Secrets & Swords Read online

  Secrets and Swords

  By R.A. Lewis

  Also by R.A. Lewis

  Short Story, Fantasy

  The Sellsword And The Beast

  The Sellsword And The Bandits

  Also by R.A. Lewis

  Secrets and Swords

  Acknowledgements

  Map

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  The End

  About the Author

  Secrets and Swords

  Copyright © 2019 R.A. Lewis

  All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and situations within its pages and places or persons, living or dead, is unintentional and co-incidental.

  This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Under no circumstances may any part of this book be photocopied for resale.

  Cover Photography from Beti Bup.

  Map Art by Arielle Barels.

  Acknowledgements

  For my best friends Arielle, and Lauryn.

  And for my husband, who never gave up on me.

  Map

  Map art by Arielle Barels

  Chapter 1

  The messenger burst into the party, sweat pouring down his brow, breath coming in labored gasps. The grand ballroom was packed with people eating, drinking, and dancing. The messenger cried out to the hostess of the party, delivering the bad news.

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  Roguelyn had been sitting in a window seat, her green silk dress tight, restricting and uncomfortable. She brushed her long, brown curls out of her face, wishing she was out in the practice yards shooting a bow or sparring with Will. Anywhere but in this overcrowded room, full of nobles who only cared about the latest fashion, politics, or who was cheating on their spouses with the maid or stable boy.

  A larger boned blond boy dressed in rich fabrics, and looking supremely uncomfortable approached her. His name was Colvin and he was the son of the Duke of Bainburrow. His mother had been pushing him all night to ask Roguelyn to dance and Roguelyn had been studiously avoiding him, claiming to need fresh air, or that her dance card was already full. She wouldn’t be able to put him off much longer.

  For a moment, the messenger’s arrival was a welcome reprieve. Until Roguelyn heard his news.

  “My Duchess Ashdown, your husband, the Duke, has been captured! In a skirmish along the border,” he panted, clutching his side as he cramped horribly.

  Roguelyn’s blood instantly ran cold, all thoughts of Colvin flying from her mind. Her mother, Isa Ashdown was across the room, resplendent in a gold dress with a flowing train. Her delicate hand flew to her mouth, an o of astonishment on her pretty face. The steward came forward, clutching the messenger by the arm, holding him upright as Isa attempted to regain her composure. Roguelyn watched in disbelief as her mother faltered a hand outstretched to catch herself on a nearby table, stood tall again and smiled at the awaiting and murmuring crowd.

  “Thank you all for your concern. Please, enjoy the party.” And then she crossed the room, following the messenger and the steward through the large double doors. Roguelyn was not invited, but at the moment she didn’t care if her mother would reprimand her for intruding. She marched across the ballroom where guests were slowly returning to their usual activities, brushing past an astonished Colvin and out into the hall. She could hear raised voices from a few doors down and she walked in without knocking.

  “He was fighting with a small company of men along the western border of Gadel, when a group flanked him and they weren’t able to get back up in time. He was taken alive, that’s all we know,” the messenger was speaking, chugging a glass of water in between words. Isa scowled over at Roguelyn when she entered but turned her attention back to the man.

  “And what was done about it? Did anyone go after him? Did anyone attempt to rescue him?” Roguelyn asked, talking over whatever question her mother was about to ask. The messenger flicked his eyes to her and then back to the Duchess.

  “Yes, a small group went after him but they never returned.” Roguelyn’s stomach twisted into knots. Her mother’s spine seemed to crumple for a moment before she straightened.

  “Thank you for bringing us this information.” She gestured to the steward who stood to the side of the room. “Jo will make sure you are fed and watered and get some rest.” Isa then turned to Roguelyn and took her arm, marching her from the room and into the hall. Isa dropped Roguelyn’s arm abruptly.

  “You shouldn’t have barged in like that.” Isa’s voice was cold. Roguelyn scowled at her mother.

  “You should have asked me to join. He’s my father.”

  “And he’s my husband and the head of this family. You are just a child.”

  “I am 18, and fully an adult.”

  “And yet, you aren’t married.” Her words cut Roguelyn. Roguelyn had no interest in getting married, at least not yet, but among her peers she was almost a spinster.

  “Are we going to petition the King to pay a ransom?” Isa sighed, her tough exterior melting for a moment.

  “Yes. But we’ll discuss it tomorrow.” She turned back towards the ballroom. “For now, we have guests waiting.” Roguelyn looked at her mother incredulously.

  “Are you kidding? Send them home! We have a crisis happening!” Roguelyn was feeling more and more desperate. It felt like no one was doing anything to save her father.

  “We have a duty Roguelyn, to our peers. And we must abide by those.” Isa turned her back to Roguelyn and entered the ballroom. Roguelyn stood in the hallway alone, stunned, her heart breaking inside her.

