Chapter 12: What It Means To Be a Lady

It was a grueling two and a half day ride for Gryllos to where he was supposed to rendezvous with the Ruthani. They reached the spot in late morning. Leem simply rode up to a single man, standing alone in the desert, slid off his horse and then saluted.

Gryllos wished he could be as elegant getting down from his horse, but he'd never have been able to do it on his best day. Gryllos saluted the old man, older than any he'd ever seen before. "Sir, Captain Gryllos, Sixth Mounted Rifles."

"I am Pinyon, Captain. Please, if you would, let me speak to my cousin Leem." He waved a short distance away, where Gryllos could see a boy of about fourteen, holding a water skin. "If you're thirsty, there is some water."

Gryllos knew he was being dismissed and had no problem with it. As Leem had shown no evidence of upset when Brigadier Markos had talked privately to Gryllos.

Gryllos went to the boy, who held out the water skin. Knowing he'd look foolish if he took any significant quantity, and besides, he wasn't that thirsty, so he took only a mouthful, swished it around in his mouth, before swallowing.

He signed his thanks and the boy laughed. "I speak good, no?"

"Pretty good," Gryllos agreed.

"You teach me better, eh?"

Gryllos eyed the boy. "I'm an officer of the High King, not a school teacher."

"And we will be half moon on our way to Xipototec. Surely you will talk to me some."

"Surely I thought I was going with Leem," Gryllos told the boy.

The boy spat on the ground. "Look around you, soldier! Tell me who the Ruthani can spare more? Leem, son of the Lion or Jumper of the rabbits?"

Gryllos looked around. For the first time since he'd come off his horse he remembered there were supposed to be four hundred Ruthani assembling here to go south. All he saw was Pinyon, Leem and this boy.

Gryllos looked harder, remembering Corporal Noius at the Wagon Box fight, when he spotted a rifle sticking up from a bush. As hard as Gryllos looked, he could see no rifle barrels, no sign that anyone was within miles.

The boy grinned and tapped his ear. Gryllos frowned, then remembered the first part of the corporal's discovery: the night had gone quiet. He listened and listened, but there was nothing. He was about to dismiss it when he realized that he was supposed to hear the usual sounds of the desert: cicadas, mostly, at this time of year, occasionally grasshoppers, crickets and the cactus wrens that flitted from one cactus to another.

With a sinking feeling in his stomach, Gryllos realized he was probably in the middle of the entire four hundred of the Ruthani and he couldn't see any of them. He looked around again, trying to be more careful, but couldn't see anything out of place. There was just quiet silence in the desert, with the exception of the low murmur of Leem and Pinyon talking.

The boy spat on the ground. "You don't see because you don't focus. You look at a place, decide no one could possibly be there and move on, without ever having looked."

A ghost hand tapped him on the left shoulder, and only by the most superhuman effort, Gryllos remembered to turn the other way. The person who tapped his shoulder was a young woman of about twenty, who belched, took a few steps into the desert and then vanished as if she'd been a dream.

Leem and Pinyon walked towards them and Gryllos faced them.

"My cousin Leem tells me that you will not be mortally offended if the boy escorts you to Xipototec?"

"No, sir. I hadn't realized that I'd slow your people down. By all means, sir, send them at once. I don't even need the boy."

"Jumper has fostered with me since he was small. He has made the trip to Xipototec three times, once during the war. There he stood as close as he is to you to Lady Judy and she never knew he was there."

"Well, it isn't my intention to slow you on your journey south. Boy or not, I'll find my way to Xipototec."

Pinyon nodded curtly, whistled, and turned and sprinted south. Leem went southeast. In moments each man was the head of a file of men several hundred long; men that just seem to spring from the ground.

Gryllos looked at the boy. "Let me guess, you didn't bring a horse?"

The boy winked at him impudently. "I wasn't hungry enough to want to pack that much food. Come, let's go! I will keep the pace down so your beasts won't die until you reach the gates of Xipototec."

Jumper waved south. "If you were to ride hard, you could reach the northern end of those mountains before me. If you continued to press, your first horse would die before it was halfway along the mountains, and a day or two later, you too would die, a mile or two past where the second horse died, no matter what I did to help. Please noble sir, follow me, and don't try to go too fast."

