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“My 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.”
“Then we each have our duties,” Wilfred said. “To summarise: Miss Seeker and Roderick shall train our new Skaven allies in preparation for the siege. Von Kessel and Edouart will send scouts ahead to enlist anyone willing to join us. Warboss Morgoroth, you and your men must conserve your strength. You will be our hard-hitters in the fight ahead.”
“Looks like we get to take it easy for a little while yet, brother,” Mazkha said, nudging her oversized sibling with an elbow.
“Take advantage while you can,” Roderick warned. “A force this large, and chaos daemons and other monsters are bound to show themselves. They won’t go down easily.”
“Then they’ll make some fine trophies for me mantle,” Morgoroth rumbled. “How soon do we get movin’? Me and my boys are sick of all this walkin’ and talkin’.”
“We’ll be out of Albert’s hair in less than two days,” Wilfred said. “It’s not a lot of time to recruit or train the Skaven, but we can’t afford to lose more time than that. It will be just as many days to Marienburg from here. Any questions? Everyone know where they stand?”
Nobody spoke up, Wilfred nodding. “As the most experienced in warfare, once Roderick has gauged the Chaos forces, we will have another moot to plan our final strategy. Until then, bring your men up to speed, and indulge in the Keg’s services while you can. Once we ride out, we will not stop until we reach the siege.”
Roderick tapped her on the shoulder as the group made their way out of the meeting, her man-thing jerking a thumb over his shoulder. “I plan on taking a ride along the river,” he said. “I’ve not see the river Reik in some time. Care to join me, lass?”
“That would be nice-nice,” she replied, scrunching her eyes in suspicion. “Wait! That overgrown lettuce coming too? If she is I will jump into the water.”
“It will just be us,” he chuckled. “What do you say?”
“In a moment,” she said. “Skaven has…. things to attend to.”
Roderick cocked his head, but complied with her request, turning for the door along with the others. Only Von Kessel and his minion had stayed behind, poring over the maps and scrolls she and Wilfred had collected during their stay at the Keg. The memory of the Captain shooting her off the ship was still fresh in her mind, but she swallowed down her fear and swaggered as confidently as she could up to the table’s opposite side.
Kessel could only ignore her for so long, and he soon addressed her presence, giving her one of his signature scowls.
“Kessel-man, are you actually reading any of that or are you just trying to look important?” Skyseeker asked.
“I see your absence has not humbled you in the slightest,” Von Kessel replied, glancing up from his pretend-read. “How’s the shoulder? It can be terribly painful to be shot, especially with all that saltwater getting inside.”
“How’s your battle-war?” she shot back. “Not too good, from what Skaevn hears. My spies in your ranks tell me you’ve been looking of turning tails. I expected you to give up wayyyy sooner, boneless man-thing that you are.”
“Does Roderick confide all the Empire’s secrets in you?” Von Kessel asked. “I was a fool to ever trust him. He cavorts with Skaven and orcs alike, and would send us all into unneeded danger. Finding a ship out of here is our best chance of survival.”
“You and your boats again!” she exclaimed. “Give it rest already. You know the Chaos-things have set up blockade across the river? That’s right, Skaven’s reconnaissance found out not too long ago, they have fleet watching to make sure nothing comes in or out of the Berg. In a way, your boat being sunk was the greatest thing to ever happen to us. Quite ironic isn’t it?”
“My ship has gone through more battles than you’ve had hot meals,” Von Kessel grumbled. It seemed she’d hit a nerve. “It stood as a symbol of the tenacity of the Empire.”
“And my rat-kin took it down,” she added. “It seems you have bad track record of fighting Skaven, Kessel-man. You have hard time killing any of us.”
The Captain’s minion clutched the sword stuck through his belt. “That can be corrected,” he grumbled, but she answered the threat with a smirk.
“Stay your hand, Lothar,” the Captain said.
“Yeah Loaf-Far, listen to your master. Sneak-plotting didn’t work, now you want to fight Skaven when everyone knows we’re here-here? Stupid man-thing. If you’re going to assassinate me, at least put some effort in.”
“We have a war to manage here, rat. Is there a reason for all your blathering, or did you just come here to gloat?” Von Kessel asked.
“No, I came to threaten, haha!”
She reached for the weapon stowed beneath her sling, the two man-things bristling. The minion tried to slide his sword free, but Skyseeker was already drawn, the tip of her rapier hovering next to his throat.
“My sword…” Von Kessel muttered, watching the gilded handguard glint on the candlelight.
“Yes-Yes, took it from you, remember? Just before your sneaky betrayal. How mad do you think Rick-Rod will be when I remind him who it belonged to and how I got it? A lot, or really a lot? Would Fred-wil be any different?”
“So why haven’t you done it already?” Von Kessel asked, his reaction not as explosive as she’d hoped it would be. “You’ve wormed your way into their trust, why hesitate?”
“To remind you that Skaven holds all the cards,” she chuckled. She slipped the rapier back into her belt, the man-thing lackey glancing at his counterpart in confusion. “You may have tried to get rid of me-me, but like a fur-rash, I’ve come back stronger and cleverer. You play nice with Rick-Rod and Fred-Wil, and maybe I don’t spill beans on all your dastardly deeds!”
