IDWTBTHQ Chapter 94 - Reinforced Denial

“What do you mean you are being sent to the western border!?!” Marquis Eisen cried angrily, making the telemancers in the room flinch.

“Sadly, I meant exactly what I said.” Yasen Harp's voice replied, coming from a device connected to a twinstone. “We've received our orders this morning. We're to depart for Grimdale by tomorrow.”

Eisen gritted his teeth. He had a bad feeling when the telemancers had come into his office telling him that the Captain of the Royal Knights wanted to speak with him as soon as possible, but this news surpassed his worst expectations.

The Royal Knights were about to depart for the western border of Medelan, which meant that they wouldn't be able to help Brettholz when the orcs showed up.

“Why?” Eisen asked. “Why are you being sent there?”

“Apparently, there are reports of some Rassian patrols trespassing into Medelanian territory.” Yasen answered calmly. “So we're being sent there to basically flex our muscles at the Rassian border and dissuade them from trying anything else.”

“That's idiotic!” The marquis cried again. “That fool of the Duke of Rasse has been annoying us for years but he's never been a real threat! So why send the Royal Knights at the border now? Especially when there is an army of man-eating monsters about to invade my province!”

“I'm afraid that the High Command didn't see it necessary to inform me of their reasons for this sudden deployment.” Yasen said, rather stiffly. “I only know that Baron Salac, the current Minister of Defence, requested it personally from General Kramp.”

“Baron Salac...” Eisen mumbled, as he faintly remembered that name. “You mean that thin guy with the huge mustache? Isn't he Duke Grimdale's cousin or something?”

“Yes, he's Duke Heddart Grimdale's second cousin.” The Captain said.

“And... didn't he happen to have become Minister of Defence thanks to the support of Grimdale?”

“All ministers are appointed personally by the king himself.” Yasen replied, his voice completely deadpan. “But, well... Duke Grimdale may have suggested that his relative would be fit for that position.”

“Goddammit!” Eisen cursed. “So that's how it is. You're being sent to the border just to improve Grimdale's reputation and prestige, and give him a better position to bargain with that fool of Duke Rasse in the future!” He shook his head in disgust. “Nevermind that there is an army of orcs ready to invade our kingdom from the south! By the Lord, I thought there was a limit to how idiotic those pencil pushers in Rennhafen could be, but evidently I was wrong!”

“You may want to tone it down a little, Eisen.” The captain said, spelling each word with a weirdly careful emphasis. “After all, if someone else was to hear you speak like this about government officials, they may misinterpret your words, even if you don't really mean them. Which I'm sure you don't.”

The marquis remained silent for a moment, processing what Yasen had said, before finally realizing that the captain was warning him that their conversation was being listened to. Which, in turn, explained the non-committal tone that the aura master had kept so far.

He briefly wondered who could be the one spying on them, but the answer seemed pretty obvious. It had to be someone from the so called Nobles’ faction.

Both Eisen and Yasen were notorious supporters of the King’s faction, so it was only a matter of time before the Nobles would take action against them. The problem was that this was the worst possible moment for them to get in the way, because if the orcs weren’t stopped immediately they would become a threat for the whole kingdom, and thousands of innocents would die!

Eisen silently cursed against those damned pencil pushers in Rennhafen, hoping that the Lord of Light would smite them where they stood for their self-serving idiocy and blind greed, but he refrained from actually voicing his thoughts. Complaining right now would do more bad than good, so he just had to suck it up and play along with Yasen’s charade.

“You’re right, I didn’t really mean what I said.”  He said with completely fake contrition. “And I’m sorry for ranting so rudely and thoughtlessly. I'm afraid the stress of the last few weeks is kind of messing with my temper.”

“Good.” Yasen said in an equally insincere tone. “That is understandable. You had a lot of things to worry about lately.” He paused and let out a tired sigh, as his voice became full of sincere regret: “Anyway, I'm really sorry for all this. I really wanted to be there to help you, but I've got my orders and I can't directly disobey them. All I can promise you is that as soon as the orcs are sighted in your territory I'll come to your aid as quickly as possible. It will take at least four days to get there from Grimdale though, so you'll have to hold your own in the meantime.”

He sounded so remorseful that Eisen's first instinct was to reassure him, telling him that with the current number of Vex and goblins they had they would most likely be able to hold the orcs at bay, if not outright defeat them. However, since their conversation was apparently being monitored, he couldn't afford to reveal too much and instead just tried to cheer up his friend in a more generic way.

“Don't worry too much about it, Yasen!” He said in a rather forced cheerful tone. “We're people of the glorious kingdom of Medelan, and the Lord of Light will surely watch over us! Together with our new allies, the goblins and the Vex, we'll surely manage to hold off the orcs until your arrival!” He paused and, worrying about being too positive for whoever was listening, added: “However, having you with us as soon as possible, together with every aura master you'll be able to take with you, would be of huge help against the vile invaders. Only then we could be certain to achieve victory.”

“About that...” Yasen said. “I may have found someone willing to come to Brettholz in my stead.”

