Chapter 35

Luck was against us on the way back to Izmir. The wind was unfavourable at best and the sea had become choppy in its wake and the taskforce didn't make it back until dusk. By then it was too late to move into the inner harbour to tie up and to offload. Instead we spent the night at sea, staring at the distant shore and the few lights coming from the city, wondering how things were going there. It turned into a long night for me. I was keyed up from the day and concerned about how Lord Omar and the others were doing. I was also concerned about our prisoners. The Minoans had given their word that they wouldn't try anything, but I didn't trust them nor did any of the men with me who'd once been slaves of the Minoans. It meant that I pulled a watch standing guard duty, leaving me even more tired. Fortunately the Minoans spirit had been broken with the suddenness and violence of our attack on them and they kept their word. At dawn we weighed anchor as quickly as possible and then headed into the inner port under the guidance of the Harbour Master. The Windrunner led the way and my captured vessels followed it in to port.

We found chaos and bedlam running amok within the port. An officer of the city watch informed us that Lord Omar and his army had marched out of the city yesterday, leaving only the watch and a few men to over see the city and to keep the peace. It was proving a hard job as rumours were circulating like wildfire and everyone believed that Izmir was about to fall. I got pissed at that and told the man so. I also told him about our victory at sea and the fact that we'd destroyed the bulk of the Minoan fleet. Then I told him to spread the word of our success and the fact that we were preparing to march out and join Lord Omar in the field and that we would return victorious. The man bobbed his head in response and then ran off to do as I said, happy to comply with my orders.

We weren't leaving immediately. We had prisoners to deal with and horses to offload from the captured transports and we needed wagons to carry our supplies. I started with the prisoners and for that I needed the captain of the city watch.

I sent Nimue to find him and bring him back to the Windrunner. While she was gone, I put Dork in charge of getting the prisoners ashore and in some semblance of order. The big guy smiled at that and went off to do as I asked a broad toothy grin on his face. I was sure that the prisoners were not going to enjoy this experience. As he headed off I stopped him long enough to remind him that half of our prisoners had been promised quarter, so he wasn't to mix them up with those who would eventually be sold as slaves. That wiped the grin off his face.

When the captain of city watch arrived, I spoke to him and explained the situation to him. We had roughly sixty Minoans as prisoners and they all needed to be escorted to a holding area until things could be sorted out. The captain had shown up with ten members of the watch to serve as an escort. I gave him Dork and Goiania and ten of my men to help escort the prisoners away. He thanked me and then got to work.

While waiting for the captain of the watch to show up, I found the quartermaster of the Windrunner. The man had stayed behind in Izmir with the Minoan warship that we'd captured the previous morning when the rest of the crew and my people had marched off with Lord Omar. With our arrival, he had come aboard the Windrunner and had reported in to Tagus. This was good because I had work for him. We needed wagons and carts and draught animals to haul them. I gave him the job of finding them and loading them with provisions and organizing them for our march to join Lord Omar. I pointed out that an army travelled on its stomach and that any men we took with us would need plenty of food and water and the animals would need fodder. He grumbled about it for a moment or two until I handed him a sack of coins and a detail of men to help him out. I was certain that if necessary, the jingling of coin would expedite his mission.

With the quartermaster off finding wagons and the prisoners being marched away, I turned my attention to other matters that needed tending to before we could depart Izmir. My next concern was the horses aboard the Minoan transports.

"I want the horses off the Minoan transports as soon as possible," I told Nimue putting her in charge of that job, "and I want them properly saddled and ready to go. Lord Omar and the others have already moved forward to meet King Argo and his men and I intend to join him with as many men as we can muster. That is your job Tobias. Each ship will supply a complement of troops from their vessels and the provisions that they will need in the field and it will be done this morning. I want to be marching south-west by noon and not a minute later."

