Chapter 4: Sortie

That evening there was a reception at Fort South for the newly arrived officers, and those soon to be departing. Claire would normally have been expected to be there for a few minutes, acting as her father's hostess, and then vanish, as was the usual custom. Instead, she was told to remain in their quarters.

Much later, her father returned. Claire was sitting in the main room, nearly finished with Jim Meeker's book and looked up when he came in.

He tossed his gloves and hat on the table and sat down wearily. "Would you like a glass of wine, father?" Claire asked as a dutiful daughter should.

He nodded and she went and poured him a glass of the nice red wine that came from the Northern Mountains. He sniffed it, than sat swirling it around and around in his glass for the longest time.

"I'm tempted," he told her finally, "to send you back with Colonel Danna. This is going to turn out badly, I'm afraid."

"I don't want to go back," she told him firmly and without any hesitation.

"The draft isn't what we expected. They're not men who've finished their first year of service and are thus fully trained. This is this year's class; they took most of these boys from the streets of Capitol City, put uniforms on them and marched them out here. Colonel Danna didn't even drill them on the march. 'They were too tired after marching all day, ' Danna said."

Her father shook his head in disgust. "Nine weeks, nearly ten, on the road, and they know virtually nothing about the basics of our craft! We will have to train them from scratch. Three thousand useless bodies, who won't be halfway adequate until the end of summer."

He took a long drink from his glass. "Weara, the sutler, told Colonel Randall this evening that an expected wagon train of his goods from Winslow is now two days overdue. He wants us to send someone to look for them. With the exception of Colonel Danna's soldiers, we've not had anyone arrive here in more than a week."

Claire sat up straight, understanding what he'd said in an oblique way. "We're under siege?"

"And weren't even aware of it," her father agreed. "The Harn are damnably tricky. If we've lost the supply train that means it means that later this summer we're going to start getting hungry. It means that Colonel Danna's escort isn't nearly strong enough." He shook his head bitterly. "Even Danna's aware of it; he's lost his taste for a quick return."

He finished the remainder of his wine with a single gulp. "Tomorrow morning I'll take my regiment out and make a circuit of the walls, not getting out of sight of Fort South. To see what there is to see."

Claire felt chilled; she was deathly afraid. If the Harn were here, and here in strength, then they would come for her father and his men. They surely would come.

"Colonel Randall initially ordered me to remain and said he would take the column out." Her father's eyes met Claire's. "He said that as an unmarried man, he should take the risk. I told him he had his duty to the King of Man, as did I. I plan," his expression was wan, "to go no further than a mile from the fort. The entire regiment will be mounted. We should be safe enough."

Which was a lie, but Claire didn't want to call him on it.

The next morning the troops were forming up, a long column of men. They all had lances, cavalry sabers, and a few had bows. They moved out with a minimum of fuss and noise; there was no shouting and banter like they usually rode out with.

Men rode loose in their saddles, hands on their blades, eyes darting every which way. They had barely cleared the gate when the Corean sergeant appeared where Claire and a dozen other women were standing with Colonel Randall, on the parapet.

"Colonel, permission to exercise troops outside the walls," the sergeant asked.

Colonel Randall looked at the sergeant, curious. "And what would you be doing this morning, Sergeant?"

"Colonel, Coreans don't know one end of a blade from another, but we all grow up with a bow in our hands. I'd like to have them practice forming a line, then loosing on command. That sort of thing. A little close order drill, but outside rather than inside. Coreans love the outdoors. We'll probably run a little, too."

"How many?"

"About three hundred and sixty, Colonel. Both companies."

"And who, sergeant, are the company commanders?"

"Lieutenant Smit, sir, and Lieutenant Festung. Mr. Smit is senior, Colonel."

"And they are where?"

"I believe, sir, they are at breakfast. Lieutenant Smit told me that he would be around later this morning to supervise sword drill."

"Where have you served before, Sergeant?"

"Sir, I was with General Logan Taylor on the Hadrian Campaign."

"Due to the exigencies of the service, sergeant," the colonel said with a composed face, "I find myself short of company commanders. I think Lieutenants Smit and Festung might be better employed with some of my veteran companies; I'll have orders for them shortly. I'll probably catch them at breakfast."

Claire was very glad she wouldn't be on the receiving end of those orders when they were delivered. The colonel's expression would have curdled milk.

Colonel Randall finished up, saying, "In the meantime, find a competent sergeant to take the second company, you take the other."

"Yes, sir."

"And, Brevet Captain Taylor, I'm not ignorant of what rank the King promoted you to, nor why, nor what happened later. Here in the south I need competent officers more than I need to worry about bruised egos at court. On the other hand, what has been given can be taken away. See to your duties, Captain!"

Claire was surprised. For the last day Colonel Randall had been positively genial and mild, particularly to Sergeant Taylor. Now, Colonel Randall had promoted him to captain, before there was any fighting. Why hadn't he made the man a lieutenant? She wasn't sure what to make of it, except that Colonel Randall was a much nicer person this way.

The colonel's eyes lit on Claire. "Miss Story, you may remain on the walls today as long as you wish. After today, you will need permission from the officer of the guard to come up."

Well, that was more like the old colonel! She mused on that as she watched the departing young sergeant, now a captain, as he ran to join his troops, shouting orders. So, he'd been promoted to officer's rank before! And lost it! But not for something pertinent, she thought, or the colonel would have ignored the sergeant with the famous uncle.

Then, with a thunderclap, she realized who the sergeant was. Richard Taylor! The hero of the Hadrian campaign! The man who rallied demoralized troops when their officers had been killed, and proceeded to rout the forces of King Hadrian, who had thought the battle over and had been completely unprepared for a counter-attack that had been launched at Hadrian himself.

It was one thing to read about a "battlefield promotion from the ranks for outstanding leadership and bravery" and quite another to associate it with a particular individual standing in your courtyard, early in the morning.

She watched the column of troops under her father continue along the main road. Where would the Harn be? She concentrated on that, not on the dashing, handsome war-hero sergeant-turned-captain-turned-sergeant and now captain once again. He wasn't someone her father could do much about! Of course, she was well aware that like the other dependents, the first minute Colonel Randall thought he could safely return her home, she'd be on her way!

There was a rhythmic sound of feet pounding the ground, and her attention returned to inside Fort South. Three hundred and sixty soldiers had started double-timing towards the gate. The gatekeepers hastily swung the leaves wide and the men went through. Claire was impressed. From the way her father had described them, the new men couldn't march in a straight line. The two companies that went out the gate looked like seasoned professionals, down to keeping in step as they ran. It made a hell of a racket as so many feet slammed down on the ground at the same time.

Captain Hammer came up to the colonel and saluted. "Sir, as a precaution, I've roused the emergency watch."

"Very good, Captain."

Captain Feller, who had been standing next to Colonel Randall looked uneasy, then turned back to the Colonel. "Taylor isn't stopping -- they're going past the archery range!"