Arms-Commander (54 page)

For nearly a glass, the joint force remained ready for an attack, before withdrawing to a position almost half a kay back from the gates. During the apparent calm, Hryessa dispatched half a squad to recover what they could from the fallen Suthyans, especially good arrow shafts; but as a result of the efforts of the white wizard, the guards returned with only thirty shafts, along with fifteen usable blades and some coins.

Shortly after the scavengers rejoined the Westwind forces, Maeldyn, Spalkyn, Zeldyan, and Saryn rode some fifty yards north of the main body, where Maeldyn reined up just far enough away from the armsmen that the four could discuss matters without being overheard while still keeping an eye on the gates to the holding.

Although the day was warm, a slightly cooler breeze out of the east kept Saryn from drowning in her own perspiration as she waited for one of the others to speak. Her head ached slightly, and every so often a small lightknife—more like a needle—jabbed at her eyes, but compared to how she had felt after earlier fights, what she was experiencing was relatively mild.

“It doesn't look like they're raging to attack us.” Spalkyn's voice was ironic.

“Of course not,” said Zeldyan. “He's outnumbered, and he's lost two white wizards. He'll stay behind stone until something makes him come out.”

“Or until he can persuade the Suthyans to attack, or he gets reinforcements from somewhere,” added Maeldyn. “That won't happen for a while. He hasn't tried to sneak out a messenger yet.”

“He will. He'll offer what ever it takes to get someone else to attack us.” Zeldyan's words were icy-bitter.

“Even if he does get word out, he won't get any help that soon.” Spalkyn laughed harshly. “Maybe not at all.”

“That means he'll try to wait us out…or until he sees an opportunity,” Saryn finally said. “We need to decide what to do about quarters, food, that sort of thing, while we see what he'll do.”

“A little less than two kays to the northeast, there are some barns and a dwelling. That's close enough to the walls, but not too close…” offered Spalkyn. “If we quartered in the town, it'd be the demons' own time getting out quickly; we'd get caught in the streets.”

“Even at two kays, we'll need a company ready at any time,” pointed out Maeldyn. “Scouts, too.”

“Any farther, and we'll tire out men and mounts getting back in position.”

“Henstrenn isn't going to attack unless he can do it without losses or unless all our forces are where he thinks he can defeat us,” interjected Zeldyan.

“We need to put some of the armsmen on stand-down now,” suggested Saryn. “Leave one company on ready for a glass or so, then have another stand ready.”

“The commander's forces have already fought twice today,” Maeldyn said, almost blandly.

“Mine can take the first glass.” Zeldyan glanced back toward the main body.

“And ours will take the duty after that.” Spalkyn then added, “If Henstrenn doesn't attack by a half glass before sunset, I'd suggest we remove to the barns and post scouts to watch the gates and walls.”

“And tomorrow?” asked Zeldyan.

“Just have one company at the ready at the barns, and the others there as well. That way, we're all in one place. The rest should be prepared to saddle up quickly, but there's no point in tiring them out and waiting.” Maeldyn smiled sadly. “We just need to be far enough away and prepared enough that he can't surprise us, and rested enough that we can attack him if we get the chance.”

Saryn nodded. They weren't trying a siege, but a loose holding action until they could come to grips with Henstrenn and the Suthyans. As Zeldyan rode toward the Lornians, Saryn let the chestnut walk toward Hryessa, where she reined up.

“Ser?”

“Have them all back off and stand down. We're going to wait a bit longer to see what happens.”

“They've been beaten twice today. Do you think they'll try again?”

“We don't know how many Suthyans and wizards are behind that wall,” replied Saryn. “In his position, I wouldn't, but most of the lord-holders here do things I wouldn't think wise.” She shrugged. Inside, she had a feeling that Henstrenn wasn't finished for the day, but since she couldn't explain why, she only said, “Just make sure that they're not too far from their horses or their weapons.”

Hryessa nodded, then turned her mount. “Squad leaders, forward!”

Saryn rode back to join Zeldyan and Undercaptain Maerkyn, reining up next to the lady-holder, and asking, “What do you feel that Henstrenn will do next?”