In total Tobias raised a hundred and sixty men from the five ships in our taskforce. That included my party and me and Tobias. Still at least half were armed with bows which would help balance things out in the upcoming fight. Luck did however favour us while we waited for the quartermaster to return with wagons and animals. Two craft arrived from Blue Harbour carrying the archers promised us. They were being led by Chester and he was a sight for sore eyes. While his second-in-command saw to his people's disembarkment, I took Chester aside and informed him of our current situation. He wasn't impressed, but he was glad to have arrived in time to help out. I got him a horse and then let him brief his own people.

In all of this madness and hubbub a brief moment of pleasure descended on me unexpectedly. While standing on the Windrunner chatting with Tagus and Glenn Dupree about what the taskforce needed to do while the rest of us was off fighting the Minoan army, my newest mate made an appearance. She arrived in a palanquin chair, escorted by a troop of guardsmen from the palace and accompanied by Princess Samira and the three Minoan girls. Behind them marched a small column of slaves transporting items in large pots and kettles. I smiled with amusement when Asana ran up the gangplank of the Windrunner and then threw herself into my arms, to kiss me in greetings. Affectionately I returned her embrace.

"My beloved mate," Asana cried out enthusiastically once she'd stepped back from greeting me. "I have missed you so much."

It had only been twenty-four hours since we'd last embraced but I said nothing about that. Instead I pulled her back into my arms and kissed her tenderly, assuring her that I had missed her as well. Eventually she let go of me and went and greeted Nimue who'd come over from the captured transports to see what was going on. Asana greeted her with equal enthusiasm and ardour. While I watched from the sidelines I noted the presence of Samira and her three handmaids. They curtsied when I glanced at them and I ended up smiling warmly at them in return. In my heart I knew that I would eventually be taking each of them to my bed, however I knew it wouldn't be today.

"We're not here long," I told Asana once she was done greeting Nimue. "In fact we're busy preparing to depart the city for the battlefield. With the obvious betrayal of our plans by the other Earth, I am anxious to join your father as soon as possible. Hopefully together we will overcome the invaders with little loss to our side. With luck the battle will be over quickly and we will return within a night or two."

"But you need to rest first my mate and have something to eat before you depart," Asana protested vehemently, waving her hand towards her slaves and the burdens they were carrying. "I've brought food and clean clothing from the palace for you and your companions and sweet tea to quench your thirst."

Willingly I gave into Asana's desires. Along with clean clothing and food she'd brought containers of hot water so that I could wash myself. To the amusement of Tagus and the others about me, I allowed Princess Samira and the three Minoan girls to quickly bath me and then redress me in first my armour and then a splendid wardrobe of white linen trimmed with gold thread and a dark blue travelling cloak. Asana smiled at me with pleasure once I was dressed and all my accoutrements were back in place. Then we all sat at the stern of the Windrunner upon cushions brought from the palace, where we relaxed and Asana saw to it that I was well fed.

When we were finished and everyone was sated, I insisted on escorting Asana and her party back to the palace. I mounted the big grey and in the company of Nimue led the way through the streets of Izmir. Eventually we left them at the gate of the palace. Both Nimue and I promised to keep safe. Quickly we returned to the harbour.

Finding draught animals and wagons was the biggest problem. Lord Omar had already drafted the bulk of these assets to support his main force and we were left taking whatever was left over that we could find and pay for. For once I was happy to have horded away enough gold and silver. Once we started jangling a few coins about, people started coming forward and by midday we were sorted out, loaded up, and marching out. I rode the big grey with Nimue on one side of me and Dork on the other. Goiania and Tobias rode behind us as did Glenn Dupree. The man wanted to see what land fighting was all about. Behind us the men marched in platoons of thirty men and the wagons and carts brought up our rear.

