested it found its mark too.

“Charge! Don’t let them shoot again!” Kassian sprinted up the stairs, the sound of feet following him indicated the others heard his command. A man blocked his way, swinging his sword toward his head. Kassian ducked, pushing the enemy with his shield and knocking him off balance. While the soldier tried to attack again, Kassian ducked under his arms and sank his sword into his stomach, turning the handle before yanking the blade back. The enemy grunted in pain, dropping to the ground as b***d gushed from the gaping wound.

Kassian jumped over him, sprinting toward the two archers that had been their initial target. He raised his shield and lowered himself behind it just as they released their next arrows. One of them ricocheted from the shield, but the other one pierced it, stopping right next to Kassian’s head.

Kassian gritted his teeth, then tossed the shield aside, dashing toward them while they tried to recharge. One of them threw his bow down, drawing the sword hanging from his waist instead.

The other one stepped behind him, fumbling with his arrow as his hands shook with panic.

Kassian kept moving, keeping the sword-wielding man between himself and the archer and attacking him with his full strength. The man almost fell down as his blade met Kassian’s, but he somehow held on, pushing back desperately.

Kassian pulled his sword free, swinging again and again, increasing the speed of his attacks so his opponent was barely able to keep up.

A shout came from behind him and he cursed under his breath. He had no time to disarm them and keep them alive when there were so many enemies. His men were his priority.

Kassian attacked from above again, so his opponent was forced to grab his blade with both hands to counter him. Using the opportunity, he forced him to follow with his weapon in a wide side arch until the guy’s wrist twisted and he dropped his sword. Kassian stepped forward and sank his own weapon into his chest, ignoring the man’s anguished cry. His eyes moved to the second enemy, who was now raising the bow again. Still holding onto the man he had stabbed, Kassian raised the body in front of him, and the arrow sank into his back, forcing another painful cry before his enemy’s eyes rolled back.

Kassian let the body drop and swung his sword, slicing through the bowstring before the archer could even pull it again. The archer tried to attack him with just the arrow, aiming at Kassian’s eyes. Kassian caught his wrist before the metal tip could reach him, squeezing so hard that the other guy dropped his weapon with a whimper.

Kassian caught him by the throat, lifting him off his feet while the man struggled desperately.

Throwing a look over his shoulder, Kassian realized with relief that the fighting was over. He spotted Gerrin on the adjoining wall and his cond-in-command gave him a thumbs up before barking something at the men around him.

Kassian returned his attention to the Craidal rebel, just to realize his face was turning bright red.

He let him drop to the ground and the man heaved desperately, taking a few desperate breaths before raising his head.

“Why did you attack the Outpost? Was it that important to silence your own people?” The guy at his feet didn’t say anything, just stared at him with pure loathing. “Speak or I will torture you until you beg me to kill you! Most of your comrades are dead or dying! If you tell me what your agenda is, I’ll protect you! I’ll give you a comfortable life so far away from here, nobody will know where you are from!” Something shifted in the Craidal soldier’s eyes, but Kassian wasn’t sure how to interpret it.

Still, the man said nothing. “Tell me now! Why are you fighting so hard for a kingdom that is already dead? Your king and his entire family are dead! Even if you succeed, who is going to take the throne and unite you? Or have you picked a new leader already?”

A sudden smile appeared on the man’s lips, Kassian felt a chill run down his spine. There was something wild in that guy’s eyes, something almost fanatic in the pure gloating that appeared on his face.

“You’re wrong, you filthy murderer!” he snarled.

In the next instant, the Craidal soldier reached for something on the ground. Kassian squeezed his sword, but instead of attacking him, the man grabbed the arrow that had fallen by his feet and sunk it deep into his neck. B***d sprayed Kassian’s feet as he watched the body slump to the ground, rocked by heavy convulsions. The rebel’s eyes remained locked on him as he released his last breath, a hint of triumph in them.

Kassian continued to stare at the twitching body, his mind preoccupied with thoughts about what the soldier had just said, so he didn’t hear when Gerrin approached him from behind. When he felt a hand on his shoulder, he raised his sword, ready to sink it into yet another warm body.

“Easy there!” Gerrin murmured, raising his hands in surrender and glancing at the others over his shoulder. He lowered his voice, moving closer to him and the two bodies at his feet. “Are you alright, Kass? You have this scary look on your face..”

“I’m fine. What’s the situation?” Kassian asked instead, glancing at his soldiers that were now gathering the corpses in one place.

“Two of ours are injured, nothing life-threatening. The enemy is… well, all of them are dead. We managed to disarm one, but he dove head-first into the ground, so I am not sure we can ask him any questions with his brain scattered everywhere.” He looked down at the guy with an arrow sticking out of his neck. “This one was alive last time I glanced over here. He killed himself?

“Yes.” Kassian nodded. “What about inside the outpost?”

“All dead,” Gerrin grumbled. “Both our people and the two captives. They slit their own people’s throats. It was clean though, they died instantly.”

He clicked his tongue, spitting on the ground before looking around.” I looks like we rushed all the way here for nothing.”

“No,” Kassian said, tearing his eyes from the dead man at his feet and looking over the wall of the Outpost, toward the lands that lay beyond – the lands that were once the kingdom of Craidal. “It wasn’t entirely for nothing. I think now I know why they are fighting so hard.”