Darkstone - An Evil Reborn (Book 4) (27 page)

Chapter Twenty-Five

Besseth

~

A
nchor spent the night thinking about Willow and Sally.
When day dawned, he focused plans to get his southern army moving north towards Foxhome. Shiro joined him at midday.

“Chika understands what she needs to do?” Anchor said as he walked to the eastern part of Sally’s Corners. He idly kicked a rock that bounced down the cobbled road.

Shiro nodded. “Chika’s first instincts are to fight. I made sure her orders were clear; she transports Sallia if either is threatened. If she takes Sallia out of harm’s way, she removes herself. That is a good strategy, my friend.” He slapped Anchor’s stomach. “A face-saving suggestion for my warrior companion. ”

Anchor smiled. “It’s more than a face-saving suggestion, as far as I’m concerned, Shiro. We have to protect the Bloodstone and the woman who rightfully holds it. If we don’t, then all that I have done since becoming Anchor will be lost.” He wouldn’t accept anything other than victory. His untold confession about the night Histron took the castle still tormented his mind.

They had wandered far enough. Anchor and Shiro transported to the main camp of the Southern Alliance. He packed up his things and put them on a wagon heading north. The southern army wouldn’t move very fast for the next three or four days. “Let’s ride ahead to tonight’s camp and then see King Willom.”

~

The king of Learsea welcomed Anchor into his study. Shiro sought out Mistokko, while Anchor stood watching the seabirds fight the winds above the ocean through King Willom’s impressive windows. The king stayed in a cushioned chair by his table. His legs were elevated on an ottoman and a blanket warmed the Learsean monarch.

After more than a few moments, King Willom broke their silence. “How does my son do?” His voice had picked up a tremor.

“Well enough, I suppose. We haven’t heard anything for a week or so. It’s unlikely he can do any damage to our war plans in Highfield. It’s as we planned.”

“Indeed.” King Willom beckoned Anchor to his side and reached up and put arm around Anchor’s wrist. “I have arranged something that you should know. If something happens to my son, I want you to be my heir.”

“I’m older than you!” Anchor said. “Did you know that?”

“I do. I didn’t want to upset your masterful work with my forces by telling you that I finally recognized who you were. Unca is not the man who stands before me. You have cast off the facade that you thoroughly cultivated under King Billeas. Unca was always Anchor underneath, not the other way around. Your crutch was your reliance on your magical power. You were never a serious man as long as you could tinker with your Affinity. Without it, you’ve matured.” King Willom smiled. “That’s quite a feat for a man with sixty-something-year-old memories.” He laughed but became serious. “As long as you are Anchor, you will be second in line to the Learsea throne behind Peeron. I’ve already made it so.” Willom struggled to his feet and gave Anchor a one-arm hug. “You’ve already brought me much honor.”

“I don’t know what to say,” Anchor said. He wanted to reject the honor. How could he rule a kingdom that he didn’t live in? The king would say that he had saved Learsea, but successful generals weren’t supposed to assume thrones.

“I accept, will do,” the king said. “I know of your loyalties to the Red Kingdom, but you can serve both domains, Anchor. You essentially rule all of Besseth right now. We are on a war footing, but I think you understand that every ruler respects your authority and wisdom. I have one other request. I don’t trust my son. You must know that. ”

Anchor nodded, waiting for more.

“If he does something to jeopardize Learsea, you may take his life if it will save others.” Willom turned Anchor so they both looked each other in the eyes. “I am serious. Tell me you understand. I trust you more than any man alive and I know you’ll do the right thing. You will won’t you?”

“I will, king.” Emotion overcame Anchor. He had to take a few breaths to gain his composure. King Willom had given him an awful trust and he knew how the king must have struggled within himself to extend it. His eyes began to water, as did the king’s. “Are you sure?” he could hardly get the words out.

“I am.” Willom cleared his throat. “I’m glad you accepted my charge. Now my news. I’ve heard rumblings from my Ropponi friends that Dakkoran ships were sighted on the coast of Ayrtan four or so weeks ago. As I expected, they will soon be headed to my country to do what they couldn’t through spying and subterfuge.”

“I intend on taking the battle to them after Foxhome is taken.”

“Then you find yourself in the position of defending Learsean soil again, Anchor. See? You continue to serve my kingdom.” The king smiled. “Go with my blessing to take care of Histron. I have already begun to assemble the flotilla of ships necessary to take your armies east to Ayrtan’s shores.”