The land beyond the walls of Izmir and to the south-west was mostly farmlands and orchards, with the land becoming more arid and rugged only as it got closer to the coast and the Aegean. I knew from speaking with Lord Omar that there were half a dozen small villages in this region. These villages had walls to keep wild animals out but that was it. It was one of the reasons that we were on the march away from Izmir. While the walls of Izmir could stop the invading Minoans in their tracks, the villages could not. They were little more than gathering places and markets for the local farmers and they certainly offered little in the way of protection against an invading army. On top of that, if we didn't stop the Minoans where they had landed, the neighbouring countryside would be overrun and we would lose the support of the region, in both manpower and provisions for Izmir itself.

Our progress was slow. Most of the men and women in our force had never walked more than a mile or two in their lives. They were sailors and fishermen and townspeople, not nomads who were use to moving from one place to another. Still we were able to cover twenty miles on foot by sunset and we reached the rear guard of Lord Omar's forces just before dark. I left Dork, Tobias, and Goiania to find places for our troops to camp for the night while Nimue and I rode on in search of Lord Omar and his command tent.

I found them half an hour later a few more miles down the road. Lord Omar had set up his command tent on a rise that overlooked a flat plain that stretched to the south-west. As I dismounted my horse, I gazed out into the distance and saw fires burning in the night. I knew then that the army of King Argo was camped not too far away. Noting this I brushed by the two sentries that stood before the big tent and marched inside.

"Well look at what the cat dragged in," I heard as I stepped through the door flap of the tent.

The speaker was Elsa Mueller. She was standing by a table to one side of the tent. She was dressed in shirt of chain and a leather jerkin and she had a sabre in a scabbard at her hip. She was standing before a long trestle type table that was strewn with papers. With her stood Lord Omar, a couple of his military advisors and to my pleasant surprise Felicity. I opened my mouth to reply to Elsa's words and got cut off when Felicity threw herself into my arms and started kissing me.

"Charles!" she exclaimed between frantic kisses. "You're all right."

"Of course I'm all right," I told her pulling her in for a hug, "although I'm pretty tired. It's been a really long couple of days."

"Tell us about it," Lord Omar said as he came over and greeted me. "We've been at it ever since Felicity returned yesterday morning with the warning that the Minoans were already here."

"Thankfully," Elsa added with a smile, "we were ready for them."

"Do you have them contained?" I asked questioningly, looking from her to Omar and then over to the table where they'd been standing.

"Yes," Lord Omar stated with a smile, "we do, at least for now. Come over here and I'll show you on the maps."

The table was strewn with hand drawn maps of the area. They depicted the land to the south-west of Izmir including the area we were in. There were large area maps and small scale ones that showed specific areas in more detail. Lord Omar showed me these.

"This is the western area," Lord Omar pointed out, "from here down to the coast. It is very rocky and rugged and arid. We've positioned archers here as we discussed last week, to cover the various ravines and pathways leading up from the plains. Your mates and friends are there with the six men from Oak Hall that you suggested using as scouts. They've been killing or capturing any Minoans trying to get around us by that way. So far they've stopped every attempt. With luck they'll be able to keep them in place until tomorrow. We've also dispatched a troop of horsemen towards that cove that Felicity told us about to round up any survivors from the ship you sank. Hopefully none will get away."

With that he picked up another map and showed it to me.

"This is the area to the south," Lord Omar stated casually. "It's more open than the first area I showed you; at least until you're within a mile of the coast. There's a village right here that we're using as a base for our cavalry. They've been patrolling along these tracks and this road, engaging the Minoans whenever they try to probe the region. Again we've contained them for now."

As he spoke, Lord Omar pointed to the village on the map and then to a number of tracks and roads that led away from the village and towards the area that the Minoans were currently occupying. I just nodded my understanding as he spoke.

