Ralph and the Pixie

Chapter 18

Under Siege (Pt. One)

‘Whoever said “There are no atheists in foxholes”

never had any direct experience with war himself.

War has ever been the greatest cause of spiritual

decline, whilst Peace and Prosperity have ever

been the stuff delusion is made from.’

Monsignor Adrian Blackpool, DD, MD (1884-1949)

News of the fighting was sporadic, as traffic on the roads had ceased abruptly with the onset of war. The few riders that did approach the city gate were grim-faced, silent messengers that were hastily admitted, brought directly to the Thane without delay, then dispatched immediately thereafter. Though plied with inquiries, these soldiers would answer no questions, and ignored all attempts to make conversation, much to the disappointment and consternation of Mirrindale’s citizens, especially the Merchants, who seemed not to comprehend that their great wealth was of utterly no consequence in the matter.

One figure, a tall, middle-aged, greying man, cloaked and hooded, who was often among the number that lurked in dark anterooms and corridors, trying to elicit information from these messengers, and who had so far looked in vain for a familiar face with whom he could deal, who had exhausted virtually all avenues to obtain or send correspondence, said to the one person whom he could trust openly, namely himself, ‘I do not trust a man who can’t be bought! This Thane has locked the city tighter that any belt of chastity! He has used no lock at all, but has rather sealed the virgin in a seamless vault.’ This analogy worried him, for he was not sure, as yet, whether the Thane was acting out of desperation, or whether he was far more resourceful than anticipated. If the former were true, he mused, the thing he sought to protect would suffocate and die.