The boy started of in a direction different than the other two columns, a fast walk that matched the pace of the horse Gryllos was riding. "Why aren't we following the group going to Xipototec?" Gryllos asked.

The boy flashed him a grin. "Like most of you light-skinned northerners, you drink too much. More important, your horses drink too much. We will cut the main road before night. There is water, good water, along it until we reach the southern edge of the lands of the Ruthani. Then a day without water, and after that it will be okay."

"I really can find my way to Xipototec by myself," Gryllos told him.

"My grandfather says that if I do as I'm told, this time I may stay and scout like my brothers among the Ruthani. Last time, he told me I was too young."

Gryllos sighed. And the boy glanced at him. "Why?"

Gryllos scanned the huge empty horizon, unlike everything he'd known growing up. "When I was growing up, I too longed to be a soldier and go to war. I wanted to protect my people, you understand? I wanted my sisters, brothers and mother safe, as well as my friends. It was my wish that none of them share the dangers with those like you and me."

He expected the boy to be offended, but he evidently wasn't. They kept going until late, and then were up early the next morning. Jumper didn't seem to feel the distance traveled, the heat, and the dust... he hardly seemed to drink at all. Most amazing of all, Jumper was the source of one question after another about life in Hostigos and in the army of the High King. Several times Gryllos had to wet his throat to be able to keep talking, but Jumper never slowed his pace or his questions or took a drink.

It was two days to Harphax City for Noia and the others. A day on horseback and then a day on a steam puller.

When Noia descended from her wagon she sniffed the air, smelling the sea breeze for the first time in moons. She inhaled deeply and let it out. It was late afternoon and she looked around the station where they'd climbed down.

She mentally kicked herself. In Hostigos she'd seen the construction underway and had assumed it was simply because that was the High King's capitol and that massive construction projects were the rule of the day. If she'd thought Hostigos was busy building, it was nothing compared to Harphax City. You could smell the cut pine lumber; you could hear the sound of saws working to cut timber, the continual thunder of hammers pounding nails. Everywhere you looked, something was being built.

And it wasn't just palaces and public buildings... in fact, most of the construction looked to be the work of private individuals. Where had they gotten all the money and materials?

Even as she thought that, she could see men working to unload the last three wagons of the steam puller that had brought them here. Two of the wagons were filled with coal, the third with ingots of iron.

Nearby were other steam puller wagons being unloaded. There were at least a half dozen trains she could see with men working on them.

A young lieutenant appeared. "Lady Noia?"

"Yes," she told him.

"My admiral has sent me to bring you to him. Please, if you would, I have a wagon not far."

He helped carry her bags, which mildly scandalized Trilium, who thought it his duty.

There followed a long wagon ride, made lengthier by the sheer volume of traffic on the streets. "Is it always like this, Lieutenant?" she asked.

He grinned. "Yes, Lady. On the rest days, sometimes horses can move at a trot, but not often, even then."

She nodded.

They entered a building and the lieutenant showed something to a guard, then they were ushered along a passageway covered with boards, permitting no view of the outside. There were frequent branching corridors through which the lieutenant moved confidently.

Finally they entered a very large building, where the sound of hammers and saws resounded within its walls. Noia looked out at an open space the size of the main market square at North Port. There were three ships building there, in various phases of construction. One was clearly framing timbers, the second a skeleton and the third had hull planks that ran halfway up the skeleton timbers.

The timbers were curved. Noia had no idea how they did that, because while some of the fishing boats she knew had curved timbers it was because they were small and those timbers had spent years in salt water to soften them.

They went along a gallery with a good view of the construction, then into an office. The lieutenant bowed to Noia. "The admiral will see you shortly," he told Noia.

"What is an admiral?"

"Like a land general. Admiral Daimondes commands the High King's Navy. His rank is the same as a Captain-General."

The man who emerged from his office was short, rotund and nearly bald. He bowed to Noia, and regarded Sergeant Trilium and Tanda Sa.

Finally he turned to Noia. "Lady, what I have to say is not that secret, but unless your men wish to be sea officers, likely to be of little interest. I swear on my honor as an officer that here you are safe."

