The Conquest of Kiynan
Brine

Gamidaus dug his heels into his gelding trying to get the old horse to keep up with Aachen Coldblood’s mount. His splinted leg throbbed and shot streaks of pain through his entire body with every step his horse took, but neither his injury nor his stubborn mount could dampen his soaring spirits. His ancestral enemies’ kingdom lay in ruins. Their overwhelming defeat in the field and the flight of their King had disheartened the surviving defenders of Vidliank and they had quickly surrendered when they saw Coldblood’s troops arriving from Brine, with no sign of the Paladins ever coming to their rescue. In truth, the wily King of Paladia must have been suspicious of his easy victory at Brine and guessed the trap the Blackheart had laid for him at Vidliank. Instead of allowing his army to be caught between the Blackheart’s horde and Aachen’s troops, Proudfist had abandoned his ally and retreated to hide behind the walls of Daybreak.

Although they had taken Vidliank easily, Blackheart had been furious that King Hendrik had escaped. Blackheart sent his best soldiers to find and destroy the deposed King, but they had lost his trail and returned in failure. Blackheart had immediately had them executed. Personally, Gamidaus couldn’t understand the Iceborn King’s concern. Stoneworth had been only a minor threat to Blackheart while he had been in power, what harm could he possibly do now that he had lost his kingdom?

After his victory at Vidliank, Blackheart sent his Viceroys and Gamidaus to take Brine. Only a few hundred soldiers remained at Brine, those who had deserted the King of Paladia to defend their homes. The defenders were disorganized as well as overwhelmingly outnumbered, and did not delay the fall of Brine for long. The Viceroy of Caim had then returned to Vidliank with over fifteen hundred Iceborn, enough to cow any uprisings the newly subjugated Gaurvians might concoct. In the meantime, the warlord himself had brought four thousand Iceborn to Brockton where he found the city’s gates open to him and the Regent on his knees. Masc had spared Regent Goran Longstride in order to use him to requisition every ship harboured in Brockton’s port that could carry troops or provisions. Along with most of the warships that had set sail from Varice, the Blackheart embarked his men and set sail for the east, content to let his underlings rule his newly annexed lands in his absence. Councillor Sharptooth returned home to Gaurbane with five hundred Qume soldiers and General Windsword had gone to occupy Nunliss accompanied by as many troops. As per his promise, the Blackheart had ceded all the lands south of Vidliank back to the Qume. Soon, the thieving Gaurvians would be ejected from their farms and Qume peasants would flood across the border to occupy their ancestral home. The Qume would prosper as they had not done for centuries. The Qume dream of vengeance and glorious retribution against their oppressors was finally realised, and it was he, Gamidaus Silvertongue, who had made it possible.

Aman Kingsbury, the former Mamos of the Qume, feared the Blackheart and his northern savages. He had not trusted him and preferred to keep the weak child King of the Gaurvians in place rather than replace him with this ruthless conqueror. Gamidaus had been the one with vision though. He had known that this madman’s mighty army was the best chance the Qume had to rid themselves of the ever-encroaching Gaurvians once and for all.

“Mamos Gamidaus,” called Aachen suddenly as they rode.

“Yes?” Silvertongue replied looking into the Viceroy’s cold blue eyes.

“Tell me what you think of this King of Paladia that we are going to destroy.”

“He is not a fool, as the King of Gaurvia was, if that’s what you want to know.”

“Yes, I figured that, considering how he avoided our trap. But what kind of a man abandons his ally to save himself?”

Gamidaus looked over Coldblood’s face carefully, looking for a sign of whether he was questioning Gamidaus’ own actions by implication.

“A man wise enough to see that protecting the fate of his people is of greater importance than following his friend to certain doom.”

A shrewd grin spread over Aachen’s lips.

“Just so. Tell me, Mamos Silvertongue, about your glorious overthrow of your predecessor. I am very curious to know every detail.”