“If you think to blackmail a Son of Sigmar…”
“Think? I don’t think, I am blackmailing you, and you’re going to like it. You object? I get my man-things to assassinate you, and they won’t be sloppy like you did to me. Oh, I love-love it when a scheme comes to fruition!”
“Sir?” Lothar asked, turning to Kessel, but the Captain merely stared her down for a long minute.
“This is getting awkward,” she conceded. “What do you say to our new deal-bargain, Kessel-man? Yes or Yes-Yes?”
“You will find no peace in the Empire,” Von Kessel said. “You are a less than the filth beneath my boot, and the fact you’ve fooled my fellow Sons of Sigmar will never change that. The Empire has weeded out far worse filth than you. You can enjoy your petty win today, but one day someone better than I will put you down for good. There will be no clemency for you as long as you continue to plague our homeland with your repulsive existence.”
“I’ll be fine-fine,” Skyseeker said, straightening out her hood. “Anywhos! Got to go, my man-thing and I are going for a walk-scurry. Toodles!” Before she reached the door she turned round. “Oh, and, Loafer? Kessel-man? Next time, shoot at the head or something. As an assassin myself, Skaven takes offence to your poor efforts.”
Roderick was waiting for her by the Keg’s outdoor dining area, the reigns of his horse in one hand. She gave the beast a sideways glance as she approached, the beast whickering in her direction. The blatant racism for ratkind clearly extended beyond the sentient creatures it seemed.
“What kept you?” Roderick asked. “I didn’t see the Captain leave. Were you two discussing something?”
“Ah, just a little banter-chatter between old rivals,” she lied. “A few threats and promises, nothing special.”
“Did he threaten you?” he asked, his features darkening in a way that she’d not seen before.
“It was other way around,” she insisted. “Air needed cleaning between us, that’s it, yes-yes.”
“I won’t pry,” he replied. He seemed to have picked up on her evasiveness. “Just don’t push him too far. I have little enough love for Von Kessel either, but we need his men, and most of them will only follow him.”
Skyseeker had lived her whole life on deception and feinting every move and decision she’d ever made. Lies had been her ally, and they had kept her alive when she was living in Skavenblight’s slums and warrens. Naturally they should come out as easily as breathing, but something about lying to Roderick made her fur itch the wrong way.
Her threats to Von Kessel weren’t entirely to her favour. She possessed some very dangerous information, and in the wrong ears things could deteriorate very quickly. The power balance in the camp had been shaken up with her and Wilfred’s arrival, if her allies were to find out she’d been almost killed by Von Kessel, the whole thing could go up like a cannon facing the wrong way, there would be chaos. Naturally this interested her very much, but as cool as seeing the carnage would be, it was not in her best interests. The humans were her new Clan now, she had to work with them, not against them.
Von Kessel’s words echoed through her head. You will find no peace in the Empire. She didn’t fancy peace to be a very interesting prospect, but after her brush with death and her absence from Roderick, she found herself wondering how she’d survive in this foreign land.
“Are you alright, lass?” Roderick asked, Skyseeker shaking the thoughts from her head.
“Huh? What? Skaven was dreaming. Hey, why you bring this long-face thing?” she asked, changing the subject as she pointed at the horse.
“I told you, I plan to ride down the river.” Roderick hooked a boot into the stirrup, sliding smoothly into the saddle. “Care to join me?”
She grabbed his offered paw and he hoisted her up, sitting her in his lap the mane of the horse’s neck stretching out before her. The beast was not so kind to her presence as it was to Roderick’s, and he had to pull the reigns tight to keep it still.
“This why I prefer doom wheel for flayer,” Skyseeker complained. “Why would man-thing ride a thing that smells like it takes a dump every five seconds?”
“He’s a Brettonian destrier, and he’s never flinched from battle in the time I’ve had him. Say what you will about the Brettonians, but I’ve never ridden a finer steed.”
He wrapped one arm over her waist to keep her steady, the horse winding beneath her as it began to trot. The rounded the rear face of the Keg, groups of man-things and orcs dodging out of the way as they rode down the dirt path.
The camp had been busy during their moot, and each way she looked she saw dozens of erected tents scattered around the tavern. What had once been a flicker of civilisation had bloomed into a cacophony of men-at-arms and greenskin warriors, the clang of ringing metal of a nearby smithy forcing flocks of birds to take to the wing from the surrounding treetops.
The soldiers took any piece of land they could use to erect shelters, the more prosperous men taking their rests within pavilions and tents, while the majority of them shared more humble tents and lean-to’s. Orc huts stood out sorely amidst the tents, far bigger and spacious thanks to the orc’s natural difference in size. At the border of the camp was a loud clanger of hammers striking nails and saws biting into logs, Skyseeker spying several dozen men using spaces and picks to build furrows into the earth.
“Get those stakes into those trenches immediately,” Roderick said, leading his horse over so he could address the slaves – or workers as Roderick preferred to say. “I want the camp staked from all directions.”
“Expecting visitors?” Skyseeker asked. “Keg has not been attacked since Skaven came. Too afraid of ratkind methinks!”
“I’ll take no chances,” Roderick said. “Chaos bands have been spotted in the area. Light defences won’t stop a full assault, but better a flimsy shield than nothing.”