Tales of the Vangen: The Black Ministry's Betrayal (Book 1)

Chapter 5: A Lesson Learned

Libro tensed. His grip on the quill tightened. Bad news?  But the siege against the rebels had gone swimmingly so far, in his opinion. What bad news could the Captain give at a time like this? His eyes trailed across the table, over the maps and charts and stone figurines, before finally settling on the letter.

A cold shiver ran up his spine then. Of course, the letter. The only thing that had spooked Dux well and good. A hard thing to do to a Centum. Anyone who'd survived a hundred battles was hard to startle, but all it took was one letter—written in the Empress's hand.

"Three hours ago, an imperial courier arrived with this on his person," Dux picked up the parchment and held it before everyone. Even in the dim lantern light, the blood-red ink shined. "New orders from our esteemed Empress. We are to take the hill at week's end and return to the capital immediately."

An uncomfortable silence settled over the tent as everyone digested what was said. "But that... that's," Libro stuttered.

"That only gives us three fecking days!" Civis slapped his palms against the table. "Captain, you can't be serious!"

"I'm afraid I am," Dux said, his face beholden to the iron mask so that it betrayed no emotion, but even then Libro could see the cracks in the Captain's façade. His eyes were hard, maybe even afraid. The thought alone left him feeling queasy, much less the bad news.

"How does she expect us to take it? It took months just to root them out of the nearby towns for Nido's sake."

"The Empress told us to take it and so we shall," Dux's voice was iron hard, the muscles in his jaw feathering with every word. "There are no other alternatives."

Civis shrank back into his chair. "Then she has signed our death warrant."

"She signed yours a long time ago," Libro pointed out. "I don't see why you're complaining."

"Why you little son of a bitch," Civis shot up from his chair as if someone had lit a fire under his ass. He placed a hand atop his sword,  fingers gripping round the handle.

"Sit down, Legate," Regis growled.  Without so much as a word, Civis obeyed. "So, I suppose you have a plan then, Dux?" The Danic man asked,  his words eloquent for a man born from the frozen north

"Nothing sound, that's for sure.  Our most recent orders were to wait and let the rebels lose morale and surrender. The Empress, however, has made that all but impossible now."

"Then let us simply take the hill," Regis said, rising from his seat with the unnatural enthusiasm of a man half his age. "We outnumber the bastards four to one. A single charge would break them in an instant. I'll even lead it myself if I have too."

Libro felt his breath catch. A charge? Against a fortified hill?  It was absolute madness to consider such an option.

"No," Dux shook his head as if he'd read Libro's mind. "A charge is too costly. The rebels have dug themselves deep and are armed to the teeth with flatbows. We'd lose a quarter of our men just trying to ascend the hill, let alone breaking down their defenses. I'm not going to throw away lives needlessly just for an easy answer."

That blew the wind out of Regis' sails. The man stood there deflated before sitting down. Libro gave an audible sigh of relief, ignoring the ugly look Civis was giving him. He could glare all he wanted too, a charge was still suicide.

Dux turned his attention to the other Tribunes. Nox, as expected, said nothing on the matter, his curious eyes scanning about the room. Culter merely shrugged. Not surprising, Libro thought. The man wasn't exactly known for strategizing. Most often, his plans consisted of the Captain pointing in a direction and saying get them.