Duke Devon Trevelyan, the head of a Black Castle, bent over a pile of various papers that were scattered in disarray on a wide oak table. For an hour he had been studying reports describing the state of affairs in the Khail-hold Fortress.
At first, he could not understand why his longtime friend, now the head of the Red Castle, Duke Blaize Rutland, asked him to inspect these materials. Black Castle dealt exclusively with investigations, the courts and the maintenance of law in the country. All military affairs were the prerogative of the Red Castle.
He would have understood if Blaize turned for help to the head of the Blue Castle, as a stronghold of the empire's foreign affairs. But the Black Castle could have nothing to do with this case.
Yet his doubts disappeared as soon as he delved into this topic and out of habit began to collect the full picture piece by piece. In the end, no matter how the head of the Castle of Justice did not try to gather it all together, the image came out strange. The pieces just didn't add up.
When Devon was already beginning to lose his temper and was ready to throw this idea. The knock came from the direction of the door.
Without waiting for an invitation, the office was invaded by a young man. Blaize, the very one whom Devon had cursed in his mind for an hour, approached the table with a sweeping military step.
"I see you are trying hard to fulfill my request." - The Duke of Rutland spoke smiling broadly, settling himself in the opposite chair. Devon merely clenched his teeth, trying not to utter curses that were bursting out of him.
"So what do you think?" - Without paying any attention to a noticeable gloomy mood of a friend, continued Blaize.
Devon wanted to tell his friend everything he thought about him but quickly abandoned the idea. He had only a few friends. And Blaize was the closest of them. So in his presence, Devon tried to keep his explosive temper under control. Although Blaize was the only one who could withstand it long enough, but who knows ...
"You know yourself, right? No wonder you dragged all this garbage here," - said Devon, glancing at his friend with a heavy stare.
"I know that all this is very strange. But what exactly is the cause of the strangeness is a riddle to me. So I brought it all to you."
Devon sighed in surrender and began to fold the papers in the order that only he could understand.
"Well, let's start over here. Judging by these reports," - The Black Duke indicated with his hand several sheets to the right. - "The Arian army attacked the Fortress of Khail-hold five days ago. The fact that this is precisely the Arians is written by Count Wolcroft himself, Captain Berg, and several people from the permanent garrison. But judging by the reports, the attackers did not have any flags, emblems or standards. Among them were a few detachments of mercenaries from among the humans, rather ordinary thugs, shifters and even red-faced. Plus among the reports a couple of times it is mentioned that about a hundred were dressed as legendary stone beasts. And nowhere and no one ever explained from where it became known, firstly, that they were Arians, and, secondly, that these hundred people were just mummers."
"Well, your first question is quite simple. The Arians are indicated by where the army came from. It is far enough from the border with any other country, and the Arian as a merchant country controls their lands well and is unlikely to have missed this funny bunch marching through their areas." - replied Blaize, starting to swing on a chair, as always not able to contain his energetic personality for long. - " Plus, we all know that they rarely fight with their own hands and often use the services of mercenaries. The question here is why and who exactly."
"The second question as for me is not so important." - Added Blaize, shifting the papers on his friend's table. - "Maybe the mercenaries weren't really that good in pretending to be Stone Warriors."
"I thought so at first, but then I carefully read all the reports and found one unusual, similar feature. Look," - Devon pointed to several papers, and at the same time glared at Blaize so he would stop his playful fingers. - "Here, here and here. The difference in the reports is precisely one day. The first almost immediately after the beginning of the siege and the second shortly after the first attack. They are written by the same people. But their opinions and mood itself are changing dramatically."
"Well, that's completely understandable. At first, at the sight of the Stone Beasts, they all wetted their pants. But as the attack began, they quickly realized that they were not real and could be defeated." - chuckled Blaize. - "There were only novices and warriors who have never been to battle. What do you want from them?"
