Chapter 28b

Gamelin looked at the odd hat that Lady Judy had made for him by weaving river reeds. It was round, a flat brim and a tall round place his head fit under. It didn't look like much, but she'd told him it would keep the sun off his face and hopefully stop his recurring sunburns. He knew he had to do something about those because the further south they marched, the worse the burns were and the more they were affecting him.

Vosper hadn't been any help. He'd asked the old sergeant to look after his helm for him, and Vosper had taken it and had then thrown it as hard as he could off a cliff.

The main part of the army was getting an early start; his rear guard had another half a palm-width before they had to be on the road. He'd hated the idea of being rear guard when he'd first heard of it, but now not only didn't he mind, he'd have objected if Lord Tuck wanted to change things.

Not only didn't they have to be up and moving at first light, but when the lead element of the army stopped at night, it was much earlier than they would have normally, because it took a while for the elements in the column to reach the camp. What he was supposed to do was to stop as soon as Tuck called the halt and take up positions to prevent an enemy attack from the rear.

Then a short ride to the camp, then even more time to rest.

His musings were interrupted when a messenger appeared. "Officer's call at dusk, Lord Gamelin!" Gamelin returned the man's salute and then turned to Vosper.

"Do you think they'll be okay tonight?"

"After last night? They alternate between smug and concerned. Two men dead in a night exercise! Tanda Havra makes most of them nervous. Her father? No one sees him come or go -- yet he does. To gut a man, then string him up by his heels with his guts hanging in his face..."

"How many times have you threatened a man with death for firing without orders?"

"Many times. Once, long ago, I slapped a soldier who'd gone crazy with the butt of my rifle; it killed him. But still..."

Gamelin sighed. Yes, the man was dead, as the High King's Field Regulations provided. He had, after all, killed a brother soldier with his carelessness. There wasn't a man in the army, even the women in the army, who didn't know what had happened. There was little disapproval of the second death, only of the first.

"They will be fine. They are a little quiet. I told Trooper Arminthes that the next time he decided to improve on Lord Tuck's plans without letting us know, he'd be hanging upside down, too."

Unspoken of course, was that a bugle call in the dark wasn't the order to commence fire. It was scary, yes. But it wasn't the command to fire.

They walked the half mile to the main camp, calling to the pickets well in advance. Then they joined the other officers at Lord Tuck's fire.

Lord Tuck was brisk. "Last night I ordered the Ruthani scouts going out to tell the others not to return, unless they'd seen some of the God-King's soldiers. They all returned this morning.

"Please, look at the map."

Tuck sketched the ridgeline they were on, then where it joined another ahead of them. Then a deep valley they would have to cross, then another high ridge. On the other side of that ridge, perhaps a hundred miles away, another of the God-King's important towns in the north.

"The scouts report that from here to here," he drew a line on the ridge across the valley, "fires twinkle on the slopes. Thousands of fires. They will try to get closer tonight, but the God-King's scouts are good; they will have to be careful.

"So, we have a choice."

Captain Andromoth spoke. "A choice, Lord Tuck?"

Everyone laughed. Lord Tuck was famous for his choices.

Tuck smiled. "Well yes, I suppose we can rule out a frontal assault on their prepared positions. That leaves us with a few choices. We can bypass them to the north or south, and then if we bypass them, we can decide to attack them or not. Or, we can sit on this ridge three quarters of a day's march from them and let them make some choices."

Gamelin spoke up, more confident than usual. "Lord Tuck, if we wait, we can pick the ground. We can prepare our positions, both the guns and the men. Perhaps we can even prepare a surprise or two!"

Tuck nodded and gestured at the logistos. "How many days are we from Xipototec and resupply? How many days rations do we have?"

"Lord, we brought many wagons. The feed has been adequate for the stock; we haven't had to use our own supplies. We are nine days from Xipototec. If we are not hotly pursued, we could send ahead for a supply column to meet us, perhaps three days from town. Call it six days, if we must."

"And how many days rations do we have now?"

The man bobbed his head. "Sixteen on full rations, twenty-eight on half rations."

Lord Tuck looked around his assembled officers. "Except men who've been on half rations a moon quarter, can't do forced marches, they can barely march at all. After half a moon, they are no longer effective. They will be alive at the end of the march, but they won't be able to fight. We will use half rations only if we must; at the moment we learn there is no other choice.