“What ever he thinks will catch us off guard and cost him little. I can't help but notice one thing. He hasn't yet used any of his own armsmen against us, especially against you, Commander.”

“Just like he took the east road and sent Kelthyn down the river road.”

“Oh, I am most certain that he pointed out to Lord Kelthyn that the river road was the shorter distance to Veryna…”

Using the truth…like Ryba.
Except that Ryba wasn't quite so vicious and self-centered…was she?

“…and he doubtless had some other reason to send Jaffrayt with Kelthyn.” Zeldyan's quiet voice was cutting.

After a time, Saryn rode back to rejoin Hryessa and keep watch on the gates to the holding keep with both eyes and senses.

Another glass passed…uneventfully.

As the lower edge of the sun touched the rolling hills to the west of the river, Zeldyan ordered her company to withdraw to the barns, and Saryn gave the order to Hryessa for the Westwind forces to follow but to keep their arms at the ready. The Lornians were almost a kay to the northeast of the walls and halfway to the quartering area, with the Westwind contingent some three hundred yards away from the forces of the northern lord-holders, when Saryn heard a trumpet call.

She could sense activity within the gates and immediately ordered, “Westwind! To the rear, ride!” Then she urged the gelding out to the side and galloped up to the new front of the Westwind force. While she would have preferred not to lead with sixth squad, there was no help for it on such short notice. “Forward!”

She and the guards had covered about a hundred yards when the holding gates swung open, and riders in brown and yellow boiled out, heading for the company and a half of the northern lord-holders.

“Ready bows!”

“Ready bows!” echoed Hryessa and the two squad leaders.

“Fire!” snapped Saryn, knowing that any amount of delay would help.

Shafts began to rake the Henstrenn's advancing armsmen, and a number fell, but Saryn could see that, before that long, trying to target the attackers would result in shafts striking Maeldyn's and Spalkyn's forces.

“Cease fire! Bows away. Charge!”

The attackers had barely slammed into the front ranks of the northern forces when a series of trumpet calls echoed from the holding keep, and Henstrenn's armsmen broke off the attack and galloped back to the holding before Saryn and the Westwind guards could reach them. The gates closed behind them, and Saryn slowed her guards for the last yards before she halted a few yards short of Maeldyn.

“Do you always look for a fight, Commander?” asked Spalkyn, grinning broadly as he joined the two.

“I was just going to make sure that they couldn't get away so that you could fight them,” Saryn countered with a smile. Her eyes scanned the front lines of the armsmen, and came up with several empty saddles, but there were also a good fifteen or so Duevekan armsmen down and unmoving, although the northern armsmen had gathered up the surviving horses.

“Lord Henstrenn seems reluctant to fight Westwind.” Maeldyn's words were sardonic.

“I'd hoped to trap them between us,” Saryn said.

“He saw that. Much as I hate to admit it, his hasty retreat was the wisest course for him.”

“He's a slimy, slippery sort,” added Spalkyn.

That's something we all knew.

“We might as well all head for the barns,” Maeldyn said.

Saryn agreed with that, but she turned to Hryessa, who had joined her. “Send a half squad to see how many shafts they can recover. If the gates open, they're to drop everything and ride to join us.”

Hryessa nodded and eased her mount away.

“Your archers took down a few of those brown-coats,” Maeldyn noted. “That's something I don't think Henstrenn had expected.”

“I'm very glad he didn't.” Saryn concealed a frown. Maeldyn's observation raised a question for her.
Why hadn't there been a white wizard with the attackers?
Was that because they didn't have too many left? Or because they would only work with Suthyan forces? Or for some other reason?

“He's slippery enough to come up with something else,” Spalkyn said.

“We need to clear the area,” Maeldyn said. “Everyone's tired.”

“Westwind! To the rear, ride!” Saryn ordered, watching as her force again reversed the order of riding and as ten guards moved out toward where the brief skirmish had taken place. She nodded to the two lords. “If you will excuse me…”

As she eased the gelding out to the side of sixth squad and started forward, she thought she heard a few words between Maeldyn and Spalkyn and tried to use the order-chaos flows to catch them.

