Slave to King: The Cost of War

By J. E. Hibpshman

This is the second book in the Slave to King series. Ethan and Abigale have survived and have won her kingdom back from her brother, but now Abigale plans to unite the Southern and Northern Kingdoms. She's willing to do whatever is necessary to win the war, including using Ethan as her weapon. Ethan only wants to be with her and live their lives together. As the civil war is forced on him, he battles to protect his family. Old enemies must be dealt with, and twists and turns make it difficult to survive. In war there are many costs, and this war will cost Ethan more than he can imagine. In the end, will the cost of war be more than he is willing to pay? Can he unite the two kingdoms into one? Is he the leader he wants to be, or is he just Abigale's pawn?

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Jul 31, 2023
• ISBN: 9798350910841

Book preview

BK90079338.jpg

Slave to King

The Cost of War

©2023 J. E. Hibpshman

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

print ISBN: 979-8-35091-083-4

ebook ISBN: 979-8-35091-084-1

Contents

John in the South

Ethan’s Plan

Jeffrey

Sarah

Ethan and the Men

Abigale’s Problem

John

Sarah’s New Life

The Attack

David

Mary’s Child Is Born

Ethan and David Return

Brother Pi and Brother John

Sarah Takes Control

Sarah Kills a King

One Survives

King and Queen

If You Owe Taxes, Pay Taxes!

Sarah and John Make Their Next Plan

A Year of Changes—Ethan and Abigale

John and Sarah

Abby

John

Abby and the Escaped Slaves

Jeffrey on the Loose

Abigale

Abby and Beth

Capture of the Slaves

Abby and Beth

Jeffrey’s Flight to the South

To Kill a Brother or Not to Kill a Brother?

Abby and Beth

Jeffrey

Abigale in a Fury

King Fred, John, and Jeffrey

Sarah

Ethan Prepares for War

Face to Face

The Assassin Strikes

Death in the Castle

Consequences

Ethan

John Presses the Attack

Sarah

Abigale

Ethan

The Battle Begins

Ethan

John

Abigale and Abby

Sarah

Ethan

Abigale

The Attack of the North Begins

David

John

Abigale and Abby

John Strikes Back

The Death of the Queen

John and His Mother

King Fred Meets with John

Ethan

Max the Axe

Sarah

John

The Second Assassin

Ethan

A Time to Kill

John

Max and Ralph Lead the Attack

The Main Event

The Southern Castle

King Fred

Sarah

The Taking of the Castle

The First Year

Mary

The King and His New Queen

Two Kingdoms United

Pi

John in the South

John was sitting looking out the castle window enjoying his morning quiet time. He and Prince Fred had spent the last few days out raiding, raping, and terrorizing the farmers. John always enjoyed these trips. However, he was still amazed that he was now a permanent member of the prince’s top advisors. This was accomplished with help from the Brothers. John told himself he would always remember his humble beginnings and planned never to go back to them.

John knew that when he was an infant, he, his mother, and Ethan had been taken to live in the Brothers’ village. Even if he was too young to remember, he knew it was the best day of his life as it set in motion his life’s work. At age five, he and Ethan were taken to live and train with the Brothers. Both John and Ethan had done well and finished the eleven years of training. It was only the last day that Ethan had beat him in single combat, knocking him out.

When John came back to full consciousness, Ethan was gone and John was the last member of the twenty boys that had started in his group at age five. He was not sure if the Brothers would allow him to live since he lost his fight, but in the end, Senior Brother Pi said, John is in, and that was that.

John spent a few months going on minor missions for the Brothers and found he loved to travel and have the freedom to live his life. He knew his eleven years of training would serve him well, but he was very happy to have all of that behind him. He also learned quickly that the rules that were strictly enforced in the Brothers’ camp were not all strictly enforced when you were out on a mission. John’s first lesson happened on the very first mission. After killing a man they’d had a contract to kill, the other two Brothers searched his pockets, took the money, and split it three ways. John was pleased to have the coins.

After a few months of short missions, John was sent to the Southern Kingdom to make inroads with Prince Fred, and he had thrown himself into the task. His training, along with some help from a Senior Brother, allowed him to make his plans and execute them, becoming the prince’s closest friend. He had started slowly but built on each meeting until he was spending more and more time with the prince.

Once John had gained Prince Fred’s trust, they began riding out together. John soon learned that the prince had a cruel streak, and John liked that. This was the first time he could allow himself to act as he wished and not fear punishment or at least correction from a Senior Brother.

