Defense of the West Gate

Defense of the West Gate

Defense of the West Gate

“And that’s all the east gate has to report,” its commander said.

Roughly once per season, every commander in the city would gather in a meeting room near the central plaza. Today was one of those days. The summer meeting was normally the most stressful of all, since it took place right after the nobles’ Archduke Conference, but this year’s spring meeting was causing us more than enough grief. There were reports about the tense atmosphere that had plagued winter, and the triennial shift of commanders was being done.

“Right,” said the commander of the east gate. “Next up: the north gate. Gunther, how’s the north?”

I stood up. The north gate was connected to the Noble’s Quarter, so there were knights working shifts there too. That made it the easiest place for us to get intel on nobles—plus, the knights often had messages for the lower city. It was the duty of soldiers stationed at the north gate to discreetly ask about noble affairs, so when a commander asked, “How’s the north?” they really wanted to know about the Noble’s Quarter and the nobles even farther north.

“Well,” I said, “I don’t have any details, but the nobles who committed grave crimes were apparently caught and punished. There’s still some discord on the noble side, but we don’t need to be so on edge anymore—not for now, at least. They finished taking back the magic tools they lent us and said we could ease our guard. I’m also told that Lady Rozemyne returned to the temple after keeping her distance all winter, for her own safety.”

My report included details from the temple guards on top of what the knights of the north gate had told us, which earned me some chuckles from the others.

“You’re always so quick to get intel about Lady Rozemyne,” someone said.

“You’re not troubling the temple guards, are ya?” asked another.

Shut it. Now that Lutz and Tuuli are both live-in leherls, I don’t get as much intel on Myne as I used to.

What choice did I have but to drop by the temple while on patrol and ask around? And, nah, I wasn’t bothering them; in return for what they told me, I was putting in good words for them at the south gate and even occasionally showing my face there when the new noble orphans wanted to venture into the forest. Tit for tat.

“If we can ease our guard, that means we can shift commanders now, right?” asked the south commander.

“Probably?” I replied with a shrug. Anytime we changed places, there was an adjustment period of sorts during which communication and maneuvering were more laggard than usual. We hadn’t wanted to take any chances, so we’d decided not to move the commanders until we were no longer on high alert.

“Nah, nah, nah. How about we just leave it for next year?” the east commander asked, then grimaced. “I don’t want to go north while the nobles are still tense and everything.”

“Nobody does,” the west commander interjected. “The north gate’s the worst, what with nobles always being there. The west and south ones are way more comfortable. Hahaha!” He was laughing as though it weren’t his business at all.

That was when a soldier rushed in, gasping for breath. “Bad news, Commander!” he exclaimed.

We were all commanders, so it wasn’t clear which one of us he was addressing. I was going to ask, when the west commander shot up and cried, “What happened?!”

“A noble from another duchy has arrived without a permit!”

“WHAT?!” In mere moments, the west commander had gone from laughing at his colleague to looking white as a sheet.

“You didn’t let them in, did you?!” I demanded.

“No, sir!” the soldier reported. “I did my best to stop her! She went no farther, maybe because of the archduke’s barrier!”

Noble trouble had come outta nowhere. Worst of all, it reminded me of the incident back when Myne had been an apprentice blue shrine maiden. Not being thorough back then had cost me my daughter. Then, half a year ago, a carriage with a noble crest had forced its way into the city and kidnapped some of the gray priests. A noble without a permit was sure to be bad news.

“The noble says that she’s engaged to Lord Hartmut, the High Priest, and that she’s Lady Rozemyne’s retainer—but can nobles from other duchies really be retainers?” the soldier spluttered. “I won’t get punished for stopping her, right?”

At no point had Myne, Lutz, Tuuli, or even the temple guards mentioned someone like that. “Forget that noble’s sob story!” I snapped. “No permit, no entry! It’s that simple!”

The soldier and the other commanders all stared at me in shock. Then, they nodded in agreement; they must have remembered what happened to the last commander who broke the rules.

“Did you use the magic tool to inform the Knight’s Order?!” I asked.

“That’s why I came to get the commander! There are apprentices waiting outside!”

Now that the tools distributed to every soldier over the winter had been taken back, the only ones that remained were those requiring the commanders’ permission to be used. For that reason, the soldier had run here with apprentices in tow.

The west gate commander rushed over to the window, threw it open, and started waving his arms around in a frantic display. “I GIVE PERMISSION!” he bellowed at the top of his lungs.

“HE GIVES PERMISSION!” cried the apprentice waiting closest to the window, flailing his arms in the same way.

The adults passing by must have seen the gathered soldiers and deduced that something serious was happening because they started relaying the message as well. Soon, a wave of shouts and gesturing rolled down the main street toward the west gate.