Again, Gamidaus couldn’t help but suspect that Coldblood was insinuating more than his words communicated. Gamidaus thought back to the coup d’état he had staged, and still felt the thrill of that night. He could not resist relating the story of his success.

“After meeting with King Blackheart, I knew at once that Kingsbury would never change his mind about you Iceborn. I knew that my best chance of getting rid of him was to act immediately, while his mind was still full of the threat posed by King Blackheart. I couldn’t just dispose of him however, as the Mamos was very well respected and trusted.”

“You mean the ‘former’ Mamos, don’t you?”

“Yes, of course. The former Mamos was well respected. I knew there were many men in our army whose loyalty to me outweighed their allegiance to Aman. I was sure I could swing the rest of the army over to my side, I just needed to do it before General Windsword or Councillor Sharptooth interfered because I couldn’t afford to take the risk that they’d side with Kingsbury. I ordered extra guards, loyal to me, to be posted by the chamber doors of Windsword, Sharptooth and Kingsbury. Their orders were to intercept messages, with promises of passing them on themselves, and to delay the Councillors from leaving their chambers for as long as possible. In the mean time, I summoned all the captains and sent them to call together and organize their men. I gathered a dozen soldiers loyal to me with reputations for prowess and brutality in battle and went to pay Kingsbury a visit. As I arrived at his chambers, I announced I had come to arrest him for treason. Naturally, my men immediately agreed to let me enter the chambers, and Kingsbury’s men, intimidated by my fighters and surrounded by men in agreement with me, helped me to arrest Kingsbury rather than opposing me.”

Coldblood laughed obnoxiously.

“It must have been quite a sight when you brought your leader in chains before the army.”

“Yes, it was,” Gamidaus continued. His pleasure in telling the tale diminished as he realized just how much Coldblood was enjoying it. “I accused Aman of abandoning the Qume dream of just retribution against the Gaurvians, and named it treason. I whipped the men into a frenzy by whetting their appetite for Gaurvian blood. By the time I allowed Kingsbury to speak, they were not interested in anything but war. General Windsword and Councillor Sharptooth arrived just as Kingsbury was being dragged off to the dungeon and the troops were calling me Mamos. They immediately saw that they had little choice but to kneel before me. They both claimed afterwards that they would have sided with me if I had asked them to, but I still have my doubts that they would have approved of so bold an action.”

“Ah, simple but effective,” intoned Aachen cheerfully. “Congratulations on your success, Mamos Gamidaus,” he added with emphasis. “You know, I was once a King myself. Yes, you see Varice is actually made up of three kingdoms, or at least it has been for the last seven hundred years or so. Blackheart was King of the Hargans, and a rival of mine. Our armies fought several times until he finally beat me and took my kingdom for a province of his own. Of course, when I was King, I would never have allowed an usurper to take my place. I’ve executed many a man who has defied me in much more trivial ways.”

Coldblood gave Gamidaus a cool, meaningful glance. The Qume merely held the Iceborn’s gaze until he continued cheerfully again.

“In some cases, such as yours, removing an unwanted ruler is not only justified, but highly rewarding.”

“What do you think Viceroy Quickeye’s views are on this subject?” asked Silvertongue coyly.

A brief look of disgust crossed over Coldblood’s face.

“Haal is a man of little ambition.”

“As I was saying earlier, King Proudfist and his people will not be subdued as easily as the Gaurvians were,” Silvertongue blurted, changing the subject to avoid the dangerous direction the conversation seemed to have been taking.

“Fear not, Gamidaus. We have two thousand Iceborn warriors and five hundred Qume soldiers under our command. Soon, we will lay siege to the last great enemy of your people. When the Paladins fall, I shall give you Hoys Proudfist’s head to bring back to Gaurbane. Give it to Aman Kingsbury, so that the dead King’s blank eyes can remind the former Mamos of his timidity and haunt him until the day he dies.”

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