As the king turned to go, Mehmet spoke again. ''My Lord," he cried, dropping to one knee, "I ask a boon!'' Calaewn raised an eyebrow, surprised - rewards had already been discussed for later - but gestured for him to continue.
"I've proved myself in your service. Let me raise my own company,'' he continued, radiating honest loyalty. Soulshield looked mildly surprised, but not averse to the idea. "We face a siege and imminent battle. I shall decide after that is done." A wise decision, as although proven loyal, he had yet to see Mehmet fight or lead. It suddenly struck Mehmet that there might well be vacancies after the battle....
The King left then, but the half-Qhal were not free to pursue their own goals yet; a large group of his captains had surrounded Skaven Henbar, and were questioning him closely about every facet of the Marmarkan operation that they could.
Percinious, Fellion and Mehmet waited until this was over, and then collected their equipment from Saxholm before leaving the palace.
As they walked through the city, they could see its' whole aspect was changed. Soldiers were hurrying back and forth, weapons were being colleted and issued. Urine was being collected ready to quench fires. Market stalls were being perfunctorily cleared, despite the protests of their owners. Civilians were reacting in one of three ways: Gather supplies and fort up in their homes; pile everything on handcarts and leave; or set up shop and try to sell things to the soldiers flooding the city.
As they walked, Mehmet continued with what had now become habit, the searching for others of what he was rapidly coming to think of as 'our kind' - half-Qhal. Percinious, not normally quite as observant, joined in, and his eye fell on three soldiers standing on a street corner talking. To his surprise, he realized that all three were almost certainly halfbloods.
They halted, and Mehmet turned to the human scout Morashez. "Go find us a billet somewhere," he directed, "at this rate there'll be nowhere left by tomorrow." Morashez glanced at the three tall, pale-haired strangers, and then back at his largely tall, slender, pale-haired companions; he knew what was going on, all right. Without comment, he set off to investigate inns.
"All right, lads?" quoth Mehmet cheerfully as he approached the three strangers. "It's too hot to stand around outside in this weather," he continued, "how about joining us for a beer?" The three strangers looked over Mehmet and his companions, and then one nodded. "Bloodwind's Company, right? He's a good captain; but I heard they were wiped out in the south?" "No, not at all," said Mehmet reassuringly.
Over mugs of ale, the seven got to talking. The newcomers were Denuon, Losdar and Torgga, all of Dorall's company. Once they were comfortable, Mehmet began to try and draw them on life as a halfblood. It seemed Dorall's was much like Bloodwind's; some hassle from the prejudiced, but a fair deal from the commander and majority of comrades. He dropped hints that, if things went well, a new company might be a-raising, with a better deal for 'our kind', and received the impression that these three, especially Losdar, might be interested if that came to pass; Denuon and Torgga grinned sceptically into their pints when they thought he wasn't looking.
Conversation wandered again for a while, and then Torgga said, "Where will you be fighting when they come?" Percinious and Mehmet exchanged glances; it hadn't really occurred to them to wonder. Seeing this, Losdar said, "Come in with us! Captain Dorall's a good leader, and any man trained with Bloodind's would be welcomed I'm sure. Better to have comrades to watch your back, eh?" The halfbloods glanced at each other; why not? Skaven spoke up. "Even me?" he said in his thick Marmarkan accent.
This was quite a shock, for his newly-acquired Cormaran armour had prevented the newcomers from realizing his origins before this. There was a moment of doubt, but Mehmet pitched in to explain Skaven's 'role' as a spy loyal to Cormar in the raising of the alarm, and the moment passed.
As they continued to talk, the realization slowly dawned on Percinious and Mehmet that the company and conversation of halfbloods was ... easier, more comfortable, than that of humans, even friendly humans. Never having had a comparison, they'd assumed that the amount of mental effort required to empathize and connect with people was normal. Here, however, in the society of their own kind, they felt more relaxed and 'in tune' than they had realized possible. Interesting.
They parted, Mehmet leaving ample money behind the bar for the three of Dorrall's to allow them to drink their fill, and hastened to meet Morashez as agreed. The scout had found them lodgings in an inn called The Bear's Eye - a name whose irony was not lost on Percinious and Mehmet. After settling into these, they set back out into the late afternoom to look up some old acquaintances.
The magician Columban was still plying his trade in the poor quarter, and was pleased - if very surprised - to see them back alive. Business appeared to be good; Protection, Bladesharp, Parry spells were popular these days for some reason, and his prices for Armouring Enchantments had doubled. None the less, he was glad to see the heroes; "You always have something interesting," he commented. Mehmet and Percinious unpacked their newest acquisitions for him to check.
When presented with the Chalice of Ryien, Columban recognized it instantly and was horrified. "Are you insane?" he cried. "Calatin the Wizard refused to use this; it destroyed the Dark God Norkaros; every legend in which it figures reports it as being too dangerous to use." Percinious was unmoved. "Where are the instructions, though?" he asked. Columban folded his arms. "Lost with the race that made it, fortunately," he replied.
Nutbolter asked about the Crimson Cloth. "Another dark and powerful device," answered Columban. "It can warp, transmute and change things, according to legend." He shook his head. "I wish these things had never been found," he sighed. "They will bring destruction and misery, I know it." Mehmet grinned encouragingly. "We mean to remove them from the hands of human kind," he said. Columban looked evenly at him, but made no further comment.
Paying the magician twenty marks for his services, they left his premises and went to turn in for the night.
The next morning, the pair set out to find Dorall's Company. After a couple of false starts, they located it camped in parkland in the Wealthy Quarter. Odd, but reasonable given that district's proximity to the south gate - the most likely to be assaulted.
On the way, Nutbolter had had an unfortunate encounter with what he thought was a fellow halfblood, only to discover that he was mistaken. Much tact was required to prevent the human from attacking him!
Captain Dorall was as ready to accept extra blades from Bloodwind's as Losgar had said, and took the four into his company for the upcoming battle. The day was spent in training and practice at the art of defending walls in siege. Few of his company had ever defended a siege before, including Percinious, Mehmet, Skaven and Felion; the techniques were all new. Dorall clearly had, and moreover had considerable talent in teaching; it was clear they could learn a lot from this man. After a day spent practicing pushing laden ladders from walls, aiming missiles down at the base of the wall without being exposed, runnining up and down the wall-steps, and judging when to reinforce other defenders, the four were fairly weary.
An idea had percolated Mehmet's mind during all this. At the end of the day, he petitioned Dorall for permission to lead a skirmishing party out to harry the advancing Marmarkans. He'd only need, oh, two or three men on top of what he had. Dorall considered for a moment. "Be back before they reach the walls," he decided, and Mehmet went away to find the three halfbloods.
A couple of hours later, seven halfbloods were heading out from the city towards the oncoming Marmarkans. As they walked, Mehmet explained and expanded on his thinking. Although they were indeed out here to harry the Marmarkans, and to reduce their ability to attack the city, his main objective was to locate among their ranks more of what he called 'brothers' and persuade them to his cause.
Percinious then explained some of their discoveries about the mighty Gates their blood made them heirs to, and the fact that the end of the world was not the end of everything; a possibility of escape lay beyond the Gates. This knowledge galvanized the halfbloods; the golden crown each that they were paid by Mehmet also helped seal their loyalty. However, as he spoke, a thought occurred to Percinious. The last time the Gates were used, the world was cracked, and the submergence began. What would happen when they were used again?
He kept this to himself.
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