Chapter 41 — Evidence at the Gate

Ser Alistair Florent kept his men in formation. "Arlan Ashenblade," he called from horseback, "Lord Elton Caron has accused you of collusion with raiders, murder after surrender, attacks upon lawful trade, and preparation for rebellion. By authority of Storm's End, you are to surrender your weapons and accompany me for judgment."

Three hundred infantry stood behind him with spears ready. FireStorm's gate remained closed, and Morton's guards watched from the wall without aiming down. Wayne's returning men held the prisoners in separate groups and made no move toward their swords.

Arlan bowed. "I will answer Lord Renly. Before you decide whether I travel as his vassal or as Elton's prisoner, examine the men and goods that came out of Black Pine."

"My orders permit you to contest the charge at Storm's End."

"They were written before last night."

Alistair studied the bound raiders, the dyed mule, and the sacks hanging from packhorses. He did not lower his guard, but he did not order the arrest forward either. "All FireStorm blades remain sheathed. My men take custody of the prisoners while I inspect what you brought."

Wayne glanced at Arlan. At his nod, the first captive group moved into the ground between both forces. Florent soldiers searched them again, replaced FireStorm's ropes with their own, and led five men behind the left rank. Five others went behind the right. No group could hear the questions asked of another. Alistair began with surrender.

The first prisoner said men near the valley entrance had thrown down weapons before FireStorm descended. The second accused archers of loosing after some had begun shouting. A third admitted that men deeper in the valley were still climbing the cliffs and throwing knives while the front tried to yield.

Wayne described the order given from above and the delay required to repeat it through men who understood different dialects. He also named two captives killed after pretending to surrender and attacking the first shield groups. Alistair recorded both accounts. "A surrender beginning in one part of a broken column does not stop every weapon elsewhere. It also does not permit killing men already disarmed."

"No," Arlan said. "Ask where the prisoners were moved and how many reached the gate alive."

The knight did not accept the answer as proof, but more than forty bound men stood close enough to make the charge of universal slaughter difficult to sustain.

Next came the false departure. Alistair questioned a captive messenger who knew the morning Arlan was expected to leave FireStorm and the road he was supposed to take. Another prisoner said the clans had been promised an undefended holding because the main guard would be three days away. Neither man knew who first supplied the information.

"Did House Ashenblade invite you into Black Pine?" Alistair asked.

"We followed the empty road," the messenger said through a guard who understood his rough Common Tongue. "The chief said the boy lord was gone."

That established a lure, not collusion. Alistair sent six riders north to examine the valley before weather, scavengers, or FireStorm hands changed more of it. Two of Arlan's guards went as guides and were placed under Florent command for the journey. Only then did he inspect the supply trail.

The Caron token drew his attention first. Alistair turned it beneath the light, checked the wear around the hole, and asked every prisoner who had seen it before the battle. Three had. One said the Bloodhand chief displayed it after a quarrel over payment. Two knew only that it came from a lowland lord.

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

The grain sacks bore a Rainwood warehouse tally used on deliveries to Nightsong. The mark was genuine. It was not exclusive. A merchant could sell to Caron officers one month and mountain clans the next without Elton's knowledge.

The swords carried the same limitation. Forty-seven shared a maker's mark and inspection notch seen in Caron stores, but the smith supplied other marcher households. The dyed mule had once belonged to a Caron stable; no brand recorded when it changed hands.

Alistair looked at the rawhide tally last. "Who reads these marks as grain, steel, and land?"

"The prisoners," Arlan said. "Separately. The strip proves a staged bargain existed. Their statements give the stages meaning."

"Or your questions taught them what the marks should mean."

"Your men are questioning the rest."

The answer earned no smile. It did earn another note. One of Alistair's knights examined five swords selected at random. Another copied the warehouse tally. The Florent commander asked for the name of the missing-fingered quartermaster and received none. Description without identity could begin an inquiry; it could not finish one.

The riders returned near midday. They confirmed a column larger than three hundred had entered Black Pine from the north. Spike pits, rockfalls, burned ground, discarded weapons, and bodies remained where FireStorm described them. The marks of surrender and custody could not be read from dirt alone, but the number of living captives and the separated accounts supported Wayne's report more strongly than Elton's claim that every tribe had submitted before attack.

Alistair ordered the spears behind him lowered. "My orders were written from the information Storm's End possessed when I left. That information no longer supports taking you in chains today."

A breath moved through FireStorm's wall. Arlan did not let it become a cheer.

"You are not cleared of every charge," Alistair continued. "You prepared a lethal trap and used fire against men who had not yet reached your holding. Lord Renly will decide whether your warrant and the evidence of invasion justified it. You will appear before him within ten days."

"I will."

"The prisoners and original objects travel under my seal. Morton may copy every tally and description before transfer. Two FireStorm men may witness the inventory, but they do not accompany the captives beyond the first crossroads."

Wayne accepted with visible reluctance. A prisoner under Storm's End protection could be questioned by men beyond Elton's reach; the same custody also removed FireStorm's control over what happened next.

Alistair imposed one further condition. Until Renly ruled, any patrol crossing beyond the boundary named in the original warrant had to be reported immediately. FireStorm could defend its land and act against armed raiders within the delegated area. It could not treat the whole southern march as territory acquired through successful ambush.

Arlan agreed. The boundary gave him a clear line to report against; he would have to account for every patrol that crossed it.

Morton copied the rawhide marks, sword notches, warehouse tally, mule brand, and token while Florent witnesses watched. Every captive received a transfer line by name where known, clan mark where not, condition, and place of capture. Alistair sealed the originals in three cases rather than one. Before the main column moved, he sent a mounted relay ahead with a preliminary summary, the recovery list, and the number of living prisoners; the slower originals and captives remained under his own guard. The Storm's End force departed in the afternoon.

Only after the rear rank vanished did Morton reopen the gate. Villagers crowded the returning guards and asked about Black Pine. Arlan sent wounded men to treatment before allowing the story to become celebration, and Wayne placed the remaining captured gear under count. A black-market runner reached the gate before the first meal was served.

"Rainwood posted a tenfold transit levy on FireStorm goods," he said between breaths. "Barrels and glass can be held as contraband until inspection. Merchants who trade with you risk confiscation."

A second rider arrived from the north with notices issued by several lesser lords. No grain, iron, cloth, or salt was to be sold to FireStorm. Men who ignored the prohibition could lose road protection and market access.

Morton looked from the notices to the workshops. Roughly three hundred barrels of Red Sun Flame and more than two hundred pieces of glass waited in storage or production. The holding had goods, coin, and buyers; Elton meant to separate all three without sending another soldier to its gate.

Arlan folded the first notice. "Prepare two wagons."

Wayne stared at him. "Rainwood?"

"I want to see what they have called law."