Shield and Crown Read online

  Shield and Crown

  Empire Asunder Book III

  Michael Jason Brandt

  Contents

  Map (West)

  Map (East)

  Offer

  Glossary

  Dramatis Personae

  The Story So Far…

  Prologue

  1. Gothenberg

  2. Surface

  3. Neublusten

  4. Falkenreach

  5. Akenberg

  6. Gothenberg

  7. Allstatte

  8. Akenberg

  9. Gothenberg

  10. Cormona

  11. Bloodspire

  12. Sea’s Pass

  Epilogue

  Note

  Kings Club

  About the Author

  Also by Michael Jason Brandt

  A larger, full-color map is available to readers for free. Please see the Kings Club offer at the back of this book for details.

  Glossary

  (Space restrictions require this to be a partial list. A free complete guide to the people and places of the empire is available to readers. Please see the Kings Club offer at the end of this book for details.)

  Nobility

  Emperor - the highest authority in the Empire, dominion over all twelve kings

  King - ruler of a kingdom/province, swears fealty to the Emperor

  Duke - ruler of a duchy within a kingdom, swears fealty to a king

  Baron (Hern in some provinces) - ruler of a barony within a kingdom, swears fealty to a duke or king

  Count (Landgrave in some provinces) - ruler over two or more lords, swears fealty to a baron, duke, or king

  Lord - landed gentry with Imperial holdings

  Military

  Soldiers are divided between recruit ranks, drawn from the commoners, and officers, generally drawn from nobility or esteemed veterans of the recruit ranks.

  A standard squad (squadron for cavalry) is 10 privates plus a corporal.

  A standard company is 4 squads (3 for cavalry) led by a captain.

  Officer Ranks

  General - commands an army, reports to the king

  Commander - commands a regiment or detachment, reports to a general

  Captain - commands a company, reports to a commander

  Recruit Ranks

  Corporal - recruit in command of a squad, reports to a captain

  Private - recruit, reports to a corporal

  Provincial and Town Officials

  Chancellor - a position of authority over administrative or financial matters within a province, appointed by king

  Retainer - personal follower of a specific member of the nobility, sometimes themselves of lesser nobility

  Magistrate - chief judicial and executive official in a city, town, or significant village, usually appointed by lord, count, or baron

  Clerk - chief administrative official in a city, town, or significant village, usually appointed by magistrate

  Historian - librarian overseeing Archives, usually appointed by magistrate

  Other

  Swordthane - member of the Order of Swordthanes

  First of Swords - singular head of the order

  Second of Swords - one of two thanes obedient to the First of Swords

  Third of Swords - one of six thanes obedient to a Second of Swords

  Housethrall - servant for life in the employ of nobility, town official, or prominent family

  Fieldthrall - worker for life employed on one of the many farms dotting the Empire

  Cards of an Imperial Deck

  Heart - Love

  Crown - Nobility

  Shield - Friendship and Loyalty

  Dragon - Beasts

  Storm - Chaos

  Sword - War and Conflict

  Devil - Evil

  Skull - Death

  Dramatis Personae

  (Space restrictions require this to be a partial list. A free complete guide to the people and places of the empire is available to readers. Please see the Kings Club offer at the end of this book for details.)

  Akenberg

  Prince Nicolas (Nico), Hermann’s second son, a Swordthane and commander of The Threeshields

  King Hermann

  Prince Markolac (Marko), Hermann’s eldest son, killed in battle at Allstatte

  Renard, retainer to Prince Nicolas, killed in battle at Cormona

  General Koblenzar, formerly in command of all Akenberg forces

  General Freilenn, in command of the Fourth Army

  General Reikmann, second-in-command of the King’s Army

  General Cottzer, formerly second-in-command of the Emperor’s Army, defeated at Allstatte

