Ten of Swords (Draft Only)

Chapter 37

Drawn by the sound of the ringing bells, many of the undead shambled towards the middle gates with renewed haste. Of the horde that bore down upon the holdout, a good fifth were pulled away by the noise, almost as if it reminded them of their true purpose.

It was getting easier to breathe, but those Maeve's face could not be seen the change in her movements and behaviour clearly hinted to her distress. Certainly, it was a knight's duty to defend the crown, but if she were to leave to do so she would be going against her orders. Not to mention she was so far away that she would probably never reach the castle in time.

"I need to go!" Maeve called out.

"You're kidding! There is no way you're going to leave us to head for the castle!" Elise sputtered. It was entirely ridiculous, and Maeve should have been smart enough to know that. Taking off for the castle would only be a waste of time. Whatever was going on there would not wait until she arrived.

It made no sense for the castle to be under attack. The rings to indicate that the next wall had been reached had not even rung, and it was impossible for a force large enough to put the castle on alert to get past unnoticed. Maybe they snuck someone in through the escape tunnels, but that would be assuming that anyone outside of the king and his knights knew about the tunnels. Redrain, he had been a knight here before Hereskel was king, he could have told them about it. The knights didn't know where the tunnel lead to though, only that it was hidden at the back of the castle kitchens.

"If there is a battle going on there, I need to be there! My duty to the crown supersedes my orders, even if they come from the king himself!" It might not wait for her, and one person may not turn the tide, but if every knight ignored their duty, it was much more likely that the king would be killed, or the castle would be taken. If the castle or the king was lost, then so was the siege. She pushed aside the next walking corpse that lunged at her, and seeing a break in the wave, she turned and ran.

Elise was forced to deal with the animated dead that Mave had only pushed aside. For some reason she had thought that Maeve was different, that she would know to do the right thing, but she was little more than another one of the king's pets. "Hel take you!" She spat after the knight. Honour and chivalry were truly myths in the end. Little more than propaganda, so that the people were tricked into thinking that the crown's dogs were anything other than what they truly were.

Seeing Elise's reaction to Maeve abandoning them, Takunda didn't have the heart to announce his own intention to leave. Contact with the ground left him feeling weaker every time he so much as scraped it for a second, and the fighting itself was exhausting. His kind were ambush predators, and they were not built for sustained combat. When he touched the stone road one last time, he knew it was time for him to go. Choosing between dying for the civilians or abandoning them so he would continue to live was not so hard for him as it might have been for some.

He felt no guilt, leaping for the closest wall and climbing out of reach of the horde. Someone had to provide for his family, after all. Maris and the kids would starve without him, and he could not allow that. Nothing was as important as they were. Sure, he liked these people, they were brave and gutsy, but he did not like them that much. Without so much as a word, he disappeared over the rooftops and was gone.

One of Miellena's followers was dragged down. Elise had never even learned their name before they were taken by the undead. Having less undead coming at them didn't make things any easier when they were losing defenders, not to mention the fatigue that was starting to set in.

"Sister!" Tyvo called out to Elise. "You must pray to the goddess! Ask her permission to use the bones of the undead to channel her power!"

"Excuse me but what the fuck?"