“Really?” Eisen asked. “But aren't all of the Royal Knights coming with you? Also don't get me wrong, but... well, no matter how good this aura master you're sending me is, it's not as if a single individual would make much of a difference against twenty thousand orcs...”

“Oh, she's not a member of the Royal Knights.” The captain assured him. “In fact, she's not even from Medelan. And trust me, if there is someone who can make a difference on their own, that's her.”

“She?” The marquis raised an eyebrow. “You mean this aura master is a woman? Who is she? One of your girlfriends?”

“I wish.” Yasen sounded really amused right now. “But I’m afraid she doesn’t really swing my way. Though maybe that’s for the better, because I’m not sure I’d survive a night in bed with her.”

“Really?” Eisen asked with a smile. “A veteran beccan lover like you is scared of a woman? She must be really wild then.”

“More than wild.” The captain chuckled. “A complete beast, I’d say. Literally. Does the name Alya Vilka ring any bell?”

“Alya Vilka?” The nobleman cried, as his eyes grew wide. He wasn't the only one either, as the telemancers in the room also looked surprised, despite being focused on keeping the call up. “You mean... The White Wolf?”

“That's her.” Yasen confirmed. “But try not to get too excited. She didn't actually promise she would come, she just said that she might. And it's nothing officially binding either, just two old war comrades talking about what they’re going to do in their free time.”

“Ok.” Eisen said, trying to contain his amazement. “But... I've got so many questions! I didn't know that you knew her! Are you two friends?”

“I've fought at her side multiple times when I was in the Federation.” The captain replied. “And we've gotten drunk, talked and trained together, but I wouldn't really call us friends. She's kind of too obsessed with honing her strength to really care about things like friendship.” He paused and then added: “However I might be the next best thing for her, since I was one of the few people capable of keeping up with her, if just barely. Anyway, we still keep in touch from time to time, mostly to talk about our achievements and setting up sparring sessions, and since she's always searching for new challenges, I thought I'd tell her where to find one.”

“Here in Brettholz, I suppose?” The marquis guessed with a smirk.

“Correct.” Yasen confirmed. “After all, where else could she find an oni?”

“Considering no one has seen an oni in centuries, I wouldn't know.” Eisen said, his smile growing considerably wider. “So, what did she actually say about coming to Brettholz?”

“She certainly seemed interested.” The captain replied. “In her own words, she's very eager to see for herself if oni are as strong as they say. However, she still has her own obligations to consider. After all, she is the current Federal Champion, and her loyalty lies with her nation first and foremost.” He made a small pause. “That said, if there is no emergency to keep her from leaving the Federation, then she is all but assured to show up in Brettholz. She wouldn't willingly pass the chance to test her skills against the likes of an oni, after all.”

“I certainly hope she will get what she wants, then.” The marquis said. “Thank you for asking for her help, Yasen.”

“You're welcome.” The captain replied. “But it was nothing, really. All I did was call an old comrade and give her a suggestion for her next vacation.”

“Considering that the comrade in question is the White Wolf, I’d still say that this is plenty of help on your part.” Eisen insisted.

“Maybe.” Yasen conceded. “I still wish I could have done more. And now, if you excuse me, I’m going to end the call. I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me before we depart for Grimdale, and I don’t have much time to do it.”

“It’s always like this for me as well.” Eisen sighed. “Too many things to do and never enough time to do them. Sometimes I wonder where I find time to sleep. Anyway, have a good trip. I hope I’ll be able to see you soon.”

“That’s mutual, my friend.” The aura master replied. “Stay strong.”

“You too. May the Lord of Light watch over you.”

The call was then terminated, and all of the telemancers in the room took a breath of relief, as they finally could stop focusing on their instruments.

Eisen, however, just remained sitting at his desk, lost in his thoughts. The loss of the Royal Knights' assistance stinged a lot, but with the current number of Vex and goblins they could still manage to stop the orcs, especially if Yasen’s comrade actually came to help them.

Alya Vilka. The White Wolf. The strongest aura master that the Federation of Thule had produced in generations. Having her come to their aid seemed just too good to be true… and this feeling was probably justified, since there were no assurances that she would actually show up. And even if she did, it was up in the air whether or not she would make it to Brettholz before the oni attacked.

The nobleman sighed. It seemed that this was up in the hands of the Lord, so for now it was best if he didn’t count too much on Alya Vilka. After all, if she arrived on time they would be able to adjust their plans to include her on the fly, while if she didn’t then they wouldn’t really lose anything.

Coming to a decision, the marquis turned to the telemancers, who were currently busy stretching and relaxing.

“All right, break time is over.” He said. “I need to send a message to our allies, the Vex and the goblins. Tell them that the Royal Knights won’t be able to assist us against the orcs, but make no mention of the political reasons you overheard right now, and most importantly don’t tell them about Alya Vilka. I don’t want to give them false hopes.”

The sorcerers looked far from happy, as they likely were already looking forward to a hot meal and a nap, but they obeyed without any question, grabbing their twinstones and relaying the information the marquis had told them to share.