The Inconvenient Alliance

Chapter 18

Gregory POV:
At the first light of dawn the rain finally begins to slow first to a light rain, then a drizzle, and then it stops. I didn't sleep too well during the wet, cold night as I was tucked under some fallen tree debris, at least it was on a slightly raised slope so the water didn't come into the shelter I found too badly. I crawl out of the small space and look up at the sky towards the rising sun, letting out a long sigh of relief. It's finally morning, the night seemed longer than it should have due to the harsh conditions, but I had survived. Survived. . .that word trails off in my thoughts as I remember the cavern, what happened to Havor, and Kalis. Well, I have no idea where Kalis is and could only hope for the best and attempt to distract my mind with other matters instead of focusing on the terrifying thoughts of last night even though it's hard to forget such a scene. I know I must return to the empire but part of me is worried the emperor will be terribly upset that we never completed the main mission, and we also lost some people during this failure even though he explicitly told us he doesn't want to lose any more men. Even though we made a great discovery of something the mage seemed to be hiding I can't deny the emperor won't be a bit upset about the failure and the loss, but that is to be expected. I begin to think of what all could happen to me, even the worst scenarios. On one hand, I am afraid he will be so upset he will order my death, and I prefer to keep my head in tack. He could also exile me out into the wilderness and the vast unknown similar to the one who stole from the empire before, I believe Grayson was his name, though he was never exiled at first he simply ran off himself and can never return. Running off randomly right now may be taken as a betrayal as well if someone spots me still alive and I do not return after a while. He could also do nothing, let me live, and continue to do my daily job, possibly even earning a bit of coin and a promotion for such a great discovery but I'm not counting on it. On the other hand, I doubt he would kill me or exile me considering that would mean another loss in his kingdom, even so, it is a risk considering I haven't completed the mission and Iv heard before that the emperor can be very strict about someone not completing missions assigned to them directly by him. After a moment of thought I decide to head back, it may be risky but it's one I am willing to take. I'll have to at least try to explain what happened, and I'm not about to run off and become an exile like Grayson, at least not yet if I can help it. With my decision made I begin my travels back to the empire, walking back through the thick forest with trees many feet tall all around me, their leaves, and the grass, sways in a light wind that blows by, creating streaks of lights and shadows that seem to dance on the ground. Now that its day, I can see more around the forest, the small wildflowers and stones of all sizes scattered about and all of the fallen tree debris in places ranging from piles of leaves to fallen tree branches along with some of the moss and vines growing scattered across some of the trees, the fallen debris, and across some of the rocks scattered about. Water droplets from the rain last night sparkle in the sunlight across the surface of many things in the forest. A few minutes into my journey as I traverse the soft muddy ground I hear some birds now whistling a nice tune as they sit up in the treetops, and I look up towards the sound, thinking how it's so odd that nature can be so unforgiving at times but it can also be so peaceful at other times. I enjoy every minute of this peaceful moment, as I do not know when I will have another peaceful moment like this again, and I admit I'm a bit overjoyed right now that I survived the caverns and the harsh stormy night as I walk through this now surreal moment. I take all of the scenery in, seeing how even though I've never been this far from the empire city alone, especially not alone in the wilderness, and this is terrifying, It's also not too bad currently, quite beautiful actually, though I shouldn't jinx things after last night. After a few hours of travel the forest exits out into a vast familiar field, the field on the outskirts of the empire. I know I am getting closer, just a few more hours of walking to make it back now. It partly feels like it is taking longer to travel back than how quickly I first traveled here with my group as we were in a hurry before to catch Drake and Grayson, but as I have no dire need to push myself more than I have to currently, I can enjoy this nice short time off the job before the storm hits again. I look around the field as I'm walking, at the tall green grass waving in the light wind, the few groupings of tall sunflowers scattered about in the field as I pass by, and as I look towards the horizon in the distance the field seems to go on further than I can see. As I continue, up ahead I can finally see the familiar large stone wall that surrounds the empire with the Knights at their watch posts up top and a large main entrance down below with large empire flags mounted on either side of the main entrance. A trail winds out of the entrance and disappears into the grass that has grown up around it, to the side of the path there is a signpost telling directions with a lit lantern hanging on one side of it to illuminate the signpost and the path to see it better during the night. I hear a horse ney and the clopping of hooves as the gate opens and four Chargers ride out to me. They circle around me and I stop in place, chargers are knights specifically trained to use horses, especially in combat situations. The one originally in the lead looks over at me and speaks up in a directing tone, "Identify yourself and your business here." I look up at him and say back, "I'm Gregory, one of the scouts in the mission the emperor assigned to us himself last night, and I need to speak to him, I believe I've discovered something important during the mission that he needs to know