Alutar: The Great Demon (63 page)

“We have twenty thousand men in Giza,” replied the emperor. “The lancers will not succeed in doing anything other than dying before the walls.”

“Actually,” Grand General Kyrga bit his lower lip before continuing, “the 33
^rd
Corps has left Giza. They are currently heading south on the Coastal Highway.”

“Who gave them permission to leave the city?” scowled the emperor.

“No one,” Kyrga replied. “General Hedstorus had been having problems in Giza. Someone has been murdering his officers. One night the murderers sneaked into the inn where the general was staying. They murdered General Hedstorus and nine of his colonels. The only remaining senior officer was Colonel Clarine. He must not have been informed of my directive to General Hedstorus because he immediately moved the entire 33
^rd
Corps out of Giza. He sent a message before he left stating that he was doing so to preserve the army.”

“Have Clarine hanged,” snarled the emperor, “and promote a new general. And get that army back to Giza immediately.”

“I will not be able reach him with a pigeon,” frowned the Grand General. “I could get word to Farmin and have them send a rider northward.”

“Send a black-cloak,” the emperor replied irritably. “No, wait,” he added after a moment. “How long can Giza hold off the enemy with only the 23
^rd
Corps?”

“Not indefinitely,” frowned Kyrga. “They might hold out for a week, but not any longer if the Occans use decent siege engines.”

“A week should be sufficient,” Emperor Jaar said more calmly.
 
“Issue orders for the 11
^th
Corps of Ertak and the 34
^th
Corps in Farmin to head north immediately. That will give us thirty thousand men at the Occan’s backs. The Occans will be caught between a hostile wall and a superior force at their backs.”

“But that will leave Farmin defenseless,” frowned the Grand General.

“Only for a short time,” shrugged the emperor. “The battle at Giza will be a short one. However the Occans managed to get through the Forest of Death, they will not be tempted to do so again.”

Grand General Kyrga nodded submissively. “What do we do about the throne of Aerta?” he asked. “The only Aertan heir is General Alden, and he commanded one of the armies that were sent to Alcea.”

“We will not allow the Aertans to replace their king,” stated the emperor. “A governor will be selected here in Despair to administer the Aertan province.”

Grand General Kyrga’s eyes widened in surprise. “The other members of the Federation will not look upon such an action favorably,” he warned. “There could be trouble.”

“Trouble?” chuckled the emperor. “I do not think so. Queen Samir is no longer among the living, and King Harowin is soon to die. In their places are two young princes who together could not stand up to their own nobles. No, Kyrga, there will not be trouble. In fact, we should look upon Anator’s death as a blessing in disguise.”

“King Harowin is soon to die?” questioned the Grand General. “How do we know this?”

“I have sources,” smiled the emperor. “The Badgers have accepted a contract on Harowin’s life, and they never fail to deliver.”

Kyrga thought the emperor’s last statement was a bit ironic, but he kept his mouth shut. He nodded dutifully and bowed before leaving the office. After Kyrga departed, Colonel Taerin finished taking all of the documents that needed to be filed and then purposely made a noise so that the emperor would notice his presence. He did not want to be accused of hiding, and the noise would show his inadvertent presence. As he expected, the emperor’s head quickly swiveled in his direction.

“What are you doing in here?” snapped the emperor.

“Gathering your papers as I do every week,” Colonel Taerin offered meekly.

“Do you not know enough to excuse yourself when your superiors are holding a meeting?” scowled the emperor.

Colonel Taerin bowed respectfully. “My presence has never caused you consternation before,” he replied softly. “Surely, you know that I never repeat what I hear in this office. Besides, such worldly discussions are far beyond my interest. I live to serve the security of the Imperial Palace and to see that your papers are properly archived.”

