Chapter 1.21

Karson

“One week,” said Ax with a determined look on his face. “We leave in one week. Agreed?”

It had only been two days since his wedding, and I was beyond exhausted. I had boosted eight of the eleven remaining Temple survivors. My own personal soldiers, my Vanguard. Xene’s leather workers were working overtime under Danae’s direction to make armor for them. Boiled leather cuirasses shaped like torso muscles, with multiple layers of cloth glued inside it. They were dyed black, with thick strips of leather hanging down in a skirt to armor the thighs. Each of my Vanguard wore a pauldron only on their left arm, which held their bows, leaving their drawing arm loose to properly draw. They wore no helmets, wearing long, hooded traveling cloaks that were tied to the shoulder straps, and high boots instead of sandals.

In the evenings, I had armor for the myrmidons and the Vanguard to enchant. I added protective wards to the cloaks of my Vanguard, spent hours on inscribing crates and bags, and whatever else Ax and I had to work on together. Sleep was a foggy memory, a few hours snatched here or there when Zahra convinced me to do so. In fact, a few hours before, Zahra had tricked me into a nap by pulling my head down to her lap so that she could play with my hair.

“One week,” I confirmed. My Vanguard would be ready, as would the myrmidons. Their formation work was vastly improved, and Lacedaemon was doing well as their Loxargos, or captain. He was a sponge, too, absorbing every bit of knowledge old Xia Fang had to offer. From what Ax had to say, it was quite a lot.

“You look beat,” he said in English. He was one to talk, I thought. He looked worn and haggard.

“Yeah, well, shit ain’t gonna enchant itself,” I replied.

“We’re done enchanting for the myrmidons,” he replied.

“We’re not even halfway,” I argued. The long enchant times for the cuirasses still rankled, but we hadn’t had the time or energy to improve the process at all.

Ax shook his head. “We’re burning ourselves out. It’ll have to wait until we’re on the road. I have everyone fitted, and those who aren’t enchanted yet can be on the inside of the formation.”

“We’ll be lucky to do one over the course of three days while on the road,” I argued. We now had dozens of brick-sized mana batteries, enough for weeks of mana consumption, and a half-dozen geothermal pump spikes charged and ready to use. However, we’d agreed to rely solely on the reduced mana feed of our personal armor and the mana batteries built into them while on the road. Drawing on the stockpile would be reserved only for combat. We had no idea when or where we’d have a safe haven long enough to recharge.

“True, but necessary. You need sleep. I need sleep. We need to stop building and start packing. Time’s wasting,” he said.

“Alright, fine,” I said reluctantly. He was right. My head was foggy from lack of sleep. My healing magic could only push me so far. My body could be healed of exhaustion, but that only added to the mental strain. I needed a solid night’s sleep.

“The helmets will be finished tomorrow,” said Ax. The blank look on my face led him to clarify. “For Dadaces. Our deadline, remember?”

“Oh, right. We need the money,” I said.

“Yes, the money. We have people to pay, things to buy. That’s three months worth of income spending for our House.”

“Wow, dude, I could actually hear you capitalize the ‘H’ that time,” I said in English.

“Shut up, dick,” he retorted. “Go sleep. Your last three Vanguard aren’t going to be happy if you fuck them up because you can’t focus.”

I waved him off, but Zahra was suddenly there, looking worried.

“Come with me,” she said firmly.

“I… have things…”

“No.”

“Okay…” I said weakly. It was hard to argue when I couldn’t remember what I intended to do next. She led me over to the pond. Someone had built up a bathing area of several large tubs out of the green slate bricks, using fired clay to make them water tight. Canvas walls gave a modicum of privacy. Zahra led me into one of them.

“Strip,” she ordered, before turning to fiddle with a bag she’d brought with her. Her tone made it clear that she was not to be argued with right now, so I did as she asked, then stepped into the tub. One of my Vanguard came in then, and took away my clothes and armor.

The water was hot from the sun and felt great even in the heat of the day. I felt knots in my shoulders start to unwind that I hadn’t even realized were there. Then Zahra was behind me, rubbing soap on my back and shoulders. I wanted to protest that I could wash myself, but her hands felt wonderful.

“Duck your head under the water,” she said, her words gentle. I complied. When I came back up, she lathered my hair and gently washed the beard that had grown in since I’d arrived Latona’s old village weeks ago. I felt legs in the water behind me - bare legs. I turned to see, but Zahra grabbed my head. “Eyes forward.”