As for me, I’d sped out of the meeting room as soon as the first apprentice had shouted in response. I raced down the stairs and rushed outside. Everyone was staring toward the western gate. I did the same—just in time to see a red light shoot up into the air. The magic tool had been activated.

“Alright!” I shouted, then looked to the north gate. Another light, narrower than the one from the magic tool, shot up in response, signaling that the knight stationed there had acknowledged the call and would send word to the Knight’s Order.

After seeing both lights, the nearby apprentice smiled up at the grave-looking commanders still watching from the window, then waved a red cloth. The north gate couldn’t be seen from the meeting room, so he was indicating that a light had appeared there as well.

“We’re running to the west gate!” I shouted to the other commanders at the window. “No matter what happens, we can’t let that noble through!”

I don’t care what it takes—she is not getting into the city!

Before they could even respond, I started sprinting to the west gate. The apprentice soldiers followed after me.

“Be on your guard, everyone! A noble from another duchy’s trying to enter the city!” I shouted to the citizens we passed on the street. In the sky above, two highbeasts flew over our heads.

By the time we reached the west gate, the north gate’s knights were questioning the noble and the girl accompanying her. One of the girls was wearing her hair up, meaning she had come of age, but she still looked fairly young. The other looked close to twenty.

Now this is rare...

I couldn’t believe my eyes. Most noblewomen didn’t even want to be seen by commoners; they would refuse to come out of their carriages and instead communicate through their servants. These two girls, however, were speaking with the knights directly. Even their attire was unusual, at least by noble standards—they were wearing fairly plain clothes that looked to be traveling attire. They were clearly suspicious.

The women were both wearing blue capes, which I was pretty sure confirmed they were from another duchy. I wasn’t sure which duchy wore the color blue, but the knights definitely were.

They’re being a lot more polite than usual. Are these nobles from a big-deal duchy?

The knights were speaking with the older woman, but the younger one seemed to be the main noble—based on how everyone kept double-checking things with her, at least. I understood a few bits and pieces about noble hierarchy from watching Myne and her guard knights, as well as from her temple attendants, but that was about it. I was really out of my depth here.

Hold on, shouldn’t we be searching their carriage right about now?

I nudged one of the west gate soldiers, all the while keeping an eye on the knights and women, and whispered, “Hey... where’s their carriage?” Seeing the quality of their transport or the crest emblazoned on it would surely tell me something about the girl making all these wild assertions. If she really was Myne’s retainer, maybe we’d even find one of Tuuli’s hairpins in her luggage.

Unfortunately for me, things weren’t that simple. “They don’t have a carriage,” answered the soldier.

“How don’t they have a carriage?”

“They flew here on those... Um, what’s the word again? Highbeasts, right? ’Cause they’re always so high up in the air or something. Anyway, they swooped down on those.”

“They did what? This is too suspicious...” I murmured. The girls were so strange, in fact, that I started to doubt they were noblewomen at all.

“I was given permission to be Lady Rozemyne’s retainer,” the younger of the girls said. “Do not tell me that nobody informed you.”

“My apologies, Lady Clarissa, but your medal proves only that you’re an archnoble from Dunkelfelger,” one of the knights replied. “We’ve seen nothing to indicate you are Lady Rozemyne’s retainer, and you cannot enter the city without a permit from the aub. We shall send word to him now and see what he says. In the meantime, we must ask you to wait.”

The knight then turned to me and said, “We need to go deliver a report and see about this permit. Guide these two to the waiting room for nobles, will you?”

After leaving us with the troublesome task of supervising the outsider nobles, the knight and a few others took off. We’d need to keep the girls busy until they returned, it seemed.

The west commander forced a smile and stepped in front of our unexpected guests. “Follow me, if you would.”

“Do people still not know I am Lady Rozemyne’s retainer?” Lady Clarissa grumbled once we’d arrived in the waiting room, her cheeks puffed out. “Just what has Hartmut been doing? How many times have I told him that I want to serve her as soon as possible?”

Her phrasing made me grimace. “Not even a noble from a top-ranking duchy can enter Ehrenfest without the archduke’s permission. How can you claim to be Lady Rozemyne’s retainer when you don’t even know that? Or Lord Hartmut’s fiancée, for that matter? The least you can do is start being honest with us.”

“No, Gunther! Stop!” shouted the west commander.

“I would have you take back those words and apologize,” declared the older woman. She must have been a knight because a weapon suddenly appeared in her hand—and it was pointed right at me. The west commander was floundering about, but I refused to back down.