"You are the commander in chief of the army, you tell me. But when I participated a couple of time in defense of the fortress, I didn't really experience any lift of mood from what I've seen there. And this was considered on the condition that the number of defenders to the attackers was about one to three. Here, at about the same ratio, there are also units of Shifters and Red-faced. They were not mummers."
"Or maybe they were?" - offered Blaize.
"No, reports already after the retreat indicate that a lot of bodies were left on the walls of both the shifters and the red-faced ones. They were real. Plus, the reports clearly stated more than once that the warehouse with the red-faced ammunition was blown up even at the first attack, the question is how? Nobody answered it at all. Nowhere does this sound. Why did the earl himself not boast of such an achievement? After all, it is obvious that it was the main reason for the victory. If not then the wall will be blown during the first attack and then the defender wouldn't be able to deal with shifters and others." - Said Devon, angrily tapping his fingers on the tabletop. He hated when he couldn't understand something. - "Also to ignite the warehouse, they should have first found it in the camp of the enemy and then also get close to it to set it on fire. And this is all during the battle, at the very beginning. At the same time, the earl did not fail to mention their idea with shifters and perfumes. The idea is indeed good, but ... Not on the same level as a big bang in the middle of the first attack."
Blaize just threw up his hands; he was cracking his head over these questions for the whole day yesterday. And even sent two messengers with the task to find out about it in more detail. But so far there have been no answers.
"Plus, why did the Earl lead almost the entire garrison to a sortie at the very beginning of the battle at the end of the first attack? This is just some kind of stupidity. I've heard a lot about Wolcroft and his merits. Had he really gone senile?"
"I can't say anything about his state of mind, but the fact that this event and others got a positive response from the garrison is also strange. Somewhere I even read something like "finally the earl allowed outings" as if everyone couldn't wait to run out and the earl only kept them there." - said Blaize, getting solemn. - "Moreover, this report was from one of the old members of the garrison. After that, I decided to come to you. There is clearly something filthy, and the problem is not only with the Arians. I will deal with them and their motives myself along with the head of the Blue Castle. But what happened to ours, that I ask you to find out. One more thing." - Continued Blaize. Although Devon's expression showed a certain discontent, he knew that the friend would not refuse to help. - "This morning I received a report that Captain Paris El Marsters, immediately after the retreat of the Arians, had left the fortress with five of his soldiers. Moreover, permission was given to him personally by the earl. At the same time, the guards in the capital announced last night that Paris el Marsters drove into the city accompanied by five warriors and three carts. And the captain did not permit the inspection of the carts, referring to military secrets." - Hearing this, Devon frowned. The name was definitely familiar.
"What do you know about him?" - The Black Lord asked carefully.
"The eldest son of the former head of the Green Castle. The name was very famous because of the huge scandal six years ago. You could not hear, because it happened before your return. The story is very dark. The old Black Lord suddenly died just a month before the incident, and you came to be a new one only a year later. You remember what the state of affairs was then, right? This case was so unpleasant that it was apparently swept up quickly under the carpet."
Discontent vanished from Davon's face. Now it really had to do with him. And it all sounded too much like treason.
"Devon, only I ask you, be very attentive. I am personally acquainted with Earl Wolcroft. And I will never believe that he could become a traitor. And Paris, I met him a couple of times. I do not know, but my heart suggests that everything is much more complicated than it seems."
They talked some more. But the Heads of the Castles never had a lot of free time, and in just a couple of minutes, the assistant to the Head of the Red Castle was already knocking on the door in search of the boss. Devon lost himself in thought as Blaize left the office.
Indeed, the picture looked very strange, and with the latest news, it became even crazier. And the most bizarre thing was that for some reason the Earl needed to send the young captain immediately after the attack to the capital, and even with three carts. The fact that Marsters was able to make this journey in just two days said that he was in a hurry as if his ass was on fire.
What was so important to deliver to the capital? Perhaps learning this will lead him to some answers.