  That was eight months ago.

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  Roguelyn hit the ground hard, a puff of dust rising around her. She paused, breathing in, trying to regain her senses and will her lungs to take a breath. She pushed her short, brown hair from her eyes; it stuck to her forehead with sweat. She wasn’t used to this rough treatment.

  When she was younger, her father’s men treated her with respect, with a touch of delicacy, but now, dressed as a boy, and in disguise as she was, these men were treating her like any other boy who recently joined the military. She just needed to get used to the rough handling.

  She pushed herself up, her practice sword clenched in her right fist. The dust settled around her, and she brushed off her hands on her pants, swapping the sword from hand to hand. Her opponent faced her, sword up and in a ready position. He was scrawny and tall, with a shock of blond hair on his head, cut short in the heat of the late summer. Connoll looked nervous as he shifted his weight from
foot to foot. Roguelyn licked her lips, tasting the dirt caked there. She settled the sword back in her grip and brought it up, ready for the next attack.

  Around her, other pairs of fighters spared, and across the yard she could see Will, red hair catching the hot afternoon sun, sparing with a short, squat boy with brown hair and some light freckles. He seemed to be holding his own against the shorter boy, but Will and Roguelyn had been practicing swordplay their entire lives, playing at being soldiers in the stables and yards of her father’s castle. Roguelyn focused her attention back on her opponent as he attacked. He was determined and ruthless, coming on strong and hot. She parried and blocked, backing up, trying to find an opening to change the tide of the spar. Finally, he stumbled a bit, his sword dropping to the left. She took advantage and swung her sword up and to his right, hitting him in the shoulder, raising a nasty welt. He hissed and backed off, and Roguelyn saw by the look in his eyes she was going to pay for that move. She gripped her sword with both hands, ready to fend him off. At that moment the sword master, who had been walking the field observing and correcting pairs of fighters, called for a halt. His name was Rennick and her father had warned her about him, but so far she had found him gruff yet fair. He stepped forward, his large bulk creating a shadow before him as he looked them all over. Roguelyn was lucky he hadn’t seen her since she was a small child and hadn’t recognized her the months she’d been in his company.

  “Alright soldiers, we’re going to stop here for today. None of you were any good, and frankly I’m surprised any of you made it past infancy. Hit the baths before you hit the dining tent.” He strode away, his brawny arms clasped behind his back. The sun glinted off his bald head as Roguelyn watched him go, her sword down, tip resting in the dirt. Roguelyn’s opponent shot daggers at her, and she knew that she might get a beating if he ever caught her off guard. You didn’t beat Connoll at swordplay and not get a beating. She had known it going into the bout when Rennick paired them together.

  She wiped her hand across her brow, smearing dirt and sweat into her hair and sighing. Her hair was the one thing she regretted about running away and pretending to be a man. She missed her long hair. She constantly found herself running her fingers through her it, but they kept stopping short at her ears. Around her boys were trudging back towards the barrack tents, dropping their practice swords off in giant barrels. Will was waiting for her as she approached the barrels, grinning from ear to ear.

  “What are you so happy about?” she asked, dropping her sword in with the others and wiping her hands on her shirt. He slapped her on the back, laughing.

  “Oh, you know, the adventure of it all. Aren’t you looking forward to your first battle? The thrill of really fighting and beating another opponent?” They walked together across the dusty camp towards the tent that housed the baths. Roguelyn winced, not wanting to think about bathing. Bathing had been a particularly unique challenge since joining the army. There were no women warriors, something she’d never understand, so she’d had to bathe in secret, when others were asleep, or sneak off with Will as lookout.

  “You know that’s not why I’m here,” she said quietly. She ran her hand through her hair, staring at her feet. “Besides, are you really that eager to kill another person?”

  “Not really, but it’s still exciting.” Will’s face fell a bit. He knew why she was really here.

  Four months before, Roguelyn and her mother had gone to the capitol to discuss the terms of her father’s capture and release with King Royce. But King Royce was a careful man, and the terms of her father’s release had been too high for the king to pay and Roguelyn had only left angry and frustrated with the politics and roadblocks. So she’d decided to take it upon herself to save her father.

  Roguelyn knew she couldn’t get across the border without help. Will had wanted to join the military, and was always up for a new adventure, so she thought that it would get her the training she needed, and close enough to the border to eventually save her father. She didn’t have a solid plan just yet, but she knew she was in the right place, on the right path.

  Roguelyn and Will approached their barracks tent.

  “Are you heading to the river?” He asked.

  “Yea.” Roguelyn’s secret was a matter of life and death. She would be discharged from the army, possibly thrown in prison, her family disgraced, and her father would die in Gadel. Bathing in cold water was not at all fun, but it was a price she was willing to pay to keep her secret.

  “Alright, do you need a lookout again?” Will offered, gathering his clothing from his bag under his cot.

