2k words
***
She pronounced Warrgh without the ‘r’, making it sound as though she was mocking a crying infant. It was hard to tell what part of her answer angered Mazkha more, but Skyseeker seemed pleased with herself.
“I think I’m gonna go find that grog,” Mazkha said, pushing away her empty keg.
“You’re sure?” Roderick asked, watching her rise.
“Between the fur in my meal and the company, definitely,” she replied.
“I suppose I’ll see you at the meeting?” Roderick suggested, feeling his chest constrict. He hadn’t wanted to insult her by bring her along with Skyseeker, but the two had been at each other’s throats right from the start.
“Yeah, course ya will,” she said with a grin. She leaned down, Roderick tilting his head in response. What began as a quick peck quickly turned into a deep, probing kiss, Roderick surprised by her bold display of affection, his worries melting away.
She broke off just before he would be strained for breath, nipping him playfully with one of her tusks. Her expression flipped as she glanced at Skyseeker, then the orc made her way out of the tavern, squeezing past the crowds of men.
Guilt swelled inside him even if the kiss left him lightheaded, Skyseeker frowning at him from across the table as the two were relatively alone once more.
“You never mentioned you bred with that pig,” Skyseeker said. “When was this revelation going to reach Skaven’s ears?”
“Mazkha and I are… close friends,” Roderick said. Damn it, why was he feeling so pensive? He’d had his fill of women in the past, from barmaids to lesser noblewomen who he’d never see for more than a few nights or weeks before war swept him away. Perhaps it was his closeness to Skyseeker, or maybe it was the fact he’d never brought two of his lovers into the same room before.
“The road here was long and hard,” he added. “And I won’t deny that we bonded. I took you for dead, lass. I didn’t want to, but as time passed, and things grew worse between me and Kessel, Mazkha was the only one I could turn to for companionship.”
“Skaven understands that,” she replied. “But as man-thing can see, I am not dead-dead, so now you don’t have to chase that fat-chested asparagus around-round. Sounds like good barter-deal, yes-yes?”
“I can’t just switch off my love for her,” Roderick said. “Just as I can’t abandon my love for you, lass.”
“It’s because of her stupid teats, isn’t it?” Skyseeker demanded. “They’re as big as Skaven’s head, that’s why you like her more than me-me.”
“This isn’t about what either of you look like,” he insisted, Skyseeker folding her arms pointedly. “I have the greatest respect for Mazkha. She’s loyal to her men, she’s tactful when she needs to be, and a good fighter. She’s saved my life many times to boot. But she can’t replace you,” he continued. “And I don’t want her to. I love you no less than when I lost you on that wolfship. Nothing between us has changed since then.”
Skyseeker glanced up at him, a glint of interest in her eye.
“You still love me-me more than her-her?”
“I’ve known you longer than I’ve known her, haven’t I?” he replied. “The day I met you was the greatest thing to happen in my life, and nothing can ever change that, Zral.”
That seemed to please her, Skyseeker dropping her defenseive posture, making a show of rolling her eyes.
“Fiiiiine, Skaven will grant forgiveness,” she relented. “Just don’t kiss or snog that hunk of lettuce in front of me again. Gross display!” She shivered dramatically.
“I give my word,” he said, placing a hand on his chest.
“Another round, wench!” Skyseeker suddenly yelled, slamming her hand on the table. “We got important moot soon-soon, and Skaven must get her buzz on.”
-xXx-
The upper level of the Keg was for the private room for wary travellers and folks looking for a nap, but the arrangement of misfits that now occupied the upstairs was here for neither. They had all come arrived on time save for the green-things, or the orcs as they liked to call themselves, who had delayed the moot by a few minutes for reasons they cared not to share. That smug, overgrown piglet had chunked her way up the steps alongside a male counterpart, and at a glance she could see their striking resemblance to each other, and it the giant sows they’d come in on. Most like they were busy snuffling for truffles, but that was a theory Skyseeker kept to herself.
The knights had arrived right on time, their leader a shorter man-thing wearing a gilded set of silver plate. He never seemed to slouch, his shoulders always pulled back as though an invisible band was constricting his chest. His hair was pristine and combed, and if Roderick hadn’t told her this Edouart had fought by his side before, she’d have thougth he’d walked right out of a barber’s than a war. She didn’t like the look of him one bit, he was too clean.
Wilfred, Roderick, and Von Kessel comprised the rest of the council, though Kessel had brought one of his minions with him. She couldn’t recall his name, but he’d been there during her attempted assassination on the Wolfship. He would occasionally whisper to the Captain while he looked her way, but Kessel never said much more than a murmur or a nod.
Their meeting took place at the end of a hallway of doors, each one leading off into bedrooms. They’d been vacated for the moot. The Keg’s penthouse was the largest space available, usually reserved for Albert and his breeders, the furniture pushed to the walls save for a table with a map laid out on its surface.
She could still here the clang and chatter of the busy dining hall through the wood below, but up here there was no such banter. It was Wilfred who broke the silence by closing the door a little harder than was necessary. There was something about him that commanded their attention, the wisdom of what could be hundreds of winters making even the orcs willing to listen.
“For those of you who do not know, I am Wilfred, Druid of the Wizard’s Conclave,” the old man started, his hands clasping the wood of his mage’s staff. “I thank each and every one of you for coming. Most of you are far from home, and have travelled perilous journey’s, but the worse is yet to come. The Imperial city of Marienburg has been besieged by a Chaos army. If they take it, the entire western province of the Empire will collapse, and millions will die. We will not let this happen.”
“How’d ya know yer little city hasn’t been ploughed already?” The giant orc asked. Roderick had called this one Warboss Morgoroth, and he was almost as ugly as his sister. Almost. He had to slouch to avoid knocking his head on the rafters.
