The Cerberus Rebellion (A Griffins & Gunpowder Novel) by Joshua Johnson Page A
Authors: Joshua Johnson
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the letter been an official communication from Hildegarde.
The envelope was addressed to the Duke of Agilard and had been delivered by a diplomatic courier from the north; it had been a twelve-day journey by rail. The letter was not the first that Magnus had received in this fashion. They had, in fact, become more frequent as his plans had come closer to fruition. The letters were always carefully worded, in case they fell into the wrong hands, but they had led Magnus to opportunities and options that he might not have seen otherwise.
Magnus slid the knife through the wax seal and pulled out the envelope’s contents. The letters were never signed but the writing was thick and hard. The wording left little doubt that the letters were penned by a man.
The time has come, my friend , the letter began. Our mutual friends have prepared to do their part, and you will have already heard of the opportunity that has presented itself. You are to follow the instructions given to you, but prepare your full armies.
Magnus folded the letter and slid it back into the envelope.
Short and to the point, Magnus thought as he held the envelope over a candle. The fire licked at the paper and caught. The fire danced in his crystal clear blue eyes.
“ Bad news, Your Grace?” Rorik Karsten asked. The bodyguard had leaned against the stone wall, his arms crossed over his chest.
The Captain of Guards for the Agilard Duchy was a hand taller than six feet, with broad shoulders and thick muscular arms. His red hair was braided to the middle of his back and he had braided his usually wild beard to the middle of his chest.
“ No.” Magnus shook his head. He intertwined his fingers and pushed. The pop and snap of his knuckles made him flinch.“I was expecting this letter. Especially after the messenger from Aetheston arrived.”
The lesser lordling that had carried Eadric Garrard’s decree had been a man of the most disagreeable sort. The lord of some small keep and the attached village who believed he was able to stand on the same level as a noble whose house was older than the nation of Ansgar. Magnus had put the man in his place with a sharp word and the threat of imprisonment.
The decree had been plain enough in its instructions: Magnus was to collect the levies from his sworn nobles and lords and transport them to Aetheston. They would turn around and make their way back to the Forest Glen peninsula to await transport across the Straits of Steimor.
Magnus had delayed the decision on whether or not to call his levies for as long as he could, but the time had come and he needed to send word off to Aetheston. He wanted to tell Eadric Garrard to consider Agilard and its sworn territories as no longer part of Ansgar, but the letter from his mysterious contact in Nordahr would change the way that he approached the matter.
“ Call my council together,” Magnus said at last as he stood. He was of average height at just more than six feet tall. “I will meet with them in the council chambers.”
“ Your Grace.” Rorik nodded, unlocked the door and departed.
Magnus unrolled a map across the table, weighed it down at the corners, and sat down once more. He stroked this thick blond beard. The leather map showed the territories that he would rule once he had separated his nation from the grasp of Ansgar. At its heart was the red three-headed hellhound Gahar, the symbol of House Jarmann.
The territory that was marked as Kerberosi was larger than the lands that his nobles held, but he had taken into account a neutral buffer between his lands and those of the Ansgari nobles that lay along his border.
The edges of Kerberos would be further expanded to the north by the marriage of his daughter Talia to Alrik Renwyk, heir to the throne of Beldane, directly to the north. The betrothal had not yet been made, but discussions with Thorley Renwyk had been concluded. His daughter’s seventeenth birthday was all that stood in the way of the match
The envelope was addressed to the Duke of Agilard and had been delivered by a diplomatic courier from the north; it had been a twelve-day journey by rail. The letter was not the first that Magnus had received in this fashion. They had, in fact, become more frequent as his plans had come closer to fruition. The letters were always carefully worded, in case they fell into the wrong hands, but they had led Magnus to opportunities and options that he might not have seen otherwise.
Magnus slid the knife through the wax seal and pulled out the envelope’s contents. The letters were never signed but the writing was thick and hard. The wording left little doubt that the letters were penned by a man.
The time has come, my friend , the letter began. Our mutual friends have prepared to do their part, and you will have already heard of the opportunity that has presented itself. You are to follow the instructions given to you, but prepare your full armies.
Magnus folded the letter and slid it back into the envelope.
Short and to the point, Magnus thought as he held the envelope over a candle. The fire licked at the paper and caught. The fire danced in his crystal clear blue eyes.
“ Bad news, Your Grace?” Rorik Karsten asked. The bodyguard had leaned against the stone wall, his arms crossed over his chest.
The Captain of Guards for the Agilard Duchy was a hand taller than six feet, with broad shoulders and thick muscular arms. His red hair was braided to the middle of his back and he had braided his usually wild beard to the middle of his chest.
“ No.” Magnus shook his head. He intertwined his fingers and pushed. The pop and snap of his knuckles made him flinch.“I was expecting this letter. Especially after the messenger from Aetheston arrived.”
The lesser lordling that had carried Eadric Garrard’s decree had been a man of the most disagreeable sort. The lord of some small keep and the attached village who believed he was able to stand on the same level as a noble whose house was older than the nation of Ansgar. Magnus had put the man in his place with a sharp word and the threat of imprisonment.
The decree had been plain enough in its instructions: Magnus was to collect the levies from his sworn nobles and lords and transport them to Aetheston. They would turn around and make their way back to the Forest Glen peninsula to await transport across the Straits of Steimor.
Magnus had delayed the decision on whether or not to call his levies for as long as he could, but the time had come and he needed to send word off to Aetheston. He wanted to tell Eadric Garrard to consider Agilard and its sworn territories as no longer part of Ansgar, but the letter from his mysterious contact in Nordahr would change the way that he approached the matter.
“ Call my council together,” Magnus said at last as he stood. He was of average height at just more than six feet tall. “I will meet with them in the council chambers.”
“ Your Grace.” Rorik nodded, unlocked the door and departed.
Magnus unrolled a map across the table, weighed it down at the corners, and sat down once more. He stroked this thick blond beard. The leather map showed the territories that he would rule once he had separated his nation from the grasp of Ansgar. At its heart was the red three-headed hellhound Gahar, the symbol of House Jarmann.
The territory that was marked as Kerberosi was larger than the lands that his nobles held, but he had taken into account a neutral buffer between his lands and those of the Ansgari nobles that lay along his border.
The edges of Kerberos would be further expanded to the north by the marriage of his daughter Talia to Alrik Renwyk, heir to the throne of Beldane, directly to the north. The betrothal had not yet been made, but discussions with Thorley Renwyk had been concluded. His daughter’s seventeenth birthday was all that stood in the way of the match
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