"We can not win a battle where we launch a full scale attack against them. We cannot win a battle unless they attack us when we hold good ground and are good and ready. However, we will not be able to wait for their attack indefinitely. I'm willing to spend a moon-quarter waiting for them to move. Then we will fall back towards Xipototec and resupply."

He gestured at Tanda Havra. "Lady Tanda, if you would, please take charge of finding us suitable ground. Tell your people that while they might not be the best fighting men in the High King's army, they are the best scouts. Tell them to be careful."

She too bobbed her head.

"So, tomorrow we will have an easy march up to where this road drops into the valley. Hopefully by then we'll know where we want to fight them. Then we will make further plans and start making our preparations."

He looked around. "Any comments?"

Gamelin saw Vertax nod to Tuck, and Tuck dip his chin the least bit in response.

Tuck spoke again, this time to the Mexicotal officers. "Right now your soldiers feel like they are ten feet tall and able to destroy any force of the God-King's soldiers that comes against them. That is good. But the idea that they can attack the God-King's soldiers in their lairs is dangerous. They can't; we as an army can't.

"You have your own lieutenants now. You have done well, both you and your men! Very well! Still, it chafes that there are captains of Hostigos set above your lieutenants, that above them are other officers of Hostigos in command. You lieutenants, by now you should have learned that your job isn't easy. It is complicated, and in truth, dangerous. The only way you will be able to do what you must in battle is to lead. Some of you will be killed, because unlike the God-King's officers, the High King's junior officers lead from in front of their men, as an example and inspiration to them.

"You must be the ones to tell your sergeants the truth of it; by now those men will have learned their duties aren't that simple either, nor are they safe. Your sergeants will have to speak to your men and reassure them that their sergeants and their lieutenants are learning as fast as they can, and that eventually, all of their officers will be Mexicotal -- even if that time isn't yet.

"They must learn to trust their own officers, their own sergeants... and they must trust themselves. Then it will not matter who commands them! Tell them that!"

Gamelin nodded in agreement. He'd seen the lights of the fires on the distant mountains. There were a lot of them; it was possible it was a trick to intimidate them, but he didn't think so.

The meeting ending and the officers began to disperse. Tuck joined him and sat down, putting his feet up on a rock, trying to get comfortable. "A very spiffy hat, Gamelin," Lord Tuck said, waving at what Lady Judy had made.

"Yes, sir. It keeps the sun off my face."

Tuck nodded, but he looked a little distracted. "Lord Tuck, is there a problem?"

"Well, a little problem. Wear that hat in a battle and half the God-King's soldiers are going to shoot at it, thinking you are someone special."

Gamelin grimaced. He'd already seen what he'd just been told. You didn't want to wear distinctive dress on a battlefield: people shot at you.

"It is a very elegant hat, Lieutenant. I think I will have Lady Judy show the Mexicotal how to make them. One for everyone; it'll help keep the sun off, make you just one of the crowd... and they do look nice."

Gamelin shrugged. It was a hat, nothing more. Yes, Lady Judy had made it for him, slightly modeled on Lord Tuck's hat. Gamelin frowned. Lord Tuck wore his hat in battle. That didn't seem like a rational thing to do... Still, the reeds were plentiful and it would give the soldiers something to do besides digging holes in the ground.

Freidal smiled at Alros and then climbed down from his horse, weary beyond words. Once the army had crossed the river, he and a party had ridden ahead quickly towards Baytown.

It hadn't been an easy ride for any of them; he'd watched Lady Elspeth, but each day she was ready when everyone else was, and she rode with others, as easily as any of them did.

It had been a minor embarrassment that it was Freidal himself that was the weakest of the party, and more than once Durel would command the halt in the middle of the afternoon so Freidal could rest.

But they were finally in Baytown.

"Freidal," Alros said, when he swung down from his horse. She hugged him tightly for a few seconds, before letting go. "I'm so glad you are here and safe!"

"Alros, I am so glad to be here and safe!" Everyone in the party had laughed, but it really wasn't that funny.

"You need a bath, brother. Then you need a meal -- you are so thin!"

"I will make it a short bath, sister, because as much as I need a meal, we need to talk."

She nodded. Then she turned from him and hugged Xitki Quillan, then one by one, bowed to those who'd ridden with Freidal -- until she came to Lady Elspeth. She looked at the girl critically. A woman that far advanced in pregnancy had no business on a horse. Much less riding as far as she had come; nearly a moon on the trail.