about." He speaks to me again, "where is the rest of your group scout?" I glance down slightly, he seems to read off my facial expression that they are not here, "they served the empire well, wherever they may be now" I look back up at him, I recognize he's a commander now as his uniform is different than the others, a better quality armor including a helm. Commanders are probably the highest-ranking of the knights other than the emperor's right hand. The knights are the middle tiere guards of which the commanders tend to lead large groups of them into battles, they also command the chargers and each commander can arrange as well as lead a small portion of the army in the empire with permission from the emperor, "thank you commander" I finish and he continues, "well, you're in luck, one of the Knights up on the wall saw you coming in from a distance and informed someone at the palace who then informed the emperor, he then ordered to send us out here to lead you back to the palace with hopes you have something of great value for him." I flinch slightly as I assume the item of value he's referring to is the dragon egg since I didn't walk up with Grayson or Drake captured. He pauses in thought before continuing, "Follow us, quickly, and don't fall behind, we don't want to leave the emperor waiting any longer than we have to." He pulls the reins and begins to walk his horse back, still leading the group. I follow behind and the Chargers walk around me, two on either side and one behind. As I am walking I decide to ask the Commander something, "why did you have to identify me if a few of the Knights recognized me, and the emperor sent you out?" He responds as he leads the horse forward, partly glancing back as he speaks, "we can never be too careful, we are required to identify any newcomers, as well as anyone entering the city now due to some safety protocols issued by the emperor since the incident with someone stealing something irreplaceable per say." I suspect he's referring to Grayson stealing the egg again, and I suppose these higher security measures make sense to take note of anyone coming in so it would be easier to keep tabs on them and less likely for someone to get away with stealing something of value again. Though I doubt anyone new here would try to steal something, the whole thing with Grayson is crazy he even managed to steal something and escape outside of our walls but I heard he was a high rank, higher rank than myself, and based on that I could guess many probably didn't suspect him as the thief until he was already long gone, plus the higher ranks tend to have access to areas in the main kingdom many others are not allowed to go. I stay quiet for the rest of the walk up to the gate, having no need to ask anything else at the moment. The first part of the gate is already open, and as we walk under the overpass that is big enough to fit at least a few horses side by side I look up at the wall, the wall itself is many feet thick, with moss and cracks in some areas due to age, I heard this wall has held up against many battles for centuries with few repairs having to be done. The outer gate closes as soon as we are through, and as it does the inner gate opens and then also closes once we are through. We begin to travel on one of the side paths that has an upward slope to reach the kingdom. Half-way along the path I notice the path splits off on a cross path to one of the market districts where some local people in this area of the city are bustling at the shops like on any other day to stock up on supplies for their families, I know some even have a small fenced-in land with gardens and farm animals they take care of, though many people in the market set up their own small tent shops and earn money by trading items for gold, they then use that gold to buy what they need and this nice cycle of trading continues. I continue past the market, following the commander down the slightly curved path, the castle itself has its own separate area away from the city with a strong reinforced wall around it and many watchtowers as well as high points to see anyone walking up the path. The path changes from a smooth dirt path to smooth stone and leads up to a double iron gate much like the one at the entrance of the city that lets us pass to a smooth stone bridge with carvings along the sides and intricate designs. Beyond the gate is a circular path with a fountain centerpiece, chairs line the edges creating a nice seating area. Beyond that, it continues to a stone drawbridge and I peer over the bridge at the moat, the water is quite clear and sparkles in the sunlight. I look back and see the moat goes under the previous bridge as well then look forward as this drawbridge leads to a few more iron gates, similar to the one at the main entrance in the city again that also lets us pass. We finally come to a grass field that surrounds the castle and the Commander halts his horse, putting his hand up so the Chargers stop, and he speaks to me, "This is where we part ways, I need to take these horses back to the stables now but the emperor is inside awaiting your arrival, go forth Scout" with that final message him and the other Knights on horseback charge off, the sound of hooves on the ground fade as they disappear around the side of the castle and one of the corner towers. I look towards the entrance, take a deep breath, and head inside to the familiar throne room of which I was originally called to the previous day, though it seems longer than just a day has passed. My thoughts linger on the mission once more, and how I was at first proud that I had become well known enough for the emperor to select me out of three to do this, out of how many he could have selected, but that was before this mission ended up as a failure. Before this, I would usually do small jobs, which tend to consist of training other Scouts or basic guards to be stealthier occasionally, and just generally helping out around the city, those small assignments often go well, but this one was the first one that was dreadful, and I still dread what the emperor will do and say about this.