The emperor’s glare softened as he sighed and waved dismissively at the colonel. Colonel Taerin bowed again and retreated from the emperor’s office. As he headed towards the archives, the colonel replayed the conversation in his mind. He was shocked that the successes of the Alceans were being so closely guarded, but what bothered him the most was the emperor’s statement about the Badgers. Taerin’s father hated the Badgers more than any other group in the world. For him to suggest that he knew the inner workings of the group of assassins struck Colonel Taerin as disingenuous, unless the emperor was not Taerin’s father after all. The colonel made a mental note to find a way to monitor affairs in Farmin. If King Harowin did indeed die to the Badgers, he wanted to know about it, and he did not expect to hear such news through the emperor or the Grand General.

* * * *

Prince Harold heard shouting coming from the king’s office. He recognized his father’s voice and that of General Hanford, but another voice was unfamiliar to him. Out of curiosity, he opened the door and walked in. Everyone in the room turned to see who was entering.

King Harowin sighed and shook his head. “Not now, Harold,” he scowled. “We are discussing important matters, not whether the poor are eating well today.”

Harold’s honeymoon with the king had been short-lived. Within days of Garth leaving the city, King Harowin had reverted to his true self. He complained about the prince being involved with the common rabble and constantly threatened to cut off his funding. The prince had managed each time to sooth his father, but he knew that the time for confrontation was quickly approaching. He was about to follow the king’s directive and leave the room when he caught sight of General Hanford, and the highest officer in the kingdom was signaling for the prince to join the conversation. The prince liked General Hanford and had learned that the man was a keen judge of character. He spent several evenings with the general discussing the state of the kingdom and the Federation, and he had learned of the general’s distrust of Despair in general, and of General Larus in particular. Prince Harold nodded to the general and entered the room. He closed the door behind him and slowly approached the group that had already dismissed his presence from their minds.

“I will not leave this city defenseless,” the king stated angrily.

“Grand General Kyrga’s demands are quite clear,” retorted General Larus. “Both the 11
^th
Corps and the 34
^th
Corps are to head north to defend Giza. And Emperor Jaar dictates those demands. There is no room for discussion.”

“This is my kingdom,” shouted the king. “Who are you to tell me that I have no room for discussion? I will not commit my army to save Giza at the expense of losing Farmin. You may take the 34
^th
Corps north, General Larus, but the 11
^th
Corps is remaining right here.”

“Those are not the orders given,” General Larus scowled. “If you refuse to send the 11
^th
Corps northward, I will remain here and notify Grand General Kyrga myself.”

“And why would the movements of the 11
^th
Corps interest you, Larus?” General Harford asked calmly. “Do you feel that the 34
^th
Corps must stay in Farmin to protect the citizens from the 11
^th
Corps?”

“Do not play games with me, Harford,” spat General Larus. “It is my duty to the Federation to see that all orders are faithfully carried out. The 11
^th
Corps has been ordered north just as my own 34
^th
Corps has. We will leave together.”

“And leave Farmin defenseless?” shouted the king. “I do not think so.”

“Farmin need not be left defenseless,” Prince Harold said softly and confidently. Everyone turned to stare at the prince. King Harowin’s face reddened at the interruption, but Prince Harold gave him no time for another outburst. “I think I have a plan to solve everyone’s problems. May I speak?”

“Please do,” General Harford said quickly before either of the other two men could react.

“There are many able-bodied men in Farmin,” the prince began. “While they do not have the training of a Federation army, they are quite capable of manning the walls for a short duration. If General Harford would have his men offer a half day’s instruction before the 11
^th
Corps left the city, I think Farmin would be very well protected until the return of our armies.”

General Harford smiled. “That could actually work,” the general quickly agreed. “It might cost a bit of gold to conscript them for a short period, but I am sure that Despair will reimburse the kingdom.”

King Harowin frowned in confusion. He did not know what General Harford was up to, but he knew that some game was being played. Despair would never consider a reimbursement, and the king was certain that General Harford knew that. Still, he could not determine where the game was going, so he remained silent.

“You actually think you can take scoundrels off the streets to man your walls?” chuckled General Larus.

