MERCS:

  Trent Wade | The Baron | Smoke | Eden Wade | The Bowman

  The carriage came to a stop. Smoke opened the door.

  “Rest stop,” the driver said.

  “Get out and stretch your legs,” The Baron told them. “It’ll do you good. Also, we all need to be seen.”

  They were treated well, given refreshments from the Governor General’s supply, and before long they had set off again.

  “How far to Fuyang?” Wade asked The Baron.

  “We’ll get there tomorrow evening at this pace.”

  “So what exactly is the point of all this? From the general’s perspective? When his enemies find out you’re not him, they’ll only go back and get him. And be extra pissed off on top.”

  “We’re buying him time. He doesn’t intend to go meekly, and submit to his enemies. He’s preparing his forces.”

  Wade thought about this. “So that’s why the Council in Avolo is so keen to help him? A civil war keeps us safe from the Kuthenians, right?”

  “You’re smart, Wade.”

  “Huh. By which you mean I’m not as stupid as you thought.”

  “Not at all. I’ve always thought so.”

  Wade thought some more. There was nothing else to do. “Alright. But why go through all this subterfuge to buy himself a few days? If he was set on this course, why not turn the tables on the Governor General, and ambush him when he had the chance?”

  The Baron put his hands up. “Alright, Wade. You’re very smart.”

  “Just out with it.”

  “When we get to Fuyang, we have a second mission. Fei has an informant in the city. They’re the one who warned him he was in trouble. He wants us to get them out, before the fighting starts.”

  “At last, it begins to make sense. And why didn’t you tell us in the first place?”

  “It was on a need to know basis. You didn’t need to know until we got to Fuyang.”

  “Oh, I see. And what if something happened to you? We’d never have known about the mission.”

  “Smoke knew.”

  Wade turned to stare at the Alinko, who gave him a grin. “Him? He’s higher in the pecking order than me?”

  “Hey chommie, I am Level 5. And until a few days ago, you’d retired from the Apples. Why should you come in and outrank me?”

  I was here before you, Wade wanted to say. Me and The Baron did Stiff’s first ever mission. But he realised how childish it sounded, and stayed quiet.

  Wade hadn’t fully understood how much more populous Kuthenia was than the western half of Gal’azu, until they approached Fuyang.

  Looking through the window of his carriage, as they travelled along a heavily used road, he saw countless farms and small villages. Some of these farms were so large they would be better called plantations, worked by an army of farmhands. The Gerds’ farm was as large as any he knew of in the west, and yet it was dwarfed by these estates. It gave the Kuthenians a huge production advantage—they could feed more people with their surplus; support an army. It was ominous, and he now understood the Council’s interest in Kuthenian politics.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  The walls of Fuyang appeared. The Governor General’s soldiers pushed through the queue of people waiting to enter the city.

  The Baron undressed.

  “Why now?” Wade asked him.

  “Who knows what will happen when we enter the city?” the thief replied. “I may be put straight in a cell. Changing my appearance won’t get me past a locked door.”

  Wade supposed he was right. He unstrapped the bag he wore, taking out a set of attendant’s clothes, which The Baron changed into. Smoke and Eden helped him to bundle the general’s clothes back into the bag, and reattach it.

  “Now we just have to get as far as possible before Fei’s absence is discovered,” The Baron said.

  Wade shook himself. Even though he knew it was The Baron, the amulet made his voice sound like a woman’s, with a Kuthenian accent. It was most unsettling.

  Their carriage passed through the gates of the city, then navigated its streets. The gates of the imperial palace were opened to them, and the carriage stopped in a paved courtyard, surrounded by colourful wooden buildings. Wade had to admit, the plan had been an effective way to get inside the palace.

  “Your baby’s coming,” The Baron said.

  “What?”

  “Your baby’s coming and we have to get you into the palace. I need some serious acting here, Wade.”

  Smoke sniggered.

  “Don’t make me do that in front of my boy,” Wade complained.

  “It’s alright, Dad. I don’t think of you as macho or anything, anyway.”

  “Pretty sure no one does,” Smoke muttered.

  “Are you looking for a battering?” Wade demanded of the smug Alinko.

  “Wade!” The Baron hissed. “This is serious.”

  “Alright, alright.” He looked at Smoke. “Go on then, woman. Open the door for me.”

  Wade moaned and wailed as he exited the carriage, putting a hand to his bump. He leaned heavily on Smoke, who was forced to take his weight.

  The Baron did the talking, insisting to everyone—whether they appeared interested or not—that Wade had to be taken to the palace doctors immediately.

  “Can I help?” said a familiar voice. Christoph appeared, and put a supporting arm around Wade.

  None of the other soldiers in the Governor General’s retinue looked remotely interested in getting involved, and they were allowed to wander off into the palace grounds.

  “How’s it looking, Eden?” Wade asked in between two especially loud screams.

  “Some of them are watching us. No one’s thought to check the carriage yet.”

  “Long may that continue.”

  They turned a corner.

  “You can stop leaning on me now,” Smoke said. “You’re going to do my back in.”

  “Lose the bump as well,” said The Baron. “People will be looking for a pregnant woman.”

  Wade stashed the bag under one of the buildings. “We still stick out a mile off,” he noted.

  “Then we must be quick,” The Baron said. He pointed to a large red painted hall with upturned eaves, accessed by a long set of concrete steps. “Our target is most likely there.”

  “The place with the armed guards?” Wade asked.

  “Yes.” The Baron bit at his lip.

  Wade realised there was no plan to get inside. He nearly said as much. But bitching won’t help, he recognised. He considered their options. There was no looking past The Baron’s amulet. That was the secret to moving wherever they wished. “Perhaps we can subdue a guard, and grab their uniform?” he suggested. “We don’t all need to get inside.”

  The Baron nodded. No one looked enthusiastic at the idea.

  “Can anyone else smell noodle soup?” asked Smoke.

  “Now’s not the time to be thinking about getting lunch,” Wade said sourly.

  “You mean…fetch it?” The Baron asked.

  Smoke grinned. “Exactly.”

  “The Governor General needs soup for his guests,” The Baron told the cook.

  “You have to be kidding!” she said, red faced. “I asked what he needed me to prepare before he left!”

  “General Kecheng is allowed to change his mind!” The Baron said sternly.

  The woman sighed. “Of course. How much?”

  The Baron looked unsure. “A large vat.”

  “Make that two small,” said Smoke, with a look.

  “Oh yes. Two small.”

  The cook eyed the pair, then shook her head in despair. “Two small. Coming right up.” She proceeded to shout at her staff until the two vats were provided.

  The half dozen guards at the entrance to the hall were more than a little interested in what they had.

  “The Governor General wants General Fei’s daughter fed before she meets her father,” The Baron informed them.

  The soldiers frowned at the oddity of the statement.

  “The kitchen gave us an extra vat for you,” Smoke added. He removed the lid, allowing the aroma to circulate.

  “It’s our lucky day,” said a soldier, grabbing it.

  “Put the lid back on,” said another. “It’ll get cold.”

  Their interest in Wade’s little party had disappeared, as they circled the soldier holding the vat of soup.

  “Fei’s daughter?” The Baron asked.

  “Oh. Take the stairs on the left.”

  “Follow the first corridor. Second on the right.”

  “Third on the right.”

  “Oh yeah. Third on the right.”