Chapter 7

Not too long after the ship exploded a small battalion from the King’s Army dispersed the mobs in the city and sent them fleeing back to their homes. The squad was led by a man named Gastone Buatelue. Gastone and his and his men rode into the city on horseback just slightly too late to intimidate the masses with their legendary muzzle loaders. Personal firearms were very rare and somewhat mystical in mainland territory, especially in towns far south of the capitol, such as Vordenport. When the cavalry arrived and the citizens and immigrants realized who was in their presence they quickly spread out into the city and either headed back into their residences or hid until the trotting of horses became distant. The injured simply remained where they were.

Gastone was a very disciplined man. He had served with the King’s Army for many years. During this time he had heard of the gunpowder revolution that lost them the last mine in the eastern territories. Gunpowder was the future and Gastone knew that a well-controlled group of elite marksmen would bring about a shift of power in the territorial war. He worked with small battalions of men that were much disciplined and both excellent swordsman and marksmen. Gastone claimed that ever battle was won before any blood was spilled. His soldiers were handpicked from training stations and placed in his own personal reserve where they would complete a long regimen of training before becoming long-term members of his sect. Unlike traditional soldiers in the King’s Army, Gastone’s men stayed under his supervision for the entirety of their contract and very few left before they reached an age of retirement. The mortality rate among his troops was strikingly low and the pay was also higher than any other non-authoritative member.

Within an hour, several temporary hospital tents and rooms were arranged in the streets not far from the bridge. Men of both sides were taken in, without question, to be treated. Gastone had no concern for whom or why the battle occurred but was simply focused on restoring order to the city. There were not many severe injuries, although the body count was quite low. Still, Gastone was furious that there was any disruption and even more so that property of the King’s Army had been lost and destroyed. As a soldier cleaned and dressed his wounds, James listened to Gastone discuss the events with a very sheepish John Hedding. John was exaggerating his limp quite a bit to try and elicit some kind of sympathy from Gastone over the disastrous uprising. It didn’t work. Gastone sent John away to tend to his troops. During the conversation James overheard that several canons were lost in the river, likely never to be recovered. James turned to Bart, who was being treated somewhat reluctantly across from him.

“Bart, I think those big metal things were called canons. Do you know what that means?”

“I remember my dad telling me something about them. They send boulders hurdling away faster than arrows. They use explosive powders to do it.” James had never heard of canons before. He definitely didn’t recognize the guns that Gastone’s men each displayed on their backs. It was all very new and exciting to James. He knew very well of explosive powders from his work with Malcolm, but he had never seen an explosive weapon in his life.

“What in the world is the King’s Army purchasing those for?” At this point the soldier dressing James’ wounds finished and stood up. He patted him coarsely on the shoulder and raised an eyebrow.

“There’s been a bit of roughhousing east of the capitol. Just keeping things under control…” He said as he winked before wondered off to the next victim. James and Bart both stared at each other for a moment.

“What do Shidenites want canons for?” asked James. Bart shook his head.

“They don’t want the canons; they were burning the ship so that they’d be lost.” James wasn’t sure what Bart was getting at.

“What’s the point? How would Shiden benefit from lost territory in the northeast?”

“If there’s any contest of the capitol, Vordenport would be left almost defenseless. I’m not sure how long ago, but I know this port was fought over between the Mainland and Shiden. If Shiden claimed this port the immigrants would get a nice pay boost for sure.”

“How’s that work out?” whispered James, who had essentially no idea how city economics functioned.

“Immigrants aren’t employed as steadily as native Vordenport citizens. If Shiden was in control of the port they would have near guaranteed employment.” He quieted down when he realized other men were staring. “Not only that, there wouldn’t be any cost lost in transporting goods between countries.” Bart had accumulated a lot of knowledge on port and shipping logistics from his father. James fell silent as he tried to realize the implications of what Bart was saying.

“Do you really think the capitol could be contested? I haven’t heard any news of war between the Mainland and any neighboring territories.” Bart simply shrugged in reply.

“We don’t hear much of anything in Vorren.” Both of the boys turned and were shocked to see Gastone standing between them. Neither of them was familiar with Gastone but his uniform made his standing among the troops easily recognizable.

“Don’t hear much at all in Vorren, I presume.” The boys stared aghast. They were shocked such a highly ranked officer would even take notice of them. He wondered out of the tent before either of them had time to respond to what he said. By the tone of his voice they knew there must be something fairly significant occurring near the Capitol.

By now it had gotten quite dark as the boys wondered through the streets trying to remember where they were staying. Neither was very concerned as to whether or not Michael ever made it back. They finally stumbled upon the residence to very luckily find the door unlocked. Upstairs they found Michael already passed out in the single, bed still fully dressed, presumably very drunk. James fell face first into the makeshift mattress and buried his face into it. His buzz was wearing off and he began to realize how sore he was from the fight. He took a deep breath which sent a sharp pain down his left side. Rolling over and lifting his shirt up he could already see bruises beginning to form. He presumably had a couple broken ribs; nothing to be concerned about. As he gazed up at the sealing he thought he saw a shadow of a man jump across it. He blinked once and his eyes began to close. The figure jumped into the middle of the ceiling. It was black and fuzzy, flashing in place. He could tell its head was moving around, as if it were looking for something. He blinked again and could now barely keep his eyes open. James was worried he was so dehydrated his vision weas playing tricks on him. Suddenly the figure jumped very quickly and lightly from the ceiling, onto Michael’s bed. James intended to sit up, but quickly fell asleep.