Armor of God (Salvation of Solandeus Book 2) by VanBergen Jr. David J

Author:VanBergen Jr., David J.
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2014-10-17T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

They rode the horses hard all morning. While there was no sign of pursuit, they wanted to put as much distance between them and the town of Sorgen as possible. Around mid-day, they stopped at a stream to water the horses and give them a chance to cool down and rest. A small grove of trees provided a place to eat a small lunch and talk about the previous night’s events.

Mat began by telling Michael about the events of the night starting with the innkeeper’s son, Jimmy, knocking on his door. Michael asked a few questions while Mat told the story but didn’t seem surprised by what he heard. Mat finished the story by again expressing his regret that Jimmy had ever been involved, but he was thankful that Jimmy was there to help save them.

“Did you learn anything helpful?” Persephonie asked Michael when Mat was finished telling their story.

“Unfortunately, most of my contacts are missing, but I was able to gather some information from just listening and asking a few questions,” Michael answered. “As we saw, the town is in a deep state of poverty. Anton is using every resource possible to support his war on Solandeus. This includes food, money, natural resources, and men who can fight. It’s the same in every city. All available resources are being sent south while those left behind suffer.”

“In each city, there is a Governor who makes sure the resources keep flowing south,” Michael continued. “Each of them is in charge of a garrison to maintain order. As you saw, they do that with fear and intimidation, and they appear to be pretty effective at keeping control of the cities. Each Governor answers directly to Anton, so they are very motivated to keep order because Anton has been known to execute anyone who doesn’t please him.”

“He is a ruthless man,” Arajin commented.

“Since it could mean their life if their city is not controlled, the Governors focus all their resources on keeping order in the city,” Michael continued. “This means there is virtually no interference outside of the cities. We shouldn’t have to worry about military patrols while we travel, but bandits could be a problem. There are rumors of bandit kings consolidating power and essentially ruling the country outside the city. The local Governors may even be allowing them to operate in exchange for bribes.”

“So we still need to be careful but probably don’t have to worry about the city guard following us,” Mat concluded.

“I think you’re right,” Michael agreed, “but these bandit kings could be even more dangerous.”

“As foreigners are we going to be more of a target?” Persephonie asked.

“I’m not sure,” Michael replied. “The kingdom is still open to trade so just the fact that we are foreigners shouldn’t officially be a problem. What I don’t know is if it will make us more of a target or less as we travel. Our best bet is to avoid confrontation whenever possible. Our problems last night were probably related to crossing paths with the soldiers in the inn and not because anyone is searching for us.

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