Lady Elspeth watched her calmly and confidently. "I imagine you'd like a bath, too, eh?" Alros said, trying to be friendly, to someone who was most likely a blood enemy.

"I'd like to wash, yes. If I were to relax in a tub, I'd still be snoring next moon."

Alros inclined her head. "Please, take your ease, for as long as you like."

Lady Elspeth shook her head. "I need to talk with you as well. Have you had news from the east?"

Alros nodded. "That and other news, yes."

"Then, talk among yourselves as you wish. But send for me as soon as you can. The High King has many secrets; Count Tellan is a man with a few as well. Even such a person as myself, Lady Alros, has secrets. It's advice, you understand? What you do with it is your choice. I have, a time or two, counseled your brother to be prudent; now I do the same for you. The advice is freely offered -- it's ignoring it that will cost you dear."

Freidal appeared at his sister's elbow. "Lady sister, as I've told you, wrestling words with Lady Elspeth is a skill that takes consummate mastery. I'm curious myself, to hear what Lady Elspeth has to say."

"Then, rest ye, travelers!" Alros told them. "We will gather in the family dining room in a palm-width." Alros turned to Lady Elspeth. "And we'll send for you, I promise."

Lady Elspeth nodded gravely.

Freidal rushed his bath, not daring to relax even the smallest amount. Tiki had clothes laid out for him, and he donned them quickly and all but trotted to the dining room.

Alros was sitting alone, sipping a mug of watered wine, staring at a map of their lands.

She smiled and he sat down next to her.

"Lady sister, words fail me, when it comes to telling you how much I appreciate what you've done for the Kingdom, for the family and for me."

She looked at him steadily. "So far, Freidal, no one has had much chance to think; events have happened at such a rate, one after another, each a larger shock than the last, that it's as if everyone is dazed. I wasn't dazed, I was angry. I settled with Styphon; there were a few who chose to stand with the demon-spawn False God's men: I dealt with them too.

"Now, brother, you have come home to take your rightful crown."

"Count Quillan has told me that you might like to keep it."

She looked at him and shook her head. "You know me better than that, Freidal. I'd have been happier a peasant girl in a market town. I can do what I have to do, and I'll admit to being able to do it well. I had some good teachers, the same ones as you. But like it? Want it? No! A thousand times, no!"

"What do you want? I owe you virtually anything you wish, for what you've done for the Kingdom and the family. And for me."

"I want what was promised to me by our father; both of our fathers. Count Quillan talked to our father and extracted a promise from him. There's a man I want to marry, Freidal. If he's still alive, that is. There is considerable doubt."

Freidal blinked. "You have a lover?"

Alros choked with laughter. "Brother, have you looked at Lady Elspeth, recently? At her very large belly? If I looked like that, I would have been set aside without a second thought. Instead, I looked and sounded like a ruler and the less-than-valiant nobles who'd found reasons to stay safely behind went meekly along. Granted, I want to be a fine and wonderful mother, but only when the time is right."

"But there is someone you want?" Freidal hadn't heard a whisper of a rumor about his sister and anyone. No one had expected her to be betrothed for another year or two, and then for reasons of state.

"Yes, there is someone I want. And he wants me, just as much as I want him. He is, however, unsuitable, or so our father, the king, told me. He wasn't a noble. So Xitki made him one and our father was not pleased at all. Count Quillan then suggested that if my fiancè should do something incredibly noble and brave, why, he would have earned being ennobled and any other reward that could be offered. And, like all of you men, he was a silly fool, jumping at the chance. I'd have married him anyway, title or not."

"Who is he?"

"He is General Denethon, the youngest man ever appointed to the rank by our father. Of course, the rank was so he could go east and be our father's emissary with the Mexicotal God-King's army as it marched on Xiphlon."

Freidal wracked his brain, but couldn't place the man. You'd think he'd have known of such a man!

Alros laughed at his expression. "He is far, far better known, brother, in the North! It was he who led the relief force from Echanistra that saved the fort at Shallios a year ago."

That Freidal had heard about, but not much beyond that the Ruthani had besieged the fort and that a relief force had fought its way through, and afterwards, the Ruthani had retired from the siege.

"Captain Denethon was brought to Baytown, sorely wounded. I went to visit him; Xitki asked me to. We talked, Denethon and I."

"And how goes the march on Xiphlon?" Freidal asked.

