“But the men from Lituk Valley are my men,” protested Lord Marshal Grefon. “How can they swear to you when they are already sworn?”
“Lord Ridak gave me absolute authority over Fardale, as you well know,” explained Lord Marak. “That allows me to require the Vows from my subjects and replace their previous Vows with Lord Ridak’s blessing. Lord Ridak instructed you to send my Corte to Fardale under my command and they were to be stationed in Fardale. Being stationed in Fardale puts them under my authority and requires the utterance of the Vows of Service, again with Lord Ridak’s blessing. You may argue that was not his intent, but it no longer matters.”
“But if you knew it was not his intent,” reasoned Lord Marshal Grefon, “how could you go ahead and force the Vows?”
“You forced me to,” Marak pointed out. “In the first place, I do not know what Lord Ridak intended. I would like to ask you, but I doubt you would reveal it to me. Secondly, you intentionally placed a spy in my ranks. The obvious reason for this is that you considered me expendable and wanted to choose the timing of my disposal. I would guess that Lord Ridak and yourself may have had entirely different reasons for sending me out here, but both of them were selfish reasons. Neither of you thought I would be able to do what I promised to do and now that I have, you don’t know what to make of it. I believe you may have tipped your hand when you spoke of Fardale as being your estate.”
“You think you are so clever, Squad Leader,” snarled Lord Marshal Grefon, “but I control something you hold very dear.”
Quicker than Lord Marshal Grefon could react, Lord Marak stabbed a knife into the table between the Lord Marshal’s hands and rose.
“Were you to even think of harming my mother,” threatened Lord Marak, “I would treat you to slowest, most painful death you could imagine and I know your imagination is colorful. This meeting is over Lord Marshal of the Situ. You will not be needing accommodations for the night. If you are not off Fardale lands by nightfall, my men will hunt you down like the animal you are. Tell Lord Ridak that his next messenger boy had better have manners and know how to remain civil. Get out of my sight.”
Lord Marshal Grefon was about to protest, but when he looked into Lord Marak’s eyes, death stared back at him. He quickly rose and left the room. Lord Marak’s gaze followed the exiting Lord Marshal and stopped when they landed on Marshal Tingo of Woodville.
“I do not recall inviting you into this room,” barked Lord Marak.
“I am sorry, Lord Marak,” smiled the Ragatha Marshal as his eyes took in the still vibrating knife stuck in the table. “You said that you would speak with me after the meeting and the door to the room was wide open. I did not realize you were having another meeting before mine.”
“If you would afford me a few minutes before we meet,” suggested Lord Marak.
“That is not necessary,” interrupted the Ragatha Marshal. “I think it is better that you and Lord Zawbry meet face to face, anyway. Why don’t I leave you now and return to Woodville? I will tell Lord Zawbry that he should meet with you soon.”
“That is an excellent idea,” answered Lord Marak. “I look forward to meeting the Lord of Woodville.”
The Marshal of Woodville quickly exited and raced after the departing Lord Marshal Grefon, hoping he would be in time to talk with him.
Chapter 17
Reunion
Marshal Tingo entered Lord Zawbry’s study and saluted. The Ragatha Lord motioned for the Marshal to sit and waited until he complied.
“How did the meeting with the emissary go?” Lord Zawbry inquired.
“I never got there,” reported Marshal Tingo. “Lord Marak had already left, but I was invited to stay and wait for him. It gave me a good chance to check out the Fardale estate. I have some interesting information for you.”
“It is a shame you missed the meeting,” lamented Lord Zawbry, “but any information we can get on our new neighbor will be useful, as long as the agreement doesn’t cut off our route to the rest of the world.”
“I don’t think Lord Marak gave them any land,” guessed Marshal Tingo. “I think he gave them all of his slaves, though. There was not one slave on the entire estate. The most interesting tidbit is that Lord Marshal Grefon was there.”
“The Situ Lord Marshal came for the meeting?” asked Lord Zawbry.
“I don’t think he was able to get into the meeting,” smiled Marshal Tingo. “He is not a happy person. Lord Marak did not treat him well. As a matter of fact, I saw his life threatened twice while I was there. A Cortain pulled a sword on him and held it to the Lord Marshal’s chest and threatened to arrest him.”
“You saw this?” Lord Zawbry asked incredulously.
“Yes,” laughed Marshal Tingo, “and only moments later, Lord Marak, himself, stabbed a knife between Lord Marshal Grefon’s hands and ordered him to get out of Fardale before dark or he would have his men hunt him down like an animal.”
“It sounds like there is a serious rift in the Situ camp,” smiled Lord Zawbry. “Did the Lord Marshal leave?”
“Like a dog with his tail between his legs,” chuckled Marshal Tingo. “I had a chance to talk with him as he was leaving. He is a very bitter man. He actually said he hopes the Sorgans wiped Fardale out. I know he would not offer any support to Lord Marak, even if the Fardale Lord pleaded for it.”
“Excellent!” beamed Lord Zawbry. “That sounds like an invitation if I have ever heard one. We must act before the Litari learn of this. They would not hesitate to seal us off. With Fardale under our control, the Litari will be powerless even with Sorgan support. Still, we must have some provocation so it does not appear as if we are a threat to others.”
“I may have what you are looking for,” smiled Marshal Tingo. “Lord Marak mentioned meeting with you in Fardale to talk about our use of Fardale to access our other estates. He indicated that he had read the contract and said that Fardale has received no compensation for the use. He indicated that it was nothing major, merely a technicality to ensure that it is a legal contract.”
“He is clever, this Marak,” noted Lord Zawbry. “That had been my intention all along. When I penned the contract with Lord Lashendo and Bursar Tachora, I offered one sum to Fardale or triple the sum to the two of them privately. As I expected they jumped at the private funds. What fools. If it was left unchanged for three years, we would have had a land grant, a legal and permanent right-of-way across Fardale.”
“Well,” suggested Marshal Tingo, “what would happen if you met with Lord Marak and the talks did not go well? He would stop our access and we could claim he was breaking a contract.”
“Yes,” thought Lord Zawbry, “that would work, but we will have to time it perfectly. We must already have the armies from our other estates ready to strike Fardale from the other side when the talks break down. I must travel to meet with Lord Sevrin. He is going to have to authorize this before we start something that he will not approve of. I will not risk offending our Clan Lord over Fardale. You have done well, Marshal Tingo, well, indeed.”
* * *
Cortain Tagoro looked up from his polishing when he heard the knock on his door. He shouted for the person to enter as he placed his helmet on the stand next to his bed.
“Excuse me, Tagoro, may I speak with you?” asked Cortain Rybak.
“Sure,” Tagoro answered. “Come on in.”
Cortain Rybak grabbed a chair next to the small table and sat down. “I wanted to thank for saving me from Lord Marshal Grefon yesterday,” thanked Rybak. “I was trying to avoid him ever since he entered the estate and the flower garden was the one place I didn’t think he would look.”
“No thanks are necessary,” smiled Tagoro. “Elsa came running directly to me when you shooed her out of the garden. You can actually thank yourself. If you hadn’t leveled with me about what Grefon wanted you to do, I would not have arrived so quickly.”