"It's a sad thing, Admiral, that you have to swear to something like that," Tanda Sa told him. "Sergeant Trilium and I will never be friends... but we'll never be far from Lady Noia either. Please, go a few feet and discuss your secrets. We won't care."

"There are nearly five hundred men within a mile of you devoted to nothing else but securing this place," the admiral told him.

Trilium laughed. "Admiral, sir! If you thought one less would suffice, there would be one fewer!"

Noia saw the admiral's face suffuse red. So! Trilium had sent a bolt of truth home! A good thing to know! No wonder he'd been unpopular with his officers!

She allowed herself to be ushered into a small room.

"I am also Count Daimondes, I command the ships of the High King," he told Noia.

She bowed just the least bit. He laughed.

"I know. But, Lady Noia, know this: Long ago I told the High King that I command here.

"You are how old, Lady Noia? Tell me of your sea experience?"

"I am seventeen summers. I've been to sea since I was eight when I snuck away from my father and stowed away on a fishing boat, heading out to sea. I've helmed sailing ships in all weather and all seas. I've hauled sails and nets."

She felt pleased at that.

He smiled softly. "Lady, I was born on a fishing boat in the bay here. I was six years old before I first walked on land. My life has always been the sea."

Noia bowed to him. "And my father made sure my life was mainly the land. I had to sneak time at sea, Admiral."

He nodded. "Lady, the High King has agreed that, barring unusual circumstances, within my own yard, I command. The High King has asked me to show you the construction phases of one of his warships. That is no trouble.

"The High King has asked that you take part in the arming and munitioning of such a vessel. Again, I have no trouble with that. The High King has asked me to make you an officer of such a ship. Lady Noia, I had trouble with that request, because the High King does not expect you to be a junior officer. Lady, my lieutenants must know many things. You will be given ample opportunity to learn those things, although in a very short time. If you don't you won't be promoted as the High King wishes.

"In fact, the High King tells me that it is his desire that you should be the master of a ship. Lady, no one, man or woman, King, Prince, Duke, Count or Baron commands one of my ships without my certainty that they can do the task."

Noia smiled slightly. "Sir, my father would laugh at me when I got back from time on a fishing boat. I smelled, he told me over and over, but moreover, I was too proud of how well the fisherman thought I did. I had no knowledge, Admiral, of what flattery was or meant.

"You are free to judge me, sir, solely on what you see. I ask no special consideration beyond that I be given a chance to learn what I might."

The admiral nodded.

The next morning Noia, Trilium and Tanda Sa stood ready, along with a more than a hundred others.

Rowboats appeared in the distance, each powered by four men at the oars. People were quickly told off into the boats and more oars were passed out. There were ten of them in Noia's boat, and as soon as everyone was settled, they cast off.

One of the original four spoke, as they moved a few yards offshore. "I am Shalaxios, the bosun of this boat." He looked at them. "Ya all look hearty, I'll give you that. So, let me tell you that I've made a little bet in the name of all of us. The losers buy the wine, beer and beef for a party aboard, tomorrow night. The winner gets carried on the shoulders of their mates. Those of us here, aboard this boat, we're going to be the winners! Don't let me down!"

Trilium laughed. "And how far do we have to row, bosun?"

The bosun laughed louder. "Why, landsman, hardly anything. Twelve miles."

The bosun growled at them. "I'll spend a few moments teaching you how to row, and then, my friends, you'll row your guts out. If you win, I won't use them for garters!"

He described how to ship oars, so they were all pointing skyward. He described how to row, how to put the oars in the water. Already, around them, boats were rowing away. Noia smiled slightly to herself. It was clear that most of those boats were shaking down slowly.

Finally, they started rowing and Shalaxios gave them the stroke, words of praise or words of castigation, as needed. He was fair, seemed unimpressed by errors, determined to teach them how to do it right.

They'd gone less than a mile, when Tanda Sa growled. "You, bosun! Some of us are stronger than others! There are too many on the right side stronger than those on the left! We kept bending our course!"