“…demon-glad she's on our side…” said Spalkyn.

“…she's not…she's against lord-holders like Henstrenn…”

Whose “side” are you on? Theirs, Ryba's, your own?
Again, she had no solid answer, only the wish that she could find a course that made sense for everyone.

The Westwind force was almost to the first of the large barns when Hryessa slipped her horse into position beside Saryn. “The northerners got the coins and the mounts. They didn't bother with the arrows. Even with the shafts we just recovered, we have less than fivescore remaining for all of the archers.”

Saryn nodded. “I knew we were running short, but…” What else could she have done? It was best to use a weapon when it was most effective. “Which squad has the better archers, first or fourth?”

“First squad, I would judge, ser.”

“Then give all the shafts to the ten best archers in first squad. That will have to do.”

“Yes, ser.”

“That was your idea, wasn't it? Or do you have a better one?”

Hryessa offered an off-center smile and a shrug. “I had thought about it, but you're the commander.”

Saryn could sense that Hryessa agreed with the decision. “You're the captain, and sometimes I don't see everything.” She paused. “We need to get to quarters, such as they are. Both the guards and the horses need a rest.”

And so do I.

Eightday dawned gray, with thick low clouds and a brisk wind out of the northeast that Saryn felt was refreshing, especially after sharing with Zeldyan a tiny room in the small house between the barns and eating hard biscuits and harder cheese for breakfast. While Saryn's tunic was warm enough for her, most of the Lornians shivered and fastened up riding jackets.

Although the scouts watching Henstrenn's keep reported no one leaving and no sign of armsmen forming up inside the walls, Saryn wanted to know more. Since she couldn't sense what was happening behind the walls from where the guards and the others were quartered, she decided to saddle the gelding and check for herself.

When she reached the end of the stable, she found that Dealdron had just finished saddling the chestnut. For a moment, she looked at him without speaking.

“I thought you would be riding out,” he explained. “I put the extra blades in the knee sheaths, and there are biscuits in the saddlebags. Your water bottle is clean and filled.”

“You didn't have to…” Saryn broke off the words. Behind his pleasant smile was a deep concern for her…and admiration…if not more…somewhat veiled behind swirling thoughts and feelings. She managed to smile back professionally.

“I did,” he replied. “So much rests on you.”

“Thank you.” She took the reins from him and walked the gelding out of the barn.

Although she had said nothing to Hryessa, when Saryn mounted up outside, a half squad of guards from fifth squad rode to join her. The lead guard inclined her head. “The captain said we were to accompany you, ser.”

“Thank you. We'll be riding to check the keep walls.” Saryn urged the gelding forward, thinking as she did,
First Dealdron…and now this…

Yet she had to admit to herself that going to check on the walls unescorted would have been dangerous and foolish. As for Dealdron, it was clear that he'd put her on a pedestal and would have liked to have done far more. Yet he had never made even the slightest of improper gestures or comments.
Ostler or not, he is kind and intelligent.

She shook her head, then smiled ruefully as she considered the male lord-holders—and their sons—that she'd encountered. Maeldyn was the only one she'd found intelligent and perceptive enough for her, not that she was attracted to the outwardly stern lord. Yet…a plasterer and ostler she found more attractive than lord-holders?

Saryn almost snorted. Given the lord-holders she'd met, Dealdron was more lordly than any of them, and probably more intelligent to boot, not to mention handsome and kind. He'd also kept learning from the time he had come to Westwind.

As she neared the walls of Henstrenn's keep, she extended her senses, trying to discern any activity beyond the stone barrier. Before long, she reined up a good half kay from the north walls and studied the keep. Even with her senses, she could detect no sign of formations or concentrations of men or horses. She had the feeling that, even if she remained watching all morning, she would neither see nor sense any such activity.

Even so, she did watch as she rode westward to where she could see the lane down to the main road, then back to where she could see the other eastern lane that led down to the main road farther east, then to the town proper. There were no signs of activity or reinforcements.