Anchor smiled. “Then I suppose I won’t have to ask.”

“You won’t, Prince Anchor. Fight your Red Kingdom war, and then return to fight mine in Ayrtan.”

~

Anchor’s stroll to the wharves was filled with wonder and confusion. No one wanted Unca anymore and that bothered him. Everyone had told him that Unca was gone. No, what did Willom say? Anchor was always there, underneath. The power merely prevented his ability to blossom.

He smiled. King Willom had understood him better than anyone else. Anchor didn’t need to rely on his power or his humor. Even if he turned back into his old self, he vowed not to let Affinity concern him again.

Shiro called out. Anchor could see the segmented sails of Mistokko’s ship.

“It’s all over the port. Dakkor forces march on Ayrtan soil headed for Learsea and the heart of Besseth.”

“Mistokko told you?”

Shiro nodded and laughed. “He’s so afraid the Dakkorans will ruin his business that he’s already sent a few birds to Roppon. They will ignore him. Ropponi don’t know the Dark Lord like we do. They’ll ignore his pleadings. But it shows how worried he is. Willom has recalled all of his ships to fit them out for war.”

“He told me, Shiro. Don’t tell anyone else, but he’s adopted me as a son. Imagine that, Prince Unca.”

Shiro whistled. “Prince Anchor,” Shiro said, looking up at him with serious eyes. “That is a great honor and one that is deserved. What of Peeron?”

“His son is next in line, then me. I don’t know what to think.”

“Pray Peeron survives.”

They both laughed and enjoyed a Ropponi style meal on board Mistokko’s ship before they returned to the camp. Anchor didn’t mention the second part of King Willom’s discussion.

~

“I hate to be looking past Foxhome, but we must get this damned war over as quickly as possible,” Anchor said to the officers of the southern alliance. “Make sure that we keep our men as fresh as we can. Once Histron is defeated, Besseth will still require an army.” Anchor ruffled through the maps on a table outside of his tent.

Bastian chuckled. “We will take them, don’t you worry, Anchor. More men come into our camp all the time wanting to fight against the usurper.”

Anchor rubbed his chin. “Put them into a reserve unit, Bastian. If any are infiltrators, our regular troops won’t be affected. We can use them in the future.”

“Consider it done. I’ll reverse what we’ve been doing and feel much better about it your way,” Bastian said.

If anything would go wrong, now was the time, thought Anchor.

Rangers began to bring back reports of the Histron’s army camped ahead. Anchor examined his maps and sent Ropponi to scout out possible battleground sites.

“A messenger has arrived in camp,” Shiro said, bringing a bedraggled soldier along with him into Anchor’s tent.

“Why not a Ropponi?” Anchor asked.

“He’s from Prince Peeron.”

