Chapter 52: All or Nothing
His hand moved toward the saddlebag ledger twice, then stopped both times. There was no new entry to make. The drainage system was functioning and Wulf’s foremen had control of the next phase.
The convoy had shrunk. Five men were dead. Eight injured had been sent ahead on the first day. That left fewer riders, and the remaining horses showed clear fatigue in their gait and breathing.
Godric moved up from the rear without prompting. "Some of the men showed potential during the skirmish," he said. "I suggest to focus on them for a new batch of officers."
"Agreed, I’ll have it written after we arrive." he said.
Before Beorn gave any command, Godric signaled two militiamen outward to cover outwardly.
Lewin stepped forward. His posture was rigid, with signs of sleep deprivation, but his focus was intact. He had already organized what he needed to report.
Beorn stopped, a flash of recognition draping on his face, and then overwhelmed by cold professionalism.
"The warehouse district north of the main road is theirs. Ald’s bays are closed unless traffic runs through their checkpoints. The high quarter was sealed by his private force, they locked all access roads."
"The main gate structure is partially ours. Their people have taken over the road outside it. The crown soldiers inside the gate haven’t submitted to them, but they have neither permitted us to garrison the gate."
"And our forces?"
Lewin shifted his focus briefly to the convoy, then back.
The losses were already significant for the early stages.
Beorn pursed his lips. That wasn’t simply a show of force. Coss was attempting to dismantle every move he had made in his time on the city, cutting him from his supporters and force him into isolation.
"He is likely on the high quarter. We cannot access it through their blockade."
"One additional detail. The man in the brown coat from the drill ground. He left the militia the day after you departed. My network tracked him from garrison quarter to the warehouse district. Two stops in the north district. Then he entered a building behind Ald’s main bay. He did not exit before the district locked down."
Beorn considered the constraint, then dismissed it.
Lewin accepted the command and waited for the next directive.
"It’s ours, they have no presence on that route. The entrance to the slums is contested but lightly, there’s no organized force below the residential quarters."
Godric had already turned and was moving toward the rear of the convoy, relaying adjustments without waiting for formal orders.
"He’s been waiting for this," she said. "Weeks at least. Just for the opportunity to show up."
"So have I," he said.
"What’s the gameplan then?"
"We contest their presence in every quarter of the city. I’m afraid Coss greatly overestimated how easily he could stage a takeover." Beorn said.
Lewin resumed once the exchange ended.
"Take us in."
The militia stood on watch there. They recognized the convoy at roughly forty yards. By the time Beorn reached the gate, it was already open.
One shutter stood open on the first building. The occupant withdrew as the convoy approached.
One building past them, a shutter hung broken from its hinge. The wood at the break was still pale.
The route to the citadel remained open.
They recognized Godric first. Then Beorn. Their posture adjusted slightly, the tension reduced by their leader presence.
One tracked the convoy from initial sightline until recognition.
The gate opened.
He reviewed the situation as a system.
That approach was correct. If the network failed, the larger structure would collapse.
But he still overestimated his forces.
The broader structure had been built incrementally since Beorn’s arrival. What remained after that construction was not vulnerable to the point it would collapse with one disruption.
Beorn stepped forward through the gate.
All or nothing.