Once a Brother was out on his own, he could do as he pleased with a few hard and fast rules. You never hurt another Brother. Not ever. You always completed the mission you were given no matter what you had to do. And you never, under any circumstances, left any witnesses. It just was not done as the Brothers protected their reputation with the kingdom’s people at all costs. The people feared the Brothers, and that allowed them to act with impunity. And fear was simply good for business and had to be protected. It was explained to John in very clear terms that they would even sacrifice a Brother for the good of their image.

Only the prince knew of all of John’s crimes, but John believed that did not matter as the prince had been involved in most of them and had done as much or worse. Besides, who would bring the prince to justice? He was the prince, and no one dared say a word about what he did. Anyway, they never abused, raped, or killed lords and their families, even the richer merchants or other people with standing. No, they did their pleasure business, as they referred to it, to the poor people and preferred farmers.

John hated farmers. If he were honest with himself, he could not tell you why; he just did. They were useful to plant and grow food but nothing more. They were dirty, smelly, and had nothing of real value to steal. So, he killed all the men and raped all the women over the age of twelve and then killed them. Any child under twelve, male or female, was just killed and left where they fell. Farmers were like rats, John would say. You kill them, and the next day new ones take their place. The more he raped and killed, the more he enjoyed it, and he found new ways of completing his pleasure business. 

He also had to do the normal duties of a friend and advisor to the prince. He had to attend gatherings and parties, which John did enjoy. He liked mingling with the upper-class people in the kingdom. John enjoyed the fear they had of him. John enjoyed chasing the lords’ daughters. It was a challenge, and he enjoyed the chase. He also had to sit in long meetings on the most mundane topics, and that he did not enjoy. Just yesterday he had listened for three full hours as they discussed water levels in the castle and how to improve the water quality. John did not care and only acted like it had importance in his life. If the people died from a disease they got from the water, you simply went out and got more people from the farms and fields and replaced them.

John had gained about ten pounds since leaving the Brothers, but he was not fat. He was still strong and young and knew he could kill any man, other than a Brother, that he needed to. The idea of continuing to exercise and train for hours each day never crossed his mind. He did not need it. He was Brother trained, and others were not.

John finished his last bit of breakfast just as a runner from Prince Fred knocked on the door. John called for him to enter, and the boy said, Sir, Prince Fred would like you to meet with the king and Prince Fred in one hour in the great hall. John nodded and waved the boy away. The boy ran off, his mission complete.

John called for the servant girl to bring him a fresh, hot cup of tea. When it arrived, he considered what he could do with her for an hour. He decided it was not worth his effort and told her to get out and not come back until she was called. She also ran off, relief showing on her face. He did not always send her away, and she had learned he liked to cause pain.

John drank his tea and enjoyed his morning looking out the window. This was nice. He liked it here and decided he would stay. To hell with what the Brothers wanted. He knew once the old king was dead, he would be Prince Fred’s closest friend and have a free hand in the land. Yes, that would be a better life than living under the Brothers’ thumb. But he had to be careful. If he moved too fast, the Brothers could, and most likely would, turn on him. He knew he could not win a fair fight with the Senior Brothers, and the Brothers had killed members that displeased them in the past. John figured he would have to find an edge before he broke free. John longed to be free and have power. He wondered what it would be like to be able to do anything he wanted any time he wanted to do it. The thought pleased him, and he decided he would do anything he needed to gain that kind of power.

John also knew that Ethan had defeated him in single combat, but that was luck. He knew he was as good with a sword as Ethan. Next time he would win. He also knew that somehow Ethan had killed Brother Sam. This was harder for John to understand as Sam was very good with a sword. John knew he could not have won a fight with Sam. How Ethan could have done this was not known, and John was trying to find information on how this happened.

John needed to do two things. First, he had decided to move his mother to the castle with him and had already summoned her by sending a simple message to Senior Brother Pi asking for her assistance. He would care for her here, and she would not have to work. John was not very close to his mother, but she was the only family member he had in his life, so he would bring her to be with him. With Sam dead, he knew she would be taken by another Brother to cook, clean, and share his bed if he did not get her out of there, so he put his plan in motion. John had no real friends in the world, and he needed his mother. She had always been behind him and did what she could to help him. He wanted to develop a closer relationship with her. Second, he would kill Ethan at some point. Ethan had beaten John in single combat and had killed Sam who protected his mother, leaving her with no protection. Ethan deserved killing for both of these things, and John had decided he would do it. However, he was in no hurry. He had been taught to make a plan, then execute the plan when the time was right. Rushing was always a mistake. John let his mind enjoy the thought of killing Ethan and relaxed.