“You two are already suspicious for not having a permit, and now you’re pointing a weapon at a soldier? You must not even know how much Lady Rozemyne treasures commoners. Do you know what she would say if you attacked us on the job and then forced your way into the city? If you claim to be her retainer, then at least act in a way that won’t damage her reputation.”

I wasn’t just being dramatic—a bad retainer really could damage the reputation of their lord or lady. If these idiots couldn’t even understand that, then I really didn’t want them going near Myne. The last thing she needed were retainers who looked down on commoners. Having people like that around would keep us from being able to speak at the monastery. Instead, she needed more retainers like Lord Damuel.

“Put that thing away, Griselda.”

“But, Lady Clarissa...”

“I already know that Lady Rozemyne treasures commoners. She has favored merchants and is respected by the people. This soldier is likely speaking the truth—though he is the rudest commoner I have ever met.” Lady Clarissa then shot me a triumphant grin and said, “ However , it is absolutely true that I am engaged to Hartmut and have been permitted to serve Lady Rozemyne. If you know so much about her, then you should also know that she likes her retainers to be treated with respect. You would do well to speak with more care. I suppose you still might not believe me, though; as a commoner soldier, you must be oblivious to the deals and promises made at the Royal Academy.”

Her taunting smile really ticked me off, partly because she was right—I was just a soldier and didn’t know much about noble society. As much as I wanted to know more about the world my daughter now lived in, my options were painfully limited. Still, there were some things I could learn at work.

“I still don’t believe that you’re engaged to Hartmut. If you were, then you would have come with your bridal luggage, and the groom’s family would have welcomed you at the border gate with the permit you need. In all my time as a guard, I’ve seen plenty of noblewomen marry into Ehrenfest, but never have I seen one arrive without her partner or any family. How could we not deem you suspicious?”

I must have struck a nerve because Lady Clarissa’s blue eyes shot wide open. “Excuse me?!” she cried. “How rude!”

“Coming from someone trying to force her way in without a permit!”

As we growled and glared at each other, Lady Griselda shook her head in exasperation. “Lady Clarissa, in this exchange at least, the soldier is entirely correct.”

“What?! You’re taking his side, Griselda?!”

“I simply cannot agree with you. Neither one of us can deny that you came here out of the blue.”

All of a sudden, they were arguing with each other. I no longer felt hostile toward them; they were strange, but they didn’t seem like bad people.

I sighed. “If you want us to trust you, then I’d suggest getting in contact with your fiancé, Lord Hartmut. Nobles have those talking birds they can send off, right? If you really are getting married, he should reply. Just be warned—I know what his voice sounds like. You won’t be able to trick me.”

“Would a commoner here truly know his voice, I wonder?”

“Of course,” I said. “We speak to him at the temple.”

Whenever we soldiers met with Myne before leaving for Spring Prayer or the Harvest Festival, and whenever we returned with gray priests from Hasse, Lord Hartmut would always greet us—assuming he was there at the temple. Then, he’d start asking us about Myne, eager to learn everything he could. I’d initially kept my guard up, wondering what he was after, but Lutz and Gil had since explained that he was her loyal vassal.

And that made him seem like even more of a suspicious weirdo.

With a flick of the wrist, Lady Clarissa produced one of those sticks that all nobles have, then created a white bird. “I just arrived at Ehrenfest’s west gate,” she said to it, “but the guards aren’t letting me through. Nobles from other duchies require a permit from the aub, apparently. What should I do?”

She then swung her stick, sending the white bird through the wall and out of sight. It wasn’t long before it returned with a response.

“This is Rozemyne.”

The bird had been addressed to Lord Hartmut, but this message was clearly from Myne. I would never mistake my daughter’s voice. The way she addressed Lady Clarissa at least proved that they knew each other.

Lady Clarissa saw my surprise and gave me a smug look. “See? I am Lady Rozemyne’s retainer.”

Then, the bird continued: “Clarissa, obey the soldiers and stay where you are. If you defy them, I will have you sent straight back to Dunkelfelger.”

Myne was very obviously furious. Lady Clarissa faltered, her arrogance turning into unease. She really hadn’t expected to get scolded.

“So you’ve gotta stay here and obey our orders, huh?” I scoffed. “Good to know.”

“You expect ME to obey YOU?! That is CLEARLY crossing a line!”

“You heard the bird, didn’t you?!”

“I shall obey Lady Rozemyne but not any of you!”

As we glared at each other, Lord Damuel and Lady Angelica arrived. “Gunther, leave it at that,” Lord Damuel said. “We’ve come here on Lady Rozemyne’s orders, since a noble from a top-ranking duchy is a bit much for commoners to deal with. We’ll take care of the rest.”