“Refugees fleeing north all insist the walls are still holding,” Wilfred replied. “And I have sent ravens to confirm as much. When the wind is right, one can even here the sound of warfare from here. The city yet stands.”
“Any idea on their numbers?” Roderick asked.
“They have the entire western wall encircled,” Wilfred replied, drawing their attention to the table. On it was a parchment with a blown-up view of a city seen from above, It was a sprawling mess of little channels and sprawling urban areas, surrounded by a vaguely circular wall. A river cut right through it from top to bottom. It was illustrated, but Skyseeker didn’t need to read to know it was the River Reik. “They have even sent a smaller force to the east side of the river to cut off supply lines, though I am not sure of their numbers. I do know that the Chaos forces number at least five thousand on the western bank.”
“Five thousand?” Von Kessel demanded. “Our band barely numbers five hundred, and we have no heavy support. What are we to do against all that?”
“We may be few, but we have the element of surprise,” Roderick replied. “They don’t know we’re coming, and they’ll all be focused on the city walls. An army that big will be slow to react, if we strike fast we can deal some serious damage before they can mount a defence.”
“They’ll undoubtably have cannons, artillery for the city walls,” Von Kessel insisted. “If they turn them on us, we will be chewed apart.
“When did you become such a defeatist, Captain?” Roderick asked.
“When his little boat sunk,” Skyseeker muttered. “And he realised he had to use his paw-feet for once-once.”
Von Kessel considered her in a moment of hateful silence, Wilfred breaking it.
“What would you suggest we do, Captain?” the wizard asked.
“There are dozens of settlements on this side of the Reik,” Kessel said. “Let us ride out to rally anyone who can hold a sword. We might even get lucky and find some better supports.”
“We might find more men,” Wilfred replied. “We might even come across a band much like ours, but would you stake the lives of everyone in Marienburg on that? Time is not on our side.”
“My knights would work well in a hit and run assault,” Edouart interjected. “Their siege engines will be at the far ranks, no? Nothing can survive a Brettonian lance charge to the flank.”
“And don’t forget about my rats!” Skyseeker said, feeling like she’d been left out for too long. She thought she’d be frightened with all the attention on her, but then she remembered that more than one person in this room had tried to kill her and failed, and she held her head high. “We are masters of stealth-sneak, the strange-things won’t see us coming. We can slip in and cause chaos within the Chaos! It can’t not work.”
“How do you propose on doing that?” Von Kessel scoffed. “Have you ever commanded before? Leading your men requires resilience, decisiveness, charisma.”
“Well, you don’t have any of those things, but you got this far-far. Horned Rat knows how you did…”
“Do those rodents of yours even know how to fight?” the green toad, Mazkha, asked. “They’ve barely got meat on their bones.”
“I’m fattening them up!” she insisted. “And I’ve been training them in my mastery of knife-clashing skills. They just need little more time to train.”
“Their crossing over the Grey Mountains speak of their strength,” Wilfred said. “They are hardy little fellows, all they need are the skills to battle.”
“You see? Super wizard backs me up, that means you all got to listen to Skaven.”
“If you need help drilling them, I can help,” Roderick added. “I’ve trained a few recruits before.”
“Man-thing techniques could be useful,” Skyseeker agreed. “And with my dabbling of assassining skillsets, slaves… er, my ‘happy helpers’… will be force to be reckoned with. Deadly sneak-attacks guaranteed!”
“One group of poorly-armed rodents won’t be enough,” Von Kessel argued. “We need more aid.”
“My colleagues shall assist us,” Wilfred said. “The Conclave has an embassy within the city. I once summoned you there, remember Captain? No doubt the other mages are helping to hold the walls. If we can send them a signal, they will go on the offensive alongside us. A know a fire mage there who could rain literal fire on the enemy if given the chance. They are the key to turning the tide.”
“How are ya plannin’ on doin that?” Morgoroth asked. “Fly one of yer little birdies in like some kinda fairytale princess?”
“Precisely. It will be far easier than trying to breach the walls ourselves. Once they know of our presence, the mages along with the other defenders will rally.”
“And open a second front,” Roderick mused. “A potential path to victory.”
“Or death,” Von Kessel muttered.
“I for one, would be glad if you die-died,” Skyseeker said. “For Sigmar of course! Such is the way of you man-things, yes-yes? Man-thing faith means you fight for Empire, and die for it if prompted.”
“What do you know about our Holy Clergy?” Von Kessel muttered.
“I know it’s all about the unification of man-things or some such,” Skyseeker said. “I’m a fresh-new convert! Glory to Ulric, or whoever!”
“There will be casualties, regardless of what we do,” Roderick said. “Such is the reality of war. But perhaps your idea isn’t entirely unfeasible, Captain. We will be passing Antorpe and several other minor settlements on our way to Marienburg. If there are any fighting men willing to come with us, we must enlist them.”
“Assumin’ any of them are still standin’,” Mazkha put in. “When a Warrgh picks a spot to raid, orcs make an effort of targetin’ anythin’ in the region that might put up a fight. Can’t assume Chaos would be any different. Remember Cassel?”
“It is still worth investigating,” Von Kessel said.
“I agree,” Wilfred said. “Captain, send some of your most persuasive men into the region and bring back anyone willing to join us.”
“Numbers alone won’t be enough,” Roderick said. “We need more information on the siege, and I’d rather see it with my own eyes then through your birds, no offence to you, Will. The more accurate information we have, the better we can plan a counter attack.”
“I knights should join you in your scout,” Edouart added. “We need to know the lay of the land too, and where to aim our lances.”