Something had to have gone wrong in Highfield.

~~~

Chapter Twenty-Six

Besseth

~

“W
hat has happened?”
Shiro said as Anchor unsealed the message.

He unfolded the crumpled parchment. “We’ll both know in a moment.” He read the message aloud.

Histron hid additional armies on his lands during the winter. There are at least ten thousand men. I’ve engaged one group and ordered the Duke of Deshine to attack another before we knew how large they were. Deshine has retreated south under my orders and my forces have retreated to and occupied Highfield. I demand your assistance as soon as possible.

Peeron

Prince of Learsea

Anchor closed his eyes in frustration. “Just as Histron consolidated his hidden armies, Peeron has split his. Of course he’d have to retreat.” Anchor snorted and shook his head. He was about to engage Histron’s main force and now there was an army out there, ready to disrupt Anchor’s entire campaign. His fears of a hidden army were well founded. King Willom’s last words rose in his mind, but Peeron hadn’t screwed up yet. In fact, unwittingly, the Prince flushed out an unknown force before Anchor had committed his.

“Get Bastian and Antzen in here, immediately,” Anchor told an orderly. “Shiro, see if the messenger will consent to a Sunstone session. Then take two Ropponi with Peeron’s messenger and let’s get a communication link established: one for Peeron and one for the Deshine general. We’ll need to coordinate their forces.” He pulled maps out that he’d just finished packing before they moved out for the day and laid them out on the trunk. He stared at them for inspiration.

Antzen and Bastian ducked into his tent. Both men’s chests heaved from the exertion of rushing to Anchor. “Peeron’s run into a larger force than we thought Histron had. He says ten thousand men. That’s twice as many as I thought.”

“They could do some damage to us as we head north,” Bastian said. He pointed from Highfield to Foxhome. “Just about directly west. If unchecked, they would just slam into our side.”

Anchor shook his head. “Histron could have something else in mind. We need to know where the army is headed. I’ll bet that the duke is thinking offense.”

“What do you intend to do?” General Antzen of the southern army said.

“We’ll take ten thousand men, forty percent of our forces and move midway towards Highfield. If Peeron has flushed them out, then they will try to disrupt us from a different angle.” Anchor motioned on the map. “If you come from the Southeast, you can join forces with Peeron and Deshine’s army and force them north. We’ll need to create multiple fronts.”

“What about pulling down the Genslerans from their forts? Their reserves sit right along here between Sally’s Corners and South Keep.” Bastian said.

“If Histron’s army moves north, they would run right over the outnumbered Gensler reserves,” Antzen responded.

Anchor ran his hand through his short-cropped hair. “If the entire army moves along the Gensleran line, the border forces will be routed. There’s not enough of a concentration of men to stop Histron.”

“Can you stall?” Bastian said.

“I’d rather not engage the enemy until we know where the Highfield army is going,” Anchor said. “The Ropponi will scout out the army’s location once they’ve established contact with Peeron.”

Antzen nodded his head. “We already have a plan in place here in the South. We can follow that until we know more. We can prepare for a defense should the enemy attack us from Foxhome, but I don’t think they’ll do that. I suspect that if there is a trap to be sprung, it will be farther ahead. I think Foxhome will just sit for a bit.”

A shock of relief ran through Anchor. Antzen had the Southern Alliance in control. He’d have to let him lead. Both generals were more than competent to run his strategy.

“Very well. We’ll get the Ropponi and the messenger on their way. We’ll begin transporting part of our army to South Keep in case our enemy turns north. All of the Ropponi have been there.” Anchor looked at Shiro. “Let the other alliance commanders know what’s happened, then meet me in South Keep. Are we agreed?”

They all nodded their heads. “Then let’s proceed.”

~

It felt odd, walking the dusty grounds of South Keep once more. He walked along the top of the walls and watched the Red River flow quickly past the fort. It seemed so turbulent.  It matched how he felt about the coming battles. Anchor had considered South Keep as his birthplace as a commander and a soldier. Who remembered a newly commissioned ‘advisor’ barely able to hold a sword through stale training and an unhealed shoulder injury? He did. Time seemed to have sped by like the Red River, but it seemed like it was ages from his meeting Captain Travelwell for the first time.

No one had seen the army all along the northern arc from just south of the Learsea pass to South Keep. He was less than a week away from Morio’s force of three thousand men scattered along the border keeps.

Anchor watched fifteen or twenty men appear in the parade ground. They were rushed out of the keep and across the bridge to the mustering grounds on the other side of the village to join Anchor’s growing army.

He breathed in deeply, nearly a huge sigh. Anchor wondered where the army was. He would soon have his own on the move. Ropponi had been dispatched towards Morio so they could leapfrog the marching rankers.

A Ropponi appeared. “Histron’s forces force-marched overland to the middle of the Gensler defensive lines today and marched right through them.”

So the army hadn’t headed directly north as Anchor had anticipated but cut across country towards Sally’s Corners. Morio’s men had to hold off a force many times their size. Anchor felt his stomach twist in shame for his lack of vision. He put his emotions aside and concentrated on what he could do to counter Histron’s unexpected offensive.