The bosun grinned. "Exactly right, junior bosun! You, switch with the man to your left front!" Shalaxios made another four trades, and when they started to pull again, Noia was impressed. The rowboat seemed to fly, where before it seemed to crawl.

Still, it was hard work and by mid-morning Noia wasn't the only rower starting to flag. They were ahead of the next closest boat by several hundred yards, though.

Shalaxios spoke up. "Okay, has anyone noticed anything in the last few finger-widths?"

"It's easier to row," Noia told him.

There were groans around her. "The tide has turned," Noia went on. "We no longer fight it, the water is slack."

"Aye, the water is turning slack. Now we have to be careful of a boat that has been hanging back, not trying to exhaust themselves against the tide! But we are stout lads... and a clever lass."

There were laughs from the boat's crew. "So, now we're going to take it easy for a palm-width. If someone passes us, they pass us. It will take us two more palm-widths to make the ship. We'll save ourselves for that last palm-width."

In fact, only one boat came close, and they were several hundred yards behind them, when Shalaxios started to call for a faster stroke. They were more than a mile in front of the next boat as they approached a ship at anchor.

Shalaxios spoke to them again. "We have the race won, do you understand? No one can catch us!"

There were cheers from some of them.

"But, there is something else, something I prize even more than winning. And that's pride! So I want you to put your backs to it, I want those oars to dig hard, frothing the water and I want us all gasping for breath when we reach the ship's side!"

They did just that. Each time anyone flagged, Shalaxios would exhort them personally, and that person would dig in, and row ever harder. They finally reached the ship, the crew of their boat nearly spent.

Noia saw the bosun jump up from his seat, climb up the ladder that led up the side of the ship with alacrity. He'd pulled just as hard as the rest of them! Noia set her face, pulled her oar in and laid it in the bottom of the boat. With as much dignity as she could manage, she clambered up the ladder herself, right behind the bosun.

Tanda Sa was just behind her, and a puffing Trilium just behind him. When she reached the deck, she saw Shalaxios standing in front of a senior lieutenant. "Bosun Shalaxios, twelve seaman and a lieutenant, reporting, sir!"

"You may berth your crew in the starboard cable tier, Shalaxios! Have the officer see me, as soon as he can get up here."

"Sir!" the bosun replied. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Noia. "Sir, the officer is on deck!"

Noia managed to walk the distance between them, eternally grateful that as large as these ships were, they were pretty small otherwise.

"Lieutenant Noia reporting, sir!" she told the officer.

The lieutenant looked her up and down, obvious surprise on his face. "A woman?" the officer said, concern in his voice.

Shalaxios laughed. "Lieutenant, she's Lieutenant Countess Noia."

The young man paled. "Your grace!" he saluted her.

"What are we to do now?" Noia asked.

"I'll detail a man to see you to your cabin. You understand that you have to share it with," he paled again. "several junior officers?"

"No problem, Lieutenant."

"Then, please, ma'am, rest. When all the boats are aboard, we'll beat assembly and everyone will report on deck." He pointed to one side. "Trainee officers over there, ma'am."

"Thank you, Lieutenant!"

Noia glanced at the main mast, not far away. Her eye traveled up that mighty piece of wood, taller than twenty men standing on each other's shoulders. She closed her eyes and smiled. This was the finest day of her life!

Gamelin stood with Judy and Tuck, looking towards the south from a high point on the ridge.

"Well," Gamelin said with a sigh, "they're going away from us."

"The rain has turned everything to gumbo," Tuck said absently, his eyes never leaving the marching soldiers in the distance. "That and they outnumber us only two to one. They'll be back, and the next time we see them it won't be two to one."

Judy sighed. "And the Grand Marshal?"

"There are none who envy his position today, however much they might once have," Tuck said gravely. "The last message was two days ago and we have no idea what it was, because it was in a code we don't know."

The three of them were silent again for a finger-width.

"How do we credit what Huixla sent to us from Zacateca?"

"I think we have to treat it as truth, until we know otherwise," Tuck said. "Xyl has freed up substantial numbers of troops from the Heartland, even as even more yet are being trained. A half million men to Huspai, to face Xipototec. A half million men sent to Zacateca to face Tecpan. Another quarter million are camped at the mouth of the Big River, blocking Harmakros' communications north. Another million men are enroute north to besiege Zimapan, to be partly supplied by sea, as are those on the Big River to be supplied entirely."