"Tomorrow will determine what will happen next," Lord Omar continued putting down the map that he'd been holding. "From what our scouts have told us and what Felicity has seen from the air, the Minoans are in disarray at the moment. That in itself has proved lucky for us. Your bombardment of the coast and the capture of their supplies have left the troops on shore demoralized. Instead of advancing onward towards Izmir and the villages between us and them, the Minoans have spent the day regrouping. It's allowed us to move into position without any threat of interference. However if King Argo gets his men under control tonight we can expect the situation to change. Most likely we will probably have to fight them tomorrow morning. If he doesn't and his troops don't take the field tomorrow morning then I plan to send an emissary to see if they'll surrender."

"Will you offer them quarter," I asked pointedly.

"Probably," Lord Omar sighed in response. "We don't need more slaves here in Izmir and the market to the east is flooded with slaves at the moment. Personally, I just want them gone. So tell me my friend, what happened yesterday?"

"The fucking networks screwed us over," I growled in reply and then I sighed and told him what had happened during the sea battle and what I'd learned in my questioning of the prisoners that we'd taken. Lord Omar was happy that we'd taken so few casualties and that I'd brought reinforcements even though I'd left at least half our strength back in Izmir. As I told him, we had prisoners to take care of and boats that needed to be resupplied in case they were needed again. Then I told him about Chester and the fifty archers from Blue Harbour. That put a smile on both Elsa and his faces and he nodded his agreement and then Lord Omar offered Nimue and me food and drink. I accepted willingly for us both since we had barely eaten since morning on the Windrunner and I was exhausted. Then we talked about how I could contribute to things tomorrow.

It was late when our discussions finished and both Nimue and I were ready for bed. Unfortunately I had a new task that needed completing before I could strip out of my clothing and armour and crawl into bed. I needed horses and wagons and I needed them by dawn. To achieve this I needed help once more. Leaving Nimue to head off to bed with Felicity, I took off on my horse in search of the quartermaster from the Windrunner. I ended up pulling the poor bastard out of bed and telling him what I wanted done. He wasn't happy to see me. While I spoke to him, Dork joined us as did Glenn Dupree. I told them what I needed done and what I expected from them in the morning.

My plan was to find enough horses to put my force onto horseback. I knew that it wasn't possible given resources at hand, but we needed to try and that was what I wanted them to do. I left them to commandeer enough animals from Lord Omar's supply train so that we could mount as much my force as possible. Any that couldn't be mounted were to be loaded into wagons. I wanted those wagons ready and moving towards the south by first light so that the men in them could be in position well before the battle commenced. As for the mounted men, I would join them in the morning and lead them south once I'd finished with Lord Omar. With those orders passed, I found a spot to unroll my bedroll and sleep. It came very quickly for me.

Morning came with a blaring of trumpets and a clattering of metal. I woke and had a quick wash and a bit to eat before mounting up once more to search for Nimue and Felicity. Once I found them we headed over to the command tent to check in with Lord Omar. We found him chatting with Elsa Mueller again as well as with several unit commanders. Both Lord Omar and Elsa smiled upon seeing me.

"So my friends," Lord Omar said in greetings to the three of us, "are you ready to deal with a few Minoans today."

"Are they seeking to do battle?" I asked him pointedly.

"Not yet," Lord Omar admitted, "but I think this King Argo will try to force his way through our lines today. My scouts have spied out his encampment and he still outnumbers us, although not as strongly as he probably would like. The sinking of his biremes and the smaller craft has stripped him of almost half his fighting strength. Still he does not have many choices now. You've destroyed most of his vessels and you've left a ship to watch over any possibility of retreat. To survive the man needs to attack."

"Then he will find me ready to stop him," I said coldly. "My only regret is that others will die before I get to him."

"True," Lord Omar acknowledged with a sigh, "but there is very little that we can do about that now. King Argo has posted forces to the south to protect that flank and to the west of us to guard those approaches. They've given up their probing in those areas, but they've also made sure that we won't be attacking them from those directions without paying for it ourselves."

"So he will come straight up the centre," I noted aloud, "in an effort to overwhelm us. I feel sorry for his men already."

"So do I my friend," Lord Omar agreed solemnly. "So do I."