123 Barbarians at the Gate (2/2)

\”Slaves don't speak unless spoken to,\” he said with as much contempt as he could in such a short sentence.

Luca's hand twitched. Beside him, Edo's shoulders tightened. Even Qwipps looked like he was raring to go, which to me was the surest sign that these gate guardians had been very difficult.

I raised a calming hand toward my guys right before I turned to face this arrogant satyr and stepped right into his hit zone looking like I wasn't the least bit threatened by him and his creepy horns.

To be brutally honest, once I'd gotten over the initial shock of their appearance, I really wasn't in the least bit frightened of these satyrs. As horned fairies go, Edo was five times as intimidating and Azuma behind me was maybe ten times that.

Plus, I was already in a bad mood because of what was likely happening in Mudgard at this very moment. Now was not the time to mess with me, dude.

\”Listen here,\” and I pointed to the shiny bronze commander's badge on my chest, a five-pointed star with two bronze wings rising up from behind it in a circular pattern, the symbol of a five-hundred man commander. \”I'm here to pay my respects to Great General Garm, One-Hundred Man Commander.\”

I noticed that his own badge, a bronze star without the wings, labeled him as my subordinate, and I decided to stress this fact.

After finally seeing the badge on my chest, this arrogant satyr visibly deflated. There was a second of panic appearing in his eyes, then in a respectful tone he hadn't shown previously, he said, \”Greetings, Five-Hundred Man Commander… my men and I would be, glad, to take you to our liege.\”

I'd never used my status to show off before. It was kind of a nice feeling.

\”However,\” the satyr continued, \”I cannot let you go before my master so armed.\”

As he said this, the satyr commander gazed out at the nearly four hundred soldiers standing at attention as if we were barbarians about to storm his gate.

What he wasn't aware of was by Foolhardies standards, standing at attention for this long without a single fairy or visere breaking ranks or being overly loud was as rare as a blue moon back on Mudgard.

I glanced back at my soldiers, and then with a wink to my little brother, I turned to face the satyr once more.

\”Alright,\” I'll leave my soldiers just outside the city gates, but me and my officers,\” I made a show of counting with my fingers, \”and about twenty of my guards are coming in.\”

I didn't wait for the satyr to agree. I simply turned around and issued my orders to Luca.

'Tell Azuma and twenty of his viseres to join us, and have Xanthor come upfront so he can lead the men while we're away. Sargeant Pike will assist him\” I ordered.

Luca, after grinning at the mention of his not-girlfriend, saluted me in that Fayne military way and then trotted off to relay my commands.

\”The rest of us?\” Edo asked.

\”You're all with me,\” I said.

\”Wait… even me?\” Qwipps asked surprised.

\”You're one of my best warriors, Qwipps,\” I said, stroking his ego, a tactic that worked very well with Qwipps Daggerby.

It wasn't a lie though. He was one of my best killers. But my choice was also a calculated one.

Me, Ashley, Luca, Azuma and twenty other humans meeting a fairy who was notoriously biased against our kind was my way of showing off that I wasn't the least bit afraid of Darah's rival. It also helped that Azuma had a reputation even here in the west. Having him as my subordinate really made me look good.

As for Edo, well, he was just so intimidating. It was always a card I liked having around. Qwipps was around to be his annoying self. His participation in the proceedings might help to keep Garm off his footing.

Once all my selected soldiers had been assembled and I'd given the reins figuratively to my centaur lieutenant, only then did I turn around to face the satyr who looked like he was desperately holding back the irritation from his face.

For the first time that night, I was glad Aura wasn't around. Her being here might have made things worse regardless of who outranked who. It was one small mercy that she wasn't going to be placed in danger despite whatever it was she was talking about with Arah.

I sighed and tried my best not to think about it. Luckily, the satyr was proving to be a good target for venting my frustrations on.

\”Alright, One-Hundred Man Commander,\” I said in a way that would have made Thom proud. \”Let's go meet your master.\”