John waited until five minutes before he was to be in the great hall before getting up and walking out the door. John was not a servant to anyone, including this king, and would not waste his time waiting on the king. He arrived at the meetings about one or two minutes before they started. He knew he had to be careful, but he would do things his way.

Prince Fred and his father, King Hank, were both waiting when he walked into the room. The prince smiled at his friend, but the king was vexed. When told to be in the great hall in an hour, any other advisor would have been at least fifteen minutes early so the king would not have to wait on them. But not his son’s favorite advisor. The king was not sure about this Brother-trained young man, but he always gave his son what he wanted. The king had another son, but he was only five and too young to matter. He also had four daughters to whom he gave little value other than marrying them off to some lord he needed support from. No, Fred was the son who would take over the throne, so he gave him what he wanted. The king did not care if his son killed a few farmers. The whispers of rape concerned him, but the king had done the same when he was young. It was what young men of power did, and the king had grown out of it and believed his son would also. He did not consider what he himself still did to servant women now as rape. He owned them and could do to them what he pleased. He knew it was said he treated his horses better than his servant women. The king agreed. Horses had more value to him than any woman, free or servant.

His queen had died a few months back from some issue that took her breath, and the doctors gave different opinions on what caused this. Either way, she was now dead, and he was not going to take another queen at this time. He had kept his queen pregnant as he was expected to, but once she had a child growing in her, what could it hurt if he found pleasure in using other women? Any servant woman who showed signs of being pregnant was killed. He was not going to deal with a bastard; too much trouble for him. If a servant woman, or any woman other than his wife, got pregnant by him, it was, in his opinion, their fault, so they had to pay the price. He was the king, and his welfare was always his first consideration.

The king pointed to a chair for John to sit in and said, I have reports that the Brother you know as Ethan and the King of the North’s daughter, Abigale, have won a major battle and taken over the Northern Kingdom. It is unknown if that crazy bastard Jeffrey is dead or alive. John, what do you think Ethan will do? He gave no thought to Abigale as he did not care what any woman thought on any subject.

John said, Sir, Ethan is not a Brother. It’s true we were raised together until age five and then spent eleven years being trained by the Brothers, but he has been thrown out, and he is not my brother.

The king said with anger, I don’t need a lecture on the Brothers from you. I want your opinion on what this Ethan will do! If you are an advisor to my son, then advise what you think he will do. If you can’t do that, then get out and stay out.

John showed no sign of being concerned the king was upset and yelling. He looked at the king and said, Ethan will build an army to defend the Northern Kingdom. He spends a lot of time reading and thinking and is always concerned with the little guy or the downtrodden. I don’t think you have anything to worry about for two reasons. First, Ethan is not the kind who will want to take over another kingdom. I’m very surprised he is setting himself up as king and suspect someone is behind him, pushing this. Second, the Brothers have taken a contract to kill him, and that contract will be fulfilled.

The king drummed his fingers on the table and then said, Jeffrey took out that contract, and he is most likely dead. It has been a year since that contract was taken, so why would the Brothers fulfill the contract now? They will never get the second half of their money.

Once the contract is taken it is fulfilled, said John. Brothers always fulfill a contract no matter how hard it is or how long it takes. And the Brothers will get their money one way or the other.

I hear the Brothers already tried to kill Ethan, and Ethan killed two of them, replied the king. He had heard the rumor that Abigale had killed one of the Brothers but dismissed it as one of the silly rumors the servants were always spreading and believing. The king knew the Brothers could fight and were by far the best there were with a sword. No woman could kill one, so he dismissed that idea completely.

This question did vex John. He did not want to hear about Ethan killing Sam. He said, Yes, that is true, but I don’t know how he did it. It must have been a trick or an ambush or something as Ethan could never win a fair, one-on-one fight with Sam. And there is no way Ethan could have killed Sam and another Brother at the same time. There is something we just don’t know about that event, but I do know there is more to this story!

The king could see John did not like this topic, so he pushed on. Well, no matter how he accomplished it, he did kill two Brothers. Maybe this Ethan is more of a fighter than you know! Maybe you are underestimating him?

For the first time in a long time John showed signs of being mad. He caught himself and smiled at the king and said, Yes, it would appear he killed two Brothers. But I know Ethan better than any other person alive, and he spends his time trying to help the losers in life. He will not attack unless there is someone behind him pushing him. It could be the king’s daughter, Abigale.

The king snorted. If he allows a woman to tell him what to do, he is not much of a man. Should we attack the Northern Kingdom?