Shiro and the Ropponi took thirty men to a battlefield filled with wounded, dead and dying men. He spotted an officer in Gensler green and ran towards him.

“Report.”

“They came upon us without warning. Ran right through us. We weren’t ready for an army that size coming from South Keep without any word.”

“Not from South Keep,” Anchor said. “On a straight line from Highfield. They’ve had Sally’s Corners as their goal.” He spoke the thought and realized why, the Bloodstone. “Shiro, take us to Sallia and Chika.”

“They killed Morio Jellas, the Duke’s son and moved on.”

Anchor put his hand to his forehead. What a debacle!  “We’ve got men on the way. Do what you can to get your men ready to march. I deeply regret my lack of foresight. Morio was the best of men.” He put his hand on the officer’s shoulder. “I will miss him.”

“So will we all,” the officer said. “I’ll get his body prepared for transport to Crackledown and then we will regroup,” the officer said.

“Thank you,” Anchor said and watched the officer hurry to a group of his men.

“Shiro, before we leave, get a Ropponi to Peeron. He won’t do us any good chasing us. Have him move directly west towards Foxhome’s defensive forces, but do not engage.” He pulled a pad of paper from his pocket and scribbled orders and signed it while Shiro summoned a Red Rose. “Have her travel by sight. It will be the fastest way. Give her the heading and have her move out.”

He turned to the Gensleran officer. “Assemble as many men as you can in one place. There is no sizable force at Sally’s Corners. We’ll take you all where you can fight that army again.”

At last Shiro and two other Ropponi took a force of forty men with them to Sally’s Corners. Histron’s forces couldn’t possibly arrive for another day or day and a half.

He found Sallia, Willow and Chika at the meeting room in The Traveler’s Rest.

“You have two choices; my holding or moving south to join Restella’s army. I’ll have an army here in a few days. Over ten thousand men, but I’m afraid we can’t move them all here in time. There will be a battle in the village. It’s unavoidable.”

“The holding,” Sally said. “We can hide in the tunnels if we have to.”

Histron’s armies wouldn’t have any reason to head up into the woods. As far as Anchor knew, no one knew of his personal retreat. “Okay. Chika you’ve been there?”

She nodded yes.

“Take Willow with you.”

“No,” Willow said. “This is my home and I’ll help behind your lines.”

Anchor didn’t like it, but he had no time to argue. “Very well. Let’s get Regetta and the other innkeepers cooking food. We’ll have lots of men to feed soon enough.”

~

Men kept arriving, but Shiro’s Red Roses were losing their power. They transported less than six thousand men by the Gensleran officer’s count before they couldn’t move any more. A series of barricades blocked the roads and the fields around Sally’s Corners. Rangers reported the army approaching less than half a day away. They were over-matched.

“Shiro, I want your Red Rose to disrupt the forces.” Anchor looked into his friend’s eyes, not liking what he saw.

“Their magic is weakened,” Shiro said.

“Send out for your people in the other armies. If they go on their own, they won’t be so taxed, but I need battle mage capability.”

“Good idea.” Shiro left him to confer with the assembling Red Roses.

Willow brought out cup of ale for Anchor, as he stood at one of the barricades a few hundred paces from the village proper. “You don’t have enough men, do you?”

Anchor shook his head and gave her half of a smile. “My greatest resource was the proper positioning of my forces in all of my campaigns and now, it’s used against me. I didn’t see this happening.” Was his string of victories going to fall apart and he with them? His stomach felt like it weighed a ton and his face burned with embarrassment. He had to find a center someplace.

She put her hand on his arm. “This is war. You told me long ago, that it’s an unpredictable bastard. Weren’t those your exact words? Not your fault.”

“I still have to fight.”

“Don’t let yourself be killed. Besseth needs you.”

“An old man?” Anchor shook his head and took a long pull of the ale. Besseth needed him. Restella’s army needed him. Thank the gods that Bastian and Lessa knew what they were doing. Peeron, feckless as he was, barely gave him enough notice. The army must have intended on attacking Sally’s Corners all along. They were after the princess because she held the Bloodstone. He should have given Peeron some Ropponi, but he didn’t trust him. Another mistake. He couldn’t believe that he could produce such a disaster.

He looked east and saw more Rangers rushing his way.

“They’ve got at least a few battle mages. They blew up the first barriers.”

Shiro had to give him some fresh sorcerers.

“Get your rangers into the field. Send some arrows into their mages along their flanks.”

Anchor began to deploy his forces throughout the town.

Shiro showed up with Lotto.

“Need some help?” Lotto said.

“Battle mage?”

“I’ll get a few more.” Lotto disappeared and a few moments later, six men showed up. “I’ll take them into the woods just north of the road.”

“Be careful I have Rangers with bows in there. Don’t get shot.”

Lotto grinned. “We won’t”

More Ropponi began to appear. Shiro had recruited another ten.

“Shiro, you know their strength. Our enemy can encircle the village, so put some close to the roads and see if we can get a few more troops for reinforcements. An open village like this won’t stand a siege.” He looked at Willow. “Get everyone out of the village. Have them go north. There is a battle keep an hour north just inside the Gensleran border. You’ll be safer there than in Sally’s Corners. Help me save your friends.”

“Does that make me part of your army?” she said giving him half of a smile.

“It does. Move out, Captain Willow.” He saluted her and watched her run back into the village.

Anchor could hear shouting as barriers began to blow up to the East. Histron’s rogue army had arrived.

~~~