Wraith Lord by Phipps C. T

Author:Phipps, C. T. [Phipps, C. T.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: grimdark fantasy
Publisher: Crossroad Press
Published: 2019-01-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

The Kerifas Forum was built around the thirty-foot-tall wall of the Palace District’s titular Governor’s Palace. The district entrance was barred by a heavy iron portcullis as wooden platforms twenty feet high had been constructed all around it, ladders leading up to them. On the top of these platforms were men carrying crossbows, hundreds of them.

They weren’t the city guard, though, or even Imperial soldiery. No, these individuals were wearing a special uniform of rune-covered chainmail with a tabard bearing the standard of a flaming sword. The Burning Blades were a group I’d researched in my studies of the Nine Usurpers. They were a legion of mercenaries divided into ten maniples of killers. Six thousand men and women total, a thousand of which were wizards. They were nicknamed the Empress’s Rapine.

The stories I’d seen had, at first, seemed like libel and lurid tavern tales but the more I investigated, the more I’d become sickened. I was no stranger to war crimes. Bloodlust, fighting for one’s life, and hatred for one’s enemies could turn even the noblest peasant into a monster. In my darkest hours, I too, had done things I could never take back. But the Burning Blades made business of other men’s shame. They specialized in pacifying rebellions and doing so through applied terror.

The Burning Blades’ presence here made sense, though, as the crowd gathered at the foot of the platforms was not subdued. Contrary to the expectation of Rose that the crowds were here to watch an execution as entertainment, they seemed on the verge of rioting. They were two thousand citizens shouting, yelling, and shoved up against one another. I had seen the makings of uprisings before, usually during a siege or in occupied territory, but rarely in a place that was so heavily garrisoned.

The make-up of the crowd was surprising, too, with not just the very poor present but many members of the merchant class and more than a few of the city guard in uniform. The last look terrified, as if they suspected this was going to turn ugly soon. I didn’t blame them. If the crowd hadn’t turned violent, it was close to doing so, even with the presence of the Burning Blades. Several in the crowd were already throwing combinations of shit and bottles against the foot of the platforms.

“This is not going to end well,” Rose said. “We shouldn’t be here.”

“Now you object?” Kana asked.

“I reserve the right to change my mind,” Rose said. “Besides, if Gewain is up there—”

“We’ll rescue him,” Regina said.

Rose fell silent.

A swift look at the towers, windows, rooftops, and balconies surrounding the area gave me glimpses of the forces the Burning Blades had in position. They were carefully hidden, albeit only as much as one could do with hundreds of additional troops. As a show of force, they should have been visible, but their camouflage indicated the master of this encounter wanted to keep them in reserve as to surprise his enemies. It meant their commander either expected an attack or intended to assault the crowd himself.

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