John thought about this and said, Maybe a few raids to see how they respond. They just lost a lot of men over the last year, and they would not have had time to rebuild their army with trained men, so we could do a lot more damage than normal. But a full-scale attack without more information on their strength would be risky.

They discussed this for some time, and the king finally decided to send three raiding parties north and see how things went. John was glad when the meeting was over.

Ethan’s Plan

Over the last year, Ethan and Abigale had fallen into a routine now that they lived at the castle. Abigale was pregnant again with their second child, and according to her she got pregnant the first night she had sex with Ethan after birthing Doggon. She told Ethan that after this one she did not plan on getting pregnant again for a few years and that she was not going to be his brood mare, birthing a child year in and year out. But she knew all women spent most of their lives pregnant. It was just a fact of being an adult female.

Each morning Ethan was up before dawn to exercise. Next he practiced his sword handling and fighting skills with the men in the barracks, and then he gave Abigale some time for her never-ending meetings. Ethan hated the meetings but forced himself to learn the issues of the kingdom and try to find solutions. For her part, Abigale would exercise for one hour first thing in the morning and practice with her sword for an hour. After that she had a kingdom to run, and she gave it her full attention.

The one thing Ethan had set up from the first day back at the castle with the help of David was a group of about two hundred men that he was training to be his shock troops. Each day they were up before the sun. They exercised hard, then spent the rest of the day training with sword, knife, bow, crossbow, and battle axe. They were trained in survival and horsemanship. Each man had to be able to read and write, so each day they spent an hour in study with a teacher. To join, a man had to be at least sixteen years old but no older than thirty. He had to be single and have no physical defects. No time was wasted on menial tasks. Every second was spent on training to fight or some other needed skill. If a man wanted to quit, he could simply lay his weapons down and he would be sent to the regular army. You had to want to be in the group to stay. As men left the group by choice or from injury, others were recruited to keep the ranks at two hundred, or as close as Ethan could get. But you had to be recommended to join as the selection process was demanding.

After twelve months Ethan was becoming edgy, and this caused him and Abigale to fight over the stupidest of things. After another big fight that ended when Abigale removed her dress to stop it, Ethan told Abigale about his plan to take out all the Brothers.

Abigale had also been thinking of the Brothers more and more as the year went on and finally decided she had to deal with them now to get that off her back. She knew no matter how strong her castle was, no matter how strong her security was, the Brothers would always find a way to fulfill their contract. She was not going to allow them to kill her husband or her children. She said, Take the army and just go kill all of them then get back here as fast as you can. I need the army, and this is holding up my plans. She also needed to get Ethan to focus on taking the Southern Kingdom so she could focus on running her own kingdom. 

Ethan looked up at her. The army will be needed here as I’m sure the King of the South will at least send raiders to test our strength. I know I would, and I hear John is one of their advisors. However, I do have an idea if you want to hear it.

Abigale nodded her head, and he continued. The Brothers never have more than twenty or twenty-five in the village at a time. The others are out on missions or whatever. Now that is a strong group to go up against, but if I had one hundred handpicked men I could sneak into the area undetected and attack before they knew what was happening. We would lose men, but we could kill them or at least run them out of their stronghold and make it harder for them to strike us. No matter what, we must strike first and strike hard. We can’t wait any longer.

Abigale asked, What about the people in the village? What is your plan for them?

They don’t matter, Ethan said. Once the Brothers are dead or pushed out, they can stay or leave. Whatever they want. I don’t want to hurt any of them if I don’t have to. They are just the help that does the domestic chores, grows the food, and cares for the animals and nothing more. They are not a threat to us, but on the other hand, we have enough problems now and we don’t need another group of people to deal with. I’ll just leave them, and they can do as they please.

Can I assume, Abigale responded, that you would take all of the men you are training as your, what do you call them, shock troops?

Yes, I’ll use those men to deal with the Brothers, or at least about half of them. Most of the men in that group have had some prior training, and after training six days a week for the past year, they are showing signs of great improvement. I would take the very best with me and hit the Brothers hard and fast. If we can get to them without them knowing we are coming, we have a good chance of wiping them out once and for all.

Abigale said, The second you start planning this, the Brothers will know. Ethan, you know very well that there are no true secrets in any kingdom. Have you not learned anything in the time we have been together? The word will spread fast and wide that you are on the move, and they will set a trap for you. I’m concerned this plan will fail, and you will be killed.