She had gotten in behind me so that she could reach around and lather the rest of me. Once I was clean, I felt her leave the tub. I turned, only to see that she was wrapped in a towel. She eyed me furtively with just a hint of a smile.

“Sit on the edge of the tub, let me trim your hair,” she commanded. I sat on the edge of the stone tub, my mind blank. Zahra approached, her towel tightly tucked around her, making her cleavage bulge enticingly. She had a pair of scissors in her hand. Deftly, she combed my hair with her fingers, the scissors snapping away. Locks of hair fell around me and into the water. When she was finally satisfied, she trimmed away at my beard. Finally, she retrieved a small, sharp knife and began to shave me. It felt strange to have someone shave me, trusting them with a razor-sharp blade at your neck. But her movements were sure and smooth, and before I knew it, I was clean-shaven once again.

“Much better,” she said approvingly. “Rinse quickly, and you are finished.”

I cupped water in my hands, splashing away the loose whiskers from my cheeks and neck. Then I stood and turned to see Zahra almost completely dressed, wrapping her shirt around her but with her back to me.

“Dress,” she said, pointing at a clean chiton and belt next to her, before she walked out of the bathing area. I dressed swiftly and followed after her. I passed a peasant who headed in with a bucket to empty and refill the tub for the next user.

Zahra was waiting for me. She led me over to the mud hut and inside. The cot seemed much larger than it had been before. Zahra kicked off her boots and unwrapped her outer shirt. Seeing her just in trousers and the thin chest wrap that she wore under her shirt pleased me in a very primal way. Then she slipped out of her trousers, leaving her clad only in a pair of underwear. She climbed into bed.

“Well, come on then,” she said.

I untied my belt and let it fall before climbing into bed next to her. Without another word, she snuggled against my chest. I could feel the swell of her breasts pressing against me, the curve of her body where her legs parted slightly to make room for my own. In other circumstances, I would have loved to take advantage of the situation. As it was, though, the comfort of being clean and warm, snuggled in with a beautiful girl, was enough to lull me right to sleep.

I woke late the next morning, clear headed and well rested. The bed beside me was empty. My armor was on the table, only it was no longer unfinished bronze. Someone had taken the time to paint it with black enamel. I didn’t even know that they had paint that would stick to metal. My greaves, bracers and helmet were all painted black, as well. In addition, a crest of black horsehair had been added to the helmet, as well. The brown leather armor strips that formed the skirt had been replaced with ones dyed black. They must have co-opted Ax’s help to adjust the helmet. My Vanguard was making a statement. The only bronze color remaining on the armor was the double-kappa disk that I tied my cloak to. A new cloak of black wool hemmed with white rabbit fur was piled up next to the armor.

I dressed in full armor, and tied the new cloak to the disk. This left the cloak draped around my left side, with both ends tied to the disk. I flipped the cloak off my shoulder so that it draped down my back, almost to my ankles. I slid my knife and my sword into my belt, then double-checked the enchantments on my greaves. Acid spells, shadow traps, my new anti-healing wither spell, and the experimental spell I wasn’t sure would even work. Good to go.

Once I was dressed and armed, I left the hut. Four of my Vanguard were waiting, armored in their black leather armor with their hoods up over their heads. I had enchanted their cloaks with a variation of my mage armor, so that they had some protection from blows when the cloak was up over their heads, but none when they let it fall. They fell in around me as I headed out into the encampment. I spotted Zahra leading sword drills for my other Vanguard who were not in my escort, in full armor. Danae was drilling alongside them.

When they finished, I said, “I didn’t realize you were so multi-talented.”

Zahra blushed at the compliment. “I’m a warrior of the Royal Saka, daughter of the Queen. I am well trained in many weapons.”

“So I see. Shall we finish up with the last of my Vanguard today?”

“Let’s get it done,” she confirmed.

“Thank you for yesterday,” I said softly. Then I looked around at my Vanguard. “So since when did I start getting an escort?”

“You’ve had an escort since Danae woke. You’ll get used to it,” said Zahra knowingly.