"The High King thought they'd try their first big attack against Zarthan. Evidently not," Judy added.

"The High King's Navy," Gamelin said hopefully. "Do you suppose they can raid the supply lines?"

Tuck shrugged. "I imagine he'll try. I don't know if he has enough ships yet; I'm certain he doesn't have enough trained men to crew them."

Tuck spat on the ground. "I'm a good soldier, but not this good. I have no idea how to defend against an enemy who can strike at any time at any of a dozen points with more men than we have in our entire army. The only tactic that makes any sense at all is 'trading ground for time.'" His expression was bleak.

"Except here we are, on the ground that will have to be traded, with hundreds of thousands of lives that depend on our judgment only a few miles away. Zacateca was taken back because they didn't resist. Tecpan... it might be possible for King Xyl to get the city as he got Zacateca. Xipototec will never surrender and, if they did, they'd all be killed. Every last man, woman and child."

Tuck laughed bitterly. "But at Tecpan... if Xyl sent an emissary to them and told them they'd live if they returned to the fold, we might be facing a very short and bitter war."

"Don't despair, Lord Tuck," Gamelin said seriously. "They would never do that! Xyl would never permit the people of Tecpan to live."

"Wouldn't he? Xyl the magnanimous... it would appeal to him, I think. Moreover, it would facilitate surrenders later. Ten, fifteen years from now... who knows what would happen? But if he assured the people in Tecpan that he was being honest... I don't know. I'd like to think they would say 'no!' loudly and all of that, but I just don't know."

"Do you really think our town will rise against us?" Judy asked, her eyes angry.

Tuck nodded. "We're foreigners. Yes, we freed them. Yes, we gave them hope where there was none before. Xyl, though, offers sweet seduction. Rejoin your people! We've killed those who oppressed you! Throw off the foreigners who oppress you today!"

"We don't oppress anyone," Judy said hotly.

Tuck nodded. "The thing we have to recognize is that Xyl may actually mean it. Certainly it's clear he would have a lot of resistance on his hands if he tried to go back to the sacrifices. And he'd need new platoons of priests."

"We do oppress people, Judy," Gamelin told his wife, "because we can't give all men, and aye, all women, their heart's desires. It is why for hundreds of years Trygath has been a joke among all true men. It's been hundreds of years since anyone trusted a Trygathi's words -- just his deeds. And because not everyone can rule, there is forever fertile ground for discontent and revolt and the breaking of yet another trust."

Judy turned to face Tuck. "Why isn't Tanda Havra here?"

Tuck met her eyes with a stony glare. "She's not stupid. She and my son are guests of Count Tellan."

Judy's nostrils flared in anger. "I don't think her father would be very proud of her today."

Tuck spread his hands.

Judy turned brisk. "I can deal with most things, but not wholesale treason. If Gamelin and I move to Xipototec, Tecpan will be up for grabs."

"There was no warning at Zacateca," Tuck reminded her. "If you stay in the city, they would garner a lot of credit with their new boss if they hand you over along with the city. I don't think the new King's generosity will extend to us."

Judy turned abruptly on her heel and started down the hill. Gamelin looked at Tuck, who shrugged. "Not a clue," Tuck told him.

"Something radical," Gamelin agreed.

Tuck saw where she was headed. "Gamelin, there have been times you haven't trusted me. I suspect this will be one of those. Please, come with me."

Gamelin looked at Judy, striding resolutely down the hill, headed for the center of the camp, where their troops were camped.

With sudden certainty, Gamelin knew what she was going to do, as Tuck had already realized.

"If any harm comes to her," Gamelin said thinly, "I will make it my life's work to seek out every man and woman in that camp who's alive tomorrow -- and kill them."

"Gamelin, she's right. This isn't something we can take a chance with. We need to know. You understand that if the news is bad, it's because our worst fears were too optimistic?"

"Yes. Xyl's sugar words have already spread among them." He watched the woman he loved so very, very much move into the midst of her soldiers, walking alone and proud. It took a great deal of effort not to spew his lunch all over the desert.