I know that there are no secrets once you start planning something if multiple people know about it, said Ethan. What I was thinking is that only you and I will know the plan. And I mean only you and I and no one else. I will tell the men we are going to raid the Southern Kingdom. This will do two things. First, the Southern Kingdom will hear this and will have to go on the defensive, keeping some of their men tied up on a wasted mission. Second, the Brothers will hear this and let down what little guard they might have put up. But the truth is that no one has ever dared attack the Brothers, and I doubt they would believe it even if they were told we were coming for them. The Brothers can be arrogant.

Abigale was unhappy but knew there was not much she could do about it. And it did make sense to strike first.

When will you go? she asked.

In the morning, responded Ethan.

This was a surprise, and she said so.

Ethan said, We must move, and move fast. I will tell David I’m taking half the men to attack the Southern Kingdom and going right away so the word does not beat us. He will believe that. I do hate deceiving David, but for this to work only you and I can know the plan. Once we are long gone from here, I’ll tell the men the real plan. That way there will be no chance of any of this getting out. Like I said, the Brothers would not believe anyone would attack them, but if the South knows I’m gone they might attack us here, and I don’t want to let that happen.

Abigale had a thousand questions but knew Ethan had made detailed plans in his head without consulting her, and he would not go into them with her at this time. That was enough to tick her off as she was the queen and he had no right to plan an attack without consulting her first, but she forced herself to be calm. Ethan did have very good skills when it came to making a battle plan and executing it. Still, he should have been talking to her. She was not going to be treated like most women and kept in the dark about this type of thing. Men made plans and did things without women’s input, but when things went bad the women and their children suffered the most. She knew he was smart not to have said anything and now understood his shock troops and all the training he had been doing. But she was still mad. She walked over to him and punched him square in the chest.

You should have told me about your plans sooner. I’m your wife and your queen and I have a right and duty to know when you are planning this type of action. Do you understand me? I will not be treated as some dumb woman and left in the dark. I will be your equal and partner. Do you understand me?

I could not tell you and protect you and the plan at the same time, Ethan said. Sorry. I do respect you, but this time I needed to handle this on my own. You did not need to know. You wanted to know, and that was not good enough this time. This is something I had to work out in my brain first, and now that I have a plan, I’m giving all the details to you and no one else. Also, I told you once before, don’t hit me or I promise you I will hit back.

No, you won’t. You have threatened me with that a few times, but you will not do it. It’s just not in you to hit me. And I will hit you anytime you treat me like a servant girl and not a full partner. With that, she stepped back and took off her clothing while he watched her. She added, You really don’t think I would let you go without us spending some time together in our bed? What kind of a wife would I be if I allowed that? Ethan decided he could be mad later and moved to join her.

The next morning, a full two hours before sunrise, Ethan had all the trained men standing in formation. The formation was ten rows of twenty men each. They were not happy about being forced awake so early, but not a man complained. They could feel that something was up, and they waited to learn their fate.

Ethan walked down the line of men in the first row. As he went, he would stop in front of a man and tell him to fall out and return to the barracks. Then he would skip a man or two and then send the next one, two, or three men into the barracks. When he was done, he had eighty men left standing in the light of the torches. He said to the remaining men, I have a mission that you have been selected for. It will be dangerous, and you could be killed. But it’s what you have been training for. I can’t tell you any more at this time than that we will be raiding in the South. If you are afraid to go, fall out and you can stay here. Not one man moved. Ethan then said, Gather your weapons and gear. Draw food for four days and select your best two mounts. Be ready to leave at first light. Ethan dismissed them.

David, who lived just outside the castle with Mary, came riding up. Someone had been sent to get him. He demanded, What the hell is going on?

Ethan said, I’m going to take eighty of your men and raid the Southern Kingdom. I did not tell you, or even Abigale, the plan until now so word would not get out to them that we were coming. Sorry, I trust you, but no matter how hard we try to keep something a secret, it always gets out. Anyway, you will take the rest of the men, along with the army, and fend off any raids they send our way to retaliate. And, David, be aggressive and bold with your defense. We need to teach the Southern boys that when they cross the river, they will meet their death.

David knew saying nothing was smart, but still it hurt that he was not in the loop. Then he thought about how Abigale would have taken it and almost felt sorry for Ethan. David was glad he had a woman like Mary, loud and opinionated but not trained with a sword, and not a redheaded firebrand like Abigale. He said, What do you need from me?

Ethan said, "Protect our wives, children, and unborn children first. Then protect the kingdom. I need you to take charge of the army and defend my kingdom. I will be gone for a few weeks or longer, so you are in charge. Do as you see fit, but I can tell you Abigale does not like to learn of plans after they are made. If you make plans, you might want to get her into the loop