Finally, after another half glass, she rode back to the barns and the makeshift staging area, where she unsaddled and groomed the gelding before watching as Hryessa directed the newer guards in arms drills.

Mid afternoon came, and when the latest report from the scouts continued to indicate that Henstrenn and his forces remained quiet behind the walls, Maeldyn requested that Zeldyan and Saryn join him and Spalkyn outside the stable that was far too small for all the horses.

“Unless we press him,” began the dour-looking lord-holder, “Henstrenn is not going to leave his walls. I'd like to suggest that we burn down the small pearapple orchard closest to the eastern gates. That orchard isn't that close to anything else.”

“How many companies should we have standing by in case he does decide to attack?” asked Spalkyn.

“I would suggest ours and those of Lady Zeldyan, with the commander's forces ready to saddle up and ride out quickly, if need be.”

“What do you suggest if he does not respond?” asked Zeldyan. “Staying here all harvest, fall, and winter?”

“If need be,” replied Maeldyn mildly. “The alternative is far worse.”

“We should at least try to provoke him,” said Spalkyn.

“He will not respond,” Zeldyan replied.

“That may be, but it will be an indication to his people of just how little he thinks of anything but himself.”

They already should know that. They just haven't ever been able to do anything about it.
Saryn refrained from uttering the thought and merely nodded.

“Then let it be done.” Zeldyan's voice was weary. “I will order my armsmen up and join you.” She turned and walked away.

Spalkyn nodded and headed away.

Maeldyn looked at Saryn. “You said little, Commander.”

“There was little to say.”

“Might I ask your views?”

“Torching the orchard will not persuade Henstrenn to do anything that is not in his interest or survival. It may be necessary to show that we gave warning, in order to placate those lord-holders who are not here.”

“You do not have a high opinion of lord-holders, I fear.”

“I have a much higher opinion of those with whom I ride,” Saryn countered.

“Otherwise, you would not be riding with us, I suspect.”

Saryn smiled and shrugged.

Maeldyn laughed softly.

“Until later.” Saryn turned and headed toward the barn.

Again, Dealdron had the gelding saddled and ready for Saryn, and, once more, a half squad of guards were ready to escort her. This time, the escort was formed of women from first squad, and all bore bows as well.

Saryn rode to the pearapple orchard with Zeldyan. The Westwind guards paralleled the first squad of the Lornian company, taking the shoulder of the dirt lane in single file, then reforming once Zeldyan and Saryn reined up.

Saryn waited beside Zeldyan at the front of the Lornian company, as armsmen from Maeldyn's squads put torches to the trees.

It took two glasses in the still and hot harvest air before the last tree was nothing but a charred husk. The odor of charcoal, burned wood, and the fainter acrid scent of burned pearapples filled the late afternoon…but the gates of Duevek keep remained closed as Maeldyn, Spalkyn, Zeldyan, and Saryn watched.

Once the fire had died away, Maeldyn and Spalkyn rode to join the two women.

“It appears you were right,” offered Maeldyn.

“I have the feeling that we could burn the entire countryside to ashes, and Henstrenn still wouldn't leave his walls,” Saryn said.

“Would any of you?” asked Zeldyan.

“We'll have to see what tomorrow brings,” Spalkyn said. “Henstrenn may reconsider matters after he has thought them over.”

“Tomorrow won't change anything,” Zeldyan replied tartly. “Henstrenn would sacrifice every man, woman, and child on his lands to save his skin.”

“Especially with two women after him,” added Saryn.

“Women have often been the downfall of men,” said Maeldyn pleasantly, “but you, Commander, have destroyed more than any single woman in the memory of Lornth, or possibly even in the time of Cyador before.”

Saryn smiled politely in response to the mostly good-natured banter. “You might recall, Lord Maeldyn, that in every single instance, I was attacked first. In fact, Lord Henstrenn's armsmen offered the very first attack on me when I came to see the regents in the spring. And we were under a parley banner.” She paused. “We women may forgive, but we never forget.”

“Ever,” murmured Zeldyan, a sound so low and under her breath that Saryn suspected she was the only one to hear that single word.