  “Always.” she grinned at him. Roguelyn reached under her cot, gathering her clean set of clothing and a bar of soap. “But it means you miss a warm bath, again.”

  “It’s fine. You need me.” he grinned back at her. Together they left the tent, heading into the woods nearby and the river beyond.

  --------------------------------------------

  A few weeks later found Roguelyn’s company rumbling into the mountain town of Coalville, nestled in the Ryfe Mountains, huge pine trees surrounding it. It had been transformed from a minor mining town into a large war camp, tents and temporary barracks hastily built, spiraling out from the original town. The ground was trampled to mud as rainy season had begun to descend as they rode higher into the mountains. Roguelyn thought wistfully of the hot days spent at the river and dreaded what it would be like in a large war camp. Keeping her secret here would be even more of a challenge.

  She also had to be careful as some of her father’s men were still stationed here, and although their paths were unlikely to cross, there was always a chance they might recognize her. She and Will picked bunks by the door of the wooden barracks assigned to her company, a quick escape if she needed it. After making her bed, a straw mattress on a wooden frame, she stuffed her travel sack underneath and looked around her. All the boys and men around her were doing the same, getting settled in. Will stood up across from her and came over, punching her in the shoulder.

  “Let’s go explore, shall we?” He was quick to grin and find the fun in everything; he often made up for some of Roguelyn’s seriousness and brought her out of the funks she sometimes found herself in. She stretched and nodded, feeling her breast band strain against her bosom. She quickly put her arms back down and glanced around her. No one had noticed, her shirt was baggy enough to cover everything.

  They wandered outside in search of the latrines. To Roguelyn’s delight, there were separate outhouses built for sanitary reasons, which meant she wouldn’t have to wander into the woods or sneak past guards at night to use the bathroom; instead, she could close a door behind her and have privacy. They found the showers, which also had individual stalls, although they were not very tall and could be seen over. They marveled at the ingenious showering system the military had rigged, placing barrels of rain water on platforms, using gravity to move the water to each shower stall. She had never seen something so sophisticated, used to bathing in big brass tubs and in rivers and lakes. She’d have to find a different time of day to shower than when all the other recruits were there.

  Will had told her the boys had a tendency to play pranks on one another, stealing each other’s clothing, and forcing them to run around naked trying to catch the culprits. Roguelyn shuddered at the thought. But this wasn’t like previous camps; there was a town, and therefore there were women and children present. Hopefully that would discourage any pranking. They passed the fighting yards where a large, gruff looking man with a long scar running down his face was drilling a set of men who looked to be fairly advanced. Roguelyn grabbed Will’s arm and they stopped, pausing by the fence to watch.

  The pair closest to them fought in earnest, a dark haired and light-haired opponent squaring off. The dark-haired man had eyes that were even darker, his hair falling into those eyes, and giving him a sense of mystery and menace. Roguelyn’s heart thumped at the sight of him, and a little thrill of fear ran through her. She didn�
��t know why, but her gut told her he wasn’t a good man. He was ruthless in his attack, pushing his opponent towards the fence with blinding speed. He was deadly, and Roguelyn knew it. The corporal running the drill called for a halt right as the dark-haired man drove his opponent into the fence, forcing Roguelyn and Will to back away quickly to avoid getting their fingers squashed. Breathing hard, the dark-haired man looked up through his hair, wet with sweat, and grinned at Roguelyn. She narrowed her eyes, refusing to let him see her trepidation. He laughed under his breath and backed off, offering a hand to help his opponent up. The light-haired man took it.

  “Gods Cole, no need to try to kill me, it’s just sparring!” The light-haired man exclaimed, pushing his hair out of his face. The dark-haired man, Cole, grinned again, rather maliciously and turned away, jogging back to drop off his sword. Roguelyn shook her head and turned away, Will following behind.

  “He was amazing!” Will said, admiringly. The look on his face was as if he’d seen a god incarnate. Roguelyn scowled at him.

  “Are you kidding me, Will? That man is a menace! He almost killed his opponent, and aren’t we supposed to be on the same side?” They continued walking for a moment before he responded.

  “He was practicing! Doesn’t Rennick always tell us to put in full effort, as if we were fighting the enemy? I just... I wish I could be like that. That driven, that good!” Will said wistfully.

  “That was different. They didn’t have practice swords like us. Besides, you will be one day Will. You’ve improved so much since we were kids.” He nodded and they made their way to the large, log structure they used for a mess hall for supper.

  Chapter 2

  It had been a week since they’d arrived at the mountain town, and everyone, including the townsfolk were on edge. Having that many people in one space caused tensions to run high. Roguelyn was careful when she passed through the town, treating everyone with respect, and making sure to pay for the things she needed. Many soldiers felt entitled, and often took without paying, especially at the local taverns.