Judy fetched up at the camp and waved to Vosper. "Assemble the soldiers. While they are assembling, gather up all the Hostigi troops and Ruthani scouts and withdraw to Tuck's camp."

Vosper stared at her for a moment, then bowed and turned and started shouting orders.

Judy finished up at the wagon yard and climbed up on a wagon bed, putting one foot up easily on the sideboard.

Word spread quickly and, in a gratifyingly short time, the soldiers were gathered around her. This wasn't the first time she's spoken to them and Tuck had spoken to his soldiers many more times. The soldiers were intermixed; their only desire was to be as close as possible to hear their leader's words.

"Men of Tecpan!" Judy shouted. "The enemy is withdrawing south. The rain has rather dampened their enthusiasm for a battle!"

There was a roar of approval from the soldiers.

"Tomorrow at first light, we will start our march back to Tecpan!"

There were more shouts, this time even more enthusiastic.

Judy waited this time, until the crowd was quieter than usual; again, the soldiers realized something important was coming.

"We're here, all of us, because of the desire to protect our homes and our families.

"Now, however, there is a new King in Tenosh. He's not the God-King; he's the king of the Olmecha. He's taken back Zacateca, sparing those of the city who profess loyalty to him.

"Soldiers! Xyl will be coming to Tecpan! He will offer the same terms to you. No sacrifices, your own city government... and no foreign overlords."

Men turned to their friends, to the men standing next to them and a buzz of words rose up. Judy was patient, waiting until the words started to wane.

"I bow to no one in my loyalty to Tecpan and its people. I am willing to sell my life dearly in its defense... if that's what the people of Tecpan want. You soldiers, you will have the march home to think on this, to make up your minds.

"I don't mind dying for Tecpan and your freedom. I don't want to die at the hands of people who spurn me.

"This I promise: those who wish to fight Tenosh and its kings will always be welcome at my side.

"If Tecpan doesn't want to continue the fight, I will tell you now I think you won't be free, but you may live.

"Those that wish, may join my husband and I, at the camp north of Tecpan. You may bring your families. If the people of Tecpan request it, by a vote of the Council of Tecpan, we'll quit the base and move to Xipototec. I promise you, all who come will be made welcome in Xipototec."

There were low murmurs of talk again and again Judy was patient. Finally, she held up her hands to still the last of it. "Now, please. My husband and I have dealt fairly with you, the Duke of Mexico has dealt fairly with you, and so has the High King. Deal fairly with us. I'm being honest with you, as all of you should know. Be honest with us.

"Freedom is," she said with a grin, "among other things, the right to make your own choices, however short-sighted people like me might think you are being."

Two days later she stood at the Council table in Tecpan and said the same thing. "I don't want to hear protestations of loyalty from you. Shortly, I will leave and you can debate among yourselves. Whatever you do, don't spill blood over the decision. Once the blood starts to flow, it will turn swiftly into a torrent and every drop weakens Tecpan and strengthens King Xyl, no matter which side of the argument the person was on.

"Has King Xyl sent emissaries to talk to you?"

There were a lot of downcast eyes.

"He has a sugar tongue, there's no doubt of that," Judy told them. "He is offering honey, there's no doubt of that, either. I assume he told you that we will face millions of soldiers -- and there's no doubt about that, either.

"There is no doubt that the reason why we're here today is the last time he sent soldiers north, most of them died here. The war has been over for a year a half. King Xyl has had three or four moons to consolidate his kingdom. We've had a year and a half. The High King, better prepared than all of us, has had that year and a half. Look, all of you," she said.

Without a word, she spun, drew her pistol as she turned and fired into one of the twelve by twelve wooden supports for the roof. She pulled the second trigger a heartbeat later and everyone in the room was coughing.

"If that had been fireseed, we'd have to adjourn to the courtyard," Judy said briskly. "Please, someone count the bullets in that timber."

The number of bullet holes came to twelve and all could see that the timber was badly damaged.

"The High King has new rifles that fire six times, as fast as a man can pull the trigger. Those rifles can be reloaded faster than a man can load one of the old rifles.