“Why do you care what we do?” retorted General Harford. “If the crown has enough faith in my training to be happy with a citizen army for a couple of weeks, you should hardly complain. You are getting exactly what you and Despair want. Both the 11
^th
Corps and the 34
^th
Corps will be traveling north to rescue Giza.”

“And the king is getting what he wants,” added Prince Harold. “Farmin will not be left defenseless. Would you like my help in organizing the training, General Harford?”

“I would appreciate the help,” smiled General Harford. He turned to General Larus and continued, “We have little time if the report from Despair is correct. If you will start getting your men on the road, I should be done with the training by the time the tail end of your column leaves the city.”

“Very well then,” the king said as he rose. “Unless there is something else requiring my time, I have other matters to attend to.”

General Harford rose and bowed to the king. He then turned and started talking softly to the prince as they slowly made their way towards the door. General Larus frowned in confusion, but he shrugged with indifference and quickly left the room. As soon as he was well away from the room, the king called the other two back to his desk.

“You will explain what just happened,” he demanded of the general. “Why have we agreed to a citizen army? You know that Despair will not reimburse us.”

General Harford smiled broadly. “The 11
^th
Corps will not be leaving Farmin,” he said. “At the last minute, you will find an urgent reason to change my orders.”

King Harowin glanced from General Harford to Prince Harold in confusion. “The two of you had this planned?” he asked.

“No,” Prince Harold replied, “but I know that the 34
^th
Corps was not meant to secure Farmin in the first place. At least not for you. It might be meant to secure it for the Federation, though. Getting them out of the city is good for Ertak and promising to send the 11th Corps with them accomplishes that goal.”

“If we had continued with the discussion that was ongoing when the prince entered the room,” added General Harford, “we would never have gotten them to leave. You have a very clever son, King Harowin. I understood where he was going as soon as he spoke. If you have no further needs of us, the prince and I should at least put on a show of training some citizens so that General Larus does not have a reason to suspect our motives.”

King Harowin merely nodded, and the general and the prince left the room. General Harford went to gather the men who would do the training, while Prince Harold went to recruit the thieves. Within an hour, the two groups met in the barracks area and some rudimentary training began. The general and the prince stood together watching the training.

“I cannot believe what I am seeing,” the general stated sincerely as he nodded at the Rangers. “Those five men in black should be the ones giving the lessons. Where did you find them?”

“I cheated,” chuckled the prince. “Those five have been giving me lessons. They are my protectors when I leave the palace. They are friends of Garth Shado.”

“They are skilled warriors,” General Harford noted. “They should be training the people you rounded up. Where did you get so many men on such short notice?”

“In the slums,” answered the prince. “Farmin has many talents that we have been neglecting. Look at that group of five over there,” the prince added as he nodded towards Bacar and four of his fellow thieves who had been trained by Garth.

“Each of them would make a fine soldier,” stated the general. “In fact, most of the men you rounded up would do well in the army. That makes me wonder if your offer of a citizen army was actually what you were proposing. I assumed that it was a ruse.”

“It was merely a ruse to get the 34
^th
Corps out of the city,” clarified the prince,” but it could actually be done if we were desperate enough.”

General Harford smiled and nodded. “You have turned into quite a clever young man,” he said softly. “How are you managing to revitalize the slums without your father’s gold?”

“I manage to get some gold out of him,” shrugged the prince, “but my main concern right now is merely feeding the hungry. I manage to do that with donations from the rich and famous.”

“The rich and famous?” chuckled the general. “Why in the world would any of those snobs give you money to feed the poor?”

“Oh,” the prince smiled broadly, “they do not give me gold. They do, however, send food for the poor. I make a point of writing each donation in a ledger, and I have made sure that they know that I am doing so. Each of the wealthy are afraid that the lack of a donation may cost them dearly when I come to power, so they make a point of sending food every day. It costs them little, as the food is mostly what they cannot consume without overfilling their fat bellies, but the donations have made a great difference in the slums. The sick are becoming well, and the weak are becoming strong.”