  Captain Anika, aide to General Reikmann

  The Kingshields, Akenberg cavalry company

  Captain Mickens

  Private Lima, Nico’s aide

  Private Pim, twin of Mip

  Asturia

  King Anton

  Lord Jacinto, an advisor

  Princess Letitia (Leti), Anton’s daughter

  Prince Tobias (Toby), Anton’s son

  Private Zenza, a Swordthane and member of Anton’s Royal Guard

  General Moroles, in command of Cormona defenses

  Neverdawn

  Jak, a housethrall

  Calla, the historian’s daughter

  Kleo, the clerk’s daughter, Kevik the Corrupt’s sister, sacrificed in Ra’Cheka

  Kluber, the magistrate’s son

  Riff, a housethrall, sacrificed in Ra’Cheka

  Kevik the Corrupt, the clerk’s son, Kleo’s brother, commander of the Veldt

  Henrik, the historian, Calla’s father, killed at Winter Festival

  Disciple Lukas, caretaker of the Shrine of Tempus, killed at Winter Festival

  Vilnia

  Private Yohan, a soldier and half-Oster

  Commander Jenaleve (Jena), King Volocar’s eldest daughter

  Private Brody, a soldier, killed in ambush

  Harpa

  Summersong Maple (Summer), caravan leader

  Patrik, Summer’s betrothed

  Fairmeadow Sonnet (Meadow), killed in ambush

  Silverson Goldthrush (Silvo), killed in ambush

  Others

  Redjack, a tribesman and Vilnian traitor

  Twoscar, a tribesman

  King Argenlieu, co-ruler of Daphina

  Queen Louisa, co-ruler of Daphina

  General Boisson, in command of the siege of Allstatte

  King Deniger, ruler of Gothenberg

  Gregory, the magistrate of Threefork

  The Story So Far…

  Book I: Three of Swords

  Nicolas and the Civil War

  King Hermann of Akenberg and his eldest son, Prince Markolac, discuss the sudden abdication of Emperor Eberhart and a plan to dominate imperial politics and install the prince as Eberhart’s successor. The key element of the plan sends Hermann’s younger son Nicolas to the rival kingdom of Asturia under the pretense of arranging a marriage between Markolac and Asturian princess Letitia, with the expectation that the Asturians will execute Nicolas when they discover that the marriage was a ruse to distract them while Akenberg and her northern neighbor, Lorester, prepare for war.

  But even the best laid plans go awry. Fresh off earning his membership in the prestigious Order of Swordthanes, Nicolas takes command of a cavalry company called the Threeshields. His diplomatic mission leads to helping Asturian King Anton defeat a rebellious duke and earning Nico a hero’s celebration within the halls of Anton’s castle. In return, he warms to the people of Cormona, begins mentoring awkward Prince Tobias in the art of swordplay, and forms a rivalry with Zenza, a disrespectful local Swordthane. He also develops a complicated conn
ection to the princess betrothed to his brother.

  A messenger from Akenberg arrives to recall Nico to Neublusten, informing him that Markolac was caught in between a surprising combined attack by Lorester and western kingdom Daphina, and subsequently killed in battle. Suddenly, Nico is in line to succeed his father as king. Letitia overhears the news of his brother’s death and comforts Nico, and the two of them fall in love even as King Anton learns that King Hermann instigated the recently quashed rebellion.

  Unaware of his own father’s and fallen brother’s intrigues, and warned by Leti of her father’s growing hostility, Nico hurriedly escapes Cormona at the head of the Threeshields. His final promise to her is that they will never be enemies, whatever happens between their kingdoms.

  Yohan and the Invasion

  In response to rising tensions within the empire, a Vilnian infantry company led by Captain Marek and Princess Jenaleve is tasked with reoccupying long-abandoned forts in the Stormere Mountains. The company is ambushed by eastern barbarian tribesmen, who infrequently raid Imperial lands, in Sky’s Pass. The only survivors appear to be Private Yohan and the princess, who receives a serious wound in the fighting.

  Jena survives her wound but soon falls ill from infection, forcing Yohan to nurse her and protect them both from winter snows and aggressive beasts. He drives off an attack from hungry wolves, but not before the animals make off with the last of the survivor’s food. One night, a solitary mountain tiger ventures into the camp and departs again as peacefully as a hunger-induced dream.

  A distrustful relationship between Yohan and Jena eases somewhat as they face the prospect of starving to death in the frozen valley. Jena shares her anxiety about finding acceptance in the army, and the normally reserved Yohan opens up to her about his childhood. As she falls asleep for what he believes might be their last night alive, the tiger returns bearing the miraculous gift of a dead goat for them to eat.

  Restored by the mysterious act of kindness and made hopeful by a break in the weather, Yohan and Jena resume their journey out of the mountains. Finally arriving safely back at Halfsummit, they learn of one other survivor from Marek’s company, a popular soldier named Redjack. Yohan reports to the general in command that the barbarians are not merely raiding, but coming in sufficient numbers to constitute an invasion, and are being led by the Chekiks, an evil semi-human race straight out of ancient legends.

  Believing Jena to have already forgotten him, Yohan signs on with his new friend Brody to escort a trading caravan southward into Gothenberg. Meanwhile, Jena becomes frustrated by the bickering and inactivity of the officers in response to Yohan’s warnings. She secretly cherishes his last gift to her, a small wooden horse figurine carved while she lay unconscious in the mountains. But when she decides to visit him in the soldier’s barracks, she discovers that he and the caravan are already gone.

  Jak and the Demons

  In the far north of the empire, the tiny village of Everdawn celebrates the return of clerk’s son Kevik from a prestigious academy in Varborg. Kevik’s housethrall Jak, sister Kleo, and sweetheart Calla notice changes in the young man, whose drinking and boasting is out of character for the hero once known as Kevik the Kind.

  At the autumn harvest festival, the villagers meet Third Rufus of the Swordthanes, who tells them of his quest to recover the Sword of Yagos, God of Immortality, from the nearby mountains. His recitation of the legend is briefly contradicted by Disciple Lukas, the village’s meek follower of Tempus, the local shrine’s patron deity whose only duty involves burning all dead for reasons long forgotten.

  Jak and Kevik spar just like old times, and the older boy breaks down and tells his thrall of the condescension and hazing he faces from the other students at the academy, all scions of more important families. Jak begins to understand the changes he sees in his friend, but when the two boys get into a simple fight with two outsiders and Kevik murders one, the thrall unhappily helps to hide the body and the crime.

