Chapter 47
Homeland Deep beneath the guards’ quarters, in the west side of Kel Tora castle, was the prison. In the spirit of Kel Tora, the prison was kept as clean as its great hall. Duke Essex told Karn that his prisoners liked to tell tale of how the bars were made of silver and twinkled when the sun shone in. Karn took the duke’s comment as a joke, until he saw just how clean the space was.
“Bastards! I’m not telling you anything!” Vuk’s man spat.
The senior prison guard considered him stonily. “You have a choice, fellow. You either die down here when Mustaffa attacks, or we release you just prior to his invasion, give you a fighting chance.”
“Strike him,” Karn instructed the senior guard.
“Do what, sir?” The guard looked at Duke Essex for clarification, but the duke merely nodded once, and kept silent, and out of view.
“Make a fist and strike him,” Karn ordered again.
“I’ve never struck a prisoner, sir. In all my time as a guard, I’ve never had to. Our laws prohibit it, and to strike an unarmed man—”
“This man would kill you, your wife, and your children if given the chance,” Karn stated coldly.
“Would you?”
“You’re damned right I would.”
The guard drove his fist straight into the bridge of the prisoner’s nose.
“Was that satisfactory, sir?” the senior guard asked.
To his credit, the prisoner did not cry out. Blood streamed down his face when he spat in anger, “Bastard! Our land’s laws forbid torture of prisoners of war.”
Karn paused before he looked at the duke. Although not a word was spoken, each man knew what the other thought.
“Our land’s laws?” Karn asked.
The prisoner’s voice turned sullen. “I was born in a fishing village not far from where Mustaffa’s ships landed. Lived there all my life. When he arrived, there was no choice: join him or die. He executed everyone—my father, my mother, my sisters—and he burned all our homes.”
“And all that makes you loyal to Mustaffa?” Karn questioned.
“You wouldn’t understand, living here in shiny Kel Tora. There was nothing left. I was hungry… things are better now. Better under his rule—” A series of violent coughs that splattered blood onto his lap halted the prisoner’s speech.
“You uncaring scoundrel!” Essex shouted as he stepped into the prisoner’s eyeline.
The prisoner’s face went pale white.
“You’re sick!” the duke raged. “He kills your family and given the choice to fight or serve, you serve.”
“I know you,” the prisoner proclaimed. “I must be pretty damn important for you to be here.”
“You? No, you’re nothing but a rabid animal,” Essex said before he turned his back on the prisoner.
“My lord?” Karn asked. “What do you want to do with this rabid animal?”
“Kill him,” Duke Essex ordered as he walked out the prison. “Make it as painful as you can.”
“What? No!” Mustaffa’s man pleaded. “Don’t kill me! I’ll talk!”
Karn shot a quick glance across the room at Duke Essex, who stood once more out of the prisoner’s line of sight. The duke smiled and nodded.
***
A little while later, an eerie silence cloaked Kel Tora’s throne room. Duke Essex paced as he waited for Karn to return with the information and prayed it would improve this worsening situation.
At long last, Karn stormed in, Lieutenant Hart at his side.
“General, good news, I hope,” Essex said by way of greeting.
“Bad news.”
“Tell me,” he sighed.
“We discovered that Mustaffa travels near the head of his army, yet not far enough ahead that we could isolate him from his soldiers.”
“Blast!” Essex rubbed his head. “Well, perhaps it’s for the better.”
“Sir, this doesn’t change the fact that we’re going into battle,” Karn said. “And I have a new… more dangerous plan.”
“General, if you want to throw away your life, I cannot stop you, but the lives of my soldiers are a different affair. Right, Lieutenant Hart?”
“Sir.” Lieutenant Hart bowed.
“How do you feel about suicide, Lieutenant?” he asked.
“My unit and I agree that our lives are a small price to pay for the freedom of Kel Tora and her families.”
“Brave.” Essex scowled. “Very well. You have my full support and I wish you success.” After a long pause, he continued, “Before you leave, I would like the two of you to join me for a formal dinner. Kel Tora will host one last celebration before this dreadful war reaches us.”