She would know. I must really have been in a haze the last two days if I hadn’t even noticed people escorting me around. We collected the three remaining unchanged Vanguard, and took them back to the hut. I had the process down smoothly now, and took them in one at a time. The transformation took about two hours, so I finished by late afternoon. I’d found that with the prisoners, the starved, gaunt look went away, replaced by strong muscles. Most of the men gained close to forty pounds of muscle, while the women were gaining close to twenty or thirty, depending on their natural build.

When I finished with the last, I stood and popped my back. I had burned through a lot of energy and was looking forward to getting something to eat. When I stepped outside, I found Xene approaching.

“Lord Axerios has completed the helmets for Strategos Dadaces,” she said. “Can you take them to the town?”

“I can. Zahra, are you coming?”

“Of course.” She fell in beside me, and her two bodyguards joined my escort around us.

One of the wagons was a small two-wheeled horse cart, and was already set up and ready to go. The back was loaded down with crates filled with helmets. One of my Vanguard took the horse lead, and we began the long walk to town. I chewed on some bread that I’d snagged on our way past the house, grateful for something to put in my empty stomach. I tried to be indifferent to the growing refugee camp outside the city walls. We had done what we could, recruiting as many as we could support and take with us from the camp. But the numbers kept growing.

When I got to the gates, I was shocked to find a line. A squad of militiamen was processing refugees and allowing them into the city. A scribe was with them, writing down names onto a papyrus scroll, before allowing them entry. As far as I could see, they were turning no one away.

It took some time for us to reach the gates. When we arrived, the bored scribe said “Name?”

“Lord Axiokarsos and my personal retinue. We are delivering a shipment for Strategos Dadaces.”

The scribe looked up sharply. Then one of the militiamen who was a regular gate guard leaned down and whispered inaudibly to the scribe.

“Ah,” he said. “Very well, go on through. I’ll send a runner ahead. I expect you’ll need to go to the armory. If you head to the Megaron road, you’ll need to veer to the right. There is a wide alley that twists around a few buildings, and you’ll see the armory after the second bend.”

“Thanks,” I said.

We trooped through to see a town transformed. The main road through town had always been busy before. Now it was beyond crowded. We moved slowly with the flow of traffic, and marveled at the number of refugees now crammed into alleys, rooftops, and any spot they could find. Militiamen wandered through the crowds on an obvious recruitment drive, and food vendors were shouting prices that were at least double what they’d been a week ago. I looked at Zahra, who shrugged. “Too many people, not enough food,” she said.

That just confirmed that we needed to be gone as soon as possible. Once we made it past the market and up the Megaron road, I spotted the alley the scribe at mentioned. This end of the town was mostly free of refugees, and the alley was empty. We followed the directions, going past two bends that were nearly complete turns. A tall, windowless stone building was before us, with a dozen militiamen on patrol around it. We’d found the armory.

Upon our approach, we were halted by the patrol. It took only a few moments before one of them went into the armory, and returned with Dadaces in tow. He was looking much happier than the last time we’d spoken.

“Lord magi! It’s good to see you! Your brother and his new bride are well, I hope?”

“Indeed, though I must say he does look a bit worn out in the mornings,” I said.

Dadaces laughed. “He married a wild one, then! Good for him! I must confess, I had a wonderful time at the feast. I’ve been feeling better every day since then. Did you magick something into the food?”

“I’m afraid our talents don’t lie in that direction.”

“Ah, I thought you might have hired a hearth witch or something,” he said. “No matter. I see you have brought the helmets and spear heads as promised. Let’s get to business.”

Several militiamen came out carrying a large chest between them. I had my Vanguard start unloading the crates. The militia quickly counted up the goods I’d delivered, and nodded to Dadaces.

“Very good,” he said. “You’re leaving by week’s end?”

“We are,” I confirmed. One of my female Vanguard went over and picked up the money chest easily, and placed it in the cart. I saw the two militiamen who brought it out exchange a look, much to my amusement.

“Very well. I plan to house as many refugees as possible on the hill once you’re gone. It doesn’t offer quite the protection of the city walls, but it is better than naught at all. I wish you all the best of fortune.”

“It’s been our pleasure.”

“If you need anything from me, or hear word of the gigantes army, send word to me here at the armory. My Megaron… feels strange to me lately. I’m much more at home among my soldiers these days. Perhaps it is the times. Yes, dangerous times.”

Dadaces nodded to himself, and waved us away as he turned to go back into the armory.

“I think we may have helped him more than we realized,” said Zahra. “It’s like he’s a different person altogether without that spell on him.”