  When a delirious Rufus stumbles back into town carrying the ancient artifact he was seeking and raving about devils, Jak sees that his home is being swept up by important events beyond his understanding. Himself illiterate, he enlists the aid of Calla and her father to help him research the Sword of Yagos and the cult of Tempus. He learns of the jealous rivalry between the two gods and Tempus’ fight to protect mortals from Yagos’ corruption. He also learns of Calla’s sudden engagement to Kevik, whom only Jak knows to be a murderer.

  The wedding occurs during the festival of winter solstice, when the night is so long that its darkness lasts all day. The ceremony is interrupted by an attack of demonic bats that systematically slaughter the villagers. Jak, Calla, Kleo, and two others manage to escape by fleeing inside the Shrine of Tempus, where Lukas is able to briefly hold back the demons only by burning his own hand down to the stump. The disciple warns Jak that the unpurified souls of the dead outside will go unprotected by Tempus, though the thrall does not understand the precise significance. Leaving Lukas behind, Jak leads the five survivors through a trapdoor from the shrine into an unknown world below.

  Meanwhile Kevik, separated from his friends and following the magical compulsion of the Sword of Yagos, kills a mutated Rufus and takes the sword for himself. Despising himself for the weakness he showed at the academy, Kevik meets and swears obedience to the devil Nagnuaqua and begins planning revenge on the Empire.

  Book II: Hearts of Fire

  Nicolas and the Civil War

  As King Anton and the Asturians publicly execute the son of the duke of the failed rebellion, Princess Leti fears a similar fate for Prince Nico. She confronts Captain Gornada, who leads the effort to catch the fleeing prince, and together they agree to bring him back and attempt to convince her father to be lenient.

  Their designs are ruined when Nico lays an ambush that results in the death of Captain Gornada. Faced with the decision to kill Thane Zenza or allow him to return to Cormona, Nico lets Zenza go free, knowing he will likely miscommunicate the accidental nature of Gornada’s death. His distress over the increasing conflict with Leti’s people is somewhat molified when the Threeshields inform him they are changing their name to the Princeshields in honor of him.

  Upon returning to Neublusten, Nico finds a city and kingdom upset by the death of the elder prince and the unexpected defeat in the west. The new heir immediately relieves General Koblenzar of his duties in overall command of the military and initiates a series of reforms to restore strength and pride in the army. Nico’s efforts are complicated by a visit from Third Arturo, his patron in the Order of Swordthanes, who commands him to end the fighting at once so the Empire might focus on the Chekik invasion and demon infestation, both being existential threats. Not wanting to violate the code of the Order, Nico instead challenges Arturo to a duel.

  The two Swordthanes spend the days before the bout sharing details of the circumstances confronting Akenberg and the empire entire, and become friends in the process. They toast one another just before the duel, which takes place in front of a massive crowd whose cheers of support energize Nico to a hard-fought victory.

  The city of Neublusten faces siege from the same invading Lorester army that defeated Prince Marko. During a parly, Nico learns of the intrigues wherein his own father and brother planned the betrayal of him and the Asturians. Nevertheless, Nico continues to command the Akenberg forces in the ensuing battle, resulting in the defeat of Lorester and the salvation of Neublusten.

  During the aftermath, Nico learns that his duel with Arturo was dishonored by a servant who poisoned the visiting thane at King Hermann’s directive. His popularity at a high, Nico reluctantly confronts his father and declares himself the new king.

  Jak and the Demons

  The former housethrall leads the survivors from Everdawn down into Ra’Cheka, the ancient underground homeland of the Chekican Communion. Wandering alone through a dead, forgotten undercity, the five friends desperately search for food and a means of escape. Kleo starts sh
owing signs of her skin becoming scaly. Doubting his own ability, feeling the responsibility of leadership weigh more heavily, Jak wishes Kluber, the magistrate’s son, would take charge of the group. Then Riff, Kluber’s housethrall and the youngest of the survivors, disappears during the night.

  Worrying that the boy got into trouble while exploring, they stop searching for a way out in order to look for him. Instead of finding their missing friend, Jak and Kleo discover a secret inner sanctum to a library-like structure filled with undamaged books. Jealousy begins to affect Calla’s relationship with Jak as Kleo’s feelings for him become more apparent. Then the dour mood hits them all when they find the charred remains of Riff, sacrificed by unknown denizens of the ruined city.

  Working together, they track and capture Hobbes, an old man who knows far more about them than expected. He explains to Jak alone that Riff agreed to be sacrificed to slow the corruption affecting Kleo. He also encourages Jak to join the followers of Tempus, the cult operating in secrecy out of the underground temple. Confused, the four remaining survivors are taken into the temple, and Jak’s lessons begin. As a gift, he is given the Eye of Orkus, a powerful artifact that allows him to read and understand ancient languages despite his own illiteracy. Jak uses the Eye to return to the trove of books he and Kleo discovered, looking for a way out of Ra’Cheka and learning how to unlock power through sacrifice to the gods.