"That is one of the things we need to talk about. Freidal, they had no better luck than you and Xitki. In fact, Denethon was part of the vanguard, a quarter of a million men. I swear that the God-King sent a messenger, saying, on his honor, the earth had swallowed them up. Every last man! It seems that the commander of the vanguard, one Captain-General Oaxhan, sent a message that he was going to engage Harmakros at dawn and that he outnumbered Harmakros five to one and expected an easy victory.

"No one knows what happened in that battle, Freidal. Not even the God-King. Instead, the High King appeared in the vanguard's rear, captured the fords that the God-King was advancing on with his million soldiers. The God-King also swears that if it's any consolation, Harmakros and his army appear to have vanished as well."

"If Harmakros broke an army five times his size, at the best his army is refitting and replenishing. More likely, having to reconstitute itself," Freidal told her.

"Yes. And of course, there is our own private part of the war. The Mexicotal troops that marched south from Outpost stopped going south and turned west and fetched up at the sea. The God-King sent a fleet of ships up and took them off.

"The thing is our spies report that they took aboard less than a thousand men."

"That's not good," Freidal told his sister. "They marched south with eight or nine thousand."

"General Khoogra, who has been acting as my military advisor, says that it is his opinion that they tangled with the town the Hostigi took, in the south. They were further south than the easiest route west. Our scouts, though, tend to vanish. We have no reliable reports from the area."

"And never have. Have General Khoogra recall any scouts that survive, keep them close to South March Harbor. I think it's certain that we're going to need them later."

Alros pulled a piece of parchment to her and wrote down a note.

"And how did the God-King do against the High King?"

Alros laughed. "General Khoogra says that if you read between the lines of the God-King's report, he spent a day having his army hacked to bits, then a second day sacrificing most of the rest so he could make his escape. But Khoogra is concerned, because the God-King says that the High King has a quarter million of his finest soldiers under his command, in the field against the God-King.

"The God-King says that his army 'gravely wounded' the army of the High King. Oh, and that the God-King reconstituted the remainder of his army into ten divisions after the battle."

"He lost nine men of ten?" Freidal sighed. It was terrible to contemplate the death of that many men, Mexicotal or not. But if they were truly dead, then maybe, just maybe, the Kingdom had a chance to survive. The question now was how badly had the High King been hurt in the battle?

"Yes and he's retreating south, with the High King in pursuit. Moreover, the God-King says that some of the towns in what he calls the 'Northern Regime' have been 'restive.' I think he's going to find he has his hands full at home for some time."

Freidal took a deep breath, and then waved at Alros' parchment. "Order the God-King's daughter-in-law and the remaining children to leave. Get them on a ship by tomorrow at the latest."

"At which point," Alros told him, "I suspect the candor and completeness of the God-King's reports will vanish. In fact, I think the latest reports, since the God-King got his army shot dead, are getting vague."

"I know. But we don't want to give them the least grounds for complaint."

Alros nodded. She was silent for a moment, and then she spoke carefully. "Brother, earlier you and I were talking about my fiancè. The subject changed. Brother, promise me that if Denethon lives, we have your permission to marry."

"And that's all you ask for your very honorable service?"

"It's enough for me. Denethon was promised something better than a barony. I would ask you to confirm that for him as well."

"Sister, if that is what your heart desires, it is yours. And his. Is there any more news?"

"That isn't enough?" Alros said sarcastically.

"More than enough!" he told her.

"Then, for now, it's enough," she told him. "Unless you'd like to hear harvest reports?"

"Soon, not yet. Let's call Count Quillan, your General Khoogra and bring them up to date."

Alros rose. "I ordered everyone out of this part of the palace. It'll take a finger-width."

The second meeting took much longer; in it General Khoogra got the surprise of his life when he heard Xitki Quillan confirm the promise made to Alros and Denethon, and Count Quillan got the surprise of his life when he heard that the High King with a quarter million soldiers had beaten the God-King.

"General Khoogra," Count Quillan asked, "were there any other details about the battle, any explanation of how it went wrong for the God-King?"

"One of the Mexicotal officers who brought the report told me that he was told that the High King had fetched every artillery piece in his Kingdom and scraped the gutter for every man who could hold a rifle. They stood behind a river and slaughtered the God-King's army. Evidently the Mexicotal made repeated charges, sure that they could carry the day. First cavalry against case shot, then infantry against case shot, when there was no more cavalry. A thousand guns, the man told me, commanded by General Count Alkides, the demon gunner of the High King."